2703/Contains Spoilers

Contains Spoilers
Date of Scene:	31 July 2015
Location:	Alfheim Online <ALO>
Synopsis:	After a wild and chaotic discussion on the radio, where Sinon finally comes clean to the Gatecrashers about her fears that they're all a clique of people screwing with her, Kirito meets with her to tell her the truth- the whole truth. He fails to do so. Things go off the rails.
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, 649

---

Sinon (649) has posed:
    Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do.

    Asada Shino was asleep, getting herself ready for tomorrow's BoB final. She'd been doing a lot of last-minute preparation, farming for bullets (Hecate's are raredrops too, you know!) and generally getting herself psyched up and in the right frame of mind (if you know what I mean) for tomorrow, when... this happened.

She hasn't been talking much to the gatecrashers lately. After the outcome of Kirito and her preliminary match, where some strange things happened and were said, she hasn't been sure of how to approach him.

    ...And then this happened, and she was woken up in the middle of the night, and a shitstorm of unparalleled proportions broke out...

    And now she's in GGO, standing outside of a bar, underneath a street lamp, framed in the fake light. It's drizzling. She has her head down, hair covering her eyes, staring at the sidewalk, picking out the polygons.

    Waiting.

Sinon (649) has posed:
    Themesong for this scenepose extra words here to fit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akbOSJzL3rc

Kirito has posed:
    When Kirito logs in, he's already somewhere in Glocken. It's a short run and buggy ride across the city with those mad buggies nobody else uses. But it's a somber ride, not a joy ride. He's on business. Unhappy, gloomy business that reminds him of all the things he's not been wanting to talk about.

    Rain or not, he pulls up to the curb and cuts the bike's engine before hopping off. His face is a mishmash, changing as often as a stoplight as he tries to find the words that need to be said.

    In another time, another place, their situation might've gone entirely differently.

    But his own expression's incredibly gloomy as he walks up, weapons unequipped. The first thing he can really think of saying?

    "... I'm sorry."

Sinon (649) has posed:
    And here he is. The guy who's responsible for everything wrong in her life.

    Sinon listens to the sound of the vehicle approaching. She hasn't been giving anyone else the time of day- even though she's very much as obvious as she could possibly be, it's also obvious to other people that she is 'not to be approached', and therefore she's only listening out for one thing.

    Funnily enough, Kirito just said that one thing.

    She looks up at him- it might well be the first time they've met one another since their preliminary match, where her heart was twisted up in even more knots than it was before. And now-- now she doesn't know what to think. What's been going on in her world in the last few months. Who she's surrounded herself with. Who Kirito is.

    When she looks up at him, her eyes are full of tears.
    "I want answers."

Kirito has posed:
    Tears. Oh god tears. Kirito winces inside... and doesn't exactly suppress that on his own face either. His shoulders scrunch up and eyes fill with guilt. His gaze averts just briefly but then locks onto Sinon's. He's not going to look away from the chaos he dragged her into.

    A few stammered noises come out first, followed by a strained snort. And then... "You won't believe the real story. But I'm sorry it's come to this. Where should I even begin..."

    He turns around and puts his back against the building's wall, now looking up. "... You saw that guy in the metal skull mask and cloak, the red eyes." He gulps slightly, chest tightening. "Death Gun. The whole reason the Gatecrashers are here has to do with him."

Sinon (649) has posed:
    The two of them are now basically side-by-side, neither of them perhaps able to look at the other. Sinon certainly can't. She doesn't entirely know what to believe, right now- so many things that have come out in the last... ten? Five? minutes are just so incompatible to her way of thinking that she doesn't know what to make of it. So...

    Under the circumstances, where she's too scared to do anything else, all she can do is talk with her unvarnished thoughts and feelings.

    "The man we met in the preliminary lounge. He scared you, but I didn't understand what was going on. I ... knew that there was something else, something else, something else going on under the surface, but... we didn't get the time for you to explain it there." Always putting the onus on Kirito, trying to make herself as guilt-free as possible. She doesn't need to consider herself responsible for more things. "Don't tell me you're like... the cops or something."

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito's scared. Terrified. Right down to the bone. But somehow the kid manages to keep a focused face even if he's looking mostly up at the sky.

    "Not exactly. But it's something like that. People are dead because of that guy. In real life. Zexceed, Tarako, Felidae Z... and goin back a few years? More. All the way back to Sword Art Online."

    His lips press togeher thinly after dropping THAT bomb, and brow furrows.

Sinon (649) has posed:
People are dead because of... Death Gun. In a sick way, it makes sense, logically. So it's true- all of his boasting is true, if Kirito is telling the truth. She thought it was fake. That it was some sort of promotion for the BoB. She was buying armor-piercing bullets and countermeasures against what she saw of him when she was sat right next to him, assuming he would be some sort of special raid boss.

    And something suddenly spikes inside of Sinon's head- well, first there's a flutter, like a sudden tickle in her chest, followed by a stabbing heat in her head. The kind of feeling you get when you see something terrible in the news when you were just expecting things to be normal.

    Sword Art Online. Even she's heard a little of it- who, that calls themselves an MMO gamer, didn't? It almost crashed the industry. But Asada Shino isn't ... exactly an MMO gamer. She was only pulled into this world because of Kyouji Shinkawa. Therefore, she only knows it as... "The death game MMO where peoples' lives were held to ransom, where the incident was resolved with outside involvement."

    She always just assumed it meant: "Specialists from outside of Japan." Well, she's not entirely wrong.

Kirito has posed:
    Well that answers Kirito's question. He nods once, still struggling to keep an even face.

    "Death Gun... is a survivor of that game... and so am I." The boy exhales, takes a few moments to gather his wits again, then continues.

    "The difference between us is, while I was with the clearing group on the front lines and all that outside involvement, and we brought down the final boss... he was a top-ranking PKer in the worst of the murder guilds, Laughing Coffin. And make no mistake, he's found some way to kill people for real in this game. Why, I can only guess... but that's why all of us are here. The Gatecrashers Union." He shakes his head quickly.

    "I'm guessing... er... no offense, meant. But I'm guessing a top player like you wouldn't be watching much of the IRL news... so you might've missed the fiasco called Unification. Our world of Earth isn't alone anymore. It's now connected to dozens of others that are just as weird as the kinds of games we play... except it's all real. Staren's from one of those and SAO was cleared with help from him and others. It was cleared... and in so doing, we set that murderer free."

    Kirito grits his teeth and SHIVERS. he's sick to his stomach, unsure what to say.

    "Myself, Asuna, and a couple of others, we're all survivors of that game and we're here on an investigation into something the police wrote off. Death Gun HAS to be stopped... I'm not letting him pull that trigger again. Because... one of his remaining targets is almost definitely..."

Sinon (649) has posed:
    'And so am I'.
    There's where it hits her. That's the moment when Sinon- who has been looking down at the ground this whole time- can't /help/ but whip her head around and look at Kirito, and she doesn't look away.

    But she can't even take a moment to process this- to re-revaluate everything that's happened before, the things he said when they fought- because the train keeps going.

It's like a 'putting on the glasses' moment. As Kirito continues to talk- continues to explain /exactly/ who he is, and moreover /exactly/ who Death Gun is, she begins that re-evaluation process, unconciously, without realizing she's doing it. She understands why Kirito is so unconscionably skilled, why he's always been that way since she met him, and why-- why Death Gun is-

Why he is a real ass genuine murderer who has really killed people and has promised to kill him and his friends.

    And on, and on it goes. When you're witness to a bomb like that going off in front of you, the last thing you expect- want to see- is another, even bigger one. But that's exactly what Sinon gets- the truth.

And this truth is something that makes it all snap into focus for her- the talk about robots, about magic.

    It's /all/ true. Nobody was RPing.

    And...

    And...

    "One of his targets is almost certainly you," she finishes, voice as flat as a headstone.

    because it can't be me it can't be me he's not talking about me

Kirito has posed:
    "Without a doubt." Kirito replies in a similarly grim tone. "... but top players are his targets. Anyone who was in the Bullet of Bullets. He's like a hunter lining his wall with trophies, with the biggest audience he can manage."

    He's not saying it outright.. at least not out yet, but his tone's getting EXTREMELY tight about it.

Sinon (649) has posed:
She doesn't want to believe. Kirito may underestimate the depth of - the way her mind works. Some part of her is so ... disconnected, or not properly connected, or something like that, that it can't entirely process what's happening.

    She moves up from her position, reclining against the wall, putting her weight on her feet again.

    This person, who she originally viewed as a rival... his voice sounds so steady. And yet, even this makes her feel hurt inside. She is feeling the snap-back of her words on the radio, the feeling of humiliation... it's like he's explaining it to a kid.

    She's not a kid. She will not be that child.

    She will-

    She steps to turn around and face Kirito, to look at him.

    "It's me. His target is me."

Kirito has posed:
    FINALLY Kirito responds to the glances and meets Sinon's gaze. His own eyes are solemn... but he nods. "In all likelihood... yeah. That's why I wanted you with our group. So we could keep tabs on you if you were in trouble. Uuuunfortunately, the whole thing backfired because a few people are goofballs to the bitter end... Staren has WORSE social skills than most gamers, lots of people are too busy to keep track of everything happening, and I..."

    Kirito chokes. "... I didn't want someone else dragged into this. It's a lame excuse, I know." The boy adds, voice laden with the weight of guilt and regret. "... not that I really expect you to believe all of this either. Were I in your position, well..." His face scrunches up.

Sinon (649) has posed:
Sinon closes her eyes. What Kirito is saying... what he is saying... she is taking it in, and yet not. There comes a point in a person's life where they can only take so much in, in terms of their mental cup filling up, and past that point, everything that happens spills out. It is heard; but not entirely, fully understood and considered.

    Sinon passed that point some time ago, and...

Some part of her, again close enough to look at Kirito's face, acknowledges those black eyes, those small and beautiful lips and she asks...

    "How did you become so strong?"

Kirito has posed:
    When he's called 'strong', Kirito jolts in place. He's strong.

    His mouth even gapes open briefly, then clenches tight.

    ".... Whoever said I was strong... what you've seen me do, that's just skill. Skill my life depended on, but still... just skill. .... I'm not that strong anymore. If your Hecate had the power to kill someone for real... could you pull that trigger? If it was that, or the death of you or someone you loved... could you? SAO, thanks to Laughing Coffin, put me in that position. I'm not sure I have that in me anymore." His voice is raspy and fearful.

    As if not being able to do this is a terrific weakness and, at the same time, a relief. Quite a twisted mess of feelings.

Sinon (649) has posed:
    Sinon forgets to breathe.

    Does he know? Does he know about her past, painted in darkness? Is there a darkness like hers inside of him?

    Sinon cannot tell. She cannot - penetrate this, not with a bullet, not with anything. It would be as hard as asking Asada Shino to come clean about her past, for that darkness inside of her to spill out, and--

    But, with Death Gun... with that person...

    "...I'm not running away. Whether it's a curse, or a supernatural power or something... I'm not going to give up. I'm going to win the BoB."

Kirito has posed:
    Urp. Kirito blinks a few times. Seriously?

    But. He's seen that resolve before. Asuna's shown it, others have shown it...

    Kirito's quiet for a bit. Only breathing. The one thing he's not doing is breaking down even though his guts twist in agony.

    What would drive Sinon to answer like THAT?.

    "... And you ask me how -I'm- strong..." The words come out as a glum near-whisper, as if he can't believe what he heard. His eyes both close.

Sinon (649) has posed:
If I beat Death Gun now, Sinon thinks. If I beat him... then, surely, I'll win. I'll prove once and for all what it means to be strong. To defeat the strongest opponent, the absolute worst... for Sinon to triumph over a murderer, that dead soul, and for her to be able to make it through...

    Then that will definitely, definitely make her stronger than Asada Shino. Superior to Asada Shino. It will be what she needs to win, to leave her old self behind, truly... to be the person she... to be that person who can...

    And if she dies, then...

    "It doesn't matter..."

She wants to ... to Kirito. But... Sinon wouldn't do such a thing. She wouldn't act that way in front of Kirito, because...

    "I hate you, you know. Tomorrow... tomorrow... I'll win."

    And her image distorts and wavers, and Sinon logs out.

Kirito has posed:
    With Sinon disappearing before he has a chance to say anything, Kirito reaches out but - it's too late. She's gone.

    Kirito presses his lips together finely.

    "... Good night to you too." He says to thin air, wearing a very warped, disbelieving face.

    How did things get THIS screwed up?