SAO FB: Scars

Never Settle

——Cross Edge——

"Are you telling me that there's another person out there doing this?" Kirito asked.

"Perhaps." Kato responded, "But as it stands there's him and the fake PoH."

"And this person, the one that you were facing a few days ago, was an SAO survivor?"

"Yeah...and a Laughing Coffin member to boot."

Kirito stepped back and lowered the sword to his side. Kato reloaded the pistol and holstered it. Kirito asked, "How do you know about all of SAO anyways?"

"I worked with people involved with the incident," Kato replied.

"You're really vague with your answers."

"It's not something I like to talk about to being with. Want to run one more?"

"Sure," Kirito accepted.

On the sidelines, Leafa and Kureha were trying to get through the ropes of combat. Kureha constantly kept Leafa back through the usage of her Uzi. Leafa did not learn how to deflect bullets from her brother or cousin technically speaking. Kato knew the complicated history of Kirito and Leafa through his time in the Case Victims Team. Kato brought the sword to his back and felt a sword skill activate. Kirito brought the sword to his side and activated a sword skill to counter. Kirito unleashed it and Kato disengaged the sword skill. Kato sidestepped the skill and used his sword to deflect the blow. Once Kirito was stuck in Post Skill Motion Delay, Kato brought the pistol to the back of Kirito's head and said, "Boom. That makes two."

Kirito brought the sword to his back and asked, "Damn. How do you even do this?"

"You got to learn how to feint sword skills," Kato lectured. "Once you become good at feinting, your opponent will have to guess which ones will go through and which ones are fakes. Here."

Kato stepped behind Kirito and placed him in the Sonic Leap position. After Kato noticed the sword glow, he went around and faced him. Kato grabbed his sword and positioned himself into another sword skill. Kato explained, "Once you see your enemy initiate the sword skill, think about canceling it and go for a deflection or something. I know you'll get it since you were the 'Hero of Aincrad'."

Kato initiated his sword skill and attacked Kirito. Kirito's sword lost its glow and Kirito deflected Kato's attack. Kato got stuck in Post Skill Motion Delay and Kirito thrust the sword just short of Kato's chin. Kato lowered the sword and gave a smirk.

"There you go," Kato mentioned. "Not everything has to be a real hit. You need to mix it up. That's war for you."

Kirito and Kato looked at Kureha and Leafa who were engaged in a knife and sword duel. Kato walked over to a nearby tree and opened a small backpack. He grabbed two cans of tea and tossed one to Kirito. Before the can could reach his hands, Layla grabbed it out of the air.

"Hey!" Kirito protested.

"Quit your whining," Kato replied while grabbing another can.

Kato handed Kirito the drink and the latter opened the can and brought the can to his lips.

"You all seem to go well together," Layla mentioned. "Do you guys have siblings or know each other?"

Kirito and Leafa explained their familial ties. Kato explained how he was an only child but Kureha's family accepted him as one of their own. Kureha's uncle would call it Hanai. After talking about family for a few minutes, Layla turned the conversation back over to the present.

"Kato, I never knew how famous you are here in Japan. You're like a legend in GGO," Layla remarked.

"I got to owe it to my friends for being there with me. Especially her," Kato replied while pointing at Kureha. "She's the one that convinced me to play GGO with her. I met Kirito along the way."