Shoot to Thrill, Swing to Kill

Chapter One: Of Glasses and Airsoft Guns

Author's Note

I came up with this idea about two day ago, and I figured, "Why the hell not?" The first chapter is a bit short, I know, but I thought I would just let you guys read what I have instead of taking forever to get out a monster chapter. That, and I came to a good stopping point.

Anyway, like I said in my notice for Gun Gale Online: The Swordswoman, this won't have any major conflicts. It's going to be an AU romance/slice of life story with the occasional kendo fight, but that's about it for the action.

Okay, now that that's over with, I guess I'll see you down below!

"Hey, did you see it on TV? Kirito won the Kendo Nationals!"

"I know! The fact that he uses gyaku nito-ryu so well is amazing! Isn't he, like, our age?"

"Yeah, and rumor is, he's really hot under his gear."

After this last comment, the ebony-haired girl sitting in the corner of the room completely lost interest. She had been listening in on the conversation that the three girls in the center of the room had started as soon as lunch began, hoping that they would talk about something interesting. Just when she was about to give up and return to reading her novel, she heard them mention the name of the famous rising star kendoka with the alias of Kirito. Of course, as soon as they began talking about his appearance, which no one had ever seen, she completely lost all possible interest in their now-shallow conversation.

A few minutes later, the dark haired girl known as Shino Asada was having an increasingly difficult time concentrating on her novel, what with the ever-growing chitchat that the three girls were engaging in. just before she interrupted them, telling them to quiet down, the bell signifying the end of lunch rang throughout the school.

You've got to be kidding me, Shino thought, closing her bespectacled gray eyes tight in frustration. I didn't even get to finish a single page…

The setting sun cast a golden glow on the small town, leaving the long, lustrous black-haired girl breathless. After just having moved in earlier that day, she had decided to take a walk around town. Everywhere she went, people would smile and ask her if she was new to the town, and she would always respond by saying that she just moved in earlier that day. Everyone she met welcomed her with open arms, making her almost feel like she had lived there all her life.

The keyword, however, was 'almost'.

Still, it's really amazing here, she thought after resuming her walk, pulling the zipper of her black jacket up a bit more to combat the cold. The atmosphere is completely different from Tokyo. Everyone's always so nice, even though I just moved here today… it's almost like they all already think of me as one of them.

After a few more minutes of bathing in the golden glow of the setting sun as she walked, the girl reached the edge of a forest. The trees around the three paths looked wonderful to sleep under, but she knew that dinner would be served soon at her family's new house, so she opted to walk around the path to the far right instead. Her mother would call her when dinner was ready anyway, so she decided that she may as well continue on a little longer.

After a while of walking on the path, she heard a sound that she couldn't quite place. It loud, similar to that of a gun. But this is Japan, she reasoned to herself, continuing to walk as if as if she hadn't heard a thing. So it probably isn't actually a gun.

A few seconds of walking later, she heard the sound again. This time, it sounded closer, and she noticed a distinct ping sound that resounded right after the gunfire-like sound. Looking to her left, she squinted her eyes to see through the many trees just off the path.

Upon seeing what looked like the form of a person, she found herself going against her better judgment and siding with her curiosity, walking off the path and into the forest. She made sure to be as quiet as possible as she closed in on the other person, though she wasn't sure of the reason for her caution.

When she was close enough to make out the details of the person she was effectively spying on, she shivered. Standing directly in front of the dark-haired girl with her back to her was a girl with shorter black hair, wearing what looked to be a school uniform that consisted of a blue blazer with white trim, a blue, pleated mini-skirt with a white stripe close to the bottom, and navy blue, thigh-high socks. She held what looked to be a shotgun; however, upon closer inspection, the longer-haired girl sighed in relief. It was only an airsoft rifle.

Only too late, she realized her mistake. The shorter-haired girl immediately turned to face her, an angry look in her bespectacled eyes. Still having her airsoft rifle pointed outwards, originally aimed for the soda can on a stump not too far behind her, the girl now looked like she was aiming for the longer-haired girl's chest.

Thinking she was about to be on the receiving end of a shot from an airsoft rifle, the jacket-clad girl quickly put up her hands and began talking in a wavering voice. "S-sorry… for sneaking up on you like that. I heard you firing that airsoft rifle, but I didn't know what it was… so I tried to get a closer look, and, well… you know the rest."

After a few seconds of silence, with the only thing audible being the crickets beginning to chirp in the distance, the uniformed girl smiled, lowering the barrel of her airsoft gun. "Don't worry about it."

Letting out another sigh of relief, the longer-haired girl looked the girl across from her in the eyes. "All right."

"So, you're new here?" the bespectacled girl queried, raising a hand from her lowered rifle to push up the bridge of said glasses with her pointer finger. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Y-yeah," the jacket-clad girl stuttered out, grabbing a lock of her long, ebony hair with her left hand and twirling it around her fingers. "I just moved I earlier today. I'm supposed to start school tomorrow, but I'm a little nervous…"

"Don't be," the other girl reassured her, letting her hand fall to her side. "The people here are all really nice, trust me. Besides, with your looks, I'm sure you'll be popular in no time."

"T-thanks…" why can't I stop stuttering?! "But I don't think I'd get popular based on looks alone."

"Fair enough. By the way, my name is Asada Shino," the bespectacled girl known, now known to her as Shino, said, extending her hand out. "Nice to meet you."

Taken aback a bit by the sudden kind gesture from the girl who had, not two minutes earlier, pointed an airsoft rifle at her, it took the jacket-clad girl a moment to react. She gingerly took Shino's hand, giving it a timid shake. "Likewise," she said, preparing to introduce herself. "I'm Kiri—"

Just before she finished saying her last name, the shrill sound of a cell phone ringing and the vibrating coming from the pocket of her dark jeans made her jump. She quickly retracted her hand, reaching into her pocket and grabbing her smartphone. Looking at the caller ID, she flashed an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, that's Mom!" she said, turning to walk away. She turned her head so that she could see Shino out of the corner of her eye, waving with the hand not holding her still-ringing phone. "She probably wants me to go home for dinner, so I gotta go. Catch you later!"

With that, the energetic girl who didn't get to finish her introduction ran through the trees and back to the path, opening her phone once she was out of the bespectacled girl's hearing range.

Interesting girl, Shino mused as she watched her run off. After jacket-clad girl left her line of sight, she went over to the stump with the empty soda can, reaching over it and grabbing the backpack on the other side. Slowly, piece by piece, she took apart her airsoft rifle, putting the parts carefully in her bag. She looked like a high-schooler, so I'll probably see her tomorrow… then again, even if there's only one high school in this town, it's pretty big. We probably won't be in the same class… why do I feel disappointed about that? It's not like I need friends, anyway.

"Well, I should head home, too," she said to distract herself from her depressing thoughts, pushing her glasses up by the bridge with her hand once more. She zipped up her backpack, slinging it over her left shoulder and picking up the can.

"I wonder…" Shino whispered, looking to the where the sun had just set, leaving a faint red glow in that area of the sky. "Will I see her again?"

"Did you hear? They say that Kirito quit kendo!"

These words were the first thing that Shino heard when she entered her classroom. They caught her by surprise; just yesterday, she heard that this Kirito won the nationals! Why would he quit the sport right before fighting in the next step, the Asia branch of the world tournament?

"Yeah! They say that his parents were moving to a small town, and he went with them. I still don't understand why he would quit kendo just because of that. I mean, he's the best in all of Japan now, right?"

"I know, it doesn't make sense to me, either. Maybe his parents wanted him to stop."

"Well, that's not fair!"

At this point, Shino's interest had taken a steep drop. She decided to try to tune the three gossiping girls out once again, walking over to her window seat and pulled her novel from her backpack. She opened it up, taking out the bookmark and beginning to read.

Not thirty seconds later, the homeroom teacher entered the room, interrupting her from her reading. "Good morning, class!" the teacher, Nishida Fujiwara, greeted the class.

Everyone scrambled to their seats upon hearing his greeting, with Shino putting her novel back in her backpack. When everyone had taken their seats, he started talking again in a voice that said he had drank one too many coffees that morning. "All right, class! Stand and bow!"

The class stood up from their seats, bowing before all saying the morning greeting. "Good morning!"

After everyone sat back down, the Nishida began speaking again. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make. There will be another first year joining us today. She comes from Tokyo…"

At the mention of the new student coming from Tokyo, the faces of the boys in the classroom brightened considerably. A Tokyo girl coming to their school? It was a rare occurrence for city people to move to their town, so this came as a rather big shock to them. Shino heard a few of them whispering amongst one another, speculating about her possible appearance. They came to the general consensus that she must have been 'hot', making a certain bespectacled girl's eyes narrow in disgust.

Perverts, Shino thought, looking out the window with a huff. They haven't even seen her and they're already thinking about these kinds of things?

Suddenly, the room grew completely silent, making the ebony-haired girl turn to the front of the classroom, where the eyes of all the other students seemed to be glued. What she saw shocked her to her very core.

It… it's that same girl from yesterday!

True to Shino's thoughts, the same girl from yesterday stood before the class, wearing the female school uniform of their school. It fit her well, though she didn't seem to think so, looking very nervous about her appearance. Upon looking back at the class for a moment, the bespectacled girl noticed several boys smiling widely, and even more looking completely spellbound.

What is it that she's doing? Does she have a harem aura or something? Shino thought as she looked around at the male population of the classroom with narrowed eyes.

At last, the girl up front began speaking in a nervous tone, having noticed the entire class staring at her. "Hello, everyone! My name is—" while she spoke, her eyes somehow found her way to Shino. After a moment's pause, she smiled brightly, beginning to speak once again in a much more confident tone.

"My name is Kirigaya Kimiko! Please treat me well from now on!"

Author's Note

So, what do you think? I hope this lives up to your expectations. A review would help greatly, so if you would be so inclined, I would love to hear some feedback!

Also, the first person who can guess correctly what I titled this story off of just might get a one-shot of their favorite SAO pairing!

I can't think of anything else that you need to know at the moment, so I'll get straight to the disclaimer.

I don't own the Sword Art Online light novel series, any of its adaptations other than a copy of both the Taiwanese/English subbed Hollow Fragment and Infinity Moment, or anything/one I use from them!

See ya later!