Chapter 20 - Not Alone

With narrowed eyes, Drifter stared at Kirito's departing figure. Then, he turned to Asuna, who was glaring daggers at him. How was a fourteen or fifteen years old girl so scary?

"Explain."

"Not here. It would ruin everything Kirito has done. Come on, we should catch up to him."

He tried to impart as much calmness as he could, least the girl started arguing right here in the middle of the boss room. Thankfully, Asuna gave him the benefit of the doubt, and nodded curtly. Drifter scanned his gaze over the other members of the raid party. Most were still shell-shocked, but Kibaou's face was turning shades the spearman had never seen before, which could only mean he was about to blow up.

"Agil..."

"I know, go on. I will try to calm the nerves down here, although I doubt it will work. It should give you enough time to explain things to them and get to him, though."

"Thanks, man."

"No probs. Tell the little guy he is still welcome in my shop."

"Will do."

Smiling, Drifter gestured for his party to come with him. While Kirito had taken control during the fight - and it was a good thing he did, otherwise more people would have died - it seemed command had fallen back into his hands once they were in the clear. He quite liked this arrangement. Directing a battle was stressful.

With large strides, the group of five left the boss room, and climbed the somber set of stairs that led to the 2nd floor. Before Asuna could open her mouth to demand answers again, Drifter started speaking.

"Let's talk while we walk. I would hate to lose Kirito now because we were too slow."

Just behind him, Asuna huffed in agreement. Drifter could see that Nautilus was still somewhat confused, while Yuna, after the adrenaline settled down, had a thoughtful expression that led him to believe she already suspected what Kirito's reasons for acting the way he did were. As for Sinon, she had yet to speak after her little outburst back in Illfang's chambers. The girl struck Drifter as the calm and calculating sort since the first meeting, so she probably wasn't too far behind Drifter's and Agil's train of thought.

"What Kirito just did was prevent a witch hunt from starting, Asuna. And quite possibly he just saved a whole bunch of lives."

"What do you mean? What witch hunt?"

"Against beta-testers! Of course!"

Sinon slapped her forehead and scowled. Drifter wasn't sure if she was angry at herself for not noticing earlier, or at Kirito. Either way, he nodded, and continued.

"That's right. Thanks to all that bullshit Kibaou was spouting, we were about to tear ourselves from the inside. People would start looking at their own party members, their friends, and wonder if they were beta-testers waiting to rob them of all their spoils and hard work."

"The way that stupid cactus-head was speaking, it even sounded like beta-testers would let other players die on purpose."

"Or even worse."

The others quickly caught on to what Drifter and Sinon were implying. None of them were dumb, after all.

"Yeah, I don't even wanna think about it from that angle. Anyway, Kirito - who certainly is a beta-tester by the way - understood that. And he knew that if it was allowed to continue, we would never clear this damn game. Not if we couldn't trust the people we were fighting with."

Once again, Drifter felt the urge to curse and give Kibaou a good beating. While it was understandable that the player was angry and grieving Diavel's death, his accusations had almost destroyed everything their blue-haired leader had worked so hard for. No, they would have done so if Kirito hadn't decided to take the burden on himself.

"Kirito noticed all that. He played the part of the big bad wolf, the villain. Now, whenever someone thinks of beta-testers, they will only think of him. The beater. Curse the idiot who came up with that name. It's gonna catch on."

"B-But... That's so unfair!"

The spearman let out a dry chuckle at Asuna's argument.

"It is. And as much as I hate to admit it, it was probably the only way to cease the infighting before it even started. At least I couldn't think of any better ideas in the heat of the moment."

"People are gonna hate Kirito because of this. He sacrificed himself to give everyone else a better chance..."

Nautilus held Yuna in a one-armed hug before letting go. The songstress, always so emphatic, had moist eyes. Fortunately, it wasn't that bad yet. At least, Drifter hopped not.

"That was his intention, certainly. But not everyone is as much of an idiot as Kibaou. If we and Agil could arrive at that conclusion within a few seconds, then most players will too, after they get over the initial period of anger. Remind me to send Argo a message explaining everything later. Or, better yet, we should set up a meeting with her. Let her spread the word about what truly happened before cactus-man starts babbling his hate speech to anyone who will listen."

"Even then, people still won't trust Kirito. He will become a loner. A pariah."

Stopping, Drifter turned around and held Sinon's shoulder. He grimaced, but quickly hid it behind a serious expression as he looked at the party.

"Not if we have something to say about it."

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Kikouka was out the door and rushing towards the parking lot before the live stream even cut off.

"Find out who that Kirito is immediately!"

"Already did, sir. We cross-referenced his face with the most active victims during the boss fight. Here."

Kikouka grabbed the tablet his subordinate handed him, showing a teenager boy's face, with messy black hair and black eyes. He quickly scanned the file while getting in the backseat of his car.

"Kirigaya Kazuto... Fourteen, deceased parents, lives with his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Hacked a government database to find out who his parents were when he was ten?"

Raising an eyebrow, Kikouka quickly re-read that last line. He wasn't sure if he should be feeling as impressed as he was considering what the boy did was illegal, but then again, he had been just a kid. It wasn't important now.

"Naguouka-kun, please call the boy's family, and tell them to meet us at the hospital as quickly as they can, if they are not already on the way."

"Yes, sir."

"I need to... Shit, I left my phone in the office. Chi-chan, lend me ours."

The driver nimbly pulled her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and threw the device to her boss. On the passenger seat, Naguouka was hurriedly speaking with Kirito's family. From the snippets of conversation he overheard, they were already almost at the hospital Kirito was staying.

"Hello? Chi?"

"It's me, Ogaka-san."

"Sir!"

"You saw the SAO transmission, didn't you? Good, I need you to start working on two things. First, discover how the hell Kayaba did that, and why. Second, identify every player who was present at the boss fight, and draft a plan to move them to the 1st General Military Hospital. Yes, I know they aren't soldiers, I'm not stupid. But their faces just got stamped on every news channel and website in the world, and I very much doubt this was a one-time stunt from Kayaba. If they participate in a few more raids, they will soon reach the level of global celebrities. Yeah, I know, I know. Just hold the sharks off while we try to make sense of this mess, I will give a statement later today. All right, I want all that information ready on my desk when I come back."

By the time Kikouka had finished delivering his orders, they had reached the hospital. Taking a few moments to smooth his clothes and hair, the man walked to the room where Kirigaya Kazuto was hospitalized, and knocked. He wasn't sure if someone would answer, but it appeared the Kirigayas had arrived even faster than him.

A thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl with black hair and bangs opened the door. Her eyes were puffy and red, making it very clear that she had been crying.

"Yes?"

"Good afternoon. You must be Kirigaya Suguha, right? Can I come in? I must speak to your parents."

"Mr. Seijirou, is that you? Let him in, dear."

The teen stepped aside to let him in, before returning to her spot next to the young boy in the hospital bed. Kikouka couldn't see his face because of the NerveGear, but he didn't need to. Practically the entire world knew it.

"Miss and Mister Kirigaya, thank you for allowing me in. I'm sure you all watched the live stream?"

"Hard not to."

Kirito's, no, Kazuto's uncle and adoptive father, Kirigaya Minetaka, snorted. Kikouka couldn't help but chuckle along, though neither of the women in the room seemed amused. Kirigaya Midori got up to greet him.

"Mr. Seijirou... What the hell happened?!"

The woman yelled into his face with an intensity that only a mother worrying about her son could. It reminded Kikouka of why he never married.

"Ms. Kirigaya, I am ashamed to say that we are still as lost as you. As much as it pains me to admit, Akihiko Kayaba is a genius. My team is still trying to decipher the hows and whys. But that's not the main reason I am here. It concerns Kazuto's... Unique situation."

"You mean that beater thing? My Kazuto is not a cheater! He would never have let that man die on purpose!"

Kikouka raised his hands in surrender and in an attempt to pacify the woman. He had met Kirigaya Midori before, and knew she didn't behave this panicky usually. But she had just watched her adoptive son essentially turn himself into the enemy of all the remaining 8.000 SAO players, so her distress was understandable.

"I understand, and I fully believe you, Ms. Kirigaya. This is the first time we managed to peek inside SAO, so I can't even begin to fathom the dynamics developed between the players during this last month. If I were to wager a guess, however, I would say your son just stopped them from falling apart. You should be proud."

The Kirigaya family relaxed as one. They were probably worried about Kikoula believing the whole beater thing and charging Kazuto with something. That was obviously not going to happen, but watching someone you deeply cared about fight to the death with a giant monster, and then get shunned but his peers didn't do wonders for your mental state.

"On that note, I need your authorization to move Kazuto to a more secure facility."

"What? Why?"

"Just because we understand Kazuto has done nothing wrong, and even saved the lives of many in the raid party, doesn't mean everyone else does too, Mr. Kirigaya. Especially family members of deceased SAO victims. They will be grieving and in pain, and not thinking straight. I don't want to risk any accidents."

It took a moment for his words to sink in, and when they did, the family quickly agreed to his suggestion.

Kikouka didn't stay for long. There was a lot to be done today, and many problems to be solved. Before leaving, however, he patted the young child Suguha, on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, your brother will be fine. It may look like he left everyone behind, be he is not alone. And he is strong. You will see him again soon."

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The 2nd floor of Aincrad was nothing like Drifter imagined. For some reason - namely logic, which obviously didn't apply to a videogame - he thought it would be similar to the 1st floor, with grassy plains and forests. Instead, what he saw was a vast savanna with seemingly no end in sight. At the edge of his vision there was a city, which should be the equivalent of the Town of Beginnings.

The impressive view was something to worry about later, though. Right now, Drifter and the rest of the party were more concerned with the young player slowly walking towards the city, lost in his thoughts. Kirito only noticed them when Sinon punched his shoulder.

"Idiot."

"Dumb."

"Selfish."

"Ouch."

Drifter snickered at Kirito's confused and somewhat hurt expression. When the boy turned to him, his mouth stretched into a grin.

"You deserve that, Kirito."

"I-I think I do. But why are you all here?"

"Sinon, you can punch him again."

The whole group, minus Kirito, laughed at what Nautilus said. Sinon did punch him again, very lightly. And, while Kirito was still befuddled, Asuna schooled her expression and stepped towards him, hands on hips. Her hazel eyes carried such an intensity that the boys took a few steps back, gulping.

"Kirito, Drifter explained why you did all that back in the boss room. I... We understand it now, but it doesn't mean we like it."

"I-I didn't want to drag you into the mess I made."

"And that's why I said you are being selfish! You literally saved our lives during the fight! Did you really think we would abandon you?!"

"S-Sorry!"

Taking the chance after the scolding was finished, Drifter sent a party invite to Kirito again. Furthermore, once the boy accepted, he made him into the party leader. To his questioning glance, he had a simple answer.

"You got us through Illfang. I will feel a hell of a lot safer if it's you leading us. Not to mention, being just a party member is a lot less stressful. Good luck."

After opening and closing his mouth a few times, and seeing the others not even trying to hide their laughter, Kirito gave up trying to argue he was a solo player. He still didn't believe he was fit to be a party leader, but honestly he was overwhelmed enough by the fact Drifter, Yuna, Nautilus, Sinon, and Asuna wanted him on their party that it kinda slipped his mind.

"All right, Kirito, as the only beta-testers amongst us, what should we do now?"

"Get to Urbus - that is, the main city of this floor - and activate the teleporter. It allows players to travel to the 2nd floor from the 1st without having to go through the tower."

That made sense. Without much ado, the now complete party marched towards the city before the rest of the raid group could catch up to them.