Sword Art Online: The Crystal Swordsman

Actuality

Introvert, Nerd, Artist: Kieran

I awoke in the morning to sheets and blankets that were not my own. I looked around confused when something called for my attention.

"Hey." I heard her voice.

I turned and laying next to me was a smiling Shino. She wore the shirt I had gifted her on her birthday as she looked into my eyes.

"Hey." I smiled back.

She ran her hand up and down the bed with a rather telling look on her face. I paused and thought for a moment.

"Did we...?" I pointed to us both.

"Maybe." She smirked and looked away.

I shrugged thought nothing of it.

"Would you like me to make you breakfast?" Shino asked.

"That would be wonderful." I smiled genuinely.

Once her and I were both dressed for the morning, we met each other in the kitchen area. I looked around at the decor while she prepared eggs, toast and bacon for us.

"So, what's your poison?" I asked continuing to look around.

"My, what?" She chuckled.

"You know. Your likes, your dislikes, your weird fetishes." I tilted my head as I spoke.

My weird fetishes?" She repeated, blushing slightly.

I shrugged and smiled innocently. She let out a cute laugh and continued to cook. I kept on looking around as she spoke up.

"Well, Uhm..." She couldn't think of a response.

I snooped around a bit to see if I could find my own answers.

"I like video games?" She said as she put the food on plates.

Shino set the food on the counter and before she could say that it was ready, I went to ask her a question.

"Oh, nice! Optic Gun!" I spun it around my finger and analyzed the model optic zapper from GGO.

She looked at it in my hand and froze dead in her tracks. I started to see sweat drip down her forehead and she suddenly went pale.

"Shino, are you okay?" I was concerned.

She started to breathe heavily and began to stumble as her shaky knees buckled.

"Shino!" I put down the replica gun and caught her before she could fall to the ground.

She tried to hold herself up on her own but needed to use me for support. With her leaning against me, I could feel her heart racing in her chest like crazy.

"Shino, what's wrong?" I asked but she wouldn't answer.

All of a sudden she began to scream and grip me tight with her nails. I winced but didn't want to pry her off. I instead hugged her tighter to comfort her and she cried into my chest.

"Shino." I gripped her shoulders and pulled her away to look at my face.

She was silent and her eyes were faded without a shine.

"Look at me." I held her cheek and she looked me in the eyes.

Her colour started to come back but she still seemed out of it. I peeked back at the gun for a moment then back to her as I figured it out.

"It's about the robbery, isn't it. About the guy you killed?" I remembered when she told me the story.

Shino slowly nodded without speaking. I pulled her in for a warm hug and rubbed the back of her head softly for a few moments before pulling away to look back into her beautiful eyes.