T R A P P E D

Chapter Nine - Akiko

I flung my arms around Hoshi and Kaori, pulling them into one giant hug. "Thank you... You will protect me from now on right?"

I looked up at them with pleading eyes. Hoshi smiled, "Of course."

Then, a high-pitched, nasally voice nearly burst my eardrums.

"Michiko Akiko. Don't you dare come anywhere near MY Kaori-chan, do you hear?"

Namiko!

Kaori' eyes showed a slight sign of irritation and disappointment before it was replaced by its usual stoic expression. He dropped his hands from around me and faced Namiko Ryuyengi, the girl who thought that everyone was below her as she was wealthy.

She was one of the few girls left in the game. She must have paid people to protect her or something. Useless bimbo.

Or probably the game creators so that she could show off.

Before I could react, however, Ukiyo dashed forward and jumped, gracefully kicking Namiko in the head. Namiko crumpled to the ground, unconscious. Out of the crowd, two burly dudes came out and dashed to Namiko's side. Her paid goons, no doubt.

They faced off with Ukiyo, who immediately spun and kicked one of them in the face. The other goon, enraged, charged towards her. She quickly drew her sword and smacked him in the face with the flat of her blade.

Ukiyo, with her new black hood covering her face, looked like an avenging angel.

She'd easily taken out two opponents bigger than her without even breaking a sweat. She turned around, returning to us.

Hoshi, who was still holding on to me, gaped in disbelief. Ukiyo, which they had once thought was just a scrawny boy, was actually a lot more than that.

I burst into laughter, at the hilarity of the situation and at the looks on the boys' faces.

Just then, a big group of guys approached us. "Join our guild. Don't stay with those losers." The leader told Ukiyo, obviously expecting her to agree. I was furious. How dare they try to take my best friend away from me?

"No."

Ukiyo replied, shocking the group, who clearly didn't expect her to deny their request.

Enraged, the leader stepped forward, pulling off Ukiyo's hood. "What kind of guy hides their face, anyway? Are you really that ugl-"

He froze, as the hood fell away, revealing Ukiyo's long onyx hair and purple eyes.

"You were saying?"

Ukiyo