Hey guys! Firestorm40 here with a new chapter for you all. This one will mainly focus on Shoto, while Kirito and Asuna are out on their honeymoon as he meets another player. Enjoy!

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After killing Godfree, Kuradeel turned his attention to Shoto and Kirito before he started walking towards them.

"Because of punks like you two, I ended up having to kill an innocent person." Kuradeel said, with faux concern. 

"You bastard..." Kirito snarled, trying in vain to move past the effects of the poison. 

"You joined a murder guild, huh? Makes sense, actually..." Shoto growled, as he couldn't move either.

"Yes, that's how I got the skills to paralyze you bastards, and how I'm going to kill you," Kuradeel giggled, his eyes wide with dark pleasure. "I think I'll kill the black-haired one. You can have the blond. Sound good, Ned?"

"I like that idea!" Ned said cheerfully, as though someone had asked a little boy if he wanted some pizza or ice cream. "It might actually be better than my game where they both kill each other to try and survive! Oh, but we'd better get this done soon, or the poison will wear off. We can't have that!"

And he moved closer to Shoto, even as Kuradeel moved to kill Kirito. They both giggled even louder as the two boys tried in vain to move. Kuradeel stabbed Kirito in the leg first, causing the Black Swordsman to grunt in pain.

"Kirito!" Shoto cried out. 'Damn it, why isn't the poison wearing off!?'

Giggling, Ned went over to Shoto and stabbed him in the chest, causing the Yellow Fang to also grunt in pain. 

"Well, how does it feel?! What's it like being in the brink of death? Come on, feel free to share!" Ned said, giggling even more.

Kirito and Shoto looked and saw their HP were now moving in the orange zone.

"I'm not dying like this!" Shoto said, as he grabbed Ned's sword and tried to pull it out of his chest.

'Are... Are Shoto and I going to die like this?' Kirito thought.

"Hey, come on! Say something! You're really gonna die!" Kuradeel said, moving the sword around.

He then took out the sword from Kirito's thigh and stabbed him in the stomach. As Kirito's HP was now within the red zone, he slowly closed his eyes.

"Don't give up hope, Ki! You gotta fight this! Are you really going to roll over and leave Asuna!?" Shoto exclaimed, still struggling to pull out Ned's sword.

Soon, Ned took out a knife and stabbed him in the leg. "Maybe you should worry more about yourself, blondie." Ned said, casuing Shoto to glare at him.

Hearing what Shoto said, Kirito's eyes shot opened before he grabbed Kuradeel's sword and tried to take it out of his body.

"Oh, what's this? So you are afraid of dying?" Kuradeel said, a bit surprised.

"Shoto's right. I can't...die just yet!" Kirito said, struggling to pull out the sword.

"Really? That's how it's gonna be!" Kuradeel said, forcing the sword into Kirito's body more while Kirito was trying to take it out.

"Kirito!" Shoto said, before he noticed his HP was also in the red zone too. "Damn it!"

"Die! Die! DIE!!!!" Kuradeel and Ned screamed loudly, unti something was suddenly approaching the group at a rapid rate..

"What the?" Kuradeel said, in shock.

"What's that?" Ned said, surprised.

Before either one could do anything, Kuradeel was sent flying away into a wall by a powerful force. The next instant, Ned was slashed mutliple time. Even though the poison was one-time use, the madman shrieked in shock before he was also blown away.

Kirito and Shoto looked up and saw someone who they couldn't be happier to see. Asuna.

She ran over to the two and take's out two crystals. "Heal!" She said, as the crystals broke and Kirito and Shoto's HP went all the way to green again.

"I made it. Thank God...I both made it." Asuna said, as she was breathing hard and looked down at the two boys.

"Man, I couldn't be any more happier to see you." Shoto grinned, despite the situation. "How did you know we were in trouble?"

Asuna smiled. "While I was monitoring your location on the map, Godfree's marker disappeared, so I thought something must've happened... You're both alive... You're alive, aren't you, Kirito?" She began tearing up.

"Yeah, I am." Kirito said, smiling.

Soon, Kuradeel got up from the ground, using his sword. Asuna saw him get up and glared.

"Wait here. I'll finish this quickly." Asuna said, before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Shoto, who was now on his feet with Kirito.

"We're going to take them out together." Kirito said. Asuna looked at him, before smiling. 

"You two take Skeletor over there," Shoto told him. "I got this lunatic." Nodding Kirito and Asuna went to deal with Kuradeel.

"Oh you do, now do you?" Ned giggled as he rose, suddenly back in control of himself. "Let's see how well you do when I hit you with this baby?" He pulled out a sword tinted green with poison. "Dance, shall we?"

"Bring it!" Shoto whirled his sword to deflect the blade with ease as soon as Ned stabbed at him. Then he grabbed the man's arm, before bringing him closer and slammed his elbow into his face. 

Ned cried out in pain as his head went backwards, leaving him wide open. Seeing his chance, Shoto spun around and used his sword to severe Ned's head from his body, causing him to explode into shattering fragments.

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"Die, damn you!" Kuradeel screamed, slashing at Kirito with sloppy movements.

"You first," Kirito growled, deflecting the sword. He then attacked Kuradeel with a weak-but-fast attack called Rage Spike. The blow took him in the arm, causing him to shriek and turn to face the Black Swordsman.

Seeing he was distracted, Asuna slashed her sword across Kuradeel's face, leaving a scar.

"Damn!" Kuradeel said, trying to slash both of them but they dodged his strikes. Asuna then thrusted her sword at him, striking everywhere around his body. Knowing he couldn't avoid her attacks, Kuradeel dropped his sword.

"O-Okay, I understand! I'm sorry! I'll leave your friends alone! I'll never appear before you ever again! So please! I don't want to die!" Kuradeel said, dropping on his knees and begging pitifully.

Asuna stopped her sword form stabbing him in the back. Seeing this, Kuradeel smiled grabbed his sword and knock Asuna's rapier from her hand.

"You're too naive, Vice Commander!" Kurabeel said, prepared to remove Asuna's head from her shoulders. But Kirito was even faster, shoving her out of the way and blocking with his left hand, which caused it to be cut off and shatter into sparks. But his right hand still held his Elucidator and it stabbed Kuradeel through the chest, draining the last of his health points.

"Damn you..." he groaned. "You... murdered me..." Then he shattered, much to Kirito's satisfaction. The pair turned just in time to see Shoto walk up to them.

"Well, that's done." he said. Whirling his sword in reverse as he always did when a battle was over, he sheathed his blade. Turning to his friends, he said, "That should be the last time Laughing Coffin bothers us. I doubt Poh would want to come after us himself, and he's probably the only one that could actually hurt any of us other than those two." He opened his menu and passed out health potions to them.

To his surprise, when he handed one to Asuna, she began to sob uncontrollably. "Asuna...?" Kirito asked softly as she broke down in his arms.

"I'm so sorry..." she cried. "This is all my fault... If I had done something sooner, Kuradeel wouldn't have..." She began to hiccup in addition to her tears. "I... should... stay away from all of you... For your sakes."

"Asuna," Shoto shook his head firmly. "You're part of the family now. We're the Three Muskteers. We're not going to just let you walk away like that. You mean too much to us."

"But-" Her words were cut off as Kirito raised her chin and kissed her right on the mouth. She seemed to resist for a moment, then she melted into the tender embrace. Shoto looked on with a shocked expression before it turned into a huge grin. He knew there was chemistry between the two of them, but this was something that he hadn't expected for a while longer. 

"Bout damn time..." He chuckled.

When they finally separated, Kirito bowed his head against Asuna's and he said, "My life belongs to you... Until the end. I'll make sure that you get home, no matter what."

New tears spilled from her eyes, but now they were tears of joy instead of pain. "And I... will be there to protect you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him in return.

"Asuna... Can I stay the night with you?" Kirito looked at her with utter sincerity. But before she could muster a response, another voice broke in.

"Uh hello! I'm still here, you know." Shoto yelled, causing the young couple to flush furiously as they suddenly remembered that their friend was present. "First of all, you're going to talk all freaky, make sure I'm not within hearing range. Second, there is no way that you two are spending the night together unless you're married first!"

"Why not?!" Asuna shot back, her face still bright red. "Couples do that kind of thing all the time! Why shouldn't we?!"

"Wait, what?" Kirito gasped. Then it hit him. "Oh, wait... No! Come on, Shoto! You know I didn't mean it like that! I just wanted to sleep next to her..."

"Oh yeah, and I'm the Easter Bunny!" Shoto snorted. "We're all teenagers, but you got a ridiculous surplus of hormones running through your bodies right now. You may be fine here and now, but when it comes to it? Would you really say no if she came on to you?"

"Yeah..." Kirito replied slowly. Shoto gave his friend a blank look and Kirito relented. "Okay, no, probably not. Still, what do you have against it?"

"Okay, let me ask you this," Shoto sighed. "If you sleep together now, out of wedlock, how will you ever be able to trust each other that you won't sleep with another person out of wedlock?!" His eyes were determined, indicating his intense passion on the subject, which surprised the others. Kirito was even more surprised at the level of vehemence that he was displaying now.

"Uh... Maybe he has a point?" Kirito said uncertainly.

"You agree with him?" Asuna asked, surprised.

"Well, we've been pals for a long time. Besides, that tells you that he's different than most men," Shoto said, rubbin his nose. "Most men would have jumped at the chance to get in your panties. But not Ki. Why? Because he cares about you."

Asuna's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Then she looked up at Kirito, who stirred uncomfortably. "Is that why?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," he said, sweating lightly. "I mean, I wouldn't want to put in you in a position where you had to do something because you felt like it was the normal thing to do. I mean, I want it, but I wanted you to want it too, and not just try to 'please me."

Before she could answer, Shoto facepalmed, "Oh for the love of everything that is pure, would you two just get married already?"

"Hunh?!" Both of them flushed bright red again.

"Why not?" Shoto grinned. "I mean, if you're willing to go 'until death do us part', then I don't have a problem with you engaging in, ahem, marital activities. And I think that you'll find Kirito a lot more eager, too. I mean, he gets to spend his life with a beautiful warrior like you, right?" His eyes drilled into theirs, and they realized that he didn't just mean in-game marriage. He meant actually promising to tie the knot in the real world when they could. "Plus, not only will I have a sister-in-law, but Kirito will have someone to keep him on his toes."

They looked at one another, and involuntarily, their minds wandered back over all the adventures that they had shared together in world of swords. And right then and there, they knew the answer to the question.

Kirito got down on one knee, and Shoto broke out into a huge grin as his best friend uttered the immortal words, "Asuna, will you marry me?"

"Yes, Kirito, I will marry you," was the equally immortal reply. "With everything I am, I will stay by your side."

"And I will be the sword and shield that you deserve, even in the real world," he said as he rose to face her, his obsidian eyes hard as rocks, and conveying utter sincerity. He opened his menu and sent her a marriage invite, which she immediately accepted. Rings immediately appeared on their ring fingers, sealing the sacred pact.

"I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Kirito Black Swordsman!" Shoto laughed, causing the newlyweds to redden brightly again, but they both smiled again. "Now, for the matter of finding you two a house..." Shoto said with his hand on his chin. "We had to sell our old one..."

"There's a little secluded village on floor twenty-two," Kirito suggested. "The chances of us being disturbed there are minimal. What do you think?" Kirito asked his wife.

"That sounds perfect," she giggled.

Shoto nodded and said, "We'll help you get moved in since I've got all the furniture in storage. But what should we do with Asuna's apartment?"

"Um..." Kirito hadn't thought that far ahead.

Fortunately, Asuna quickly came up with a solution. "Why don't you live there, Shoto? I mean, it'd be a shame to get rid of such a nice place, and not many people know that I live in Selmburg anyway. You should be able to dodge the crowds that way."

"That sounds great," Shoto nodded. "I'll take you up on that. By the way, Ki..."

"What?" Kirito asked, before Shoto threw a arm around his shoulder.

"Between you and me..." Shoto whispered. "Were you lying about not tryin to get in Asuna's cave of wonders or-" The kick that he received sent him sprawling by a very red-faced Kirito.

"Dude, what's wrong with you!?" he snapped. "Didn't you hear what I just told her!?"

"Yeah..." the Yellow Fang groaned. "That's fair...I was just being a busybody. Sorry I said that."

"You should be," Kirito said, his face also red.

Asuna looked at the two before she burst out laughing at the whole thing. At last the Legends of Aincrad were united as a family, and nothing could have made her happier.

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Floor 55: Grandzam

"I understand the situation. I'll explain it to the rest of the guild." Heathcliff said, after hearing what the female of the trio told him.

Shoto, Kirito and Asuna were standing in front of the leader of the Blood knights, with Asuna explaining everything.

"There's that, and we are also requesting a temporary leave from the guild." Asuna said.

"Why is that?" Heathcliff asked, curiously.

"I'm currently beginning to question the Knights of the Blood Oath." Asuna said with a calm voice.

"Very well. However. You'll return to the battlefield before long." Heathcliff said with a knowing smile, as the trio looked at each other.

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Floor 61: Selmburg

Shoto smiled at the picture that Asuna had sent him of her and Kirito having a picnic down by the lake. There was no doubt about it, the two of them looked good together. He saved the file to his images, happy to preserve such a priceless moment. It's been a few days since Kirito and Asuna went out on their honeymoon, and he couldn't be more happy that his best friend found his soul mate.

The blonde stared out the window in his new house. He was somewhat impressed. Everything looked so life like. From the beam of sunlight shining through the window to the wind blowing gently across the large town, it all was pretty much the epitome of warm spring day. Not to mention a awesome view of the massive lake.

After a while of staring out the window Shoto realized something profound...

He was bored.

Deciding as a man that he couldn't take sitting down anymore, he looked for a quest to do in the meantime. "Hehe, today's my first ever solo day. Sounds be fun!"

Checking himself out in a mirror, and grinning, he went to dive out the window like a badass. "This is going to be so epic-Guah!" he was cut off by slipping on a banana peel that was somehow lying on the floor. "Crap!" Shoto cried out as he smacked his head on the window frame causing him to do a painful backflip which sent him crashing onto a fruit stand below, causing fruit to rain everywhere.

As he lay there in a pile of fruit he had one thought going through his mind.

'Damn bananas! I hope no one saw that...'

Sadly that day, his luck wasn't that great. There, standing a few feet away from him and giggling, was a little girl of about ten years of age. After the giggling died down the little girl approached him.

"Hey mister, are you alright?" She asked looking down at him.

Shoto rose to his feet and dusted himself off. "Y-Yeah, I was just fighting a rabid ...uh pillow monster! Yeah, that's it! And soon after defeating it, it used the last of its strength to toss me out the window."

The little girl just stared at him in awe for a second before she replied.

"So that must mean your super duper strong right?" Shoto nodded with a heroic look on his face as if he just climbed Mount Everest with his teeth because his hands and legs were tied behind his back.

"Would you please get me a couple plants then? My mother is sick, and I need those for the cure!" begged the little girl. Shoto looked down at the girl. Hearing what she said reminded him of Claire when she needed his help. He didn't even have to contemplate this. He was bored, and he would never say no when asked for help.

As Shoto was about to answer a quest request popped up in his menu.

Find the Cure

Quest Details: Walk through the Killer Mantis Forest near Tolbana and locate the herbs to save Little Emily's mother.

Quest level: 9

Experience Awarded: 1500

Col Awarded: 3000

Accept: Y/N?

"Now that's a quest! I mean seriously this is just enough experience to get me to level up, and I get some col in the deal too. Definitely gonna accept this."

Quest Accepted.

The little girl ,whose name he now knew as Emily, ran up and hugged him and shouted out with joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was scared you were gonna say no and I'd have to go get them myself and die and then my mommy would be sad, and she'd die from heartbreak, and the disease that she's got at the same time, and then the whole town would be sad, because I'm a cute little girl and my mom is the most beautiful women in the whole world, and then everyone would cry because two innocent things would be lost to the world!"

Shoto rubbed his head. " Very imaginative one, isn't she?" he then let out a laugh.

"What is it?" Emily asked, tilting her head.

Shoto shook his head. "Nothing, Emily. It's just you remind of this other girl who I considered my sister. I'll get those herbs for you in a flash.....or as soon as possible hehe." With that Shoto took off in the direction of the forest.

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Killer Mantis Forest 

As soon as Shoto entered this forest, he had gotten an ominous feeling about this place. It wasn't the darkness of the forest or the creepy shadows that came out of nowhere which occasionally freaked him out enough that he had to stifle several high pitched screams. It wasn't even the fact that every so often some bushes would rustle as if something was in there. Which thankfully there wasn't....he checked....a lot. No, it was more along the lines of some errie chattering noise that sounded like a woodpecker on steroids that had recently drank three cups of coffee, then finished it off with an energy drink. It was seriously stressing him out!

Shoto slapped his cheeks. "Get it together, man! You're Shoto, the Yellow Fang! Wooer of the ladies, King of Handsomeness, Super Soldier with the strength of five thousand surgically men, and all around General Badass! You can do this!" He told himself. With that, he forged on stopping every now and then to check the area for the herbs he needed. He already had 3 winterbane stems, 2 spiceroots, and 4 windflower petals. All he needed now was a single taffy leaf.

He walked into a 20 foot clearing, and there at the center was the only taffy tree in the whole forest. He scanned the surroundings cautiously at first, wondering if it really was so easy. Shrugging he walked up to the tree and plucked off a taffy leaf, and put it in his inventory.

Shoto grinned. "Heh, easy enough. Now, all I gotta do is get back to-" He then stopped when he heard a noise.

That's when things decided to take a turn for the worse. From out of the forest came several, Level 80 Killer Mantises. Shoto looked around at 15 Killer Mantises, sighed, and unsheathed his sword. "Come on, Shoto. When are things ever that easy?" He muttered.

He tightened his grip on his sword, and stared down them down. The Killer Mantises were green mantises slightly larger in size than an average human. The creatures had 4 arachnid legs that they used to support themselves, as well as 2 more scythe-like limbs protruding out of the side of their chests that they used for attacking. One of the limbs were green while the other looked like an actual metal scythe. They had large red eyes that looked sideways along with small but sharp triangle teeth, and a blue tongue.

As soon as one of the Mantises moved he attacked.

Activating his Limit Break skill, Shoto charged at them, marking a clear path through them as he found their weakness. As he approached the first one he ducked under an incoming attack and stabbed his sword upwards through the Mantises jaw killing it instantly. He then proceeded to block the bladed arm of another Mantis and countered by using his shoe to boot the the monters across the face, before stabbing the blade through its semi armored chest, sending the creature into pixelated oblivion.

Shoto smirked, and took it up a notch. With Limit Break still activated, he marked another path. Sprinting towards a group of five on his left, Shoto quickly skewered through the chest of a nearby Mantis and used the momentum from the stab to jump. He twisted through the air and slammed his sword into the skull of an incoming Mantis. He then rolled with the landing, activated a sword skill, and propelled Arondight at a charging Mantis. The sword soared through the air piercing through the Mantis' eye and impaled the Mantis behind it through the throat.

Facing the remaining Mantis, Shoto dashed forward, charging another sword skill as he did so. He let out a battle weaving through each attack the Mantis threw and ending the little match by slashing the monster's body multiple times, then slicing it directly across the chest.

He then spun around and looked at the other remaining monsters.

"That's seven. Eight more to go."

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5 minutes later...

The last Mantis had its virtual head removed from its shoulders, and depixelized. Shoto twirled his sword before sheathing it, and grinned.

"Man that was a lot easier than I thought. Seriously I didn't even get a scratch on me. I'm invincible!" As soon as he said that a large scythe-like blade sliced through him, and took a quarter of his health away, simultaneously knocking him a couple feet away.

Shoto groaned and got to his feet, before he looked at his health bar. "Holy shit! That hit took over a quarter of my health. What the hell was that!?" he exclaimed and looked around.

That's when he saw it. A giant ass, sub boss Killer Mantis that had two health bars. The Mantis was blood red in color with black stripes going down the scythe blades on each arms, leaving a intimidating, enraged looking insect beast. This was a level 85 sub boss, and it was one of the ones that were a lot more skilled than its underlings.

Shoto quickly unsheathed his sword, and held it in a reverse grip. Seeing that it was a sub boss, Shoto decided to get serious. "Come at me, bro!" he yelled.

The red mantis charged and swung its scythe blades at a rapid speed that Shoto could barely keep up with. All Shoto was able to do at the moment was block, and even then that slowly drained his health.

"Damn! I need to get some breathing room, and fast! I guess I'm going to have to hit you with it." Shoto blocked a couple more times and then activated Limit Break. Time seemed to slow down, as he locked onto the monter's weak spots. Everything was crystal clear, and he saw the incoming attack from a mile away. He dodged and retaliated with a series of slashes.

"Ars Arcanum!"

A slash to the back leg, a cut across the chest, a vicious thrust to the throat, a double slash to the area where a solar plexis is located, and to finish it off he took his sword, stabbed it into the lower jaw, before shoving it ontop of the skull simultaneously.

The Ars Arcanum ended soon after, and the sub bosses health dropped to its second health bar with only a quarter remaining. Enraged, it lunged out with a rapid double swipe that knocked Shoto's health down close to zero.

Seeing how little health was remaining he quickly equipped a health crystal, and crushed it. With his health back up to full, Shoto smirked.

"The tables have turned haven't they...I'm going to enjoy this, you bastard!" Shoto exclaimed darkly. He activated Limit Break for the last time, and was in the monster's face in an instant. Crossing his knives he ended the monsters life by lopping of its head.

A Congratulations screen popped up.

Exp. earned: 6280

Col earned: 3700

Items earned: 1

"Cool, I got a bunch of exp. and col. I wonder what item I got though." Shoto checked through his inventory to see what he got. Looking through the item section he soon found what he was looking for. He then gasped. Apparently it was a random drop, and a good one at that.

Ring of Valor

Description: The ring was silvery-white, with a sapphire-blue gem in the centre of its front side, and is also emblazoned with two lions carved next to the gem. The ring increases the wearer's maximum hit points.

Shoto equipped the ring, and put it on his right ring finger. Soon he felt well acquainted with it, and headed back into town the long way.

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Floor 61: Selmburg

It was nearly around night when Shoto made it back, and he headed to Little Emily's house to turn in the quest, and hopefully see the cure in action. He didn't like the thought of someone dying NPC or not.

He walked to the outskirts of town near where he last found Emily. He walked past the house Asuna gave him and took two lefts, then eventually arrived at where the quest was marked on his map.

In front of him was a cottage of average height with a small wooden fence surrounding it. On the other side of the wooden fence was a well groomed lawn with flowers occasionally popping up in places every once in a while.

The cottage itself was simple in the making. Stone walls, wooden door, the regular plus sign like windows, and to top it off was a brick colored tile roof.

Walking up the cobblestone pathway to the door, Shoto stopped in front of it and knocked. The Quest Screen popped up again.

Quest completed!

You have successfully found the Cure

Reward:

Experience Awarded: 1500

Col Awarded: 3000

The door opened, and a little brunettes head popped out to see who it was. As soon as she saw who it was she flung open the door and Shoto was subjected to a bone crushing hug from a surprisingly strong little girl.

"Brother! Your back!" Little Emily exclaimed with tears in her eyes.

'Oh look it's my littl-WAIT WHAT!? HOW IN THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN! I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER NOW? What's next, hot beautiful girls will rain from the sky?! Hehe, although I'd like that very much actually and honestly this like the second of third time I got a little sister. I've always wanted a little sibling, but I never thought I'd get one this way.' Shoto shrugged and returned the hug.

"Hey Emily! How's my favorite little sister doing? Any boys I need to beat up?"

"Hmph. I'm your ONLY little sister, and I'm ten, you beating up a ten year old would count as child abuse because the only boys I'd like would be my age!" Emily pouted.

'She's right....Whatever, I'll just prank any boy that looks her way. Mwuahahahaha!' Shoto contemplated maliciously.

"Eh heh, anyways, on to other matters! How's your mother doing now that I got you the cure?"

"Oh she's doing much better. She even got out of bed today, and the doctor said she'd be fine in a week! Wanna stay for dinner? Mom made cheeseburgers!"

Shoto froze. Time just seemed to stop, and then a bright beam of light from the heavens shown down upon the cottage. The melody of angels singing was heard and Shoto felt as if his whole soul was being purified. He collapsed onto his knees with tears streaming down his face as he thanked God for this opportunity. He was very grateful, blessed, and accepted the very generous offer.

Emily took him on a tour through her house, showing him each room. The first stop was the living room. A couple of red satin cushioned chairs. A fireplace with a painting above it consisting of a grassy hill with the sun dipping over the horizon. The walls were a pale blue, and off to the side of one of the chairs was small table with some candles on it for lighting. The floor was made up of wooden planks, and in the center there was purple rug with a lion's head emblazed on it.

Next up she showed him the two separate bedrooms where she and her mother stayed. Each room had the same basic layout. The beds were in the corners, there was a window that overlooked the countryside, and they had personal effects laying around. The main difference was that her mother's room had several tissues all over the place, and the bed was unmade, as if the person who was in it just left after being there for awhile.

He finally came into the combination kitchen/dining room. The kitchen part had a wood fire stove, several mahogany cupboards that were filled with preserved food, and the pans to cook said food in. In the middle of the room was a rectangular wooden table, with blue table cloth lain over it. Four chairs surrounded the table.

A woman with shoulder length black hair was humming, and stirring the homemade ramen that she had cooking in the pot. She eventually noticed she had guests, and looked up from what she was doing. Shoto made eye contact, and did a quick glance to memorize the features in his mind.

The woman was absolutely stunning. Bright green eyes that reminded him of the forest outside, a slim face, that showed almost now signs of age except for the laugh lines around the skin of her eyes. Her body was as beautiful as her face was. A slim waist, C cup breasts, and a nice looking ass. Shoto mentally slapped himself and acted as if he didn't notice that first.

All in all when Emily said earlier in the day that the townspeople would be sad if someone of a beauty like her died she would be right. Though that didn't excuse the townspeople for their somewhat shallow nature, he understood why they were as they were.

Emily ran up to her mother and hugged her. Emily then whispered something in her mother's ear, who after nodding in understanding introduced herself.

"I'm Rei, and you young man, have my eternal gratitude for helping me get back on my feet. Emily here just told me how brave and strong her brother was, and that she invited you here for dinner tonight. Though she forgot to mention your name."

"Oh. Um I'm Shoto. Nice to meet ya Rei. When she mentioned that you were serving cheeseburgers, I just had to come as it is the food of the heavens and all. I would just consider it sacrilegious if I turned such an offer down." Shoto said, practically salivating near the end.

Rei just chuckled," Well we wouldn't want to anger the heavens and all so you might as well join us then."

Soon the table was set, and Shoto dug in while making small talk with the family. Alas fun time came to an end, and Shoto had to head home.

At the door Shoto hugged his new surrogate sister goodbye, and waved at Rei. Goodbyes being said he headed towards his home.

As he turned the corner he was interrupted by a ping like sound.

You have a message.

"Message? From who?" Shoto muttered as he opened the mail.

'Shoto, Meet us at our new house, please. We found someone who needs help, and we're not sure what to do. Thanks.'

Asuna and Kirito

Frowning, Shoto scratched his head. "That's weird," he muttered. "Wonder who they found? Well, I guess I better head over to them."

He then started to run pass the town's small river.

"I just hope nothing bad happened..." *Steps on banana peel* "Oh shit-" *Splash* "DDDAAAAMMMNNN IIIITTTT!!!!"

To be continued...

(Ending Theme)

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Finally done! Please leave me a review or message me with your thoughts on this chapter. Next chapter, Shoto will meet Yui!

Hope to see you all again next time!