Outlier

by TheCartoonFanatic01

AU. A minor flaw in Kayaba's plan has allowed one out of every 250 players who die in Sword Art Online to return to the real world instead of dying. So when Kirito finally clears the game and logs out, he is surprised to see a familiar girl of blue waiting for him. "Sa...Sa...chi...?" Kirito/Sachi, Kirito/Asuna, multiple other ships! R&R! LONGER SUMMARY INSIDE! RATING MAY CHANGE!

2. Causality

A/N: Well, it's that time for me to update this fic! I am quite pleased by the response the prologue got, and it has given me the drive and motivation to post this newest chapter early. The plan right now is to post an update every time I have three fully (or mostly) completed chapters in my queue for this story. It gives me opportunities to proofread the chapters I have in the queue as many times as I need to, while also working on new ones. Basically, it's a small multitasking job.

Anyway, this chapter marks the start of a four-part mini-arc that will chronicle Sachi's life from waking up after her death in SAO to the events of the prologue. It was originally going to be in three parts, but it just became clear to me that the third chapter would have to be split into two. Also, because of the subject matter, there's going to be a bunch of content packed into these four chapters, going from July 2023 to November 2024.

Now, it is going to be in the form of a montage for the most part, so there'll be a bunch of time-skips in these chapters, especially this one. The pacing may not look like the best as a result, but besides that, I think I am happy with what I've got for the most part. And besides, the real meat of the story is supposed to be my interpretation of the Fairy Dance Arc, so I want us to segue into the starting point for that as quickly, and yet as realistically as I possibly can.

But here's something to look forward to here: aside from Sachi, we'll be seeing a few other familiar faces, and I am sure a couple of them will be unexpected. ;D

Alright, I'm done with all this rambling! On with the chapter. ENJOY!

P.S.: For updates regarding progress on my writing and just life in general, please check out my profile! I try to update it as often as I possibly can with any status update!

P.P.S.: Due to the slowly improving situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I am going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:

-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to
-Stay informed on the COVID-19 vaccines, get shots if you're able to, and try to get a booster shot if you're eligible

And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:

-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)

If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.

---

– July 1, 2023 –
Hachinohe Nishi Hospital

"Sachiko?"

...

"Sachiko Hamaguchi?"

...

"Sachi?"

The bedridden teenage girl slowly looked at her visitor, the light further accentuating her haggard appearance. Her black hair was draped over her shoulders and hung over her eyes, casting them in shadow and giving her the appearance of a humanoid creature straight out of a horror movie. But the man by her bedside didn't react at all. Instead, he adjusted his rectangular glasses as he moved to sit down on a swivel chair nearby, setting his suitcase down on the floor next to him. The very first thing she noticed about him was his suit, colored in an ugly muted shade of dark-green.

"Sorry if I'm disturbing you. Dr. Okuno just informed me that you haven't been experiencing any panic attacks or mental breakdowns in the past forty-eight hours. This shouldn't take too long."

He gave a tiny grunt as he finally sat down. After taking a moment to acclimate himself to his seat, he casually rolled up to Sachi's bedside, the chair emitting a tiny, unpleasant squeaking noise as it moved. He flashed her what seemed to be a friendly smile.

"My name is Seijirou Kikuoka. I'm one of the lead investigators in the Sword Art Online Case Victims Rescue Force. We're trying to get to the bottom of what exactly happened to you and everyone else trapped in SAO. Not to mention trying to find the whereabouts of the game's creator, Akihiko Kayaba. Now then, I know you think this may be a longshot, but..."

Kikuoka reached into his pocket and produced several bags of candy and chocolate, along with a conspicuous cellphone. He gently placed the items in Sachi's empty bedside tray. The girl could barely notice the phone already recording audio.

"I was hoping you could tell me what you experienced in there. I understand if this may be too soon for you, and way too sensitive of a topic." Kikuoka took a packet of chewy candy, carefully tore it open, and popped a couple of its contents in his mouth. "If you feel you are not ready to share, then please, let me know."

He was met with a prolonged silence so tense that it was tangible and could be cut with a knife. His eyes, hidden behind the gleam of his lenses, stared unflinchingly and nonjudgmentally at Sachi as he continued chewing noisily on the candy. She stared right back at him, her eyes, soft and blue, fully exposed to him, showing their lifelessness. Even with such an image ingrained in his mind, Kikuoka didn't show any signs of horror or disgust at her condition. Instead, he clasped his hands together and brought them to his chin, unconsciously rubbing it with the joints of his fingers.

"If you don't want to talk about SAO, we could talk about your life. We could talk about your dreams and aspirations. We could talk about all sorts of other things."

Still, Sachi didn't respond. But he didn't relent and kept waiting patiently for a response.

Eventually, the silence was broken by a croak.

"What other things...?"

A ghost of a smile briefly appeared on Kikuoka's face as he replied, "Whatever you want, Sachi. Whatever you want. Tell me, what is it that you want to talk to me about right now?"

There was another silence. And then...

"My...My friends..."

Kikuoka mildly pursed his lips. "What about them?"

"Was Dr. Okuno telling the truth? Are they really...?"

Her voice trailed off into a wisp. Kikuoka's posture stiffened slightly in response as he finally swallowed the candy.

"I'm afraid so, Sachi," he replied coolly.

"Even Keita-kun...?"

"Even Keita?" He leaned forward slightly, his glasses shining in intrigue. "You didn't see him die? In SAO, I mean?"

"He...He was at...the Town of Beginnings...to buy a...a home for us...while we were...while we..."

Again, her voice trailed off, and her lip quivered this time.

"I see." Kikuoka hesitated, quickly pondering his next words, before saying, "Well, he was the last to die. It happened an hour or so after the others."

Sachi's face fell even more. "He killed himself."

"Now what makes you think that, Sachi? Perhaps he-"

"If he found out what happened to us, then that's what he would've done." She looked away. "Keita-kun always thought of others, especially his friends... If anything ever happened to any of us and he had an opportunity to stop it...then he'd blame himself. He killed himself, I know it..." She lowered her face, and her body trembled in grief. "K-Keita-kun... I'm... I'm so sorry... I was so weak, so useless... I... I..."

Kikuoka seemed to have realized that he was now treading on sensitive territory, since he quickly cut her off, saying, "Dr. Okuno told me that you kept asking about someone named Kirito when you returned."

Sachi's head perked up like an animal sensing something. "Kirito?"

"Yes. And that the hospital could not find anyone going by that handle here. You and your friends are the only ones in all of Aomori Prefecture who were SAO victims. Fortunately..." He took the suitcase next to him, opened it up, and took out a file. "We at the SAO Case Victims Rescue Force are prepared."

Sachi's blue eyes glimmered alive, and they widened at the sight of the appealing, manila-colored file. She could barely read the kanji marking the file, what with her eyesight still recuperating, but she knew it was someone's name.

"Is..." She briefly stopped, her heart skipping a beat in joy. "Is that...?"

Kikuoka smiled. "Yes, it is, Sachi. I found Kirito for you."

Sachi suddenly leaned over and reached for the file, like a predator springing out from the brush to ambush its prey. But such an abrupt, impulsive act already became too much for her atrophied body to handle, and she keeled over, wheezing from the overexerting labor imposed upon her. She could've sworn she heard Kikuoka lightly snort in amusement.

"Now, now, Sachi," he said, like a parent admonishing their child. "Let us not get too hasty. You need to take it slowly for now. Physically and emotionally. You do not want your body to fail on you, now do we?"

Sachi leaned back on her bed, taking deep breaths to recollect herself. Once she calmed down and showed no more signs of exhaustion, Kikuoka opened the file and read it, apparently interested in its contents.

"Kirito, Kirito, Kirito... Quite an interesting individual we've got here. One of the nurses – Tomatsu, I believe it was – said that you kept bringing him up the most. Your friends were a distant second. He must mean a lot to you, am I right?"

Sachi's eyes softened, and she smiled with great passion. "He does. He...He inspired me and gave me hope, even in my final days..."

Kikuoka curiously peered at her from over the file's edge. "You mean in SAO, right?"

"Y-Yes." Then, she eyed the file, unaware of how her visitor kept peering at her, closely and analytically. "Where is he?"

"Where is he? No question on how he's doing? On whether he's alive or not? Forgive me if I'm mistaken, Sachi, but from what you told me so far, and from what Dr. Okuno inferred to me, it...sorta sounded like Keita was the only one not with you when your friends died-"

"Then he's alive," she interrupted firmly, almost startling him. "I know it... He's strong... He's...He's...a lot stronger than you'd think."

"Is he now?"

Sachi gave him a single, vigorous nod. "Yes, he is. And...And if there's anyone in this world who could clear SAO and put an end to Akihiko Kayaba's madness, it would be him. It would be Kirito..."

She refocused on the tempting file in Kikuoka's hands. She still couldn't read the kanji on it, but this time, it wasn't just because her vision was still readjusting itself to the parameters of the real world. It was because they were distant, and shimmering with tears of passion.

So, she still didn't notice how Kikuoka's eyes narrowed ever so slightly behind the gleaming lenses.

"It would be Kirito, huh? Interesting. Very interesting..."

With a grin, the investigator quietly reached for more of the chewy candy and popped the pieces into his mouth.

---

CHAPTER 1: CAUSALITY

---

– July 4, 2023 –

The first thing Sachi felt, when her weak, trembling soles met the freshly cleaned hospital floor, was cold. But that didn't deter her. Instead, she pressed her feet further against the floor and channeled more of her strength into her leg muscles with a determined series of little grunts. Her grip on her IV pole tightened, and she gritted her teeth. The girl was driven by pure determination to leave the oppressive confines of her room.

It had only taken her 24 hours to start dreading Seijirou Kikuoka's daily visits. She knew that he meant well, but he was too curious; he pried into her time in SAO way too much. Even if he finally gave in to her pleas and told her the hospital where Kirito was (a general hospital down in Saitama Prefecture, it seemed), it only seemed to give him the impression that she owed him more information in exchange for all his services. He wouldn't even give her Kirito's file so she could learn more. Doctor-patient privilege, he casually told her then.

And it had only taken her 48 hours to start concocting an escape plan.

Now, a mere 72 hours after she started becoming lucid and rational again, Sachi decided to act on her plans.

Not that it was doing her any favors. Five minutes and three attempts later, she finally managed to get her hind quarters off the false comfort of her bed. And now, it was going to take her as long to fully straighten herself out before she could start clambering out of the room.

"Come on, Sachi!" she thought urgently. "You can do this! You didn't survive SAO for nothing, you know!"

Five more minutes had passed, and Sachi felt she was making great progress when she heard the door open.

"Alright, Sachi," a vaguely familiar voice said. "I brought you your favorite, blueberry cereal and-"

A nurse clad in a silver uniform entered the room, her shoulder-length, dark-brown hair gleaming underneath the ceiling lights. Her hair was so sleek and healthy that the light glimmered off the dark-brown, giving it the appearance of a dark-violet color instead. Sachi froze with surprise at the sight of her visitor, her heart skipping a beat. She quickly recognized the nurse and knew better than to mistake her as an enemy in SAO, unlike what happened when she first woke up from her coma. But when the nurse saw her patient's current posture, that was when Sachi's body decided to betray her.

"Sa-Sachi!" The nurse dropped her tray of cereal and milk and nearly slipped on the splattered liquid while diving to stop the girl's fall. "S-Sachi, what are you doing?! It's too soon for you to be out of your bed like that!"

"I can't be here!" Sachi wheezed, slightly crazed in her desperation as the nurse carefully laid her back onto her bed. "I-I just can't! That Kikuoka guy, he's asking too many questions about SAO!"

The young woman's voice was more consoling this time. "Oh, you don't have to worry about him anymore, Sachi. I just talked to Dr. Okuno, and he says Kikuoka will not be coming in for the rest of the week." She patted Sachi's shoulder in an act of consolation as soon as she was settled. "The SAO Case Victims Rescue Force just got a possible lead on Akihiko Kayaba's whereabouts."

Sachi looked at her in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, that's correct." The nurse stood up and approached the fallen tray to pick it up. "He didn't know much of anything else, but still, that's gotta be good news, right? If Kayaba is found, then he'll tell the Force how to safely deactivate the NerveGear and free the remaining players. And then the nightmare will finally be over for all of us, and you can reunite with that friend of yours, the one you kept speaking highly of. What was his name again? Kitto? Kiriko?"

The girl smiled and looked out of her sunlit window. "Kirito..."

The nurse smiled too, just as she knelt down and grabbed the tray. "So, when you say he's a friend, Sachi...is he a friend friend? Or is he like a boyfriend?"

Sachi nodded, her gaze soft and distant. "Yes, he's-" Then, she finally realized what her visitor said and flicked her head at her direction. "H-H-Huuuuuh?!"

The nurse giggled while she set the tray on the bedside table. "Well, whenever anyone says that name, you always have this sweet lil' smile on your face, and you get livelier than any other patient of your condition that I've ever seen. If only for a brief period, anyway." She gazed upon Sachi's features. "And look at you! You're redder than a summer strawberry! So cute!"

Sachi quickly looked away, as if hiding her face would make the nurse forget about the topic in an instant. "I-I don't like Ki-Ki-Kirito th-tha-that way! H-H-He wouldn't fall for a w-we-weak, u-u-useless girl li-like me, a-an-anyway. H-He pr-pro-probably likes br-brave, st-str-strong girls! G-G-Girls wh-who in-inspire others, j-just like he would..."

"What are you talking about, Sachi?" the nurse asked with a sweet, gentle smile. "If you'd ask me, I would say you are a brave, strong girl yourself."

The girl's eyes widened, and she looked at her caretaker. "You...You do?"

The nurse nodded. "Well, you survived SAO, didn't you? That was a one-in-250 chance, Sachi. Very few people can get to say that. And, for someone who'd been through quite an ordeal, you've taken all the changes in your life in better stride than others I've heard about. I mean, you're already trying to get out of bed and walk on your own! I would say it takes someone brave and strong to power through everything that's happened and face tomorrow with determination."

Sachi raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what do you mean by 'power through'...?"

"Well, I mean, everyone in your life is now dead because of that death game, Sachi. Your friends, your parents-" She cut herself off upon noticing the grim look slowly appearing in her patient's face. "S-Sorry. I suppose I spoke too soon..."

"It's...It's alright..." The girl looked away again. "It's not like...I had much of a...home to go back to...to begin with..."

The joy in the nurse's face disappeared, supplanted now by moroseness. "Yeah... W-Well..." She cleared her throat in an obvious attempt at dispelling the fresh, settling gloom. "I-I should get the janitor. If you're ever gonna try that escaping stunt again, I'd prefer you try it when the floor's clean again. I can't have my patients slipping and hitting their heads on the floor!"

She prepared to leave the room when Sachi called out to her.

"M-Miss?"

The woman stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Yes, Sachi?"

Sachi looked at her with some sort of nervous longing. "Y-You've kept checking on me, e-ever since I woke up, b-but I..." She paused, her voice momentarily bound by an unseen yet overwhelming force of pure apprehension. "I never got your name! I-I-If you may..."

She bit her lip, unable to continue out of shame and embarrassment, but the nurse understood.

"My name is Tomatsu," the woman replied. "Mari Tomatsu. It's very nice to meet you, Sachi."

Sachi shyly closed her eyes and yelled, "It's nice to meet you too, Tomatsu-san!"

Mari simply giggled. "You may be nervous and all, but at least your heart's in the right place, Sachi. And this introduction is miles better than the one where you mistook me for an SAO enemy."

---

"You stupid bitch! You couldn't even cook me a half-decent meal?! You're weak!"

"I'm so sorry, honey; please forgive m- AGH!"

"SHUT UP! I'm gonna go get us some real food. Fucking useless..."

SLAM!

"...M...M-Mommy...?"

"Ohhh, Sachiko..."

"Why does Daddy keep yelling at you and hitting you?"

"Because...I'm not good enough..."

...

"Sachiko, I want- no, I need you to always remember this: you need to think for yourself. Think for yourself, and stay alive by any means necessary. Even if it means losing a part of yourself, you keep on following that path. Do you understand, honey? You stay alive, no matter what."

Sachi frantically shot up, loudly gasping for oxygen. For a moment, as she panted like she ran a marathon, she thought she was back home. Then, as her sight adjusted to the moonlight that cloaked the room, she realized she was still in the hospital. A long, cold air of solitude hung over her room.

"Do you understand, honey? You stay alive, no matter what."

"Well, Mom?" she thought, while gazing out of the moonlit window. "I stayed alive by any means necessary, just like you wanted me to. But now...look where I am now. I'm all alone, and you and Keita-kun and everyone else...you're all dead. Even...Dad... I wonder if this is what you had in mind when you thought of me surviving to the end..."

She laid back on her bed again and closed her eyes with a soft exhale.

---

– July 11, 2023 –

The room was now filled with sobbing. A barely composed Mari held Sachi in her arms as the adolescent wept loudly into her shoulder.

"It's not fair, Tomatsu-san!" Sachi wailed. "How could they not find him?!"

"I don't know, Sachi," Mari replied softly. "I...I guess the Rescue Force got bad information. But they're trying. They're all trying their hardest. And I know that this setback isn't gonna stop them from doing what they need to do. Kayaba will be found, Sachi. Then Kirito and everyone else will be freed. Until then, we'll all have to wait and hope for the best."

Sachi ripped away from Mari and looked straight into her eyes. The nurse was dismayed to see the girl's reddening eyes, puffy cheeks, and tear-stained face.

"But for how long?!" Sachi cried in desperation. "How long until then?! I...I don't know if I can wait that long!"

"Sure, you can! Remember!" Mari took her hands and held them tightly. "You're brave, strong, and inspirational! Just you wait! When Kirito gets out and sees you, he's going to be sooooo amazed by you that no other girl will catch his attention ever again!"

"How?!" The girl looked away, her hair hiding her leaking eyes. "I did absolutely nothing to survive SAO. I-I just died and logged out when I shouldn't have. There's nothing brave or strong or inspirational about that!"

"Well, you may be right about that. But!" Mari gently took Sachi's chin and directed her head so she could face her again. "That means you've been granted a second chance at life! And with a second chance comes new opportunities to become the kind of girl Kirito likes!"

Sachi's face fell, and she hiccupped a little. "Pl-Please, Tomatsu-san... I-I don't like Kirito that way..."

She could see Tomatsu fleetingly purse her lips in doubt. "Either way, it doesn't matter. The point, Sachi, is that with your survival, all of these new opportunities have presented themselves, and you should take advantage of 'em!"

"How?" Sachi's pupils moved to the corners of her eyes, directing her line of sight away from the nurse. "What can I do? What can I do now, while I'm waiting for Kirito a-and the others...?"

"Well, maybe you can start with some exercise. Improve that body of yours. At least get out of that bed for more than a couple of minutes." When the girl hesitated, Mari gave her a wider, brighter smile. "Oh, come on, Sachi! You were itching to get out of here just a week ago! In all the years I've been here – which, frankly, have been very few – I've never seen a patient so determined to get back into tiptop shape before! Now what happened to the girl who was willing to take that risk?"

"Maybe she's unwilling to see the kind of world that's waiting for her outside..." Sachi droned sadly.

"So you've given up on physical recovery? Already?" Mari paused, apparently pondering her next strategy. "That...doesn't sound like something Kirito would do."

Sachi narrowed her eyes slightly, something the nurse noticed just as quickly. There was an infinitesimal silence, bursting with awkwardness, before Mari spoke up again.

"Tell me, Sachi, what do you think Kirito would say if he saw you squandering your second chance? Regardless of who he is to you, what do you think his thoughts would be of you right now?"

The adolescent's gaze softened, and passion filled her face, turning it into a shade of wine. Then, she raised an elbow, no longer as emaciated as before, and used it to wipe her clearing eyes.

---

– August 1, 2023 –

"Yes! Yes! I'm doing it! I'm doing it again! Kirito would be so proud of me!"

Sachi wandered around the hospital's small but homely rehabilitation room, the wobbling sensation now minuscule in her legs. She remembered how weeks of diet and physical exercise regiments, along with the warm support of Mari and the other hospital staff, had allowed her to regain much of her body strength. When she first started out in the beginning of the month, she could barely lift herself up from her own bed.

Now, she could walk through the entire rehabilitation room for prolonged periods of time without collapsing, and she was recently able to lift a couple of packages for a relieved mailman. It was nothing short of miraculous.

"Impressive. Hamaguchi's improved since the last time I saw her."

Sachi pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at the sound of the voice. Even if she tried her best to ignore it and proceed with more of her exercises, she knew her bitterness was as obvious as day. Memories of all her meetings with him, now numbered in the dozens, flooded back to the forefront of her brain.

"Great," she thought. "He's back."

On instinct, she used strands of her hair to cover up the O-shaped scars behind her ears, as if concealing them would be enough to make Kikuoka move on from her.

"Indeed, Kikuoka-san," Dr. Okuno replied. "Her physical improvement has progressed by leaps and bounds. I don't think I've ever seen anyone so determined to return to their old life. And...with a patient like Hamaguchi, well..." The doctor's voice briefly became somber before returning to its original tone of professionalism. "I-I'm surprised that she is actually making the effort."

"You're studying other SAO survivors, right, Kikuoka-san?" Mari asked. "How does Sachi measure up with the others?"

"She dwarfs all of them, easily," the investigator replied. "Many of them are still refusing to get out of their beds by this point. Hamaguchi remains the first and only SAO survivor to reach this level of physical improvement."

"And...what about mental...?"

"Hmmm..." A shuffling of papers and a hum. "Her medical records say her assigned therapist is a Dr. Watanabe?"

"Yes," Okuno replied. "He comes in here twice a week for sessions."

"I see. Well, I'm looking at his evaluations, and so far, they are generally positive. According to his notes, he believes the reason she's displayed this level of improvement is because of this Kirito character. Clearly, he was a source of inspiration to her in the game, and he remains so to this day..."

Sachi cracked a smile at the sound of Kikuoka's comments about Kirito. Then, she heard Mari speak up again.

"Will you be interviewing her today, Kikuoka-san?"

Sachi grimaced at the investigator's sleek response.

"Of course. I think I've been away long enough. With all the improvements she's shown up to now, she should be more open with me this time."

"Ummm...w-would you mind if I was present during the inter-"

"Tomatsu-san!" Okuno wheezed. "Y-You know that's not prop-"

He was silenced by a hand-wave from Kikuoka. "It's alright, I don't mind." He looked directly at Mari. "But I am surprised that you'd ask a question like that... And for you to be referring to Hamaguchi by her first name... What was your name again? Tomatsu?"

"M-Mm-hm..."

"And what exactly is your relationship with Hamaguchi, if I may ask?"

"M-My relationship? I'm...I'm just the nurse taking care of her, that's all..."

Sachi could only imagine Kikuoka's glasses making that stupid glint in the light.

"I see..."

---

"Let's begin, shall we, Sachi?"

Unlike the first time she met Seijirou Kikuoka, Sachi was now seated firmly and upright in a swivel chair inside a spacious office. She wore a simple baby-blue dress with white polka-dots, a hand-me-down from the hospital. Bright sunlight was shining directly through the glass window, filling the entire room. On the other side of the desk was Kikuoka himself, his glasses gleaming along with the sunlight. Sachi could feel Mari's protective presence behind her.

"Now then," Kikuoka continued, "before we begin..."

He picked up a plastic bag from the floor and spilled its contents all over the desk. Sachi exhaled and narrowed her eyes in bitterness at the sight of the bags of candy and chocolate, their various logos joyously looking up at her and taunting her.

"I hope your health has improved enough wherein a simple piece of sugary candy won't be enough to send your body in hyper-drive."

"It has," Mari replied in suspicion. "She can eat any of those whenever she wants."

"And we have all the time in the world. So, we can spend that time finishing this and..." Kikuoka pulled out the accursed cellphone of his; it was already recording. "Talking."

There was a terrible silence. Mari and Kikuoka both looked at Sachi; the former's face was filled with concern, while the latter had his head slightly leaned forward, his eyes reading every inch of Sachi's face in search of any reaction. Finally, a second hand reached into the pile of sweets.

"The last time we met," Sachi said, as the sounds of unwrapping plastic took up the space between them, "our...talk was not exactly productive."

"Sure it was," Kikuoka casually replied. "We talked about your first six months in SAO. We got to learn a lot about what's happening in the game in real time."

"But we're nowhere close to your true goal."

"My true goal?" Kikuoka quirked an eyebrow in amusement. "And what would that be?"

"The location of Akihiko Kayaba." Sachi closed her eyes as she popped into her mouth her first piece of candy for the day. "I told you many, many times before, Kikuoka. Nothing stood out to me since November 6th. The only thing on my mind that entire time was my chances of survival."

"Yes, so you've told me."

"But what even makes you think Kayaba could be in the game, Kikuoka-san?"

Kikuoka took a moment to eye Mari before explaining, "Call it a hunch."

She stopped chewing and swallowed the piece of candy, but her puffed cheeks remained. "You're making me dig through six months' worth of traumatic memories in search of SAO's creator, who you believe to be in the game based on a...a-a hunch?"

"When Kayaba disappeared, his trail literally went cold, Sachi. No suspicious money transactions, no credible eyewitness sightings, no passport hits, not even an order from his favorite restaurant. It is like he just vanished into thin air. Which, of course, is impossible." He took a soft breath. "Look, we're pursuing all possible venues. This just happens to be one of them."

Sachi turned away from Kikuoka. "Then please go pursue another venue. I'm useless to you."

"You most certainly aren't. Last time we met, you were gonna tell me about the time you first met Kirito before I had to cut our discussion short."

"Then I'll summarize everything. Kirito saved me and my friends from monsters in April. We invited him to join our guild out of gratitude. He accepted. Two months later, we all die, except for him. And now I'm here, talking to you."

"Kikuoka-san," Mari added, "pl-please understand that this is a sensitive topic for Sachi. I...I just don't see how a girl like her could possibly-"

"Tell me, Sachi," Kikuoka interrupted, his voice slow and sleek, "what was your first impression of Kirito?"

"Hm?" Sachi looked back at the investigator in surprise. "My...My first impression...?"

"Yes. What did you think when he saved your guild from those monsters? What went through your mind?"

"Gr-Gratitude.." She lowered her head, a fleeting blush racing past her cheeks. "I-I felt very grateful... I thought we were gonna die, but then he came along..."

"Mm-hm. Why did you think you were about to die then?"

An ominous feeling started to creep into the office. Sachi could see Mari fidgeting nervously in the corner of her eye, but her preoccupation with Kirito was stronger.

"W-We were out of league!" she blurted out. "T-Tetsuo suffered heavy damage, a-and he was our only forward! But then, Kirito came in and switched with him! He was the one who led us out of that Labyrinth! He risked his life for us! He...He saved us..."

Kikuoka whistled, impressed. "Hoo man, Kirito sounds like a pretty strong player."

"He is! H-He's very strong, Kikuoka-san. Th-That's why I have no doubt in my mind that he'll be the one to clear SAO!"

"No doubt in your mind, huh...?"

Kikuoka quirked an eyebrow again, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. Mari noticed this and then gasped, realizing what the investigator was getting at.

"O-Okay!" the nurse snapped. She grabbed Sachi's wrist and half-dragged her out of the office. "Th-This meeting's over!"

Sachi looked at her in confusion, but she quickly decided to not question it. In fact, she was grateful that Mari decided to drag her out of there. After all, she didn't feel comfortable talking with Kikuoka about SAO any longer.

And she most certainly didn't feel comfortable talking with him about Kirito.

---

– August 8, 2023 –

"Checkmate."

"Aw, drat!"

Sachi giggled brightly from her hospital bed while Mari clutched the sides of her head in despair. Set up between the both of them was a shogi board, and it was clear who the winner was.

"Well, I should've known how this game was gonna go," Mari commented once she recovered from her loss. "We've only been playing this game for a couple of weeks and you're already kicking my butt at it."

"I did play many games before SAO came," replied a humble Sachi. "I wasn't a member of my school's PC research club for nothing."

"Heh, guess it all makes sense. Well..." Mari started to gather the pieces from the shogi board. "I gotta get going, Sachi."

Sachi perked up in alarm. "Wait, you're leaving already?"

"Hm?" Mari looked at her while putting the board and pieces back in her bag, before pursuing her lips in regret. "Oh, I'm sorry, Sachi, but I've got other patients to take care of. But you know Takahashi. He'll take good care of you-"

"But...B-But he's not as good as you..." The girl took Mari's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Please, Mari. Stay. Just a little while longer, at least...?"

It was the first time Sachi called her nurse by her first name. Mari's lower lip quivered with a mixture of compassion and regret, and she couldn't help but squeeze back.

---

– August 12, 2023 –

"Pl-Please, c-can't she stay here longer?"

Sachi hesitantly peered out of her hospital room, watching as Mari and Dr. Okuno addressed the stout, overweight social worker. Her grip on the edge of the doorway tightened in apprehension; for her entire life, she imagined this happening one day. She just didn't expect it to happen this way.

"I'm sorry, Tomatsu," Okuno said. "Sachi's shown such great progress in such a short amount of time, and we have other patients whose needs are now greater than hers."

"If the girl has a clean bill of health," the social worker added in a droning voice, "then we are gonna have to take her. I take it she no longer has any family?"

The doctor nodded somberly. "Yes. Her father died while she was young, and her mother killed her second husband and then herself, two months before she woke up. We have no other living relatives on record, and her only other emergency contact was one of the friends that she lost in SAO."

Sachi pursed her lips at the explanation.

As for the social worker, he shook his head. "Then she's gotta go with us, ma'am."

Okuno placed a hand on Mari's shoulder. "Tomatsu, I know you two have gotten close these past few months, but...this whole thing isn't exactly proper! You can't get too attached to a patient!"

"It's too late, Dr. Okuno!" Mari protested passionately. "I already am! My first day as a nurse, and Sachi and her friends get wheeled in here, and I had to watch them wither away for over six months! I had to watch over them, fearing which one of them would be next! Fearing how many of them will not be coming home! F-Fearing which of their families would become the next ones to be grieve! Fearing whether I'd l-lose all of them!

"Everyone said that it was next to impossible to get out of that death game, so...so when Sachi woke up, I...I had never felt more absolved of anything in my life! She's a miracle, Dr. Okuno! She's the greatest miracle to ever visit this hospital and we're just gonna lose that miracle to the system?! I...I can't let that happen!"

"Well, if you want," the social worker replied, sounding bored with each passing word, "you can take her, miss."

"Her?!" Okuno exclaimed in surprise, looking back and forth between the visitor and Mari. "But...she's still young, a-and she's only been a nurse for a year!"

The man scratched his temple with the eraser tip of his pencil. "Thing is, the foster care system is being stretched to its limit right now. We have very, very few families who could take her in. And the SAO Incident certainly hasn't helped any matters. The most likely scenario for this girl is that she'll be taken to a shelter, where she will wait until a family can be made available."

"A...A shelter?!" cried a concerned Mari.

Sachi too was mortified by the sound of that. She covered her mouth to suppress her terrified gasp.

"But," the social worker said, "as long as she's declared a ward of this hospital, then she can stay here a little longer. At least until we find a family willing to take her in." He then looked at Mari. "Or until you find a family willing to take her in. How does that sound?"

"B-But in order for that to happen," Okuno replied, "we need to find a reason for her to be hospitalized again. And I just declared her to be physically and mentally healthy."

An idea suddenly bloomed in Sachi's head, a terrible, glorious idea. She knew it was crazy and even risky, but she knew it was miles better than having to spend time at a shelter, where there was a lot of unknowns waiting for her. Unpleasant ones. Plus, she needed to be with Mari. She was the only one that she could trust now.

So, she took a deep breath...and slammed her head down against the nearest edge she could find. Violently.

---

– September 15, 2023 –
Hachinohe Cemetery

"Look, are you sure you're up for this, Sachi-chan?"

Sachi lightly swallowed, the bulge in her throat as clear as day, before nodding firmly, her blue eyes trained ahead at her destination. Mari relented for the briefest moment before nodding as well.

"V-Very well, then. ...A-At least you're not constantly falling and hitting your head nowadays." Mari gestured towards the cemetery. "Whenever you're ready, Sachi-chan."

The girl nodded, her movement tiny and unnoticeable. Then, with clenched fists and a held breath, she took her first step onto the cobblestone pathway, away from the parked light-blue minivan behind her, and ventured inside the sun-soaked cemetery, the flowers quivering in her grasp. She could barely hear Mari's footsteps behind her, or the chirping of birds perched in the nearby row of trees lining the area's perimeter. She simply continued walking, her uncertain steps still full of energy; her body was more built and healthy compared to the previous month.

"Huh, I'm pretty surprised your friends are all buried in a place like this," Mari said, gazing around at the tombstones and almost marveling at their size and prestige. "Isn't this cemetery located in the well-off section in town?"

"Most of my friends grew up in upper-middle class families," Sachi replied, her voice quivering with nostalgia. "My mom spent every yen in her pocket to get me into a good school, when...he wasn't looking, that is. An-And so did Keita-kun's brother. And after we formed our PC research club, we met up at Tetsuo or Sasamaru's houses a lot. Their parents were so taken with me and Keita-kun that they, uh, th-they made arrangements f-for us to be..." She suddenly sniffled. "T-To be l-la-laid to rest here...i-in case we...we..."

At this point, she realized that she had stopped and that the nurse had caught up with her. Her cheeks felt wet.

"Sachi-chan," Mari said, her voice slightly more firm now. "Are...Are you really sure you want to do this? We can go back to the hospital if you want. But I think it's too early for you to do this."

Sachi quickly wiped her eyes and stared ahead again, her gaze hardening in resolve. "No, Mari-san. I am not going back to the hospital, and now's a perfect time to do this. I need to see them."

"But you don't wanna have another panic attack, Sachi. It's not good for your health. Do you remember the first time we actually took you out of the hospital?"

"Yes. But this is different. This is different..." The petite girl resumed walking with conviction. "I made a promise to them, and I'm not going to break it. Besides, I am not gonna waste away that month I spent in physical therapy. I'm not gonna make all of the effort that I put in all for nothing."

She could hear Mari hum with concern, but she continued walking past the rows of tombstones. And so, the adolescent explored the cemetery, moving from one tombstone to the next, with Mari trailing behind her, surveying her every move and reaction with caution. Eventually, they came across a tombstone that made Sachi's heart stop. There was simply no mistaking the kanji engraved on its surface, a permanent reminder of one of the cemetery's newest residents.

Arata Sasamaru
2008–2023
Forever cherished, forever missed

With a quivering lip, Sachi knelt down and laid a few of her flowers before the tombstone. She reluctantly gazed upon her friend's engraved name again and tried her best to gather the strength to speak. But she couldn't even find her voice as her eyes remained transfixed on the kanji. It was like they were evoking a curse that paralyzed her, taunting her for all of her shortcomings and failures. When she finally did speak, her voice came out as a feeble, quick whimper.

"I'm sorry, Sasamaru. I'm so, so sorry."

The girl quickly stood back up and hurried away from the tombstone, with Mari gasping and picking up her own pace.

Within the next five minutes, Sachi found Tetsuo's and Ducker's tombstones and left flowers at each of them. Both times, she didn't even speak at all. Instead, she fleetingly, almost casually acknowledged their existence and swiftly moved on. Her pathetic attempt at Sasamaru's had convinced her that it was best to remain silent and get this over with as quietly and quickly as possible. Even so, she cursed herself each time she left flowers for a friend like it was customary and not a genuine effort at commemoration.

Every time she did so, it was another reminder of how weak she was.

Even so, Sachi continued onward, determined to finish her task, no matter how different the true outcome was from her high expectations. But as she wandered around the cemetery in search of Keita's tombstone, she spotted a familiar head of brown hair, accentuated by the surrounding slabs of predominantly gray and silver.

"Keita-kun...?" she whispered to herself. Her feet soon moved on their own, and she tuned out Mari's concerned cries as she glided towards the brown hair. "K-Keita-kun?! Keita-kun! Keita! Keita!"

As she approached, however, she noticed he wasn't alone. A trio of well-dressed men partially surrounded him, obscuring most of his other features from her sight. One of them, a taller man with short, slicked-back, dark-brown hair, spoke in a polite, somewhat cultured tone.

"Take all the time you need, Shibazaki. You are one of my best employees, and I'd hate to see your grief bring down your career for good. Once you feel you're ready, give me a call, and RECT Progress will welcome you back with open arms."

The brown hair softly swayed to and fro through the subsequent nod. "Thank you, Sugou-sama..."

It was at that point when Sachi's legs finally failed her, unable to support her still-frail body. She fell to the pathway with a surprised yelp, bracing herself with both elbows and using them to absorb most of the impact. To her surprise, though, the sensation of pain was dull, as if her experiences in SAO had stripped away those perceptions. As she weakly looked up, she vaguely noticed her remaining flowers, the ones reserved for Keita, scattered in front of her.

"SACHI-CHAN!" Mari yelled in concern.

This caught the attention of the four men Sachi was running towards. They glanced at her, surprised and confused, until one of their faces contorted into a mask of horrified recognition.

"Sachiko?"

The older, grainier, more weathered, and yet so familiar voice prompted her to look up. For a moment, she knew she saw Keita among the men looking down on her so unpleasantly and disapprovingly. But just as quickly as it came, her closest friend's face faded away, and she finally realized who she had truly been running towards.

"Kotaro-niisan..." she whimpered tearfully.

Hesitantly, and with a soft grimace of disgust, the man named Sugou looked at Kotaro.

"I will be making my leave now," he said with a small smile that looked more sleazy than consoling. "Remember, I'm one phone call away, Shibazaki."

Without waiting for a response from his colleague, Sugou walked away, followed by the two other men, their silence and facelessness nevertheless ominous and commanding. As soon as they left, Sachi felt herself being lifted up to her feet by Mari. But she didn't hear Mari's questions of concern about her well-being. Instead, she kept her watery eyes trained on Kotaro, whose head was now lowered, his face left unreadable. She noticed for the first time that his clothes were slightly unkempt and most certainly not clean.

"K-Kotaro-nii," Sachi said. "I... I-I'm so...so..."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Kotaro's low but sharp voice pierced straight through Sachi's heart, the wound deep and gaping. She squeaked in horror, and she held her scraped hands over her heart.

"You..." he growled shakily, "you have no right to BE here."

"K-Kotaro-nii!" Sachi blurted. "Pl-Please, I-"

"SHUT UP!"

Sachi squeaked again, her heart now frozen over in abject terror.

"HOW?! HOW COULD YOU SURVIVE THAT DEATH GAME WHILE MY BROTHER COULDN'T?! YOU WERE ALWAYS AFRAID OF EVERYTHING! ALWAYS! AND YOU SURVIVE BECAUSE OF, WHAT?! A FLUKE?! YOU?!"

"Pl-Please, sir!" Mari begged, holding onto Sachi like a mother protecting her child. "You must understand, th-this isn't an outcome that these people are allowed to choose for!"

"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT?!" Kotaro stomped his foot on the ground and almost crushed the flowers laid on the tombstone next to him, flowers like Sachi's. "W-WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS...IS..." He suddenly pointed a trembling, accusatory finger at Sachi. "HOW, OUT OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO HAD TO SURVIVE, IT HAD TO BE YOU! WHAT, DID YOU DIE RUNNING AWAY AND LEAVING KEITA TO FEND FOR HIMSELF?! HUH?! IS THAT WHAT YOU DID?! IS THAT THE LAST THING HE SAW?! YOU LEAVING HIM BEHIND TO SAVE YOUR OWN SKIN?!"

"N-No!" Sachi's voice came out as more of another whimper than a defiant shout. "I-I'd never, ever leave Keita-kun-"

"OF COURSE YOU WOULD! WHO HID BEHIND ME AND KEITA WHEN THAT OLD DOG WALKED UP TO US?! WHO WANTED HER HAND HELD WHEN SHE CROSSED THAT SHORT LOG?! WHO CRIED HERSELF TO SLEEP WHEN SHE SAW THAT FAKE SPIDER?! WHO NEEDED HOURS UPON HOURS OF TUTORIAL ON THE SAFETY OF SAO AND NERVEGEAR?! WHO NEEDED CALMING DOWN WHILE THAT NERVEGEAR WAS PUT ON HER HEAD?! YOU, SACHIKO! YOU! YET YOU, YOU GET TO LIVE WHILE HE DOESN'T?! KEITA WAS GOING TO BE SOMEONE! A RAY OF HOPE! IF ANYONE IS DESERVING OF THAT ONE-IN-TWO-FIFTY CHANCE, IT'S HIM, NOT A...A...A NOBODY! NOT A COWARD!"

Sachi let out a strangled gasp and covered her mouth with her dirt-crusted palms. She didn't know what to say anymore, what she could use to defend herself and justify her continued existence. Instead, the girl was completely overtaken with grief, horror...and even a little agreement with Kotaro's spiteful, venomous accusations. Nothing in the world could shake her out of that reverie now, not even Mari's gentle grasp.

Kotaro too was now overtaken with his own grief. Unable to properly express his rage anymore, he turned his back on Sachi and whispered to her, his voice barely audible.

"Now you get the hell out of here...outlier."

He then turned his back on her and aimlessly stumbled away. Sachi watched him go, stricken with grief, and she wound up sobbing into Mari's shoulder while unconsciously using her shoulders to cover up her O-shaped scars as much as she could. As for Mari, she sadly patted her ward's back and whispered fruitless consolations into her ear.

---

– October 12, 2023 –
Hachinohe Nishi Hospital

"Just what the hell's your problem, Tomatsu?! I'm hearing you've interrupted ten sessions by now! Ten!"

"Oh please, Dr. Okuno, it's totally fine. She did-"

"No, it's not fine, Kikuoka-san! You need to cut this out! Do you have any idea what that implication could do to Sachi's mental health?!"

With a perked head, Sachi decided to press her ear against the door to her hospital room. When she did, she could hear Mari, Kikuoka, and Okuno's voices echoing in the hallway. They were muffled but still distinguishable.

"It's alright, Tomatsu-san," Kikuoka said. "I think I've got what I needed here. Sachi doesn't need to know anything-"

Sachi heard someone grab a file from someone else.

"Look at this boy!" Mari shouted. "Look at him, Kikuoka-san! Does he really look like Akihiko Kayaba to you?!"

Sachi vaguely heard Dr. Okuno reacting, but it didn't matter to her anymore. The pieces had finally been put in place for her.

"No... No, it...it can't be... Kirito couldn't be Kayaba... He couldn't..."

She tried to recall all of the memories she had of the black swordsman, all of the memories she treasured deeply.

All of the times they fought together, if a little remotely.

All of the times he protected her.

All of the times they slept together.

"Kirito is nice and caring and gentle. He's not like Kayaba. He protects people. He would never be behind something like this."

But when she did, they were slowly infected with doubt and second-guessing, like a virus spreading through its host.

His great power and fighting prowess.

The level he hid from her and her friends.

All of the advance knowledge that he claimed to not have.

"And yet, Kirito hid so much away. If he truly protected people, he would've told us his real level, and Keita-kun and the others would still be alive."

"No! He did that for a reason! He wanted to... He wanted to..."

"And yet, I never did find out why he decided to fight with us. I never figured it out..."

"No! Kirito kept telling me I wasn't going to die! He always protected me!"

"And yet, Kirito never tried to use his high level to save us. He knew what kind of trap Ducker was opening. He had to have known. And yet, he never did seem to try. He never tried."

"NO! He cared for me! He cared for all of us!"

"And yet, sociopaths are supposed to be pretty good at faking emotions."

"NO!"

"Admit it. Deep down, you knew something was wrong."

"NO!"

"You knew something was wrong. You knew Kirito was Kayaba all along, and yet, you couldn't find it within yourself confront him. You were a coward, just like you always were. You...You let Kayaba near us, and you let him kill us."

"NOOOOO!"

"We're dead because of your cowardice. Kotaro-niichan was right, Sachi. You don't deserve that one-in-two-fifty chance. You don't deserve Mari's care and protection. And you don't deserve your new shot at life. You never did."

At that moment, the door burst open, and she almost expected a Granite Elemental to storm inside.

Instead, it was a boy her age, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in light-brown clothing with a metal chest-guard, metal shoulder armor on both of his shoulders, and metal bracers on both arms. But all of the pieces of his armor had cracks all over, and the boy's skin was pale and emaciated.

"We did."

Sachi gasped and dropped to the floor in horror.

"K...Keita-kun..."

Like a predator, Keita started advancing on her, his eyes wide and feral. She made a vain attempt to scramble away, but four more beings materialized all over the room. She tried to raise her spear but found nothing in her hand.

"Why don't you just kill yourself, Sachi...?" Tetsuo asked, blood leaking out of his squinted eyes while the bloodied crack in his chest-plate became pronounced.

"Your cowardice has a body count to it," added Sasamaru. He pointed to himself, specifically the bloodstained crack adorning his own chest-plate.

"Who knows?" Ducker asked. His back was initially turned on Sachi, allowing her to see the numerous stab wounds on his back, each of which leaked copious amounts of blood. "Maybe it'll kill Mari next..." He glanced over his shoulder, revealing his bloodshot eyes. "Now we don't want that happening, now do we?"

"NO!" Sachi shrieked, looking around wildly. "NO, I WON'T KILL MARI! AND I DIDN'T KILL YOU GUYS! IT...IT WASN'T MY FAULT! IT WASN'T! PLEASE!"

"It was your fault, Sachi," Keita growled as he continued his advance. He reached a hand out towards her while blood started to leak out of his mouth and eyes. "You let Kayaba slip by you in your cowardice, and you let him kill us. And now, it's time for you to pay your penance..."

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! NOOOOOOOOOO!"

The girl scrambled to a corner of the room and curled up into a fetal position in the corner of the room. She was ready to accept her fate when a familiar voice yelled to her through a fog.

"Sachi-chan!"

Sachi blinked, and the SAO enemies vanished. In their place were Dr. Okuno, ready to administer a tranquilizer; Kikuoka, who looked stunned but analytical; two terrified male nurses; and...

"Sachi-chan, it's gonna be alright," a teary-eyed Mari said while gently placing a hand on her knee. "You won't kill me, I promise."

In an instant, the girl burst into tears and embraced her caretaker.

---

– November 17, 2023 –

"Sachi...?"

...

"Sachi-chan...?"

...

"Sachi-chan...I found him. I found Kirito..."

Sachi's head moved slowly towards Mari. Though her months of dieting and exercise regiments had restored her physical appearance to its former glory, there was a sullen sluggishness to her demeanor, as if her soul had mostly been vacated from her body. The only sign of life in her, aside from her movements, was the small light that had sparked in her eyes, if only for a brief moment.

"It doesn't matter, Mari..." Sachi's voice came out as a low, hollow, glum whisper while she remained motionless on her bed, the straps holding her limbs down. "Kirito is...nothing more than...a figment of...my imagination..."

Mari gently shook her head. "No, Sachi-chan, he's not. Kikuoka is wrong about him. Kirito is a real person, not an online identity assumed by Kayaba. I can bring you to him. But only if you find the strength to recover from this."

An emotionless Sachi looked away. "You're just...trying to...make me...feel better..."

"No, Sachi-chan! I'm telling the truth! Here, have a look."

Sachi felt something being placed on her lap, and she slowly turned her head to look at it.

It was a patient information file, complete with photos. At first, she didn't think anything of it. Then, she noticed that the person in the photos was a familiar teenage boy with unkempt jet-black hair. And one of the photos was of him lying on a hospital bed like hers, unconscious and emaciated, with an active NerveGear encapsulating his head.

"His real name is Kazuto Kirigaya," Mari explained. "He's in a hospital in Kawagoe, down in Saitama Prefecture. I know a family who lives in the area, a family who'll take you in."

Life returned to Sachi's body, like a tributary streaming into a lake. She tried to reach for the photo of the bedridden and vulnerable Kirito, but she realized for the first time that her wrist was strapped down. Even so, the very sight of Kirito in the real world was enough to assuage her.

"Kirito..." she whispered with shimmering eyes.

---

– December 18, 2023 –

"And in other news, tomorrow will mark the first anniversary of the beginning of what Japan now knows as the SAO Incident, where 10,000 players were trapped in the VRMMO game Sword Art Online by its creator, Akihiko Kayaba, who remains missing to this day-"

Sachi turned off the TV set before returning to her original task. She rummaged through the suitcase that had been lying in her hospital room for a year now, pulling out articles of clothing that she used to wear before being trapped in SAO. As she did, she saw the NerveGear helmet that she haphazardly stuffed into the suitcase, amongst her clothes.

"To think that Kikuoka-san allowed me to keep it," she thought. "He even pointed out where exactly the design flaw was. Now...I can always look at the device designed to kill me and know what went wrong..."

With pursed lips, Sachi continued rummaging through the suitcase. A bittersweet feeling of nostalgia soon surged within her heart while she stared at the cheap beige shirt in her hands. For the longest time, she wore nothing but plain hospital gowns and ragged hand-me-downs.

Now, she was about to officially get back into the world.

"To be perfectly honest," she thought, "I used to dislike wearing you, blouse. But now...I don't think I've ever been more excited to put you back on."

Suddenly, Sachi heard a knock at the door, followed by Mari's voice.

"Hey, it's me. Are you ready to go, Sachi-chan?"

"Almost!" She then looked back at the blouse. "Almost..."

"Okay, but don't take too long! Dr. Okuno's itching to get the paperwork signed!"

"Uh-huh!"

The set of fading footsteps indicated the nurse's departure. With that, Sachi prepared to remove her hospital gown and get dressed when she noticed an old portable recorder lying in the suitcase, amongst her old belongings. She eyed it for a moment, wondering if and when she used it in her old life.

"Mari said the police gathered everything they believed to be my belongings after Mom and Dad's deaths and left them in there. I wonder if this got mixed up in there during all the chaos..."

She gently bit her lower lip in rumination, then she decided to worry about it later. Taking a deep breath, the teenage girl began to undress.

The rest of the day passed by in a haze. The only thing Sachi could distinctly remember was looking over her shoulder as she sat in the bus beside Mari, and watching Hachinohe Nishi Hospital, the very place she called home for a year, retreat further and further away into the distance.

All while feeling a mild tug in her heart.

---

– December 19, 2023 –
Ōmiya Station, Ōmiya-ku, Saitama

"Are...Are you sure they'll accept me, Mari?"

Dread and doubt tugged Sachi's heart down as she followed Mari out of the passenger train and entered the station. She looked around, trying to absorb the sights and sounds of Saitama, but her worries continued to bog her mind.

"They will, Sachi-chan," Mari replied as she stopped and turned towards her ward. "They've been friends with my family for many years. I've met them many times. They're good people."

"But...you said their daughter's still trapped in SAO..." The girl morosely lowered her face. "What if they...?"

Her voice vanished with the soft breeze, but Mari knew. She approached Sachi and took her hand.

"If you're thinking about your friend Kotaro, then you can put your concerns to rest, Sachi-chan. Remember, I told them who you are. They've accepted you for who you are, and they still want to take you in. The only motive they have aside the goodness of their hearts is that they want their daughter to wake up to the sister she always wanted. And besides, I will be staying with you for a few days, so you can get used to your new surroundings."

Sachi pursed her lips, doubt still lingering in her mind and heart. Mari's gaze softened in empathy, but then, it brightened up a moment later, and she began guiding a reluctant Sachi along the station.

"Now come on! They said they'll be waiting outside."

The two blended with the nameless, faceless crowd, reaching the central gate within minutes and passing through. They milled about for another couple of minutes, with Mari scanning the nearby pedestrians in search of her contacts.

"Now then, where are they...?" she asked herself.

But Sachi was the first to spot them: a well-dressed yet homely couple in their thirties or early forties, carrying a large cardboard sign bearing her name while waiting beside a concrete column. The man had light-brown hair and chocolate-brown eyes that seemed surprisingly upbeat. Meanwhile, the woman had dark-brown, chin-length hair and light-brown eyes that, in contrast to her husband's and betraying her own bright smile, were slightly sunken, as if they had seen the horrors of the world and lived to tell the tale.

"I-Is that them, Mari?" Sachi asked, timidly pointing.

Mari followed her ward's finger and smiled. "Yes, it is." She started waving, catching the couple's attention. "Hey! Auntie Kotone! Uncle Tetsuhiko!"

The husband and wife smiled, set the sign against the column, and approached the other duo. The woman hugged Mari, while the man approached Sachi, who suddenly felt smaller than usual.

"Ohhhhh, my dear Mari-chan!" Kotone gushed. "How's your mom doing these days? I know she doesn't like updating her status a lot."

"She's doing fine, Auntie," replied Mari. "She wants me to tell you that she's still working on sending the chocolates you asked for."

"Oh, it's alright! Those darn boxes can wait."

As for Tetsuhiko, he examined Sachi in her entirety. "So, you're Sachiko Hamaguchi? The girl who got out of SAO alive?"

Sachi nervously twiddled her fingers. "Y-Ye-Yes..."

The man didn't say anything for the longest time, and he stood there, as still and rigidly as a gold statue. Sachi hitched her breath and felt her heart skip a few beats in terror. She wanted to close her eyes and cower, but Tetsuhiko's piercing gaze left her just as frozen as him.

Then, all of a sudden, he pulled her into an embrace.

"I'm sorry!" he cried, his voice broken from his sobbing. "I'm so sorry! Just... C-Can I just...have this one selfish moment first? Please?"

Sachi didn't say anything at first, unsure of what to think about her position. She couldn't even try to use her hair to hide the O-shaped scars behind her ears from Tetsuhiko's gaze. But it didn't seem to matter to him either way.

Then, as the memories of her guilt returned to her mind and mingled sounds of the father wailing in grief filled her ears, tears welled up in her own eyes, and she met his sobbing with her own. Kotone also couldn't restrain her own tears, and even a sniffling Mari had to wipe her own eyes in order to remain composed.

And so, the newly-formed family spent their first minutes crying in the station.

---

Asaka, Saitama Prefecture

Sachi meekly, quietly followed Mari, Tetsuhiko, and Kotone inside the plain yet congenial suburban home. Her grip on her suitcase tightened slightly the moment she stepped through the doorway and was greeted by the sight of the hallway. It may have looked average and unassuming to any other resident of the neighborhood, but to her, the interior was nothing like the more cramped and oppressive space of her apartment. The same went with its bright, colorful exterior.

Everything about the home exuded a warm aura of freedom and spaciousness. It seemed to have a life of its own, and it was doing its best to welcome her and make her feel like a part of the Ayano family.

"Whoa..." she thought while looking around in awe. "I...I can't believe I'm going to live in a place like this... This...This is just too good to be true..."

"We're dead because of your cowardice. Kotaro-niichan was right, Sachi. You don't deserve that one-in-two-fifty chance. You don't deserve Mari's care and protection. And you don't deserve your new shot at life. You never did."

"Sachiko?"

Kotone's voice dragged the tight-lipped Sachi out of her thoughts. She shook her head in surprise and faced the woman, who looked down at her legs.

"Your shoes?" she asked.

Sachi's voice nearly broke in her little gasp. "O-Oh! Right! S-Sorry!"

In a slight panic, the girl rushed to remove her shoes and put them aside. As she did, she heard a soft tinkling noise, and a small tabby blob moved into her peripheral vision while she remained focused on her shoes.

"Nya...?"

Sachi looked up and saw a Munchkin cat standing beside Tetsuhiko's feet. For a second, it gave her a look of recognition, before its body quickly became tense and it slowly, warily retreated behind Tetsuhiko's leg.

"Oh?" Mari asked, looking down at the cat. "Who is this?"

"This is Pina," Kotone replied. "Keiko-chan's cat."

"You...You have a cat...?" Sachi asked, her voice almost a low whisper.

The mother briefly looked at her in stunned surprise, then she nodded. "Yes. Keiko-chan, ou-our daughter, treasures her very much." Then, a flash of concern passed through her eyes. "Th...That's not going to be a problem, is it...?"

"N-No! Not at all! I love cats!"

Briefly recalling how the Moonlit Black Cats got their name, Sachi put her shoes aside and slowly approached Pina, trying her best to give her a sweet, warm smile. All the while, Pina continued to peek her head from behind Tetsuhiko's leg, one of her own front legs slightly lifted in preparation.

"Hi there, Pina," the girl greeted. "I'm Sachi. I'm...I'm going to be living here for now." She started to kneel while raising a hand towards the feline. "I-I hope we can-"

The cat hissed angrily at her, causing Sachi to yelp and fall on her hind quarters. Her old suitcase landed on the floor with a clatter and unlatched itself from the impact, sending various items and articles of clothing everywhere.

"Oh my, Sachi-chan!" Mari cried in concern.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," Tetsuhiko said. He recollected himself, picked the unresisting Pina up, and carried her out of the hallway.

"I'm so sorry about that, Sachiko!" Kotone squeaked, her head bowed apologetically. "Pina's usually nice, but ever since Keiko-chan got trapped in SAO, well..."

"It's alright, it's alright..." Sachi replied breathlessly. "I-I guess...I'm not gonna be the only one who'll have to deal with a new change of scenery..."

"Here, let me help you up, Sachi-chan," said Mari.

The nurse took the girl's elbow and carefully lifted her to her feet. Then, they spent the next few minutes helping Kotone with gathering all of the stuff that spilled out of Sachi's suitcase and stuffing it back inside. Once they finished their task, Sachi closed and locked the suitcase, and then she followed Mari and Kotone deeper into the house.

The first thing that stood out to her was a family portrait hanging on the wall. It was of a younger Tetsuhiko and Kotone with a little girl no older than six or seven. She had Kotone's eyes and Tetsuhiko's hair color; her hair itself was tied into twin pigtails with red ribbons. She had a wide, bubbly, upbeat smile on her face, accentuating her youthful happiness.

Sachi gawked at the photo, which Kotone noticed. The woman stopped beside her newly adopted daughter and smiled.

"Yes, Sachiko," she said. "That's Keiko-chan. Your...Your little sister..."

"My little sister..." Sachi repeated disbelievingly. She placed a hand over the portrait, specifically over Keiko's cheek. "I...I can't believe I...actually have one..."

"Well, you do now, Sachiko," Tetsuhiko said, the man returning to the hall and standing beside the teenager. "And when she wakes up from SAO, she's going to be so happy to see you. She's always begged us to give her a younger sibling of her own. Granted, you're a couple of years older than her, but I don't think it'll make a difference to her once she returns to the real world. She'll be so ecstatic; I can just imagine the look on her face right now!"

Sachi suddenly felt a cold, somber aura beside her. She looked at Kotone and realized the woman's head was lowered in muted grief and sorrow. She then glanced at Tetsuhiko and was surprised to see boundless optimism, not unlike Keiko's, still etched upon his wrinkled face.

The optimism didn't fade away when the man looked at her. "Sorry about that. Let me show you to your room, Sachiko."

"O-Okay." Then, a thought entered Sachi's head, and she swiftly expressed it. "Um, i-if I may!"

Tetsuhiko blinked once. "Yes?"

"C-Could you please call me Sachi from now on?" Sachi averted his gaze in embarrassment. "I...I prefer that name."

She didn't see it, but she knew Tetsuhiko was smiling at her.

"Why, of course! Whatever you want, Sachi."

---

Sachi lowered her suitcase beside the bedside desk and then collapsed on top of her bed with a heavy sigh of relief. For a short moment, she thought the Ayanos would have her stay in Keiko's bedroom, only for them to reveal that they had a guestroom that she could occupy. She recalled the strange relief that swept over her when she heard that.

Seconds passed and turned into minutes, minutes that Sachi spent wallowing in her thoughts while she looked up at the light-brown ceiling.

"I'm here... I'm here now. I'm just a few miles away from the hospital Kirito is at..." The girl closed her eyes, but all she could see now was Kirito's visage. "And I'm starting a new life with the Ayanos... The old life that I had in Hachinohe, all of those days spent with Keita-kun and the others in our club, I've left all of that behind now."

"Sachi-chan?"

Sachi opened her eyes and looked at the closed door. "Yes, Mari?"

"Is it alright if I come in?"

The girl sat up on her bed. "Yes, go on."

The door opened, and the nurse entered the guestroom. Sachi couldn't help but softly blush at how beautiful Mari looked in casual wear.

Mari took a deep breath before taking a chair from the desk, setting it in front of Sachi, and sitting down on it. She softly bit her lower lip and clasped her hands together in rumination before speaking.

"If you're uncomfortable, Sachi-chan, then let me know, and I can take you back home-"

"No!" Sachi blurted out. "No, I'm fine, Mari!" Then, she calmed down and spoke more smoothly. "Really, I am."

"Are you sure? Because all you have to do is-"

Sachi scooted closer to Mari on her bed. "Mari, I already feel at home here, with the Ayanos." Her voice hesitated at the last three words, but she remained firm in her resolve. "And Kirito-kun is nearby! I'm here because of him, and I want to be here! I want to be the first thing he sees when he wakes up, if nothing else, so..." She clutched at her skirt. "I want to stay here, Mari. I want to."

The glimmer of concern remained in Mari's eyes for a few seconds longer. Then, it receded as she took a deep breath and then gave her ward a deep, fond smile.

"Okay," the nurse replied. "I'm glad, then."

---

– December 21, 2023 –
Sekimoto Memorial Hospital

"Alright. We're here. I'll call you when we get to the train station."

Mari hung up and put her cellphone back into her purse. Then, she moved a strand of hair away from her face and looked at Sachi, who was still looking up at the hospital. The building effortlessly towered over them both, casting the females in its commanding shadow.

"Okay, Sachi-chan," the nurse said. "Are you ready to go?"

...

"Sachi-chan?"

...

Mari approached Sachi and shook her shoulder. "Sachi-chan, are you alright?"

"H-Huh?" The girl looked at her. "Y-Yeah! I-I'm ready!"

But Mari furrowed her brow in concern. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure! It's just..." Sachi looked back up at the hospital. "I can't believe I'm finally here, that's all. T-To think, I've always thought of Kirito as strong. Someone who'll look out for you, no matter what. And now..." Her hand trembled with uncertainty. "Now I'm gonna see him IRL for the first time...and he's gonna be absolutely vulnerable..."

Mari followed the girl's gaze and smiled. "Hey, you said Kirito protected you in SAO, right? Well, I suppose it is time you returned the favor!"

Sachi looked at her again with a muted blush. "I-I don't understand-"

"Oh, come on!" The nurse started gently pushing her companion through the front entrance. "Let's just find Kirito's room first, and then we'll worry about the finer details later."

Sachi made a low noise of protest, but otherwise, she did not resist as Mari guided her further inside. As they proceeded to the front desk, they noticed the great abundance of people in the lobby, all of them wearing the same expression. One of indescribable pain and agony. It was all too familiar to Sachi.

Once they reached the front desk, the nurse manning it, an overweight man with baggy eyes, was already hunched over the counter. He was tiredly multitasking between talking on the phone and jotting down notes on a pad of notepaper.

"H-H-Hi there," Sachi greeted nervously, though this didn't attract the nurse's attention at first. "Um...hi there...?"

The nurse rolled his eyes unpleasantly. "Ugh, hold on a moment." He lowered the phone to the counter and looked up at Sachi and Mari for the first time. "Name?"

"Sa-Sachiko H-Hamaguchi. I-I'm here to visit Kirito?"

The nurse blinked, his jaw sliding open lazily. "Kiri- Who?"

"It's Kazuto Kirigaya," Mari interjected. "We're here to visit him."

"Ohhh. You mean Room 410." He scanned the two females from head to toe. "Are you family? I don't recognize either of you."

"N-No," replied Sachi. "Um...I-I'm a...a good friend of his..."

"Oh. Well, right now, we're only permitting family members to visit at this time."

"What?" Mari asked in shock. "H-How come?"

The nurse sighed in exasperation and passively gestured towards the packed lobby. "Take a look, sweetheart. We've got so many people coming day in and day out to visit their loved ones. And we've been short-staffed for three months."

"Well, is there any other way where you could sign us in so we could visit him?" Mari asked.

"Hmmm, not really. Sorry." The nurse lazily scratched his side. "The only way you can go up there is if a family member gives us permission to let you through."

"Or one of the other staff could personally escort you up there herself," a new voice said.

Sachi immediately noticed another nurse walking up to her and Mari. She had a tall, slender body, not unlike Mari's, and she was wearing a white uniform with a turquoise light-coat, along with small, ovular eyeglasses. She was astoundingly beautiful, perhaps even moreso than Mari, with hazel eyes, light-brown hair, and the smile of an angel.

Mari too gawked at the nurse, and she could barely restrain herself. "Oh, my goodness! Aki-senpai?! Is that you?!"

The other woman gave her a casual wave. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my adorable little kouhai. How are you, Mari-chan?"

Sachi blinked in surprise. "Huh? Senpai? K-Kouhai?!"

---

"I didn't know the JGSDF was pitching in with taking care of SAO victims."

Sachi stood awkwardly behind the two nurses, looking back and forth between Mari and her senpai. Elevator music rang in the air, providing a festive mood to the atmosphere despite what she had seen in the front lobby.

"Unfortunately, we are," Aki explained. "Trust me, Mari-chan, it got...pretty bad as the SAO Incident wore on into its first year. Nurses everywhere started quitting from disillusionment. Veterans, newbies, the entire range. It came to the point where the JGSDF had to be called in to provide supplementary resources for the hospitals taking care of those who're still trapped. Especially the Tokyo-area hospitals. As you can tell from Penguin-san down there, our help is clearly needed."

Mari took a deep breath of relief. "Well, I'm glad you were here to back us up, Aki-senpai. Truly."

Aki gave her one of her sweet, enthralling smiles. "Hey, don't mention it! Anything for my old kouhai." Then, she glanced at Sachi and nudged Mari's elbow with a teasing smirk. "My, my, though! I know you've been quite the eye-catcher back in nursing school, but I never figured you'd actually have a child this quickly!"

"S-Se-Senpai!" protested a blushing Mari. "Sh-She's not mine! I-I'm t-to-too young t-to have one r-right now! B-Besides, th-there's no re-resemblance b-between us-"

"Heh heh heh, ohhhhh Mari-chaaaaan." Aki nudged her kouhai's elbow a few more times in triumph. "You've always been so easy to tease, even after all this time!"

Mari moaned in sheer embarrassment. Fortunately, she was reprieved when Aki stopped beside a certain door. Although her body obscured most of the sign beside it, Sachi could still read the last kanji, which read "-to". She suddenly froze in her tracks, her body becoming straight and rigid like a board.

"Well, here we are, you two," Aki announced. "Room 410." She looked through the window on the door. "Oh, and it looks like his family's already here visiting him."

"His...H-His family?" Sachi asked nervously.

"Ooh, how nice!" asked Mari. "Do you want to meet them, Sachi-chan? Or do you wanna wait?"

"Ummmmm...w-well, I... I..."

In her mind, Sachi's thoughts were on hyper-drive. "Oh, my goodness! His family's here?! I...I never thought of Kirito as having a-a family to go back to! Even when he was with us, he was always so reclusive! I...I wonder what they'll think of me? Should I tell them how I know Kirito?! How will they react to me?! Will they know I'm an SAO survivor?! What-?!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened and a pair of females stepped out. Sachi repressed a gasp and felt her body becoming even more rigid than before. One of them was a middle-aged woman with brown eyes and jet-black hair tied up into a bun. The other was a teenage girl younger than Sachi, with an adorable-looking face, chin-length hair of a matching color, and deep-turquoise eyes. The girl's school uniform and kendo stick bag quickly caught Sachi's eye.

"Oh, e-excuse us," the woman, Kazuto's mother said, her voice slightly hollow while her expression remained distant and absentminded.

"It's alright," Aki replied with a smile. "Actually, these people are here to visit your son too."

The girl blinked, and Sachi noticed a minuscule shift in her posture. It seemed almost defensive.

"R-Really?" the woman asked, now fully focused and in shock. She shot at Sachi and Mari a wary glance. "I...don't think I've met either of you..."

"No, we've never met before," Mari replied before bowing her head. "We're sorry about our unexpected appearance. But we..." She briefly pursed her lips. "W-Well..." She then looked at Sachi. "Sachi-chan, I think you're in the best position to explain it to them."

"Explain what?" The woman looked at Sachi, who started to tremble underneath her gaze. "How do you know Kazuto?"

Sachi opened her mouth, desperate to begin her explanation. But her vocal cords failed her, and no sound came out. She closed her mouth, thought about it for a second, and then opened it again, only to be met with the same awkward result. She repeated it a few times, and she could only imagine how awful and embarrassing she looked.

Then, someone else spoke for her.

"You're a survivor..."

Everyone looked at Kazuto's sister, who was gawking at Sachi in realization. She still maintained her defensive posture, and her clenched, trembling fists were now obvious. Sachi took a step back, frightened by the girl's borderline-territorial glare.

"You...You survived that-that death game, didn't you?!" the girl hissed through gritted teeth. Small flecks of spit flew out of her mouth with every other syllable, landing before Sachi's feet. "Didn't you!"

"Suguha!" Kazuto's mother barked sternly. "Don't yell at her like-"

"But it's gotta be true, Mom! We don't know her! Onii-chan's never had any friends in his life!" The girl pointed a shaking finger at Sachi. "The only way she would be here to visit him is if they met in that game a-and then she died in there and came back to the real world!"

"You don't know that-"

"You're not the only one reading and listening to all those news stories! I know all about those survivors, those...th-those outliers!"

The term was like a stake that was driven through Sachi's heart. Her eyes widened as much as humanly possible, and a frigid wave of horror swept over her. She could barely hear everyone and everything around her.

But that changed when Suguha grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and started yanking her hair away from her neck.

"AAAAAGH! AGH!"

"SACHI-CHAN!"

"SUGUHA!"

"NO! I WANNA SEE 'EM! I WANNA SEE THOSE SCARS! SHOW 'EM!"

It took the combined forces of Aki and Kazuto's mother to tear Suguha away. Once they did, Sachi collapsed to her knees and insecurely clutched her hair, specifically the parts covering her ears. In the midst of her horror, she could barely feel the sensation of Mari wrapping her arms around her.

"SUGUHA KIRIGAYA, STOP IT!" Kazuto's mother shouted.

The yelling, tear-eyed girl refused and continued to struggle against Aki's grip, exhibiting a surprising amount of strength in her body. Now left with no other choice, the woman proceeded to slap her daughter on the cheek, a movement which stunned even herself but was more than enough to stop the girl in her tracks.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!"

"N-NO!" Suguha wailed, her tears now pouring from her eyes while the reddening imprint of her mother's palm started to bloom on her cheek. "NO, SHE...SH-SHE GETS TO BE HERE IN THE REAL WORLD AGAIN, WHILE KAZUTO ISN'T?! H-HOW IS THAT FAIR?!" She clutched her reddening cheek, at long last. "HOW IS THAT EVEN FAIR, MOM?!"

"It's not fair, Suguha-chan!" The mother grabbed Suguha's shoulders. "It's not! But..." She looked over her shoulder and at Sachi. "That doesn't mean we have the right to take it out on those who got out of the game. We need to show them kindness, compassion, understanding." She looked back at her daughter. "You think we're suffering, Suguha-chan? We're not the ones being forced to play that game!" She took a deep breath first. "So please, apologize to her."

But the girl stubbornly shook her head. "NO! NO, I'M NOT GONNA APOLOGIZE TO AN OUTLIER!"

Before her mother could protest, Suguha ran past Sachi and Mari. As she passed by her, Sachi heard her silently weeping even as she clearly tried to put up a brave façade.

"SUGUHA!" the mother called. Then, she looked at Sachi and Mari and hurriedly bowed her head in apology. "I-I'm so, so sorry!"

With that, she ran off after her daughter. Sachi could hear her calling for the girl, her voice echoing in the hall. But it did not matter to her, not anymore.

Just then, Sachi felt a shadow envelop her, and she looked up to see Aki looking down upon her in concern.

"A-Are you okay, Sachi-chan?" the nurse asked warily. "D-Do you need a moment...?"

Gulping to swallow her welling spit and damaged emotions, Sachi slowly stood up on her feet, with the apprehensive Mari keeping her hands on her back all the while. She took one last somber glance at the door, and when she did, she felt the presence of Kirito behind it, waiting for her, calling out to her...

Instead, she turned her back and walked away as fast as she could. She could barely hear Mari and Aki following behind her. Rather, all she could hear was Suguha's echoing voice...

"I know all about those survivors, those...th-those outliers!"

"It's...It's just like Kotaro-nii all over again..." she thought glumly.

---

Next Time: Median

---

A/N: And there we have it! We get to see how Sachi's first months back in the real world were like, how she managed to walk again, and all of the circumstances that led her to Kirito's hometown. And yes, your eyes don't deceive you; she has indeed been taken in by Silica's parents. For those of you who don't know, Tetsuhiko is the canon name for Silica's father according to the wiki, while Kotone is a quasi-OC I created to fill the maternal void (and yes, I AM aware there's a game-exclusive character whose real name is Kotone; just suspend your disbelief for that). Now we will see how that works out for the family in the long term. But in the meantime, Sachi just needs to gather the courage to see Kirito in his room!

Please let me know how I wrote Mari and her friendship with Sachi! I do understand that I may have traded any realistic progression of their relationship with faster story progress via time-skips, and that it's tough to write OCs that'll serve as good draws into a fanfic. So I'd appreciate feedback on this. But, regardless of what you may think, Mari is not going to stick around long for the sake of Sachi's character arc, just so you know.

And please let me know how I handled everything else in this fic! I'll confess that I'm an anime-only viewer for the most part, and that aside from the anime, I'm relying upon the wiki and TV Tropes for research. So I'm pretty sure that'll be a damper in my developing SAO encyclopedia. I know there's other forms of SAO media out there that I could take a look at, but my ability to make any leisurely purchases is strictly limited. The best I can do right now is to try and borrow any available light novels and manga from my local libraries, but...I haven't been very prompt in returning stuff as of late. :/

So yeah, the more in-depth your review is, the better! You don't have to write full-fledged essays, but I'm not looking for any one- and two-liner reviews either. Your feedback will help me improve this story however I can and make it an even better reading experience for all of you! Thank you! :D

Anyway, speaking of reviews, I'd like to thank the following people for reviewing:

-Dasgun: Ummmm...okay? Is there anything that you liked about the fic so far? Anything you might have disliked? Any questions or comments? As I said before, I prefer specific reviews, so I know what I can improve on and what I can do to maintain the quality of this fic.

-Vercingetorix Rex:

1) I'm so sorry, but my Author's Note at the end of the previous chapter makes it clear that I DO NOT intend to write a harem fic for Kirito. Now, I'm not opposed to the harem genre, but the story I want to tell here doesn't involve that. It's going to be a race to the finish line between Kirito/Asuna and Kirito/Sachi, and only one pairing will win. But that doesn't mean I won't focus on other shippings, including other shippings involving Kirito. It's just that any other Kirito shippings featured in the story will be clearly one-sided on the part of the girl.

2) Yes, I know about that too. I also know that that's only canon in the original web novel, not the light novels that the public is more familiar with. Not that I don't believe there could've been something between Kirito and Sachi in canon.

3) Yeah, that was also a major gripe I had with "SAO: Nobody Dies". As good as the story was, all the religious stuff was too heavy-handed and on-the-nose for me, as was the technological jargon. Very distracting, and no subtlety at all. Don't worry, I'm not going down that path. There might be some religious stuff, but it'll be more subtle and metaphorical.

-Welcome-to-the-404:

1) Actually, I feel like Sachi's treatment by society won't be all that different from how Kirito was treated by many of the other players in SAO. And as you could already see, Sachi's getting tasters of that treatment while she waits for Kirito to wake up.

2) Hm, good observations! But I must say, regardless of who Kirito gets together with in the end, Sachi's role is going to be MILES beyond the role Suguha played in the Fairy Dance Arc. You'll see what I mean as we go along. And yes, expect big, loud fireworks. ;)

-Fallen Phoenix of Berk: Interesting route for you to pick! We'll see how this goes! But of course, I'm the only one who knows the answer to all of that... XP Thanks for your support, by the way!

-LightSpecter141: Thanks! But would you mind elaborating more in your next review? Is there anything that you liked about the fic so far? Anything you might have disliked? Any questions or comments? It'd be greatly appreciated!

-MeMyselfAndI82907:

1) I believe it would be a case of the latter. Besides, it's not like Sachi has anything important in her old data that could be retained in ALO for the purposes of this story, maybe aside from the message she left for Kirito.

2) Ohhh, I can assure you, Sachi will be having quite an effect on how the Fairy Dance Arc plays out this time around. ;)

Well, hope you enjoyed this LONG chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!