Kirito walked down the streets of Isshin on the fifth floor of Sword Art Online. He had his usual, expressionless face as he passed many CPU's and players.

Even though he showed no actual expression, Kirito was actually extremely excited. He had told the Moonlit Black Cats he couldn't go leveling with them today because he had work to do elsewhere. What he was doing though, wouldn't necessarily be considered "work" though. He had met with Klien for lunch and caught up with his first friend in SAO.

Somewhere in their conversation, Kirito had mentioned Sachi and Klien, being the pervert he was, told him if he liked her, he should get her something she'd enjoy.

Eventually the two friends had to part ways and as they were waving to each other, Klein called out to Kirito, telling him he should seriously buy something for Sachi if he wanted to get anywhere in a relationship.

Kirito passed several jewelry shops, all of them catching his eye, but none of them drew him in. He wanted to find a place that would sell something Sachi would enjoy.

He was about to give up on his little mission when a small sign caught his eye.

Jewelry!

A Player Owned Shop!

This was the first player owned shop he had seen in Isshin. Players, unlike CPU's could make any type of jewelry they wanted as long as they had the proper ores. So whether this shop had what Kirito was looking for or not, he'd be able to put in an order for something anyways.

He rushed inside, a bell ringing upon his entrance. Kirito looked around at the interior of the shop. It was a small room containing a large counter glass counter filled with beautiful, player made jewls. Behind the counter was an older man, looking to be in his late 40's early 50's. He wore a green suit and navy blue pants. His golden eyes gleamed behind his large, circular glasses. He was chubby, short man with only a small patch of brown, greying hair atop his head.

"How may I help you?" he asked, his voice smooth and young, though the mans ageing state.

"I'd like to see your player-made necklace selection," Kirito said.

"Ah, necklaces," the man sighed, "Are you going to give it to someone special?" Kirito's face became bright red. "So you are," the man chuckled as he walked through the small room to the back of the store, waving a hand behind him.

Kirito followed him to a small backroom filled with necklaces of shapes and colors. Kirito looked at the wide selection of necklaces, looking for the one that he thought would best suit Sachi. From the corner of his eye, he noticed a blue necklace in the corner of the room, sparkling brightly in the rooms dim light.

He walked over to the corner and alone in a small box was the most beautiful necklace Kirito had ever seen; a small fairy made of blue diamond.

"I'll take this one," he whispered, his breath taken away by it's beauty. He pointed at the necklace. "How much will it cost?"

"10,000 Col," the man said, "But for you I'll make it 5,000."

"Sir, I'll give you the full 10,000 Col," Kirito said as he opened his game menu and sent the man a trade request.

"You're very generous," he said as he accepted the trade. "Thank you." Kirito smiled as the trade finished. He walked out of the shop towards the towns portal. He was planning on meeting the rest of the Black Cats on the 24th floor for some night training.

"Sorry I'm late," Kirito said weakly as he came to a stop in front of the rest of the group.

"It's okay man," Keita said, a large smile across his face. "Now that we're all here, lets get going," Keita said enthusiastically. Kirito nodded in agreement and followed his five comrades as they walked through the town.

They reached the edge of the small town where the last of the prosperous fields met the forest. By that time the sun had hidden itself from Aincrad.

"You guys ready?" Keita asked, pulling out his sword. His comrades nodded in unison, their weapons drawn and the small guild pushed forward into the dark forest.

As they walked through the forest, they could hear the bushes snapping around them, the forest around them growing thicker and thicker, the familiarity of the town long gone.

An owl hooted somewhere off in the distance and Sachi let out a small shriek, clutching her wooden shield and the grip of her sword tightly.

Kirito stepped closer to her and slowly wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer. Kirito kept his arm wrapped closely wrapped around her until she stopped shaking.

"You okay?" he whispered softly into her ear. She nodded slowly in reply. Kirito began to withdraw his arm, confident in his friends courage, but she grabbed it before it could fully return to it's owner.

"Can you leave it there please?" she asked softly, her blue eyes begging him. Kirito blushed a little, but kept his arm firmly wrapped his arm back around her, covering her shoulders and the back of her neck.

"There's a mantis up ahead," Keita's cry came from the front of the group.

"Lets go and get it!" Ducker cried waving his dagger up in the air. The guild shouted their battle cry as they charged the towards the surprised mantis.

Keita landed the first hit on the large bug, taking a quarter of it's health. Sachi ran forward, leaving the warmth of Kirito's arm and blocked the mantis' hit from landing on Keita.

She fell as the mantis' large arm fell on her shield. It was about to strike the young girl who lay trembling, helpless before it when Kirito attacked, striking off it's claw like arm.

"T-thanks," Sachi said quietly, her voice trembling. Kirito nodded and turned back to the beast, his eyes burning with the excitement of battle.

The mantis struck again with it's other claw at Kirito. He skillfully blocked the attack and then, turning his blade, he cut off the other claw with one swift move of the arm.

The mantis cried out in pain as it backed away from the group of players. It glared at them angrily as it slowly backed away.

"You're not getting away!" Keita cried as he charged at the mantis, his sword held high.

He brought his sword down hard on the mantis' head, splitting it in two. The creature instantly died, giving Keita 105 Exp points.

"Whew, that was tiring," Keita said as he put his sword down, leaning on it for support. "Lets head back guys, I think that we've done enough for tonight."

The group cheered and sang gayly as they walked through the forest back to the town. Kirito's heart beater faster and faster as they neared the inn, waiting for the moment he could give Sachi the necklace he had gotten for her.

They reached the inn finding most of it's windows dark making it look abandoned. Most of the players and CPU's had gone to sleep for the night and the town had also seemed that way when they had walked through it. They walked into their own rooms, glad that they had paid for them before leaving for their training.

Kiriot sat on the side of the bed holding the necklace as he waited for Sachi to come in and sleep with him as she had the past couple of weeks.

He was surprised when he heard a knock at his door followed by Keita's voice telling him to come to his room. Kirito sighed as he got up and went to Keita's room, finding the rest of the guild members already there.

"Okay guys," Keita said excitedly, "We have enough Col to buy a guild house!" The group cheered in excitement at the amazing news.

"We don't ever have to pay for inn rooms again!" Ducker shouted loudly.

The group celebrated until the early morning hours. They then disbursed and went to bed. Due to the excitement, Kirito had forgotten about the necklace he had gotten for Sachi and drifted off to sleep, his warm body next to hers.

Kirito sat in shock, the desk wet from his tears. While waiting for Keita to buy the house, he and the rest of the guild had become trapped and everyone but him had died because of their low level.

When he had told Keita this, Keita had told him he never belonged with his guild because he was a beater. Keita then went on to commit suicide because he had nothing left, thus ending the Moonlit Black Cats.

In one day Kirito had gone from having five friends to having none. He slowly opened the desk drawer and withdrew the necklace he had been meaning to give Sachi.

He held it close to his chest as he cried, swearing he'd find a way to bring her back, even if it meant taking his own life.

"Anything," he whispered into the silent room. "I'll do anything for you. Anything Sachi, anything."