The sound of an alarm made Hikari stir in her sleep. Pulling the thick blanket over her head to try and stop the noise, she tried to force herself back in to her dream. She was only moments away from devouring a tone of Takoyaki skewers before the stupid ringing pierced right through her skull. She groaned as the blanket did little to stop the ringing. Turning over onto her back after a few moments, she reached out with her right hand to try and find the alarm clock that was already ruining her day before it started. After a few attempts resulting in just banging her fingers against the small nightstand, her fingertips managed to reach the thing, effectively stopping the noise after the appropriate button was found and tapped. Sighing in relief, Hikari dropped her hand, letting her knuckles brush against the floor as she lay there, staring at the ceiling as a few rays of light started to shine through the window.

A yawn to rival that of a lion's escaped her mouth then and she brought her hand up to cover it as she sat up, stretching a moment later. Grumbling as she moved the blanket over, she swung her legs off the side of the bed, standing and shuffling towards the bathroom. After doing her business on the toilet, Hikari went to stand on the small blue carpet position in front of the mirror. Washing her hands, she would stare at her sleepy reflection in the mirror. She had dark circles under her eyes and her long black hair was all tangled and sticking up in some places. Rubbing her eyes, she leaned over the sink and splashed cold water on her face to fully wake herself up. When she was done, she reached up and grabbed the towel hanging on her shower railing and dried her face.

"Alright, time to do something productive Hikari!" she told herself in the mirror, reaching up with both hands and slapping her cheeks as she did. After brushing her teeth, she turned and left the bathroom, looking around at her small studio apartment. A frown made its way onto her features as she noticed how dirty it was. In the corner that served as the kitchen, dishes were overflowing in the sink and food crusted pots sat on the stove, a few flies gathering around. "Eww..." she said as she opened one and a horrid stench smacked her right in the face. Turning, she pushed open one of her windows and then the other as decided it was time to do a major clean up. Skipping happily over to the side of the room with the TV and stereo system, she pushed play on her music player and turned the volume up just enough for her to dance and sing along happily. The familiar song playing was one of her favorites, and so she tapped repeat before starting the clean up.



Starting with the dished, she scrubbed them with all her might until everyting was so clean she could see her reflection in it. After that she cleaned off the table where she ate and kept all her Art homework/projects/supplies etc. Getting a large bag and tossing out what she didn't need, she would also dump the trash can that was filled with crumpled papers and rotten food. Suddenly her favorite part of the song came on and she had to sing along, dancing as she did.

"Kimi ga egaita mirai no sekai wa ima mo dokoka ni iki tsudzukete
(The future world that you've depicted still lives on somewhere)
Hontou no jibun wo ukeirete kureta ano hikari wo
(In the light that accepts me for who I truly am)
ah on give for my way
(ah on give my way)"

Dancing as the song repeated and repeated, Hikari would continue cleaning and organizing all her things. When she finally finished, she would turn off the music and plop down on a chair at the table with a relieved sigh. Taking out her cell phone, she would check for any missed calls, seeing one from work and one from a classmate at school. Texting her classmate and asking what he had needed, she would ignore the one from work as she knew they were only going to ask her to come in and work. Today was a Friday, which meant she had none, and she wasn't prepared to give up today for anything. Only a moment after she placed her phone down, did she get a message. Picking it up again, she would tap the name of her friend, reading what he'd written and replying.



When that was finished, Hikari started to write a list of groceries she needed to pick up from the local store, as she was running low on food and was starving. Another message had come in from her friend which she ignored until she was done writing. When she replied this time ,she told him she was heading out to do some errands and promised to call later. She was kinda blowing him off, though only as he seemed to like her a little too much. It made her feel weird, but at least he was nice enough about it. Checking the time, she noted it was already going on noon and she should probably get lunch while she was out at least. Standing, Hikari dressed into some comfortable shorts and t shirt before leaving her apartment with a skip in her step, list and phone in hand.

*Tap tap tap*

"Wakey, wakey"

Out of reflex Junko's hand clawed out at the source of her annoyance, her co worker Ken having been trained from doing this so many time so he was ready for her reaction and so pulled himself away just in time. "Uhhhh..." Groaning to the sound of the flamboyant guys chuckling she reached up to grab onto the device obscuring her vision and pulled it off to lay it beside her on the floor. "Testing out the new equipment huh? So, apart from allowing you to sleep in so late anything is there anything else good about it?" Peering around for a moment with tired eyes she started to remember that she had stayed behind after getting all excited about their new dev kits.

She also noticed that she was laying on the floor of the office, a pillow under her head and a blanket tossed off to the side though this was normal for her line of work. Thankfully she was dressed in a dress shirt and shorts. "It is more responsive before, several new features, more control... cola..." Ken looked confused as Junko shifted and started to crawl away towards the mini fridge "Is that all? No details?!" She didn't respond as she got out a chilled coke and cracked it open, gulping it down to cure her dry mouth. "Huh?" She didn't understand "What do you mean huh?" Finally feeling caffeine flow through her body she started to stand up "If you wanna know why don't you try it out?" She gestured to the one she had used before yanking out a memory card from her personal computer "Ah, Shi-chan looks great on it by the way" With that she was walking out, leaving Ken blushing wildly

"What were you doing with it all night?!"

After exiting the building Junko raised her hand to block out the blinding light that was shining down onto her, she just wanted to head home for the day but a few thigns had to be done on the way so she had no choice. Taking out a pair of glasses from her coat she slipped them onto her eyes before connecting them to her phone vi a knitted wire. "Ok, time to wake up Shi" She commented as she placed the memory card into the phones port, causing her glasses to flicker for a moment with information and then darken into shades. Soon a figure came into view on her glasses, the AI and assistant known as Shi.



Shi made sure to remain in the corner of Junko's vision as she walked "Good morning mistress. I hope you had a pleasant sleep. Did you need me for anything?" Junko had to think for a moment "Check to see what we need back home, by the way you are looking cute as always" She said casually "Thank you mistress, checking supplies now." Shi was not a overly complex AI, just something simple to help with everyday life but even so she cost more than even the phone and glasses combined, it helped even more that she was rather cute so Junko cherished her. "Mistress this is what we are missing from the list you pre made." Junko was shocked by the amount of stuff showing up on screen! "W-whoa... I haven't been home in a while huh?" With Shi nodding a response Junko gave off a defeated sigh as it looked like she would be digging deep into her pockets this week.

Hikari was lost in thought as she made her way towards the train station, and as a result she ended up stumbling into a few people on the way. She wasn't thinking too hard, just planning some things ahead of time. Though she didn't have school, there was a project she had to work on that was due a week from the previous day. Assigned to draw someone was kind of a hassle, especially when they were not allowed to draw classmates. Other then them, Hikari didn't have any outside friends she could bother and spend time with. With only six days left, she was wondering how she would find someone willing to be her model for however many hours it would take her to get a drawing worth an A. Not realizing she had stopped walking, she was so lost in thought that as she was standing there, the train was about to leave her. Gasping as she heard the sound of it approaching she ran down some stairs and into the station, praying she'd make it on.



Bent over with her hands on her knees and breathing heavily, Hikari was relieved. "I... made it... Thank goodness." she panted, stepping aside for someone else as she was taking up quite a bit of room. Shuffling over to a corner of the packed train, she held onto a rail that was connected to the seats, as she couldn't quite reach the handles that were meant to be held during the ride. Though she preferred standing by the door or window since she could easily look out and admire the scenery. As the train went through the next three stations, more people began piling into the car with her and the others, packing in so close that it began to get uncomfortable. She had two more stops to go and then she could get off. Just a little more. she reminded herself. Though she had to use the train nearly every day, she never got used to being close to so many people. It was just something she didn't like about living in the city.

As the train jerked into motion, she lost the grip on the rail and stumbled backwards into a man who grunted and held her steady. "Oh, sorry mister." she said turning to face him. Suddenly someone behind him laughed and accidently pushed him towards her during their fanatics. The man stumbled forward, reaching out to steady himself and placing his hands right on her chest. For a long moment Hikari's face got redder and redder, though she didn't say anything right away. "Oh, s-sorry!" he apoligized. Clenching her fist as the train stopped, her face contorted in anger and she rose her hand, slapping the man square in the face. He gave a strangled noise as his head snapped to the side. "Hmph!" she said, pouting and exiting the train when the doors opened.

Storming out, she would make her way to the market that was only one more block over. When she passed through the double doors of the store, she grabbed a basket and took the list from her pocket. "Bread... milk... eggs..." she would say aloud to serself as she would start to roam around in search for what she needed. Hikari had to remember though that she was on a budget, and had to avoid the danger zone.

Also known as Isle 6: Candy.

Junko thanked the gods that she did not have far to walk to the market which was mostly thanks to how she had centralized her life around the city center. Everything she could ever need was located right here whenever she needed it ranging from bars, food and friends but she would be lying if she said she didn't get tired of it. So many people out and about their daily lives making it hard to get around, the noise of the crowds that never shut up but sometimes there was a certain sweetness that came from it all, a surprise that not even Junko expected. A gathering crowd caused her to stop in her tracks, a traditional sound echoed out from within that she had only ever heard on the net.



Pushing past the people that had gathered there Junko smiled at the sight of the artists, the music that they were playing was rather upbeat for what one would expect, but because of that they had drawn a lot of attention. "Mistress." Snapping out of her daze she knew that Shi wanted her to get a move on, it was her job after all. Taking out a few hundred yen Junko ideally tossed it into the cases of the performers as she started to move off, kind of hoping that in some way that may get them to come back a few times. After escaping from the crowd she brushed down her clothes and continued on her way towards the market!

Junko always had a pattern when she entered this place, one that was nice and easy to follow as the very first thing she did was move towards the magazines, her hand trailing across the covers for anything that may catch her interest. Without looking inside she picked up the latest issue of 'Maiden of Blades' before heading towards the girls most dreaded isle 6, though she showed no hesitation in doing so, only smiling as she saw the 'banquet' before her!



"Mistress, I really do think it is time we talk about your diet"

Junko did not answer as she simply pushed the glasses to the top of her head so Shi didn't try to block her line of sight like she had done many times before. She then started to pick through the options before her unafraid! "Mistress at least buy some real food as well..." With a sigh Junko finally gave in "Fine, show me the list again" She flipped down her glasses and read as she went to collect the essentials, though something else caught her eyes, or rather someone. "Wow.. Cute~" She said aloud as she saw Hikari from the other side of the market, but that did not last long as Shi prompted her to get a move on!

As Hikari walked about the store, picking things that were on the list along with things she hadn't thought to write town, her mind kept going back towards the candly isle. She really wanted something sweet to eat from there. Okay if I have enough money left over I'll get something. But... important things first. she thought, picking up a bag of assorted veggies and placing them into her basket. Continuing on, she came to a part of the zone full of refridgerated foods and looked through what appeared to be some kinds of pre made bento boxes. "Hm?" she scratched her head for a moment, so many choices kind of throwing her off for a bit. How was anyone going to make a choice with so many? After some searching and checking the prices, she decided on one that looked the best and placed two in her basket.



Walking over to the bakery section, Hikari was searching through for the bread she normally got and found that there was no more left. Sighing in dissapointment, she picked a loaf that was around the same price and stuck it in her basket. As she casually walked the isle, her phone rang and she reached into her pocket, momentarily stopping as she answered the call.

"Hisoka, why do you keep bugging me?"

"Sorry Hikari, I just... wanted to talk to you."

"I told you I was busy running errands." she said, trying not to sound annoyed by him. She started walking again and passed an area that had all kinds of baked pastries and she started drooling, not hearing what Hisoka had next said to her. Only after he said hello and called her name a few times did she break out of the trance. "Uhh, I'll see you online later okay. Bye." she said as she rushed away from that section of the store. If she made it anywhere there were sweets, Hikari was sure to blow all her money buying the whole damn shelf. As she turned the corner, she wasn't watching where she was going, as she was ending the call on her phone. Not knowing there was someone standing in front of her, Hikari ran right into a girl as she walked, nearly dropping her basket as she did. A light 'oof' escaped her as she looked at the girl, blushing in embarassment.

"Sorry about that!" she said, then her eyes widened as she realized she was in isle six.

Junko turned to grab at least two more instant ramen, a favorite for any person under the age of forty and even more so for students and otaku who must have based 80% of their diet around it. Tossing the two into the basket she turned on her heels, Shi still in her field of vision as she told her about the benefits of healthy eating "Really mistress, maybe you should try a healthier alternative?" With a small hum the girl smield a little "Ah you are right" Shi bounced happily finally able to though to her master was a big step after all! "I will order pizza, that is healthier" Shi was about to response but just as she did the screen blinked red as a all too late warning to a collision.

"Unf!"

Thankfully she kept her footing though the other girls basket did not do as well "Ah, no problem" Junko replied in a rather stoic tone "I had my glasses down and couldn't se-," Flipping her glasses up to the top of her head she noticed something she didn't before due to a panicking Shi. "Oh its you." A smile came over her face as she noticed it was the girl she had been checking out, her tone becoming much friendlier as well.

Junko was a little confused by the girls reaction at first, being that she seemed rather focused with the isle, but it did give her the perfect opportunity to see her from up close. Unlike Junko's own naturally tanned skin the girls looked almost like snow when compared to her, and her black hair framed her face in a very lovely manner. However being a 'expert' at this she knew when to stop staring and so bent down to pick up a few of the things that fell out of the girls basket "You ok there?" She said, peering up towards her with a small smirk as she sort of knew why a girl would go wide eyed in the candy section of the market.

"Huh! Huh! Wha! Oh no!"

With her head moving back and forth between the two sides of the isles in time with her words, Hikari was speechless. This was it... it was happening... Hikari was in isle six! As soon as her dark eyes found the shelves lined with all kinds of candies, she would almost completely forget about the girl in front of her. Standing there, she glanced down at her basket, wondering what kinds of things she could put inside without it overflowing. Momentarily her eyes closed as if she was fighting herself, but afterwards, Hikari would step right around the girl as she was completely taken over by her urge to shop for sweets and treats. Moving directly to the chocolate candies section, Hikari began picking up boxes of treats, looking at them only for a few seconds before nodding and placing them into her basket. She did this multiple times until her basket was overflowing and heavy. Dropping it down onto the floor, she started to look at two different things, her head moving back and forth as she held them in opposite hands. One was a box of pocky and the other was something that looked like it, though it was called....

.....

"Eh? Moshi?" she said aloud. A moment later she screamed. "MOSHI!!!" Her sudden shout brought a couple of heads turning towards her, but she didn't care about them. Tossing both boxes of candy in her bag she picked up her heavy basket in two hands and turned around, rushing past the girl she bumped into. "Sorry again!" she said as she ran past her. Making her way towards the cashier, Hikari was panicking. She didn't remember seeing her pet hamster Moshi in his cage earlier while she was cleaning... which meant he had likely escaped and was roaming about. Or worse!

"Ahh, i'm so stupid! I left the window open!" she said as she reached one of the old ladies working the register. Hefting the basket onto the counter, she told the woman to hurry and waited nervously as she rang up all her items. After everything was in two hefty bags, Hikari paid and took the bags, thanking the woman before running out the store as fast as she could. Making her way towards the train station in a full on sprint, Hikari was surprised she didn't run into anybody, though that was likely a result of her shouting to get out of the way.

The wait and the train ride was about the longest ever. Her hands were literally aching from carrying the heavy grocery bags, but eventually, Hikari ended up back at her apartment. Dropping everything at the door and removing her shoes, she ran straight to the open window, the air that blew in was warm and she stuck her head out, looking left and right on the window sill and seeing if her hamster was there. Sighing in relif, she leaned back inside and shut the window. "Moooshiii!" she called as she started to look all over for him. Checking under her bed and yes, even in the fridge, she had started to give up before she heard a rustling sound of plastic.

Walking back towards the door, she squealed in relif as she saw her hamster attempting to climb into one of the plastic bags of groceries. Going to him and picking him up in two hands, she held him close to her face. "You scared the living daylight out of me you know what? Honestly.." she said with a sigh. Holding him in one hand and reaching to heft the bags to the table, Hikari would set the guy on her bed before sitting at the table and removing everything in her bags. Moshi immediately curled up at her pillow and went to sleep, meanwhile Hikari was slowly getting more depressed with each item she took out.

Candy... candy... candy... and more candy. Checking her wallet after she took everything out, she sighed and dropped her head on the table with a loud bang. "I am such an idiot."

Junko was a little surprised by the lack of a answer from the girl but when the mountain of candy was thrown into the basket she was rendered almost speechless, staying still as the girl picked up her basket and left in a hurry after yelling something about a Moshi? Standing up from the ground Junko watched the girl pay in a hurry "You're going to get fat~" She said more to herself as she saw the girls bags weighted down by the candy, but as she did Shi piped up "You are not the one to talk Mistress" With a blank look she disconnected her headphones for the time being as she went back to shopping, that should teach the smart mouthed A.I.

----

The darkened apartment was suddenly set ablaze by the shinning sun as Junko pulled back the curtains, a small sigh escaping her lips as she stared at the scene before her, a nicely cleaned and ready apartment that only had a little bit of dust here or there. Plugging Shi into her home network she switched on the power before heading to grab the cleaning supplies, a messy place to have fun and game was no fun at all! Like a demon Shi demolished any dust that she could find around the place, more so if any of it was near her figures and machines. After putting away her shopping she went to take a shower while she left everything for lunch on the counter.

"Damn..."

Hanging her head she placed a hand on the wall of her shower as she let the water cascade down her body, a feeling of loneliness always came over her until Shi was up and running within the home system. Living alone had that sort of effect, however she had a sure fire cure for that. Walking out she grabbed a small bottle of juice from the fridge as she heated up the kettle for her lunch. "Mistress, you have several messages waiting for you." With that the TV suddenly turned on and started to display emails and in game messages.

"Guild, guild, guild. Friend request of someone I don't know"

Most of what Junko got was involved with that game or her work. Many guilds wanted her to join them while random people tried their best to send friend requests but she only accepted ones of people she had at least met once. "Ah, a job offer." This was the biggest reason why she never joined any of the guilds, working for a sort of 'blade for hire' within the game she got offered gold, items and the like to help people on quests and dungeons. With a grin she soon finished up her lunch and headed to her unit to get strapped in. The lights dimmed and the glow of the machine was all that was left as she started to login,

When Hikari was finished sulking, she stood from her place at the table and started to put her groceries away. Seperating some things and putting them in different places, she would also decide to scoff one of the bento boxes as she hadn't eaten. Walking to her bed with the container of assorted food, she sat and moved to lay on her tummy, the motion waking up Moshi. She picked out a piece of broccoli with her fingers, tearing off a super small piece and held it out to him. He moved closer and sniffed it before taking the small piece of food into hi hands and began to eat it. The little green specks from the veggie started to litter her white sheet, and Hikari just smiled, petting Moshi before eating the rest of hers.

When she was done eating, she pulled her phone from her shorts pocket and went through her phone, thinking to text Hisoka that she was about to go online. She hesitated though, thinking it would be relaxing to spend some time away from him while in the game. Taking a few moments to think it over, she texted him, telling him she would be going online in an hour. That would buy her some time. Sending the message, she put her phone down next to Moshi who had moved over as a result. Reaching to her night stand, she retrieved her wireless AmuSphere and put it on her head, knowing that ALfheim was already loaded onto the system. Fitting it comfortably, Hikari would rest her head on the pillow, not bothering to turn onto her back. Closing her eyes, she would start to log in.

When her eyes re opened, she was in the game, sitting on a bed. Looking around, Hikari remembered checking into an inn before logging off the day before. She was here with others in her party who had not yet logged in, which was a good thing considering she didn't want to deal with them at the moment. Standing and stretching, she checked to make sure she had everything before exiting the inn. As soon as she stepped out, she walked to the edge of the small neutral town and activated her wings, flying into the sky. She wanted to make it back to Salamander territory sooner rather than later, as she had someone to meet there; a person who had information about the quest her and her party were going to be going on later that day.

Sand...

It was strange to suddenly have the feeling of a comfy king sized bed being replaced by straw and dry sand under her, though it also meant her station was working as intended. Opening her eyes she slowly started to crawl out of a tent which confused her a little until she remembered that she had ended up in the NPC camp while looking for a place to log off safely after drinking a little too much. "Ahh~ Thanks~" She told the NPC's a nodding response came form them, not very complex things when compared to some of the others in the world but still at least they did not repeat lines or ignore her completely.



Smiling away she spread her wings out before taking flight, she had arranged to meet with someone about the whole job thing and though it was only advice right now she was hoping to tag along. After all that meant more money for her and they got a extra pair of helping hands... Though she wondered just what the persons reaction would be to seeing the one called the 'Unarmed swordsmen' was in fact her. People normally got the wrong impression about the name, often expecting her to be a huge man with muscles that could rip steel.

She landed in a less than graceful manner in the small NPC village, her feet catching the sand as she slid to a stop sending a nice cloud up which the NPC's and players around her did not seem to like. "Sorry, heh." With a wave of her arm she dismissed the glares of the people before heading towards a small cafe where she could get a nice cold drink and wait for her contact. Her tail and ears twitching as the prospect of one in this kind of environment, made one feel pretty damn hot but that was the power of suggestion. "Ah, you finally arrived?" She could tell by the screen name as she walked up, though at the same time her drink also arrived, perfect timing.