First story I'm writing on here so any suggestions and or friendly advice is welcome. The story will be canon for a while, though I will be adding AU content into the mix along the way. IMPORTANT: It will not stay 100% canon the entire time. :D

I've recently finished re-watching the first season of the show, so it's still pretty fresh in my mind at the moment. I haven't gotten into any of the visual novel content so if there are things missing here and there, that is why. Updates will hopefully be 1-2 weeks per chapter, so editing can be done and my brain can come up with new content for each chapter. Hope you enjoy!

Summary:

Akihiko Kayaba was considered a genius inventor, known for his crowning achievement Sword Art Online. After the game begins, three players catch his eye from all the rest, and he decides to keep his eye on them. The death game has begun.

I do not own Sword Art Online.

Akihiko Kayaba sighed at his desk in frustration before pushing away from his desk, which was pushed against the wall in his "Office" which was comprised of two desks, one which had multiple computers on it, the other with drawings and sheets of paper. There were no windows in the room, as he was underground. A small bed could be found next to the computers in the room, and a NerveGear resting on it. There was a simple metal door with a keypad lock on it and a thumbprint sensor. Kayaba looked over at one of his computer screens and grinned "Only a few hours left..." He said to himself. Looking to his right, he looked again at the numerous amount of notes and diagrams for his new VRMMORPG, Sword Art Online. He inwardly smiled and shook his head. This was the time to make sure everything was how it was supposed to be.

Looking down at his watch, he read the current time.

11:00 am JST. He nodded to himself. "Game should be up around 1 pm... right on time." He scratched the back of his head and walked over to the table with all of the drawings. He picked one up and studied it for a while. He admired the picture and smiled. His dream was coming true, and he was going to be making it a reality very soon. Now there was just the issue with ensure that the Log out button from the main menu inside SAO was gone. After resting his hand on his mouse and clicking a few buttons, he nodded. Good, it was gone.

Couldn't have any mistakes this close to the main event. Now he just had one thing to do, figure out what time he should hold the SAO tutorial after the official launch. Should he give people a few hours to enjoy the game before giving them the entire rundown or immediately let the players know. Shaking his head he chuckled.

"It'll be better to wait and let them think it's just another VRMMORPG. It'll give me a more... accurate assessment of each and every player if there is terror added into the mix." Returning his attention to the screen, he began to begin the final preparations for the official launch of the SAO server.

"Ten thousand players... Let's see what happens."

Good luck players. I bid you, farewell.

Akihiko Kayaba's words rang inside Kirito's ears as the entire populace of Sword Art Online held their breath. Everyone still looking towards the direction where the Creator of the game had been not a moment ago. Kirito slowly looked up into the sky, his hair covering his eyes as the sun began to disappear below the horizon. He slowly brought his head back down, and looked down at his own hand. His thumb began to bleed, the crimson liquid racing down his hand an onto the floor. A few moments pass before he blinks, and the bleeding stops. Clenching his hand and gritting his teeth, Kirito growls for a moment before looking over at Klien.

"This isn't a game anymore..."

Time seemed to slow down as Kirito looked over towards Klein. He himself was unnerved at the whole entire thing.

A second passes.

"If I die here..."

Another second...

"I die in the real world..."

Another...

Someone screams... All hell breaks loose.

People begin to riot, some pushing and shoving while others fall to the ground in terror. Shouts of "This is bullshit!" and "Get me out of here!" can be heard throughout the large area. As the players start to push a tad bit more violently, wanting nothing more to hide and wish for this nightmare to end, Kirito quickly grabs Klein by the arm.

"This way, Klein." Without stopping, Kirito quickly navigates though the panicking masses stops in a small alley way. Klein looks at him for a moment with confusion and glances behind him, thinking of his friends still around the frightened players.

"I need to get them out of there." Klein's thoughts were interrupted when Kirito spoke.

"If we're going to survive this Klein, we need to get as strong as possible. Which means we need to start heading over to the next village. I know all the shortcuts and where the best quests are." He explained with his map out, pointing out a short cut through the main route to the next village. "There are a few mobs there but with the two of us, it shouldn't be too... Klein?" Said player shook his head and pointed behind him.

"My friends are still back there, we all sat in line to get this game and well... I can't just leave them behind." Kirito looked down at the ground for a moment in thought. He wasn't that much of what some people would call a "people person" so he had a habit of staying out of large groups.

"If it were just Klein it would be okay... but two more, no, even one more would be..." Klein saw the look on Kirito's face and shook his head.

"It's alright Kirito, you go on to the other Village." Kirito's eye's shot up and met Klein's for a moment. His features turned sad.

"Sorry." He responded. Klein chuckled lightly.

"I used to run a guild in another game, and with everything you taught me, I should be fine." He paused for a moment before sticking his hand out at Kirito. "Thank you for that by the way, I mean it." Kirito started to extend his hand but hesitated for a moment, looking at the man he helped. Kirito somehow managed a small smile and shook Klein's hand.

"Don't mention it, if you ever run into trouble send me a message alright?" With a nod from Klein, Kirito turned and began to walk away from Klein. After a few seconds of silence, he slowly turned his head and looks behind him. Seeing that he is already gone, Kirito's eyes widen before he turns and runs full speed towards the next village. As he ran past all the NPC's, Akahiko Kayaba's words stuck him once more.

If your HP hits zero, your avatar will perish for eternity, and at that moment... the NerveGear will destroy your brain.

He grit his teeth remembering that certain phrase. Why had this happened, what was the point? Did Kayaba get anything out of this? Was he working towards some sort of goal? Kirito shook his head and continued to run down the road. Thoughts of his family ran through his head. His cousin and Aunt at home, his grandfathers Kaishin Dojo and the school he attended. Was he ever going to see them again? Will he ever be able to get out of this death game? An image of his dead body laying in his own bed appeared in his mind.

Narrowing his eyes, Kirito growled inwardly and sped up, almost crashing into a few NPC's. Running through an archway, he makes his way down a dirt path with seemingly nothing around him. A few seconds later a Dire Wolf spawns in front of him. Quickly grabbing his sword, Kirito slices at the beast, killing it in one blow. He stops for a moment and screams as loud as he can. He didn't know what or who he was screaming at. He was just letting his emotions out, screaming as loud as his virtual avatar would let him. After a few seconds, he takes off down the road once more.

I will survive!

Back in the stadium, a certain chestnut haired girl stares blankly at the sky, pondering. Among the ten thousand SAO players who began to riot and run out of the stadium, she had stayed completely still. She looked down at her hands and started to tremble.

"Why..."

A few panicking players bumped into her, causing her to fall to the ground with a thud. Her own trembling intensified as time went on. Seconds turned into minutes, which seemingly turned into hours.

"Why..."

Tears began to form in her eyes as she brought her knees up to her chest and covered her ears with her hands. She slowly started shaking, panic of her own taking over her body. Was there a purpose for her being there? Was this some sort of test? She just couldn't figure it out, she honestly didn't want to. She just wanted to disappear, she wanted to leave and never look back. As her shaking continued, she heard more screams coming from behind her. She slowly turned her head and saw something that stopped her shaking all at once.

She could see a bunch of kids, no older than maybe ten or eleven huddled together. Her eyes widened and she slowly stood up. Her eyes then moved from the kids to some of the players still in the stadium. They were shaking and panicking like she was not a second before. She took a step forward towards the kids and looked at her own hands. She was still shaking a bit. Clenching her fists, she took a deep breath.

"I need to calm down, whatever is happening... I-I can't let it beat me. I WONT let this game beat me..." Before she can reach the kids however, another female player appears behind them and catches their attention. After a minute or two of inaudible talking, the children followed the girl. Raising an eyebrow and unconsciously bringing her hand to her Rapier, Asuna Yuuki followed the group. They ended up arriving at what looked like a church, and all of them entered. Quickly running towards the entrance, she poked her head around the corner and widened her at what she heard.

"I'll protect all of you. I know this is very scary, but I won't let anything happen to any of you. I promise you'll all get to see your families again." The woman in glasses said. The kids all nodded at her and tried their best to smile. Asuna held back her tears and rested her hand on her chest, feeling her own heartbeat. She closed her eyes and backed away from the sight.

"Seems like there are some who haven't given up all hope..." Quickly nodding to herself, Asuna took off, running through the stadium and stopping at the shopping center. She quickly went through all of the NPC vendors and bought everything she could at level one. Once she finished, she took the time to sit down and open up her menu. A few seconds later, she found the map. Tracing certain routes with her index finger, she decided which villages she should go to and which quests she should do.

"Hopefully there are still some quests left up there." Smiling inwardly, Asuna tapped her Rapier and ran down the road, taking note of the few players on either side of the alley way who weren't moving. She shook her head while running and burst through the archway and took in the surrounding area. Even though she was running, she almost could help the urge to stop and take in the beauty of the whole floor. Even though this was a death game, it still looked amazing.

With Klein, shortly after leaving Kirito.

"I'm sure the kid will be fine, he's a beta tester..." He kept saying it in his head as he made his way back to the other players still hanging around the stadium. He was hoping that his friends were still in there somewhere. After pushing through a group of players running away from the stadium, Klein managed to enter said stadium and spot his friends all standing around each other. "At least they make it easy..." He chuckled while running over to them. "Guys!" All five of the players there turned and saw him running towards them.

"Klein! Man we thought you just ditched us!" One of them said, pointed an accusatory finger at him. He held up his hands in defense and grinned.

"No way in hell would I ever just ditch you guys. I got help from one of the beta testers and he wanted me to go with him... I couldn't leave you guys behind though." At first most of his friends narrowed their eyes at the mention of the word Beta tester, then they seemingly relaxed after he finished talking.

"It's a good thing you didn't man, I'm glad you didn't. Who else was going to lead the guild man?" Another one of the group replied with a laugh. Klein scratched the back of his head and nodded.

"Glad to know you guys already picked the leader..." Klein smirked before looking over towards one of the archway's which led towards the shopping center. "Let's all go and fix up our gear, then set out to level up a bit. I don't know how long it's going to take to find the boss room, but I doubt that it won't be everyone's main priority." With a nod from everyone, Klein led all of them towards their destination. As they walked, he put his hand on his chin in thought.

"That will be everyone's one's main objective right? To clear the game?" He thought to himself as they walked. Klein glanced to some of the players sulking in some alley ways, or in the open. This served to unnerve him and almost second guess his own resolve. Looking back at his friends, he saw how most of them were the same. Narrowing his eyes for a moment, he made a decision right then and there.

"No matter what happens guys..." He began, causing his friends to look at him. "We're going to beat this stupid game and make it back." With a thumbs up, he turned his attention back towards the shopping market and looked over for the armor vendors. His friends all looked at one another and grinned.

"Hell yeah!" They all called out behind their leader.

With Kirito

"Now to find an inn to stay in for the night." He sighed to himself. Glancing at his own name that appeared on his HUD, he saw the number 3 and grinned. "Not too bad for only being on the first floor, and realizing this is a death game... I should get up early tomorrow and grind out a few more levels... at least one or two." After smirking, he opened up his menu and took a look at what items he had, rather which items he could sell off to vendors in order to make a few more col. Yawning, he walked into the village he was aiming for and quickly found a vendor.

"Welcome to my little shop adventurer, what can I do for you today?" The NPC asked. Kirito raised an eyebrow for a moment for shrugging and started clicking items in his inventory that he wanted to sell.

"Just selling a few things to earn some col..." He replied, though he face-palmed as soon as he replied. It was an NPC, so trying to have a conversation with it would be a tad bit weird. After finally finishing, he walked away from the NPC vendor and made his way towards an inn. After opening the door, he widened his eyes and quickly ducked as a knife came flying straight at him. Kneeling down, he slowly looked up and raised an eyebrow at who the supposed attack was.

"You fucking Beta tester!" Kirito almost cringed at the sudden shout, more so because it came from a group of people surrounding a single player. A girl with Chestnut colored hair was the recipient of the hurtful glares of the players surrounding her. Some had their weapons out, while others stood back and watched with anger in their eyes.

"W-what?" She stuttered, slightly trembling. A rough hand grabbed her arm and she cringed. The man who grabbed her had spiky cactus-styled hair, with a brownish orange color. His rough brown eyes stared into hers.

"You heard me you bitch! You're a beta tester!" He snarled at her. The group that was with him all nodded at his words. She furiously shook her head and tried to get out of his vice grip. That, sadly, wasn't going to happen.

"I-I don't know w-what you're talking about! Please let me go!" She pleaded, which seemed to only infuriate the man even more.

"Don't try to deny it! You're already level two, and most of the quests here are gone! Don't try to tell me you're not one of those fucking beta testers!" The man roared, hardening his grip and pulling her closer. "You owe most of us in this room now bitch, give us all your items... Now!" Her eyes widened and she tried harder than ever to get away from the man. In response he lifted his free arm and proceeded to backhand her across the face. This caused her eyes to tear up and her lips quivered. Some of the mans friends unsheathed their swords and moved closer to her.

Kirito had seen enough.

In one fluent motion, he grabbed his sword and activated a sword skill. He then quickly ran over to the man grabbing the girl and proceeded to stab him in the back. The force of the attack caused him to let go of the girl and send him flying into the nearby wall. Kirito looked at the girl for a split second before grabbing one of the men next to him and throwing him into the wall as well.

"Come on!" He grabbed the girls arm and pulled her towards him. Once she was next to him, he took off running with her following him close behind. The two men who were now against the wall groggily stood up and quickly gave chase.

"Get back here you son of a bitch!" They yelled. Kirito then quickly stopped and pulled the girl behind him. His sword still out, he got into a standard stance and stared the men down. By this time, there was a crowd forming outside the inn.

"You will leave her alone. Don't come any closer." He said with anger in his voice. The men all had their swords out, and the supposed leader of them who was just yelling at the girl stepped forward.

"This doesn't concern you! She's a beta tester and she needs to answer for the players who have died so far!" He angrily yelled. Kirito gritted his teeth and growled.

"And what proof do you have?" The man unconsciously took a step back but kept his hateful glare on Kirito. He clenched his fist and pointed at her.

"She's level two already! All the quests around her have been picked clean! There's no way she isn't a beta tester!" He roared. Kirito shook his head and without letting go of the girls hand, he nodded towards the rest of the players who had poked their heads out to see what had happened.

"Look at how many people are already here... You honestly think she was the only one questing out here? Are you fucking serious?" Kirito said, shaking his head as he continued. "There are about ten-thousand other players here trying to either level up or survive. So you just happened to see someone here before you and automatically assumed that he/she was a beta tester?" One of the men looked around and saw the entire crowd that had formed. Most of them were staring at the group of men glaring at Kirito. He looked over at the leader of the group.

"Kibaou, there's a crowd forming... I don't think this is a good idea anymore." Kibaou in response growled and scoffed. He pointed his sword at Kirito.

"You're a beta tester too aren't you? That's the only reason you would protect her!" He said, his hand shaking with anger. Kirito's hand twitched for a split second, and thankfully no one there noticed.

"You should listen to your friend there "Kibaou" and leave before something happens." Kirito replied, shaking his head. Truth was he was very much on edge, this was bringing him way to much attention, attention he didn't need. Kibaou narrowed his eyes and spit on the ground. As he turned to leave, he sent a hateful glare towards the girl.

"This isn't over bitch." With that, the group left. Some of the on lookers stayed and watched them leave while others left and went on with their own business. Kirito let out a long sigh before taking a deep breath. Looking behind him, he stared at the girl for a moment smiling.

"Are you alright?" She quietly nodded her head. She then gently tried to pull her hand away from his. Kirito widened his eyes and scratched the back of his head. He left go of her hand and chuckled lightly.

"S-sorry about that. Hopefully those guys won't bother you anymore." She stared at him for a little while before looking down at the ground.

"Thank you for saving me... I don't even know why they were doing that." Kirito nodded at her, and realized at that moment that this whole thing was his fault. He looked down at the ground and shifted uncomfortably in place. She took note of that and tried to look him in the eye. "Are you okay?" Kirito shook his head for a moment and nodded.

"I'm fine, sorry. My name's Kirito by the way." She smiled at him slightly.

"Asuna." She replied. Kirito grinned at her before opening up his menu. A few seconds later, a notification popped up in front of Asuna, and she raised an eyebrow.

Friend request from Kirito

Accept? Yes or no

"I don't think they will just leave you alone after that, so if you ever need help just send me a message." He chuckled softly and watched as a few different emotions flash across her face. He himself was unsure about doing this, but he couldn't just let those guys attack her again. She finally nodded and accepted the friend request.

"Thank you, Kirito." He nodded at her and looked at the inn.

"Were you going to be staying there for the night?" She frowned but nodded at him.

"I was, but before I could buy a room, I handed them all the col I had hoping they would leave me alone. So now I can't..." Kirito held his hand up. He knew that he shouldn't be doing this, but something in the back of his mind was telling him to. Smiling at her, he sent her a trade request and traded her enough col to buy a room at the inn.

"It should be enough for you to spend one night." She widened her eyes and shook her head.

"I can't possibly let you do this much for me." He looked at her for a moment and grinned. She studied him for a moment before blushing, realizing that she was staring at him. He then started to speak.

"It's alright, I wouldn't feel right after what happened. I have enough for myself." He replied. After a few seconds a debating in her mind, she reluctantly accepted the trade and smiled.

"Thank you." With that she bowed her head and quickly ran into the inn. Kirito took a deep breath and stretched. Looking around, he saw a few people glaring at him from the corner of his eye and he sighed. This was just great, making enemies already it was only the first day of the game.

"This is going to complicate things, isn't it..." He shook his head and walked into the inn himself, wanting nothing more to just sleep and forget about today.

Asuna quickly ran into the inn and purchased a room. After getting the confirmation message from the NPC, she ran up the stares and went into her room. Closing the door behind her and let out an annoyed sigh.

"What was that all about!?" She said angrily. She was just trying to survive and now there were people out to get her? And what the hell was a beta tester? Why were they calling her that? Was it because she got there before them? She couldn't understand any of it and she shook her head violently. None of today made any sense to her. All she wanted to do was lay down and sleep her worries away.

As she walked over to her bed, she unequipped her rapier and sat down. Opening up her menu, she looked at the amount of col she had, and frowned at seeing the number 0 there.

"Bastards..." She mumbled before glancing at her friends list icon. Opening it up, she glanced at the only person there and smiled warmly at it. "Kirito..." She felt her cheeks warm up and she slapped her face a few times before taking a deep breath.

"Who are you... Kirito?"

Akihiko Kayaba smirked and moved away from his computer after watching the little confrentation. He had expected a few things to happen on the first day, but nothing as big as that.

"It would seem, the beta testers are already hated by a few players." He smiled. Good, everything was going according to plan. Putting his hand on his mouse, he flipped though a few different screens until his eyes rested on the image of Kirito. The boy did in fact interest him. Not only did he go out of his way to help the girl, he traded her his col that he earned from farming that day. That did seem out of character from how he was acting from before.

"What will you do now, Kirito?"

Opening up another window, Kayaba then typed out three names on the screen.

Kirito

Asuna

Klein

Grinning to himself, Kayaba sat down in his chair and rested his head on his hand.

"Let the game, begin."

Character profiles:

Name: Kirito (Kazuto Kirigaya)

Gender: Male

Age: 14

Hair color: Black

Eye color: Black

Height: 172 cm

Weight: 59 kg

Guild: None (Solo player)

Weapon choice: One handed straight sword. (Default sword for the moment)

Name: Asuna (Asuna Yuuki)

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Hair color: Chestnut

Eye color: Hazel

Height: 168 cm

Weight: 55 kg

Guild: None (Solo player)

Weapon Choice: Rapier. (Default sword for the moment)

Name: Klein (Ryoutarou Tsuboi)

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Height: 178 cm

Weight: 62 kg

Guild: None (Waiting to make, future leader)

Weapon choice: Katana (Default sword for the moment)

Note: Couldn't find Klein's real weight and height so I'm just making it up. Besides that I hope you all liked the beginning. It is a tad bit short, but chapters will get longer.

Let me know what you all think of it :D

Zenik33