Just recently I came across Sword Art Online... and I fell in love with it! And so, I've decided to make a fanfic about my OC's perspective of the whole event. I won't say much about her here, but I'll just mention that she's 16 when the game was released. Oh, and in case you were wondering, the original characters will not be forgotten about. They will be mentioned from time to time but I don't plan on any interaction with them and my OC. She or someone else may comment on them, but that's as far as it goes.

I have not decided yet if I'll be accepting any of your OCs, so we'll just have to wait and see if I end up needing any. As of now, though, I won't be asking for any.

Alright, now that we got all of that out of the way, I hope you all enjoy! I don't claim to have created or own the anime: Sword Art Online. This fic is simply for entertainment purposes only.


«Chapter 1: A New Life»

"Glad to see that you're awake, Kei,"

The girl turned her head to see an elderly man standing in the doorway to her hospital room. She smiled in greeting and allowed her pale green eyes to drift back to the window to her right. A hand unconsciously began to pick at the extra blanket drapped across her legs as he continued to stand there. After a moment the smile disappeared from his face and he approached her bed; he sat himself down in a chair by her side.

"I see that you had guests," he tilted his head in the direction of the vase containing fresh flowers on the bedside table. Kei still didn't bother to verbally respond. Instead her smile turned into a frown and she shook her head. She briefly turned back in the man's direction to point at a small note that lay beside the arrangement. His eyebrows rose in confusion, but instead of questioning her he picked up the piece of paper and let his eyes scan over it.

"Ah... so they're from the nurses. They seem to have taken a liking towards you," he once again attempted to smile only for it to come out as more of a grimace. The man rested the note back on the wood surface and straightened his white coat with shaking fingers. In the meantime Kei had once again began to look out the window. The view was of one rather busy street with cars constantly honking and many people walking about. It was possibly the girl's only way of knowing at least a little bit about what was going on in the world, even if it wasn't much.

The man coughed and stood up to approach a monitor that rested by her bed, "Well, you seem to be doing alright," He murmured as his finger flew across the screen. Images of her vital organs and other parts of her body came up one after the other until the whole screen was filled with the proof of her "growing health." The doctor stepped to the side to allow a view of his apparent success and tapped a finger on one particular picture of her lungs that she had noticed before.

"Your lungs seem much stronger than they have ever been, Kei. You may even be able to go back home shortly!" he smiled once more before having all of the pictures disappear with a simple tap of his finger. The man then gave another look at her vital signs, leaving her to let her mind wander as usual. Kei had heard the same thing before; she wouldn't let them get her hopes up again. She refused to be as disappointed as she had been the last time they decided to play with her mind. They probably hadn't meant to affect her as much as they did, but their actions still didn't make to her.

"This time for sure. I promise you," he added after a moment, snapping her out of her thoughts. Her eyes looked over at his in surprise. She hadn't been expecting that in the slightest. Kei entwined her fingers and rested them in her lap without a word escaping her lips. She would continue with her silence until she actually did leave the hospital for good, that she promised herself.

The doctor sighed and tapped the screen one last time to have it back at her heartbeat. He turned in her direction and rested a hand on hers, "A nurse will be back later to check up on you again. Goodbye,"

Kei didn't release her breath that she had been holding until his footsteps disappeared down the hallway. She loosened her hands and rubbed the skin where his fingers had touched. If what he said was true then she would be able to go back to school. She could have a normal life like before. Kei grimaced as scenes from the accident flashed through her mind. She gently patted her chest, remembering the damage that the crash had caused to her lungs. It was because of the accident that she wouldn't be able to do as much physical activity as before. "Physical activity" included anything from being out with friends for too long or running during gym.

Life was going to be different for her, and definitely not in a good way.

xX...Xx

«1 year later»

Kei woke up to the blaring of her alarm clock. She grimaced at the annoying sound and rolled over onto her back. A hand reached out to touch the top of the small machine and her room was quiet once more. She tapped it once again and the murmur of voices from a radio station reached her ears. Kei sat up and stretched her arms above her head, sighing in satisfaction. It was the first day of a much-welcomed weekend for her and she planned to spend it in the comfort of her room.

Her eyes wandered over to her desk on the other side of the room and she smiled. She tossed her sheets aside and tip-toed across the floor as to not awake her parents in their bedroom next door. The chair squeaked as she sat down, her hand already reaching to press the power button. Kei placed her elbow on the desk and rested her chin in her hand while the computer whirled to life. It only took less than a minute yet she found herself becoming impatient only after a few seconds. Her fingers immediately went to work with the mouse as soon as the screen came to life.

After a bit of searching Kei was at a certain forum that she had been visiting constantly since her release from the hospital: a gaming forum. She had never really been a fan of video games before her accident, but the experience left her wanting to learn more about what was available in her life. The idea of trying out online games came to her during her first time out to a store with her mother since her release. They had been looking through the magazine aisle and the bizarre cover of one had lured her in. It had been all about the newest games in stores as well as a few that were going to be released in the near future. One advertisement caught her attention, and that was for Sword Art Online.

Kei didn't have time to read through most of the article that was provided, but she did make sure to do some more research on it as soon as she came home. Her search led her to the forum that she soon began to constantly think about. It was mainly just for information and other news, but there was a part of the site where fellow gamers came to talk about whatever fancied their interests. While Kei didn't have much experience with games, that didn't stop her from reading other people's conversations. It was because of them that she knew all that she knew just a year after her newfound freedom.

She leaned back in her chair after a few minutes of scanning the different threads and sighed. There wasn't much time left for her to get ready and make it down to the store. That fact caused her to click the monitor off and be on her way. It was an hour later when she finally arrived at her destination: the local game store. The line had already gone around the building and was starting to creep out into the street by the time Kei got there. It was going to be a long wait when the game was released, that's for sure. She brushed a few dark strands of hair away from her face and stepped in line eagerly. It would all be worth it in the end, she was sure of it.

It was a few hours later when the store opened to the waiting customers. A few tried to push their way past the people in front of them only to be sent to the back of the line, which was then around the other side of the block. After that commotion most seemed to calm down, but there were still a few that seemed pretty restless. Kiei bit down on her bottom lip in anticipation as she inched closer and closer to the entrance. Every time someone came out with a bag that branded the store's logo she felt her excitement grow more and more to the point where she was practically breathing on the person's neck in front of her.

Somehow she was able to keep herself from full-on running and eventually it was her own pair of feet that was walking through the doors that slid aside at her approach. She clutched her hands together and held them to her chest as she went up to the counter. A smile came to her lips and with the assistance of some money she was soon walking out of the store with her very own copy of the game that she had been hoping for.

Kei came to a stop at the edge of the sidewalk and rocked back and forth on the heels of her shoes to try and keep the excitement in. She clutched the bag to her chest and let a hand sneak in to brush against the box. Her parents had given her both the permission and the money to buy the game, much to her surprise. She had originally been worried that they would be concerned about her health. Kei was sure that they would decline her wishes because of the possibility that it would be too much for her body to take. Of course, they didn't just agree on the spot. Her parents first went to the doctor that had originally looked after her and he had assured them that she would be fine. There was nothing wrong with her mind, after all, and that was what the NerveGear mainly affected. It wasn't like she would be in her actual body once in the game.

The thought of going to her parents before heading to her room was completely erased from her mind as soon as she was inside the house. The only time she paused was to kick off her shoes and put them off to the side. Kei then raced up the stairs and around the corner right to her door. She went over to her desk and plopped down in the chair with the bag still in her arms. She rested the bag on the ground and pulled out the box to rest it in her lap. With a few quick tugs she was able to pull out a helmet-shaped contraption.

"Ahhhh," she sighed in wonder before grinning. Her hands just couldn't move fast enough for her liking but eventually she was able to put everything together. Kei giggled, finally letting some of her excitement out and spun around in her chair a few times. She let the chair slowly come to a stop and softly rested her feet on the floor. Her eyes wandered over to the NerveGear that rested on the surface of her desk and her smile turned a bit softer. She picked up the device and held it close to her.

Her lips came to rest on the shiny surface, "You're going to change my life," she murmured, "I'm just sure of it," Kei stood up from her chair and went over to her bed to sit down ontop of the covers. She sat there for a while as her eyes roamed over the NerveGear in her hands. Her clock let out a brief alarm and she looked over to see that it was already 1 o'clock.

"Well... here we go," Kei murmured and lifted the helmet over her head, "I hope you don't prove me wrong," She sighed and rested back on her bed, shifting into a comfortable position as a soft whirling echoed in her ears. She closed her eyes, clutching her hands in tight fists, and erased all of what little fears that had been at the back of her mind all day. Her parents were ridiculous to be concerned. It was just a game, after all. What could it do to hurt her?

"Link start!"