Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. Nor do I own My Hero Academia. I earn no money from posting this, and I don't post this anywhere other than the official FanFiction site. Please DO NOT repost this or copy to another site.
Okay everyone, I seriously rewrote this chapter, in its entirety, thrice. Over 30 pages of itty bitty writing: wasted. I tried starting at the end of the last chapter and introducing Minetaka Kirigaya to the story, but that didn't feel right with the flow. Next, I tried to make a chapter based on why Kazuto turned away from the idea of being a hero, cementing around the idea that he is from a legacy family and is expected to be a hero. Also, his grandfather's training. This, too, just didn't turn out quite right.
So, as a compromise, I am just going to plain skip exposition. The exposition won't work with me? FINE. You can all figure out the reasons why as we go forward. So, sorry but not sorry. I blame the story.
On another note, if you do want to see the scrapped chapters, let me know. Maybe I will include them at the end of another chapter as some kind of bonus or something.
Without further ado: Enjoy the Chapter!
Chapter 1
Veil of Shadows
"Our's is a family steeped in history. Before quirks, we were swordsmen. And before that, we were samurai. You, my grandson, I have chosen to carry on our legacy. Do not disappoint me."
Ice cracked and shifted against glass as the young man sitting at the bar counter gently swirled amber liquid around in his glass cup. Dark blue hair almost shadowed one eye where it was cut diagonally toward one side. Black fingerless gloves wrapped around the cold glass cup as he gazed listlessly down into the reflective liquid, watching his own grey gaze stare back.
"A bit young to be drinking, Ki-bu," a second figure slipped onto the high stool next to him, a coy smile teasing her lips.
The young man scoffed and tossed the glass back, letting the liquid drain into his mouth before setting it back on the wooden counter with a loud thunk. "You're one to talk, Argo," he threw a wain smile her way, "You and I know that age means little here. And besides," he circled the top ring of glass with a single finger, "That was apple juice."
Argo threw her head back and let out a loud, bellowing laugh. "True enough, Ki-bu. True enough." With a grin she beckoned the bartender over, "One glass of Apple Juice, good sir! On ice."
After tossing a few coins to the man behind the counter as he set down her own glass, Argo spun and leaned back against the counter with a loud shy. Both arms propped up against the wood behind her and her chest pushed forward as the plank forced her back to bend, Argo was the perfect picture of a weary traveler back from a quest, but her companion knew better.
With a sigh, Kirito nudged his empty glass away with a single finger and turned toward Argo, quirking one brow. "Okay, Argo," he commented dryly, "Out with it. What is it you want to know this time, and how much are you going to pay for it."
"Ah, Ki-bu," Argo tilted her head toward him with a pout, "We're best friends! Would you really charge your best friend for a little info?"
Kirito snorted. "We've known each other for a month - "
"That's practically our whole lives!"
"- and you are an info broker. No information comes free."
Argo was still pouting, but it was slowly nudging back into a smirk, "Mo, Kirito. You really do know me too well," she sighed, "Fine. You're last quest was into the valley of the Dragonwings, yes? I'll give you fifty col. if you sell me the map data."
Kirito's brow lifted even further as he pulled back his newly refilled glass and took a slow sip, "You're usually going price for map data is a thousand col. Since I was the one who actually did the mapping, I'd say it's worth a bit more than fifty. Eight hundred."
Argo snorted. "Thief! A hundred col."
"Why do you even want that map data, anyway? Seven hundred."
"That info's worth five hundred col. You sure you want to know?" She flashed sharp teeth, much sharper than the automatic synthesizer would make for an avatar, so she must have had them filed them down herself, "I won't go higher than two hundred."
"Knowing you, you'll have this map sold six ways to nightfall. Six hundred col. or I walk."
Argo's lips twisted and then she sighed, "Fine, three hundred and I will tell you about a little quest I heard about on the fifth floor."
Kirito grinned, "Deal."
They shook on it and the trade windows popped up between them. It took a few minutes to sort out the details, but by the end Argo was swinging her legs and flicking through the digital maps as she hummed under her breath. Twenty though she may look, Kirito had no doubt that she wasn't much older than he was.
Or course, in this world, it was almost impossible to tell.
He glanced down at the glass in his hands once again, eyes going distant. The ice clicked, cold and clear in his ears. Around him, he could hear the chatter of other adventurers as they talked with their party members after a long day of hunting. The leather long coat he favored brushed gently against the cloth over his leg, and he could feel the grains in the wood against his fingers where they rested on the counter top.
Everything here, down to the last speck of dust he could see floating through a beam of sunlight in front of him, it all looked so real.
It made it hard to believe that all of this was simply a world made up of pixels and computer data.
"Oi, Ki-bu," a gloved finger poked him in the side, startling him out of his thoughts as he turned back to Argo, "Are you even listening to me?"
"Ah," Kirito smiled blandly and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, Argo. I was just thinking about something."
She tilted her head and grinned mischievously, "A col. for your thoughts?"
Snorting, Kirito shrugged, "Sure. I'll take you up on that," he leaned back to look up at the ceiling, "Do you ever just . . . not want to go back?"
Argo's face froze in place. The grin was still there but the emotion behind it was gone. "Back?"
Kirito let out a breathy sigh and crossed his arms in front of him, "You know what I mean. The real world." His eyes were dark.
Argo tapped against the counter and chewed on her lip slightly as she glanced around the tavern. "We all have our reasons for being here," she finally sighed, eyes going slightly distant. "Sword Art Online is . . . a place where you can leave you behind. Where you can be who you actually want to be. Our world has lost a lot of that freedom, I think."
Kirito nodded.
Sword Art Online. The first virtual online multiplayer game.
And also the biggest controversy of the century.
"It is a world very different from our own," Kayaba Akihiko stared out at the crowd solemnly, "Without heroes, without villains, without Quirks."
His eyes gleamed.
"Sword Art Online will be an experience unlike any other."
Kirito tilted his empty glass, letting it catch the light and reflect away in flickers of white highlights. "A world where we don't have to judge or be judged by our quirks," he snorted. "What a novel idea."
Kayaba Akihiko, creator of Sword Art Online. Quirk: Technomagus. Being able to manipulate technology and modify code faster than any computer hacker, he could have been one of the top heroes, but he wasn't. Instead, he'd left that path to become a game designer.
When he'd first announced the basics behind Sword Art Online, the public had been in an uproar. A game where you couldn't add in your own quirk? Or any quirk? It wasn't even based on heroes and villains. Instead, it entirely focused on being able to use pre-quirk weapons and living in a world where powers were non-existent.
"It will never work," people had hissed.
"It's impossible. Who would want to play a game like that?" More wondered.
More people than you would expect, Kirito snorted.
The quirkless were drawn to it because of natural discrimination in their regular lives. Here, they didn't have to introduce themselves by a quirk. They didn't have to be judged for not having one. They could make friends that appreciated them for who they were.
People with villainous quirks also saw an opportunity in Sword Art Online. A way to define themselves not by what they could do, but by their actions in the here and now.
And Kirito? Well -
"I will make you into the greatest hero our family has ever had."
He had his own reasons for avoiding the real world.
Sword Art Online was a fresh start. Maybe Kayaba knew that. Maybe that's why he made it. Fact was, when the beta opened up, thousands of people applied to test it out though only a thousand were chosen.
Kirito and Argo were some of the lucky few chosen to test run it. And though the beta was set to close in a few days, Kirito knew that he could never go back to being just Kazuto. Not truly.
Holding his blade in his hand, facing down the unknown, if felt right. No quirk to fall back on. No heroes. No villains. Just him, his blade, and the monsters in front of him.
When the official release of the game came out in a few months, he knew he was going to be one of the first to log back in.
Kirito threw one last smile at his companion as he got up to leave for the night, "See you around, Argo. Good luck selling the map data."
She waved back at him, ordering another cup of juice. He breathed as he turned away.
Yes. Sword Art Online, Aincrad, was home more than his real home was.
With a flick of his hands and a shimmer of pixels, his avatar vanished between one step and the next as he slowly woke up.
Back in the real world.
0~o~0
"Hey, Kazuto, Mom says that dinner is ready," a girl with shoulder length black hair poked her head around the doorframe as she spoke.
Kazuto caught the movement from the corner of his eye and turned toward her, lifting one side of the headphones he was listening to. "Uh, did you say something, Sugu?"
Suguha rolled her eyes and huffed fondly. "It's time for dinner. Mom says to wash up and come down, okay?"
Nodding silently, the black haired boy tugged on his headphones and turned back to his computer. It took him a few moments to organize his notes and close the tabs that he was done with before he got up to head to the washroom. Suguha tilted her head at his computer and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"You know," she laughed quietly, "If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were the one born with the technology quirk."
"Haha, Sugu," Kazuto deadpanned, although there was a slight smile on his face as he nudged her when he walked past. "Everyone knows you're just as much of a computer geek as Mom."
He escaped into the washroom before she could retaliate.
In all honesty, though, Kazuto would have loved to swap Suguha quirks. Her quirk, Code Speak, allowed her to understand what any computer code she read did. That didn't mean that she knew the language or knew how to modify it, just that she could translate it into what it would do once executed. It made it handy to find errors or snags that would prevent a program from working quite right. She had the perfect quirk for any development companies. She'd never really had to worry about what she would do with her life.
Hero work wasn't something that their parents and grandfather had pressed upon her. It was something that she chose for herself.
Dinner was a mixture of white rice and fish with a small bowl of vegetables on the side. Kazuto slid into his seat quietly, nodding to his mother as he did so. There wasn't a placement for their father, so Kazuto guessed that the man was probably still away on his work trip. In the background, the TV droned on about some new hero that had debued recently.
"Hello, Kazuto," Midori smiled slightly at her eldest son as he settled into the only empty seat, "How has your day been? I haven't really seen you much today."
If her smile was a little strained, a little fragile, he didn't mention anything.
He cracked his utensils open and smiled ever so slightly, although it didn't reach his eyes. "It's been okay. I did some research into Multi-Layered batteries and the effects they have after long periods of exposure to the mind. I read an article talking about some of the safeties that they have put in place to help prevent the worst of it.
Her smile turned, if possible, even more brittle. "I . . . see. How about you, Suguha?"
Suguha quickly swallowed the bite of rice she'd stuffed in her mouth, "I beat Kuna in Kendo practice again today. She needs to practice putting a little more strength into her swings, but she's getting better," her eyes lit up, "Oh, that reminds me! The tournaments are coming up soon. Do you want me to see if I can get tickets?"
Midori's smile eased slightly, "That would be wonderful, Suguha. How far away are they? Maybe your father can come home to see you compete, and I am sure your brother would love to come."
Imploring eyes turned toward Kazuto, and he fixed his gaze onto the wooden table.
It's not that he didn't want to support Suguha or anything, it's just that . . . Keno brought up memories he would much rather forget.
"Our family's sword form is the Wakakashi. We walk the path between the seen and unseen, and you are the perfect embodiment of it. Or you will be, once I am done training you."
Kazuto shoved the familiar, rasping voice back down into the depths of his mind and forced himself to pay attention to the conversation of his family as he gave a slightly shaky smile. "I . . . um, might be a little busy," Suguha's face dropped and he hurried to continue, "but it's a while away, right? I'll see if I can clear some time."
Her bright smile was worth the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"That reminds me," their Mother snapped her fingers and turned toward Kazuto again, "Have you decided on what high school you're going to apply for? Acceptance tests are coming up soon."
And there goes his appetite. Kazuto carefully rested his chopsticks by his plate. "I am thinking about Naomaka Technical School," he commented lightly, watching her reaction. Sure enough, he saw her face drop and her smile dim.
"Naomaka . . . Technical? Are you . . . sure? You're quirk isn't really suited for that, you know, so they might not accept you."
Kazuto's knuckles whitened. "I can at least try, right?"
His mother's eyes flickered to the side. "Of course you can try, honey. I just want you to have a back up plan, just in case things don't quite go the way that you want them. I was talking to your grandfather the other day, and he said that he's already got recommendations lined up for any hero school that you want to go to-"
Wood screeched as it scraped across the ground and there was a low, warbling growl echoing through the air. Kazuto's hands trembled where they were clenched on top of the wood as he bit back his automatic response. Quietly, he let out a soft sigh and backed away from the table, eyes shadowed. "I am going to sit outside for a moment."
"Kazuto," his mother began, eyes wide, but he ignored her as he spun around and stalked outside, the air around him rippling until he'd completely faded from view.
Midori sighed slightly and slumped back into her chair and glanced at her daughter. "Sorry you had to see that, Suguha."
"Mn," Suguha shook her head, "It's okay, Mother. You know that he just doesn't really like the idea of hero school."
Midori dropped her head to look at her folded hands, "I just . . . I want the best for him, you know? And he has a wonderful opportunity in front of him. Several pro heroes your grandfather has spoken to are already interested in taking him on as an intern, and his quirk-"
"Kazu would be an amazing hero," Suguha nodded and then glanced away, "but . . . I think that he should make his own choices. Is Grandfather pushing for Kazu to make a decision again?"
A soft sigh came from Midori's direction, "Yes. He is. If he's going to put in a recommendation, it needs to be soon."
Suguha nodded and glanced in the direction that her brother had vanished. Gently, she pushed her chair back and stood up, "I'll go talk to him."
The air outside was crisp and cold. Suguha tugged the jacket she'd slipped on before she left a little tighter around her shoulders as she stepped out. Long shadows decorated the porch, cast by the moonlight overhead. Silently, she settled down on the edge of the first step and leaded against the support beam, glancing to her left. She may not be able to see him, but she knew her brother, and she knew where he always went when he needed to calm down.
"Hey, Kazu," he murmured softly as she turned her attention back toward the night sky and the twinkling stars above them.
For a moment there was silence before the patch of empty air besides her rippled with a sigh. "Hello, Sugu."
Suguha smiled and leaned back slightly. When they were children, Suguha had known that there was something special about her older brother. The way he always stood up for what he believed in, and kept other people from bugging her, made him her hero. Even if he didn't want to acknowledge it.
Other people only saw his quirk: Moonshadow. Don't get her wrong, it was an amazing quirk. Just like the reflection of the moon on water, Kazuto could be both here and not here. Seen, and unseen. He could walk the path of a reflection, a mirror image that could only be touched when he decided.
It was the perfect quirk for a hero. But Kazuto was more than just his quirk.
Suguha wrapped her arm around her knees and plopped her chin on her folded legs. "Do you ever feel," she began softly, "as if your life has been planned out from the moment you were born?"
Air rippled with wisps of black as Kazuto faded back into view, caution on his face.
"It's just," she didn't let him have time to speak up, as she knew he was about to, "I sometimes wonder what it was like before quirks, you know? What did people do when their path wasn't set in stone by what they were gifted with?"
She reached down and pulled up several stocks of taller grass and began shredding them nervously, "Were they . . . were they happier, do you think?"
Kazuto sat up, gazing at her warily out of the corner of his eyes. "I don't know, maybe," he grunted softly, "Sugu, what brought this up?"
Suguha tightened her grip on her legs, "Kazu, what if I told you that I wanted to be a hero?"
So that I can protect you, just like you have always protected me.
Kazuto's breath hitched, and she looked away.
The unspoken question hovered in the air between them, a heavy silence.
Would you follow me, if I decided to go down that path?
0~o~0
"Sword Art Online is a technical wonder. The perfect blend of computer and quirk, Kayaba Akihiko has performed a miracle in the form of an alternate reality, as real as our own."
"What does this say about the future of virtual reality?"
"I'd say it says a lot more about reality itself, honestly."
0~o~0
Kazuto stood blankly next to the tall, white haired man in the large gym room. There were several other pro heroes scattered around that he could recognize, each with their own chosen protege by their side. There was a boy next to him with grey hair who kept sending him odd looks out of the corner of his eye, as if he were silently trying to figure out who he was.
Which would make sense. Grandfather had been an underground hero, and he'd been retired for close to a decade. Chances are, no one here would even recognize him.
Of course, it could also be that the other was just trying to figure out his quirk.
Kazuto sucked in a deep, calming breath as the examiner stepped through the doors.
Remember, you're doing this for Suguha.
Even if he despised his quirk, even if he hated the idea of heroes and villains, even if all he could see was the world turning to fire around him -
I can't let Suguha struggle through this on her own.
The first couple of students were called forward to demonstrate their quirks. One of them had some kind of mist quirk, while another showed off an analytical prowess that had several of the other pros perking up. The examiner stayed blank, occasionally writing down something on his clipboard.
"Kirigaya, Kazuto!"
A firm hand pressed into his back as a warm breath hissed past his ear -
"Don't disappoint me."
-and then he was stepping forward, reality rippling around him. He stopped in the center of the room and looked the examiner square in the eyes. The man glanced up and quirked one eyebrow, as if to ask what he was waiting for.
Kazuto's expression didn't even twitch. One moment he was standing still, the next he was directly in front of the examiner, staring him down with his blank, blank eyes.
And like any trained hero, the examiner reacted by hurling his clipboard at the suddenly too close student. The thin wood tore through Kazuto's middle like a knife through paper, and his entire form wavered. The examiner stared at the black wisps floating up from his form, and then back to Kazuto's blank eyes. With the smallest of smirks, Kazuto let his image vanish as he appeared behind the examiner and pressed a single finger between his shoulder blades, making the man stiffen.
"Kazuto Kirigaya," he spoke, just as all of the others had before him, "Quirk: Moonshadow."
The examiner backed away quickly, watching him with wide eyes as he picked up his clipboard and cleared his throat. "Ah, very good, Mr. Kirigaya. You can step back in line, now. Thank you for your demonstration."
Kazuto nodded, his face falling back into its blank mask.
Remember, this is for Suguha.
0~o~0
Two weeks later, the acceptance letter arrives. In six months, he will be joining the illustrious UA High School for promising young heroes.
His mother cheers, his father makes sure to call home to congratulate him, and his sister comes to him later and thanks him for not leaving her behind.
His grandfather just nods, as if everything is going to plan.
Kazuto throws up dinner, puts his brittle mask back on, and smiles blankly for his family.
The fire in his memories roars ever louder.
0~o~0
Kazuto stares down at the package sitting oh so innocently on his bed. He bought it with what little he'd managed to save up, without the knowledge of his family. He didn't want to disappoint them, not now that they were so happy with his choices but -
Now, more than anything, he just wanted to escape.
Even if I am going to have to pretend to be a hero, I don't have to all the time. Even if it's just for a few hours every few days, that will be enough.
The cardboard under his fingers felt rough as he gently opened it and pulled out the plastic wrapped case. On the cover, the floating castle of Aincrad soared high in the sky.
Sword Art Online.
Home.
0~o~0
"Cardinal," short brown hair waived in non-existent wind as the tall figure floated amidst dozens of computer screens, eyes glowing a faint blue what white coat flowing around him. Through the screens, he could see person after person appearing in a blaze of pixels in the plaza of the Town of Beginnings. "Begin phase two."
"Initiating Phase Two," a robotic, feminine voice echoed through the dark room, "Administrator lock-down commencing -"
0~o~0
And there you have it. Finally, a version of chapter 2/1 that I am happy with! It only took me three rewrites, two colds, and writers block to get it out!
Please let me know what you think! Again, please do not copy this to any other site.
Sneak peek of next chapter:
"I am not a hero nor a villain, and indeed neither of those exist in this world.
We are all, together, simply human."
(Posted: 5/21/2020)