Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online, but I do own Myruki (Mah-roo-kee) and my OC's.

ソードアート・オンライン Sword Art Online

©2012 Reki Kawahara

Saccharine

Chapter One

It had been two weeks since Akihiko Kayaba, the creator of Sword Art Online, revealed that it was a matter of life and death for the players. The log out button vanished, and the only way to escape the game was to clear all one-hundred floors. Players from all over had different reactions to the startling news. Some joined up with each other to defeat the many bosses, some left to start their own inns or stores, and then there were the people who were gone - lost forever because of a mere game, but SAO wasn't a game. At least, not anymore.

"Two weeks already." Myruki said. She was strolling through the town. The light-posts lit up the town square, where many of the most popular businesses were. Several owners were already putting up 'Closed' signs, and innkeepers could be seen going out to buy last-minute supplies for their inns. Myruki noticed one particular store though. She stared up at the brown and orange sign 'Teddystock' hanging above her. It was strange seeing so many players trying to live out normal lives. Curious, she opened up the home-screen and tapped on the word 'Restaurants'. It wasn't long before she found a thorough descriptive of the place because it was the only piece in the system.

Teddystock

Located on Floor 9 in Chrim's Town

Founded by the Sweetness Guild in November, the Teddystock restaurant and Café offers a wide range of food choices, a warm atmosphere, and a fairly convenient location with Chrim's official Inn and food market right around the corner. Don't forget to stop by today for our early bird special - one fresh pastry of your choice FREE and a medium cup of our own specially brewed coffee for only a fraction of any other cafe's price. For a limited time only, so stop by now and receive an experience that you'll never forget!

Open 7:00 am to 8:00 pm

Monday - Saturday

Subject an application here for any available job opportunities.

Myruki closed the advertisement. She was truly horrified by its words. A large amount of players were fixated on clearing the game while players who worked in places like Teddystock were fixated on living a normal life. It was as if they had completely forgotten all about the events that happened two weeks earlier. Myruki sighed, unaware of the unknown person standing directly behind her.

"Excuse me," said a soft voice. "Would you like to come in? We're supposed to be closing soon, but I think we can make another exception." Myruki slowly focused all of her attention onto the owner of the voice. There was a woman in front of her wearing an orange dress with the name 'Annie' monogrammed near her ruffled collar. The woman's resemblance was similar to one of those fancy hotel maids back in Floor four, from the white apron tied up by a neatly formed bow around her waist to the black Mary Jane shoes worn by her tiny pale feet.

"I guess it couldn't hurt. Thank you, Annie." Myruki answered, following her into the large café. The interior inside was very welcoming. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, giving off a warm glow to the room. Two customers were already present; a male eating a sweet pastry alone at a table in the corner, and another purchasing freshly baked croissants from the display of food in the front. They both wore no armor, causing Myruki to assume that they were residents of the town. Moments later, she was sitting directly across from one of those customers. Myruki examined the player as Annie said she'd bring a small cup of green tea - a favorite drink choice of hers back in the real world.

"Do you want anything else to go with it?" asked Annie, glancing down at the girl curiously.

"No thanks."

The girl went away for a few minutes, and came back to find an empty seat.

Myruki ran across the grassy field. She felt somewhat guilty for leaving the café so early, but time was of the essence. The floor's boss was already found and the front lines were scheduled to fight it at exactly midnight to avoid anyone else interfering with the battle. She had offered to be a part of the main group. It wasn't long before Myruki could see tents pitched on the field. Three guilds and some solo players had all agreed to join up to fight the boss, regardless if they were beta testers or cheaters or a mix of both. Many people were aiming to collect the rare drop from the monster; the item was unknown, but nevertheless it had to be valuable.

"Myruki," Asuna yelled out to her. "Where were you? I was so worried." Asuna was the sub-leader of the Knights of the Blood Oath, the guild known as the strongest in Aincrad. She excitedly ran over to Myruki, embracing her in a tight hug. She had only just met Asuna a few days ago, but the girl instantly took a liking to her.

"Ah, sorry. I was told to get some healing potions from town." Myruki nervously took two vials out of her pocket belt. She had only been wearing simple clothes forged by alchemy. The black boots worn by her feet were a drop from a common monster, and her dark black hair was freely let loose behind her back.

"Say, did you get a partner yet, Myruki?" Asuna took the two vials of the strange liquid and placed them on top of the small table beside her. Several of the other players were sitting soundly nearby, eating delicious stew made by the head chef. The culinary system was one of the most popular career choices in Aincrad, but anyone involved usually lacked vital battle skills.

"As in love partner?"

"No!" Asuna laughed cheerfully.

After calming down, she appeared tense. "Sho volunteered to check the surrounding forest area, but he never returned. Heathcliff ordered everyone to stay in the camp area while he and a search group are looking for him. Until then, everyone is pairing up with a partner to avoid any other disappearances. Many of us are also assuming Sho's dead…" Myruki watched as Asuna's grip on her sword tightened. The stern look on her face lingered on for a few more seconds until it was replaced by Asuna's usual cheerfulness.

"So, I got you a partner!" The sub-leader slightly arched her head over to the left. She waved at a boy oddly dressed in black; his hair was the same color. His back faced away from them, his head glancing about the camp every now and then.

"Kirito!" Asuna called.

Myruki saw as the boy turned around. He ran to them; his black cloak flapping freely in the wind. Apparently, the boy had an interest in dark colors for his looks, clothes, and sword were either black or a color close to black. It wasn't long before he was in front of them; his eyes glancing over to Myruki for a brief moment before looking over to Asuna.

"Asuna, what is it?"

"This is your new partner. Take good care of her, Kirito!" Without warning, Asuna left in another direction.

"I'm Myruki." She opened her hand, waiting for the boy to shake it.

"Kirito." He gently placed his hand in hers.

"Oi, Kirito. Who's that?" A male player with green hair suddenly strolled up to them. He looked to be around eighteen. Myruki was younger than him by two years. Kirito would probably be around her age too. She watched as he was slightly shocked by the sudden presence.

"Tadashi? Your guild's fighting against the boss too?"

Tadashi smiled, shoving his hands into the two side pockets of his pants. Myruki noticed that he was wearing a red bandana around neck. It made him look like some sort of cowboy. "Why would we do that? You know, everyone's pairing up because of that one kid. What's his name again? Shuji? Shiro? Wait, I've got it. Sho! Yeah, that kid named Sho." Tadashi peered curiously down at Myruki's light blue eyes.

"Ah, who's this? Are you in need of a partner, miss...?" Tadashi paused to look at her username.

"Myruki?"

Slightly annoyed, Kirito interrupted them. "Tadashi, she's already with me."

"I see now," Tadashi complimented with a wink; his voice with a hint of peculiar knowingness to it. "Anyway, I better go make sure the other guild members aren't messing with Klein. See you both!" The boy ran away with a quirky grin on his face, suggesting he knew something that even she and Kirito didn't know about.

"Ah…" Kirito said sheepishly. "That was Tadashi, a member of the guild Chameleons. They've come in here to bargain with the Knights of the Blood Oath for any extra HP or equipment. We should be seeing them gone as soon as soon as the boss is defeated." He tugged at his sword slightly as if he could sense that something was about to happen. Clearly, his instincts were correct. Loud screams and cries were heard just when a monster began to materialize a few feet from where they were. The creature looked terrifying with its vicious teeth and sharp claws. It looked like a mixture of several animals - a wolf, a horse, and a bear.

"It's the boss!"

Three players were the first to strike the beast. Kirito later joined in, and Myruki followed after him with her sword out of its original place. She slashed the monster to the side, stepping back to allow other players to jump in. Asuna ran to the boss, stabbing her sword in it while Kirito used one of his special abilities. It only took a few minutes before the monster disappeared completely, surprisingly leaving no visible item drop behind.

"That was too fast. Something's not right." stated Kirito.

Asuna replied back to him without hesitation. "We cleared this floor, didn't we?"

Author's Note: Thanks to blackopalz21 and azunyan3478 for helping me with this story. Fight scene in this chapter was meant to be short since this is the first chapter, and now Saccharine will be randomly featuring Teddystock's Café foods in the chapter titles just for the heck of it.

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