Kirito and Yui set their sights on spotting a whale during an underwater expedition through Alfeim Online. As the group gets ready for the quest, they discover that Leafa is afraid of water and cannot swim. Asuna and the other girls decide to teach Suguha to swim at a pool in the real world, hoping the practice will carry over to her play in ALO. Meanwhile, Kirito goes off to what is presented as emergency counseling at the SAO Survivor School. The session is really a pretext arranged by Seijirou Kikuoka, who wants to go back over the Sword Art Online incident to work out what drove Akihiko Kayaba. The special blends action, adventure, fantasy and romance across both the virtual and physical worlds.