Kirigaya Midori tiptoed into her house at 2:30 PM when she saw something that made her stop and smile. She saw her daughter and adopted son laying on the couch together, asleep. Suguha was tucked under Kazuto's arm and was resting her head on his chest. Kazuto had one arm around her and the other gripping the remote like it was a knife and he had to get up and fight to protect Suguha at a moment's notice. It nearly brought a tear to Midori's eye. She quickly took out her phone and snapped a picture of them with a grin. She quietly walked to her room and shut the door.
The next morning, Kazuto woke up to find that Suguha wasn't in the living room any more. He stood up and stretched then walked to his room to get dressed. He dressed in a black shirt, black jeans, put on a black jacket and black, fingerless gloves. He looked in the mirror. For a fleeting second, he could have sworn, he saw Kirito, dressed in his Coat of Midnight. Kazuto rubbed his eyes and shook it off.
He walked outside and got on his bike and peddled down the street towards the Dicey Café. He skidded to a halt outside and parked his bike then walked in to the nearly empty café.
"Watch out, Agil. With all the money you're earning today, it might go to your head." Kazuto mused.
"Funny. Asuna was here earlier. She was looking for you. Thought you might be here. Says you haven't even talked to her in almost three weeks. She seemed upset." The tall, African man gestured to a seat at the bar.
"Three weeks already?" Kazuto asked, sitting down, "I could have sworn I talked to her last week in here."
"That was three weeks ago." Agil commented, sliding a glass of tea to Kazuto. "You'd better see her. Or I'll stop giving you free drinks."
"What?! H-hey! That's not fair!" Kazuto exclaimed, nearly choking on a mouthful of tea. Agil couldn't help but laugh.
"Calm down, Mr. Hero. I'm only kidding. Maybe. Anyway, I've been studying up on this guy you told me about. Yakushi Goro. I learned that he specializes in advanced programs that can run VRMMORPG's."
"Like the Cardinal program from SAO." Kazuto said, intrigued.
"Exactly. And the sub-programs that do different jobs. Kind of like how Yui was supposed to calm players when Kayaba trapped us."
"Well that's all fine and dandy, but what does this have to do with me?" Kazuto asked.
"I'm getting to that. Now, as it so happens, he was in cahoots with Argus when we were trapped in the death game. He was allowed access to monitor players. And he seemed to be interested in Kirito." Agil explained.
"Why me, of all people?" He asked.
"Well, besides Heathcliff, you were the strongest player. Dual wield abilities, quick reaction time." Agil told him.
"My sweet-ass coat." Kazuto continued.
Agil couldn't help but chuckle at the young hero's comment.
"Okay, there. Everything I learned is on this flash drive." He said, sliding a black USB flash drive to Kazuto who put it in his pocket.
"Thanks for the drink. I'll see you later." Kazuto said, walking out.