Disclaimer: I own neither Sword Art Online or Rurouni Kenshin. This work is merely fanfiction, and as such, earns me no income whatsoever. Please don't sue me, I'm really poor.

It's been a while since last time I've watched Samurai X so please take note if I seem to have gotten something wrong. I really didn't read the LN version of SAO too seriously, either. The setting of this story is having Kenshin reincarnated into the universe of SAO. He is basically reborn into a future Japan with a different history than the one he is familiar with. So he won't be seeing descendants and such from his own universe.

Kirigaya Suguha covered her mouth with her hands to try and stifle a growing yawn. Currently, she was only barely able to pay attention to what her teacher was explaining to their class.

She had stayed up late last night trying to finish her homework that she had almost forgotten about. The VMMORPG Alfheim Online has been taking much of her attention lately. And not just because she was enjoying hanging out with her cousin and his friends. Recent events within the game has caused a major change with every single player in the game.

She sighed just thinking about it.

"-like you all to remember to be friendly."

Excited murmurs filled the class, causing her to wake from her daydreams.

"Eh?"

Suguha was briefly confused about what was happening right now due to her inattention. She hadn't realized what on earth her teacher had been talking about at all.

"Hey," she whispered quietly to her female classmate. "What's everyone so excited about?"

"It's a transfer student, Suguha-san! A transfer student!"

A transfer this late in the school year, she thought. That is certainly a rare occurrence. No wonder all of her classmates had started saying, "Please let it be a cute girl!" and "Please let it be a handsome guy!"

"Come and introduce yourself," said the teacher towards the class entrance.

A slender young man, with brown-orange hair that was barely in line with school hair length regulations for male students, walked towards the front of the class, girls shrieking in delight while the boys groaning in disappointment. In front of everyone's eyes, the young man gave a warm-hearted smile.

"My name is Genbei Kouda. It's a pleasure to meet you all, and I hope to get along with everyone. Please treat me well."

"So how was your first day in class, Kouda?"

Mrs. Genbei was prepping dinner with her son, chopping onions and vegetables for their meal later. Her son had just arrived back from school in time to help her with the preparations. His skill with the knife would make professional chefs weep at their own inadequacy.

The mother and housewife had always considered herself to be a good home keeper, but her son just seems to have a natural talent for household chores. If he wasn't a man, she has always kept the thought that he would make a perfect wife someday.

"The teachers and the students were all very nice to me," answered Kouda, the onion in his hands already diced to perfect sized little pieces and already reaching for another. "I'm sure that I'm going to enjoy my time here."

"That's nice…"

Mrs. Genbei furrowed her brow as she appeared to ponder something. Her son had always been a kind and gentle soul, so she had no doubts about him getting along fine with his new classmates. The problem lied in him being unable to keep long lasting friendships.

"Kouda," she said seriously, getting her son's attention. "I know moving around a lot due to your father's job has been hard on you, not being to stay in one place for too long to make friends. It's something that your father and I have always felt guilty about."

In response to his mother's guilt, Kouda simply gave her an understanding smile whilst continuing on chopping vegetables.

"Mother and Father are always so worried about me. I feel blessed just having such parents like yourselves."

Mrs. Genbei sighed.

Her son was so mature. He was always so polite, humble, and kind. Those are normally traits any parent would wish for in their offspring. However, Mr. and Mrs. Genbei could only wish that their child would act just a little bit more selfish from time to time. It was very hard for them to know what to give him when he only asks for simple things.

"You know, Mother and Father thought really hard," said Mrs. Genbei. "We got you a really good present. Your father already set it up while you were in school."

Kouda tilted his head in confusion.

He didn't know that his parents had been having deep discussions on what to give for his present since his birthday had passed not long ago. They weren't exactly satisfied when they were told that he had only wanted some fresh tea leaves since they had just run out. So both of them had decided to think up of another present, one that would also act as a commemoration of sorts to finally stop their family's wanderings and his first day in a new city.

"You can go ahead and try it as soon as we finish eating dinner," smiled Mrs. Genbei proudly. "We even got you the most popular thing people have been using on it so that you could start making friends even if their anywhere here in Japan. Oh, but you should start making friends at school so you can play with them too."

"Oro?" Kouda was only more confused.

Later after dinner with his parents, Kouda went to his room to see exactly what it was his parents had talked about to him.

Next to his bed was a visor. It wasn't just a regular visor, it was a 2nd generation FullDive machine called Amusphere.

Kouda smiled as he examined the device. Even he who has almost zero interest in technology, has heard of it. The death game incident itself was something that just increased his anxiety towards using such gadgets. His mother and father had both assured him that the new generation machines are completely safer and would never be able to harm him at all. He had told them he wasn't really at all interested in it and that it might be better to just sell it and get something else they would all be able to enjoy.

He remembered his mother had started to tear up and said, "Kouda doesn't like the present we got him, Husband! Mother is so sad that all that time we spent so long on deciding his gift…"

He was quick to assure his mother that he hadn't meant it like that and that he would be sure to use their gift fully. What he didn't see though was the triumphant smirk of his mother's as she pretended to wipe away her tears and his father's thumbs up towards his sly woman.

"Really… isn't the child supposed to be the one convincing them and not the other way around," he sighed.

He noticed something else that had been beside the device and picked it up.

"ALfheim… online, huh?" he read on the case. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it."

It took Kouda a little while to figure out how to work the device. He had to reread the information booklet and the device manual over and over.

"ROM? FullDive? Ororo!" His eyes were spinning in circles as he tried to make sense of how to get it to work.

Finally, after he was relatively sure that everything was ready, he placed the Amusphere over his eyes. He laid down on his bed and closed his eyes, ready to see a whole new world once more.

"Uhm… link… start?"

It took him by surprise when he felt a sudden disconnection of his eyes, darkness came as if he had gone blind, but it was quickly replaced by the appearance of bright lights and images. The only thing that stood out to him was the words at the end that said visual connection was OK.

Vision was soon followed by sound, thoroughly confusing him as he thought he was bombarded by different sound tests for testing his auditory nerve connection. It was similarly given the OK.

Soon after, the next tests had driven his senses from the outside world completely gone. He could no longer feel his bed underneath him. He felt his senses were in a jumble as more OK were given through various other tests and procedures.

He was so confused and overwhelmed that he hadn't even noticed the final OK that had appeared. His consciousness had drifted off through the darkness into rainbow lights of rings.

When he had finally come to his senses, he was greeted by the appearance of the ALfheim Online LOGO and a soft female voice. He was now at the account registration interface.

Kouda realized that this is probably where he would need to start creating his character, just like the instruction booklet had detailed.

He went through the basic information requested such as his username ID and password, along with payment requirements and such.

"I really hope this game isn't too expensive," chuckled Kouda.

He paused when he had gotten to the option to choose his nickname for his character. His hand was steady over the keyboard, still thinking of what to put in. He had heard that it wasn't wise for people to use their IRL names inside games. Although… there is certainly a name no one else here would know of him.

Kenshin

The female voice then advised him to create his character. He wasn't too hung up with appearances so he opted for just defaulting to close to his current look. Since the system decides on the parameters surrounding his appearance to be random, there may be more than a few things that would probably be outside his expectations.

Well, he thought that as long as he didn't look too weird, then it should be fine. He didn't really want to pay more to change his appearance, since that would be just a poor excuse to spend money on vanity.

He was now faced with the option to select one of the nine fairy races of Alfheim. There were a lot of things to consider when choosing one's race. Strengths and weaknesses are always given serious thought in the process. After all, everyone wanted to go with what best suited them.

Kenshin, however, was not really thinking the same way.

"Oro? A Neko-chan race! How cute! I want to see what they look like!"

Without a second thought, he had selected Cait Siths and pressed OK.

In his defense, he really just intended to see what they looked like and didn't mean he wanted to play as one. He was, after all, a total noob when it came to video games.

With the initial setup finished, the female voice said, "Good luck." A vortex of light enveloped his consciousness and the sensation of the ground beneath him had also disappeared.

"Oro?"

Kenshin was suddenly panicking at sudden floating feeling of losing his center of gravity. He flailed his arms and legs wildly, like a bird trying to fly underwater. In his panic stricken and confused state, he once again failed to see the transition of his consciousness into a whole new world.

He was falling towards a village from high above in the darkness. It was the starter area for the Cait Sith zone. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that this was exactly how the game starts.

"Mother, Father! It was short, but I was truly happy with this new life of mine!"

Kenshin was already saying his prayers…

With his eyes closed shut, he braced himself for the inevitable. There was no doubt in his mind what would happen to him for falling from such a height.

"Hey, what's with that guy?"

"Must be a noob."

"Pfft! He seriously thought he was going to die!"

The murmurs and giggling around him caused Kouda to open his eyes. What greeted him was the sight of the city of Freelia and people of the Cait Sith race watching him with amusement.

"Oro…?"

His jaw dropped and eyes popped at the unexpected sight of the place and the ground on his feet. He had thought for sure he was going to the next life.

He was completely overwhelmed by his near death experience and the appearance of his surroundings that he was now in a complete daze. The only thing he could do was walk.

So he started walking in one direction while his mind was in a mess. He kept muttering things such as cat people, I'm alive, the sky is so nice today, and I wonder if I should start hanging the laundry…

It was mostly ramblings of a man whose mind has been thoroughly battered.

"Oi, oi! Where's that noob going to in such a state? He doesn't even know any of the basics yet from the tutorial!"

"Someone catch him before he leaves the safety zone!"

Some of the nicer players went and tried to stop him, but a pack of transport beasts had suddenly cut him off from the rest. As soon as the train of beasts were gone then so was he.

The players were all silent as the wind breezed through the empty spot where the noob had been in.

"Isn't this seriously bad?" one of the players said.

Some others sighed.

"He'll be back here once he dies to the monsters outside anyway. It won't be a very good first experience but at least he'll get the basics down once he finished the tutorial here."

"Let's just offer our prayers that he receives a quick and easy death then."

The collection of players clapped their hands together in prayer towards Kenshin shadow.

"May your death be an easy one," they all said together.

As she walked home from school, Suguha received a call from Klein. From what he told her, it would seem that the Salamanders are once again up to no good with their usual antics. He had said that a group of them had been spotted heading towards the direction of the Ancient Forest.

"Really, those guys don't know when to quit," she sighed. "Lady Sakuya's been on edge lately as well."

Tensions between Slyphs and Salamanders have been pretty high lately. Of course, both lords of each race has been adamant that they weren't advocating any fights, but the truth was easily seen between the constant skirmishes that have been happening lately.

"Alright!" She slapped her cheeks with the palms of her hands. "If they want a fight, then I say bring it!"

It's time for her to let a little stress out on these ruffians. She would make sure that they felt her anger with point of her sword.

It's nice and all to be fired up, but she should really have been paying more attention in front of her. If she had, she probably wouldn't have missed out on the young man kneeling down on her path.

"Geh!"

"Oro?!"

She tripped over the young man's back and fell, effectively pinning the man underneath her.

"Ouch…" she said. "I'm so sorry…!"

The boy that was crushed by her ample bosoms was out of it, but she could see his hands were holding away a small little kitten, saving it from meeting his same fate.

"A-Are you alright?!" She quickly picked herself off of him and made sure the cat was fine.

The little kitten in her hand mewled in a concerned way at the boy.

"I-I'm fine, yes." The boy seemed okay and was already picking himself up on his feet.

"I am truly sorry!" said Suguha. "I wasn't watching where I was going!"

"No, it was partially my fault for blocking the road, Kirigaya-san."

"Eh?" Suguha looked carefully at the boy who was just as tall as her and noticed that he was wearing the same uniform as her school. "Uhm… I'm sorry but I don't recall meeting you."

"Is that so?" The boy looked slightly depressed. "It seems I didn't leave much of an impression, even though we're in the same class. I suppose that's a given since It has only been my second day here."

Suguha then finally remembered who the young man in front of her was.

"Ah! You're that transfer student who came yesterday!" She was slightly red from her embarrassment of having not remembered. "Uh… your name was…"

"Genbei," answered her classmate. "Genbei Kouda."

"Right," nodded Suguha. "Genbei-san, I'm really sorry for tripping over you just now. I know I was the one who was completely at fault, so you don't have to deny it. Please feel free to scold me for it!"

"Ahahaha," The boy simply just laughed and gave her a warm smile. "Please, it would trouble me more to do such a thing to a sincere girl like yourself."

Suguha blushed a little at his praise.

"B-But you could have been seriously hurt!" she argued. "And I'd hate what to think what I would have happened to this little cat if you hadn't protected it!"

The little kitten mewled cutely in her hands, apparently confused of what was happening.

Kouda looked troubled by her insistence. "Even if you say so…"

"Please, allow me to make it up to you somehow!" she bowed. "If there is anything at all that you can think of that I can help with, don't hesitate to ask!"

For short time, her classmate seemed to think quietly of what to say to her.

"Okay, I understand," nodded Kouda. "If that is so, could I trouble to look after the kitten-san for a while?"

"Eh?"

Suguha looked from her classmate's smiling face back to the kitten that she was still holding. While she did say anything, she was really confused as to why he would ask her to take care of the kitten all of a sudden.

"You see, I found him abandoned on the side of the road just now, and was wondering what to do with him." Kouda scratched his head, looking a little aloof. "I'm not so sure I'm fit to take care of him." Suguha noticed the tiny scratch marks on his nose. "And it seems like he's taken quite a liking to you."

The kitten that she had wrapped in her arms was now snoozing soundly, perfectly content. It was such an adorable little ball of white fur. She had always wanted to take care of one.

"Of course, if it's too much trouble then-"

"I would gladly do it!" came Suguha's immediate reply.

Her classmate laughed goodheartedly at her enthusiasm.

"Well, since that is decided, then I should really be heading home now. It's my turn to cook dinner, after all. See you in class, Suguha-san."

Suguha was left all alone, watching her classmate walk into a house not far from them.

Wait…

Isn't that the vacant house next to theirs?!

That would mean that her new classmate was also their new next door neighbor that had just moved in several days ago. She hadn't really noticed them before since she had been busy with school and playing ALfheim Online.

"So that's the new transfer student, huh?" she wondered. "Seems like a really nice guy. Oh?! But this isn't the time to stand around like this! I still have to meet up with Klein-san and the rest!"

Suguha didn't forget to introduce the kitten in her hands to her family and take care of it before logging on to play. Her family seemed quite welcoming of their new family pet.

Kenshin took a drink from the lake he had discovered. He was mentally exhausted after running away from various monsters that were all quite intent on eating him. Nighttime has already descended in the game, moon and starts high up in the sky.

There were currently no monsters here, so it was a nice break for him. So far the only memories he's had of this game had been utter confusion and running. He really couldn't figure out why people play games like these. He hadn't even run into any other players to ask for help.

When his parents had asked him if he was enjoying it, he just answered that he was having a really good time. Those expectant eyes of his mother was enough to silence any complaints he had. It looked like he would have to bear with playing this game for a while.

"Oro?"

After taking a drink from the lake, with the light of the moon on the water surface, he had just now finally noticed his reflection. In his eyes, he saw the figure of someone he had thought long gone.

In the reflection, what stared back at him was the perfect image of himself from his past life, back when he was in still his prime and years before he had ever met his wife. Long ponytailed orange-reddish hair, slender build, and small stature… even the scar on his cheek.

He traced the familiar X scar on his face that he was sure had already gone from this new life of his.

"This…?! How is this possible?!" He was stunned at his own reflection that was identical to his past self. Everything besides his clothing was much the same. "Wait… something is… different…?"

There were somethings not quite the same, now that he finally took a good look closer at himself. Those somethings twitched uneasily at the top of his head.

He watched his reflection carefully as he slowly reached up at the top of his head, finally grabbing the two out of place parts of his old image.

"Oro?"

Kenshin couldn't believe it. What he was holding in his head were cat ears, just like the ones those cosplayers wear all the time. They were so soft and felt great in his hands. The only problem is that he could also feel them as if they were his actual ears!

"Haha…" he laughed weakly, unable to believe his eyes. "This is some sort of joke, I suppose?"

When he turned back a little bit from the lake, he noticed another thing that was out of place. Something that came from behind him. He also grabbed on to it to make sure it was there.

He started to laugh out loud to himself. "A tail! Hahaha! I have a tail! What a lovely tail!"

For a while, it looked like he was enjoying himself, but it was most likely his attempts of denying his own image. The one reflected back to him was Himura Kenshin, his old self. Yet, it wasn't exactly quite his old self at all.

"Please don't joke around with me!" He suddenly grabbed a rock and threw it really hard into the air, as if to get back at the god who was responsible for his appearance.

The rock flew in a perfect arc, just rising above the tree line and landed with a ponk sound somewhere behind it. In a few seconds, out came an Angry Ape carrying a large wooden club in its hands. It glared angrily at its surroundings, trying to find who had hit him.

His eyes landed dead on Kenshin's figure.

"Uhm… I'm sorry?" offered Kenshin meekly.

The monster roared out wildly. A few more of its comrades had joined it, and all of them began to run over to where their target was. Their large bodies plowed through obstacles at great speed.

"I'm really, really sorry! Please forgive meee!"

Kenshin had started running with all his might away from the monsters, their panting and growling he could feel way too close for his comfort. His apology had only seemed to increase the aggro against him.

"I really don't like this game!" he shouted out.

"Klein-san, are you sure that they were planning on entering here?"

Lyfa was hidden behind a rough looking tree alongside an equally rough looking samurai. She had been waiting here with the rest of her party for almost half an hour already, and she was beginning to think that Klein may have been mistaken in his information.

He had told them that a heavy Salamander unit was intent on sneaking through the Ancient Forest on foot, trying to avoid being seen flying through the air, to make a foothold close to the Slyph zone, and increasing the likelihood for future attacks on Slyph controlled neutral areas.

"D-Don't look so doubtfully at me like that," complained Klein. "I got the info directly from Argo and confirmed it myself when they left the Salamander Desert Area."

If he hadn't mentioned it being information directly from Argo, Lyfa would probably be still doubting him right now. An information broker like Argo wouldn't give out false leads to them, especially since the mousy Cait Sith was considered a friend of her Oniichan's and fellow SAO survivor.

"Lyfa-chan! Klein-san! There is something approaching us from behind!"

Recon, Lyfa's classmate and friend, had come out of hiding from the rear looking a little anxious. From the direction he came from, they could hear quite a bit of noise heading towards them.

"Oi, it can't be they discovered us instead?!" said Klein.

"That can't be! There's no way they could've gone past us without us knowing!" denied Lyfa. "Yui-chan, can you sense any players coming from behind us?"

The little navigation pixie had appeared from her pocket and landed on her shoulder. Yui then started to close her eyes as she began a complete scan of the area.

Lyfa was Yui's caretaker for the day since her Oniichan and Asuna were both out on a date right now. Or as Yui told her, "They're being all lovey-dovey without me!"

"Uhm… how do I say this?" said Yui unsurely. "There appears to be a single player running towards us."

That didn't seem to make sense for a single Salamander to come attack them all by himself. It also didn't explain why there was a large amount of bustle and noise that came with him.

"He also seems to have brought a large amount of monsters following him," finished Yui.

"A monster train?!" said Klein. "Ah! Those sneaky bastards!"

"This is no time to panic," answered Lyfa. "Everyone, switch positions and prepare to confront the monsters!" She quickly ordered the rest of her party that Lady Sakuya had given her to command. "Have your magic out to blast them first before we engage them in melee!"

In short order, a dozen of her group had formed up to meet the monster charge. Their group was an experienced one against PVP and dungeon raids. While they would not fall easily to such an underhanded tactic, Lyfa still worried about where the rest of the Salamanders were.

Everyone was waiting anxiously as the sounds of the monsters got louder and closer to them. Their grips on their weapons were tight, the beginnings of their spells already on their lips, and the bows were already drawn and aimed.

Out of the trees came the unexpected appearance of the player responsible for the monster train.

"Oro?"

The relatively small statured Cait Sith seemed completely surprised by the appearance of Lyfa's group pointing their hostilities towards his direction. He seemed completely dumbstruck at seeing them.

Even being the wrong race, Lyfa realized then that he wasn't at all part of the group that they had been planning to ambush. Based on his current equipment, plain purple tunic and trousers with no armor whatsoever, she could immediately tell that this person was a complete beginner to the game.

"Quickly! Step aside!" she shouted at him.

As soon as he moved out of the way, the monster train behind him had all rushed out in droves, sprawling into their line of attacks. The moment the monsters had done so, a variety of wind magics bombarded the area, with a little bit of fire magic from Klein.

A good portion of the monsters had died instantly, but there were still a few that had only be injured.

"Engage and put them down!" commanded Lyfa as she herself charged headfirst into the battered monsters.

It didn't take long before the monsters were killed and the area cleared for any other dangers. There hadn't been any casualty to their side but they've exhausted most their MP and also need to replenish some HP.

With loud stomps, Lyfa approached the player responsible for the damage to her group.

"Care to explain what exactly you're doing bringing a monster train towards us?!" she demanded angrily.

"Uhm… you see…" The player started to shrink back from her and seemed really unsure of what to say. "I'm not really sure what happened. This is the first time I've ever used a VRMMORPG. Ever since I've played this game last night, I've only ever encountered monsters. I really had no choice but to run away."

Lyfa stared intently at the beginner, watching him for any signs of deceit. This guy was just about as tall as Recon was, maybe even a little bit shorter. His face was… actually he looked pretty good, aside from that X scar on his left cheek. It's not uncommon for people to add scars to their avatars, but it kind of felt out of place on a kind face like his.

Lyfa shook away her thoughts. She needed to make sure that this was all an accident and that the player in front of her wasn't actually hired by those Salamanders they were waiting for.

"He isn't lying, Lyfa." Yui was floating on her shoulder. "It looks like he really is just a beginner that probably just got lost."

Gotten lost all the way from the Cait Sith starter zone? That was pretty far off from here. It was strange how a beginner had managed to survive all the way here. That would mean that he hasn't died once. His respawn would be set by default back to the starter zone of his race.

"Oh my!" The beginner seemed surprised at Yui's sudden appearance. "Is that a little fairy? How adorable she is!"

"Ehehe," Yui puffed up her chest. "Thank you."

"I wasn't aware that people could even play as someone as cute as yourself."

"Oh, uhm… I'm not really a player," answered Yui. "I'm just an AI that acts as a navigation pixie."

"Oh?" The beginner was wide eyed at this. "Technology sure is amazing."

Lyfa sighed.

There was no mistaking it now that this player in front of her was just some random beginner that had somehow managed to start a monster train. Her luck must truly be bad right now. It would certainly explain why everything hasn't been going to plan lately.

"Why didn't you just fight instead of running?" Lyfa questioned, a little more relaxed.

"Hey, Lyfa-chan," said Klein, already joining in checking out the new guy along with Recon. "This guy doesn't even have any kind of weapon on him right now. He can't really fight even if he wanted to."

"Even if you're a beginner, didn't you start with a sword at the very least?" said Lyfa suspiciously.

The newbie just smiled painfully. "Well… I must have lost it when I wasn't paying attention earlier."

Yui suddenly flew in front of his face. She pouted as she watched him.

"You… you don't intend to harm any of my friends here, do you?" she asked seriously.

While his ears folded down a little bit at having such a cute girl doubt him, the Cait Sith answered, "I promise you that I have no intention of harming anyone here nor seek harm upon others, little one."

After piercing him with her eyes, Yui declared, "Good! Papa and Mama told me that lying is no good!"

Everyone was just as surprised as the newbie at Yui's sudden question and declaration. The little navigation pixie had taken a seat once more on Lyfa's shoulder.

"So you're a newbie, huh?" asked Klein. "What's your name, shorty? I hope you didn't do a stupid thing like using your IRL name."

"My name is Kenshin."

Lyfa felt more relieved now at having made sure of him. The surrounding tension had also dispersed when everyone had started to introduce themselves to one another.

"My name is Klein, and since you're a total beginner, let me be the first one to welcome to you this world!" He held out his arms in a way that would seem like he was introducing something so grand. "A world of swords, magic, and fairies! Rejoice! For you are now part of something bigger than the real world!"

"I'm Yui."

"My name's Recon."

"I'm called Lyfa."

Everyone else just ignored Klein's overtly exaggerated welcome, causing him to drop down in depression.

"Everyone… why is everyone so mean to me?" he cried with tears in his eyes. "I'm such a nice guy and yet…"

Quickly rubbing his tears out of the way, Klein started to fiddle with his inventory. He selected something and opened up the palm of his hand. Appearing with a shine of light was a sword… a sheathed katana.

"Here!" he held out the katana towards Kenshin. "As proof how such a nice guy I am, I'm going to give you this mid-level katana. Take it and be glad!"

Kenshin looked a little apprehensive. "I'm perfectly fine. Please don't trouble yourself over me."

"No, you have to take this," insisted Klein. "You don't have to worry about troubling me, since this I've got more than a few better ones in my inventory." He grabbed Kenshin's hand and directly handed over the blade to him. "See how nice I am? With this you can become a samurai just like me!"

"Ahaha…" weakly laughed Kenshin, a somewhat troubled look on his face.

Lyfa could see that their new acquaintance wasn't too excited with holding a sword.

"You know you need a weapon to be able to fully enjoy this game, right?" she asked. "Even crafters don't go around without one. Is a katana not really your style? I could get you something else, if you like?"

"No, it's not that," Kenshin said with a shake of his head, then carefully holding out the katana given to him to examine it. "It's just a little too… comfortable." His answer perplexed those around him. "It's light… far too light for something made to kill."

"Oi, oi, oi!" Klein put his arms over Kenshin's shoulder. "Aren't you taking this a little too seriously, newbie? This isn't a death game, you know? Things like that can't happen anymore."

"Is that so?" chuckled Kenshin. "Still, maybe I should just become a crafter or some other type that won't see any violence."

"That's kind of a waste," said Lyfa. She didn't really see why someone like him would think of playing this game at all with that kind of attitude.

After all, ALfheim Online was a game made to encourage killing other players. While there are a few odd people here and there that only focus on smaller aspects of the game like fishing and stuff, most of the players enjoy doing battles against monsters and even other players.

"Kenshin-san is very kind, aren't you?" smiled Yui from Lyfa's shoulder.

"I wonder about that?" chuckled the Cait Sith samurai.

"Whether it's you or anyone else, no one is going to die here." Klein gave Kenshin an enthusiastic pat on the back. "That thing you're holding isn't really a sword. It's just data, you know? D-A-T-A! No one is really going to die here if you hit them with that, so just fight to your hearts content. After all, it's a man's romance to fight!"

Kenshin still seemed unconvinced of the matter, but made no mention of it.

Lyfa wondered just why such an odd young man was here. There was about a few dozen other VRMMORPGs now that are more laid back. If he didn't like violence, then he could've just chosen from any number of those.

"Players!" Yui suddenly shouted from her shoulder. "There are at least two dozen players approaching us from the west!"

Running towards Lyfa, one of the female Slyphs under her command shouted, "It's the enemy! The Salamanders are about to engage us!"

Lyfa cursed inwardly. They've lost their chance for an ambush and the damage from the monster train hasn't been recouped yet. What's more, there were a lot more of the enemy than they had anticipated. They may have joined up with a separate force on the way here, which explains why they had taken so long.

"Vanguards, go up and meet the enemy!" she commanded to those around her. "Magicians and healers, stay behind us and give support!" She grabbed Yui gently on her shoulder and handed her to Kenshin. "Take her and run away from here," she told him. "I'm not so confident that we can win this, so I'll feel a lot better knowing Yui's fine."

Kenshin held out his palm to receive the pixie. "Uhm… I thought you said that no one can actually die in this game?" he said uneasily.

It was true that no players could die in this game. However, Yui is an AI from the old SAO system. It's possible that she wouldn't die even if she was killed, but there Kirito had told them that since Yui was not really part of ALfheim Online, it would be better to be safe and not tempt fate.

"Yui is very special," simply answered Lyfa. "I wouldn't be able to face her papa and mama anymore if I allowed her to die here."

"Oro?" Kenshin simply tilted his head and cat ears, not really understanding.

"Anyway, just take her and go!" she turned the Cait Sith around and kicked him away from them, before running in the opposite direction to join the others who had already left. "Remember to keep her safe!"

With that final goodbye, Lyfa left the beginner and reached the frontlines of her party. Salamander warriors clashed with them, swords and spears meeting with sparks. The arrows of her Slyph comrades whisked by, hitting enemies here and there.

It was unfortunate though that most of the Salamanders were tank types with heavy armor, so the arrows were not that effective. If they had only been able to ready their spells before, then her group would have been fine.

"Lyfa-san!" cried out Recon who was busy with a single Salamander. "There's too many of them! We won't be able to win if this keeps up!"

"Take this!" Klein slashed an opponent out of his way and came up beside Lyfa. Together, they kept their enemies at bay. "He's right. We have to think of something or else we'll get slaughtered. Do you think we can escape?"

Lyfa looked around them to check if it was possible. The rest of her vanguard were doing as best they can to defend the rear. They were in a deep thick part of the Ancient Forest where the large trees made it difficult to fly more than a few meters above the ground. Even if they were able to break away into the sky, the numerical advantage of the Salamanders would surely knock them down with their magic.

"I don't think we can," she said in frustration. "I hate to say it, but it looks like we're going to get wiped here."

"Seriously?"

"Sorry, Klein…"

"No worries, no worries." Her friend simply sighed and waived it off. "I guess this was a lot more than we bargained for, isn' it? Well, at the very least, we should take down as many as we can!"

Klein gave a shout and charged at the two opponents running towards them. He deflected the downward slice from the first and countered with a vertical slash, ending the Salamander. The next one was able to slice nick him on his arm, but he had pushed his weight forward and thrusted his blade into the enemy.

"Ha…ha…" Klein posed with a V sign on his hand at Lyfa. "Did you see that? I'm no slouch either when it comes to-"

"Klein!"

A big axe had buried itself on the rough bandana man's back. His body was wrapped around in a red whirlwind, the End Flame effect that signaled death. His body dissolved, leaving only a Remain Light like the rest of the defeated around them.

"A fellow Salamander shouldn't be hanging around the enemy," spat the rather large man who held the handle of the axe that killed him. "Only death awaits those that oppose the will of our lord!"

This man was most likely the leader of this group, based on how the others gathered around him.

Lyfa prepared herself. She was the last of the vanguard. Recon had perished shortly after Klein, and now the Salamander forces still numbered at least a dozen. It wasn't such a bad outcome, given that they were outnumbered almost 2:1 at the start. Her HP was half gone. As soon as she died, the rest of the rearguard would fall quickly without anyone to defend them.

"Just get this over with and kill her so we can get their items already!" the Salamander commanded his men.

Four men had rushed at her with their swords. She fought with all her might and managed to take down two of them, but the rest slashed her down soon after. She watched as her vision was consumed by End Flame and replaced with the green tinted color, still able to see and hear from her Remain Light.

She sighed.

"If Oniichan was here, we wouldn't have lost", she thought. "That guy taking it so easy with Asuna-san!" She was a little bit angry but also a little bit jealous at the same time.

"Lyfa-chan!"

She heard a small cute voice coming from somewhere.

"Lyfa-chan!"

With her grin tinted vision, she saw Yui approaching her Remain Light. She panicked at seeing Yui here right now. It was too dangerous for her to be here. She could see that the Salamanders had noticed the tiny little pixie floating around her.

"A navigation pixie?" said one of the Salamanders curiously. "What the heck is it doing here?"

"Isn't it probably that girl's?" said another.

"That's not right. A player's navigation pixie wouldn't show up once its owner died."

"Whatever, let's just kill it."

"NO! Yui, run!" Lyfa screamed out. "Get out of here, Yui!"

The AI couldn't hear her since she was a Remain Light. She only continued to cry out beside her, not wanting to leave. The little girl didn't notice that the men behind her were about to cut her down.

"Please! Somebody save her! " Lyfa begged.

"STOP!"

A voice came and halted the Salamander from killing the young AI.

In the shadows to their sides, yellow eyes like that of a cat, watched them intently. Slowly, the owner of those eyes came out into the light of the moon that trickled down the leaves of the trees above them, like a tiger revealing itself.

"A Cait Sith?" said the Salamander that had been about to cut Yui. "And a beginner by the looks of him."

Lyfa could see Kenshin's eyes watching her and the other Remain Lights on the ground. His eyes stopped at Yui's crying little form beside her. Those eyes were saddened. She couldn't understand how his eyes had so much sorrow in them from just this. They weren't truly dead, after all.

"A game… just a game, right?" she heard him mumble to himself as he tightened his grip on the sheathe of his katana at his waist. "Then why do I feel so angry?"

"A comrade of these guys, huh?" said the axe-wielding leader. "Hurry up and kill him too. Although we probably won't get that much good loot from him."

"You told me that no one is able to truly die here, Klein-san," said Kenshin as two Salamanders started to approach him. "Very well. I shall put that to the test."

The Salamanders that had been approaching him froze in their tracks. Lyfa couldn't understand why they did. She was only watching Kenshin's back so she didn't see the cold-blooded eyes that stared down at his enemies. He still stood where he was, but the atmosphere around him had completely changed. Those yellow eyes of his had gleamed sharply from the moon's light.

"Hey…" said one a Salamander beside the leader. "Is that guy really a beginner? Somehow, he looks pretty dangerous."

"Kuh!" The Salamander leader could understand well what his subordinate well. "It doesn't matter! What the hell are you two doing?! Kill him already!"

The two Salamanders that were facing the Cait Sith samurai were both frozen in fear. Their swords were still up, but they somehow couldn't make a move to get any closer.

"Not coming?"

Kenshin's voice was cold. It was colder than what Lyfa had thought possible from the person they had only briefly met before. She couldn't believe it was the same person. It sent a chill down her spine just hearing it.

"I wasn't expecting to wait for you anyway." Kenshin started to walk towards them. The two Salamanders suddenly were able to move, except they stepped back away from him.

"What are you two idiots doing?!" angrily yelled their leader. "Kill him!"

The two seemed to finally get over their fear and began to run towards the Cait Sith with their swords held high above their heads. Kenshin still only casually walked towards the two. As soon as he was in range of their sword, in the blink of an eye he had vanished and appeared a few feet behind them, still walking at the same pace with his left hand on his sheathe and his katana out on his right…

Wait. Lyfa wasn't sure what just happened. Forget how fast he got past the two, when did he draw his sword she wondered.

"Fast…" she heard Yui whisper from close to her. "Even faster than papa…"

Lyfa could see that Yui had already stopped crying and was watching Kenshin like the rest of the Salamanders and the survivors of her party. No way could she believe that a beginner like him could be faster than her Oniichan!

The two salamanders behind Kenshin collapsed, a large, orange virtual gash suddenly appeared on their bodies. They were quickly engulfed in flames and turned into red Remain Lights.

Lyfa was one of the top Kendo experts of her age in Japan, so she knew that just by looking at him, that he was no amateur. The way he held the blade was too familiar. It was too natural for him.

Kenshin did not stop walking. He was headed towards the large, axe-wielding leader of the Salamanders. The leader and his underlings could see those catlike eyes of his that held no mercy.

"Just… just who the hell are you?!" yelled out the leader in anger and fear. "A beginner can't be as strong as you! Don't tell me you're really a smurf?"

Smurf, a game term for veteran players of a game who make alt characters so that they can play as beginners. Lyfa thought that it might be possible. There aren't really any restrictions against experienced players making new characters. But such people don't also go around picking fights without at least a weapon in their hand.

Kenshin paused in his steps. "I am Kenshin – No, It would probably be more accurate to call the me right now as… Battōsai the Manslayer."

Axe-wielding leader laughed. "Watched too many shows about samurai, have we? I can see that you're really just one of those chuunibyou going around here all the time." He pounded his axe down on the ground. "He's nothing but a fool with a little bit of skill! Everyone just charge in and beat him down!"

The rest of the Salamanders around him raised their weapons and cheered. In unison they all ran towards Kenshin, ready to deliver judgment for displaying such arrogance against them.

While the Salamanders were too focused with Kenshin, Lyfa's support team were hastily trying to cast their revival magic. They only needed him to keep the Salamanders occupied for a minute, even just less than that. She planned on helping out as soon as she was back in action.

However, Kenshin went beyond her expectations when he started cutting down Salamanders left and right. He was like a breeze that simply passed them by, leaving only Remain Lights in his wake. The few who didn't die instantly, were only able to block or attack once before they too received a single virtual orange gash of where he had cut them.

"Amazing," said Yui. "He's taking them all down with a single hit…"

Lyfa was similarly amazed by the scene. The way he moved past his opponents, it was somehow similar to her Oniichan. It's like he can see where the attacks are coming from before they even start. And there was no single movement wasted, same with each of his strikes. As a kendo user, she couldn't help but admire his swordsmanship.

Kenshin didn't stop until he stood directly in front of the large build of the Salamander leader and all of the others were dead. His eyes glared imposingly at the larger man before him, daring him to make a move.

"Don't act so conceited!" growled the larger man, while bashing his big steel axe down on Kenshin's head.

Again, Kenshin simply vanished and reappeared behind the man. Except this time the Salamander leader did not die like the rest of his underlings. There was a single orange line that traced from his right shoulder down to his abdomen, but he still didn't go down.

"Don't think a single hit is enough to take me down!" he said as he swung his axe horizontally behind him. "I've got high-class armor that reduces the damage from critical hits! Even if you are a smurf, you're items aren't good enough to beat me!"

Kenshin simply ducked underneath the wide swing. The leader then raised his weapon over his head to follow up another attack at the Cait Sith crouched in front of him.

Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū: Ryūsōsen

Before the Salamander leader could follow through on his attack, Kenshin had performed a massive flurry of high-speed strikes that was almost hard to see with the naked eye. In a second, his attack was over, leaving numerous orange damage visuals all over the Salamander leader's body.

"An Origi…nal… Sword… Skill…!"

The Salamander leader turned into a Remain Light just like the rest of his allies. There was only stunned silence as the wind blew past the finished battle. Lyfa was wide eyed and open mouthed with surprise at seeing Kenshin, not only single-handedly defeat a dozen high level players, but also use an almost impossible Original Sword Skill.

"Ten… fifteen… no, was there more than twenty hits from that just now?!" she thought to herself. "There is no way it should be possible for a skill to have that many combos in such a short time!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she suddenly felt the effects of revival magic surround her. It looked like her teammates had just finished reviving her at the very last second. Everyone else, including Klein and Recon, were standing again on solid ground.

"Although lighter than it has ever been," said Kenshin as he sheathed his katana. "The blade in my hand is heavy with a weight your armor could never hold up to."

With the click coming from the sound of his sword being sheathed, the silence all around him had been broken. Cheers erupted from Lyfa and her party. Everyone applauded and came rushing towards him.

"So cool!" Klein was the first one to grab him into a hug. "You were so cool there, dude! You really looked like a true samurai right there!" He started to rub Kenshin's head roughly. "That line at the end really nailed it!"

"Oro?"

Kenshin looked up at Klein. He started to tear up suddenly, much to Klein's surprise.

"It's really you, Klein-san…" Kenshin started to cry as he glued himself onto the man's chest. "You're really still alive."

"O-Oi, don't go start hugging me like this!" Klein tried to forcefully pry the crying red kitty off of him. "Only girls are allowed to do that! Knock it off already!"

"And he acted so cool just a few moments ago too," laughed Recon.

There was laughter all around them as everyone basked in their victory. Lyfa watched the scene with warm feelings of surviving a battle with her comrades. It was all thanks to this lost little cat samurai that they had managed to pull through.

She noticed that someone wasn't showing the same happy mood as everyone else, though.

"What's the matter, Yui?" she asked the tiny pixie on her shoulder. "Isn't it great that we managed to win thanks to him?"

The little pixie was silent as she continued to watch Kenshin get dogpiled by the surrounding players. Her eyes were completely serious as she continued to examine him. Whatever was bothering her on her mind, she didn't say it.

She didn't tell anyone her thoughts after analyzing the man who called himself Kenshin. Or more precisely, that time when he referred to himself as Battōsai the Manslayer.

A/N:

This was seriously pretty long for me. I guess I like the idea a lot of having an actual, experienced swordsman like Kenshin play in a virtual world where death isn't a finality. I forgot how much he says "Oro" a lot too.

If you noticed that he doesn't have that "de-gozaru" speech in, I purposely didn't put that in since the guy has pretty much grown up through modern Japan here. I don't believe I need to add such old style speech. Plus, it would be a serious pain in the ass to keep doing so, whether in Japanese or English.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this.