The Lightning Flash

Chapter 4: The Dungeon

"Blue...hair," commented Asuna, after seeing what Shino's Aincrad Online character looked like for the first time. 

A couple of weeks had gone by since Shino had eaten dinner with both Asuna and Kazuto, where the idea of Shino playing with Asuna, Kirito and their usual group originated.  Now that she was standing in front of her, Asuna realized that Shino's game avatar was very different than how she looked in the real world. Her usual brown hair in the real world, was now a bright blue color, the same color as her eyes.  She seemed to be wearing a type of leather armor and, from what Asuna could tell, it seemed like early game gear, indicating that Shino hadn't played the game much on her own.  Then again, she was only level 20 which was significantly lower than Asuna and any of the others she usually played with. 

"D-Do you not like it?" asked Shino, sadly.

"I...kind of wanted my character to look a bit different than how I do in the real world.  I felt like it would add to the...fantasy element of the game."

Hm...it makes sense...most people would want to change their appearance in a video game, thought Asuna to herself.  I'm the only one stupid enough to still keep my own appearance so similar to what I look like in the real world...I still remember Kirito giving me grief for using my real name back when we were trapped in SAO.  He couldn't understand why I would go with my real name instead of thinking of a nickname like he did and many of the other players did.  When I picked my name for SAO, after putting my brother's Nerve Gear on, I had no idea what I was doing and hadn't played a video game before, let alone one as advanced as SAO.  I didn't know it was commonplace to not use your real name as your avatar's.  Then again, even now, using a different name for my avatar would feel strange.  I've seen so many people use the fact that their avatar's names are different as an excuse to act in ways that don't match with what they are like in real life.  I don't like that idea.  I don't want to use VR as an excuse to act like a completely different person.  I...never even asked for that stupid Lightning Flash nickname, either.  I never wanted to be treated like some kind of bad ass hero.  It just happened.  Wait...oh, I finally understand...why Kirito hates his nickname so much, I think. 

Asuna realized that she had been trapped in her thoughts and responded to Shino with, "Hm, that's a good point, I guess...I mean, Lisbeth's hair was pink instead of brown so—"

Asuna paused after saying Lisbeth's name for the first time in what felt like forever.  Just saying her name out loud made an overwhelming sadness start to take her over. 

"L-Lisbeth?" Shino repeated, confused.  "I-I don't think I've heard you mention her before?  Is...she one of your friends?"

"Y-Yeah, she used to be a good friend of mine when I was trapped inside of SAO...she was friends with Kirito too...and the others," Asuna answered, sadly. 

"Used to..."

Before Shino could get any more information from Asuna on the subject, she heard a series of footsteps, approaching them.  Shino saw a large group of other players make their way towards them. Asuna turned around and smiled after seeing that it was the usual group of players that she hung out with, minus one. One of the players was her boyfriend, Kazuto Kirigaya, wearing his usual black tailcoat and having his two swords holstered on his back. Another player was Klein, who was a bit older than Asuna and Kirito both.  He was dressed in his samurai apparel, with a bandana wrapped around his head that was the same color as the rest of his outfit.  The katana that he always used was in its sheathe.  The last player was an African American man who dwarfed Kirito and Klein in size, effortlessly, with his insane height and musculature that reflected what he looked like in the real world.  His name was Agil and he always fought with his trusty battle axe that was just as large as he was and wore steel armor that was leveled up pretty highly.  Asuna always liked to call him "Agil, the friendly giant" because of his kind demeanor, despite his massive size.  The three players all waved at Asuna, invitingly.