Chapter 8: Jabber

S-F Day. Tokyo General Hospital.

Takeshi Yamashita opened his eyes in the medical bed. He heard noises all around him, but everything was still just a blur. After a minute he was able to sit up. He felt an incredible urge to scratch an itch on the back of his neck, but he was unable to reach it due to the helmet, which he slowly pulled off. The IVs were still inserted into his left arm.

He looked around in a daze. He could still hear a huge commotion but his eyes could not focus yet.

After another minute his vision slowly cleared, and he could see dozens of beds like his own stretching off in both directions. Each one contained a patient, and they were all waking up.

He blinked his watery eyes some more. Was this a dream? He soon decided that it was real. And that meant...

Yes! The game ended! I'm out of prison!

He whooped, "Yahoo!"

A man in another bed yelled back to him, "Right on, dude!"

I was stuck in that stinkhole for what seemed like forever. I'm free!

He ignored the pandemonium that surrounded him as he quickly began to think.

Hmm, what should I do first? Let's see...

Step one: Cash in the joint life insurance policy.

Step two: Use the money to take a nice long vacation far away from here. Okinawa maybe?

Step three: While on vacation find a sweet young thing and give her my sob story.

He dropped the helmet on the floor and laid back down in the bed. He crossed his arms behind his head and smiled as he started to daydream.

Yes, my dear, I had tragically, tragically, lost my dear devoted wife in SAO. Oh, I had fought valiantly to save her, but the horrible death game took my dear devoted wife away. Yes, it was so tragic. No, we had no children - I don't even have that legacy to remember her by. Such a terrible tragedy. I must soldier on somehow.

His smile grew.

How long ago did my wife die, you ask? Over a year ago. Yes, my mourning period is over now. Yes, I am ready to move on with my life. It is what she would have wanted.

Alas, what is a lonely wealthy widower like me to do? Oh, you aren't married either?

Heh. I should go on 2-3 vacations maybe.

His memory was slowly returning. He then remembered something else.

Wait, I forgot something.. What was it...

Schmidt. And Yolko and Caynz. Crap, how could I forget them?

He frowned and began to think furiously.

Think, Takeshi, think!

Okay, Schmidt is weak and I manipulated him pretty easily. He's just as guilty as I am. I could threaten to have him arrested as an accessory to murder or something. I know it wasn't technically murder but he's pretty gullible. Yeah, he'll cave again.

It wasn't illegal, right? Of course not. It was a death game: kill or be killed, survival of the fittest. I had no choice. I'll claim self defense if I have to.

Hmm, Yolko and Caynz are still going to raise bloody hell. That could be a problem.

Well, it is their word against mine. If they try to contact my new sweet young thing to warn her about Griselda, I'll just tell the little darling that those horrible people from SAO are lying. Who's to say different?

You see, my new darling, Yolko had lusted for me and was jealous of my wonderful wife. Of course I refused her improper advances. I'm a man of integrity. Yolko then flew into a rage. After I rejected her she fell in love with Caynz and convinced her to join in the vendetta.

Or I could say that Caynz was sleeping with my lovely wife, and Yolko wanted Caynz for herself so she killed her.

I could make up 100 different stories like that.

Hey, this is fun!

Let's see, how else can I spin this...

As his memory continued to re-integrate he remembered something else.

Crap, the Black Swordsman and that bitch! I forgot about them!

What was her name again, that Blood Oath chick? They were both high level big wigs. Ugh, that could be bad.

Wait, they were big wigs only inside the game, right? This is real life. They're just ordinary kids now. I can handle them. It's still my word against theirs.

Oh well, I probably have a few days to work out my story. I can just cash the policy and go to Okinawa in the meantime and find a sweet young thing who wants to comfort me.

Hmm, I should be okay I think. But as a last resort I might need to recruit some Laughing Coffin members again. Gotta be careful though - murder in the real world isn't as easy as in a VRMMO.

Let's see, what else...

A harried looking medical technician came up to his bedside. He raised his voice to address him over all the surrounding noise. "Mr. Yamashita? Are you awake too?"

Takeshi sat up in his medical bed. "Yep! You don't need to worry about me. I feel great, doc."

The technician made a checkmark motion on his tablet with his finger. "Oh good. As you can see we are pretty swamped right now. I'm just doing SMART triage. Your vitals look good so I'll be marking you down as green. Fortunately, almost all the patients seem to be doing as well as you."

"Almost?"

"Four haven't awakened yet, and their WAN LEDs aren't blinking either. Possible malfunctions. I'm sorry but they take priority."

"Oh, I understand. I'll wait."

"Good. It might be a while before someone can attend to removing your IVs. I hope you don't mind. Please don't remove them yourself."

Grimwald looked around the room at all the whooping and jumping and high-fiving. "Seems the others aren't listening to your instructions."

The med tech gave out exasperated sigh. "No, most of them aren't. Still, we have to ask you to please not remove the IVs. You don't want an infection."

Takeshi nodded as he laid himself back down. "I won't. I'll be a good boy and just lie here all nice and quiet until things calm down." He folded his hands. "I got nothin' else better to do."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Yamashita. Your wife will be here shortly." The med tech turned to leave.

Takeshi sat up and grabbed the med tech's arm before he could walk away. "Excuse me?"

The med tech rechecked his tablet. "Your chart says to notify your wife, Yuuko Yamashita, correct?"

"What?"

"Well, to be honest we haven't actually notified anyone yet, but with the awakenings being broadcast all over the news media it seems that all the families are coming in on their own. I expect that your wife will probably be here any minute."

"My wife? No, wait! Your chart has to be wrong!"

"Sir?"

"My wife, she was killed in the game over a year ago!"

"Oh? Let me check." He used his finger to flick around on his tablet.

"Ah, you are right. She was killed in SAO on October 24, 2023."

Takeshi whispered, "Oh thank heavens." Because of the surrounding noise the med tech failed to hear him.

The med tech smiled at the patient. "You played together as husband and wife, how nice. Well, you two will certainly have much to catch up on."

"What? Wait, she's dead!"

"Oh no. She is listed as your primary contact. The information is up to date."

"But.. but people die when they are killed!"

At that moment a voice could be heard behind the med tech.

"Takeshi, is that you..?" A woman in her late 20s with brown hair and a slender build wearing a business pantsuit was now standing behind the med tech.

The med tech smiled again. "Ah. Excuse me, but I have several other patients to attend to. Good day." He moved away to check on the next patient. Yuuko Yamashita quickly took his place at the side of the med bed.

"Takeshi? Oh, I waited so long for you to come back." She bent over and lovingly wrapped her arms around him.

He was frozen in abject fear.

She misinterpreted his reaction as shock. She let go and pulled back. "I know. I must seem like a ghost. They lied. We simply woke up."

He kept staring at her. She kneeled at his bedside. "It's okay, honey. You aren't dreaming."

No..

She lovingly touched his cheek as he continued to stare. "I know, you must be in shock. Don't worry, I'll stay here and take care of you. I won't leave your side until they discharge you, then I'll take you home. I promise we will never be apart ever again."

No..

"We spent a year living in different worlds. Now we have a life to build together, again."

No..

"Takeshi, don't worry, I stayed faithful this whole time. There were other wives with husbands trapped in the game who eventually left them. I organized a wives support group that meets on Tuesdays. It saved a lot of marriages."

No..

She held his hand as she continued to kneel beside him.

"So tell me, what happened to Griselda? They still haven't told me how I died. You must have investigated. Did you find out anything?"

No..

"Takeshi? Can you hear me?"

She waved her hand in front of his face.

"Takeshi?"

She jumped up. "Help! There is something wrong with my husband!"

I. Am. So. Dead.

S-F Day. Early evening.

After three hours of hugging, crying, and rejoicing with Suguha and Midori, the Kirigaya family matriarch finally had to bid her step-son adieu for the evening. She left him in the care of her daughter for the rest of the night. Suguha promised her mother that she would join her back at home before midnight. Midori explained that she had a critical deadline to meet, but she promised that she would return as soon as possible tomorrow morning in order to spend more time with her step-son. She also said that she would bring a fresh change of clothes for his expected discharge tomorrow.

Kazuto was sitting up in his bed holding a plastic cup of water. Two more plastic cups - both empty - were still standing on a small tray that had been placed on the nightstand next to him.

He had previously sent Sachi out on a second errand that he knew would require several minutes to complete.

Suguha and Kazuto were now alone in the private room. She came forward and tentatively sat in the chair next to his hospital bed.

She said shyly, "So hey.."

He gave her a gentle smile. "Hey."

It was the first time they were alone together in two years.

He gazed at her in silent admiration.

Man, that little scrunt has really grown up.

Suguha started to fidget in her chair.

Kazuto tilted his head. "Sugu, what's the matter? Something wrong?"

She said bashfully, "You're looking at me."

"Huh? Oh, I guess I am."

Kazuto finally said, "Hey, stand up. I want to see you."

Suguha obliged and stood up a bit awkwardly.

"Turn around."

She did a 360 until she was facing him again.

Whoa. She's stacked.

If Kazuto's eyes had previously lingered a second too long in appreciation of Sachi's new bustline, his eyes positively boggled at Suguha's much more impressive measurements, which were quite apparent despite her attempt to hide them under her baggy black wool sweater.

He stared in admiration at her stunning post-pubescent triumph. "Sugu..."

She clutched her sweater. "Hey! What are you staring at?"

He realized what he was doing and he quickly averted his eyes. "I'm sorry!" His face started to turn red.

The nerve of him, just like those pervy boys in my school. So typical.

Kazuto continued to turn away in embarrassment.

Wait, he's blushing.

He's blushing because he was looking at me.

At me...

Her own face warmed. Suguha released her grip on her sweater.

After a moment she said shyly, "It's okay if you look."

She caught herself and quickly added, "Uh, it's only okay because you were surprised, that's all. So you get to gawk just once, just this once! That's it, you understand? Once!"

He declined the opportunity to resume his stare. Instead he said, "That was rude of me. I'm really sorry. Please, just sit."

She sat down quickly. "Okay."

"Let's talk."

She tried to find something to say. Eventually, Kazuto decided to fill the dead air. "Sugu, all I meant to say is that the last time I saw you, you were just a little scrunt about this high." He raised his hand to a level that was about a full head-length below her current standing height. "I just got surprised, that's all."

"I know."

"Really, Sugu, you look great."

She said nervously, "Uh, hey, you look great too..."

She caught herself again. He looked like a cadaver. "Uh, no! Wait, I mean you look great at being, uh, alive.. Yeah, alive. Considering everything you went through..."

She's really nervous. Can't blame her.

Suguha looked down her front in embarrassment. She started to fiddle absently with one of her sweater buttons.

Now she's fidgeting. Is it because she's not sure where she stands with me?

She still doesn't know the reason why I pulled away from her.

When I had discovered she wasn't my sister, I got distant. Mom never told her.*

She looks so anxious. This is all my fault.

I need to calm her down. I want to reconnect.

What do I say...?

She looks...

Yeah.

He decided to flatter his step-sister some more.

"Sugu, you know, you look incredible now. Man, to think that my scrawny little sister turned into you."

Her heart leapt in response.

"I mean it, Sugu, you look really amazing. I bet all the boys in school are chasing you now, heh."

Suguha's world started to spin.

He thinks.. he thinks.. he thinks I'm...

I feel dizzy...

She put her hand to the side of her head to stabilize the room.

Kazuto grew concerned, "Hey, you okay?"

She recovered quickly. "I'm fine. Uh, what were you saying?"

"I said I bet the boys in school are all chasing you now."

She waved her hand. "Oh don't be so silly. There's only one boy and he's a pest."

"A pest?"

"Please. Like I have any time for boys anyway."

"Well, if that kid bothers you, let me know and I'll put him in his place."

"Pshaw, he's already in his place. Believe me, you don't need to worry about him."

"Uh, okay."

After a moment she started twisting her sweater button some more.

Kazuto decided to change the subject. "So, you have a roommate now?"

She looked back up at him. "Oh, yes."

"It still seems incredible to me that Sachi is alive. So tell me, what is she like now?"

Suguha leaned forward. "Oh, she's just the sweetest thing. She's really quiet and kind. Around the house she has been Mom's perfect little helpmate, and Mom just loves her silly."

"So she's still pretty quiet and shy then?"

"Well, yes and no. When she's with me we have this rivalry thing going on. Don't worry, it's just for fun. We goof around a lot. We love to compete, race, make dares with each other, you name it."

She chortled, "We really bounce off each other, you know? Sometimes we get a little crazy when we try to top each other. We do stuff we'd never do alone."

"Heh, that sounds fun. Maybe I can join in."

She blinked her eyes. He didn't notice.

"So, you two do any kendo battles yet?"

Suguha quickly recovered again. "Uh, no. I offered to teach her, but she said she never wants to hold a weapon ever again."

"I guess I can understand that."

"She won't play violent video games with anyone either. The only video games we play together are racing games like Mario Ultra Karts or running through obstacle courses like Donkey Kong Wild Leap. Then it gets intense, heh."

"I see. So, she will get competitive when she's with you, but otherwise she's still quiet and shy the rest of the time. Interesting."

Suguha thought a moment. "Well, yes and no..."

"No?"

"Well, she's really protective of you, for starters."

"Huh. I did notice that she was pretty bossy with me. Is that normal?"

"No. I've never seen her act that way before."

"I bet it is because I'm awake now."

"Yeah. And she was ready for it, too. She's been telling me for months about all of her big plans for you. She's been studying for an LPN certificate and doing volunteer work with VRDPs as part of it, with a focus on PTSD and physical therapy and stuff. I think it's all part of her grand plan."

"Grand plan?"

"You'd have to ask her about it."

"So anyway, you two share a bedroom. What's it like? Lots of pillow talk?"

"Actually no, not really. We both are really busy during the day. Usually I just crash. She doesn't come in until after midnight."

She frowned. "She complains that I snore." She crossed her arms and harumphed, "I do not!"

"You don't? Wait, I remember.."

Suguha sighed and uncrossed her arms. "Yeah, you caught me. She even secretly recorded me on her smartphone and played it back in front of Mom, with video and everything. She's such a little stinker."

"Heh. So no bed talk, then?"

"No. She's a night owl - like I said, she always stays up past midnight. She'll sometimes hang out with Mom in her office for a bit. She only comes to bed after I'm already asleep."

Kazuto leaned back on his propped-up pillow. "Humma. From what you're telling me, it sounds like you two are getting along really well. That's great. Hey, it's kind of like I'm gonna get another sister, you know? That's pretty cool."

Her face changed. Kazuto saw it.

"Sugu, what is it now?"

She rocked back and forth in the chair. "Uhm..."

"Yeah?"

She looked indecisive. "Well.."

"What is it? Tell me."

"Ugh, this is so hard..."

"Go on."

"I guess we do act like sisters a lot, but.."

"But?"

"Well, there is something you need to know about her."

"Like what?

"Uhm.. well.. please don't tell her, okay?"

"I won't, I promise."

"Well, it's just that... I think that Sachi is, well.. she's a little off in some ways."

"A little off?"

"It's hard for me to put it into words..."

He waited for her to continue.

"Dang it.."

"Sugu, you can tell me. We're family."

"Well, like I said, she's off. It's.. it's you, I think."

"Me?"

"Ugh, this is so hard... Look, I'm not trying to badmouth her. She really is a nice girl, and we have tons of fun together, but, uh, well, you need to be careful around her."

"Careful? How do you mean?"

"I dunno. I just have this worried feeling about her. Not before, now. Now that you're awake."

"What kind of worry?"

Suguha wrung her hands. "I.. I don't know.. just something.."

"Can you give me an example maybe?"

"Well, okay, like what if one night you wake up and she's sleeping right next to you again?"

Kazuto considered that. "You really think that might happen?"

"I.. I don't know! But that happened in SAO, and she's so focused on you.. I'm worried."

Kazuto considered it some more. "No, I don't see her doing that. She's not scared anymore. There's no reason."

"But.. what if she does?"

He shrugged, "Well, if that happens I will order her to knock it off and then I'll talk to Mom about it. Sound good?"

"Uh.. yeah."

"Sugu, I honestly don't understand why you have such a big worry about her and me. But okay, I tell you what: I will keep an eye on her for you, and if she starts to do something, you know, weird, I'll tell her to stop whatever weird thing she is doing, and I'll let you or Mom know. Okay?"

Suguha looked relieved. "Okay. Thank you so much. I just wanted to warn you."

She wrung her hands again. "Look, I really feel awful about saying bad things about her behind her back. And I really do like her, and we really are good friends now, and we have lots of fun racing each other and stuff, and I know it makes me sound like I don't trust her, because I do trust her.. well, ugh, except for, uhm, maybe what I mean is that I trust her with me or with Mom... anyway, it'll take a load off my mind if you just be careful."

Kazuto looked at his step-sister.

Why is Sugu so bent out of shape about Sachi and me? What's her beef?

"Okay, look, this is obviously really bugging you, so I gotta ask this... Sugu, are you saying that - hypothetically speaking - that you think that Sachi is bad for me if I somehow got into a relationship with her? And remember, I'm talking hypothetically here?"

"Uhm, well.."

"Why would she be bad for me?"

And it's not like that would ever happen anyway, not when I have Asuna.

Suguha grew frustrated. "I.. I don't know! I just get this really worried feeling whenever I think about it. I don't know how to explain it.."

He raised his hands. "Okay, okay, I get it. You have some kind of feminine intuition that warns you about her getting too close to me. She sets off your antennas, and you get a bad vibe. I know girls have a sixth sense about this stuff. Okay, fine. I'll be on my guard, okay?"

She smiled meekly. "Okay.."

She leaned forward. "Please don't tell her. I feel horrible even mentioning it to you." She looked down. "Maybe I'm just being weird.."

He tousled her hair playfully. "You're always weird, Sugu."

She grabbed her hair. "Stop that!"

"Fine, sorry. Sheesh."

Then she said demurely, "Hey, you haven't messed with my hair since.."

He completed the thought. ".. since I was 8?"

"Uh huh."

He smiled. "Well, maybe I should start messing up your hair again."

She returned the smile. "But then I get to mess up yours back."

He snorted. "Right. Whenever we did that we always started fighting, and Mom always got mad at us."

"Hey, I only fight with a shinai now. You get out of line and I'll whack you."

"Oooh, scary. So I guess no hair mussing then?"

She said softly, "You can muss up my hair..."

"Mmm?"

"... but only if I get to muss yours."

He grinned.

"Deal."

A half hour had elapsed and Suguha looked at the clock on the wall. "I wonder why Sachi isn't back yet?"

Kazuto was finishing his last glass of water. He was glad that the catheter was still plugged in to a very personal part of his anatomy so he didn't have to go to the bathroom.

Suguha stood up. "You want me to go find her?"

"Hmm, yeah, you better check."

"Okay." She left.

Kazuto was now alone in the room for the first time since had woken up. He sighed and put his head back down on the pillow as he looked up at the ceiling.

Well, it looks like Sugu doesn't know Sachi as well as I thought she might, at least not when it comes to me. They don't share any pillow talk. That's when girls talk about boys.

Hmm, Sachi's skewed sleep schedule... is she doing that to avoid any bedtime talk?

They fool around and play together, but they aren't sharing any private stuff or personal stuff the way real sisters would.

Dang it. I was hoping Sugu would give me a read on what Sachi is thinking about me. Sachi's been sitting in that chair watching me for 17 straight months. What was she doing all that time? Daydreaming? Running fantasies in her head?

And if she was - and I don't see why she wouldn't be - how am I gonna explain Asuna to her?

Hoo boy. Awkward.

Is she going to wig out?

How will she react?

I gotta figure her out, and fast. What is a 'VRDP' anyway?

You'd think after 17 months Sugu would have her figured out by now. Hmm, if Sugu doesn't have a read on her, maybe Mom does?

Or maybe I should I ask Asuna for advice? Maybe she can just talk to her privately? Explain things to her, you know, woman to woman?

Eh, Asuna can get pretty prickly sometimes. I've certainly had enough dinner knives thrown at me to realize that, although when whenever she threw them at me I usually deserved it..

Asuna can be really kind too, especially to those who are vulnerable or have been hurt, and Sachi will definitely be hurt...

Well, I'll set it aside for now. I just need to find Asuna. That's all I want.

I need to see her again, spend some time alone with her.

Hmm, I'm going to need to introduce myself formally to Asuna's family, and she needs to be introduced formally to mine.

Asuna, we are going to have a *lot* to talk about family-wise, and not just about Sachi.

Yeah, we'll talk about everything privately, just you and me, Asuna. I'll check with Mom too, and together we will get this all figured out.

The door opened and Sachi and Suguha returned. They were whispering to each other as they walked in. Sachi spoke up, "Sorry it took so long, Kirito. That was quite a list."

"Find any of them?"

"Yeah, we found two. I was worried I'd need to pull some strings to get them out tonight, but I didn't have to. They were already downstairs signing the release paperwork." She grinned, "It seems that Nurse Aki had already frog-marched them both out of the public ward and downstairs to the Discharge Office."

Kazuto asked, "Nurse Aki?"

"Kirito, I have seen Nurse Aki single-handedly tackle a delirious 130 kilogram level 68 linebacker VRDP and hog tie him to the floor with a saline line all by herself. That guy is lucky to be alive after the stunt he pulled on her. Anyway, after they are both done with their discharge paperwork I expect they'll be back up here again in a few minutes. I just hope they don't run into Nurse Aki again."

Kazuto tried to look more grateful than bewildered. "Uh, thanks."

Soon there was a knock and two young men came in. They were in the middle of a heated discussion. The large black man was saying to the man wearing the bandana, "Hey, why you always pushing that swordmaker chick on me?"

The man with the bandana replied, "I'm just sayin' that you two have a lot in common, that's all. You're both entrepreneurs, you both sell weapons. And besides, I think she has a thing for you."

"Dude, you know I'm married, so knock it off."

"Hey, from what you told me I think that wife of yours is married to that cafe, not you."

"Shut up, man. We're here."

They then both looked up and saw Kazuto in the hospital bed.

"Dude!"

"Kirito, my man!"

They both ran over to his bed, ignoring Sachi and Suguha.

The large black man said, "Aw man, Kirito, you look like [bleep]. What happened to you?"

Kazuto was staring back at them. "You guys look fine.. how come..?"

Sachi spoke up. "His body was undergoing cellular breakdown. It's still really rare among the SAO victims, about 1 in 1000 so far, but the doctors said it was going to spread rapidly if you all stayed under much longer."

Kazuto said hopefully, "So, Asuna..?"

Klein backslapped Kazuto. "Dude, I'm sure your ice hottie is still a hottie, don't worry."

Kazuto sighed with relief.

Ice hottie?

Suguha and Sachi looked at each other.

Agil and Klein were now noticing the two girls, who were standing next to each other away from the bed.

The man wearing the bandana stood up and liked what he saw. He quickly sauntered over to greet the two girls. The other man followed behind.

"Well, well. And who might you lovely ladies be?"

Both girls unconsciously clutched their sweaters like a stereo picture.

Sachi finally spoke for herself and Suguha. "Oh, uh, hello. My name is Sachi. This is Suguha."

The large black man waved. "Andrew Gilbert Mills. Call me Agil. Pleased to meet you."

The man wearing the bandana swept his arm across his front and bowed in an extravagant gesture of greeting. "My name is Ryoutarou Tsuboi. In SAO my handle is Klein. I'm a close personal friend of Kirito."

Sachi smiled. "That's wonderful. Me too."

He stood up. "Huh? Really?"

Sachi felt pleased with herself. "Yes. I was Kirito's first partner. I mean, I was with his first team partners."

Klein raised an eyebrow at the cute girl. "I see. You were his first 'partner'..."

She nodded, "Yes, his first after Day 1. Nice to meet you."

Before Suguha could introduce herself next, Agil whispered to Klein, "First?"

Klein turned and said, "Kinda young, don't you think?"

Agil hushed him. "Lower your voice."

Suguha glared. "Excuse me, what are you two men talking about?"

Agil was still addressing Klein. He sighed, "She must be another one."

Klein agreed. "Man, how many does he got?"

Suguha yelled, "Hey!"

Klein turned to face Kazuto. "Dude, really, what is with you? You go around collecting cute chicks like shopping coupons?" He shook his head. "I am going to need a phone book to keep track of your harem..."

Kazuto quickly replied, "No! It's not like that! And Suguha is.."

But it was too late. Suguha was already riled up. "'Cute chicks'?"

Sachi had her arms crossed. "'Harem'?"

Agil tried to describe the situation to the two annoyed girls on his behalf. "Well, you see, Kirito has got a bit of a thing with the ladies. You aren't his only ones."

Suguha said testily, "So how many 'ladies' does he have?"

Klein rubbed his chin. "Well, I don't know exactly how many he's collected up to now, but let's see, there is Silica, Liz, you two chicks, and of course..."

Kazuto yelled, "No! It wasn't like that! I just teamed up with them!"

Suguha glared at Kazuto "Argh! Here Sachi and I were worried sick about you wandering around SAO all by yourself, but it turns out that you were just playing Casanova with with a bunch of 'chicks' the whole time!"

Kazuto was waving his arms. "No! I wasn't! I really did play solo! Honest!"

Sachi knew that it had to be a misunderstanding on Klein's part, so she leaned over and whispered something to Suguha, who was still fuming.

Whatever Sachi had whispered to Suguha seemed to backfire. Suguha hissed back, "How can I believe you now?"

"Sugu, the VRDPs lie all the time. Please, don't listen to them..."

"You're one to talk. You're one of them yourself, Little Miss First Bed Partner!"

"Sugu, please, that's not fair."

Suguha whirled and faced Kazuto, "How many more were there!?"

Klein was stunned. "His first...?"

Suguha was inchoate. "Your 'chicks'? Your 'harem'? So it turns out she was not the only girl to share your bed?"

Kazuto was panicking. "No, wait! Stop!"

"And she was only 14 at the time! How could you!"

Klein's jaw was now hanging wide open.

Kazuto waved his hands and yelled, "No! She's wrong! Don't listen to her!"

Klein yelled, "DUDE!"

Agil shook his head sadly. "Oh man, Kirito, you have a lot to answer for. That is *so* not cool."

Meanwhile, Kirito was still waving his hands wildly as he continued to protest his innocence. "No, no, no! You don't understand! It wasn't like that!"

And so it went.

It was now nearing midnight and Agil and Klein had long since left. It had taken over an hour, but Kazuto and Sachi had finally managed to calm Suguha down and explain the misunderstanding. There were apologies all around.

Suguha had school the next morning and finally had to leave to get home before midnight.

Sachi was again sitting alone in her chair. "I'm really sorry about that."

Kazuto sighed, "It's all my fault. I should have explained it better before she flew off the handle."

Sachi tried to reassure him. "No, that Klein person just caught us all off guard. I know you didn't do anything wrong."

"Dang it, I was just patching things up with her too."

She smiled kindly at him. "You did your best, I'm sure. Although I must admit I'm a little surprised how touchy she is about you being around other girls."

"Well, she's my sister. She just feels protective of me."

Then he looked at Sachi carefully. "Same as you."

She didn't catch his careful gaze and simply nodded.

He added slowly, "But you didn't freak out like Sugu did.."

She shook her head. "It's because I know you. I know you are nothing like that. Suguha needs to be more trusting of you..."

She looked down. "... and of me."

Kazuto remembered what Suguha confided in him, that she did not trust Sachi around him.

He sighed, "Yeah, she has trust issues. I see that now."

They both sat in silence while thinking about Suguha.

He finally said, "Anyway, Sachi, it is really great to see you again. You know, when I look at you, still alive, I still think I'm dreaming sometimes."

She smiled.

"And you've changed so much. I don't mean just the way you look, I mean you're, well..."

"I'm not that timid little girl anymore?"

"No, you're not. I'm really proud of you."

She smiled demurely. "Thank you."

She was exhausted from the day's events, and her guard started to drop.

A tear formed in her eye. "It's been hard..."

Kazuto sat up some more. "Hey, you want to talk about it?"

She wiped her face with her sweater arm. "No, not right now. Besides, it's getting late."

"I understand. Still, I'm so amazed when I look at you. You are more confident, more mature. Well, except when you mess around with Suguha, heh.."

"Oh, she told you about that?"

"Yeah."

"About how we raced..?"

"Yeah, Super Mario Ultra Karts. I gotta watch you two next time."

"Oh." He had misunderstood. She was tired and didn't feel like correcting him.

More time passed.

Eventually Kazuto said, "Uh, Sachi?"

"Yes?"

"Look, I really need to get some sleep."

"Yes, I know."

"Sachi, I'd rather you not watch me sleep, okay?"

She looked distracted. "I wasn't planning to stay. It's just that.."

"Hmm?"

"I was going to wait until they got here, then leave..."

"As soon as who got here?"

Sachi frowned. "Well, I'm a little confused. Why haven't they come to talk to you yet?"

"Who?"

"The government. Why has no one from the Ministry of Information come here to ask you questions about Akihiko Kayaba yet? I know that Mr. Kikuoka very much wants to catch him, and he had told me he desperately wanted to talk to you the moment you woke up. I was expecting to see him come through that door hours ago."

Kazuto mentally kicked himself. "Hey, you are right! Why haven't any government goons come to grill me yet? They should have by now."

Sachi protested, "Mr. Kikuoka is not a goon! He is a nice gentleman. Still, what do you think it means?"

"Hmm, if nobody is grilling me to try to find Kayaba it must mean.."

She nodded. "They already found him."

He looked at her. "Or they think they have."

S-F Day. JSDF Regional AFB.

Two great Sikorsky Chinook CH-35E Super Stallion helicopters rose into the air and headed north. The company commander was sitting in the jump seat next to Seijirou Kikuoka in the lead helicopter. Both were wearing Special Operations combat uniforms.

The commander had to yell over the noise of the rotors. "Lieutenant Colonel, this is our ops plan." He handed the steel-encased data tablet to Kikuoka. "The surrounding mountains limit the villa to only one exit, here." He pointed. "I don't see any way he is going to escape."

Kikuoka yelled back, "Don't underestimate him. Remember, we want him alive."

"Yes sir. So how did you MINFO folks find him?"

"Watanabe's intel was spot on. It turned out that Kirito really was as strong as she said when she peeked at his popup display, and she was also right when she had predicted that his personal drive and determination would make him become the best solo player. So when Kirito got forced into Asuna's guild, we zeroed in on Heathcliff and it was all over. That player had no real name or location. The god of that universe had simply wanted to experience first hand what it was like to play his own game. Watanabe's indirect psych profile worked. After that all we had to do was find Heathcliff's VPN link and trace it."

"That's it?"

"Not quite. We still couldn't find the right circuit. We did a process of elimination on the data streams of all the players, matching them all with passive data taps on all the 100GBASE-T switches, counting bytes in and bytes out. We measured every single byte leaving the Argus building and matched it with every single byte entering every helmet."

"And?"

"They balanced perfectly. Every byte to every single player, all 6149 of them, was accounted for exactly. Every single byte! But we knew there were 6150 players, not 6149. So where the heck was player #6150?

"We knew he wasn't hiding inside the Argus building by checking the water usage. All the data egress points were accounted for, so we searched for hidden outgoing microwave beams, inductive taps, everything we could think of. It drove us crazy."

"So how'd you find it?"

"We finally got an anonymous tip, sent to us using one of Kayaba's old public keys."

Kikuoka showed the message to the commander. It contained just four words:

Check the wires again

"Uh, I don't follow, sir."

"It was so simple. Kayaba was using a jabber circuit. It was why we could never find his VPN link out of the Argus building. It looked like a dead wire with a loose connection, just random static. The average office tower has dozens of them: wires chewed by rodents, water damage, getting accidentally cut, you name it. His trick was that his VPN wasn't framed with IEEE 802.3 link layer headers, or with a sync byte, or even a stop pulse. It didn't even have Vcc for grounding! It was just an ungrounded dead wire spewing what seemed like random noise. No amount of network snorting would have found him because we had only checked the live wires."

"I never understood that stuff, sir. I'm just glad we found him."

"Well, the man is a freaking genius. We never would have found it without that tip."

"So who do you think sent it?"

"The message used one of Kayaba's old public keys, so it had to be someone who was close to him in the past. Our analysts think it was probably one of his former grad students. The psych people think she might be a jilted lover."

"Heh, it's always a girl that brings 'em down, isn't it?"

Kikuoka remained silent. He looked out the helicopter window.

Yes, it was a girl all right.

He was thinking of Sachi.

Little lady, I owe you one.

The military helicopters flew into the night.

A/N:

* See episode 22. It is hard to believe that Midori had never told Kazuto that she had informed Suguha two years prior. Instead he had to learn it two months later from Suguha herself. (The LN tries to justify it saying that Suguha told her mom to 'hold back' saying she wanted to tell him herself - stills seems kind of long though.)

A/N Update:

At this point in the story, Kazuto has been awake for less than 10 hours. He still is trying to get his bearings while trying to wrap his head around the fact that Sachi is alive, and he has no idea what is going on with this girl other than the fact that she had watched him for 17 straight months (in LN Vol 3: He had visited her [Asuna] for three straight days. Kazuto couldn't even go one straight week), so he assumes - not unreasonably - that Sachi is infatuated with him somehow. He is worried that she might be living out some kind of deluded romantic idyllic fantasy daydream that she has been playing in her head the whole time she has been watching him, so he wants to talk to somebody about her to get a read on her before he says anything. Note that Kazuto had waited a full month before he told Suguha (LN Vol 3): It was about a month ago [December (the narrative is from January)] that Kazuto had told her he'd found his beloved in that other world.

He will soon learn that VRDPs are said to be mentally unstable, and that according to common lore they could snap with little or no warning. This will make him even more hesitant and increase his desire to learn more about Sachi before he says anything. In questioning Suguha, she was not able to give him the information he needs. Mom doesn't know Sachi's inner thoughts either. Nobody does. So he will soon resign himself to watching her day by day (they live together) and try to figure her out himself. He doesn't know yet that he will never figure her out just by watching her, and that instead some unexpected event will have to happen to force the issue. (Oh, like that would ever happen... /s)

As always, thank you for reading.
-HuuskerDu