It had been a while since you'd see him, that red headed player named "Klein." He was always so loud, so out there, that you'd never really tried to approach him before. He was hanging around that Solo Player, "Kirito," today. You'd heard about Kirito—who hadn't? That guy was famous! You'd also heard how Klein was buddy-buddy with that guy, which meant he was pretty well-known as well. A successful guild leader, with many strong members to show.

It was nearing Christmas, now, and you'd been in SAO for so long, it was becoming like home. But you knew it wasn't. It was all so alien, but familiar, too. The real world wasn't this peaceful, and it was just as exciting.

It would be midnight soon, and you had to get home soon, before the programmed blizzards hit. You'd timed them days before, and they never failed to show up at the exact same times, and the exact same places. You'd have scouted a safer rout around them, but you hadn't had time since that blacksmiths shop had closed so suddenly.

Then you heard clanging noises in the distance, like a battle. Was someone out fighting monsters this time of night? How reckless... But no, those were duel sounds, metal against metal. You recognized them from when the players fought each other for fun in the towns you's been in lately. So, unless these new holiday monsters had acquired some sort of steel armor for themselves, there had been an upsetting between two guilds nearby.

You silently slunk forward, keeping a trained eye out for the tell-tale flashes of light, and—there! A blade shone in the moonbeams that peaked through the treetops above. As you peered through the bushes ahead of you, you saw some familiar guises—Ah, so it was those pesky Divine Dragon Alliance again, was it? Those guys would do anything for a rare item! What were they after now?

That was when you remembered the rumors, lately, of the rare resurrection item. But, those couldn't be true, could it? Nothing could bring people back from the dead! Even in this stupid game! It was one of the firm, unbending rules of the universe that even SAO couldn't weave around. So, unless that bastard Kayaba had been lying about the whole death-by-brain-burnage fiasco, then that fact should remain true.

But who was that, behind those armored nuisances? Those guild colors seemed familiar to you, somehow... But, could it be? Klein? It was him! And his guild, it seemed. And, there was someone behind them as well—ah, yes. That solo player, Kirito. It appeared he was everywhere.

Klein, he looked irritated, an expression you thought was mainly unique to you. It didn't look right on his face, though... He made an exasperated and angry swipe with his sword, then hollered something to The famous Black Swordsman behind him. You couldn't hear him from the distance you were at, but it seemed he was...dismissing him? It seemed Kirito understood, though, because he sent an affirmative nod at the red head, before turning and—

Running straight through a tree.

… You'd have to mull that over later. For now, you turned your attention toward the skirmish between Klein's guild and The Dragon Alliance.

(~)(~)(~)(~)(~)

You were majorly impressed by Klein's fighting skills. The other members of his guild were okay, too, but Klein was almost at the level of Master. If, of course, there were actual levels in this game. Since there were not, you gave him the title of "knight" in your own mind.

(It occurred to you that this, right now, could have been considered stalking, but you politely referred to it as "observing" while you admired Klein very shiny katana.)

The Dragon Alliance, retreated once their flimsy weapons—it appeared that they were using minute swords, at the moment; swords that had a limit to how many blows they could withstand. They were insanely cheap, and commonly used for quick jobs, such as clearing a simple quest of annoyances to the towns—disappeared into a burst of a millions of tiny crystals. They had a fancy sounding scientific name, you'd heard, that started with a "p", but you couldn't really remember it right now.

Klein and his guild fell to the ground to catch their breaths, their weapons implanted into the frost-covered dirt. A few minutes later, the black-clad Kirito came out of the tree—that he'd walked into, you reminded yourself—and Klein looked up. He grinned when he realized who it was, seeming to shout a greeting, but stopped when he saw his friend's face. Seeing this, you turned to get a better look at Kirito, and saw that his bangs hung in front, shadowing in his face, and he had one of those ultra-depressed auras surrounding him.

Klein appeared confused, but then Kirito tossed him something. You narrowed you eyes and used your "info-sight" to see what he was reading once he "clicked" the item and brought up a menu.

It was the resurrection rare item.

The flippin' resurrection item.

It was real.

You would be able to bring back a fucking dead person with that.

But, then, you looked closer, and realized it said "within ten seconds of death," and understood. That made sense. It also maybe explained why Kirito looked like a emo person right then.

Said emo person turned around to leave, but Klein jumped up and stopped him by grabbing his belt. You thought, with a sudden heavy heart, was he gay? Like, wtf? But it was, fortunately, not to be. Klein said something to Kirito, pleaded something. He was—was he crying? Aww...

Kirito was silent for a bit, then said something I response—or maybe not a response, since he just up-and-left then. Klein fell back down to his knees, and that was when he really looked depressed.

You contemplated a of heavy stuff in your mind before sighing and stepping out of the your hiding spot of observation. You walked toward Klein and his guild. When you were close, Klein looked up with a hopeful expression, probably hoping you were Kirito or something. When he saw you, his face returned to that sad-black state.

It took about three more seconds, but then you were standing right in front of him. His guild members watched in bewilderment, and Klein looked up at you in confusion, and that's when you planted your fists on your hips and spoke up.

"Alright," you said. "I know you don't know me, but I can't just sit back and watch you cry when you're looking so freaking depressed—" (more like cute and adorable, but you'd never say that out loud. Yet) "— without coming over and at least trying to hug you. Clear?"

He didn't look like he was about to say anything intellectual any time soon(and neither did his buddies, but you weren't paying attention to them, really), so you got on your knees with him, and threw your arms around his shoulders. "You better stop crying right now, or I will introduce you to my fist and give you something to cry about. Got it, mister?"

He was staring at you with wide, uncomprehending eyes, so you just sighed, shaking your head like you would at a little kid who just didn't get it, and tightened your hug.

Yeah. It really had been a while—way too long, in your opinion—since you'd seen that red haired player named Klein.