The Survival Logs || Sword Art Online Fanfic

PK Pandemonia Arc: Chapter 85 - The 'Why?' of PK

26 February 2024

Katalysis, 43rd Floor

POV: Rakuno

You know, straw makes for a surprisingly good enough mattress to lie on. Maybe the texture of the straw wasn't the same as it was in the real world, but of course, I was more than happy to use that detail of inconsistency to my advantage.

As long as I could still sleep without waking up feeling itchy or whatever, it's as good as a futon in my book. What choice did I even have, stuck in a room of metal walls and bars?

I stood in front of a pile of straw that was half my height, and was shaped like a bean bag. Turning around, I let my body tilt backwards and crash into it, feeling my weight sink into my improvised cushion.

With only straw around, I guess the only thing I could do was to make piles of them, not that I could do anything else that might alert those 2 guards watching me. They weren't even taking watching shifts with each other for some reason, even though Krieg's cell was right behind them.

Am I really that important for the Gladiorium?

Hearing new footsteps, I hurried to pick myself up, feeling a little annoyed for not being able to try having a nap right away. But I knew who was coming, and she wasn't someone I should really sleep on.

"Yo! You up yet, Witch?"

Tori's voice sailed into my ears before she even came in front of my cell.

The guards left their posts automatically, leaving from my sight as if it was none of their business. My hand thumbed onto the handle of my sheathed spare katana, as I faced Tori intently. In the cell behind her, Krieg was lying on the straw ground in the far corner of his cell, evidently taking a nap.

"What the hell do you want?" I couldn't help getting the nerves as I asked.

"Damn, can't you just relax? Your HP gauge's back to full!" Tori tried to lean onto one of the bars of my cell. "I'm just here to have a good time with you!"

My eyes squinted at her purpose for coming here. And they squinted a little harder.

".....That's sus."

Tori's legs almost collapsed at my reaction, but she gave a hearty giggle.

"Aren't you supposed to be the sus one? For wearing a big hat and calling yourself the Witch."

I blushed a little. "Can't I do whatever I want with myself?"

Tori gradually calmed down from her giggle fits. "Sure, sure.....I'll leave it at that. For now."

She then pulled a chair from somewhere out of sight from my cell and promptly sat on it.

"I'm serious about having a chat with you. Especially when I'm gonna chat about what your friends did to try to find you."

That got my hand covering my spare katana's handle. "What did you do to them?"

Tori leaned back and held her hands up. "Whoa, calm down! Let me just say that they're absolutely fine! Plus, you can confirm this for yourself, can't you?"

Confused at her claim, I struggled to see the point she was making about that. It was then that my eyes had shifted to the upper left corner of my vision, which had me feeling pretty sheepish.

The HP gauges of my party members were as green and full as mine. As I tried to shove away the fact about never thinking to check them earlier from my mind, I gave Tori a little chuckle.

"Oh, well.....I totally knew that....."

That totally wasn't gonna fool Tori, who rested her face on her hand, looking at me as if she had expected more from me. "Say that again without touching your weapon, please."