January 1st 2024 – Birth of Laughing Coffin

Somewhere after April 23rd – Kirito encounters Laughing Coffin during "A Murder Case in the Area"

August – Coalition against Laughing Coffin

August 2023 – Laughing Coffin Raid

Swords clash. Shield block. Spears stab. Maces smash.

The chaos that was the Coalitions raid against the murder guild Laughing Coffin, sounded through the halls of the dungeon. Players fought for their lives, not against mobs, but against other humans. People were dropping at a frightening rate. Some of the Coalition members were not ready to take the lives of another human, unlike the members of Laughing Coffin. But they still fought.

"Ryo! Nene! Stay close together!" Aiden called to his femme fatale friends as the Coalitions party was just ambushed.

"We excel at pvp combat, maybe you should stay close to us Aiden-senpai." Aiden, a little shocked by Nene's comment, smiled at her and turned his attention back to the fight. Of the raiding party, it consisted of some of the biggest names around, the Divine Dragon Alliance, Asuna and her Knights of the Blood, Fuurinkazan, Kirito, and of course half the guild of the Jade Skull. Aiden, Ryo, and Nene joined the assault against the Pking guild known as Laughing Coffin. He had a long argument with Kaori and Sora about why he didn't want them joining in the fight. They finally agreed but Aiden worried for them, so he asked Sten to stay back and watch over them.

"Looks like its going to be a bloody fight today! How exciting! I can't wait to split some of you in two!" Nene's tenacity for a fight against another person would have made her a great addition to the Laughing Coffin ranks. But killing without a purpose was just pointless slaughter. Something she did not approve of.

"Be careful Nene, we want to try and take them as prisoners, not kill them." Ryo reminded her twisted sister.

"Oh your no fun Ryo." Nene pouted. "But I'm not holding back today."

Swords clash. Shield block. Spears stab. Maces smash.

The raid turned brutal quickly, already sixteen members of Laughing Coffin lay dead, but so did nine of the Coalition. Separated by the long tenacious battle, Aiden stood to one side of the brawl, where as Nene and Ryo to another. The guild was separated, And beginning to feel the fatigue of fighting for so long.

"Guys! I need a little help here!" A lone man from the Knights of the Blood was fighting against two members of Laughing Coffin. Aiden turned to see him fighting.

"I'm coming!" Aiden shouted but was immediately stopped by Asuna shoving him down, stopping a sword from going through his head.

"Aiden, you need to be careful of our current fight as well." She told her friend in a cold tone. The same person who tried to slash at Aiden, was now cut in half by Kirito's ferocious swing of his swords. He looked back to her vacant face, the girl that was usually smiling outside of boss meetings was loosing a bit of herself in this horrible battle. Turning back he saw the separated man, a blade just went through his arm.

"Guys! Please!" He dropped to one knee, trying to hold of both fighters with only his sword as his shield broke some time ago.

"I'm coming friend!" Aiden bolted up, running across the battlefield trying to reach the man he barely knew.

"I'm not going without one of you bastards coming with me!" The proud fighter shouted out, he broke the two members slash and lunged his sword through one of them, cutting the man in half as he pulled it out. Unfortunately this left him wide open. The second Laughing Coffin member swung his bent dagger at his head.

"NO!" Aiden shouted as he saw his head fall off from his shoulders to the ground. His body slumped over and soon after broke into data bits. Aiden stopped his sprint. Everything fell silent around him as he looked over to the murderer. The insane man slowly turned his head to Aiden and smiled. Aiden gritted his teeth hard as he slowly resumed his pace back to the man.

"Just so you know, I'm going to enjoy killing you." The man smiled once more and charged Aiden. As his blade got closer, it started glowing red and the man lunged. In the blink of an eye Aiden spun to the side of his sword, his right fist above the mans head. It glowed furiously as he threw his punch down into the mans skull. The punch knocked the man to the ground and made him drop his dagger. He started to rise to his feet but not on his own choice, he felt two hands grab his throat and lift him high in the air. After a few seconds of strangulation, Aiden squeezed hard and broke his neck. The twisted murderer fell to the ground and broke away into data bits. Aiden's small moment to himself was broke away by another scream.

"RYO!" He turned to see the shout came from Nene, the normally composed girl was in tears. Ryo had stopped a sword going straight through her sister with her own body.

Two minutes earlier.

"Guys I need a little help here!" Nene turned to see a stranded man fending off two members of the murder guild.

"I'm coming!" She looked over and saw Aiden trying to make his way to him. With a smile on her face once more she turned her attention back to her own opponent.

"You know, I'm supposed to take you as a prisoner, so please surrender." She asked the hooded man.

"Yeah right, die bitch!" As the man swung his sword down at her she dropped her smile and easily parried it with her spear.

"Now now, no swearing." Nene smiled once more at him as she pressed her spear clean through his body. The man's dieing face was of shock as she was able to kill him so easily and with a smile. Another shout came from behind her. She slowly turned her head to see another man lunging his sword at her back. Nene tried to spin around in time, but before she could she saw another figure step in front of her. A blade came out from their back. By the time Nene turned around she saw who it was.

"RYO!" Nene started crying as she caught her sister as she fell into her arms. Ryo looked up to Nene and smiled at her.

"Gomenasai." Ryo's health was dangerously low, a little higher and it would have been fatal. Nene let out a terrifying scream that startled the man in front of her. As she slowly stood back up the man laughed.

"Don't worry, you two will be de-" Before he could even finish his sentence, Nene already closed the distance and completely severed his sword arm. The man, now frozen with fear, looked down to her.

"I will kill every member of your shitty guild today. None of you will survive to see tomorrow." Nene's eyes were a solid gray with no emotion. Everything fell silent for her, then she quickly dispatched the one armed man and made her way to another dual between two individuals. Her spear went through the Laughing Coffin members back and he was lifted into the air, stuck to the tip of the spear. The Coalition member watched the gruesome display taking place in front of her. Nene tossed the man off the end of her spear, quickly spun around and swung her weapon clean through another unknowing Laughing Coffin members head. Three dead within thirty seconds. She saw her fourth target, but before she could began charging him she was restrained by two large arms.

"-Ne-"

"-Ne come-"She slowly began to hear what was being said.

"Nene! Come back to us! It's done, Laughing Coffin surrendered." Nene came back noticing Aiden restraining her. She looked around at the battlefield. The few remaining Laughing Coffin members had thrown their weapons down and held their hands in the air. Coalition members were handcuffing them and taking them away. Nene slumped down in Aiden's arms.

"I wasn't done. They're still alive. I need to kill them all for hurting Ryo!" Nene said through her tears. Aiden turned her around and hugged her.

"It's okay Nene. It's going to be okay. Ryo and I are still here. Her health is climbing back up as we speak. We'll all help each other get past this." By the end of the fight, twenty one Laughing Coffin members had died. However eleven of the Coalition had as well. Time alone would not heal these wounds.

The Following Night – Jade Skull Guild House

The guild house was a quiet place. Kaori came out of her room, the dark house felt to different. She went over to Aiden's door and knocked on it.

"Niisan... Are you there? Can I come in?" She asked her older friend. No response. She sank down a little and started walking away. The door opened a little and she turned to see her friend with a very forced smile on.

"Come on in Kaori." He walked back into his room and she followed him in. Aiden motioned for her to follow him and he climbed out the window onto the small buildings roof. Kaori looked outside and saw Aiden staring at the two large moons above him. She made her way up to him and sat down, not quiet sure what to say. It was one of those things that despite everything that went through her head, she couldn't manage to say any of them.

"Hey, Ka-chan." She looked at him, noticing his gaze hadn't shifted from the moons.

"Y-yeah Niisan?"

"Do you have anyone special to go back to if we ever get out of this hell hole?" The sudden personal question left her confused.

"I mean, my mom and dad. But that's it, now that my brother's gone. After all our family is really small compared to most." Aiden gave a small laugh at the comment.

"Not quiet what I meant, but that works. I meant if you have a boyfriend or anyone like that waiting." Kaori blushed at the idea and fluttered about her words.

"Oh y-y-yeah, I mean no, well that's not it, it's just...boy's don't really interest me." Kaori placed her hands over her mouth quickly realizing what she said.

"I see. I wouldn't have guessed that. But that's cool. I have a wife, and we were expecting a child shortly before this happened. He's probably already said his first words by now. I'm curious what name she decided to give him. I sure hope it's not Kota. That would just get confusing." Kaori felt a warmth in her chest at the idea of a loving father.

"I like the name Kota. I think it would be a good name for him." Aiden smiled at the young girl and placed his large hand on her head.

"So," he started as he removed his hand. "Is that why you're always around Nene and Ryo?" Kaori's faced turned bright enough to be a landing beacon for any plane.

"W-w-w-w-what are y-y-y-y-you talking about N-n-n-n-n-niisan? I just like them as sisters." Aiden held his hands up.

"Very well, I'll leave it as a secret, no worries. You said you have your mom and dad. What are they like?" Kaori, grateful that the topic was dropped, started to calm back down.

"Well, mom has always been at home, a house wife sort of. She taught me everything I know. Where as dad's always over seas on some sort of business. He always get's excited when he's home though, always yelling 'hello Akihabara!" when he steps through the door."

"You live in Akihabara? That's where my family is. We're probably in the same hospital too. I heard a lot about it before I moved here, so I decided I wanted to live there."

"Where did you move from Niisan?"

"Europe, Belgium to be specific. I was born in America though, then my mom went to Belgium with me. That's all I know. I grew up in an orphanage with Sten. He was the brains and I was the brawn throughout our childhood. Always getting into some sort of trouble. If he was being bullied I would come and beat them up. If I couldn't solve a problem or was struggling in class he stayed up until midnight to make sure I understood it." Kaori looked at her friend with a fascinated face. He never talked about his past, let alone his real life. Then again she never asked about it either.

"But your name's Kota, that's not really a very American or Dutch name."

"Ah, that's because I changed it when I moved here. I wanted a Japanese name if I was going to live in Japan. Aiden is my birth name."

"You're really a fascinating person Aiden. I hope when this is all over we can still be friends." Kaori smiled to her large counterpart as he looked at her.

"Of course. After all this time, I would find it hard to be separated from any of you. We'll find each other. In due time. But first, we need to beat this so called game." The two stared back into the night sky and watched the stars dance on the black sky.

November 7th 2024 14:55 Aincrad Standard Time – Kirito defeats Heathcliff; SAO is cleared.

November 7th 2024 15:00 Aincrad Standard Time – 6000 remaining players are logged out.

Other Notes:

In Japan, women rarely wear wedding rings, unlike western culture. As for men is depends on their preference, most however choose not to.

November 7th 2024 – Akihabara General Hospital

A nurse was making her way down the halls of the hospital heading to one of her patients rooms.

"Shirihama Kota" it read on the name plate for the room. She opened the door and made her way in.

"Oh! Yori-chan, how are you and Iori doing today?" A nurse said to a woman holding a young child, sitting inside the room next to the man in the bed. The woman had gentle features about her. She had soft black hair that went half way down her back, pale blue eyes, and soft small lips. She was about five foot ten and was wearing an elegant tan business suit and black heals on.

"Konichiwa. Well. He's finally saying complete sentences. It's a good thing that he takes after me with brains. But something's up with Kota-kun today. His body is shifting unusually." Yori set Iori down as she rest her left hand on the man's hand, staring at her wedding ring.

"I'm sure it's nothing. It's not unusual for coma patients to twitch from time to time." Yori stayed silent, squeezing Kota's hand harder.

"Try not to stay to late Yori-chan, you still have to work you know." On that note the nurse left the family alone in the room. Yori rest her head on the bed next to his hand trying to fight back tears. It was hard being in a happy marriage only to have it ripped it away from you by some mad mans idea of a game. Two years was a long time to wait for anyone to wait for their loved one. And being able to see the one you love as they deteriorate away into nothingness was not easy. She longed for his touch. Just a simple squeeze of her hand would be more than enough to make her happy once more. But with no knowledge of the games progress, she had no idea how long she would have to wait. Yori had planned for the worse, but there was no need. She felt his hand twitch in hers. Yori shot her head up and looked over. The man, Kota, slowly opened his eyes.

November 15th Morning 2024 – Akihabara General Hospital

"Yori, it's already been a week. When will you stop crying?" Kota asked his wife.

"Who knows. Maybe never. I'm just so happy to have my husband back." Yori leaned over to him and gave him a long hug, which he did his best to return it in his weakened state.

"Iori, you're the man of the house until I get back to one hundred percent. I need you to keep your mommy happy." He said to his son playing around the foot of the bed. Kota's smile dropped and his face had a worried look on. Yori tilted her head a little.

"What's wrong Kota?"

"I wonder if Ka-chan, Nene and the others are okay." Kota's eyes shifted downwards.

"Ka-chan and Nene? Were they friends you made in there?" She asked him, receiving a nod.

"Yeah, but that's there user name. And I only know Ka-chan's name. Akiyama Shiro." Kota put a small smile on remembering his little friend. Someone he called family and loved as a little sister.

"Akiyama? Eh... Kota give me a minute." Yori stood up from the bedside and walked over to the door. As she opened it and walked out Kota looked over to the door with a quizical look. Her head came back in with a smile on.

"Kota? Are you ready to go for a small walk?" Yori walked over to his bed and held a hand out. Not sure of what was happening he grabbed onto her hand as she helped him out of the bed. Yori picked up Iori and they slowly made their way to the door and out into the hall. Yori pointed down the hall to the left of him and they started walking. The couple stopped at a closed door and Yori showed him the name plate.

"Akiyama Shiro." Kota said as he read the plate. His eyes widened as he reached for the handle of the door, only to have his wrist slapped.

"Ow! Why did you hit me?" He asked her holding his wounded hand.

"I don't know how they did it in the virtual world but you need to knock on a door before entering a ladies room in this world." Kota sighed, well knowing his wife was completely right.

"Well in the virtual world, it was impossible to enter anothers room on your own. You needed permission from the owner. I just got a little excited." He held a hand up and tried knocking on the door. However, due to his lack of strength it sounded more like taps. He kept trying to knock louder until Yori grabbed his hand. She knocked on the door loud enough and they heard a call back.

"Hai? Come in." Yori opened the door and Kota started walking into the room. He saw a frail young girl sitting up in her bed with a woman standing next to her. The girl in the bed held a book in her hand as she looked over to him. Although her body was worn from not using it, she still had the same face.

"H-hey Ka-chan." Kota smiled at her. Suddenly she realized who was in her door.

"Ohayo, Niisan." Kota wobbled over to the young girl and sat on the edge of her bed, his gown partially opened in the back. Shiro tried hiding her laughter as she covered her eyes with one hand and her mouth with another.

"Ka-chan, what are you laughing at?" The now confused Kota asked.

"Niisan, your butt is sticking out of your gown." Kota started to blush immensely, and tried to cover himself. He turned his head to see his wife trying to hold in her laughter.

"Yori-chan! You too?" Kota, embarrassed by both his wife and friend, sank where he was and hopped it would stop soon. Fortunately it did. Yori walked over to Shiro and introduced herself.

"Konichiwa, Shiro-san, I'm Shirihama Yori, Kota's wife. This is Iori, our son. Kota-kun has told me much about you." Yori smiled to Shiro as Shiro bowed her head lightly back to her.

"Konichiwa Yori-san, I'm Akiyama Shiro and this is my mother Towa, but Niisan knows me as Kaori, or Ka-chan. You can call me whichever you want." Shiro smiled at the woman to her fullest.

"Well I guess if I'm Niisan, then I guess you should call Yori-chan Neesan, huh Ka-chan?" Kota said to the two girls.

"Eh? Can I Yori-san?" Shiro's smiled as large as she could in her weakened state and Yori, not wanting to crush the girl, simply agreed.

"H-hai. But only if I can call you Shiro-chan." The girls smiled and grabbed hands.

"So Shiro," Kaori's mother started. "I assume this is the man you deemed as your replacement brother." The woman's words were cold and jagged.

"Mom, that's not the case. He was just there for me when Rin died. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him." The woman scoffed and left the room to the group, clearly upset at the loss of her son, looking for somebody to blame.

"Ka-chan." Kota said, deciding to ignore the rude woman. "Did you ever find out Nene and Ryo's name? That way we can find her eventually as well." Shiro smiled to him.

"Matsuo Naname and Matsuo Ryoka." Kota smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're great Ka-chan! Now we can get the guild together in real life. I just hope she's a little more sane in real life." Kota tried joking.

"What do you mean Kota-kun? What is she like?" Yori asked her husband.

"I haven't told you what went on in that world. So why don't we start from the beginning. It's an interesting story." Yori accepted Kota's offer.

Kota and Shiro began retelling the story of their two years in Sword Art Online as Aiden and Kaori. Kota decided to leave out what happened with Shiro's brother, and everything involving the murder guild Laughing Coffin, figuring that that was a story for another time perhaps. Hoping to bury the past, rather than live in it. Shiro looked out the window and noticed the sun starting to set. Their recap of the past two years had brought the day almost to an end. The husband and wife said their good nights to Shiro and everyone went to sleep for the night, happy with the reunion.

May 16th 2025 – Dicey Cafe – SAO Survivors Party

Dicey Cafe was closed on this special day. Six months have past since the game was cleared and a handful of players were celebrating in Agil's cafe. Anyone who was affected by Kirito or Asuna in some way were at the party. Kaori was off talking with Asuna and the other girls while Aiden and Sten sat at the bar talking with Agil.

"Man Agil, you sure are lucky your wife actually likes your ugly mug enough to keep this place going for you." Aiden jested to the cafe owner.

"I'm lucky? You're the deadbeat in your relationship. Be happy your rich wife was faithful enough to stay at her well paying job and your side." Aiden laughed at how truthful that was.

"Yeah I guess you're right, who knows why she's with me." Aiden rubbed the back of his head, being a little embarrassed. The door opened and two more members came into the cafe. They started walking up to the bar and sat next to Aiden.

"Oolong tea please Agil." One woman said. Aiden, deciding to pay no mind to her, continued his conversation with the cafe owner.

"Maybe I'm just a lucky bastard. Or she's a crazy woman. Who knows?" Aiden peaked an eye back to Agil as he gave a nod to the woman next to him. Aiden turned to look at her for the first time, however he received a punch in the side of his head that knocked him out of his seat. It drew the attention of most of the people in the small cafe and caused Sten to burst into laughter.

"Ow! You crazy bitch! What the hell was that for?" Before he could even look up to her the other one was already stepping on his hand that was resting on the floor with her heel.

"Now now Aiden-senpai, what did I tell you about swearing?" Aiden looked up and saw a familiar face in front of him.

"Nene! Ow! I'm happy to see you! Ow! Can you please get off my hand though?" Nene removed her foot and Aiden slowly stood up.

"And Ryo! Almost everyone's here."

"Oneechan!" Kaori ran over and the girls hugged. "I'm happy you could make it." She continued.

"Yeah, but that really hurt Nene. You can actually hurt people in this world remember?" Aiden said, unable to figure out if he wanted to coddle his hurt hand or his head. Nene tilted her head at the notion.

"Maybe you'll learn to watch that potty mouth of yours then. Eh, Aiden-senpai?" Nothing about Nene had changed. She was as twisted in the real world as she was in Aincrad. Aiden was happy though. He could finally enjoy the company of his friends with no worries.

"What about Sora? Will he be joining us today as well?" Kaori asked the group, if any of them knew.

"He should be here soon. He's only twelve, so it's harder for him to get around on his own." Sten answered her question.

"That reminds me,"Aiden started. "Ryo, Nene, how old are you two now? Eighteen? Nineteen?" The girls looked puzzled at the random question.

"Eighteen. Why do you ask?" Nene answered his question.

"I thought so. Sorry, Ka-chan, you still have a little to wait." All in the guild were confused by the interaction, except Kaori, who's face turned crimson and she ran away from the group."

"All in good time. I'm sure she'll let you know sooner than later. After all, we're free now. So let's enjoy it." Aiden smiled to his guild members, enjoying the atmosphere of the room. They were free now, everyone. No more death game or fighting to survive. They could go back to their normal lives and families. Everything was finally going to be okay.

Keep Moving Forward

Thank you everyone for reading this story. I enjoyed writing it, i'm off to the next one. But who knows what that's going to be. Take care and keep moving forward!