~Bleach SAO A1 Ch3~

Bored.

A mirthless laugh escaped her closed lips as she walked the paved walkway of the ‹‹Town of Beginnings›› to the plains outside, following a procession of scared, timid players wanting to learn how to play– the death game– Sword Art Online properly so that they had a better chance of surviving the death game.

A shiver ran throughout her spine as she thought about what had happened only a few minutes ago. A red cloaked man– though she now knew that he was actually the creator of the game, Kayaba Akihiko– had declared this to be a death game. A game where they would have three options. Clear the game, die, or do nothing. She wasn't sure what exactly option she would choose– she was still in shock though it was now fading away the closer she got to the field outside the town.

The corner of her lips curled upwards ever so slightly as she thought about the scowling, orange haired man that had tried to life the spirits of all twenty thousand of them. He had a little trouble in the beginning but he was definitely courageous to speak to twenty thousand people– who were all on the verge of panicking– and try to calm them all down. What was strange was the he succeeded with his strange sense of humor– really, who had natural orange hair?— and his passionate speech of not giving in to despair and to fight back against the cruel injustice that had been done to them. Perhaps he could have put it more... eloquently but his hurried words were actually more effective since it subconsciously reminded everyone that he was just another player like the rest of them.

"Listen up."

Despite the quiet murmur among the twenty or twenty-five players who gathered around the beta tester like flies to honey, they instantly quieted at the authoritative tone in which the beta tester spoke. The beta tester spoke with a tone reminiscent of a military general, one that wasn't used to being disobeyed and would not brook any insubordination.

"If any of you are perverts and followed me to get to know me better, leave now. I'm not interested in any of you."

Now, Asuna's hazel eyes trailed upwards from their resting position on the ground where she took a good look at the beta tester in question.

She was an older woman, at least, older than her, but only by a few years, probably, in Asuna's opinion, in her late teens or early twenties. She had the beauty of an older woman too, with slightly sharp angles as opposed to rounded but that only further accentuated her features. She had turquoise colored eyes whose color was further brought out was by the oval shaped, red-rimmed glasses that sat squarely on her nose. Her hair color was black and brought into a braided ponytail while bangs covered most of her forehead. The strangest thing about the beta tester was that she was wearing a middle school uniform– a sailor fuku– that had long sleeves, a teal green collar and matching pleated miniskirt, and a pink neckerchief. Her outfit was especially weird when considering that everyone else—including herself— wore the starting clothes given by the system when a player logged in for the first time.

To Asuna's surprise, a couple of players– she noticed now that everyone but she and the beta tester were males— actually walked away to some other nearby group.

"Good, now that that's settled, I'll start teaching you all the basics of ‹‹Sword Skills››. I don't know anything about the ‹‹Magic›› skill so if any of you want to be a wizard, I can't help you."

As the day went by and the guys were all sent on their way after getting the basics of ‹‹Sword Skills›› down, the beta tester—who still hadn't revealed her name— finally came to her.

"Dragonfly," the beta tester—Dragonfly— introduced herself.

"A-Asuna," she answered back cautiously.

A single corner of Dragonfly's lips curled upwards in pleasure. "Nice to meet ya. Hope you don't mind that I saved you for last. We girls gotta stick together, don't ya think?"

"Uh...," Asuna's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Did she somehow make her first friend in the game? "Yes?"

This time, Dragonfly grinned. "Great, so let me just add you to my Friend's List really quick and then we can get started."

A message popped up in front of Asuna.

Will you accept Dragonfly as your friend?

Asuna hesitantly selected yes.

And that was the start of one of the strangest friendships/partnerships she had ever had in her entire life filled with comments about the size of tools of passing male players, whether or not larger weapons meant that male players were compensating for something, perverted innuendos, the best kind of swimsuit magazines to read, the erotic manga issues she would likely miss out on, whether or not the Carrot-Top Savior– as Dragonfly took to calling the orange haired man— had a hero complex the size of Tokyo—apparently Dragonfly knew him—, and perverseness in general.

Dragonfly was a perverted girl.

But Asuna wouldn't trade her friendship for the world.

...

"Sorry again about calling you that, Carrot- I mean, Ichigo," Asuna apologized.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ichigo rolled his eyes at her and the boys smirking at him. "If you happen to find the guy who gave me that stupid name, point him in my direction so I can kick his ass."

Asuna blinked at his bluntness. It was something that she hadn't really expected from the man who had likely saved thousands of people with his words though, with the way he had told them all to fight back against SAO, she shouldn't have been too surprised with his personality. It was nice though, he was refreshingly honest about everything he said— even when he had told her to stop crying.

She sighed at him though immediately brightened when she spotted her only friend and training partner in the game. "Well, here she comes now but I'm warning you, she's strong."

Ichigo immediately turned around though lazily. He wouldn't really kick her ass mostly because he would turn his player icon would turn orange signaling him as a player who attacked other players to everyone and that was a hassle he really didn't need but also because he didn't want to terrorize some poor bastard no matter how much they deserved it for giving him such a crappy name. They could have at least have had the decency to give him a cool sounding name.

When he first laid eyes upon the girl—woman— who had given him the shitty moniker "Carrot-Top Savior," he hadn't been expecting for her to wear to wear a sailor uniform much less for him to actually recognize the woman.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the familiar sight of one of the members of the Visored; he instantly forgot about his moniker when he laid eyes upon her. "Lisa? What the heck are you doing here?"

She stopped walking a few feet away from the rest of the group. "Ichigo. About time you found me."

"Who said I was looking for you in the first place?" Ichigo snorted. "Did that asshole Kisuke stick you in this shitty game too?"

"I'm an otaku, Ichigo. Of course I'm interested in games like these," Lisa responded uncaringly. "And call me, Dragonfly. That's my name in the game."

Klein interrupted whatever Ichigo was about to say next. He quickly bowed at her stammering out, "Hello, my name is Klein, 22, and looking for a— argh!"

Ichigo bopped his head none too gently, causing him to crash to the floor. "Don't interrupt adults when they're talking, Klein. It's rude."

"You know her, Ichigo?" Klein stood up, seemingly unaffected from Ichigo's assault. He grabbed on to Ichigo's hand. "Please, introduce me to her!"

Ichigo sighed before pointing to his companions. "Lisa, this is Klein and the one in black over there is Kirito."

"Yo," Kirito greeted Lisa. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Dragonfly."

Lisa nodded to him. "You too, Kirito."

Then, she turned back to Ichigo and promptly kicked him in the face with an outstretched leg. Klein, who had looked in her direction when she had kicked Ichigo, promptly fainted, muttering something about pink.

Lisa wasn't prepared for Ichigo's counterattack—essentially, it was a reflex that he had quickly redeveloped in the weeks he had been stuck in SAO fighting monsters as well has having kept up with his fighting skills over the months following the loss of his Shinigami powers— a quick drop to the ground using the momentum of her kick before kicking out her legs with a kick of his own, dropping her to the ground. Ichigo immediately grabbed her before she completely fell to the ground and injured herself.

"You know, normally the hero rescues the damsel in distress from a villain, not himself," Lisa commented casually as if she hadn't just been dropped to the ground and caught by Ichigo.

"Your Panty-Flash Tornado is as strong as ever, Lisa," Ichigo grinned at her as he helped her and himself up from the ground.

Lisa snorted at him, dusting herself off. "I'll use a real Panty-Flash Tornado on you if you keep calling me that in the game."

Ichigo shrugged at her before looking at Klein. "You got the Panty-Flash part down if Klein's reaction is anything to go by."

Lisa smirked in amusement. "I'm good at a lot of things, Ichigo. Maybe if you stick around long enough, you'll find out for yourself."

Rather than blush as Lisa had expected, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Ichigo gave her a smirk of his own. "Maybe I will. Now, come on. We have some things to discuss."

Ichigo turned to the trio who had been listening in on their conversation without shame but with more than a touch of confusion on their faces. "You three go on ahead. Lisa and I have a couple things to talk about. Kirito, make sure Klein doesn't do his usual thing with every pretty face he sees."

"You got it, Ichigo," Kirito said with a lazy salute at him. Then, a devilish grin formed on his face. "I'll make sure Klein stays out of trouble while you go and have a chat with your girlfriend."

Lisa had been absolutely sure that that comment by Kirito would have gotten Ichigo riled up. She was even more surprised with that Ichigo said next.

"Maybe a 5 out of 10, Kirito. You have to work at it if you wanna get me all riled up," Ichigo suppressed a yawn with his hand covering up his mouth.

Who was this person and what had he done to Ichigo? There was no way that the Ichigo she had known would have just brushed off a comment like that as if it were nothing.

"Besides, if you think about it, it's actually a compliment. If I can get a girl as hot as her as my girlfriend, I think I'd be pretty happy with my life," Ichigo finished.

There wasn't a person other than Ichigo who didn't have their mouths wide open. Instead, he was grinning at their stupefied expressions. He saw now why Yoruichi would always tease him or why Kisuke would make some infuriating comment.

For the reaction they would get.

Lisa felt her cheeks redden.

"Come on, Lisa. I hope you can keep up with me." A moment later, he vanished.

A moment later, Lisa did as well.

Kirito sighed. "Man, why does he always leave me with all the hard jobs?"

...

Ichigo stopped shunpoing near the merchant district and a moment later, so did Lisa.

Ichigo leaned against a stone pillar casually. "So, exactly what are you doing here, Lisa?"

"I was a beta tester, Ichigo, meaning that I was here long before you. The real question is what are you doing here?" Lisa retorted.

"Kisuke stuck me in here. Told me to save as many lives as possible while he prepares for another war on the horizon." A small grin formed on Ichigo's mouth as he thought about the ridiculousness of Kisuke preparing the Gotei 13 for a war. "I doubt he'll be successful. Soul Society barely handled it when my friends and I invaded let alone Muramasa or Aizen. He's just wasting his time. Better for him to gather the Visored and continuously invade the Seireitei to get them in the habit of instant retaliation rather than trying to convince the old man to prepare for another war."

Lisa blinked. "War? I haven't heard anything about that before now. Of course, Kisuke isn't in the habit of telling anyone anything before they need to know so that isn't too surprising. I wonder who'll try attacking this time."

Ichigo shrugged. He didn't have any ideas about who would attack the Gotei 13. After all, they had encountered everything from rogue Shinigami to Arrancars to their own Zanpakuto spirits and even more. He didn't think there were too many more dissenters or enemies of the Gotei 13 that had yet to try their hand in toppling the organization. Maybe a couple of Vasto Lorde? Sure, they had encountered a couple already though technically, they were Arrancar at the time. Maybe they would be Rukongai citizens. After all, the Soul Society wasn't exactly the heaven everyone thought it would be. There was still starvation, gangs, and general inequality about.

He sighed. "I'll probably be involved in it though."

"What makes you say that?" Lisa asked.

"Well, Kisuke subtly said that I should consider this the next part of my training," Ichigo explained and clarified further when he noticed the bemused expression on her face. "Kido spells."

"Ah," Lisa said in realization. "Yeah, that makes sense. You suck at Kido."

Ichigo bit back a retort. "Which explains why I'm training. To get better. Like most people do when they suck at something."

Lisa pouted at him and Ichigo was mildly alarmed that the first word that popped up in his mind when he saw her pout was cute. "You've changed, Ichigo. You were a lot more fun to tease when you would turn red and sputter out nonsensical things."

"I thought I would reinvent myself," Ichigo gestured to the world around them. "It is a virtual game after all. And I thought I would take some advice Zangetsu offered me... a long time ago."

Lisa internally winced as his voice trailed off. Even though her own Zanpakuto spirit was hollowfied, even that was better than Haguro Tonbo being ripped from her and gone forever. Or maybe not forever consider Ichigo's earlier statement. Still, she wouldn't even begin to know how to cope with Haguro Tonsho not being there anymore. "What advice was that?"

"Abandon your fear. Move forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate." Even though Lisa knew he was reciting words that he had been told, she could hear the absolute belief he had in those words.

Even if it had taken him nearly a year to move on.

"Oh? I guess even idiots like you who charge headfirst into everything without regard for the consequences are capable of something meaningful once in a while," Lisa gave him a playful glance. "Even if you are just repeating something you heard from your Zanpakuto spirit."

"Well, Zangetsu is a part of my very soul," Ichigo thought aloud, "so if you think about it, in some sort of weird twist of logic, I came up with it."

Lisa shot him a look that she wasn't impressed with his reasoning.

"But who knows?" Ichigo said wistfully. "Stick around long enough and maybe I'll come up with something meaningful on my own."

"I guess I could hang around you for a while. Not like I have anything better to do," Lisa commented casually.

"Glad to hear it. It'd be nice to have someone who has combat experience in the party," Ichigo said. "By the way, I noticed you have Shunpo. So did you also get the ‹‹Magic›› skill and the ‹‹Zanjutsu›› skill."

"I didn't have any of them until you used Hado #4: Byakurai in the arena," Lisa admitted with a shrug. "But yes, I have them now. Luckily, Kisuke probably figured I'd be playing this game since I have Kido spells rather than the usual magic spells popping up with other players. I don't think anyone else has Kido spells as their magic spells."

"You wouldn't happen to know how to achieve Shikai and Bankai, would you? I have a couple theories but maybe Getaboushi messaged you...," Ichigo trailed off hopefully.

Lisa shook her head. "No clue but it's probably either something to do with either the mastery or some sort of special quest. And I have absolutely no idea what Kisuke has planned for obtaining Hollowfication."

Ichigo sighed at both Lisa's cluelessness—the same thing he possessed about his Zanpakuto and Kisuke's unfortunate secretive demeanor. "Oh well, I didn't think it would be that easy. Nothing ever is with Getaboushi. Thanks anyways, Lisa."

Lisa casually slapped him upside the back of his head. "I told you to call me Dragonfly, you idiot."

Ichigo smirked at her. "Sorry, but I'm already used to calling you Lisa, Lisa."

Lisa gave the annoying teenager a smirk of her own. "Whatever you say, Carrot-Top Savior."

"You bitch! I knew I was forgetting something! Why the hell did you give me such a shitty nickname like that?" Ichigo demanded, eyes narrowed in irritation.

"People wanted to know who you were in the days following your speech," Lisa kept the smirk on her face much to Ichigo's annoyance. "I figured that since I knew you, it wouldn't hurt to give you a moniker to go by."

Ichigo turned around, beginning to walk through the marketplace, annoyed with Lisa and her stupid actions that had landed him a shitty moniker, never noticing the small smile that played on her lips for a few brief seconds.

It's a good thing that you've decided to change but even better that you haven't changed too much, Ichigo.

She quickly chased after him, slightly surprised that he had managed to cover so much distance in a few short seconds. It made her wonder if ‹‹Shunpo›› had some sort of passive speed ability that she hadn't yet discovered.

"Wait up, Ichigo," Lisa swiftly caught up to him and matched his stride. "Why don't we stop by in a cafe and you can treat a girl to lunch. That way we can talk a little more."

Ichigo decided right then and there to get some revenge for the name she made up for him. "I didn't realize you were that interested in me. You should have told me when I was training with you guys and I would have taken you out and bought you an erotic manga for our first date."

Lisa felt her lips curl upwards slightly at Ichigo's laughable attempt to tease her. "It's no wonder you're so shy around girls if that's your idea of a date, Ichigo."

"Please, Lisa. That would be the perfect date for you and you know it. Or a good present," Ichigo added as an afterthought.

He yawned before opening his menu and checking the time. "Yeah, I guess there's enough time to treat you to lunch before meeting up with Kirito, Klein, and Asuna. By the way, how did you meet Asuna? And how do you know Kirito?"

"I was a beta tester for Sword Art Online, Ichigo. Kirito was also a beta tester. He's pretty well known among the beta testers. He never missed a boss battle and he always got the ‹‹Last Attack Bonus›› on every boss monster in the beta tests," Lisa explained as they entered a cafe and sat down at an available table. "And Asuna was in my group when I was teaching newbies how to play the game. She's easy enough to get along with, a lot better than those perverted male players."

"Should you really be saying that when you're a pervert yourself?"

"Don't forget who lent you swimsuit magazines. You're a perv yourself, but one of those closet pervs," Lisa smirked at his spluttering. "By the way, you still haven't returned the last one I lent to you. I expect it when we get out of here."

They stopped talking for a moment as their orders had arrived. He had ordered a water—he wasn't really that hungry— and Lisa, chocolate covered strawberries and milk. They swiftly resumed talking once the waitress left; Ichigo found it distracting to talk with the way Lisa's tongue lapped up the chocolate on the strawberries thoroughly before curling her tongue around said strawberry seductively. He looked up—barely— to see Lisa flash him a playful grin—she knew exactly what she was doing to him, the bitch!— and made a strangled sound with his throat that made him quickly reach for his water and down it all in a single gulp.

"I didn't have a chance to since my friends and I invaded Hueco Mundo and then with that wannabe-god trying to subjugate everyone and everything," Ichigo finally said after recovering, placing the glass down on the table. "But don't worry, I'll return it when I get a chance. I think Kon took it though..."

Lisa ignored his last statement in favor of the first. A devious thought crossed her mind, one that would definitely get him all flustered and one that she really didn't mind putting into action. "That's right, you defeated Aizen, didn't you?"

A wary look crossed his eyes, "Yeah, and?"

"What did you get from the Gotei 13 for kicking his ass?" Lisa asked bluntly. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief; it was a look Ichigo didn't like at all. That look reminded him of Yoruichi, right after she transformed from her cat form in front of him. In the buff.

"I was supposed to get something?" Came the confused question.

"You know, money or a lifetime supply of erotic manga?"

"I guess I got the Gotei 13 not to prosecute my dad for leaving his post as the Captain of the 10th Division and for that Shinigami-clown Mayuri not to abduct my sisters for experimentation?"

Ichigo immediately tried to get out of his chair the moment Lisa began moving but she had stopped him in his tracks by pressing her feet on his, preventing him from moving a single step. In the same moment, Lisa leaned over the small, round table, grabbed the back of his neck with hands, and pressed her lips against his.

It was a experience that Ichigo had never before experienced though he had, like many other teenage boys, imagined what his first kiss would be like. Her lips were moist and were pressed softly against his at first before it increased in intensity. He had initially kept his mouth shut in a futile attempt to deny her anymore than a simple press of lips but failed when a tremor ran across his nerves at the novel sensation of her soft lips, causing him to open his mouth. And in the moment, Lisa wrestled her tongue into his mouth and started wrestling his own tongue into submission impatiently. It was then that Ichigo rebooted his mind and rather than pull away, he pushed back against her tongue and into her mouth where he felt her pearly white teeth unintentionally before finally reigning control of his tongue and tasting every millimeter of her long, wriggling tongue, the taste reminiscent of the chocolate dipped strawberries that she had consumed as a dessert only moments ago.

Lisa pulled back first, licking her lips as she did so. "Not bad. I rate it a 7 out of 10." She flashed him two thumbs up with an unrepentant, nearly blank look on her face save for the twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Better than the last three guys I've kissed. Not bad at all."

Ichigo came to his senses a moment after Lisa finished speaking, only now understanding what she had just said. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and though his traitorous mind completely enjoyed what had just happened, he instead yelled at her, "You bitch! You took my first kiss!"

"Oh, really?" Again, she flashed him two thumbs up. "Then, if I take that it's your first time kissing a girl into consideration, then I have to rate that kiss an 8 out of 10. Even better."

Ichigo settled his face into a deep scowl but internally, he sighed. There was nothing he could do about the past, best to just move forward. Even if he was sure that Zangetsu hadn't considered this situation when he had uttered those words. Still, maybe he should take a page out of his Hollow's book and try to get revenge.

Violent revenge.

He let out a sigh. Revenge wasn't really his thing. Kicking ass and taking names, sure, he'd done it a lot during his days as a Substitute Shinigami, but revenge? Why fuel the cycle of hatred? He liked to consider himself an easygoing guy these days. Sure, there were some things that made him want to kick peoples' asses but for the most part—at least, ever since he had started traveling with Kirito and Klein— he was pretty easygoing. He had to be to deal with Klein's idiocy anyways. Kirito was easy enough to get along with— like a more talkative, much smaller Chad. They had each other's backs, all three of them, and he was much more relaxed with them than he had ever been in a long while.

Ichigo looked to Lisa's half-full plate of strawberries and grinned as an idea struck him. Quickly, he snatched one off her plate and then proceeded to lob it at her, scoring a direct strike in between her eyes.

"Don't steal first kisses," he drawled lazily as Lisa wiped off the chocolate that had gotten on her skin with a nearby napkin, "you cradle robber."

There. Sweet, non-violent retaliation. Completely literal too.

"I'll let that one slide," Lisa placed the dirtied napkin on the table, "since you're still coming to terms with your first kiss."

Ichigo let out a breath of air. He hadn't been sure whether to make a run for it or not. Lisa could be quite vicious when she wanted to be.

"But try not to read anything into the kiss," Lisa added on. "You deserved a thank you for putting that bastard down and I promised myself to kiss the guy or girl who kicked his ass."

"So does that mean I get a second kiss?" Ichigo grinned cheekily at her.

Lisa held back a laugh though her face was crinkled in amusement. This new Ichigo was... interesting. "You want another one? I guess I'm not as out of practice as I thought. But how about we save the second kiss for your real body instead of this virtual one, that way, you actually get to have your first kiss."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ichigo waved his hand dismissively at her for a second. "So, what level are you?"

"Wow, Ichigo, that's like asking a girl for her three sizes. I didn't realize you were that bold before," Lisa nearly giggled at his red face. Nearly. It was just so fun to tease him. "I'm level 11, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded to himself—slowly since he was still recovering from the shock of what she had just said. Maybe one day he would get used to her.

That day just wasn't today.

"A-a level higher than me then," Ichigo cursed himself for showing weakness in front Lisa, who would likely take advantage of it later on. "Have you unlocked any Zanjutsu techniques? Or developed any Zanjutsu skills using the ‹‹Original Sword Skill››?"

Lisa pursed her lips in irritation. "Just a couple basics ones, nothing fancy. I still haven't gotten used to that stupid system enough to use it yet."

"What?" Ichigo smirked cockily at her. "A former Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, a Visored, and self-proclaimed otaku actually having trouble with something?"

Lisa kicked him in the shin. She scowled at him. That OSS system actually was difficult to use, at least, that was her perspective after having used it a dozen and a half times. "And you've created a sword skill that hits more three times?"

"I've used it a couple times, created a 5-hit sword skill but I'm waiting until I get Hakuda to create anymore sword skills so I can combine them and Shunpo to create better sword skills," Ichigo responded. "It's called ‹‹Lunar Revolution››."

"Oh, and are you planning on sharing it with anyone?" Lisa asked, interested.

"Why? You want it?" Ichigo offered. "Klein and Kirito wanted to make their own sword skills so neither one of them wanted it."

"If you're offering," Lisa shrugged. "I'm used to four, five, and six-hit combos on the higher level floors so it's a pain having only one and two-hit sword skills."

‹‹Original Sword Skills›› as Ichigo found out after creating his first sword skill, ‹‹Lunar Revolution››, were capable of being given to only one other person through a ‹‹Skill Manual›› that appeared in his inventory immediately after creating the skill. Additionally, ‹‹Original Sword Skills›› could also possess up to two elemental attributes and a physical attribute. Of course, the latter aspect of the ‹‹Original Sword Skill›› system also applied to some sword skills given by the system.

"Here you go," Ichigo handed her the ‹‹Skill Manual››. For his sword skill, Ichigo had selected 15% Light, 15% Darkness, and 70% Physical. It was a relatively easy technique that had the user of the skill circle the opponent once, hacking at the opponent four times before making a full revolution and uppercutting the opponent with enough strength to force them down or away. While it would normally be relatively simple or easy to counter, it became that much more difficult to counter once ‹‹Shunpo›› was used to revolve around the opponent. For most people, even monsters, save for himself and Lisa, they would hardly be able to see him move let alone react to the technique until they were already being forced back or down on the ground. The light and darkness elements of the technique activated the first four attacks, alternating between light and darkness. The fifth and final strike was purely physical.

"Thanks," Lisa swiftly read over the details of the skill. "Not bad. The elemental thing is new to me though I guess it make sense since there's magic in the game. Pretty simple but since it uses Shunpo, the technique will be too fast most people or monsters to react. Nice job, Ichigo. I guess I'll have to top this soon."

Ichigo snorted. "Not before me."

Lisa flashed him a quick grin. "I guess it'll be a competition then. Now, hurry up and pay the bill so we can get moving."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at her sudden impatience but paid the bill anyways once the waitress had arrived with the bill.

"Not a bad first date, Ichigo," Lisa stood up and began walking away. "I'll be waiting outside for you, Ichigo."

Lisa smirked to herself as she heard his words.

"Don't take away my first date too, you bitch!"

...

November 30th, 2022

"So, since Kirito and Lisa have the most experience in ‹‹Floor Boss›› battles, I think they should take the lead."

Asuna and Klein nodded their agreement to Ichigo's statement.

Lisa slapped him upside the back of his head, having discovered yesterday that it was a better though less satisfying alternative to kicking him in the head and subsequently receiving a punch or two in return. It was less satisfying because he had a hard head and it barely fazed him. It certainly didn't stop him from continuing to call her Lisa despite her many attempts to convince him otherwise. "I told you to call me Dragonfly, Ichigo."

Ichigo waved her off in favor of addressing Kirito. "Any ideas on how to combat that bastard Kobold Lord. He's pretty strong with that bone axe of his."

They, the players who were challenging Illfang the Kobold Lord, were a player short of a full raiding party, numbering 47 instead of the full 48 that the ‹‹Floor Room›› could handle at anytime. They were divided into eight groups, lettering A-H. Groups A and B were the heavy armor Tank parties; their purpose was to essentially endure the boss's attacks. One Group would always be in reserve so they could give the other Group a chance to recover from the boss's assault. Groups C to E were the high movement assault parties with two parties always dealing damage to the boss and the other party (E) would distract the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Group F was the long weapon support party comprising of spear wielders and other weapons with a long range. Group G was the magical division support party, with four members supporting the Groups attacking the boss and the other two members would support the Group distracting and damaging the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

And finally, there was Group H. The Group comprising of Ichigo, Lisa, Kirito, Asuna, and Klein. They were essentially the multi-purpose party; Diavel had basically assigned them the role of supporting everyone whenever they could since they were the most versatile team. All five were sword wielders, Asuna had a rapier, Klein, a curved sword, Kirito, a straight sword, Lisa, a considerably longer than average nodachi, with a black blade and a dark blue hilt with a square tsuba and two rectangular attachments on two ends. Ichigo possessed the sealed form of his Zanpakuto; it resembled his Bankai blade in its appearance of a daito though it was slightly longer, nearing the size of his Shikai blade and the width of the black blade almost perfectly midway between his Shikai and Bankai blades.

Of course, another reason was Ichigo's and even Lisa's massive mana reserves. Ichigo's current mana reserves were holding steady at 10,100, having increased at a steady 400 with each level up. Lisa's reserves were about half that but even that was more than the 2,000 to 3,000 that everyone else's mana averaged numerically. Of course, Ichigo suspected that the higher level Kido spells he would be able to use cost much more than the measly 150 mana cost of Hado #1: Sho or 100 mana cost of Bakudo #1: Sai so he would be grateful later on for his mana reserves.

"Alright, is everybody ready for this boss battle?" Ichigo blinked, slightly guilty for only slightly paying attention to Kirito's plans.

"You warned Diavel about the nodachi, right, Kirito?" Ichigo asked, nodding to the man speaking passionately to the raiding party.

Kirito nodded. "Yeah, you took too long on your date with Dragonfly so I let Diavel know about the switch on my own."

Ichigo smiled tightly at his teasing though offered no response but a small nod of his head, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood of everyone. It worked too if the small smile on everyone's face was anything to go by.

"Alright, everybody knows the plan!" Diavel shouted to them. "Remember, just do your best and don't falter. We can beat this boss and prove to everyone that this game can be won!"

A resounding cheer filled the area in approval of Diavel's words.

Diavel slowly opened the large doors of the boss room. Within, was a room with white pillars and light shining from stained glass. It was a room twenty meters wide and a hundred meters deep. Illfang the Kobold Lord was the boss of the Floor. He stood over two meters tall and was heavily rotund, with red fur and and the outline of a blue-grey diamond on his belly with an actual diamond within the outline. His face was reminiscent of a pig— if pigs were demonic and possessed red eyes and constantly bared a full set of yellowed incisors. In one of his hands—the right— he wielded a huge, bone axe while his left hand held a leather shield. Behind his waist, the boss monster carried an oversized nodachi. Over his his helmeted head, Illfang's four HP bars were displayed.

Three Ruin Kobold Sentinels, minions of the Kobold Lord though unlike the ones in the dungeon, these were armored and wielding halberds instead of clubs, charged the moment the last player stepped into the boss room.

"Attack!" Diavel roared, pointing his sword at the monsters of the boss room.

Immediately, Group E, led by Kibaou, immediately engaged the charging Ruin Kobold Sentinels, as Groups A, C, and D, rushed past them, engaging Illfang the Kobold Lord. Group B remained near the Groups attacking the Kobold Lord, ready to take over for Group A once the first health bar had been whittled down to nothingness. Groups F and G remained near Group E, assisting them in combat though two of the magicians of Group G broke off and assisted the boss-fighting Groups in attack Illfang.

And Group H...well, in all honesty, they were bored. They had managed to snatch a Ruin Kobold Sentinel for themselves the moment the battle had begun and they had finished it off within minutes. They had all dispersed, three of them—Kirito, Klein, and Asuna— watching Kibaou's battle to make sure that no one died and the final two—Lisa and Ichigo— observing the battle with the other Ruin Kobold Sentinel.

"Oi, Lisa, I wanna go battle against the boss. Are you okay here?" Ichigo asked after a long while, dealing with another two Kobold Ruin Sentinels that had popped up with another four once two of the Kobold Lord's HP bars had been dealt with by the Groups.

"Yes, Ichigo, I think I'm more than capable of watching other people fight," Lisa said sarcastically, giving him a flat look. "Go and play with your toy."

Ichigo grinned, saluting her. "Thanks, Lisa."

"Call me Dragonfly!" Lisa yelled after him.

"Oi, Diavel," Ichigo said, stopping next to a visibly tired Diavel who was panting for breath after having battled Illfang for both of his health bars.

"Ichigo?" Diavel finally caught his breath. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping out the others with the Ruin Kobold Sentinels?"

"Nah, they have it covered. And Li-Dragonfly is more than capable of handling a Sentinel," Ichigo replied.

"What are you doing here then, Ichigo?" Diavel asked, honestly curious why Ichigo would come to where the boss battle was taking place.

Ichigo jerked his head to Illfang, currently attacking the shields of Group A with all his might. "I want a shot at him."

Diavel blinked in confusion. "You want to help out in the boss battle?"

"No," Ichigo said. "I want to try battling him on my own."

Diavel stared at him. "You want to take on the ‹‹Floor Boss››... on your own?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Just for a health bar or so. I mean, you fought the ‹‹Field Boss›› guarding the dungeon so it's only fair that you let me battle him for a while."

"But...but you could die!" Diavel shouted in protest.

Ichigo snorted. "If I died to such a pathetic monster, I deserve to die. So, you going to let me fight him or what?"

It wasn't really that he was bored that Ichigo had decided to take on the ‹‹Floor Boss›› on his own though it was a part of the reason. The real reason was that he had noticed every Group engaging the boss tiring quickly. Group A, the Group currently tanking Illfang hadn't quite yet recovered from their first time tanking the boss. The problem was that they likely hadn't gotten used to battles as long as boss battles. Ichigo was, especially, since he had spent most nights grinding for experience points, items, and increased mastery of his skills against monsters for hours on end. He didn't think anyone else or at least, most people, did what he had done most nights and as a result, they weren't used to battling for hours on end like he was. Ichigo figured that most players trained on and off throughout the day, and subsequently, they were used to more time for a break.

So, he decided to step in before people died because they were too tired to fight.

Diavel sighed. Even he could see that the raiding party was tiring faster than he had anticipated. The way their shields shook and the way their swords swung slower highlighted to him that the raiding party needed more rest otherwise their reactions would become slower as the fight continued and ultimately, that would become the result of a player's death. Even his own reactions were slowing.

So, Diavel chose to let Ichigo fight the boss on his own. It would grant them all a much needed reprieve. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dragonfly—one of the most well known beta testers even in the beta game— move closer to Group B, the tanking Group in reserve, before nodding at him. A signal to let Ichigo battle Illfang the Kobold Lord.

Diavel sighed. "Go ahead. I'll pull everyone back. Try not to die."

As Ichigo turned around, Diavel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for this."

"No problem," Ichigo replied before running towards the boss. "Hey, Illfang! Get your ugly ass over here!"

"All Groups, pull back!" Diavel ordered.

"But sir, the boss...?" One of his party members trailed off as they saw Ichigo used the sword skill ‹‹Uppercut›› to launch Illfang the Kobold Lord off his feet and a considerable distance away. "Hooray for Carrot-Top Savior-sama!"

"Don't call me that, you bastard!" Came the rather loud reply just before countering the Kobold Lord's basic downward strike and retaliating with a ‹‹Horizontal›› skill.

Evidently, he had some issues to work out.

Thank God he was working those issues out on the boss rather than them.

Illfang wasn't a particularly difficult opponent despite being the ‹‹Floor Boss››. Ichigo could easily see through the boss's moves— a set pattern that Ichigo had discerned within minutes of watching the Groups battle Illfang though, on the rare occasion, Illfang used a spin that knocked everyone near him away a significant distance away. It was the only variation in his set pattern of attack. For Ichigo, Illfang was on the level of a basic Hollow, one that thought little more than to consume souls and one whose attacks he could see coming a mile away.

It was slow-going though. Illfang attacked quick enough that he had dealt some damage to Ichigo— though they wouldn't even rate as flesh wounds in the real world— and that it took Ichigo longer to find an opening in the boss's defense that was long enough to use a sword skill. Perhaps two out of every ten of Illfang's attacks left an opening long enough, usually after Illfang himself had used an axe skill. Still, with ‹‹Shunpo›› as one of his skills, he was more than fast enough to avoid any of Illfang's axe skills.

After twenty minutes, Illfang's third HP bar had been whittled down to half, Ichigo switched gears and began using Kido spells to disrupt the Kobold Lord's attacks.

He shunpoed backwards and held out a hand at Illfang. "Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudo #10: Horin!"

An orange colored sphere spiraling with a yellow pattern formed within the space of his curled hand as he uttered an incantation before a large orange and yellow colored tendril shot forward from his hand to Illfang. Ichigo was right to expect that the spell wouldn't immobilize Illfang for even a second— after all, he tried the same thing when he, Kirito, and Klein had scouted the boss room. What he had intended was for the spell to wrap around one of Illfang's limbs— and he succeeded.

The tendril of swirling orange and yellow wrapped around Illfang's axe-wielding hand, preventing the monster from initiating an axe skill. Using Shunpo, Ichigo closed the distance between he and the boss monster in a flash. Not even a second later, Ichigo initiated his strongest sword skill.

"‹‹Lunar Revolution!››" It was a force of habit to yell out his attack— though really, he only ever yelled out "Bankai!" or "Getsuga Tensho!" so it wasn't even that much of a habit. He resolved to try not yelling out his attacks in the future. Why waste breathe? It might have sounded cool but cool didn't win fights.

Immediately, he allowed the spell to fade from his left and his sword— also level 10— was bathed in a soft, blue light before he quite literally vanished from the sights of everyone— including Illfang the Kobold Lord— with the exception of Lisa. They did, however, notice the large red gash on the boss's chest, and hear a swooshing sound as Ichigo rounded Illfang in a perfect circle before he reappeared in front of the boss and launched him away with the final hit of the 5-hit technique, an uppercut blow.

Ichigo then froze for five seconds— thankfully, the boss was stunned for fifteen seconds— before he calmly Shunpoed away.

"All yours, Diavel. Make sure you watch out for the nodachi," Ichigo patted his back.

Diavel nodded dumbly, amazed that the single 5-hit skill of Ichigo's had managed to bring Illfang to his fourth and final HP bar. "Group B, tank the boss! Groups C and D attack! Give everything we got!" Diavel paused for a moment before adding, "And watch out for that nodachi that comes out when Illfang reached a third of HP bar!"

"Not bad, Ichigo," Lisa commented as she easily deflected the Ruin Kobold Sentinel's halberd with her sword before retaliating with a ‹‹Vertical››.

"Thanks," Ichigo said, standing a few feet away from Lisa so that he wouldn't attract the Sentinel's attention. Lisa was more than capable of dealing with one even with as weakened as she was in the game compared to her real self. "He had a pretty basic attack pattern so it wasn't particularly difficult."

"I noticed you took a couple scratches from him though," Lisa said, finishing the Sentinel off with a Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden, which she used to generate an electrical current through her sword to deal more damage than she normally would.

"No one's perfect," Ichigo shrugged, casually watching as Kirito, Klein, and Asuna engaged Illfang, who had finally been brought to a third of his last HP bar, with the rest of the Groups.

They watched in companionable silence as Kirito ended up taking the ‹‹Last Attack›› on Illfang and finishing him off. They had both been tense until the final moment, ready to Shunpo in and take the boss out in case Illfang revealed something new that they hadn't anticipated. Thankfully, Kirito had been able to recognize the katana skills in time to save Diavel's life and kill the boss.

A Congratulations! screen appeared before him, detailing the amount of cor, experience, and items received. He grinned as he noted that the experience he gained was enough to bump him up to level 11, and noted with interest that he had gained the same Hado spell that Lisa had used earlier as well as a new Zanjutsu technique thanks to his increased mastery of the ‹‹Zanjutsu›› skill.

"Nice coat, Kirito," Ichigo greeted the trio as they arrived before them.

"Thanks, it was the drop for getting the ‹‹Last Attack››," Kirito said. "It's called the ‹‹Coat of Midnight››. Of course, it's not nearly as impressive as soloing the boss for an entire HP bar."

Ichigo shrugged. "I've had training. It wasn't too difficult." He turned to Asuna and Klein. "And how'd you guys enjoy fighting a boss."

"It wasn't hard at all for a samurai," Klein grinned at him and gave them a thumbs up.

Asuna giggled at Klein's answer before replying herself. "It was... an interesting experience."

"Are we heading to the Second Floor now?" Kirito asked.

Ichigo nodded his head, turning to Lisa. "Not much else to do on this floor. You coming with us, Lisa?"

Lisa smirked. "Miss me already?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I was just asking. I know how you and your group don't like being forced to do something. Bunch of lazy bastards."

"You're part of our group, you know?" Lisa commented. "But yes, Ichigo, I'll be sticking around you for a while yet. Everything interesting always happens around you anyways."

Ichigo waved her off, moving past the four of his friends and towards the staircase leading to the Second Floor.

He turned his head backwards to look at them. "You guys coming or what? We might have all day but I do want to get out of here as fast as possible, ya know?"

~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch3~

A/N:

Real Name: Ichigo Kurosaki

Character alias: Ichigo

Level: 11

HP: 2,690

Mana: 10,100

Col: 1,250

Equipment:

Sealed Zanpakuto— Level 11. Durability: Infinite. Type: Slash. Attack: 10-12. Weight: 20. Requirement: Have the Zanjutsu skill. Upgrades: None. Information: A Zanpakuto may only be received when a player has the Zanjutsu skill. It has infinite durability, however, this is countered by doing 0.80x the damage of the average sword of the highest unlocked Floor, making it an unpopular skill.

Skills:

Zanjutsu: 25/1000

Magic: 18/1000

Shunpo: 21/1000

Acrobatics: 7/1000

Searching: 17/1000

One unused skill slot.

Techniques:

Magic:

Hado #1: Sho: A basic spell that pushes a monster away. Useless against Boss monsters.

Hado #4: Byakurai: A spell that gathers mana in a single hand and discharges it in a burst of white lightning.

Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden: A spell that charges electricity in a weapon or object. Useful for stunning opponents for a brief time. Cannot be used directly on monsters, NPCs, or players.

Bakudo #1: Sai: A basic spell that locks limbs together for a brief time. Useless against Boss monsters.

Bakudo #4: Hainawa: A spell that binds enemies with a yellow, mana-created rope to prevent movement for a brief time. Can only immobilize a limb of a Boss monster.

Bakudo #8: Seki: A spell that generates an orb of light blue energy which repels whatever strikes it. Works only partially against Boss monsters.

Bakudo #9: Geki: A spell which draws symbols which permeates an opponent's body with red energy, causing complete paralysis. Lasts 10 seconds.

Bakudo #10: Horin: A spell which uses mana-created rope to completely bind an opponent. Can only bind a single limb of a Boss monster.

Zanjutsu:

Vertical: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill slashing vertically.

Horizontal: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill slashing horizontally.

Slant: (1-hit strike)A basic sword skill slashing diagonally.

Uppercut: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill delivering an uppercut.

Getsuga: Ichigo's first technique that originates from his Zanpakuto, received from the battle with Illfang the Kobold Lord by raising his mastery of Zanjutsu to 25. Effect: Increases the damage dealt by a Zanpakuto from 0.8 of the average sword of the highest unlocked Floor to 1.5. Requires 350 mana per minute to use. As the mastery increases, the mana consumed decreases.

Lunar Revolution (Original Sword Skills): (5-hit combo): A five-combo that requires Shunpo. The user circles the opponent once, dealing four strikes, before the fifth strike delivers an uppercut with enough power to knock an opponent off from his/her/its feet. Cool time: 5 seconds. Stuns an opponent for 15 seconds.

...

HP Formula: [200(L—1) + 250 + 50(s)] Where L represents a player's current level and 250 represents a player's health at level 1 and s represents the number of STR points a player has put into STR.

Example: So, for Ichigo, the formula would be [200(11—1) + 250 + 20(22)] = 2,690

...

Sdarian: That's a good idea for the dual blades, but, ah well, I already made up my mind, sorry. About the Kido spells, well, he can't give away all of Soul Society's secrets away (even if they don't know about Soul Society), can he?

ThatGuy16: I'm still on the fence about this being a purely SAO fic or if this should continue into the Bleach timeline. I was thinking about how badass Ichigo would be if he entered theThousand Year Blood War with all the skills he learned. I think everybody plans to finish a fic with the first chapter they write but something happens along the way. I plan on finishing this fic though how long it'll take, I'm unsure.

Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: I actually considered this pairing for a while. They will definitely be (strange) friends though whether or not there's a romantic pairing for them involved, I don't know.

Dave the Colossus: Yeah, yeah, everybody wants me to update that fic. I don't think the addition of Lisa felt forced though I'll leave the readers to be the judge of that. I don't really know why Ichigo would go after someone who resembles his mother but to each their own, I suppose. Yeah, I wonder how he'll come out of it too. Haha.

Dp11: Maybe you're right about the story thing but why would Ichigo go after someone who resembles his mother? Especially since she died; if anything it might make him avoid her though, as you can see, I haven't exactly brought it up in the fic.

merry1995: Thanks. You'll be seeing Chibi Urahara around. Actually, he's slated to make an appearance next chapter.

General Slime: Well, you'll definitely see the reaction of an enraged Kayaba Akihiko down the line though I won't say what for a while yet. Yeah, I know. What I forgot to mention was that the mana bar wouldn't appear unless the magic skill was already selected. And no one looked for a magic skill with a game called Sword Art Online.

Gacsam: I considered including Arrancar. Specifically, Coyote Starrk, Tier Harribel (maybe her Fraccion),Ulquiorra, and of course, Grimmjow. Dunno about the Quincy. As you can see, I added Lisa, though I don't know if she'll be the final pairing. Certainly seems like it right now.

Crimson Homura: Absolutely not... mostly because I don't know when I'll update next.

KuramaFTW: So...like Lisa Yadomaru?

Jlargent: I've certainly considered it... along with a whole host of other Arrancar. Don't know if I will though. Or what their purpose would be other than to give Ichigo a hard time.

Kyo no Kitsune: Silica? She's pretty young at this time. (Only 12).

Vakom Sunrunner: Thank you. Don't really know about that yet. Yeah, she is a lot more like Yuzu than Suguha.

Someone Else Took My Name: Yeah, I thought I mentioned earlier than the Bleach timeline is moved up. Ah well.

cyber phantom99: Not sure how the Hollowfication will be introduced yet. Probably nothing about Hell armor since I don't think even Kisuke knew about that particular armor. But who knows?

And, finally done with the third chapter. For Lisa's stats, assume the same amount of HP, though with a slightly different skill set (that I have yet to mention) and mastery level. Also, she doesn't have the Getsuga skill.

Also, while I'm on the topic, does anyone have any ideas for her Shikai and Bankai, because I've been thinking about the words "Iron Drink Dragonfly" but nothing really pops out to me. Any recommendations or ideas?

Still open to pairings.

I will say that Lisa is a pretty fun character to write. I hope I kept her in character.

I hope Ichigo didn't seem to out of character. He is supposed to be maturing, after all...

Sorry, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.

Sorry for the late update.

Oh, and you might have noticed that I created a Bleach/Frozen fic. I haven't even watched Freezing again but I'm not a complete liar! I mean, the words Frozen and Freezing are pretty similar, right? One's the act of doing something and the other is a state of being. Not too different.

Heh.

As always,

Thanks for reading!