Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, I woke up before anyone. The sun had not even risen yet, the world still full of shadows.

I was wide awake.

Silently, I changed into my uniform, hitched on my scythe, grabbed a loaf of bread, and snuck out the door, leaving the building behind me.

I don't think I even realized where I was heading, until I was halfway out of town. I was going to see Kuro and Gurē. I ate the bread slowly as I made my way out of the village, making sure to make it last.

I hummed a tune as I walked. It was a song my mom used to sing to me to get me to go to bed as a child. I missed her.

I hadn't put much thought into what I would do if I made it out of this game. I'd have missed so much of school. The skills I learned here aren't exactly the ones I'd need in the real world. I'm pretty sure managers weren't looking for "Wolf Trainer" on job applications.

What would happen to all of us?

I may be a solo player, but I did make friends throughout these hard months. Katsu, Kirito, Asuna, Rikimaru...I could never see them again. And what would happen to Kuro and Gurē? I have grown to love them, and they can never even leave this game.

When I finally made it out of town, my mind was swimming with so many thoughts and worries, I didn't even notice the two giant masses of fur coming at me until I had been tackled.

I laughed, wrapping my arms around my wolves, my nerves easing instantly. My side ached a bit, but in the game, healing was so fast it hardly felt like a real wound anymore. It was more like a bruise ache.

When I managed to shove the wolves off me, I sat criss cross on the dewy grass. I tossed them what was left of the bread loaf and watched as the fight erupted, snarls echoing in the valley of rock.

The sun was starting to come up, and I couldn't help but marvel at the gorgeousness of this world. Every floor was dangerous, but nobody could deny it's beauty.

After the sun was well above the horizon, I climbed to my feet. I started making my way back into town, the wolves following a couple feet behind me.

When I reached the inn, it was chaos. People were yelling from inside, doors slamming. I hurried in, the wolves waiting patiently inside. The scene inside confused me.

Rikimaru was shouting, running around in a state of panic. Asuna and Kirito was more calm, but they definitely weren't happy.

"What's going on?!" I exclaimed, my eyes wide.

Everything seemed to freeze at the sound of my voice. They one-by-one turned to look at me, relief coating their faces.

"Where the hell were you?" Rikimaru asked in an ice cold voice.

"I was getting the boys." I said, confused, "Why does it matter?"

"We wake up to find you missing! We had no idea where you were! There could be a murderer walking around out there!" Rikimaru snarled, "That's why it matters."

"I can take care of myself." I retorted, my eyes narrowing.

He gnashed his teeth, anger coating his face. His fists were clenched. He looked ready to challenge the next person he sees to a fight.

"Prove it."

I watched him, stunned, as he unwound the chain at his waist. Two thick blades were attached to either end of the chain, making a very wide-ranged weapon. I hadn't even seen him touch the thing until now.

"W-What?" I asked, cursing myself when my voice wavered.

"Prove it. Right here, right now. Prove you can take care of yourself."

Asuna, looking nervous, stepped up, opening her mouth to protest, but one look from Rikimaru stopped her in her tracks.

"No wolves, no tapping out, just the two of us." He said, brushing past me to leave the inn.

I froze for a second, watching after him. Kirito stepped forward, a frown on his face.

"Harumi, you don't have to-"

"Yes. I do."

I pulled my scythe out from being my back, moving to follow Rikimaru out of the building. Asuna sighed, but seemed excited to watch the duel.

Rikimaru was outside waiting the the courtyard, swinging the chain of his weapon. The blades hit the ground in a flurry of sparks on every down swing.

I glared at him, swinging my scythe up to hold it like a baseball bat. Everything was frozen for a couple of seconds, the air tense.

Then, with a yell, Rikimaru raced forward, whipping the chain around, manipulating the blades to fly towards my face. I swung my scythe around towards him, but I was interupted when Kirito appeared in between the two of us.

He had two different blades in his hands, one stopping my scythe and the other stopping Rikimaru.

"Enough." He hissed, "People are watching and the last thing they need to see are more people trying to kill each other."

I grunted and pulled away from the two of them, putting away my weapon. Rikimaru did the same, a weird look on his face. I narrowed my eyes.

I walked up to him, well aware of the anger on my face. When I reached him, I poked his chest.

"What is your problem?" I growled.

"I need to know you can take care of yourself!" He murmured in an angry voice.

"Why?!"

"Because I was terrified when we woke up this morning and you were gone. Do you even know how scary that is, when you know someone was killed the night before?"

I could feel my face soften, watching him in a new light. He was angry at me, he was scared. Without thinking, I did the most stupid thing I could have done at that moment.

I hugged him.

I don't hug just anybody.

But I was hugging him.

Nothing happened at first. Nobody seemed to know how to react. Finally, his arms wrapped around my waist, pressing his face into my hair. He pulled me closer, seemingly trying to reassure himself that I was okay.

After a minute, I pulled away, clearing my throat awkwardly. I could feel my cheeks heat up as I turned to face the others. My heart was pounding in an unsteady rhythm and I tried to tell myself I didn't care about the fact I just hugged him.

"Let's - uh, Let's go get this spear appraised." I said, clearing my throat.

Asuna winked at me, a knowing smile on her face. I blushed, moving a couple of feet away from the group. Kuro and Gurē skipped around me, making sure to not stray more than a couple of feet away.

I looked at Rikimaru out of the corner of my eye, before catching myself and looking away, keeping my eyes straight.

I was just feeling lonely. Every solo player probably did at one point. We, sometimes, went weeks without seeing someone. I looked over at Kirito. He was perfectly fine being a solo player. No one depended on him and no one could hurt him.

That's what I want.

I sighed. If Kirito could do it, I sure as hell could get past these loneliness issues.

I reached down, petting the top of Kuro's head. Gurē, satisfied Kuro would watch over us, raced ahead until he was only a gray smudge to our eyes.

Before I knew it, Kirito was leading us into a small merchant shop.

"Thanks, my man! Come back anytime!" A familiar voice called to a guy who was just leaving the shop.

"Yeah, whatever..." The guy replied in such a disappointed voice, I couldn't help but laugh.

"Looks like you're still running all the suckers down with those hard deals of yours." Kirito said, causing the guy to look up at us.

"No way. Kirito! Buy cheap and sell cheap. That's my motto. I'm a business man, you know that."

"That "selling cheap" part's a lie though."

"Don't go slandering my good name, brother."

"Agil!" I exclaimed, a smile growing on my face.

"Hey, Harumi." He winked, crossing his arms over his chest.

With the greetings over with, Kirito quickly got to business, explaining our reason for being here.

"His HP dropped to zero in a safe zone?" Agil asked when he was done, "You sure it wasn't a duel?"

"Well, no one saw a winner icon." I spoke up, crossing my arms over my chest.

"We can also rule out the murder being a sleep PK." Asuna added, "He was walking with Yolko before it happened."

"And besides, his death was too elaborate to be some random duel. The PKer who did this had it planned out. We're pretty sure of that." Kirito said, "And, then there's this."

He opened his menu, and went to his items, quickly pulling out the spear. He passed it over to Agil, who immediately started inspecting it.

"A player made this." He finally concluded.

"Really?" Rikimaru asked, walking forward in interest.

"Who was it? Can you tell?" Asuna prodded, her brow furrowing.

"Grimlock. Never heard of that name before." Agil said, passing back the spear, "It's not worth the top blacksmith. That's for damn sure. As far as I can tell, there is nothing special about this."

"Yeah but, it's something to go on, right?"

"Is there like an item name listed?" Kirito asked.

"You'll love it. Guilty Thorn. There's a name for you. It kind of fits though, don't you think?" Agil said.

"Seriously? Guilty Thorn?"

Kirito grabbed the spear in his hand, whirling it for a minute before holding it in an offensive position.

"Here goes."

Asuna raced forward, "Wait! Stop!"

"What's the matter?" Kirito asked, his brow furrowing.

"What do you mean 'what's the matter?'" She mocked, "Are you out of your mind?! That thing's already killed one person!"

"I know, but we need to find out what the thing's capable of, don't we?"

I almost laughed at the sheer irony of the situation. He had put a stop to Rikimaru and I's test of endurance earlier today, yet now he wants to do something similar.

"Would you stop being so reckless?!" Asuna snapped, before turning to face the merchant, "Agil, would you please hold on to this for us?"

"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I can."

Asuna nodded and with a glare in Kirito's direction, left the shop.