Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン 1. Promise

All I wanted to do was play a simple game, little did I know, this certain game would determine whether I lived...or died.

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**(April, 2023)**

"Krahhhh!" the grey haired boy screamed as he delivered his final blow to Floor 29's boss, «The Silver Bullet» , which was, for lack of better terms, a massive wolf.

After the boss had disintegrated into several polygons, a window popped up in front of him. It was «Silver Bullet's» boss drop: a one-handed straight sword called, «Rending Gale».

He smirked to himself and switched to his inventory. He clicked where his newly achieved weapon was located and confirmed he wanted to equip it. His current sword, «Swiftwolf», disappeared from his hand, then appeared a white sword with midnight blue trimming. His smile grew larger as he felt the sword in his right hand. He lifted the sword up to his left cheek and sliced the air.

"_Finally, a weapon suited for my tastes._" he thought. «Rending Gale» wasn't too light or too heavy, making it unique from other swords which either focused on lightness for speed or heaviness for power, didn't require anything to be wielded, although having a high «Parry» level never hurt anyone, and was in his favorite color, blue.

He took another swing through the air before finally setting it behind my back, in his sword holder. He dug into his pocket and fished out a «Teleport Crystal». He activated the crystal and set it for the Floor his house was located in, "Teleport. «Town of New Beginnings»."

**In the Town of New Beginnings**

He arrived where players, by default, land when coming to Floor 1, smack in the middle of town. He looked around and spotted the marketplace.

"_I might as well get some food before heading back._" he thought and started to jog towards the market stand.

He looked around and saw a couple loaves of bread, some «Frenzy Boar» meat, and some vegetables. "_Perfect._" he said to himself and got the attention of the merchant who ran the market.

"What'll it be, Yuuma?" he asked, remembering me from all the other times the boy had come here.

"Just give me a few of each." he replied, pointing at all the items he wanted.

"Alrighty, that'll be 1,000 Col." he said.

The swordsman quickly paid him and began running to reach his house. A few players the SAO player had partied with in the past asked him why he bought a house here in the first place, the very bottom of SAO, when he could have easily bought a house in the higher levels of the game. He always told them, no matter how many Floors he got through or how much money he earn, he'd always have a reason to go back to square one.

"Yuuma-nii-chan!" This was his reason.

Five little kids ran out of my house as soon as they saw me. The little brunette girl who shouted my name, Rima, being ten years old. The two boys who followed suit after her, Ruka and Takuya, were eleven year old twins. The girl and boy who ran to Yuuma after the boys did, Saki, who was also eleven and twelve year old, Daichi. Rima, Ruka, Takuya, and Saki hugged him in their 'small child death grip' until Yuuma turned blue in the face.

"What'd you get, Nii-chan?" Rima asked.

Yuuma shook the bag of groceries off his shoulder and lowered it for them to see.

"Ah! Aniki bought food! Perfect timing, I'm starving!" Ruka exclaimed, the russet haired boy snatched the bag from Yuuma's hand and dashed back inside the house.

"Hey! You better not eat all of it like last time!" Saki warned Ruka. The blue haired girl ran towards Ruka, going back inside our house, with Rima and Takuya following her.

Soon it was only Daichi and Yuuma, who still stood on the street. Daichi stared at the latter blankly, then over Yuuma's shoulder and noticed something different.

"New sword?" he asked nonchalantly.

Yuuma replied, "Yeah, I got it as a boss drop on the 29th Floor." he grabbed the handle and pulled out «Rending Gale» in one veil swoop. "Like it?"

Daichi, whose face had not shown the slightest of excitement, shrugged, "It's not bad." Daichi then shoved his hands in his pockets and walked back home.

The swordsman shook his head, "There's no way to impress that kid, huh?" Maybe it was an unofficial syndrome middle school students go through. "_Although, I was never like that when I was in middle school._" he thought as he opened the door to his house.

"Ruka! Put that down!" Saki yelled at Ruka as she chased him around the house. Ruka had yet to put down the groceries and announced that he was going to eat everything himself.

Yuuma sighed, taking off his sword holder and setting it on a chair, then switching from his «Coat of Deep Seas» into a regular long-sleeved shirt. No sooner did he take off his sword holder did Daichi pick it up and angle it against the floor. Yuuma looked at him with a confused expression before he realized Ruka was heading straight towards it.

"Bwah!" Ruka fell, landing face first and releasing the bag of groceries, which conveniently landed on the kitchen counter. Daichi placed my sword and its holder back where it was before. Ruka got up and looked at Daichi angrily, "What the heck, Daichi?! What was that for?!"

Daichi only looked at Ruka in disinterest, "You're stalling our dinner. Stop being stupid already."

Ruka scoffed, "I'm not being stupid, I was just joking. Geez."

The room went into an awkward silence until it was broken by Saki, "Lets just eat dinner," she approached me and asked, "Do you want to cook it? Yuuma-onii-chan?"

Yuuma thought about it for a second before answering, "I think it'd be better for you to, Saki. Your «Cooking Skill» is higher than mine is."

Saki nodded her head, "True. With the ingredients you bought, how does «Frenzy Boar» sandwiches sound?"

He agreed with her and let her be.

With the oversimplification of SAO's preparation, dinner was finished within 10 minutes. The small family of SAO players ate their dinner full of conversation, which mainly consisted of Yuuma's new toy.

Once everyone finished, they cleaned the table and prepared for bed. Yuuma checked every one of the kids' rooms to see if they were all asleep. When he opened Daichi's room, however, he saw no trace of the green haired twelve year old.

Yuuma didn't panic. Instead, he slowly made his way to the kitchen, where he noticed his sword was gone. Yuuma sighed before opening his inventory, putting on his «Coat of Deep Seas» on and heading out the door. The swordsman turned to his right, in the direction of the town's valley, the place where all those «Frenzy Boars» could be found. Yuuma activated his «Tracking» skill, which he had mastered when had met the bunch of shorties, and immediately spotted Daichi's footprints. He slowly started following them.

"...haa...Haaa...HAAAA!" Yuuma heard as he got closer and closer to Daichi's location. Yuuma looked up and saw Daichi swinging around «Rending Gale», occasionally hitting a «Frenzy Boar» on accident, which made him get kicked in the shin every time he did so.

Yuuma couldn't help but laugh, "You need to work on your «Speed» skill if you want those boars to stop kicking you."

Daichi furrowed his eyebrows and stared at Yuuma with a cold glare. The green haired boy scoffed quietly to himself and resumed to what he was doing, only to receive a kick to the stomach from the blue boar.

Yuuma desperately tried to hold in his laugh. The grey haired boy crouched to the ground, picking up a small stone, he then activated his «Blade Throwing» skill and threw the stone at Daichi like a bullet. The green haired swordsman trainee barely had enough time to react and deflected Yuuma's stone in the nick of time. Daichi regained his balance and gave Yuuma an even colder glare.

"What do you want?" Daichi spat annoyingly.

"I tried telling you your «Speed Skill» needed work. You're the one that decided to ignore me." Yuuma shrugged with a smile.

Daichi stood up and brushed himself off. He picked up «Rending Gale» and repositioned himself and focused on the «Frenzy Boar» in front of him. Daichi inhaled a steady breath, then exhaled just the same. «Rending Gale» started to glow a vibrant blue, which made both Daichi and Yuuma smirk.

"Haaaa!" Daichi dashed forward, impaling the boar with the «Sword Skill», «Horizontal». The boar's data disintegrated into the air, making the other «Frenzy Boars» surrounding it squeal and flee from the two males. Daichi looked at Yuuma, who in return gave him an approving nod. The two continued to train until it hurt to stand, well, until it hurt to stand for Daichi, Yuuma on the other hand was just fine. Now, the SAO players were taking a brake while leaning against a tree, talking about whatever sparked their interest.

"Yuuma, why did you help us?" Daichi asked out of nowhere.

Yuuma hesitated to answer, but finally told Daichi, "You all remind me of my little siblings in the real world. I thought as if all of you were my little brothers and sister, thinking of how unfair it was that you guys were stuck in the death game and decided to help you."

Daichi nodded his head, making the atmosphere grow awkward as the two went silent. A few minutes pasted before Daichi pondered, "How come you won't let us fight with you? We could keep up if you let us train our skills."

Yuuma, instead of hesitating, simply sighed and answered, "All of you are too young to be risking your lives to play a stupid game. It only takes one person to beat the 100th Floor and clear Sword Art Online, it doesn't need to be any one of you."

"Do you plan on beating the game yourself?"

The question caught Yuuma off guard. No, the swordsman, by no means, did not want to clear the game himself, but he couldn't tell Daichi that. Yuuma knew the twelve year old would probably flip and say he was getting stronger for nothing then. Yuuma stared off at the sky, contemplating on what he was going to say before saying, "I was never suited for the hero role. I know I'm not the one who is meant to beat the final boss, clearing SAO and freeing everyone, that's not my purpose for training my skills, rather there's something far more important in my eyes that requires me to level up my skills and wield the best equipment I can get my hands on."

Once again, the two are met with a suffocatingly awkward silence and, for a second, Yuuma thought Daichi had fallen asleep. That was until he heard Daichi's sniffles. The grey haired shot his head towards the greenette, only to find him huddled together, crying. "I don't want to die...I want to be able to see my family again...I want to help my soccer team go to nationals...I want to be able to go to high school...I can't do any of that if I'm dead..." Daichi muttered.

Yuuma was shocked. In the months he had known Daichi, never had he seen the boy show any signs of weakness or grief, let alone crying. "You won't die, not if I have a say in it." he attempted to reassure the crying boy.

Daichi shook his head and whispered, "N-no, I don't want to rely on someone else to determine if I live or not...because, if you die...so do we..." Daichi began trembling at the thought of Rima, Ruka, Takuya, Saki, and himself dying if Yuuma were to die protecting them.

Yuuma's eyes widened. He never thought his way of helping the kids turned out to be hurting them as well. The swordsman's thoughts of death had never crossed his mind on how it would effect everyone, that is until Daichi revealed the reality of things, and how complex their situation actually was. A thought flashed in Yuuma's head. "Is that why you keep practicing your «Sword Skills»?" he asked.

Daichi gave a slight nod that Yuuma almost didn't catch.

Yuuma directed his vision on the town. The fifteen year old never had the chance to take a good look at the «Town of New Beginnings» before and was amazed when he saw how much the town glowed with street lights. Yuuma sat silently at the breath taking sight, amazed in all its glory...but it was all a lie... Everything within what was Sword Art Online was only a desperate illusion, a curtain behind reality that was far from being unsheathed. The realization made Yuuma's eyes cast down at how ignorant he was to his surroundings. Yuuma inhaled a tremendous breath and exhaled all the same. He swiped the air with his right hand, opening the main menu, which still held no «Log Out» button, and opened his inventory. Yuuma took out «Swiftwolf», sheath and all, and thrusted it in Daichi's face. The boy's head shot up, surprised to find Yuuma's old sword centimeters away from him, and looked at Yuuma with a confused, surprised face.

"Here." Yuuma started, standing up in the process, "If that's what you believe, what authority do I have to stop you? I'll help you level your skills, so if one day my time in «Aincrad» comes to an end...you'll still be here for everyone."

Daichi rose silently, his bangs covering his eyes, therefore shielding his emotions. His head snapped up, looking at Yuuma with his determined, dark green eyes. "I won't let you down. I'll stand at your side, as an equal, and protect the ones I've learned to care about...even if one of them is an idiot." Yuuma smirked as Daichi extended his hand and grabbed «Swiftwolf» from him.

What neither of them expected, was for Daichi to stumble at the sword's weight, almost making him fall if Yuuma hadn't caught him. The two looked at each other before bursting in laughter. "You'll get use to it." Yuuma chuckled.

The two walked home, side by side, in peaceful silence. Once the two were home, Daichi immediately fell into a deep slumber as soon as he touched his bed. Yuuma, on the other hand, unequipped his gear and rechecked everyone's room to see if anyone woke up. He sighed in relief when he found all the kids still sound asleep just like they were when he left the house. Yuuma walked through the hallway which led to Daichi's room, gently opening Daichi's bedroom door. He leaned against the bed frame and crossed his arms over his chest when he found the greenette in full slumber. Yuuma lifted himself off the door frame and started closing the door, leaving a tiny opening as he whispered to the unconscious Daichi.

"I won't let anything happen to you guys...I promise..."

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**Author's Notes: I'm not dead! Just been really busy *coughcough*lazy*cough* the past...6 months? Sounds about right... Anyways, been lovin' SAO so I decided to write a fanfic! As for Former Joker...I don't know anymore. No one really reads it so... **


	2. Empty

All I wanted to do was become stronger...little did I realize, I became weaker and weaker as time moved on...

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**(April, 2024)**

"Asuna!" the grey swordsman screamed as he deflected the monster, known as a «Nano Slug», from the frightened sub-captain. Asuna, whom of which was also known in SAO as «The Flash», was a confident, fierce rapier user. However, add nasty bugs or slimy slugs to the picture and there was a problem, a big problem. "_Disgusting creatures._" she once called them. Yuuma, knowing of Asuna's little weakness, immediately attacked any mob that the famous sub-captain of the «Knights of Blood» simply could not handle. Yuuma charged his «Sword» skill in the next available second, sending down his sword, «Lucifer», with the skill «Vorpal Strike».

The «Nano Slug's» data scattered through the air, making the open field dungeon, located on Floor 58, fall into a comfortable silence. After recovering from her minute panic attack, Asuna let out a relieved sigh. "How about we stop here and have lunch?"

Yuuma took his time answering, seeming to be distracted for a moment. The KoB sub-captain cocked her head to the right ever so slightly, signifying her confusion and breaking the grey haired boy, who was clad in his guild uniform, out of his trance-like state. "Huh? Uh, sure, why not."

The two KoB guild members sat down on the soft, grass bedding that lay the surface of the dungeon, Asuna taking a picnic basket out of her inventory, and Yuuma sitting down in a deafening manner.

Asuna handed Yuuma his sandwich, which he accepted silently. The swordsman stared at Sandwich-san for a while, seeming to have lost his appetite for thinking about unnecessary things. "«Frenzy Boar» sandwiches..."

"Hm? What was that?" Asuna asked, confused as to why Yuuma was gazing at his sandwich so intently, "Yuuma?"

The boy in question finally noticed Asuna's presence once more, closed his eyes and shook his head, "No, it's nothing. Itadakimasu."

Asuna looked at Yuuma with eyes of worry and concern. The chestnut haired female felt the urge to question Yuuma of his actions, however, she somehow felt as though it'd only make things worse on Yuuma's part and kept to herself. Asuna decided to dismiss her urging question and started to eat her sandwich in small bites.

"...oy...uce..." Asuna heard Yuuma mutter under his breath. Oh, so badly did Asuna want to ask Yuuma what was bothering him about the sandwich she made. She bit her lip to suppress her incentive. She'd find out at a later time.

"S-so, Y-Yuuma-kun...why did you decide to rejoin the «Knights of Blood»? I-I mean, you were so against joining our guild the first time..."

Yuuma finished the last bites that remained of Sandwich-san and directed his eyes to Asuna, making said girl blush at the attention. Yuuma sensed his stare was making Asuna uncomfortable, so he shifted his eyes downward, not only for Asuna's sake, but to portray a bit of his emotion as well. "I don't know, or, rather I choose not to know...but...I guess it's to mask my problems..."

"What kind of problems?"

Yuuma shook his head. "It's nothing important."

The grey haired boy stood up, brushing off the dirt on his uniform, and looked down on Asuna. "I don't think Heathcliff would mind if we stopped here for today. What do you think?"

Asuna looked at Yuuma with wide, bewildered eyes. "Huh?! But we were assigned to clear out this dungeon and sell the monster drops back at town."

Yuuma rolled his eyes and waved his hand without a care. "Don't worry about it. As far as Heathcliff is concerned, we did our assignment for the most part." he paused for a moment before continuing, "Besides, I wanted to visit Lisbeth's shop today. I want to see if she can upgrade my sword a little more."

The KoB sub-captain held her flabbergasted expression toward Yuuma for a minute longer before sighing a sigh that signified her surrender. "It can't be helped, I guess." She, as well, stood, taking out a «Teleport Crystal» in the process.

Yuuma fished into his coat and took out a «Teleport Crystal», too. The two looked at each other before nodding.

"Teleport. «Lindus»." They said in sync.

**Lindus, Lisbeth's Shop**

The KoB members walked inside Lisbeth's shop, only to be greeted with the harsh pounding of hammer in contact with metal. The two saw the pinkette hard at work, while the latter had yet to notice the swordsman and rapier user.

"Oi! Lisbeth!" Yuuma yelled while placing his hand on Lisbeth's shoulder.

The girl jumped in surprise and hastily turned around, only to meet a pair of vibrant ruby eyes.

"Yuuma?"

"In the flesh." Yuuma smirked at Lisbeth's reaction before taking notice at the sword she was working on, "Kirito was here earlier, huh?"

The Black Swordsman's «Dark Repulser»***** laid against Lisbeth's work bench, Kirito probably left it in Lisbeth's care for a little buffing and sharpening.

"He dropped it off two days ago. I'm just doing final touches." Lisbeth answered.

Yuuma nodded his head in understanding. "I see. Well, I don't mean to stack more work on you, but can you try to upgrade my «Lucifer»?"

Lisbeth stared at Yuuma in disbelief. "Eh? But your sword's already **+44**. Why do you want to upgrade it further when it's already one of strongest swords in all of SAO?"

The grey haired, ruby eyed swordsman thought about his answer for a minute before saying, "I know it's strong, I just want it stronger."

"But why?" Both girls questioned.

Yuuma had already set the standard throughout all of «Aincrad» as the person with the «Unique Skill», «Darkness Blade»*****, which enabled him to use his current sword, «Lucifer». Not only had the new skill enabled him with a variety of «Sword Skills» that no other player could activate, but it also gave him a new found strength that was comparable to Heathcliff's own «Holy Blade».

The boy shrugged. "Who knows really? You two already know I don't want to be the one to clear the game, I don't even like being referred to as a «Clearer» even though players still refer to me as such. I just...I just don't want to be trampled on by people like «The Army» because I have a weak point."

Asuna noticed the way Yuuma had enunciated his words: in pain and regret. She could see it in his eyes as well. Lisbeth must've noticed too, for the blacksmith had expertly changed the topic.

"Whatever. Here, give me that then." she said, referring to Yuuma's sword. The pinkette began her work immediately, trying to get the job done as soon as possible, but at the same time, trying to get the job done as carefully as possible. With how the upgrade system was set up in SAO, the higher the upgrade was, the bigger chance of it failing. Every upgrade came at a price as well, which, in some cases, were not cheap.

This was one of these cases.

However, Lisbeth was well aware of how much Col Yuuma had acquired in the time they've all been trapped. She knew he'd still have money to spare even if the upgrade were to fail a million times.

Lisbeth's shop was filled with undesirable silence, and such silence was not acceptable to the pink haired shop owner.

"So, how have the kids been Yuuma?" she asked as she continued to work on Yuuma's sword.

Of course both Lisbeth and Asuna had heard of the children Yuuma took care of. Almost everyone knew of the swordsman's "family", it was what made Yuuma stand out from other players, and what persuaded others to believe in Yuuma's "heroic actions."

Yuuma flinched at the sudden question. He instantaneously balled his hands into fists and covered his eyes with his bangs, making his current expression unknown. His breathing began to waver, sounding as if he was going to lose it any second...and then...

Yuuma walked out of Lisbeth's shop without a word.

The two girls blinked a couple of times, attempting to process what just happened. All Lisbeth had done was ask a simple question to make conversation, the next thing they knew Yuuma looked like he was about to start a fight before deciding to just leave wordlessly.

Asuna had finally snapped out of her senses and thought it'd be best for one of them to check on him to see if he was alright. The KoB sub-captain gazed in Lisbeth's direction for a brief second.

They both had the same idea. And considering it probably wasn't the best idea for Lisbeth to chase after him, Asuna went instead.

It wasn't too much effort for Asuna to catch up to Yuuma, she wasn't called «The Flash» for no reason after all.

"Hey! What happened back there?" she asked.

Yuuma, like he had been doing all day, said an emotionless "Nothing" and dismissed her.

Asuna, being the stubborn one she was, furrowed her eyebrows at the less than responsive remark. "You're lying."

The words made Yuuma stop dead in his tracks, almost making Asuna crash into him. The chestnut haired girl stared at the back of his head, thinking she had finally got to him.

She was wrong.

The next thing Asuna knew, she was slammed against the wall of a building. The force being so strong it knocked the wind right out of her. She opened her eyes slowly and was greeted by a pair of cold, ruby eyes. Yuuma was glaring at her with one of the scariest, hardest glares she had ever seen. It was so uncharacteristic of the grey swordsman, so unreal.

"Just shut up." he seethed, "Just shut up and leave me alone."

Asuna was scared, literally shaking in her boots. She had never witnessed this side of Yuuma, and now that she did, she never wanted to experience it again.

"You have no idea of the pain I'm going through, you don't have the right to pry into my business..." Yuuma gripped Asuna's arms tighter, making the latter wince, "No one does..."

As suddenly as she was grabbed, Asuna was released from Yuuma's clutches. She hesitantly lifted her head and looked at Yuuma. His head was cast down.

He was crying.

Asuna's eyes widened. She categorized Yuuma as one of SAO's strongest players- just slightly below Kirito and Heathcliff-, yet to see him so vulnerable...

"Th...I...ed..." Asuna heard Yuuma mumble.

"Shhh. Breath Yuuma, tell me what's wrong." she whispered in a soothing voice.

"The kids...Daichi, Rima, Saki...Ruka...Takuya...They, they believed in me...now they're..."

Asuna didn't like where this was going.

"They're all dead..."

Asuna's eyes widened tenfold. She stared at Yuuma, absolute horror filled her eyes. Those kids, they meant everything to Yuuma...

"They all died...and it's my fault..."

That statement caught Asuna's attention as she looked at Yuuma's icon more closely.

Her heart sank to her stomach.

Yuuma's player icon glowed a sickening red.

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**Author's Notes: Why I killed the kids off so early? I don't even know... But they're still important! The SAO Arc of the story kinda hops around like the anime...don't know, just like it that way...**

***Lets just pretend Kirito met Lisbeth before June. According to the wiki, there was suppose to be more Unique Skills added to the story.**


End file.

Sword Art Online/ソードアート・オンライン, Adventure, Tragedy