Chapter 20: World's End Crossing
Day 13
Later that afternoon, the pink-haired captain had spotted land, jumping around excitedly as she pointed out the much-awaited sight in the horizon. With renewed determination and reinvigorated spirits, the party set out for shore, eager to return to solid ground - not that staying on water had worked out the way anyone had expected.
Gunning the throttle, she pushed the trawler forward at full speed. Yet, even as foaming blasts sloshed through the propeller, the winds appeared to be faster, quickly intensifying into strong, turbulent gusts which blew dark curtains over the sun. Before long, the once-cerulean sky was covered in ominous grey clouds, and it was just a matter of time before thunder drowned out the engine as the storm took over.
Torrents weighed upon the roof as the tempest battered the windows, howling and shrieking like a vengeful beast. Waves crashed violently upon the hull, exploding on contact with the deck, and everyone found themselves tossed around in the cramped space as she struggled alone against the world.
It was as if Mother Nature and the Universe were against their frenzied dash, intent on burying them for good. It was as if reality itself had rejected their presence, summoning the elements to eradicate their existence for the balance of the cosmos.
"Aqua, Goddess of Water, shower us with your blessings," the blonde knight whispered, clasping her hands together in earnest prayer as she recalled a faint inkling of the blue-haired deity.
"Was there such a goddess in Underworld?" he questioned, more curious than puzzled.
"I-I don't know, Kazum– I mean, Kazuto," she spluttered, confused by her own words and actions.
"Hang on tight!" the dead-fish eyed loner warned as a particularly forceful swash hit the boat, nearly throwing him off balance as the injured researcher clung on to the mattress for dear life. Meanwhile, the pink-haired airhead continued to plough forward, if only to close the gap and complete the last lap in the endless lightning and the incessant downpour.
Minutes later, an ear-splitting screech rang out as the boat ran aground, smashing past rocks and crashing onto land. With a stomach-turning crack, the hull splintered and broke, impatient tides flooding between broken and shattered planks as the trawler lodged itself in the sand.
Having dug deep, the boat anchored itself in the shallows, a short wade away from salvation. Groaning, Hachiman and Yui helped Maho onto shore before collapsing in exhaustion.
"W-What's that sound?" the airhead suddenly exclaimed, her jaw dropping at the noise.
"I-Isn't that the rain?" the researcher stuttered, "W-What else can it be?"
Something that doesn't belong here, the young man in black gritted his teeth as the drone seemed to grow louder. The winds picked up, rustling the trees and blowing the leaves in swirling gusts. Amidst the thunder and the gale, the distinct whir of rotor blades reverberated in his ears - a rhythm that he would never have wanted to hear again in a million years.
Time slowed as his heart raced. Cold sweat trickled down his spine. He tensed, holding his breath as the air around him began to whirl, the signs of its inevitable arrival.
This time, however, he, no, they were all ready.
"Take cover!" he shouted as the shadow cleared the treeline, rotors on each wing eclipsing the sun. Pulling a pair of pistols from his trench-coat, he readied himself with the loner as the aircraft hovered above their heads, sending clouds of sand flying in all directions as it began its descent on the beach.
Tightening his grip, he locked onto the ramp of the cargo hold, his fingers numb with anticipation. In the anxious silence, he steadied his aim, prepared to fire away the moment the metal doors opened.
Yet, before the wheels could touch ground, a sharp voice squeaked from the air.
"Kii-bou, did ya miss me?"
"Argo," he sighed as she approached, "You could've identified yourself earlier. We were this close to blasting you in the face."
"Kii-bou," she laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head, "We thought you were the enemy too 'til we saw yer face. Can't be too cautious under these circumstances, ya know, gotta be on our toes like in the dungeons of ol' Aincrad."
No rats were harmed anyway, she almost wanted to say, but caught herself as she met his gaze for the first time in…two weeks, and it quickly dawned upon her that he could have really done what he said.
"S-Sorry Kii-bou, onee-chan had received reports of an armed group holding Alice-chan that had also gotten into serious fights with other factions so we thought–" she began, only to find herself shuddering at the glare that seemed to pierce her hood and her soul.
She looked away, unsure of what to make of the young man she once knew, whom she had hoped and prayed for but dared not dream or imagine to be alive. Now he was here before her, finally within her reach, but appeared so very distant, as if a part of him had been lost forever in the chaos that he had left behind.
What on earth happened to you, Kii-bou? Where are A-chan and the others?
The curious info broker of the past would have asked, but instinct told her that she may dread the answers.
"Argo - or should I say Carina," he stopped her before she could shrink away, his warm hand resting itself on her yellow hair, "I don't care about that. I'm just glad that you're safe."
"J-Just call me Argo," she smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes, "We aren't in school anymore, Kii-bou."
"Apologies for stepping in, but is that all?" a voice huffed, gruffer and more strained than he had remembered, "Just the five of you? Are we waiting for anyone else? We're deep in enemy territory, Kirito, we'll need to get out of here soon."
"Thanks for helping us, Klein," he bowed in gratitude at the salaryman who was in the uniform of the reserve forces, "We have one more. Alice and I would get her now."
For a long while, nobody spoke, unable to find the words with the mangled body in the aisle. They had helped to cover her with more blankets, but the speechless silence persisted until he decided to break the ice.
"How's it like back home?" he asked, staring at the rifles and machineguns in their hands.
"If you really wanna know, Kirito," the salaryman was the first to reply as he rubbed his unkempt stubble, "I'd say that work, business and school are pretty much over in Tokyo."
"Kanagawa too? Even Tokorozawa?"
"Probably," Agil echoed as he adjusted his ballistic vest, "We aren't sure either because we weren't anywhere near the capital when the bombs came. Klein and I were actually on our way to Toyosato on a weekend trip to watch a local band perform. Many things happened, but we managed to sign up with the volunteer defence corps and establish radio contact with our old friend Kikuoka who guided us to the rendezvous point at Gifu, though I don't know if the café is still around, or if my wife–"
"She's alive and well, Agil," Klein interrupted, clenching his fists, "We'll find her when we go back to Tokyo, just like how we'll find Sawako and Hiratsuka."
"I thought the teacher from Chiba dumped you last month?"
"We're still good friends, thank you very much. And it doesn't stop me from worrying."
"Did she use to teach at Soubu High by any chance?" the loner asked, at the edge of his seat.
"How'd you know?"
"She's Hiratsuka-sensei alright!" his pink-haired companion exclaimed, unable to hold in her own excitement, "Hikki and I are, I mean, were her students."
"They're the ones the Major-General asked us to look out for, dummy," chided the former bar-owner as he knocked the samurai-wannabe in the helmet, "It's one of the requests from Hayama-sama and his young lady in exchange for the use of his assets around the world for this journey."
"Hayama-sama?" the couple spluttered, stunned, "You mean Hayama Hayato?"
"Yes, none other than that suave little fella and his missus Miura," Argo piped in, "Got married and took over the biz empire from his parents who passed in the war. They're among the most influential power brokers in Japan right now, beside the goddamned Yukinoshitas, NERV and the General Superintendent of Academy City, that is."
"H-Haruno, she's–"
"Yes, and she's one of the officials writing off the android as a total loss from the EMP, which kinda delayed the mission, probably because she doesn't want us anywhere near the little sister who could've survived and pose a threat to her position."
"T-That's so cruel! And Y-Yukino is already–"
"I'm just speculating, you should ask her yourself," the info-broker sighed, dropping her usual playful demeanour, "Thank goodness the Superintendent gave us his blessings and this aircraft, and our dear Lieutenant-Colonel so happened to have been hiding somewhere that isn't a decimated army base so he's been promoted to Major-Gen in a day. Otherwise RATH alone wouldn't have been able to spare any resources to retrieve Alice from behind enemy lines when we're fighting an ongoing battle on the home-front - what more when we'd just received renewed confirmation of her status and location only a few days back."
"Argo, you weren't in Tokyo either?" Kirito interjected, "Is that why–"
"Is that why I'm still alive?" she completed his sentence for him, "Most likely yes. I was heading to Osaka with Phi-chan for a cosplay fair of all things - don't ask why, I was just tagging along because Rain-chan, Kawa-chan and her boss Faris-nyan pretty much forced us to go. Though now that the world has ended, I guess I gotta thank them and my trusty satellite phone for life."
"Mid-liners Philia and Rain from SAO," she smacked her forehead as he cast her a blank stare, motioning at the girls beside her, "You probably know them as Takemiya Kotone and Nijika Karatachi from the next class. One's a treasure hunter and the other speaks the language if we ever need to interact with the locals, so we do make a good team indeed."
"H-Honoured to meet you, K-Kirito," the girls blushed in unison as they extended their hands, "T-Thanks for clearing the game for us."
"Don't mention it," he muttered, leaving them hanging as he gazed out the window, "That was a long time ago. So many things have happened since then."
"Kirito," she sighed aloud before inhaling deeply to calm herself, "What happened–"
"And you are?" he asked, ignoring her as he turned to face the girl with the cat ears instead.
"Faris-Nyan at your service! I'm the owner of May Queen, where Rain-chan and Kawa-chan come to work sometimes," she giggled coyly, snuggling up to his arm before glaring viciously at the injured girl who was lying nearby, "And I'm here to take out that traitor bitch Hiyajo Maho."
"You know her?" he questioned, taken aback by the sudden change in tone.
"Yes, I do," she purred, reverting to her feline ways, "And I'll always remember all the friends who've died or disappeared because of her - Shiina Mayuri, Suzuha Amane, Okabe Rintarou, even my dear regular Hashida Itaru - you'll be next if you aren't careful, Kiri-bou."
"It's Kirito for you, Akiha Rumiho-san," snarled the Rat as she lunged over to pry her off.
"Akiha? As in the family that owns much of Akihabara?"
"That's right, Kirito-san," replied a feminine voice as the two creatures tussled, "Argo-san told us as we were enroute to Gifu. I'm Urushibara Ruka by the way, you can call me Ruka."
"T-Totsuka?" the dead-fish eyed loner breathed, as if recalling her for someone else.
"Totsuka-san is at base with Hayama-sama and his fiancé," she explained, turning red, "S-She's awaiting our return with Kawasaki-san, Zaimokuza-san and the others."
Totsuka's a guy, he almost corrected her, but stopped himself at the last moment, not that it really mattered either way.
"Kirito, what happened–" the info-broker decided to try again as she halted her tug-of-war with Faris, only for him to ignore her once more as he focused his attention on the three girls seated at the corner.
"T-That uniform," he spluttered, staring at the girl with short brown hair who was the only one that was unarmed and in beige school attire, "Y-You're from Tokiwadai, aren't you? T-That's the place Sugu dreamed of attending if she wasn't a Level 0."
"What if I am? Levels don't mean anything," she muttered softly as she hid behind her knees, her pants visible from under her skirt - not that she appeared to care in her state of abject depression, "I-I couldn't save any of them. T-That Level 5 couldn't run fast enough and a-all her friends just c-caught fire behind me. A-And that Level 4, I-I told her not to go, but she–"
"Misaka-san!" the girl with the flowery hairband almost screamed as tears streamed down her cheeks, "Stop blaming yourself and Judgement! Shirai-san was probably looking for me when she–"
"Uiharu, let her be for a while," interjected the girl with long, black hair who was in the same sailor-style uniform, "She lost so many of her sisters, and we don't know if we'll be able to find that boy here either."
"Y-Yui?" he found himself mumbling as he inched closer, the voice, appearance and mannerisms of the girl in the hime-cut reminding him of a slightly-older version of the pixie, as if the AI had somehow been reincarnated in a human body just like Alice to live and go to school in Academy City.
"Huh?" the loner grunted as he exchanged confused glances with the one and only Yui that he knew.
"S-Saten?" her friend similarly called out, puzzled as the Level 0 moved to approach the young man in black, "W-What are you doing? D-Do you know him?"
"I-I don't…I don't know," she whispered, unsure of herself as she met his gaze, "But somehow he seems so familiar."
"I-I'm sorry, Yui," he broke down, falling to his knees, unable to hold in his emotions any longer, "Everyone's dead - Sinon, Leafa, Lisbeth, Silica, even Asuna-mama - they're all gone because papa failed to save them."
A deafening silence ensued as the others looked on in grief and disbelief, lowering their heads at the names of the blacksmith, the beast tamer and the famed Lightning Flash as the Rat pulled her hood over her eyes, having found the answers to the questions that she had been burning to ask.
I'm sorry, Kii-bou. All this while, I didn't even dare to keep my hopes up.
Is it selfish and horrible of me to be glad to see you alive, even when everyone else is dead?
"You didn't fail," came the gentle reply as a comforting hand patted his head, "They protected you, and it made them happy to the end."
"Y-Yui?"
"You never once gave up, did you? You tried your very best to live and fight on, to cherish the life they'd given theirs for, to remember their sacrifices and save the one you've come to love."
"W-What are you saying, Saten-san?" her friend stopped her before she could continue.
"Ehehe, that was kinda awkward, wasn't it?" she giggled, embarrassed, "I don't know, Uiharu, I just felt like it."
Yet, before he could respond, a resounding shockwave ripped through the side of the aircraft, throwing her off her feet and smashing her head-first into the wall. Bags slid and clattered across the floor as the plane lurched leftwards, and he shouted her name, only to be met with the terrified screams of his friends as they were flung from their seats by the sheer force of gravity.
Time slowed as the world spun, and the cold, lifeless body of his little sister struck him in the face in the next second. Helplessly pressed against the icy glass, he could only watch with eyes wide open as the engine exploded in a flash, the entire wing disappearing in an eruption of fire as the forest below beckoned and loomed, the trees growing larger with each passing heartbeat.
As the innate fear of death gripped his mind, he drew a deep breath, realizing that it could very well be his last.
And all that he could remember was the sound of metal scraping the treetops before the universe ended in an empty darkness.
-To Be Continued-
A/N: To be continued in part II, where we (may) see the Railgun trio in action with our favourite Rat, the two guy BFFs and the SAO game-verse girls, along with the Lab Mems and Service Club peeps (if they survive the crash, that is - no spoilers, heh).
The Toaru series and SAO are published by the same company with crossovers within the Dengeki game-verse. Yui (from SAO) and Saten Ruiko (best girl, though I love Misaka too) share the same VA and do look pretty similar indeed, hence the reference.
Also, references to Sawako-sensei from K-On! and Useful Goddess Aqua from Konosuba.
Thank you all for your support and fav/follow/review if you enjoyed the story - this is my first fan-fic ever, and I'd be interested to hear your thoughts and comments to improve in the future.
I would be marking this as 'complete' for now as the subsequent chapters would only be updated at a later time (suggestions and feedback welcome!)
Update (8 Oct 2021): I'll be posting new chapters for my second fic Blessings on This Floating Castle! (SAO x Konosuba) every other week. Feel free to check it out - as always, reviews highly appreciated!