As Kazuto hurried his morning preparations, so that he could leave and visit Asuna at the hospital, he remembered ruefully the funny screech of his little sister, when he played his spur of the moment joke on her…more like on her neck; you sure have a healthy pair of lungs on you, Sugu.

Though Dad called and explained that he won't be returning just yet, as there was an issue at work. For some reason the questions of his and Sugu's health and wellbeing, as well as Mom's, seemed strange, the instincts from SAO were putting him on edge, for some reason-it was like his father\uncle suspected something might happen, something bad… He even asked Suguha to stay at home-to which she grumbled at her poor brother, and would have Kazuto do the same, if he wasn't aware that his son would probably ignore him and go to the hospital as usual, regardless.

Kazuto soon shook the thought out of his head. He was likely just reading too much into it.

As he left the house and slowly walked towards Asuna, he saw at the next street a small crowd, and a police officer. He approached and was just about to ask what happened here, only to suddenly stop a few meters from the officer.

Here, he wasn't Kirito the Beater, or even a Clearer. Here, back in the real world, he was just some kid, not even at full health, having woken from coma recently. It was unlikely that his questions will be taken seriously, or acknowledged in any positive way.

So he approached the crowd, hearing the officer mumble "It's one of THOSE cases..." Without any enthusiasm, but with resigned distaste instead. From the crowd, which comprised almost entirely from local kids, he learned that someone heard a disturbance, and called in cops, thinking Yakuza were fighting here. When the police arrived, they found nothing there, not even signs of vandalism.

This WAS strange and something at the back of his head nagged at him, but he had more pressing issues to worry about.

Soon he saw a strange woman coming to his direction, as he changed course, and cross the side street, he saw her following, her fast walk gaining speed, but not yet becoming anything that can be called run.

Kazuto panicked, and remembered his sister mentioning a broad, manlike girl asking about him, this one seemed to fit the description.

Still weary, he went to the closest kiosk, that would require walking towards her, and waited there, hoping that the people nearby in that public place would discredit her from doing anything he might regret.

He couldn't help but feel just a bit jumpy after his father's worried call and what he gathered about the incident a street away from him.

As the girl got closer, he saw that she was probably in her late teens, but almost as broad and muscled as Agil.

"You Kirito?" she asked in a low voice and with a thick Okinawan accent.

"Who are you?" he asked, confused and immediately on guard, he didn't remember anyone resembling her in Aincrad.

"You are!" she confirmed.

"Who are you? What do you want? How did you find me?" He really didn't know why, but something about her seemed to make warning bells ring in his head, warning of a danger. Making him start to feel panic.

"I'm Yuma, my grandpa was stuck in that Full Dive game too, and he would have called himself 'Nishida'."

"You were the one, who cleared the game and freed the players, but he is still there, he wasn't waked up. He is still one of the hundreds that stuck."

"You cleared the game then! Did you start trying to clear and free those you missed last time? Are you doing anything to get the others back? You better start thinking on it! Help me free my Grandpa!"

"My father left before I was born, and only last few years did I hear from friends of his, and they weren't very receptive, my mother didn't like either, I only had my Grandpa to really love and care for me! You MUST help me bring him back!" that last sentence was told with fury and desperation all too reminiscent of the one he saw in the eyes of fellow Clearers, certain they would die against the Boss, but pressing on, as she held into his shoulders and shook him, her squeeze hurting his atrophied muscles.

"Please stop! Release me. I know that there are others still not back, and I am trying to free them. I have a good idea about where they might be, and I am trying to free them as well." he urgently replied.

"I too have friends still trapped and in coma, and I WILL free them. I will free Asuna, and Nishida, and all the others, I didn't, won't leave it." Tears started falling down his cheeks at the thought of his failure to bring HER back into the real world. He noticed out of his peripheral vision, that they attracted stares, but it somehow seemed lesser to the matter at hand."

The girl gradually weakened her hold on his aching shoulders, and released him, looking into his eyes.

"I believe you, and I believe in you. You said Asuna?"

The following conversation was on much less shaky grounds, as he told her that he and his other friends that got freed found evidence pointing to the unconscious players being now trapped in another game, and his attempt to clear IT as well, to free them. She admitted a lack of interest, or understanding in games, and proceeded to ask him about her grandpa, and if he met him in the game. She found it funny when Kazuto admitted that the old man was the leader of the fishermen guild, and professed a preference to fishing, rather than three meals a day in the safety of the starting city.

As they talked they reached the hospital where Asuna, and, apparently Nishida too, were kept, even if only the former got the VIP room.

Kazuto found talking to the girl somewhat easy, at least easier than it usually was for him in the real world before SAO, when he would feel uncomfortable. Unless it was Sugu or one of her friends.

Yuma insisted accompanying him to Asuna, to which he reluctantly agreed. He, in return suggested they both visit Nishida afterwards.

She seemed grateful at the suggestion.

Just as they were to part ways, after leaving, she answered his last question, which he forgot about asking.

"I found you with Eel Spirit. If you find yourself in a strange, unexplainable situation, and the world will suddenly seem darker, stranger place, if you find monsters chasing you, or that you yourself become strange, call me."

She gave him a piece of paper with a phone number on it, and her name-Yuma.

"If your Asuna never wakes up, call me as well, I can comfort you."

At the last line she winked, though with her butch face and prominent forehead, it failed to be cute, or attractive.

Though Kirito was les focused on her proposition, and more on trying to make sense of her answer to the question of finding him, and it was the only reason he didn't stemmer his denayals, blush or get angry at the possibility of Asuna not waking, or replacing her.

Ill spirit?

Author Notes: Sorry for the delay. i wanted to add the conclusions of the battle from the last chapter, but the meeting with Yuma got longer than i initially planned. so it would have to wait for next chapter, Yuma's introduction is important too ( she is an OC if you are wondering).

Review if you liked the chapter.