Wonderlands

by Kyvena

Alice Zuberg, a living mortal girl, is the eldest daughter to a wealthy family that specializes in VRMMORPG games, is caught in the game of pure survival. Sword Art Online. Finding pure freedom in this opportunity due to the circumstances of her real life that she found absolutely miserable was a blessing. Once released from the game, the lines of virtual and reality began to blur.

4. Wonderland Of Virtual And Augmented

Don't worry, I noticed a mad lot of errors last chapter while listening to it.

As always,

Enjoy!

~Kyvena

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~4: Wonderland Of Virtual And Augmented~

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As of now, Kirito laid on one of the three couches held in the living room with his legs propped up, completely passed out with a pile of sleeping mini-warm bodies on him in the form of Pina, Yui, Akihiko, and Sassa. Hearing a snore had everyone sweat dropping as they shifted their heads to look at him, along with the sleeping circus. Silica continued to nod off due to this, making Alice gently pinch her cheek as Selko stretched, "God, look at him! It's like he's daring us to stay awake!"

Alice was already done with her homework, so she stood up and began to make some tea, "Come now, you know that he is rather tired from his mechatronics project. Besides, how can you say that when almost everyone else is dozing off?" Asuna then laughed at this as she leaned her head against Selko's arm, "Don't be so hard on him Selko." Lis then scoffed at the newest "couple" that weren't even a couple, only for Leafa to sigh, "Lis, stop it! Besides, I thought it was called mechafonix!"

Laughing at this as she walked back, Alice then poured everyone a cup of tea before Selko stood up abruptly, "I need to move before I pass out, or, go insane from his snoring!" Alice then laughed softly at this, "He normally does not snore, so he really must be tired." Selko then shifted his eyes towards the nodding off Silica, only to swoop her up with a smirk, "Let's go play in the snow Silica!" Hearing her squeak, she then blushed heavily, "Sel-Selko, let me go!" - "Nope, not happening."

Everyone followed the two outside with their teacups in hand to get out of the warmth of the home and talk with each other. Leafa and Lis began speaking about something that had caught both Asuna and Alice's attention, "Man, Zekken is so strong. That eleven-hit combo is ruthless!" Considering Asuna and Alice's families literally lived next to one another, they did almost everything with each other. Having just returned from the Yuuki family gathering, the two appeared puzzled.

"Huh? Who is this Zekken?" They both questioned, making Lis smirk, "Oh, that's right, you two were off playing rich-girls." This made both of them peer down slightly. It wasn't as if they had initially wanted to be born into the families they had. Their entire lives were planned out for them without either of them even being given a choice over the matter. Even though Lis had sounded rather catty inside of the home, she stopped with the belittling so that they could all be close friends.

Humming, Lis then continued, "Well, while you two were gone, a post appeared on the VR bulletin board by someone, only saying that challengers were wanted and that they would be at the big tree on the twenty-fourth floor at noon every day to take anyone on. At first, people lined up just to teach this noob a lesson... but they quickly found out how completely outmatched they were against them. As a reward, whoever beats Zekken will be given the eleven-hit original sword skill."

Alice then blinked softly at this as Lis hummed, "Leafa, Silica, Selko, and me all tried and failed miserably against them. To be honest, I don't know if even Asuna or Alice could even defeat Zekken." Peering into Lis' eyes, Alice then questioned curiously, "If it was a duel, then I wonder as to why Kirito has yet to go." This made Lis snort out a laugh at this, "Oh, your boy did try and failed miserably. However... mid-battle, the two stopped before he spoke to Zekken about something."

Lis then took a sip of the steaming hot cup of tea before continuing, "Kirito was only using one sword as a means to keep things fair in a sense and he was holding his own for the longest time... but once he stopped to speak, it seemed as if Zekken freaked out and just like that... the eleven-hit combo was used so fast that none of us could really see what happened and he ended up losing the duel. No one heard what they spoke about, I mean it was way too loud to hear anything."

Folding her arms, Alice then tilted her head while speaking in an almost concerned tone of voice, "It is not like Kirito to let his guard down so easily so that he has the chance to be defeated." Lis then nodded at this, "Well, when we asked him what they had spoken about when they stopped, he wouldn't tell us no matter how hard we tried to pry it out of him." Leafa then lightly nodded her head to confirm this, "My thoughts were the same. I mean, Kazuto doesn't go down that easily."

Hearing Selko huff, he then approached while scowling, "Stop telling my sister that I lost! Better yet, stop telling her that Kazuto lost!" Alice then smiled softly, "Honestly, the only time he fights as if he means it is if his life is on the line," pausing, Alice then took a sip of her hot tea before continuing, "And if I am speaking the truth... then I hope that he never has to play seriously ever again. There is more fun to games than always winning a battle. I just hope that he knows that..."

Lis then chuckled, "Why don't you and Asuna try and have a crack at Zekken then?" Blinking rapidly, Alice looked at Asuna, only for her to laugh softly, "Yeah, sure! We should try to win, Alice!" She didn't really need an eleven-hit combo whenever she held a fifty-hit combo that was her own original sword skill as well, only to end up releasing a gentle breath... knowing that Kazuto held a thirty-hit combo original sword skill that he could have used... so what had stopped him from using it?

Everyone then waved to Alice before they logged out, only for her to enter her home and pick up Akihiko and Yui before carrying the two sleeping pixie's to their own beds and covering them up. Kissing the tops of both of their heads, Alice then exited the room and closed their door before walking to Kazuto. Leaning down and stroking his cheek tenderly, she then went and bathed before she exited the room to walk out to him, only to lean over his sleeping frame in the nude from behind.

Softly and sweetly, her voice then gently projected out, "Kazuto? Come now, let us head to bed." His tired gray orbs cracked open... completely not registering what he was now seeing as he nodded and reached up to place his palm against her cheek, "Alright, I'll come to bed in just a moment. Just let me stretch." Alice could only snicker at him teasingly as she wiggled her fingers at him, "It is quite chilly on this night, so please do not keep me waiting in the cold for too long Kazuto."

It still was not registering in his mind as he groggily nodded, "Alright..." This man was going to kill her. The moment he sat up, he then noticed due to her straddling his hips and pressing her lips tightly to his, giving rise for him to place his palms against her... bare... sides. Softly groaning against her lips, he realized that he was now more or less fully "awake" for her. Gripping her hips a bit tighter as that kiss deepened, he gently moaned out, "Alice... not in the... open. Bed... let's go."

Internally chuckling at how adorable he was, Alice placed her hands against his cheeks to stroke the silky skin with her thumbs tenderly as Kazuto stared into her bright oceanic pools for the longest time as if being swept away by the tide further and further the longer he gazed into those sparkling eyes that told him so much about the girl that he now held. Running his fingers through her long platinum blonde locks lovingly and longingly, he could only lean in to caress his lips to hers.

Gripping her securely in his strong arms, Kazuto then lifted her onto his hips before walking inside of their room to ram her back against the wall after locking their door. He was thankful that this wasn't real life, or that body-to-wall contact would have just made so much noise compared to here where it made absolutely no sound that he had just done so in the first place. Leaning in to steal her soul, Alice's hands hurriedly yanked his top off and began to roam his chest almost tauntingly.

Groaning at this little tease, he stepped closer for his clothed bulge to press tightly to her dripping entrance. Kirito made Alice wait as he pulled away from her lips to begin pressing his lips to her neck, making her arch against him tightly and tilt her head to the side to fully give him access to her sweet skin. Holding her with a single arm laced around her back, his free hand grasped both of her hands to pin them against the wall as a form of punishment or torture for her to endure.

Her heated tone cried out due to feeling his hardened clothed groin press tighter to her entrance, which drove her mad... not that it made him feel anymore sane. Everything in this game felt so good and worked you up so much, that both individuals often had to deal with their individual pent up problems the moment that they logged out. It often made him wonder what had happened when they had first married in Aincrad? He supposed that nurses often witnessed his erection.

Kirito then released a taunting breath of hot air against her beating pulse that was currently moist from all of his kisses, causing for Alice to cry out in pleasure... fulling knowing that, yeah, she was going to have one hell of a problem once she logged out of the game. Finally releasing her hands after she gave more of those sweet sounding whimpers, begging for more of his attention as she gripped his shoulders tightly while he continued torturing her sensitive flesh with his soft lips.

Tugging his pants down slowly, Kazuto then took his erection within his hand to begin stroking the head of his member against her entrance over and over again just to simply tease her. Pawing a single breast as his tongue brushed up that satin-based skin held on her neck had Alice's thighs tightly clamping around his hips sensually as her hands then became entangled within his raven locks tightly. He planned to torture her for as long as he could so he could remember seeing this.

Well, that was what he had initially thought and planned at least, considering the fact that once she began begging for him to enter her out of desperation, she hadn't noticed that the alert for sound had been flashing for a good while now. Just as Kirito went to finally plunge inside of her, Alice's body simply vanished, making him dramatically slam his forehead against the wall while whining out softly, "Dammit Alice... now that wasn't fair to do to me," he huffed out in complete frustration.

---

Snapping back into the real world, Alice's eyes attempted to focus as the burn between her thighs became almost unbearable until she witnessed that her mother had come home far earlier than was expected. That desire instantly died down as her mother gave her a dry and disapproving facial expression, "Alice... I thought that you were done using this little toy?! When Selko came to dinner on time, yet you did not, I came to check on you... only to find you playing on your toy again?!"

Alice then scowled at her mother in defiance, "Mother, why did you pull the plug?! You could have shouted to gain my attention!" Her mother's scowl then deepened dramatically, "I had been yelling at you to gain your attention for ten consecutive minutes!" With her scowl furthering, Alice then sounded "improper" for a lady of her upbringing, "Why in the hell does it even matter?! I don't see the issue with me gaining a sliver of joy in my life when I have already completed my homework!"

"We have an issue because we have a schedule that you decided that it was simply okay to ignore," her mother argued in return, further infuriating her first born as she growled out, "You tell me to study, so I study. You tell me to do all of my homework, so I completed it. You tell me how to speak, so I speak in the manner you wish me to. You gave me a set of rules to follow, so I follow them. You tell me how to walk, dress, and act; so I have done so! Why does a SCHEDULE matter?!"

Furious, Alice's eyes filled with tears as she continued her rant, "However, I WON'T accept you telling me what high school and college that I will be attending. Nor will I allow you to make me miserable by choosing my major that I will end up detesting! Also, I won't marry the man of your choice! The last one you chose tried to kill me! Don't even try to blame father either! You can't blame someone that's rarely here to begin with! I will make a path for myself, do you hear me?!"

Scowling deeply at her daughter, the mother of the two then snapped away, "Alice." - "What?!" - "I have one condition for you remaining at your current school, you choosing your high school, you choosing your college, and you choosing your own major... and this one thing is non-negotiable," her mother spoke venomously, making Alice nod and sigh, "Fine... what?" Gritting her teeth, her mother then spat out, "You are forbidden to be with that boy. I had someone look into him, you know."

Shock quickly settled into her face... and no matter how much she tried to utter a single word, she couldn't. Her big blue orbs filled with tears and spilled over onto her cheek as her mother continued, "Honestly, did you expect that I would allow you to ruin your future for an illegitimate bastard? That boy will never be good enough for my daughter. It's not like your brother's choice is any better. A girl that murdered a bank robber when she was only eleven years of age, Shino Asada."

"Now, I am going to take your silence as a way of you agreeing to our terms, now get changed and come, it is time for the evening meal," the mother coldly spat out in a disgusted tone over the two children she gave birth to. Alice hadn't even known that Selko held a love interest for Sinon since he always hung around Silica... but now that she thought about it... any time those two were in a party together online, they both stole silent adoring and loving gazes towards one another.

Frozen in place, Alice suddenly began to hyperventilate right as Selko came to see what was taking so long, only to see his big sister clutching her hand over her heart as she struggled to breathe, making him frantically shout, "Alice!" Rushing to his sister, he then wrapped his arms around her to rub her back before snapping his head around, "What in the hell is wrong with you?! How many times do I have to tell you that we aren't your toys to play with!" Abruptly standing, Alice then ran.

She didn't care how cold it was as she ran out of the home in one of Kazuto's black long-sleeved shirts, a pair of rather short pair of black spandex shorts that held gold and blue diagonal stripes down her right leg, her osmanthus necklace and bracelet, and a pair of running shoes. She ran and ran until she honestly had no clue where she was at. Unbeknownst to her, she had run for so long that she was actually incredibly close to Kazuto's home, only to walk to a playground for children.

Sitting down on a swing, Alice pushed off to begin swaying back and forth in the frigid air as her head lowered for warm tears to drip down her face silently. Pulling out her phone that continued to go off, she noticed that for once it wasn't Akihiko - it was Kazuto. She couldn't bring herself to answer the call as she stared at the loving picture the two had taken together until the call ended and her screensaver of a different picture of her and Kazuto came into play to wreck shop on her heart.

Hearing a deep and dejected male sigh, his voice then spoke out as it grew closer, "Hey Alice, I'm calling to make sure that you're okay. Selko called me and told me that you ran out of your home while hyperventilating. Please call me to let me know that you're safe. Love you, bye." Seeing that she had a new voicemail, all she did was put her phone away to hold the chains of the swing. She could see her breath and her legs were going numb now from the cold, but she didn't care.

Rounding the corner, Kazuto's eyes lifted in surprise the moment he witnessed those long golden locks sadly swaying in the wind. Of course he knew why she ran out... he just hadn't been willing to say that in the voicemail. Pulling up his text messages, he clicked on Selko's name before typing in 'Found her. She ran so far that she is by the playground near my home.' Sending the message, he quickly gained a reply, 'Alice hasn't had dinner and she's probably freezing her ass off.'

Another message was quick to come in from Selko, 'Kazuto, keep her with you tonight. I'll tell my mother that she is spending the night at Asuna's. She has to leave again in the morning, so she won't even check if she's there. Plus, I told Asuna what's up already and she says that she will cover for her.' Quickly replying back was all he could do, 'Alright, I'll make sure she eats and gets warmed up. Tell Asuna that I said thank you.' - 'Will do.' Closing his phone, he then put it away.

Walking forward, Kazuto then took his jacket off before bundling Alice up, "Come on Alice." She wouldn't speak or move from her spot, but, she did shake her head with dull eyes. Stubborn. Blowing his bangs up, he then scooped her up, only for a sharp breath to release, "Alice, you're freezing!" Squishing her to him, Kazuto walked back home and opened the front door. The home was dead silent as he entered and took both of their shoes off before setting her at the table so he could cook.

She felt so lost right now that she didn't know how long she had been sitting there when Kazuto huffed, "Alice!" Shocked, she looked up with tears sliding down her face, making him frown before he lifted her, sat down, and placed her on his lap for her to curl up against him. Flicking her forehead, Kazuto then chuckled, "Baby, eat dinner." Those big blue eyes appeared so lost and hurt, making him sigh and scoop some of the leftover stew they had for dinner, only for her to stare at him.

Groaning at how damn stubborn she was, he then pinched her nose, forcing her to gasp for air so that he could place a bite in her mouth while speaking softly, "I've known about this for a while now... I wanted for you to make your own choice though. More than anything... I hoped that your mother wouldn't judge me for something that I initially could do nothing about. What if I became rich? I bet she'd feel like an idiot for judging me then," he softly teased and poked her nose.

Once she was full, he lifted her in his arms again as he began walking to his room, only to question, "Do you want to take a bath? The bath we have might not be like a miniature pool... but it should warm you up." Shaking her head and wrapping her arms around his neck, Kazuto then blew his bangs up, "Well, then I'll have to take one with you." Entering the bathroom and setting her down, he then blushed furiously over the matters, "Oh, come on Alice, don't make me bathe with you!"

Peering down, she then nodded, "My undergarments are still clean..." Tilting his head back and chuckling softly, "Alright." Walking into his room after exiting, he grabbed a new long-sleeved black shirt and a pair of his black sweatpants once he heard the water draining, only for Alice to enter his room with a towel laced around her body as she carried her clean undergarments and dirtied clothing, making him blush deeply before handing over the new attire for her to wear for the night.

Hearing the towel drop, Kazuto thought that he would hear her getting dressed... but her arms slowly wrapped around him as she whimpered, "Kazuto... I do not wish to be told who I have to love..." Frowning at this, he placed a single hand over her arms as he spoke tenderly, "Hey, don't worry about that tonight." Her arms slowly dropped from around him to slide her undergarments back on before tugging the new clothing on, "I do not suppose that you have a brush, now do you?"

Sweat dropping, he then shook his head, "Erm... no. I have a comb though. Suguha's hair isn't much longer, so she uses a comb too." Handing the comb over, he then turned around as Alice began to run that comb through her hair section by section. This took so long that he snickered, "I'll buy you a brush for when you spend the night. We have spare toothbrushes though." He then twirled out a white, blue, and gold toothbrush for her, making her smile as she left to brush her teeth.

"She looks so damn cute in my clothes," he chuckled softly long after she had left, only for her to hear what he had said as she walked back in. Lying in his bed, he then held his arm out to her, only for her to climb in beside him and curl up close to him. Feeling her fidgeting, Kazuto cracked his eye open the moment she sat up, "Kazuto, come here." Sitting up, she snatched his shirt and tugged it off before removing the sweatpants he had given her. It was what she was used to in-game.

Curling back up on his chest, Kazuto then pulled the blankets back over them as he buried his face into her long locks. The moment he fell asleep, Alice sat up gently before leaning forward and pressing her lips lightly to his, only to readjust against his chest while holding his free hand that wasn't holding her hip securely. Pulling that hand over her heart, Alice lulled to sleep while in the comfort of Kazuto's tender hold on her that promised all of the love and affection he had to offer.

---

Gentle rays of sunshine could barely be witnessed through the curtains in Kazuto's room when his mother in the form of his aunt knocked on his door before entering with her eyes closed at first as she spoke, "Kazuto, come on, it's time to get up!" Opening her eyes to witness all of those mass loads of golden hair splayed over the two as they curled up with one another made Midori bite her lip and take a picture of the two. Midori was no idiot over what she was now seeing in the slightest.

Midori knew exactly as to who this was due to how much Kazuto spoke about Alice. He often spoke in such a gentle tone concerning her. When he first told her about Alice, he described her looks of long golden locks that would put the rays of the sun to absolute shame, while also holding eyes that reflected the ocean whilst the sun was still shining. Apparently, Alice was a proper speaker due to how she was raised, yet, when she first woke up, that properness was nowhere to be found.

Alice's eyes then opened after hearing the alert to wake up, only for her to groggily sit up, "Good morning ma'am. Sorry for intruding in your home and imposing on you. Fuck... I'm too damn exhausted to sound proper yet..." That last line just about had Midori keeling over with laughter, "Well, it's wonderful to finally be able to meet Kazuto's girlfriend that he often speaks so fondly about! You must be Alice! My name is Midori! I'm sorry to ask dear, but do you mind waking him up?"

Shaking her head, Alice then gave a bright beaming smile, "Of course!" Turning her head towards Kazuto, she then pinched his cheek as her demanding tone rolled out, "Kazuto, wake up! You should not have to make your mother and sister wake you up because you are an incompetent fool!" The pinch alone shocked the hell out of him... but once the nagging began, he sat up and groaned before leaning against her breasts to doze back off against her, making her furious beyond belief.

Stroking his hair lightly while biting her bottom lip due to what he was currently doing to make the savage within her dissipate entirely. However, this time, she leaned to his ear and whispered, "Stop it dammit! Your mother is right here!" That made him snicker, considering her hair hid what he was doing to her in the form of his hand slipped in her panties to stroke. Hiding her furious blush, she then feigned, "Ah, well, I suppose that you are not wishing for me to make you breakfast!"

The mother figure to this stubborn teen then chuckled, "Well now, I haven't seen Kazuto stiffen up that fast over something such as food before!" Kazuto then chuckled as he slipped a single finger inside of Alice to begin gently easing it in and out so that he did not break her hymen as he spoke, "Alice is an amazing cook! Anything she ever makes tastes delicious!" Taking a deep breath, Alice then slapped him across the face, "No breakfast for you over that little trick you just pulled!"

That's when Midori understood and fumed, "Kazuto! How indecent to do to a lady!" Alice then fanned her hand back and forth lightly, "Almost two years of this in-game, plus the year and a half out of the game... I am rather used to his antics." Pulling away, Alice then slipped those sweatpants on and walked forward to hold her hand out, "My name is Alice Zuberg. It is wonderful to meet Kazuto's mother. If you would like, I will prepare breakfast for everyone, as well as a lunch for you."

Frantically fanning her hands, Midori then took Alice's hand, "My name is Midori Kirigaya. You don't have to do all of that Alice!" Kazuto then noticed Alice's face slightly fall and chuckled, "Mom, Alice loves to cook. It, you know, makes her happy. Is dad here?" Midori then nodded, "Yes, him and Suguha are already at the table waiting for me to make breakfast. Go on ahead Alice. Kazuto, go with her to help her find everything that she needs." Nodding, he stood up and slipped his shirt on.

Taking Alice's hand, the two then exited the room together before walking to the kitchen area, making Suguha's eyes brighten immensely, "Alice!" Smiling and lightly waving as the father of this family, Minetaka, just about had his jaw dislocating over how beautiful this girl was, making Suguha laugh, "Oh, that's right! Dad, this is Alice Zuberg, Kazuto's girlfriend! She's an amazing cook and I'll bet she bribed mom to let her cook! Oh man, I can't wait to eat now," she squealed happily.

Alice bowed to the father of the family, "A good morning to you sir. I do hope that I am not imposing. Anything that I am to use, I will be sure to pay you back for by picking up more groceries." Showed around the small kitchen, she pretty much got the gist of where everything was, only for Kazuto to pull her hair into a high ponytail before she began cooking what looked to be a breakfast that had come from a first-class high-dining restaurant, making Kazuto baffled as he watched.

Turning her head to Kazuto, she gave his cheek a gentle pinch while winking, "Go on and take the plated meals out to everyone as I make your mother and father lunches for the day," pausing, she then pointed to the two nuclear plates of food, "Those are ours. I do not wish to harm someone else due to our preferences in how spicy we like our food." This made him laugh with a tone of brightness that this family rarely ever heard at all once he walked out and placed the meals down.

She was so determined that she gained a shimmer and sparkle to her eyes as she spoke, "I will also prepare dinner later on tonight for them." The twinkle held in her eye was so adorable that he could only chuckle and nod, "Alright, alright, you win." Walking out with the meals and setting them down at the table, everyone gaped at the scent before taking a bite to just about melt as Alice prepared the two lunches beautifully, only to then clap her hands happily, "Right! It looks perfect!"

Making some of her specialty coffee to-go, along with some outstanding tea for their lunches, Minetaka stood and walked to place his plate in the sink, "It's been a long time since I have had a meal that delicious. Thank you Alice." Smiling brilliantly at him, she then picked his lunch, coffee, and tea for lunch up before handing it to him, "There is no need to thank me at all! Just make sure to have a wonderful day at work! Oh... but if you do not mind, please taste the coffee first."

A harmless request, so he took a sip... only for his eyes to become massive at how delectable that this coffee actually tasted before boasting, "My, my! Kazuto, you have found yourself a fine young lady to love! I never introduced myself, my name is Minetaka Kirigaya. It was a pleasure to eat your meal Alice... and boy, I am already looking forward for lunch and dinner!" Blushing furiously at the compliment, she then laughed and bowed deeply to him, "No, no! The pleasure is all mine, sir."

As the two parents left with their lunches, coffee, and tea made by Alice; Suguha had to question, "Kazuto, you actually aren't rushing to eat? Does yours really taste that different?" A gleam came to his eyes as Alice cleaned all of the dishes used to prepare the meals, only to shove some in Suguha's mouth, making her eyes widen immensely, "Why in the world would you make something so spicy Alice?!" Peering her head up as she wiped the counter down, Alice then shut off the water.

Letting her hair down, Alice walked over and sat down to eat. Just about to take a bite, that comment was said, making her blink rapidly while speaking in a confused tone, "One moment, you hold the beliefs that this is spicy? I just enjoy the flavor, as does Kazuto, so I suppose that I never really thought of it as being spicy." Suguha then propped her cheek up in the palm of her hand as she sighed out, "I can only imagine what your children will be like. They will have steel stomachs."

Blushing furiously, Alice ate slowly while thinking about the topic until her thoughts came to an abrupt halt once she heard knocking on the door, making everyone look over. Kazuto then smiled and stroked her hair before walking to the door and opening it, "Yes?" Selko waved to his sister until he noticed that she had cooked a whole meal, making him whine, "Sis, that's really not fair! Well... I suppose that Kazuto's house is the ideal place for you to hold the freedom that you desire."

Finishing up her meal, she then stood up and began to wash all of the dirtied dishes with a smile as she spoke softly, "Honestly... the one day I had here has made me happier than I have ever been in my entire life. No one has told me what to do, how to act, how to speak... nothing. Kazuto and I need to go shopping before I come back home to get online to face off against Zekken." This made Kazuto hum softly as Selko snickered and tossed her a clean pair of skinny jeans and boots.

Waving and smiling, Selko then turned, "I knew you wouldn't want to change out of Kazuto's shirt, so, there you go. Later." Laughing softly, she then nodded, "Be safe on your way home Selko." Stopping, he then turned his head, "I figured out what I want for my birthday sis. I want a motorcycle." Alice then laughed hysterically at this, "I didn't make that much on my last job. So keep thinking about it, okay?" Selko then sighed heavily, "I was joking sis! Sheesh! I'll see you online!"

Walking to Kazuto's room to get changed, he entered with her and locked the door before gripping her belly from behind. Blushing furiously as her heart pounded against her chest, Kazuto merely snickered and kissed the back of her ear, "Thank you for breakfast." Releasing her, Alice's eye twitched as she gripped the back of his shirt and yanked so roughly that he collapsed onto his bed to make him watch as she slid his pants from her body with a gleam in her eyes, making him huff.

Turning his head away while grumbling about teasing him, she then rolled her eyes as she tugged the jeans on before flicking his forehead, "Hey, might I borrow a new one of your shirts and a jacket?" She had already removed the shirt she had been wearing, making him chuckle and fish out one of his t-shirts before handing it over, only to notice her dry face, "Honestly? Do you only wear black?! Even your jeans are black!" Pulling the shirt on her, he snickered, "You asked for a shirt."

As he pulled that shirt on her body, he just had to taunt her by sliding his hands over her breasts as he did so. Shrugging his fur-trimmed black jacket over her shoulders, he then tugged her hair free before she walked out with a smile, only to hear Suguha, "Kazuto! Why would you put Alice in so much black?! That's rude!" His jacket was then thrown at him by his sister before she placed a white version of the same jacket on her, "I don't wear it much, so if you want it, you can keep it!"

Out shopping now, they got everything they needed and more. Returning back to Kazuto's home and putting everything away, Alice then began preparing dinner in a slow cooker before turning towards him and Suguha, "Now, this will not be done cooking until it is time for the evening meal. So, by roughly six tonight, it will be done." Looking at a clock, she then sighed at how she had to go back... home, yet, quickly shook the thoughts from her mind as she picked up all of her clothing.

Now holding all of her clothing she wore the night prior, including her running shoes, Alice then waved, "I am already going to be a bit late. Hopefully this Zekken will wait for me! I will see you two online!" Rushing out of the door, Alice noticed that Asuna was online and began to message her as she ran to get home, "If you face this Zekken, make them aware that I am coming as a challenger as well!" Gaining no message in return, she could only guess that Asuna was fighting now.

---

Reaching her home and rushing to her room, she then locked the door once she entered and removed her pants and coat before placing her AmuSphere on and lying back before closing her eyes with a soft smile... she was down for a real match! Grinning, she called out, "Link start!" Entering the world, Alice bolted out of her home and headed for the twenty-fourth floor. Flying to the tree, she noticed Asuna standing there as a guy flew to hit the ground before yelling that he gave up.

Asuna turned her head and smiled, "Hey Alice! Sorry that I didn't answer your message! My mom was nagging at me again. I just got here myself." Kirito then chuckled and wrapped his arm around her hip, "There you are." When a cute young girl flew down, both Asuna and Alice cleared their throats, "Excuse me... Lis? You didn't tell us that Zekken was a girl!" Landing, the young girl smiled brightly and spoke in a bright tone, "So, is there anyone else who wants to challenge me today?"

Kirito noticed Alice's pondering face and snickered, "You won't figure anything out just standing here, so get in there!" Being pushed in and stumbling forward, the girl then smiled, "What's up! You next?" Blinking softly, Alice then took in a deep breath, "Uh... sure. I mean, yes." Snapping her fingers brightly, Alice had to smile softly the moment she spoke brightly, "Awesome! You want to fight with or without wings?" Ugh, she only used her wings for transportation... so, "Without wings."

The girl then explained, "You can use magic, items, or whatever means necessary to defeat me! I'm only going to use my sword though." How damn insulting. However, Alice humored the girl and chuckled and fanned her hand back and forth, "Ah, I fight the same way. I don't use magic unless I must. I have to warn you though... this is a battle that could take all day and night, so be prepared!" Laughing brightly, she then winked, "I like your attitude!" With that, the duel was then sent over.

Looking at the name, she then thought to herself, 'Yuuki?' Accepting the duel, she only pulled out her Aurora Blade and twirled it around before getting into an easy going battle ready stance with a smile on her face, making everyone gasp, "Look! It's Osmanthus Alice!" - "Yeah! I don't know who is more vicious though... Zekken, or Alice?" - "Oh come on, you have to be joking with me! It has to be Zekken!" - "No way in hell man! Osmanthus Alice is way more terrifying... when serious."

With the match beginning, Alice wanted to play with her food first, so, she smirked and remembered the newest combo she had made called 'Northern Lights' that was a forty-eight hit combo. It came out looking just like the most majestic Aurora Borealis found. Both dashed towards one another, only for her fast-paced attacks to begin raining down as the girl playfully smiled while countering all of the attacks before slashing Alice across the chest, making her smirk once she flipped away.

Yuuki then smiled at Alice sweetly until noticing what she had meant... she had been hit... but her health was already full again. Rolling her shoulders back, Alice chuckled, "I'll admit it, you are tough... but now... I've seen everything that I need to know. If I were you," she paused as she reached her opposing hand back and grasped the hilt of her Osmanthus Sword before continuing, "I would prepare myself now to know what defeat tastes like!" Pulling that second blade out, all gasped.

Kirito then snickered at this and mumbled, "I was wondering when she was going to get serious. It's like she's breaking in a new pair of shoes." Alice shot her eyes towards her boyfriend before picking up a rock and hurling it to slam against his face, "How rude to say Kirito!" Taking in a deep breath to refocus on the duel before smirking, "Do not take this personally but... you are far too fragile for me to use either of my blades' abilities. So, I will be sticking to sword skill only... wait..."

Shifting her eyes to Selko, Alice's eye twitched, making him frantically fan his hands back and forth. Suddenly vanishing, Alice appeared before Yuuki, making her beyond shocked as she clashed her blades against the girls' blade with a force so great that the high-pitched echo basically rattled everyone's bones down to their core. Once Yuuki came after her, Alice jumped to land on her blade, only to sigh, "How utterly disappointing. And people are claiming you as the strongest player?"

Flipping off of that blade, she then landed gracefully and sheathed her Osmanthus Sword before tossing her Aurora Blade into her dominant hand, only to rush forward and slide to the ground before kicking Yuuki's wrist, "You... the strongest... what a complete and utter JOKE!" Yuuki was actually panicking internally, 'How... How do I defeat someone who holds auto-regenerative properties?! She wasn't kidding when she said that this could take all day and night! I've got no choice!'

After clashing their blades for a bit longer, Alice's arm then dropped to her side as Yuuki activated that eleven-hit combo. Hit by that combo head-on, Alice coughed from the dust before Yuuki looked horrified at the damage repairing itself, "You have had your turn to show off... so I shall ask. Which one of my original sword skills would you like to see? Goddess Osmanthus or Northern Lights? The choice is yours... but the outcome is indefinitely the same no matter which route you take."

Snapping her fingers, she then temporarily removed her auto-regenerative abilities, "If you wish to try your eleven-hit combo, you may try again. I most definitely have no use for such a skill. I merely wished to see what all of the fuss was about. Now that I have witnessed it, I have to say that I am rather disappointed." Yuuki couldn't move, no matter how much she wished to, making Alice tilt her head and fan her hand in front of the girl's face, "Do not stress yourself over the matters."

Smiling softly and putting away her Aurora Blade, Alice then pulled out her Osmanthus Sword, "Out of respect for your strongest attack, I shall do the same!" Her blade began to glow a brilliant golden coloration, snapping Yuuki out of it a bit too late once Alice came straight at her and her first ten swift strikes created the bud of the osmanthus flower, only for each ten strikes to further progress the blooming of the flower until she hit fifty swift attacks, "Bloom Goddess Osmanthus!"

The winner icon then went to Alice, making her smile at the girl, "That was a wonderful fight. Challenge me again anytime you wish." Lisbeth had recorded that entire match and had just uploaded it to the VR blogs with the title 'Osmanthus Alice versus Zekken! Zekken's fall from power!' Comments almost instantly began to flood the topic - 'The Goddess Osmanthus strikes again!' - 'I don't think anyone could match Alice when she decides to fight seriously!' - 'How many hits is her skill?!'

'Dude, you don't even know that much about Osmanthus Alice? Her original sword skill, 'Goddess Osmanthus', holds fifty consecutive strikes! Her second original sword skill, 'Northern Lights', holds forty-eight consecutive strikes. She's an Osmanthus Fairy, so, her strength and agility are out of this world. She also auto-regenerates.' - 'Holy hell! You have got to be kidding me!' - 'Man, she is way too OP!' - 'Hey, at least she was kind unlike a lot of other players that hold rare gear!'

Placing her hand on the shocked girl's head as the Goddess Osmanthus popped to shower down sparkling golden particles, Alice smiled, "You are quite brave for holding the courage to duel with me. Most others will claim that they can beat me, yet, never hold the resolve to even attempt to hold a duel with me. Feel proud of all of the wins that you have achieved up until this point, for that is no simple task to achieve against so many others. Against all of the odds, you remained true."

Turning away in her thigh-high golden boots, she began walking back to Kirito once she sheathed her Osmanthus Sword, only for Alice to feel her hand taken by Yuuki, "That was such an awesome duel! You're definitely the right one!" Alice then looked back with a confused facial expression, "The right... one?" Feeling herself being lifted into the air to be kidnapped, Alice was then taken far away before she stopped once her wings appeared, "Hey, stop! My friend wanted to fight you too!"

Yuuki then looked down, "I'm sorry for stealing you away from your friends like that, but, I've never met anyone as powerful as you are Alice. You see, by the time April comes around, me and my guild will be way too busy with other things to play anymore, so we wanted to go out with a bang! We want all of our names written on the wall of the Black Iron Palace!" Pausing and bowing to the platinum blonde mid-air, Yuuki then begged, "I'm beggin ya! Please say that you'll help us Alice!"

Alice then shifted a frown from side to side, "On one condition." Yuuki's eyes began to sparkle and nodded, "Of course! Whatever ya want!" Smiling at the girl that reminded her of her brother, Alice chuckled, "You see, none of me and my friends, or little brother, are in a guild together. You fought my little brother, Selko... I am unsure as to why he did not fight you seriously, however... my best friend, Asuna, really wanted a turn to fight you. She's great with a sword and a good healer."

Taking a breath, she metaphorically put her foot down, "If you want my help, she comes too." Yuuki then looked down, "Sorry Alice... but we only need one more person. If we made another party, only the raid party leader's names would be placed in the Black Iron Palace." Folding her arms, she then sighed, "You are perfectly fine without me. I will lend your team my auto-regenerative abilities, but it would not be the same without my friends or boyfriend around to help out."

Just as she went to turn to fly away, Yuuki shot her hand out and took Alice's hand, "Please! If we were on the ground, I'd be beggin ya on my hands and knees!" Releasing an inaudible breath, Alice then spoke, "Alright. One moment." Opening up her friends group message, Alice typed in quickly - 'Sorry guys, I will be helping another group out for a day or two so that they will have their names placed inside of the Black Iron Palace. I will return once we have accomplished the task.'

Nodding her head, she then motioned her hand, "Lead on then." Yuuki's eyes gained a brilliant sparkle at this, "Really?! Ya mean it?!" Smiling softly and nodding, Yuuki then gave a big hug, "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you Alice!" Taken to a bar, the two landed before entering to see a small group of people, "I want you to meet my guild! The Sleeping Knights! Guys, this is Alice! She was the first person to actually win a duel against me with little to no given effort on her part!"

Everyone appeared shocked at this comment of Yuuki actually being defeated until replaying this girl's name inside of their minds again, only to become further shocked the moment a girl that was quite the tomboy gawked, "You don't mean Osmanthus Alice, do you?!" Yuuki then bashfully rubbed the back of her head sheepishly with an embarrassed blush assaulting her cheeks, "Was I the only one who wasn't aware of who she was? When I fought her... man, even I had a hard time!"

Their fearless leader then began to point everyone out to introduce them, "There is Siune, our healer! Then there are two other damage dealers besides me, Talken and Nori! Then we have our two tanks, Tecchi and Jun! Other than that, there is only me, the leader, Yuuki!" Jun then rushed up to the long-haired platinum blonde before taking her hands, "No way, you are actually THE Osmanthus Alice?!" Akihiko then popped out and yawned before lying on Alice's shoulder, "Mother?"

Shifting her head to look at him, she actually felt ashamed that she hadn't realized that Akihiko hadn't been with her this entire time before she cleared her throat, "Yes sweetie?" Rubbing his eyes adorably as he shifted his gray gaze to notice her expression had him shooting up, "You actually didn't even realize that I was missing this entire time?!" Blushing heavily, Alice then sweat dropped as she spoke in a not too convincing tone of voice, "No, no! Of course not! I could never forget!"

Yuuki then peered at Akihiko curiously before pointing, "Alice, who is this?" Chuckling and taking one pouting Akihiko from his perch on her shoulder to hold him in the palms of her hands, Alice then snickered, "A way to have all of your names still engraved in the Black Iron Palace with another member... per say. He's a navigation pixie that is able to take a humanoid form to act as combat support or magical support, such as an extra healer. Introduce yourself like a gentleman sweetie."

Huffing dramatically at her, he then stood up with folded arms, clearly pouting, as he spoke, "My name is Akihiko." Gently pinching his cheek, she then scolded, "If you keep pouting then I will swap you with your twin sister, Sassa, or Yuna." Akihiko then looked at all of these people, understanding why they were so desperate; forcing him to peer down, "Mother... you might want to swap me out with Yuna, or, I will be giving secrets away that are not my own to share to begin with."

---

Sending a message to Eiji, she swiftly received a message in return saying that it was alright with him. Both then converted their pixies into items before swapping them out. Clicking the item 'Yuna's Voice', out popped out a brightly smiling Yuna, "Hiya Alice!" Everyone's eyes just about bugged out again, "No... No way! It's Yuna!" Yuna then turned around and smiled brightly, "Of course I'm Yuna silly! Alice did create my program after all!" This made everyone's jaws just about dislocate.

Sitting down now, Alice handed Yuna one of her newest pixie treats for her to nibble on happily as Yuuki questioned, "So, what does Yuna do?" Alice then smiled softly at this, "She is a powerful support. Just by singing, she can enhance everything on a person, such as all stats... including health and magical power. She can even boost the amount of experience points you will gain. I specifically created her for a friend. She's based off of the one I used to know in... "real" life. So yeah."

Everyone then nodded at this explanation before Yuuki got down to explaining, "So, we have tried fighting a ton of bosses all on our own, but each time, we lose... and by the time we get back to try again, another guild has defeated the boss. We just want everyone to remember us!" Looking at the time, Alice noticed as to how late it was, only to smile softly, "Alright then, let us meet up here tomorrow. I forgot that I have somewhere to be right now. Tomorrow we can smash the boss!"

Pulling up her messages, she hurriedly messaged Kazuto's phone, 'I am on my way! Tell your parents that I apologize!' Swiftly gaining a message in return, she opened it and read it to herself in the form of a mumble, "Don't worry about it... They are just now getting home, so come on over... My dad actually threatened that you had better be here when he gets home so that he can give you a big hug for the delicious lunch, coffee, and tea that you made him... not that mom is any better."

Waving to the Sleeping Knights, she logged out and shot out of her bed after taking her AmuSphere off. Bathing and changing in a hurry, Alice rushed down the stairs and jumped onto her motorcycle before speeding to Kazuto's house. Parking, she knocked on the door, only for Suguha to answer the door, "Alice! My parents have been freaking out for the past ten minutes!" Walking inside and removing her shoes, Minetaka ran out and scooped Alice up, "Alice! Welcome back dear!"

Squeaking from the sudden scoop, Kazuto then walked out to lean his shoulder against the wall with a softened face as little miss golden child was loved on and adored entirely. Placed down, Alice smiled brightly, "I am going to get started on making some side dishes for dinner!" Minetaka then blinked rapidly, "Oh, that reminds me! Thank you so much for that delicious lunch! Everyone was so jealous when it was lunch! I bragged at how my future daughter-in-law is an amazing cook!"

Blushing furiously over that little comment, Alice laughed softly and fanned a single hand in front of her face, "Future daughter-in-law?! Oh, I do not know about that sir! It is nice to dream about it though." Walking to the kitchen with a gentle smile, Alice began to softly sing, catching everyone's attention over how beautiful her voice was. It was a rare talent indeed to sound as if your voice had stolen beautiful church bells. Kazuto had heard her sing so many times and loved it.

Closing his eyes and listening to that crystal clear beautiful pitch in her voice, Kazuto gained a soft smile before walking behind her to wrap his arms around her stomach as she worked... obviously used to working with the dummy glued to her as she reached a single hand back to stroke his short raven locks gingerly before continuing to work once he laid his head against her shoulder as she kept singing softly. Everyone closed their eyes and listened to Alice's beautiful voice jingling out.

Kazuto never knew why Alice had enjoyed going to listen to Yuna sing so much when her voice was just as good, if not better. Tilting her head against his lightly, Alice paused her singing to hand one of the side dishes over, "Kazuto... table." Taking the dish to the table quickly and setting it down, Kazuto made it back to Alice for her to continue singing softly the moment his arms were around her again, making her smile tenderly at such a gentle and loving hold that he now held on her.

Finishing the last two side dishes, her song came to a slow fade to peer up at everyone's peaceful face, making her chuckle as she carried the main dish to the table to notice another spot at the table for her, "Should I have sang something more upbeat?" Kazuto, still glued to his girlfriend, shook his head gently against her shoulder, "No, it was absolutely perfect... I think that, by far, that was the most beautiful thing that I've ever heard you singing while cooking dinner for the night."

Pulling her chair out for her to sit down, she smiled softly and served everyone first before she took a seat for Kazuto to then gently push her in as a gentleman should. Sitting beside her, he then took her hand with a tender smile on his face. Everyone ate with a smile as they remembered that song she had sang, only for Minetaka to offer to let her to stay the night again after thanking her for the meal. Blushing furiously over this, she then peered up, "Is... Is it really okay?"

Nodding his head with a smile, he then chuckled, "Of course. Now, go and get some rest Alice." Suguha then laughed brightly, "Right dad... What you are meaning to say is that you are wanting more of her cooking." Fanning them off, Alice chuckled, "I enjoy cooking for you guys... so..." she then paused to bow deeply to them all, "Thank you for allowing me to cook your meals." Kazuto then took her hand, "Come on." Shifting her head to look at him, Alice then nodded, "Right!"

Following him into his room, Kazuto then closed the door before tossing Alice a clean long-sleeved shirt while questioning, "Hey... Alice? Will you sing that song for me again? You should name it." Nodding her head and thinking about it, Alice remembered the last three words of the song and smiled, "Smile For You. I'll call it... 'Smile For You'..." Taking his top off and placing sweatpants on, he then sat on his bed as she changed to be in his shirt and her black boy-shorts underwear.

Leaning against the frame of his bed, she then crawled between his legs to lean against his bare chest. Tracing his muscles, Alice then wrapped her arms around him to stroke his back, fully knowing that stroking his back and singing always put him to sleep quickly. That soft and sweet tone began to jingle out, only for Kazuto to begin falling to the side so quickly that she had to swiftly catch him. This had actually perplexed Alice that he had just broken his own record for falling asleep.

The following morning, Alice's body remembered that this was the time that Midori had awoken him the day prior, so she yawned and sat up tiredly, "Kazuto, wake up." He wasn't budging, so she scowled deeply, "Dammit Kazuto! Wake up before I pinch your ass!" She wasn't kidding about that one, considering the moment he didn't move, she roughly pinched his backside and shocked him awake. Huffing and grabbing a new pair of his sweatpants, Alice placed them on and exited the room.

Walking down the steps with a pep in her step, Alice then made her vanilla cinnamon flavored milk coffee before Minetaka could make it out of the room as Kazuto stumbled down the stairs after Alice called Yuna for the two to sing one of the popstar AI's bright songs to wake tired souls up with their happy tones as she cooked. Kazuto then wrapped his arms around her to chuckle softly, "Well, good morning Yuna." Yuna then waved happily towards him with a smile, "Good morning!"

Finishing breakfast and lunches while singing with Yuna, everyone else walked out to see Kazuto sitting on the counter while listening to Alice and Yuna sing. Suguha then rushed out while chirping happily, "I hear Yuna!" Kazuto then picked up Alice's phone to turn it around to show Yuna while chuckling, "Because she's right here. Her and Alice are singing together." Suguha then lifted her eyebrow at Kazuto, "Hold on... Kazuto, how are you even alive and functioning properly right now?"

Blowing his bangs up, Kazuto scoffed, "I don't want to be alive yet. Alice pinched my butt, yet, made up for it by making me her delicious coffee to help me "function properly" as you so elegantly put it." Alice was still singing with a smile once she finished making lunches before clapping her hands, "Perfect!" Minetaka then walked forward to look at Yuna while gawking, "I've heard of Yuna before. I was told she was made by a gamer! That's amazing that you actually know her Kazuto!"

Alice blushed deeply, making the teasing swordsman shake the phone a bit, "Does this look like my phone? Also, that player that created her is right in front of me." Minetaka looked at Alice and gawked, "Alice... you made Yuna?!" Yuna then waved, "Hello sir! Yes, Alice was the one to create my program!" Everyone then ate while Yuna sang for them happily before exclaiming, "Alice, one day, I want to be able to sing for a huge crowd! Are you almost done with my full body to use?!"

Frowning, the golden-haired teen lightly shook her head, "I am afraid not Yuna. It will take a bit longer to get human-like functions. Do not forget, Kazuto has been the one working on your sight! You are fully capable of bugging him to hurry up as well! If only there was a way for us to blend reality and the virtual world, then people could see you whenever you wished to sing or speak to someone else whenever you want! I am working as fast as I can so that you can walk around again!"

---

At home now, Alice placed her AmuSphere on before logging in to see Yuuki, "Good afternoon Yuuki!" Yuuki snapped around and waved, "Alice! You're back! Oh, I mean, a good afternoon to you too!" Alice then nodded and hummed, "I figured out what I wanted in return for me helping you!" Blinking rapidly at this, Yuuki nodded, "Yeah?" Yuna then appeared on Alice's shoulder with a smile as she spoke, "Your sword skill, I do not want it. I wish for you to give it to my best friend, Asuna."

Nodding her head brightly, Yuuki then gave a bright peace sign, "I'll have to duel her first! If she passes my test, then yeah, I'll give it to her without a problem!" Well, that right there was a fifty-fifty answer, making Alice sigh and nod slightly at that given explanation, "That happens to be quite the acceptable answer to give. Well then, what are we waiting for? A written invitation? I can solo most bosses, so I am rather sure that you all have witnessed only my name under various floors."

Realizing that she was right, they all nodded at this before Alice continued, "I can stand back and just keep Yuna protected if you are really wanting to get the win all by yourselves." Yuuki then gained a dumbfounded expression before blurting out, "You'd really just sit back and do nothing?!" Humming as they walked, the platinum blonde had to admit, "Well, I am not too keen on the idea of just sitting back and doing absolutely nothing. However, even Yuna's abilities have their limits."

Nodding at this as they entered the labyrinth, Yuna then giggled and flew back once a mass amount of monsters appeared, "You ready Alice?!" She nodded once Yuna took her humanoid form and her microphone appeared before beginning to sing for all stats to boost almost instantly. Yanking her blades out, Alice then chuckled, "Yuuki, this is what I did not show you during our duel..." Peering over, Yuuki's eyes widened once Alice held her blade out and shouted, "Now, bloom my flowers!"

Dashing forward, Alice then held her Aurora blade up, "Illuminate the skies!" The color from her blade fled from her blade, leaving the blade a solid shining and sparkling white until the aurora borealis were to return inside of her blade as Yuna's singing powered her up further. Everyone watched in a dumbfounded manner as Alice launched through the crowd of monsters to cut them all down with a swift slash of her solid blade before flipping to land to a skidding stop, only to lift her head.

Yuna then snapped her fingers for the buddy, that Alice had made her, to appear for her to hop on to follow while still singing as the platinum blonde Osmanthus Fairy dashed forward. Her flowers returning to her blade, Alice continued to clear the way, only for Yuna to sit on her buddy and continue to sing with a calmer, but, uplifting sounding song. Alice then laughed brightly at Yuna as she ran, "I completely forgot that I had even made that little floating stage slash buddy for you, Yuna!"

Nearing the boss gate without the Sleeping Knights even lifting a single finger, Yuna had already become a pixie by that point and sat on Alice's shoulder without the hiding dummies realizing she was even there, "Alice, hold on... there are people here." Alice snickered at the popular popstar AI she had made, "Oh, believe me, I know that those dorks are hiding over there. Appear and sing 'Ubiquitous dB', they will blow their cover." Yuna smiled and nodded her head, only to fly above them.

Jumping and slipping through a digital portal right in front of them, merely made Alice blink rapidly and mumble, "Oh yeah... I forgot I added that "superstar" feature in her." Alice clapped her hands as Yuna blew a kiss as her music started and began to sing the popular song she had made, only for the people to cover their mouths that Yuna was there as Alice changed into one of Yuna's popstar outfits before running up, knowing she was just as popular... and a good singer as well.

The two were now singing together making the people hiding tear-up as the two sang together and switched up who was singing here and there. Due to Yuna hanging around Selko for so long, Alice knew all of Yuna's choreography perfectly. Yuna loved to listen to Alice sing as well, so the two were in complete perfect synchronization. These people were about to pass out from holding their breaths as Yuna and Alice snapped their fingers and traded outfits as they continued to sing on.

Finally, one of them broke their cover and began to sing along happily... breaking their cover, making Alice finally snap her fingers to give Yuna her attire back as her gear appeared before she pulled her sword on them, "Tell me... why were you hiding like little cockroaches?!" The one that had been singing abruptly fanned his hands back and forth in front of his face before speaking quickly, "It's not like that! We were attempting to avoid any confrontation as we waited for our friends!"

Placing her blades back, she then narrowed her eyes, "Then I suppose that you won't mind if we take a crack at it first." Shaking their heads, they then backed away, "Not at all! Be our guest!" Snapping away, she nodded, "I thank you." - "Miss Alice? Would you mind if we got Yuna's autograph?" Alice then fanned her hand lazily, "Go right on ahead Yuna." Yuna then jumped in front of them and gave her autograph to the ones that were planning on swindling Osmanthus Alice and Yuna.

"Drink potions now to further max out your HP and MP. When we get in there, just be sure to do your best and have fun!" Alice smiled brightly as they entered the boss room, only for a peeping spell to be used on Jun so that they now could watch as to how the boss's initial attack patterns worked. With the boss appearing, Yuna snapped her fingers, "You all ready?! Then start the music!" Yuna began to sing with Alice standing in front of her with a bored expression as she drew her blades.

Once the boss snapped its head towards Yuna, she hopped on her flying stage as Alice lazily blocked an attack. As skilled as this little guild was, they were doing little to no damage in the slightest. Half tempted to yawn, Alice began to notice them beginning to take heavy damage, completely forgetting to lend her limited time of auto-regenerative properties until she was the only one left standing, making her sweat drop once she realized this, "Whoops... I probably should have done that."

Snapping her head towards Yuna, Alice shouted out, "Yuna! Hide in my storage! If you are defeated, your program would be deleted! It would be a serious hassle to recreate you all over again." Doing as told, Yuna was safely stored within Alice's storage before Alice removed her auto-regenerative properties so that the boss could take her down after it hacked and slashed her for an extended period of time of her simply standing there doing nothing. Respawning at the gate, they groaned.

Peering towards them, Alice then lifted her brow, "There is still time to return to the boss room, you know." They all nodded and cheered before rushing with Alice in the lead, only to skid to a grinding halt to see a raid party, discouraging the small guild before Alice walked forward and tapped one of their shoulders, making him turn around before she smiled brightly, "Are you heading in right now? We'd like to have another crack at the boss." The man shook his head, "No can do, doll-face."

Scowling, she then questioned, "Might I ask as to why?" The male then folded his arms, "The rest of our party is on its way." That scowl further deepened, "Okay... so how long do you expect for us to wait?!" The male then shrugged, "An hour? I'm not sure, doll. Go over there and wait for us to take a turn." For some odd reason, this answer made Alice remember her mother at that moment. She had been told what to do for so long, that this had made her resolve weaken immensely.

Yuuki then walked forward with a smile, "Hey big guy, so you're sayin that no matter how nice we ask, you won't let us inside of the boss room?" This made the male look down at her, "Pretty much." Yuuki then smiled brightly, "Why not duel me then! Whoever wins is given the right to enter!" Activating a sword skill and beginning to attack, Alice then held her hand out, "Yuuki, there is no point! We can just take the next boss!" Yuuki then lowered her head at this slightly before humming.

Turning her head back towards the platinum blonde, Yuuki then smiled before speaking, "Alice, sometimes ya gotta fight to get your point across." The rest of the Sleeping Knights began to join in on the brawl at that point as those words echoed in her mind when it came to her mother before thinking to herself, 'She's absolutely right... I need to fight to get my point across!' Suddenly her head snapped back to see the rest of the guild rushing forward, making Alice scowl, 'Dammit!'

Her eyes then widened the moment she witnessed Kirito rushing up the wall and shooting passed the group running forward before flipping in front of the group to smirk at them with his blades drawn, "That's as far as you all are going to get." - "Yeah? You and what army buddy?" Suddenly people in the back of the group were being cut down as Kirito sighed heavily, "Klein, where in the hell have you been?!" His tone then rang out as he hacked and slashed, "Sorry! I took a wrong turn!"

"If you aren't going to get out of our way, then it's your funeral! We will have to force our way passed you! Mages, fire spells!" The leader of the group Kirito now stood in front of called out, only for the mages to then send out multiple spells to then shoot straight towards him, only for him to raise his blades and activate magic swords skills, proving that it was possible to cut straight through spells the moment he cut the core, which shocked them, "I didn't know you could cut spells!"

Turning his head towards her, Kirito spoke a hurried, yet at the same time, calm sentence, "I can only keep them at bay for a bit, baby, so get in there and do what needs to be done!" Nodding at him with a chuckle, she then smiled and drew both of her blades. About to dash forward, he swiftly captured her hip and pulled her to him tightly and slammed his lips to her own before leaning back and running his finger across her swollen lips with a smirk, "I expect to be paid in full later on."

Noticing all of the Sleeping Knights faces had become bright red over that little outspoken sentence, Alice rolled her big blue eyes at him before flicking his nose abruptly while huffing out dramatically, "Please do keep your perverted mind to yourself!" Chuckling at her, he then pinched her backside, making her jump and blush furiously, "Kirito!" This made him snicker playfully and wink, "That was payback for this morning. However," pausing, he finished with a smile, "Smile for me..."

Completely understanding as to what he truly wanted for his full payment was only for her to sing that one specific song to him later, her face softened immensely before she bolted forward to enter the boss room, only to turn her head towards him with a tender gaze and speak one last thing that he heard, "Kirito, I will always... smile for you." Shifting his soft orbs back to her, he then held up the peace sign with a loving smile graced upon his handsome face that she loved so much.

"Alice... are you okay with this? I mean, weren't those your friends?" Yuuki questioned out with an almost guilty tone, only for the platinum blonde to smile softly, "Well, yes and no." This made the powerful imp lass tilt her head slightly at that explanation, making Alice chuckle softly, "The one in front is my boyfriend, while the one in the back is a friend. However, once I told Kirito how much this meant to you, he could not stand by and do nothing to not help you. So he did this for you."

This made Yuuki completely freak out, "Wait, that guy in all black?! He is your boyfriend?! I remember fighting him! He was strong!" Peering at Yuuki, she then gave an unreadable questioning gaze, "So, instead of me, why did you not choose him to help you? I mean, Kirito is not only strong in body alone, his soul is as well." Yuuki then peered down before giving a soft chuckle, "It just didn't feel right... and besides, well, he found out my secret... and I couldn't have that getting out."

Alice then blinked softly before replying, "Kirito refuses to tell any of us what he figured out... including me. Just like Akihiko, the pixie I first had, he deems it as a secret that is not his to tell or give away." Looking at the boss, Alice then nudged Yuuki forward, "Do not let Kirito's efforts be in vain. Remember... I am right here for you should you ever need my help. Just call for me and I will be there as fast as I can. Now, go out there and win this. I believe in the strength that you hold."

---

They had now been in the boss room for quite a while again as Alice stood back and merely kept Yuna safe from damage as she sang. Alice chuckled and looked at Yuna, "It might not be a stadium full of people, but, this is quite a large individual that you are performing for." Once a song ended, Yuna giggled before she started her next song that Alice began singing along softly to while tapping one of her golden boots against the ground lightly as the boss's health barely went down.

This was driving her nuts, considering the fact that she wasn't exactly used to standing back and doing nothing. Yuuki then turned towards her, "We are barely doing any damage! I don't know what we should do!" Alice then lifted her brow, "Are you wishing for a hint?" Yuuki nodded, making Alice shift her hold on her Osmanthus Sword to the side, "Bloom my flowers!" Those flower petals rushed forward and slammed against that large gem held on the boss's chest to do damage.

"Whoa... all the way up there?! There's no way that I can jump that high!" Yuuki paled, making Alice look at Tecchi and call out, "Tecchi, take a knee!" The tank nodded and got down on a single knee as Alice chuckled, "There. Now, go and finish him off!" Nodding her head with a bright smile, Yuuki then spoke something odd the moment she dashed forward, "Right! Leave it to me sis!" Jumping on Tecchi, Yuuki then launched forward and completed her eleven-hit combo to defeat the boss.

All of their eyes widened with tears in their eyes, making them all cheer as Yuna and Alice clapped their hands. Yuuki instantly rushed towards Alice and hugged her tightly, "We did it sis!" Stroking her hair, Alice smiled and shook her head, "That is not quite true Yuuki. I only showed you the weak spot. However, the rest was completed by using all of your own strengths. The strong bonds that you all hold helped, for if the bonds were weak, Yuna's singing would have barely done anything."

The Sleeping Knights looked at one another while smiling brightly before they all then sat down to take a breather as the boss doors opened while Yuna sang Alice's song that actually began to heal them and return all of their strength inside of them as Alice began to sing along with the song with her eyes closed. This had been the first song that Yuna hadn't written all by herself. That raid party then entered with dumbfounded faces as the leader blurted, "You've got to be kidding me!"

"Dude! Look closer! Yuna is here singing with... wait... is that Osmanthus Alice?" Another spoke as their eyes widened over this beautiful voice ringing out as the Sleeping Knights held up the peace sign. Once the song ended, Yuna walked to the three she had given her autograph to before destroying them and releasing an annoyed breath of air as Alice continued to sing as she walked away to activate the warp gate, only to turn her head towards the angry AI, "Yuna, come on dear."

Becoming a pixie, Yuna flew to sit on Alice's shoulder as she turned her head towards the raid party with a smile to softly sing the last three words of her song, "Smile for you..." Entering the next floor, everyone looked pumped as Yuuki looked at Alice, "That last song of Yuna's was so pretty!" Yuna then looked at Yuuki with a puzzled expression and spoke something that made Alice blush heavily, "Oh no, that isn't my song at all! That's the only song that isn't mine! Alice made that song!"

Everyone looked at Alice with a dumbfounded expression before stopping Alice in the heavily populated area, "You should sing it right now!" Blushing heavily and about to say no, she noticed the young girl's hopeful expression and instantly lost. Stepping in the popular square, Yuna then pulled out her instrument to give Alice background noise. Clearing her throat, she began singing the gentle melody, catching everyone's attention completely in the process as Yuna smiled softly.

She did not want to be a popstar... but, people were now recording her singing until finished. They all then posted the song with the tag 'Osmanthus Alice holds another gift in the form of having the voice of an angel!' Comments began to flood in almost instantly over this once the video was watched - 'You have got to be kidding me! How many gifts and talents does she actually hold?!' - 'It is so rare to hear such an angelic voice!' - 'Oh my god, what is the name of this beautiful song?!'

'When she spoke to Yuna, she said that the song's name was 'Smile For You'. Apparently, she had actually made it for someone in specific when she made it.' - 'No way! She just made a song that good out of the blue for someone else?!' - 'I can take a pretty good guess who she made it for. Kirito was at the boss we were going to fight and he said to her "smile for me" before she rushed passed him.' - 'I took the audio out of the video if anyone wants to download that song! Click here!'

Looking at Yuna, Alice then winked playfully towards the popstar pixie, "A stage is already set for you, Yuna. Take it as your reward and sing for that large crowd you have been wanting." Her eyes began to sparkle brilliantly at this as she chirped out happily, "Really Alice?! You mean it?!" Nodding her head at the superstar AI she had made, Yuna then huffed dramatically at her creator, "You have to sing with me then! One song won't kill you, right?!" Sighing, she shook her head, "Fine."

Jumping through the portal, Yuna's microphone appeared as she began to sing with Alice. People recorded this due to knowing that Alice would be embarrassed afterwards. The Sleeping Knights clapped along as Yuna snapped her fingers to place Alice in one of her popstar attires. Oh, this was killing Alice inside, but she had borrowed the little popstar AI. She wasn't sure if she would be able to log into the game for a long time after this. Once the song ended, Alice hurriedly changed back.

By the end of that song, so many videos were posted that she didn't even know about until she received a teasing message from Kazuto, who had already logged out for the night. Opening the message, she skimmed over it before her face drained of color 'Nice singing Alice! A lot of people took videos of you singing, and you and Yuna singing together. You're all people are fanning about right now. Be careful or you'll become even more popular than the famous AI you made!'

She did gain a second message from him that made her smile softly 'I did download that version of 'Smile For You' that Yuna played an instrument in so that I can now always hear your beautiful special song for me.' Chuckling at this as Yuna hummed while sitting on Alice's shoulder as the guild she had just helped contemplated celebrating by renting out a restaurant for the night, which made Alice peer up. She didn't want to go somewhere she had to pay for when she had a home.

Looking at them, she then smiled, "Oh, I have a home on floor twenty-two if you wish to hold a party there. That way, you are not wasting all of your money. It is not much... but it is comfortable." Yuna then giggled and nodded, "Alice's home is super cute! She's an amazing cook too!" Everyone gained an uncomfortable look on their faces, making Alice fan her hands back and forth in front of her face, "No, it is completely fine if you do not wish to go!" Yuuki then smiled, "Sure Alice!"

Picking up food and drinks, everyone made their merry-way to Alice's home. Kirito had ended up logging back in and now laid asleep on the couch as he waited for Alice to come home. Oh, he had been nagged to hell and back due to Alice not being there to make dinner by everyone, so he effectively escaped to his virtual home. The Sleeping Knights stopped to look at this beautiful home in awe once they entered, only to place everything down to see Kirito had... cooked... oh no.

Turning her head, she then chuckled due to knowing why he was here. She hadn't been there to make dinner on this night, so he was probably interrogated to hell and back. Holding a finger up to the guild, Alice walked forward for them to finally take notice in the gentle gold and blue strands of hair that glowed at night pinned behind her head. Taking his hand, Alice snickered, "Kirito, wake up." Groggily waking up, he then smiled, "Oh, hey Alice... welcome back home. I heard you won."

Smiling at him, she then leaned her forehead against his, "We could not have possibly done it without your help. Come on, bed time for you." Helping him up, she took him to their room and he almost instantly collapsed on the bed before mumbling out, "Will you come over... when you are... done here?" Alice nodded her head lightly at his request and kissed his lips softly, "Of course I will. I will also bring some of my clothing over for all of the times my mother is out of town."

Turning away, Kirito then tiredly mumbled out as he drifted off, "I love... you." Smiling at this, Alice turned her head back to see him asleep and returned his words of love, "I love you too." Closing the door, everyone then shifted their eyes back and forth almost nervously, making her chuckle, "He will not hear a word." Banging the wall, no sound was made at all before she continued, "Besides, Kirito is quite a heavy sleeper. Yuna could hold a concert and he would not wake up at all."

---

As foretold, they were loud... and not once did Kirito wake from his slumber. They all now sat there and spoke about all of the different worlds that they had been in to hold amazing adventures. As Yuna sat there eating the newest treats Alice had made, everyone questioned her as to how they made her act so human, only for her to answer, "Well, I knew the real Yuna before her death. I have made one other AI for my younger brother, Selko. Her name is Sassa due to how sassy she is."

When questioned as to why she would make a sassy AI of all things, that's when everyone became shocked, "Well... to be honest, she has a replicated version of my soul, thoughts, behaviors, and emotions from when I was young. If you thought Yuna was life-like, then you should meet Sassa." Yuuki then gawked, "You just REPLICATED your soul from when you were young?! What would be the point in even doing something like that in the first place?! That just sounds super crazy sis!"

Smiling sadly at this, Alice then peered up, "Well, my mother wants for me to be a doctor... but I want to do so much more for sick patients. So, I have been working on a program for terminally-ill patients to copy their souls, along with their current thoughts, emotions, and behavior with their permission, of course. After that, I first create an AI that holds that copied soul. This does not fully make them an AI though, considering they hold a human soul. It gives them life again."

Clasping her hands together, she then released a breath, "For Sassa and me, should I pass away prematurely, she will gain all of my mature knowledge, and also gain the rights to my name completely. Since souls do age, those AI's mature with the soul that has been gifted to them. However, bringing up that your soul is that specific AI can make the soul unravel and deteriorate because they hold the belief that they are the original, that is why my AI holds a different name for now."

Swiping her hand down, she then sent a message to Selko to send Sassa over momentarily since he was still online. Receiving a message in return with Sassa, she then clicked it for Sassa to pop out, "Hiya Alice and you, you, you, you, you, and you!" Alice then smiled softly, "Hello Sassa, have you been well? I brought you over to make some new friends!" Sassa then peered at Alice with puffed up cheeks, "Do I at LEAST get some cake?! Selko scolded me and said I don't get any now!"

Everyone was absolutely shocked at this. They might speak differently in the terms of how proper they were... but they all could see that this was essentially Alice down to the very last detail. Chuckling at her literal little mini-recreation, Alice kissed her cheek, "Of course Sassa." Placing some cake down for her, Sassa then gave Alice a bright kiss to the cheek in return before chirping out, "Yay! Thank you so much Alice!" Once she finished her cake, Alice returned Sassa to Selko.

Releasing a breath, Alice then shifted her head up without realizing that this entire guild was now paying close attention and soaking in every word that she now spoke, "After the creation of the AI, I begin constructing the actual body that the AI is meant to go inside. I will take pictures from head to toe, while also making any adjustments that they ask for. For example, if there is a female cancer patient that holds no hair, I would ask what hair color and the length that they are desiring."

Smiling, she then looked up, "I have actually been called in by many doctors with terminally-ill patients. Copying a soul is delicate work... and if not careful, I could end up permanently damaging that soul. It has to be done in absolute silence too. I have told many doctors this, yet, some disregarded my warnings and entered anyway to begin speaking. While in the process of copying that living soul, should another person speak, they can actually overwrite their soul onto the patient."

Yuuki then eagerly questioned, "What do ya mean overwrite their soul onto the patient sis?" Alice released a saddened breath at this, "Well, for instance, the last girl that I was copying the soul of, Aiko Konno, was almost completely finished having her soul copied until a nurse walked in and began speaking non-stop. By overwriting a soul, it... kills the host. I had held this girl's hand the entire process of scanning her soul and almost had it completely copied to make her an AI."

Frowning deeply as tears filled her gold and blue eyes, she wiped her eyes and sniffled out, "There had only been five percent remaining. It is a full seven day process. I held her hand the whole time because she was scared to leave her twin little sister behind. She wanted for her twin little sister to have this process done so that she could live a bright and long future. Ever since her, I have not scanned another soul. Five percent remained... only five... and that broke my heart completely."

Shaking her head, she then sighed, "It is such a delicate process... almost like performing surgery for seven days straight. The doctor consistently brought me coffee, energy drinks, and meals in complete silence... completely comprehending that you needed absolute silence during the process. He has been trying to contact me for the younger twin, per the elder twin's request. They were her final words... but I have been too terrified to copy another soul since. I felt as if it were my fault."

Further explaining, Alice took in a deep breath to calm herself, "A soul is not simplistic... and there are various layers that you have to scan and copy. There are seven major layers to scan. Personality, behavior, emotions, quirks and traits, process of thoughts, self-image, and perception of the world and other people. It goes exactly in that order of scanning. Others have attempted to do what I have done... but they fail each and every time. There's no risk until someone else speaks."

Sighing, she continued on, "Those who are awake for the process, I encourage them to speak as much as they possibly can before I begin while I type my replies to them. This actually speeds the process of copying that soul much faster. The more a person speaks, the program I hold picks up on all of those seven layers that much faster. Once a soul is successfully copied, I can speak to them as I create that AI to create it however they wish. There have been many successful copies."

Humming, Alice then peered into their amazed and curious eyes almost as if saying 'sign me up', "There is one more crucial thing that must never be glossed over or ignored." Yuuki was in shock, so Jun asked, "What would that be?" Shifting her golden and blue gaze towards him, she then spoke in the most serious tone that one had ever heard coming from a teenager, "The soul... must agree. Sure, a person can give their verbal permission, but, if their soul holds doubts, I cannot do it."

Thinking of Aiko one last time, Alice then wiped her eyes before looking down, "I will fulfill Aiko's last wish that she spoke to me..." Standing and clapping her hands together, Alice then chuckled as everyone gazed in amazement at this girl who had accomplished so much at such a young age as she spoke, "Well, I do believe that you all are forgetting about one thing!" They all thought she was talking about being paid, making them pale, "We spent all of the money on food and drinks!"

Yuuki finally snapped out of it and gave Alice a panicked expression, "Oh my god Alice! I am so sorry!" Leaning forward and lightly flicking Yuuki's forehead, Alice then winked, "Not that, you dummies. The whole reason for you dragging me into this charade. The Black Iron Palace. Come on, let us go to the Town of Beginnings so that you can look at it!" Everyone stood abruptly with bright smiles before rushing out of the home that they were currently inside of to head to the warp gate.

Arriving on the first floor of new Aincrad, Alice walked forward with her hands laced behind her back as Yuuki walked beside her while the rest of her rowdy guild dashed forward to enter the Black Iron Palace. Stopping in front of the floor clearings list, they all pointed, "Look! There we are! Now we will never be forgotten!" Jun then placed an item out to take a picture while laughing in a brighten tone as he spoke, "We should take a picture while we are here so that we never forget either!"

Everyone then lined up with Yuuki beside Alice, only for them to hold hands as their opposing hands held out the peace signs. With everyone holding up the peace sign with brightened smiles, the picture was then taken. Yuuki then turned towards Alice with sparkling eyes before leaping to hug her tightly, "I can't believe it sis, we actually did it! Our names are up there!" Alice chuckled softly, "Not that I mind, but, you did it again." Confused, Yuuki then spoke the most rational thing, "Huh?"

Threading her fingers through the powerful imp's hair, Alice smiled, "You called me sis again. You have been calling me sis all night long. I do not mind though. You remind me a lot of my own younger brother with the way you behave." Yuuki gained a horrified facial expression over this and quickly opened up her main screen before clicking the logout button. Everyone else then logged out as well, leaving Alice completely dumbfounded before returning to her home and logging out.

Packing a bag with plenty of her clothing that she would be leaving at Kazuto's, she then grabbed her keys that now held a spare to enter his home and headed out of her home to get on her motorcycle. Starting the engine and shaking her head, Alice then hit the throttle and headed towards her more preferable home. Once she arrived, Alice parked right beside Kazuto and jumped down after kicking the kickstand down. Unlocking the door, Alice then entered and went to Kazuto's room.

Placing her packed attire in his closet and dressers, Alice then removed her bra and changed into one of her boyfriend's shirts before shaking him, "Kazuto." Kazuto, who was still logged into the game, then logged out of the game, only to open his tired eyes, "Hey baby... welcome home." Taking his AmuSphere off of his head and leaning forward to set it down on his bed frame, Kazuto gained a glorious view due to how much more petite she was than him, making him groan, "Alice... why?"

"Just shut up and go to bed. I have to go to the hospital tomorrow. I will be away for seven days to scan a terminally-ill patient's soul, so do be sure to eat something other than pasta with pepperoncini. You have watched me cook plenty to know how to make a balanced diet." Gaining a dry face, he then grumbled, "What in the hell are you insinuating baby?" Alice then poked his once muscular core for it to sink into his skin, "You are getting soft Kazuto... A bit of exercise will not kill you."

---

A few days later after bathing, getting dressed, cooking, eating, and brushing her teeth and hair; Alice gave Kazuto a kiss before waving, "I will see you in seven days Kazuto." Nodding his head, he then walked her to her modes of transportation and placed her helmet on her head for once the moment she got onto the expensive blue and gold motorcycle. Peering at him, Alice spoke with gentle eyes, "I love you Kazuto..." Kazuto smiled and nodded his head to her, "I love you too. Be safe."

Once he stepped away, Alice hit the throttle for a small present box to fall out of her jacket pocket. Picking it up, he was about to call out to her to see that she was already out of sight. Looking at the box as he walked back inside, he then tilted it from side to side cautiously as if a bomb might be inside. He was so curious, that once he entered his room, he opened the box with widened eyes to see a black tungsten wedding band that held two thin lines of gold and blue in the middle of it.

Taking the ring out, he then slipped it onto his marriage finger for a moment before placing it back so that she wouldn't be able to tell that he had moved it in the first place. Closing the present box perfectly, he then sat the box holding the ring on the top of his dresser. Only he fully comprehended that gold and blue were her favorite colors, even though she wore the colors frequently to hint to others that they were her favorite colors. Not only that... but the ring was also his ring size.

Arriving at the hospital holding terminally-ill patients, Alice then parked and began to walk towards the door, only to place her hands inside her jacket pockets before freezing in place with widened orbs as her panicked whisper came out, "Where... where is it?!" The more she frantically patted her jacket pocket, the more she found that the "present" in the form of a wedding ring was gone. She didn't have the time to drive around looking for it, so she pulled out her phone to call Kazuto.

"Hello? This is Kazuto speaking." Kazuto answered after tapping the top of the headset he wore while he softly panted as he jogged to gain his exercise. Blushing softly, Alice then spoke in an embarrassed tone, "Baby? Did you happen to see a box once I drove away?" Coming to a slow stop, he then chuckled breathily once he replied, "You mean the wedding ring? Yes, I picked it up. It's on our dresser. So, who's the lucky guy?" - "YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE NOT SUPPOSED TO OPEN IT YET!"

Kazuto snickered at her furious tone, making her almost yell again until he softly answered, "Don't worry Alice... I bought one for you too..." Bright red, Alice began stuttering before yelling, "Wha... What? YOU MORON, YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO TELL ME WITHOUT ME BEING PRESENT FOR YOU TO PROPOSE TO ME!" Feeling partially deaf now, Kazuto then cringed... knowing that she was absolutely correct, "Right! I'm sorry about that! Please forgive me for that Alice!"

Hearing her release an angered breath of air, he then straightened up almost instantly, "Al... Alice?" She then huffed heavily, "Ugh... never mind. Now that I am aware that it has not been stolen or lost, I must go." Nodding his head as he panted, he then heard her laughing softly, "Are you honestly exercising now that I am not around to witness you? I would have rather enjoyed teasing you over those matters." Blowing his bangs up, he then huffed, "Then I'm glad you aren't here. Later."

Tapping his headset again, Kazuto began running again while listening to one of Yuna's songs before it switched to Alice's song for him. Alice then continued before walking inside of the hospital while grumbling beneath her breath. Reaching the check-in desk, the golden-haired little lass sighed, "Excuse me, I have an appointment with Doctor Kurahashi." The woman then peered up at the goddess of a teen before questioning, "Name?" Alice then nodded, "My name is Alice Zuberg."

The woman then nodded at this before questioning again, "Identification please?" Pulling out her license, only to hand it over for her to look all of the information over before entering it into the computer. Standing, she bowed, "Please pardon me miss, I will return shortly with Doctor Kurahashi. Please take a seat until he has come to retrieve you." Alice could only nod her head at this and take a seat in the waiting area as she heard a coughing little boy speak, "Mommy? She's so pretty!"

"Ah, Alice! It's wonderful that you finally decided to return!" Doctor Kurahashi chirped out as he approached her. Alice stood before bowing respectfully, "Yes sir, please pardon my absence, I have been quite busy studying and attending to other matters." Motioning for the golden child to follow his lead as he spoke, "We have Aiko's younger twin sister that is in desperate need for the soul copy. Miss Konno is a bright young lady that puts on a brave face and constantly holds a smile."

Nodding her head, she then sighed softly, "I am going to take a guess that miss Konno has the same sickness as Aiko held." Doctor Kurahashi then nodded sadly, "Unfortunately. It's hard for a child to take so many medications and have to keep taking them. The side effects are one thing, the other... are the people who don't understand her condition, only to pass judgement before even getting to know her." This made Alice frown, "That must be terribly painful and so lonely to endure."

Reaching the separated and sterilized room for Alice's eyes to widen when she read the nameplate, "Yuuki... Konno... It... It cannot be." Doctor Kurahashi then frowned, "I am afraid so. Yuuki talks about you almost daily in a fond sense." Placing a mask and gloves on, she then first motioned to Yuuki from behind the glass, "How long has she been inside of the Medicuboid?" Doctor Kurahashi frowned softly, "Ever since being admitted into terminal care, which was three years ago."

On the verge of tears, Alice whimpered softly, "May I?" He then nodded, "Yes, of course. Her immune system is on the verge of collapsing, so be extra careful." Nodding her head, Alice was then let inside of the room with tears trickling down her cheeks. Walking forward, Alice sat beside Yuuki with tears streaming down before beginning to sing softly in the great attempts to calm herself down, she then heard Yuuki's voice, "Please don't cry Alice! I don't like it when ya cry, I'm just fine!"

Shooting her head up, Alice then took Yuuki's frail and fragile hand in her own sterilized gloved hand as she spoke, "Yuuki, you know that I have to ask you... Do you wish to be well again? You love the virtual world... and that would be your home until I am capable of creating your new healthy body." Yuuki basically spoke a smile, "It's about time someone asked me what I wanted for a change! Aiko wanted for me to do it... and I believe and trust you fully! So, yeah! Let's do it Alice!"

Nodding her head with a smile, she then walked out to the doctor as she pulled everything out from her backpack, "Doctor Kurahashi, you are to make this room restricted to everyone except yourself. I do not wish to see a single nurse. I will not risk losing Yuuki too! Actually..." Pulling out a piece of bright red paper and a black marker, Alice then wrote down 'RESTRICTED! SOUL COPYING IN PROGRESS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!' That sign was then taped to the front of Yuuki's door.

Entering Yuuki's room with a new pair of gloves on after sterilizing her equipment, she smiled softly. Alice then removed the head of the Medicuboid to show Yuuki's frail face before placing her SS, the soul scanner, over her head, "Remember what I said Yuuki, talk as much as you possibly can. Doctor Kurahashi will be monitoring your vitals from the other room. Are you ready? I will type my messages to you and smile to keep your spirits high." Yuuki then bravely nodded her head, "Yes."

At that moment, Alice turned the SS on and held Yuuki's hand with one hand as she spoke, "Alice... you're so pretty. You remind me of a goddess..." Typing her reply that would appear above Yuuki, it then popped up, 'I honestly get that a lot! Want to start talking about what you will look like?' Yuuki then nodded, "Yeah... I honestly want to look like my avatar." - 'Even the pointy ears for real life? I do not mind giving them to you in-game, I also had Akihiko save all of your gear.'

Shaking her head at this, Yuuki then weakly laughed, "No. Out of game, once you figure out how to create my living AI body, I want to look the same as my avatar with human ears. I really wish I was the same kind of fairy as you or Kirito..." - 'His name is Kazuto in real life. He is a Midnight Fairy in-game. To be honest, I am still quite confused over what makes them so rare and special! Akihiko will not tell me just to tease me. It is rather annoying and frustrating to say the least.'

The first day went by smoothly and the two talked a lot, which made Doctor Kurahashi happy for the young girl. On her second door that led to her sterilized room, he had placed another notice that no nurses were to enter the room. Alice frequently washed her hands and placed new gloves and mask on to not bring any contamination to the young girl's failing body before she would gently sterilize her hand in return. Doctor Kurahashi then entered late at night and waved.

Turning her head, Alice noticed him handing her a large coffee, making her smile and type out 'I thank you for this. Day one went extremely smooth. We talked so much that it appears that it will only be another four days until it is complete. I will continue speaking to her over many different topics as much as I can to speed the process up so that she is not in any pain over the Medicuboid not being connected to keep her out of pain entirely. I just need you to keep monitoring her and me.'

Day two and day three also went by smoothly. At this point, Alice was exhausted and was having a hard time staying awake. With more liquid life brought to her in silence, Alice and Yuuki continued to speak, even when her pain was growing unimaginable, "Hey... Alice? I can't wait to have... freedom... from this sick body. I'm in a lot of pain, ya know? Is... Is there any way we can take a break?" Alice then shook her head and replied, 'I am afraid not. Good news, you are almost done!'

'Yuuki, you are doing great! Keep that pretty smile on your face with hope held in your heart. You should be done by either tomorrow, or, day five!' Alice typed with a bright smile and gave the young girl's weakened hand a gentle squeeze. Nodding to Alice, she then looked up while cringing, "I... I thought of a name for your soul AI's..." - 'Oh? Well, let us hear it then!' Alice smiled before Yuuki replied in agony, "L...I's.." - 'LI's?' - "Living... Intelligence." - 'That is a great name Yuuki!'

With day four rolling around, Yuuki was in unbearable pain that she covered with a smile, "Hey... Hey Alice?" Alice then typed in, 'Yes my darling?' - "LI's... we... we are no different... than humans. We just hold special bodies... that help us through all of the pain..." she replied as tears rolled down the sides of her face, making Alice worried, 'I am sorry. I wish that you could have some pain medication Yuuki. You are at ninety-two percent though!' - "Re... Really?" Yuuki asked.

Alice nodded with a proud smile, 'You should be done by either late tonight, or, early tomorrow morning! After that, I will show you what your light cube looks like! Then you will be given pain medication and hooked up to the Medicuboid again!' - "Tha... That's right, I still owe your... friend... a fight to give her my sword skill. I came up with... a pretty cool name... for it too." - 'Oh? Please do share while I wash my hands, my dear.' Yuuki nodded as Alice stood and walked to the sink.

Washing her hands for what felt like the billionth time, Alice then placed new gloves and a new mask on before walking back and began to gently wash Yuuki's hands as she spoke, "Mother Rosario. Pretty cool, huh?" Smiling, she then nodded, 'Absolutely! It suits you very well!' Looking at the SS, she smiled brightly and typed again, 'You are so close Yuuki! Only four percent to go!' Yuuki then laughed weakly and called her by her nickname, "About time. It hurts... so much Allie..."

Doctor Kurahashi then walked in with both a coffee and an energy drink for Alice with a smile before setting them down, pointing to her, and made the sign of the cross. He was calling her a blessing... that's what she thought until he then motioned a circle around his head and then made the motions of angel wings, making Yuuki nod, "Yeah... Allie is an angel... I agree doc." Blushing frantically, she almost opened her mouth to freak out until Doctor Kurahashi covered her mouth.

Calming herself, Alice then smiled, 'So, Yuuki, before you are always in ALO, is there anything that you have dreamed of doing?' Yuuki had more tears rolling down her face from the pain before sucking in a sharp breath, "I... I dunno... never really thought of it. Well... I... I guess that isn't completely true. I guess... I guess that I'd like to go to school again..." Alice then nodded at her, 'Well, Kazuto made a device that will make that dream a reality, so be ready for class on Monday!'

Alice had just lightly dozed off by the morning of day five whenever the loud beep of the SS machine went off, shocking her awake with bright eyes, "Yuuki?" Her eyes then opened in a weak state of panic until Alice chuckled, "No need to panic Yuuki." The goddess slash angel opened the SS and pulled out the cube holding a cluster of light, making Yuuki hold her hand out weakly for it to be placed in it, "It... It's so pretty. So... this is my copied soul..." - "Yes indeed!" Alice chirped.

Ruffling her long hair, she grossed out, "I feel disgusting. I need a bath. Alright Yuuki, it will take me awhile to get the coding up and running for an AI. Once I place your light cube inside of the coding, you will become an LI. To not overload the system, you will be a "navigation pixie" like Yuna. You will be capable of taking your full form whenever you wish, but, you will be attached to someone. Do you have any preferences?" Yuuki then nodded, "You, sis..." Alice then nodded at this.

Taking a deep breath, Alice then smiled, "Now, I'm going to guess that you will want to be strictly a combat fairy that fought for her freedom. You fought hard for that freedom, do not forget that. Now, I have one last thing to say to you... Yuuki, do not fear death. Even should you perish before your coding is completed, your conscious will be transferred inside of your light cube. Also, be ready for school on Monday. Kazuto will drop by to get the information to transfer you to his camera."

---

With Kazuto coming to the hospital the next day, the Medicuboid's data that Yuuki was using was then placed on his computer, only to wave before rushing back to school. Walking into the tech room, he plugged in his shoulder camera that he had made for one of the many pixies as Alice walked in, "Kazuto, it is almost time for class." Holding a finger up, he then spoke, "Alright Yuuki, how does the color look? Is it clear?" - "It's a tad green," she replied through the speaker on the camera.

Nodding, he then adjusted the color while speaking, "I'm going to slowly adjust it, so tell me when it is clear, alright?" As he began adjusting it slowly, he was actually happy that Yuuki was the one helping him so that he could give the AI that Alice built clear sight, only to hastily hear, "Right there! Ya got it!" Unplugging the camera, he then placed it on Alice's shoulder, "Try not to make sudden or fast movements, it will put the camera out of focus." Nodding, she then smiled, "Thank you."

Walking out, she then spoke to her teacher, "I would like to ask your permission for a new student to join in your class. She is in the hospital and cannot leave her room." The teacher looked at the camera before smiling, "Of course Alice. What might the name of our new student be?" Yuuki then got nervous as she stuttered out, "O-Oh! My name is Yuuki Konno, sir!" Smiling at the angelic voice, he then nodded, "Well, welcome to our class, Miss Konno. I do hope that you are ready."

Exiting the teacher's lounge, Alice then stopped at the door to her class, "You ready Yuuki?" She then hummed in that same nervous tone, "Oh man, now I'm getting nervous." Alice chuckled softly at her, "Do not be nervous." Yuuki then spoke with a smile, "You know, Alice... You are a lot like how I picture a mom should be. Do ya think that you can put that in my coding too? I'll finally get a mom that doesn't use God as an excuse for what happened." - "Of course I can, Yuuki."

After that day, and plenty of extra time given, Yuuki finally passed on March twenty-ninth. The same day, Alice finished Yuuki's program and inserted her light cube before naming it "Mother's Rosario". She passed on her sword skill to Asuna, so as she died in Asuna's arms, Alice clicked the item for a mini-Yuuki to pop out to sit beside Akihiko before chirping out and shocking the hell out of everyone, "It is totally weird looking at my own dead body. Hey, Akihiko! Ask me for something!"

Confused at the request, he then shrugged and asked, "Yuuki, can I have your attire?" This made Yuuki gain a cat-like smirk, point, and cackle out, "Over my dead body!" This made Akihiko burst into laughter considering her dead body was LITERALLY right there. Oh... Yuuki's humor was just as... humorous... as it had always been. Looking at her hands, Yuuki then placed her hands on her hips before flipping and transforming into her original size to gawk that she truly felt... healthy.

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Yuuki then held out the peace sign, "All of that pain of having my soul duplicated was totally worth it! I have never felt so healthy before! I might just be a bunch of zeros and ones, but, I'm telling ya that I am the real Yuuki! Once my conscious faded in the real world, it entered my light cube!" Some were amazed that she acted the same... even if she was spelling it out that she was the real Yuuki as she sighed, "Man, I'm really gonna miss stuffing my face."

Her guildmates gawked at Yuuki as Jun blurted out, "What in the hell Alice?! You made Yuuki an AI?!" Alice shook her head and chuckled, "Not at all. As Yuuki named them, I made an LI... Living Intelligence. I copied her soul and created an AI before placing the light cube in the AI code to make her an LI. There is nothing Artificial about her. The moment she passed, the rest of her soul entered the light cube as Yuuki said. For five agonizing days, she had her soul scanned and copied."

Her body finally vanished the moment the doctor removed her from the Medicuboid, making her release a breath of air, "Thank god, that was starting to freak me out. Mom, you are the best for giving me a second chance at life! I did tell you guys that goodbyes were not needed, didn't I? Ya never listen to me as if I don't know anything! Maybe ya should've asked where Alice and I always rushed off to when we logged out together, ya dummies! The only one who asked was Siune!"

Alice had been pulling plenty of all-nighters just to get Yuuki's coding completed in a timely fashion and was now exhausted. Holding a hand up with tired eyes, Alice yawned, "I am going to get some sleep. Akihiko, look after Yuuki for me to get her accustomed to everything, alright?" Nodding his head, he then gave a gentle smile, "Of course mother, I will do as you have asked. I'll be sure to get both sisters home in a timely manner so that when you log back on, you don't worry."

Nodding, Alice then logged out to take her AmuSphere off of her head. Her mother was home for a month, so she now had to stay at her less preferable home. Falling asleep, she woke up two days later and stretched, "Man, I am finally feeling rested. Mother is going to kill me... my grades have slipped a bit." Getting dressed in a cute dress after bathing, Alice made her way to her dining room to see that she had called it. Her mother appeared five-hundred percent pissed off at her.

Being told to study so that she could take a proper high school exam, Alice frowned deeply, "I happen to enjoy the school that I am currently attending!" Being told that her school was nothing more than a way for the government to watch over the kids that killed, and the teachers were subpar at best, she scowled deeply, "Did you forget mother... I also killed!" Gaining a shocked face at her own words, she then stood without eating dinner and walked away without saying a single word.

Sitting in her room for hours, she then remembered something Yuuki had once said to her, "Alice, sometimes ya gotta fight to get your point across." Standing up and grabbing her extra AmuSphere, Alice walked to her mother's study before knocking on the door. Being told to enter, she then walked inside quietly. Gaining the resolve to get her point across, Alice looked up with determined eyes, "Mother... I will only do what you have asked of me if you follow my condition for once."

Her mother than fanned her hand, "Well? What is it?" Alice then held the AmuSphere out, "I will not talk about it here." With her mother scowling at her and barking at her that if she couldn't speak about it here, then they were done talking, Alice took a step forward, "Mother, I just want you to see my world for once!" Her mother then sighed and removed her reading glasses, "I will give you five minutes. How do I even use that thing?" Alice then placed it on her mother's head nervously.

Internally shaking her head, she then spoke up, "Lean back and relax. When you feel relaxed, close your eyes and say "Link start", it will automatically log you into my spare account." Her mother then leaned back in her chair as Alice rushed to her brother's room as her mother spoke, "Link start." - "Selko!" Just about given a heart attack, he looked over, "Yeah?" Alice looked at him with panic, "Mother is logging into ALO... you should log in with us as well to get your feelings out."

"How in the hell did you even accomplish this," he questioned curiously. Ignoring her brother, she rushed back to her room, making Selko snicker as he placed his AmuSphere on and laid down. Closing his eyes, him and his sister called out at the same time, "Link start!" Both opened their eyes to see their mother's puzzled expression as she looked into a mirror, "This is rather peculiar. I am looking at my face that is... but is not my own face. I feel so light too. This is completely unnatural."

Selko instantly burst into laughter over this until Sassa slammed against his face while happily hugging as much as she could, making him muffle out, "Erm... Sassa... I can't breathe!" Akihiko and Yuuki then appeared to land on Alice's shoulder, only for both to chirp out, "Welcome home mother!" Looking at the two pixies, Alice smiled and kissed the tops of their heads, "Akihiko, Yuuki, Sassa... Selko and I need some time with our mother. All three pixies nodded and went to their room.

"Follow us mother..." Alice spoke and fanned for her mother to follow. Following her children as they stepped outside, both smiled, "Isn't it so pretty?" It was late for snow to be covering the ground as their mother stared out into the forest to witness two white bunnies playing with one another. She wouldn't admit it aloud... but this place felt so magical. Both Osmanthus fairies peered at their mother to see tears sliding down her face, making them both gain a worried face, "Mother?"

Jolting out of it, she began wiping her eyes frantically, "What is the meaning of this?!" Alice laughed softly, "You might be able to hide your feelings in real life... but not here. If you are sad, it is going to show." Selko then sighed softly, "Mother, when sis was first trapped in SAO I cursed the VR world's very existence for taking my big sister away from me. However, when I was visiting her one day I began to question everything. I wondered as to why she liked VR so much, so I tried it."

Looking at her son, she listened carefully as he continued, "Well, when I did, I realized something. It was a place that I could escape to that wasn't reality and held no sets of laws of what we could or couldn't do. There are plenty of gamers that don't level or battle. They simply use it as a means to escape from reality for a bit. We even hold wings that we can fly on that will take us wherever we want to go. In a sense... it feels like freedom from all of the constant stresses we feel IRL."

Alice shifted her head down once she spoke, "It all comes down to a simple means of perspective. Some find it magical, some find it fun, some try it once and regret buying it, some enjoy it for the thrill of honing skills that you would never hold in real life, and some enjoy the peace and quiet. I suppose what I am trying to say is that wherever you are at the moment, whether it be virtual or real, that is your reality... no matter which way you look at it... because as of now, you are here."

Looking out into the forest, she then smiled as her platinum locks gently fluttered around her, "I mean, you can feel the cold air around you, you can see the woods that surround us, you can smell the scent of the trees, you can hear the animals playing in the snow, and you can even taste things. So, who is to tell you that what you are standing in right now is not reality? I am sure if you spent more than five minutes here... you would understand both of our line of thoughts completely."

Humming, Selko then released a soft breath, "In this world, we don't hold the stress of living up to someone else's expectations. We aren't forced to be anyone except ourselves. We don't feel the overbearing weight of the world on our shoulders of becoming someone that we know that we will end up hating. We aren't told how to dress, act, or speak. The only standards that we have to hold are the ones we create for ourselves... and the paths we choose to walk will be of our picking."

After that day, Alice and Selko alike felt a weight lifted off of their shoulders once their mother spoke to them the day following to explain that she was going to trust them to choose their own paths... and whatever path they chose, they had better be ready for any consequences that might follow. However, that's when she found out that her daughter had been doing things in the medical field on the technical side. Once she met Yuuki, she had been shocked and finally... gave her approval.

---

Walking inside of her school in early April, she noticed all of the teachers out front handing out white little headgears that hooked around their ear. Confused as she walked forward, Alice then pointed, "Sir, what are these?" Her teacher then smiled at her, "The head of Toto university tech is giving all survivors one of his new inventions. It's called the Augma. We were told that there is no risk to using these unlike the Nerve Gear that put you all in danger. In short, it's Augmented Reality."

Handed the headset, Alice then placed it on and clicked the power, only to hear, "Welcome to Augma." That's when she just about had a heart attack. Akihiko, Yui, Yuuki, and Sassa then popped up on her screen, "Mother!" - "Alice!" - "Wait... where are we? The real world?!" Appearing dumbfounded, she then questioned softly to not sound insane, "You guys, where is Yuna?" Yuuki then held both of her hands up at her side and sighed, "We dunno. We haven't seen Yuna in a while."

Opening her computer she then went through all of her saved pixie files. Even though she had sent Yuna to Eiji, it was merely a copy of her own data. Scrolling through all of her files, she couldn't believe it... her computer had been hacked. However, out of all files... only Yuna's file was missing. Her other AI's or LI's were on tight lockdown, so it didn't matter how much one wanted to get hold of those files because it was physically impossible without her incredibly tough password.

Once school was let out, she heard people cheering as her and Kazuto held hands while walking. Shifting her head slightly, Alice's eyes widened once she heard Yuna singing one of her most popular songs. Looking up at a screen, Alice watched in horror as Yuna popped up on the screen before blowing a kiss and winking. Kazuto then peered up at the screen and laughed, "Yuna's dream is finally becoming a reality!" Yui then flew in front of Kazuto before shaking her head, "No daddy."

That confused him to the extreme, so he tilted his head slightly, "Yui, what do you mean?" Yui then frowned deeply as she spoke, "Mommy checked her files earlier for all AI's and LI's... Yuna's program was completely gone. Someone hacked mommy's account and stole Yuna's program." Kazuto then frowned at this, "All of you guys have tough passwords on you, so how was Yuna taken, and why just Yuna? I mean you all hold the same exact passwords, so you all could've been taken."

All of the pixies in his line of sight shook their heads as if they had no clue. Pulling up his messages, Kazuto then sent Eiji a message and waited for the longest time, only to gain no reply. That was odd to say the least... normally Eiji answered pretty quick no matter where he was, or, what he was doing. Alice's voice then brought him out of his thoughts, "I heard that the Augma has a half-dive game and a ranking system, that's what the white sticks are for. It's called Ordinal Scale."

After a few weeks of having these things, Alice and Kazuto were not sold in the slightest. At the end of the day that she had been given the Augma, she noticed a ton left over and asked if she could take them, which the teachers let her. She had given one to Selko, her mother, her father, Suguha, Minetaka, and Midori. Her mother had finally loosened the reins entirely and was now wishing, and constantly pestering, to meet Kazuto while her father was still at home from his long trip.

Gaining a message from Klein that old SAO bosses were said to begin popping up on this night, Alice sighed and replied, 'On my way.' - 'Drag Kiri-dude here too!' - 'Right... that is like asking him to exercise... I will get him to come one way or another.' Getting dressed, Alice then placed her hair in a messy bun and drove to Kazuto's. Unlocking the door to see him finishing up a plate of pasta, Alice then scowled deeply, walked forward, pinched his ear, and dragged him out of the home.

Pulling him onto the back of her motorcycle, she then jetted off, making him hold her tightly, "Dammit Alice! Slow down!" Arriving and jumping down, she then sighed, "Quit being a baby. You are going to exercise whether you want to or not." Grumbling at her, they both took hold of their white sticks that held the game before calling out, "Ordinal Scale Activate!" Both of their ranks were incredibly low due to not liking AR too much... and they absolutely hated the clothing in this game.

Alice was athletic, so the sensation and movements weren't hard. As they waited for the event to start, Alice skimmed through the rankings until hitting number two. His name was Ijie. Of course, she didn't flip the spelling around to put the puzzle together, so she chuckled, "This guy is seriously dedicated to the game." Right then, the boss appeared before the "superstar" feature that Alice had programmed Yuna with was noticed before smiling, "Is everyone ready? Then start the music!"

Pulling out her blade, Kazuto sighed and did as well while Yuna began singing to boost everyone's abilities. Akihiko gave Alice all of the information she needed, making her nod, "Right!" Yuuki then appeared, ready to battle, making Alice's eyes widen, "Yuuki, no! The boss can't hurt us! With it being the real world, it can seriously harm your light cube!" This made her pout, making Akihiko chuckle before Alice darted forward after people had already taken a good chunk of its health down.

Kazuto peered up with a dreaded expression before running forward after Alice cut the boss before flipping back, only to notice Kazuto face plant the ground. With how much damage Alice had done, it was after her, making her help Kazuto up as they began running from it with the damn thing chasing them. As they ran, Kazuto shouted, "What in the hell?! I feel so heavy!" Alice then scowled at him, "What did I tell you?! You are out of shape Kazuto!" This made Kazuto yell, "I am not!"

Klein then peered back in a dumbfounded manner, "What in the hell are they doing?!" The second ranked player then dashed forward while calling out, "Everyone attack it as one!" With that, he began to make swift strikes on the boss to dramatically deplete its health, only to step back. The couple had made a full circle around back to the battlefield before Alice skidded to a stop with her hair coming free for people to realize as to who this actually was, "It's Osmanthus Alice!"

She had worn her hair up for a damn reason! Ugh! Narrowing her eyes at the boss now that its health was low enough for one last attack to do the trick, only for Alice to dart towards it, yet, once she passed the second ranked player... she heard him softly mumble, "Switch..." Her eyes slightly widened before she slashed straight through the beast to eliminate it. Placing her blade back and snapping around with her hands on her hips, Alice scowled deeply over how Kazuto hadn't listened.

Fanning his hands in front of his face, Kazuto abruptly shook his head at his furious girlfriend, "Al... Alice, no!" Scolding him as if he were some small child was all she could do as of this moment. Klein slapped his knee over this and laughed hysterically, "Kiri-dude, that was pathetic for the great black swordsman! Keep this up and all of the points will go to us!" Yuna then appeared in front of Alice and winked playfully, "Congratulations for beating the boss! Here is your reward!"

Yuna then leaned in and kissed Alice's cheek, completely embarrassing her as Yuna waved, "See you at the next battle!" With that, she had vanished, making Klein sigh, "Kirito, make sure you get Alice home safely." Kirito then became furious, "The hell are you talking about?! She was the one who dragged me here on her motorcycle! She drives like a bat straight out of hell!" Ignoring him, Klein then chuckled, "Alice, if Kirito tries to get fresh with you, just give us a call!" - "You got it!"

Walking hand-in-hand, they made it back to her motorcycle before she pulled her helmet out and placed it on his head, only to pull her hair back into its messy bun before she placed her wind-resistant earbuds inside of her ears so that the two could talk. Kazuto then chuckled, "Alice?" Looking at him curiously, she then nodded, "Yeah?" Taking the helmet off, he blushed softly, "Can I drive your motorcycle?" Alice then smiled and nodded towards him before placing the keys in his hand.

He had been wanting to ask her if he could drive her motorcycle for the longest time, so now he was excited. Getting in front, Alice then snickered, "I will be spreading my legs for you." This made Kazuto dramatically slam his forehead against the handlebars of her motorcycle, making her laugh hysterically as she sat behind him and wrapped her arms around his abdomen peacefully, causing for a gentle smile to creep onto his lips as he turned the motorcycle on and took off to head home.

There had been two reasons that she had dragged him from his home as she spoke through the helmet that he forced her to wear as he placed her earbuds in, "Hey Kazuto?" Nodding his head as he came to a stoplight, he replied the moment he shifted his head to look at her, "What's up?" Alice gave his abdomen a tender squeeze, "There are two reasons I dragged you from your home. Yes, you need the exercise, but, the real reason... well... you will see it once we get to your home."

After driving for enough time, he pulled into his home, but, didn't see anything different... considering she had instructed Suguha to place it in the shadows. Jumping down after he parked, Alice looked for the shining sparkles before chuckling, "First, you will need this." That confused him as she tossed him a key that held a keychain of his Elucidator and Excalibur. Catching the key, she then walked the sparkling midnight black motorcycle out that was the same model as her own.

"Al... Alice... you... I..." he managed to fumble out, making her laugh brightly, "Time for you to become that bat out of hell. I am not an incompetent fool, you know. I have witnessed all of the times that you have wanted to ask me to ride my motorcycle. I just do a ton of jobs that pay incredibly well for Kikuoka, plus I am paid a good sum of money each time a doctor calls me in to help a terminally-ill patient with my SS. So, I saved up to buy this for you. I hope that you like it."

He was speechless as tears filled his sparkling gray orbs. Rushing to her, he wrapped his arms around her before taking her lips as his own for a long lived moment before pulling away and leaning his forehead to her own, "Thank you so much Alice. I don't know who I'd be without you in my life." Raising her hands and brushing those tears of joy from his face gingerly, Alice just had to tease him, considering she chuckled out, "You would be quite chubby if you did not have me around."

---

As of this moment, Alice was being pestered by her mother and father to bring Kazuto over right now so that they could meet the boy that their daughter was dating. Sighing, she picked up her phone and called Kazuto, only for him to pick up, "Hey Alice, is everything alright?" Humming as if unsure, she then nodded as if he could see her, "Yes, I am quite fine. Are... Are you busy as of now? My mother and father wish to meet you as of now." For the longest time, all she heard was silence.

After that long-lived moment, he then chuckled, "I, uh, I'm really busy working on the eyes of Yui and Akihiko's bodies. I will meet them soon, but, right now, I have my hands tied!" Thank god he understood her. Nodding her head, she then shook her head, "No, no! That is quite fine! Just be sure to come by to meet them before they are both sent off again to work! They are looking forward to meeting you! Well, I will talk to you later!" With that she hung her phone up and sighed.

Walking outside in the backyard after placing gymnastic shorts and a sports bra on, Alice began to exercise in the form of doing flips, backflips, mid-air side flips, and more. She found that battles in AR came quite easily due to her gymnastics training. After a long-lived time, she looked up at the skies to see no stars, remembering that Kazuto had promised to take her to see the upcoming meteor shower on the fourth of May, Alice smiled gently and walked back inside of her home.

Entering her bedroom, she then removed her attire and submerged her body in the warmth of a bath. Washing her hair and body, she then leaned her forearms on the tile right outside of her bath and closed her eyes until she heard her phone jingle to alert her that she had gained a text. Wiping the water from her hands, Alice picked her phone up to see Klein had messaged her, 'Hey Alice! There's another old SAO boss tonight! Want to come? Asuna got here a bit ago! -Klein!'

Thinking for a moment, she figured that it would be nice to get out of the house for a bit, so she replied, 'I am on my way now. -Alice.' With that, she stood, got dressed, and rushed out of the home. Getting on her motorcycle, she sped off for nature to dry her hair for her. Arriving, she then parked and jogged up to Klein to notice that one of the members of his guild wasn't there as Klein spoke while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "I hope I didn't wake you up or anything!"

Shaking her head, she chuckled before giving a teasing answer, "Not at all, you texted me as I was bathing. Anyway, one of your guild members isn't here? I do hope that he is just fine." Klein then fanned his hand back and forth, "We keep texting and calling him... but he won't answer." This made Alice gain a worried expression that Klein laughed teasingly at, "Ah, don't you worry about us pretty missy. Go ahead and head inside to meet up with Asuna. You don't want to miss the battle."

Holding her hand up with a brilliant smile that caught all of their attention, Alice then jogged inside before waving with a bright smile, "Asuna!" Asuna turned around to rush up to Alice for the two to give tight hugs to one another as she questioned, "Kirito isn't coming?" Alice hated it that Asuna didn't call Kazuto by his name in the real world, but, let it slide, "Oh, you know him." With it almost being time, both girls grabbed their controllers and called out, "Ordinal Scale Activate!"

With Akihiko informing the two ladies of what floor the boss was from, they both nodded as Yuna dropped from her superstar portal, "Is everyone ready to battle?!" Hearing everyone cheering, Yuna snapped her fingers happily, "Then start the music!" With music starting, stats were boosted, making Alice grumble over how someone had the gall to steal her program of Yuna and flaunt her off as if they had created her. Both girls then began to order everyone around to take it down.

"Man, if he doesn't hurry up, everyone else is going to take our prey," Klein grumbled, only to hear a somewhat familiar voice that was distorted to not be found out, "Tonight, you are the prey!" The members of the guild turned around to see another boss appearing with widened eyes. They began to wreck shop and call out coordinated attacks, "Tank!" The shield blocked the damage dealers before Klein shot around to slice one of the monster's arms off so that it collapsed forward.

The second ranked best player then shot out and began to harm his guildmates, making Klein furious and rush forward so that his Augma fell from his head, "What in the hell?! I'm going to kick your ass!" Wildly throwing punches as the male wearing specialized gear that held a hood to cover his face smirked at this and shot his hand out to grab Klein's wrist and pulled it behind his back before speaking his muffled tone, "VR never felt like this." That's when he broke Klein's arm.

Screaming in agony over this, he then dropped the injured male to the ground. With his headband coming free, his red locks now fell to curtain around his face while cringing in agony as the perpetrator walked forward and picked up the dropped Augma and placed it back on Klein's head, "You dropped this." Grabbing the back of his neck to hold him up as his eyes clenched shut from the agonizing pain he now felt, only to hear an almost mocking tone speak, "Now... keep your eyes open."

Slowly, Klein opened his eyes to see the boss crawling towards him. His eyes widened immensely, his heart rate began to accelerate, and he remembered that fear of death as that boss came straight towards him and Klein watched his health hit zero for the memory of his time in SAO to be taken before he passed out and was eased to the ground. Walking away and removing his hood, Eiji frowned slightly, "Please forgive me, Klein..." Picking his phone up, he then called an ambulance.

Asuna made her attack towards their boss before calling out, "Alice, switch!" Dashing forward, the monster was then taken down. Everyone cheered at how they had won, but, Alice could sense something was wrong, "Klein never came in?" Yuna then slipped through her portal with a smile, "You won again!" Stepping away, Yuna pouted, "Oh well! See you next battle... Alice." Asuna then held her hand up, "Well, I have to head home now Alice! Make sure to be safe on your way home too!"

Walking slowly to her motorcycle, she heard groaning and turned her head for her eyes to widen immensely, "Klein!" Rushing forward, Alice slammed to her knees beside him and lifted his upper body into her arms to begin crying once she noticed his broken arm, "Klein?! Klein?!" He wasn't waking up... and that terrified her, "Someone help, please!" Placing her cheek against his, she sobbed miserably while holding the back of his head close to her in a protective embrace, "I've got you..."

Hearing sirens growing near, they then came to a stop for paramedics to rush out at that moment, "Miss! We were informed that there were many injured men here! Do you know who did this?!" Shaking her head, she then answered through her tears, "No, I do not know. I had only been gone for a moment. He was like this when I got back." Klein was then taken from her, making her rush forward once she picked his headband up, only to be stopped, "Sorry miss, you cannot come too."

Scowling, she then told a straight lie to their faces, "That's my boyfriend! You expect for me to sit idly by?!" They then nodded to her, "Alright, you can come too." It was going to be a serious pain if she didn't have Kazuto pick her up and take her back to her motorcycle. Entering the ambulance, she then held Klein's uninjured hand and whimpered softly, "I should not have left your side Klein, I am so sorry. Please... Please forgive me," she softly cried as he was rushed to the hospital.

Arriving, she held his hand and quickly walked as they wheeled him to a room. Placed in a bed to rest, his arm was then wrapped in a cast before Alice was informed that he now just needed rest. Nodding her head as the door then closed, she then stroked his loose hair and found this style cute. She had to count her blessings that only his arm had been broken and held a few bruises here and there when she knew that something much more terrible or detrimental could have happened.

This had been chalked up as the doing of a street thug or robber. If this had been a simple robber or street thug, she knew Klein would have been able to handle himself with ease. He could have been stabbed or even shot but he hadn't been. What she found even stranger and uncharacteristic for a street thug or robber... was the fact that nothing of his had been taken. He still held his wallet, identification, insurance, credit cards, cash, and keys to his car and home were all still there.

Lying her head on his abdomen, Alice fell into a deep sleep while holding his hand. Klein finally stirred awake during the early hours of the morning, only to shift his head to Alice and smile softly. Stroking her cheek lightly, her eyes fluttered open tiredly before yawning as she sat up to see that he was now awake, "Klein! What in the hell happened to you?!" Chuckling softly, he then motioned her to him, "We can talk about that after you get some sleep." Alice then scowled deeply at him.

Still as stubborn as hell, he sighed heavily and latched onto her hip before tugging her into bed with him, "Have you been with me this whole time?" Lying her head against his chest, Alice nodded as she curled up close to him. Hot damn did this make him envy Kirito to the moon and back. Her much smaller hand that now trembled then grasped the front of his attire tightly, "I was heading back to my motorcycle when I heard you groaning in pain. To be honest... I instantly panicked."

Holding her with his uninjured arm securely, he then planted a tender kiss to the top of her head, "Well then... thank you for worrying about me so much Alice..." With drooping eyes, Alice then nodded as her exhausted tone jingled out softly and sweetly, "I will... always... worry about... you." Noticing her now sleeping again, Klein could only smile at such innocence presented right before his very face. Truth be told, he was always worried about her as well, so, he checked on her often.

Peering at her as she slept, he then chuckled softly to not wake her, "Well, that makes two of us then..." Noticing her phone in her back pocket, he then wiggled it free to open up her text messages, only to pull up her messages to Kirito. As much as it stung to see as many times that the two shared their outspoken words of love to one another, he then gulped softly as he inserted a text that claimed, 'Kirito, Alice is in the hospital with me. Be sure to come and pick her up soon. -Klein.'

---

Waking up the next morning, Kazuto sat up and grabbed his phone to notice that he had one unread text. Opening the message and reading over it quickly, his eyes widened before he jumped up, quickly bathed, got dressed, and ate before he rushed out to jump on the motorcycle that Alice had bought for him. Starting it up, Kazuto shot off to make it to the hospital that he knew paramedics from the area of the boss battle was at would take those in need of immediate treatment.

What was screwing his mind over was the fact that Klein's message didn't exactly entail as to who had been sent to the hospital. Arriving at the hospital and running inside, he then skidded to a stop, "Excuse me, I'm here to see a patient. The name is either Alice or Klein." They looked over the list before nodding, "Right. This way sir." Following anxiously, the nurse then spoke, "Yeah, it was a serious case that came in last night. A broken arm and plenty of bruises all over from a thug."

This woman didn't make it clear as to who it was either, so his anxiety gates just about flooded open until they reached the room and opened the door, "Right in here. His girlfriend hasn't left his side once." This made Kazuto's eye twitch rapidly, "What did you just say?" The woman from the desk then spoke again, "His girlfriend came in with him last night." Kazuto then gained an extremely dry face before speaking, "That's my girlfriend. She lied to you all and played you for fools."

Snapping his uninjured fingers, Klein snickered, "And here I thought we could play house for a bit longer!" Rolling his eyes, Kazuto then huffed, "Alice must have been extremely worried about you if she lied about being your girlfriend. What even happened to you?" Humming as he tried to think back, Klein shook his head, "I can only remember a fight... that's it. Do me a favor and take her to pick her motorcycle up, get her to one of her homes to take a bath, eat, and get changed."

Walking forward, Kazuto lightly shook Alice, "Baby, wake up." Alice's eyes slowly cracked open before she reached out to him, "Kazuto..." Lifting her in his arms, he then chuckled, "I'll come back to check on you a bit later." Fully waking Alice up once he got on his motorcycle, he then drove to where the battle was last night before she hopped down and got on her motorcycle. Starting it, she then followed him to his home. She was about ready to pass out again and his home was closer.

Parking at his home, she stood up and was picked up again as he began to enter his home, thanking that everyone was already gone. Entering the bathroom, he sat her down and kissed her cheek, "I'm going to make you something to eat." Tiredly nodding, she washed her body before getting into the tub, only to rest her head against her folded arms to fall asleep. With breakfast now prepared and awaiting her, he wondered what was taking her so long and headed up the stairs.

Entering his room, he noticed that she wasn't in here getting dressed or in bed, making him snap his head back to the bathroom, darting inside with his heart slamming against his chest in rapid beats, he then released a heavy breath of air and drained the bath before picking Alice up to walk to his bedroom while begging his hormones to calm down. What helped was how innocent she currently appeared. Placing her on his bed, he dressed her in one of his shirts and a pair of her shorts.

Sitting her up and sliding behind her, Kazuto then picked up the brush he had bought for her and began to run it through those silky golden locks. Placing her brush down, he then attempted to wake her up by lightly shaking her so that she could eat, "Baby, come on... you need to eat." No matter how many times he shook her, she wasn't budging. Giving up on that endeavor, he merely laid beside her and fell back to sleep while holding her protectively in his more than loving hold on her.

The two found so much comfort in one another that sleep was never an arduous task to accomplish. As night began to roll around, Alice sat up and rubbed her eyes due to her phone going insane. Picking her cellphone up, she noticed the girls only group text messages going off, 'Asuna - Alice there's a new boss tonight! Do you want to come?' - 'Lisbeth – Yeah, join us! Let's make it a girls-only raid party!' - 'Silica - Oh! That sounds like super fun! Send me where it's going to be at!'

Alice then rubbed the sleep from her eyes before typing back, 'Alice - Sure, let me get changed and I will be on my way.' Writing a note for Kazuto that held her whereabouts once she placed a bra on under Kazuto's shirt and a pair of skinny jeans, Alice picked up her keys and left the home. Getting on her motorcycle and turning it on, she then hit the throttle to speed off. This had Kazuto shooting awake to notice the note. Reading it, he groaned and got changed before leaving the home.

Reaching her destination, Alice rubbed more accumulated sleep out of her eyes before making her way forward, "Hey guys." All three girls waved at the golden-haired lass, "Alice! Ready to kick some ass?!" Lis grinned out as Silica chuckled and nodded, "It's awesome you could make it!" Asuna then checked the time and nodded, "Alright! Let's gear up for the boss you guys!" All nodded and grabbed their controllers before all four called out in synchronization, "Ordinal Scale Activate!"

Yuna then dropped through her portal with a smile, "Is everyone ready to begin the battle?!" Everyone gave a rallying cheer for her to snap her fingers, "Then start the music!" Singing now, all stats were boosted, only for Lis to end up as the tank while screeching as the hermit crab boss frantically slammed on her shield with Silica hiding behind her, "This is why I hate playing as a tank! Akihiko, mind becoming Heathcliff again?!" This made him chuckle at her whining, "You're doing great!"

Both Asuna and Alice then jumped out and sliced either sides of the boss's front legs, only for a massive explosion to be heard behind them for everyone to see... Pina? Silica then laughed happily and bounded towards the baby dragon, "Pina! I didn't know you were here!" That dragon began to grow and grow until massive, making Silica yelp and rush to get away. Akihiko's eyes then grew large at this and spastically spoke, "Mother! That dragon is the boss from floor ninety-one!"

"Floor ninety-one?!" Alice spoke, not knowing if she could defeat two bosses without her rare gear. Standing there... at a loss for a moment, Silica then screeched, "I'm sorry! I don't know what I did wrong!" Kazuto had just made it there and was in his gear to witness it all go down. Bumping into the second ranked player, she apologized, only for him to shove Silica to the ground, making Alice dash forward, "Silica!" Skidding to her knees, Alice covered the young girl before she was hit.

Her memories of being cut by Akihiko then replayed, only for the Augma to pick up on that distress and remove all memories of SAO from her mind. Alice instantly collapsed to the side, making Silica hurriedly catch her as Kazuto finally pushed through the crowd, only for that dragon to lower in front of him until Yuna snapped her fingers, "Time's up!" With the dragon gone, Kazuto dashed forward, "Alice! Alice!" Growling, he then turned around furiously towards Ijie, "YOU DICK!"

Eiji hadn't remembered as to how selfless Alice was as his eyes filled with tears, but, quickly blinked them away before he appeared in front of Kazuto with his own blade pointed at the male's throat, "In SAO you were revered as the great black swordsman. Now, this is augmented reality... and you? You are nothing if the world isn't virtual!" Akihiko then appeared in front of Kazuto in a panic and pointed to Alice in sheer terror, "Father, you have bigger things to worry about right now!"

Rushing around that sword as Silica shook Alice while crying, "Alice! Wake up! Alice!" By the time Kazuto made it to Alice, her eyes cracked open, "Kazuto...?" Nodding his head, he then helped her stand up, "You okay?" She had been unconscious for the longest time, but, couldn't remember as to why, so she only nodded, "Yes, I am sorry for worrying you." Something felt wrong in the world now and she couldn't figure out what it was that was so wrong as he spoke softly, "Can you drive?"

Nodding her head, she took her Augma off and walked towards her motorcycle. She held so many memories of the real Yuna that it was a major bonus to the progress made... but had done some real damage to her memory. Just to be safe, Kazuto followed Alice home, only for her to shakily speak, "Hey... Do you remember when we first met?" He then nodded and chuckled, "Yeah, it was on the first floor right before the boss raid. I'm still shocked I was brave enough to talk to you."

Smiling as if nothing were wrong, she then laughed, "Oh yes, that is right. Well, be safe on your way home Kazuto." He then nodded, "I will be." Right as she turned, he noticed her eyes as if she were actually worried and trying to recall those memories... but figured that he was just tired and overthinking the matters before driving home. On that night, Alice held dreams concerning Kazuto while in Aincrad... but now... she couldn't see his face in those memories and they further faded.

Shooting awake while drenched in sweat, Alice brought a single shaky hand up to her face and covered a single eye as her tearful tone whimpered out, "Why... Why can't I remember anything from SAO?" Unable to sleep after that nightmare, she slightly flinched when her head began to hurt and more memories were lost. Rushing to her diary with tears in her eyes, she began to write down all of her current thoughts, feelings, and emotions. She wondered why her memories were fading.

Still unable to sleep, she walked back to her bed and placed her AmuSphere on to log into the game. Looking around her home... she wondered... when did they truly get this home? Sitting on the couch in the complete dark, she stared into her lap before logging out and called Kazuto, only for him to groggily answer, "Hey Alice, is something wrong?" She didn't know how to word it, so she questioned, "Can... Can you log into ALO? I need to ask you a few things that are important."

Agreeing, he hung up as she logged back in before he logged in moments later to see her in the dark, "Alice? Why are you sitting in the dark?" Turning on the light, Alice then lowered her head so that he didn't witness her traumatized eyes when she spoke, "Hey, how long ago would you say that we got this house? I mean... the first time." Kazuto then hummed softly, "We were in the game for two years... so... probably about two and a half years ago. Why? Alice, what's this all about?"

Alice then clenched her fists tightly as her eyes filled with tears. That confirmed everything. She would have never forgotten when they got this home together the first time. Tears then fell down her face, "I thought as much... I cannot recall any of my memories from my time in SAO." Kazuto gained a horrified facial expression as he walked to her before sitting down beside her, "What do you mean?" Looking towards him, she then leaned against his chest to cry, "It is all simply gone!"

Stroking her hair while gulping heavily, Kazuto released a breath, "Hey now, don't try to force yourself. Those were pretty terrible times." Alice then shook her head abruptly as she clutched the front of his attire, "Kazuto, my memories are slowly fading more and more! Even more frequent memories are fading! What if I completely forget who you are?! What if I forget the love that I hold for you?! I do not wish to forget you!" His eyes widened at this, "We'll figure it out tomorrow, okay?"

---

Inside of the hospital the next day while getting a free MRI and EEG, Alice and Kazuto could only hope that this would shed some light on the situation at hand. Once the testing was done, Doctor Kurahashi sat in his office with the couple to explain over the matters, only to end up sighing, "Putting this simply... Those memories might forever be gone... and more." Alice gained a horrified face as Kazuto asked, "So you are saying that Alice is at risk of losing even more memories?!"

Doctor Kurahashi sighed softly at this before replying, "I'm not sure Kazuto. I will need to run more tests to be sure that there is no permanent damage to her brain." Taking Alice out to the waiting area so that the medical staff could prep her for the next tests they were going to run, he smiled at her and gave her left hand a gentle squeeze, "Hey, don't worry Alice. We'll do everything that we possibly can to get all of your lost memories back, including all of your lost SAO memories."

Alice suddenly stiffened up and brought her right hand up to begin swiping it down as if trying to access the main screen before her finger lowered to where the logout button was, making Kazuto worry with a frown, "Alice?" Alice began trembling over the fact that there "was no longer a way to logout of the game", only to then collapse forward to hit the ground. Her skin was pale and she breathed heavily as Kazuto shouted in a panic, "Alice!" Every nurse then jumped up and rushed over.

As Alice rested, Doctor Kurahashi spoke to Kazuto, "It seems my hypothesis was correct. It seems that she is slowly forgetting more and more of her memories. When I scanned her brain again just now, it showed that her memories are being damaged. Past memories, present memories, and anything that she has spoken about doing in the future are, in a sense, being deleted. If this continues, she will have serious brain damage that will be irreversible no matter what we do."

Once the golden child woke up, Kazuto was instructed to take her home. Getting her home, he stroked her hair gently as her worried gaze peered at him before he planted a kiss to her lips, "Go and get some rest Alice. I will try to find a way to fix this. I love you." Nodding her head, she then peered down, "I love you too. Please be safe Kazuto." He then nodded and smiled, "Smile for you." This made her head tilt in confusion over what had just been spoken to her, "What does that mean?"

That actually hurt to hear, but, he shook his head, "Nothing, forget I mentioned it. Just go and get some rest." Alice then nodded and turned away before walking inside of her home. Selko then walked out with a worried face, "You okay sis?" Kazuto had called him while Alice had been resting at the hospital and told him everything. Looking at her younger brother, she then gained a confused expression, "Who are... oh, Selko. Yes, I am doing just fine. I am going to go and rest now."

He had heard what she had almost asked and felt mortified that she had almost questioned as to who he even was. Watching her reach the top of the stairs, he watched as his big sister began to look in every room due to not remembering which one was her room. Picking up his phone, Selko instantly called Kazuto, only to hear, "Yes Selko?" Frantic, Selko hurriedly spoke in a hushed tone, "Kazuto, when she walked inside, she almost asked who I was and now can't even find her room!"

Kazuto's eyes widened at this and almost ran a red light, but, hastily slammed on the breaks before Selko freaked out, "Kazuto, are you alright?!" - "Yes, that just shocked me a lot. Selko, stay with her as often as you can." - "And do what exactly?!" Selko quietly hissed before Kazuto replied, "Does she hold a diary?" - "Yes... what girl doesn't have a damn diary?" - "Make her read it. Later, I will take her to each memorable place that we held in Aincrad to hopefully jog her memory."

Hanging up, Selko sighed and walked up to his sister, "Come on, you look tired sis." She looked pale and nodded to him, "I would appreciate that Selko." Walking his sister to her room, he opened the door and walked her inside, "Hey, sis? I might have something that might help you." Looking towards her little brother that had tapped one of her drawers for it to automatically open before pulling out her diary, "If you cannot remember your past right now, then why not read that past?"

After reading her whole diary, Alice frowned as her little brother slept on her lap, only for a smile to grace her lips before running her fingers through his hair until a searing migraine hit her head so badly that her diary fell from her hands to slam against Selko's face. Shocked awake, Selko noticed his sister and swiftly sat up, "Sis?! Are... Are you okay?! What do you need?! Say the word and I'll do it!" The way she spoke now... completely shocked him, "I'm fine Selko, thanks for asking."

He was doing everything he possibly could, but, Kirito kept having a run in with a "ghost", per say. Asking Yui about each time that he had held an encounter with this supposed "ghost" he finally gained a clue as to where to go. Toto University. On his way there, Kazuto called someone he absolutely detested depending on... Kikuoka, "Kikuoka, Alice's memory has been affected by what seemed to be a slow transitioning high-output scan. Is there anything you can do to help ease her pain?"

A soft hum was then released before he replied into Kazuto's helmet, "Well... there actually might be a way. However, if it's a high-output scan that's slowly transitioning in her mind, there also might be a possibility that doing that could fry her brain for good right now. Yeah, actually... now that I think about it, it really wouldn't be a good idea to do that to her right now. However, just like your memory, her memory is invaluable to us... so we need to get her back to how she was ASAP."

'Well that was helpful as hell...' was all Kazuto could seem to dryly think until sighing rather heavily, "Well, if whatever "that" is won't work, then can you do me a favor? I do plenty of favors for you, so this shouldn't be a problem." Kikuoka then gave his reply, "Of course, what favor might you need?" Releasing a heavy breath, Kazuto pushed his motorcycle faster, "First, I need you to get me a way to sit in one of his lectures so that I can listen to his outspoken thoughts over the Augma."

Kikuoka then agreed, "I can get that done easily. What else?" Kazuto then came to a stop at a red light and spoke sternly, "Second, I need you to set me up with a private interview with him." Again, his wishes were obliged with due to Alice's memories truly being invaluable to him, "Right, I will get you an interview for right after his class. Anything else?" Right then, Kazuto's eyes narrowed, "I need you to do a complete and total background check on Professor Shigemura Tetsuhiro."

His tone then lowered, "Kirito, I have to be careful these days, but, I will do as you have asked. In return, I have a favor for you and Alice once she is returned to normal." Kazuto then lifted his brow as he pulled into the university and parked, "Which would be?" Kikuoka then spoke in an even lower tone, "I will be hiring both you and Alice as part-time employees to test out a brand new full-dive technology that has been made by RATH to see if it is ready for use. It is called the STL."

Not skipping a beat in his lowered tone of voice, he continued, "I am setting up both of your appointments for the morning of June twenty-sixth through the twenty-eighth. So you will be diving for a full three days. There just needs to be a few modifications made before we can send either you or Alice in. Do we have ourselves a deal?" Kazuto then released a heavy sigh, "I will speak to Alice about it once she is in a healthy state of mind again, but, you have a deal on my part, alright?"

Hanging his phone up, he then entered the college slowly that had now been notified of Kazuto sitting in on Professor Shigemura's lecture and holding an interview with the professor. Before the class even started, Kikuoka called Shigemura, "This is Professor Shigemura speaking." There was no pause when Kikuoka yelled furiously, "You IDIOT! Your damn Augma affected one of my best employees! I can guarantee you that her boyfriend, my second best employee, will verbally slap you!"

There was no pause as this man furiously continued, "Of course she held plenty of memories with Yuna! She would listen to her singing almost daily while stuck in SAO! You will return her memories to her! Do remember who hacked her computer to get that brilliantly made AI for you! That was me and my team! I could care less if you took everyone else's memories except for Alice and Kazuto's!" Shigemura then smirked, "Her memories have almost completed Yuna back to how she was!"

He was getting nowhere with this man fast, so he literally spelled it out, "You aren't seeming to understand. Did you even open the AI before messing with the coding?!" Curious, he then questioned, "No... Why should that matter?" Kikuoka internally groaned as he released a heavy huff, "She had already made Yuna EXACTLY how she was in the real world, you incompetent fool! Since you messed with coding that you didn't understand, Alice might not be able to revert her back!"

Shigemura then smirked, "I am sorry, but, I have no more use for you. You gave me the coding that I wished for... however, you hold no more use. Goodbye." With that, he hung the phone up, went out of his office and began his lecture, only for Kazuto to do just as Kikuoka had explained... he verbally slapped this man across his face. Given his interview afterwards, Kazuto made him aware of the crisis before Shigemura kicked him out, only to hear, "I didn't know you built things too."

After leaving, Kikuoka called Kazuto back and informed him of everything. Late at night now, Kazuto was taking a run through a park whenever he felt a strange sensation before collapsing in the grass, spoken to by Yuna, told that his ranking was far too low, and being told to wake up. Shooting up, he held determination in his eyes and had Yui direct him to as many SAO boss battles as possible to gain that exercise, pack on a decent amount of muscles, and hastily climbed the ranks.

Two days before Yuna's big concert, he gained a call from Alice as he pushed his strained muscles by running, only to tap the top of his earbuds to come to a panting stop, "Alice? Is everything okay? You aren't hurt are you?" Alice looked down and softly whimpered out due to how bad her memory had become, "Kazuto, can you come over? I'm too scared to leave my house right now..." The fact that she had just said "I'm" was shocking enough, but, he nodded, "I'll be there in twenty."

Reaching his home, bathing, and changing, he then left to the Zuberg residence. No one except Alice was home, so he opened the door right as she walked down the stairs in a white dress that held gold osmanthus flowers lining the lower right side of her dress, a frilled white lace button up cover that stopped below her breasts, and a blue belt with a golden clasp. Her hair was loose and free with her normal white headband. Smiling at his nervous face, Alice chuckled, "No need to panic."

Taking him to her room, she then ran her fingers through his hair, "I'll go and make us some tea." - 'If I can remember how to...' she internally grumbled as she walked out. Kazuto had heard stories of how high-tech Asuna's and her bedroom were, so he walked around until he accidentally touched where her diary was to see the blue with gold osmanthus flower diary. Picking it up, his eyes filled with tears as he began reading the last entry that he could tell that she had cried over.

Alice had to read how to brew this tea and had just finished. Tasting the orange osmanthus tea, she was thanking that it at least tasted good. Placing two teacups on a tray, along with the teapot, Alice then walked up the stairs and entered her room to see him reading her diary, only to smile as she placed the tray on her small table, "It's okay, I don't mind." Closing it and setting it down, he then took hold of her with such a force that it pushed them to her bed so that he could cry.

Lying his head on her breasts as he broke down, Alice smiled tenderly and began to stroke his hair as he cried out miserably, "I'm so sorry Alice!" Wrapping her arms around him, Alice's "improper" tone rang out softly and sweetly, "Hey now... I have faith in you. So there's nothing to be sorry about. Your courage brings me the strength that I need, so never apologize for doing everything that you can to help me, alright?" He then nodded his head, "I promise to get your memories back."

That night, Yui helped him locate all of the spawning former bosses from Aincrad for another long grind until he was the third highest ranked player. With it now being the night of the concert, Kazuto walked down the stairs to see his hooded opponent. As they fought, the concert started, only for Kazuto to become so agitated that he dashed forward and reached out, "Who are you?!" With that, he ripped the hood that was attached to the equipment that made him as fast as he was.

Looking shocked, Kazuto became furious with rage, "Eiji?! What in the hell?! You did this to Alice?! Well, let's see how good you are without your little toy!" Growling, Eiji then rushed forward with tears stinging his eyes, "I never wanted for Alice to be affected! She was the one person I didn't want to harm! However, you still have the woman you love! All I'm trying to do is get the girl that I love back in my life! What is so wrong about that?!" Kazuto then scowled, "Now you will lose it all!"

Once Eiji was defeated, he laughed and gifted information that shocked the black swordsman. There was going to be another high-output scan on the entire arena. After one song, multiple bosses appeared in the arena holding SAO survivors. Looking at Eiji in a panic, he then punched him across the face, "Some might survive, but, Alice will die! She's already been affected by a slow progressing high-output scan on her brain! She's lost so many memories that are precious to her!"

Alice appeared terrified as a boss came to attack her, making her flinch until Yuna appeared with a shield to protect her, "I'm so sorry Alice! All of your pain is my fault!" Kazuto rushed in after talking to Kikuoka on the phone, only to be told how to win, "You have to go to the one hundredth floor of Aincrad and defeat the boss! The Augma is essentially a full-dive technology! Now get going!" Sitting down, he then took in a deep breath, "Akihiko, Yui, Yuuki, watch over your mother!"

All three nodded before Kazuto reached into his pocket and placed a beautiful engagement ring in Alice's hand with a smile, making her tear up as he smiled softly, "Watch over that while I am gone." Holding her hand, Kazuto and the group that had come with him called out, "Link start!" Alice then gained an apology from Yuna before she gained a determined face, "I can't just sit here while they risk their lives! Link start!" Appearing above this monstrosity, Alice scowled deeply.

To everyone else, it came out of nowhere... Alice's forty-eight hit combo 'Northern Lights' was seen as she slammed down with no fear to be found, "Akihiko! Yuuki! Attack!" The two others rained down before the three turned towards Kazuto, "Father!" - "Dad!" - "Kazuto!"... "FINISH IT!" Dashing forward, he began his barrage of combination attacks until it was defeated and he was gifted with the final item to be dropped, only to appear in the real world like an astral projection.

Slaying the bosses, Yuna then looked at Alice with a smile, knowing how to gift her memories back while doing what she loved to do most in the world... sing. Stepping on stage as everyone except Kazuto woke up from their full-dive, Yuna began to sing Alice's song for Kirito that made her blink harshly as if knowing this song. The last three words were the key, so the minute Kazuto finished the last of the bosses, Yuna then sweetly sang out to return those memories, "Smile for you..."