Sword Art Academy

Chapter One: Entrance Exams

Author's Note

Yup, I'm starting a new story. Well, three, to be precise… but we'll get to that at the bottom author's note. Up here in the top one, I'll just give the usual warnings.

One: Kirito is a girl in this. Her name is Kimiko, and she basically looks like Kirito's GGO avatar, but with different clothing and an actual chest. (Hey, she is a girl in this story.)

Two: I'm sure that all SAO readers that follow me saw this coming, but this is a yuri story, meaning girl/girl, lesbian femslash, whatever you want to call it. I won't spoil the pairing yet, simply because I really don't know what it's going to be yet. I might put a poll up on my profile to ask for everyone's opinion, but I might not.

Three: this is an alternate universe fic, or an AU, in case you couldn't tell by the story title or summary.

Well, I think that's it! I guess I'll see those of you who like this story at the bottom!

"Come on, that's just not fair!" I shouted as I ran through the crowded streets of Tokyo. "My alarm didn't even go off this morning!"

Paying no heed to the strange looks I got from pedestrians around me, I continued to run towards my destination. I knew that if I could keep up my current pace, I would just barely make it on time. And so, I continued to sprint, giving it all I had.

Unfortunately, that was the very mistake that sent me flying backwards after running into someone. My backpack unzipped as I fell, leaving me to pick up all of my supplies as my long, dark hair unceremoniously came out of its ponytail. "Sorry about that," I said, laughing sheepishly as I finished putting everything away, then retied my hair with the black hair-tie.

"You're going to the academy, aren't you?" the masculine voice of the man I bumped into said from above me.

"You mean Sword Art?" I queried, getting up and slinging my backpack over my shoulder once more. "Yeah, but how did you… know…?"

When I looked at this man, my breath caught. This guy… he's—

The man in question reached into the back pocket of his black leather pants, pulling out a chain with an angel wing pendant attached. He held out his hand, then said, "Here, take this. Something tells me that it belongs with you. Keep it close."

After handing me the necklace, the man walked past me, sparing one last look. "Good luck with the entrance exams."

"Thank you!" I shouted, looking at him with a wide smile as I gave him a thumbs-up. "I'll make you proud!"

With that, he walked away, leaving me to my thoughts. That guy… he looked exactly like—

It was then that I remembered about the looming threat of being late for the entrance exams. "Ah, man! Now I know I'm gonna be late!" I shouted, breaking into a run once more.

I'm… almost there…! I thought, panting furiously as I full-on sprinted towards my destination. I was almost there, and with only a few minutes to spare. But of course, just when I was almost to the building where the entrance exams were being held, I was met with a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

"You've got to be kidding me," I said, looking at the stone wall in front of me. Just across the wall was the building where the entrance exams to get into the prestigious Sword Art Academy were being held, and the wall had to be at least ten feet high.

"Well, it looks like there are no more applicants coming this year," someone said from across the wall. "Let's close up shop, girls."

"Not so fast!" I shouted, crouching down. I then leapt over the wall with ease, landing gracefully on the other side. "You can count Kirigaya Kimiko as present, thank you!"

After everything had been worked out, I was told to wait in the stands of the arena until I was called to start my exam. I walked into the large room, walking over to one of the applicants in the middle row. As I neared her, I looked to the only fight currently happening down in the arena.

A girl with long, chestnut hair who wielded a practice rapier was completely trashing her opponent, one of the test instructors, by using a flurry of thrusts that hit him all over. Her technique was amazing, though I wondered why she didn't just end the match. It was clear that he skill was much higher than that of her opponent, and I didn't understand why she would draw the fight out, especially when her tactics would wear her out fairly quickly.

"That girl's pretty good," I said, sitting down in the seat next to the other applicant. Tearing my eyes away from the very interesting fight down there, I took a look at the girl next to me.

Shoulder-length, midnight-blue hair, looking well-kept, unlike my own ebony locks, which were a pain in the rear to tend to. Her dazzling cobalt eyes matched her hair, making me do a double take before taking in the rest of the girl. Her expression bordered between nervous and being ready to have a panic attack.

"Hey, you okay?" I queried in a concerned tone.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she said, smiling nervously. Her voice sounded completely adorable, making me inwardly squeal. She then continued, saying, "But anyway, that girl down there is Yuuki Asuna. I heard that she scored in the top five on the written test."

"Whoa, seriously?" I queried, looking back down at the fight with even more interest. "I just barely passed mine."

"Yeah, same here," the midnight-haired applicant next to me sighed. "My name's Takamachi Sachi, by the way."

"Mine's Kirigaya Kimiko," I replied, giving my new friend a wide smile. "And if you think that fight is impressive, just wait until you see mine!"

"Wait, you haven't taken the field exam yet?"

Something about the way that Sachi said that gave me a chill. "No, why?"

"You have a problem, then," she said, making me look back to her with mild nervousness. What she said next would only make it ten times worse. "Her fight was supposed to be the last one!"

"What?!" I shouted, gaining the attention of several other applicants. "You're kidding! I've got to—"

"Will Kirigaya Kimiko please report to arena number three?"

"Well, I guess they found a way to fit me in," I said with a newfound hope, standing up and heading for the place to get some equipment for the match. "Wish me luck!"

When I turned back to look at my midnight-haired friend, she merely smiled nervously, giving me a thumbs-up sign and a nervous laugh.

When I got to the equipment rental area, I found myself faced with hundreds of different types of armor. Off to the side was a shelf with several cylinders of different lengths, thicknesses, and weights. On each level of the shelf was a plate that had a weapon type name on it, ranging from one-handed straight and curved swords, to two-handed swords, to daggers, to katanas, and just about every other weapon type I could even think of.

"I can pick any of these?!" I shouted, looking at all of it with gleaming eyes.

"Not quite," a tall man said, walking up from behind me. This man had brown hair, a stern expression, and a muscular figure. "As for armor, you're right. Everything is an option."

"What about weapons?" I queried, making him cast his gaze down on me with an impassive look.

"As long as you've been certified for all of the prerequisite weapons, you can use anything. But I'm going to take a guess and say that you're not certified in any style, correct?"

My shoulders slumped as I heaved a great sigh. "Yeah, you're right…"

"Well then, you're pretty much just stuck with daggers and one-handed straight or curved swords," the man said with a sigh of his own. It seemed as if he didn't want me to waste any more of his time, and I certainly didn't want to be in his company any longer, either.

But then, as soon as his words registered, I remembered something crucial. A smirk crossed my features as I said, "Hey, there aren't any rules against using two of any of those beginner weapons, are there?"

"Well, no," the man said, looking at me with a skeptical look. "But I wouldn't recommend it."

I giggled lightly, then walked over to the stand with all of the weapons. "Well, supposing you could just… look the other way…"

I walked into arena number three with a confident smile. I had this in the bag. I could only hope that my opponent, the test examiner, would be a worthy foe. Of course, I didn't expect my opponent to be…

Actually, I don't know who this guy is. With his weird clothing, he almost looks to be a mascot or something.

Indeed, the man stranding across from me was dressed in a ridiculous white and red ensemble of armor. He had long, grayish-brown hair, tied into a ponytail save for a few strands that somehow managed to fall right over his incredibly bony face. On said face was an expression that said he wasn't exactly happy to be here.

Must be mad 'cause I got here late, I thought, a sheepish smile on my face.

"Why aren't you wearing any armor?" the man asked me, waving a hand to my gray shirt, black hooded coat, black fingerless gloves and dark gray skirt. In short, I wore none of the armor I could have chosen. But I liked it that way.

"Simple!" I said, giving the man a thumbs-up. "I don't need it!"

The real reason, of course, is because armor makes me slower and hinders my movements, and it doesn't even defend you that well against the weapons that Sword Art uses. All it does is minimize the pain.

"You're very confident, I'll give you that," this man said, grimacing as he unhooked his weapon from his belt. He hit a button on the end of the cylinder, making a large, red blade of energy erupt from the cylinder's other end. The length of the wide blade was easily enough to classify it as a two-hander, making me inwardly squeal with excitement.

Unhooking one of my own cylinders from my belt with my right hand, I hit the button on the same area he did, making an indigo blade extend upwards. Mine was considerably shorter than his, but with mine being a one-hander, it was to be expected. If this were the matchup in its entirety, then it wouldn't look good for me. However…

There's more to me than meets the eye.

I looked to my right side, under my coat. Resting in one of its pockets was another one-hander, one with a switch above the grip to activate it instead of a button on the pommel.

Perfect for what I need it for.

"If you're going to get distracted before your little test even starts, then you might as well just go home now," my opponent said, catching my attention. Once he was satisfied that my eyes were on him, he continued with, "I assume you know the academy's rules of play?"

"Sure I do!" I said jubilantly, giving my best smile. "A small scratch on your opponent earns you fifty points, a direct hit nets you one-hundred, and the first to reach two-thousand wins, right?"

"Very good," the bony-faced man said in a patronizing tone. "Now then, before we begin, what is your name?"

Isn't it polite to introduce yourself first? I thought, my eyes narrowing slightly before closing altogether with a smile. "The name's Kirigaya Kimiko," I answered him. "And you are?"

"My name is Kuradeel," he said, the look on his bony face slightly creeping me out. "Now then… Let's go!"

Without another word, Kuradeel charged at me, his two-handed energy blade raised high into the air. Without a moment's hesitation, I sidestepped the downward strike he made, proceeding to spin around and slice straight through his back. But the strike left no lingering mark; the blade passed right through his body, the energy that made it up dealing a minor dose of pain. Such was the way that energy blades worked.

He removed his left hand from the handle, bringing it up to strike me in an uppercut with his right. However, I had anticipated such an attack. I parried his swing to my right, then brought my sword around for a downward strike on his head. However…

Energy connected with energy, sending me flying back a meter or so. He had used the momentum of my parry to bring his two-hander over his head just in time to block my strike, then forced me backwards by pushing upwards.

"Not bad, not bad," Kuradeel complimented, though his voice sounded anything but praiseful. "But if that's it, then you've got a long way to go before you'll be allowed into the academy."

(Sachi)

"Wow, Kirigaya-san is doing really well!" I said jubilantly, watching as she clashed blades with the test examiner over and over, each of them occasionally landing a hit.

"And she'll need to be twice as good by the end of it."

I slowly turned around, coming face to face with a girl with a blonde-haired girl that looked to be a year older than me, dressed in an unzipped blue hoodie with white trim, a sky-blue crop top, and a blue miniskirt. The hoodie had the emblem of the school on it in gold, signifying that she was a top-tier player in the academy. I briefly wondered why she was here, watching all of the matches, before she began explaining her earlier comment.

"You see," she started, turning her gaze from me to the fight. "The one that your friend is fighting happens to be one of the teachers for the top-tier students at Sword Art. He also looks to be using his own personal weapon, which is totally unfair when taking into account its special effect."

"Special effect?" I queried, looking at the fight with slightly frightened eyes.

"Let's just say that it would be a miracle if she manages to win," another voice said, its owner coming up behind the blonde. He had blue hair, clue clothing, an iron-colored chest plate with the golden school symbol in the upper left, and a slight frown on his face.

"Now, come on, Kotone," the blue-haired male said, turning around. "We have to leave soon."

"Yeah, yeah, Diabel," the blonde said, turning around to follow her alleged friend. Before she continued walking, she spared me one last glance. "See you around."

With that, the two walked up the stairs, leaving the arena.

(Kimiko)

After a particularly hard strike that sent my opponent flying backwards several meters, I took the small opportunity to look at the scoreboard to see who was ahead, and by how much.

Kirigaya Kimiko: 650; Kuradeel: 500

"You know, you're not too bad!" I complimented, giving my examiner a thumbs-up with my left hand.

"Of course not!" Kuradeel shouted, his bony face contorted in anger. "I'm a teacher for the top-tier class!"

"For real?!" I shouted, my eyes widening in excitement. "Sweetness! I'm fighting a top-tier teacher! But that begs the question… why are you so easy?"

"What?!"

"I'm pretty sure you heard me," I said, almost flinching when I saw the look of rage on his bony face. "But seriously, you're pretty easy to hit, and I'm only using about half of my strength right now."

The look of rage on Kuradeel's face turned to a smirk. "What a coincidence," he said, putting his hand on the bottom of his blade's pommel once more. He pushed the button again, and his blade enlarged by about fifty percent, making my eyes widen in shock. "So am I!"

Crap! I thought, gritting my teeth. How am I supposed to attack when I can't even get in close enough to hit him? will I have to use my second sword?

I looked down at the right part of my coat, internally debating whether or not I should use what I had deemed to by my last resort. I knew I couldn't beat him without it, but for some reason, I still had reservations about pulling it out and revealing my true power.

When I looked back to Kuradeel, I found him in the air directly above me, sword raised high in preparation for a strike. I raised my sword to block, but as soon as my sword got into position, he hit it, then slid his blade forward and pierced my chest.

"Rrgh!" I grunted, the force of the stab sending my skidding back several meters. As soon as I stopped moving, he appeared before me again, slashing from my shoulder, all the way through my hips and out of my body.

I guess I have no choice! I shouted in my head, raising my sword to block another overhead strike. I already knew that it was a feint, and, judging by his current movements, he would move his blade around my weapon with ease, but I wasn't scared. That's what my last resort was for.

The next two seconds seemed to happen in slow motion. His sword slowly moved around my blade, coming in for a horizontal strike at my chest. As his blade moved, my left hand moved under my coat even faster, grabbing my second blade. I slowly pulled it out, looking at his giant blade all the while. And then, as soon as my second sword was fully out of my coat…

Energy clashed with energy, his blade flying out of his hands from the force of my counter-strike.

"HAAAAAH!"

Over and over, I slashed through him, making him scream in agony. I slashed from his right shoulder to his left hip with my left sword, then came in for a horizontal strike through his abdomen with my right. I then cleaved outward with both swords, then spun around and hit him four times in a hurricane-like strike.

I whirled around to face him, stabbing him with both of my swords simultaneously. I dragged them upwards, then retraced my strikes and hit him in a double downwards strike. Then, I reared my left sword back, preparing for the finishing blow.

"KURAAAAH!"

With a speed that human eyes couldn't follow, I thrusted my sword through his chest. Then, the energy of both of my blades retracted into the handle, signifying that I had won the match.

"That's game!" I said after hooking my blades back onto my belt.

All of the spectators that had been watching our little match looked on in silence, making me sweat under the pressure of all the people watching me. Then…

The crowd erupted into cheers, all of them looking at me with smiles on their faces as they screamed my name. I looked around, a smile on my face as I flashed a peace sign with my left hand. I didn't care about all of the cheering, though. I only cared about one thing, and one thing alone.

I got in! I got into Sword Art Academy!

Author's Note

So, what do you think? I won't lie to you guys, though, I kind of based this loosely off of the first episode of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. I've been watching it lately, and it totally gave me inspiration to start a fic like this. Still, I don't plan to just copy the plot of GX and make it fit my story, so don't worry about that.

I mentioned that I have two more stories coming in my top author's note, so I'll give you a bit of details on each of them. Before we start off, I would like to inform you that both of my next two ideas are fics for the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha archive, so they won't be SAO-related.

The first one is an alternate sequel to a one-shot I made a while back, "The Disappearance of Testarossa Fate". This one will be more description-focused than dialogue-focused, and it won't have any action, unlike the original sequel.

My second new fic will be a standalone multi-chaptered fic. I won't say much on this one, other than that it's NOT going to be a NanoFate story.

Well, I guess that's it for now! I'll just write up the disclaimer and let everyone get back to their lives!

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations, or anything I use from them!

See you in the next chapter!