(A/N: Author's Note)

Goa1aso here, with my first fanfic ever! Not sure how well this story will turn out, but enjoy!

I'm starting out with some backstory for Kazuto in the first couple chapters before we get into the main story arcs of Aincrad.

Some things WILL be changed from canon (who even enjoys reading rewrites of canon?). You may notice that I drew ideas from other fanfics, that is true since I'm slightly frustrated that some great fanfics like The Prince of Swords by ToumaFF have seemingly been abandoned.

Disclaimer: If I owned Sword Art Online, Jesus-kun wouldn't be such a shallow character.

Edited 2/20/2017 10:30 EST - Agent 94 pointed out some obvious grammar mistakes that I had and also gave me some pointers to improve my writing. Hopefully this edit made the chapter better!

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Flashback

Speaker Announcement

Year 2016

"Put your damn bogu on, grab a shinai, and let's get going!" Kirigaya Reo shouted angrily at the rebellious eight-year old. Even though he was angry, Reo had to take a moment to admire how much the little boy had grown. He stood at a solid 4'3'', and was on the skinny side. His black hair was tousled, adding to the rebellious look that gleamed in his eyes. He was fidgeting with the hem of his black shirt, as if he didn't want to be in the dojo for one more second.

"I don't wanna!" he pouted childishly, attempting to walk away. A little girl with short black hair stood up from the bench she was sitting on and stopped him before he could move any further. Reo looked at her appreciatively.

Reo always thought that his granddaughter was like a little angel. At seven years old, she was 3'5''. She was a real sweetie, making everyone's heart melt when she smiled or laughed. She always did everything with all her heart, never backing down from a challenge. Her brother really needed to learn from her. Her cute brown eyes were trained on her brother, little hands holding onto Kazuto's black shirtsleeve.

"C'mon Onii-chan, kendo's fun! Plus, you're good at it!" she pouted at him cutely.

Kazuto glared at his little sister. "Sugu, these trainings suck! They're no fun. I'd rather go play on the computer," Kazuto whined, looking at the ground. He glanced up quickly at his grandfather, before leaning in towards the seven-year old girl conspiratorially. "Plus, I feel like he's just using these trainings to make me suffer, don'tcha think?" he angrily whispered.

She looked at him with her black orbs, doing her best impression of a puppy's eyes. "Pweeeeease?" she said in the cutest tone she could muster. "Don't leave me here alone with grandpa. Plus, it's more fun when I train with you!"

Reo walked up to Suguha and patted her head. "See Kazuto, your sister is the embodiment of the spirit that I want to see in any kendo student I have." The old man stood behind her and looked at him expectantly. "Why can't you be more like her," Reo mumbled under his breath.

Kazuto glared at his grandfather, hearing the last remark. His grandfather didn't look very old; in fact, if he didn't have white hair then he probably could pass for a forty-year old. He was very fit for his age – being sixty – and was wearing the robes of a kendo sensei since he was the sensei of the neighborhood dojo. Looking between his grandfather's expectant eyes and Suguha's cute puppy impression, Kazuto exhaled. "Fiiiiiiine. But don't expect me to enjoy this. I'm only doing this because Sugu wants to. Don't think I'm doing it for you, old man."

"Talk to your elders with respect, young man!" his grandfather exploded.

"Fine then, Oji-san." Kazuto bowed sarcastically and walked over to the bench to pick up his gear.

"Yayyyyy~" Suguha cheered happily, as she started putting on her protective gear. Kazuto started putting on his own bogu, grumbling under his breath all the while.

"Why do we even have to put on these stupid things? We never even get to duel each other much less have any chance of getting hit," the boy grunted, pulling the navy-colored bogu over his head.

"Onii-chan, you know that we can't practice fighting without getting the basics down first," Suguha chided.

"Yeah, if you don't get these basic stances and footwork down, you won't be able to beat anyone," Reo added helpfully.

"Okay then Oji-san. Let's get this over with," Kazuto said reluctantly.

They walked from the benches near the edge of the dojo towards the center. The large room was pretty drafty, a decent breeze slipping through the open door probably contributed to that fact. Sunlight filtered through windows near the ceiling. A Japanese flag hung on the wall at the front of the dojo, along with some scrolls with kanji on them.

Kirito and Suguha lined up in the middle of the dojo, facing their grandfather.

"Now, this is how you do suburi," (practice swings) the grandfather explained while preparing to show them. He adjusted his feet, toes pointing forward, so that they were shoulder width apart, balancing on the balls of his feet. He gripped the sword with both hands, pointing the tip straight in front of him. The siblings mirrored his movements. He then quickly brought his sword up, stepped forward with his right foot, and then sharply brought his left foot up to his right foot as he brought his sword down, shouting "Men!" (head strike).

"Now, you try it. Do this twenty times by my count. If you don't get it perfect, I won't count it. Begin!"

Kazuto moaned, attempting to copy the movements that he saw his grandfather make.

"Don't forget to practice your kiai while you're swinging as well!" Reo ordered.

"Ugh, do we have to? I feel so stupid, yelling every time I swing," Kazuto whined.

"Yes! You have to! Show your inner strength and determination!"

Kazuto sighed, before swinging his sword with a frustrated yell.

"No! Keep your feet shoulder width apart! Balance on the balls of your feet!" Reo barked, like a military sergeant.

"Yes, sensei," Kazuto groaned, bringing his feet closer together and swung, yelling again.

Soon, the dojo was filled with the cute battle cries of Suguha and the more reluctant yells of Kazuto, with commands woven between them by Reo.

Two hours later, a happy Suguha skipped out of the dojo into the humid 30 degrees Celsius weather, dragging a very exhausted Kazuto behind her.

"I swear, the old man is a slave driver," he moaned pitifully, barely keeping his balance while his free arm dangled limply by his side.

Suguha turned to her brother smiling, "What do you mean? It was so easy! I had lots of fun today!"

"I'm sorry Ms. I'm-So-Perfect, but he made me do fifty swings more even though I swear I was doing it right all along!" Kazuto said angrily.

"Aww Onii-chan, don't be like that," Suguha let go of his hand and patted his shoulder. "You'll be better than me in no time. I can see it!"

"Thanks, I guess…" Kazuto trailed off in thought. 'I just feel like this style of kendo isn't my thing. Two-handed swings feel so awkward. Are there other styles of kendo that I could try?' Kazuto wondered.

"Let's go get some ice-cream!" Suguha exclaimed suddenly, making to veer to the left towards the city. Kazuto sighed, and kept walking along the street straight towards home.

"Ask mom if you really want some. I'm going home and taking a long nap."

"We're finally here," Kazuto mumbled as he approached the front door of his house. The house was a pretty small one, although it was more than enough for the occupants to live in. There were a couple trees planted in the front, along with some bushes along the driveway. Their backyard consisted of a grassy area with a Sakura tree hanging over a small pond.

Kirigaya Midori watched from the kitchen as her precious children walked into their home with a smile on her face. She was a sweet woman, who cared for her children very much. Her brown hair was swept into a messy bun, held by a clip. She wore a cooking apron, it looked like she was about to start cooking.

"How was practice?" she asked.

"Horrible." "Awesome!" one groaned while the other cheered. Kazuto made a face at Suguha who in turn laughed at him.

"Well mister grumpy-head, if Suguha thought it was awesome, it couldn't have been that bad," the mother chided. "Then again, it is my father that we're talking about here," Midori added thoughtfully as she picked up a magazine from the kitchen counter after wiping her hands with a rag. She handed the magazine to Kazuto.

"Here's the newest issue that was released of the magazine that I'm editing. Maybe you'll find it interesting."

"Thanks mom." Kazuto took the magazine and started heading upstairs to his room. "I'm exhausted; I'll take a look at it later."

As Kazuto walked up the stairs, he could hear his sister badgering his mom for some ice cream to little effect. He opened his bedroom door and sprawled onto the bed with his mom's magazine in hand. He felt utterly exhausted after walking home from the weekly kendo training that his grandfather forced him to do. The boy opened up the colorful magazine that had the title "Amazing New Computers and Parts!" and started reading tiredly.

'Wow, these new computer parts that are coming out are amazing. I wonder what more the field of technology could produce?' Kazuto thought to himself. Before he knew it, he felt himself nodding off before succumbing to a light slumber.

An hour later, some light footsteps running up the stairs of the small house could be heard. Suguha suddenly opened the door and jumped onto his bed, laughing. Kazuto blearily opened his eyes, his hands rubbing his heavy eyelids. "What is it now, Sugu?"

"It's time for dinner Onii-chan!" she said excitedly. "Mom made your favorite, spicy teriyaki burgers!"

"Oh really? Okay, I'm coming!" Kazuto said, the mention of his favorite food chasing away the vestiges of his exhaustion. He bounced up from his bed and ran downstairs with his sister.

Midori watched them run down the stairs as she finished setting the table. Chuckling lightly, she shook her head at their obvious love for food. "No need to run, the food's not going anywhere!" she laughed.

"It's definitely going somewhere; into my tummy!" Kazuto exclaimed childishly, his eyes sparkling at the sight of his favorite meal.

The rest of his family laughed. "Itidakimasu!" they all said before digging into the meal.

Halfway through the meal, Kazuto looked up at his mom in thought.

"What is it, Kazuto?" Midori questioned.

"Oh, it's nothing… I was just wondering if I could get some spare parts to build a computer sometime?" Kazuto asked hopefully. His mom looked at him in shock.

"You know how to build a computer?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well it doesn't seem that hard… I was reading the magazines that you gave me and each piece that I've seen doesn't seem too difficult to put together," the elementary-school boy explained.

Midori continued looking at her adopted son in disbelief. "I guess I could ask around at work to see if they have any spare parts," she said slowly.

"Yay! Thanks mom!" the eight-year old said happily.

A few months later, Kazuto ended up with all the parts he needed to build his computer.

"Just ask if you need help, I'll be in my room doing work!" Midori said, studying her son's thoughtful expression as he sat on the floor of his room, surrounded by seemingly random computer parts.

"Alright, I think I'll be fine," Kazuto replied.

Kazuto hummed to himself as he worked. "This goes here… and that goes.. there? And... I guess I'm done!"

Looking up at the clock, he noted that only half an hour had passed. He stepped back and admired his work. The chassis that he chose was a futuristic looking one; completely black with designs etched onto the sides and front.

He pressed the 'on' button and it glowed green before humming to life. The monitor blinked on, automatically directing him to the system BIOS. Kazuto chose to install Linux onto his computer. He finished going through the setup of the operating system and finally logged in.

The excited elementary-schooler ran down the hall, past the pictures of his family hanging on the walls, and knocked on his mother's door at the end of the hall, seeking her approval.

"I guess you did need help after all, Kazuto?" she said while opening the door.

"Nope! I'm done. I just wanted to show you the final product!" the son beamed at his mother before dragging her to his room. "See?"

Midori looked at the computer monitor in surprise. The fans purred lightly as the computer sat there, waiting for someone to use it.

"Wow… I'm so proud of you!" the mom exclaimed before hugging Kazuto. 'Who knew that he would be so gifted with computers? I guess he really does take after his parents,' Midori thought sadly.

Kazuto grinned at her. She looked down at him smiling. "Well, I need to go back to finish editing the magazine. Have fun with your new computer!" the older woman said before walking back to her room.

The boy sat down in front of the computer and began to explore the internet. He came across something that caught his interest: Nito kendo. 'Whoa, you can use two swords in kendo? That's awesome!' he thought as he perused over the article that he found. He bookmarked the page for later, and then decided to try out some video games.

The next week, Kazuto decided to bring up Nito kendo with his grandfather at kendo training. He was met with a stern "No."

"Why not?" Kazuto pouted childishly.

"Because you have to master the basics of one sword first," Reo-sensei said resolutely. Kazuto continued to pout, and then a thought hit him.

'If I master basic chudan kendo, he'll have to let me learn nito kendo!' Kazuto's face brightened considerably.

With that, he threw himself into the day's training without complaint. Suguha and his grandfather noticed the change in attitude. After training, while he was putting away his gear, his grandfather came up to him and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Good work today. I'll make a kendo champion out of you yet!" Reo said with a smile. Kazuto looked at him uncertainly, unsure if his grandfather was tricking him in some way. In the past, he never was on good terms with his sensei.

"Yeah! See Onii-chan, kendo is fun!" Suguha said sunnily.

"I can't say I had fun but I know what I want to do now!" Kazuto exclaimed, with a determined expression on his face. "I'll be learning nito in no time."

As the weeks went by and the two siblings progressed through elementary school, Kazuto began to spend more and more time on the computer. Be it video games or just surfing the web, the young boy was fascinated and spent most of his free time glued to the screen.

Year 2018

After two years of the same cycle of elementary school, kendo, and surfing the web, Kazuto finally got curious about himself. More specifically, his birth certificate which had basic info about his birth. It all began with a childish fight at school.

"You're fat!" a rather chubby looking kid exclaimed.

"What? Coming from you?" Kazuto retorted.

"Yeah! Why won't you share the rice cakes? Fatty!" the same child replied. The teachers had passed out rice cakes to the students by group in honor of Children's Day. Kazuto being Kazuto naturally tried to keep most of the food as he could to himself.

"I bet I weigh less than you!" Kazuto countered. They proceeded to share their weights even though Kazuto was clearly much skinnier than the other boy.

"Man! I guess that you do weigh less than me," the other elementary-schooler said despondently. Seeing that he was beaten in that department, he then thought of another way to make himself think that Kazuto was fat. "I bet that I weighed less than you when you were born, fatty!"

Kazuto almost choked on the delectable rice cake that he was stuffing into his mouth. "WHFFMFMF?" he exclaimed through the food. He swallowed and then proceeded to shoot down the other kid's statement.

"What are you talking about? What you weighed when you were born has nothing to do with being fat now!" Kazuto exclaimed, marveling at the other kid's childishness.

"Well, it does in my book," the chubby youngster insisted childishly, stamping his foot.

The Kirigaya child proceeded to ignore the other's complaints and scarfed down a couple more rice cakes.

The now ten-year old was extremely curious to see how much he weighed when he was born, compared to the average. He hacked onto the government's national registries and found his birth certificate. He stared at the rather plain-looking document in surprise and shock. One could say that curiosity killed the cat.

Kazuto sat near the front door of his house for the rest of the afternoon, waiting for his 'mother' to come home from work. He didn't even feel like going to the weekly kendo session, even with Suguha's insistence. She ended up going alone, looking back at her brother sadly.

When he heard his 'mom' pull into the driveway, he stood up and greeted her. "Hello, Oba-san," he said peevishly.

Midori looked at her 'son', her face morphing between confusion, surprise, shock, and then finally sadness. She sat down at the laminated oak kitchen table in the dining room and motioned Kazuto to do the same. He sat down with a plop and stared at her expectantly, waiting for her explanation.

"Well Kazuto, I don't know how you found out that you were adopted by me. I guess that you're curious as to why you were adopted. To tell you the truth, both of your parents died in a car crash just after you were born. I couldn't let you be taken by social services so I decided to adopt you and raise you as my son, a brother to my Suguha," the older woman explained tearfully.

Kazuto sat there emotionlessly, before getting up and walking up to his room. He laid on his bed, looking around his room as if seeing it for the first time. His walls were a dark shade of gray while his ceiling was white. The computer that he built himself sat on his desk in the corner of his room. The walls were bare, except for the window that let in some of the dying sunlight. He stood up and closed the shutters, leaving his room in darkness. He laid down again, staring at the ceiling for a while, just thinking about what his parents might have been like.

Soon, Suguha came home from kendo training. Her mom explained what just happened, and Suguha came running into his room.

"Onii-chan! Are you feeling okay?" she asked while knocking on his door.

A muffled "Go away" could be heard from inside. Suguha opened the door and then sat on the bed, beside Kazuto.

"Onii-chan, talk to me please," Suguha cried.

"Stop calling me that! I'm not your brother!" Kazuto said angrily.

"You are! Just because we aren't blood-related doesn't mean we aren't still siblings! You are and always will be my onii-chan," Suguha whimpered, hugging Kazuto.

Kazuto sat there, motionless for a few minutes before he relented, hugging her back. They stayed like that for a while, one sibling comforting the other.

Kazuto ended up closer than ever to his sister and aunt after that day.

Well, that's all for Chapter 1! Is it too short? Too long? (That's what she said?) Anything else to improve on? Leave a review and tell me what you thought of it! PM me if you have any thoughts and/or complaints about how the story should go.