In the year 2022, the VRMMO game "Sword Art Online" trapped 10,000 players in a death game. This is the story of a rapier wielding girl joining an armored slayer on his journey to defeat all 100 floors of the floating castle of Aincrad. Will his exi...
The sleeping girl did not respond, of course. She looked at the navy blue headgear stuck to the girl's head. It was the same NerveGear that Suguha had looked at nearly every day, often with hatred. Only the three glittering lights on the front face of the apparatus gave any sign that Sachi was alive.
The deep, terrible pain that Suguha had nursed while Kazuto was locked in the game for those two years was something he was grappling with now, she realized. Suguha's heart quavered like a leaf floating on water. It was too cruel that this person's soul should still be locked away in some other, hidden world. She wanted to bring this girl back to Kazuto's side—to bring a true smile of joy to his face.
He grabbed Sachi's small hand, which was poking out of the white sheets, and stared silently at her sleeping face.
She was about to say that she'd just be waiting out in the hallway, trying not to look at Kazuto's face, when he suddenly took a step forward, and she lost her opportunity to excuse herself. He circled around the bed and sat down in the chair on the other side. Now he was front and center in her field of vision.
That look in his eyes.
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It was the look of a weary traveler in search of his fated lover after many long years...perhaps a journey that had begun in his previous life and that would continue into the next. Behind the gentle, caring light in his eyes, she sensed a deep, mad longing. Even the colors of his irises seemed different.
- TimeSkip -
Much time in silence passed, and they were exiting the room. Before leaving, Kazuto gave his sleeping girlfriend one final goodbye kiss on her hand before praying once more. Exiting the room, Suguha began to plan ahead on what path she and Goblin Slayer would be taking in ALO.
Somehow, they had taken a wrong turn and were now walking aimlessly through the hallways of the hospital. Finally spotting a directional sign pointing towards the elevators, something caught the corner of her eye. She stopped to read it, and Kazuto walked a few paces ahead of her before noticing her.
Kazuto: Suguha? What's wrong?
He walked over and read what was written on the metal nameplate.
[Asuna Yuuki]
His eyes widened. Could it possibly be the same Asuna he befriended in SAO, or could it be someone else entirely but shared the same first name? He had been in contact with Klein, Lizbeth, Silica, and the rest of the Moonlit BlackCats. But he had yet to contact Agil.
The last time he saw Asuna she had died in the arms of her lover, who joined her shortly after, taking Akihiko Kayaba with him. Could they possibly have made it out to the real world? All these questions started running through his head, leaving him with only more questions.
