Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Ichinose Honami's Burden
[Third Person Pov]
[7th of November, 19:57]
Ayanokoji arrived three minutes before 8 A.M., at the place Ichinose told her to meet up.
It was a familiar place, one that every player knew. It was the plaza, where Kayaba teleported them forcefully and announced the start of the Death Game.
Ichinose, who was looking around this place, then saw Ayanokoji standing twenty meters away from her.
"Ayanokoji-kun," she exclaimed, running towards him while winking.
[A/N: Ichinose's appearance in Sao:]
"Ichinose," Ayanokoji responded. "What's wrong?"
Ichinose looked down. "One of my classmates..."
Ayanokoji already imagined what she wanted to tell him.
"...didn't come back after yesterday. After a dispute between him and another person in our class, he didn't return and went to the plaza."
"So, I wanted to ask whether you could help me search him?"
Ayanokoji nodded. "Sure, I'm fine with that."
"Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun. I appreciate it," Ichinose bowed in gratitude.
"Just a question. How is his name and his username?" asked Ayanokoji.
"It's Sube-kun. And if I remember right, his username should be Hitomi. But I can't find anything under that name. Perhaps I typed it false, heard it false, or he changed it..."
'Should I be honest with her?' Ayanokoji pondered in thought, whether or not to tell her. In the end, she should come to her own conclusion so he would tag along.
He doubted that she didn't come to that kind of thought, but she was in an inner denial that one of her classmates could have died already.
"Then, how about we ask some people present here?"
Ayanokoji nodded. "Seems fine by me. Perhaps they'll know something?"
"Yeah, I was thinking the same," Ichinose exclaimed happily, as Ayanokoji came to the same conclusion as her.
"Okay, let's search, Ayanokoji-kun," she said happily, taking his hand and walking with him a few meters away. Then, she realized it. "Ah, sorry. I didn't do it intentionally."
"Don't worry, everything is fine."
Ichinose looked shyly on the ground for a few seconds, but then he had gotten a grip of herself, why she called Ayanokoji here.
She didn't want to disturb the people in her class who were killing the monsters currently, fighting for their classes sake, so she made it her own task to search for him.
She nodded, walking with Ayanokoji to the next bystander. "Excuse me, could I ask you something?"
The male person in front of them seemed to be startled, as he never saw such a beautiful girl like Ichinose. The person appeared to be at the same age group as Ayanokoji and Ichinose.
"Yes?" The male person asked.
"Have you perhaps seen a person like this here?" she asked, as one of her classmates learned an [Drawing] Skill, and drew a picture of her missing classmate.
The male person simply shaked his head. "Unfortunately, not. But I can keep my eyes open," he added.
He was aiming that she would tell him her username, and he'd suggest that he saw someone like that to initiate a meeting between them again.
Ichinose bowed in gratitude. "Thank you. I'll make sure to come back here to the plaza. Goodbye," Ichinose exclaimed.
She was a bit aware that she attracted quite a lot of attention since yesterday, after the death game was announced.
She wasn't by any bounds stupid. She knew the aim of the opposite person, which is why she avoided telling him her username.
"Ah..." The male startled in sadness as she was walking away.
"You seemed to know what he was after?" Ayanokoji asked.
"Ever since the death game started, I've got tons of people asking me for my username. By now, I'm trying to deny them as polite as possible."
Ayanokoji nodded in understanding. "It must be hard. Have you ever thought of changing your style of clothes, wearing a robe, for getting less attention, as an example?" Ayanokoji asked.
Ichinose looked on the ground. "Not really. But now that you say it, I should probably do that. But I don't really have much Cor's anyway. All the Cor's go on spending the class a safe housing, with food, and later for the necessary equipment."
"I see. But you do know that you and the others who are fighting aren't required to spend expenses on those who aren't fighting. Everyone is on their own."
Ichinose didn't look like she was agreeing with everyone. "Now that we are in this Death Game, it is even more important to hold together, Ayanokoji-kun. This is my view of things that won't change. I'm just sad that you don't seem to have the same views as I."
Ayanokoji simply sighed. She was dead set on this. "I guess that's the between you and me."
"Yeah..." Ichinose responded. "Well, let's search further," she added.
It was uncomfortable for her because she didn't want to add values from her to other people. But it was still nonetheless shocking, hearing from him that they should simply abandon their classmates if they weren't fighting.
Although a small portion of her could slightly understand him. It was obvious that no matter which skill you used for any weapon, you could kill a monster like the <Frenzy Boar> easily. In other words, everyone could do that as long as they knew how to activate sword skills.
Immediately, she shrugged and denied what she was even thinking. She couldn't believe that such thoughts even processed her mind for a single moment.
Denying these kinds of thoughts, she went to the next person with Ayanokoji-kun. "Excuse me, but have you perhaps seen this person?" asked Ichinose again.
This time, it was a man who striked in comparison to any other player. It was offensive that this guy was a foreigner, based on his skin color.
Before they even went to him, Ayanokoji saw him giving some bags of Cor's to other players. It was easy to materialize the Cor's in your hand since it was a single button you needed to press in your inventory.
The person shaked his head. "Unfortunately, not. Is that perhaps a friend of yours?" he asked.
Ichinose nodded. "Yes, that's right. He's a classmate of mine that I'm searching for. He went missing since yesterday evening, and my classmates and I are worried about him, as no one heard a word from him."
The person seemed to be shocked. "Your classmates? Are you guys perhaps in need of some Cor's. I can give you around 500. But that's all. I need to help these other people here, too."
Ichinose immediately shaked her head. "No, no, kind sir, we don't really need anything. We should have enough Cor's for at least two to three days of housing and food."
"I see. But if you ever need something, contact me. My username is Agil. I'm planning on opening a merchant shop here nearby, once I have collected enough Cor. I'd be happy if you were to visit me. Well, besides that, if you could give me a poster, I could help with the searching."
"Thank you, Agil-san. My name is Ichinose, and this here is Ayanokoji. If it really doesn't bother you, I'll take you up to your offer," Ichinose said, doing a bow out of gratitude.
Ayanokoji, too, did the same.
"Oh, there's no need on bowing. I'm doing it gladly. If I hear someone knowing about your classmates, I'll be contacting you."
Ayanokoji talked. "It's her classmate. I'm here with my own class."
Agil seemed to be confused. If it was one class, he could understand it a bit, but two school classes, and the two of them knowing each other that. This was definitely strange. "Are you two perhaps going on the same school?" Agil asked.
"Ah, yes, we are students of the Advanced Nurtiring High School."
"The Advanced Nurtiring High School?!" exclaimed Agil in disbelief and shock.
"Is it just you two classes or..." Agil didn't want to continue his sentence. But it was obvious what he implied to them.
Ichinose and Ayanokoji shaked their heads. "... No, it's our whole school, including the homeroom teacher's," Ichinose exclaimed.
"Oh my. I'm sorry to hear that. It must be hard for you all," Agil replied.
"Yeah, but all we can do now is to survive..." Ichinose responded. "Ahm, Agil-san, we need to search further. I hope you don't mind us leaving now," she added.
"Not at all. I'll keep my eyes and ears open."
"Thank you," both Ayanokoji and Ichinose replied.
The two of them walked away after expressing their gratitude. "He seems nice," said Ichinose.
"He sure is. He was even willing to give us 500 Cor's, based on a story that potentially might even be false."
Ayanokoji responded.
Both Ayanokoji and Ichinose continued for the next whole hour to ask people regarding her classmate, but sadly, in vain.
But then, a person in a robe appeared to say yes.
"You mean this guy? I saw him outside the city yesterday."
Ichinose answered in a happy tone. "Really? Can you guide us where you saw him?"
The person in the robe replied. "Sure, I can do that."
Ayanokoji obviously didn't believe that guy. But for now, he would tag along.
After thirty minutes of talking, the person led them to a location where no player was present.
"Where did you see him?" Ichinose asked.
The robe guy pointed with his finger to the river in front of them. "I saw him right there."
"Thank you for informing us. Perhaps we should search for nearby Inn's, Ayanokoji-kun."
Ayanokoji internally sighed because Ichinose revealed his username. He walked with Ichinose to the river but was on guard the whole time.
"Hahahahahahahaha, I can't believe that you two are this stupid," the robe guy exclaimed.
Ichinose didn't seem to comprehend what he said. "What are you talking about? Did you lie to us?" she asked.
"Hahahaha, lying? Me? No, I really did not lie. I saw him yesterday at the plaza. He asked me whether I knew methods of how to earn quickly Cor's, so I told him when he was fishing, he could catch some fish and sell them. For that, I even told him how to unlock the [Fishing] skill. Then, I followed him without him noticing and Bam..."
"That fool died by the hands of my sword when I saw that he had fished enough fishes in his bucket. And now, you two will die. Perhaps I'll spare the girl to have some fun with her later. But you, Ayanokoji, or however you are called, will die right now."
The person prepared his sword skill, but just as Ayanokoji did the same too, Ichinose jumped in front of him, taking the attack of the sword skill.
Her body flied towards his arm, him catching her to prevent any additional loss of HP.
[Ichinose:]
[HP: 35/250]
"I'm so sorry, Ayanokoji-kun. I think this is it..."
[Hp: 30/250]
"Hah, so applying poison on your weapon really works, huh? I didn't think it'd be that effective."
[HP: 25/250]
"What? Why aren't you saying anything, Ayanokoji? Are you perhaps too scared? Just by the way, I'm level three, so there's no use of fighting back. But woah, letting such a beauty die is really depressing."
[HP: 20/250]
"... Ayanokoji-kun, before I die, I need to say this. I love you."
Ayanokoji was in turmoil of many different kinds of emotions he experienced. She threw herself in the front to save him. The feeling he felt was a familiar feeling he felt at the rooftop with his fight against Ryūen once.
"Ayanokoji, why aren't you sa—"
Ayanokoji looked with a cold piercing glaze to the player who attacked Ichinose.
The player startled and backed away a few steps out of fear.
"... Ichinose, drink this," Ayanokoji said, taking out of his pouch a [Lesser Health Potion] letting Ichinose drink it.
"... Also, cover your eyes. I doubt you would want to see this sight. If your HP decreases again in the red bar, drink this again. It'll recover 200 HP in an instant."
He didn't see his face currently, but he was sure what it looked like. Anger was written all over his face. And, that was what he felt like.
[HP: 220/250]
He looked to Ichinose, who was lying on the ground, seeing her having her eyes covered, tears flowing from her cheeks, even though she covered her eyes.
Her HP regenerated, but her mental health was heavily affected.He sighed out of relief that everything went well.
Ayanokoji got up from the ground, looking at the player angrily and coldly. His gaze pierced through the players soul.
The player didn't know what he felt. That single gaze completely scared the shit out of him. He gulped out of fear several times. "W-haat is this feeling?"
Ayanokoji replied with only one single word. "Fear."
"No, that can't be. I'm a level three player who has played this game since the Beta. There's no way I'd lose to you."
The player tried on reassuring himself. He didn't want to believe that this fool in front of him would be a level higher than him.
To God's sake, it was only the second day. There's no way anyone would be even that high. He didn't want to believe it. No, he couldn't believe it. There's no way that'd be true.
The person in front of him charged his sword skill [Slant] for the one-handed straight sword, just like Ayanokoji, who charged for his curved sword the same skill, [Slant].
Many of the same sword skills were offered for these two weapons, but they still did have some differences.
The difference was not only the Stats but also the Weapon Proficiency. Even before the person could slightly react, Ayanokoji had already cut through his body, reducing any single HP he had.
"... Just, who are you?" The player in the robe asked before completely disappearing from this world.
"... Someone whom you definitely should have avoided on meeting."
The player's avatar shattered in hundreds of blue pieces in the Sky, then completely vanishing in front of his sight.
Ayanokoji sprinted directly to Ichinose, who was visibly shaken by this event. "Ayanokoji-kun... Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't know what could've happened to me."
Ichinose still cried while covering her eyes, lying on the ground. Then, she hugged Ayanokoji out of sudden, crying inside of his arms.
"... I'm scared, Ayanokoji-kun... What if something like this happens again. And... my classmate... What if that person appears again..."
Ayanokoji hugged her even more tightly. "He won't ever appear anymore to do something to you. Don't worry, he's gone."
Ichinose sniffed. "Really? Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun."
"No worries," he responded.
Ichinose still needed some additional time to recover. For ten minutes, she didn't leave that hug.
"Ayanokoji-kun... Thank you. I really needed that hug."
"Only that hug? If there's something else I can help with, I'll do it gladly," Ayanokoji offered.
"... Then, I'll take you up to that offer," Ichinose announced.
Ichinose did a daring move. She approached Ayanokoji's lips with her lips but stopped midway through then.
"I can't believe what I was trying to do. I'm so sorry."
Ayanokoji shaked his head. "You don't need to be sorry. I know how you are feeling. I just can't... No, I'm not sure myself..."
Ichinose acted like she didn't hear anything, for the sake of Ayanokoji-kun, to not disturb his and Karuizawa's relationship. "I didn't hear the last sentence, Ayanokoji-kun. Could you repeat that?"
"Ah, well, it was nothing important. Don't worry," he said.
He didn't want to pursue this topic further, so he had let it lie down. Although, he knew that Ichinose understood the last part of the sentence.
Later that day, Ichinose and Ayanokoji arrived back at the city of the Beginnings again. "Ayanokoji-kun, what should I tell my classmates? The truth?" she asked.
"If you were to do that, it'd result in even more players not going outside and killing monsters. Then, it'll make it far harder for your class survival. Besides, now that you know that such players like this exist, it shouldn't prevent you from leveling up. Instead, it should motivate you. You should encourage those who can not fight for their own sake to teach them how to kill Monsters and how to earn Cor's, if they ever decide to leave and fight monsters."
Ichinose nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right. We should teach at least everyone how to kill monsters. Thank you, Ayanokoji-kun. You helped me today a lot. And... regarding what I said, I meant it, too."
Ichinose kissed him on Ayanokoji'a cheeks, then embarrassingly run away while winking towards him.
Ayanokoji headed before going home to an NPC shop.
He bought 20 [Lesser Health Potions], the current market capacity you could buy there, at this specific store, where no one was really present.
Then, he headed home...
--
A/N: This concludes this chapter.
Just to be sure, would you like to see more AI arts of the different kinds of girls Ayanokoji will encounter in the future?
Besides that, I will build up the love and romantic aspects between Kiyo and Sakayanagi, Ichinose, Kei, Horikita, or some other female characters. For now, it won't go that fast.
Also, Kiyo expressed since Volume 7 on the rooftop scene once again anger.
Also, I'm not sure how important a role characters like Nagumo, Hōsen or Ryūen will have, there a many characters that want to go against Kiyo, but I'll definitely try to give them too some dialogues. As for the second white roomer, he'll play in the future an important role, but in the beginning, not quite a lot.
Just to tell you, Shiba isn't here. It'd make it a bit awkward, him being there without Tsukishiro.
Well, anyway, I hope you liked this chapter.
Goodbye. Have a great day.
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