Tomioka Kiyoshi had spent the entire night in the hospital poring over medical records, consulting many professors, but could not find any similar cases.
By six o'clock in the morning, when Akimi's temperature was measured again, it was still around 39°C — the fever-reducing injection hadn't had much effect.
Just as Kiyoshi was at her wit's end, the cover image and author's name on a botanical magazine lying on her desk caught her attention — Hashibira Aoba.
He was a botanist, and in one of his research reports, he had mentioned that in addition to its normal detoxifying and wind-dispelling properties, wisteria could also inhibit the growth of certain viruses.
However, last month, due to some personal mistake, Aoba had caused the death of an extremely rare plant in his institute — the blue spider lily — leading to his dismissal from the research institute.
Moreover, the Hashibira and Tomioka families had always had a good relationship, and Kiyoshi also knew Aoba — in terms of seniority, he was actually a generation older than Akimi and the others.
Her grandfather, Tomioka Shizo, often said that wisteria was a truly magical plant.
He had told her before that when his elder brother, Tomioka Shino, was ill in the past, all it took was a cup of their grandmother's special wisteria tea to make him recover.
So, every year in April and May when wisteria bloomed, Shizo would pick some flowers and, after special processing, make wisteria tea.
(Note: Wisteria is mildly toxic — do NOT actually attempt to make wisteria tea in real life.)
Looking at the wisteria pictured in the magazine, an idea suddenly popped into Kiyoshi's mind: Wisteria… could it help with Akimi's condition?
Once the thought appeared, her mind began to branch out rapidly.
After thinking it over for a while, she realized it was actually feasible — even if the wisteria tea didn't work, it wouldn't harm the body.
In the end, Kiyoshi decided to give it a try — but before that, she needed to find someone to assist her.
"Hello, is this Senior Aoba? This is Kiyoshi. I have something I'd like to ask for your help with. Do you have time?"
"Uh… I… I happen to be free these few days… What exactly is it? Oh, right…"
"Then could you please come to the SAO ward at the University of Tokyo Hospital? I'll explain the details when we meet."
"…Alright… I suppose."
After hanging up the phone, in a park in Tokyo, a young man wearing a white shirt, with shoulder-length black hair and beautiful greenish-blue eyes, sat on a bench, scratching his head in distress.
He turned to a dark red-haired boy beside him and said:
"Mm… Sumihiko, I have to go to the University of Tokyo Hospital for something. You should head home first."
Kamado Sumihiko nodded, then yawned and said, "Alright… I'm feeling a bit sleepy anyway."
After picking up the badminton racket and shuttlecock from the bench and putting them into the bag, Sumihiko turned to Aoba and said,
"Uncle Aoba, I'll be going now, bye."
Then he jogged a few steps toward the wall.
"Alright… Hey, hey! Sumihiko! That way is—"
Aoba stretched out his hand in warning, about to stop him.
But Sumihiko simply stepped up onto the wall, grabbed the top edge with one hand, and flipped himself over.
"…The wall, huh…"
Watching Sumihiko's movements, Aoba's mouth twitched slightly, and he silently retracted his hand.
Ten minutes later, Aoba drove to the University of Tokyo Hospital.
As soon as he got out of the car and reached the hospital entrance, Kiyoshi grabbed him and dragged him straight to Akimi's ward, quickly explaining the situation at an almost machine-gun pace.
When Aoba finished listening in a daze, a troubled expression slowly spread across his delicate face.
He slowly raised his right hand and said to Kiyoshi,
"But… I only study plants… when it comes to treating illnesses… I have no experience at all…"
Kiyoshi waved her hand casually and said,
"It's fine. All I really need are your research materials. If you really don't want to, just consider it my bothering you."
"Uh…" Aoba rubbed his nose awkwardly and replied in a soft voice,
"I never said I didn't want to help… Forget it, what exactly do I need to do?"
As he murmured, Aoba thought to himself: This girl… has she always been this… brash?
Kiyoshi, of course, had no idea of his impression of her.
She pointed to the figure on the bed wearing a dark blue "helmet" and said,
"I want to try using wisteria to see if it can cure Akimi… As for the method, I'd like you to help me figure it out."
"…Got it."
---------------------
May 17, 2:10 a.m.
After finishing his grinding session, Kirito said goodbye to Klein and the others before leaving.
But just as he returned to town, he received a message from Keita:
This is Keita. I'm sure you've noticed that Sachi's been acting a little off these past two days. She went out two hours ago and still hasn't come back… Judging from her HP, she's not in immediate danger, but I'm still worried. So Tetsuo and I are going to look for her in the labyrinth area. If you have any clues, please message me. Thanks!
Reading the message, Kirito frowned slightly, then opened his skill menu and activated a modified version of the Tracking skill, setting the target as Sachi.
As a faint light flashed in his eyes, traces slowly appeared along the darkened streets around him — footprints, or rather, movement marks belonging to Sachi.
Seeing the footprints, Kirito silently breathed a sigh of relief.
The Tracking skill had a time limit, and once that expired, the traces would gradually fade.
Following the trail, Kirito eventually arrived at a small bridge over the town's river.
Beneath the bridge, in the shadows, was a crouched figure, arms wrapped around their knees.
"Sachi!"
Kirito called out calmly to the figure.
He walked over to her side and sat down, speaking softly:
"Everyone's really worried about you."
Sachi didn't answer right away.
Instead, she slowly stretched her left hand toward the light, curled her fingers as if to grasp it, then withdrew it into the shadows.
Suddenly, she said to Kirito:
"Hey, Kirito… Let's run away together…"
Under the cover of the bridge, Sachi's entire body was swallowed by shadow, while Kirito sat in the cold, white glow of the lamp above.
The division of light and shadow made it seem as if Kirito and Sachi were in two completely different worlds.
Kirito didn't rush to scold Sachi.
Instead, he gave a gentle smile and softly asked,
"Mm… Can I ask why? What are you trying to escape from?"
"Escape from this town, escape from those terrifying monsters, escape from the Moonlit Black Cats… escape from this world—the world of Sword Art Online."
Sachi hugged her legs, curling herself into a ball, resting her chin on her knees as she spoke in a low voice.
But it seemed Kirito misunderstood what she meant.
His face showed clear shock, cold sweat suddenly breaking out as he stammered,
"Y-you mean… you want me to commit suicide with you?!"
"Hah, that's not what I meant… but maybe… that wouldn't be so bad either…"
Hearing the yandere-like tone in her words, the look of shock on Kirito's face became even more obvious.
Before Kirito could say anything, Sachi continued,
"Forget it, I won't lie to you… If I had the courage to kill myself, I wouldn't be hiding here in this safe zone."
Kirito's expression softened just a little.
"Kirito… why do you think we can't leave this place? It's clearly just a game, yet it really wants us to die… What's the point of this game, anyway?"
Sachi's voice trembled slightly as she spoke to him.
After a brief silence, Kirito slowly looked up at the sky and said,
"I think… maybe there is no point at all."
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