Chapter Text
"All right… everything seems to be all good, and battery's all charged," his sister muttered under her breath. She stood to her feet and turned to look at him, "All set up, Onii-chan?"
There wasn't a verbal answer, only a quiet nod and a light smile. The Nerve Gear felt heavy on his lap as he sat on the edge of the bed. He did his best to stay focused, even though he felt the strong urge to throw up. There was a promise he had to keep, and he wasn't planning on backing out.
His sister, on the other hand, was hesitant, "You look tired... maybe you should login tomorrow. You'd be better rested then."
He couldn't help but huff a laugh. His sister was too considerate, and observant. Instead, he raised his hands, "It will only be a few hours. I will be okay. You should go. Practice is soon."
His sister didn't look convinced, but she nodded anyway, "Alright, I'll trust you. I'll be home around five, so remember to log out by then," she said as she gave him a quick hug.
He nodded to show that he heard and waved as she left his room. His door was left open, a precaution he didn't mind, and waited until the front door closed with his sister's usual "I'm heading out!"
Quietly, he placed the Nerve Gear to the side and twisted his body to pull himself onto his bed. It was a bit difficult, since one leg refused to move, but he managed to get close enough to his window. He watched his little sister turn the corner of their street and out of sight.
The house was quiet. His mother was at work. His father was on a business trip last he knew. It was just him and the empty house for a couple of hours.
He took his time to settle himself on his back with the Nerve Gear on his head. His leg ached, and the nausea wouldn't go away, but it didn't dampen his excitement. He took a glance at the clock on the HUD and smiled.
12:58.
He trailed his gaze away from the time to the stuffed golden lion that rested next to him. The artificial fur was soft despite the years he had it. It kept him company in times like this. He picked at the sown nose and waited patiently.
His eyes dropped closed and the Nerve Gear beeped. There was a tiny smile on his lips as he whispered two words.
"Link Start!"
._._._._._.
Dark eyes blinked open, and a young man clenched his hands. An easy smile spread across his face and he almost laughed.
"It feels nice to be back," he muttered under his breath as he moved his hands. He took a moment to tap the tip of his boots to the ground, and stretched his arms. It felt great to move around again.
He turned on his heel and disappeared into the flood of new players. He slipped past the players adjusting to their surroundings and hurried through the shops, only grabbing what he needed. There were only a few hours that he could spend here, so he wasted no time to head to the gates.
"Hey!" called a voice behind him, "Wait up!"
He slowed to a stop and turned around. Another player with red hair and a matching bandana caught up to him.
"You were a beta tester, right? Mind if you could help me out? I'm new with all this Nerve Gear thing. Can you help me with the basics? I'm Klein! Nice to meet ya."
The player, Klein, held his hand out in greeting. The young man couldn't help but pause for a moment, a bit overwhelmed at the sudden greeting— if was one. He almost raised his hands to speak, but he remembered at the last second that he didn't need to.
"…Hmm, alright," he started quietly. He didn't dare to return the gesture. Instead, he nodded his head politely and placed a hand on his chest, "I'm Kirito. It's nice to meet you, too."
._._._._._.
Kirito had to admit, watching someone fighting for the first time was pretty amusing. Vaguely, he wondered if this was how he seemed like when he first started out. It took a couple hours, since Kirito never expected to go that in-depth with explaining how the system worked with the basics. Thankfully, Klein was able to catch on, and finally preform a sword skill after several hours.
He really should've logged out already, but the idea of leaving Klein hanging didn't sit well with him.
"Yes! I finally beat it!" Klein yelled as he did a victory fist bump.
"Not bad for a first time, but keep in mind that's how all the monsters are," Kirito clapped his hands from his place on the ground. He was close enough to advise, but far enough from the battle. He felt a little dizzy, but he didn't say anything.
Klein laughed as he sat next to him, "And here I thought it was a boss! Still— I can't believe we're in a game. It feels so real."
Kirito hummed in agreement, "It's really amazing. Is this your first time in Full Dive?"
"Yup," Klein replied, "I got the Nerve Gear after getting the game. I got really lucky. You must've had a ton of luck to be a beta player— only a thousand got it, right?"
Kirito debated whether he should be honest or not, but he settled with a half truth, "Yeah, just a thousand. I was…lucky enough to be able to try it out. This game can be very fun at times."
"Oh! Then do you want to meet my friends? We can team up and conquer some dungeons together," Klein offered.
Kirito said nothing, but the sudden stiffness of his posture and slight frown on his face gave his answer away. He wasn't sure if he was ready for something like that.
Klein seemed to catch on as he stood up. He held out a hand to Kirito, "Maybe some other time then?"
There was a small smile on Kirito's face as he took Klein's hand to help him up, "Some other time, but thank you. I'm just… not that good with people."
"I should be thanking you for helping me out, Kirito. So, thanks," Klein said, placing hand on his hip, "Well, I gotta go— My pizza's going to be here by 5:30."
Kirito's eyes flew open and he glanced at the time.
5:26.
"Ah-hhh— I gotta go, too," Kirito nearly spluttered as he opened his menu, "Twenty-six minutes ago."
Klein raised an eyebrow as he opened his menu too, "Strict parents?"
That brought a light grin on Kirito's face, "More like a concerned sister."
He quickly tapped the screen, moving by pure habit, only to tap on an empty box. He paused.
"Hey, uhhh, Kirito? Where's the LOG OUT button?"
The nausea that he ignored started to creep back, and he pressed a hand on his chest. It wasn't his real body, but it helped keep some of his panic at bay. Kirito closed and reopened his menu. He gone through his usual steps and frowned, "It… it was right here."
"I'm calling the GM, but he's not answering," Klein said, then he looked up and frowned, "You okay? You look a little pale."
Kirito closed his menu and strained a smile through clenched teeth.
"I'm fine. Just—"
He wasn't able to finish his sentence when his world suddenly tipped and white filled his vision. He felt a hand grab his arm and the last thing he heard was Klein cursing loudly.
._._._._._.
She ran and ran and ran. The news rang so loudly in her head, over and over that it wouldn't stop.
Two hundred and thirteen players were dead, and over nine thousand were trapped inside Sword Art Online— the very game her brother dove into.
She had left her kendo practice just as she was— fully dressed in her gear and cell phone gripped tightly in her hand. She was glad she had half the mind to grab her house keys before she left. Fumbling with the lock, she managed to enter the gate and slip through the door. The house was deathly silent as she ran up the stairs. The open room hid nothing from her.
Her brother laid peacefully on his bed, but he was already logged in.
She staggered into his room and reached for him, but her hands hovered uncertainly. The NerveGear sat innocently, wrapped around her brother and trapped him in that death game.
A death game she helped him prepare for.
She was conflicted between screaming or crying at the thought.
Her brother was already so short on time—
"Suguha!" Her mother's voice pulled her back to reality. Suguha blinked, and her mother was beside her, running a hand through her hair.
"Mom—" she breathed, but she couldn't find the words.
Her mother gently brushed away the tears from Suguha's eyes and pulled her close for a hug, "I know. I know."
._._._._._.
When Kirito opened his eyes to a crowded plaza, he knew that something was wrong.
Something was terribly wrong.
He tried to voice his concern to Klein, but he couldn't— not when the ceiling above them bled into crimson, and a figure melded into shape.
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and I am currently the only person able to control this world."
The figure, Aki-nii—no, Kayaba— continued to talk.
Kirito stood in quiet horror as the words washed over him. He couldn't say anything when the real features of Sword Art Online were enabled. He gripped his elbows tightly as he heard the current death toll. He bit his lips hard enough to prevent himself from forgetting where he was as he saw footage of the world outside. He needed to ground himself because he just— couldn't believe this happened.
He nearly cried when the mirror in his hands changed his tall, heroic avatar into the small, frail teenager he really was: almost deathly pale skin, and thin bones that could hardly lift anything. He had to reassure Klein more than once that yes, he was still the same Kirito he met.
But he shouldn't have had too.
It was then that they both realized that this was more than a gift that Kayaba had left the players. It was a knife that stabbed reality into everyone's heart.
This— this was real.
No one screamed, no one even cried when Kayaba's dark, hooded figure melted back into the ceiling with an amused note.
"I wish every player the best of luck."
Then someone screamed.
The whole plaza exploded with thousands of other players joining in.
Kirito did all he could to stop himself from clamping his hands over his ears to block out the noise. It scared him into action.
He immediately snatched Klein's wrist and tugged him, "We need to go!"
Klein could only nod as he stumbled after him. Their pace picked up into a full sprint, eager to get away from the terrifying screams. At some point, Klein had managed to pull ahead of him, and Kirito forced them to stop in an empty alleyway.
"Klein, we need to leave for the next town. If we don't, the entire area will be flooded with the other players," Kirito stated, quickly opening his menu to double check the map, "The two of us should be able to make it."
"Just us?" Klein frowned as he shook his head, "I can't— I still have friends out there, and I'm pretty damn sure that they're scared right now. I can't just leave them behind."
It took a lot of restraint not to flinch at that. Kirito bit his lip and held his arm. Right. Klein had friends— maybe they could survive with one more, but any higher… No, he couldn't take that risk, and there was no time to wait for non-beta players to adjust to SAO—
A hand rested on his shoulder, suddenly pulling him out of his panicked thoughts.
"Relax, will ya?" Klein said as he gave a reassuring squeeze, "You're shaking."
Kirito paused for a second, taking the time to calm his nerves and ease the building headache. Now wasn't the time to panic, and losing himself wouldn't help with any clear decisions. He was thankful that Klein patiently waited for him to gather himself.
He finally looked up, "I— I won't be able to protect all of you."
"And you don't have to," Klein stressed, "We can handle ourselves. After all, you spent hours giving me all those tips. I'm sure I can help."
Kirito grimaced, trying hard to ignore the ache in his head, "No, Klein— this is real! This… This isn't some kind of—"
Whatever words he wanted to say were gone as the pain in his head took over. There was a loud ringing in his ears, and he tried to cover them. At that moment, Kirito realized that something wasn't right— something was very, very wrong. His leg grew increasingly sore, and his usual drowsiness came crawling back.
No— no, no no—
He wasn't supposed to feel this pain—
He wasn't supposed to feel anything of this—
Kirito's breath hitched, and the world around him steadily faded out. The last thing he saw was Klein reaching for him and then—
.
..
…
REGISTERED ID CODE #7356 FOUND - INACTIVE CO-ADMINISTRATOR STATUS
CHANGE TO PLAYER STATUS?
-[YES]
-NO
-CANCEL
CO-ADMINISTRATOR: KIRIGAYA KAZUTO WAS CHANGED TO PLAYER: KIRITO
BEGIN MEMORY TRANSFER?
-[YES]
-NO
-CANCEL
INITIALIZING TRANSFER PLAYER: KIRITO TO UNIT: NARUSAKA KAZUTO
ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: Calculating….
ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: Calculating….
ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: ERROR - UNDETERMINED DUE TO LACK OF DATA
PERMISSION TO INITIATE DATA COLLECTION?
-[YES]
-NO
-CANCEL
DATA COLLECTION ON PLAYER: KIRITO TO UNIT: NARUSAKA KAZUTO INITIATED
SYSTEM DATA COLLABORATION AT... 1%
ESTIMATED TIME REMAINING: *******