Kazuto's eyes slowly opened to the bright ceiling lights of the hospital. The familiar buzz of the NerveGear slowly faded and died out. He pulled it off his head and slowly sat upright with surprising ease for having slept for two years. Just then, he saw his beloved sister in the middle of walking out of the door.
"Suguha!" he said, immediately getting out of bed. She turned around and gasped.
For a brief moment, she stood there stunned. Her brother, who had remained in a coma for an entire two years, was now standing in front of her with a smile and open arms.
"Kazuto!" she teared up and threw herself into her embrace, which he returned gratefully.
The two of them stood there in silence for a good long while.
Then the questions began.
"What happened? Are you okay? Should I call somebody? Is the game finished? Why is there a green thing floating above your head?"
"Woah, slow down Suguha." he chuckled. "Everything is fine. The game is over… wait, what do you mean…?"
His eyes widened in horror when he saw it. A green player cursor, floating above Suguha. And just below it, a full health bar.
"Eh? What are you…" Suguha started to say until her eyes wandered into the corner of her vision. Floating in seemingly thin air was a green rectangle. "ACK!"
Was this some kind of dream? Kazuto lightly slapped his wrist, wincing at the pain. Pain… it was strange to miss that sensation. Nevertheless, he was in the real world. But if his cursor and apparently his health bar was still here…
Gulping, he quickly did a hand motion and gasped when his menu opened, same as ever.
"What the…" Suguha nervously stared at the floating box. "What is that?"
"Uh…" Kazuto took a deep breath and got out of bed. He needed to figure this out. "Suguha, take your index finger and your thumb, pinch them together above your neckline, and drag downwards."
"Uh… what?" Suguha raised an eyebrow and did the motion. "Woah, I have one too!"
"No… this can't be happening! I can't take any more of this bullcrap! Kayaba! If you're behind this, I'll beat the crap out of you until you beg for mercy!" Kirito yelled.
"...What?" said Suguha.
"Hang on…" Kirito flicked over to his inventory. Much to his relief, all of his items, weapons, and armor was still there. He quickly equipped his usual outfit and swords and sighed for a moment. He had assumed he would never hold these swords again once the game was completed, but it felt strangely comforting to have them once more in his grip.
"Is… is this some kind of video game thing?" Suguha clicked around in her own menu. "Iron Chokuto? Tarnished Chain Armor and Chausses? What happens if I click this button… WOAH!"
A simple set of plate armor appeared on her body, and a silver sword fell into her arms.
"I mean… it's freaky but kinda cool?" she said, giving her new sword a practice swing. "Though, I don't think I could do kendo with this…"
Just then, a nurse walked into the room.
"Miss Kirigaya, visiting hours are… HOLY CRAP WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"
Both siblings were soon to notice the player cursor and health bar above the nurse's head.
"Kirigaya, you're awake! I mean that's good, but what's with the outfit? You should really be resting… and why are you both carrying weapons?"
Kazuto took a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.
Meanwhile, in another hospital.
When Asuna first awoke, she felt a hand on her face. She first presumed it was a doctor or a family member checking something, but then she glanced downwards and saw a very familiar face.
Sugou Nobuyuki's lewd smile vanished as soon as he realized Asuna was awake.
"Oh… Asuna. You're awake?" he nervously smiled while mentaly cursing his employees. Those blasted fools said she wouldn't wake up at all! Argh! Now my entire plan is ruined!
Asuna quickly snatched his hand and pulled it off of her. At that moment, Sugou stared into the eyes of not the timid Asuna Yuuki, but the swordswoman Lightning Flash Asuna.
After promptly punching the perverted businessman in the face, Asuna stormed out of the hospital room. She didn't care about her health, she just didn't want to see his face ever again.
I swear, if that rapist thinks he can take on a girl who slayed a dragon, then he's got another thing coming! Wait… how am I still walking after all that sleeping? And as a matter of fact… Why is my health bar still here?!
Just then, a nurse walked down the hall, a player cursor above her head.
"Ah, Miss Yuuki, you're awake!" she said. "Why are you walking about? Hang on, go back to your bed and I'll check up on you…"
"Actually, I would prefer… any other room that doesnt' have a him in it."
"I see…" said the nurse. "Come with me. I'll take you to the examination room."
Just then, a brown-haired girl came walking down the hall in the opposite direction.
"Hey nurse!" she said. "Check it out! I can walk again!"
"What the… Yuuki?" she said. "How is that possible?"
"Dunno." she happily smiled. "And my hair is even back to normal! I don't know what you did with the Medicuboid, but it worked amazing!"
"...I see." said the nurse. "Come with me. This is going to be a long day."
Meanwhile, in a random schoolyard.
Shino Asada stared in amazement as she navigated the strange menu. While everyone else was panicking at the strange occurrences, she was simply indulging in the mechanics.
"Let's see… inventory… equipment… huh?"
Basic Scout Rifle. Semi-Automatic Firearm (29-34 damage). Very slow reload.
"What on earth…" she tapped the item and a large military-grade weapon suddenly appeared in her arms. She shrieked and dropped the gun. "The heck? Why on earth would I get this? Is this some kind of cruel joke?"
Taking a deep breath, she slowly bent down and grasped the weapon in her hands once more. Ignoring her rapidly increasing heart rate and visions from her past closing on her, she began to look it over. Nothing too fancy, a simple aiming sight, a small magazine, and an unimpressive reloading mechanism. That didn't really ease her, knowing it could still kill another person with ease. Taking another breath, she slowly put her shaking hand to the trigger, suppressing the inevitable memories that arose.
"Hey there!"
Asada panicked and squeezed the trigger.
The bullet lodged itself into the other person's chest. But there was no blood, the boy simply stared at her with wide eyes.
"...That didn't hurt?"
"Ohmygosh!" Asada quickly dropped the gun again and bowed on her knees. "I'm so sorry!"
"No, don't worry about it." The boy looked more worried for her than she was for him. "It doesn't hurt at all, it was just an accident! Actually, why didn't that hurt?"
Already, the bullet wound closed up almost as fast as it appeared.
"Weird." he said. "Anyway, check out what I got!"
He pulled a long wooden staff out of his back sheath.
"It's a staff! I bet that means I get to use magic!" he thrust out the pole and beamed as the end started to glow. "This is so cool! It's just like in all those anime where the characters live inside a video game!"
"I guess." Sinon said, putting the gun back into her inventory. "What do you think is going on?"
"Heck if I care!" he said. "I'm Kyouji, by the way."
"Asada Shino."
"Asada Shino…" he smiled. "That's a very nice name."
"Uh… thanks?"
"Hm… if I do this then…" Kyouji tapped something in his menu. A white box with words appeared in front of Asada.
Kyouji has sent you a friend request. Accept?
That day, Asada made her first real friend in many years.
Back at the hospital
Due to the chaos ensuing in the hospital, Suguha called her mother, Midori, to bring them home. As they waited for her to arrive, Kazuto and his sister were left alone.
Could this be another VRMMO? No, Suguha would've noticed. As of now, there aren't any VR rigs that can erase memories. And as far as I'm concerned, this is definitely the real Suguha. With that out of the way… maybe the NerveGear engraved some kind of AR into my brain. No, then it wouldn't have worked on Suguha. This is all so confusing… how?
As his mind wandered through explanation after explanation, each as unlikely as the one before, Suguha cleared her throat.
"Um… Onii-chan?' she said.
"Huh?" he blinked. "Oh, sorry Suguha. I'm still trying to figure things out."
"It's okay." she glanced away. "Well… I made first dan."
"...What?"
"They let me take the examination a little early. I passed on my first try." she smiled.
"Suguha, that's amazing!" Kazuto seemed to forget all of his worries for that moment. "I'm so proud of you!"
"Thanks." she smiled. "Although… I think I'll need to go further than that to defeat grandpa."
"Huh? I don't think he meant it literally when he said he wouldn't let you cross the river until you could beat him." Kazuto said.
"Well, I like to think of it as him waiting for me." she said. "Though, i wonder if he'll let you cross. Do you think he'll take the whole SAO incident as compensation?"
"I doubt it. You know him." he rubbed the back of his head. "But, I think I could try and beat him. See the swords?" he indicated to the two swords on his back.
"Oh yeah, those." she said. "Why are there two of them?"
"It's my own style." he smirked. "Hey, maybe we should spar at some point, see if I've caught up!"
"Sounds great!" she smiled. "I think we still have grandpas old pads if you…"
"No, not that." he opened up his menu and showed her the Duel feature. "In SAO, you could duel each with real swords, and the system would end the fight as soon your HP got to a certain point."
"What? Real swords?" her eyes widened. "I don't know, that sounds a little dangerous…"
"Well, we can talk about it later." he said. "Anything else happen while I was gone?"
"Not really." she said. "But what about you? What on earth was going on inside that place? Must've been really scary."
"Well, I can't say it wasn't." he shuddered. "But, there were some times when I actually had a lot of fun too. Wow, I sure have a lot of stories to share with you. For instance, you're an aunt now."
"SAY WHAT?"
"Yeah, it's pretty crazy but I wouldn't have it any other way." he laughed.
"Hold the phone, what do you mean I'm an aunt? There better be an amazing explanation for that!"
"Well, it all started with a girl named Asuna…"
Meanwhile, in the Yuki household.
"It's absolutely wonderful to have you back, Asuna." said Asuna's father. The five of them sat in the living room around the fireplace. "The house simply doesn't feel the same without you."
"Though, I still don't understand why you had to hit Sugou." her mother, Kyouko, sighed. "He was wealthy, young, and intelligent. He could've made a great husband for you…"
"Mom, not now." said her brother Kouchirou. "You know she never liked him,"
"And furthermore, mother." Asuna said. "I would very much appreciate it if you'd let me choose my own spouse. I've already got someone in mind."
"Is that so?" said Shouzou. "I still can't believe Sugou would do that to you. But, after hearing what the nurses had to say, I had no choice. I fired him, replaced him with Hayato. I think he's been due a promotion for a while now…"
"We can talk about business later," said Kyouko. "On a different note, is there any update on these strange apparitions?" She indicated to the player cursor above Kouchirou's head. "It's been absolute chaos ever since they showed up and nobody seems to have any explanation."
"I have no idea." Asuna pulled up her menu. "Have you tried looking in the inventory section?"
"No, I've been scared to touch this thing…" Kyouko opened up the menu and nervously tapped a few buttons. "Huh? A scythe?"
Shouzou and Kouchirou did the same and gasped.
"Woah, a sabre!" said Kouchirou, equipping the weapon and examing the object.
"It seems that mine is a greatsword." Shouzou pulled out the large sword and found it to be no heavier than a broomstick.
"Don't play around with weapons in the house!" Kyouko sternly glared at the two of them.
"Yes ma'am!"
Asuna giggled. She had only been home for an hour, and it already felt like she never left. Then she felt a pang of guilt remembering Kirito and Yui. At the latter's memory, she quickly skimmed her inventory and sighed in relief when the item was still there.
"Phew!" she said. "Thank heavens…"
And so, the players of SAO were all returned to their families. Those who perished would be remembered, and those who lived would be honored. In spite of the chaotic events, it was truly a joyous day.
How unfortunate, it is, that it didn't stay that way for long.
And that's the first chapter. Tell me if I wrote it well. I intend for this to include the entire pre-Alicization cast of characters in one large raiding guild, including some of the families of the main cast. In addition, this will be primarily KiritoxAsuna with some harem jokes mixed in here and there. Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm altering the game systems to make for some more interesting fights, like adding magic, guns, and other things from other MMOs.
Well, see you! I made a few changes to this one to make it flow better. Hope you guys liked reading it!
