Epilogue Part 1

I woke up to a beeping monitor, I looked around as I coughed a bit, sitting up and weakly took off the Nervegear. "I'm...Home...? No...I'm-" I thought as I heard the door open. Creeeaak... It was my mom, she dropped a vase of flowers as she covered her mouth in shock. Her eyes forming tears as she couldn't believe it.

"M...Mom...?"

I weakly muttered as I turned my head towards the window, I saw the sun outside as I blinked a couple of times. My eyes hurt a bit from looking at the sun for a bit, thinking, "sun...it's...so...bright...".

Just then all my memories of SAO hit me. "K...Kirin..!" I said as I tried to get out of my bed. "Honey don't move too much!" My mother said to me as she walked over, trying to have me stay on my bed, trying to calm me down.

"M-Mom...Where's Kirin..!"

I said to her as she asked me confused "Who's Kirin?" as I looked at her. "R..Ryushin...Where's...Ryushin..!" I asked her as she said "Stay here, I'll ask around honey" as she left quickly. I looked at the side of the medical bed as I pushed my arms down on it. I then tried to climb out of the bed as a Click! sound was heard and it pushed down. Woosh THUD! I fell down onto the hard floor. I cried out in pain as it hurt immensely from hitting the floor, "C'mon...You can get yourself back up Kanao..." I thought to myself.

I took out the heartbeat sensor cables as I struggled to get up, gripping onto the IV pole as I began to get up, little by little using the wall to drag myself up.

I looked at the medical stand holding the IV cable and leaned myself against it. I moved my bangs out of the way as it was very long, I then took my first step as I felt the weight throw off my balance and almost fell back down.

"C'mon legs..!"

I thought as I tried to walk, A nurse came rushing in as she saw me trying to walk as she quickly ran to help me up saying "Ma'am you're not supposed to be on your feet!" as I said to her "I..I need to reach Ryushin...". The nurse replied "Ryushin? You mean Fukumoto Ryushin?" as I looked at her, nodded weakly before losing my grip and falling forward.

I was caught from falling by the nurse and my mom as she came in at the right time. "Honey, don't go walking like that...You're not supposed to be walking so soon." my mother said as I began to cry a bit, She then hugged me lightly saying "I thought I lost you Kanao..." as she began to cry as well.

After a while and calming down, I was put in a wheelchair with my IV bag and taken down to the 2nd floor by the elevator. The elevator dinged as I looked around and saw the elevator open. By instinct I raised my hand a bit and tried swiping down as the nurse looked at me confused, she then asked me "What are you doing ma'am?". I sat there dumbfounded, replying "Where's-" It took me a second to remember again that I wasn't in SAO anymore.

"Nothing...Old habits..."

I said quietly as the nurse pushed me out the elevator and down the west hallway. We then made a turn as we stopped in-front of a room, the room was called "40-A" as the nurse opened the door.

I looked as Ryushin was laying on his bed silently, still hooked up to the heartbeat monitor and had his Nerve Gear headset on. "Kirin...It's...really you..." I muttered as she pushed me in and let me be near his bed, saying "Here you go ma'am, you'll only be in here for a few minutes." as she closed the door behind her.

I looked at him as I held his hand, tearing up as I said sobbing "Ryu...Ryushin please wake up...", I knew I couldn't stand up and hug him as I reached out as far as I could, being short as my hand rested on his shoulder. "Don't leave me...You promised..." I muttered as I kept crying and sobbing. Ryushin didn't respond at the slightest, I didn't want to believe this outcome.

The nurse came in four minutes later as she said "I'm sorry ma'am but it's time to go." as she pulled the chair back. I felt my hand slip away from his hand, I didn't want to leave, but I had no choice. I let go of his hand as I sat up, looking at Ryushin as we exited his room.

Soon after we were all awake, even Sato was awake. But the one who didn't wake up was Kirin...or Ryushin. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. During those times we all attended therapy, took psychological tests, and maintained a healthy lifestyle. By the 5th month we all fully recovered from the hospital, but Kirin was still asleep.

Kirin was in a coma, A doctor told all of us before we left the hospital. The worst of the news was...he wasn't going to be waking up anytime soon. This shattered my heart, but it didn't break my morality or determination. I visited him from that day forward. The one year I kept up regular visits as I was now 22, going to college with Sato and Neo. I found out yesterday that Sato's real name is Damian Kobayashi and Neo's real name is Asuka Hashimoto.

We all first met up at Agil's bar as I was surprised to see Lisbeth or Shinozaki Rika's hair was brown instead of bright pink. Rika and I got off the wrong foot during our time in SAO, but with that out of the picture, we were like sisters we never knew. Rika commented on my appearance as she wasn't fond how big my chest was, although embarrassing we laughed it off.

Then...A miracle showed up... Asuna and Kirito. Everyone was shocked to see them arrive at Agil's bar, when we sat them down they told us their story. It turns out they never really died, they were taken to a place just outside of the castle.

What concerned me the most was that Asuna had actually used her real name, Asuna Yuuki, Meanwhile Kirito's real name was Kirigaya Kazuto. I was learning so much about them, I felt happy to be reunited...But I wasn't learning a single thing about Ryushin... We all went to visit him whenever we could but, slowly each and every one of us lost our hope that he'd wake up...and soon...

I didn't give up hope that he'd wake up, I was determined to see him awake but... over time I also began to doubt my own determination... With college and my own life in my hands rather than Kayaba's, I felt...lost...clueless...unsure about what to do next...

This didn't stop me from finding out about other things, My parents were more comfortable with my choices now. I guess the incident made them realize that their strict rules were nothing more but a way to push their own kids away. I never felt happier to be around my parents than before.

With time passing by and the years beginning to pile up, it was only a matter of time before they pulled the plug on Ryushin...I had nearly given up by this point. I felt heartbroken to see the only person who really knew me...was gone...but a miracle happened...on December 25th 2025, Christmas day...He woke up...