Sword Art Online: The Crystal Swordsman

Specter Guard

Sniper, Cyan, Precise: Sinon 

I pushed my palms against the dashboard and the top of the car to attempt to keep myself stable in the air. Time felt as if it were moving extremely slow in that moment as the car began to hit its apex and descend. K smacked his right palm on the dash of the car where the tech was and his hand emitted neon purple circuits again that spread from where he touched. It must've been a piece of technology in his finger-less gloves, I thought. During all of this, the car was coming down rapidly but whatever K did caused us to have more of a soft landing. K's front bumper smashed against the ground but we were rolling quickly towards the water the bridge was built over.

"K!!" I screamed.

He slammed on the brakes, yanked the E-Brake and swerved away from the edge as fast as he could. In the panic, I accidentally grabbed the wrong handle and opened my passenger side door. Without my seat belt on, I lost balance and nearly fell towards the water below but K managed to leap to my seat just in time. He gripped my forearm tightly and struggled to carry me as the car was stopped.

"Don't you die on me!" K gripped my arm with both of his hands and he began to pull me up slowly.

I used my feet to climb up and K pulled me in the car, but we both misplaced our feet accidentally. I slipped but K put his arms around me and laid back, putting me nearly on top of him as we splayed safely across the front seats of the car.

"Jesus, Sinon... don't scare me like that." He was out of breath and tired.

"Scare you?" I asked, knowing it was just a game.

"I just... don't wanna lose you, Sinon. I..." He paused to think of the words.

In that moment the sound of Humvees driving over the bridge could be heard and K quickly scrambled to his seat. I hesitantly got to mine and pulled my door shut as I watched him closely. K got close and reached past me, pulling a seat belt over me with a click.

"Stay. Put." K seemed reluctant but he was clearly just stressed from everything around him.

I could start to see him now. Not just this Player1 I met, but the person operating from behind the mask. K took the E-Brake off and shifted into gear as we started the drive under the bridge towards the safe house. We were silent for almost the whole way back but I wanted to say something. I wanted to hear him say something too. After the repetitive noise of the car engine, I finally broke the silence.

"Thank you for saving me, K." I looked over at him.

"Yeah. You don't have to thank me. I was only doing my job." K's choice of words was weird.

"Saving me is your job?" I wanted to confirm.

"Well... no that's not quite right. I just... I care for you... a lot. And... as much as I trust that you're capable on your own in this place... I just... I don't want to see you get hurt." K was being completely honest.

I was silent. I figured letting K get his feelings out was a good idea, seeing how he was otherwise emotionless on the battlefield.

"You are extremely important to me, Sinon. Even if we barely know each other, there's something that makes me feel drawn to you. You mean the world to me and I would want nothing more than to be by your side. Even if you already have someone, I wanna fight every single day to show you I'm better. If all else failed, I would be happy at least knowing that you were happy. But I can't have that. Not while I feel that our stories are so deeply connected somehow. I need you, Sinon. I..." K shook his head and scoffed at himself.

"It's alright, K." I placed my hand on his shoulder.

"It feels like you're the one I have been searching for, my entire life. All my time without you has taught me that I need you. And now that I'm here with you, I don't want to let you slip away. I'm drawn to you, Sinon. I... I'm in love with you." K finished.

My heart melted in my chest like lava. I felt every word he said to me and it set my mind at ease. I cared about him just as much as he did me and he finally showed himself to say it. My heartbeat loudened in my chest and my eyes began to tear up. I smiled uncontrollably at him as he confessed his true feelings.

"I love you too, K. Thank you. Thank you for everything." I hugged him tight but remembered he was driving.

I was about to pull away but K put his arm gently around me. He steered with one hand for awhile and I hugged his lower half while he drove the car just above my head. It felt like K was purposefully taking the longer scenic route so that I may relax in his warmth. My eyelids became heavy, making me start to fall asleep against K. Every time he had to shift the gear he had to move his arm gently over my waist but K eventually just rested his hand there and held me closer while doing so. It was comforting. The city lights flew by around us as I shut my eyes fully closed. I faintly heard the ringing of K's forearm tech just before I fell asleep but I woke myself slightly, keeping my eyes shut to listen.

"Hey, boss. What do you know of something called DeathGun?" Whoever called asked.

"Nothing. I've never heard of it." K answered, slightly lowering his tone through his voice changer.

"Apparently the girl you're with had a situation with him." The voice said.

"DeathGun is a he?" K asked.

"He is long dead now if that's what you're asking. He used GGO as a means of killing people in the real world." It told K.

"How is that even possible?" K was in disbelief.

"There was apparently two of them. One being out and about IRL while the one in-game would paint the target. Not sure exactly how they killed people IRL but I'm guessing they just finished the sleepers silently." The voice explained.

"If she was involved, who was the one to finish off these two?" K asked.

"Whoever he is, he dealt with the in-game DeathGun first, then he hunted down the IRL one. Don't know how he did it tho. He goes by the username... Kirito?" The voice read.

K was silent, remembering that he knew Kirito personally. I wanted to wake from my fake sleep and explain the real details but I felt like this was something I should tell K on my own accord.

"Understood. Thank you for the info, Toxic. Out." K hung up his call.

I began to drift back to sleep, thinking about how K would react once he heard the truth from me. I imagined it wouldn't be pretty.

After what seemed like hours of driving, K suddenly parked the car in his garage. I heard him open his hologram arm screen and type something. I was easily awake but K opened his door and carried me out in his arms anyway. I subtly held my hands behind his neck as he carried me inside the secret hideout. He walked up to a wall in a large empty corner of the room and stopped before it to speak.

"Passcode: Scythe." K said.

One large wall opened up but I was too tired to see what was inside. He carried me into a pitch black room and gently placed me on some kind of soft... blankets? I opened my eyes slightly to see that I was in a bed. Grey blankets, purple pillow cases and a clean square bed frame. I looked over to see K walk back out to the computer room as I regained my senses.

"I'm not letting you leave me here alone again." I tried to flirt while tired.

K chuckled as he turned off the lights to the main room. He walked back in and all I could see was the glowing purple highlights that outlined his gear. He pressed the bottom of his fist on a button beside the open wall and it slowly came down to shut like a room door.

"Don't worry, Sinon. I'm not going anywhere." I heard K as the door closed and the room blackened.