"So she's finally awake?"

The familiar voice of Shiro brought Kirito back to reality after what felt like a long, much needed rest.

"Yes, her nervgear was off and we found her outside of Kirigaya and Asada-chan's room on the floor. Thank you for coming to visit her so soon. Visiting hours are opening in a minute, so please take a seat."

Kirito moved her head side to side, stretching her neck and slowly sat herself up on the bed. The relief she felt as her joints created popping and crackling sounds from stretching herself was immense. She blinked many times, rubbed her hands over her face, and rubbed the sand from her eyes which was surprisingly not as caked as she would have thought. She was well taken care of.

Kirito moved to the edge of the bed and carefully stood up. She had done it so easily the first time, so she was surprised at how she was being so thoughtful and careful. Perhaps the mindset of being just fresh out of Aincrad and having time to process that she had cleared it made her more careful.

After standing up, Kirito noticed that she was still attached to an IV drip and to a heart monitor on a single stand. Grabbing hold of it to steady herself on her feet, she made her way to the door.

"Good morning, Shiro."

Kirito's voice was raspy, in need of some water, but it might have been a relief beyond compare to someone genuinely worried about her. Kirito quickly realized that Shiro wasn't on his own. Nearly swept off her feet from the force of a hug from her aunt, Suguha's mother, and the parents of Shiro and Shino standing behind her as they stared in disbelief.

"Welcome back Kazu-chan...!"

Kirito smiled and gave a firm hug back to her aunt. The pressure of the hug from her aunt's end was nearly enough to knock the wind out of her, but Kirito knew that she would and should need to put up with it. She needed confirmation that Kirito was back, and soon so would her daughter. The choked up voice, the tears which easily soaked into the gown Kirito wore. Kirito felt the rich sensations which had been dulled during the nearly two years spent in Aincrad.

"I'm home, aunty."

Shiro's expression was a little dark, upset, but on the surface the happiness to see Kirito out of Aincrad was still visible. Kirito knew she would need to talk with Shiro about why so many others weren't out. Shiro had been there. He was there to witness the fight between Kirito and Heathcliff. He was there at the moment that Kirito won, but he wasn't there in the clouds with the rest of the guild watching Aincrad crumble and disappear.

"How are you feeling? Was I too rough with you? Are you sure you should be up and about?"

Kirito giggled softly and licked her chapped lips, got her mouth moving a little before talking again.

"I'm okay aunty. I need to be up and moving around as much as possible if I'm going to recover quickly. How are you doing though?"

Her aunt smiled a warm comforting smile as she heard Kirito's gentle voice which had been a lot less emotional the last time they had spoken to each other.

"I'm doing much better now that you're back. What happened in there? Do you know how long it will be until everyone else wakes up?"

Kirito's mind was filled with questioning herself if she should tell them all what the situation was, or if she should deal with it herself. As she swam in those thoughts, a nurse gently took her by the shoulder and brought her back into her hospital room. After Kirito was sat back on the bed, the back of the bed raised so she could look at everyone normally, she realized there was a couple more faces, both she didn't recognize.

"The man in the full business suit that isn't Shiro and Shino-chan's father is the man who helped me find you. You'll be needing to inform him of the situation. I'll let him introduce himself."

A surprising comment from Ela through the AR device let Kirito know that he was an expected visitor. The other person in a less formal business attire beside him was concerning however.

"Well, first things first – congratulations on clearing Sword Art Online. Your fight with that horrible man was incredibly heroic."

The comment was from the nurse. She apparently was going to lead the new conversation.

"Secondly, I need to check on whether you are mentally all here. You were trapped for nearly two years, so we're going to make sure you're mentally sound. This process won't be entirely done here as it would otherwise take too long, but while I remove your IV it will help to know your mental state."

Kirito answered some basic questions after that. She was a little rough on handling what her name was at first. In the end, she was Kazu outside of her online experiences. Online she was Kirito. She was mentally sound outside of her name. Her only major health issue was the degrading of musculature which she would be dealing with over time. After a second nurse brought in some light, easy to eat food on a tray for her, Kazu was alone with her aunt, Shiro and his parents, and two men she had yet to properly meet. She had heard the voice of the man who found her before, but it was the first time seeing him so she needed to get used to matching the face and voice.

"I have today off work Kazu-chan, so I'll be here with you all day if you need any help. So let me know if you need help with anything."

Her aunt ensured that she would be able to support her all day which was very comforting to her. It was relieving that she would have a familiar face to see and talk to all day.

"Unfortunately we need to go to work soon, but Shiro will also be able to stay all day. It's really relieving to see you up and better than when we last spoke, Kazu-chan."

Shiro's father was a little more formal than Kazu was used to him being, but he wore a genuinely warm and happy expression as he said he was relieved.

"I got to see you a lot while you were stuck, but even though you were mostly helping me help you while you were in there, even though I wasn't much help, I owe it to you to help as much as possible where I can. Especially now that you're out."

Shiro was the same as he had been in Aincrad. He was spirited, energetic and ready to give his all in helping. He was a little clumsy like his mother, but when he got his feet firmly under him, when he got himself figured out, he was just as fierce as she had been.

"Greetings, Kazu-kun. I'm Kikuoka Seijirou from the emergency response program for the Sword Art Online incident. We have talked before through Ela-san's device you are still wearing. It's a pleasure to meet you properly now. When we have some time, I would like to go over some questions."

The final person gave a nod in greeting.

"Hello Kirigaya-kun. I am Noboyuki Sugou, a head director of Argus, the company which has taken over the assets of Sword Art Online. As you are the person to complete the game primarily, I have some business with you when you have the chance to speak in private."

After getting introductions out of the way, Kazu got farewell hugs from Shiro's parents before they left. She ate her meal very slowly, both because her body hadn't eaten in a long time and she needed to be careful she didn't push her body to do too much all at once. Ela gave her little warnings when she was pushing herself too much, so it helped her with not exerting herself too much. Shiro made adjustments for the bed if Kazu's back was in pain or she needed to let her feet down he would help her move. Her aunt was meanwhile on water duty and making sure her cup of water wasn't too full or empty. She did more, rubbing Kazu's back gently.

Before all that however, Kazu gave Kikuoka-san some time to ask his questions.

"It's great to see your face moving while talking with you Kirigaya-kun. I must ask about the days leading up to your completing of Sword Art Online, and what happened after you completed it. If there's any information you could provide to help get the rest of the people who were trapped to wake, it would be much appreciated."

Kirito nodded and began.

"Leading up to the end, we had a rough battle on the 70th floor of Aincrad – Sword Art Online. It wasn't as rough as it could have been thankfully due to accounting for the mistakes which were made. Thankfully, nobody was lost during any of the major battles. After the battle, Heathcliff-san...Akihiko Kayaba-san called me to his guild's headquarters due to a disagreement between myself and one of his commanders during the fight against the 70th floor boss. His commanders Kuradeel-san and Godfree-san had made a couple of mistakes which I had accounted for and were quickly made up for, however Kuradeel-san deemed it necessary to argue. During the confrontation with Akihiko-san at their guild's headquarters, he revealed what I had already had a feeling was the case. That he was the man who trapped us in the game. Following that, he gave me two options. Either face him in a duel to clear the game, or continue progressing normally to clear it. Thankfully within the game I was more than strong and fast enough to face him, so I accepted the duel. The duel, as I'm sure Ela-san made certain was seen by as many people as she could broadcast it to, you know the result and what happened. After...well, there was a supposed data image of himself he had set for whoever completed the game, which congratulated me and my guild on clearing the game. There were a few programmed responses, but the most important thing he said was that for winning the game, if I didn't hate what the world of Aincrad was, I was given the seed information to create more VR games in the future, to recreate my own risk-free version of the world."

Kazu's explanation was long winded and she took many small breaks to have a sip of water, to take a deep breath, to emphasize with her hands on what happened. She took small spoonfuls of soup as well to make sure she was still eating once in a while.

"Great! You've already provided a lot of information. Is there anything else you can think of? Did he say anything about the log out procedure? If anyone had been logged out already during the congratulations and closing?"

Kazu nodded and explained.

"Right, the program said that he had already logged out everyone but the members of my guild aside Shiro who is here with us. Shiro probably logged out on his own since he was logging in through AR. The rest of the guild was with me at the end so we shared our real life names with each other so we could meet up in the future and spend time together. We had really gotten along well after all."

Kikuoka-san smiled and put away his tablet he was jotting all the information into and gave Kazu a smile which filled his face.

"Excellent. I'll work with Ela-san to figure out what I can and help how I can to wake everyone else up. And from myself, again, congratulations on clearing the game. It was nice to meet you properly Kirigaya-kun."

Kazu gave him a smile as he exited the room. Finally, the last visitor was Sugou Noboyuki.

"Would I be able to have that talk now?"

Kazu yawned a little then nodded.

"I'm a little tired, but I can talk with you. You wanted to talk in private right? I should be fine for a while aunty, Shiro."

Shiro gave Kazu a concerned expression before leaving the room and her aunt nodded and got up.

"Let us know if you need any help."

Kazu nodded again and the door was close behind her aunt and Shiro who likely waited on the other side. The room was silent aside the beeping of Kazu's heart monitor and a light hum from temperature control devices.

"As everyone has said multiple times, congratulations on beating Sword Art Online. I am personally very impressed with how thoroughly you trounced that criminal and made him pay for the deaths of thousands of people."

Kazu nodded and gave a gentle smile.

"Thank you."

Noboyuki continued on, walking a little bit forward so that he could lower his voice so that Kazu could hear without producing enough sound to alert anyone outside something was going on inside the room.

"Your skill within the virtual environment was truly splendid. It appeared that you didn't once use a system command other than to produce your other weapons within the space. Truly impressive. Beyond compare your activity within the virtual space is head and shoulders at the pinnacle of all who have tested VR to this day. I would like to offer you some work at my company, to teach people how you utilize such life-like skill within the virtual environment."

Kirito shook her head.

"Thank you for the opportunity, but I really think I should take a break from virtual environments for a while. What I did within Sword Art Online to be so life-like isn't anything special though. I just interacted with the virtual space normally after disabling the system guidance. It took a while to be able to fully trust myself using most weapon types without the system's guidance, but things like cooking and crafting were relatively easier. Fighting was natural since I had some training and experience with kendo and archery before diving into VR. As long as I used something I was comfortable with, I was fine."

Noboyuki gave a wide smile.

"Thank you for that most valuable information Kirito-san. Onto the next topic – would you by chance be interested in a more...interpersonal relationship? This wouldn't require a virtual space to interact in, however the beauty of such a young and powerful figure like yourself is a rarity. Many people have already sung your praises the world over for clearing Sword Art Online though it's only been a day since you cleared it. You have many fans online. I don't press this to discomfort you, but having yourself promised could tame the hoards of young men and women who might pester your online and in reality with relationship requests."

Kazu shivered a little once in a while during his proposition. Noboyuki appeared to be at least ten years older than her, he didn't exactly have a kind expression during his explanation for his purpose in proposing. Most of all, she already had someone she loved closer to her own age. Asuna filled her mind for a moment and calmed her before she gave Noboyuki a response.

"...as much as I appreciate your concern for my well being, I am already promised to someone. Not only that but such a relationship between us would be...illegal in most parts of the world so I would be careful about such propositions. I will put it aside for today but please refrain in the future from making such propositions to someone who is still in their school years."

Noboyuki straightened himself up, loosening the tie around his neck and he gave her a snide grin.

"Such things are a very minimal issue. Remember me if you decide to change your mind. Oh, and if you have any interest in another virtual world to immerse yourself in, feel free to try out my game, ALfheim Online. It's not a death trap like SAO since people have been playing it for months already just fine, there's magic, faeries and the like, and you could even experience flying. Quite a wondrous experience and I believe you would be simply stunning flying around there. Again, if you change your mind and want my assistance with anything, let me know. Here's my business card. Contact me if you ever need to inquire something of me."

Kazu felt like she was sucker punched in the gut when she heard him mention ALO. From there, she wanted to scream out that he was the one who trapped the rest of the SAO victims who should be free already. It was like his arrogant, self absorbed expression was taunting that he was out of her reach to challenge. They weren't in a virtual space, she was basically crippled due to her body being weak from lack of activity for 2 years, and he was a significant public figure. She couldn't just attack him and label him a criminal right away without proof.

"Oh right, one last thing. I have a fiance already, around your age. It wouldn't be such a strange thing for you to have accepted, but I really shouldn't press this further for risk of you bringing this to law enforcement. I do hope you come around. After all, I believe you would love the person who is engaged to me."

He cackled softly enough it was just enough to make Kazu more afraid of him.

After Noboyuki left the room, Kazu practically melted into the bed. She tapped into the AR device with her mind and reached out to Ela.

"What's up?"

"Hi Ela-san. Were you paying attention to the conversation with Noboyuki-san?"

Ela gave a brief pause before her answer.

"No, but I can check back through the AR device if you want me to."

"Please."

It took a few minutes. Ela must have checked back through the entire conversation a couple times to make sure she heard everything right and didn't miss anything.

"Well then..."

"What do you think?"

Ela took her time thinking about it.

"He's a pedophile. And honestly I dug into information on him based on what was said. He's someone who was fairly acquainted with Akihiko-san. He very much disliked Akihiko-san and stole whatever he could. He's got a lot of shady dealings with unsavory people. As far as his fiance..."

Ela went silent after getting started on the fiance topic. It was already wise of Kazu to deny him what she did.

"Is it someone I know?"

Ela sighed and began to explain.

"Noboyuki Sugou is well acquainted with the Yuuki family who own Argus enterprises. Due to Argus suffering heavy financial losses and Noboyuki contributing to the financial stability through shady dealings, he formerly not on well terms Noboyuki and only daughter of the owner of Argus enterprises have been engaged through an arranged marriage between Noboyuki and said daughter, Asuna Yuuki. The arranged marriage is to take place before her passing should she not wake from the deemed coma by health experts taking care of her, so that the company falls into Noboyuki's hands when the owner retires."

Kazu went through a silent internal struggle. She wanted to scream. She wanted to jump out of the bed and do everything she could to rip that man apart with her own hands. She wanted to protect Asuna, but she couldn't just label him a villain and have it taken care of. She couldn't just use her hero status, condemn him and have it be believed. She needed to prove his guilt. Was he really the guilty one? Or did he work for someone?

"Link, start."

Those words sent Kazu's body into a state of sleep, and she connected directly to her body which inhabited ALO. She sprinted out of the inn and immediately she was stopped by a familiar figure. It wasn't Recon who she was still in a party with even though he was currently offline, likely still at school. The familiar face was of Ela, who was clothed in the undine race colours of light blue and white. She used a shield spell to trap Kirito where she was before she could take off.

"I need to save them! It's not fair for me to be out and them not! I need to save Asuna! I need to find proof to bring down that Noboyuki! Why are you stopping me?!"

Ela wore a calm, comforting expression.

"Don't look at me like that!"

"Kirito-chan, calm down. Remember, I am blind so I can't even remember what kind of expression I'm making that you're seeing. You need to calm down and remember what kind of situation this is. We need to be careful, especially since Noboyuki knows what you look like. I will help you. You're a precious resource. You're someone with a bright future ahead of you, someone who can help change the world for the better. I need you to be careful though so someone like him doesn't ruin your chance at a fulfilled life. Let me plan things out for us. You need to start recovering. We'll take on the main challenge of this game together. He's not able to do anything drastic for a while anyways, so while it would be optimal to get the rest of the SAO victims out as soon as possible, we have some time to set them free without risking anything of ourselves."

Kirito cried a frightening amount of tears, subject to the full might of her emotions within the virtual environment. She covered her face with her hands, crouched down and hugged her knees to her chest.

"What happened to being safe? About taking care of yourself being the top priority? You were the one who reminded every person in SAO every day that they needed to keep in mind what they would do with themselves when they get out."

Kirito sobbed and Ela placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, eventually hugging her in a light embrace.

"The first plan is to get you fully comfortable with flying here as far as work in here, because even if you're slightly used to it already, it takes a while for even a natural to be fully acquainted with their wings here. Secondly, we'll get to the world tree's surrounding town. Third, we'll gather a party of a total of four people, so two others. Shiro will be among our party, and your companion from last night. We need to get them ready for the fight too. We'll do it normally, and we'll defeat this game in a way that doesn't get you too much attention too quickly. We'll also work around Noboyuki's schedule so that he won't be able to catch you and stop us before we reach the goal. We need to plan, to be careful. We have time, so let's make use of it. Alright?"

Kirito sobbed heavily once more before Ela gave a firm nod to her raised face. The bright red, tear stained face of Kirito was a rare thing. She wasn't an all powerful, totally dominating character. She was another person, another human with flaws. She had potential to be great, but was still young. She was in a hurry to do something that would take time.

"For now, since you're already logged in, let's get you somewhere we can practice your flying."

The rest of the evening, Ela taught Kirito how to fly properly. And Kirito's impatience to save the others simmered down.