Disclaimer: I don't own SAO or Touhou. Neither is the episode subs that I copied for the dialogues.
Chaos continued inside the floor boss' room. Large and small bodied party members running around in a panicked state as the boss continued to go in its berserk state.
A heated atmosphere of fear and despair continued rushing around as they move to save their own lives.
Heathcliff blocked another one of its legs attempting to crush him and slid out of its way. He looked at the upper part of the boss and gritted his teeth harshly.
The Guildmaster held his broadsword as he activated a taunting skill within it. He dashed forward and clashed his blade with the monster's own huge scythe. Heathcliff strengthened his posture and delivered a strong blow to the floor boss making it howl loudly again and direct its attacks at him.
"A taunting skill? Good move..." Kirito muttered under his breath before rejoining Heathcliff in parrying the scythes followed by Asuna. He looked to the girl at his side and nodded in agreement.
"Everyone all-out attack!"
The remaining party roared at their attempt to end the battle once and forever. The battle axes and katanas once again rushed towards the Skull Reaper and slashed and damaged the boss as fast as it could.
-slash- -slash-
Fast slashes and swipes came from the party's one-handed sword users. Multiple sword skills echoed throughout the room and continued to deal damage as the HP bar of the boss continues to drop.
-bam- -bam-
Heavy pounds of axes crushing the monster's bones cracked soundly as they inflict heavy burst of damage. Mighty swings crippled the Skull Reaper's balance and defence as they continue to tank and damage it.
"Oraaaaa!"
"Doraaaaa!"
Shouts and grunts of courage and determination was heard everywhere with each multiple damages the team does to the Skull Reaper. Klein keeps up his amazing damage per second by his fast swipes with his sword. Alfredo and Egil continued on doing the best burst damage they can to the boss in a desperate attempt to finish the fight.
After an amount of time, the boss finally let out its last roar and collapsed to the floor. Its HP bars showing out again with its last bar in the red critical zone. Heathcliff looked upwards and shouted in a superior voice.
"Now! Full attack!"
Everyone who remained standing rushed together to the boss. Metal and iron clanked soundly at each contact with the monster. Blue and yellow light effects erupted at all the sides of the Skull Reaper while it gradually loses its footing at its weakened state.
All of them brought out their most dangerous skills, wishing for the hastening of the boss' death.
"Oryaaaaa!"
Kirito and Asuna simultaneously shouted with their blades clashing critically at the floor boss' body. White and yellow streaks glowed from their swords repeatedly piercing and delivering damage to the bone monster.
With a final large blow, Heathcliff took a large breath and swung his sword hard on the Skull Reaper's spinal bone which in turn made the boss howl in pain. It stood up in its towering height before showing its HP bars all colored in empty dark red. A few more seconds passed before the nightmare the party was fighting disappeared into blue crystals, the word "Congratulations!" in all caps flashed above the party.
The whole of the party promptly collapsed on their knees and behinds except for one.
Minutes of silence passed. . .
A depressing aura surrounded the remaining party in the boss' room. Sullen looks conquered each and everyone's faces with some looking to the ground as if it was a mirror to them.
"...How many did we lose?" A lone voice coming from a red-haired player voiced out at the middle of that intangible silence.
Kirito looked up slightly and waved his right hand prompting up the menu. He tapped a button on it and looked at the interface with a pained face.
"...Fourteen died."
Many of the member's faces turned into surprised, horrified faces as they heard the number of the casualties. They stared at the black-haired swordsman in disbelief, dampening the already hopeless aura in the room.
"No way..."
"We still have 25 floors left..."
"Will we really be able to reach the top...?"
Their gazes fell back to the ground as the terrifying thought played through their minds. 25 floors that are comparably harder than the one they just fought... A silence that is not meant to be broken fleeted through the atmosphere by this single thought.
Kirito scanned the people around them until his eyes landed at the single standing person in the middle of the KoB group. He looked at him intense eyes before finally noticing his HP bar that is still in the green zone despite every single of them is in the yellow zone or worse the red zone.
His eyes widened at the sudden realization and his memory flashed back to their first duel. That unusual speed, that unusual movement, that unusual feeling all flooded back to his digital brain as he continued to connect the dots mentally. Kirito moved his hand to grab his Elucidator quietly causing Asuna to notice his posture change.
"Kirito-kun?" Asuna questioned concernedly at the black-haired swordsman before Kirito dashes towards the Guildmaster.
As Kirito neared Heathcliff, he activated a skill at his sword and pointed its blade the gray-haired man. Heathcliff snapped his head up from his daze and tried to shield himself from the sudden surprise attack. Unfortunately for him, his shield didn't make it in time and Kirito nearly pierced the Guild master's shoulder before a purple prompt appeared in front of him saying "Immortal Object" earning a surprised gasp from the black-haired swordsman as it confirms his suspicions.
"Kirito-kun, what are you..." Asuna ran to her husband until she also noticed the purple prompt hovering at the Guild master's shoulder. Her memory jogged back to the time Yui protected them from the Fatal Scythe, the very same moment they knew Yui wasn't a player but a digital NPC created by the game.
Everyone who also noticed the prompt slowly stood up as confusion swept through their minds. Heathcliff's face showed no panic or fear although his emotions betray what his heart is feeling. The gray-haired man looked at Kirito squarely in the face as the prompt disappeared into nothingness.
"Immortal Object? What's going on commander?" Asuna voiced out her thoughts as she was shortly answered by Kirito after.
"The game ensures that his HP will never fall into the yellow zone." Kirito voiced out in a stoic voice, earning the looks of disbelief at the party's faces. "Something has been bothering me ever since I played this game. Where does he hide and manages this game's entire world?"
Kirito closed his eyes as he continued on explaining.
"But I'd forgotten one simple piece of psychology, something any kid knows... There's nothing as boring as watching someone else play an RPG." He opened his eyes again and looked back to Heathcliff.
"Isn't that right, Kayaba Akihiko?"
Surprised gasps echoed throughout the room as Kirito revealed his deductions. Heathcliff scanned them briefly before letting out a sigh.
"I've been found out huh...? Well Yukari has warned me of this..." The Guildmaster thought momentarily as he faced the black-haired swordsman's gaze. "Tell me, how did you figure it out Kirito-san?"
"The first time I felt something was wrong were during our duel, in that last moment you we're way too fast..." Kirito started explaining to the Guildmaster as he nodded acceptingly.
"I suspected as much... That was a careless mistake in my part. You overpowered me to the point that I need to activate the system's over-assist mode on me." The gray-haired Guildmaster paused to look at the very surprised emotions that party was making. He closed his eyes momentarily and spoke in a much more stoic voice.
"Yes, I am Kayaba Akihiko and if I may add... I am the game's final boss who would have awaited you at the top floor."
The entire party, now on standing on their two feet, released out extreme gasps of shock as Heathcliff let out his sudden admission to his identity. Asuna's expression didn't fare any better as she weakly hugged Kirito who in return squeezed her hand at his shoulder.
"That's pretty bad, the strongest player betrays us to become the last boss...?"
"Not a bad storyline, is it? I always thought that you would be the one to stand before me at the end. Dual blades are the skill given to the player with the fastest reaction time, who will then act out the part of the Hero that challenges the Demon King."
Heathcliff paused momentarily and grinned excitingly at Kirito.
"But your power exceeded my expectations... Well, these unexpected events are part of the fun in an MMORPG."
A player clad in the KoB uniform gripped his broadsword as he shook it with anger. "Our loyalty... Our hope... How dare you... HOW DARE YOU!?" He lunged at Heathcliff with his sword overhead, ready to slice him off at any moment.
Heathcliff did not bat an eyelid to the guild member trying to slash him from behind and merely waved his hand to open the menu. He pressed a few buttons on the interface making the guild member's body glitch with static and fall straight to the ground face first. A dust cloud enveloped him at the impact that quickly dissipated to show a yellow lightning symbol beside his HP bar.
"...Paralysis!?"
The Guildmaster kept his stoic face as he pressed more buttons on the interface. As he kept on tapping, each one of the party members slowly fell to the ground as they lose control of their digital bodies' movement.
"...! Kirito-kun!" A yellow border enveloped Asuna's body briefly before falling weakly to the ground. Kirito reacted well on the pained voice his wife gave out and caught her just in time to avoid her body from getting dirtied.
"Tch..." Kirito looked around the fallen bodies of his still alive comrades and looked at Heathcliff with contempt. "What are you going to do now? Kill us all and cover it up?"
"Of course not... I wouldn't do anything that unfair." Heathcliff chuckled slightly as he shook his head. He looked upward as he thought about what to do now. "Well then... I shall await you on the top floor, within the Ruby Palace."
The Guildmaster looked to the players who are clad in white, not even showing a sign of pity at their pained face. "I've put a lot of time into developing the Knights of the Blood Oath and the other front liners, so it's a shame I have to leave them partway."
He faked a chuckle ignoring the storm inside his chest.
"However, I'm sure that with you power you'll reach me eventually. But first..."
Heathcliff stuck his sword and shield to the ground and looked at the black-haired swordsman with expectation. "Kirito-san, I must reward you for deducing my identity. In other words, I'm giving you a chance."
"A chance...?" Kirito gulped, an unknown fear washing through his spine that he doesn't know where it comes or what it is.
"The chance to fight me one-on-one, like our duel in the past. Naturally, I'll deactivate my immortal status. Defeat me, and you beat the game and all the players will be able to log out. How about it?"
Kirito widened his eyes at this sudden proposal given to him. He looked at the ground thinking about it as he held Asuna at his arms who also heard the proposal given to Kirito.
"No, Kirito-kun! For now... For now, let's just fall back." Asuna pleaded with her husband who continued to look on the ground.
Kirito continued to think, ignoring Asuna's pleas of retreating from that offer. Memories, unhappy memories of sadness and death, flashbacked into him all at the same time causing the pain inside his chest grow larger.
The first time the Game Master announced that SAO was a death game, Diavel's last words to him as he died in his arms, the time the Moonlit Black Cats with Sachi was picked off one by one by those high level monsters, Keita who committed suicide in front of him unable to endure the demise of his guild mates, Godfree and Kuradeel's deaths in their 'training' session, Yui's disappearance from him and Asuna for eternity, Cirno and Daiyousei's bravery at the floor boss' meeting and died because of that bravery, and his promise to Asuna to get everyone else out from that death game.
"...Don't insult me..."
Asuna's eyes widened at Kirito's words as the black-haired swordsman raised his head and locked eyes with Heathcliff.
"Fine with me... Let's finish this."
"Kirito-kun!"
"Sorry Asuna, but I can't run away here."
"You're... You're not going to die here right? You're going to live right..? For us all..?"
"That's right... I'm going to win... And end this once and for all."
"Kirito-kun..."
Kirito smiled gently at his wife and held her hand gently for the last time. He gently laid Asuna to the ground before removing the two swords from his back and walked to the front of Heathcliff. Various voices shouted out to the black-haired swordsman asking him not to do whatever he is planning.
"Kirito, don't!"
"Kirito!"
With his back facing the other members, Kirito spoke out suddenly to the surprise of many and especially certain names.
"Egil... Thanks for helping to support the swordsman class. I know you spent nearly all the money you made helping the players during the middle zones to level."
Egil opened his mouth to say something back to the swordsman but no words came out from his mouth. Tears began to well up in his eyes as Kirito moved on to the next person.
"Alfredo...You may be a perverted idiot and a ladies' man but you always did it in order to lighten up everyone's spirit. Your comedic trio with Kuma and Cirno never failed to make other people laugh and made them forget, even for a short moment, that we're in a life or death situation here. You're the one who actually burdened everyone's sadness for their happiness."
"W-Wha... Damn it... Kirito-san! I'm not accepting any of that drama of yours dammit!" Alfredo let out in a cracked voice as he tried to keep his tears from falling out like a fountain. "Kuma and Cirno are gone already and then... and then...!"
Kirito faced the tank player and gave a flat smile. He turned around more and looked to Klein who is staring at him intently while hugging the ground.
"Klein..."
"W-What is it man!?"
"I'm really sorry for leaving you behind that day..."
Klein looked at Kirito and closed his eyes as a stream of tears started to flow from his eyes uncontrollably. "Damn it Kirito! Don't... Don't apologize... Don't you dare apologize to me now! I won't forgive you... I won't forgive until you buy me a meal on the other side!"
"Haha... Got it." The black-haired swordsman waved his sword non-chalantly as he gave a smile to his bestfriend. "See you on the other side then."
Kirito turned to his wife and only exchanged gazes with her briefly before turning to the gray-haired man.
"Ready when you are..."
"Hmph... Very well..."
Heathcliff tapped a few buttons at his menu's interface and a red prompt hovered over him to signal he closed his immortality status. The gray-haired Guildmaster drew out his sword from his shield and readied his state.
The two stood in silent seriousness as Kirito closed his eyes to think briefly.
"This isn't a duel… We're fighting to kill…"
Kirito opened his eyes as he stared fiercely to the man opposite to him.
"That's right, I'll… Kill this man!"
-Somewhere in the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious-
A lone blue-haired girl lay on the floor sleeping occasionally stirring from the dream she is having. A boy with short curly hair waving at her with a large smile at his face while his tall friend behind him also does the same. The girl ran out to reach them; a smile also filled her face before a gap with a multitude of eyes appeared in front of her and swallowed her whole body. At that moment, Cirno woke up from her slumber while clutching her chest in order to calm her wildly beating heart.
After she calmed down from a couple of breaths, she scanned the room she is in. A room with a dark grey color nothing is in it, not even walls, except for a door, a chair, a table with a single flower in its vase on top of it and a mirror hanging from the air. Cirno looked back to her front and looked at her translucent and hollow body which is back to wearing the clothes she had at Gensokyo.
"My soul…? Is this my new soul this time…?" Cirno closed her eyes and tried to remember everything that has happened before.
She remembered the memories from the time Yukari asked her to play a game to find her bestfriend Daiyousei, the time she first walked in Aincrad's pavements, the time she first felt a battle between a player and a monster, the time she first met and befriended Kuma and Alfredo, the time Kuma said his feelings to her, the time they finally found Daiyousei after being separated, the time Kirito and her duelled from the green-haired girl's sake, the time they planned for their attack to the floor's boss monster and the time Kuma, her and Daiyousei all died.
"Good… I don't think any memories are erased this time…" Cirno breathe out before looking back to her arm and noticed numerous 1 and 0's tattooed into her arm. Her face contorted into something unreadable and Cirno stood up to go to the mirror.
Cirno pulled down her blouse's collar and saw the same markings running down from her neck up to her collarbone. She let out a sigh as she gave up what those markings meant and sat down on the chair.
"Where's Dai-chan anyways…" The blue-haired girl sighed and rested her chin at her right arm. She looked at the gray door which complemented the very empty atmosphere of the room. "…" Cirno stood up and walked towards the door and opened it as light poured into the room from it.
- Somewhere in the boundary between the conscious and the unconscious: Floor 75 boss room-
Cirno squinted her eyes for a moment at the sudden light that showered her. As soon as her eyes got used to the light, she looked to her surroundings and saw numerous players lying down on the ground while a familiar black-haired swordsman and gray-haired Guildmaster fought each other with an intense speed.
Cirno looked behind her and saw that the door suddenly disappeared much to her confusion that is slowly growing larger by the minute. She looked back to the scene and saw a green-haired girl, also in the same state of having a translucent body as her, watching the fight with a serious expression. The blue-haired girl walked towards the green-haired girl and tapped her shoulder earning a surprised shriek from her.
"Yo Dai-chan!"
"C-Cirno-chan! You surprised me… You're already awake huh?"
"I wouldn't be walking around if I'm still asleep… Now, what's happening here?"
Daiyousei smiled at Cirno and looked back to the scene in front of her. Two swords clashing badly with the sturdy shield while the gray-haired man only maintained his calm façade and waited for the right moments to counter attack.
"Heathcliff-san… Told Kirito-san that if he can beat him everyone would be out of this game without actually clearing it." Daiyousei spoke in a deadpan voice earning an eyebrow from Cirno.
"Why would Heathcliff-san say that? Was he that special in the game…?"
Daiyousei sighed and looked at Cirno who is absolutely clueless like at Keine's math class period.
"Heathcliff-san is the main boss in this game."
"And that is…?"
"The one you need to beat to clear the game."
"EH!? SERIOUSLY!?"
"And he's also the Game Master that trapped everyone in that game in the first place."
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? HE IS THAT BASTARD!?"
Cirno spent the next moments groaning and letting out incoherent words of curses or something of the sort while holding her head tightly. Daiyousei only smiled as she sweat dropped from the reaction her friend is doing. After Cirno calmed down a little, the blue-haired girl faced the same fighting scene she was watching before.
"So if Heathcliff-san is the Game Master, that would mean he created this game right..?" Daiyousei only replied with a nod and Cirno went back to her thoughts again. "He's the Game Master… meaning he knows everything about how the system works in this game."
"Kirito-san will have to win this fight by using his own abilities…" Daiyousei shared the same serious expression as her friend as they looked at the two continuing to give out skills to each other.
Heathcliff shielded a slash from Kirito's swords and gave a low counter to him in an attempt to pierce him completely. The black-haired swordsman crossed his two swords as he parried the broadsword inches away from his face. He pushed the blade away from him and jumped backwards to gain distance.
Kirito dashed back to Heathcliff and gave him another flurry of slashes only to be shielded by the gigantic block of metal again. He jumped behind him and sends another wave of slashes again they were all shielded by Heathcliff's signature shield.
"Faster… I need to go faster!" Kirito thought as his sword glows a white faint light. He attacks the Guildmaster again despite his good defensive skill and didn't stop his fast momentum.
The two continued to brawl on the platform's center forming a thick dust cloud around them due to the sheer intensity of the battle. Inside the dust cloud, Kirito's rate of attacking Heathcliff didn't show any sign of falter as blue and yellow slash effects are seen outside the dust cloud.
Heathcliff shielded yet another one of Kirito's very fast attacks and threw off the two swords away from him. As Kirito readied again for another attack, Heathcliff gritted his teeth and slashed his sword Kirito, earning him a graze at his cheek.
Kirito paused momentarily as he felt the cold blade slice through his cheek before losing the focus he had and let out a shout of rage. The Elucidator and Dark Repulser glowed brightly at the skill the black-haired swordsman unintentionally activated.
"No!" Cirno let out inaudibly as she saw the bright light coming from Kirito's swords. Apparently, Heathcliff also knows what Cirno is thinking and smirked victoriously at this simple mistake Kirito made.
Kirito then realized his mistake but was unable to cancel the skill at effect in the moment. Due to being a pre-programmed combo skill, Heathcliff merely stood there unwavering as Kirito slashed uncontrollably at his shield. The black-haired swordsman closed his eyes hardly as he gritted his teeth in preparation for the ending of the skill.
Kirito continued on slashing futilely at Heathcliff's shield whose face is just smiling easily as he blocked the pre-programmed combo of the dual blades skill. The black-haired swordsman let out a shout of courage as he slashed one more time on Heathcliff before the Dark Repulser broke after hitting the gray-haired man's shield. Kirito looked at the falling fragment of his sword with widened eyes as Heathcliff raised his sword above his head.
"Now then… This is goodbye Kirito-san."
The broadsword was enveloped by a red aura as the Guildmaster swung it down to Kirito's body. Kirito looked at the blade that was about to hit him until a shadow covered his sight and a certain girl took the blow of Heathcliff's skill instead of him.
"Asuna!"
"Asuna-san!"
"Ah…!"
Red blood aura and a sickening slash sound appeared in front of the black-haired swordsman's eyes as Asuna stepped backwards at the force she just took on. A slash mark ran through her shoulder up to her abdomen when Kirito caught her to avoid her body from falling down.
He looked panicked at the sight of that grave wound running across his wife's perfect body. Kirito looked at Asuna's HP gauge which was fast depleting to an empty bar. Kirito uttered a gasp as Asuna's HP gauge disappeared empty in front of his eyes.
"No… Asuna… This can't… be…"
"Sorry Kirito-kun… Goodbye…" Asuna managed to whisper into her husband's ears before shattering into a million of blue crystals in the air. Kirito looked at the crystals in despair as he futilely grabs it in an attempt to catch them. When the crystals finally disappeared, Kirito promptly fell down on his knees, inaudible groans and words of despair coming out from his scrawny throat.
"That was a surprise. I don't believe I programmed a way to neutralize paralysis on your own." Heathcliff looked upward and sighed. "I guess these things do happen."
Kirito who is still fallen at his knees tightened his fists and grabbed Asuna's fallen rapier at his side. Heathcliff widened his eyes slightly at the slight movement of the swordsman, awaiting his next movements on him.
The black-haired swordsman weakly swung the Elucidator which is easily dodged by Heathcliff by stepping backwards. He prepared to swing again when Heathcliff sighed in disappointment and threw the black sword from Kirito's hand through his own blade.
The Elucidator loudly clanged beside at Kirito who lost the light at his eyes. Heathcliff just looked at the distraught swordsman and pierced his sword at him. Red crystals flying out from his abdomen as Kirito slowly closed his eyes to wait for his moment.
"No… No… This shouldn't happen…!" The blue-haired translucent girl gritted her teeth and tried to rush to the middle of the platform.
"Cirno-chan!?"
"Gah!" Cirno let out a gasp of pain as the markings on her arm and neck glowed on her skin and started sending out a painful restriction on her body. Cirno closed her eyes briefly at the sudden pain that is inflicted at her and looked at Kirito who is currently hopeless. "Please… Please let him hear me! Yukari, Kanako, Suwako whoever you are out there… Make Kirito-san hear my voice!"
"It's over…" Kirito thought as he closed his eyes while his HP bar slowly drop to nothingness from the red zone.
"Kirito-san!"
Kirito snapped his eyes open as he followed the source of the voice he's hearing. His eyes landed at a blue translucent girl who is currently holding her neck as if she is restrained by some sort of light chain on her neck and arms.
"Cirno…?"
"Don't give up yet Kirito-san! Remember the promise you made with everyone! Fight for everyone's sake in this game… Fight for the promise for Asuna-san's sake!"
"Ah…" The light went back to Kirito's eyes as he remembered Asuna's words. That's right… For Asuna… For everyone…!
Kirito's HP gauge disappeared from his eyes and a red prompt saying "You Are Dead." Showed up at his vision. His body soon shattered into blue crystals before reforming back into the same translucent state Cirno and Daiyousei's body is in.
"Not yet…" Kirito thought as he gripped the rapier in his hand harder. He gritted his teeth as his body continued to static and glitch from his slight movements. He took a small step earning a shocked gasp from Heathcliff who is currently seeing his hollow body. "Not yet!"
Kirito raised the rapier with all his might and glared at Heathcliff with his yellow eyes. He let out a shout of force as Heathcliff smiled and received the sharp blade piercing his back and any other organs in it. The gray-haired man closed his eyes peacefully as his HP bar drop down to 0. When the HP gauge of the Guildmaster disappeared, Kirito let out a sigh and looked to where Cirno was only to find an empty space on it. He looked to the rapier he is holding and thought to himself before shattering into blue crystals.
"This is… good enough…. Right…?"
The blue crystals slowly floated upwards and outside the window of the room. It flew with the wind as it travelled the different places of Aincrad. Various players looked up to the sky at the same moment as a female's voice echoed through their digital ears.
"As of 14:55, November 7, the game has been cleared. The game has been cleared."
-?-
A black-haired boy stood alone at the transparent flooring above somewhere that he doesn't know. He looked at his hands and clenched it a few times before looking straight forward.
"Where am I…?" Kirito muttered silently as he looked at the various clouds floating around him. He waved his right hand and opened up the interface menu only to be prompted by a single window saying "Initiating Final Phase." With a percentage counter in it.
Kirito blinked as he dismissed the menu to his side. He looked down emptily not knowing what to do until a voice called out to him from behind.
"Kirito-kun…?"
"…!?"
Kirito slowly turned around and saw the familiar sweet face of the girl he loved. The girl that brought him out from the depths of loneliness, the girl that shared many happy memories with him in a middle of a crisis, and the girl that he thought was gone forever by his side.
The two stood in silence as they gazed into each other's eyes. Kirito opened his mouth to speak only to slightly close it again to force his voice out.
"Sorry… I died too…"
"…Idiot…"
Tears ran through Asuna's cheeks as she rushed towards the man of her life. They hugged briefly before gently placing their lips onto each other, feeling each other's warmth and love that they needed so much.
They stayed like that for a couple of seconds before Asuna relented and let go of Kirito. The two faced the other direction and held hands as Kirito wiped away Asuna's tears using his hand.
"Where are we?" Kirito questioned as Asuna pointed to something from below. They saw the floating castle of Aincrad slowly crumbling away to pieces as they disappear into nothingness.
"Ah." Asuna let out a small voice as she saw their in-game house share the same fate as those pieces of rock crumbling away from the tower.
"Quite a view, isn't it?"
The two snapped up in surprise as they looked to their right and saw a skinny man wearing a lab gown staring at the same scene they are watching.
"Kayaba Akihiko…"
"The SAO mainframe, within the fifth-level basement at my corporate headquarters, is deleting all data on its storage devices. In ten minutes or so, everything in this world will vanish."
"What about the people down there?" Asuna asked Akihiko who only replied with a reassuring "Don't worry about them."
Akihiko waved his hand and brought out the interface menu in front of him. "Just now, the remaining 6,147 players were logged out." He quickly dismissed it as soon as he finished looking at the list. "There's no one left in that castle."
"What about the ones who died…?" Kirito now asked the skinny man who only replied silence. "What about the 4000 that died?"
"Their minds will never return. In every world, once you die, you're gone." The man looked upward and sighed. "Well… Maybe there are special exceptions though…"
"Why… Why did you do this…?"
"Why…huh… I actually forgot it a long time ago though there might be one per- no I don't think she's quite human… Well… Let's just say there's someone who might know the answer to that." Akihiko looked down below and grazed his chin, a slight tinge of red at his cheeks. "When I began developing the full-dive environment system… No, long before that, I dreamed of nothing but creating that castle, a world that surpassed all our laws and all our restrictions."
Akihiko closed his eyes and opened it again. "And now I saw someone surpass even my own world's laws…" A breeze swept through them and Akihiko's short hair flowed with it. "How old am I when I was obsessed with the fantasy of a steel castle that floated in the sky? I wanted to leave the ground and to fly to that castle. For a long, long time that was my only desire."
He looked at Kirito beside him and spoke again. "You know Kirito-kun, I still believe that in some other world, that castle truly exists."
Kirito only looked back and replied in a flat manner. "Yeah, I hope it does." Asuna also nodded behind him making Akihiko smile.
"And well… Actually at first, I don't really care if every one of you would die in my game but…" Akihiko looked at his hand and stared at it intently. "After that woman started visiting my world often… it made me think otherwise. I wanted to enjoy the game, enjoy the digital world of Aincrad with all the players. That's why I activated the over-assist mode when the Skull Reaper suddenly went crazy, in order to prevent it from wiping us all out."
The man let out a sigh, confused by the sudden change of his feelings. "I wonder why…"
"Woman…?"
"Don't tell me…?"
"A LOVER!?" Kirito and Asuna both exclaimed at the man as they put their faces near his. "T-The great Kayaba Akihiko had a lover while playing the game!? The media would pay bucks just to cover that!"
"You didn't tell any of us about that Commander! Are you protecting her identity or something?"
"W-Well I-I…" Akihiko stammered and looked away from the couple's eyes while covering his blushing face with his hand. "I… I don't know if I can consider us lovers I mean… W-W-We did make love and e-e-eat dinner sometimes… And she's absolutely beautiful a-a-and… C-C-Charming a-a-and…"
Akihiko looked back to the two with… suspicious… faces at the identity of that woman Akihiko is talking about.
"W-What is it with you two!?"
"You already made love with her and you don't call yourselves lovers…? I didn't know you were the one-night stand type Kayaba-san." Kirito deadpanned earning an "Urgk!?" sound from Akihiko.
"Wait a minute Kirito-kun! If Kayaba-san compliments her that much then it's a safe bet that he loves her right?" Asuna smiled at Kirito who nodded in response. "Sooo… Who's the girl Commander?"
"U-U-Umm… U-Uhh…" A few sweat drops flied off from Akihiko's head as Kirito and Asuna continued on their stare game on him. He finally had enough and flipped out uncharacteristically at the two and huffed a bit. "I-It's none of your business what's her name! I-It's also none of your business if the cloud in this place reminds me of her last name and the beautiful spectrum of purple lines reminds me of her specifically!"
"Clouds…? Purple…?" Kirito tilted his head to the side and thought deeply on Akihiko's Freudian slips. "Countless clouds… Yakumo…?"
"G-Geh!?"
"Yakumo Yukari…?" Asuna asked the man in the lab gown who only replied with an intense blush at his face that surely surpasses the known shades of red. "Aha! So she's Yakumo-san! … But I don't know her…"
"O-Of course you don't! But you guys might her since she's interested on the two you, especially how you handled you're in-game lives…"
"Eh…? She's interested…?"
"Yeah she's a sub-GM in SAO so she can monitor all the things happening in Aincrad." Akihiko crossed his arms across his chest and returned to his stoic self. "Actually, you already met and befriended two of her most valuable players here."
"What!? Seriously!?"
At that moment, two child-like figures came in running to the trio. One of the figures wears a blue and white dress with a complimenting blue-ribbon tied at her blue-hair. The other one wore a blue dress with a yellow tie with her sided ponytail flowing smoothly at the air.
"Kirito-san! Asuna-san!"
"Cirno…? Daiyousei…?"
"Whut 're you guys doin' here? Isn't this border supposed to be sealed off?" Cirno tilted her head to the side while speaking in the manner she spoke back then in Gensokyo. "Huh? Who's this?"
"Cirno-chan! It's rude to point at someone like that!"
"Eeeh… But Dai-chan!"
Akihiko slightly chuckled at the scene of the two and walked towards the duo.
"Hm…?"
"So you look like that in your normal outfit huh? Well… That's a refreshing change." Akihiko gingerly patted the blue-haired girl making Cirno close her eyes at the sudden hand contact.
A familiar feeling travels through the whole body of the ice fairy from each stroke of the skinny man's hand. Cirno peeked through her right eye and saw a faint silhouette of a blonde woman behind Akihiko. She raised her, considerably, tiny arms and slowly stroked the man's hand.
"…?"
"You… Feel like Yukari… Are you two related…?"
Akihiko looked at Cirno with a surprised expression and smiled warmly.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"Whut's with that response? Answer pro'erly will ya!"
The skinny man retracted his hand from Cirno's head and inserted it on his pockets.
"It's better if you just asked her." Akihiko turned back on the crowd and looked distant to the clouds. "Now then… It's time for me to go. Say hi to Yukari for me, Cirno-kun and Daiyousei-kun."
Akihiko walked off into a distance before looking back slightly.
"Oh… And congratulations on beating the game, Kirito-kun and Asuna-kun."
The couple widened their eyes slightly at the sudden praise and watched Akihiko disappear into a smoke that quickly dissipated into nowhere. A minute of silence passed over before Cirno broke the silence by a cute sneeze into the air.
"So… *sniff* whut's Kirito-san and Asuna-san doin' here?"
"Uhh…"
"We… Actually don't know that Cirno-chan." Asuna smiled in an apologetic manner and nudged at Kirito.
"All we know is that we're outside of Aincrad since that's the castle over there." Kirito pointed at the still crumbling castle with his thumb and looked upwards. "Do you guys know where we are?"
Daiyousei and Cirno looked at each other briefly and shook their heads.
"All we know is that we're at some kind of border."
"We're waitin' for Yukari to pick us up! She's the border yokai after all!"
Kirito and Asuna only stared comically at the two just like the look of anime characters when someone says incredibly stupid.
"Pick…"
"You up…?"
Cirno tilted her head sideways again at the weird reactions she's getting from the two. Daiyousei tapped her friend's shoulder and explained it to the couple.
"For some weird reason our souls can't go back to our bodies by its own so we need some kind of bridge back to Gensokyo." Daiyousei said while tapping her cheek using her index finger. "I'm pretty sure it's the same for your minds Kirito-san, Asuna-san! Though I don't think you need Yukari-san's gaps to go back to your world."
Kirito blinked at the bizarre explanation Daiyousei gave to them and kneeled down in front of the green-haired girl. He lightly touched Daiyousei's forehead earning a surprised gasp from the fairy.
"No fever… And no signs of hesitation too…" The black-haired swordsman patted the green-haired girl's head gingerly, still maintaining his disbelieving look. "You're telling the truth…?"
"Kirito-kun! That's rude!" Asuna bopped her husband from behind his head making the Kirito clutch the backside of his head in pain.
"A-Ahahahaha… It's okay for me though…"
"Hmmm… Outsiders are really a pain when you need to explain things to them…"
"Cirno-chan…?"
"Nothing…" Cirno looked up to the orange sky, thinking back on her experiences at SAO and at the guild. She closed her eyes momentarily and smiled particularly towards to nothing. "Well I guess that works too."
Kirito, Asuna and Daiyousei all looked at Cirno questioningly as she continued to talk to herself. Cirno only just smiled as a reply as a wave of great power washed over their senses in the next few seconds.
"Ah! Yukari is here!"
"Eh!?"
A swirling vortex of purple energy floated behind Cirno and Daiyousei, earning indescribable faces of disbelief from Asuna and Kirito. As soon as the energy stabilized into a non chilling manner, a gap with multiple eyes from inside hovered across them with red ribbons tied at the edges of it.
"N-No way… There's no way that's in the game's system right…?" Kirito muttered weakly at the event happening at his eyes.
"Y-Yeah… Yokais… are real…?" Asuna continued off from Kirito's question.
"Hm? We won't be here if they weren't real ya know!" Cirno grinned happily at the two who is desperately trying to comprehend everything that is happening. "Ah… I'll ask Yukari if we can show you a bit of Gensokyo in the future, buuuuut for now… Bye bye Kirito-san! Asuna-san!"
"Goodbye! See you in the future!"
The two fairies waved off the couple as they jumped simultaneously at the purple gap. Once the two has fallen down in, the gap merely disappeared without a trace in front of the couple's eyes. Kirito and Asuna only blinked their eyes questioning everything of their sanity later on.
As the top floors of the floating castle finally broke down into pieces, Kirito and Asuna continued sitting on the transparent floor that hovered at the sky. They shared another gentle kiss before pulling back slowly and looked at each other's eyes.
"This is goodbye huh…?" Kirito muttered, still gazing lovely at his special girl. He squeezed his fingers into the cracks of Asuna's and kissed her in the forehead.
"No, it isn't." Asuna tightened the lock of their fingers and gave back her husband's kiss by a kiss on the cheek. "We're going to disappear as one so we'll be together forever."
The girl smiled at Kirito making the latter blush on the sight.
"Hey, before we do, tell me your name, your real name, Kirito-kun."
Kirito's eyes widened slightly and soon turned into a gentle smile.
"Kirigaya… Kirigaya Kazuto. I think I turned sixteen last month."
"Kirigaya… Kazuto-kun…? What, you're younger than me?" Asuna let out a small laugh and looked at Kirito again. "My name is Yuuki Asuna, I'm seventeen."
"Yuuki… Asuna… Yuuki Asuna." Kirito slowly muttered until tears formed at his eyes and flowed like a river from it. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry… I promised… I promised I will send you back and everyone to the other world! But I… But I…!"
Asuna squeezed Kirito's hand slightly and hugged the black-haired boy at her arms.
"It's okay… It's really okay… I'm happy that I was able to meet you, Kazuto-kun! To live with you, this is the happiest I've ever been in my life! So… Thank you… I love you." Asuna whispered at Kirito's ear while also breaking into a crying fit herself. Their sobs continued on for a few seconds before they looked into each other's eyes again as a bright light slowly engulfed the plane they are on.
The two held tightly to each other as everything disappeared into white void, from the clouds, from the atmosphere, to their very own bodies. Everything dissipated at that moment…
"I love you… I love you…!"
-At a certain hospital-
A bed-ridden figure slowly opened his eyes to the bright light and white ceiling above him. He scanned the whole of the whiteness before raising his now, thin and bony arm at his view. He widened his eyes at the audible ticking of the Nerve Gear helmet on him and gazed down to the side of the bed.
He continued on staring off at a distance before an image flashed at his memory. A girl… A girl smiling at him wearing an orange cardigan sweater as the wind flows freely at her soft silky hair. Kirito gasped as he remembered Asuna, returning the light in his eyes, after he woke up from his dreadful dream of being trapped in SAO.
The black-haired boy turned off the Nerve Gear at his head and slowly removed it, allowing his now grown hair to fall back to the base of his neck. He glanced at the IV drip stand briefly before gripping it to use as his support in standing. He slowly stood up, ignoring the patches of electrodes falling out of touch from his skin and walked step by step muttering a single name.
"A…suna…" Kirito gasped as the automatic door opened wide for him, allowing him to go out from that empty room. "Asuna..!" He continued on barefoot at the hallway of the hospital with only one goal on his mind.
The promise of reunion between lovers.
-Another certain hospital-
A purple gap suddenly appeared beside a blanket covered bed and two figures with a blob of floating marshmallow came out from it. One of the figures had yellow, blonde hair that reached the base of her neck and has nine tails seeming sprouting from her tailbone. The other figure had a beautiful longer hair than the other and is wearing an elegant purple dress while carrying a parasol at her shoulder. The latter blonde looked at the floating marshmallow beside her and guided it to her arms using her hand.
"Are you sure about this Yukari-sama?" Ran voiced out, questioning the intentions of her master. "To do this for that man… Why go through such lengths for a human, a simple childish human that dreamt nothing but the most childish of dreams?"
"Ran… If it weren't for people like him we wouldn't exist in the first place. Gensokyo is created by forgotten dreams, but not dreams that weren't dreamt. It's even a good thing he remembered his dream and made sure to make it into real." Yukari explained to her shikigami while caressing the phantom at her arms slightly.
"But still…! I still think it isn't worth it…" The nine-tailed fox grazed her chin and continued to question cautiously. "I mean… We're sure we'll be scolded by the Enma for breaking the reincarnation cycle by this act but… all of this trouble for a single human…?"
". . ."
"…Yukari-sama?"
"L-Let's just say… I'm doing him a favour…" Yukari looked at the blanket covered bed with a red-tinge at her cheeks. "He did after all, went by my desire that he will enjoy the game like everyone else he dragged into that dream of his. And…"
The gap yokai lifted the blanket off the lifeless human body lying on top of the bed. A boy with short, brown-haired colored hair lied there with his eyelids closed shut, not breathing a single breath… not moving a single eyelid.
"…I don't think it's fair that a human will die for a fairy's sake like that."
"A lot of outsiders have died at the hands of a fairy Yukari-sama…"
"I know… But this human died without even contacting Gensokyo directly. He didn't even see the wonders of our world; he just merely… loved… a being from our fantasy realm. It's quite unfair that he didn't get to experience the life he should have, right Ran?"
". . ." Ran only stood in silence the look of disagreement is spread out through her face. "You're getting soft, Yukari-sama…"
"I don't want to hear that from you in regards to Chen." Yukari huffed making the fox blush at the statement. "Now then… let me see if you truly have the will of a bear."
Yukari turned around and opened a purple gap that leads to somewhere mysterious.
"Good luck, Koeru… Koeru Chairo… Kuma of SAO…"
"Don't give me that bullshit! What do you mean he didn't get back in this side while I'm here trudging this very damned place of the hospital!?"
"P-Please… Just calm down! You just woke up you shouldn't be moving around yet!"
"S-She's right Tokoten-san! It'll be bad for your body if you continue moving around like tha-!" The male nurse stopped midway as the thin man raised him by his collar and slammed him to the wall. "H-Hii!"
"Don't… Tell me what to do… If you think I can just lay on the bed and waiting for you guys to run off some tests on me while my friend is there suffering then you'll go to hell thinking that way." The black-haired man glared at the nurse who only nodded in fear before sliding down the wall as the man let go of him.
"This is madness… I already told you Tokoten-san, your friend, Kuma-san is already dead! He just died this morning due to the electric radiation from the Nerve Gear!" The doctor, apparently a newbie, tried to convince the raging man walking towards a certain room. "You need to accept it! He's already gone, he didn't survive SAO like you did!"
The man paused while placing his hand at the handle of the sliding door. He turned to the doctor who visibly gulped under his unnerving eyes.
"Wanna bet on that?"
"H-Huh?"
"The Kuma I know never breaks his promises, and he will fulfil his right now."
"Ugh… You stupid…"
"Heh…" He grinned slightly as he pulled the sliding door at its hinges. "Oi, Kuma!"
The man shouted audibly into the room catching the attention of an averaged heighted boy staring endlessly into the blue sky through the hospital window. He turned around and looked at the source of the voice with his yellow irises deciphering who was that noisy newcomer.
"Alfredo…?"
Gasps of disbelief from the doctor and nurses at the door simultaneously went out from their mouths as Kuma muttered the man's in-game name.
"I-Impossible! But you're already...!"
"What's impossible doc? Don't you have a living proof right here?" Alfredo walked towards Kuma and hooked him using his arm. He rubbed Kuma's hair like he once did inside SAO much to the brown-haired boy's dismay. He grinned at the still shocked faces of the medical crew and exclaimed in a cheerful voice despite the small tears at his eyes.
"I knew you would be alive Kuma! You really never break promises!"
The promise of reunion between friends.
-Yakumo manor-
A certain girl sat beside a bed with a blue-haired girl and green-haired girl laying motionless on them. She dutifully kept watching the two due to a strict command from a nine-tailed fox who is her current master. The ticking of the peculiar helmet at their heads filled the silent seconds of the room.
"Mmm…"
"…!" The cat girl's ears perked up as a small sound came out from the ice fairy's lips. She frantically went out of the room yelling 'Ran-samaaaa! Yukari-samaaaaa!' particularly to nothing.
Cirno opened her eyes to the lit room. She raised her arm to cover the intense light that went into her eyes all at the same time. She took a deep breath before sitting up right at the bed while leaning on the headboard.
Silence… Pure silence reigned as Cirno looked blankly at the bed. The ticking sound of the Nerve Gear is strangely giving off a calm ambience on her mind.
…
The sound of the paper door sliding snapped Cirno out of her trance and looked at the 3 figures in dresses walking towards her.
"She's awake! Cirno's awake!" Chen cheered happily and leaned near the bed like a cat would do. She looked intently at Cirno with her tails flailing wildly behind her.
"What's wrong? Still feeling unwell?" The elegant voice of Yukari slowly gave the sense back to Cirno's mind.
"Where am I…?"
"Where? In our house of course." The woman covered her mouth with her paper fan and let out a chuckle. "In Gensokyo, Cirno-chan."
At those words, Cirno's eyes appeared alive and looked to her side and found Daiyousei looking back at her with a weak smile, the game console relaxing at her thin arms. She widened her eyes in surprise and slowly touched the device on her head before removing it with her slightly thin limbs.
"I-I'm back… In Gensokyo…" The blue-haired girl muttered, her vision starting to become more blurry than before. "I'm… really back…"
Drops of salty water poured out from Cirno's blue eyes one by one, each of them contains the heartfelt feeling she has for her home world that she has been away for more than a month. The ice fairy continued on crying as her green-haired friend hugged her in an attempt to calm her down.
"There there Cirno-chan… It's all over now… We're finally back…" Daiyousei tried to hold back her tears and failed as her tears rolled down from her cheeks.
"Dai-chaaan…"
"Well… This is a nice outcome." Yukari smiled to her shikigami and to her shikigami's shikigami. "Cirno, Daiyousei, dinner is ready at the table. Just come to the dining room once you two feel like it."
"Wait, Yukari." The gap yokai's hand stopped at the sliding door's rim as she heard the blue-haired girl's small voice.
"What is it?"
"Me and Dai-chan got back… Did Kirito-san and the others got back to the outside world too?"
". . ."
"Hey… Did they?" A slight crack at Cirno's voice can be heard.
"Yeah they did." Yukari let out in a reassuring tone earning a small relieved gasp from the two fairies. She opened the door and turned her head to Cirno. "After all… You guys made a promise to them, right?"
"Yeah, that's right!" The two let out simultaneously with a grin at their faces. Their minds jumping with joy as they can fulfil their promises to the friends they have made at that world.
The promise of reunion between universes.
Author's note:
Aaaaand that wraps up Cirno Online! Everyone who has read up to now, thank you very much for tolerating this bad story of mine I really really really really really really ^1000 appreciate it so much with the bottom of my heart! QwQ
Is the end good? No…? O-Okay…
Anyways, that's all I could say here since I'll be appearing on extra stage. So now please read that part~
-Extra Stage start!-
[Raine] And now… It's done! Cirno Online has officially ended! Banzai!
Everyone in the room claps at this cheerful statement of the author.
[Raine] And as an appreciation to all the readers that had put up with this…. Everyone!
[Everyone] –bows- Thank you for much for reading!
[Kirito] Well… That surely went long, even for a 7 chaptered story. Author-san seriously got lazy on the latest chapters…
[Raine] Don't say that… I tried my best. Besides, for this chapter I really planned to just copy the whole episode 14 and squeeze Cirno and Daiyousei in. I didn't think Alfredo will be noticed by Kirito though…
[Alfredo] That's horrible Author-san…
[Kuma] Well we are original characters after all…
[Alfredo] *sob* . . .
[Raine] Hey! Don't cry on me now! Alright alright, since I didn't get to properly introduce you two in the story itself, why don't you do that right now? You know, tell your profile to everybody or something.
Kuma and Alfredo looked to Raine with teary-eyes.
[Kuma and Alfredo] Seriously!?
[Raine] Yeah so… go ahead! And as I was saying, since I didn't properly introduce these two in the story itself, so here you have it! My two OCs (not including Cloud, Thunder and Lightning in chapter 2), Kuma and Alfredo!
A fake sound effect blared out from the speakers and the spotlight focused on Alfredo.
[Alfredo] Yahoo everyone! My real name is Tokoten Jinzo! I have a height of 5"10 and has a jet black hair like Kirito-san here. Actually his previous avatar in SAO looks similar to how I look like, I'm only a bit more muscular.
[Kirito] Now that you mention it you are…
[Alfredo] Haha! Our family owns a dojo so it's understood that I'll have a fit body! Umm… what else… Oh, I got into SAO because the thought of an MMORPG having no magic kinda interested me and well… I think Cirno pretty much broke that impression.
[Cirno] Huh?
[Alfredo] Eh never mind… I'm pretty good at anything athletic and I'm not really doing bad in my subjects, just don't talk about English, me and English doesn't go well. So if you wanna be my friend, feel free ya!
Alfredo ends his speech with a wink at the audience, only to be replied with a deadpan stare.
[Alfredo] Now I'll pass on to Kuma! GOOO KUMA!
[Kuma] A-Alfredo! You don't have to do that! Ah! M-My real name is Koeru Chairo! Our family has a long running gene of having a small voice that's why we have the kanji for voice (koe) in our names… Ah, and we also have a special gene that made our irises yellow… It doesn't really go well with my brown, curly hair to be honest…
[Cirno] I think it suits you well Kuma!
[Kuma] I-Is that so…?
Kuma blushed at the compliment and shook his head to gain concentration.
[Kuma] A-Anyways! I have a height of 5"5 so I'm really short when compared to Alfredo… Yes… It kinda gives me the complex, I mean…! Girls would probably like taller boys right…?
[Asuna] I don't really like that tall boys… Eh, I just like how Kirito-kun's height is so I can kiss him easily!
[Kirito] A-Asuna!
[Lizbeth] Surely taller boys would be good but I guess average heighted is still the best! I don't want walking around with an electric pole…
[Silica] Well… Most people are really taller than me but, having a tall person for my husband wouldn't be too bad. That way, our child has a 50% percent chance of being tall!
[Raine] Already thinking on the babies..?
[Silica] Eh? Isn't that the point of having a relationship?
[Everyone] Never mind.
[Kuma] I-I see! So average heighted is still better Hmhmm… Ah continuing on! Ummm… I originally joined SAO because I just like games and nobody really makes friends with me in real life because I have weird eyes. I'm also good with any academic subject, I do fairly well in athletic ones and well… I guess my worst subject is math…?
[Daiyousei] Ah, you're the same as Cirno-chan, Kuma-san!
[Kuma] R-Really!?
[Daiyousei] Yeah! Cirno-chan, what's 5 x 10?
[Cirno] Whut're you asking Dai-chan? It's ⑨!
[Alfredo] Uwah… That's pretty grave. That's elementary stuff!
Kuma walked to Cirno and squeezed both of her hands.
[Kuma] T-Then l-l-let's learn math to-to-together then Cirno!?
[Cirno] Huh…? Sure why not?
Cirno flashed a smile at Kuma who at that moment, practically fainted like a tower of Jenga blocks.
[Alfredo] Oi Kuma! Get a hold of yourself! Author-san, Kuma's bleeding badly!
[Raine] Ah damn it…
-Please be on standby-
[Raine] At least Kuma got to the clinic safely… Who would have thought he would faint by that smile of Cirno's?
[Kirito] You made him right? Why don't you ask yourself?
[Raine] Point taken.
[Asuna] Anyways Author-san, why did you change your name from Fortunam to Raine-chi? That's pretty sudden actually…
[Raine] Ah well… Fortunam is actually the name of my avatar on some story my friends back in high-school did. And… it kinda got old so I created a new avatar, though I use Raine as my role playing name.
[Asuna] Eh? Role-playing? Where?
[Raine] Somewhere in facebook… It's a role-playing by me and my net friends, a college, medieval-esque one. My avatar's full name is Raine Thunder by the way.
[Asuna] I see… I just thought some fans of yours might get confused so…
[Raine] I doubt I have fans of any sort.
[Kirito] There are special mentions among your reviewers though.
[Raine] Ah that's right! Special mentions to two of the reviewers of Cirno Online, OtakuDrag0n and Mizuki00! You guys are awesome! Thanks for motivating me this far with the other reviewers, I can't thank you guys enough!
[Kirito] And there's a reviewer who is a little concerned about Kayaba Akihiko and Yakumo Yukari's relationship… Umm… lostmagic564?
[Raine] Ah yes, it's about their conflicting personalities. True enough, the original Kayaba-san in SAO is uncaring to be blunt but I made him care about the players just a little bit. Love can change people in many different ways, let's say, a certain beater and solo player played for everyone's sake after a certain girl came into his life?
Kirito and Asuna flinched at this and their faces quickly became flustered.
[Raine] Bang. Anyways, I know in original SAO Kayaba-san has a love interest but for the sake of the plot and my scapegoat for not understanding that review until the moment I'm writing this chapter, Yukari conquered his heart like a boss.
[Asuna] Well… Yukari-san is really beautiful. I wonder how I can be like that?
[Kirito] You're beautiful enough for me.
[Asuna] Kirito-kun…
[Raine] Hey hey hey! Don't get all mushy mushy in front of me! It hurts my single and forever alone heart!
[Kirito and Asuna] We're sorry…
[Raine] Good aaand… anything else for this show?
[Kirito] Umm… One more question I think… You said something on your profile, you actually planned to continue up to Alfheim online?
[Raine] Ah… Yeah but since I'm afraid that I will take up too much time in finishing it, I'll just dump it to the trash Ahaha…
[Asuna] Aww… But I wanted to see Daiyousei and Cirno in ALO.
[Raine] Sorry sorry but I already scrapped it.
[?] Is that really the truth, Author-san?
A voice came out from nowhere and a gap appeared at the air hovering at the trio talking.
[Raine] Yukari!
[Yukari] Author-san, I'll have you know in another Continuum Shift, you finished the ALO part of Cirno Online named 'Cirno Online ~The Frozen Fairy's Dance~'
[Raine] What's with that lame name? Whatever, how old am I when I finished that?
[Yukari] That's a secret~
[Raine] Ugh…
[Yukari] You know… Why don't you just be honest and tell your real plans?
Raine looks at Kirito and Asuna briefly before turning to the camera.
[Raine] Okay fine, I think I can continue up to ALO part but, I'll make around 5 or 6 chapters of it before I publish it on FF. Probably I'll update in monthly or every twice a week.
[Yukari] See?
[Kirito] D-Does that mean…!?
[Asuna] We'll have a chance to meet Daiyousei and Cirno in-game again!?
[Raine]. . .yeah.
[Kirito and Asuna] Yeah!
[Raine] Well at least they're happy… I wish the readers will be happy of that too.
[Yukari] I'm sure they will~ Now then, isn't it time for you to officially wrap all of this up?
[Raine] Well you're right…
Raine stands up from the chair and every cast from Cirno Online comes on stage with her.
[Raine] If anyone has some further questions you can just PM me about it~ I welcome every questions but don't flame me too hard. It hurts when someone does that. Now then, everyone!
[Everyone] Thank you very much for reading and have a nice day!
-True End-