Hello, everyone! This is a new chapter! Chapter 3! I hope everyone will enjoy this new chapter! Without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

The next morning, Aichi and Kai woke up as they got ready while Kai made breakfast.

" I can't believe you persuaded me to stay at your place. You even called Mother."

" What? It's not like I'm going to let you go to the next spawn area alone. If you stay here, I can supervise you so that you won't do anything reckless."

" Kai-kun's so mean..." Aichi pouted

" How does wanting to protect you count as mean? Get your facts straight. I'm going with you for the next spawn area tonight no matter what."

" I got it..."

" But first, have your breakfast. You need to head to school."

" Yeah."

Aichi ate his breakfast as Kai escorted him to school. Once Aichi was inside the school, Kai headed back to his apartment as the school bell rang soon after.

~ Lunchtime~

Aichi got out his lunchbox that Kai made as he went to the roof to eat with Naoki and Shingo.

" Hey, Aichi. You're really going to do this alone?"

" Why are you suddenly asking?"

" Because it concerns us too! You wouldn't be involved in this if we'd realized about the experiment when you were hospitalized!"

" It's not your fault. I didn't know about the incident and signed up for it because VR interest me, so it's not your fault."

" But..."

Shingo was cut off when Aichi's phone rang as he picked up the call.

" Hello?"

" Hello, Aichi-kun. It's Ren. I scanned the Augma yesterday as you requested. The results were a little surprising. It seems that when the song Yuna sang yesterday changed, a special system in the Augma activates. It'll scan for any SAO memories in the survivors and extract it once their HP goes down to zero. That must be the cause of the memory loss and Furinkazen's not the only affected ones. Many SAO survivors have the same problem after playing Ordinal Scale."

" Is that so? I see. Thank you, Ren-san."

" No problem. Do you need a ride tonight? I know you want to do this alone but I don't think anyone's assured to leave you alone."

" I know. And thanks. But I don't think I'll need it. I'll see you next time then."

" Yeah."

Aichi hung the call up just as the bell rang and they headed back to class. Once school ended a few hours later, Aichi saw Kai waiting by the school gate as he followed him back to his apartment.

" You seem troubled. Did Ishida and the others say something?"

" Yeah... I'm sure you know already about what it is but I'm not backing out of it no matter what. I have to face it."

" I will follow you tonight no matter what. But Aichi, just promise me you won't do anything reckless."

" Yeah."

As night came, Aichi and Kai barely managed to make it to the next spawn area as they activated Ordinal Scale and waited for the next boss to spawn.

" It's here."

" I see the guy you're looking for. Want me to follow you?"

" No. I'll do this myself."

" I got it."

Kai charged at the boss monster as Aichi walked over to Eiji.

" Eiji-kun. I remember and not just that, I found out what you're planning with Augma. Why are you doing this?"

" In SAO, we already promised to be together but Yuna couldn't survive to keep to it. So with this, Yuna will come back."

" You can't bring the dead back, Eiji-kun. If this keeps up, don't you think you're hurting Yuna more?"

" No. I know. This is what she wants. The three of us will be back together again."

" Eiji-kun..."

He saw Asuna approaching as he stepped away and hid behind a pillar while listening in on their conversation. When there was only three minutes left on the clock, the music changed as Aichi came out of hiding while gasping. Another portal opened up as a blue dragon hopped out.

" Pina!"

" What? You scared us!"

Kai watched the commotion as well as the little blue dragon transformed into a gigantic black dragon. Asuna ran over to try to aid Silica as Aichi pursed his lips.

" Are you really alright with this, Eiji-kun?"

" Yeah."

Eiji dashed over to Silica in the smoke and pushed her over as Aichi tightened his fist. Kai came running over to him admist the chaos.

" Aichi, what is-?!"

Kai was cut off by a kiss on his lips by Aichi as his cheeks turned rosy pink while Aichi broke the kiss.

" I'm sorry."

Aichi dashed towards Asuna, who was covering Silica, as he took the attack and his HP immediately dropped to zero. Kai gasped while Eiji's eyes widened.

" Aichi!"

" I'm sorry, Kai-kun... I'm sorry, Yuna... If this is the only way to make Eiji-kun open his eyes, then I'll..." Aichi thought

An orb came out of his Augma as it flew up and entered a drone. Aichi collapsed after that as Kai ran over to him.

" Aichi! Aichi, wake up!"

The dragon raised its claw to strike again as Asuna got hit while trying to defend again. This time, her HP went down to zero and an orb also came out of her Augma and flew into the drone as the time was up by the time Kazuto arrived as the monsters disappeared.

" Asuna!"

After trying to confront Eiji, only to be blocked by his sword, Kazuto stepped away as Eiji looked over to Aichi before quickly retreating after Yuna disappeared. Asuna was returned home after they'd confirmed that she was alright while Aichi was sent to the hospital after going unconscious. Kai waited outside his ward as the doctor came out after a few minutes of checking.

" Is Aichi alright?!"

" You are..."

" I am his friend!"

" I see. Has your friend had a history of having frequent faintings recently?"

" Well, last year and a few days ago but it stopped after that!"

" I don't know what exactly happened but mentally, he's still quite weak and after I checked, it seemed that his brain was scanned. I don't know why but the scan did some damage to it. So, some of his body functions have been affected too and he might be in a temporary coma."

" Why?! He was alright when he was with me!"

" But I don't think he himself knew that he was mentally drained yet, considering that you said that he had fainted a few days back. I can't be sure but until his condition improves, we have to keep him here for observations. You can visit him but not too much noise."

" Y-Yeah... Thank you..."

Kai entered the room quietly as he closed the door behind him while slowly walking over to the closed curtain. He opened the curtain as he saw Aichi with a breathing mask and was hooked on IV drips with a heart monitor also beside him.

" Aichi..."

Kai caressed Aichi's cheek as he pressed his forehead gently on his.

" I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

After a few hours, it was now morning as the door opened and the others entered.

" What happened...? He was fine yesterday!"

" I don't know... Yesterday, I followed him to the spawn area and his HP went down to zero when he protected another player."

" So his brain was scanned for SAO memories..."

" What did you say...?"

" He told me not to tell anyone else. You see, Augma is being used to scan for SAO memories from survivors. When Yuna's song changes, that's when it happens. The song changed yesterday, didn't it?"

" It did... Why didn't you say this earlier?! I could've stopped him!"

" Could you? You know there's never stopping Aichi-kun once his mind is set."

Kai sat back on the chair again as he placed his hand on his forehead.

" You guys should head off to school for now. You don't want to be late."

" Well... Alright. We'll think of an excuse for him."

" Yeah."

They exited the room as Ren tapped on Kai's shoulder slightly before going to leave the room as well. He stopped when he reached the door.

" You know, Kai. I'm sure you realize this but that Eiji sounded like you when you accepted Reverse. Maybe Aichi-kun brought you with him yesterday because he knows that if he can't do anything to change Eiji, he's sure you can."

Ren opened the door and left as well as Kai leaned back on the chair to think about it. He looked over to Aichi as he grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.

" Is that true...? Please wake up and tell me... I'm so confused now..."

Suddenly, Aichi's hand gave back a slight squeeze as Kai's eyes widened. He looked over Aichi to see him smiling slightly as he nodded.

" I will. Just wait for me."

As night fell again, Kai headed to the next spawn area after realizing it was nearby as he looked around after he arrived. He noticed Kazuto approaching him.

" Hey, did anything happen to Aichi?"

" Meaning?"

" He can't remember anything from SAO for example."

" Kirigaya Kazuto, am I right?"

" Yeah."

" I'm not sure whether he lost those memories but... The scan caused some damage to his brain and he's now in a coma. He already had past problems with frequent fainting so the doctors weren't that surprised."

" A coma...?!"

" I need to straighten things out with that Eiji guy. How did you even know about Aichi's involvement in SAO?"

" Sorry. Klein told me."

" Klein? Oh, that Furinkazen leader?"

" Yeah."

" It's fine. I was certain he would've spilled the beans long ago. So, Asuna Yuuki lost her memories?"

" Of SAO? Yeah. Do you know what's going on?"

" No. Even if Aichi is Eiji's friend, he'd just regained those memories, so he's not completely sure of what's Eiji's plans."

" He's Eiji Nochizawa's friend?!"

" In SAO. When he tested out for the Amusphere, he couldn't remember anything of when he used it. Like I said, he just started to remember and now this happens."

" I see..."

" Kirito."

They turned to see Asada walking over to them.

" Oh, let me introduce to you. This is Asada Shino, also known as Sinon. He's Toshiki Kai."

" Oh, the one you guys have been talking about. Nice to meet you."

" Same here."

" We should start now."

" Yeah."

" Ordinal Scale, activate!"

Their surroundings and clothes changed as the monster spawned soon after the clock hit 9.

" That's... The 18th floor boss, 'The Dire Tusk'! Wasn't today's boss from the 13th floor?!"

" What's going on here?!"

They were then told by Yui that the bosses were being spawned all over the place at a random shuffle.

" I see they're getting impatient."

" Anyway, we have to stop this boss first."

" Yeah!"

Kai charged in first before Kirito could warn him as he landed a few hits to Dire Tusk before he noticed the chain restraining it was being pulled out.

" Dodge it! It's gonna pull that thing out and hit you!"

Kai immediately jumped backwards and dodged just as the weapon was pulled out and swung around the battle area. It hit several people as one of them had a yellow orb extracted out from their Augma as Kai gasped and followed the direction to a drone. He saw Yui following it as he focused on the battle again. With Asada's support, Kazuto landed a final hit to Dire Tusk as it exploded in fireworks.

" You did it."

" But Eiji Nochizawa didn't show up..."

" And you were reckless too. There's no need for the rush."

" But if I don't hurry, Asuna's never going to regain her memories! I'll definitely make that guy pay and talk on how to return her memories!"

" Listen, Kirigaya. I'll handle Nochizawa. Your anger won't bring you anywhere. Aichi left this to me and I'll make sure to keep to it."

" You won't understand!"

" I understand. But what you're feeling now is completely different to mine... I once desired power and almost lost Aichi. He disappeared for the sake of the world and I promised to save him. To be blunt, we were sort of the same. We were all in a somewhat death game. And our death game started all because of me." Kai said, clenching his fist

" Kai, you..."

" There's no need for sympathy. I don't ask for it. I'll atone my sins by making sure to keep Aichi safe from now on. I failed already but I'll continue to take care of him as long as he's alive. You have Yuuki to take care of and I have Aichi. We go on different paths. I want Nochizawa to realise his mistake just like I did."

" I got it. We'll do whatever we want. By the way, could you tell me the address of the hospital Aichi's in?"

" What of it?"

" I want to go there for a little while."

Kai kept silent as he turned and walked away. A few moments later, Kazuto got a message from Kai about the address as he and Asada headed somewhere else first to discuss about what happened.

Meanwhile, Kai arrived back at the hospital as he headed to Aichi's ward and opened the curtains. He set up the extra bed beside Aichi as he took care of him while trying to check on signs of whether Aichi was regaining consciousness soon when he spotted a ticket lying a little under Aichi's pillow.

" Why didn't I see this earlier?" Kai thought

He pulled the ticket out as a note also dropped out and he picked it up. He examined the ticket first as he gasped.

" Yuna's concert?!"

He opened the note as he read it.

' I don't know whether you heard me just now or even a few portions of what I'd said. But if you can wake up before Yuna's concert, I want you to come. That way, you can watch Yuna's revival as we scan the whole stadium from the SAO survivors and bring Yuna back. And then, the three of us will be together forever. -Eiji'

" He came?! Aichi, any sign is fine! Tell me! Did Nochizawa really come over here?!"

Aichi's finger twitched a little as Kai heard the heart monitor skip a beat.

" He did, didn't he?! He couldn't have gone far! I'll go catch up to him!"

" Wait."

Kai's eyes widened as he looked up to see a hooded white haired girl.

" Yuna?!"

" Yeah. I just want to say that it's no use. You need to be at least a rank below Eiji to beat him."

" Rank 3? But that's..."

" Right now, Eiji's using a system to make Aichi's rank 3. But if you can surpass that, I'm sure you can help and defeat Eiji."

" I see... But why are you telling me this? Aren't you just an AR idol?"

" Eiji remembered. My dream. That idol is just my dream and I'm the real consciousness of Yuna."

" Real consciousness?"

" That's right. And if Aichi's memories returned, the scan would never exist and he'll be back to normal."

" How do I do that?!"

" It really depends. I can't tell you yet."

" But..."

" Yu... na..."

Kai gasped as Aichi started to open his eyes.

" Is... that... you...?"

Kai took out Aichi's Augma from the drawer as he wore it on him and Aichi's vision soon adjusted to see Yuna.

" Yu... na... I'm... sorry... I... couldn't... stop... him..."

" It's fine, Aichi. You did your best. Just rest."

" If... we... didn't... go... out... from the... safe... zone... that day... you could've..."

" It's no one's fault. It was probably fate."

" I'm... so happy... to have... remembered... again... I got... to see... you again... too... I'm... really... happy..."

" Me too. Now, go back and rest. You can't wake up so soon."

Aichi nodded slightly as he turned to Kai.

" I... leave... the... rest... to you... Kai-kun... I'm... sure you... can do... it..."

" Leave it to me. Like she said, you still need rest. So, go back to sleep. Once I get those memories back, you'll be fine again."

" Yeah..."

Aichi closed his eyes and fell sound asleep again as Kai sighed in relief.

" He shouldn't have remembered but it must be his will keeping his memories from fading away."

" Of course he'll do that. But you should stop, Aichi... You're already mentally exhausted as you are. I promise to give those memories back to you, so wait for me."

" Then, I'll leave Aichi's happiness to you after all this is settled. If you bully him, I won't forgive you!"

" That's a demand that I'll make sure to keep to."

" Yeah! I should leave soon. You have guests coming after all."

Yuna disappeared as Kai removed Aichi's Augma and put it back into the drawer with the ticket and note. The door soon opened as the curtains were parted and Kai spotted Kazuto and Asada entering.

" Sorry for coming in this late."

" It's fine. I was planning to call the doctor over too. Aichi woke up for a little while just now."

" I'll do that. I'll leave you guys to have a talk first."

" Yeah."

Asada left as Kazuto sat on the chair on the other side of the bed.

" So what did he say when he woke up?"

" Nothing much. Other than apologising that he couldn't stop Nochizawa."

" I see..."

The two stayed silent for awhile as Kazuto sighed.

" There were many memories from SAO with me and Asuna... We even promised to see the shooting stars at a place I promised to bring her to once we came back to the real world, camp out there and even promised to buy presents for each other... Now that she doesn't remember..."

" You're not thinking of giving up, are you?"

" No. Not yet. I promised Asuna and I'm not going to back out."

Kirito took out a ring and looked at it.

" Your present for her?"

" Yeah. I'm sure you do that for Aichi too, right?"

" I... made it that obvious?" Kai ask, blushing a little

" A little. When you talked about protecting him to atone for your sins, I figured as much."

" I guess Miwa's a little bit on the mark..."

" Huh?"

" About me being unable to hide my feelings for him. Well, we just confessed to each other a few nights ago. According to our friends, we've liked each other ever since we first met but we were both so stubborn and convinced ourselves that the other party didn't have the same feelings."

" That's where personalities got similar, huh... Well, it's almost the same for me and Asuna anyway so I can't complain."

" Is that so?"

" Yeah. Have you ever thought of getting presents for Aichi? It's a little obvious you're not the romantic type."

" Well... During Valentine's, we did give each other chocolates but I guess we thought of that as friendship chocolates. Hm... You might be right, I should get something for him."

The heart monitor skipped a beat as Kai smirked.

" I won't take 'no' for an answer, Aichi."

" You can tell?"

" Somewhat. Then it's decided. I'll go get something for him but I won't tell him what."

At that time, the doctor entered as they exited the ward while waiting for the results.

" So what did you guys talk about?"

" Nothing much. We should go now. Let's go, Sinon."

" Y-Yeah..."

They left as the doctor came out after a few minutes.

" Good news. It seems that his condition is improving and if he can wake up fully tomorrow, it can be safe to assume that we can release him from the hospital soon."

" Then he doesn't need the equipments anymore?"

" Well, he still needs a little more help with breathing but other than that, until tomorrow once he wakes up, we can remove the other equipments other than the breathing equipment."

" Right, thank you, doctor."

The doctor nodded as Kai went into the ward again to sleep beside Aichi. He turned off the lights and laid down on the extra bed as he patted Aichi's head gently.

" You'll be just fine once you wake up tomorrow. Don't worry. Good night."

He kissed Aichi's cheek and went to sleep as a small smile graced Aichi's face and 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!