A/N: Hello, readers. I'm back with the 5th chapter of Mother's Reconciliation. I'm sorry it took even longer than last time to upload this chapter. To compensate that, this chapter is about 5k words long. This chapter will once again contain details that were omitted from the anime version.
My internship period is over and I have about a month off before going back to University to study this fall. I'll try to use that time to write as much as I can.
Also, I love you guys! 1000 views and 12 favorites! Thank you for taking your time to read this story! I'm always open for constructive criticism on the reviews. Again, if you liked it, please leave a review!
To 'Autistic-Grizzly': After reading this chapter, you think that this one was sad? Wait until the next chapter. And yes, Kyouko will have to understand… and more.
To 'jokerk118': What can I say? Gotta keep the readers in suspense… kkk. And also, I was already planning on using your idea, but not with Kazuto and it wouldn't be as extreme as your example. Lastly, this was my last week for my intern so I was kind of busy. Plus, it was my birthday on the 9th, so my friends and I were celebrating. But I am doing my best to upload faster.
Disclaimer: I don't own SAO or its characters! They belong to Kawahara Reki-sensei!
Chapter 5: Looking Back - Part 3
"So, after school, I went to the place Kazuto-kun told me to go… Yokohama North General Hospital…" Asuna continued.
"Hospital?" Shouzou asked. He had a feeling that Asuna's story was about to take an unpleasant turn.
"Kazuto-kun explained to me how he had deduced Yuuki's location afterwards. When he dueled with Yuuki, he noticed that her reaction speed was far superior to his own. But her reaction speed was simply impossible with an Amusphere… no, even the first generation NerveGear wouldn't be able to grant her such speed. The only explanation for her speed was that she was using a virtual reality device that gave off electromagnetic pulses several times stronger than the NerveGear. And there was only one such device that Kazuto-kun knew that did just that: The Medicuboid. And he told me that that hospital was the only place in the country to run the clinical test of it." Asuna explained.
"Medicuboid? I think I remember hearing of it in passing. A VR technology designed for medical purposes, was it?" Shouzou said.
"Yes… And he told me that that hospital was the only place in the country that ran the clinical testing for it. When I arrived at the hospital, I didn't know exactly what to ask the front desk. After all, the only thing I knew about Yuuki was her ALO avatar name. At this point, I was hoping that Yuuki wasn't there. When I asked the receptionist to let me meet the tester of the Medicuboid, I'm sure that that was the last thing they were expecting me to ask. But to my surprise, another nurse beside the one I talked to asked for my name and told me to wait for a moment on the bench and that the doctor in charge of Yuuki would come to meet her. It looked like Kazuto-kun's deduction was right on the mark. Yuuki was there…"
"About 10 minutes later, the doctor in charge of Yuuki, Kurahashi-sensei came. He was really surprised that I was able to find the place in the first place. So we went to the lounge upstairs to talk in detail about Yuuki. So, we sat down and talked about Yuuki. Apparently, for the last few days, Yuuki had always talked to Kurahashi-sensei about me, but would always start crying afterwards. And apparently she wasn't someone that would reveal her own weakness… He said that she wanted to befriend me more, but may not be able to do so."
"At this point, I asked why that was the case. Why Yuuki said we couldn't meet again… Then sensei said that they should start talking about the Medicuboid in detail. For people that have physical disabilities, virtual reality is a blessing for them because they give the users the senses that they wouldn't have in the real world. But the uses of virtual reality in the medical field wasn't just the fact that it can convey signals to the brain, but cancel them as well."
"Electromagnetic pulses that are sent to the spinal cord would have effects similar to a total body paralysis. So, if the Amusphere is used during a surgery, they can avoid using an anesthetic. But the problem was that the Amusphere, or even the NerveGear's electromagnetic pulses aren't strong enough to cancel out the nerves inside during the surgery. But the Medicuboid was exactly that… a modified VR technology that sends electromagnetic pulses strong enough to cancel out the spinal reflex. So the patient using it can return to society through the VR world. At first it sounded like a dream come true machine… But even a machine has its limitations." Asuna said as she remembered the bittersweet smile Kurahashi had on his face when he explained the concept of the Medicuboid.
"At this point, sensei asked me if I really wanted to know about Yuuki, despite her insistence on not knowing. He said that he wouldn't blame me if I chose not to. After all, Yuuki and her friends had made their decisions to stay away from me for my sake… But my decision was final. I could already tell that what I was about to hear about Yuuki was going to be unpleasant. But I needed to talk to her. To know the reason she called me nee-chan… no matter what. So I decided to hear the rest of the story. Whatever I would hear, I would face it straight on. I felt like I had to." Asuna explained, determined.
Her family members looked at each other, surprised at her decision to hear the rest of the story. They had known Asuna to be someone that had second thoughts or hesitate when a crucial decision had to be made. It was quite rare for her to show such conviction or focus when it came to making her own decisions. Even when she did want to make a decision of her own, if Shouzou or Kyouko (especially Kyouko) disagreed with her, Asuna had never talked about the subject any further, scared to face her parent's disappointment (or anger in some cases with Kyouko).
For Kyouko, when Asuna had asked her to come to ALO with her for the first time, she had refused, thinking that whatever she had to say would just be a waste of time if she couldn't talk about it in the real world. But when Asuna insisted on the matter, she was surprised because it was so rare for her to be so insistent. So she had relented and went to ALO to hear her daughter's mind.
At this point, Kyouko started to suspect that Yuuki had played a part in her determination at the time. Did she really mean so much to Asuna?
"Yuuki had told Kurahashi-sensei to explain everything to me if I was willing to listen. So, on our way… to her ward… he explained… Yuuki's story…" When she started to recall Kurahashi telling her of the tragedy Yuuki and her family suffered through, she started to lose her composure again and tears welled up in her eyes.
"Asuna, don't force yourself. You can stop if you don't want to tell us… Please…" Her father said. They got the idea. Yuuki's story was a tragic one. The only question was how bad Yuuki's condition was. Her mother and brother were also at a loss of what to do. Just how bad was it to make Asuna break down like this?
But no… Asuna had to keep going… She had to…
"Yuuki was born on May 2011. But due to difficult birth a C-section had to be ordered. And Yuuki's mother lost a lot of blood during the process, so an emergency transfusion had to be implemented. But the blood used for it was… contaminated." Her family gasped at this. If they didn't already feel like Yuuki's story was going to be a sad one, they sure did now.
"According to sensei, infection through blood transfusion was an extremely rare chance of 1 in 100,000 chance, but with modern science, it was impossible to drop that value to 0. Even I could feel his anger and helplessness when he told me this…"
"Yuuki was most likely infected the moment she was born. And by the time the infection was discovered, it was too late. The whole family had been infected." Her family listened on, helpless.
"When we arrived at Yuuki's room, it turned out to be a sterile room with its lights off. I couldn't go inside… When sensei turned the lights on… I saw a young girl lying on the hospital bed with all sorts of devices around her body. Her skin deathly pale and skinny…. That was Yuuki in the real world… I couldn't believe it…" Asuna said, her voice shaking once again.
"W… What exactly was Yuuki ill with?" Her father asked.
"AIDS…" Asuna answered. It was a short yet heavy answer.
"What?"
"My goodness…"
"Oh man…"
Shouzou, Kyouko, and Kouichirou said respectively, visibly horrified.
"According to Kurahashi-sensei, AIDS wasn't as terrifying an illness as people may think. If detected early and receive proper treatment and medications, the symptoms can be delayed for a very long time and even be able to live a normal life. But that wasn't the case for Yuuki. The virus she was infected with was a drug-resistant variant. So the medication did little to help her."
"Yuuki's mother despaired for her future and apparently, she even considered suicide once…" her family's eyes widened at this.
"But Yuuki's family was a Christian, so in the end, she decided to fight the illness with her family. They kept praying and hoped that they could overcome the illness…"
"Fight… the illness...?" Kouichirou said uncertainly. Asuna nodded.
"Eh… From the moment she was born, Yuuki had to fight the illness. She was given multi-drug therapy soon after birth. But for a young child like her, it's hard to take a lot of medications at regular intervals. And the medicines she was taking were known to have powerful side effects too."
"But once the most critical moment passed, Yuuki was able to grow up safely and even enter elementary school. When she was in school, she was hard working, and even got top grades in all of her classes as well. She had lots of friends as well. And it looked like she was able to live a normal life after all… but…" Asuna paused, trying to find the words to explain further. Her family patiently waited.
"The school didn't know that Yuuki was an HIV carrier. And… during her 4th grade, a group of parents of students had somehow found out that she was a carrier. And before they knew it, the rumor had instantly spread through the whole school. It was illegal to discriminate against carriers just because they were infected with HIV, but the sad truth is that society isn't as kind or understanding as they should be… At first, it started off with people protesting against her coming to school to study. But later, it escalated to prank calls and letters and so on… Her family tried their best, but in the end, Yuuki was forced to transfer to another school."
"But what was even crueler was that at the moment when Yuuki was ready to go to her new school, her immune system had suddenly collapsed. In other words, the AIDS symptom had started. Kurahashi-sensei always felt that the hurtful words from the parents and teachers in her previous school and their prejudice against her, as well as the emotional shock of being forced to transfer was what initiated her relapse in the first place." Asuna explained.
Her family took a moment to process the information given to them. Yuuki's situation was far worse than any of them had anticipated. They couldn't bring themselves to give a reaction.
"Yuuki was hospitalized about 3 ½ years ago from an illness called Pneumocystis Pneumonia. And even after she went through all that, she was still always smiling… Every day, she told sensei that she would never lose to the disease and she never complained even during the painful checkups…"
"But even in hospitals, there are a lot of viruses and bacteria. So even after hospitalization, Yuuki was infected with throat candida."
"At this point, I asked sensei why Yuuki had decided to use the Medicuboid. At the time when Yuuki was infected with throat candida, the Sword Art Online incident had begun. When the public was panicking because of it, there were even discussions of sealing off the FullDive Technology entirely. I'm sure Tou-san knows about that better than any of us here… But the government and some manufacturers had finished their research on using the NerveGear for medical purposes. In other words, the first Medicuboid prototype was completed and moved over to that hospital at that point."
"But the problem then was that even if they wanted to start a clinical trial, finding someone who was willing to take the risk of using a machine which emitted electromagnetic pulses several times stronger than the NerveGear had become exponentially difficult because of the SAO incident. Because after all, Medicuboid itself was a derivation of the NerveGear and nobody knew what the long-term effects of those electromagnetic pulses would be."
"Sensei also explained that the Medicuboid was a delicate machine and required a lot of careful maintenance. The machine had to be in a place where it was free of dust and germs. So when sensei heard about the Medicuboid, he gave Yuuki and her family a proposal: If she agreed to test out the Medicuboid, Yuuki could be put in a sterile room that would greatly reduce the risk of further infection."
"Even now, sensei always wondered if the proposal he made was for the best for Yuuki. Because there was a major downside in becoming the Medicuboid's test subject: She couldn't leave the sterile room. So Yuuki and her family spent a lot of time worrying about the proposal sensei made. But the deciding factor was most likely Yuuki's curiosity for the unknowns of the virtual world. So she agreed to become the Medicuboid's test subject and entered the room. And Yuuki's lived inside the Medicuboid ever since." Asuna said.
"Lived inside?" Kyouko asked.
"I mean that literally. Yuuki almost never returned to the real world. Or rather, she couldn't. During a hospice treatment, usually morphine would be used to ease the patient's pain, but for Yuuki, the Medicuboid's sensation canceller was used instead. In the meantime, Yuuki would travel in all kinds of virtual worlds. Yuuki was FullDiving 24 hours a day. And she's lived in the virtual world for 3 years straight. That's even longer than me and the other SAO survivors." Asuna said, her voice shaky.
The other three Yuuki's processed what they had just heard. They stayed on their spot, stunned. Kouichirou was the first to recover.
"But, the hospital was giving her other treatments other than the Medicuboid, right? You can still live even with the illness with proper treatment…" Kouichirou said with uncertainty. But Asuna shook her head.
"Even if she was in a sterile room, it was impossible to do anything about the viruses and bacteria that Yuuki was already infected with. With her immune system weakened, they would only grow… At the time, Yuuki had lost almost all of her eye sight and wasn't able to move her body on her own in the real world."
"Yuuki's condition was terminal. She herself was well aware of this. That's why she was trying to distance herself from me. She was scared of how I would react when I found out about her condition. Deep inside, Yuuki must have been terrified… Terrified that I may even turn my back on her when I learned the truth because she knew the pain of being rejected and disregarded all too well…" Asuna said with tears welling up again.
"Asuna…" Kouichirou said, not knowing what else to say to her.
"It all made sense… Yuuki's ridiculously quick reflexes, her crying and trying to keep her distance from me… It was all because of her whole situation and the Medicuboid…" Her family stayed silent, feeling truly sorry for Yuuki. Then, his father asked the following.
"But… At least she wasn't alone, right? Her family was still supporting her, weren't they?" At this question, Asuna answered.
"Yuuki had an older twin sister named Aiko. Although they weren't very similar, they got along well and according to Kurahashi-sensei, Yuuki would always look up to her. And that Aiko-san may have looked a bit like me…" Asuna trailed off. Shouzou raised his eyebrow at the use of the past tense.
"May have…? Wait. Does that mean…"
"Yuuki's parents passed away 2 years ago, and Aiko-san 1 year ago…" Asuna confirmed, her tears finally overflowing and she started to sob again. At this, her father let her lean onto him to let her cry, patting her back in a smoothing manner. Kyouko and Kouichirou soon did the same.
"When you said that she was in the hospital, I thought she just had some kind of illness… but this…" Kouichirou said, overwhelmed by the unfortunate tale of the Konno family.
"Asuna… Why didn't you tell us about this sooner? You said that you visited Yuuki on January. That was about 2 months ago. It must have been eating you up inside since finding out about her condition… so why did you keep it a secret from us?" Shouzou asked. Always having known his daughter to have the heart of an angel, he was sure Asuna would have cried for her and would have done anything to lessen her friend's turmoil. If they had known about this sooner, they would have been able to be there for her and give her the comfort she may have needed.
Asuna took a moment to compose herself and tried to come up with an answer to that question. But the answer she came up with was going to sound a bit hurtful to her mother. Was there a way to sugarcoat the answer a little bit? But then, Kouichirou answered for her.
"I think I know why. It was because of Kaa-san, wasn't it?" Kouichirou said, certain of his answer. Everyone's eyes were on Kyouko in an instant.
"Wa… watashi? (M… me?) What do you mean by that?" Kyouko asked, unsure of where this was going. Kouichirou sighed at this.
"Kaa-san, don't you get it? I'm going to be a bit blunt here, but you're not exactly the understanding type. You're so set on your own views and beliefs that you disregard what others think on a subject, even when it's your own family. And don't even try to deny it. With how you regarded Asuna's classmates in the SAO Survivor's School and your overall closed-minded attitude, I'm willing to bet that Asuna was scared of how you would react when you heard about Yuuki. And in the worst case scenario, that you might even forbid her from seeing Yuuki at all." Kouichirou pointed out. Kyouko sat at her seat, dumbfounded at her son's words.
"A… Asuna, is this true?" Kyouko asked, praying in her mind that Asuna would answer negative. Unfortunately for her Kouichirou had quite a knack for being able to tell his sister's true feelings and was rarely wrong on deducing what was on her mind. Asuna paused for a moment, pondering on whether she should be honest or not. After a few seconds of thinking, she decided to be honest and slowly nodded her head affirmative. Kyouko stayed where she was, completely stupefied.
When Asuna had revealed Yuuki's situation, she genuinely felt sorry for her and her family and did not hesitate to show it. Cold was one way to describe Kyouko, but she definitely wasn't heartless. If Asuna had explained Yuuki's situation as soon as she found out about it even she would have understood…. Or would she have? Reflecting on how cold and emotionless she had been to Asuna before going to ALO for the first time, she became more and more uncertain of whether she would have understood Yuuki's tragic story if she heard about it then. It was clear that her own children thought that she wouldn't have understood. And that fact alone was very hurtful indeed.
"I… I had no idea… I'm sorry… Asuna…" And she really meant it. Her voice was filled with shame and sorrow.
Asuna however didn't respond and a few seconds passed before she broke the silence by continuing her story. But even though it was a few seconds, the atmosphere was heavy, awkward and uncomfortable and it felt like an hour rather than a few seconds.
"Going back to my story… When I was in Sword Art Online, I witnessed the death of countless people. And even myself had looked at death in the eyes. So I thought that I knew and understood the meaning of life and death."
"I had only known Yuuki for a few days, but after learning about her past and present, I still couldn't accept such a heart-breaking reality. I always thought: "I've already fought hard, so what's wrong with being insistent on a little bit of happiness?" This was why I was scared of change, didn't dare argue with others, and only thought of excuses for my cowardice and silence."
"But Yuuki… she had to fight ever since she was born. She always had to fight against a reality that was always trying to take everything away from her. Even though she knew she didn't have much time left, she was still able to smile genuinely."
"Yuuki had told me that there were some things that you can only share by fighting. So if I couldn't push my fear and my weak side away and talk with her, then all my efforts in finding her would have been for nothing."
"When Kurahashi-sensei finished his story, I could do nothing but cry for her. Then heard Yuuki's voice call out, telling me not to cry and she thanked me for coming. She'd been listening to my conversation with Kurahashi-sensei through the Medicuboid. She told me to log into ALO through the Amusphere in the next room and to meet her on the island where we first met. So I went there. I was so happy. I could finally meet her again and speak to her for real."
"When we met at the little island, I found Yuuki there too. She told me that she had a feeling that I would try to find her in the real world, but since she told me nothing, it would be impossible. But she was happy that I came to find her nonetheless, especially since it was rare for her wishes to come true."
"I couldn't hold back anymore. She was really there, face to face with me. So I just, embraced and held her, scared that she may be an illusion. Then Yuuki explained everything. About how much I reminded her of her late twin sister. She also played VRMMO alongside Yuuki. And she was the first leader of the Sleeping Knights. And according to Yuuki, Aiko-san was a lot stronger than herself…"
"Then Yuuki explained the background of the Sleeping Knights. They all met together in a virtual hospice called the "Serene Garden". Meaning that all of the members of the Sleeping Knights guild were people in similar predicament to Yuuki. Although their illnesses were different, in a broad sense, they were all in the same circumstances. So they decided to travel the virtual worlds together, play VR games and enjoy their lives to the fullest until the end. That was the reason they founded the Sleeping Knights."
"Originally, there were 9 members in the Sleeping Knights, but as time went on, 3 of the members had passed away. One of them being Yuuki's sister. So after much debate, the Sleeping Knights decided that when it was time for the next person to go, they would disband the guild. But not before making one last wonderful memory of their time together… to be able to tell the deceased members of the journey they had together and make them proud." Asuna explained without pausing much. Her family listened on.
"And then Yuuki apologized for not telling me the truth. The reason the Sleeping Knights were going to disband in the spring wasn't because they would be too busy with their lives. It was because two of their members had been declared by their doctors that they had at most 3 months left to live…" Asuna trailed off. Once again, her family gasped in horror.
"That was why the Sleeping Knights were desperate to have their names on the Monument of Swordsmen; to make one final memory in ALO, and to leave a mark or a proof that they once existed in that world. But it wasn't going as they planned. So they decided to find someone that could help them achieve their goal. Actually, some of the members objected the idea, fearing that if they found out their secret, it would only leave behind bad memories. And in the end, what they feared had really happened. So Yuuki asked me since it was unpleasant for me, to forget about them if possible. Yuuki's voice was trembling when she asked me that. No, there was no way I could or would ever forget about something like that! So I told her that I wouldn't. I never felt troubled by the Sleeping Knights, or think that the memories we made together were bad ones at all. I was really happy to have met and be able to help them. Even then I really wanted to join the Sleeping Knights." Asuna expressed her feelings like never before. Her family couldn't help but give a small smile, moved by her loyalty.
"Yuuki told me that she was happy to have come to ALO and meet me. And after everything that I told her, it was enough… that she had no more regrets anymore… that she was satisfied with everything…"
"So I told her that there must be a lot of things that she still wasn't able to do… all kinds of places that she hasn't visited yet… not just ALfheim, but other virtual worlds too… there still had to be an infinite amount of things that Yuuki wanted to do… At this question, Yuuki gave a mischievous smile, the same ones that she showed me several times before… Then she told me that during the past 3 years the Sleeping Knights had all kinds of adventures in countless different worlds. And that they want the last chapter of their adventure to be with me… So I asked if there was anything they want to do or visit… And what she answered next kind of caught me off guard…" Asuna said with a small smile.
"So, what did she say?" Kyouko asked, curious of her answer.
"She said that she wanted to go to school…"
"S… school?" The Yuuki's asked simultaneously. If you asked any other children, school would be the last place most of them would have wanted to go. And yet, there was Yuuki, wanting to go to the place most children disliked.
"Mmm… Yuuki had gone to a school in the virtual world, but it wasn't like the ones in the real world. So she wanted to go back to the kind of school that she went to before she was hospitalized… And even though she thought that it would be impossible, given her condition, she thanked me for the thought anyway."
"But then, I had an idea… and it just might work. And if it did, Yuuki would be able to go to school, with my and Kazuto-kun's help!" Asuna said. This idea raised her family's curiosity.
"So, what was the idea?" Shouzou asked her.
"Well, you see… At the time, Kazuto-kun was working on a project for his Mechatronics class…"
A/N: That's it for the fifth chapter. The next chapter will be the last part of "Looking Back". And after that, the story will focus more on how her friends and family help comfort Asuna. This story isn't over by a long shot.
One more thing: I will be going on a trip with my friends next week for about a week. So I'm not sure I can upload the next chapter before that, but I'll try my best to. But if I'm unable to upload it before the trip, then I'll most likely have it uploaded during September. So I hope you can be patient until then.
Please feel free to leave a comment, or follow or favorite the story if you wish.
Thank you for reading my story.
Yours truly, KiritoIRL.
