Epilogue

"You okay back there?" Shino spoke, slightly amused, as Kazuto tried to push her along.

"Just… Fine." With the tone of his voice, she could tell that he was straining. The rehabilitation process was long and hard, but there was no way around it. Kazuto had just gotten the O-K to walk a cane- one that he refused to use, no less. Shino was still barely confined to a wheelchair, being able to walk short distances by herself.

It was probably easier than walking on his own, though. He still had something to lean his weight on.

The park path they were slowly traversing was covered in a thin layer of white, fluffy snow. Sinon had all but forgotten how the frost bit her nose, how she could breathe clouds into the air. She supposed she could let Kazuto suffer for a bit- after all, he did need to build up the correct muscles to be able to walk again.

A much needed silence allowed her to think. A few days ago, she'd tried returning to her apartment, only to find that it had been rented out by someone else. She'd managed to salvage most of her belongings from the new tenant, thankfully. She wasn't sure whether to be understanding- her parents had most likely never received the notice that she was stuck in Sword Art Online… And even if they had, knowing them, they most likely assumed she had died. Shino definitely wasn't ready to contact them yet- they'd definitely have a few alarming choice words to describe her stupidity. Eventually, she decided. For now, I'll just enjoy my life with Kazuto.

A single snowflake falling on her nose snapped her attention back to reality. They had made their way through the path's end. In the evening light, the abstractly-shaped windows of Kazuto's house glowed brightly. The soft pink over the horizon naturally changed to orange as Kazuto seemed to finally acclimate to walking in his crippled state.

"Hey. Do you ever miss it?" Shino intoned, curious.

"Miss what?" Kazuto replied, less out of breath than before.

"Aincrad," she said, simply.

Kazuto laughed. "I miss being able to walk properly." Then he paused, thinking. "Actually- I miss the forests… I miss the lake. I miss Yui." His voice broke.

"I'm confident that you'll figure something out. You've still got her stored in your NerveGear, right?" Shino asked, confirming that their once-perfect family was still in reach.

"Yeah- took a while to convince the police not to confiscate my NerveGear. Eventually, we'll get her back," Kazuto grumbled.

At this, a lock of black hair fell in the way of her eyes. Aside from the customary trim the hospital had given her, she hadn't invested any time in getting her hair to look normal again. It fell down her shoulders and back to her waist, longer than it had ever been. A few bangs always fell over her eyes, and she'd already developed the habit of sweeping them behind her ear. She had a sneaking suspicion that if she still had blue hair and put it in twin ponytails, she'd look a lot like Hatsune Miku- a once-popular vocaloid character. Kazuto's had been cut short, resembling his hair before the death game by pure luck.

Kazuto pulled the door handle and pushed the door open, simultaneously helping Shino out of the wheelchair. The smell of freshly steamed rice and several other dishes wafted through the air- no doubt Suguha's cooking.

"Sugu! We're home!" He called inside, as Shino leaned on him for support. Slowly, the two hobbled inside. Suguha Kirigaya rushed past them to pull Shino's wheelchair up the step in front of the door, pulling the door closed as she did.

"How'd rehab go, guys?" Kazuto's younger sister asked, as the three of them walked into the kitchen.

Kazuto sat down at the table in the middle of the room with a heavy sigh. "They told me I could walk on a regular basis now." He flashed his trademark smirk at Shino, and she merely rolled her eyes. "Shino's still stuck in that wheelchair."

"Hey, I can wa-"

"Nuh-uh, doctor's orders!" Kazuto teased. Again, Shino rolled her eyes. Suguha giggled at the banter, genuinely happy for her brother. She couldn't help but feel jealous, though, and subsequently felt guilty for feeling jealous. Before he'd been trapped in SAO, Kazuto rarely ever talked to his younger sister. During the two years, she'd found out that Kazuto had been adopted. Everything made much more sense: why they suddenly had a falling out one day, and nothing had ever been the same. After he woke up again, Sugu finally thought that they might be able to start over- they might be able to go back to the way it was- but it didn't seem as if that was about to happen, with Shino in the picture.

They ate in silence, Kazuto digging into his food while the girls tried to remain dignified. Suguha made really good stir-fry.

Finished, Kazuto put his dish in the sink, and managed to crawl the stairs up to his room. Lazily, he jabbed a button on his computer, and his three monitors came to life, displaying his old desktop picture- an ink-blotch rendition of Aincrad. The sight filled him with nostalgia- just as it had every time he'd booted up his computer over the past six days. It was the last thing he'd seen before diving into the virtual world, after all.

When they had woken up in the hospital, all of Japan rejoiced. Almost four-thousand of their lost population were rejoining them, and among them, family, friends and lovers. It wasn't long until Kazuto and Shino had their first official meeting, introducing themselves with their real names, doing away with 'Kirito' and 'Sinon'. He frowned a little, remembering how Shino had teased him about being uncreative.

Through his open door, he heard the sounds of Sugu struggling to help Shino up the stairs. He'd have to thank his little sister profusely after the whole affair was over with- she'd been working hard to take care of the both of them for a week, and likely would for a few more. Soon after, Shino all but stumbled through the doorway, barely managing to sit on his bed- which they were forced to share, not that there were any objections.

He turned from the news article he was reading, and glanced at her. In the moonlight that was beginning to filter through his large window, her long, raven-black hair shined almost silver.

"You look really good with long hair," was all he could stutter out, after realizing that she was staring at him, too.

"It's kinda inconvenient." She remarked, brushing a loose strand behind her ear.

Absentmindedly, Kazuto pressed the sleep button on his computer. The screens dimmed, before fading completely, leaving the room lit by nothing but the soft white of the moon. Already being changed into his pyjamas- a simple black shirt and matching black pants, he crawled onto his bed next to Shino. They had both gained enough weight that he no longer felt like she might break if he held her too firmly.

Quietly, she rested her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. With that, the two fell asleep in a tangle of limbs.

When Shino awoke in the morning, it was to periodical clicks, and fingers hammering away at a keyboard. Apparently, his hands had recovered enough that Kazuto was already able to type like a madman again. Spread across the monitors were pictures of a decrepit, dark city, though it was filled with people. She held her breath, seeing that all of them were holding guns of various sorts. She squeezed her eyes shut, sensing an oncoming panic attack. She turned over, barely able to fend it off.

"Hm? Oh, you're awake?" Kazuto turned in his chair to look at her. Slowly, she sat up, some of her hair still stuck to the pillow.

Careful to not look at his computer screen, Shino began as calmly as possible, "Yeah. What are you looking up?"

"O-oh." Kazuto rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's… Um, a new VRMMO?"

Shino blinked, shocked that Kazuto would be eager to go back to the NerveGear after what had just happened to him.

"Yeah," he continued, sensing her disbelief. "I think it's the only way we'll be able to get Yui back. This article says that the framework is pretty similar to SAO- and if it is, it'll be able to read Yui's data files."

"Right." Shino agreed, though cautiously. She wanted to see Yui again, but wasn't overly excited by the idea of diving back into the virtual world so soon. "So… What's it called?"

Kazuto looked her in the eyes, the tiniest hint of a glimmer of happiness in them. "Gun Gale Online."

A/N: You thought it was over! Hah! It wasn't! But now it is... So, I decided to do an epilogue for this because that ending didn't really wrap things up, and/or set things up for the sequel that will be coming soon(tm). Anyway, I really hope that my absence doesn't last too long... (Which it will, because I'm away from home for two weeks... Then another three weeks after that.) Alright, here's to hoping that you've enjoyed!

TheSilentSwordsman, signing off.