Sword art online : Protection

Chapter 1: Kirito

(Kirito's POV)

"Let's raise our cups to our guild, The Moonlit Black Cats!" Keita exclaimed. They all chattered in agreement and clashed their cups together. I looked at them, holding my cup awkwardly.

"And a toast to the man who saved our lives too. Kirito!" Keita continued as they cheered again. 

I lifted my glass and sheepishly replied, "Ch-Cheers..."

The mace-wielder Tetsuo shouted, "You saved our behinds!"

"Thank you, thank you so much," the timid girl echoed. 

Embarrassed, I just answered, "It's no big deal..."

The timid girl, Sachi,  tightly gripped her hands around her cup. "I was scared out of my mind, so I was so relieved when you came to help us," Her voice wavered as she recalled the events. 

After we left the labyrinth and returned to town, Keita offered to buy me a drink at a pub, which I accepted at once. Once we'd had a toast of wine-- which had to be expensive for them-- and finished our introductions, Keita pulled me aside and hesitantly asked in a low voice, "Uh, Kirito, I know it's rude to ask, but what level are you?"

I'd been expecting this question. In preparation for it, I'd decided on a suitable number to tell him that wouldn't give away my actual strength. I told him the number I suspected was about three levels higher than their average as a guild-- and twenty lower than my actual total.

"Level 20 or so..." 

"That's about the same as us!" Keita marveled. "Wow, you can actually solo that dungeon at your level? I can't believe you're going solo!"

"Well, all I'm really doing is sneaking around looking for lone monsters I can handle on my own... It's not very efficient."

"Oh, okay," he paused for a moment I could sense that he had some sort of plan brewing at the back of his mind. Keita suddenly resumed, seemingly coming to a resolution. "Hey, I know I'm asking this out of the blue, but why don't you join our guild?"

The guild members all eagerly nodded and clamored in agreement. 

"What?" I pretended not to understand as Keita continued his pitch.

"Level-wise, we're actually able to handle that dungeon. The problem is our skill variety. As you saw earlier, the only 2 players we have that can handle being a forward are Tetsuo and Shirayuki, a mace and sword wielder," He backed up and placed his hand on Sachi's head. "This is Sachi. I was thinking of switching her over to a one-handed sword and shield build, so she could be a forward too, with a little bit of training."

The girl he had beckoned over nodded to me shyly. "I was wondering if you could coach her a little since someone isn't up to teaching her."

Sachi pulled away from under Keita's hand and retorted, "Geez, why are you treating me like I'm useless? It's not Shirayuki's fault that I've always liked standing in the back and poking bad guys with a long pole. It's way too scary switching to the front and getting up close and personal!" 

"It's not like I'm not up teaching her, Keita," The long silver-haired girl interjected. 

"Unlike you, I'm going to respect Sachi's wishes about staying as a polearm," the swordswoman crossed her arms, firm in her answer.

"Well, Shirayuki, maybe you'd finally like to take her up and train her then?" Keita challenged.

"Besides Keita," The long silver-haired girl interjected. "She's doing just fine as a polearm; especially with a shield."

It was clear that the two had gone through this discussion before, as Keita huffed craftily grinned, "It's alright! You can hide behind your shield," he teased. "I swear, Sachi, you've always been such a scaredy-cat!"

Until now, I'd lived an isolated life on the frontier of SAO and was used to MMORPGs being nothing but a competition over limited resources. This friendly bickering was a pleasant and radiant scene to behold. When Keita noticed the way I was watching them, he chuckled and explained with a touch of embarrassment.

"Majority of the guild is part of our high school's computer club in the real world," Keita explained. "They're all pretty nice, and I'm sure you'll fit in with us in no time!" 

I'd already seen proof of their friendly nature on the trip out of the labyrinth. The fact that I was lying to them sent a prickle of guilt down my spine, but I smiled and nodded anyway.

"Okay..." I answered. "I guess I'm in. Glad to be here."

A couple more hours passed before we all decided to take our leave and head to an inn for the night. I was not horribly surprised when they broke the news that they had yet to purchase a guild house. On our walk back, the swordswoman Shirayuki hovered to my right. I decided to start a conversation, though it was a clunky one to begin with.

"So, are you from the same school as them...?" I asked.

The silver-haired girl shook her head and began, "I met them about two months after the game had started. I was a solo player like you," She smiled nostalgically. "They took me in...  they're like a family to me. I think you'll like it here."

All I did was nod, as I couldn't find the right words to say in reply. She seemed to have sensed this, and moved on to a new topic.

"So, how long have you been going solo Kirito?" she questioned. "Have you ever been in a guild before?"

I looked away for a moment, thinking of what to say to her.  I felt her eyes burning on the side of my head as she waited for a reply. I finally came up with something vague enough to hopefully satisfy her questions. "I was asked to join a guild but decided against it... I'm usually not a sociable person..." 

Shirayuki's lavender eyes shined as she gently smiled. "Well, Kirito, we're all grateful you're here. We owe you our lives." 

It felt like there was a giant pit in my stomach as Shirayuki's praises hit my ears. My mind buzzed as I thought about today's events. I'm using these people, good people, for my own personal gain. My own satisfaction to be needed weighed out heavier than the ability to tell the truth. All I could do was weakly smile back at Shirayuki and reply, "Thank you, Shirayuki."

Entering the Inn, we made our separate ways to our own rooms. The boys went to the left of the hall, and Sachi and Shirayuki went to the right. I sat on the edge of my bed in my empty room and sighed. I swiped down to check my stats before equipping my sword. I knew I wasn't going to get any sleep with my conscience weighing down on me. I had a lot left to do, and a lot of EXP left to grind.