Chapter 12: Courage

Day 10

Shino was in a cheerful mood as she climbed into the front cab of the truck, refreshed from a night of uninterrupted sleep. Smiling for the first time in days, she found herself humming happily as he patted her head before turning the ignition to resume their grand quest in the warm morning sun.

The world may have ended, but we can always create a new future, she mused as she lost herself in the gentle rays and the surrounding mountains, taking a break from reminiscing about their shared past.

Meanwhile, in the compartment behind, the ever-energetic Komachi had started another game of "I Spy", which quickly fizzled out as the pink-haired airhead could not bring herself to focus while Suguha appeared despondent, her eyes red and puffy from a sleepless night. A muted silence hung in the air, contrasting with the muffled banter and occasional laughter coming from ahead, which only served to depress her further.

Hachiman sighed, preparing himself for another decade at the back of the truck, despite the rather pleasant weather after the miserable downpour they had endured the day before. Nonetheless, having vowed to stay strong and live on, he decided to occupy himself with more practical concerns, inspecting their weapons and glancing at the one and only compass they had to confirm their bearings, if only to distract his mind and comfort himself that they were a little closer to home with each passing hour that felt like years.

Home huh, he muttered to himself, how is Chiba doing? How are mom and dad and Kamakura? How are Kawasaki, Totsuka, Zaimokuza and the others?

What about Yukino and Iroha, would we ever be able to put them to rest?

Come to think of it, I haven't quite thought of what I'd do when we return home either.

Would there even be any MAXX coffee left to drink?

In the empty silence, he could not find the answers. He was deep in thought when he noticed that the truck had slowed to a stop, and he stood up to see that the path ahead was obstructed by a number of burnt-out vehicles, sandwiching them between a rather steep incline and an equally treacherous ravine.

"Is there no way around?" he asked, knocking on the wall of the front cab as he scanned the hills with his rifle amidst a growing sense of unease.

"We'll just have to clear the road - carefully," the young man in black replied, placing a reassuring hand over the bespectacled girl as he inched the truck towards the charred wreckages to have a closer look.

"I'm fine, Kirito," she exhaled. Her heart had fluttered at his touch, and she clenched her fists, forbidding herself from showing her anxiety and losing her composure in front of her partner.

She had promised to be strong after all.

"Shino!" she heard him shout, and she turned, just in time to see the windshield exploding into bits of shattered glass. Throwing the gear into reverse, he floored the pedal as three figures leapt out from behind cover, unloading rounds of heated lead at the truck to engulf it in a storm of gunfire.

"Behind!" the dead-fish eyed loner managed to choke as he was thrown by the momentum onto the hard wall of the cab. Burning logs had somehow rolled down the slope, blocking off their escape, yet the driver did not seem to notice as the frenzied gunmen continued to close in from ahead.

Kirito found himself slamming into the wheel as the truck smashed into thick, flaming wood, sending him into a world of pain. Groaning in agony, he reached for his SMG and blasted away at the gunmen, somehow managing to strike one in the chest through the gaping hole that was the windshield.

"Back me up!" he yelled as he ducked behind cover. She did not seem to hear him in the deafening chaos, and unable to wait any longer, he kicked the door open and stumbled out, roaring to pump himself as he held down a burst of suppressive fire to create an opening for her.

"Take the shot, Shino!" he cried as he reloaded once more, only to see the gunmen regain their footing and resume their advance in the absence of a response. Left with no choice, he could only flip the selector switch to burst-fire and tap the trigger to end the assault for good.

Time slowed as the truck was abruptly stopped dead in its tracks, flinging Suguha and the others onto the ground, unsecured weapons and supplies spilling onto the road and sliding off the edge of the cliff. Yet, she had little time to wallow in the pain as a dozen machete-wielding men swarmed from the bushes, intent to mop up any surviving stragglers from the initial ambush.

Slapping herself awake, she pulled out her handgun and proceeded to empty the clip at the incoming horde, only for the recoil to kick wildly in her arms that were still injured and trembling from the fall. Emboldened by her terrible aim, the men sprinted with greater fervour, confident in their superior numbers and the foregone conclusion that she - their prey - would succumb like the many before her that had the misfortune of passing through the highway of death.

Cursing her own uselessness, she fumbled in a daze, her quivering fingers numb and clumsy as she worked to reload the empty weapon. By the time she could raise her arm again, the attackers had closed the distance, allowing her to gun down two men, only for ten more to charge in from behind and take their place on the frontlines.

Glancing at her friends who lay unconscious on the floor, knocked cold by the concussion, a sense of impending doom washed over her as she began to back away in fear, cold sweat trickling down her spine.

Hold it together, Sugu, she snarled at herself as she slapped in her third and final magazine, you can't just let it end like this.

Komachi rose from her giddy stupor, just in time to see Suguha swinging her makeshift shinai at more than half a dozen men with machetes, batting them away as they rushed at her with bestial fury and maniacal rage, seeking blood and revenge for the death of their comrades. Shaking her dizziness away, she immediately reached for her gun to help the struggling kendoka, only to realize that it was gone, likely flung out of her grasp by the impact.

Gritting her teeth, she grabbed a machete from the floor and ran at the nearest assailant, steeling herself as she plunged the blade deep into his back. Warm blood spattered all over her trembling hands as the man screamed in excruciation, wailing and flailing like a wounded beast as air and other fluids leaked from the lung that she had so cruelly punctured.

Sorry, onii-chan, but this is the only way I can protect everyone.

Growling to stop her tears from flowing, she gathered all the strength that she could muster from her small frame to pull the machete out of the man's back and end his prolonged suffering.

She remembered him calling her name as he blasted away at the enemies ahead. Kirito - her hero, her partner, the boy she had helplessly fallen for, needed her support urgently.

Why then, was she stuck to her seat, paralysed and motionless, unable to move her arm to grab the rifle that lay mockingly beside her?

Shino could not seem to figure out as her mind swam in confusion. Her body did not respond to her thoughts, nor could she bring herself to focus amidst the fatigue settling over her limbs. Nonetheless, she was alive - at least from the way she heaved for air with every breath.

"K-Kirito," her voice sounded weak and strained, barely a whimper, unable to reach him in the resounding echoes of automatic gunfire.

"Shino!" she heard him cry once more, as if unaware that she had been trying her hardest to call his name for the past ten seconds that had felt like a decade.

"K-Kirito, I-I–" she inhaled deeply to try again, only for a sharp pain to grip her ribs, forcing her to cough up a mouthful of warm liquid, staining her sweater a deep shade of red.

"I-I–" she choked, growing frustrated at her inability to move or speak.

The door flew open, and a familiar face appeared before her eyes. The world seemed to brighten a little, and her tired heart thumped a little harder as he was finally close enough to hear her.

You're back, she smiled as tears ran down his cheeks.

Yet the words were stuck in her throat, her quivering lips unable to mouth the three syllables that she so desperately wanted to say. Tears of anger began to form as she clenched her fists, ready to beat the words out of her chest if she had to.

"Stop!" he almost screamed as she tried and tried again, "I know, Shino, I really do. I–"

With her final breath, she grabbed his arm to stop him before he could continue, not wanting to hear the words that she could no longer reply to.

They understood each other, and that was all that mattered.

See you in the Log Cabin, Kirito, she whispered as he pleaded for her to stay, it seems that I'd be using my Amusphere after all.

Komachi stood beside Suguha, covering her back with a bloody machete in her hands, parrying blow after blow from the half-dozen enemies that had surrounded them like sharks. Metal struck metal, clanging loudly, the force reverberating through her arms as she blocked yet another powerful swing aimed at her neck.

Behind her, Hachiman, Yui and Alice had yet to stir, and nobody would blame her if she gave up and ran away like the timid little girl that she was. Yet the pain from the wounds that had reopened from repeated exertion told her that she was alive and had the duty to fight on, and she would give her all, if only to protect her brother and her friends long enough for them to wake up.

This is what Yuuki would have done, she told herself, biting down on her lip to focus on the image of the purple-haired Imp that appeared to linger in a special corner of her mind, as if connected in some strange way through the threads of fate that intersected between the real and virtual worlds. Somehow, it reminded her of a visual novel that her brother had used to play with his old friend Zaimokuza, where a certain red-haired protagonist had channelled his true doppelganger, his future self, to attain powers greater than what he was otherwise capable of to become the king of fakers, but a king nonetheless.

It was worth a try. She knew her limits after all - no amount of resolve that she could ever hope to muster would be enough for her to bridge the difference in sheer power. She simply had to be much stronger than she was, no, than she could ever be to help Suguha, to defend her brother, and perhaps to save herself, not that she dared to put too much expectations on the latter.

Trace on, she hissed, analysing the enemy's expressions and movements, their posture, their breathing, the looks on their faces and in their eyes. Inhaling deeply, she steadied her weapon and concentrated on the Heroic Spirit that was the Absolute Sword, the one and only Zekken, and pictured [Mother's Rosario] - the stances and steps of the eleven-hit Original Sword Skill flickering in her mind.

Link, start. She raised her blade, a metallic glint shining through the crimson blood. The energy that she had gathered surged through her limbs, and she allowed the system to take over, to complete what had been predicted and pre-determined. Dodging the first slash and ducking past the second, the world became a blur as she danced on her feet - sprinting, spinning, turning and twirling to the clamour of steel and bone, red lines of damage cutting across flesh.

Warm blood rained over her skin, staining her hands and seeping deep between the fingers that were wrapped tightly around the handle of her blade. She stopped, panting heavily as an overwhelming sense of fatigue and nausea gripped her body, and she fell to her knees, throwing up as four men collapsed to the ground, dead from multiple stab wounds.

In the speechless silence, the kendoka could only stare in horror and amazement as she despatched the two remaining assailants with her makeshift shinai. She could not find the words as the girl with the ahoge flashed her a victory sign, and she truly felt the urge to hug her and tell her that she did not need to force the smile, that it was okay to cry.

Yet, before she could step forward, a loud explosion rang out, echoing across the hills, startling her as she turned towards the source of the blast. One of the assailants that she had shot earlier had somehow crawled to his feet, and in his arms was a gun, which she had not noticed during the struggle.

Sensing his chance for revenge, the man fired again, only to miss as she hurled her shinai, staggering him with a thud to the head. She was on him before he could recover, punching the wound in his gut with the full force of ten years of martial arts training to send him to meet his comrades in the wretched depths of hell.

Panting in the deafening quiet, she stared in disgust at her own bloodied hands. She hated killing, especially when the bodies in front of her would only rot and decay with time instead of dissolving mercifully into shards of blue light. She could not help but feel her stomach turn as she recalled the sound of skulls cracking under the blows of her shinai, and could not bear to imagine how Komachi must be dealing with the trauma of having killed five living, breathing humans with a machete, of all things.

If only she had been more effective with her blade, or more accurate with her handgun, perhaps Komachi would not have had to stain her hands with so much blood and so many lives.

Sorry, Komachi, and thank you, she thought aloud as she turned to walk back to her friend, no, her partner in the tag team of little sisters, I'll return the favour next time.

Komachi had felt the excruciating pain tearing through her torso as soon as the gunshot erupted from the hills ahead. She had barely managed to take in the gaping hole in the middle of her chest before she collapsed face-first onto the ground, the raw impact sending waves of renewed agony across her body.

As she choked on the thick, red liquid, gasping for precious air, she knew that it was her punishment for the sins that she had committed, and the inevitable consequence of following in her doppelganger's footsteps to fight and die with equal tragedy.

Just like the Imp, the magical girl and the prescient esper, she muttered as her mind drifted in the fading light, too tired to go on any further and too sick of fighting any longer. Tempted by the peaceful tranquillity that beckoned, she closed her eyes, ready to resign herself to the numbness, the exhaustion and the inescapable darkness–

Strong arms flipped her over and pressed down desperately on her wound, jolting her awake as the pain reminded her that she was alive, if just barely. She opened her eyes to find none other than her tear-stricken brother, who had acted a fraction of a second before she could disappear beyond his reach.

"You're still alive if you can feel the pain," he repeated the words that she had told him even as he struggled to staunch the wound, "Don't just give up and leave me here."

She smiled, genuinely glad that she was able to see him for the last time, but could not stop the tears from flowing, despite feeling happy from the bottom of her heart.

What was this wavering ambivalence that was holding her back?

What was this sense of attachment that was making the final farewell more difficult than it should be?

"Komachi!" Suguha cried, supporting a half-conscious Yui on her shoulders as Kirito hurried over. They had all come to see her - everyone that she had saved, though Shino was nowhere to be seen, not that she could ever dream of asking for any more than what she had.

At this point, she could no longer hold in her tears. Was it finally alright for her to cry? She would never have thought that they would come to see her off, and for a moment she felt a pang of guilt and regret for giving in so quickly, for being a selfish coward wishing to quietly escape the sadness and the pain before her friends could even say their last words and bid their final goodbyes.

Gently, she pried her brother's hands away from the wound that continued to bleed despite his best efforts. Then, as he watched in disbelief, she stuck her trembling finger deep into the wound, letting out a tortured cry of anguish as waves of torment and agony surged through her body.

"W-What are you doing, Komachi!"

"We're even now, onii-chan," she smiled, "T-This'll keep me awake for a little longer."

"Onii-chan, Yui-senpai," she began before he could interrupt her, "Thank you for putting up with me as your troublesome little sister and kouhai. You've earned enough Komachi points to last a lifetime. Don't be sad and remember to take good care of yourselves and each other w-without me."

"Kirito, Suguha-chan, thanks for telling me about her. I wonder if she'd be waiting there with the others. I-I'd like to be her friend if she'd let me. Do you think she'd hate me? M-My hands are so dirty."

"So are mine, Komachi!" the kendoka sobbed, grasping her bloodstained palms, "But we'll always be friends, in this life and the next. I'm sure Yuuki would be too, for saving us, for saving me."

"That'll be nice indeed," she exhaled as her voice trailed off, her expression calm and relaxed, eyes closed, as if exhausted and asleep after a long and arduous journey. Her chest had stopped heaving, a faint smile hanging on her lips as she dreamed of a world beyond, where the purple-haired Imp was waiting with her hands outstretched, wings fluttering behind her back, ready to ascend towards the castle in the sky.

Love you, onii-chan, and thank you, everyone.

In the deafening silence, Hachiman sprang to his feet, overwhelmed with untold grief and anger as Kirito suggested in a tone of ignorance and denial that they should hurry to the nearest hospital to save her. Before he knew it, his fist had lashed out, punching the source of his anguish squarely in the nose.

"It's your fault, you killed her!" he spat, his voice full of venom, "She would've still been alive if you weren't so distracted flirting with your stupid lover."

He did not expect the young man in black to strike back in the very next second, the impalpable force of his unrestrained fury knocking him off his feet and onto his sister's lifeless body.

"Your precious little sister died while you were sleeping on the floor," Kirito growled, rubbing his knuckles, "Don't you ever dare blame Shino for your own bloody failure."

He was in turn cut short by a tight slap which sent him pummelling onto the ground.

"You could've stopped the truck in time if you listened to Hikki!" the pink-haired airhead exploded, seething in rage.

"You. Don't. Get. To. Hit. My. Brother." A punch to the gut stopped the words in her mouth, leaving her rolling on the floor clutching her bruised stomach.

"You b–" Hachiman could barely land a hit before he was beaten back with an uppercut to the jaw, collapsing in a heap on top of Yui.

"Thanks, Sugu, that's enough for now," Kirito interjected, only to be greeted with a tight slap across his other cheek.

In the speechless quiet, she finally stopped, the pain in her heart throbbing with each breath. She felt absolutely horrible for raising her fists at her friends, and worse for striking her brother, but something had to be done before they could hurt each other. And she would rather be the one to shoulder the guilt than for anyone to regret later.

"It's my fault," she broke down, slapping herself repeatedly as she sobbed aloud, "If I hadn't been so weak, Komachi wouldn't have to sacrifice herself in the first place."

"Sugu," she froze as he leaned forward to wipe the tears from her reddened cheeks, "Nobody asked for this, so let's just stop, shall we? I'm sure Shino and Komachi didn't die for us to blame ourselves or each other."

Sighing, Hachiman nodded reluctantly as he helped Yui to her feet, neither convinced nor satisfied but unwilling to prolong the fight. After all, his little sister was dead, gone forever, and no amount of vengeance would ever bring her back. What she needed now more than anything was a proper burial, a rightful end to her struggle - he could always settle the score after that was done.

Sorry, Komachi, he whispered, unable to hold in his tears as he knelt down to scoop her body from the floor, I-I really don't know what to say to mom and dad when I see them again.

Kamakura too, I'm sure he'll miss you badly.

Gently, he placed her limp body on the cargo bed beside the ever-motionless android, strapping them in before trudging ahead to push the obstructions aside, sending the cursed wreckages into the wretched depths of the ravine where they belonged. Sighing, he sat beside Yui, clasping his little sister's hands as they waited for the driver to restart the truck, which sputtered and coughed as it rumbled to life, its tyres and fuel tanks intact and functional, spared from the assault by the thick metal cover over the engine block.

Careful not to overheat the truck, Kirito drove slowly, cold air blowing in through the void that was the broken windshield as he kept his eyes on the road and the temperature gauge, unable to bring himself to look at the figure beside him who appeared to be in a peaceful slumber with a faint smile on her lips.

Wakey, Shino, it's past noon already, he muttered to himself in the empty silence, it's so quiet in here without you.

Yet she did not seem to hear him as she continued to sleep, even as the sun began to set. Nearly out of gas, he pulled over at an abandoned farmhouse, the occupants nowhere to be seen, perhaps dead at the hands of bandits as had many other unfortunate travellers over the past week. Weapons drawn and ready, the four survivors combed the property, the echoes of their footsteps and the sound of their breathing triggering more than a few false alarms before they could finally exhale in collective relief.

Starving, they went on to ransack the kitchen and dining areas, stuffing themselves with all the dried fruit, canned food and snacks that they could eat, too hungry to care about rationing for the future in a world without tomorrow. Their energy replenished, they headed to the barn for tools and scrambled to work before sundown, making good progress with two shovels to each grave, their sixth and seventh in less than two weeks.

Suguha and Yui waited under the great oak tree on a gentle hill beside the field, where the ground was soft and the landscape scenic. A warm breeze blew, leaves fluttering in the wind as Kirito and Hachiman ascended the slope, carrying Shino and Komachi. Two markers had been prepared - an Amusphere and a shinai, along with a rosary of flowers that the girls had gathered along the way, and in the mournful quiet, the bodies were lowered, the graves covered with soil and stone.

"Asada Shino and Hikigaya Komachi," read the young man in black as he raised his hand to salute in the setting sun, "With your gun and your blade, you have saved many, who will always be in eternal gratitude."

"Shino, Komachi-chan," the girls bowed in unison, "Thank you for your love and care."

In the solemn silence, night fell as the sun finally disappeared behind the mountains. Yet, they lingered on, watching the stars light up the darkness, wondering if they would one day join the ones they love in a life beyond the divide.

"Do you think they'd be there, waiting for us?" Kirito breathed, having seen many realities beyond their own, worlds that were as twisted and tragic, but also as wondrous and meaningful. That was why he and his friends had continued to visit the floating castle long after they had been freed, not as players stuck in a death game, but as youths who had learnt to love, live and fight in the nurturing harshness of the Seed.

"I don't know," came the reply from the dead-fish eyed loner who was after the 'real thing', yet no longer sure if he could handle the cold, hard truth, "If the afterlife was so great, why'd we be struggling so hard to stay in this hell? Isn't it because we know deep down that it's nothing more than self-mollification, a mechanism to cope–?"

But why, Komachi, he stopped, unable to continue, tears streaming down his face as he stared at the pile of stones, why am I feeling such pain in an absurd and meaningless universe that does not care?

"Let's go," the young man in black exhaled, deciding that the day had truly ended and that it was time to leave. The girls nodded, and together, they turned to walk back the way they came.

A/N: Chapter title is a reference to the OP of the Mother's Rosario arc, sung by Asuna's VA, which is also a reference to Yuuki ("Courage" in Japanese with different kanji).

Komachi's other doppelgangers (who share the same VA) are Kaname Madoka from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Souma Sumire from the underrated Sakurada Reset.

With the passing of Iroha [Kureha] (from SAO: Fatal Bullet game-verse), Shino/Sinon and Komachi [Yuuki], we conclude the second arc (SAO II - GGO / Calibur / Mother's Rosario) with the aftermath of the climax in the next chapter before beginning the third arc (Chapter 14 - 19).