Chapter 1

~Legal Terms and License Agreements~

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…jeez, I swear this legal mumbo jumbo takes longer and longer to get past the newer these things are! I mean seriously, how much more could they possibly think to sue people for?"

Confirmation screen after confirmation screen was closed upon acceptance to be replaced by another quickly thereafter in front of the black haired boy, Haseo. He wore basic starting gear and was really nothing special to look at. Standing in at five foot five inches and weighing in at just under one fifty with no extraordinary features or identifying marks like piercings, tattoos, or scars he was just another face soon to be lost in the crowd of Sword Art Online, or at least he hoped so. He had purposefully created an extremely ordinary looking avatar, he had been intrigued by the games promise of a new reality, and it appealed to him greatly in that sense. He had picked it up originally to that end alone, to be able to be judged for whom he was and not how he looked. He was tired of the nervous glances he got at school, the whisperings of the adults around him, always, constantly judging him. Hah! As if they had any right to judge him, nobody knew him…not anymore, at least, he thought solemnly while accepting legal term after legal term.

Around him swam a sea of blue polygons which occasionally sparked into white and then disappeared into the expanse of nothingness that surrounded him. His avatar floating in the middle of this expanse as he accepted the conditions for playing brought to bear by Argus and Kayaba Akihiko, the infamous creator of the Nerve Gear and of Sword Art Online. After the tedious process of the character create screen, which had options numbering in the hundreds for character customization, he'd thought he was finally going to see what a full dive was like but it appeared that it was just not to be…or rather, he didn't count something like this as worthy of being considered part of the full dive even though it was hit avatar and not himself that was selecting the touch options floating in the middle of the digital equivalent to a space/time anomaly.

"Finally!"

A few seconds had passed without any further pop-ups harassing Haseo and to his dismay there was no clock display in the current…world? Zone? Area? He wasn't sure what to call the place he currently inhabited but he knew he was already getting tired of the scene that stretched out before him and could have sworn he just spent at least an hour trying to get into the game and was beginning to wonder if the end would ever come, exaggerated as he knew his sense of time must have been.

"Gotta' say Mr. Akihiko…so far I'm not impressed. Ah! No, no, no! C'mon man, I was just kidding!"

To Haseo's dismay another screen was coming to life in front of him. In almost a reverse-dissolve fashion a single banner formed in front of him with characters he had to focus on slightly to read. He'd always done well in his English courses so to see them paying off in the game he made a mental note to never give that particular teacher a hard time about the practicality of said class.

"Welcome…to Sword Art Online. Well now, it's about time. So what now Mr. Akihi…whoa."

The virtual nothingness began to swirl around Haseo in a maelstrom of blue polygons as the white horizon line began to take shape. Vast hills and plains of the most exuberant green roamed the outskirts of dusty paths and trails. Trees and bushes sprang into existence in an almost rapid growth cycle, like videotaping a landscape for years then fast forwarding it in seconds. Buildings began to rise and obscure his view of the wilderness but to say that the scene unfolding before him wasn't itself a view would be a hard pressed matter to sell for anyone. Cracks and crevices appeared in the stone under his feet with weeds poking through only occasionally. Glossy wooden buildings finished the layout of his immediate area and soon he was overcome with a dozen different smells at once. The smell of the wooden structures as if they were freshly cut and stacked firewood logs. The upturned dust from the ground gave a rough almost industrial smell to the area, as if a construction zone had been abandoned in the middle of a park, then there was the faint tingle of the forested area that lay in wait in the distance, of hay and flowers, and rain as if the morning dew would still linger this late into the afternoon in a perfect world. Then his senses were assaulted by the mouth watering smell of fresh meat being cooked somewhere nearby, reminding him only of how hungry he must be as he skipped eating to make the launch time exactly after he'd gotten home from school. Absorbing everything coming into being around him he couldn't help but feel small, insignificant…like he was truly nobody and not worth a second look compared to the majesty surrounding him…and he loved it. To say he was surprised and awe-inspired would the understatement of the century, here he could have hope.

"Alright Kayaba Akihiko, NOW I'm impressed! Wah!"

The landscape around Haseo had solidified and sounds now accompanied the sights and smells surrounding him as the hustle of NPC's and other PC's carried on around him. Feeling too, Haseo noted, was included in the package deal as he promptly fell backwards onto the hard stone walkway he'd spawned above as the gravity kicked in to cut off his amazement rather abruptly.

"You just always have to get the last word in don't you?! Still though…this is…"

Looking around once more while rubbing a rather sore tailbone he still couldn't help but be amazed even from where he sat and observed how lifelike the game really was. Aside from the cursers displayed above the NPC's if you focused on them it was almost impossible to tell the difference between them and the other players. Well, that and the wide grin and open-eyed awe plastered on some of the players faces. Taking a moment to realize he was still sitting on the ground with much the same look on his face Haseo began to pick himself up and dust off his pants before getting his bearings. Looking around he could see the Tower of Aincrad in the distance, looming high over the Town of Beginnings and stretching it's way almost majestically into the cloud cover above.

"A hundred floors huh?"

"Yup, at least that's what they say."

Startled almost to the point of trying to draw a weapon he had really no idea how to draw quite yet Haseo shifted quickly to the side away from the direction of the voice, gracefully tripping over his own feet and falling again, a small cloud of dust shooting up from underneath him.

"Oh! I am so sorry! I didn't mean to…here."

Glancing up form his lowered perspective he noticed the hand stretched out before him, no doubt a peace offering resulting from the surprise attack that had been launched against him. It seemed it just wasn't quite his day today. Following the hand up along a somewhat thing and pale arm he was confronted with eyes framed by chestnut hair that hung loose and straight past the shoulders, with bangs that partially covered one luminescent blue eye and left the other staring strikingly into his own. Fair unblemished olive skin provided the canvas for the smile directed at him. The smile wasn't necessarily extraordinary as far as that sort of thing went but it was pure, a smile that was there not out of habit or to appear polite, not out of nicety or to avoid trouble, it was…the first real smile he'd seen in a long time, that was 'directed' at him, rather, in a long time and it brought back memories quite unwillingly. The red blush coming to her cheeks as she glanced away slightly snapped Haseo back to reality, taking the proffered hand he cursed himself silently for staring so obviously and making a fool of himself. What was the point of having a clean slate and a fresh start in this new reality if he held onto all of his old fears and prejudices?

He hefted himself off of the ground once more, this time with the help of another and dusted himself off quite thoroughly. More thoroughly than was really necessary, as he tried unsuccessfully to psyche himself out for the human interaction he was so unprepared for. A soft giggle to his side told him that he was still making a rather large fool out of himself and he immediately straightened up and turned to see the hand he had taken hold of, just now realizing how soft and warm it was, pressed against the smile that had struck him to his core. He realized how strange he must seem and decided then and there that he wouldn't botch this chance, his first chance to start over. The person before him didn't know him, who he was…what he'd done. This would be his saving grace, his exodus of a sort. Assuming a more relaxed posture he put his hands behind his head and began forming an appropriate response to the apology, he'd read enough about this kind of situation in manga, how hard could it be?

"It's my fault, I tripped over myself after all so don't worry about it, um, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name. I'm Haseo, by the way."

Haseo offered the warmest smile he could muster and thought to himself that he'd handled the situation rather well, despite…well; it was her fault for smiling at him like that all of a sudden he thought with a mental pout.

"Alice! And I still feel bad; after all, it was since I'd startled you. I'd like to make it up to you somehow but I'd just started too so I don't know if I could…"

The smile faded slightly as Alice glanced down feeling legitimately bad for what had happened. Something Haseo wasn't used to, he was bad enough at anything besides basic human interaction, he really had no idea how to console someone! Putting his hands in front of him disarmingly and stepping towards her slightly he put on a smile and decided it was worth a shot at least. What was the worst that could happen?

"Hey, really, it's fine Alice. No harm, no foul right? But if you want to make it up to me do you think you could, um…maybe, if you wouldn't mind…possibly, I mean if it's not too much trouble…"

Alice looked up to see a blush creeping into the boys cheeks as he glanced away from her and stumbled over his words.

"Could I, what? Why are you so embarrassed Haseo, what could possibly be that embarrassing of a favor to ask?"

Sudden realization hit Alice, and conclusions were jumped to. Feeling her face turn red she knew she was blushing but it was important to assert herself, that's what her teachers had said right?

"Just so you know, I'm not that kind of girl and just because your kind of cute doesn't meant that I…I mean, I just met you after all! I know I said I wanted to make it up to you but I didn't think you were that kind of person, I don't even know if you can do that kind of stuff here and I'm really not ready for a relationship, I feel like I should get to know you more and this is all moving so fast and that's even if I want to get to know you more now because that was really rude and really forward and, and, and…"

Haseo was immediately taken aback by the words he heard stumbling out of her mouth as he watched Alice fidge in place looking first curious and then slowly angrier as she worked herself up drawing the worst possible conclusion from what Haseo had struggled to get out thus far. He felt his face getting hotter and could tell he must have been obviously blushing by now. He couldn't help but think to himself sardonically 'what was the worst that could happen?' He took a step back and put his hands up and spoke to cut off Alice before she could make any more statements of accusation as people were starting to look at them and a couple of the male players didn't look like they entirely appreciated what they could gather of the situation and the last thing Haseo wanted was trouble.

"No, no, nothing like that! I just wanted you to teach me how to play is all!"

"Teach you…how to play?"

Alice blinked in confusion as her cheeks flushed and she immediately regretted all the things she'd rambled off to the boy she just met.

"Yeah…I uh, I've never really been one to read instruction manuals and I kind of skipped the tutorial trying to make the most out of the grand launch day and all. Its kind of embarrassing to be honest!"

Alice's face lit up at the request, obviously finding renewed pride in being able to help Haseo after all and no small amount of relief at being wrong in her assumptions. A bad habit she decided she would have to watch more closely from now on.

"Well then, you've happened upon the right person! I'll have you know that I read the manual form beginning to end and one of my friends was even a beta tester and told me a bunch of stuff about starting out and how to play and a whole lot of tips to make fighting easier!"

"Well as I recall you're the one who happened upon me. And that's great, though I would hate to take you away from your friend just to teach me how to play. Are they here?"

"Not yet, no…she said she would be on later though, and I've already given her the name I would be using so when she contacts me we can meet up. It'll be fine, especially after causing you so much trouble, I insist! C'mon Haseo!"

Alice reached down and grabbed Haseo's hand in hers and began pulling him through the crowd toward a destination as of yet unknown to the young man. Taking a moment and gathering his thoughts Haseo finally recalled something Alice had said and let slip in her earlier rant and tried without much luck to hide a smile. Feeling more comfortable now than before he smirked and felt some of his more devilish habits coming back to him.

"So Alice!"

Haseo called out to the girl through the murmur of the crowd as she still pulled him along by his hand and cut her way closer to a side street leading towards one of the gates out of the City of Beginners.

"No asking where we're going, it's a surprise!"

Alice hollered over her shoulder without turning and Haseo could almost hear the girls smile through her soft airy voice. His smirk now growing bigger as he decided that it was just too rich of an opportunity to pass up if he had Alice pegged right, and he was an excellent judge of character.

"It's not that, I actually just had a question."

"Oh, what?"

"You really think I'm cute?"

Alice stopped dead in her tracks and Haseo almost ran into the girl because of the sudden stop. Her hand was still holding onto his and he could feel her palm getting hotter and if avatars had a pulse he was sure that would have quickened as well. Replacing his smirk with a purposefully inquisitive look he started to circle around the girl to see the look on her face and play off the innocent curiosity. She was beat red and glanced away from him as he tried to get a look at her and he could just barely make out the soft words that she said while turning from him.

"Wha, wha, what are you saying all of a sudden! It's not like that was the reason I talked to you or anything, I just saw you spawn and fall and wanted to make sure you wre ok and then I saw you talking but nobody was around and when I heard you mention the one hundred floors of the Tower of Aincrad I guess I just answered without thinking and then you fell again and I felt bad and I wanted to apologize and make it up to you and it's not my fault that you were so innocent looking and then the way you looked at me and you seemed so happy for some reason even though it was my fault and your hand was so warm and I didn't know the game could simulate stuff like that and…and…"

"You…thought I looked innocent?"

The voice of Haseo shook Alice from her embarrassed stupor but didn't completely break the effect of having been called out on something she was supposed to have just thought to herself. She paused and thought about his question before answering, out of all the things she said and it was that he looked innocent that he was so worried about?

"Well yeah. I mean, nobody who can be as captivated as you by how beautiful this world is can be completely bad right? I mean, I've watched people spawn and run right out to the fields to fight, but it's like you saw something more."

Haseo looked into Alice's eyes and a smile broke out over his face. Not like the smile from before, the one he forced awkwardly, the one he had tried to pass off as genuine but you could tell from his body language that he wasn't used to smiling, to trusting. How he always kept his eyes open, how he always watched and took in his surroundings, wary, even when he smiled. But his smile now, it felt like he trusted her completely for some reason and she didn't know why it made her so happy. Or why she even felt that way, it was just a smile, right? She could have swore she could feel her heart racing even though she knew her avatar simulated no such thing. His hand tightened around hers and she glanced down before looking back up to see the boy with his eyes open now and looking directly into hers.

"Thank you, Alice. That really…it was kind of a big deal for me and it meant a lot to hear you say that. I mean it. I sound crazy don't I?"

Alice exhaled, not realizing her breath had caught and Haseo suddenly released his grip on her hand, realizing at the same time just how awkward he felt. They had both lost themselves in the situation and now had trouble making eye contact with each other again, blushing and nervously thinking of what had happened. Haseo was the first to speak as he walked at a leisurely pace and then stopped a few feet away from Alice.

"Well, we had better get a move on! I'm a fast learner but I don't suppose your friend will wait too awful long to log on, it is the big launch day after all."

Haseo began walking once more only to have his hand taken again by Alice. He jerked to a stop and looked back and up at her nervously, not knowing what to expect and was relieved to see a carefree smirk as she turned and pulled him in the opposite direction he had been going.

"You might want to start by heading in the right direction then!"

Laughing to himself Haseo ran past Alice.

"I knew that, race you!"

"You so did not now…wait, Haseo! You don't even know where we're going! Haseo!"

Taking off in a run after him Alice started laughing to herself as well. Thinking to herself that it had been such a long time since she had felt so at peace, and that there was definitely more to Haseo than she had thought, something abut him; and she wanted to know what it was.

OK so...just an experiment but I'm pretty sure this is the way to add authors notes lol, hope I'm right because the internet is kind of sucky right now and i don't want to redo this..selfish, i know =P

OK! First things first, this is the first chapter to my first ever fan fiction...i know it's kind of slow paced but i promise the next chapter will have some action and will hopefully pick up the pace and get a little more into one of the characters. I don't really have a plot line for this story yet, just a general idea really of where i want to go with it so if it seems sporadic at times I apologize in advance. Now for the breakdown, i pretty much just wanted to introduce the two OC's and get some general interaction between them and sort of set the mood for future character development. Not sure how well i did since i am horrible at checking my own writing for anything other than spelling mistakes lol. That said, any and all reviews are not only welcome but will be very much appreciated! Even hate spam anger messages...as long as they're constructive hate spam anger messages lol. Anyway, hope you enjoyed and i should have chapter 2 up here shortly, i've finished writing it and just need to proof a few things. ^_^