It's an entirely new day. (Y/N) was out doing some quick hunts by herself for a little extra money while Hikaru was out on an errand. Kureha knew that her friend wasn't going to be at her place when she entered. However, she didn't expect Itsuki to be in there by himself.

"Itsuki? What are you doing here?" He looked up to Kureha from a note he'd been reading for some reason on (Y/N)'s table.

"I'd assume the same reason as you. Find out who she wants to bring with her onto that ship." Kureha frowned in concern. These past couple days, the other male had been concerning her. It wasn't concern for herself, but concern for (Y/N).

"You're staring. Is there something you wish to talk about?" Itsuki asks the pinkette. Kureha's eyes widened in shock, as she had indeed been staring at the male. She quickly shook her head.

"N-no! It was an accident." An awkward silence filled the room as the two sat around, waiting for something to happen. Finally, the door opened and something happened. It was Zeliska and Daisy who came in through the door. At the sight of Zeliska, Kureha relaxed a bit, however, the male in the room did the exact opposite. His eyes narrowed in distaste. Obviously the person he wanted to come through that door wasn't Zeliska. He let out a sigh of distaste as Zeliska waved at the two.

"Hello! Is (Y/N) and Hikaru around?" Zeliska asked. Itsuki was the one to respond.

"What do you want? There's nobody here besides Kureha and I." Kureha nodded, however was more inviting on her response.

"No, it's only the two, or well, four of us here right now. (Y/N) went out on a few hunts and Hikaru was running some errands for her in the mean time." Zeliska smiled at the younger female.

"Well, we can wait for a little while. Daisy, lets make ourselves a bit more comfortable." She looks over at the stoic ArFA-sys, who nods at her master's words. Itsuki frowns, folding his arms in disinterest.

"Just to be clear, I had other things going on today that needed taken care of." He states. A glare is sent in Zeliska's direction. It's quite obvious that the two have some unspoken distaste for one another, as she questions Itsuki's mood.

"Oh, what's with the glare?" She asks, teasing the male. She then smiles, loosening up a bit.

"You don't need to be so alarmed. I'm not here on any super big business, I promise." She states, however there's a hint of hostility in her smile towards the male. Kureha smiles awkwardly and laughs, trying to loosen the tension between the two.

"It sure has gotten hectic around here, lately. Especially with Kirito and his friends dropping by all the time." At the mention of the photon-sword user, Itsuki looks over at Kureha.

"What about some new friends?" Kureha raises a brow at Itsuki's question.

"New friends? Oh, are you talking about Eiji? When did you hear about him?" She asked. Itsuki looks away.

"It's nothing. I heard that a new sword-user was in the game. One that wasn't Kirito, so it happened to catch my attention. Honestly, I wish things were quieter. I wish (Y/N) would hurry up and figure out who she wants to bring along to the ship..." Itsuki smoothly changed the subject. Zeliska chuckled at his words.

"For once I actually agree with you!" Zeliska exclaims. Itsuki seems to subtly glare at the silver-haired woman. Zeliska either doesn't notice, or doesn't care, as she continues on in thought.

"You know, it's interesting. I've known very few people who have the gift of bringing people together, and (Y/N) happens to be one of them." Zeliska states. Kureha nods in agreement.

"Right? I was amazed by how fast the two of you became friends! I mean, obviously I'm the one who holds everything together, but still!" Kureha jokes, Itsuki says otherwise.

"If you really think so. No offense, but (Y/N) has come a long way in GGO. However, it doesn't surprise me, considering it isn't her first VRMMORPG." Kureha's eyes widen, she looks over at Itsuki, then frowns slightly.

"You have a point there... I guess." She states softly. Zeliska sighs, looking over at the other girl with a soothing smile.

"Don't take it the wrong way. There are a lot of players who are stronger than you in terms of raw stats, but what you and (Y/N) have is inseparable. There is only one Kureha in the world. Nobody can replace you." Kureha sighs, knowing that Zeliska is right. Hoping...

"I hope you're right." She then laughs sheepishly. "I've been looking after her for so long now, it'd be hard to let go now!" Her smile is uneven. Hiding her true feelings. Zeliska smiles softly, thinking about the battle-scarred girl she's come to know, and how Kureha is with the girl.

"It's sweet, what you two have. I really envy it, to be honest." She sighs, a slight hint of solemnity could be heard in her voice. Itsuki laughed in disbelief.

"Seriously? You, the best solo player in this game - the Uncrowned Queen herself; wants what Kureha and (Y/N) have?" He asked in disbelief. Zeliska frowned at Itsuki's words.

"As much as a lone wolf as I am, I'd be lying if I said otherwise. It's important to be honest with yourself, Itsuki. If you have someone you want to hang out with, you should tell them. Don't beat around the bush." She sends a knowing smirk at the male, which causes him to freeze up for a moment, loosing his usual calm and collected self-image. He regained his composure as quickly as he had lost it. He shook his head in distaste.

"I'm sorry, but I don't appreciate it when people try to play psychologist with me." He stated, causing Zeliska to smirk innocently.

"What's there to play? It's written all over your face, silly." She quips back at him. Itsuki shakes his head.

"Then clearly I need to go wash it off." He walks out of the room without another word. Kureha stares in shock at the turn of events that just happened.

"Wow, I'm not used to seeing anyone shut down Itsuki like that! I'm impressed." Kureha exclaims. Zeliska only sighs at the door, before turning back to Kureha.

"I've known Itsuki basically since GGO went online. So, suffice it to say, I know him pretty well." She sighed, raising her hands in the air in a motion of indifference.

"There's not very much we have in common, though. So honestly, this is about as well as our conversations go." Her playful smirk returns. "He might not admit it out loud, but I can tell he's enjoying himself when (Y/N) is around. That alone is enough to make me happy. She seems to bring out a different side of him I haven't seen since he first had started playing GGO. It reminds me of the old days." Daisy looks to her master in confusion.

"Master, my emotional algorithms perceived him to be in a rather poor mood. Would you really consider what we saw as him 'enjoying himself'?" Daisy asked in confusion. Zeliska laughed, patting the head of her ArFA-sys.

"I would. In his mind, a little jealousy probably beats being completely bored. It's fun to watch from afar as well, that's for sure." Kureha raised a brow in confusion.

"Jealous? Wait, does he really like like her?" She asked in shock, causing Zeliska to laugh once more.

"It's quite obvious. After you took off the other day, (Y/N) explained to me that Itsuki had been looking up information about her from Argo. There's no other way to describe his interactions with her, other than infatuation. However, Itsuki is too hard-headed to admit to such a thing. Though, he's not the only one she's caught the attention of, I've noticed. A lot of her friends seem to have eyes for her as well. It doesn't shock me. She's a lovely girl and even I've found myself somewhat enchanted by her." Kureha doesn't have a chance to respond, as they both receive a notification from the admins.

"A message from the admins..." Her eyes widen in shock.

"It's a message about the update!"

It's almost 4 AM in the morning for me, and I can't sleep because I felt like writing. (Don't blame me for any mistakes ples!)(I'll read it again later with fresh eyes to fish out any mistakes I've made in my tired state.) However, I for some reason can't come up with a better name for the title lmao.

So, I was thinking... I'm not 100% sure on when exactly the first 3 dlc take place. We know it's before the true ending, however how far before everything happens I'm not entirely sure. I feel like it happens sometime after the SBC Flugel is saved, but before the BoB takes place. I'll figure something out. See you all soon!