Fujimaru Nakamura

"I narrowed my eyes, clenched my fists, and quickly devised my strategy. Again, completely out of the ordinary for Fujimaru Nakamura, but apparently not for Raixas."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners I, were Fujimaru resolves to challenge Loki.

Fujimaru Nakamura (藤本中村), who prefers the shortened name of Fuji (富士) and known by the username Raixas (ライシャス), was one of the 10,000 players trapped in «». He was a supportive member of the  called «Brightscale».

Alongside Kenji Hiroshi he is one of the author's point-of-view characters.

Appearance
"I missed my avatar though. At least his hair had been as black as the ace of spades."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners I, were Fujimaru laments the loss of his initial avatar's black hair.

Fujimaru is a small and lightly-built young man with an athletic physique. Of the early «Brightscale» members he was both the shortest and lightest. He sports strikingly white-coloured hair and turquoise eyes which were inherited from his father and mother respectively, whilst his hair has been styled by Akiye into what Fujimaru himself called "a Kishi do". He is often recognized by his rare hair colour.

By his own admission Fujimaru has little knowledge regarding the proper way to style one's hair. He has admitted that he knows which shampoo agrees with his hair and which does not and claims that is as far as his knowledge extends. Ever since he raised the topic with Akiye she has been responsible for styling his hair in the morning.

As far as equipment was concerned he initially wore minimalist leather armour, preferring ease of movement and evasion over protection. During his early adventures in Aincrad he was known to carry a one-handed curved sword with a yellow blade and a bar-shaped guard, though his height meant that he was often required to carry it on his back, otherwise the sheath trailed on the ground.

Leather robes
Fujimaru bought several pieces of equipment from Momoko during one of her sales. The set consisted of leather armour with minimal metal additives, appearing almost like robes, and featured two white shoulder belts. One was worn over the vest beneath the robes whilst the second was worn outside the robes, and this belt allowed Fujimaru to carry five «Throwing Picks» easily. The hand-slot consisted of a pair of metal arm guards whilst the waist-slot sported a wide red coloured sash with a white belt holding it all in place. The lower-half of the outfit was doubly layered and about equal in height, which fell about his knees in a swath of cloth. On his feet were stout blackened leather boots. He would later add a red cloak which he tied around his left shoulder and bicep.

Personality
"This meant that I’d spent roughly seven hours with her already! Where in blazes had the time gone!? Not that I was complaining, of course. I’d probably enjoyed the last seven hours more than the entire sum of time I’d spent trapped in this game already."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners I, were Fujimaru expresses how quickly the time passed with Akiye.

Despite the age restrictions associated with the, Fujimaru became one of the players trapped in , at the tender age of 13. Although stuck in a death game the SAO Incident had an emboldening effect on Fujimaru's personality, and he done and considered doing things as Raixas that he would never have contemplated doing as Fujimaru.

In the real world he went out of his way to avoid socialization, to the point he took up running so that he could be alone with his thoughts. Sword Art Online forced him out of his awkward shell and helped him become more talkative and confident. Fujimaru is, and sees himself as being more mature than the typical teenager, which his grandfather agreed with. Unlike the other children trapped in the game Fujimaru was able to process the situation and advance himself through the game, becoming one of the many middle-of-the-road players trying to catch-up to the front-runners. This was in spite of early setbacks and harsh criticism regarding his slotting of gathering Skills over combat Skills, namely «Lumber».

The most notable of his newfound social interactions was with the girls, Momoko and Akiye, both of whom were twins very close in age to himself. He was especially close to Akiye but found it awkward to be around her. Even before he officially joined «Brightscale» he took on the responsibility of helping the twins in their acquisition of materials with his mixture of combat and gathering skills. As far as Akiye was concerned she was the first person on his friends list and also the first person, other than his grandparents, to compliment him on his snow-white hair. He liked spending time with her but tended to get nervous, which revealed he has a stammer, but got past his initial awkwardness with help from Yoshiro.

Fujimaru was bullied frequently in real life due to the colour of his hair, and he thus has little, if any, tolerance for bullying after being trapped in Sword Art Online. His initial avatar sported jet black hair which he expressed a fondness for, claiming he missed it, because he was easily identifiable by his natural colour. Even in SAO, Fujimaru claimed the most frequent personal question people asked him was whether his hair colour was natural.

Despite having joined «Brightscale», Fujimaru was initially scared of Kenji and Kusaka. He found Kusaka's appearance intimidating, describing him as a punk, whilst he was convinced that Kenji was Akiye's brother, and that he was going to give him an earful.

History
Fujimaru lives with his grandparents. He claims that his parents are both deadbeats and that the only time he has ever laid eyes on them was when his grandmother showed him various family photo albums. Three months before the SAO Incident Fujimaru's grandfather allowed him to drive his car around a deserted parking lot, which Fujimaru claimed was an indescribable feeling of freedom.

Synopsis

 * Main article -- Sword Art Online (Kenji).

Part I

 * SAOK: The Moneymaking Crusade
 * SAOK: New Year Resolutions

Inbetweeners

 * SAOK: Inbetweeners I (POV character)
 * SAOK: Inbetweeners II (background)
 * SAOK: Inbetweeners III (POV character)

Skills
Fujimaru is a supportive DPS who often helps Momoko and Akiye with material acquisition, escort duty, and general levelling. In normal party situations he joins Kenji's Team A as a supportive damage-dealer. Fujimaru learned the «Dancing» on the 4th Floor but as he was only Level 17 at the time, and all his Skill slots were occupied, he decided to slot it only when he reached Level 20. His role in the party changed considerably to account for his new Skill and he subsequently became a party-wide supporter and an opposition debuffer.

When it comes to solo play, Fujimaru is quite adept in his own right, having fought more or less solo since mid-November 2022. He was capable of outmanoeuvring five on the 2nd Floor without being hit once, and was confident in his ability to beat Loki in a Total Loss Duel. He was also fit to defeat the «Forest Elven Hallowed Knight» that appeared as part of the «Elf War» campaign on the 3rd Floor, and acquire a «».

Despite being a mostly solo player Fujimaru has experience in a party. He briefly partied alongside a DKB levelling party as their sixth member, and also journeyed through the «Elf War» with Imra, an elite-level Dark Elf NPC.

Fujimaru prefers hit-and-run tactics over brute force applications. His self-defence is focused primarily on «Sprint»-enhanced evasion and manoeuvrability, though he has a surprising Strength stat; enough to give someone of a slight build, like Akiye, a piggyback ride whilst still employing his usual speed levels.

One-handed Curved Sword

 *  -- a basic charging skill with a short delay.
 * Shunt -- a defensive Sword Skill, and the earliest available, which involves a horizontal push. Activated when the hand is placed against the backside of the blade and the user pushes with both arms.
 * Leaver -- a basic two-hit combination skill involving an uppercut slash and a downward stroke. Has a small chance of causing a bleeding debuff. When performed whilst under the DoT buff Kenji claims that Leaver's DoT occurrence actually becomes reliable.
 * Fell Crescent -- highly accurate one-hit area attack. He has shown the requisite skill to "aim" the resultant attack, allowing him to hit -- or purposefully miss -- his target.

Sprint

 * Burst -- a player-activated effect that provides an unspecified increase to the player's movement speed. This boost appears to be quite substantial. Once activated Fujimaru was fit to outrun five Trembling Ox and make it back to Urbus safely.
 * Evasion Boost -- a passive effect that boosts the player's effectiveness at dodging strikes. He claimed this was the reason he was able to so easily avoid five Trembling Ox.

Lumber

 * Harvesting -- the ability to harvest various pieces of wood from trees. Fujimaru was able to use his own «Lumber» Skill to gather the needed materials for his.

Mining

 * Harvesting -- the ability to harvest various minerals and ores from mining locations. He used it to gather quality ore for use with Akiye's «Blacksmith» Skill.

Brightscale

 * Main article -- «Brightscale».

Akiye

 * Main article -- Akiye.

"My mouth could have served as a fly catcher. Never had this happened before. In all my literal life no one other than my grandparents had complimented me on my hair! This was an entirely new development. And to be honest I saw the girl before me with fresh eyes."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners I, were Fujimaru really starts noticing Akiye.

Fujimaru met Akiye and her sister Momoko on the 19th of December 2022, on the 3rd Floor of Aincrad. Due to their similarities in age the twins became the first names on his friends list.

It wasn't until the 21st however that Fujimaru and Akiye struck up a true friendship. Wishing to spend time with people her own age and who weren't her sister, Akiye sought out Fujimaru, and the two subsequently spent a fun-filled day questing on the 2nd Floor together. Their fun was spoiled by Loki, however, though Fujimaru stood up for her in the meeting. Yoshiro correctly deduced that Akiye wouldn't soon forget what Fujimaru had done -- and had been willing to do -- for her.

The two continued to quickly bond and, with help from Yoshiro, worked through the initial awkwardness they each felt in order to build a deeper bond with each other.

Momoko

 * Main article -- Momoko.

Fujimaru met Momoko and her sister Akiye on the 19th of December 2022, on the 3rd Floor of Aincrad. Due to their similarities in age the twins became the first names on his friends list. Although he was closer to Akiye than he was to Momoko, Fujimaru still managed to get on well with Momoko, and was comfortable asking her for favours before actually joining «Brightscale».

Yoshiro Kazuki

 * Main article -- Yoshiro Kazuki.

"If you ever need anything -- anything -- message me. I’ve got two kids of my own, and I appear to have adopted two more. I might as well make it three.""

- Quote from SAOK: Inbetweeners III, were Yoshiro refers to his daughters as well as the relationship he has developed with Akiye, Momoko and Fujimaru.

Yoshiro was the third person Fujimaru added to his friends list. Yoshiro was the one to intervene when Fujimaru had his initial meeting with Loki, and this meeting earned Yoshiro the young man's friendship. As the Tank of Team A, which Fujimaru had occasion to join, Yoshiro held Fujimaru's complete and unwavering trust. As time went on, and Yoshiro continued to offer advice and support, Fujimaru saw Yoshiro as something akin to a father figure.

Kenji Hiroshi

 * Main article -- Kenji Hiroshi.

"What would happen to me if her big brother walked in that door right now? I’d probably get an earful and a boot in the backside."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners I, were Fujimaru expresses fear of Kenji.

Fujimaru was initially thankful for Kenji's advice regarding his «Scimitar» enhancements, but came away from the conversation with the false belief that Kenji was, in fact, the older brother of Sheila and Elise. Kenji himself did nothing to alleviate this confusion and allowed that information to be disseminated throughout Aincrad, whilst the girls themselves happily viewed him in a familial light. As Fujimaru bonded with Akiye, with the pair at times appearing to be a young couple, he became frightened that Kenji would see them together and give him an earful and a boot up the backside. He eventually resolved to speak to Kenji and ask him if he could join «Brightscale».

Imra

 * Main article -- Imra.

"She mothered me more than was really necessary, despite me being a human, and she an Elf, but in battle she was an absolute beast."

- Excerpt from SAOK: Inbetweeners III, were Fujimaru describes Imra.

Imra was the result of and  saving  during the «Jade Key» quest on the 3rd Floor, as every other player encountered a different Dark Elf should they initiate the quest. Imra was an elite-level NPC Dark Elven Scout who, like Kizmel, was prevented from dying during the official release by Fujimaru, whom she would subsequently party with during the «» campaign. According to Fujimaru, Imra had a habit of mothering him, despite him being human.

Behind the scenes

 * Fujimaru's height and weight measurements, including physical appearance, is modelled on Tōshirō Hitsugaya from Bleach, specifically from his time as a Seated officer.
 * Fujimaru's online name, Raixas, is the primary online name used by the author's cousin.
 * Fujimaru's «Dancing» «» was originally intended for Airi Natsume. Despite this change Airi wasn't completely removed from the Skill: it was her who taught Fujimaru various dance steps as the «Pre-Motion» required some basic dancing knowledge to perform.

Trivia

 * The gear Fujimaru bought from Momoko is based on the modified robes worn by Edward Kenway in the Assassin's Creed series. Fujimaru himself notes that he was essentially cosplaying a pirate and assassin.
 * Fujimaru's initial avatar had jet black hair.
 * The shoulder cape worn by Fujimaru is a shout out to Isshin Kurosaki and is based on the latter's own shoulder cape when he appears as a Shinigami.