Pairings: Shigehiro/Tamaki. Kirito/Asuna. Furihata/Shino.
Warnings: AU Universe. OOC. Gender swap. Minor character bashing.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kuroko no Basuke and Sword Art Online or any of the characters, but the OC characters belongs to me
Chapter Twenty One: Recovery
"That's it." The doctor said encouragingly even as Tamaki gritted her teeth, forcing herself to 'walk' by supporting herself on the support bars in order to get her leg muscles stimulated and so that her body could figure out on its own that their owner is ready to move on her own once more.
Two years of having nothing more than fluids and nutrients with no solid food and water as well as exercise had done lots of damage to Tamaki's body. Last that she'd heard from Kagami who had came to visit every single day and her cousin who had all but camped in her hospital room since all schools have let out for the winter holidays, all SAO victims—or at least, those who have been freed from the game were all struggling with their rehabilitation. It is the adults who have managed their rehabilitation easier than the teenagers, and have finished it sooner, as their bodies are more durable. But it isn't just the physical therapy that Tamaki is doing. Her doctor has to have her on pills to help her cope with the uncontrollable nightmares that came each night from what she has to go through when she was trapped in the game.
And from what Tamaki knew from Yamada who often tagged along with Kagami to visit, at present, there were at least another three hundred or so players who haven't woken. That in itself had game experts and medical specialists puzzled, as it doesn't explain why the remaining SAO survivors have managed to wake from their 'comas' whilst at least three hundred players are still trapped in the game.
"All right, I think we're done for today. You're already doing very well." The doctor said soothingly even as Tamaki reached the end of the support beams where the nurse was assisting the teal head into a wheelchair that she sank into gratefully. "We'll continue again another day."
Tamaki nodded. "…Thank you, Doctor."
XXXXXX
Shigehiro was sitting up in his bed, with a book in hand when the nurse wheeled Tamaki into their joint room—one that they shared with two others. It was nearly never done to have patients of the opposing sex sharing a room together, but Dr. Midorima had agreed to it after both Akashi and Midorima have approached him about it.
Most of the SAO victims who have known each other in the game that are warded in the same hospital have asked to be warded in rooms with each other when asked by their resident doctors if they would like to room alone or together with their friends. Being alone is a terrifying prospect—something that had stayed ingrained in the heads of all those that had survived that death game, especially with the fiasco with the red guilds nearly a year ago, particularly the Laughing Coffin incident.
Takao, or Kaz as he was known as back in the game had the bed opposite Shigehiro, who much like the orange head is sitting up in his bed reading a manga, especially after having finished his rehabilitation earlier that morning. Mayuzumi Chihiro, or better known as Caet in the game is currently asleep, with the blanket drawn over his silver locks. It had came as a shock to them all when they were first placed in the same room together, and the entire Rakuzan team came to visit when they were informed that Mayuzumi had been their teammate, and should really be in college by this time. Though ever since waking from being trapped in the game, Mayuzumi had done nothing but slept most of the time, his body trying to recover from the damage done when they were all trapped in Sword Art Online for two years.
There was a low knock on the door just then, and the two currently awake teens in the room—Takao and Shigehiro, both looked up as one as the door slid opened and a nurse wheeled Tamaki in before assisting her into her bed.
"Are you all right?" Shigehiro asked Tamaki with concern, seeing the teal head massage her knee carefully. Honestly, in a way, Tamaki is worse off than any of them as she already had a frail body right from the start. And being trapped in Sword Art Online for two years doesn't help any matters. She actually has to relearn how to use her leg muscles once more to learn how to walk whereas the rest of them merely have to learn how to get their muscles functioning once again.
Tamaki smiled weakly at Shigehiro and nodded. "I'll manage," she promised. "…I can't wait to start walking on my own once more. I never realised how difficult it is to perform everyday tasks on my own when I can't even walk."
Opposite Shigehiro and Tamaki, Takao groaned, burying his face into his hands upon see the PDA play itself out in front of him. Sometimes, he wonders if he shouldn't ask for a transfer back to a single ward, or better yet, be in a different room.
"Uhm… Guys? I'm still here?" Takao said loudly deliberately, and both Shigehiro and Tamaki blushed before pretending to busy themselves with something. "Honestly, sometimes I seriously wonder if you both forgot about the fact that you're rooming in with us?"
"What's with all the fuss?" Mayuzumi grumbled, waking up at long last from one of his many cat naps. "Can't a guy nap around here in peace?"
Takao twitched. "Just how many naps do you want to take in a day anyway, Sleeping Beauty?" he retorted, tossing one of the many pillows surrounding his bed at Mayuzumi who caught it with ease, grinning.
Shigehiro chuckled. He was relieved when they first got out of the game and realised that Mayuzumi and Takao were warded in the same hospital they were in that their personalities haven't really changed that much compared to when they were in the game. His gaze then went over to Tamaki who was frowning as she read a magazine of some sort that had been one amongst the pile of reading material that the nurse had brought in for them.
"What's wrong?"
"Hmm?" Tamaki looked up at Shigehiro's question only to see three pairs of eyes staring at her. "Oh. I was just reading this."
She held up the magazine that she had been reading only for the three boys to see that it is about a report on the SAO incident. Literally every single paper and magazine in Japan have been covering about the incident ever since the news that most of the SAO victims have woken have leaked. There hasn't been much details however as the government had been trying to get to the bottom of it all, and trying to locate the players who have played key roles in beating the game—in other words, the players who were present at the last raid boss battle against Heathcliff.
"Sword Art Online…" Mayuzumi murmured. His eyes closed briefly as he recalled the last thing he had seen before the Game Over signs have covered his visage and he then woke up in the hospital with worried doctors and nurses hovering over him. "Kirito and the others… Even Zehar and Calerd… I wonder how they are? Are they still alive?"
There was an uneasy silence with that. All of them have seen Kirito and Asuna shatter when they had that final confrontation with Heathcliff. And all SAO players knew of the rule in that game: that when someone shatters in the game, they also die for real. Thus, the chances of Kirito and Asuna still being alive in the game…
There was a knock on the door just then before it slid opened once again. The four teens in the room looked up as one only to see a middle aged man in a suit and glasses standing at the entrance, smiling at them.
He is unfamiliar to the three boys, but Tamaki had met him once before the hospital had changed their rooming plans for the SAO victims.
"Who are you?" Takao blurted out in curiosity.
"Kikuoka Seijirou." The man introduced himself. "I'm with the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and also part of the SAO Task Force—though it isn't like we really could do much anyway. Kuroko-chan has met me before once though."
The three boys turned towards Tamaki who nodded in response. "What are you doing here?" she asked.
"I wasn't really able to do much the last time we met, as I just have to ascertain that you're still alive and not mentally disturbed by the events of Sword Art Online. But this time, I am here to ascertain just what you know in regards to the events of the Sword Art Online incident." Kikuoka answered, walking towards the window in the room before turning around so that the four teens are in his visage. "Members of one of SAO's leading guilds, Phantom Blue."
"Before I answer that, if you're with the SAO Task Force, then you should know the fates of the victims." Tamaki said immediately, eyes narrowing. "Our friends… What happened to them? Kirito. Asuna. Kris. Nirali. Even Zehar and Calerd."
Kikuoka said nothing, as he had already known to some point that this would be Tamaki's first question. When he had first gone to visit the hero who had cleared Sword Art Online and had saved the 6,000 or so remaining players who have somehow managed to survive, Kirigaya Kazuto, or also better known as Kirito had actually asked for the whereabouts of his friends after telling him everything. The teen had even added that his guild leader in the game would know more than he did, as he didn't really join Phantom Blue until nearly a year or so ago, and not long after that, the entire fiasco with the red guilds have gone down.
Kikuoka had taken a personal interest in Kirito and the guild that he is with, as so many of the SAO survivors had said the same thing—that they owed their lives to Phantom Blue, and are thankful to them. Several of them have even asked Kikuoka to pass on their gratitude to them.
As part of the SAO Task Force, it henceforth wasn't really that difficult for Kikuoka to find out the real names of those who were so heavily involved in the raid battles for the floor bosses of the game. Particularly those that were there in the final battle when Kirito had ended up facing Heathcliff that lead to most of the SAO victims getting themselves logged out.
"Kris and Nirali—also better known as Sakurai Ryou and Mochida Kanata are also warded in this very hospital—" The four teens in the room stiffened, their eyes widening. "But they are also amongst the three hundred that haven't yet regained consciousness, though we know for sure that they're still alive." Kikuoka explained. "Zehar and Calerd—guild leaders of the guilds Black Blades and ICE in Sword Art Online—also better known as Sekiyama Soma and Ishigawa Shinji. They're still alive as well, though both are hospitalized in the Tokyo Medical University Hospital. And much like yourselves, they are both undergoing rehabilitation to recover from the ordeal."
"And Kirito and Asuna?" Mayuzumi asked when it seemed like no one else would, though he kinda don't want to know as well. After all, every single one of them was there—they saw the two shatter—
"They're still alive."
With those words, everyone stared at Kikuoka as if he'd grown two new heads.
"…That's not possible." Takao whispered at last, looking at Kikuoka with some hope in his eyes, along with his friends. "We were there. All of us. Kirito, of all the dumb things to do took Heathcliff's bait and challenged him. We saw that fight. Kirito was losing. Asuna protected him. I saw them shatter just before we were all forcibly logged out. There's no way—"
"The server saved them." Kikuoka cut off the teen, sounding as if he'd already repeated the same words a thousand times before, which he probably had. "It is really by sheer dumb luck that they're still alive. Kirigaya-kun is currently recovering in the resident hospital in Saitama. Yuki Asuna however is also amongst the three hundred players that hadn't woken."
There was a long silence as the four teens in the room contemplated Kikuoka's words.
"At least they're still alive. That has to count for something, right?" Shigehiro was the first to break the silence.
"And…Heathcliff?" Tamaki asked, "also better known as Kayaba Akihiko."
Kikuoka stiffened at that; looks like none of the medical staff and even their families have seen it fit to inform them of Kayaba's fate.
"He's dead." Kikuoka said at last, knowing that he couldn't put it off, since they'll find out themselves anyway once they leave the hospital. "He set his NerveGear to fry his brain should someone beat the game and him."
"Why would he go this far?" Takao frowned. "I don't understand."
"We don't understand either." Kikuoka admitted. "That's why I'm hoping that by getting first hand accounts from the players who had the most run-ins with Kayaba, we can get an understanding of the entire situation. I spoke with Kirigaya-kun before coming here. I want to get your side of the story—you who had been there at most of the frontline battles, and had suspected who Kayaba had been from the very beginning."
Tamaki was silent for a long time. "…I was a beta tester for Sword Art Online," she said at last. "I've always liked gaming, but it wasn't until my third year of middle school when I started my gaming addiction due to an incident that had happened. Gaming allows me to escape from reality for a bit. Takao-kun, or Kaz introduced me to Sword Art Online when he heard that the company that made the NerveGear is seeking beta testers for the game. We were lucky enough to be amongst one of the thousand that were chosen as beta testers. When Sword Art Online became a death game, we had a few run-ins with a certain group that later became one of the most feared red guilds in the game."
"Laughing Coffin, the infamous red guild." Shigehiro added, since he is one of the few that had been with Tamaki right from the beginning. "In the beginning, they weren't that much of a problem. It was about a year into the game when they started making a name for themselves by killing the players. It came to such a point that even the leading guilds of the game have started hunting them down."
"It is because of the red guilds that Phantom Blue was even formed." Tamaki said with a small smile. "We were beta testers after all. Most of the players don't really trust us. The reputation that we gained was accumulated after months of hard work."
"And Heathcliff?"
"I didn't suspect him at first." Tamaki shook her head. "To be specific, it's more like I just don't trust him. There's just something about him that seems a bit off. After that, it is more like his actions that I don't know. Needless to say, as we're both guild leaders, we got into our fair share of arguments. There was even a time when we were just this close to breaking out into a guild war."
"It didn't happen because Tamaki prevented it." Shigehiro added. "Lots of guilds and players were actually itching for an excuse to attack Heathcliff and his guild, as they didn't make themselves any friends with how they've been attacking. And their reputation only went downhill after one of their members attacked Kirito, and later on, the public duel revealed that one of their members is really a member from Laughing Coffin didn't help matters."
"I see." Kikuoka nodded. "Honestly, full dive technology is still in its early stages. That is why there are several people who didn't want to ban it entirely, as it is useful not only in games, but also in medical treatments. But the Sword Art Online incident had caused several to look at full dive technology with a critical eye."
"In other words, you're trying to figure out the problem to get a solution." Mayuzumi stated bluntly.
"…Kikuoka-san, this is something that I've learned during the game." Tamaki said slowly. "Humans make mistakes—that is an undeniable fact. But to learn from them, that is another different thing entirely. To first fix an error, you have to first admit that there is a mistake."
Kikuoka looked surprised for a moment before he smiled albeit sadly. "You know, Kirigaya-kun said the same thing. He said that you taught him that—not to avert his eyes away from mistakes or misfortune. That it is the only thing that can help him to learn." He dipped his head in a low bow to the four teens in the room. "Thank you, and for what it's worth, I'm sorry that we couldn't do more to help you when you were trapped in the game. I hope that you get released from the hospital soon."
A/N: Not very pleased with this chapter, as I feel that it's pretty damn rushed. I'm literally coughing my lungs out at this point however, and my ears feel like they're stuffed with wool—so part of this crappy chapter probably has to do with it. Next chapter will be longer and better however, as they'll be out of the hospital by then.
Additionally, I might start on that Yatogami story that I've mentioned a long time ago—a Kuroko no Basuke fic in the Noragami universe.
I hope that you've enjoyed this chapter, and please read and review! Reviews give me inspiration to update!