Shino spotted two classmates who weren’t totally hostile to her, and walked over to them. The one with long hair and black-rimmed glasses noticed her and waved with a grin. “Are you leaving now, Asada?”
“Yeah. What’s going on?”
The other girl, who had brown hair tied into two tails, shrugged and chuckled. “There’s a boy with a different school uniform on, waiting at the gate. He’s on a motorcycle and has two helmets, so we figure he has to be waiting on someone. We were all wondering who the lucky girl is. I know it’s gossipy, but who do you think it is?”
Even as she heard it, Shino felt the blood drain from her face. She checked her watch, furiously denying that it could be true.
It was true that they had agreed for him to wait for her around this time, and she had demanded he give her a ride on his bike to save the train costs. But who would be so bold and so daring as to park his motorcycle right in front of the main gate of the school?
…He would. He absolutely would.
She leaned timidly against the wall and glanced at the driveway turnaround on the other side of the gate, then slumped her shoulders. There he was, leaning against the flashy-colored little motorcycle with kickstand deployed, helmet in both hands, gazing absentmindedly up at the sky, dressed in an unfamiliar uniform. It was undoubtedly the boy she’d met just two days earlier.
The thought of walking over to him and hopping onto the back of his bike with over a dozen people watching made the tips of her ears burn with embarrassment. Shino wished with all her heart that she could just log out of this scene. She summoned up what courage she had left and turned to her classmates.
“Um…well…that’s, uh…an acquaintance of mine,” she said, her voice barely audible. The girl with the glasses went wide-eyed.
“Huh… It’s for you, Asada?!”
“H-how do you know each other?!” the other girl shrieked. Shino felt the growing attention from others around them and squeezed her bag tight, trying to shrink into as small a ball as she could. She started to race off, stammering an apology for some reason.
One of them demanded an explanation tomorrow as she raced through the old-fashioned bronze gate and into the turnaround.
The brazen intruder continued to stare absentmindedly into the sky, even as she approached right next to him.
“…Excuse me,” she said, right into his ear. He blinked in surprise and looked down. The lazy smile returned.
“Hi, Sinon. Nice afternoon.”
Now that she got a better look at him in the light of day, the real Kirito had a slightly transparent, out-of-place air about him. His longish black hair, extremely pale skin, and surprisingly scrawny body contained a whiff of all of those girlish features that she remembered from his virtual self.
That fragile atmosphere he carried around—if she was being uncharitable, she might describe it as “sickly”—put Shino in mind of the two years of imprisonment he had suffered. She hastily held her tongue before she hurled any more snark his way.
“…Hi. Sorry about the wait.”
“Nah, I only just got here. By the way…it seems like…”
He looked around the front entrance of the school, noticing all of the students who were watching the scene unfold.
“…we’re drawing a lot of attention…”
“Okay, listen,” Shino said, annoyed, “anyone who parks their motorcycle at the front of a school they don’t go to is gonna attract attention.”
“Oh…I guess you’re right. Well,” he said, suddenly showing off that cynical, cheeky smirk she saw him make often in the virtual world, “if we hold out a bit longer, maybe the guidance counselor will show up and tell us off for being a bad influence? That could be fun.”
“N-no, that’s not funny!”
It wasn’t out of the question, actually. She automatically glanced back toward the gate and growled, “C’mon, let’s go!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Kirito smirked. He took a light green helmet off the handlebars and offered it to Shino.
She took the helmet, reminding herself that he was the same snot-nosed, arrogant jerk who had caused her so much headache in GGO, and that she shouldn’t be fooled by his appearance. She swung the bag over her back and put the open-faced helmet over her head. She tried to put the chin harness on, but didn’t know how.
“Hang on a sec.”
Kirito’s hand appeared and adjusted the strap under her chin. She felt her face grow hot again and lowered the visor to hide it. She had no idea how she’d explain this one at school tomorrow.
With his own black helmet on, Kirito swung over the seat. He paused and wondered, “Sinon…what about your skirt?”
“I have leggings on underneath, for PE.”
“I-is that the only thing that matters?”
“Well, it’s not like you can see anything,” she shot back, then straddled the rear seat. She’d ridden on her grandfather’s rusty old Super Cub C90 when she was a little girl, so she knew what to do.
“All right, then…Hang on tight.”
Kirito turned the key and the old combustion engine growled to life, startling her. But the vibration through her hips and the smell of the exhaust reminded her of days gone by, and Shino couldn’t help but grin as she put her hands around Kirito’s bony midsection.
Traveling from Yushima in Bunkyo Ward to their destination in Ginza would be quite tricky using the subway, but it was actually quite close on surface streets.
After going down Chiyoda Street from Ochanomizu to the Imperial Palace, they puttered safely along the moatside. Fortunately, the mild weather gave them a pleasant breeze to enjoy. They passed the Ote gate, turned left from Uchibori Street onto Harumi Street, passed under the JR bridge, and found themselves in Ginza Yoncho-me.
It was a turtle’s pace compared to the mad rush they used to escape Death Gun on the three-wheeled buggy, but it still took less than fifteen minutes to reach their destination.
Kirito showed Shino into a very expensive-looking café the likes of which she’d never been in. The instant she walked in the door, she was taken aback by the dignified bow of a water in a crisp white shirt and black butterfly tie.
No sooner had he asked if it was a party of two, setting off dire implications in Shino’s head, than a rude bellow erupted from the rear of the establishment, destroying the chic atmosphere.
“Hey, Kirito, back here!”
“Um, I’m with…that,” Kirito noted uncomfortably. The waiter nodded and bowed in understanding without missing a beat. Shino timidly walked down the sparkling floor, feeling extremely out of place in her school uniform in the midst of so many fancy ladies in the middle of their shopping day.
Standing at the other end of their table was a tall man wearing an expensive, dark blue suit, a regimental tie, and black-framed glasses. She knew that he was a government official, but while he did fit that white-collar vibe, there was also something scholarly about him.
He gestured to the chairs and sat down across from them next to the window. Within seconds, steaming hot towels and leatherbound menus materialized.
“Order anything you like,” he offered. She opened the menu and glanced down, only to register sheer shock. The sandwiches, pasta, and other meals were expensive, of course, but even the desserts all had four-digit prices in yen.
She froze with indecision, but Kirito only snorted. “You might as well get whatever looks good. This is all on the taxpayers’ dime.”
She looked up and saw the bespectacled man smiling and nodding.
“W-well, then…I’ll have the cheesecake with cranberry sauce…and Earl Grey,” she said. On the inside, she was pale: Oh my God, that cost 2,200 yen!
Kirito followed by ordering an apple chiboust, a Mont Blanc, and an espresso. She didn’t even want to imagine what the total cost was approaching now. The waiter bowed deeply and left.
The man across from them reached into his pocket for a black leather case and handed Shino a business card from it.
“It’s nice to meet you. I’m Kikuoka, from the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ Telecommunications Bureau,” he said in a pleasing tenor.
Shino hastily took his card and bowed. “N-nice to meet you. I’m Shino Asada.”
Kikuoka’s mouth pursed shut, and he bowed deeply. “I am truly sorry that our lack of preparation led to your being put in danger.”
“Um…it’s all right now,” she said, bowing back.
Kirito butted in, “You’d better get a proper apology out of him. If Mr. Kikuoka had done his research, neither you nor I would have gone through all of that.”
“As to that, I can offer no defense,” Kikuoka replied, hanging his head like a scolded child. “But you didn’t predict everything yourself, did you, Kirito? You certainly didn’t expect that Death Gun was a team.”
“Well…you’ve got me there,” Kirito replied, leaning back in the creaking antique chair. “You might as well tell us everything you’ve figured out, Mr. Kikuoka.”
“Fine, but…it’s only been two days since their crimes came to light. It’s a long way until we know the full extent of the situation…”
He lifted his coffee cup and took a sip before continuing, “As I said, this team was three in all—at least, according to the testimony of their ringleader, Shouichi Shinkawa.”
“And this Shouichi was the one in the tattered cloak who attacked me and Sinon in the BoB final?” Kirito asked.
Kikuoka nodded. “It’s almost certain. The log from the AmuSphere we confiscated from his apartment showed that he was logged in to Gun Gale Online at the same time as the event.”
“His own apartment…What kind of person was Shouichi Shinkawa? He was the one pulling all of the strings?”
“As for that, we’ll have to start from before the SAO Incident in 2022. But before we get to that…”
The waiter brought a delicate cart by, bearing a number of plates. Once they had been silently deployed onto the table and the waiter was gone, Kikuoka waved for them to tuck in. Shino was not in a particularly hungry mood, but she could probably eat a small piece of cake. She and Kirito said grace and picked up their golden forks.
She carved out a small corner of the wedge of cheesecake, drizzled in a brilliant red sauce, and brought it to her lips. A flavor like concentrated cheese filled her mouth, but to her surprise, it practically melted on her tongue. For an instant, she wanted the recipe, then realized that they would never give it to her.
Once she had gobbled down half of the cake, she set the fork aside and picked up her tea cup. When she had taken a sip of the hot, faintly citrus-flavored liquid, she felt the compressed parts in the very depths of her heart begin to relax, bit by bit.
“…It’s very good,” she murmured, which brought a smile to Kikuoka’s face.
“Of course, the best time to eat delicious things is alongside more pleasant topics. You’ll have to join me another time.”
“Uh, s-sure.”
Meanwhile, Kirito had decimated the tawny brown mountain of Mont Blanc. He joked, “I wouldn’t do it if I were you. His idea of ‘pleasant’ topics is either stinky or creepy.”
“Wh-why, I’m hurt. I’ll have you know the story of my Southeast Asian gourmet tour is quite a riveting one…But before I get off topic, let’s discuss the incident.”
Kikuoka pulled an ultrathin tablet out of his business bag and began prodding at the screen with his long fingers. Shino sat still, nervously awaiting the teacherlike man’s explanation.
She did want to know everything to do with the Death Gun incident, of course. But at the same time, something deep in her heart screamed out that it didn’t want to know the truth.
She knew that in a way, part of her still trusted Kyouji Shinkawa. Even after he pointed that terrible syringe at her, she couldn’t bring herself to hate him entirely. She couldn’t just give up on her fondness for him altogether. She wanted to believe that what she saw didn’t represent him, but someone else who had wormed their way into his mind. That was just how she felt.
About forty hours had passed since what happened late Sunday night.
At Kirito’s suggestion, she had washed her face in the bathroom and changed out of her sweater, at which point the police arrived.
They arrested Kyouji Shinkawa at once, who was still only half-conscious after the battering his head had taken. An ambulance came, and he was transported to the police hospital.
Shino and Kirito were taken to a different hospital, for a few just-in-case tests. The doctor on duty pronounced them just fine aside from a few abrasions, at which point they underwent police questioning there in the examination room. Shino tried to keep her fuzzy mind working, telling them only what had happened in her apartment.
Though she didn’t realize it, Shino had hit the peak of her mental stress, according to the physician, and he called an end to the police questioning at two in the morning. She spent the night there in the hospital and woke up at six thirty in the morning. The doctor recommended that she return to her apartment, and she decided to go to school.
She just barely made it through her Monday classes, nodding off here and there. She assumed that Kyouji’s attack had already made it around school—though he hadn’t attended for a while, he was still a registered student there—but no one was spreading any rumors about him.
When she returned to her apartment after school, ignoring Endou’s usual summons, there was a police car waiting for her. She headed to the same hospital with a change of clothes, took a simple examination from the doctor, then underwent her second questioning. This time, Shino asked a number of questions, mostly about Kyouji, but learned nothing other than that he wasn’t hurt too bad, and was mostly refusing to say anything to the police.
She was told to stay in the hospital again that night, for “security reasons.” After eating, showering, and making a brief call to her grandparents and mother, Shino laid down in her hospital bed. She slipped into a deep sleep and remembered nothing afterward. When she woke, she had the sensation of coming out of a long dream, but didn’t remember anything about it.
On Tuesday—this morning—she was taken back to her apartment in an unmarked police car. As she stepped out of the car, the detective informed her that her questioning was over for now. She was grateful for that, but she wondered how she would learn more about what had happened. She was slicing tomatoes for her breakfast before school when the phone rang. It was Kirito. Right off the bat, he asked if she had time after school, and she automatically said yes.
Now she was seated next to Kirito, hearing the briefing from the government official who was the boy’s “employer.”
Kikuoka looked up from the tablet and spoke in a low voice, mindful of the people around.
“Shouichi Shinkawa is the eldest son of the owner and director of a general hospital. He was sickly from a young age, in and out of the hospital until he graduated middle school. He was a year late to high school…and because of that, his father abandoned his hopes for Shouichi to inherit the family business, placing his hopes instead on his second son, Kyouji, who was three years younger. Kyouji had a home tutor while in elementary school, and would sometimes receive his father’s lessons himself, leaving Shouichi completely to his own devices. The elder brother was pressured by the lack of hope, while the younger was pressured by the weight of that hope…according to the testimony of their father.”
He paused, taking a sip of coffee to wet his tongue.
Shino looked down at the table and tried to imagine what parents’ expectations must be like. But she couldn’t get a good feel for it.
Despite how close they had been, she’d never sensed any of this pressure from Kyouji in person. She realized once again that she’d been so obsessed with her own issues that she never paid any attention to his. It was a painful reminder.
Kikuoka continued, “But despite the circumstances, the brothers still got along. Shouichi quit high school and sought solace in the online world, particularly in MMORPGs, and
his brother picked the habit up from him soon after. Eventually, Shouichi fell prisoner to Sword Art Online, spending two years in his father’s hospital in a coma, but once back, he became a sort of idol figure to Kyouji…a hero, if you will.”
Shino sensed Kirito’s breathing becoming a bit more tense next to her. But Kikuoka only paused his smooth, hushed explanation for a moment before continuing.
“After he returned, Shouichi never touched upon his experiences in SAO, it seems, but once his rehab was over and he returned home, he did tell Kyouji some things…about how many players he had attacked in that world, and the fear his murderous ways struck in the others. At this point, Kyouji’s grades were suffering, and he was being extorted by upperclassmen, so in Shouichi’s tales he found not disgust or fear, but exhilaration and release.”
“Um…” Shino piped up. Kikuoka looked up and craned his neck, prompting her to continue. “Did Shinkawa…I mean, Kyouji tell you about this?”
“No, this is all based on his brother’s statements. Shouichi answered everything the police asked him, including what he thought about his brother’s state of mind. On the other hand, Kyouji has maintained total silence.”
“…I see.”
There was no way for Shino to know what kind of place Kyouji’s soul wandered now. Though she knew it was impossible, she almost imagined that if she logged in to GGO right now, she would find Spiegel in the corner of the bar where they usually met, as if nothing had ever happened.
“Uh, p-please continue,” she urged. Kikuoka nodded and glanced at the tablet again.
“We only have conjectures as to when the brothers reached the point of no return, but I understand that Shouichi started playing Gun Gale Online on Kyouji’s recommendation. Shouichi didn’t show the kind of VR rejection that many of the other SAO Survivors did, but he also didn’t take to the game very enthusiastically. Rather than venture into the wilderness, he preferred to watch other players in town and imagine how he would kill them, he said. But that all changed when he got himself an invisibility cloak through a Real Money Transaction.”