A/N: Sorry for the long waiting time. Had exams going on and this fic, for a while, seemed like a bomb. As in, it didn't do too well at first. Anyway, PRE-DISCLAIMER OVER HERE (if that's a thing), This is a bit of a flashback/filler. Thought it would be appropriate. It's rather short, sorry, I promise Chapter 3 will be interesting.

Now let's get on with the show!

*DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN SAO OR SAOIF OR ANY SAO-RELATED STUFF

"Darn it Kayaba, why is this quest even a thing?"

I grit my teeth as I lined up my bow on the target. Truthfully, I'd prefer a sword in this game, however ranged weapons did have its advantages. Sometimes CQC is just a tad bit uncomfortable for my liking. Especially for this damn rabbit.

"Ladies and gentlemen…" I muttered as I steadied my bow. The target stopped to nibble the grass, completely calm and unaware. I smirked "We got 'em,"

I pulled back on the string, leaping back and high out of the bush. The arrow began to glow. "Swift Salvo!"

(A/N: I made that skill up. Haven't been able to find low level sword skills in the canon universe. I have very few Integral Factor Bow skills and those have names that don't quite fit OC at this stage)

My hand left the bow string as the arrow surged forth, bursting into green light and a dozen other arrows. The rabbit leapt, but one arrow found its mark.

I punched my fist in the air. "Finally!" I yelled as I dashed through the underbrush to claim the prize. And there it was, pinned to the ground. It looked cute if one did not count its blazing red eyes. With a flick of a wrist, I pulled out a Senbon and flicked it hard into the skull.

The rabbit disintegrated into a million azure polygons. I swiped open my inventory. Sure enough, there sat 2 new objects. A ragout rabbit carcass, and a crystallized hot ore from its 'stomach'.

Immediately I got a new notification for completing the mission. The prize was a skill, some currency and experience.

"Really Kayaba? Only 600 XP? For all that effort?"

I shook my head, before swapping my equipment load out to the Iron sword- the only other accessible sword in the BETA than the damn bronze sword.

"Well, time to head back,"

As I walked I couldn't help but muse how fun it had been so far. Sure, the whole VR thing was unsettling—I was essentially in a coded game world itself—but it proved fun. If only EA adapted Battlefield games to be playable on the new nervegear… actually on second thoughts it might be best if they don't.

"Almost a month in and most bugs and concepts have been smoothed out," I smirked. "Argus sure works efficiently,"

Just as I entered a small dungeon, one of the BETA field boss dungeons outside floor 1's safe zone that also happens to act as a mostly empty shortcut, a beeping sound caught my attention. I swiped open my notifications tab. "Ah, right. I'm supposed to log out soon. Better hurry,"

It wasn't a good idea to log out in the open. While your avatar does disappear, you could get jumped by a mob once you log back in. Though the dungeon was mostly empty since it was a weekly event experiment of Kayaba's, there might be the occasional mob inside.

"Um, hiya! Can I talk to you for a minute?"

I placed one hand on the dagger on my belt… well, my avatar's belt, and spun to face the voice. Was it a PKer? An orange player?

None of the above. In fact, it was quite the last thing I'd expect. Shoulder length black hair, a gentle face and hopeful green eyes. If it weren't for the fact it was a custom avatar, I would have probably gaped. She was kind of pretty… if it was a she. Who knows? It's a game after all.

"Yes?"

"Nice to meet you, my name's Koharu. What's yours?"

I raised an eyebrow. Usually strangers, especially on games, would hardly ask for names. It was a weird thing to ask, but she seemed genuine enough.

"You can call me Rui,"

She smiled nervously. "Um, how should I put this? I'm terrible at this game. Like, really bad. It's my first VRMMO—"

Well... that's understandable.

"—and my very first video game,"

Wait, seriously?

"I made sure to look up some stuff online before starting, but it's all just different from what I was expecting, you see?

"I can't land a single attack, so I've just been levelling up speed to run away. Everyone around me is getting stronger, but I just can't keep up with them,"

"I did get a little better, though! So, I was looking forward to playing a bit more, but the BETA is ending soon and…well that's how I ended up here, and I'm lost and I… don't know what to do… Guess I was rambling huh? Sorry about that. I've just been so hopeless,"

Should I help her? Should I not? I pondered my response. This was… unusual… and as loathe as I am to admit I suck at having conversations outside of friends and family.

I swiped open my menu to check on the time. I still had a good 15 minutes. And even if it took longer… well Mom would only holler in an hour, so perhaps… or perhaps not…

...screw it, this girl seems nice, especially for a stranger on an MMORPG. Half an hour won't hurt.

"I can help you through the basics if you want,"

Damn, this player sure is an oddball.

This 'Koharu' sure was open and enthusiastic. A bit more so than the average MMO player. And true, she was rusty but progress was made. And she seemed overjoyed at it.

"We did it!" She squealed joyfully. "Thanks for showing the ropes, Rui,"

Her smile was another strange phenomenon. When she smiled, I found myself wanting to smile too. "It wasn't much. I just showed you how to fight, how to activate skills and tips on baiting and observing,"

"No, it really was helpful! I was able to defeat that boss!"

I snorted at that. "Koharu, that wasn't a boss. That was just a larger Boar. Which, by the way, is one of the lowest level mobs,"

She seemed taken aback by that.

"I-is that so…"

I smiled at her. "Hey, nobody is ever perfect the first time around, especially in MMOs. Besides you progressed quite far in… how much time did we take, 10 minutes?" I tried to reassure her.

She brightened up at that. "...yeah. Right!"

"Well, now that we're done," I said. "Let's get out of this labyrinth,"

"Wait, so the town was this close by?"

I shook my head. "I don't blame you. Labyrinths can get confusing. Not to mention the devs kind of gave up on that one, so it'll remain confusing. Quite convenient once you can navigate it though,"

"Is that so?" she said thoughtfully.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around then. Enjoy the last 3 days of the BETA," I swiped open the men and tapped the settings tab.

"Wait!"

"?" I froze, my forefinger just an inch over the logout button.

"Um, do you want to meet up tomorrow? Or the day after?"

I felt stunned. She really was an anomaly. A welcome one though. You cannot help but feel there ought to be warmth in the coolness of 1s and 0s.

"Uh, sure thing. I'll be by the teleport monument in the Town of Beginnings around 5 pm tomorrow. Do you want to form a party?"

I had to brief her on what a party was, but she agreed to form one.

"Alright, so I guess I'll see you tomorrow," I said awkwardly

"Yeah. See you tomorrow!" She beamed. I gave a final smile and nodded, before tapping the logout button, as reality stretched and morphed, before turning pure white, then black. I opened my eyes and gazed through the Nervegear's screen at the darkened ceiling, before pulling it off and sitting up. Stretching as I walked, I made my way downstairs and hoped this time Mom had made something simple or had ordered in.

Later that night, that bright face would keep popping up in my idle thoughts.

"Alright, where is she?" I leaned against the plaque in the Town square, scrolling through my menu. "It's been 20 minutes,"

I shook my head and decided to burn time by scrolling through my inventory. I had small pictures enabled so as to easily recognize items. I took note of how much I had. 12 boar hides, 3 boar tusks, 4 stingers, a pair of hands…

...wait WHAT? Who? What? Why?

Suddenly, right beside me, "Boo,"

I jumped, stumbled and crumpled in fright all at the same time.

"Don't… do that…"

Koharu stood there, her face with a small smile.

"Sorry, couldn't resist,"

I rolled my eyes. A downside to Fulldive is you're not immune to pranks like these.

"Well, shall we carry on then?" I asked

She nodded. "Race you to the gate!" She suddenly said, before taking off. I blinked, before realizing what was going on. She wanted a race. And she got a head start…

Oh hell nah!

"Hey! That's not fair y'know!"

"Had fun today?"

She hummed thoughtfully. "It's not what I expected from when I first learned of the game, but today was exciting. I wish we could do this forever,"

I shook my head. "I know I sound like an old man, but don't get too fond of games,"

She gave me an annoyed look. "I'm not 6 years old. I'm about your age,"

I raised an eyebrow. "And how would you know my age?"

Koharu flushed a little. "Well… you sound like you're my age?"

I chuckled a little at that. "Well, if we're judging based on outward appearances alone, I'd have guessed you were a goth,"

"W-what? No!" She stammered.

"Just kidding, just kidding. Anyway it's about time I headed out for dinner," I swiped open my menu

"Hey,"

"Hmm?" I turned to look at her. Her demeanor had completely changed.

"Do you… have to go?" She asked.

I raise an eyebrow. "Well, it's getting late, and my Mom would kill me if I played all night. We'll see each other tomorrow though, so why'd you ask?"

She looked hard, almost like a thousand yard stare. Before blinking and responding. "Oh, well… no reason, just curious,"

I patted her on the shoulder. "Look, don't stay up too late. It's not good for your health. Besides, we're going to need that energy of yours to breeze through tomorrow's grinding,"

She smiled, though something seemed off. "Y-yeah, sure! I'll see you tomorrow then!"

I nodded with a smile, before logging off.

"Darn it, why now of all damn times?"

Remember the labyrinth that acted as a shortcut? Yeah… usually there weren't any aggressive or dangerous mobs. Today was the exception. "They really ought to patch this up!" I grumbled as I leapt away from the massive hornet.

"That thing is dangerous!" Koharu yelled.

"No kidding! Get out of here!"

Suddenly there was a low whistle. The hornet backed up in agony, before collapsing on the ground and disintegrating.

"You're getting a little sloppy," a smooth voice said. "What happened to all that finesse on floor 4?"

"Kirito, fancy running into you here," I called out. "Thought you were in soloing on floor 10, too good for us plebs,"

He wore an exasperated look. "You still hold a grudge for that?"

I smirked. "Nah, you're cool now, unlike when we fought the first boss,"

He sighed. "I see you still prefer working in teams with random strangers. Unless this is something else,"

Koharu began to stammer, her face bright red. I rolled my eyes. "You know dang well it's not like that. Thanks for the save, by the way. Oh, Koharu, this is Kirito. Former edgelord extraordinaire, and current solo player. Kirito, this is Koharu. I'm just helping her out for now,"

"Nice to meet you both," Kirito said. "The BETA is closing soon. I suggest we all wrap things up quickly,". Then, things turned a bit awkward. "So… I'll see you in a week or 2?"

I smirked. "You better be there when I clear the first floor boss,"

He scoffed. "Not a chance, Rui," He said as he walked off. I could practically hear the grin in his voice as he said it though.

"Well… it was impressive the way he killed that mob,"

I shook my head. "He's like that Koharu. He's a hardcore gamer. Used to butt heads on every little thing when we met in the first floor boss fight 1 week into the BETA. Now? He's a bit of an introvert and a jerk still, but he's learnt civility,"

"Anyway, should we log off? We'd spawn in the Town square when the game launches anyway, so it doesn't matter if we log out here,"

"W-wait," She said. "Are you going to log on to the game on the day of the launch?"

Her tone seemed hopeful. "Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"...Could we meet up then? I… like playing together with you,"

I shrugged. "Sure thing, just look for me in the square on the day of launch, I should be in the same avatar,"

She brightened up. "Thanks. I'll look forward to it!"

I smiled too. "Have a great night, Koharu,"

Her face faulted a bit. "You too, Rui!"

That night, I wondered what had just happened. She seemed reluctant to stop playing… Well, it is her first video game, so I guess once we meet again I'd give her tips on how to manage video gaming and other activities in a schedule.

I marked down the date in my phone's calendar. Already, there were many notifications, of game reviews, articles and videos, of SAO. Briefly glancing at them, many had gushing remarks on the game's graphics, style, mechanics, the fact it was the first Full-dive VR and other stuff. For me, I was looking forward to playing for these reasons too, but also for another. I had an… online friend, I suppose that's what I can call her, to meet. A nice one, at that.

A/N: if you like it so far, please follow it. To those who have followed this story already, thank you. If you have any suggestions, feel free to review. See ya!