Level One: Veggie Spread

Akemi woke up to an alarm that was set for 11:40. She sat up and turned off the music that played with her clock, rubbing her eyes and grabbing her glasses as she let her body come back into consciousness. She woke her computer from it's slumber and checked the clock. "Three more minutes…" she muttered, noting that the others were all online and no doubt preparing their computer systems. She checked her phone, seeing a message from her brother.

"Have fun." It was short and fairly blunt, but it still made the girl smile. She messaged back, taking a breath to calm herself. She knew Makoto really wanted to play this game, but he was in no condition to be gaming right now. He had a headcold, and he was feeling really sick. But since he had been the one to recommend this game to her, she felt almost bad. Makoto had given Akemi his slot number to hold onto, and he would have been the one waiting for the beta to come in.

"Still wish you were diving, not me… you're the game pro, kiddo… Miss you, sleep well." She sent the message, receiving an almost immediate response.

"Just go in and kick some ass for me, then."

"Hehe… atta boy, Makoto." She smiled, putting her phone down as the seconds ticked down. The clock struck 11:45, and not a second later, the inbox pinged. It was here. Akemi opened the email and clicked on the character creator. She picked a long, black-haired female base, making the hair longer than the origin base and having it be wavy, deciding to keep her lavender eyes and inputting her normal character type. Slim, busty, and with a nice hourglass figure. Her basic gear was a kimono-sleeved black top, a pleated black skirt, tall black boots, and a black fox mask. When she was satisfied, she smiled and saved, going to pull her nerve gear from the shelf and putting it on, having plugged it all in to let it warm up before she took her nap after dinner. "Here we go." She sighed, taking her glasses off and turning off her night-stand light, having placed her glasses aside and put the Nerve Gear over her head, laying back on her pillow. She closed her eyes and took a breath, uttering those 2 simple words that were about to change everything.

"Link Start."

Upon opening her eyes again, Akemi was now staring at a welcome panel. She clicked the blue button with the circle inside, and received her starter gear. A simple armor set, a basic weapon, some money, and her quest list for being a Chi-User. As she read over her item and personal stats, she was latched to by a white-haired woman. "I fouuunnddd youuuuu~" she turned to see a white fox mask and that ever present smile she knew all too well. She looked at the message that told her who this person was. "Black Fox~ Hellooo in there~?"

"White Fox… get off…" she sighed, noting that Hibiya's signature gaming avatar was standing present in red with a smile. "And stop grinning." She added to Hibiya, earning a laugh.

"Sorry sorry, you two just look so alike… it's like two versions of the same avatar."

"That was the plan~" White Fox chuckled. "So, we're both Chi-Users right? We can go find our first quest?" she asked the blackette, the other girl nodding. "Great~! Let's go~!"

"Well, I'll see you guys later." Hibiya ran off.

"As always." Black Fox managed to get White Fox off of her. "That boy is a solo player to his core… I don't see what's so appealing…" she stated to her friend, the girl just smiling and turning away.

"But he's sooo cool, Ake~ Don't you want a boyfriend like that~?"

"No. Hibiya reminds me of a big brother figure."

"But you've never had a big brother."

"And you're telling me you don't think he behaves like a hyper version of Takuto?"

"… Well…" she turned back to her friend with a smile. "That's kind of weird~" the pair headed out to the main grassland area just outside of town to train up, and make sure they were ready to take on their quests. But they soon noticed someone sharing their training area; a boy with black hair and a sword who was training against some boars. White Fox caught her friend staring at the boy, sensing an opportunity to make mischief and dragging her friend over to the kid. "Hello over there~" she called, the boy turning to reveal a strangely youthful face.

"Um… hi?" he looked very skeptical of the person approaching; soon noting that she was not alone. The one in black was almost like a shadow of the one in white, both hiding behind fox masks and looking eerily similar. "Can I… help you?"

"No no, just checking in to see who you were~" White Fox grinned. "You've got a great techique~ Neee, Black Fox?"

"… Yes…" she nodded, bowing to the boy. "I'm very sorry we interrupted you."

"Oh, no it's okay." He said. At least this one was more polite. "Um… I'm gonna get back to training if that's okay."

"Yes, of cour-"

"Nooo, no no." White Fox shook her head. "That is NO way for a first meeting of fate to go!"

"Oi, White Fox." Black Fox sighed at her friend. She turned back to the boy. "I am very sorry for her behavior… she likes to think she is a matchmaker." She explained. "I'm Black Fox… this is my partner, White Fox." She introduced.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kirito." He replied, offering the girl a hand to shake, which she accepted. He then shook White Fox's hand and was pulled into her relatively small chest. "Whoa-!"

"He's sooo cute, Black Fox~" White Fox cooed, earning a slap to the head from her partner.

"Don't do that." She shook her head, dusting Kirito off and apologizing again.

These sort of antics went on for a while, and eventually the pair finished their level one Chi-User quests. Black Fox and White Fox were now heading to meet up with Hibiya when they ran into Kirito again. "Oh, Kirito-kun~" White Fox latched onto the boy, noting that Black Fox looked a little miffed and enjoying her partner's jealousy. "Want to come have a meal with us~?"

"What?"

"We're going to meet up with White Fox's hubby." Black Fox stated, causing White Fox to be startled by the comment and going to scold her friend. "If you grope me, woman, I swear I'll make you go see him alone."

"Nooo, I'm sorry I'm sorry~"

"Ummm… what?"

"Ignore her." Black Fox told the boy, prying White Fox off and turning back to the boy. "She's just being weird, as always."

"Huh… okay." He nodded. "But food sounds good, I think my stamina is running low." He checked his meter. If only for a meal, he'd get to know them a little better. Why he wanted to, though, was unknown even to him. Something inexplicably was drawing him to the girl in black.

After a short while, Black Fox was more than fed up with White Fox's antics, and decided to ditch her friend and let her eat alone with Hibiya, ending up with Kirito at the pub across town. But their food was extremely limited, so Black Fox just ordered some bread and meat, Kirito ordering some stew. The woman then pulled out a jar and placed it on the table, opening it and releasing a nice herbal scent. "What's that?" Kirito asked.

"It's Vegetable Spread, from the Chi User quest on this level." She stated, offering him a piece of the bread with the mixture on it. "Try it." She stated, eating a piece. "It's pretty good… the sensory network is fairly advanced in this game." The boy accepted and bit into the bread, eyes going wide.

"Whoa!" he looked shocked, causing Black Fox to jump a little at his sudden reaction. "This is good!" he demolished the bread in a few seconds, Black Fox offering more.

"It's okay, you can have more." She stated, noting his hesitation. "This stuff is available to me in a store if I need more… I don't mind sharing."

"… If you're sure." He mumbled, taking another piece and eating it slightly slower, looking almost embarrassed about his outburst. Black Fox pondered on his behavior, thinking that he must be pretty young to get embarrassed like this about enjoying food. "Thank you." He stated after he finished eating.

"No problem." She smiled a little. "So, you said you were a swordsman? Are you going to keep that classification, or go into the Knight Class?"

"I'll probably get into the Knight Class, after I get my skills up high enough." He stated, looking like he was glad to talk about stats and all that. "And you're a Chi-User right? Which Protocol are you going after?"

"Black, probably." She stated, chuckling as she motioned down to her outfit. "It's going to be pretty tough but I don't mind the challenge." She chuckled, the pair continuing to talk the night away, soon checking the time and saying their goodbyes. "See you again sometime?" she asked.

"We'll see." He waved as she logged out, getting up to log out as well. He thought that it was strange, but he actually seemed to enjoy that girl's company. And she seemed to have a lot of insights into this game, so he was almost looking forward to seeing her again. At least… so long as her friend kept her hands to herself. He opened his log out panel, confirming his decision with the push of a little blue button.

Akemi awoke to see the white numbers on her clock. 4am… she removed the Nerve Gear and placed it on the shelf, almost giddy with excitement. She normally sucked at making friends in games, and since this one was likely somewhere around Makoto's age, she wanted to let him know. Her brother was, however, asleep at this hour. She resolved to visit him later. For now, she closed her eyes and went into a peaceful sleep.

Meanwhile, at a hospital, a boy with dark plum-grey hair and pale purple-grey eyes was sitting up, coughing and hacking. He sniffled, leaning back against the headboard and picking up his water, drinking it down in one long chug. His sniffling and coughing subsided a little and he took a deep breath. "… Nee-san is so lucky…" he mumbled. "But at least there was someone to take the beta code…" he told himself, his breathing rather shallow. "She'd better come and tell me all about it…"

A pale-brown haired girl sat up in bed, face bright red. She'd just had a technical, in-game "date" with Hibiya. It was awkward as could be and the two were left in silence most of the time. But it was okay, she'd gotten to spend some time alone with him. As embarrassed as she was, she was still thankful that Akemi had run off with Kirito. But that got her thinking. "Ake-nee is going into some dangerous territory, spending alone time with a boy that young." She sighed. "Oh well~ As long as she's smiling and still easy to embarrass~"

A young boy, only 13, sat up from his first dive into Willow Lake's Closed Beta. He removed his nerve gear and flopped back down onto his bed, taking a breath. "Back here… boring old reality…" he mumbled, glancing at the clock before putting his arm over his eyes. "… I want to go back already…"

((Here's Chapter One~ o v o

I needed a break from the intensity of writing the AGSO arc of my story, and from rewatching GGO's episodes. Hope you guys like it ; v ;''

If there are errors, please pardon them. I've got the sicky germs, you see ; 3 ;''

I still greatly appreciate reviews~

-Winter Cheshire))