Sword Art Online
The Guilty Hero´s Rescue
Chapter 2 – Torture on both sides
- February the 7th 2024. 9.35 am. Asuna´s POV -
I had woken up from the death game three months ago. As I woke up in my hospital bed I was shocked at first to find out I was still alive. I looked around and slowly lifted my weak and thin body up, removed the Nervegear from my head, and looked around so I could get a better view of my surroundings. It was a simple hospital room with a bed, a small night table beside it to my left with a vase of pink and yellow flowers, and a couple of chairs in front of a large and wide window to my right. "How did I… but me and Kirito-kun... "And then it struck me. Memories of me and my virtual husband together flashed through my mind, and my eyes which before was lifeless and hollow, became full of life and shining with tears. I began to sob as I remembered what happened. What had happened to me and Kirito-kun in Sao. How we had seen the end of the game together. How we had kissed and disappeared together. And the fact I would never see him again pained me to the core. But as I sat and wondered where exactly he was right now, the thought struck me. ´If I survived the ordeal… Then why shouldn´t Kirito-kun? ` I smiled widely at the thought that he would be in the real world with me. The mere thought made me happy as If I had just received the most wonderful gift in the world. As I smiled my tears, now filled with happiness, rolled down my cheeks. As I sat there and cried my tears of joy, all of a sudden several doctors and nurses barged in through the door, rushing to my side "she is awake doctor! She is awake! "As I was forcefully pushed back down on the bed "Yuuki-san you need to lie down! Your body can´t handle it! "I just smiled faintly and kept crying happily, as the doctors began to examine me and my condition. I smiled and soon fell asleep, with only one thought in my head. To get my strength back so I could find Kirito-kun.
I then went back to my wonderful home, still undergoing rehab though. In three months I had been training my muscles and body, and had finally gained the ability to walk without a crutch. I had become more and more lively, and had quickly regained the most of my muscle mass and strength. And after a month and a week I was finally on my way home. But the fact that I was coming home to my family again, was not the thing that was set on my mind. All I was thinking about was how I was supposed to find Kirito-kun. As I arrived at my home my mom opened the car door for me, and smiled a little. Something which was a rarity these days. I was lying on my bed, and looked up into the roof of my room, the one I hadn´t seen for over two years. It looked just like it did when I left it. I sat up and smiled faintly, the only thought in my head being Kirito-kun. I sighed a little and grabbed my phone, calling Rika or Lisbeth as she is called in-game, to make her come over and we could go see Kirito-kun together. Rika-san and I had been friends since we were children, and normally she don´t like RPG games, so I was surprised that I actually found her in Sao. A month ago I finally managed to get Kirito-kun´s location info from The Sword Art Online Case Victims Rescue Force. From a man called Kikouka who was an investigator in the rescue force. At first he didn´t want to tell me, because he wanted to protect Kirito-kun´s and his family´s privacy. But finally, after I had pleaded him the millionth time, he gave in with a sigh and gave up the information. I had been truly ecstatic at the time. I was truly happy to know that I finally could see my beloved again. And at that moment I was just waiting for my best friend to arrive, so we could go visit him together. I knew that he still is under medical care, because of the info Kikouka gave me. But the only thing that was bothering me is why? Why would Kirito-kun still be in a hospital? He should at least be well enough to return home with his family right? Kikouka didn´t say anything about it so I guessed I would find out when I got there. I was worried something had gone wrong.
- 9.55 am. Asuna´s household -
Rika-san arrived at my house five minutes ago, and surprisingly, she brought Keiko-chan, or Scilica-chan, and Ryotaro-san, or Klein-san, with her. I was a little surprised but greeted them with a wide smile and open arms anyway, hugging all three. "It´s nice to see you guys again! How did you find each other? "Rika simply smirked and gave a thumbs up "I just annoyed the crap out of the boss of The Sword Art Online Case Victims Rescue Force until I had information about the whereabouts of all my new online friends! About a week ago I sought everyone out and made sure everyone had each other's phone number so we could contact each other!" I smiled at her and hugged her "That sounds like you Rika! Thank you "as I put on my shoes "Mom! I will go meet my boyfriend ok? "I didn´t dare to say ´my husband´ to her yet. Mainly because she would freak out if I did, and partly because we were not married in real life. Yet at least. The thought of being married to Kirito-kun in real life almost made me giggle at the time. But before I managed to do so I heard an irritated humming from my mother "What!? That boy again? "I sighed and rolled my eyes at her "yes mom. He is really a nice guy. "She sighed before answering "ok but I will soon find a proper husband for you "I growled slightly at the last comment. Even before I was trapped in Sao she kept bringing in suitors for me, and I had immediately and promptly turned each offer down. She only brought all of these men in, because they were of a rich family, or had good contacts, so it would be a plus on her bank account in the end. I had been furious at her each time she brought in a new suitor, and I had had several arguments with her, where more than once something was damaged or shattered when we had finished screaming at each other. She would just never respect the fact that I couldn´t marry someone I didn´t love. So we had had giant arguments because of it. ¨I growled at her statement and sighed, as I had thought the incident with Sao would make her forget about it, just a little bit. But I hadn´t been home for a week before the whole damn thing started over again "Yeah whatever "I said irritated as me and my friends exited my house and walked out on the concrete street.
Klein and Scilica had been very surprised at my house being that big. My family had always had an enormous amount of money because of my father´s high status at the gaming company. I hadn´t told my friends anything about my family´s wealth, partly because I'm not one to show of my wealth, and partly it was not a common thing to talk about the real world in Sao. So I had never told anyone online about my family or my home. The only one, who knew about my family and home, was Lizbeth. She smiled happily as we walked down to the bus stop nearby, and waited for our ride. I sighed a little as I gripped for, what i thought to be the Yui´s Heart Necklace around my neck, but realized that it was not there anymore. I had done that a million times after I got out of Sao. And each time I realized it was not there anymore, I would either sigh or begin to cry. This time it was only a sigh, and I clenched my fist on my chest as I looked up at the electronic clock hanging over the bus stop. 10.05. Only five minutes until the bus arrived. The bus trip would take 10 minutes, so it meant I only had to wait around 15 minutes to see my beloved again. It made me smile a little and look up at my friends, Klein hopelessly hitting on Lizbeth, which was answered with a punch to the gut. He moaned as all the air that had been in his lungs left him, as he squirmed on the hard pavement. I couldn´t contain myself and burst into laughter, Scilica soon doing the same as we found it absolutely hilarious. Klein huffed irritated as he got up, glaring at Lizbeth as he moved to another seat at the bus stop. I giggled a little and smiled, standing up as the bus rolled up to our bus stop.
We finally arrived at the hospital, after a bus trip that, for me lasted for too long, as I almost sprinted up to the counter, asking the young girl behind the desk where they kept a guy called Kazuto Kirigaya. She smiled at me and nodded, saying he was in room 375. I bowed before walking to his room, smiling and taking a deep breath as I was finally standing outside the room. I smiled a little as I imagined the childish beaming look on his face when I would enter and how we would embrace. I smiled widely and entered the room only to get a huge shock. Kirito-kun was lying on his bed, still with a Nervegear attached to his head. Beside his bed sat a young girl, maybe 14 or 15 years old, and a woman, 30, maybe 33 years old. It was Kirito´s sister and mother, which I later found out. They looked at me in a state of surprise "W-Who are you? Are you here to see Kazuto? "The young girl said, with a surprised look on her face. I swallowed and nodded slowly, a cherry red color making its way onto my cheeks. "I-I'm so sorry... I-I thought he was awake. "They seemed even more surprised at my statement, taking a quick look at each other before the woman took the lead. "W-Who are you? "She asked, I smiled weakly as the red color turned into pink and soon disappeared "I-I´m Asuna Yuuki. I-I´m his… Girlfriend "They looked at me shocked, which I could understand. After all they had not seen their family member in more than 2 years, and now some random girl popped up and claimed to be his girlfriend. As they looked at me, Klein, Scilica and Lizbeth entered the room, standing behind me. The two people by the bed looked at them even more confused than they already were, and I sighed "Let me explain "I said as I took a free chair and sat down.
- A long story later –
"Okay. So to sum it up, he got married with you in the game, and you guys are his friends from Sao? "His aunt now asked, I smiled and nodded slowly "but how come he hasn´t woken up yet? " Klein asked as he looked at Kirito´s aunt. She shrugged and sighed "We don't know. We knew that everyone else who had played the game woke up recently so we hurried over here to meet Kirito. But when we got here and saw Kirito like that, we later found out that he, along with three hundred other players had yet to wake up. There is no one that can give a reason why. "She looked down at the unconscious Kirito, with a worried and saddened expression. I sighed a little and looked at my friends "should we give you some space or... " Lizbeth said, with slight hesitation. Midori smiled at Lizbeth "Well I actually think Yuuki-san is going to need some time alone with Kazuto… "I smiled slightly and nodded "thank you Miss Kirigaya. Guys, wait for me outside ok? "They all nodded and left, with the exception of Klein who wanted to see him too and argued, before Lizbeth hit him in the back of the head and dragged him out by his collar. I chuckled a little as Midori and Kirito-kun´s sister Suguha left the room to let me be alone with my lover.
I sat down on my knees beside the bed and sighed as I looked at the face of my Boyfriend. His face was forming a smile at once as I sat down. Maybe he could sense my presence? I smiled slightly and took his hand in both of mine, looking at him with an enormous feeling of longing. Longing for the feeling of his hands around my waist when he kissed me. The feeling I had in my chest when he called me cute. But most of all, I just missed his presence. I missed him. "I miss you Kirito-kun. We all do. "I sighed a little and kissed his cheek, smiling sadly and laying my head on his chest. "This waiting. This uneasy feeling. The thought I may never see you again. I thought I could finally let go of these feelings. I guess I was wrong Kirito-kun. This is like torture "I whispered, as I sighed, my breathing becoming heavy as I soon feel asleep, my head on his chest.
- ALO elfern prison. The World Tree. 10.45 am. Kazuto´s POV -
I desperately tried to stay on my feet, but the pain pulsed throughout my body, and made my legs go numb. ` Here we go again. What the hell is he up to? `I thought to myself as the massive pain ran through my body again, this time making me fall to my knees. I panted loudly as Oberon maniacly laughed. It sounded like it was far away, even though I knew he was only standing a few feet away. "Oh god I haven´t had this much fun in ages. " I weakly looked up at him and almost puked as I weakly tried to pull the dagger out of my abdomen. But before I managed to relieve myself of the excruciating pain of having a virtual dagger in your gut at level 3 pain absorption, Oberon growled and kicked me on my shoulder, sending me backwards onto my back. "You have not gained permission to pull that dagger out! I´m the one at control now! "He smirked and put a foot at the dagger in my stomach, and pushed it downwards. The scream that followed was even more loud and excruciating than my war cries in Sao. The intense pain I had felt increased tenfold as my vision blurred, my mind soon shutting off because of the intense pain. But as I was about to slip away into unconsciousness and be relieved of the pain, Oberon moved away his foot and laughed loud and menacingly. He forcefully yanked the dagger out of my stomach, receiving a loud yell of pain in return. He stepped back a couple of steps and smirked as I slowly and weakly got to my feet, staring at him with heavy eyelids. My breathing became heavy and fast, and my body was shaking uncontrollably as he stared at me with a satisfied smirk, as I pulled out three more daggers "I'm not finished with you yet "I widened my eyes in terror as he slowly walked towards me, and for the first time in my virtual life I tossed away all sense of reason and panicked. I hastily tossed myself towards the barred window of my cell, screaming out for help and reaching my hand out between the bars, before his hand grabbed my hair, and pulled me back inside the damp cell. "No! Please don´t! NoooOOOO! "The torturing had just started. And I knew I was not getting away from it anytime soon. The only thing keeping me from going insane was the comforting thought of Asuna being safe. That was the one thing that kept me alive. The one thing that let me keep my sanity.
Kazuto´s hospital room. 11.00 am. Lizbeth´s point of view.
I tapped my shoe into the floor again and again, starting to get impatient "What the heck is taking her so long? " I said with a small irritation. Klein looked at me with a serious look, like I had just committed a crime "She has not seen him for three months and just found out he is not awake! Give her a break Liz! "I frowned sadly and nodded slowly "I-I'm sorry. I didn´t mean it like that. "I looked at the room door and sighed "I'm going to go check if everything is ok "Klein finally said and moved inside through the door. There was a few seconds of silence before Klein yelled out through the door "Hey guys! Come take a look at this! "I looked at Scilica, who looked just as surprised as I was as we walked inside. What I saw in there almost made my heart melt "Awww she is so adorable! "Before my eyes, Asuna had her head on her boyfriend´s chest, deep asleep. We all smiled at each other and then looked back at Asuna. `Wish I had a Knight in shining amour' I heard myself think as Klein got an irritated glare from Asuna for waking her up. I smiled slightly before we all left the small room, Asuna with a last look back at her boyfriend `You´re so lucky Asuna `
