[center][colour=Crimson][h1]Keiko Inata[/h1][/colour][/center] Droplets of rain danced across the window of the Inata residence - home to only a single person. Keiko herself. She didn't exactly complain about the privacy, but it did get rather lonely at times. On an odd occasion, she would think about what things would be like if she had a family member, friend - hell, even a lover to stay at her apartment. But, like everytime before, she snapped out of it. Her family were gone, and her friends were few and far between minus an odd number. Her lover, too, taken straight from her grasp. As much as she didn't want to blame herself, for some reason she couldn't help it. Like there was some subconscious will forcing her to take responsibility for Matsuta's death. It wasn't as if she would have been able to help. They were both Level 9s; she would have had no chance at winning. In her inner monologue, Keiko had been idly pouring herself a drink from the first thing she found - a carton of apple juice. It wasn't the best drink, but it was better than nothing. Just as the glass was about to overfill, a message alert formed at the side of her vision; courtesy of the Neuro-Linker strapped around the back of her head. The off orange coloured liquid stopped pouring as her hands retracted, letting the juice form across the top almost perfectly. With her right hand picking up the drink, her left reached up and tapped the message - it instantly forming across her vision. [i]"Another Amber... What do we do with it?"[/i] The message was short, and would make no sense to pretty much anyone who read it. Of course, though, it was official business to do with the Red Legion. "Amber" was just another term used for players who had used the Amber Infuser, created by the bastard in the Yellow Legion. And the worst part? Her legion couldn't retaliate, as in accordance to the Peace Treaty, it wasn't a direct attack or an act of aggression. [colour=Crimson]"Kill him now. There's no point in keeping him alive if he proves a threat."[/colour] Keiko idly wrote; her fingers dancing across the keyboard with expert precision. How many times had this message been sent? Surely her underlings should have gotten the hint and just killed any Amber on the spot. Though, they probably realised that would cause problems in the long run... Setting down the drink, she quickly brought up two message tabs - each respectively to one person, either [i]Shizuka[/i] or [i]Yoshiki[/i]. Both were more or less friends from school; with Shizuka still being more or less in debt from back then. Yoshiki... Yoshiki was a lot like Matsuta in a sense. He had that same care-free attitude, only putting in anything remotely akin to effort when the situation desperately called upon it. Both her index fingers hovered above the send buttons of the two windows; a message already written out on each. [b]Been a while, Void. Or should I say Shizuka now? There was something I wanted you to test for me - a bit of a game I've been working on, if it can be called that. I want you to give it your all, okay? [i]We'll[/i] be watching - Keiko[/b] "We'll" was specially italicized. Just so Shizuka knew that there might be more than one person watching. [b]Hey there, Yoshiki. I know you've been looking for a new game to play, so I'm sending you an invite to my private network. Kick some ass, okay? Theres someone I want you to meet. - Keiko[/b] Somehow, no matter the format, she felt that she could always feel... Casual, around Yoshiki. It was different from her usual attitude, that was sure. Being able to keep her guard down around someone felt good every once in a while. With that, Keiko tapped the send buttons, grabbed her drink, and headed off to watch TV. [center][@Akayaofthemoon][/center] [hr] [center][h2][colour=SlateGray]Yoshiki Kiabara[/colour][/h2][/center] Yoshiki stood from the sofa of his house and closed the video window in front of him. He had just finished watching a documentary of sorts about the SAO incident from 2022 and the years following it. He'd always been interested in game history and things related to it, so his video archive on the Neuro-Linker was filled with things of the sort. Old world games, the 21st century, The Nerve Gear and BIC, the first generation, etcetera. It was why RPG type games were so appealing to him, and the same with puzzle and strategy and fighting. His sister, Mayuri, sat on the other side of the sofa, supposedly watching something as well. Whatever it was, she seemed pretty engrossed, as she didn't notice him standing. He walked over to the kitchen, just a little ways from the lounge, and pulled a glass from a nearby cupboard. Then he grabbed a bottle from the side and unscrewed the top, pouring the black liquid into the glass and watching it fizz. The sound of his parents talking and the oven were all but drowned out in his hearing by the constant downpour of rain from outside. There were only a couple days left before school started again, and so far the final days had been boring and miserable. Yoshiki lifted the glass to his mouth and took a drink, before a message appeared at the side of his vision, from Keiko. It wasn't normal for her to message him, so the occasion must have been special in some way. He placed the glass back down and opened the message, saying it quietly under his breath as he read. It was short, but it definitely piqued his interest. A new game to test out? She really did know him well. [colour=SlateGray][b]"Yeah sure, I'll check it out."[/b][/colour] he replied before putting the tab to the side. [b]"Hey, I'm gonna head to my room for a bit. I've got something to do, so message me if you need me urgently."[/b] he said to his family as he walked off and into his room, locking the door behind him with the Neuro-Linker. Then he sat down and connected to the invitation world. [b]"Open direct link."[/b]