[IRL, Yokohama Kōhoku General Hospital]

Dr Kurahashi brought me down the halls that passed by like a blur to me, I was so intensely focused on what he said that nothing mattered. Yuuki was terminally ill, and... in the final stage, her health was declining - there's many factors to consider there but I'd rather not assume, not yet. I needed to steel myself further, I already knew it was bad, I just didn't realize how severe her situation was.

When Yuuki and Aiko were born, they had to perform a C-section, but the blood used in the transfusion was found to be contaminated, that they didn't discover until September, by then, the family of four were all long infected. He stopped, placing his ID card on a scanner to open a door to what appeared to be an observation room with blacked out windows.

"Beyond this area is an air-controlled sterile room, so we won't be able to go in," He answered my silence, hitting a button on a small pad fixed to the wall. "I hope you understand."

When the darkness faded, I felt my heart stop as I stained breath caught in my throat. I let my bag fall limp off my shoulder, stepping forward with my hand against the cold glass barrier. Her whole body was hooked up to a large machine that covered the top half of her head, wires attached to a collar around her neck, some stuck to her arms. She was sickly pale, and very skinny compare to how I met her in Asuka Empire.

"Yuu...ki," All this time. I swallowed, not taking my eyes off her body. "Say, doc, what's her illness then?"

"Acquired Immunity Deficiency Syndrome," He replied as I felt my forehead tap against the glass, my heart sank loud and fast. "AIDS. Now, it's not as terrifying of an illness as people perceive it to be, if you start treatment in the early stages it's possible to delay the onset of AIDS for a long span,"

His tone made my throat dry, "And I'm guessing... that's not the case for her?"

Kurahashi nodded slowly, "The virus she contracted turned out to be difficult to treat - a drug-resistant strain,"

"Tch, all this time and you'd think we'd have found a solution to something like this..." I muttered, pulling my head away as I adjusted my hood again to hide my distraught. There was so many voices screaming at me to run away out of fear and remorse. I remained glued, but my eye did flicker to the room again.

"Yuuki's mother became despondent over her children's future, and at one point, considered committing family suicide, I'm told," He said with a heavy breath. How any parent could believe that was the best cause for their children... I couldn't imagine. How much have they suffered for one accident?

"But she nevertheless chose to go on fighting her illness,"

Finally, a tiny laugh broke my facade, "Yeah, that's sounds like her to a 'T',"

"Exactly, soon after birth, Yuuki was put on a multidrug therapy course," Kurahashi elaborated further. "It's hard for a child to keep to a regular schedule involving so many medications. After all, there are side effects, not to mention the pain of being subjected to prejudice, I've heard." He sat down behind me, setting my bag upright for me.

"Still, Yuuki fully believed she and her family would be cured and was a trooper, however, when she was in fourth grade her immune system took a nosedive, she developed AIDS and was brought to this hospital," I saw him smile in the faint reflection. "Even so, Yuuki kept smiling,"

"Doc? Why is Yuuki using the Medicuboid?" I was going to learn about it all, no matter how painful. If Yuuki could stomach this, I would to. I'm standing right here.

[Yuuki's POV]

I couldn't believe it, he... really found me. I felt my stomach twist for three days over what I did, I ran at the mere mention of my sister's name, I left him behind as I intended, it was the best choice, no one should have to know me and suffer when I... finally stopped fighting. Asuna, Kirito, Argo, they didn't deserve that. Malzeno, I... I wanted to see him so badly but, but I wouldn't live with myself if he knew the truth.

Who would ever want to be with me like this?

I hugged my knees closer as I listened to Dr Kurahashi explain everything as planned to Malzeno, to think he actually found me was amazing, he was really smart and I was really happy to see the real him, even if only slightly, that hood of his makes it harder to tell what he looks like.

~It was just before the time the world was in an uproar over the Nervegear incident, the first Medicuboid prototype was completed. But the tests were stalled because no one could project the long-term effects of electromagnetic output several times stronger than that of the Nervegear~ I listen closely, my bottom lip quivering. ~Even before SAO, finding a patient that would take on the risk proved to be difficult~

~So, you made the proposal to her family instead?~ Malzeno added without missing a beat, he really picked up on all this fast.

~You're correct. If she accepted, she'd be moved into a sterile room with the Medicuboid, thereby drastically reducing the risk of opportunistic infections~ Kurahashi explained, lowering his head a bit. Was he ashamed? ~To this day, I'm not sure if I did the right thing or not. Both Yuuki's parents and Yuuki herself agonized over my proposal, it seems~

Those were really long talks, I remembered. But, I wanted this, not just for the chance to get better when I thought I could, but maybe I could help make people's lives better too by becoming a test subject. It was scary, especially when Merida and Aiko and my parents were gone, but I still moved on with the tests regardless. I had to, otherwise what was the point?

~But perhaps the lure of the unknown, the virtual world she yearned for, was a deciding factor. She agreed to become a test subject and moved into this room. Ever since then, Yuuki's lived inside the Medicuboid~

~She never left?~ Malzeno turned back a bit.

~For three years, Yuuki rarely, if ever, returns to the real world~ His words made Malzeno's hand curl up at the edge of the glass.

He must've been lost in thought again, his bottom lip trembled slightly, ~'Truly living in this world', Blackie had it down pat~

Now he knew everything, and I curled up on myself. I wished he didn't but a strong part of me was glad he knew, that he came here despite how painful it must be. But why didn't he go? Why won't he turn away from me? I'm dying, Zeno, why would you want to be anywhere near me? I... should just be left alone...

~Thank you for this, Doc. For letting me see Yuuki again~ I slowly raised my head to see him looking down slightly. ~So long as she's in here, she'll be alright?~

~From external infections, yes. But the bacteria inside of her can't be eliminated. Her state his terminal after all~ I watched as Malzeno's head turned slightly, his mouth ajar. ~I believe now you know the reason she vanished from your sight~

~I mentioned her sister's name because she slipped up, I guess she realized how close I had gotten to her by that point~ He sighed, hand tapping off the glass in a small beat. ~Aiko watched over her everyday, for how long?~

Kurahashi looked as shocked as I was. How... how did he know that? I guess when you have siblings its sorta a hunch but the way Malzeno phrased it made it sound like he knew Aiko too, but that's impossible. Maybe he was an old friend of hers before I was admitted?

~Ah... well, her parents passed away two years ago, Aiko a year ago~

Please, just forget about me. Forget about the Sleeping Knights. Forget the late night we spent questing and eating dango together. Just... forget I felt so happy around you that I wanted... I...

~You're not much for subtlety, Cupcake~ I gasped as my head shot up to his easy-going smile again, slowly he tugged his hood down. ~I did say you can't get rid of me~

His hood fell and I finally saw his face. He looked nice, not drop-dead-gorgeous but... nice. His hair was chin length and really messy, combs didn't like him. It was strawberry-blonde and he had deep emerald eyes, the sharpest pigment I had ever seen. So that's his face... but... have I seen him before? Those eyes too...

"You... you knew I was here...?" I murmured as he rolled his eyes.

~Uh, don't know if you know but it says 'talking' at the top of your magical box, not to mention it said 'Live' prior to you speaking~ I... that stupid smirk of his! I'm such an idiot. ~You really know how to make a guy worry. Honestly, I've never had this big of an issue from my usual employments, but man, do you drive a hard wedge between employer and employee~

I couldn't help but smile at his silly rant, feeling something well up in my eyes. "You're a dork... but you look close to how you appear in the other world, huh,"

~You're beautiful yourself~ Wait, what, how did he...? Some heat crawled up my face but I remained composed.

"Thanks for coming to see me," I was truly grateful. "But, I'm curious, how did you know what my sister did for me?"

Like the partner of an info broker, he wagged his finger knowingly. ~Ah, that's all rudimentary milady, it's because we have met before, it was only once so I completely forgot about the time until just recently~ His smile grew a little, it was tender and kind. ~My real name is Kazuki Asami, my older sister was Merida Asami~

If they weren't already, my eyes were close to popping from their sockets as my heart thundered in my chest. He... his sister... was Merida? My mouth was agape, those eyes, I-I remember them! He was... it was him! "You're... the blue samurai, Mal...zeno..." It was right in front of me this whole time. That feeling of familiarity, rolling the dice - that was what Merida said that day too during a boss fight!

He did a little bow with his hand across his stomach. ~A pleasure to make your acquaintance - also, seriously, you used your name for your alias?~ Now he deadpanned but his lips quivered trying to remain aloof.

"H-hey, it was all I could think of! How would anyone know, anyhow - also, Merida did it first!" I yelled back with a pout.

~Yeah, well, she's my sister, I'd expect her to do something that stupid~ This guy... I swear I'm gonna throttle him. Well, guess there's no use hiding it now...

"Doctor? Could you let Malzeno use the room next door?" I saw his face light up, as if it wasn't already elated listening to us banter.

~Yes, certainly~ He turned and directed to the door across the way to my left. ~There's an AmuSphere in that room that I always use to visit her~

~T-thank you so much!~ Hehe, he's really polite in real life, not that he's completely rude but he's less joking this time.

"The app launcher has ALO loaded, once you're logged in, come to the place you and I... well, reunited I guess," With that, he vanished inside the next room as I sat back in my virtual space, closing my eyes.

This time, I won't run away.

[To Be Continued...]

[Author's Notes]

Decided to switch up POVs midway to capture Yuuki's outlook too, the big climax is near, how will these two old acquaintances move forward together? Bit of a delay on this one, I'm sure you know why, whole site down and all that. I hope you enjoyed, I appreciate the support, seeya in the arc finale, Readers!