Epilogue Part 2

I ran through the main entrance of the hospital building as I said to the receptionist "I'm here to see Fukumoto Ryushin!!" as I was gasping a bit and in a little hurry. "Alright, give me a minute..." she said as she was checking as she realized who it was. "Oh it's just you Ms. Yoshida, you can go right ahead" The nurse handed me the pass.

"Thank you!!" I said as I bowed and quickly, taking the pass and ran through the hospital hallway. "They said he's awake! I need to make sure he's awake!!!" I thought as I quickly ran into an open elevator and quickly pressed the 2nd floor button. "C'mon c'mon!!" I muttered as the doors began to close and I began to ascend up to the second floor.

I took multiple deep breaths as I used the metal to fix my hair, my jacket, pants and make sure I made a great first impression on Ryushin. "You got this...Deep breaths..." I thought taking a bit more deep breaths as I heard a Ding!.

The doors opened as I speed walking out towards the west hallway to 40-A. I approached the room as I stopped in-front of it, gripping onto the door handle. Taking one more deep breath I opened my eyes and opened the door. Creeeak. I looked at him entering as he was looking out the window and at the setting sun, he held the Nervegear in his lap as he was awestruck by the real thing.

"Toru..?"

He said lightly, turning to look over as his hair was very long and he was very skinny due to being in a coma and only having IV bags. I went over to him and hugged him lightly while tearing up. "Why...Why did you make me go through that..." I said to him crying as he looked at me, smiling a little.

"I'm sorry...so very sorry..."

He muttered to me as I felt like the burden was lifted off my shoulders. I sat on the side of his bed as we held hands once again. "Hey Toru..." He lightly said as I turned my attention to him. "What is it?" I replied, seeing what he needed. "What's your favorite place..?" he said to me as I took a little bit of thought into it, I then replied "There's this coffee shop called Haiyue, It's where I used to socialize with my friends before but I just go there to stay and look at the city.".

(Now switching to Ryushin's Point of View)

I looked down at my thin,bony hands as I sighed, I then looked at Kanao as I told her in a light tone "How about we go there someday..." as she looked at me. She smiled after some hesitation as she said "Sure...We can go Ki- Ryushin..." I smiled as I let out a small chuckle. A nurse walked in as she told Kanao "Ms. Yoshida, visiting time is over, You have to leave now".

Kanao looked at me as she kissed me on the cheek saying "Get well soon." before getting up and walking out of my room. I sighed a bit as I looked out the window. I stared at the starry night sky, thinking to myself "These...These are real stars...". I couldn't believe it as I saw the city with its lights on, continuing my train of thought, "I...Really missed the city..." as I lay down on my bed, awaiting for my release.

More months passed as my recovery went as planned, by February 2nd, 2026, I had made a full recovery as I was able to leave the hospital. Of course, when everyone heard my news about my release, I was greeted by all too familiar faces.

Everyone was there, Agil, Kirito, Asuna, Kanao, Neo, Klein and even Sato. Kanao ran up to me and hugged me as she smiled saying "You're finally able to leave!" as she was the most excited out of all of them.

I looked at Sato as I walked up to him and hugged him, he looked confused at first as he asked me "Is everything alright?" as I nodded. My voice was a little shaky at first as I said "Just...Just give me a minute okay..." he then remembered as to what I meant. Sato couldn't help but smile as he patted my back saying "Nothing's better than seeing you walking though." as I smiled a bit and let go of the hug.

Kirito then remembered as he said "Guys we have to let him know our names remember." as they all began chatting between themselves about it. I chuckled a bit as I said "It's fine, Kanao told me everything within a week of my rehabilitation." as they intently looked over at her.

"I couldn't help it okay! I couldn't leave him behind on our information..." Kanao said, fidgeting her fingers. I patted her head saying "It's fine either way, So where are we heading guys?" as they all had to take a second to think. "We can go to my bar you guys and celebrate Ryushins release." as we all agreed on that.

We all walked towards Agil's bar as I walked through an alleyway with them and we all made a left turn. We arrived at Agil's remote bar as we all walked in, "Don't worry about strangers coming in, It's reserved for us for today" Agil said to all of us.

"Thanks Agil, you really thought this through"

I told him as he smiled and went behind the bartender table saying "No problem Ryushin, We wouldn't have made it out if you didn't take care of Kayaba". My warm smile went away to a neutral face as I remembered my talk with Kayaba. they looked at me a little confused and a bit concerned at first. "Is everything alright Ryu?" Kanao asked as I nodded. I looked at them as I told them "I had some time to talk to Kayaba...and...He's not like we all thought he was...".

"What do you mean not what we thought!? He killed almost 7,000 people with SAO's release alone!" Rika shouted as they began bickering about the conversation. I looked at them argue as I had a minor flashback, holding my head a bit as Kanao was quick to act. She looked at the group, shouting, "STOP IT EVERYONE!!" as everyone looked at Kanao with silence. she turned her attention to me and said "Go on Ryushin..".

I took a deep inhale and exhale once more as I nodded to her, beginning my explaination to them,

"Kayaba didn't intend to kill thousands and thousands of people, It was...a flaw that his game had... If the last minute changes weren't implemented then none of this would have happened...But since the deadlines were near... He was forced to release the game that we all suffered through... He didn't want to antagonize us or himself, He just did it to make the public think he had thought this entire thing through...but in reality...He didn't want it to happen..."