A/N: Thank you so much to those of you who have welcomed me onto this site. I hope I can make this story live up to your expectations.

Sachi was in her room, presumably asleep. Kirito sat downstairs, waiting for the other members of the Black Cats of the Full Moon to return from searching for her within the dungeon. As soon as he made sure she was fine in her room, he had sent a message to Kaita, the Guild leader, saying that he had found her and gotten her back to the hotel the guild was staying in. He sat in the front room, and waited for the others to get back. As he waited, he thought back to that day. November 6, 2022. He was surprised. It hadn't felt like they had been in the game for over five months. He remembered the feeling of coming back to this world after the Beta, with all the excitement a then 14-year-old could feel. He ran into the field, and was followed by a new player. He taught the new player, whose name he discovered was Klien, the basics of the game. They continued hunting the monsters, and Klien eventually said he had to get off to eat dinner. They said their goodbyes, and as he turned around to continue leveling, he heard Klien complain that the log out button was missing.

That was when this world stopped being a game.

They, along with every other player in the game, were teleported into the center starting plaza. And they were told that this game was no longer a game.

This was reality.

They could not log out, it wasn't a glitch, it was an intended feature of the game.

If they died here, they died in the real world.

The boy's snapped open again, not wanting to remember the first day. He still had nightmares of it sometimes. Of the figure coming down from the sky to shatter their realities.

Finally he saw Kaita and the other members of the Black Cats enter the inn. He stood up, and went over to them. He told them that Sachi had gone to bed, and when they asked him how he found her, all he said was 'instinct'. He still couldn't reveal his level to the other members; they would feel betrayed if they knew he was almost twenty levels above them. The others reluctantly accepted his answers to their questions. Even if they knew he wasn't telling the full truth, they were too nice of people to push hard for the information. As they started to go up the stairs, He pulled Kaita away from the group for a moment.

"I think you need to let Sachi continue being a Lancer."

Kaita was confused at first, and then started to talk. "But wait, she said she wanted to be a sword and shield user. We can't let you keep going in as forward alone, I mean come on. It's known to be the hardest position, and we can't keep forcing you to-"

"Nobody is forcing me to do anything. I like being forward, it's where I feel I belong, and Tetsuo is alo a forward, so I'm never alone. Sachi's too timid, too shy. She doesn't belong there, and I feel it would be better for her and the rest of the guild if she were allowed to continue being in her old position." Plus, that way it will be easier for me to watch over her. The words almost came flying unbidden out of his mouth. He barely stopped them from being spoken against his conscious will.

"Well, if that's the way you truly feel… then sure. If she wants to go back to being a lancer, all she had to do was ask. I don't want to force anyone to do anything that would place them in danger, especially not someone from my own guild."

As Kirito nodded his thanks to the leader of the guild, they both started to head for the stairs. He couldn't help but notice Kaita stealing glances at him out of the corner of his eye. After the third time he did that, he decided he had enough. "What is it?"

Genuinely surprised Kirito had noticed him, Kaita stuttered for a moment, trying to collect his thoughts. "Ah, well, I, uh… I just wanted to ask. What happened? I know it was more than you finding her and telling her to come back. I've been with her since I found her about to leave the city, and I just wanted to make sure she was okay. She had looked like she had given up then, and something like this couldn't have been small and simple. I just want to be certain she hadn't given up her will to live."

Kirito stopped for a moment, his foot resting on the final step of the stairs. He looked over to Kaita, contemplating for a moment. Surely it would be fine to tell him, right? He obviously cared for the girl, if only as a friend. But no details needed to be spoken. "I found Sachi in a small pipe, crying. I talked with her a bit, and she confessed that she was afraid of dying. When I managed to calm her down, I told her the guild would be strong enough to protect her. She seemed to accept it, and I led her back here. You know the rest."

Kaita gave him a small look, surprise in his eyes. "Afraid… I wish she had spoken up sooner. Thanks for telling me that, and for coming to me. I'll make sure that everyone knows to look out for her. I wouldn't want a guild member dying under my command because I didn't know to watch out for them." Solid determination filled his brown eyes as he looked into Kirito's onyx orbs.

Kirito gave the man a look of thanks, and continued up the stairs, turning towards his own room, separating from the guild leader. Going inside his room, he began to prepare for the night as he always did. While the Black Cats slept, he continued to the front lines, to level and map more of the floor. During the day he helped them all level, and he leveled himself during the night, further increasing the distance between himself and his guild mates.

As he finished up the preparations for the night, he heard a small knock on the door to his room. He hurriedly switched all of his gear off, calling a quick "Come in", his body half turned to the door.

When the door opened, he saw that is was Sachi. She was wrapped in the same mantle Kirito had found her in before, and hesitation filled her eyes.

"Um, Kirito… I was hoping… would you mind if I slept with you tonight?" She quickly thought over her words, and a rush of red lit her face up, being easily seen in the torch light from the hall. "I-in the s-same bed I mean, nothing like that, just…" At this, she shied away, a small blush remaining on her face, and she continued. "I was just hoping that I could stay in the same bed as you… I felt safe, with you next to me earlier."

When he heard her request, Kirito had a small expression of shock etched onto his face. There goes my hopes of leveling tonight, he thought, a wry smile replacing the small open circle his mouth had been. "If it would help you, then gladly." As he said this he pulled the covers back, giving her a place to lie down. Her face still burning a slight shade of red, she shuffled over to the bed, lying down next to the Black Swordsman. He slowly lowered himself down next to her, a small smile on his face. The two sat there for a little while, just looking at each other. She looked at him, her eyes slowly drooping lower and lower, as his stayed stubbornly open.

"Ne, Kirito, aren't you tired at all?"

"Not really. I haven't slept well for a while now. I'm not really tired. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Just go to sleep."

She looked like she didn't want to, her eyes trying to stay open with his. But, try as she might, she couldn't keep her eyes open. He watched, a smile playing itself across his lips as he heard her breath slow, and he saw the slow and steady rise of her chest. He just sat, watching as she slept. His thoughts continued on, with one common theme to every racing image and idea in his head.

I will protect them all.