12It's over 9000!
Well, including the authors notes. Actually, this chapter's word count is 8685. But the over 9000 reference was actually referring to 8000 anyway, so it works!
I could have split this into two chapters, but I wanted to wrap things up this way.
Kirito woke up feeling an itch on his neck and arms. He rolled over, only to feel several sharp pokes on his cheek. Wincing and grumbling, he rolled over on his other side, only to feel a tickling around his throat. Underneath the layer of the scratchy, itchy material, Kirito could feel a solid stone floor, not unlike the ones found in some areas of Aincrad. Confused by the uncomfortable sensation, he opened his eyes.
The teen found himself lying on the floor of a moderately large room. An expensive-looking bed was in his immediate line of vision, with a large and ornate wardrobe next to it, not far from his head. Past the foot of the bed was a small table with two chairs, with one seat occupied by the small pink-haired girl who had kissed him earlier. Her rosy pink eyes were narrowed in distaste. Words left her mouth, but Kirito had enough trouble passing English; he couldn't understand a word of the girl's rapid-fire French.
"I'm guessing you don't speak Japanese?" Kirito asked.
The girl frowned and gave an incomprehensible response.
"English?" Kirito tried swapping languages. "You speak English?"
The girl shook her head, looking very annoyed. "It's not my fault," Kirito said defensively. "You should be able to understand me! And where is here anyway?"
"Just stop talking already!" the girl demanded in her native tongue.
Kirito shrugged and shook his head to indicate he didn't understand. He tried swiping his fingers to pull up a menu, but just like the last time he tried, nothing came up. "This feels too much like reality, but it doesn't make sense."
"Shut up, stupid familiar!"
"I still have no clue what you're saying," said Kirito, a bit of pent-up frustration leaking into his voice.
The girl was turning red in the face. Fuming, she pulled a stick from her robes.
"Are you going to try to hit me with that?" Kirito asked, disbelief evident in his tone. Not only was that pretty barbaric, but the stick was also short and frail. It was likely to snap before it would manage to bruise him.
"Shut up!" the girl repeated again, pointing the stick in his direction. Kirito's survival instincts went into overdrive. While he didn't see an attack coming, he threw himself to the side just before a small explosion ripped through the bed of hay he had been lying on. Kirito rose to his feet and instinctively reached for his sword, grimacing when he remembered he was dressed as he was in the real word, and thus, he was unarmed.
The girl narrowed her eyes at him and shouted, "Stop making noise and go back to sleep!"
"You just tried to kill me!"
"Be quiet!"
"You're the one who's shouting!"
The two teens paused in their argument as they realized what they had just been doing.
"Wait, we can talk to each other?" Kirito said incredulously.
"Finally, you speak, instead of making all that noise," the girl said with a huff. "But that was supposed to be a silencing spell…"
"Spell?" Kirito echoed. "That means you use magic here?"
"Of course, I can use magic!" Louise snapped defensively. "I just make small mistakes… sometimes."
There went Kirito's suspicion of this being the real world. Unless that explosion was a pre-set effect—and a dangerous one at that—this scenario was impossible in the real world. Which meant that Kirito was still somewhere in Virtual Reality. Did the portal take him a secret Aincrad area? Kirito figured that the best way to find out was to continue as normal and see what happened.
"You nearly blew me up with that one," Kirito deadpanned. What kind of silencing spell made explosions? That was the exact opposite of silence! "Also, quick question. Are you a player, or NPC?"
"What are you taking about?"
"Never mind," said Kirito. If she didn't know those terms, then she definitely wasn't a player. "Anyway, where are we and why am I here?" Both of his questions were routine for starting off quests. If she wasn't a player, then he'd probably get some actual instructions from her.
"You're at the Tristan Academy of Magic," Louise replied. "I, Louise Francoise de Blanc de la Valliere, summoned you here to serve as my familiar. You should be grateful that a commoner such as yourself has received such a great opportunity."
Kirito responded with a thoughtful hum. No alerts were indicated to show a quest, and his HUD was still nonexistent. "I'm Kirito," he introduced himself, testing to see if an extended conversation would change his current status. "Pleased to meet you, Louise."
"I did not give you permission to use my first name so freely, familiar," Louise said haughtily. While she was looking up to speak to him, Kirito felt as if she was speaking down to a dog instead of a person. "You may refer to me as Master or Miss, but you will show proper respect."
"Right…" Seeing her glare and the way she raised her wand, he quickly corrected himself. "I mean, yes, Miss."
She nodded with a pleased smile. "Good, it seems you can learn," she said. She strode around the bed and opened the wardrobe. "Now, change me."
"Excuse me?" Kirito asked. He was glad Louise had her back to him so she couldn't see the blush creeping up his face. What kind of pervert would put a scene like this in a game?
"As a familiar, your job is to serve me," she said without turning around. "As such, you should help me with my clothes. It's a normal task for a servant."
"But not for a boy in the twenty-first century," Kirito muttered his breath.
"What was that? Come over here already. Do not make me repeat myself."
"Are you sure you want a guy to help you?" Kirito asked. "I mean, you're a girl. Shouldn't you have a female servant take care of that stuff?"
"What do you mean?" Louise asked, finally turning around. "You're my familiar, which means you don't count as a human. Why should I care if an animal sees my body?"
Kirito wasn't sure which part of the girl's reasoning disturbed him more. What made her think that becoming her familiar—which he had not remembered becoming—made him less of a hormonally-driven teenaged guy? And did she have no care for her own dignity? Kirito had made several accidental bathroom run-ins with his little sister/cousin, but they always kept a respectable amount of privacy and awareness. Suguha occasionally would run into him in the halls while wearing nothing but a towel, but he did his duty to avoid looking as much as possible, especially as her body developed.
Louise had none of Suguha's physical growth. Kirito didn't want to look too much to avoid being rude, but Louise looked flatter than Silica, and the small girl was noted to be underdeveloped for her age. And not only that, there was something really messed up in Louise's mindset.
In his thought process, Kirito completely forgot to consider that Louise was just a NPC. The way she was acting was strange, but deceptively human.
As Kirito's mind went far off into the unknown, Louise finished changing on her own, sulking that her familiar seemed more incompetent by the second. She flung her panties towards him carelessly before slipping under the covers. "Make sure those are washed and ready for me in the morning," she said groggily.
"Eh? What?" Kirito's reflexes had proven to surpass his mind, and he found himself holding the strange girl's undergarments, which he quickly flung away. They landed on one of the posts of the bed. It was then that Kirito looked at the sole window of the room and noticed that it was already dark outside.
"I slept all day?" he said in surprise. "And Asuna and the others never found me?" He'd have to ask Louise tomorrow if he was the only person that was summoned. The others should have been right behind him, unless they ended up somewhere else. Kirito looked out into the night sky, looking for the familiar constellations of Earth or Alfheim, only for his jaw to drop at the impossibility in front of him.
"Why are there two moons?!"
"Wake up, you useless familiar."
"Five more minutes, Suguha," he muttered sleepily.
"If you insist on being this lazy, I'll have to punish you."
"Tell mom I'll be down soon."
Survival instincts blared as Kirito rolled away from an incoming explosion. "What the hell was that?" he shouted.
"About time you woke up." His tormentor—or Master, as she called herself—was glaring at the Kirito; her wand aimed at the uncomfortable bed of hay he'd spent the night on. Or rather, what was left of it after she had blown it to bits with her supposed "silence spell". As a result, Kirito had spent much of the night struggling to fall asleep.
"I gave you one job to do; something simple enough for even the stupidest servant to accomplish. Take care of my laundry. And what do I find in the morning? You left my panties on my bedpost, unwashed!"
"Hold on a sec," Kirito interjected, raising a hand. "Don't you have servants to do that for you?"
"You're my servant now," she retorted.
"I thought you called me a familiar," Kirito replied questioningly. "And why did you call me a familiar, I don't remember agreeing to that. Isn't there a contract or something?"
Louise huffed, blowing several stray strands of bed hair out of her face. "Fine, since you obviously weren't listening properly during the ceremony, I'll explain it to you again. But first—" She raised a brush and handed it to him. "Can I assume you know how to brush a lady's hair?"
"Yes," Kirito said with a relieved sigh. "I did my sister's hair a lot when were younger. I'm a few years out of practice, but it's not too hard."
"A simple yes or no will suffice," Louise replied primly.
The noble sat herself on one of the chairs while Kirito stood behind her. Louise's hair was intimidating in size and volume, which was further magnified by its messy bedhead state. However, he decided to go through it section by section, and not worry about the amount of time it took. After all, he had a lot of questions.
Feeling Kirito run the brush through her hair, Louise began, "I summoned you during the Springtime Familiar Summoning Exam. It's an important ceremony where second-year students summon their familiars and form a contract with them. The exam is essential for passing the Academy and becoming a proper mage."
"When did we make a contract?" Kirito asked. "I think I'd remember if that happened."
"It was when I kissed you," Louise replied without an ounce of shame. Kirito barely managed to avoid jerking her hair in surprise. "The runes on your hand are familiar runes, proof of our contract. Professor Colbert was really interested in them for some reason," she added as an afterthought.
"Those runes felt like they were being burned into my skin," Kirito deadpanned. "Is that normal?"
"The other familiars didn't complain," was Louise's indifferent reply.
"Not even the dragon?" Kirito asked incredulously. He knew dragons, aside Silica's familiar, were volatile creatures that would rampage for little to no reason.
"Not even the dragon," Louise confirmed. "I envy Tabitha. She managed a powerful Wind Dragon, showing her high potential as a mage and her strong affinity for wind magic. And what do I get? A commoner who struggles to do basic servant duties!"
"To be fair, I'm not really househusband material," Kirito joked.
Louise whirled around and narrowed her eyes. "Don't even think that a noble such as myself would consider you as a marriage partner."
"It was a joke!" Kirito assured her. She looked him in the eyes for an extra second, then turned back around. "I've already got a girlfriend, and she'll be my fiancée as long as I can convince her mother I'm good enough for her. I'd say I'm about halfway there."
"As if I would be concerned about the life of a peasant," Louise scoffed.
"Asuna's father is in charge of a large company. He could probably buy out my entire neighborhood without hurting his account," Kirito commented. "I don't think he counts as a peasant."
Again, Louise turned around fast enough that Kirito was worried she would get whiplash. Or her hair would be ripped out and she would blame him for it. "You're trying to marry a noble?" Louise asked incredulously. "You're delusional! No noble would lower themselves to be with a nobody like you."
"It sounds crazy, but that's how it is," Kirito replied. He could feel a calm smile spread across his face as he thought about Asuna. "We love each other and would die for each other. Actually, we almost did, once. She's probably tearing through Aincrad looking for me as we speak."
"Aincrad?"
Kirito froze, the brush stopping halfway through Louise's hair. "Aincrad, that's where we are, right?"
"I already said, we're at the Tristan Academy of Magic." Seeing Kirito's blank face, she added. "That means we're in Tristan." Kirito still showed no sign of understanding. "One of the smaller countries of Halkegenia? Famous for the quality of its mages?"
"Is that a part of Aincrad?" Kirito asked in a shaky voice. "Or Alfheim?"
"Where?"
"Japan. Asia. Earth. Do any of those ring a bell to you?"
"Earth as in earth mages?"
The brush slipped from Kirito's quivering hand. "You're serious."
"Yes, I am," Louise confirmed cautiously. She looked worriedly at her familiar, who seemed to be staring past her and trembling. "What's wrong?"
"I-I'm sorry I c-can't—" Stumbling over his words, Kirito bolted. He threw open the door and ran down the halls. Even without a minimap, he had years of experience spelunking in Aincrad's unexplored areas, giving him good navigational memory. He ran outside into the courtyard and kept running, only slowing down when the harsh pain of his lungs signaled that he was struggling to breathe.
"Damn, I need to get in some cardio," he wheezed. The boy slunk down, leaning against a shaded part of the courtyard wall.
"Guess this is my real body then," he said to himself. "No wings, no speed, no strength, no stamina. I'm not Kirito, the Black Swordsman, I'm Kazuto Kirigaya, the SAO survivor."
Survivor. The label was an annoying and misrepresentative reminder of what he had gone through those two years he was trapped in Aincrad. Adults in the real world were quick to label everyone from SAO as victims who had lost two years of their life, and that wasn't even including the time it took for immediate rehab. For those who had fought in the game, whether on the frontline or the mid-levels, they didn't feel that their time had been lost. On Aincrad, they were not trapped victims waiting for rescue. They had duty, purpose, and a goal: to break themselves free of Akihiko Kayaba's prison. When the game cleared, these people were lost more than they had been in Aincrad.
Aincrad had changed those who had fought. Most lost interest in what they had original done in the real world. It was hard to look forward to weekend sports when they were used to fighting for their lives in creepy dungeons. It was hard to look at food or items the same way if someone had maxed out their chef or craftsman sub-class level. When someone would startle them, many SAO survivors would immediately reach for a weapon they no longer had. Those with the rare Martial Arts Skills had it worst; their first reaction was to punch or kick with deadly force. Thankfully, degraded physical condition had prevented any survivor from accidentally killing someone.
Kirito, despite being at a higher risk due to his position as a front liner and his frequent habit of solo play, had an easier time than most when readjusting to reality. He supposed that it was partially because he had people ready to receive him. His adoptive mother and sister were eager to care for him when he arrived, and the people he met in Aincrad wanted to meet IRL too. And as a loner, Kirito didn't feel the two year disconnect as much as people who were used to more regular social interaction.
The rising sun beat down into Kirito's eyes. He raised a hand to shield them. The heat prickled the pores on his hand. The light reflected off the morning dew. He could feel the wetness of his pants from the dew that was slowly being absorbed into the material.
Kirito knew more about games than anyone he knew. He had seen the signs. He knew that everything in this place was too vivid. The texture of the grass, the feeling of the sun, even the sound of his heart and breathing were crisper than anything SAO had managed to imitate. But he didn't want to believe. He couldn't believe. He had survived a death game, he had tracked down three hundred missing survivors, he had challenged a serial killer and lived to tell the tale, but this was far beyond his expertise.
Somehow, when Kirito the Black Swordsman had stepped into that portal, Kazuto Kirigaya had been transported from his room to another world.
It was mindboggling, but yet, Kirito knew it was true.
And since it was true, he had no clue what to do next.
After all, what could he do about being in another world?
Perhaps it was due to him not having a good rest the night before. Maybe it was his way of coping with stress. Or possibly it was him trying to regain a sense of normalcy by engaging in his typical habits. Regardless of the why, Kirito ended up snoozing away against the courtyard wall. With his legs lying straight and his back elevated, it looked like a very uncomfortable position. People who noticed him gave curious glances and muted whispers but did not approach. All except for one.
"Excuse me, is something wrong?"
Waking up quickly was an excellent survival skill. Kirito blinked his sleepiness away and looked up to see a girl about his age looking down on him. She wore a western-style maid outfit, which made sense, given he was probably in some parallel version of France. Her blue eyes radiated warmth and concern. Kirito was surprised that she had Japanese features, given that everyone else looked European.
Concerned by Kirito's continued silence, the girl said softly, "Sorry, if I disturbed you, but I'd like to help, if I can."
"Thanks," Kirito mumbled. He slowly pulled himself to his feet. He almost stumbled forward; his legs had fallen asleep during his brief nap. The maid grabbed his arm to help stabilize him. "Thanks for that too," Kirito said sheepishly.
"It's no trouble at all," Siesta replied with an easy smile, letting go of his arm. "Pardon my asking, but I don't think I've seen you around here before."
"That's because I'm not from around here," Kirito relied with a rueful smile. "Only arrived here yesterday, actually."
"Oh!" Her eyes widened in realization. "You're the familiar that Miss Valliere summoned! The human one!"
"Yes, I am a human."
The maid's face became tinged with scarlet. "I'm sorry, that sounded rude. I mean, obviously you're human. It's just surprising that you're a human familiar."
"I'm guessing that most familiars are some kind of animal?" Kirito remembered seeing a mix of mundane and unusual creatures when he summoned by Louise.
"Some are animals, and some are magical creatures," the maid replied. "I've never heard of a human familiar though. I don't think anyone here has."
Kirito ran a hand through his hair as he allowed a weary smile to cross his face. "I'm going to get a lot of odd looks, aren't I?" he asked.
"Sorry."
The boy shook his head. "It's not your fault, Miss—" He stopped, realizing that they had skipped over the introductions.
"Siesta," the maid supplied. "And I'm a servant, so there's no need to address me formally."
"Siesta then," Kirito said. "My name's Kiri—sorry, you say given names first, don't you? I'm Kazuto Kirigaya" He had almost given his in game name out of habit but decided against it. Right now, he wasn't in a virtual body of Kirito, the Black Swordsman. He was Kazuto Kirigaya, computer and VR gaming nerd. Still, old habits die hard. "But my friends call me Kirito."
"Friends?" Siesta sounded embarrassed as she clutched the apron of her uniform awkwardly.
"Honestly, you're the nicest person I've met since I got here," Kirito said. Given that he had only talked to Louise, that wasn't saying much, but perspective was everything. "I'd like to be friends, if that's alright with you?"
Siesta looked into Kirito's eyes, and flushed in happiness. "O-of course! I mean, yes. I'd be honored." She gave a small bow, trying and failing to hide the crimson on her cheeks.
A cry from afar rescued the maid from her embarrassment. "Siesta!"
The two turned to see a maid with brown hair tied in a bun waving at Siesta. "We have work to do!"
"Coming, Mary!" Siesta called back. She gave a quick bow to Kirito. "Sorry, I have to go."
"Don't let me hold you back," Kirito said.
A rumble put a sheepish smile on Kirito's face.
"You haven't eaten breakfast?" Siesta asked in surprise.
Kirito didn't look her in the eye as he replied, "I had a complicated morning."
"That's no reason to skip a meal!" Grabbing him by the arm, she dragged him hurriedly to where her coworker was standing.
"Can't leave your new boyfriend alone for two seconds, can you?" Mary teased.
"Eh? He's not—!" Siesta then realized that Kirito's arm was pressed against her chest. The boy was doing his best to look in the entirely opposite direction as he willed himself to ignore the soft springy sensation his arm was enjoying. Siesta immediately released Kirito's arm and jumped away from him. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's alright, no harm done," said Kirito.
Mary looked at the two of them with a sly smile. "Felt nice, didn't it?" she asked Kirito.
"Ighad!" was Kirito's incoherent response.
Mary covered her mouth with one hand, stifling a giggle. "Come on now, Siesta and I are late enough as it is. We'll find you something to eat, don't worry."
"You heard that?" Kirito asked in surprise.
"Siesta's voice is almost as noticeable as her body."
"Mary!"
Mary laughed, seeing the two flushed and doing everything in their power to not make eye contact. "Follow me!" she said, turning on her heel with a hand raised to wave them on.
Kirito let out a sigh when it looked like the maid's teasing was coming to an end. "Thanks," he said gratefully.
The three walked in awkward silence, with Mary leading the way and Siesta walking beside Kirito. The two said nothing at each other, and occasionally their eyes would meet, but just as quickly they would look away. Kirito was not sure how to act around Siesta after that, and Siesta was still mortified Mary's teasing.
As they approached their destination, Kirito's nose twitched. He could pick up the tantalizing smells of warm bread and sizzling meat as they neared an outdoor eating area. Chairs and tables were spaced evenly on the grass in rows. The furniture was made of bleached white wood, and the seat of each chair was padded with a pink cushion. Typically, two or three mages sat or stood around each table, and each mage was accompanied by a creature. Given that some were common animals and others were creatures such as floating eyeballs, Kirito deduced that each mage was accompanied by their familiar.
Kirito's stomach rumbled again. The boy looked sheepish as the two maids looked at him in surprise. They all ended up laughing, breaking the tension between them.
"Guess we'll have to feed you quick before that belly of yours gets any louder," said Mary.
"Any preferences?" Siesta asked.
"Everything smells so good…"
"Guess that means everything goes," Mary said drily. She turned to Siesta. "Grab the orders from any nobles who aren't served, I'll see if I can sneak your man something on the next tray I bring out." She winked and dashed off as Siesta made a sputtering denial. Kirito, who was resisting the urge to drool, completely missed her final words and departure.
When Siesta had calmed down and realized Kirito was still in a daze, she dismissed herself, "I have to get back to work. Excuse me, Kirito."
The boy snapped out of his trance long enough to reply, "See you around, Siesta."
As kirito waited for Mary to come back, he decided to take a look around and see if he could find Louise. He had run off on her before finishing her hair, and he'd prefer if she did not sneak up on him while he was eating. He briefly considered finding somewhere to hide so Louise wouldn't find him, but dismissed it almost immediately. With his luck, he'd be found before he could take a single bite. And while he hadn't known Louise for long, he figured she'd probably try to blow up him and his food. While Kirito wouldn't call himself proactive, food was sacred, so he would put effort into making sure his meal would be uninterrupted.
Not seeing his supposed master at the tables, Kirito grabbed the attention of one of the servers and asked where other students would be dining. The young man pointed Kirito towards the cafeteria. With a nod to the server, Kirito began walking to the doors. He walked past the students, trying his best to ignore the curious looks being sent his way.
"You must be mistaken. This is not mine!" A vehement denial cut through the casual chatter of the dining students.
Against his better judgement, Kirito let himself be distracted by the loud proclamation. He quickly found the source. A blond pretty-boy was almost yelling at Siesta, who had a small vial in her hand. Kirito felt the back of his mind urge him to find Louise, but his heart told him to stick around.
And so, he did.
"My apologies, but I'm sure I saw this fall from your robes when you stood up," Siesta replied.
"Are you saying I wouldn't recognize if it was mine or not?" the pretty-boy asked her condescendingly.
"I-I didn't mean to imply such a thing!"
On the opposite side of the table where the young noble stood, a blond girl rose from her seat. Her hair fell in long ringlets, framing a suspiciously look on her face. Without a word she snatched the bottle from the maid's hands—to which she let out a squeak of surprise—and proceeded to examine it.
"Guiche," the girl said with deliberate slowness. "Do you know where this vial came from?"
"I have never even seen that perfume before this moment," the male student, Guiche, denied. The girl's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "My dear Montmorency, don't give me that look. Would I ever lie to you?"
Rather than assure Montmorency, her suspicious expression intensified. "How did you know it was a perfume?" she asked.
Guiche's eyes widened for just a second, but it was clear to Kirito that the blond's cover was exposed. "Well, the only vial a girl would carry around would be perfume. It was a simple deduction," Guiche said, throwing his hair back and giving his companion a dazzling smile.
She wasn't falling for any of it. "And how did you know that it belonged to a girl?" Montmorency asked.
"W-w-well, I—"
"Something this expensive surely couldn't be afforded by a commoner like this maid. That's simple deduction, right?" Montmorency had a malicious frown on her face. "So, tell me Guiche. If you had never seen this vial before, how did you know it was a girl's perfume?"
"I, w-well, you see, I-I mean…"
As Guiche desperately tried to stutter a response, Kirito noticed a girl exit the Cafeteria and approach the gathering of students. She wore a brown robe, unlike the rest of the students, whose robes were a dark blue. In her hands she carried a small wooden basket covered by a checkered cloth. "Is that Guiche I hear?" she asked.
"The tall blond guy?" Kirito asked as he pointed a finger at the blond couple's dispute. "He's over there, getting in trouble with his girlfriend, I think."
"Girlfriend?" A look of horror struck the girl's face. Kirito took an instinctive step back as the girl practical ran to the arguing couple.
"Guiche!"
Guiche and Montmorency turned to the newcomer with surprise, though Guiche's face was equally filled with dread. "Katie," he said softly as he saw her eyes water. He knew the compromising position he was in. He was currently down on one knee, professing to Montmorency that he had been completely faithful in their relationship.
"You, cheater!" The basket hit Guiche's face with a surprising amount of force. Several small puffy cakes escaped the basket's confines and littered the grass. "Did our dates mean nothing to you? Was I just a side girl?"
"You were taking advantage of a first year?" Montmorency asked in rage.
"Th-there's a perfectly good explanation for this," Guiche said desperately.
The slap that followed resounded across the courtyard. Guiche sank to his hands and knees, trembling from humiliation. Both of the girls he had courted ran off in different directions. The crowd of students started to laugh and tease him about how he had it coming. Guiche ground his teeth as he stood up. His eyes locked onto the first person he could vent on. "You!"
Siesta practically jumped out of her skin when Guiche shouted at her. "Me?" she asked nervously.
"You made me lose face in front of those girls and everyone here!"
Kirito glared as Guiche proceeded to blame Siesta for everything that had gone wrong in the past five minutes. He had pegged Guiche has lady killer, but now it was clear he was shameless flirt and arrogant brat. The student's desire to throw blame on someone else instead of owning to his own mistakes reminded Kirito of Kibou and his followers. The ginger cactus haired man had blamed Beta Tester for every hardship in SAO. Even when they had gotten past the area where Beta Testers had reached, regardless of how many beta testers died in the first ten floors due to changes from the Beta, he had held fast to his hatred. In fact, he had expressed his hatred of Beta Testers much more than he had of Kiyaba, the one who had trapped them in the first place.
It was a psychological coping mechanism. It was hard to blame someone from afar, and it was even harder to blame yourself. The easiest solution was to find a convenient target nearby, who could be used a scapegoat for everything that went wrong.
Kirito clenched his fist as he watched Siesta be reduced to tears as Guiche threatening to have her fired. He pushed past the onlooking nobles and called out to Guiche, "Leave Siesta alone!"
"How dare you speak to me like this!" Guiche responded immediately. Then, noticing it was Kirito, he sneered. "Of course, the familiar of Zero is as disgraceful as its master. Do you know that I am a noble?"
"Really?" Kirito said sarcastically. "My bad. I didn't see anything noble about bullying a poor girl who was only doing her job."
Guiche's expression darkened. "She disgraced me!"
"I think you were doing a great job at this without her help," Kirito responded cheekily.
"How dare you? You have nothing to do with this!"
"Actually, I was the one who pointed the girl in the brown cloak in your direction," Kirito confessed casually.
"Why, you!" Guiche was one step away from frothing at the mouth. Too easy. "For sullying my honor, I challenge you to a duel!"
"Gladly," Kirito replied instinctively. He reached for the handle of his signature black sword, but only met air. He desperately tried to hide his panic with an awkward arm stretch. He had forgotten that he was Kazuto at the moment, not Kirito.
"Don't do it, Kirito!" Siesta exclaimed. "Mr. Gramont is a noble! You can't beat him."
Kazuto or Kirito, he couldn't stop halfway. He gave Guiche a hard look and said, "That remains to be decided. When and where?"
"We will duel at the Vestri Court!" Guiche declared. "Follow me, if you dare."
"Dare, I will," Kirito replied with a confidence he didn't feel.
"Kirito!" Siesta cried as she watched her savior stoically walk off to his demise. She turned and ran towards the indoor cafeteria, praying that Louise was still inside.
It had been easy for the raven-haired teen to revert to his "Beater" persona. His time in Aincrad had showed him how easy it was to protect others as long as you were willing to get under everyone's skin to make them hate you even worse instead. But this strategy only worked when he had the ability to intimidate any would-be rioter. Unless people were scared to act against him, earning everyone's ire would only get him killed. Given that he had his real body this time, getting killed here would most likely be permanent.
Risking his life to save someone he just met from unemployment. Kirito had to suppress a dark chuckle. Any reasonable person would say that such a trade was unreasonable and unnecessary. But Kirito didn't think himself to be the reasonable type. If there was something he wanted to accomplish, he would break every limit to reach his goal.
Plus, Siesta was still technically his only friend here. If he let the first friend that he made in this crazy world slip through his fingers when he could prevent it, how would he be able to look at himself in the mirror? It may have been the reasonable choice, but Kirito knew he would end up regretting it.
Still, ideals weren't enough on their own. "Hey, Guiche!" he called out to the blond noble.
"What is it, commoner?"
"I have a name—you know what, never mind that. You guys have an armory around here? I wasn't summoned with any weapons."
"Summoned?" Guiche scoffed. "Please, every knows that Louise would never have been able to perform the summoning ritual. I don't where she found someone as rude and strangely dressed as you, but no one is falling for such an obvious deception."
"Coming from the guy who was two-timing, I don't think you're qualified to talk about deceit," Kirito deadpanned.
Guiche stiffened, the accusation going straight to his already bruised ego. "Either way," the noble boy said this is a school of magic, not knights. Mundane weapons are for plebeians anyway."
"So, how are we going to duel?"
"I will use my magic," Guiche said haughtily. "And you will use whatever futile resistance you have."
"I'm a swordsman," said Kirito pointedly. "I can't duel without a sword."
"Are you backing down from my challenge?" Guiche challenged.
"Not at all," said Kirito with a smirk. "In fact, if you insist that I need a handicap so you can fight me, who am I to say otherwise? I wouldn't want to beat you down with a plebian weapon anyway. My fists alone will be much more satisfying. Nice and dirty, just the way you like it."
Kirito could tell by all the red in Guiche's face that he had hit a nerve.
"As if I need my opponent crippled," Guiche said haughtily. "You're only a mere commoner." He drew a rose from his robes and pointed it at the ground. A single red petal fell off, and when it landed on the grass, a flash of light appeared. A grey sword, about three and half feet in length, rose out from the ground.
Item creation wasn't something new to Kirito, but he had never seen someone create such an elegant sword so easily. "Wow," he said as he hefted it up. "Nice engraving, decent balance too."
"I know, it's a masterpiece isn't it?" Guiche said shamelessly as he flicked his hair to the breeze. "An art of perfect—"
"Can you make it about twice as heavy?"
"…What?
"And all black."
Guiche looked at Kirito incredulously.
Kirito stared back with serious inquiry.
"Are you joking?" Guiche finally asked.
"Well, if you can make it just a bit longer too, then it'd be perfect," said Kirito. "But if this is all you can make that's fine too."
"Set it down," Guiche ordered. Kirito did so with a shrug, restraining a triumphant smirk. "I will show you what I, Guiche the Bronze, can do!"
Pointing with his rose again, the sword became enveloped in blinding light. When the light had faded, Kirito observed the changes. The weapon was a longsword, but more specifically, it was a bastard sword, capable of being wielded with one hand or two. While the original sword has a very ceremonial appearance to its crossguard and hilt, this one looked malicious. The blade wasn't quite black, but a very dark shade of grey. The crossguard was predominately navy blue, with solid back orbs on near its ends, looking not unlike a pair of murky eyes. Grooves shaped like overlapping teeth wrapped around the hilt, giving it a fine grip. The grooves also stretched along the hilt like the maw of a savage beast. While Kirito didn't fancy himself to be an expert in swordcraft—he left that to Lisbeth—he could tell that the sword was well made enough to make any blacksmith jealous.
"Pretty good craftsmanship," Kirito said. "Worst case, you'd have a career as a blacksmith."
"As if I would resort to such a plebian occupation," Guiche scoffed.
Kirito picked up the sword as Guiche walked off. He noticed his runes on the back of his hand glow when he picked up the weapon, but they faded almost immediately afterwards. The effect was curious, but he decided to look into it at another time.
Kirito knew they were in the Vestri Court when he saw the amount of dark robed students waiting in a large circle. Their gazes conveyed their predictions. They expected Guiche to demolish him. Kirito merely smirked as he rubbed his thumb over the crossguard of his new sword. He may be out of shape, but muscle memory had to count for something. His kendo spars with Suguha had taught him that much. As long as he finished the fight quick, he would be able to handle any projectile the mage threw at him.
"Are you ready?" Guiche asked, standing a distance away.
"I'm ready as I'll ever be," Kirito replied, lowering himself into his signature stance.
The two locked eyes and were ready to begin, but a shrill shouted interrupted them. "Stop this!"
"Louise?" Kirito voiced in surprise.
The pink haired loli came running, completely out of breath, between the two teenaged boys. "What are you doing?" she asked them, looking first at Kirito and then Guiche. "Dueling is forbidden on school grounds!"
"Dueling between nobles is forbidden," Guiche corrected her. "There's nothing in the rules that says nobles can't duel commoners."
"That's because no commoner should be stupid enough to accept a duel from a mage!" Louise glared at Kirito as she said this. "Apologize."
"For what?" Kirito asked defensively.
"You went out of line to insult a noble!"
"He went out of line blaming Siesta for his own two-timing stupidity!"
Louise blinked. She turned to Guiche.
He gave guilty shrug.
Louise sighed. "Still, you can't insult a noble, or duel one," she insisted. "Just apologize. Guiche, I'm sure you can find it in your heart to forgive my misguided familiar for his lack of knowledge in courtesy."
"Well, if he begs nicely, perhaps," Guiche drawled.
"You just admitted to being a cheating scumbag," Kirito scoffed. "Like hell I'd ever apologize to you!"
"Then it looks we will have to fight this out like gentlemen," said Guiche darkly.
"Kirito!" Louise ran up to her familiar and looked him straight in the eye. It failed at intimidating him, since she only came up to his shoulder. "Guiche is a mage. You're a commoner. You can't beat him. You're only going to get yourself hurt!"
"I'm a swordsman," said Kirito. "Not your average guy off the street."
"Even if you were a commoner knight it wouldn't be enough!" Louise exploded. "Guiche is one of the best students in our year! He has his name, Guiche the Bronze, because despite being a dot class mage, his golems are on par with line class mages! You can't beat a squad of golems just by swinging around a sword!"
"Golems, huh," Kirito said thoughtfully. He had expected Guiche to use rocks and mud pits to attack him, but a summoner-type mage made sense given his personality. "How big, what shape, and how many?"
"Allow me to show you," said Guiche as he raised his rose-wand. A squad of half a dozen golems rose from the ground in flashes of light. Each was designed with feminine body proportions, including a noticeable bust and thin waist. The "skin" and armor of the golems were equally colored in a dull grey, as were the spears each held in their hands. There was peculiarity in the golem's helmet and skirt. Small white wings, clearly not made of the same metal as the golems, adorned the sides of each helmet. A skirt of the same material clad the golems' lower bodies, which would otherwise be hardly decent.
"Humanoid and female, why do I feel like I should have known?" Kirito sighed. "You can control them all by yourself?" he asked.
"Naturally," Guiche boasted. "But just one should be enough to deal with you. Zero, stand aside so we can begin."
"No! You can't!" Louise protested. "You're going to get hur—mmph!"
Kirito wrapped a hand around Louise mouth and hauled her off to the side. "Sorry, Miss Louise, but I can't have you getting hurt," he said. After setting her down, he stepped a few feet away and raised his sword.
"I'm ready," he said to Guiche, lowering himself into his usual stance. For some reason, the marks on his hand started to glow again. And this time he felt… different.
"Attack, my Valkyrie!"
Kirito had no time to bonder what he was feeling as the fight began. The golem lunged spear-first towards Kirito. It was a straightforward attack that appeared to leave the golem wide open, but looks could be deceiving. The spear outranged him by at least a foot, so any hasty counterattack could be repelled even if he moved at the exact same time as the golem. Thus, Kirito, decided to parry the lunge. He kept shifting his eyes between the golem he was fighting, the extra golems standing in the back, and their puppeteer, Guiche.
"Hmph, I put all that work into crafting a fine sword for you, and you only use it to run and dodge? Pathetic."
Kirito didn't bother to respond to Guiche's taunt. After witnessing how the golem attacked, or rather, how Guiche used the golem to attack, the swordsman went on the offense. A fury of quick and powerful slashes kept the golem from making full use of the length of its spear. Every swing felt wonderful. Despite the weight of the weapon, it felt perfect in his hands. Wielding it, he didn't feel like he was Kazuto, the teenaged boy, but Kirito, the legendary black swordsman.
The golem's defense wasn't terrible, but it was far worse than what Kirito was used to. Evidently, Guiche knew enough about spears to know how to make use of them for attacking. However, he always had his golem defend by making a counterattack. Even parries were always followed up by a telegraphed retaliating strike. It was good for keeping pressure, but against someone like Kirito, it was all too predictable.
The light from his hands intensified, glowing like a beacon despite the glare of the sun overhead. "Take this!" Kirito shouted. Instinctively, he tried to use Sonic Leap. He remembered just as he got into the stance that he was in his normal body, and sword skills didn't exist. But with the golem already making its counterattack, he had no choice but to hope for the best. Kirito leapt forward with as much speed and power as he could muster, bringing his weapon to bear directly at a weak point in the golem's spear.
Kirito landed on the other side of the golem, stunned by the power and distance he had mustered. It felt exactly like the skill in Aincrad. He turned to look at the golem. Or rather, what was left of it.
Sonic Leap worked by the player crouching down and taking a brief moment to charge the skill. Once the charge was ready, the player slashed from top to bottom while having doubled movement and effective attack range. It was great for closing the distance on large targets or slicing off limbs from enemies that were approaching you. And when you had enough power for overkill, the damage it inflicted was amazing.
The Valkyrie's spear was not just sliced, but shattered at the point Kirito's sword had made contact. The damage also carried over to the Valkyrie's arm. It was sliced off clean at the elbow. The remaining hand was left on the ground, holding a fractured metal stick. The golem was rock still, likely due to how stunned Guiche was by Kirito's action.
"Impossible!" Guiche said in shock. "There's no way a mere commoner could do such a thing."
"Why in the Founder was your sword glowing?" Louise exclaimed.
Kirito let a dark chuckle escape. He didn't know how, but he had the sneaking suspicion that the glowing symbols were letting him use his old sword skills. It made absolutely no sense, but he wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. "That was all you had?" he asked Guiche arrogantly. "Pathetic. My little sister could put up a better fight than you just did."
Embarrassed and terrified, Guiche responded exactly as Kirito predicted. "Attack, my Valkyries!" The remaining five Valkyries lunged for Kirito.
Kirito smirked. While Guiche was hoping to overwhelm him in numbers, quantity only mattered so much in the face of quality. The attacks the golems opened with were sloppy, uncoordinated, only focused on skewering him as soon as possible.
To Louise's eyes it was like Kirito was dancing. He moved with the speed and grace of the finest of the kindom's knights. His blade moved with speed that defied it length and thickness. Despite the Valkyries having the advantage in numbers and weapon length, it made no difference. This was not a battle.
It was a slaughter.
Kirito ducked underneath the stab of one Valkyrie. He rose with a Diagonal, slicing through the Valkyrie's chest armor. Before it even hit the ground, Kirito had moved to his next target. He parried a spear slash and used a Vertical to disarm it before using a Horizontal to decapitate it. The next golem was brutally executed by a Cross Slash that carved its chest into four pieces.
As if Guiche was improving with each Golem that fell, the final two golems made a coordinated attack. One stabbed high at his chest while the other slashed at his knees. Already knowing their attack speed and movement patterns, he stepped to the side and swung the flat of his sword to deflect the spear approaching his chest into the ground. The low sweeping Valkyrie couldn't correct its motion in time and struck the grounded spear with full force. In Guiche's hesitation to correct their position, the two stood still long enough to be cleanly cleaved with a Whirlwind Slash. While normally a move only good at finishing multiple low HP mobs due to its considerable end lag, it made for a fancy finish to the one-sided beat down. Additionally, however he was doing the sword skills did not penalize him with the end lag he was used too. Instead, he had realistically brief cooldowns before he could perform an equally powerful attack.
With none of Guiche's precious Valkyries left standing, Kirito slowly strolled up to the quickly paling pretty-boy. He raised his sword to the trembling noble's chest. "Still want to fight?" he asked.
Guiche shook his head. "It's… my loss," he surrendered.
"Glad we have that established." Kirito twirled the blade in one hand and slung it over his back out of habit. "I seriously need to get a new sheath," he grumbled. He brought he blade to bear at his side as he started to walk away.
"Who are you?" Guiche asked.
Kirito turned his head to look back at the taller boy. That was a good question. Who was he now? He was a not so normal teenaged boy in over his head. He was someone revered as a hero, though he only did what he thought was right. He was only human, but he had a power that even he did not comprehend.
Who was he?
What was he?
But in the end, did it really matter?
"My name is Kazuto Kirigaya," he finally answered. "But I'm also called Kirito, the Black Swordsman of Aincrad."
Kirito felt satisfied as he walked away from the fight. Once again, he was the dreaded Black Swordsman. He had instilled a fear-based respect in the students. They would be hesitant to challenge him, which meant that his very presence would be able to avert people's attention away from people like Siesta. And, when he thought about it, Louise as well. And speaking of her…
"Hey," Kirito said softly to the noble girl walking beside him.
Louise did a good job concealing her flinch. "Yes?" she responded.
"Those things you said when I was about to duel Guiche, you were trying to save me, weren't you?"
Louise's cheeks puffed in annoyance, but Kirito found it to be cute. "There's no need to say something so obvious," she said primly. "You're my familiar. It's my duty to make sure you don't get hurt." Seeing his teasing grin, she added, "D-don't think it's because I have any personal interest in you or anything. Honestly, you're the rudest commoner I've ever met."
"You're still calling me a commoner?" Kirito asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hmph!"
Kirito decided to go out on a limb. "Are you mad about something?"
"No!"
"That sounds like denial."
"What would you know about me?"
"Louise." For some reason, Louise was compelled to stop walking and face him. "You can talk to me," Kirito assured her.
Louise crossed her arms. Kirito held his gaze, open and inviting. After a moment, Louise asked, "Why did you help that maid?"
Kirito was surprised by the question, but it was easy to answer. "Siesta's a friend," he said honestly.
"You met her yesterday! There was nothing in it for you and you could've gotten hurt, even killed, if you didn't have your freaky glowing sword attacks."
Kirito had to laugh at that. "Well, it would be hard for me to forgive myself if I just sat and watched when I could have saved her."
Louise gave him a look with a flicker of hope. "And…" Louise's words fell into a mumble.
"What was that?" Kirito asked, straining his ears.
"Would you save me too?" Louise asked, her words barely louder than a mumble. "If I needed you?"
"Of course," Kirito replied. "After all, we're friends, right?"
"Yeah," Louise said. A smile spread across Louise's face. She turned her face so Kirito wouldn't see, but her tone carried the appreciative warmth she couldn't bring herself to voice. "Friends."
C'est fini.
I'm going to end the story here. Sorry to anyone who wanted it to go longer, but when I tried to plan out how a longer story would go, it ended up following the canon too much for my liking. Kirito is basically Saito, except better. His physical conditioning is roughly the same, but he has a much higher aptitude for combat and is naturally intelligent. He'd have a much easier time against Saito's enemies, but he wouldn't make enough significant deviances for me to justify major plot changes. I don't want a retelling of the exact same story with a better protagonist, the point of this series is to shake things up for the universe.
If you want to see any of my other stories for the Louise Summons series, check out my profile. I've got an update schedule on there too! If you have anything you want me to write, put it in a review or shoot me a PM! Seriously, I've had soem great discussion with people who've given me feedback. I love it! If there's a way I can improve I'll gladly take a suggestion.
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