New Game? *YES*

Chapter 18 - A way for her to return

*Note*

Sword Art Online is not owned by me in any way, all rights go to the respected company

Photos used are not owned by me, all rights go to respected artists

All information used throughout the story has been accessed through the SAO wiki

Eiji POV:

I was sitting on my chair looking through an article about the mysterious disappearance of the technological prodigy 'Alpha' and how he could be the same person who is hiding from the public eye known as Kirito, the defeater of SAO.

Every time I would read his name in the article, my eyes would start to be filled with rage. I never knew him in the game and only met with him once at a boss raid meeting, but I didn't understand why I was getting so mad. What was it?

I figured out why I hated him during his first day of classes. Everyone around him kept calling him a savior and hero of everyone trapped. That was the trigger. Him being a savior. I couldn't let people call him a savior when all of these people died within SAO. All of those people...and Yuna.

I started to tear up from the thought of Yuna. She was my closest friend and my crush. I would remember our times of going from town to town for her to perform with her guitar. I remember all of the places we visited and all the restaurants we tried and how she always left a tip for the restaurant even though there was no tip system in the game. I remembered our tours in each town and how we would always pick up one item from each town to serve as a memory.

I started to remember all of these memories and how much fun we had with each other until her passing. I remember that day so vividly. I thought of the monsters coming out of nowhere and how they aggro'd onto Yuna. I watched her trip on some rock and saw as the monster clawed her to death. I remember looking at her face and all she did was smile at me and tell me that her last adventures with me were amazing. Yet I couldn't say anything back, all I could do was stare at her as she turned into hexagons.

I looked back at the computer screen after crying over those terrible memories. I thought of my roof conversation with Kirito

"What would you have done if I perished instead...Yuna"

All I could think of was Yuna ever since that day. She was my guiding light through SAO. Yet now that I am out, she's still all I could think of. Tears were about to come out yet again until I heard someone call for me

"Eiji, you got a letter"

I got up from my desk and headed downstairs. I walked into the living room where my mother was sat down going through today's mail. She looked at me, smiled, and handed me a letter. I ran back upstairs and sat back down in my original position.

After tearing through the letter, it revealed a note along with a card. I looked at the card which had a picture of a building and an address on it with a room number. I flipped the card

"Technical University of Tokyo...what do they want with me?"

I then picked up the note and began to read

Please meet me in this room at any time during the week from eleven am to five pm. Please come alone.

After reading the note, I got confused about what this was about and whether I should go. I looked at the clock and read it was still only three since I had just gotten back from school. I thought about going or not and decided it would be fine since it was still day.

I grabbed my backpack and also grabbed a pocket knife in case anything did end badly. I headed out the door and took the public bus towards my destination. After half an hour of riding the bus, I arrived at the Technical University of Tokyo campus. I walked through the campus until I found the building which matched the picture on the card and walked up the stairs and continued down a hall.

I arrived at the office door and gave the door a knock. I heard no response and decided to knock again. The second time I knocked a response cam telling me to enter.

I opened the door and walked into the office. I looked towards the desk at the end of the room. Sitting in the room was a man with short gray hair wearing a grey suit, white shirt, and a yellow tie.

"Hello, are you the person who sent me this letter," I asked him as I showed him the letter

"Ahh yes, you must be Nochizawa Eiji. It's nice to meet you, please sit down" he said getting up from his desk and walking around to shake my hand

I sat down in the seat across from him as he was going back to his seat

"So you know me?"

"Where are my manners, my name is Tetsuhiro Shigemura. I got the information about you from a man in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs"

"And why would you want my information?"

"Well, as you know many people in stuck in the SAO incident passed away and there wasn't anything we can do about them"

"If your here to bring back bad memories, please stop"

"Sorry about that, it's just that I wanted to meet you since you apparently knew someone very close to me from the game"

I thought about who he was talking about until something hit me. I looked towards Mr. Shigemura who was staring at me

"You knew my daughter, Shigemura Yuuna"

I looked at him as my eyes began to tear up from hearing her name. I was sitting across from Yuna's father.

"I'm guessing from your response that you do know her"

I quickly realized that tears were about to fall from my cheek and I quickly dried them up and straightened myself in my seat.

"Y-yes, sorry about that. Yes, I knew your daughter in the game"

"Ok, I'm happy to have contacted you"

"Sorry for asking this sir, but why do you need to talk to me?"

"I see then, let's get right into the discussion. As you know, those who have died in the game of SAO have also died in real life and can never be retuurned< right?"

"Yes, sir but why are you asking me this since it's common knowledge"

"What if I told you that was incorrect"

I stared at him with eyes of shock.

"You know how to bring someone back from SAO who has passed on"

"That is correct but I'm not bringing someone back to life exactly, it's more like I am reconstructing them from memories"

"Sorry, I'm confused"

"Here we go. As you know, the memories someone has are extremely dear to them and also allow us to remember someone or something. By using these memories, we can shape them to become real"

I stared at him with confusion. The professor must have realized this and continued

"By using someone's memories, I can use them to bring forth an AI of someones original self by using every memory which exists of her"

I looked at him with shock about what he was saying. He could bring back Yuna.

"But in order to do that, I need your help"

"What can I do professor?"

"You are the key for bringing her back, I just need to know you agree to help me"

I was about to respond but hesitated. Was this something that Yuna would want? I wondered if Yuna would do the same thing for me but left that thought behind. I needed to see her

"I agree"

The professor smiled at me and said

"Let's begin"