"You are sulking, Useless Bum!" yelled the spiky black haired old man with bushy sideburns and beard, as he punched his orange haired son on top of his head, getting a satisfying sound of crack with the impact.

"Gak!" Ichigo cried out as he accidentally bit his tongue. However, he reflexively recovered from his position and grabbed his old man's arm and flung him over his shoulder with a shout of, "Damn it you stupid old man! What the hell was that for?!"

The said old man flipped through the air like a gymnast, and landed on his feet... In the air… because Ichigo threw him out the window.

"Oh shit, Oh shit! OH SHIT!" the old man yelped as he somehow got close enough to the window by flailing his arms and legs in the air, grabbing onto its edge with his fingers alone. "Are you trying to kill me?!" the man cried out as he tried to pull himself up the window.

"You shouldn't have punched me in the head then, old man!" Ichigo said as he turned away from the window, where the spikey black haired annoyance was starting to pull his head above the window sill.

"But I was just trying to get you out of your permanent pms-ing state~" The old man whined, then found one of his hands wrenched from the window sill, with his other one holding on precariously while his brat was slowly prying them away from the window! "Wah Wah What are you doing?!"

Dark shadow seemed to have fallen over the brat's forehead, as a pissed smile and a bulging blood vessel showed itself on his son's face. "Pms-ing state, huh?"

"Gahh! Stop stop stop! I cancel the pms-ing comment!" Isshin cried anime tears as his fingers were slowly getting pried away.

"Tch, dumbass old man. Get out of my room." Ichigo let go of Isshin's hand and turned away, going back to his desk, where he began to study once again.

However, he did not see the malignant glint Isshin's eyes held as he pulled himself over the window, taking out a pack of ropes from god knows where.

Ichigo felt a shiver crawl up his back, and the next instant, he was jumping to side to get away from whatever was going to happen to him.

"NAIVE!" Isshin roared, as he appeared over Ichigo's body that was in mid-jump, and tied him up… In a BDSM style.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OLD MA-GUP WUP WUP!" Ichigo's rant was sadly cut up short as a ball was stuffed in his mouth.

"SON! SINCE YOU ARE IN YOUR CONSTANT PMS-ING STATE AFTER STUFFING AIZEN'S ASS TO HIS MOUTH, I DECIDED TO GET YOU A HOBBIE!" Isshin yelled out with a shit eating grin, taking out something that looked strangely like a metal helmet from his back.

'I will kill you old man. I swear.' Ichigo thought and tried to say, but all that came out was muffled cry of annoyance.

Isshin, reading Ichigo's expression, wagged his finger in front of Ichigo and poked him in the temple. "Now, now. This will be good for you. This metal thingy is called a NERvGEAR, a new gaming console that came out today! Apparently, this let's you go into a dream of sorts where you pay with other players with a body! Now, I'm gonna scan your body, and… voila! now you are ready!"

Isshin put the gaming console on Ichigo's head, giving it a few knocks to see that it has been placed on securely. Then, he pulled out the ball in Ichigo's mouth. "Now, all you have to say is Link Start! Then you can start the game boy!"

"No way in seven hells am I gonna say "Link Start" old ma-"

And thus Ichigo was sent into the world of Sword Arts Online.

Now it starts.

The next adventure of the protector.

What will he change?

How will he change it?

No matter, the dice has been cast.

Now, let the game begin.

Everguard Production Presents

The One Who Protects

AN: I do not own Bleach or Sword Arts Online. I do not gain any monetary benefit from my work. This has been written purely for enjoyment purposes for myself and the others of Fanfiction.

When Kurosaki Ichigo opened his eyes, he found himself staring at a white space of nothingness.

Please type your username

A voice called out, and with it, a keyboard appeared in front of Ichigo along with a slowly blinking bar.

Ichigo looked at the keyboard with a flat look before shouting at the white space around him.

"OIIIII! Get me out of here! I don't even want to play this! I have to go to work! You think college in the future will pay for itself! Get me out! LET ME OOUUUUUUTTTTTTTTT!"

No reply came.

The shout of anger did not even echo in this space.

Sighing, Ichigo looked at the keyboard.

"Might as well…" Ichigo groused as he typed in his name: Ichigo. "He's probably leave me tied up till I have played at least an hour of this anyway…"

Mumbling to himself, he began typing out the password, the character adjustment, which he made to look like old man Zangetsu, and many other things, till he came to the final bar, reading: You cannot change anything after this point. CONTINUE?

Without hesitating, Ichigo pressed YES.

And the world, the spacious white world, burst into color.

"Whoa!" Ichigo gave a small shout of surprise as he found himself in a large square in a town with a bell at its center, where several other people appearing with a burst of light as well.

Although there were subtle differences in between the real world and the virtual world, Ichigo was suitably impressed by the quality of the world before him. It looked so… Real. Although he could not see the wrinkles can callouses on this hand, he could feel and move his hands like his real one. Also, the look of the clothes and small armour that he was wearing seemed genuine to him.

The sky, the trees, the buildings, the people that were still appearing from various places around the world to gather in the world of fantasy and adventure seemed all real to Ichigo, who just got a slap in the face due to the sudden appearance of a culture he had never seen before.

His reaction to this new revelation was…

"Meh, whatever." Ichigo shrugged his shoulders and began walking down the central square.

Afterall, Ichigo had faced a new world before. A beautiful world with a culture that seemed so different from his. He had lived, fought, and survived in the said new world. He was also barred from the said world, as his spiritual power slowly disappeared after his fight with AIzen.

Therefore, even in his nonchalance and neutral face, Ichigo did not notice a sense of anticipation and excitement that was slowly rising in his heart. The aspect of a new adventure made his heart beat faster.

Only a slightly faster though. Otherwise he would have noticed his own feelings.

However, as Ichigo walked, he realized one thing.

"...Now what?"

Ichigo had never heard of NERvGEAR before his idiotic father's forceful bondage enforcement.

In a different matter, where and why did Isshin know how to use the rope to make bondage entrapment?

…

Ichigo almost threw up at the implication of what his father and mother may have done for his father to learn how to use his ropes for BDSM.

Back to the matter at hand, what was this place anyway?

How was he supposed to survive?

…How was he supposed to leave this world?

While Ichigo was questioning such implications that would quickly become complicated, he did not realize that he had arrived at the entrance of the Starting City.

And he left, going into the wilderness, not even going into the field, which was placed on the other side of the city, but into the forest, where the monsters that were horrendously hard for players of even beta test period to beat at level 1. But this is Ichigo's we are talking about. He was so bad ass that he could kick whatever he faced in the teeth without blinking an eye.

Ichigo easily killed the 9th Rabid Bear, felling it with a knife in his hand that he found was strapped to his side at the beginning of the fight with the mobs. He had already transitioned to level 2, and was 1/4th in the way to becoming level 3.

In the beginning, although he found them hard to kill due to their relatively large defense only with his flimsy starting knife, he soon found that if he hit them in the head, it incited a critical hit, which easily tripled his damage points.

Therefore, even if his slow starting body was inconvenient, he was able to utilize his lightning fast reflexes gained from fighting Hollows to hit the mobs in the head multiple times before backing away from each of their powerful but relatively slow(to him) strikes from claws and fangs.

Of course, even with the critical hits, the bear's hide had high defense, and the beginners knife that he had in his hand broke with low endurance.

"Huh?" Ichigo looked at his hand in confusion, wondering where his weapon had disappeared to. There were three more bears surrounding him from three sides. Therefore, he would not be able to easily escape. Even more pressing matter was that the sun was lowering down, and with that the monster activity was becoming more frequent. Without a weapon, Ichigo's chance of getting out of the forest alive was becoming more scarce.

Then, before he knew it, Ichigo got transported.

"What?" Ichigo looked around him in confusion, a look mirrored by many others who were similarly confused and irritated by the massive recall to the Starting City as well as their inability to get out of the game.

The transportation of the players continued for several seconds until the large central square looked like it was filled with all 10000 people.

Several different cries resounded throughout the square, such as:

"Hey! Is this about the system error in the Log Out button?!"

"I have to get out of here! Fix it already!"

"Oh come on! I was about to kill the monster! What the hell?!"

And many more, congregating into a condensed murmuring that became louder and louder.

Then, the ceiling became checkered red. In each box, two phrases were criss crossing each other: Warning and System Announcement

Ichigo, who didn't know about the missing Log Out button, looked at the ceiling with irritation, feeling that the messaging system of the operator of this world seemed very ominous for some reason.

Also, he couldn't figure out why the feeling of dread was building up in his stomach.

Then, in the middle of the red checkered patterns, a red, viscous liquid was being dripped down slowly, morphing, coalescing into a shape of a man.

Tightness in Ichigo's gut intensified, making him scowl at the figure that formed.

It was a twenty feet tall figure, with a robe and a hood. However, the figure did not have a face. No, it would be more correct to say that the figure did not have a body. The head inside the robe was empty, as well as the arms that were supposed to be inside the robe and connected to the gloves were empty. The figure seemed like a phantom that appeared to give them a curse.

"What the hell is that?" Ichigo growled out, making some people slide away from the pure vitriol that his voice was filled with. Ichigo didn't understand. He didn't understand what was happening. He arrived in this place with no knowledge of what to do. He did not even know how to open the menu. He simply did not have Rukia this time to explain what he had gotten himself into. He basically survived the first few hours due to his superhuman reflexes from his earlier days and luck of finding a knife strapped to his belt when he was in the forest. However, he could damn well figure out that the being floating looked like some antagonist in a story.

"Hey, if that the GM?"

"Why doesn't he have a face?"

The bodiless figure slowly lifted his hands up into the air like an announcer spraying out his hands into the world during a speech.

And he spoke, in a slow, calm voice of a male.

"Players, I welcome you all to my world."

Ichigo's mind was in full alarm as the figure said the first sentence. The way he had said "My World" seemed as though he was sure he had the full control of his world. Who was he? Why did he give off a feeling that made him wary of him? The answer was given in the next few moments.

"My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now I am the only person who can control this world."

"!" Ichigo now understood. the being's presence depicted the fact that the world Ichigo was in right now, was not a real world, but a world where everything and everyone in it, could be manipulated by the whims of the creator.

"I think many of you have discovered the fact that the log out button has disappeared from the menu. This is not a bug. It's all part of the Sword Arts Online's system.

Now Ichigo remembered. Even though he did not care about the games, he did hear the news that Agas, a leading company of online gaming, headed by Kayaba Akihiko, was going to release a new game today called Sword Arts Online. So this was… SAO… And Log Out meant the button in which they could use to get out of the game. If the log out button was not present within the system… Did that mean he was unable to get out of the game?

"Until you get to the top of this castle, you cannot get out of the game."

This castle?

Ichigo frowned in confusion as he looked around. What castle was he talking about? He could not see any castle in this place.

"Also, the discontinuation or dismantling of NERvGEAR from the outside is strictly forbidden. If these things are attempted…"

Ichigo began to understand where this was going. The being in front of him exuded the presence of a person who understood what he was doing, and was determined enough to do it regardless of what happens to him.

"The signal sensors in your NERvGEARs will emit a strong electromagnetic pulse, destroying your brain and stopping all your basic functions."

Ichigo's face twisted in rage and confusion. Why? Why? Why? Why was he doing this? Even Ichigo understood that dying in the game meant that you would be revived. The figure in front of him did not look like a person who would meaninglessly kill everyone for no reason. So why was he entrapping them in a game with no escape?

"To be a little more specific, dislocation from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start. These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully get rid of the Nerve Gears. The result—"

The voice took a short breath here.

"—regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world forever."

Ichigo's face hardened into something like a carved marble.

213 people were already dead. Obviously, this Kayaba Akihiko would stand by his decision to entrap them in this world regardless of how many people died. Whatever his reasons were, there was no doubt that the person was ready to mass murder 10000 people.

Ichigo hated these types of people. From Byakuya to Aizen, who were willing to sacrifice a person's life that was not their own for a cause... Ichigo could never understand them, and did not want to understand them.

"Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies that you have left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and internet media are all repeatedly reporting this situation, including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gears taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have given, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax…and concentrate on beating the game."

Beating the game?

BEATING THE GAME?!

"This is not a game anymore you bastard!" Ichigo roared out loud, startling some people that were standing with their mouth open. "The moment you entrapped us here, this game has gone to far to be a game anymore! What the hell do you mean by BEATING THE GAME? Does our lives look like a part of the game to you?!"

"But I ask of you all to understand that Sword Art Online is no longer a simple game. It is a second reality. …from now on, any form of revival in the game will no longer work. The moment that your HP reaches 0, your avatar will be gone forever, and at the same time—"

"Your brain will be destroyed by the Nerve Gear."

Ichigo glanced up, his Health Points shining at the top left side of his vision. The numbers 60/420 was placed upon it. This became his life.

He scoffed.

He had faced many life threatening events before. If this was meant to intimidate or scare him, it was useless.

He had faced so much in real life. Even if this became a death game where he put his life on the line, he was not scared. However…

He glanced left and right.

All the players around him were still confused. However, the confusion would turn to fear the moment they understood what was happening and what they were gonna be forced to face.

"Players there is only one way to be freed from this game, as I have said before you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word."

Ichigo breathed in deeply, and breathed out equally slowly.

He remembered all his friends' family's faces before his eyes hardened in resolve. He had to go to the top floor? No problem. Although it would take time, all he had to do was beat the game. He faced foes worse than this. he would beat this game one way or another.

But first…

"Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories there will be a gift from me. Please confirm this."

Ichigo became confused. How was he supposed to open the inventory? Then, he saw many other players swiping their forefinger down in front of them, opening a screen.

Ah, so that's how.

Ichigo also opened the menu, then clicked the inventory, and saw an item that appeared in his inventory.

Hand Mirror

What was the point of this?

Ichigo clicked on the hand Mirror with his finger, and it appeared in the air, letting Ichigo grab it. It showed the face of the old man Zangetsu.

Then, a few moments later, Ichigo was engulfed in a white light.

When he stared at the mirror… He saw himself. The similar orange hair, similar peachy skin, and brown eyes. His body had changed as well, into his lean frame.

He looked around himself, and saw that many other people's faces had changed as well. Also, the male to female ratio of the population had gone a significant overhaul as well, as Ichigo noted in disgust as some male players wore female players' equipments.

Then, the figure started speaking again.

"You will all most probably be wondering 'why.' Why am I—the creator of both the Nerve Gear and SAO, Kayaba Akihiko—doing something like this? Is this a sort of terrorist attack? Is he doing this to ransom us?"

It was then that Kayaba's voice, which had been emotionless up to now, seemed to show some signs of emotion. Ichigo could identify an emotion of satisfaction? Fulfillment?

"None of these is the reason I am doing this. Not only that, but now for me, there is no longer a reason or a purpose in doing this. The reason is because…this situation itself was my purpose in doing this. To create and watch this world is the only reason I have created the Nerve Gear and SAO. And now, everything has been realized."

And Ichigo understood.

That this person was a person who wanted to create a world.

And succeeded in doing so.

By using 10000 people as a living sacrifice.

This person was similar to Aizen in the way that they saw human lives as just means to an end.

"Now I have finished the official tutorial for Sword Arts Online. Players, I wish you luck."

The figure then got sucked into the system message boards, head first.

Ichigo scowled, as he looked around himself. This was going to be troublesome. The people around him were normal people that did not go through what he had gone through. Soon, their confusion would turn into anger and panic. In panic, they might do something irrational like killing themselves. He had to stop such thing from happening. Already, shouts of disbelief and panic was settling over the crowd.

"It's a joke right…? The hell is this? It's a joke right!?"

"Stop kidding around! Let me out! Let me out of here!"

"No! You can't! I've got to meet someone soon!"

"I don't like this! I'm gonna go home! I want to go home!"

"Hey! Calm down!" Ichigo tried to yell above the crowd, trying to stop them from panicking, but it was useless in the face of the crowd.

Yells. Clamors. Shouts. Curses. Begging. And screaming.

The people that had changed from game players to prisoners in a matter of minutes crouched clutching their heads, waved their arms about, grasped each other or started to swear loudly.

Ichigo cursed loudly, and tried to focus. The mood of the crowd was getting to him, making him more frantic. He had to focus! What did he have to do? How was he supposed to accomplish it?

First, he had to make the people calm down. How? How? No! Calm! C.A.L.M. He… had to have their attention. How? Ichigo's eyes instantaneously focused upon the bell in the center of the square.

Aha.

Ichigo began pushing his way into the center of the square, pushing, kicking, and trying to reach the bell.

It was not easy, with the people screaming and jostling the tightly packed crowd.

However, Ichigo reached the tower that held the bell.

And he began to climb up.

and up

And up.

it was easy to climb, as the tower had many places to grab hold of, and use as footings.

And he arrived at the top.

As he got in front of the bell, he saw a screen pop up in front of him.

Ring?

He clicked on, Yes and waited.

The bell did not ring itself.

Cursing, Ichigo went in front of it. It did not have anything to hit with, no stick, nothing. Therefore, Ichigo went for the next best thing.

His fist.

He struck it.

It swayed a little, but it did not ring.

Matching the beat, Ichigo began to strike it repeatedly, making it sway more, and slowly, it began to ring, louder and louder, drowning out the sound of despair below and making players focus upon him. When he looked back and found himself in the center of the attention, he stopped punching the bell and looked back at them.

Slowly, the bell settled down once again, bathing the square in silence.

Ichigo stared out at the crowd.

The crowd stared at him back.

And he spoke, with a thunderous yell that cut sharply into the crowd.

"Alright! Listen up! Since I'm going to say it once!" He started. He didn't what else he was going to say, but he forged on anyway. "My name is Ichigo, and I'm a player in this game! I want you to stop panicking like drunken monkeys and think! Kayaba what's-his-face said that we were all trapped here until we beat the game!"

And uneasy muttering began to come out from the crowd.

Ichigo took a deep breath.

"Personally, I don't want to believe what he said was true, and we may be rescued in a few hours if what Kayaba said was not true. So there is no need to panic!"

There were some murmuring around the crowd, and a person shouted back at Ichigo.

"But what if what Kayaba Akihiko said was true?"

Ichigo took a deep breath, and breathed out slowly.

"If what he said was true by some chance…" Ichigo paused, trying to figure out how he may break the news to them gently, but gave up on it pretty quickly. He was a blunt guy anyway. He closed his eyes and said the next words. "Then we live on, and try to clear the game."

The crowd became more restless at his blunt comment, some starting to panic, some starting to hyperventilate, some starting to scream once again.

"SHUT UP!" Ichigo roared out, cutting across the crowd's mind, and having their focus upon him once again. "If what he said was false, we will be liberated soon enough! However, if what he said was true, there is no choice other than to clear this game! This game has become reality once we became trapped in here! If what Kayaba has said is all true, we may die if our health points become zero. This may be Kayaba's goal, to kill us all in this demented world like a mad serial killer. However..." He paused, trying to think. "However, are we really going to die like THIS?! By the hands of a madman?"

The faces of Yuzu, Karin, Orihime, Chad, even Isshin and Uryu came to his mind, making him scowl inside with anger and grief at the situation he has gotten himself in.

"Unable to see our family again? In this unknown land? Are you just gonna give up and die because some crazy guy entrapped you in this place? If so…" Ichigo breathed in, then out. "Then you are playing into Kayaba's hands, defeated by some freak whose specialty is some computer programming."

The crowd was beginning to see through their initial disbelief and hysteria, their mood setting into anger and rage directed at Kayaba Akihiko.

That was good.

Anything was better than panic and hysteria.

Anything was better than just giving up.

"We are HUMANS!" Ichigo cried out, gaining a small roar back from some parts of the crowd. "We don't just give up and die! We adapt and conquer! This game will not stand in our way of gaining FREEDOM!"

The roar that greeted the end of his impromptu speech was deafening.

Ichigo nodded sharply. He had stopped their initial hysteria… Now, how was he going to help them survive? He was just a beginner that came into this world today. There was no way he could help them in anyway in turns of knowledge or skill.

The crowd began talking amongst themselves, hope filling their previously empty ones filled only with despair, confusion, and disbelief.

"Now what?" A few people asked, as they turned their heads toward Ichigo, who had earned their trust and respect, who had risen above them to save them from despair and madness.

And now, he had no idea what to do.

What do you actually do in a game?

He needed information.

They all needed information.

Therefore… They needed Rukia, a person who would introduce them to this world and teach them the basics of surviving in this world. Like how he learned from her, they all could learn the basics from them as well.

Ichigo sincerely hoped that such people existed.

"ALRIGHT! Settle Down!" Ichigo shouted again into the crowd, and found even himself impressed when almost all noise disappeared in a few seconds.

"So! We need information! Information on how to play this game, how to survive in this game, and how to beat this game! I'm just a beginner that started today! If there are players that are really good at playing this game, please come out now and help us!"

us…

us…

us.

Ichigo's voice echoed over the square, creating a ringing sound. Yet know no one cried out in response.

"Oi, there are beta testers here, right? Come out!" Some one shouted out to the crowd as well, creating a loud murmur that spread over the crowd.

Soon, the crowd began to shout for the beta testers to show themselves, growing louder and louder, becoming more impatient as their source for help and information did not show themselves.

Ichigo growled. This was not how it was supposed to be. If the crowd became more hostile and belligerent, it would drive whoever these beta testers are, further away. He had to act. Now.

"BEEEEE QUUUUUIIIIIEETTTTTT!" Ichigo roared at the top of his voice, silencing the crowd before it became a full out riot.]

Ichigo swept his gaze over the crowd, and spoke. "Alright. I don't know what these beta testers are, or who they are." Ichigo looked at the sky, where the sun was beginning to lower over the horizon, bathing the square in fiery red glow. Then he looked back at the crowd.

"But I understand that the beta testers may not want to necessarily help out the people when they could be using their information for themselves. After all, information is power, and people with more power can win over others in this world, where there is little order, and strength is law… And you may be scared of helping people, having responsibility over them, and having them look to you as a guiding source in this frightening situation may be scary!"

Ichigo cried out, as he straightened his stance.

"But! Please!" He bowed to the crowd, to the unseen hidden masses that knew the secret of surviving in this foreign world, even though his pride was large, he knew that sometimes, you needed the others' help. Sometimes, you needed allies to live through a battle, like he needed Orihime, Chad, Uryu, and Rukia during his earlier days. And for that, he needed to sacrifice his pride. "Please help us! We cannot live in this world without knowing what to do! Please!"

Lease…

Lease…

Lease…

Silence.

Absolute silence, as if the world was holding its breath for a momentous turn in its history, it seemed as though the time had stopped.

Only to be broken by one cry.

"I'M A BETA TESTER!" One person cried out.

Ichigo straightened his back, and turned his eyes to the person who had spoken out.

It was a boy. A boy no older than 14, with a feminine face that could have been mistaken for a girl's. He had black hair and black eyes. He seemed to be shocked that he had been the one that had shouted out, and looked at himself strangely, as if he was looking at himself for the first time. Then, he realized that many eye were upon him, and he began to shrink back to himself until…

"I'm a beta tester as well!" Another person cried out, this one was a tall man, with a blue hair that could only have been dyed through the system.

And several more began to join in their cries

And in no time, over five hundred people gathered and arrived at the center of the square, right below the bell.

Ichigo jumped down from the tower, landing in front of the beta testers that had arrived at the center, giving them a piercing stare that made some of them shift uncomfortably at first.

"Thanks for coming." Ichigo nodded to them, earning some grins and nods of acceptance back from them.

"Can you help the new players get used to this world?" Ichigo asked them, to which a person asked.

"How do you want us to help? I don't think we can get through the basics even if we just explain how to play this game all throughout the night."

The person who spoke was a blue haired young man.

Ichigo nodded and accepted the person's opinion with his eyes closed. Then, he opened his eyes again, and addressed the problem. "How about splitting the workload? Each of you guys can take from about 10 to 20 people and teach them what you know about playing SAO tomorrow. It doesn't have to be everything you know, but at least giving them a beginner's guide to surviving and fighting should be enough. Just some basic stuffs. Then, they should at least have some better chance of living through this place."

Ichigo looked around himself and grimaced. "The sun has already gone down. We need to sleep well and prepare for tomorrow anyway. Just take their name tonight and tell them where to meet at what hour. We will start from there."

The beta testers nodded, their faces set as they understood what they must do.

"ALRIGHT!" Ichigo roared out to the crowd that was loudly speaking to themselves, getting their attention back to him slowly as the crowd realized that Ichigo was about to speak up once again.

"SPLIT YOURSELVES INTO GROUPS OF ABOUT 20! ONE OF THESE BETA TESTERS WILL COME AND TAKE LEAD OF YOUR GROUP! FOLLOW HIM, TAKE HIS NAME, AND FIND OUT WHEN YOU GUYS WILL MEET TOMORROW! THEN THEY WILL START TEACHING YOU THE BASICS OF SWORD ARTS ONLINE!"

At Ichigo's command, the crowd roared in approval and began splitting themselves up into smaller groups. Ichigo nodded in approval and turned back to the Beta Testers. "Thank you for volunteering to help. Please find a group without a beta tester, and start what we have planned. If you can't find any group without beta tester, then join one of the groups even if it has a beta tester. We will need as many helps as we can get."

Many beta testers began to leave, saying good bye to each other and Ichigo, to associate themselves with a group and start teaching them how to survive.

"Impressive."

Ichigo heard a deep male voice behind him and saw a man with silvery gray hair standing, looking around himself with eyes of interest. He seemed about twenty to thirty years old with muscular and tall body. However, such factors did not matter. What Ichigo quickly noted as the greatest factor of the man was his gaze.

His gaze was… Overbearing. No, Ichigo could shrug off the man's gaze as he had held gazes far more strong, far more malicious, far more intimidating than this man's gaze. However, in terms of normal people, the man in front of him gave off an aura of solid steel.

His eyes looked as though they were… analyzing. Yes. Analyzing Ichigo for what he was. For what he had done. And such gaze reminded him of Aizen for some reason and he scowled more deeply than his trademark scowl, looking back at the man with a frown.

"Who are you?" Ichigo asked more brusquely than intended, however, the man gave Ichigo an irritated feeling just by standing there,looking at him, and Ichigo was trying to figure out why the man gave him such feeling.

"Name is Heathcliff." The man nodded to Ichigo.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Wuthering Heights?"

Heathcliff let a small smile grace his lips. "Hoh? You know the book?"

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders before answering, "It's one of the classics." He paused a little bit before looking back at Heathcliff intensely. "Do you need something?"

"Your name, was it Ichigo?" Heathcliff asked.

"Yeah." Ichigo nodded.

"You said before, that you are new to this game as well?"

"Yeah. So?" Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Heathcliff, wondering where he was going with this.

"I noticed that you did not count yourself amongst the people that needed information. You are a beginner as well, are you not? You did say it in the beginning." Heathcliff replied easily, continuing his speech as if Ichigo was not being rude with his curt replies. "I am a beta tester that knows much about this game, and I have decided to teach you."

"Decide to teach me?" Ichigo growled. Who the hell is he to say that as if he was lording over him. "Who says I'm wanna be teached by you? I can take care of myself." Ichigo turned to go, but was halted by the next few words that Heathcliff said.

"You will disappoint them, you know."

"What?" Ichigo turned sharply, glaring at Heathcliff. Who was he talking about? Was he someone he knew in the real world? He had never seen him before.

"Look around you." Heathcliff spread an arm around him, gesturing to the people that were milling around Ichigo.

Ichigo looked around him, but did not see anything unnatural. "What?" Ichigo growled out irritably.

"Don't you see it? These people, they respect you. They were about to fall into an abyss of despair and madness after Kayaba Akihiko's tutorial. But you saved them, and made them see the truth. By doing so, you have earned the hope and wish of everyone. you became a hero figure 5 minutes after the real game began."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes at Heathcliff's wording, as if Heathcliff was staring down at the people from a higher place, but ignored his feelings for now and looked around him, taking in the sight of the crowd around himself, looking more closely.

And he saw it.

Although the faces of the people mostly did not change, their eyes held a light of admiration for him, a sense of respect and hope as they saw his figure.

"You see it, don't you?"

Heathcliff's words snapped Ichigo back to himself, making him scowl at the fact that he became distracted in front of this person. However… This person was right. "Yeah, so?"

"As a person that has shouldered the hope of the people, the moment you die, it will cause a massive blow to the people's morale. They see you as an impromptu leader, a person that would lead them through this dark time and return them home. And for these people, I cannot let you die. And for their expectations of you as a savior, a leader, a protector from the dark times, you need to become stronger. Maybe stronger than anybody else. That is why I decided to teach you."

Ichigo stared at Heathcliff for a few moments, before he spoke. "You are quite full of yourself, aren't you?" He turned and began walking away, ignoring the widening eyes of Heathcliff at his reply. "Decide to teach me? So that I don't die in some gutter?" He turned back to Heathcliff, his eyes blazing in fury. "Who the fuck do you think I am?"

"What?" Heathcliff frowned, not in anger, but in contemplation as if Ichigo's reply confused him as if he was acting out of expectations.

"My name is Kurosaki Ichigo, named to mean 'one who protects'. I will protect these people to the best of my abilities. However, I don't need some person I have never met before to tell me what to do. Become a leader? Become a savior? To meet their expectations? Who the fuck cares about that they think of me? You think I will babysit them like a mother just because they expect me to? You think that they need me to lead them like a shepherd toward some goal? Then look again." Ichigo held out his hands to the crowd, making Heathcliff look at the crowd around them.

"What are you trying to convey? Your death will cut their morale regardless of if you choose to lead them or not. You need to learn at least the basics to function correctly in this game." Heathcliff spoke his opinion matter of factly like a machine, analyzing the surroundings with a gaze of steel.

Ichigo shook his head, then proceeded to explain, turning away from Heathcliff. "To protect doesn't mean I have to be the shield of any person every time they are in danger. To me, to protect someone is to help them stand up and protect themselves." Orihime and Chad had been like that. Ichigo had protected them, and was there for them to help them stand up on their own accord. And also, he had been here for the people of SAO as well.

The people had hope in their eyes for him. Yes, that was true, but Ichigo had given these people the will to not give up, as well as the means to survive in this world. And Ichigo saw it.

The drive.

The newfound courage.

The will to strengthen themselves and beat the game.

"And I have done that already. How they do depends on them now." Ichigo turned back to Heathcliff, who had a gleam in his eyes as though he had understood something significant. "And you believe that I would die in this place just because I don't have some guy tutor me through the game? Then dream on. I will become stronger, even without your help, I will survive and help these people win through this death game. So help another group or something. I will take care of myself."

Heathcliff closed his eyes for a few moments, as if he was thinking of something, before he nodded and turned away. "Very well. Then at least allow me to wish you good luck Kurosaki Ichigo. You will need it."

Ichigo snorted and started to walk away with a final parting word, "Whatever."

Ichigo was walking down the street, where it was still quite packed as people walked about to either find a place to sleep or still plan out a meeting with the beta tester tomorrow.

However, it seemed that his orange hair made it easy for everyone to memorize his features as many people parted ways before him.

He felt as if someone was following him.

He stopped and turned around, and saw a short girl with a hooded cloak grinning up at him.

"Ichigo?" The girl asked simply.

"Who are you?" Ichigo bluntly questioned, not caring that he sounded rude, but after meeting Heathcliff, he did not want to deal with some I-will-tutor-you-ignorant-one bullshit again.

"Name is Argo the Rat. My main occupation is information dealer. I have some information that you might find useful." Argo did not come closer to Ichigo, as she said these words.

Ichigo raised an eyebrow, then shrugged and asked. "What kind of information?"

"Oh, you know, just basic ones that you might need to buy some equipment or access your stats or something during a game."

Stats? What are stats? Ichigo felt confused as things he didn't know about began to be said from the girl in front of him. Ichigo did not let Heathcliff teach him because Heathcliff talked as if he was generously providing help to a neanderthal, but if an information broker gave him information for a fair exchange, then Ichigo did not have a problem with that.

"How much?" Ichigo simply asked.

"Hmm…?" Argo hummed as she tapped a finger to her chin, looking at Ichigo with a twinkle in her eye. "None. This first one is for free."

Ichigo growled at her. "Hey! I'm not a charity case!" Maybe her intentions were different from Heathcliff, but Ichigo felt a little irate after speaking with Heathcliff.

Argo giggled, and held up both of her hands in a placating manner. "Nyahaha, don't worry Ichi-bou, I'm not giving you this information because I think you are stupid or need help. I'm giving you this info as a thanks for earlier."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow at her words. "A thanks? For what?"

"For stopping us from going crazy of course!" Argo proclaimed as she got closer to Ichigo, and whispered to him when she got close enough. "Many of us have realized just what you have done, Ichi-bou. You have given us a road to walk in while we were lost in the dark woods, and to repay for that, I'm willing to give you a discount for this one time only!"

Ichigo stared at Argo for a few seconds, before sighing. "Alright, let's hear what you have to say."

Argo's grin, stretched even more at that answer. "Well, let's start with…"

In a world, where a certain orange haired 16 year old did not go to the world of Sword Arts Online, two thousand people died two month into the game.

The moment they realized that no help would be coming into the world of SAO from the outside world, the people would cry, wail, and some of them would give up on life, disbelieving of the world around them and killing themselves by jumping off the edge of Aincrad.

Over half of the players would wait for the help to arrive, but no help would come, and they would join the ARMY, which would consist of about three thousand people. Others would split into smaller guilds, and even smaller number of people would become either soloers and weapon/armour makers.

However, this world was not that world, because in the end, a certain orange haired teen did go into the world of Sword Arts Online.

Because of one young man, everything changed.

Throughout the first two months, only 400 people died either out of accidents while training, or because they were too weak in their hearts and gave up, throwing themselves off the side of Aincrad.

The structure of the players started out with an impromptu 500 groups, with the starting players being led by the beta testers but changed as some groups assimilated into other groups and some groups split off from others. In the end, as the structure of the players stabilized, about 100 guilds remained, with about 100 players per guild, some bigger, some smaller.

There was also 100 players that chose to strengthen themselves by becoming soloers. One of such people was Ichigo, who did not make friends easily, but made an unbreakable bond when he did make friends. Because he did not find the need to, Ichigo did not join a guild, and set himself apart from many others. Many came to recruit him. Many failed.

This is, in the end, a story of the orange haired young man, thrust again into a foreign world, struggling to survive, meeting new people, and trying to beat the impossibly game of SAO.

Let us read the story of, The One Who Protects.

So, a new story that came to my mind, and has yet to leave my head. So I thought, "Why not?"

I know that the Campione of Heroes has yet to be updated, and the thing is, I became bored with it. I am an irresponsible douche bag. I know.

I am interested in this story for now, so I'm prbably gonna start updating this.

I dunno.

Welp, I'll try my best regardless.

Kain Everguard.