Day 7

As if in a dream, time began to pass as if a mere whisper of his imagination. His days were monochromatic in their very nature, spent walking around the complex while accompanied by a Nurse – Something he apparently shouldn't be doing until he began physiotherapy – and with blood tests and the likes being performed pretty much every day.

Kazuto was having difficulties accepting this as more than a particularly strange dream. When compared to the colorful vividness that had always defined Aincrad, this was simply too dim, too bland. Calm where he was used to the storm, slow when he expected to be rushing. Silent even as his mind screamed at him- Find Asuna.

He tried to, of course. But she wasn't a patient in the Hospital he was interned in, and he couldn't ask the already overworked medical staff to lead a search for someone who could be anywhere in Japan, and to even think about revealing something as intimate and his as his relationship with Asuna to Midori and Suguha was –

Inconceivable wasn't quite the word, but it wasn't quite wrong either. They visited him each and every day, each day with a different bouquet – each and every one of them was beautiful, but paled when compared to the flowers he saw in Aincrad – and a smile on their faces, some faker than others.

He still wasn't quite sure where he stood with them, where things would go after all was said and done. This whole thing felt simply too unreal for him to let inside – So they fluttered just outside the doors to his heart, unwavering in their dubious determination. Kazuto could see the regret in their eyes, the desperate attempts at comfort and determination – but Kirito was a Solo Player, had been even before SAO.

What he felt about it, about them, about this place – He would have to figure this all out. Where was he in regards to them? How similar are things now to the way they had been, before it all began? How different?

But – Kazuto knew he wasn't ready for that, not yet. One day, he would lose the ability to postpone it indefinitely, but until that day – He would remain as he was, fading eternally, and deny himself the pain.

When night fell upon his head, as he saw through the window in his room, the nurse named Karen would come to his room, and they would talk. His throat burned each and every time he said anything, but, even for Kazuto, it was nice to talk to someone now and again.

And then, he would inevitably fall asleep – His body was far from what it had been, and even when fully rested, his energy reservoirs were bizarrely low.

And then came the nightmares. The visions that Kazuto had when Morpheus claimed him at night, dragged him down to the depths of Tartarus itself to claw through his sore spots – Torment him with the visages of terrors both real and unreal situated in the Castle in The Sky.

So, each day, at the crack of dawn, Kazuto Kirigaya would wake from his slumber screaming, reeling – Fleeing from the darkness that had followed the Black Swordsman into this world of ruthless reality.

Today, however, was different.

Kazuto's eyes shot open. As per his usual, he was sitting up in his bed, having bolted the moment he waked. Cold sweat trickled down his face like the tears he couldn't quite shed, hand clenching the fabric of his shirt like a lifeline on the edge of a cliff he was falling down from.

Just… another morning.

Yeah. He could… he could deal with this. Kazuto hadn't been knocked down by anyone else before, and he wasn't about to be now. Nope. Not at all.

His hand raised slowly to the air in front of him, and then – Kazuto slid his index finger vertically downwards, in a motion that was instinctual to him at this point. How could it not be? SAO was very menu-reliant, and he, like many other players, had ended up with the habit of checking his Menu after waking up.
Ironically enough, his eyes actually widened when the menu didn't actually form before his eyes. He held his hand in front of his eyes for a second or two, staring at it for a moment-

And then, as the familiar dim light of realization lit up his gray pupils, his lips – cracked and dehydrated as they looked, even if not as much as they were when he first woke up – curved into a small, bittersweet smile. It was humorless, but not negative – Rather, it carried a special kind of realization on it that seemed eternally fragile.

The raven lifted himself from the bed with difficulty, legs trembling under his weight even as he supported himself with the aid of the IV, but it was easier now – and it was bound to get easier. Kazuto had been playing MMOs for a long time now, and if there was one thing he had learned, is that strength comes with repetition – Even if, in this case, it was more about reclaiming the strength he had lost, instead of simply going beyond the normal.

Maybe a better metaphor would be the period one had to spend waiting for the end of a Debuff?

…Perhaps comparing everything to SAO, or MMOs in general, wasn't exactly smart, but it was kind of hard not to, all things considered.

The door was left open at this point, thankfully enough. The nurses knew better than to try and keep him down, and would rather simply supervise him and make sure he didn't hurt himself. It was something between care for his psychological health and respect for his decision to remain active.
It's not like there was a shortage of active medical staff outside on any given moment. Kazuto had never seen anyone quite as overworked, but they didn't seem to hold it against anyone, nor to feel bitter about it.

For someone to become a doctor, they had to have some care for the health of other people, he supposed. And looking at it from that angle, to see a group of innocent patients all waking up from comas was probably akin to a miracle for these people.

The steps he took to reach the corridor no longer physically hurt as much – even if it anguished him to be so powerless. It was as much a sign of progress as anything else, Kazuto supposed.

As soon as he was outside, Kazuto was approached by a man – The local Psychiatrist, he believed. Dr. Terunami, if Kazuto wasn't mistaken. He, like much of the local staff, were very kind-hearted and nice, but Kazuto couldn't say he actively enjoyed their interactions.

No matter how nice they acted, or how they tried not to patronize him, Kazuto – He knew that gaze. That look.
He hated it. To be looked upon like a victim, like someone to be pitied.

He knew that look. He'd seen it way too many times not to – Through corners, or on those rare instances when Mom- Midori would mention him and then look upon him 'discreetly'.

Still, he smiled to the man – or tried to, at least. And the doctor smiled back at him.

"Ah, Kirigaya-san!"

That is not my name.

Kirito nodded at him.

"Terunami-san, good morning."

"Good morning indeed! You've arrived just at the right moment, actually."

Oh?

Kazuto wasn't quite sure what the man meant by that, but he couldn't help but feel his interest piqued by the words. Raising an eyebrow, the raven regarded the man with a curious gaze, eyes like faded coal staring at his face as if looking for signs of hostility.

"Right moment for what?"

Instead of answering right away, the man made a silent motion with his head for Kazuto to walk with him, and began doing just that – Walking down the hallway at a slow pace, one Kazuto could keep up with. Seeing no reason not to, the Gamer followed suit.

"See, Kirigaya-san…"

That is NOT. MY. NAME.

"Hm? Is something the matter, Terunami-san?"

The doctor shook his head, smiling still.

"Not at all! In fact it's quite a good thing, I believe. I'm sure you know you weren't the only SAO Player to wake up a week ago, right?"

Kazuto nodded. Of course he knew – No one else could know such a thing like he did, standing beside Kayaba and Asuna as they watched the castle crumble and fall below.

"Of course."

"Good, good. Well, obviously, not everyone involved in the SAO incident was internalized in this Hospital, but we have quite a lot of patients. More than we could usually handle, in fact, but I don't think anyone is really bothered by that. But I digress."

A moment of silence. Kirito watched the man's face closely.

"Anyway – Yours was the fastest recovery in terms of actually walking around, but we have quite a few players who have woken up and could use some talking to. I was going to visit everyone today – Including you, later on – but I thought you might like to accompany me. Who knows? Maybe you'll stumble upon someone you know."

Oh.
Kazuto pondered upon the motion for a second. His instinct had been to say "No!" instantly, because, somewhere, he still saw himself as the Beater. He had made a conscious choice to ostracize himself in order to maintain a semblance of order for everyone else, and even if that reputation had eventually vanished, he had spent the better part of a year and a half dealing with that.

However – That wasn't quite the case anymore, was it?

"I… That would be nice."

Terunami practically beamed at that. Kazuto, for his part, sighed internally once more. Odds are, this would be a little awkward – Kazuto was perhaps the most socially inept person to ever be born, unable to socialize in any context excluding an MMO, and he had ended up building over that himself. But…

"Terunami-san. There are some people I'd like to look for."

"You mean Asuna Yuuki-san, right? You've told me about her. Unfortunately, as I've told you, she's not in this Hospital."

"Not her. I'll… I'll find Asuna myself if I need to."

If the doctor had anything to say to that – which he most certainly did-, the look on his eyes as he pondered over the raven's words, lips parting momentarily as if trying to pronounce something, but then gave up before he did so told Kazuto he had given up. Instead, the man remained silent, nodding as if to say 'carry on'.

"I, uh… I have some friends. But I'm not sure what their real names are."

Terunami nodded.

"That's understandable. Well, if you could tell me their in-game IDs, I might be able to help you. I've already met with some of them, and some of them chose to tell me their IDs."

The implications behind that statement wasn't missed by Kirito.

They forgot to answer to their real names, or something to that effect. Makes sense – It took me a few seconds, too.

"Well, uh. I'm looking for… Klein, Agil and Lizbeth… Oh. And, uh, a girl called Silica."

A second passed. Then – The man's eyes widened.

"Well, I don't know most of these, but I do know an Agil. 29-year old, tall, dark complexion, right?"

Oh. Well, he hadn't been expecting the doctor to find anyone – But the fact that it was Agil meant something, maybe because, of all of his admittedly few friends, Agil was the one with whom he interacted the most – Other than Asuna.

Find Asuna. Find her. You have to find her.

Kirito smiled once more – A little more genuinely this time.

"Can I see him?"

Once more, the man merely nodded. Which was good, seeing as it shut down the conversation momentarily. Kirito had been making a conscious effort to talk more often, because he needed to get over his disuse of his throat. It still burned with each and every word he tried to say, and, well – That really wasn't quite acceptable, was it?

And so, they walked. And a moment later – Kirito stood in front of a closed door. It looked just like his, except there was a paper glued to it. It read –

"Andrew Gilbert Mills."

Kirito read the name out loud. It had a… strange taste on his lips. It was weird to consider this, but… each and every one of his friends had had a life, a name and a family outside of SAO, just as he had. Before and after everything had happened, this was what they were, had been and would be.

Of course, though – Nothing would ever be the same, would it?

With that in mind, he nodded once for Terunami to open the door. And, when that was done, and the wooden door slid through the metal rail on the floor below, revealing a room just like his own, he was hit by this weird sensation of nostalgia.

He stared at the form of Agil, far thinner than he had been in-game -but still as imposing – laid down on a white and light blue bed, holding the hand of a tall woman with caramel hair. He was still just as bald as he had always been, but his bear wasn't as well-kept.

Kazuto hesitated for a moment.

And then – Kirito walked in.

His first step was loud enough to attract both of their attention, but his effort to 'drive' the IV through the metal rails on the floor was even noisier. His hair fell over his face a little – God, he needed a god damn haircut – but it wasn't enough to hide who he was, judging by the way Andrew's eyes widened.

A second passed. It was strange – Kazuto felt this pull on his face, one he wasn't quite aware of it's origins. However, he followed it.

So – Kirito grinned. It was a beautiful thing, really – Wide and crooked, it probably looked as weird as anything else on his face at that moment, but the sheer relief it exhaled was almost baffling. It signaled a victory far greater than simply the meeting of two friends –

It screamed. We've been beaten, but we've won. We've stared the devil in the face, and we've emerged.

Agil practically shot up, sitting up on the bed. The woman – Was that his wife? – seemed to try and make him lay back once more, but she was promptly ignored at that moment. The man gazed upon Kirito, and his lips shifted to mirror the exact same grin on Kirito's face.

This was the bond that could only be forged inside The Death Game. He was close to Agil like he was close to Klein, to Lizbeth – And he was close to them because he trusted them, just like they trusted him. It was a mutual relationship born out of necessity and care alike, out of people who had nothing in common but found camaraderie over the challenge they braved together.

Regardless of age, of occupation and of anything else, they were friends, and would be until the end times.

"Holy fuck. Kirito, you look like hell."

A scathing remark it may have sounded like, but it was filled with nothing but good intentions and relief. And those feelings Kirito could mirror.

"You're one to say, Skeletor. At least I'm up on my feet."

Another moment of silence. And then, the woman's eyes widened. Before Kazuto could do anything – She walked up to him and pulled him into a tight hug.

She was remarkably strong – About as tall as Midori, but far stronger physically, the woman's arms wrapped around his frail body in what felt like an inescapable grasp , but it wasn't quite uncomfortable.

There were just – So many feelings there. Kirito couldn't quite deal with feelings, so he placed his hands on her back, even as he felt her face wetting his collarbone.

"Thank you," she muttered, voice muffled by the cloth. "Thank you so much."

Agil merely nodded at him, grin never leaving his face. And, as much as Kazuto had grown to be uncomfortable around physical contact, his own smile didn't so much as waver.

Maybe… there's more to being out of Sword Art Online than just looking for Asuna, huh?

He had given them their reconnection. These are two people who loved each other even through the barriers that separated them – How many times had Agil told him about his wife? He had lost count.
But each and every time, Kirito, the Black Swordsman, had noted – These are the words of a lovestruck fool.

And those words ended up being quite beautiful in their own right, huh?
Well, one thing was certain.

Getting stuck inside Sword Art Online was maybe the best thing to ever happen to him. But this?

He wouldn't trade this for the world. His friends deserved as much.