Chapter 15: What's In a Name?

The oil-finished surface of the tablet slicked the pads of Kazuto's fingers when he swiped with the intention of turning a page, eyes scanning the animation of the supposed paper's passing. He supposed he should be grateful. His high school was rather unrestrained in regards to its budget, and the principal was always looking for new ways to breathe innovation of sorts into her classrooms, resulting in the availability of such tablets. However, there were times when Kazuto wished they could use actual textbooks in class. Tablets were enormously convenient in comparison, true, but there was something borderline surreal about being able to absorb oneself inside of an inch and a half thick pile of dead plant matter.

Perhaps his word choice had been too untactful just then.

But really, it wasn't like such an odd train of thought was unwarranted. After all, his mind was still dominated by one primary topic: Yui.

Taking his fingers away from the virtual text displayed on the tablet, Kazuto rubbed the pads of skin together, contemplating the sensation of the screen's slickness. If Yui were sitting beside him right now, would she understand what he was reading? Certainly, she knew what books were and what purpose they were meant to fulfill, but he wondered if the small girl would find it within her capacity to appreciate literature. If he were to pull any given volume from a college library and placed it before his daughter, the AI would probably be able to list the book's characters, themes, personal background, and message. But would she be able to understand the human side of the novel, the part of the story that was meant to reach out and touch the hearts of its readers? Would Yui even know to expect that?

She's a preter-human trying to digress.

Kazuto would be lying if he said that he did not wish some changes for his daughter. By default, he loved and adored her as she was; with all the natural clumsiness, analytical nature, and awkwardness that made up Yui. However, there had been times where she had acted too much like the machine which had authorized her creation to begin with, forcing Kazuto to wonder how Yui would be like if she could truly empathize with human beings, as she wished to. If she could relate to them on a symbiotic and personal level, as she wished to.

She would probably be the same, just a lot more innocent.

And infinitely less accepting of the world's cruelty.

It had unnerved him, really, to see her accept the server shutdowns so readily. Kazuto knew in his heart that Yui wished to be with them, and the feeling was mutual. So why force oneself to act so passive? Of course, Kazuto knew the answer. Sometimes, when one has hurt so badly it threatens to conquer rationale, it is best to close off all outlets of emotion.

It almost disgusted him that Yui was forced to mature enough to be capable of this. Yui should have been able to enjoy the obliviousness and ignorance youth brought. Despite her origins, Kazuto felt that she at least deserved this, to know the assumptions and prejudices being a young person caused, to develop her own opinions and generalizations, to become all the more human.

Suddenly, he chuckled under his breath. This situation felt all too familiar. He had experienced it for a time with Asuna's mother, after all. Together, they had clashed over who could best provide for Asuna's well being. Now, he was fighting for Yui's happiness. But who was he fighting? The inevitable.

I'll die before the odds are ever stacked in my favor.

"Kirigaya-san?"

Looking up, he realized that the teacher was staring at him, along with the rest of the class. Apparently he had been called upon, but was too zoned out to notice. Clearing his throat, he said, "I'm sorry sensei. I didn't hear you."

The teacher smiled sympathetically. "That's alright, Kazuto. Please read lines 114-130 for us, please."

Glancing down at the sleeping tablet in his hands, Kazuto awoke the device and read aloud:

What makes thee depress'd so?

Only in winter's unforgiving grip

Should a man be so perilously underwhelming.

Tell your master, what is it which ails thee so? Is it wealth? Or perhaps love?

There is a myriad of conundrums within a man to have resurface.

Though of them all, grief must be the worst.

A fire within one's stomach which freezes thee,

As if in a form of painful irony

For death's but a jester laughing behind his mask,

Faceless, formless, flitting about indiscriminate,

Bringing controversy among the truthful

And betrayal among love.

So speak to thy master, young servant;

And tell me what ails thee so

Your watcher shall pay heed

With patient ears attending.

He almost cursed when his voice wobbled a bit at the end, because it was like the passage was mocking him indirectly. Death but a jester? Death was not indiscriminate. It always struck where it hurt the most.

The bell rang soon after, and the class was excused. Kazuto took his time putting his things into his bag, not wanting to deal with the traffic the hastier students were bound to initiate. Seeing out of the corner of his eye that the room was beginning to empty somewhat, he shouldered his things to make his own egress when a voice reached out to stop him.

"K-Kazuto-san?"

Turning, he saw Narumi standing behind him, one wrist held insecurely by the other behind the girl's back. Briefly, he remembered the cobalt-eyed girl's heated argument with Rika many months ago. She hadn't really attempted to converse again after that incident, perhaps too irritated with Rika's interference to even bother anymore.

"Yes?"

Her blue eyes disappeared behind her lids for just a moment, as if she was surprised to get a response. Working her mouth for a moment, Narumi said,

"I was just wondering...if you were okay, Kazuto-san."

Ah, of course, Kazuto thought drily when he processed her words. He was glad Narumi was the one asking him this, instead of any of his close friends. After all, what would he be able to tell Rika or Asuna or Keiko? That he was fine? Of course he wasn't. Kazuto would never be able to lie about something his friend's understood just as well as him. But Narumi largely did not understand what she spoke of.

So he could lie to her.

Smiling easily, he replied, "I feel fine. Why do you ask?"

Another blink. "It's just..." She began. "I heard, about your child stuck inside SAO, and I just thought you must be very worried..."

Not giving her enough time to say more and give him more things to think about, Kazuto sighed, "Well, I'm used to it. Dealing with these things, I mean."

Narumi frowned at this, not that he had expected the girl to react differently. After all, she didn't understand what his implications were.

Then she laughed, albeit awkwardly. "This might sound really rude or insensitive to you, Kazuto-san...but, I don't want you to bottle up your emotions."

"Hm?"

"I...don't know too much about you," Narumi admitted with regret. "I wanted to change that, but because of certain reasons, I was unable to. So I just watched, and observed, and tried to figure out what kind of a person you really were, how you think. Things like that. After a while, I kind of came up with something."

"And what is that?"

Narumi shrugged and said, "I thought, maybe he's the kind of person to try and take all the hits life dishes out, and never let anybody else help him out. People like that usually won't let themselves show how frustrated they really are, right? I just thought that, and I supposed I felt a little worried afterwards..."

She really is pretty, Kazuto thought, though he noted this rather blandly. Superficially, Narumi was attractive; but upon closer inspection, rather flat (no, not what you're thinking). No matter how much he hated it, Kazuto knew the victims of the SAO crisis were and always would be more mature than their peers. Narumi would never understand anything he was thinking, despite her best intentions, and he himself wouldn't be able to handle the innocence she and his other classmates harbored. It had come to his attention lately that he rarely conversed with people outside of his friends from SAO; it had turned him into a sort of selective person in the eyes of society, intimidating some and irking others. In this regard, nobody would surpass Asuna in terms of genuine beauty.

Smiling, Kazuto reached out and dropped a gentle fist on Narumi's head. After hearing her cry out in surprise, he said, "Thanks for your concern. But you don't have to worry just yet; I don't have time to feel sad or frustrated."

"Why not?"

He didn't answer her until he was at the door.

"Because I haven't given up yet."

And I never will.

"I trust you, Mama."

A pair of dulled honey colored irises dilated when the lids covering them were peeled back by reflex. As usual, the NerveGear was humming gently at her ears, the tinted visor out and providing protection from the sting of bright lights, as well as displaying her vitals in a corner. Blinking, Asuna's fingers twitched and she wondered why she was crying.

Blinking harshly, Asuna tilted her head, the bulkiness of the helmet hindering her somewhat as she stared at the calendar hanging from her wall. The glossy paper of the date-keeper was thoroughly marred by the markings of a bloodred pen, with circles and slashes intersecting the many boxes and numbers. After a few more moments of gazing, she realized there were less than two weeks before the server shut-downs; twelve days, to be exact.

She'd visited Yui just now, with Kazuto, and together they had gone to the orchards of the eighth floor, where it was supposed that every conceivable food could be grown. It was the perfect place to have a picnic, and the small family had not even needed to prepare their own food, despite Kazuto's appetite for her sandwiches. It had been great fun, full of laughter and joyousness, but there had always been the nagging bite of time nibbling at the back of Asuna's mind.

Sigh...

The well rounded fingernails of Fuzen's fingers tapped thoughtfully at the wood of the man's desk. Before him sat two computer monitors; one displayed a map of Aincrad's essential infrastructure and design, while the other showed bios on three particular players of the infamous death game: Kirito, Asuna, and their daughter Yui.

To be truthful, Fuzen didn't know why he was thinking so intently about this. After all, his plan was virtually foolproof. He would be merciful and allow Kirigaya and his frilly girlfriend three weeks with their beloved daughter. Once the shutdown dates arrived, however, things would change indefinitely.

When his plan for revenge had first been conceptualized, the initial idea had been to trap Yui within Aincrad and isolate her from other humans, particularly her parents, in order to emotionally harm both parties. After all, the heart was the weakest member of the human anatomy, which was why he had left his own behind a long time ago. However, holes in such a plot lingered; what of other Seed-originating games? Fuzen was well aware that the girl's data was safely stored within Kirigaya's NerveGear. Even if he were to make Sword Art Online inaccessible, the boy was unfortunately smart enough to just create a new home for his supposed daughter. Fuzen required a counter to this counter.

The solution had come after much more thinking, but it displeased the Complexity executive to a certain extent, as it relied on another person's weaknesses. Kirigaya and his female partner were bound to visit their daughter one last time before the servers were shut down. During this time, the boy's NerveGear would have a strong, stable connection to the servers, servers that Fuzen had total control over.

Once the clock strikes zero, everything will change, he thought silently. By having complete administrative authorities over the server's activities, he would be able to make successful alterations to the data stored in Kirigaya's full-dive specs; that was, use the NerveGear's connection to the server to render Yui's data incompatible with Seed-created virtual realities.

Fuzen had briefly considered simply destroying Yui to deliver a swift and punishing blow to the youngsters' hearts, but decided that this would be too easy, too quick. No, by leaving the young daughter within SAO, cut off from all contact, the parents would suffer from knowing their child was there, but unreachable. The AI's data inside the NerveGear would be corrupted beyond measure, and the server shutdowns would close all other possible avenues.

Yui would be completely and utterly isolated forever.

The president of Complexity had also debated whether or not to reveal himself as the culprit. After all, there was nothing Kirigaya could do to him short of cold-blooded murder. His lawyers would protect any legal front anyone could throw up, and in terms of wealth and financial security he was immortal. Yet once again, Fuzen had chosen to sit back and happily watch the boy walk through his halls with a downcast expression and a crushed resolve. That would be enough, for now.

Sighing in satisfaction, Fuzen reached into his desk to pull out a cigar. Lighting the substance contained inside and letting a puff of smoke drift towards the ceiling, he took a moment to make sure his motives were clear. After all, Fuzen never did anything for no reason. True, he would go to unreasonable lengths to get what he wanted; but he never took significant action without a thorough, clean thought on why.

The smoke ring struck the roof and dissipated, and he blew another, thinking back. The moment he had first set foot inside the starting village of the first floor, he had known what he wanted from the universe which was Aincrad. He wanted dominance. Unrestrained and total dominance. In reality, there were rules and laws, morales and consciousness, all things designed to hold him back. Here, under the computer-generated skies, there were none of these shackles. Meaning that he could act as he had always wanted to, which was to perform business in a different way, his own way. A method which never ruled out the taking of another's life.

The strong survive because the weak bow out of the way.

His grand vision had gone well, initially. His guild, The Laughing Coffin, had quickly risen to become one of the most feared names throughout Aincrad. Its connotation carried death and misfortune in its wake. There were times when he himself had felt unstoppable, and it had filled him with this sort of swelling satisfaction to know that nothing could stop him, that he had achieved an absolute. There was always a subjective element in the more carefully laid of plans, but in the virtual reality he could genuinely exploit words like foolproof.

Then Fuzen's goals had been torn down. Stripped apart, peeled away, burned off. And by a child, no less. Was that not ridiculous? For the will of a child and his like-minded allies to topple the invincible empire he had envisioned? Fuzen had long since been taught that one only won by being better, and through no other avenue was victory attainable. He had been better. So why did he lose?

There was only one answer. Kirito, the famed Black Swordsman, was an underhanded coward who could only destroy the dreams of others as he lacked his own. It was as simple as that.

And for that, I will crush him.

He'd always loved flowers.

Or so he thought, as he stood before the oaken door of the Yuuki residence, trying his best to get his thoughts in order. Of course, there was a much more pressing matter an hand to be thinking about at the moment, and Asuna would probably hit him if she knew where his mind was wandering presently. This did not, however, curb the apprehension Kazuto felt inside his chest.

Flowers, pretty little roses, yes...hehe...

At least it was apprehension now, rather than outright sweat-inducing nervousness. Kazuto remembered the first real conversation he'd had with Asuna's mother, and the first meal they'd had at the same table. Both events had been impossibly nerve wracking for him, but he seemed to have made a small improvement in such a category, assuming it existed. The "Keeping Your Heart-rate Under 300 BPM" category.

After sighing briefly, Kazuto decided it was time to face the matter at hand. Kyouko had called his aunt and requested her nephew come over to have a "talk". Kazuto had been suspicious immediately, a notion he was chagrined to find his aunt did not harbor. The woman even suggested Asuna's mother was seeking to propose a marriage, which earned her an indignant retort from her nephew that left the older woman giggling. Kyouko had declined to indulge what the topic of their discussion would be about, but it apparently concerned Asuna as well, who would also be present (he was beginning to feel like a court was convening rather than three people). So he had come.

Well...I've been standing out here for long enough.

Blinking once, he rang the doorbell.

A minute earlier, Kyouko was sitting with her daughter in the living room.

Asuna herself was feeling a bit apprehensive. She sat fully erect in her chair, with her mother adjacent, trying to look as innocent as possible. After all, Yuuki Kyouko did not call meetings like this without prominent reason, and she had never gotten Kazuto involved.

"Asuna," Her mother voiced.

"...Yes?"

"Before Kirigaya gets here I want to tell you what I want us to discuss. As you know, you have been spending much time with Yui lately."

She called her by name again. "Yes mother. I have."

"And while I will support this to a certain extent, everything has its limits."

"..."

The doorbell rang.

Three minutes later, Kazuto and Asuna were sitting across from each other on separate chairs, both of them twitching awkwardly under the gaze of Yuuki Kyouko. Sighing at the young ones' apparent apprehension, she decided to begin the conversation.

"As both of you know, the servers for Sword Art Online will be shut down in less than two weeks. Due to this, both of you have been visiting Yui very frequently, and this is an activity that I will at the very least tolerate. I understand that this is something of great importance to my daughter, and to you as well Kirigaya, as I am not one to deny a person their happiness. However, all good things must end."

Kazuto's lips twisted into a subtle, but grim, frown. He had been awaiting the catch. Asuna's mother would not call them here for idle chitchat.

"The two of you must both swear something to me," Kyouko said firmly, making sure she had both of their full attentions before continuing her soliloquy. "Once all of this is over, once the servers are shutdown, the two of you need to return to a more normal lifestyle. I have been forced to accept that your experiences within the virtual reality have changed you forever, but this does not mean that anyone can avoid becoming a responsible adult. Your college educations are beginning in a month, and I will not allow your supposed daughter to hold you back in life, especially Asuna."

"But mother, I-"

"No buts," Kyouko said, cutting her daughter off. "While I know there may be ways to somehow reestablish contact with Yui - and I'm sure Kirigaya is working towards this if it exists - the world, the real world, demands that everyone take the steps into maturity some time or another. So just promise me, please, that you will accept what must come and make an effort to grow as people."

Asuna looked up and was surprised to find Kazuto staring back at her. Apparently, he had been gauging her reaction to all this. She saw the conflict on his face as well. After all, Kazuto was working on a Seed based game for Yui to inhabit, but this would take months to do properly, meaning that they could honor Yuuki's request indirectly; they could carry out normal college lives while simultaneously developing their daughter's new home.

Yuuki watched all this pass between the young couple and sighed inwardly. So they're that close.

Finally, Kazuto turned to the older woman and nodded in consent. "We will try our best," He said simply, knowing that was how Asuna's mother liked it.

"Me too."

"Good," Yuuki said. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Kirigaya. I do appreciate it."

Kazuto nodded politely. "It was no problem."

Asuna watched this exchange quietly, even though she was enjoying it inside. Finally, her mother could hold a civil conversation with her boyfriend. There had been a time where she would cringe at the very mention of his name, but now here they were, thanking each other.

"Mother," She broke out, deciding to lighten the mood.

"What?"

"Gokou-san texted me again today," She said blandly.

Her mother went beet red.

"...Gokou?" Kazuto inquired, bewildered at the older woman's rather strong reaction.

"Mother proposed we marry each other a long time ago," Asuna explained calmly while Yuuki fanned herself fervently. "I declined, and he supposedly gave up on me, but he's been texting my phone ever since with sweet messages and such. Here, take a look." Asuna held out her cell for her lover to see. Squinting, Kazuto made out the words on the screen.

I still remember how great your smile looked when we first met.

He had to choke down his laughter.

At last, Yuuki regained her composure and straightened her clothing, trying to regain the authoritative air she had beheld just a moment ago. She tried to make eye contact with the youngsters with her chin up in the air but couldn't do it, so she just opted for a short sigh instead.

"You know what, Kirigaya," She confessed, "I may have to let you take care of my daughter until I find a more suitable partner for her."

The cool metal surface of his full dive specs kissed the skin of his fingers, and Kazuto set the NerveGear down for a moment. He glanced at the calendar and counted the days in his head for what felt like the millionth time.

He had tried his best to extend the time. Had tried to convince himself that a month was a very long time, an eternity, then two weeks, five days, and suddenly Kazuto was telling himself that one day was forever. It wasn't. Forever was forever, and nothing else. Kazuto had watched the days and weeks slip by, regardless of how much he wished they wouldn't, and now they stood at the brink, upon the cliff where everything could be changed.

No. Don't break now.

Laying himself down on the bed, Kazuto activated his NerveGear and closed his eyes.

Best make the most of it.

"Link start."

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the notice.

It was a holographic pop-up, blinking into existence seemingly out of nowhere to display some text to him. Dragging it over to the center of his periphery, Kazuto read the message: Attention players. The servers for this VRG are to be officially shut down in one hour. Any remaining participants will be kicked from their full dive in order to perform the shutdown. You have been warned.

"The days have just gone by, haven't they?"

Kazuto turned to see Asuna standing behind him, eyes filled with tears. He looked back at the message, then back at her.

"Yeah. It has."

They could both tell that Yui was trying her best to be strong. She refused to cry, even when her parents did, a notion that made Kazuto sick at heart. Yui shouldn't be strong enough to keep her emotions bottled up when even he himself could not. Their child shouldn't have to exercise such self restraint.

"We'll bring you back as soon as possible, Yui, we promise," Asuna said through broken sobs, and the small girl embraced her mother and buried her nose into her soft hair.

"Thank you."

"I'll build a Seed based game for you to reside in," Kazuto had said. "It will take time, but eventually we'll be together again. I promise."

A glance at the clock told him there were fifteen minutes left.

After that, the small family spent most of their time in a singular embrace, everyone holding each other tight to their chests. The parents did their best to hold their child, to smell her hair, to commit her scent to memory as to never forget, the feeling of her skin, the way her breath fluttered, how she smiled. Murmured dedications of love. Promises, promises, promises.

Always promises. With no guarantees.

But that was love, wasn't it?

Two minutes left.

Asuna saw the timer ticking to zero at the corner of her HUD and clenched her teeth, still trying to fight the reality of it all while within virtuality, wanting so badly to deny what was inevitable. Kazuto said nothing but clutched Yui tighter.

One minute left.

Thirty seconds.

Ten sec-

Shhhheeeee

Eyes flying open Kazuto was just fast enough to witness something horrible.

Yui was fading out. Or less fading out, and more changing form. The colors of her skin and clothing were being replaced by numbers in a deep and bottomless pit, like someone had stripped her skin back to reveal the numbers of the machines which had created her. Streams of binary code rampaged through her form, and her parents watched in horror.

Then it was over. Yui returned to her normal state and collapsed to the floor. Kazuto sprang to his feet and ran for his daughter but saw the timer hit zero.

"MAMA, PAPA!"

Blink.

His eyes opened to reality.

Notice: The data for subject data YUI has been altered. Subject data is no longer compatible with Seed based games. Change is irreversible.

Notice: The data for subject data YUI has been altered.

Subject data is no longer compatible with Seed based games.

Change is irreversible.

Change.

Irreversible...

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