Work Text:
Yoruko sighed as she continued typing on her laptop, writing a report on her latest patient's progress. Ever since she had escaped the killing game and was able to return to her daily life, she felt an emptiness inside her she couldn't figure out.
Perhaps it was the grief of losing so many people that she had befriended, a hollow victory that came at the cost of so many lives, or maybe it was that she made a promise to meet with someone she was sure she'd never see again. She was told that maybe it would be possible to see her again, but the possibility was close to none.
Yoruko saved her work and closed her laptop. Even if that person wasn't human in the first place, she couldn't stop thinking about her. All she wanted to do right now was make herself a cup of coffee and go take a nap.
All of a sudden, she heard a knock at the door. Yoruko cleared her throat and smoothed out her clothes and hair, expecting her visitor to be one of her counselling patients. She walked to the door and opened it with a smile, but her professional mask was shattered when she saw a familiar face at the door.
"Good afternoon, Yoruko," Rei greeted. "May I come in?"
"Oh, of course!" the counsellor immediately replied, standing out of the way and letting the professor into her house. "I'm making coffee, would you like some?"
"No, I'm fine. Please sit down, this is important," she sighed, sitting down on the couch. Rei waited until Yoruko had sat down on the adjacent couch to her before continuing. "I went back to the island, and I did some digging around in the broken program as I said."
"I see..." Yoruko trailed off. The Kisaragi Foundation had gone back to the island once before to pick up the bodies of the dead and give them a private burial and funeral. To the public, the deceased Symbols of Hope for the Next Generation were missing from an unknown cause. Yoruko hadn't wept as much as she did in her life.
"While going through the code, I did find the backup files for the three still in there, but the code was physically refusing to let itself be moved," Rei continued. "I had to forcibly log myself into the program and drag her into the connected USB myself. Her luck was preventing anyone from moving her. But she cooperated in the end."
The counsellor's eyes widened as she listened to Rei's account. She couldn't possibly have done it...
"We did choose to blow up the island in the end to prevent the machinery from being used again and to destroy the other AIs in there. But, as I promised, I obtained this." Rei reached into her jacket and pulled out a grey USB stick. She passed it to Yoruko on the other couch, who took the stick into her hands and held it close to her chest. "Well, I'll show myself out."
Yoruko managed to pull herself together long enough to thank Rei and shake hands with her, and she collapsed onto the couch again as soon as Rei left. She was here, in the USB. It was like a dream come true, but on the other hand, it felt like a fantasy.
As Yoruko processed everything, she suddenly remembered that there was someone else who would want to see her again too. She dove for her phone and dialled a number, then waited for the other side to pick up.
"Oh, hi, Yoruko! It's been a while since you last called, haha," Yuki responded. "Um, what's up? Did you want to hang out, or-?"
"Get over to my place right now," Yoruko demanded, then realized he tone. "Um, sorry about that. It's really important, Rei came over with a USB."
"A USB? Why on earth would she...?"
"It's Sora. She's out of the program, but I haven't transferred her to my computer yet. She's saved."
"...I'll be there in an hour, give or take."
After Yuki hung up, Yoruko waited through one of the most stressful hours in her life. She was relieved when there was a knock at the door, and she immediately let the boy in without a word. He took off his coat and hung it up by the door, and removed his shoes as well.
"...How's that body treating you?" Yoruko asked, trying to ease the tension. "I have some coffee in the kitchen, you'll have to reheat it though."
"It's fine, and I don't think I need coffee to be more hyped up than I am right now," he chuckled, playing with his hair as he fidgeted. "We should get started. It's been a long time for all of us."
"Yeah, you're right," the counsellor agreed. "I've...been wasting enough time. We need to see her again."
Yuki had been in Yoruko's house enough times for him to know the way to the living room, and they sat down on a couch together. Yoruko began setting up her laptop while Yuki fidgeted as he watched, and she took a deep breath before inserting the USB stick into her computer.
The two of them practically held their breaths as the counsellor went into her files to load Sora's code, and a black window suddenly appeared once the data was formatted. After a few seconds, the screen loaded and their familiar white-haired girl appeared on the screen.
Sora opened her eyes and looked around, using the computer's camera to see, and she smiled as she realized who she was looking at. "Yoruko?! Yuki?! Is that really you guys?!" she cried out in shock, a smile coming on her face. "Oh my god, it's really you!"
"Soraaaa!" Yoruko exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes as she nearly jumped in her seat. "When Rei told me you were in the USB, I almost didn't believe it!"
"I almost didn't believe that she had a way out for me either! It's felt like years since I've seen you guys!" Sora smiled, trying to keep her composure as well. "With the time difference between the real and virtual worlds, it probably has been years since I've last seen you two. Sorry that it took so long."
In comparison to Yoruko, who had lived longer and learned to handle her emotions in her own time, Yuki was close to breaking down from happiness, so unused to handling so much trauma and grief so close together. "You're alive, you're actually back!" they heard Yuki say, and Yoruko reflexively put a hand on his back to comfort him. "I never got to pay you back for saying me, I'll do it one day! I promise!"
"Oh, Yuki..." Sora fell silent, pitying the boy in front of her. "Well, you'll have plenty of time to do that, I'm here to stay. You should get yourself some water, Yuki, and then could you guys fill me in on everything that happened while I was gone?"