"Good afternoon, passengers. This is the boarding announcement for flight JA9854 to London, UK. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready and proceed to gate three. Thank you."

The announcement was heard all over the airport. A handsome Japanese man in his twenties with thick medium-length orange-brownish chestnut hair and hazel eyes listened to the woman's voice and stood up from the bench he was sitting on and grabbed his luggage he kept in front of him.

"Man, I hope Asuna is enjoying the NerveGear," the man says to himself before sighing. "Ahhh~, I wanted to play the game so badly too, but I got called for a business trip!"

Kouichirou makes his way to gate 3, noticing the line to the gate. He sighs in relief to see the line wasn't long. He took out his phone to check the time. It is 3 PM JST, November 6, 2022. He looked at the line and determined that the flight would go off in ten minutes once everyone, including himself, is on board.

"Lemme text Vass and ask how the game is," he says before chuckling softly. "Bastard probably won't see the text for at least eight hours."

Just when he was about to open the Line app, an incoming call interrupted him. He looks at the screen and saw that his father was calling him. He raised a brow at this.

"What is it this time?" He asked himself before pressing the answer button and putting the phone against his ear.

"Hello, father," he greeted in a respectful tone. "I'm going on the flight soon, is there something you need?"

"Son, I need you to listen carefully and think before you do anything," he heard the stern mature voice of his father.

"Sure, what is it?" Kouichirou asked, wondering why his father sounded so serious. His father is always serious with him, but for the first time, this severe tone didn't sound work-related.

"It's about your sister," his father answered and paused for a few seconds before speaking again. "Have you seen the news?"

"What?" Kouichirou was confused by what his father meant. "What about the news?"

Kouichirou looked up at a large screen on the wall of the airport. The news was on, and he couldn't believe what the news anchor was saying.

"Ten thousand players playing the anticipated Sword Art Online on the new NerveGear virtual reality system are reported to be trapped in the game as we speak," the news anchor continued. "Please do not attempt to unplug or remove the NerveGear from the wearer, for it results in the death of the person wearing it. A record of four people has died from family members removing their NerveGear."

"We're at the hospital right now, so there's no need to worry," Kouichirou's father tries to reassure him. "Just get on your flight, and we'll take care of Asuna."

"W-Wait, which hospital, fa—."

Kouichirou's father ended the call with him. He couldn't believe it. His little sister is probably in a comatose state in the NerveGear that HE let her borrow, and his own father told him to "not worry" and move on with his business trip.

"This is the final boarding call for all passengers booked on flight JA9854 to London, UK. Please proceed to gate three immediately."

Kouichirou turned his head toward the gate he is supposed to be going to. But instead of rushing to his flight, he ran in the opposite direction, running past everyone and towards the exit.

After he left the airport building, he ran towards the sidewalk and looked at the road, looking for any taxi drivers. When he managed to hail a taxi, he immediately got in once the taxi driver opened the door for him. The taxi driver took his luggage to the trunk before going back into the vehicle.

The taxi driver sat in his driver seat, looking at Kouichirou in the rear mirror.

"Where to, sir?" The taxi driver asked.

When the taxi driver asked him the question, he immediately forgot that his father hung up on him before he could figure out where his sister was hospitalized. He tried to remember where she could be, thinking about how picky his parents can't be. They're too nitpicking to take Asuna to the nearest hospital, so they have to have brought her to a place with doctors they trust.

What hospital did mother give birth to Asuna in...?

"Yokohama North General Hospital!" Kouichirou answered, handing the taxi driver 25,000 Yen. "Get me there as fast as you can!"

The taxi ride took an hour and a half for him to arrive at the hospital, with traffic being heavy because of the current situation that the country is in.

As Kouichirou exited the taxi with his luggage, he ran towards the hospital entrance, where doctors rushed inside with people on stretchers with the NerveGear on their heads. He couldn't help but be horrified that this was all happening and that Asuna is involved.

Kouichirou ran towards the front desk and looked at the nurse seated there, obviously busy. The lady was on the phone when she turned her head to see the young Japanese man in front of her.

"Hold on for just a second, sir!" The nurse said through the phone before pulling it away from her ear and looking up at Kouichirou. "Yes, sir?"

"Where's Yuuki Asuna?!" asked Kouichirou loudly, startling the nurse. "I'm her older brother!"

"U-Ummm, give me a minute!" The nurse then went on the computer next to her and started typing on the keyboard and dragging her mouse around. "until she stopped. "Top floor, room 924."

"Thank you!" Kouichirou bowed his head in thanks, leaving his luggage with them before running away from the front desk and towards the nearby elevators.

But he saw doctors and nurses rushing inside one of them, also seeing some paramedics rush in with patients (who also had Nerve Gear's on their heads) in wheelchairs or stretchers. Knowing that taking the elevator is no longer an option, he decided to take the stairs.

After becoming exhausted from running up all those stairs, Kouichirou finally made it to the top floor. Only patients with money are allowed access to this floor for treatment. He wandered through the floor, looking for room 924, until he finally found it.

He opened the door and entered the room, panting heavily as he saw his parents sitting down by Asuna in the hospital bed.

Both Kouichirou's parents turn around to see him, shocked to see him here instead of being on his flight. His father, Shouzo, first to stand up and confront him.

"Kouichirou, what are you doing here?" His father questioned.

Kouichirou ignored his father, walking past him and stopping in front of Asuna. He stood next to the hospital bed his little sister peacefully laid in. He looks at her head, seeing the metal helmet covering her orange-brown hair.

He clenched his fist and teeth in anger at himself.

"I shouldn't have let her borrow it..." Kouichirou muttered to himself angrily.

"My son," his mother, Kyouko, was next to stand up as she looked at Kouichirou. "It's—"

"My fault," Kouichirou interrupted her, turning his head to face his mother. "I know that's what you want to say... and you're right."

He looks back down at his little sister then at the heart rate monitor that showed her having a regular heart rate.

"I should've listened and let her focus on her studies," he said before sitting down.

Kyouko was about to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth.

Kouichirou looked over at his father, expecting him to scold him for ditching his flight, but his father only fell silent, sighing as his eyes averted away from his son.

Kouichirou isn't surprised by this at all. His parents know how to groom their kids to be the best of the best, but never how to connect with and care for them.

The young man sat down on a chair, looking at Asuna with disbelief and guilt. "I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you..."

April 3rd, 2014. Kouichirou was in his room, packing his things to take with him when he goes off to university. Since he consistently kept high scores in high school, he was able to be accepted to the Toto Institute of Technology, the college he convinced his parents to approve of him to enroll in.

Once the eighteen-year-old finished packing his things, he heard his door creak open. Kouichirou turned around to see his seven-year-old little sister, Asuna, standing at the door. She had a sad expression on her face.

Kouichirou couldn't help but smile at his little sister. "Yes, Asuna?"

Asuna slowly entered the room as she walked up to her older brother. "Onii-chan, are you really leaving?" She asked, tears streaming from her eyes as she wiped them off with her sleeves.

Kouichirou chuckled softly and kneeled in front of her so they can both be at eye level, still smiling gently at his little sister to comfort her. "I am, but don't worry, I'll call when I can, and I'll be sure to visit on holidays, especially your birthday," he consoled, putting his hand on top of her head. "No matter where I am, I'll always be there for you."

Asuna pouted and looked up at him with teary eyes. "You promise?"

Kouichirou smiled and nodded. "Yeah... yeah, I promise."

"Yuuki-san?" A nurse asks.

Kouichirou was still sitting down on the same chair he sat on when he entered the room his sister is hospitalized. His parents left an hour ago, so it was just him and Asuna. He turns around to look at the nurse who called him.

"Yes?" Kouichirou asked with a low voice.

"Visiting hours are over," the nurse said.

Kouichirou turned his head away from the nurse and looked at a clock hung on the wall, seeing that it's 12:30 AM. He's been in this hospital watching over Asuna for eight and a half hours. He slowly stood up from his seat, looking back at the nurse before bowing his he's then leaving the room.

Kouichirou later left the hospital, pulling his luggage from behind him as he stopped and then sat down on the sidewalk's curb. He buried his head in his hands and began to bawl his eyes out.

As he is weeping in his hands and cursing himself for what happened, he heard a car park in front of him.

"Kouichirou?" asked a feminine voice the man recognized.

Kouichirou looks up to see a young woman, a year younger than him, with short, straight, moss-green hair and emerald eyes, look down at him from the open window of a blue sedan she is in.

The young man wiped his tears and looked at her in surprise. "R-Rinko-chan?"

The woman pouted at him from hearing what he said. "Senpai, I told you not to call me 'Rinko-chan,' didn't I?"

"And I remember telling you to stop calling me senpai now that I graduated," Kouichirou chuckled softly.

Rinko smiled at Kouichirou. The two have known each other since college and were in the same department of Electrical and Electronic engineering.

"Need a ride, senpai?" asked Rinko with a gentle smile.

Kouichirou smiled back at her, nodding before standing up from the curb. Rinko opened the trunk for him to put his luggage in before she opened the passenger seat door so he can get in.

When Rinko started driving, she asked Kouichirou. "So, why were you at the hospital?"

"You heard the news about SAO and the NerveGear?" He asked her, to which she nodded in response, eyes still on the road as she drove. "My sister was playing it..."

Rinko's eyes widened in shock before she slowly blinked and sighed, pulling over and stopping the car.

"I-I swore we had it tested; it was safe," Kouichirou grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "Damn it, how did we let this happen?"

Rinko puts her hands on Kouichirou's arms and shoulders to comfort him. "Hey, hey, don't blame yourself," she consoles him "we'll figure out what's causing this."

Kouichirou shut his eyes to fight back the tears as he felt Rinko wrap her arms around him, hugging him, causing him to break down into tears again, but this time, in the comfortable embrace of a friend.