18 February 2024
Katalysis, 43rd Floor
It was as if time had stood still. The girl with the crimson red hair stared at me, her face without a single tweak of its expression. If she was really hiding any shock or confusion she was having right now, her poker face seemed to do a good job at it.
"Where did you really come from?" She asked with a slightly hastened tone.
"How did you know my name? How did you know that much?"
Her burning questions deserved my answers, but I couldn't just give them to her right away. The situation we were in was far from ideal for me to host an explanation on the matter.
Kira seemed to have thought the same, as she held her non-sword hand up at me, before I even had the chance to.
"No, scratch those for now. Just tell me this then. Who sent you to me?"
I was hesitant to give an answer, due to the tense situation I was in right now. Though, the tension wasn't filled much by Kira, but rather the scythe user behind her, who had been shooting me intense hostile stares since I arrived at this "meeting spot". Maybe, if Kira wasn't here, he could've already rushed at me, swinging his scythe with little reason but just for a fight.
It's not like I wouldn't deal with the 'strike first, talk later' type of players if I had to, but the problem of dealing with them was blindingly obvious. I was just glad that Kira was the complete opposite.
"....Kyozo," I replied, as softly as to make sure that Kira could only hear me. The name would be enough to ring a bell for her, and for it to come from the lips of a player she has never met before, I was almost sure that she would instantly understand the confidentiality of the matter.
Needless to say, I could clearly see her crimson red eyes slowly widening, as she took an intense stare at me.
"Acher," The redhead turned back to the scythe user. "Head back to headquarters with the intruder first. If Tori asks for me, tell her that I'm held up by some business that I can't ignore."
The scythe user was about to stride towards me, holding his scythe for a swing. It was clear that he wasn't a good listener; he didn't want to.
"Just what the hell did he--"
Kira's sword swung towards his neck, blocking him like a gantry. She held it at his neck level, but the blade's sharp edge wasn't facing it, which didn't seem like she was going to slice his neck.
"I hope I've made myself very clear," Kira's tone became deeper. "Take the guy, and report back without me. Now."
For a guy which gave me an instant first impression of a delinquent, the player called Acher backed a few steps off, though his defiance could still be seen on his face. He walked back to Krieg, giving him a rough push on the back. The two went along the borders, disappearing into the darkness.
"I'll make sure your friend doesn't get killed," Kira turned back to me. "As I had promised with anyone I've personally captured."
"Well, those promises are very hard to keep, no matter how much I'd want to NOT break them."
"....." I watched as Acher and Krieg disappeared into the darkness, before pulling my spear out from the ground. The fact that it could still stand ever so upright from just its blade was intriguing, but I never did though much about it when I stabbed it into the ground. I just figured it would set the leverage of power between me and whoever who possibly wanted an unnecessary fight.
As I returned my spear to my back, Kira spoke again, her sword now pointing straight towards me. Having judged her as a more reasonable person than Acher, I might have nothing to worry about any possibility of hostility from her.
"You have 5 minutes to give me proof that Kyozo knows and trusts you."
I put my hands up to shoulder level, looking at her sword's blade, which was merely a meter away from my chest.
"Ok, ok.....I'll give you proof, but I'd appreciate if you at least lower your sword a little. You don't need to sheathe it, if you're still wary, but I'm not exactly great with talking to the tip of a blade."
Kira's sword instantly lowered about 45 degrees, as her gaze kept locking onto me. It seemed like she really was a player within reason, despite being orange.
"Right," I lowered my hands, and brought down my system menu. "So, I got a request from Kyozo of the KoB to track you down in the city of Katalysis. That was where he last knew you were at, and apparently, he was right."
The image record crystal that I had received from Kyozo appeared and plopped onto my hand. I tossed it to Kira, who caught it seamlessly with her non-sword hand.
"Please verify if you're in this picture. I'm also quite wary that you're not the player I'm looking for, you see. But if that's you, you're free to keep the crystal. Kyozo would like that, anyway."
Kira looked at the picture for quite the while, before she turned back at me. Her reaction was minimal, probably to hide whatever real emotions she might have had, but there was no way that she could stare at the picture of Kyozo and tell me that she didn't know him. After all, looking at someone you know with slightly widened eyes for a longer time than one would expect does give away the idea of your relationship to that person.
".....How would you know I would be the one that you're looking for?," Kira closed the record crystal and gripped it close with her hand. "I could be just another redhead for all you know."
I crossed my arms with my reply. "Would you automatically lie about knowing Kyozo if you expected me to come looking for you? And besides, if you really aren't Kira....."
"I would have forced you to give the crystal back to me anyway."
Both of us stood in another stare-off in the silence of the darkness. For someone who knew completely nothing about Kira, I could consider myself bold for even coming to the scene just to confirm that she was the player that Kyozo was talking about. But, for some reason, the lack of trust in that situation fueled my hesitancy in even speaking another word in this still, empty environment, where anyone can probably hear stuff from a distance several times further than in the crowded central area.
Kira's sword hand moved, lifting her sword up, as my eyes frantically followed its movements. As the tip of its blade rotated back towards the slit of its sheathe, whatever breath that I was holding escaped my mouth, as I relaxed myself a little.
"To save you the trouble of force, I've known Kyozo way before you did," Kira released her grip on her sword and brought down her system menu. "Am I right to say that he's still in the KoB?"
".....That's impressive, to know that much." I replied. That had actually solidified my confirmation that the player right in front me really was Kira. In fact, if she knew that Kyozo's from the KoB, it would mean that they go way back as close friends. Kyozo wasn't really a well-known member from the KoB, after all.
"He didn't really have much friends, you see," Kira fetched an unlighted torch form her inventory. "And needless to say, few knew about his affiliation with the KoB."
As she lit the torch, the 'lighted' area, which was the dim area that we were standing in, became much clearer and brighter. Before, I could only confirm the colour of Kira's red hair when I first arrived at this place, but now I could see the entirety of her figure, as much as she could see mine and Raku's.
Her clothes--or rather, a one-piece dress--were as reddish in colour as her hair. The armour that she wore was nothing like the average player, for they were in the form of long bands covering her forearms, perfect for fending off attacks just by raising them. Anything that wasn't red on her were all of a colour close to black, which really reinforced the look of her sporting a crimson theme.
Through my imagination, Kira was what struck me as a crimson warrior. And truth be told, anyone else would have agreed with my first impression of her.
"Xana, was it?" Kira continued. "I would have liked to continue this conversation, but my schedule's tight at the moment."
"Cos of the Council?" It was an easy guess from me. I couldn't ignore her affiliation to a group that's unquestionably important in the city of Katalysis.
"Afraid so," Kira turned to the direction of the darkness where Krieg and the scythe user Acher disappeared into. "If you'd like a meeting with me again, come to the Gladorium the day after tomorrow, at night. I'll be waiting. Or better yet, I'll personally find you....."
She pointed at me, but not with a typical index finger. Her hand was balled into a fist, her thumb sitting on top, sticking out towards me. It was a gesture that would nearly suggest that she was threatening me to accede to her request.
A while later, she relaxed her fist, sighing and giving a little chuckle.
"Pardon my attitude. It's just that.....Kyozo's a very dear friend to me. I can't just let a chance like you pass me by."
The crimson player turned to the darkness where Krieg and Acher disappeared into. She paused, and turned at me again, this time with her eyes seemingly focusing onto something. Her gaze tilted down, and after a few conscious blinks, lifted her gaze up to my face.
"I'll spot you via that spear you have on your back. You're an interesting one, to have such a weapon."
"Um.....thanks?" I gave a bit of a flustered reply, staring at her the whole time during her speech. She sure had a sharp eye, to notice the uniqueness of my spear.
The torch that Kira was carrying drifted further away from me and Raku, stranded in the darkness with only the nightlife of the central city area to be spotted as a speck in the distance.
====================================================