Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I love you…

I love…

Kirito couldn’t exactly claim that his body was aching because in the virtual world, that wasn’t possible. His real body was probably numb and hurt and out of sorts by now, even with the medical treatment he was probably getting, but his virtual body couldn’t suffer. Not really. He could feel things, but pain wasn’t one of them.

Which was a good thing because Kirito could at least give Kayaba Akihiko one point in his favor—the man wasn’t cruel enough to trap so many people in a game that could also replicate pain. If someone got slashed or stabbed or kicked… well, they could feel it, but it wasn’t painful.

Still, even without the ability to feel pain with the NerveGear on his head, Kirito still knew that had it been the real world, he would have felt tired and wounded and injured and like he was going to keel over. Because fighting a powerful Boss and then dealing with Kayaba Akihiko wasn’t an easy feat. Hell, Kirito had died doing that. He was just going to… fade away, probably. At least it wasn’t painful.

Unless he would also feel the pain of his brain getting fried before oblivion took over.

The thing was, Kirito felt nothing. He watched as Aincrad broke apart and fell from the sky, deleting its own data from existence at the death of its creator, but… something wasn’t adding up.

Kirito expected to find himself being erased, too. He saw the moment Asuna disappeared—or rather… he felt it when her body vanished because his eyes were closed—leaving him alone to watch the world he’s been living in for two years as it got destroyed. But he… he wasn’t disappearing as well. He was still there, watching, waiting, getting more and more confused and flustered as time went by.

Nothing was happening.

He looked around again at the empty space that he found himself at after he had dealt with Kayaba, but it was still just him, sitting there and watching the ruins of the world that he’d yearned to get back to only to get betrayed and trapped inside. He had to watch as it tore itself apart after that world had made the people living in it tear each other apart, too.

He wanted to feel accomplished because his mission was over—he cleared the game. He freed everyone. But he felt empty. He felt like he did something good, but he also got rid of something that he loved. Something that was a part of him.

Living in the virtual world was hard and it demanded a lot out of Kirito, but Aincrad was, well, his home. He had a house there. He had friends and companions. He had memories in this world that he would never be able to recreate because Kayaba Akihiko decided that the world would die along with him.

Kirito believed it was both selfish and deserving. In order to clear the game and free everyone, he had to ruin something that he cared about. Something that he never wanted to see the end of—not really.

“Heartbreaking, isn’t it?”

Kirito turned to glance at the figure that materialized next to him once more—Kayaba Akihiko. The man in the lab coat sat there, watching his world along with Kirito, his face a blank mask. He couldn’t have been more expressionless if he tried. Kirito stared at him for a moment and then looked back down.

“Yeah,” he admitted bitterly. “I thought you were gone,” he added after a moment of silence.

He wasn’t sure how to feel about having a conversation with the same person who was responsible for everything he’d had to endure over the last two years, but his admiration toward the man’s mind… it wasn’t gone. He still thought he was brilliant. He still thought Aincrad was incredible.

The scientist hummed for a moment. “In a sense, I am. My body is dead. My mind is the only thing left. Or rather an echo of it…” he said. “Which means that I can no longer really die. I’m here, but I’m not here.” He finally tore his eyes away from the scene before them and looked at Kirito. “I expected you to be gone already, too. Back to the real world, where the others have already woken up.”

Kirito’s heart skipped a beat. “T-they really have?”

“But… oh, yes, I see.” Kayaba nodded and then looked away once more. Kirito stared at him, waiting for more information. “I suppose some people just have this sort of bad luck. I’m sure they will be very confused when you won’t wake up like the rest of the survivors,” the man said with a shrug, sounding like he couldn’t care less.

Kirito glared at him.

“What are you talking about? Why am I still here?” Kirito demanded. “Where’s Asuna? Has she woken up, too?” He wanted to ask if she died in the real world, but the mere thought of that made him sick for his stomach. That wasn’t possible. If he was still around, then he had to believe Asuna was, as well. “What’s going on?”

Kayaba nodded, like he was answering an unasked question. “Well, it seems like someone decided to keep you in the virtual world a little longer. Rest assured, this time it’s not my own doing, Kirito-kun. This is an outside force.” His lips tugged down. “Someone who is using my invention.”

Thoughts racing, Kirito tried to understand what Kayaba meant by that. Someone outside… didn’t want him to wake up? Why? Who? How could someone just keep him under like that? He needed to see his family. He needed to find Asuna—the one in the real world! He needed to do so many things, and yet if what Kayaba was saying was true, then Kirito couldn’t leave.

Even after defeating the last Boss, he was still stuck in this game. He was still trapped, stranded. And this time he was on his own because according to the scientist, the others have woken up.

A bright light started shining over the horizon, though Kirito had no idea what was behind it. He squinted his eyes at it and brought a hand up to block it the best he could.

Kayaba didn’t even stir. “Looks like you’re being taken to your next location,” he said.

“Wait, no!” Kirito tried to move, but he couldn’t. His body felt nothing like his light avatar—now he was incapable of even lifting his hand more than an inch. He couldn’t escape. He couldn’t fight. He couldn’t do anything to stop whatever it was that was happening to him. “Can’t you do something? It’s your world!”

“You want my help?” Kayaba asked, lifting an eyebrow at Kirito.

Did he? A part of him wanted to reply negatively. This person had trapped thousands of people in Aincrad against their will and made them fight for their lives on a daily basis. He had deceived countless people by pretending to be someone good and honest. He had murdered Asuna, even if it didn’t have any lasting effect.

He was a murderer. Just a brilliant murderer that couldn’t even remember his own reasoning behind making so many people suffer for such a long time.

And yet… “Yes!”

Kayaba observed him for a moment, and Kirito noted with alarm that his own body was beginning to glow and turn transparent. He was being taken away. And he was certain it wasn’t to the real world, but rather someplace else where he would be trapped and left to fend for himself.

He latched desperately onto Kayaba’s arm, hoping it would keep him behind for a moment longer. A part of him feared his hand would go right through Kayaba’s body, but it didn’t. His fingers numbly felt the fabric of the lab coat the man had and he focused on that.

“We’re not friends, Kirito-kun,” the man noted and Kirito wanted to scream at him that it didn’t matter—he knew that. He would never be Kayaba Akihiko’s friend. They were enemies. They had just fought to the death mere minutes ago. How could Kirito not know that? But he didn’t need to say anything because Kayaba just went on speaking. “If I help you, you will have to do something for me in return.”

Gulping, Kirito stared at his body that disappeared more and more with every passing moment. “Okay! I will!”

Kayaba finally cracked a little smile. “The rules of the game you are being transported to are the same as the ones I have given you at the start. If you die there, you will die in the real world, too. Other players are free to leave, but you will have to find your own way out. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”

“That’s not helpful! I could guess that by myself!”

“That’s not the assistance I was going to give you—that was just the kind of information I figured you might want to have.” The man’s smile faded and he started to flicker out of existence, too. “I’ll assist you, Kirito-kun. Even though my methods might not be to your liking.” The man shrugged. “Oh, well. I’m sure you’ll manage to survive long enough for it to work, won’t you?”

And with a smirk, Kayaba disappeared and Kirito blinked his eyes, ready to snap at the vague man only to open them again and find out that he was someplace else. He looked around at the forest around him in wonder. The sun shined above the trees, blinding him a little when he tried to spot it.

But he could tell it wasn’t real. It was nothing like the real world because the sun was virtual and the blinding light coming from it didn’t linger behind his eyelids once he looked away, but rather disappeared completely.

Reaching for his back, he groaned when his hand came back empty. No sword. No idea where he was. Not a clue about what Kayaba Akihiko was planning… Kirito was even more lost than he was at the beginning of Sword Art Online. Back then, he had a target, a goal—to reach the hundredth floor and defeat the Boss to set everyone free.

Now, though? He had no idea what his mission was. He was stranded alone in a virtual forest with no equipment on him. He did have the same clothes as before, though. And he was pretty sure his avatar still looked like himself. When he was fourteen, mind you, but still his face and his body type.

Sighing, Kirito’s shoulders sagged in defeat. “Here we go again.”

Chapter Text

Midori was sitting at the kitchen table, staring down at the article she needed to proof-read for work when her phone started buzzing. She expected it to be Suguha, maybe, wanting a lift back home after her practice. Or maybe it was Minetaka, calling to inform that he was on his way back home.

She didn’t expect to see her friend’s name displayed on her screen, however. They’ve talked for forty minutes only half an hour earlier, after all.

Still, she wasn’t going to let the call go to voicemail when she was right there. So she picked up the phone and pressed the green button. “Himari?” she asked. “D-did you forget something important?”

Her friend then started ranting passionately about God only knows what—Midori was too stunned by the wave of constant babbling to really understand what it was that she was being told. She could only stare at the article in front of her, the letters swimming before her eyes as she lost focus.

Her eyes drifted over to the front door. Suguha was probably about done with her practice. Maybe she was already on her way back home. Maybe she was chatting with the others over there, though it was pretty unlikely with how shut off she was.

Lately, it’s been almost a rare thing to see Sugu interacting with other kids her age. Midori couldn’t really blame the girl for wanting to isolate herself, either. It was hard, having a brother stuck in that death game. They called the players in Sword Art Online SAO survivors, but Midori just didn’t think that was fitting.

They weren’t surviving—they were fighting for their lives. They were desperate and forced into a situation that they couldn’t back out of. And her son was one of the people who were still alive. Who were still fighting. Who were still stuck. Who were still somewhat safe. He was alive, and that was all that mattered right now.

“Himari,” Midori said, rubbing her forehead tiredly, eyelids drooping as she sighed, “say that again, only slower. You sound like someone is chasing you,” she scolded playfully.

Her friend snorted. “I’m surprised you’re so calm!” she said. Midori hummed questioningly. “I mean, when the news started announcing it was over, I figured the hospital would call you and you’ll be out of the house immediately, but you sound like you’re not in any rush. Have you gotten to the hospital already, then?”

Okay, that was a weird thing to say.

“T-the hospital? No, why?” she demanded. Himari went silent at once. “They haven’t called. Should I be worried? Has something happened to the players still connected to the game?” She started drumming restlessly on the table with her fingers, looking around the house like it was going to close on her and keep her locked inside. “What are you talking about, Himari? Tell me everything from the start, please!”

“I can’t believe you haven’t heard a thing about it…” the woman grumbled, and then continued in a louder voice. “It’s the game, Midori. Sword Art Online has been cleared today. They’re all waking up! People are getting calls from hospitals to inform them about their relatives finally waking up. Haven’t you heard anything from the hospital about Kazuto?”

A swell of happiness filled Midori’s body as she got up and quickly picked up her purse. She needed to leave. She needed to get to the hospital as soon as possible to welcome Kazuto back to the land of the living. She would have to get Suguha there, too. And inform Minetaka so that he’d board a flight back from his work abroad, immediately.

She had to see her kid. She had to get there and congratulate him for surviving, for making it to the very end. She had to see him, eyes open and maybe a soft, confused smile on his face. Hug him, squeeze the life out of him. Maybe also cut his hair. She couldn’t lift the NerveGear until now, but she could still tell his hair was way longer than he would have liked.

But then she froze with her hand on the handle of the front door.

She was about to get out. She was about to go and see Kazuto, awake and somewhat well. But… why hasn’t the hospital called to inform her? Why did she have to hear about it from Himari?

A voice inside her head told her it was nothing and that the hospital was probably under a lot of pressure now because a lot of people were waking up all at once. There were bound to be mistakes. The nurses, doctors and secretaries were only human, after all.

It didn’t sit right with her, though. She didn’t know what to call it, but something inside her told her that it wasn’t that simple. That there was no mistake. That Kazuto… that Kazuto was still trapped, that he was still asleep, unconscious. That he wasn’t awake, and that was why she hadn’t heard a thing about it. Because there was nothing to report.

“C-could it be that… that maybe some people are still trapped in the game?” she asked, voice barely above a whisper. She wasn’t sure she even wanted an answer to her question.

Himari hummed thoughtfully for a moment. “I don’t see how that would be possible, honestly,” she said, sounding almost like she wanted to dismiss the entire idea. Midori wasn’t sure what to think. “My cousin woke up—I’m right outside his room right now—and he said that the game destroyed itself once they were all allowed to leave. And if the game is no longer around, I don’t see how anyone could still be stuck inside.”

The words should have brought Midori comfort and hope, but for some reason they only made her squeeze her hand against her chest, above her heart. She felt like she was going to suffocate. She felt like she was losing a battle she didn’t even know she was a part of. Because if Kazuto was still unconscious like she feared, then where the hell was he without SAO’s world around?

“I-I have to go!” she said abruptly and ended the call before Himari could say anything else.

She quickly chelled to see if she got anything new from the hospital. Or maybe from Minetaka. Nothing. Sugu sent a text mentioning the end of the game, asking if Kazuto was finally awake. How was Midori supposed to answer such a thing? What was she supposed to tell her daughter now that everyone was waking up… except for Kazuto?

“No, that’s ridiculous!” Midori muttered to herself stubbornly.

Letting go of the front door’s handle, she quickly called the hospital. She tried to keep her cool as she asked the man on the other end of the line about Kazuto, wanting to know if he has woken up already, too.

The voice of the man when he finished chelling was all the answer Midori needed, because no one would be this grim and confused at someone finally waking up after two years inside a virtual world along with so many others.

Knees giving in, Midori found herself on the floor, her phone clutched loosely in her hand and her eyes staring ahead without seeing a thing. “Kazuto…” she whispered to herself. To the empty room, to her boy. “Where did you end up this time?”

In a way, nothing seemed to have changed. Midori thought that had Kazuto actually woken up, maybe their routine would have been less… dry. More interesting. With him having to regain control of his body. He would have had to work hard on recovering those muscles in his body that have been inactive for so long now.

But since he was still asleep with that stupid NerveGear on his head, Midori didn’t need to accommodate her routine to her son’s rehabilitation process. She could still do whatever she needed with all the time in the world.

Nothing’s changed. She wished it had.

She still went to the hospital that day, of course, unwilling to believe it all without seeing Kazuto with her own two eyes. She sat there and watched him as he looked like he was deep asleep, even though she knew that wasn’t it. A part of her wanted to tear the helmet off his head and see if it would still fry his brain. If the game was over, shouldn’t the NerveGear’s protocol change or get erased, too?

But then she seemed to get a message on her phone from an unknown number. She was going to ignore it, but decided against it in the end. And she was really glad that she made that choice because the message was a video footage of Kayaba Akihiko in a dark setting.

It looked like the apathetic man was just floating there, staring at a camera. At the lens. Straight into Midori’s soul. She hated this man. She wanted to claw him out of her phone’s screen and make him face justice for everything he’s done to her boy. To everyone.

And then she listened to what he had to say and she blanched. Apparently, Kayaba was still alive. In a sense. She didn’t really get it, but she didn’t care about that part, either. She only cared about how he seemed to tell her that Kazuto wasn’t waking up because he was trapped somewhere else but was otherwise unharmed. It wasn’t Kayaba’s fault this time, he insisted, and he was actually trying to help the boy get out however he could.

The video ended with a warning, telling Midori not to take the NerveGear off Kazuto’s head because it would still work. It would still kill him. She didn’t want to believe the man in the recording, but she didn’t have much of a choice, either. She could only stare at the screen and sob, her hand crawling over to hold onto Kazuto’s pale one, desperately wishing him luck wherever he was trapped this time.

Well, it’s been a month since the SAO survivors had awoken. Midori wanted to resent them for coming out of that game without her son, but she just couldn’t. Seeing those haunted, pale people who had to be carried around on wheelchairs or crutches was heartbreaking. She couldn’t imagine how hard life in that game was for them all.

She couldn’t blame them—it wasn’t their fault. It was someone else who wanted to make her son miserable. Who wanted to make her miserable. Her and the rest of her family.

With a sigh, Midori looked at the door of Kazuto’s room, her purse clutched in her hand. She was going to visit with Sugu today but then her daughter said she needed to practice—which was her way of telling Midori that she couldn’t handle it right now—so Midori left alone to visit Kazuto. She wasn’t going to stay long, anyway. She would only sit there for a couple of minutes, wish him luck and hope for the best.

Only… when she opened the door, she was surprised to find someone already sitting on the chair next to Kazuto, holding his hand and bowing their head until their forehead was touching the clean sheets of the hospital bed.

There were crutches to the side of the bed, close enough to the person next to her son for Midori to realize they belonged to them. Oh, and there was a young man standing next to the window, looking mostly awkward when he noticed Midori’s presence in the room.

“O-oh,” the man mumbled and then quickly bowed his head in Midori’s direction, limbs stiff. He looked like he was beyond embarrassed at being caught in the room. “Y-you must be Mrs. Kirigaya Midori! We’re sorry for the intrusion!”

The figure next to her son straightened up slowly, looking like it was a painful process, and then twisted their body enough to look at Midori. It was a girl with chestnut hair that was very long and not as lively as it should be. Her eyes were red, tear-tracks staining her cheeks, and she looked absolutely miserable and lost. Also, caught off guard at the sight of Midori.

“Sorry!” the girl said. She was thin—too thin—and everything about her screamed that she was sick and tired. Exhausted. Midori felt like a light breeze could take this girl down despite the spark of determination in her eyes. “I’m so, so sorry, Mrs. Kirigaya! I didn’t expect to run into you.”

Midori watched as the girl reached weakly toward her crutches and then shook her head and stepped closer to the two strangers and the bed where her son was, still very much unaware of the people surrounding him.

“You were in that game too, weren’t you?” she asked gently. The girl blinked at her in surprise, hands still held out for her crutches, but she didn’t pick them up, instead staring up at Midori with wide eyes. Then she nodded once. “So you know Kazuto from there?” she asked and sat down in a spare chair next to the girl.

“Y-yes!” The girl nodded again and sent a quick glance in the other boy’s direction. “My name is Yuuki Asuna,” she introduced herself. “And this is my brother, Yuuki Kouichirou. I’m sorry for the intrusion but… but I haven’t heard anything from Kiri-Kazuto-kun since I woke up, and then I found out he was still unconscious, and… I had to see him for myself!” she apologized quickly, the tears brimming in her eyes.

Shaking her head with a smile, Midori looked at Kazuto. “No need to apologize—it’s okay. I’m just happy to hear he had friends in that game,” she admitted.

Asuna shifted a little in her place but then finally settled on looking back at Kazuto, the tears spilling silently down her cheeks. Her brother just stood there silently. He probably only came to keep an eye on his sister.

“He always had a hard time socializing,” Midori continued fondly. “He liked to isolate himself. Especially ever since he found out that he was—“ she cut herself off with a shake of her head. “Anyway, I’m glad he had someone with him. I can’t imagine going through it alone.”

Asuna huffed a little, like she found the thought irritating. “Oh, he tried to stay alone, all right,” she said, wiping the tears away and glaring weakly at the sleeping boy. “He tried to push everyone away. And he was alone most of the time, I suppose.” She sighed and Midori glanced at the girl. “I wish he could wake up so that I can properly scold him for taking such stupid risks.”

A bark of laughter bubbled out of Midori as she nodded. “Yes, me too.”

“This is a recorded message.”

A voice cut through the silence all of a sudden and made Midori jump in alarm as Asuna looked around, her sharp attention standing in contrast with the weak state of her body.

She looked like she was ready to jump forward and fight whoever it was. Kouichirou blinked in surprise, too, but turned to the TV in the room a few seconds before the girls did. The voice came from there.

Midori shuddered again at the sight of Kayaba Akihiko, only this time the man was standing in what looked like a lab. He was very much alive, in her opinion.

“I repeat, this is a recorded message that will only get out once Sword Art Online has been cleared.”

“What the…” Asuna muttered, and Kouichirou quickly picked up the remote and turned the volume up to make the words easier to catch.

Midori wasn’t sure whether she wanted to throw something at the screen or stare at it in awe. Even now, after he was gone (to some extent, at least) this man was there to make their lives harder in some way or another, wasn’t he?

On the screen, Kayaba Akihiko leaned back on a table and looked emotionlessly at the camera recording him. “If Japan sees this video, then I guess the game has been cleared and everyone has woken up. In which case, one player should feel pride in themselves for defeating the final Boss of Aincrad. I don’t know who they are as of yet, and I’m certain most of the people who haven’t been in SAO and the ones who haven’t fought at the front won’t know the player either. Well, that’s what I’m here to fix.”

He finally cracked a smile and Midori wished he hadn’t. The man didn’t look evil. He looked like someone whose light has gone out. He looked soulless. Bleak. But not evil. Not like a person who would create an entire game, an entire world, just to trap people inside and force them to fight for their lives.

“I believe you deserve a look into the events that have led to the end of Aincrad. So I created a feature in the program of the game. This will allow the game to monitor and follow all players and gather everything important for the sake of looking back on it all. But the only player whose data is going to remain intact once the final Boss is dealt with, would be the champion of my world. The one who would defeat the Boss. The one who would clear the game.”

Asuna gasped a little, her eyes flitting over to Kazuto’s still form. She covered her mouth with her thin, lean hand and the tears came back with vengeance as she looked at the boy like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

Midori wanted to ask her about it, but she had no idea what answer she should expect and she didn’t want to find out about something bad. She couldn’t handle any more bad news about her little baby boy. So she focused back on Kayaba Akihiko, instead.

“The program will release the video once the game is over, and reveal the adventures of the clearer of the game. Everything that is deemed to be important or worthy of being seen,” the man continued.

Midori shuddered at the thought of someone’s life being broadcasted to the entire country but couldn’t do anything but pray it won’t be too bad or hard to watch.

“Each video will be deleted once it has been watched. I know you think I’m a monster for doing all of this,” Kayaba said, bowing his head without looking truly apologetic. “Maybe I am. But I will say this—whoever beat my game has earned my respect.”

He stared at the lens for a few seconds, as if trying to deliver the message to whatever player had cleared the game. Asuna scowled but Midori could only hope whoever it was on the receiving end of this look… she hoped they weren’t scarred for life in an irreversible way.

“And now I’ll let you watch your hero.”

The screen faded to black.

Midori blinked at it before she shook her head. “This is madness. It’s crazy,” she said. Her hand fished her phone as she contemplated calling Suguha to chell up on her, just to see how she was doing and if she’d seen this broadcast.

But when her eyes fell on her phone screen, she gasped a little at seeing it wasn’t responding, before it came to life in sync with the TV. Her eyes shifted from the phone in her hand to the bigger screen in the room as she realized they both showed the same thing.

Asuna was muttering something close to Kazuto’s head, sounding upset and full of rage. Her brother stared at the screen intently, his brows furrowed and his own phone clutched in his hand even though he wasn’t using it. A sparkle from it revealed to Midori that his phone was just as useless as hers was, at the moment.

“The poor thing… whoever they are, they don’t even get a say in this,” she muttered.

Kouichirou nodded and hummed in agreement before pulling a chair toward himself and sitting down, probably realizing they were going to stay there for a while now, watching this.

Midori wasn’t stupid—she could tell that she wouldn’t be able to escape those ‘episodes’ no matter what she did. She could even faintly hear the low murmurs coming from the TV, also reaching her from the three phones in the room.

Kayaba Akihiko made sure everyone would be able to see this, whether they wanted to or not. She didn’t want to look at someone else’s life without their consent, but she also wanted to thank the person who had freed so many people, even if it didn’t help Kazuto.

On the screen, Midori watched as flashes of blue appeared everywhere in what seemed to be some kind of plaza. She assumed it was in the game. And by the knowing look on Asuna’s face, she was correct.

One of the flashes revealed a player that was clearly at the center of the screen. He had black, long hair, and eyes to match. His shirt was blue with some kind of… protection gear on top? Midori couldn’t for the life of her really understand these kind of games, so she just… assumed it was there for protection. At least they didn’t all start with absolutely nothing.

The character had fair skin and fingerless, brown gloves. There was a pouch tied around his waist. His pants were dark and long and nearly reached the brown shoes he had. They had. It could be a girl, for all they knew. It was an avatar after all—the players could change their appearance to look like whatever they wanted. At least, that’s what she understood from Kazuto’s brief rants about the game during the beta test.

Lifting one hand slowly and looking at it with an expressionless look, the player squeezed their hand and a proud smirk appeared on their face. His face. Midori was just going to assume they were a ‘he’ and not a ‘she’ because it was just too confusing.

Gaze lifting to look ahead at the world before him, the player looked like he was thrilled. “I’m back in this world,” he muttered to himself.

“Oh, he was one of the beta testers, too?” Midori asked.

Asuna gave her this funny look, like she was trying to understand what the hell Midori was talking about. But then she just sighed and nodded, her grip on Kazuto’s hand tightening a little. She opened her mouth, as if wanting to say something, but then shook her head and sealed her lips once again, staring at the screen with this look of distaste.

Midori blinked in surprise when instead of just continuing the scene, it cut abruptly to show the player running through a busy street with a smile on his face, the others around talking to each other loudly, or chelling out things they might buy. The player ignored them all and ran enthusiastically before turning sharply into an alley where no one was.

“Hey, you there!” a voice called out, and the player slowed down in surprise before stopping completely and turning around to look at the approaching player.

“Me?”

The other player stopped in front of the blue-cladded one, panting after he ran to catch up. It was another male one, with red-pinkish long hair and a red bandana on his head. His shirt was white, covered in the same weak-looking armor that the first player had. Actually, apart from their avatars and the difference in colors, they had the same items. Which made sense, considering it was the beginning for everyone in the game.

For a few moments the redhead just inhaled and exhaled as he bent over, and then he peeked up at the player before him with a smile. “You move like you’ve been here before,” he noted and Midori noticed Asuna looking at the new player with interest and mild amusement. Maybe they knew each other? “You were in the beta test, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

Straightening up, the new player seemed to ignore the other’s hesitation. “Today’s my first day. Show me the basics, okay?” he asked.

The redhead walked toward the dark-haired player, putting his hand on his shoulder. The original player looked awkward all of a sudden, smiling nervously at his new acquaintance. When he didn’t immediately accept, the second player clapped his hands together and bowed his head, making Asuna chuckle wetly.

“I’m begging you!” he said. And then, without actually getting an answer, the man smiled and pointed at himself proudly. “My name’s Klein. Nice to meet you.”

A few short seconds passed with the beta tester just looking at Klein unsurely, and then he seemed to make up his mind. He smiled confidently at his new acquired friend and put a hand on his waist. “I’m Kirito.”

Asuna turned her head back to Midori, as if expecting some kind of reaction from her now that she knew the name of the player, but the woman really had no idea what she was supposed to do. It was just a name. A fake name, probably. Kirito. It was… nice?

She wondered what Kazuto’s name was in the game, though. Did he keep on using it or did he eventually revert back to his real, actual name? She figured he wouldn’t really tell people who he was in the real world, though. Although, it seemed like Asuna knew his real name, so maybe she was wrong about that.

Changing again, the scene showed a beautiful, wide field in that virtual world. Midori hated Aincrad and all it stood for ever since it got her son trapped, but looking at it like that… she couldn’t help but be at awe. This place was beautiful. As much as she resented the castle, she couldn’t help but admit the place was a lovely thing to cast her eyes upon.

It was breathtaking. It was almost… real, in a way. Well, for the players, it probably was. They’ve lived there for the past two years. It was their home for the entire time. She could definitely see how such a place could become somewhat tolerable.

On the screen, Klein got hit by a… boar? His weapon clattered to the ground as the man curled into a pathetic ball and started complaining about getting hit in the crotch while Kirito just stood there passively, staring at the other player like he could think of dozens of better things he could be doing with his time.

“Give me a break,” Kirito said calmly and Asuna rolled her eyes, too. “You don’t feel any pain, right?” he reminded Klein and at his words, the man stopped twisting and writhing, seemingly realizing for the first time that his pal was right.

Kouichirou chuckled after he snorted at the stupid display, and Midori smiled weakly. It was probably strange to live in a world where people couldn’t feel pain. Could they feel anything, really? Warmth? Touch?

“Oh, yeah.” Klein started getting back up. “Just a habit, I guess.”

Kirito, instead of giving up on the poor, pathetic player, remained put in his place. “I told you. What’s important is your initial motion input,” he said.

Klein complained about the boar constantly moving around, and Kirito lifted a rock and tossed it up and down playfully.

“If you get the motion input right,” he said with a smile, and then shifted his stance and held the rock, ready to toss it. Midori gasped a little along with Asuna’s brother when it started to glow as he aimed it at the animal. Asuna didn’t even bat an eye. “And activate a sword skill…”

He threw the rock and it hit the boar’s back, leaving a red mark behind as it started grunting dangerously. Kirito didn’t seem bothered by this at all. “The system will ensure that the technique connects.”

“Motion input… motion input…” Klein started mumbling, looking mostly confused as he readied his dagger thing-y.

The boar advanced toward Kirito, who drew out a simple sword and avoided it when it tried to ram into him. “How can I explain?” He stopped the boar with his sword the next time it came after him, not trying to kill it, but to block it. “Stop for a moment, and when you feel the skill begin to activate, let it explode,” he said.

After another moment of confusion Klein tried doing just that. When his weapon began to glow, Kirito smiled and kicked the boar until it was running toward Klein instead of himself.

Midori watched in wonder as the man lunged forward like he’s been fighting monsters and hunting animals for years now. He cut through the boar with one long strike and then looked back in wonder and elation as the boar exploded into blue pixels that drifted away, leaving behind some kind of window with the results of the fight.

Honestly, Midori got none of that, but she could see how happy Klein was about his accomplishment, so she still smiled.

“ALL RIGHT!” Klein called in triumph.

Kirito smiled at him. “Congratulations,” he said and gave the man a high-five before sliding his sword back into its scabbard. The motion almost looked natural. “However, that boar’s the equivalent of slime in other games.”

“Seriously?!” Klein exclaimed. Asuna’s lips quivered. “I thought it was a midlevel boss or something!”

Asuna burst out laughing at that. “He was such a noob back then—I can’t believe it!” She wiped a stray tear away and then shook her head in amusement. “Kirito, how much did you have to teach him to make him last this long?” she muttered with a smile and then her eyes fell on Kazuto again and it was like she sobered up.

Her smile faded away and her lips tugged back down. She squeezed the boy’s hand tightly and then sighed. “I’ll get you back, too. I promise,” she whispered, and Midori had the feeling she wasn’t supposed to hear it.

On the TV screen, the scene was replaced with one where the sun was setting, and the two players were perched on a seemingly floating island. They watched the view comfortably, Klein sitting down and Kirito standing up with a smile on his face.

Midori had to catch her breath because the view was mesmerizing.

Well, it was official—that world was absolutely stunning. Had it not been turned into a nightmare for ten-thousand people, she would have absolutely loved it. Maybe she would have entered the game every once in a while just to see the sights. Go sight-seeing in a game, huh? That was a strange thought.

“No matter how many times I see it, I still can’t believe this is a game,” Klein commented. “Whoever made it is a genius.” Midori wondered how long it took the guy to change his mind about the developer of the game. “It really is amazing. Seriously, I’m glad I was born in this time.”

“You make a big deal out of everything,” Kirito noted, sounding tired. But the expression on his face was filled with admiration and wonder. Maybe even more so than Klein’s.

Klein pouted. “It’s my first full dive!”

“Then this is your first time playing a game with NerveGear?”

“I rushed out and bought the hardware to play Sword Art Online,” Klein said with an easy grin.

Asuna seemed to glance at her brother, for some reason. Midori was a little intrigued when he bowed his head, like he could relate to the words. Though… it didn’t look like he just woke up like the others.

Klein continued. “I was really lucky to get one of the ten-thousand copies,” he said and Midori shuddered. Those people rushed to get this game… and then they got betrayed by it. “But you were ten times as lucky, getting into the beta test,” he added, and Kirito turned to look at him, his smile gone. “Only a thousand people got to do it.”

Scratching the back of his head, Kirito looked away thoughtfully. “I guess so…”

Asuna groaned like she was frustrated with Kirito. Midori didn’t know if she could ask about it, but she thought Asuna might actually know him. Whoever he was. Maybe she was a friend of his in the game? Or maybe they even knew each other in real life. Who knows. Although it looked like Kouichirou didn’t know Kirito too well. He did act like he recognized the name, but that was mostly it.

“How far did you get in the beta?” Klein asked.

“In two months I only reached floor 8,” the dark-haired boy replied simply. Kouichirou looked impressed, but Asuna just rolled her eyes at the determined smile on Kirito’s face. “This time it’ll only take a month.”

Klein smiled up at him. “You’re really into this.”

Sending his hand back, Kirito drew his sword out and seemed to stare at it in admiration, a gleam sparkling in his eyes.

“To be honest, during the beta test, SAO was all I could think about, day and night,” he said. Midori had to admit to herself that the boy sounded completely genuine. He truly loved the game. Maybe that was how he got to beat the final boss. “In this world a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. It’s a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in the real one.”

It was hard to imagine someone who’d feel more at home in a world that was completely artificial. Plus, this sentiment was said before the game officially was announced as a trap. So… did the player change his mind about it afterward or did he still feel connected to Aincrad more than his own, real life?

Personally, Midori couldn’t imagine giving up her life to live in Aincrad. As wonderful and magical as that place was, it didn’t have her family and friends in it, and she loved her world.

Her eyes drifted over to the unconscious Kazuto. He kept on shutting them all out ever since he was ten and realized he was adopted. It was like he no longer wanted to be a part of the world around him.

Did he feel the same about Sword Art Online? Did he love it so much because he saw it as a way of going someplace else, where he could be himself without the real world pulling him down? She didn’t want to think that her son loved that death trap more than his own reality, but… but… what if that was exactly the case?

The scene seemed to skip ahead a bit, because the next moment Klein was facing Kirito, standing up and smiling at the other player. “Hey, after this I’m meeting up with some people I know from another game,” he said. “Want to friend them, too?”

Kirito looked surprised at the offer for a moment, and then he sadly looked down, like his thoughts were racing and he wasn’t sure how to let Klein down easy. Asuna sighed again and squeezed Kazuto’s hand for what seemed like the hundredth time.

She didn’t appear to be surprised at Kirito’s reluctance to befriend more people. Honestly, Midori herself recognized the same awkwardness around others that her own son had. They just weren’t social people.

“Of course, if you don’t want to, that’s okay,” Klein rushed to say when he noticed how quiet Kirito became. He looked nervous, like he was worried he’d hurt the boy somehow. “I’ll introduce you another time.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Kirito offered him a weak smile. “Thanks.”

Klein quickly got over the moment, approaching Kirito with a grin. “Hey, that’s my line. I’ll be sure to thank you properly, sometime. Mentally,” he said, and Kirito huffed out a small laugh. “Thanks so much, man. I’ll see you around.”

The surprise on Kirito’s face when Klein offered his hand out for a shake almost looked like it belonged on a kid’s face. But then he accepted and shook the man’s hand. “If there’s anything else you wanna know, just tell me.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that!” Klein nodded and then turned around with a wave and brought up the menu.

Kirito smiled and started walking away when he heard Klein’s confused voice. That stopped him in his tracks. Midori braced herself, knowing what was wrong already—there was no way to log out.

“There’s no button to log out,” Klein said. When Kirito urged him to take a better look, Klein shook his head. “No, it’s not there.”

“At the bottom of the main menu…” Kirito started saying, opening his own menu before freezing at the sight of the missing button.

“See? Not there.”

“No, it isn’t.”

Klein, unlike Kirito, seemed to take it lightly. He turned back toward his companion and shrugged. “Well, it’s the first day out of beta. There are bound to be some bugs,” he said.

But Kirito was still just staring at the place where the log out button was supposed to be. Midori knew it was strange, but the look on his face almost made her think he was aware of something sinister going on despite not hearing about Kayaba’s warnings just yet. Asuna gulped loudly.

“I’m sure the server people are freaking out…” Klein chuckled.

Finally snapping out of it, Kirito offered the man a deadpan look. “In a second you will be, too,” he said, pointing randomly up, like there was something there. Maybe there was something that they just couldn’t see as outside people watching this? Asuna seemed to understand what he was pointing at… “It’s 17:25.”

To say that Midori was confused would be an understatement. She had no idea why the hour mattered to Klein. Was it something that he’d said earlier on that they didn’t get to see or hear? Was it just… an important hour, for some reason? And how did Kirito know what the time was? Was that what he could see? A clock? Well, that would explain why Midori, Asuna and Kouichirou couldn’t see it—it was an in-game feature, probably. Something only the players could see.

On the screen, Klein stared in horror at Kirito before he brought his hands dramatically to his face. “My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!” he exclaimed in devastation.

Midori shuddered at the combination mentioned but decided that, well… to each their own. She couldn’t berate a stranger for liking something that sounded absolutely atrocious. This wasn’t her business. Nor could he hear her, of course.

“Just hurry and call the game master,” Kirito said coolly. It was nice to see how one of them was extremely dramatic while the other just couldn’t seem to bother.

Klein looked back down at his menu. “I tried, but nothing’s happening,” he said and then glanced back up at his friend. “Is there any other way to log out?”

Looking aside, Kirito seemed to think hard about it. Some kind of understanding seemed to dawn on him because he looked a little more bothered by their situation as time went on. Midori couldn’t blame him, especially knowing what was to come.

“No,” the black-haired player said slowly. “If a player wants to log themselves out they have to go through the menu.”

“That’s nuts. There’s gotta be another way,” Klein said and then started posing theatrically as he chanted out words loudly. “Return! Log out! Escape!” He froze and waited but nothing happened.

“I told you there isn’t,” Kirito said. “There wasn’t an emergency log out in the manual, either.” And then he watched as Klein tried to pull the NerveGear off his head. Midori pursed her lips as Kirito just watched, not even bothering to try those same things like Klein. “You can’t. We can’t move our real bodies,” he said, voice going a little more erratic, like he was starting to feel the panic Klein was feeling, but in a much less intense way. “The NerveGear intercepts anything we tell our bodies to do here.”

The other guy gaped at him. “Seriously? So we have to wait for them to fix the bug?”

“Or for someone in the real world to take off our NerveGear,” Kirito replied.

Midori shivered and shifted uncomfortably, thinking about how close she herself was to killing Kazuto by removing his own NerveGear. It was pure luck that made her decide to listen to Kayaba Akihiko’s warning.

She wanted to pull him out of that game, but she was too afraid to try. And then all of the others died and… well… there was no way in hell Midori would have let anyone risk her kid’s life by pulling that helmet off his head. And now… now he was still in that same situation.

The stunned expression on Klein’s face made Midori pity him. She wanted to believe that Asuna joking about his antics meant that he was still alive. Whoever it was behind this avatar, they were clearly goofing off. He seemed nice enough. He didn’t deserve any of this… just like the rest of them.

“But I live alone,” the man muttered. “What about you?”

Kirito looked down, looking both thoughtful and stressed out. “There’s my mother and my sister… so I think they’ll notice by dinner time—“

He was cut off with a gasp when Klein suddenly grabbed his shoulders, a wide-eyed look on his face. “H-how old’s your little sister??”

“S-she’s on a sports team,” Kirito muttered and took a step back only for Klein to follow.

Asuna snorted and shook her head, obviously not taking this seriously. Midori scrunched up her nose. She liked Klein so far, but he had better not hurt anyone in this game…

“And she hates games. She has nothing to do with people like us.” Kirito kept on talking but when Klein kept on insisting, he kicked him backward hard, sending the man to the ground. This time, it didn’t take Klein long to realize he couldn’t actually feel any pain. “More importantly, don’t you find this weird?”

“Sure I do,” Klein said from his place on the ground. “It’s a bug.”

Looking sideways, Kirito’s expression darkened a little. “It isn’t a bug. If we can’t log out, that’ll pose a serious problem for the game’s future,” he said, and after a brief moment of silence, Klein agreed with him, sounding reluctant. “If they wanted to, they could just shut down the server and log everyone out. But there hasn’t even been an announcement…”

And then a church bell started ringing in the distance, and both Klein and Kirito turned to stare at the plaza far away, shocked and caught off guard. Asuna stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment as she breathed in and out slowly.

Midori couldn’t blame her—this must have been a big deal for the people inside the game, just as much as it was for the ones who were outside, hearing about it all in real world, helpless.

A bright, blue light surrounded Kirito and Klein all of a sudden, before the scene changed to show them appearing in the plaza again, more people being transported there. The voices of everyone grew louder and louder as more and more people gathered in the same area, confused and unsure as to what was going on.

Some looked concerned, others enthusiastic and excited. Midori could tell that Kirito was one of the ones who looked mostly tense, cautious and ready for a fight. And not the fun kind of fight like it should be in a game, but the lethal kind.

“A forced teleport?” Kirito muttered, looking around frantically with Klein a few steps away from him.

And then someone mentioned looking up and Kirito and Klein both cast their eyes at the sky to see a blinking, red block with the word ‘warning: system announcement’ on it. Kirito’s mouth hung open as the red blocks spread over the plaza, creating some kind of bowl over the area with all of the players.

“What… is that?” Klein asked quietly.

Midori felt like throwing up when some kind of red liquid started pouring through the cracks of the dome, going down but never actually reaching the ground. Asuna gulped and looked away from the screen, using her weak body to kind of block the screen from Kazuto’s line of sight even though he couldn’t actually see any of it right now.

He couldn’t see the substance that looked like blood as it pooled down before forming a hooded, crimson figure that loomed over the plaza and the people inside, face hidden. Or did the figure even have a face?

“Attention, players.” The figure spread his arms to the sides, like he were welcoming everyone. “Welcome to my world.”

Kirito’s frown deepened. “’My world’?”

“My name is Kayaba Akihiko,” the figure said.

Midori really wished she had that sword of Kirito at that moment so that she could jump back in time and slash through this man’s creepy, giant avatar. Her hands balled into fists as she glared at the screen.

“As of this moment, I am the sole person who can control this world,” the man continued and Kirito gasped a little, eyes widening in alarm. “I’m sure you’ve already noticed that the log out button is missing from the main menu.” Kayaba opened his own menu and presented the missing button. “But this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect in the game. It is a feature of Sword Art Online.”

Baring his teeth, Kirito glared up at the figure, Klein mostly looking like he wanted to sink to the floor or run away. Asuna glanced at the screen, too, her eyes locking on Kirito like she could relate to what he was feeling and wanted to be there to help. Midori wondered which of the avatars in that plaza belonged to her.

Kayaba continued. “You cannot log out of SAO yourselves. And no one on the outside can shut down or remove the NerveGear. Should they attempt to do so, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit a powerful microwave, destroying your brain and thus ending your life.”

People, obviously, started rioting, noting how crazy it was, and starting to try and leave, but it appeared that the plaza locked them all in place, refusing to allow players to leave just yet. Midori took in a shuddering breath and tried to calm herself down. Somewhere in this crowd, Kazuto was, probably freaking out just like the rest of them.

“What’s he talking about?” Klein asked, glancing at Kirito like he hoped the boy would have some good news, informing him that this wasn’t really possible and it was all a big hoax. “He’s gotta be nuts. Right, Kirito?”

But Kirito didn’t answer immediately. He stared ahead, the rage from earlier gone as he seemed to try and think hard about something important. “He’s right that the transmitter’s signals work just like microwaves,” he said quietly. Klein paled. “If the limiters were removed, it could fry a brain.”

Klein pressed more. “Then if we cut the power…”

“No. The NerveGear has an internal battery.”

Unlike Kirito, who somehow managed to look calm even in the face of all of this, Klein started freaking out like so many others around the plaza. “But this is crazy!” he exclaimed. “What’s going on?”

“Unfortunately,” Kayaba continued, ignoring the chaos happening below him. “Several players’ friends and families have ignored this warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. As a result, two hundred and thirteen players have left both Aincrad and the real world forever.”

“Two hundred and thirteen?” Kirito gasped.

“I-I don’t believe it,” Klein whispered. “I don’t believe it!” He shook his head in despair.

Midori wondered why Kayaba even told all of them about those attempts. Wasn’t it bad enough that he locked them in this world? Couldn’t he keep the details to himself for now? After all, this was already a bad situation they were dealing with. He could have just… let them be after giving them the warning.

Well, maybe it was because of what happened in the real world. People didn’t heed the warning and players had died. Maybe Kayaba wanted to make sure the players all got it in their heads that this was serious and no longer a game.

Kouichirou glared at the TV with a heated glare that would have made Midori step back before running for the hills. “This is madness,” he said quietly, voice dripping with anger.

He glanced over at his sister who just sat there, looking a little paler than before but nothing much beyond that. She was doing pretty well for someone who’d lived through this traumatic moment.

“This is crazy,” Kouichirou went on. “Has no one chelled to make sure the game was really safe? That those stupid helmets weren’t dangerous?”

On the screen, images from news reports—at least, that’s what Midori figured they were from the distance it was all displayed—appeared around Kayaba’s intimidating figure.

“As you can see, new organizations across the world are reporting all of this, including the deaths. Thus, you can assume that the danger of your NerveGear being removed is now minimal.”

He said it like it was supposed to make things better.

Yeah, well, it didn’t.

“I hope you will relax and attempt to clear the game. But I want you to remember this clearly. There is no longer any method to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost.” The windows from the outside world disappeared one by one. “And simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.”

Everyone was quiet. People seemed to take in the information, staring up at the man who had trapped them there in despair. Kirito gasped a little, like he was imagining what it would be like to die like that. Then he clenched his teeth and balled his hand into a fist, his dark eyes glaring up at Kayaba.

“There is only one means of escape. To complete the game. You are presently on the lowest floor of Aincrad, floor 1,” the man said, and a hologram of the levels of the game appeared before all of them. “If you make your way through the dungeon and defeat the floor boss, you may advance to the next level. Defeat the final boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game.”

Klein looked like he was in shock. “Clear all hundred floors?” he echoed, and Midori didn’t care who he was in that moment. He was just another person who got screwed by some lunatic. Someone that definitely deserved her pity with how he seemed to be taking in the information extremely slowly, his brain refusing to accept it all. “That’s impossible. The beta testers never made it anywhere near that high!”

Of course, Kayaba wasn’t really listening to what all of the players had to say. He was solely there for the announcements. Nothing more. “Finally, I’ve added a present from me to your item storage. Please see for yourselves.”

Midori would have been reluctant to chell it out, but it seemed like the others in the game decided to do as they were told.

Kirito opened his menu and then scrolled there until he reached the item storage. He hesitated. “Mirror?” he said in confusion. Then he pressed on it and the mirror appeared in his hand. He stared at his reflection for a moment, clearly unsure as to what that was supposed to help them with.

And then Klein started screaming and Kirito tried to see what was wrong but all Midori and the others could see was a wall of bright, blue light surrounding the man. Soon enough, everyone around was surrounded by the blue lights. Kirito, too.

And then the lights faded and Midori gasped and covered her hands with both her hands at the sight of Kazuto on screen, blinking in alarm and surprise. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared at her son, standing in the place where Kirito just was mere moments before. What… how… what happened?

This was supposed to be about the person who’d cleared the game. The player who had defeated the final boss. So what was Kazuto doing there? She gaped at her son, who looked the same as Kirito’s avatar in terms of clothes and items. But his face… his face belonged to the kid that was currently lying in bed with his NerveGear still on, unconscious and still trapped wherever it was he was brought to once the game ended.

She needed… she needed to… she had no idea what she needed to do, to be honest. She could only stare at her son as he and Klein—was it Klein? The guy looked different, too—freaked out at each other’s appearances, clearly not recognizing one another on the spot. It took them a few moments to realize what was going on, but Midori was still out of it.

Because according to this, Kirito was… he was Kazuto. And if Kirito was Kazuto, then did that mean that… that her son was the one who’d cleared the game? Cleared SAO? Her brain couldn’t handle it. She tried so hard to believe this entire time that Kazuto was mostly safe, probably staying back so that he would survive. She hoped others were fighting and he was… trying to survive the best he could.

But if this was true, then that meant he was probably… he was probably at the front, fighting the big battles that risked all their lives. She didn’t know much about games, but she did know that boss fights were serious and hard and tough and without the ability to revive yourself… they were probably nearly impossible!

A hand landed on her arm and Midori blinked tiredly and dazedly at Asuna. The girl’s weak hand reached out to her, and she gave the woman a comforting, understanding smile.

Asuna… Asuna knew Kazuto. She knew him from the game. Did that mean she was… she was at the front, too? Did she risk her life too much, too? There were plenty of adults in that game—why couldn’t they handle the big fights? The dangerous ones? The final boss?

“Kirito-kun is the best player I know, Mrs. Kirigaya,” Asuna said. It was weird, to listen to this girl calling Kazuto by his avatar’s name. His name was Kazuto, and yet… she knew him by a different name. All of the people in this game did. “And a lot of people cared about him, whether he liked it or not. He was in danger a lot, I won’t lie,” she said and Midori’s heart skipped a beat. “But he’s still here, see? He did everything he could to help all of us.” Asuna smiled, her eyes closing. “We owe him our lives.”

Looking down, Midori ignored Kayaba’s voice as he ranted about how he wanted to create a world that he could control and have people in it. Was that really his goal?

She shook her head as she worked hard to try and somehow wrap her mind around the fact that her son—well, technically, her nephew—was the one who had cleared the game, and freed everyone except for himself. Tears gathered in her eyes and she tried to wipe them away before she heard Kazuto’s voice coming from the TV again. And God, how had she not recognized his voice?

“This is real…” he said, looking down at his hand like he was looking for something, or seeing something different. Around him, everyone was silent but his voice was probably still too quiet for others to hear. He clenched his fingers. “The genius who created the NerveGear and a completely virtual space, Kayaba Akihiko. I admired him, so I can tell… everything he just said is true. If I die in this world, I will die in real life.”

He scowled a moment before a young girl’s voice screamed, and then everyone else seemed to snap out of their daze, and they began shouting and panicking. Midori watched in fascination as Kazuto—his gaze intense and cautious—looked around and seemed to notice first that the dome around the plaza has disappeared.

Approaching Klein, Kazuto kept his voice low. “Come with me, Klein,” he said and then didn’t wait for a reply before he grabbed the young man’s hand—he couldn’t have been older than twenty-three or twenty-four—and dragged him after him away from the plaza and through the empty streets of the city they were in.

Once they were far enough away, Kazuto stopped and turned back to Klein. “Listen to me, I’m heading to the next village right now. Come with me.”

Asuna flicked the hair out of her eyes and moaned a little, like she knew what to expect even though she was clearly not around the same place when it was happening. Maybe she’d heard about it.

Midori was only glad Kazuto was actually seeking to stay with someone else. She didn’t know if it was the result of fear of having to handle everything on his own when the kid was only fourteen, or because it was his way to help a player that didn’t know as much… but she was glad he wasn’t just shutting himself off like he usually did.

When Klein hummed in confusion, Kazuto opened his menu. “If what he said is true, the only way to survive in this world is by making yourself as strong as possible.”

He seemed to… open a map? Midori really had no idea anymore. She was just glad she could see Kazuto—living, breathing and talking. He was in there. For her, he’d spent such a long time just existing, but for him… it must have been stressful.

“The resources within a virtual MMORPG—in other words, the money and EXP we can earn—are limited. The fields surrounding the Town of Beginnings will soon be hunted clean. To do this efficiently, we should head to the next village now,” he said and a trail appeared on the map, leading from one red spot to another one. Probably villages then, right? “I know all the paths and dangerous areas. Even at level 1, I can get there safely.”

Klein looked down as Kazuto dismissed the menu and the map in order to look at the man before him, his expressionless face so familiar to Midori… She wanted to get there and hug him, but she couldn’t.

“But…” Klein muttered. “But you know…I spent a whole night in line to buy this with my friends from the other game. They’re out there, in the plaza,” he said with a gasp, probably just realizing that in that moment. Kazuto’s lips thinned a little, like he was nervous. “I can’t leave them.”

They stood silently for a moment as Kazuto looked down, seemingly trying to argue internally with himself. And then Klein put on a smile. “Sorry. I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I? So don’t worry about it. Go to the next village. I was a guild master in my last game. I can use what you taught me to get by!”

“All right,” Kazuto said solemnly.

“Not okay!” Midori exclaimed, her hand tugging at her hair a little in desperation. “This person—Klein—he just abandoned him? He was fourteen! How could anyone let someone this young just wander around on his own in a world where everything might kill you?” she demanded, admittedly a little hysterically.

Shaking her head, Asuna bowed it a little. “It wasn’t that simple. Kirito-kun asked Klein to join him because he knew him and didn’t want him to get hurt on his own, but looking after someone who didn’t know what he was doing at such a time was dangerous.

“He wasn’t going to let others join them because he knew they wouldn’t be able to look after themselves like he could, and he didn’t want this kind of pressure… and Klein couldn’t abandon his friends, either. People had to make lots of tough decisions that day, those years…” Asuna looked back down at Kazuto’s motionless body. “He chose to do what granted him more chances of survival. Neither one of them blames the other for any of it.”

A shaky breath made Midori’s shoulders slump. She felt so… powerless. So useless. “I can’t believe all of this was happening to him. To you. To everyone in that game,” she whimpered and then stared at the screen again in time to see Kazuto turning to walk away with a disappointed frown on his face.

Whether or not he resented Klein for his choice that day, he sure did look like he would have liked to stay with someone he knew.

“Kirito!” Klein called before the boy could move too far away. Kazuto stopped but didn’t turn around, his face covered in the shadows of the street. “Uh…” A moment of silence later, Kazuto began moving forward again. “Hey!” Klein made him stop once more. “Kirito, you’re actually pretty cute. That’s my type,” the man said playfully.

Asuna’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter when Kazuto turned around to glance back at Klein.

For a moment Kazuto just stared at him, and then he smirked confidently again, like he was in his element, or maybe just putting up a front. “And that unkempt face of yours suits you ten times better!” He ran away immediately after saying that and Midori noticed his grin slipped away just as quickly.

His pace slowed down soon enough, and he glanced back hesitantly only to find Klein was already gone. His eyes widened at the empty space behind him, and for the first time since that video began playing, Midori saw raw fear on Kazuto’s face. And then he blinked and kept on running away.

The TV went black after that and when nothing else came up, Midori’s body sagged in her seat and she sighed deeply, her hand tightening its hold around her phone.

She could see Kouichirou standing up and beginning to pace from side to side restlessly, like he had too much pent-up energy in his body to be able to sit still. Asuna was the only one who didn’t look surprised or caught off guard. Kazuto must have been close to her for him to tell her all of these things, then.

Looking down at her phone, Midori’s heart pinched a little at the sight of Suguha’s name staring back at her. A notification. She probably texted because she saw the broadcast, too, and found out that her brother was the one who’d cleared SAO. It was a shock to Midori. She was certain it was probably a shock to Sugu, as well.

“Excuse me, I have to leave now.” Midori got up quickly and walked over to Kazuto’s bed.

The boy didn’t move. Didn’t even flinch. She wished he would smile at her, or even frown in disappointment for lying to him about who his real parents were. She would take anything as long as it meant she could see him moving again. She knelt down and kissed his cheek gently.

“I’m so proud of you, Kazuto,” she said with a shaky smile. He didn’t reply, but she didn’t expect him to, either. She put a hand on Asuna’s boney shoulder and squeezed lightly. The girl’s eyes turned to her. “You’re welcome here anytime, Ms. Yuuki.”

The girl straightened up the best she could and bowed her head in respect. “T-thank you!”

Midori made her way to the door and then paused, her hand hovering next to the handle uncertainly. She turned back toward Asuna, finding the girl staring intently at Kazuto, like she could see past the figure lying on that bed and right into his soul.

“Do you know who Klein is? His real name, that is,” Midori asked.

Asuna turned back to face her and then shook her head. “We didn’t share our real names. Talking about the real world… it wasn’t something people did in the game.” She looked back at Kazuto. “Kirito-kun told me his name only because we thought… we thought we wouldn’t make it.” She whispered the last part.

The woman opened her mouth to say something, anything, to this. She wasn’t sure what, because what had even happened that made them think they were going to truly die? When?

But then Kouichirou turned to face her, a serious expression on his young face. “My father is the CEO of the company that bought Sword Art Online, Mrs. Kirigaya. Maybe I can dig around a little and find the names of the players for you.”

For a moment Midori wasn’t sure why this random person was so generous, offering her help without even knowing her. But then her eyes fell on Asuna again, and she figured that the brother could tell Kazuto was important to Asuna. And so, he wanted to help however he could. Especially when her son was the one to clear the game. Apparently.

Ugh, her head still ached at the thought of that.

“Thank you very much, Mr. Yuuki.” She bowed a little with a smile, and then finally turned and left, her finger already pressing the button to call Suguha. She pressed the phone to her ear and didn’t even flinch when her daughter’s voice seemed to attack her as the girl freaked out about Kirito being Kazuto, and the boy’s role in the whole incident. “Sugu, slow down. I can’t follow a single thing you’re saying,” she said fondly.

Well, at least some things never changed. Midori smiled as Sugu took in a deep breath and then started ranting again.

Chapter Text

“I don’t care, Sugou. Search again, if you have to. There has to be some trace of him in there,” Kouichirou said into his phone as he walked briskly down the corridor of the house, his eyes trained on the door that belonged to Asuna’s room. “He couldn’t have just disappeared, and there’s no other place he could be. Find him—anything at all that’s related to him. And when you do, contact me immediately. Got it?”

The man on the other side grumbled. “As I’ve told you before, Yuuki, I have. My team and I have been on the lookout for Kirito ever since the survivors woke up,” the man said, trying to sound calm.

Kouichirou wasn’t fooled, though. He could hear the strain in the man’s voice. Probably because they’ve known each other for such a long time. Kouichirou slowed down once he was right outside of Asuna’s room.

“There’s nothing in the system,” Sugou continued. “Maybe there’s some other explanation. Maybe his consciousness is somewhere else.”

Kouichirou cursed under his breath, pulling the phone away from him so that Sugou wouldn’t be able to catch that.

“Keep looking,” he demanded eventually and hung up before the man could argue any further. He didn’t have the energy to deal with that right now. He had other things to do. Like see how his little sister was doing all cooped up in her room. “Keep it together,” he muttered to himself, and then knocked on the door.

“Come in!” came the reply. Kouichirou didn’t waste any time and just opened the door and stepped inside.

His sister was sitting on her bed, smiling softly at him and turning her back on the crutches she had nearby. She really didn’t like those. She claimed they made her feel weak after such a long time of being so strong. Kouichirou couldn’t imagine waking up into such a reality, where your body can’t even carry you because it’s too weak.

“Hi, Kouichirou.” Asuna smiled at him and nodded her head in greeting.

He smiled back. “Hey. How are you doing today? Mom said you barely touched your food,” he said and sat on the chair next to her desk. Asuna pouted at his words and turned her face away, like she was determined not to answer, and yet was feeling slightly ashamed. He chuckled. “How do you expect to get strong enough to walk on your own when you don’t even get enough food?”

“I did eat. I just couldn’t finish everything Mom wanted me to. It was too much,” she grumbled, and then turned back to him with a grin, her eyes bright with interest. “Say, have you gotten those names I asked you to look up for me?” she asked.

Asuna squealed in delight when Kouichirou smirked and handed her a note with names scribbled on them. It really didn’t take long to gather the data, but the look on Asuna’s face was worth it, nonetheless.

“Thank you so much!” She beamed and stared at the names written on the note, eyes sparkling.

To be fair, Asuna didn’t need to apologize. If anyone here deserved an apology, it was her. He should have never left his NerveGear just lying around in his room. He should have taken it with him that day, when he had to leave. He just… well, he never expected the game to be a trap of any sort.

And he certainly didn’t expect Asuna—his little sister that had never expressed any interest in gaming—to use the NerveGear to play Sword Art Online. She never seemed to even pay attention to him whenever he’d mentioned the game.

So why? Why did she enter his room? Why did she take the helmet? Why did she use it? Why did she play the game in his room? Why did she choose to start from this game out of all the others out there? Why did Kayaba Akihiko have to be such a monster?

Why did Kouichirou have to live for two years with the guilt of being responsible for his sister’s state? Why did he have to watch her as she tried to become stronger and stronger with her failing body? Why did he have to accept everything that’s happened, without being able to argue and claim that none of this should have happened? Why couldn’t he turn back time and use the stupid NerveGear himself?

There were so many things he didn’t understand. Or maybe he just didn’t want to understand. So many things he wished he could have done differently. But… but every time he tried to apologize, Asuna cut him off and claimed that she didn’t regret a single thing.

And when she said it in that kid’s room—Kazuto, Kirito—she had this spark in her eyes that let Kouichirou know she was serious and sincere. She wasn’t bluffing or putting up a front—she actually had a good time in that world. At least for a while.

“Hmm…” Asuna’s thoughtful hum snapped him out of his thoughts and Kouichirou watched as she observed the names on the list. “I need to get them to meet… I’m sure they would help if they knew about Kirito-kun…” she mumbled to herself quietly and then smiled at Kouichirou again, tilting her head to the side a little. “Thanks again!”

“No problem.”

He glanced at the NerveGear that Asuna had insisted on keeping. It was sitting on her desk, near the corner. Kouichirou wasn’t sure why she wanted it around so much. He was certain she would never use it again. Probably. So why keep such a monstrous invention? Didn’t she think she’d had enough already?

Well, it wasn’t really his business. And as aware as he was about how the helmet actually belonged to him, he didn’t have the heart to take it away from Asuna. She was the one who actually used it, after all. It felt more like a demonic gift.

“I’ll see you at dinner, all right?” he said.

She nodded and watched him as he left the room.

Once Kouichirou closed the door behind his back, he exhaled. The guilt pressing on him around Asuna would take time to ease up, he knew, but it definitely made him feel horrible for now. He could barely stand it when he remained around Asuna for too long. It just… seeing her so weak and powerless made him feel so bad. So guilty. So out of sorts, because this was all his fault and no one was willing to admit it except for him.

Sighing, Kouichirou walked back into his own room and collapsed onto his bed. He needed a break. Between being around Asuna all the time, and trying to find a way to get Kirito out… well, he had a lot to deal with. Plus, he still needed to work because no one was going to just let him sit back and watch others do whatever they pleased. He had a lot to do and so little energy to actually do it.

A strange sound coming from his computer made Kouichirou look up at the screen on his desk. He nearly fell in alarm at the sight of Kirito leaning against a building in town, his hands crossed over his chest, and head bowed as people moved past him. Kouichirou wondered whether Asuna and their parents were seeing this, too. He knew that their mother didn’t like Kirito or anything to do with SAO, but their father didn’t mind, and Asuna would definitely watch these clips Kayaba had mentioned.

Wordlessly, Kouichirou sat on the chair in front of his desk, and watched as Kirito observed the other players who gathered around a fountain out in the open, all of them armed.

“One month has passed since the game began. During that time, two thousand people have died,” Kirito muttered to himself as more people moved past him. “However, as of yet, no one has been able to clear the first floor. I was a beta tester, and even I haven’t found the boss room.”

Kirito’s lips tugged further down as he moved to follow the others toward the fountain, though he stayed far enough away for the others not to interact with him.

“And today we’re finally holding a meeting on how to defeat the first floor boss.”

Before Kouichirou could even begin to take in the fact that it’s been a month—an entire freaking month!—since the launch of the game, the scene changed to show some kind of Amphitheatre where groups of players sat around a stage in the middle. Right in the center stood a man with blue hair and a friendly face.

Kirito stood up, alone and isolated from the others. Kouichirou had no idea how an isolated person like him cleared the game and became this close to Asuna, but he was going to watch anyway. He was intrigued, okay? And he hoped he’d be able to see Asuna happy in there so that… so that the guilt would lighten. Just a little.

The man with the blue hair clapped his hands together to gain everyone’s attention, the smile on his face managing to make even Kouichirou like him to some extent.

“Okay, let’s get started, people!” he called above the chatter of the crowd. Gradually, everyone fell silent and turned to face him. Kirito looked around and then chose an empty spot in the back where he sat down slowly. “Thank you for coming today. My name is Diabel. I like to consider my ‘job’ as Knight,” he joked.

“There’s no job system in the game!” someone called while the others laughed.

“You should take this seriously!” another one said.

“Then, is the meeting a joke, too?” said a third player.

Kirito didn’t even crack a smile, though there was a spark in his eyes, like he appreciated the light-heartedness of it all. And, as if on cue, Diabel’s smile faded away, leaving a serious, grim expression on the man’s face.

“Today, our party found the boss room at the top of the tower,” he said, and the crowd gasped and leaned in for more information. “We need to defeat the boss, reach the second floor and tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Everyone present here shares this duty! Do you all agree?”

They looked at each other for a few moments before they started nodding. One of the player even began clapping his hands together and others soon followed, some even going as far as to whistle. Kirito leaned a hand on his thigh and watched the scene with what Kouichirou was beginning to understand was a rare smile.

“All right,” Diabel cut through the loud voices. “Then let’s start planning. First divide into parties of six. An ordinary party has no chance against a floor boss. We’ll need to form a raid group using multiple parties.”

Kouichirou tried hard not to laugh at the reaction of Kirito to the new order. He choked a little and then turned his head from side to side as he watched everyone else chatting easily and getting into groups of friends. Well, it was his fault for not befriending anyone since Klein, wasn’t it?

Kouichirou expected people to be smart and realize that in such a scenario, they should have allies, but apparently the clearer of the game was stupid enough not to follow this logic.

Eventually, Kirito’s eyes landed on a hooded figure that was sitting alone, away from everyone else, too. He quickly moved closer, looking both embarrassed and unsure, and yet faking confidence and nonchalance. “You got left out, too?” Kirito asked.

“You weren’t left out—you just didn’t want to join,” Kouichirou snorted.

“I wasn’t left out. I just stayed out of it because everyone seemed to know each other already,” the hooded figure said, and Kouichirou’s brows burrowed as he concentrated on her voice. It was familiar. But who was it? Did he know anyone else that was trapped in the game except for—

Kouichirou choked at blinked at the passive, hooded girl. “Asuna?” he gasped.

Kirito observed the girl, although he clearly couldn’t see under the hood. Kouichirou couldn’t, either. “A solo player?” the boy muttered under his breath, and then raised his voice a little. “Then, want to form a party with me?” he asked and Asuna—it had to be Asuna!—turned a little to face Kirito. “He just said we can’t beat the boss on our own. So just for this fight?”

A moment passed, and then Asuna nodded once and Kirito didn’t waste a moment before he opened his menu and pressed button after button until an invitation appeared in front of the girl. She accepted it and then quickly turned back to face Diabel. Kirito, instead, stared at the air to his left, like there was something there. There probably was, wasn’t there?

“Okay, have you formed your parties?” Diabel cut through the chit-chat again, and everyone turned their attention back to him. “Then—“

“Just a second!” a loud voice called out and Kouichirou watched in astonishment as a ginger man jumped forward, skipping over people’s heads, and landed in the middle, next to Diabel. “My name’s Kibaou. I wanna say something before we take on the boss,” he said and then turned to face the crowd. “Some of you here need to apologize to the two thousand who have died so far!”

Pointing at the crowd accusingly, Kibaou glared at everyone and the people all started whispering between themselves. Kirito’s body tensed, his fingers curling into fists. Asuna didn’t even seem to move an inch at the accusation thrown their way. Honestly, Kouichirou had no idea what was even going on. Did someone murder people? He didn’t think so. Although… there were rumors… but it’s only been a month!

Diabel looked at Kibaou with a light frown. “Kibaou-san, are you referring to the beta testers?”

“Of course I am! On the day this stupid game started, the beta testers ditched us beginners, and they all disappeared. They took all the good hunting spots and easy quests for themselves, so only they could get stronger,” the man accused.

Kouichirou could see the way the words affected Kirito personally. The poor kid looked like he wasn’t sure what to do under this pressure. Honestly, Kouichirou wasn’t even sure Kirito did anything wrong—he tried to help Klein, who rejected the offer—and then took off in order to try and survive in this game.

“And then they just ignored the rest of us,” Kibaou continued. “I’m sure someone here was in the beta! They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they’ve hoarded. Otherwise, we can’t trust them to protect us as party members. And they shouldn’t trust us.”

Kirito’s entire body was shaking and he closed his eyes and seemed to listen as the words swirled in his head. Kouichirou seriously felt bad for the guy. He was almost certain Kirito would confess right then and there, but instead a large—as in, really tall, really bulky—man raised a hand and started approaching the stage, too.

“May I speak?” the man asked and Kirito opened his eyes in surprise and stared at him. Kibaou, on his part, stared at the man nervously and leaned back. Well, he was a lot shorter, wasn’t he? “My name is Agil. Kibaou-san, tell me if I have this right. You’re saying that because the beta testers didn’t take care of them, many beginners died. That they should take responsibility, apologize and provide compensation. Correct?”

Kibaou honestly looked like he was going to run the hell away. “Y-yeah.”

But Agil didn’t even look angry. He just pulled out a notebook—brown and small—and showed it to the ginger man. “You got this guide book, didn’t you? It was provided for free at the item shop,” Agil continued and Kibaou confirmed it with a frown still on his face. “It was compiled from the information given by the beta testers.”

He turned to the crowd when they started to murmur quietly at his words. “Listen, everyone had equal access to this information. And even still, many players died. I thought the topic of discussion here was what we could learn from their deaths, and how that can help us defeat the boss.”

Exhaling in relief, Kirito finally looked like he could breathe again without popping a vein. Kibaou, on the other hand, gave Agil an uncomfortable glare before reluctantly sitting back down. Well, Kouichirou had to give it to him—Agil made a good point.

Of course, the guide book probably didn’t have everything, but it certainly had more than nothing, right? Anything could help the players trapped inside the game. Was Agil a beta tester, too? Who knows…

Before Agil could even get back to his seat, the scene switched. The sky was dark, meaning it was night, and Kouichirou watched as Kirito walked toward a bench in a dark alleyway where the hooded Asuna sat and tried to munch on a loaf of bread. She looked like she had a hard time tearing into it, and Kouichirou felt even worse.

Could they feel taste in the game? He assumed they had to eat because in virtual games people could die from starvation, too. Monsters weren’t the only thing lurking around every corner.

“It’s pretty tasty, isn’t it?” Kirito said, sounding completely serious. All right, so either he was joking and they really couldn’t feel the taste of the food, or he was blind and lacked any kind of tastebuds because this bread did not look tasty in the least. Asuna turned her head in his direction, clearly not expecting him to show out of nowhere. “Mind if I sit?”

She just turned her head back forward and Kirito, getting no response, sat down. Asuna immediately moved a little further away from him, it was almost ridiculous. Without saying a word, Kirito pulled out his own bread and looked at it, looking very much unbothered, before taking a bite easily.

Asuna broke the silence between them next. “Do you really think it’s good?”

“Of course,” the boy replied, his mouth full. Kouichirou could almost hear his mother tsking at the lack of mannerisms. Frankly, he couldn’t care less. Kirito then swallowed and looked at Asuna. “I’ve been eating at least one daily ever since arriving in this town. I do change it up a little, though,” he added and then pulled out a little can and put it between the two of them. “Try putting some of this on the bread.”

Kirito watched her quietly as Asuna tapped her finger against the can. She gasped a little when her finger started glowing, and Kouichirou stared as she touched her finger to the bread, leaving behind a trail of… “Cream?” Asuna asked in astonishment.

Instead of answering, Kirito just took the rest of it to himself, added it to his bread (not even paying attention to the fact that the can expired), and took another bite from his food. Asuna watched him for a moment, as if chelling to see he wasn’t actually trying to poison her, and then tried her own bread and cream.

Kirito gave her a sideway look, chelling to see her reaction, and Kouichirou chuckled at the way she stared at the bread before shoving it in her mouth quickly, like she’s never tasted anything better in her entire life.

When she moaned in delight and then slumped down, Kirito fully turned his head to her, his remaining bread still in hand. “It’s the reward for a quest called The Heifer Strikes Back, one village behind us,” he informed her. Kouichirou was actually… grateful. This guy, without even knowing who the hell she was, tried to help. “If you want to do it, I’ll show you the trick.”

But Asuna shook her head. “I didn’t come to this town to eat good food.”

“Then why did you?”

“So I can still be myself,” the girl replied, and Kouichirou frowned and leaned forward.

In a way, he felt strange, hearing all of this from someone who wasn’t Asuna. Present Asuna, that is. He felt like he was getting information about her behind her back. But… well… he couldn’t just let it go now. He was invested. Kind of. He wanted to know more. He needed to know more.

Asuna went on. “I’d rather be myself until the very end than sit and rot away at an inn, back in the first town.” Her hands held onto each other tightly. “Even if I get killed by a monster, I don’t want to lose to this game… to this world. No matter what.”

Kirito, with all the tact in the world, just tossed another piece of bread into his mouth and munched on it. It took him a while to swallow, but once he did, he didn’t turn to look at Asuna. He just talked to her. “I wouldn’t want a party member dying on me. So at least don’t die tomorrow.”

Like it was actually her choice. Although… well, she could try harder, perhaps, to stay alive? Kouichirou wasn’t sure. He had no idea what the boss was like, anyway. God knows what they had to deal with in that dungeon. And the next ones…

Kouichirou wanted to believe he would have survived for a pretty long time in that death game. He wanted to believe that he would have made it to the very end. Hell, maybe he would have been in Kirito’s place right now, right? That was a possibility.

He had no idea how good of a player Kirito was just yet. He was smart, sure, and seemed to know what he was talking about, but so far… well, there have been no actual fights seen, so Kouichirou could only guess the boy was pretty good. At the beginning, though, he was probably just like all of the others, right?

Another part of him wanted to cling to the idea that Kirito was extra strong in the game because he was in a party with Asuna, and if something happened to her… well, he wanted Kirito to be there to save her. Jump in and kick ass in case his sister couldn’t. Protect her the best he could. It made no sense that this kid who couldn’t have been older than fifteen would get so strong so quickly, but he was a beta tester, so… maybe…

Besides, Asuna was alive, so whether or not it was thanks to Kirito or not, Kouichirou wasn’t going to obsess over this for too long. He liked the idea of someone looking out for his sister inside that game, but it no longer mattered.

Right now it felt more like the one who needed rescuing was Kirito. He hoped he would be able to do just that. Or, well, maybe let Sugou do it, since he was the one who actually could search for Kirito in Alfheim Online.

The scene changed once more to reveal the large group of players all walking in a forest together, with Kirito and Asuna trailing behind. Asuna still wore her hood up, for some reason, and Kirito didn’t seem to care. Had Kouichirou been in his position, he would have wanted to see the face of his partner, but apparently that wasn’t something that mattered to Kirito, huh?

“Let’s go over it again,” Kirito said. “We leftovers are supposed to target the boss’s helpers. The Ruin Kobold Sentinels.”

“I know,” Asuna said, her voice as low as his.

The rest of the players didn’t even chit-chat. They all looked grim, and like they were going toward their doom. Kouichirou couldn’t really blame them—it was their first boss fight in a world where they could actually die. They were probably scared senseless.

Kirito nodded once. “I’ll use a sword skill to knock their pole axes up,” he said, which didn’t seem to surprise Asuna. Well, he did say he was going over it again.

Normally, Kouichirou would have been annoyed with someone just hammering the same information into his head over and over again, but in the current situation, he was pretty sure it was just Kirito’s way of doing his best to make sure nothing happened to Asuna.

“The second I do, switch in.”

“Switch?”

The look Kirito gave Asuna at the question was priceless. He looked like he didn’t expect it at all. “Is this the first time you’ve ever been in a party?” he asked in surprise.

When she nodded and replied positively, Kirito inhaled sharply and his legs took smaller and smaller steps until he just froze in place while Asuna kept on advancing, at first unaware of his motionless state. Once she did notice, though, Kirito slumped forward like all of his energy had been drained from his body at once.

Kouichirou laughed at the boy’s despair. He could relate to that. Playing with someone who didn’t know what they were doing wasn’t a pleasant concept. Add that to the fact that they were all actually risking their lives, and suddenly it all became even more intense.

True, Kouichirou didn’t know Kirito too well from those clips, and from Asuna’s short and clipped stories. But he was sure the kid didn’t want people dying around him. That was a given. So to party with someone who had no idea what they were doing? Well, it probably dampened his mood.

The smile slipped off Kouichirou’s face the moment the scene switched to show Diabel opening large doors, and stepping inside with the others in the group into a large room that lit up at their entrance.

From a throne across the room, a large beast jumped forward to land in front of the players, holding an axe and a shield. The name Illfang the Kobold Lord was written above its head and Kouichirou’s body turned numb. They had to deal with that? There were four HP gauges! How did they even survive fighting this one beast? Not to mention the tiny minions that spawned in the room as well, ready to fight them all, too.

Kouichirou would have lost his nerve in the face of that madness, but Diabel just lifted his sword and yelled for all of them to attack, and the players followed his instructions, jumping forward to deal with the boss and its helpers. They were efficient, at least. Diabel made sure of that. He stood back, ready to fight himself, and gave out orders for the others.

“Squad D, E and F—keep the sentinels off us!” he called eventually.

“Roger!” Kirito called back and jumped forward to slash at a minion and shove him back. “Switch!”

He jumped back when Asuna came charging in, and Kouichirou held his breath at the sight of her running toward the minion rather than away from it. And Kirito just watched her, seemingly surprised.

“I thought she was a beginner,” he muttered under his breath when she quickly attacked the helper with a rapier. “But she’s incredible. She’s so fast, I can’t even follow her blade.” A moment later, the minion she was fighting exploded and died. Kirito smiled. “Good job,” he mumbled.

Then jumped right back into the fight.

As much as Kouichirou wanted to berate the kid for letting his sister do all of the job while standing there and staring in awe, the young man also felt like Asuna deserved the praises. So he had to actually suppress a smile at the realization that Asuna was his little sister, but she was also pretty good at this fighting business after all, huh?

Kirito chased after a sentinel when he looked back and seemed to notice the boss’s last HP gauge turning red. Kouichirou was impressed, that was for sure. But then the boss roared loudly and threw away his axe and shield. The players didn’t seem surprised by this, so maybe they knew a little bit about Illfang before going after him.

Diabel ran forward, then. “Stand back. I’ll go!” he said and made his way quickly toward the raging boss. Kirito stared at Diabel for a moment when the man passed right next to him.

“We were supposed to surround it with the entire group…” the kid muttered under his breath. And then his mouth fell open at the smirk on Diabel’s face and Kouichirou had no idea what was going on anymore.

He watched in fascination as Diabel stopped in front of the boss, activating a sword skill. But his breath caught in his throat when the monster pulled a large nodachi from behind its back.

Kirito stared in horror, and when Diabel still stood his ground in front of Illfang, he pushed the sentinel that he was facing and turned fully toward the other players and Diabel, alerting them with a loud yell. “No! Jump back as fast as you can!”

Well, Kouichirou wasn’t sure whether Diabel could even stop once his sword skill was activated. The man just kept on running forward, but the boss jumped up and between the pillars in the room before dropping back down to attack the blue-haired man. He slashed through his chest once and then threw him back and away from the others with another slash.

The boss then turned to face the other players, but Kirito ran away from them and from Asuna to catch up to Diabel.

“Diabel!” the boy called in alarm and knelt down in front of the hurt man. He let go of his sword and then lifted Diabel’s head as the guy’s HP gauge kept on going down. “Why did you try to do it alone?” Kirito asked, tone of voice almost accusing Diabel of doing something stupid.

He pulled out what must have been a healing potion, but Diabel stopped Kirito from giving it to him. Kirito, obviously, was shocked by this.

Locking eyes with Kirito, the hurt man stared up at him, his eyes glazed. “You were a beta tester, weren’t you?” he asked. “You know what I was doing.”

The kid gasped. “You were after the last attack bonus rare item,” he said as realization seemed to dawn on him. His alarm and worry dissipated a little, and Kouichirou felt the need to remind Kirito that the man was still dying in his arms. “You were a beta tester, too?”

Diabel nodded and smiled. “Please… defeat…” Diabel tried to speak but he looked like he was in pain. Which made no sense to Kouichirou, unless the NerveGear was already trying to fry his brain. He shuddered at the thought. “Defeat the boss…” His body began to glow. “For everyone.”

Kouichirou’s entire body froze as he stared at the screen with wide, unblinking eyes. Diabel… was dead. And Kirito was right there. It was a kid that had to watch someone die… and this person’s last wish was for Kirito to defeat the boss, like he trusted him more than the others. Maybe he did. Did he know Kirito in the beta test?

Whatever, it didn’t matter. What mattered was the expression on Kirito’s face as he watched the bright, pixelated pieces drift away from where Diabel once was with the piercing sound of shattering glass. He looked like he was going to cry or scream or curl into himself and hide.

Instead, he got up slowly, picking up his sword on his way to his feet, and turned a cool gaze over to the monster still rampaging around the room filled with people who have clearly noticed the death of their leader. They were all stunned and scared, facing the boss with terrified expressions and shaky limbs.

Kirito’s hand tightened around the handle of his sword and his gaze hardened. Asuna, clad in her hood, joined him quickly, stopping right next to him.

“I’ll go, too,” she said. She didn’t ask—she just informed Kirito that she was there to help.

“Thanks,” he said and then they started running in sync that Kouichirou really couldn’t wrap his head around. How come those two just moved together so seamlessly? They barely even knew each other. They were two strangers, forced to work together for one fight. Yet they moved together like they were a well-oiled machine. “We’ll do it just like the sentinels.”

“Got it.”

The other players all backed away. Whether they were too afraid or scared without their leader, or just hurt and in need of healing—it was unclear. But that only meant that Asuna and Kirito could fight the boss without someone getting in the way.

Kouichirou wasn’t sure whether he liked the idea or not. He just watched instead, then.

The first to attack was Kirito. He was forced backward, though, and quickly called for a switch. Asuna jumped to attack and seemed to falter for just a moment when Kirito yelled her name in warning.

Kouichirou had no idea what happened to her—did she not call herself Asuna in the game? If so, then it really was confusing. But if it was her name in the game, then what was wrong? Was she scared? Worried? What was it?

His questions came to a halt when the boss’s attack toward his sister just barely missed, instead of hurting her, it tore the hood off her body. It was so strange to see the determination on Asuna’s face. The girl Kouichirou knew two years ago never had that look in her eyes, but… well… it wasn’t bad. Especially when she was on the verge of dying.

Kirito gawked at Asuna for a moment, clearly not having expected Asuna to be, well, Asuna. Kouichirou felt like both nodding his head and fulfilling his job as a big brother and berate Kirito for staring at the girl.

But the moment passed quickly, anyway. Kirito got back on his feet and joined Asuna back in the fight against Illfang, the two of them attacking the boss mercilessly together. Kouichirou was happy to note the fact that when the boss came after Asuna when she wasn’t ready, Kirito jumped between them to block the attack. Yeah, okay, that was good.

A few moments later he cursed, though, when Illfang finally managed to hit Kirito.

The boy had a red slash on his chest, and he was tossed back and collided with Asuna, the two of them rolling on the ground until they came to a halt. Asuna sat up first, her eyes observing Kirito, whose HP gauge nearly went halfway down. And then she lifted her gaze just in time to see Illfang coming to attack them again.

Kouichirou knew they both survived, but… well, it was pretty easy to see that the two of them should have been dead in that instant.

Or maybe he spoke too soon. “YES!” Kouichirou screamed, bumping the air with his fist, as Agil showed up and blocked the attack of the boss with his own weapon. He knew he liked this man! His smile grew a little when other players went right back to attacking the boss, too.

Agil turned a serious look down toward Asuna and Kirito. “We’ll hold him off till you recover,” he said.

Which was stupid.

Couldn’t they finish him off? Why did they have to leave the job to the two kids in the group? Not that the others weren’t kids—some of them had to be young—but they were a larger party, and Asuna and Kirito were… two. They were two people. What was wrong with the people in that game?

Kirito finally got up a little—enough to look at Agil and smirk. “You’re…” he trailed off and Agil just went right back to fighting.

Asuna and Kirito watched the others for a moment, and then Kirito got up and steadied the sword in his hand when the boss went to attack Agil and the others who were on the ground, defenseless.

“I’ll get you first!” Kirito screamed as he jumped and slashed at the boss before Illfang could hurt anyone. The boss landed with a loud thud and Kirito rolled on the ground before easily getting up and running, looking like it was second nature to him. “Asuna, one last hit! We’ll do it together!”

The girl ran toward the boss, too. “Roger!”

They advanced quickly toward Illfang, and Kouichirou watched, entranced, as Kirito slashed, blocking the monster’s attack and knocking the large nodachi away. Asuna attacked next, stabbing at Illfang, and then Kirito went ahead and slashed at him once more, making the boss stumble back from the combined attacks.

Kouichirou didn’t expect Kirito to then jump with a roar and cut through the entire length of the boss before landing down with his gaze turned to the floor.

Illfang exploded and died. The word ‘Congratulations!!’ appeared in the middle of the room and a screen with the words ‘You got the last attacking bonus!’ hovered in front of a heaving Kirito that didn’t join the celebration of the other players that sounded shocked and proud of defeating the boss of the first floor.

The boy just kept on staring at the words until another window open, declaring he got an item called Coat of Midnight.

“Good work,” Asuna said, smiling down at the kneeling Kirito who had his back turned toward her.

Agil stood at her side, grinning as well. “That was splendid swordsmanship,” the man complimented in his deep voice. “Congratulations. This victory belongs to you.”

Kirito’s shoulders sagged a little. “No…” he whispered, but then seemed surprised when people started clapping.

He turned his head a little to look over his shoulder at the smiling, beaming faces of the rest of the attack group. They all looked at him like he was the hero in this case, and Kirito looked like he didn’t understand them. Not one bit.

While Kouichirou wanted to remind them all that not only Kirito fought the boss—it was a team effort—he felt like he agreed with them, on some level. Sure, Kirito had help, but the boy still did most of the damage. He was the one to kill the boss in the end with so much rage that Kouichirou was pretty sure he was fighting in the name of Diabel.

Plus, he prevented more of them from dying when he jumped between them and that monster. So there was something behind their praise.

“WHY?”

Silence fell on the room at the loud yell, and Kirito and the others all turned to a small party near the back of the room. They were all sad and angry, with Kibaou sitting on the floor in the middle, looking beyond upset.

Kouichirou raised an eyebrow at him. What was wrong this time? What did he have to complain about? Sure, someone died—someone good that Kouichirou didn’t expect to see the death of—but… but for some reason, this didn’t feel like it was entirely about that. Kouichirou’s instincts told him there was more to it.

“Why did you let Diabel die?” Kibaou asked, his voice now a little lower since no one raised their voice again.

Or maybe Kouichirou’s instincts stunk. That was a possibility, too.

“Let him die?” Kirito echoed.

Oh, Kouichirou wanted to punch this ginger man in the face. Now was definitely not the time to point fingers. They won. They got to the next floor. Why was he ruining their victory even more?

Unfortunately, Kibaou couldn’t hear Kouichirou’s thoughts. “Of course! You knew that technique the boss used! If you’d told us about that up front, he wouldn’t have died!”

They all started murmuring, some of them nodding at Kibaou’s words. Kirito still had his back to them all, but his head was tilted enough to see the group. Asuna and Agil remained in place, their bodies almost blocking Kirito from the rest of the room, like they were protecting him.

“He must be a beta tester!” someone yelled. “That’s how he knew all the boss’s attack patterns. He knew but he didn’t tell us! Other beta testers are here, too, right? Come out!” he demanded.

The accusing glares in the room made Kouichirou feel sick for his stomach. And apparently Kirito felt the same because he cringed as he watched all of them from his place. “This is bad…” he whispered quietly. “At this rate…”

He seemed to hold his breath as he turned around to face the game’s windows hovering before him again. Then his eyes widened at the sight of the two notes overlapping each other, and he let out this choked sound, like he was trying to decide what to do and both options he had were pretty awful.

He seemed to gulp just when Agil and Asuna started making their way over to the other side of the room to confront Kibaou and the others with him.

Before Agil could utter more than a few words, though, Kirito started laughing. And not an innocent, regular burst of laughter that kids his age let out when they were truly amused by something, but the cold, uncaring… almost evil and sinister kind of laughter. Crazy laughter. He sounded like a mad sociopath.

It echoed around the room and caught them all off guard as they turned to stare at the kid in shock. Kirito bowed his head a little, his hair and the shadows obscuring his expression, but Kouichirou was certain he saw some kind of resolve etched onto his face.

“A beta tester?” Kirito said. A few people took cautious steps away from him. The kid just shook his head and stood up slowly. “I wish you wouldn’t compare me to those newbies.”

What the hell was going on? Kouichirou wasn’t even the only one who was confused by this—the players on his computer screen all looked like they thought Kirito was crazy.

“W-what?!” Kibaou shrieked.

Kirito kept his head a little lower than before, his posture nonchalant as he crossed the room between the others toward Kibaou, and Agil and Asuna. “Most of the thousand SAO beta testers were beginners who didn’t even know how to level up,” he said coldly, and Kouichirou’s jaw dropped at the realization of what Kirito was doing. It was good for the other beta testers, but absolute suicide for him… “You guys are better than they are.”

He moved past Asuna, who stared at him with narrowed eyes. Kouichirou was glad, because it looked like she caught on to Kirito’s plan, as well. Or… at least she could tell something was up.

“But I’m not like them.” He stopped right in front of Kibaou with a hand on his waist. “I made it higher than anyone else during the beta test. The reason I knew the boss’s skills is because I fought monsters with katana skills on floors far above us.”

The smirk he then flashed the short man was almost alarmingly convincing. He looked like a bad guy. He looked like he didn’t care. He looked like he was the worst person to ever exist. He turned himself into the villain!

“I know a lot more,” he added. “Way more than any information broker.”

“W-what’s with you? That… that’s way worse than a beta tester!” Kibaou uttered out and then closed his eyes. “You’re cheating! A cheater!”

The crowd around began to agree, calling Kirito a cheater, too. Asuna watched them all with disdain, and Kirito didn’t even bat an eye at their insults. He just stood there confidently with his dark smirk.

“A beta tester and a cheater…” someone around said. “A beater!”

“Beater…” Kirito repeated. “A good name,” he stated.

People gasped around him. Whether it was because they disagreed or because they thought his decision to make the insult and name his own shocked them… well, it was unclear.

Turning a little, Kirito opened his menu. “That’s right. I’m a beater. From now on don’t confuse me with the other testers.” With the press of a finger, a black coat appeared on his body, making him look even more like a villain than he did before.

Kirito huffed out a content laugh, verging on a snort, and then started walking back to the other end of the room, ignoring the way people stepped away from him. His smirk disappeared the moment he was far enough away, and a tired expression appeared on his face as he started climbing the stairs to the next floor.

He stopped near the top when Asuna called for him, though. Kouichirou wasn’t even surprised when Kirito didn’t turn around to face her this time. This kid… Asuna wasn’t kidding when she said he really liked isolating himself from everyone, huh?

“You called my name when we were fighting,” Asuna said.

The boy kept his head down. “Sorry for using just your first name.” He shifted a little like he was going to look at her. “Or did I mess up the pronunciation?”

“Where did you learn it?”

At that, Kirito turned to look at her altogether. He didn’t look surprised at her question like he did when she asked him about what ‘switch’ meant, but he had the same air to him when he answered, like it was a somewhat ridiculous question, yet he didn’t want to make her feel dumb.

“You can see another HP gauge below yours, around here, right?” he asked, pointing vaguely at a spot on the left side above his head. “Isn’t something written next to it?”

He turned back around, although his face was still half-facing her. Asuna narrowed her eyes and seemed to try and concentrate. “Ki-ri-to… Kirito? Is that your name?” she asked, and when he answered positively, her face split into an innocent, bashful smile and she chuckled. “Oh, it’s been there all this time!”

Turning to face the doors leading to, presumably, the next floor, Kirito kept his voice as emotionless as possible. Or was that just what Kouichirou got from this? The kid sounded like he was constantly putting up a front to not seem weak or to make others stop fighting.

“You’ll be really strong,” he told Asuna, “so if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don’t turn them down. There’s a big limit to what you can do as a solo player.”

“Then what about you?”

Instead of verbally answering, Kirito took the last few steps up the stairs, and then opened his menu and pressed a few buttons before a window appeared, asking him if he was sure about disbanding the party he was in with Asuna.

Kouichirou wanted him to hold off on that, because as strong as Asuna was, she could use someone who would be able to look out for her. But Kirito couldn’t really hear him, and he left the party before closing his eyes for a moment, like he was trying to prepare himself for what might come next.

Then the doors opened and the screen went black. It was over.

Kouichirou’s body slumped in his chair and he stared at his computer mutely, unable to make sense of everything. Kirito… he was pretty strong even back then, apparently, and he was smart enough to realize that something had to be done about the hatred players had toward the beta testers.

He just went about it in a way that turned him into the main outcast. And he did it while knowing exactly what he was doing.

The kid clearly cared. He cared about Diabel, he cared about the others in the group, he cared about Asuna enough to explain things to her.

He gave her that cream to make the food taste better, he answered her questions, he didn’t try to shove her aside during the fight, instead even voicing his awe at her abilities. He even gave her a pretty good advice before leaving. Well, the leaving part wasn’t the best thing he could have done—looking after her would have made Kouichirou feel better—but he still did plenty.

A part of Kouichirou was aware of the fact that a part of why Kirito had decided to leave Asuna behind must have been that he wanted her to succeed. And after making himself the target of a lot of players like that—Kouichirou wasn’t naïve enough to think that rumors about Kirito wouldn’t spread—being associated with him would have probably made Asuna look bad in the eyes of the others, too. So pushing her away and leaving without her was in her favor, in a way.

A knock at his door made Kouichirou straighten up in his chair. He stared at the door like he wasn’t sure what it was even doing there in the first place, and then cleared his throat. “C-come in,” he said and his eyes widened at the sight of a smiling Asuna standing there, leaning on her crutches. “Asuna! Did you need something? Here, come sit—”

“I wanted to ask for a favor, actually,” she said, not stepping into the room. Her body was so different from the healthy one she had in that game. Sure, she had the same features, but in her current state, Kouichirou couldn’t even imagine Asuna fighting anyone like she did back in Aincrad. “I need a ride.”

“To the hospital?” he asked. Maybe she saw the video and really wanted to see Kirito again?

But she shook her head. “I managed to get in contact with a few of my friends from the game. We decided to meet at a café one of them owns.” She widened her eyes innocently. “Will you please take me there?”

He frowned. “I don’t know… you need to rest.”

And then her eyes sparkled with that same determination Kouichirou saw on her face during that boss fight. She looked like she was going to fight him on this, and if she was going to lose, she would rather do it after giving it her best.

Frankly, Kouichirou didn’t think he stood a chance. Apparently some people needed to be stranded inside a virtual game for two years in order to gain some confidence. People like his little sister. Who knew?

“No more than two hours,” he warned her, but he already got up to pick up his jacket.

Asuna nodded. “Thank you!”

Chapter Text

It was official—teleportation crystals were a lot faster and much more comfortable than taxis.

Ryoutarou stared out the window at the people walking on the sidewalk, and felt bored out of his mind. After living in a world full of excitement and fear and adrenaline, it was so strange to be back in the real world. Here, the most epic thing that could happen to him was if he actually got a date.

Well, that was exciting anywhere, but still.

The point still stands—Ryoutarou was losing his mind. The physical therapy was a pain, and he had to look for a new job the moment he could get back on his feet properly again, but he had no idea how long that might take.

He hated those stupid crutches, just like every other SAO survivor, he was sure. They were all used to having lighter bodies that could accomplish great, impossible things. And now they were bound to these useless sacks of skin and bones that felt more like cages.

But he was doing much better. He knew most of the survivors were already close to walking on their own and gaining back some of their lost weight. He himself was feeling up to walking around his apartment without his crutches for limited periods of time.

Now, of course, he had the crutches with him because he couldn’t just leave them and go out for who knows how long without any support, but he was certain he was strong enough to only use them some of the time.

His eyes fell back to his lap where his phone was, screen dark. He wasn’t there when Kirito adopted this persona of a beater, advancing in the game quicker than others thanks to his knowledge. He knew, of course, about the name given to him, but it was still… well… seeing that video was like having his eyes opened for the first time.

He never thought Kirito did it to himself. He knew the kid was good, but to outright make himself look like the villain to take the pressure off the other beta testers? That was insanity!

Had Ryoutarou been there, he would have kicked some sense into Kirito. This kid didn’t have any self-preservation skills, whatsoever. Sure, he was socially awkward—that was something Ryoutarou could tell from the very start with how closed-off the kid was the day they’d met—but it was something else entirely to actually cut all of his ties with other people for the sake of others.

Or maybe he just really, really wanted to be a solo player.

Nah, he’d offered Ryoutarou to join him. He dragged him all the way out of that plaza to try and make sure they could get away and advance quickly to survive together. Kirito wouldn’t have done that had he not wanted to be with someone else around him.

Plus, that look on his face in the video… when he looked back and Ryoutarou was already gone… it made Ryoutarou want to kick himself for not trying to convince Kirito to join his guild. They could have stayed together.

Then again, maybe that would have meant the game would have lasted longer. Maybe it would have ended up with Kirito not as strong. With him away from the Knights of the Blood. With him not standing up to Kayaba Akihiko. With him… dead?

Okay, Ryoutarou needed to stop thinking about this. It was crazy. He was just torturing himself at this point. What he needed to do was try and focus on a way to help Kirito now, because that kid somehow ended up in trouble. Again.

He didn’t know what was wrong exactly because the text from Agil didn’t say much other than that Kirito needed them and that some of the SAO survivors were going to meet in his coffee house to try and figure out their next move.

Ryoutarou’s leg bounced up and down as he waited and waited to get to his destination already. He wanted to step inside the café and choke Kirito for daring to stand up to Heathcliff without giving it a second thought. What was he thinking, risking his life like that?

Ryoutarou wasn’t the only one who knew Kirito would probably beat the game, but they expected they’d have more time. They expected to help the kid. They expected Kirito to become even stronger by the end. If that was even possible. But the dumb, thoughtless kid just agreed to the terms. Had he died without winning… well, they would have been doomed.

Not to mention, it wasn’t only Kirito they would have lost—Asuna was one of the best players, too, and she sacrificed herself for the kid. So that would have been another loss.

And all of that didn’t help Ryoutarou’s mood. He had to watch as the kids died. They both died. And until today, he truly believed they were gone. He thought they never woke up. He thought their brains were fried and dysfunctional. Until he got that text from Agil—how he got his number was beyond him—and suddenly hope blossomed in Ryoutarou’s chest and he called for a cab quickly.

It was still unclear whether Asuna was alive as well. Ryoutarou didn’t want to see the answer on the screen of his phone. He didn’t want to see a negative response. He didn’t want to know for sure, because if he got bad news… well, he wasn’t sure how well he’d take it. So he didn’t ask.

The fact that Kirito needed help was enough for now. The boy was alive, and Ryoutarou was going to help him this time around. He wasn’t just going to leave.

Finally, the taxi pulled to a stop outside the Dicey Café, and Ryoutarou paid the driver quickly before opening the door and stepping out with the help of his crutches. A few people sent him curious looks. Others outright gawked at him.

Yeah, that was a side effect of those videos about Kirito. The videos which, by the way, Ryoutarou was certain the kid hated with a passion. Moving past the crowd, Ryoutarou made his way into the café and looked around.

Agil was at the bar, wiping a glass with a smile as he talked to a girl with pink hair that had to be that blacksmith from the game that Asuna and Kirito had recommended a few times. Lisbeth, was it? The café was mostly empty, really. The only other occupied table had two girls next to it and… and…

“Asuna!” he called and the girl in question—one of the two sitting next to the window—turned around to face him. She blinked in surprise and then smiled warmly. “You alive! That’s good to know!”

She chuckled a little and the girl sitting with her nodded. “I-I am. I’m not sure what happened, but I woke up with everyone else,” Asuna said and when Ryoutarou stopped next to their table, the girl pointed at her companion. “Oh, meet Silica, Ayano Keiko.” Then Asuna turned to the girl. “Silica, meet Klein.”

The little girl, who was maybe thirteen or fourteen at most, grinned and waved, her two pigtails swiftly moving as she tilted her head to the side. “Nice to meet you!” She bowed her head a little in respect and Klein smiled back at her.

“You, too.” He started looking around then, chelling to see the café and the people inside. Agil, Lisbeth, Asuna and Silica. No one else. He frowned a little in confusion. “Say, is Kirito late?” he asked. “I mean, with these things I understand why he might run a little behind but—“ He gestured toward his own crutches, and then looked at the girls’ ones as well before he noticed the solemn expression on Asuna’s face. “What happened?”

Looking away, Asuna balled her hands into fists. “Kirito-kun is still unconscious. He hasn’t woken up,” she said.

Ryoutarou gawked at her. He was absently aware of Silica just sitting there, probably already knowing about the kid’s condition. From across the room, Agil pressed his lips tightly together and Lisbeth scrunched up her nose.

“Really, always getting into dangerous situations,” the blacksmith said with a snort. “You’d at least expect he’d know how to get out of them on his own, but of course we need to lend him a hand, right?” She smirked a little. “Maybe I can make something barf on him in that game as revenge for that dragon poop thing,” she mumbled.

Ryoutarou had the urge to ask her what the hell she was talking about, but eventually he decided against it. He knew Lisbeth to some extent, and when she looked this devious, it meant he didn’t want anything to do with whatever she was thinking. He only hoped Kirito could handle whatever it was.

His eyes drifted back over to Asuna and he raised his eyebrows expectantly at the girl. “So where is he? What happened? Didn’t they say Aincrad was gone?”

“It is.” She bobbed her head up and down and then wrapped her fingers around a mug of what seemed to be coffee or hot chocolate. It was hard to tell. The girl’s brows eyes stared at the swirling liquid. “Kirito-kun and I watched as the castle crumbled. And then I woke up and he… didn’t.”

She blinked her eyes a few times, like she was fighting back tears. “I thought he’d come find me, but when he didn’t, I asked my brother to find out where he was. My family runs the company that bought SAO, and the company that created ALO.”

Ryoutarou furrowed his eyebrows. “ALO?”

“Alfheim Online,” Agil said as he put down the clean glass and picked up another one. “It’s a new full-dive game. Lots of safety features, of course, have been added to it and the device they created for it to replace the NerveGear.”

Oh, that was something Ryoutarou did know about. “AmuSphere,” he said and Agil nodded. “I heard about it.”

Asuna bowed her head. “I went to visit Kirito, and the nurse said that Kayaba Akihiko sent his mother a message to let her know that it was still dangerous to take the NerveGear off,” she said with a little bit of desperation and venom in her voice. “But this time, it’s not Kayaba’s doing. It’s someone else. Someone is trying to keep Kirito inside the game and we don’t know who it is.”

“But,” Lisbeth cut in, her eyes gleaming with mischief, “that idiot has already gained attention in ALO.”

“Wait, he’s inside that other game?” Ryoutarou shrieked. When they all nodded at him, Ryoutarou sagged and sighed. “Uh, this kid is trying to make us worried about him, I’m telling you.” He rubbed the side of his head tiredly and then looked back at Agil. “So he’s inside ALO? Why can’t the developers of the game get him out, then?”

“Well, they didn’t know,” Asuna replied and then pulled out her phone and showed Ryoutarou a clip of Kirito sparring with some guy clad in a full-on red body armor. Of course, the kid won.

He didn’t have the swords from SAO because, well, they were destroyed in the game. So he had a different black sword that looked bigger than Elucidator and Dark Repulser. The kid still wielded it like it was the lightest thing he could find.

“This is the first video someone took of him in ALO. Today. Around the time that second video was playing everywhere. I told my brother about it on my way here, so I hope Kirito will wake up soon… I asked to hear from Kouichirou the moment he has news about it.”

Kouichirou had to be her brother, right? Ryoutarou gave the phone back to Asuna and then tapped his finger against one of the crutches. He wasn’t certain this really wasn’t Kayaba’s doing, but he was willing to entertain the idea for now. Even though it meant they were going after someone new.

At least Kayaba was someone they all knew was involved in SAO. He was the creator, and he’d even introduced himself to all of them that very first day. Whoever it was that made Kirito get stuck in ALO… Ryoutarou had no idea who they were.

He tried to think of people who might hold a grudge against the kid, but all of them were in SAO, and he didn’t believe someone exited the game and somehow managed to trap Kirito the moment he woke up. It was… it wasn’t possible. It had to be someone who wasn’t a part of the game.

Who knows, maybe it wasn’t even about trapping Kirito in particular. Maybe it was random, and the kid just had the worst luck in the universe. That worked, too.

The little girl—Silica—perked up. “Well, at least people know not to actually try and kill him inside the game!” she noted and they all turned to look at her. Her face burned at the attention on her but she braved through it. “I-I mean, they all see those videos about Kirito, and he looks exactly the same as he did in SAO, so he can always just explain his situation and most people would let him be, right?”

“Unless they’re like Laughing Coffin…” Lisbeth grumbled quietly. Agil and Asuna gave her reprimanding looks until the girl threw her hands in the air and apologized for being so blunt. “But it’s not my fault. Do you really believe Kirito will just tell people what’s going on? This idiot would rather fight everyone than ask for help.”

Asuna sighed. “That’s true.”

“Can’t we let people know what’s going on with him, then?” Ryoutarou suggested.

Agil grinned. “I already took care of that,” he said, sounding almost proud of himself. “Now it’s just a matter of waiting, and trying to understand who did this to him and why. And how can we get him out in case RECT can’t.”

Well, that was easier said than done, wasn’t it? Ryoutarou moaned tiredly and crumbled into the nearest chair, next to Silica. “I’m beginning to miss fighting Aincrad bosses,” he muttered and covered his eyes with one hand. “At least then I know who I’m up against.”

Ryoutarou was sitting on the couch of Kirito’s living room. It was a strange realization. The house he was in was the same one where Kirito grew up. He held a glass of cold water and was fully aware of the presence of Kirigaya Midori on the other end of the couch, her eyes trained on him.

She was a very nice, warm person, he had to admit. She welcomed him into the house with open arms like he was an old family friend, and then let him sit and chat for a bit, offering cookies to make sure he had everything he needed. His crutches were left beside him, lying on the floor next to his feet, and the remaining cookies seemed to call his name from the small plate on the table.

He came to visit the day after he met with the SAO players. Asuna had given him the address and told him Mrs. Kirigaya wouldn’t mind getting a visit from him. He wasn’t too sure about that, but he also really wanted to talk to the woman who raised Kirito. And lo and behold, Asuna was right. Mrs. Kirigaya, who insisted on being called Midori, beamed at him when he knocked on their front door.

Apparently, trying to apologize for his choice to leave Kirito behind annoyed Midori, because the woman waved her hand dismissively and told Ryoutarou he had nothing to be sorry about.

“It was nobody’s fault. Not yours and not Kazuto’s,” she’d said, which was still strange for Ryoutarou to hear because he was so used to the name Kirito that hearing another name that people associated with that dumb and lucky kid… it was disorienting, in a sense. “I’m just glad the two of you survived all that.”

But, well, now it felt like it was time to leave and go back to his lonely apartment. He already talked to Midori about everything she wanted to bring up, and he answered most of her questions, as long as he knew the answers…

Plus, he got the permission to go over and visit Kirito at the hospital if he wanted to, which was nice. Maybe he could get Lisbeth and Silica with him—they looked like they wanted to visit the kid, too. And Agil. And probably half the other survivors of the game at the very least.

So, figuring it was time to leave, Ryoutarou thanked Midori for everything, managed to catch a glimpse of black hair as Kirito’s sneaky, little sister hid again behind the wall after spying on them for most of the visit, and then started making his way toward the door.

He made maybe six steps before the TV sparked to life, and both he and Mrs. Kirigaya froze, their eyes instantly sliding over to the screen that erupted with loud calls of cheers and background chit-chat.

“Here’s to our guild, the Moonlit Black Cats!” a player said, raising his hand up in the air with a mug held between his fingers.

Four other people joined him, and Ryoutarou watched as Kirito sat there awkwardly, watching the five other young players who smiled and grinned and cheered happily as they all stood around the table. The kid had his own glass of… who knows what, but he just held it next to him and watched the others like they were going to jump at him.

“O-oh, I guess there’s another one of those…” Midori mumbled, eyes trained on the TV like her life depended on it. But then she snapped her gaze over to Ryoutarou who was just as enamored by the scene on the screen as she was. Her lips split into a soft smile. “Would you like to stay and watch this? Unless you don’t want to remember any of it and—“

Ryoutarou offered her a lopsided smile. “I’d like that, actually. Thank you, Mrs. Kirigaya.”

Luckily, she didn’t bother correcting him about the name he chose to call her, instead already watching the screen with wide, interested eyes. Ryoutarou hesitated before he sat back down on the couch.

“And here’s to Kirito-san, the man who saved our lives!” a boy in yellow said, raising his glass again.

“Cheers!” they all replied readily.

Ryoutarou snickered at Kirito’s awkward expression. “C-cheers…”

There were four boys and a girl in that guild, Ryoutarou realized. And he tried to remember when the hell the kid was in a guild. There was that one time, but… but it didn’t last very long, did it? And then… then something bad must have happened because Kirito looked like he was even worse than he was before.

If this was going to show Ryoutarou what’d happened back then… well, he wasn’t sure how content he was going to be with this video.

The guild members all started thanking Kirito, who squirmed in his seat helplessly. The only girl in the group had blue hair and eyes, and looked extremely shy. She looked at Kirito with a tender look, like she was going to break at any moment.

“Thank you so much,” she said.

“Don’t worry about it.” Kirito offered her a weak smile.

“I was so scared,” she went on, holding onto her glass tightly. Ryoutarou noticed Midori was staring at Kirito with this proud look in her eyes, like she was happy that her son was saving people in the game. Well… he bet she wouldn’t be happy when the dangerous stuff happened. He couldn’t imagine her reaction during the previous video. “So I was really happy when you came to save me.”

Kirito stuttered in response when the girl wiped a tear away, and the guy standing between her and Kirito leaned down toward him with a smile and a hand cupped around his mouth, like he was going to share a secret. “Um, Kirito-san, I know it’s pretty rude of me to ask but what level are you?”

Avoiding the guy’s eyes, Kirito looked away. “Level 20 or so…” he said and Ryoutarou snorted. He didn’t believe it for a second. There was just no way the kid was only at level 20 at that point in the game.

“That’s about the same as us,” the player said. “It’s amazing that you’re a solo player.”

At that, Kirito’s voice hardened. “Keita”—oh, well, so that was his name. Ryoutarou didn’t know him, but he didn’t have high hopes for the chances of survival of the members of this guild—“you don’t need to be so polite. Solo players only target single enemies. It’s not that efficient.”

Ryoutarou grumbled. “Really, he doesn’t have to make it sound like he did nothing important, though…” he muttered and Midori sent him a look, like she was confused by his reaction to this. Then she turned back to the screen with a shrug of her shoulders.

“O-oh, I see,” Keita said hesitantly and then quickly straightened back up, his smile returning to his face. “In that case, Kirito, I know this is kinda sudden, but would you like to join our guild?” he asked and Kirito’s eyes widened. “The only player we have who can handle being a tank is Tetsuo, a mace wielder.”

Keita walked over to the girl and started patting her head. “This is Sachi. I was planning to have her switch to using a single-handed sword and a shield so she could be a tank, but it seems that she’s not really ready, yet. I was wondering if you could give her some coaching?”

“Why are you acting like I’m useless?” Sachi demanded weakly. “Besides, it’d be too scary if you made me fight in the front.”

Someone else from the guild cut in. “You could just hide behind your shield.”

“Honestly, you’ve always been such a scaredy-cat,” Keita said and when Sachi growled, the others all chuckled. Seeing the perplexed expression on Kirito’s face, Keita turned back to him. “In the real world, everyone in our guild was a member of our school’s PC research club. Ah, but don’t worry! I’m sure you’ll fit in soon, Kirito. Right?” He turned to the other members who all agreed with him unanimously.

Looking down at his hands on the table, Kirito took a few moments to think about it. Midori whispered from her place encouragements for the kid to join the guild and not be alone.

Honestly, Ryoutarou wasn’t even sure what he thought Kirito should do. Knowing that this guild was probably dead by now… well… Ryoutarou wasn’t sure what even happened, but he had the feeling Kirito was there, or at least he was somehow related to it.

Balling his hands into fists, Kirito took a deep breath. “Then…” he began and there was no smile on his face. No joy. Just hesitation. “I guess I’ll join you guys.” He took a moment and then lifted his gaze to look at Sachi and a smile appeared on his face. “Thanks.”

Hmm… Ryoutarou could almost imagine Asuna snorting at the screen in her house.

They all immediately jumped toward him to welcome him happily into the guild, even though Ryoutarou couldn’t feel the same joy. He could only stare at their faces and hope for the best. He was fairly certain Kirito was lying about his level. And he was definitely wary of joining a guild. What disaster followed that, then?

Midori, luckily, seemed much better. She actually smiled at the screen, content with Kirito’s choice.

Then the scene switched to show all of them taking a break on a patch of grass. Kirito was sitting next to Keita, who was lying on the ground, holding above his head the Weekly Argo.

“So the front liners made it through floor 28… amazing!” Keita said and Kirito looked over the horizon with a faraway look in his eyes. “Hey, Kirito, what’s the difference between the front liners and us?”

Lowering whatever kind of food Kirito had in his hand, the boy turned to look over at the guild leader. “It’s because they know the best ways to get EXP,” he answered honestly, “and keep it to themselves.”

Keita sighed deeply and spread his arms on the grass next to him. “Now you say that, I suppose that’s part of it, but I also think it’s willpower,” he said, eyes closed like he didn’t want to see Kirito disagreeing with him.

“Well, it does make sense,” Midori nodded.

“Willpower?” Kirito echoed.

Sitting up with his arms now crossed over his chest, Keita smiled. “I suppose you could call it determination to protect one’s allies. No, every player,” he explained and turned to face Kirito. “Right now, they’re still protecting us, but I’d like to think my feelings are just as strong. Obviously, our first priority is our partners’ safety, but someday we want to make it to the top, with the rest of them.”

“I see. You’re right.”

Scratching his head, Keita suddenly looked embarrassed or bashful. “Heh, maybe…”

Ryoutarou stared at the soft smile Kirito sent the older guy, and then he blinked his eyes and suddenly it was nighttime on the screen. Kirito was outside on his own, staring down from a hill as a group of players faced red wolf monsters. And, of course, Ryoutarou recognized his guild members immediately. He remembered that night.

Kirito’s face was bleak as he followed the other players fight with his eyes. He watched them for a moment, observing them all, until his eyes fell on Ryoutarou. Well, on Klein. His eyes seemed to soften all of a sudden.

“Klein…” He muttered to himself and then remained quiet as Klein and two of his guild members surrounded the wolf monster. It barked at them, but eventually Klein used a sword skill to cut through and kill it.

From the corner of his eye, Ryoutarou noticed the way Midori leaned forward, waiting to see what would happen. Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal, really.

Klein exhaled and put his katana away before he seemed to sense the eyes trained on him from up high. He looked over and found Kirito standing there in the shadows. Klein’s lips spread into a wide grin.

“Well, if it isn’t Kirito!” He beamed and then glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his guild. “You guys, clean up the rest of the trash!” he said.

Ryoutarou was almost surprised that Kirito didn’t just turn his back and leave the moment Klein averted his eyes. He looked almost afraid or worried about the confrontation. Well, since he didn’t move away, Klein ran up to Kirito.

“I haven’t seen you for a while. You’re out levelling this late?” Then Klein made a confused noise as he inspected Kirito with slightly narrowed eyes, staring at his HP gauge and the guild mark above it. “That mark?” he muttered and Kirito straightened up, looking like he just got caught doing something wrong. “Did you join a guild?”

“Yeah…” Kirito muttered quietly, looking at the ground to his right instead of Klein. “I guess…” Neither one said anything for a moment and then one of Klein’s friends said they were done, and Kirito just started walking forward. “Later,” he said and just moved past Klein without looking back, his head bowed.

Behind him, Klein narrowed his eyes and watched Kirito. “Sure,” he said and then lowered his voice. “Geez… it’s still bugging him?”

“What is?” Midori inquired.

Ryoutarou shook his head. “That first day we chose to part ways. I knew he felt bad about not sticking with me, but I thought he’d get over it by then.” He shrugged. “Well, this kid is stubborn. One of the reasons I’m here to tell you all of this, actually.”

Humming, Midori nodded and they both focused back on the screen as it changed to show Kirito rushing toward a bridge, still at night. The blue-haired girl was underneath it, curled into a ball and hiding in the shadows.

“Sachi!” he called. She picked up her head and looked at him standing there, one hand on the wall. “Everyone’s worried.”

She looked back down and Kirito sat down wordlessly. He was pretty far away from her, but still close enough for them to talk without raising their voices too much. “Hey, Kirito…” Sachi muttered. “Let’s run away together.”

Ryoutarou choked and started coughing while Midori blinked at the screen in surprise.

Kirito didn’t react that much, though. He just kept on looking at her blankly. “Run away from what?”

“From this town,” she started, still not looking at him and still hugging her knees close to her chest. Ryoutarou pursed his lips. Running away wasn’t exactly something Kirito was good at. “From the monsters, from everyone in the Black Cats…” She hesitated and Kirito waited. “From Sword Art Online.”

This time Kirito did react. He choked and stared at her like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. To be fair, Midori and Ryoutarou had pretty much the same reactions.

Midori stood up, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open as she stared at Sachi like the girl just stabbed her son on screen. Ryoutarou remained sitting, but his chest was squeezing painfully. This couldn’t be it. It couldn’t be that someone suggested to Kirito this solution. Had Kirito been depressed enough… maybe he would have actually done it…

“D-do you mean a double suicide?” Kirito choked out.

Sachi didn’t even seem bothered. “I wouldn’t even mind,” she said and Kirito flinched violently in alarm, leaning further away from her. She quickly shook her head. “No, I’m sorry,” she added.

Midori muttered something that sounded like she’d better be.

“That was a lie. If I had the courage to die, I wouldn’t hide within the safety of this town, would I?” Sachi said. Kirito smiled awkwardly in relief, his shoulders sagging down just a bit. “Hey, why can’t we leave this place? Why do we have to die even though it’s a game? What’s the point in this?”

Shifting his gaze away from the girl, Kirito’s lips tugged back down as he seemed to think about it for a moment. “I don’t think there is a point,” he admitted.

Ryoutarou lifted an eyebrow. There had better be a point! Kayaba Akihiko had to have a point. He had to have a reason!

For a few moments nothing could be heard but the sound of the water they were sitting in front of.

“I’m afraid of dying,” Sachi said. It looked like she was on the verge of crying.

Kirito’s eyes widened and he turned his stunned face to her. “You’re afraid of dying?”

The girl nodded and exhaled shakily. Midori seemed to feel her pain because she finally sat back down and seemed to relax just a bit. “I’ve been so scared that I haven’t been able to sleep.”

“You won’t die,” Kirito stated plainly.

Ryoutarou cringed and scrunched up his nose. That was some bold thing to say in SAO. And knowing—guessing—what happened to this guild in the end… well, it didn’t help make this moment look any better.

Sachi finally lifted her head to look at Kirito and asked him how he was so sure about it. He smiled and stared at the water. “The Black Cats are a strong guild. Our margin of safety is well above average, and Tetsuo and I are both here. There’s no need for you to force yourself to fight out front.”

“I really don’t have to die? I can go back to reality someday?”

The boy looked at her. “Yeah. You aren’t going to die. I’m sure they’ll clear this game eventually,” he said, not knowing at the time that he was the one who was going to clear the game. Ryoutarou couldn’t help but feel bittersweet as Sachi smiled at Kirito with a tear rolling down her cheek.

This promise did not end well. Not at all.

When the scene changed again, Ryoutarou’s bad feeling only increased. They were all there except for Keita, walking around a dungeon with Kirito and Sachi behind. The blond guy pressed his hand against a glowing pattern on a wall and it opened, revealing a secret door and a hidden room inside to the enthusiasm and excitement of the others.

Well, all except for Kirito. The kid stared at the door like it was going to swallow all of them.

The three guys at the front ran forward when they noticed a treasure chest inside, and Kirito’s eyes bugged out as he stood outside and held his hand out as if to try and catch them. “W-wait!” he called but they didn’t listen and went to open the chest.

Kirito and Sachi followed them inside quickly but the moment the chest opened, an alarm started blaring around the room and everything turned red. The door snapped shut and they all looked around in alarm.

Kirito looked frantically at everything around him as monsters started spawning around them or crawling in through the walls. He pulled out his sword and the five members of the guild ended up in a circle, backs to each other and facing the enemy together.

They all looked terrified.

“It’s a trap,” Kirito stated the obvious. “Everyone, let’s get out of here!” he said, but when the others tried using their teleportation crystals, nothing seemed to happen.

Suddenly Ryoutarou felt like he was going to die if he didn’t drink from the cold water Midori had given him earlier. The woman herself looked like she was going to pass out from the stress of watching her son facing all of this.

“So this is a crystal nullification area?” Kirito did not look happy with the new discovery.

There was no answer. They all just started fighting the mob of monsters that ran toward them. They looked desperate as they waved their weapons around. The blond one died first, and Kirito froze for a moment at the sight of it before he kept on fighting, his movements faster and filled with desperation and rage.

He slashed every monster that came toward him and tried to get to the other players but they kept on dying around him.

“This is… this is…” Midori had tears streaming down her cheeks as she covered her mouth with both hands, staring at the screen in horror. “Oh, Kazuto…”

Ryoutarou had to admit that there was more than one scary, sad thing in this video. It wasn’t just the fact that the entire guild died (except for the leader? Where was Keita?)—it was also the way Kirito seemed to lash out even more after every single death.

Ryoutarou knew what it looked like when Kirito fought like the devil because he was mad and upset. And maybe he wasn’t as skilled back then, but he could clearly still hold his own when he was desperate to protect people he cared about.

And then it was only Kirito and Sachi. The girl was struggling, and Kirito noticed her and screamed her name in despair. He tried to cross the room to get to her in time but the monsters kept on coming, and when he reached his hand out to try and get to her… a monster came behind her and attacked her with a slash to the back, killing her.

Kirito stumbled a little when she disappeared, and his hand fell down as he stared for a split moment at the place where she once was. And then he went right back to fighting like the devil against those monsters, his face contorted in anger but his eyes almost dead.

Ryoutarou couldn’t help but heave in relief when the scene finally changed. Only for his heart to drop at the sight of Keita and Kirito standing next to a cliff—the edge of the world. Keita looked beyond upset. He was mad. He was angry. He was furious. He was full of rage.

Kirito just stood there and took it silently.

“You were a beater… you never had any right to be with us!” Keita spat out.

There were keys in his hands, like he just came back after leaving a house… Ryoutarou had no idea where Keita had been, but he could see the void in the guy’s eyes as he stared at Kirito like his own life already ended.

And then Keita climbed onto the railing, and Kirito’s mouth fell open as he jumped forward to try and catch him. But he wasn’t fast enough. Keita just leaned forward, and Kirito reached down to try and get to him to no avail.

Ryoutarou pursed his lips and shook his head as Midori openly sobbed. He wasn’t sure about it, but he thought he heard another voice crying upstairs. Probably Kirito’s sister watching this in her room.

On the screen, Kirito retracted his hand and kept on staring down for a moment, the expression on his face filled with guilt and anger and shame. He looked like he was mad at Keita for taking his own life. And then the rage was gone and he just closed his eyes tightly like a kid who wanted to open them again later and find out it was all a bad dream and nothing more.

Well, it wasn’t a nightmare, and he seemed to realize that, because the next scene showed Kirito sitting on a bench in front of a huge Christmas tree with Argo leaning on the other side of the bench, her hood pulled over her face. Ryoutarou recognized her immediately, though. She was helpful. Really, really helpful. Kirito didn’t even turn to look at her. He let his hair fall into his eyes and his lips were pressed in a thin, unmovable line.

“You’ve been taking a lot of risks levelling, lately,” Argo noted.

“W-who is that?” Midori asked shakily between one sob to the next.

Ryoutarou tried to pretend like he didn’t notice. “Oh, that’s Argo. She was a beta tester, too. She’s an information broker. Was really helpful to most of us during the game,” he said.

In true Kirito fashion, the kid ignored Argo’s concerned comment and went straight to business. “Have you received any new information?”

The girl didn’t pressure him again. “Nothing worth charging money for.”

“That’s quite unusual for an information broker.”

Argo huffed and her voice turned sharper. “The event wasn’t in the beta test, so everything’s a first,” she said dryly and Kirito didn’t even flinch at her change in attitude. “There’s no way I’d have any information,” she said.

Midori opened her mouth as if to ask what the hell they were talking about, but then Argo kept on talking and she slammed her mouth shut again.

“On Christmas Eve, in other words late tonight, the event boss, Nicholas the Renegade, will appear. He’ll appear under a certain fir tree. The elite guilds are searching pretty hard for it.” She glanced back when Kirito got up silently. “You have an idea where it is, don’t you?”

“Maybe,” he said and started walking away.

This didn’t seem to bode well with Argo. Say what you want about the information broker—she cared. “You’re seriously going to try and solo it?” she called after him, but Kirito didn’t even answer her. He just kept on walking away, moving between the somewhat cheerful people that celebrated the holiday in the decorated town.

Midori stared at the Christmas lights like they were a foreign concept to her, and then looked back down at Kirito. The contrast stood out, of course. The cheerful holiday and the black zombie walking amongst all the people.

Ryoutarou pursed his lips when the next scene showed Kirito sitting in a dark room on a bed, changing his clothes and his equipment with his menu as he muttered to himself, like someone was there to listen. Maybe he knew Kayaba was listening. Or maybe he just needed to talk to someone and decided that even if there was nobody around, he would still speak out his thoughts.

Whatever the reason was, Ryoutarou just listened silently as Midori’s sobs quieted down. Kirito’s sister went quiet, too.

“In this world the dead can’t return, but there’s a rumor that Nicholas the Renegade drops an item that can revive them.” He pulled out the sword he had strapped to his back and stared at it for a moment. “If I try to take him on solo”—He pressed more buttons on the menu and his sword was replaced with a different one. He stared down at his reflection with self-hatred reflecting back at him—“I’ll probably die.”

“W-what the hell?” Ryoutarou stared in horror at Kirito. The kid who made it so far into the game without completely losing it… and he couldn’t help but feel like he was about to watch the boy’s demise because of his guilt and devastation. Kirito wanted to die? He walked into this, prepared not to come back? “That idiot! What was he thinking?”

Midori’s sobs renewed as her eyes sparkled with the tears she wasn’t even trying to hide. Ryoutarou had his own tears in his eyes at seeing the kid so broken, but he didn’t let them fall. Instead, he was determined to watch it. To be strong and not miss a thing. Kirito deserved it. The Moonlit Black Cats deserved it.

“I’ll die in a place where no one will see me, leaving nothing behind.”

He said it like his family in the real world didn’t matter. Didn’t even exist. Like Ryoutarou wouldn’t have been more than upset at finding out that the kid was gone. Especially when he was right there that night. The idiot!

“That’s right… I… my arrogance… killed all of them,” he muttered, and Ryoutarou wanted to shake him and tell Kirito that he warned them not to go through with this. They chose not to listen! “If I hadn’t hidden my level…” He didn’t finish that thought and just stood up and turned to leave.

The next moment, Kirito was running in a forest, his feet leaving marks in the snow gathered on the ground. He glanced sideways suddenly and came to a halt right before Klein and the rest of his guild materialized not too far away from where he was standing.

Klein blinked at Kirito. “Yo,” he greeted but didn’t advance yet.

The kid looked almost annoyed. Almost. “You followed me?”

“Yeah,” Klein replied easily. “You’re after the revival item?” he asked, and when Kirito replied honestly, Klein sounded annoyed. “Don’t risk your life for an item that probably doesn’t exist.” At Kirito’s silence, Klein frowned. “This death game is for real! The moment our HP drops to zero, our brains in the real world—“

“Shut up!”

Klein was speechless. As was Midori, apparently, because she gaped at her son on screen like she didn’t know where the words even came from.

Ryoutarou didn’t quite understand it back then, because he didn’t even think about the fact that Kirito was suddenly not a part of a guild or that he maybe had someone he really wanted to bring back, but now he got it. The kid was desperate to try and fix it. Some of it, at the very least. And here Klein was, trying to tell him things he already knew.

After the moment of stunned silence passed, Klein snapped again, his expression angry this time around. “Fighting solo is crazy. Cut it out!” He put a hand on his chest. “It’s just us. So that there will be no hard feelings, whoever receives the revival item gets to keep it,” he insisted. “That’s fair, isn’t it?”

Ryoutarou sighed and leaned back on the couch. No wonder Kirito didn’t like the idea—he needed the item and couldn’t risk Klein or his guild getting it instead.

“Then there’d be no point,” Kirito said quietly and brought his hand up to his sword. He was actually ready to fight Klein and the others for the item. The item that he later just handed Klein. “I have to do it myself.”

At the sight of the kid getting ready to fight, Klein’s guild slid into their own battle stances, but the redhead just put his arm in front of them, preventing the members from attacking Kirito. Midori murmured a quiet thank you at that, but Ryoutarou just waved it off. It was nothing. He wasn’t going to let someone beat the kid.

“I can’t let you die here, Kirito!”

It was unclear whether the kid started pulling his sword out because of Klein’s insistence, or the groups of players that teleported over to them. Well, it was probably the new people around because Kirito didn’t even bat an eye when Klein’s guild huddled closer to him in alarm at the new arrivals.

Kirito glared at the people around. “You were followed as well, Klein,” he noted.

The man smirked and put his hand on his katana. “Looks that way,” he said, observing the new group of players. “The Holy Dragon Alliance?”

“They’ll do anything for a rare item,” someone from his guild said.

“What do we do?”

“I…” Kirito tightened his hold on his sword and narrowed his eyes just as Klein pulled out his katana and bared his teeth at the guild surrounding them.

“Damn it!” Klein exclaimed. “Go, Kirito!” he called, and when Kirito looked at him in surprise, Klein just repeated his words. “Go! We’ll hold them off!”

Hesitation kept Kirito in his place for a moment, but then he turned and ran toward the tree as fast as he could. He only slowed down once he was close enough, his eyes trained on the glowing, huge fir.

Bells started ringing a moment after he stopped walking and then Kirito saw two stripes of glowing, blue lights crossing the sky before a huge figure, reminding Santa Claus, landed in front of him.

Kirito stood his ground when the wind from the landing of the giant boss blew his clothes about, making the scene look even more dramatic. He put his arm up to stop the snow from landing on his face and took it back down once everything settled down.

Ryoutarou gawked at the giant that stood before Kirito. The boss was humongous, eyes crazy and eyebrows drawn down in an angry line. Midori screeched as an alarmed yell came from upstairs. Frankly, Ryoutarou was pretty glad he didn’t get to face Nicholas. Sure, Kirito had to do it on his own instead, but seriously? This thing would have given him nightmares.

Kirito drew out his sword and stared coolly at the giant, monstrous Santa Clous. “Shut up,” he said quietly to the shrieking boss and then ran forward just as Nicholas brought his axe down toward the kid that roared in anger as he headed toward a battle against a boss that had four HP gauges… all on his own. He really was crazy.

“No… no, Kazuto…” Midori whispered.

She didn’t need to worry, of course. The kid was fine. As was demonstrated in the next scene that showed Kirito walking toward Klein and his guild—they were all on the ground, heaving and exhausted with weapons surrounding them after the fight they had to deal with—with something golden clutched in his fist. His hair still covered his eyes, and he kept his head low enough for the shadows to hide his expression.

Klein noticed him first and perked up. “Kirito!” he called the boy but then he kept on looking and his expression fell.

Back there it was hard to see much, but on the screen, Ryoutarou could clearly note the fact that Kirito’s eyes had no spark to them. He looked like he was completely gone, just using this body to walk around.

Midori whimpered as the boy tossed the object in his hand to Klein who barely caught it. “H-hey…”

“That’s the rare item,” Kirito said.

Adjusting his hold on the golden ball, Klein tapped his finger against it and looked at the window that appeared before him as Kirito just watched. “Let me see…” He started reading. “The target player…” his voice trailed off and his eyes bugged out. “Within ten seconds?”

“Use it on the next person you see die.”

Without another word, Kirito began to leave, but Klein got up quickly and grabbed the back of his coat, preventing him from leaving. “Kirito… Kirito!”

The kid turned his head around to look at him. Ryoutarou wasn’t even ashamed to see the tears gathered in his avatar’s eyes. He remembered that moment. He was concerned. He was beyond concerned, really. Kirito was acting all cryptic and morbid, and he had no one around. He was worried. “You… you have to survive! Survive until the end, please…!”

He let go of the black coat of the kid as he started crying and Kirito just walked away from him without saying anything in response, except that he’ll see Klein later. That was probably better than nothing.

Midori’s lips were trembling again and she looked at Ryoutarou like she was seeing him for the first time. There was so much gratitude in her gaze as she bowed her head at him, Ryoutarou could only scratch the back of his neck awkwardly, not sure about what he was supposed to do with this woman.

Honestly, Ryoutarou expected the video to end there. He wasn’t sure what else could have happened that was related to any of this. But apparently, he was wrong. Instead of turning black, the screen showed Kirito back in that room from earlier—probably an inn—but this time he was sitting on a chair with his head burrowed in his folded hands that rested on a table.

A blinking, orange light started flashing before him, and Kirito glanced up at it and tapped it with his finger. The window that opened made his eyes widen. “Sachi?” he whispered.

Ryoutarou’s eyebrows shot up, too. He never expected the girl to leave something for Kirito. For Christmas. Because this sad day was a holiday for everyone else.

Straightening up, Kirito tapped the window and it disappeared, leaving behind a recorded voice message. Ryoutarou’s mouth fell open—just a little bit—and he watched as Kirito hesitantly let his finger hover over the item before he pressed the button and brought it to life. He was vaguely aware of Midori’s whispered words of confusion, but he didn’t really need to explain anything. The video was going to answer whatever questions she had.

“Merry Christmas, Kirito,” Sachi’s voice said and Midori inhaled sharply, just like her son. “By the time you hear this, I’ll probably already be dead. How to explain it… To tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings, but if I kept feeling like that, I would probably have died. It’s no one’s fault. It’s my own problem. Ever since that night, you’ve told me again and again that I’m not going to die. If I were to die, you’d probably blame yourself.” Well, that was pretty accurate. “That’s why I decided to record this.

“I actually know how strong you really are. I just happened to see it that night. I thought really hard about why you would hide your level and join us, but I was never able to figure it out.” She chuckled. “But when I learned how strong you really were, I was really happy and felt at ease. So even if I die, I want you to keep on going, okay? Live to see the end of this world, and to see why it was created. The reason why a weak girl like myself ended up here, and the reason we met. That’s my wish.

“There’s still plenty of time left. Since it’s Christmas, I’ll sing a song,” she added. And then she started humming a melody quietly, softly.

Kirito stared at the recording and his eyes filled with tears that he didn’t bother to hold back. He just let them fall to the sound of Sachi’s soft hums.

“Bye, Kirito. For the fact that I was able to meet someone like you, and spend time with you… I’m truly grateful. Thank you. Good-bye.”

The recording turned off and fell on the desk a moment before the screen turned black.

Ryoutarou barely had a moment to collect himself before Midori clutched onto his clothes and sobbed, using him as her anchor. Usually, Ryoutarou would feel flustered that a beautiful woman was holding onto him like that, but instead he just felt the need to comfort her the best he could.

Maybe because she was around and he couldn’t do the same for Kirito.

Chapter Text

Flying was something Suguha loved with all of her being. She felt like being able to fly freed her. It allowed her to soar up high and away from other people. It let her twirl around in the open sky. It enabled her to advance forward with nothing in her path and feel the rush and the breeze caressing her cheeks.

She loved it. She adored it. She felt like she was the luckiest person in the world to have the ability to put on a device that actually let her explore this ability that humans didn’t have.

The moment ALO was announced, Suguha stared at the advertisements and the commercials, and felt the uncertainty brewing inside of her.

On the one hand, being able to experience flying for the first time in her life made her heart race madly inside her chest. She could already imagine herself soaring between the clouds with her hands spread alongside her body as she laughed, the sound getting lost in the rush of the wind breezing by her.

On the other hand, the thought of playing a virtual game left a bitter taste in her mouth that Suguha couldn’t stifle, no matter what.

Flying sounded amazing. It intrigued her. It taunted her. But her eyes kept on coming back to her brother, hooked up to the machines in his hospital room, with that NerveGear helmet on his head as he was probably fighting to survive in a virtual world that was meant to be nothing more than a game.

Could Suguha really buy a game that was so much like the one she was sure her brother was suffering in right now? How could she play while her brother was risking his life on a daily basis?

But the need to try and fly was stronger, apparently, because she bought the game anyway and her mood lifted the longer she stayed up in the air. She felt bad about it because really, she wouldn’t have even thought of playing such a thing before Kazuto got stuck in SAO.

She didn’t like video games. She didn’t like virtual ones. She wasn’t a gamer like Kazuto. But his excitement over the NerveGear and SAO got to her, apparently, and she decided it was worth giving it a try. After chelling to see all the safety features the AmuSphere had, of course.

The guilt still consumed her, though. The longer Suguha kept on playing ALO and enjoying herself, the more she was crushed by the feeling that she was mocking Kazuto and his state. He was stuck in a death game that couldn’t have been much different from the game she chose to play herself.

She explored Alfheim Online the best she could, thinking Kazuto would have loved it had he been able to play the game with her. He would have become obsessed with the game rather quickly, she figured. He was just like that.

Back when Sword Art Online ran its beta test, Kazuto spent every waking moment in that game, that stupid helmet on his head. Sometimes Suguha watched him during dinner and saw the faraway look on his face, like he was still inside the game instead of around the dinner table with her and their mom. Like he was longing to be in a different reality rather than with his family in the real world.

Ever since she started playing ALO, though, Suguha understood what he must have felt back then. Or at least, she came close to it. Alfheim was amazing. The world, the players, the mobs… everything was so realistic, so enchanting. The spells, the weapons, the skills.

It was a whole different world that Suguha loved. And she wanted to be there so much most of the time. She wanted to explore, to fight, to experience more and more. She wanted to be able to fly forever and watch everyone else from up high. She wanted this feeling to last in the real world, too.

Now things were different, though. Suguha flew over the forest below her, her eyes scanning the ground to try and find something—anything—that would catch her attention. She needed to find Kazuto. She needed to find him and hug him and finally reunite with him—even if it was only in the virtual world. Anything would be better than seeing his limp body lying on that white, sterile hospital bed, thin and fragile and so, so weak.

Tears gathered in her eyes as the image flooded her mind and she tried to unsee it—her brother in such a state—but it was no use. She was losing altitude as it was since she’s been nearing the end of her flight limit. She needed to rest, but she also needed to keep on going. She knew he was in this world. She knew he was somewhere in this amazing world, and she had to find him!

“Leafa!” a whiny voice came from behind her, and the girl sighed and glanced back to see Recon lagging behind her, flying at his top speed, and yet not even getting close to her. He was panting a little, like he was actually tired even though that wasn’t really a thing. At least, not from a little bit of flying. His hand was grasping the controller and he gave her a miserable look. “We need to stop and let our wings rest before we crash down!” he moaned.

Her shoulders sagging in defeat, Suguha sighed and nodded. She lowered herself back to the forest and Recon followed suit, his legs touching the ground as he heaved in relief at finally getting some rest.

She turned her back to him as he collapsed to the ground, and started eyeing their surroundings in the hopes of finding anything black. Unfortunately, there was nothing. With a frustrated groan, she sat down and let her wings fade away and disappear.

She felt like she was failing at something. Like she was letting her brother down by not being able to find him. By all accounts, she knew a player named Kirito was in ALO and that he looked exactly like her brother. She knew that someone filmed him fighting another player and winning effortlessly. She knew that he was actually her brother… but no one knew where he was right now.

There were random sights of him all over the game because Kazuto kept on moving from one place to the next without staying in the same spot for too long, but it made it so much harder to find him. Suguha just had no idea where to stop and look for a guy that kept on moving around.

A part of her was terrified that something would happen to him. That he would fight someone—a player or a monster—and he would die. She assumed that dying was still lethal for him if he hasn’t just committed suicide to wake up. And if he died in the game now, with no one around to see it… then no one would know until the hospital called to inform her mother that Kazuto was gone.

The mere thought frightened Suguha.

The other players were certain that her brother was just playing the game for fun again because he liked it. They had no idea he was actually still unconscious and playing to stay alive. They didn’t know the hero of SAO was still trapped, still unaware of everything that was happening outside of these games. They had no idea that he wouldn’t come back to life if he died.

Sure, there were rumors about Kazuto still being stuck, but most people weren’t sure whether to believe them or not. She was worried that would lead a player to try and murder him just for the sake of being able to say that they could overpower the best player of SAO.

That’s why she needed to find him. She needed to make sure he was okay. She needed to have the ability to chell up on him. She needed to find him, and then get her mom to play the game and see Kazuto with her own two eyes, alive and well.

God, she hoped he was okay. She couldn’t imagine Kazuto dying. She couldn’t imagine something taking on her brother and winning. As scared as she was while watching those SAO videos, she trusted her brother. She knew he was stronger than he looked, and she knew that if he was the one to clear the game, then he must have been powerful.

It still terrified her, though.

“Oh, I need to log out,” Recon said, his eyes stuck on the spot that must have shown the time in the real world.

When Suguha chelled the time as well, she groaned. “Yeah, me too.” She knew she couldn’t feel the hunger of her actual body inside the game, but she guessed she was probably in need of a warm meal right about now. “I’ll see you later,” she said, and then logged out after giving her friend a wave and a weak smile.

Her eyes opened and she looked up at the ceiling where a poster of ALO hung, her own avatar staring back at her with a smile. She blinked at it with a blank expression, and then got up, took the AmuSphere off and exited her room to get downstairs.

Her mom wasn’t home—said she would go over to visit Kazuto at the hospital. Suguha had the feeling that this Asuna girl would be there, too. Lately, every time her mom came back from the hospital, she recounted her visit and told Suguha that Kazuto’s friend from the game was there, too.

Eating dinner alone wasn’t exactly entertaining. Suguha stared at the food and ate it obediently but without feeling anything beyond the need to not starve. She had more important things to do. She had to get back to ALO and find Kazuto. She couldn’t waste her time, because her brother was in a critical condition and she could finally assist him.

Maybe.

Probably.

At least she would be able to talk to him and actually get a reply, right?

So Suguha finished eating quickly, washed the dishes, and then turned to go upstairs and back into the game when the television’s screen lit up, and she halted in place, her eyes snapping over to the screen as it filled with color.

Another video. There was another video from SAO now.

She looked around the empty house, and then determinedly walked over to the couch and sat down to watch this new clip, her lips pursed tightly. She needed to find Kazuto, but watching these… well… she felt somewhat closer to her brother every time she watched his adventures in the death game.

The video started with Kazuto just walking around a forest. It was dark around but he didn’t seem to care. The expression on his face was blank, but at least he didn’t look as emotionless as he did in the last video, after Sachi and the others had died.

That video… it scared Suguha. Not because she was worried Kazuto might die, but because she saw the void in his gaze ever since the guild had died, and she was afraid he would stay this way—dead inside, yet threading forward. But this time around, he seemed to be doing better. Though, sadly, he was still alone.

And then the cry of a young girl cut through the silence, and Kazuto stopped walking and seemed to just listen as the girl off-screen kept on yelling the same word—name?—over and over again. There were low growls coming from the same area, as well.

For a moment Kazuto didn’t move, and then he started running, his hand resting on the handle of the black sword strapped to his back. Ahead of him, Suguha could see three large gorilla-like creatures surrounding a single player who was bent over on the ground, her HP bar already red. She was going to die.

But then Kazuto drew his sword out and with one large slash he got all three monsters. Their HP dropped in an instant, and they exploded and died on the spot, leaving the girl to stare up at Kazuto with tears in her eyes and a stunned expression on her face.

Kazuto just looked back passively.

They were both quiet for a moment, and then the girl’s body sagged and the tears started streaming down her face. “Pina…” she wept. She lifted a single, glowing feather off the ground. “Don’t leave me alone…” She stared at the feather and then hugged it to her chest just as Kazuto put his sword back in place. “Pina!”

Kazuto watched her as she cried and then tilted his head to the side. “What’s that feather?” he asked. And normally Suguha would have been annoyed at his bluntness, but the tone of his voice was soft, like he was really trying to be nice and delicate. Well, it was better than nothing, wasn’t it?

“It’s Pina,” the girl replied, still not looking back up at Kazuto. “My partner.”

“You’re a beast tamer?” Kazuto asked, his face displaying surprise. Then his expression dropped again. “I’m sorry… I wasn’t able to save your friend.”

The girl shook her head. “No. I was being stupid,” she objected. Kazuto watched her silently. “I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own.” She inhaled and then turned her head to look up at Kazuto. “Thank you for saving me.”

Suguha didn’t know what to expect from Kazuto, but him kneeling down next to the girl wasn’t it.

“Does that feather happen to have an item name?” he asked, and the girl tapped on the feather hesitantly. A window opened, showing that it did, in face, have a name. This made the girl cry all over again and Kazuto almost seemed distressed by this. “Don’t cry. If Pina’s heart is still here, you can revive her.”

When the girl lifted her gaze to look at him again with amazement and hope shining in her eyes, Kazuto smiled softly. “Really?”

Nodding, he explained. “On the south side of floor 47 there’s a field dungeon called the Hill of Memories. The flower that blooms at the top is supposedly an item used to revive a familiar.”

The happy smile on the girl’s face switched to a solemn expression and she looked down. Suguha could kind of understand her when she mumbled the number of the floor. She didn’t look particularly strong.

“If you were to give me the GP, I’d go for you,” Kazuto said and scratched the back of his head. “But if the pet’s owner isn’t there, the flower doesn’t bloom.”

“I’m more than grateful just for the information,” the girl said, turning her entire body to him. “If I work hard to raise my level then someday…”

“They can only be revived within three days of their death.”

Suguha scrunched up her nose at Kazuto’s words. He just had to go and crush that girl’s hope, didn’t he?

The girl looked down sadly at the feather and apologized to the dead beast she once had.

Kazuto got up and turned his back to her. “Don’t worry. You have three days.” He opened his menu and started tapping until a window opened in front of the stunned girl. “This equipment should be worth five or six levels,” he said, and the more he tapped, the more items appeared on the screen of the girl. “If I go with you, it’ll probably go just fine.”

That was… awfully generous of him. Suguha eyed her brother with a critical eye. Was this really happening? Was he just helping a stranger by giving her stuff without asking for anything in return?

Apparently the girl agreed with that logic because she looked up and stared at Kazuto questioningly. “Why would you do that far for me?”

Closing his menu, Kazuto’s eyes widened like the question caught him off guard. He looked at the girl and then bashfully looked away from her. “If you promise not to laugh, I’ll tell you,” he said, his hand going up to his forehead. The girl nodded. Kazuto covered his eyes with his hand and inhaled deeply. “It’s because you look like my little sister.”

“What? What is he talking about? Onii-chan!” Suguha gawked at the screen.

That girl looked nothing like her! The girl had brown hair pulled up in two pigtails, and red/pink eyes. Suguha’s hair was black, like Kazuto’s, and her eyes were dark, as well. She was taller than the girl and their faces were nothing alike.

On the screen, the girl gaped at Kazuto for a moment, and then started chuckling. Kazuto just turned further away from her in embarrassment. Suguha glared at her brother’s avatar and then pursed her lips. Maybe he just said it to make sense to the little girl. Maybe he was actually helping for some other reason, or because he just wanted to. The girl needed a reason, so he gave her one. It was that simple.

When the girl noticed that Kazuto was awkwardly turned away from her, she stopped laughing and instead just smiled at him. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, and then wiped the tears from her eyes and opened her menu to try and transfer money in return for everything. “Um, I’m sure this isn’t anywhere near enough, but—“

“No, it’s okay,” the boy said and turned back to smile at the girl. “It doesn’t conflict with the reason I’m here.”

For a moment the girl just looked at him like he was an unusual specimen, and then she held out her hand for him. “I’m Silica.”

“I’m Kirito.” Right, he called himself Kirito in the game. Which wasn’t even a good name, considering his name was Kirigaya Kazuto. Kirigaya Kazuto. The originality was astounding. “We won’t be together long, but it’s nice to meet you.” He shook her hand.

The scene cut to another one after that. This time Kazuto and Silica were walking down a road in some town, side by side. It was still dark—so it was probably the very same day. They were going to just continue walking, when two guys called out for Silica.

Kazuto looked surprised and watched them as they walked toward the two of them. Silica and he stopped in their places and the girl watched the guys with an awkward smile.

“You’re late!” one of them said with a smile. “We were worried.”

“Let’s party up, sometime! We can go wherever you want.”

She took a step back from them, still smiling in discomfort. “That’s very kind of you, but…” She glanced over at Kazuto, and then clung to his arm as he watched wordlessly. “I’m going to party with him for a while!” she said.

The two guys turned displeased and upset looks toward the boy, who chuckled awkwardly and followed Silica when the girl dragged him along as she apologized to the guys and started walking away.

“I apologize for that,” the girl told Kazuto.

He just smiled at her. “Your fans? You must be popular.”

Silica’s face fell and she looked somberly at the ground. “No. They just want me along as a mascot,” she explained sadly. She almost looked ashamed of herself. “Even though they called me Dragon Tamer Silica, I became…” she trailed off and stopped walking, letting go of Suguha’s brother as tears started to gather in her eyes again.

The boy stopped a step or two from her and gave her a reassuring smile. It was amazing how he could barely talk to other people, but he could still somehow handle being around this girl.

Suguha hasn’t seen this side of her brother in person ever since he was ten or so. It hurt a little to see that he seemed to care more about a strange girl he didn’t even know. Suguha frowned and quickly dismissed the thought. She wasn’t going to let this get to her! She was stronger than that!

“Don’t worry,” Kazuto said and put his hand on top of Silica’s head. “We’ll make it in time.”

“Right!” Silica wiped her tears and smiled at him. When they kept on walking down the street, Silica’s mood seemed to elevate. “Where do you live, Kirito-san?”

“On floor 50,” he said. “It’s pretty far, so I might just stay here.”

Silica’s face brightened at once. “Really? The cheesecake is really good here!” she said enthusiastically.

The girl and Kazuto stopped walking abruptly once again when a female voice could be heard heading their way. “Oh, if it isn’t Silica.”

A woman with curly, red hair and a beautiful face stood with three other male players. They all stopped to talk to Silica but the grin on the woman’s face made Suguha feel… unnerved. She was smiling and her voice was friendly, but there was something about her that just felt… off. Kazuto even seemed to eye her in distrust.

The woman continued. “You made it out of the forest. I’m relieved.”

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, Kazuto looked at Silica who hung her head low. “Is something wrong?” he asked.

The girl turned to smile weakly at him. “No, nothing.”

“Huh?” The redhead woman stepped closer and grinned down at Silica. She almost looked like a predator. “What happened to the lizard? Might it have…” the woman trailed off, but her tone was amused. Suguha glared at her when Silica said that Pina had died and that she was going to bring her back. The woman didn’t falter. “Eh… then you’re going to the Hill of Memories. But at your level, will you be able to clear it?”

Silica’s determination faltered but Kazuto stepped a little between her and the woman, his lips pulled up in a smile that seemed too at ease for it to be real. “She will,” he declared. “It’s not all that difficult.”

Finally, the woman seemed annoyed as she looked at Kazuto, observing him for a moment. Then her smile was back and she looked at Silica with something that almost looked like scorn. “Did she seduce you, too?” she teased. Kazuto didn’t react. “You don’t look like much to me, though.”

Instead of giving an answer, Kazuto just looked at Silica with a gentle smile, and led her away from the woman and her entourage. The redhead woman watched them leave. Her lips tugged down for a moment, and then she smirked once they had their backs turned to her.

Suguha shifted uneasily in her spot. She was clearly up to something. Something bad, if her gut feeling was anything to go by. What had Kazuto gotten himself into this time?

The next moment, Kazuto and Silica were sitting in a restaurant opposite each other, a candle burning between them on the table. Silica had her fingers wrapped around a cup, and she looked down at it as she asked quietly why that woman had to be so mean. Kazuto, supporting his own cup of… something, looked at her for a moment.

“Is SAO your first MMO?” he asked, and when Silica replied positively, he jumped to explain. “In any online game, a lot of people’s personalities change. Some enjoy playing the villain,” he said.

Suguha thought back to that moment after he’d defeated the first boss. He turned himself into the villain, but it was clearly no fun for him. He did it because he felt like he had to. It was different.

“Our player indicators are green, right?” he asked and Silica’s eyes went up to the green mark hovering over his head. “However, if you commit a crime, the indicator will turn orange. The worst criminals, player killers, those who’ve killed someone, are known as red players.”

Silica gasped. “You mean murderers?”

Kazuto looked down with a sad look in his eyes. “In any other game, they could’ve had fun role-playing as the bad guy. However, Sword Art Online is different.” His voice lowered as he stared at his cup and his grip tightened around it. Suguha gulped at how serious he looked just talking about it. “We’re not just playing a game.”

“Kirito-san…”

This seemed to snap him out of his dark mood, and he gasped a little, as if remembering he wasn’t talking to himself. He shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

For a moment Silica stared at him in hesitation. Then she leaned forward and spoke up, her voice louder and harder than it was before. “Y-you’re a good person, Kirito-san!” She let go of her glass and reached over to table to put her hands over his. He stared at her in surprise. “You saved me!”

Kazuto gaped a little and then composed himself again and smiled at her. “Seems like you’ve cheered me up, instead,” he commented. “Thank you, Silica.”

The girl looked up at him, and all of a sudden her face burned a bright shade of red and she jumped backward quickly, sitting down and moving her limbs frantically as she complained about their cakes not getting to them yet.

Kazuto just watched her with his mouth open a little, like he’s never seen anything like the flustered girl before.

Really, her brother could be so dense, sometimes…

Then the scene switched again, showing the two of them sitting in a small bedroom around a table.

Kazuto put something on it, and Silica asked him what it was. “It’s called a Mirage Sphere,” he said plainly, and pressed a button at the top.

It opened up and displayed a shining holograph of a floor. Silica’s eyes widened as she stared at it with a smile, commenting on how pretty it was. Suguha couldn’t help but agree—it was certainly very pretty.

“Floor 47’s town area is right here.” He pointed to a spot on the hologram and then pointed at another one. “And this is the Hill of Memories.” A yellow trail connected the two dots. “So we’ll be following this route—”

His friendly smile dropped at once as he glanced sideways, toward the closed door of the room, and his mouth snapped shut. His eyebrows drew closer together in concentration and somewhat anger. Silica stared at him in confusion and started asking him what was wrong, but Kazuto shushed her quickly and then stormed over to the door so fast, Suguha could barely follow his movements.

Opening the door at once, Kazuto looked out at the hall out of the room. “Who’s there?” he demanded loudly.

He turned his head just in time to see someone jumping down the stairs, disappearing out of sight. For some reason, Kazuto didn’t follow him. Silica stepped closer to Kazuto with a worried expression on her face and asked him what happened.

“They probably heard us,” he muttered.

“B-but you can’t hear anything through a door unless you knock,” she protested.

Kazuto looked down at her and then they both reentered the room, with Kazuto closing the door behind him once more. “It’s different if your listening skill is high enough, but few people invest the time to raise it.”

“Why would they want to eavesdrop on us?”

Kazuto just turned to look at the door with a slightly dark expression.

His expression didn’t change much in the next scene. The two of them were standing on a small bridge surrounded by fields of beautiful, colorful flowers. Suguha gasped as she admired the beauty surrounding them, and then she focused again on the item Kazuto was holding out for Silica. It was a blue crystal of some kind. ALO didn’t have those.

“What’s this?” Silica asked.

“If anything unexpected happens and I tell you to warp out, use this crystal to jump to any town,” he said and Suguha hummed in understanding. A teleport crystal, then. She wished they had these in ALO. When Silica tried to object, Kazuto’s gaze intensified and he held the crystal a little higher. “Promise me.”

Silica stared up at him and seemed to notice the intensity of the words, because she agreed and grabbed the crystal, putting it away for now. By the time she was done, Kazuto has already started walking ahead down the road, so Silica ran to catch up with him.

“Um… Kirito-san—“ Silica began saying after a few moments but she didn’t get to say anything more.

Suguha shrieked when vines grabbed at the girl’s legs and made her trip with a yelp before she was dragged away and above a giant monstrous… flower? The creature looked like a plant, but it opened a mouth with sharp teeth and held Silica upside down so that the girl yelled as she held her skirt up with one hand in a panic, keeping decent even in the face of danger.

Kazuto watched her from the ground with an almost amused glint in his eyes.

When Silica started waving her sword around without hitting anything, Kazuto called out for her. “Calm down, Silica! It’s really weak!”

The girl wasn’t listening, though. She kept on waving her sword with her eyes closed. “K-Kirito-san, save me!” she screamed. The boy just covered his eyes with his hand, an apologetic smile on his face as the girl tried hard to both keep her skirt up and fight the monster holding her hostage. “Don’t look, but save me!”

Kazuto peeked at her through the gap between his fingers. “That’s impossible,” he muttered in amusement.

Suguha huffed at her brother’s behavior. She wanted to blame him for staring at Silica when she was in such distress because it was inappropriate. But another part of her was aware of the fact that Kazuto was making sure nothing happened to the girl. It was dangerous, after all. No matter how weak the monster was.

Grumbling, Suguha crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the screen as Silica finally managed to cut the vine holding her. The flowery beast growled and its head snapped shut as Silica fell down onto it. She didn’t falter, though, and used a sword skill to stab its head. The monster glowed and then died.

Silica landed back on the grass with her cheeks painted a deep red. Giving Kazuto a miserable and embarrassed look, the girl pouted. “Did you see?” she asked timidly.

Kazuto tactfully closed the gap between his fingers and kept his face as bleak as he could though he did look a little nervous. “No, I didn’t,” he lied.

By the look on Silica’s face, she didn’t believe him. Yet she didn’t say anything and just joined him as they continued their trek to the Hill of Memories. Suguha’s lips twisted unpleasantly as she thought about how embarrassed Silica must be watching this and knowing everyone else—almost—was doing the same and seeing all of that.

Well, Kazuto would have probably been just as awkward and bashful at the knowledge, she had to assume. He never did like all the attention being on him.

To be honest, Suguha wasn’t sure how much time the video had skipped when it jumped forward again because everything in that area was filled with flowers and looked basically the same. She thought about the shadows and where the sun was compared to earlier, but she hasn’t really been paying attention to that, so it was impossible to tell anything by it. With a sigh, she reluctantly just focused on the screen before her.

“Kirito-san,” Silica said somewhat timidly, glancing sideways at the boy who supported a comfortable expression, consisting of his eyes shining in the bright light of the floor and his lips being tugged up in a slight smile. “Could I ask you about your sister?”

His smile slipped off his face as Kazuto gave the girl a slightly cautious look. “Why now, all of a sudden?”

“Didn’t you say I look like her?” Silica reminded him. Kazuto bowed his head a little, breaking eye contact with his companion. Silica just furrowed her brows in determination, though. “I know it’s impolite to ask about the real world, but would it be okay?”

For a few seconds Kazuto just kept on walking ahead, his eyes trained on the trail ahead of them. Suguha knew him enough to see that he was contemplating what to do.

And then he exhaled softly and put on a resigned smile. “I called her my little sister, but she’s actually my cousin,” he said.

Suguha would have freaked out had she not heard the same thing from her mother. It was a confusing piece of information, and she needed time to fully digest it, but eventually she got over it. Kazuto was, by all means, her brother. In every way that counted, at least. Biologically, they weren’t siblings, but they grew up together. She didn’t care that he was adopted. She just didn’t.

Kazuto’s smile faded away and he suddenly looked much more serious. Silica gasped a little at this revelation but she didn’t say anything and just watched him and waited for more information.

“We grew up together, so I don’t think she knows. Maybe that’s why I’ve been distancing myself from her.” Suguha leaned forward, intrigued. In a way, this was her only explanation as to why her brother suddenly pulled away from her all those years ago. She wasn’t going to miss it. “Our grandfather’s really strict. When I was eight, he forced us to attend a local kendo dojo, but I stopped after two years. My grandfather beat me because of that.”

“That’s terrible…” Silica chanted, staring up at Kazuto with wide eyes that showed how invested she was in the story.

Kazuto let out some air, like he was amused by the reaction. Or maybe he agreed with her. “So my sister told him that she’d put in enough effort for both of us and to stop beating me. She worked really hard after that, and made it to the nationals,” Kazuto said.

Unlike Silica’s enthusiastic reaction to the news, Kazuto just looked even more bothered.

“But I always felt inferior compared to her. Maybe she would rather be doing something else, and holds it against me?” He smiled bitterly and looked over at Silica. “So it’s possible I’m helping you because it feels like a way I can make amends with my sister. I’m sorry.”

“You idiot!” Suguha snapped at the screen.

She knew it was useless and that Kazuto couldn’t hear her, but she wasn’t thinking logically. She could only think about how stupid Kazuto was for thinking she was upset with him for putting her through that. She loved kendo dojo. She was good at it, and she didn’t mind working hard on it. She chose this when she stood up against their grandfather. It wasn’t a brash decision that made her miserable!

“You idiot…” She bit her bottom lip to keep it from trembling too much.

The two characters on screen kept on walking for a short moment without saying anything.

And then Silica shook her head from side to side slowly as a thoughtful expression appeared on her face. “I don’t think your sister resents you,” she stated, and Suguha pointed at her character on screen like Kazuto could see it. Silica skipped ahead to step in front of Kazuto and lock her bright eyes with his. “You can’t work that hard for someone who you don’t like. I’m sure she really loves kendo!”

Kazuto stared at her in surprise, and then smiled softly and cocked his head to the side. “You keep comforting me,” he noted and then looked down. “Maybe you’re right. That’d be nice.”

“It is nice!” Suguha exclaimed to the empty living room. Then she crossed her arms over her chest, agitated at her inability to tell this to her brother’s face. “Really, onii-chan, I thought you were smarter than that…” she grumbled in a low voice.

She watched silently as Silica went forward with a blush covering her cheeks before a monster emerged from under her and started… licking her? Was that a thing? The girl called out for Kazuto in distress and the boy slashed the monster once, making its HP bar hit zero. It disappeared immediately, and Kazuto sent Silica a bright grin as he leaned his sword against his shoulder.

“At least you’re finally smiling more than once a video…” Suguha added dryly, and her own lips tugged upward.

The next scene showed Kazuto walking toward Silica slowly while the girl stared as a flower grew quickly on top of a white stone at the end of the trail. The girl awed at the beautiful flower before glancing back at Kazuto, who finally caught up to her and watched her with his hand on his waist.

“Take it,” he said encouragingly.

With a grateful beam on her face, Silica did just that and looked down at the small flower in her hand before grinning up at Kazuto with tears brimming in her eyes. “This will bring Pina back, right?” she asked, and when Kazuto assured her, Silica buried her face in the white petals of the flower. “I’m so glad…”

“But there are lots of strong monsters around here,” Kazuto reminded her. “So let’s revive her after we get back to town. I’m sure Pina would prefer it that way.”

Suguha hummed. That was a little… anti climatic. Not that she wanted her brother to risk his life all the time inside that game, but… she almost felt disappointed that they got to the flower that easily.

Well, her disappointment faded away when the scene changed to show Kazuto and Silica walking back over the bridge from which they’d started. Kazuto stopped abruptly and put a hand on Silica’s shoulder to make her halt as well. His face turned blank once more.

“Whoever’s behind those trees, come out!” he called.

A moment passed without anything happening, and Suguha thought maybe her brother had lost it. But then that redhead woman from earlier walked from her place behind one of the trees, a spear in her hand and a smirk on her face.

“R-Rosalia-san?” Silica stuttered in confusion.

Kazuto’s eyes narrowed a little.

The woman—Rosalia—didn’t look at Silica, though, but rather at Kazuto. “If you can see through my hiding skill, your detection skill must be quite high, swordsman,” she noted.

Kazuto just put one hand on his hip.

Rosalia wasn’t waiting for a reply, though, and just kept on talking, her eyes drifting over to Silica. “It appears you managed to get the Pneuma Flower. Congratulations.” Then her somewhat friendly expression fell away, and she sent the duo a devilish, predatory smirk. “Now hand it over.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Silica asked.

“That isn’t going to happen, Rosalia-san,” Kazuto cut in, taking a step forward to stand between the slowly approaching woman and Silica. “Or should I refer to you as the leader of the orange guild, Titan’s Hand?”

He said that last part with his own little smirk in place, looking like he was taking enormous pleasure in knowing something he wasn’t supposed to know. Suguha gasped a little. Orange guild? That meant criminals, right? Why was he being so nonchalant about this?

Rosalia halted and made a sound of displeased surprise while Silica drew her eyebrows together and took half a step toward Kazuto. “But she’s green!” she protested weakly.

The boy wasn’t even fazed by the question. “It’s a simple trick,” he explained as Rosalia stood there and watched them with a smirk. She seemed to have recovered from her momentary shock at being recognized. “The green members find targets and lead them to where the orange players are waiting.” Turning back to Rosalia, Kazuto raised his voice a little. “That was one of your friends listening to us last night, right?”

Turning pale, Silica stared at Rosalia with newfound fear. “Then, the reason we were in the same party for two weeks…”

“That’s right.” Rosalia’s eyes narrowed even more. She eyed the two of them like they were going to be the main course in her meal. Suguha grabbed a pillow and crushed it in her tight hold, breathing hard. “I was assessing everyone’s strength while they earned money from adventuring.”

The redhead licked her lips and Silica gasped and took a step away from her.

Rosalia continued with delight. “You were the prey I was most excited about, so it was a shame when you left. Didn’t you say you were going to get a rare item?” Her eyes zeroed in on Kazuto again, mockery shining in their depths. “You knew ALL of that but went with her anyway. Are you an idiot, or did she really seduce you?”

Suguha wanted to admonish her brother for doing something this dumb. What was his excuse anyway, huh? Was he just after the next adventure, not caring about what it might entail? Did he not care at all about his own life? She was certain all of Japan was thinking Kazuto was being an idiot right about now, watching the boy as he stood up to Rosalia so proudly after walking into a trap, knowing what was coming.

What was he thinking? Forget the video being boring without Kazuto facing anything more powerful than a carnivorous flower—Suguha would take the casual stroll through that garden if it meant Kazuto was safe again! Sadly, the past was in the past. And Kazuto was determined to speak his mind whether he was digging himself an even bigger hole or not.

“Nope, neither of those. I’ve been on my own search, for you, Rosalia-san,” he said.

Suguha facepalmed and groaned.

“What are you talking about?” the woman demanded, though there was still a confident smirk on her face.

Kazuto stared right back, unwavering. “Ten days ago, you attacked a guild called the Silver Flags. Four people—all but the leader—were killed,” he said.

Rosalia twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she recounted that memory without seeming to feel an ounce of remorse. Suguha felt disgusted.

Kazuto didn’t look like he expected her to be apologetic about it as he went on. “Their leader went from warp point to front line, morning to night, begging someone to avenge them. He didn’t want you killed. He just wanted you jailed.” Kazuto’s nonchalance morphed into anger as he said all of that. “Can you understand how he felt?”

“Onii-chan…” Suguha whined. “Stop being so difficult. Why did you have to go out there… avenge some people you didn’t even know?” She dragged a hand down her face in despair.

Without missing a beat, Rosalia replied in a light tone. “Nope. What kind of idiot would take this seriously?” she mocked him. “There’s no proof that killing someone here will cause them to die in the real world,” she stated.

Suguha was stunned. She hasn’t really thought before about how some players in SAO must have taken the warning before dismissing it. She just expected them all to believe Kayaba Akihiko.

“Anyway, shouldn’t you be more concerned about yourselves?” Rosalia asked.

She clicked her fingers together and from behind the other trees, seven more weaponized players with predatory smirks appeared. Silica backed up while Kazuto remained standing in the middle of the bridge, unmoving. He didn’t even move his hand to the handle of his sword. He just watched the players. The players, Suguha noted with dread, with the orange marks hovering above their heads.

What was Kazuto doing? Has he learned nothing after losing an entire guild?

“Kirito-san, there’s too many of them!” Silica exclaimed in a loud whisper, and the boy turned to her, smiling like nothing bad was even happening in front of them. Suguha wanted to shake him senseless and drag him away, but she could only grit her teeth. “We should run!”

“It’s all right,” Kazuto assured the girl easily and put his hand on her head. “Until I tell you to run, just have that crystal ready and watch quietly,” he said and Silica looked at him like he was crazy.

Suguha couldn’t blame the girl—she was pretty sure all of Japan stared at him the same way, too. To her credit, Silica still listened to him and pulled out her crystal while Kazuto started walking toward the group ahead.

Silica noticed that, her crystal in her hand. “Kirito-san!” she called in alarm.

The members of the Titan’s Hand guild became wary at the sound of the name, and their smirks evaporated as they stared at the smirking player that started walking toward them.

“Kirito?” one of them echoed as the boy pulled out his sword and held it by his side casually. “Black clothes… a one-handed, shield-less style.” They all—not including Rosalia—stared at Kazuto with wide, fearful eyes. Suguha squinted her eyes at their reaction. “That can’t be the Black Swordsman…”

The Black Swordsman? Suguha’s hold on her pillow loosened a bit and she pondered the words in her head. She thought it was just an easy way to describe Kazuto’s avatar that seemed to favor black. She’s seen some people online calling him that ever since it all started, but she didn’t think… it was an actual nickname he’d gained in SAO. Was he actually a famous player? That was crazy!

One of the guild members on screen turned to Rosalia quickly. “Rosalia-san, this is the beater who solos the front lines,” he said frantically. “He’s a part of the front liners!”

Suguha thought she understood a little. Being a solo player in such a game was probably a risk on its own. But to also be up front and fight the most dangerous things without actual backup? Without someone to rely on? That was almost crazy. If that was actually Kazuto’s thing in the game, it was understandable why people knew him—he must have been crazy strong to survive like that for such a long time!

This piece of information seemed to surprise Silica—of course, she had no idea who Kazuto was—but Rosalia didn’t look like she took the warning too seriously.

“Someone from the front liners wouldn’t be down here!” she told the orange players. “Go get him and take everything he owns!”

With a cry of “die!”, the men all ran toward Kazuto who, instead of defending himself, just stopped walking and let them hit him with everything they had.

Suguha’s jaw dropped as a whine escaped her lips. What was her brother doing? What was he thinking, just taking it? Was he still depressed because of what had happened to Sachi and the others? Was this his way of trying to commit suicide? By being a lunatic? An idiot? A complete fool?

Behind Kazuto and away from the orange players, Silica’s hand itched toward her own weapon as she watched the ruthless attack with wide, fearful eyes. She bared her teeth as she hesitated for a few, long moments. And then her eyes widened in shock and she froze.

Suguha had no idea what she was looking at. She switched her gaze back over to her brother who kept on just standing there and taking the slashes and stabs without moving a muscle.

And then she saw it.

His HP bar. The green HP bar that kept on decreasing a tiny bit before filling back up again like nothing was even happening to his health. Suguha’s breath caught in her throat and she stared in wonder at her brother. What… what was going on? How was this possible?

After a few moments, the guild stopped attacking and surrounded him, heaving and confused. Kazuto just stood there, unfazed, with a smile. He looked almost happy when Rosalia snapped at her guild members, ordering them to kill him already. Then his smile evaporated and he looked around mildly at the men, frowning.

“About 400 damage in about 10 seconds…” he said. They all looked at each other uneasily. “That’s the total damage the seven of you can do to me,” he told them.

Rosalia gritted her teeth, finally looking angry. Suguha leaned even closer to the TV and listened closely.

Kazuto continued. “I’m level 78.” What? “I have 14,500 HP.” What? “My battle healing skill auto-regenerates 600 points every ten seconds,” he stated firmly and Suguha’s eyes bugged out. “We could stand here all day and you’d never beat me.”

The one behind Kazuto glared at the back of his head, though he looked frightened. “Is that even possible?”

“It is,” Kazuto snapped. “Such a difference in levels results in an excessive difference in strength.” He looked at the man over his shoulder, his coat’s collar hiding his mouth and making him look even more angry and scary than before. “That’s how MMOs that use a level system are unfair.”

He looked back ahead at Rosalia and pulled out a blue crystal. “My client spent his entire fortune to buy this warp crystal,” he explained. “It’s set to take you to jail. You’re all going there!” He looked around him at the flinching men.

They didn’t do anything. They just stared at him as they seemed to realize that they really weren’t going to get out of this.

But Rosalia still held out her spear, looking ready to fight. “I’m green,” she exclaimed heatedly. “So if you hurt me, you’ll turn orange—“

Suguha gasped when a gust of wind seemed to blow and suddenly Kazuto wasn’t in the middle of the guild’s circle, but beside Rosalia, his sword held up to her throat as he gazed sideways at her. That was… he just… how fast was he?

The look Kazuto gave the redhead sent chills down Suguha’s spine. He looked like he was actually going to murder her. He was terrifying.

“Just so we’re clear, I’m a solo player. A day or two being orange means nothing to me.”

Slowly, Rosalia lowered her spear until she let go of it completely and it clattered to the ground.

He wasn’t bluffing. Suguha knew he wasn’t bluffing, but she didn’t know what he would’ve actually done had Rosalia not given up. Would he have just… killed her? It was impossible to imagine her brother killing someone in cold blood. In a regular game, sure, but in this death game? No, that was impossible.

And yet… he looked angry. The way he talked almost leaked of toxic. He was pissed off at these people for killing those guild members. For making someone this desperate. For hurting others. And he could do something about it, so he did.

She could just gaze at the screen as it shifted to show a calmer scene. Kazuto was sitting on a bed next to Silica in a quiet, dimly lit room. His sword in its scabbard rested on the bed next to him. He had his soft smile back on his face as Silica looked up at him in almost wonder. It was hard to imagine they were still alive. Though Kazuto’s stats in the game were rather impressive, Suguha had to admit.

“I’m sorry, Silica,” Kazuto said without looking at her, instead gazing at the wall opposite him. “I ended up using you as bait. I thought you’d be scared if I told you about myself.” He turned to her in the end, his smile fading away. He actually looked worried about what her reaction might be.

But the girl just shook her head easily. “You’re a good person, so I wouldn’t be scared,” she said. Kazuto smiled down at her words. “So you’re leaving, then?”

He averted his eyes again. “Yeah, I’ve been away from the front lines for five days. I need to get back.”

“T-the front liners are amazing!” Silica said bashfully. “I could never be one, even if I tried for years.” She stretched her arms in front of her and didn’t look at the boy sitting next to her. Kazuto didn’t reply, and Silica hesitated a moment before she kept on talking. “Um… I-I…”

“Levels are just numbers,” Kazuto cut her off. That was rude, Suguha thought. “In this world, strength is just an illusion. There are more important things.” He turned to look back at her with a warm smile. “Next time, let’s meet in the real world,” he said. “Then we’ll be friends just like we are now.”

Suguha’s heart clenched a little at the realization that even if Silica stayed alive till the end of SAO and was now awake in the real world, Kazuto wasn’t.

Silica stared at him for a moment, a faint taint of pink on her cheeks, and then she closed her eyes and grinned. “Right. I’m sure we will!”

The screen went black after that and Suguha leaned back on the couch, her hands pushing the pillow off her lap and back to its original place. She kept on staring at the dormant TV and pursed her lips.

She needed to save him. She needed to find and save her brother… but she also needed to find the people that were his friends in that game. This other world. For them it was real for two years—they had to have been close enough, right? She had to find them all.

And she was going to start with the one person she knew how to get in contact with—Yuuki Asuna.

Chapter Text

During SAO’s run, Andrew was aware of the fact that the chances of him coming back to the real world and finding out that his café was closed… well, they were pretty high. He opened the shop when he was in his early twenties and met his wife, Trish, there. It was an important part of his life that he couldn’t imagine giving up.

Plus, it was what led him to become a merchant in Sword Art Online—serving people and chatting with them casually was what he did best.

But then he got trapped inside that death game, and the Dicey Café was left without him. He tried not to focus on that too much, knowing it would only depress him, but it was hard. He missed the place. He missed the homey atmosphere. He missed the usuals that showed up regularly and requested the same things. He missed the smell of the café and the meals from the menu. He missed tending the bar.

He missed Trish. He missed her so much that he felt like he was going to tear his heart right out of his chest at some point. He wanted to see her smile or scowl or grin or pout again. Anything would be good, really. Just seeing her face, hearing her voice… those things would make him the happiest person in the world.

He wanted to hold her in his arms and feel secure and safe again. He wanted to be able to tell her about everything that he’s been going through without her, because he was no longer used to having so many new adventures without his wife.

In a way, though, her not being there with him was a good thing. It kept him motivated. It made him want to get out of the game as soon as possible in order to get back to his old life. To his wife, to his café. The burning yearn to be with Trish again was the very thing that pushed Andrew to fight and keep on going despite everything.

He knew that there were plenty of other players who were willing to fight at the front lines. Other people who wanted to clear the game and get back to the real world. But if he could help and get back to Trish even faster, he was going to do it.

All of that was to say that… well… Andrew was surprised to find out that the Dicey Café was still up and running after those two years. Apparently, Trish didn’t give up and kept the place going against all odds. She ran the place herself in his absence, fully believing that he would come back to her and this place where they’d first met.

She had faith in him all along. Andrew was beyond glad to come back to all of that. His café. The love of his life.

It didn’t mean he didn’t miss SAO, though.

It was… hard to explain, since a lot of people looked at the survivors with either pity or admiration, claiming they were so lucky to have survived and come back to the real world. They made SAO’s world sound like a nightmare full of traps to kill the players. They made it sound like Andrew had suffered during those two years.

And sure, it was hard to adjust to living in a virtual world that was so different from the world Andrew grew up in, but it was also… not that bad. The players didn’t have their families and friends. They didn’t have their homes and their neighbors. But they grew to learn how to live in a new world that was amazing by all accounts.

True, Sword Art Online was dangerous like any other virtual game. It was filled with monsters and quests that could end a player’s life. But it was also a beautiful world with forests and lakes and cities and towns and beautiful views. The food was… unique, but it was tasty. The smells were divine. The weather was extraordinarily realistic.

Really, sometimes it was hard to remember that SAO was just a game—lots of data and numbers and no trace of real life. No, the people living in it were either NPCs or the players who were somewhere in the real world, hooked to hospital equipment and the NerveGear.

And that was all the people who didn’t get trapped saw—thousands of people, all of which were unconscious and unable to wake up for a very long period of time, because of a game that shouldn’t have existed.

Strangely enough, Andrew wouldn’t have given up on the experience. Sure, it could have been a much more pleasant one had Kayaba Akihiko only let the game be… a game. Without their deaths looming over their heads, it would have been so much more adventurous and acceptable.

But still, even with the game becoming deadly and life-threatening, Andrew had some good times in there. He loved interacting with his costumers. He loved fighting monsters when it wasn’t too risky and when people didn’t lose their lives. He loved chatting playfully with his friends in the game.

After the game was cleared, Andrew felt bittersweet. He loved being back with his wife in a place that he loved. He’s been longing to get back to the real world for such a long time—of course he was happy.

But there was this bitter aftertaste in his mouth, reminding him of the fact that SAO was no longer there. That the world he grew to call his home was gone. That he could never go back.

And there was also the fact that Kirito—that dumb kid—had to die in order for Andrew and the others to wake up. Well, Asuna died, too, but Andrew was not as close to her as he was to the boy. So for a long time, Andrew hobbled around with his crutches, thinking gloomily that Kirito was gone, like all of the other confirmed deaths of the players that had died in the game.

Then Asuna showed up—the fact that she was alive after all brightened up Andrew’s grieving heart, already—and informed him and the other players that were close to Kirito and her that the kid was alive. He was just still trapped with the NerveGear on his head.

As bad as the situation still was for Kirito, Andrew couldn’t suppress a relived sigh. Because a trapped Kirito was better than a dead one.

After a brief phone call to Kirigaya Midori, Andrew and Trish drove over to the kid’s hospital and hesitantly stepped inside his room. To Trish, Kirito looked like any other kid who was suffering from the aftermath of SAO—thin, breakable, pitifully small and inactive.

But Andrew was caught off guard by the sight on that bed.

To him, Kirito was this spirited kid that almost always kept on this act of nonchalance and aloofness. (Was it an act? At least some of it had to be.) The kid was smart and strong—possibly the strongest player in SAO. He was quick and thoughtful and could tease Andrew without a care in the world, smirking proudly the entire time

 He could get rare items and then disregard them and sell them as if they meant nothing. He could, apparently, find out about Andrew’s more hidden deeds in the game without hinting at it until the very end. He was the stupidest, most reckless kid that Andrew knew. Frankly, he didn’t even know if Kirito was brave or just plain dumb.

So to see such a strong person lying in bed, pale and small and weak… it was jarring. Especially when he got to see Kirito every once in a while with those SAO videos. Compared to the closed-off but very much alive kid on those screens, the one inside the hospital room was a pale shadow, not managing to compare to the real thing.

It was painful to think about. Especially knowing that the kid was still risking his life, only now it was inside a different game.

With a sigh, Andrew shook his head and focused on the door of the café when the bell above it rang, announcing the entrance of another costumer.

From the stool next to the bar and in front of Andrew, Silica glanced up at the new arrival, too, her ponytails bobbing with her head movements. Her hands tightened around the mug of hot chocolate Andrew had given her. The poor thing has been getting way too much attention ever since that video of her and Kirito.

For a second the person at the front looked at Silica with wide eyes and Andrew prepared himself to intercept in case something too intense happened. Again. But then the moment passed and Andrew watched as the new arrival—a girl that was probably only slightly older than Silica—approached the two of them somewhat timidly.

She had black hair and eyes and an uncertain twitch to her lips, like she wasn’t even sure what she was doing there in the first place.

She stopped in front of the bar but didn’t sit down. Her gaze moved from Silica to Andrew a few times before she pursed her lips and took in a deep breath. “H-hello!” she stuttered.

Andrew tensed again. If she was a fan, after all… well, it was never easy to scold young girls like that, but he was going to do it. His body was weak, sure, and he couldn’t stay on his feet without his crutches for too long, but he still had his deep voice and the intimidating glint in his eyes. He could stand his ground for both Silica’s sake and himself.

Then the girl said, “My name is Kirigaya Suguha.”

It took him a moment to realize that he recognized the name. The family name, that is. But once he realized who this girl was, he observed her a little closer. The resemblance was there. Whether they were siblings or cousins, they were still related to each other.

Sure, the dark colors of their hair and eyes weren’t the same. Her features were lighter than Kirito’s. But the shape of their faces, their noses, their mouths. Even though Suguha’s eyes were brighter, the shape of them were similar to Kirito’s.

In a way, Kirito’s features always were too delicate, making it a little harder to decipher whether he was a male or a female. He’d complained about it once or twice to Andrew during the game, and the man could only tease him about it.

But now, looking at a girl that looked so much like Kirito… well, he had to admit that the kid was right. Their faces looked so much alike that had Kirito’s hair been any longer, he could have been mistaken for a girl, just like his sister. Cousin. Family member.

A small gasp from Silica drew Andrew’s attention to the little girl who gawked at Suguha. “Y-you’re Kirito’s sister?” she asked, her eyes roaming all over the dark-haired girl. Suguha closed her eyes as she smiled nervously at the sitting girl. “He lied to me—we look nothing alike!” Silica whined.

Suguha chuckled awkwardly. “I-I’m sorry about that…” she apologized quickly and then turned her gaze back to Andrew. “I just… I was just…” she trailed off, and then bit her lip for a moment. Her eyes opened wide and she had this determined glint in her eyes that Andrew saw so many times being reflected back at him through Kirito’s ones. “I wanted to meet the people my brother knew in SAO. It’s the only thing I can do until I find him…”

She added that last part with a look down at the floor, her despaired voice fading away with each word.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Andrew replied with smile. He was so glad they were the only people in the café right now. They didn’t need the extra attention, that’s for sure. “My name is Andrew Gilbert Mills. Nice to meet you.”

Perking up, Silica beamed at Suguha. “I’m Ayano Keiko!” she squeaked and Suguha’s lips stretched back into a smile. Hesitant and uncertain, but a smile, nonetheless. “So you’re looking for Kirito? In ALO?”

“Y-yes.” Suguha nodded and finally took a seat next to Silica. “My friend and I are looking all over for him, but he keeps on moving according to the posts about him,” she grumbled in frustration. “Seriously, can’t he stay in one place for more than five minutes? Can’t he stay out of trouble for five seconds?”

“That kid is a magnet for trouble,” Andrew noted and Silica bobbed her head up and down in agreement. Suguha sighed. “I’m sure you’ll catch up to him eventually, though. I wish I could search for him, too, but my wife would cut my head off if I even get near another full-dive game before I make a full recovery. But I heard that Asuna, Lisbeth and Klein are working on getting ALO.”

Suguha tilted her head in confusion. “Lisbeth?”

Silica hummed. “She was a blacksmith in the game. She made Kirito his second sword! I’m not sure how, but I hear they’d gotten into a lot of trouble to get their hands on that metal she used for it,” she explained and Andrew nodded.

Suguha looked thoughtfully at the bottles behind the bar. Then she muttered something about swords under her breath before shaking her head and turning back to the two other people.

“Have you talked to Asuna, yet?” Andrew inquired.

Nodding, Suguha offered him a small smile, if a little nervous and awkward. “She’s the one who told me I could come here,” she said. “My mom met her when she went over to visit Kazuto at the hospital. They still meet from time to time. Though I haven’t gone there too often, so I only spoke to Asuna over the phone.” She seemed to feel embarrassed by this, but Andrew didn’t know why. “Were you…” She pursed her lips after starting the question and then shook her head. “No, never mind.”

“What is it?” Silica asked.

“Well, it’s just…” Suguha glanced at the girl and then looked back at Andrew. “Were you there? When the game… you know… when it ended?”

“Yes,” Andrew replied, feeling the uneasiness from those last moments creeping back over him at the mere thought of that memory. “There were quite a few people there, actually. Klein was there, too. And Asuna, though she missed the moment Kirito really cleared the game—she died a moment before.”

The color drained out of Suguha’s face. “W-what?” she screeched. “But how is this possible?”

With a shrug, Andrew picked up a glass and started polishing it. “Hell if I know,” he said and Silica stared at him with wide eyes, too. Right, she probably didn’t know how the game got cleared, either. “All I know is that by all accounts, both Asuna and Kirito shouldn’t be alive right now. They both died.”

“Impossible…” Silica muttered, and Suguha just stared at him intently, lips pressed together.

He wanted to tell them that, apparently, it was possible. But before he could even open his mouth, whispers from the TV he’d hung up inside the café drew their attention and Andrew sighed.

He usually put music clips in the café, but now it changed to show another episode from SAO. He could already hear the jingle of the bell at the entrance of the store as people filed in to watch, like they’ve been doing ever since this thing has started. Why watch this on a small phone screen when there was a large TV screen inside, right?

Still, he just leaned on the counter and gazed up at the screen. He recognized the place. It was a cave on floor 56 that the front liners used to think of strategics and plans for clearing the game efficiently. There were plenty of people inside, all surrounding a map spread on a rock. There were a lot of players around, including Klein, Asuna and Kirito. Oh, and Andrew. Well, Agil, at the time.

Standing in her uniform of the Knights of the Blood, Asuna looked a lot more serious than she did later on in the game. Which was understandable, but back then Agil couldn’t help but think that she had to loosen up, if only a little bit. Sure, they were trapped inside the game and wanted to get out, but it wasn’t like they were slacking off—they all tried hard to clear the game as soon as possible.

People around the shop—including Silica and Suguha—recognized Asuna and some of the other players on the screen. They pointed and whispered about the seriousness of the situation and how different some of the people looked.

On the screen, Asuna slammed her hand down on the smooth surface of the rock in front of her and drew everyone’s attention to her. It stood in contrast with the girl who didn’t even know how partying with someone worked. To Andrew it wasn’t that sudden since he’s lived through the change. For the others—the people who didn’t live in SAO—it was probably unexpected.

“We’ll lure the field boss into the village,” Asuna said.

Everyone on screen started gasping and murmuring a little louder at her words.

Stepping up, Kirito stared at her anxiously. “W-wait a second,” he cut in. “If you do that, the villagers—“

“That’s the idea,” she said without letting him finish. Andrew noticed the way Suguha wrinkled her nose along with some of the other people around the shop. He didn’t say anything. “While the boss is killing NPCs, we’ll attack and destroy it.”

“NPCs aren’t just objects like trees or rocks,” Kirito argued heatedly. “They’re…”

Asuna finally locked eyes with him, looking annoyed and cold. If she looked at him again the same way now, Andrew would think something was wrong with her. But back then… well, it was almost normal. “…Alive?” Asuna completed the sentence. “Is that it?” Kirito faltered a little. “They’re only objects. Even if they’re killed, they’ll just respawn.”

The anger sipped out of Kirito’s face but he still shook his head. “I can’t go along with this.”

The people around the café started murmuring, voicing either their agreement and understanding, or their frustration at Kirito’s strange strong feelings toward NPCs.

Andrew had to admit, it was a little strange that Kirito cared that much about beings that weren’t even alive to begin with, but in a game like SAO, things were different. The boundaries between the real world and the virtual one were getting blurry. And if Kirito didn’t feel like he could freely kill NPCs, then he just… couldn’t.

On screen, Asuna glared at Kirito. “I, Asuna, vice-commander of the Knights of the Blood Oath, will oversee this operation,” she told him. Kirito didn’t even bat an eye at her harsh tone. He just stared back at her with his own little glare. “You will obey my orders.”

For a moment they just silently gazed at each other, neither one willing to compromise. And then the scene changed and Andrew wasn’t too surprised to see Kirito walking out of the cave on the grass, alone, only to turn around at Agil calling after him. The boy turned to face Agil curiously as the man approached him.

“Hey. Another fight, huh?” Agil half-teased Kirito.

“Agil?”

A few people turned to look at Andrew, seemingly trying to see what he had to do with what was going to happen. Frankly, not much. He barely knew a thing about what had happened afterward.

He only knew that Asuna hasn’t been around for a while. And neither was Kirito. He assumed they were together because they showed up at his shop to investigate something, but he wasn’t sure what they were doing the entire time, exactly. Back then they were barely considered friends. More like… coworkers, maybe. Acquaintances.

Stopping in front of Kirito, Agil eyed the boy. “Why are you and the vice commander always like that?” Agil asked.

“I guess we just don’t get along.” He shrugged and then looked down, as if remembering something. “’You’ll be really strong. So if someone you trust ever invites you to join a guild, don’t turn them down,’” he said thoughtfully. He almost looked bitter about it. “That’s what I said, but I never expected her to start clearing floors with a top guild,” he complained and looked up at the sky in despair.

As the scene changed to show Kirito just lying in the middle of a field of green, shiny grass, Suguha hummed a little. “They don’t seem to get along that well, huh?” she noted. Andrew nodded. “So how come now Asuna acts like she cares about him so much?”

Andrew smirked. “Well, they spent some more time together before they grew closer.” He shrugged.

Then he watched in amusement as on the screen, Kirito had his eyes closed as he relaxed under the shade of a tree, the sound of birds chirping around. He looked like he was dozing off, his breaths coming in and out evenly. But it was all interrupted when Asuna seemed to notice him. She walked up to him with a hard glare and stared down at him.

“What are you doing?”

Waking up, Kirito lifted his eyes slowly to see Asuna. When he took notice of who it was that decided to interrupt his slumber, he closed his eyes again with a soft sigh. “Ah, it’s you,” he said, rather rudely.

Suguha spluttered but some of the people around the café started chuckling.

Asuna didn’t care about his dismissive words, though. “The other front liners are all working hard to clear the dungeon,” she said briskly. “Why are you out here taking a nap? Even if you’re a solo player, you need to be serious—”

A few people nodded and voiced their agreement with her. Andrew just shook his head a little at the nonchalant prick on screen. This kid really knew how to annoy people and get under their skin, huh?

Kirito didn’t let her finish and spoke up over her, his eyes still closed. “This is Aincrad’s nicest season,” he told her, and the people in the café stared at him in confusion, just like Asuna. “And today’s weather is its nicest. Entering a dungeon on a day like this would be a waste,” he explained easily.

Asuna looked up and around, a huff of confusion and disbelieve escaping her lips.

“Do you not understand?” she demanded, voice hinting to the fact that she believed he was a complete idiot. “Every day we spend here is one we’ve lost in the real world.”

“But right now we’re alive here, in Aincrad,” Kirito countered. A breeze made their clothes and hair wave a little and Asuna, taken aback, straightened up in surprise. “See? The wind and sunlight feel so good,” Kirito said.

Asuna began looking around at the wide-open area, her eyes taking in the beauty of the place. Andrew had to give it to Kirito—no one else would have tried to argue with Asuna like that. And the kid did it without even looking at her.

Asuna glanced down at his relaxed face. “Do they?” she asked. “Don’t we always have the same weather?”

“If you’d lie down for a bit, you’d understand.”

Almost the moment the words left his mouth, Kirito seemed to have fallen asleep again. Andrew wanted to chastise him because that was clearly not a safe area. People could attack and kill him. But he still risked it, huh?

And then Asuna looked around for a few moments, taking it all in, before she slowly lowered herself to the ground next to Kirito and closed her own eyes, doing as instructed.

Suguha made a sound, like she couldn’t believe her brother could just fall asleep that easily. And then she shrieked when Asuna lay down next to him. Silica looked a little flushed, too. But most of the other people in the shop just grinned in amusement at the two players on screen.

And their grins widened even more when the scene seemed to flash forward without moving to a different location. The sun was no longer straight above them but closer to the ground, yet not too much. The shadows spread further away from the figures on screen, including the tree’s shade.

With a soft groan, Kirito seemed to wake up. He sat up and opened his eyes slowly before stretching and yawning. Some people laughed.

Andrew just thought that for once, the kid looked nothing like the ferocious warrior that people thought he was in the game. He was no longer the image of a beater. He was not a front liner. He was just a kid that took a nap outside. He looked so innocent in his sleep and during those few moments of wakefulness straight after getting up.

And then Kirito glanced sideways and flinched violently at the sight of Asuna sleeping peacefully next to him. His hand jumped off the ground until it was held like a shield between the two of them and his mouth fell open in alarm and shock. Andrew wished he could have seen that for real—it was amusing, that’s for sure.

While Kirito stared at Asuna and tried to understand what the hell was going on, three guards passing by smirked at them, clearly not recognizing the two front liners, even with Asuna’s official white and red uniform.

“Hey, look,” one of them mocked. Kirito turned to look at them. “Sleeping at this time?”

“Some people don’t work too hard,” another snorted.

“Who are they? Geez…”

They all laughed and kept on walking, and Kirito looked away and back at Asuna. He sagged and rubbed his eyes tiredly. “I didn’t think she’d actually fall asleep…” he muttered to himself.

Then he looked back at her as if thinking about something. Kirito looked around quickly and then set his jaw, stood up and walked over to a nearby stone fence before sitting on it carefully, his back to Asuna.

Andrew could hear the way people around the shop didn’t understand why he did what he did that instead of just leaving her there, but he got it. It was dangerous. He stayed behind to make sure she was okay and that no one came to hurt her while she was vulnerable.

Scene forwarding again, Andrew watched as the sky turned a shade of orange-red, the sun going slowly up the sky and beginning to rise. The fact that Asuna has been sleeping for the entire night with Kirito watching over her without disturbing her sleep didn’t escape his notice.

Kirito was still sitting on that stone fence, facing a village in the distance with his eyes closed. He opened them when Asuna sneezed behind him. His head tilted a little as he turned to see Asuna sleepily sitting up, drool coming out of her mouth and a leaf sticking to her cheek. She looked disoriented as she looked around in confusion before settling on the softly-smiling Kirito.

Eyes locking on him, Asuna seemed to realize what was going on and she quickly perked up, eyes going wide and body turning rigid. “W-what…” she trailed off slowly, trying to regain her composure.

“Morning,” Kirito greeted easily.

More than half the people in the café exclaimed in alarm and surprise at that. Yeah, well, it really was hard to tell whether it was morning or twilight unless you lived in that world long enough to know the difference. Suguha’s face turned pink at the realization, like she couldn’t believe her brother actually spent his entire night looking over Asuna like that.

Oblivious to the reaction of the people in the future, Kirito asked, “Sleep well?”

Asuna, of course, got up quickly and her hand flew to her side, where she grasped the hilt of her rapier. Kirito jumped to the other side of the stone fence to get more distance between them as his eyes grew wide.

But Asuna didn’t draw out her sword. Well, she began to, but then seemed to close her eyes and take in a few deep breaths. Eventually, she put the sword back in place and let go of it with uneasiness. Kirito just bent down in order to hide behind the fence without taking his wary eyes off the girl.

“One meal,” Asuna said quietly. When Kirito just stared at her, not a spark of understanding in his eyes, Asuna straightened up and raised her voice. Her face was burning. “One meal!” She looked away from Kirito with a frown on her face. “I’ll treat you to one regardless of how much it costs. Then we’ll be even, okay?”

She levelled him with a look, as if daring him to disagree with her.

The kid didn’t even respond. He just blinked at her in awe.

When the next scene started, everyone started laughing at the sight of the two of them sitting opposite each other in a restaurant in the game, neither one looking at the other.

Asuna was leaning her head on both her hands, her eyes closed like she was thinking hard about something that upset her. Kirito, on his part, looked sideways, his chin resting on his open palm as he was clearly trying to ignore the gossip of the people all around them.

It was like the awkwardness between those two wasn’t enough—people also had to stare at them. Andrew would have felt bad, but it was really amusing to watch.

“Isn’t that Asuna from the Knight of the Blood?”

“That’s the Flash…”

“And the guy in black?”

Kirito lowered his head and closed his eyes bashfully just as Asuna finally opened her mouth to speak.

“Well, anyway…” she started and Kirito opened his eyes back up and looked at her questioningly. “Thanks for today,” the girl said reluctantly. It was painfully funny to watch as Kirito hummed, not realizing what she was thanking him for. “For guarding me.”

He lowered his hand to his lap. “Ah, no problem…”

“The areas within the towns are safe, so no one can attack or player-kill you, but it’s different when you’re asleep,” Asuna noted.

“Yeah. Sleep-PKs, dirty tricks that use the duel system,” Kirito muttered. “Normally, duels are just tests of strength, but during a duel one can be damaged and lose HP, even in an inner area.”

“So you can duel a sleeping person and use their finger to click the OK button. Then you just continue attacking them. It’s happened before. So, well…” Asuna gulped uneasily. “Thank you.”

Kirito straightened up immediately, like he was being held at gun point. “W-well…” He closed his eyes and his face contorted, like he was saying something he wasn’t even sure how to express. “Y-you’re welcome,” he muttered eventually.

When Asuna didn’t move or say anything else, he looked at her quizzingly.

A moment later a sharp yell cut through the air.

The people in the café froze at that. Andrew noticed Suguha grasping the edge of the counter with both hands, her knuckles quickly turning white. Silica looked a little pale, too. He himself stared incredulously at the screen. What could these two have gotten themselves into? Was this how they found out about that inner area murder?

The two of them immediately jumped up, their awkwardness replaced with determination and worry. They ran together out of the restaurant and back to the street. The sun was beginning to go down in the sky but they didn’t even spare it a look, instead running toward the place where they thought the scream came from. It led them to an open square where lots of people gathered with horror-stricken faces, gazing up at a scene that made Andrew’s blood run cold.

There, hanging by a rope from an open arch at the top of a church tower, was a struggling armored player with a large sword pierced through his midsection. His hands were grasping at the blade as he squirmed in the air and tried to keep himself alive. Kirito and Asuna gasped at the sight of it and quickly hurried forward, stopping below the man.

“Hurry and pull it out!” Kirito screamed. He gritted his teeth when the man turned his wide, terrified eyes in his direction before he finally began to try and pull the blade out, but nothing seemed to work.

The people in the café watched the screen with bated breath, just like Andrew.

Asuna looked around and then turned to Kirito. “You stay down here and catch him,” she said and ran toward the entrance to the tower, probably in order to cut the rope.

Kirito nodded. “Got it.” He started running over to be exactly underneath the dying player and kept his eyes on him. “Hang on!” he called for the man but then the player started twitching and Kirito’s brows sank. “Damn it…”

He stopped running the moment the man froze in place before exploding into sparkling light. He was dead. Andrew exhaled slowly, leaning his chin on his hands.

He knew Kirito and a lot of other players had to face too much death during this game, but it was still hard to comprehend the fact that someone as young as Kirito had experienced all of this without completely snapping.

A part of him knew that the kid was close to it after the guild he was a part of had died, with the leader actually committing suicide after finding out the truth about Kirito. Kirito in that video… he looked like he was already half dead, walking around like he had no reason to be there anymore.

Somehow, the kid managed to pull himself out of that deep hole and he got better as time moved on again. But everyone had their breaking point, right? Even Kirito. Despite not having kids of his own, Andrew felt like he wanted to wrap this kid in bubble-wrap and keep him covered in it for eternity. Kirito didn’t need any more things to go through. He was already suffering from enough trauma as it was.

There was another shrill scream coming from the crowd of people around the square and Kirito stared up at the rope that was left to hang uselessly in the air. The blade slipped and fell without the player there.

For a moment Kirito didn’t move and just stood there, probably shocked. But then he turned around to look at the area with sharp, searching eyes. He turned to everyone who’d gathered around and raised his voice enough to be heard above their stunned whispers.

“Everyone! Look for the ‘duel winner’ notification!” he said.

They all started looking around at his order, but Andrew saw nothing, and so have the other players. Kirito kept on observing the area, not even looking at Asuna when the girl appeared at the top of the tower, mentioning there was nobody inside.

After a few more moments, Kirito silently walked over to the blade on the floor and picked it up. He left the crowd of onlookers to climb up and join Asuna at the top of the tower. The rope was there, stretched out, and Asuna stood next to the wall with a frown on her face.

Kirito looked down at the weapon in his hand. “Just what is this?”

Finally getting a good look at the weapon, Andrew recognized it. He’d seen it once, when they came to him with the request of finding out more about it.

Asuna stared ahead. “The obvious conclusion is that the dueler’s opponent impaled the victim with that spear, put a noose around his neck and pushed him out this window,” she said gravely.

Andrew felt a little pang in his chest at the realization that this whole scenario was so absurd that two kids had to solve this crime on their own, after working hard to clear the entire game. It was crazy if you thought about it too much. He tried not to.

Asuna glanced over at Kirito. “Wouldn’t you agree?”

“But no one had the winner message,” Kirito objected coolly.

“That’s impossible,” Asuna exclaimed. “The only way to hurt someone in an inner area is via duel.”

They didn’t say anything for a moment as they both seemed to think hard about the situation. Asuna’s head inclined a little to the side, toward the opening from which they could hear the distressed voices of the people below.

“Either way, we can’t ignore this,” she said and Kirito gloomily agreed. “If someone’s found a way to PK within the inner areas, it’ll be dangerous inside towns as well as outside.”

Kirito nodded, his eyes locked on the floor. “You’re right.”

Her arms still crossed over her chest, Asuna kept on talking. “We’ll have to leave the front lines for now, but we have no choice. I’ll need you to help me until we solve this. Just so we’re completely clear, there won’t be any time for napping.”

She said it thoughtfully, as if speaking mostly to herself. Then she pushed away from the wall and walked toward Kirito who looked up at her in mild surprise. She offered him her hand for a shake.

The stupid kid didn’t even take her hand, at first—he just gave her a childish, innocent look that showed he didn’t understand what the hell she wanted from him.

“You’re the one who was napping,” he complained. But with his last words, he still grabbed her hand.

At the sound of the accusation, Asuna glared at him and squeezed his hand hard enough to make him yelp in pain. Pulling his hand back with a pout, Kirito eyed her with a grumble before he turned to leave the room with Asuna following behind without showing a hint of remorse.

While Andrew laughed at the boy’s misfortune with Asuna around, Suguha stared at the screen like she didn’t know which one of them to berate for being so childish. Probably both of them, to be honest. But, then again, they were stuck inside a game. Everyone in that place was somewhat childish.

Silica grimaced at Kirito’s pained exclamation but didn’t react other than that. She seemed a little deflated as they watched Asuna and Kirito interacting. Normally, Andrew wouldn’t really care, but he knew what this was about, and he wasn’t sure where this would lead.

He wasn’t blind to the fact that somehow, without even trying, Kirito seemed to charm just about every girl he came in contact with in SAO. Maybe it was just his aloofness and the way he remained mostly an unknown. Whatever it was, Silica was obviously crushing on him, at least a little bit. And Lisbeth was, too. But, well, the kid clearly only had eyes for Asuna.

Refocusing on the screen, Andrew noticed Kirito and Asuna went back down and stopped in front of the crowd of people. Asuna was a step behind Kirito, who had his hand cradled, like he could still feel the pain from Asuna’s tight grip. Even though there wasn’t even a feeling of pain in the game. Only discomfort, at best.

Then again, the people in the game were used to feeling pain in the real world—these kind of habits died very slowly, if they ever did.

“Excuse me,” Kirito called out to gain everyone’s attention. “Did anyone see the whole thing? If you did, please speak up.”

They all began whispering to each other about what they saw and what they didn’t, until a girl with blue hair and hands pressed to her chest shyly, stepped forward until she was standing in front of Kirito and Asuna. The crowd quieted down when they noticed her.

Seeing the girl, Asuna’s stern expression softened, unlike Kirito’s. “Sorry,” Asuna said gently. “I know you’ve just had a frightening experience. What’s your name?”

“My name is Yolko…” the girl said, voice trembling a bit. She looked like she’d just seen a ghost.

Andrew couldn’t blame her—it was a horrific scene to watch. The others around the café started murmuring again at the sight of Yolko, and a trio of men near the back could be heard commenting on how pretty she was. Andrew clenched his fists but didn’t comment.

Kirito’s eyebrows shot up. “Was that first scream yours?”

“Y-yes. I came here for dinner with the man who was killed. His name was Kains. We used to be in the same guild.” She started crying, curling more and more into herself. “We got separated in the plaza. I looked around, and then I saw him hanging from the church window…” She covered her mouth with her hand as she tried to stifle her sobs.

The distress written on Kirito’s face at the sight of her crying was as clear as day, and would have made Andrew smirk and cackle any other time, but with the scene mentioning someone’s death… well… it felt inappropriate. Asuna, unlike the frozen Kirito, stepped up and rubbed Yolko’s back gently, offering her some kind of comfort.

Keeping her voice low and tender, Asuna kept on questioning the girl. “Did you see anyone else at the time?”

“It was just for a second,” Yolko said, her voice coming muffled through her fingers. “But I thought I saw someone behind Kains.”

Switching looks, Kirito and Asuna seemed to agree on something before Asuna’s features softened once again as she turned to the girl. “Did that person look familiar?” she asked, and Yolko thought about it for a moment before she shook her head.

Still looking a little awkward, Kirito looked at Yolko as he spoke. “I hate to ask this, but can you think of a reason why anyone would’ve wanted to kill Kains-san?” he asked.

Yolko’s eyes widened momentarily before she remorsefully held her head down and shook it from side to side. Asuna looked at Kirito as the boy looked at Yolko a moment longer before locking eyes with the chestnut-haired girl.

The scene then changed to show Kirito and Asuna looking at each other someplace else. There was a sign on the wall of a building they turned away from that read: Yamahya Lodge.

“So, now what?” Kirito asked.

“Let’s review what information we have,” Asuna said, and they started walking away toward another square. “If we learn where that spear came from, it might lead us to the perpetrator.”

“Then we’ll need someone with the appraise skill. You don’t...” he said and seemed to hesitate a bit before finishing the sentence, “…have one, obviously.”

A few people in the café chuckled but Asuna merely closed her eyes. “Of course not,” she confirmed. “Neither do you.” She stopped walking at once and Kirito took a few more steps before realizing this as Asuna’s voice turned a little edgier. “Also”—she glared at him a little—“will you stop addressing me so rudely?”

For a moment Kirito seemed to flounder for words as he turned toward her a little more. “U-um… well, maybe…” His shoulders slumped. “’Miss’, then?” he suggested.

Asuna leaned toward him, her eyes narrowed in displeasure. Silica started chuckling at the scene, and a few others soon followed in her footsteps. Suguha just groaned and ran a hand down her forehead, muttering under her breath.

Seeing the girl’s reaction on screen, Kirito kept on coming up with ideas. “Vice-commander-sama? Flash-sama?” He looked more and more uncomfortable with each suggestion.

Appraising him silently, Asuna kept her scowl in place before she exhaled and turned away. “Just call me Asuna,” she relented with an annoyed tone, and Kirito quickly agreed.

“Anyway, do you have any friends with the appraise skill?” Kirito moved on, seemingly trying to change the subject before Asuna could change her mind about it.

“Hmm… my blacksmith friend has it, but this is her busiest time, so it may take a while,” she said.

Silica quickly whispered to Suguha that the blacksmith Asuna had mentioned was Lisbeth. Kirito’s sister hummed and nodded in understanding before focusing on the screen again.

Kirito smiled. “I see.” He didn’t seem bothered by their problem too much. “Then let’s ask an item merchant I know,” he said, and Andrew felt it when a few faces turned his way, including Silica.

After seeing the girl’s eyes drifting toward him, Suguha glanced at him as well.

When the next scene began no one could mistake Agil’s voice coming from inside a shop as he encouraged a tired, discontent costumer to come again. Kirito watched this with a smile and then entered the store, Asuna staying behind to watch the costumer with wide eyes.

“Seems your business is as greedy as usual,” Kirito greeted Agil.

The man on screen was bent down and messing with something before he turned around at Kirito’s voice, smiling already. “Hey, Kirito.” He walked toward the counter to get closer to the boy. “Buy cheap and sell cheap. That’s my motto.”

“I don’t know about that second part,” Kirito teased but the two of them simultaneously brought their fists up and bumped them together.

Suguha blinked in surprise for a moment but then smiled at the friendly encounter.

“Don’t go slandering my good name,” Agil bickered back.

Then his smile dropped and his body turned rigid very abruptly as Asuna stepped into the store quietly. He stared at her for a second before pulling Kirito violently over the counter so that his body was spread over it awkwardly as Agil bent down to whisper-shout at the squirming boy frantically.

“W-what’s happened, Kirito?” he demanded, and the boy looked at him uncomfortably—probably from the position he was thrust into. Well, Andrew wasn’t going to apologize—he’d never expected to see the two of them together. Especially after arguing all the time. “You’re a solo player, so what are you doing here with Asuna? I didn’t think you two got along!”

Behind them, still standing at the entrance, Asuna smiled awkwardly as she seemed to hear every word of the one-sided exchange.

And then it switched to the conversation the three of them had in a quiet room on top of the shop, and Andrew paid much less attention seeing as he was a part of that conversation.

He understood the circumstances a little better this time around since he saw it all with his own two eyes, but he still remembered most of it. Or at least the gist of it all. There was a murder and Asuna and Kirito needed someone to tell them who’d made the weapon they had with them.

“Someone’s HP dropped to zero within an inner area?” Agil asked in wonder. “And it wasn’t a duel?”

“No one saw a winner message.”

“If he was walking with Yolko-san right before,” Asuna added, “then it’s not a sleep-PK.”

“The method was too intricate for some random duel. We have to assume it was a premeditated PK, and so”—Kirito looked down at the sword that was displayed on a small round table between the three players in the room—“we come to this.”

Picking up the weapon before him, Agil tapped on it and then on the first button to the left that appeared in front of him. It loaded for a few seconds before it made a beep and Agil read the information he could find about the weapon.

The people in the café leaned closer to hear what he had to say, interested in the plot of the video. Suguha’s eyebrows were furrowed in concern while Silica tapped her fingers on the counter restlessly.

Eyes roaming over the data, Agil spoke up. “It’s player-made.”

“Really?” Kirito and Asuna looked shocked.

“Who made it?”

Agil didn’t miss a beat. “Grimlock,” he replied. “Never heard of him. He’s certainly not a top-ranked bladesmith, and there’s nothing particularly unusual about the weapon.”

“But it should still be a clue.”

Nodding, Kirito seemed to agree before he turned back to Agil. “Tell us its item name, too.”

“Let’s see…” Agil went through it again. “Guilty Thorn is its listed name.”

With another tap, Agil closed the window and handed the weapon back over to Kirito, who stared at it thoughtfully, mulling the name by saying it out loud. And then, after a long moment of just staring at the weapon, he seemed to come to a decision. To everyone’s complete and utter shock and bewilderment—except for Andrew, obviously—Kirito altered his grip on the weapon and aimed it at his palm.

Asuna gasped when he began to lower the weapon in order to pierce himself with it, and grabbed his hand. “Wait!” she exclaimed. When Kirito turned to her with a perplexed expression and asked why, she glared at him, along with—seemingly—every single person in the café. “Why do you think?” she snapped at him. “Are you stupid? That weapon’s already killed someone!”

He levelled her with a look. “Right, but we won’t know for sure unless we try.”

“That’s crazy! Don’t do it!” she said and then took the Guilty Thorn from Kirito and turned back to Agil, who just watched them the entire time with slight confusion, like he wasn’t sure how to react to the scene occurring before him. “Agil-san, please hold onto it!”

He took it from her. Andrew remembered how unsure he was about the entire situation back then. Honestly, he still was a little put out by it all.

The moment the weapon was safely away from Kirito, Asuna turned to glare down at the boy who still looked mostly confused rather than apologetic.

“Is he crazy?” Suguha moaned and slammed her hands on the countertop. “What was he thinking? That idiot! How did he survive this long with these survival skills?”

Silica nodded next to her—whether she was trying to agree with Suguha’s exclamation or believed that Kirito was crazy was beyond Andrew.

There were hums from all around the shop as people took Suguha’s side and agreed with her assessment. She was probably lucky that no one knew who she was and how she was related to Kirito. Andrew hoped no one would find out—at least not this early on—because he had the feeling the girl wouldn’t like the attention, just like Kirito wouldn’t like it in the future, when he returns to the real world at long last.

The scene changed again to show that restaurant from earlier, only this time the lights were off and the only ones inside were Kirito, Asuna and Yolko. The two clearers looked at the girl before them with subdued expressions as the blue-haired girl seemed to sulk, staring at the table between them while holding her hands tightly.

Then Asuna put on a sympathetic smile. “Hey, Yolko-san,” she said and Kirito turned to look at her, looking almost like he didn’t expect her to cut the silence around the table. “Have you ever heard the name Grimlock?”

Yolko seemed to tense at the sound of the name. Okay, then she clearly recognized it. Andrew listened intently to the conversation then, trying to understand everything. He knew he wasn’t really there and this was all in the past, but he still wanted to try and figure it all out before Kirito and Asuna. Like… like a competition, of sorts.

Gulping loudly, Yolko bowed her head. “Yes.” She bowed her head a little. “He was a member of the guild that Kains and I used to be in.”

This seemed to surprise Kirito and Asuna, who both glanced at each other before Kirito nodded at Asuna and then turned back to face Yolko, his frown back to his face.

“When we had the black spear that pierced Kains-san’s chest appraised, we found out that it was made by Grimlock-san,” he said, “Can you think of any reason why that might be?”

Andrew had to admit it was strange to hear the honorifics coming out of his mouth when the kid seemed to always be so blunt.

Yolko gasped and covered her mouth with both hands as her bright blue eyes widened in shock. Then she nodded.

“Yes, I can. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to tell you yesterday. I wanted to forget. It’s something I don’t really want to remember,” she admitted, her eyes closed. “However, I’ll tell you”—She looked back at them, looking like she wasn’t entirely in the same room with them—“what destroyed our guild.” She inhaled deeply. “Our guild’s name was Golden Apple. Six months ago a rare monster we defeated dropped a powerful ring that raised agility by 20.

“We were divided on whether to use it for the guild, or sell it and split the earnings. But in the end we decided to vote on it. The vote went 5-3 in favor of selling it. Our leader, Griselda-san, was going to stay overnight at a large town on the front lines to sell it to a merchant. However, she never came back. Later, we learned that she’d died. I still don’t know how she died.”

Kirito didn’t wait too long before speaking up. “No one would leave an inner area with a rare item like that,” he noted. “Which means… a sleep-PK?”

Asuna looked at him. “Six months ago would have been just before the method spread,” she reminded him skeptically.

“But it’s hard to think it’s a coincidence,” Kirito added. “Whoever attacked Griselda-san must have been a player who knew she had the ring. In other words…”

“One of the seven members of the Golden Apple,” Yolko finished for him quietly.

Kirito seemed to ignore her somberness. Andrew wasn’t sure whether he just wasn’t aware of social cues or just oblivious in general. Both options fit the kid he knew rather well.

“The most suspicious ones would be those who opposed selling it.”

Turning to him, Asuna’s frown deepened. “You mean they attacked Griselda-san to get the ring before it was sold?”

“Probably.” He locked his eyes on Yolko. “Who’s Grimlock-san?”

“He was Griselda-san’s husband. Just within the game, naturally. Griselda-san was a powerful swordswoman. Pretty and smart. Grimlock-san was a kind man who was always smiling. They made a great couple and they got along great. If he was the one responsible for yesterday’s murder, he must be after the three who opposed selling the ring.” She looked away for a moment and then seemed to make up her mind. “Myself and Kains were two of the three opposed to selling the ring.”

Both Kirito and Asuna were shocked at the news. As were the people in the café who gaped at the screen like they never expected this turn of events.

“Then who’s the other?” Kirito asked urgently.

“A tank named Schmitt. I’ve heard he’s a front liner with the Divine Dragon Alliance now.”

Kirito leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. “Schmitt…” he pondered for a second then opened his eyes again. “I’ve heard that name…”

Looking at him, Asuna didn’t look surprised. “He leads the Divine Dragon Alliance’s defense forces,” she said. “He’s a big lance-user.”

Andrew got the strange, sudden feeling that this conversation would have sounded so stupid in the real world, with all of this talk about guilds like it meant much. Players could speak about games like they were serious without getting people to take them seriously, but the people in SAO learned quickly that those things that meant nothing in the real world, meant the world in the virtual game.

As Kirito seemed to remember who Asuna was referring to, Yolko perked up. “You know Schmitt?” she asked and Kirito said he’s only seen his face a few times during boss fights, pretty much dismissing it. “Could you let me talk to him? He probably hasn’t heard about what occurred. And what happened to Kains could happen to him…”

Skipping ahead again, the scene changed to show Asuna and Kirito walking down a narrow alley side by side in the grim, gray weather.

One of the people in the café walked up to Andrew, asking for a drink and he tore his eyes away from the screen just as Asuna asked Kirito about what he thought had happened that allowed the inner area murder. He poured a glass for the costumer and received the money, listening as Kirito pondered the question and began to answer.

“I see basically three possibilities,” he said thoughtfully, and everyone in the café listened carefully.

Silica sipped from her drink that must have been cold by now. Thoughtlessly, Andrew made another hot chocolate for Suguha, who looked at him in surprise but accepted the drink gratefully.

“The first is a fair duel. The second is through a system exploit that combines known methods.” Asuna agreed and then asked about the third. “Some skill we don’t know about that bypasses the safety of the inner areas, or possibly an item.” He stopped walking all of a sudden and frowned. “No, the third is impossible.”

“Why?” Asuna asked.

The people in the café seemed to mumble their own confusion at his sudden claim. Andrew lifted an eyebrow. Why wasn’t it possible? It sounded like something that could happen, after all. He couldn’t just dismiss a possibility like that.

Kirito surprised all of them with his answer.

“It’s unfair,” he explained, saying it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The café erupted with shouts of outrage, like the people just couldn’t believe Kirito just used that as an excuse when all of SAO was unfair. Andrew grumbled but didn’t actually say anything. He wanted to hear more over the deafening exclamations of the crowd around.

“I kind of hate to admit it, but SAO’s rules are essentially fair,” the kid told Asuna, and the crowd quieted down just a little. Instead of shouting, the people murmured in displeasure. Andrew had to agree, though, after a moment of thought. Kirito was… right. “I can’t imagine this game allowing murders within the inner areas.”

When the scene changed again, everyone leaned back in alarm when a player Andrew recognized as Schmitt snapped, standing up and waving his arms around in alarm and terror. Kirito, Asuna, Schmitt and Yolko were all in a room in an inn, by the looks of it.

The two clearers were standing in the background and watching the scene before them with their arms crossed and their expressions grim. Schmitt was standing in front of Yolko who sat on a chair with the same aura of helplessness around her as she had this entire time. She didn’t even seem to be caught off guard by Schmitt’s outburst.

“Why would Kains be killed now?” Schmitt asked frantically. “He…” the man trailed off a little, and then hesitantly asked the question he had on his mind. “Did he steal the ring? Was he the one who killed Griselda?” Sitting back down, Schmitt didn’t even wait for an answer, instead bringing his fist down on his thigh. “Does Grimlock plan to kill the three of us who opposed selling the ring? Is he after you and me, too?”

Finally speaking up, Yolko’s soft voice seemed to swirl around the room. “It could be that Grimlock-san just made the weapon and another member used it,” she said. “Or perhaps it may be Griselda-san’s revenge…” she added and Schmitt looked at her in distress. “Only a ghost could kill someone within an inner area.”

Schmitt’s eyes bugged out as he took in the words and seemed to almost choke on his own unsaid words. Kirito and Asuna glanced at each other in surprise just as Yolko started getting up, her eyes open wide and looking almost haunted, like she wasn’t there, in that room. Like she was possessed or something.

Andrew’s lips tugged down as Silica started trembling in her place and Suguha hesitantly put a comforting hand on her back, even though Kirito’s little sister looked just as frightened as the girl sitting next to her.

“I was awake all last night, thinking…” Yolko continued, and then her voice turned louder and shriller as she exclaimed in fright, her body curling a little, like she was trying to protect herself from an unseen danger. “In the end, all of the members were responsible for killing Griselda-san! When that ring dropped, we should never have voted! We should’ve just done what she wanted!”

The three people in the room stared at Yolko as she backed away toward the open window and sat on its ledge, her voice quieting back down again. “Grimlock-san was the only one who said we should simply let Griselda-san decide. So he has the right to take revenge for Griselda-san on the rest of us.”

“You’re kidding me…” Schmitt whispered, his entire body shaking. “You’re kidding me… After all this time, six whole months… Why now?” He got back up and sent a heated glare at the girl next to the window. “You’re okay with this, Yolko! You’re okay with being killed like this?”

The people in the café stared at the screen, seemingly speechless. Andrew felt like he was missing something, too.

Schmitt reached out to her, like he was going to… Andrew didn’t even know what he was going to do to Yolko. Maybe shake her until she came back to her senses. But he was stopped by Kirito’s hand that grabbed his arm and held him back.

And then Yolko’s eyes widened and they all watched, stunned, as she turned around and revealed a dagger sticking from her back.

Losing her balance, Yolko fell out the window and Kirito was the first to react. He ran over to the place where she once was as if he wanted to catch her, but it was too late. “YOLKO-SAN!” he screamed a moment before she hit the ground and died, leaving behind nothing but tiny specks of light.

The dagger clattered to the floor.

Chapter Text

The dagger clattered to the floor.

Back in SAO, Keiko was one of the most famous people amongst the middle-class players and below. She wasn’t as strong as the top-rank players or the clearers of the game, and she wasn’t actually able to advance as quickly as others because she didn’t know the ins and outs of the game like others did.

She was only twelve when she got the game and started playing. She was only twelve when she got stuck inside this dangerous, lethal world.

When it all started, she freaked out. As in, completely freaked out. She was too young for this. She needed her parents and her cat, Pina. She needed the support she was used to and she had none of it because she was by herself in a world she didn’t know much about.

Had she been one of the beta testers, things would have been much easier for her because beta testers knew a lot about the game in advance and could survive with their superb knowledge.

But Keiko was just a scared little girl that bought the game because it looked like fun. She never expected Kayaba Akihiko to imprison her and thousands of other people inside of this insanely dangerous world without the ability to contact the outside world whatsoever. She never thought she’d find herself wandering around, fearing for her life and yet feeling the determination to level up and learn how to protect herself.

She learned as quickly as she could without risking her life too much. Keiko advanced slowly but surely and was aware of the fact that she was one of the only female players in the game. There weren’t a lot of those around, and most of them preferred to stay hidden in the safety of the cities and towns, where they couldn’t get hurt. Keiko couldn’t blame them—she felt the same sometimes. Like she shouldn’t go out there and fight. Like she should just try and live as normal a life as possible inside this game.

And then she came across a beautiful, feathered dragon, and Keiko watched as it crawled toward her slowly, like it was checking to see what she would do. What she did was give it peanuts, which the dragon seemed to love. And that was how she became a beast tamer—one of the few people who’d tamed a beast inside the game.

That was the thing that made her so famous. She was both a girl and a beast tamer, so the combination of both those things spread around and Keiko found herself swarmed by people who wanted her to join their parties and guilds.

It went to her head very quickly. She enjoyed the attention and the people that seemed to praise and appreciate her so much, so she basked in it. Until Pina… until her friend had died and Keiko thought all hope was lost. The fact that her only real friend in the game was gone made her mind screech to a halt and suddenly Keiko could see how blind she’s been. How no one really cared about her, but rather about what she was.

Except for Kirito.

The black-cladded guy showed out of nowhere and helped her without even seeming to recognize her. For a moment it took Keiko aback, because how was it possible for someone not to recognize her? She was Silica—the female beast tamer!

But then she relaxed and the whole thing seemed… unimportant. So what if Kirito had no idea who she was? She didn’t need him to. He was already helping her, so why should she long for recognition on top of everything else?

The moment she realized who Kirito really was, though, she felt mostly embarrassed. Sure, she was awestruck at the realization that she’s been spending a day with a clearer who was one of the strongest players in the game.

But she—who was so surprised at not being immediately recognized by him, at first—found herself awkwardly thinking about how he seemed to be even more famous than her, and yet she had no idea who he was until that orange guild practically spelled it out for her.

The Black Swordsman. It wasn’t an unfamiliar name. She’d heard of the front liner that people whispered about. The whispers weren’t exactly the friendliest because a lot of people didn’t like him. They said he was shady and dangerous, and since he was a solo player and a beater, they also called him selfish.

But when Keiko thought about all of those things while looking at Kirito’s friendly smile, she couldn’t help but dismiss them. The other people were wrong. Kirito was a good person who cared about others. He’d gone to such lengths just to help a player he didn’t even know. He took revenge for someone else’s sake. He put his life on the line to clear the game so that they could all get back to the real world.

How could people call such a person selfish?

And now she was hugging her lukewarm hot chocolate between her fingers as she stared up at the screen in Agil’s shop while sitting beside Kirito’s little sister that Keiko looked nothing alike.

Her heart was beating erratically in her chest at the scene that was displayed before all of them. She was already a little uneasy after that first death in the square. So to see Yolko’s death, as well? It made her insides squirm uneasily.

Kirito’s loud screech of Yolko’s name sent chills down Keiko’s back, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

She wished she could see Kirito in the real world. She wished she could see these videos with him nearby, knowing that he was safe and sound along with the rest of the SAO survivors.

But instead she had to watch these clips with Kirito still being stuck in the virtual world. He wasn’t safe or protected. He wasn’t awake, but stuck in a hospital bed, still relying on a machine to keep his body alive. He wasn’t with people he knew. He was still just fighting for his life in a foreign world, and Keiko had no idea how she could help, but she wanted to. She really wanted to.

Looking up, Kirito’s eyes scanned the surroundings before Keiko gasped as he seemed to focus on a black-cladded figure on a nearby rooftop. As the figure started running away, Kirito furrowed his brows.

“Asuna, I’ll leave the rest to you!” he called over his shoulder, and without waiting for an answer, he jumped out the window in a large arc before landing on the opposite rooftop.

The people in the café could all hear Asuna’s cry of protest, but Kirito just kept on running and jumping from one rooftop to the next without slowing down, his eyes set on the dark figure. Once they were running on parallel roofs, Kirito reached his hand back to his sword, but before he could pull it out, Keiko noticed a flash of blue as the hooded figure pulled out a teleportation crystal.

Kirito noticed it, too. “Damn!”

He pulled his hand away from the sword and instead threw three pins at the escaping figure, but he seemed to have been protected because they all hit purple hexagons that deflected the weapons. Kirito bared his teeth as the hooded man (it had to be a man by the little bits of his face showing) started saying something that got swallowed by the wind.

And then the bell of the church started ringing and Kirito grinded to a halt as the figure teleported away. “Damn it…”

When the scene switched, Kirito was standing in front of a door. He opened it slowly and was greeted by the scowling, sword-wielding Asuna.

“You moron! Are you out of your mind?” she screamed at him, and Kirito gave her a tired yet a little surprised look, like he didn’t expect her reaction. With a sigh, Asuna put her rapier back inside its scabbard and then looked at him expectantly. “So, how did it go?”

Behind her, sitting in his seat again, Schmitt was shaking uncontrollably. Keiko whimpered.

Closing the door behind him, Kirito shook his head. “No luck. He teleported away.” Kirito clenched his fist and stared down. His expression wasn’t too angry, but Keiko could hear how strained his voice was becoming. “The inn is protected by the system. I thought we’d be safe here.” And then he punched the wall, not even giving a single thought to the immortal object notification that appeared as a result to his outburst. “Damn it!”

“That person in the robe was Griselda,” Schmitt muttered from his place, and both Asuna and Kirito turned to look at him. “It was Griselda-san’s ghost! She’s back to take revenge on all of us!”

For a second he laughed, though there was nothing funny about the situation. Agil muttered something about Schmitt losing it and Keiko had to nod her head in agreement. Suguha’s lips were pursed as she watched quietly.

“A ghost could easily PK within safe areas,” Schmitt kept on muttering to himself.

The man kept on laughing—clearly distressed—and Asuna stared at his back, unimpressed. Kirito lowered his head until his bangs covered his eyes and his face was swallowed in shadows. Keiko could see in that exact moment why so many people feared him.

“It was no ghost,” the boy insisted. “There must be some logical explanation to these two murders within safe areas. There has to be.”

Keiko shuddered again at the dark tone of Kirito’s voice. When he was with her, he usually had a smile on his face, and his voice remained mostly light. Sure, there were a few exceptions, but they were rare and in between.

But now… now he looked like he was upset. Upset at the system for allowing this to happen despite his faith in it. Which was confusing on its own, because why was Kirito so sure about the game being fair? He sounded so certain of it earlier, yet Keiko had no idea why.

Was it fair that ten thousand people got stuck inside Sword Art Online? She didn’t think so. And Kirito, being one of them, was supposed to distrust the system. He was supposed to detest it like the rest of them. But he didn’t seem to do that. He actually claimed the game was safe.

Well… well, maybe there was something to it? Keiko had no idea. She only knew that she was confused and scared. It didn’t make sense—to be scared of something that was in the past—but she still trembled a little while watching as the scene changed.

Sitting on a bench outside, the sky dark, Kirito and Asuna both looked solemnly down. Well, Asuna’s posture was a little straighter than Kirito’s, who put his hands on his thighs and slouched down. But they still looked downcast.

“Was that black, robed person really Griselda-san’s ghost?” Asuna asked but Kirito didn’t reply. He didn’t even move. Asuna looked up at the sky. “Now that I’ve seen it twice myself, I’m starting to believe it, too.”

“No.” Kirito still looked down. “That’s not possible. First of all, a ghost wouldn’t be able to use a teleport crystal,” he claimed, and someone in the back of the café snorted and noted how ghosts didn’t exist in the first place.

Keiko and Agil threw in his direction a dirty look before focusing on the screen again. Keiko cocked her head to the side when some kind of realization seemed to dawn on Kirito’s face as he lifted his head and stared ahead with wide eyes.

“A teleport crystal?” he muttered.

“What is it?” Asuna pressed.

For a moment Kirito seemed to ponder something and then he shrugged. “Nothing,” he replied and Asuna gave him a long look as he kept on staring ahead, letting his head lean on the heel of his palm. Then she finally pulled out a wrapped meal and presented it to Kirito. The boy looked at it in surprise. “Is it for me?”

Asuna didn’t look amused. “What else could it be?” she asked. He still didn’t take it. “You think I’m just showing it to you?” she mocked.

Keiko stifled a small laugh as she tried to make the Asuna in those videos fit with the Asuna who kept on worrying about Kirito not waking up yet. She tried to make sense of the change those two have been through because it must have been something big, right?

Stuttering, Kirito took the offered food from her with a word of gratitude. He unwrapped it to discover a delicious-looking sandwich inside. Keiko herself felt like she was going to drool over this, and she wasn’t even hungry. Kirito stared at it in awe as Asuna warned him about eating it quickly because it was about to expire.

Keiko scrunched up her nose. It wasn’t pleasant when food in Aincrad didn’t last long enough. She always had to make sure it would last her, and she hated eating in a rush.

There was something to be said about how watching Kirito’s reaction to Asuna’s sandwich was like watching that video when they’d just met for the first time and Kirito let her try the cream on her bread. His almost stunned expression at the fact that the food was tasty reminded Keiko of Asuna’s reaction to the delicious cream.

Next to Kirito, Asuna pulled out her own sandwich and prepared to eat. She glanced at Kirito, though, when he noted how good the food was. Then she began to eat when Kirito took another bite.

“When did you get the food?” he asked her, his mouth full. Suguha made some kind of displeased whine at his lack of manners while a few people around the café chuckled.

Asuna, unlike him, finished chewing before answering. “I did say it’s about to expire,” she noted and Kirito took another bite. “I was prepared for a situation like this, so I packed them in the morning.”

This time, Kirito did swallow before speaking up with a smile. Keiko thought it was amusing how a little bit of food could lift his spirit. “Nothing less from the leader of the Knights of the Blood’s assault team,” he noted with appreciation. “By the way, where did you buy this from?”

“It’s not for sale,” Asuna said and Kirito, who was about to take another bite, looked at her in confusion. “You can’t buy this,” the girl next to him explained plainly. “I can cook, you know.”

A few more people snickered again at his obvious shock. Kirito gulped loudly and looked away from Asuna, his voice coming out a little less fluidly this time around.

“You know, how should I put this…” he started muttering and Keiko had the distinct feeling that he was going to say the wrong thing. He really wasn’t good with words. Smiling down at his sandwich while Asuna just kept on eating hers, Kirito kept on talking, anyway. “If you put this up for an auction, you could easily get rich.”

He started laughing in discomfort, but then Asuna moved her leg sharply and stunned him, making his grip on the sandwich loosen up. It dropped to the ground and then evaporated, leaving Kirito speechless as he stared at the place where his sandwich used to be.

People outright laughed at his mournful, horrified expression. Keiko noticed the fact that Asuna just looked at Kirito’s feet, unbothered in the least.

“I don’t have any more,” Asuna commented. She frowned a little when Kirito fell to his hands and knees, like he was mourning the loss of his precious food. When Kirito just remained this way, Asuna seemed to think something was wrong. “What’s the matter?”

Suguha huffed at his antics but Keiko and Agil both laughed along with most of the other people around the café.

Keiko expected some kind of mushy rant about the poor sandwich, but instead Kirito shushed Asuna sharply and he made a loud noise, like he just realized something. “I see! I get it!” he called. It didn’t seem to be about the sandwich.

Asuna, looking put out, asked him what he was talking about. Keiko tried to see the most she could of Kirito’s face, but it was hard. Though she thought he looked rather stricken, shocked.

“I… we didn’t see anything,” Kirito said. “We thought we saw it, but we were actually looking at something else. There have never been any weapons or logic that could make murders possible in safe areas.”

A few people in the café grumbled and groaned at his repeated insistent on the game being fair and how those murders weren’t possible. But Keiko was intrigued. Kirito really looked like he knew what he was talking about this time around. Like he knew what really happened. Agil’s lips twisted in displeasure, like he was disappointed about something, but Keiko had no idea what it was.

She watched as Kirito told Asuna that both Kains and Yolko were still alive, which made the people in the café, and Asuna herself, gape at him and ask for confirmation that they heard correctly.

It was futile for the audience around the Dicey Café, but Asuna got a reply when Kirito sat back down next to her and leaned his arms on his knees, his eyes locked on the ground as he seemed to think hard about everything.

“They’re alive,” Kirito confirmed with a glance in Asuna’s direction. “Yolko-san and Kains, too,” he said, and Asuna muttered something in disbelief. Kirito just forged on. “Within safe areas, player HP cannot decrease under normal circumstances. On the other hand, objects expire. Just like that sandwich.”

“Of course it was about that sandwich!” someone called and a few people laughed, but most of them remained silent, trying to catch every single word coming out of Kirito’s mouth. Keiko herself was invested, too.

When Asuna still looked confused, Kirito explained. “Back then, Kains’ armor was pierced by the spear. But it didn’t lower Kains’ HP. Only the armor’s durability.”

Asuna caught on hesitantly. “So that was what fell down in pieces?”

“Yeah, just the empty armor. And at the same moment the armor broke, Kains teleported away. The result looked like he had died, but it was a completely different thing.”

“The same thing happened to Yolko-san?”

“She must’ve had the dagger in her the entire time she was talking to us,” Kirito said, and when Asuna questioned it, he pressed further. “Think about it. She never stood with her back to us in that room. She continued talking while confirming the decrease in durability. When it was time, she acted like a dagger from outside had hit her.”

Looking down thoughtfully, Asuna had a frown on her face, like the rest of the people around the café. “Then the black-robed figure was…”

Kirito looked at her. “I’m almost sure that it was Grimlock,” he told her. “Kains and Yolko-san realized they could fake their death with their method. They even made it seem like safe area PKs are possible to arouse even more fear.”

With a small voice, Asuna kept that line of thought. “Their goal was to find and expose the culprit of the ring case. They staged their own deaths and created two phantom avengers.”

“They must’ve doubted Schmitt from the very beginning,” Kirito said and then changed the direction of the conversation completely. “You still have Yolko-san on your friend list, right?” he inquired and Asuna quickly opened her menu and informed him on where the girl currently was. “I see. Anyway, let’s leave it to them now. Our part in this case is over.”

Well, if that was it… Keiko blinked at the screen and was ready to stretch and turn back to Agil and Kirito’s sister, thinking the video was over because if Kirito said they had nothing more to do about the whole Griselda debacle, then what was there to see beyond what was already given to them, right? She saw a few others preparing to leave, as well. But they all turned to the screen when Kirito’s voice came from it again.

Keiko raised her eyebrows at the sight of Kirito and Asuna sitting back at the restaurant, facing each other. Kirito noted how he didn’t mind being a part of Yolko’s plan, a small smile on his face. The rest of the place was empty. Seriously, did they go to the worst restaurant in SAO, where there were no people around… ever?

“What would you do if you got a legendary drop?” Asuna asked Kirito out of the blue.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Kirito thought about it for a long moment. “Well… I hate trouble like that, so I tend to solo,” he explained and Suguha grumbled something about it being obvious.

Asuna regarded him quietly. “In our guild, the item belongs to the person who received it,” she said and Kirito looked at her, his lips parted. “That’s our rule,” she added with a smile. “In SAO it’s up to the player to announce what she or he received after a battle. Then it’s better to set a rule like ours than to put up with secrets and lies. And it’s because of this system that marriage in this world means something.”

She lifted her head to look at Kirito who stared at the table between them with a blank expression. “If you get married, your item storage will be shared with your significant other.” She said it like Kirito didn’t know about it already. Hmm… maybe he didn’t. Keiko had no idea. “Even if you tried to hide something before, after you get married, you can’t hide anything anymore.”

“Sounds like a bother,” someone said.

“Why would anyone do it, then?” another added.

Suguha made this sound between a moan and a grumble. “Tell me that’s not what happened…” she whimpered to herself, and Keiko sent her a curious look, not understanding what the girl was talking about.

Agil’s lips tugged up a little in the direction of Kirito’s sister, meaning he probably knew what this was about, but he didn’t say a word.

Eyes raising to look curiously at Asuna, Kirito watched as the girl smiled softly.

“Storage sharing is a really pragmatic system, but I think it’s really romantic, as well,” she said.

The boy looked a little troubled as an NPC waitress showed up and put their meals in front of them. Kirito glanced at her and then turned to Asuna. “Asuna, have you ever been married before?” he asked bluntly.

Keiko and Suguha choked, while Agil outright laughed as the girl’s expression on screen turned from relaxed to outraged. She picked up her fork and aimed it quickly at Kirito who freaked out and started waving his hands in front of his face frantically.

“Don’t get the wrong idea!” he exclaimed. The café was filled with laughter from the people watching the scene. “You just said it’s romantic and plastic.”

“She said pragmatic, you moron,” Suguha groaned and covered her face with both hands. “Onii-chan, you’re embarrassing me!” she whined.

“I didn’t say that!” Asuna protested and kicked him under the table. He flinched and winced as his entire body seemed to tremble in fear. Yeah, he wasn’t only bad with words. He was horrible with them. “I said it’s romantic and pragmatic!” Asuna put down her fork, crossed her arms and looked defiantly away. “Pragmatic means it’s practical and realistic.”

Kirito relaxed slowly as she seemed to calm down, and at her last word he drew his eyebrows together. “Realistic? Marriage in SAO?”

Keeping her eyes closed, Asuna clarified, saying, “It’s really blunt and straightforward! Just imagine sharing your storage,” she told him and then she peeked her eyes open to see Kirito staring down thoughtfully. “What?”

“Storage sharing…” he pondered out loud. The laughter in the café finally subsided. Suddenly, Kirito looked back up at Asuna. “What happens to the items if your significant other dies?” he asked and at Asuna’s confusion, he elaborated. “Your storage is shared. What happens if one person dies?”

“You mean Griselda-san and Grimlock-san?” Asuna asked and looked away as she seemed to try and figure it out as well. “That’s right… if one of them died…”

Keiko stared wide-eyed at the screen. She thought they were done with that mess. How come Kirito was bringing it up again?

Kirito had this look in his eyes, like he already had the answer he needed. “Won’t all the items go to the other person?”

Gasping, Asuna caught on quickly. “Which means the rare ring in Griselda-san’s storage…”

“It should be with Grimlock and not the murderer,” he completed, and when Asuna asked if the ring wasn’t stolen after all, Kirito gave her a hard look. “No, that’s not it. It WAS stolen,” he said firmly.

Keiko wondered how someone his age knew how to solve such mysteries. Did he go to a special spy school or something before playing SAO? She knew that wasn’t the case—Kirito was just smart—but it was still fascinating.

“Grimlock stole the ring from his own storage,” Kirito stated.

Asuna gasped.

“Why would he do that to his own wife…” Keiko whispered as her body trembled at the mere thought of someone she trusted with everything she had… stabbing her in the back like that. So was it not Schmitt’s fault, after all? “This is terrible! How could he?”

Suguha put her hand around Keiko’s shoulders comfortingly and the younger girl leaned into the touch. It was different with Kirito. When she was with the boy inside the game, he put his hand on her head whenever he decided to initiate physical contact. He didn’t comfort her with it, either. He just seemed to do it whenever he felt like it. But Suguha’s side-hug was warm, and it made Keiko’s racing heart relax just a little.

Her breath caught for a moment as the scene changed to show a dark, foggy forest. Kirito was riding a horse, for some reason, toward a group of people gathered under a large tree.

There were two people standing side by side—Yolko and Kains (Keiko assumed, at least)—who had a weapon aimed their way from a hooded figure. There were three people who had their faces hidden under such dark hoods. And there was one other person lying on the ground, about to get sliced with a weapon Keiko couldn’t see clearly from that distance. She recognized the person as Schmitt, though.

So there were six people there, altogether. And Kirito didn’t seem to have Asuna with him.

The hooded person that was about to attack Schmitt stopped his swing at the sound of the approaching horse, and lowered his hand as the six people all turned to see Kirito falling from the horse as the animal raised on its two hind legs. With a grunt, Kirito hit the ground and then got up and got the horse to ride away from there.

A few people chuckled at the awkward fall of Kirito, but the boy on screen didn’t even seem to mind. He just got up and bluntly started talking like he wasn’t risking his life. Again.

“Idiot,” Suguha whispered, her eyes trained solely on the screen as she seemed to squeeze Keiko’s small figure a little bit. The girl didn’t really mind that much, actually.

“Seems like I made it just in time,” Kirito said plainly. He walked toward the group slowly. “What are you going to do now? Our reinforcements will be here soon.” Was he serious? Did Asuna and he call other people to help? Keiko wasn’t too sure about that. “Would you want to face thirty people of the assault team?”

One of the hooded figures snorted, and Kirito drew out his sword and took on a battle stance, his glare aimed at the three before him without fear. A few long moments passed without anyone moving. Kirito kept his gaze levelled with who seemed to be the leader of the little group, unblinking.

And then, at long last, the hooded leader clicked his fingers and the two others sheathed their weapons. Yolko dropped to the floor, stunned.

Kirito kept his eyes on the three hoods as they started walking away. He even turned around with his sword at the ready to follow their every move. The moment they were gone beyond the fog filling the entire place, though, Kirito heaved a sigh of relief and put his sword away before he turned to the three remaining people under the tree.

His eyes locked with Yolko, his expression emotionless. “I’m glad we meet again, Yolko-san,” he said.

The girl bowed her head. “I wanted to apologize to you once it was all over.” She looked up at him again. “But I guess you won’t believe me even if I say so, right?”

At that, Kirito offered her a smile and then turned to Schmitt when the man said his name, drawing his attention away from Kains and Yolko.

“Thank you for saving us!” Schmitt said, kneeling on one knee as he gazed up at the boy. “But how did you know? That those three would ambush us here.” He added that last part, as if to make sure Kirito understood what he was talking about. Frankly, that was a good question.

“I didn’t know,” Kirito said bluntly. The three people present in that forest eyed him, flabbergasted. “I just concluded that it’s a possibility.” He turned a serious look toward Kains and Yolko again. “Kains-san, Yolko-san, Grimlock-san made those two weapons for you, right?”

The two players looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Kirito. The one speaking, once again, was Yolko. “He wasn’t willing, at first,” she admitted. “He said he wanted to let Griselda-san rest in peace.”

Finally, Kains said his first words. “But as we kept begging him, he gave in to our request.”

Kirito didn’t look angry or upset—just a little pitiful. “I’m sorry to tell you, but he didn’t oppose your plan for Griselda-san’s sake,” he said, and then completely disregarded the two’s surprise. “If you stage insane incidents like murders in safe areas, you’ll draw way too much attention and eventually people would realize.” He looked away from them and back at the ground. “I only realized it half an hour ago.”

“He moved fast,” a random woman noted. There was the hum of another one that agreed with her.

Keiko couldn’t help but agree, too. She listened numbly as Kirito seemed to explain everything he and Asuna had come to realize to the three people from that broken guild. They listened with wide eyes, looking like they’d just seen a ghost. No one could blame them.

Once Kirito was done talking, Schmitt was the first to speak up. “Grimlock? He was the one who sent that memo and killed Griselda?”

“No. I don’t think he’d dirty his hands directly,” Kirito replied evenly. “He probably asked red players to do the murder.”

“But… if he’s the culprit, then why did he help us with our plan?” Yolko demanded.

“You explained your plan to him, right? He could use this as a means to bury this ring case forever. Schmitt, Yolko-san and Kains-san… he waited for a chance where all three of you are together to erase you all at once,” Kirito said and when Schmitt looked down and mumbled that it must have been why the PK-players showed up, Kirito bobbed his head once. “They’ve probably been in touch since the murder of Griselda-san.”

On the ground, Yolko seemed to get faint as the events all caught up to her, and Kains quickly supported her weight. Keiko couldn’t blame the girl—she herself felt sick at the plot that was behind everything happening in that video.

She was just so glad Kirito and Asuna had managed to solve it all in time. That Kirito got there before the three players got murdered. It would have been horrible had Kirito and Asuna really let it all go for good. If Kirito didn’t think a little more into all of this… three more people would have died for nothing!

Behind the bar, Agil looked at the television screen with narrowed, calculating eyes, like he was still upset. He looked down, like he missed out on something that Keiko didn’t know he was even trying to do. Didn’t he know about all of this already? Or did Kirito and Asuna not come back to tell him the rest of the story?

Did they just leave him with the thought that maybe people could actually PK in safe areas? That was an unsettling thing to live with during that time, wasn’t it? Keiko would have freaked out had she been in Agil’s place at the time.

“I found him,” Asuna said, her voice cutting through the silence in the Dicey Café.

Keiko looked back at the screen when Asuna drew the four figures on screen’s attention. They all turned to look at her as she walked forward with a tall man with a white shirt, black pants, a hat, a dark coat and large sunglasses.

With the setting of the dark forest and its fog, Keiko didn’t like the man’s appearance. It freaked her out.

With a frown on his face, Kirito glared at the man that was being led toward all of them. “Let’s hear the details from the culprit himself,” he said, and Asuna and the man stopped a small distance from the rest of them.

Despite Asuna’s rapier resting right against the man’s back, he had a smile on his face, like he didn’t find the scene as intimidating as he should have. Keiko pressed herself further into Suguha’s side.

“Long time no see, guys,” the man said nonchalantly. Grimlock, Keiko reminded herself. It had to be him.

When Yolko stuttered a disfigured question at him about whether he really did what Kirito claimed he had, the smile dropped off his face and Yolko’s face contorted in anger.

“Why, Grimlock?!” she burst out, being held back only by Kains’ hand on her shoulder. “Did you really desire the money that much, that you’s steal the ring and kill your wife?”

To everyone’s disgust and confusion—both on screen and in the small café—Grimlock huffed out a laugh.

“Money?” he snorted as Yolko cried. It made the others all look at him again. Yolko widened her eyes and ignored the tears on her cheeks. “Money, you say?” He laughed again for a moment and then his mirth disappeared. “It wasn’t for the money. I had to kill her no matter what. While she was my wife here, she was my wife in the real world as well.”

“That’s even worse!” someone exclaimed. “What’s wrong with this guy?”

Everyone was shocked by this revelation on screen, but Grimlock just continued. “She was a perfect and ideal wife. She was cute and obedient. We’ve never once had an argument. But… when we got caught in this world together, she changed,” he said darkly. “Unlike me, she wasn’t startled, shocked or scarred by this terrible game of death. She became a lot more lively and active as compared to before.

“I had to accept it! That the Yuuko I loved had vanished! Then…” His voice became louder and louder as his tone grew more and more insane. “Then what if, in this world where murder is possible, I lock her… I wanted to lock Yuuko as she appeared in my memories for eternity. Who can blame me for that?”

They were all rendered speechless. Everyone in the real world and in the virtual one of the past… they all stared at him after his outburst, looking both startled and disgusted. Keiko felt like she was going to faint. This man… this man… he’d murdered his own wife because she… because she changed? Because she changed and he didn’t want her to? That was… it was…

Keiko stifled a loud sob with her hand and Suguha’s hand began to run up and down her back as she seemed to try and comfort Keiko while also fighting her own feelings.

Kirito glared at Grimlock even more heatedly. “You killed your wife for such a reason?” he asked in disgust.

“This reason is more than enough,” Grimlock argued calmly. “One day you will understand, too, Detective-kun,” Grimlock said. Keiko refused to believe it, though. She refused to believe that someone like Kirito would ever feel this way. “As you find love, and as you’re about to lose it…”

The man smirked at Kirito and the boy tensed.

“No, you are wrong, Grimlock-san,” Asuna cut in, her voice emotionless and cold. She put her sword back in its scabbard and walked over to stand next to Kirito. The boy stared at her in wonder as she stopped in front of him, her back still to Grimlock. “It wasn’t love that you felt toward Griselda-san,” she said, and then turned around to face the man, her voice turning harsher. “It was the feeling of possession.”

At those words, Grimlock seemed to choke on his own words, and then he slowly dropped to his knees, head bowed. Kirito looked like he was going to walk toward him, but the three others moved past Asuna and him and stopped next to Grimlock. Kirito looked at them in surprise.

Kains lifted a stern gaze in Kirito’s direction. “Kirito-san, can you leave him to us?” he asked, and when Kirito didn’t mind, he and Schmitt picked Grimlock up and carried him away.

Yolko stayed behind a moment longer to bow gratefully before leaving with her ex-guild members. Kirito and Asuna bowed right back and watched the three as they left side by side, the sun rising behind the duo’s backs.

Stretching and yawning, Kirito looked like he was finally relaxing again.

But Asuna just kept on looking ahead, her expression somewhat downcast. “Say,” she muttered and Kirito dropped his hands and turned to her. “Theoretically speaking, if you got married,” she began, and Suguha spluttered while Keiko tried to see what Kirito’s reaction to the question would be. “And noticed a side of your partner that you hadn’t known before, what would you think?”

To his credit, let it be said that Kirito didn’t freak out. Too much. He mostly flinched a little before regaining his composure when Asuna glanced sideways at him.

After a moment he turned toward Asuna and replied sincerely. “Guess I’d think I’m lucky,” he said, and when Asuna looked at him quizzically, Kirito looked like he was finally feeling awkward. “Y-you know, if you married someone, that means you love every side of your significant other that you already know. So if you find a new side to them, doesn’t that mean you’ll have even more to love?”

Suguha’s lips twisted. “What does he know? He never even seemed to take an interest in girls before SAO,” she complained, but there was the hint of a smile on her face. Keiko thought it was sweet, though. Even if Kirito looked like he expected Asuna to attack him at any moment.

For a moment Asuna just looked at him, and then she sighed and looked away. “Whatever,” she decided. “More importantly, I’m hungry. I didn’t get a chance to eat properly earlier,” she noted and Kirito agreed hesitantly, his hands finally coming back down. Asuna stretched a little. “We’ve been away from the front lines for two days. We have to get back to work tomorrow.”

“Yeah. I want to break through this floor by the end of this week.”

Asuna didn’t say anything after that and just started walking away.

Then Keiko choked when Kirito turned to glance at the tree behind them. He froze, just like every single person inside the Dicey Café. There, under the tree, was a red-caped woman with brown hair and bright eyes that smiled at Kirito.

The boy’s lips parted a little soundlessly, and he quickly grabbed Asuna’s upper arm without tearing his eyes off the woman under the tree. He didn’t even answer Asuna when the girl asked what was wrong and just pointed in the red-caped woman’s direction.

The two players gaped at the woman before them, that seemed to shine with the sun rising behind her. It was a magnificent sight. Keiko didn’t want to believe in ghosts, but she was almost completely certain that this woman was none other than Griselda. How was it possible? That was beyond her, but she still knew it, deep inside. And she knew that Kirito and Asuna did, too.

Unlike Kirito, who seemed to be enamored by the strange sight, Asuna shifted her gaze slowly over to Kirito and silently took in his amazement. By the time she looked back at the tree, Griselda’s ghost was gone. Still, Kirito kept on staring at the space where she used to be, unmoving and unblinking.

“Hey, Kirito-kun,” Asuna cut through the silence after a long, long moment. “Let’s add each other as friends.”

“Wait, they haven’t done that already at that point?” someone exclaimed.

“They weren’t really friends,” Agil noted somewhat dryly, a hint of amusement in his tone of voice. “They mostly just couldn’t seem get along with each other.”

When Kirito hummed and looked at her, Asuna offered him a smile. “We haven’t done that yet, right? If we’re both on the assault team, it’s inconvenient if we can’t get in touch with each other.”

“But I’m also a solo player…”

“I didn’t say you have to party up with me,” Asuna countered. “And you should make some friends, too.”

Kirito stared at her like he didn’t know what’s come over her. “Yeah… well, I wouldn’t say it’s inconvenient—”

He cut himself off when she slapped his shoulder lightly, still smiling. It was almost like that smile she offered him after they’d defeated the first boss of the game, on the first floor. Back when Asuna wasn’t a part of KoB and Kirito was even more closed off than he was at this point, apparently.

“Think about it while we grab some food,” Asuna told him. “Let’s get back to town, first.” And then started walking away as Kirito followed suit awkwardly.

Keiko heard a few chuckles at his embarrassment and found herself smiling, too. Despite all of the bad things that went on in that video… well… there were some funny, amusing and endearing things, too.

The screen finally turned black after that, meaning it really ended this time around. Keiko leaned back in her seat and listened as most people left the café while talking about the latest video like it was a TV show rather than Kirito’s life presented to all of them without any kind of privacy. She wondered whether anyone out there even tried to prevent those clips from being shown to everyone.

A few people stayed behind and went over to Agil to order drinks and maybe something to eat, and the man quickly took care of it all, chatting easily with people and trying not to show how tired he got from moving around too much. Keiko’s eyes shifted over to the crutches she had leaning against her stool. She didn’t mind them that much, but after feeling so light for two years, it was strange to be trapped inside such a heavy, incompetent body.

Suguha let go of her and yawned. “Wow…” She glanced at the clock hanging off the wall and then quickly got up in such an easy, fluid motion that Keiko was a bit jealous of her lack of disability. “That was a long one. I was going to stay and chat for a little while, but I also want to visit Kazuto at the hospital before going back home,” she told both Keiko and Agil. “So guess I’ll see you around—”

She started waving good-bye, but Keiko quickly scrambled to her feet, her hands steading her as she fought hard against her weakened body.

“Wait!” she screeched, and Suguha hummed in confusion and cocked her head to the side as she looked at Keiko curiously. “Wait, can I…” Keiko looked down and tried to ignore her burning cheeks. She was brave. She used to live in a world with monsters! She could face the real world! “D-do you think I can… come with you?”

“Huh?” Suguha stared at her. “To the hospital?”

“Ah-ha.”

Kirito’s sister thought about it for a moment and then shrugged. “Sure, why not,” she decided. “He seemed to like you. I’m sure he’d be happy to hear you came to visit him once he wakes up.”

Her voice wavered a little when she mentioned Kirito finally waking up, but then she just smiled brightly and came closer to Keiko, supporting her weight until the younger girl found her balance with the help of the crutches.

“Okay, ready?” Suguha asked.

Nodding, Keiko followed Suguha out of the Dicey Café after waving good-bye to Agil over her shoulder.

The hospital room was fairly quiet. Rays of sunlight snuck in through the blinds on the window and there was a steady, beeping noise coming from one of the machines surrounding the bed. Two chairs were assembled next to it, both facing the person lying there, motionless.

Keiko stepped forward hesitantly, her crutches clicking against the clean floor. She found that she couldn’t take her eyes off the pale face that was resting on the pillow on top of the bed. It was Kirito… but it was also the weakest, most pathetic version of him she’s ever seen.

Unlike the friendly, charming and strong player Keiko knew from SAO, Kirigaya Kazuto was a pale, slim and almost fragile kid that looked like he was deep in sleep. Well, the helmet kind of ruined the illusion, but it was still so… morbidly peaceful.

It was hard to imagine this tender, small and unconscious boy fighting against monsters that killed men twice his size. It was hard to imagine someone like him clearing Sword Art Online.

It was hard to imagine him standing in front of seven orange players with weapons at the ready and not moving a muscle to try and escape because he was just so strong, they couldn’t even hurt him! It was impossible to imagine this kid as the fearless player that Keiko admired so much. Her brother for a day…

With a glance toward Suguha, Keiko waddled forward and then stopped right next to the bed. She quietly observed Kirito’s innocent face. He was too thin, like she was after those two years, and he would probably have just as much a struggle with his body as the rest of the survivors, but right now… right now… Keiko could only stare at him and let the tears stream down her face.

“Why didn’t you wake up, too?” she whispered shakily. There was no reply, of course, because Kirito wasn’t there. His consciousness wasn’t there, at least. But his body was. “You saved all of us but didn’t save yourself.” She sniffed and wiped the tears from her cheeks, a wobbly smile creeping onto her face. “I guess now it’s our turn to save you, right?”

He didn’t need to say anything for her to have her answer.

Chapter Text

“Well, I just stopped to fill up the fuel in the car, so it won’t take me too long before I get back,” Minetaka spoke into his phone that was squeezed tightly between his shoulder and cheek as he finished paying for the fuel.

He scrunched up his nose at the smell of it. He never did like the scent too much. It seemed like the world was divided into two groups—people who liked the smell of the gas and people who hated it.

Naturally, he belonged to the latter group.

On the other side of the line, Minetaka could hear Midori’s sigh. “Well, get home safely, okay? Sugu is already struggling enough,” she said, and there was so much exhaustion in her voice that Minetaka felt like he was going to suffocate.

He loved his wife so much, and hearing her trying to hold herself together… it pained him. Well, that was why he was coming home, at long last. He needed to be with his family right now.

Midori added, “And it would be nice to have everyone together for a while.”

Almost everyone, his mind supplied unhelpfully. He grimaced at his own line of thought and quickly ended the call. He didn’t need to get Midori even more upset. She was already at the end of her rope, holding onto everything desperately and trying not to get torn in half in the meantime. Honestly, Minetaka had no idea how she was doing it, but it was truly amazing.

Working mostly overseas, Minetaka didn’t get to be home with his family too much. He tried to spend with them as much time as possible, but his work demanded a lot, and Midori was always so understanding, smiling at him and telling him that they would be okay. Sugu was usually by her side, nodding determinedly at Minetaka and promising that she would be a good girl.

Once, Kazuto would join this promise with his small smiles and quiet voice. But ever since he turned ten and found out the truth about his parents… well, he’s been even more closed off, pushing them all away.

So even when Minetaka did come home to spend time with all of them, it was hard to make Kazuto participate in anything unless it involved video games or programming. The kid was a genius, but very detached from other people. Kazuto didn’t even seem to want to be around others, instead diving head first into games that enabled him to keep to himself.

Still, Minetaka would take his socially inept son rather than the unconscious one that had to risk his life on a daily basis inside a virtual game that ended up not being a game at all.

At first, Minetaka heard the news all the way in America from a friend. He didn’t think it was real, though. He assumed it was nothing more than a cruel joke. Someone just posted a random fabricated story and it spread around because it was utterly ridiculous.

But then Midori called, her voice shaking and her breath hitching as she gasped and tried to tell him that Kazuto was being transported over to the hospital so that he would be able to maintain his health the best he could while living inside that virtual game—Sword Art Online. Apparently… it wasn’t a joke. It was real. It was very, very real.

And Minetaka’s son was caught right in the middle of it.

It was even worse to think of the time when Minetaka received all those phone calls all this time ago, when Kazuto reluctantly answered the phone and chatted with him lightly from across the ocean.

For an entire month all the kid could talk about was Sword Art Online and how amazing the beta test was. Kazuto’s voice was filled with excitement as he explained the ins and outs of the game like Minetaka knew what the hell he was talking about, and the man just didn’t have the heart to stop him because it’s been such a long time since Kazuto was this talkative.

And then the same game that brought so much joy to Kazuto’s life, also took his life away from him. He wasn’t dead, no, but he wasn’t living, either. Midori kept on insisting that as long as Kazuto was breathing, it meant that he was alive and that he was probably doing something interesting or important. She had so much faith in him, and believed he was at least having some fun in Sword Art Online to the best of his abilities.

Minetaka didn’t know what to believe himself, though. He knew that his son loved the game—that much was obvious. But with that game becoming serious and deadly, who knew what was going through Kazuto’s head?

Maybe he was frightened out of his mind? What if he was locking himself inside a safe place and refusing to move? What if he was constantly battling and trying to protect himself against strong, scary beasts? The fact that all anyone could do was guess and speculate about what was going on inside SAO drove people mad.

Trying not to let it take over his life, Minetaka busied himself with his work and tried not to think about it. He tried to just… act like everything was normal. He was away from Japan, but Midori, Suguha and Kazuto were all safe at home, doing something together. Or maybe Kazuto was still hiding in his room, playing video games—normal video games—to pass the time.

And then, two years later, Midori called Minetaka, weeping once again, to tell him that all of the SAO survivors have woken up because the game has been cleared. All except one. The one that was most important to Minetaka.

That was… horrible. It wasn’t something he’d expected. He figured that as long as Kazuto stayed alive inside that stupid game, he would wake up along with the others once the players cleared it. Or once someone in the real world managed to somehow extract them all safely.

So why was it that the game was over—everyone was beginning to recover—and yet… Kazuto was still not with them? Midori emphasized that the kid was still alive. He was breathing and his heart was beating steadily in his chest. But he was also still trapped inside the virtual world. She even got a warning from Kayaba Akihiko himself—the bastard!—about not disconnecting Kazuto from the NerveGear because that would still kill him indefinitely.

And if hearing all of that wasn’t bad enough, then hearing from Midori about those clips regarding their son’s adventures in the game was bound to do it. Minetaka couldn’t believe it at first.

Firstly, because that meant that Kazuto was the one who’d ended the game and freed everyone. Meaning he didn’t hide during those two years—he got stronger and fought monsters and risked his life constantly. He was a hero to so many people, Minetaka was so proud and felt so much frustration toward his reckless son.

And secondly… well, he couldn’t imagine people would want to see the adventures of some teenager inside the virtual world. And yet, he could read online that a lot of people saw those clips, and they all judged Kazuto—Kirito, in the game—as they saw fit.

Some called him a hero. Others called him a creep or an idiot. A lot of them commented on how strong he was or how he was cheating with his knowledge from the beta test. The word ‘beater’ came up more than once, though Minetaka had no idea what it even meant.

Oh, and the strangest thing was when people called Kazuto the Black Swordsman.

Minetaka got why Kazuto didn’t give his avatar his real name—that was a given. Instead, he went with Kirito. That name made sense to Minetaka because he could immediately see what his son did to get to it. But the Black Swordsman? Where did that one come from? Was it about his hair? Eyes? Why did people call him that?

The only good thing that seemed to come out of all of those chats online was that Minetaka managed to find more than enough people who claimed that they’d seen Kazuto wandering around the new full-dive game—Alfheim Online.

At first Minetaka took this with a grain of salt, but after enough people said the same thing—that Kazuto was inside ALO—he decided that maybe there was something to their words. Maybe that was where his son ended up after SAO. Well, at least it seemed like Kazuto was doing fine inside these virtual games.

And now Minetaka was back in Japan. His family needed him and he could finally come back to them. He hoped Kazuto would wake up soon so that he could look into his eyes and tell him how glad he was that the kid was all right. He wanted to hug his boy tightly and never let go again, no matter what Kazuto wanted.

But first, he needed to get home. See his wife and daughter. So he needed to get out of the gas station.

Getting into the car, Minetaka closed the door behind him and started driving toward the exit so that he could merge into the highway, but then his phone started making strange clicking sounds that sounded like footsteps. He quickly pulled over safely before pulling it out of his pocket.

His heart skipped a beat when he saw Kazuto on the screen of his phone, getting into an old-fashioned store. His lips parted as he quickly grasped what was going on. One of those clips. It was one of those clips that Midori had mentioned.

Contemplating his next move, Minetaka closed his eyes and then took a deep breath. He could spare a few minutes, right? He would just watch it and then drive home. It wasn’t like he was in the middle of the road, anyway. He could just… watch Kazuto… watch Kirito. Just for a little while. Just for a bit. Just to remind himself that his son was very much alive.

Slowly but determinedly, Minetaka shifted his gaze back over to the screen of his phone. He briefly thought how bizarre it was that Kazuto’s avatar looked just like him in real life, but then he remembered that Suguha had mentioned that apparently all of the players looked like their true selves in SAO. That just included Kazuto, as well.

Minetaka observed the kid as he started looking around a shop that seemed to sell weapons, and he took in the dark clothes Kazuto wore. Okay, now the comments about the Black Swordsman made a little more sense, huh?

“Welcome to Lisbeth’s Smith Shop!” a girl with a bright smile and lots of freckles said. She had pink, short hair and matching eyes. Her dress was red and had puffy sleeves and a white apron on top.

Turning around to face her without even being startled by her sudden appearance and loud, cheerful voice, Kazuto’s voice was as reserved as ever. “Um, I’d like to order a custom-made sword,” he told her.

The girl seemed to take him in with slightly narrowed eyes, like she was studying him, assessing him. Minetaka knew that look—he did the same to others when he doubted their words or credibility.

The girl walked behind the counter and her friendly smile slipped off. Kazuto didn’t even seem to care about that. Maybe he hasn’t even noticed—who knows. Minetaka sure couldn’t hear his thoughts!

“The metal prices have been rising…” Lisbeth—at least, Minetaka assumed that was her name—said steadily, cautiously. Like she was talking to a wild animal she didn’t want to startle. Or maybe a dim-witted guy she wasn’t sure would understand her implication.

Minetaka understood her. She was selling things—weapons, apparently—and didn’t want to make her costumer run away.

But she also seemed to not think Kazuto had the money to pay, so she was trying to make him… what? Buy something that was already made? Something that wasn’t as expensive as a custom-made order? How much did it cost in the game, anyway? Was she the one to determine the price or was it the system’s job?

“Don’t worry about the money,” Kazuto replied without missing a beat. Which meant he was either poor and didn’t want to think about it, or he had enough money to throw around on a sword. Minetaka was leaning toward the second option. “I just want you to forge me the best sword you can right now.”

“Well, you’ll need to first tell me what stats you want your sword to have.”

“I see,” Kazuto said and then nonchalantly pulled the black scabbard of a sword over his shoulder and held it out between him and Lisbeth. Minetaka watched curiously. “Then could you try to make its stats at least as good as this sword?” Kazuto asked.

The girl reached out to take the offered sword and nearly tripped when the weight was passed over to her. She stared at the scabbard in shock and dismay, like she didn’t expect it to be this heavy.

Minetaka raised an eyebrow silently as she struggled a little to pull the sword out, and then put it on the counter and opened a window with a slight ringing sound. It must have presented the stats of the weapon, though Minetaka couldn’t read a thing through the small screen of his phone.

Reading it in wonder, the girl looked almost impressed. “The Elucidator?” she said. “This probably counts as a Demon Sword amongst monster drops.”

Kazuto didn’t seem to care about that as he asked her if she could do it. She pondered this for a moment or two as she gazed down at the sword, and then she turned around to pick up a sword from behind.

“Try this.” She offered the sword to Kazuto. “This is the best one I’ve ever forged.”

It was a pretty sword with a brown and turquoise hilt and a thin, shiny blade. Minetaka was impressed, but as Kazuto held the sword and observed it, slashing the air a little with it, he didn’t seem to share the sentiment. His face was as blank as ever.

“It feels a bit too light,” he noted.

“I used a speed attributed metal for it.”

“Can I test it?” Kazuto asked. The girl looked at him curiously and asked what he wanted to test. There was a clear glint of annoyance at his reluctance to just accept her work as it was. “Its endurance,” Kazuto explained.

Lisbeth didn’t object, so Kazuto pulled out his black sword and held it in one hand while its pointy edge was leaning on the counter. With his other hand, he pulled Lisbeth’s sword back and prepared to strike. Lisbeth watched him—first confused and then shocked at the realization of what he was going to do. She jumped in alarm and gasped.

Leaning forward on the counter, the girl raised her voice. “Wait! If you do that, your sword’s gonna break!” she exclaimed.

“Let’s worry about it afterward,” Kazuto said without batting an eye, and then Lisbeth’s sword began to glow in a blue, shining light before Kazuto brought it down upon his sword.

There was a loud sound of metal being sliced, and both Kazuto and Lisbeth watched in silence and shock as the broken edge of her sword flew away, landed on the floor and… exploded into small pixels of light? That was probably just another thing that was related to the game, right?

Minetaka flinched when the girl on screen screamed in dread. She snatched the remaining part of her precious sword from Kazuto’s hand and the boy was too stunned to react.

Minetaka had to suppress a few chuckles because, really, this was amusing. He got why people liked watching these things if they were all like this—Kazuto messing up people’s lives. That was just like him. And the thing was, the kid wasn’t even trying to cause any trouble. He was willing to destroy his own sword just now to test out Lisbeth’s one. They both just miscalculated.

Staring at the remaining half of the sword, Lisbeth’s shoulders slumped down. “It can’t be repaired,” she muttered in despair.

Kazuto looked at her in distress from behind, looking like he very much wanted to run the hell away from the shop already and never see that girl again. Minetaka couldn’t blame him. When he happened to break one of Midori’s favorite cups, the woman sent him such a heated glare that he thought he was a goner.

The half in Lisbeth’s hand shattered and disappeared just like the other one and she remained standing there, empty-handed. For a moment she just stared at the space where the sword used to be, and then she crumbled to her hands and knees.

Kazuto stood there and watched awkwardly. He even seemed concerned when the girl’s body started shaking a little.

But then the demon girl jumped onto her feet and grabbed the dash of his black shirt with her hand as she pulled his face closer to hers and screamed, “WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”

“S-sorry, I didn’t think it would break from that” Kazuto apologized quickly.

“YOU MEAN MY SWORD WAS WEAKER THAN YOU THOUGHT?”

Looking away from her but unable to actually take a few steps back, Kazuto hesitated. “Well, yeah…” he muttered.

Minetaka laughed at the kid’s decision to tell the truth rather than lie. There was a furious girl in front of him. Why would Kazuto tell her that when he was supposed to try and calm her down? Then again, the kid really didn’t know what to do around people, huh?

Sighing in relief, Minetaka watched as Lisbeth let go of Kazuto’s shirt and put her hands on her hips, her irritation still shining brightly in her eyes. “Let me put this straight,” she said and Kazuto looked at her curiously. “If I have the right materials, I can easily forge something that will shatter your sword.”

A smirk appeared on Kazuto’s face and he leaned back nonchalantly. “Oh? I’d definitely want one of those,” he said and Lisbeth seemed to stare at him in annoyance. “One that can shatter my sword.”

“If you’ve got such a big mouth,” the girl began, her face turning red from how mad she was. “Then you’ll have to stick around for the whole process!” she exclaimed. When he voiced his confusion about what the whole process meant, she looked down for a moment. “Starting from the gathering of the materials!”

“I can do that alone,” Kazuto said. “You might get in my way.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Would you please stop looking down on me?” she huffed. “I might look weak, but I’m a master macer!”

Making a questioning sound, Kazuto moved past Lisbeth to get his sword back from the counter. “And where do we get the materials?” he asked.

“The west mountain on the 55th floor,” she answered as Kazuto sheathed his sword. “I heard there’s a dragon that eats crystals.”

That was already enough to make Minetaka want to shake his head and sigh. His son, stuck in a game of death, was going to fight a dragon to get some new sword? What was wrong with his sword, anyway? It looked fine to him.

“Rumors say his body contains rare metals,” she said, and when Kazuto began to, once again, claim he should go on his own, Lisbeth cut right in with a smirk. “You need a master smith to collect the metal. Do you still want to go alone?”

Kazuto exhaled and looked away from her. He didn’t look impressed, but Lisbeth finally seemed to be enjoying herself. Apparently, making him squirm made her happy. Minetaka had to admit that it was amusing. Kazuto turned back to Lisbeth and opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to object again, but then he looked away once more and sighed one last time.

“Just behave yourself,” he told her.

“You piss me off!” Lisbeth snapped at him, and Kazuto grinned innocently at her.

Offering her his hand, he introduced himself. “My name’s Kirito.” Right, that was his name in the game. Minetaka just couldn’t help but call him Kazuto, though. Especially when he looked like himself in this identical avatar. “Let’s work together at least until the sword is completed.”

Turning her head away from him—though it didn’t seem to bother Kazuto in the least—Lisbeth talked to him with her loud and somewhat sharp tone. “I’m looking forward to this, Kirito.”

His hand retracted a little as he gave her an awkward look. “No honorific?” he muttered. “Well, whatever.” Then he pulled his hand completely back and grinned cheekily at her. “Lisbeth,” he said her name, punctuating every single syllable.

The girl growled at him in frustration while Minetaka chuckled again. Those two were a chaotic duo, that’s for sure.

Glancing at the clock, he wondered how long this thing would be. He did promise to get back as soon as possible. He didn’t want to make Midori or Sugu wait too long. But these videos… he needed to watch them. He needed to see Kazuto functioning and, apparently, having fun. Or at least the closest thing to it that someone who didn’t like socializing could in a game with so many other people.

This whole thing… it made Minetaka wonder how people inside SAO took the whole catastrophe. He always assumed that they were all miserable and stuck in their own heads at the inability to escape the game.

But seeing this one, small interaction… well, Minetaka was reminded of the human nature—people learned how to live in certain situations. They got accustomed to things, whether it was easy, hard, good, or bad. So being stuck inside a virtual world, there had to be a lot of players who just… lived their lives inside that world, right? They just learned how that world works and went with it.

His son sure seemed like he was doing just fine.

The scene on the screen of his phone changed and Minetaka noticed from the corner of his eye the way one of the workers in the shop of the station was staring at his own phone, too. There was an amused tilt to his lips that let Minetaka know he was probably watching the same thing. Well, there wasn’t really a way to switch it off, was there?

Anyway, Minetaka focused on the screen again where Lisbeth and Kazuto were standing in the middle of what seemed to be a frozen mountaintop with crystals surrounding them.

Lisbeth called out with admiration, noting how beautiful the place was—which it was—but Kazuto just grabbed the back of her black winter coat—which Minetaka was pretty sure belonged to Kazuto since well, it was black, but whatever—and made her angrily turn back to him.

In spite of Lisbeth’s snappy question as to what he was doing, Kazuto kept his expression neutral.

“Get your teleport crystal ready,” he said and Minetaka didn’t need to be a genius to understand what a teleport crystal could do. Lisbeth somewhat calmed down and started digging around to get a crystal, probably. Kazuto kept on talking. “And I’m taking it alone from here on. When the dragon shows up, hide behind those crystals. Don’t come out no matter what.”

“What? I’m not an amateur!” Lisbeth protested. “Let me help!”

“No!” Kazuto snapped for the first time, and both Lisbeth and Minetaka were taken aback.

The look on his son’s face… he looked like he was haunted by something, a memory from the past. Since Minetaka hadn’t seen the past videos, he wasn’t well informed about Kazuto’s life in SAO, but Midori did mention the deaths of all the members in a guild he was a part of for a short while. That could make someone wary of letting people risk their lives, he supposed.

When Lisbeth looked at Kazuto and saw his expression, she lowered her head slowly and nodded. Kazuto smiled then and patted her head as he moved past her. “Now then, let’s go.”

The moment he had his back to her, Kazuto’s smile dropped and he seemed to be getting ready for a fight. Behind him, Lisbeth didn’t move for a few seconds until a shuddering roar could be heard.

She twisted around to stare with wide eyes in Kazuto’s direction while the boy didn’t even flinch. He just pointed at the crystals to his left quickly and ordered Lisbeth to hide. She went without making a fuss about it this time around.

Pulling out his sword, Kazuto stood with it up straight, his eyes levelled on the giant, silver dragon that seemed to burst through the crystals that were in front of him. It was a giant beast that towered over the kid easily, and its roar sent shivers down Minetaka’s body.

Minetaka gaped at the screen of his phone and tried to focus on what was happening, but his hand was shaking violently and the phone kept on moving unsteadily.

“Move out of the way, damn it!” Minetaka screamed uselessly when the dragon sent some kind of a… breath attack toward Kazuto. At least, Minetaka was pretty sure that was what Lisbeth was screaming.

But Kazuto didn’t even flinch. He stood his ground, brought his sword up as it started to glow brightly and…

The sword seemed to cut right through the attack. Kazuto didn’t move a centimeter. He just stood there, his coat flailing around in the breeze along with his hair, but otherwise he seemed like the attack didn’t affect him in the least. He looked unfazed, cool. Absolutely awesome.

Minetaka was torn between feeling proud, and wanting to crawl right into that scene and pull his son to a safer location.

Then Kazuto attacked. He jumped toward the dragon and slashed with his sword, leaving red marks behind that looked so pixelated, Minetaka was fairly certain it didn’t trigger a thing for people who had a weakness when it came to blood and injuries. The kid mercilessly attacked the roaring dragon and Minetaka watched in fascination as its HP bar went down with every hit.

“Come on, let’s get it over with!” Lisbeth said, coming out of her hiding spot nonchalantly.

“You idiot!” Kazuto yelled at her in midair after attacking the dragon way up in the sky. “Don’t come out yet!”

It was too late.

The dragon seemed to have notice her and suddenly his focus was on the girl rather than on Kazuto, who was obviously the real threat. The girl took a moment as she seemed to question Kazuto’s words, and then the dragon came after her and she screamed and started running away.

“Liz!” Kirito cried out.

Minetaka watched in horror as a wave of snow from the dragon’s violent movements seemed to throw Lisbeth off her feet and over a large, deep hole in the ground. The girl’s scream faded a little as she seemed to take notice of how she was hovering in the air, and then she dropped down and her shrieks came right back.

Kazuto sped after her quickly, ignoring the dragon like it wasn’t even there. And then Minetaka was pretty sure he suffered from a heart attack when he watched as the kid dove into the hole, too!

Unlike Lisbeth, who was flailing around as she kept on falling down, down, down, Kazuto kept his eyes open as he set his gaze on Lisbeth, and he reached his hand out to try and get to her. It took him a few agonizing moments before he managed to grab her hand.

She stopped screaming at the feeling of his hand on hers and widened her eyes, at last. Kazuto, somehow keeping his cool despite his decision to jump head first into a situation that could have killed him very easily, didn’t let go of her.

“Liz, hold on to me!” he called loudly.

Then he tugged her close to his chest, enveloping her between his arms in a tight embrace. The girl didn’t fight him and just went right back to screaming her lungs out.

Minetaka noticed the man in the store nearby gaping at the screen of his own phone as Kazuto manipulated the two of them in the air so that he was closer to the ground than Lisbeth was—he was turning himself into a sort of… shock-absorber for her. It was both heroic and stupid. Minetaka didn’t even have the words to describe how scared he was from only watching this.

And then they landed and the snow at the bottom splashed fiercely at the impact. Kazuto was sprawled on the ground, his HP bar significantly lower than it was before. Lisbeth’s one had gone yellow. Kazuto’s was actually red. Instead of moving, Kazuto stayed motionless for a few moments as Lisbeth seemed to open her eyes and look down at him with dazed eyes.

“We’re still alive,” he informed her.

Minetaka suddenly realized that the reason his son wasn’t getting up was because Lisbeth was right on top of him. And then the girl seemed to notice it, too, because she sat up and Kazuto pulled himself up until he was facing her.

He pulled a red bottle out and handed it to Lisbeth. “Drink this,” he said and then pulled one for himself as well. Minetaka sighed in relief when it slowly made the kid’s HP fill back up.

Lisbeth followed suit a moment later. She took a sip from the drink and then pulled her face away from the bottle, a downcast expression on her face. “Um… thanks for saving me,” she mumbled.

“It’s too early for that,” Kazuto said without looking at her. “How are we going to get out of here?”

“Can’t we just teleport out?” She pulled a blue crystal out and held it in front of her. “Teleport: Lindas!” she called. Nothing happened. Kazuto turned his unimpressed gaze to her. Lisbeth’s shoulders sagged. “But…”

Kazuto got up slowly. “If we can’t use crystals,” he started, and Minetaka had the feeling Kazuto didn’t think that the crystal was gonna work in the first place, for some reason. “There must be another way out.”

Lisbeth glared up at him. “You don’t know that for sure!” she snapped. “What if this trap was designed to kill everyone who fell in?”

“Oh, yeah. You might be right,” Kazuto said thoughtfully and Lisbeth pressed her lips together before she got onto her feet and burst out at Kazuto, asking him if he could at least sound like he cared. Kazuto didn’t, well, seem to care. Instead, he just locked eyes with her. “I’ve got an idea.” She gave him a hopeful look. “Running up the wall.”

The look Lisbeth gave Kazuto after he voiced his idea was… less than enthusiastic. Seriously, Minetaka kind of wanted to meet this girl face to face. Those two not getting along felt like watching a comedy show.

“Are you stupid?” Lisbeth whispered.

Taking a few steps back while not taking his eyes off the wall, Kazuto looked completely serious. “Let me check if I am,” he told her and then sped up and ran toward the wall.

Before he could hit it, he jumped up and started running along the wall. Minetaka and Lisbeth both stared in awe as he advanced in a spiral toward the top. Then he slipped and screamed as he fell down, leaving a human-shaped hole in the layer of snow and ice on the ground.

Lisbeth looked down at him with an unimpressed look.

Climbing out, Kazuto grumbled. “If I had had more room to propel myself, I could’ve done it.”

“It’s impossible,” Lisbeth told him, bending down to his level.

The scene changed again after that. The screen was pretty dark. The two were still in that hole, huddled in two sleeping bags next to a small candlelight or something—it was hard to tell with the small screen.

While Kazuto looked bleak, Lisbeth sported an amused smile on her face. Minetaka didn’t know what made Lisbeth this smiley all of a sudden, but he found himself smiling down at her, ready to hear something amusing once more.

“This feels so weird. It’s so unreal. Sleeping next to someone I just met, at a place I’ve never been to. You even tried to run up the wall,” she teased cheerfully. “You’re a real weirdo.”

Kazuto sent her a sideway look filled with annoyance. “I’m so sorry,” he retorted sarcastically.

She giggled and then looked back up again. “Kirito, may I ask you something?” she asked, and when he told her to ask whatever it was, Lisbeth sat up to look at him. “Why did you save me?”

For a moment he just looked at her, and then he moved his eyes upward. “Rather than let someone die alone, it’s better to die with them together,” he told her.

Minetaka wasn’t too sure about this philosophy, but he wasn’t sure what he would have done in Kazuto’s place. He was stuck in that dangerous game for quite some time, after all. What did Minetaka know about choosing between living without someone or dying together?

Then Kazuto smiled at Lisbeth again. “Especially if that someone is a girl like you.”

Lisbeth smiled at him. “There’s something wrong with you. No one else would think like that,” she informed him, but it sounded fond this time around. She burrowed herself back in the sleeping bag before looking at Kazuto again. “Hey, hold my hand…” she said and held her hand out of the sleeping bag until it rested between the two of them.

Minetaka wrinkled his nose. Kazuto never did express any interest in girls, but maybe it had changed in that game? It has been two years, after all… Anyway, Kazuto’s eyes widened at the request but then he looked at Lisbeth for a moment before putting his hand in hers.

“It’s so warm…” the girl muttered as she stared at the hand she was squeezing. Kazuto’s face remained impassive. “You and I are both data in this imaginary world, yet…”

“Liz?” Kazuto prodded when she just trailed off, and the girl smiled at him before closing her eyes, not finishing her line of thought.

Minetaka wasn’t sure what Kazuto had assumed about this whole thing, but he was pretty sure the girl, despite her outbursts around Kazuto, had a crush on him. She was cute and definitely hilarious when put in an unexpected situation such as this with Kazuto…

But that wasn’t really for Minetaka to decide. It was Kazuto’s decision. Whether he liked the girl or not, it was on him. If he could even realize the girl liked him, that is. The kid could be denser than a brick wall.

The scene changed then to reveal Kazuto digging in the snow, the sun shining in the sky. He didn’t pay attention to Lisbeth when the girl seemed to get up and stretch her arms and back.

Slapping her cheeks, she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before she got up and leaned down next to Kazuto. When she asked him what he was doing, Kazuto made a questioning sound and his eyes darted in her direction, like he was surprised to find her awake.

Then he pulled some kind of… ingot from the small hole he’d dug up and handed it over to Lisbeth. She tapped on it with her finger and read the window that opened. “Could this be…”

“It’s the material we came here for,” Kazuto confirmed. The window closed. “The dragon eats the crystals and digests them.” He laughed and got up. “No one would find it.”

Lisbeth caught the metal—apparently—when Kazuto tossed it at her. “We did it!” she said happily. “But why is it here?”

Minetaka had the feeling he knew the answer, but it was just too funny to be true. Right? “This hole isn’t a trap. It’s the dragon’s nest,” Kazuto explained. Minetaka’s lips tugged up. “Which means this ingot is the dragon’s excrement…” He glanced back at Lisbeth and when she didn’t seem to understand, he explained further. “…Or poop.”

The girl looked at him, then down at the ingot in her hands. She seemed to ponder this revelation for a long moment as she switched her gaze again between the boy and the object she was holding, before she exclaimed in disgust and let go of the ingot at once. Kazuto easily caught it, not an ounce of appalment showing on his features. Maybe he just didn’t care.

“Either way, we got what we came here for,” he said and stuffed the metal away. “Now we need to figure out…”

For a second longer Lisbeth stared at her gloved hands with a pinched expression, but then she looked back at Kazuto. “Wait, you said this was the dragon’s nest, right?” she asked and when Kazuto confirmed, she leaned forward. “But dragons are nocturnal, so it should be…”

They looked up in sync just in time to see the dragon diving into the hole. While Lisbeth freaked out, Kazuto looked around and then seemed to come to a conclusion. He took his sword out and then grabbed Lisbeth and tossed her over his shoulder, ignoring her yelp of surprise.

Minetaka watched in fascination as his son used his sword to make the snow at the bottom of the nest lift up and create a cloud of cover for them before he jumped onto the wall like he did the previous day.

The dragon, not seeing them thanks to the cover Kazuto had created, looked around as if sensing their presence. And then Kazuto jumped off the wall onto the back of the monster. He stuck his sword between the beast’s scales and made the monster thrash and fly right back out of the hole.

Lisbeth screamed like crazy while Kazuto held onto his sword for dear life until they were up in the air, above solid ground.

Letting his sword disconnect from the dragon’s hide, Kazuto and Lisbeth were thrown into the open air and began to free fall next to each other while the dragon went right back to its nest, where it would probably rest. Minetaka whistled at his son’s plan and execution. That was some quick thinking. And if these were his skills, Minetaka had far less problem trying to imagine Kazuto beating the final boss of the game, whatever it may be.

The screaming stopped, thankfully, when Lisbeth opened her eyes and seemed to appreciate the view spread before the two of them. Kazuto was smiling next to her as he held onto his sword and then offered her his hand. She took it as the wind rushed past them, making it hard to hear. Minetaka was pretty sure he was hearing better than they could back then, though.

“Kirito!” Lisbeth yelled loudly. “You know, I…”

He furrowed his brows at her. “What?” The boy stared at her, clearly trying to at least read her lips. Yup, he couldn’t hear a thing.

“I love you!”

Oh, there it was.

Minetaka shook his head fondly when Kazuto asked her what she just said and Lisbeth dismissed it with a grin before pulling herself closer to Kazuto, hugging him and laughing in delight. The boy looked mostly surprised at her behavior but he didn’t push her away—he just let her hug him. He didn’t hug her back, though, instead keeping his tight grip on his sword.

When the scene changed again, they were somehow safe in a room that could only be the back of Lisbeth’s shop. There was a furnace that she pulled burning metal out of and then put it on an anvil. Kazuto stood nearby and watched the process carefully, like he was trying to learn the secret behind the creation of the new weapon.

“A one-handed long sword, right?”

“Yes, please,” Kazuto replied.

Lisbeth took in a deep breath and then started hammering the orange metal, the sound echoing around the room loudly. She looked serious. She looked like she was deep in thought. Minetaka lost count of how many times Lisbeth had to hit the metal before it started to glow brightly, changing its form in a way that only a virtual game would allow. In the real world, creating a sword probably took more steps than that.

Though… admittedly, fighting a dragon was probably not one of said steps.

It glowed for a long time before it finished forming and Kazuto watched, awestruck. He didn’t even move when the sword was finished. It was a beautiful blade the same color of the metal—a pale blue-silver, almost white. It was like the exact opposite of his first sword.

Minetaka kind of liked the idea of having two vastly different swords. It looked cool, okay?

Tapping the sword, Lisbeth opened a window above it. “The Dark Repulser,” she read aloud. “It’s the first time I’ve heard that name, so it’s not in the info broker’s codex,” she informed Kazuto and then looked at him. “Give it a try.”

He picked the sword delicately and then swung it around as it glowed a faint golden hue. It was magnificent, indeed. Then he swung it again and it glowed blue. Kazuto’s expression remained impassive for a moment as he stared at the sword, and then Lisbeth asked him anxiously how it was and a smile broke on his face.

“It’s heavy. It’s a good sword.” He turned to look at her. She jumped in her place in excitement. “I can feel your heart inside of it.”

Her hand immediately came up to press against her chest as she smiled at him, and Minetaka shook his head and snorted. Kazuto wasn’t even aware of what he was getting himself into, was he? Lisbeth watched as he slid the new sword into a scabbard and asked her how much it cost.

“Uh… well…” She hesitated. “You don’t have to pay me,” she said eventually and Kazuto’s smile was disturbed as his lips parted in surprise. “In exchange, I’d like to become your private blacksmith.”

The look he gave her was mostly blank, again. Minetaka actually felt bad for the girl. “What does that mean?” he asked, and when Lisbeth remained quiet for too long and refused to look him in the eye, Kazuto turned concerned. “Liz?”

Another moment of hesitation passed before Lisbeth spoke up, her eyes closed as she refused to look at Kazuto. “When you’re back from the fields”—she opened her eyes again and nailed him with a determined look that didn’t go unnoticed by Kazuto this time—“come here and let me do the maintenance on your equipment. Every day! Starting from now on!”

Kazuto straightened up a little as a blush covered his cheeks at the implication. He definitely realized what was going on. “Liz…” he muttered in disbelief.

“Kirito, I… I…” Her hand crept over toward Kazuto’s as she tried to grab it again, but then the door of the room opened and another girl stormed in, calling out for Lisbeth and claiming she was worried sick about her. She ran down the stairs quickly and stopped in front of Lisbeth, completely overlooking Kazuto. “A-Asuna?”

“Liz!” Asuna hugged Lisbeth tightly. “I couldn’t message or track you…” the new arrival said and Kazuto watched them from his place in discomfort. “Where were you last night?”

The pink-haired girl still looked stunned. “Sorry, I got held up in a dungeon,” she explained.

Pulling away and putting her hands on Lisbeth’s shoulders, Asuna stared at the blacksmith with wide eyes. “In a dungeon? Alone?” she inquired worriedly.

With the shake of her head, Lisbeth pointed at Kazuto. “No, with him.”

For the first time since arriving at the store, Asuna seemed to notice the boy standing there and she took a startled step back, her hands coming up in front of her. “K-Kirito-kun?” she exclaimed in shock and Minetaka lifted an eyebrow.

Okay, there was another girl that seemed to know his son. Did the kid befriend any male players in that game? At all? At least he wasn’t the only one surprised—Lisbeth looked just as caught off guard as he felt. The worker watching all of this in the store of the gas station looked like he found this amusing. Well, maybe Asuna wasn’t a new player in these videos, then.

“Hey, Asuna…” Kazuto greeted awkwardly. “It’s been a while. Or not… about two days?”

“I was so surprised!” She smiled at him as Lisbeth watched their interaction with something akin to realization dawning on her. “I see, you’ve come here right away! If you’d told me, I’d have tagged along!” she added and Kazuto nervously leaned a little away from her, like he was afraid of pissing her off, too.

Lisbeth looked at Asuna. “Do you know each other?”

Kazuto was the one to answer. “Y-yeah, we’re both on the front lines.”

“He wanted a strong sword, so I told him about your shop,” Asuna said and Lisbeth mumbled something with her head bowed down. Asuna looked over at Kazuto again, a stern look on her face. “I hope you didn’t do anything weird to my good friend.”

“Of course I didn’t!”

The store worker’s laughter carried all the way over to Minetaka’s ears when the door of the shop opened momentarily. He glanced over at him for a second and then looked back at the screen.

“You sound so guilty.”

“Would it hurt to trust me? I almost died!”

“This is why I told you not to go alone!”

Minetaka almost felt bad for Kazuto—he seemed to only find the girls who wanted to constantly argue with him. Then again, at least one of them fell in love with him for sure. He didn’t know much about Asuna… maybe he could ask Midori and Sugu later. They probably knew a little more, right? Because they’ve watched the previous videos, too.

On the screen, Asuna turned to face Lisbeth again with a smile. “Was he rude to you?” she asked, but Lisbeth was stuck inside her own head, unable to hear the brown-eyed girl. Noticing that, Asuna’s smile slipped away and she looked at her friend in concern. “Liz?”

Next to Asuna, Kazuto opened his mouth in surprise when he noticed Lisbeth’s gloomy mood, too.

And then Lisbeth put on a smile and waved her hand dismissively. “Not rude at all!” she said, not opening her eyes as she grinned like her life depended on it. “He just broke my best sword!”

Asuna startled at that and quickly put her hands together and bowed her head. When she apologized, Lisbeth looked at her, at long last, and dismissed it.

“It’s not something you need to apologize for.” Then she smirked and leaned to whisper in Asuna’s ear. It was clear that Kazuto was out of earshot, but the video seemed to catch everything. “He’s a bit of a weirdo, but he’s a good person. I’ll be rooting for you. Good luck, Asuna!”

The girl started running past Kazuto and Asuna after that, toward the door. Asuna, cheeks burning, turned to glare at her. “I’m telling you, it’s not like that!” she protested and then cocked her head to the side. “Liz?”

“Sorry, I forgot I had an appointment to pick up some materials. I’ll be right back!” the blacksmith said and when Asuna asked her what about the shop, she stopped moving for a moment. Kazuto looked up at her with his usual blank face. “Thanks in advance for watching over my store!”

And she left.

Okay, so both of them liked Kazuto. And if Minetaka had to go with his gut feeling, he would assume that Kazuto was leaning a lot more toward Asuna. Sure, he only saw the two of them arguing, but those smiles they sent each other in between were the kind of smiles he’s never seen on his son’s face before. He looked like he actually cared. Like he saw the girl before him in a way he couldn’t see other people. He just felt bad for Lisbeth, then.

The scene changed once more. It was… twilight, maybe? Or sunrise? He supposed it was the former. Kazuto was walking in a small, pretty garden on a bridge. He stopped a little after the middle of it and looked ahead to the side, like there was someone there.

“Lisbeth...” he said gently.

The sound of rustling leaves and clothes could be heard, and Minetaka held his breath as the girl in question stood up with her back to Kazuto. Minetaka was almost relieved that they didn’t get to see the girl’s expression.

“Right now is a bad time,” she said in a voice that was much quieter and smaller than before. When she turned to face him, her face showed how sad she was even when she offered him a weak smile. Kazuto looked like he felt bad, too. “Give me a few moments and I’ll be back to my old, cheerful self,” she said and wiped a tear before it could slide down her cheek.

“Liz…”

“How did you know I was here?” she asked when he just kept on staring at her, seemingly lost for words.

Yup, that was his son—unable to form a coherent sentence when it really mattered.

Pointing with his finger, Kazuto and Lisbeth both turned to look at the bell tower he was gesturing at. “I searched the entire town from up there,” he replied.

Minetaka shook his head a little. At least the kid knew he hurt Lisbeth and wanted to make sure she was okay. That was probably the only thing he could do for her at that point.

The girl smiled, amused and still a little sad. “You’re always doing such crazy things.” She turned her back on him once more and took a few steps away. Kazuto didn’t move. “Sorry, I’ll be fine. My heart was just surprised because it’s not used to adventures like this.” She bent down and stared at her reflection in the water streaming in the garden. “So please forget everything I said.” She covered her face with both hands.

Kazuto walked down the bridge and stood behind her. “I want to thank you,” he said all of a sudden.

Minetaka really hoped the kid knew what he was doing because this… this was so confusing. Lisbeth lowered her hands in surprise.

“All this time, I seriously thought that it’s better to die than to live your life alone,” he said and looked away as Lisbeth stood up to face him again. She murmured his name but he quickly talked again, a small smile spreading on his face. “But after falling into the hole, I was happy we were alive together. I realized that everyone in this game, including me, are alive for the sake of living. So thank you, Liz.”

“Me, too…” Lisbeth looked down for a second before she gathered the courage to speak up. “You know, I’ve been searching all this time… for something real in this world. For me, the warmth of your hand was that,” she said and Kazuto looked a little stunned by her words. Then she smiled. “Tell Asuna, too, what you just said.”

“Liz…”

“I’m fine,” she said as she turned away from him again. “There’s just a bit of the heat left. So… please…” Her voice wavered a little and Minetaka realized she was crying again. “Make this world end. Until then, I’ll hold out.”

He looked at her back with a spark of determination in his eyes. “I promise you,” he said. “I’m going to beat this game.”

Funnily enough, he really did beat the game. Minetaka still had no idea how, but his boy did it. It was an amazing thing to think about, really. How many times had he promised this to people? At least he didn’t let them down.

Lisbeth seemed to take his word for it, because she straightened up. “If your weapons or armor need fixing, feel free to drop by anytime,” she said and his face brightened as he accepted the offer. When Lisbeth turned back toward him, her smile looked genuine. “Make sure to return to Lisbeth’s Smith Shop!”

The phone’s screen switched to Minetaka’s wallpaper. He stared at the family photo he’d chosen all these years ago, and then put his phone down and looked ahead. He needed to get home, hug his wife and daughter, visit his son at the hospital, and hope his kid could get out of this new mess he was a part of just like he did with SAO.

Judging by this one video, Minetaka believed with all his heart that the kid will make it back to the real world soon enough.

Chapter Text

Kyouko glanced up from her work when she heard the light but urgent knock on her office’s door. She always liked to close the door behind her so that she could work, and the other people living in the house rarely interrupted her, knowing better than to barge in there unwarranted. She had work to do, as did they. Still, someone came over and she wasn’t going to turn them away now.

Calling out a confirmation, Kyouko glanced back at the screen of her computer. She had so much left to do. She needed to finish before dinner and then move on to the next task. Her schedule was full enough as it was—she wasn’t going to push things to the side and ignore them for now, because they would take the precious time she had planned for her other equally important tasks.

Through the door, Kouichirou poked his head into the room, looked at her for a silent moment, and then opened the door fully before coming in. He looked… conflicted. She hoped there weren’t any other things wrong at the company right now.

The fact that a player was still stuck inside something that her husband’s company was running didn’t bode well for the name of their family. It meant they had a mess to clean up, and so far she could tell it wasn’t going too well. If something new came up… well, Kyouko wasn’t too optimistic about what might happen in that case.

“Have you seen Asuna?”

She didn’t expect that from her son. Kyouko regarded him for a short moment, trying to understand why he chose to enter the room for the sake of asking that simple question.

She wasn’t exactly going to berate him for it because it was good for him to look out for his little sister. And he seemed to care a whole lot more ever since that tragedy had come to an end, but still—it was a ridiculous thing to do. Could he not ask the maid? Or maybe just call her cellphone and ask her directly where she’d gone off to?

Pressing her lips just a little, Kyouko waved her hand rather dismissively. “I had a conversation with her about…” She glanced at the clock hanging on the wall for a split second. “An hour ago. After that she stormed out of the house. I haven’t seen her since,” she replied honestly and turned back around to face her computer screen. “When you find her, please remind her that she has those exam papers to study. She can’t slacken off now.”

It was quiet for a few seconds so Kyouko thought Kouichirou had left after closing the door over his shoulder so quietly, she couldn’t even hear him. But she realized that wasn’t the case when she heard a sigh coming from his direction.

She didn’t turn back around, instead finishing the next line she had to write. She had a lot to do. As did he. But apparently only one of them cared about work ethics at the moment. Ever since Asuna came back, Kouichirou has been neglecting his job, really, but Shouzou didn’t even try to berate him. He just let him worriedly orbit around Asuna.

Yes, Asuna wasn’t the same girl she used to be before the unfortunate accident. Kyouko remembered the sweet, subordinate girl that was willing to work hard to succeed in life. Her daughter used to strive for perfection, just like Kyouko wanted her to.

She was polite and beautiful and smart. Kyouko didn’t need a fortune teller to reveal to her how successful the girl’s future would be—it was written all over her forms. Asuna could go the distance, easily.

And then the girl foolishly put on her brother’s NerveGear and got stuck inside that barbarian game where everyone killed each other and fought like they weren’t the same people who grew up in modern society.

Throughout those tragic two years, Kyouko hoped beyond relief that Asuna would both stay alive and keep up her morals. Asuna couldn’t become like those other players. She had to be strong, polite, gentle, dignified, perfect. Just like she was in the real world.

Well, the girl did wake up along with all the other survivors. But she was… different. Ignoring the fact that she kept on going over to that hospital room to visit the still unconscious boy, there was something different about her daughter.

She seemed to hold herself a little bit taller. Her manners weren’t as perfect as they used to be, but she had an air to her, like she set the rules and that was it. People just couldn’t argue with her.

She was physically weak, but the way she moved and worked on getting stronger showed a new kind of determination—like she was trying to reach a target that was beyond just being able to move her body without getting tired or pained.

“What happened?” Kouichirou asked.

Kyouko inhaled slowly and closed her eyes. She was already tired of this conversation. Couldn’t he tell that she was busy? Still, she turned around to face her son and levelled him with a blank look.

“We had a discussion about her future. She’d missed two years, already. I don’t want her to fall behind. But apparently she didn’t think that was the priority right now. She kept on bringing up that boy.”

She almost snorted at the mention of him. Well, she held herself back from doing so because that would have been impolite and a bad example for her son, but she felt the urge to do it, nonetheless.

The young man pressed his lips a little. “You mean Kirito?” he asked. “So she went to visit him?” He sounded relieved.

With a shake of her head, Kyouko watched as the calmness on her son’s face evaporated once again. “She just came back from that boy’s hospital. I told her to stop wasting her time on him. I did my research, you see?” She dismissively gestured toward a thin stack of papers that was waiting on the edge of her desk. Kouichirou’s eyes drifted over to the stack. “He doesn’t have the stable situation which Asuna deserves. And I told her that.”

“Mother…” Kouichirou stared at her.

He looked like he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Well, Kyouko wasn’t going to back down. Someone in this family had to think about her daughter’s future, and if that only left her in charge, she would gladly take that role.

Her son’s hand twitched at his side. “You investigated him?” He didn’t sound too stunned, but still pretty bothered. “Don’t you trust Asuna’s judgement at all? She wouldn’t have stuck by someone’s side without having her own reasons. Am I wrong?”

She took in a deep breath and then let it out patiently. Sometimes raising two kids was beyond exhausting. Asuna coming back with this new attitude wasn’t all that bad because at least Kyouko knew where it came from. It was all because of that incident. It was all Kayaba Akihiko’s fault.

But Kouichirou? There was no reason for him to get all riled up about things that didn’t even make sense or mattered. He was letting his emotions get in the way of logical thinking.

Her lips tugged down as she watched her son. “Of course I trust her judgement. But she’s still just a kid and has no idea how much her decisions now could affect her entire future. I won’t let Asuna destroy everything she’s worked up toward,” she stated firmly and then turned her back to Kouichirou once again in order to focus on her work.

She expected him to leave this time around, but he was still just standing there, probably staring at her back. “You are dismissed,” she added, as if he didn’t know that already.

Still, he didn’t move.

“Have you seen any of those videos about SAO?”

She knew what he was referring to. There have been these obnoxious videos about the clearer of the game. That kid that Asuna cared about so much. The one their company was about to go down for if he kept on wandering around their virtual world without a way of getting out.

The first time it came up, she just got out of the room, leaving her phone behind, and picked up a study book she was intending to read eventually, anyway. And then it kept on happening—those videos would come up and disturb her work. That was all they did, after all.

“I don’t care to see such nonsense,” she said sternly and waved her hand over her shoulder. “It’s all in the past, anyway. I don’t see a reason to watch any of it. Especially when it probably only shows that boy killing things. There’s nothing educational about it. Nothing substantial or essential.”

Kouichirou hummed. “Asuna appears in those videos, too,” he said.

Kyouko’s fingers froze over the keyboard as she stared ahead, mulling the words in her head. Asuna… was in those videos? Why?

“Don’t you want to see what she’s been up to during those two years? She crosses paths with Kirito a lot.” He said the name, punctuating each syllable, like he was trying to get a point across. “And that means she’s in these videos, too. Don’t you want to see it?”

A part of her ached to watch it now. She didn’t care about that boy. She didn’t care what he did or thought or how he acted. He simply didn’t matter to her. But Asuna mattered. And what if those videos could reveal to Kyouko the reason behind Asuna’s strange changes? What if she could get to the bottom of this mystery and finally get her daughter back on track? Maybe if she watched these…

But no, it was ridiculous. She didn’t even know when Asuna might show up in those videos, and what if she appeared there only for brief seconds before going away and doing her own thing? What if that boy hurt her somehow? What if he tried to kill her? Did Kyouko really want to see something like that? No.

And yet…

“I’m going to look for Asuna,” Kouichirou said with a sigh, and then his footsteps indicated his departure.

The door closed behind him and Kyouko slumped a little—just a tiny bit—as she took her glasses off her face and rubbed her eyes tiredly. She had no time for this… this nonsense! Kouichirou never should have brought this up! She needed to work fast and finish everything on her to-do list before she found herself slacking off…

But could she really concentrate on her work now? She couldn’t stop imagining Asuna in that game. She couldn’t stop trying to imagine her living a different life. Fighting for her life. Changing her life.

As if to taunt her, the screen of her computer switched. Her work was gone, instead replaced with the sight of a small, wooden shop. There were boxes and jars lined up on the shelves around, and chit-chat could be heard from outside.

She frowned at the sight of the place but didn’t say anything. Her hands itched to grab a book and leave, but she stayed in place. What if Asuna showed up? What if she got to see her daughter in this?

Right now, though, there were only two people in the shop. A tall, broad man that was staring down into a small, translucent window that seemed to display some kind of information she couldn’t read, and a young boy wearing dark clothes.

That was Kirito, she knew. She recognized his face from the picture she had of him in that file she’d made on him. Kirigaya Kazuto. His expression was blank as he leaned with one hand on the counter separating him from the other man.

“Seriously?” the man said, sounding like he was looking at something almost holy. “This is an S-class rare item,” he said.

and Kyouko had no idea what that even meant. She assumed it meant it was… something very good? She rolled her eyes. Like it even mattered. These people had better things to worry about, but of course they would focus on such pointless things, such as rare items.

“I’ve never seen one before.” Straightening up a little, the man turned a nervous look toward the boy. “Hey, Kirito.” So she guessed right. Of course she did. “Don’t you already have all the money you need? Wouldn’t you rather eat this yourself than sell it?”

So that was all the information Kyouko had gathered so far—Kirito had a rare item that he wanted to sell to this… merchant, probably. By the way this person was built, Kyouko would have guessed he was a fighter rather than someone who operated a shop. But oh, well.

The item was edible, but Kirito wanted to sell it, anyway. And the boy didn’t look as strong as the stories made him out to be. Sure, it was a game, so Kyouko assumed appearances could be deceiving, but still. Shouldn’t he be taller? Buffier? Bigger? He was as lean as a twig.

Looking disappointed, the boy replied in almost a whine. Seriously, was he five? “I’d love to eat it,” he said miserably. “I’ll probably never get one again.”

“Then…”

“But who has a high enough cooking skill to prepare this?” Kirito finished and gave the man a tired look, like he’s already exhausted all of his options.

The man crossed his arms over his chest and spoke in a low but agreeable voice. “If we tried, we’d burn it,” he said and Kirito hummed and closed his eyes again.

Kyouko was just about to get up and go read something because really, this was nothing but a waste of time. But then a familiar girl stepped into the shop, followed by another man with gray hair, and Kyouko stayed in her place, intrigued.

Asuna was there. Kouichirou was right. She looked just like she did two years ago. Her hair was long and her eyes were bright. She was smiling as she stepped toward the kid inside the shop. The outfit she was wearing… well, it was white with accents of red and silver, and looked like it matched the outfit the man behind her was wearing.

“Kirito-kun,” the girl said and tapped his shoulder lightly.

Slowly, the boy turned around to face her, and his eyes grew wider as he just stared at her. Asuna waved in greeting, looking like she didn’t mind his strange and inappropriate behavior. Well, Kyouko was going to have to talk to her about tolerating such manners.

And then it turned even worse when Kirito grabbed her hand in both of his and mumbled something about finding his chef.

“W-what?” Asuna asked in slight shock.

The kid’s eyes shifted over to the warning look the gray-haired man behind Asuna was giving him and he quickly let go of her hand. Both his hands flew up to show that he wasn’t planning anything, and then he brough one of them down to his hip as he smiled nervously at Asuna.

Kyouko groaned at the display. Asuna was supposed to scold him for it. She wasn’t even supposed to be inside that small shop, really. The merchant behind Kirito was leaning on the counter and staring intently at the exchange, like he knew what was going on.

“It’s rare to see you in a dive like this, Asuna,” the boy said.

Kyouko set her jaw at his luck of honorifics. Was he really that lacking when it came to manners? Behind the boy’s back, the merchant scowled at him at the jab aimed at the shop. Really, could anyone blame Kirito, though? When it came to that comment, that is. The place looked like, well, a dump.

Looking suspicious and annoyed, Asuna’s hands clenched. “It’s almost time for the next boss,” she told him sternly. “I just came to see if you were alive.”

Kyouko noticed the sword attached to her hip for the first time, then. Was it useable? Was her daughter really fighting in that game? Like all the others? No, it was probably just for protection. But she did mention a boss, and despite not knowing much about games, Kyouko was pretty sure that it meant a strong monster.

The boy didn’t look like her mood bothered him. “I’m on your friend list,” he noted and Kyouko had to ask herself why that even was. Did Asuna have no qualms about befriending questionable people? “You can tell from that.”

“If you’re still alive, that’s good enough,” Asuna said and closed her eyes as she lifted her chin. Then she peeked open her eyes to glance back at the boy before her. “Anyway, so what was that about a chef?”

“Oh, yeah. What’s your current cooking skill?” he asked.

Kyouko thought about how Asuna could work in the kitchen pretty well. She was certainly not bad. Her skill was pretty good, she assumed. But no, wait, it was a game. Meaning a skill was an in-game skill. So people had to cook according to the system there.

Ugh, this was already giving her a headache. Why would anyone want to play such nonsense when the real world was so much easier to understand?

A proud smirk appeared on Asuna’s face, and Kyouko watched as her daughter leaned forward. “I maxed it last week. Amazing, right?” she announced.

A swell of uncalled-for pride spread inside Kyouko’s chest. It was ridiculous because levelling up was probably easy in the game and nothing like cooking in the real world, but still… to hear that her daughter maxed something was… nice.

The boy and the merchant both gaped at her.

Bowing his head in thought, Kirito seemed to consider something before he looked back at Asuna. “If you’re that good, I have something to ask you.” He opened a window in front of him with the movement of his fingers and then pressed a few buttons before another window appeared in front of Asuna.

She bent down to read it and then her eyes bugged out and she gasped in shock. “T-this is a ragout rabbit!”

Kirito smiled at her. “We’ll trade,” he offered. “If you cook it for me, I’ll let you have a bite.”

Kyouko was surprised when Asuna didn’t say a word. Instead, the girl looked up at the boy with an intense look in her eyes, grabbed the dash of his black shirt and got in his face. Yes, that was definitely not something she’d learned at home. Kyouko sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. This was getting tiring.

“Half,” Asuna stated curtly, and the boy stuttered his agreement before she let go of him and he sighed in relief. Asuna jumped backward with a beaming smile and fist-bumped the air like a little girl. “All right!”

For a second Kirito looked stunned by the girl’s reaction, but then he smiled fondly at her and turned around to the merchant watching it all quietly. “Sorry…” he said, not sounding too apologetic. “I won’t be selling it, after all.”

“W-we’re buddied, right?” the merchant called after Kirito when the boy started heading toward the door along with Asuna and the other man. “Just give me a taste…”

“I’ll write you a two-page report on its taste.”

It made Kyouko snort. Actually snort. She didn’t laugh or chuckle or giggle. But she snorted. It was as far as she was willing to go.

She looked at the boy as he stepped out of the shop, followed closely by Asuna and the other white-cladded man. Still smiling, Asuna caught up to Kirito and asked him where he wanted to cook the ragout rabbit, making the boy falter and sheepishly look around.

Kyouko narrowed her eyes at him. If he was going to invite her daughter over, she was going to ruin his life. Once he woke up, of course.

Still smiling sweetly, Asuna didn’t let him say too much before talking again. “You probably don’t have any cookware at your place,” she noted.

He looked up but didn’t deny that. Kyouko snorted. What did he eat all the time, then?

“Just this once,” Asuna began, and Kirito glanced at her. “And only because the ingredient is so good, we can use my place,” she said and ignored the way the boy gasped and jumped, almost looking like a startled cat.

Kyouko frowned. What was her daughter thinking, inviting someone she didn’t know all that well into her house?

Then Asuna turned to the man behind her. “That will be all for today. Good-bye.”

For the first time—at least in that video—the man spoke up, looking displeased. “Asuna-sama”—at least he knew how to use honorifics properly—“you can’t let such a suspicious person into your home.”

Kirito didn’t bat an eye at the accusation, which let Kyouko know he was probably used to these kind of words aimed his way, but Asuna slumped down and seemed to try and stifle her irritation.

“He may be suspicious but he’s also quite skilled,” she said, gesturing with her hand toward the boy. Then she added with a smirk. “He’s probably ten levels above you, Kuradeel,” she said mockingly and the kid looked at Asuna with a frown, like he didn’t like where she was taking this conversation.

“You’re suggesting he’s superior to me?” The man—Kuradeel—contorted his face as he said it. Then his eyes widened, like he just discovered something important. “I see… he’s one of those beaters.”

Asuna frowned at that word. Kyouko had absolutely no idea what it even meant, but she just decided it wasn’t anything good. Yet Asuna didn’t look surprised nor bothered by that fact.

Kirito turned to face Kuradeel a little better. “Yes, that’s right.”

As if waiting for the confirmation, the man marched closer to Asuna. “Asuna-sama, all they care about is themselves!” he exclaimed.

People around the street they were in started turning to look at the scene before them. Kyouko frowned a little at Asuna’s straight, unbudging posture. She was standing her ground against someone who seemed to only want what was best for her. If he was right and this kid only cared about himself… he could let Asuna die if it meant saving his own skin!

“Nothing good will come of being around him,” Kuradeel insisted.

“What’s going on?” someone in the crowd muttered.

“That’s Lightning Flash, Asuna-sama!” another one called excitedly.

“You’re right!” replied a third one.

“She’s really cute!” a fourth one commented.

People’s whispers made Kyouko tilt her head a little. Asuna… was famous? Lightning Flash, they called her. And this Kuradeel guy acted like he was her bodyguard or something. What was she doing in that game? How good was she? Why was she risking it all by walking around with someone who was described as egotistical and selfish?

Noticing the attention of them, Asuna set her jaw and pierced Kuradeel with a steely look. “Just go home for today. That’s an order from your vice commander,” she said sternly and Kyouko arched an eyebrow.

Vice commander? Of what? Probably something important, if she was this recognizable.

Before Kuradeel could argue any further, Asuna turned around and grabbed Kirito before dragging him after her. The boy stumbled in surprise and asked her hesitantly if she was sure about all of this.

“I’m sure!” the girl replied stubbornly.

The boy looked over at Kuradeel who kept on watching them leave with a frown, and his surprise melted away to show mostly… vague worry. Like he was concerned about something.

And then the scene changed. Kyouko was taken by surprise as the scenery was replaced by a marvelous spacious place that revealed the sun setting down over the sea in the distance. It was a beautiful scene, really. Even if it was only a video game…

Walking forward, Asuna was marching ahead like she was still upset. She was a couple of steps ahead of her little friend who stared at her back unsurely.

“Are you sure about that guy back there?” he asked.

Lowering her head and slowing her steps just a little, Asuna’s face turned somewhat somber. “I told them I don’t require an escort,” she said quietly, “but they said it’s the policy for leaders. The commander used to personally invite everyone. We were just a small guild.”

What was a guild in the game, exactly? Kyouko didn’t know, but apparently Asuna was her guild’s vice commander. It sounded important enough…

“But we got more and more people. After people started saying we were the strongest guild, everything got weird.” A bell started ringing in the distance and Asuna seemed to snap out of it before she turned to face the boy with a bright grin and lighter tone. He still looked bothered by her story, though. “Well, it’s no big deal, so don’t worry about it! We should hurry or it’ll get dark.”

When the next scene started Kyouko was a little less startled than the last time. The duo were no longer outside, but instead sitting opposite one another around a table filled with eaten food and dirty dishes.

Kyouko looked around the room they were in and had to admit it looked quite lovely. It was clean and organized and… well… maybe a little cozy, too. If that was the place where Asuna lived, she must have paid quite a lot to get it.

Had Kyouko been there, she would have tried to get Asuna to choose a bigger place since her daughter deserved a house just as big as the one she had in the real world. Then again, she lived there alone and had no need for the large space.

It was all just numbers, anyway. Code lines written down to make things look and appear a certain way. Asuna wasn’t really in there—it was just an avatar. And the food they must have eaten was nothing more than signals sent to their brains, telling them the meal was tasty. So really, there was nothing about the scene that was satisfying.

Still, Asuna and the boy both sighed in content, like they were genuinely enjoying themselves. The girl no longer wore her uniform, instead having put on some comfortable-looking clothes. The boy was left without his black coat and fingerless gloves.

“I’ve been here two years,” Asuna mumbled and Kirito watched her with a smile, holding a cup of tea in his hand. “And this is the first S-class ingredient I’ve had. I’m glad I’ve survived this long.”

“Yeah…” the boy agreed and closed his eyes, as well.

Kyouko felt conflicted when Asuna kept on talking, looking actually happy. Why was Asuna letting this world fool her? None of this was real. Did she not realize that her real body was just lying around, rotting away? Was she oblivious to the fact that she was nothing but a mouse trapped inside this virtual world? It was foolish of her to forget these things. She didn’t need to enjoy herself—she needed to survive and try her hardest to get back to her life.

“It’s strange…” Asuna said. “It kind of feels like I had lived here for my entire life,” she said and there was a tinge of solemness in her voice.

Kyouko thought it was simply ridiculous, but then Kirito opened his eyes and his smile faded away as he looked at the table. “Lately, there are days I can’t even remember the other world,” he commented, and the way he said other world instead of real world made Kyouko’s thought screech to a halt.

The two of them, along with all of the other people who were trapped in that trap, were all… living their lives inside a game. For them, it must have become somewhat real. Wouldn’t they have lost their minds had they not accepted their reality?

He continued, saying, “And it isn’t just me. Recently, fewer and fewer people have been giving their all to beat the game.”

That was crazy.

Then again, this whole situation was crazy, wasn’t it?

“Fewer than five hundred players are fighting on the front lines,” Asuna noted and looked down, upset. “Everyone has grown accustomed to this world.”

For a few seconds both Asuna and Kirito looked down, lost inside their own minds. It was a big change from their content sighs at the beginning of the scene after they must have eaten that ragout rabbit.

Then Asuna smiled again and spoke up with a little more cheer. “But I want to go back.” Kirito lifted his gaze to look at her quizzically. “There are lots of things I never had the chance to do there.”

He smiled back. “Yeah. Unless we do our best, it isn’t fair to the merchants and others who are supporting us,” he said.

Kyouko thought about that merchant he’d promised a report about the food. Was he the one he was referring to? He’d teased him earlier, but maybe it was just a friendly encounter. The merchant did claim they were friends, though that could have just been him trying to get some delicious food.

The two teenagers took sips from their cups of tea then. Kyouko stared at the liquid and tried to determine what it must have felt like to drink it in the game. Was it the same? Was the taste any good? Did it even remind tea? Then Asuna lowered her own cup and glanced at Kirito’s smiling face before she closed her eyes and waved her hand in front of her.

“Stop it,” She told him. He leaned a little back in confusion. “Lots of people with that same expression have proposed to me,” she claimed and Kyouko choked right along with Kirito.

WHAT?

She assumed she was more surprised than the boy. He looked flustered and like he had no idea where it even came from. His cheeks were tinged a faint shade of pink as he stared at Asuna in shock, speechless. Have people really been… well, Asuna was a beautiful girl, but Kyouko certainly hoped her daughter was safe from creeps inside this game.

Then Asuna looked at Kirito and started chuckling. “From the look of things, you aren’t close to any other girls.”

For a moment the boy just kept on gaping at her, and then he turned his face away defiantly. “It’s fine. I’m a solo player.”

Which meant… that he fought alone? Kyouko assumed it did. Which went hand in hand with him being selfish. Because then he didn’t have to look out for anyone.

While the boy busied himself with drinking from his cup, Asuna did the same before lowering it and looking down thoughtfully.

“You don’t want to join a guild, Kirito-kun?” she asked. The boy made a confused sound. “I know the beta players don’t fit in with the groups,” she started and Kyouko thought back to that word—beater. Was it related? It sounded like it was. “But… ever since we hit floor 70, the monster algorithm seems to be more and more irregular.”

He nodded.

“There are things a solo player can’t handle,” Asuna continued. “And you can’t always warp out.”

The longer she spoke, the more Kyouko realized the girl cared about this guy. She didn’t know how they grew to even know each other, but Asuna seemed to really care about him, whether he wanted her help or not. She invited him to her house so that she could make dinner for the two of them. The old Asuna wouldn’t have even entertained the idea!

“I keep a solid safety margin,” Kirito said. Then he raised his voice a little. “And most party members are more likely to hinder me rather than to be of any help,” he added, which seemed to piss Asuna off.

Kyouko pondered the word party in her head. It wasn’t friend nor was it guild. So it was probably something else. She just didn’t know what.

She was shocked when Asuna moved faster than was humanly possible and held her knife right in front of Kirito’s face. The boy stared at it with wide eyes and raised his left hand apologetically without taking his eyes off the weapon. That was definitely not polite of Asuna.

“I get it. You’re the exception,” he relented quickly.

Satisfied, Asuna drew her knife back.

Kyouko assumed they must have… partied together at some point. She didn’t think the word meant the same thing as putting balloons up and listening to music while socializing. It must have been some kind of term in the game that Kyouko just wasn’t aware of.

“Right,” Asuna said coolly and the boy sagged in relief. “Then party with me. It’s been forever,” she said and started spinning the knife expertly between her fingers. Kirito gawked at her. “And black is my lucky color this week,” she added without looking at him.

“What?” the boy asked, clearly freaking out. Kyouko had no idea why that was, but she assumed there was a reason behind his reaction… right? Maybe she could ask Asuna to tell her everything when the girl came back home. “But what about your guild?”

“We don’t have any levelling quotas.”

“T-then what about your escort?” the boy pressed. Yeah, he clearly wasn’t comfortable with the idea. For the life of her, Kyouko didn’t understand why Asuna wanted this so much.

“I’ll ditch him.”

Staring at her for a moment longer, Kirito looked like he was looking for something else to say, but then he just leaned back and tried to take a sip from his tea before realizing his cup was empty. He looked over at Asuna who picked up the jug from the table and smiled sweetly at him. He kept his face closed off as he let her fill his cup again.

Kyouko watched, almost fascinated, as Kirito lifted his gaze at the sound of a soft twinkle to see Asuna opening that window in front of her and pressing a couple of buttons. Then the girl smiled at him again, and a window appeared in front of the boy, asking if he wanted to join a party with Asuna.

Instead of pressing any of the options, the kid brought the cup to his lips, took a long gulp of tea, and then looked away. “The front lines are dangerous,” he said.

Just like before, Asuna pointed a knife at him so fast, it was scary. Kyouko couldn’t even see the movement. Though she did see the way the knife glowed a bright purple, for some reason.

“F-fine,” he gave up and accepted the offer reluctantly.

Asuna tossed the knife playfully, caught it easily and then smiled at him like an innocent kid. Kyouko wasn’t sure what to think about all of that. She was displeased to see Asuna treating this life like it was real… but also… there was a feeling in her chest as she watched her daughter interacting with this young man without a care in the world… she looked happy. She looked content.

She was proud and confident as she stood her ground and argued with him, but there was also something real in the interaction. They were clearly used to this kind of exchange. And Asuna, as annoyed as she appeared to be around this boy, wanted to be around him. That was the meaning of that party, right? It had to be.

When the scene changed again, Kyouko didn’t even bat an eye. She just watched as Asuna and Kirito stood in front of each other on the front porch of what had to be Asuna’s home.

The sky was dark and there were stars shining above their heads even though it wasn’t real. It was beautiful. While Asuna still wore her homey, cozy clothes, the boy put on his coat again, along with the sword strapped to his back.

“I suppose I should thank you for today,” Asuna said. “Thanks for the meal!”

“You, too. I’ll ask for your help again,” he said and then he shrugged helplessly. “Or… I would, but I doubt I’ll ever find an ingredient like that again.”

“If you’re skilled, you can make good stuff with normal ingredients.”

Right after saying that, Asuna looked down, her smile gone. Kirito and she looked together at the starry sky, both somewhat grim and thoughtful.

“The way the world is now…” the boy pondered aloud. “Is this really what Kayaba Akihiko wanted to make?”

And then the scene switched abruptly to daytime. Kirito was standing alone, slumped over and looking tired. “She’s not coming,” he grumbled to himself and yawned wearily.

It was bright outside. He was standing next to a strange… structure that was a little higher than the rest of the surface around. Like a small stage. Really small. It was a square, and Kyouko had no idea what it was.

The rest of the place was mostly painted in light brown and beige. It looked like everything was made out of sand. There weren’t a lot of people around—at least not too many. It wasn’t a street, either. Maybe a plaza of some kind?

Kyouko’s eyes widened when a bright light appeared in the middle of the square behind Kirito, and the boy seemed to hum in confusion right before Asuna appeared out of thin air. Kyouko could barely see a blur as the girl screamed while seemingly jumping away from something.

With not enough time or space to escape, Asuna crashed right into the boy and they both screamed and fell to the ground, the boy stuck under her daughter’s stunned, uniformed body.

For a few seconds they just stayed that way and the angle of the camera focused on them from up high so Kyouko couldn’t see much. Which left her breathless when Asuna screeched again and slapped the boy so hard, he rolled away from her on the ground until his body hit a pillar.

He grunted as he stood back up slowly, his eyes seemingly glazed over as he rubbed the back of his head in pain. Asuna, on her part, had a crazy blush on her cheeks and her scowl was aimed directly at Kirito. Her arms were wrapped against her chest and the boy looked at her in confusion for a few moments as a crowd of curious people gathered around them.

Apparently, Kirito understood what was wrong because his face burned just as much as Asuna’s as he awkwardly and nervously lifted his hand in a greeting. “U-um, good morning, Asuna.” His breath hitched a little when her glare didn’t waver.

But then both of them seemed to notice another bright light coming from the square Asuna had jumped out of—teleport area, was it? That was a thing in games, right?—and the girl seemed to forget about whatever Kirito had done to her as she quickly got up and ran over to him.

He looked at her in confusion when she placed herself behind him, seemingly turning him into her human shield. What she needed saving from, though, was beyond Kyouko.

This time when the light dissipated, the person left there was calmly standing, unlike the way Asuna had appeared. Kyouko cocked her head to the side at the sight of Kuradeel standing there. He looked around the plaza before spotting Asuna.

His eyes narrowed a little. “Asuna-sama, you shouldn’t act like this,” he said, and the girl glared at him, her hand holding onto Kirito’s shoulder like she was going to fight to stay in her place. “Let’s go back to the guild headquarters.”

“No!” she snapped at him. “And what were you doing outside my house so early in the morning, anyway?” she demanded and the boy she was hiding behind jumped at her words, looking scandalized.

Kyouko couldn’t blame him—that was a weird thing to do.

“I thought this might happen,” Kuradeel said, not even trying to deny it. The crowd around them thickened a little bit. “So for the past month a part of my mission has been to observe you in Selmburg.”

The girl stared at him. “T-that wasn’t in the guild leader’s orders, was it?”

He didn’t even flinch. “My mission is to guard you. That includes at your home.”

“No, it doesn’t, idiot!” she yelled at him.

Sighing, Kuradeel started walking down from the teleport square and toward Kirito and Asuna. “You should stop acting like such a brat,” he told her calmly. “Now”—he stopped in front of her and her impromptu bodyguard—“let’s return to headquarters,” he said and despite her surprised yelp, he grabbed Asuna by the wrist and started dragging her away.

Kyouko’s blood was boiling at the sight of her daughter being treated that way. She was going to call someone—anyone—to try and figure out who this man was (even though, she realized, her phone was out of commission right now because of this video) when she noticed Kirito looking at the scene before him with wide eyes.

And then he drew his eyebrows lower and his hand reached out to hold Kuradeel’s arm. That stopped the gray-haired man from walking any further and he turned to face the boy angrily.

“Sorry,” the boy said coldly. “I’ll be borrowing your vice commander today,” he informed the man.

In his stunned state, Kuradeel loosened his grip on Asuna enough for her to escape. She took a few steps away from him and once again stationed herself behind the dark-cladded boy. At this point, Kyouko definitely trusted him more than Kuradeel and other players in the game. He seemed to respect Asuna, at the very least. Even if he didn’t use honorifics…

“I’ll take responsibility for her security,” Kirito continued and Kuradeel snatched his hand free, his face contorting in rage. “We aren’t facing a boss today. You can go to the headquarters alone.”

“Hell no!” Kuradeel exclaimed, and Kyouko’s lips thinned as she regarded the man with a cool gaze. “A low-level player like you couldn’t possibly protect her!” he accused.

Now… Kyouko didn’t know much about Kirito, but she was pretty certain that to beat the game, he had to be strong. Even if he looked like he couldn’t fight to save his life, she assumed his appearance wasn’t as accurate as others might think. So he was probably stronger than Kuradeel was assuming.

“I am a member of the glorious Knights of the Blood—” Kuradeel started saying.

This was probably the name of the guild Asuna was a part of, right?

The boy didn’t even let him finish. “I can do a better job than you,” he stated firmly.

Kuradeel regarded him with growing irritation. “If you’re that certain, you’re prepared to prove it, right?” he dared the boy while simultaneously opening the window before him with frantic motions.

The boy didn’t change his expression too much, but he did look hesitant when a request for a duel appeared in front of him. He glanced back at Asuna, as if looking to see what she thought he should do, and she levelled him with a gaze and nodded her head.

Kirito looked flustered. “Are you sure?”

“It’s fine.” She set her eyes back on Kuradeel. “I’ll speak with the guild leader.”

At that, the boy accepted the duel.

Kyouko’s hands clenched in her lap as she watched with bated breath. All of this… it wasn’t real. It wasn’t reality. It was just a… a stimulated world. But she still found her heart beating in her chest at the sight of Kuradeel pulling out a large sword with a grin and pointing it at the boy.

Sure, she didn’t approve of the kid—well, to some extent, anyway—but she didn’t want him dead, either. Especially when he was doing all of this for Asuna rather than himself.

A rational part of her brain reminded her that Kirito was very much alive. Another part of her that seemed to be engrossed in the ridiculous video shushed that voice immediately to focus on the screen.

With a smirk, Kuradeel spoke out loud. The crowd around watched in awe as the announcement of the duel was displayed in plain sight above everyone’s heads.

“Watch carefully, Asuna-sama.” The gray-haired man said as the clock counting down to the beginning of the fight ticked down slowly. Kirito, the foolish child, didn’t even reach for his sword. “I’ll prove that only I can protect you.”

Well, Kyouko was getting ahead of herself, apparently. As if the words triggered him to act, Kirito reached out to pull his sword out of its scabbard. He held it by his side, and the black blade sparkled under the artificial sun. Somehow, Kyouko wasn’t surprised that the boy’s weapons was black like the rest of his complexion. With his black hair and dark eyes… the color made him look more mysterious than he had any right to be.

“Kirito, the solo player, and a member of the Knights of the Blood are dueling,” someone in the crowd said.

“This’ll be fun to watch,” said another one, voice laced with excitement.

Eventually, Kuradeel readied his sword and the boy before him took it as his cue to do the same. He bent his knees a little and held his sword before him, aimed at the ground, while his other hand was held up behind him. He didn’t look worried, just upset. Kuradeel looked tenser, to be honest. It was strange, to see the kid remaining calm under pressure while the adult was almost twitching from the nerves.

Tracing his eyes over Kuradeel’s stance, Kirito narrowed his eyes a little. And then the timer ran out and the duel began.

Both of the players moved their swords at once. Kuradeel’s started glowing in a gold hue, while Kirito’s burned a bright green. Kyouko started realizing that was something the system did. Like… an ability activated that they used to fight. The two ran toward one another at once—Kuradeel coming from above and Kirito from below.

Kyouko found herself sitting at the edge of her seat despite herself, and she stared intently at the screen as Kuradeel seemed to have the upper hand. There was a brief smirk on his face before Kirito moved even faster than before, bringing his sword up to meet with Kuradeel’s weapon.

There was a bright spark when the two swords slashed against each other, and then the two duelers ended up on opposite sides, their backs turned on one another.

For a moment, neither one of them moved. Kuradeel looked like he was shocked and angry, but Kirito’s expression remained cool and collected as the glow of his sword slowly dissipated. He didn’t even move when Kuradeel straightened up to stare at his sword.

No, Kyouko gaped at the screen. There was no longer a sword in his hand. At least, not a full one. He only had the hilt and the base of the blade. The rest, she noticed, landed on the ground between the two players.

“I-impossible,” Kuradeel murmured, and then the weapon in his hand and the other half of it that was on the ground both turned to those dissipating, twinkling lights that floated away into nothingness.

Kyouko’s lips parted a little as she watched Kirito finally move again, as if sensing it was over, so he could stop standing like a statue.

Watching all of this, the people started whispering to each other, with Asuna standing there, looking just as stunned as everyone else.

“W-wow…” someone said. “He destroyed the weapon.”

“Was that deliberate?” another one asked in awe.

Kirito, on his part, sheathed his sword again and turned to look over his shoulder at the kneeling Kuradeel. “If you want to try with another weapon, I’m okay with it,” he said calmly. “But that’s enough, isn’t it?”

Apparently, it wasn’t. Kuradeel, simmering and shaking from fury on the ground, opened the translucent window and summoned a shorter looking sword. Or was it considered a dagger? He screamed as he ran at Kirito and the boy sighed and brought his hand up to take out his sword out again, but he never got to parry.

Kyouko’s breath hitched when Asuna stepped between the two of them with her own sword, and with one quick movement threw Kuradeel’s new weapon up and away from the man, disarming him.

“A-Asuna-sama…” Kuradeel stared at her incredulously. Then he pointed at Kirito. “He cheated! He used some trick to destroy my sword!” he accused.

Kirito finally let go of the hilt of his sword as he gave the man before him an unimpressed look. Asuna just glared at Kuradeel intensely, though he didn’t seem to notice that.

“Otherwise, I couldn’t have lost to some dirty beater,” Kuradeel went on passionately.

At that insult being thrown in his face once again, Kirito’s shoulders slouched down a little.

Asuna closed her eyes for a moment with an expression that Kyouko knew from looking in the mirror—she was collecting herself before she could explode at someone. In this case, this man before her.

“Kuradeel,” the girl said steely, looking at the disgruntled player. “This is an order from the vice commander of the Knight of the Blood. As of today, you are relived of your escort mission. Stand by at guild HQ until you receive further orders. That is all.”

“W-what?” The man stared at her like he couldn’t believe his ears. And then his eyes fell on Kirito and the kind of burning, despicable anger entered his gaze. “You…”

Kyouko held her breath as the two stared at each other for a long moment. And then Kuradeel gritted his teeth and turned to the square of which he came from. He seemed to say some kind of command before light overlapped him and he disappeared in a flash.

The moment he was gone, Asuna’s legs gave in and she started buckling over until Kirito caught her. High above their heads, the duel’s announcement showed that Kirito was the winner. At least the crowd, realizing the action was over with, started dispersing after that.

It took her a second, but eventually Asuna steadied herself and offered Kirito a small smile. “Sorry for involving you in that.”

“No, it’s fine,” he dismissed it. “But are you okay?” he asked.

Kyouko pressed her lips. He was being too considerate of Asuna for her to just wave him aside like she wanted to do initially.

“Yeah,” the girl said. Then her smile faded as she turned to look at the teleport square. “I think my problems with the guild are because I was too focused on clearing the game. And I was too strict with the other members.”

Like Kyouko had raised her up to be—to not let anything distract her from her goals. For some reason, Asuna sounded like it was a bad thing in this case.

Kirito lowered his gaze to the floor. “That’s… unavoidable. Or rather, if there weren’t people like you, we’d never have come nearly as far as we have,” he said and smiled when she gave him a surprised look. “I just mess around as a solo player, so I have no right to judge.” He looked away. “Still, even if you decide to take a day off to party with a slacker like me, I don’t think that gives anyone the right to complain.”

Asuna blinked at him for a moment and then smiled. “Well, I guess I’ll say thanks.” She sheathed her own sword, and her tone of voice was so taunting that Kyouko waited for the other shoe to drop. “So I’ll accept your offer and take it easy today. You take care of being forward,” she added as she moved past him, her hand patting his shoulder.

Kyouko had no idea what forward meant, but the boy’s startled jump let her know it was important. Maybe hard. “W-wait a second! We take turns as forward!” he called after her and quickly followed in her footsteps.

“I’ll do it tomorrow!” she said cheerfully.

Kirito made a high-pitched sound that let Kyouko know he was baffled by this turn of events. The woman looked at the two of them thoughtfully, barely even taking notice of the fact that the scene skipped again.

The two of them were now walking with Kirito in the lead, looking at what seemed to be a map.

But that wasn’t enough to pull Kyouko out of her own head. She did a background check on Kirigaya Kazuto the moment she realized what her daughter was feeling toward the unconscious boy. She knew he was smart, but there was nothing exceptional about him.

He went to a regular school, got good grades, was the brother of a teenage girl. There wasn’t anything about his family that could guarantee a good and luxurious future for Asuna. So she told Asuna that, and the girl stormed out of the house.

And now… well, it was nothing but a game. This wasn’t Kirigaya Kazuto—it was an avatar he controlled from a hospital bed. But it did have his emotions and characteristics, didn’t it? Kirito looked and acted like the real deal.

In the game, he seemed like a strong player with a good sense of what was right and what was wrong. He stood up for her daughter’s sake despite not having to. He seemed to care about Asuna in a way that Kyouko knew was important. And Asuna cared about him, too.

So what was she supposed to do now? There was no guaranteed good fortune in Kirigaya’s future, but her daughter looked so happy around him. The shy and quiet girl that she used to be two years ago was replaced by this commanding presence that seemed to grow more and more. Asuna thrived inside this game, and Kyouko wasn’t sure what her daughter managed on her own and what she did with the help of people like Kirito around.

“Kirito-kun, look. Isn’t that…?”

Asuna’s voice snapped her out of it, and Kyouko blinked at the screen. The two players were in a twisting hallway, the walls painted black with lighter shades of blue and green twisting lines accenting in between. Ahead of the two were a pair of large, decorated doors. Slowly, they approached the doors and then observed them in wonder and fear.

“I bet it is,” Kirito said. He looked nervous. “The boss room.”

And now Kyouko knew why. The bosses—they were probably stronger than the regular mobs in the game, right? She needed to read a guidebook about this whole thing, maybe. Understand what they were talking about all the time.

Tugging at his coat’s sleeve, Asuna didn’t take her eyes off the dark doors. “What do we do?” she asked and then hesitantly glanced at him. “Just take a look?”

“Boss monsters never leave the rooms they guard. If we just open the door, we’ll be okay,” he said and Asuna stuttered her agreement. “Have a teleport crystal ready, just in case,” he told her. They both took out blue, square crystals and held them in their hands. “Ready? I’m going to open the door.”

With a nod, Asuna and Kirito both pulled out their swords and started pushing hard against the heavy-looking doors. Kyouko squinted her eyes at the dark room they revealed. They took a few steps inside and then seemed to wait. For a few seconds nothing seemed to happen, and Kyouko started doubting it really was a boss room.

“There’s nothing in here…” Kirito noted and they both looked around in confusion. He started taking a few steps further into the dark room but Asuna told him to wait. “It’s okay. I won’t go in too far. We’ll have to at least take a look at him if we want to come up with a strategy.”

“That’s true, but…”

Then, all of a sudden, blue flames started lighting up one after the other, illuminating a huge minotaur-like blue creature that carried a large weapon Kyouko didn’t know the name of. There was a snake behind him, hissing at them. No, wait, the snake was his tail… what in the world…

The two players stared at the boss, their eyes bulging out and their bodies shaking. Kyouko was… well… she couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t do anything but watch anxiously. She was certain that had she been there herself, she would have died from being frozen, paralyzed in place for too long.

Her hands were shaking as the boss loomed over the duo, his bright, red eyes staring down at them in rage. Above his head, the name The Gleam Eyes was hovering, right next to four green bars of health—or at least, she assumed that was what it was. Considering both Asuna and Kirito only had one bar each, she thought it was immensely unfair.

Taking a step closer to Kirito, Asuna seemed to try and keep herself behind him, her hand coming up to hold him like he was going to keep her safe. And then the boss roared loudly and lifted his weapon and Kyouko found herself screaming right along with Asuna and Kirito who turned tail and ran straight out of the room without looking back.

Kyouko put a hand on her chest and tried to catch her breath. She was terrified. She was terrified of something that wasn’t even posing any sort of threat. Not to her, at least. But her daughter was really there. She was in that room, and she stared into those horrifying, red eyes and she ran away despite being, probably, very strong. Because that monster was straight out of a nightmare.

The door to her office opened sharply and the woman barely even took notice of Shouzou as he stepped inside and looked around, like he was expecting a threat to be there. There was nothing, of course. Only the screen that kept on showing Asuna and Kirito running the hell away from the boss room. They were so fast, Kyouko couldn’t see more than a flash of black and white.

“A-are you okay?” Shouzou asked eventually.

Kyouko blinked her eyes and turned to him, unseeing. Not really, at least. She reached out her hand for him to take and then turned right back to the screen of her computer where the two players slowed down to a halt.

“I-I made a mistake,” she mumbled and pulled Shouzou into a spare seat. He didn’t argue or demand any answers—he just sat there and watched her before turning to the screen along with her.

On it, Asuna and Kirito sat down shakily against a dark wall and tried to catch their breath.

Chapter Text

Asuna and Kirito sat down shakily against a dark wall and tried to catch their breath.

Shino stared shakily at the phone she was holding. Her breaths came out ragged and uneven. She was terrified even though she wasn’t even one of the people who were trapped in SAO in the first place. She didn’t know anyone who woke up, either.

She was mostly by herself, anyway, isolated and distant. She didn’t need to worry about SAO anymore, no matter what was in these videos, since everyone has already woken up. It was over.

There was still something incredibly scary about watching that monster looming over two people that looked like they could be her age. Maybe younger. Then again, their avatars looked the same way they did when they first started playing the game, meaning that they were older now.

Kirito and Asuna.

She stared at them as they tried to get over the fright of seeing the boss of the floor, and she couldn’t help but feel her heart going out to them.

Out of all the people in the world, Shino didn’t know anyone who was as scared as she was. She could scream and go into hiding because of her own shadow. She was afraid of interacting with people, and her anxiety always got the better of her whenever the simplest thing reminded her of that memory. That terrible, horrible, good-for-nothing memory that she wished with all her might she could just forget and put behind her.

To be honest, when SAO was first announced, Shino had the urge to buy the game. A world of swords where people didn’t have to worry about death or consequences? A world where there were no guns? A world where she could hide behind the face of someone that didn’t exist? It sounded like a dream come true. No one would call her a murderer in an MMORPG game, right? They would all be doing the exact same thing, after all.

But then she tried to buy the game and found out that all ten thousand copies have already been sold out. Back then she’d sighed and shrugged. The universe didn’t want her to play SAO. At least during its first wave. She could live with that. It wasn’t like she was obsessed with these kind of games like others were.

Only later on did she realize how lucky she was for not getting her hands on the cursed game. She, unlike ten thousand people, got to walk around the real world and continue on with her life, while others—innocent people that surely didn’t deserve what they got—had to suffer.

Guilt coursed through her veins whenever she felt this way. Because how could she be so selfish, thinking only about herself in her little bubble, where she was safe and secure and comfortable? Where nothing has changed? Others were fighting for their lives, and she was walking down the street to her school every day.

That wasn’t exactly the most dangerous thing in the world, was it?

Then again, going to the post office shouldn’t have been dangerous, either, and yet it ended up scarring her for life.

“That looks like a tough one,” Asuna’s voice came through the speakers of the phone and Shino focused on it, trying to steady her hands the best she could while sitting cross-legged on her bed. The A/C worked quietly, making Shino’s skin tingle a little bit. She wondered what it felt like to be cold inside the virtual world. Was it even possible?

Still catching their breaths, Kirito and Asuna sat there, looking exhausted. Who could blame them?

“Yeah,” Kirito agreed. Shino wondered what his real name was. “At first glance, it looks like its only weapon is that huge sword, but it’s probably got some special attacks up its sleeve.”

Asuna looked at him in worry. “All we can do is gather people from the front lines and keep switching,” she said.

Shino tried to imagine a large group of people facing against that thing and winning. She couldn’t. Still, they’d gotten out of the game, so they probably made it out alive, somehow. They must have beaten it. She wondered how, though.

“Would be nice if we had ten people with shields.”

“Shields, huh?” Asuna squinted her eyes at Kirito, for some reason. Shino hummed in confusion as the boy asked her about her change in tone, looking clueless. Asuna slid a little closer to him and pulled her knees closer to her chest. “You’re hiding something, aren’t you?”

Kirito widened his eyes at her. “What’s gotten into you?”

“I mean, it’s weird,” she insisted. “The whole point of using a one-handed sword is to use a shield with it. But I haven’t ever seen you use one,” she said.

Shino lifted an eyebrow at the claim. It did make sense… Kirito’s been using only one sword this whole time and, Shino bet, as a solo player it would have probably been a lot easier for him had he had a shield to assist him. So why did he not have one?

“It would slow down a rapier user like me, and some people might feel like a shield wouldn’t fit their style,” Asuna continued, and the boy crossed his arms over his chest and looked the other way defiantly. “You aren’t even using the sword Liz forged for you. So suspicious…”

While Asuna regarded Kirito curiously and the boy gritted his teeth, refusing to say a thing, Shino couldn’t help but think about how strong those two were.

She didn’t really know what to expect when she first saw Kirito in that first video. She thought he was just a beginner like the others who advanced quickly because he was lucky enough to have been in the beta test. She didn’t think it could be called cheating since, well, it wasn’t his fault he knew things ahead of time.

The only thing she could fault him with was abandoning the others, but he was a kid who wanted to survive, and when he offered help to someone he seemed to care about, Klein turned him down. So it wasn’t exactly unjustified.

People called him a cheater, anyway. Shino didn’t only refer to the people in the game who called him that, but to the people out of it—the ones watching the whole thing after it had all transpired. They seemed to have forgotten that Kirito was the person who’d rescued everyone, and called him names for the sake of mocking someone who, in their eyes, decided to betray everyone else.

But how could they think that after he chose to isolate himself for the sake of all the other beta testers? Claiming to be a beater was a risky move on his part, and he still did it. He turned himself into the outcast in order to protect others… and then people kept on looking down on him.

Seriously, Shino was pretty certain people were a bunch of hypocrites that couldn’t even admit the truth when it was being presented to them on a silver platter.

On the screen, Asuna switched her glare into a grin. “Well, whatever!” she said and Kirito looked like he was going to have whiplash. Again, Shino thought it was justified. “It’s rude to harass people about their skill choices,” she added, and Kirito looked up with a relieved sigh while Asuna opened her menu. “I know it’s kind of late, but how about lunch?”

“Is… is it something you made?” Kirito asked immediately.

“Yep,” she said and started organizing the food in her lap. “Gloves off first, though,” she told him.

Kirito didn’t even hesitate before complying. Honestly, this guy could only think with his stomach, couldn’t he? Shino shook her head, somewhat fondly, as Asuna handed him a drool-inducing sandwich.

“All yours,” the girl said.

The smile on Kirito’s face when he took the first bite made Shino’s hand stop shaking, and she found herself smiling along with him, enjoying the sight of his more childish side. Because that was what he was—a child. Around her age.

It was baffling to think about. How could someone this young clear a game like SAO? How could these two powerful players be only teenagers? It was unexpected. And yet… it also made sense in a weird way.

“It’s delicious!” he said and Asuna watched him quietly with a smile. “But how do you make it taste so good?”

In response, the girl pressed a button on her menu and Kirito and her were suddenly surrounded by dozens of small windows. “A year’s worth of studying and practice,” she explained as Kirito chewed and watched the windows around him curiously. “To make this, I analyzed the effects of more than a hundred spices to see how the taste reproduction engine handles each one.” She pulled out a small jar of some kind of green paste. “This is glogwa seeds and shuble leaves mixed together.”

Pouring some into Kirito’s hands, the boy tasted it and then stared at her in awe. “It’s mayonnaise…”

“And this is abilpa beans, sagu leaves and oola fish bones.” Asuna presented a purple jar next.

Shino wrinkled her nose. Whatever it was, the stuff it was made from sounded weird and definitely not tasty.

Still, though, when Kirito tasted it, his body turned rigid as he stared down at his hand. “T-this taste is so familiar…” he said, his gaze so intense, Shino thought he might actually combust. “It’s soy sauce!” he exclaimed eventually.

Asuna chuckled along with, probably, all of Japan.

Shino really appreciated the fact that after seeing something like that floor’s boss, they got to see such a quiet and peaceful moment. It made her nerves ease a little as she seemed to forget about the dangers of this other world.

“This is how I made the sauce for the sandwiches.”

“Amazing. It’s perfect! If you started selling them, you’d get rich!” Kirito commented excitedly, and Asuna became flustered all of a sudden, asking him sheepishly if he was serious.

Shino expected a confirmation, but instead Kirito’s expression closed off very abruptly and he crossed his arms again. “No, actually, it’s a terrible idea,” he said and when Asuna asked him why, Kirito locked his eyes with hers. “Then I wouldn’t get to have any.”

She blinked at him for a moment and then sighed. “You’re so selfish…” she moaned and Shino’s eyes crinkled as she soundlessly shook with laughter. “I’ll make more for you later if I feel like it…”

The mood changed at once when people started approaching the place where Kirito and Asuna were. Shino narrowed her eyes a little to see if she recognized the new arrivals that grumbled tiredly, and her eyes landed on the person at the head of the group. With his red hair and bandana, it wasn’t hard to understood who it was.

Still, Asuna and Kirito, in their surprise, stood up tensely. Kirito even reached out for his sword only to widen his eyes at the sight of Klein just a moment before the man in question lifted his gaze and noticed the two of them.

“Whoa, Kirito! It’s been so long, man!” he called excitedly and crossed the rest of the way to Kirito quickly, leaving his guild behind.

Kirito just stood there awkwardly and looked at Klein uneasily.

“You’re still alive, Klein?” he teased weakly.

Even Shino could see that he still felt bad about everything regarding Klein. Which was stupid since it’s been two years since then, but, well… she couldn’t really shake Kirito and force him to see no one was blaming him for his choice all the way back then. Nobody whose opinion mattered, at least.

The redhead grinned wide. “You’re still as rude as ever,” he observed cheerfully, and then suddenly seemed to realize Kirito wasn’t alone in the dungeon. His eyes widened as he stared at Asuna. “Oh, what do we have here? You’re always solo. Why would you have a girl with you…” he trailed off and then just stared at Asuna with a wide smile.

The guy actually looked a little crazy.

Kirito, ignoring his old friend’s strange behavior, came to stand between Asuna—whose hand was itching toward her rapier—and Klein. “Seems like you already know each other from clearing bosses, but let me introduce you, anyway,” he said, mostly talking to Asuna, who calmed down and just looked curiously at Klein. “This is Klein from Fuurinkazan. This is Asuna from Knight of the Blood.”

Kirito and Asuna both waited but Klein kept on gaping there.

The boy waved his hand in front of the redhead’s eyes. “Hey, say something. Are you lagging?”

Both teenagers seemed stunned when Klein held out his hand to Asuna and bowed his head deeply, stuttering an introduction. “N-nice t-to meet you! I-I’m Klein, 24, single and looking for a girlf—“

He never got to finish the word because Kirito was suddenly there, punching him in the gut and making him fall down hard. Asuna gasped as Klein’s guild all called out for their leader, and Kirito’s body froze as he seemed to realize what he’s just done. Shino laughed as the members of the guild all surrounded him with angry expressions.

That is, before they noticed Asuna, too. Then they started trying to get to her but Kirito stood in their way and blocked their path as the girl leaned away from all of them, looking mostly overwhelmed.

Shino sighed and shook her head. Well, seeing as there weren’t that many female players in SAO, it made sense that so many people took an interest in the few girls that were around. Plus, Asuna was definitely pretty. And strong. But they didn’t seem to care about that part.

Kirito tried to smile to her over his shoulder. “W-well, they’re not bad guys,” he told her. “Despite what their leader looks like—ah!” he yelped in pain when Klein got up and stepped on his foot, hard. The boy turned to look at Klein with a glare. “What…”

“Payback!” Klein laughed. And when Kirito got upset, Klein kept on snickering at him. “You idiot…”

They all stopped bickering and moving at once when Asuna started laughing. Before anyone could say something, Klein tugged Kirito around so that they’d have their backs turned to Asuna. The girl watched them from the behind, looking amused.

“What’s going on, Kirito?” Klein asked, his voice slightly lower than it was before.

“Well…”

Asuna leaned toward them with a grin. “Nice to meet you,” she said brightly. “We’re just partying for a little while.”

The guild members all made confused and frustrated sounds before Klein turned to face Kirito again. “Kirito, explain!” he demanded.

The boy took a step back and lifted his hands between them. “Wait!” he said hurriedly.

But he didn’t get to say anything beyond that before the sound of approaching footsteps could be heard again. Shino furrowed her eyebrows. It sounded like… metal. And lots of people. Asuna said Kirito’s name sharply, snapping him out of his weird conversation—could it be called that?—with Klein.

“Is that the Army?” Kirito asked.

There was an army in the game? What the hell… Shino stared at the group of men wearing full body armor that approached their little huddle. They marched lifelessly, and Shino had to admit, they looked pretty… um… dead on their feet.

“What’s that massive guild that occupies the first floor doing here?” Klein asked.

Asuna was the one to reply. “Ever since they suffered heavy losses clearing the 25th floor, they’ve been focusing more on strengthening their organization instead of fighting in the front lines,” she said.

Suddenly the man at the front of the group stopped and turned toward the others, ordering them to rest. They practically collapsed to the ground, all of them looking like they were going to faint. Shino frowned at the scene. What was going on? Was this normal? She wasn’t even sure people could faint in the virtual world but… but they looked close to figuring out whether or not it was actually plausible.

The leader of the Army guild walked toward Asuna, Klein and Kirito and stopped in front of the boy, seemingly taking him as the one in charge. Which was ridiculous, but okay.

“I’m Lt. Col. Kobatz,” he introduced himself and Shino had to stifle a snort. What the hell? Who decided to make an army in the game? “From the Aincrad Liberation Force.”

“I’m Kirito,” the boy said. “Soloer.” He regarded the Army man quietly as Kobatz asked him if he’d ventured any further. Shino narrowed her eyes. “Yes, we’ve mapped out the area up to the boss room”

“I’d like to have the map data,” the man said. It didn’t sound like a request, especially when he held out his hand to get the information.

Klein gasped. “You want it for free??” he exclaimed. “Do you know how hard it is to map out an area?”

“We divide information and resources equally to all, maintaining order, and fight to free all players from this world as soon as possible!” Kobatz yelled. Shino winced at the loud volume. He wanted to help—fine—but that didn’t seem like the best way to go about it. “That’s why you should cooperate with us!”

“Oh, really?” Asuna snapped at him.

“Don’t—“ Klein reached his hand to his katana.

A hand held in front of his chest stopped him before he could draw his sword out, though. Kirito kept on staring at Kobatz, face as blank as ever as he blocked Klein from trying to possibly attack the Army guy.

“It’s okay,” he said. “I planned to make it public, anyway, after we got back to the city. No big deal,” he said peacefully, and Klein stared at him as he got his map out through the menu, claiming he was being too nice. “I’m not the kind to trade map data.”

The Army man accepted the map when a window opened before him and turned back toward his guild stiffly. “I appreciate your cooperation.”

“If you’re thinking of fighting the boss, don’t bother,” Kirito said to the man’s back. When Kobatz dismissed his words, Kirito gasped a little, and then he raised his voice and leaned forward urgently. “We checked the boss room earlier! It’s not something you can handle with so few people!” His eyes drifted over to the tired men on the ground. “Look, your men are exhausted!”

“My men aren’t weak enough to give up from something so trivial! Men, stand up already!” Kobatz yelled and the men all obeyed silently and started following him as he led them away.

The group left behind watched them as they got further and further away, looking anxious and angry.

“Are they going to be all right?” Klein asked quietly.

“I don’t see them trying to fight it right away,” Asuna supplied, probably being more hopeful than certain.

Face carefully blank, Kirito kept on staring at the place where the Army headed to. “Let’s go have a look, anyway,” He said timidly. He looked back in time to see Klein’s proud smile aimed at him. Bowing his head, Kirito looked almost annoyed. Or maybe a little ashamed. Bashful? “Who’s the nice guy now?” he muttered under his breath.

He started heading off after the Army and Shino watched as Klein’s guild followed without Klein and Asuna. The girl started walking after them but stopped when Klein called for her hesitantly. Shino’s lips tugged down a little at the thought that trying to hit on Asuna at such a time wasn’t the best idea, but Klein didn’t even go there.

He scratched the back of his head and avoided making eye contact. “Well, uh…” he mumbled. “Kirito’s not so good with words and he’s a crazy fighter.” He finally smiled and looked at the girl. “But please take good care of him,” he requested.

Shino was caught by surprise, yet she smiled. Klein really did care about Kirito a lot, didn’t he?

Asuna turned her head to look at Kirito’s back as the boy kept on walking ahead to make sure the Army men didn’t do anything stupid. Klein bowed down in front of her, waiting for her response.

Then Asuna smiled down at him. “Sure, I’ll do just that,” she promised.

A jingly noise from outside let Shino know that her neighbor just got home. She thought she heard the voices of Klein and Asuna coming from that direction, too. So either her neighbor was watching these videos, too, or he was just carrying his phone with him, not paying it any attention.

There were plenty of people who didn’t seem to care about those videos. At school, Shino could hear the other students mentioning how annoying it was to play ALO only for the game to pause because of those episodes.

It was weird, she had to admit. How could Kayaba Akihiko force those videos everywhere like that? Even in ALO people couldn’t avoid them. Apparently, they couldn’t keep on playing until the videos were over. And if someone wanted to use the AmuSphere while a video was already playing, the machine would just not let them.

Of course, that didn’t matter to Shino personally since she had nothing to do with virtual games, but she did find it strange. It was a very deliberate thing to do. And considering Kayaba Akihiko was dead, it was hard to grasp just how far ahead he'd managed to think in order to make all of this work according to his plan.

Then again, was his plan to let the players leave? Were they really supposed to clear the game? Or was he counting on them staying in the game forever, unable to defeat all one-hundred bosses? She didn’t know the answer to that, obviously, but what she did know was that either way, the players wouldn’t have been able to remain that way forever. Their bodies in the real world would have collapsed and decayed.

They couldn’t stay in the virtual world without worrying about the real world, after all. They always had a time limit, whether they were aware of it or not.

She tried to imagine it—her mind being stuck in one place while her body was out of her reach. Her heart started picking up at the thought of how helpless she would have felt, knowing that her body was wasting away and she could do nothing but hope for one more day, one more hour.

Did they even think about it—the SAO survivors? Were they aware of how fragile the situation already was for them? Even if they didn’t die in the game, they could still die in the real world, first.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The loud shout made Shino blink her eyes several times before she focused on her phone again. She saw Kirito and Asuna standing at the edge of the boss room together. The doors were open and inside… Shino’s hands started trembling again at the sight before her.

The Gleam Eyes was blocking the Army men from the exit. They were fighting for their lives, but only barely holding up against the huge, powerful boss. Blue flames spread on the floor of the round room and seemed to add to the dramatic flair of the situation.

If Shino wasn’t mistaken, there were less men in the room than there were before.  Her breath hitched as she watched the boss slamming his sword against the people. Some of them were already on the floor, exhausted and weak. Some were supporting others. It was a horrifying and pitiful scene she never wanted to see again. But there were still… twenty-five floors left…

“What are you doing? Hurry up and use your teleport crystals!” Kirito screamed at the top of his lungs.

“We can’t!” one of the men said. There was a crystal in his hand, but nothing was happening. “They don’t work!”

Asuna and Kirito looked shocked.

“There’s never been a trap like that in a boss room, before…” Asuna mumbled in shock.

At her words, Kirito’s eyes turned a little distant, like he was thinking about something else. His lips parted like he wanted to gasp but nothing came out.

Shino wasn’t a genius but she figured he was thinking about the trap that took the lives of his first and last guild in the game. She knew what trauma was like—she knew how bad it could affect people. She could see the past fear seeping back into Kirito’s mind on screen, live. Well, not live, but it felt like it was.

The one who snapped him out of his own head was the leader of the Army who stood his ground against the boss, his men basically trembling on their feet behind him.

“The Liberation Force will never suffer the shame of retreat!” Kobatz said, and Shino bared her teeth, getting a little upset at his stupid decisions so far. Was he trying to get them all killed? “Fight!” the man yelled at his soldiers. “We must fight on!”

“You fool!” Kirito shouted out in anger.

Klein ran toward them, staring at the scene before him with a flabbergasted expression. He quickly asked what was going on, and then he seemed to notice the state of the Army because his eyes widened as he gasped.

“Crystals don’t work in there,” Kirito informed him. “If we rush in we might be able to open up a path for them, but…”

“Can’t we do something?” Klein muttered.

Kirito looked pissed off but he still didn’t move.

Well, if anything, this video would be a great weapon for everyone in Japan against Kirito. Too scared of death to try and save others? They’d mock him for not jumping in to help straight away. The deaths in this boss room would be blamed on him. They would probably not even try and pin it on Klein and Asuna at all, instead focusing on the person they were told was a hero so they could tear him to shreds.

But Shino didn’t see it that way. She herself wasn’t a strong person who could stand up to something like that, but she did know this—Kirito, Asuna and Klein were all strong players. They needed to survive if people wanted Aincrad to be cleared. If they died this early in the game, the other players would’ve taken longer to free themselves, if they ever could.

Plus, most people, whether they wanted to admit it or not, would choose their own lives over others’. They would have probably pretended not to have seen any of it. Judging was easy from a distance, but living through something this intense… it was different.

She knew that from experience.

When Kobatz on screen ordered his men to attack again, Kirito reached out his hand like he wanted to hold them at bay.

“Stop!” he screamed a few moments before The Gleam Eyes sliced with his sword toward the Army. Kobatz was thrown in the air and landed a few steps away from the door. Kirito immediately ran toward him. “Hey, hang in there!”

It was of no use. First, the man’s helmet vanished—having been destroyed—and then his wide eyes stared up at Kirito. His eyes started tearing up as his eyes practically bulged out from fright.

“This can’t be happening,” whispered Kobatz in disbelief, and then his body turned to particles of light as he died.

Shino covered her mouth with one of her hands, leaving her phone to quake in her other one, to the point where it was almost impossible to watch the video.

Asuna did basically the same thing as she closed her eyes and bowed her head a little. “No…” she whimpered. Then she gasped and looked into the room at the sound of a man screaming in terror. The Gleam Eyes raised his sword to strike and Asuna hunched her shoulders.

“No… I…” She started reaching for her sword, her body shaking as she tried to make a decision. Kirito turned his head in her direction. “NO!” Asuna screamed and ran forward when the boss went for the Army men again.

“Asuna!” Kirito got up and then bolted straight into the room after her.

Klein stared after them and then rolled his head in frustration. “Oh, whatever!” He ran in as well, drawing out his katana.

Shino didn’t know whether to cry in fear or chuckle hysterically at Klein’s reaction to everything that was happening, but she just chose to shakily watch as Asuna attacked the boss with her rapier, poking her weapon into the monster before it punched her back. She fell to the ground and lifted her head just in time to see the monster’s sword coming her way.

Before it could hit her, though, Kirito jumped in front of her and used his sword to deflect the attack coming down on them, which led The Gleam Eyes’ sword to pierce the ground next to Asuna instead of striking the girl herself.

“Fall back!” Kirito yelled. Asuna frowned but jumped backward anyway.

Meanwhile, Klein and his guild worked in the background, supporting or carrying the Army men to the exit and away from the fight. When the boss tried to attack them, Kirito sliced him from behind, stopping the attack before it could even start.

For a few seconds the boss and Kirito just fought against each other, ignoring everyone else in the room. Unfortunately, Kirito got hurt during all of this. It didn’t take much from his HP at first, but then he stopped one of the monster’s attacks with his sword, blocking it and trying to stay strong under the weight of the boss’s sword weighing him down… and his HP kept on decreasing steadily.

“Kirito-kun!”

“Kirito!”

He forced The Gleam Eyes to break the connection of their two swords and then jumped/rolled back. He glared up at the giant blue boss and bared his teeth before he looked around. Asuna and Klein were both staring at him worriedly. His eyes fell on the men that were still alive but down on the ground, unable to keep on fighting or even protecting themselves. He closed his eyes forcefully as his body started shaking.

Standing up, he barely had time to steady himself before the boss’s sword came toward him, and Kirito used his own sword to block it before it could harm him. “Asuna, Klein! Please hold it off for just ten seconds!” he called over to them and then jumped back to avoid another blow coming his way.

Shino expected a little hesitation, but despite their looks of fear, Klein and Asuna both jumped in to face The Gleam Eyes while Kirito… opened his menu? Was this a normal thing people did during boss raids in SAO? She wasn’t sure. But it looked like Klein and Asuna were willing to give him the benefit of the doubt at the very least, right?

Of course, Shino couldn’t see what Kirito was doing exactly because the screen was too small for her to be able to read anything, but she expected to see some kind of visible change in the very least, right?

Instead, Kirito just lifted his gaze after closing the menu. “Okay, I’m ready!” He started running toward the boss that was currently fighting Asuna. “Switch!”

He deflected the giant sword coming his way when Asuna jumped back. His black sword struck against it, keeping it from slicing the ai any closer to Kirito’s body, and then the boy reached his hand back to his back where a blue-white sword materialized. The one Lisbeth had made him.

Pulling the new sword—Dark Repulser—Kirito hit The Gleam Eyes with it, knocking the monster’s head back with the force of his attack. When he landed back on the ground with his two swords held firmly in his hands, the other players stared at him with dropped jaws and wide eyes.

For a moment they all just froze and watched as Kirito used both swords to block the giant blade coming his way by crossing them over each other. He forced them apart after a moment, throwing The Gleam Eyes back.

‘Starburst Stream!” Kirito jumped to attack the boss before the blue being could recover, slicing and slashing and running his swords quickly in a way that seemed natural to him—he must have practiced the skill before.

Shino watched as he kept on attacking mercilessly. It was different than his previous style. Not only the skill itself, but the fact that he went completely on the offence, disregarding the amount of damage he was taking.

Her breath hitched for a split second when The Gleam Eyes seemed to hit Kirito hard enough to make his hold on the swords slip, but then the boy hurriedly grabbed them again before she could even blink and kept on viciously attacking, ignoring the blows that kept on reducing his HP at an alarming rate.

It was seriously hard to believe that he came out of this alive and ready to face more bosses. How did someone as reckless as him even make it far enough to defeat the final boss of the game and free everyone?

Shino was pretty sure Kirito’s movements were faster than anything she’s ever seen. And that was before he started speeding up even more. She couldn’t follow his swords anymore. She could only see the flashes of light left behind from his sword skill. His avatar was blurry as Kirito moved faster and faster.

And then The Gleam Eyes caught his black sword—Elucidator—with one, giant hand and sent his huge blade toward Kirito. Shino thought that was it—that was the end and Kayaba Akihiko was just messing with them because Kirito couldn’t have possibly survived that.

But instead of freezing up or staring at the approaching blade helplessly, Kirito jumped forward with his white sword held before him and stuck its tip in the leg of The Gleam Eyes.

For a moment everyone was quiet, and Kirito and the boss just stood in their places, unmoving. And then the boss died in a burst of bright light and Kirito’s body just… stayed there, motionless. Shino gasped at the sight of his HP bar. At first glance, it looked like it was completely empty. But then she looked harder and saw the smallest, tiniest amount of red left in there.

“H-how are you not dead?” she muttered into the palm of her hand. Of course, no one could hear her.

“It’s over… right?” he muttered under his breath, and then leaned back unsteadily, his hands and swords coming down as he stared up at the congratulations!! sign that appeared above him.

A window with everything he’s gained during the fight popped in front of him, and Kirito stared at it for a moment before his eyes travelled over to the top left corner of his vision to look at something Shino obviously couldn’t see.

She cried in alarm when his body started shaking and swaying before he collapsed backward and to the ground, his swords slipping out of his grasp and his eyes closed. His body stopped moving. But… he wasn’t dead. He still had some HP left! Plus, he was just lying there—he wasn’t actually evaporating like the others who’d died thus far in the game.

Which meant he just answered a question Shino’s had—people could faint in the virtual world. Somehow. It was weird to think about, but it just happened to Kirito, so she wasn’t about to argue with that logic.

She just watched, somewhat numbly, as Asuna cried out and ran over to him, her face pale. Klein stared, shocked, and then his guild and he walked a little closer along with the Army men. They all surrounded Kirito and Asuna, watching with worry.

Surprisingly, it didn’t take Kirito too long to wake up. Maybe because Asuna was screaming at him to wake up already from up close, looking distressed. “Kirito-kun!” she yelled just as the boy started blinking his eyes open slowly. “Kirito-kun, wake up!”

He seemed to struggle for a moment with only opening his eyes, but then he focused on Asuna, with the tears in her eyes and her trembling lip, and he sat up carefully, his hand coming up to his forehead.

“Ouch…” he muttered. Which sounded like the understatement of the year, but Shino could only snort at it. Then the boy seemed to notice everyone standing around him and he turned back to Asuna. “How long have I been out?”

Rubbing her eyes to wipe the tears away, Asuna spoke up, but her voice was shaking and wavering. “Just a few seconds…” she whimpered and then, when it seemed like she couldn’t stop the tears, she threw herself at Kirito, squeezing him tightly. “Idiot! That was far too reckless!”

Kirito gasped a little in surprise but then smiled, looking content with Asuna hugging him like that. Of course he was, Shino smirked. “My HP might hit zero if you hug me too hard,” he warned her lightly. And he was probably right, but he still didn’t try to squirm away, just in case. He really was an idiot.

“Kobatz and two others died,” Klein said after stepping a little closer, his frown showing how he felt about it.

Lips parting, Kirito stared at Klein for a moment and then lowered his gaze to the ground. “We haven’t lost a men in a boss fight since the 67th floor.”

“How can you even call this a fight?” Klein bit out in anger. “Bloody retards! What good are you, if you’re dead?” he complained, and then shook his head and smirked down at Kirito. “But holy crap, man, what was that just now?”

“Do I really have to tell you?” Kirito asked weakly.

“Of course! I’ve never seen anything like it!”

The kid on the floor looked away. “It’s an extra skill. Dual Blades,” he said reluctantly.

Everyone around him gasped and Klein widened his eyes as he leaned closer. “H-how do you activate it?” he demanded.

But Kirito just offered him an apologetic smile and said he would have told him had he known.

Klein opened his menu and went down a list that Shino couldn’t read. “It’s not even on the info brokers’ list… so it’s just yours? A unique skill?” Klein looked back at the kid with a grin. “You’re so antisocial, Kirito! Why would you keep quiet about such an awesome skill?”

“About six months ago Dual Blades just showed up in my skill window. But if anyone found out I had this ability…” he trailed off.

Klein seemed to understand, though. Shino thought she did, too. “Online gamers are an envious bunch,” the redhead noted. “I’m a pretty virtuous guy, but I can see why they’d be jealous.” He shrugged before smirking again. “But, well, just consider hardship as another part of training and keep working hard, kiddo.”

The boy didn’t look impressed. Shino wasn’t really sure what Klein meant by this, but it looked like Kirito did.

“Oh, please…” he muttered and then looked back at Klein when the man asked him whether or not he was going to go and activate the next portal. “No, you can do it. “I’m exhausted.”

Well, he couldn’t really move with Asuna still draped over him like that, could he? And he was nearly dead as it was, so he had a point.

“Okay. Get back safely,” Klein said and then started walking away with the rest of his guild. To Shino’s surprise, Klein stopped again. “Um… Kirito?” he said to draw the boy’s attention again, though he didn’t turn back around.

“When you jumped in to help the Army guys…” Klein started and Shino thought that was a stretch—he definitely jumped in to save Asuna. She was the one who bolted into the room to help. Kirito only joined her. To her surprise, Klein rubbed his eyes like he was going to cry. Or maybe he was already crying. “How should I put it? I was happy. Anyway, see you around.”

Kirito looked at him curiously as he left, not saying a word. Shino thought it was a little… strange, how much Klein was surprised and proud every time Kirito decided to help someone. Like he thought the kid would just stand by and do nothing. Well… to be fair, he did try and make himself look this way from the start.

Kuradeel claimed he was selfish because he was a beater. Keita claimed Kirito had no right to join their guild because of it. A lot of people expected Kirito to be a bad person when, well, he was trying to survive while also helping if he could. Jumping into boss fights recklessly, though, wasn’t a way of helping—it was suicide!

With a sigh, Shino decided she just didn’t understand the people living inside that game. Maybe she could tell all of this because she saw things others didn’t. Or because she didn’t know what it actually felt like to be trapped in SAO. Maybe her words really meant nothing because her experience was so different. But she decided to just let her thoughts roam free and her eyes stare at her phone to learn more things.

“Hey, Asuna…” Kirito tilted his head down to look at whatever was visible of her with her pressing against him so tightly.

She shifted a little but didn’t let go. “I was so scared…” she said in a small voice. “What would I do if you died?”

A smile spread on his face. “What are you talking about? You were the one who jumped in first.”

Shino expected her to deny it or admit to it. Instead, Asuna kept quiet for a few seconds. And then she said something that wasn’t really related to their current topic. “I’m going to take a break from the guild,” she told him, and Kirito asked her why. “I said I’d party with you. Did you forget?”

His eyes widened as he seemed to think about something. And then he closed his eyes before he opened them again to reveal an emotion that Shino couldn’t put into words. It reminded her of determination, but it also looked like he was giving in to something.

“All right,” he said eventually, and Asuna nodded against his shoulder and didn’t move anymore.

When the somber, tender scene changed, Shino was caught off guard by the warm, brown colors of the wooden room in Agil’s shop. The man himself sat in front of a dejected looking Kirito around the small table they’d gathered around with Asuna all the way back when they tried to solve the Griselda and Grimlock mystery.

Now Asuna wasn’t there and Agil was staring with a smirk down at a newspaper page.

“The blue demon that killed an entire Army squad was taken down by one guy’s dual-bladed fifty-slash combo,” he read gleefully, ignoring Kirito’s obvious annoyance. Shino found herself chuckling despite herself. “You made the news!” Agil laughed.

“That’s way too exaggerated,” Kirito said evenly. “And I’ve been getting chased around all morning by swordsmen and info brokers as a result.”

He wasn’t quite as expressionless as he was at the beginning, but he was definitely not showing much of what was going on inside his head. Even as his tone hardened and he gave Agil a sharp look, he still looked like he was holding himself back. Especially after the amount of rage that came out of him during that last boss fight.

Seemingly showing out of nowhere, Lisbeth walked into the room, carrying a box filled with tools and weapons.

“I don’t want to hear it,” she said and the two players turned to her. Kirito looked at her with almost boredom. “I had to make a break for it, too.” The girl grinned at Kirito. “You said it was our little secret and then you blew your own cover.” She smirked, and Kirito looked away from her, seemingly irritated by her comment.

The three all turned to look at the door of the room when they heard footsteps, and Shino wasn’t exactly surprised to see Asuna standing there, breathing heavily and leaning against the doorframe. But she still felt a little worried at the concern on the girl’s face. What now?

“What do we do now, Kirito-kun?” she asked, still breathing heavily. How much did she run to get there? Then the girl locked eyes with the boy and raised her voice. “This is completely out of hand!”

Shino thought it was about the news spreading, as well. She thought maybe Asuna got some extra attention because of it, too.

But then the scene changed again to show a round room with a table near the windows. Five people sat there, all of them looking at Kirito and Asuna who stood side by side before them. The man in the middle of the long table had a red outfit with white accents and the four others at his side wore shiny armors.

There were banners hanging from the walls—red, as well—with the symbol of a white sword that could have been mistaken for a cross—or maybe it was the other way around—in the middle of it. Under each sword, the letters ‘KoB’ were written. Shino widened her eyes. So these people were… the Knights of the Blood! And they all had severe expressions on their faces as they gazed at the duo before them.

The middle one, with his silver hair and fancy clothes, was the one to speak up first. “Is this the first time we’ve met away from the front lines, Kirito-kun?” he asked.

“No,” the boy answered. And if the man’s voice was emotionless, then Kirito was matching his tone perfectly. “We talked briefly during the strategy meeting for clearing the 67th floor, Commander Heathcliff.”

What was on that floor? Shino remembered Kirito bringing it up as the last boss fight during which someone had died. And now he brought it up again!

“That was a hard fight, indeed. We barely even made it,” the man—Heathcliff—said. “I know people call us the top guild, but our forces are at their limit. And here you are, trying to draw away one of our most important players.”

Asuna’s eyebrows drew together as she went to take a step forward and speak up, but Kirito stopped her by blocking her path with his hand. She turned to look at him, then, looking confused at the anger showing on his face.

“If she’s that important to you, you could at least choose her bodyguards,” Kirito said, anger simmering underneath his calm tone of voice.

Heathcliff didn’t look taken aback. He just stared coolly back at Kirito. Seriously, those two could fight for the spot of the best player to be able to keep cool and collected at all times. Shino wasn’t sure who would even be the winner.

“I should apologize for the trouble that Kuradeel caused,” the commander said. Shino then waited for the apology to come. It never did. “But even then, we won’t just sit back and watch you walk away with one of our vice commanders,” he said, and Kirito and Asuna both hardened their gazes. “Kirito-kun, take her with your swords, both of them. If you can defeat me, you can take Asuna-kun with you. But if you lose, you will join the Knights of the Blood.”

There was a small smirk on Heathcliff’s face as Kirito and Asuna just stood there quietly. The girl eventually turned her gaze over to look at Kirito when the boy didn’t speak up. There was a thoughtful, intense look in his eyes as he stared right back at Heathcliff. And then he opened his mouth.

“Very well,” he said and Asuna blinked at him in surprise. Shino figured she expected Kirito to turn it down and just let her stay in the guild. Well, she was wrong, then. “If you want to discuss this with swords, I’m fine with that. Let’s settle this with a duel.”

And then the screen turned black and Shino’s jaw dropped as she clutched her phone tightly with both hands, gawking at the motionless, black screen that reflected her own stunned face.

“W-wait! But what happened after that?” she objected before settling back down with a sigh. She couldn’t force another video to come. And she couldn’t even be sure it would continue with the duel and not just skip ahead again.

Putting her phone on her nightstand, Shino spread her body on her bed, her eyes locked on the blank ceiling above her head. She almost felt bad for the thoughts swirling inside her brain. Yes, she thought Kirito was strong. Not just with his amazing abilities, but with his will and determination. He just bet his own fate to try and help Asuna. He put his life on the line for her and for the Army men.

But she still felt this tiny pang in her chest, like she wanted… she wanted to know if he ever killed someone. She knew there were players in the game who’d murdered others. She knew that because it was both common knowledge and because Kirito had mentioned it earlier on.

But not a single clip showed him do it himself. He fought mobs and monsters that were a part of the game, and he dueled people like Kuradeel. He was even willing to fight Klein to get to the revival item at some point. He threatened to kill that… Rosalia lady when she wasn’t willing to peacefully go to prison like he ordered her to. But he never hurt those people. He threatened them, but nothing more came out of it.

And so long as he didn’t end someone’s life… he was still different from her. Because she pulled the trigger and ended a man’s life. Whether or not that man was a bad person, she still killed someone. And everyone knew about it. Everyone in school called her a murderer because of it. Their chants still echoed in her head.

But… but she hoped… if Kirito had killed someone then maybe she could ask him how he was… how he was holding himself together. How he was going on despite knowing there was blood on his hands. Yet… he didn’t kill anyone, as far as she was concerned. So he couldn’t understand. He couldn’t answer her question.

She turned around and buried her face in her pillow.

Chapter Text

His eyes were glued to the screen of his phone as he waited to hear back from Sugou. Shouzou normally let Kouichirou handle Sugou, since his son was closer in age to the other man and had a little more time on his hands. But this time he insisted on seeing things through himself. He couldn’t allow any more mistakes to be made.

Earlier that day he received a phone call from Kirigaya Minetaka—Kirito’s father. Or rather, Kazuto’s father. The man got back to Japan just now and received Shouzou’s number from Asuna. He, of course, wanted to know more about why Kirito—Kazuto, that is—was still not waking up. Why he ended up stranded in a different game than SAO. To which, obviously, Shouzou had no answer.

So, with the Kirigaya family breathing down his neck, and Asuna bugging Kouichirou and him about it every few hours (when she felt like giving them time to breathe, that is), Shouzou decided to turn to Sugou.

The man has been looking into this whole mess ever since they received word about Kirigaya’s state. And yet, they still got nothing. They didn’t know what was keeping the kid stuck with the NerveGear. They didn’t even know how he switched to ALO from SAO.

It was baffling, at best.

Since it wasn’t all that great, though, Shouzou found this to be maddening, instead.

The thing was, ever since watching that long video two days ago, even Kyouko seemed like she wanted to get Kazuto out of the game as soon as possible. The way she looked at the boy on screen with the kind of appreciative look she tended to keep for special occasions spoke volumes. Whatever was in the beginning of that video she forced him to watch with her, it changed her mind drastically about the young man.

So now Shouzou needed to answer to his wife, his daughter, the Kirigaya family, and pretty much the rest of the survivors who owed their lives to Kirito—Kazuto.

Plus, there was this little voice inside Shouzou that told him that the boy also brought Asuna back. His little girl was back with them thanks to whatever it was that Kirito—Kazuto—did. So how could Shouzou not try to do everything in his power to bring him back to the real world?

Thing was, he had no idea how. And apparently Sugou was just as lost as he was.

Sugou and the people under him worked day and night to try and get Kirigaya out of ALO, but according to Sugou, they couldn’t even detect him inside the game. It was like he didn’t even exist. Which was ridiculous because he definitely did.

And there were plenty of video proof from players that have encountered him and wanted to show their friends. In all of them, Kirito looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there.

When Shouzou suggested taking down the server of ALO and just disconnecting everyone altogether, Sugou told him that it might just activate the features in the NerveGear that would fry Kirigaya’s brain, so that was off the table.

According to Sugou they worked hard to find a solution. But, then again, according to the young man there was no way to get the kid out—he had to do it himself. But no one knew what he even had to do in order to log himself out, so… that was still pretty much useless information.

With a sigh, Shouzou turned his gaze over to the front of the Dicey Café. Normally, Kouichirou was the one who went with Asuna when she wanted to go and meet up with her friends from SAO. Her brother would drive her, drop her off and then come back to get her. But today Kouichirou said he had something to check out—some kind of lead regarding Kirito—Kazuto—so he drove Asuna over to the café, but then Shouzou was the one who needed to get her back home.

So he waited.

And waited.

He texted Asuna about arriving five minutes ago but she was still inside, probably talking to her friends and unaware of her phone getting a new notification. Since he figured it’s been long enough, Shouzou got out of the car and walked over to the café. Opening the door exposed him to the sound of chatter from just about every direction, although everyone kept their voices low.

His gaze drifted around the room until he noticed the familiar head of chestnut hair. He started walking over toward Asuna’s seat next to the bar and a large, buff man that stood behind the counter, only for his ears to catch the sound of Asuna’s voice.

But it didn’t come from the girl in front of him, but rather from the TV screen that was hanging off the wall of the shop. Shouzou stopped in his tracks in surprise. He’s seen a video or two so far—including that half Kyouko wanted him to see with her. But it still caught him off guard that there was a new one being transmitted now.

He wondered why his phone wasn’t making any noise only to remember he’d left it in the car.

The fact that everyone in the café turned around to watch the screen didn’t quite surprise him as much as he thought it would. He was intrigued, too. He wasn’t outright seeking out these videos, but he didn’t skip out on them if one popped up when he had the time to pay it attention.

Glancing ahead, Shouzou noticed that Asuna was staring up at the screen, too, hugging a mug of what was probably tea with both her hands. She looked nervous. Or maybe awkward. Perhaps both.

He figured he could just take a seat next to Asuna, but the girl was surrounded by people she appeared to be comfortable with, and Shouzou didn’t want to make one of her friends move for him, so instead he took an empty seat nearby, next to a young couple.

He looked up at the screen where Kirito—that was definitely Kirito in that game. Not Kirigaya Kazuto. No matter how faulty this logic was—sat and stared up awkwardly at an upset Asuna—Not-Asuna? Past-Asuna!—as she seemed to be upset with him. There were loud cheers and voices from outside the room they were in.

“You utter idiot, why would you say that?” Asuna demanded.

Kirito leaned back and waved his hands placatingly as he stared at her in fear. “Sorry. I’m sorry… I just wasn’t thinking.”

Straightening up and lowering her voice, Past-Asuna closed her eyes. “When I first saw your dual-wielding skill back there, I thought your strength was on a whole other level,” she said calmly—or at least, it was calmer than before. “But the commander has a unique skill, too.”

This… loud and outgoing Asuna was definitely different than the little girl Shouzou knew before the accident. He was glad she finally found her voice, though. It suited her.

“I’ve seen it several times,” Kirito noted. “Divine Blade, a skill that maximizes both attack and defense power,” he said. “The attack is strong, but that defense is incredible.”

Shouzou thought back to that man from before, in the previous transmission. He didn’t look all that strong but, then again, Kirito looked even more pathetic. He was so small and unassuming, Shouzou would never have guessed him to be the one who’d cleared the game and ended the nightmare of millions of people. (He had to put into account the amount of people that weren’t trapped in the game, but still felt the loss of their loved ones that were stuck inside.)

“No one has ever seen his HP bar fall into the yellow zone,” Past-Asuna said.

Asuna in the bar seemed to tense a little bit, like it reminded her of something unpleasant. Shouzou wondered whether the commander made it out of the game alive. Did he die? Did he protect someone, but sacrificed himself? Everything was possible, really.

“It’s completely overpowered,” she added, and when Kirito noted that he knew that already, Past-Asuna looked down at him desperately. “What are you going to do? If you lose, not only do I not get my leave, but you’ll have to join the Knights of the Blood.”

Getting up, Kirito stared ahead. “Well, I don’t plan to lose easily.”

He smirked at Past-Asuna confidently. But in truth, it sounded like he already knew the outcome of that fight. Shouzou couldn’t imagine the kid losing, though. If he ended up clearing the game, how could he lose to another player? Didn’t he fight a blue demon only a little while before this? The kid was overpowered, too.

When Kirito stepped out of the room toward the sunny outside after Past-Asuna wished him luck, Shouzou didn’t know what he expected to see, but it wasn’t a full stadium—or maybe a coliseum?—filled with screaming, cheering players.

It was crazy. Shouzou was pretty sure the kid never agreed for this to turn into such a public display. And the way he walked forward, his expression blank, was almost like a cover. Shouzou was comfortable under the spotlights after years of being the CEO of a successful company, but Kirito didn’t seem to like it in the least.

Stopping in the middle of the round arena, Kirito stopped in front of the red and white Heathcliff. The commander had a giant shield in his hand and his sword peeked up above its edge. He looked around at the crowd with a smile.

“I’m sorry, Kirito-kun,” Heathcliff said, not sounding like he was apologetic at all. “I didn’t realize this would be such a big deal.”

If someone told Shouzou the man was actually a robot, he would have believed it. He would have believed the same about Kirito, though. Well… maybe at the beginning, at least. He did come out of his shell a little more as time went by, didn’t he?

“I receive a percentage of the fees,” Kirito said with a grin.

“No.” The smile slipped off Heathcliff’s face as he replied, not even looking at the boy in front of him as he spoke. “After the fight, you’ll be a member of the guild. I’ll treat this as a mission.”

He finally looked at Kirito then, before opening his menu and giving Kirito the request for a duel. The boy accepted after a brief moment of hesitation. And then the countdown started and the two of them got ready. While Heathcliff pulled his sword from the strap of his shield, Kirito unsheathed his two contrasting swords and resumed a battle stance, his eyes observing Heathcliff’s posture carefully.

Shouzou glanced over to see Asuna pursing her lips at the scene on the TV, and a somewhat similar expression of trepidation and uneasiness spread on her buff male friend’s face. Right, because they were there when it happened. Well, Shouzou assumed that meant that Kirito didn’t win the duel.

But how bad was it that it made them look this upset over it? Even the other people around Asuna and the man—was his name Agil? Probably not in the real world—looked nervously at the screen. Shouzou didn’t have a shred of a doubt about them being SAO survivors. If Asuna was here with them, then they were her friends from the game.

Plus, he recognized them from the previous videos, so… there was that.

A ring from the screen drew Shouzou’s attention back toward it, and he watched as Kirito ran quickly toward Heathcliff, attacking immediately. The gray-haired man blocked his black sword easily and when Kirito kept on going on the offence, Heathcliff seemed to not even try and attack, instead blocking it all with his shield. The man even had a smile on his face, like he was enjoying this effortless exchange.

Probably seeing an opening, Heathcliff reached out with his sword but Kirito crossed his swords over each other and jumped back, avoiding getting hit. His feet barely touched the ground before Heathcliff ran toward him and, using his shield, smashed against Kirito.

Shouzou wasn’t the only one who winced or grimaced at the painful attack. A part of Shouzou was aware of the fact that Kirito couldn’t feel any pain in the game, but it still looked extremely anguishing. How could such a thing not hurt?

The force of the hit threw Kirito back and he quickly righted himself in time to glare at the man that was coming toward him again, running and seemingly at complete and utter ease.

Heathcliff looked like he knew he was going to win while Kirito, well… the kid fought for both his and Past-Asuna’s freedom. He looked enraged by the mere idea of losing, really. Shouzou didn’t doubt for a second that he was going to put up a hell of a fight to try and win this thing.

As the fight went on, Shouzou started getting a little dizzy. And he wasn’t the only one. the woman in the seat next to him moaned in displeasure while the man that had his arm wrapped around her shoulders grimaced and complained, “This is too fast. How are we supposed to see a thing?”

He was right, of course. Both Kirito and Heathcliff moved like storms of tornado, forces of nature, moving and slashing and deflecting and parrying so fast, it wasn’t possible to see much of what was going on.

In the real world, Shouzou had no doubt about how impossible this display would have been. But in a video game, speed was something players needed. Sure, not everyone went for speed, but Kirito was clearly one hell of a quick player. Past-Asuna was fast, too, but Shouzou hasn’t seen her move this quickly before. Had he seen such speed before, he wouldn’t have been this nauseated now. Probably.

On screen, Kirito jumped forward only for Heathcliff to evade the attack. The two players turned to stand in front of each other again.

“Splendid reaction time,” Heathcliff commented lightly.

Kirito grinned at him in return. “And that shield of yours is too strong.”

They both jumped toward the other at the same time and continued the duel in such a speed, that the earlier exchange looked like it had been in slow motion.

The woman next to Shouzou heaved a little and he eyed her warily before scooting away, trying not to be too obvious about it. He didn’t feel like ending up as her throw up target, okay? Kyouko would not appreciate his suit getting ruined like that.

And then the people in the café seemed to hold their breath at once when Kirito could be seen aiming his sword at Heathcliff, clearly about to strike. The man was completely open. His sword was too far away to parry the attack and the shield wasn’t even close to the man’s front, so no matter how fast he was, Heathcliff couldn’t avoid getting hit. Even Shouzou knew that.

So it was very surprising when Heathcliff, against all odds, managed to bring his shield in an impossible show of speed up to block Kirito’s attack. The kid’s surprise showed all over his face as he was finally struck by Heathcliff’s sword a moment later.

He was thrown back and landed on the ground, his swords falling out of his hands, but he didn’t move to pick them back up. He just stayed there, on the ground, and stared ahead, his stunned face not aimed at anything in particular.

The crowd on screen cheered loudly as the duel ended with Heathcliff’s victory, but the café remained silent. Because what just happened… it was impossible. There was no way someone could move that fast in the game. And yet… clearly, Heathcliff could. And he did.

Shouzou glanced over at Asuna and noticed that she and her friends were all frowning deeply at the scene. What was it? What was so important about this scene? Was it a secret skill that Heathcliff had used in there? What was going on?

When Kirito lifted his dazed gaze to look up at Heathcliff, the man could be seen frowning down at him. He almost looked angry despite just winning the fight. And then he turned and walked away, with Kirito’s eyes trained on him as he left the arena to the sound of the crowd’s loud and excited voices.

“That bastard,” someone said. “Can’t we bring him back and stab him or something? Preferably in the back.”

Shouzou turned to see a redhead man that sat close to Asuna—Klein, was it?—glaring up at the TV heatedly, like he was staring at an arch nemesis of his. Lisbeth—it had to be her, despite the fact that her hair was brown and not pink—nodded next to him sharply.

“He was taunting Kirito,” she said. “I mean, I’m not against it in general, but look at him—he looks like he’s upset about something he’s gotten himself into. What was he thinking, anyway? Even I know it’s not a good idea to challenge the person you think is likely to beat you in the end,” she grumbled.

Shouzou had no idea what they were talking about, frankly. He shook his head silently at their words, and then turned back to the screen when the scene on it changed.

It showed that room in the merchant’s house/shop again. Honestly, Shouzou was starting to believe Kirito lived in that room—if not permanently, then only from time to time, when he needed a place to stay.

People in the café laughed when they saw the characters on screen. Past-Asuna was there, of course, sitting on a chair in front of the boy and looking almost amused as she looked at the boy.

And Kirito… well, his black attire was gone, replaced by a fancy white suit with red accents that matched Past-Asuna’s uniform. Although the shape of it looked pretty much exactly like Kirito’s black clothes, which was… impressive. Unless he could just change the colors of his clothes in the game—was that possible? Again, Shouzou had no idea.

Grasping the edges of the coat he was now wearing, Kirito looked down at the clothes with an almost disgusted and annoyed—maybe also awkward—expression. “D-didn’t I request something that wasn’t so flashy?” he asked as his gaze lifted up to meet Past-Asuna’s.

“It’s one of the far less flashy ones,” Past-Asuna replied with a smile. When she nodded at her own words, people chuckled a little more. “It looks great on you,” she complimented.

But her grin slipped off her face when Kirito unceremoniously dumped himself onto the bed. He looked less than stellar about the entire situation. Shouzou couldn’t blame him—he clearly liked being a solo player. And his social skills were… not the best. So it made sense he wasn’t too excited about finally joining a guild.

Covering his eyes with his hand, Kirito kept his voice quiet. “A guild, huh?”

“I didn’t mean to drag you into this,” Past-Asuna said.

“No, it’s a good chance,” Kirito said, though he didn’t sound too enthusiastic about it. “I was reaching the limits of what a solo player can do,” he told her and then sat up. He didn’t turn to look at her, though, instead opting to sit hunched on the bed, his gaze seemingly looking past the bedsheets.

Past-Asuna watched him timidly. “That does make me feel better, but…” She seemed to brace herself for something. “Hey, Kirito-kun…” she said and Kirito’s dark gaze turned to her. “I want you to tell me why you avoid guilds and other people.” He didn’t say anything. “It isn’t just because you were a beta tester or have a unique skill, right? You’re a nice person.”

He turned his head away from her and looked down at his lap. “It was a long time ago,” he said eventually. “Over a year ago…” he added.

Shouzou had the feeling he was thinking about that time his guild ended up dead—all of them. He didn’t pay too close attention to that video because he had some urgent things to take care of at the time, but he still remembered how hurt Kirito seemed to be after that.

“I did join a guild, just that one time,” Kirito continued. “The guild was tiny—only five other members. It was called Moonlit Black Cats.”

A hush fell over the people in the café. Asuna looked like she was going to cry as her hand came up to her mouth. Agil and Klein both stared intently at the screen, looking a little like they each wanted to crawl into that scene they were all watching so they could shake Kirito up and make him see it wasn’t his fault.

Lisbeth and a little girl that was sitting next to her—was she another one of them? Shouzou must have missed a video with her, right? He would have remembered the wide eyes and the pigtails she had—both bowed their heads a little.

“Oh, that was so sad,” the woman next to Shouzou whispered to her partner, and the man nodded in agreement, his lips pursed.

“To be honest, their levels were far lower than mine. So I think if I’d told them my true level, they would have reconsidered.” His voice lowered. “But I hid it, and I joined their guild. The way they all seemed so comfortable together was something I coveted. But one day…”

He trailed off, but Past-Asuna seemed to understand what he was talking about because her eyes sparkled like she was going to cry. She didn’t, though. She just stared at Kirito, speechless, waiting for more.

“I was the one who got them all killed. Had I not hidden the fact that I was a beater, I could have warned them how dangerous that trap was.” He held his hands together in his lap, like he was going to beg for forgiveness or maybe pray for their souls. “All of them… Sachi… I killed them.”

“That’s bullshit!” someone yelled in the café.

There were murmurs of agreement from all around. And the people who mentioned how it was a little his fault were silenced immediately by the majority of the people in the room.

Asuna covered her eyes when Past-Asuna stood up. Shouzou was curious as to why. What, did she leave him, thinking it really was his fault? Was she ashamed of what happened next? Of her reaction? But no, there was a light blush on her cheeks that Shouzou assumed meant that she was… awkward?

He turned to the screen again just in time to see Past-Asuna sitting on the bed behind Kirito and, with her hands on his cheeks, turning his head so that he looked at her face.

He looked confused and sad as he just stared at her, as if waiting for her to scold him or tell him that he was right and that he really should blame himself.

But Past-Asuna soon smiled at him softly. “I’m not going to die,” she told him. “Because I’m the one who will protect you.”

A few people awed when she pulled him forward until his cheek was pressed above the place where her heart was beating. She hugged him tightly, like a silent promise. Shouzou thought it was the right thing to do. Even Kirito seemed to relax a little at her words.

Yet it probably wasn’t enough because they could all see the way the boy lifted his hand off the bed, like he was going to return the hug… only for him to change his mind and put his hand back down. Asuna’s eyes shined as she saw the small gesture that she must have missed when this all happened in the first place.

His daughter seemed to become a lot more alert when the scene changed to show the two of them sitting together in different seats in a somewhat fancy room.

A man Shouzou didn’t recognize stood at the doorway, looking both stern and excited at the same time. It was a strange combination, to say the least. There was an axe strapped to his back, and he seemed to have said something that surprised both Past-Asuna and Kirito because they were staring at him like he just grew a second head.

“Training?” Kirito asked, flabbergasted.

“That’s right,” the stranger said—he was clearly a part of the kids’ guild because he wore the same colors as them.

Asuna still stared intently at the screen, her face turning pale. Shouzou could see Lisbeth leaning closer to her to whisper something in her ear but Asuna just shook her head mutely, her eyes not straying from the TV.

The cheerful man went on, saying, “You’ll form a party with me and one more, and we’ll clear the dungeon here, on the 55th floor.”

Past-Asuna frowned. “Wait, Godfree!” she objected. “Kirito-kun and I—”

The man—Godfree? Really?—smiled at her. It wasn’t a mean smile or a mocking smile. Maybe it leaned closer toward an apologetic one. “Even as the second in command, you cannot ignore the rules,” he reminded her. “And if he will be joining us, then as the forward commander, I must evaluate his skills myself.”

“He’s far stronger than you!” Past-Asuna snapped.

Kirito turned his head to look at her before he sighed and sagged in his place. He didn’t look quite as annoyed with the situation as she was, but there was clear reluctance in him. Why would someone as strong as him want to have his abilities evaluated, after all? Especially when it wasn’t his idea to join the guild.

Not to mention how he was being forced to go on this with two other people, which… well, for an antisocial loner like him, it had to be quite unpleasant.

“We’ll meet at the western gate in thirty minutes!” Godfree insisted, disregarding Past-Asuna’s protests. In fact, he sounded ridiculously happy about it as he pumped his fist in the air and turned around to leave with a bellowing laugh.

The moment he was gone, Past-Asuna bowed her head sadly. “We finally had a chance to be alone...” she complained quietly.

Smiling, Kirito stood up and walked over to her before putting his hand on the top of her head, making her open her eyes and look up at him. “I’ll return soon,” he promised her. “Wait here.”

“Okay. Be careful.”

When the scene cut straight after this to a different one, Shouzou had no doubt things were going to go horribly wrong. Because Kirito and Past-Asuna just had to jinx it. And Kirito seemed to think so, too, when his eyes landed on the two people waiting for him by the western gate.

Godfree was there, smiling and waving happily at him. And then he pulled from behind the wall next to him a man that Shouzou didn’t know, but one that seemed to make the people in the café uneasy. Asuna’s already pale face blanched further at the sight of the man.

Well, apparently Shouzou had missed an important video, huh? At least, that was the only explanation he could come up with.

For a moment Kirito’s steps faltered a little, and then he made the rest of the way toward Godfree and the gray-haired man beside him. The man looked down, clearly not wanting to be there any more than Kirito did.

Kirito must have felt the same way, but his face still didn’t show it that much. He mostly just stared. Stared in a way that would have unnerved even Shouzou, who was used to weird, intense men. He had to deal with them on a daily basis. And yet, this kid was on a whole other level.

“What is this?”

“From now on, we’re all part of the same guild,” Godfree said. “I thought it would be a good time to move past this.”

He looked like he was almost oblivious to the clear tension between Kirito and this man. But who was it? He seemed to make even Asuna nervous and uncomfortable. Or maybe it was just something that was going to happen?

But then the reaction of the people around the café would have been less dramatic. They all seemed to recognize this man, and they didn’t look like he was on their nice list.

Leaning toward the couple next to him, Shouzou tried to keep his voice as low as possible as he asked them who the man was.

The woman looked at him first but the one to answer was the man beside her. “Oh, he appeared last time, I think. Kuradeel, was it?” He looked at the woman, who nodded her head in confirmation. The name sent a cold shiver down Shouzou’s back. “Apparently he was a little creepy and too intense around Asuna. He and Kirito… don’t get along too well, you might say.”

“To put it lightly,” the woman snorted.

Yes, that was it. Kyouko had told Shouzou about this man. Kuradeel—the man who was assigned as Asuna’s bodyguard and even watched her house despite it not being a part of his job. Then she tried to leave for a while with Kirito, and Kuradeel tried to stop her, claiming she couldn’t trust Kirito.

Somehow this turned into a duel between Kirito and Kuradeel which, obviously, ended with Kirito as the winner. Kyouko really didn’t sound like she liked the man after all of that. She downright spat out his name in distaste.

Shouzou was vaguely aware of the fact that he’d missed Kuradeel’s stiff apology to Kirito on screen because of his hushed, short conversation with the couple next to him, but it didn’t seem to change too much. Kirito still looked like he didn’t trust the guy any more than he did before, and Kuradeel still seemed to be very displeased with the fact that he was going to have to put up with the kid.

“Then that’s it,” Godfree said with a proud smile and. As he kept on talking, Kirito kept his eyes on Kuradeel, looking like he wasn’t completely listening. “Today, I’d like to assess how you react to dangerous situations, so I’m taking all your crystals.”

“Idiot!” Asuna snapped from her place. Her pale face, combined with her anger, drew looks from all around the café. The occupants didn’t look surprised at seeing her there, but the recognition was in their eyes as they all seemed to wonder what happened that made her this upset over the situation.

Anyway, the last words Godfree said seemed to reach Kirito because his eyes widened and he turned to him quickly. “Even my teleportation crystals?” he asked in disbelief.

When Godfree confirmed it, the boy just stared at him, unmoving. Unlike him, Kuradeel stepped forward and handed out his crystals willingly, without a word of protest. Kirito turned his stunned eyes to him, and then back to Godfree when the man urged him with a grin to hand over his crystals.

“Fine.” Kirito relented reluctantly and drew out two crystals from within his coat. He was most definitely unhappy about it.

“All right.” Godfree pumped his fist in the air. “Let’s go, guys!”

“Yeah…”

The reaction he got from the two others made the people in the café laugh. All except for Asuna and Agil—although Shouzou had the feeling that was only because the man noticed her solemn mood.

Shouzou himself just couldn’t help it—while Godfree was obviously enthusiastic and excited about just about everything, Kuradeel raised his fist with closed eyes, looking polite rather than truly excited, and Kirito just looked like he was already done with all of this. Beyond done, really. He looked like he would rather fight The Gleam Eyes again instead of going to a dungeon with Kuradeel and Godfree.

Unsurprisingly, the mood didn’t seem to change when the scene changed to show the three of them marching slowly through some kind of canyon. Godfree was still blissfully cheerful, and Kuradeel and Kirito followed obediently but reluctantly.

On her stool next to the bar, Asuna’s body started shaking a little, and before Shouzou could decide on whether or not he should head over there to see if he could comfort her, Lisbeth and the younger girl jumped to her aid and whispered in her ear while looking just as confused as before.

A few people around the café who noticed Asuna’s strange mood seemed to shift uneasily in their seats, their eyes trained on the screen warily.

When Godfree announced that they could rest for an hour, Kirito and Kuradeel sat down on different stone platforms while Godfree sat on one opposite them, a little further away, after throwing them sacks of food—one each—that they caught easily.

When Kirito opened his sack to reveal an unappetizing bread and a green bottle of… who-knows-what, a few people seemed to scrunch up their noses or snicker at his exaggerated sigh. The kid really did care about food an awful lot. Then again—that was one of the simplest things he could enjoy in SAO regularly, Shouzou had to assume.

Reluctantly pulling out the bottle and opening it, Kirito took a few large gulps before his eyes drifted sideways to glance over at Kuradeel. Kuradeel, who was sitting there, not touching his food, and smirking in his place.

Kirito’s eyes snapped back to the bottle he was holding and he choked and gasped before tossing it away. The bottle hit the ground and exploded into a bunch of glowing, floating bits that slowly drifted away. Someone in the café hummed loudly in confusion a moment before a symbol appeared over the kid’s body—a yellow square with a black lightning in the middle.

Kirito’s body dropped backward on the stone he was sitting on, and he began to shake as he tried to move. But he couldn’t. Shouzou gawked at the screen as Godfree seemed to suffer the same fate. They have been paralyzed, haven’t they?

Asuna was shaking even more now, even with her friends surrounding her like a wall of comfort, though they all stared up at the screen, clearly seeing and hearing about this for the first time.

And then came the laughter. The mad, rolling, crazy laughter of Kuradeel, whose whole body moved as he guffawed like a maniac. Kirito scowled as he tried to get up helplessly. From the ground, Godfree managed to lift his head to frown at Kuradeel.

Shouzou had to admit—seeing Godfree finally without a smile on his face was a strange experience. It would have been a lot more enjoyable had this not been happening during such a dire time.

“W-what is this?” Godfree demanded weakly. “Kuradeel, you were the one who brought this water!”

“No…” someone across the café drawled out. “It’s almost like it was his plan all along—to poison them. Impossible.”

Others quickly shushed the person.

“Use an antidote crystal!” Kirito choked out.

Quickly, Godfree reached for his pocket and pulled out a green crystal. But Kuradeel jumped forward, grinning madly, and kicked the crystal away from him before the man could use it.

Shouzou’s hands clenched at the scene. This looked… bad. Really, really bad. He knew that Kuradeel and Kirito had a fight, but a duel was something that wasn’t unusual during SAO as far as he was concerned. This? This was definitely less than normal. People didn’t just poison each other on a regular basis in the death game, after all.

Ignoring Kirito for now—though there wasn’t really much to pay attention to in the first place, since the kid was just trying to keep his eyes on Kuradeel and Godfree, unable to do much else—Kuradeel loomed over Godfree. “Godfree-san, I knew you were an idiot, but you really do have muscles for brains,” he mocked him, and then pulled out a large, long sword from the scabbard at his waist.

“W-what are you doing?” Godfree asked and then he gasped along with all the people in the café when Kuradeel lifted the sword and slammed it into the man’s back.

Kirito’s eyes widened in alarm while Godfree’s avatar’s face turned pale. A red, pixelated cut appeared on his back and his HP gauge decreased from the single, brutal hit. Shouzou noticed the green mark above Kuradeel’s head turned orange as he grinned down at the helpless man.

“Stop it!” Godfree cried desperately.

“Listen,” Kuradeel said as he prepared another attack, “our party was attacked by a gang of criminal players out in the field,” he said and hit Godfree again and again mercilessly. “Though you both fought hard, you were slain. I returned alive, having defeated all the outlaws completely on my own!”

Kirito seemed to have gone speechless as he stared from afar at Godfree’s HP dropping to the red zone. Kuradeel pierced his body with the sword once more and then began to push deeper, laughing as the HP dropped further and further until it reached zero and Godfree… died, his body disappearing with the sound of breaking glass.

Breathing heavily, Kuradeel didn’t move for a moment as everyone in the café held their breath. And then he turned his crazy eyes over to look at Kirito, and the boy mustered a hateful glare that he sent his way, though he still couldn’t do much else to protect himself. He couldn’t move from his spot. He was as helpless as Godfree was.

God…

Shouzou shuddered. The deaths in SAO looked nothing like the ones in the real world. There was no real blood and no body left behind. But they were real all the same. Kuradeel… he had murdered someone. Ended his life in the virtual and real worlds.

How could someone live with such a burden? Though it didn’t seem to be considered a burden for Kuradeel, really. His smirk was too wide. His eyes too bright. He looked absolutely ecstatic.

If Asuna knew about this, there was no longer a question as to why she was reacting so badly to the events on screen—it was horrible to watch. Were they all sure Kirito was still sane after everything he’s been through? Asuna seemed fine as long as she didn’t shudder like crazy, but was Kirito?

“Hey,” Kuradeel said and started walking closer to Kirito. “Because of a kid like you I just killed an innocent bystander.”

Kirito’s voice when he talked was filled with resentment. “For all that, you looked happy enough,” he commented. “Why would someone like you join the Knights of the Blood? You’d be better off with a criminal guild.”

“What an interesting thing to say. You have sharp eyes,” Kuradeel said, and then he tapped on his forearm. Options from the system of the game appeared there and he picked one before his glove disappeared, revealing some kind of symbol on his arm that made the SAO survivors near Asuna gasp, just like Kirito.

Shouzou wasn’t even sure how to describe what he was seeing—it was a… creepy face… and… a skeleton arm? It was really unclear. But he thought he remembered that same symbol on the forearms of those three people from the video where Asuna and Kirito solved some… murder mystery together. Those three were bad news—three men that Kirito chased away with a warning.

That didn’t bode well for the kid.

“That’s the guild of murderers, Laughing Coffin!” Kirito choked out, eyes wide with shock.

Kuradeel huffed out a short laugh. “That’s where I acquired this paralysis technique.” Then he put his glove back on. “Oops. I’d better stop talking or the poison will wear off. Time to finish this!” he said and approached Kirito, his sword held firmly in his hand.

The boy gasped when Kuradeel stuck his sword through his left arm, moving it back and forth with a sadistic grin. “The poison is still in effect?” Kirito mumbled, his eyes wide.

He looked scared. Of course he was scared—a maniac was killing him and he couldn’t do anything to stop it. He couldn’t even call for help because there was nobody else around. How the hell did he get out of this one?

The boy choked uncomfortably when Kuradeel then did the same to his right leg.

“How does it feel?” Kuradeel asked. “How does it feel, knowing that you’re about to die? Tell me, won’t you?” Kirito’s HP dropped to the yellow zone and kept on decreasing. His eyes squinted a little but he didn’t say anything. It seemed to upset Kuradeel, though. “Hey, now! Come on, say something. You really are going to die!”

Kirito’s eyes stared, wide open and filled with terror and some kind of realization as the man pulled his sword up and stuck it in his stomach next—like he knew Kuradeel wasn’t messing around, and he was certain that he wasn’t going to get out of this alive.

The HP bar next to him dropped drastically to the red zone. The boy’s eyes seemed to slowly but surely lose their spark of determination. And then he closed them, his features relaxing a little as if he was accepting it—this fate.

To say that the café was silent would be an understatement. The people in it stared at the screen like their lives depended on it—on them memorizing every moment before them—as their mouths remained slammed shut.

Some of them looked stunned. Others angry. The woman next to Shouzou was silently sobbing her partner holding her tight. And she wasn’t the only one to react this way. There were at least three more people who had tears in their eyes at the scene on the TV screen.

And that included Asuna.

His daughter had tears streaming down her cheeks as she watched, with the rest of them, the resolve and determination that have been constantly driving Kirito forward… drifting away. Shouzou knew, like the rest of them, that the kid was alive. He survived this. But the thought of the hero of SAO giving up at some point like that? It was surreal to think about. Yet… it was being broadcasted to all of them—unyielding evidence that showed that Kirito—Kirigaya Kazuto—was human. And he had his limits, too.

Heads perked up when on the screen Kirito’s eyes snapped open again, a new spark glinting brightly within the depths of his eyes. He seemed to struggle an awful lot as he forced his right hand toward the blade piercing through his abdomen, and then he grabbed it by the blade and started weakly pulling it out the best he could while still being paralyzed.

The people in the café didn’t cheer, but they did stare at him with renewed hope shining in their intrigued eyes.

Shouzou had no idea how the kid was going to get out of this thing, but he knew he was going to find out who this Kuradeel really was later on and let Kyouko come up with something horrendous to do to him—because someone like that did not deserve to walk around without suffering the consequences of his actions. Even if it all happened inside a game. This certainly wasn’t an ordinary game, after all.

Kuradeel’s eyes lit up at the pathetic struggle Kirito was seemingly putting up against him. “What?” He looked at the kid with wide, crazy eyes. “So you’re afraid of dying, after all?”

“That’s right… I can’t die yet!”

“Really?” Kuradeel laughed as Kirito pulled the tip of the sword out slowly but surely. The man didn’t seem to even try too hard to stop him. He was too busy enjoying himself. “That’s just the way I like it!”

And then he went right back to leaning on the sword, pressing it harder into Kirito’s gut. The boy stared down at the blade intently as his HP crawled closer and closer toward the edge of the bar. His eyes squeezed tightly when his strength failed him and his fingers lost their fight as they loosened up numbly.

“Die… die! Die!” Kuradeel chanted gleefully.

A force—like a gust of wind—came out of nowhere and pushed Kuradeel and his sword away from Kirito. The madman was thrown back so hard, he hit the wall behind him, his grip on his sword failing, before his body fell down away from his weapon.

As the dust settled around the scene, Shouzou and everyone else in the Dicey Café recognized Past-Asuna standing there. She looked horrified as she turned from glaring at Kuradeel to looking down at the squinting Kirito.

With a sigh of relief everyone noted the fact that once again Kirito’s HP had just a little bit of life left. They didn’t cheer at the new arrival, but they did seem to relax just a tad.

Shouzou didn’t like seeing his daughter in such a dangerous situation, of course, but he was honestly glad she got there just in the nick of time to save Kirito. Who knows what would have happened had she been late. Would she have believed Kuradeel’s story? Probably not. Would he have killed her, too, then?

Bending down next to Kirito, Past-Asuna pulled out a crystal and held it over the boy’s body. “Heal!” she said desperately

His HP gauge immediately returned to normal, though the paralysis was still holding him down, preventing Kirito from moving. His eyes widened a little as he seemed to focus on Past-Asuna’s relieved face so close to his.

The people in the café let out a collective sigh of relief, as if they haven’t stopped worrying about Kirito and his low HP bar despite Kuradeel no longer cutting through him with a large sword and a maddening grin until now, when it was extra clear that the boy was safe.

“I made it in time…” Past-Asuna muttered, sounding almost like she didn’t believe it. “I made it in time! God, I made it in time…”

In the café, Asuna buried her face in her hands as her friends seemed to be at a loss for words.

Past-Asuna breathed deeply a few more times and then sent a fragile, wavering smile down at Kirito. He smiled back. “I was watching you on the map. When Godfree disappeared”—Past-Asuna’s expression turned somber again and her voice pitched higher, like she was going to cry—“I realized something happened.” She looked away from his face. “You’re alive. You’re alive, right, Kirito-kun?”

“Yeah, I’m alive…”

The sound of Kuradeel standing back up with a heave as he leaned on his sword for support drew Past-Asuna’s attention to him and her worried face contorted in anger. “Just wait,” she told Kirito. “I’ll finish this right away.” Standing up, Past-Asuna started walking toward Kuradeel as her hand pulled her rapier out of its scabbard.

Kuradeel watched her worriedly as he stuttered, “A-Asuna-sama, this was just training. That’s right… we had a training accident…”

His nervous smile froze on his face as Past-Asuna coldly wielded her rapier, slicing his cheek quickly. Kuradeel looked stunned. The people in the café didn’t even say a word in protest—they just watched, probably thinking the man deserved it. That, and the onslaught of quick and precise attacks that Past-Asuna delivered, poking her rapier into the man’s body so rapidly, left no room to talk as she looked like a flash rather than a person moving.

The man couldn’t even deflect if he tried. And he seemed to know that, because he dropped his sword and raised his arms in the air, surrendering.

Shouzou wondered briefly about why Past-Asuna’s mark didn’t turn orange like Kuradeel’s. But then he figured players that attacked orange—criminal—players probably weren’t consider as criminals themselves according to the system. It was somewhat fair… maybe. He wasn’t sure about it, but he also wasn’t sure about what he wanted to see right now. Was he ready to see his daughter ending someone’s life? Or did he want her to let him go?

“F-fine, I surrender,” Kuradeel said and knelt down before fully bowing down in front of Past-Asuna. “I was wrong!” he screamed desperately. Shouzou scrunched up his nose as the woman next to him kept on shaking her head with tears in her eyes. “I’ll leave the guild… you’ll never see me again! So…”

He didn’t look up when Past-Asuna seemed to switch her hold on her weapon so that she could stab him one last time. But he still brought his hands to his head and raised his voice hysterically and shrilly.

“I don’t want to die!”

“Too bad, pal!” someone countered, and there were a few murmurs of agreement as well as protests from the others.

But they didn’t outright start discussing the situation, instead focusing on the scene where Past-Asuna—who already started lowering her sword—stopped a few inches from the madman’s body, looking conflicted. Shouzou noticed the way Asuna—the real one—turned her face away from the TV, like she was ashamed of herself.

From his place, Kirito started sitting up as his paralysis faded away. He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something, when Past-Asuna took a hesitant step back and away from Kuradeel.

And then the man grabbed his sword, got up, and quickly disarmed the surprised Past-Asuna. Shouzou’s blood ran cold when Kuradeel raised his sword, this time aiming it at Past-Asuna as she stumbled backward from the force of Kuradeel’s attack.

“You’re pretty gullible, vice commander,” the man mocked her.

Kirito bolted toward them quickly. He didn’t even have the time to reach for his sword before he stopped between Past-Asuna and Kuradeel. Shouzou and everyone else stared in horror and awe as the boy held out his left hand in Kuradeel’s sword’s trajectory. The weapon sliced right through the limb and the discarded bit of it sparkled and disappeared the same way Godfree and the water bottle did.

A red symbol of a hand appeared next to Kirito’s HP bar, but he disregarded it as he screamed and his hand started glowing with what Shouzou assumed was some type of sword skill. The people in the café watched with wide eyes as the boy’s fist went right through Kuradeel’s chest, making the rest of the madman’s HP drop and disappear.

There was a conning, devilish grin on Kuradeel’s face as his body slumped against Kirito, who didn’t move, his face completely blank. Bleak. Empty.

And then Kuradeel whispered in Kirito’s ear in a voice that sent chills down Shouzou’s spine, “You damn murderer.” The moment the words left his lips, his body evaporated and Kirito swayed on his feet a little before collapsing to his knees without a word, his eyes staring down, glazed over.

“Oh, my God…”

“The poor kid…”

“He just murdered someone! What are you talking about?”

“It wasn’t his fault, you idiot! He was protecting both himself and the girl—can you blame him?”

“Yeah, I can.”

“What would you have done, then, huh?”

There were loud voices arguing around the place. Shouzou watched them all in silence. He could see both points of view—the ones who justified the kill and the ones who thought it was unnecessary.

Of course, killing—murdering—was a terrible thing to do. But wasn’t this self-defense? Was this not a life or death situation? The kid nearly got killed a few moments earlier. He was going to die by the hands of the very same man who was going to also try and kill Asuna. So Kirito jumped in to prevent that from happening.

It was easy to judge him from a safe place, while being relatively calm and collected. Their situation—sitting and watching a clip on a TV screen—was worlds apart from what happened to Kirito.

The kid was in a situation where he was supposed to be safe, but he wasn’t. He was poisoned, nearly died, then got saved only to have his rescuer in danger… so he was already riding on a rollercoaster of adrenaline and emotions that would have driven greater men mad.

“QUIET DOWN!” a booming voice called above all the others and the people all turned to look at Agil, who stood behind the counter and gazed at them with disdain. “If you want to argue, do it outside. If you want to stay here, be quiet, and I don’t care how much you want to voice your opinions. Got it?”

They stared at him, stunned, and then everyone seemed to slump down in defeat, their energy leaving their bodies. Shouzou’s shoulders seemed to sag a little as the atmosphere in the room stopped feeling too suffocating.

He turned back to look at the screen, then, where Past-Asuna, her lips quivering, knelt down behind Kirito and held out her hand to grab his. But she stopped herself a few centimeters before touching him, and then drew her hand back shakily as her head dropped down.

“I’m sorry…” she whispered. “This was…” Her body hunched as she bowed her head and squeezed her eyes tightly. Still, Shouzou could see the tears that started to form there. “This was my fault, wasn’t it?”

She didn’t seem to take notice of the liquid that started running down her cheeks and to the ground. A few tears landed on the back of her fist that was pressed to the ground, but she didn’t do a thing about it.

Blinking his eyes, Kirito lifted his head a little and then turned it slightly to look at the girl behind him. “Asuna…”

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry! I… I shouldn’t…” She tried to speak a few times and then gave up and looked down at her lap. “I should stay away from you…” She trailed off for a moment and let out soft, choked sounds as she cried and still fought to get the words out. Kirito didn’t interrupt her. “…from now on.”

“Oh, no…” Asuna muttered from her place near the counter and covered her face with both hands.

Shouzou was about to wonder hysterically about what else could go wrong after all of that. But before he got the chance to, Kirito turned fully to face Past-Asuna on the screen, his blank expression slightly pushed aside to show something akin to desperation as he grabbed Past-Asuna’s shoulder, causing her to look up at him in shock.

And then he leaned in and just… kissed her.

Frankly, Shouzou was well aware of the fact that as Asuna’s father, he was supposed to feel disturbed by this display of affection. He was supposed to feel apprehension about some guy just kissing his daughter without asking, without waiting for her consent, without even talking—let alone, meeting—with her parents beforehand…

But he didn’t feel any of those things. It was weird.

Kirito was the kid who just murdered a man on that very screen. He just punched someone through the chest, bringing to his death. What kind of father would want his daughter to date a murderer, right?

But Shouzou also got to see the kid in other situations. Sure, he was socially awkward and liked to be alone. He didn’t show his emotions too much, and kept on trying to drive people away from him so that he’d be left on his own. He even seemed to get himself in trouble on a daily basis, which meant he was ultimately a danger to be around.

But there was also the fact that this kid felt enormous guilt about every little thing he did that he seemed to regret. He’d forced himself into isolation at the very beginning, turning his life in the game extra difficult, and his ability to make people trust him close to nonexistent, for the sake of all the other beta testers in the game.

He’d jumped in to try and protect the scheming ex-guild members that wanted to bring to light what really happened to their leader. He’d defeated a strong boss almost entirely by himself to protect other (reckless) people, nearly killing himself in the process. And according to both Kyouko and these videos, he truly cared about Asuna and her well-being.

Plus, you know, he cleared SAO and brought Asuna and thousands other people back to the real world. So… yeah, there was that small detail, too.

Keeping all that in mind, Shouzou found that he didn’t really… mind. He didn’t mind any of this. As long as Asuna wanted it too, of course. Though it looked like she was on board with this because Past-Asuna took only a brief moment to realize what was going on before she closed her eyes and leaned closer to Kirito, her cheeks flushed.

And maybe it helped that Shouzou already had a hunch regarding how Asuna felt about the kid. It wasn’t hard to guess that when she kept on heading over to his hospital to visit him. Nor was it hard to guess that when she kept on pestering Shouzou about how things were going with Sugou and the workers that were trying hard to get Kirigaya out of the virtual world.

It didn’t take long before Kirito pulled away. And without opening his eyes, he bowed his head before Past-Asuna, who looked at him in silence, her lips parted in surprise. The tears stopped flowing out, but there were still a few hanging to her long lashes.

Shouzou thought he heard Lisbeth snickering a little close to Asuna though the girl tried to push her away lightly with her face positively burning.

“My life is yours, Asuna,” Kirito said and some people around the café dropped their jaws. “So I’ll live for your sake. Let’s stay together until the end.”

Past-Asuna seemed to get over her shock faster than the people watching it—that was for sure. “I… I’ll protect you, too,” she said softly, but there was a note of urgency to her voice. “I’ll keep protecting you forever. So…” She started crying again, but she didn’t look sad, anymore.

Kirito didn’t lift his head. He just kept still. “I’ll see to it that you can go back to the other world, no matter what,” he promised as a smile finally broke through and found its way onto his face.

Well, she wasn’t the first one he’d promised that to, but Shouzou didn’t care—he was just glad the kid could keep his promises. That he really did get the chance to bring Asuna and everyone else back to the real world.

In her place, Asuna seemed to sigh in relief when the scene changed. Her cheeks were still red with embarrassment but she seemed a lot better than before. She got herself some good friends, didn’t she?

Shouzou smiled at her from his place and then looked at the screen where, to his alarm, Past-Asuna could be seen sleeping in her bed in the virtual world, looking peaceful. It wasn’t exactly something he wanted people all over Japan to see, but he couldn’t make them look away, either. At least she was under the covers and not doing God-knows-what.

The Asuna sitting in the café, though, groaned and smacked her head against the counter in frustration, her ears burning a violent shade of red.

The room on the TV was mostly dark except for a lamp on the nightstand that shined warmly in its little corner. On the edge of the bed, smiling softly down at Past-Asuna, was Kirito. He wore his black clothes again—sans coat and gloves—and seemed content with just watching Past-Asuna as she breathed evenly.

That is, until he decided to poke her cheek lightly, making her stir and wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and she softly smiled up at him.

“Sorry,” the boy said, though he didn’t look too apologetic. “I woke you, didn’t I?”

“Idiot…” Lisbeth muttered loudly. “What does he think happens when he pokes people in their sleep?” She opened her mouth to say more but snapped it shut with a disgruntled expression at the looks she received from Agil and Asuna. Though Shouzou was pretty sure she still mumbled a small idiot under her breath.

Past-Asuna shifted a little. “I was just dreaming a little,” she told him. “About the old world.”

The old world? That was a new one. Shouzou scrunched up his nose. It sounded more and more like they were content in the virtual world. Which… well… they did become pretty strong in there, didn’t they? And in general, it looked like they didn’t have too much to worry about. At least… that was what it looked like regarding Asuna. Kirito seemed to get himself into trouble every other second.

“It’s strange…” the girl continued. “In the dream, I wondered if everything here, in Aincrad—if everything that has happened with you—was only a dream. I was really scared. I’m happy this wasn’t a dream.”

“This is so embarrassing,” Asuna moaned.

Lisbeth laughed next to her, looking delighted, while Klein, Agil and the young girl Shouzou didn’t know looked at each other and shrugged helplessly.

Kirito gave her a funny look. “You’re so strange…” he commented, though he didn’t make it sound like an insult. He mostly sounded confused. “Don’t you want to go back?”

“I do. I do, but… I don’t want my time here to disappear. These two years have been very important to me. They seem that way now.” She sat down, careful to wrap herself in her blanket to keep herself covered.

Which brought the matter of why she was sleeping with no clothes on when Kirito was right there! But Shouzou was going to overlook that for now because he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer. Not now, not ever

Past-Asuna’s smile faded a little. “Hey, Kirito-kun. Do you think it would be okay if we left the front lines for a bit?”

Someone in the back snickered a little in the Dicey Café. “Didn’t this whole mess start because she wanted to leave the front lines?” he noted and a few people chuckled, but the others just kept on looking intently and curiously at the screen.

Shifting a little at Kirito’s confused hum, Past-Asuna looked down. “Somehow, I’m scared. If I return to the battlefield, it feels like something bad will happen.” She smiled weakly for a second. “Maybe I’m just a little tired.”

“Yeah…” Kirito nodded. “I’m tired, too.”

He turned his gaze to the window of the room, staring out at the twinkling lights of the city outside—or was it a town?—with a serious expression, like he was thinking hard on something he was trying to gather his confidence to say out loud. Shouzou crossed his arms over his chest and watched with his eyebrows drawn together.

“In the southwest part of floor 22 there’s a small village surrounded by a forest and lakes,” Kirito said eventually. “Let’s move there together. And…”

“And?” Past-Asuna prompted.

Shouzou took one look at Kirito when the boy turned his face toward Past-Asuna, his eyes shifting down to avoid her gaze as he seemed to reach for words that were hard to come by… and he honestly didn’t need to hear what Kirito wanted to say to know what it was.

He remembered that awkward conversation the kids had back when they’d talked about that murder in the guild of… what was her name… Imelda? No, Griselda! Asuna had brought up the concept of marriage all the way back then and Shouzou remembered how he’d already suspected it all at that moment…

But now. Not it was just too obvious. Living together was a big deal in the real world, but in the virtual one it looked like it didn’t matter as much to others. Shouzou was pretty sure he even heard about the game’s system preventing inappropriate scenarios in the game in case people tried doing something… inappropriate. So living together was probably nothing too world-shattering.

Marriage in the game, however, did change things. It meant their items would be shared with one another. It meant their skills and levels and everything the players could normally keep to themselves and choose not to share… it would all be revealed to another person.

It meant complete trust between two people in a world that was called by a large number of their society The Death Game. Where people could die by either monsters, recklessness, or even other players—and probably more reasons Shouzou didn’t know about.

So… it made sense, okay? It made sense to him that Kirito would think about it—even if the two of them just seemed to really get together that very same day.

Apparently, though, the rest of the people in the Dicey Café didn’t expect it when Kirito suggested getting married (not including the SAO survivors, of course, who seemed to tease Asuna about the whole thing, still), because they all gasped at the screen when Kirito’s voice confirmed Shouzou’s suspicion.

While Kirito’s face showed mostly determination, Past-Asuna’s reaction was to stare at him for a moment, before she started tearing up. Her hand came up to rest over her heart and she closed her eyes as she smiled wide. “Yes!”

The screen went black then. Which was good, because Shouzou felt like this video took forever.

He sighed as people immediately started chatting about everything they just saw—some of them even pulling out their phones to call others and discuss the latest events that got revealed to all of them. And Shouzou didn’t doubt that people would have a lot to judge this time around. More than they had before. Because there was both the death of Kuradeel and this seemingly abrupt marriage proposal.

It was a lot to take in all at once, okay?

He glanced over to see Asuna smiling at her friends and talking to them lightly, and decided to get back to the car. He wasn’t sure how she’d feel, knowing he was right there without letting her know from the start.

So he got up discreetly, walked out the café’s door, and entered his car before sagging in the driver’s seat. Putting his hands on the wheel, he braced himself for a second and then looked over to the shotgun seat where his phone was.

He picked it up and opened his contact list, ready to dial Asuna’s number and tell her to come outside. But then his phone started ringing with an incoming call from Kouichirou, and Shouzou blinked at it in confusion before accepting the call. “Hello?”

“It’s Sugou,” Kouichirou’s voice said immediately. “Dad, it’s Sugou. He’s the one keeping Kirigaya in the game.”

Shouzou’s grip on the phone slipped and the device fell under the seat just as the door of the Dicey Café opened and Asuna walked out slowly, a little unsteady on her feet without her crutches, but not too much. She smiled brightly when she noticed Shouzou, but then her smile froze a little at the expression he was sporting. It was probably bad. It was probably really, really bad.

He quickly waved her over and then blindly reached down to get his phone back. Asuna was already in the seat next to him by the time he pulled it numbly to his ear. He spared his confused daughter one look and then stared ahead. “Home. Tell me everything when you get home, okay?”

Kouichirou was quiet for a moment.

“Right.”

Chapter Text

“AH!”

The shrill scream that escaped Rika’s mouth alerted the others to her distress as her wings started failing her and she found herself plummeting down quickly, her body flailing as she lost all sense of direction. She wasn’t very fond of falling off high places—especially when there was nothing to grab around her so that she could prevent her descent but open skies.

Sure, flying was a feeling like no other that Rika had to admit was worth getting back into a virtual game for. She enjoyed spreading these strange wings attached to her back and exploring the sky for fifteen minutes at a time like most other players in ALO.

But the fact that she tended to forget about the flight limit until she was out of time was frustrating. Plus, she really liked flying extremely high, so when she hit the ground, she had no doubt about how she was going to end up dead and back where she started—at the Leprechauns’ main city, where she first started. Which meant having to catch up to the others all over again.

Turning around, the others watched her descent with noticeably less shock than the first five times. You know, sixth time a charm—they probably decided they just couldn’t be bothered to panic because of her, anymore.

Still, Leafa was the one who quickly dropped down to follow Rika, her flight so fast, it looked impossible. Even with her abilities from SAO following her to ALO, Rika wasn’t fast like a lot of the other players. Especially when it came to flying—something she wasn’t used to in the least.

Reaching out her hand, Leafa squinted her eyes a little as she tried to catch up to Rika. “Grab my hand!” she called. “Come on… so close…”

The girl kept on muttering urgently under her breath, and then Rika’s fingers finally brushed against the other girl’s hand and somehow Leafa managed to catch her. They slowed down their free fall after that and Rika heaved a sigh of relief when their feet touched the ground delicately.

“Oh, that was close. You really do need to start paying attention to your wings, Liz,” Leafa said with a sigh.

The others soon landed next to them, smiling at Rika and flashing her these teasing grins that made the girl want to both hide in shame and snap at them to quit it. She held herself back, though. If she was going to snap at someone, it was going to be Kirito, and for that they had to find him, first.

Find and catch up with him, that is. Because so far it looked like he’s never stayed in one place for very long, always moving around ALO like his feet couldn’t bear to touch the same ground for more than a few hours at most.

Asuna was the one who asked them all to log in. She said she had news about Kirito and that they needed to work fast because there was a ticking clock counting down for them, apparently. She didn’t explain much more before they all agreed to show up—those of them that could, that is.

Rika had to admit—trying to convince her parents that she was capable enough to use the NerveGear and enter a new virtual world was a challenge, but she was stubborn enough. Plus, they did know about Kirito’s condition and the fact that she wanted to help him with her friends.

Also, she was pretty sure she heard her mother talking over the phone with Yuuki Shouzou—Asuna’s father—to determine whether it was really safe, so there was also that little fact that made her parents relent.

She would have gotten the AmuSphere if she only could, but Asuna told them all to use the NerveGear, instead. She said it would enable them to not start completely from scratch, instead bringing with them their old abilities and skills from SAO. Which they needed if they wanted to help Kirito, somehow.

Agil couldn’t come, claiming his wife would kill him if he tried putting the NerveGear back on again. And when he suggested using the AmuSphere, she told him to come back to her in a few months, so that was a loud and clear no.

But Klein and Silica could show up. Silica needed a little time to convince her parents that she was going to be okay, but Klein could do whatever he wanted, basically, since he lived alone and was, you know, an adult.

Oh, and there was Leafa—Kirito’s sister. As in, real world sister. Rika liked her—she really did. She was a nice person overall and was determined to help Kirito just as much as the rest of them. She even explained to them about the world they were getting into the best she could, instructing them all on how to get to their meeting place. (Which took forever! Honestly, teleport crystals sounded so amazing at times like this.)

And then they all gathered around Asuna, who told them that her brother had found out who was keeping Kirito inside the game. It turned out it was one of the people who worked in her father’s company.

For some reason, Rika wasn’t even surprised. It made sense that a man that was this connected to the game would be the one to manipulate it just right to make Kirito convert to it from SAO. And according to Asuna, it was for some kind of research he had going on, though there had to be something personal there, too, right? Why Kirito of all people, after all?

Unfortunately, they had no answers beyond that, and Asuna’s parents were working on getting evidence on that man, which begged the question—why did they have to help Kirito if they were so close to getting him out of the game by just taking the mastermind behind this entire plot?

The answer to that came easily, though—just like no one could get all of the thousands of people in SAO out during those two years from the outside, no one could help Kirito—he had to do something inside the game to set himself free.

They just didn’t know what it was. Yet.

First thing first—they had to find him. And then kick him hard for making them go to these lengths to save his sorry butt. And then they could figure out what to do next. Yeah, that sounded about right.

“I need to rest, too, actually,” Klein chimed in.

“Yeah.” Silica nodded her head. “I need to log out for dinner before my parents get worried about me,” she said sheepishly and looked around. They were stuck in a forest with no safe place to log out of nearby. “Um… what should we do?”

Asuna and Leafa exchanged looks, like they both didn’t want to say it, but they knew they needed to leave—at least for a little bit—just like Klein and Silica. Which left Rika as the only person who didn’t really have anywhere else to be right now.

She sighed and quickly volunteered to stay behind and watch over the avatars of her friends while they were offline, telling them that her parents weren’t going to get back home for a while now because they decided to go on a fancy dinner date. Which left her alone at home and with nobody to get upset over her choosing to stay connected to the game for too long.

One by one, her friends all waved at her and logged out, their avatars left sitting on the ground next to Rika. She sighed and lifted her eyes upward, but from this height she couldn’t see the sky because the trees of the forest were too dense and their leaves blocked most things above them.

It was a shame—the sky in ALO looked not half bad. After seeing only the virtual world’s sky for two years, Rika found she liked the sight just as much as she did the real world’s. She could stare at it all day long and never get sick of it.

“I could have all the house to myself right now,” Rika muttered under her breath as she watched her inactive friends’ bodies while walking around lazily and listening to the sounds of the forest in an attempt to catch anything suspicious in the distance. “But instead I’m on babysitting duty. Yay…” She hung her head and sighed.

She couldn’t complain too much, really. The first time they had to all log out, Asuna was the one who stayed behind. And then last time Klein stayed, though the girls warned him about trying anything weird while they were gone, to which he started objecting with a vengeance. They found him still grumbling under his breath when they came back.

So really, Rika wasn’t the only one who had to play this boring role of keeping an eye on the avatars of her friends, but it was such a boring task…

Why did she even volunteer to do it in the first place? There was nothing to do in the meantime!

After fifteen minutes, the avatars around her all disappeared, at long last, and left Rika by herself. She couldn’t log out, of course, since the chances of something or someone getting there and attacking her unguarded avatar were too high, so she was going to have to wait for the others to return. Well, at least she knew it’s been at least fifteen minutes, then.

Sitting down and feeling bored out of her mind, Rika tried again to stretch her hearing further away in order to detect anything in the distance. There was nothing. Or at least, nothing she could find. She was sure that someone with the abilities of Klein or Asuna would have already heard a lot more than she could.

Well, it was her fault for not developing her tracking skill during those two years of SAO like other players have. Not all of them, of course, and not a lot of them developed the skill, as far as Rika knew, but players like Kirito, Asuna and Klein did. Because it was good for survival, really.

“How long has—whoa!” She put her hands on the ground beside her when the world’s visuals seemed to snap away at once, leaving her in a dark space that was definitely not a feature of the game. “What’s going on? Hey! Is anybody here? This isn’t funny!”

No one answered.

Rika blinked several times and then she frowned. Was there something wrong with her NerveGear? Had it turned off? But no, then she would have woken up. And she was certain there was no actual magic in ALO that could make her see nothing like that.

She looked around but the dark space seemed to continue forever. It was both a space that didn’t seem to have any limits, but also… it made her feel like she was closer to the walls than she’d have thought. Her hands reached out, as if expecting something to block their path, but there was nothing there. She just grasped at air. Or was it air? She was still with the NerveGear on, meaning she was in her avatar that didn’t need to breathe.

Panic coursed through her when she thought about the option that maybe the NerveGear was going to kill her—that old fear grabbing a hold of her again—but then she tried opening the menu and it popped up just like always, the log out button waiting for her where she knew it should be.

With a sigh of relief she brought her hand up to tap it and get out of this strange place only to freeze as colorful lights seemed to come from behind her. She squinted her eyes and turned to face the source of the sudden burst of light only to freeze.

There were people online that mentioned how ALO would sometimes stop and present the videos of SAO that everyone else could see. They sounded annoyed and fascinated as they described how they could no longer play the game because of it, but it was also like having your own, personal movie theatre.

As Rika gaze up at the screen that seemed to pop out of nowhere, she had to admit that was a pretty accurate description. She was alone, sitting on the ground in front of a giant, moving picture. It was exactly like a personal theatre.

Dismissing her menu, Rika got comfortable and watched as on the screen Kirito sat in a quiet place in front of a lake, a fishing rod in his hand as his bored expression seemed to not change too much even when he pulled out the hook to reveal nothing in the end.

He didn’t have his coat on and his sword wasn’t on his back—neither one of them—so he was clearly just chilling and trying to… fish. Rika had no idea why he went with fishing, but she decided to just smirk and snicker a little at his longsuffering sigh.

From behind, a man walked silently up to Kirito and stopped right behind the boy, who didn’t even seem to notice him. He was that caught up with his failure, huh?

“Catch anything?” the man asked and Kirito jumped in alarm and yelped as he leaned away from the smiling man.

Come to think of it, Rika’s never seen anyone this old in the game before. People his age just didn’t seem to care enough about virtual games.

Straightening up, the man laughed heartily at Kirito’s reaction. He had his own fishing rod. “Sorry I scared you.”

Rika kept on snickering at Kirito’s astonished expression as the boy watched with parted lips as the man tossed his fishline into the water like it was a daily occurrence for him. It was amusing to see someone who was better than Kirito at something.

Sure, she was a blacksmith—something Kirito didn’t have the skills for—but she still didn’t feel like it was different enough from what Kirito did. This man, though… if he was good at fishing, Rika was going to have a blast.

“My name is Nishida,” the man said and sat on a stool next to Kirito. “Here, I’m a fisherman. In Japan, I was head of network security for a company called Toto High-Speed Internet,” he introduced himself.

“I’m Kirito,” the black-haired boy said and Rika wanted to roll her eyes at him. This man came over and basically told him everything Kirito needed to know about him—including his line of work in the real world—yet Kirito just found it enough to say his name? He really was hopeless when it came to human interactions. “Didn’t Toto High-Speed Internet…” he trailed off uncertainly.

Nishida nodded, not looking bothered. “Yes. I oversaw network security for this game,” he confirmed and Rika nearly choked.

Seriously? What were the chances of Kirito meeting one of the people who had something to do with the making of this game? Plus, you know, someone must have missed something with the security of the game, considering the way things turned out to be. It wasn’t very secure, after all.

Suddenly, the line in the water started tugging and Kirito leaned forward, his face lighting up with a smile. “It’s big!”

“This one’s easy,” Nishida insisted as he pulled the fish he’d caught out of the water.

Kirito watched in awe as the fisherman held the purple, large fish in his hand. The fish—supporting yellow and green lines in between the purple—squirmed in the air but wasn’t able to escape. When Kirito said it was amazing, Nishida smiled and the fish disappeared into his inventory.

“Thank you. I can catch these things but I can’t cook them. I’d love to make a stew or sashimi, but I wonder how that’d turn out without soy sauce.” Kirito looked away thoughtfully, clearly hesitant. Nishida didn’t seem to notice, though, and kept on talking—even when Kirito tried to cut in. “Or maybe baked with soy sauce…”

“I may be able to help with that.”

“…Or maybe with radish and soy sauce…” Nishida kept on musing to himself. For a second Nishida kept on smiling silently, peacefully. And then he turned to Kirito, almost shrieking. “WHAT?”

Rika flailed a little at his loud voice but then calmed down quickly with a grumble as the next scene began to play out. It was inside a cozy-looking cabin where Kirito, Asuna and Nishida sat together in the living room. The man was alone on one couch, while in front of him Kirito and Asuna were occupying the second couch.

Between them was a small table with the dirty dishes of a meal they must have had. The head of the fish could still be recognized as it stared in horror without really seeing anything—its body gone with nothing but the skeleton left behind on the plate.

It was actually a terrifying sight. Rika wasn’t sure she would have been able to eat something that looked like that. Even inside a virtual game, knowing the fish wasn’t actually alive. Well, they clearly had a good time.

Nishida still looked perfectly happy, sipping on a cup of tea, while Asuna sat politely in front of him, holding her own cup with a warm smile. Only Kirito was slumped over, obviously not caring about the fact that they had a guest.

“Your fishing skill must be very high,” Asuna commented. “Kirito-kun’s never brought anything home.”

With Nishida chuckling in his seat, Kirito glared sideways at Asuna. “The lakes around here are too hard,” he complained.

“No, that isn’t really true,” Nishida said and Rika tilted her head to the side. “The only difficult one is the big lake where you were fishing,” he added and Kirito leaned forward with a gasp as Asuna covered her mouth while chuckling.

Rika outright laughed at the new information. It was hilarious, okay? This boy kept on tormenting her—whether he did it on purpose or not—so she was going to take comfort in his misfortune whenever she got the chance.

“Why design it like that?” Kirito asked.

“Yes, that’s an excellent question!” Nishida announced and pointed at Kirito like he just asked the million-dollar question. He looked so intense about it, for some reason. “That lake contains an enormous fish,” he told them. “Yeah… I’ve encountered it several times. But it’s so huge, it dragged my pole away altogether. And so, I’d like to make you an offer.”

Kirito slumped back, looking disinterested. But Asuna’s eyes sparkled as she grinned brightly at Nishida.

Apparently, someone decided they didn’t need to hear what the offer was because the scene cut then. Rika groaned in frustration but then perked back up when the screen displayed a new day. The lake from before was now surrounded by plenty of people, and there were at least two banners hanging there, wishing Nishida luck.

Kirito still looked like he didn’t really care about the situation all that much, but Asuna was glowing next to him, looking around with a bright smile. She had a strange outfit on, hiding her features from most people. Probably because she didn’t want anyone to recognize her as Asuna from the KoB guild.

Talking excitedly, Asuna held her hands together and Rika caught the flash of shining metal on her finger. A ring. A wedding ring. And, thinking back, there was one on Kirito’s hand, too.

Rika bit her lips and tried to ignore the pang in her chest. She’s gotten better at it. And it wasn’t like she hasn’t known about Asuna and Kirito’s relationship in the game already. She was one of the only ones who got to hear about the marriage thanks to knowing both of them and being close friends with them. It still hurt, though.

Standing in front of everyone, Nishida smiled and raised his voice to draw everyone’s attention. “And now,” he said and everyone fell quiet. “It’s time for the day’s main event.” The people cheered. Nishida turned to the unenthusiastic boy in black. “Kirito-san, let’s do this.”

Asuna and Kirito both stared at the struggling, purple… thing Nishida was holding. Asuna gasped and covered her mouth as she watched Nishida use it as bait.

Kirito just squinted his eyes a little. “How big is this thing?” he muttered.

Then they all watched as Nishida threw the bait into the water and everyone all waited. And waited. And waited. Rika wanted to pull at her hair—why were they even watching this?

When something tugged on the line, Kirito stepped closer to Nishida. “Um, isn’t that it?”

“Not yet.”

Something tugged harder. “N-Nishida-san…”

“No, not yet.” And then a large tug made Nishida move. “NOW!” His fishing rod started glowing yellow and he looked at Kirito as the boy seemed to wake up from a haze. “I’ve got it!” the fisherman yelled and tried not to move as whatever fish he fished thrashed violently in the water. Then he thrust the rod into Kirito’s hands. “Here!”

“S-switch…!”

His hesitated murmur turned into a screech as Kirito was pulled forward, his hands tightly holding the fishing rod. He managed to stop himself from falling into the water, and leaned back as he seemed to use his strength to try and keep his hold on the tool that belonged to Nishida. Nishida… who ran away and stopped next to Asuna.

“Damn it! You little…” Kirito started running away from the shore and toward the grassy area where the rest of the people were, pulling hard on the fishing rod.

As a large shadow appeared in the water of the lake, Asuna pointed at it with large eyes. “I see it!” she called.

The crowd ran forward to see the fish better, only to run away hysterically when it seemed to spread under the water, casting a shadow that made even Rika shudder a little in her safe, personal theatre.

Rika’s throat went dry at the giant monster that was beginning to crawl out—even Asuna ran away, which was a big deal, considering who she was. When she passed by Kirito—who didn’t seem to even look backward, in the lake’s direction—he looked up and asked what was going on, but no one answered him.

Rika yelped when the fishline suddenly snapped, leaving the thin line to dangle in front of Kirito’s eyes as the boy lost his balance and fell to the ground. Looking surprised, Kirito stared at it for a moment before speeding toward the lake. He just didn’t have any sense of self-preservation, did he?

“Kirito-kun!” Asuna yelled. “It’s dangerous!”

“What is?” He looked back at her a moment before a huge splash left Kirito dripping with water in front of a hideous fish-monster.

It was large—enormous—and orange, with four legs, and this vacant look in his blue eyes. And it towered over Kirito, for a moment not moving, before it screeched loudly, his eyes beginning to glow red.

Kirito screamed and ran so fast, Rika couldn’t even see him until he stopped to cower behind Asuna. “T-that’s unfair! Don’t run away and leave me!” he accused her and she chuckled awkwardly at him.

The people around them stared in terror at the monster. “Kirito-san!” Nishida called as the monster started approaching them.

Rika grimaced at the sight of the sharp teeth it had. Did fish have teeth? Well, it wasn’t really a fish, was it?

“It’s running on land,” Kirito observed, no longer looking worried about the situation. “Is it a lungfish?”

He was probably just caught off guard by the appearance of this hideous being earlier. He’s dealt with worse, Rika was certain. Like a dragon, for example. He ignored the urgent look Nishida sent him and kept on watching the monster curiously, bending behind Asuna and holding her like a shield.

“Kirito-san!” Nishida yelled again. Asuna was looking at the other cowering people with almost detached interest. “Pay attention! Run away!”

The boy glanced up at the panicked man and mumbled a response before Asuna seemed to come to a decision. She walked forward—Kirito letting her leave easily—and pulled her strange clothes away, revealing a yellow jumper and a skirt underneath. Her hair flowed freely now and she pulled her rapier out of its sheath, standing proudly in front of the monstrous fish.

Kirito smiled at her back casually while Nishida’s eyes bulged out. “Miss, run!” the fisherman cried out hysterically.

Kirito put a hand on his hip. “She’ll be fine.”

The monster sped up toward Asuna, and Nishida grabbed Kirito’s arm urgently. “Kirito-san, your wife!” he screamed and pointed at the girl, but Kirito was just grinning enthusiastically as Asuna prepared herself. “You’re wife!”

Rika scrunched up her nose when Asuna activated a sword skill and jumped right into the monster’s mouth before coming out the other end elegantly, having sliced right through the fish.

Everyone awed loudly as the monster died behind her and Kirito didn’t move and only smiled at her, looking like he was so used to such events in his life, they didn’t even register as weird to him anymore. Rika had to admit—two years in a world with monsters such as this one would do that to a person.

The crowd of people was quiet for a moment as Asuna looked back at them all, putting her sword away. And then they all ran toward her, swarming her quickly and making her smile at them all with a flustered expression on her face.

Rika heard the players’ calls of excitement at having recognized Asuna. That was probably exactly what the two wanted to avoid, but… well, Rika would have told them it was bound to come out who they were. Especially Asuna—she was a little more recognizable than Kirito.

When the scene changed, the mood seemed to have shifted drastically. Rika blinked in confusion at the sight of Kirito, wearing his black coat again, lying on a bed—probably his bed—with his legs on the ground. He looked tired. Or maybe just a little solemn. His eyes were closed as he ignored the sound of the door of the room opening.

Rika frowned when Asuna walked in, wearing her uniform again. Was this when they had to get back to the front lines? To fight the… the boss…

Thing was, Rika didn’t actually know what happened during that boss fight. She knew that was the last thing Kirito went to do before the game ended. She knew something important must have gone down that day because Kirito was also the one who cleared the game. But she never actually knew what this thing was.

Was she really going to see it? the last boss fight wasn’t pleasant to watch—would this be better or worse?

On the screen, Asuna stood and looked down at Kirito with her hands on her hips. “All right, stop moping,” she scolded him.

“But it’s only been two weeks…” he whined.

“If he’s summoning us to the front lines when we’re on vacation, something big must’ve happened,” she insisted and Kirito tried to argue but his voice just trailed off.

Rika couldn’t even blame him—he’s been fighting nonstop since the launch of the game. Those two weeks were his first break in two years as far as she could tell.

“Let’s at least hear what he has to say. Come on, it’s time,” Asuna insisted. Rika watched as Kirito took in a deep breath, and then let it out before he got onto his feet and turned to the door reluctantly. “Let’s deal with it and come back.”

“Spoiler alert,” Rika muttered to herself—half amused and half sympathetic. “They never came back.”

It was a sad thought, really. The two of them fought relentlessly for two years and then finally took some time to themselves, only to cut it short after two weeks because they were required to get back out there and fight again. In a way, had Kirito and Asuna been less good at what they did, they wouldn’t have ended up in this mess. Then again, maybe in that scenario they wouldn’t have even met. Maybe they would have both died.

“This isn’t fair,” Rika summarized to herself.

On the screen, the scene changed to show Kirito and Asuna standing before the teleport gate with Nishida grinning at them, clearly walking with them to say good-bye.

“Thanks for seeing us off,” Kirito said politely. It was a little strange for Rika to see the guy being so nice to people when he showed up to her shop, cut through her best sword and then took her on an insane adventure, where he handed her dragon poop. It just wasn’t fair, okay? “We didn’t spend much time together, but it was fun.”

The old man agreed easily. “Yes, it was a good experience for me,” he told them. “Actually, before meeting you, I’d thought of those working to clear the game as living in a different world. I’ve been trapped in here for two years. Even if I make it back somehow, I don’t know if I can return to my old job. It’s possible I’d already given up on escape,” he admitted.

Kirito and Asuna looked at him curiously. Rika wondered what happened to him in the end. Did he retire? Work back at that company he used to work for? That is, if he was even alive…

The fisherman said, “And so, I told myself that spending my time with a fishing rod in my hand would be the best thing for me. It’s pretty sad.”

“No…” Kirito protested. “No, that isn’t—"

“Me, too,” Asuna said and Kirito and Nishida turned to face her, both confused and stunned by her reaction to the story. “At first, I thought the same thing. I cried alone every single night,” she explained, and Kirito looked at her like he was hearing about this for the first time. “It felt like every day that passed here stole another piece of my real life away.”

Rika expected her to sound sad, but she had a smile on her face as she talked.

“After I cried, I’d go and fight as hard as I could. My only thoughts were of winning, moving forward and getting stronger. But then, I saw someone napping in the shade at the plaza.”

A thoughtful expression overtook Kiritio’s face as he gazed at Asuna like he was trying to piece something together. Really, after watching these videos, it didn’t take a genius to know that Asuna was talking about him. They all saw that day.

“It made me so mad,” Asuna added in an amused tone, and Kirito looked off into the distance, scratching his chin. “I told him to stop wasting his time. And he replied that it was Aincrad’s best season, and its best weather setting, too. So entering a dungeon would be a waste. Then I tried lying down, as well, and I slept like a baby. When I woke up it was evening and he looked a bit annoyed. But as we partied up together… Even in a world like this, he was really living. He wasn’t losing a day in the real world. He was gaining a day here.”

There was a smile on Nishida’s face, like even he knew who she was talking about without having to hear the name.

Asuna grabbed Kirito’s hand and squeezed it a little, drawing his wide eyes back to her. “The one who taught me that was Kirito-kun. When I began thinking of him as I fell asleep, I stopped having nightmares. I began to look forward to seeing him. For the first time since I arrived here, I was happy.”

Her voice shook as she started tearing up. She wiped them away quickly, still smiling. “To me, Kirito-kun is the meaning of my two years here. And proof that I’m alive. The reason I put on the NerveGear that day was so that I could meet him. I’m sure there’s also something important to you here.”

Nishida bowed his head a little. “That’s true,” he said calmly. “You’re exactly right. Life isn’t so bad. It’s not so bad at all…” He held up Asuna and Kirito’s hands as they both smiled at him. “There’s nothing I can do to help you. But good luck.”

“Let’s go fishing together again,” Kirito suggested.

Beside him, Asuna seemed to say what Kirito tried to say with these words. “We’ll be back,” she promised.

And even though they never did get back to that floor again, Rika was pretty sure Nishida forgave them. She had the urge to find him in the real world and see how he was doing now—did he get back to work? Did he have something else to do now? Was he a real fisherman in his free time, deciding to continue doing the thing he did in SAO?

She wondered what Asuna was thinking while seeing all of this again. She knew that when they all watched it together, they all comforted and teased Asuna for her past actions. It was just too serious sometimes—Rika and the others had to ease things up. Plus, Asuna and Kirito were just so easy to tease, okay?

And Asuna deserved it after she chuckled throughout the entire video that showed Rika’s adventure with Kirito, okay?

But despite all of that, Rika remembered the moments when Asuna seemed to freak out or look away from the screen in shame or fear of seeing something traumatic again.

Honestly, the look on Asuna’s face when Kirito nearly died by Kuradeel’s sword? It was probably going to haunt Rika forever, or at least for the next few months. Not to mention that vacant look on Kirito’s face when he seemed to give up on getting out of there alive for a split moment. It hurt to watch, especially when he was so determined to get Rika out of that dragon pit not too long before.

With a shake of her head, Rika drove the depressing images from her head and quickly focused on the giant screen when the scene switched to show Kirito and Asuna standing back in front of Heathcliff and the four other top members of the KoB guild. They all had grim looks on their faces, except for Kirito and Asuna who just looked shocked and alarmed.

“The recon team was wiped out?” Kirito asked in disbelief. Rika’s breath hitched at the thought of so many people dying like that. No wonder Kirito and Asuna looked so stunned.

“We sent in a twenty-member party taken from five different guilds to prepare for the boss fight,” Heathcliff said and Rika ground her teeth at the sight of the man’s demeanor.

He looked as emotionless as ever. Maybe there was a touch of regret on his face, but nothing beyond that. Knowing who this man really was, Rika wanted to march right in there and stab him with a sword or maybe—better idea—bash him with a hammer!

“However, when the first ten reached the center of the room and the boss appeared, the entrance closed,” Heathcliff went on.

Kirito’s eyes narrowed with a heated grimace. “An anti-crystal area,” he muttered to himself.

Not paying his words any mind, Heathcliff just continued. “And when the door finally opened five minutes later, nothing remained in the room. Neither the ten people nor the boss.”

“That’s crazy,” Kirito whispered and Asuna’s eyes widened next to him as she seemed to realize how bad the situation was.

Rika would have turned the hell away to run as far away from these people and their next fight. She wanted to live, no matter what. But Kirito and Asuna didn’t run away—they just kept on staring at Heathcliff.

The man droned on. “But we cannot give up on clearing the game,” he said, and once again Rika got the urge to smash something on his head. “We’ll have to attack with the largest force we can.”

“We’ll help,” Kirito said and his face turned dead serious as he continued. “However, Asuna’s safety is my highest priority,” he said and the girl in question turned her eyes to him. “If things get bad, I will protect her over the rest of the party.”

“A person is very strong when he seeks to protect something,” Heathcliff noted with a smile. “I’ll expect a good fight.”

Rika didn’t take her eyes off Kirito’s face, though. She knew he and Asuna were extremely close. But to hear him bluntly put her in front of everyone else like that? It was a surreal experience.

Rika was certain that after that, people around Japan would badmouth Kirito for disregarding others for the sake of one person. She knew it sounded bad. But, well, she could understand it.

As much as she wanted to mock Kirito with all her might, she also knew what he meant when he said Asuna was his top priority. Everyone had their priorities in order. People should just be glad that Kirito’s number one priority was another person and not an item or something that was less meaningful. She knew that other people had worse choices, after all.

Still, when he woke up eventually, Rika didn’t envy his recovery and task of dealing with the eyes of everyone on him. So far, his real name hasn’t been mentioned in these videos, but who knows what they might hear, right?

If people knew who he really was, they could go for his head. They could find out where his house is. They could sue him for, at least, the murder of Kuradeel. God, what if Kuradeel’s family was watching this, waiting with bated breath to find out who this kid was so that they could ruin his life one piece at a time once he woke up?

Well, whatever was going to come, she could at least be there to tease Kirito throughout it all, and maybe check to see he was dealing with it all okay while she was at it. For Asuna. Not for Kirito.

This boy owed her for both breaking her sword and then getting a new one for free. Seriously, her heart still ached at that day’s events, but she managed to live with it so far. Maybe she was stifling the pain a little, but at least she was functioning.

The scene changed on the screen to show Kirito and Asuna alone in the same room. The others must have left them there at some point. Kirito was leaning against one of the many windows in the room so his face was a little darkened by the shadows. He looked grimly at Asuna, who was sitting on the long, arched table, her eyes trained on the wall before her.

“Three hours left, huh?” Asuna said airily. She looked over at Kirito. “What should we do?” At the expression on Kirito’s face, she broke into a smile, like she found it a little amusing or surprising that Kirito could look this sad. “What’s wrong?”

He turned his head down and away from her. “Don’t get mad when I say this,” he said as he looked at the floor solemnly. Asuna just watched him from her place. “But today, would you stay here rather than go to the boss fight?”

Her smile slipping away, Asuna watched him for a moment before she turned her head away so that her back was facing Kirito. “Why would you ask that?”

“We can’t know what will happen when we can’t use teleport crystals. I’m scared,” he admitted. “If anything happened to you…”

Rika’s heart ached in her chest against her better wishes as she listened to this admission. This tender moment that supposed to only be shared with Asuna because Kirito just didn’t express his emotions that freely to others. Those rare moments in between were precious to Rika. And this moment was somehow worse than the others because… was Rika wrong or was this the first time Kirito said out loud that he was scared?

“So you want to go yourself,” Asuna said, her own head bowed down like Kirito’s. “While I wait here, where it’s safe?”

Her expression hardened as she hopped off the table and marched toward Kirito. The boy’s hands tightened around the metal beams of the window behind him as he kept his mouth shut, like he could sense saying something now would only make matters worse.

“If you went and didn’t come back”—Asuna stopped in front of him and glared fiercely at his face—“I would kill myself!” His eyes widened as a look of horror overtook his face. Rika’s hand came up to rest against her chest, fingers clenched. “I’d have no reason to live anymore. And I wouldn’t forgive myself for not going.”

“I’m sorry.” Kirito squeezed his eyes shut. “I’m panicking. Honestly, I’d rather run away with you.” He finally looked up at her, almost looking desperate as he took her hands in his. “We don’t have to return to the real world. We can just live in the house in the forest!”

Against Rika’s expectations, Asuna didn’t snap at Kirito for even suggesting such a thing. No, she looked down sadly instead, and her voice remained quiet and solemn as she replied. “It’d be nice if we could…” she said wistfully. “We could be together every day, forever.”

Rika honestly wasn’t sure what she thought might happen anymore. How did Kirito clear the game in this state?

Asuna smiled sweetly for a moment and then her lips tugged back down. “Kirito-kun, have you ever considered what’s happening to our real bodies?” she asked and he pressed his lips together. “When several weeks had passed after the game began, there was a point when most players went offline for several hours, right? At that point, all the players were probably moved to hospitals. If our bodies are just barely being kept alive on hospital beds, I can’t imagine that will work for years on end.”

“In other words, whether we clear the game or not”—Kirito stared at her as the realization of it all seemed to crash down on him all at once. His eyes shined like he wanted to tear up—“there’s a time limit?”

He stared ahead for a moment and then Asuna buried her face in his shoulder as she started crying. The boy put his hand on the back of her head. “I… I want to stay with you forever!” Asuna sobbed and Kirito looked down at her sadly. Rika found her hands trembling so she tried to shove them under her thighs. “I want us to date for real! To really get married! To get old together! So… so…”

In a quiet, unwilling voice, Kirito spoke up. “For the moment, we have to fight, right?”

Rika pressed her lips together and almost cheered when the scene changed because, honestly, she was going to lose it if she had to watch these two realizing together that they had no other choice but to fight, whether they wanted to or not.

Rika knew they enjoyed it—fighting was something they were good at and could handle just fine. Kirito, according to Asuna, was almost obsessed with it at times. But they didn’t deserve to find themselves in such a dire situation, okay? None of them did.

Still feeling bad, Rika watched as Kirito and Asuna appeared in a teleport gate together, both armed and ready to fight. Their serious expressions showed nothing of the internal turmoil they were going through. Had Rika seen the two of them back then, she would never have guessed Kirito had broken down with Asuna weeping desperately on his shoulder only a short while before.

When the two of them stepped down from the gate, people all around turned to stare at them. They looked… annoyed? Serious? Grim? Irritated? It was hard to say. Plus, Rika wasn’t sure what they could have against Kirito and Asuna all of a sudden. Were they angry about the couple’s temporary leave? Honestly, that was a stupid thing to be upset about, if you really thought about it.

“Hey!”

The duo stopped walking to glance over their shoulders at the two men standing behind them, and Rika sighed at the grins on Agil and Klein’s faces. The two of them looked so proud of themselves as they greeted Kirito and Asuna, Rika found it amusing.

Kirito’s response, despite his expression not changing in the least, sounded like he was relieved to see them.

“What? You guys are coming, too?” he asked, and although his tone of voice made it sound like he was tired of the mere idea, she knew it was just an act. He clearly cared about these two.

Rika had no idea how Kirito and Agil came to be this close, but Klein and Kirito’s friendship was something Rika and the rest of Japan got to see for themselves, with their own two eyes.

Without losing his upbeat attitude, Agil’s booming voice replied. “You should be happy to see me,” he told Kirito and then bent down to be at eye level with the Black Swordsman. “I shut my shop down to come and help. You don’t even understand my selfless desire to help?” he teased.

Annoyed, Kirito put his hands on his hips defiantly. “Then we’ll remove you from item drop list,” he snarked back.

Taken aback, Agil choked a little in distress. “I wouldn’t take it that far…” he protested and Asuna and Klein broke into laughter.

Rika actually enjoyed this little interaction, too. It made her forget for a short moment that these people were headed toward a boss fight. A really, really bad boss fight, at that.

Of course, that meant that it had to be cut short the moment Heathcliff and his entourage got there. Everyone went quiet and serious at the sight of the three men who crossed the plaza, before Heathcliff used a crystal to open a portal to the corridor of the boss room.

As Kirito and Asuna went through it, Asuna looked around the dark space and commented on how she didn’t like the place. Kirito observed the area and agreed. Everyone around them started going through their menus, probably getting everything they needed so that they wouldn’t be caught unprepared during the boss fight.

At the front, Heathcliff stood and spoke to everyone with his legendary shield held in his hand. He looked so… strong and formal. Rika hated how much people trusted him to rescue them in the game. It was a horrible thing to do—give them hope only to take it away.

“Everyone ready?” Heathcliff asked. “The Knights of the Blood will take the majority of damage on the front lines. While we do, I’d like the rest to discern its attack patterns and prepare to change tactics as necessary. It will be a difficult battle”—Rika rolled her eyes and snorted. Yeah, he knew that already because he knew who they were up against, didn’t he?—“but I have faith that we can prevail.” He raised his voice a little. “For our day of liberation!”

The crowd of fighters all around yelled in reply, but Rika noticed that Kirito just stood there quietly and stared ahead blankly. So the normal, really. Still, he looked tenser than usual. With his brows drawn together and his hands clenched, it was easy to see how upset he really was. So it wasn’t surprising in the least when Asuna’s hand reached out to touch his fist.

Leaning to whisper in Kirito’s ear, Asuna kept her voice soft and quiet so that only he would be able to hear her. “It’ll be okay,” she said and he turned to look at her, expression already softening. “I’ll protect you,” she promised with a smile. “So you protect me, too, okay?”

“Yeah, I will.” He nodded with a smile and then they both turned to look ahead.

All the players turned to look forward, with their weapons being pulled out and held in front of them as they got ready to fight the boss the moment Heathcliff opened the door of the room.

Kirito, unsheathing his two swords, kept his eyes ahead as he spoke to Agil and Klein. “Don’t die.”

Klein huffed out a laugh. “Same to you!”

“I’m gonna make a fortune off today’s drops,” Agil added. “I have no intention of dying.”

The black-cladded boy smirked at their replies, and they all filed together into the dark room.

Rika squinted her eyes as she tried to see something—anything. It was dark and round and there was nothing there. The players all stood, ready to face off whatever came at them, but the longer they waited, the more Rika felt like something was wrong.

Her heart started beating faster and faster when the door of the room snapped shut before disappearing completely. They were locked inside, just like Heathcliff said had happened to the scout party.

“Nothing’s happening…” someone said, his voice seemingly echoing around the room.

And then Asuna’s eyes went wide open and she looked up sharply. “Above us!” she called and they all turned to look at the ceiling of the room.

Rika’s body started shaking at the sight of the skeletal monster that was glaring down at them with vacant, red eyes from up high. Its body was long, like a snake with legs. It was the vilest thing Rika’s ever seen. She thought The Gleam Eyes was bad, but this? This was so much worse!

The people on screen started shaking, too, as they gazed up at the boss that was lurking on the dark ceiling above them. Rika wanted to make the scene stop so that she could run the hell away.

Her mind supplied, helpfully, that she could always log out and stop watching this with her NerveGear. But she couldn’t. Not really. She needed to know what happened in there. She needed to know how all of it went down so that she could bash Kirito’s head later on with all the facts already at her disposal.

“Skull…” Klein read the name of the monster in a choked voice.

“…Reaper?” Kirito finished. He wasn’t shaking in fear like the others, but he didn’t look too happy about the boss they were supposed to fight now, either.

“Don’t stay together!” Heathcliff ordered. “Stay away from it!”

They all started scattering—those who could move—when The Skull Reaper started crawling down toward them. But Rika noticed two people that seemed paralyzed with fear, just quaking in their armors as they stared up at the monster that came closer and closer to them all.

Raising his voice as much as possible, Kirito waved his hand at them all. “This way! RUN!” he urged them, but it was already too late.

Sure, they started running obediently, screaming in fear the entire time, but then the boss landed behind them and with one slash that hit the two of them, he sent the men flying, and Asuna held out her hands to try and catch them—at least one of them—but they died in the air before they could even reach the group of horrified fighters.

Klein gaped. “W-with one hit?”

“That’s insane!” Agil said.

When The Skull Reaper—now on the ground along with the group of players—screeched and tried to attack more players, they all scattered and tried running away like small ants that wanted to get away from a boot that was about to crush them.

Somehow, before The Skull Reaper’s scythes (Rika really didn’t know what to even call those things) could strike anyone, Heathcliff ran forward and positioned himself between the boss and the players that were still trying to get away. With his shield, he blocked the attack, standing his ground.

Rika would have been more impressed had she not known who he truly was.

Annoyed, the boss used its other scythe to kill another player, and then screeched and ran away from Heathcliff.

“We can’t even get close to it!” Agil observed.

Kirito grunted before he sped forward. “Get back!” he called.

He ran toward a terrified man, before he crossed his swords together to stop the scythe of The Skull Reaper. He stumbled to his knees from the force of the attack he was trying to block, and Rika frowned at the difference between his ability to withstand the attack (which was… not that great) and Heathcliff’s. Just another reason to dislike that man.

“It’s too strong!” Kirito choked out.

The boss’s first scythe was blocked once again by Heathcliff before it could hit Kirito, and Asuna jumped forward and joined Kirito with her rapier, crossing it over his two swords and making the screeching skeleton stumble back from the force of the resistance he’d encountered.

The shocked look on Kirito’s face was almost comical. Almost. The situation was too grim and serious for Rika to be able to laugh, even just a little.

“If we block together, we can do this!” Asuna said and drew her sword back before grabbing Kirito’s arm and pulling him back on his feet. “We can do it!”

He smiled at her. “Okay,” he agreed quietly and then, when Heathcliff blocked an attack, Kirito raised his voice so that the others in the room would be able to hear him while he and Asuna moved to block the second scythe. “We’ll deal with the scythes! Everyone else, attack from the sides!” he called.

The people all around seemed to gather their wits at the clear orders given to them. They jumped forward to do as they were told and Rika had to admit she would have still tried to hide in the corner of the room, probably curled up in fear.

For a second after two more people died because of the boss’s tail hitting them, Kirito just gawked up at the five HP bars of the monster before them, looking like he wasn’t even sure what to think at the full, green lines.

Asuna, standing a little behind him, looked at him critically. “Kirito-kun!”

“…Yeah.” He snapped out of it and they both jumped forward to do their part.

From that moment on, the fight went on in that same pattern—Heathcliff, Kirito and Asuna blocked the scythes of The Skull Reaper, and the other players in the room fought hard, attacking the skeleton’s body with their weapons mercilessly.

From time to time, Kirito and Asuna attacked The Skull Reaper, too, their swords glowing as they worked together without exchanging so much as a word. Rika had no idea how they did it, but it was a magnificent sight, no matter how much it made her heart ache.

And then the scene skipped ahead.

Chapter Text

Asuna never expected to find herself sitting in Kirito’s hospital room next to his unconscious body, her hand holding his as she desperately tried to make him feel the touch of her hand so that he’d know he should wake up and come back to her already. But, well, sometimes life took you in directions you never saw coming, right?

And the weirdest part about today was that she wasn’t there alone. Her parents insisted on coming to see Kirito in the real world, too, after finally seeming to take a liking to him.

Asuna was so glad when her mother told her that she’d changed her mind and that she approved of Kirito (somewhat), that she nearly cried tears of relief. But, of course, her parents ended up joining Asuna on her visit to the hospital on the very same day Kirito’s parents and sister decided to pop up for a brief visit.

It was awkward for a moment when the two families met and looked at each other, as if trying to decide what they thought. Asuna found herself drifting closer to Suguha despite having never met in the real world before. Somehow they always ended up missing each other.

The girl in the real world didn’t look anything like her avatar in ALO, but she did look a little like Kirito. Their fair skin and dark hair and eyes seemed to run in the family, even if Kirito’s were a shade darker than his sister’s. Cousin’s. Asuna didn’t really mind how they referred to each other.

When the parents both melted down and started talking politely to one another, Asuna and Suguha looked at each other and then smiled. It wasn’t like they haven’t seen each other for too long. They’ve both been in the game together not too long ago, after all. And they were going to head back into ALO the moment they could. (They did leave Liz all alone to keep watch, after all.) But it was still nice to meet in the real world.

If only the television in the room—along with everyone’s phones—didn’t start displaying that video. That horrible, terrible video of the last boss fight. Or, well, the one before last. Asuna, being the only one in the room—not counting Kirito—who knew about what was going to happen, stared at the screen with tight lips and the feeling of dread filling her entire body the closer they got to the boss room.

There was this moment when her parents started chastising her for even entertaining the idea of killing herself—thank you, Kayaba Akihiko, for revealing that to everyone. Really, couldn’t he skip that part?

But other than that, the people in the room seemed to try and give her space while also paying close attention to the screen and the scenes being displayed there, like they didn’t want to miss a single moment in case it was important.

A part of Asuna told her to tell them about Heathcliff. She felt like they deserved to know that the man they saw as the leader of the good guys was actually a monster in disguise, but the words just wouldn’t come out. She opened and closed her mouth without even a hint of a sound escaping her lips. So she gave up. It wasn’t like they weren’t going to see it for themselves, anyway.

When the fight against The Skull Reaper started, Asuna thought she was going to scream. Instead, she grabbed Kirito’s—Kazuto’s—skinny hand and squeezed it a little. She tried to remind herself it was all in the past, yet she still flinched every time she saw the hesitation and fear written on Kirito’s face. Every time he got hit. Every time someone died.

Her eyes glanced over to the person on the bed. Kirigaya Kazuto. She was so glad he’d given her his real name. She would have been able to find him without it, too, but it was so much easier with the name. Plus, she could roll his real name on her tongue and try it out while smiling to herself.

For a moment Asuna stared at the closed eyes of Kazuto and she felt her lip begin to tremble, but then she reminded herself that Kouichirou was taking care of Sugou right now. He was trying to find him—wherever that man was hiding—along with the police. This was going to end soon enough.

But Kazuto wasn’t going to come back even if they did catch Sugou. No, he was going to have to free himself from ALO somehow without any help from the outside. As usual.

Asuna’s hand came up to her collarbone and she had to press her lips together at the urge to squeal in fear at having nothing there. She was so used to holding the tear-like pedant that held Yui’s heart in it during those last few days of SAO that she found herself stressing out every single time her fingers found no necklace tied around her neck. Logically, she knew the object wasn’t there because she wasn’t in the virtual world anymore, but her heart still ached.

Focusing again at the familiar sound of Heathcliff’s commanding voice telling everyone to attack, Asuna lifted her gaze to the TV screen to see that the fight was nearing its end even though she knew it took much longer than the few minutes shown on screen.

No, that fight was so long, she remembered that the fatigue overtaking her body at the time was beyond anything she’d ever felt before. Meaning the scene must have skipped forward. No one needed to see the full fight. It was mostly just repetitive. No need to relive every single part of it. Besides, they would all be sitting in this room for hours if the episode showed the entire battle.

The Skull Reaper barely even put up a fight as everyone attacked him at once, slashing and waving their weapons at him in one last desperate attack that ended the fight. With a loud shattering sound, the boss died and the notification from the game announcing their victory appeared up in the air.

There were no cheers, though, just like Asuna remembered. They were all quiet as they stared at the word Congratulations!! with dazed eyes, like they were still waiting for The Skull Reaper to attack them again.

And then they all collapsed with sighs and groans of pain and exhaustion. Some of them straight out spread their numb limbs on the floor. Others knelt down and heaved tiredly. They all had their HP gauges displayed, none of them remaining in the green zone. Well, all except for Heathcliff’s, who remained standing straight in place, a determined—or maybe just bored—expression on his face.

No one gave him a second look, though.

Asuna focused on Kirito as he and Not-Asuna—dubbed earlier by herself—sat back-to-back on the ground, looking just as exhausted as the rest of the people in the room. The people in the hospital room all watched the scene with an air of sympathy. Suguha glanced over at Asuna and Kazuto briefly, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

“How many did we lose?” Klein’s grim voice was the first one to cut through the silence of the aftermath.

At first, no one moved to check. But then Kirito gulped and brought his hand up to open the menu. He opened the map of the room and started counting the dots signaling the players inside the boss room. Then his shoulders sagged and Not-Asuna—feeling the despair radiating off of him—turned her head around to look at him.

“Fourteen died,” Kirito said quietly, though his voice could still be heard all around the silent chamber.

From his place lying on the floor, Agil inhaled sharply, his eyes widening. “No way,” he uttered as the others in the room all looked at Kirito with disbelief written clearly on their faces. They looked like they expected the boy to take his statement back. Maybe say it was nothing but a prank.

He didn’t.

Breathing heavily, Klein stared at the floor with wide eyes. “We still have twenty-five floors,” he whispered, but Asuna remembered that with the silence surrounding them, it was impossible to miss a single word.

“Will we really be able to reach the top?” Agil wondered grimly.

Kirito and Not-Asuna both looked around as people started whispering their own worries about the grim and bleak situation. And who could blame them, really? It looked impossible at the time. Who knows, maybe it would have been impossible to get to the top.

And even if it was possible… how many people would have made it? Kayaba seemed pretty certain Kirito would get to fight him in the end, but what if he ended up dead, like so many others? Killed on a different floor before he could reach the top one?

“No way…” Midori gasped, her hands coming up to her mouth as she shook her head from side to side. “How did he…” She pressed her lips together instead of finishing the question.

Her husband—Minetaka—wrapped his arm around her, but he didn’t look much better than his wife, honestly. He looked like he was losing faith in actually seeing the end of these videos. Frankly, Asuna was pretty sure people would have lost hope about SAO and Kirito long ago with everything that’s happened had they not known the game was cleared by him eventually.

The stern expression on Asuna’s mother’s face was something Asuna was used to after years of growing up with this strict woman as her mother, but it meant that she could detect the slightest twitch to her eyebrows as she gazed at the screen. So either she had a tic she couldn’t control, or she was worried, too.

Unlike her mother, Asuna’s father looked downright concerned as he looked at the exhausted, panicked players as they all muttered in despair.

And then, on the screen, Kirito’s eyes seemed to fall on Heathcliff as he stood there, in the middle of the room, with his sword and shield leaning on the floor. He looked collected as always, not even tired after the long fight. The fact that he could still stand on his feet should have baffled all of them, but still… again… Kirito was the only one to notice it. That, and the HP bar next to Heathcliff that was still green against all odds.

A gasp left Kirito’s lips as his eyes seemed to shrink with the realization that only Asuna could put together, having been there when it really happened.

Unlike her, the other people in the hospital room all looked confused. Then their expressions turned even more puzzled when Kirito’s eyebrows lowered together as he glared at Heathcliff coldly, his hand creeping toward the black sword lying on the floor next to him.

Feeling the movement of the boy leaning against her, Not-Asuna turned to look at him again, the same confusion as the one showing on the faces of the people in the real world dancing across her features.

“Kirito-kun?” she asked quietly when the boy bowed his head and shifted his entire body, getting ready to speed forward in an instant.

Everyone gasped when Kirito, instead of answering, rushed forward so fast, his body was impossible to follow. But they could all see the end result—him standing with his sword held right above Heathcliff’s shield as the man tried to protect himself quickly from the surprise attack.

There was another, more confused gasp, from the people around Asuna as they noticed the Immortal object purple hexagon blocking Kirito’s attack from reaching Heathcliff.

“Kirito-kun, what are you—” Not-Asuna got up and ran forward only to cut herself short at the sight of the unusual notification that Kirito had revealed.

Midori murmured in confusion while Suguha’s mouth dropped open as she stared at the screen, baffled like the rest of them. Asuna bowed her head and exhaled slowly. She remembered seeing that notification and thinking back to Yui, when the little girl stood up to a strong monster and was protected by the system of the game the very same way.

The people around the boss room all stared at Kirito and Heathcliff, their eyes wide and their lips moving as they whispered to each other, trying to understand what was going on.

“Immortal object?” Not-Asuna said as Kirito put Elucidator back in its scabbard. “W-what’s going on, commander?”

When Heathcliff didn’t reply, Kirito did, in an even tone that still surprised Asuna. How could he be so calm about this? “The game ensures that his HP will never fall into the yellow zone,” he said and a few people hummed in confusion.

“Something has always bothered me, ever since I arrived here,” Kirito elaborated. He looked up, like he was seeing something beyond the ceiling of the room. Asuna tightened her grip on Kazuto’s hand. “Where does he hide while he watches us and adjusts the world? But I’d forgotten a simple piece of psychology. Something any kid knows. There’s nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG.”

“No…” Suguha muttered, her eyes wide as she seemed to catch on to what Kirito was saying.

“No way… no…” Asuna’s father added in a hollow voice.

Unable to hear them, Kirito narrowed his eyes at Heathcliff. “Isn’t that right, Kayaba Akihiko?”

The gasps of the people in the hospital room could rival the ones of the players on screen. Suguha put her hands on her mouth, stifling a scream. And her parents were frozen as they stared at the TV with wide, resentful and fearful eyes.

Asuna’s parents both glared at Heathcliff, though. Asuna had the feeling her mother was thinking of different ways to try and bring Kayaba Akihiko back to life just so that she would be able to kill him again for deceiving all of them like that. For trapping ten-thousand people in his sick game. For causing so many people to die. For hurting her own daughter in the process.

Looking mostly unbothered, Heathcliff looked at Kirito with this look on his face, like he wasn’t really happy, but was still curious. Just a little. Enough to show on his impassive face, at least. “Would you be so kind as to tell me how you figured it out?” he asked Kirito politely.

Asuna still found it surreal that they just causally talked like that after uncovering the biggest secret of SAO.

“The first time I felt something was wrong was during the duel,” Kirito replied. Asuna thought she heard Minetaka scolding his son silently for actually entertaining Kayaba. “In that last instant, you were far too fast.”

“I suspected as much. That was an unfortunate mistake on my part. You overpowered me to the point where I needed to engage the system’s over-assist mode,” he said with a small smile. Looking around at the gasps people let out at the confirmation, Heathcliff seemed to bask in the feeling of shocking everyone like that. Then he said, “Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko. And if I may add, I am the game’s final boss, who would have awaited you at the top floor.”

That seemed to alarm people even more. The people in the hospital clung to each other in a desperate attempt to calm down, somehow. Well, Suguha clung to Asuna, who was the only one to not react to the reveal since, well, for her it wasn’t anything new.

So she tried to comfort Suguha the best she could while still watching the wild reaction of the shocked players on the screen. Not-Asuna held onto Kirito’s arm and pressed herself against his side without taking her eyes off Heathcliff.

The only one to not be surprised was Kirito as he glared at Heathcliff. “That’s pretty bad. The strongest player betrays us to become the last boss?” he noted.

“Not a bad storyline, is it?” Heathcliff shrugged. He locked eyes with Kirito. “I always thought that you would be the one to stand before me at the end.” He admitted.

Midori let out a whine, like she couldn’t handle hearing and seeing all of this.

“Dual-wielding is the skill given to the player with the fastest reaction time,” Heathcliff explained and Suguha’s grip on Asuna’s arm tightened a little. It was almost painful, but Asuna didn’t move. “Who will then act out the part of the hero that challenges the Demon King. But your power exceeded my expectations.” He shrugged a little again. “Well, these unexpected events are part of the fun of an MMORPG.”

Behind Heathcliff, one of the KoB players leaned on his sword as his hands shook with rage. His eyes stared down at the ground as he grumbled lowly.

“Our loyalty… our hope…” he muttered, and Heathcliff’s eyes narrowed a little as his easy smile vanished. “How dare you… how dare you? HOW DARE YOU?” The man jumped forward with his two-handed sword and tried to attack Heathcliff.

In the hospital room, everyone tensed at the sight of Heathcliff opening his menu and choosing something they couldn’t see. They cried in alarm when the attacking man gasped and fell limply to the ground, his sword clanging loudly as he huffed out a breath at the impact.

The paralysis notification was something the people in the real world already knew, of course, ever since Kirito got paralyzed by Kuradeel, so when the parents and Suguha saw it now above the player’s avatar, they tensed immediately.

“Paralysis?” Kirito stared at the downed player.

Then Heathcliff kept on messing with his menu, making one player after another collapse from paralysis. When Not-Asuna got affected, she tried to hold onto Kirito to keep herself standing on her feet, but it was futile.

“Kirito-kun…” she whimpered and the boy took a split moment to notice her slipping down before he followed suit to catch her.

“Wait, he didn’t do the same to Kazuto?” Suguha asked. “Why?”

Minetaka squinted his eyes. “Oh, yeah. You’re right…” He bobbed his head up and down with a thoughtful and grim expression.

On the screen, once he was sure Not-Asuna was all right in his arms—not including the paralysis—Kirito glared even harder up at Heathcliff. “What are you going to do? Kill us all and cover it up?” he asked.

“Of course not.” Heathcliff shook his head and Asuna’s parents snorted at his reply, like they could definitely see Kayaba doing something like this. “I wouldn’t do anything so irrational. Now that it’s come to this, it can’t be helped. I shall await you on the top floor, within the Ruby Palace. I’ve put a lot of time into developing the Knights of the Blood Oath and the other front line players, so it’s a shame I have to leave them partway. However, I’m sure that with your power, you’ll reach me eventually. But first…”

He turned to face Kirito again, slamming his shield and sword against the ground, as if he was trying to make it all even more dramatic. “Kirito-kun, I must reward you for deducing my identity. I shall give you a chance.”

Kirito didn’t look impressed. Though he did seem to be intrigued. “A chance?”

“The chance to fight me one on one right here and now,” Heathcliff explained and Asuna almost flinched from the loud gasp Suguha let out next to her ear. “Naturally, I’ll deactivate my immortal status. Defeat me, and you beat the game. And all the players will be able to log out.” He grinned down at Kirito. “How about it?”

The boy’s eyes widened before he looked down, his lips parted in surprise as he seemed to think this through.

“No!” Minetaka exclaimed. “Tell me he didn’t do it. Tell me he didn’t agree to this.” The man turned around to look at Asuna a moment before his wife turned her teary eyes toward the girl.

“He did, didn’t he?” There was a shaky smile on her face as she wiped away her tears. “Of course he did. He wouldn’t pass on such an opportunity, would he?” Midori sounded like she wasn’t sure on whether she should be proud or angry at Kirito’s reckless behavior.

Shaking her head, Suguha didn’t take her eyes off the screen. “No… no… Onii-chan, you can’t…”

Cutting through the tense atmosphere with a voice as sharp as a knife, Asuna’s mother kept her posture as composed as ever, even if her hands were shaking just a tad in her lap. “Well, whether he chose to engage or not, we know he won,” she stated firmly and Midori and Minetaka turned to look at her, their eyes shining with hope. “So there’s no need to worry.” She added that last bit in a slightly softer tone, like she knew the couple needed comfort and not pins and nails.

Asuna decided not to tell them all that Kirito died. And she definitely didn’t tell them that she was supposed to be dead, too. It was already affecting them pretty badly—she was just going to let them watch it all without burdening them with the worry of what was to come. Though she did brace herself for it—she knew it wouldn’t be pretty.

“No, Kirito-kun!” Not-Asuna said, but the boy’s eyes didn’t even turn to her as he seemed to be stuck inside his own head. “For now… for now we should fall back,” she told him.

But it didn’t look like he could even hear her. His gaze darkened the longer he sat there, thinking intensely. He lowered his head and clenched his teeth as his silent shock turned to anger.

When he spoke, his hair was falling into his eyes, keeping them hidden. “Don’t insult me,” Kirito hissed. Not-Asuna hummed in confusion and stared up at the boy who lifted his head a little to look at Heathcliff. Midori’s loving smile wavered. “It’s fine. Let’s finish this.”

Asuna remembered fighting her paralysis, getting nothing in result. She wanted to hold Kirito back. She wanted to drag him away. She wanted to run away, just like he wanted to do earlier that same day. Why didn’t she listen to him? Why did she have to drag him along to this fight he was so afraid of?

“Kirito-kun!” Not-Asuna cried in protest.

He smiled down at her. “I’m sorry,” he told her. “But I can’t run away here.”

Her eyes widened as she looked up at him, unable to move but still capable of stopping her eyes from tearing up. “You aren’t going to die here, right?”

“No. I’m going to win,” he said confidently. “I’m going to win and end this game.”

“All right.” Not-Asuna offered him a small smile. “I believe in you, Kirito-kun.”

A sigh came from Minetaka when Kirito put Not-Asuna gently on the floor and then got up, his face turning stern and serious as he drew out his two swords and walked around Not-Asuna to get closer to Heathcliff. In a way, Minetaka looked like he wanted to smile and bash the TV at the same time.

Suguha whimpered a little and then sniffed, but she didn’t do anything about the tears that streamed steadily down her cheeks. Asuna was pretty sure her own eyes were getting blurry from the tears her own body was producing.

“KIRITO!” Klein screamed. He was paralyzed, too, of course, but he still managed to look up at Kirito’s back with a desperate glare. Just like him, Agil’s head was held up as he kept his eyes on the scene before him, shocked and angry.

Without turning around to face anyone other than Heathcliff, Kirito spoke up.

“Agil,” he said and the man looked almost surprised at being addressed. “Thanks for helping to support the swordsman class.” Kirito seemed to gather all of his energy before mustering a smile. He swirled around to look straight at the stunned Agil. “I know you spent nearly all the money you made helping players in the middle zones to level.”

As Agil’s eyes went round and his mouth opened in shock at, probably, realizing he couldn’t hide the truth from Kirito, a burst of abrupt laughter escaped Asuna’s dad’s lips. He looked a little like it shocked him more than it shocked the other people in the hospital room, but then he just shook his head wordlessly and let everyone focus once again on the TV screen.

The smile fell off Kirito’s face when his eyes moved from Agil to Klein. “Klein…” he said.

The redhead scowled, though he looked mostly scared. Scared of what might happen to Kirito. Asuna remembered how terrified she herself was back then. How helpless and useless she felt, just lying there, unable to protect Kirito.

“I really am sorry for leaving you behind that day.” Apparently, Kirito still felt bad about it, because he looked away from Klein’s face before he even finished speaking, looking regretful.

“D-damn it, Kirito!” Klein exclaimed as he started crying. “Don’t apologize! Don’t you dare apologize to me now! I won’t forgive you… I won’t forgive until you buy me a meal on the other side!” he shouted with his eyes shut.

He was clearly trying to fight the paralysis and get up, but it didn’t work. Asuna wanted to say it wasn’t possible, but, well… she knew for a fact that it was possible to fight the effects of the paralysis. She just didn’t know how she did it.

Smiling at Klein, Kirito nodded. “Got it.” He made a reckless move with his hand, like he wanted to salute. But with Elucidator in his hand, Asuna’s breath hitched as he nearly cut his own head in half. “See you on the other side.”

Then his gaze fell on Not-Asuna for a moment before he turned a frown toward Heathcliff. Asuna pouted, knowing what was coming.

“I’m sorry, but I have a request,” he said and when Heathcliff asked him what it was, Kirito’s frown deepened. “I don’t plan on losing. But if I die here, I want you to make sure that Asuna can’t kill herself, at least for a little while.”

Heathcliff wasn’t the only one who looked surprised at the request. Asuna’s parents widened their eyes before they seemed to nod at the screen in unison. The Kirigaya family looked at each other, their eyes drifting momentarily over to Asuna, who turned to send Kazuto a mock-glare.

She squeezed his lifeless hand again and wished she could scream at him all day long and watch him as he squirmed. Just so that she’d see him alive and well again. Not lying on that bed, unaware of the world around him.

“Very well,” Heathcliff agreed and Asuna’s parents looked a little taken aback by his reaction.

“Kirito-kun, no!” Not-Asuna screamed from her place on the ground. The boy didn’t look at her, instead keeping his gaze trained solely on Heathcliff. “You can’t… you can’t do that!”

In front of Kirito, Heathcliff pressed a few buttons on his menu before his HP gauge seemed to lower itself to the yellow zone. Now, Kirito and he seemed to match in the amount of life they had left. Which also meant Heathcliff was no longer considered an immortal object. As was announced silently by the red notification that appeared for a second next to his body.

When he pulled his sword out from behind his shield, Asuna had the urge to look away and not watch it again. She didn’t want to. She didn’t want to live through it all over again!

But… but she also couldn’t look away. Because she knew it was going to be okay—whether others agreed with her or not. The only thing she wished were different was the fact that Kirito wasn’t waking up, even now.

“KIRITO-KUN!” Not-Asuna screamed.

A moment of stillness later, Kirito tightened his grip on his swords before speeding toward Heathcliff, his face contorted with so much rage, it was like he was attacking Heathcliff while being fueled by the anger of every single player that was stuck inside Sword Art Online and blamed Kayaba Akihiko for it all.

No one said a thing as Kirito and Heathcliff started attacking and evading quickly on the screen. As Asuna took a look around, she found the others all gawking at the TV, taking everything in and thinking it was going to show Kirito triumphing soon enough, because he obviously won.

He had to have won, because that was what everyone in Japan knew at the very least—Kirito won. He beat Kayaba Akihiko. He cleared SAO. They just didn’t know how. And, frankly, Asuna didn’t know what Kirito did after she’d jumped in and died. All she knew was that he ended up dead, too.

She did ask Klein and Agil about it because they were there to see the end of the fight between Kirito and Heathcliff. But the two of them just looked at each other, faces grim, and then shook their heads and refused to tell her.

She didn’t know why. She already knew Kirito died. But he died after still defeating Heathcliff, so why did it matter? Especially when he wasn’t actually dead—just like she wasn’t. They both came out of it alive, so why couldn’t Asuna know what had happened there, huh?

As her eyes refocused on the screen to see the way Heathcliff and Kirito fought between the downed players, Asuna found her mind wandering. She already lived through it once, but back then all she could think of was how she couldn’t bear to see Kirito losing.

Now she focused on the fight itself and she cocked her head to the side when she noticed that Kirito wasn’t using any of the sword skills the game had to offer, including his own unique one.

Sure, those attacks always left you open for a moment afterward because that was how the game worked. But they were powerful and worth it a lot of the time, so why not use it? Her eyes darted over to Heathcliff’s passive face as he blocked every single attack Kirito sent his way—the boy moving faster and faster to the point where his movements were invisible to the naked eye.

Her eyes widened as the realization hit her. Kayaba Akihiko was the man who had designed the game. He probably knew everything there was to know about the sword skills, including the dual-wielding one that Kirito had.

So the monsters in the game could be attacked with the skills because they weren’t programmed to know everything about the players’ abilities. But Heathcliff already knew. And Kirito must have known that, deciding not to even try to defeat the man with something that could lead to his own demise if Heathcliff used it against him.

“Onii-chan!” Suguha cried out when Heathcliff’s sword left a small cut on the boy’s face.

For a second Kirito looked stunned, and then he lashed out, his swords both glowing brightly as a sword skill was activated and Asuna’s hands clenched in her lap as she realized that was the moment he must have realized he was done for.

Kirito’s face showed it—the understanding that he just played right into Kayaba’s hands. That he just messed up, but he couldn’t stop the sword skill anymore, and Heathcliff just evaded every single hit easily, a satisfied smirk on his face.

When Kirito delivered the last hit of the combo, the people in the hospital room all sucked their breaths before they froze at the sight of Dark Repulser’s blade breaking on impact with Heathcliff’s shield. Kirito stared at his sword with wide eyes, seemingly surprised by this turn of events.

Naturally, the Kirigaya family members were busy looking at Kirito as the boy just stood there, unable to move from the shock and the aftermath of the skill he’d used, but Asuna’s parents noticed Not-Asuna forcing herself to stand up in the background again, somehow fighting off the effects of the paralysis. They looked pale, like they were seeing a ghost rather than a real event. A fact. Asuna braced herself.

“Farewell, Kirito-kun.” Heathcliff lifted his sword up high with a smile and then brought it down quickly toward his opponent.

Only for Not-Asuna to jump in front of Kirito and take the full impact of the hit silently. Asuna cringed at the sharp exclaims of the people around her as they squawked indignantly at the unexpected turn of events that was happening on the screen.

But Asuna didn’t turn to look at them. She didn’t even reply to her parents as the two of them turned to demand answers from her—she just watched as Kirito dropped both his swords to catch Not-Asuna with a horrified expression. He gasped when her HP bar reached zero, beeped and disappeared.

Not-Asuna swiveled her head to look at him with a faint smile.

“No, Asuna… this can’t… this can’t be…” Kirito’s whisper could be heard through the screen.

The people in the hospital room turned uncertainly back toward it despite still sending Asuna suspicious looks, like they were still uncomfortable with looking away from her. As if she would just disappear if no one paid attention to her presence in the room with all of them.

There were tears in Not-Asuna’s eyes as she started to glow. “I’m sorry,” she said and Kirito’s breath hitched. “Good-bye.” She closed her eyes a moment before her body turned to floating, sparkling pieces of light that started drifting away from Kirito’s hands.

“You…” Midori mumbled but trailed off, seemingly unable to say the word out loud.

Asuna’s mother gulped. “Died,” she said, her voice as stern as ever. But there was something on her face, like she was trying harder than usual to keep herself composed.

And then Asuna noticed the tears welling in her mother’s eyes and she didn’t know how to react to that because her mother never cried. She just didn’t. It wasn’t like her. “Then how come you woke up with the others? I don’t… understand…” Her mother’s voice was even starting to quake a little.

Her father put a comforting hand on his wife’s shoulder and Asuna opened her mouth to reply and tell them she didn’t actually know how it happened.

But then she noticed what was happening on the TV screen and her heart ached at the sight of Kirito trying to collect the lights for a brief moment, looking absolutely wrecked and lost. Her body trembled as she tried to imagine her own reaction to seeing Kirito dying. She thought it would have looked something like that, actually.

As Kirito collapsed to his hands and knees with a haunted look in his eyes and a small whimper escaping his lips, Asuna’s body started swaying a little. She couldn’t imagine him winning like that. She couldn’t imagine him standing back up and fighting with vigor after getting this hurt, this broken.

He looked like he was going to just curl up on the ground and silently rock in the corner of a room until the end of time. Asuna wished she knew. She wished she could go back there and offer him some kind of encouragement, but she could only watch.

Everyone in the hospital room seemed to bristle when Heathcliff spread his arms casually, a smile still lingering on his lips. “That was a surprise,” he noted, not even seeming to care about the state his opponent was in. “I don’t believe I programmed in a way to neutralize paralysis on your own. I guess these things happen sometimes.”

Seriously, Asuna knew that Kirito had trouble with reading a room and reacting accordingly, but she was beginning to realize that Kirito was a perfectly sociable person when compared to Kayaba Akihiko.

“This is impossible,” Minetaka said with a grim expression, his head shaking. “It’s impossible. Look at him—there’s no way he could win like this.”

“Well, the situation does look a little…” Her father wetted his lips and then shrugged helplessly as he seemed to find no words.

Then he cleared his throat and his eyes danced over to look at her. Asuna has never before felt this precious in her life. Her father looked at her like she was the reason he was alive. He looked at her like he was seeing her for the first time in a really long time.

“I mean, at least one miracle has happened that day, right?” her dad said rather softly.

Suguha held her hands together in a sort of prayer. “Please, Onii-chan…” she whispered desperately, her eyes briefly going over to glance in Kazuto’s direction. “Please… please…”

The boy on the bed didn’t react, obviously, but Asuna still squeezed his hand a little, trying to deliver her and Suguha’s wishes along to his virtual self.

Asuna was pretty sure all of Japan exhaled in defeat as Kirito tightened his hold on Elucidator and grabbed Not-Asuna’s dropped rapier—Lambent Light. He slowly got back on his feet, though his head was held down and his posture was slumped, like he just couldn’t muster the will to straighten up and face Heathcliff properly.

Hell, even Heathcliff watched him, his smile slipping to show he wasn’t impressed. He didn’t need to do more than move a little when Kirito weakly slashed with his sword.

Suddenly Asuna realized why Agil and Klein didn’t want to talk about it—watching this made her heart tremble and ache. She thought she wouldn’t ever see Kirito looking worse than he did back when Sachi and the other members of his old guild had died. She thought she’d never see Kirito lose that spark in his eyes again as he seemed to lose a part of himself.

But she was wrong. She was so, so wrong. Back then he put up a fight to try and get Sachi back. He kept on moving and advancing in an attempt to try and fix things. But now… now he didn’t seem to have the required energy to properly face Heathcliff.

He did it because he had to, clearly, but he wasn’t really trying. He was just waving his hands aimlessly, clearly knowing it was a losing battle, and yet not bothering to back out of it. It was like he wanted to… wanted to lose properly. To end things. He was delivering himself to Heathcliff on a silver platter, begging to be killed already.

That was why Klein and Agil didn’t want to talk about it—because this scene, this memory, this awful moment in time… it wasn’t something they wanted to recount. And now Asuna had to watch it, her eyes brimming with tears as she held onto Kazuto’s hand desperately. She didn’t understand. How could it be that he lost the will to fight and still won? It wasn’t possible!

They all froze when, with a sigh, Heathcliff made Elucidator fly out of Kirito’s hand. The boy glanced at it briefly before he just slumped further in place. Everyone seemed to choke a little when he didn’t even try to evade Heathcliff’s sword the moment it came forward.

Asuna sobbed silently with the rest of them—even her mother was sniffing and wiping furiously at her eyes—as Heathcliff’s sword pierced through Kirito’s midsection.

His HP bar dropping slowly, Kirito lifted his gaze to look at Heathcliff. His eyelids seemed to fight to remain open as he watched the man. And then he closed his eyes and the HP bar reached zero and the silent room was filled with the Kirigaya’s family confused and sorrowful cries.

Suguha was clinging to Asuna all over again, her entire body shaking, although maybe that was actually Asuna’s fault. Her own sobs were making her pretty unstable, too.

“No… no, it’s impossible,” Midori muttered urgently, her eyes drifting from the screen to Kazuto and back. “It’s impossible. It’s impossible. No…”

They all watched in distress as Kirito gasped a little, like he could feel the hands of death pulling him closer and closer to the other side of the tunnel, toward the light.

But then, instead of disappearing like everyone else by glowing and breaking into snippets of light with a sharp sound of breaking glass, Kirito’s body turned translucent and his expression turned from silent defeat to one of defiance. His not-quite-there hand gripped the handle of Lambent Light a little tighter.

“Not yet,” he mumbled and as his face began to show more and more rage, he took a small step forward, seemingly shocking Heathcliff. “Not yet!”

The man, still holding the sword that was stuck in Kirito’s body, took a hesitant step back, his eyes wide open from the shock of what was happening before him.

And then Kirito’s hand twitched as he fought to move it before shouting in rage and attacking with Asuna’s rapier, cutting right through Heathcliff’s body. His eyes, Asuna noted with a sense of detachment, were a bright shade of gold instead of the usual black.

Everyone in the room turned still at the sight of the two fighters—the somewhat ghost-like Kirito, and the peacefully smiling Heathcliff—standing and facing each other, both pierced by the other’s sword.

And then Heathcliff closed his eyes and Kirito’s face relaxed into slight confusion as the man’s HP dropped to zero, too. He dropped his eyes to the sword he was using—Not-Asuna’s sword—and a small smile appeared on his face before he exhaled.

As if finally getting his permission, the boy’s body glowed a little before disappearing the way it should have the moment his HP reached zero. Asuna wiped her eyes as she watched the light particles float away, the scene following them as they seemed to travel out of the room and through the floor.

“He did it…” Suguha whispered. “He actually did it!” She let out a small, somewhat hysterical laugh, and then covered her mouth with both hands and bent down in her seat, likely in order to try and calm herself down.

Her parents’ reactions were somewhat the same. Midori’s breaths were ragged and far in between, but she smiled at the screen with sparkling eyes that shined with pride. And Minetaka was patting her back as he seemed to try and dry his face quickly.

Asuna’s parents bowed their heads at the screen, as if showing their respect and gratitude to the person who’d ended the death game.

But, unlike them, Asuna could only shake her head with a fond, watery smile. Apparently she wasn’t the only one to defy the rules of the game that day. She fought off the paralysis to save Kirito, by that ending her life.

And then Kirito—the reckless idiot that he was—had to go and die before he seemed to regain his senses enough to vengefully take Heathcliff down with him. Only then did he actually let the game take him away.

Asuna didn’t like ghost stories, but this one would have to be the exception. Even if Kirito’s bright, golden eyes were going to be the fuel of her nightmares the next few days at the very least.

A mechanic, female voice rang around the world on the screen as the light particles that used to belong to Kirito’s avatar flew toward the edge of Aincrad. “As of 14:55, November 7, the game has been cleared,” the feminine voice said, her voice echoing repeatedly, as if to make sure the message was clear.

Suguha let another breathless, manic laughter.

Asuna had the feeling the announcement was being heard by all of the people in SAO throughout the entire floating castle. She could imagine the players all looking around in awe, listening to the words and trying the log out buttons with disbelief.

She sniffed and smiled at the thought.

The others in the hospital room hummed in surprise when the screen flashed to show a different scene. They probably didn’t expect anything more, but Asuna was ready to see it when Kirito opened his eyes, looking confused but relaxed, on that invisible platform in the air, above Aincrad.

He looked down at his hands and then looked at the clouds. Asuna’s parents voiced their surprise at both the sight of Kirito and the sight of Not-Asuna standing behind him.

“Where am I?” he muttered and then moved his fingers and opened his menu. Initiating final phase, it read. And underneath it was the countdown. Kirito stared at it for a moment and then shoved the window away, making it disappear.

“Kirito-kun?” Alerted by the sound of the menu’s familiar twinkle, Not-Asuna turned around to see Kirito.

Back then, he had his back to her at first so Asua couldn’t see it, but now she could watch as Kirito gasped at the voice and then looked down, as if afraid of turning around to face Not-Asuna. She couldn’t even blame him. He’d watched her death not too long before that—he was probably worried he was imagining it.

But then he turned around and they stared at each other, both stunned. Asua thought she heard Minetaka snickering, though she didn’t feel like looking away from the screen, so she couldn’t tell for sure.

Instead, she watched as Kirito opened his mouth as if to say something before he closed it and smiled softly. “Sorry,” he said. “I died, too.”

Not-Asuna didn’t look too annoyed. Maybe because she was just glad to see him again. “Dummy,” she berated him quietly and then hesitated a moment before running toward him and throwing herself at Kirito.

He didn’t catch her, but he didn’t stumble back either when she buried her face in his chest for a moment, a hitch in her breath. He did lean down to meet her when she tilted her head up to kiss him.

Suguha turned away from the screen with flushed cheeks while her parents laughed and Asuna noted that her own parents averted their eyes as well, but they didn’t look displeased—they just seemed to want to give some kind of privacy to the couple on the screen.

She was grateful, really. She didn’t quite mind Kirito’s parents not looking away and only smiling fondly, but she felt like it would have been a lot more embarrassing had they been her own parents.

Pulling away, Kirito turned away from Not-Asuna, who smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes, but he kept on holding her hand in his as he looked around.

“Where are we?” he asked.

In reply, Not-Asuna pointed at Aincrad—the floating castle that began to destroy itself in the distance. The two of them watched solemnly as the world they grew to appreciate and love tore itself apart. Asuna sniffed a little at the thought of their little cabin on floor 22 getting erased just like that.

“Quite a view.”

The two families in the room inhaled sharply at Kayaba Akihiko’s arrival. The man, in his own body, stood there, facing the floating castle with his hands in the pockets of his lab coat.

Asuna saw the anger on the faces of the parents and Suguha’s faces, but on screen, Kirito and Not-Asuna looked at the man with stunned faces and nothing more. Asuna disliked the man. Strongly. But… but… he’d given her a world where she got to express herself freely. Where she got to meet Kirito. It was strange… but she wasn’t sure what to feel toward him, anymore.

“Kayaba Akihiko,” Kirito gasped.

The man didn’t even look at them. “The SAO mainframe, within the fifth-level basement at my corporate headquarters is deleting all data on its storage devices,” he informed the duo standing a little further away. “In ten minutes or so, everything in this world will vanish.”

“What about the people down there?” Not-Asuna asked.

“You needn’t worry about them,” the man replied as he opened his menu. “Just a moment ago, the remaining six-thousand one-hundred forty-seven players were logged out.”

Kirito seemed to hesitate for a second as Kayaba closed his menu. “What about the ones who died?” he asked. “What about the four-thousand who died?”

“Their minds will never return,” Kayaba said firmly, and Asuna’s father bristled a little at the man’s flippant tone—like he didn’t even care about all of the people who’d lost their lives because of him. Asuna bowed her head a little. “Whichever world you die in, you’re gone for good.”

They all fell quiet as they let the words sink in. Asuna remembered how… sad she was at the conformation. Up to that point, it was almost like the knowledge that death in the game was really fatal felt like it wasn’t quite right. People still questioned it.

And even Asuna, someone who knew it to be true, couldn’t help but doubt it from time to time. So these words, coming from Kayaba Akihiko once again, drove the reality of the situation home. All of those people… were really and truly gone.

“Why…” Kirito trailed off for a second as he seemed to try and think on his question a second time before voicing it. “Why did you do this?”

His expression as blank as ever, Kayaba kept his gaze on the castle that was still slowly crumbling to pieces before their very eyes. “Why, huh?” he muttered thoughtfully.

Minetaka sneered a little, like he couldn’t care less about his answer. But his wife and daughter both leaned in to listen properly.

“I forgot a long time ago,” Kayaba said, and Suguha gasped at the same time her mother frowned and set her jaw. Asuna’s mother drew her eyebrows closer together in a show of silent dissatisfaction. “I wonder why… When I began developing the full-dive environment system…” Kayaba caught himself. “No, longer than that,” he corrected.

“I dreamed of nothing but creating that castle. A world that surpassed all our laws and all our restrictions. And now I have seen someone surpass even my own world’s laws.” He finally turned to look at Not-Asuna and Kirito for a brief moment before turning back to the view of the castle.

“How old must I have been when I was obsessed with the fantasy of a steel castle that floated in the sky? I wanted to leave the ground, to fly to that castle. For a long, long time, that was my only desire.” He stopped for a moment. “You know, Kirito-kun, I still believe that in some other world, that castle truly exists.”

Kirito’s expression softened a little as sadness seeped back in. “Yeah, I hope it does,” he said, and next to him Not-Asuna nodded.

“I forgot to say this,” Kayaba said after a moment of silence. “Congratulations on winning the game, Kirito-kun, Asuna-kun,” Kayaba said and the two widened their eyes in surprise at the words.

Asuna sure didn’t expect them at the time. Yet… they still made her feel like it was all somewhat justified.

When Kayaba turned to them again, there was a small smile on his face that seemed almost out of place. “Now then, I must be going.”

He started walking away from them before the breeze picked up and his body seemed to turn to dust that blew away until he was gone. Asuna expected someone to say something in the hospital room—anything at all—but they all just watched the scene with tight lips and pretty blank expressions, like they all couldn’t decide how to feel about the interaction.

It did change a little when Kirito and Not-Asuna were left alone. They sat down on the edge of the invisible platform they found themselves on, and as Aincrad kept on breaking down a little way beneath them, they kissed silently. Asuna’s cheeks burned in embarrassment. Especially when Suguha squealed a little and flailed her hands about like she was trying to distract herself.

Back then, Asuna remembered how they both just wanted not to waste their time together, thinking that was it. But now… well, she wished these videos gave them some more privacy!

At least nobody saw that awkward moment when Asuna took her clothes off in front of Kirito when she misinterpreted his words at the beginning of their relationship. That would have been a disaster—far worse than a few kisses here and there.

As they pulled away, Kirito’s lips tugged down. “This is good-bye.”

“No…” Not-Asuna objected softly as she shook her head. “No, it isn’t.” She smiled at him despite herself, and Suguha finally stopped moving around so she could watch the scene again. “We’re going to disappear as one. So we’ll be together forever.”

Asuna’s grip on Kazuto’s hand tightened as she felt the tears coming back to her eyes. She was so certain they would be together after that—no matter if they were dead or alive—but now here she was, holding Kazuto’s hand and not getting anything in response… because he wasn’t truly present. He was still back in the virtual world. They weren’t together.

Which was why she had to fix it! Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Asuna swore she would bring Kazuto back. She wasn’t going to let him die again, and she wasn’t going to give up until he woke up.

“Before we do,” Not-Asuna continued. “Tell me your name,” she requested. “Your real name,” she clarified, and Asuna’s heart dropped.

These videos have been keeping their true, full names secret from the rest of Japan so far, but… it looked like their luck was going to run out. She grimaced a little at the reality Kazuto would have to face once he finally woke up. He didn’t handle people too well as it was—dealing with people who called him a murderer and a bad person would probably not be the best thing in the world to look forward to, huh?

Kirito’s eyes widened as he seemed to take in her words, and then he smiled. “Kirigaya,” he introduced himself. “Kirigaya Kazuto. I think I turned sixteen last month,” he added.

Asuna and the others all sighed. Yup, here went the secret out the window. Well, they were going to handle it, somehow, she was sure of it. And Asuna was going to make sure her parents helped Kazuto in case he needed it.

On the screen, Not-Asuna tested the name slowly. “Kirigaya Kazuto-kun…” She smiled then. “You’re younger than I am? My name is Yuuki Asuna. I’m seventeen.”

“Yuuki Asuna… Yuuki Asuna,” he echoed. And then his face crumbled as he began to cry for, maybe, the second or third time since these videos started.

Asuna reached out her free hand, as if to wipe away the tears from his cheeks, but she couldn’t really reach him through the TV screen. So she retracted her hand slowly, feeling helpless as she clung to the warm body on the bed next to her that couldn’t even feel her presence.

“I’m sorry,” Kirito muttered. “I’m so sorry. I promised I’d send you back to the other world… but I… I…”

Covering his hand with hers, Not-Asuna smiled at him, her own eyes tearful as she smiled at him.

“It’s okay,” she said. And then she nodded at his stunned expression. “It’s okay. I’m happy I was able to meet you, Kazuto-kun… to live with you. It’s the happiest I’ve ever been in my life,” she told him, and Suguha grabbed Asuna’s hand and flashed her a smile that warmed the girl’s heart a little. “Thank you. I love you.”

The words seemed to only make Kirito cry harder as he quickly wrapped his arms around Not-Asuna and buried his face in her shoulder. They stayed that way even when the world around them seemed to turn brighter and brighter as Not-Asuna kept on repeating her last words until her body seemed to flash and disappear.

Kirito’s hands fell down as the light around him dissipated and he caught himself before he could faceplant down, looking stunned and confused and so, terribly sad.

Staring at the empty air before him, Kirito blinked a few times and then wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and turned to face the ruins of the castle that were dropping further and further down with every single moment.

Asuna held her breath, watching as he just sat there quietly, seemingly getting more and more anxious as time went by and nothing seemed to be happening. He looked around, waiting to see something, but nothing occurred, so he turned back to the depressing view.

“Heartbreaking, isn’t it?” Kayaba Akihiko appeared seemingly out of nowhere, back in his white lab coat. Asuna blinked in surprise. She wasn’t there for all of this. She had no idea what happened after she woke up, leaving Kirito behind. Somehow… she was glad this was also a part of the videos.

Glancing sideways at the scientist, Kirito didn’t even look too surprised to see him there again. He just sagged a little.

“Yeah.” He let the word hang in the air as the two of them watched the end of the world together. “I thought you were gone,” Kirito added eventually, his voice somewhat accusing and bitter.

Kayaba hummed thoughtfully for a second as he seemed to ponder the comment. “In a sense, I am. My body is dead. My mind is the only thing left. Or rather an echo of it… which means that I can no longer really die. I’m here, but I’m not here.” He turned to look curiously at Kirito. “I expected you to be gone already, too. Back to the real world, where the others have already woken up,” he said.

The man ignored Kirito’s question as the boy wanted another confirmation regarding the state of the other survivors. “But… oh, yes, I see.” Kayaba turned away from Kirito, who twitched like he wanted to demand more answers from Kayaba. “I suppose some people just have this sort of bad luck. I’m sure they will be very confused when you won’t wake up like the rest of the survivors.”

Suguha let go of Asuna’s hand as she leaned in, closer to the screen, like she wanted to make sure she didn’t miss a single word. Her parents were basically doing the same thing, staring intently at the scene playing there like they wanted to know how they could possibly help their kid come back to the real world.

It seemed like Kirito was done waiting for answers from Kayaba because he glared at him and leaned closer, his hands moving like he wanted to grab a sword and attack the man already.

“What are you talking about? Why AM I still here? Where’s Asuna? Has she woken up, too?” he asked, and her heart skipped a beat as she brought her hand up to press against her chest. “What’s going on?”

“Well, it seems like someone decided to keep you in the virtual world a little longer. Rest assured, this time it’s not my own doing, Kirito-kun.” He said it like it made things that much better, knowing he wasn’t behind this new development. “This is an outside force.” His lips tugged down. “Someone who is using my invention.”

Asuna didn’t need to be a genius to understand that Kayaba wasn’t thrilled at the idea of someone using his work like that. But she didn’t pity him in the least—especially when bright light started shining in the distance, making Kirito squint his eyes.

He brought his hand up to block the light the best he could, and Asuna bit her lip at the sight of his hand beginning to look almost surreal, translucent. The others in the hospital room looked just as worried as she was, even though they already knew what was happening.

Observing Kirito coolly, Kayaba didn’t even seem to see the light that bothered Kirito so much. “Looks like you’re being taken to your next location,” he noted absently.

Eyes going wide as his body began to glow faintly, Kirito stared at the man next to him. “Wait, no!” He clenched his teeth and seemed to try and move, but the glow of his body just intensified with every passing moment and Kirito was obviously incapable of doing much about it. “Can’t you do something? It’s your world!”

He glared at Kayaba, a note of desperation in his voice.

“Kazuto…” Midori whispered, her hands gripping the armrests of her seat tightly, to the point where her knuckles turned white. “You’ll be okay… you’re gonna be okay…”

Raising an eyebrow at Kirito and still looking like he didn’t really care much about what was going on, Kayaba observed the boy as he seemed to glow more and more. “You want my help?”

For a moment Kirito went quiet and he seemed to blink his eyes a few times, like he was trying to catch up with his own thoughts. And then he pursed his lips and his hand, looking less and less solid, grabbed onto Kayaba’s lab coat, like Kirito thought it would keep him there a little longer. “Yes!” he said eventually.

“We’re not friends, Kirito-kun,” the scientist said, though he didn’t shake Kirito’s hand off. “If I help you, you will have to do something for me in return.”

Asuna found herself wordlessly praying for Kirito despite knowing it couldn’t help him anymore.

“Okay! I will!”

“He’s making a deal with the devil,” Asuna’s father said.

He didn’t sound like he was scolding Kirito, but he didn’t look happy about any of this, either. Neither was Asuna, of course, but she also knew that if there was anything Kirito knew for certain about Kayaba Akihiko, it was that the man was fair.

He created a game that proved to be hard and difficult but never unfair. And he even allowed Kirito to end the game earlier than planned because he thought Kirito deserved something for his detective work. Even if it also looked like Kayaba’s plan was to just get rid of Kirito—his biggest threat—as soon as possible.

On the screen, Kayaba cracked a small smile at that. “The rules of the game you are being transported to are the same as the ones I have given you at the start. If you die there, you will die in the real world, too. Other players are free to leave, but you will have to find your own way out. I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” he said.

Kirito, glaring at him, looked annoyed. “That’s not helpful! I could guess that by myself!”

“That’s not the assistance I was going to give you—that was just the kind of information I figured you might want to have.” He dropped his smile and turned serious and thoughtful as his own body started disappearing, as well. “I’ll assist you, Kirito-kun. Even though my methods might not be to your liking.” The man shrugged. “Oh, well. I’m sure you’ll manage to survive long enough for my plan to work, won’t you?”

They could just about detect the little smirk that played at Kayaba’s lips before the scientist faded away once more.

With furrowed brows, Kirito opened his mouth to reply but before the words left him, the scene changed. Or rather, the scenery around Kirito changed as he found himself in a forest, his mouth closing in surprise. He turned his head around as he tried to take in the new surroundings that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Or rather, he seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

He tilted his head up to look at the sun shining through the branches and leaves of the trees, and his lips thinned at the sight of the very clearly unrealistic sun. Probably doing so as more of a reflex than anything else, Kirito’s hand shot backward to try and feel the hilt of one of his swords. But, of course, there was nothing there. He didn’t look surprised—just defeated.

Sighing and slumping a little, Kirito dropped his hand back down. “Here we go again.”

“Welcome to Alfheim Online.”

Chapter Text

“Welcome to Alfheim Online.”

Kirito turned around sharply at the smug voice that seemed to come from behind him.

Had Asuna not known any better, she wouldn’t have associated the voice with anyone, but now that she knew about Sugou standing behind all of this, she couldn’t help but recognize his voice coming from the mouth of the strange avatar that appeared behind Kirito—tall, blond, slim. He had glowing wings that were a light shade of green, matching the gems he had on his crown and dark-green robe.

Despite knowing his swords were gone, Kirito’s hand still tried to come back to get a weapon. When his hand came back empty once again, he let out an annoyed huff that seemed to only amuse the person before him.

Asuna noticed the way her parents both glanced at each other, probably realizing who the man standing before Kirito was, just like she did. Would they have recognized him without Kouichirou finding out about this entire plot? She wasn’t sure. But she hoped they would have figured it out.

“Alfheim Online…” Kirito echoed quietly and then glared at the man. “Who are you? What do you want?”

Sugou smirked as Suguha seemed to mumble to herself, asking who he was without anyone other than Asuna hearing her.

“My name is Fairy King Oberon,” Sugou introduced himself, and Kirito and Asuna both narrowed their eyes at him, as if they were facing him side by side. “The ruler of this virtual world. And you are one of my new subjects.”

With a light snort, Kirito kept his gaze as blank as ever. “I’m not the best at following orders,” he commented. “Why did you bring me here?”

His parents seemed to agree with the words because they both let out amused huffs, like they couldn’t help but think of past events when Kirito refused to follow the rules, or decided not to listen to whatever he was being told to do or not to do.

“Well, I needed a test subject.” Sugou—Oberon—shrugged. Kirito’s expression didn’t waver in the least, but his eyes showed he wanted more information. “See, I’m conducting a project about the human brain. Just a little something involving memories and emotions. And it just so happens that I needed to find someone to test it on when SAO seemed to have been cleared. So my team and I quickly made sure you didn’t slip right out of our grasp.”

Eyes widening, Kirito quietly stared at Oberon, stunned. He looked like he was speechless as he tried to react to the news. Asuna could see Midori and Minetaka glaring at Oberon through the screen like their emotions could actually reach someone from the past that wasn’t even in the same room with them.

Asuna wished once more for the ability to be nothing more than data in a computer. She would have felt so much better had she been able to punch Oberon in the face as hard as possible.

“You… that’s…” Kirito’s body started trembling with rage, but Oberon just smirked nonchalantly.

“Yes, I’m sure you’re very excited. Don’t worry—you won’t feel a thing. Or, at least, no one would care if you felt anything.” He spread his arms to the sides as he turned around and started walking away. “Please, enjoy this world for as long as you can until the experiment starts showing signs of effectiveness.”

He glanced at Kirito’s rigid figure one last time. “It’s not like anyone is going to be able to get you out from the outside. So either the experiment works, or your body rots away in that hospital you’ve been taken to, Hero-kun.”

The way he said that nickname sent chills down Asuna’s spine. She set her jaw and narrowed her eyes as Oberon—Sugou!—spread his wings and flew out of there quickly, leaving behind a shaking and livid Kirito.

The boy’s eyes were set on a tree before him as he seemed to just raggedly breathe—in and out—before his eyes blinked a few times and a twitch of his facial muscles indicated that he was regaining control over himself again.

Suddenly, Kirito brought his right hand up to try and bring up his menu. Nothing happened. Of course, Asuna knew it was because he was using the wrong hand, but she could still relate to the panic that seemed to creep onto his face as he tried again and again to open the menu to no avail.

Luckily, he did try to use his left hand eventually, and the breath he released at the window finally opening made his parents in the room chuckle uneasily, their voices strained.

The first thing he turned to was the log out button, but when he didn’t find it there, just like in SAO, he didn’t look surprised—just irritated. “Where’s the status window…” he muttered to himself as he went through the menu quickly.

His body froze when his stats were revealed to be just as high as they were during SAO. Asuna found herself snickering a little at the expression that appeared on his face. He looked so shocked by this.

“What is this? Is it a bug?” He furrowed his brows for a second and then seemed to realize what was going on. “They’re just like my SAO parameters…” An annoyed grumble escaped his lips. “If this is Kayaba’s idea of helping, I’m never going to get out of here.”

He groaned and gasped a little when he opened his item storage to find that everything there seemed to have turned into gibberish. His eyes widened as he went through the list quickly, looking not exactly confused, but a little let down by all of his equipment not being available in ALO.

Suddenly, his face painted with horror. “Wait. Please be here…” he muttered to himself as he went faster and faster through the list of nonsense.

He seemed to have found what he was looking for, and his finger froze for a moment before he tapped the item. It appeared before him—a light-blue tear-shaped crystal that hovered in the air for a moment before landing in Kirito’s open palms. He stared at it in relief and tears sprang into Asuna’s eyes at the sight of the familiar object.

“Yui…” she whispered and the others in the room turned to look at her in confusion, but she didn’t respond.

She found it a little strange that Yui wasn’t in any of the videos so far because obviously she was an important part in the journey Kirito and she had been through, but seeing Kirito as he made sure he still had her saved with him filled Asuna with such relief, because so far she was so absorbed with trying to get Kirito out of the game, she didn’t even think about how Yui could have been gone for all she knew.

“She’s okay…” She lowered her head to rest on top of Kazuto’s limp hand, and closed her eyes with a quivering smile. “She’s okay…”

She sniffed a little and glanced at the screen again to see Kirito hesitantly putting the item back. He looked a little like he was reluctant to do so, but Asuna understood—he wasn’t sure where he was exactly and what was going on.

If SAO tried to destroy and erase Yui, it meant that maybe ALO would try the same thing at not recognizing her. She wished she could see Yui again, but first they had to make sure it was safe. At least her item wasn’t messed up like the others.

Which reminded her…

Kirito’s hand hovered over the other unidentified items that spread before him and he took in a deep breath before reluctantly deleting all of them, making sure not to add Yui’s heart to the list of things he got rid of.

Well, the heart and the rest of the items that seemed to make sense—all of them looked like things a beginner would have. When Kirito went through the much shorter list, his nose seemed to scrunch up.

Tapping on the sword on his list, Kirito held out his hand to grab the simple, boring sword that materialized there. He waved it around a little, looking unimpressed.

“It’s light…” he complained quietly and then seemed to concentrate for a moment before widening his eyes. “No sword skills?” he wondered in astonishment.

Then he set his jaw and looked over his shoulder sharply, his grip on his sword tightening.

“What’s he doing?” Asuna’s father asked.

No one had an answer until they could all finally hear the sound of approaching footsteps, crunching leaves and twigs that were on the forest ground. Kirito stood there, ready for whatever came his way, only to blink at the sight of a player—female player, by the looks of it—walking forward with slumped shoulders.

Her wings were visible behind her back, not sparkling in the least. The girl’s eyes were trained on the ground as she grumbled lowly to herself—something about homework and her parents.

Once the girl’s eyes lifted and landed on Kirito, she froze and her hand flew quickly toward the lean sword that was strapped to her hip. She didn’t pull it out, but she did grip it like she was ready to fight Kirito in case he tried something.

As her eyes roamed over his avatar, Asuna could see the moment she realized something wasn’t adding up. Be it the fact that his ears were human and not pointy like the other players’, or maybe it was something else… the female player noted the changes and then hummed in confusion.

“W-what race are you from?” she asked. It sounded almost like she was accusing him of something.

“R-race?”

Suguha shook her head from side to side as she watched this, and Asuna thought the girl looked a lot like an exhausted businesswoman rather than a high school student that was watching her brother flailing around a new world on his own on a TV screen with said brother’s unconscious body lying on a bed a few steps away from her seat.

The girl on the screen frowned and didn’t let go of her weapon. “A Gnome? An Undine? Maybe a Salamander?”

She narrowed her eyes as she took him in again. Kirito’s stance relaxed the longer she talked and he just sighed and dropped the hand holding his sword down until the blade grazed the ground.

“Actually, you look more like a Spriggan, I suppose… They are the ones who wear black, right?” She seemed to stop questioning Kirito in favor of muttering to herself.

Asuna was still new to the game, but she was pretty sure the girl was a Cait Sith if her ears and tail were anything to go by. She was around the same height as Kirito, but with him hunching tiredly, she looked taller.

“I have… no idea what you’re talking about,” Kirito cut through the girl’s confused monologue and she looked at him with wide eyes, like she just remembered he was still there. “I don’t think I’m any of the races you just mentioned.” She opened her mouth but he just kept on talking over her. “You’re a player, right? It’s a virtual game?”

The look the girl gave Kirito couldn’t be clearer—she thought he was either messing with her, or he was just plain stupid. “You’re kidding, right?” she deadpanned but when Kirito just blankly looked at her, her eyes sparkled with curiosity. “You’re… not kidding. Huh, weirdo…” She hummed. “Yes, it’s ALO. Which, I guess, you must have bought to be in here?” she prompted.

Kirito looked away from her face to observe the forest around him, not seeming to care about how stupid he was appearing to be to this unassuming girl. Asuna smiled a little at the thought of this girl sitting and watching this with embarrassment along with the rest of Japan.

“Sure.” Kirito shrugged and then looked back at the tense and confused girl. “Can you pretend I know nothing about this game and explain everything?”

She gawked at him like he was crazy but Kirito just kept his eyes on her, not showing a single hint that might make the girl think he was joking.

Suguha smacked her hand against her forehead as she seemed to reach her limit of how much she could stand seeing her brother being ridiculous, but Asuna thought he was still being pretty reasonable.

He clearly didn’t want to tell this girl the truth, but he needed answers and information, so he just made himself sound either crazy or stupid to try and get her to talk. Which made him a little suspicious, but the girl was still not running away or drawing her sword, so Asuna decided he was doing somewhat okay so far.

His parents both stared at the screen with wide eyes, like they were interested in what was happening but weren’t too worried about Kirito’s ability to gain information without getting slashed in half. Asuna wasn’t too worried, either.

Even if the game was different from SAO and Kirito knew nothing about the magic system—she still barely understood it, herself—he was probably strong and capable enough to handle himself in case that girl decided to attack him and be done with it. Plus, she was still holding his very much still alive hand.

“You’re kidding, right?” the girl asked skeptically. When Kirito didn’t react, she sighed and her eyes glanced sideways, like she was looking at something uncertainly. “Well, I guess I could explain a few things… but I have to go soon because I have tons of homework to do and my parents are going to freak out if I don’t finish everything before dinner so—” She snapped her mouth shut and blinked a few times. “Um… right. Anyway… where should I start…”

Asuna didn’t pay too much attention when the girl started blabbering on and on about the game, awkwardly trying to explain how ALO worked to Kirito, who seemed to fight the urge to tell the girl that he knew the basics already and demanding more details about the way the world worked rather than how the game and the AmuSphere functioned and were created.

Every few moments, Suguha perked up to correct a fact being said on the screen or to snort at the incorrect information, claiming it wasn’t accurate enough for her taste.

Frankly, it didn’t matter how accurate the girl was—as long as she gave Kirito enough information to work with, Asuna knew he would be okay.

And then his body turned rigid and he looked over the girl’s shoulder. The strange behavior made the girl’s voice stutter before she trailed off completely and turned around, like she expected to see someone lurking behind her.

Kirito’s eyes narrowed. “Someone’s coming,” he said, readjusting his grip on his sword again as the girl next to him turned around to see what he was talking about, her hand already pulling out her own sword from its sheath.

A few moments later, from beyond the trees, five players emerged. Asuna squinted her eyes a little before recognizing them as Gnomes. They were all male players, wearing heavy armor and grinning at the sight of the girl and Kirito like they were staring at a goldmine and not two other players.

While Kirito didn’t react much and just watched them passively—his eyes mostly trailing over to their weapons—the girl next to him tensed and held her sword in front of her, like a warning.

“Look, guys, we found even more,” one of the Gnomes said, smirking. “Cait Sith and a Spriggan… what do you think we’ll get from killing them, huh? Anything good?”

“Since when do Cait Siths and Spriggans work together?” another one asked in amusement. “Oh, no, wait—were you about to duel? Please, do continue with that—we’ll just get the one left behind once it’s over, ‘kay?” He snickered at his own words, and the girl seemed to frown deeply.

Taking a deep breath, the female player levelled her gaze with the person who stood at the front of the Gnomes’ group. Asuna assumed he was the leader, if they even had one. Apparently, that girl came to the same conclusion.

“Look, we don’t want any trouble, okay? So just move along and we’ll be on our way,” she said. She tried to sound like she wasn’t scared, but it was clear she didn’t like the odds that were stacked against her.

The leader snorted a little. “Yeah, I don’t think so,” he said. “You must have something valuable if you want to be left alone that much. So if you really want to, you can just hand it over now and we’ll let you live. I don’t really mind if your stats remain the same, frankly.”

Pursing her lips, the girl glanced around at all of the players surrounding her. Asuna noted the fact that her stance wasn’t… well… the best.

“Hey, weird guy,” the girl said and Kirito cocked his head to the side a little. “By the look of that sword of yours, I’m guessing you’re new here, so just do yourself a favor and try and get away while I fight them off.” She tried to readjust her hold on her blade, but it was still not that good. “I can probably buy you a few seconds. A minute or two at best.”

Kirito still stood there nonchalantly, watching the scene like it wasn’t really bothering him too much despite the fact that these Gnomes were clearly also after him.

Finally, Kirito’s lips tugged up in an amused grin. “Yeah, I don’t think so.” He lazily let his eyes trail from one Gnome to another, his knees bending slightly. “Just to be clear, if I kill someone here, nothing happens in the real world, right?”

It was a valid question when you knew he used to play in SAO, but to someone who was probably clueless about the end of the death game, it must have sounded like a ridiculously strange question.

The girl’s eyes widened at his words and she snapped her head, looking like she was about to scream at him. “Of course you can kill people here! It’s encouraged!” she said and then waved her sword a little in frustration. “But don’t be cocky! You don’t even know how to fly yet—”

Before she could finish, Kirito was already off. His speed was so great, when he moved from his spot, the people in the game and the ones in the hospital watching it through a TV screen could all hear a sonic boom coming from where he just stood.

Asuna blinked at the screen—missing only a split moment—and suddenly Kirito was standing, his sword drawn before him, behind the group of Gnomes. The other players barely even moved before two of them were engulfed by flames, leaving only the Remain Lights behind.

“No way…” Suguha whispered. “I didn’t even see a thing!”

Asuna’s mother hummed in appreciation while her father let out a sudden burst of laughter, like he was so surprised that the situation on the screen shocked him into cackling. Kirito’s parents both looked at each other and then at the screen, blinking their eyes rapidly as if they could try and see the split moment they must have missed like all the others if they only closed their eyes hard enough.

Honestly, only Asuna wasn’t too surprised by his speed. She already knew Kirito was freakishly fast. Sure, she was fast in SAO, but he always managed to surpass her during friendly duels—he just didn’t bother bragging about it.

On the screen, the girl and the three remaining Gnomes turned slowly to look at Kirito’s smiling face with wide eyes and slightly shaky limbs. The girl opened and closed her eyes a few times and then her face turned bright red.

“Are you serious?” she shrieked. “Did you pretend not to know anything this whole time? What were you— You’re such a— I’m gonna— UGH!” She threw her head back and kicked a pebble on the ground in frustration.

“Holy shit!” one of the remaining Gnomes exclaimed and started shaking his head. “No. Nope. I’m not a part of this. I’m working way too hard for it all to disappear like that. I’ll give you whatever you want—just don’t kill me,” he begged Kirito.

Asuna’s shoulders shook a little as she chuckled.

The black-cladded boy just shrugged. “You can just go—I don’t really care about that,” he said and the Gnome didn’t wait before he spread his wings and flew out of there as quickly as possible. A moment later, another one of them joined him, leaving only the leader to stare at Kirito with a calculating look in his eyes. Kirito raised an eyebrow at him. “What about you?”

The man smirked and lifted his hands in surrender. “Maybe some other time, you brat.” He drawled out the mocking nickname, like it carried anything with it. “I want to be ready to help invade the World Tree soon and that will be a lot harder if I die now. Well, I’ll see you around.”

Kirito just shrugged and watched him with a relaxed expression on his face while the girl kept on kicking everything that was close to her in her rage, except for Kirito himself, Asuna noted.

Kirito watched as the Gnome flew away, looking almost fascinated by the way the wings carried the man away, and then he turned back to the girl who glared at his impassive expression.

“You tricked me!” she accused and marched toward him. Kirito didn’t bat an eye when she stabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You made it sound and look like you didn’t know how to play.”

“Well, I don’t know this game. But I have played MMORPG games before,” he said. She grumbled and kept on eyeing him warily, like he was the bane of her existence. Turning his back to the girl, Kirito acted like he couldn’t feel the fury rolling off her and washing toward him. “So the World Tree—what is it?”

The girl grumbled some more and then her lips tugged down as she pouted and rolled her head like she was dealing with an annoying kid that tired her way too easily. Asuna knew the feeling—she remembered it from all the way back when Kirito would be all laid back and unhelpful, refusing to put in as much effort into ending SAO as she had.

Back then it made her blood boil in her veins. Now it made more sense to her. She actually found his nonchalance endearing—like most things about him that used to drive her up a wall.

“You owe me so much for this!” the girl snapped at him, and Kirito’s eyes briefly turned to her before he nodded a little in agreement. The girl sighed. “It’s at the center of this world. In the middle of Arun,” she said. “And it has, like, the grand quest of this world. Everyone tries at least once to do the quest, but some people actually believe it’s impossible.”

There was a spark in Kirito’s eyes, like the word impossible triggered something deep inside him.

Asuna sighed and looked sideways at Kazuto. “When will you stop trying to prove people wrong? If someone tells you something is impossible, let it be,” she moaned quietly. Kazuto didn’t reply. “You had better not waste your time on this quest when you should try and find a way out of there, Kirito-kun,” she warned under her breath.

Of course, he didn’t even twitch.

On the screen, Kirito seemed to think about it for a long moment. “What’s so special about the quest, though?” he asked and his eyes locked on the girl as she seemed to hesitate, like the black depths of his gaze made her uneasy all of a sudden.

“I-it’s just… well, most people here play the game because it allows players to fly, right?” she said and gestured vaguely toward the wings on her back. “B-but, well… there’s a limit to this ability. We can’t fly for longer than about fifteen minutes. But the quest is to get to the top of the World Tree—past the guards watching it—to meet the Fairy King at the city of the Alf.”

She snorted. “See, Alf have no limit to their flight and they rule the infinite sky. They’re considered to be true fairies. I think it’s nonsense, but people don’t listen to me because they think I’m just scared. But some people are scared of heights, okay? It’s not like I never helped them—”

“The Fairy King…” Kirito cut through her tangent, an urgent look in his eyes. “Do you know what his name is?”

The room at the hospital turned a lot more tense all of a sudden. Suguha sucked in a sharp breath and the two sets of parents shifted uneasily. Asuna hasn’t even noticed until now that the girl brought up the Fairy King. It just got swallowed by the rest of her words. But Kirito noticed.

The girl furrowed her brows. “Uh, yeah?” She eyed Kirito like she thought he was stupid. “Fairy King Oberon. Seriously, who starts playing a game without knowing anything about it?” she complained.

But Kirito was already not paying attention, his head bowed as he seemed to think hard about something. Probably a way to get to the top of the World Tree.

“He’s crazy. He’s gone completely crazy,” Suguha exclaimed. “No one can reach the top! People have tried all sorts of insane things and nothing worked—you can’t get past the guards. This quest is impossible! And there’s not even a way to know whether he’d be able to log out once he reaches the top!” She set her jaw and crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s a wonder he’s still alive, if this is his plan.”

Looking over his shoulder, Kirito looked like he was contemplating what to do, and then he turned back around and tilted his head a little. “I wonder if…” He closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate for a moment before a pair of black, sparkling wings appeared behind his back. He seemed to feel it because his eyes flew open and he turned to stare at them. “Well, that’s new.”

“Everyone has wings here, you idiot,” the girl said and then gave him a smug look. “But you have no idea how to use yours, do you?” She snickered at his slightly annoyed expression and then rolled her shoulders.

“Okay, turn around—I’ll teach you,” she said, and after a moment of hesitation, Kirito stood with his back facing her. She put a hand between his shoulder blades and he seemed to stiffen a little. “Focus on this area and try to imagine the muscles here extending over to the wings. Can you do that?”

He frowned and closed his eyes as he seemed to concentrate. Asuna remembered that was about the same thing Suguha did when she taught their little group how to fly in ALO. It didn’t mean Asuna had to like the fact that someone else was getting this close to Kirito. She trusted him, sure, but she still preferred it when she could be around to make sure nothing happened.

And then, on the screen, Kirito’s wings started flapping a little. Asuna blinked in surprise. It took them much longer to be able to even make their wings twitch a little bit. Yet he seemed to get a grip on this new ability really fast.

The girl looked surprised, too, but she pushed it aside in favor of telling Kirito to speed up. And then, all of a sudden, Kirito’s legs left the ground as he skyrocketed upward with a yelp of surprise and alarm.

“HOW DO I STOP THIS THING?” he shouted as his body moved past the treetops and toward the open sky.

The sun was beginning to set in the distance and everything seemed peaceful apart from the out-of-control player that was flying quickly from one spot to the other, yelling at the top of his lungs the entire time. The girl flapped her wings and hovered above the trees to watch him, looking both amused and impressed as Kirito kept on tossing and turning up high.

At some point his cries turned into whoops of joy as he seemed to regain more and more control over his movements. “This is awesome!”

The girl grimaced. “Great, another adrenaline junkie,” she muttered to herself quietly.

The Kirigaya family and Asuna chuckled together at her words. That seemed to describe Kirito pretty well, actually.

With a sigh, the girl flew higher and closer to Kirito. “That’s it, you’re a natural,” she said dryly. “Or you’re still lying to me and it’s not even your first time,” she added in a low murmur.

Kirito either chose not to pay her any mind or couldn’t hear her. He spread his arms to the sides and then accelerated as he flew higher and higher, his speed rivaling his speed on land.

Suguha awed at the screen, which meant a lot considering the fact that she kept on mentioning how she was one of the fastest flyers in ALO. Asuna just found herself smiling at the sight of Kirito having fun despite the grim situation he was stuck in.

The girl didn’t follow him up—she did say she was scared of heights, didn’t she?—so the screen stopped showing her when Kirito seemed to get too far away. He slowed down eventually and just kept his gaze turned upward.

He stared at the darkening sky and then turned to look around at the world that seemed to spread underneath him. It was beautiful, Asuna had to admit. And the World Tree was recognizable even from such a great distance.

Eyes locking on the distant tree, Kirito’s delighted and excited smile vanished and he turned almost emotionless once again. “Well, they did say clearing SAO would be impossible,” he whispered to himself.

Asuna smiled as she shook her head. He was right, but it was still reckless and dangerous.

Then Kirito’s head bowed down as he seemed to focus back on the faraway ground. He gulped. “How am I supposed to land?”

He furrowed his brows just as a window appeared before him, showing a friend request from someone named Ichika. He stared at it for a moment before he glanced beyond it at the distant figure of the girl that waved at him—her expression obscured from such a distance. Asuna could imagine her proud smirk, though.

“Ichika…” Kirito muttered. Then he accepted the request and seemed to relax his wings.

The screen went black after a few moments of Kirito just screaming as his body fell down quickly. Asuna would have thought such a thing would actually kill him, but Kazuto’s body breathing next to her made sure she was certain he’d survived the fall. Suguha’s eyes trailed over to Kazuto’s dormant body, too, like she was seeking comfort in the appearance of the still alive boy.

Looking at Suguha, Asuna smiled. “Well, now we know where he’s headed,” she said and the girl’s eyes lit up.

As it turns out, Liz ended up watching all of that last video from inside the game, which she described as an awful experience she wished to never take part in again because it was just too dramatic for her taste. Which Asuna interpreted as her way of saying she was just glad they all came back to the game at long last so they could get back to finding Kirito.

Leafa led the way as they flew over to Arun, going down to rest their wings every fifteen minutes so that nobody would crash (Liz). Silica mostly stuck by Asuna’s side, her mouth shut like she was too busy thinking hard on things to really talk about anything with the others.

And no one could blame her—that last video wasn’t the most pleasant one, was it? Sure, Kirito didn’t kill anyone like back in that video of Kuradeel, but it was still pretty terrible.

At some point Silica drifted over to fly next to Liz, and Asuna shifted in midair to fly closer to Klein. The man has been pretty quiet ever since he rejoined them. He did make one joke when he showed up, all ready to head over to the capital city at the center of the game. But ever since then he mostly kept to himself, his eyes distant and averted.

“I finally get why you didn’t want to tell me about it,” Asuna told him. Klein hummed in slight alarm at being approached—he must have not noticed her flying closer to him, she concluded. “About what happened after I died in SAO, I mean,” she added and Klein’s eyes darkened a little. “I’m almost sorry I watched it this time.”

A snort blurted out of him and he looked almost shocked at the sound. Then his shoulders dropped and he sighed. “Yeah… I’ve seen the kid go through some pretty bad things, but that takes the cake, easily.” He shook his head like he was trying to get the memory out of his head. “Can’t believe I actually watched it a second time. I just couldn’t take my eyes off that idiot.”

Asuna chuckled. “Me neither.”

She glanced forward at the tree that got closer and closer. They were almost there—just a couple more minutes. She really hoped Kirito would be there. Or at least that he would get to the city soon enough, because she was sick and tired of always missing him.

“Do you think he’s going to be okay when he finally wakes up, with everything that’s going on? I mean… a lot of people either completely hate him or absolutely adore him. That’s a lot to come back to,” Asuna said uncertainly.

“I’m sure he couldn’t escape these people in here, either.” Klein waved off her concern like it was nothing. It should have annoyed her, but it actually made her feel slightly better.

Because it made sense, and because if it was something Klein could brush off like that, then surely it wasn’t too bad. They’ve been fighting for their lives in a virtual game for two years—Kirito slightly longer than the rest of them—so a bunch of comments from strangers would be a piece of cake, right?

She really hoped so…

“We’re landing!” Leafa called, and Klein and Asuna quickly descended along with the other three girls.

Their feet touched the ground right in front of the city—Arun. It was a beautiful place—especially when the sun was nearly gone, leaving the lights of the city to shine brightly. Asuna wanted to take a picture of it and hang it on the wall of her bedroom. But she could do it some other time—right now they had to find Kirito. Which shouldn’t be hard with so many people who knew who he was, right?

Together, the group entered the city and started looking around the streets for the familiar dark shape of the only human in the game of fairies. Asuna wanted to believe there was no time limit, but her mind supplied the thoughts about Sugou and how Kouichirou called before she returned to the game, telling her that no one could find him and that he was still out there.

So he could still hurt Kirito. And if Sugou knew there were people after him, then surely he would go after Kirito… or he was currently running out of the country as quickly as possible, not even looking back to free Kirito.

The second option sounded much more appealing—even if she still didn’t like it—but Asuna still found herself leaning toward the first one. With Kirito’s talent of getting into trouble—or at least attracting unwanted attention—it was just the most likely scenario. For him to be targeted by the man who decided to use him as an unwilling guinea pig for his own selfish and probably very much illegal interest.

Every time they changed directions made the group more and more frustrated. They all knew, obviously, that the chances of Kirito being in the city weren’t that high. Why would he suddenly go to the city just when they got there, right? He kept on travelling around ALO ever since he got there, so why would he suddenly decide to stay in one place?

But Asuna still couldn’t help the pang of irritation and desperation that hit her every time she had to muster up the mental energy to turn around and start looking in a new area after coming up blank.

Oh, and there was another factor that didn’t quite help them—they didn’t look like themselves. Their avatars were random according to the race each of them chose. Asuna knew it would have been so much easier had she looked like herself, but her Undine avatar looked nothing like her real self, so even if Kirito saw her and she didn’t see him, he wouldn’t pay her any mind because she wasn’t recognizable.

“This is getting annoying,” Liz grumbled as they all gathered next to an inn. “Maybe he’s just not here.”

Silica stood there with her eyelids drooping slowly but surely over and over again before she snapped herself awake reluctantly. It was getting late. It was getting too late and Asuna knew they were all going to have to log out soon, but she couldn’t just give up yet.

Her body was humming and buzzing as she felt like she was so close and yet still too far out of reach from getting to Kirito again. It was incredibly frustrating!

Klein yawned freely and blinked his eyes slowly, tiredly. “Look, he’s been at it for a while now. It’s not like he’s going to just die randomly tonight.” He yawned loudly again, and Liz scrunched up her nose at him while Leafa took a step closer to Silica and Asuna and away from Klein. “I say we meet up tomorrow again and try our luck when we’re all perfectly awake.”

Silica’s head snapped back up sharply as she woke herself up from her daze, once more. She blinked in confusion for a moment and then sheepishly nodded. “Tomorrow… that sounds good…”

“I have kendo practice tomorrow so I have to be sharp enough,” Leafa admitted, her gaze turning down to the ground. Then she offered everyone a somewhat forced, cheerful smile. “But I’ll keep an eye on what people say. Maybe someone’s gonna see Onii-chan and report it again. If we get to these places fast enough, he should still be there.”

As she spoke, her voice got more and more vindicated, like she was trying to make herself believe it despite not feeling too sure about it. She yawned and then sheepishly looked away.

“So… tomorrow?” Leafa asked somewhat timidly.

With a nod and a grin, Klein saluted all of them before getting into the inn and logging out. Asuna watched as Leafa and Silica soon followed in his steps and then it was only her, standing there and feeling dejected and alone, with Liz looking just as tired as the others, but also like she wasn’t sure what to do.

They looked around, then at each other, then around again. The streets drained of people slowly as everyone left the game to get some much-needed sleep. Unless they were night owls or didn’t have day jobs. But these people were few and in between. Or just not in the city right now.

Liz’s huff made Asuna look at the girl who put on a look of defiance. “I actually pity him—wandering around without anyone to get him some good and stern swords? No wonder he hasn’t gotten to the top of that tree, yet,” she said and Asuna blinked at her friend before she smiled softly at her antics. “Once we find him, I’m just gonna have to take a look at his equipment. Just to make sure it’s nothing too lame. I can’t have him marching around with bad-quality weapons.”

Asuna smiled at her and got a tight-lipped smile in return before Liz waved at her and walked into the inn to get herself a room and log out, too. Which left Asuna alone in the city.

She knew she should probably head in for the night and let the search go for now. What were the chances of finding anything at such an hour, anyway? But her mind kept on bugging her and she knew she wouldn’t be able to go to sleep even if she tried.

So instead, she walked away from the inn and through the city covered in darkness. It was quieter than before as less players walked about. There were a few couples here and there, but other than that the place looked mostly deserted. Unless you counted the city’s NPCs.

Her legs carried her forward until she felt like she was going to keel over. Then her wings sprang into actions, taking her off the ground. It meant she had to focus on a different set of muscles, but it was still better than walking on her miserably tired legs. They didn’t quite ache in the game, but she still felt like she was going to fall and crumble to the ground if she didn’t take the weight off them.

The feeling of flying was still weird and enchanting to her. She liked feeling the light breeze against her cheeks. She liked being able to move without anything in her way. She liked feeling like there was nothing pulling her down and like she could go up—further and further—until everything that could hurt her was too far away for her to care about. She loved it.

But it also scared her. Because if she got too addicted to this feeling, how would she be able to step back down to the ground? How would she be able to come back to her friends and family? To her duties in life? To her tasks and chores and the entire future that was waiting for her to take a step forward and decide on what she wanted?

What if she just refused to look back down and kept on soaring until she couldn’t remember what she was even running from in the first place?

The sound of something cutting swiftly through the air made Asuna look around curiously. She spotted a couple stroll down the pathway, holding hands. She saw a group of five players joking around nearby and shoving each other lightly, like they were waiting to see who was going to fall down first.

And then her eyes landed on the platform in front of the gates leading into the World Tree, to the quest inside. A dark figure was there alone, waving a big, black sword frantically like it was an impromptu training session in the middle of the night.

Asuna lowered herself slowly, quietly, to get closer to the scene. The closer she got, the more familiar the features became—the dark clothes have already managed to fool her before because most Spriggans wore black in the game, and despite there not being a lot of them, there were still enough to make Asuna wary every time she saw a black-cladded player walking around ALO.

But the black coat was still familiar. And the black hair waving around with every clean movement made her heart stutter as hope blossomed in her chest.

Landing softly at the top of the stairs, Asuna watched as he kept on waving his sword around. It didn’t glow because there weren’t any sword skills in the game, but she still recognized the familiar patterns of the SAO sword skills. Unlike in SAO, though, there were no moments of just standing there after each skill—he just kept on moving from one skill to the next, like the motions just coursed fluidly through his body. Like it was second nature to him.

“Kirito-kun,” she said quietly, shakily.

He froze for a few moments, his back to her. Her avatar looked different, true, but her voice was the same as her real voice. And she knew that just like she would recognize his voice anywhere, he would recognize hers.

Eventually he straightened up and turned around to face her, his expression carefully blank, like he didn’t want to get his hopes up, just in case. His black eyes seemed to take in her new appearance slowly, carefully.

His hold on the hilt of his sword was still firm and steady, but she wasn’t worried he would attack her as she took a hesitant step forward. His eyes climbed back up to meet hers and the question that shined there, sparkling in the light coming from the rising, artificial moon of ALO, brought tears to her eyes as she quickly crossed the distance between them.

She crashed into Kirito, letting her body collapse once she reached him, knowing he would catch her and keep her upright.

And she was right. The moment she reached him, his sword clattered to the ground, and his hands landed on her hips and held her close to him as his head landed on her shoulder.

For a moment he still felt stiff, like he wasn’t sure this was true—like he wasn’t sure he could trust her to be who she didn’t even bother to identify as—but then he relaxed and his exhale came out shakily, his hands tightening just enough to let her know he was as desperate to keep her close as she was to stay right there.

“Asuna…”

His voice was the same. Of course it was the same—she just got sentimental because it’s been too long since the last time she could hear his voice face to face without it emerging from a screen that displayed events from the past rather than the present.

“Asuna…” The second time came less like a puff of air and more like he was on the verge of tears. Or maybe he was already crying. She thought she felt something wet drop to her bare shoulder, but she couldn’t be sure without pulling away and looking, and she just felt too content in his arms to break away.

So instead, she hummed softly and nodded, her cheek rubbing delicately against the material of the black shirt that rested under his coat. “It’s me. I found you. I found you.” She let out a teary, short burst of laughter. “I finally found you.”

Her eyelids drooped slowly as she felt the tears streaming down her cheeks as her mind seemed to calm down for the first time since she woke up in that hospital bed only to find out that Kirito was still stuck with the NerveGear on his head.

“We all came here to look for you but when we couldn’t find you, they left to get some rest. I’m so glad I chose to stay,” she kept on speaking. Though she kept her voice quiet, only for Kirito’s ears and no one else’s. “Holding your hand in the real world isn’t worth much when you can’t even feel it.”

He buried his face in her shoulder for a few moments, as if trying to block everything else out, and then he lifted it back up and pulled away just enough to be able to look at her and Asuna’s breath caught in her throat again because it’s been so long since she saw something other than closed eyes and straight lips on his face when it didn’t come as an image on a screen.

And now he was looking at her the same way he did when they both ended up above Aincrad after defeating Kayaba Akihiko. Like there was nothing in the world he wouldn’t have done to reach this moment of just gazing at her, despite her face and features not matching up with the person he knew.

The smile on his face was so innocent and young. She thought back to that day in SAO when she woke up before Kirito and saw his sleeping face and thought, for the first time, that he might actually be younger than her. The strongest player she knew—younger than her.

It surprised her back then, that the possibility was actually pretty valid—but now she couldn’t believe it took her this long to realize just how young he looked. With this tender, sweet expression on his face, it was impossible not to see that he was just a kid, like her. Sure, they’ve both been through a hell of a lot for kids their age, but still… they were teenagers.

“This is so strange,” he said after a moment, looking bashful. Asuna blinked at him in confusion. “You look like a stranger, but I know it’s you. It’s just…” He shrugged helplessly and then his smile dropped. “You look exhausted.”

At his words, the feeling of her bones protesting and her eyes burning with the need to finally shut down for a few hours seemed to hit her, and she felt it as her body leaned further into Kirito’s hold, making the boy support even more of her weight than before.

She offered him a sloppy smile and nodded. “Yeah, it’s been a long day…”

She considered telling him about that video—that video of him chasing after the floating remains of her body before being carelessly stabbed and killed in SAO. That video of him refusing to die and attacking Kayaba with burning, golden eyes that seemed to attach themselves to the back of her eyelids.

But then she decided it could wait for the next day. Maybe she would have some time to process it all a little better by then.

“Where do you stay the night?” she asked instead.

Kirito quickly grabbed his sword off the floor, put it in its place across his back and then supported Asuna’s weight as he led her through Arun, bowing his head when there were people around so as not to be recognized.

She wanted to ask him about it—about everything he’s been through and how he’s been dealing with the fact that he was pretty famous around Japan right now, but her voice was lost on her as the exhaustion washed over her body like a tsunami.

The room Kirito rented at one of the inns wasn’t anything special or pretty, but unlike other places, the bed was pretty comfortable. Which was important for a player who couldn’t log out—that was something Asuna and every other SAO survivor knew from experience. Even though their bodies couldn’t ache from sleeping on the floor, it still felt nice to fall asleep in a comfortable bed.

Back in SAO, Asuna had plenty of clothes she could choose from to go to sleep in. It was nice to have the different options. But now her avatar mostly existed so that she could find Kirito so… she didn’t have anything that wasn’t essential.

Once upon a time, Asuna would have felt self-conscious about getting undressed and being left only in her underwear with someone around—even Kirito—but it’s changed at some point during those two weeks of being happily married in SAO.

So when Asuna realized she had nothing to wear as she prepared herself to go and log out under the covers of the single bed in the room next to Kirito—like she was going to sleep in the game like she did back in SAO—she didn’t bat an eye as she just manipulated her menu until she was left with nothing but her underwear before slipping under the covers next to Kirito who had his eyes trained on the ceiling thoughtfully as he seemed to try and figure something out.

“What are you thinking about?” she asked as she turned on her side to face him.

Her blue hair fell into her eyes for a moment, and she was almost surprised to see it rather than her chestnut hair. But then she quickly shoved the feeling away and focused on Kirito when he turned to look at her.

His lips were pressed together in a straight line that probably made people feel unnerved or like they were staring at someone who had no emotions. But after knowing Kirito for two years, Asuna knew that it didn’t mean anything. He could smile and cry and laugh and scrunch his nose in annoyance. He could feel everything others felt—and he did, all the time—he was just mostly… blank. On the outside, at least.

For God’s sake, he’d proposed to her with the same expression, and she could still feel how much he meant it. That was just who he was, and she was happy to accept every aspect of his inability to communicate what he was feeling to others. Though he was getting better at it, in her opinion.

Eventually, he sighed a little and the corner of his lips tugged up. “I can’t get over the fact that I’m talking to you, but you’ve got someone else’s face,” he admitted.

She blinked at him and then chuckled and burrowed her face in his chest, feeling his hand creeping around her to keep her in place. He wore dark clothes, as usual, but they were softer than his daily outfit and weren’t exactly the same pajama set he had back in SAO. She didn’t mind much, though.

“Then just don’t look,” she chastised him lightly and his chest vibrated as he laughed shortly. “I’m going to log out.”

“I know.”

His hand tightened around her a little, like he understood she had to leave, but he still didn’t like it. She lifted her head to lean over him, and when their eyes met, she smiled softly.

“I’ll be back tomorrow with the others,” she promised. “We’ll get to the top of the World Tree together. And then you’ll finally find a way to wake up and you’ll buy Klein that meal you owe him.”

“He’s still going on about that?” Kirito grumbled, but he didn’t sound too annoyed. “I’ve convinced a few other people to agree to help, actually,” he said after a few moments and his free hand started playing with her blue hair absentmindedly. “They should be here tomorrow, so I guess that’s actually perfect timing.”

Asuna blinked in surprise and then beamed down at him before rolling over to the side so that she was right next to him. “I missed you,” she whispered into the dark room.

Kirito pulled the arm he had around her away for a second, before he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. Her breath caught in her throat at the thought of how much she’s longed to feel him squeeze her hand back after doing so to a limp body that couldn’t respond for such a long time.

“I love you,” she said softly.

Head rolling sideway to look at her, Kirito smiled. “I love you, too.”

Her eyes were still tearing up as she opened her eyes in the real world, and Asuna wiped them away while still focusing on the phantom feeling of his fingers wrapped around her hand, alive and real, and very much responsive as opposed to his actual body in the hospital room.

Chapter Text

Somehow, Kirito wasn’t even surprised when the next day, when Asuna returned to drag him over to meet the four others she came with, Klein was the first one to greet him with a comment about how he still owed him.

He didn’t really mind it—the thought of meeting again in the real world sounded better and better now that he was the only one left behind to survive in the virtual world—but he still pointedly grumbled about how Klein owed him, too.

He was surprised, however, when a blond, Sylph girl ran toward him and crushed him in a hug he didn’t see coming. Considering he already recognized Lisbeth in the body of a Leprechaun girl and Silica as the young Cait Sith girl that stared up at him with shining eyes, he really had no idea who the third girl was.

He tried to run through all of the people he knew from SAO. Was he close to any other girl he couldn’t remember? Someone that didn’t die? He didn’t think so… not enough for her to squeeze the breath out of him like he was a squeaky rubber duck.

And then she started mumbling something, and it took Kirito a moment to realize she was repeating the words onii-chan and Kazuto over and over again, her voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt as she clung to him. His mind helpfully supplied him with the image of Suguha—with her short, black hair and disappointed pouts at his dismissive behavior.

He thought about her a lot at first, feeling terribly bad at the thought that he might not see her again to apologize for pushing her away. But then time went on and he thought less and less about the real world, which included Suguha… but…

“I thought you hated games,” he said, partly awed at the fact that his sister was really there, playing a virtual game, and partly awkward at interacting with her for the first time in two years after years of already dismissing her because he was just unable to stay close to her while knowing she wasn’t really his sister.

Plus, he felt bad about the way she had to study kendo for the both of them. She still called him her older brother, so maybe she still didn’t know the truth…? He wasn’t sure he even cared anymore.

Leaning back in order to glare at him, Kirito found himself taking in the features of the avatar standing before him. This person looked nothing like Sugu. She was probably the same height—though a little taller than he remembered—and her scowl was the same as it was before.

But her eyes were green instead of a dark blue and her hair yellow and bright instead of the kind of blue that could have been mistaken for black had he not had an even darker shade that was most definitely as black as night.

Sugu’s response was somewhere between screaming at him about getting stuck in SAO, risking his life all the time, and being too reckless, to desperately trying to make him promise he would never leave her like that again. At some point Kirito mostly found himself glaring over her shoulder at Klein who eyed her from his place like he wanted to try something Kirito would kick his ass for even thinking about.

If that was Sugu’s reaction to finally reuniting with him, Kirito honestly couldn’t imagine their parents’ responses. He was honestly afraid of them just breaking down hysterically and clinging to him for eternity.

Which wasn’t very likely because his memories displayed a pair of rational people who never imposed too much, but who knows what the last two years have managed to do to them, right? He didn’t want to find strangers back home when he woke up, okay? He figured it was a natural wish to have at this point.

It took a while before Sugu stopped sobbing with him awkwardly patting her back, not sure about what to do with the eyes of everyone around trained on them. Liz’s eyes narrowed down at the sight of how helpless he was, and she actually rolled her eyes at his behavior.

Seriously, fighting monsters was easier than dealing with Sugu, at this point. Which was a sad thing to realize, but he stood by it. Kirito wanted to fix things, but first he had to get out of ALO and finally wake up… and then… well, it was going to take time if he truly wanted to fix their relationship. The one he severed without a second thought…

Eventually, Sugu calmed down enough for Kirito to tell them about what he’s been up to. He needed to raid the World Tree—they knew that already thanks to those stupid videos he’s heard so much about—so he’s been asking different players in the game about the guards in the quest and, well… it didn’t exactly fill him with hope.

They weren’t particularly strong, he was told, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming, to the point where every time one of the races tried getting up and past them, they were all slaughtered by the guards inside the tree.

So, naturally, Kirito asked why the different races didn’t work together. At that point Sugu seemed to snap enough out of her daze to be able to snort a little and claim it was impossible because only one race would be able to turn into Alf. Kirito already knew that, though. They all said the same thing—they couldn’t work together because only one race would win and the other would just waste time and resources on this without gaining too much for the effort.

Despite claiming it was a stupid thing to do, Ichika accompanied Kirito to Arun, claiming she had nothing better to do—other than homework, but Kirito really didn’t pay too much attention to those outbursts of her about the real world.

When he promised with a flat tone that he hasn’t set foot inside the tree yet because he wasn’t suicidal, he received blank looks from the five other people with him, clearly displaying their disbelief.

Still, it was the truth—he didn’t want to die. Not after going through so much. Dying because of a stupid notion after the last two years seemed like a waste, so Kirito just studied the tree from the outside, making sure there really was no way up from the outside.

And then the videos started coming out.

Ichika was the one to tell him about them that day when she logged in with a frantic look in her eyes. Kirito would have been a lot more put out by her expression had he not been dealing with the stares of just about everyone else in the game before she even got there.

But then she explained about Kayaba Akihiko and the videos and Kirito felt like finding that man—wherever he was—and fighting him all over again. Because how the hell was this helpful?

Suddenly Kirito wasn’t this random player that people kept on mistaking for a Spriggan—he was Kirito, the clearer of SAO that people kept on mistaking for a Spriggan.

It was odd, getting all of those looks from people he didn’t even know, and hearing the criticism people had on the choices he’d made before. It was surreal, to walk around a game and know that people knew who he was.

They didn’t know he was stuck in the game—at least until word somehow got out about his current condition of still being trapped with the NerveGear—but they still knew of him and his past adventures. And they kept on learning more and more as time went by.

It was unnerving.

And then there was also this thing with players who thought it would be wonderful to fight him and try and defeat him to prove that he wasn’t as good as these videos must have claimed he was. Normally, Kirito wouldn’t mind fighting people in a game. It was all for fun, right? But considering he was still capable of actually dying, these encounters got tiring pretty fast.

Though, he had to admit, defeating these players was easier than he would have thought. They just… weren’t that good. Most of them. There were a few that held up more of a fight and forced Kirito to actually go a little more out to ensure he wasn’t going to die.

There were two good things about these videos, though. And, you know, the fact that someone must have spread the rumor about him being stuck in ALO.

The first was that now the different races listened to his suggestion to work together to reach the top of the World Tree, realizing he actually needed to get there if he wanted to get back to his life. And the second was that Ichika finally seemed to understand he really was new to ALO despite his stats and abilities. He just had some pretty good experience from SAO.

Surprisingly, Ichika seemed to take it upon herself to make people leave Kirito alone when it looked like they were crowding him too much. If someone got too close up and personal, Ichika would seemingly appear out of nowhere to force them backward like a scary bodyguard.

Her skills with the sword weren’t that good—Kirito nearly cried when he saw her laughable fight with some random Pooka on their way to Arun—but she emitted this kind of aura that made people hesitate before crossing her. Like she was a contained tornado, waiting for the moment someone might set her free.

Ever since the first video got out, Ichika and Kirito kept on travelling from one place to the other, asking different races for help with the grand quest. It was tiring—mostly because Kirito couldn’t leave the game whenever he got tired of walking or flying, and instead had to actually wait for Ichika every day so that she could log in and join him again.

He wanted to leave without her more than a few times, but she sounded serious when she warned him about chasing him down and killing him for good if he tried anything like that.

So, with Ichika’s help, he managed to convince a lot of people to come and help. Kirito, stupidly, gave away most of his money to the leaders of the races that were willing to help—Cait Siths, Sylphs, Undines and Spriggans—so that they’d have more resources to gather enough items and weapons to fight.

And when Ichika accused him of being stupid, giving all his money away like that, Kirito just countered by saying he wasn’t planning on staying long enough to use all of it. Besides, he had enough left to make sure he didn’t die of hunger or without a place to stay at night.

“Oh, that explains it.” Sugu nodded eventually.

Kirito had led them to a little restaurant just so that he could stuff something in his mouth in case things got too much for him to handle. Sugu had a mug held between her hands and she gazed down at it thoughtfully.

“I did get a message from Sakuya about raiding the World Tree. I ignored it because I was busy looking for you, but… yes, it makes sense why she decided to do it now, all of a sudden.”

Liz’s lips twitched. “No one is raiding any tree before I get my hands on that sword.” She pointed at the sword strapped to Kirito’s back and he glanced at it for a moment before turning back to Liz in hope of getting some kind of explanation, maybe. “I need to see what it’s made of. Since you clearly don’t care about your weapons with how you broke two of my swords in two!”

“Two?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t think I forgot about how the sword I made for you got trashed during that final battle!” she snapped.

He hummed thoughtfully. “Oh, yeah. I guess it did.” He shrugged. “I didn’t exactly do it on purpose…” He added that last part quietly, and Asuna, slightly leaning into his side, chuckled as she held her glass up to her lips, to hide her amusement.

Liz opened her mouth to say something else when the door of the restaurant opened with a loud bang that startled them and the few other players inside. When Kirito turned around to see who got in, a long exhale escaped his lips and he leaned back in his seat and averted his eyes for a moment as he felt the intense gaze of the girl from the entrance of the room lock on him.

“There you are!” Ichika’s loud voice said and she marched toward their table like a rhino that wanted to destroy everything in its path.

Her tail thrashed behind her agitatedly and, Kirito noted, she looked irritated. Which he grew to realize was somewhat of her default setting unless she was around someone who wasn’t him. Yeah, for some reason he really had the ability to piss girls off without even trying. He had no idea why.

Once she was in front of their table, Kirito closed his eyes and mentally prepared himself for whatever she had to complain about this time around.

“I’ve been looking for you all over the place! Are you kidding me?” She leaned on the table heavily, her palms hitting the wooden surface loudly enough to make Silica squeak in surprise. “Alicia Rue just came here with the other Cait Sith players and I guess all of the Spriggans are here, too, though it’s hard to say with how little players there are in that race…”

Her voice trailed off a little. When Kirito opened one of his eyes he noticed Ichika glancing around at the company he had. She looked flustered and perhaps even more annoyed. Next to him, Asuna seemed to tighten her grip on his arm, for some reason. He nearly choked in surprise when she pulled him a little closer to her. They were already pretty close before, so he seriously had no idea what was going on.

From her place, Liz started snickering. “I like her,” she decided.

Ichika’s eyebrows sank lower as she looked from one person to the next until her eyes settled on Asuna’s grip on his arm for a moment longer. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously and turned to glare at Kirito.

“Wait, everyone is getting ready to raid the World Tree, and you’ve just been sitting here with a bunch of strangers?” she demanded. Then she scrunched up her nose. “No, wait, that makes no sense. My infant brother gets along with people better than you do.”

He couldn’t really deny that, but Kirito still pursed his lips a little at the comment before gesturing around with the hand that Asuna wasn’t holding. “Um… guys, you know Ichika already,” he said, feeling awkward.

Luckily, they all just nodded at the confused girl with smiles on their faces. Klein had this look… Kirito suppressed a sigh as he imagined Klein getting frustrated once again at learning that Ichika was too young for him, just like the others. Probably not his type, either.

He continued. “Ichika, meet Silica, Klein, Lisbeth, Asuna and… um…” He trailed off as his eyes landed on Sugu. “Uh… you didn’t actually tell me your name, Sugu,” he whispered.

“Leafa!” his sister exclaimed with flushed cheeks. Ichika seemed to take them all in, her eyes wide, before she gave Sugu a strange look, like she had no idea what to make of her. Sugu shrank a little in her seat as she looked down. “I’m Kaz— Kirito’s sister,” she mumbled.

“Wait… you’re all from SAO?” Ichika looked away from Suguha to focus on the others, her mouth opening and closing as she seemed to try and fish for words. “Gotta admit, I didn’t expect SAO survivors to use a full-dive tech again this soon,” she confessed.

Klein snorted. “Are you kidding? You couldn’t keep me away from this thing if you tried.”

Silica smiled nervously. “W-well, I would have probably taken some time off, but…”

“This idiot just couldn’t seem to handle things on his own,” Liz said firmly, and Klein grinned brightly, like that comment just made his day.

Kirito, unimpressed, just slumped down in his seat before taking a loud, unapologetic sip from his drink. They all snickered at his reaction except for Asuna who just acted like nothing unusual was happening, instead opting to keep on smiling at Ichika’s slightly baffled expression.

“Uh…” Ichika shook her head momentarily and then frowned at Kirito again. “Well, the others are all about to get here any moment now and it starts in, like, fifteen minutes. So you’d better get up and meet up with all of them because I’m not in the mood to deal with them—I just failed my math test and my patience has reached its limits.”

He sighed and put down his glass. “Yeah, okay,” he said reluctantly, and then watched as she stormed out of the restaurant so fast, it was like she was never even there to begin with.

He turned to see Asuna already smiling at him with a dangerous glint in her eyes—yeah, that was definitely the same girl that ranked as one of the strongest and fastest players of SAO, no doubt about that.

Liz was the one who stood up first. “Well, let’s go!” she urged them and then held her hand out to Kirito. “And give me that sword, already!”

The guards really were pretty pathetic. But their numbers kept on adding up and Kirito killed one after the other but it felt like the more of them he got rid of, the more showed up.

They swarmed the place, flying with their giant swords and shooting white arrows at everyone in their path. They were seriously one of the worst things he’s had to face so far, and that meant something, considering he had to fight monsters like The Skull Reaper before.

A part of him was extremely glad he’d managed to keep himself from just stupidly trying to fight his way to the top on his own when he felt the magic of the Undine players as it restored his HP before a fatal blow could end his life. It was a risky fight and he knew it—just like all of the others that joined the mission. But with so many people to fight, it was bound to work, right?

Well… he certainly hoped so. Because otherwise, he really had no idea how he was supposed to get out of this game. And if he died in ALO during this raid, it would just be disappointing, really. Surviving for such a long time only to fail against these pathetic, white knights that died so easily?

He saw a few Remain Lights of players below him, meaning some have already died. It made sense, but to them it wasn’t Game Over like it was for him, so most of them were left alone, undisturbed.

“Kirito-kun!”

Kirito swirled away from the place he was hovering in a moment before a huge blade cut through the vacated area. The guard that threw it was soon slashed and killed by Asuna who waved her sword in a way that indicated she tried to use a sword skill, remembered those didn’t exist in ALO and then just went for it anyway.

Kirito knew the feeling. He also grew to actually appreciate the ability to use the sword skills without that extra moment of vulnerability after them.

Flying over to her, Kirito felt like Asuna and he were gravitating toward one another as they stopped to hover back to back, waving their swords around as they fought off the army of guards that flew toward them.

The roar of Alicia Rue’s dragon could be heard from a little lower in the hollow tree and Kirito spared a look in that direction to see the other players fighting with all their might against the enemy, roaring loudly as they slashed and cut and threw their weapons. Some of them looked dead serious. Others looked like they were having a blast.

His eyes trailed over until he spotted Sugu flying around and fighting the knights with her katana, her moves looking just like the ones he knew she must have learned during kendo practice. There was a frown on her face as she blocked a hit aimed at her chest only to hiss as a sword cut through her arm. Her HP dropped a little, but not too much, and she quickly stabbed and tossed the guard away from her before he died.

His breath caught in his throat when he noticed a knight flying behind her and getting ready to throw his sword at her back. “Sugu…”

He blinked and quickly parried against a knight that showed up in front of him, sending him tumbling away with a swift kick and then a slash of his sword. As the guard died, Kirito looked back down at his sister.

“LEAFA!” he called in warning.

There was no need to, though. Another player—a Sylph Sugu had introduced as her friend from school—flew toward her quickly and tackled her before the sword could hit her.

Kirito tried to unite Recon—this nervous but kind of brave player—with the kid he remembered mostly keeping to himself at Kirito’s old school. What was his name? Nagata Shinichi, right? He was a nerd—not that Kirito wasn’t—but he never seemed to hang out with Sugu. Well, things must have changed, then.

Confident that Sugu was safe for the time being, Kirito focused on the knights before him, his sword moving this way and that as he fought harder and harder to try and break through the wall they had created, separating the players from the top of the tree. There were so many of them, Kirito couldn’t even see past their ranks.

His hand kept on slashing his sword even as his determination slipped a little. How were they supposed to beat that? It wasn’t possible!

“This… is getting… ridiculous!” Klein complained loudly from his place close by. He was using a katana to ward off the knights he could reach, but his cheerful attitude toned down a bit ever since they all seemed to realize just how dire the situation really was. “There must be hundreds of those!”

“What, you getting tired already?” Kirito teased.

But his own mind was beginning to turn sluggish as his movements turned more and more thoughtless. He was just fighting mechanically, waving his sword in a way he knew would work, but not really paying it any mind. This fight was never going to end if the guards kept on respawning, and they seemed adamant on doing just that. Forever.

He avoided a few arrows and hissed when two pierced through his thigh.

Asuna clenched her teeth in frustration as she got cut in the shoulder before managing to kill the guard that got too close. “What if it really is impossible? Maybe Sugou designed it so that no one can reach the top,” she suggested and Kirito quickly tugged her out of the way of the tossed swords distant guards threw at her.

He furrowed his brows as he looked up at the sea of guards standing—flying, whatever—between them and the top of the tree. They just needed to push through them, reach the top, and get the hell away from these respawning mobs.

It could be considered as suicide… but it also looked like the only way to get through, and Kirito wasn’t going to get this much help from other players again. He knew that much.

Eyes drifting down toward the sword in his hand, he squared his shoulders and then glanced at Asuna over his shoulder. “I need a sword,” he said.

She cut through another guard before turning her head just enough to lock eyes with him. Her lips tugged down. “You’re about to do something stupid, aren’t you?” she deadpanned and then sighed when he just shrugged helplessly and reached around her to kill the guard that was coming for her.

She shook her head and muttered something under her breath before looking down at the players that were fighting below. “Anyone has a sword to lend?” She raised her voice to be heard over the roars of the players.

“Planning to shatter another person’s weapon again, are you?” Liz grumbled from nearby, throwing Kirito a smirk. Next to her, Silica fought hard while screaming in fear every time a knight got too close to her.

“Catch!”

Kirito turned just in time to see a rapier being thrown his way by a player whose HP was already in the red zone. He flashed Kirito a smile a moment before his body was slashed from behind and he died, his body being engulfed by a bright, red Remain Light.

Kirito caught the rapier in his free hand and then tried to push away his discomfort at how light the weapon was. He really needed to get over that before this habit got him in trouble.

“Stay close,” he told Asuna.

“Right.”

And then he burst forward quickly, the two swords held before him as he pushed with all his might to cut a clear path through the knights.

He couldn’t exactly look back to check and see if Asuna was keeping up with him, but he trusted her to manage it just fine. They didn’t call her Lightning Flash for nothing, after all. He wasn’t even sure which one of them was faster—and it really didn’t matter. All he needed to know was that she was right behind him, keeping pace and not getting killed.

The voices of the people behind seemed to fade away as Kirito found himself getting further and further up, his swords forcefully clearing Asuna and himself a path to the top of the tree.

He sustained injuries on his way, sure, and he was certain Asuna was struggling to keep herself protected while also following him and, maybe, watching his back. But he kept on going because if they couldn’t even reach the top, then there was no point to any of it, right?

By the time they broke through to the other side of the wall of guards, Kirito’s HP reached the yellow zone but only barely. And Asuna was in a better state than he was, her rapier pulled out as she seemed to wait for the guards to turn around and face them again, but they just kept on going downward, toward the other people who fought.

Exchanging looks, Kirito and Asuna seemed to come to the agreement that it just didn’t matter—they were going to have to focus on the task of finding a way of logging Kirito out. If the knights weren’t going to attack—that was even better.

Flying toward the round stone at the top, Kirito noted the X carved on it before he reached out his hand to touch it. Nothing happened.

“What the…” he muttered and pushed a little harder on the stone, but all that seemed to happen was that gravity shifted and Asuna and he found themselves sitting on top of the door blocking them, feeling like they were on the floor instead of on the ceiling. Other than that, nothing seemed to change. The gate wouldn’t open. They were stuck in there.

“What’s wrong?” Asuna asked.

“It won’t open!” He kicked it and then slashed it with the rapier he was holding. Nothing happened, of course, but it helped the panic that was beginning to swell inside him.

He’s been going to all this trouble just so he could get to the top, and now here he was and the stupid gate wouldn’t even open! He felt betrayed. He felt cheated. Like someone promised him to finally exit this world he never wanted to be stuck in, only to take it away and leave him stranded all over again.

A hand on his fist holding the black sword made him look over at Asuna. Her eyebrows were drawn together in concern but she still kept her cool. He knew he should, too, but it was just beyond frustrating at this point. He went to so much trouble just so that he could survive and live through SAO, and then this guy—Oberon, Sugou—stole him away from his victory and used him as his pet project.

That was something he hasn’t told Asuna and the others—that experiment or whatever it was… he could feel it when people poked him with things. Not his body, but his brain. It felt like spikes of emotions that just didn’t fit the situations he was in. Or bursts of pain that coursed through his body and made him convulse out of the blue.

When Ichika saw it once, Kirito just shrugged it off as nothing, but if this kept happening, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to hide it. He hated every moment of it—especially when the experiments seemed to go on mostly late at night, preventing him from getting any sleep, or causing his dreams to turn into nightmares filled with fear and anger and pain and grief.

If he couldn’t get out even if they did catch Sugou—would he be free of this experiment, or were there other people working on it? People who didn’t care that they were messing around with the brain of a human being that was still very much alive, even if he was stuck in a world that was created and developed by men.

Was he just a lab rat in their eyes? At least he knew they didn’t have his real, actual body. Since if Asuna came to visit him a few times, that meant he was where he was supposed to be.

Taking in a deep breath, Kirito relaxed his stance a little, letting his swords clash lightly against the ground as he stared at the gate Asuna and he were standing on top of.

“If we can’t get in, I’m sure this quest is a fake. There are no Alf—just people who want to give these players false hope,” he said.

He narrowed his eyes as he tried to imagine these people snickering at the desperate attempts of all of these players who wanted desperately to get up the World Tree for nothing. Absolutely nothing.

“But locked doors usually mean there’s something to hide,” Asuna noted and Kirito nodded silently in agreement. “So maybe only certain people are allowed to go through the gate. I mean, we’d need a high enough clearance for that.” She sighed. “Which we can’t get without logging out, and I don’t think I can log out here without logging back in someplace else.”

Kirito frowned and stared down at his feet before his eyes widened a little as he hummed. He put his sword back in its scabbard and then knelt down and pressed his free hand to the gate.

“System login,” he said and a small burst of light made his hand glow against the stone. Asuna gasped a little as she took a step closer to him, her body hovering over him. “ID Heathcliff.”

“W-what are you doing?” she stuttered at the sound of the name, and then squeaked a little when the glow brightened and Kirito noticed his body beginning to glow, as well. He quickly held onto Asuna’s hand and then closed his eyes as the light became too much for his pupils.

His heart was pounding in his chest as he seemed to wait for eternity before the light subsided and he opened his eyes to find Asuna and him standing alongside each other in a hallway that seemed to bend around the corner. It looked nothing like the rest of ALO. This place was all clean and smooth and reminded him of facilities in the real world rather than anything in the virtual one.

Asuna staggered a little as she opened her eyes and Kirito steadied her immediately, offering her a faint smile. His mind was still reeling from the fact that he had just used Kayaba’s ID. He didn’t even know it was going to work. Didn’t it require a password? Unless certain people could just use certain IDs. In which case, since when could Kirito use the ID of Kayaba Akihiko of all people?

“How… how did you… do that?” Asuna asked.

He scrunched up his nose. “Well, he did promise to help.”

“But I thought that was somehow related to those videos. Wasn’t it?”

“I don’t think so, actually.” Kirito looked around and then began to just walk in one direction, Asuna right next to him as she held her rapier at the ready, just in case. “I thought it was that at first, but come to think of it, he did say I would have to survive long enough to be able to use his help, didn’t he? Besides, Ichika said the first video was recorded by Kayaba before the game even launched. So that was planned in advance, anyway.”

He glanced around the empty hall and strained his ears to try and hear something, anything. But it seemed like they were the only ones present.

Asuna hummed and nodded before looking over her shoulder. “So what do we do now? Can you use the ID to log out?”

Kirito opened his mouth to reply only for a shock of white, pure, agonizing pain to hit him all at once. He collapsed to his hands and knees with a sharp scream that tore right through his throat though he could barely feel it. Compared to the enormous amount of pain he was already experiencing, this didn’t even register in his brain as anything more than mild annoyance.

He could vaguely hear Asuna’s distressed voice calling his name over and over again, asking what was wrong with him and shouting at someone that Kirito wasn’t even sure was present in the room. Was she demanding to know what was going on? He thought he heard her screaming Sugou’s name, but he couldn’t be sure. It was just such a small thing compared to his brain having to deal with all of this agony.

And then it subsided—not completely gone, but not all-consuming to the point of suffocation—and Kirito’s limbs gave in before he found his cheek pressed against the cold tiles of the floor. He heaved, his body lacking the air it needed as he tried to see what was going on and lift himself off the floor, but his body wasn’t responding. It felt like the bones and muscles under his skin refused to do much more than just… exist.

“…kun! Kirito-kun!!”

Asuna’s voice reached his ears like waves that seemed to crash before they could really get to him. The words were foggy and disconnected. She said more and more things but he wasn’t even sure what they meant. His eyes took note of how hazy everything seemed to be around him. The white hall suddenly looked surreal. His own body, holding him down, reminded him more of a cage than anything else.

“KIRITO-KUN!”

“Today’s my first day. Show me the basics, okay?”

“Fewer than five hundred players are fighting on the front lines. Everyone has grown accustomed to this world.”

“Bye, Kirito. For the fact that I was able to meet someone like you, and spend time with you… I’m truly grateful. Thank you. Good-bye.”

“One day you will understand, too, Detective-kun. As you find love, and as you’re about to lose it…”

There was absolutely nothing he could do as images and voices seemed to attack his brain. It was like everything he felt bad about—everything he was uncertain of—tried to come up to the surface and try and consume him.

His guilt, his anger, his shame—it all flooded his head like unexpected guests no one asked for. He wanted to shake his head and get the memories out and away from him, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t do anything but think.

And thinking was the last thing he wanted to do right now.

The pain came back at once, making Kirito’s body shake on the floor as he tried desperately to understand what was going on. It felt as sudden as those bursts from the experiment, but it never was this intense.

This… this felt different. It was strong. It was powerful. It made him wonder whether his body in the real world really didn’t react to any of it at all. Could it be possible all of this didn’t affect his actual body despite feeling so real?

He couldn’t think… he couldn’t think…

“Just consider hardships as another part of training and keep working hard.”

“The best way to understand someone, is to fight them.”

“I cried alone every single night. It felt like every day that passed here stole another piece of my real life away.”

“I was stupid to think I could make it through the forest on my own.”

“Give me a few moments and I’ll be back to my old, cheerful self.”

His eyes could only barely make out the image of Asuna fighting against restraints that seemed to come straight out of the walls. Her rapier was on the ground as she struggled to set herself free. He wanted to help, but his mind was split between that moment in the present and the memories he had from before.

He could feel the pure burst of fear as he remembered the terrifying image of The Gleam Eyes. He could feel the devastation he’d felt when Asuna’s body glowed and disappeared, leaving nothing behind but sparks of light that floated away from him.

All of these memories swirling inside his mind made him want to just stop. Stop everything and make it pass, because he couldn’t live with it anymore. He couldn’t see all of the people who got hurt just because of him...

“They should get on their knees and apologize, and give up all the items and money they’ve hoarded. Otherwise, we can’t trust them to protect us as party members. And they shouldn’t trust us.”

“Sorry. I can hardly ask you for anything else, can I? So don’t worry about it. Go to the next village.”

“You damn murderer.”

“I’m sorry. Good-bye.”

Kirito closed his eyes tightly, attempting to block everything out despite already knowing it wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t just ignore his own thoughts, his own emotions. They were there and they were all demanding his attention. All he could do was shut the reality around him out in order to focus on as fewer things as possible. He had to… to block it all out…

The will to try and move left him as he just tried to breathe through the excruciating pain. The pulses of deafening numbness that started to take over him. He was pretty certain this amount of pain would definitely do something to hid body. There was no way his body—on that hospital bed he kept on imagining—wasn’t convulsing, even just a bit.

The faded voices around him all sizzled out until it was just him and these damn memories that kept on poking and stabbing him as if they were sharp daggers rather than words and moving pictures that his mind had conjured up to torture him.

“I don’t believe I programmed in a way to neutralize paralysis on your own. I guess these things happen sometimes.”

“If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be forever lost, and simultaneously, the NerveGear will destroy your brain.”

“I dreamed of nothing but creating that castle. A world that surpassed all our laws and all our restrictions. And now I have seen someone surpass even my own world’s laws.”

“Are you going to give up?” A familiar voice seemed to echo around Kirito’s hazy mind and he furrowed his brows as he tried to remember where he knew the voice from. “Are you going to give up?” it asked again.

Kayaba Akihiko. That was the person this voice belonged to.

But it wasn’t a memory—Kirito’s never heard the man asking him anything like that before. Plus, despite his strong dislike toward the man, his current words, coming from who knows where, seemed to cut through the pain.

Enough to give Kirito room to breathe. Enough to let Kirito comprehend the fact that Asuna was there, screaming something nearby, as a man’s voice answered her with the kind of manic laughter that would have sent chills down Kirito’s back had his mind not been as scattered and numb as it currently was.

Sugou. It had to be Sugou. Oberon. The Fairy King. Kirito didn’t care what he wanted to call himself—it had to be him, inflicting this much pain on Kirito’s mind and body, and probably hurting Asuna, as well.

But he couldn’t do anything about it. He couldn’t even move his own body. It was too much. It was all just too much. Every person had their limits—wasn’t it about damn time for Kirito to reach his?

“Then you’re giving in to it…”

Kayaba’s voice was like a slap to the face. Kirito blinked his eyes open for a split moment, his vision catching the hazy image of Asuna being pinned to a wall with Oberon standing between her and Kirito. He closed his eyes quickly, a hiss escaping his lips as he tried to understand why all of this was even happening. Why him?

“To the power of a system you once denied,” Kayaba snorted, sounding remarkably unimpressed.

But he didn’t have a choice in the matter—it was more than just the stupid game—it was this experiment, too. Kirito couldn’t defy everything. It wasn’t possible! What was he supposed to do, just decide it wasn’t really doing anything?

He couldn’t save Asuna the first time around from Heathcliff. How was this any different? Sugou controlled this world. He controlled everything around them. He was a king and they were the subjects—those were his own words. What could Kirito possibly do, then?

Kayaba Akihiko sneered lightly at that, like Kirito’s thoughts were outspoken and not kept solely to himself. “Those words make a mockery of our battle,” he chastised Kirito. “Our fight showed me the power of the human will. And the possibilities held by the future.”

Kirito sluggishly opened his eyes again, his focus staying a little longer on Asuna as she clenched her teeth, tears visibly gathering in her eyes.

“Stand up, Kirito-kun!” Kayaba ordered him.

Impossible, impossible, impossible!

“Well, they did say clearing SAO would be impossible.”

Kirito’s eyes flew wide open as his body began to tremble on the ground. The pain hit him forcefully, trying to shove him back down. He wasn’t going to let it, though. Not this time. Was he not the one who’d told Asuna not to insult him by suggesting retreating instead of facing Heathcliff?

He didn’t run away then. He wasn’t going to run away now, either. And if he could die and then still refuse to fade away before killing Kayaba Akihiko along with him, then surely he could also defy whatever it was Oberon was doing to him, right?

“It’s a shame, really,” a male voice said with harrowing delight.

The man had his back to Kirito, but as the boy worked hard on pulling himself up from the floor, he could hear the words as they got clearer and clearer, his mind finally becoming sharper.

His eyes met Asuna’s glinting ones over Oberon’s shoulder and for a moment he held her gaze, trying to tell her silently that it was going to be okay. Her hands—held above her head in chains—seemed to go a little limp, like she was less tense than before.

Oberon kept on talking obliviously, saying, “If only your avatar looked like your real body… I would have enjoyed this a lot more. As it is… I’m just going to have to keep you here until I manage to make it happen…”

His legs shook so hard as he stood up, Kirito was worried he wasn’t going to make it after all. The pain was unbearable, but he pushed through stubbornly. Because if nothing else, he had to at least make sure Asuna was okay. And for that he needed to stand up.

He straightened up and gulped to try and keep the hisses and whimpers of pain at bay. By some miracle, Oberon was too busy staring at Asuna’s unfamiliar avatar—which was… all kinds of wrong—to notice Kirito was now standing behind him.

Taking in the deepest breath he could muster, Kirito steadied his body despite everything aching like he was being set on fire. The urge to twitch at the pain was enormous, and yet he held himself firmly in place.

“System command,” Kirito said quietly, and Oberon hummed in confusion and turned to him. His eyes widened at the sight of Kirito standing behind him and his first reflex, apparently, was to try and slap him back down. Kirito’s hand shot up to catch his wrist before it could make contact. Despite the pain, it felt like a natural instinct. “Enable administrator privileges. Set ID Oberson to level 1.”

The taken aback man widened his eyes as his body seemed to glow for a second before a window announcing his new level showed up before him. At the same time, Kirito’s pain seemed to vanish. It probably had something to do with Oberon no longer controlling the game like he could so far. His experiment was only possible thanks to him being in charge of the game and the way it operated.

Now… now he no longer had the power to hurt Kirito in any way.

Taking a step back, Oberon looked both stunned and slightly insane. “Your ID outranks mine?” he shrieked. “That’s impossible! I am the ruler! The creator! King of this world!” he screamed. “Its god!”

“No, you’re not,” Kirito cut him off before he could claim to be something that could somehow outrank a god.

He didn’t need to say anything for the shackles that kept Asuna in place to let go of her and disappear as if they were never there in the first place. She smiled gratefully, and then picked up her sword before levelling it at Oberon. Kirito did the same with his black sword, but he didn’t attack yet.

“You stole this world,” he told the so-called god. “You’re a king of thieves, alone upon a stolen throne.”

“Y-you…”

Oberon—Sugou—stared at Kirito with such hatred, it was almost scary. Or at least… it would have been had Kirito not already faced plenty of people and creatures that seemed to have something specifically against him. But the amount of insanity sparkling in the depths of Sugou’s eyes… that was definitely something people in the real world should be prepared to deal with.

“You stupid kid… how dare you talk to me like that?” When Kirito just looked at him blankly, Oberon lifted his hand like he was trying to summon something from the sky. “System command! Generate object ID Excalibur!” Nothing happened. Oberon started waving his hand like it would somehow help. “Listen to me, you piece of crap! These… these are God’s orders!”

He jumped up and down like a kid having a tantrum.

Honestly, Kirito almost missed having Kayaba as his grand enemy. If this was the second option, he would gladly take the person who seemed to actually think rationally even after death, rather than the crybaby that was so used to things easily going his way, he couldn’t handle it when his world seemed to not respond to his desperate cries.

Looking over Oberon’s restless body, Kirito noticed Asuna was staring at Oberon with an expression of disgust on her face, and he quickly maneuvered around the man to stand next to her. When he smiled at her, she turned her head to face him, her own lips tugging up into a smile as her eyes softened at once.

“I can log out from here.” He felt like she asked him about it ages ago even though it must have only been a few minutes. “So you log out, and I’ll see you on the other side.”

Her eyes—wrong color but containing the same kind of spark that she always seemed to have—twinkled as she nodded and opened her menu. Her finger went to press on the log out button when Kirito noticed the movement from the corner of his eye.

Oberon jumped forward with a sword in hand—the rapier Kirito had dropped earlier—and went to strike Asuna. It wouldn’t have really done much since if she died, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but the idea of letting anyone hurt Asuna made Kirito’s chest clench.

There was no way in hell.

Almost thoughtlessly, he waved his sword before him and the three of them could all hear the clang of the two swords meeting before Oberon’s rapier flew out of his hand from the force of Kirito’s blow. It landed down the hall, out of reach.

Stumbling, Oberon tried to regain his balance after his steps faltered at Kirito’s counterattack. Before he could do anything else, though, Kirito slashed again with his sword, this time cutting right through Oberon’s midsection, cutting his body in half.

Despite the fact that he couldn’t feel any pain in the game, Oberon screamed as he collapsed on the floor before disappearing like any other object in the virtual world—with the sound of shattering glass as he turned into specks of light. Kirito watched passively as the lights seemed to drift away down the hall until they were all gone, Asuna still hesitating next to him.

When he turned to look at her again, she had tears streaming down both her cheeks. “Please wake up this time,” she whispered.

At his determined nod, she smiled one last time before logging out. Kirito watched as her avatar vanished before he sagged and leaned his back against the nearest wall. He put his sword away and then slid down the wall until he was sitting with his knees bent. His mind was reeling as he tried to imagine what it would be like to wake up in the real world again. What it would be like to have a normal life.

He stared at his hands, covered in his fingerless gloves, and then let his eyes trail over his outfit. What would it feel like to wear a school uniform again? What would it feel like to not be this light? What would it feel like to not worry about monsters lurking behind every corner? What would it feel like to worry about homework rather than mere survival?

It was difficult to believe he was actually leaving this reality. For real this time.

For a moment, he just closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. A smile grazed his lips as he pulled himself back on his feet. “Everything is over now, isn’t it?” He looked around him for a moment. “You’re there, aren’t you, Heathcliff?”

He turned around just in time to see Kayaba Akihiko materializing behind him. The man in the lab coat looked at him with that same look lacking any kind of emotion. As someone who wore the same expression almost on a daily basis, Kirito didn’t really mind it. He just jumped right in.

“Okay, you helped. Thanks,” he said.

“No need for thanks,” Kayaba replied coolly.

Kirito’s lips thinned a little. “Right…” He carefully planted his usual, blank look on his face, to match the man before him. “What do you want me to do?”

They both looked up when an object emitting a bright, warm light appeared above their heads, and Kirito reached out his hands as it slowly descended into his open palms. It looked like… an egg? A shining, sparkling, golden egg.

“What’s this?”

“The beginning of a world. It’s called The Seed,” Kayaba said, and when Kirito looked back up at the man he found a rare smile on his face, like the mere presence of this object made him content. “Once it buds, you’ll understand what it is. I’ll leave what to do with it then up to you. You can delete and completely forget it. However, if you have any feelings left for that world besides hatred…”

He trailed off without finishing, leaving it up to Kirito to complete the sentence.

“I’ll be going, then. I hope we meet again, Kirito-kun.”

And then Kayaba just faded away and left Kirito alone with The Seed. With a slight frown, Kirito opened his menu and added the new object to his item list. He wasn’t sure what it was yet, but he did promise to do Kayaba a favor in return for his help…

Besides, as tough as it was to live in SAO and ALO (mostly SAO, though), Kirito didn’t hate these worlds. He actually loved them, still. He just didn’t want to be trapped in them.

Which reminded him…

The options menu consisted of a lot more options now, with Heathcliff’s ID. Kirito went through the list until he found the log out button and his finger hovered over it before he closed his eyes, inhaled one last time the air of the virtual world, and then finally chose the option that was taken away from him two years ago by the very same person who gave it back to him now.

The next time his eyes opened, Kirito was weak, his vision was blurry, his ears felt like the noise coming through them had to go through some kind of fog, and his nose picked up on the strong scent of disinfectant.

He still managed a small smile as cheerful voices sounded from every direction, the words not making any sense yet. He knew that whoever was in the room with him, Asuna wasn’t them. She would take slightly longer to reach his hospital room, he was certain of it. But he was going to wait for as long as it took.

Not like he could go anywhere in his state, anyway.