"It's fine, it's fine. There's no point lying to the Black Swordsman." "Ah, so you realized it, Pito?" "Nope. I just thought they shared a name, but seeing how much Shana is favoring him, I became 100% sure just now that he's the real deal." "Well, I guess it's fine then." "Approved. Go ahead."
Without warning, Pitohui began singing the theme song used in the ALO commercials.
"Ooh~" "To hear this live..." "She really is something else..." "Agreed. Divine Songstress."
Kirito stood completely stunned by the performance, suddenly recalling how Hachiman had once told him he knew Kanzaki Elsa and even gotten him her autograph.
"I am Pitohui—otherwise known as Kanzaki Elsa." "I've been a fan for the longest time! Please shake my hand!" Kirito blurted out at godlike speed, shoving his hand forward.
"Is that so? Thank you. I've been a fan of yours for a long time too, Black Swordsman."
Standing before him was not the unhinged Pitohui, but a serene, refined Pitohui.
"Y-You know about me?" "Yep. I was gathering as much info as I could right after SAO was cleared. And through meeting Shana, I learned the truth about you guys." "Ah, so it really is..."
Speaking on behalf of the five, Pitohui delivered the grand reveal:
"Yeah. Shana's true identity... is your best friend, Hachiman, Kirito-kun."
"I KNEW ITTTTTTTTTTT!"
Upon receiving the confession, Kirito shrieked at the top of his lungs, then collapsed onto the floor, clutching his head.
"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad... I treated Hachiman like a total creep so many times... He's gonna tease me about this for the rest of my life... Ugh..." "I mean, who else could possibly exist besides Hachiman?" "Exactly. Someone that ridiculously strong and popular? It's pretty much just Hachiman or Kirito-kun." "Because that guy literally tried to pick me up out of nowhere!" "Wait, what?" "Ah, about that..."
Sinon proceeded to explain the backstory, including the instructions she had received from Shana. The four listeners burst into roaring laughter.
"What kind of setup is that?!" "W-Why picking people up..." "Th-That is an insanely novel way to provide funding..." "Shana-sama... so cute..."
Watching their reactions, Kirito desperately tried to defend his sanity.
"Right?! There's no way anyone could figure out that was Hachiman!" "Yeah, yeah." "Well, it's pretty impossible." "Normally, no one would ever suspect a thing." "Don't beat yourself up." "Strongly agree."
With the revelation cleared up, the six shifted their conversation to the current situation.
"Still, what is Shana actually trying to pull?" "More importantly, Kirito-kun, why did you come to GGO?" "Ah, well... NDA, you know." "Which means you have a client." "Something recent... Could it be that disconnect incident?" "Death Gun, was it?" "That's about the only major thing that's popped up lately."
As expected of top-tier players, they were sharp when it came to reading the room. Unconsciously, everyone's eyes drifted toward Sinon and Musketeer X, who hadn't said a word.
"Hey, you two..." "Could it be..." "Do you know something?" "Sorry, I can't say." "I was ordered not to speak." "That answer is more than enough," Kirito said, taking the lead. "I see. So Hachiman is in the same position I am."
"Hmm, I doubt it..." "If Shana personally stepped into the ring, doesn't that mean it's related to those Laughing Coffin guys?" "...What did you just say?" Kirito demanded, suddenly stepping up to Yamikaze.
"Whoa, what's with the sudden heat? Laughing Coffin—they're your mortal enemies, right?" "They are our enemies, yeah. But I don't understand why that name would come up here." "...Shana started GGO without telling you specifically for that reason, Kirito-kun."
Pitohui spoke up with an apologetic look.
"Is that true?! What's going on?" "Apparenty, Rosalia-chan provided intelligence that remnants of Laughing Coffin are hiding out in GGO." "Really?!" "Actually, I heard that the main reason Shana took Rosalia-chan under her wing in the first place was to get info on Laughing Coffin." "So that was it... He's still out there fighting all by himself..."
Kirito raised his head, thrusting his fist into the air.
"How dare he keep this a secret from me?! I'm going to punch his lights out, and then I'm joining the fight!" "I'm pretty sure Shana kept it a secret precisely because he didn't want you involved, though." "I don't care! We're best friends! We're two bodies, one soul! We live together, we die together, always!"
Moved by Kirito's fiery speech, the other five nodded in agreement, voicing their support one after another.
"Not sure how Death Gun and Laughing Coffin tie together, but count us in!" "A perfect opportunity to demonstrate the power of the Shana Army." "Either way, first order of business is punishing Shana for sneaking around behind our backs!" "Personally, I was planning on taking Shana down to claim the number one spot anyway." "For this tournament, prioritizing Shana-sama's defeat takes absolute precedence."
Kirito gave a resolute declaration:
"Alright! Let's beat Shana and that mysterious Hachiman! We'll figure out the rest after!" """YEAH!"""
And just like that, Shana and Achiman became the primary targets of their entire inner circle.
At that exact moment, Shana felt a sudden chill run down her spine and shivered violently.
"Shana, what's wrong?" "Nothing, I just felt a random chill..." "...Do you think someone found out about our scheme?" "Well, it's pretty much guaranteed they figured out I'm moving in the background..." "What should we do?" "We need to adjust course. For now, let's log off and swap." "Agreed. Swapping will be good for throwing them off." "Alright, logging out. Swapping at top speed!"
The two logged out, instantly reappearing in the exact same spot seconds later.
"What should we do about weapons...? Ai, can you handle the M82?" "Hmm... honestly, I'm not very confident with it." "Fair enough. Ai, fight using only guns next time." "Shai!"
Ai blurted out something strange, leaving Hachiman blinking in confusion.
"...What did you say?" "Ai and Hachiman make Achiman. Shana and Ai make Shai. Plus, it's a play on hai and shy!" "...Y-Yeah, okay. You really have zero sense for this stuff, huh?" "...I will sexually harass this body." "I'm sorry! My bad! Anything but that!"
And so, Shana and Hachiman swapped back. The Third BoB tournament was plunging deeper into absolute chaos.
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