A/N: Well it wasn't within a month, but it was pretty close. Sorry for the slight delay readers, but college likes to cut into my free time. It also didn't help that Pokemon Sun and Moon is a bit addictive to play. Well I'm sure you guys don't want to hear me ramble on so here's the chapter.

Klein and the others knew that Kirito had been in some crazy adventures back in SAO. He was the legendary Black Swordsman after all. Heck, they had even been involved in a few of them. Silica had gone through Floor 47 with him in search of the Pneuma Flower to revive her tamed beast Pina. Liz had gotten herself stuck in a dragon nest with Kirito. Klein… well, there were a few adventures he'd rather not remember with the raven haired swordsman, most notably getting beaten up by a Floor 1 boar.

But none of them had expected an adventure like the one he described with finding Yui.

"You and Asuna had a KID?!" Liz gasped.

"Why didn't you ever mention this?!" Silica exclaimed.

"How come you're always so lucky?!" Klein complained, an outburst that got him several looks from the others in response.

"It's a hard story to believe, trust me I know." Kazuto said. "But that's the truth, and right now Sugou has Yui. As long as he does, there's nothing I can do to stop him from marrying Asuna."

"Could we try getting her back from him somehow?" Liz asked.

Kazuto shook his head. "I don't even know where he'd be keeping her in the first place. And even if I did, I doubt Sugou would let me anywhere near her."

"What about one of us?" Suguha suggested. "Sugou doesn't know about us being related in any way to you or Asuna."

"Oh yeah, we just walk up to him as total strangers and say 'Hey, could I see if you have any flash drives containing an advanced AI girl?'. Cause that'll totally work." Klein remarked sarcastically.

"Well then what are we supposed to do?" Silica asked the group. "There has to be some way for us to stop this guy without getting Yui or Asuna hurt."

The group all lowered their heads, unsure of what to do about their current predicament. Time was running short and they all knew something had to be done. The problem was figuring out what that something was.


Asuna had imagined she'd be overjoyed once she was back in the real world. She'd be out of the virtual world and she'd be able to see Kirito again and live happily ever after. But now she had never felt more scared now that she was back. Sugou had Yui in his clutches and she'd be married off to him within the week if something wasn't done. But there was nothing neither she nor Kirito could do now. If giving herself up to Sugou was what it would take to keep Yui safe, then that's what she would do.

But that didn't stop the trembling of her body. Her thoughts were filled now of what that… that monster would do to her once she was married to him. A tear fell from her eye as she sat in fear of what her future had in store.

'Kirito… please… help me.'

The sound of the door to the room opening snapped Asuna out of her thoughts. She wondered if it was Kirito coming to cheer her up. Or perhaps it was Sugou coming to revel in his victory again. Her eyes widened in surprise of who it actually was though. Three people to be exact.

Kyouko, Shouzo, and Koichirou Yuuki. Her parents and brother.

"Mom… Dad… Brother…" Asuna gasped.

Shouzo was the first to go to Asuna, walking up to her and giving her a warm hug. Asuna noticed a tear fall from her father's eyes. "Welcome home, Asuna. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Dad." Asuna said.

Kyouko didn't go up and hug Asuna, and instead showed a contempt look at her daughter. "It's nice to have you home, Asuna."

"Yeah." Asuna mumbled. She wasn't surprised by her mother's reaction. It was the kind of woman she was. But either way, she was happy. It was the first moment since last night that she had been this overcome by joy.

"Well, well, it's so nice to see such a lovely family moment."

And of course that joy had to be ruined by the sound of the voice belonging to the person Asuna despised with all of her being. Sugou Noboyuki walked into the room with his usual fake smile worn on his face.

Koichirou shot a small glare at the man. "What are you doing here? This is a family moment."

"My, my, I'm hurt Koichirou." Sugou said. "I can't believe you'd act this way to your future brother-in-law."

"Maybe you haven't noticed, but Asuna is awake now." Koichirou stated. "That means you need her consent to marry her."

"Oh but I do have her consent." Sugou said. He walked past Koichirou and stood at Asuna's side. "You see, when I visited Asuna last night and found that she was awake, I told her about our engagement. She agreed to it completely."

"You expect me to believe that garbage. Asuna would never agree to marry you. Right Asuna?" Koichirou looked at his sister, expecting her to fully agree with him, but his eyes widened when he saw Asuna look away from him. "Asuna…?"

"It's true…" Asuna said, barely loud enough for everyone to hear. "I… I've agreed to marry Sugou… I love him…" The words made her want to vomit all over the floor. But she had to put up the act in front of her family. For Yui's sake.

Koichirou couldn't believe the words he heard coming from his sister's mouth. For as long as he could remember, Asuna had hated Sugou Noboyuki with all of her being. He had even tried to talk their parents out of trying to marry Asuna to him, but Kyouko being the thick-headed woman she was always ignored his pleas. But for Asuna herself to actually agree to marrying Sugou? What was going on?

"You see? Asuna is more than willing to agree to the marriage." Sugou said. He looked at Kyouko and Shouzo. "If you don't mind, we'd still like the wedding to go on schedule as it already was. Isn't that right dear?"

"Yes…" Asuna muttered. "The sooner the better."

Shouzo nodded his head. "Of course. If you two are that willing to marry each other, I see no reason to postpone the wedding. It won't be anything extravagant, being in a hospital, but I'm sure that hardly matters to you two."

"Indeed. If we could step outside for a moment to go over the details."

Kyouko and Shouzo walked out of the room, followed by Sugou. Koichirou could see the faintest smug grin coming from Sugou as he walked past him. Once he was gone, it was just the two Yuuki siblings. Koichirou looked at his sister. "Alright Asuna, what is going on. Why are you agreeing to marry Sugou?"

Asuna stayed silent, keeping her gaze away from her brother.

"Asuna, answer me!" Koichirou pleaded. "I know you hate him. You've told me that since you we were little. So why are you doing this?"

"I can't tell you…" Asuna said. "I'm sorry…"

"Damnit Asuna, you can't give me that!" Koichirou yelled. "I'm not going to watch you throw your future away to that wretch! Tell me what's going on!"

"Just drop it!" Asuna suddenly shouted, catching her brother off guard. Koichirou stared at his sister, noticing tears starting to fall from his eyes. "Brother… please… Just leave it alone..."

Koichirou walked up and sat on the edge of Asuna's bed. "Asuna, you can tell me anything. No matter what, I will always be here for you. Whatever you need, I will be there."

Asuna didn't know whether the tears falling from her eyes were from the sadness of her current situation, or the happiness from having such a caring brother. Perhaps it was a little of both. But Asuna knew what she needed right now. "Koichirou… there is one thing I need."

"What is it?"

"Can you hug me?" Asuna asked. "Please. I just really need one right now."

Koichirou nodded his head at his sister. "Of course." He leaned in and wrapped his arms around Asuna, holding her in a loving embrace. Asuna did the same, brining her brother in close. Before Koichirou noticed it, Asuna had her mouth to his ear. She whispered quietly into it.

"Find a boy named Kazuto Kirigaya. He can tell you everything. Don't tell mother and father, and don't let Sugou know about where you're going."

The message came so fast and sudden, that it took Koichirou a moment to process it. But if Asuna was telling him this, he knew that a lot more was going on than he realized. He gave a silent nod of his head as the two siblings separated.

It wasn't long before their parents returned with Sugou. Koichirou could tell by the smirk on Sugou's face that everything was going his way right now. And whatever that was, it was hurting Asuna. As badly as he wanted to strangle Sugou right there and make him talk, he knew that he had something else to do right now. "I think I'm going to head back for now."

"Leaving so soon?" Sugou asked.

"Yes." Koichirou said, keeping his cool composure. "I have a bit of work piled up that I need to get done." He gave one last look at his sister before heading out the door. "Bye Asuna. I'll make sure to visit you again soon."

As Koichirou walked out of the hospital's front doors, he already had a list of calls to make in his head to track down this Kazuto Kirigaya that Asuna spoke of. He reached for his cellphone, but decided against it on the off chance that Sugou had his entire family's phone's bugged. He couldn't take any chances. Not with Asuna's future on the line.

Koichirou went to the nearest payphone he could find and made a call. It was time to find out who this Kazuto Kirigaya was and get some answers.

It took the better part of two hours, but Koichirou's contacts had finally managed to give him a basic profile of Kazuto. He was a year younger than Asuna, and lived in Tokyo. Most notably, Koichirou noticed that he was the SAO Survivor named Kirito, the hero that beat SAO. Now that Koichirou thought about it, he had heard rumors that Asuna and Kirito had been in a relationship while in the game. Koichirou's informants had also managed to get him the address of the Kirigaya home. Using his GPS, the Yuuki son made his way to the house.

The home was a fairly simple one, but Koichirou liked the look of it from outside. He had lived in a mansion for most of his life, but to him that had never truly been a home due to the family he grew up with. Koichirou walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell.

A few seconds passed by before the door was answered by a teen girl with short black hair. "Yes, can I help you?"

"Hello." Koichirou greeted with a polite bow. "Is this the Kirigaya residence?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at him. "What's it to you?"

"My apologies, my name is Koichirou Yuuki. I heard this was where I could find a Kazuto Kirigaya. I believe he knows my sister."

"Wait… Yuuki… As in Asuna Yuuki?"

"That would be my sister." Koichirou nodded.

The surprise on Suguha's face was plain to see. "And may I ask what business you have with my brother?"

"I believe he can answer a few questions I have regarding my sister marrying a certain… man."

The disdain in Koichirou's voice towards Sugou made Suguha willing to believe he was on their side. She couldn't tell for sure, but she knew that having inside help from Asuna's family would definitely be a strong asset. "Of course. Please come in. My brother is in the other room."

"Thank you." Koichirou said as he entered the house. He followed Suguha into the adjacent room, where several people were sitting together.

One of the people Koichirou was able to assume right away to be Kazuto, due to his description, looked at him curiously. "Suguha, who's this?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Koichirou said. "I'm Koichirou Yuuki, Asuna's brother." The group all gasped at the identity of the man. Koichirou walked up to the table. "May I take a seat?"

"Y-Yes, of course." Kazuto nodded.

Koichirou planted himself in a seat at the table, noticing all eyes on him. "I'm going to get straight to the point here. My sister is marrying someone who I know she does not love in any way. She told me I could find out why if I came to see you." He took notice of the group all glancing at each other, which told him they definitely knew something. "Please, I need your help. I can't let that worthless rat do whatever he wants with my sister."

Kazuto was silent as he debated whether to trust Koichirou or not. His gut was telling him that he seemed honest with the way he talked, and he knew that he deserved to know what was going on if he was Asuna's brother. But at the same time, he was hesitant about getting anyone else involved. Technically no one except him and Asuna were supposed to know about Sugou's plans, and he had already failed at that. But one thing made him know that enlisting Koichirou's help was the right choice. Asuna had sent him here. And if she trusted him, then so did he.

"Fine. I'll tell you." Kazuto said. "But everything I say stays within the confines of this group. No one else can know what we tell you, for now at least."

Koichirou didn't have many options right now with how desperate he was. He nodded his head. "Alright."

Kazuto nodded his head and began to explain everything to Koichirou. About what had happened in ALO. About Yui and who she was. And also about the threat Sugou had made to him and Asuna in order to blackmail Asuna into marrying him. Koichirou's rage only seemed to intensify as the story went on. By the time Kazuto was finished, Koichirou felt like he was going to pop a blood vessel.

"That son of a bitch!" Koichirou yelled as he slammed his fist onto the table. "When I get my hands on him, I'm gonna-"

"Hang on. Sugou can't know that you know this." Kazuto reminded him. "If you go up and threaten him with this, he'll delete Yui."

Under normal circumstances, Koichirou wouldn't care about such things and would go after Sugou immediately. But based on what Kazuto had told him, both he and Asuna cared deeply for this Yui. "Alright, so what do we do? I hope you're not suggesting we actually let Sugou get away with all this."

Kazuto shook his head. "Of course not. There's no way I'd let Sugou get his hands on Asuna."

"Unless we can get Yui back though, our hands are tied." Liz added. "And so far, we can't think of where Yui even is, let alone how to get to her."

Koichirou brought his hand to his chin as he thought to himself. If he were Sugou, where would he hide Yui so that no one could find her. "You said that Yui is an AI right?" Kazuto nodded his head in response to the question. "In that case, I'd assume he has her on some sort of flash drive rather than stored on a server. That way, she wouldn't be able to escape on her own."

"Any idea where Sugou might hide that?" Suguha asked.

"He wouldn't keep it on him. That'd make it too easy to accidentally lose or get caught." Koichirou said. "He wouldn't keep it at his house either. It has high security, but it's still possible to break in. Sugou would keep it somewhere safe. Somewhere no one would question him going. Somewhere…" Koichirou paused, finally realizing the answer. "RECT Progress."

"RECT? You mean the company Mr. Yuuki runs?" Kazuto questioned.

Koichirou nodded his head. "You said that Sugou's working with a small team of scientists. That's probably the people in his department. A lot of the stuff they work on is top secret, so it has high security. The only ones that'd be able to get in there are himself, his team, and my father since he's the CEO."

"Do you think you could get in? You're related to the CEO after all." Silica said.

"I could, but they'd be on high alert the second I went in." he explained. "We'd need to do it at a time when security would be low and Sugou wouldn't be there. But considering the circumstances, I doubt he'd ever leave the office at a time when we could get in there without arousing suspicion."

No one had a way past that. Sugou was on high alert right now. He wouldn't make any careless moves. But they didn't have time to wait around for an opportunity to present itself. There were only a couple days before the wedding.

"The wedding…" Liz realized. "That's it! We do it on the day of the wedding!" The whole group all looked at Liz. "Think about it. Sugou won't be there since he'll be getting ready to marry Asuna. And since it's so close to the end of our time limit, they wouldn't expect it. We could catch them completely off guard."

"I don't know. That's a big risk." Koichirou said. "Who knows if we'd even find Yui and get her out of there before the wedding happens."

Kazuto nodded his head. "I agree. I don't like taking that chance when Asuna is on the line."

"But we don't exactly have a lot of other options." Suguha pointed out. "We've only got one shot at this so we need to do it when our chances of getting Yui are best."

Kazuto and Koichirou thought to themselves, desperate to find an alternative that didn't put Asuna in such danger. But neither one of them could come up with anything. As much as they hated to admit it, this was their best shot.

"Fine. Let's do it." Koichirou said. "But I doubt I'll be able to get to her without drawing any attention if I go alone. I'll need someone to come in with me under the disguise of a business partner."

The group all looked at each other. Kazuto couldn't go, Sugou's men would know what was going on the second he walked in. Suguha was also out since they most likely already had info on the entire Kirigaya family. Liz and Silica were too young to pass as business partners. That left only one option. Everyone turned their heads to one individual in the room.

"Why's everyone looking at me?" Klein asked nervously.

A/N: Believe it or not, this story is about halfway done. Yeah, I know it hasn't seemed that long but I never planned to make this story go on very long. I think you guys will enjoy what's to come so keep an eye out for next chapter. I should be able to get it out sometime late December or early January since I'll be done with the semester by then.