Vol 2 CH 8 - New Game, Same Stakes

Strea ran over and wrapped her arms around Asuna. "I've missed you, Asuna…" She whispered.

Asuna was startled for a moment, but quickly returned the hug. Having been trapped for months with only that despicable man for company was taking its toll on her mind, so this was a welcome change.

They stayed like that for a while before the two of them broke away. "What's happening? Where are we?" Asuna asked.

"If you remember during our time in the Hollow Area, Kirito made it so that my data would be stored locally on your NerveGear." Strea replied. "It was the same as what he did to Yui. Because of that, I am able to bring you here. "

"...where is 'here'?"

Strea looked around. "The underlying systems are complicated to explain, but a little similar to how a VRMMO headset usually operates. Essentially, I discovered that there is a way for the NerveGear to influence a person's dreams, albeit in a limited manner."

Asuna looked back at the log house. Once again, she was overcome with emotion.

From behind, Strea placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for not being able to help you until now. But things have changed, and now I'm here." She said.

Asuna placed her hand above hers. "Thank you, but I have a question. Why now? Did something happen?"

"...Kirito, Riwet, and Yui are here. I don't know how, but their presence awakened me." She let out a smile. "I don't know how to contact them yet...but they're close to where we are. They're coming here...they're coming for you."

Asuna turned to look at Strea, not quite registering what she had just heard. "...eh?" Her vision started to blur and her eyes and chest felt hot.

However, she took a deep breath and reeled it in. She'll get plenty of time to cry later. Right now, she shouldn't just be waiting for them to rescue her. She should be fighting out of this cage and meeting them halfway.

"What can we do to help them?" Asuna asked. "I was able to figure out the security code to my door so I was planning to get out of here around the time that Sugou was usually absent…"

Strea shook her head. "That's not enough. It's not logical to think that he's that careless. He's probably hired some goons, or even set up a system to keep track of you. Also, your Player Menu is disabled, so even if you get out, you still can't log out."

Asuna looked down and clenched her jaw. Of course he would have extra security. She was naive to think otherwise.

"But don't lose hope yet. We can still use that passcode and snoop around for a bit." Strea spoke up, and then her lips curled into a smile.

"And I've got just the thing to take us further."

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Changing Perspective: Rin

Gotta admit, these past few months have been a little strange. There was no danger of dying from an upcoming Floor Boss, but I felt vulnerable without my weapons and armor. My only forms of physical defense were a small box cutter that I kept in my pocket, as well as being physically fit that I could run away and scream for help.

Fortunately, it was something that I could get used to, just like everything else. I've adapted (mostly) to living in a country with a very different culture compared to the one I was born in, as well as survived in a death game where I was part of the people braving its lands, so this feeling would come to pass sooner or later, I hope.

However, one thing that I was sure that I wouldn't get used to anytime soon would be standing outside my girlfriend's house and sharing a meal with her parents.

A few days ago when I was talking to Keiko, she said that her parents were interested in meeting me. Her father freed up his schedule today, so it was decided that I would join them for an early lunch.

It was a surprise for me since their house was only a fifteen-minute jog away from my house, though I guess that was the reason we were in the same hospital.

Their house looked normal - a two-storey single-detached house surrounded by houses of the same kind. I approached the gate and pushed the doorbell.

While I waited, I used my phone's front-facing camera to make sure that there weren't any problems with my appearance. My eyes were a bit when I looked at myself in the mirror after I woke up, but it was fine now.

Eventually, the door opened, and someone peeked out of the door.

I was met with what would be best described as an older Keiko. Her face and even general body shape were similar, with the only difference being her eyes. Instead of Keiko's energetic eyes, she had ones that were laid back and relaxed. Coupled that with her hair tied in a loose side plait, she came off as mature and motherly.

She approached me and opened the gate. "Welcome~. You must be Rin-kun." She greeted me with a smile. Her voice was soft on the ears, further emphasizing her image. She was wearing an apron over her clothes, and a cloth bandana covered the top of her hair.

I bowed low. "Yes, I am. Are you her mother...Mayu-san?"

"That's my name~. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"It's nice to meet you too, Mayu-san." I smiled. "Had Keiko-san not said that she was an only child, you look young enough that I could mistake you as her older sister."

She placed her hand on her cheek. "Ara...thank you~" She said with a smile. "We're going to get a cold if we stay out here too long. Come in, come in~."

Okay. Complimenting them worked. Thanks for the advice, Mom.

As she led me in, I took a moment to recall what I have heard about her. Keiko told me that her mother had a frail body. She bruised easily, was prone to catching a cold, and couldn't handle strenuous labor. However, she told me that she was always there to support them through thick and thin.

Eventually, we reached the living room. On the side was the kitchen, and there was Keiko, dressed in a similar cooking attire. She turned to me and let out a smile. "Good morning!" She greeted me warmly.

"Hey." I couldn't help but smile back as I replied to her. It's been a bit since we saw each other in person, so this was nice.

However, I tempered my smile before I faced the man sitting in the living room kotatsu, working on something with his laptop.

I bowed low. "Good morning, Tetsuhiko-san."

"...Rin-kun." I heard him reply. I straightened up and met his eyes.

He was a serious-looking individual, with a slightly unkempt appearance. He had spiky hair held up by a bandana, and a rugged face that had a five o'clock shadow. His eyes, while still apprehensive towards me, reminded me of his daughter.

It was not our first meeting. He was there when I reunited with Keiko in the real world, but we didn't have the chance to talk to each other except for a brief introduction. I can't quite forget the stink eye he gave me when I was holding her hand, but I guess that's every father's response.

"..." He silently stared at me.

"..." I silently stared back at him, keeping my eyesight on his eyebrows. I'd feel too awkward if I was looking at him in the eye.

"Tetsu." Mayu said. Her voice was soft, but subtly implied that he should relax.

"Papa." Keiko said with a pout. Quite the contrast from her mother, but no less effective.

He let out a deep breath before he looked at Keiko and Mayu with a gentle smile. "Is the lunch ready yet?"

"Soon, but we just need a bit more time." Mayu replied.

"Is that so? Then, why don't the two of you finish up while the two of us have a little talk?" He said before he nodded over towards me.

Keiko's worried glance went over to both of us. To assure her a bit, I let out a smile and nodded. "Okay."

Mayu went over and grabbed Keiko's shoulder. "Come on, Keiko." She said. With a nod, Keiko finally relented and they both went to the kitchen.

I sat cross-legged across him in the kotatsu. Meanwhile, Tetsuhiko closed the lid on his laptop and set it aside. With the others away, the atmosphere started to become a bit heavy. Not gonna lie, I was quite nervous. Funny how I felt that way despite being a death game veteran.

"Tell me...how did you meet my daughter?" He asked first.

I took a deep breath. "...it was almost a year ago. I came across her having trouble with a pack of strong monsters. After that, one thing led to another, and we ended up being on the same team multiple times. At first, it was supposed to be me giving her advice to grow stronger and nothing more. But I enjoyed her company, I'd like to believe she enjoyed mine, and here we are."

He crossed his arms. "I see…"

The discussion continued. He asked me all kinds of stuff, like what my hobby was and stuff like that. I answered to the best of my ability. Of course, I kept a handful of dangerous stuff hidden, like my very fun birthday party.

Once in a while, though, I was also able to ask him some questions. Keiko had mentioned that he was fond of taking pictures of all kinds of things, so I used that as one of the topics. When I did so, his eyes lit up and he spent a good amount of time gushing over this before he caught himself and returned to being stoic.

There was a moment of silence, and I noticed something move in my peripheral, I turned to look, and I saw an orange tabby cat's head peering at me from the corner. I nodded and turned back to Tetsuhiko. "Your cat?" I asked.

Tetsuhiko nodded. "Her name's Pina. I'm sure that name will sound familiar to you." He replied. "She must've smelled the food and came down here despite her not being used to your presence."

"Mew…" The cat let out a little sound before cautiously approaching me.

In general, cats are a skittish bunch, so I don't wanna spook her with sudden actions.

I gingerly reached my hand out, my fingers curled just in case the cat chomped on it. Pina approached my hand and smelled it. After a second, she rubbed her head on it. This continued for a few moments before she let out a satisfied sound and crawled inside the kotatsu.

"Aside from your looks, you don't resemble your father much…" Tetsuhiko muttered absently. When I looked at him, his eyes were distant, as if reminiscing on something.

I tilted my head. "Did you have relations with my parents?" I asked.

That brought him back. He straightened up and narrowed his eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"Well, both of you are heavily involved with the SAO Incident, so…"

"...if he didn't tell you, then it's better that it was left in the past. Or at least, it's not something to talk about right now." He said in a concluding tone.

"...okay." I nodded. Best not to pry upon it any further.

Not too long after that, Keiko and Mayu brought out meals and sat with us in the Kotatsu. It was a simple meal consisting of rice, miso soup, fish, and some tofu, but it was filling and delicious. Keiko told me that this would be the first time that she would cook for her parents, and judging by the smile on her faces, they were more than satisfied.

Not only did it fill our stomachs, but it also heavily improved the atmosphere. Mayu expressed how proud she was of her daughter, and Tetsuhiko couldn't quite wipe that big smile off his face. Huh. Looks like it wasn't only his eyes that Keiko inherited.

Right...now that the meal was done, I could probably segue into the other reason that I wanted to sit down with a reporter like Tetsuhiko.

"Do you have a laptop or a computer?" I asked. "I brought a little something you might find interesting."

Tetsuhiko nodded. "Let's help clean up first, then we'll talk."

Once the dishes were taken away and the top of the kotatsu scrubbed, Tetsuhiko placed his laptop back on top.

I pulled out a USB thumb drive from my pocket and handed it over to him. "There's gonna be a folder named 'PICTURES'." I said. "Please open that first."

Tetsuhiko nodded before he opened the folder. Inside were pictures that I had taken throughout my tenure in Sword Art Online. Landscapes, monsters, and dungeons - a whole variety of stuff. Also, I took many pictures of the Clearers - some of them when we were preparing from a raid, and others moments directly after our victory.

After doing a bit of research, I concluded that Tetsuhiko was a credible source of information, with his works always passing peer reviews. I hope that he'll make good use of these pictures.

"These are many of the pictures that I had extracted from my NerveGear." I explained. "Since your content as a journalist is focused on this whole incident, I figured that you can use these for your work. I've obtained permission from my contact in the SAO Incident Victims Rescue Force to use them in this manner, as they have expressed interest in providing the media with accurate information and cracking down on misinformation and conspiracy theories."

Tetsuhiko gave me a look. "You've got quite the connections." He remarked.

"The Mizushima surname did all the heavy lifting." I admitted.

He turned his attention back to the screen and continued scrolling, eventually reaching the end, where a folder labeled 'SILICA' was waiting for him.

"Feel free to open that folder as well." I said.

Tetsuhiko moved the cursor and opened the folder. Inside were a bunch of pictures of Keiko - specifically her game avatar, Silica.

Once in awhile, I'd ask permission to shoot a photo of her when we did something worth celebrating. The first one was taken on our first joint outing together. Then that continued until I got out.

Some people would say that pictures can't completely capture the whole experience of that moment. I agree with them, but pictures certainly help you remember them. Just by looking at them, I was reminded of those days, and how I observed Keiko becoming stronger and more capable of defending herself.

Of course, I took out some of the pictures that'll get me killed, like Silica in her wedding dress or any other picture that showed her wedding ring. That's gonna stay in my personal folder for now.

Looking to the left, there were a variety of reactions. Keiko was blushing a little while Mayu hugged her.

I cleared my throat. "These are pictures that I took of Keiko-san while we were trapped in that death game. Since you've been cut off from her for a long and uncertain two years, I figured that it's only appropriate for me to share these memories with you.

As for Tetsuhiko, I could see from the corner of his eyes that tears were building up. However, he shook his head and turned to face me. "Thank you." He said with a smile.

Ah...so this is where Keiko got her smile. This man truly loved his family.

I nodded back before I looked at the side and took a deep breath.

Now for the hard part.

He tilted his head. "What's wrong?" He asked. The others also turned to face me.

I slowly pulled out another USB thumb drive from my pocket. "Here." I slowly handed it to him. "This is a little under the table, but I may have gotten something that may also warrant a journalist's attention."

The thought of keeping this between him and I crossed my mind, but it didn't feel right to leave Keiko out of it. While I'm gonna shoot down many of her impulsive actions in response to what I was about to say, she still deserved to know.

Well, here goes nothing.

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Changing Perspective: Third Person

"Hey, onii-chan, what are you gonna do about school?" Suguha inquired. "I heard you mention that the task force was planning special accommodations for student SAO Survivors.

"Well, there's a plan to turn a local high school that was closed due to reorganization, and convert that into a special school for teens who were trapped in SAO and missed two years' worth of education." He replied. "Supposedly, there's no entrance exam and graduates will be able to take exams to go to universities."

Suguha turned to the side. "I think that's reasonable, but won't the victims feel like they're just being isolated?"

Kazuto chuckled mirthlessly. "Well, we did spend over two years stuck inside a death game. There's no telling how it may have affected us mentally. So maybe it's to keep an eye on us. And besides, it's not like we're being forced into that."

"That's…" She trailed off.

He shrugged. "If I were to try to test into a regular high school, I'd have to study an entire year at a prep school just to be caught up. Of course, I can try it without that, but my chances are a little grim…"

"Then, I'll just be your private tutor!" Suguha suggested with a smile. Her train of thought was that if he got into a normal school, he would be able to put this incident behind him faster.

Kazuto smiled back, but his had a hint of mischief. "Alright. I'll be sure to ask you when I'm having trouble with mathematics." He teased.

"Guh…!" Suguha groaned. For all her talk, mathematics was by far her worst subject.

Kazuto let out a laugh before he leaned to the side and gazed out the window. "Well, it's in its early stages of planning, so let's just wait and see what happens for now."

The two siblings were aboard a bus, making small talk while they traveled towards the hospital where Asuna slept. Normally, Kazuto would take his bike, but he figured that he should take it easy for the upcoming raid.

Eventually, they exited the bus as they reached their destination - a large hospital not too far from the bus stop.

Suguha followed her brother's lead as they entered the facility. Kazuto's frequent visits meant that the staff was familiar with his face and let him through with minimal fuss.

The siblings went up an elevator and walked down the hall, stopping at the front of a door. Kazuto swiped the access card, and they walked in.

It was a simple room, and Suguha noted that it was very similar to the hospital room that Kazuto was kept during the SAO Incident. Everything was kept clean and neutral, with the only livery being the vase filled with flowers placed on top of one of the cabinets close to the bed and window.

Kazuto nodded to himself and walked inside, his attention immediately enveloped by the patient lying on the specialized hospital bed. Suguha followed suit, and she found herself frozen on the spot as she got a good look at Yuuki Asuna.

She had long chestnut-colored hair that flowed behind her, and her face could only be described as beautiful. The specialized bed hid her lower body, but from what Suguha could see, the girl's body had deteriorated due to not moving for a long time - the same thing that all SAO Survivors had.

Even then - or maybe because of that - She had such an otherworldly atmosphere, reminding Suguha of princesses and other royalty from fantasy literature.

"Asuna…" Kirito broke the silence. "I brought my sister with me. Her name's Suguha." He turned to her. "Suguha, meet Yuuki Asuna, a player so strong and fast that she was titled 'The Flash' and became the sub-leader of one of Sword Art Online's most prolific guilds."

Suguha let out a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Asuna-san." She said.

Obviously, there was no reply from Asuna.

Kazuto sat in a chair next to the bed. Suguha looked to the side, and she noticed that the water inside the glass flower vase was dirty. She took it and went to the side, where a small sink was standing. She refilled it and, going back to the bed, saw her brother sitting as if he was in a trance.

Kazuto had an expression of longing and determination on his face, so much so that it bordered on madness. It was the first time that she saw him like this, and for her brother to show such an expression showed how much he cared for this girl more than any spoken word.

As she stood there, Suguha felt a mix of emotions. First was, admittedly, jealousy. For the longest time, Suguha and Kazuto were inseparable, and she didn't like it when another person hogged all of his attention.

But another was joy. Suguha knew that Kazuto spent a lot of time on his own, so she was happy for him that he had found someone he could love dearly.

For a long while, the only sounds in that room were the delicate sounds of the electronic machines that were monitoring Asuna's current condition. Then, a tingling sensation brought Sugha out of her reverie. It was her phone vibrating. She placed the flower vase back and took her phone out. "Onii-chan," She started, "it's the coalition."

Kazuto slowly turned to her, expectant. "What did they say?"

"They're mostly done with the preparations. They told us that they will be in Alne in three hours."

"Sounds like a plan. Can you put that in our Discord group so Rin can read about it?"

"Okay." She scrolled over to their private server and relayed the information.

After that, the two siblings stayed in silence.

"...it's time to go." Kazuto said, finally standing up from his seat. He took one last look at Asuna before he turned around and left with Suguha.

Different world, same stakes. Win or lose, this would all be settled today.

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"Are you going?" Keiko asked.

"Yep." Rin replied.

Rin gave quite the revelation, and Keiko was still thinking about it. A different virtual world, but with connections to Sword Art Online.

Since he mentioned that his avatar was transferred over, she had thought that the same would happen to her. However, Rin was quick to remind her that Kikuouka's task force still retained her NerveGear, and it wouldn't be delivered for a while. She had no way to be sure, but she suspected that he probably had a hand in the delay.

Regardless of the reason, she had no way of gaining her character back in time. However, Rin mentioned that he didn't have enough data yet, so if she wanted to, she could help his father with researching. It was as much her fight as his, even though she couldn't join him.

She wanted to wrap her arms around him before he left, but she couldn't do that with her parents watching them. Instead, she gave him one big smile. "Be careful."

Tetsuhiko gave one last look at the boy. He was mild-mannered and polite, and he could feel that Rin was carefully thinking about his words before he said them. This was quite the contrast to his father when he was his age, as he would wear his heart on his sleeve.

Regardless, he was a reliable individual who got things done. He didn't seem to be lying about what he told him of his days during SAO.

Rin trusted him with information that he considered confidential, and requested him to make something out of it. While Tetsuhiko had other affairs that needed sorting, he decided to set those aside.

I can see it in the face, but for everything else, he really doesn't resemble you, Rino. He thought.

When Rin was out of sight, Tetsuhiko turned to look at his daughter, and then at his wife. "So, should we start working on this?"

Chapter End

A/N - After blazing through the Fairy Dance arc these last couple chapters as well as introducing my twists, I felt it appropriate to slow down a bit this time. I designed this as sort of a prep chapter, a calm before the storm of sorts to set up the home stretch since considering my plans, this arc's gonna end pretty soon.

That's all for now. Thank you very much, and have a good one.