Sword Arts Online: Darkness

Third person POV

 Roxas felt being dragged by Anko into the Tower, and Roxas, persuaded by Anko, registered for the first round of battles that will be taking place in the Tower. He did so, and both he and Anko were on their way to their first floor and round of battles with some random players in the game. But then, both encountered a man in a blue t-shirt and black pants looking at the battleground for duels against players through a window.

That person was Ashikaga Haruto, Roxas' homeroom teacher from his school.

That teacher, who formerly worked as a disaster preparedness instructor, was protective of his students, loved ones, and those he cared for, and had a survival style of thinking and mindset.

Roxas was surprised to see him. "Haruto-sensei?"

Haruto heard him and looked at him, only to be surprised to see him in the Tower. "Roxas-kun? What are you doing here?"

 "I am here for a few rounds with the players of this game," replied Roxas back.

 "What? Are you?" Haruto responded while being surprised. "As in, actual players of this game?"

 "Yes, alongside Koyuki-chan, Minato-kun, and Shuto-kun as well."

 "Are you sure about that? That sounds unsafe."

 "Come on, sensei, I'll be fine. How about you? You're still an NPC?" Roxas asked back

"Well…" Haruto replied while thinking, "…I couldn't do anything much and I was placed in some sort of role that was fixed and couldn't be adjusted."

 "That sounds you're still an NPC."

 "What is that term?"

Then, Anko appeared before Haruto and answered back, "That stands for Non-Playable Character."

 "Huh? Who are you?" Haruto saw him. "Did you just appeared out of nowhere?"

 "Yes, my name is Tachibana Anko," Anko happily responded back, "and I am Roxas' spirit guardian."

 "You are? You're dead?"

 "Yes, and I am a dead player in this game."

Haruto couldn't believe his ears and eyes while Roxas was confident and explained to Haruto about the circumstances of Anko's death.

 After that, the young foreign player explained to his teacher about how he had Anko as his spirit guardian in detail. Haruto was shocked to hear all those accounts from Roxas. "Wow, that was shocking, to be honest."

"Yes, it was," Anko replied back, "and we were close to each other very well."

After that, Roxas asked Haruto what he was doing in the Tower.

 "I am here because some of my students are here allegedly," answered Haruto back.

 "Is that so?" Anko responded back.

 "Yes, maybe," Haruto said.

 After that, Haruto warned Roxas not to go in, but Roxas assured him that he will be fine. Anko then added that he can heal Roxas with his spirit power.

"Okay, good luck," Haruto decided to agree with them.