Of course he was right, Suto mused, pairing was a staple of this game's mechanics. The fact that Kazaro had basically neglected to give him a partner hardly came as a surprise, he expected just as much out of the guy. Eh, well it wasn't a total bust at least, there was someone he could pair up with. It was slightly deterring since he had never fought with Kimi before though, and being a solo player he couldn't be certain how good her rotations were. She was an agreeable enough person he supposed, but they would have to basically work on their switching from the ground up, in live combat. Could be worse, even if they messed up along the lines both of them were more than capable of defending themselves, the whole switching was basically to reserve energy during fights. Being all the prompt that Kimi needed she approached the unarmed fighter, giving a bit of a sassy remark as she pointed out their obvious paring. Smiling tightly as he tried to be polite Suto gave a shake of his head, placing his hands on his hips as he exhaled deeply to settle himself down. "No, no I guess it wasn't necessary. Just figured I'd get it clarified though, to be certain." It would certainly be interesting, the two of them fighting together. They had such different styles and ways of fighting, hopefully they complemented one another. Otherwise this could kind of be messy. Either way he didn't mind too much, it would be a change of pace if nothing else.

Suto hadn't expected much conversation out of Kimi, let alone a show of gratitude from her. It took him a moment to recall exactly what the thanks was even for, the event having slipped his mind with all that was going on. When it finally occurred to him he gave her a sheepish smile, rubbing at the back of his neck with a laugh. "No hard feelings. I'm not going to hold it against you so don't even worry about it, alright? That's behind us now as far as I'm concerned." He wouldn't be one to cling to minor offenses like that, it was a little frivolous as far as he was concerned. Other, much more pressing matters demanded his focus and he'd give it to them over some small past transgression first. Hearing where Kimi intended to go Suto raised an eyebrow, glancing back at Alphard and Jason curiously. The scary girl and the American kid, huh? They were nice enough but Suto always found them a touch unusual. Then again coming from such a small town he found a lot of people unusual, so that was nothing on them. "So... That means you don't want to join KoB?" he asked, a hint of disappointment in his tone. "I can ask them for you... If you'd like. I guess I'm sort of friends with them so they might hear my request out." Shame Kimi wouldn't join him in KoB. Having capable players was always nice, and maybe they'd be able to work together. For a girl who he had met as a rather abrasive person he found he didn't mind being around her, and hearing that she wanted to go elsewhere was a bit of a letdown. 

-----

Clearing this dungeon had proven to be child's play up until the fourth floor. Suto earnestly worried they had prepared too heavily for it all, the rate they were sweeping through rooms suggested they were over-leveled. It was nice to be able to have some peace of mind knowing you were stronger than your foes, but it was that very peace of mind that could make you careless and get you killed. As they progressed he approached even the easiest of enemies with some caution, keeping a careful eye out for anything unusual. Ultimately it proved to be a pointless endeavor as there was nothing on the first three floors, just typical trash mobs and no traps to be spoken of. By now he had become accustomed to fighting the <<Dark Reflections>>, even if they had progressively become more unsettling as the group moved up. Hearing the enemies bellow in an almost human like way when they were struck and slain was... Disturbing, to say the least. It almost felt like player-killing at a few points, making Suto's stomach churn uncomfortably as he shattered one for into a thousand pieces. Unsettling as these foes might be nothing that they had encountered up until now could well prepare them for the fourth floor. It was to be literally a living hell for them.

The first indication something was wrong were the nature of the sarcophogi in the room. They were much more ornate then the cut-from-stone counterparts before, probably housing some higher tier enemies if Suto had to make a guess. While he expected a new foe what emerged from those tombs was anything but anticipated, and the sight made his stomach lurch uncomfortably. Before the group now were their two slain friends, both of them bearing the very wounds that had led to their demise. For a game that technically had no blood it did a wondrous job of rendering grotesque images. Nauseating as it may be however he knew they were just that, images. The real Yari and Kenshin were long gone sadly, lost to them forever now. These manifestations, whatever they were, were really only numbers and nothing more. And not numbers like he and the others were, they had the human element to them. These two may look like their friends, even sound like them, but realistically they [i]weren't[/i] them. The fact the game had the audacity to taunt them with their deceased loved ones turned Suto's ailment into more of a rage, a rage towards the man who created this game and the game itself. He didn't want to kill anyone, but he sword if he ever found Kayaba he would pummel the man into dust, inside or outside of the game. That would have to wait however, they had to deal with this first. 

Kimi and Alphard were quick to take on Kenshin, surprisingly enough. The older girl had no trepidations about striking down her former husband, probably having come to the same conclusion that Suto had earlier. Realistically with their 3 to 1 ratio dealing with these two shouldn't be an issue. The only problem, as Nero was displaying, would be the psychological aspect. Even with his realization and anger telling him this wasn't his friend he still couldn't charge right in like the others. He should have though as rather quickly Nero was being descended upon by Yari's doppelganger. In any other circumstance the fight should be an easy one, Nero would be leagues better than Yari was at this point so he would have a big advantage. It would be an easy one if the guy was even remotely trying to fight back. Suto watched with a stunned expression as his ally simply sat down, taking swipe after strike as the impostor swung her spear around relentlessly, chipping away at his health. Why, why was Nero reserving himself like that? The expression on his face was one that Suto didn't really understand, why was Nero just taking this? Dammit, if he didn't get off his ass and do something that thing was going to kill him, was that what he wanted?

"Nero you idiot, move!" Suto shouted, charging in at Yari's figure angrily. So they were going to use the image of their beloved friends to kill them? Like hell, not a chance he was going to stand for that. Though the figure had been intent on Nero up until now the sight of the charging martial artist bought its attention, and with a skill activated the spear lunged out, making a series of quick, sharp jabs at him. With his movement speed so high he was able to handily dodge them all, which was probably good considering that even now this impostor possessed some decent strength. Giving an angry shout Suto threw his first combo out, striking the monster repeatedly in the chest with punches. As soon as that combo ended he used another skill to deliver a powerful uppercut to the creature, knocking it off of its feet and stunning it briefly. The stun had barely lasted by the time it had landed again, but he had done his part. Soon as Yari's feet touched the ground Kazaro ran her clean through, taking a massive chunk of her health away in the process. Suto was still feeling rather angry though and wasn't about to stop there, intent on delivering the killing blow to this... This hellish image. Again letting out a shout of pain and anger he charged forward, throwing a heavy haymaker right into the side of the monster's head. The force of the blow made it drop its spear, and with a light clanging it fell, the creature flying off its feet and shattering in mid air, the weapon meeting the same fate not a second after.

It had only been two enemies, yet it felt like they had just fought a dozen. Maybe it was the coming down from the rage that made Suto feel so weary, but after the foes were dispatched the energy more or less drained completely from his body. His face showed the signs of weariness as he stood upright, letting out a somber sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. That was... Unexpected, to say the least. He hadn't expected to be fighting distorted images of their friends, and he certainly hadn't expected to have to kill Yari. Not that he had, he knew it wasn't her, but all the same he'd beaten down a semblance of her and that didn't go without the slightest pang of sadness. For every ounce of discomfort he felt right now Nero seemed to be experiencing that ten fold, the other boy was crumpled on the ground in a proper mess. Suto looked over with a frown, what was wrong with him? It had taken up until this point but he thought he finally knew what the issue was, he recognized that forlorn look Nero wore when Yari descended upon him. It was the very same look he bore so often after Fitch's departure and joining that Doku bastard. It was a look of tremendous guilt and even self loathing, something that had really haunted since that event. He did a better job of concealing it now but he had not given up on bringing his friend back, not just yet. If he still held this feeling then he couldn't imagine how powerful the feelings Nero harbored must be.

Walking across the room to the other boy Suto squatted down, looking at Nero sympathetically. With a gentle smile he reached out, placing a hand on the guy's shoulder and giving it a gentle pat to try and rouse him. "Hey... Nero, you can't blame yourself for what happened," he said softly, "None of us could have prevented those things from happening, its not any single persons fault, certainly not yours. We all miss them but we can't be blaming ourselves for what happened. If you want to place blame, blame this game and the man behind it." Seeing someone else crumple like this really sucked, even if he wasn't usually fond of Nero. Not that he disliked the guy in any way, saying he wasn't fond of him wasn't right. They just interacted very little and were two different beasts entirely, sometimes it felt like they weren't even in the same room together. Pulling his hand back Suto rested his arms over his knees, raising an eyebrow curiously. "Listen, none of us blame you for it, so you shouldn't either. You don't have to forget it, but do what I do, use it as a reason to clear this damn game. If you do feel guilty then don't wallow over this, that's not what they would want from you. They would want to see you get stronger and help other people," he added, sniffling a little. In part these were his own feelings he was expressing now, this was how he felt about their deaths. They were the reason hew as so adamant about getting stronger, he didn't want his friends' deaths to be in vain. "Doing what you just did is an insult to them, you know? Keep fighting instead of laying down like that."