We were running. My lungs were burning; my breaths coming in heaving gasps, and black dots were dancing across my vision. Every step was a jolt of pain through my legs and ribcage. Yet, I still ran. If it had just been me, I would have stopped seconds, minutes, hours ago, let them take me and kill me; let them take me from his grasp forever. But it wasn't just me, she was here too; my little sister, Maia.

A small girl of seven years. She had a big heart and a trusting disposition, but in a time where sweet and trusting can get you killed. My sister was all I had left; my father had died when she was two. She couldn't remember him, but I could seeing as how I was ten at the time. She was so innocent, I made sure she never saw me cry, but the reason for our running had long since stolen that from her: they killed our mother and now they were after us.

She had long given up running and now rode me piggy-back as I sprinted my way through the back alleys and finally got back to our hide out. Too close. They had almost gotten us back their. I should know better than to risk going out to the market, but she looked so hungry... I place Maia's sleeping form on the mat of newspapers that served as our new home. I covered her with the only blanket we had, a threadbare rag of a thing, before sneaking back out of the alley to check for followers. I stayed there for several minutes before returning to my little sister. I started pulling out the food that I had managed to steal, but I just ended up dropping it all on the already trash-covered floor. She was gone; my little angel was gone.

"Maia!" I whisper shouted. "Maia! This isn't funny, come out now!" no answer. "Maia!" still none. "Mai-" I stopped when I saw the blanket dropped on the ground leading down the other end of the alley. I tread softly down the narrow passage, looking for any sign of my little light, but I couldn't find any. I reached the end of the alley and my eyes widened in shock. There was my sister, talking and smiling with the man who had also chased her and I across half of Tokyo. Kayabe Akihito.

"Maia! Get away from him!" I yell, quickly dashing up and grabbing her before backing up again. I would have backed straight into the alley had my back not met with a wall of flesh. A glance over my shoulder confirmed the feeling of dread creeping up my spine; we were trapped. I tightened my hold on Maia before turning my gaze back to Kayabe. there must have been something seriously scary in my eyes because the man flinched and took a step back when his eyes met them. He cleared his thoat, adjusted his tie, and put his emotionless mask back on.

"He-hello Miss Sashi. I hope you are well?"

"Fabulous. The five-star accommodations have really kept me in awe." I reply dryly, not wanting small-talk.

"If oyu had just come with me in the first place-"

"Now why would I do that!? My mother was killed because she worked on your stupid game, I don't want the same for Maia..."

"She would be very well cared for and protected if you came...willingly" I flinched at the underlying threat before composing myself.

"I have to turn your offer down...again, Mr. Akihito..." I turned and walked towards a gap in the man-wall surrounding us.

"I was afraid you'd say that. Men?" all of a sudden, Maia was wrenched out of my arms and quickly put in the back seat of one of the many cars.

"Maia! You can't take her! That's kidnapping you bastard!" I yelled at him, fearing for my sister's life.

"Now will you come quietly? You wouldn't want something...unfortunate to happen to little Maia, would you? You don't know what kinds of horrible people there are out there." He stated in false sympathy. I froze at the obvious threat.

"You wouldn't dare-"

"Try me." he cut me off, then began walking back to his car. ""Shall we talk? I'm free right now, but I have to be back for a little announcement to my...guests on SAO. Please, let me give you a ride back to my facility." I had no choice but to follow him, but his next words made me shiver in dread and rethink running.

"I have big plans for you Makanosi Sashi." We got into the car and began driving towards center Tokyo.

"What do you want from me?" I questioned the silent man sitting across from me.

"I want you to take care of things when I am busy." Kayabe replied.

"Is that it?" I asked, incredulous that what he wanted was so simple. "There must be more than that. Some sort of catch. Like a life-long contract...or something like that."

"Something like that..." he said with a conspiratorial smile.

"So what exactly am I going to be doing? Files, data management, coding for SAO-"

"None of that."

"...then enlighten me..."

"you'll see when we get there." he smiled again and stayed that way for the twenty, agonizing minutes it took to get to his building. During those twenty minutes I worried about my sister. How was she? Was she hurt? Was she scared? Are they taking care of her? Is she crying? Does she need me? These questions just kept repeating in my head like a broken record, making me even more tightly wound with each passing minute.

"Don't worry. My men are taking good care of her." I flinched at his attempt at being comforting. I was uneasy with the fact that my emotions were so easily read. I schooled my face into the mask that the devil across from me was so fond of and just stared cooly out the window. As we got closer and more people appeared, I noticed something peculiar; all the people were sending hate-filled glares at the train of cars, nut no one was attacking them. I looked to Akihiko with the question clear in my eyes.

"aah, yes. The populace has been forbidden from attacking me by the government." He answered my next question too. "It's because I hold all of their children's lives in the palm of my hand right now. They're running on the assumption that if they kill me, there will be no one left to get their babies back. If they knew you existed, they wouldn't hesitate to slaughter me in the streets because they could use your sister to manipulate you."

"How could anyone do such a horrible thing to two children," I said dryly. His slight smirk showed that he appreciated my dry humor. That was the end of our only conversation.

When we got back to his building, I was led upstairs to a lounge room where we, once again, sat across from each other.

"What now?" I asked, nervous about the reason I was here.

"Now you enter Sword Art Online," he said. It took me a few seconds to process what he had said.

...

"WHAT!?" I yelled, stunned. "Are you insane?! I can't go in there! If I die, I can't care for my sister. She needs me!"

"Then here's my proposal: You enter SAO and monitor it for me and complete my requests when I am occupied by outside work. In return I will spare your sisters life. If you refuse, Tokyo Police may find a small body under a bridge or SAO may find itself with a different new player." I was horrified at the ultimatum he had given me. I wanted to accuse him of sanity and refuse, but Maia... Her safety came first. It always has it always will...

"I-I'll do it," His eyes lit up, but he got a wary face with my next sentence. "But on two conditions."

"you aren't really in the position to be making demands Miss Makano-"

"My first condition: All of Maia's needs are taken care of and she's treated with the utmost honor and care."

"Agreed. Your second one?"

"As soon as I am in SAO, you do not interfere with my real body."

"...I'll do it," he said after a slight hesitation."But I have one condition of my own." My stomach sank with renewed fear. "In the game, you will not be an Immortal Object, as I had originally planned, you will be a regular player. That means that if you die there, you die here. Understood?" I nodded. "Then let us begin."

He led me to a back room and had me lie on a table. He hooked up a couple of tubes to me, "Life support if you need it" he said. He handed me a visor, very different from the regular helmets, and told me to put it on. I saw the symbol for SAO come up, asking me if I wanted to join. Before I entered his playground, he said some final words:

"I have big plans for you Makanosi Sashi."

I didn't even dignify that with a response. "Initiate link."

And so it begins.