Reincarnation: Gate Keepers of the Virtual Frontier (SAO X Gate Keepers)

Summary: In 2001, the gate keepers under Reiji Kageyama's mentorship had defeated the Invaders' threat in their generation. Nearly two and a half decades later, the Invaders are starting to threaten mankind once again- this time their siege starts in cyber space. It's now up to Kazuto and Asuna to the lead the fight against the Invaders and destroy their threat once and for all - as the reincarnation of the legendary gate keepers: Shun Ukiya and Ruriko Ikusawa, respectively.

Chapter 1: Shun Reborn!

An autumn morning greeted Kazuto as he visited Kayaba Akihiko's grave. After the incident at Alfheim, he and Asuna decided to visit his grave as a sign of his gratitude for helping to rescue Asuna from Sugou.

"Thank you for helping me beat Sugou back at Alfheim. I would not have been able to undo his god-like status without your help!" Kazuto thought.

"I think he already knows what you want to tell him, Kirito." Asuna said softly as she tugged his arm.

"He died an honorable man up to the end. He never used his status as a god of Aincrad to keep everyone from advancing. He was actually waiting for someone to beat him." he retorted to her. "Well then, shouldn't we go back home? We still had all those stupid academics waiting for us." Kazuto asked in return.

Asuna then nodded in agreement as then walked away from Kayaba's grave.

A couple of minutes later, Kazuto stumbled upon a forgotten grave. Upon rousing himself from his fall, Kazuto read the tombstone placed upon there. Ironically, it was still in excellent condition.

Major Shun Ukiya: B-July 1952; D-Feb. 1988

Who would have known that a high-ranking military official was buried here? Kazuto thought.

Are you ok, Kirito? Asuna asked him.

Kazuto nodded in agreement as he shook of the dust that collected on this shirt. He then noticed another tombstone near it.

Ruriko Ikusawa-Ukiya: B-April 1952; D-September 1985

"she must be the major's wife, huh?" Kazuto thought again.

Something then began to stir inside both him and Asuna. However, they were unsure as to what that was, nor do they know why that stirred-up inside them when they saw those two graves. Nonetheless, they paid a short homage before going home.

Soon falling asleep after finishing their school requirements that night, Kazuto began to have a very unusual dream.

"Shun, Shun!" a familiar voice began calling to Kazuto.

"Who is that 'Shun" you're calling, Asuna?" he turned to see Asuna looking at him.

Asuna then suddenly glowed with a bright flash of yellow light. A few seconds later, the light faded enough for Kazuto to see her. He was surprised to see her appearance change significantly. Her hair and eyes are now mahogany-colored rather than light brownish-orange. Asuna is also now wearing a golden yellow ribbon on her hair. What's more, she's carrying a baby girl on her arms.

"Shun, it seems our daughter doesn't want to sleep unless she sees you. I've already tried everything but this time Ayane seems as stubborn as you are." Asuna told him as she chuckled.

Kazuto was startled at the sudden turn of events. Not only did Asuna changed in appearance but also keeps on calling him by the name Shun. He then proceeded to question her.

"Who are you? Are you an imposter trying to imitate Asuna? the black-haired boy asked the brunette.

"Asuna? I'm Ruriko, the one whom you always called Rurippe starting from our childhood and up until now that we're married and have Ayane." the woman riposted.

"Ruriko? Rurippe? I don't understand?" Kazuto replied.

"You're quite strange today, Shun. Maybe you should relax after you've fought-off those invaders." Ruriko replied.

"Invaders? What's happening here?" the black swordsman though. He was suddenly surprised when he saw his refection at a nearby reflective surface. His appearance also significantly changed. His soft facial features are now gone and replaced by a considerably more masculine and mature appearance. Kazuto also now has a bandage running across his nose bridge. And his hair is now spiking forward.

"When did my looks changed? I don't recall having any bandage across my nose." Kazuto wondered.

"Shun, are you alright?" Ruriko called out to Kazuto.

"Something's wrong here. This is not who I am." the black swordsman thought.

Kazuto then suddenly woke-up. He immediately realized it was only a dream.

"What a weird dream. Asuna suddenly transforming into another woman and claiming she had already given birth to my daughter while I also changed form into a man with a bandaged nose bridge." Kazuto thought. He then decided to just ignore it and went back to sleep.

The following day, Kazuto met Asuna at the academy's garden for lunch. As usual, Asuna prepared his favorite sandwich just for the two of them. Although Kazuto tried his best to ignore his dream, it kept on bugging him the entire morning, leading him to clumsily grab his meal.

"Something's wrong, Kirito?" Asuna asked as she noticed that her boyfriend was not acting like what he normally does.

"No, don't worry about me. I'm just fine." Kazuto answered as he took a bite from the sandwich prepared by her.

"I'm sure something is troubling you right from the start of this day. I'll be able to understand it as long as you'll tell me." the brunette lady insisted.

"Even if I told you, you'll find it absurd." Kazuto riposted.

"Just tell me. I won't laugh at you for that." Asuna pressed on.

"Alright, but promise me you won't laugh." he retorted. "Well, I've dreamt about you last night…" Kazuto started.

"You dreamt about me?" his girlfriend asked.

"It's not lewd at all. It's just that your appearance suddenly transformed into that of a woman whose mahogany-colored hair was tied with a golden-yellow ribbon and mahogany eyes. Then you claimed in my dream that your name is Ruriko, not Asuna, and kept on calling me Shun. You are also carrying a baby girl there that you claimed as our daughter and that we named her Ayane. And in that dream, my appearance also radically changed to that of a man with forward-spiking hair and having a bandage across his nose." Kazuto revealed.

"Now that's definitely strange." Asuna chuckled.

"I thought you're not going to laugh." her boyfriend reminded to her as he finished eating his sandwich.

"Sorry for that Kirito. But honestly, I wouldn't mind if our appearances and named were indeed as you have said." Asuna riposted as she gently tapped his right shoulder.

As soon as the two of them finished their lunch, a naked hard disc suddenly fell out of nowhere.

"Now where did this disc came from?" Kazuto asked as he got-up from the bench and approached the fallen electronics.

Suddenly, a pulse came out of the disc, knocking him over his feet and pushing him back by one-and-a-half meters. Asuna immediately rushed to his side to check whether he was injured.

"What was that?" Kazuto asked.

"Uhh, Kirito, I know you won't believe this, but the disc suddenly transformed into a terrorist." Asuna answered as she pointed to a humanoid figure clad in military-style robes.

"Huh? That could only happen in virtual reality, not in this world." the lack-haired lad retorted.

"Still, we better go!" Asuna urged as she saw the man point his rifle at them.

Kazuto and Asuna tried to run away as fast and as far away from the stranger as they could as the latter started to shoot at them.

"Could it be one of Sugou's henchmen?" Kazuto asked silently as he hid Asuna in an alley while he kept watch on the progress of the terrorist.

"Unlikely! All of Sugou's connections have deserted him after they learned about his malicious plans about the company." Asuna riposted.

The armed stranger suddenly fired shots at their direction, prompting the young couple to again run away. In her confusion, Asuna suddenly tripped at one of the stones in the school yard, making Kazuto stumble in the process.

"Asuna! Kazuto asked as he suddenly saw that the terrorist was already pointing his gun at near point-blank range of Asuna's forehead.

"Don't you dare to hurt Asuna!" the black-haired lad yelled as he punched the terrorist in the face, sending the later flying by two meters.

"Kirito!" Asuna yelled as the terrorist got back on his feet and kicked Kazuto in the gut, making the lad fall on his left knee.

"Damn!" Kazuto thought as he threw another punch at the terrorist.

However, the terrorist managed to avoid his attack and kicked him at the chest, sending Kazuto flying by two meters. The terrorist then turned his attention back to Asuna and pointed his gun at her.

"I don't know what I've done to you, but please don't hurt Kirito!" Asuna thought as she prepared herself to be shot.

Despite still reeling from pain, Kazuto managed to focus himself and grabbed a large stone from a nearby hedge.

"This fight is just between you and me, bastard!" Kazuto yelled to the terrorist.

A radiant flash-that turned into twin concentric circles of bright blue light a fraction of a second later-suddenly manifested in front of Kazuto at the same time he hurled the stone to the terrorist. A powerful gust of wind surrounded the stone as it traveled in the air.

The gust-enveloped stone hit the terrorist with such an impact that he was blasted into smithereens. Kazuto was stunned at what he had done, unwilling to believe that he had beaten the terrorist with just one blow.

"What happened, Kirito?" Asuna asked as she wondered at what she just saw.

"I don't know, Asuna. I just intended to stop him from hurting you by throwing that stone when suddenly those rings of blue light manifested and released that gust." Kazuto answered to his girlfriend the way he saw it.

"Kazuto, Asuna, are you alright?" Lizbeth answered.

"Were just fine, Rika." Asuna answered.

"Where is that stranger? As soon as we heard gunshots, we immediately contacted the police and they are now arriving at any second while the principal has suspended classes until further notice." Lizbeth said.

"Don't worry, Kirito had already drove him away, so just apologize at the authorities for disturbing them." chestnut-haired lady answered.

"Asuna, why did you…" Kazuto was about to ask when his girlfriend suddenly cut him off.

"No one would believe us if we told them the truth as we ourselves can't explain what happened just now Kirito." Asuna whispered to him.

"Alright, let's go home now, shall we?" her boyfriend urged her as they prepared to leave the school grounds.

Meanwhile, in a secluded building in metropolitan Tokyo…

"Are you sure about your reports?" A woman in her early forties asked her intelligence-gathering crew.

"Yes Madame. Our satellites were also able to record the event in video." one of the agents answered.

"They are absolutely right. His spirit told me in a vision nearly eighteen-and-a-half years ago that he and your biological mother will be reincarnated between September 2007 and October 2008." a man in his mid-seventies riposted.

(Author's note: I have only watched SAO anime version-which only covered the Aincrad and Alfheim arcs- so I'm not knowledgeable about what happened to Gun Gale arc and beyond. Also, I don't know if this story is good or not…this just suddenly popped in my brain after I have watched Gate Keepers. Please write reviews for this story. Thank you very much!)