"I think she has." Deanna said with a grin when she saw Sakura with an armful of stuff.

"As does Kirito it seems," Thalia replied with a small grin on her face as he saw the boy holding his own set of winter clothing. "Is it just me, or do you think those two would make a cute couple?" she asked.

" I think they would too." Deanna said with a giggle.

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees it then," Thalia said with a grin. "He actually reminds me of a guy I know," she added.

" Do does he remind you of?" Deanna asked.

(I'm going to assume you meant "Who" there)

Thalia chuckled lightly before shaking her head lightly. "Not here. There's to many ears around and this is a little personal," she said.

( I did.Sorry about that. [sweat])

" Alright. Maybe after dinner then?" Deanna asked." Speaking of dinner, we need to get this stuff paid for and get ready." She said looking at her watch.

"Definitely after dinner, and thanks," Thalia said before waving to Kirito and Sakura in order to get their attention.

Sakura saw Thalia waving and figured Deanna was ready to check out. " Are we ready?" She asked.


Kirito followed Sakura and was ready for dinner. He was glad this shopping trip had been easy, since he wasn't a fan of shopping.

Kirito nodded his answer to Sakura as they both made their way towards Deanna and Thalia.

" You two ready ?" Deanna said. She was glad that everyone had found what they were looking for.

"I believe we are, thanks to Sakura-chan here," Kirito responded.

Deanna smiled and glad that Kirito was happier. She walked toward the checkout and put her things on the counter to be scanned by the clerk.

Sakura and Thalia followed Deanna before placing there own articles of clothing on the counter as well.

Deanna waited as the clothes were scanned and then wrote a check for thier purchases.

"Thank you for your service, come again!" the clerk said after she finished with the transaction.

"You didn't have to pay for me Deanna-san," Kirito said, even though he was glad that she did.

" It's no problem. Kirito. " Deanna said. She had been saving her money for a while and was glad she had.

"Still, thanks." Kirito responded.

" We did pretty good today. " Eve said to Salem. " I'm sorry you didn't find a Bishie while you were here, maybe this next town will be different. " She added.

"Hopefully," Salem responded as he gave Eve a light kiss. "Thanks for wanting to help me today Eve," he responded. "Though I feel bad...I'm keeping you away from your Bishie," he added.

"You're welcome. I feel bad too. But I'll make it up to Kirito somehow. I want to be a good trainer " Eve said feeling guilty. Kirito was a good friend and she hoped he was alright.

Deanna saw Eve and Salem and waved towards them, hoping that they had a good day today. She also wondered if Salem had caught a Bishie or not today, but would leave that up to him to say.

Eve waved back and was glad to see Deanna and the others. She saw that Kirito was smiling and felt good that her Bishie was feeling happy.

Kirito saw Eve and waved back, a small smile on his face. He was glad to see the look on her face and to see that she was happy. And as much as he would hate to admit it, Salem was starting to become an alright guy in his book. While he would never forget what he did to his Asuna, he had forgiven the young man.

Salem was glad that Kirito was looking happy and wondered what had happened today. He knew the Bishie was slowly accepting him but Salem still needed to forgive himself.