One Punch-Gamer

April 7th, 2025. Nishitokyo, Tokyo. 07:45…

The early sun was already out, illuminating the streets of the peaceful city of Nishitokyo, in the Tokyo prefecture. This place didn't have anything special that made it stand out from other more notorious cities in Japan, like Kyoto or Tokyo itself...except for the newest school that had been opened this year, and which first school term started today. Many people from all the country knew about this city just because of this building for a single specific reason.

It was to be the place where any and all underage SAO Survivors attended (If they wanted) to get special classes and recover the time in their education that had been lost while they were trapped inside the Death Game.

As he headed towards this exact place, Kirigaya Kazuto couldn't help but release a sigh. Certainly, the school was classified as a 'National Vocational School' under the School Education Law, but he wasn't fooled by it (And he was sure that many others of new students weren't either): Whatever the government said, the 'school' had obviously the hidden intention of facilitating the management of most underage SAO Survivors in one place. The extremely 'good treatment' it had towards them (No entrance exams, lack of school fees, any student being eligible to take the entrance examinations for university after graduating...) was mostly because people important places were worried about how being trapped for two years in such sinister conditions had affected their mental health (Anyone who attended the school would be obligated to participate in a weekly 'counseling session', for crying out loud!).

In hindsight, the boy supposed he couldn't really blame them for it, especially when it was an incredibly good opportunity for not only him and his friends but for any of the poor Middle and High School students that had the misfortune of getting caught in Kayaba's twisted delusion.

Stopping before crossing the street while idly looking at the 'slow' traffic light, the boy also realized that maybe a bit of counseling would do HIM good, because he had just caught himself thinking for the fourth time since that morning how easy it would have been to simply run and jump all the way to the school.

He was still debating if it wouldn't be worse for him, in the long run, to be totally sincere in the incoming counseling sessions when someone put a hand on his shoulder and a familiar voice reached his ears.

"Hey there, Kirito! How is our brave leader this morning?"

Turning his head to the side, Kazuto came face to face with Toyonaga Toshiyuki, aka Keita for friends. Behind him, the rest of his male friends were also present, apparently having come together all the way there. Out of them all, only Eguchi Takuya (Ducker as he mostly knew him) was different in any way from his old SAO Avatar, his hair being a bit lighter than his avatar's dark-yellow, the boy apparently looking something on his phone before looking up and giving him one of his usual cheerful smiles. Both Akabane Kenji (Tetsuo) and Tsubasa Yonaga (Sasamaru) were also smiling at him, though Kazuto had to accept that it was a bit weird for him to see them wearing those school uniforms instead of their usual clothes and armors.

"Hey guys. And I'm okay, really. Nothing crazy going on these days...for now."

"That's quite a 'positive' way of seeing things, you know?" sweatdropped Toshi while shaking his head.

"So...you also weirded out for going around with this on?" ventured Takuya while gesturing to the uniforms, even as the group crossed the street and kept on walking. "I swear, when I had to put it on earlier and looked myself in the mirror, I couldn't help but wish to at least be carrying my dagger. Feels so...strange."

"I think we should be worried about feeling weird just for wearing school uniforms, but then again, I guess we only need time to adjust." continued Kenji while they saw some other students heading the same way the closer they got to the school.

"It will take us time to remember we're supposed to study and pay attention to class instead of going around slaying monsters or worrying about Boss Fights, uh?" tilting his head to the side, Yonaga seemed to be deep in thought for a moment. "And to get used to not seeing Kirito in his costume punching things around."

"Yep."

"That's right."

"Most difficult thing we're gonna need to get used to."

"...okay, now you're all just trying to annoy me." muttered the gamer while glaring at them with a twitching eyebrow. "...also, where is Sachi? Didn't she live close to where you do?"

"Yeah, she does, but her mother is apparently a worrywart, so she's gonna be taking her directly to the school for some time." clarified Toshi while remembering the conversation he had with his friend from the old computer club. "...and talking about girls that live close by...was your sister worried about you coming to school today?"

Seeing Kazuto freeze mid-step and almost fall down on his face made the brown-haired boy suppress a chuckle, the other boys doing the same. Yes, he respected the younger boy, maybe more than he had ever respected anyone else, since the day he saved their lives, but really, he felt they all deserved a bit of fun at his expense after all the madness they had been through together...and the several times he had gone away on his own to do 'Heroic Deeds' and left them alone with the girls.

Maybe they were all good friends, but seriously, hearing them 'discreetly' talking about their 'girl things' (The boy himself most of the time) had made the 4 boys wish more than once to be able to get out of the scene as easily as the One Punch-Gamer could.

The fact that he was now 'reduced' to be at the same level that all of them and that he had (FINALLY) started to realize about his girls-related-problems felt like a bit of 'Divine Justice' for the four boys.

Of course, they had sworn they would help out their friend and leader if he ever ended up about to be seriously killed by their many female friends...but otherwise they would just sit back and keep themselves out of the way as much possible.

Kazuto, for his part, was doing his best to concentrate in glaring at his friends and NOT to think about how Sugu had happily kissed his cheek and wished him a good day that morning. After giving him a homemade lunch she had 'specially prepared for him' (Her words) the night before. He REALLY didn't need to have a perpetual blush so early in the morning, especially when they were about to arrive at school and…

"Hey!" energetically called out an all-too-familiar voice. "Sensei, guys! Over here!"

Turning around, the black-haired boy and his friends were greeted by the sight of Asuna, Shiori, Saori, and Kotone standing near the closest wall of the, finally on sight, school building, the c.h.e.s.tnut-haired girl happily waving their way.

"Well, take a look at this." commented Shiori while looking around as the guys walked closer, amus.e.m.e.nt filling her eyes. "The great Heroes of Aincrad, all clad in uniforms and ready to enter school…"

"Please, don't make a joke about how the mighty have fallen, Argo." sighed Kotone while shaking her head, annoyed but still smiling. "I, for one, am thankful for the return of a bit of normality to our lives…"

"But Philia-chan…" turning towards the dandelion-haired girl after greeting her friends, Saori seemed clearly confused about something. "Haven't you been, uhm, reaching nervously for your katana like 7 times now, only to remember you DON'T have one here every time?"

Kazuto forced himself to tune out any thought about how cute Kotone was when blushing and squeaking in embarrassment while shouting things like 'Do-don't be silly, Sachi!' . He had enough problems in his personal life with Sugu and Asuna's 'silent war' over him without letting any other silly thoughts about the rest of his female friends to fill his mind.

"So, Sensei...do you think I look cute in this uniform?" asked Asuna while mysteriously appearing at the gamer's side, making him blink in shock as his inhuman reflexes apparently hadn't picked how she DID that. "It's not as practical as my armor, but…"

"Uhm, yeah, you look good on it, Asuna…" awkwardly commented the boy while looking to the side, keenly aware that he s.u.c.k.e.d in thinking up any non-survival-related topics to speak of with the girl…but not really aware of the many stares the rest of their female friends were giving them. "…also, can't you drop the 'Sensei' bit here? Please, tell me you're not planning to keep calling me that for the rest of our lives…"

"…was that a proposition, 'Kazuto-kun'?" boldly asked the c.h.e.s.tnut-haired girl while smiling, the rest of the group freezing on the stop while the gamer did an impressive job of losing all color from his face at realizing what his words could be taken as. "Because I wouldn't really mind being by your side for the rest of…"

"Asuna-san, we're in school!" shouted a familiar young voice in a 'scolding' tone, making everyone blink and look around, confused. "Try and act in a more m.a.t.u.r.e way! You must respect a-anything Kirito-san wants to do with his Ninja Way!"

"…Silica…how did you get up there?" questioned Kazuto with a truly confused tone, his words finally making everyone turn to look at the wall…UP the wall, atop which Keiko was standing up while looking at them with crossed arms, in a very cool-like way.

…did we mention that the wall was almost twice as high as she was tall?

"Heheh, a kunoichi never reveals all her secrets, Kirito-san…" replied the girl with what she thought was a m.a.t.u.r.e smile (But only looked extremely cute).

"She climbed up a tree at the other side and then stood up there waiting for you all to show up. For 15 minutes." grinned Rika while walking near them, ignoring the shouts of 'Mouuu, Liz-saaaan!' her pigtailed friend sent her way. "By the way, Silica…you DO know anyone who looks up a bit closer can see your p.a.n.t.i.e.s, right?"

There was a moment of silence while everyone blinked. Human nature acting on auto-pilot, almost everyone in the group looked up. Keiko squeaked and tried to cover her skirt with her hands. Obviously, gravity didn't like that, and so Rika realized a bit too late that her joke may have gotten a bit out of hand when the young girl screamed and started to fall forward.

The members of the (Newly restored in New ALO) United Heroes Association had barely started to shout out the name of their youngest friend when their leader MOVED.

There was no super speed. No fancy blur of color that anyone could barely see. No 'boom' of supersonic speed.

But despite all of that, the SAO Survivors felt as if they were moving incredibly slow and their leader at a somewhat normal place. If someone had to make a difference, it would have been something akin to 'a snail racing a turtle'.

The point was that, when they had just started to assimilate that Kazuto was moving, he was already there, catching the screaming pigtailed girl on his arms, looking strained for a moment but holding his ground and not falling down.

Another instant passed and the black-haired boy let out a relieved sigh before looking down at Keiko with worry.

"You okay, Silica?"

"…yes…I'm okay…" whispered the self-proclaimed kunoichi while staring at his face with rosy cheeks, all her 'cool ninja-attitude' having apparently vanished now that she was on the gamer's arms. "Thanks for…catching me…Kirito-san…"

"No problem." nodded Kazuto with a solemn tone, strangely heroic background music echoing somewhere. "I will always look out for my friends."

"…so…how long are you going to keep carrying her around like a princess?" 'curiously' asked Asuna while smiling from where she had appeared at the pair's side, making Keiko squeak and jump out of the boy's arms with an agility that one would have attributed to a true ninja, leaving behind a confused gamer, the younger girl suddenly blinking and scowling towards Asuna.

"…isn't anyone going to point out how cool and almost impossible it was for Kirito to have done THAT?" asked Keita while everyone blinked again, the aforementioned gamer just scratching his head.

"Holy shit, that was awesome!" shouted Takuya with the excitement he usually showed at finding a rare treasure. "Man, have you been training or something?! It was almost as if you were in the virtual world!"

"You're exaggerating. He's WAY faster in there…" softly muttered Shiori, her eyes never leaving Kazuto's form. "Still…he's right, Kii-bou, that was pretty amazing…what's your secret? Superhero training in reality?"

"I-it was nothing, really. Just a reflex, nothing to be worried about…" waved it off Kazuto while starting to walk towards the school, his friends following close while looking at him with a bit of skepticism.

Truth to be told, the boy hadn't told his friends about his 'last' secret, how having spent so much time in SAO with Saitama-like powers had affected him in reality. He wasn't sure why he hadn't in all the time since they were all reunited in reality (Maybe because it was never something he thought much about), though nowadays it was mainly because of the 'other' thing that secret had led to and that he was currently doing, though he was sure he would probably have to stop soon now that he was back in school.

After all, if he told them about THAT, they would either laugh at him, be very supportive of it…or beat the shit out of him for having been doing something so 'stupid' (The girls, mainly).

…well, he also hadn't told them about his adoptive sister's 'secret identity', but that was mainly because that was Sugu's secret, not his, and besides she had promised to stop doing it anymore, and she would never lie to him about something like that…right?

"Well, however the hell you did it, I'm just glad you're around, as always." muttered Rika with a small smile before trapping Keiko in a hug, the young girl squeaking in surprise. "Sorry about that, Silica. I guess I shouldn't act as if you still had ninja-like agility in reality…"

"N-no, Liz-san, that was my fault too, I-I shouldn't have tried to get up there in the first place!"

"But if I hadn't made that joke, then you wouldn't have…!"

"You know…when Liz isn't teasing all the time, she and Silica almost seem like sisters." whispered Kenji to his friends, even as they entered the school grounds proper.

"Well, they WERE kind of living and traveling together for most of the game before joining us, so that's only normal." replied Yonaga while they looked how Kazuto asked Asuna something about their recent exploits in ALO, the boy remembering when their leader told them that the day the two girls joined. "Besides, I think for them it's more difficult to remember they can't do things like God Hand or Shurikenjutsu in reality, given the things they usually do with those…"

Catching the last part of his friend's words, the gamer frowned a bit, unintentionally tuning out Asuna's latest explanation about how they were planning to take on the 10th Floor Boss of New Aincrad that weekend.

When the Floating Castle had been added to ALO as some kind of 'expansion', making it the new 'goal' of the game now that the fake 'Grand Quest' was no more, the other thing that had been added was, much to the happiness of his friends, the Sword Skills System. They had all been happy of having back their trusted battle-method, and now being able to enjoy it without worry for their lives, because they clearly had troubles adapting to use the Magic of ALO, except by some very specific spells. Even Sugu had been curious enough to ask Kotone to show her a bit about Katana Skills, to test out how they were.

What he, and Shiori, had been absolutely shocked to find, was that the girls had also recovered something they weren't expecting.

Namely, their Unique Skills.

He could still remember the joy in Saori's (Sachi at that moment) face 5 days ago, while they were nostalgically fighting in the outer fields around Starting City, when they had been testing out the Sword Skills, to try and get used to them again, and she had, by instinct, unleashed 'Longinus' against a wolf mob. The light of her spear's aura manifesting and extending before destroying the mob had shocked everyone before she started to happily say she had Infinite Spear back. The others had been quick to look up their menus and had been overjoyed to find their trusted 'superpowers' were back with them too, Silica going like crazy about wanting Liz to immediately start making her new shurikens and a specially good Fuuma one, while the blacksmith boasted that it would be easy with her returned God Hand. Philia had wandered a bit from them and quickly unleashed a simply Battoujutsu Skill to bisect a group of wolves, before returning with a massive smile on her face. Strea had quickly scared the shit out of any nearby curious ALO players by using her Darkness Blade and gleefully tearing apart several of the local mobs, with Yui cheering her on.

The only ones who hadn't 'lost it' had been Argo and Asuna, who had only just simply checked with awe that their Skills were back before calming down. Even so, both he and the information broker had still been truly confused by the return of the extremely rare Skills…though the Rat had obviously been a bit distracted by testing out Berserker again and letting her body go wild with the flow of the reckless fighting style, much more 'relaxing' now that her life wasn't on real danger if she overused it.

It wasn't that he wasn't happy for his friends, but he had assumed, and it seemed that Argo too, that given the extremely rare restriction of the Unique Skills, they would have been removed from the game for one reason or another when the Sword Skills System was added.

Of course, what the black-haired boy didn't know was that, if things had gone as they should, that WOULD have happened.

But in this crazy and altered world, when the moment to look over the Sword Skills to add them into New ALO had come, the new management team of the game…decided the let them there. Why, exactly, no one knew, but the men and women of Ymir had just thought that it would be 'interesting'.

Seven of the Unique Skills had returned to their rightful owners. As for the remaining three…well, that's a story for another time.

And on its throne above Everything, [FATE] innocently whistled.

Shaking his head off the memory of how Leafa had been awed by the Unique Skills by around 3 minutes before a suddenly Dual Blades-using Asuna challenged her to a duel (Which was thankfully stopped by everyone in the guild restraining the girls), Kazuto returned his mind to reality in time to notice how the c.h.e.s.tnut-haired girl had stopped talking and was blinking in confusion while looking around. It took the boy a second to notice why.

Silence. As they walked by, the conversations and usual chatter one expected from a first day back to school died down, people stopping to STARE at them. The gamer was idly aware of how the rest of his friends noticed this too and seemed suddenly on edge, looking around with a mix of confusion and caution.

It wasn't until they entered into the building itself, seeing a big crowd of students filling the hallway and the shoe-lockers area, that they stopped, Kazuto even frowning as he looked at the many stares, idly aware of Asuna crossing her arms at his side as she stared at everyone…

And then, slowly, someone started to clap. A second person joined shortly after.

In less than an instant, to the group of teens' shock, every single student on sight was clapping at them, many cheering or shouting happily their way. None of them knew how to react when the students swarmed around them, many with joyous smiles, others even crying at seeing them, all of them saying many things…that were in truth the same.

"Thank you, thank you, thank…!"

"You're great! If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't…!"

"I missed my family so much! Thanks, oh God, thanks…!"

"You're all real heroes!"

"Asuna-sama, give me an autograph, please!"

"Kirito, you're the most awesome thing ever!"

"Was it really you who split the sky at the end?! Is it true that you fought Kayaba?!"

"Thank you…really…"

And even as the thankful crowd got so big that the teachers had to come out and get the students in order, Kazuto couldn't help but realize he was smiling widely, a warm sensation filling his heart. He saw the same expression on the faces of all his friends.

They had never truly stopped to think, about all the good they were doing. They mainly fought for themselves and for their friends, helping out however they could, yeah, but just because they thought it was the best thing they could do, after following his example.

An example he had started in the first place both because he wanted to see his family again and because of a certain Caped Baldy.

Now, seeing the scene in front of him, many of the teens around, some younger and others older than him, happy of being back where they belonged…

He could truly say that he didn't regret any of it.

Because some Heroes maybe started doing it for fun…but, in the end, they kept doing it for another reason…

000000000000000

April 21st, 2025. Nishitokyo, Tokyo. SAO Survivors School, 12:00…

Slowly, a motorcycle came to a stop on the school's parking area, Kazuto sighing in relief as he took off the helmet, his passenger doing the same as she let go of him, Suguha mock-pouting his way as he got off the bike.

"Mou, Onii-chan, we could just have come in Jus…my bicycle, you know?" complained the girl as they grabbed their bags and started walking towards the building. "You wouldn't have had to spent fuel for your bike that way…"

"Sugu, we're twice as far the distance the hospital was from home, remember? And you were B.A.R.ELY able to take us there that night at full sprint by leaving yourself exhausted. I'm NOT putting you through that again if I can just get us here in my bike." replied the black-haired boy with conviction, making a smile appear on his little sister's face.

…of course, the gamer didn't share that it was also because he really didn't want people to see him standing on the back of a bicycle while his adoptive sister rode it…or because he was sure he could FEEL said vehicle's hate towards himself every time he rode it. There were some things that were better off not said.

"Aww, that's sweet of you, Onii-chan." spoke Suguha while getting near her adopted brother and, to his surprise, catching his right arm on hers while leaning against his side. "You DO know how to be a gentleman sometimes!"

"Hey, I resent that…" whispered the boy while trying VERY HARD to ignore the feeling of a certain part of the girl's body pressing against his arm. "I know how to properly respect a girl, you know…"

"Heheh, yeah…and besides, that way we could come all the way with me hugging you." smiled the young kendoka with 'innocence', making Kazuto's face redden again as he remembered how she had been pressing herself to his back with a bit more strength than strictly needed. "Wasn't it nice, Onii-chan?"

"Ni-nice…?" stammered the gamer while looking at her, suddenly aware of how close her face was to his and the faint blush on her cheeks as she stared at him. "Ye-yeah…I guess it…was…"

"Onii-chan…" whispered Suguha while leaning closer to him. Slowly, despite what his common sense was screaming, Kazuto could feel himself also inching closer and…

"EHEM." startled by the sudden 'cough', the siblings squeaked and separated, turning around in time to see Shiori looking at them from around a corner, the rest of the girls from the guild coming behind her, but their confused expressions told them that only the information broker had seen what 'almost' happened. "Hi there, it's good to see you two are here already! Say, Kii-bou, weren't you called in for emergency counseling? You better go do that soon if you want to get any time in the pool."

"Yeah, don't remind me…" sighed the boy after greeting the rest of his friends (The overly enthusiastic hug he got from Asuna making Sugu scowl…and the rest too, though he didn't quite notice that), remembered with annoyance how he had, in fact, been told that morning about it. "Just the day I had promised to help you, Sugu…"

"Don't worry about that, Kirito-san!" confidently said Keiko while smiling at him. "We are all here, so we will help Suguha-san with her problem too!"

"Yes, that's what friends are for!" cheerfully added Saori while Suguha sent them a grateful smile, romantic problems momentarily forgotten. "Though I do wonder why Keita and the rest couldn't come…"

"…now that's a mystery." frowned the gamer while crossing his arms.

Meanwhile, somewhere else, the four other male members of the United Heroes Association were happily doing the second thing they liked the most, besides fighting alongside their friends in the virtual world: Fiddling around with computers.

"…so, how much high do you think it's the probability that Kirito is going to end very screwed today?"

"Let's see. He's alone, with all the girls, on the pool, his adoptive sister and Asuna actively trying to get his attention…you DO remember why we decided to make an excuse to not go, right, Ducker?"

"Well, yeah, but…if he calls saying they're going to murder him, we will go help him, right?"

"…yeah…we will totally do that…"

"…I think I should maybe leave my phone with the volume at max."

Back on the school grounds, Asuna waved goodbye to a sighing Kazuto, who started to head towards the building proper while the girls headed for the pool.

"Don't take too long, Sensei! We will be waiting for you so we can have lunch together!"

"We will take good care of Suguha-chan here, don't worry." added Kotone at seeing some uncertainty on the boy's eyes, putting a hand on said girl's shoulders. "So really, stop being such a worrywart."

"Onii-chan, just go and be done with it already!" pouted the young kendoka while mock-glaring at him. "Otherwise, you won't even have time to come with us!"

"Yep, and you will also miss seeing us in our swimsuits." teased Rika with a wide grin, feeling proud of herself when every single girl in the area blushed at different levels at that, and the only boy there felt his face burning hard before turning around and stiffly walking into the building, Asuna and Shiori turning to glare at the blacksmith after that. "Heheh, did you see his face? Isn't he cute when he tries to pretend he's just a Superhero and not a teenager?"

"…let's just…go in there and get changed, okay?" sighed the c.h.e.s.tnut-haired girl before turning towards Suguha, who looked back at her in silence. A smile blossomed in both their faces as their usual animosity seemed to evaporate. "Let's go and help you with your swimming problem, Suguha-chan!"

"…thanks, Asuna-san, everyone." softly nodded the girl before walking after the girls, the SAO Survivors guiding her to the pool's changing rooms.

Meanwhile, inside the building, Kazuto was shaking his head several times and taking deep breaths as he headed towards the Nurse Office, trying to banish any thought of his sister and friends clad in revealing swimwear and repeatedly reminding himself he wasn't a pervert.

He was still cursing teenage hormones when he opened the door and, besides the school nurse, found someone he WASN'T expecting to see in the room. Freezing, the boy knew he was in for something annoying when he saw the bespectacled man sitting in front of a computer turn to look at him.

"…Kikuoka." scowled the gamer while crossing his arms, suddenly realizing he had been tricked.

"Why, hello there, Kirigaya-kun." replied Kikuoka Seijirou while crossing his arms and leaning back on his chair, even as the nurse excused herself and walked out while closing the door. "Sorry for the small lie, but as you NEVER answered my…uhm, 'our' calls to explain some things about the details of what happened in SAO, and your dear sister always hung up the phone when I called to tell her to call for you, it was needed."

"You know, I don't need knowing that Sugu, who you supposedly helped know about my situation in SAO out of 'goodwill', dislikes you that much to know there is something fishy about you, Kikuoka."

"My, what could you be talking about, Kirigaya-kun? I'm just a humbler worker of the government, just another piece in the massive machine that is our country, nothing more!"

"Then WHY are you so insistent that I explain things about SAO to you; things that don't really matter for anyone anymore, 6 MONTHS after the game was cleared?" calmly asked the boy while raising an eyebrow.

"…is for important purposes. We need to, uhm, make clear some details we couldn't get from some other players, to be sure nothing too, ehm, traumatic happened there." nervously answered the bespectacled man while trying to keep his cool. "After all, only the underage players that come to this school get regular counseling, so…"

"Okay then, let's get this done and be done with it quick, okay?" resigned Kazuto before walking closer to the man with annoyance. "I promised to help my little sister to learn how to swim today, and I don't want my friends to have to do all of that by themselves."

"Perfect! Well, why don't you start by telling me about your first day in SAO after the announcement, and…?"

"Wait." cut him off the gamer, his face suddenly illuminating as if hit by an epiphany. "If we're going to do that, then it's best if I talk you about One Punch-Man first.

"Eh? What…what the hell is One Punch-Man?"

For all answer, the black-haired boy only grinned before walking towards the computer…

At that moment, on the pool's changing rooms, the group of girls was finishing putting on their swimsuits while talking about what they were planning to do that weekend.

"…so, is anyone up to go see a movie or something?" asked Saori while turning around, her blue-black one-piece swimsuit finally on. "It's been a long time since we went all out together in the real world…"

"If you can convince Keita and the others to actually show up this time, then yeah." grinned Shiori while finishing putting her bag on the locker and getting out her towel, the yellow and gray two-piece she was wearing accentuating her normally covered feminine figure. "That way, we can make them pay for it all."

"Must you always be so 'evil', Argo?" questioned Kotone with an amused smile, leaning against a locker, the orange and white one-piece she wore, similar in design to Rika's one, making her look pretty calm and relaxed. "You will never get a boyfriend if you act that way."

A small moment of silence flew over the girls at those words, every one of them WATCHING the others, like animals seizing each other up, Asuna simply crossing her arms with a confident smirk while Keiko tried to stand strong and stare back at the more developed girls without fear…

"Oh, do you think I can go with you?" asked Suguha (Having only heard Saori's bit of the conversation) while finishing changing and walking near the group, making them look at her…and freeze. "I want to relax after a bit before my next kendo tournament and…!...is something wrong?"

Confused at the silence, the kendoka just stared at the other girls while tilting her head. They, for their part, were too busy STARING at her green-black bikini. It wasn't 'indecent' by any stretch of the imagination, but given the girl's 'very developed' body, it was certainly VERY…eye-catching.

Keiko quickly exited the room without a word, heading to the pool while muttering things about the unfairness of the world and the dark shadows clouding her Ninja Way. Despite currently not actively existing in the virtual world because his master wasn't online, Pina somehow still managed to facepalm with his wing.

"Tha-that swimsuit looks ve-very good on you, Suguha-chan." cheerfully commented Asuna while remembering she herself she was supposed to be the m.a.t.u.r.e girl in the room, even if her eyebrows were madly twitching.

"Oh, thanks! I actually went out to buy it yesterday after Onii-chan told me we were coming here…" commented the girl while blushing softly and looking to the side, knowing it would be better to not reveal she would have ended up coming with a school swimsuit if she hadn't asked Kazuto what they would wear for the pool. "I wonder if he will like it…"

"…I would be worried about his inclinations if he DOESN'T like it…" flatly commented Shiori with just a hint of bitterness, much to Suguha's confusion.

"…they look so squishy…" softly whispered Rika, making Saori and Kotone, the ones closest to her, take a cautious step away from their friend at seeing her hands moving in a grasping motion. "…what exactly does this girl eats…?"

"U-uhm, ANYWAY, we should start moving, you know?" interrupted Asuna whatever was going through her blacksmith friend's head, moving to grab the young kendoka's arm and repeatedly reminding herself she was the older girl. "We need lots of work if we want to help you learn to swim and have some fun ourselves too!"

A while later, things were in full swing at the school's pool. Kotone, Rika, and Keiko were racing at one side, the youngest girl surprisingly taking the lead, as if fueled by 'unknown' grief, while Shiori rested on the edge and enjoyed the sun, looking with a smile how Asuna and Saori helped a determined-looking Suguha to try and swim by herself.

"C'mon Suguha-chan, you're doing great!" cheered the spear-user as her c.h.e.s.tnut-haired friend let go of the younger girl, who managed to swim freely several meters before turning around and panting as she rested her feet where she could stand without sinking. "Woah, you have come a long way in less than 30 minutes!"

"Tha-thanks…" weakly smiled the girl while shaking her head and throwing off some water, taking another deep breath. "I-it's going better than I thought with you all helping me…"

"Yeah, you're doing pretty great…" accepted Asuna while purposefully not looking at what the movement of before did to a certain part of the kendoka's anatomy. "But to be honest, I'm surprised that someone like you has problems swimming…"

It wasn't a secret for the other girls that not only Suguha actively practiced kendo, but also that she was good enough to have achieved second place in the nationals of her category last year. Then again, after seeing her fighting in ALO, they could quite understand it. She had asked to spar with many of them more than once, and they had all been forced to use their Unique Skills to not be defeated several times. The only exception had been Asuna, who always ended up brutally defeating the Sylph when she used Dual Blades. Though this had, for some reason, annoyed the Undine, and she hadn't tried to use it again against her since last time, using only her rapier, leaving her score of Wins and Loses with Leafa pretty even. When the younger girl had bluntly asked one day (While Kirito wasn't around, of course) if she was taking pity on her by not going all out, she had just answered that she wished to beat her 'on the same level'. After a while, the Sylph had nodded and they had gone at it again.

That duel ended up with a tie.

"It's…because of something that happened when I was little…" muttered the kendoka while looking the side, her eyes lost in the water as if reminiscing something unpleasant. "But…I want to change many things about my life these days. I'm not the same I was before. And this is just one more thing I need to overcome in order to remind myself I can be really happy by giving my all…"

"Suguha-san…" whispered Asuna while staring at the young girl, who quickly stared back.

In that small instant, both girls could felt as if they were at the edge of a breathtaking epiphany, as if they were able to truly understand each other…

"Hey, everyone, sorry I'm late!"

…and then the familiar voice of the main reason they weren't friends half the time broke them out of that state, their eyes shooting to the side, like everyone else's.

"Ah, Kirito-sama!" happily greeted Saori at seeing the boy walking near the pool, clad in black and white swimming trunks as he awkwardly smiling at them. "I was starting to think you wouldn't come!"

"Yeah, sorry about that, that 'counseling session' got a bit more annoying than I thought…" answered the boy while stopping near the pool's edge.

"Really?" asked Shiori while entering the pool and swimming closer to him, the rest of the group already getting closer. "How did it go?"

"Well…

In that instant, someone who walked by the school's Nurse Office could have heard a man excitedly shouting 'God, he killed that mosquito girl with a freaking SL.A.P!'

"…let's just say that the counselor was satisfied with my answers." finished the gamer with a mysterious smile. "Well, how about I fulfill my promise and help you swim too, Sugu?"

"Yeah, thanks a lot, Onii-chan!" brightly smiled the girl…

"Hey, Sensei, do you like my swimsuit?" asked Asuna while sitting at his side, surprising the boy and making the other girls blink, as if they had forgotten something for a moment.

"Eh? Uhm, yeah, you look very good on it, Asu…"

"And what about mine, Onii-chan?!" quickly asked Suguha while stopping just under him, still on the water, making the gamer blink and look at her before his face reddened.

"Ehm…"

"Better yet, who you think looks the prettiest in a swimsuit?" asked Rika with a knowing grin…definitively not crossing her arms under her b.r.e.a.s.ts for teasing reasons.

There was a second of silence as everyone stared at the mace-user. Then, as one, every girl turned to look at Kazuto with shiny eyes.

To his surprise, the boy found himself deeply regretting having not stayed watching anime with the newly hooked Kikuoka…

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It was later that same day, the sun already starting to set in the horizon, when Kazuto was silently running through a park in Kawagoe, sighing as he went by.

Honestly, he still wasn't sure HOW he managed to get out of that one without the girls ganging up on him, but he was deeply thanking the Gamer's Gods for that.

The way back home had been a bit awkward, though, especially because he was sure Sugu had been hugging him twice as tighter as before, and also muttering something about 'Never giving up' and 'Winning'.

His brain had been adamant about him not trying to think too deeply about it. Or about the many times the girls 'accidentally crashed' against him while they were swimming. He had been very glad to agree with his brain.

After all, as Saitama had once sagely said, 'I will leave tomorrow's problems to tomorrow's me' .

Sometime in the future, Future Kazuto would remember this moment and curse his past self. But that's not really important right now.

Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, the black-haired boy reflected once again in what he was currently doing.

More exactly, in the fact that he had already run 6 Km., still missing 4, after having finished doing 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, and 100 squats. As he had been doing the last 3 weeks.

"…why the hell am I even doing this…?" whispered Kazuto to himself while shaking his head.

Honestly, it was stupid. THIS was also the main reason why, lately, he had decided not to share with anyone, not even Sugu or Asuna, that he still conserved his 'inhuman' reflexes in the real world. And, a small part of him whispered, also probably why he had been able to catch Keiko at all the other day when she fell off.

Still, this was craziness. He didn't have ANY real reason to try and do Saitama's workout. It wasn't as if he had any need of getting the man's powers in reality (Not that he truly believed it was POSSIBLE in the first place, no sir). He wasn't planning to be a superhero, and there weren't any threats that even required such absurd strength. In fact, he was probably hurting himself more than anything, always requiring at least one hour of hiding in his room after returning home, so as to Sugu or their mother (In the few occasions she was there when he came back) didn't notice he looked like crap and could barely breathe at all. Even more, since he had started going back to school, he had told himself repeatedly that he HAD to stop this madness.

And yet, here he was again, despite the fact that he had been swimming some hours before, almost finishing with another day of 'pointless' training. If he had ANY common sense, he would stop right now, turn back home and never do this again. Never mind how he wasn't physically apt to keep doing this much more, Sugu (And everyone else) would probably beat him up if they discovered he had been doing something 'so stupid' in reality.

Shakily standing up, he turned his gaze around, almost ready to just go back…and his eyes caught sight of something 'strange'.

Almost 400 meters away from him, there was a girl swinging a sword on one of the many grassy plains of the park. It wasn't a shinai like Sugu (And he in the past) used, but a bokken. A wooden sword.

The strange part, though, was that the girl seemed to have no idea of what she was doing with it. Her stance was wrong, one that no swordsman with actual experience would ever adopt, wildly swinging the bokken before her with just one hand.

And yet…there was a strange sort of 'passion' in her swings. They were all deadly fast and, despite their wildness, there was also some kind of 'order' to them, all of them cutting through a specific area before the silent girl. No matter how weird or disorderly they looked, the swinging girl refused to even slow down.

Kazuto stared at her form for a couple of seconds more before shaking his head and looking back to the road. Silently, he started to run again.

It wouldn't really matter at this point, if he finished the last 4 kilometers, right?

Stopping her wild swinging for a moment, Asada Shino blinked and looked behind herself. The bespectacled girl only saw the mostly empty park and a boy tiredly trotting in the distance. Frowning, she turned her gaze back to her bokken and swung again.

"…not enough. Not fast enough…" whispered the girl to herself as she kept swinging, an unnatural determination on her swings. "I need to swing faster…to beat any gun…"

If someone had been near Shino at that moment, they would have seen an unnatural 'fire' burning behind her eyes…

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In a dark room, a sinister figure stared silently at a computer screen, the only light visible in the dark room coming from it. On it, several articles about the SAO and ALO incidents were shown in different tabs and windows, and news about many of the new VRMMOs currently out or in development occupied a small place between them.

The sickly-looking young man scowled heavily, his eyes almost seeming to shine with a reddish light in the middle of the darkness.

"Idiots…all of them…they have all forgotten what fearing death truly is…what freedom tastes like…they're all just…!"

His dark monologue was interrupted by the room's door opening, making him squeak when the light of the perfectly illuminated hallway hit him in the face.

"Uhm, brother?" confusedly asked the boy of soft-brown hair standing there. "You okay? Mom says dinner is ready…"

"Goddammit, Kyouji!" snarled the young man while glaring at his skinny little brother. "Can't you at least knock the door before opening it?! I was in the middle of something important!"

"O-oh, sorry about that…" awkwardly muttered the boy while shaking his head, turning around as he walked away. "I was just doing what mom told me…"

"…f.u.c.k it, I'm coming." simply growled him in response, standing up…

"Do you wish for power, Shinkawa Shouichi?"

…only to freeze at the STRANGE and INHUMAN voice that echoed into his room. The voice coming from his computer's speakers.

Shouichi was vaguely aware of his brother returning to the room alarmed, apparently having also heard the voice, while he turned to look back at the screen.

There was a featureless mask of pure silver being shown on it, staring at him with two hypnotizing heterochromatic eyes.

One of soul-chilling emerald green. The other of mind-searing orange amber.

"…or do you prefer 'Red-Eyed' Xaxa?"

In the ensuing silence of the darkened room, the wheels of Fate slowly started twisting again…

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NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW!

"…eheheh…EHEHEHEH! Oh yeah…this is going to be SO much fun…Hmm? The preview for next chapter? Yeah, whatever, I don't care. Next time on 'One Punch-Gamer': 'The Phantom of Death'. In a world of desolation where only the strongest get what they want, a dark shadow slowly creeps over everything. What will happen when this causes a meeting between a certain gamer and the deadliest solo-player of this world of guns?...well, there you have it. NOW, Kyouji, move your ass! We have lots of work to do, ehehe-!"

END OF THE PREVIEW!