There'd been almost no time to analyze the situation once they got within seven yards of the tree due to the entire flock of Carrion Crows mobbing them from above. The viciousness of the attack had taken Kirito's breath away as both he and Agil desperately fought to reach the kid who'd been buried beneath the largest group of flying Monsters (no easy feat due to the fact that an ill-timed attack could kill the person they were trying to save). The battle had ended abruptly about ten minutes after it started when the kid had used a strange wide ranged attack that had taken out all of the remaining crows in a single move.
Agil and Kirito had both moved closer at that point in order to better protect the kid if the crows returned and Kirito was only half surprised to see the kid startle and bolt when Agil's shadow had fallen on him; the kid had obviously feared he was being attacked again. When the child confirmed that he was indeed Tracker James, Kirito had been more than a little shocked as he couldn't imagine a child earning Tracker James's reputation. He temporarily forgot all about age and reputation the moment he'd seen the bloodstains on the ruined clothes that James was wearing in addition to the blood he could see running in rivulets from the very realistic looking injuries that the kid was covered in.
Wanting to get a closer look, Kirito had made to grab the kid's arm only to freeze when the kid practically bolted in order to avoid the touch. Kirito just figured the kid was still rather skittish after the recent brutal encounter with the crows and simply backed up and sat down as he introduced himself in hopes that it would put the kid at ease. He was a bit disappointed when the kid hadn't responded in kind but figured the kid would get around to it eventually when he wasn't so shaken and it wasn't like Kirito really needed an introduction after Agil had confirmed that the child was indeed his missing friend.
The short question and answer session that had followed had been more than a little bizarre.
Kirito had been impressed with the kid's cunningness and luck in keeping his true appearance and age from being discovered like everyone else's had on the opening day of the game. Finding out that the kid had only had a limited understanding of Japanese at the time (the only language the game had been released in as far as he knew) gave new insight to Tracker James's apparent shyness. The kid had obviously wished to avoid drawing attention to himself by openly advertising the fact that he didn't know the language (something that would have had every single crook in the game targeting the poor kid).
That he'd still managed to muddle through the game (both the beta and live version) as long as he had without a firm grasp of the language was an impressive feat in and of itself since you needed to understand the language to use the Menu and interact with the other Players and the computer generated characters.
Listening to James explain part of what had happened to him hadn't really shed any light on the mystery of why his Avatar had been reverted to his actual appearance so late in the game. What it had done was confuse the hell out of Kirito because the kid claimed that he'd felt pain; something that should not have been possible within the game due to the way that the Nerve Gear functioned. Then again, it should not have been possible for someone to bleed and the kid was without a doubt bleeding at the time (something Kirito wouldn't have believed possible if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes).
Learning that the kid was only nine, had sort of stolen his gaming equipment, and was actually able to connect to the game using an improperly implanted NERDLES had been mind boggling. Hearing James talk about how no one would care that he'd been trapped in the death game with everyone else had been disturbing. The revelation that the nine year old had been orphaned in a car crash at infancy and ended up in the care of his aunt and uncle had been surreal; since that was exactly what had happened to Kirito. The implications and hints that James's guardians, his relatives, were abusing him were enough to make Kirito sick.
James's emotional break down after confessing his reasons for playing the game had made Kirito feel more than a little guilty over his inability to answer the kid's borderline hysterical demands to know what had happened to him. It might have been unreasonable for him to feel that way but he hadn't been able to help himself at the time due to how horrible the kid had looked covered in his own blood and how broken he'd sounded. Watching the kid totally shut off his emotions in the blink of an eye before falling into a defensively submissive stance the moment Agil had stood up and approached the kid had made his skin crawl; that kind of reaction was not normal.
Kirito hadn't known what to think or feel after he had seen and heard James's reaction to being hugged by Agil. The startling confession that he'd never been hugged before and had actually thought hugs hurt had made Kirito pity the younger boy as he himself had many fond memories of his foster parents hugging him in his younger years. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to never receive a hug when he got home from school, when he did something that made his parents proud, when he was feeling sad or scared, or at night when his parents tucked him into bed.
Kirito had felt guilty for interrupting that moment but they weren't exactly in the safest of places and the Carrion Crows had been regenerating steadily during the entire conversation.
Things had only gotten weirder once they'd returned to Agil's apartment. The odd anomalies that occurred around the kid had been more than a little troubling and difficult to believe but he'd seen the evidence with his own eyes. The way the kid's hair had still been dripping wet after his shower and how the damp spots on his shirt had grown larger with each drop that fell from his hair (something that shouldn't have been possible). The fact that his injuries hadn't stopped bleeding as fresh bloodstains blossomed across the clean shirt he'd changed into. The way the first aide supplies seemed to temporarily fail each time he treated another of the kid's numerous bleeding wounds.
And then the thing with the food; oh how he'd been jealous when he'd watched the kid slice his bread roll in half and properly smear butter and jam on both halves before devouring the food. The way the jam had smeared across the kid's face hadn't helped and Kirito almost hated the kid in that instant. James had no doubt sensed Kirito's growing emotional conflict because the kid had tried to share the food only for it to revert to the game standard fare the moment he let go of it after handing it to Kirito. The unselfish gesture had actually helped Kirito push the jealousy aside and allowed him to laugh it off as he teasingly accused the kid of pranking him with the food.
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