AN - Here is the chapters quirky AN where I just write something rather random and probably unrelated to the story, I would Waifu Konno Yuuki over Asuna anytime. If you don't include Alice that is. Really like her.

Update - Cousins came over again. This time they broke my nightlight, I know, "Dakumun, why do you have one? Can't you just sleep in the dark?" The thing is I can but I practically have hallucinations of some spooky stuff or "monsters" when I look into the dark. Childish, I know but it freaks me the hell out. Makes me question my sanity. It isn't that bad though, I swear! Anyway I'm super duper tired!

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Chapter 2 - Second Day of Beta

Konno Yuuki was having a great time in Sword Art Online now, not only has she not died yet for a full day, she was even able to befriend an overpowered player. She at least believed he was an overpowered player with his weapons and how fast he killed the PKer. She also believed he wasn't since he didn't even know about the beginners town where everyone starts at. Well, she did know one thing for sure and it was that he was much stronger than her.

Today was a new day for her and she already knew what she had to do while she still had time too. And it was getting Shirou to teach her some cool things. Even if the beta was about to end maybe she could still have the knowledge on how to use it when the full release comes out. It was a big maybe.

She sat up from her bed with a good nights sleep and stretched her joints. She didn't have the luxury to do that in the real world so she got to experience in the virtual world at least. With her short stretch she hopped off the bed and equipped her armor, which was a purple light armor that matched her hair and was made more for agility than defending the user.

It wasn't the best but it was something at least. With that done she excitedly ran out of her room and towards Shirou's which just so happened to be unlocked. She breathed in and out and prepared her entrance. "Shirou! Wake up~!" Slamming the door open with a loud bang she was greeted with Shirou already up and checking his menu.

Aww. She wanted to wake him up.

It didn't wake him up as she wanted it too, but it did startle him as his body tensed and he was already in the motion of tracing Kanshou and Bakuya only to stop when he noticed it was Zekken. Too Zekken it seemed he was about to equip his two falchions.

When he noticed that it was just Zekken he continued to look at his menu, more specifically his skills. It listed off multiple skills he had before being forcefully brought into Sword Art Online by... something. It showed his skills like, Projection, Reinforcement, Unlimited Blade Works, and even a skill called The Unparalleled Cook.

The last one confused him the most, his cooking wasn't that great was it?

Anyway back to the reason why his undivided attention was upon the skill menu was for one reason and one reason only. How did the system even know of his ability's? After asking everything about the game and how it was ran from Zekken, he came to the realization that Sword Art Online wasn't maintained by a human - or humans - rather a machine and how did the machine find out about him.

Well, he knew how the said 'machine' find out about it and it was because the Cardinal System - as it was called - monitored everything in the game. From the monster spawns, to 'item drops,' and even skills.

"Shirou! Are you going to teach me some cool sword tricks now?"

With a simple hand motion he watched as the menu disappear as if it were never there and sighed. Maybe he could teach her some things, especially since she bought a place for him to stay for a bit. He stood up, "I can try, I'm not a great teacher though."

Zekken waved him off and gave him a smile, "It's fine it's fine, as long as you try your best that's all that matters right?"

"You can say that." He walked out of his room and waited for her to lead the way which she did and ran down the stairs with him following behind.

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Zekken listened intently as Shirou finished his lecture on everything she did right, what she did wrong, and how she could improve. Granted there were many things she did wrong and many areas she could improve in, but even as she learned this she soaked up everything he told her, from something as basic as twisting her body more to as advanced as a full set of moves that she had no idea how to do.

She had to admit, it wasn't working as she expected. What she expected was that maybe learning from another player as they would teach, the system would help them along the way. Turns out that wasn't true and she had to do everything as if it were real life. She loved it!

From simple things like over working ones body to doing swordsmanship had her excited over these new feelings. But she remembered that tomorrow would be the final day of beta testing which bummed her out considerably.

So they spent the hours out in the grassy fields of the 1st Floor. Shirou would teach her quite literally anything she asked to learn and she asked about the weapons he had wielded during their first meeting. He told her that they were married swords - don't ask her she didn't know! - named Kanshou and Bakuya and offered a little history lesson on the swords.

If she were to be honest with herself the swords history didn't exactly sound like something from a game like SAO but more like something that originated from China. She just thought that the game took some inspiration from real life and implanted it into the game to add some diversity.

But besides talking about his sword's history he also taught her how to better use her sword and since she wielded a long sword with only one hand he seemingly switched styles and his stance into one similar to hers but more refined if she had to say a word to describe it. She also caught him a few times staring intently at her direction.

She knew she exposed her thighs a bit but it wasn't too much right? Right?! It turned out her worry was unnecessary as he was staring at the sword instead of her thighs. She noticed how his face scrunched up the first time he looked towards it but she thought he was repelled by her outfit instead.

She asked him about it and he snapped out of his daze and just told her it was a skill of his. It wasn't very helpful since the skill could be anything, so with further questions he caved in and told her he could see the history of the sword.

She was confused such a skill even existed and how she just heard of it now like, come on, you can't hide something for long especially since knowledge hungry players lurked about doing research about every single potential and current skills.

So they continued her training throughout the day with no need of any sustenance since eating and drinking - while they could still taste and eat/drink it - didn't really translate to their real bodies, or at least in Zekken's case since Shirou didn't know if he even had a body outside of SAO.

ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʕ•̫͡•ʔ•̫͡•ʔ

Kirko stared into the ever-blue sky's of the first floor with no reason whatsoever. She didn't exactly know what to do for that matter, she remembered the events from yesterday and how she needed to, no it was too strong of a word, wanted to question the redhead named Shirou about it. The curiosity was beginning to kill her and with no clue whatsoever to find him she took up some quick and easy quest to let her frustrations out on not finding the boy.

So she pulled out her menu and went to the quest tab and saw her current active quest.

[Quest: Overpopulation]

[Info: Speaking to one of the locals you learned that recently there has been a sudden increase in the population of Dire Wolves and they have been causing trouble for the locals and have been asked if you could deal with it.]

[Requirement: Kill 20 Dire Wolves {0}]

She sighed, by this point in the beta all of the quests had been completed in the first 5 Floors and there weren't many quest out there that both let you lash out at something and relax at the same time. This was one of those few quest that weren't too hard nor too difficult. Even if it was a quest from the first floor you could still suddenly find yourself surrounded if your luck was that bad.

But by this point the stat system was still undergoing improvements and wasn't final as stated in the forums. So it was maybe like one of those games where you could quite literally brute force your way through the game with strength alone or put all of your stats in luck and seemingly dodge everything. That was somewhat good though, dodge healers were good after all but not used too much.

Back to the point at hand instead of attributing her points into a single area she tried to spread it out more and made it fit her style. Said style being mainly strength and agility. Don't forget about luck though, RNG was important. She learned the hard way.

She stood up from the grass and went towards a normal grinding area that players tried not to abuse because the system would instantly detect it and change it to who knows where.

Walking towards her destination she continued to think about her future with SAO. Since the beta was ending tomorrow on the 31st and the official release was near an examination week. While this did deter her she still had a benefit that only beta players like herself had, it was of course preordering the game. She of course developed a way to succeed in school while enjoying the game as much as possible, studying all day.

It didn't really matter how long she studied for since she was a bit of a loner and barely had any plans currently so for the most part her schedule was clear for studying all day then relax by playing the game. It could work.

Soon she walked upon the familiar sight of dire wolves and noticed it's features once again. They were both grey and white in color, the main body and head being gray in color while it's legs, face, and the tips of it's tail were white.

They looked rather normal for the most part, that is if one ignored it's pure red eyes that glowed. It was still odd to see it. She sometimes would think that the creator should have just added actual eyes instead of glowing red spheres of hatred, but who was she to question what he chose to do and what not to do?

She bursted into action and pulled her long sword out of it's black sheath as she immediately swung it downward towards the now shocked monster. The dire wolf's head was cut off as it's body crumbled to the floor and already began to dematerialize. That was one.

The other nearby mobs took notice of her and bolted towards her and with one hand on her sword she leapt forward the second soon to be victim, as she did that she prepared to swing her sword sideways and straight through the dire wolf.

As she expected the dire wolf couldn't change it's direction mid jump so it ended up jumping into the path of her sword as a red line started from where her blade entered the dire wolf and exited out the other side in a straight line.

Dramatically she stopped a distance behind the wolf as it exploded into blue crystals. Make that two.

With that the rest charged into action at once, the first two that reached were to her left and right and both pounced towards her upper body so she quickly dodged towards another dire wolf that was waiting for it's time to strike. Turns out the dire wolf wasn't expecting her to attack it and she got another easy kill. And that was the third one.

Three more were quickly approaching and one lunged at her it's maw open and ready to snap on her neck. She brought her sword up to block the attack and the dire wolf met the taste of cold steel and the ground below them as she stepped forward and brought both the sword and the wolf behind her while kicking it off the sword.

While not a smart thing to do in real life it definitely made for a cool display when it worked and it did.

The two other wolves began to close in while one of the two wolves trailed behind the other so she moved forward to meet their assault. She sidestepped the first one and swung downwards yet again as she yet again one shot the under leveled mob, the second one predictably jumped at her so she decided to add some pizazz and spin underneath it and sliced deeply into it's stomach while doing so and added a cool pose at the end by putting her fingers on her face smirking.

It was cool okay?

So as time passed by as she played with the dire wolves and one shotting them dramatically she eventually finished the quest and turned it in to the NPC and now she was standing there awkwardly with nothing to do.

Trying not it embarrass herself she pulled down her menu and pretended to do something while she had no idea what to do. She decided first maybe she should look at the time and noticed that one, she spent longer than expected killing the dire wolves and two, it was beginning to get late.

Just when she decided it was time to take a break and get some food she heard a loud and excitable voice in the distance and turned her head towards the sound and saw it came from a short purple haired girl walking next to a taller red head individual that listened to everything she said.

She was about to look away when she remembered that familiar mop of red hair anywhere. That was lie, she just remembered it after forgetting it while fighting the Dire Wolves.

She decided to call for their - more specifically his - attention, "Sh-She-Sherou!" Yes she did forget his name but he still looked at who called for him and saw her.

She saw him then speak the girl again and after a while they both approached her, "Do you need something Kiriko?" Now she felt a bit embarrassed since she forgot his name yet he still remembered hers,.

"Yes! Yes I do need something, it's just a few questions though."

The purple haired girl decided to not include herself in the conversation and watch with curiosity, "I just wanted to talk about today's accident," he looked confused since he had no idea what she was talking about yet he let her continue, "we can continue this in private since this may be a bit personal?" She scratched her cheek.

He nodded and turned to the other girl, "I think this is where we part ways."

Huh, so they knew each other or something.

"What! No!" She protested by shooting her hands into the air, "I want to listen! Well, that is if you don't mind."

He thought about it and decided to let her tag alone seeing no harm in it. If only he knew how wrong he was.

They went towards the place Zekken had bought for him but she didn't need to know that, closing the door behind him with a click he stood up while he let the other two sit down on his bed since he didn't have any chairs in his room currently.

"So, what did you want to ask me?" Shirou had asked her.

"Well, it's regarding yesterday's explosion." She spoke to Shirou as she saw how he seemed more tense when she mentioned explosion.

"I'm sorry but I don't exactly know what explosion you're talking about."

"Are... Are you sure? I know I saw you in the news and you looked unconscious." She said with worry, who wouldn't? The girl with purple hair also seemed to be even more invested into their conversation when she mentioned that he was unconscious on the news.

Shirou stayed silent and she felt nervous in the silence while the two of them seemingly stared at her.

"You said I 'looked' unconscious, are you sure it was me? I don't even remember anything at all about being near an explosion."

She nodded at him, "I'm sure it was, you both look exactly the same. Well everyone on the news also saw how you had a scar that seemed to go through where your heart would be and out the other side like you were stabbed through the heart!"

He didn't seemed worried that people knew that, in fact he seemed like he didn't even care if people knew about it in the first place. He pulled at his collar and looked down into it and his eyes seemed to widen. Only what the two other occupants of the room could assume.

For Shirou though he saw that he still had the first major scarring of his life before it all changed for better or for worse. That and he felt like an idiot since he hasn't actually checked his body yet due to how fascinating the menu was. You can't blame him could you?

His eyes soon reverted to it's normal gaze and he only offered a simple, "Huh."

"'Huh'! Is what you say Shirou! How'd you even get that wound if what she is saying is true!" The purple haired girl spoke up for the first time and shouted at Shirou as he looked unfazed.

"It is true, but you don't have to worry though. I'm perfectly fine see?" He tried to prove his point by moving his arms towards the ceiling.

It was safe to say it didn't convince either of them since that was only his virtual self and not the actual one.

Kiriko sighed at him and could only predict a world of headaches if she continued to stay around him, "Even if what you say is true you should still at least try to be worried for yourself."

He nodded at her but she doubted he would actually listen to her, "So if that's it then do you need to ask me anything else?"

In response Kiriko nodded eagerly, "I also noticed that you weren't wearing a NerveGear, you know, how you get into the game? How exactly are you in here?"

He raised a brow at her and muttered a small, "maybe that's why I seem more... human." She didn't hear what he said yet she didn't want to know what he said as he spoke louder so they could hear him. "Do you expect me to know how I am here?"

She looked down dejectedly and spoke softly, "It would of made things easier to understand..."

He agreed with her, "I know how you feel... I think." His attempt at trying to sympathize with her failed remarkable. "Anyways what am I even suppose to do now? It's not like I can just log off without the possibility of killing myself or causing some permanent damage." Even if his desire for self preservation was low he had to draw a line somewhere.

For some people this would be good but if they heard his reason they would just face palm. The reason he drew the line there was because he didn't want to die while he could still help so many other people. Even if he were to die he hoped he would die helping someone.

She heard a familiar alert and a screen showed up for the alarm she had unknowingly set up during one point. Below it was a note that read, "Get off at 6:00 or face sisters wrath."

6:00? It was 6:00? She didn't expect to time to pass by so fast, she guessed it was just one of the things for getting too invested while playing a game. "Alright, I have to go. See you two later?"

The purple haired girl nodded, "See you next time! Oh and I'm Zekken!" The girl named Zekken finally introduced herself.

She gave a small wave before she logged off, "And I'm Kiriko."

As soon as she said those words they both watched as her avatar disappeared into blue crystal like shapes.

Zekken was also waving goodbye at her before she suddenly stopped and quickly turned around to face Shirou. She offered a smile he's seen too often, "So, what was that?"

He felt a small bead of sweat trail down his face, that is if avatars could sweat anyway, "Err, nothing?"

"Are you suree~?" She pressed on as he looked away and scratched his nape awkwardly, "Are you suree~?" She said it once more but this time she leaned forward and tilted her head.

He tried to avoid those eyes but no matter what he could feel them pierce him, "Y-Yes ma'am!" He said quickly.

He felt himself sweat more since she stared at him In silence as he prepared for the worst as he closed his eyes.

He heard the soft sounds of restrained giggling as he opening a single hair and saw how she covered her mouth with one hand and the other held her stomach. She finally bursted our laughing at him, "Y-You should of seen your face! You looked so scared like, 'Zekken-Chan~ don't hurt me!" She put the back of her hand against her forward while the other clutched her heart as she leaned backwards mockingly.

"Y-Your so funny Shirou! Has anyone told you that!" She broke out in laughter once more and asked him.

Shirou felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance but he still answered, "Maybe once or twice."

She took a moment to process what he said and began laughing again, at what he could only assume yet he could feel like he knew what it was.

"Alright, alright, we get it. We still haven't eaten yet though."

She took that opportunity to tease him, "I mean, we don't have to eat but if you want to take me out on a date..." she trailed off and she could see how red he looked. He decided to walk off and ignore her as a result, "W-Wait! Joking! Joking! I was joking!"

And so the rest of the day was spent doing everyday life thing in the world of Sword Art Online and they would occasionally go on a quest or two and if they didn't do that he would continue training her.

But during the night he couldn't help but recall the conversation he had with Kiriko, if what she said was true than maybe there was more than what meets the eye and he had a reason to be here instead of a particular someone just hurling him somewhere for the fun of it.

And so the beta was nearing it's end and he had no idea what would happen next.

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AN - With that this chapter is done. But I almost had a heart attack when something in my room suddenly creaked and my flashlight turned off while I was writing this in the middle of the night.

Besides that I'm sorry for the shorter chapter and what did you think of my latest chapter? Or my first ever detailed(?) fight scene? It was a short yes but you don't want to read about someone one shotting underleveled enemies and posing dramatically every now and again 20 times no? Y-Yes!? O-Oh, err...

Eh hem, was it good or was it bad? Maybe you should leave a review no? And how did you like the emoticons I used as a line separator break thing? Did it ruin your immersion and reading experience or did it make you crack that beautiful smile of yours because you saw such a cute little thing?