Trio (A Sword Art Online Fanfic) ✔

Chapter One

"Today is the day."

I looked over at Katsu as he dramatically flopped onto the couch. He groaned, throwing an arm over his eyes. Rikimaru looked over from the kitchen stove where he was making breakfast.

"What day?" I asked, sipping some of my coffee and pulling

"It's been a full year."

We all paused. A full year since we had woken up the players from ALfheim Online. A full year since I had moved in with Rikimaru. A full year since I had last seen my family. A full year since we had had a death threat hanging over our heads.

"Wow." I finally murmured.

Rikimaru went back to cooking, the sizzling of the bacon doubling. Katsu peeked at me from underneath his arm, curious about my reaction. I carefully kept my expression guarded, hiding my jittery hands underneath the table.

When Rikimaru was done, he placed food on three plates and set them on the table. Katsu climbed off of the couch, joining us at the table. He quickly dug into his food, his silverware hitting the plate.

"A whole year!" Rikimaru suddenly exclaimed, dropping his silverware against the table, "A whole year?!"

"To the day." Katsu confirmed.

"That's insane!"

"It feels like it was yesterday, doesn't it?" I sighed, remembering those days.

"Definitely feels like yesterday." Rikimaru agreed.

"Remember when we got stuck in that stupid tree because of Ashitaka's and Arren's trap?" I asked, turning to Katsu with a grin on my face.

"Or when you were almost raped?"

I glared at him, ungrateful for the reminder. I clenched my fists at the thought of Tenma. He had been in jail for the last year from all the things he had done.

"Thanks for the reminder." I told him, scowling.

I saw Rikimaru's tense position out of the corner of my eye, and reached over to grab his hand in mine. He sent me a grateful look, a small smile on his face.

"You two make me sick." Katsu announced, rolling his eyes.

I stuck my tongue out at him, but didn't let go of Rikimaru's hand.

Over the year, we didn't talk much about what had happened in that dome. I knew Rikimaru felt guilty for what had happened, despite it not being his fault.

So we didn't talk about it.

Instead, we spent all of our time making sure we lived life to its fullest, despite how clichéd that sounded like. After all we had been through, through all of the death threats and battles, we just didn't want to take anything for granted.

"A whole year..." I murmured again.

"It's hard to believe." Rikimaru agreed.

"I have to agree." Katsu announced, "I mean, think about all we have done in one year!"

"Don't be an idiot." Rikimaru sighed, "We haven't done much."

"I'm serious!" Katsu exclaimed, not looking up from his food.

Rikimaru and I turned to face him, curious expressions on our faces. Katsu wasn't serious often.

He looked up from his food, pausing when he noticed our glances. He sighed, setting down his silverware. He fully faced us, crossing his arms over his chest.

"You moved in together! I have a girlfriend now, whom I love! Agil's bar is so successful, he could but this apartment building!" Katsu exclaimed, "Harumi, you've graduated highschool, despite missing two years! Rikimaru, you're days away from taking over your father's business and becoming one of the richest families in the country! Need I continue?"

"The idiot has a point." I confessed, earning a dirty look from Katsu.

"Of course I am. I mean--"

The phone rang and I hopped up to go find it, cutting off the rest of Katsu's rant.

"Nice pajama bottoms!" Katsu called after me.

I ignored him and picked up the phone, answering, "Hello?"

"Harumi, it's me."

I smiled at Kirito's voice, and shoved the phone in between my ear and my shoulder, leaning against the wall.

"Hey, Kirito!"

"I told you not to call me that in real life." He grumped.

"Tough luck, bud. What's up?"

"There's this guy who contacted us. He wants me, you, and Rikimaru to meet him for lunch at one."

"And why should we come?" I asked, switching the phone to the other ear.

Rikimaru stuck his head around the corner to look at me, a question on his face. I waved him away, focusing on the phone call.

"He knows about us from Sword Art Online."

I caught my breath, listening to the silence. Rikimaru took one look at my face and raced forward, his curiosity intensifying.

"What?" He whispered.

I turned away from him, waving my hand.

"We will be there." I said into the phone.

"Great!" Kirito exclaimed, "We will see you there!"

"Yeah...See you there."

I hung up the phone and turned to face Rikimaru. He gave me a questioning look.

"Some guy wants to meet me, you, and Kirito at some diner at one." I told him, "He...He knows us from Sword Art Online."

Rikimaru stiffened, but didn't say anything. He turned and went back to the kitchen. I followed behind him slowly.

"We have just enough time to clean up." He announced, as he started to clear the table.

"Where are you going?" Katsu asked, protesting as Rikimaru swept away his plate.

"Lunch." I told him.

"You just ate!" He sighed, shaking his head, "This is what happens when the two of you sleep in until noon!"

I ignored him and hurried to the bedroom to change. Once I was dressed reasonably, I grabbed the keys and hurried back to the kitchen. I switched jobs with Rikimaru and finished cleaning up as he went to go change.

I turned to Katsu when I was finished and said, "Are you going to chill out here, or...?"

"Nah, I'll go see Chihiro." Katsu said, smiling at the thought of his girlfriend.

He climbed to his feet and gave me a hug before leaving. As soon as the door was shut, Rikimaru came back into the kitchen.

"Ready to go?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

I nodded and we both left the apartment, locking up behind us. It was a nice day as we walked towards the diner. It was almost one, and we picked up the pace, seeing as we didn't want to be late.

When we finally reached the diner, Kirito was waiting outside for us. We hurried to join him.

"It's about time!" Kirito exclaimed, "He's already here!"

He herded us inside, waving us towards a table near the windows. A guy in a fancy suit was waiting, and I couldn't help but feel underdressed.

We all sat down with hesitant looks on our faces. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"It's nice to meet you guys!" The guy exclaimed, "The weather is--"

"Oh, cut the small talk." I snapped, "What do you want?"

The man sighed, leaning forward on his elbows. He looked down at the table, before glancing up. He searched at each of our faces before finally speaking.

"We want you three to go into Gun Gale Online."