Sword Art Online
The Protective Shield
Kayaba's Trap
Looking all around, Reiki smiled, her hands went up to the sky and she giggled in excitement. Someone ran past her nearly hitting into her, she gasped, "Take it easy, dude!" He put his hand up in apology but kept running. She sighed, then she saw the hair he had, asymmetrical and black. His eyes were also black. Her purple eyes widened, "Hey wait!"
She knew him, well she hoped she knew him, or she would die of embarrassment, she kept running towards him, her white hair flowing behind her, she could help but smile at the feeling of the breeze as she ran. She ran down one of the crowded alleyways in the Town of Beginnings, she saw all the stalls, making a mental note to revisit it once she had gained a bit more money. She saw him at the end of the alley, she started forward, then stopped when a guy with a red bandana ran after him, they both stopped and talked, she looked at his face a little hard, she smiled, it definitely looked like him.
She was only a few steps away from him, she gulped slightly and walked towards him. The black haired guy looked her and smiled, the other guy also smiled, "I guess you wanted to ask for pointers as well?"
She gasped putting her hands up, "N-No! I thought I recognised him, that's all... From the Beta..." she blushed ever so slightly in embarrassment, she looked at the black haired guy, "I-I was wondering if you were Kirito from the Beta! My name is A-" she shook her head, "My name is Reiki! I was a sword and shield user who ran dungeons with him, well, you if you are him..." She bowed her head.
He gasped, smiling, "Yeah, I am from the Beta and my name is Kirito, I remember you.."
She looked up, she couldn't believe that he remembered her, "You actually remember me!?"
"Yeah I remember you, you were that noob whose timing was way off when it came to team fighting.."
She sighed, "I guess you're right... sorry to bo-"
The guy with the red bandana frowned, "That's really rude-"
Kirito started laughing.
Reiki gasped and punched Kirito in the arm, "Hey! I see you really do remember me!" she laughed. She looked at the other guy, "Sorry, a little joke from the beta that I played on him. Anyway, my name is Reiki, pleased to meet you!" She smiled at him.
He blushed ever so slightly, "M-My name is Klein!"
Kirito rubbed his arm and looked at Klein, "So you wanted some pointers right? Reiki, want to help me?"
Klein smiled and nodded, "Yes please!"
Reiki smiled, "Yeah I can help!"
The three of them walked out of the town, a large number of boars was in the field, Kirito started explaining things to Klein, Reiki looked at what weapons she had in her inventory, her eyes widened, what she found was rather puzzling, seeing the standard sword which was equipped but also finding a shield. She tilted her head, normally you didn't receive a shield as well as a sword with the starting gear, but ignored it and equipped it. She waved it around and looked up as Kirito was explaining sword skill. She smiled when Klein pulled it off, killing the boar that Kirito was fighting.
When Kirito and Klein high-fived, Reiki ran towards them, "Well done, Klein!"
He smiled, "Thanks! You should join in also now!"
She nodded, "Sounds good!" She put her shield in front of her, positioning the sword to the side of her.
Kirito frowned, "Wait, isn't that shield like 200 Col, where did you get the money for that?"
She gasped and looked at the shield, "I don't actually remember, out of all the excitement!" she giggled.
Kirito smiled, "lucky you! But that's the Reiki I remember, let's try something out, Klein, follow my lead!" He started running, Klein followed.
Reiki smiled and knelt down, watching Kirito, who ran towards 3 boars, hitting all three, "Klein, hit them and run towards Reiki!"
Klein ran hit them and they all took his aggro, running after him, he gasped, running away from them towards Reiki, who had closed her eyes. She started counting down in her head.
5
Kirito ran towards Reiki as well, "When she gives the signal turn back and attack!"
4
Klein started freaking, keeping up the pace just ahead of the boars, "Reiki!"
3
Kirito looked at Klein, "Just a little longer.."
2
"REIKI!"
1
Reiki opened her eyes, darting forward, "Klein now!"
Klein turned and hit one of the boar with a sword skill. Kirito hit the other one. Reiki darted passed them, her sword glowing dark blue. She bashed her shield into one of the first boar, while the 3rd boar hit her, she gritted her teeth and hit it with the sword skill. She stabbed the second one with her sword. She bashed the first one with her shield again, moving it towards Klein, she then kicked the second one to Kirito and then finally charged her sword skill once more, the three of them killed all three boars at the same time. She sighed softly, looking at the exp screen.
Klein gasped, "wow more exp that time, I honestly thought I was going to run forever though..."
She giggled, "Sorry, I was counting down, next time I will count out loud."
The three of them high fived all at once. They all laughed.
She bashed her shield with her sword, "Let's continue!"
...
Several hours past, the sun was starting to set, Reiki sighed and looked at the scene, sitting down on the grass, hugging her knees.
Klein sat next to her, Kirito stood on the other side of him.
Klein smiled, "When I look around, I can't believe it, we're inside a game bro! Whoever made it is a genius."
Reiki closed her eyes and smiled.
"This thing's amazing! Makes me glad I was born when I was.. you know?"
Kirito piped up, "It's not that big a deal."
Klein looked at him, "Cut me some slack, it's my first full dive!"
"You never used the Nerve Gear before today, huh? This is your first time ever?"
"Uh-huh. As soon as I had all the money together, I rushed out to buy all the hardware to play SAO. Stood in line and scored one of the 10,000 hard copies. Guess you could say I was pretty lucky." He looked at Reiki and then at Kirito, "Although, you two were 10 times as lucky getting to beta test it!"
"Hmm?" Kirito looked towards Klein, Reiki just hugged her knees tighter.
"Dude! Only a thousand people got the chance!"
Kirito scratched his head, "Yeah I guess, I was lucky.."
Reiki just blushed slightly.
Klein leaned back slightly, "Hey, mind if I asked how far the both of you got in the beta?"
Kirito and Reiki exchanged an awkward look, Kirito smiled, "2 months and I couldn't get further than floor 11."
Reiki nodded in agreement.
Kirito smiled and looked out to the world, "But now, I think I can get there in a month, easy!"
Reiki giggled, "Sounds like I will have a rough time again!"
Kirito laughed, "So Klein, want to do more hunting?"
Klein pumped his first, "You know it, but the thing is..." his stomach growled, "I'm really hungry, I have to log out. I ordered a pizza for 5.30!"
He stood up, "Thanks for everything, I will pay you back virtually, both of you!" he put his hand out to Kirito, who shook it.
Reiki waved at him from the floor, smiling, "See you around, Klein!"
Klein turned away and went to log out, he stopped, "Huh? where is the log out button?"
Kirito turned to him, "It should be there!" He opened up his menu and checked, sure enough, no log out button.
Reiki jumped up, "Ok boys, don't freak me out like that-" she stopped, her log out button was gone, she froze, "Oh no.." she went into another part of her menu, a log in screen came up, she put a password in, it was denied. Her eyes widened, "No... this can't be happening.." she knelt down putting her hands to her head, freaking out. Kirito and Klein looked at her, Kirito put his hand on her shoulder.
They were then forced teleported to the Town of Beginnings again. Kirito helped Reiki stand, she was still freaking out a little bit.
The sky filled with red warning signs until there was no more sky left, blood oozed from them and a red-cloaked figure appeared from it. "Attention players, I welcome you to my world!"
Reiki froze, "Dad..." she whispered as she looked up at him.
Kirito frowned, "What's he mean by that?"
"My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am in control of this world.."
Reiki and Kirito gasped simultaneously.
"I am sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menu, the Log Out Button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."
Klein looked puzzled, "He's kidding, right?"
"You cannot log yourself out of SAO and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear with discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."
People started panicking a little bit. Reiki's eyes filled with tears.
"Despite my warning, the families and friends have attempted removing the Nerve Gear, an unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 fewer players than when it began. They have been deleted both from Aincrad and the real world."
Kirito's eyes widened, "213!?"
Klein winched, "No way, I don't believe it!" he shook his head.
"As you can see, international media outlets have round the clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to say the chances of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort while you try to clear the game." Articles appear and circle around him for everyone to see, the crying girl with her mother, pictures of people who died, etc.
"It's important you remember the following, there is no longer any way to revive someone in the game. If your HP drops to Zero, your avatar will be deleted from this system, forever and the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain."
Everyone stood their silently, in shock and in fear. Reiki's eyes widened, her mind when back to the note he sent, "No way... He was trying to warn me..." Her legs felt like they would give way.
"There is only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game. Right now you are gathered on floor one, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game. Last but not least, I placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please, have a look."
Hesitantly, Reiki went into the item storage, she frowned, "A mirror?" she took it out and looked at it.
Everyone around her started glowing, she did also. She let out a shriek.
Kirito gasped, "Reiki! Klein!" He then yelled out also.
Once the glowing stopped Reiki sighed in relief, she looked up, where Klein and Kirito stood was two other people, she from, "Who are you?"
Kirito looked at her, "Who are you?"
She looked in the mirror, her eyes widened, she looked like her real self, "Klein? Kirito?"
The three of them gasped and looked at each other, then turned to face Akihiko once more.
"Right now, you're probably wondering why? Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nerve Gear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my own design."
"Kayaba," Kirito muttered darkly, causing Reiki to flinch.
"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." He disappeared back into the warning signs and they disappeared, revealing the sky again.
Everyone stood there in shock. A girl backed up into someone and screamed. Everyone started screaming and crying. Most people were in too much shock to move.
Kirito stood behind Reiki and Klein, "Come with me." he put his hand on Reiki's shoulder.
She gasped and nodded. They ran into a nearby ally way.
"Ok listen, I am heading out right now to the next village, I want you both to come."
Klein gasped, Reiki was in too much shock to answer.
"If what he said is true, which I think it is, the only way we are going to survive in here is to make ourselves as strong as possible... Even if I am level one, I can get there easily."
Klein sighed, "Thanks, but... you know those friends of mine I mentioned, they are back at the plaza somewhere, I don't want to leave them. Sorry."
Kirito looked at the floor, Reiki still hadn't said anything.
"Sorry, can't ask a guy I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers... Don't worry about me, get your ass to the next village. I'll be fine, last game I played I ran a Guild, so I am more than prepared and all the stuff you both taught me, I'll get by no sweat."
"If that's what you want, then I will head off, Reiki you coming?" He looked at Reiki.
She nodded slowly, "For now, I will follow you, we have a better chance of survival at level one if we stick together." her brain was too fuzzy to say anything else.
They said their goodbye and ran off out of the town.
A wolf came at them down the road, Reiki blocked it with her shield, Kirito sliced it with a sword skill. He yelled out in anger.
Tears just fell down her face. If he knew... he would hate me forever... My real name is Ayano, Ayano Kayaba, the Daughter of Akihiko Kayaba and I helped with Sword Art Online...
My father has always been crazy, but I didn't know he would be there crazy. I didn't even know this was his plan. I don't know my Father at all...
Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online and the characters from it. I have however altered the storyline and created some characters to fit with my idea for this story! I hope you enjoy it!