Time Of Our Lives; Kirisuna

Chapter 66: The Unseen Characters

Third Person POV:

Alice held her knees and panted after finishing her last event, the obstacle course.

The twists and turns she undertook took a lot out of her but were all worthwhile as she could finally proceed with the task Kirito gave her.

She turned to the rest of the event participants and singled out a long, black-haired woman.

"Haa. Will you talk to me now?" Alice approached her.

Shikimi grasped her knees and looked up.

"Tsk. Fine, what do you want?" She wiped the sweat off her forehead as her eyebrows furrowed.

Alice had pestered Shikimi ever since the festival started. All her efforts had been ignored until before the start of the obstacle course event.

They had both made a bet. If Alice won, Shikimi would talk to her. And if Shikimi won, Alice would stop her pursuit.

Despite her best efforts, however, Shikimi only came in second while Alice came in first by a slight margin. The slight difference in their performance ticked Shikimi off as she could've won under different circumstances.

"Can we talk somewhere else?"

"What's wrong with here?"

Shikimi raised her voice in annoyance causing Alice to rush to explain.

"It's quite crowded here and... There's someone else I want you to meet."

Alice pointed out the location they were at. They could easily be overheard, which neither of them would want.

Shikimi gritted her teeth and stared into the distance but backed down, remembering their bet.

She stomped her foot before following Alice back into the school's main building.

"Can I call someone? It won't take long." Alice took out her phone.

"Let's just get this over with."

Alice obliged and called the person they were supposed to meet here. After informing them of their location, she put her phone away.

"What's this about, exactly?" Shikimi crossed her arms.

"The last time we spoke was a bit..."

"You mean how you and your friends humiliated me in front of the student council?"

Shikimi silenced Alice's attempt at being courteous. They both knew of what transpired so beating around the bush was all but pointless.

"I'm sorry about what happened back then." Alice's shoulders drooped, "I thought it was for the best at the time."

Shikimi figured Alice urged Asuna to reject her because of what happened in their last school. It was only natural if she didn't know the truth of the matter.

"That's all in the past now." Shikimi waved her hand, "Unless it has any relation to why you want to talk to me about now, it's best you refrain from mentioning it. I would prefer forgetting such unpleasant memories."

Shikimi spoke with great disdain in her voice.

"Actually, it's related to what I want to talk about. Since I'd hate to keep you waiting for him to arrive, I'll start now..." Alice braced herself, "Are you working with Shiro?"

It was an unexpected question. One that caught Shikimi off guard.

She fell silent, left to think over her question. A few weeks ago Kirito had approached with the same question, it was unlikely to be a coincidence.