Irregular Swords

In which Yamamoto receives a copy of Sword Art Online. Post-KHR canon and during SAO canon. Also I'm messing with the SAO timeline so that Yamamoto isn't in his twenties or thirties because I have no idea how I'd write him. Also, I have no idea where I got this idea from, or why I wrote it, considering that I'm shit at fight scenes. Other stuff that I changed: Kazuto has been aged up and is roughly 16 at the beginning.

Edit: Fixed typos and improved the flow of sentences, as well as added a few additional lines, but nothing major or plot relevant has been changed. Chapter 2 is.. still a WIP. I keep my profile relatively updated with its status. My apologies for how long it's taken, but I promise it'll get done someday.

Across the entirety of Floor 1, the loud clanging of a bell could be heard. One by one, the players were teleported to a large plaza. They were somewhat disoriented by the sudden change in locations, but as the plaza filled up, they whispered amongst themselves.

Suddenly, a red hexagon appeared in the sky, rapidly duplicating to form a dome over the entire area. Blood began to ooze out from where the hexagons met, quickly coalescing into a large figure that loomed over the plaza.

"ATTENTION PLAYERS," the figure boomed. "WELCOME TO MY WORLD."

As the figure continued its speech, the players became more and more frightened. A loud laugh cut through the loud sounds of the panicking people.

"Maa, maa, it's just a game, right?"

The people near to where the voice originated turned and glared. How oblivious could a person get?A tall, dark-haired man rubbed the back of his head sheepishly after he noticed the looks he was getting.

"Whoops, I didn't mean to say it that loudly," the man said, chuckling.

Kirito, who had been distracted by the odd man, turned his attention back to the ominous words being bellowed.

"SHOULD SOMEONE ATTEMPT TO SHUT DOWN OR REMOVE YOUR NERVEGEAR, THE TRANSMITTER INSIDE WILL EMIT A POWERFUL MICROWAVE, DESTROYING YOUR BRAIN AND THUS ENDING YOUR LIFE."

His eyes widened.

The people near the edges of the plaza frantically ran towards the exits. When they found that their escape was blocked, some sunk to the ground in despair while others banged their fists on the invisible barrier trapping them, refusing to believe in the figure's words.

The figure swept a hand across the sky, triggering the sudden appearance of several screens that streamed content from major news channels across the globe.

"AS YOU CAN SEE, NEWS ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE WORLD ARE REPORTING ALL OF THIS, INCLUDING THE DEATHS." The figure paused to let the information sink in. "THUS, YOU CAN ASSUME THAT THE DANGER OF A NERVEGEAR BEING REMOVED IS REAL. I HOPE YOU WILL RELAX AND ATTEMPT TO CLEAR THE GAME."

Kirito scoffed. How could anyone relax after hearing those words? Subconsciously, his eyes flickered over to the man from before. The man was talking more softly now, but when Kirito concentrated, he could still hear the man's words.

"Wow! They must have put in a lot of effort to fabricate those news channels; they looked so real!"

Kirito fought the urge to facepalm. Apparently, at least one person could, in fact, relax.

The large figure continued, ignoring the growing panic in the crowd below. "I CREATED SWORD ART ONLINE FOR ONE REASON: TO CREATE THIS WORLD AND INTERVENE IN IT. AND NOW, IT IS COMPLETE."

"THIS ENDS THE TUTORIAL OF THE OFFICIAL SWORD ART ONLINE LAUNCH. I HAVE ADDED A PRESENT FROM ME TO YOU IN YOUR ITEM STORAGE. GOOD LUCK, PLAYERS."

Without waiting for a response, the figure broke apart into countless hexagons. Curious to what the present was, Kirito, along with the rest of the crowd, opened up his inventory, pulling up an item that wasn't there before.

"A Mirror?" Kirito said, bringing it out to look at it. It seemed like a normal mirror, reflecting the face of his avatar perfectly.

A flash of light consumed him and everyone else. When it faded, nothing seemed to have changed at first.

"Kirito, you okay?" he heard Klein say. Turning to face the man, he was met with an unfamiliar face.

Both he and the unfamiliar figure pointed at each other and screamed in tandem, "Who are you?!"

Kirito tilted his head to the side. "Klein?"

The man blinked. "Wait, that means you're Kirito?"

He nodded, pulling out his sword to check his reflection. It seemed that his avatar now reflected how he looked in real life, so the same must have happened to everyone else.

It was just an idle thought that was nagging at him, but Kirito found himself turning around after he sheathed the sword again, looking for the man from before. Standing in his place was what looked to be a middle-schooler. A tall one, perhaps, but still a middle-schooler.

Kirito sighed. No wonder the man had seemed so ignorant of what was happening. He was actually just a boy, one that was younger than even him.

That boy, a certain Yamamoto Takeshi, was actually thinking about the situation unlike what the people around him had thought.

Tsuna and the others... they would miss him if he died. When he came to that conclusion, his gaze hardened. He would survive no matter what, so that they could return to their normal lives, together.

Tsuna probably felt guilty. After all, he was the one that had given Yamamoto his copy of Sword Art Online as an early birthday present, saying that it was probably more suited for him since he was a swordsman.

Ignoring the panicking crowd, he ambled out of the plaza, heading for the field full of monsters. He bypassed the low-leveled boars that he had fought earlier; they proved to be too easy and wouldn't help him get stronger at all.

Hearing a low grunt, Yamamoto jumped to the side, dodging a charge from a large boar. His eyes narrowed and a small grin appeared on his face. Maybe this one would be more of a challenge than the boars from before. Either way, it would be better experience, and more experience meant that there was less chance of him dying.

And there was no way that he would let Tsuna down like that.

In the chaotic first month in the game, two-thousand people had died.

Floor 1 had yet to be cleared.

Eventually, some people had the idea to hold a meeting on how to clear the first floor. A few posters were placed around the inns and in the market of the biggest town, and a handful of the planners went to the other smaller towns that were scattered across the floor to spread the word by mouth.

It was a good idea, but most of the players had given up hope after hearing of the horrific death toll. In the arena where the meeting occurred, most of the seats were empty.

A blue-haired man, standing at the center of the arena, called out to grab the attention of the small crowd.

"Hello!" he said. "My name is Diabel. Today, a party found the boss's room at the top of the tower."

The people immediately went quiet. Finding the boss room meant there there was a chance, no matter how small, that they could actually make it through the hellish game and survive.

"Okay, so first off," Diabel said, "We should divide up into parties of six."

Immediately, Kirito, who was one of the few that had come, began to panic. He knew no one at the meeting, having set off on his own from the very start. Looking around wildly, his eyes landed on a cloaked player who, like him, was sitting all alone. He quickly slid over to where they sat.

"So you got left out too?" he asked. The player shook their head.

"No. I saw that everyone already seemed to know each other so I stayed out of it."

Kirito's eyebrows rose. Finding another solo player was not common as most people stayed in groups for protection.

"Then, do you want to form a party?" Kirito asked. Noticing the other player's hesitation, he amended his statement. "I mean, just for this fight."

Slowly, the cloaked player nodded. Kirito opened up the menu with a swipe of his finger, sending the invitation to the other player. When they accepted it, their name appeared in front of him.

Asuna.

Suddenly, an arm was slung around his shoulders. Startled, Kirito almost fell over. Looking up, he saw a grinning face, one that was vaguely familiar.

"Hey, I don't have a party either; you wouldn't mind if I joined for this fight, right?" the other person said. Looking closer, Kirito finally realized why the boy looked so familiar.

"You're that kid that made that really inappropriate comment at the Town of Beginnings!" he exclaimed.

"Ahaha," the boy said, letting go of Kirito to rub the back of his head, "So you remember that?"

Kirito sighed. Looking over to Asuna, he asked, "Do you have any problems with this?" Asuna responded in the negative.

He quickly sent over another invite, which the boy accepted. Looking over at the party screen, Kirito saw the boy's name under Asuna's.

Yamamoto.

Diabel clapped loudly, gathering the attention of the crowd once more. "So has everyone formed their parties?" he asked. "Then-"

He was cut off by a red-haired man leaping down the steps of the arena to the stage where Diabel was standing.

"I'm Kibaou! And before we do anything, some of the people here need to apologize!" he yelled angrily. "I'm talking to the beta testers! You guys need to apologize to the two-thousand people that have already died!"

The man continued his tirade. "On the day this stupid game started, you damn beta testers ditched us beginners and ran off! You took all of the good hunting spots and all of the easy quests so that only you guys could grow stronger! You left the rest of us to die!"

Kirito slumped in his seat. He was guilty of some of what the man was saying.

Glancing over at Kirito, Yamamoto noticed the look on his face and slung an arm over his shoulders once again, hoping to provide some comfort.

"I'm sure someone here was in the beta!" Kibaou yelled. "Whoever you are, you should get on your knees and apologize, and give up whatever you've hoarded to help the rest of us! Otherwise, how could we trust you?"

Kirito grimaced and shrugged Yamamoto's arm off. He trembled, not knowing what to do.

A deep voice interrupted his thoughts.

"May I speak?" The voice came from a couple rows below where he was sitting, from a large man with an axe on his back.

The man introduced himself as Agil and walked down and stood in front of Kibaou. Calmly, he pulled out a small booklet and explained what it was.

It was a guidebook that had been given out freely to every single player that had stepped foot into an item store. But what most people didn't know was that it had been compiled from information given by beta-testers.

"Eh?" Yamamoto said, somewhat surprised. "I didn't know there was a booklet. Man, that would have helped a lot!"

This time, unlike when he first saw Yamamoto, Kirito couldn't resist the urge to facepalm. But as the crowd began to calm down due to Agil's explanation, Kirito let out a sigh of relief.

"Now, can we resume?" Diabel asked. He quickly flipped through his own copy of the guidebook that Agil had just displayed, stopping when he reached the page that he was looking for.

"According to this, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord, and is guarded by smaller kobold mobs. He is armed with an axe and a buckler, and has four HP bars. When his health reaches red, he switches weapons to a talwar, which is a type of sword."

The man continued to read out the information, and Kirito nodded along. After Diabel explained how experience and items would be distributed, he looked over the crowd once more.

"Any questions?" he asked. When he received no response, he continued. "That concludes this meeting. Let's meet here tomorrow morning, at 10 o'clock. We'll set off soon after that, so come prepared."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Asuna stood and left. Kirito soon followed in her footsteps and left as well.

Realizing that he was being left behind, Yamamoto rushed to keep up. It was a futile effort anyways, as his two other party members had split up and gone in different directions.

The next morning, after everyone had gathered, the raid group trekked through a forest to head to where the boss room was.

Kirito, Asuna, and Yamamoto were a slightly behind the rest of the group, going over their tactics for the last time.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock the pole arms up, and then you can switch in, Asuna," Kirito said. "As for you," he said, looking over at Yamamoto, "I don't really know?"

"Don't worry, don't worry," the boy said.

One of Kirito's eyes twitched. How could he not worry? Yamamoto was even younger than he was, and this was a matter of life or death!

Yamamoto continued, either oblivious to Kirito's reaction or just ignoring it. "I'll just stay on the lookout for any Ruin Kobold Sentinels that might sneak up and I'll take care of them!"

Before Kirito could raise an argument against Yamamoto's plan, Asuna raised her voice. "Um, what do you mean by 'switch'?"

Kirito massaged his temples. Of course his party would consist of a carefree middle-school boy and a girl who didn't even know what switching was.

Finally, they arrived at the boss room. With a strong push, Diabel opened the doors. As soon as the first person stepped through the entryway, the dark room they previously saw changed. It was enveloped in a rainbow glow, leaving the hall looking almost heavenly. It could have been described as beautiful, if one simply ignored the giant kobold at the back of the room that had immediately picked up its weapon and charged at them.

Illfang had initially only summoned three of its Sentinels, but as the battle raged on and its HP lowered, it summoned more and more.

Kirito and Asuna were a perfect duo, working in tandem to quickly destroy the Sentinels that were harassing the players that had been assigned to fight Illfang.

From the corner of his eye, Kirito saw the gleam of a Sentinel's armour as it charged at Asuna's exposed back. He grimaced; he was too far from her to stop it.

"Asuna!" he yelled. "Watch out!" However, he shouldn't have worried. Yamamoto shoved her out of the way of the morning star, blocking the blow with a diagonal slash from his katana. Suddenly, he dropped his sword.

Kirito's eyes widened; that might cost Yamamoto his life! He began rushing to save the boy, but before his eyes, what seemed to be a miracle happened. With his other hand, Yamamoto caught his sword, immediately bringing it up to slice at the kobold's exposed belly. Caught by surprise, the Sentinel shattered into the polygons that it was composed of.

"Shigure Soen Ryu's fifth form: Early Summer Rain."

Kirito could barely make out the words that Yamamoto had said since they had been barely a whisper, but he was confused. That wasn't the name of any of the sword skills in game, was it?

Deciding to ignore it for the time being, he turned his attention back to Illfang. It panted heavily, and a quick glance at the bars around its head showed that its health had just entered the red zone.

It cast away its old weapons and pulled out the weapon that had previously been sheathed upon its back.

Kirito's eyes widened. It wasn't a talwar; it was a nodachi!

Diabel rushed forwards, gesturing for the others to stay back. "I'll deal with it!"

"No!" Kirito shouted. "Jump back as far as you can!"

Diabel refused to heed his words and continued his charge, his sword beginning to glow a soft yellow. As soon as he made to slash at the large kobold, however, it leapt up into the air, jumping from pillar to pillar before it landed behind him. With a single slash of its blade, it sent him flying to the other side of the large hall.

The rest of the raid group, some of them literally shaking in their boots, charged, desperate to take Illfang down.

Kirito rushed towards Diabel, pulling out a health potion. Yamamoto stayed where he was, his attention split between the rampaging Illfang and what was going on with Kirito and Diabel.

And then, Diabel shattered. Countless polygons floated away from where he had been previously, slowly disappearing.

Asuna immediately rushed to Kirito's side, stopping only for a second to tell Yamamoto that she'd handle the situation.

Seeing that Kirito would be okay, Yamamoto turned back to the fight and charged in.

Moments later, Asuna and Kirito followed his lead and rushed towards the boss, while most of the others fell back in order to heal up.

"We'll do this just like we did for the others, okay?" Kirito shouted. Asuna nodded.

Illfang grasped its nodachi, which began to glow brightly. As Kirito charged at it, he did the same, deflecting its sword skill with one of his own.

As Illfang stumbled, Asuna rushed in, preparing to rain down hits on it. But they had miscalculated how long it would take for Illfang to recover.

Its malevolent red eyes glowed, and it swung once more. Asuna ducked, barely dodging the strike. However, her cloak wasn't as lucky, getting caught in the attack and shredded.

Illfang raised its sword, preparing to end her life as it had Diabel's, when, out of the blue, Yamamoto yelled.

"Hey!" It made the giant kobold pause for just a split second, but it was enough. Putting in all of his strength, he dropped his sword for the second time that day and kicked it, of all things, straight at the kobold's face.

The unexpected strike knocked Illfang back, giving Asuna enough time to strike at its stomach, which launched it back a few feet.

Kirito quickly recovered from his shock, and they resumed their deadly dance. When Kirito found himself near Yamamoto's fallen sword, he tossed it back to where Yamamoto was standing, receiving a grin and a thumbs-up in return.

Emboldened by the small party's success, the rest of the raid group, now being lead by Agil, charged in as well.

Slowly, the rest of Illfang's HP was whittled away. With a loud battle cry, Asuna stabbed at Illfang, throwing it up into the air. Taking advantage of the opening, Kirito jumped into the air and swung with his sword, carving a line straight through the boss monster.

Up in the air, Illfang glowed, before shattering. In its place was the word 'Congratulations'.

The group began to cheer raucously. They had survived. And more importantly, they had proved that clearing a floor wasn't impossible but was rather a feat that could be accomplished.

Yamamoto headed over to where Asuna and Kirito were. They were standing near where Illfang had fallen, panting in exhaustion.

"You guys were pretty cool out there!" he said, grinning. "I wish I could have done more, though."

Kirito found himself grinning as well. It was like Yamamoto's grin was infectious. "No, you helped a lot, don't worry." As he turned around, Yamamoto grabbed his arm.

"Oh yeah! I have to ask you something."

Kirito froze, dread building up in his stomach. He had practically revealed himself as a beta tester when he had shouted for Diabel to stop.

"How did you guys get your sword to glow? It looked pretty cool!"

Kirito blinked slowly. That was what he had wanted to ask about? Of all things?

"Please tell me that you're kidding, Yamamoto," he said hesitantly.

Yamamoto's face never changed. "Nope! Why would I be?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"Are you telling me that you don't know what sword skills are?" Kirito exclaimed.

"Oh, so that's what you meant when you mentioned sword skills before the battle. How do you do them, though?" Yamamoto asked, inquisitively.

Kirito threw his hands up in the air. "How have you been fighting this whole time? You position yourself to start the sword skill, then the system kicks in and makes sure that the hit collides! I mean, otherwise, how could anyone fight? It's not like we knew how to use these weapons beforehand!"

"Oh, I think I get it now!" Yamamoto said as he began to chuckle. "Hey, hey, can you teach me some? Or at least show me them once?"

"Uh," Kirito began. "I guess-" Before he could finish, he heard a shout.

"You!" Kibaou yelled, pointing straight at him. "You knew that technique that the boss used!"

Murmuring could be heard throughout the group as they turned to Kirito.

Kibaou continued. "You were one of the beta testers, weren't you? And you just sat there and let Diabel die!"

The whispers grew louder and louder, and one by one, the formerly happy faces of the other players, sans Agil, grew dark with hatred.

Another man stood up, glancing around the hall rapidly. "I bet there are other beta testers in here too! Come out!"

The former comrades turned on each other, looking at everyone around them with distrust.

Kirito frowned. "This is bad," he whispered. As his eyes darted from side to side, he came up with a plan.

"Calm down!" Agil said to Kibaou. Before he could continue, however, he was cut off by Kirito who began to laugh madly.

"A beta tester, you say?" said Kirito, as the players closest to him began backing away. "I wish you wouldn't compare me to those newbies."

As he walked closer to the crowd, they stepped back further.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" a man exclaimed.

Kirito smirked. "Most of the beta testers were complete beginners who barely even knew how to level up. Could you believe that?" He chuckled darkly. "Right now, you guys are better at this game than they are."

He slowly made his way through the crowd, heading for the exit. "But the thing is, I'm not like them."

He stopped and turned around, planting a hand on his hip. "I made it further than anyone else during the beta test. The reason why I knew the boss's skills is because I've fought monsters on the floors far above us that use katana skills as well."

"I know more," he said. "More than any old information broker." He scoffed at the looks on the people's faces.

"Y-you! You're worse than the beta testers! You're- You're a cheater!" Kibaou yelled. The group cried out, affirming his statement.

Another man, this one armed with a spear, exclaimed, "He's a beta tester and a cheater! He-he's like- a beater!"

Kirito rolled the word around his mouth. "A beater, eh? I like it. That's right, I'm a beater. Don't you dare group me with those pathetic other beta testers."

Opening up his inventory, he equipped the Coat of Midnight which he had just gained by achieving the last strike on Illfang. With one last smirk, he turned and walked away.

At the doorway, he stopped and brought up the party menu.

"Wait!" Asuna cried out, following him up the stairs. "How did you know my name? First, during the battle, and now?"

Kirito turned around, a slight hint of a smile on his face. He pointed up to near his head. "When you're in a party, you can see the names of everyone else in it."

Looking up, she saw three names: Asuna, Kirito, and Yamamoto. She giggled slightly as she began to tear up.

"Oh, so it's been there the whole time. Ki-ri-to. Did I pronounce it right?" Kirito nodded. Yamamoto ran up the stairs, stumbling slightly in his rush.

"So that's what that was," he said.

Kirito looked back down at the party menu.

Do you want to disband your party?

Selecting the 'Yes' option, he waved goodbye to them.

"Hey, Asuna.. if someone you trust ever invites you to a guild, you should join. I can tell that you'll be really strong. And Yamamoto, I'm sorry, but I'll have to show you sword skills some other time. Goodbye."

And with that, he left.

The rest of the group slowly dispersed, either heading back to town or heading to the next floor.

"Asuna-san?" said Yamamoto, tugging on her sleeve. "Wanna go on to the next floor together? I'm probably not as good as Kirito is at this game, but I think I'm pretty reliable?"

Asuna paused for a moment, contemplating the offer. Eventually, she responded. "I'll consider it. But before we do anything else, I'm gonna make you learn how to use sword skills. God, how you managed to do so well during this battle without them, I'll never know..."

"Ah? Thank you!" Yamamoto replied, grinning wildly. "In that case, I should call you Asuna-sensei, right?"

"Eh?" Asuna said, pink dusting her cheeks. "D-don't call me that; you're embarrassing me!" She whirled around to face away from him, fiddling with her menu for a bit.

Yamamoto blinked at the message that popped up in front of him.

Do you want to join Asuna's party?

He grinned and accepted.

"But like I said, first thing we're gonna do is teach you how to use sword skills!" she said.

"Okay, okay, I got it, Asuna-sensei!"

"S-shut up!"

"So each type of weapon has different sword skills, but there are some basic ones that can be used with most weapons," Asuna said, lecturing. "For example, if I hold my rapier like this," she said, pausing to gesture to her sword that she held with her other hand, "the system takes over, and the attack occurs."

The rapier began to glow, and in a burst of speed, Asuna shot forwards, slicing through the monster that she had previously isolated for the lesson.

"Now you try, on that monster over there. Give me a moment, I'll lure it over here for you."

When she successfully brought the monster over, Yamamoto held his sword in the same manner that she had. His sword began to glow, and he widened his eyes as the system took control of his body.

When the monster had shattered, he sheathed his sword. "Man, that felt weird," he said. "I'm not sure if I like these sword skills or not."

Asuna sighed. "I'm not done explaining them yet. Sword skills do a lot more damage to monsters than normal strikes, but in return, the player enters a 'Post-Motion' period where they can't move for a certain amount of time. Even after that, there is a 'Cooldown' period where the player can move, but cannot use the same sword skill again until the period is over."

"That's so complicated. I think I'll just stick with what I've been doing; I mean, it's worked so far, right?" Yamamoto said with a grin.

"Whatever. Now, you at least know the basics if you ever need to use a skill." Asuna nonchalantly waved her hand in the air. "Anyways, how have you made it up to this point without knowing how to use sword skills?"

"Ah, it's kinda complicated? My friends and I starting playing a game roughly two years ago? So I got my dad to teach me how to use the sword so I could properly join in." Yamamoto shrugged. "It wasn't that hard to get used to fighting monsters instead once this whole thing started since I already knew how to use a katana."

His answer only confused her more – why would playing a game in real life require him to learn how to fight with a sword? However, she knew that she had pried too much. While the ever-present smile on Yamamoto's face was still there, Asuna could tell that it was starting to become a bit strained. She visibly deflated.

"Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to remind you of the world outside of this game."

Talking about the outside world had become almost taboo to the players trapped in the game. Very few people wanted to be reminded of their separation from their loved ones, or of how the world outside was passing them by while they lay prone in their hospital beds.

Yamamoto waved her concerns away. "Nah, it doesn't matter. Let's just find a good spot for experience before they're all taken, kay?"

A month passed, and Asuna could still say that the only time she had ever seen Yamamoto use a sword skill was that very first time that she had demonstrated them. Somehow, he still managed to be an effective fighter even without the additional damage that the sword skills dealt.

The two were still partied up with each other. They were a surprisingly good duo, even though their personalities differed so much.

However, around the twentieth floor, Asuna began to notice something odd about Yamamoto.

As they ascended the tower, the monsters they faced became more and more humanoid, having more advanced AIs as well. Most players had difficulty dealing with the new mechanics and had to take extra caution when dealing with the monsters, but not him.

For some reason, humanoid beasts were easier for Yamamoto to deal with, even though they were harder to predict. Something about his movements became smoother, for lack of a better word, when he faced them as opposed to when he fought quadrupedal foes.

However, it never really clicked in her mind until that day on the 25th floor.

After a long and rainy day, the two had returned back to town to sell their excess items when they were stopped by a group of people, all wearing matching armor. A man stepped forward out of the group.

"Hello! Do you remember me?" he asked, grinning. "We've fought alongside each other a couple of times before, in the boss fights, and I was really impressed by your skills."

Yamamoto tilted his head slightly, searching through his memories until he recognized the man's face. "Ah, you're Heathcliff, right?"

The man grinned in response. "I just recently formed a guild, the Knights of Blood, and I was wondering if you two would join."

Kirito's words flashed through Asuna's mind once more: if someone you trust ever invites you to a guild, you should join. The question was, did she trust Heathcliff?

"That's a bit sudden, isn't it?" she asked. "I don't remember ever talking to you before this."

Heathcliff chuckled. "I know, but I wanted to debut the guild during the clearing meeting for the next floor tomorrow," he said.

Asuna thought for another moment before she made up her mind.

"Okay, I'll join. What about you, Yamamoto?" she responded.

"Eh? Me?" he asked. "Nah, I don't feel like it."

One of the people behind Heathcliff stepped up, outraged. "Why not? Aren't you gonna at least give us a reason?" he said.

Yamamoto rubbed his chin. "Hmm, if I had to give a reason, I guess it'd be that I'll only ever call one person my boss, you know? And Heathcliff isn't him."

"So you think you're too good for us, eh?" the man from before exclaimed.

"Huh?" Yamamoto said. "I never said that."

"Duel me! If I win, you join our guild. If you win, we'll never bother you again." the man yelled. To the side, Heathcliff sighed.

"I apologize," he said. "You should just ignore him; he's a bit defensive of me and the guild."

Yamamoto shrugged. "It's not a problem. I wasn't planning on accepting the duel anyways." Yamamoto brought up his party screen and left Asuna's party. With a wave, he turned to leave. "Bye! It was fun playing with you, Asuna-sensei!"

"Are you afraid of fighting me? I bet your 'boss' is just a pathetic wimp, like you!" the man spat, his face scrunched up in anger.

Yamamoto froze.

"Eh?" Yamamoto slowly turned around, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I changed my mind. Let's duel. First to the red loses." With a few clicks, he sent the challenge.

The other man grinned ferally as he accepted. A large timer appeared above their heads, counting down from twenty. The others quickly moved away from the two, giving them enough room to properly fight.

Fifteen seconds. Yamamoto brought out his katana, holding it steady in front of him.

Ten seconds. The man held a large morning star with one hand, a shield clasped in the other.

Five seconds. Yamamoto's eyes narrowed. The man smirked.

Three. The rain continued to pour down heavily, drenching both the watchers and the two dueling.

Two. Yamamoto's stance deepened.

One. The two met each other's gazes and-

As the duel began, the man rushed forward, his morning star glowing a bright green as he prepared a sword skill. Yamamoto remained in place, keeping track of the weapon's movements.

The moment the man was within striking distance, his skill released, and the morning star moved down towards Yamamoto's head.

With a quick movement, Yamamoto deflected the attack, creating an opening in the other man's defenses. He shot forward and struck at the man's torso and knocked him backwards.

Before the man could retaliate, Yamamoto had reached him again.

His katana moved so quickly that the onlookers could barely see it, flashing to and fro across the man's body.

As he saw the blade head towards his face, the man reflexively flinched.

A scream tore its way from Asuna's throat.

Instead of the heavy impact of the blade on his face, the man felt a light jab on his forehead. At the last moment, Yamamoto decided to hold back, barely hitting the man. From behind the blade, the man could see Yamamoto's eyes.

They were as hard as steel, showing absolutely no mercy.

Above their heads, large words proclaimed Yamamoto's victory.

Slowly, he lowered his sword. Wordlessly, he sheathed his sword and walked away into the town. Behind him, the man collapsed to the ground.

On the sidelines, Asuna was frozen in shock, her mouth open. Yamamoto had never moved like that before.

Slowly, as she processed what had happened, the pieces slipped into place.

For some reason, Yamamoto was used to fighting with humans. His movements were flawless, and from what she could see, his strikes were all targeting vital points on the human body.

In real life, they would have all been fatal.

If she hadn't screamed, if she hadn't been friends with Yamamoto, would he have stopped? Or would he have gone through with the strike, killing the man?

Just who was Yamamoto, really?

A heavy hand rested on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Heathcliff's face. "Come on, let's go."

As the rain continued to pour, the Knights of Blood walked away.

Chapter One End

Originally Posted on 4/30/2014

Edited on 8/21/2017.