Ch1

Link Start - Kirito

Kirito slowly swept his gaze over his surroundings, adjusting to the intense graphics of Sword Art Online. The trees glowed and the sky shone with a magnificence impossible in the real world. Ever since he had returned from his adventures in SAO and ALO, real life had gotten a lot more demanding. He hadn't been online in a month due to school work and a job. It felt good to be back in the virtual world.

A whooshing noise came from behind him. Kirito spun around, and was pleasantly surprised to see Klein materialize next to him.

"Kiritooo! Surprise to see you here, man!" Klein grinned. He was still the same scruffy guy, and definitely still a bachelor.

"Hey, Klein. How's life?" Kirito replied.

"It's alright, but I still haven't found... her," Klein sighed, sitting down on the grass with his legs crossed. Kirito smiled at the other man's love problems.

"You just need to be yourself, Klein! Being positive, always optimistic, thats you!" Kirito suggested. Klein groaned. This talk again.

"Why are you so lucky, Kirito? How do you get the girls? I've been trying for years, but they all just gravitate to you," Klein said despairingly. Kirito laughed sheepishly, patting Klein on the back.

"Why don't you practice on that tree? Looks like a good match," Kirito suggested. Klein threw a friendly punch, which Kirito dodged with ease. "Go ahead, don't be shy. If you wait too long, it might just get tired of you and run away." Kirito teased. Klein glared at him.

"I'm not that hopeless, am I?"

"No, just do what I said. It'll help."

Klein took a deep breath and walked up to the tree. "I'm Klein, 26 years old, and a bachelor. You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen, and I was wondering if..." Kirito snickered, watching the other man make his plea.

For some reason, Agil decided to log in right then, and somehow appeared right in front of Klein. Needless to say he was a bit spooked.

"What the hell?" Agil looked at Klein with one eyebrow raised. Klein kept ranting for a few more seconds before he looked up and realized he was actually proposing to Agil. He stayed kneeling, stunned.

"Whoa! You gotta tell me if you're gay! I'm married, and you don't wanna mess with my wife!" Agil said seriously.

"I-It-um..."

"-No, he's not" Kirito finished for Klein, "but he might have a better chance if he were." Klein shook his head, no longer amused, and promptly collapsed on the grass, pretending to be asleep. Kirito and Agil laughed

As they spoke, they were joined by Asuna. Klein suddenly straightened, tensing up as if about to move towards her. For good measure, Kirito kneed him between the legs.

"I like my guild friends better...I'm going to go look for them..." Klein groaned as he walked away slumped in mock pain. His HP bar was missing a chunk.

"My strength is maxed!" Kirito shouted jokingly to the retreating Klein

The streets of Fiern, a stylish Italian city on floor 79, were bustling with crowds of people looking to obtain various rare items or for a sighting of the mythical Phoenix. Kirito, Agil, and Asuna were here for an entirely different reason.

"Wow! There are so many people here! It's so pretty!" Asuna chirped, running from building to building no doubt with some kind of speed skill. "Are you sure all this is running on a computer in your basement, Agil?"

The tall, dark-skinned man grinned. "Yeah, sure is. Funny enough, the equipment wouldn't even be able to run any other game, but it can take a crazy high number of people in SAO,"

"Shows you what a genius Kayaba Akihiko really was. I never did understand his motivation for killing so many people," Kirito sighed.

"Well, he did save our lives in ALO...I guess...he's kinda like you, Kirito!" Asuna noted. Kirito tilted his head, motioning for her to elaborate. "You both had a lot of determination...him to create SAO...and you to beat it. I don't think he did it for his own reasons, either..."

"Yeah, I don't know about you guys, but SAO is the best thing that'a ever happened to me," Agil agreed.

A voice suddenly rang out in their heads. "Who's dead? I didn't commit suicide, Kirito, I uploaded my consciousness." Everyone but Agil stood stock still, startled by the sudden reappearance of the person they thought had been dead for sure. After a moment of awkward silence, Agil spoke up.

"Oh...yeah...I forgot to tell you guys, but Kayaba's been here ever since I booted up the seed. Apparently he saved himself to the it. He's game mod of the server. I really don't do much myself," he admitted

"So you don't have mod privileges? What's stopping him from starting another death game?" Asuna asked, surprised that Agil could trust someone who had almost killed him.

"No...I wouldn't do that. I've already had my share of fun," the air shimmered before them, and a young man with short blonde hair and a rather small stature appeared. His armor was thin, but none of them doubted its strength. "Hello, I'm Kayaba Akihiko, or, as my username dictates, Reveld."

Kirito face remained blank as he stared at the person who had been the cause of both his greatest times and his lowest moments. They looked at each other for a long time before Kayaba spoke.

"Am I forgiven?" he inquired, his voice both curious and indifferent, as if the question was only to evaluate Kirito.

"I never said I disliked you," Kirito muttered. Kayaba raised his eyebrows, looking for some kind of reaction.

"I killed your friends, didn't I? Sachi...that was her name, right? It really was an accident; the traps were meant for high levels to gain experience quickly. But you don't know how many valuable players I lost in those..." he looked away wistfully.

"Don't get me wrong, I would kill you for that...but would it do me any good...?" Kirito left his question hanging. Kayaba nodded, seemingly satisfied with Kirito's answer.

"Save the sapiness for later! Let's go clear some dungeons!" Agil interrupted their conversation, although they could all tell that the memories hurt him too.

"No, food first!" Asuna prioritized. Her suggestion was met with much enthusiasm

Before Kirito could respond, the other three had already sped off, leaving behind a choking cloud of dust. Kirito wasn't even sure where the dust had appeared from. Now if only he'd memorized the name of that restaurant... Sighing, he plopped down on a bench, closing his eyes for a quick nap...

No, wait!

He opened up his player menu and navigated to the tab marked 'Friends'. Quickly scanning his relatively short list, he was disappointed to find that the info noted nothing about his missing friends' location. Kirito was about to close the menu when he saw a flashing exclamation point appear by his PM inbox. Tapping on the mailbox icon, he was surprised to see that the sender's username was Reveld... Kayaba was messaging him.

/

From: Reveld

Meet me tonight on Floor 100. I want to try something, if you wouldn't mind helping me out. I think you'll like it.

P.S: We're in that orangish building a few yards to the north.

/

Kirito read the note a few times, each time the feeling in his gut getting worse. The last time Kayaba tried something out, thousands of people died. Hopefully it wouldn't turn out that way this time. The last part didn't make him feel much better. He truthfully had enjoyed the intensity of the death game, but for others' sake, it could not happen again.

His stomach grumbled, and the pessimistic thoughts were suddenly dismissed. Now if only he could figure out which orange building Kayaba meant. There were just too many orange buildings.

A/N: This chapter is supposed to be a little light, showing some of the fun sides. I'm bad at staying in character. Anyways, Kayaba's going to be more open and less crazay, because cray cray Kayaba is no fun.

Review! I need to know what you think! Constructive criticism is helpful for me to work to make the story better.