Chapter 12 Part 2

The three-wheel buggy landed at last and jolted off the ground

at the same moment that the shock wave of the explosion rumbled the street below. She didn't see the explosion itself, because

it was blocked by the sports car they'd jumped off of, but there

was no missing the resulting jets of flame and spraying metal

parts of the robotic horse.

Did we beat him? she wondered for just a moment, then

stamped out that ray of hope. There was no way a simple explosion would kill that grim reaper. At best, they had bought some

time. Still, even that felt like a tremendous miracle at this point.

Kirito was facing forward again, regaining control of the buggy

and accelerating once more. Sinon slumped over the rear step,

staring at the black smoke cloud rising in the purple sky of

evening. No thoughts came to her mind. She simply gave in to the

rumbling of the racing buggy.

The density of rusted-out vehicles and buildings began to thin,

replaced by more rocks and odd-looking plants, until she realized

the three-wheeled buggy had passed out of the city and into the

desert to the north.

Even the road steadily turned from cracked asphalt to simple

sand that had been hardened into furrows. The rumbling of the

tires got much fiercer, so Kirito slowed down and drove them between the dunes at a more moderate pace.

Sinon started counting the number of big cacti on either side

for no good reason, until it occurred to her to check the watch on

her left wrist. The fine needle pointed to 9:12. To her surprise, the

string of events from leaving the river bed at the south end of the

city until now had taken barely ten minutes.

But in that small span of time, Sinon's perspective on the BoB

final—if not the entire game of GGO itself—had changed dramatically.

Now that she could think with some level of rationality again,

there was no way that the player behind Death Gun could be the

same man as the one Shino had shot in the attempted postal office robbery years ago. The gun that had put that idea in her head

in the first place—the Type 54 Black Star—was a minor but reasonably common gun in GGO. In fact, it had a pretty low price on

the market. It wasn't impossible that Death Gun would happen to

choose it for a sidearm.

The problem was that seeing the gun had shocked and frightened her, nearly prompting one of her fits. One of Sinon's goals in

this game was to fight against an enemy using a Black Star. She

had believed that if she came face-to-face with The Gun, she

would deal with it without shrinking, just as she had dispatched

countless other targets in this world.

But in reality, this had happened. The effects of the stun round

had worn off already, but her whole body still felt dull, and her

hands wouldn't stop shaking. Even the comforting weight of the

Hecate in her arms was painful.

It was all a lie. An illusion. The massive kill score I built up

over these weeks and months and the strength I thought that

number represented meant nothing in the end…

As she hung her head, the tires slid over the sand and came to

a halt. She heard Kirito's calming voice. "Well, the view's nice…

but there's not much in the way of places to hide…"

She dimly recalled that when Kirito saved her from her paralysis, he was heavily damaged already. He probably wanted to find

a safe place to hide out in the desert so they could use the auto-

distributed first aid kits to regain some HP. But the healing speed

on those items was significantly slow. If they were going to recover safely, they'd need more than just sand dunes and cacti to

hide behind.

Sinon lifted her heavy head and looked around. She noted

some reddish rocks off in the distance and pointed them out.

"There…We'll probably find a cave over there."

"Oh, good idea. I remember you saying that the caves in the

desert area were hidden from the Satellite Scan," Kirito replied

quickly, turning the buggy off the path and into the thicker sand.

In less than a minute they were there, circling around the rocks.

As she expected, there was a large cave mouth in the north face of

the rock. Kirito slowed the buggy down and drove it right in.

It was fairly spacious on the inside, with a dozen or so extra

square feet of space, even after they rolled the buggy into a spot

hidden from the view of the entrance. It was dark in the back, but

thanks to the faint bits of sunset reflecting off the walls, it wasn't

totally black.

Kirito turned off the engine and stepped onto the sand,

stretched, then turned back to Sinon. "Let's stay here for now to

avoid the next scan. Oh, but wait—does this mean we won't get

the satellite data on our terminals, either?"

She couldn't help but smirk at the impertinence of his question. Sinon got off the buggy on lifeless legs, made her way to a

wall and slumped down against it. "Of course not. And if someone

happens to be nearby and tosses a grenade in here on a hunch,

we'll both be blown up."

"Good point. Well, it's still better than disarming entirely to

hide underwater. Speaking of hiding," Kirito said, wandering

away from the buggy and glancing toward the entrance, "he just

popped up right next to you. Does that ripped-up cloak of his

have the ability to make him invisible? When he just vanished at

the bridge, and didn't show up on the satellite, maybe it wasn't

because he was in the river…"

"I think you're right. That was an ability called 'Metamaterial

Optical Camo.' They said it was only something bosses used…but

I suppose it's possible that some equipment can make use of it,"

she explained, then realized what Kirito was worried about. She

glanced at the mouth of the cave and added softly, "I think we're

fine here. It's rough sand below. He can go invisible, but not

silent, and we'll see the footprints. He can't just pop up the way

he did earlier."

"Good to know. We'll have to keep our ears open," Kirito said,

convinced, then sat down to her right a few feet away. He rummaged in his belt pouch and pulled out a tube-shaped medical kit,

then clumsily pressed it to his neck and pushed the button on the

far end. It made a little hissing sound, and his avatar was briefly

consumed with a red visual effect that indicated healing. A single

kit would heal about 30 percent of one's HP, but the full effect

took three minutes, so it wasn't much use in combat.

Sinon looked back to her watch. It was just now nine fifteen,

the time of the fifth satellite pass. But as she had told Kirito earlier, the signal wouldn't reach them, so there was no point in

checking the map.

At the last tournament, the battle royale had started at eight

o'clock, just like this one, and it had taken a bit over two hours for

the final showdown between Zexceed and Yamikaze. If this one

played out at that pace, there would be around ten people left

right now. Last time, Sinon was the eighth fatality, just twenty

minutes in, so she'd improved on her record considerably—not

that she was in any mood to celebrate it.

Sinon lowered her hand, leaned back against the wall of the

cave, and mumbled, "Hey…do you think, maybe…Death Gun died

in that explosion…?"

In her heart, she knew the likelihood of that was incredibly

low. But she couldn't help but ask. After a long silence, Kirito answered, "No…I saw him jump off the robot horse before the truck

blew up. It was close enough that he got hurt…but I can't believe

he'd be dead from that."

It was true that an explosion at that close range normally

caused considerable damage.

Normally. To a normal player.

But he wasn't normal. He used that Black Star to kill Zexceed,

Usujio Tarako, and probably Pale Rider as well. Maybe the

cloaked man really was a ghost, wandering the network. She

couldn't say that out loud, of course. All she did was grunt in understanding, place the Hecate in the sand next to her, and clutch

her knees.

Head pressed downward, she asked, "How did you save me

that quickly when you were in the stadium? Weren't you up on

the outer walls?"

She thought she detected a wry grin from him. Sinon turned

her head to see the lightswordsman leaning against the wall,

hands folded behind his head.

"I could tell at first glance that Musketeer X wasn't the guy we

were looking for after all…"

"…How come?"

"Because she wasn't a guy, she was a woman. A proper one,

not my fake F-model kind."

She murmured in surprise. Kirito shook his head and looked a

tad bitter.

"That was when I realized we'd missed something big…and

when it occurred to me that Death Gun might go after you alone,

I rushed up and cut down Musketeer X while she was still giving

me her name. I'll have to apologize to her later about that…"

Sinon grunted again, but couldn't help but wonder if he intended to apologize for rushing his opponent rudely, or simply

because his opponent was a woman. But before she could say

anything, he continued:

"I took a hit, too, but I still won, and when I looked to the

south, I saw you collapsed in the street…It looked like trouble, so

I grabbed Musketeer's big rifle, as well as a smoke grenade, and

jumped down from the walls. Then I started shooting and tossing

and charging and…"

He shrugged, as if to say, You know the rest.

Which meant one of the two bullet wounds in Kirito's body

was from Musketeer X's rifle, and the other was from Death

Gun's L115. He made it sound like no big deal, but she'd seen his

defensive capabilities in the battle against Xiahou Dun. The fact

that he'd taken two shots was a sign of how desperate he had

been to save her.

On the other hand, you could say that this showed Sinon was

just holding Kirito back. Perhaps, even with Death Gun's unexpected Optical Camo gear, she might have paid more attention to

her surroundings and sensed him coming, avoiding the stun

round properly. If she'd been able to regroup with Kirito sans

paralysis, they might have been able to take down Death Gun

right then and there.

Assuming he was just a normal player and not a vengeful

ghost, of course.

Sinon bonked her forehead against her knees, plagued by indecision and a feeling of powerlessness. She felt Kirito lean

closer. He murmured, "You don't have to take it out on yourself

like that."

"…"

She took a small breath and waited for him to continue.

"I didn't realize he was hiding in wait, either. If we'd taken the

opposite roles, it could have been me who got stunned. And if

that was the case, you'd save me, right?"

That peaceful, sensible voice pierced Sinon's heart deeply. She

closed her eyes, feeling it throb with pain.

He's consoling me. I thought he was my rival…I thought I'd

be fighting him on equal footing. And all this time, he saw my

inner weakness. He's been cheering me up, like I was a child in

need of encouragement.

And even harder to bear, harder to forgive, was the realization

that somewhere within her, just as strong as her humiliation, was

a desire to give in to his comfort, physically and mentally.

Sinon…no, Shino knew that if she admitted to the fear and

pain that agonized her and reached out just a few feet, the mysterious but honest and simple lightswordsman would accept her

and buoy her with all of his feelings and words. He might even

give her the forgiveness that Shino had always sought but no one

had ever given her since the post office attack five years ago.

But if she did that, the other part of Shino, that icy sniper,

might disappear for good. And even before that, she didn't know

how she could reveal her innermost thoughts to a person she had

just met the day before—a person whose real name or face she

didn't even know. Shino hadn't truly spoken her mind even to Kyouji Shinkawa, who'd been her friend in the real world for six

months.

Trapped between desperation, helplessness, hesitation, and

confusion, Sinon could do nothing but clutch her knees.

Long, long seconds passed.

Eventually, Kirito spoke again. "Well, I'm going. You should

stay here and rest a bit more. I really wish you'd just log out,

but…it is the tournament, after all…"

"Huh…?" She automatically perked up and looked over. Kirito

had stepped away from the wall and was checking the battery

level on his lightsword. "You're going…to fight Death Gun…on

your own?" she rasped.

He nodded, just barely. What he said next was not an assurance of victory, but just the opposite. "Yeah. He's tough. Even

without the power of that pistol, his other gear, stats, and his skill

as a player put him head and shoulders above the rest. In fact, it'll

be nearly impossible to keep him from firing that gun at least

once. It was half a miracle that we got away from him just now.

The next time that gun is pointed this way…I don't know that I'll

be able to stay standing. I might actually abandon you and run

away this time. So I can't force you to take part in this any

longer."

"…"

This caught her by surprise; she assumed the swordsman had

ultimate confidence in his ability. She stared at his face. The light

in his big black eyes seemed to be wavering with a sudden lack of

will.

"Even you're afraid of him?" she asked.

Kirito snapped his lightsword back onto the carabiner and

grinned weakly. "Yeah, I am. The old me…well, he might have

fought him, even knowing it could be fatal. But now…I've got

things to protect. I can't die, and I don't want to die…"

"Things to…protect?"

"Yes. In the virtual world…and the real world."

She felt like he was referring to a connection to someone else.

Unlike Sinon, Kirito had forged close bonds with many different

people. Her heart throbbed again, and words poured out of her

mouth before she could stop them.

"Then…just stay hidden in this cave. You can't log yourself out

of the BoB, but if we let the event proceed, and it's down to us and

one other person, we can escape. We'll commit suicide and let

whoever else win. Then it's over."

Kirito's eyes widened. He grinned in understanding briefly,

then shook his head. It was what Sinon expected of him.

"You're right, that's an option. But…not one that I can take.

Death Gun's probably recovering his HP somewhere else right

now, but if we let him reign free over this event, there's no telling

how many more he might shoot with that pistol…"

"…I see."

You really are strong.

Even after claiming he had something to protect, he hadn't

lost the courage to risk his life standing up to that angel of death.

When she had been ready to give up both.

Sinon smiled a lifeless smile and thought about what would

happen to her once she left this island.

When Death Gun had pointed his black pistol at her in the

street of the ruined city, she was completely lost. Her bones

turned to ice. She screamed and shrieked while on the escape,

and couldn't even pull the trigger of her beloved Hecate. Sinon,

sniper of ice, was on the verge of obliteration.

If she stayed hidden in this cave, she'd never be able to trust

her own strength again. Her heart would shrivel, her fingers

would stiffen, and every shot would miss its mark.

Not only would she not overcome her memories, but even in

the real world, she would quiver in fear of the man's appearance

from every shadowed corner, through every door or window. That

was the fate that awaited Sinon and Shino, virtual or real.

"…I…" She looked away from him and mumbled, "I won't run."

"…Huh?"

"I won't run. I won't hide here. I'll go out there and fight him,

too."

Kirito squinted a bit and leaned closer to her. "You can't,

Sinon. If he shoots you…you might actually die. I'm a red-blooded

close-combat fighter with defensive skills, but you're not. If he

sneaks up on you and strikes from point-blank range, you'll be in

much greater danger than me."

She clamped her lips shut, then found one simple conclusion.

"I don't care if I die."

"…Wha…"

His eyes went wide again. She explained slowly, "I…I was terrified earlier. I was afraid of dying. I was weaker than I was five

years ago…so I acted pitiful, and screamed…and that's not going

to cut it. If I'm just going to keep living life that way, I'd be better

off dead."

"It makes sense to be afraid. Everyone's afraid of dying."

"Well, I don't like being afraid. I'm tired…of living in fear. I'm

not asking you to help me with this. I can fight on my own," Sinon

claimed, willing strength into her limp arms to get up. But Kirito

leaned over and grabbed them. His voice was tense and quiet.

"So you're saying you'll fight alone…and die alone?"

"…Yes. That's probably my fate…"

Shino had never suffered any judgment for her grievous crime.

That was why the man came back for her. To punish her for what

she'd done. Death Gun was not a ghost—he was fate. An ordained

result.

"…Let go of me. I need to leave."

She tried to shake him off, but Kirito only held on tighter. His

black eyes glittered. Those small, elegant lips formed uncharacteristically harsh words.

"You're wrong. It's not possible for people to die alone. When

someone dies, they also die within others around them. There's

already a Sinon within me!"

"I didn't ask for that. I've never put myself within anyone!"

"We're involved right now, aren't we?!"

Kirito yanked Sinon's hand upward until she was right in front

of his face. In that instant, the raging emotion that had been held

in place at the very bottom of her frozen heart erupted. She

clenched her teeth so hard they might crack, and used her free

hand to grab Kirito's collar.

"Then…"

Her weakness in search of soothing and her urge for destruction brought forth an emotion that she had never held toward

anyone, and forced words she had never said before from her

mouth. With all of the fire in her eyes that she could summon,

Sinon shouted at Kirito, "Then protect me for the rest of your

life!!"

Her vision warped suddenly. Her cheeks felt hot. Sinon didn't

realize at first that it was because tears were spilling from her

eyes. She yanked her hand out of his grasp, made a fist, and

slammed it against Kirito's chest. Twice, three times, she pummeled him with all of her strength.

"You don't know a damn thing about me…You can't do a thing

for me, so don't act like you know! This is…this is my fight, and

my fight alone! If I lose and I die, no one has the right to criticize

me for it! Or are you going to bear my burden all of your life?! Are

you…"

She thrust her clenched fist in Kirito's face. The hand that had

pulled the bloody trigger of a gun and stolen a human life. The

filthy hand that still had the tiny spot from where the particles of

gunpowder had infiltrated her skin.

"Are you going to hold…this murderer's hands?!"

A number of voices from Shino's memories emerged, accosting

her. In the classroom, when she accidentally touched other students or their belongings: "Don't touch me, murderer! I don't

want blood on me!!" She was tripped and pushed away. Since

then, she had never actively touched another person. Not once.

She smacked him with her fist one more time. There was no

system-provided protection here; the entire island was a battlefield. So each blow had to be doing some tiny bit of damage to

Kirito's HP, but he did not budge an inch.

"Ah…aah…"

The tears kept coming, without end. She turned her face away,

not wanting him to see her cry, and her forehead thumped

against his chest.

She squeezed her face against him, still gripping his collar, sobs

escaping between her clenched teeth. Even as she was wracked

with uncontrollable childlike gasps, she couldn't help but marvel

that this kind of energy had been within her all this time. She

couldn't even remember the last time she'd cried in front of

someone.

Eventually, she felt Kirito's hand on her shoulder. But Sinon

batted it away with her clenched fist.

"I hate you…I hate you!" she shouted, her virtual tears falling

one after the other, fading into Kirito's thin shirt.

She couldn't tell how long she stayed like that.

The tears dried up at last, and Sinon felt as empty and powerless as if her soul had left her body and evaporated into the air.

She leaned with all of her weight against the swordsman. The

sweet pain that took hold in her chest after her cathartic explosion of emotion felt comfortable now. She kept her forehead

against his shoulder, breathing in and out.

Eventually, it was Sinon who broke the long, long silence.

"I still hate you…but let me lean on you a bit longer," she

mumbled. He murmured in the affirmative. She budged, leaning

over atop Kirito's jutted-out legs. She still didn't want him to see

her face, so she turned her back to him, and saw the threewheeled buggy, its rear bumper punctured with bullet holes, and

the last dying light from outside of the cave entrance.

Her head felt dull and fuzzy, but unlike the lack of thought

when she was under attack by Death Gun, this felt more like the

floating liberation of removing tight, heavy clothes. Eventually,

the words found their way to her lips.

"The thing is…I killed someone." She didn't wait for Kirito's

response. "Not inside a game. I killed a real person, in real life.

Five years ago, there was an attempted robbery of a post office in

a small town in Tohoku…The media reported that the culprit shot

one of the employees, then died when the gun backfired. But

that's not what happened. I was there. I stole the robber's gun,

and shot him with it."

"Five years ago…?" Kirito whispered. She nodded.

"Yes. I was eleven at the time…so maybe it was only because I

was a child that I could do it. I broke two teeth, sprained both

wrists, bruised my back, and dislocated my shoulder, but other

than that, I was unharmed. My injuries healed right away…but

some things don't heal."

"…"

"Ever since then, I've vomited and passed out whenever I see a

gun. Even on TV and in manga…even when someone makes a gun

gesture with their hand. When I see a gun…I see the face of the

man I killed…and I get scared. Terrified."

"But—"

"Right. But I'm fine in this world. Not only do I not have the

spasms…" She looked over at the graceful design of the Hecate II

on top of the nearby sand. "I've even learned to love some guns.

So I thought, if I can be the strongest person in this world, I'll be

stronger in reality, too. I'll be able to forget that memory…but

when Death Gun attacked us earlier, I nearly had an episode. I

was terrified…somehow I had gone from 'Sinon' back to my real

self…That's why I have to fight him. I have to fight him and win…

or Sinon will be gone forever."

She clutched herself. "Of course I'm afraid of dying. But…but

more than that, I'm tired of living in fear. If I run from Death Gun

and my memory without fighting…I'll be weaker than I was before. I won't be able to have a normal life anymore. So…so…"

She shivered suddenly, struck by a terrible chill.

"Me too…" Kirito mumbled, the weak cry of a little lost child.

"I've killed someone before, too."

"Huh…?"

This time it was Kirito's body, still stuck to her back, that shivered.

"I told you earlier…that I knew the cloaked man…Death Gun,

in a different game."

"Y-yeah."

"The name of that game was…Sword Art Online. I assume

you've heard of it?"

"…"

It was largely what she expected to hear, but she couldn't help

but turn her head to look up at him. He had his back against the

wall of the cave, his dim eyes staring out into space.

Sinon recognized the name, of course. There couldn't be a

VRMMO player in Japan who hadn't heard of it—the cursed

game that trapped ten thousand people inside of it for two years,

ultimately stealing four thousand of those lives.

"Then, you're—"

"Yes. They called us SAO Survivors on the Net. And so is Death

Gun. I'm positive that we fought there, each trying to kill the

other." Kirito's eyes floated in space, seeing only the distant past.

"He was a member of a red guild named Laughing Coffin. In SAO,

based on the color of your cursor, we called criminals 'orange

players,' and groups of thieves 'orange guilds.' Those who actively

pursued and enjoyed killing were 'red.' And there were lots of

them…lots."

"B-but…didn't you actually die in that game, if your HP went

down to zero…?"

"That's right. But that was exactly the point. A number of players found killing to be the ultimate pleasure. Laughing Coffin was

a group of them. They attacked parties in the fields and dungeons

where the system wouldn't protect them, stealing their gold and

items, then killing them. The other players started to watch out

for them, but they came up with ways to continue finding victims…"

"…"

"So finally, we formed a giant party to vanquish them, and I

was in the group. When I say 'vanquish,' we weren't hoping to kill

the members of Laughing Coffin, we just wanted to neutralize

their threat and send them to jail. We found their hideout at great

pains, got together players that we knew could handle them,

level-wise, and ambushed them at night. But…the info got out

somehow. They trapped their lair and waited for us. We managed

to rebound, but it was a terrible battle…and at some point, I…"

His body trembled again, eyes wide and breath short.

"I killed two of them with my own hands. I chopped…one's

head off with my sword. The other, I stabbed through the heart.

The plan was just to imprison them, but I forgot about all of that.

My mind was racing…but…that's just an excuse. I could have

stopped, if I'd thought of it. But I let my fear and anger drive me.

At heart, I'm no different from them. In a way, my crime might be

even worse. I mean…"

He took a deep breath, let it out slowly, then continued, "I

mean, I completely forgot about what I did. Ever since I came

back to the real world, I never once thought about the face or

name of the two I killed then, or the one other I killed much later.

Not until I met Death Gun…in the dome beneath the regent's office yesterday…"

"So you're saying Death Gun was one of those…Laughing Coffin members…"

"Yeah. He must have been one of the members who survived

and was taken to prison. I remember his attitude, the way he

talked. I can almost…almost remember what his name was at the

time…"

He shut his eyes tight and pressed his knuckles to his forehead. Sinon just watched him, her back pressed against his knees.

The boy named Kirito was a player of Sword Art Online.

For two years, he had fought with his actual life on the line,

and survived.

She'd had her suspicions about him. But until he told her in

his own words, she hadn't appreciated the weight of those facts.

She recalled his question during the preliminary final yesterday.

If that bullet could actually kill a player in real life…and if

you didn't kill them, either you or someone you care about

would die, could you still pull the trigger?

That was the exact dilemma that Kirito had traversed. In a

way, it was extremely similar to the incident that befell Shino in

that post office five years ago.

"Kirito…"

Sinon got up and grabbed his shoulders. The boy's gaze was

just a bit out of focus, staring at some point in his past. She stuck

her face in his anyway, looking right into his eyes.

She rasped, "I can't say anything about what you did. I don't

have the right. So I really don't have the right to ask you this, either…but I want you to tell me just one thing. How…how did you

overcome those memories? How did you beat your past? How can

you be so strong right now?"

It was such a careless and self-centered thing to ask someone

who had just spelled out his own sins for her. But she had to ask

him. Kirito claimed that he forced himself to forget, but Sinon

couldn't even do that.

And yet…

Kirito blinked two or three times, then looked right into her

eyes. Slowly, he shook his head.

"…I haven't overcome them."

"Uh…"

"Last night, all my dreams were about the battle against

Laughing Coffin, and the three people I killed with my sword. I

barely got any sleep. I'll probably never forget the looks on their

faces, their voices, their words…in the moment they disappeared…"

"B…but…" Sinon stammered. "But…wh…what am I supposed

to do, then…?"

Will I be like this my whole life?

It was too cruel a sentence.

Was it all pointless? If she left this cave, fought Death Gun and

somehow won, would Shino's real-life pain continue forever—regardless of everything…?

"The thing is, Sinon," Kirito said, raising his right hand to

softly cover hers as she squeezed his shoulder, "that's probably

the right way of things. I lost my rational mind and killed people.

And I wasn't blamed for it; I was hailed as a hero. No one punished me, and no one taught me how to make amends for what I

did. So I took advantage of that, and avoided examining what I'd

done. I tried to forget. But that was a mistake. I cut them down

myself, ended their lives, and I should have taken on that weight

and continued to think about it. That was the very least I could

have done to make amends, and I didn't…"

"…Accept it…and…think about it. But…I can't do that…" she

mumbled.

"No matter how hard you try to keep it at bay, you can't erase

the past, and your memories never disappear. So…all you can do

is look them straight in the face and fight, so that you can one day

accept their burden."

"…"

The strength went out of Sinon's arms, and she slid back down

over Kirito's legs. With her back and head resting on him, she

gazed up at the ceiling of the cave.

Accept the memories, and fight. She couldn't possibly see herself as capable of that. The path to salvation that Kirito found belonged only to him, and she had to find her own way of coping,

she felt. But even still, his story might have cleared up one of her

troubles. She glanced at his pale face in the gloom and mumbled,

"Death Gun…"

"Hmm?"

"You're saying that under that tattered cloak is a real, actual

person."

"Well, of course. He was a former officer of Laughing Coffin,

that's for sure. If I could just remember his name from SAO, we'd

be able to find out his name and address in the real world. To be

honest, that's why I'm here in this game."

"…Oh…"

So that meant that at the very least, the cloaked man was not a

ghost from Shino's past. She squinted and thought it over. "Then

you're saying he can't get over what happened in SAO, and came

here to GGO…so he could keep PKing?"

"I think it's more than that… When he shot Zexceed and

Tarako, then Pale Rider in this event, he chose situations where

lots of eyes were on him. Same thing with making the sign of the

cross—he's doing all of this to convince a greater majority…that

he has the power to kill people from within the game…"

"But how can he do that…? The AmuSphere's not like the original…NerveGear, they called it? It can't emit those dangerous microwaves, right?"

"Supposedly. But according to the person who hired me to

come here, the cause of death for Zexceed and Tarako wasn't

brain damage, but heart failure."

"Huh…? Heart?"

The moment she heard that word, something chilly crawled up

her back, and Sinon couldn't help but shiver. Though it seemed

impossible, she put her thought into words. "Meaning…he killed

them with…some kind of curse, or supernatural powers…?"

As soon as she said it, she was afraid he would laugh at her,

but all that came back was Kirito's tense gaze.

"To be honest…unless we find the real person controlling that

cloaked avatar, I couldn't begin to guess how he's killing them. I

want to imagine that there's no way for someone firing virtual

bullets to stop the heart of a flesh-and-blood player…but, wait…

now that you mention it…"

He stopped and rubbed his narrow chin with his fingers,

which seemed to be his habit when thinking hard. Sinon looked

at him askance from her position atop his knees. He murmured

vaguely, "That's…weird…"

"What is?"

"When we were in the ruined city, why did Death Gun switch

over to his rifle to shoot me, rather than using his black pistol?

He was certainly close enough, and in terms of sheer power, the

pistol should be higher—one bullet is literally lethal, after all. On

top of that, I failed to avoid the rifle shot. If he used the pistol, he

could have killed me for sure…"

She found it stunning that he could rationally analyze the

chances of himself dying like that. Nevertheless, Sinon offered

her own thoughts. "Maybe because he didn't have time to make

the sign of the cross? Or the Black Star…oh, I should point out,

that gun is called a Type 54 Black Star…"

She momentarily had to stifle the unpleasantness of saying the

name aloud before continuing, "Maybe he thinks he has to make

the sign when he shoots that thing. Or perhaps the cross is necessary for him to do the killing?"

"Hmm…but when we were escaping on the buggy, he was

shooting at you with the Black Star. How could he be making the

sign of the cross while riding horseback?"

She glanced over at the three-wheeled buggy. The bullet hole

in the rear right bumper clearly belonged to a 7.62 mm round,

not the much larger .338 Lapua Magnum bullet. And she had witnessed for herself that Death Gun pulled out the Black Star while

on horseback and shot at her without making the sign of the

cross.

"Yes…you're right. That's true."

"Meaning that Death Gun could have killed me, but didn't. Yet

he shouldn't have a reason to let me go. I was the one who won

the prelim block…and to be totally honest, I stick out more than

you…"

"Sorry for being so plain," she said, elbowing him in the side.

He cleared his throat and continued, "Fine, let's say we're

about the same. At any rate, maybe it wasn't that he couldn't

shoot me, but that he had some other reason not to shoot me…"

"Hmm."

Sinon rolled over, so that she was facing downward atop Kirito's lap. She folded her hands over her head. Her suspicion of

and resistance to the boy hadn't disappeared, but she felt that the

warmth of their avatars' contact helped keep the black sensation

away. She was surrounded by a pale glow of reassurance, and her

head was slowly regaining its sense, thinking faster and faster.

"By the way, you were right when you said something was

weird…"

"I did?"

"I'm talking about the bridge. He shot Pale Rider with the

Black Star, but totally ignored the helpless Dyne right next to

him. I was sure he was going to shoot Dyne, too."

"Oh…but he was already dead at that point, wasn't he?"

"He was only dead in that his HP was gone and he couldn't

move. But his avatar was still there, and his mind was still logged

in. If his power transcends the game, why should the presence or

absence of HP make any difference to him?"

Kirito grunted. "Good point. That's exactly right. Same as in

the city, in that original scene, Death Gun had some kind of reason for shooting Pale Rider, but not Dyne…"

"Meaning…this? Between you and Dyne, and me and Pale

Rider, there's some kind of common element, marking some

players as targets, and some players not," Sinon muttered. She

felt Kirito nod.

"I think we can assume that's the case. And going back to earlier, I feel like Zexceed and Tarako must have shared something

with you and Pale Rider, too. Maybe it just comes down to

strength, or ranking, or whatever…"

"Pale Rider was tough and all, but he wasn't in the last tournament. Dyne's much higher when it comes to BoB rankings."

"Then maybe…it has something to do with a special event?"

"Not the case. I was in Dyne's squadron until just recently, and

we ventured out on several expeditions together. I hadn't met

Pale Rider, or even heard his name before this."

"What about Zexceed and Tarako?" Kirito asked. Sinon grimaced and turned over again. She looked up at the pretty face

and shrugged.

"Those two were celebrities within the game a rank above people like me and Dyne…Zexceed was the previous champion, and

Usujio Tarako was fifth or sixth, but also ran the largest squadron

on the server. I'd only talked to him once or twice."

"Hmm…Maybe it's equipment, then…or build type…"

"Everyone has different gear. I'm a sniper, Pale Rider used a

shotgun, Zexceed had a superrare XM29 assault rifle, I think.

Usujio Tarako used an Enfield machine gun. As for build…oh."

"What?" Kirito asked. She raised her eyebrows in apology.

"I wouldn't call it a common connection…but if you really

wanted to stretch, you could say that none of us played particularly AGI-heavy builds. But even that's kind of wind. Some of us

were more STR-based, others more VIT…"

"Hmmm…"

Kirito's pretty lips curled up, and he scratched at his head.

"Maybe he's just choosing his targets without a good reason…I

dunno, it feels like there's got to be something there, though. You

said you'd spoken to Usujio Tarako, right? What did you talk

about?"

"Umm…"

She tried to revisit her weak memory of the event, placing her

hands between her head and Kirito's legs, so that she was using

him for a pillow. It occurred to her that this was formally known

as a "lap pillow," and felt a sudden embarrassment rising within

her, but punted it away under the guise of emergency circumstances.

As a matter of fact, she hadn't made lengthy contact with another person like this for several years. An odd comfort buoyed

her heart, as though he was supporting some of her mental

weight with the physical. When it occurred to her that she'd like

to maintain it for a bit longer, the weak smile of Kyouji Shinkawa

floated into her head, and she felt guilty for some reason. If she

got back to the real world safely, maybe she'd work on tearing

down that wall between them…

"Hey, Sinon? What about Tarako?"

"Oh…uh, right." She blinked to clear her thoughts and revisited the distant memory. "I mean, it really was just for a moment.

I think…it was after the last tournament, when we went back to

the first-floor hall of the regent's office, just outside. We talked

about what the prize would be for two or three minutes…but I

didn't fight him directly in the battle, so it was just idle chatter."

"I see. And Death Gun wasn't in the last tournament…He

couldn't just be holding a grudge about not winning a prize…It

sounds like it's just a waste of time conjecturing about unlikely

causes."

Kirito sighed. He blinked a few times, trying to change his

mood, and looked down at Sinon. "By the way, I didn't look it up

beforehand…What is the prize?"

Impressed that in their dire situation, he had the ability to

care about what the event's grand prize was, Sinon answered,

"You get a choice. The options vary depending on where you

place…but we seem to be lasting pretty long here, so it might actually be good stuff. Assuming we survive the ordeal in one

piece."

"Like what, for example?"

"For starters, guns or armor…maybe hair dyes you can't buy in

the market, or clothes. But they won't have special capabilities,

they'll just stand out from the crowd. Also, it's kind of weird, but

they'll send you model guns based on the ones in the game."

"Model guns? So, like…not in-game items, but actual physical

replicas?"

"Yep. I placed poorly last time, and none of the in-game items

were very good, so I chose that option. In fact, I think Tarako

chose a model gun, too. I mean, yeah, it's a toy, but they use

metal, so it's actually quite realistic and fancy. At least, that's

what Shin—er, Spiegel said. As for me…"

She recalled the travesty of what happened when she pulled

the model gun out of her desk drawer a few days earlier, and grimaced. "I shoved it away in my desk, and haven't really looked at

it."

But Kirito seemed to have latched on to something, and he

didn't notice the look on her face.

"A prize…in real life?" he muttered, his expression surprisingly

serious. "And did the company itself send it to you? From America?"

"Yes, through EMS—international mail. That's actually a

pretty expensive service. I wonder if Zaskar makes a fortune on

this game," she smirked.

But when she looked at Kirito again, she blinked in surprise.

The lightswordsman was biting his lip, staring intently at a point

in space. It was not the look of one considering what he might receive as an award.

"Wh-what…? What's wrong?"

"EMS… But listen, I just made a GGO account the other day,

and the only things they asked for in terms of player info was an

e-mail address, age, and gender. How did they get your address?"

"Did you already forget?" Sinon asked, exasperatedly spreading her hands. "Remember how there was an address field when

you registered for the BoB prelims in the regent's office yesterday? There was a warning there: If you leave it blank, you can still

enter, but you might not be eligible for certain prizes. You didn't

enter your info, did you? You can't fill it in later, so you won't be

able to get a model gun…wait, what?!"

She yelped as Kirito put a hand on her shoulder and lifted her

face up toward his own. She froze, thinking he was about to do

something inappropriate, but of course, that wasn't the case.

His face was more serious than she'd ever seen, right up in

hers. But she couldn't fathom what was so important about what

he was asking her.

"What did Dyne pick in the last tournament?"

"Umm…I-I think it was in-game gear. He showed me once; it

was a really ugly-colored jacket."

"And Zexceed?"

"I-I don't know…I've never talked to him. But…he was all

about efficiency, through and through, so I don't think he'd have

any interest in a purely cosmetic item. So maybe he picked the

model gun. I heard that the winner and runner-up can get huge

rifle replicas. But…why do you ask?"

Kirito didn't answer her. He stared into her eyes, but she could

see his mind was afloat on a sea of thoughts.

"Not a virtual item…but a real model gun…If that's the connection between you, Pale Rider, Zexceed, and Tarako… EMS addresses…regent's office terminal…That's the place where…" he

mumbled, barely forming fragments of sentences, "Optical

Camo…but if it works…not just outdoors…"

Suddenly, the grip on her shoulder went as hard as stone. His

eyes were gaping wide, the tiny black dots trembling. Was it…

shock? Or fear?

Sinon got up just a tiny bit and shouted, "Wh-what? What is

it?!"

"Oh…oh, my God…This is crazy," he croaked, out of luscious

red lips. "I…I've been making a terrible mistake…"

"M-mistake?"

"When you play a VRMMO…the player's mind goes from the

real world to the game world, and you're talking, running, and

fighting there…So I just assumed that Death Gun was choosing

his targets and killing them from here…"

"He's…not…?"

"No. The player's body and mind aren't going anywhere. The

only difference between the real world and the virtual world is the

amount of information the brain processes. A player wearing an

AmuSphere only sees and hears digital sights converted into electron pulses."

"…"

"So you see…when Zexceed and the others died, they were in

their own rooms. Along with…the real…killer…"

"What…? What are you saying…?"

Kirito clamped his mouth shut for a moment, then opened it

again. The breath of his next statement emerged on Sinon's cheek

as freezing mist, as if chilled by his own fear.

"There are two Death Guns. The first one, the avatar in the cloak,

shoots the target in the game. The second one, who is already in

the target's real-life room, kills the player as he lies defenseless

and unaware."

At first, she didn't understand what Kirito meant. Sinon lurched

upward, her mind a blank. She shook her head back and forth.

"But…then…that's impossible. How could they find their…"

"You just said it. They got model guns."

"Then…then the company is doing it? Or did they breach the

database somehow…?"

"No…that's very unlikely. But even an ordinary player can figure out the address of the targets. Only if they appeared in the

BoB final, and they chose a model gun for their prize, however."

"…"

"The regent's office. Anyone who elects to receive a model gun

uses the terminal there to input their real name and address. I

wondered about it when I was filling out the prelim entry form…

Remember how they didn't put the terminals into booths or private rooms, but right in that wide-open hall space?"

Sinon finally caught on to what Kirito was getting at. She

gasped and shook her head in tiny, trembling bursts.

"No…you mean he spied on the terminal screen from behind?

That's impossible—the distance effects would render text impossible to see beyond a short distance, and you couldn't possibly

miss a person being that close to you."

"What if they used a scope or binoculars? Someone I know

claimed to have spotted someone punching in a security code

using a simple mirror. Is it possible to nullify the distance effect

using an item?"

"That would be crazy. If you used binoculars in such an obviously public place, you'd get reported to the GMs and banned.

This is an American game, so they take player harassment very

seriously."

But Kirito was expecting that response. He leaned in even

closer and whispered his theory, the words just barely audible.

"What if…what if the cape Death Gun's wearing…can make use

of the Optical Camo ability in town? It was very gloomy in the regent's office hall. If he went invisible in the shadows, nobody

would notice him. If he used large binoculars or a scope while

hidden, and watched the terminal screen…couldn't he also read

the address and real names that players were entering on the

form?"

"…"

Invisibility and long-distance sight tools. It might be possible

with that particular combination. In-game menu windows were

invisible to other players unless you enabled it, but because the

touch panel monitors on the terminals could sometimes be used

by a group of people at once, they displayed to everyone by default. In both this tournament and the previous one, Sinon had

entered her address and name with the screen set to visible. Had

someone…had that leering reaper in the tattered cloak actually

been watching her from behind? So he could copy her name onto

his murder list?

She desperately searched for reasons to discount it, unable to

accept the ramifications of this theory.

"But…even if they knew the real address…how would they get

inside without a lock? What about the victims' families?"

"Both Zexceed and Tarako lived alone…in old apartment

buildings. They probably had real outdated electronic locks with

weak security. Plus, they're guaranteed that any target logged in

to GGO will be completely unaware of their presence. Even if

breaking in proves difficult, they don't have to worry about being

detected."

She took another deep breath. It was only in the last seven or

eight years that home locks had followed car locks in transitioning to keyless electronic models. It made lockpicking impossible,

but she felt like she remembered reading about the early models

having "master signals" like master keys, that were cracked and

rearranged into unlocking devices that were traded on the black

market. Since then, she used not just an electronic lock, but a

physical one and a keypad as well. That reassurance did not eliminate the cold crawling up and down her back, however.

Death Gun was not a vengeful spirit from the past, or an

avatar with mysterious powers, but a normal, real-life killer.

As the theory took on more and more weight in her mind, a

different kind of fear settled over her body. Urged onward by a

sense of resistance that she didn't understand, she came up with

the last possible rebuttal.

"Then…what about the cause of death? You said 'heart failure,'

right? Can they stop the heart using some method the police and

doctors can't detect?"

"They probably inject some kind of drug, if I had to guess…"

"But…wouldn't they find that? Like the injection mark, or—"

"The bodies were apparently discovered after a significant

amount of decomposition. Plus…sad to say, it's not that uncommon for VRMMO players to die of heart attacks. After all, they're

just lying around all day without eating or drinking…As long as

the killer isn't ransacking the house or stealing anything, the authorities are going to assume it was a natural death. Still, they

took a close look at the state of the brains, but from what I understand…if they didn't expect that the victims were drugged, they

wouldn't detect something like that."

"…No way…"

She clutched Kirito's jacket, shaking her head like a child having a tantrum.

Killing for the sake of killing, using such incredibly thorough

means…The mind of someone who would do such a thing was beyond her understanding. All she felt was unlimited darkness,

filled with tremendous evil.

"…It's insane," she whispered.

Kirito nodded. "I know. It's crazy. But…while I can't understand it, I can imagine it. He was willing to go to those lengths to

stay a 'red player.' I know that…because there's also a part of me

that still feels like the swordsman who fought on the front line of

Aincrad…"

The name was unfamiliar, but she soon processed that he was

referring to the castle floating in the sky that was the setting of

Sword Art Online. For just an instant, she forgot her fear.

"I think…for whatever reason, I understand, too. There are

times when I think of myself as a sniper…but then, what about

the other one, not the player in the cloak…?"

"Yes, I think it's likely that they're another SAO survivor. Possibly even a fellow survivor of Laughing Coffin…You can't pull off

a murder like this without significant teamwork…Oh, wait.

Maybe…"

She gave Kirito a quizzical glance, prompting him to explain.

"Oh, it's nothing serious. I was just thinking about the cross

gesture. It could be both a sign for the audience, as well as camouflaging a chance to check his watch. After all, he's got to coordinate things with the accomplice in the real world in a very tight

window. And he can't just keep checking his watch every time he

shoots—it would stick out."

"I see…If he hid a small watch on the inside of his wrist, he'd

be able to see the time when he touches his forehead."

Sinon couldn't help but be impressed at the ingenuity of the

idea. Suddenly, Kirito grabbed her by the shoulders. His face was

more serious than ever as he slowly asked, "Sinon…do you live

alone?"

"Y…yes."

"Do you lock up? What about a door chain?"

"I have both an electronic lock and an old-fashioned cylinder

lock…The lock itself is one of those early electronic types. And the

chain…"

She stopped, frowning as she tried to recall what she did before diving in.

"…might not be on."

"Okay. Listen carefully, then."

There was deeper concern on Kirito's face than she'd ever seen

before. Her body went as cold as if ice had been poured into her

chest.

No, I don't want to hear what comes next, she thought, but his

lips didn't stop.

"Death Gun tried to shoot you while you were paralyzed next

to the ruined stadium. In fact, when he was chasing us on the

robot horse, he did shoot at you. That must mean…his preparations are complete."

"Prep…arations? What kind of…"

Her voice was barely audible. Kirito paused for the slightest of

moments and whispered back.

"I think it's possible that…at this very moment, Death Gun's

accomplice is in your room back in the real world, watching the

tournament and waiting for the moment you get shot."

It took quite some time for his words to penetrate her mind

and form a tangible meaning.

The sights around her faded as the familiar sight of her room

came to her mind. She stared down at the small room from a

height, like some kind of out-of-body experience.

There was the tile flooring that she vacuumed regularly. The

pale yellow rug. A small wooden table. The black writing desk on

the west wall, next to a black pipe-frame bed. The plain white

sheets. On top of the bed, dressed in loose sweater and short

pants, was herself—eyes closed, a double-ringed metal device

around her forehead. And…

Standing at the edge of the bed and watching the sleeping

Shino, a dark figure. Its form was blacked out into a simple silhouette, but one thing in its hand was clearly visible: a cloudy

glass syringe with a silver needle extending from the end, filled

with a fatal substance.

"No…no…"

She turned her tense, creaking neck, moaning. The vision disappeared, replaced by a sandy cave, but the glinting of the intruder's syringe still flashed in her eyes.

"No…it can't be…"

It was more than just "fear" at this point. A seething impulse

to reject the idea raced through her, sending her entire body

trembling. A stranger was standing right next to her, looking

down at her helpless, unaware body. In fact, it might be worse

than that. He could be touching her…looking for the right spot to

inject the needle…

She felt something block her throat. She couldn't breathe. Her

back arched, squirming in search of air.

"Ah…aaah…"

Her vision faded. A rushing roar filled her ears. Her soul was

ripping away from this temporary body—

"No, Sinon!!" bellowed a voice in her ear, deafeningly loud.

Someone clutched her arms. "It's too dangerous to disconnect on

your own! Hang in there…try to calm down! It's all right, you're

not in danger yet!!"

"Ah…ah…"

Her eyes were wide open, but focused on nothing, so she

reached out blindly, clinging to the source of the voice. Her arms

circled around the warmth of the body, clinging desperately.

A powerful arm reached around her back and enfolded her,

holding her tight. His other hand tenderly, softly stroked her hair.

The whisper again: "The intruder can't do anything to you

until you're shot by the Black Star, Death Gun's pistol. That's the

rule they created. But if your heart rate or internal temperature

causes the unit to log you out automatically, you'll see the intruder's face, and that puts you in danger. So you need to stay

calm."

"But…but, I'm scared…I'm scared…" she pleaded like a child,

burying her face into Kirito's shoulder. She squeezed harder and

eventually felt the faint but regular rhythm of Kirito's pulse.

Sinon focused with all her might on the pulse, trying to blot

out the terrifying image hanging over the back of her mind.

Tump, tump, tump. About once a second, his heart beat, the

pulse blending into her body. Like matching a metronome, the

wild allegro of Sinon's pulse slowly synchronized with his.

As though she had become one with Kirito's mind, the symptoms of her panic faded. The fear was still there, but she could tell

that the reason and rationality to control it was returning to her

mind.

"…You feel calmer now?" Kirito asked quietly. He started to remove his arm from her back, but Sinon shook her head.

"Stay…just like this, a bit longer."

He didn't respond, but she felt the solid warmth return. With

each stroke of her head by the delicate hand, she felt the ice at her

core melt a little. Sinon took a deep breath, shut her eyes, and let

the tension flow away.

After most of a minute, Sinon mumbled, "Your hands feel like

my mom's."

"Y-your mom's? Not your dad's?"

"I don't know anything about my dad. He died in an accident

when I was a baby."

"…Oh," he said simply. Sinon buried her face in his chest.

"Tell me what to do," she said, her voice much firmer than she

expected.

Kirito stopped stroking her hair and answered promptly, "We

beat Death Gun. If that happens, his accomplice in the real world

will have to disappear. In fact, you can just stay back here. I'll

fight. He can't kill me with that gun of his."

"Are you sure…it'll work?"

"Yeah. I didn't write my name or address on my entry form,

and I'm not even diving from my own home. There's someone

watching over me, as well. So I'll be fine. I'm just going to beat

him according to the rules of the game."

"But…he's still really tough, even without the Black Star. You

saw him dodge my Hecate shot from just a hundred yards, didn't

you? He might be your equal when it comes to dodging."

"True, I'm not perfectly confident in my chances…As far as

other options, like you said earlier, we can hide out here until

there are only three players left, then commit suicide, but…"

He glanced at his watch. Sinon looked at the numbers as well:

9:40 PM. They'd already completely passed the nine thirty Satellite Scan. Nearly twenty-five minutes had passed since they had

entered the cave.

Her eyes traveled from his watch to his face. She slowly shook her

head. "I don't think I can just keep hiding in here. Pretty soon,

the other players will realize that we're hiding in the desert caves.

There aren't that many to choose from, so they could toss in a

grenade at any time. In fact, we're pretty lucky to have survived

nearly half an hour in here."

"Oh, I see…" Kirito murmured, biting his lip and glancing at

the mouth of the cave.

She told him, "We've been working as a team for this long.

Might as well fight together to the end."

"But…what if he shoots you with the pistol…?"

"It's just an old-fashioned single-action handgun," Sinon

claimed, surprised at how easily the statement slipped out of her

mouth. For years, the Type 54 Black Star had been The Gun—the

very image of terror that plagued Shino.

But it wasn't that the fear was gone. If it was coincidence that

Death Gun had chosen the Black Star to be his symbol, then The

Gun really was the very curse that haunted Shino's life. But the

one thing that she could say was that as an item in this game, the

Type 54 was not very powerful. If she feared the gun more than

the threat it actually represented, she would be passing up her

chance to fight back.

"Even if he shoots it at me, you can use that sword of yours to

knock it away with ease, right? Its firing rate is barely a tenth of a

proper assault rifle, after all," she noted, suppressing the trembling of her voice.

Kirito grinned, a combination of worry and relief. "Yeah… I

won't let him shoot you. But in order to ensure that, I think it's

best if you don't expose yourself to him."

She started to argue, but he held up a hand. "Trust me, I'm

grateful that you're offering to fight alongside me. But you're a

sniper, Sinon. Long-distance shooting is the entire basis of your

style, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"Tell you what. When the next scan comes, I'll jump out into

the map to expose my location and draw Death Gun's interest.

My guess is that he'll hide in the distance and try to shoot me

with his rifle. You use that information to detect his location, and

shoot him back. Deal?"

"…So you're going to act as a decoy and spotter?" she asked,

shocked by the reckless bravado of his plan, but based on the

combination of their builds, that was probably the most effective

plan they had. It was clear that in a combination of extreme closerange and long-range fighters, one of the two would be ineffective.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Deal. Let's do it. But

you'd better not die on his very first shot."

"I-I'll try…but his rifle is silent, and there's no bullet line to detect."

"And who was it that bragged about predicting the prediction

line?"

Sinon noticed that the fear hanging over her back was fading

as they teased each other, still holding each other tight. In truth,

she was just trying not to think about the horrifying possibility

that a murderer was inside her apartment at that very moment.

She had no choice but to cling to Kirito's notion that defeating

Death Gun would render him helpless. In fact, perhaps it wasn't

his words that she clung to, as much as his virtual body heat.

When they left the cave and she split off from Kirito to find a

sniping position, she wasn't sure that she'd be able to maintain

her current state of mind. So she leaned against him one last

time, feeling the warmth of his avatar while she still had the

chance.

Kirito murmured suspiciously, "Um…anyway, Sinon, I can't

help but notice that some weird red circle has been blinking in

the bottom right corner…"

"Huh?"

Her eyes glanced over and saw the indicator he was talking

about. For a moment, she had to remember what it meant—then

her eyes shot up. She found what she expected to see on the ceiling and was about to leap up from his legs before she realized it

would be pointless after that much time. She sighed, "Oh…crap, I

didn't think about that…"

Floating up in the air was an odd, pale blue group of concentric circles. It was not a tangible object, but a symbolic glowing

light effect. Kirito had spotted it, too, and he was quite confused.

"Umm…what was that thing, again…?"

Sinon shrugged and answered, "It's a livestream camera. It

usually only follows players engaged in battle, but since we're

running low on combatants, it's had to come after us."

"Uh…crap, do you think it heard what we've been discussing?"

"Don't worry, it doesn't pick up voice unless you really shout at

the top of your lungs. Go on, give it a wave," she suggested, her

tone of voice presenting a cool challenge. "Or is there someone

you'd prefer not to see this?"

For a second, Kirito's face went cold with fear, which was

quickly covered with a nervous, stiff smile. "Uhh…no…well…

wouldn't that be you? Besides, wouldn't most people watching

this just assume we're two girls?"

"Uh…"

He had a point there. In either case, it seemed that Sinon

would be required to make some uncomfortable excuses. But that

could wait until they had survived the current crisis.

She snorted and said, "It would be more pathetic to freak out

the moment you see a camera watching you. And I don't mind…If

people want to start rumors about my tastes, at least it will cut

down on the number of times I get hit on."

"Does that mean I have to pretend I'm a girl from now on?"

"Don't tell me you've conveniently forgotten that you pretended to be a girl to get me to guide you around town…Oh, it's

gone."

Just as it occurred to Sinon that no one watching could possibly guess that they were having such a witheringly sarcastic conversation, the visual effect that indicated the presence of a camera

left in search of a new target.

She sighed with relief and finally sat up. "So…it's time. Only

two minutes until the next satellite pass. I'll stay down here and

you'll check your terminal outside the cave, right?"

She got to her feet and offered a hand to her human chair,

helping him up. When she took a step backward, the chill of the

desert embraced her body, causing her to wince. She picked up

her rifle and clutched the cold steel, feeling the faint core of

warmth within it.

"Oh, by the way," Kirito prompted. She looked up to see that

the lightswordsman's fine brows were furrowed in thought.

"What is it now? We don't have time to change plans."

"No…the plan is fine. What I'm thinking about is…Death Gun's

real name, or official character name. It was Steven, right?"

"Oh…right, that was it. I wonder what the meaning of that

was…"

"If I do come into close range, I'll have to ask. Well, time to dip

outside."

The black-haired swordsman gave her a resolute nod, turned

and started for the entrance of the cave. Sinon couldn't tell if the

chill on her skin even with the Hecate in her arms was from the

tension of the imminent final battle, the peril that threatened her

in real life—or the loneliness of being separated from Kirito.

She hunched her shoulders, drew in a deep breath of dry

desert air, and called out to the back of the man walking away.

"…Be careful."

His answer was an upward thumb, visible over his shoulder.