Sword Art Online - The Midnight Shadow

Prologue

"What were you thinking?!"

A loud voice echoed across the empty part of the town.

The one yelling was her leader and childhood friend.

"I-I'm sorry..."

The one apologizing was Kirito, a person who had kept secrets from them ever since they met.

She could only watch in a daze. Not even an hour ago, most of the people here were in a situation in which they most likely have died.

"Sorry?!" Keita repeated angrily. "They could have died!"

"N-no, stop," Ducker could barely speak. Unlike her. "It's my fault! If I didn't open that chest–"

"You wouldn't have seen that chest if you weren't on such a high floor!" Keita cut him off harshly.

Sachi wanted to speak and defend Kirito, to tell everyone that he wasn't at fault, but she couldn't, she was still too shaken.

"Tell me," Keita glowered at him angrily, "what if they did die?!" he asked bitterly. "How would you have been able to live with yourself, «Beater»?!"

«Beater» that word stung. It was as if they were condemning his very existence.

"...You're right..." Kirito whispered. "I'm sorry, I never should've joined you. I put you all in so much danger."

Keita remained angry but his gaze slightly softened.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't stay any longer."

NO!

The black-haired boy pulled out a teleport crystal from his inventory and ran as fast as he could away from his guildmates.

"W-wait..." she barely choked out.

She heard him say the incantation and in a blue portal, he disappeared from the town... and from her.

The rest of their guild stood there numbly unsure of what to do.

An instant later, she knew what she was going to do.

Pulling out a teleport crystal of her own, she spoke the incantation to teleport to the same town that Kirito went to.

As she was swallowed by the light, she could barely hear somebody calling her name.

***

When she got to the town, she immediately looked around.

Luckily the town was a quiet one, so there weren't many people around.

She quickly spun around and scanned the few people there. Almost instantly she saw a boy with black hair and a black coat.

He was turned away from the teleport gate, but she could see from his posture that he was sad.

Before she could even take a step forward, he turned towards her with a startled expression.

"Sachi..." he whispered as he brought his hand out to reach her. She could tell that he was already on the verge of crying, but the moment he saw her, tears formed at the corners of his eyes.

She stood in place, frozen.

Now that she was here, she wasn't sure of what to do.

Kirito seemed the same. However, he quickly regained his bearings. With a guilty expression, he turned away from her and ran.

That brought her back to her senses and she chased after him.

He was fast, but for once in her life, she had an actual goal.

And she wasn't ready to let him go.

When they reached an alleyway, he briefly slowed down to look back.

That small distraction was enough. Using all her energy, she rushed forward with an extra burst of speed and embraced the hurting boy in her arms.

He struggled for a bit but didn't push her away.

"Let go," he whispered as his struggles died out.

"Nothing is your fault," she whispered as she unconsciously held him tighter.

She couldn't bring himself to blame him. In her mind, it was her own fault, if she was able to become stronger like she was supposed to, maybe then they could have been safe. But it was because of her fear that she could not grow as efficiently as the others.

"Please don't blame yourself," she reiterated. "You didn't do anything wrong."

What she was saying shook him. In his mind, everything was his fault. If he didn't meet them then they wouldn't have been in danger.

"You're wrong, Sachi," he said just short of sobbing. "It's all my fault."

"Nothing is your fault," she repeated as her tears started to fall onto his back.

She couldn't say anything more. After all the months that they spent together, she understood him enough to know that he would reject any reassuring words spoken to him. All she could do was hold him.

They stayed like that for a while, letting her show him the same support that he always showed her.

Slowly, he turned himself around in her arms and embraced the girl with a similar ferocity as her own.

"I'm sorry for lying..." he whispered to the girl who he was worried for the most.

"I'm sorry for being weak..." she whispered to the boy who always believed in her.