Author's Note

Hey there, this is ChristmasForJuan.

First and foremost, I would like to warn everyone that this story of mine is set just before the Alicization arc, or more precisely, around the time that "Versus" occurs. Because of that it might contain spoilers from the arcs leading up to this point, so as long as you don't mind minor spoilers (they should not be too significant, but just in case), please read the original light novel series prior to reading this fan fiction.

Naturally, any reviews, comments, and suggestions are very welcome, and I will try to respond to those to the best of my ability.

The setting and characters are all borrowed from the series "Sword Art Online" by Reki Kawahara. Needless to say I neither own the setting nor the characters. Thank you Reki Kawahara for inspiring this fan fiction.

March 31, 2026

The pink fragrance of cherry blossoms danced along the fresh spring breeze, fluttering a certain white muffler with exuberant vigor. Resting on the fair neck of a young high-school girl, the muffler offered a pleasant contrast to her piano black school uniform. As Sinon walked towards the school gate she sighed. Normally her Friday afternoons were spend with short trips to the local convenience stores, a light dinner, and a brief visit to either the fantasy world of ALO or the post-apocalyptic wastelands of GGO. However, two days ago she received an e-mail from Kikuoka Seijirou, a civil servant involved in the "Death Gun" incident, who urged her to meet him at one of his favorite cafés.

Yet another sigh escaped Sinon′s soft lips. It was not that she disliked Kikuoka Seijirou. In fact, she was grateful for his involvement in the "Death Gun" incident, but there was something about his demeanor that she simply could not get used to.

"Come to think of it, Kirito was invited too", Sinon pondered out loud, unintentionally showing a smile.

"I guess if Kirito is coming it wouldn′t be that bad after al-", her train of thought was cut short by a memory of the last time Kirito had offered to pick her up from school.

A faint blush adorned her cheeks as she quickened her pace, shuffling one foot before the other quick enough to cross the schoolyard at a brisk pace, but covertly enough as to not draw too much attention. There′s no way. There′s no way that Kirito would be bold enough to do "that" again. But then again, thinking about it, it was all the more likely for him to do "that" again simply because of him being him.

Sinon′s awkward movements came to a halt as she noticed the large group of female students gathered behind the school gates, giggling, whispering, and occasionally pointing at a certain individual leaning against his motorbike. He was dressed in a navy school uniform, almost black, and gazed at the clouds in a dazed manner.

"He actually parked right in front of the school gate… again", Sinon remarked to herself, astonished that she was still surprised by that young man′s unpredictable behavior.

As she briefly scanned her surroundings Sinon noticed that a petite girl, probably the same grade as her, held a soft pink colored letter in both her hands. Coincidentally, the color of that letter was identical to the color of her innocent blush.

"This is bad…", Sinon thought as she hurried towards the navy black figure, trying her best to avoid the curious glances of her fellow classmates.

One would think that they would lose interest after Kirito′s repeated appearances. Sinon took a deep breath to calm her beating chest and raised her right hand as casually as she could, "Yo Kirito. Didn′t I tell you not to park so close to the school gate?"

Kirito snapped out of his daze, shifted his attention to Sinon and replied, "Ah, good afternoon Sinon. But shouldn't it be fine? Its more convenient this way after all."

Sighing at that innocent reply, Sinon could not help but forgive his bold behavior. The sharp glares that pierced her back were a different story however.

"I...in any case, lets get out of here..."

"Yeah, we don′t want to repeat what happened that one time with the disciplinary teacher."

Sinon did not reply and simply grabbed the light green spare helmet that hung on the bike′s left handle, fitting it on her head. That experience was traumatic. Especially since she had to explain her relationship with the attractive young man who would occasionally wait in from the school gates to the teachers, and eventually half of the student body. That alone had caused quite the commotion. Sinon shuddered at the thought of going through that again.

Guessing her thoughts, Kirito gave her a knowing grin and reached his arm over to hook her helmet up. Truth be told, Sinon had already learned how to hook the helmet up herself, but for some reason she kept that hidden from Kirito and continued to allow him to do it for. Despite how embarrassing it was to be seen when he did so, she continued to indulge in her guilty pleasure.

As both of them mounted the bike together Sinon reached for Kirito′s body, wrapping her arms around his lean frame and pressing her body against his. The few times he fetched her from school, despite her complaints, were the few times in which she could experience the same warmth she had felt back in that cave during the 3rd Battle of Bullets. It felt like it had only been yesterday since her body was enveloped by this intoxicating feeling of comfort. His clear scent, his body′s steady movement due to his rhythmical breath, and his excited heartbeat that gave away his embarrassment, were all absorbed by Sinon′s consciousness.

"Just for now. If it is just when I am on this motorcycle ... it's ok...", Sinon inaudibly mumbled, dreading the moment they would arrive at the cafe.

"I...I will have the rare cheesecake with cranberry sauce together with an earl gray..."

"I want a baked apple pudding and a mont blanc. Oh, and I′ll have an espresso as well."

As they both concluded their orders, Sinon faced the man sitting in front of her. Wearing a casual suit and emitting a mysterious aura masked by a friendly smile, Kikuoka took out a tablet PC from his office bag before tapping the screen with his fingers. Even though she got relatively used to him, Sinon didn't think that she could ever fully get accustomed to his presence.

"Well then, now that we have finished ordering I would like to discuss the matters at hand. Simply put, I want to offer a part-time job to the both of you", Kikuoka explained with his ever present smile.

"Since this offer came directly form Kikuoka-san, the authorities behind this part-time job must be either shady or dangerous I'm guessing", Kirito remarked with an irked expression. However, it was plainly obvious that Kirito was interested in what he had to say despite his negative attitude. The same could be said for Sinon as well.

"Hahaha, nothing of that sort Kirito-kun, you must be misunderstanding", the innocent civil worker reasoned as he corrected his relaxed posture and adjusted his glasses. The contrast in aura was striking, causing the pair to tense up.

"The organization behind this offer is called RATH, and their current aim is to develop the next generation of FullDive equipment. Due to security reasons and regulations I cannot reveal too many details in a place like this, but there is an extremely large budget involved in this project. Knowing you, Kirito-kun, I reasoned that you would be interested. Fortunately, they have a need for experienced testers and veteran VRMMORPG players. I personally recommended Kirito-kun as a former beta tester and survivor of the SAO incident. As a second tester, I recommended Asada-san as a veteran GGO player and co-winner of the 3rd Battle of Bullets. Additionally, after I heard about your contribution to the recovery of the Holy Sword Excalibur I reasoned that you two were perfect for the job. But first, let us talk about the benefits. You will receive an hourly wage of..."

Not having eaten lunch due to a counseling meeting at school, Sinon's attention trailed off at some point during the explanation. Rather than on Kikuoka, her gaze was instead set on Kirito′s untouched mont blanc. Before she knew it her salivary glands cried in protest, and much to Sinon′s embarrassment, her stomach replied with a cry of its own.

Sure enough Kirito shifted his attention to the girl on his right, cheeks reddened and shoulders tensed to make herself as small a target as possible.

Amused by her adorable behavior, Kirito delicately pushed her targeted object into the radius of her attack range. The reaction was immediate. The sniper equipped herself with the one-handed equipment "fork", and mercilessly reduced her target to 70% of its former size. Sinon′s happiness parameter increased exponentially as she devoured her prey. However, the assault was not over yet. She swiftly reached towards Kirito′s espresso and savored it′s contents. The symphony of flavor that spread throughout her mouth as a result of following the exquisite taste of the mont blanc, with the rich flavor of the espresso, a contrast of excellence that momentarily overwhelmed her senses.

As she opened her eyes she was greeted by Kirito′s sad expression.

"I didn′t say anything about the espresso…"

"Quit whining. Here, you can have a piece of mine."

With her own fork Sinon offered a piece of her cheesecake to the offended party, carefully placing her left hand below and shifting her body closer the Kirito to make the offer easier on him.

Her provocative response caught Kirito off guard, whose plan to tease Sinon backfired on him instead. He simply stared into her obsidian eyes, dumbfounded.

"H...Hurry up. This is getting embarrassing...", Sinon whispered as she became aware of other customers' curious glances.

"Got it..."

Kirito leaned forward and accepted the cheesecake. Much like his baked apple pudding, it was utterly delicious. The flavor was perfectly balanced and the smooth texture was a product of the chef′s countless years of experience, but there was something else. A taste much sweeter than that of the cranberry sauce that accompanied the cheesecake. A faint taste of cherry…

"I am sorry to interrupt you lovebirds, but wouldn't Asuna-san get jealous if she saw you like that?", Kikuoka interrupted while clearing his throat.

The pair was pulled back to reality after being reminded of the devilish presence at the opposite side of the table.

Kirito was the first to get flustered as he exclaimed, "Of course its not like that! Don′t imagine weird things Kikuoka-san."

As Kikuoka and Kirito engaged in a comedic argument, Sinon quietly lowered her head.

"That′s right. Me and Kirito aren′t… like that. He already has Asuna. They've been together for more than 2 years know. I already know. I knew from the moment he introduced me to her. She is beautiful, kind, and smart, and he seems to truly love her. I know that, but still I-"

Sinon′s train of thought was interrupted by yet another of the civil servant's devilish remarks, "Hahaha, of course I could never imagine a perfect couple like you and Asuna-san to break up. But still..."

He paused for a moment as he knowingly regarded Sinon from the other side of his spectacles.

"It is quite a shame, Kirito-kun."

"Eh?!"

"Wha-?!"

Earning his share of amusement for the day, Kikuoka seemed satisfied as he wrapped up, "Hahaha, just kidding. In any case I will have to be on my way now. I will send you the details by e-mail later this evening. Whether or not you want to accept it is up to you, but be sure to tell me before the beginning of next week either way. I look forward to working with you again. Kirito-kun, Asada-san."

He nodded at the pair as he stood up and left the cafe.

"Really, sometimes I just don′t understand what this guy is thinking. He really went too far this time", Kirito complained with crossed arms.

"I just can't seem to get used to him either…", Sinon replied with a smiling facade.

By the time they left, the sky had already been dyed in a deep red. Kirito dropped her off at her apartment by bike and Sinon waved him goodbye after exchanging goodbyes. Absentmindedly chasing the disappearing figure of the man she had come to love, Sinon leaned against the railing as she chased away her wishful dreams.

"Yes ... this is the way it is supposed to be."

April 11, 2026

"... and that is why the fluctlights produce an ultra-high quality environment once you dive. While it may seem identical to the real world, remember that it is just a re-creation of the information stored in your fluctlights. Additionally, in order to prevent any discomfort during the dive, the system will automatically create a self-image of yourself in which you feel the most comfortable. Any questions?", the scientist asked as he explained the basics of the STL machine, the name of the oversized cubicle that Kirito and Sinon were currently connected to.

The duo shook their heads in a synchronized manner.

The scientist nodded and signaled to the other researchers that the dive would commence shortly. Immediately after, Sinon felt a floating sensation and was seemingly lifted into another world.

"Fast!"

The single word that flashed through her mind perfectly described the sensation that she experienced with her five senses. Normally, when fulldiving with her AmuSphere, it would take several minutes to connect her senses one by one before the fulldive was finally complete. However, the amount of time it took for Sinon to become aware of all her five senses in the virtual world created by the STL was at most 3 seconds.

"So this is the difference in processing speed between the AmuSphere and this next gen FullDive equipment…", Sinon pondered while shifting her focus to her surroundings.

She stood in an empty space the size of a narrow room, and noticed Kirito not too far from her position, clothed in an unfamiliar black surcoat as he observed his immediate environment much like herself.

"Judging from what they said, that must be Kirito′s self image. Then what is mine?", Sinon wondered as she lowered her gaze and glanced at her body.

"This is-"

Sinon was abruptly interrupted by the piercing sound of a million shattering glasses and blown away by a force equal to a direct impact of her beloved PGM Hecate II. The space that harbored her and Kirito just moments ago mercilessly crumbled into nothingness at frightening speed while the virtual dimension shook with tremors equal to that of a small sized earthquake. In a desperate attempt to regain her balance, Sinon spread her legs and lowered her center of gravity, though even that was futile. The ground underneath her feet disappeared and she was immediately pulled into the darkness by the heavy weight strapped to her back.

"KIRITO!", Sinon screamed at the black swordsman as he fell headfirst into nothingness just a few meters to her right.

"SINON, GRAB MY HAND!", he shouted as loud as he could.

He stretched out his hand to the outmost of his ability, Sinon mimicking his effort, but the intensity of a final tremor blasted Sinon and Kirito apart. The dimension started to distort and Sinon′s consciousness faded into black.

"SINOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooo...", Kirito roared once again, but his loud cry eventually drifted into the same darkness.

His plea remained unanswered.

Author's Note

Well then, that is the first chapter.

I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Also, I must apologize for the slow start, but every story needs an introduction I guess?

The next chapter will include a pretty ok combat scene, so please bear with me for a while if you're unsure about where this story is going to go. Not that I can stop you guys from leaving or anything. If only…