Koharu, one week later…
"You two didn't have to come," Joshua says as he leads Koharu, Kazuto, and Asuna to the hospital room that his father continues to occupy. He's been kept as he recovers, though in his son's eyes, Mr. Hardin is being a professional slacker.
They assembled on Saturday morning to catch a two-hour bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, had breakfast, then came to the hospital. The entire time, Joshua has insisted Asuna and Kazuto don't need to be here, for this is for Koharu, meeting his father. Well, no, this is for his father, who summoned Koharu. Kazuto and Asuna were told about the trip that Koharu and Joshua would spend over the weekend, then Asuna invited herself and Kazuto. Joshua resisted at first, then caved as Asuna reminded him that he owes her for what he had Yui do.
Koharu made Joshua and Asuna promise they would behave, so the entire time they had a disagreement, they would engage in the most passive-aggressive conversations known to man. "We're here for the weekend, so do some sightseeing, or something. Enjoy yourselves."
"Joshua, my great friend, you aren't trying to get rid of us, are you?"
"Asuna, my dear, how could you suggest such a thing? All I want is for you and Kazuto to enjoy a mini-vacation in Kyoto. The old man only wants to see Koharu, after all."
"But I want to check on your father too. That's what friends do."
"Aw, thank you very much, but it is not necessary. But thank you very much."
"See what you've done," Kazuto says as he and Koharu watch the ordeal with exhausted faces. "You should have left them alone, let them argue like normal."
"I already regret it. It's like watching a useless goddess and a shut-in NEET have a cordial conversation."
"What does that make us?"
"...I call the explosion maniac."
"Cool...wait a minute, that makes me…" Kazuto sighs and pockets his hands in his black jacket. "Although he has a point, I wouldn't mind looking around the city, but I guess that's afterwards, huh?"
"Yes. Asuna and I have made an extensive list of sights to see in the next two days. But first..." Koharu walks forward, passing their dueling companions, knocking on the door of Room 521. "Mr. Hardin, we're here."
"Oh, come in, come in!" Joshua enters first, followed by Koharu, Kazuto, and Asuna. The man sitting up in his hospital bed greets the quartet with a large smile as the four teens shuffle inside and find a seat. "Welcome, welcome. I didn't expect to see you here, Miss Yuuki and Mister Kirigaya. This is a surprise."
Asuna bows slightly. "It's good to see you again. How are you?"
He chuckles. "Well, they're keeping me here for a while longer, making sure I'm fine and all. I guess I was really banged up so much that even my son was worried."
"Why you make it seem like I don't care about you?"
"And you must be the one who lived, Koharu Hanao." Mr. Hardin, ignoring his son, faces the nervous Koharu. "It's nice to officially meet you after all this time."
"H-Hello, sir."
"This is so exciting. Much more than I planned." While his father exuberates joy, Koharu can sense Joshua's is going to burst from embarassment, anger, or both. She does her best to calm him with a hand on his knee, which at least stops his leg from bouncing. Unfortunately, his father takes notice of it, but doesn't say anything as he leans back and exhales. "It's been, what, four years since this all began. I remember the day the beta test for SAO ended, and Joshua came down for dinner for the first time I can remember without a disgruntled look on his face. Care to guess why, Kazuto and Asuna?"
The couple on the other side of the room play along with Mr. Hardin's game. "Oh, I don't think I could. Could be anything."
"Please do tell us."
"I asked him why he looked so, well, content, and he said he had fun today playing online. I didn't see why that day was more special than the others, so I prodded just a little more just to hear he made a friend that he'll meet on the first day. Knowing my son, I knew it had to be a girl--"
"What does that mean?"
"--but I would have never guess he would take a real liking to her. As a person, that is." The humor in his smile vanishes as he glances at his redden-faced son. "I guess you all know this, but when Momiji moved from America to Japan, he grew really distant. She was his only friend, so I was afraid when we moved to Japan that he'd be as distant from his classmates as he was in America. He didn't get along well with Asuna when I introduced him to the Yuuki family despite them being the same age and possibly schoolmates when they became high schoolers. I was extremely curious about this person who he befriended, but had to wait two years. When I see him again, a survivor of the death game, he has many friends, including Asuna."
"It took a chance meeting with Seijorou Kikuoka on a project to concieve a true bottom-up AI for that opportunity. Of course, Project ALICE would have interested me from the idea alone, but he specifically asked that Joshua be involved. I didn't understand until he showed me the biggest secret of Sword Art Online: A survivor, and not just any survivor, but the girl he met that day, the girl who became his partner, and the girl who he held sadness and regret over. This was most important person who changed my son, so as his father, I had no choice. I had to help her. I will admit, I failed in some regards as a father. I shouldn't have put my dreams on him, and up until he started with Rath I had no clue he cared about artiifcial Intelligence. All I cared about was if there was one thing I could give Joshua that I knew would make him happy, to make up for all my failures, it would be bringing his partner back into the world."
Koharu, already on the verge of tears, doesn't have any words for her partner's father. Meanwhile, Joshua sighs, leans back, and looks away from the others. "You done patting yourself on the back, Dad?"
"Not yet. There's something I owe the three of you. If I could stand without hurting myself, I'll do this properly, but for now…" Joshua's father places his hands on his thighs and leans forward as low as possibly. Too low for Koharu's comfort, too low for her place in society, and so low she immediate thinks on how it contradicts his concern for his health. "Miss Hanao, Mister Kirigaya and Miss Yuuki, thank you for looking after my one and only son all these years. Because of you, he's still alive, and I am eternally grateful."
While Koharu blushes and tries to find her words, she turns to Joshua. Yet he says nothing, whether because he has no words or he respects his father's culture enough to not criticize him. She looks to Kazuto and Asuna, who look just as lost as her. If anything...she should be bowing to him. His son saved her, he brought her back, yet clearly Joshua's life is far more important than any of it.
"Y-You're welcome…"
Mr. Hardin raises up, clutching his abdomen. "Hehe, I was wondering if you'd ever let me up. I was super embarassed!" While the father cracks up and that spirit move through Koharu, Kazuto, and Asuna, the son groans and places his face in his palms.
"I'm going to die here…"
Joshua
"Wait a moment, Joshua." When my friends and I start to leave about an hour later, I pause at the door at my father's request. Sensing a serious conversation from his tone, I close the door behind me and return to the bed, standing at the foot. My father clears his throat and stares at me with his thin eyes. "Did Dr. Koujiro send the package?"
"She did. I recieved it yesterday."
He nods slowly. "Did it help you understand anything?"
"It did. 'He' helped me understand that I don't need to choose one or the other. I can be both Joshua and Jaymes. As for them… I going to change what you and Kazuto said to me just a bit."
"Oh?"
"The path I desire is not static. It changes with every interaction I make everyday. So my decision in life shouldn't be as static. Kazuto and Asuna, they're the most valuable people in my life, and I want to be with them forever. Momiji is my greatest friend, and little sister if she ever hears this conversation. Emphasize that. Keiko, Shino, Kotone, Nijika, everyone else, they're too important to be let go. In each of them is a different version of me, and that changes too. So who I am, whether is Joshua or Jaymes, is important. I learned all that by helping a friend find her future."
He nods along, seemingly understanding everything I say. Yet his face hasn't changed the entire time, like I'm not getting to the core of his question. "However…"
"However?"
"Who wins at the end?"
He doesn't ask much, but I know the question. Between the heart of Jaymes and the heart of Joshua, who wins? I solved that answer too. "...I do."
"And how does 'I' win?"
"I think… No, I know that by watching Kazuto and Asuna, and by listening to him speak of the days in the Underworld, that when it came to matters of the heart, there's always one thing mine yearns for. It's a partner. In my childhood, it was Momiji. During his reign, it was Eydis Synthesis Ten. He, too, had conflict in his heart, I still sense it to this day at times. Yet he made a choice...but that doesn't mean he didn't have room in his heart for Medina Orthinanos until her dying day. She, too, was an important part of him, maybe more important than Eydis. So I'll make the same choice as he did. Like Eydis, Koharu is the person who'll take my hand and lead me to where I need to be, as she has done before. Like Medina, Liz will be behind me, pushing me should I stumble. I make the choice the Crimson Emperor made."
My father closes his eyes with a silent smile. For the longest minute, I stand there, wondering if he'll say anything, then he grabs his computer and begins clicking on it. "...Koharu's a cute girl."
"Don't get weird."
"Don't let her down. Girls like her and Asuna, who have remarkable courage to risk their lives, they're more rare than what you'll find amongst men. The relationship that you and Kazuto have with them, I cannot say I have it with your mother, and even with other girls, you'll never get that same spark. That bond was forged in hell, tempered to its limits in the face of adversity, and the trust that came out of it is harder than diamond. Its the strongest bond that a man and woman, no, any human can make with another. And now, after two years, the circle is complete."
I hear my phone's notification tone ring, and I take it out of my pocket and click on it. It's an email from my father. He must've sent me something from his computer, so I open it immediately.
My jaw hits the floor. Its a series of photos. An album of pictures that should not be in my father's possession, or anyone's for that matter. The first one is a picture Koharu and I took the first Christmas in SAO, for she had the then rare Record Crystal in her inventory gained at some point during our time on the fourth floor as a drop. That same picture allowed us to me Yui a year later, when she helped us recover its data.
The second picture is some time after the first one, just before the end of the Grand Quest and our partying days with both Kirito and Asuna. The four of us stand with Kizmel just before the five of us separated once and for all. The next continues our adventures onward, but what puzzles me more than anything is...how did he did get this? All of these pictures--
"The SAO server at Argus, with special permission from the lieutenant, just after the OS incident. I had planned to give them to you after Koharu woke and you two got reacquainted in case she had some memory loss."
I can't believe he went that far for us. "Th-Thank you. I'll...let the others see them."
He nods. "Great. But can I ask another question before you go?" He clicks on his computer again, then turns it to me. In this picture is me, Koharu, Kazuto, and Asuna, and based on our equipment, somewhere on the lower ten levels, definitely after Floor 3. What, or rather, who he points to is a purple-haired girl with a huge scythe held behind her. "You never spoke about this one, and she doesn't appear again in pictures of later times, nor have I heard of her since you came back. Not even in the SAO book does she appear. Who is this girl?"
Not sure how to answer, I turn my head to the door, looking at the chestnut-haired girl through the wall. "She...was Asuna's friend, and who lead Asuna to SAO. Her name is Misumi Tozawa, but to us, she was Mito."
A week later, Rika
"Rika, you have a guest! Sending them up."
"A guest?" Rika finishes drying her wet hair and steps out of her bathroom, quickly putting her bra on as she searches for a shirt. She wasn't expecting anyone to drop by today, She'll meet Keiko online in an hour and Koharu later on, Asuna announces her arrivals ahead of time, she doesn't think she's that close to Kotone to have a sudden visit, Suguha or Koharu coming is highly doubtful, Nijika and Shino would never make this trip… Why is she thinking it is a girl? It could be Kazuto or Joshua… No. The former is not that crazy to go to another girl's house, and the latter hasn't been here in months. But the possibility that it could be him--
"Rika?"
--is as certain as it comes. Yet it can't be helped now, she has given him the cold shoulder long enough at school and online, or it could be said they're both avoiding each other except when necessary or a third party present. She has her reason, the girl he should be with is back in his life. With the reunion in SA:O, the group was able to find Tia, Premiere's sister, two weeks ago and saved the twins from deletion. As of recently, he's been in GGO, attending to his duties as Crimson Squad's captain. Couple of months ago, four of his squadmates won the third Squad Jam, and with BoB V coming up soon, Momiji, Joshua, and Shino are preparing for it.
Being avoided during and after school is worse, not because they are doing it, but because they're doing it unintentionally. They don't directly talk to each other like they use to, but they'll comment on what each other is saying as if nothing ever happened. The few times they've been alone since the Northrazard Tundra has done nothing but create more space between them. She doesn't know if Kazuto, Asuna, Keiko, Koharu, and Kotone have taken that much notice, if at all. To think everything was getting better before the Underworld, then he had to hug her before they separated once again…and he chose Koharu in the end.
"Umm, Rika, is it okay that I come in?"
"Oh, um, count to five first!" She quickly throws a shirt on, deciding her short shorts are decent enough for the guy who's seen her with nothing on and sits cross-legged on her bed as he enters. Oh, the world must be ending, he doesn't have a single shade of red or black on today, trading them in for a blue shirt, dark blue jeans, and… Okay, blue is the color of the day, apparently. She smiles to herself as he closes the door and sighs, opening his eyes to look at her.
"Hey. I thought I'd have to sit outside."
"Sorry, I just got out of the shower and wasn't expecting anyone to come."
"Oh, that explains it. Sorry… Nice shirt. I think I've seen it before."
Rika looks down to her shirt to see it is a pink shirt with a cute bear printed on it. "You choose it out for me one time."
"Oh." He sits down at her desk, looking out the window. "You're probably wondering why I'm here, but I guess you figured me out."
She nods. "I have...but I didn't expect you to fully break the ice first. Unless someone put you up to this."
"Heh, no, this is all me…well, Koharu pushed me, yeah. I've been trying to figure out who is wrong, who is right, and the answer is neither of us is in the wrong. We somewhat knew the moment we laid eyes on her this might happen. You have every reason to be on pins and needles with me, I just went along with the charade when we were with everyone else. And yes, they've noticed."
"Have they?"
"Yeah… And there's so many things I want to say to you that's long overdue. First, thank you, by the way, for what you did to convince those players to fight in the Underworld. Someone recorded your speech, and it was pretty good. Surprised you kept your composure and didn't lash out."
Rika chuckles and scratches her head. "Yeah, well, that wouldn't have worked, right?"
"Yeah." He smiles and returns his gaze to the windows. "I want to tell you something, something no one else knows for now, and may never know."
Rika grips her knees and looks to the floor. A sudden wave of dread comes over her, wanting her to expect her heart to be shattered again, this time by his hand. Yet it could be something different he's confiding in her, something that he can only come to her for. Still, her heart prepares for impact. "What is it?"
"Before I left for Kyoto, I received a package from Rath. Dr. Koujiro told me during the picnic after we saved the twins to expect something soon, and it finally came. It was a flash drive, and...in it, without going into those boring details, the flash drive contained one file--my fluctlight that lived two hundred years in the Underworld."
Rika sits up, enthralled by his revelation. He explained what a fluctlight is once before, so it doesn't go over her head. "So...that fluctlight is you."
"Yes. in a sense, but it's easier to think of it as a different person."
"Did you...open the file?"
"Yes. I remember more of my time there than Kazuto or Asuna anyway because I wrote some stuff down, the important stuff, but its a crumb compared to what the fluctlight knows. Yet there isn't much I want to know. Just...one thing."
"Let me guess, it's a she," Rika remarks with an amused sigh, earning a glare from him. "What, you act like most of the people you know aren't girls."
"I… Point taken. But not just a girl, but two exactly. The first was a girl Integrity Knight I met after meeting Alice and Kazuto. She and Alice aren't sisters, but they were close enough they convinced you of it. When I met her, she was quite unhappy. I had seen Alice privately and would have struck me had not the acting leader of the Human Empire stopped her. We went on an investigation shortly after, where we warmed up to each other and, along with Alice, formed a team. Her name is Eydis Synthesis Ten, and she was my companion for the entire time I spent in the Underworld and is still there today."
"And the other?"
"The second girl, she was the descendant of a family I associated with when I first dove into the Underworld, a disgraced noble who sought to restore honor to her family... I learned that, after the war, there was another crisis, one pertaining to the first group of artificial fluctlights and their desire to correct the wrongdoings of the Underworld that, in their eyes, Administrator and the three of us were making. At the time, I was barely the emperor of the dark realm, leaving behind my friends, Kirito, and Asuna to fulfill a dying man's promise to unite the two worlds. I worked hard at it, and with Eydis, the knight I spoke of, we did good work…"
Rika senses a counter coming. "But?"
"But what I wanted to know, it wasn't what I did in that time as an emperor. I wanted to know why every time I think of the Underworld, I have a pit of guilt and loneliness in my heart. The answer lied in that one conflict with the first children, and it was because of two people. The other girl, Medina Orthinanos...and you, Rika."
"M-Me?"
He nods and looks out the single window in her room, the bright rays of light filtering through the pink curtain. "There was a time in which you can literally say my soul was in a dark, cold place. My sins and regrets had taken hold of me, and I...became a puppet to the enemy, used against Kirito and Asuna. The enemy believed that, if my connection and memories with Koharu were changed, they can be used to make me fight Kirito and Asuna. That if I lost the most important connections to me, I would drown in that darkness, essentially trap my consciousness. But I wasn't completely in darkness, for there was a single flame that brought like and warmth in that world, protecting me until my senses were returned. A connection they couldn't sever, one as integral to me as Koharu's, as Asuna's, as Kureha's, and as Kirito's. That was you, Rika."
"Joshua…" Rika uncrosses her legs and scoots over to the edge of the bed. Rising off, she reaches for Joshua's face and turns it her way, just to confirm what she saw is real. Joshua, the strongest boy she knows...is crying. It starts to become contagious as she brings his head to her chest, squeezing it tight as her own body begins to shake. "Why are you crying? You finally have what you've wanted all this time. You should be happy."
"How can I be happy if you, of all people, are avoiding me? How can I be happy if I'm avoiding you? I mean, yes, we've been together, but how can I be happy if its entirely awkward between us?"
"But.." Rika releases him, stepping away to the window and stares at the empty street, clutching her cracked heart. "You should just forget me, you have Koharu back in your life. That's how it is supposed to be."
"Why is it always 'Koharu this', 'Koharu that' with you?"
"Because she is the girl you love."
"Rika..."
"What?!" Rika whips around and glares down at him. "You think it's been easy for me since that day? Do you think it was easy for me to hear Koharu was alive? To tell her to take the chance with you? To see you two together every day? I...wanted it to be a joke, a cruel joke from Yui, but a joke nonetheless. Yet when I saw her standing with Asuna… How many faces did I put on that morning, lying to everyone for the greater good? How many more have I put on since? Ever since that day, I have wished… I wished… I wish she stayed gone! So this is my punishment for thinking that way, by doing the right thing! I… I don't care if it is what I want, to hear you say these things. I don't care if it is what you want. I… I've made my decision!"
"And so have I." Wiping his face Joshua calmly stands up and sighs. He turns to Rika's dresser, where there sits a picture of them both. "I choose to graduate from that accursed school of ours in March, then. like Kazuto, attend Toto Institute of Technology. Afterwards, I will take my place at RoboTelligence and will do my best at developing artificial fluctlights beyond Alice. I choose to explore new virtual worlds and have new experiences with Kazuto, Asuna, Koharu, and the others. I choose all of that, because those above anything make me happy, and… I don't care who owns my heart, I need you to be part of every bit of it. No matter our relationship, one thing between us is a fact: Whether we love each other or hate each other, if one of us is in trouble, the other will come running without fail. I know that because everyday since that day Koharu fell, you've been my greatest hero. Whether it is you coming directly to my aid or me wearing armor and wielding weapons made by you, you've always been there for me. Even in the Underworld, even when you weren't there, you were there with me. That's what I wanted to tell you, because avoiding each other is more painful than anything else."
Rika is silent as Joshua pats her shoulder and turns away from her. So that's his choice...to dodge the original reasoning for him to make a choice entirely for something else. A scoff unintentionally escapes her as she thinks of the hilarity of the matter. "Idiot… I told you that we're a team. Blacksmith. Warrior. Of course we'd never abandon the other. And you didn't listen to my choice… I, too, will graduate from that accursed school. I'll go to an arts college, and go into design or something. I haven't figured that all out yet. I couldn't abandon you if I wanted to, the last few months has made that clear. And you speak of owning your heart…" Rika steps up and spins him around, their eyes meeting, the tips of their noses brushing against each other. Oh how badly she wishes to close the distance, and she might've had she not heard her parents downstairs or had that voice in the back of her head to not betray a friend. Damn, she's nineteen years old, yet it feels like she's a third-year high schooler with her first love… Well, she is that. While she doesn't kiss him (and doesn't move either), she continues her speech. "I love Koharu. She's important to me too, you know. But no matter how long it takes, no matter if I have to hammer Koharu to the ground myself… I will win in the end. I still love you. I still believe in you and me."
Joshua nods as he steps away from her and smiles. "I see… Do me a favor, then. Take care of Koharu while you're with her. She's been trying too hard recently, trying to catch up to the front liners in ALO, and I'll be in GGO until the next Aincrad labyrinth raid. By the end of next month, if progression goes well, we'll be back on Lindarth. As long as there isn't a crazy crafting competition like last time, Rika, you'll be back home."
Rika smiles and shakes her head. "You mean we'll be back home."
"Yeah. Right, our home. Well...see you later, Rika."
"See you, Joshua." As Joshua exits her room, Rika steps to her window and sits on the windowpane. She watches as he departs and places a hand on her heart. For the first time in four months, it feels somewhat mended. Taking a breath, she picks up her Amusphere and lays on her bed. She's not sure what the future holds, and where it will lead them, but for now, she sees the 48th Floor of New Aincrad, Lindarth, the place where their tale as the blacksmith and warrior began. "Yes… No matter what, Joshua, I won't lose."
With that in mind, Rika logs on to ALO, ready for a day of leveling. However, if Lisbeth expected a return to normality in her life, she's far from correct...
GGO
"You're late," I say to the pink-haired girl and the silver-haired AI as they enters my apartment, both giving me a scowl upon sight of me. "Don't look at me like that just because I'm on time for once."
"For once… Ready to head out? Sinon not joining us?"
I shake my head as I check my inventory to make sure I'm ready. "Nah. She wants to farm materials in solo mode, so it's just us childhood friends and our sidekicks. Rei's on her way back."
Kureha nods as she leans on the windowsill with me. "So… How it go with Liz?"
"Better than expected. We...cleared some of the ice, and just like Koharu, she has her own plan in life, and one way or another, she plans on winning."
"I see… So you decided to not shut her down for good?"
"I couldn't. Depending on who you're asking, Jaymes or Joshua, you have your answer. In one hand, Koharu is the right choice. On the other, Rika is embedded in my heart that to cast her down hurts me too much. So I choose fate. Let the future decide because I'm too lazy to do so. Or, at least, when I do have to choose, it is one I can make with certainty as I look to the future. Guess living 200 years has made me an honest man." I smile and push off the windowsill, accepting Kureha's party invite. "Or probably not too much."
Kureha smiles and crosses her arms. "I swear, I'm going to grow wrinkles looking after you. But at least you know your path, and I'm here as your big sister to advise you."
I blink at her. "Huh?:
"That's right! Master's master is Kureha," Rei says as she enters the apartment from her short shopping trip. I grimace at the betrayal from my companion, and can't take the damage from the other Arfa-Sys' sharp tongue.
"Yeah. You'll be a lost idiot without Kureha. Now you're just an idiot."
"Ouch… Though you're maybe right." I shrug and glance at Kureha, seeing her victorious face. I can't help but smile back. "But only if you say 'ara ara' a couple of times will I accept you as big sister, because as I see it, I'm the elder between us. I am older than you anyway, so call me big brother. Come on, try it."
"Pfft, you wish." She winks and sticks out her tongue, steps away to open the map. "Everyone is here. Ready, captain?"
I nod. "Always ready, boss." Kureha confirms our teleportation to the city as we look to rent out motorcycles to travel the overworld and begin our personal quest.
Around this time in ALO, Lisbeth is meeting with Silica on the 45th Floor of New Aincrad.; Koharu is still working with Rain and Yuna on their song, or so I thought, but my partner will also join Silica, Yui, and Lisbeth. Also unbeknownst to me Kirito logged alone in his home on the 22nd Floor to complete his homework and look for advice on a gift for Asuna's upcoming birthday. Alice and Asuna will join him soon. Sinon is farming ultra-rare materials alone elsewhere in GGO's world. And tomorrow, the last person I want to see in virtual reality, with or without an excuse, is set to join us for the first time in real life.
Today's Sunday, September 27th, 2026, the time is 4:09 PM, and all is good.
In about 41 minutes, that all changes as a new game begins...