6 Problematic Passion...

Silica smiled spritely as she stopped beside Karasu, folding her hands behind her back. "Karasuuu," she spoke lightly, playfully. "We're at the fields, but do you think we're the last to show up, or do you think more are coming?" Karasu, for his part, took a moment to answer; he was busy swallowing. He'd been prepared for a few hundred... but not this. Before them was a bona fide army...! There must have been almost two thousand players standing around hacking through any monsters that spawned.

"Man... what the hell? But hey, at least there's tons of cute girls! Ah, Karasu, my guy, you nervous? Don't worry, we got your back, you don't gotta do this alone." The American clapped Karasu's shoulder, grinning, and it had merit, genuinely calming him some.

"Thank you kindly, my guy," Karasu answered, helping Silica as she tried to lace their fingers together. "You too, love," he added, reaching across to pat Silica's head.

"Hey, Karasu!" A jaunty man's voice called, and he looked up, confused. Coming forward was a tall (for a Japanese man), lean man with long, blue hair that was slightly curled, and bright, hazel green eyes. He was like the male equivalent of the girl next door trope, with his earnest expression and kind eyes.

"Um, hello. Does every player in the game know who I am, by now?"

"Ah, I'm sorry, does that make you uncomfortable?" the blue haired man frowned slightly. "I'm sure not every player knows you, but most of the people here do. There was this redheaded guy running down the street, screaming about..." He looked a bit awkward, now, perhaps wishing that he hadn't begun this sentence. "Something about Hokkaido's legendary Dragon Prince wanting everyone to meet him in the fields outside of town at noon? Personally, I live in Wakkanai, so I've heard a few things... but I don't follow gossip much."

"Silica, am I really a celebrity? This doesn't seem right."

"It seems right," she admitted sheepishly. "I try not to talk about it because I don't want you to get the wrong idea and think that I'm attracted to you because of your fame."

"What the hell?! I mean, of course I wouldn't think that, but come on! I can't be famous!"

"Bitch, you the Runner and the Dragon Prince! What did you expect?" Trevon laughed, mentioning Karasu's Runner title again.

"The Runner? You mean like in the video game? Oh, by the way, I'm Diavel. But ah, like in the video game?"

"Ugh, yes. They use actors for video games more and more nowadays, and my Uncle works in the company that made that game," he briefed it, referring to a console game called 'Skyward Ronin'. "The actor who was supposed to play the main character broke his leg, and my Uncle happened to know a fit martial artist... just needed parkour training," he explained, sighing. "I can explain more on that some other time, or something..." Karasu felt a bit drained, and rubbed at his temples.

"Man, you're like an anime protagonist; dense as hell. You modeled for a video game and you break some records, of course you'll be known."

"Okay!" Karasu snapped, frowning, his voice coming out much more harshly than he meant for it to. "Enough about it, please," he added, voice turning harsh. Silica frowned and sighed, leaning into his arm and nuzzling like a cat.

"Sorry, Karasu. I guess it makes sense that you wouldn't want to stand out here, too."

"I think you're misunderstanding, Karasu." Diavel spoke with a pleasant, charming smile. "I can imagine, Karasu, I bet you've gotten some unwanted attention in school and such; but is it possible that the reasons aren't all bad? I think a lot of people would be daunted if they were to try and walk up to someone like you... there are Japanese nationalists, sure, and maybe they don't like you since you don't look fully Japanese. Here, though, in Sword Art Online, you're only going to stand out in the best of ways." He smiled still more brightly at the end, holding out a fist for a bump. Reluctantly, Karasu obliged. He did feel a bit better hearing that, and realized that Diavel was both smarter and more sensitive than your average guy... he'd be a pleasure to have around.

"Hm... I like you, Diavel," Karasu spoke softly. "Thank you, for that. There are a lot of reasons for people to avoid me in real life, but you're right; here, only the good points are known to others."

"Well, I'm very glad you like me, Karasu, because I want to ask; may I join your party? I'm going for the Knight class, and I promise I'll do my utmost to be useful!"

"Well, there's a few rules, if you want to join," Karasu said seriously, narrowing his eyes. However, he made sure to pour as much joking energy into his next statement as he could.

"Uh, a-alright! What are they?"

"Don't touch Silica and don't be an ass," the Shinobi answered, dropping the serious act and laughing. "The three of us are friends, don't worry, we're not going to impose any dictatorship in this party." Diavel laughed and nodded, looking to be genuinely amused, but Silica was pouting.

"Karasu! We are NOT friends! Don't make me kiss you," she added playfully, loosing a contrastingly innocent giggle. Diavel blushed a bit, seeming to be embarrassed by the affectionate tone and words.

"Well! So, does that mean that you three are okay with my joining?"

"Yeah."

"Yep!"

"Hell yeah, you can be my guy too!" Trevon was the one to send the actual party invitation, and Diavel accepted, adding his name, level (3), health and skill points to the list in Karasu's peripheral.

"Alright, Diavel, welcome to the team," Karasu spoke lightly, grinning. By now, he was done with his awkward fluster over the unwanted attention; part of the 'socially awkward' package, and all.

"Karasu, Karasu!!" Another voice, behind him; Klein, waving excitedly at the head of a group of young men. "What are your orders, man? My boys and I are going to run around and give them out."

"Follow Trevon and I, and kill any mobs that we come across. We'll leave in ten minutes, and people should try to form parties to split up all the earned experience." He spoke without pausing to think, and Trevon laughed, speaking sarcastically.

"Not much of a gamer, huh? Least that's what Silica said."

"Haha, you got it Karasu! We're off!" Klein grinned like an old friend, and his group all bolted in different directions. Karasu, meanwhile, exhaled slowly and turned to Trevon, Silica and Diavel.

"Guys... forgive me, but I'm going to need to lean on the two- the three- of you for this. I am anything but a leader, even if people are rallying for me."

"A great leader inspires and cares for his own, Karasu," Diavel spoke wisely. "I'd say you've got those makings, wouldn't you? I'm sorry, though, I'll stop," Mister Blue chuckled and waved a hand. "I'll stand by and wait for your orders, leader."

~~~

"Diavel... how are you with the ladies?" Trevon asked about an hour later.

"Actually, I'm married!" the blue haired gentleman smiled brightly, and Karasu felt his jaw slacken just a bit. "My wife didn't enter the game with me... so I'm determined to get through this game and return to my family! When I heard that somebody was demanding against all odds that nobody die, of course I had to come and join up... that's the real reason I came to ask about joining the party, by the way Karasu. It's a nice ideal to hold, and I don't have a lot of hope for it myself..." Diavel trailed off, and though his words sounded nice enough on the surface, they hit Karasu like a fist of steel in the abdomen.

This is what Karasu heard in those words; "Karasu, I need to get home to my family, and I don't know that I can. Since you want nobody to die, I'll entrust my life to you."

"I see," the Shinobi nodded slowly. "Well, I meant what I said, Diavel. I won't let anybody die, so long as there's something I can do to stop it."

~~~

"Alright, through here," Trevon said, leading Karasu, Silica and Diavel into a small tower, maybe four stories, like the corner of a European fort. Half of their assemblage had already been through here and gone to the nearby town to rest, while the other half was training out in the forest nearby. Of that half, half of every party was resting already, experience being neatly split. However, while the party of four had been in the forest, they'd chanced on this barely tall, crooked tower. Karasu followed just behind Trevon, looking around. The air... it reeked of mold and assorted moisture, and the light was faint, to put it nicely.

"In every room but this, there are enemies. Let's say we each take turns solo fighting the room, to show Diavel what we've got and see his style?" Trevon spoke calmly, every bit the gamer. "Diavel, the monsters here are level three, so you shouldn't have too hard a time," he added to the kindly man who had now reached level five.

"Alright, then, why don't I go first?" Diavel smiled and drew a steel broadsword, headed toward a nearby door. Trevon grinned and nodded, at which Diavel slid through the door with his new companions on his heels. Karasu watched as, immediately, a paid of skeletal monsters that reminded him of the Norse Draugr myth came down. One carried a clawmore, and the other a heavy mace that looked like it could crush through Diavel's skull with little to no effort.

When both weapons slashed toward Diavel, he slashed twice with decent speed, parrying the weapons and then going on the attack. Whirling, he hacked downward, taking the arms holding a claymore away from their owner. He went for the kill, then, but was forced back by the mace, made to parry again.

"Switch!" Diavel called, naming a potential tactic that Karasu had seen in a pop up somewhere. Taking the clue, Karasu drew the Violet Rose as Diavel fell back, beheading the armless zombie and parrying the mace in one blow with such force that the remaining undead staggered back, dropping its weapon, and Karasu needed only to pierce his chest.

"Gruhhbbh..." Nonsense, mumbled from the next room, just seconds before the door crashed inward and several more of the undead warriors ran in, snarling and raising weapons.

"This room is too small to hold our own in," Karasu shouted. "Silica, support me, Diavel and Trevon, head into another room so we have more space to breathe!" He called on a skill he'd unlocked after leveling up recently; Assassin's Gear, which let him seize a throwing knife from nowhere and hurl it, should he know how. Of course, the shinobi did, in fact, know, and the knife sailed into a zombie's forehead, staggering it. Before the thing could right itself, Karasu pierced it and ripped, tearing it halfway through. He probably wasted too much time on that kill, because Silica pulled... an unexpected move, really.

Parrying a blade headed for Karasu's neck, Silica leapt up, clamping her thighs around the zombie's head and twisting, snapping the neck. As the rotting body began to fall, she sprang off the corpse and swung her legs around the next mob's neck, landing on her feet and sending it sprawling to the dirt.

"What...?" Silica slammed her knife down in one swift stroke, gouging out the zombie's eye and shattering the whole thing into pixels while Karasu blocked and returned another blow.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you," Silica spoke in a voice that was almost a snarl, hopping back into the fight. "Too much life left to live."

"No, I mean... I mean, thank you, but how'd you do that?"

"A skill called Acrobatics, it's description is something about agile combat in the face of danger..." She wrenched her knife between a zombie's ribs and twisted, dodging a blow and driving it deeper to kill the mindless corpse.

"Ayano..." She was pressing harder than him, now, frenzied and with a dark look in her eyes as she moved into the next room, slashing necks and piercing temples. Karasu followed her, but there was nothing to be done as experience flowed into his profile, as he watched her decimate body after body. After several minutes, she paused, limping and staggering on the spot... all of the enemies around them dead and gone. Seeing her so weak, Karasu moved forward and took her, lowering himself to the floor and holding Silica gently.

"Ayano... listen, you have to calm down. This isn't healthy, to push yourself like that..."

"Karasu," she murmured, reaching up and gently cupping his cheek. Suddenly, she was much too serious, but there was love in her eyes. "If you weren't here, I'd be hiding in the Town of Beginnings, probably hopping from party to party, too afraid to do much of anything... and I feel safe with you, but at the same time, I'd be lying if I didn't say I was scared; for you."

"Ayano, I'm not-"

"Karasu, I love you," she whispered, blushing like an innocent schoolgirl. "I know you don't want anything to happen, to anyone... but that's going to stretch you thin, and I'm scared of the day you finally snap, break. It's going to happen, and there's nothing that I'll be able to do about it... I don't want you to break, you know? Just thinking about it makes my spine crawl. I'm sorry, though, I lost my head, I don't know what's wrong with me..." Ayano seemed abashed, now.

"I'd ask if you're alright, but it would be a dumb question, wouldn't it..."

"It really would, and I say that in the most loving way possible-"

"KARASU, SILICA, COME LOOK AT THIS!"