Hello, everyone! This is a new chapter! Chapter 2! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado, let's start!
Normal POV
The next morning, there was a knock on the door as Kai woke up first to the noise as he made sure Aichi was still sleeping soundly before heading to the door. He opened the door as he saw a box on the floor. He picked it up and headed back inside the apartment to check on it as he saw the Augma inside with a letter as he sighed, knowing it was from Ren. He got his phone out and called him.
" Oh hey, Kai! So you received my letter?"
" Yes, I did but it's 6 in the morning, Ren."
" Well, I did say that I'll deliver it by morning."
" Aichi's still sleeping. If you had woken him up, I will go to your place and slap you up your head."
" Oh, does that mean you finally confessed?"
" ... Yeah. But what do you mean by finally?"
" Because it took you guys so long! Everyone knows you and Aichi-kun like each other! We even stuffed you two in the storeroom to make you guys confess!"
" Shut up, Ren. I didn't appreciate the fact that you did that to us either. I'm going back to sleep now so don't disturb us again got it?"
" Yes... Have fun~"
Kai immediately hung the call up as he sighed and headed back to sleep. A few hours later, he woke up again as he realized that it was already close to afternoon as he went to get ready and prepare lunch. While he was doing that, Aichi woke up as he sat up on the bed.
" Hey."
" Good morning, Kai-kun..."
" It's already close to afternoon. I'm making for us lunch, go get yourself ready and then we can head to Card Capital."
" Yeah... Thank you..."
Aichi headed to the bathroom as he got ready while Kai set the table. Aichi came out from the bathroom as soon as he put their plates down.
" Come and eat."
" Yeah."
Aichi sat down at the table as Kai sat down beside him and they started eating.
" How are you feeling today?"
" Yeah, I'm much better now. Thank you for taking care of me, Kai-kun."
" No problem."
Kai licked off a grain of rice on Aichi's lip as he blushed. Kai just smirked as they continued their lunch before heading off while trying out their Augma and holding hands.
" I didn't think you would get the Augma too, Kai-kun. Is it that interesting?"
" Not really. I was just curious."
" But how did you get it?"
" If I told you the truth, Ren had delivered it this morning. He basically almost disrupted your sleep."
" It's fine but why did he give you the Augma?"
" I don't know. I mean, you know Ren."
" Oh... Yeah, I think I can imagine a scenario..."
They entered Card Capital to see their friends as they noticed something different.
" Hello! Everyone has an Augma too?"
" Yeah... Ren delivered it this morning at 6..." Naoki yawned
" He sent everyone an Augma at that timing?" Kai ask, eyebrow twitching
" Yeah... I'm so sleepy..."
" That idiot..." Kai thought
" So, do you guys have news or something?"
" What news?"
" That."
Miwa motioned to their hands as they saw that they were still holding their hands and blushed.
" Shut up."
" I knew everything wouldn't be quiet for one week over at your place."
" Whatever."
They headed to a table as they continued to use their Augma a little while longer.
" What's this? SAO Boss Monsters have been spawning at locations where the special events for Ordinal Scale is being held?" Kamui read
" SAO?"
Kai's eyes widened as he searched for the same article and read it.
" No way... Is that why those two are related to Augma? There must be more as to why only SAO Boss Monsters have been spawning in the special event area... Looks like I'll have to figure it out at the next area of spawn for Ordinal Scale." Kai thought
" Ordinal Scale does sound like fun. Hey, let's all go tonight! It's at 9 tonight and plus it's a weekend."
" Well, it does sound interesting when I think about it now. How about Kai-kun?"
" Yeah."
" Then it's decided! Let's all meet up here before the next location is given! And then let's go try it out!"
" Yeah!"
" But for now, more Vanguard! Aichi, I'll fight you!"
" Sure, Naoki-kun. Then I'll be heading over to the Standing Fight Table."
" Yeah."
Aichi stood up and went to fight Naoki as Kai continued to ponder about it but he left the thought aside as he and Miwa also started to fight.
~ At night~
They were now heading to the location before the spawn after dinner as Kai's eyebrow twitched.
" Why are we going there with this idiot?"
" That's mean, Kai! I'm interested in playing Ordinal Scale too! And plus I have transport so be more grateful! I thought being together with Aichi-kun would've changed you to be more nicer!"
" Shut up, Ren. I will kick you out of here if you say that again."
" C-Calm down, Kai-kun..."
" Yeah, if Ren didn't come, we would've been exhausted before we could even fight."
" I guess so. Too bad Misaki-san and Kamui-kun couldn't come with us today."
" Well, Shin-san broke his back again, so she had to close the shop herself and Kamui had a curfew too."
" We've arrived."
" Thanks, Tetsu! Just wait for us here too, okay?"
" Yeah. Have fun, you guys."
" Yeah!"
They got out of the car as they looked around.
" There really are a lot of people."
" And they're staring at us... Well, we did have a fancy drive here..."
" Sorry, that's the only car we have."
" And other cars?"
" Trust me, they're way more fancier."
" I-I see..."
" We should start now, it's close to 9 after all."
" Yeah!"
" Ordinal Scale, activate!"
Their surroundings and clothes changed as they looked at them.
" Woah, cool!"
" Guess most of our weapons are swords, huh..."
" I see some snipers around too."
" So we can either use swords, maces, spears, daggers, shields or guns, huh... Interesting."
" It's 9."
There was a burst of light as a monster appeared from it. Kai overheard two players talking about it.
" An SAO boss monster, Samurai Lord, huh..." Kai thought
" Yuna!"
Kai looked up to see Yuna being projected by a drone as they were given buffs through her song.
" Then that Yuna girl is the one you met with that Nochizawa?" Naoki ask
" Yeah."
" Dodge it!"
They had to dodge a snake whip coming from Samurai Lord as they ran away.
" How are we supposed to fight that gigantic thing?!"
" I don't know! But they said that if we run out of HP, there's a harsh penalty!"
" Seriously?!"
" Then we have to fight it!"
Naoki charged at Samurai Lord as he managed to land a hit.
" Naoki-kun! Dodge to your left!"
Naoki did as told before the snake whip could land a hit as he got back to the others.
" That was a bad idea, Muscle brain!"
" Oh yeah?! At least I can do better than you!"
" Stop arguing! It's coming!"
They dodged the katana attack this time as they tried to land more hits before the same guy from who Kai overheard from tripped and fell from trying to land a hit. Aichi dashed in and immediately got him out from the katana's range as they continued to run.
" Thank you!"
" Jeez, Kirito-kun! That was dangerous!" The same girl from before exclaimed
" I'm just not used to it! AR and VR are really different!"
" That's because you don't exercise much!"
" Aichi!"
" Kai-kun!"
" That was dangerous! What were you thinking?!"
" I'm sorry! I just had to!"
" That's no excuse!"
Suddenly, another player came in between them and fired his cannon as Samurai Lord dodged the attack and it headed straight for Yuna.
" Oh no!"
The attack was reflected by Eiji as he landed right after the cannon hit Samurai Lord.
" Eiji-san?!"
" Tanks follow me and block its attacks!"
Eiji charged towards Samurai Lord as he landed a few blows as Aichi took a chance and started running towards Samurai Lord.
" Aichi!"
As he landed a few more blows, Samurai Lord was defeated as it exploded in fireworks. Aichi then noticed the jump in his rank that had turned to 13.
" Huh? That shouldn't be possible..."
" Aichi!"
Aichi turned to see his friends running towards him as they surrounded him to congratulate him.
" You did it, Aichi!"
" That was amazing, Sendou-kun!"
" No, everyone helped too."
Yuna floated down as she went beside Aichi.
" Congratulations! Now, this is your reward!"
Yuna leaned in and kissed him on the cheek as the others flinched, Aichi flushed red and Kai had a tick mark on his head.
" And so, today's MVP is Aichi Sendou! Congratulations! Thank you for coming today, everyone!"
Yuna disappeared after that as Eiji also left.
" That was surprising..."
" Y-Y-Yeah..."
" Our ranks seem to have increased. Let's go check on them."
" Yeah."
They checked on their ranks while Aichi pondered about his own rank.
" The bonus rank only brings me up by a thousand and my rank was still so low, so why did it go up till 13 so suddenly?" Aichi thought
" Aichi?"
" Oh, it's nothing!"
" Hey, you guys."
Kirito and the others approached them.
" Oh, it's you."
" Yeah. Thanks for the save back there."
" Well, I couldn't help it. I had to help."
" But I'm surprised. Usually, your stamina shouldn't keep up with this tedious fight." Naoki said
" You're right. I wonder why..."
Ren tapped on Kai's shoulder as he turned to him in annoyance.
" Don't look at me like that! Besides that, he activated Psyqualia just now." Ren whispered
" What?!"
" I'm a user too, so I know. He probably fought well thanks to Blaster Blade."
" Is that so? I couldn't tell the difference."
" Blaster Dark told me. He would know that fighting style anywhere."
" I see..."
" But Aichi-kun doesn't know that, so keep it a secret for now."
" Yeah."
Meanwhile, Aichi was still chatting with Kirito and the others.
" You were good at fighting just now!" Asuna said
" Is that so? I really didn't know."
" No, that was some skill at work. You're quite amazing."
" Well, the tanks did help too. I'm Aichi Sendou."
" I'm Kazuto Kirigaya."
" I'm Asuna Yuuki."
" I'm Tsuboi Ryoutarou and this is my gang, the Furinkazen!"
" Yeah!"
" Nice to meet everyone. But that's a nice play with your name, Kirito-san."
" Huh? You knew?"
" Yeah. Yuuki-san called your name loudly too, so I heard it. It was a unique play of names to be honest. I wouldn't be able to come up with something like that."
" Thanks."
" Oh! And these are my friends."
" Naoki Ishida!"
" I'm Shingo Komoi."
" I'm Taishi Miwa!"
" Ren Suzugamori!"
" Hmph."
Aichi sighed as he lifted up his foot slightly.
" This is Toshiki Kai."
He stomped his foot on Kai's as Kai flinched and Aichi removed his foot.
" He's just a little socially awkward so he'll open up after awhile."
Sweat drop...
" Y-Yeah..."
" What was that for, Aichi...?!"
" Greet people properly! I won't repeat myself! Got it?!"
" Y-Yes..."
" I guess Aichi had enough, huh..." Miwa muttered
" We finally have someone to control Kai. That's great for us!"
" Yeah!"
And they got a punch to their heads by Kai as they winced.
" We should really go now though. We can't keep Tetsu-san waiting for us."
" Yeah."
" Then we'll see each other tomorrow after the next location for the next boss to spawn comes out?"
" Sure."
" Then see you guys again!"
" Yeah!"
They deactivated their Ordinal Scale as they ran back to the car and it drove them back home. Back at the apartment, Aichi laid down on the bed after taking a shower as Kai smiled.
" Don't lie down yet or you'll catch a cold."
" Yeah, I know... But it was so fun today..."
" I'm glad you enjoyed it."
" Yeah. Hey, Kai-kun."
" Yeah?"
" I... remember."
" Remember what?"
" That I went into SAO during a experiment at the hospital."
" You do...?"
" Yeah. When that boss monster spawned today, some of my memories came back."
" So, you remember...?"
" A bit. From when I met Eiji-kun and Yuna..."
" I see... What do you remember?"
" When I woke up in that world, I was at the Town of Beginnings. That's where I heard Yuna's singing nearby and went to check up on it. There, I met Yuna and Nautilus, who's Eiji-kun in real life. We got along well and they even helped me clear levels and bosses to get me to their peaceful home. I don't actually remember what other adventures we went on but... One day, Nautilus suggested we went to a flower garden in a level 50+ floor. And unconsciously, we stepped out of the safe zone, got surrounded by monsters and Yuna was... killed."
" There was nothing you could do about it. You three were surrounded after all."
" No. We had teleportation crystals but we couldn't use them. If we did, then Yuna could've lived."
" Like I said, it's no one's fault. I'm sure Yuna never blamed the both of you at all."
" I know... But I'm afraid that Eiji-kun might not. I'm sure he's using Ordinal Scale for something. My ranking right now is 13. It's not possible even with the bonus points since we just started and Eiji-kun was Rank 2. I'm sure Eiji-kun is somehow using the system to bring my rank up that high. He wants me to be with them like we promised."
" We can skip tomorrow's boss battle if you'd like."
" No. I have to face this and stop Eiji-kun. I don't know who's the true culprit behind this but at the very least, I should stop Eiji-kun before he makes a fatal mistake. I'm sure if Yuna was here, she might say that too."
" I'll be with you all the way then. I won't leave you again."
" Yeah. Thank you."
" No problem."
They kissed again before heading to bed as the next night soon arrived. Tetsu transported them to the location again as they saw Asuna and the others at the entrance.
" Yuuki-san!"
" Oh, it's you guys and please, just Asuna is fine."
" Oh, okay. Kirito-san isn't here today?"
" Yeah. He had something to do so I came alone today."
" We should head in soon. It's almost 9."
" You guys go on ahead. We're still waiting for one of our members."
" Is it really alright?"
" Yeah."
" Alright then. Let's go together."
" Yeah!"
They headed to the venue as they looked around.
" Many people as always."
" We should start too."
" Yeah."
" Ordinal Scale, activate!"
Their surroundings and clothes changed as the clock hit 9 and the Boss Monster appeared.
" Storm Griffin." Aichi muttered
" I'm surprised you remember this much." Kai whispered
" Yeah, I am surprised myself too. Target its wings so that it can't take off into the skies to dive for an attack."
" Got it."
Yuna appeared again as she sang her song again while they got a buff.
" Now, Kai-kun!"
" Yeah!"
Both charged at Storm Griffin as they slashed its wings while it squirmed away from them. The song changed as they continued to battle the Storm Griffin.
" Snipers, shoot at its wings! Don't let it take flight! Tanks, block its breath attack! All close range weapons users follow us and hit it with all you've got!"
" Y-Yeah!"
They did as what Aichi told them to as he landed the last hit again and the Storm Griffin disappeared.
" We did it!"
Their surroundings turned back to normal as some of the players surrounded Aichi and Kai.
" That was fierce!"
" And nice directing! Thanks to you guys, we defeated it!"
" Y-Yeah... Thank you."
" You won again."
They turned to see Yuna landing as Aichi stepped back and got the bonus points.
" Please don't..."
" Well, I'll see you again, Aichi."
" Y-Yeah..."
Yuna disappeared as Aichi heaved a sigh of relief.
" Now that I think about it, Furinkazen never showed up in the end, did they?"
" Yeah... I wonder why..."
Ren answered a phone call as his eyes widened.
" Guys, we need to go now!"
" Y-Yeah!"
" Asuna-san, we'll see you again next time! Say 'hi' to Kirito-san for us too!"
" Y-Yeah! Sure! See you again!"
" Yeah!"
They got in the car as Tetsu drove them off.
" What's with the sudden rush?"
" Furinkazen has been hospitalised."
" What?!"
" Why?! They were fine when we met them!"
" They were attacked. I was wearing my own Augma when it happened. A player called 'Eiji' beat them up and was doing something to them when a boss monster suddenly spawned at the entrance. By the time I called help, he already disappeared."
" No way... Eiji-kun did that...?" Aichi muttered
" I called the ambulance and they're already being treated at the hospital. Want to head over?"
" Don't need to ask. Keep going."
" Yeah."
They arrived at the hospital as they headed into Tsuboi's room.
" Ryoutarou-san."
" Oh, you guys... How are my friends...?"
" They're all resting well. Is your arm alright?"
" Yeah, it's just twisted a little."
Aichi thought about something as he shut the door close behind them and headed to the window.
" Aichi?"
" I don't know how many of you know about this already but I'm going to be honest here. Ryoutarou-san, like you, I was an SAO victim."
" What?! That SAO incident?!"
" You were..."
" At least, I was indirectly one... Last year, I kept having exhaustion shutdowns from the battle with Link Jimer and the Seed that I kept going to the hospital, to the point that I had to be admitted there for a month. During that month, I was the tester for the then prototype Amusphere."
" The Amusphere...?!"
" When I full dived, because the device was still a prototype, I didn't have memories from reality and it got mixed up due to the many emotions and data in SAO. My memories overwrote itself in SAO and when I'm back in reality, it overwrites again and I remember all of my memories from reality once they bring me out of full dive. That's when I met Eiji-kun and Yuna, when she was still alive in that world."
" Wait a minute! Then Yuna is..."
" She's dead. She died in the SAO incident. Because we stepped out of the safe zone, she died. I don't know why she's projected as an AR idol now but now that I know that Eiji-kun is truly involved in something dangerous, I can't keep this quiet any longer. Ryoutarou-san, what did Eiji-kun do after he beat all of you up?"
" I don't know... The boss monster attacked me and I fainted. When I woke up... I can't remember anything from SAO."
" Can't remember anything from SAO?"
" Where's your Augma?"
" On the table."
" Do you mind if I borrow it? I want to ascertain something."
" Sure."
" Ren-san. Take his Augma and check it up for me."
" I got it."
" Then, we'll be leaving for you to get your rest. Don't worry, we'll handle this."
" It's fine. I'm sure there's nothing special in those memories anyway, must've all been bad memories after all."
" Don't say that. There are always good memories, even in the bad ones. Have a nice rest."
" Yeah."
They left the room as they exited the hospital and headed back home.
" Is this really alright with you?"
" What is?"
" Telling us about this."
" Yeah, it is. But it somehow became my own problem. Don't participate in Ordinal Scale. Until we find out what happened with Furinkazen, nobody should go near the boss monsters, even you guys, just to be safe."
" But what about you?"
" I'll investigate Ordinal Scale myself. I can't let Eiji-kun do whatever he wants anymore. I can't let him endanger more SAO survivors."
" But..."
" Please. This isn't that simple. I'm somewhat an SAO survivor myself and I was the one who's also closer to Eiji-kun and Yuna. I'll take the risk to find out the truth."
" Aichi..."
" If there's anything else, just message me. I'll be heading back home for now."
" We've arrived."
They got off from the car as it drove off and they separated while thinking about what Aichi said as Kai looked over to him.
" You say all that but you know I'm not letting you do this alone."
" I know. But I also don't want you guys to be endangered in something of my own issue. Please, Kai-kun."
" No, I'm not going to let you do this alone, alright?"
" Why?"
" Is there any other answers? It's because I love you, Aichi and I want to protect you."
" Kai-kun..."
They stopped walking as Kai caressed Aichi's cheek and kissed him as the night deepened.
And that's the end of this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!