Chapter Fifteen

Rikimaru stared down at me, his face only a couple of inches away from mine. He was breathing hard, his chest hitting mine with every inhale.

"There's a figure!"

With the shout, I snapped out of whatever daze I was in and rolled, moving us so I was on top. I jumped up, racing towards the window. I saw a dark figure across the courtyard, and jumped out of the window without thinking.

I landed on my feet a story down, and whipped my scythe out so that it was in my hand. I whistled, causing the wolves to race after the dark figure.

I was about to follow when a shout from Kirito stopped me

"Harumi, stop! I lost him! He teleported off somewhere."

I sighed, whistling for the wolves to stop. The grumbled, pacing uncomfortably. I made my way up to the room. When I got there, Kirito was already talking.

"The system's supposed to protect players inside inns. I thought, if anywhere, she'd be safe in here. Dammit!"

Asuna walked forward to comfort him. Rikimaru made his way over to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. He looked me over, looking for any injuries.

"You okay?"

I didn't have an answer, so I just nodded. He returned the gesture with a nod of his own, squeezing my shoulders. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but Schmitt interupted him with a meltdown.

"That robe was Griselda's! That was Griselda's ghost! She's come back to get revenge on us! Think about it, only a ghost can PK someone in a safe zone!"

"That wasn't a ghost." I snapped, glaring at him. "Someone's using the system to kill. That's the only way these murders could've happened in a safe zone."

"I don't know what to think. Was that black-robed figure Griselda's ghost? After seeing two people die mysteriously, I'm starting to think it's possible." Asuna said, frowning.

"No. That definitely wasn't a ghost. I bet my life on it. Why would a ghost need a teleport crystal?" Kirito paused, a sudden realization growing on his face, "A teleport crystal...?"

"What is it?" Rikimaru asked.

Kirito shook his head, "Nah, it's nothing."

With everything over with, we had no choice but to leave. As we left the building, Kirito and Asuna separated to go get some food, while Rikimaru and I went out of town to let the wolves have some time to run around.

Once we were out in the valley, the wolves immediately ran away, yipping excitedly. I giggled, before sitting down and leaning against a massive boulder. Rikimaru sat down next to me, his shoulder against mine.

"What..." I trailed off.

He turned to look at me, an eyebrow raised. I didn't know what I was about to ask him at first, but now tons of questions popped up that I know I could never ask.

What is your real name?

Where do you live?

How old are you?

What's your favorite subject in school?

There was unwritten rules in Sword Art Online about not asking these types of questions. They were out of bounds when the only things you should be talking about is how to survive.

"Harumi?" He finally asked when I didn't say anything else.

"Yeah?"

"Do you...Do you want to start a guild with me?"

I froze. This is the moment where I chose. Did I want to be a solo player, or a part of a team. I closed my eyes. If I was a team member, I would let people down. I could be the reason someone died if I let my guard down for a second.

No, being a solo player is what fits me.

"Rikimaru, I can't."

He sighed, disappointed, but not surprised. He knew how I felt about being on a team. He nodded, pressing his face into my hair to hide his expression from me.

If Kirito can do it, so can I.

I took a deep breath. I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I was interupted by the sudden arrival of Kirito and Asuna. I leaped to my feet, pulling up Rikimaru behind me.

"What's happened?" I asked, confused.

"Yolko and Kains aren't dead! They're alive!" Asuna announced, out of breath from the jog here.

"B-But they..."

"Inside safe zones, a player's HP doesn't deplete on its own. But the durability of an object does." Kirito explained.

"What?" Rikimaru asked.

"That day, the spear was sticking out of Kains's armor. It wasn't draining his HP though. It was draining the durability of his armor."

"But then, his body didn't disintegrate, it was..."

"Yup, just his armor, nothing else. And at the precise second when his armor's durability expired, poof, Kains used a crystal to teleport out of his armor. Sure, it looks a lot like what happens when a player dies in the game. Only he didn't die."

"Then, what happened to Yolko?"

"I bet the dagger was laid to her back the whole time. She had it all planned out."

"But we would've seen. My wolves were restless! They don't go that way over nothing."

"Remember, she never turned her back to us, not even once. She kept an eye on her equipment's durability level while she was talking. When it got down to zero, all she had to do was act like she was hit by a dagger thrown from outside the window."

"Who was the person in the black robe Harumi chased?"

"It wasn't Grimlock. I'm pretty sure of that. But Kains, he and Yolko were in it together. They figured out how they could use this method to fake their own deaths. Getting people to think there were murders in the safe zone was a calculated twist."

"Everything they did was designed to draw the person behind Griselda's murder, and expose him. The only way to find out for sure was by faking their deaths and creating an illusionary avenger." I said, in sudden realization.

"And Schmitt was the person they had pegged for it, probably since the beginning. Hey, you still have Yolko on your friend list, don't you?" Rikimaru asked, turning to Asuna.

"I already looked. Right now, she's in the field on Floor nineteen. It looks like she's on a small hill, just outside of town."

"Well, our job is done now, isn't it?" Rikimaru asked.

"I still don't feel like it's over." I admitted, frowning slightly. "I think we need to go find them."

"I have to agree with Harumi." Asuna said, giving me a nod.

"Then let's go."

*****

When we arrived in the field, Yolko, Kains and Schmitt were surrounded by a guild, being threatened. I sighed, rubbing my temples.

"These three are idiots."

"I've got it." Kirito said.

Minutes later, the murderous guild had been scared off. Kirito had a chance to talk with the three, before moving to come back to us.

"We ended up playing right into Yolko's hands, didn't we?" I said when he was right next to me.

"Hey... If you were in their guild, and a super rare item like that dropped, what would you have done?" Asuna asked as we made our way back into town.

I reached down to pet the top of Kuro's head as everyone pondered this question.

"Well, I don't know." Kirito said, "I play solo, so I can avoid situations like that."

"In my guild, the one who got that killed gets it. Those are the rules we have to play by. You know how in SAO, if a player gets a drop, no one knows unless that person reports it. Our way, no one can hoard stuff because we work it out who gets what ahead of time.Also, the rules my guild play by gives the concept of marriage in this world real meaning. Think about it, if you marry, you have to share your item storage. If you're single, you can hide whatever you want, but...You know, when you marry, you can't hide it anymore. I think sharing storage who the person you marry to is wonderfully pragmatic. But at the same time, I think it's also very romantic."

We all paused at the end of her speech. I hadn't thought of it that way. I glanced at Rikimaru out of the corner of my eye to see his reaction, and was strangely pleased to see him already watching me.

I blushed and looked away.

"Hey." Kirito finally said, gathering our attention.

"Yeah, what?" Asuna asked.

"So, uh, how many times you've been married, anyway?"

I gaped at him, wondering if he had really just asked that. Asuna glared at him, and turned to walk away.

"Wait! I didn't mean it! That didn't come out right!" Kirito exclaimed, getting her to stop, "You were talking about how it's romantic and plastic, and, uh..."

"I did not say that, you ass!" She shrieked, glowing red.

I couldn't help but giggle. Rikimaru apparently felt the same, because he started chuckling next to me.

"What I said is 'it's romantic and pragmatic!'" Asuna told him, "For your information, the word pragmatic means practical!"

"You think marriage in SAO is... practical?" I asked, confused again.

"Of course. If you're married, everything's out and open. You know, 'cause of common storage."

"That's it! Common storage!" Kirito suddenly exclaimed, "Okay, say your spouse dies, what happens to the items?"

"Huh?"

I grinned. I saw where he was going with this. I couldn't help but be excited.

"Item storage is shared, right?" Kirito asked eagerly, "So, when one person dies, what happens to their stuff?"

"Everything would go to the surviving spouse, right?" Rikimaru added in, as realization grew on his face.

"And if everything goes to the spouse, then the ring in Griselda's storage..."

"...should be sitting in Grimlock's storage, not the killer's. It's been sitting there this whole time." Asuna finished.

"It was never stolen in the first place."

"No, it was stolen. It doesn't matter if it's still there. Grimlock was basically stealing it, the minute he put his plan into action." I said.

Kirito nodded, pleased that we solved it.

"We need to go confront Grimlock."

"Actually, I can't." I said, stopping in my tracks. The rest of the group walked a couple of feet ahead of me until they realized I had stopped.

"What do you mean?" Rikimaru asked, frowning.

"I have some business to take care of on the 30th floor."

It wasn't entirely a lie. I had been wanting to complete a quest called Ogre Slaughter on that floor. It's extremely difficult, but if you finish it, you have the chance to by a beautiful house on that floor. I had been staying in a ton of inns up until this point, and seeing as nobody knew how long this game will continue, I needed a more permanent place to stay.

Besides, the 30th floor is primarily forests, and the wolves would love that.

Rikimaru frowned, "So, this is goodbye?"

I nodded, biting my lip. Kuro pressed into my side, sensing the fact that I needed comfort at the moment. I fisted my hand into his fur.

"But-"

Asuna cut him off, by rushing forward to hug me.

"Friend me."

She left no room for me to protest. I grinned at her and friended her. While th screen was up, I also friended Rikimaru and Kirito. And I'm pretty sure Kirito only accepted, because he knew I didn't want to make a party.

I hugged Asuna again, before turning to go.

"Harumi, wait!" Rikimaru exclaimed.

He chased after me, pulling me to a stop 15 feet away from the others. He turned me to look him in the eye. Our faces were only a couple inches apart and I found it hard to breathe.

"Don't go."

Had his eyes always been this green?

"Stay with us."

He smelled like sandalwood. My favorite scent.

"Don't let this be the last time we see each other."

I smiled, reaching up to flick his cheek. He stared at me, shocked.

"This won't be the last time we see each other, dummy." I told him, with a giggle.

While he was still shocked, I turned around again, walking away, the wolves right next to me.

He didn't come after me this time.