Leafa shuddered. What she had just witnessed was beyond anything she had ever seen, in a whole different dimension. Her body trembled with shock at what just happened.

The Spriggan stood still for a second and took a moment to look at both of his occupied hands - even he seemed surprised at his power.

In spite of her shock, she could briefly see a flash of something blue in the boy's offhand.

Then, without wasting another moment, he dashed again with his incredible speed directly at the other lackey Salamander. This time doing her best to pay attention, Leafa saw him make another strange pose before attacking the man with a diagonal slash that stopped and reversed direction at a 45-degree angle, prepared to make a 2-hit strike. However, unlike his companion, the Salamander was barely able to parry the second slash with his spear.

With an air of determination emanating from both of them, they pushed that blade lock for a few drawn out seconds.

At that time, something clicked in her head and with an extreme speed that she now felt more self-conscious about, she kicked off the ground and attacked the vulnerable Salamander.

He didn't survive her attack and immediately turned into an «End Flame».

As the Salamander disappeared her gaze crossed with the Spriggan's through the fire. His expression was unreadably reserved, however, she couldn't help but recognize the hidden anguish lurking beneath the surface of his gray eyes.

...Just like him...

Putting that aside, as one, they turned around and faced the final remaining Salamander.

However, even before the Spriggan could use his burst of speed again, the Salamander leader was already putting up one hand and lowered his weapon.

"So, you aren't going to fight?" the Spriggan asked in a firm tone. "I don't think you can handle her on your own, much less the both of us."

"No, I don't have a chance of winning, forget it. I will give you my items if you ask for them. I've been training my skills a lot lately, and the «Death Penalty» will make all my work a waste."

"Good call," the Spriggan conceded with a grin. "And you can keep your stuff, I don't want it."

The Salamander leader turned around and activated his wings, however, he looked over his shoulder and gave a final look at the Spriggan.

"You have potential, Spriggan. Maybe we'll meet again someday, I have high hopes for you. And you too, Sylph."

With that, he flew off.

That left only Leafa and the black clad boy in the clearing with the two Remain Lights. A few moments later, they too disappeared.

Tentatively, she turned towards the boy who was already looking at her.

Her eyes flitted to his weapon and she noticed that his sword was still and that he was holding it tightly. In return, he eyed her with mild suspicion.

"You don't have to be afraid," she assured him. "You're safe now."

The boy humphed as he slightly lowered his sword but didn't put it away.

"Call me cautious," he said in a monotone. His eyes slightly clouded as if he was reliving a memory.

Leafa had to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Honestly," she huffed as she lowered her katana to her side. "While cornered by a bunch of hostile players, you get saved by a courageous stranger. I think you could afford to be a little more grateful."

"Sounds like every man's dream," his voice now seemed calmer and more playful. "Completely overcome by gratitude, perhaps this handsome rogue wanderer should give the beautiful swordswoman a hug?" He spread his arms wide.

"Are you an idiot?!" Leafa cried out without thinking. "I'd rather fight you!"

"Ha ha, kidding kidding." The boy laughed it off.

"...?" It sounded different but something seemed familiar about that laugh. The boy continued to look at her for another second, before - with an expression that could've been bashful - he swung his blade once from right to left then put it away into the sheathe on his back. His now empty hand joined the other as they seemed to grip something which shined blue in the moonlight from between his fingers.

"Anyways," he spoke as he looked directly at her. "Thank you." Leafa couldn't help but be taken off-guard by how sincere his voice was. "If it wasn't for you, those Salamanders may have defeated me."

"...Right..." Leafa said flatly. She couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic. After the way he easily overpowered the Salamanders, there was no doubt that he was extremely powerful.

...And his usual tone of voice made it clear that he wasn't exactly the modest sort.

Why didn't you just defeat them? she wondered.

"Well, whatever," she sighed. "Anyways, I'm going to go now." Kazuto was waiting for her far away. "Try not to get killed on the way to a safe town."

"No problem. I'll find a way to town so that I can log out."

He spun around and looked to the horizon... and then a second later he kept turning his head as if looking for something. "Actually, before you go... do you mind pointing me in the direction of the closest town? I really have no idea how this place is supposed to look."

"...Didn't you buy map data on your way here?" What kind of fool travels without making plans?

The Spriggan's right hand went to the back of his head. "I would've," he said in a wavering tone. "But... I... got lost."

"Lost?!" Leafa shouted in spite of herself at his helpless answer. "Even a person who has no sense of direction has limits... You are too strange."

"...I've been told that a few times," he said with a strained expression. Then he put on an embarrassed smile. "Although I'm usually called an «idiot»."

His resulting expression was oddly adorable.

"Tehe," laughter bubbled up from her when she saw his face.

At the sound of her laughter, the boy's face changed to a more defeated one which made her giggle more. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. "Look I'm not exactly sure what's going on. If nothing else, I want to log out soon so that I can tell my partner what's going on. And that we'll have to make new plans." He slightly turned his head downwards and whispered something she barely caught, "It's not like we'd find each other today anyway."

"..." she smiled sympathetically at him. Looks like he's supposed to meet someone. I guess we aren't so different.

"Well," the Spriggan's voice pulled her out of her thoughts of the one she loves. "I don't want to keep you anymore. Good luck on your journey. Once you point out the way, I should be able to survive in Salamander territory until I get to a neutral town."

And that was enough to tell her that he really had no idea what he was doing. "'Salamander' territory?" she repeated in disbelief. "This is Sylph territory."

The boy turned to her in wide-eyed confusion - Clearly he didn't know that.

"Honestly, this place is too beautiful," she went on. She may have not set foot in any other territory, but even she had an idea about the basic topography of the territories of the other races. Salamander territory was primarily made up of deserts so a lush forest like this wouldn't be there. "Why would you think this is Salamander territory?"

"Hmmm," the boy pretended to muse as he put his hand on his chin. "I don't know... maybe... it's the Salamanders I ran into," he explained in an exasperated tone. "I've seen more of them than I have Sylphs so far."

"..." Okay... he may have a point but...

"Alright that's enough," she griped. "Clearly you're too much of a natural airhead for you to get to a safe place on your own."

"Hey...!" he whined. "...That's mean..."

"So I'll guide you to a neutral town first."

The boy looked at her, his grey eyes went wide for a second then in the next they looked apologetic.

"I... appreciate the offer but..."

She put up her spread hand in his direction. "Nope. No objections!" she interrupted his nervous voice. "I don't think I'd feel good about leaving a new player alone."

"But don't you have to be somewhere?" his voice was unexpectedly awkward... and the cadence was familiar.

"The person I'm meeting will understand," she assured him.

Kazuto would be proud of me for helping out someone, she thought as she fantasized about him complimenting her. ...Or he'll give me a brotherly lecture about not going off with random people, especially a boy.

She gave another look at the Spriggan who was now smiling gratefully. Well, he's certainly a strange one but he doesn't seem like a bad guy.

"Thank you..." He smiled at her gently.

... She couldn't help but stare at him. There was something oddly mesmerizing about his gentle smile, his wavering grey eyes, his soft, spiky hair...

No! Bad Suguha! she immediately scolded herself. You can only think about Kazuto like that! No other boy!

Narrowing her eyes, she watched as the Spriggan looked to the ground as he played with the thing in his hands.

"Anyways, let's start flying," she said, trying not to let her annoyance with herself seep into her voice.

The boy looked to her and smiled again. She felt that same feeling of longing.

"Yeah."

"You do know how to fly, right?" she asked, trying to ignore her slight attraction. Based on his airheadedness she couldn't be sure about even that.

"Are you kidding? I've played a flight simulator before. This is nothing." However, he turned away after a second. "Granted, I've crashed on my first flight here... but that's irrelevant..."

... The way he brushed off his weakness... it seemed familiar somehow...

A flight simulator...? A hazy memory came up. Didn't I hear something about one of those before?

"Then it's a good thing that you have a great flyer with you. I could teach anyone to fly like an expert with just a little time!"

Then again, Shin- Recon never really picked up flying despite all my pointers...

As she smiled, she noticed that the boy was staring at her with that same look of suspicion as before on his face.

"...Alright..." he whispered. "Teach me how to fly."

The Spriggan put his right hand on his neck as he timidly looked directly into her eyes and gave her a kind, gentle smile. "I'll be in your care, teach."

At that moment, he kept staring at her as if he was searching for something with a smile that masked his insecurities and a soft look on his face...

As she started to fail to rein in her attraction, she realized something odd about this boy... At that moment, he looked identical to the person she loves...

A small sound emerged from her throat when she considered what was happening.

And suddenly it all clicked. Those strange but practiced movements as he fought, those dark eyes which always seemed to be viewing images that she could never see...

He turned away from her, almost looking disappointed as he stared at the night sky, however her right hand moved on its own and lightly pinched his sleeve.

This player... This person...

He looked at her hand holding him and he slowly brought his hand close to hers, perhaps with the intention to pull it off.

It couldn't be... but...

"...Kazuto?" she whispered. "Is that you, big brother?"

The Spriggan completely lowered his hand in response to those words and his eyebrows went up as his lips gently spread into a familiar smile. His dark eyes looked directly into Leafa's eyes. The light floated in his pupils like the moon swaying on the surface of the water, then-

"-Sugu...? Suguha...?"

***

*GASP!* The random powerful Spriggan dressed in all black was KAZUTO?! I'm shocked!

Rather than the Salamanders, I briefly considered using a certain trio of girls who could be trying to explore other virtual worlds around this time period (although they wouldn't have been killed by Leafa and Kirito). The idea mainly came up because of something I mentioned to a commenter: «Kirito is a magnet for trouble... and females». It was decided against because I wanted to focus on the Kirigayas for now. Plus, I really like having minimal characters. :) Although it does sound like a good deviation point to a different type of story.

Also, I originally had Leafa recognizing Kazuto from seeing his sword style pose after the battle, but, while it's in-character for Kirito to pull out his sword without considering that it would make him look hostile, it didn't feel right to go with that path.