Fatal Bullet (Various x Female Reader)

Chapter Four (Memories of Fallen Friends)

        "It's been two years, huh? Two years since that game ended... Longer since..." I sighed. I looked up, spotting a place I could be by myself. After walking the long set of stairs and up the pathway, I came upon an observatory that overlooked the rest of the city. I walked to the edge and sat down, pulling my leg up and resting my head on my knee. The sun was setting, making the sky a beautiful golden.

"I forgot... that even in the virtual world there are times like this. I guess I didn't want to remember my time in that world. Maybe it's time I let those memories go... let the people I lost go..." I whispered. I think... I think I've held onto the past for far too long. They wouldn't want me to be like this. Another memory flashed in my mind.

"Leader! There's enemies ambushing us from the rear, too!" I gritted my teeth. We were being ambushed by a PKing guild known as Laughing Coffin. They first attacked from the front, and now it seems as though they've pinned us in.

"Dammit! Everyone, when I give the signal, I want you all to use an emergency teleport crystal! We're outnumbered and there's no way we'll make it out alive if we don't retreat!" I yelled at them. My guild, Midnight Thorns, was a small group. There were only six of us, including me. Arisa, Yona, Ryuu, Freia and... Hikaru. We were all real life friends who decided to snag a copy of Sword Art Online and play it together.

I was the leader of our band of heroes, everyone had always said that I just fit the deal. I would never tell them this, but being their Leader is difficult. They always look to me for answers, and sometimes... I just don't have them. Today we were just out on a simple hunting mission. Little did I know... that this would be the last time I would ever see any of my friends ever again.

"Pay attention to your health! Use a quick healing crystal, or get out of here while you still can! If you're low, don't wait for my signal and just get out!" I yelled at them. Arisa's health was getting low. My eyes widened.

"Arisa! Get out of here! Get back to town!" I yelled at her. It was too late. A sword stabbed through her, the last bit of her health fading into nothing. Time seemed to slow down as we lost our first member... our first friend. She smiled sadly at me as she faded away into nothing but pieces of data that were meaningless now in Kayaba Akihiko's world. I swallowed, bile seeming to rise in my throat. I glared at one of the Laughing Coffin members, the one that killed Arisa. He was laughing at my misery. I'll show him... I summoned my bow and shot him in the chest. Not many use bows, so he wasn't expecting it. His health fell below zero and he died.

A life for a life.

Another scream caught my attention. It was Freia and Ryuu. The two were cornered by god knows how many LC members.

"Freia, Ryuu, get out of here!" I tried to yell at them, but before they could bring out a teleport crystal... they were gone. I looked for Yona and Hikaru. The moment I spotted Yona, she was gone. Hikaru was fighting his way back to me. I brought out my sword again and slashed through many enemies to attempt to get to my last friend... my last childhood friend.

"Hikaru... please..." He looked in my direction and gave me a shaky smile. He was hurting just as much as I was, but he was still going strong. I nodded. I killed two more Laughing Coffin members. There was just so many of them. I long since sent out a distress signal to Kirito and Asuna, to tell them to get the ALF to our location. I haven't had the chance to look at my messages, as I have many from both of them and the rest of my friends that I've made in SAO. A pained gasp entered my hearing. My eyes instantly flashed to Hikaru's name tag. His health was in the red.

"H-Hikaru... please.... Please get out of here! I can't lose you too!" I yelled at him. He smiled and shook his head.

"I'm not going to leave you until I know that Kirito and the other's are here!" I shook my head.