Elision


With a powerful blow, Liz and I had sent The Strict Hermit flying into the furthest wall with a crash. I grinned victoriously and helped my little sister keep her balance; she'd put all of her strength into the swing, and was almost going to fall over before I gently placed my hands on her shoulders. "Careful, I gotcha." I only steadied her until she got her feet under her and could stand without my assistance.

"Thanks," she murmured, punching my shoulder just lightly enough to not do damage. "And good job to you too, Big Bro."

The background music faded away, and I automatically glanced up at the clock. Hey, three minutes left still. Go team! At this rate, the boss should die in another two minutes if we all pile on it. As a strange, dual-tone hum filled the air, I scanned for the source in confusion - and saw that the platform of crystal Yuna was standing on was glowing an amethyst color that matched the lights that shone when she arrived. Is something going on?

When she started singing again, the music taking a slightly ominous turn as the fans that had already lost cheered, my eyes narrowed. "A music change?" I muttered, mostly to myself.

"You say something?" Liz asked me.

I shook my head absently. "Don't worry about it, just focus on the boss..." Still, it was strange. I could forgive the others for not realizing it; that was really only a thing in older RPGs these days. Asuna didn't play games before SAO, Liz was more of a casual gamer, Argo focused on MMOs, and Silica was just too young... But a music change when we reached a milestone in a fight, especially to something darker, maybe a minor key? That almost always meant something bad was going to happen.

"Move in! Everyone, attack!" At some player's shout, the more reckless players charged in. I was glad to see that Liz and Silica weren't among them, the two of them giving the boss a respectful distance. They knew the danger SAO bosses faced.

To our right something appeared, and I turned to look; a glowing sigil in the sky appeared, blue light streaming from it. My eyes narrowed. Was this what the music cue was for? "What the?" Liz gasped, she and Silica turning to look.

"Think it's a boss?" Argo murmured beside me, her claws at the ready.

"Dunno," I murmured. "They're usually red gates..."

A glob of something blue, almost like water, dropped out of the spinning blue glyph. Instead of splattering when it hit the ground, though, it bounced a little bit off the ground and then burst. It was an egg, almost; what hatched from it, though, wasn't a boss at all.

Instead, a familiar Feathered Little Dragon was sitting on the ground. ...What.

...Pina? No matter how I looked at it, the little dragon sitting on its haunches to the side of the battle looked completely identical to Silica's tamed pet. It hopped up and down a few times, screeching for attention.

Silica visibly brightened at the sight of her beloved friend. "Pina!" she cheered. Everyone grinned at the sight of the cute dragon, Liz lowering her mace and shield. Even Argo giggled as she brushed against me lightly. Still, I didn't loosen my grip on my dagger.

"It's tiny," one guy said with a grin as Liz let out a happy sigh.

Silica rushed over to say hello to her friend. With a giggle, she knelt down in front of it and offered her hand to Pina. "Did you come to help us fight?"

The first sign that something was wrong - aside from the music, I mean - was when Pina hopped back from Silica and flared its wings in a threat display, hissing at her. Silica jerked her hand back, letting out a confused and hurt noise as she stared at the growling monster. "Silica...?" I murmured.

Abruptly everything changed. A red light shone from the Feathered Little Dragon - because it clearly wasn't Pina at this point - and it started to grow, expanding rapidly into a massive dragon looming over Silica. The poor girl whimpered in fear as the dragon roared, shaking those of us watching.

The new monster was huge, easily two or three times my own height. Red eyes gleamed menacingly from above, set in a head covered in dark scales. Two long whiskers trailed from its jaw. It had a red underbelly, and was standing on its hind legs; with the two arms in the air, that meant it was a quadruped. Four wings flapped, a wicked-looking spike topping the joint. The wings were thin, blood-red membranes that shouldn't have been able to support a creature of that size, but probably would.

"Dad! Mom!" Din said suddenly, the little fairy appearing from behind us and pointing at the monster. "I recognize that from Yui's memories! It's Dorz'l The Chaos Drake, boss of Floor 91!"

"Ninety-what?!" I yelped. "Silica, run!"

The girl shrieked in panic, obeying my command automatically. She moved just in time, because Dorz'l bent its long, serpentine neck to snap at her. Its jaws slammed shut right behind her. "Silica!" Liz shouted. "This way!"

I glanced behind me. The Strict Hermit was already back on its feet, the stun period from my and Liz's intense blows over. A few players, running from the dragon, got too close to the crab and were crushed by its massive claw. Crap... two bosses? And one at full health? This is insane! And we have a four-minute time limit...

The raid was in shambles, the living players scattering. I gritted my teeth as order disintegrated. Escape? No, players interested in watching the fight but not actually fighting were clogging the exits, forming a living barrier that would prevent us from leaving. The walls on either side wouldn't work either, though maybe...

Dorz'l opened its maw, pausing in its chase of Silica - and the inside of its mouth started glowing red. Breath attack! Fireballs launched from its maw, flying over Silica's head as she kept running desperately. "What'd I do, what'd I do, what'd I do!" she screamed.

Asuna ran up to me. "Rythin!" she shouted. "What's going on?!"

I shook my head wildly. "I have no idea! But..." My mind whirled quickly. Not much time, just gotta go with my gut. Like that time on the second Floor - simplify the equation by removing the boss. "Asuna, go save Silica. Liz, Argo, with me, we're killing the Hermit!" Asuna and I were the only two fast enough to reach Silica; but I was a better fighter than she was in AR. I could kill it faster.

A chorus of agreement met me as Liz and Argo ran to fight the crab, and I turned to glance at Silica one last time before moving to engage the weaker boss - and I winced as she slammed face-first into someone's chest. Should always look where you're running... Then I realized who she'd run into. Eiji, the number two player. She said something, and he -

- reached out and shoved her, hard. My eyes widened, and I snarled, intending to do something about it... But I couldn't. "Silica!" Asuna shouted, running to save our friend. I was torn between going to help the others and helping Silica... but in the end Argo shouted a cry of challenge at The Strict Hermit and I had to trust that Asuna would help her.

Turning, I raced towards The Strict Hermit. I have to kill it as soon as possible. It tore at me to turn my back, especially after I heard the dragon roar and the chatter of gunfire coming from behind me. Fuck... I need to end this quickly and help my sisters!

I ducked past Liz, dodging the head of her mace easily as she swung at the boss's legs. "You're keeping me from them!" I snarled under my breath before plunging my dagger into the boss's left eye. The Strict Hermit let out a cry of pain and focused on me.

Perfect.

It tried to smash me with its claw and I grinned fiercely, parrying the blow with my dagger. The claw slid to the side with the sound of screeching metal, sparks flying freely from the blade, and I quickly slashed downwards at the exposed joint. The blow easily severed the massive limb, and my grin widened as the claw hit the ground with a crash. The boss didn't seem too pleased with my attack, not that I cared; I lashed out with a blow that slammed into the center of its upper body. The carapace cracked loudly.

Beside me, Argo darted in and her claws flashed out, slicing across the weakened armor and leaving red marks. As soon as she was out of the way, I stepped forward again and punched even harder, with my left hand. This time the blow completely pulverized the armor and knocked the boss upside down from the force of my attack. "Holy crap," Liz muttered as I shook my hand out.

The Strict Hermit's legs flailed pathetically as I approached it. I didn't bother with a quick quip or one-liner - instead, I just methodically aimed my dagger, waited, and then thrust my blade into its remaining eye. The boss let out a screech of pain before it froze, and I withdrew my dagger, flicking it to the side like I was trying to get blood off of the blade. I recognized this - it was the exact same thing that had happened to Kagachi The Samurai Lord and The Storm Gryphon.

The Strict Hermit exploded into a colorful spray of confetti that expanded outwards. After a second or two, it froze in midair, before the explosion reversed itself and imploded into a single point. Once it had collapsed on itself, the little bubble in midair popped, letting out a tiny spray of particle effects that quickly disappeared.

I'd killed it.

Still, I had no time to celebrate. "Asuna!" I turned around at Kirito's shout to see him racing toward me - and then past me. I whirled to see what was going on, only for my eyes to widen at what I found.

Asuna was lying in Silica's arms limply, all but motionless. I don't know what happened, but rage coursed through me and pushed me to utterly destroy whatever hurt her. Her Ordinal Scale equipment had disappeared, leaving her in her casual clothes, an orange shirt and a pair of tight black pants she wore with strappy sandals. She'd been defeated - probably by Dorz'l overhead. Silica was cradling Asuna and calling her name desperately, concern clear on her face even from here.

I don't even remember running through the flame blasts peppering us from above, but I blinked and I was kneeling by Asuna, next to Kirito. "Asuna!" he cried, gently supporting her head. "Are you okay?!"

Asuna's eyes trembled, and my fury exploded when I saw the trails of tears on her cheeks. Eiji. He did this. Slowly, Asuna moved her head - I couldn't tell if she was shaking her head or nodding - and her eyes fluttered open. She was staring past me -

- "You bastard," I snarled at Eiji. He was just standing there, watching over the four of us impassively. "Going to kill you!"

The viper within me hissed as I surged to my feet, fully intending on extracting a pound of flesh for whatever he'd done. Before I took a step, I froze at the pinprick of steel at my throat. His sword had leapt into his hand and was leveled straight at me, preventing me from moving. He'd moved so fast to close the distance between us that a blast of wind followed. I'd never experienced anything like that before, and I felt the wind tousle my hair.

I was tempted to just say fuck it and skewer myself to get close, this wasn't a real sword, but the animalistic part of me flinched at the close brush with death. It was just enough for my common sense to get a hold over my anger.

"You dick!" Kirito screamed, rising to his feet. Eiji's eyes flicked to him and the point of the sword shifted just slightly. I put out my arm to block Kirito from getting closer, and Eiji smirked faintly.

"You're pathetic," he said to Kirito. "You might have been the greatest swordsman in VR, but you're nothing in AR."

Smug bastard. "Looks like you can fight now, Nautilus," I sneered, the viper hissing in my ear. "Or is it just that you were too scared of dying back in SAO?" His smug expression cracked and I pressed the attack, darkly glad that I was able to hurt him like he hurt Silica and Asuna. "Number two in the game, I see. Guess you think you're pretty impressive, Nautilus."

"My name is Eiji, now," he growled out.

"Is that so, Nautilus?" I asked him. "Seems to me that you're just running away from your past. What's wrong, too embarrassed of how useless you were in Aincrad?"

I don't know why, but that last jab shattered his composure entirely. His expression twisted in total rage, and the hand holding his sword trembled, the point cold against my throat. Shit, he might actually try to kill me. Did I go too far? "Shut up!" he all but screamed.

Kirito suddenly pushed past me. "You son of a bitch!" he snarled, grabbing at Eiji. His hand closed on nothing but air; the instant he'd started to move, Eiji had flipped backwards in a graceful and entirely impossible acrobatic move. Kirito gritted his teeth, eyes wild with anger, and I prepared to attack the number two player in the game -

- when a slender hand wrapped around one of my fists. I twitched, startled, and looked to see Argo holding onto my right fist. She shook her head silently, and I gritted my teeth. I looked back at Asuna, taking in the sight of how she was lying limp in Silica's arms, before letting out a wordless snarl containing nothing but anger. Still, it vented enough, and the viper slowly started to settle down.

Because I'd turned my head, I saw Liz running towards us with a few players flanking her. She must have gathered reinforcements. "Hey, you!" the blacksmith shouted, waving her mace in the air. "Ever heard of game etiquette?!"

A trio of fireballs exploded at her feet, and I heard her shriek cut off. Liz! My hand tightened on my dagger so hard it felt like I was going to crush the hilt. Fire is everywhere, my sisters are getting hurt, and I can't do anything to protect them. I let out a shuddering breath, rage coursing through my body with every heartbeat as I glared daggers at Eiji. Even after another fireball smashed into the ground between us and Dorz'l landed heavily in front of us, I didn't break my stare.

The viper inside was hissing loudly, and I couldn't hear anything else. Just the hissing, driving me to kill Eiji for harming my family.

Dorz'l's head approached us, roaring -

- and then the dragon froze, all sound cutting out. It took a few seconds for the change to make it through my anger and hatred, but I looked at the clock. Time up.

"Time's up!" Yuna called out, snapping her fingers. Dorz'l immediately flapped its wings and lifted up in the air, growling, before turning around and flying off into the distance. "See you later!" she called cheerily, waving goodbye to the dragon. Looking back at Eiji, my lips twisted in a snarl as I realized he'd disappeared while we were all distracted.

"Wait!" Tiger Guy shouted. "What about the bonus!"

All of the players that weren't in our circle of friends and family shouted in irritation, chasing after the retreating form of the dragon. "Hey!" Liz exclaimed. "I thought you were going to help Asuna!"

Assholes.

With the sound of a machine powering down, the AR world faded away, revealing the real world underneath. It was perfectly fine - not a scratch on it, whether it had been from the crab smashing into the wall from the force of our blows or Dorz'l's explosive fireballs. I sheathed my dagger in irritation at Eiji's disappearance, before smoothing the emotion from my face.

Liz ran up to catch her breath, standing with the rest of us. "Asuna," she said hurriedly, "are you okay?"

Asuna was still lying limply - I don't know what happened, but it had drained her. It looked like it was hard for her to keep her eyes open, but she still tried to give Rika a small smile.

A light footstep behind me made me whirl. Yuna had hopped down from the stage and was striding towards us. "Congratulations," she said to me. "You beat the boss, Rythin. So here's your bonus~!"

Before she could kiss my cheek, I stepped back, putting distance between me and the AR idol. "Not interested," I said. Argo looked at me and nodded approvingly.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said before giving me a wink, a little pink heart floating out towards me. "Better luck next time, Asuna," she called out to my sister, who just watched her silently. After delivering another wink - another AR heart came out of this one too - to her, the usual pink light enveloped Yuna and she disappeared.

Once she was gone, it was just the six of us in the empty area. Asuna brought her hand to the ground and tried to stand up, Liz immediately kneeling by her side to prevent her from toppling. "I'm sorry, Asuna," Silica said, her voice thick. She was close to tears. "This is all because I was being stupid."

Asuna turned to look at Silica, and Liz clenched her fists, turning to me, Kirito, and Argo. The three of us were still standing. "Can you believe that number two guy pushed Silica like that?!" she exclaimed. I gritted my teeth - and didn't realize that my fist had clenched until Argo's cool hands tugged at my fingers, forcing them to spread out so she could hold my hand. "What an asshole!"

Now that Eiji was gone, Kirito seemed to have calmed down. "Nice save, Asuna," he said, walking over and kneeling down by her side. "That's another reason they made you second-in-command back in..." Asuna looked down at the ground without a word. "Hey, what's wrong?" my brother asked immediately. "Did you get hurt?"

Asuna jolted and shook her head, making a sound of denial. "No, it's nothing," she said, giving him a smile. It seemed a little forced, but then again, she was probably exhausted.

"Want me to take you home?" Kirito asked.

Asuna nodded her agreement. "We'll help you up," Silica said immediately.

"Hang on to my arm," Liz said. Together, the girls worked to get Asuna upright and on her feet. Once she was standing, she swayed a little bit, but didn't collapse, and I let out a small breath of relief. Her footsteps were a touch unsteady while Kirito carefully led her home, but she seemed more or less okay.

I let out a slow breath, closing my eyes and wrestling the viper back inside me. "Okay," I said slowly, turning to smile at Argo. She studied me for a few seconds and then nodded, even though her hand never left mine. "Liz, Argo, which of you wants a ride first?"

...

I parked my bike outside Kana's house, and both my girlfriend and I got off. It was late - she'd let Rika have the ride home first - and we were both exhausted. "Do... you want to stay, tonight?" she asked me, resting a hand on my arm.

Smiling, I pulled off my helmet and rested my forehead against Kana's. "Thanks for the offer, catling," I said, "but it'd probably be best if I get home. Don't want the parent to get worried, y'know?"

She giggled. "Gotcha. Hey... Why did you turn down the kiss on the cheek? Yuna's pretty, after all."

I blinked at her in confusion. "...Because I don't know her?" I half-replied, half-asked. "You know how I feel about people I don't know touching me."

Kana shrugged. "Yeah, I know. Still, I wanted to ask."

"A few other reasons, too," I said with a smile. "I didn't want Din to yell at me, for one."

"'Dad, no cheating on Mom!'" my girlfriend said with a sharp grin. "He's picked up more than hobbies from Yui, after all."

I laughed. "Yeah. Alright, catling, I have to get going. See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow, then," she said. "Love you, Nick. Sleep tight."

"Love you too. Night."

On the way home, I wondered idly. Part of my unthinking reaction to Yuna's advance had been because I was dating Kana, of course, and part of it had been because I just didn't want her to touch me. A third part, though, had been because I didn't know her. She wasn't one of my family, like Shino, Asuna, or any of the others.

...Thinking about it, I don't actually mind if my sisters kiss me on the cheek. It was just a display of affection, after all. Nothing more. …I think.


I didn't sleep very well. It wasn't surprising, considering the state that Asuna was in when she left last night. It took a while to fall asleep, and when I finally did I woke up several hours later. My eyes felt heavy and I groaned, sitting up. "Ugh, I hate it when I sleep like crap," I muttered to my cat. He blinked up at me before yawning widely and curling up tighter. "And good morning to you too," I said, petting him a few times.

After getting out of bed, my first and immediate task was to check my phone. I hadn't gotten any messages yet, but I was still worried; I was about to send Asuna a message when I remembered that I tended to wake up earlier than her on Sundays. After all, she had school the rest of the week, and she liked taking this morning to sleep in. I stared at my phone, and then decided that waking up Kazuto was a much better idea. I sent him a message asking if Asuna was okay, and then tossed my phone back on my desk and heading downstairs. I need breakfast.

When I got back after eating the omelet I cooked up, my phone was blinking. Immediately I grabbed it and swiped at the screen, nearly dropping my phone in my haste. Asuna had better be okay -

- I froze, staring at the message. 'Call me when you read this'. Just that, and only that. Not even his customary signature at the bottom of the message.

My breaths were coming rapidly, far too quickly, and I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to calm down. I couldn't... I didn't know there was anything wrong. Asuna was fine. She was just shaken from getting killed yesterday, that's all.

The phone in my hand rang a few times, and I put it on speakerphone so it could just sit on my desk. I needed to make sure it wasn't anywhere near my hands, since they were opening and closing convulsively. It kept ringing, and I glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes after nine...

"Hey."

I looked up at my phone, and a small gasp ripped out of my lungs. "Kazuto, it's me. Is everything okay with Asuna?"

Kazuto didn't answer right away, and my heart pounded. Finally, he said -

I stared at the phone, barely able to remember to breathe. Amnesia. 'Asuna's forgotten everything about Aincrad. She can't remember anything.' Asuna has amnesia. 'Not how we met, or how she and I bought the log cabin, or how we adopted Yui.'

My head spun, and I felt like I was going to fall over, even though I was sitting still. "Is she..." I paused when the words wouldn't come out, and forced myself to swallow. I need to know. "Are you at the hospital with her?" A small, distant part of me was impressed at how calm my voice sounded. Then again, the doctor from Yokohama North General Hospital knew us from our time with Y-Yuuki, so he'd take good care of them.

"Yeah," Kazuto said, his voice sounding tired and drained. How long has he been awake? "She went through the tests this morning. According to the doctor, she went through a limited memory scan that targeted her memories of SAO. He said that it happened because she was put in a situation that reminded her of SAO, which let the neurons be identified and scanned. And that's not all," he said. "There's been more players with symptoms like Asuna's, in the past few days. And guess what - they were all playing Ordinal Scale's event battles."

"The Augma, then," I said. "And the SAO bosses. When a player's defeated, they're reminded of death."

"Yeah," he said.

"And Asuna?"

Kazuto sighed. "The doc told her that there wasn't any sign of physical damage to her brain. His theory is that the electron pulses messed with her spine, so she can't recall the memories properly. But he needs more tests before he'll know more."

I realized that my hand was drumming the surface of the table repeatedly and pulled it away. "...And after Asuna left the room?" I asked him quietly. I could tell, just from how Kazuto said the words, that the doctor had more to tell him when Asuna wasn't able to hear.

"...He can't tell whether it's a glitch in the software, or a design feature," Kazuto said finally. "And that any SAO player runs the risk of losing their memories too. Be careful, Nick. I don't want you to get hurt."

I nodded, even though he couldn't see it. "I will be," I said. "Go ahead and warn the others. I'm... gonna go visit Klein pretty soon. See if he's got..."

"Got it," Kazuto said. "I'm gonna stay with Asuna for a while, but... I'll talk to him later. Let me know what you find out."

I swallowed. "Later, Kazuto. Give Asuna my love."

"I will. See you, Nick."

The call ended.

I was almost impressed at how calm and steady my voice had been through that entire conversation. My face felt cold, and my hands wouldn't stop shaking... Asuna's memories... She'd forgotten about -

I clamped my jaw shut, lurched from my seat, and ran. I barely made it into the bathroom in time, my stomach upheaving the second I was kneeling in front of the toilet. My earlier breakfast came back up as I vomited convulsively, my hands clenching the sides of the toilet bowl hard enough that anything less than porcelain would have cracked. The sour, acidic stink of the vomit wouldn't leave my nostrils the whole time.

The first heave was the food; the second the liquids I'd drank since waking up. I still wasn't done after the two, though, and a few dry heaves racked my body as my body tried desperately to reject whatever was making me so sick.

Too bad... It wasn't anything in my stomach that was causing this.

Once the heaving had stopped, I carefully stood up, ignoring my shaking hands, and wiped at my mouth and nose with a tissue to clean myself. At least I made it to the bathroom in time and hadn't vomited everywhere, so the rest of the cleaning was just flushing everything down the toilet. Once it was gone, I rinsed my mouth out repeatedly until only the memory of the smell remained - and then I stripped down and took a hot, hot shower.

When I emerged again, I felt almost normal again; but the viper inside was awake, and I had no intention of letting it go back to sleep. Klein should have some answers for me. And if he doesn't...

Well, I'll just have to cross that bridge when I come to it.

...

"Rythin!" Klein said with a smile. "Good to see you, buddy. Surprised you came all this way to visit me."

I offered him a faint smile. "You left something behind," I said, holding out the bandana I'd picked up a while ago. "Figured you might miss it."

"Hey, my bandana!" he exclaimed. "Thanks, man. Just lay it on the table over there."

I did as he asked, walking around his bed to rest the colorful fabric on the stand, next to the decorative vase of flowers. They must be the ones that come with the room. "How's your arm?" I asked him, glancing at the injured limb. His right arm had been messed up, according to Agil.

"Eh, it's not too -" Klein started to say, moving his arm to prove his words, before he cut off, hissing in pain. My eyes narrowed. "I feel worse about making you guys worry," he said, his voice shaky.

I nodded, and turned to stare out the window. "Klein. You trust me, right?"

"'Course I do," he said without hesitation. "We're friends, right?"

I chuckled softly. "Right. I'm gonna ask some awkward questions, then, if you don't mind."

"Go ahead," he said. I could see him grin at me in the faint reflection of the glass. "But I might not answer if they're too personal."

"Do you remember Aincrad? Everything that happened in SAO?"

He froze. I turned around to see him staring at me, eyes a little wide. He didn't reply, but his body language told me everything I needed to know. His head drooped a second later as he stared at his lap. "No..." he said. "If I try to think about it, it's like my head's stuck in this big-ass fog." Then he looked up at me. "But it's not like it was all fun and games for us, right? I dunno..." he sighed. "Maybe it's better I don't remember."

I nodded, not judging his answer one way or another. "What exactly happened, when you were injured? You were fine when Asuna and I left to fight the boss, and gone when we were finished. That gives us... roughly fifteen minutes that I don't know."

I nearly snarled the last word, but managed to keep the pulse of rage contained to just a quiet hiss. Klein watched me, but eventually nodded. "We were attacked by a boss," Klein said.

"An SAO boss."

"I'm pretty sure," Klein nodded. "Though... I don't know for certain. It was a stone ogre creature, and after I cut it, lava started pouring out. Sound familiar to you?" I nodded silently. It was from SAO, alright. Zehghi The Flame Caller, the Field Boss from the 11th Floor. "Okay... Well, the boys and I were fighting it, when someone attacked us from behind. It was that number two kid, Eiji. He took out everyone with one punch. He moved kinda like you, come to think of it, just faster."

My eyes narrowed. Eiji. Of course it was him. He'd been the one that pushed Silica over when she was being chased.

"I tried to kick his ass, but he was able to dodge every punch I threw," Klein sighed. "It was like the bastard could see the punches coming. He broke my arm and then held me down while the boss..."

He trailed off, looking away, and I stood up from where I'd been leaning against the wall. "I think I know the rest," I said gently. "You don't need to think about it if you don't want to." He smiled faintly at me. "Kazuto said he was going to swing by later, say hello."

"Okay, cool," Klein said. I figured that I'd bothered him enough, and said my goodbyes. "Thanks again for bringing my bandana back," he told me just before I left the room. I grinned at him, before leaving and sliding the door shut behind me.

As soon as Klein couldn't see, the grin vanished, replaced with nothing but cold fury.

Eiji.

He'd done this, all of it. I would have kicked his ass out of principal - nobody touches my friends and family - but now this was an immediate problem. Because of him, Asuna had been...

And now he was going to tell me exactly what he did and how to undo it, even if I had to break every bone in his body first. The viper hissed in feral glee.

"Din," I said, talking out loud as I equipped my Augma. I was alone in the elevator. "I need you to find Eiji. The number two player of Ordinal Scale."

My son appeared, standing next to me, full-sized. His eyes were serious. "I can do that. How visible should I be?"

"Don't get in trouble." Translation: I don't care, but don't get caught. "I need his location as soon as possible."

"Understood. I'll send you coordinates as soon as I have them."

He vanished with a flash of light just as the elevator doors opened. I tapped open a list of nearby places to eat; it was early - barely eleven - but I needed to eat now. It would take some time for Din to come through, after all, and I'd lost my breakfast. Heh... I could appreciate the irony of using the Augma to assist me in tracking down Eiji.

It took two hours for Din to get back to me. I'd finished eating a while ago and was sitting by my bike, absently watching the people on the street pass by while I flicked through my phone to keep myself busy. "I found him." That was all Din had to say before I was moving frantically, pulling my helmet on and shoving my phone into the attachment on the side of my bike so I could use it for directions.

"Tell me where," I hissed, starting the engine. My jaw tightened and I felt my lips pull back into a feral smile. Found you.

My phone lit up with a set of coordinates and I pulled into traffic, following the orders. Every few minutes the distance marker changed as Din updated the coordinates of the destination for me, and I said a silent thank you to him. I might have been going faster than was allowed, but I wasn't pulled over, fortunately.

When the phone chimed, showing that I'd reached my destination, I pulled over and parked. I stared up at the nearby parking garage; exactly where the destination marker said Eiji was hiding. "Where is he?" I asked Din. The sibilant hissed.

"He should be in there," Din told me. "I don't know what floor, though."

"Good enough," I said, pulling off my helmet. I briefly considered that this might be a bad idea before shaking my head. No. Eiji needs to pay for this, and I was going extract every last bit of suffering Asuna and Klein had gone through from his flesh.

I stepped into the parking garage. "Eiji!" I roared. It echoed in the concrete dungeon. I grimaced, tasting copper in the back of my throat, but that didn't matter. "Get out here! Nautilus!"

Fortunately, it was the middle of the day, just after one; the office-worker's lunch breaks were over. "I told you, I don't go by that name anymore," a smooth voice said. I heard footsteps before I saw Eiji appear. A trick of the acoustics. "Hello, Rythin." He looked the same as in AR - which, y'know, wasn't surprising - but instead of his fancy longcoat with purple Tron lights, he was wearing a simple blue and red jacket with a high collar. His Augma was on his ear, and the one hand not in his pocket was gloved.

"Cut the shit," I snarled as I walked forward, stopping a few steps away from him. The viper hissed, writhing inside me. "What the hell did you do? Why are the SAO Survivors losing their memories? And how much do I have to hurt you until you tell me how to fix it?"

"What makes you think I'm the one behind -"

Eiji stepped to the side, just barely enough to dodge the punch aimed directly at his chin. His eyes narrowed, and he jumped away from the follow-up backhand. He landed further away than I would have expected, and judging by his expression he didn't mean to jump as far away either. Is his strength out of his control? Or did I scare him? "I said cut the shit," I hissed as I stalked closer. "I know it's you. I know it's the Augma. Ordinal Scale's SAO bosses. And I'm going to kick your ass until you tell me everything I want to know!"

My snarl echoed briefly in the air, and I was moving before it died away. With a hiss I snapped a punch towards Eiji's chest. He barely managed to get out of the way in time, and I didn't leave up the pressure. A step and punch was avoided too, even though I knew I had good form. Eiji's smirk was shaky, but when he managed to dodge the roundhouse kick aimed at his head it widened.

I gritted my teeth and doubled down, pushing myself to move faster. I bulled forward and threw a quick combo, my fists snapping towards his head in rapid succession. He tilted his head out of the way of the first one and ducked, faster than I was expecting -

Gah!

His fist planted itself in my stomach, and I coughed in pain. He'd moved so fast I barely caught sight of his movement before he punched me. But I could see it coming - I just couldn't block in time. I'd managed to exhale, at least, so I hadn't had the wind knocked out of me. I took a rasping breath and hissed again, throwing a right-handed jab toward his face.

His eyes widened and he leaned backwards to dodge under the fist, the moron. I immediately snapped a kick at his left knee and collided with it solidly. The first hit I'd landed in the fight.

He fell to the ground heavily with a rush of breath but twisted, acrobatically flipping into a handstand before landing neatly on his feet. I probed at my stomach, taking a cautious breath... Nothing felt injured, and I wasn't coughing up blood. He just hit like a truck, that's all. Even though he was physically skilled, he was clearly not used to fighting. So then how was he dodging my attacks?

'It was like the bastard could see the punches coming.'

Klein's voice echoed in my memory and I grinned fiercely. "I see," I said.

"See what," Eiji said, still insufferably smug.

"You're cheating." He stiffened. "I don't know how you're so powerful or how you move like you do, but I know why I can't hit you."

I exhaled in a harsh breath and rushed forward, keeping my guard up. I jabbed with my right hand and watched as Eiji swayed out of the way, just before my left hand crossed under my arm. Eiji managed to dodge that one too, but it was closer. My right hand whipped back, aiming for a backhand at his cheek. I couldn't let him get any momentum, and as long as he was on the defensive I was okay.

As expected he ducked under the backhand again - and I kept the spin going, translating it into a knee aimed to the head. He jumped back, staggering a few steps before I closed in on him again. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "What do you mean, you know why you can't hit me?"

He talks too much. I snarled and lashed out, aiming for his head. Eiji ducked under the swing, since he was obviously expecting a wider swipe to counter the way he was always swaying out of the way.

Moron.

My feint wasn't actually a punch. Instead, my hand gripped the back of his head and pulled down, forcing his face straight into my rising knee. I let go just as I felt the impact jar my entire body and watched with satisfaction as he reeled backwards. Bright red blood poured from his nose, and I grinned. "You can see the path my swing will take. It's the Augma showing it to you, isn't it?"

"How did you -"

His voice was pleasingly nasal. The smashed nose probably wasn't helping. "Who the hell do you think developed that fighting style, you idiot?" I asked him, my eyes narrowed. "You think you can use Future Step against its rightful owner and not suffer the consequences?!"

"You may be powerful in VR," Eiji snapped, "but this is AR!"

He rushed forward, and I cursed under my breath. I'd gotten mad he stole Future Step and hadn't pressed my advantage, and now he was on the move -!

I tried to counter the grab I expected to come. His hand brushed mine, but before I could get a grip he whipped his arm away from mine. Too fast! He's not reacting fast enough, it's just that his body is moving too quickly for me to keep up. His grab foiled, Eiji dropped to the ground so fast I thought I would see afterimages. His foot lashed out and it was just too fast for me to dodge; the powerful kick knocked both of my legs out from under me and I fell.

I know how to fall correctly, but it didn't matter. Eiji's inhuman speed and strength meant that he caught me by my shirt and slammed me to the ground, chest first. I coughed in pain, fire running through my entire front, and tried to get up. However, I could only get my left hand on the ground before Eiji stomped on it, grinding his heel into my knuckles. A grunt of pain escaped me and I immediately regretted it.

"You think you're so tough, and now look at you," Eiji sneered, one hand on the back of my neck to keep me still.

I grinned, even though my left hand and my everything else hurt. "Still smashed your nose," I said. "I hope I broke it."

"Let's see," Eiji said, completely ignoring me. "You're already wearing your Augma. Excellent."

Suddenly the world flickered. I twitched with shock - unable to do more than that - as Ordinal Scale activated on its own. My clothes changed on their own, even though the world didn't change. "How the f-"

My curse was drowned out by the explosive sound of a boss spawning. My eyes widened as a very, very familiar red carapace skittered out from the circle of fire. "I think you should be familiar with this boss," Eiji sneered into my ear, holding me in place as The Crawlerpede approached. It completely ignored him, and raised its scythe-like arms over its head.

I'm going to kill him.

"Don't look away, now. You need to watch every last second of this."

I'm going to kill him.

Kill him, kill him, KILL HIM!

I couldn't look away as the scythe descended and ripped through my side, leaving an incredible burning numbness behind. My health plunged and I snarled, burning my utter hatred for Eiji in my mind. I'll lose my memories but I will remember I am going to kill him!

My health hit zero, and a crimson red notification appeared telling me 'Hunter died' and searing pain ran through my head like the worst pain I'd ever felt and -

...My hand twitched as the whiteness receded. My left hand still stung, and the world was back to normal. The ache in my side was gone, leaving only the aches and soreness I knew came from losing a fight. Fuck... That and a killer headache that was... swiftly fading, actually. The pulsing pain throbbed for a few seconds and then disappeared, leaving me perfectly alright.

Gravel crunched behind me. "What?" Eiji exploded. "This can't be right! How did it fail?!"

Far away. Heh. Perfect. I got my hands under me and pushed, ignoring the exhausted muscles. Slowly I forced myself up, turning to face Eiji. He was staring into space, examining something intently. "What's wrong?" I rasped out, earning a surprised jump. "Something failed?"

"You should have forgotten!" he snapped at me.

"The first boss was Illfang The Kobold Lord. A beta tester, Diavel, was the only casualty of the fight." His eyes widened. "Then there was Asterius The Taurus King. No casualties. Nerius The Evil Treant and Wythege The Hippocampus." My smirk widened. "No casualties in either. Look at that, my memories are still intact."

"How...?" he breathed.

I sneered at his surprise. "I know how it works, you idiot. The memory scan. So it only took the memories of how much I really, really want to kill you."

"But you should be terrified!" he snapped. "You nearly died to that boss, how can you not be scared?"

Harsh laughter ripped out of me. "A few things wrong with your estimation," I said, rising from my knees. "One. I'm terrified, yeah. But of losing my memories of the girl I love, not dying. Death holds no fear for me." I can't die. I'm not allowed to die, and so I won't. "And two..." I clenched my fists. My left hand complained and I glanced at my knuckles; there was a red half-moon of skin missing from the middle knuckle. Probably when he stomped on it. "Two," I hissed, "I already killed that thing. If you're trying to scare me, you'll have to try harder."

"You're still going to lose," Eiji declared. His smug composure had been rattled, though, and I took that as a personal victory. "This is still AR, and I'm still stronger and faster than you!"

"Hey!" Both of us startled at the unexpected voice - Eiji because it came from behind him, and me because I recognized it. "I've called the cops," Shino said, holding up her phone. "They're on the way here."

What is she doing here? "Hear that, Eiji?" I said with a feral grin. It might be unexpected, but I'm not going to turn down Shino's help. "I bet they'll love to ask you questions about how you injured five men a few days ago."

Eiji glared at me, before shaking his head. "You can't stop me," he said. "No matter how hard you try, I will succeed and make good on my promise!"

I made a rude gesture in his general direction. My legs were feeling a little bit weak, and I wasn't quite sure if I'd be able to fight if he pressed the issue.

After a second of tension, Eiji snorted and turned. He walked towards the entrance to the parking garage, right by Shino, and I prepared myself to dash at him - until he walked right by her, not hesitating. As soon as he was out of sight I relaxed, glad Shino wasn't in any danger. "Nick!" she exclaimed, rushing to me. "Are you okay?"

I gave her a weak grin. "I'm... doing okay, I guess." My legs decided that it was the perfect time for them to take a break and I was barely able to turn my collapse into a semi-graceful sit, even if it was a bit heavy. Shino immediately knelt by my side. "What are you doing here, Shino?"

"Din sent me a message," she said quietly. "He said you were doing something stupid and needed help."

Din, huh? Well... I guess that I should thank him, if he's the one that sent Shino my way. "Don't you have class right now?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow in accusation.

She didn't flinch. "Family emergency," Shino said without hesitation. "The school understood."

...Well okay then. Trying to ignore the warm fuzzy feeling, I continued, "And how did you even get here in time, anyway?"

Shino shrugged. "It wasn't that far from my school," she said. "I walked." Guess I drove further than I expected. "Can you drive? We're going to my apartment, it's closer."

"Should be good," I grunted. I tested my weight carefully as I started to stand up, and then got to my feet. "I should be okay. The headache's gone, and my legs are good."

"Okay," Shino said. She still stayed near me, walking by my side. My first few steps were hesitant, but after a few seconds I settled down and walked normally. "You know how to get there?"

I shrugged. "My phone does my navigating most of the time." Should I know how to drive to her apartment? Probably. Did I? Pfft, no. I was good once I was on a road I recognized, but other than that I was absolutely helpless. Shino shook her head with a soft smile either way.

Getting to her apartment wasn't too hard; still, though, the drive time gave my muscles just enough time to stiffen up. What was worse, the raw skin on my left hand was starting to sting a hell of a lot, making it difficult to close my left hand. I didn't get into an accident, but I wasn't exactly driving at my top speeds. As soon as we stepped inside and took our shoes off, Shino gave me a firm stare. "Sit on the bed," she ordered me.

I obeyed, naturally. Shino disappeared into the bathroom and returned a few seconds later. "What's with the box?" I asked her.

"First aid kit," she said. "Now take your shirt off, I'm making sure you're not hurt."

I would have protested, but her no-nonsense tone meant there was pretty much zero chance of me convincing her to sway her course. "Alright, fine," I said. "Uh... The only injuries I know of are my left hand and my stomach, those are the only two places he hit me. Other than that... He pinned me on my stomach."

Shino studied me carefully, occasionally asking me to turn around. I did so without question, enjoying the care even if it wasn't strictly necessary. "Looks like it's only your hand," she said finally. I would have normally just left something like that to heal on its own - it'd scab in a few days and then be insufferably irritating for a week or two - but I watched quietly as she applied the antiseptic cream and bandage.

"Thanks, Shino," I murmured quietly, flexing my hand to check for mobility. There was a little resistance, but I think I was going to be okay. "But that was dangerous, showing up there."

"Like going after that guy in the first place wasn't?" she asked archly. I ducked my head, suitably chastised. Shino's lips curved in a small smile. "So, the next boss fight, where is it?"

"Huh?" The question threw me for a loop until I realized exactly what she was asking. "No. No, Shino, I'm not letting you do that and put yourself at risk. Kazuto already told you what happened to Asuna, I know he did."

Shino grinned at me. "So? I'm not an SAO Survivor, so I should be fine, right?"

I sighed. "That's... I don't think that's how that works..."

"Well, Din?" I blinked in surprise and tapped my Augma to turn it on. I looked once my vision cleared, and sure enough, Din was sitting on Shino's shoulder.

He nodded. "I don't think you should be affected, Aunt Shino," he said seriously. "The scan was targeting SAO data only, so you should be safe."

I grimaced, and Shino grinned at me. "I don't want to take you," I said with a sigh. "I don't want you at risk, even if it's less than one percent."

She shook her head. "I'm going to go with or without you," she told me. I knew she would. I just didn't want to be the one to bring her. "After all, you can't tell me Kazuto's not going, right?" I sighed and looked away. "That's what I thought. Hey, it'll be okay, you know?" I felt her lean against my back, the two of us resting against each other. "I'll have you there to look out for me. And I know you won't let anything hurt me."

"Hah..." I tilted my head back, staring at the ceiling. After a second, I glanced at Shino, smiling ruefully. "You're certainly troublesome, my dear little sister."

"Only because you're so much trouble yourself, big brother," Shino replied.

I grinned at her and she grinned back. For a second, everything was peaceful...

...Until Din flew up in front of me. "Dad, no cheating on Mom," he scolded me.

Immediately, Shino blushed and both of us jerked away from each other. "That... wasn't what we were doing, kid," I said. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to look at Shino. My ears felt hot. "Anyway, uh... I guess I'll just hang out here for a few hours, until it's time for the event."

"Yeah, that works," Shino said after a second. Then she coughed. "Takeout for dinner?"

"...I can cook something if you want."

"Sure, whatever works."

...Thanks, Din. Now everything's awkward.


Dinner was a little bit more extravagant than I'd intended, but it was understandable that I wanted to show off. After all, I was cooking for more than just myself this time. Still, it was just a simple pasta dish - cooked chicken breast, some of the tube pasta, and an alfredo sauce - so nothing too expensive. Shino seemed to like it, though, and I was glad that I'd cooked a little bit extra. Leftovers for her tomorrow, I guess.

After we both ate, I checked with Din for the location of the next boss spawn. When I asked, though, he hesitated. "What's wrong, kid?" I asked him.

"...Nothing," he said. Was he still sulking about the misunderstanding earlier? Except he'd seemed fine later, when I went out with Shino to do the grocery shopping for dinner... "It'll be here," he said, pulling up the map and pointing. A blue circle popped up, and a few seconds later my phone buzzed. "I sent the coordinates to your phone."

"Thanks, Din," I said. "And... Thanks for calling Shino to help."

Shino tapped my shoulder, and I turned to see that she'd changed out of her school uniform and into casual clothes. Sneakers and dark blue pants, as well as a collared white shirt. It looked much easier to move around in, especially with the light blue sweater she was wearing. "Ready to go," she told me.

I ran through a quick pocket check before nodding. "Let's head out," I said. I still wasn't thrilled that Shino was coming with me, my protective instincts rising up at the thought that she could get hurt fighting, but I'd already caved once. I had less than no leg to stand on in this situation.

We left the house, Shino making sure to lock up and test the doorknob a few times before she was satisfied it was secure. I just waited patiently; I knew that it was automatic for her at this point. Ever since Death Gun broke into her house... After getting on the bike, I hesitated before turning it on.

"What's up?" Shino asked. "Trying to figure out how to pay me back for saving you earlier?"

I blinked and made up my mind. I'll just… make sure she's safe. "I'll treat you to some ice cream on the way home, okay? You mercenary."

Shino laughed cheerfully. The sound made her whole face light up, and I smiled despite myself. "Sure, but I'm gonna eat a lot."

"You've already eaten half my wallet for dinner," I grumbled.

"I paid for half of it!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

Thanks to Din's accidental accusation earlier, I was strangely aware of Shino's arms around my waist as I drove. It wasn't bad, or unpleasant or anything, but it did mean I was a little more distracted than I would have liked. Shino didn't seem to notice, fortunately, and I got us to the boss spawn area without incident.

After parking the bike I stepped up next to Shino. "Sure you want to do this?" I asked her.

She glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. Somehow, her glasses made her stare seem even flatter than usual. It's a neat trick, I want to see her do that more often. "Do you really think I'd back down now?"

I chuckled. "No, not really. Just one last check, to be safe." She smiled and gently punched my shoulder. "Hey, watch it, I'm injured here."

"No you're not." Okay, fine, so I'm not. My hand hurts, but that's something I can ignore. I deny pouting at her in irritation. "Stop that, you look ridiculous." I also deny looking ridiculous while pouting at her, especially since I deny pouting at her.

Since we were both certain we were going to find Kazuto at this event - probably for the same reason I tracked down Eiji, to figure out what he did to Asuna and how to fix it - Shino and I decided to search for him in the time we had before the fight started, which was why we showed up a little bit ahead of time. The number of players that showed up to these events was pretty static; the shifting spawn zones meant that attending was roughly a coin flip for players that didn't crack the code thanks to ridiculously advanced and brilliant AI children: 'Can I make it to the fight in a half hour?'

Basically, that meant that even though I didn't recognize anybody, there weren't that many people to look at until we finally spotted Kazuto. Well, Shino spotted him; that girl and her eyesight, I swear... "There he is," she said to me, before walking forward. I just followed in her shadow like normal. "Well, well, look who it is," she called, moving through the assembled players like she knew they'd get out of our way. Which, to be fair, they did.

In front of us, Kazuto and Yui turned to look our way; they'd been talking when Shino called out. As we approached, his eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here?" he half-asked, half-sighed. "Nick, why is she here?"

I spread my arms and shook my head, silently saying 'Don't ask me'. "Why are you here?" Shino replied, turning the question around. "You just told everyone not to fight the bosses, and here you are."

"I know... but it really is dangerous," Kazuto said. "If a boss kills you, you'll lose your memory, like Asuna."

"You're sounding like Nick," Shino said with a smile. "I'll be fine. I don't have those memories to scan, so I'll be fine. Nothing's going to happen to me, Din said so. We can have Yui confirm it, if you want."

Yui floated over and landed on Kazuto's shoulder. Din was already riding on mine. "Yes, you should be safe," the little Nav Pixie said. "I think..."

"Yeah," Kazuto said, "but we don't know-"

"Nick's here with me," she said, planting a hand on her hip and grinning. "You know he'll keep me safe."

Kazuto blinked, before looking at me. "And what's your excuse for being here?" he asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm safe. You don't need to worry about me." I knew how to protect myself from the memory loss, after all. Just focus on how much I hate and despise Eiji, even if the thoughts right now are purely academic. I'm certain that if I need to, I can fill myself with hate and fury at a moment's notice. "I tracked down Eiji this afternoon." Kazuto's eyes widened, and then narrowed again. "I fought him and lost."

"You lost?" he asked.

"Yeah," I sighed. "Cheating cheater that cheats. Still, I managed to do some damage, so it's not like I walked away without getting my own back. His nose was probably broken."

Kazuto cupped his chin with a hand. "That explains why I can't find him here," he mused.

I nodded. "He pinned me, and a boss appeared. Field Boss from Floor 26." Kazuto winced. "Even though it killed me, I didn't lose my memories of SAO. I focused on something else and it scanned that instead." After all, it's not like I'm actually afraid of dying, I'm just afraid of losing Kana and my family, and that's not limited to SAO, so I could -

...Why is Yui full-sized and hugging me? "Uncle, did you get hurt?" she asked.

"...Nothing permanent," I said with a soft smile, patting her head gently. She looked up, big eyes gazing at me, and I carefully hugged her back. "Shino rode to my rescue before anything escalated too far."

Kazuto looked like he was about to ask me something, but flashes of light around us signaled that it was time for us to suit up. There wasn't any time to waste, and I let Yui go. She transformed back to her ALO Pixie form and flew into the sky, Din lifting off my shoulder to join her a second later. I exchanged a quick nod and grin with Shino and Kazuto before the three of us dug out the wand needed for Ordinal Scale.

"Ordinal Scale, activate," the three of us said together.

Let's do this.


Nick is… not exactly the most mentally healthy person. When a scan designed to evoke traumatizing memories just makes you RAGE, that's not normal.

Remember, this story takes place before Viper's Bite/Kiss, so he hasn't gone through any of the character development in that story; he's still more than willing to kill someone even if it's not the best option. I think it's probably exactly what he'd do if confronted with Eiji hurting Asuna at this point in time, even if it's not exactly all that smart. Still, it kinda worked out. For a certain definition.

Nick versus Eiji was something I knew I was including in the story ever since I saw the movie and watched him break Klein's arm. The only question was when, exactly, and what would the outcome be. This was the compromise; he talks to Klein, hears how Eiji's the one that hurt him, and decides that it's his fault Asuna got hurt.

Thanks to Eiji's lifehacks, Nick got his ass handed to him and would a hundred percent have gotten his arm broken if Shino hadn't appeared. He still gave Eiji a bloody nose (I'm on the fence whether it's broken or just bloodied… Probably bloody, Nick's knee struck low, around the mouth, and he's not really trained in throwing knee strikes) as a punishment for using Future Step against him. The idiot.

I'll be honest, Din showing up in the scene with Shino and accusing Nick of cheating wasn't intended. However, he just decided to show up and I shrugged and said sure. It was a nice callback to earlier in the chapter – even if originally it was going to be a callback to last chapter. A shame.