Episode 99 - Tsuboi Ryoutarou
Sunset Shimmer opened her eyes. She recognized the NerveGear's face shield over her eyes, and beyond that, modern ceiling tiles. She was home. She saw the real world, or what she perceived as the real world. She wasn’t sure if there was a meaningful difference to distinguish them anymore. At the very least, it didn’t look like the building materials so common on Aincrad.
Kirito had killed Heathcliff, the disguised Akihiko Kayaba. The evil behind SAO. She should be home.
Sunset could not move, but felt her senses slowly coming back to her. After being locked away so long, she knew time would have taken its toll on her body. There was no way she could just get up and start her active life again.
As she waited for her other senses and strength to return, she surveyed what she could. The dark window indicated it was night. The normal building ceiling tiles were above her. She used to stick pencils in them when bored in between classes. She strained and was able to see a whiteboard used to give the patient information on the far wall. It had her nurse's name, the date, and a pain chart for her to reference when speaking to the nurses. But it wasn't right.
It suddenly hit Sunset. First was the fact that it was written in romaji, the Romanized written form of Japanese. That, and the date was wrong. It had to be. It was November 7th, their second year in SAO, almost starting their third year. The board said January 22.
Had she been asleep longer? If so, why? And why did she wake up now?
As the panic set in, it mounted with her inability to move. Did the NerveGear damage her brain and paralyze her?
The only positive aspect of her panic was that it raised her heart rate. The drastic spike set off the monitoring equipment’s alarms and nurses responded immediately. They quickly realized she couldn't move or talk. The NerveGear was removed from her head.
That was when Sunset Shimmer realized something was in her throat and nose.
The nurse must have seen her thoughts in her eyes. "It is a feeding tube so that you can be fed an easily digestible formula. It's part of what has kept you alive.”
Sunset nodded that she understood before they carefully removed the tubes. After the nurse helped her take a few sips from a glass of water she took her time, and prepared to speak again, slowly, one word at a time “I. Can’t. Move.”
“The doctor is on his way,” the nurse replied with a smile. “Right before you woke up, there was an emergency that all of the doctors are responding to. It’s late, meaning only a few doctors are here right now. It may take him a little bit to arrive, but he has been paged. You will be his next patient.”
“O-kay,” Sunset breathed.
“I know it’s hard to talk, but do you want me to stay?”
“P-les-s,” Sunset said. Even smiling was painful.
The nurse sat on the edge of the bed, to be a close comfort to Sunset. The minutes passed by agonizingly slowly. There wasn’t anything for Sunset to do but wait and hope. More of her nerves were slowly waking up, but they were not happy. Her body was beginning to hurt.
Finally, footsteps were heard. They were strong and consistent, conveying a purpose in each and every step. A man in a suit with square glasses stepped into the room. He was obviously not the doctor.
“This is a restricted room,” the nurse said, standing up.
“Forgive me,” he replied with a slight bow. “I am Kikuoka Seijirou and I am with the Ministry of Internal Affair's Telecommunications Bureau, Advanced Network Division, the Virtual Division. I am one of the members of the SAO Incident Victims Rescue Force. This woman, Sunset Shimmer, is under my charge.”
“I see,” the nurse replied. “I remember being briefed about that, but as a night nurse, I never expected to see you.”
He just silently nodded back and stood there, waiting.
A few minutes later, running footsteps came echoing down the hall. They didn’t stop and went past the room. Then they backtracked and the doctor rushed in.
“Forgive me,” he said. “My name is Doctor Masaki. I am the night doctor in charge of this floor. Dr. Aikawa, your personal doctor, isn’t scheduled for his shift for another few hours, but has been paged.”
The nurse spoke up for Sunset Shimmer. “She can barely speak and she can’t move.”
“Hmm,” he said with a nod as he opened the chart he had.
He walked over to her side and picked up her hand. Sunset felt a surge of pain, but she couldn’t stop it or move.
“I see the tears,” he stated. “I assume this hurts. Can you squeeze my hand?”
“C-c-ant,” was all Sunset Shimmer was able to say.
He gently laid her hand back down on the bed. He walked her through her extremities, trying to see if she could move anything. She couldn’t and any time she was moved or squeezed, it hurt.
“I am going to send you down for a CT scan,” the doctor finally said. “I am also going to dispense pain medication. I am concerned about some form of a nervous system injury, but you feel pain, which is a good sign that nothing is wrong. I think you are just experiencing an extreme case of acute muscle atrophy. Your prolonged time in bed has caused most of your muscles to waste away. All of the SAO survivors experienced muscle loss, but your case seems to be one of the worst. I am optimistic that with therapy and better nutrition that we will be able to have you back on your feet and good as new!”
“Th-anks,” Sunset breathed. “Why. Is. It. Not. No. Vem. Ber?”
The doctor had no idea how to answer that. The man in the suit replied. “After SAO was cleared, about Three-hundred players were still trapped. The reports from the hospitals all over Japan is that the rest of them, like you, have woken up. That is all I know at this time. So yes, that date is correct. It is about One-AM on January the Twenty-Third.”
“Why. Am. I. Here?” Sunset forced the words out.
“After you didn’t wake up, but your friends did, we moved you from your home city to here to be under our direct care,” he replied. “You are the only foreign player who didn’t wake up when Kirito beat SAO. But we can talk more later. I have others to check up on.”
The man from the government left and the doctor departed to write the orders. Then pain medication was soon dispensed and Sunset Shimmer drifted off to sleep as the techs came in to move her down to radiology.
May 19 - Hospital
Sunset decided she hated physical therapy. It was a necessary evil, but after two years of living as Bladescape in SAO, he mind and body were trained to handle a different set of difficulties than she was facing now. They had first had the therapy with her in bed, getting her to move and sit up, and extremely basic things until her muscles had regained enough strength to start a more independent form of physical therapy.
"Come on, Miss Sunset," Nurse Kato encouraged her. “Use the bars to keep steady and walk to me.”
Sunset's legs had taken a real beating. It was extremely difficult for her to walk. Even now, she had a catheter bag because she couldn't reliably and safely maneuver in the bathroom. Walking between the two balance bars the fifteen feet to the other side was supposed to help fix that. It only caused her more pain and frustration. She had other exercises that she did, but having her walk rather than ride in a wheelchair was a big goal the doctors set for her.
Still, she was Sunset Shimmer. She didn't give up before SAO, she didn't give up during SAO, and she wouldn't give up now.
Sunset took the first, shaky, painful step, using the bars to keep herself both steady and upright. Her upper body exercises were coming along much better, but she couldn't go through life holding herself up with bars that didn't exist.
She took two more staggering steps. Each brought tears to her eyes. Tears she wasn't going to openly shed. She was stronger than the pain. She hadn't made it through life to give up now. She hadn't made it through SAO to have any reality get the better of her. She would not be like the weak players who didn't even dare to leave the Town of Beginnings for two whole years. None of that was acceptable.
She took a few more steps as more tears of pain blocked her vision. The steps felt like spikes were being driven into her legs, rippling through her body with each step.
Her foot didn't catch her as a mix of pain and a simple misstep brought her down. She held onto the bar with her left hand, gripping it with all her might as she went all the way down. She wasn't going to let go. It was the one thing that hadn't fallen and she would win this, because she hated to lose.
Sunset Shimmer didn’t lose.
Sunset knew she was choking back sobs of pain. The nurse bent down under the bar. "Let's get you back up," She said sweetly. "It will come in time."
It wasn't a voice of pity. It wasn't a voice looking down on her. She wasn't even being that tough on her. But as the nurse gently, but firmly, grabbed her arm to help her up, Sunset Shimmer reacted. She wasn't done yet. Her hand was still gripping the bar. She wasn't done, yet. She didn't think as she shoved the nurse back, sending her sprawling. Rude or not, it didn't matter. She was going to finish. Somehow.
"Not so easy without your friends," a voice said in front of her. It was a voice she knew well. But it was missing most of its cocky, arrogant, and goofy tone.
Bladescape looked up from where she was on the ground. Through her wet eyes, she saw a young man, a few feet past the bars, in slacks and a dress shirt with the top two buttons undone. But the way he stood was the same as Sunset had known him in game.
"Klein," Sunset Shimmer said through her teeth. "What has you here?"
"Well, word on the street is that a few of the SAO survivors are having trouble getting back on their feet,” Klein said, gaining that cocky tone back in his voice. “I didn't think the rumors meant it literally. Anyway, one was said to be a foreigner who was part of the players that were trapped that, uh extra, length of time. I came to check the rumor out for myself.
"Also, in this reality, it's Tsuboi Ryoutarou. But you, Doll Face, can call me Klein if you want to. Or...you and I are good enough friends that you can call me Ryoutarou."
"Calling you by your last name is an honor?" Sunset Shimmer shot back, annoyed at him.
"What!" Ryoutarou exclaimed. "No! My family name is Tsuboi and my first name, which is reserved for those close to me, is Ryoutarou. It is an honor to have earned that."
"Right," Sunset said with a grin as she rolled her eyes at his overly dramatic expressions.
Either way, it gave her the strength she needed to get her knees under her, then one foot, and then the other as she grabbed the other bar. The nurse was still on the ground, confused about the unplanned intrusion and still out of sorts from the shove. Sunset Shimmer focused on what was truly important, Klein.
She took her first step again and almost dropped. She struggled and grunted to keep herself from going down. But she did it as she got another step in. And then another. Step by step she moved toward a guy she didn't exactly know, but whom she had trusted with her life and proven to be an upstanding man of integrity.
Sunset realized she was at the end of the walking trainer, with no poles left to support her. She had a split-second moment of victory before reality hit her again and she went stumbling down. But Sunset didn't hit the ground. Klein, Ryoutarou, had stepped in and was holding her up. They were face to face as he hugged her tightly to let her know that he had her and wasn't going to let her fall.
"Friendship means a lot to you," he said quietly into her ear. "Well, you have one friend here in Japan. One person to cheer you on. I know I could get some of the other members of Fuurinkazan and SAO to come cheer you on if you wanted, Babe."
Sunset rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh. "Not going to happen. In game, babe was one thing, real work, I'm younger than you and I'm still in high school!
Ryoutarou pulled her up so they were standing side by side, his arm around her and anchored under her armpit. "Sorry. Force of habit. But by my calculations, now that you are out of SAO, you are not a kid anymore. You may not have completed high school, but the chart in your room says you are Nineteen. Which makes you fair game."
Sunset had to think for a moment and remember not just basic math, but her own age. And Ryoutarou was right. She was 19. Which was a game changer. Sure, he had a few years on her, but now it wasn't "perverted." She had gotten used to the fun, goofy flirtation. It was who Klein was. But she had lost track of her age in game, and now she realized that it had only been a little while after they met that she had turned 18.
Sunset Shimmer had to also come to terms with not finishing high school. School and a diploma was what had been expected of her in this world, so it had been a goal of hers. It also was something she was doing with her friends. Twilight had to be freaking out about not having graduated on schedule.
"Now, Doll Face," Ryoutarou said, focusing her on what was important. "Your wheelchair is on the other side of this training thingy. I'll walk beside you, but you have to make it on your own."
Sunset shifted so she was holding onto him, head buried in his chest, and the tears began. "I've had my bad moments in life. But none of them ever came with the pain I feel with every step I take. My upper body did okay, but the doctors say I had a lot of muscular deterioration in my legs. More than the others. It hurts like hell, like spikes being driven up through my feet, into my legs, and into my whole body."
"Pain didn't stop Bladescape," Klein said as he gingerly held her in place against his chest. "I saw you get hit hard in SAO, but you still got up, and usually pretty quick. Now, let’s get you one last go and to that chair."
Sunset took in a wet sniff as she nodded into his chest. The nurse helped her turn around to face the bars and then she walked alongside her for support. Ryoutarou walked on the other side and was the real support for Sunset as her mind absorbed the pain of each step. Before she knew it, she was on the other side. Ryoutarou held the chair steady while the nurse helped her into it.
"I guess you can be done a bit early today," she smiled at Sunset. "You did a good job. Better than yesterday, and tomorrow you will be even stronger." She turned to Ryoutarou. "I have to officially take her back to her room, but I suppose I could walk beside you as you push her. If she is comfortable with that."
"Please," Sunset said, flashing a grin across her wet cheeks.
Sunset was almost thrown out of the chair as Ryoutarou tried to push it forward. He had forgotten about the wheel locks. He got a nasty glare from the nurse, but she let it slide. She could not deny the dramatic effect his presence had on Sunset’s ability to push herself in the therapy session.
Back in the room and in her bed, Sunset asked the question that had been plaguing her since his arrival. “How did you find me?”
Ryoutarou pulled the guest chair over to beside the bed. “From Kirito. The kid seems to know where everyone is. He has some inside knowledge, but beating SAO made him the focus of several in depth Q & A sessions. Anyway, the other day we had a celebration for him beating SAO. Asuna was here in this hospital, and she got her rehab here too. Once she was medically cleared, we finally got a party for him. That’s when I learned you were still here.”
Sunset sighed and tried to settle into the uncomfortable bed a bit more. “That’s good for you all. I remember Asuna. There were a few times our rehab sessions crossed over, but we never talked. She has been gone for a few weeks now.”
“And back in school,” Ryoutarou added. “They have a whole school just for the kids who got stuck. They don’t have certain entrance exams and such because they would never make it. But I was already done with college by the time we got trapped.”
“I do not look forward to finishing school after all this time,” Sunset admitted. “I was in my final year. Can I really be ready for school in the fall? I have a few months, but I can barely walk.”
“I believe in you,” Ryoutarou said with a kind smile. “From walking to handling school. Besides, you will have your friends for school, right?”
“Yeah,” Sunset nodded.
“Do you know what happened? Why you were held longer?”
“No,” Sunset replied. “They asked me a ton of questions, but last I remember was the announcement of SAO being beaten after we watched Kirito kill Heathcliff. I woke up in this room, and it was January. I was surprised but happy to hear that he and Asuna were alive. Everyone there saw them shatter.”
Klein sighed. He obviously knew what had happened. “The most anyone can figure out is that there was a delay between dying in game and the NerveGear killing them, and there was just enough time where Asuna was still in limbo when the game was cleared. As for the rest, Asuna’s family’s company, RECT Progress, took over the maintenance of the SAO server when Argus went under. A close friend of the family was the head of their R&D department. He had a small team that snagged players before they were logged out. He did a bunch of experiments on the mind and mind control, with you guys as subjects.”
“I don’t remember anything,” Sunset said. “Not even a feeling, or a dream, or anything. Which is good. But how did he keep us suspended?”
“RECT Progress launched the AmuSphere, another full dive technology piece, with safer features than the NerveGear. With it, they launched their own VRMMORPG, ALfheim Online. You were stored there, until Kirito dove in and beat that game to free Asuna, who was specifically being held by that person.”
“He sounds worse than Kayaba,” Sunset spat. “At least Kayaba gave us a way out.”
“That he did,” Klein admitted. He shifted focus. “It’s a cool game. Fairies, magic, and flight on your fairy wings. I checked it out the other day. But it was lacking sword skills, and you.”
Sunset chuckled. “You are going to have to get used to that. I’m going home, far away from here. Sure, we can keep in contact, but I don’t even know when I could come back to Japan, or you make the trip to Canterlot.”
“Well, just putting it out there, but you could study in Japan,” Klein said. “Not just study abroad. Many universities take in international students.”
“I don’t even know what I want to study,” Sunset shrugged. “Besides, that is a year away. And even if I knew what I wanted, Japan would have to have the better program for me to make the move here just for a school degree.”
“Alright,” Klein admitted. “I know it’s a lot. Hey, I got to go, but do you want me to come back?”
“Yeah,” Sunset smiled. “It was nice to have a visitor.”
“Is it cool if I let the others know? I know you guys had a great relationship with Agil, and Lisbeth made your stuff. I met them all the other day at the party.”
“Yes, you can tell them, and if they want to visit, they can. I think you and I still have dinner plans if I remember correctly, not that we can do much with me stuck here.”
Ryoutarou stood up. “We did, and I will hold you to those if I can. It was good to see you. And one last thing, Doll Face.”
“What?” Sunset asked.
“I like your real name better.”
“Thanks. I always felt like Klein was a dumb name, not totally fitting of you.”
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Huh, Sunset was held captive in ALO...didn’t expect that to happen.
This was nice. That is all.
Dang, im sad, but im also really happy. This is one of the stories on Fimfiction that I look forward to every week, and will be missing it after next chapter. But, with the announcement of Ruby Palace, the loss of a favored story is worth it for a much grander one. And this time, if your looking for OC's, i have one made. I look forward to the Ruby Palace, and may we clear it together.
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Yep! Every time I was asked about ALO I had to hold my tongue. It hurt badly. Lol.
So Sunset was one of the unlucky ones stuck for a few extra months. That was surprising and sure sucks for her. But at least it worked out in the end.
I had this idea too
Her mind
I'm pretty sure she's more upset at losing all the books in game
This was an incredible ride and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you very much for making this story😁😁😊
We have come to terms
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Thank you. Still one more chapter to go! I know you will love Ruby Palace! And yes, I recall you mentioning the idea of some of them getting stuck. Sunset was always supposed to be stuck in ALO.
Well dang, I was hoping to see Sunset kick butt with Kirito to help save Asuna! But this is fine... and her interaction with Klein was very sweet. I look forward to the final chapter and the beginning of Ruby Palace!
I have a few questions.
1: What became of "Merlin" we know he was not a normal NPC.
2: What of Sunset's Grand Quest to kill the dragons?
3: Did any of her Canterlot friends or teachers visit her in japan?
4: What of Princess Twilight and friends project?"
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1/2: For both, incomplete! The game was cleared before! Since I stayed canon to SAO, I knew the early ending, the characters didn't, so I made sure that they were doing stuff, had stuff incomplete, to be done or looking forward to after Floor 75. If I hadn't, it would have been building them just to end it right there and you, my readers, would have noticed. It was cleared unexpectedly, so the characters had to act normal, with the goal being Floor 100, not 75. With that said, I won't answer either because they will be answered or dealt with in Ruby Palace. Which is also why I really want to write it. I set myself up so well, and then dashed my own hopes and dreams and plans on the known canon plot. Bleh. I feel like I knew the truck was going to be driven off the cliff, and I'm sitting in the back of truck, and I know I could jump out, but I didn't because I had committed to stay in the truck bed. Not to beat a dead horse, but hence why I'm doing the "rewrite!"
3: No. They all had school. It was just a few months and that is a major trip to take all of the sudden. Visas and passports. No.
4: I have an aside or two coming which will wrap that up. I'll probably release it next Tuesday, to finish both off at the same time.
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Looking forward to it. Also you DO realize this chapter was pure shipping fuel yes? *giggles* Then again I read a fic where Klien was shipped with Louise aka Zero, from the anime Familer of Zero
Good guy Klein, glad you made him a more major character throughout this story. Him and Sunset made a good team. If it did go to floor 100, I could picture their guilds merging together at some point.
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I do realize it is totally shipping fuel. Lol. I felt it was most natural.
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I do love Klein. He probably is my favorite character from SAO. Ruby Palace will have more guilds present with more interactions with the Wondercolts. Fuurinkazan will be around a lot more for Ruby Palace. We will get more Klein. Lol
Well I’m glad to see that the degradation may have broken her body, but it didn’t break her spirit. And now that she has the thing that brings out the best in her, a friend, is she will recover in record time. It’s a shame that her and Asuna couldn’t get along during rehab, but they weren’t exactly friends in game. Well I’m pretty sure there is still one last chapter as the epilogue so I’m still looking forward to that.
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LOL I see :)
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They were on different therapy schedules and at different stages. Plus, you can't really chat in PT. Its not a walk in the park. Its pain and misery and if someone else is there they also are in pain and misery. No one wants to talk.
Yeah, that was nice. These two do play well off each other.
This chapter really feels like wrap up and we have another one next week.
Don't know how to feel about Sunset being stuck in ALO but I glad she's making it through.
And Klein such a good boy :)
*waits patiently for update*
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*Waiting patiently to press the button at 6pm US central time because that is a more accessible time for many of my readers.*
Wow, guess Sunset was one of the players who suffered what happened because of sugou.
How am I not surprised he was gonna show up.
That's a relief.
Poor Sunset.
So, if Klein, or Ryoutarou is here, does that mean Sunset's in Japan!?!?
Question answered.
school!"*
Knowing Twilight, she likely did.
https://m.