It's time for my monthly return! :D (though I'm pretty sure it's been more than a month since the last one, sorry)
Excuse time: I basically hit another wall and struggled to write much over the past few months, plus I got a steady full-time job so now I have less time to focus on past time things like this. Recently I've made some acceptable progress though so that's fun.
BTW, this fanfic is almost at 20,000 views which is pretty wild. 20,000 people reading at least one chapter of this story and I've still only got 19 reviews. Hopefully, that means that my story is so good that no one has anything to complain about :D Positive thinking FTW! Okay, enjoy the chapter.
I DO NOT Own Sword Art Online or it's characters.
"Of course, as long as you remain in mine as well," She replied in such a cheerful tone that she almost squealed as she wrapped her arms around his and continued to walk back to the hospital the same way they had earlier. After another short, awkward walk, they arrived back at the hospital room and gave Dr. Kawahara his lunch. After a few bites, he informed them of the situation.
"So, good news and bad news," The doctor started as he put his food aside. "Good news is that the server problems are definitely fixable without much trouble. The bad news is that it is a slightly major issue so it will take more time than I hoped. Should be around five to six hours at the earliest before I can bring it back online," He explained. Kazuto opened his mouth to voice a question he had but the doctor answered it before he got a word out. "I've already messaged all of your friends that are currently logged in so they are aware of the situation," Kazuto sighed in relief to that. Afterward, Dr. Kawahara started talking about the more technical aspects with Aki that went mostly way over Kazuto's head so he just sat back while they went over it together. Very shortly after that though, while he was stretching his arms out, he remembered something that he had wanted to ask.
"Uh, sorry for interrupting but I actually wanted to ask you two something," Kazuto said after catching the attention of the two supervisors. He then started going through his phone while explaining. "So, basically, I found a way to connect my phone to my VR I.D. so for example if I'm logged out and my avatar receives a message, I can check it on my phone and whatnot. So, then, after doing a recent quest, I received a message that I was told was from Akihiko Kayaba," Kazuto explained. Needless to say, the mention of Kayaba got reactions out of both of the doctors. "So I opened the message but all I got was this QR code looking thing that I can't scan," Kazuto showed them the image he received from Kayaba through Oscar from the Wizard of Oz quest which turned out to be a QR code. Aki didn't seem to have an idea and looked to Dr. Kawahara for an answer.
"Can I have a closer look?" the computer genius asked as Kazuto gave him his phone. The doctor then went through his own phone and pulled up a very unusual QR reading app which Kazuto hadn't seen before. The doctor scanned the code using the app and after a brief loading screen, the contents were revealed and the doctor showed it to Kazuto and Aki:
601-8453 Kyoto, Minami Ward, Karahashi Rajomoncho, １０
"What is it?" Kazuto asked, before getting a quick reply from Aki.
"That is an address for a hospital," She replied confidently. "The Kyoto Kujō Hospital to be more precise. I would know, I've worked there countless times,"
"Ok, but why would Kayaba send me an address for a hospital?" Kazuto asked himself aloud. Aki just shrugged and Dr. Kawahara got back to fixing the server.
"Is there anything you can think of that might cause him to do something like that?" Aki asked him. "Or, do you think it's just someone pretending to be Kayaba just screwing around with you or some prank like that?"
"No, I know it's Kayaba, and I know he's done it for a reason, but what one?" Kazuto pondered the question while Dr. Kawahara and Aki continued server work. As the sun began to disappear beneath the horizon, Kazuto turned his thoughts to all the times Kayaba has interfered with him during this mission for a possible answer. There was that one time when he fully stole his consciousness for a moment to talk to him within cyberspace but that was about the Dual Blades skill. Eventually, Kazuto got fed up and decided to go on a walk to get some fresh air and gaze at the twilight stars if it wasn't cloudy. However, on his way out, he received a message on his phone from Leafa, his cousin who was currently in-game and unable to log out, so he read it:
Yo Kazuto, bet you're upset that you can't log in atm. All us girls are here partying but you, Klein, Agil, and Toran are MIA. We'll save some fun for you as well so log back in whenever you can 3
Kazuto smiled as he read it.
"Typical Sugu," he thought to himself as went to close the message. Though for some reason, he found himself re-reading the message. Halfway through, it hit him. "T-That's it!" he shouted accidentally as he bolted back into the hospital room, frightening Aki.
"Jeez, don't break the door down," Aki playfully warned, but Kazuto ignored her and asked an important question.
"Aki, you said you went to that hospital many times right?" His serious tone made Aki aware that he needed a serious answer.
"Yes, have you realized anything?" She asked him but he just replied with a question of his own.
"Do you know if there's a patient by the name Tobio Renkawa there?" Kazuto keenly asked as he squeezed his fist.
"I can't be sure, but I can call a good friend who covers the night shifts there who might," She hoped as she whipped out her phone and speedily dialed a number. After a few tones, someone picked up. "Ah, Mako?... Yes, it's Aki. I have a quick question to ask…Is there currently a patient at the hospital named Tobio Renkawa?...," To Kazuto, the wait for a reply felt like an eternity and then some. But alas, an answer came through. "There is? Ah, excellent. Thank you…O-Ok, that's fine, just needed to know, thanks girl," She said before hanging up.
"So there is someone by that name?" Kazuto asked, knowing the answer but feeling like extra confirmation.
"Yes, there is," She replied, Kazuto was so happy he almost teared up. "But she said he's been there for three and a half years now and has been completely unconscious the entire time. Why did you want to know?" Kazuto took a moment to breathe before replying.
"That's because he was trapped in SAO, just like me," He revealed, prompting a slightly shocked and also confused reaction from Aki.
"Wait, but if he's an SAO survivor then shouldn't he have woken up over a year ago?" She asked, voicing her confusion.
"Unfortunately, due to something that happened in the game as it was cleared, he wasn't logged out like everyone else," Kazuto explained, both Aki and Dr. Kawahara listened keenly as Kazuto went into further depth. "Essentially, what happened was the moment I killed Kayaba and cleared the game, Tobio, aka Toran in-game, died at the same time, so due to the extremely unfortunate timing of his death, the game assumed this his avatar was an NPC being deleted and then took his consciousness to the cyberspace with the rest of the game,"
"I see, so this is that same guy you were going on about two months ago when you asked me to search for his I.D." Dr. Kawahara recalled. "So since his data was being transferred by the game as it got deleted, it simply dragged him with it. That is unfortunate,"
"However, my idea is that if we can get to the 100th floor and face Kayaba properly this time while asking for the Medicuboid blueprints, I can also ask him to finally log Toran out of the game since he's still the administrator," Kazuto unveiled his plan to try and save Toran from SAO, prompting Aki to delve into momentary thought about the possibility of that being plausible. "So if you guys don't mind, while I have the time away from the game, I'd like to go and visit him,"
"Normally, I would have to decline due to orders," Aki said, considering his request. "But it's not like you can log back in at the moment anyway so I accept your request," Kazuto almost threw his hands up in celebration "On the condition that I take you to the hospital," Kazuto's celebration was halted.
"I don't mean to be rude but why do you want to come?" Kazuto asked in slight annoyance. He kind of looked forward to a long lonely night drive.
"Considering you are currently on a classified government mission from the JSDF, you are legally required to be under constant government supervision unless authorized by the commander of said mission, in this case, Mr. Kikuoka, or the leader of the JSDF themselves," Aki quoted as if she had rehearsed it a thousand times before, which may not be a far fetched truth. "So, considering Kikuoka is unavailable at this time, you must be supervised at all times, that supervisor being me,"
"I can't help but feel like that's just an excuse for you to try and spend time with me," Kazuto teased with a confident laugh, causing Aki to blush and murmur a bunch of refusals under her breath while looking away.
"She doesn't lie though, you are required to be supervised at all times," Dr. Kawahara informed from the computer desk.
"Indeed," Aki said confidently as if she hadn't just been twiddling her fingers and mumbling like a kid a second ago. "Plus, Kyoto is very far away from here, about a six-hour drive in fact, and I refuse to let you spend so much money on tolls and petrol when your still barely an adult," Kazuto still kind of wanted to go alone but there was obviously no talking her out of it so he conceded and agreed to let her take him. After asking the male doctor to hold the fort for the night, since the two would be gone for a whole day, Aki happily led Kazuto down to the hospital garage and revealed to him a pristine white Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate fitted with custom rims and tinted windows.
"Wow, I didn't expect you to be the car-loving type of girl," Kazuto said while he gazed in awe at the car in front of him.
"I used to be a huge car nut before I joined the JSDF. To be honest, my dream as a kid was to be a mechanic who worked on all sorts of luxury cars. I guess you could say I sort of became a mechanic, just for humans instead of vehicles," Aki laughed as she ran her finger softly along the bonnet as she walked to the driver's side door to unlock it. "My ex also was a reason I stopped as well since he constantly told me it was a waste of time and money,"
"Damn, the more I hear about this guy, the more I feel like punching him square in the face," Kazuto said angrily. Aki just giggled.
"You and me both," She said as the two entered the car. Aki drove up to the hospital gate and mashed a few buttons on a pin pad before the gate suddenly opened at her command. Then, after taking a moment to look both ways, they set out on a road trip to Kyoto. Kazuto would've been lying if he said he was excited or at all interested in this trip, all he saw it as was being stuck in an uncomfortable car for six hours while listening to a hyperactive nurse go on and on about idiotic stuff, not to mention the amount of teasing that he would've had to have gone through.
But not too far into the trip, he was pleasantly surprised. He found himself not only enjoying the extremely comfortable ride, but Aki suddenly became this genuinely chill gal that he was able to bounce off of very easily. Not only that but their taste in music was very similar, they made frequent stops to get some fresh midnight air, and he seemed to actually connect with her properly. She seemed so youthful and energetic. Most of his time knowing her always involved him preoccupied with a mission of some sorts, which is the case now as well, but at this very moment in time, Kazuto couldn't have cared less about the mission because he was enjoying himself too much in Aki's company, something he didn't realize he was doing until they finally drew near the hospital.
"There it is," Aki said as the hooked a left at a set of traffic lights and came into view of the hospital. It wasn't too busy considering it was midnight.
"Road trip's over, I guess," Kazuto said with a disappointed sigh before taking another swig of the cream soda that Aki had bought him at a convenience store a couple of kilometers back.
"There's always the trip back," Aki reminded as they parked in a reserve parking space, which they were allowed to do since Aki was a nurse.
"True," Kazuto replied as they exited the car and walked towards the entrance of the hospital. It was now when Kazuto realized that it was time to take off his goofy hat and put on his serious face. After all, he was finally going to see Toran, or in this case Tobio, in the real world. As they walked through the hospital doors, Mako, Aki's friend who she called, greeted her with a big hug.
"It's so good to see you! what has it been, five months?" The short-haired brunette sporting a typical white hospital coat with a faded pink cardigan and black dress shirt underneath, plus a clean dark red skirt said joyfully before turning to Kazuto. "Mm, who's mister hunk over here?" She asked as a smug smirk appeared on her face.
"Oh, he's an…acquaintance at the moment," She said with a very slight and almost unnoticeable blush. "He's the one who wanted to know about the patient I asked you about," Aki said as she waved off the previous tease, but Mako didn't seem to buy it.
"C'mon, how long have you been together?" Mako teased. Kazuto secretly liked the fact that Aki was getting a taste of her own medicine, and it was clearly working like a charm.
"M-Mako! I promise it's not like that," Aki stuttered as she waved her hands around in front of her.
"Yet," Mako replied with a hearty laugh as Aki sighed in defeat. Kazuto could kinda guess where Aki's teasing nature had come from now. "Anyway, that unconscious patient, he's on the top floor. I'll show you the way," She said as she started heading down the corridor. Kazuto chuckled at Aki's loss and she pouted her way down towards the elevators. They passed an official checkpoint on the way but were let through after Mako showed the secretary her ID. The hospital had seven floors and considering the unusual amount of people that were in the same elevator as them, of course, they had to stop at every single floor before finally getting to their one.
As soon as the elevator doors opened though, Kazuto suddenly felt extremely heavy in his chest. In fact, the closer to the room they got, the heavier the feeling was. Mako and Aki chatted with each other most of the walk but eventually, the feeling became so heavy that Kazuto had to block all other noise out just to focus on walking normally. Part of him felt like stopping and going back down to the ground floor, but this was something he needed to do, if not for his sake then at least for Toran's. Suddenly, he realized that Mako was reaching for a doorknob and before he could prepare himself, she swung it open.
"Tamaki, he has visitors," Mako said before opening up the way for them. Aki was the first one to walk in and greet the mysterious person and, after giving himself one last second of preparation, Kazuto walked in as well. Before him was a girl with big emerald eyes and a short blonde ponytail wearing what looked like a school uniform considering the hazelnut brown blazer with a red tie. This girl, who Kazuto assumed was Tamaki, sat on her phone just beyond the hospital bed in a chair. He could also see Toran's body but the face was hidden from him by a curtain from where he was.
"Hi, I'm Tamaki. I'm Tobi's older sister," She greeted as she fixed her slouching posture and set her phone aside. "Who're you guys?" She asked somewhat impolitely but Kazuto gave her a pass considering two complete strangers had just waltzed on into her brother's hospital room. Kazuto was the first to reply.
"Kazuto Kirigaya. Sorry for the intrusion," He greeted with a bow.
"Kazuto Kirigaya?" She suddenly flinched and eyed him eerily before looking away and giving it a moment of thought. "Wait a minute…um, excuse me, Miss Mako, can I talk with Kirigaya privately?" She asked, with a kind of serious tone. Both Mako and Aki looked at each other in confusion but allowed them their privacy. After the two nurses had gone, Kazuto attempted to voice his own confusion.
"Are you familiar wi-" Was all he said before Tamaki suddenly interrupted him.
"Are you Kirito?" She asked in a very serious tone with a similar expression as well. Kazuto stepped back in shock at being outed IRL. He momentarily thought about denying his identity but decided against that for some reason.
"H-How the hell do you know who I am?" Kazuto asked in deep confusion.
Big story implications are finally happening!
Also, just to confess, I've found myself kind of thinking against the idea of this being an insanely long story recently. I know I promised to cover every floor without fail when I started but that's quite an unrealistic goal for someone like me who has so little free time. But on the other hand, I don't want to go back on my promise so I'm going to give it some thought and update y'all with my decision in the next chapter.
Hope you enjoyed reading and please Follow/Favorite/Review on your way out.
pls, excuse all spelling and grammar mistakes, was too busy writing like I was running out of time and assuming I'm the smartest in the room.