Airi Natsume

Airi Natsume (愛莉 奈爪), known by the username Asuka (明寿花), was one of the 10,000 players trapped in «». She was a founding member of a  called «Brightscale».

Appearance
Airi is a petite black-haired girl with a slight build and light brown-coloured eyes. Her hair is jaw-length, neatly styled, with a purple ribbon. The only members of the initial «Brightscale» membership who were shorter than Airi were the twins.

Like Kenji, she initially wore minimal protective gear, preferring cloth cloaks and light leather armour. She remarked that she disliked the thought of wearing heavy armour, calling it unattractive, but compromised following a near-death experience on the 1st Floor and equipped the «Lightweight Galerus» and «Lightweight Manica» given to her by Kenji. This gear covered her entire left arm up to the shoulder in tightly-weaved and lightweight armour.

She wore her claws dangling from her belt but has also been shown wearing them casually on her hands like a set of gloves, with the blades safely retracted.

Exiles Threads & Cloak
Even when Kenji and her guild mates adopted a more protective load-out Airi continued to prioritize stealth with only slight metallic protection. Airi's first unique set of armour consisted of the Exiles Threads, which comprised the upper-body and leg slots, and the Exiles Cloak, which comprised the head and neck slots. The suit was a dark-brown studded leather jacket, the lower-half were tan-leggings, whilst the cloak was of a plain brown leather with a simple metallic clasp at the neck and a bonnet attachment. She later added the «Sheath Knife Belt» to her waist slot and the «Stalker Boots» to her feet, both of which were drops from the «Fallen Elf Commander» on the 3rd Floor. The «Lightweight Galerus» and «Lightweight Manica» given to her by Kenji on the 1st Floor continued to be worn on her left-arm as her only protective metallic equipment.

Personality
Airi is an energetic, sociable, and emphatic personality. She is empathetic, finding it easy to imagine how someone feels in a situation or read the currents of a room, and supported Kenji in his guardianship of Momoko and Akiye in the official release of SAO.

SAO was her first time seriously playing video-games in general. She frequently asked Kenji and Kusaka basic questions, examples being when she inquired what a «Karma Recovery» quest was, and what the icon beside her name meant (buff from eating a buff item). She had enough knowledge of RPG's however to know that certain items had an exceedingly slim drop-rate. As her knowledge grew her questions advanced to include loot drops and the special attributes they provided.

Airi is something of a gourmet. She enjoys experiencing new flavours and is particularly fond of desserts, to the point Kenji began carrying small long-lasting treats around in his inventory to bribe her with.

On the 2nd Floor it became apparent that Kenji and Airi began seeing each other as more than just friends.

Synopsis

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

Part I

 * SAOK: Unexpected Meetings
 * SAOK: Pushing the Frontier
 * SAOK: The Karma Scales
 * SAOK: The Business of Grinding
 * SAOK: The Moneymaking Crusade
 * SAOK: Roving Rovia
 * SAOK: Braving the Depths
 * SAOK: New Year Resolutions

Skills
Airi's primary role is reconnaissance. Her short stature and nimble build, coupled with her Agility stat, allows for excessively fast movements. This can be further bolstered by her «Sprint» Skill. Her clothing aids her ability to hide.

During battle Airi is described as a crowd-controller who supports the primary DPS. In normal situations from the 3rd Floor onward this meant she was Kenji's backup, but in a raid-party setting this extended to Sojiro. Kenji has stated that her Agility build far outstrips him in terms of speed. Her claws, coupled with her speed and the DoT buff found on the 2nd Floor, provides excellent and sustainable damage over extended periods.

She generally suffers from the same weaknesses as Kenji initially did when questing. As an Agility build she wears minimal protective gear, preferring cloth cloaks and lightweight leather armor. Before meeting up with Kenji and Kusaka she was in real danger when cornered by even a single monster. Kenji was of the opinion that a single Sword Skill from «Zagan the Exile» would have been enough to kill Airi and himself.

Claws

 * Pinpoint Step -- a retreating strike consisting of two attacks. The first strike, which is a charging attack, pierces the target's midsection. The second strike involves the user kicking off the opponent with their legs, resulting in a leap-back of five metres.
 * Patient Defense -- a counter-based defensive skill. Automatically dodge one incoming attack and follow-up with a slashing strike. Only works on Human-sized enemies.
 * Acute Vault -- a charging Sword Skill that covers several metres worth of distance.
 * Flurry of Blows -- a five-strike combination attack comprising four swift jabs and finished off with an uppercut attack. 80% of the Sword Skill comprises piercing damage whilst the final 20% is slashing damage.

Trap Dismantling

 * Increased Trap Detection I -- a Mod for the «Trap Dismantling» Skill. Increases the user's ability to successfully detect traps.
 * Increased Trap Dismantling I -- a Mod for the «Trap Dismantling» Skill. Increases the user's ability to successfully disarm traps.

Behind the scenes

 * Airi's height and weight measurements, including physical appearance, is modelled on Momo Hinamori from Bleach.