Sakurasou Online
Chapter 2: Welcome to Sakurasou
Kirito was stunned by the sudden question. A question he had never ask himself before. For that moment, an awkward silence filled the pair and the running motor of the air-conditioner was the only sound that ringed into their ears. "Hey! Say something!" Asuna nudged the staring boy. But to no avail, the silence continued to drift.
"Mashiro! Didn't I tell you to fetch them?" Sorata rushed over, interrupting the moment.
"Mashiro... so that's her name."Kirito whispered.
"Hi, I'm Sorata." Sorata blurted out nervously. The last time he said this was to Mashiro herself. "Oh! Don't mind her; she always says this to someone new."
"No its fine!" Asuna replied.
"What colour do you want to be?" Mashiro reiterated, this time with more anxiety.
"Me?" Kirito asked
"Yes."
"I never thought about it."
"Then please do so now."
"It changes now and then... but Black will do it for now."
"What does it has to be always black?" Asuna complained, slightly frowning.
Kirito shrugged his shoulders, his mind wondering to somewhere else "Why don't we get to the dorms first? Otherwise we could stay here all day." he suggested, remembering the ache in his back.
The tangerine dusk welcome the additional members of Sakurasou. Darkness filled the sky as it drained out the chrome yellow light of the sun. The other
members of the dorm, Nanami, Misaki and Jin gave a warm greeting to the heroes of SAO.
"Hey, how many bosses do you cleared?" Misaki exclaimed, upon seeing the sight of the black swordsman.
"Just a few." Kirito replied humbly.
"Aw, but you cleared the game." she countered
"Don't frighten the newcomers, Misaki." Impeded Jin "Show them the power of Sakurasou!"
Kirito grinned at the casual hospitality of the gang while his attention was redirected by the white helmet on the top of the desk of Sorata's room which resembles the Nervegear.
"Kirito?" Sorata ask, expressing concern.
"Yes?"
"What are you looking at?"
"What is that?" pointing to the object he was unsure of.
"Oh. That is an AmuSphere. You are not the only one having the NerveGear technology you know?"
"May I touch it?"
"As you wish"
Kirito gazed at the well polished device, it is 3 times lighter than the NerveGear that he has. As expected, it has an improved security system and run on harmless microscopic waves, implemented after the death game incident. Of course, he doesn't have the money to get one after spending a fortune on his NerveGear, but a few adjustments on his device should do the trick. "Nice!" Kirito complemented.
"There's nothing special about it, everyone has it in Sakurasou." Sorata replied
"Including Shiina-san?"
"I guess so...Oh yeah! Speaking of which, we have create a new MMORPG game after you have uploaded the World Seed. I will send you and Asuna the file later. " Sorata gave Kirito a thumbs up "Thanks, for the upload!"
"Thank Kayaba for that" Kirito recorrected.
Along the corridor of the dorms of Sakurasou, Kirito made his way back to his unfurnished room. The members for Sakurasou gave him a lot of surprises that day and he actually felt very normal for the first time, after being such an overpowered hero in SAO and ALO.
"Kirito-kun" a disembodied voice echoed through his thoughts as he turned around, only to find Mashiro gazing before him.
"What's the matter Shiina-san?" Kirito asked, in the same manner Sorata always does.
"Call me Mashiro, Kirito-kun... put on the gear" without saying anymore, Mashiro walked away.
Kirito wiped the layer of dust off his ashy NerveGear, even now he feared that another incident of SAO will occur. But if Mashiro went up to him, then it must be important. Without hesitating, he put it on.
"Downloading file... Please wait for a moment" the system announced
Time Elapsed: 5 minutes
Downloaded: 50GB
Download speed: 10GB/min
Time remaining: 1 hour
"That is a big file." Kirito thought.
An hour later...
"Download completed" the scream of the system woke Kirito from his short nap.
"Link starto!"he cried.
A burst of blinding lights engulfed him as usual, music of modern instruments buzzed through his pointed ears
"Sight...OK"
"Touch...OK"
"Taste...OK"
"Hear...OK"
"Smell...OK"
"Body scan done...Default character 'Kirito' selected"
"Welcome to Sakurasou Online!" the title of the new game greeted him.
Immediately, Kirito felt an immerse strength rushing through him, he always felt it when logging in. He lifted his heavy eyelids, surveying the artificial environment. The trees bloom pink leaves with the texture of cotton candy, the cement ground carves many faces of cats that are patrolling the grounds of Sakurasou. The cold autumn wind causes Kirito's face to numb and his eyes to moist. This place was just like a painting.
Kirito caught sight of Mashiro sitting at a marble beach under a crimson maple tree humming a tune which seemed so familiar. The sight of the girl who seems so pure made Kirito a contamination.
"You're late." Mashiro whispered softly, but loud enough for Kirito to notice.
"Yeah...Sorry about the long download." Kirito said in an apologetic manner
"The others are here." Mashiro pointed.
Several questions raced through his mind, looking at the rest of the gang and his companion, he knew this would be a beginning of an unforeseen adventure.
End of chapter 2
A word from Zaiikia: Once again another chapter is released. Thank you for your time and please forgive me for the grammar errors. Much effort has been taken in improving it.
Important: I do not own any of these anime
