“…”
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…”
Chapter 10
The next day, January 12, 12.50pm, at the north end of the third level of the second school compound.
At a computer room where the sound of the noon break’s buzz could be heard slightly, Asuna straightened her back and sat on a chair.
On the right shoulder of her blazer-type uniform, was a dome-shaped machine about 7cm in diameter that was held together by a harness.
Its base was made by cutting away aluminum, and the dome was made from transparent acrylic. One could see the the lens inside. There were two cables that were attached to the socket below. One of them was attached to the mobile phone in Asuna’s blazer pocket, while the other was attached to a computer on a table nearby.
Kazuto and two other students, who attended the mechatronics course with him, were exchanging words with each other in front of the computer, chatting away as if they were chanting spells.
“I told you that this gyroscope is too sensitive. If you want to prioritize the traceability of the visuals, you want to adjust the parameters here and here.”
“But wouldn’t there be a lag if there is a sudden action?”
“We can only wait for the optimizing program learning to take effect then, Kazu.”
“Aren’t you done yet, Kirito-kun? Lunch break is almost over!”
Asuna, who was forced to maintain that position for 30 minutes, let out an anxious voice. Kazuto let out an ‘un’ and lifted his head.
“The initial settings are OK for now. Erm, Yuuki-san, can you hear me?”
Kazuto wasn’t talking to Asuna, but to the dome-shaped device. In the microphone on the machine, «Absolute Sword» Yuuki’s own energetic voice came.
『Haii, I hear you loud and clear!』
“Okay, I’m going to adjust the initial settings around the visuals to see if it’s alright. When the visuals are clear enough, make a sound.”
『Yes, I got it.』
The dome-shaped device on Asuna’s shoulder, commonly called the «Double-sided Visual and Hearing message Probe», was a theme that Kazuto’s class had started to experiment with and improve on in this world.
Simply put, this device could be connected through the AmuSphere and the Network, creating a direct visual and audio link between people in the virtual world to the real world. It uses the lens and the microphone of the probe to collect data, passes it through Asuna’s handphone onto the network, and then to the Medicuboid in the Yokohama North General Hospital and finally to Yuuki, who dived into the specialized virtual world. The lens could freely rotate in the dome-shaped lens with Yuuki’s vision to show any images she wanted to see. Right now, Yuuki should be getting the feeling that she’s 1/10 of her own body size and sitting on Asuna’s shoulder.
As Asuna heard Kazuto’s grumblings regarding this research, she immediately thought that this device could be used once she heard that Yuuki wanted to go to school.
Uiin. The device rang on the right shoulder as the lens was adjusted. Yuuki then said ‘I see it’ as it stopped.
“Alright. That should do for now. Asuna, we added a stabilizer unit, but try not to do anything too sudden. Don’t make voices that are too loud too. She can hear it if it’s of audible volume.”
“Okay, I got it~.”
Asuna stretched her back as she answered Kazuto, who nagged about things to be taken note of before standing up. She saw Kazuto plug on the cable linked to the PC and immediately whispered to the probe on the shoulder,
“Sorry, Yuuki. I wanted to bring you around the school, but lunch break is over.”
Yuuki’s voice immediately came from the mini-microphone.
『It’s alright. I’m even more interested in listening to your lesson!』
“Okay, let’s say hello to the teacher for the next period.”
After waving at Kazuto and his two buddies who managed to finish setting up everything in such a short time and showed tired looks, Asuna walked out of the computer lab.
She went past the corridor, down the staircase, and through the school’s link bridge between the compounds. Yuuki would start to cheer whenever she saw anything, but she immediately went silent once they arrived in front of the door tagged ‘Staff Room’.
“…What’s wrong?”
『Erm…well, I didn’t really like coming to the staff room in the past…』
“Fufufu, don’t worry. The teachers in this school aren’t like that.”
Asuna smiled and whispered before opening the door quickly.
“Excuse us!”
『Ex, excuse us!』
Two voices, one loud and one soft rang inside the room at the same time. Asuna then quickly crossed through an entire row of tables.
The fifth period was National Language, and the teacher taking this period was a teacher who was once the head of department in an independent school. He retired, and after which, voluntarily came to this established education facility that was suddenly built. He was almost 70 years old, but was able to successfully operate the network devices throughout this school, and Asuna liked his wise mannerisms.
Because she knew of this teacher’s nature, Asuna felt that he probably wouldn’t object to Yuuki listening, but still nervously explained the entire situation. The teacher with the nice white hair and beard took a large teacup in his hand as he listened to Asuna’s explanation. Once she was done, the teacher nodded and said,
“Un, it’s alright. Oh yes, what’s your name?”
『Ah, I’m…Yuuki—Konno Yuuki.』
On hearing the immediate answer from inside the probe, the teacher was more or less shocked, but he immediately smiled and said,
“Konno-san, if you want to, please continue coming to class. We’re going to start on «Torokko» by Akutagawa. This can only be interesting if you study it till the end.”
『Ye…yes, thank you very much!』
As Yuuki and Asuna finished thanking the teacher, the preparatory bell for class rang, and Asuna hurriedly lowered and bowed her head to take her leave. Once they left the staff room, both of them heaved a sigh at the same time.
After looking at each other and smiling, A
suna quickly moved back to the classroom.
Once she got back to her seat, the students around her immediately asked her what the mysterious device on her shoulder was. Asuna explained that Yuuki was hospitalized, and once Yuuki actually spoke up, everyone immediately understood. They started to introduce themselves. Once this ended, the bell for class rang, and the teacher’s profile appeared at the door.
As the duty personnel called to greet—the lens of the probe started to move up and down—the teacher who arrived at the podium first stroked his beard on his chin and started with the lesson as usual.
“Eh—and now, we’re going to start from page 98 of the textbook, «Torokko» by Akutagawa Ryunosuke. This is a work made when Akutagawa was 30 years old—”
As the teacher explained, Asuna took out her thin tablet-type computer, and then put it in front of Yuuki so that she could see it. However, the next sentence the teacher said nearly caused her to drop the PC from her hands.
“—Then, let’s have a student read this from the first paragraph. Konno Yuuki-san, would you please read this passage?”
“Ha?”
『Ye, yes?』
Asuna and Yuuki let out a shocked voice, and there was an immediately ruckus in the classroom.
“Is there a problem?”
Before Asuna could answer the teacher’s question, Yuuki already answered loudly,
『Ok, I got it!』
It seemed that the speaker inside the probe had a device that amplified the volume, as Yuuki’s voice clearly filled every corner in the classroom. Asuna hurriedly stood up, raised her tablet PC to the lens, tilted her head to the right, and whispered,
“Yuuki…you, you can read it?”
『Of course. I like to read books!』
Yuuki paused for a while after answering, and then started to recite the content of the textbook in an energetic voice.
『…The simple rail laying works between Odawara and Atami was…』
Asuna, who was holding the computer, closed her eyes as she focused as Yuuki recited the passage in cadence.
The screen in Asuna’s heart clearly showed that Yuuki, who was wearing a uniform similar to her’s, standing right beside her. Asuna was certain that one of these days, this dream would become real. Medical care would improve every year. In the near future, they would definitely be able to discover a drug to eliminate HIV completely, and Yuuki would be able to return to the real world. At that moment, she definitely had to hold her real hand and introduce the school and neighboring streets to her. After school, they had to head to a fast food restaurant far away, eat hamburgers and chit-chat away.
Asuna quietly wiped her tears to prevent Yuuki from noticing. Yuuki continued to recite this classic passage from the previous century, and the teacher never told her to stop. The school afternoon became abnormally quiet, and it felt like the entire school was listening to her.
Yuuki then continued to attend lessons until after the sixth period, and Asuna introduced her to the school environment as promised. Unexpectedly though, a few classmates followed, and everyone tried to talk to Yuuki.
In the end, both of them were finally alone, and as Asuna sat on the bench in the courtyard, the sky became orange.
『Asuna…thank you very much for today. I’m happy…I definitely won’t forget today.』
Yuuki suddenly said in a serious tone, and Asuna instinctively replied in a cheery voice,
“What are you saying? Didn’t the teachers say that you can come every day? Japanese is in the third period tomorrow. You can’t be late! Speaking of which…well, do you have any other place you want to see? Anywhere is fine, aside from the principal’s office.”
Yuuki chuckled, and then went silent. After a while, she timidly said,
『Well…I have a place I want to go to…』
“Where?”
『Will somewhere outside the school do?』
“Eh…”
Asuna couldn’t help but shut up. She pondered for a while, but decided that the battery of the probe would still last, and Yuuki should be able to see it as long as the handheld terminal was connected to the net.
“Un, it’s alright. It’s fine if the handheld antenna can reach it.”
『Really? It’s…slightly far…I want you to bring me to Hodogaya in Yokohama, a place called Tsukimidai.』
From where the school was, Asuna and Yuuki took the central line from the Western Tokyo area and went on to Hodogaya, Yokohama.
They weren’t exactly whispering to each other on the train, but once they got onto the road, Asuna ignored the surrounding stares and continued to talk to the two-way probe on her shoulder. Yuuki never expected that the streets would have changed so much during the 3 years which she was hospitalized, so Asuna would lean over to explain to her whenever there was something she was interested in.
As they continued to walk and stop, the large clock in the center of the train station showed that it was past 5.30pm when they alighted at their destination, Hoshikawa Station.
They looked up at the sky that turned from crimson red to dark purple, and Asuna took a deep sigh. Perhaps it was because there were a lot of forests nearby that it felt that the cold air here felt different from Tokyo’s.
“This street is really pretty, Yuuki. The sky looks wide.”
Yuuki said in an energetic yet embarrassed tone,
『Un…sorry, Asuna. My stubborn request made you stay back so late…are you alright, Asuna?』
“It’s alright! It’s common for me to head back home late!”
She instinctively said that, but in fact, Asuna would pretty much be home before dinner almost all the time. That was because her mother would be unhappy if she did not do so. However, she felt that it didn’t matter even if she went home and got thoroughly scolded. As long as Yuuki hoped, and the battery of the probe was enough, it didn’t matter how far she would go.
“I’ll send a message.”
Asuna said in a carefree tone, and then took her mobile phone out. She continued to send a message to her computer at home while being connected to the probe, saying that she would be home late. Her mother would be sending a message to her for ignoring the curfew and would sometimes even personally call her, but if the phone was connected to the net, the call would probably be sent to voicemail.
“All okay now. Then, where do you want to go, Yuuki?”
『Erm…turn left from in front of the station, and then turn right on the second traffic light…』
“Nn, got it.”
Asuna nodded, and then started moving forward. With Yuuki leading her, she went through the little shopping street in front of the station.
Yuuki would say a few words as if she was reminiscing when they moved through the bakery, the fish shop, the post office or the front of the shrine. Soon, they arrived at the residential area. Yuuki sighed as she saw a house with a large dog house and large camphor trees.
Thus, even if Yuuki didn’t say it, Asuna understood that this street was the one she once lived in. And right in front of both of them was—
『…After making the turn on the right, please stop in front of a white house…』
Asuna noticed it. Yuuki’s voice was already trembling when she said that. She went past the park with a row of bare poplar trees, turned right, and immediately saw a white-tiled bungalow on the left side.
After walking a few steps forward, Asuna stopped in front of the bronze gate.
『…』
On her shoulder, Yuuki sighed for a long while. Asuna inadvertently reached the finger of her left hand, placed it under the aluminum probe, and whispered to her,
“That’s…Yuuki’s house, right?”
『Un…I never thought that I would be able to see this house again…』
This house with the white walls and green roof obviously looked smaller than the surrounding residences, but it had a wide garden. The table on the grass patch had a white wooden bench, and there was a large flower bed surrounded by red br
icks deep inside the garden.
However, right now, the table’s color had faded because of wind erosion, and what was left of the flowerbed was only black soil and dry, wilted grass. The windows on both sides of the house showed a warm and cozy orange of a family’s harmony, but the windows in the white house had the rain cover put down. It looked like nobody lived in the house.
However, this was to be expected. Of the parents and two daughters who once lived together in this house, only one was left. Right now, the last one was in an airtight room, lying on a bed surrounded by machines, and unable to leave that place.
The house became a deep purple under the last ray of sunlight. Asuna and Yuuki just stared at it like that. After a while, Yuuki whispered,
『Thank you Asuna. Thank you for bringing me to such a far place…』
“Do you want to take a look inside?”
It would be bad if passers-by saw this, but Asuna still asked this. Yuuki herself merely shook the lens left and right.
『No, this is okay. Here…we have to go back now, or else it’ll be quite late, Asuna.』
“It’s still early…we can still stay until later.”
Asuna instinctively answered this and turned over to look behind her. What was opposite the long and narrow road was a park, and outside the park, there was a wall of trees with stones as the base.
Asuna moved across the street and sat on the stone wall that was knee high. The front of the probe could capture the image of the small house that was in slumber. Over here, Yuuki’s eyes should be able to see the entire house and yard.
Both of them stayed silent for a while, and Yuuki finally said calmly,
『We only stayed here for less than a year…but back then, every single day, I remembered them all. We stayed at an apartment before that, so I was happy that we had a garden here. Mama was scared that we would be infected with complications, but nee-chan and me would often run about in the garden. We would roast meat in front of that bench, and would often make bookshelves with Dad. We were really happy back then…』
Sword Art Online - Volume 7 - Mother's Rosario Page 16