This has been long in production, sorry for the wait! i am trying to get on a more regular writing schedule, so i can produce chapters more regularly

thanks to all who have been helping with this story, from Failtastic to my awesome beta, WeirdoHasARayGUN, who has been annoying me to finally aknowlage him.

Part one: Champion of Fire

You don't realize how much you love something until it's gone

—anonymous

—Pre-SAO

—Trinity

I slumped against the shut door to my bedroom, sighing heavily. Flipping the lock, I staggered towards a bed set on the opposite side with my eyes closed, flopping on its plush surface, not even bothering to take my backpack off. I groaned in discomfort, slipping the straps off, and tilting just far enough so it collapsed defeated on the carpet floor,

There was a soft knock on the door, alerting me to an unwanted visitor. I hesitated a moment, letting my mind think through whether I really desired to be bothered right now.

"Fuck off" I replied, face buried in the mattress, but voice still very audible. But another knock was heard.

Agitated, I stood, and briskly crossed the room, throwing open the door to reveal my sister. Gasping, she raised a hand to her mouth, staring at my right eye.

She was about fifteen centimeters shorter than I, pure Japanese blood evident in her face and body features. She still wore her school uniform, the drab greys and beige clinging to her slight frame.

"What do you want?" I sneered at her, making my frustration very evident.

"What happened to you?" She muttered, reaching out with a hand, and softly touching my swollen eye, worry and pity written all over her features.

I turned away, going to shut the door. "Nothing, go away" I nearly spat, trying to be alone.

But she caught the sliding barrier with her hand, squeezing through the meager gap quicker than I could push her out, and then shut it behind her. Without a word she took my arm and lead me to the Jack and Jill bathroom we shared.

I let myself be pushed onto the toilet, as she searched through a cabinet for various first aid materials. I sighed in exasperation. "I can do this myself" I muttered, staring at the ground.

"Don't worry. I got you" she grasped my chin firmly, lifting my head up and to the side so she could get a better view of the damage. This had me staring at my own reflection in the mirror above a white porcelain sink. I hated how I looked. Half of my face had the strong, Nordic jawline, bright blue eye, and thick lips that came with my Northern European lineage. The other half was swollen, eye forced shut with pus. Cuts and scrapes patterned my cheek, scanned over recently.

She pulled my red dyed hair away from the afflicted area, lips pursed tight. "Who did this to you?" She asked, dampening a rag in the sink before using to softly clean my cheek.

"I tripped" I muttered, eyes stuck on her mirrored actions in the glass surface. I winced slightly as my sore face told me it really didn't like what she was doing, but I did my best to ignore it.

"Let me try again then" she said tursely, using a little more force to persuade me into telling the truth. "Who did this to you?"

I gritted my teeth, speaking through them metaphorically and literally. "I said I tripped".

She sighed, dripping some rubbing alcohol on the rag, and dabbing it onto the marks, making me gasp, biting my tongue from the sting the shot through my face.

"I promise to not tell mom and dad. Just please open up to me" she begged, laying a hand on my left forearm, causing me to wince again.

She paused, before sliding my sleeve up to see how swollen my wrist was. She stared dead into my eyes, not accepting anything but the truth. "Anywhere else?".

I shook my head and she started bandaging my arm before putting first aid cream on the abrasions on my face. "Last time. Who did it?"

Sighing, defeated, I answered. "Just some people from class"

"Why?" She demanded, placing her fists on her hips, her bravado almost comical.

'Cuz I'm not them' I wanted to say. I wanted to scream it out, crying to the stars. But I didn't. "Because I insulted their mothers repeatedly" I lied.

She giggled, unable to control it. "That's a good one." Regaining her composure, she ruffled my hair. "Seriously though, why?"

I stood, and started walking away. "Don't worry about it"

"I said I wouldn't tell them if you told the truth." She stopped me in my tracks with her words. "So talk"

"Because, Sayori" I spun, angrily raising my voice a little, spitting words. "I'm not like them. I'm not like you, or your mom and dad. I'm different and they don't like it"

She backed away, startled by my sudden aggression. "What do you mean?"

I gestured to the half of my face that looked like it was supposed to. "Look at me, damnit. I am white as hell in a Japanese school, where everyone are taught how the white people rule the world, and fuck over everyone who stands between them and power!"

Her scared expression pierced my vehemence, jerking me back into the present.i lowered my head, shoulders slumping. "I'm sorry"

I strolled away, ignoring her as she called my name quietly. I shut the door from the bathroom to my room without a second thought, and sat on my bed, eyes fixed on my knees.

'I shouldn't have snapped' I gulped, regret pounding in my head. 'But I just couldn't control myself…'

She was the only one who called me by my real name, Trinity Jakobsen. No one else acknowledged I was ever once called that, instead replaced it with Asai Naofumi. Almost like they wanted to erase who I was.

"Not almost" I sneered. "Fuckin' people want to obliterate me entirely. Just can't"

"Trinity…?" I heard her tap on the door from the bathroom.

"She is so damn stubborn" I muttered, opening the door for her. "Yeah?"

She stepped back, obviously scared of me snapping again. I averted my gaze guiltily, and was surprised when she suddenly wrapped her arms around me, hugging me tight.

"Trinity… please talk to me…" She stuttered, the words barely forming as she sobbed into my shirt. "Not everyone… hates you"

I returned the embrace. "Sorry Sayori. I know not everyone does. Just hard to see the sky when your head is in the ground"

She backed away, wiping a tear from her eyes, smiling. "Then let's lift you up, yes?"

I nodded, smiling weakly. "What do you want to know?"

"Just start from the beginning. And you better include why your hair is red"

I rolled my head, neck popping loudly. I dropped the small sack onto my desk, pulling out a sandwich for the lunch break. The bland meat on white bread was dry in my mouth as I ate. Around me, everyone stayed at least four meters away, occasional glances full of scorn were shot at me.

Ignoring them, I continued my meal. Not like this had happened every day for the past years or anything, since I transferred from an American controlled school to a Japanese one.

A girl sat in the chair next to me, surprising myself and everyone else in the room, drawing attention to the pair of us. I turned towards her slowly, swallowing the piece of food in my mouth in the process.

"Hello!" She said cheerfully smiling. "My name is Coda Akatsuki!"

Following her politeness, I responded with my name. "Hey. I'm-"

She waved me off. "I know, Trinity"

This caused murmurs across the room, people outright staring at us. I blew them off, as my own astonishment was comparable, at her knowing my birth name. "How do you know that name?"

Cocking her head to the side, her smile widened. "Some people care more about you than you allow yourself to believe"

This caught me off guard, forcing me to pause before talking again. "I don't know what Sayori has been telling you, but please leave me alone"

She seemed to pout. "This isn't about Sayori. This is about you, Trinity." After giving me a moment to process this comment, she stood, gesturing. "Come on for a moment. I want to speak in private"

Following dutifully, the people parted, staring unashamed as we passed, whispers hushed, as though we didn't know what their unadulterated attention was on. Out into the brightly sunlit hallway, she lead me down a flight of stairs to a pair of broken vending machines.

"Call this private?" I teased, slouching against one of them.

"Since these are out of order, no one ever bothers coming down here. If someone does, it's cuz they're spying!" She shot me a playful wink before leaning against the same vendor as me, the brightly lit screen advertising some overpriced can of coffee, and she seemed interested in it, but obviously faking.

"What'd you wanna say?" I asked, heaving a sigh. I could feel her perk up, and turn back to me, smiling.

"Help me tip the machine" she demanded, grabbing a side. I shrugged, confused, but obeyed. We both pulled, tilting it forward at about sixty degrees. "Hold it!" She commanded, letting go, leaving me to strain under its weight. She ducked under it, sticking her hand up the hole where one retrieves their product. After a few solid thumps and bangs, she helped me push it back into place.

Producing four cans of the coffee on display, she handed me two before cracking one open herself, taking a long draw from it. "That hits the spot!" She sighed in satisfaction, shooting me a smile.

"How did you know that would work?" I asked her, drinking from my own.

"Saw some boys from four-C do it last week. And before you ask, even though it doesn't work, the coffee company still stocks this one for some stupid reason."

"Damn. That is so exploitable" I thought out loud. "So, Coda-"

"Call me Akutsuki" she said, inching a little closer to me.

Ok then… Akutsuki…" I blinked rapidly, not sure how to proceed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well…" a blush rose to her cheeks, her entire demeanor going shy as her hands started twisting a strand of hair around, eyes fixed on the ground. "I uh… was wondering if you would spend the afternoon with me…"

"Sure" I shrugged, accepting her offer. "What are your plans?"

Lighting up brighter than a tree at Christmas time, she hopped once trying to contain excitement. "Well, was thinking of going to a park, talking and doing nothing in particular and then maybe we could…"

She drowned on and on, spilling details that I had long started to tune out, but I couldn't help from smiling, her mood infectious. I took a sip from my drink before interrupting her. "We better get back to class. Gonna start soon"

She nodded, hesitating a moment before rushing forward and hugging me tightly and running off up the stairs with energy and speed I couldn't hope to match.

I started to follow after her when I was stopped by a fellow classmate, his eyes boring into my own. "May I help you?" I asked tersely, tone flat.

"Yeah. Don't go with Coda this afternoon." He responded, voice equally hostile.

I smirked a bit, relishing in his irritation. "Sorry, I don't take orders from people I don't know"

"Then consider this a warning. For your sake, and hers, go straight home after school" he pushed past me, marching up the steps without a backwards glance.

My smirk turned into an outright smile, happy to have annoyed someone simply by making a friend. Maybe more than a friend…?

'No' I stopped myself from continuing that thought. 'She will be constantly abused if we end up a couple'

'But she seemed really elated to know I would spend time with her'

'She probably just doesn't have many friends'

I let my legs carry me back to the classroom, and sat in my desk. I could feel all eyes on me as I gazed blankly into space, lost in thoughts of someone other than myself for once.

The teacher threw the door open, closing it noisily behind him. "Ok class, take out your math textbooks and open to page two-forty two. Now, who would read starting at section one?" His gravelly voice rang in the room, the noise of pages flipping the only other sound.

I raised my hand, confident in my reading ability, and peering at the person's book next to me as I was never issued one.

"No one? Guess I will have to call on someone myself then" he said, eyes sliding over me as though I were part of the background. "No one at all?"

"I would, sir" I said, lowering my hand, and shifting a little so I could see the book easier.

"Asai, do not speak out of turn again or I will remove you from my classroom for disturbing my teaching" he sat at his desk at the front of the room, eyes fixing on one person. "Hiroto, you read the first and second pages"

The kid next to me stood, pulling my only source material up with him, his soft voice barely picked up by those in the class as he was forced to utter math theory on trigonometry.

After his portion was finished he sat gratefully, shifting just so I couldn't see the open book, flipping to the next page.

"Asai. Are you capable of reading the next page?" He asked, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"I don't have a book sir" I responded, glancing around.

"That was not the question. Besides, what are you doing in class without the required materials? Surely you got the syllabus so maybe you can figure it all out somehow. Now answer my question. Are you able to read the next page?"

"No" I said through gritted teeth, seeing his intentions.

"Hmm… Asai just admitted he can't read the next page. Sad. Thought maybe you could learn at least what was taught in Primary School. Yose, continue where Hiroto left off."

I forced myself to calm down, but the snickering class made it difficult as another boy stood and continued reading. Slowly relaxing, I listened closely to every word spoken, doing my best to commit them to memory. 'Will probably look up a YouTube video later on the uses of Trig just to help' I decided.

I was kneeling on the ground, tying my shoelaces just retrieved from my locker. People bustled around, chatting idly with one another, the foyer emptying slowly as they left for the day, eager to return to their homes and to a warm meal.

Standing, I rearranged the satchel slung over my shoulder

"Hey Trinity!" I heard the familiar voice call as Akutsuki ran to my side. Her beaming face expressed her interest in the next few hours of the day, her pace matching mine as we walked.

"So I was thinking we could drop off our stuff at my house and pick it up later?" She glanced at me, inquiring.

"As long as your parents are ok with it, I see no problem." My response sent her back to smiling like a crazy person, which I mimicked, unable to help it at the sight of her happy face.

"Just wondering. Why did you pick today?" I asked her, while walking. "Why not ask today for tomorrow, so we are off school?"

"Cuz all the great places aren't open Sundays, soooo today was the only other option. Besides, why not?" She ran a little ahead and twirled facing me. "Gotta live life on the edge, take chances! If you get an urge to do something, then do it!"

I blinked rapidly in surprise. "Didn't expect you to be a life coach". I shook my head in disbelief. "Whenever I have problems at least I know who to go to."

Giggling playfully, she appeared back at my side, walking in step with me. Her house was only a couple blocks away, and she took my bag inside, quickly returning.

The streets were packed with cars, people on their commute home, sidewalks full with bustling people who chose the more leisurely method of transportation.

Turning a corner, we reached a segment of land not occupied by buildings or cars. The park was in the center of the city, a welcome change in scenery from the ironic civilized world to one much more peaceful and serene. We continued, absorbed by the nature around, this little segment left to bloom in full glory as the world outside it rushed to whatever means it considered to be right. Nature didn't care. It just made things, life, and beauty.

She dragged me by the sleeve deeper into the park, to a small clearing. It was surrounded by trees, and one couldn't hear the outside world in all its noisy glory. All that was here were her, I, and the grass. She twirled around again, smiling brightly.

I snickered a little at her antics. "What did you bring me here for?"

She blushed lightly, but held eye contact. "Well, whenever I feel overwhelmed by the world, I come here." She gazed longingly at the surrounding trees. "This place, I feel at home, at peace. Like everything is going as it should be"

"That is too damn deep" I said. When her eyes turned sad, I panicked. "Ok look, having a happy place isn't bad. In fact it's very commendable."

Perking up instantly, she smiled gratefully. "Thanks. And great save!". She quickly sat down on the soft earth, and patted the space next to her. "Sit!"

I laughed, and did as she commanded, lowering myself onto the cool, soft surface. Almost immediately, she wrapped her arms around mine, lowering her head onto my shoulder causing me to stiffen. Slowly I relaxed, the environment helping immensely. Her skin was cool, probably from the wind. 'And the nerves of being around me' I realized. 'Well, can't fault her'

Using my free right hand, I tucked some of her short cut hair behind her ear, before lowering that hand to cover one of hers. She tightened her grip on me, as though I would vanish if she let go.

"If you had a trillion yen, what would you do with it?" I asked suddenly, quietly, to not disturb her.

"Would buy a small house in the Tokyo suburbs, and put it away for my kids" she said without hesitating. "So their futures are safe. What about you?"

"Damn, that's a good one" I said. "I would probably just buy a plane ticket to every major country around the world, and see them."

"That's nice" she commented. "My turn. If you could go anywhere in time, when would you go?"

"Huh. That's hard. Would have to go with… probably to the start of today so I can relive this" I responded honestly.

"Awwwwwwwwww" she cooed, snuggling a little closer. "Fuck you, being so romantic"

Laughing, I rested my head on top of hers. "Yeah. Kinda my job now, isn't it?"

She lifted her head, looking up at me. "What do you mean?"

I stared pointedly down where she was still clinging to me. "Huh. I wonder why?" I responded, sarcasm dripping from my words.

Her confused face spread in the widest smile I have seen yet, sending butterflies through my stomach. Then she tackled me, sending me on my back as she hugged tight. "Imma never let you go!" She proclaimed, making me laugh, which in turn sent her giggling as she snuggled with my chest.

I wrapped my arms over her slim frame, holding her as dearly as she held me. "I won't either" I said softly.

She sighed. "My father used to give me piggyback rides and run through this park. I miss those days. Now he just works all the time"

An idea sprang into my mind. "Can I ask the forbidden question?"

She looked up at me. "What is it?"

"How much do you weigh? Forty five to fifty five kilos?" I asked her, thinking.

"About, yeah" she said honestly. "Why thou-"

I quickly knelt in front of her. "Climb aboard!" I commanded, ready to take off.

Thats that! already working on 11, but will always take criticism to heart.