Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 40

"Rika Sakurai? That's your name, isn't it?" Jayce looked up at the girl who straddled his body, tears dropping down from her eyes onto his chest.

"A punctured lung, collapsed eye socket, severe trauma to my thyroid, third degree burns along the entirety of my right arm with superficial burns covering fifty percent more, and countless lacerations and bruises. That's what he did to me." She sniffled keeping her head lowered so that he couldn't see her face.

"Jemza...I mean...Rika, how did you survive?"

"They found me quick enough and managed to stabilize me. Three of the younger kids died in the smoke as the church burned. Just one more punishment for me to endure. If I had just kept my mouth shut it never would have happened." Jemza cried dipping down so her head rested on his chest.

"What? No! It wasn't your fault! Himeko knew that too right?" Jayce grabbed her shoulders and she shook her head quickly.

"She died in the hospital from her wounds. Shinji killed her too. They found him the next day and arrested him and his friends. You know what they did when they got caught? They laughed. They killed four people in total and laughed about it."

"You did the right thing Jemza. You stood up to them. I'm so sorry that happened to you." Jayce wrapped his arms around her back, but she pushed herself up so she once more hovered over his body.

"I'm blind in one eye. The sun hurts so much that I have to wear an eye patch to cover it. My right arm is covered in burns. The damage to my thyroid caused my hair to go from black to white over the next three years and I still have two horrible scars where the knife stabbed me. The smoke caused irreparable damage to my lungs that I need oxygen from time to time. My jaw was broken in three places and does this funny little clicking noise when I open and close my mouth now.

The Nerve Gear...aside from my white hair it didn't pick any of that up. This is what I should look like. No scars, no burns, and with both my eyes intact. Whether it's my fault or not my actions caused the death of my best friend and three others. I did the right thing and people died because of it. My home burned to the ground and it was the last real home I had. I stole the Nerve Gear because I'm homeless. It was the last chance for happiness.

I played a few games at the church when I was younger and loved them. SAO seemed like the perfect escape from the real world. I could never afford one so I stole it. I was ready to be arrested and go to jail. That didn't matter so long as I could see this world for a few minutes. Like I told you before, no one would care if I died in here. There's no one left out there for me." Jemza's tears continued to fall, her white hair covering her face and spilling down onto Jayce's chest.

"I see..." Jayce found it hard to respond properly after she explained everything about herself. Somehow, it seemed his own past didn't seem as painful when compared to hers.

"You can see it now right? How ugly I am." Jemza leaned her face up so he could see her. The lower lip shook slightly as she fought to hold back most of her emotions. Jayce thought for a second before reaching up and touching her cheeks with both hands.

"Did you find him?" Jayce asked the question and her face scrunched up in confusion.

"Find him? Who are you talking about?" Jayce rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks cleaning the tears away.

"Your prince charming." Her eyes filled with tears once more as he spoke and her lip quivered violently. She collapsed atop him burying her face into his chest and screamed her pain into his body.

"Yes! Yes, I found him!" This wasn't the first time she had cried like this, but her screams were ones that had been held in for years. Much like he had blamed himself for Katie and his mother's death, she had done the same for Himeko and the children who died in the fire. The difference was she had been reminded everyday through her scars of that horrible night.