Klein(SAO)x Reader

Chapter Twenty

I open my eyes to a blinding light, and sit up in my bed, looking at the joyous faces of my sister, mother, and brother. 

"Yumi! goodness, I love you so much!" My mother cries, flinging herself into my arms. My eyes widen in surprise at both my mother and me surviving SAO. When mom finally lets go of me, I'm able to see my skinny arms and my long hair that now flows down to my lower thighs.

"M-mom?" I rasp, blinking a few times, trying to get used to using my voice, and used to this light. "B-but, I died. How am I alive?" I look down to my trembling hands, my voice shaking as much as they are. 

Wait!

"K-Klein!" I pause, flinging the sheets off my skinny legs, much to my family's surprise. "I need to find him!" I step out of the cot, the stickers on my arms and legs plucking from my skin, but I pay them no attention, stumbling into my mother's arms. 

"Yumi you mustn't move! Your body isn't used to moving anymore! Let me get you some crutches and I'll take you to a water fountain!" She hurries out of the room after setting my back down in the bed, leaving me to the questions of my siblings.

"Oh, Yumi!" My sister Aimi shouts, wrapping her arms around me. "Are you okay? It's been so long! I'm so so sorry! I didn't want to leave you on bad terms, but I did! And then you got stuck in that game--"

"Yeah! What was it like? Was it awesome? Scary? Fun? What was it like to know that if you died in there you would die out here?" My brother Sora interrupts, and I scowl.

"I'm fine. The thought of dying in that game pushed me on. I actually survived about fifty floors of the one hundred we were expected to clear, but one of my best friends I had met in the game beta cleared it on the floor that I was on--"

"And who's this 'Klein' you're so worried about? Is he a 'special' best friend of yours? Or maybe more?" Aimi teases, making me smile.

"Yes, much more to me than 'best friend'. We're dating now." This makes Aimi's face drain, and she starts stuttering.

"U-uh, o-oh, um, okay, t-that was r-really a bland w-way of telling us." She stammers, glancing out the window.

"Do you have someone like that, Aimi?" My voice suddenly turns cold, much colder than I would've expected. "In SAO, he would cover me in any situation. He literally told me that he would die for me. Have you ever been in a situation where you could die, and you have to find a way to tide yourself with surviving every little battle you encounter? Where if your Health bar dropped to zero, you would never live to see the real world again?" At this point, I'm glaring at both of them. "Have you ever run in front of someone to save their life, even at the risk of your own? Ever had to kill someone?" At this, both of their eyes stick to mine, shock shimmering in their depths as they both shake their heads. "That's what you had to do in SAO to survive," I growl, looking out the window. A moment later, mom comes back in with two crutches, and, staring at Aimi and Sora, hands me the crutches.

"What happened to them? It's like they just walked into a funeral!" She helps me to my feet, sticking a crutch under both of my arms, leading me out of the room and into the hallway, helping me get a drink of water. "Who's this Klein, Yumi?" I lean back from the water fountain, wiping my mouth. 

"He's very special to me. He's my boyfriend." My mom staggers back a moment, probably from the fierce gaze I'm looking at her with, but she smiles anyway.

"I'm happy for you. We'll contact the receptionist to find out what hospital Klein is in."

"By the way, that's not his name. His real name is Tsuboi Ryoutaru." I murmur, turning to head back to my hospital room. Mom assists me back into my bed, and soon other friends I had forgotten about are filing into the room, jumping at me with tears of joy, some nearly strangling me out of the anger of me actually buying a death game. I reason that I didn't know that it would turn out to be that way, but they just sigh, shaking their heads. I mutter to myself as they all exit the cramped room but smile inwardly as memories of them flood back into my awareness. The rest of the day and the day after that I'm in a rehabilitation for the SAO survivors. Apparently, they need everyone to go to a special school, including the adults, for the survivors, so I have high hopes of Klein being there.