Chapter Summary: In this chapter, we return to the real world where we see what's happening with Kirito's family.

Chapter Eight…

The Real World - Part 1

(Suguha Kirigaya!)

10th of November 2029 - Kirigaya's Household, Shortly before the Death Game begins:

We begin our chapter with Suguha Kirigaya. Suguha was fourteen years old, with short black hair and dark grey eyes, almost blackish. For her age, her breasts were very large. Despite having huge breasts, she had a cute childish look about her, and could be often seen with an embarrassed expression, especially when around her brother, Kazuto.

Thanks to her kendo training though, Suguha has strong and defined muscles that show up even when she makes small movements. Although she gets embarrassed and says she hates it, her brother would tease her by describing her as monstrously muscular. And although he claims to be exaggerating, he does state that she is heavier than she looks.

Either way, Suguha was returning home from her kendo practice. As she walked home, she found herself thinking back to the class. It would seem that there were fewer students there as there were normally. It was explained by her teacher, Rukia, that most of the students weren't there today because the new online game, Sword Art Online, was starting today. In fact, her own daughter and husband weren't at practice today either because of the game.

Her husband was with Ichika to make sure she was safe. Or that what he said to her, Rukia told the class, but she believed that he was skipping class so that he could play the game too, as it sounded too interesting and fun to miss, so he went into the game with their daughter.

Suguha had to admit that she couldn't understand it herself, why people were so interested in this VR game. Her own brother was playing the game himself. In fact, for the last two years, he had done nothing but train for the game. Returning to kendo practice, learning to cook and to knit and other basic skills. Suguha couldn't understand how someone could put all that work into something like a game and not for real life.

Suguha enjoys being active rather than sitting down and doing nothing. That's why she does kendo and gymnastics, not only to keep fit, but it was enjoyable to do so. Although, she did kendo more to keep their grandfather happy as part of a deal she made to help her brother. She couldn't dream of playing games all day like her brother. As she believed that VRMMO games can hide or show people's true nature. In some cases, it could alter a person's reality, thinking the game world was real and the real world as fake.

As Suguha thought about her brother, she thought back how things had changed with him. For the last few years, things had changed with him, for some reason he became distant towards her and their parents. She didn't understand it. Before then, whilst they had problems like any other family, she and Kazuto were close. Protected each other. Kazuto would protect her from school bullies, whilst she would protect him from their grandfather who wanted Kazuto to learn kendo instead of playing video games.

The deal was she would do twice the work in kendo so that her brother could do what she wanted. She was only able to do gymnastics as she was able to convince her grandfather that she could become better at kendo in learning it. Because of this, she had little time to make friends or find other things that she might like. Although, this didn't bother her too much seeing how she loved doing both kendo and gymnastics.

For a time, with Kazuto at her side, she didn't care that much. As to her, all she needed was her brother. That was until he distanced himself from the whole family. Nobody knew why, or if they did, they weren't telling her. So, all she had was kendo and gymnastics to fall back on. Working as hard as possible to become the best there is.

She was hoping that her brother would come round and they could become the family they once were.

Suguha did have a secret that she kept from her brother and family, and that's that she had a crush on her brother. She knew it was wrong, but she couldn't help it, the way that her brother helped and protected her. How could she not fall for him? Even now, with him being distant with her and their parents, she still had a crush for him.

Although her brother had been distant, it would seem that over the last two years, he had changed slightly. He started to do kendo again, and spent time with their mother learning to cook. Sure, it was so that he could learn skills for his game Sword Art Online, where the skills you learn in the real world can be used in game, but it was a start. She was hoping that in time, he would return to the Kazuto they knew before and not this distant.

Either way, when she got home, she found her mother in the kitchen getting dinner ready as she was watching tv too, "Hey mum, I'm back."

"Hi dear, how was kendo today?" Suguha's mother, Midori, asked.

"It was good," admitted Suguha, "I'm getting ready for the national kendo tournament."

"That's good to hear dear, I hope you'll be able to win." Midori told her daughter.

"Thanks mum," Suguha thanked her mother, "I don't know if I'll be able to win, but I'm going to try to go as far as I can."

"That's good to hear dear. But if you have that sort of mindset, you won't get first place." Suguha's mother told her, "When you're in such tournaments, you have to have the mindset of you're going to win, not one like you have."

Suguha smiled at this, knowing that her mother was right, but there were so many better students than her, so she wasn't sure if she would get first place. So with a sigh, Suguha said, "I understand mum, but the problem is that there are so many other better kendōkas than me."

As a parent, Midori wanted to reassure her daughter that she could do her best and get first place, but at the same time, a child of a serious kendōka herself, she knew better. To be honest, whilst she loved her father, if he hadn't died a few years ago, she might have killed herself. As he was too rough on her children, she had fallen out with him for beating her 'son' so badly because he didn't want to do kendo and so making her daughter work so hard to protect her 'brother.' She tried to tell her daughter that she didn't have to do all this work, but Suguha didn't listen. She told her that she had to do this to protect her brother, and over the years, she did enjoy it and wanted to be the best.

Although, Midori believed part of it was because of her father's doing, making his granddaughter thing like this. She just wished that she was a better mother and protected her children better from their grandfather.

"Honey, everyone thinks this. All you can do is train and hope that you can beat them." Midori told her daughter with a smile.

"I know, I'm just worried that I'm not going to make it." Suguha admitted her worries to her mother.

"I understand dear, we have all been there. All we can do is try our best." said Midori.

"I know, I know." Suguha said with a sigh. Not wanting to talk more about this she asked, "So, where's Kazuto? Still in his room playing his VR game?"

"Of course he is," her mother laughed, "the new game, Sword Art Online, is out today. So, he'll want to play it for a few hours."

Both of them smiled knowingly, knowing that if he could, Kazuto would spend days on end in VR. It was like he was alive in that world rather than reality.

"Anyway, dinner is ready in a few minutes, so could you go upstairs and let your brother know that dinner is ready?" asked Midori, as she began to set the dinner table for their meal.

"Sure mum." agreed Suguha, as she went up to get her brother.

As she got to his door and knocked, she got no answer, so entered the room. As she did, she saw that her brother was laying on his bed with his NerveGear on his head. Knowing that there was no other way to connect her brother whilst he had it on, she was about to pull the equipment off him.

Just as Suguha was reaching down to take the NerveGear off her brother's head, she heard a very panicked Midori shout from downstairs. "SUGUHA! Don't take that headset off of him!"

"What? Why?" Suguha turned to the doorway and her mood immediately came to match that of her mother, who was standing there with a face that screamed panic and fear. Despite her frantic sprint up the stairs, Midori's face was blanched and her eyes were wide, and with tears in her eyes.

"The, the news said, that, that, if we pulled the NerveGears off people right now, that, that, they would be killed." the mother sobbed.

"What?" Suguha asked in confusion, how could this be true. "What happened?"

"I, I don't know, I just heard that players were stuck in, in the game, and over two, two hundred people died because their family or friends attempted to, to remove the NerveGear from their head." a sobbing Midori informed her daughter.

o0OoO0o

It would seem that the news report that Midori saw earlier, had a prerecorded message from the bastard Kayaba himself. It was a message announcing to the world his elaborate trap. Whether it was to minimise the number of players in his game lost to sheer accident or some way of atonement, his warning (or was it bragging?) had prevented hundreds, if not thousands of needless deaths.

As the first few hours passed, it was reported that those who were playing the game around eighty thousand players, were transported to hospitals and hooked up to life support machines. It was taking a lot of time and man effort that some were still in their home, like Kazuto.

At first, both Suguha and her mother were hoping that it was a sick joke. But as time passed and Kazuto not exiting the game to get something to eat or drink, and hearing more news, they feared what the news was saying was true or at least partly true. That the players were stuck in the world of Sword Art Online.

Soon there was more news, it was reported that after a quick investigation, they found that the NerveGears for SAO was designed to short-wire if taken off a person. But, they weren't too sure if someone who dies in the game would die in the real world. This upset both Suguha and her mother. They hoped that it wasn't true, but seeing how the news about taking the device off would kill the person, they feared what would happen to Kazuto.

They could only hope that the training that he did for the game, like kendo, learning martial arts and first aid, along with building up his strength would help him in the game. So that way, he wouldn't be killed as easily.

Both mother and daughter wanted to help Kazuto somehow, but they didn't know how. Right now, they were waiting for the emergency services to pick up Kazuto, to take him to a hospital where they would look after him. As they were waiting for someone to come, they heard a knock on the door.

When Midori opened the front door, she and Suguha saw three men in black suits. Behind them was an ambulance. Shocked to see the men in suits, Midori asked, "How can I help you gentlemen?"

"My name is Sora Kitagawa and I'm from Argus…" the man began as he handed Midori a business card, but Midori slammed the door on his face. So, he knocked on the door a few more times until Midori answered the door and asked, "What do you want?" Her eyes were red with crying for the last few hours.

"I'm sorry to disturb you at this late hour, but we're here to take your son, Kazuto Kirigaya, to The University of Tokyo Hospital." Kitagawa informed Midori.

"And why would you think I would allow you to take my son anywhere?" Midori asks angrily, not trusting these people at all, "Why shouldn't I wait for some other officers to take my son to another hospital? Why should I trust you? It is because of one of your employees that my son is trapped within some sort of Death Game."

"I understand, Mrs. Kirigaya, I would be the same, I too would have my doubts too." admitted Kitagawa, "But I give you my word, Argus is only trying to look out for your son. As you can guess, this whole business is a PR nightmare. So, Argus wants to help the former beta's, by giving them the best treatment possible."

"So, this is just a PR stunt for you? To make Argus look better?" Suguha asks darkly, "Why should my mother or my family help you?"

"I understand why you think that Miss Kirigaya, and in part you are right, this is a PR stunt." admitted Sora, knowing that there was no point in fully lying to them about what is going on, at least what is going on with the business side of things. "But the people of Argus know that they are doomed and Argus will be bankrupt because of this and people's heads are going to roll. But they are trying to limit the damage of this fallout as much as possible."

"I thank you for your honesty. But what has this got to do with my son?" asked Midori. Like her daughter, she was a bit shocked that this man was being so open about all this. As he could keep this to himself.

"Honestly, we're hoping that he and about eight hundred others could prevent so many deaths." admitted the man.

"How could my brother and the others do that?" asked Suguha.

"Did you know that your brother was a beta tester for SAO?" asked Kitagawa.

"We knew that he won the chance to get a place as the beta tester for the game and played it for a while." admitted Midori, "But what does it have to do with my son?"

"Argus is hoping that because he and the others were beta testers, with that we're hoping that they'll be able to save a lot of lives." explained Kitagawa, "Because of this, Argus wants to take care of all costs of the medical treatment to keep the beta testers healthy. They especially want this for Kazuto, as they are hoping that he'll be able to save a lot more lives."

"Listen, I don't know what type of people you think you're dealing with, but as for my brother, he isn't the hero type of person. At least I don't think he is." Suguha told the man, "He prefers to become as powerful as possible and complete the game as soon as possible." Suguha remembered her brother talking to his friends about this, how he preferred doing quests and defeating monsters to get stronger, instead of helping others so that he could finish the game as soon as possible.

"But, that's the kind of people that we're looking for." Sora informed, shocking Suguha, "We're hoping for such betas. It's Argus' hope that with these betas knowing how the basics game works, they'll be able to finish the game as soon as possible. As we know that no matter what, there'll be deaths in the game. It could be because of accidents, monsters or them killing themselves from despair. So, hoping that these betas will be able to use their knowledge to beat the game as quickly as possible."

"How quickly are you thinking?" asked Midori, "And, what has it got to do with my son?"

"Honestly, as to how quickly we want it to finish, we're hoping for a few months, a year at most." admitted Kitagawa, "Whilst a lot of people with proper care can live for many years in a coma-like state, there are those whose bodies aren't capable of doing so. Which is why we hope they can finish the game quickly, so that those deaths don't happen. But realistically, we know it might take years before they clear the game."

What Sora didn't say was that they didn't even think anyone could clear the game ever. But they wanted to give people hope that people would see their loved ones again someday.

"Whilst I can understand why you would rely on the beta testers, what is so special about my son?" asked Midori.

"I don't know if your son told you this, but the grand prize other than being a beta tester and getting a new NerveGear, and a copy of Sword Art Online, was a few hidden alchemist quests." Sora informed the two women. "From what the research team at Argus can gather, these quests have rewards that can help your son to become a powerful alchemist. So, we're hoping that if he becomes an alchemist instead of a warrior, he'll be able to do these quests and be able to clear the game as quickly as possible."

"Is this alchemist class valuable? Powerful?" asked Suguha.

"It takes a lot of work, but yes, if the player puts in the work, an alchemist can be more powerful than any warrior in the game. But it takes a lot of work." explained Kitagawa.

"In that case, you don't have to worry, as my brother will become an alchemist." Suguha told the man with confidence, "I know my brother well enough to know that he'll take a class that'll help him out the most. So, if being an alchemist will allow him to live, he'll take it."

"That's good to hear, all we can hope is that he'll be able to clear these quests and get these rewards." Kitagawa said hopefully.

"Is there anything you can do to help my son?" asked Midori.

"Unfortunately no," Sora told her with a sigh, "other than making sure that the betas are medically fine, there's not much they can do. Before the game launched, Kayaba uploaded a virus that other than doing basic updates to make sure the game runs smoothly, we can't do any big changes or alter things so we can help the players. "

Although, what they didn't say as not to give them hope, was that Argus was having researchers trying to add extra chests into the game. So that the players could get more healing and support items/gear. But they don't know if this would be possible just yet, as Kayaba's firewalls were getting in the way.

"So, do you agree with us helping you and your son?" asked Kitagawa.

Midori didn't like the idea of accepting Argus' help, seeing how one of their people was behind her son being trapped in a VR game. A game where if they die in game, they die in real life. But she didn't have any better options. Whilst they had money to pay for the hospital bills, she had no idea how long Kazuto would be in the game for. So, over time the bills could build up and as such, they could run out of money. So, seeing how Argus was willing to pay for the bills, Midori thought this was for the best. As this would be at least one way for them to repay what happened to the people in the game.

"Fine." Midori agreed darkly.

"Mum, do you really think that's wise?" Suguha asked her mother.

"Maybe not, but right now it's the best option we have right now." Midori told her daughter.

"Thank you, Argus will do everything in its power to keep your son healthy and as safe as possible." Sora told her, "Now, let's check on your son and make sure he isn't outside a town or village right now."

"What do you mean?" asked Suguha, worried about what was about to happen.

"We're temporarily disconnecting your son from the server, so we can move him to The University of Tokyo Hospital." explained the man, "This means that until we reconnect him to the server, he'll be vulnerable to attacks. So, we want to make sure he is in a village or town before doing this. As we don't want to die whilst we're moving him."

This concerned both mother and daughter, as they didn't want Kazuto to die on his way to the hospital. So they were happy to allow Kitagawa and his men whatever they had to do so Kazuto would be safe to move.

So, Midori led Kitagawa, his men and the ambulance crew to Kazuto's room. Here, the ambulance crew made sure that Kazuto was medically stable, which he was, before Kitagawa's men checked to see how Kazuto was doing in the game. They saw that the young gamer was in the middle of a quest and was outside in the wild. Because of this, they waited until Kazuto had returned to a safe zone and finished the quest. Then, giving Kazuto a short while to make sure he wasn't going to leave the safe zone, they carefully disconnected Kazuto from the game and transported him to the hospital.

As this was happening, little did they know that this was all the beginning. Whilst those trapped in the VR their lives were upturned, little did anyone know it at the time, but the lives of those in the real world would be turned upside down soon enough. One where they'll have their own problems to deal with.

But that's a story for later time…

To Be Continued!

Author's Note: Here ends another chapter of Sword Art Online - Alchemy Edition. This is going to be the first of a few chapters where we see what is happening in the world. I hope that you enjoy how I dealt with things in this chapter. The next time we see Suguha will be right after the first boss fight.

If you have any ideas you would like to see in the next chapter with Suguha, please let me know and I'll try to add it.