Chapter 2: Fighting and Resolving
AN: I do not own Sword Art Online in any way, shape, or form, at most I own the plot and OCs.
In her room Hikari was lying on her back staring at the ceiling. She was wondering why her ani-kun had brought up change. She thought it had been odd and couldn't really believe her brother's words. After all, they cared for each other right? It shouldn't matter if they change or don't. Did he find her intolerable now that he had changed? Hikari really didn't get her ani-kun sometimes. Maybe it was because he was 25 and she was 18. Did he finally think the age gap was disgusting and that they should stop hanging out? Maybe he thought that the games she loved were sad and pathetic since they were so juvenile. But Hikari enjoyed the games because they were juvenile. Since she knew everything about the games schematics it meant it was easy to beat. It wasn't really boring for her. For what reason she didn't know.
Hikari rolled over and began fiddling with her action figures. She had so many, however, several of them were stored in her brother's work room for when she watched him or joined him for company. Even though most of the time she was content, Hikari got lonely often which is why she hung around her brother so often. It made her feel not so lonely. Perhaps a childish reason, but Hikari didn't really care. She loved her brother and would go to the ends of the earth for him. She could only hope that he would do the same for her.
To take her mind off the argument they had Hikari began thinking of her avatar. As usual she would prefer being well-rounded rather than specializing in a certain trait. Maybe if she played long enough she would max out all of the skills. That would be simple right? Hikari rolled the idea around in her head before coming to the same realization as she had in her games, no it wouldn't be easy and it would take time. It always took time, but as the very first Beta-Tester she would have more time than usual. Besides, her...Akihiko would probably take her suggestions and put them in the game, meaning she'd know the game schematics rather well, since she had come up with them. Hikari glanced at her 3DS before sighing and putting her arm over her eyes. It was late... and Hikari promptly fell asleep.
The next morning at 8 AM Hikari woke up and looked at her door. Normally Akihiko would have woken her up an hour earlier and make her breakfast. Hikari sighed as she stood up from bed and headed into the kitchen. Unsurprisingly Akihiko wasn't there, but to her surprise there was breakfast. Steamed rice, miso soup, and tamagoyaki topped off by a glass of Ryokucha. Hikari smiled morosely, even still her brother looked out for her. She ate quietly, wondering what she should do. The food tasted amazing, incredibly tasteful, but her brother was talented, she really couldn't expect much less since she's eaten his food for almost her entire life. She wandered about the house, which really wasn't too huge considering it had roughly eleven rooms. Okay, fine, some people might consider that several rooms, but Hikari wasn't interested in caring at the moment. Suddenly there was a noise behind her and Hikari spun on her heel to find herself face to face with her brother. He looked at her before speaking softly,
"I didn't mean to offend you last night, you know that right?" Hikari merely eyed him not responding. Akihiko sighed, "Imoto-chan..." He looked at her carefully, "If you wanted to know I added all of your items that you suggested last night. And the world is ready if you want to play again." Hikari remained silent before walking past him into his work area. She reached out to hold the NerveGear and glanced at the doorway where her brother lingered. Soundlessly she disconnected the NerveGear and all the equipment needed with it, before carrying it out of the room to take it into her room. Akihiko's eyes followed her movements before he released a quiet breath. At least she hadn't yelled at him.
Hikari entered her room and began setting the NerveGear up. She put it on and muttered, "Link Start." She was transported to the corridor in front of the boss room. She pushed the door open right after she equipped the proper supplies, Midnight Coat, Bloody Katana, and Dragon Boots. She entered and a Rev the Troll King was in front of her. Cyclops surrounded her and Hikari lashed out with anger. What right did her brother have to judge her? So what if other people changed? Why wasn't she allowed to stay the same? Who did those idiots in America think they were? Hikari wasn't even paying attention to the battle as she completely decimated the cyclops. Soon enough there was only Rev left. Hikari roared,
"No one beats Ai-Chan the Crimson Avenger! Not Heathcliff! Not her parents! Not any Beta-Tester! Ai-Chan is the Scarlet Bitch! The Roaring Flames of Hell! She's the Devil herself!" Her blade streamed at her side, glowing black, horizontal as she jumped up slashing up and to her left. Before she landed she twisted into a cyclone, "Tornado Slash!" The sword gleamed yellow as it landed four hits in her spinning. The boss abruptly roared back at Hikari and its own blade, a club, swung at her. Hikari swept backwards before charging, recklessly, forward. Rev swept the club side to side, but Hikari sailed through the air completely avoiding the attack. "Even Rev the Troll King can't escape Ai-Chan the Roaring Flames of Hell wrath!" She initiated the attack Starburst and the boss twitched before exploding into blue shards. Hikari's eyes remained red with anger rather than excitement. Then the door into the opened revealing Heathcliff. Unfortunately there were no dead corpses as they had all vanished.
Hikari turned on her brother, eyes still red. Heathcliff waited for her to speak. "I am Ai-Chan the Crimson Avenger. The Scarlet Bitch. The Roaring Flames of Hell. The Devil. Who are you to judge me?" Heathcliff's grey eyes were calm as he answered,
"I am Heathcliff the Eternal Prince. I am the Man of Legend. The Paladin. I wield the Holy Sword and Liberator." Ai-Chan's eyes narrowed,
"You judge me still?" Heathcliff shook his head,
"I do not Crimson Avenger. Scarlet Bitch. Roaring Flames of Hell. Devil. There is nothing for me to judge. No reason." Ai-Chan then turned her back on her brother,
"Very well then Eternal Prince. Man of Legend. Wielder of the Holy Sword and Liberator. I shall take my leave." She then swept out the door to level three. Akihiko stared after his sister before following her. He wondered if she was taking this game too far. He exited the dungeon after her, thankfully she was still in sight. He called out to her,
"Ai-Chan, I just wanted to let you know, the one thousand other Beta-Testers have been chosen." Ai-Chan paused for but a moment before she continued onto the mountain. Heathcliff activated his ID and watched his sister. She had already leveled up to 22. That was fast considering when they left she had been level 15 and he had been 14. He considered the fact that she had beaten Rev the Troll King and his 25 cyclop minions, which would give her an EXP boost. He glanced at his own level, which was still 14. He was going to need to catch up to his sister and soon. He quickly edited his avatar so he looked an adult with brown hair and green eyes. He was lean and he also switched to grey armor. He exchanged his Holy Sword and Liberator for his Metal Pin (a rapier type sword that looked similar to a needle but is fairly strong, becomes available on the second level of Aincrad) and Black Scale (a black round shield made out of dragon scales, becomes available on the fifteenth level of Aincrad). He turned around to the dungeon and quickly began fighting the numerous monsters that had begun spawning. He called this process 'leveling'.
Heathcliff fought, seeking to one hit kill all of his opponents, he would not let them kill him. He needed to at least match his sister's level or rise above it. So he slashed and stabbed, primarily stabbing, the small wolf-like creatures. There were dozens of them and Heathcliff was glad that he had chosen to up his Strength, Defense, and Stamina stats. He defeated almost 50 of them before he started to notice that even the wolves he wasn't attacking were crying. He looked up for a moment and saw his sister fighting through them as well with her Blood Thorn. She called it her Bloody Katana, but the proper name was Blood Thorn. Ai-Chan was not only slashing the creatures, but when they got too close she kicked them away with the same power. Not for the first time Heathcliff was proud of his imoto-chan. Finally the two stood back to back. Heathcliff inquired,
"Have you forgiven me yet Ai-Chan-san?" Ai-Chan merely answered,
"We will see about that ani-kun." Heathcliff took that positively and began attacking the creatures even harder with harsher and more powerful techniques. Then he heard a question, "Why did you change your gear?"
"I will use that gear and avatar in the actual game, not for Beta-Testers to see. Except you of course."
"What is your opinion of the Beta-Testers?"
"They are only there to double check the system. But Cardinal does not need human input."
"Make sure Cardinal doesn't stop the Mental Health Programs from working, such as Yui, Akane, and Akemi."
"Will do imoto-chan."
"Thought you'd never call me that again."
"You called me ani-kun first. I assumed that was you giving me permission to call you imoto-chan again. Am I wrong?"
"I don't want you to call me by my name. Imoto-chan sounds so much better."
"Then I better not hear you calling me Akihiko again."
"Very well ani-kun." Soon enough the triolfs or wolves made of trees were all dead. The two siblings turned to face each other again.
"I forgive you ani-kun, but please never bring up that subject again."
"Okay imoto-chan."
"What's your level ani-kun?"
"21."
"24." The two siblings laughed and headed back to the town to get 'food'. In actuality it was lunch time and the two were going to log out. They stood before the third floor dungeon before saving and logging out simultaneously. Once back in the real world Hikari smiled at her brother,
"I'm glad we stopped fighting. I didn't like it." Akihiko nodded,
"I agree. Let's try to never fight again." He looked at her seriously, "Also, please don't continue using the NerveGear in your room. I'm much more comfortable when we are in the same room when we are using it." Hikari shrugged,
"Sure no problem ani-kun." Akihiko grinned,
"Now what shall we have for lunch?" Hikari wondered,
"Would you be able to cook American foods?" Akihiko chuckled,
"Why not?" Hikari smiled,
"Then let's try some of those famous American hamburgers!"
"Sounds like a plan imoto-chan." Hikari hopped onto a bar stool in the kitchen to watch her brother cook. She didn't do this often, but she was curious how her brother would handle this challenge. She gazed at him calmly, all signs of their feud over. She didn't say a word as she watched him mix up various ground meats, spices, and other types of food. He shaped the patties with his hands and Hikari watched in fascination. Once again Hikari was awed by her brother, he was so used to cooking Japanese foods, yet he transitioned over to cooking American foods with such ease. She remained silent as he put the 'slabs' of meat on the grill they used to make teriyaki chicken. About ten minutes late of watching the burgers Akihiko flipped them over and waited another 10 minutes.
He turned around and smiled at his little sister, "Well, I'm done, ready to try it?" Hikari beamed,
"I'd like to try anything you make Ani-kun! I'm sure it will be absolutely delicious. Like anything that you make!" He served her a burger, with the full works. She eagerly picked it up and bit off a piece. Her obsidian eyes lighting up, "This is good ani-kun! You should open your own restaurant!" Akihiko looked at her softly, chuckling,
"It certainly sounds like a good idea, but I'm not into being in the kitchen all day." Hikari rolled her eyes,
"Yet you're content to stay on the computer all day." Akihiko pretended to think before answering,
"Yup, that's about right imoto-chan." The two siblings laughed together as Hikari finished her burger and Akihiko ate his quickly to catch up to his sister. Hikari turned towards her brother,
"When will the Beta-Testers be joining us again?" Akihiko answered,
"I expect them to start as soon as they can manage, meaning tomorrow." Hikari sighed,
"I suppose that means you'll be restarting the game." Akihiko laughed,
"Oh, they'll start at the beginning imoto-chan. Only we will have access to the levels we have already unlocked. They will have to wait until they re-beat the boss before they can move on." Hikari fist-pumped,
"Yeah! That means we have a head-start ani-kun!" Akihiko nodded sagely,
"That is true imoto-chan. As moderators we will have access to everything." Hikari smiled viciously,
"Once the real game begins, no one will dare get in my way. I won't let them!" Most people wouldn't have taken Hikari seriously. They didn't know her but Akihiko did. He knew that once his sister dedicated herself to something she would go all the way through. It was year 2200 and Hikari had often made goals and completed them with a certain amount of ease many people would be jealous of. She never showed any sign of stress, but her talents had displayed that she was not someone you wanted to mess with. Akihiko nodded in agreement,
"I believe you imoto-chan. I look forward to seeing you in action." Hikari nodded at her brother before leaving the room. She called out behind her,
"I'll be back here at midnight to start playing so don't expect me for breakfast!" Akihiko didn't reply double-checking Sword Art Online's codes.