Disclaimer: I don't own Swords Art Online or any of their characters.
This story takes place during the Alicization Arc. I wasn't able to read it and came up with my story to satisfy my own curiosity. (Trigger Warning: Violence)
Kazuto(Kirito) was in college. He was learning about VR programing and current Augmented Reality studies. He was the top of his class and used a lot of what he learned to slowly step by step, bring Yui to the real world.
Today there was a guest, who arrived at his class. "Hello students. I am Yokamasa Kiro and I am here to give three lucky students, the privilege to work on the final touches on a new system, we will be releasing in the next couple months. We are very proud of it's development. Although its games will be compatible with the AmuSphere, we are hoping that this revolutionary equipment, will break down the walls of reality and bring us one more step closer to Augmented Reality. I have decided to select the top students from the various schools and we seem to have three of them in this class alone. Eugeo, Alice and Kazuto."
Kazuto's eyes lit up. He was going to have the chance to work on an official new piece of technology. He was surprised that Eugeo and Alice were chosen as well. They didn't seem as invested in the courses. But what did he know? He spent his free time in ALO with Yui, Asuna and his friends.
The three students stood up and made their way to the front of the classroom. They were handed new and improved looking models for the VRMMO Tech. They took their seats again.
Kazuto couldn't help but think about it, through the rest of the class. This was an honour. This was experience that fell beyond his beta testing experience. He was going to be working with the team creating it. He was going to play this new game, everyone has been looking forward to, since it had been announced. There were supposed to be more interactive features, the game was supposed to engage people in a new way, with many different fighting styles. This world was supposed to be really expansive. They had been trying to bring back a full level immersible world. One that was going to be on levels that hopefully could exceed SAO. There was also a new feature that the game developers wanted to keep as a surprise. His mind was blown.
Class finally came to an end and he made his way to the courtyard on school campus. He held the piece of tech so close, like he was hiding a weapon. He pulled out his phone. He couldn't contain his excitement. He started to type a message to Asuna. The text read, 'I have some exciting news, meet me at the usual spot at lunch.' He clicked send and looked up to see Eugeo and Alice approach him.
"We are going to take a look. You want to come. I can't wait any longer!" Eugeo burst in enthusiasm as he approached Kazuto in the other side of the courtyard.
"We have classes. I think we should wait." Alice accompanied Eugeo.
"You really think you can wait that long? I think I am going to lose my mind, if I don't go on it right now!" Eugeo blurted. "What do you think, Kazuto?"
"If it is only to take a quick peek, I'm game." Kazuto answered.
"Fine. I will see you in game." Alice gave up.
They parted ways.
Kazuto went to his dorm room. He slumped himself on the bed and stared momentarily at the device. 'I would like to tell Asuna more about it. I can't wait to tell her everything. I wonder if Yui will be compatible with this game. I hope so.' He plugged it in and placed it over his head. "Link Start!"
Kirito grew up in a village with his best friends, Alice and Eugeo. They were the closest thing to family, he had ever had. They were one day assigned the honour of cutting down the village sacred tree. They chopped for years, but it didn't seem like they were getting any closer to cutting it down.
"I'm tired. Let's take a break. How much durability did we bring down, anyway?" Eugeo complained.
Kirito touched the tree and examined it's leftover durability. "We only managed to knock off like 60…"
"What?! You're kidding? That's it?! It will take us, our whole lives to cut at this tree."
"Not just our lives, I figure about 90 more generations at this rate." Kirito slumped against the tree.
"What is the point, anyway? We could be out there having adventures and we are stuck here, chopping this tree." Eugeo complained.
"It is really important, I guess, or they wouldn't have hired us to do it. It isn't that bad."
"I see you two are goofing off as usual. I leave you unattended for a couple hours and this is what I come back to?" Alice scolded.
"You should try doing some actual work!" Eugeo boldly stated.
"Did you bring something to eat at least?" Kirito asked.
"I brought bentos, but their durability is almost up. So eat fast!" Alice placed out a picnic blanket and laid out the food.
"The durability always runs out quickly. I wonder if there is something we could do to prolong its durability." Kirito reasoned as they dug into the bentos.
Alice remained thoughful. "Maybe with ice?" Alice answered.
"Where would we get our hands on that Kind of item?"
"Maybe there is some kind of quest?" Kirito pointed out.
"I heard of a dragon, who possess an ability called 'ice breath.'"
"I am not wanting to get myself killed, Alice." Eugeo wined.
"I don't think we will need to actually encounter the dragon. We might find some ice in its cave, or something." Alice suggested.
"That sounds promising. Let's check it out! I think the tree can wait for us." Kirito teased.
"You can say that again. I'm in!" Eugeo cheered.
"I'm in too." Alice joined in.
That night, they ventured out of their village on a quest to get their hands on some ice.
Asuna sat alone on the bench in the park. She held her basket close. She thought about how much Kazuto loved her cooking. She looked at her phone again to see the time. 'I wonder what is taking him so long. It seemed like there was something he really wanted to tell me.' She looked around expectantly. Every face that came into view, increased her disappointment. She held her phone close and sent another text to Kazuto, asking where he was.
It was getting close to her class time. She couldn't miss it. She left for class on an empty stomach, because she no longer had time to eat, due to waiting for Kazuto. She was distracted the whole way and didn't notice Suguha(Leafa) trying to get her attention. A hand on her shoulder, pulled her attention, though.
"Asuna! I have been trying to call you!"
"Sorry. I was a little distracted." Asuna smiled.
"What's wrong?" Suguha asked in concern.
"Kazuto just missed our lunch. That's all."
"Do you want me to beat him up for you?"
"No. That really isn't necessary. He probably forgot and something came up."
"Didn't you text him?"
"Of course, but you know what Kazuto is like when he gets his head on a project concerning Yui."
"So true. Anyway… We are planning on storming the Telverian Empire tonight. You in?"
"Ya. I'll be there. Have you invited Kazuto already?"
"Yep. He said he will be there." Suguha smiled happily.
"I suppose I will talk to him then. Well, I have to go or I will be late for class."
"Me too."
Asuna and Suguha exchanged waves before leaving for their separate schools.
'It is probably nothing, but I can't help worrying.' Asuna made her way to her class.
The three young children made their way towards the lip of the cave. "Whoa! This place is really amazing." Alice stared in awe at the entrance to the cave. "Look!" She pointed towards the icicles that decorated the cave. "There is some ice. See that was easy."
"Wasn't that a little too easy?" Kirito reasoned.
They heard a roar and the sound of air whipping against the sides of the cave.
"Yep." Eugeo froze. "We need to get outta here now!"
"What about the ice? We came all this way for it." Alice retorted.
"It isn't worth dying over. We need to go back!" Kirito was knocked off his feet by a gust of wind. Something had flown right past them and kept flying. "It wasn't after us? Does it even know we are here?"
"I say we grab the ice and leave before he finds us." Eugeo wined.
"Agreed." Alice and Kirito spoke in unison.
They gathered their ice and left in a hurry. They ran down the mountain, avoiding the monsters the best they could.
They took down a few monsters, waiting for Kirito to finally show up. Leafa, Lizbeth, Silica, Klein, Sinon, Asuna and Yui on Pina. They came down for a landing at the rendezvous spot.
"He still isn't here?" Sinon asked. "Isn't that unusual, even for Kirito?"
Leafa spoke up. "He might have been assigned a project and can't make it."
"Ya, but he would have at least logged on to tell us he couldn't make it, right?" Silica asked.
Asuna grew more concerned. "I will log off and give him a call. You just wait here, I will be back." She clicked the logout button and disappeared from the game.
She pulled off the AmuSphere and reached for her phone. She dialed his number, but his phone went straight to voicemail. "Kazuto? What is going on? You seemed really excited to tell me something and now you seem like you're avoiding us. Please call me back as soon as possible, if you can't meet us in game. We will go on ahead, you know where to find us." She hung up and curled herself into a ball. 'Now I am worried.' After a moment of waiting for him to return her call, she returned the AmuSphere to her head and spoke quietly. "Link start!"
The group of friends were sprawled out on the grass, waiting for Asuna to return and hopefully Kirito to finally show up. Asuna appeared and everyone rose to their feet.
"Well? Is he coming?" They asked.
"I got his voicemail." Asuna seemed distant.
"Don't worry, Asuna. I know my brother has a good explanation for this. He wouldn't have ignored, us intentionally." Leafa tried to comfort Asuna.
"Leafa? You know Kirito really well. Don't you think this is weird? What did he say, when you talked to him last?" Klein pressed.
"All he said was that he was really excited to be going on this raid and taking a little break from his studies. He had mentioned something pretty exciting came up. He couldn't wait to tell everyone about it."
"Actually, he had mentioned something like that in his last text." Asuna added.
"Knowing my brother, he let the excitement get to him. Whatever it is, he probably couldn't pry himself away from it."
"True. That is something he would do." They agreed.
"I told him, that if he didn't join us soon, we would leave without him. Maybe he will meet us out there." Asuna chose to be positive. There really shouldn't be anything to worry about. They were right, he was pretty excited about this news. He probably just got caught up with it.
They all flew away towards their next quest.
"That was too close!" The three children panted hastily. They hid themselves in a nearby forest.
"It almost got us. Remind me to never do that again!" Eugeo sat down on the ground.
"At least we got what we came for." Alice tried to cheer them up.
"We will find out if it was worth it, soon enough." Kirito spread himself out on the grass. "It is getting late. I think we should stay here for the night."
Eugeo acted defeated. "I guess we will have to eat tomorrow…"
"Hungry already?" Alice teased.
"We had to go through all of that stuff back there, anyone would be." Eugeo defended.
"We were suppose to be back by sundown. I don't think Daron will be too happy that we took the day off." Kirito sighed.
"Uh, whatever. Who wants that job anyways. Maybe we should join the cause, like everyone else."
"You think you would be up for that, Eugeo?" Alice taunted.
"I certainly would."
"Our levels are way too low. We would only get in the way…" Alice reasoned.
"So! We could raise them. What is the requirement for joining the cause?" Eugeo beamed with confidence.
"I think it was level 100." Alice replied.
"No way! How does anyone expect us to get that high?" Eugeo whined.
"We could do it." Kirito encouraged as he gazed at his own level. It read 453.
Eugeo looked at his and it read 24 and Alice was 19.
"Ya! I will raise my levels so fast, they will be begging us to join them." Eugeo burst with confidence.
"What about the village? You know we can't just leave." Alice stressed the villages needs as if it would come crumbling down without them. "We have commitments. We have to look out for our own people."
"Yeah. As much as I hate to admit it… Alice is right, Eugeo. We can't just leave."
They made a camp and chose to sleep in the field, for the night.
"Kazuto? I don't know why you have chosen to keep your phone turned off, but I wish you would call me. I am worried about you, we all are. You haven't talked to us in days and you're not on ALO anymore. Yui misses you." She ended the conversation and sat there by herself in their usual meeting place. She was tempted to go to his school and break his door down, but she decided to let him come to her, when he was ready. She didn't want to come off as some clingy girlfriend.
She finally went home and turned on the AmuSphere. She placed on her head and dove back in.
Asuna found everyone standing around in front of their cabin. "Is everyone ready to try again?"
"I never realized how much harder it would be without Kirito." Sinon stated and received nods from everyone.
"Did you finally get a hold of him, Asuna? I haven't gotten through yet. I am planning on going over to his school, because I am starting to get worried." Leafa held a downcast expression.
"No, I didn't either..." Asuna could only reflect her disappointment.
"What could be more important than hanging out with his buddies?" Klein interjected.
"Is daddy coming back?" Yui teared.
"Of course he is, Yui. He wouldn't leave us." Asuna reassured her.
Suddenly, they heard a gasp. It drew all their attention. "What's the matter?" They grew concerned.
Silica looked like she might cry. "He isn't on my friends list…"
They all checked their friend lists and came with the same conclusion.
Asuna roared. "That's it! I am going over there and anyone who wants to come with me, is free to do so!"
They all nodded. "Count us in!"
Fire engulfed the village. When they arrived they were horrified. "NO! WE HAVE TO HELP THEM!" Kirito roared in despair. The three of them ran down towards the village. They broke into houses and tried to save the children. Kirito ran towards the chief's cottage. "CHIEF!"
"THE TREE! SAVE THE SACRED TREE!" The chief yelled.
"What about you?!" Kirito's eyes were filled with horror.
"I will get out on my own! SAVE THE TREE!"
Kirito turned around and made his way for the tree, after saving the chief, despite his orders. He then placed some protective items around the tree and dowsed it with water. "I will not let you burn! Not after all the work we put into you!" The fire drew near. Kirito was surrounded by the flames. Something felt odd, that he was sacrificing his own life for a tree.
"KIRITO!" Eugeo and Alice screamed in unison. "GET OUTTA THERE!"
There wasn't anyway to do so. He felt the pain of the flames grazing across his arms. Then sheer horror hit, when the sacred tree became engulfed in flames, despite his efforts. There was nowhere to run. He finally opened his menu and grazed through his item storage. He clicked an item and it appeared on his body. He had his whole Black ensemble from SAO. He pulled himself as close to the tree as he could without being burned and launched himself to the other side of the flames. There he stood in horror as the tree burned to the ground.
"NOOO!" The people shrieked. "Not the tree!"
They knew at that moment, their failure to protect the tree, cost them their kinship. They wouldn't be welcome here anymore. Before they could be removed from the village, they left. No idea where to go, not knowing what to do and having nobody to rely on, but themselves.
They all met in the park and left for Kazuto's school. When they arrived, they were met with a scary scene before them. The flashing blue and red lights graced the surrounding streets. The police had the school surround.
"The cops? What are they doing here?" Asada(Sinon) reacted first.
Asuna spotted a familiar face among the cops. "I think I might know who has the answer to that." She stormed up to Chrysheight. "What is going on here, Chrysheight?!" She demanded. Everyone followed close behind her.
"You know, you shouldn't be calling me by that name in the real world." He responded.
"Answer my question!" Asuna didn't have time to play games.
"Very well, but you aren't going to like it." He warned.
Everyone felt a pain in their heart and began to worry.
"Three of the students from this school, have gone missing…"
"Missing how?" Asada asked.
"They stopped coming to classes and the local authorities have theories to why that is, but nothing can be confirmed. It is being ruled as a coincidence, so that is why I have been called here. To find out if there is any relation between the incidents."
"Is Kazuto one of the students…?" Asuna felt like her heart was barely holding together.
"He is…"
Everyone gasped with their mouths hanging open.
Tears welled up in Asuna's eyes.
"What do you mean between the incidents?" Klein roared with his fists balled up.
"Three top students were selected to work on a new VRMMO Device that was going to put its predecessors to shame. It was going to be the final link to Augmented Reality. Those same students haven't been heard from since." Chrysheight explained.
"You think this has something to do with those new rigs?" Asada asked in a halting voice.
"How long have they been missing?" Keiko(Silica) asked.
"A few days. We can't confirm nor deny whether it has anything to do with them."
"Why didn't my mother and I get notified after his disappearance." Suguha was trying her best not to cry.
"No one suspected anything. Everyone believed that they had locked themselves in their rooms, to play on these new devices. The principle became furious with their lack of attendance and eventually had the door broken down. They soon discovered that the three students weren't even in the school. That was when we were finally notified."
Suguha heard a familiar cry and looked to see her mother with an officer around the corner. She had her hand over her mouth and was in utter shock. Suguha ran over to her and they shared an embrace. Then her mother couldn't contain it any longer and burst into tears.
"Chrysheight! I mean Kikuoka Seijirou. Are there any leads? Anything you know about the game he was testing? Anything?" Asuna drilled.
"Not at this time. I am sorry." He turned to leave. "I must get back to the investigation, if there is any hope of finding them." He then took his leave of them.
Klein's fists tightened so much, he was going to burst a blood vessel soon. "Where could he have gone? Who could have done this?"
"It seems like too much of a coincidence for it to be the same three students who received this new device, as the ones that went missing. There is no way that is a coincidence!" Rika(Lizbeth) piped in.
"Remember how Kirito wasn't on our friend list. He must have converted his file over." Keiko pointed out.
"Kazuto wouldn't have converted Kirito, without a pressing reason and he certainly wouldn't have done it without telling me first." Asuna explained. "He always creates new accounts with other games. Except for GGO. But that was different, he needed to have his skills intact. Not to mention, he told me about it first." Her expression turned thoughtful. "He was really excited to tell me something and I bet it was about the new model he was going to be working on. That means he went missing between that text and our lunch break."
"Now it all makes sense. I feel bad now, that we were so mad at him for it." Keiko cried, wiping her tears away.
Asada placed her hand on Keiko's shoulder tenderly. "We couldn't have known this was going on."
"If his account has been converted, maybe we can find out more information from Agil." Rika suggested, knowing Agil is always up to date on the furoms.
"He might not know anything. But it is better than doing nothing at all." Asuna agreed.
A/N: If you ever get lost between what world, I am referring to at any time, pay close attention to what name, everyone is being addressed as. In game, they will be referred to, by their avatar's name. IRL, they will be addressed by legal name, with the exception of a couple minor characters.