The Ghoul and a Guilded Hero
A/N So recently I've been watching some Anime, after a close friend told me to xD anyway, I started with Sword Art Online and fell in love with like Kirito and Asuna and Silica, and well everyone tbh. After that I started Tokyo Ghoul, up to as far as is released, and also fell in love with Kaneki and like everyone else that was a nice person… XD
Anywhoooo, I then went to read some crossover fics and found only one in English, and incomplete, with only few chapters, and it made me sad :c So I'm gonna write one myself!
Info: Kaneki doesn't join Aogiri, but he does have the 'Centipede' Kakuja, he's accepted his ghoul side, and has all his awesome kick-ass skills, and remains sane and in control when using both his Kakuja and Kagune XD and he even contacts Hide, who doesn't join the CCG. Hide knows about Kaneki's 'difference' (oh and Kaneki has his white hair, but not the black streaks Haise has) but Kaneki doesn't know Hide knows he's like part-ghoul or w/e… anyway, the two are sat in Anteiku, reconnecting, when the TV advertises the new Nerve Gear Game 'Sword Art Online' is going on sale the very same afternoon, a game Hide has been a beta in, along with his younger sister (OCC) and that they should go buy a couple of sets and then the four (Hide, Kaneki, Touka and Hide's OCC sister :p) could blow off steam within Aincrad.
Likewise, Kirigaya Kazuto and his 'sister' Kirigaya Suguha, have both planned to play the game, Kazuto being a Beta tester, and his sister being eager to try it out, and are heading out to purchase a second copy for Sugu (Kazuto has one from the Beta test)
Anyway I'll start and stop rambling…
Everything belongs to like whoever made SAO and Tokyo Ghoul... And then like Micah is my own character 3
Chapter 1:
It was a rather typical day for Kazuto, November 6th, 2022, and he and his younger sister – or rather cousin – has been waiting for the clock handles to move quicker, stood waiting in a never ending queue, in the early hours of the morning. The queue, was for Sword Art Online, a new VRMMORPG, and everyone seemed desperate to get one of the mere 10,000 copies on sale. Kazuto wasn't worried, because he had the game and the gear already, he had been in the month long beta test, and had reached much higher than anyone else, or so he though, and though reports had said the plays only made it to floor 10 in the beta, the reports were simple fabricated lies, to draw in more hardcore gamers. He has reached around level 28, some floor after the wolf plains, spending the longest on floor 25, soloing a two-headed giant… Anyhow, now he was queuing among hundreds of others, for his younger sister, who had insisted on coming with him. They'd left the house early, and were rather close to the front of the queue, having a mere hundred or so in front of them, as opposed to the never ending queue stretching behind them. It was clear from the state of the people at the front that they had likely spent the evening camping outside the store. In front of them was a lone female, with long white hair, dressed in all black, making a striking contrast from her hair and her clothes. Since the sales didn't begin for at least another 20 minutes, Kazuto did the only thing he could, to relive the boredom -and the fact he was missing the MMO steam regarding the game- he poked the shoulder of the woman in front, in order to strike up conversation. When she turned around, Kazuto and Sugu were both surprised, the woman seemed to barely be older than the two other them (who were only 14 and 13 at the time.) And seemed to be nothing like what players of such game could be expected to be like. The woman, who was 15, and named Nagachika Micah, and the younger sister of Nagachika Hideyoshi.
"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice seemed to give the impression she was well spoken, and the book under her arm suggested her high intelligence.
"Oh- erm Sorry- It's just the sale doesn't open for another 20- make that 19- minutes, and I thought I'd talk to you, are you here alone?" Kazuto asked, blushing a little.
"Oh, sorry, I was in a world of my own to be quite honest. No, my older brother and some of his friends are somewhere, probably further back, they were being slow, and I decided to leave without them, in Anteiku, the coffee shop, you know it? Anyway, since they'd never manage to buy a copy with the speed they take, I'm just going to buy them all copies, because they're never going to make it in time. I take it you two are… siblings?"
"Yes, and ah, well I just thought I'd be polite and talk to you," Kazuto smiled, gaining more confidence after realising the small difference in their ages.
"Ah, well perhaps you can add me in this game, when it goes online? It'd be nice to play alongside you two, you seem nice enough, and my brother and his friends are all older than me, so it'd be great to have someone closer to my age." Micah beamed.
"Sure, I'm Kazuto, Kirigaya Kazuto, and this is my younger sister, Suguha." Kazuto finally announced.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Nagachika Micah, my brothers Hideyoshi, he was going to work for the CCG, but well, for some reason he had a change of heart so suddenly."
"The CCG- I wouldn't like to work there, it's much like the army,"
"How so?" Micah asked, tilting her head to the left, as the large countdown at the front of the line reached the '5 minutes to go' mark.
"Well, the way they dress and act, makes them targets for Ghouls right? So it's just like making yourself more of a target. Besides, not all Ghouls are bad- probably... I'm sure there's some living normally, right?" Kazuto reasoned, and Micah found herself nodding.
"I know, I'm sure there are, but they're likely scared, after all the CCG are rather ruthless, but then again, so are some Ghouls." Micah responded, before spotting someone running over, rather out of breath.
The figure was tall, with short, messy blond hair, and a bright yellow jacket, adorning some headphones and green jeans.
"Oh this is my brother, Hideyoshi, Hide, this is Kazuto and his sister, Suguha."
"Oh hey, Erm, so we're pretty sure we won't get copies where we are stood, we're pretty far back, because Touka wouldn't hurry up, but yeah… you couldn't possibly buy them?" Hide muttered, scratching the back of his head, while looking sheepish.
"Hide… what do you think I'm doing in this line in the first place?"
"I- oh. Haha, well erm, we'll split the price later. Okay?" Hide mumbled, fidgeting with the orange headphones, gracing his neck.
"Mh, what would you do without me?"
"Have a moment of peace?" Hide grinned, before running back down the line, before Micah could slap him.
"I will hit him one of these days…" Micah grumbled, as the sale began and the line began to move forward, rather quickly.
"So, any idea on your IG? That way I would be searching endlessly for you?" Micah finally asked, as the trio took a step forward, closer to the front.
"Well, I was thinking of 'Leafa.' It's cute," Suguha smiled shyly.
"I haven't thought about it…" Kazuto answered, in a rush, a lie evident in his voice. He didn't want to reveal his name had been 'Kirito' for a month already, because the Beta Testers were going to stick out like a sore thumb already, and he didn't want Micah to judge him so quickly after meeting.
"Well I'll send you a friend request once we get online, Leafa, You'll likely be together." Micah winked, before being called to a counter.
"See you guys online." She smiled, bouncing over to order two sets of gear, one for Touka and on for Kaneki, her older brothers friends. She and her brother both has sets from the Beta they had been in.
"Yes, see you." Suguha beamed, happy to have met another girl, since the line was very male heavy.
Kazuto and Suguha were called to a different desk, and managed to purchase themselves a set for Sugu before rushing home.
Once again, the two were left to stare at the handles of the clock, waiting for 1pm, when the game would finally go online to everyone.
While Kazuto watched the MMO stream, Sugu had sat downstairs, with her mother.
"Make sure you stick with Kazuto, yes?" she asked, worried about the young ages of her nephew and daughter, who had told her of their plans to play SAO. She had been reluctant when Kazuto became a beta tester, but after hearing both his and the other beta testers positive reviews, she caved in and left Suguha join her 'older brother.'
"SUGUHAAA ITS TIME!" Kazuto shouted excitedly, as Sugu ran up the steps, and took the Nerve Gear from her brother hands, who had prepared it for her.
"Okay, Sugu, once you're in, it should let you chose a character name, and then you'll spawn in the town of Beginners, wait there for me, I'll look a bit older, but you should recognize me." Kazuto grinned, as the two put on the Nerve Gear and simultaneously spoke.
'Link Start.'
When Kazuto spawned in the town, he looked down at his gloved hands briefly, and around, he was the first logged on, and a simple thought came to mind as he took in the magical world he had entered. 'I'm back.' Kazuto sat down on the floor as both clearly obvious Beta testers logged in and ran quickly off to some hidden spot to train, or whatever else, while new players took in the world of Aincrad, and began trading, making friends, and collecting their free guidebooks.
Kazuto sat around until he spotted the Nametag for 'Leafa,' he stood up, and called her name, making her turn to him and smile.
"Hello Onii-chan," She smiled, her hair was green, and currently about as long as Micah's had been, which was a large contrast from her typical shorter hair. She looked older too, like Kazuto did, and both could easily have passed as 18 or so.
"Hello, Leafa," Kazuto grinned
"You never did tell me your name, Onii-Chan" Suguha replied, smiling briefly at the name 'Leafa' that he had used.
"Kirito, that's what I go as." Kazuto spoke, tugging at the sleeve of his plain blue shirt, which was standard armour, which he had remembered to quit before the Beta had ended. He had also hidden his level, so he looked like every other new player, and defiantly not like a Beta player.
Either way, he didn't really like the outfit, and missed his typical black gear he had gained, its stats were much higher, and part of the 'onyx' drop set, a rare set, all that was missing was a cloak, a relatively rare drop from the first floor boss. With 10 times more players now in the game, the chances of getting said cloak had gone from unlikely to near impossible, but Kazuto wouldn't give up hope.
"Well then, Kirito, lead the way." Sugu laughed, as her brother slowly began walking, leading her to one of the good beginners training grounds that was more secluded and harder to reach.
Meanwhile, Micah had taken residence in Anteiku, along with Hideyoshi, after Touka insisted they all log on in the same place. Both Touka and Kaneki had been hesitant, unsure if their Ghoul abilities would also be within the game or not, but Micah and Hideyoshi had convinced them. The four now stood in the starting town, Touka's avatar has dark red hair, with pink and orange streaks, down to her waist, similar shades to her Kagune. Meanwhile, Hideyoshi had his typical dirty blonde hair, held back with a headband (Like Klein's) and was dressed in dark blood red armour, which he had gained in the beta. Micah was the total opposite, her hair was a dark brown, close to black, and her clothing was all white, with a single dark belt, in which her blood red rapier was sheathed. Finally Kaneki, who had pondered on both his character name and Appearance, had gone with dark blue hair, much like Touka's typical hair, in his typical cut, with white eyes.
"So then, welcome to Sword Art Online. I'm Hide, unrealistic, but still." Hideyoshi grinned, pointing to the username above his head.
"I go as Nica, N from Nagachika, and Ica from Micah." Micah announced.
"Oh, I couldn't decide…So I went with The Rabbit." Touka shrugged, sharing a look with Kaneki, who knew exactly why she had chosen that name.
"I went with Centipede…" Kaneki shrugged, as Hideyoshi raised an eyebrow.
"I though you hated them?" Hide asked, will Nica began to fumble around with her interface menu, sending Leafa a friend request.
"No, not anymore." Kaneki mumble, not letting the topic go any further, not catching Touka's eye, who he had only briefly mentioned his time with 'Jason' to, and had spoken even less of his Kakuja.
"Say, Nica, what are you doing?" Hide asked, noticing his sister had dialled the GM.
"I went to send a friend request to those two kids in the queue today, and noticed the log out button is missing, I wasn't sure if it was a glitch, so I'm calling the GM, only… No one is answering."
The quad had joined the game a little later, while the game had been released at 1pm, they four of them hadn't properly logged on till 4, when Touka finally finished her shift in the coffee shop.
A forced teleport began to drop people around them, causing Hide to raise an eyebrow. Forced teleports in safe zones?
It was at this point the GM spawned, and told them of their fate, to be trapped in this game, until death stole them from both Aincrad and the real world, or they completed 100 floors, and free themselves. Nothing like a sense of life threatening situations to awaken panic.
And Panic it was, and even more so when the 'mirror' was announced, and turned everyone to their normal appearance's. Touka's hair shrunk and went back to her typical blue/purple shade, and Kaneki changed back to his rather new white hair, from the constant stress and torture, the Marie Antoinette disorder. Micah's hair went back from brown to her typical white, matching her outfit.
With the panic sparking, and the 9,878 or so players freed from the circle, some people broke down on the floor, and others, mainly beta testers, fled to the nearest towns, to snatch any quests they could.
"Come on Nica, you two, we need to get out of here, and to the next town already!" Hide insisted, dragging them with him, but losing Kaneki to the crowds.
"We can't go back into that mass, Touka, we can Pm when we reach a less crowded area, but we'll lose time if we go back." Nica announced, dragging the rabbit, with Hide, away from the crowds and through the market place, to the path to the next town.
"Be safe Kaneki." Touka whispered to herself, vowing to find him after the panic died down.
One the path to the new town, The Rabbit, Hide and Nica, ran into another trio, where Micah instantly recognized two of them.
"Kazuto! Suguha!" She called, and the two turned and grinned at the sight of her, however, Kirito frowned for a second at the equipment Hide and Micah had.
"You two were in the beta?" The third member of the group asked, before Kirito himself could ask.
"Yeah, I don't think we've met," Hide mumbled, looking at the red head, who looked similar to him, inters of his head gear, build and hairstyle.
"Oh sorry, I'm Klein, Kirito here had been helping me with the basics."
"Kirito?"
"Yeah, I go by Kirito, and what about you three?" He asked, accepting a friend request Micah quickly sent.
"I am Nica," Micah smiled, seeing the similarities between her and Kirito, where both of them had incorporated both their names to form one name.
"I am Hide," Hideyoshi smirked, shaking Klein's hand, and sending him a friend request, and quickly trading him some money.
"And I'm The Rabbit, you must be the two Nica mentioned?"
"Yeah, I'm Kirito, this is Leafa-Chan, and that is Klein. I take it your heading for the next town too?" Kirito asked.
"Yep, but how would you know?" Nica asked confused.
"I was in the beta too." Kirito simply replied with a smile, as Nica gasped.
"Really, I never saw you, and I met the majority of the Beta's." Hide announced
"Yeah, I was a solo'er." Kirito admitted, finally free to equip his Onyx set, and sword, not equipping a second yet.
"Oh wow!" Nica grinned, admiring the set, in comparison to her own set, which was the 'crystal' set, an uncommon collection, for levels 10 to 30, whereas she knew Kirito's set was for level 40+
"We lost one of our friends to the mayhem in the town of Beginners, if he message him, can we hang around in the net town for a bit, and wait for him?" Nica asked,
"Sure, do you guys want to form a party, that was we can manage better," Kirito suggested, earning nods all around, and so the six formed a party, and moved onwards, but not before Touka messaged Kaneki.
Kaneki Ken had found himself in the crowds, unable to escape, and his hanger growing. Managing to find a gap, he squeezed to a less busy path, and down the marketplace, where an odd looking woman caught his eye, and instantly gasped, summoning him over.
The woman was an NPC, but a highly intelligent one at that, and knew a ghoul when she spotted one, even games had been programmed to notice them.
"Hello, Sir, I have been noted of your condition, and have the great pleasure of awarding you with this!" The NPC handed his a bag, before shattering into a thousand pieces.
Confused, Kaneki carried the package in his hands until he stumbled into the forest, to find the path Touka had messaged him about. After finding a decent sized rock, he sat down and opened the package, and what he found surprised him. It was his mask, not his Kakuja one. But his eyepatch/teeth one, but it was much more complex, the mask looked much more realistic, and instead of a zip, he could open the masks mouth with his mind. Wondering how the said mask was here, in a game, and how the woman had known and been able to give him it left Kaneki confused, but he understood the meaning.
You're a ghoul no matter what.
Glancing around him, and seeing no one, Kaneki quickly put the mask on, and searched the rest of the package, finding a note and his recently created black outfit.
The note read;
'Dear Said user, the NPC who gave you this should have updated it to whatever you wore last in reality, as your ghoul-self. Here in SAO, we allow Ghouls to use their Kagune's as a skill, and you will be free to use it in your fights. A plus side, is that the food within the game will be more than enough to satisfy you, and you will not need flesh. We have recorded 5 ghouls within SAO, and you being the most powerful have been given this. We hope you control not only yourself, but your fellow Ghouls. –KA.'
Kaneki quickly changed to his more comfortable black outfit, which increased his HP a little and also his defence. His HP was already well across his screen. After searching through his skills to find said Kagune skill, he noticed a party invite. Reluctantly, he accepted, and noticed 6 more names and hp bars appear under his own. His was the largest bar by far, however, Touka, or 'The Rabbit', Nica, who he assumed was Micah, and a character named 'Kirito' all had rather large HP bars. Hide's was next, followed by a 'Leafa' character and lastly by 'Klein' the last 2 names had the standard 300 HP.
Deciding to test his Kagune and Kakuja, Kaneki closed his eyes, letting both the Rinkaku Kagune, and the 'Centipede Tail's' Kakuja manifest from his back. Both the blood red tentacles, and the sharp dark 'centipede' like tails immediately faced forward as if ready to attack. Grinning at how fast he could now make up the pace, Kaneki stuck to the depth of the trees, moving alongside the path, keeping hidden, but catching up to the rest quickly. One thing was for sure, he'd enjoy this a lot, with his regenerative abilities, and it's unlikely he'd die at all.
And so the 7 moved onwards, to the next town within the first floor, with very different thought, but one shared aim, to survive.