Kirigaya Kazuto sighed tiredly as he entered his home. Lis-no Shinozaki had been teasing him relentlessly about his last date with Asuna. She might be a friend, a party member, and still the best blacksmith he knew, but it was none of her business about what he and his girlfriend…Kazuto made himself stop thinking about that immediately. They still hadn't decided what to call themselves. Friends? Formerly married? It was hard defining a relationship that started in a virtual world.
Kazuto sighed again, toeing off his shoes. He needed to stop thinking about this. Who cares what the relationship was called, as long Asuna stuck around to be in it. "I'm home!" He called out to his family.
Kirigaya Suguha (Sugu) popped her head around the doorway to the living room. "Welcome big brother. I was just about to start dinner. What do you feel like tonight?" She asked with a kitchen knife in hand.
"Anything is fine." The tired student told his sister, shrugging off his student jacket.
Sugu waved her knife threateningly. "Big brother that is so not helpful. At your age …" Sugu's scolding was cut off when the room was plunged into darkness. The siblings blinked in confusion as they realized they were no longer in their home. A strange light filtered in from above, but outside of that light they were surrounded by pure darkness. It was if their small pocket of light was smack dab in the middle of a black hole.
"Kirito-kun!" A familiar voice called out from the darkness.
Kazuto knew that voice. "Asuna?" Out of the darkness a beautiful chestnut haired girl ran into Kazuto's arms. He instinctively curled his arms around the young woman. She hugged him back tightly. "What are you doing here?" He asked her, noticing she was still in her uniform too.
Asuna looked up into his eyes. Already he could see her tremendous courage building back up. The trembling stopped, and soon she was in control of herself once more. "I'm sorry Kirigaya-kun," She shook her head, like she was shaking off cobwebs. "I don't know what is going on. I was walking home one minute, and then the next I was swallowed up by this inky darkness. We aren't in virtual reality are we?"
Kazuto shook his head. He was pretty sure this wasn't a virtual world, unless someone had slipped an amusphere on all of them. He didn't know where they were, but he needed to make sure the two girls he cared about most made it back home. "I don't know where we are, but we're going to figure this out together."
"Helloooo? Anybody else here?" Another voice called from the darkness. The trio looked at each other, and decided to move toward the disembodied voice. As they got closer, they could make out a tall man with red spiky hair.
Suguha stopped and tilted her head. "Is that you Klein-san?"
"Leafa-chan!" The boisterous man ran toward Suguha, his arms held open for a hug. Kazuto frowned, and stepped in front of Suguha. His eyes threatening his friend if he moved one step closer, there would be consequences. Tsuboi Ryoutarou stopped, and scratched his cheeks embarrassedly. "I mean it is nice to see you again Kirigaya-chan, and of course you too Kirigaya-kun and Yukki-chan. I guess I just got excited to see more people I knew in this creepy place."
"Who is else is here?" Asuna asked Tsuboi-san.
"I think it may be easier to just show you." He waved the trio over a little further, where they could see more people standing around a half round table that appeared out of nowhere. Kazuto recognized Asada Shino from her profile, but he couldn't place the man she was talking to. Klein called to the engrossed pair.
Asada-san waved at the members of her party. "Yo." The rest of the group waved back enthusiastically.
When the man turned toward him, Kazuto stopped in his tracks. It was the face of a man he would rather forget, him and his cactus hair.
Asuna hissed, "Kibaou".
The man grimaced. "Asuna the crimson", he nodded respectfully. He turned toward Kazuto, sneered, and said "Beater-kun".
Tsuboi-san put a comforting hand on Kazuto's shoulder. "I think you mean hero-kun. After all, he did clear the game." If noticed the deepening frown on Kazuto's face, he ignored it.
"Indeed he did." Another voice called out. Tsuboi, Asada, and Kibaou started in surprise. Clearly they didn't realize this person had arrived either. The mysterious voice slowly emerged from the darkness. At first all they could see was the light bouncing off a white lab coat, it wasn't until he was within several feet of the rest of the group that they could see his face.
It was Kayaba Akihito.
"B-b-but you died…" Kibaou stammered. "After the end of SAO you died."
"In a way, I did." Kayaba told them while smirking. "Or at least my body did, but you knew that didn't you Kirito-kun?" Most of the heads turned toward Kazuto.
Kazuto stepped up to face Kayaba. "So, you did escape into the internet." He told the former guild master.
"Thanks to you and the SEED. I wasn't sure if you would utilize it, or if your hatred would lead to its destruction. I decided to take a gamble."
Kazuto looked Kayaba in the eye, ready to challenge him again if need be. "Did you do this? Did you bring us here?"
Kayaba grimaced, but remained silent. That told him that this wasn't Kayaba's doing, and that he wasn't happy not being in control of the situation. The man held out a piece of paper to Kazuto. The dual-wielder read it to himself, his brows knit in frustration.
Asada-san recognized Kayaba. It was hard to forget a man who took 10,000 people hostage, and trapped them in a death game. She could see how his presence was affecting his victims. She wanted to end the confrontation before the tension in the room exploded. She tugged on Kirigaya-kun's arm. "What does it say?"
Kazuto read the letter aloud:
To all of those assembled here:
I have brought all of you here out of time, space, and out of other realities to show another side to SAO Event. Among one you is a hero, one that has faced many trials involving different realities. You are here to watch his journey, to better understand his struggles. In the near future a new incident will threaten our young hero. You need to recognize the strengths that allowed him to thrive in a foreign world, so that he will be prepared when the next threat arises. Who knows, it might inspire all of you to grow stronger as well. Watch, listen, discuss, and learn from all of virtual reality has shaped one remarkable young man.
It may be your salvation,
A Friend
P.S. You all must be in attendance before the presentation will begin
"So this random person kidnapped us, to watch a presentation?" Suguha asked confusedly. "What's wrong with a DVD?"
Kazuto smirked. "Don't worry Sugu, after a while you get used to strangers kidnapping you for ambiguous reasons."
Asada elbowed Kazuto in the gut. "Not funny. Not funny at all."
Asuna moved up to Kazuto, and took his hand. "The note makes it seem like somebody might be coming after you. They claim you're in danger." She looked up at him, her eyes pleading. "If this presentation thing might help you, we need to watch it."
"Then I believe that we might want to move towards the table." Kayaba pointed to half round table coming up from the shadows. Distracted by the people, Kazuto hadn't noticed the seven chairs surrounding it. "When we are all seated I believe this farce might get started at last."
"Control freak", Kazuto muttered.
Kibaou moved in front of Kayaba, and decked him. The scientist fell to the floor on his butt. The cactus head leaned down and sneered at the man in the lab coat. "Why should I watch anything with a low down criminal?"
Kayaba wiped the blood off his chin. "Maybe because if we do not do as the note instructs, we may never leave here. You may not have noticed, but there are no doors, windows, nor virtual screens to use to get of here. We're trapped." With that he got up, not even looking at the irate Kibaou. However, Tsuboi-san stepped in his way.
He held out his hands in an effort to stave off more violence. "Now hold on there. We might have to follow the advice of this mysterious friend, but there are a lot of intense feelings in this room. It might better to keep the more volatile parties separated. Kayaba-san you take the seat farthest to the left. Kibaou you should sit directly opposite, that way you'll be the farthest from each other. As for the others…" The spiky man grinned. "Let's have the main character in the middle. That way we can all share him."
Kazuto only rolled his eyes in exasperation.
Suguha piped up. "I want to sit next to big brother." Realizing how brazen she sounded, she blushed. "Please."
"That's not a bad idea." Asuna told the group. "It might be better to keep people that are less likely to kill an evil kidnapper one side." She glared at Kayaba, who only raised one eyebrow.
"I don't mind sitting next to him." Asada-san volunteered. She was probably the only in the room that held more curiosity than contempt for the man.
Tsuboi-san grinned at the girl. "Okay, so it's Kayaba, Asada-chan, Kirigaya-chan, and Kirigaya-kun in the middle. I assume Yukki-chan…"
"Will be sitting next to Kirigaya-kun. Yes?" Asuna glared at her party member.
"Right. Following Yukki-chan it should be me, and finally Kibaou. Does that satisfy everybody?"
Kazuto smirked. "Do I get any say in this?"
Suguha grabbed her brother and dragged him to his seat. "Nope." She told him as she pushed him down. As soon as everyone was seated, a screen popped into existence. Color and sound filled the screen, and the words SWORD ART ONLINE appeared.
Let the show begin. So how is it so far?