They spent the next month, talking about it and coming up with some kind of plan. Asuna thought she might be able to use Yui, like she did in the game… but that would be a fallback.

The time drew near and all the other countries were on board. Japan was the only one left to convince.

Kikuoka pulled some strings and managed to get a few tickets and his men on security, for the presentation.

This time, the few that were able, came really early and took the front row seats.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, Kirito entered the stage, without an introduction. He was dressed up in his 'hero' gear and stood proudly in front of everyone. "I know how difficult it is to accept what happened in the past, but I have something special planned to show you! Maybe this will help you understand, what we are really trying to do!"

Everyone was frozen by his last comment. They were expecting killer special effects and a dazzling show, but they could never be prepared for what Kirito had to show them.

"I would like to introduce a friend of mine!" He gestured to the other side of the stadium. "Diavel!"

They looked behind them and none other than Diavel, in all his armor, appeared, walking down the aisle.

Out from the crowd, a woman jumped up and rushed through the crowd, to his side.

"Sierra!" Diavel grew excited at seeing his wife appear, before him.

She jumped into his arms. He was overjoyed to pull in, what everyone came to realize, was his wife. He planted a long awaited kiss on her lips. His kids suddenly appeared behind her and the children gave him a huge hug. "I never thought I would see you again…" She cried tears of pure joy.

"Neither did I." Diavel answered, while hugging his kids, with tears in their eyes.

It was made clear to the audience, that they were invited here on purpose. Other members in the audience started to shout for their lost loved ones, expecting their appearances that were only made possible by the large pillars, that were placed around the stadium, fully activated.

Kirito wore a cheeky smile. "Diavel! I know you're excited to be here! But could you help me out and come down here already?!" Kirito urged in a teasing nature.

Everyone laughed in a tender moment.

"To answer your question! Yes! All the players who have lost their lives, may finally be returned to us!" Kirito assured them.

A man stood up abruptly from his seat. "How do we know that is really Diavel!"

"Ask Sierra?!" Kirito smiled confidently.

The crowd stared expectantly at Sierra and her family, as they stood on the stage.

Sierra whispered into Diavel's ear and he whispered into hers. She burst with joy and grabbed him in her arms, again.

Everyone accepted her performance as proof.

"If we come together as a community, making it a custom for all businesses to require their employees and teachers and children to wear these, then the people we lost will have the opportunity to be in this world again! Together, we can restore what was stolen from us!"

Asuna couldn't believe it. Japan was sold on this, for sure. They would not reject it, now.

Kirito drew closer to the audience. "I know what you want!... Griselda!..."

Klein felt his heart beat a hundred times per second, at the mention of her name.

"... Kobatz!... Sachi!..." Kirito continued as the said players appeared in the stadium.

The crowd cheered and they searched for their lost loved ones.

"Klein…" Griselda appeared next to him.

Klein's head twisted around and his gaze met hers. He froze for a second, then he jumped up and hugged her, lifting her in the air, twirling her around. "Griselda!"

After everyone cooled down, Kirito reached out for their attention again. "You all must be wondering... how is this possible?! I will tell you! Kayaba wasn't as cruel as he let on! He didn't have our brains fried, like we had originally thought! He had uploaded the fallen players to a drive, that he intended to re-emerse back into the Virtual World. He gave us the seed, to make that all possible! Why?! We still don't know! Now it doesn't even matter! We have made it possible for all the fallen players of SAO, to move freely through the Virtual Worlds! When we finally have Augmented Reality up and running, they will once again, live out the normal lives of any Japanese citizen!"

Chatter picked up among the audience. "Can this really be true? Are you really able to go to other games? I never thought I would live to see this day. What happened after you died in SAO?"

"Now, my question is this!" Kirito pulled their attention once again. "Do you really want this?!"

"YYYYEEEEAAAAHHHHH!" The audience roared.

"Then I ask you to consult the pamphlets that will be handed out to you now! You are free to purchase your very own tower, if you so chose! We will be starting to place them in all the major cities and expand to the outer regions, as we receive your donations or purchases! Just remember, you can't put a price on family!" Kazuto looked to the audience and noticed that no one was wasting any time, as they immediately scratched their donations onto their forms. Kirito's eyes landed on Klein, Asuna, Suguha, and his Mother. He released an agitated grunt. "... not again…"

Out of nowhere came a knife thrown at Kirito and it pierced his chest. His eyes grew wide, when he came face to face with PoH, the former leader of the Laughing Coffin guild. Kirito was wearing black, so it didn't even grab anyone's attention.

Kirito staggered backwards, until his feet started to give out, under him.

Asuna and his family grew frantic, when they saw the dagger sticking out of his chest. They jumped from their seats and bolted towards Kirito. "KIRITO!"

Asuna caught him in her lap, before he could hit the floor. "Kikuoka! Someone call an ambulance! Hurry!" She cradled Kazuto in her arms. "Don't you die on me! Not now…" Asuna's tears burst forth as everyone grew hysterical around them. She looked at his health gauge and it was maxed out. That means it was a real world weapon. Kazuto was bleeding badly too.

The audience shifted into a panic, but no one knew who did it.

Kazuto's eyes met hers, as his face grew pale and his expression grew weak. "...Asss...na…"

Asuna caressed his cheek tenderly, as she continued to cry.

"Kazuto... please hang in there…" Suguha's tears landed on his face.

Their mother pulled Suguha into her arms comfortingly, as she cried her heart out, too.

The medics arrived and quickly pulled him away, leaving Asuna covered in Kazuto's blood. They immediately followed them. Only Kazuto's mother was allowed to ride in the ambulance, but she differed the privilege to Asuna. She believed Kazuto would want it that way.

Everyone was gathered in the waiting room, including Asada, Rika, Agil, Kikuoka and Keiko. They were all terribly afraid of the end result. No one knew what to say, so they remained in silence.

A doctor came out of the surgical ward. "Kazuto needs surgery, desperately or he will die. I am afraid he has lost too much blood and won't make it through the procedure."

Everyone was mortified.

Kazuto's mother spoke frantically, with her hand over her mouth. "Don't you have a blood bank for that?!"

"In most cases, yes… But Kazuto has a rare blood type…"

Asada's eyes grew wide and she suddenly, sprung from her seat. "What is his blood type?"

Everyone looked at her curiously.

"He has blood type 'O'..."

"Then use mine!" Asada demanded.

"You mean your…." Suguha stared at Asada.

"I am."

"Then there isn't anytime to waste. Come with me." The doctor led her to the back of the surgical ward.

Everyone waited impatiently, now knowing just how close to death, Kazuto really was. Who knew Asada had the same blood type? If the blood type was rare, then what were the odds? Asada, hopefully, was going to save Kazuto's life!

Asada finally emerged, but she didn't know anything about his current condition, either.

Asuna paced back and forth so long, she was going to leave a track engraved in the floor.

The doctor finally emerged after several hours. He approached them and his expression wasn't reassuring. "He survived the surgery… but we have another problem…"

"What problem?!" His mother cried. "You said he just had to survive the surgery!"

"We had to do an x-ray, to see if there were any other complications…"

"And?!"

"There was a device giving an electric pulse in his brain. It fried the x-ray machine and computers, but what is even worse… We don't know what kind of effect this will have on his mental state…" The doctor struggled to speak of it.

"When will you know?!"

"We will first need to put him through a ct scan, to find out what it is… Then we will need to operate. We won't know until that happens…" He explained sorrowfully.. "... I'm sorry… I will be honest, it doesn't look good for him. Odds are, he won't ever wake up…"

"That can't be true! It just can't! I won't accept it!" Asuna cried in frustration.

The doctor left, knowing there wasn't anything more he could do.

"Are you talking about Kazuto…?" A quiet voice appeared from nowhere, as a girl around their age approached them. "I heard what happened… and I… came as quickly as I could…"

"Who are you?" Asuna wasn't in the mood for this intrusion.

"Varina… I'm… a friend of Kazuto's…" She had tear stains on her face. "Will… he be alright?"

"We don't know…" Asada answered, since no one else felt like talking. "It doesn't look good…"

She put a hand over her mouth, when she heard and her gaze met Asuna. "Kn-night of the… b-blood oath…?"

Everyone was stunned.

"Ho-w… do you know me?" Asuna still choked on her words.

"I was in SAO...too…" She looked scared. But it was in a different way than they would have expected from a 'friend'.

"What is your relationship with Kazuto?!" Asuna freaked.

"I told you… friends…"

"You don't look like your morning a friend…" Suguha accused.

"My… b-bro-th-er…" Vari finally spat out.

"Kazuto's my…" Suguha got defensive.

"No… I lost… my… b-roth-er… in SAO… I can't lose him too!" She suddenly shrieked. "The NightHawks… all died... no survivors… but me…"

Everyone became more sympathetic towards her.

Asuna gave her a sad smile. "Kazuto won't die." She was saying to herself more than Varina.

Vari looked in her eyes to see if she could accept Asuna's confidence, as reassuring or not.

"Of course, he has another one." Klein tried to break the tension, with a stupid joke. "The lady killer strikes again."

Asuna stepped towards Klein and punched him in the gut, knocking him to the ground. She knew Kazuto would have, but he wasn't here right now.

Asuna saw Kikuoka talking on the phone earlier and now he was talking to the doctor. Asuna grew curious. 'What were they talking about?'

Kikuoka came back to them, after he finished talking with the doctor. The doctor remained at his side.

The doctor addressed them. "We have a neurological specialist in Okazaki. They are better equipped for dealing with these cases. We will need to medevac him, immediately. I will need your consent, Midori Kirigaya."

"Do whatever you can to help him!" Midori pleaded.

"Right away." The doctor left them in the waiting room.

Not long after they heard a chopper overhead. They rushed to the window and saw the chopper flew away, in the direction of Okazaki. After some time had passed, the others left.

Midori planned to visit the hospital in Okazaki, but before she could leave the hospital with Suguha, the doctor approached her.

The doctor had a solemn look on his face.

Midori felt like her heart was already breaking at his expression.

"I just received word from the helicopter… He… didn't make it…"

Uncontrollable tears burst forth in that moment, on both their faces.

Midori sank back into the chair and Suguha, against the wall.

"I'm… sorry…" The doctor retreated from them, not able to bear their sadness any longer. When he was out of view, Kikuoka cut him off, before he could make his exit.

"I know it was hard… Thank you." Kikuoka turned and left the hospital.