AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape or form, at most I own the plot, and the OCs.
As Kayaba Akihiko worked on his virtual game, his younger sister Kayaba Hikari was lying on her stomach playing Pokemon. Her feet were kicking back and forth and it was obvious she was unbothered by the humming of the computers. She was wearing a crimson kimono and had earbuds in. Suddenly Kayaba made a frustrated noise and Hikari looked up, her black eyes staring at her brother. She inquired sweetly, taking an earbud out, "Is there a problem ani-kun?" Akihiko nodded,
"Yes imoto. My game, Sword Art Online, the levels of getting to Aincrad, I don't know how to make them realistic!" Hikari just stared at her older brother by seven years. Who cared that he was 25 and she was 18? That didn't mean they couldn't get along. Hikari turned her attention back to her game before responding,
"Well ani-kun, you could make each level have multiple spiraling levels upwards. And before the players can move to the next actual floor have to defeat a boss. Not to mention the path to the stairs isn't always straightforward. Sometimes there are hidden doors or stairways in my game. In my game, well there isn't always a boss, but there are always monsters or other Pokemon that get in my way. To move forward I have to knock them out. Or you know, stun or make them sleep, but even that doesn't last for long." Suddenly she glinted, "You know ani-kun, when you finish creating your game… I want to be the first one to play it. You're going to make me the first Beta-Tester. You hear me?!" Akihiko looked at his sister fondly,
"Of course imoto-chan. I wouldn't dream of doing anything else or letting anyone play this game before you." Hikari blinked before she reminded her brother,
"Don't forget ani-kun to leave us a way out of the game if you DO trap everyone else inside." Akihiko smiled at his sister before he turned back to his computer to work on Sword Art Online. His sister, Hikari, had some good ideas… He planned on using them.
A few days later Akihiko announced to his sister, "It's done! Ready to try it out imoto-chan?" Hikari looked up with a grin on her face.
"Yes!" She grabbed a nearby Nerve Gear and slipped it over her head, pausing for only a second to position herself, "Link Start!" Colors flashed by her before it asked her for her username, and she typed out Ai-Chan. Then it asked for her password and she hesitated for only but a moment before she typed out Dialga-Palkia-Combo-Move-12. She then landed on a page that asked for her character description. She chose a girl character, selected black eyes that would flash red when she was excited. Ai-Chan wore a mix of black and red, a dress that was black with red swirls crawling on it. Her boots were brown dragon leather. Her hair was waist length that was black, edged with a shiny blue. Finally she selected her sword, a plain black katana. At last she landed in the Starting Town. She looked up as her brother landed next to her. She grinned at him, "Ani-kun!" He smiled at her softly,
"Call me Heathcliff." Ai-Chan nodded at her ani-kun, agreeing with him. She cheered,
"Okay, let's start the first floor." Heathcliff's' eyes widened in surprise,
"Wow, you're certainly ambitious Ai-Chan!" She chuckled before running off to the dungeon. Heathcliff followed her at an easy sedate pace, making certain that she stayed within his sight range. He'd hate for something to happen to his little sister. He watched in amazement as she entered the dungeon with no fear. As soon as she came upon the monsters she slaughtered them with ease, earning quite a bit of Col, the money in this world. She received many items from the monsters she slaughtered, before coming upon the boss. Illfang the Kobold Lord. She stared at him for a moment before her eyes flashed red,
"Okay, time for Ai-Chan's signature move, Tornado Slash!" Needless to say Heathcliff was more than impressed with his sister for having come up with a signature move so quickly. Then he noticed the Kobold Lord move to attack Ai-Chan. He yelled out,
"Watch out imoto-chan!" He quickly brought up his shield and blocked Illfang's attack. Ai-Chan landed without a problem. She smiled at her brother,
"Thanks ani-kun!" Then she turned back to the battle, "Since you have high defense stats, why don't you block while I attack?" Heathcliff nodded in agreement as Ai-Chan rushed Illfang, managing two powerful hits. As it moved to counter attack Ai-Chan jumped back as Heathcliff jumped forward blocking the attack in the meanwhile. They switched like this continuously for a few minutes before the Kobold's last HP bar was red. Ai-Chan called out, "Okay, Hurricane Tornado Whirlwind!" She launched herself at Illfang spinning like insanity striking eight blows, barely slowing down as she swung up and hard, finally killing the monster, which burst into a million blue green little pieces. A congratulations signed appeared mid-air and Ai-Chan grinned at her ani-kun, "We make a great team don't we Heathcliff?" Heathcliff nodded and he got a window as well. He had earned some EXP, col, and skill points. Then he heard Ai-Chan giggle, "Hey, ani-kun, I got the boss drop! A coat of midnight. It sounds cool doesn't it?" Heathcliff watched as his little sister put the coat on. He could openly admit that it looked good with her dress. He gave her a thumbs up,
"That looks great on you imoto-chan!" He gave her a once over as he laughed, "You took to this game like a fish in water." Ai-Chan simply smiled at him, she really was all the light in his world.
"I love video games, role-playing even more ani-kun. The more realistic it is the more I enjoy the game." Heathcliff returned her smile as he turned his attention to the doorway.
"Shall we check out the next floor?" Ai-Chan nodded enthusiastically,
"Yes, let's!" So the two moved to the next level where there was another town. Ai-Chan paused before looking up at her brother, "Hey, ani-kun. I'm going to be an administrator right?" Her brother nodded and Ai-Chan continued, "Can my admin ID be different than my character name?" Heathcliff blinked before chuckling,
"Of course it can be imoto-chan, if that is what you desire." Ai-Chan fist pumped the air,
"Yes!" She looked at her brother, "I want my admin ID to be SilverWind okay ani-kun?" He smiled indulgently at her,
"Of course imoto-chan. Whatever you want." She paused for another moment,
"Ani-kun, are there other towns and training areas on the very first floor?" Heathcliff shook his head and Ai-Chan frowned, "Ani-kun! Some people might need to train before entering the dungeon! You should add more towns to each floor! And training spots for that matter. What about items? How many do you have created?" Heathcliff thought for a moment,
"About a thousand of each item type. A thousand clothing items, a thousand different weapons, a thousand of medicinal items…" Ai-Chan gave her brother the evil eye,
"That isn't enough if you're planning on having ten thousand people play! You'll need a hundred thousand of each item type because this game can't be simple!" Akihiko nodded,
"You have a valid point Hikari. I'll work on that." Hikari smiled happily at her brother before skipping ahead of him. Akihiko couldn't help but laugh at his little sister's enthusiasm. He really did love her and would do anything for her. He walked after her swiftly as they worked their way through another dungeon. This time they took turns slaughtering the monsters who dared get in their way. Ai-Chan's eyes were continuously flashing as she laughed and twirled her way around the monsters. The Bullbous Bow wasn't a challenge at all for either of them. Heathcliff simply hung back as he knew his sister wouldn't approve of him interfering. It constantly charged them and the two sidestepped easily causing the 'boar' to ram into the walls instead. It was just too easy to beat the thing. Soon they had managed to map out the second floor and Ai-Chan was breathing heavily. She looked at the boss door before glancing at her brother,
"Mind if we pause for a bit?" Heathcliff shook his head,
"Not at all." He glanced at the clock and noticed that quite a bit of time had passed. "Imoto-chan, would you like to take a break from SAO? It's been six hours since we entered." Ai-Chan looked up in surprise,
"It's really been that long ani-kun?" Heathcliff nodded. Ai-Chan grinned, "Then let's save and beat this boss tomorrow morning after you make the adjustments." Heathcliff smiled,
"Sounds like a plan imoto." Ai-Chan blinked at him,
"I've never heard you say sister like that ani-kun." Heathcliff shrugged and they both saved before logging out. Hikari flopped onto the nearby body pillow, her black eyes gleaming with happiness. She turned to Akihiko and told him joyfully, "Your game is awesome! Once someone clears SAO promise me you'll make another virtual MMO of Pokemon?" Akihiko slowly sat up rubbing his eyes before smiling at Hikari,
"Anything to please you Hikari. If you want it, I will find a way to give it to you." Hikari beamed at him before tackling him to the floor hugging him.
"You're the best brother ever Akihiko!" The two siblings turned and walked over to the kitchen. Akihiko stood by the stove,
"Okay imoto-chan, what do you want for dinner?" Hikari looked at the ceiling thinking carefully,
"Um, does Soba, Tempura, and Yakitori sound good ani-kun?" Akihiko chuckled,
"No problem imoto-chan. I'll get onto that, it won't take more than an hour." Hikari smiled at him and ran off to her room. Akihiko simply shook his head as he started cooking. His sister was entirely too obsessed with her games. As he cooked, almost on autopilot, he thought about how his sister spent the majority of her time playing games, reading, or writing. She was smart and had graduated early in America. She had transferred over early at fifteen and during that time Akihiko began planning his personal world, Aincrad. Hikari returned at seventeen, returning with a bachelor's degree in English. Akihiko had been more than impressed. He, himself was a genius, but Hikari was a close second. He glanced at the clock and realized it had been 45 minutes and in ten minutes the food would be done. He went up to his little sister's room and knocked on her door. He heard faintly,
"Come in." He opened the door inwardly and poked his head in,
"Dinner will be done in ten minutes." Hikari nodded, not looking up from her game,
"Alright, ani-kun. I'll go ahead and save in a few minutes then come down. Okay ani-kun?" Akihiko shrugged,
"Whenever you're ready Hikari." That caused her to look up,
"You almost never call me by my given name. What's up?" Akihiko rolled his eyes,
"You are entirely too observant for your own good Hikari." This just caused Hikari to frown as Akihiko continued, "Sometimes I just need to remind myself who you are. And while I was cooking I was thinking of you. What you were like when you were a kid, the kind of person you are, your trip to America, your return only a year ago... You are a radiant young girl and sometimes I'm not sure what you're doing still here at this house." Hikari blinked before giggling,
"Oh silly Akihiko. Even if I am radiant, you're the Eternal Prince. Besides it's not like I've changed much if at all since I was born." Akihiko nodded explaining,
"And that exactly worries me. You haven't changed or evolved. People are always changing aren't they?" Hikari shook her head fiercely,
"I don't need to change. Why should I? I'm perfectly content being who I am." Akihiko sighed as he began explaining,
"You have to understand Hikari. I've seen people change over the years simply to survive. Everyone I know has, even our parents. I know I have. But you've stayed in an almost stasis when it comes to personality. Your game interests have never changed, not in genre or types of games, nor your reading interests with fantasy. You rarely delve into any other genres of books. As for your writing style, that's the only thing that I've ever seen change and even that is only for school. It worries me since I've seen everyone change around me but you. Your interests, nothing about you has ever changed." Hikari glared at her brother,
"I haven't changed because I don't need to. What is it about that, that you don't understand?! I am more than content being the person I am and so what if I don't like trying new things?! I do sometimes, but it isn't often because I simply don't WANT to! Are you saying I'm not good enough to be your sister or something Akihiko? Are you saying you don't like the kind of person I am? Exactly what are you trying to suggest?!" Akihiko simply looked at his sister before abruptly changing the subject,
"Dinner will get cold if we don't eat it." Hikari rolled her eyes and stood up,
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it ani-kun we won't. I doubt it actually matters anyways." Her eyes flashed, "But I'm not planning on changing anytime soon, so don't even think about pushing it ani-kun." Akihiko followed his sister morosely, he hadn't meant to set her off. He had just been concerned and thought it had been strange that he had never seen her change anything. Her eating habits, study habits, personality adjust to different environments... Of course it wasn't like she had left the house often other than for school and that brief transfer to America. And even after having visited America it hadn't seemed like Hikari had changed at all. For once the two siblings ate in silence, both of their parents out working which was normal. Most of the time meals were filled with chatter and noise, but this time it was different. As soon as Hikari finished dinner she stood up instead of waiting for her brother to finish,
"I'm going to put this away and then go to bed. Don't try to bother me." Hikari put away her plates and once she was out of sight Akihiko put his head in his hands. He had messed up. He didn't want to damage the relationship with his sister. She was so amazing. He finished his meal and headed back up to his work room. Now to implement the changes his sister had suggested. He glanced at the blankets, pillows, stuffed toys, and 'cabinet' where Hikari normally played and sighed again. He couldn't believe that he had driven her away. He could've used her creativeness to help him with the one hundred thousand different types of items she had suggested.
Much to Akihiko's surprise once he logged on, he found an email from his sister. It had been sent only a few minutes ago. Inside was a number of items he could add which included the names, properties and descriptions of the items. It was a large list of at least ten thousand different items. Akihiko was miserable, he was now not only on the outs with his sister, but now he owed her. Even after their argument she was helping him. Akihiko felt like he was pathetic compared to his sister. His sister was always happy doing whatever, even if she refused to try new things. He shook his head and got back to work creating the items that Hikari had suggested.