DISCLAIMER: I do not own SAO

CHAPTER 10: Quirks

Hikari was in awe.

For one, she was taller. That itself made her the happiest girl alive in about two seconds flat (or in the time it took her to realize she was no longer in her thirteen year old body). She was also wearing armor, and not that dingy cosplay crap. She gave a gleeful squeal, savoring in the moment when all her fantasies came true.

She took in her surroundings, flabbergasted at the sight of everything. The large circle center yard was filled with people. Some were conversing, others shoving to get by, while some plowed by with yells and calls of familiar game talk. After getting a full view of the area and spotting the fountain Miharu had mentioned, Hikari joined the latter group in an all-out sprint stopping short just before the water.

In the reflection, she found herself awe struck. Her once brown hair was now a shocking white with glowing pink eyes and she looked around sixteen. She was never one to admire appearances, finding fashion to be more of Miharu's thing. But, damn, she looked awesome.

Someone tapped her shoulder. Jerking away from her fantasies, Hikari turned to find a girl around her avatar's age grinning at her. They were the same height with the same pink eyes, only her hair was black and waist length. Hikari raised an eyebrow.

"Can I help you?"

"Pink eyes." The girl giggled, "I'm surprised we're not twins."

Hikari blinked, a metaphorical light bulb dinging above her head as she connected the dots, "Haru-chan?"

"That's Sora to you."

Hikari grinned, gesturing widely to the area around, "I can't believe this! It's so huge and- Oh wow, do I hear music?"

"It's the floor theme. Medieval." Miharu smiled amusedly at her cousin's awe. Her avatars hair length was the same length as her real one, but the flip from brown to white was gonna take a while to get used to. She could only imagine how hard it'd be for Hikari, considering she had longer hair and it was black- not blonde. She did find it funny they got the same pink eyes.

"This is so cool!" Hikari squealed, "Let's go kill something!"

"Hold up!" Miharu grabbed her cousin's arm, ignoring her pouting, "We have to get quests. I still need to teach you the ropes, remember?"

Hikari groaned, "But, Haru-chaaaaaaan, learning is boring. It's so much easier just to jump head first into things."

Miharu exhaled through her nose, memories of Hyperion invading her mind, "Yes, Hikari, I know all too well.

"That's Ari to you."

She laughed, "I'm actually a little surprised you didn't make your character a guy."

"What?" Hikari blinked, "You can do that?"

"Yeah. Switch genders."

"WHAT!? THAT'S SO GROSS THAT'S-…ew. Just ew."

"C'mon, girly pants," Miharu shoved her cousin forward, "Time to meet Enda."

Hikari was still trying to comprehend the games character creation dynamics when they approached the old lady. Miharu was more excited about getting Hikari caught up and then shooting off to leave everyone in the dust. It's what they always did. That's how they got their titles.

"So, uh…" Hikari eyed the old lady sweeping her porch, "What the hell do I do? Poke it?'

"No, idiot." Her cousin pointed to the exclamation point over her head, "Talk to her. She'll give you your first quest."

Hikari remained skeptical, raising an eyebrow at the lady's robotic movements. Miharu knew social wasn't really a strength of Hikari's. She's the type you'd find in a corner playing her little hand held device. The lone wolf who'd rather slay the warlord of some evil cult then make friends.

"Go ahead." She gave her cousin a nudge forward, "Go talk to her."

Hikari steeled herself, walking forward determinedly. She stopped at the bottom step of the house, giving a loud stomp to announce her presence, "Hey, old lady!"

Miharu winced. Yup. No social strength what so ever.

Enda paused, lifting her broom up. Her eyes slowly slid over to Hikari, before a demonic glint appeared in them.

"HEATHEN!" She shrieked, causing both to jump in surprise, "Devil's spawn! Get off my property you demon!"

Miharu could only gawk as the lady threw her broom at Hikari, hitting her right in the head. Hikari jerked, wide eyed and panicked. The old women didn't stop there and proceeded to retrieve a bucket from behind her and chase Hikari halfway down the street. Everyone around was staring at the sight.

Slowly, Miharu put a hand to her face.

"I should have known that'd happen…"

Apparently, Enda wasn't the only one that was going to have a panic attack to Hikari's appearance. Every other quest giver and merchant seemed to treat her like she was some fungus. At first Miharu was worried this would only hurt her cousin's self-esteem, but every time they'd walk away, she'd be grinning like a fool.

"Don't be down about it, Sora-chan," Hikari patted her head, using her avatars name, "Since we're in a party I get every quest you pick up and you can just buy me stuff from the merchants. I'll give you the money for it too."

Miharu managed a weak smile, "You're too optimistic."

"Because I think this is some serious legacy," Her cousin replied, "I bet I've inherited this awesome power or unique skill that makes everyone tremble in fear of me."

"Yes. It's called an ego."

"Oy…"

They managed to get to an open field that was less populated then the rest. There was no way they could avoid other players, considering ten thousand had just logged in and were doing the same thing they were. Miharu utilized the time they took to find a spot to explain the basics of the menu.

"Okay." She glanced at Hikari who was eying the boar in front of them challengingly. She winced, hoping that the same thing that happened to her wouldn't happen to her cousin, "You remember what I taught you about sword skills, right?"

"Yup. Swing, swing, kill."

"No. Vertical, Horizontal, Slant."

"Right, right, so I just do this?"

"Yeah- wait STOP!"

Too late. Hikari was already rocketing towards the boar, her blade lighting up green. Miharu wanted to close her eyes, waiting for the inevitable. To her surprise, Hikari charged passed the boar, a red slice line appearing on its flank. She didn't stop there, wheeling around to deliver a Horizontal before it even had time to process her as an enemy.

Miharu gaped as it exploded into pixels. Hikari flashed a peace sign, "That was easy!"

Miharu coughed, looking away, "Yes, well, congratulations…so what'd you get?"

"Um…" She scratched the back of her head, reading through the loot screen, "Experience is all. Have you gotten any loot off these things?"

"Trash loot. I did get a tusk that sold nicely in town once."

"Oh…"

Miharu was about to suggest they move on since they still had dinner to prepare soon when she caught sight of Hiakri's sword. Her jaw dropped, "Ari," She used her avatar name, "Why is your sword like that?"

"Like what?" She lifted the weapon, "You mean all curved like?"

"Yeah. My swords not like that. Where'd you get it?"

"I started out with it. Why? Is it important?"

Miharu furrowed her eyebrows, "Yeah…instead of one handed swords your leveling up one handed curved swords."

"So, like, scimitars?"

"I'm not sure what the difference is, but okay."

"It's proof!" Hikari exclaimed, jabbing a finger in the air, "Proof of my legacy!"

"No, you're just an idiot." Miharu rebuked dryly.

Her cousin pouted. For the next few hours they mowed through mobs, tag teaming and working together effortlessly with years of practice on their sides. Miharu was a bit worried when they started to turn in quests that they'd react the same way to Hikari, but surprisingly, they seemed genuinely thankful. Although, a bit shocked, they gave Hikari her reward.

Miharu caught the smile her cousin had. It made her feel like this game was definitely worthwhile.

She couldn't believe she forgot about their fans.

"No way!" Someone exclaimed behind them. The cousins blinked, stopping in their walk to the city center. It was almost six and they'd have to make dinner soon, so they decided to log off at the fountain. Unfortunately, Argo had found them.

Miharu winced at the girl's excited grin, spotted her lackeys behind her with even larger smiles. Glancing at her confused cousin, she managed a sheepish smile, "This is the information broker I talked about."

"No way…" Argo repeated, wide eyed, "You're…you're…"

"Oh." Hikari grinned, "You must Argo. I'm Ari, nice to meet-"

"OH WOW!" The boys exclaimed, waving their hands in the air, "Ari the Legendary?!"

Hikari just stared, perplexed, while Miharu pinched the bridge of her nose. She knew this was coming yet she completely forgot about it. Her friends list was still active so she knew the minute Argo entered the game she must have tracked her down in hopes of finding her cousin.

Argo crossed her arms with a pleased grin, "Told ya. The Sliver and Legendary. In the flesh- well, uh, sort of."

"Argo-san," Miharu smiled, "I know you want to interrogate- I mean ask my cousin a few questions, but we havta log off for a while."

Argo pouted. The boys protested. Hikari just grinned, "Don't worry. Sora-chan cooks real fast, so we'll be back from dinner in no time."

Miharu felt her cheeks heat at the compliment, while Argo's mood did a 180. "Alright." She nodded, pulling out a piece of paper and pencil. Miharu mentally noted that that was available in the game, deciding to visit the general store to get some for Hikari poor memory. "There's an inn near the west field entrance. Here are the directions from the courtyard. I'll be waiting there when you get done, okay? Don't bail on me."

Hikari snickered, waving her off as Miharu grabbed the paper, "No way. I'm not that lame. Besides, I've never really talked to an information broker before. I kinda wanna know how it works."

"Not without a fee."

Miharu chuckled, pushing her away from the three (one, considering the two boys had fainted). Argo managed to send Hikari a friend request before they departed, Hikari beaming like no tomorrow. Miharu raised an eyebrow at her cousin.

"What's got you so happy?"

"Well," She rubbed the back of her head, "It's my first friend on my list besides you. I kinda like the idea of it growing, you know?"

"If it's like that," The approached the fountain, Miharu glancing at her cousin, "You can make a guild when we reach the third floor."

"What? Really?"

"Yeah. You wanna make one?"

Hikari fist pumped, "Hell yes! I'm always the best! Screw those other raiding guilds, I'm gonna be the best! YOU HEAR ME AINCRAD!? I'M THE BEST FLIPPING THING YOU'LL EVER SEE!"

Miharu blushed, gazing around frantically to find a lot players staring at them. She smacked her cousin's head, ignoring her whining.

"First of all, even if you get to be guild leader, know that I'm the real one. You're too irresponsible to be a leader." Miharu huffed. Hikari crossed her arms and pouted at her cousin.

"Fine, Sora-chan."

"Good. Now, we should probably-"

Everything went red.