The date is November 8, 2024, and in such a rapidly growing society, something, anything could happen and some form of media would be there to cover it. Yet on this day, there was only one story that was being covered; a story that had been in progress for the past two years. If it were like a story book, today would have been the final chapter, "The Survivors are Waking Up."

Tens of thousands of people across Japan, even in other countries flocked to their computers and television screens as they watched the videos being released from the hospitals were the patients were kept. Just like that, the remaining six thousand players of the death game Sword Art Online had returned just like that. All of the vigilance, hopes, and prayers of the bystanders had finally paid off; it was over.

There was one group that remained even more vigilant than the most concerned family members, an organization that was formed in the beginning of the crisis called, "The SAO Incident Victims Rescue Force." It was mostly made of volunteers, who just a few days after launch helped to move the ten thousand players into hospitals, so that they're physical bodies wouldn't die out before they even had a chance to get out, as the news that the game had to be cleared was relayed quite quickly to everyone. However, for some unexplained reason, the group was disbanded three months into the crisis, with the jurisdiction handed over to The Ministry of Internal Affairs. Once the torch was passed, the members of the ministry sat and watched, waiting for the day.

Two years and one day later, word immediately reached their offices, detailing what was happening, and that the game had been beaten. They were able to track the positions of the players, so they managed a vague glimpse at what was going on. Looking over the final moments of SAO, there was a massive bewilderment among ministry; for not only had Sword Art Online been cleared, but it had been cleared twenty-five floors early.

Due to the server's privacy and security settings, no one was able to see what actually happened in the boss room of Floor 75, they were only able to know that there was a boss raid, and then five minutes later, it was over. But upon closer inspection, there appeared to have been a duel among two players. Their avatars' names read, "Heathcliff" and "Kirito." Heathcliff's dot had disappeared just before the server began to purge itself, which could've only meant one thing, that this "Kirito" was the reason it all ended so abruptly.

"Interesting," he said to himself, leaning closer to the computer screen in his office, "Kirito, huh? It says here your real name is... Kazuto Kirigaya."

He fixed his glasses and leaned back in his chair, after which a smile caressed his face.

"It looks like I'll be paying Mr. Kirigaya a visit."

Kazuto Kirigaya sat upright in his hospital bed, astonishment in his eyes at the sight of the two standing in the doorway. He was flabbergasted, but regardless, he managed to get his words out.

"Mom? Sugu?"

"Brother!" Suguha Kirigaya shouted out. Her eyes were full of tears of joy, as she ran up to his bedside and wrapped her arms around his bony shoulders. Since Kazuto hadn't been able to use his body in the past two years, it felt as if she was about to snap him in two, but he didn't mind too much, though it would've been nice if he had the strength to hug back. Suguha cried into her brother's chest, sniffling between each burst, each and every one radiated the happiness within her.

"It's good to see you again Sugu, I missed you both a lot." Kazuto said calmly. He lifted his frail arm and managed to put a hand on Suguha's shoulder. Immediately, it was as if a memory rewinded in his head, a moment like this had happened to him before, with someone just as important to him. That's when it hit him. That's right, I'm Kazuto again. But I never learned her name..

"Eh, is something wrong Kazuto?" Suguha asked, noticing that he was in thought.

"Ah! Nothing, I was just reflecting on my time in the game. I spent a long time in there, after all."

Suguha unwrapped her arms from her brother's shoulders. She didn't seem to be fond of him talking about SAO so suddenly, especially when she hadn't been in the room for more than two minutes.

"You're finally back, and the first thing you do is talk about what was holding onto your life by a thread?" She was annoyed, which considering how the circumstances were for her. She had a point. He couldn't possibly begin to think of how many times she had visited him in the hospital room, praying that he'd wake up soon, scared to death that she might get a call any second that told her that he died. It would've been even worse if the survivor count was being covered by the media the entire time, which luckily it wasn't.

Ten thousand people had played the game, total, and 3,853 of those people perished, 2,000 of which were in the first month. That meant the game had a mortality rate of near 40%, a number much too high to be comfortable in the hopes that a loved one would survive. To make matters worse, the eight hundred some beta testers that returned for the full game had a mortality rate of around 75%. The numbers, no matter how you looked, were terrifying. But to the players of SAO, the numbers had a deeper meaning, because they actually watched as the player count dropped. Only able to observe as their friends shattered into thousands of digital data in front of them.

"Sorry, Sugu." Kazuto said, trying to let off a playful grin. "I guess I'll need to adjust some more to the fact that I'm not in the game anymore." He switched his attention to his mother, Midori Kirigaya, and asked her a fairly obvious question.

"Do you have any idea when they'll let me out of here?"

Midori grinned, as if not surprised in his question at all, "Still the same stubborn boy, eh? Just waking up and you already want to leave. Heheh. I asked the nurse about you before we came to the door, and she said you should be ready to check out in a couple more days, given your rate of recovery after only a day. But she also mentioned that you'll be in therapy for a few months until we can get you back to the way you were before this all started."

"That's good news then," he replied, as he glanced down at Suguha quietly analyzing his face, "Uh.. Sugu? What are you doing?"

"She's right." Suguha added, "You're going to be there for good, long time. I mean, you're pratically a walking skeleton right now!"

"Yeah.. Thanks for that observation." Kazuto retorted, his fact dropping into an unimpressed glare. He could definitely tell he was back, just through that simple exchange.

Suguha and Midori stayed well after the pre-winter sun disappeared from the sky. They told Kazuto what was going on in both of their lives as well as telling him about the various news stories he missed. While they were there, the hospital nurse showed up with his dinner, and Midori started asking questions about how they'll be paying the bill, which was undoubtedly incredibly high. Luckily for them, The Ministry of Internal Affairs managed to get a lot of government funding, and all of the remaining players medical bills were more than sliced in half. What wouldn't be mentioned, however, was the main reason the bills could be reduced so much, which was due to the deaths of a sizable portion of the players.

Right before they left, Suguha left Kazuto a sandwich that she quickly went down to get from a vending machine downstairs, telling him that 'He needed all the nourishment he could get.' Then, her and Midori went over to close the curtains, said their goodbyes, and walked out the door into the hallway, letting it slide shut behind them. Leaving Kazuto alone in the hospital room.

Kazuto leaned back a bit in his bed and took a deep breath while staring off at the white wall of the hospital, with a perplexed look. I know I missed them a lot, but it feels like I didn't miss them that much at all. Why? He figured he'd miss them more than anything, especially because they were his family. When he thought about it, maybe it was because he had already known the truth about them. It was also the same reason that drove him to online gaming, and ultimately, Sword Art Online.

The truth was that Kazuto's real parents died in a car wreck, but at the time he was less than a year old, so he had no recollection of it. His mother's sister Midori decided to take it upon herself and her husband Minetake to raise Kazuto as their own, making sure not to tell him unless he asked. Just around a year later, they had a child of their own blood which they name Suguha. They grew up together, and didn't know any different, so Midori acted as if there was nothing different about their heritage. When Kazuto was six, he took a liking to computers like his Midori had, and he started building one himself. However, what she didn't expect was him managing to look up his family's record when he was ten. Without anyone knowing, Kazuto found out about the fate of his real parents, and that Minetake, Midori, and even Suguha weren't his real family.

Since then, he felt like an alien to them, always watching his now cousin out in the yard practicing Kendo, never feeling like he fit in at the dinner table. Everything was different to him now. He decided that he needed a way to escape the harsh reality of things. He then picked up on MMOs and became more and more distant from them by the day. It wasn't until he was trapped in Sword Art Online, when his own life was at stake, did he realize the extent of his mistake.

It seemed like a farfetched idea, because even if they weren't actually his family, he still cared for them, and they still treated him just the same. After two years forced to play a game of death, he must've missed them much more than he actually did; rationally, it didn't make sense. However, rationality doesn't mean anything to a heart that's lost so much.

"Asuna." Kirito squeezed out. He said it as if he felt stupid for even forgetting that name for a minute. "It's not that I don't miss them, I just miss her more."

He could feel a twist near his lungs, which he responded by grabbing at the area where his heart was. His fingers acted almost as if he was about to tear his heart out, as his eyes began to flow like a waterfall. Suddenly, all of the logic in his head forced him to try and repress the feeling that was gnawing at him. Sadly, his thoughts were determined to battle each other.

You've just returned, be happy. It's what Asuna would've wanted.

I cared for her more than anything! I promised her I'd return her to the real world! How will I ever forgive myself? I should've died on that floor, not her!

But I saved the lives of thousands, I should be happy, shouldn't I?

But I can't be happy, not without her in my life.

He opened his eyes and looked down into his open palm, watching droplets of tears plop one by one on it's surface.

Kazuto knew that if the nurse saw him like this, she'd just ask what was wrong until he finally told her. Though, even if he wanted to share, who would believe that his wife that he met in the game had died? To anyone else, this was just an after effect of the prolonged use of the NerveGear. His only option was to wipe his tears and pretend it didn't happen. It was better this way anyway, for the moment at least. He used his bony hands that looked like skin wrapped around mere stick to take the tears off of his eyelids. Afterwards, he used to lighter sheet of the blankets to dry off the rest of his eyes; though they were still red, and his cheeks were still somewhat puffy, it would pass in a minute or so. Unfortunately for him, he wouldn't be able to get that minute in before someone entered the room once again.

It was the nurse, clad in a set of scrubs that was the same shade of pale blue as his hospital gown. She stood at the doorway with a clipboard in her hands, so he figured she was making a checkup round; but what she said both surprised and concerned him.

"Mr. Kirigaya, there's a gentleman here to see you."

*A/N: All I can say is that's it's been a productive day. But here it is! A new chapter! (One day after I posted the first one!) To be fair, I did write the rough draft for the first chapter last week, so I'm not rushing too quickly. I just really wanted to write what happened right after the first chapter, so I managed to get this one out pretty easily. For now on, I'm going to try and go for one chapter per 1-2 weeks. Should give me ample to look over and revise it. Anyway, that's all for now! -AK

*edit: Fixed some god awful grammar issues. And the fact that I used Kirito where I should've used Kazuto.