Thanks all for reading this. I have recently hit a burst of inspiration for this fic, and so should have the rest of book 2 done by the end of October. Without further ado, here's a new chapter, featuring Asuna struggling with physical therapy and trying to reconnect with her brother.

Caring For A Rat: Book 2, Part 12

"C'mon, Asuna, you can do it!" Tomo watched as Asuna struggled along the railed track, the same sort that she had used to get her sense of balance again. It was her new girlfriend's -Tomo's heart skipped a beat every time she thought that, some little gremlin in her mind throwing confetti in joy- first time on the bars, and she was already doing better than Tomo had during her first attempt.

As the small woman watched, Asuna took another heavy step, determinedly trying to keep her back ramrod straight, before sliding one of her hands forward, then repeating the process with the other side of her body.

In the span of about thirty seconds, she had already crossed over half of the 20-foot course. It didn't sound that impressive, but for someone who had been bed bound until yesterday, and in a coma for over two years prior to that, it was an impressive achievement.

"You're almost there, Aa-chan!" Tomo called out, standing as close to the exit as she dared, Asuna's wheelchair held out in front of her.

Her girlfriend's shoulders rose and fell, her breath coming in rapid pants, as the unused muscles in her legs burned. Asuna took another heavy step forward, and almost collapsed when her foot came down at a bad angle.

Tomo could barely stop herself from surging forward to help. Kazuto didn't have nearly as much self-restraint, and was at Asuna's side in an instant, one hand already wrapping gently around her arm to pull her up.

"Off!" The recovering girl snapped at Kazuto, shrugging her arm as best she could while still supporting her weight on it. "I'm doing this by myself!" Kazuto wisely backed off, raising his hands in supplication. Asuna sent him a halfhearted glare, before she steadied herself, and took another slow step.

This time, her foot came down perfectly.

Three more steps, and Asuna had reached the end of the walkway. The chestnut-haired girl was swaying back and forth, her limbs trembling from effort, and Tomo moved forward, her hands coming up to offer support at the same time as Kazuto came in from the other side.

Asuna collapsed into the two of them, letting them all but carry her over to the wheelchair she had taken here, and help her sit down in it.

"Well, I'd say that was a good first time." Dr. Tatsutora said, his sweaty bald spot gleaming in the fluorescent light of the hospital. "If I didn't have your file, I would have thought you had only spent a few months immobile, not two years."

Asuna nodded, still breathing hard. Tomo sat down next to the wheelchair, almost on the exact opposite side of the room as Asuna's father. "You feelin' alright Aa-chan?"

"Yeah," She said, smiling tiredly. "Just a little out of breath."

Across the room, Her father's phone started ringing. The tall man pulled it out of his pocket, and left the room as he answered the incoming call, already bringing his phone up to his ear. Asuna watched him go with an unreadable expression on her face.

"Good riddance," Kazuto muttered.

"Kiri-Kazuto!"

"What?" the irate boy said, "He tried to marry you off to Sugou. I'm not sorry to see him go."

"He's trying to make amends," Asuna said, reaching out to grasp Kazuto's hand. "I know that you don't like him, and I don't like him much at the moment either, but we should give him a chance."

"I think he blew his chance when he didn't run a background check on Sugou," Tomo said, glaring at the door where Asuna's father had vanished through.

Asuna sighed. "Just, just try not to be openly hostile, please? He's still in charge of a lot of things about my life, and he's at least trying to do better."

"Alright," Kazuto grumbled. Scratching his cheek in that way he did whenever he made a decision that he didn't like. "I'll do my best."

"You too, Ar-Tomo." Asuna said, turning her penetrating gaze on the info broker. "Don't be too harsh."

"I'm just gonna do what he should have done to Sugou and run a background check." Tomo said breezily. "He probably won't even know I did anythin'."

"If that's what you need to do," Asuna sighed. "Honestly, though, he's still the only member of my family who even bothered to show up so far."

Tomo winced. Even her parents, despite blaming her for their poor financial management, despite her being in a coma at the time, had at least shown up. Granted, they'd been fairly ambivalent about her going off to live near Kazuto, but at least they'd been there as soon as they could ater SAO was cleared.

"Well, regardless of your family troubles," Dr. Tetsutora said, having finished writing something down on his clipboard. "You're in remarkable shape for someone who has spent the last two years bed-bound and drip-fed." He gestured toward the railed walkway. "Let me know if you want to try again. We've still got another half hour reserved for this room."

Five minutes later, right before Asuna was about to make another attempt at the walkway, Shouzou Yuuki reentered the room, holding his phone to one ear.

"No, she's doing very well, and the doctors specifically said no solid foods yet, do not bring those toffees." He said, sounding at once somewhat irate and very amused. "Not yet anyway, I'm certain that she'll be cleared for them within a few days." He paused, listening to the person on the other side of the line, even as Asuna perked up.

"Actually, she's right here," Mr. Yuuki said, chuckling lightly, "And it looks like she wants to talk, would you-" Asuna's father was cut off by a voice that was muffled against his ear, but somehow recognizable to Asuna, who started rocking back and forth eagerly.

"Well, then, here you go, Asuna," He said, and handed his cell phone over. Asuna pressed it to her ear eagerly, already greeting the person on the other end of the line. "Hi Kouichi!"

As she was absorbed in conversation, Mr. Yuuki reached out and tapped Tomo on the shoulder, drawing her away from the conversation that Asuna was having.

"Could we talk?" The man asked, his voice low and quiet. Tomo cast a glance back at Asuna and Kazuto. The latter caught her eye, dropped a hand to his side pocket, and nodded. He'd be there in an instant if she screamed.

"Sure," The info broker said, already brainstorming what it was that Mr. Yuuki could want her for. It was probably something to do with Asuna, but other than that the possibilities were too varied to figure him out. Asuna's father opened the door, held it for Tomo as she walked through, and closed it behind her.

Then he took a deep breath, gathering himself and spoke. "I'm planning to make a trip to a library to pick up some books for Asuna to read. Do you have any idea what she likes currently?"

"Slice of life." The answer dropped from Tomo's lips almost unconsciously. She'd kept track of the sort of books that Asuna had bought that had been published in Aincrad. Most of the incredibly small number that had been published were poor quality, and the majority of them probably never would have been seen the light of day IRL, but they were all that was available. Asuna had read almost every single book or manga that could be called "slice of life" available in Aincrad. "She'd blitz through them and reread her favorites when she was having a particularly rough day."

Mr. Yuuki nodded, "Slice of life, got it,"

"Although~" Tomo said thoughtfully, "If you're willing to wait a day or two, we might be able to do something better."

Asuna's father leaned in, his face intent as Tomo began to explain her plan.

The next day dawned bright and early, and Asuna was quivering with anticipation in her wheelchair as we walked through the lobby of the hospital she had been staying in.

"Eager, much?" I asked, keeping my tone as light as I could.

"You bet!" Asuna thrust an arm out towards the doors leading outside. "I've been feeling so cooped up in here, I just can't wait to get out and taste the fresh air." She leaned back, tilting her head so that she could look up at me. "It's been far too long since I've seen Tokyo."

I had been surprised when Dr. Tetsutora and Ms. Fujita had signed off on letting her out for a day trip, but after looking over what Tomo had planned with Asuna's dad, I had to admit that there wasn't much that could happen.

Still, this outing would hopefully be good for her.

"It hasn't changed that much," I said as my phone dinged with an incoming message. I pulled it out stealthily to look as Asuna responded.

"Maybe so, but I still would like to see all the things that have changed." I smiled; It was good to know that my wife wasn't letting the fact that her father was keeping the destination for this trip a secret get her down.

Thankfully, Tomo had explained it to me over text last night, so I knew exactly what the plan was. And part one had just fallen into place.

My only job was to push Asuna out the doors.

"Alright, our ride's here, so we just need to-" Asuna's wheelchair jerked as she grabbed the wheels and started to push herself forward, eager to get outside faster than I was pushing her.

"C'mon slowpoke!" She teased back over her shoulder. "The world's waiting!" I smiled fondly, and started after her.

When I caught up to her, she was resting outside the automatic doors, looking around at everything and breathing lightly. She thrust her arms up into the sky, then brought them out to the side and threw her head back in what I could only call pure joy.

"I'm free," She said as I stepped up beside her.

"Feels good, right?" I asked, kneeling down so that my head was at approximately the same height as Asuna's. She nodded in response, still taking in the area around her.

"It feels…" She trailed off, holding a hand up. She turned it back and forth, before wheeling herself over to a nearby hedge and grabbing a leaf off of it. "Not that different from Aincrad." she finally concluded.

"Yeah, it surprised me too, just how little difference there was between Aincrad and IRL," I said, leaning against the wall.

"I guess we kinda forgot that one of the selling points of SAO was the 'authentic sense input'." Asuna grabbed another leaf off of the hedge, holding it up to the light, to see how the stem wove through it.

"Hey guys!" A familiar voice called, and Asuna dropped her leaf, wheeling herself around with such ease that I couldn't help but be impressed. She was moving around in her wheelchair easier than I had ever managed in mine.

"Ar-Tomo!" Asuna responded happily, rolling herself to meet Tomo. "It's so nice to see you!" she said, lifting her arms up for a hug. Our mutual girlfriend obliged her, the embrace lingering perhaps a touch longer than what was appropriate.

I understood the urge though. If it wasn't for Tomo and Asuna agreeing to keep our changed relationship secret, I would have kissed my new girlfriend as a greeting, never minding who saw us.

As it was, I simply wrapped her up in a hug, squeezing her against me. "I missed you," I murmured in her ear.

"I missed you too," She said back to me. We had only been apart for approximately twelve hours, but I was used to walking with her from the train station to see Asuna, but she had had to make arrangements with Asuna's father today, although I suspected that she had spent most of the morning nervously going over her plans.

Hopefully we'd be able to get her to relax on the trip.

"Hurry up, slowpokes!" Asuna called back over her shoulder, having wheeled well over fifteen feet away while Tomo and I were hugging.

The two of us slowly withdrew from each other and started walking. Our hands brushed each other as we walked, and I couldn't help but like the warmth. It felt somehow magical, as Tomo and I fell in on either side of Asuna, ready to take hold of her chair if she tired. I was in the physical world, with two women who I loved, and loved me.

I still had trouble wrapping my head around it at times. Everything society had taught me screamed that I should be angry, or at least jealous, of the looks that I had seen Asuna and Tomo exchanging, of the kisses that they had shared, but I only felt… warmth when I watched them being intimate.

"Okay, the car should be over there…" Tomo said, scanning the parking lot with a hand shading her eyes.

"Heeeey!" A tall man with the same auburn hair as Asuna waved from next to an actual, real-life limousine. "Asuna, over here!"

"Kouichi!" my girlfriend called back, making a beeline for the man, her wheelchair jostling slightly as she ran over rocks and the occasional fallen twig. 'Kouichi' met her halfway, half lifting her out of her wheelchair in a hug.

"I really missed you, Asuna," He said, releasing her gently.

"I missed you too Kouichi," My wife said back, settling into her wheelchair.

"Well," The tall man, probably Asuna's brother from the resemblance, straightened up, adjusting his black-and-white suit, before tightening his dark green tie. It was probably the only bit of clothing on him that had any color. He cleared his throat nervously. "We've got plenty of things to do today, so let's get going and you can introduce me to your friends along the way."

With that, he turned and started walking towards the car, I followed in his wake, Tomo beside me. With a dramatic flair, he pressed a button on a car key, and the side door slid open automatically.

"Ladies first," He said with a bow, gesturing for Tomo to get in. I clambered in after her, sliding into the middle seat. A yelp made my head whip over to the door where Asuna was clambering in. 'Kouichi' was holding his hand gingerly, with a hurt expression on his face. "I just wanted to help." My wife glared at him, and he shrunk back.

"I can handle myself," Asuna said firmly, heaving her body inside and scooching herself into the seat. "If you really want to help, you can put my wheelchair away."

"Alright," the red-haired man said, folding up the mobility aid and sliding it in behind my wife before walking around to the driver's seat and starting up the car.. Once we were out on the road, he started asking us questions. "So, Asuna, do you want to introduce me to your friends?"

"Of course, Kouichi," My wife said, perhaps a little less warmly than she had greeted him before. "Kazuto, Tomo, this is Kouichirou, my older brother. Kouichi, this is Tomo Hosaka, a very good friend of mine, and Kazuto Kirigaya, my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend, huh?" Kouichirou said, in a tone that made me feel suddenly very small. Asuna's father had accepted our relationship, but would her brother, who appeared to be on better terms with her, feel the same? "When did that happen? Last I remember you said that any relationship would just distract you from your studies?"

"That was before my life got flipped upside down," Asuna grumbled, her ears flushing. "And I had ample time to reevaluate what it is I want out of life while I was in Aincrad."

"I'm sure you did," Kouichirou said, his voice tight.

"In any case, Kirito is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and I won't have you being hostile to him, are we clear?" Asuna leveled a glare at the back of her brother's head. It was nowhere near as intimidating as her normal glares, more of a pointed look than anything.

"I wasn't going to do anything to him," The tall man said mildly, not taking his eyes off the road.

"You said that any man who captured my heart would have to delve into Izanami's realm before you would accept him."

"I was exaggerating," The siblings kept talking, and I shared a commiserating look with Tomo. They were talking like we weren't even here. Well, I guess we should let Asuna catch up with her brother.

"Anyway, what have you been doing these past two years? Did you get that position in the American Branch that you wanted?" Asuna said, closing off the previous topic of discussion.

"I did," Kouichirou said, smiling, "I've had it for a while, and my boss there has started to talk about the possibility of promotion. Of course," he grumbled, "given that I asked for a break on such short notice, I can probably kiss any chance of promotion goodbye for now. Probably the only reason I'm not being let go is 'cause of dad's position."

"They don't give you any breaks?" Asuna asked.

"Of course they do," Kouichirou said. "I just had to ask for more than I had available."

Asuna nodded. "That does sound like a conundrum. Maybe it would be possible for you to work remotely? I was able to coordinate quite a few aspects of the KoB while I was on vacation." Kouichirou pulled to a stop at the red light and cast a glance back over his shoulder.

"The KoB?"

"Oh, sorry, The Knights of the Blood Oath," Asuna said, apologetically. "One of the foremost clearer guilds in Aincrad. We were on the frontlines and fighting every single day. Our Leader, Heathcliff…" Asuna trailed off. It still stung, just how deep that betrayal went. The "Paladin" had been one of the most respected and well-liked figures in the game. Even though Asuna and I had both disagreed with some of his actions, even before he had been revealed as Kayaba, neither of us could deny his skill at swordplay.

"Well, a lot of people thought he would get us out of the game," Asuna finished.

"And you were a part of this guild?" Kouichirou asked, accelerating perhaps a bit rapidly through the now-green light.

"I was," Asuna nodded in confirmation. Tomo snorted in amusement.

"Stop sellin' yourself short, Aa-chan," She leaned back against the car frame, somehow managing to look smug even in the cramped back seat. "You were just as much a leader as Heathcliff ever was."

"More, even," I supplied, rubbing my chin in thought. "Heathcliff spent far too much time in the Arena and not nearly enough time at the strategy meetings. You were really the one who took tactical and strategic command most of the time."

"I got a lot of good people killed," Asuna said, deathly quiet.

"You saved everyone you could," I corrected, gently. "And I don't think there was any saving that guy who charged the thirty third floor boss screaming 'Leeroy Jenkins'."

Tomo snorted. "God I wish someone had a camera for that." Asuna chuckled a little, her face lightening.

"I guess you're right."

"You know I am," Tomo said, at the same time as I responded

"It's rare, I know."

"Man, you really grew up, didn't you," Kouichirou said, his voice heavy.

"I had to," Asuna said with a shrug.

The rest of the trip was silent.