Sword Arts Online: Darkness

Third person POV

 Back on the second floor in the Tower, Evil Keita somehow managed to be defeated by Roxas, who was now sweating hard. Anko, as a spirit, was and cannot be bogged down by tiredness at all. And so, Evil Keita has to declare defeat, and Roxas is declared to be the winner of this round, much to Roxas' happy victory. And as a result, the doors behind Evil Keita were opened, allowing Roxas to proceed to the third floor via a flight of stairs after the doors.

"You win this time, kid." Evil Keita sheathed his weapon. "But next time, you won't."

"Yeah, thanks for the battle," Roxas seriously replied back while sheathing his sword.

The foreign player was chilled while being serious.

After that, Anko relayed to Roxas about Evil Keita and his name.

Roxas got the message fast as lightning and promised to jot that down later.

Evil Keita was slightly irritated by how Roxas would say that as a form of communication to Anko.

And so, Roxas continued to the third via the door and the stairs.

But then, Roxas stopped before continuing to the battlefield through a doorway because he began to think about his friends back at the shared house, before thinking that his sudden decision to go into the Tower all by himself was a mistake. So, Roxas said to Anko, "Anko-kun, I was thinking about backing off from the third round."

Anko was surprised to hear that. "What? Why?"

"I realized that we left our friends behind and forgot about them," responded Roxas. "I'm backing off and leaving this place."

And then, right in time, the hologram screen appeared before Roxas, reminding him that leaving the Tower would make him lose his current progress.

If he wants to go back, he has to start over again beginning from the first floor.

Upon reading all that, Roxas decided to forfeit his current progress and leave the Tower to go back to Kanagawa Ward. He did so, and Anko respected that as well. Upon arriving at the first floor via an elevator, Roxas encountered someone familiar being reprimanded by Haruto: the boy Ikari Arashi, whom he had met and helped on the second floor.

 "Huh? That kid again?" Roxas commented.

Anko then came out of his body and saw Arashi as well. "Woah, that kid again?"

Meanwhile, Haruto seriously told Arashi off for going off without telling his parents. Arashi regretted his actions and apologized to Haruto, who was his homeroom teacher at school, promising not to do it again.

"Good," Haruto replied back while being a bit stern, before looking at Roxas and Anko.

Then to them. "Oh, you two are done? How about the other floors?"

"We decided to leave now," answered Roxas back briefly and calmly. "Anyhow, you know that kid?"

"Oh, you mean this kid?" Haruto replied while glancing at Arashi and back at Roxas and Anko. "This is Ikari Arashi, one of my students and a classmate of yours."

While Roxas and Anko were surprised, Arashi looked at Roxas and Anko and was surprised to see them. "You guys again?"

Haruto then looked at Arashi. "You know them?"

"Yes." Arashi looked at his homeroom. "These two saved my life at the second floor."

"Yes, we did," Roxas added as well.

Haruto was impressed by Roxas' action, but Roxas reiterated that Anko also contributed heavily to that, much to Arashi and Haruto's chagrin.

Arashi was stunned and was grateful for Roxas and Anko's aid for him, giving him a bar of dark chocolate as a token of gratitude.

Roxas tried to refuse it, but Arashi insisted.

So, Roxas accepted it and opened it, eating it delightfully for it was his favorite flavor for chocolate.

After that, while still eating his chocolate bar, Roxas introduced himself to Arashi, and Anko did the same thing as his vessel.

 "Nice to meet you, Roxas-kun," Arashi positively replied back. "My name Ikari Arashi, and I am from Yokohoma."

 "Woah…" Roxas was amazed, "…I am from the Philippines, for real."

 "Wow…no wonder your name is strange."

And after that, the four of them left the Tower and went back to Kanagawa Ward via the Tokyo Subway.

 At the same time, Evil Keita reported to Evil Kirito and the others about his defeat to Roxas, much to their mild disappointment. His friends are now aware that Roxas was a strong player, but it wasn't necessarily the case at all.

Minato's POV

 Today, at our shared house, I was looking at my phone, being desperate for someone who was a deceased player in this game to give me a message of request so I could have a spirit guardian of my own. For the past few days, I have been checking my phone for emails and text messages every single day, around like…5-9 times a day. Man, Roxas already had one, while I don't as of now.

And then, I found an email from someone named Hideyoshi Kitagawa. That email said:

"Dear stranger,

I'm not gonna last long in this game called Sword Arts Online. Help me. Help me bring Kirito and his friends back to normal. SOS!

Sincerely yours,

Hideyoshi Kitagawa"

Reading that taken me aback, and I decided to accept his request by replying back:

"Dear Hideyoshi-san,

I accepted your request. I'll do my best. Thank you.

Your respondent,

Arakaki Minato"

Once that was done and written, I sent that very short and informal reply back to this person named Hideyoshi Kitagawa.

And then after that, a flash of light flashed before me, blinding me temporarily. "Ah! My eyes!"

After that, it subsided, and I opened my eyes again, seeing that nothing had happened for a few moments. But then, someone appeared before me and said to me, "Hi there, my name is Hideyoshi Kitagawa. Thank you for accepting my desperate request for help. Now, you are in a contract with me. I am guaranteeing you that you will never die in this game."

Hideyoshi was 22 and was a sophomore in college at the time of his death.

Seeing him as a spirit guardian to me made me so surprised and happy.

So, I happily thanked him for helping me and introduced myself to him.

 "Nice to meet you, my friend," Hideyoshi replied back happily with enthusiasm.

For now, I will keep this a secret from my friends for now.