Sword Art Online

Chapter 1

Katon, koton.

The plain wooden rocking chair made gentle sounds as it swayed back and forth on the porch.

The soft sunlight of late autumn shone through the top of a cypress tree. A light breeze gently blew across the surface of a distant lake.

Her cheeks lay upon my chest as she breathed gently and fell asleep.

The time, filled with golden tranquility, continued to flow by steadily.

Katon, koton.

I rocked the chair and gently stroked the girl's chestnut-colored hair. Although she was already asleep, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

A group of sprites played on the front lawn. The beef stew in the kitchen was simmering away at an audible boil. I wished this gentle world, in a small house deep within the heart of the forest, would continue on for eternity. But I knew this was an impossible wish.

Katon, koton.

As the chair's legs continued to sound, the sands of time fell away one grain at a time.

I tried to pull the girl closer to my chest as if I was resisting fate.

However, my arms managed to embrace only thin air.

I quickly sprang open my startled eyes. Her body, which was leaning against me just a second ago, had completely disappeared. I stood up from the chair and looked around the area.

Like the falling curtain of a stage, the color of the sunset steadily darkened. The creeping darkness began to dye the entire forest in pitch black.

I stood up straight in the icy winter wind and called out her name.

But there was no reply. Neither in the front garden where sprites played, nor in the kitchen—her figure could no longer be found anywhere.

Before I realized it, the entire house had been surrounded by darkness. The house's furniture and walls began to fall apart and disappear as if they were made from paper. Only the rocking chair and myself remained behind in this darkness. Even though no one sat on the chair, it continued to sway back and forth without changing.

Katon, koton.

Katon, koton.

I closed my eyes, plugged my ears, and mustered all my strength to call out her name.

My eyes quickly opened to the clear and loud voice. I no longer knew whether I shouted out only within the dream or if I actually called out in reality.

Lying on the bed, I closed my eyes and sought to return to the beginning of my dream. But I soon gave up, and after a while slowly opened my eyes once again.

Thin wooden planks entered my sight instead of the white panels of hospital walls. I was lying in a soft mattress atop cotton sheets instead of some gel material.

This was my — Kirigaya Kazuto's room in the real world.

I lifted up my upper body and looked around my surroundings. The 6-mat room had an uncommon floor made of natural wood. Only three pieces of furniture could be found within the room: a computer hard-drive, a router, and the bed I was sitting on.

An old-looking piece of headgear was placed on the center of the vertically-raised routers.

Its name was «Nerve Gear», a full dive model VR interface which had locked me inside a virtual reality world for two years. After a long and difficult battle, I was finally released from the machine, and could finally see, feel, and touch the real world.

Yes, I had returned.

But, the girl who had swung her sword and communed her heart with me was...

Pain suddenly hit my chest, and I shifted my sight away from the Nerve Gear and stood up. I glanced at a mirror hanging on the wall. The embedded EL panel on the wall clearly displayed the current date and time.

Sunday, January 19th, 2025. 7:15AM.

Two months had already passed since I returned to the real world, but I still couldn't get used to my appearance. Although the swordsman Kirito and the current Kirigaya Kazuto were supposed to have the same appearance, my loss of body weight had yet to fully recover, so the bony body underneath my T-shirt was extremely frail.

I suddenly noticed two lines of tears shining on my face in the mirror and wiped it off with my right hand.

"I've turned into a complete crybaby... Asuna."

I muttered and walked to the large window on the south side of the room. I opened the curtains with both hands, and the glaring sunlight of a winter morning dyed the inside of my room in pale yellow.

Kirigaya Suguha was really happy as she walked across the ice in the courtyard and then sped up.

The snow that fell two days ago had yet to melt completely, and the mid-January morning air was extremely cold.

She stopped at the edge of a pond, which was covered by a thin layer of ice, and set the shinai[2] in her right hand down against the trunk of a nearby black pine. To expel the lingering drowsiness from her body, she took several deep breaths, placed both hands at the knees, and began her stretching exercises.

Her muscles, which had yet to awaken fully, slowly loosened up. First came the knees, then she felt a prickling sensation as blood began to circulate in her calves and ankles.

Suguha stretched to reach straight down with both hands, gradually bending her back— until she abruptly stopped. The smooth ice that formed over the lake reflected her appearance back to her.

Her short hair, cut above her eyebrows and in line with her shoulders, was black with tinges of blue. Her eyebrows shared the same ink black color and were very thick, while two eyes filled with unyielding spirit lay below them. Together, her reflection had a seemingly boyish appearance. The traditional white dōgi and long black hakama[3] she wore only helped to accentuate this.

――As I thought... I just don't resemble... my Onii-chan...

It was a thought that often filled her mind in recent days. She thought of this every time she saw her own face at the bathroom's entrance. It wasn't that she disliked her appearance; she didn't care that much to begin with. But ever since her brother Kazuto returned to this house, her mind had began to subconsciously make comparisons.

――It's no use, no matter how much I think about it.

Suguha shook her stubborn head and resumed stretching.

After she finished stretching, she picked up the shinai that was left propped up against the black pine. She gripped it, feeling the familiarity in her palm from its long use; then she straightened her back and assumed a centered posture.

She took a deep breath while maintaining her stance— then instantly, with sharpened vigor, she struck out directly frontward with the shinai. Her keen movement seemed to cut the morning air, which startled a number of sparrows as they all flew off from the branch overhead.

The Kirigaya family home was an old Japanese house that lingered alongside the dated streets of southern Saitama. The entire extended family had been living here, as Suguha's grandfather, who had passed away four years ago, was a very strict and old-fashioned person.

He served in the police force for many years and was a famous kendo practitioner during his youth. He hoped that his only son, who was Suguha's father, would continue in his footsteps on the path of kendo. Her father had grasped the shinai until high school, but then he readily gave it up to study abroad in America and eventually found employment at a foreign financial securities company. After being assigned to the Japanese branch, he met and married Suguha's mother Midori, but continued a life of routine travelling across the Pacific ocean. By that time, Suguha's grandfather had redirected his passion toward her and the one year older Kazuto.

Suguha and her brother were made to join the neighborhood kendo dojo during elementary school. But because of her mother's influence as an editor for a computer systems magazine, her brother loved the keyboard far more than the shinai and left the dojo within two years. However, Suguha wasn't like her brother. She had found an affinity with kendo and continued to grasp her shinai even after her grandfather died.

Suguha was now fifteen years old. Last year, she had advanced far enough in the middle school competitions to rank as one of the best in the nation. By springtime, she had been recruited by one of the most famous high schools in the prefecture.

But――

In the past, she had never lost her path forward. She really liked kendo: not only did it meet the expectations of those around her, it had also made her happy.

But two years ago, when her brother got involved in the incident that shook all of Japan, turmoil arose within her heart. One could say that she regretted deeply. Ever since her brother gave up Kendo when she was seven years old, a profound gap had opened up between the two of them, and Suguha was extremely regretful that she never put forth the effort to close the divide.

The brother who had cast aside the shinai spent every day immersed in computers, as if seeking to quench his remaining thirst. He built a machine from parts and then helped his mother program it when he was just an elementary school student. For Suguha, the stuff he talked about was like a foreign language.

Of course, school had taught Suguha some lessons in computer use, and she had a small computer in her room. However, her knowledge of computers was limited to just email exchange and web browsing; it was impossible for her to understand the world her brother lived in. This was especially the case for the networked RPG games her brother was addicted to, which had always felt detestable to her. Since then she had put on a fake persona, but she found it impossible to get closer to other people who also interacted with a false mask.

Ever since her childhood, Suguha and her brother shared a relationship that was as close as best friends. But as her brother left her for a whole different world, Suguha buried her loneliness by devoting herself wholeheartedly to kendo. The distance between them continued to expand, and their daily conversations continued to drop; before Suguha had realized it, their relationship had fallen to a merely normal one.

But truth be told, Suguha constantly felt lonely. She wanted to talk to her brother more. She wanted to understand her brother's world, wanted her brother to come and watch her competitions.

However, just when she was about to express these feelings, that incident happened.

The nightmarish incident named "SWORD ART ONLINE". Ten thousand youths from across Japan were confined by an electronic cage and fell into a long sleep.

Her brother had been admitted to a major hospital in Saitama. Then, on the first time Suguha had gone to visit him...

As she saw her comatose brother, restrained to the sickbed with numerous cords and concealed by that dreadful headgear, Suguha burst into tears. It was the first time since her birth that she cried. She simply clung to her brother and wept aloud.

There may never be another chance to exchange words with him. Why didn't she try to close the distance between them earlier? It shouldn't have been that difficult; it should have been possible for her.

It was then that she began to seriously reconsider whether she should continue to practice kendo and what her true feelings were. But she was so lost that she never found an answer. During her fourteenth and fifteenth years when she couldn't see her brother, Suguha had entered a high school based on recommendations from others around her, but whether she should continue walking down this path was a doubt in her heart that would not disappear.

If her brother came back, then she would definitely talk to him a lot. She would get rid of all her confusion and anxiety, and frankly tell him her thoughts. Then, two months ago, after Suguha made her decision, a miracle occurred. Her brother had broken the curse through his own power and returned.

――But by that point, her relationship with her brother had already changed drastically. Suguha heard from her mother Midori personally that Kazuto was not her real brother, but actually a cousin.

Her father Minetaka was an only child, but her mother Midori had an older sister who passed away early; however, Suguha didn't know about this. Therefore, when Suguha learned that Kazuto was her mother's sister's child, she found herself at a loss and wasn't sure what type of relationship they should maintain. Should they be a little more distant? Should they remain the same? She had no idea how she should express herself over this relationship.

...Yeah. There is one thing, that would not change...

As Suguha pondered over all this, she swung her shinai down sharply as if to cut her own train of thought. It was too scary to keep going down that path of thinking, so she began her practice with the shinai in order to redirect her attention elsewhere.

When she finished her required number of sets, the angle of the morning sun had changed significantly. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, put down the shinai, and turned back toward her house...

"Ah..."

The moment she looked toward the house, Suguha suddenly froze in her footsteps.

She wasn't aware that Kazuto, who was wearing a sweatshirt and sitting on the porch, had been looking in her direction. As their eyes met, he smiled and spoke:

"Good morning."

As he said that, he tossed the small bottle of mineral water in his left hand over to her. Suguha caught it with her right hand before responding:

"G-good morning.... Seriously, if you've been watching me, you should have said something."

"But, it looked like you were seriously concentrating."

"Not really, I'm always like this."

Suguha secretly felt really happy that they were able to talk so naturally with one another over these two months. She picked a spot to Kazuto's right which kept a delicate distance from him and then sat down. Setting the shinai aside, she opened the bottle and placed it at her mouth; the cold water permeated her hot body and felt refreshingly pleasant.

"I see you've kept it up this whole time..."

Kazuto picked up Suguha's shinai and swung it lightly with his right hand from his sitting position. He immediately tilted his head to one side and said:

"So light..."

"Huh?"

Suguha removed the bottle from her mouth and looked at Kazuto.

"This is made of genuine bamboo, so it's quite heavy actually. It's about fifty grams heavier than the ones made from carbon."

"Ah, uh huh. That... is merely what I felt... but when it comes to comparison..."

Kazuto suddenly plundered the bottle from Suguha's hands and then quickly drank all the remaining water.

"Ah..."

Suguha's face began to redden without even thinking about it. She pouted her lips and said unhappily.

"W-What are you trying to compare with?"

Kazuto put the empty bottle on the porch and then stood up without answering.

"Hey, want to try sparring with me?"

Dumbfounded, Suguha looked straight at Kazuto's face.

"As in... a match?"

"Yes."

Kazuto nodded as if it was natural, even though he didn't have any interest in kendo.

"What about protectors...?"

"Hmmm, it's probably okay if we don't wear them... but it would be bad if Suguha got injured. I think grandfather's protectors are still around, so let's go to the dojo."

"Oooh."

Suguha completely forgot her hesitation from earlier and wondered why he would suddenly say such a thing; she smiled and said:

"Aren't you confident? Trying to pick a match with a national quarter-finalist? Besides..."

Her facial expressions then changed.

"Is your body alright...? You shouldn't be reckless..."

"Hehe, I'll show you the results of my daily rehabilitation training at the gym."

Kazuto chuckled and began to briskly walk toward the back of the house. Suguha hurried to follow.

The Kirigaya house was a rather spacious lot, and a dojo laid to the east of her mother's room. They followed grandfather's will and didn't demolish it, so Suguha used it for her daily practice, thoroughly maintained it, and kept all the equipment there.

The two of them entered the dojo barefooted, bowed to each other, and then began to prepare themselves respectively. Fortunately, grandfather's physique was almost the same as Kazuto's; the protectors they brought out were old but just the right fit. As they finished tying the headgear's laces at the same time, the two of them walked to the center of the dojo and bowed to each other once again.

Suguha slowly stood up from her crouching position, grasped her favorite shinai tightly, and took a centered stance. Meanwhile, Kazuto—

"W-what is that, Onii-chan?"

Upon seeing Kazuto's stance, Suguha blurted out without thinking. Odd was the only way to describe it. His left foot was half a body in front, his waist was lowered, and the shinai in his right hand was held downwards with its tip nearly touching the floor. His left hand seemed as if it was only touching the handle for appearance's sake.

"If a referee was here, he would be absurdly angry at that."

"It's fine, this is my sword style."

Suguha took a deep breath and readjusted her posture. Kazuto further widened the distance between his feet and lowered his center of mass.

Suguha thought about kicking off with enough power to directly land a powerful strike against her opponent. But Kazuto's weird stance made her unsure of what to do. Although there was an opening, it didn't feel easy to take advantage of. That stance felt like it was the product of many years of experience—

However, that couldn't be possible. Kazuto only wielded the shinai for two years when he was seven and eight. He only could have learned the basics during that time.

As if noticing Suguha's confusion, Kazuto suddenly began to move. He dashed in at a low angle as if he was gliding and his shinai sprang upwards from his lower right. It was not of a speed to be surprised at, but as it was a sudden attack, Suguha had to move by reflex. And with her right foot opened up,

"Kote!!"[4]

Suguha swung down at Kazuto's left forearm. It should have been perfectly timed, but her strike splendidly cut through the air.

It was an unbelievable dodge. Kazuto had released his left hand from the handle, and drew it towards his body. Was that even possible? Targeted at Suguha, taken aback with surprise, the shinai held by Kirito's right hand alone rushed in. Confounded, she frantically dodged.

By the time the two swapped positions, having turned around to face each other as they kept a distance again, Suguha's consciousness had changed completely. A pleasant tension filled her entire body, as though her blood was boiling. This time, it was Suguha's turn to strike. Her forte, a forearm strike—

But this time as well, Kazuto cleanly evaded that. He pulled his arms back, twisted his body, and allowed Suguha's shinai to slide past with a paper-thin gap. Suguha was dumbfounded. Her high-speed strikes were well-acclaimed even within the club, and she had no recollection of a scene with someone managing to clearly dodge all of her consecutive attacks.

Getting serious, Suguha began a fierce assault. She drove the tip of the shinai in continuously, striking faster than one could breathe. But Kazuto kept on dodging and dodging. The unfaltering movement of his eyes made it seem like he had already fully grasped the movement of Suguha's shinai.

Irritated, Suguha forcibly closed the distance and locked her shinai against Kazuto's. Against Suguha's well-trained legs and torso, Kazuto began to stagger under the overwhelming pressure. Without letting him escape, Suguha seized the moment to launch a finishing blow directly toward Kazuto's head.

"Men!!"[5]

'Ah', Suguha finally realized a moment too late. She didn't hold back at all on her attack, and it crashed fiercely into the metal grill on Kazuto's protective headgear. Bashiin! A high-pitched clang resounded throughout the dojo.

Kazuto continued to stagger backwards for a few steps before he finally stopped.

"A-are you okay, Onii-chan!?"

Suguha frantically asked. Kazuto lightly waved his left hand to show that he was fine.

"...Ah, I lost. Sugu sure is strong; Heathcliff doesn't compare against you at all."

"...Are you really alright...?"

"Yeah. Match finished."

After saying that, Kazuto took several steps back and then made a few even stranger movements. He flourished the shinai in his right hand left and right, then held it to his back and made a "hyuhyun" sound. After that, he straightened his back and scratched his head beyond the mask with his left hand, which made a crunching sound. All of this made Suguha really worried.

"Ah, your head was hit, so..."

"N-no!! It's just an old habit..."

After they bowed to each other, Kazuto sat down in a formal posture and began to untie the laces on his protectors.

The two of them left the dojo together, went to the washroom, and rinsed the sweat off their faces. She originally intended to just play around a bit; she never expected it to suddenly turn so serious and leave her entire body feeling overheated.

"Nevertheless, I was really surprised. Onii-chan, when did you practice?"

"Eh, that attack pattern of mine... seems like sword skills really can't be managed without system assist."

Once again, Kazuto muttered something that made absolutely no sense.

"But it was really fun. Maybe I should try kendo again..."

"Really!? Really!?"

Suguha suddenly became energetic as a broad smile stretched across her face and she began to insist on a response.

"Sugu, would you teach me?"

"O, of course! We'll definitely train together!"

"We'll have to wait until after my muscles recover though."

Kazuto nodded, and Suguha smiled wholeheartedly. The thought of practicing kendo together once again made her so happy that tears were coming out from her eyes.

"Hey... Onii-chan... I..."

Although Suguha didn't understand why Kazuto had a renewed interest in kendo, she was still really happy, and wanted to also tell him about her new interest. However, she quickly changed her mind and swallowed the words she was going to say.

"Hm?"

"Err, I guess it should stay a secret for now."

"What's up with that!?"

The two of them dried off their heads and then returned to the main house through the back door. Her mother Midori always worked in the mornings, so Suguha and Kazuto took turns in preparing breakfast.

"I'm going to take a shower, Onii-chan do you have any plans for today?"

"Ah...today, I'm... I'm going to the hospital..."

"..."

Suguha's high spirits suddenly sank as she heard his quiet response.

"I see, you're going to visit that person."

"Ah... that's the only thing I can do at this point."

That person was the most important one to him in that other world, and Suguha heard this directly from him a month ago. At the time, Suguha was in Kazuto's room; the two sat next to each other, and Kazuto was nursing a cup of coffee as he explained all the details. The Suguha from before would never have believed it possible that someone could fall in love in a virtual world. But now, she could somehow understand. Besides— whenever Kazuto spoke of that person, tears would always well up in his eyes.

Kazuto said that they were together until the very last moment. The two of them were definitely going to return to the real world together. But while Kazuto's consciousness awoke, that person only kept on sleeping. Nothing happened— or maybe something did happen and nobody knew about it. Ever since then, as long as he had time, Kazuto would go visit the hospital every three days to see that person.

Suguha could see it clearly. Kazuto, sitting in front of that sleeping person, holding her hand just like she once held his, calling out to them tirelessly. As soon as she visualized that image, a feeling that couldn't be described floated to the top of her heart. Her chest tightened painfully, and every breath felt difficult. She hugged herself tightly with both hands and directly sat down at where she was.

She wanted Kazuto to keep on smiling. Since he returned from that world, Kazuto had become a lot more open than before. He began to talk more with Suguha. He even got gentler and no longer made any unreasonable demands. It felt like they've returned to their childhood days. Therefore she realized just how important that person was when she saw her brother's tears. At that point she began to persuade herself.

――But, I've, I've already realized...

As Kazuto closed his eyes to reminisce about that person, Suguha felt like her heart could not stop hurting, as if she was trying desperately to hide another feeling.

As she watched Kazuto pour milk into a glass on the table and then gulp it down, Suguha whispered to herself within her heart.

――Hey, Onii-chan. I, I already know.

The siblings of before had now become cousins; yet even Suguha did not understand how it ended up like this.

But something did change. Although she hadn't really thought about it up until now, a small secret continued to flicker within her heart.

Maybe it's possible that she liked Onii-chan; but if it's like this, then that was probably fine.

After my bath, I changed my clothes and left on the bike that I had just bought about a month ago. By bicycle, the 15 kilometers to my destination was quite some distance, but the burden was just right for the still-recovering me.

My journey took me to a recently built hospital on the outskirts of Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture.

The top ward of the hospital, was where she quietly lay.

Two months ago, atop the 75th floor of «Aincrad», I had defeated the final boss «Holy Sword» Heathcliff, and by so doing completed that death game. Afterwards, I awoke in a hospital room. Coming to, I found myself returned to the real world.

But she, my partner, my most important person, Asuna the «Flash», had not.

There wasn't much difficulty in inquiring about her. Immediately after regaining consciousness in a Tokyo hospital, I left the hospital room, wandering about with unstable steps, and was soon discovered by nurses who brought me back. Tens of minutes later, a single man in a suit rushed to pay me a visit as he gasped for air. He declared himself a representative of the «Ministry of Internal Affairs — SAO Countermeasures Division».

The organization of that grand name seemed to be formed immediately after the outbreak of the SAO incident, but in those two years, there was nothing they could do. However, that was unavoidable as well. If they had carelessly dabbled with the server, without cancelling the protection program made by programmer Kayaba Akihiko, the mastermind of this incident, ten thousand people would have had their brains destroyed. No one wanted such responsibility.

Regrouping, they made preparations to better observe the status of the victims laying in the hospital. Their one hope — a tiny light, but an immense task — was to survey player information through server data.

They so came to follow my progress on the frontlines, taking into account my level, position, and role as a vital player in the «Capture Group» trying to complete Sword Art Online. Therefore, when SAO players awoke all over the country, Ministry agents had rushed to my room, hoping to better understand what had just happened.

I revealed my conditions to the government official with the black rim spectacles who came into my sight. I would tell them all I knew. In exchange, they were to tell me what I wanted to know.

The thing I desired to know was of course Asuna's whereabouts. After a few minutes on the phone, the spectacled man turned and spoke, confusion naked on his face.

"Yuuki Asuna has been admitted to another medical institution in Tokorozawa. However, she has not awakened ... and not only her, 300 others across the country have yet to wake up either."

Initially they thought that this was simply the result of a lag spike occurring in the server. However, hours had turned to days as Asuna and the others had yet to wake.

Whether or not the plot of the missing Akihiko Kayaba still continued caused a great disturbance around the world, but my views ran contrary. I still remember the destruction of Aincrad, shrouded in the red setting sun.

He had certainly said it. He would release all surviving players. Moreover, by then he no longer had any reason to lie. He had definitely let himself disappear along with that world, this I wholeheartedly believe.

However, be it an unforeseen incident or in accordance with someone's will, the SAO server, which should have been completely formatted/reset, continued operation. Asuna's Nerve Gear was no exception, binding her soul within its depths. What went on deep within, I had not a clue, but if...if...if I could return to that world just once more—

If Suguha knew what I did then, she would have been furious. Leaving a note, I entered my room put my Nerve Gear on and started the SAO client. Surely enough, however, an error message coldly appeared before my eyes, «Error: Cannot connect to server».

Once my rehabilitation was complete, my freedom of movement had been restored, and from then until now, I had been periodically paying Asuna visits.

That was an extremely tough time. The feeling of something more important than anything else being unreasonably snatched away from me was far more painful than any physical or mental injury. Even moreso to the current me, powerless as a child.

Continuing the 40 minute trip, pedaling at a slow pace, I got off the main road and turned onto a winding, hilly road. Soon, an enormous building appeared before me. It was a privately managed, state of the art, medical institution.

The security guard at the entrance, now a familiar face, didn't bother to ask my reason for coming. I parked my bicycle in a corner of the huge parking lot. At the first floor reception desk, which bore the appearance of a high class hotel lobby, I was issued a visitor's pass. I clipped it to my chest and got on the elevator.

In several seconds, I reached the top floor, the 18th, and the door slowly opened. I walked south down the empty corridor. This floor had many long-term in-patients, but seeing others here was a rare occurrence. Finally, at the end of the corridor, a pale green door came into sight. There was a dull nameplate on the wall next to the door.

«Yuuki Asuna», below that display was a thin slit, which I was running toward. I unclipped the pass from my chest and slid its lower edge in the silt. The door slid open with a faint electronic sound.

Stepping into the room, I was enveloped by the refreshing fragrance of flowers. Fresh flowers at odds with the winter season decorated the room. The interior of the spacious hospital room was partitioned with curtains, which I slowly entered.

"Please let her wake up—" I touched the cloth, praying for a miracle and gently pulled the curtains apart.

A high-end intensive care unit was similar to the one I'd been in – even the mattress was the same. Sunlight gleamed off the white covers, falling gently on Asuna's face. If I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that she was simply sleeping.

When I first visited, I'd had this thought: would she disapprove of me seeing her this way? Such worries had since faded away. She really was too beautiful.

Her beautiful deep chestnut-colored hair, rippled like water on the white mattress around her; her translucent white skin, with a tinge of rose in her cheeks.

From her neck to her clavicle, her features looked exactly the same as they did in that world. Light cherry colored lips. Long eyelashes, trembling as if they'd open at any moment. If it weren't for that helmet, that is.

Nerve Gear. Its three, pale, flashing LED lights were twinkling like stars, evidence of its continued operation. Even now, her soul is still trapped in some world. I took her small right hand with both of mine, feeling her warmth. The feeling of her firm grip felt just the same as before. I held my breath, desperately trying to hold back tears as I cried...

"Asuna..."

The ringing of her alarm clock returned me to reality. Without me realizing, it had already become noon.

"I should go, Asuna. I'll come again soon."

I was then alerted to the sound of the doors sliding open, and I turned my attention to the two men entering the ward.

"Oh, Kirigaya-kun. I apologize for this disturbance."

An older man stood before him with a calm facial expression, returning the card in his hand to his pocket. From his physique and appearance, he looked to be a spirited and confident man, but sported grey hair that was the result of two years of worrying about his daughter. This was Asuna's father, Yuuki Shouzou. I had learned from Asuna previously that her father was an entrepreneur, but that did nothing to curtail my surprise upon learning he was the CEO of the electronics company «RECTO».

I bowed my head slightly and spoke.

"Hello. Sorry to interrupt, Yuuki-san."

"It's nothing, it's nothing. Having you always come here like this, I should be the one apologizing. I'm sure that child would also be most pleased."

He walked to Asuna's pillow, absently stroking her hair as he gazed sadly at Asuna's face. A moment later, he introduced me to the man standing behind him.

"This is someone new. He's the director of our research institute, Sugou-kun."

My first impression of him was a positive one. He was tall, wearing a dark gray suit, with a pair of yellow framed glasses balanced on the bridge of his nose. His eyes hid behind its thin lenses, and his perpetual smile completed the image. I imagined he was barely past his 30s.

He stretched out his hand and said:

"It's nice to meet you. I am Sugou Nobuyuki. You must be that hero Kirigaya-kun."

"Kirigaya Kazuto. Nice to meet you."

I shook Sugou's hand and turned my head to glance in Yuuki Shouzou's direction, his hand supporting his slightly down-turned head.

"About that, sorry. SAO's servers have already been shut down. This incident is almost like something you'd see on TV. He's my most trusted son. For some time now, he hasn't had contact with the family."

"President, this matter is—"

Sugou loosened his hand, turning to Shouzou to speak.

"Next month, I want to clearly tell everyone."

"Is that so? But is it really ok? You're still quite young, your life has barely begun..."

"My mind is made up. I want to take advantage of this time when Asuna is still beautiful...and have her wear a bridal gown."

"It seems that you have thought this through."

"With that, I take my leave. See you again Kirigaya-kun."

He nodded his head, turned around and walked out the door, closing the door behind him. The only males left in the room were Sugou and I.

Sugou Nobuyuki slowly moved to the bedside, standing opposite to me. He stroked Asuna's chestnut hair, making noises as his left hand trailed through her hair. It filled me with a sense of disgust.

"When you were in the game, you lived with Asuna, didn't you?" Nobuyuki-san said.

"...uhm.."

"In that case, our relationship might be slightly complicated."

Sugou looked up, and we made eye contact. At that moment, I realized that my impression of this man couldn't have been further from the truth.

Through his thin glasses, his small pupils gave one the impression of sanpaku[6], lips curled in a smile. These together gave off a feeling of cold callousness. Cold sweat ran down my back.

"About what I just said..."

Sugou gave off a bored smile.

"That is, Asuna's marriage to me."

I couldn't utter a word. What did he just say? Sugou's remark enveloped my body like a burst of cold. After a few moments of dead silence, I managed to spit out, "Do you think I'd possibly let you get away with that?"

"Oh, most certainly. To receive her approval in this sort of circumstance would be quite impossible. On paper, I'm an adopted son of the Yuuki family. In reality, however, she's hated me for some time now."

Sugou's fingers neared Asuna's lips.

"Stop!"

I subconsciously grabbed Sugou's hand, pulling him away from Asuna's face.

Shouting now, I screamed, "You bastard...you dare exploit Asuna's condition?!"

"Exploit? No no, this is well within limits. Honestly, Kirigaya-kun. Do you know what happened to SAO's company, «Argus»?"

"I heard they broke up."

"Correct. Development costs, along with the damages all put them in debt, and the company eventually went bankrupt. Therefore, the SAO server maintenance is now under the responsibility of RECTO's FullDive technology department. Specifically, my department."

From the other side of the bed, Sugou turned to look at me. Revealing a demonic smile, he inched nearer to Asuna's cheek.

"That is to say, she is still alive because I permit it. Therefore, don't you think I should be compensated for my troubles? Am I wrong?"

Hearing this only strengthened my conviction.

This man wanted to exploit Asuna's situation, to use her life to fulfill his ambitions.

Turning and standing, looking contemptuously at me, the smile disappeared from his face. In any icy tone, he spoke once more.

"I don't know what happened between you and Asuna in the game, but I want you out of her life from now on. I hope you don't make any future contact with Yuuki and her family."

I clenched my fists, angry at my inability to do anything. I felt so helpless.

Several moments of silence passed by. Then, Sugou said with a mocking tone:

"The wedding ceremony will be held next week right here in this very ward. I hope you'll come. Cherish this last meeting of yours, Hero-kun"

I wanted a sword. I'd pierce his heart, slice his neck. I don't know if he felt some sense of my inner turmoil, but he patted my shoulder, turned and curtly left the room.

When I got home, the memory of our encounter still burned fresh in my mind. I lay on my bed and stared at the wall in a stupor.

"That is, Asuna's marriage to me."

"She is still alive because I permit it."

My meeting with Sugou played over and over in my head, like a movie stuck in a loop. My heart felt like a red hot lump of twisted metal.

But―― This all might just have been because a strong sense of self-consciousness.

Sugou is the person who has always been the closest to the Yuuki family. This was also the reason he was able to become Asuna's fiancé. Trusted deeply by Yuuki Shouzou, he also held great responsibility in RECTO. Asuna was probably arranged to marry this man long before we met in Aincrad. Compared to him, our time together was probably nothing more than an illusion. The indignity of having to give Asuna over to that man's whims, which were at best, like the caprice of a small child.

To us, the floating city of Aincrad was the real world. The vows we had exchanged there, the words, all glittered with the brilliance of a gem.

"I want to remain by Kirito's side forever――"

Asuna's words and smile slowly slipped away.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry, Asuna...I...can't do anything..."

Tears of sadness slid down my face, potsu, potsu, onto the top of my clenched fist.

"Onii-chan, the bathroom's free!"

Suguha yelled at Kazuto's room, located on the second floor, but there was no response.

That evening, after returning from the hospital, Kazuto had locked himself in his room, not coming down even for dinner.

Suguha placed her hand on the doorknob, but hesitated. If he hadn't gone straight to sleep then perhaps he'd caught a cold, she reasoned, adding strength as she turned the handle.

Kacha~. The door opened revealing a darkened room.

He must be sleeping, she thought, and as she turned to leave the room, a gust of cold air blew in, making her shiver. The windows seemed to be open. There really doesn't seem to be any other way, she thought, shaking her head.

She tip-toed softly across the room, making her way toward the window...only to find her brother curled up on the bed, wide awake.

"Ah, Onii-chan, I'm sorry. I thought you were asleep," was Suguha's bewildered response.

After a few moments of silence, Kazuto replied in a voice devoid of emotion, "Sorry, but could you leave me alone?"

"But, but, the room was so cold..."

Suguha reached out and took Kazuto's hands in her own. They felt as cold as ice.

"This isn't good. Your hands are frozen; you'll catch a cold like this. Hurry up and take a shower."

Some light filtered in through the curtains from a street-lamp, alighting on Kazuto's face. At this moment, Suguha understood something had happened to her brother.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

His reply was but a choked whisper.

"But..."

Without waiting for her to finish, he buried his face in his hands. Hiding himself from Suguha, and with a hint of self-loathing, he said, "I really am useless. It wasn't so long ago that I swore to never again say such defeatist words..."

Halfway through his words, Suguha had already understood what had happened. Speaking in a trembling, quiet voice, she asked, "That person...Asuna-san...just what happened?"

Kazuto's body tensed. In a low voice, filled with pain, he answered, "Asuna...has gone somewhere...somewhere far. A place...where my hands can't reach her... "

This time it was made clear to her. Watching Kazuto, crying like a child in front of her, Suguha's heart was touched.

She closed the window, drew the curtains, turned on the air conditioner, and sat down at his side. She hesitated for a moment, before taking his cold hands in hers again. Kazuto's curled body relaxed in an instant.

Suguha whispered in his ear.

"Cheer up. If she really is the person you love, you shouldn't give up so easily. "

These words did not come easily, and speaking them, her heart felt like it had been cut with a sword. A feeling from deep within her heart gave rise to this pain. I like Kazuto onii-chan, was the feeling that strongly came to Suguha at this time.

――Me too. I can't lie to myself anymore.

Suguha supported her brother, gently lowering him onto his bed. Taking hold of his bed-covers, she tenderly pulled them over his body.

How long she held him, she didn't know, but Kazuto's muffled cries had become the peaceful sound of sleep. Suguha closed her eyes, her heart quietly whispering to itself.

—My only choice is to give up. All I can do is bury this feeling, deep, deep within.

Because within Kazuto's heart, she's already there.

Tears silently flowed down Suguha's cheeks, then onto the bed-covers, before quickly disappearing entirely.

My sweet, gentle sleep was broken by a sudden burst of warmth.

I wasn't yet fully awake, but there was an odd warmth floating over me, like sunlight through tree branches, caressing my cheek.

I kept my eyes closed and embraced the girl sleeping next to me. We were close enough for me to feel her breath, so I opened my eyes a little to—

"Uwwah!?"

I uttered a cry, and jumped back about fifty centimeters. My body sprung up to a sitting position, and quickly looked around.

This is what I've always seen in my dreams. Aincrad, twenty-second floor of the forest home – impossible. Parts of reality are here, my room and my bed. However, apart from me, there is another person.

I was speechless. Fully awake, I quickly got up and set the blanket back in place. With her short black hair, her prominent eyebrows, Suguha lay in her pajamas, asleep on my pillow.

"How...how is this..."

After some careful thinking, I finally remembered what happened last night. That's right, last night after returning from the hospital, it seems I had some words with Suguha. Amid despair and pain which had brought me to tears, she'd comforted me, and eventually, I'd fallen asleep.

"Honestly, just like a child."

After feeling a bit shameful, I looked over at Suguha, fast asleep. She shouldn't be doing this.

I suddenly remembered that something similar to this happened in 'that' world. Suguha is very similar to that beast tamer girl I encountered around the fortieth floor. She, too, crept into my bed, which gave me similar troubles.

I smiled as I remembered. My encounter with Asuna and Sugou Nobuyuki continued to fill me with concern, but the piercing pain in my heart slowly disappeared last night.

My memories in that world – the floating city of Aincrad – are important treasures to me. Happy memories, sad memories — too many to count — but all of those memories are real, and I will not treat them otherwise, including the agreement between Asuna and I to meet together in this world once again. There must be something I can do.

Just as I was thinking that, from before me, Suguha's murmured sleep-talk entered my ears.

"Giving up...is not allowed..."

"What you said is absolutely right," I whispered back. Then, sitting up, I poked Suguha's face with my finger.

"Hey, wake up. It's morning already."

"Hmmph."

She let out a dissatisfied groan. I reached under the blankets and pinched her cheeks.

"Get up, it's already pretty late."

Suguha finally opened her eyes.

"Ah. Good morning, Onii-chan," she mumbled, as she lazily climbed up out of the blankets.

Then, she looked at me with surprise and quickly glanced around the room. Her half-closed, sleepy eyes suddenly opened wide and her cheeks flushed red.

"Ah! Um, I..."

Her ears turned red, her body stiff, and she suddenly jumped up and ran from the room as fast as she could.

"Honestly."

I shook my head and stood up to open the window, taking a deep breath of cold air to drive the fatigue away.

«News» arrived as I grabbed a change of clothes to take a bath.

There was an electronic-sounding tone and I could see the e-mail alert flashing, so I sat down and played around with the EL terminal.

Since the past two years I've been asleep, the computer's structure has undergone many changes. The nice, old HDD (Hard Disk Drive) disappeared without a trace, and was replaced with the more modern SSD (Solid Storage Drive), which has become the new standard and does not produce ultra-high volatile MRAM. There is no lag time during transfer; it happens instantaneously. The e-mail sent has been updated, and the name under 'sender' is «Agil».

On the 50th floor of the main block of Aincrad lived Agil, the owner of the grocery store in 'Algade.' We'd met for the first time on the 20th in Tokyo and exchanged e-mail addresses, but this would be our first time actually contacting one another. The message title read, "LOOK AT THIS." When I opened it, there was no text, only a single attached image.

I scrolled down and opened the picture on the monitor, then stared closely at the image being displayed.

The composition was incredible. You could see from the characteristic color and light that it was obviously not the real world but rather a computer generated, illusionary world. In the picture's foreground stood a golden cage with a white table and a white chair. A girl, draped in a white gown sat within. Looking carefully through the cage at her face—

"Asuna!?"

The image was very rough, but that girl, with her long chestnut hair was undoubtedly Asuna, her face desolate and her hands folded on the table. A closer look showed transparent wings stretched out behind her.

I grabbed the phone off the table, and hurriedly dialed in the number I found in the phone book. The ringing must have lasted but a few seconds, but it felt like hours. Finally, the line connected and a deep voice answered the phone.

"Hello—"

"Hey!! What was that picture all about!?"

"Look, Kirito, at least introduce yourself first ."

"I don't have the time! Hurry up and tell me!!"

"It's a long story. Can you come over?"

"Right away. I'll be there right away."

Not bothering to wait for a reply, I hung up the phone and grabbed a change of clothes. I have never showered, dried my hair and worn my shoes so quickly in my life, and in no time I was on my bike heading out. Nor has this road ever seemed so long, even though I have used it countless times.

Agil's café and bar business is located in Taito Okachimachi. I soon saw the black dashboard and metal sign decorated with two dice, thus the name, «Dicey Café».

I opened the door and was met with the ringing sound of the bell on the door. The bald man at the counter looked up at me and laughed. Not a customer to be seen.

"Oh, you're quite fast."

"Business is poor as usual. Just how on earth did it survive these last two years?"

"Sure it's slow now, but it picks up during the night."

The lighthearted conversation calms me a little, as if I were back in that world.

Our meeting was something that had happened at the end of last month. At the time, I'd received the real names and addresses of certain players from members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Klein, Nishida, Silica, and Lisbeth, among others. Even though there were many players I wanted to see again, but they'd all returned to the real world, and keeping in touch was a difficult thing. The first place I visited would be this store.

"So, what is it you want me to tell you!?"

The store's owner looked a little unhappy.

His real name is Andrew Gilbert Mills. I find it awesome that he runs a shop in the real world as well.

Although African-American by ethnicity, his parents took a liking to Japan, and he opened his coffee shop-bar here, in Okachimachi at the age of 25. Moreover, from among his customers, he'd found a beautiful, virtuous wife. Afterwards, he too, had been trapped in the world of SAO for two years. Upon returning, the shop he'd fully expected to have closed long ago had been saved by his wife's efforts. Truly a touching story.

To be truthful, it's odd that there weren't many customers. The shop had a compact layout, with but four chairs and a counter, a bright and colorful place that was both attractive and relaxing.

I sat on a leather stool, ordered a cup of coffee and started questioning Agil about the picture.

"So, what's the deal with that picture?"

The store's manager didn't answer right away. Instead, I watched as he brought out a rectangular package from under the counter, and pushed it to me.

The packaging was clearly that of game software. I took particular notice of the clear print «Amusphere» on the upper right corner.

"I haven't heard of this kind of hardware before."

"«AmuSphere». It came out while we were still in that world. It's the next generation of FullDive technology, Nerve Gear's successor."

As I looked at the logo with mixed feelings, Agil gave a simple explanation.

After the incident, Nerve Gear was dubbed 'a devil's machine', and so no manufacturer dared to involve themselves in the FullDive genre of gaming technology. However, 6 months after the SAO incident, a new company was founded, with a slogan of "absolute security." It released the Nerve Gear successor models, and as we were trapped in Aincrad at the time, we had no knowledge of this.

That helped me understand the situation a little better, but because I didn't pay too much attention to games following what had happened, I still didn't have a clear understanding of things.

"So, this is a VRMMO as well?"

I held it in my hand and carefully inspected it. The picture showed a deep forest with the full moon hanging high, in front of it a girl clad in fantasy garb. Sword in hand, she flew through the sky on a pair of transparent wings. Below the illustration, a heading – «ALfheim Online».

"ALfheim...Online? What does that mean?"

"Just as the name sounds. It means 'Elf Home.'"

"Elf? I'm still a little unclear. This game isn't very serious, is it?"

"That, huh, maybe so. I've heard it's quite difficult, though."

Agil placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of me, laughing. I raised up the cup, enjoying the fragrance, as I continued to question him.

"What's the difficulty like?"

"The SKILL system is on Extreme, and the game focuses on the player's skills. PKing is encouraged."

"Extreme...?"

"«Levels» don't exist anymore in this game. All skills will only increase in level through repetition. The battle system relies on the player's athletic ability, instead of Sword Skills like in SAO. But regardless of these minor differences, the technology is pretty much the same as SAO."

"Ah. That does sound pretty impressive."

I let out an appreciative whistle. The creation of Floating City Aincrad had taken the full efforts of that mad genius Akihiko Kayaba. That someone else could create a VR world of the same degree is a little hard to believe.

"PKing is encouraged?"

"At creation, players can select from a variety of fairy races, and it is only between opposing races that this is possible."

"That's ridiculously difficult. Regardless of the high level of technology, it feels more like it was made for fanatic gamers. I doubt it would be very popular," I said with a frown.

As Agil listened to me, he dropped his serious look and smiled.

"I used to think that way too, but now I'm thinking it'll be very popular with the current crowd, the main reason being that in this game, you have the ability to «Fly»."

"Fly...?"

"With fairy wings. Unlike previous games, the controller is equipped with a flight engine, enabling users to fly freely."

I've never thought on the possibilities of flight before. After Nerve Gear was developed, many VR flying games were developed, but those were all controlled through vehicular control. Flight through human means was not introduced simply because the player would have no experience flying and therefore be unable to control the power of flight.

In these imaginary worlds, the things a player can do are the same as those you can do in the real world. Conversely, those things that real world humans can't do here, they can't do there either. Sprouting wings is no difficult task, but the muscle movement associated with moving said wings isn't nearly as simple.

In SAO, Asuna and I had incredible jumping ability, through which we could imitate flight, but this and free flight are still inherently worlds apart.

"This whole concept of flying is amazing and all, but how exactly does it work?"

"Who knows, but it's gotta be real troublesome. For starters, you have to operate it with a one-hand joystick controller."

"..."

All of a sudden, I had the desire to challenge this game, but it immediately left me, and I returned to sipping my coffee.

"Alright. I have a broad idea of what the game's like now. Back to the main topic, what's the case with this picture?"

Agil brought a piece of paper out from under the counter, placing it in front of me. It was specifically for photos.

"What do you see?"

After hearing his question, I stared at the picture for a bit, before finally answering.

"So similar...to Asuna..."

"Figures you'd think the same way. It's a game screenshot, the resolution is pretty bad."

"Hurry up and explain."

"That's a screenshot from this game, ALfheim Online."

Agil handed me the game and pictures. There was a screenshot of the game, with an overview of the world map as well as territories, and in the central area was a giant tree.

"This is the World Tree, or Yggdrasil."

Agil pointed to the tree.

"The goal of players is to be the first race to reach the city atop this tree."

"Are you not allowed to simply fly up, then?"

"Regardless of how much endurance and stamina they have for flight, it's not without limits. To even reach the lowest of these branches is already impossible. However, there are still people who come up with crazy ideas, such as a group of five people who use their flight like a multi-stage rocket that propels themselves up."

"Hahaha, is that so. Even if you call it a crazy idea, it's still quite creative."

"Ah, apparently it was a success. However, the branches were very weak, and so their accomplishment can only be regarded as so much. To prove that they managed to do this, they took a lot of photos as evidence. One of them was of a cage hanging from a huge tree branch."

"Birdcage..."

My words carried with them an indescribable feeling, which caused my brow to furrow. To be trapped...this thought immediately entered my mind.

"This photograph was taken just as they reached it."

"But why is Asuna there?"

I picked up the game again, and stared at it.

I focused on the print on the bottom of the box. «RECTO Progress».

"What's the matter, Kirito? Your face is a little pale."

"Nothing... No other pictures? For example, «others from SAO», besides Asuna, who have yet to return?"

At my question, the manager frowned deeply and shook his head.

"No, though I've heard things to that effect. But these pictures from «ALfheim Online» can't be used to explain anything. Don't go cry wolf just because of this."

"Yeah, I know."

I looked down, thinking of what that man — Sugou Nobuyuki — had said to me.

The manager of the SAO's servers was now him, he had definitely said. Speaking of which, he'd mentioned that the servers were like a black box, and couldn't be manipulated externally. At the time, it'd made sense to me.

However, if Asuna continued to sleep, this would be quite favorable for him. Moreover, a girl who looked just like Asuna was trapped in a VRMMO designed by none other than a RECTO subsidiary. There's no way it's just coincidence.

I considered contacting the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but immediately changed my mind. My concerns would be too vague, and I had no concrete evidence.

I looked up, facing him.

"Agil, can I have this?"

"No problem...You want to go take a look?"

"Yes, I want to confirm this myself."

For the first time, Agil let himself show a doubtful expression. We both understood the dangers of VR.

I shrugged my arms, and laughed.

"I guess if I want to try this I'll have to buy the new console."

"Nerve Gear can run it as well. AmuSphere is simply a version with enhanced performance."

"That's really great."

I shrugged. Agil let out a slight smile.

"Well, this isn't the first time you've rescued someone who's trapped in her own consciousness."

"It does not matter how many times she is trapped or imprisoned or how many times I have to do this."

And that was it. Asuna and I hadn't had any other contact except through the Internet via Nerve Gear. Neither voice nor letter had I received.

But those days of waiting were over. Finishing my coffee in one go, I stood. Agil's counter was old fashioned, similar to his shop in SAO, completely devoid of any electronic cash registers and the like. I fished out several coins and placed them on the counter.

"Then I'll head back now. Thank you for having me, and for the information."

"You can pay me back in other ways for the information. You must rescue Asuna, so we can finally put an end to all of this."

"That's right. One day, this will be over."

I hit my palm with my fist. Then I opened the door, and left.

Suguha lay on her bed, before rolling over to bury her face in her pillow, kicking her bed for a few minutes.

It was already noon, but she was still wearing pajamas. Today is Monday, January 20th, and winter vacation is already over, but Suguha, in her third semester of her third year of middle school can attend as she likes. For that reason, she attends only to show her face at her kendo club.

Right now her mind was replaying that memory over and over, and she had already lost track of how many times it had repeated. Last night — in order to warm the frozen Kazuto, she'd burrowed under the covers with him, their bodies inseparably close before falling asleep together. It had taken a mere ten seconds before sleep came, and her weak constitution was now a cause for regret.

"...I'm an idiot! Idiot! Idiot!" she screamed inwardly as she pounded on her pillow with her fists.

At least I could have woken up before him and slipped out, but he woke up first, how can I even look at him now?

Her feelings of shame and embarrassment mixed with her hidden feelings of love, and the stabbing pain in her chest refused to let her breathe. She covered her face with her hands, and suddenly realized that her pajamas still held her brother's scent, causing another deep throb within her heart.

Anyway, swinging a shinai will wipe it all away, she determined, rising to her feet. In her nervousness, she wasn't sure if it was better to wear her dogi, or casual clothes, but she quickly changed and went into the courtyard to practice.

Kazuto was out somewhere today — she didn't know where exactly, and her mother, Midori, always left for work before noon. Her father, Minetaka, had returned to America just after the new year, leaving Suguha alone at home. From the stand on the first floor breakfast table, she grabbed a cheese muffin, stuffing it in her mouth in an extremely unladylike gesture, while her other hand grabbed a pouch of orange juice, before sitting briefly in the hallway.

Just as she'd taken a huge bite, Kazuto appeared in the entrance hall, pushing his bike and catching her gaze.

"Guu!!"

A piece of the muffin lodged in her throat, and she frantically waved her right hand to drink from her juice — only to realize the straw was missing.

"Uahh, guu~~!"

"Oi oi"

Kazuto ran to Suguha's side, grabbing the juice and quickly inserting the straw before holding it to her mouth. Desperately sucking in the cold liquid, she was finally able to swallow the trapped piece of food.

"Uah! Dead...This time I thought I was dead for sure."

"What an impatient girl! Don't you know you should eat a little more slowly?"

"Mmm ~"

Embarrassed, she lowered her head to look at her feet. Kazuto sat down beside her, bent down and began to untie his shoelaces. In Suguha's peripheral vision, she watched Kazuto's profile, once again biting her muffin. At just that moment, he suddenly spoke,

"Right, Sugu, about last night..."

Suguha suddenly choked, and hurriedly drank a mouthful of juice.

"Y-Yes?"

"So um, that is...Thank you!"

"Eh...?"

Hearing these unexpected words, Suguha could only stare at Kazuto.

"Thanks to you, my spirit has been restored. I, won't give up. I'll definitely save her, and bring her to meet you."

Suguha, enduring the pain in her heart, smiled and answered, "Mm. Do your best! I, too, would like to meet Asuna-san."

"You two would get along very well."

Kazuto patted Suguha on the head and then stood.

"So, see you later."

With that, Kirito started to run up to the second floor, and seeing him go past, Suguha popped the last bit of her muffin into her mouth.

――Do your best...to me too...?

Reaching the pool in the courtyard, Suguha began suburi[7]. Holding her shinai, she began to move in what could almost be called a dance, and slowly began to warm up her body.

In the past, swinging her shinai was all she needed to clear her mind, but today was decidedly different. What was on her mind seemed impossible to erase, and was now firmly entrenched in place.

――Me liking Onii-chan...is that really ok?

Last night, because of such thoughts, she'd already determined to give up. Deep within Onii-chan's heart is only that person; this she clearly understood, but that did nothing for the pain.

――But...maybe it's better this way.

She was divided, conflicted even, unclear as to why she had become so conscious of Kazuto. She, however, was very clear as to when it had begun.

Two months prior, her mother was contacted by the hospital, and she flew to the hospital without a moment's hesitation, to lean by Kazuto's side, eyes brimming with tears and smile bright with gladness. Kazuto reached out his hand, responding with a nostalgic tone. Beginning with that moment, a feeling began to sprout in Suguha's heart. I want to be closer to him, I want to speak more with him, I want to throw myself at him, but this, of course, could not be.

Just staying by his side and watching him is fine as well, Suguha assured herself, as she began swinging her shinai once more. She lost herself in practice and didn't realize how much time had passed until she stopped to look at the clock, only to see that noon had already crept upon her.

"Ah, I can't go on like this. I've got someone to meet."

Ceasing her empty swings, she placed her shinai against the side of a nearby pine tree, and picked up her towel to wipe off her sweat. As she raised her head to gaze at the sky, the blue sky peeked through the clouds.

I went back to my room, changed, and turned my phone to vibrate. I sat on the bed and opened my backpack, and took out the game that Agil had given me.

«ALfheim Online».

I hadn't heard very much, so I read the information booklet. Originally, prior to playing a MMORPG, I would collect information through a number of magazines and forums, but this time I didn't even hesitate. I opened the game packaging and took out the ROM inside. I plugged the Nerve Gear router in, and inserted the ROM into its slot. After a few seconds, the main indicator light stopped flashing, turning solid instead.

Sitting by my bedside, I placed the Nerve Gear over my eyes with both hands.

The formerly shiny Nerve Gear was now slightly damaged, and paint was peeling in several places. For two years, it had been simultaneously my captor as well as an ever-reliable comrade-in-arms.

――Once again, please lend me strength.

With that in mind, I put the Nerve Gear on my head and buckled the chin strap. With the frame in place and the goggles down, I closed my eyes.

Anxiety and excitement caused my heart to beat rapidly, as I tried to slow my racing heartbeat, I said, "LINK START!"

The light passing through my closed eyelids suddenly disappeared. The transmission from my optic nerves was suddenly severed, and my eyes were enveloped by darkness.

Immediately, a rainbow-colored light appeared, and a shapeless «Nerve Gear» gradually formed into a logo. The images, which were initially hazy, were for the purpose of confirming the connection to my visual cortex. Eventually, a line of text appeared below the logo to confirm that the visual connection was OK.

Next came the sound test, and multiple strange sounds resonated. The sounds which were initially distorted slowly became beautiful and changed in pitch and harmony, before gradually decreasing in volume and eventually dying away. When this was complete, a line of text appeared to confirm that the auditory nerve connection was similarly OK.

The initial connection procedure continued. Now moving to the feeling of touch and gravity, the feeling of my bed and weight disappeared. As the connection tests continued with various senses, the number of OKs indicated the successful connection. If FULLDIVE technology had improved, then this process should be shortened dramatically, and all I could do was wait for it to finish.

At last, the final OK appeared, and the next instant brought me falling through the darkness into the colors of a rainbow, an illusion of the world. After passing through this series of rings, I had arrived in a different world.

――Actually, it's still a little early to say that. Out of the darkness emerged an account registration interface. The main ALfheim Online LOGO gradually appeared, accompanied by a soft female voice.

Following the instructions given, I began creating my account and character. At chest height was a pale and shiny virtual keyboard and I entered a User ID and password as prompted. I had many years of experience before beginning SAO, so this process was of some familiarity to me. Since this is a downloadable MMO game, I would normally need to select the payment method, but I had bought this game and it came with a one month free trial.

Next I chose the nickname for my character. I didn't put much thought into it, but entered the name «Kirito».

This name was a shortened form of my real name, Kirigaya Kazuto, and there weren't many who knew that. Those who understood included only the rescue team from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and those with a close connection, i.e. RECTO's president Yuuki Shouzou and that Sugou. Of course, that also included Agil and Asuna, who had yet to wake. Even Suguha and our parents shouldn't know of it.

In the SAO incident, none of this information had been made public, especially character names. This was because in that world there was frequent fighting between players and the result was often a horrible death in the real world. If unrestricted publication of this information was allowed, it would not be difficult to imagine a large number of lawsuits being filed.

At the moment, the blame for the SAO killings was entirely placed on the head of Kayaba Akihiko, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Relatives of players are still suing Argus for damages, the consequences of which have bankrupted said company. That is to say, while the company single-handedly supported by Kayaba voluntarily drew the curtain, the still unavoidable torrent of lawsuits was completely in line with the country's intentions.

With a bit of trepidation I realized the name was known to Sugou Nobuyuki, and because it is a rather well-known name I changed it from its romanized form to its kana form. My selected gender, of course, was male.

Then, the voice advised me to create my character. This is when the player can choose what their character will look like. The many parameters are randomly selected and the system doesn't explain how they can be changed. What bothered me was that an additional fee would be required to change my appearance. Whatever though, anything's fine.

There are nine different fairy races to choose from when deciding my character's role. Each race has its own strengths and weaknesses which can be explained before I need to choose. Salamanders, Sylphs and Gnomes are pretty common to RPGs, but Cait Siths and Leprechauns not so much.

I'm not planning on playing this game too seriously, so anything's fine with me. So because I liked its initial, black themed equipment, I selected the «Spriggan» and pressed OK.

After completing the initial setup, the artificial voice rang out saying "Good luck", I was again sent into the vortex of light. According to the voice, I was being sent to the hometown of my race, the Spriggans, as a starting point for the game. The sensation of the ground disappeared, to be replaced by a floating feeling, then by the feeling of tumbling into a new world. Bright light marked the transition, and the new world gradually emerged and gained depth. I was falling toward a village from high above in the darkness.

After two months of time away from FullDive, the stimulation once again aroused my nerves. In this manner, I slowly approached the slender castle at the center of the town――

At that moment.

The scene before my eyes suddenly froze. Defects appeared here and there as some of the polygons disappeared, and a noise like lightning could be heard throughout the world. The resolution of all objects sharply declined, mosaic-like, and the world dissolved and collapsed altogether.

"W―What on earth!?"

Not even the sound of my cry could be heard―― I began fiercely plummeting once again. With no end to the vast darkness, I descended toward the ground in continuous free fall.

"What do I do now?! AHHHHHHHH!"

My screams were absorbed into the darkness of the void before gradually disappearing.