A/N: Well SAO fans, it's finally happened. For all of you that missed out on seeing the Ordinal Scale movie in theaters, it's finally out online. So for all of you that have been staying away from Lost Stories because you haven't seen the movie, now is your chance to get caught up. I'm sure you will all thoroughly enjoy it.
Also, I decided to do a different focus with this chapter. I'm sure you will all realize what it is early on. Enjoy.
"Alright class, time to begin." the teacher spoke.
Lilly sat in class, listening attentively to the teacher's lecture. She had always been the studious type, so paying attention in class was basic for her. There were always those few that seemed to doze off or daydream in class, but Lilly was definitely not one of them. And nothing came more naturally to her in school than math.
She recalled back in her earlier years of school when she would get bullied or called names like "geek" or "nerd". She also remembered how those people would soon regret it when Rin showed up. Nowadays, things were different. She was one of the smartest in her class, but bullying never seemed to result from that anymore. It was high school after all.
When it came time for lunch, Lilly was happy to see that she had the same lunch period as Yui. The two girls sat together along with some other friends and chatted away.
Outside of her family and close friends, Yui's past as an AI had been kept completely secret. Her family didn't want any unnecessary attention drawn to Yui as a result of her different background. Her teachers all knew, since her parents had been forced to explain her situation when they first enrolled her in school at the age of ten. But outside of that, everyone was oblivious to the fact and saw her as a regular human girl.
After lunch period, it was back to class. By the end of the day, Lilly had gotten back into the motion of school. She saw her sister in the halls, and could see she was already dreading being back at school. A moan of disappointment caught their attention as they turned to see Strea walking innocently over to them while a male student sulked away. Clearly, another heartbroken boy after confessing their love to her.
"I see things haven't changed for you either, Strea." Lilly commented dryly.
The chestnut haired Kirigaya girl giggled. "Silly boys. They never learn."
After chatting for a bit longer, the Kirigaya and Hiryo sisters went their separate ways back home. A regular old school day. Same old same old.
Sounds pretty boring, doesn't it? But there were fun and exciting adventures for others that day.
Asuna walked through the halls of the hospital as she took a look at the list on her clipboard. She had been going through her rounds quite well with no problems to speak of so far. She took a quick break at one of the desks since she had a bit of free time, chatting with another nurse.
"You seem to be in good spirits, Asuna." the other nurse said.
"Well both my daughters started school again today." Asuna explained with a smile. "It'll be relaxing to know that Strea won't be getting into too much trouble with Yui there to keep an eye on her."
"I still remember some of the stories you've told me about Strea. Such a silly little troublemaker."
Asuna let out a giggle. "Yeah, I think she got that side of her from my husband. But she's still my little girl, and I wouldn't want her any other way."
"Such a doting mother. Your kids are really lucky." the nurse told her.
Suddenly, Asuna and the other nurse had their conversation cut short as another nurse came rushing down the hall. Her face showed a lot of worry as she looked over at them. "Have either of you two seen Shiho Hanasuri come this way?"
"Hanasuri? Which one was that again?" Asuna asked.
"She's the little girl in Room 209." the nurse next to her said. "You remember, the one with the social disorder."
"Oh that's right!" Asuna remembered. Shiho had been admitted to the hospital a few days ago, having a serious illness. From what Asuna had heard, she needed to go through some rough treatments as a result. "So what's the matter? Can't you find her?"
The nurse shook her head. "No, she's disappeared. She's scheduled for another round of treatment in thirty minutes, but when I went to check up on her she wasn't in her room."
Asuna and the nurse at the desk widened their eyes. "She can't have gone far." Asuna said. "Let's split up and look for her."
The other two nurses nodded in agreement and they each went a separate route. Asuna wandered the halls of the hospital, looking for a girl that matched Shiho's description.
As Asuna passed by the storage room, something came into earshot for her. She stopped and listened carefully, hearing the soft sound of weeping coming from behind the doors of the storage room.
Peering open the door, Asuna walked in and saw a figure huddled over at a corner of the room. It was a young girl, maybe about the age of ten. She had short blonde hair. There was little doubt in Asuna's mind that this was Shiho.
Asuna slowly walked up to the girl. Shiho noticed Asuna coming over and backed away. "No! Don't make me do it! I don't wanna go!"
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." Asuna said, kneeling down to get at eye level with the girl while keeping her distance. "Your name is Shiho, right?"
The young girl nodded her head. "Mhm."
"Alright then Shiho. I'm Nurse Kirigaya." Asuna introduced herself. "But you can just call me Asuna if that works better for you." Shiho stayed silent so Asuna continued. "Would you mind telling me why you're in here, Shiho?"
"I don't wanna go through the treatments." Shiho said. "There's really pointy needles and other scary stuff. And it hurts a lot."
Asuna nodded her head understandingly. "I'm sorry Shiho. As a nurse, it's my job to try and minimize the pain for the people that come to this hospital. But sadly, I can't make it all go away."
"I don't wanna go." Shiho pouted. "You can't make me."
"I'm not trying to make you." Asuna told her. "The choice is all yours."
Shiho lifted her head and looked up at Asuna. "Really?"
Asuna nodded. "Really."
"Then I choose not to go." Shiho told her.
Asuna let out a giggle. "You know, you remind me of my own daughter."
"You have a daughter?"
"That's right. Two to be in fact." Asuna explained. "The one I'm talking about though is my youngest one, Strea. She used to hate going to the doctor to get shots. She'd cry and wail and beg me to take her away from it all." She showed a soft smile as she thought back on those memories. "But in the end, I always managed to get her to sit still for the shot by being right there with her. She'd hold my hand and I'd make her feel better, almost as if the pain didn't even exist." Shiho silently listened to Asuna as she went on. "What about you Shiho? Don't you have a special connection like that to your mom or dad?"
Shiho frowned as she lowered her head. "They're both too busy with work to be here. I'm all alone."
"I see." Asuna said. "Well in that case, how about I take their place for you?"
"Huh?"
"I'll be right by your side while you go through the treatment." Asuna told her. "And when it's all over, I'll be there to make all the pain go away. Sound good?"
"But… it's still gonna hurt, right?"
Asuna nodded her head. "I'm afraid so Shiho. But I'll make that pain go running for the hills once you're all done. Cause I know pain's weak spot."
"What is it?" Shiho asked.
"This!" Asuna said as she leaned in and tickled the young girl's belly.
Shiho giggled and laughed as Asuna tickled her. "H-Hey! Stop it- hahahahah!"
Asuna showed the girl a soft smile as she looked at her. "How about it Shiho? You ready to give that treatment another try?"
Shiho stayed silent for a few moments before nodding her head. Asuna breathed a sigh of relief that she had managed to convince the girl to go of her own free will rather than being forced to drag her out. Asuna held her hand as she walked back to the room with her.
'I'll help everyone I can with their pain.' Asuna silently thought to herself. 'Just like you did with me, Yukki.'
The job of a CFO was never an easy one in the business world. If there was anything Lilina Gekido could tell you, it'd be that. There was just so much to do with very little breathing room for error or relaxation. Lucky for her, Hyde provided a comforting home to come back to after a hard day of work with his brother Shu.
That said, with what was going on right in front of her, she was going to need a full on Shiatsu massage after this.
In the boardroom of Hayate Tech Inc., a technology company founded by one of Shu's college classmates along with himself, there were five businessmen from another tech company. Lilina could confidently say that she has a good radar when it comes to reading people. Seeing these forty plus year old men with sleazy grins and smug faces made her just want to kick their teeth in. A violent trait she picked up from her husband sure, but it was an effective tool in making sure no one tried to bully her in the business world.
For a while she let Shu do all the talking since he was far more tactful when it came to inner company workings. It was only when money was involved that she ever bothered to get invested into the conversation. But in her daydreaming, the word that brought her back to reality was the word 'buyout' coming from the lips of the slimy old men from across the table.
Shu raised his brow at the men. "A buyout of the company? Surely you must be joking."
"Not at all Mr. Gekido." One of the men, a portly bald fellow, said while rubbing his hands. "I can assure you that through the acquisition of your company, the Nishima Corporation name will help the stock value of your business shall skyrocket."
The one with a pair of glasses, clearly a toady, nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. The Nishima name is sought after by many companies and would be a valued asset. All we ask for is a purchase of the company for roughly half of its worth so that we can begin the merge and increase the value of your brand."
Shu gave a soft chuckle at the man's overeager statements. "Well men, it isn't me you need to convince." He turned around and gave a look to the red haired woman next to him and nodded his head at her. "My CFO is who you need to convince."
Lilina took this opportunity to let out a frustrated sigh before bringing out a portfolio and slamming it onto the table. She took pleasure in seeing the men across the table jump in surprise of her action. "Now men, you see unlike other companies that you have duped into letting you buy them for such a stingy value, I'm not willing to give any of you a single piece of yen from the bottom of my purse." She opened the folder up a slid across the table a list of the bought out companies and their current stock holdings. "As you can see here, your 'valued' name has done nothing but put down the value of those stocks. And if my research is correct, ever since the adultery scandal of last year, the CEO of Nishima along with his company have taken a massive nosedive in value."
One of the other men got up from his seat and slammed his hands on the table. "That scandal does not reflect the quality of the company's efforts!"
Lilina's laugh just served to poke at the men's sides all the more, much to her hidden delight. "The stock market would beg to differ. Also…" Another few pages were passed along the table to the men. "I've done my homework on your company and have found out there are several unlisted and unrecorded dealings going on in your financial records that has made the news recently. Under the table buyouts have been rumored to be in the reports as well along with tax fraud. Now tell me, why would the Hayate industry want to be involved with such an unsavory company?"
"Why you-"
"Ah, Ah! I wasn't done speaking." Lilina then brought up another paper from the folder and gave it a taunting wave. "Now if i've done my homework right, and I always do, your company is more susceptible to a buyout than ours is since your net worth has been dragged through the toilet and back. I've been in contact with your CEO alongside Shu over here for quite sometime and it seems that we have every advantage over you. This was probably a last ditch effort to try and convince us otherwise."
Seeing the men get all nervous and panicked was just another bonus to proceedings. "Now if we are done here gentlemen, I do believe I have to set up a buyout meeting of my own. Bye!"
The men from the other company didn't even get a chance to get a word in as Lilina walked out of the room. Shu got up from his seat. "Well, you heard her. Have a nice day." The business owner followed Lilina out of the room.
As the two of them walked, Lilina and Shu high fived each other. "You always come through for me Lilina."
"Yep. And did you see their faces?" Lilina laughed. "They looked like they were about to piss themselves."
"You do have that effect on people." Shu admitted. "But is buying out a company with that kind of reputation really a good move? It could affect our company's image."
"Eh, we'll just replace their head brass. That's the real root of the problem." Lilina told him. "Take that out, and we should avoid any negative outcomes."
Shu nodded his head understandingly. "Well your business sense is rarely wrong Lilina. If you say this will work, then I'll just have to take your word for it."
"You know it." the red haired woman said. "You should be grateful I'm on your side. Otherwise, your company might be the one getting bought out."
Shu let out a small, yet somewhat nervous chuckle. "Trust me, having you as an enemy would be the last thing I'd ever want."
"Alright we're in position. All squads, report in."
"Squad B in position."
"Squad C in position."
"Good. Squad A is in position." Shino said through her communicator. "Squad C, do you have a visual?"
"Yes, chief. I can make out three hostiles, all armed. The hostages are grouped together in the back right corner of the room."
"Understood. Standby for now. Squad B, are you ready?"
"All set, chief."
"Good." Shino said. She glanced towards the officers with her, silently signaling their orders with hand signs. They all got into position by the door.
And finally Shino gave the order to make their move.
With a loud kick, the door to the room was bust open. Shino and her team quickly moved in, several guns pointed at the criminals.
"Tokyo PD! Hands in the air!" Shino shouted.
It would have been nice for things to go smoothly and for the men to simply give up then and there. But Shino had been in the force for many years, and knew better than that. She saw one of the men go for the hostages, and shot him in the arm, forcing him to release his grip from his weapon as he let out a cry of pain and kneeled down. The other two moved their guns towards her, but they were both shot in the leg before they could fire, one of them by her and the other by one of the other officers.
Her time as a sniper in GGO had come in handy for her accuracy with a gun. And she had come a long way from being unable to even hold one in the real world.
"Restrain them, and check to make sure the hostages are unharmed." Shino ordered.
"Understood."
Shino wiped the sweat from her forehead and put her gun back in its holster. It had been a risky gamble, but luckily they had managed to stop the criminals that had overrun the building without anyone getting hurt. Well, anyone outside of the dirtbags being restrained at least.
"All the hostages are unharmed, chief." one of her officers confirmed.
"Good." Shino said. "Let's hurry and-" she suddenly found herself cut off as an arm reached around and grabbed her from behind, quickly restraining her with an arm around her neck.
"You're even better than the rumors say, Chief Makengo." the man holding her said. "I never expected you to be able to handle my boys so easily."
"Chief!" several officers gasped, all aiming their guns at the man.
"Hold it right there." the man said, pressing the barrel of his gun against Shino's cheek. "Anyone makes a move and she get's a bullet in her skull."
Shino mentally cursed herself for failing to notice the man creeping up on her. The operation had been too easy because their boss hadn't been there. And now she was in a tough spot.
"The famous Chief Makengo. They say you're the best shot in the entire Tokyo Police Department." the criminal chuckled. "Too bad those eyes of yours couldn't see this trap coming for you." He called out to the officers. "Alright, listen up! If you don't want her hurt, you'll do as I say! I want a car and ten thousand yen right now! No one follows me! Are we clear?!"
Shino showed a small smirk. "Oh we're clear alright. But your shirt isn't. Notice that red spot on your shoulder?"
The man glanced towards his shoulder and noticed a red dot of light on it. He gasped as he looked at the window, where the beam of light was coming from. A sniper gun aimed directly at his from the window of a nearby building.
Shino quickly used the man's distraction to her advantage. She grabbed the arm holding the gun and forced it upwards. Multiple shots were fired, penetrating the roof of the building. Shino struggled with the man, sending a swift kick into his unmentionables. He kneeled over in pain as the gun released from his hands.
"Gah, damn bitch…" he grumbled as he held his groin in pain.
Shino smirked as she kneeled down and looked him in the eye. "Let me guess. You were hired to take this job, and if I showed up, you were told to kill me, weren't you?"
"How did you-"
"I'm well aware of the amount of people I've put away and want me dead." Shino told him. "If you see them, tell them next time to hire people with more brains and skill." She stood back up as two of her officers handcuffed the man. She spoke into her communicator. "Excellent work, Squad B. Nice job with that timing."
"Thanks, chief. Happy to help."
If she was being honest, Shino would admit that the constant threat of death did take its toll on her every now and then. She worried for the safety of her family too. But in the end, she had chose this line of work. And if anyone wanted to lay a hand on Shirou or Tetsuya, they'd have to go through her.
"We're home." Rin called out as she and Lilly walked through the door of their house.
"Welcome home, you two." Alicia greeted from the kitchen. "Did you two enjoy your first day of the school year?"
Rin shrugged her shoulders. "It was fine. Same old, same old."
Alicia nodded, expecting as much of a response from Rin. "And you, Lilly?"
"There's a few classes that look like they might be hard, but I'll manage." Lilly said.
"You're so lucky, Rin and Lilly!" Luna spoke from the probe sitting on the counter. "I wish I could go to school too!"
"Luna? Is that you?" Lilly asked.
"I was talking with her while I did some chores around the house." Alicia explained. She turned back towards the probe. "And don't you worry Luna. You'll be able to go to school once you're here in the real world with us."
Rin headed upstairs. "Well I don't know about you but I'm ready for some fun. See you in ALO Lilly."
Alicia sighed as Rin ran upstairs to her room. "I just hope she doesn't fall behind in her classes."
"Don't worry mom. Rin's good at making sure she can avoid failing in class." Lilly assured her as she went upstairs as well. "We'll be off before dinner. See you in a bit."
Alicia managed a small smile as she went back to her house work. Suddenly Alicia heard the phone ring. She looked at the caller ID and saw that it was her husband. Alicia accepted the call and brought the phone to her ear. "Hey hun. What's up?"
"Hey." Dan said from the other end of the line. "Just wanted to let you know I'll be on my way home soon."
"Ok then sweetie. I'll be sure to get dinner started." Alicia told him. "How was your day?"
"It went well. Luna's body is coming along nicely by the way. At this rate, it might be done sooner than we originally thought."
"Really? That's great." Alicia smiled.
The black haired mother continued to talk with her husband on the phone. The life of a stay-at-home author and a mother wasn't always that exciting. But it was a life she wouldn't trade for the world.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed seeing some of the old characters from Blazing Revolution in action as adults. Next chapter will be up in its usual time. See you then.