A/N: Hello. As a fan of SAO, I was really sad that Yuuki had to go out the way she did... what happened to her just wasn't fair! :( And I also thought about how Kayaba's goal still remained a mystery. And I thought, "why not find a way to resolve both of them?" So I did. I'm not sure if people would prefer it, but I just love Yuuki so much. I hope it doesn't bug you, though. Here's hoping...

Prologue: "Link Start"

One morning, a young man with short raven hair, and a widow's peak woke up from an alarm and turned it off. After that, he sat up from his bed and looked out of the window, pulling the curtain back as he smiled at the new day the morning had to offer. Then, he got up off of the bed before taking a shower. After said shower, he used hair gel to keep his hair nice. Personally, he preferred it to be normal, but it's just not suitable for the public, as far as his shareholders are concerned. The next task for him was to find a suitable outfit, which wasn't too hard, considering his closet was full of them. Up next, he had to look for breakfast. It was clear what his first choice was going to be: Waffles. He especially loved them so with maple syrup drizzled on them. Then, once he's all dressed up and ready, the real work begins.

He went down the elevator and was about to walk out the door before his secretary walked toward him.

"Oh, Mr. Kayaba! You're just in time!"

His name was Korai Kayaba. His age was now 18 and is the rightful successor to his father's company after the SAO incident claimed his life. However, it was a person named Kirito that had dealt the blow to end him. Not that he could blame him. In fact, he praised him. Since the beginning of the incident, he resented his father for creating something so fatal, let alone not doing anything to fix it. However, it wasn't to say that it's not bittersweet. He still never found out why his father would've done this. His thoughts on this were shaken as his secretary spoke to him.

"Sir, can you hear me?"

Then, Korai snapped back to reality before he turned to her.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. My mind's on someone else."

"Well, it'll have to wait. There's someone named Kazuto Kirigaya wanting to see you."

Somehow, it felt familiar to him. As he went over the name in his mind, though, he figured it out. For an expert VRMMO player, his name choice was actually something a rookie would do.

"Kazuto, huh? Well, thanks for the tip."

Korai was about to push a button on the elevator when he'd noticed that the button was already pressed and held off on it. Then, when the elevator doors opened, he saw a boy with short raven hair and a girl with long autumn hair before he walked toward his chair in front of them and sat down.

"Hello, Kazuto, Asuna. I can already guess why you're here with me today."

Kazuto knew it just as well as he did, considering how he was just as much at a loss over what his father did as anyone else was. In fact, Korai called them here himself for any clues as to his father's intentions. The search began not long after Kirito defeated the death game and Kayaba, his own father. After the game was cleared and everyone went free, Korai didn't spend his freedom on any celebration. He was determined to figure out his father's intentions by himself. For about a year, it was always met with one dead end after another. When he saw Kirito again, back when he bested Death Gun, he took it as a sign that he would know somehow. And to add to that, he was struck with another epiphany. He defeated his father because he had a reason to fight. If he had that same drive, it would help him with his search. Of course, it had yet to be explained to the guests in question.

"To sort out why your father would create such a death game."

"Well, that's one part of it."

The two grew confused at this as Asuna spoke up.

"Then, what's the other part?"

"We'll discuss that later. Right now, let's take care of that one part first."

Kazuto felt it suspicious before he reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, then. Let's say we did. What part about your father exactly are you trying to find out?"

"Well, that's exactly the problem. Before SAO, he's a kind and loving father just like any other parent towards their children. Then, the next year after that, at the time he started making SAO to begin with, he's grown obsessed and erratic. That's the mystery I'm trying to figure out. Who was my father, really?"

Kazuto didn't feel reassured with what he presented.

"Well, so far there's more questions than answers."

"I know. And that's what's frustrating me. We're no closer to finding them out than in square one."

Asuna had a suggestion to determine what it could've been.

"Well, did your father have something tragic happen to him?"

"Not likely. At least, not other than my mom being raped and left for dead. We don't talk about that."

And it was for good reason. That very event struck him at his core when he was young. One night, when his father left for work, Shiki Kayaba, his mother, went to answer the door when it was rung. What she never knew was that the culprit was waiting. As soon as he saw the opportunity, he burst in and beat her down. Korai tried to save her, but was knocked away and locked in a closet door. After he broke out, the last he saw of his mother faded away as she was dragged screaming into the night. Moments later, her stripped body was seen in an alleyway with blood trickling down her neck. At one point in his search for why his father had created SAO, he believed that his mother's death drove him to create it as means of personal revenge, but eventually realized that it was too complex for something so simple: he needed more evidence. This made Asuna feel sorry for crossing the line before she retracted her question.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that."

"It's alright. Anyway, I will say this: what happened to my mother broke him. And when he tried putting himself together, it just... tore him up again. Before he changed, though, he said that if anything happened to me, he'd be turned into a different person."

Kazuto, considering what happened in the game, with so many lives lost, didn't have any sympathy.

"By the looks of it, it was bound to happen, either way."

Korai clearly wasn't happy to hear that, but kept his cool despite it.

"I didn't call you here for a joke, Kazuto. This is serious."

"And so am I. Ask anyone."

"There's no need for that. I already know your reputation as the black swordsman, as well as a great deal about what nightmare you've been through. You think I wanted this to happen?"

"Well, you sure didn't do a darn thing about it."

Asuna felt he was blaming him and snapped quietly at him.

"Kazuto!"

Kodai just waved her off, knowing he has a point.

"No, Asuna. He's right. I never did anything about it. I was just as much a prisoner as you all were. Except Kazuto here did something about it by standing up to my father."

He then paused his sentence to turn to Kazuto before speaking.

"And I gotta admit, I'm... I'm kind of a bit jealous of you."

"Jealous of me? For what?"

"Well, I didn't exactly have the best response to this whole situation. You, however, kept a cool head all the way to the end. That's why you're here with Asuna now, at least that's what I imagine. Another thing I wanted to know was how you've been able to do that."

Kazuto had a guess about what the second part was about.

"Was that what the second part was for?"

"Well, it's about that, yes. That's what I wanted to ask you. I was wondering if I can join your quest, whatever it may be."

Kazuto and Asuna grew shocked to hear such a request from Korai as they replied intermittently.

"You want to join our quest?"

"Yeah. That sounds weird coming from me, I know. But I've been thinking. Maybe if I fought with you guys and see what you see, except for the fight to the death part, then maybe... just maybe, I could understand what drove you to survive, and I could learn to do the same."

Then, Kazuto put some thought into what he said. He can't really blame him for being the son of Kayaba, and he's really determined to understand both him and his late father. It was at this moment that he made his decision.

"Okay, why not? Of course you can join us."

Asuna grew surprised to hear this.

"Kazuto!"

"Relax, Asuna. He's trying to make an effort to get to know us better. He may be the son of Kayaba, but that doesn't make him who he is. His actions speak for themselves."

Asuna couldn't help but smile at Kazuto's positiveness.

"Well, if that's what you want."

Then, she turned to Korai and spoke to him.

"But I'll be keeping an eye on you. Nothing personal."

Korai nodded to her in agreement.

"Fair enough."

Later, Korai joined Asuna, Kirito, and the others as Perseus in their recent quest to get to Floor 22 in order to purchase a cabin they'd stayed in before at SAO. At first, he didn't quite understand it, but after having spent time with them inside the cabin, he began to understood its importance. It's where they've learned that they're better off together and where they first met Yui, their digital "daughter." Korai was amazed at how she's managed to exist all on her own in spite of his father's countermeasures. As the group played in the snow, Korai was holding Yui in his hand and admiring her.

"Amazing... to think that the system's A.I. could be drawn to Kirito & Asuna... and even have a resemblance to them."

This made Yui blush as she spoke.

"I know. Mommy & Daddy sure are great."

This caught Korai by surprise as he spoke.

"Huh? 'Mommy & Daddy?'"

"Uh-huh. Oh! That reminds me. Do you know where babies come from?"

As he was pondering about what to do in this situation, he'd heard the words "P.K. er" and immediately snapped out of the train of thought and his attention was grabbed.

"Who said anything about a P.K. er?!"

Asuna had grown startled from this but answered honestly.

"Uh, sorry. I was just asking if this new player was a P.K. er"

Then, Korai turned to Lisbeth.

"And?"

"You don't have to worry, Chief. Zekken's no P.K. er. Just a duelist, that's all."

Then, upon hearing the name Zekken, he knew what that name meant: Absolute Sword. He began asking about Zekken to Lizbeth. According to her, Zekken was a new player on the block, but only a month ahead of him. He also found out that on Floor 24 on a small island, Zekken stood in wait for tough opponents to fight. The first day Zekken posted it, 30 players tried to teach him a lesson, and ultimately failed. Even Kirito had no luck, making Korai all the more surprised. The only thing more surprising was her original sword skill. It's an extremely powerful 11-hit combo, just a number ahead of his 10-hit combo, Solum Wrath. Next, he'd found out the race and weapon of choice for Zekken, which was an Imp and a skinny one-handed sword. The more he thought this over, the more intrigued he became of Zekken. Whether it's for better or worse is still to be determined. Eventually, he made a plan to go in as the same race. After all, he's forged a new weapon of his own recently, and he's planning on debuting it to Zekken, friend or foe.

"So, you're saying Zekken's waiting at 3:00 at the small island with the big tree at Floor 24?"

The girls replied to him in unison as an answer.

"Yep."

"Well, then. I'll just have to take care of my work and then fight this Zekken there early. 2:30's the earliest I can be."

As he set his goal, Asuna, Silica, Leafa, and Lisbeth grew very excited to see the battle happen.

"You got it."

"I can't wait! This is gonna be so much fun!"

"Yeah, it will!"

"Ha, yeah! Perseus is gonna get unleashed!"

Then, Korai scrolled the menu down before he clicked on sign out.

"Just you wait, Zekken. Korai Kayaba is coming for you."