"It is! It's suuuuper beautiful." Hana exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly as she balled up her hands again. "I wish I could show you some pictures of where we stay, I bet you'd like it!"

Hana was becoming exceptionally excited, as was usual with her. Minding that Lily was present though she reigned in her temperament a bit, even if a bright smile lingered. She had intended to go on, but her sister and Hanta had their own conversation, and at some point she opted to chime in on theirs, curious about what they had to say. The way her sister explained things was so... Lackluster, but it was to the point. It wasn't disappointing for those two probably, but for her it wasn't very fun. She'd have gone on about the travel, about how romantic their parents are, and all the places they've gone and the things they've seen. Just saying they "traveled" seemed like a half-baked explanation, but since the question had been answered she kept quiet. Just as well, since the food was being brought to them not a second later, and with renewed enthusiasm Hana began to eat her fill.

It was wonderful having Komada around already, Hana had decided. She loved Lily with all her heart and liked being with her too, but this was like a long lost friend to her. She and the other girl were kicking things off splendidly, and she was nearly choking now as she giggled in delight, the two of them racing to eat their food. She was elated to be eating this; a simple brown grain similar to rice and a little bit of pork. The meat was seared a bit too much for her normal tastes, but with all of the droll bread meals they'd had of late this was like a cuisine. The meal was delightful, right up until the point in which her sister decided to speak up about their detestable table manners. Or, to be more exact, she criticized Komada's. Pausing in her own eating the younger of the twins looker to her sibling in surprise, frowning as she put her chopsticks down and let out a huff.

"That's not very nice Lily!" Hana whined, crossing her arms. "We were just having fun."

Hanta, who had been silently eating his own plate of noodles, stopped immediately as Lily critiqued Komada. Sure, she could get a little overzealous when eating, but it was nothing that terrible. Certainly not being worthy of being called a pig over, that was just unnecessary. Swallowing back a mouthful he frowned, giving Lily a testy glance as she continued on. From insulting his friend to questioning them, it was a godsend she had her sister along with her, he reflected. A bit cruel, but otherwise he could see this girl having a great bit of trouble making friends. They'd only just met, after all, and she was being downright rude to them. Well, if she wanted answers he'd give them to her, if only so they could get back to eating in peace. His stomach growled almost in protest as he set down his chopsticks, setting a steady gaze on Lily as he spoke.

"You're right, we're not siblings. I don't recall ever saying we were." Then again, Komada did often refer to him as 'onii-chan', right in front of these two. Therein was the confusion then, understandably so. Sighing to himself Hanta rested his elbows on the table, folding his hands together and resting his chin on top of them, giving Lily a disinterested gaze. "She and I are friends, we have been for most of our lives. She calls me onii-chan as a term of endearment because of that, and I'm okay with it. I guess you could say we're close enough to be adopted siblings, but really there's no relation."

Picking up his chopsticks again he gathered up a bit of noodles, or rather pushed them around on his plate for a moment. He knew he should drop the subject, but having Komada insulted so casually didn't sit well with him at all. Taking his green eyes off of his meal he glanced again at Lily, his lips curing back slightly in a snide smile as he raised his chopsticks, waving a bit of noodles about as a little irritant.

"Even if Komada does act like a pig..." Hanta continued, pausing only to take a bit of food, intentionally speaking with his mouth open, "At least she's an agreeable person. I'd gladly sit with her any day and talk, because she's pleasant like that. You... Maybe five minutes?" Komada might be surprised then, namely because he was always rather polite, and even if he didn't tote it like Lily did he took pride in his manners at the table. Even so, insulting her was crossing a line, one that he was fiercely defensive of.

Hana blinked a few times in surprise, shocked that Hanta had essentially insulted her sister. It was justified she supposed, but wow... No one ever spoke to Lily like that. Normally because she was a pretty scary person when she got angry, and most people learned better rather quickly. Looking between the lone boy of the group and her sister she bit her lip, fidgeting at the awkward silence that came on. Not wanting any part of what might happen next she began to eat again, far slower and tamer than she had been moments ago though.

Lily continued to pick at her food with a bored expression, her eyebrow quirking at Hanta curiously as he stood against her. "So that's how it is," She mumbled with a shrug, "I really couldn't care less. I just believe that finding the line between refinement and fun is important; not to mention there being a time and place for it," The girl motioned with her hand dismissively before returning to her food. As he spoke with his mouth full, she shook her head with a small laugh, "How foolish..." She muttered.

As the silence became palpable, Komada also fidgeted, looking to Hana with her hands in her lap, rather embarrassed. As nice as it was that Hanta stood up for her, she felt a bit patronized and weak. Was she so small that she couldn't even speak for herself? Had she not cared for LIly's comment, or was she simply too afraid to fight for herself? She stared at her nearly-finished plate of food, suddenly not hungry, before pushing it forward and slowly rising to her feet, "It looks like a lot of the others are heading back out... Maybe we should go," She suggested, rising from her chair and readying herself for more training.

Lily nodded and pushed her dish forward. "Indeed. Come on, Hana, let's go," She said, standing as her chair squeaked against the ground and she also prepared, rows of knives lining her body with a curved sword appearing at her hip.

---

As the training recommenced, the pairs split up again, though Komada was glad she'd made a girl friend in Aincrad so soon. Something had shifted before they went back into the training field as she tore into monsters with more drive and speed than she had before. She tore through one after another with Hanta at her side, no longer aiming just to survive... She wanted to fight - to prove that she wasn't some weak little girl that needed to be protected. During a short break a couple of hours later, the entire group had come to take a break. There were small parties amongst them, but no guilds or anything yet - just this one large mass of players that would likely grow each day as people grew accustomed to the game. She and Hanta took their place beneath a tree and she was silent, hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them, lost in thought.

As she tried to find a way to put her thoughts into words, she let out a small sigh. "Onii-chan," She started softly, looking away nervously. "I... I can fight for myself too," She stumbled over her words. "Not to say that I don't appreciate it," The girl pointed out, "But... I won't get far in this world if I have you fighting all of my battles..." There was a silent pause as she bit her lip.

After a fair awkward lunch they finally were able to get back out into the field and back to training. Thank goodness, Hanta really couldn't take much more of it all. Between Hana's overbearing behavior and Lily's infuriating comments it was hard to enjoy his meal. The former seemed nice enough, and he wouldn't mind training with her some time if they were around again, if she agreed to keep quiet. As skilled as Lily was in combat her attitude made it awfully difficult to want to be anywhere near her. So when it came time to get back to the grind the little team split up, Hanta and Komada resuming their own training as before. Even for being just the first day he was rather pleased with how their chemistry in combat was working out. Switching was a fairly easy thing for them, and they hardly even had to say a single word to do it. While certain he could work with another player just as well there was something nice about this unspoken cohesion that he felt others would lack. If they kept this up he was confident they'd be more than capable of protecting themselves, and if need be others around them. Getting in a few more hours of training was definitely nice, and he sincerely enjoyed fighting at this point. No new skills were learned, but each of them got a level or two out of it, which was better than nothing. As the sun was now beginning to set they opted to call it a day, taking a reprieve beneath a tree before walking back to town.

Hanta watched as a few other players continued to train, noting how each of them battled. There were at least a dozen different weapons being used, each with their own unique set of skills and styles. Despite there only being a handful of abilities players still managed to make things look unique, and that included one-handed sword users. He was especially curious to see what his counterparts could do, trying to pick out any movements or tactics that would better his own swordplay. A silly endeavor maybe, considering everything was handled by the system. But the system wouldn't dodge for you, or help you with any tricks to fool the monster's algorithms, that was all player-side. Nothing fruitful was coming out of his watching, it was the same old tired moves that he himself used. In fact he was fair certain he was more advanced than the others, as there were quite a few things he saw that he'd do differently. Not to stroke his own ego, but Hanta certainly believed he was better than the average player already, and watching the other Clearers, in his own class at least, he felt more positive of that.

Curious as he was called for Hanta roused himself from his idle viewing, looking over to Komada curiously. Hearing her out for a moment he frowned at her words, looking away himself. She had a point, he knew she did, but really didn't want to accept it. While it was selfish to deny her the chance to fight on her own it certainly made him feel more at ease. Realistically he couldn't always be around to help, so it made sense for her to become self-dependent. But that meant stepping back from his self-assigned position as a protector, and that was easier said than done. Komada wouldn't have brought that up if she didn't feel strongly about it though, which meant it was a serious problem with her.

"If you need space you could have just said so," Hanta said, smiling apologetically. Lifting a hand up he rubbed at the back of his head, looking away again. "I don't mean to be overbearing... So, sorry if I am. I'll definitely back off when we train from now on, I promise."

---

Now it was time to see whether or not those two weeks of training had paid off or not. After grinding through monsters and clearing the field boss, Clearers had finally gathered in Floor One's dungeon. No one was certain what to expect, and as such they moved as one solid team, gradually working their way through the labyrinth in search of the boss room. Inside the creatures were a tad stronger than those outside, but not overly so. It was easy enough for the forward most players to engage whatever they came across, and when they grew tired they would switch out for the next group. In all there were about three waves of Clearers in the dungeon at present, each wave consisting of nearly a dozen people each. Izumo was among the first wave, often leading the charge against the enemies when his team's turn came up. Hanta had to admit, as much as they might not get along he had to be impressed by the boy's bravery and strength. Definitely going to be a staple for Clearers, that one. Hanta himself was included in the second wave, and Komada in the third. He'd been initially adamant about getting her in the same team as him, wanting to keep an eye on her and stay by her side. After some gentle deference on her part and a bit of impatient banter from other players he ultimately relented. She was doing fair well on her own, so maybe he was getting up in arms over nothing after all.

Clearing the floor itself wasn't too difficult, and half of it had already been done the day before. The latter half didn't prove to be any more difficult, and if anything went by more quickly now that they were so organized. Hanta wasn't sure of how much time had passed initially since they entered, but it couldn't have been that long. Soon enough they were stood out against two massive iron doors, the boss room entrance. The sheer scale of them was breathtaking, they towered over the tiny players by comparison. Fairly ornate too, with some curious silver figures adorning the fronts of the doors, and a similar metal trimming the door itself. They seemed much too large for someone to realistically push open, so it was probably a good thing that they were in the game. Having been going non-stop since getting inside everyone had unanimously opted to take a breather. After all, it was the first boss battle of the game. They had a general idea of what to expect, they knew who they were facing and what it could do. A kobold, if memory served, with some basic skills and minions. The battle plan then was for the forward team to fight the boss as the two auxiliary teams dealt with the minions that would no doubt keep coming. The teams would rotate occasionally to keep the fighters as fresh as could be, and given enough time they should be able to win.

"Well... This is it..." Hanta mumbled, sighing as he leaned up against the wall. Do or die, literally. It was the first step in what was undoubtedly going to be a long, tedious climb to the top of the castle, and he wasn't terribly thrilled at that prospect. Here and now though, this was their first real battle, and that was where he had to focus. Head in the game, or whatever it was that people said. He could lament about their inevitably upsetting existence after the fight.

"Pick yourself up... Have a little faith in yourself," Izumo said, admonishing Hanta with a gaze before looking away. "Honestly, you've got to be more confident. We're at the front of the fight right now, and we're fighting to make everyone's lives better. If you were going to act like this then you should have just stayed back. Seriously... Your girlfriend looks to be handling this better than you."

"She's not my girlfriend..." Hanta said testily, frowning as he glared back at Izumo. Seeing the other boy smile triumphantly at getting to him he looked away this time, folding his arms over his chest. "And I'm plenty confident in myself. I'm worried about everyone else, that's all. We've never had a boss fight before now, we don't know how everyone is going to perform. And just knowing about the boss doesn't guarantee we'll be victorious. I'm just being realistic here, that's all. I'm sure we'll win, what i don't know is what will happen before then."

Komada was at ease until Hanta finished his statement... She hadn't been talking about their training, but she also didn't want to pursue the subject further, so she let it go. The rest of the day was fairly quiet.

When the field boss was defeated, the entire group of clearers, which Komada actually found she had managed to keep up with, entered the labyrinth. The group moved quickly, but often split apart and came back together and it took a few days to reach the twentieth floor, where they were finally able to hunt out the doors. The entire group stood before the doors and Komada looked around the corridor in awe at its sheer size and elegance. She sheathed her Rapier and ran her hand over one of the fine pillars... Sure, she missed home, but there were moments like this that this world seemed almost better. She and Hanta hadn't been together for most of the clearing and she didn't want to distract him now, so most of her time had been spent with Hana and Lily - as they were both in her squad. It seemed like only seconds before the doors were opened, despite the break having been several minutes.

Komada felt her heart racing, but she drew her rapier and entered with the twins and the other members of her wave. She was rather surprised how easy the minions were - in fact, it was comforting that perhaps they had all over-trained. She could even kill a few of them one-on-one, but the call then came for their group to hold onto the boss while the previous one healed and the others fought the minions. Of course, Komada was to come in after the switch, so she was amongst the safest facing off the boss and she watched as Hana and Lily joined the group which block or counter-attacked the massive beast's weapon.

Now was her chance... She had to go, it was time to move with everybody else and take down as much of the boss' health as she could while it was open. Before she knew it, everybody had blasted forth from the ground with glowing blades and knives. Komada blinked and shook her head, taking off seconds after them. She heard her name called and a command of "wait!" but it was too late. Everybody had cleared as her rapier flashed and struck thrice. After using the skill, she needed a moment to cool down and her eyes flashed with fear as she saw the beast cry out and ready its weapon. Nobody was ready - she had accidentally broken the cycle and there was another cry for her - she thought it was Hana. However, as the huge blade struck and threw her off her feet, she seemed to ragdoll as she slid across the floor, her vision growing hazy in the confusion of the moment; she had never tumbled so much... There was a noise sounding, like water being poured out of a cup into some kind of open container, like it was draining.

When she finally stopped moving, she heard a pinging sound and noticed that her health bar. It was flashing bright red and was but a sliver. Should she have had a potion before the wave shifted? The moment set in a moment later and she snapped to, crying out as she opened her menu and sifted through it to materialize a red vial of liquid. However, in her panic, she bobbled it and dropped it the short distance t the floor, causing it to deteriorate instantly and shatter into pieces. "No!!" She couldn't die now... She saw a minion close in toward her, running over the floor with its weapon drawn.

There was a flash as the minion froze in its tracks and exploded. Emerging from the shimmering pieces was Lily, not missing a beat as she skidded to a halt, taking a knee beside Komada and expertly pulling out a potion for her. "Idiot, why would you charge?"

Komada's eyes widened, "You..." She muttered hazily in confusion. It was just slightly different from Hana - had Lily been the one to call her before?

"Shut up and drink this," She commanded coldly as Komada took to the potion. Lily, however, bolted off and back to the war effort.

If not for Lily, Komada would certainly be dead now, and she felt her throat starting to close. Was she really that useless? She wanted to just say it was a mistake, but it was the pressure... She had completely broken, then made the wrong decision... She wasn't cut out for this - not for this world, for fighting, for helping all of these people so much stronger than her. She began to push herself away from the fighting and hte minions were distracted by those who were actually doing damage as she pulled in her knees and tucked herself away, her eyes clenched tight. Let me out of here... Let me out... It's all a dream - I just want to go home... This isn't my world... She repeated to herself silently, trembling as she cried into her knees, trying to keep her sobs quiet. She couldn't do this... Any of it... What kind of life would it be?

Being separated into groups wasn't the best thing for Hanta, he hated being away from Komada. It was overbearing, yes, but he preferred to actually be able to keep an eye on her, otherwise he worried incessantly over her. It occasionally had an adverse effect on him as they cleared the floors, missing a step in his switch or making a stupid mistake. Izumo was always quick to capitalize on his blunders, snapping at him and demanding he pay more attention. It took a while, but more towards the end of the labyrinth, the last five floors or so, he finally managed to 'get his head in the game'. While the two boys most certainly did not get along Hanta and Izumo made a fair good team. Izumo's prowess with a two handed blade dealt massive damage, and he'd switch for the quicker Hanta to deal the final blows. Keeping that rhythm they soon developed a strategy between the two of them, making the elimination of a single target take but one go. For all of their butting heads they made a good team. The third member of the group, an axe wielder named Corgan, was every bit as helpful. A little timid perhaps, but he could do a great deal of damage and take it as well, definitely the tank of the group. Between the three of them there was relative ease in clearing the mobs.

With the twentieth floor of the labyrinth reached everyone was allowed a few moments break to catch their breath. People who were missing health didn't bother using their crystals, those would be saved solely for the boss fight. The few who had food took this moment to get a snack in, perhaps as a way to calm their nerves before the storm. Others still were taking in the sights, marveling at the ornate door and pillars that now stood before them. This was definitely the most elegant part of the entire dungeon by far, with jade slab floors, whitewashed pillars with serpents twisting up their lengths, and an iron cast door with ornate carvings on both halves. In spite of what was about to happen the overall atmosphere felt peaceful, people were remarkably calm considering they were going to fight a boss. Hanta stood just off to the side with a few others, propped up against a pillar and just simply trying to catch his breath. The big moment was here, this was the first floor boss to be fought in the game. Depending on how this went it would set the tone for the next 99 floors, hopefully it went well. After quite a long time of working to get to this point the break before the boss seemed inconsequential, and before he knew it they were prepping to go inside. If anyone had cold feet at this point it was much too late to turn back, it was do or die time. Hanta only hopped he or any of his friends would not be doing the latter.

Players began to pour into the room then, in sequence as the first wave took the lead. Almost instantly minions began to spawn, rising up from the ground almost as they formed en masse. Keeping their positions the first wave met the minions head on, immediately breaking up into pairings to deal with the mobs. Hanta went with Corgan, the two of them on the left side of the formation, while Izumo and another swordsman held the middle. Compared to what they had to go through just to get here these creatures were a cakewalk. Switching was done sparsely, and very few if any hits were landed by the enemy. It would have been easy to push further into the room, but that wasn't the plan. These weren't the things they were here to fight, not exactly anyways. Sooner or later the boss would emerge, and then they'd take action. Sure enough as another group of minions were cut down the main foe made himself known. Like the others he materialized from the floor up, crystals coming together and gradually taking shape as they clumped into one singular form. As the last shard fell into place the Illfang the Kobold Lord appeared, as did his four health bars. With a monstrous roar from the boss the battle then began in earnest.

For the beginning of the fight everything was going as smoothly as could be. Tensions were high to be sure, but following the plan players were able to switch out as needed, sustaining as little damage as possible from the fight. Hanta was just coming off of a rotation, having landed a few quick strikes on Illfang before dashing away to let the second wave come in. Slowly but surely they were making headway, already two bars of the boss' health was gone and his minions were barely a factor in the battle. Given another few minutes he'd be beaten, and the first floor of the game would be cleared with no casualties on their side. That was the hope anyways. Just as he was getting back behind the next wave Hanta happened to look to the boss again, noting a figure rushing at it on their own. Baffled by that he took a second to register just who it was, his eyes widening in fear when he recognized the person. "Komada, no!"

In one fell swoop the Kobold Lord brought his weapon down in a thunderous crash, hitting the floor and causing a shockwave that tossed Komada up into the air and sent her tumbling back down. Hanta watched in silent horror as her health dropped rapidly, from green to yellow, yellow to red... And by some miracle it kept the last few pixels of her health. The boss hadn't done that before, so did that mean it was learning? Or were there other tactics they didn't know about? He couldn't be bothered to think on it now, his friend was still in dire straits. Not a second after landing he watched a Kobold minion begin to advance on her, its lips curled back in a vicious snarl and weapon in hand. He was too far away, he couldn't get to her in time. Then, just as the mob raised its weapon in the air a streak ran to it, a blue line indicating a sword skill being used cutting it right in half. The Kobold shattered into pixels, and with a great deal of relief he saw Lily standing there over Komada, seeing to her wounds. She would be okay, he told himself, tearing his focus away from her and back to the task at hand. Unless they wanted another scare like that this fight had to end.

The Clearers hardly missed a beat, taking the near death of one of their own as a rally cry. The first wave quickly assumed the front again, being the strongest of the group and more than ready to fight despite having just switched out. The first to get to Illfang was Corgan, and with a loud shout he twisted his body around in a full rotation, swinging his axe in a wide arc that made a deep cut right on the Kobold Lord's leg. Immediately after landing he jumped back to avoid being cleaved in two, letting a pair of swordsmen charge in next, each getting a clean stab on the boss' legs. Hanta opted to go next, furious at the boss for having harmed his friend and determined to just unleash until it was no more. Dashing past a few of the second wave holding off minions he shouted angrily, his sword lighting up in a blue light as he brought it forward, lunging right ahead and piercing through the boss. Catching himself on his foot he pivoted his body, using another skill and slashing horizontally across Illfang's waist. He'd use the vertical slash skill too before he was finally made to move away, having drawn quite a bit of aggro from the minions in his burst. Now having to fend off the soldiers with the other first wave players he watched in a fair bit annoyance as Izumo took the chance to land the final blow, crushing a Kobold under his sword before darting right at the boss.

Izumo dragged his two handed blade behind him, eyes trained solely on Illfang and nothing else. After easily sidestepping a heavy swing to his left he twisted himself back, grabbing the sword with both hands and bringing it across the floor and up in a wide arc, making a large slice in the boss' gut. At the top of the arc he activated another skill, rolling his shoulder and bringing his broadsword back across in a two-handed version of the horizontal slash skill. His final strike was done with the Cyclone skill, and throwing all of his weight behind it he tore clean through the boss' midsection. Collectively the three strikes dealt massive amounts of damage, and just as he came to a stop from the final hit the health bar of Illfang dropped to nil. With a self satisfied smirk he watched as the creature gave one last furious roar before finally shattering into pieces, and the minions subsequently followed. The sound of trumpets declaring their victory was heard soon after, and a large banner appeared over everyone's heads. That was it, the first boss. With no casualties they had managed to clear the floor and were now beginning to ascend into Aincrad. Maybe there was a chance they could do this after all. Izumo's thoughts were not on that however, but on the loot he had received for the final blow. The Col and Experience reward was nice, but so was the weapon he got in exchange for his attack. Not wasting a second he unequipped his current, basic broadsword and traded it out for a more elegant two handed weapon. The blade was a fair bit wider on this one, and thinner, with three varying size holes punched into the sheet of metal. In length it was probably four feet, which realistically would be terribly difficult for anyone to wield with any degree of ease. In the game though Izumo held it in one hand, smiling proudly as he gave it a swing. Yes, this would do nicely.

As soon as the fight had ended Hanta sheathed his weapon, hardly caring for the rewards he'd gotten. The fact that Izumo had in essence stolen the final hit and the subsequent reward didn't bother him right now, he had much larger concerns. Running across the room to where Komada was still curled up he immediately knelt down before her, without so much as word he wrapped his arms around her tightly, hugging her against himself. That had been much too close, she had very nearly died during that battle. Only now that it was truly over did he realize he was shaking with fear, his own breath coming in small gasps as he tried to settle himself down. He had very nearly been alone and lost his only real friend in this world. If he had managed to be with her, or argued to be closer to her during the fight then this never would have happened.

"Komada... I'm so sorry..." he whispered, closing his eyes as he hid his head against her shoulder. "It's over now... You're safe. I swear I won't let anything like that happen to you again..." He hadn't been diligent enough and it nearly cost Komada her life. If he couldn't protect his best friend then what hopes did he have in protecting someone he didn't even know? Face it, he was useless. Hanta sniffled as he felt his eyes beginning to burn, shaking his head to stave off the tears that he didn't want to show.

"You're okay now..." Hanta said again, trying to reassure himself more than anything. "It's safe..."

There was a loud shattering sound as the boss was felled, but Komada didn't even look up to see her small portion as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She cringed away as the familiar voice reached her, but as his words registered, she shook her head and shoved him off, "No! It's not safe, Ren!" She shouted, falling away slightly and clumsily climbing to her feet. "And I'm not okay. In fact, I'm scared to death - I almost died, nothing is safe here... Not you, not me, nobody." She could feel eyes on her from every direction, the murmurs and whispers filled the room at a low rumble, but she ignored them as her eyes locked with his. "If it's over, Ren," The girl started with more venom than she had meant to, "Then why am I not waking up in my room, scrambling to finish my homework before school tomorrow? If it's over now, then why aren't my parents knocking on my door to make sure I'm studying and not running off to see you?"

She was seething with her hands clenched at her sides as the girl felt a sudden pressure about her upper arm and a tug. "What are you doing?" She asked the girl - it was Lily, but she was a bit confused by the motion, "You don't even like me."

"No, but Hana cares about you. This isn't the place to do this," She said flatly, pulling the girl with her and away from the crowd, breaking through the ranks of the circle in order to pass by. They ascended to the next floor and gradually the large group of players eventually dispersed, rumours and questions going with them. A lot of people were still having problems, so it wasn't really out of the ordinary, but the scene's setting was strange and would likely be the talk of the floor. The twins had kept Hanta and Komada separate for a while before bringing them into one room. There were two beds - it was the twins' room, of course. Lily sat with Hanta and Komada with Hana in the silence for a while. She still seemed angry - though the 'why' was confusing.

"I don't know what you're waiting for, I've said everything," She stated, chewing the inside of her cheek in irritation.

Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Hanta, "She's right. It's not safe and clearly that wasn't the kind of place for somebody like her." She sat cross-legged on the bed, her arms crossed, "But at least you tried to protect her," Her attention turned to Komada, "And while this place isn't safe, right now, she is."

Hanta cringed as Komada lashed out at him, not at all expecting her reaction. He could understand fright and numbness even, but anger had him confounded. Being called by his actual name had him worried, he'd not been addressed as such for a little while now. Desperately wanting to offer some kind of reassurance but finding a lack of words he could only frown, looking on a little helplessly. Truth be told her words hurt him quite a bit, he'd only tried to help her. Not that he expected praise for his deed, or even thanks, but this kind of behavior was utterly unwarranted. Scarcely having the heart to speak that thought Hanta got up to his feet, smiling sadly before he rose to his feet as well. Anytime before had Lily come by and intervened he would have spoken out against her, but this time he allowed the girl to take his friend away. Clearly he'd done something wrong, albeit what that was didn't register just yet. It was probably in both their best interests that they spend a little time apart then.

While separating had seemed like a good idea at first it quickly became a lousy one. Hanta couldn't sit still for the duration of it all, and having Lily as company didn't exactly calm his nerves. Komada was angry, possibly angry with him, and he wanted to know why. If he had to be yelled at then let it happen already, or if he was going to be punished in some other way then so be it. Not knowing and having his lone friend in this place glowering at him during their last exchange didn't sit well with him at all. So when it finally came time to see Komada again there were mixed feelings, both uncertainty and a little bit of hope. If he could get things straightened out then everything would go back to normal, and he and Komada could relax and enjoy themselves. Otherwise, should she stay mad at him, Hanta very much feared solitary in his stay here in Aincrad. Being led to the twins' room he took a seat on one of the beds, secretly dismayed that Lily still persisted to remain with him. At last however Komada was brought in with Hana as her escort, not looking any the more happy for what had happened.

"I know it wasn't safe for her... It's why I wanted to be in her group and keep an eye on her..." Hanta said lamely, looking down at his folded hands in his lap. "But they put me in the forward wave, and look what happened because of that..." Right now he felt responsible for her distress and anger, and most likely rightly so.

"You two shouldn't be doing this though, you're friends!" Hana interjected, frowning as she balled up her hands upon her chest. Looking at Komada she pivoted herself, leaning close and staring at her with big, pleading eyes. "Whatever he did I know he's sorry, just look at him! And he tried to keep you safe! Can't you just forgive him and be happy you're okay? Isn't that enough?"

"Hana... Please, don't. If she's angry with me then she has a good reason, don't try to dissuade her..." Letting out a soft sigh he ran one hand through his hair, finally lifting his head to give Komada a curious gaze. "Can you please just tell me what I did so I can make it right? I really don't understand what's wrong, and I can't help if I don't know."