Heyo! This is my first SAO story. I've been in the fandom forever though. Actually, Sword Art Online was my first anime and it holds a super special place in my heart.

They didn't do much about the beater hate like they could have in the show...so I wrote a fanfic about my favorite character being constantly beat up one way or another!

Summery: Kirito is our hero in the story. But even heroes need saving. Who saves the heroes though? Their friends, of course. This is also a story involving The Kirito Protection Squad.

Now, ACTIVATE! KIRITO PROTECTION SQUAD!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything here except for the plot of this nonprofit fanfiction I wrote in Chemistry class.

Five Times Kirito Was Saved From Bullies In SAO...

Klein

Klein yawned as he stretched his arms out before dropping them behind his head. He was wondering the newly reached 10th floor town he-can't-remember-the-name-of. It was night and his other guild members were resting in the inn, recovering from the boss level earlier that day.

"Filthy beater!"

There was a loud grunt and Klein got suspicious. He silently snuck to the entrance of a dark alleyway, where the noise was coming from.

It sounded like some players were teaming up on someone. They were in a safe-zone, so they didn't need to worry about killing the person.

But Klein didn't like bullies.

And these guys were definitely bullies.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"Crap! Run!"

The bullies ran away, leaving their victim on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Klein rushed over and helped the black figure up.

Kirito.

"Klein?" The tired looking kid asked as he blinked rapidly, trying to focus. "What are you doing here?"

"Chasing away bullies," The pink haired man frowned as he sat next to his friend. "What happened?"

"I was walking to the inn after talking to a friend of mine," Kirito paused. "They jumped me and threw me into the alley. Started beating me up for being a beater."

Klein was silent for a moment. "Why didn't you fight back? I know you can beat almost every player in Sword Art Online."

The solo-player seemed to think. Klein didn't know if it was to tell him the truth ot to tell him at all.

"Better me in a safe-zone than a another beater outside of a town."

"You're such a hero, Kirito," Klein huffed. "I worry about you sometimes."

"I'll be fine," Kirito pushed himself up, stumbled a bit, than collected himself. "I'll see you later."

Klein watched Kirito walk out of the alley and disappear around the corner.

Agil

"Thanks for the dagger!" Agil's latest customer left his shop with a smile on her face.

"No problem," The shop owner chuckled deeply. He turned to the items behind him.

Agil was planning to move to a higher floor.

The bell on the door rang as a new customer entered.

"Hey, Agil."

The buff man turned around to see Kirito.

"Hey, buddy!" Agil smiled brightly and turned to his friend. "What can I do for you?"

"I got some new items to sell," Kirito opened a trade.

The bell rang again and a woman walked in.

"I'll be with you in a moment, feel free to look around."

"I didn't know you offered service to beaters," The woman sneered.

Agil saw Kirito's shoulders tense, but he didn't say anything.

"I'll take 600 COL," The Black Swordsman offered.

"The beater is trying to dry you out," The woman casually said while looking at daggers.

Kirito didn't say anything, but his hands were trembling.

"I won't have disrespect happening in my shop," Agil sternly spoke before turning back to the trade. "I can give you 550 and throw in your usual throwing picks."

"How many?"

"Five."

"Deal."

Both accepted the trade. The window closed and the two friends smiled at each other.

"Always a pleasure doing business with you, kid," Agil waved as he watched Kirito leave.

"I'll be back with more items later," The Black Swordsman waved before closing the door.

"I thought the filthy beater would never leave," The woman walked up to the counter.

"Okay, listen here," Agil glared. "That kid has done nothing wrong by you or anyone. He is just trying to get everyone out of the game and to their families."

She looked at him with surprised eyes before scoffing and leaving the shop.

Agil sighed and leaned against his counter. He worried about Kirito more than he would admit. The kid is a solo-player, doesn't have an actual home, and when he isn't doing stuff in town the kid is fighting mobs and mapping the dungeons.

The shop owner didn't think Kirito deverved the harassment against him.

Asuna

When Asuna saw Kirito's health drop she was calm and reacted like a responsible person would.

...Okay, she may have freaked out a little bit.

But she was mostly calm.

Asuna quickly tracked down her partner and raced to his side.

What she saw made her blood boil.

Just outside a safe-zone was a group of three players stomping on a familiar dark figure on the ground.

Asuna unsheathed her rapier and growled.

"Hey! Get away from him!"

The three players looked up at her racing form, fear on their faces.

"It's Vice-Commander!"

"The beater isn't worth it. Run!"

Asuna let them run. As much as she wanted to avenge Kirito, making sure he was okay was her first priority.

She kneeled next to his unmoving form, placing a hand on his chest.

"Kirito?"

"They paralyzed me in town, then dragged me out of the safe-zone."

Asuna searched her inventory for any crystals the could heal the status condition. She cursed.

"We'll have to wait out the paralysis."

"We?" Kirito's black eyes looked up at her, confused.

"I'm not going to leave you here like this," Asuna sat next to the Black Swordsman. "Especially if those players come back."

"I guess company wouldn't hurt."

"What was that about anyway?"

Kirito was silent.

Heathcliff, AKA Kayaba

Kayaba has seen many things in his life. Some interest him, most do not.

Kirito is one of the interesting things.

The boy has proven himself to be an intelligent and formidable future opponent.

He sees a bit of himself in Kirito.

Which is why he felt angry when he saw said interesting boy getting pushed around in the back of the front lines. Where no one cared about beaters.

Kayaba remembered being bullied often in his childhood.

"Asuna," Heathcliff turned to his Vice-Commander.

"Yes, Sir?"

"Can you bring Kirito to the front, his skills are more useful if he is one of the first to enter."

The young woman gave him a confused look, but did as she was told.

Heathcliff looked away as Asuna yelled at the players.

Kayaba mentally denied that he did anything.

He only saw himself in the boy.

Nothing more.

Nothing less.

Heathcliff didn't notice three sets of eyes looking at him with respect.

He didn't do anything after all.

Nothing at all.

Silica

"You know Pina and I could have handled it," Silica huffed and crossed her arms, Pina blinked from on top her head.

"I know, just wanted to make an epic entrance," Kirito leaned back in his seat, a playful smirk on his face.

After the two friends met in the woods of level 37, they decided to go to a restaurant and eat.

"Do you always need to make a hero-like entrance?" The Beast Tamer giggled.

"I gotta have some fun here."

"Beaters ain't no heros."

The comment came from a man at the table next to them. He was taking a sip of water coolly.

Silica looked at her friend in worry. Kirito had gone quiet and was staring at his clasped hands.

"Just ignore him," She whispered. "How has the front lines been? I heard they cleared another boss."

"Yeah," Kirito looked up, a forced smile on his face. "It was pretty hard, good thing we didn't lose anyone this time."

"Can you tell me the story?"

"Don't listen," The man spoke up again. "It's probably all a lie."

Pina growled as the Beast Tamer glared at the unknown player.

"Don't you have something more useful to do than listening to other people's conversations?"

The man seemed startled that the little girl snapped at him. He started to look uncomfortable at all the eyes looking at him.

He got up and left.

"Are you okay, Kirito?"

"Yeah...so about that story."

...And The One Time He Was Told Why He Didn't Deserve It.

"Kirito?"

He had been quiet ever since the paralysis wore off. They were walking to the nearest town.

Asuna was getting worried. She's known that the beater harassment has been going on for a long time.

But it went too far this time.

She had one question.

"Why don't you fight back?"

Kirito stopped walking and looked up as Asuna stopped too.

"What do you mean?"

The Vice-Commander gave him an angry look and put her hands on her hips.

"I know this has been happening for a long time. Why don't you fight back?"

Black hair covered his eyes.

"Better me in a safe-zone than someone else outside of a town," He has zero emotion in his voice.

"Don't be a damn hero, Kirito!" Asuna snapped, tears in her eyes. "I know a lot of people that would care if you died, especially over something as stupid as misplaced blame."

Black eyes stared into her hazel ones, searching for something.

After a few moments, he broke eye contact.

"I'll fight back next time."