The moment Asuna saw this large hospital, she had a premonition that Yuuki had some serious disease. Despite this, once she heard the name of the illness from the doctor clearly, she still felt unable to breathe. Through the glass, Asuna looked at Yuuki as she lay on the bed, and felt completely frozen.
She was wondering whether it was true. Yuuki, who was stronger than anyone, more energetic than anyone when doing anything, was actually lying in the middle of several machines. Whether it was out of reason or emotions, Asuna flat out refused to accept this fact.
―—I'm such a big idiot. Not knowing anything and not trying to understand her. As the girl screamed this in her heart, the tears Yuuki shed before she disappeared meant…
"But AIDS isn't as scary as society thinks nowadays."
On seeing Asuna, who was rooted to the spot, Doctor Kurahashi said in a steady voice.
"Even when they're infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus, if they can be treated early, it's possible to contain the AIDS virus for about 10, 20 years. Through medication and thorough health management, it is possible to live like one before infection now."
Kii. A slight sound was heard. The consultation doctor was sitting on the chair in front of the console. He then said,
"…However, it's an undeniable fact that the chances of Newborns being able to survive for 5 years after being afflicted with HIV would be a lot lower than adults. Yuuki-kun's mother once wanted to bring everyone down with her when she knew that the whole family was infected. However, her mother was a Christian since young, and through religion and the help of her father, she broke through the initial crisis, and then chose to continue fighting the disease."
"Continue…fighting…"
"Yes. From the moment Yuuki was born, she was forced to fight the virus to survive. Once she broke through the most critical moment, the petite her was able to grow up safely and even enter primary school. For a kid—it's tough to take in a large amount of drugs regularly. Besides, Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors are drugs with powerful side effects. However, Yuuki-kun still believed that she would one day be healed and continued to work hard. She was hardworking, and it looked like she had top grades throughout her years in school. She had lots of friends, and I once saw many images of her at that time. She continued to have such a dazzling smile…"
Asuna heard the doctor pause and sigh for a short while,
"—The school didn't know that Yuuki-kun was a HIV carrier. Actually, this is to be expected. Health check-ups carried out by the school or an enterprise are not supposed to include HIV checks in blood. However…just as she went into 4th grade, for some reason, a group of parents of students that were of the same age found out that Yuuki-kun was a carrier. The rumors immediately started to spread…The law stipulated that they shouldn't discriminate against carriers just because they were infected with HIV. However, the sad thing is that not all the people in society are kind…in the beginning, there were people who protested against her coming to school to study, or pranks like calls and letters and so on. Her parents tried their best, but in the end, they had to move, and Yuuki-kun was forced to transfer to another school."
"…"
Asuna could no longer react. She could only straighten her back and listen to the doctor's words.
"And though Yuuki-kun worked hard to go to the new school every day…the cruel thing was that…at this moment, it started. The indicator to show the weakening of the immunization system, the lymph cells CD4 started to decrease drastically. In other words…the AIDS virus had started to take effect. I've always felt that the harmful words of the parents and teachers in her previous school was the reason why she became ill."
The young doctor attempted to continue keeping his voice calm, but the somewhat rushed sound of breathing revealed his true emotions.
"—As the Immune System weakened, she was easily infected by viruses and bacteria that she could normally resist. This situation is called 'Opportunistic Infection'. Yuuki-kun was infected by something called a Pneumocystis Pneumonia and ended up hospitalized here, and that was about 3.5 years ago. Yuuki-kun continued to be positive. She would always have a smile on her face every day, saying 'I will never lose to the disease'. She never grumbled even during the painful checkups. However…"
Having paused here, the doctor seemed like he started to move.
"Whether it's in the hospital or the patient, there're lots of bacteria and viruses. Once the AIDS virus activates, we can only continue to treat the symptoms that came with the 'Opportunistic Infection'. After the pneumonia, Yuuki-kun was infected with throat candida—At this moment, society was rocked by the Nerve Gear incident, and there was a huge commotion. At that time, there was even a discussion to seal off the FullDive Technology completely. However, the country and some manufacturers finished their research on Nerve Gear in medical treatment…the first experimental Medicuboid was completed at this moment. Also, they moved the machine over to this hospital to start the clinical trials. But even though it was an experiment, the original machine was that scary Nerve Gear, and nobody knew what would happen to the brain if we increased the density output of the electronic pulses over a long period. So in these circumstances, it was really difficult to find any volunteers that were willing to help with the experiment. Once I knew about this…I proposed something to Yuuki-kun and her family…"
Asuna continued to wait for the doctor to continue as she looked at Yuuki on the bed and the white cube-shaped object that seemed to swallow her head.
The center of her head was numb due to cold, but Asuna's confused consciousness was blankly thinking to prevent herself from facing this reality.
From the looks of the early development, Medicuboid probably wasn't a continuation of AmuSphere, but an extension of the Nerve Gear. Asuna was used to the AmuSphere, but she could imagine that pure feeling of the virtual world created from the Nerve Gear. The AmuSphere was a machine that had three, four times the number of safety precautions added since the SAO incident, but the virtual world that was created really couldn't be compared to the first generation in terms of quality.
The Medicuboid was installed with many times the number of pulse generated components compared to the Nerve Gear, and could completely eliminate the feeling of the body, and even had a CPU that had a processing speed that was far superior to the AmuSphere—in other words, was the overwhelming ability Yuuki displayed in Alfheim because of the outstanding specs of this machine?
Asuna had this idea for a moment, but she immediately rejected the notion. Yuuki's amazing sword skills have exceeded the level which a machine's specs could display. In regards to the talent in battle, Yuuki's ability was enough to match Kirito's, and maybe even beat him.
As far as Asuna knew, the reason Kirito became so strong was because he spent much more time fighting on the frontlines than anyone in those two years where they were imprisoned in SAO. If that's the case, how long had Yuuki been in that world created by the Medicuboid—
"As you can see here, the Medicuboid is a delicate machine."
Doctor Kurahashi, who was silent for a while, started talking again,
"As you can see here, the trial machine of the Medicuboid is one that needs a lot of careful maintenance. In other words, it had to be in a place where the air was free of dust, bacteria and viruses. Once the patient is willing to enter the sterile room, it could drastically reduce the risk of infection. It was because of this that I suggested Yuuki-kun and her family to accept this experiment."
"…"
"However, even now, I would still wonder whether this was the best thing for Yuuki-kun. When treating AIDS, the «QOL»—Quality of Life is something noted to be really important. The doctor has to consider about how to improve and maximize the patient's lifestyle while undergoing treatment. From that sense, the volunteer who accepted this experiment would not be considered good when considering her quality of life. She couldn't leave the sterile room, and couldn't interact with anyone. My proposal really bothered Yuuki-kun and her parents. However, it was probably because of the expectations to this unknown virtual world that made Yuuki-kun decide on this…she agreed to take part in this experiment and entered this room. After that, Yuuki-kun continued to remain in this Medicuboid all this time."
"All this time…you mean…?"
"Just as I said. Yuuki-kun almost never returned to the real world. Or rather, she couldn't. During a hospice treatment, we would use morphine to ease the patient's pain. For Yuuki-kun, we used the Medicuboid's sense removal function to replace morphine…she has been in all sorts of virtual worlds travelling, other than a few hours a day where data was collected. Of course, I talked to her in that world."
"In other words…she dived in for 24 hours a day…? How long has that been…?"
"About three years."
On hearing the doctor's simple answer, Asuna immediately couldn't say anything.
Before today, Asuna thought that amongst all the users of AmuSphere in the whole world, the ones with the most dive experience should be the old SAO players, including her. But now she knew that she was wrong. This skinny girl lying in front of her was the purest virtual traveler in the world. This was the reason Yuuki became so strong.
—You became a resident of this world already? Kirito once asked Yuuki this. He must have felt that Yuuki was similar to him in some aspects during their short battle.
Asuna realized that a form of belief started to spread inside her. It was like she was standing in front of a swordsman who far surpassed her, offering a beloved sword to this swordsman. She had such a feeling as she closed her eyes, and then lowered her head.
After a moment of silence, Asuna looked back at Doctor Kurahashi,
"Thank you for letting me see Yuuki—she should be alright if she continues to remain here, right? She can continue to journey through that world, right…?"
However, the doctor didn't answer Asuna's question directly. He sat on the chair in front of the control panel, had his hands placed together on his knees, and then stared at Asuna with a steady expression.
"—Even if she's in a sterile room, it's impossible to remove the bacteria and viruses that were in her body. With the weakening of the immune system, they will continue to multiply. Right now, Yuuki-kun's infected by Cytomegalovirus and Non-tuberculous Mycobacteria, and she has almost lost all her vision. The encephalitis caused by the HIV is worsening, and I think she probably won't be able to move her body on her own."
"…"
"She was infected with HIV for 15 years…her AIDS acted up for 3.5 years. Right now, Yuuki-kun's condition is in a terminal state. She clearly knows about this. I suppose you should know the reason Yuuki-kun disappeared right before your eyes."
"How could it…how could it be…"
Asuna widened her eyes and shook her head slightly. However, she couldn't ignore what she just heard with her ears.
Yuuki would always hesitate over whether she should be with Asuna. The reason she did so was because she really cared for Asuna. She did this to prevent Asuna from feeling hurt on the day she had to leave. No, it's not just her. It was because Shiune and the other Sleeping Knights understood the truth that they would have the attitude of a mysterious group.
However, Asuna never noticed it, and never tried to think about it. She merely continued to inflict more pain on Yuuki. On remembering the tears Yuuki shed before she logged out of the Black Iron Palace, Asuna felt an aching in her heart.
At this moment, Asuna thought of something, and she immediately looked at the doctor.
"Then…doctor, does Yuuki have an elder sister…?"
On asking this, the doctor immediately frowned as if he was shocked by this sudden statement, and hesitated for a while, before slowly nodding his head.
"—It's not about Yuuki-kun herself, so I didn't mention it…yes, she has a twin elder sister. It was the caesarian section at the beginning that caused this tragedy."
The doctor seemed to be searching through his memories as he said,
"Her sister's name was Aiko, and she too stayed in this hospital. Both twin sisters weren't similar…the elder sister would always smile in the past, silently protecting the energetic and lively Yuuki-kun. Oh yes…her appearance would resemble you somewhat…"
Why past tense? Asuna muttered deep inside her heart and stared at the doctor. And the doctor seemed to hear the voice in her heart as he added,
"Yuuki-kun's parents…died 2 years ago, and her sister died a year ago."
What she thought she should understand lost all significance.
In that world, Asuna saw many instances of countless people dying, and she herself edged on the borders of death. Thus, she felt that she understood the meaning of life and death. She knew that she couldn't change this fact that happened in front of her even if she struggled.
She only knew Yuuki for a few days, but after knowing of her past and her current situation, Asuna still couldn't accept such a heavy fact, and could only lean her body on the thick glass in front of her. The meaning of the term 'reality' and the significance it had seemed to corrode and blurred, even disappearing completely in the end. Asuna lowered her head and placed her forehead on the icy cold surface.
I've already fought hard, so what's so bad about being insistent with such a little happiness? Asuna always had this thought, which was why she was scared of change, didn't dare to argue with others, and could only find all sorts of excuses for her cowardice and silence.
However, Yuuki was fighting ever since she was born. She continued to wrestle against this cruel reality that tried to take everything away from her. Even after knowing that the end was near for her, she was still able to show such a dazzling smile.
Asuna closed her eyes hard and shouted to Yuuki, who was traveling in a certain distant world, from deep within her heart.
—Let me see you again. Just once.
This time, once they meet, both of them must continue to talk for a long time. Yuuki once said that some things have to be done through forceful means for the other party to understand. If she couldn't shake away her weak side and all her baggage to talk with Yuuki, there was no need for both sides to talk.
Asuna finally felt a warm liquid coming out of her eyes. She placed her right hand on the glass and exerted force into her fingers, looking like she was searching for a certain kind of touch on that slippery surface.
At this moment, a gentle voice came from somewhere.
『Don't cry, Asuna.』
Asuna quickly raised her head, shocked. She shook aside the water droplets on her eyelashes and opened her eyes, staring at Yuuki who was lying on the bed. The petite profile was no different from before, still lying there. The machine that covered Yuuki's face didn't change at all. However, Asuna noticed a blue light blinking on a monitor panel opposite the glass. The words behind the screen were different from before, showing the words [user talking].
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"Yuuki…?"
Asuna murmured, and then spoke with a trembling yet clear voice,
"Yuuki? Are you over there?"
Asuna immediately heard the response. It seemed that the voice came from the microphone installed on the wall,
『Un. It's through the camera, but I can see you, Asuna. Amazing…you look just like you do in-game. Thank you…for coming to see me.』
"…Yuuki…I…I…"
She wanted to say something, but didn't know what she should say. This anxiety that couldn't be described made Asuna's chest feel uncomfortable.
But before she spoke, the voice came from above the head again.
『Doctor, please let Asuna use the neighboring room.』
"Eh…"
Asuna was puzzled and looked around to see Doctor Kurahashi looking serious as he seemed to be pondering about something. However, he immediately showed a steady smile that cleared everything, and nodded his head before saying,
"Alright—there's a seat I use for FullDive to talk and an AmuSphere. The door can be locked from the inside, but please try not to exceed 20 minutes. As for the procedures, I won't be explaining them."
"I…I got it."
Asuna hurriedly nodded, and then looked back at the girl who was lying on the Medicuboid. Yuuki's voice echoed again.
"The application of the ALO launcher is installed inside. Once you log in, we'll meet at the first place we met."
"Un...I got it. Wait a minute, I'll be right there."
Asuna said with a firm voice, bowed to Doctor Kurahashi behind her, and turned around. She took a few steps to the door deep within the observation room and raised her hand at the scanner. The door slid aside, and Asuna immediately darted in.
What was behind the door was a room that was half the size of the observation room. There were two black leather recliners inside, and the headrest on both sides had a familiar ring-shaped helmet.
Asuna hurriedly locked the door, put her bag on the floor and laid down on the nearest chair. She used the button on the handle to adjust the reclining angle of the back, and then raised the AmuSphere before putting it on her head. She took a deep breath, pressed the switch, and there was a white light in front of her. Asuna's consciousness left the real world.
Upon waking up as a rapier user of the water fairy race, Asuna literally flew out of the bedroom of the forest home before her senses even got used to the VR world.
She flapped her wings in the air to glide, and immediately flew out of the window without touching the floor. Right now, It was about dawn in Alfheim, and the thick forest was covered with white fog. She turned in the air and immediately rose quickly, breaking through the white fog as she rose out of the woods. Asuna put her hands close to herself and continued to rush through the center of the level.
It took her less than 3 minutes to reach the air above the main streets. Then, Asuna flew straight to the center of the plaza and landed in front of the transfer gate. As countless players stared at her wide eyed, she turned around and pulled an emergency stop. She then jumped into the portal the moment she stopped.
"Transfer! Panareze!"
The moment she shouted it, a bluish-white light immediately flowed down like a waterfall, pushing Asuna up.
The transfer immediately ended. Once she came out from the transfer gate, it was the main of the central plaza on the 24th level Panareze. Asuna forcefully kicked the stone floor on her right and leaped into the sky. This time, she flew towards an island north of the capital. The girl that was flying at full speed continued to leave afterimages on the water that vibrated.
In a short period of time, she saw the profile of a large tree. It felt like her duel at the base of that tree against «Absolute Sword» Yuuki took place a long time ago. The island that was fully crowded back then could be said to be completely silent.
Asuna slowed down as she went around the tree and got ready to land. As there was a thick layer of fog below, she couldn't see the ground.
Once she stepped onto the grass that was covered with dew, she started to look at the environment around her. Perhaps the light of day wasn't enough as she could only see several meters in front of her. Feeling anxious, Asuna could only move around the woods quickly.
Once she was halfway through and arrived on the eastern side of the trees…light finally came in from the outside, sweeping away the morning mist immediately. Asuna finally found the person she was looking for through the gap between the white curtains.
Yuuki's back was facing Asuna, and her deep purple hair and bluish-purple dress was swaying. At this moment, Asuna could only hold her breath and watch this. The dark elf girl suddenly turned around and stared at Asuna with her amethyst colored eyes. Her light-colored lips showed a frail smile, like snow.
"—For some reason, I just had the feeling that Asuna would try to find me in the real world. I didn't tell you anything, and that couldn't possibly happen."
After murmuring such words, Yuuki smiled again,
"But you still came, Asuna. It's rare for my premonitions to come true, but I was really happy…"
They didn't meet for a mere few days, but it felt like Yuuki's standing posture had a little transparent feeling. This made Asuna feel tight in her chest, as she seemed to be scared, wondering whether the girl in front of her was merely an illusion, as she slowly walked forward, step by step.
The fingers Asuna reached out finally touched Yuuki on the left shoulder. She immediately couldn't hold back the impulse to check Yuuki's body temperature as she silently hugged her with both arms.
Yuuki didn't look panicked at all, as she leaned on Asuna's shoulder like grass swaying with the wind. She still had her armor on, but Yuuki's body still gave a warmth that was enough to move someone's heart. The level of this was more than values that electronic pulses could determine. Asuna heaved a sigh and closed her eyes.
"…When Nee-chan hugged me, she had this smell as well. It was the smell of the sun…"
Yuuki, who rested on Asuna's body, muttered.
At this moment, Asuna finally said her first words through trembling lips.
"Aiko…san? Your sister played VRMMOs too?"
"Un. The hospital allows people to use the AmuSphere in an ordinary room. Nee-chan was the first leader of the Sleeping Knights. She was a lot stronger than me…"
Asuna felt that Yuuki's forehead was leaning hard on her shoulder, and raised her right hand to stroke the silky hair of the dark elf. Yuuki froze for a while, but immediately relaxed, and then continued,
"At the start, there were 9 members of the Sleeping Knights, but including Nee-chan, 3 people have disappeared…so I discussed it with Shiune and the rest, that we would disband the guild once the next person disappears. Before that, we wanted to create wonderful memories together…to talk about an adventure that we hope can make Nee-chan proud…"
"…"
"The place we first met was a medical network called «Serene Garden», a virtual hospice. Even when our illnesses were all different, in the broad sense, we're all people in the same circumstances. We could talk to each other in the VR world, play games, and enjoy our lives to the fullest until the end…this was the intent behind this operation."
Having heard Doctor Kurahashi's words the moment she entered the hospital, Asuna's heart has somewhat felt that the Sleeping Knights, including Yuuki, were all able to be so strong, energetic and calm was because they were all in the same boat.
Even though she already had such a thought, Yuuki's words continued to weigh down heavily on Asuna's mind. Shiune, Jun, Tecchi, Nori, Taruken's cheerful smiles flashed through her mind.
"Sorry for not telling you the truth, Asuna. The reason the Sleeping Knights were about to disband in Spring wasn't because everyone was starting to get busy and didn't want to play games, but that two of us were already declared to not last past March. So…so, that's why we hoped to create our final memories in that wonderful world. We wanted to leave the proof that we once existed on that Memorial."
Yuuki's voice started to tremble again. However, Asuna could only exert a little more force into her arms that hugged Yuuki.
"However, our attacks weren't successful...everyone discussed it and decided to get someone to help out. Actually, some of us actually objected to it. Once that person knows about our problems, we'll be bothered, and there would be bad memories left behind. In the end, this really happened…sorry…I'm really sorry Asuna. If possible…please forget about us…"
"How can I do so?"
After answering simply, Asuna brought her face to Yuuki's.
"I've never felt bothered, and I never thought that those were bad memories. Being about to meet with you guys, being able to help you guys defeat the boss, I was really happy. Even now…I want to join the Sleeping Knights!"
"…Ahh…"
Yuuki's breathing and body jerked for a moment.
"I'm…really happy to be able to come to this world to meet with Asuna…those words of yours were enough. I'm happy now…I have no regrets…"
"…"
Asuna put both hands on Yuuki's shoulders and slowly moved her body away as she stared at the teary bright amethyst-colored eyes.
"You still have a lot of things you haven't done, right…? There's a lot of places in Alfheim you haven't been to…including the other VR worlds, this world can be said to be unlimited. That's why you can't say that you're satisfied…"
Asuna desperately told Yuuki off, but she merely showed a depressed expression as she looked elsewhere, and then smiled,
"During these three years…we've been through all sorts of adventures in all sorts of worlds. I hope that my final page in my life will be a memory created together with Asuna."
"But…you have lots of things you haven't finished and places you wanted to go to, right…"
She felt that if she agreed with what Yuuki said, this girl in front of her would disappear behind the morning fog. Thus, Asuna frantically tried to convince her. At this moment, Yuuki turned her eyes that were looking afar back at Asuna, and showed a mischievous smile she showed several times in their assault on the boss.
"Yeah…if possible, I want to check out a school."
"Sc…school?"
"I would occasionally go to a school in the imaginary world, but I always felt that it was too peaceful, beautiful and formal. I want to go back to the sort of real school I used to study in."
She blinked, and smiled, before cringing back in an embarrassed manner.
"Sorry, I know this isn't possible. I'm grateful for your thoughts, Asuna, but I'm really contented…"
"—Maybe you really can go."
"…Eh?"
Yuuki continued to blink and stared at Asuna seriously. Asuna continued to summon some memories in her mind and spoke again,
"Maybe you can really go to school…"