*EDIT* Fixed some errors that I could find. *EDIT*
I stared at the headgear in my hands as a light sweat formed on my face. I knew what this was and I knew what it meant. I knew the horrible turn of events that would surely take place, but I had to. There may be nobody willing to do it. I let a few things flash through my head as I slowly moved the gear to it.
"Yes. I suppose you could call it a game. Akihiko is just so dumb!" I stared at my totally-drunk father as he spat out some bits of info that would change my life. "You're not to play it, ok Keru?"
I sighed, swiping the my father's hand, which was resting gently on my head, off. "Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I don't need those silly nicknames."
"You don't like my nicknames, my adorable little panda bear?!" He whined.
I shrugged his question off. "Exactly how is this game not a game? Why can't I play it?" I shot.
"It's very top-secret. I can't tell you that everyone entering this game cannot sign out." He nodded decisively. "I must not tell you that the only way out, unless the game is defeated, is death. You would probably jump in and try to save the day. You cannot save the day though because the game's last boss is impossible. It's the man himself!" He shrugged hopelessly.
My eyes widened. "There's no way you helped work on a game like that, dad! There's seriously no way! I won't believe it!" I hesitated. "Who is the last boss?!"
"I can't eat any more food, honey! Stop! You're gonna' make me fat!" I raised a brow and lifted his head up, only to see drool running down his face.
"How can someone so silly help create a horrible world like that?" I stared at him sadly.
"I love you so much. Let's get married and have kids together, ok? We'll have a happy life." His peaceful face turned into a grimace with tears pouring. "Forever. We said it would be...forever. Don't...please don't go..."
Guilt hit me full force. "He's in pain and needed money to pay for me all these years...He's drunk because he hates it." I sighed and picked him up with slight trouble. "Dad, please lose some weight if you're going to pass out this often. You're heavy." With effort, I placed him down and covered him with the thickest blanket I could find. "I know you don't want me getting involved, but I have to. I won't let everyone there die." I kissed him on the forehead. "Don't worry. I'll take care of myself and make it out of there." I watched his face as another swarm of tears charged out of his eyes. I turned around and headed up the stairs. I could not watch any more. I needed to go.
I zoned back in as I walked over to my bed. I had played the Beta and cleared as many levels as I could, but sadly I was not on top. Kirito was always a level above me. Regardless, I never hated him. I just thought of him as a challenge. This time, though, I would beat him. "LINK..." I yelled, making sure there was nothing I needed to do before I got out. Bright blue eyes engulfed by raven-colored black hair flashed into my mind.
I heard trampling up the steps. "NO! Kerushii! My baby! Please don't leave me like she did!" My father's voice grew closer and closer.
You're both going to have to wait. I have things I need to do. "START!" I immediately mouthed the word 'sorry' right before my mind shot into a digital stream. I used to love the feeling of launching into this digital world, but this time it felt dangerous. I was in fear. I had the most horrible feeling of the inability to turn back.
Suddenly all of my fear melted as I opened my eyes to reveal a pair of the most piercing eyes I'd ever seen. They were unnaturally red, but they were kind. I felt my chest start pounding rapidly. I put a hand on it hoping to calm it down, but it only beat faster and harder as I heard the owner's voice raise.
"Um...hey...y-you..." He stuttered, slightly red.
When I realized that we were only about 2 inches apart, I jumped away. "Oh...Hey..." I felt my face start to burn. I had stared so intensely at this stranger.
"Oh my. What do we have here?" He looked me up and down, regaining his composure. "HELLO! I'M KLEIN AND I'M LOOKING FOR A GIRLFRI-" He was sent flying from a smack to the face.
"Klein, don't be weird." I heard a familiar voice and whipped my head to the owner. Black hair and a lovely shade of black for eyes. His mature face had me smiling. He even tried to act mature, but he wasn't. "Hey nerd."
I grinned. "Hey loser. What are you doing?"
"What the hell?! Don't tell me you already scored this ho-" Klein started.
Kirito sent a death glare at the guy. "This is practically my little sister. I do not think of her that way." He looked back at me with his usual smile and patted my head "And to answer your question, I'm teaching this idiot how to play a video game."
"Hey, you're the little one here! And you seriously have to teach him how to play a video game?" I started giggling.
His face turned slightly devilish. "Oh really? Do you really have the right to laugh at him? If I recall correctly, I had to teach you how to use it too." He laughed.
"Seriously?" Klein joined in.
I quietly blushed my face off. "Shut up! It was when NerveGear was first released!" I hit Kirito on the chest many times.
"That's not an excuse, Shorty." He grinned.
"I'm not short!" I started hitting him faster and harder.
Klein chuckled again and put out a hand to me. "Let's restart that. My name's Klein. It's nice to meet you."
I stopped and stared at him. I smiled and shook his hand. "Hey, I'm Kanashii."
"Your name means sad, right? So why that name?" His eyes widened.
"Oh...I just thought it would be ironic because people say I'm never sad. They say I act too happy to ever be sad. It's also only 3 letters away from my name." I flashed a fake smile.
"You don't look the happiest to me." He stared straight at me. It felt almost as if he was looking into my soul. His eyes seemed to do that to me. They look into my soul, despite the lack of permission I gave them.
After a moment of silence, I felt hands grab my cheeks from behind. My cheeks were pulled every which way. "Your name might as well be KaMINI. Because you are tiny." Kirito laughed from behind and I elbowed him in the stomach. He fell down.
"And you might as well be called McKlutz." I stuck a tongue out.
"Maybe." He smiled back, looking almost relieved at my laughter.
"Hey guys. Let's friend. I gotta' get my pizza soon. It's coming at 5:30 and it's 5:28 here."
A request showed up on my screen from Klein and I accepted it. "Aww...you're leaving?" I couldn't help but look at him pathetically upset.
He looked at me and a look, that I couldn't quite comprehend, formed across his face. "Don't worry." He gave a gentle smile. "I'm gonna' go eat and then come right back."
I felt relief wash over me as I saw a friend request from Kirito pop up. I looked at him surprised. He never requested anyone. I giggled and clicked 'Accept'.
"Alright guys; well, see you soon." He searched through his menu and he freaked. "There's no log out button!"
"Yeah there is. It's on the bottom." Kirito sighed and opened his menu.
The memory flashed through my head and I looked to the ground.
"What?!" Kirito scrolled up and down and tried clicking where the log out button usually is.
"See man? I told you!" Klein shouted.
"It's probably just a bug. It should be fixed soon enough." Kirito sighed.
"No! What about my pizza, man?!" He yelled.
I bit my lip. Deep inside, I'd hoped that my father was wrong. That he was just spouting off crazy things because he was drunk. This confirmed it though. I shook my head. That just means I made it in time to attempt helping.
"Kana?" Klein snapped me out of my trance.
I looked at him weirdly. "Klein?"
"Oh. I hope you don't mind. I decided it would be a cute nickname for you. You don't deserve to be sad." He gave another gentle smile.
My heart was flittering all about. A mixture of feelings were churning in both my stomach and my chest. "What if...What if I do deserve it?" I looked from his eyes back to the floor.
He took my chin in his hand and brought my eyes to his. "I can see your soul. It is beautiful. Nothing that beautiful could possibly deserve sadness." He soothed.
My stomach calmed and my heart decided to do a summersault followed by a never-ending selection of flips.
Kirito's arm wrapped around my neck and he rubbed his knuckles into my head. "I don't know about beautiful, but it's definitely pure! So I'm gonna have to agree with this perv on this one."
"HEY! I'm no perv!" Klein shouted, elbowing Kirito in the arm.
"Right." He elbowed Klein back with a sarcastically confident grin.
I felt a bubble of laughter rise slowly out of me. It felt like everything would be ok, as long as I had them both with me. I looked at my new friends lovingly.
"What?" They both blushed lightly.
"Nothing. I just really think I'm going to love SAO; no matter what happens." I smiled in complete bliss and we all erupted in laughter. I heard a click of a camera. "What was that?"
"Oh. Did your character take a picture? Let's look at it. I heard that if you're truly happy, SAO will sometimes take a picture of you and put it in your storage." Klein smiled and leaned in as I opened my menu. Kirito followed. I opened the picture and it had to be just about my favorite in the world-however I only saw a flash of it before the menu closed it automatically. From what I saw, it had my real appearance in it.
"I think that picture...no it couldn't be!" Klein started.
"Did it...have a real version of you two?" Kirito asked. We both nodded and we started glowing.
"Is this...?" I was interrupted by a giant bell ringing.
"I think it's a forced teleport. But where are we..." We all vanished and reappeared in a giant crowd in the middle of the town. We all were looking around.
"Up there." Klein pointed to a red warning sign in the air.
"That's..." Kirito started, but it spread and covered the entire area. Out of it, a red blob started forming.
"What is that?" Klein asked. My stomach started churning. All of our questions were about to be answered.
The glob formed into a red-hooded, godly figure that raised his arms. "Attention, Players. Welcome to my world."
"'My world'?" A drop of sweat formed on Kirito's face.
"My name is Kayaba Akihiko." My dad was talking about him... "As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world."
Whispers erupted from the audience.
"I'm sure you've already noticed that the log out button is missing from the main menu. But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat. This is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online."
"A-A feature...?" A drop of sweat was now forming on Klein's face. I felt myself heating up out of anger. My father was correct...
"You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life."
Panic started to leak out within the crowd.
"What's he talking about?" Klein muttered. "He's gotta be nuts. Right, Kirito?" He turned to Kirito.
"He's right that the transmitter's signals work just like microwaves. If safety were disabled, it could fry a brain." Kirito hesitated, deep in thought.
"Then, if we cut the power..." Klein tried.
"No; the NerveGear has an internal battery." Kirito replied and panic set within me too. I had no clue it would be this dangerous.
Klein began to lose his temper. "But this is just crazy. What's going on?!" He yelled.
"Unfortunately, several players' friends and families have ignored this warning, and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, 213 players are gone forever, from both Aincrad and the real world."
"213?!" Panic finally released from Kirito.
" I don't believe it...I don't believe it!" Klein rejected.
"As you can see, news organizations from across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of a NerveGear being removed is now minimal. I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost. And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain."
Both Kirito and I gasped. He clenched his fists, obviously frightened as hell.
"There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you make your way through the dungeon, and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the Final Boss on Floor 100 to clear the game."
"Clear all hundred floors?" Klein looked at the man in disbelief. "That's impossible. The Beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!" He yelled.
"Finally, I've added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves."
We all opened our menus at different paces.
"Mirror?" Kirito hesitated, his finger lingering over the item. I was doing the same. We had no clue what it does. He finally clicked it and brought it out and I followed. I didn't notice, but it seems Klein already had it out.
"Klein!" We both yelled as he started glowing. Everyone else slowly started glowing too. Simultaneously, all the light disappeared and everyone was looking around.
"Are you ok, Kirito?" A blurry Klein walked over to a blurry Kirito.
"Who are you?" Kirito asked.
"And who are you?" Kirito appeared to have lifted something (I assumed was the mirror) and looked at it. He looked over at some people yelling.
"Which means..." Kirito started.
"You're Kirito?!" "You're Klein?!" They yelled at the same time.
"What are you getting so worked up about?" I asked rubbing my eyes in an attempt to clear my vision. I looked up from the ground and my face shot to a bright red. My vision was now clear and just about the most attractive man I'd ever seen was standing right in front of me, mouth gaping open while staring at me. His hair was a very reddish brown with a bandanna around his head much like Klein's. I looked to his eyes and realized they were the exact same piercing ones I'd seen before. This man was Klein. But how? He was the most attractive guy I'd ever seen, so how could this be Klein? Both of our faces turned even more red.
"Kana?!" He finally pushed out. "You look...I mean you look..." He simply could not speak.
"Klein? But you...I can't even...how are..." I had the same problem.
"How?!" Klein shot.
"That scan..." Kirito spoke up. "The NerveGear covers your head with a high-density signaling device. So it can see what your face looks like. But our height and body-shape..."
I looked down to see my regular body. I covered it up. Ugh! When I made this avatar, I decided on one with a small chest because I'm tired of guys hitting on me all the time due to this fairly big chest. They're such pigs. Don't tell me I'm going to have to go through this here too. But how?! I felt my face light up even more.
"When we first used the NerveGear, it had us calibrate it right? You had to touch yourself here and there, right?" Klein thought back.
"O-Oh...That's right." That must be where it got the data.
"But...But...Why? Why do all of this, anyway?" He looked frustrated.
Kirito pointed. Now calming, I smiled at his baby-face. He wasn't so mature now. "I'm sure he'll tell us."
"Right now, you're probably wondering why, 'Why?' 'Why would Kayaba Akihiko, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do all this?' My goal has already been achieved. I created Sword Art Online for one reason...To create this world and intervene in it."
"Kayaba..." Kirito glared.
"And now, it is complete." The now-baby-faced Kirito clenched his fists. "This ends the tutorial for the official Sword Art Online launch. Good luck, players." With that, he faded away, and the field keeping us all here went with him.
For a few moments, everyone stood in shock, staring at the sky where Akihiko Kayaba once floated. I stared, instead, at the preoccupied Kirito. He clenched his fist held in front of him as he looked up to reveal a terribly determined face.
A shatter of glass interrupted the silence along with a scream. "NO!" Finally, everyone started to react with panic. Everyone started shouting while in the place they were told this horrific news.
"Come with me, Klein." Kirito looked to me. "Tiny. You too." This was the one moment I didn't care that he called me short. He grabbed our hands and started running, dragging us with him.
When we were away from everyone, we stopped. "Listen to me. I'm heading to the next village right now. You two...come with me." He stated. Klein only responded with an 'eh?' sound. "If what he said was true, the only way to survive in this world is to make yourself as strong as possible. The resources within a virtual MMORPG, the money and experience we can earn, are limited. The fields within the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To do this efficiently, we should head to the next village now. I know all the paths and dangerous areas." He looked to me. "I'd bet that you do too with your status." He went back to his menu map. Even at level 1, I can get there safely."
"But...But you know..." Klein hesitated. "I spend a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game." His face was upset. "They're out there, in the plaza. I can't leave them." Kirito looked down, debating a big load (from what I could see). "Sorry." Kirito looked up. " I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I? So don't worry about it. You both go to the next village." Klein looked to both of us with a gentle smile. "I used to run a guild in my last game." He gave a thumbs up. "I can use what you taught me to get by." He placed his hands on his hips confidently, but I could tell he was lonely inside. I frowned. I had to say no...
"Alright." Kirito responded and I looked at him like he was crazy. He started turning around. "Then let's say goodbye here." He took a step. "If something happens, send me a message."
"Will do!" Klein grinned back at Kirito's sad face. "Kana..." He smiled gently and I felt my heart fluttering again. I could not deal with the way this man made me feel.
Kirito exchanged looks with me. "Kirito...I'm going to stay with Klein and help him and his friends."
It seemed almost as if it relieved him a little. "Ok. You keep Klein and his friends safe; you hear, Small Fry?"
"Yeah and I'll get you next time for that short joke, alright?" I shot back.
He smiled sadly at me then returned his gaze to Klein. "Okay, goodbye, Klein." He started to walk away.
"Kirito!" Klein shouted, face as serious as can-be. Kirito stopped and I could tell Klein had trouble getting out whatever he'd intended to say. He had the saddest look in his eyes. Kirito continued walking after a moment of silence. "Hey..." He yelled again and Kirito stopped again, refusing to turn around. "Kirito. You were actually pretty cute." Kirito turned around, bewildered. "That's my type." My face turned red as an image that was probably WAY too inappropriate popped into my head.
Kirito smiled, full smirk. "And that unkempt face of yours suits you 10 times better." He turned around and started running away. Klein and I walked away. When we got out of sight, we looked back.
"Do you think he'll be ok?" Klein stared off, eyes glazed.
"Klein..." He looked into my eyes and I was caught. "Don't worry. He was top during the beta. He'll be top now. Trust me." I allowed myself to take in his attractive appearance.
"You know...you look..." His face turned a light red. "You look better this way too. I like it."
I turned extremely red. "If only you knew." I could only mumble those words as I stared at him.
"Oh; what? Have you fallen madly in love with me already? Yeah. I have that affect." He gave a cocky grin and I punched him in the arm.
"As if!" I blushed, but couldn't look away as his face became serious again.
"If any guy tries to touch you, he'll have to answer to me, ok? So don't worry." His eyes revealed complete seriousness.
"H-How did you know?" I blushed even more. My face just hates this guy.
"Quite frankly; how could that not be a problem with a body like that?" He smiled innocently.
"You know, sometimes it's kind of hard to tell if I should either hug you or hurt you." I sighed.
"I'll take a hug from you any day. I'm your knight anyways. You can be my princess, ok? We might as well have fun with this as long as we're in an RPG." He grinned and opened his arms wide.
With my face as red as his hair, I hesitantly hugged him. "Alright. Only since this is a life-or-death RPG." I let the hug sink in. He gave the best hug that I'd ever felt. It completely engulfed me and made me feel safe. I didn't know how, but he had a scent. It was very charming and I felt like I was melting.
"Hey, Kana?" He started.
"Yes?" I smiled as I inhaled more of his amazing aroma.
"You give the best hugs. I don't really...want to stop." He calmly sighed.
"You're doing this on purpose." I shifted my eyes. I still didn't let go until I found an urge inside of myself.
"What's wrong?" He frowned.
"Nothing. We simply don't have time. Let's separate for now and meet back here in exactly an hour. Okay?" I looked up at his dazed face that was staring at mine.
"Okay...What are you gonna do?" He let go.
"Some shopping. I still have the stats from the beta. I don't know why, but I'm gonna go with it. I should have enough money to get some items we'll need for our journey, plus one 'special' item I can use later." I smiled.
"You're such a female, gosh. Going shopping?" He teased.
I rolled my eyes. "You're such a guy, gosh. Stereotyping? Really though. You'll thank me later." I smiled and started walking.
"AN HOUR! REMEMBER!" He yelled.
"AN HOUR!" I smiled and waved back at him.