Kashiwazaka Hiyori, known as Lux in Sword Art Online and ALfheim Online, as well as Kuro in ALO for a time, is a main character in the Girls Ops spin-off. She was a SAO survivor, and her best friend, Rossa, had died there.

Lux admired Kirito for beating SAO and looked up to him as a skilled swordsman. Upon the release of New Aincrad, Hiyori went to play New ALfheim Online as Kuro with a new avatar. It was randomly generated but looked similar to Kirito's avatar, and she took it as a sign and decided to pick the same outfit as the Black Swordsman and later on tried imitating Kirito's dual-wielding style. She got good enough to imitate his One-Handed Sword Sword Skills with both swords.

When the Angel's Ring quest from SAO was introduced in ALO, Kuro accepted it immediately, feeling obliged to obtain the reward Ring of Angel's Whisper, as she had promised to Rossa. She later met Leafa, Lisbeth, and Silica, and became friends with them.

After the quest was completed, Hiyori started attending the SAO Survivor School and met her friends in real life. She also transferred her SAO avatar, Lux, to New ALO instead of playing as Kuro.

Bio

Japanese Name	柏坂 ひより
Kuro Description	Bears accidental similarity to Kirito's ALO avatar with a slightly long black hair and a feminine face with long elf ears. Intentionally wears the gear similar to Kirito's: a black shirt under a black leather coat and matching gloves, trousers, and boots. Carries two swords, although those are not like Kirito's Elucidator and Dark Repulser.
Kuro Description	Being an imported SAO avatar, it has identical facial features to Hiyori's, with the exception of the Sylph ears. Has long bright hair. Wears a jacket that emphasizes her breast, and boots. Had a Laughing Coffin tattoo on the front of her upper left thigh just after importing, but the tattoo quickly faded.
Birthday	April 12
Gender	Female
Nicknames in ALO	Kuro (クロ); Lux (ルクス)
In-game Races	Kuro: Spriggan; Lux: Sylph
VR/AR	Sword Art Online, ALfheim Online
System Name	Lux
Voice Actor	JP: Akasaki Chinatsu (game)
First Appearance	Manga: Girls Ops Manga Stage.001; Game: Lost Song

Personality

In SAO, Lux had started off never trusting anyone until she met Rossa and they became friends. Later on, Rossa died protecting Hiyori from a lethal attack, and Hiyori could not confide in anyone again, so as not to lose anyone else that she would be close with. She later forgets that decision and has fun talking with the other players after all.

Hiyori is caring and willing to put herself on the line for the others' sake; the first thing she did after taking a monster's attack directed at Leafa, Lisbeth, and Silica was ask them if they were not hurt. She also wants to become stronger specifically to be able to protect everyone.

Background

Just before Floor 50 of Aincrad was cleared, Lux had partied up with several other players following a rumor and hunting for a rare drop in an extra dangerous dungeon on Floor 32. The party, however, succumbed to the plentiful traps set up in the dungeon; Lux herself ended up teleported into an Anti-Crystal Area and disarmed by the monsters in it. However, PoH and other members of Laughing Coffin saved her by dealing with the monsters.

A player was about to finish her off but PoH gave her a choice instead: be left alone in the dungeon to a certain death, or join LC as a town infiltrator. Lux chose to join LC as a memeber and was tattooed as such.

Lux's servitude to LC consisted of going to towns for shopping, as the PKs are unable to enter safe zones; besides, she was scanning for good hunting grounds, reporting on what the rival guilds like the Knights of the Blood were up to, and performing other tasks only available to a Green-status player. On her missions, she would often cross paths with Gwen, the leader of an orange guild allied with LC, and they became friends.

In August 2024, Lux and Gwen returned to the LC's hideout from a shared quest when a guild member ran out and told them to escape too, but immediately after Godfree and two other Knights of the Blood took the man and soon found Lux and Gwen. Being a Green player, Lux was mistaken for a hostage, while Gwen had to escape, and so they parted ways.

After the wipeout of LC, Lux had not associated with anyone else until she met Rossa but subsequently lost her, too.

Trivia

• Hiyori chose "Kuro" (black) to refer to Kirito's nickname, the Black Swordsman.
• Lux (ALO version) is a playable character in the non-canon game Lost Song, voiced by Akasaki Chinatsu.
• Kuro's two swords, Hrunting and Weizen, that are similar to Kuro's black and white swords, make an appearance in Lost Song, as well as a sword named Conscience, which is similar to the sword Lisbeth gave to Lux.

References

Kashiwazaka Hiyori - Fan Wiki