Integral Factor: Ordinal Scale

"My fingers huuuurt."

Koharu was face deep in one of the sofa pillows in the living room of her apartment. She spent all day practicing in the virtual world, continuing after her conversation with Jaymes and after he left two hours ago. She didn't solely focus on her recital piece, but messed around with other music to keep her brain from melting.

She allowed herself two breaks, one to go eat a virtual lunch with her partner, another to stroll the fourth floor of New Aincrad. It was not the same floor as its predecessor, so they couldn't go on a boat ride through the town, yet it was still a beautiful place. Otherwise, her fingers were on the keys.

So in reality, Koharu was being dramatic; she was mentally drained and her actual fingers were painless. As for who she was complaining to, it was the younger human boy seated on the floor watching television and eating rice and curry for dinner. He completely ignored her whining, too focused on some samurai show to care for his sister's woes.

"Hey, Suko, pay attention to your dying older sister."

"Not my problem."

Suko Honda, two years younger than Koharu and a first year in high school. His favorite hobby is anything regarding samurai, he's part of the kendo club, his idol is Musashi Miyamoto, and if you're not talking Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu, you might as well not talk to Suko. The common interest of the Honda siblings happened to be VRMMOs, though while Koharu loved the fantasy of the Sword Art series and ALO, Suko was strictly an Asuka Empire player — and pretty damn good at it.

Koharu could compare her relationship with Suko to Kazuto and Suguha. They weren't estranged like the Kirigaya siblings prior to SAO, but after SAO ended, it took quite a while for the Honda siblings to get used to each other again. Suko was twelve when Koharu was trapped in the game, and grew up believing that his sister wouldn't survive or, since she continued living, she was cowering and crying in some corner of Aincrad. When he learned that Koharu not only escaped the game, but was one of the top players of the game, he found it difficult to believe.

After a couple months of disrespect, Koharu was fed up with Suko and decided to prove her strength. Taking Kazuto's move against Suguha months earlier, Koharu challenged Suko to a duel in Asuka Empire, disregarding that she would be inexperienced in how the game works. To her surprise, he accepted without hesitation. She only asked that there were no witnesses and for something akin to a dagger. He gave her what she wanted despite thinking she wasn't taking him seriously, and initiated a first-strike duel.

Suko lost in five seconds, nearly having his head decapitated after charging carelessly at her. In the end, he wasn't taking her seriously, figuring she'd be easy to toy with for a while, and paid with the most frightening glare he'd ever seen on his elder sister's face.

"If you had taken me seriously, maybe the outcome would have been different. I would have to learn how this game worked, learn how you fight, and strategize around it. But I would have won in the end for one reason: You fight in this world either for fun or for strength, but I fought to survive. To do that, I had to become stronger than I was before, and it wasn't easy. I fought monsters and people day by day. Every danger you heard about SAO, I went through it. Every death that was counted, I watched a good number with my own eyes. If you believe me to be weak because I lasted as long as I did, you are wrong. I did become strong enough to escape that game, and it was to see my cute little brother. Now let's do this again, fight with the honor of a samurai, and take me seriously."

Despite the boast, Koharu indeed lost the second duel, but it lasted far longer than Suko anticipated. Stats aside, Koharu had experience far outweighing his own, so she was able to hold her own against a superior opponent until the end. With respect earned, the Honda siblings regained their relationship with a side effect.