hello, this is my second SAO fic, my other one is called Shadow Reaper. Writing quality gets better as it goes on. Thanks in advanced! Please leave a review!

It was raining on this late November afternoon/early evening as I run from my friend's house to home. The date is Wednesday, November first, twenty twenty two. The rain was soaking into my dark clothes as I ran, hoping to keep off the early chill signaling the coming of winter, and failing. I raised my dark backpack over my head, and that helped a little. 'So what if I sacrifice my Algebra II homework? I would rather not catch the flu!'. I splashed in a puddle on the sidewalk, now my new shoes are wet. I dashed through the posh neighborhood, and arrived at my house in San Jose, California.

I pulled out my key, on the front porch shielded from the rain. I inserted it into the lock, and slowly turned. I then eased the door open, glad the hinges were oiled recently. I snuck in, stepping carefully to keep my wet shoes from squeaking. Once inside, I kicked off the offending shoes, and carried them as I walked through the old-style house.

It was three stories tall, the first floor being the kitchen, living, and dining rooms, with an office(that was rarely used), second and third floors were the bedrooms. The house was a five bed, six bath house, and it was styled after the colonial times. Wood walls, wood floors, wood doors, wood ceilings. I almost made it to (you guessed it!) wooden stairs, when a booming voice called out through the house, making the very foundation shake. "STEPHEN NATHUS, GET IN HERE NOW!" The voice came from my mother, the owner of the house.

Her family left her with a large inheritance, many millions of dollars, and she married my father, who is living off of money his family left him, another many millions of dollars, and stock investments.

I walked into the office. Inside, bookshelves dominated the walls, with a single desk in the center, with a Windows computer on top of it. My mother had her glasses on, and was looking at the screen.

"Algebra II, eighty nine,Chemistry, eighty seven, English II, eighty eight, Japanese, one hundred, world history Advanced Placement, eighty five, computer science Advanced Placement, ninety, animation, ninety two." She took off her glasses, and flipped a strand of bleach-blonde hair out of her eyes. "Explain now!" She demanded, not looking from the screen.

My family wants me to be perfect. To make perfect grades, have perfect manners, look perfect, and none of that has even become close to achieved. I was great in school, I just never did my work on time, causing point deductions for being late. "I have been focusing on other things right now…." I replied tentatively.

"And, what in the name of everything holy, have you been focusing on?" She demanded, and started typing on the computer.

'My social life, making friends, and the like' I thought, but my words were way different. "Public relations." I hoped she wouldn't understand what that meant.

"So… your social life… you spend way too much time with that girl. " she said, still focusing on the computer. She was referring to Natsuki, my friend, and Japanese foreign exchange student. "And why is this more important than your studies?" She took off her white rimmed glasses, and looked at me. "And why in the hell is your hair a different color?"

I averted my eyes at the mention of my now white hair. Earlier that day, I had my friend named Natsuki dye it, from it's natural dark brown. "I… I like it better this way" I muttered.

"What are you going to do next? Wear colored contact lenses?" She scoffed. I winced, that being exactly what I was going to do, turning my blue eyes black. "And, why is your Japanese score higher than your English score?"

'This brings me to what I actually want to talk about!' I thought. I opened my mouth, but at that moment, the front door opened, and slammed shut.

My father came into the room. "Hello, family!" He said, patting my back, and hugging Mother. After letting go of her, he looked at the computer screen in front of her. "What do we have here?" He read the results, and sighed. "Stephen, come with me." He walked out, his suit swishing on his body. I obeyed.

He led me to the kitchen, where he took off his jacket, and lay it over a wooden chair by the bar countertop. He then opened a wine refrigerator below the counter, and pulled out a red wine. He looked at the label, and grunted with satisfaction. He reached into a cabinet above him, and withdrew two glasses, filling one with wine, and putting a few mouthfuls in the other. He pushed the less filled one towards me, but I shook my head, hating the taste of alcohol. He shrugged, and downed mine in one gulp.

"How to put this" he started in his gruff baritone voice, scratching at the dark brown stubble appearing on his chin. "Your mother may seem overly strict, but she just wants what is best for you. Ever since you were little, we saw that you have a keen intellect, and you have proven that by skipping a few grades!" He let out a little chuckle. He sipped at his red wine, and replaced the bottle. "Only thirteen, and a sophomore in High School!" He chuckled again. "She just knows that if you wanted to, you could already be halfway through a university!"

"But I want to be a game designer! I want to go to Japan, and work with Sony!" I said, exasperated.

He sighed, putting the now three quarters full glass down. "And I know that, and I support you"

"She doesn't!" I snapped. "She wants me to stay in America, to go to Harvard, and be a fucking lawyer!"

"Hey, watch your language. She is your mother." he growled.

"Yessir" I lowered my head.

"She thinks that you will be more successful in the law field than in the game programming field, she just wants you to have a fulfilling life. By the way, how come you are making a perfect score in Japanese?" He asked.

'Finally, time to make my proposal'. "I think Mom should be in here for this." I said.

He nodded, and called out "Hey, Martha! We are in the kitchen. I think you should be in here".

We heard the sound of her six inch high heels clomping on the wood. She came in, a sapphire blue dress hugging her perfectly shaped body. "Yes?" She challenged.

I stood up, brushing some of my white hair out of my eyes. I breathed in deeply, and exhaled, pulling a folded sheet of paper out of my pocket that somehow remained dry. I unfolded it, and started my proposition.

"I have been chosen for the foreign exchange program, a chance for me to study in another country" I started.

"What country?" My mother cut in.

"Japan" I answered.

"Isn't that where that girl is from?" My mother asked.

"Yes"

"When is she leaving, by the way?"

"Friday, in two days." I said.

"Hmm… and when do you leave?"

"Same day" I said slowly, not liking where this was headed.

"And what family is taking you in?"

"Hers'"

"Hmm" she squinted, already against it.

My father checked his watch. "Well, would you look at the time! It's already nine! Time for bed, son!" He came over, and hugged me, whispering "Don't worry, I'll butter her up for you." I backed away, mumbling thanks, and walked up the stairs.

First, I went to my bedroom to grab a set of nightclothes. Then I went to the bathroom, to shower and change. Feeling the almost scalding water run over my body felt like bliss after the freezing rain.

'I wonder if Mother is going to accept it' I thought to myself. I stood there, staring at the white tile wall in front of me. 'If she doesn't, I know that Father won't let me go'. I sighed as the steam rose, it was a sigh of exasperation and bliss.

I shut the shower off, and got out. After drying myself, I sneezed. 'Damnit!' I cursed. 'I ran as fast as I could, but I still got sick!' I sneezed again before I could continue my mental berating.

I dressed in the loose flannel shirt and pants, gathered up my other clothes, and left the hot bathroom. I walked across the hall towards my bedroom, and walked in. I shut the door, and heaved a sigh. I dumped my clothes into a hamper in the corner of the room. It was about three hundred fifty square feet, with a queen size bed in a corner. The walls were soundproof, as well as the door, so I was isolated in the room. The walls were a deep, dark purple, my favorite color. The carpet was also purple. I had a mahogany desk next to my bed, with drawers. I walked over to the desk, and booted up the pc on top of it. After it booted, I opened Skype, and sent Natsuki a pm.

"Hey, you up?" After sending the message, I made sure my webcam was hooked up right.

"Hai" was her response. She continued in Japanese. "Want to talk?"

"Hai" I answered in her native language. I looked at the intercom above my pc, and saw it was turned off. It was there so my parents could call me from anywhere in the house. I opened a drawer, and pulled out my headphones. I plugged them into the pc, on the side audio jack, and she called on Skype. I answered.

Her picture came online, and we waved to each other. I pulled the microphone down from the headset I was wearing.

"'Sup" she said, a similar set on her head.

"Nothing, you?"

"Nothing, except Algebra is kicking my ass!" She had bubblegum pink hair, with cotton candy blue highlights. Her eyes were naturally black, and I saw she didn't have her colored contacts in.

"Ha!" I teased. She knew I am a math god. "Shoot!"

And for the next fifteen minutes, she would give me a math problem, and I would solve it in my head, and without giving her the answer, walk her through it.

"Damn, how are you so good at this?" She asked, her mouth agape.

"Easy!" I laughed. "I just ask her the lesson plan, and google how to do it the night before. But staying awake during class helps also"

She snorted, waving me off. "Yeah, yeah. Hey, how did the 'rents like your hair?"

I lowered my eyes from my screen. "Eh, you can take a guess"

Ever since she arrived early this past summer, her and I immediately got along. I was wicked smart, able to solve any problem in my head, and was bullied for it. She was the noob, and she was bullied for that, and everyone thought that because she was Asian, she would be good at all of this. The reality was very close to the truth. If she paid attention in class, she would make perfect scores on everything.

"Well, have you pitched the idea of coming to Japan with me?" She asked.

"Yeah, I even gave my dad the paper."

"Aaannnnddddd…." she waved me on.

"And my dad said he would butter my mother up" was my answer.

"Shoulda seen it commin'" she pulled out a small box out of her pocket, and popped some gum into her mouth.

"So, wanna play somethin'?" She asked.

"Sure, what you got in mind?" I immediately knew her answer though.

"Yugioh, of course!" She cried.

"And I should have seen that coming" I smiled at her, as I drew out a flash drive, plugging it into the pc. I pulled up the up the game, and challenged her. After about another hour, I checked the time on my screen, after I lost…. again at the card game she introduced me to during the summer.

"Hey, gotta go. I at least sleep during the night…. unlike a certain pink haired friend I know….." I teased.

"Whatevs Stephen-chan" she said. We both waved.

"Bye" I said.

"Later"

I signed off. After checking my email, I shut the pc off. I took the headset off my head, and put it back in the drawer.

I then pulled out what looked like a military grade earwig from the beginning of the century. The main differences between the military issue and mine were that mine have much better sound quality, range, and battery life. And Bluetooth capability. I put one in each ear, and connected them to my phone, turning on some Apocalyptica, which I listened to until I fell asleep, at which point, the music auto shut off.