"I really hope Asuna received Kiin properly last night..."
Kazu patted her forehead clean of sweat from her morning exercise. She was getting stronger and stronger much faster with her physical body. The virtual one was already incredibly powerful, but it was amazing to feel so much more when her physical body was catching up. And she was maintaining her slim figure while she was exercising. She wondered if it would be good for her to stay slim or if she should let her body fill out a bit while she was feminizing on hormone therapy.
"Ah, up and at it early this morning too, Kazu-chan. You've been recovering phenomenally. In fact, you've been recovering so well that you have been cleared to go home. You can go home later today in fact. How does that sound?"
Kazu blinked a few times at the nurse who had been looking after her rehabilitation, and balked when she realized what that meant. Kazu was free to return home and to a semi-normal life. But it also meant she could go more full-force into her work on freeing the others until she was allowed back in school.
"Don't forget though, you do have a lot of work to be doing toward your recovery. Just because you're exercising a lot, doesn't mean you're fully recovering. You need to start eating more after you get back home. We can't supply you the big meals that would expedite your recovery here, but while you're at home you can eat some more should your family provide the food you hunger for. Also, if you lack the hunger, it's okay to eat when you aren't hungry. Just don't overindulge until you are full."
The nurse shook her head when she realized how overboard it was.
"I know it's kind of pointless saying all of this to you however. You are a brilliant mind who managed to save so many people, who knows well the balances to living healthily. I'm certain you will be just fine. I'm cheering for your full recovery, Kazu-chan."
The nurse watched over Kazu between checking things off on her work tablet. The cool down stretches she did while patting away the sweat she had accumulated from her exercise was very relaxing just to watch. If the nurse wasn't going to be busy with many more patients, she would be inclined to join in on Kazu's exercises.
"Now that I think about it, I guess I am feeling well enough to return home. Maybe for the past three days I've felt strong enough. It's hard to believe I've been rehabilitating for a week. It took a lot of time. But 2 years of not moving this body really took away a lot of the strength I had. I should really get back to my archery and kendo so that I make sure my full strength is back...as much as exercising and stretching helps to bring back my ability to move and flexibility, it's difficult to judge my strength."
The nurse shook her head.
"You have very high expectations of yourself. I just hope after leaving here the next time you come back is to check in on Suguha-chan and Shino-chan. No coming back here with your own injury. Don't push yourself hard enough to warrant bringing yourself back here. Lethal injuries might be recoverable in a virtual world, but they can't be here. I just hope you keep that in mind going forward."
Kazu nodded her head.
"Does aunty know about bringing me home later yet? Or can I be the first to tell her?"
The nurse smiled and shook her head.
"She hasn't been informed yet. You are the first. If you want to let her know first, then now's the chance. Or I'll call her for you."
Kazu grinned and tapped a button on her virtual dashboard in front of her to connect to her mobile phone service. The service connected directly into her AR device. It was excessively handy. The sound from her aunt would fill the room since she left phone calls on speaker function of the device.
The ringing tone rang out as soon as she pressed one more virtual button and one one ring went out before the sound of rustling came from the other end and her aunt's voice.
"Hello?"
"Hi aunty! It's Kazu. I just got the news that I'll be able to leave the hospital today. When you would usually be here for your visit you can bring me home."
There was a short silence before she responded.
"That is amazing news Kazu-chan! I can be by earlier today if you want to come home as soon as possible."
"Nn-nn. I'd like to visit with Sugu and Shino like usual before I leave for home. I might not be able to visit regularly for a bit, so I want to visit with them one more time before I'm back at home."
"Then that gives me some time to prepare something for later. Thank you for calling me. You're making me very proud for recovering so fast. Congratulations~!"
"Thank you aunty!"
The call hung up from her aunt's end and then Kazu ended the call.
"How...?"
Kazu grinned at the nurse again.
"My mobile phone is connected to this AR device – augmented reality device. It has a good amount of sound projection that I wanted to test. It worked really well. This device was created by the woman called Ela-san. She contributed to a lot of outside information while we were stuck in SAO, and she was the one who projected my final battle against Akihiko-san to the world."
The nurse sighed.
"As much as I appreciate what she has done to help so far, I think it would be wise to not be using virtual or augmented reality technology for a while..."
Kazu shrugged.
"I know, it's only a little. I'm just testing how this all works. As much as it might be scary going into the future where virtual and augmented reality will be everywhere regardless what happened in SAO, I have to get used to it. So I'm getting used to it. The convenience is amazing so far."
She felt a twinge of guilt inside, but it was for a reason. She couldn't be truthful yet about her current situation. The nurse didn't know about what was going on with ALO, she didn't know about the rest of the people who were still stuck, were stuck in another environment. Spreading it around would only make the situation more difficult to deal with. Any additional people who would know of the situation would make it more difficult for her to do the work she needed to. To save those she hadn't succeeded in saving.
After the nurse decided she was done doing her checkup and making sure Kazu was informed on what she needed to be, she left the room. Kazu sat on the chair next to the bed and buried her face in her hands. She felt the guilt eat at her that she had to lie to keep using the technology she was. She could have just kept it hidden, but it was more convenient and would have saved the effort from her being so drained after her exercising and cool down stretching.
"I should get myself cleaned up...I wonder if Kiin managed to find anything."
Kazu was stretched thin having her mind dragged in multiple directions. Needing to juggle attempting to get back into a normal life, saving the rest of those who were still trapped, ensuring that she didn't use technology too openly, ensuring within ALO that she wasn't going to be discovered in spite of her many anomalies within ALO so she could rescue everyone, and the well being of Asuna and the rest who were trapped there.
Kazu had asked for Kiin to search for Asuna, to deliver a message if he could find her. The message that she should be able to make an attempt at reaching her very soon. To hold on and wait if she didn't have a way out, or to send a reply if she did have a way on working her way out.
Kazu mostly wanted to know how they were doing, if they were more trapped than before or if they were accessible. She wanted to know what kind of situation they were going to be dealing with when they would arrive in Alne. Gaining access to Kiin was pivotal in gathering information. Kiin was saved to her account, so Kazu wouldn't lose him regardless what would happen to him.
She shook herself off, stood up and grabbed her change of clothes, brought them to the washroom. She cleaned herself off as if nothing was wrong. There was a couple of things which were "wrong" though. The thinness at being skin and bones from being without exercise for a long time before the last week, a lack of growth which would eventually come, and something that didn't exist where she had become more comfortable. Feeling it there felt foreign, it felt unnecessary and in the way. It was uncomfortable.
She hurried through her shower and changed into her change of clothes, because being in the shower and confronting what she was no longer comfortable of consistently made her want to avoid the confrontation as much as possible. Being in cute feminine clothes which hid what she no longer identified with was so excessively relieving that she often took a big sigh of relief when she would see herself in the mirror and be able to know it was herself she was looking at.
She wondered about getting her hair cut a bit, but she was gifted a new scrunchy by Shiro and a new hair bangle. Those paired together helped with keeping her hair from being a nuisance. Going into SAO, her hair had reached her butt. Now it went past her knees in length. It was entirely unreasonable to keep hair that long, but if it would work, she would make it work. It was a lot of work to maintain long hair, keep on drying so much hair after washing it, making sure to get rid of all the knots, making sure it was all clean. There was so much to it, that making it shorter might be a good idea, but she related short hair in her mind to the fool she could have been had her life been different. And having long hair made her feel closer to her mother.
She knew she wouldn't be able to keep her hair uncut forever. She would need to get it trimmed once in a while to clean off the dead ends, and eternally keeping her hair growing would be troublesome. At some point she would at least need to get her hair back to butt length. Having such long hair was too much work to maintain with a busy schedule. And she wouldn't be slowing down for a very long time into the foreseeable future.
The thought that she might lose something that made her similar to her mother was rough, but she was gaining aspects with her real body which made her more similar to her mother. After pulling herself together, Kazu took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for visiting Sugu and Shino. She was going to be giving them extra AR devices which were delivered by Kikuoka-san, the man with the recovery division who was in contact with Ela. With the AR devices connected to them, if they weren't unconscious within the virtual space, she would be able to communicate with them. She would be able to ask what the situation was, but after a week of not being in touch, she was afraid of them yelling at her for not being able to get in touch sooner.
She took another deep breath, holding the AR devices in her hands and walked out of the room with certain steps. She moved over to their room with ease, and knocked at the door before entering, closing after she let herself in. She went up to Suguha first, placing the AR device receptors to where they needed to be, and then moved over to Shino. After securing them in place, she gave the devices the vocal command.
"Pair."
The devices gave a gentle chime sound which echoed their tiny sounds through the quiet room a little before facing.
"Paired."
The notification Kazu received from her own device told her that the devices would have connected to Suguha and Shino as well. She received visual notification that their devices were on and communicable and she let out a breath she had been holding on for a long while enough to make her light headed.
She prodded them with a message to each of their devices. This apparently surprised them as Kazu heard a pair of shouts.
"What's this?!"
"Shiiiiiii..."
The shout was Suguha, while Shino's voice tried to shush her.
"Quiet, please Leafa-chan."
Leafa sighed and waited for Shino to continue.
"...am I right to guess this is the person who was talking to Kirito in SAO?"
"No, because this is Kirito. Ela-san is going to have me go to certain members of our guild and link them up to the AR network so we can more easily communicate without getting someone else involved. She needed some time to get the devices to me so I could put them on everyone we had in mind. We want to get as much information as possible about where you're currently trapped so we can free you without making any unnecessary risks."
Shino looked at Leafa in disbelief at what she was hearing.
"What do you mean? What are you doing on that side?"
Kazu smiled and the smile came through her voice brightening her tone.
"Ela-san tracked down where everyone is irl, where their bodies are sleeping while their minds are still trapped. I'm out, but very few of the people from SAO made it out. Because I'm out and I'm recuperated enough and in the same country as our guild, she wants me to make use of the relaxed watch there will be on me while I'm preparing to go back to school. That way I can link you all in to AR devices. Unfortunately they can't negate the negative effects of the VR headsets, but at least we would be able to communicate and get information that might help us get you free for good this time."
Shino and Leafa were excited to hear that there was an active plan, that Kazu was working on getting them free still and not trapped along with them. It was one thing to hear it from Asuna, but hearing it directly from Kazu made them more comfortable.
"So, is there anything that you can tell me about the situation on your end? Any details that could help me get you out? Or maybe something about the people who have you trapped?"
Shino put a finger to Leafa's mouth but she pushed Shino's hand down, looked around to make sure they were clear to explain and not be caught. She found no movement that would disrupt the conversation, no guards in sight.
"Asuna is able to sneak out of her cage and her stealth skill was able to help her get some information, and she's been able to get us back into a communication group. If you can log into this game...whatever this game is, then we can give you more information more easily through text, and Asuna can tell you everything. She's coming up with a plan to get us out, so at least we haven't been doing nothing but wait for you to get us out."
Kazu's smile deepened. She felt a deep pride that carrying Asuna through leveling her stealth had been made useful.
"I know what game you're in and I've been working my way along with Ela-san, Shiro and another party member who joined us. Can you tell me what kind of area you're in so I know we're heading in the right direction?"
Leafa brightened up.
"We're on top of a giant tree's branch inside of a white cage. Basically all we can see is leaves, but when security comes by or another annoying person from the trunk of the tree, it's like a hospital, all bright and white. We're so high up that when we look down we can't see the ground through clouds and when there aren't clouds in the way, everything it too small to make out."
Kazu's smile widened and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"I've already learned so much useful information. I'll be in there again tonight so please be sure you'll be awake when I get in there. We're getting close to the world tree, which is where you are from what you've said. I'm hoping that I'll be able to fly up to where you are in the tree, but what you just said is making me think I might not be able to make it high enough to skip the dungeon inside of the tree."
Leafa and Sinon cast their gazes down.
"How hard is the dungeon inside of the tree supposed to be?"
Kazu gathered herself before relaying the condensed information she had about the tree challenge.
"It's basically a gauntlet of thousands of high level guard monsters that are to be fought in aerial combat. It's already rough enough that most people have trouble fighting well while flying in this game, but to fight guards which just one could take on several regular fighters makes the situation seem grim. At least, I wouldn't need to worry about dying this time around so I could keep challenging it until I overcome it, but it would be rough. It hasn't been beaten yet after being online for a few months. But then, it is the primary objective of the game. I might be able to get into a big group who are going to try and beat the challenge soon, but I honestly don't think anyone is prepared enough. Ela-san is powerful but two of us won't be enough for so much of a fight, not three either. Maybe if we had a hundred at our level would we be able to overcome the challenge, but it's...again, grim."
Leafa and Sinon were in silence after hearing how difficult it was looking like it would be. Did they have any hope at all?
"But if Asuna can get enough information about what's going on with the other trapped people share her visual feed with me or Ela-san, we could get everyone out without needing to challenge the tree. Ela has reason to believe that a significant number of the people who were abducted from SAO are being used for researching mind control."
That sent horrid chills through Leafa and Sinon, they slumped to the floor of their cage with their eyes wide in horror at what their comrades, their friends could potentially be suffering.
"If most of the guild is in your communication loop, then everyone who can communicate is probably not being used for the mind control experimenting, and those who are being used might not suffer lasting effects. Ela-san has been pretty clear about what is and isn't a risk we're facing."
"W-what's going on in here?"
The surprising sound of Klein's voice snapped Kazu out of her focus on the conversation with Suguha and Shino. Klein being accompanied by Kazu's nurse made her panic.
"I'm sorry...I need to get back to you later. Something came up."
"It's okay, whenever you can."
That signaled the end of the call, and Kazu was left to face the situation of revealing some of the things that needed to be kept secret. It was great to see Klein again though. She hadn't seen him in over a week, and she hadn't seen him outside of Aincrad yet.
"It's good to see you again, Klein. I was talking with Leafa and Sinon just now. Ela-san and I are trying to get as much information as we can so that we can save everybody who has still been trapped. We have no intention of stopping. Everyone else deserves to be out and home too after all. I can't stop."
"I know that you would be like that Kirito, and you don't need to explain to me."
The nurse wasn't having it though.
"You need to take a break for a good long while though. Why do you insist on pushing yourself so much Kazu-chan?"
Klein balked when he remembered where he was.
"Oh right, we're not in game...my name is Tsuboi Ryoutaro. You can call me Ryo though. Your name...well, I already know because Ela-san told me how to get in contact with you. I hope it's okay for me to call you Kazu-chan too."
Kazu nodded in response.
"Please don't ignore me."
The nurse sighed after saying that.
"I'm sorry, miss nurse. The thing is though, she's not the type to stop until she's done with something. She's still not done. She takes breaks for her health, so she'll be fine. I was able to recover nice and quick because I learned how to pace myself from her. I won't be in top condition for a while yet, but she's going to be in top condition in no time."
"She should leave getting the rest of the people who are trapped to people who haven't spent so much time in virtual reality."
Kazu sighed and faced her head on.
"My goal in Sword Art Online was to free everyone. My job isn't done until everyone is free. I know you're worried about me as a medical professional, but I can't stop. And I am needed for this. If I don't do my part, then the others can't be free."
She sighed and shook her head.
"...I understand, but your health should come first."
Kazu gave her a sharp stare to give the full reason since she wasn't convinced yet.
"I need to get them out as soon as possible, because honestly it was revealed by in depth information mining that where they are trapped, they are being used for human experimentation. If they aren't freed as soon as possible, they might not be themselves when they get out, or they are unlikely to survive. I need to save them before something critical happens to them. I can't stop."
Ryo put a hand on her shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.
"I'll be with you, Kazu-chan. Ela-san has me updated and I've been working on catching up. We'll be fine. We'll get through this. We'll save everyone. Oh right, and Agil-san is also in on this."
The nurse shook her head and turned to leave the room.
"Good luck with rescuing the rest of your friends and family. I will refrain from telling authorities that you're going back into VR. You've convinced me, but please remember to value yourselves and keep progressing your rehabilitation."
She left the room and Kazu was left with Ryo along with Suguha and Shino's unconscious bodies. Ryo turned to look at them and Kazu fixed her gaze on them as well.
"They really are beautiful. Your family right?"
Kazu nodded her head.
"Shino is my childhood best friend, who I've had varying levels of feelings for over time, but she's more like a sister now. Suguha is my closest cousin, we grew up together, the three of us. We did a lot together, shared a lot. They'll be out soon. I'm a little worried about you being with them while they're defenseless on this side, so let's go back to my room."
Ryo gaped at her.
"Wha-why?"
"You've flirted with them before, and myself. I have confidence I can keep you in check, but I'm not sure I can hold you back here as easily as there as far as protecting them. Let's go."
She grabbed him by the wrists and dragged him to her room, sitting across from each other on visitor chairs.
"I'm not like that anymore Kazu-chan...you helped me grow up a lot. I think I could find someone properly following some of your leads. I feel attacked that you don't believe in me..."
Kazu grinned and leaned back.
"I believe in you, and it was an act. I was checking out the room for surveillance. There was a hidden camera in there. I'll pluck it out before I get to leave later. There was a hidden camera in here too which is why I had a feeling there would be one in their room. I forgot about it at first, but it was something I needed to make sure of."
Ryo shook his head.
"You notice everything don't you?"
"Not everything."
"Close enough."
Both of them stifled their laughter.
"It's good seeing you again, seriously. You look healthy. Like you haven't changed since Aincrad. Or better. Like the resolution is up...obviously. Please take it as a compliment from a friend, you are seriously beautiful and Asuna-san is lucky to have you."
Kazu blushed a little.
"Th-thank you...I really appreciate it Ryo. It felt like I lost most of the people important to me for a while, but you and Agil are going to be helping too...that gives me a lot more confidence. I needed more of that."
"I'm glad to be of help! We've gotta make sure everyone's free after all. We promised a long time ago that we would free everyone together. We're both not done until everyone is free."
Kazu nodded.
"Oh yeah! Did you hear about a few of the Laughing Coffin guys breaking out of their isolation? That's mega scary. Hopefully the police catch them soon. It's really cool that Ela-san was able to have most of them secured so they can be punished for their crimes. But seriously, those guys being free is scary, especially after breaking out. They can't have any good intentions if they went so far."
Kazu stared in shock.
"Really?"
Kazu accessed the online news from her AR device and scrolled through recent until she found it. The faces of the laughing coffin members wouldn't ring any bells to her, but seeing them made her skin crawl. They had hidden their faces from as early as they were able. Of course she wouldn't recognize them. But seeing the crazed expressions was more frightening than the emotionless masks.
"I agree, hopefully they get dealt with as soon as possible so they don't hurt anybody else."
Their conversation continued on, and eventually Kazu was brought home by her aunt, removing the hidden security from Suguha and Shino's room before leaving. Ryo made her feel a lot better, and informed her on something else that needed to be worried about.
Was there no end to the worries she might need to face after her time in there?
