Disclaimer: All of Sword Art Online is the creation of Shoji Kawahara, including Kouchirou Yuuki. But since he is given little characterization, this is merely my depiction of what he could be like. The Sanada family and Ayami Mochizuki-Yuuki belongs to Centurious the Azure.

Sword Art Online: The Pale Rider and the Black Swordsman

By Centurious the Azure and Storm Wolf77415

Livening up the Party

(October 4th, 2022 AD, Tokyo Hilton Hotel, Tokyo Japan)

There were times Yuuki Asuna wished she lived in a dark hole on a deserted island in the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean. Sadly, tropical islands were in short supply in the middle of downtown Tokyo, but maybe if she got lucky, Godzilla would rampage through, that way she could find a place to hide amidst the wreckage. "This is so boring." She sighed.

Asuna sighed, trying as best as possible to blend into the wall in the grand ballroom of the Tokyo Hilton, where her family's company, Recto Technical Industries, was throwing a huge party to welcome a new possible business partner. These parties were old hat to the fifteen year old girl, and they were all the same dull affairs with cheap J-pop music, and people with way too much money to throw about making idle chatter that she held very little interest in.

She jumped when someone tapped her on the shoulder. A pair of warm hazel eyes framed by dark brown hair greeted her. Asuna's older brother, Yuuki Kouchirou gave a warm smile. "Hello there, little sister. I see you're doing your best to avoid Mom and Sugou." He put an arm around her shoulder "I don't blame you, sis. This is just Mom's latest attempt to grab more money for pockets that are already way too full."

"Last week she set up on four marriage dates! And they were all men twice my age!" Asuna sighed, resting her head against Kouchirou's shoulder. "I wish Mother wouldn't control my life so much."

"Yeah, someone needs to tell her the world doesn't belong to her!" At that moment the Yuuki siblings were joined by a woman the same age as Kouchirou wearing a dark blue business suit trimmed in gold with dark blue two inch heels on her feet, her long black hair tied in a low ponytail, brilliant blue eyes projected a sharp and decisive air. She looked quite sophisticated and professional…until she opened her mouth. "If she had her way, she'd hoard all the oxygen for herself. The rest of the human race desperately needs that oxygen thank you very much!"

"Hi, Ayami!" Asuna exclaimed, embracing her sister in law, Yuuki Ayami. The two had been married for the better part of going on four years. Kouchirou was a high level executive at Recto Industries, with Ayami as his faithful right hand woman. The two had gone out of their way to make Asuna's life a little less dreary. The girls would go out shopping together and Kouchirou was always there to comfort his sister when she was sad.

Ayami folded her arms across her ample chest, taking note of the gaudy decorations, and bland sounding music. "So which pointless executive is this party for again and how much money did the old bat waste for it?" She asked, rolling her eyes at the lecherous glances some of the men were sending her way.

"The new corporate head of Digital Escape's Japanese branch is hardly pointless, young lady!" A clipped voice spoke. Asuna cringed a little and Kouchirou looked on impassively as their mother, Yuuki Kyouko marched up, her hair was a deep rich brown. Her face would have been considered beautiful if not for the high nose and jaw line which gave a very austere impression. Brown eyes looked on with disdain. "I can assure you the money for this party was well spent, Miss Mochizuki."

"Oh, hi Mom! How are you? This is a great party! I think only half of the people have gone to sleep yet!" Asuna did her best to stifle a laugh. Kyouko had never approved of her eldest child's marriage to Ayami, saying that she was below their status. The eldest Yuuki sibling had made his feeling clear, running away with Ayami to elope. Yuuki Shouzou, Kouchirou and Asuna's father, quietly gave his blessing, providing them the money to get married.

Kyouko just ignored her daughter-in-law's comments, turning her nose up before fixing her gaze on Asuna. "What are you doing hiding here in the corner? You have mingling to do Asuna. Sugou has been looking for you all night, and I want you to spend some time with him."

"I'm sorry Mom, I just remembered a book report I need to finish!" Asuna said, quickly moving to leave, but only to stopped by her mother's hand on her shoulder.

"I seem to recall you having done that book report already. I know this because I edited it. No more excuses." Kyouko snapped.

"Ah! Here you all are!" It was then Shouzou appeared, the dim lights of the ballroom reflected on his face, marred with wrinkles and stress lines. He smiled warmly at his son. "Hello Kouchirou, thanks for coming out." He planted a chaste kiss on Ayami's cheek. "You look as beautiful as ever, my dear. I'm glad you could make it."

He gave a stern glare to Kyouko. "Allow me to introduce you kids to our esteemed guest. Mr. Yukimura Sanada." He called across the room. "Mura, get over here and meet my kids!" Yukimura Sanada was a tall man with a broad chest and shoulders, wearing a very expensive tailored Armani suit. Kouchirou noted he seemed of mixed blood, noting Anglo features in his face. Steel rimmed glasses caught the light off of his bifocal lenses, slightly obscuring the gray eyes underneath. A thick brown beard, covered the lower part of his face.

The Yuuki siblings would have found the man rather intimidating if not for the fact he was snacking on a tray of sushi and cocktail wieners he had procured earlier from a flustered waitress. "Good evening to you." Yukimura spoke in a deep baritone voice, before non-chalantly downing a hot dog.

"My son, Kouchirou and his wife, Ayami. This is my daughter, Asuna." Shouzou said. Kouchirou offered a formal bow to the older man, who returned the gesture. Yukimura took Ayami's hand, gently kissing it, repeating with Asuna.

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, Mr. Sanada. I think it's time to talk business." Kyouko cut in. "I'm looking forward to the new partnership between Recto and Digital Escape." She didn't get any further than that.

"Ah, there's plenty of time for that. This is a party! we're supposed to be having fun." Yukimura waved her off, taking a bite of some sushi. "I must say Kyouko, you really went all out on the catering. The food's not bad. The decorations are nice too." Yukimura sounded almost bored, chomping on another hot dog. "Although, I think the setting is rather lacking. I would have picked the lodge we golf at. The artificial lake looks absolutely stunning from the deck, especially in the evening. Wouldn't you agree, Shou?"

"Yeah, especially in the evening, when the lights turn on to illuminate the fountains." Shouzou couldn't help but grin. Kyouko huffed a little before marching off, clearly offended at being pushed aside. Kouchirou and Asuna found their opinion of Yukimura going up quite a bit. He looked around, scanning the crowd. "Is something wrong, Mura?" The Yuuki Patriarch asked.

"I'm just looking for my son. I was hoping to introduce him to your children." Yukimura drawled. "Of course he's been known to do his own thing I'm not around." He shrugged. "He'll turn up eventually. Come on Shou, let's catch up." The two men walked off, leaving the kids alone.

"Perhaps this business deal will actually be beneficial for once." Ayami remarked. It was then her face fell, as she saw a man a little older than Kouchirou approach, his hair was slicked back, horn rim glasses framed his eyes. He gained a lecherous expression in his eye when she looked at him. "Oh, no…Asuna, get ready to run. Slimebag at seven o'clock!"

"Damn, it's Sugou!" Kouchirou managed through clenched teeth. Sugou Nobuyuki was the head of Recto Progress, a subsidiary company that served as Recto's in-house game production studio. He had made the company a significant amount of money over his seven year tenure as Recto Progress's chief of operations, and was upheld as a model employee by Board of Directors.

However the Yuuki siblings would have told others different. They had known Sugou since they were children. And knew him for what he really was, a greedy, amoral bastard. Sugou sidled up to Kouchirou. "Hey there, K! How are you?" He said, his mask of smiles firmly in place. "Hello Ayami, looking just as lovely as ever. So nice you could make it to the party. And Asuna…" he drew out the 'S', "You look exquisite!"

Asuna was sweating. The dress she had on left little to the imagination. A sleeveless number in white, trimmed in brilliant red, it came to just above her knees, exposing a very nice pair of legs wearing tan panty hose and white pumps. Under Sugou's gaze it felt like she was wearing nothing. "Hello Sugou. It's a nice evening, don't you think?" She tried to put on a brave front.

"It is, but you look even nicer, I'm guessing Ayami picked that outfit for you?" Sugou's eyes raked up and down. "She always did have great fashion sense." Ayami flipped the bird behind his back, before shooting the younger girl a sympathetic glance. Sugou got up in Asuna's face, his finger began looping through her long strawberry blonde locks. "I see you're still using the same shampoo. I always did love the scent."

Kouchirou bristled. His first instinct being to push Sugou away, but Kyouko was looking in their direction. It was thanks to her he got his position in the first place. Ayami was about to tell Sugou to get lost in her own colorful manner, when a footstep sounded right next to them before someone cleared his throat, shoving Sugou aside.

The person in a question was a fifteen year old boy. He had short midnight black hair that was honestly a bit messy in its feathery appearance. His feathery bangs framed his bright grey eyes, glimmering in the ballroom lights like molten silver. He was shorter than either man, but taller than your average boy at their age. Honestly, he looked like a foreigner with his sharp Anglo features.

"Heya," He greeted the girl, ignoring the adults present. He wore a properly disarming grin. Asuna automatically smiled in response. Something about it made her relax. He gently took the girl's hand. "Hope you don't mind. I'm gonna dance with you. You look like you're tired of being a wallflower."

"Uhhh, okay!" Asuna blushed, not sure what to make of her rescuer. The mysterious boy grabbed her arm, dragging her onto the dance floor. Kouchirou just shrugged taking Ayami by the hand and following his sister.

"Sorry, Nobu. Looks like you'll have to get some quality time with my sis on a later date." Kouchirou grinned, looking to his wife. "Come on hon, let's dance."

The boy took her hand, and placed his hand on her hip. They started slow dancing to the sweet, easy going pop song going on in the background. He gave her an apologetic look. Despite that, he didn't look like he was sorry. He wore a victorious smile. "Sorry, if I startled you," he said softly, looking her in the eye. "I was bored... So, I decided to grab you. My old man dragged me away from playing Call of Duty to be at this snooze fest. I mean, seriously. Whoever decided to arrange this has to be the most boring person in Japan."

"Then you can send our mother the thank you card." Kouchirou remarked as he and Ayami came up alongside the other couple. "Thanks for showing up when you did."

The boy's mouth went agape as realization flickered in his grey eyes. "Oooh," He let it out in a small voice, glancing over at Kouchirou. He turned his attention back to Asuna. "You're the Yuukis. That means your mom is that snobby robot lady who greeted me, and my dad downstairs."

It was Asuna and Kouchirou's turn to go slack jawed. "You're Mr. Sanada's son?" Asuna asked.

The boy shrugged, informing her honestly. "Actually, there are three of us. My older brother Morinobu felt this kind of thing was beneath him, Kuro's the youngest. I'm the only one who agreed to come with my dad. Yukimasa Sanada is my name, and I guess breaking up creepy, soulless business man's hair sniffing is my game."

"The creepy soulless business man with the hair sniffing fetish was Sugou Nobuyuki. We don't like him very much." Kouchirou said. "I'm Yuuki Kouchirou, this is my wife Yuuki Ayami, and my little sister Yuuki Asuna. We owe you a small debt of gratitude, Yukimasa."

He looked at Asuna sympathetically. The moment he had seen Sugou playing around with her, he felt a desire to chop the man into pieces before impaling him in the eye. "You mom is a robot and your boyfriend is a creepy, old man? You have it tough Asuna."

"He's not my boyfriend! I don't even like him!" Asuna spat vehemently. "My robot of a mother, as you put it, arranged this whole thing!" It wasn't often that Asuna got really angry, but if it involved Sugou Nobuyuki, everyone would get to see her in all her fury. "I'd love nothing more than to see Sugou punted off the top of Recto Tower!"

Yukimasa didn't recoil at her reaction to his assertion. It was what he was hoping for. "Why haven't you, then?" He asked curiously, laughing a bit. He asked, taking his hand off her hip so he could spin Asuna around. He lifted her hand up to give her enough space. She spun perfectly like a ballerina dancer, much to his satisfaction. She was a spinning top of strawberry blonde tresses. She came around to face him again. He smiled impishly at her. That expression alone implied something foolhardy going on in his mind. "I think I get it. You're one of those suppressed princess types. You want to get out, and get down. You don't want to do it because you don't want to make your parents mad."

"What do you mean by that?" Asuna pouted. Yukimasa's first thought was how cute she looked when her face got all scrunched up. He gave her a cheek loving pat, causing her to start blushing slightly. His hand was rough and yet remarkably warm.

"I'm just messing with you." He chimed sweetly, patting her comfortingly on the arm. "I'm sure you're pretty brave when you wanna be. Tell me about Yuuki Asuna. What does the princess of Recto do for fun?"

"I like swimming, but I mostly just spend time studying." Asuna sighed. "My mother is a slave driver that way." Yukimasa blinked a few second, looking to Kouchirou, who just shrugged.

"Wow." he replied in the flattest voice he could manage. "Asuna, I seriously think your mom is a T-800 sent from a war ravaged future to kill your buzz. You really need to have some more excitement in your life." His lips curled into a smirk. "Perhaps you'd like to liven up this party a bit? I have a plan if you're interested." He looked to Kouchirou and Ayami, "You're welcome to join in, something tells me you like this as little as I do."

"What do you have in mind?" Kouchirou asked.

"You could try following my lead." Yukimasa said helpfully. "What do you think about this?" Everyone leaned forward as he began whispering. Each word caused a smile to slowly manifest on their lips. He lifted his head up, revealing a thin, devious smile going from ear to ear.

"I gotta admit, I like your style kid. You clearly take after your old man that way." Ayami smirked. "I haven't done something like this since I was in high school." She became serious. "However, if we do this, we'll have to be very careful."

"Indeed, dear. It may seem rather petty of me to think this way, being a grown adult and all." Kouchirou said, a rather devious look in his own brown eyes. "But I've wanted to get back at Mom for years. So count me in for this."

A devilish twinkle reflected in his grey eyes. "I know you're dying to be a rebellious princess, Asuna."

"I…don't know about this. I wouldn't want to make Mom angry." Asuna said.

"Isn't your mom always mad?" Ayami asked Asuna carefully. "She's always nitpicking everyone for no reason. Kyouko looks for problems when there are none."

"Come on Asuna! Weren't you just complaining earlier about you wished Mom didn't control every aspect of your 24/7?" Kouchirou asked his sister. If anyone had ever been able to convince Asuna to do something it would be her older brother. Growing up he had always looked out for her in ways that not even her parents did.

Yukimasa nodded sagely. "You should listen to your brother, he knows what he's talking about." He squared himself up, looking deep into her eyes. "Look, Asuna. I'm not going to pressure you to do anything you don't want to do. I barely know you, but I get the impression you want to send a message. Do what you want. Not what your mother, or us tell you what to do."

Asuka looked from her brother to her sister in law to the strange young man she just met no more than five minutes ago. His words had been quite captivating. His words rang true, she had always been the good girl that did what she was told without question, but in truth she wanted nothing more than to tell her mother exactly how she felt, to lash out and rage. A spark had been ignited inside of her. Her eyes narrowed. "Brother...can you and Ayami distract the DJ while Yukimasa and I set up our little surprise?"

Ayami gave a sinister grin while Kouchirou gave a nod of brotherly approval. "Yes!" Yukimasa cheered, taking her hand. He gave it a tender squeeze, eliciting a shy blush from the young lady. "I knew you were a fighter!" He put on a dopey grin. "I like you already!" His dopey grin turned devious, as he rubbed his hands together. "So my partners in crime, shall we cause some mischief?"

The DJ watched as the couples on the dance floor continued milling about. It almost seemed they were just going through the motions. None of the younger partygoers looked like they were really enjoying themselves. Most of the older ones were just standing around. He sighed, even if Kyouko had offered him a nice fat commission for this, he was bored stiff.

"Excuse me, sir?" A young woman with long dark hair, wearing a dark blue business suit that showed off her trim figure came up to where the DJ was standing. The skirt came down to just above her knees, revealing a pair of killer legs. Her gorgeous blue eyes took him in. She gave him a charming smile. "Some party huh?"

The DJ snorted. "More like a party of the dead. Although I think I see a little spark of life." He gave a slightly lecherous grin. "What do you say the two of us go and get some drinks, sweetheart? Once this whole thing is done we could maybe go back to my place?" Ayami just gave a playful smile, doing her best while hiding her disgust. Her eyes fell on Yukimasa, who signaled to keep going.

Kouchirou stood off to the side of the stage, watching his wife run interference before directing his gaze to where Yukimasa and Asuna were waiting near the other side of the stage. Ayami continued pouring on the sweet talk, before she finally manages to pull the DJ away from his station; she nodded to her husband, who in turn signaled the kids.

"This is our chance to make history, Asuna. You ready?" Yukimasa asked. Asuna's heart was pounding. There was a part of her that wanted to believe this was all just some kind of illusion. The feeling of Yukimasa taking her hand was a reminder this was indeed the real world. They quickly made their way over to the DJ's table where he had set up the controls for the sound system.

Yukimasa pulled a CD case from his jacket, sticking into the player, cueing it up to play in another five minutes. "This should light a fire under everyone's asses." He notices the DJ heading back to the stage. "Let's cheese it, Asuna!" They quickly hopped off the stage, going over to stand with Kouchirou. "Now to sit back and watch the magic happen!"

The music switch was subtle, it still sounded like the same bland, bubble-gum garbage being played all night. The sounds of Justin Beiber's "Baby" began playing. Asuna looked to Yukimasa, wondering what was different. His only expression was a wide grin of merriment. It was then the loud and guttural voice of Slipknot's Corey Taylor blasted on the speakers, giving everyone a taste of what happens when two entirely separate musical genres are thrown into a blender and sprayed out all over the ceiling.

The DJ scrambled to find out what had happened as the partygoers looked around confusedly, sure the music was boring, but this wasn't what they were expecting. The whole time Yukimasa and Asuna huddled in a corner, playing innocent. The youngest of the Yuuki family was watching everyone's reaction. Her brother and sister-in-law were struggling to keep on their feet, laughing as hard as they were. Shouzou looked nonplussed, but she noticed a slight pull on his lips. Yukimura had a slightly bemused expression on his face as he nonchalantly downed some more sushi. Kyouko looked scandalized; she had planned this party down to the slightest detail, who would dare ruin all of her hard work?

Asuna couldn't help but find a sense of satisfaction at seeing her mother looking all flustered. Yuuki Kyouko always was in control of every part of her environment. And now something had disrupted her that control. She stifled a giggle, and finally let went into full out laughter. Yukimasa thumped her on the back. "Nice to see you're finally loosening up." He sighed contentedly. "It's the simple things in life you gotta treasure."

Kouchirou gently elbowed him in the side. "Uh, don't look now, but I think the buzz kill police is on to us." Kyouko had gone up to the DJ, who indicated to Ayami. "You go on ahead, Yukimasa, take my sister with you. We'll run interference on mom." Without another word, Yukimasa grabbed Asuna's arm, and the two hurried out the door.

The two run down the halls before they found a balcony set up with tables and chairs. It was a warm spring evening; Asuna enjoyed the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair as they sat down at one of the tables. "I can't believe we actually did that." Asuna said; her heart was still racing. "It just can't be possible!"

Yukimasa just leaned back in his seat, arms behind his head. "That's the power of taking your life into your own hands, Asuna. I like to think it's a universal principle no matter the culture, not just American." He grinned. "So tell me, how do you feel after your first act of teenage rebellion?" He was rewarded with the most gorgeous sight in the world, Yuuki Asuna looked stunning when she smiled.

"I've never felt freer in my entire life! I feel so alive! It's such a rush!" Asuna laughed, not realizing how much her companion was enjoying the sound of it. "Thank you, Yukimasa. I never realized just how sheltered I've really been." She blushed slightly. "It's like the whole world has changed for me."

Yukimasa gave him a charming smile. "In that case, if you want more, then just stick with me. I can guarantee there's more where that came from. How about we just sit here until the party ends?" He stretched a hand to the horizon, which had begun painting the night sky orange and purple, the sun reflecting off the various skyscrapers. "We have a pretty nice view from where were sitting."

"Okay!" Asuna smiled again. Yukimasa wished he had special eyes that could record every detail of that moment, he wanted to burn that smile into his mind for the rest of his life. He wouldn't think about Asuna's words about the whole world changing for her, but in a few months, it would change for them both, bringing them closer together than they'd ever think.