It wasn't long until Kaito was discharged from the hospital. The doctors told him that constant exposure to whatever happened in Cross Edge could injure him and his mental state. Kaito accepted the diagnosis and left Takamine with the doctor. The doctor turned to her and asked, "Is there a reason why he seems to be doing this?"
"I don't know sir," Takamine responded. "It's something that he doesn't talk about."
"I'd recommend keeping an eye on him."
Takamine nodded and grabbed her sling bag. She thanked the doctor before leaving the room and stepped out into the hospital. When she reached the parking garage, Kato was already in the driver's seat with the car running. When she got in the car, Kato placed the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. The drive back to the apartment was silent as neither side knew what to say. Takamine knew his past at this point but knew that Kaito wouldn't be delighted to talk about it. They walked into the apartment and Kaito immediately went to his room. Takamine went to the kitchen and made two cups of iced tea. When she tried to open the door, the knob rattled and didn't turn. She raised her hand and knocked on the door. There was silence on the other side.
Takamine spoke, "Hey, there's a cup of iced tea in the kitchen if you want it."
She placed one of the cups on the counter and walked to her room. She picked up a book from the wall and noticed a multitude of post-it notes sticking out of the pages. When reading through more and more of the content, she saw notes dated past the end of SAO and before GGO. All of the notes mentioned Alfeim Online, another popular VRMMO in Japan. A red bookmark held a jumble of pages together. Takamine opened the ribbon and the first words on the first page was Emotional Circuit and Alteration. When Kaito had been describing symptoms to the doctor, he mentioned a surge of pain and anger inside of him. The odd part was that he had only received minor damage from attacks.
"Could it be the pain absorber?" Taka thought while flipping over the first page.
She took out a notebook from her backpack and started to take notes on the content. Pain augmentation and alteration had occurred during the early years of ALO experiment. A company that worked with Argus, Epsilon, ran the experiments. Through a whistleblower in the company, the experiments and ALO were forced to shut down. Epsilon was eventually cleared from any wrongdoing, but the company was unable to continue their research. One of the studies monitored the influence of inserting images as well as artificial pain.
"Pain is the greatest influencer. The targets would always respond to every command given," Taka muttered while reading the notes. "Respond to commands? Like what happened with Kato?"
Taka grabbed her phone and noticed a voicemail from Kirito. She opened up the voicemail and listened to the message. Since the time that they were gone, the fake PoH had attacked Kirito and Layla. During that time, Layla had come under the influence of whatever happened to Kaito. The symptoms of red vignettes as well as unbearable pain were common between them. The occurrence of red and black sparks was also true for Layla. Taka wrote down the symptoms and continued her research with Kaito's old notes in ALO. As she fell into the rabbit hole, the more she realized that PAAC was a continuation of these experiments.
"What about Lobo though?" She thought while flipping through the SAO Survivors book.
She found the section dedicated to red players and the story of Laughing Coffin and other murder guilds. She read through the pages but could not find a single piece of information about Lobo. The only known information was that he was just another victim of the SAO Incident.
"Why though? Why does he want Kaito?" Taka thought while flipping through the pages.
Takamine heard a loud sound from the kitchen. She walked over to her door and opened it slightly to find Kaito with a knife in his right hand and staring at his left. A small amount of blood oozes out of a wound on his thumb. He rubbed his fingers together and placed a bandage over the wound. Takamine ambled next to him and held his wounded hand. She inspected the wound.
"Are you okay?" Takamine asked.
Kaito answered, "I'll be fine."
He finished his food and returned to his room once more. Takamine stood there dumbfounded. She only wanted to help him, but she was pushed away once again. She stared at his door and the thought of losing him crossed her mind. Taka reached for her face and rubbed her temples. She couldn't let those thoughts fill her mind right now.
After a few days, Kaito decided to take Takamine out for dinner. Kaito took her to her favorite restaurant in Colorado. The atmosphere was awkward and tense. Every time that Takamine tried to bring up the incidents in Cross Edge, Kaito would stop eating for a minute. After a few minutes, Takamine tried a different approach.
"What about Alfheim? Can you tell me what happened then?" Takamine asked.
Kaito paused before taking a sip of water. He spoke, "What about it?"
Takamine tapped her foot a couple times and thought about what she saw in his journal. After a few seconds of thinking, she spoke up and asked, "Do you think that this whole thing about PAAC and Cross Edge. Do you think it has something to do with Alfheim?"
Kaito lowered his fork and rested his hand on the table. Takamine held her fork pensively. Maybe she had pushed it too far.
"How do you know about it?" Kaito asked.
Takamine's hand shook slightly when he said that. She bit her lip and answered, "Your book."
Kaito sighs and looks at the food in his plate.
"Alfheim was the result of inaction," Kato stated. "I told the Case Victims that the remaining 200 players were being tested on."
Takamine thought back to the journal and remembered the notes about mind control and mind manipulation. Before she could say another word, Kaito had finished his food and placed the fork on his plate. Takamine tried to ask for more but was met with the same response of silence. The dinner proceeded to be awkward. They didn't share a single conversation since she asked about ALO. Soon enough, the end of the dinner came and Kaito paid for it like the gentleman Takamine remembered. They step outside into the parking lot and walked over to the motorcycle. A few paces before the bike, Takamine stopped in her tracks and confronted Kaito.
"Kaito...please. Why don't you want me to be involved? We're together now. We can solve it together," Taka pleaded.
Kaito grabbed his helmet and sighed, "This is my history. Not yours."
"But why? We're together now so it's our history now! Just why won't you let us help you?"
"Because I can't lose you too!"
Takamine was taken aback by the statement. Kaito stared back at her with his fists clenched. She could see tears starting to form near his eyes. Desperation filled Kaito's soul.
"I have seen friends and people I've called family. All of them gone in an instant," Kaito shouted. "I'll never see them again. Neither will their families. I can't go through with that feeling again if I lose you too."
"Kaito, I'm already in the rabbit hole with you. We're in it together," Takamine responded. "Lobo knew who I was. He knew my name actual name. I'm already a target for him. So just let me help you."
"I can't lose you. I just...I can't bring myself to face the idea of losing you to him."Takamine walked up to him and held his hands. She gazed into his eyes for a moment. She pleaded, "You don't have to worry about me Kaito. I trust you and you can trust me. Just let me help you."
Kaito removed his hands and turned away. He whispered back, "No."
Kaito mounted his motorcycle and moved the kickstand. He tossed the second helmet towards Taka and she caught it. She stared at the face of the helmet and imagined the NerveGear. If one thing changed from Kaito since childhood, she could trace it back to the SAO Incident. Takamine glanced back at Kaito who was waiting. She trudged behind him with tears forming in her eyes. When she sat behind him, Taka rested her head on his back and buried her face in his jacket. She heard his slow heartbeat, but didn't feel his warm touch. Her arms wrapped around his waist and silently cried into his jacket. Her previous thoughts of losing him are starting to come true. The silent drive back to the apartment was unbearable. Once the door opened, Kaito placed his helmet on the dining room table and retreated back to the room. Taka walked up to his door and raised her hand to the door. She stopped herself from knocking on the door and lowered her hand in defeat.
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SAO FB: Scars
AcciónWhat will you do when your past catches up to you? This will be the last story that this account will produce.