A/N: Hey, everyone, we're actually on schedule this time! And yes, as you can see, this is the really cliche beach chapter that is basically in every anime and fanfiction fan-base everywhere. But you know what, we don't really care because these chapters are written a lot for a reason: they're fun.

By the way, obviously, by content in this and later chapters, we have nothing against the LGBT community. If you do, get out.
So with that being said, due to information we gathered from the manga and such, we have deemed this content appropriate (it's not anything explicit, don't worry, you'll see what I'm talking about).

Chapter 10-Beach Day

In the morning, Kazuto and Shino woke practically glued to each other. With their sweat.

"Ugh, Kazuto, I love you, but get off…" Shino whined at her aforementioned husband.

"Ugh…" Kazuto slowly unstuck himself from his wife with the sickening sound of flesh peeling from flesh. "You mean the AC DIDN'T magically fix itself overnight?" he joked, earning a glare from his wrathful wife. "Got it, call the repairman." he said, quickly getting out of bed as Shino laid spread-eagle on the bed, barely moving and clothed only in her underwear. He quickly made his way to their living room.

Shino meanwhile laid on the bed, feeling awful. Not only had she denied Kazuto any last light, she also denied herself. If only it wasn't so hot, they probably would have barely slept last night. Just thinking about what they would've done suddenly made Shino's eyes go wide and her cheeks red. She immediately buried her face in the pillow, but couldn't keep it there for long due to the heat.

"Kazuuuuuuuttttttooooooo…" she whined. "It's so freaking hot… when is the repairman supposed to get here..?" Kazuto walked in, clicking "end call" on his phone and looking grim.

"He said he couldn't make it out until tomorrow."

Kazuto cringed, expecting Shino to explode on him for being stupid, but she merely groaned, allowing him to relax if only a little bit.

"You know what this means, right?" she asked him flatly.

"Nothing tonight either?" he answered quietly. She simply looked up at him and glared.

"That's not what I meant. But yes."

"Ok... And what?"

"Beach day."

Kazuto felt the familiar sensation of diving into ALO, then the weight of his favorite sword against his back, its golden hilt glinting in the digital sun. He looked to his right and saw his both digital and IRL wife materialize next to him, and smiled down at her.

"Hey there, beautiful. I forgot what you looked like with blue hair."

She glanced up at him, somewhat amused. "So what, you think I should get it dyed this way?"

"Well, I mean, if you really wanted to I guess I can't stop you."

There was a pause and Sinon seemed to contemplate it. "Hmm, no. I feel like that would be boring. I like the idea of it looking different wherever I go. Anyway, it's a pain to actually dye hair."

Kirito shrugged. "If you say so. Hey, Yui, we're here."

On cue, a little ball of light appeared in the air, and just like that, a little girl appeared like she had jumped out of it, arms outstretched. "Hi, Daddy!"

Effortlessly, Kirito caught her out of the air, spun once, and set her down. "Ready for our day out with everyone?"

She smiled brightly, arms held tightly around Kirito's waist. "Mm-hm! Mommy even helped me pick out an outfit!"

That made the other two blink. "Really?" Sinon asked.

"Yep. She's downstairs with Auntie Liz right now. Do you want me to tell them you're here?"

"Yeah, that would be great, Yui, thanks."

"Ok!" After a quick hug with Sinon, Yui practically skipped to the door. "We'll be down there waiting for you. Don't take too long."

Kirito looked at Sinon, and they both couldn't help but laugh at their daughter's antics.

"I guess we better hurry then," Sinon chuckled, leading the way to the door. "Can't keep them waiting."

"Yeah that would be a bad idea," Kirito agreed, following close behind her.

"I'm surprised though."

"About what?"

"Asuna. But in a good way. I'm glad she came today; it means she's ok with this arrangement."

Kirito briefly thought back to their wedding day, at that moment just before when he and Asuna had finally come to an understanding and had some closure, and he felt himself smile. "Yeah, me too. I'm glad this is working out for her."

As they walked downstairs they noticed some of their other friends stepping out of their respective rooms and heading toward the living room. Even though this cabin had once been Kirito and Asuna's it, had sort of become a home for everyone and an understood place to meet in-game. It had become more than just the home they had had back then.

When the couple reached the bottom of the stairs, they caught sight of Yui in the middle of the room, sitting with Liz and Asuna just like she had said. Noticing them, Yui waved enthusiastically, signaling for them to come over, but as Kirito walked closer, his gaze remained on Asuna. Now that he remembered the wedding, he couldn't stop thinking about it. It was pretty much the only thing he hadn't told Sinon, wasn't it? And they had agreed to have no secrets. Well, in light of that, he'd be more than willing to tell her all about it… it just wasn't exactly his secret to tell.

Maybe I just shouldn't say anything, he thought, now sitting next to Sinon, opposite of Yui and Asuna. If he told Sinon just like that, it wouldn't be right to just go against Asuna's trust like that. It was technically her secret… but he didn't feel comfortable keeping something like this from his wife.

So I could just ask if I can tell her...? Yeah. I should do that. But now wasn't the best time because literally everyone was around to overhear him.

"Kirito."

The sudden nudge to the ribs startled him, and he almost fell over off the couch. "What, sorry?"

Sinon gave him a weird look, but let it slide. "It looks like everyone's here. Ready to go?"

"Sure, but what about your friend… What's her username?"

"Mizumi will fly over and meet us. She's still kind of new and hasn't had the chance to move very far beyond her territory yet."

"And you convinced her to play, what, over a month ago?"

The Cait Sith rolled her eyes. "Yes, but not everyone is a professional geek like you who can master the mechanics of a game just by reading the instruction manual."

"Games have manuals for a reason," Kirito countered. Only half joking.

Sinon, in return, tried to keep herself from smiling beyond the twitch of her lips. "Well, come on, nerd. We all logged on for a reason and I would hate for everyone to feel disappointed."

"Yeah, beach party!" Klein exclaimed, seeming a little too enthusiastic as he was already dressed in swimming trunks. "My AC's out too, so I've really been looking forward to this."

"You just want to see all us girls wearing bathing suits." Lisbeth grinned over at him from her seat next to Asuna, arms crossed knowingly.

"I-I do not! As a respectable samurai, I don't take pleasure in such things."

"For the last time, you're not an actual samurai."

"It's a game! I can do whatever the hell I want!" And with that, he ran towards the front door, threw it open, and launched himself into the air.

"At least wear a shirt while we're traveling there!" Leafa protested, plainly exasperated.

Silica sighed. "Well, that is Klein. But he has a point, I really want to go to the beach too."

"Yeah, come on!" the pink-haired fairy cheered, grinning. "I bought a hot suit that I'm just dying to show off!"

Leafa quirked an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say something about Klein coming just to ogle us?"

"Well it's true already, but it's not like he won't get beyond looking. Besides, it's not a crime to look cute, is it?"

"I guess not."

"Hurry up, ladies! We're losing daylight!" Liz yelled, before leading the charge out the door and into the sky.

Kirito considered saying something about him, a male, being present, but he figured he'd just get backtalk, and possibly some form of physical violence from his wife, so he remained silent. While he was brooding, Yui, in pixie-form, zoomed up to him and landed in his pocket.

"Come on, Daddy, we're going to get left behind! Ow, stop! I said that was annoying."

The Spriggan smiled as he continued to gently poke Yui's head. "If you really think so, why do you let me do it?"

"Hmph," she answered, puffing out her cheeks. "You just don't stop."

"Hey, Yui. Could you do me a favor and stay with Sinon for a bit? There's something I need to ask Mommy."

Blinking, Yui looked up at him, eyes wide with curiosity. "Ok. But only because it seems important." Flying out of his pocket, she went up to Kirito's cheek and left a quick kiss. "Good luck!"

He gave a small smile. "Yeah, thanks. I might need it."

The Spriggan watched as the little pixie flew across the room towards Sinon, said something to her, then slipped into a pocket at her waist. Eyebrow raising, the Cait Sith turned to her husband, who gave a small smile as he ushered her to go ahead. She continued to look at him, but simply nodded after a while and left the cabin with the others. Kirito took off, not far behind them, launching straight from the deck and into the sky. He couldn't help but smile slightly at the feeling of flying through the air again. The wind rushing by him felt so great and the view was breathtaking. It was made even better with the knowledge that he could do this within his own power, but he couldn't relish in it for long. Glancing ahead, he saw Asuna not far from him flying just behind the others. With a burst of speed, Kirito sped toward her, flying by her side in a matter of seconds.

"Hey, Asuna," he called, making her look to the side at him. "Could we fly together for a while? There's something I need to talk to you about."

The Undine blinked, but gave him a nod of consent. "Sure. Is it something serious?"

"No. Well, yes. Don't worry, it's not like end-of-the-world bad. I just need to ask you something."

"Oh, ok. What is it?"

Purposefully, Kirito slowed down a bit, and Asuna followed suit. "I wanted to ask if I could tell Si-Shino about what happened at the wedding." He watched as Asuna's eyes widened, and he could see a bit of what could have been panic in them, so he went on to explain. "I wouldn't tell her unless you were ok with it, which is why I'm asking, but I'm hoping you'll say yes. Now that we're married, Shino and I promised to have no secrets between us. This is the only thing I haven't told her, and the idea of keeping it that way makes me uncomfortable."

For a moment, Asuna remained silent, and Kirito glanced at her every now and then in between watching where he was flying.

"...Ok. You can tell her. You should."

Slightly surprised, Kirito looked over at her, and saw her flash him a small smile.

"Thanks for asking me first… I understand why you would want to tell Shino about it, and I agree."

The Spriggan felt a smile slowly pull at his lips. "Thanks, Asuna."

"No problem. Now go."

He gave her a quick nod before, with a burst of speed, shot forward in search of the company of a certain, blue-haired Cait Sith. She wasn't far. It only took Kirito ten seconds to reach her and easily fly at her side.

She obviously noticed his presence, as a few seconds later, she glanced at him with a small smile on her lips. "Hey. So tell me, what were you and Asuna talking about?"

"Uh…" He really shouldn't have been surprised that she caught on fast or got right to the point, but it still sent him for a loop regardless. Glancing around quickly, he found Yui, still in pixie form, laughing as she rode on the back of Pina. Good, one less thing to worry about. Now he could speak freely.

"You're very perceptive."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere," she teased. But not really.

Kirito sighed, but a knowing smile pulled at his lips. "Right. Well, anyway, I was asking Asuna to give me permission to tell you something."

Slowly, Sinon narrowed her eyes which was dangerous to any person it was directed at (which was pretty much always Kirito). "Tell me what?"

"Ah, well, it-it's nothing terrible! I've remained completely faithful to you, I promise!"

"Mm-hmm."

"It was just about something that happened at the wedding… Before the ceremony, she told me she still had feelings for me. She didn't act on it or anything. I think she just wanted closure. That's it really."

Hearing that seemed to make Sinon relax (and Kirito too by extension), and she looked ahead again into the distance. "...So what did you say?"

"What?"

"What did you tell her after she confessed?"

"Oh… I told I wasn't in love with her, but I still love her. I could never hate her because she meant a lot to me in SAO, but…"

"But?" she prompted, and Kirito felt himself color slightly.

"You make me happy, and I want to be with you, which is why asking you to marry me is the best thing I've ever done."

It was silent for a moment as Kirito anxiously awaited her answer. But then he noticed that he was flying alone, and he suddenly stopped and looked around. A shock of powder blue and a gold glow caught his attention behind him. With a prick of concern, he flew back, slowly and carefully until he was right in front of her.

"Shino?"

Her indigo eyes flicked up to him, irises swirling with thought behind them. "You actually said that?"

"Um..." The Spriggan rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah. I did."

"...You dork. Who's manly now?"

Kirito flushed, glancing at her and wanting to object, but he was abruptly cut off by the feeling of Sinon's lips on his. The kiss lasted for about ten seconds, but it was sweet and meaningful, and when Sinon finally pulled away, her hand gently gripping his arm, he simply stared at her, unable to say anything.

The archer was smiling softly at him, and her hand slipped down his arm and into his hand. "I feel like flying together now," she stated simply, and then she was pulling him forward, considerably more slowly than before, but fast enough to get to their destination without their wings wearing out.

Still stunned somewhat, Kirito glanced at her out of the corner of his eye every so often. But despite that, he felt a warm glow in his chest and never once made to take his hand from Sinon's.

When they finally arrived at the beach in Undine territory, everyone had already changed and were in the water.

"Where have you two been?" Lisbeth shouted over at them with her hands cupped around her mouth. "Don't tell me you guys made a detour just so you could make-out!"

Both of them flushed, but Kirito was the one who yelled back "Shut up, Liz!"

In answer, she stuck her tongue at him and grinned, then went back to her apparent water fight with Leafa and Silica.

Ears still burning slightly, the Spriggan glanced back at his wife who rolled her eyes good-naturedly and smiled at him. "So, want to go in the water first or what?"

"Hmm. I think I just want to sit here for a while and enjoy the fact that I'm not burning to death. And that I'm with you."

Sinon scoffed, turning away from him as if annoyed, but Kirito could see the blush creep up her neck and that made him grin.

"By the way, where's Mizumi?"

"She should be here." Sinon looked thoughtful as she pulled up her menu with a swipe of her hand and went to her messages. "See? She said she just left Spriggan territory fifteen minutes ago."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

Blinking, the couple turned toward the new voice and were met with a Leprechaun. She had long, lavender hair tied up in a ponytail and eyes that matched in color. She wore purple pants, though they were a darker color, and a sarashi bound around her chest. A naginata was strapped to her back, the slightly curved blade almost scraping the ground as she walked toward them. She wasn't much taller than Sinon, and that was apparent as she came to stand next to her.

"I had to stop and rest a few times and I may or may not have been attacked by monsters."

"Well you seem able to take care of yourself," Kirito commented, briefly eyeing the weapon at her back and appraising it. When he looked at her again, he was somewhat startled to find her staring at him emotionlessly.

"Hey, my eyes are up here."

"I-I wasn't-I mean, I'm married!"

"Ooh, so this is your guy, hm?" Mizumi asked, glancing sideways at Sinon. "I guess I should have known considering he looks the same as on your phone."

"Mm-hmm," the Cait Sith answered, though she was looking at Kirito suspiciously, "but if he keeps being a perv, he might end up looking differently irl."

"I was looking at her naginata!"

"Right," the purple-haired girl deadpanned.

"...Weapon perv."

"Sinon!"

Said girl smirked at him. "You should know by now that you can't win."

Kirito groaned loudly, hunching over in defeat. Then he glanced up at her, staring at her with a thoughtful look on his face. "...Borderline lesbian."

"...WHAT?!" Sinon practically screamed at him, face flushing slightly as she glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

The Spriggan kept a cool expression as he looked at her. "I'm pretty sure I've never seen you with any other guy except me. Plus, before we got married, you seemed to only want to hang out around other girls. We even met with me using that girly avatar and acting like a girl! I'm pretty sure that makes you at least borderline lesbian."

"Well how is that my fault?! You're the one who had that avatar and decided to play it up! And anyway, I'm not the guy who was mistaken as Suguha's sister when he was younger!"

"WHAT?! How did you know that?! Suguha!"

"Ooo! Lovers' spat!" Liz yelled from the water, obviously enjoying herself.

"SHUT UP, LIZ!" The couple shouted, obviously not enjoying themselves, but the pinkette simply started cackling and that only served to anger them more.

They would have continued screaming again if Mizumi hadn't started chuckling beside them. "Just kiss and make-up already, guys. If Sinon's lesbian then just be lesbian together."

Kirito blinked at her. "I'm a guy."

"Not from what I just heard. But hey, your identification is your problem. Besides, you guys obviously love each other enough for that not to matter. Now are you going to introduce me to everyone or are we just going to keep standing here and watch the sexual tension increase between you two?"

Instantly, the couple's faces turned bright red, and Mizumi blinked at them.

"Wait, did you two not…?"

Sinon refused to look away from the sand. "The AC broke when we got home…"

The Leprechaun stared at them. "So you two have been dry for five months?"

Kirito also seemed to find the sand very interesting to look at. "Yes…"

"Well, what are you guys doing here? Go get a room or something."

Suddenly, the dark fairy coughed into his hand, turning his back on his new "acquaintance" and facing the group. "Anyway. Guys, this is Mizumi, Sinon's friend."

The slightly taller of the two girls smirked and offered everyone a mock salute. "Hello, everyone. Great to meet you."

"So you're a Leprechaun?" Liz asked as she walked up. "Nice. I think we'll get along nicely. Especially if you like torturing these two because that is my favorite pastime."

Glancing at the still flustered couple, Mizumi's smirk widened and she looked back at Lisbeth. "Yeah. I think we'll be great friends." She started walking towards the beach. "I'll leave you three here to settle up."

The trio watched her back as she left, but only briefly before the married couple turned with stern looks.

"Why."

"Why what?" Liz asked, batting her eyelashes innocently.

"Why is it that you live to antagonize us?"

"Ooo. Had to break out the big words for this, huh, Kirito?"

"LIZ!"

"Oh, lighten up," she dismissed, waving her hand nonchalantly. "Today is supposed to be for fun and messing around, get your panties out of a twist." A vein pulsed in Kirito's temple, but he didn't say anything as the pinkette walked passed them towards the water. "But hey, at least I made nice with your friend. Now go have fun. But not too much because some of us are more innocent than others. And this is a public beach."

Neither Kirito or Sinon bothered to reply, instead opting to either sigh or roll their eyes.

"She's not wrong though," Sinon said, making her husband look at her. "Today is supposed to be like a mini-vacation; we shouldn't be using it to fight."

"You're right," the man conceded. "Let's just go sit and relax so we can enjoy ourselves."

"Agreed. But we're not necessarily done with this argument."

"Definitely not," Kirito muttered with a slight scoff. "And I still need to have a discussion with Leafa about privacy."

Sinon barely stifled a snicker. "It's still funny."

The Spriggan groaned. "I would very much like to go relax now."

His wife chuckled in spite of their recent "spat," but didn't comment as they walked to some chairs underneath an umbrella to experience said relaxation. However, as they drew closer, they noticed their friend Klein doing some of his special brand of "flirting".

"H-hello! My name's Klein, age 29, and I'm single. I'm a samurai Salamander but in real life I have a decent-paying office job!"

Mizumi looked stunned, staring at Klein like he had two heads. "Um, ok. I'm Mizumi. Nice to meet you?"

The Salamander's head shot up from his steep, bowed position. This was a first. His greetings had never been accepted this well before. "Uh, yeah, n-nice to meet you t-" Suddenly Klein exploded into ice blue crystals, and his avatar was replaced by two words; CONNECTION LOST

Mizumi blinked. "What just happened?"

"Well, it is hot irl," Kirito began as he and Sinon walked up to her. "Maybe his computer or his router overheated."

"Sorry about him," Sinon apologized. "He tends to hit on every girl he comes across."

Mizumi chuckled lightly. "No, it's ok. That takes guts. I admire that."

Kirito blinked. He had never heard a girl show any interest in Klein. "Wait, you mean you actually think he's okay?" he asked.

Sinon looked slightly bemused. "You should've seen what happened the first time he tried to hit on me," she said.

"Hurry up and get here, Kirito," Sinon thought to herself as she sat in the corner of a shop. It belonged to a Gnome named Agil, as Kirito had told her, and it was where she was meeting everyone in ALO for the first time. While she had had a brief experience of meeting some people in Andrew's bar in the real world, she was well aware she was meeting even more people and it was outside of her usual home turf: GGO.

Which is why she would have appreciated it if the one who had actually invited her would show up. Being around this many people she wasn't familiar with was setting her on edge. Just then she saw someone approaching her table, a Salamander, by the looks of it, with spiky, red hair tied back by a bandana and a katana at his side.

She tried not to squirm too much as he came closer, keeping her arms and legs crossed in a way that somehow made her feel a little more at ease.

"H-hi. Are you Kirito's friend? The one he went to go help in that other game?"

"Yes. I'm Sinon. It's nice to meet you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," he said, voice strained by something the Cait Sith couldn't quite place. Then, out of nowhere, the man bowed extremely low and held out his hand. "Well, I'm K-Klein! I'm 24, single, and I have a job that pays for my apartment and stuff so I'm not just some guy in his mom's basement!"

Sinon blinked, indigo eyes blown wide. She had no idea how to take this. "Uh, ok."

"No, I'm serious! I'm a decent guy and I think you're pretty, so I was thinking maybe we could go hang out sometime? But it doesn't have to be IRL, it can just be in here or something."

Sinon couldn't help herself, she scooted her chair away just a little. "N-no thanks. I'm flattered and everything, but-"

"Please, just give me a chance?!" Klein straightened up slightly, taking a step forward and practically begging. " I'll even pay for whatever we go do and there'll be no strings attached! Just this one date and-"

"I said no!"

"Agh!" Klein yelped in agony as, before he knew it, Sinon had stood up and grabbed his hand in a death grip and twisted back. In an instant she stepped forward, bringing her foot behind his knee and shoving him back so he fell to the floor. Klein fell with a loud thump and an 'oof,' eyes squeezed shut at the pain. Then he heard the clack of metal and opened his eyes again, only to widen them at the sight of his own sword pointed at him. Next moment, he was yelling in pain again as the weapon was shoved through him and into the floor.

"H-hey, wait a minute!" he pleaded, still shocked as he tried to pry his katana free but couldn't so much as pull it an inch. He couldn't move. "Ok, I'm sorry! That was a mistake. I shouldn't have-WAIT, WAIT, WAIT!"

Sinon was glaring down at him, sharp eyes narrowed past the sight of her bow and down the shaft of her arrow, right at his face. And without a word, she let the arrow fly.

Mizumi laughed out loud at the story she was just told. "You did what?" she said between fits of laughing.

"Yeah, he learned real quick I wouldn't put up with that." she said smiling deviously. Kirito, however, went pale.

"Remind me never to get on your bad side." he said to his still terrifying wife. She snickered.

"Oh Kirito, you've been on my bad side plenty of times. I just take my anger out on you in different ways." both girls laughed as, impossible though it seemed, Kirito got even paler. "Relax, I won't take off anything important." this comment caused another round of laughter at his expense, coupled by him turning a bright shade of red. Suddenly Sinon looked as though she had just remembered something.

"Kirito, do you remember what day it is tomorrow?" she asked. Kirito pulled up his menu, clicked on his calendar and looked.

"Uh-oh…" he said out loud.

"What?" Mizumi asked.

"Tomorrow's the deadline to register, isn't?" Sinon asked Kirito, seemingly ignoring Mizumi.

"Yep." he answered. "What do you think? Spectate or participate this year?" he smiled, knowing her answer already.

"Well, after three years, I think it's time I remind everyone just who I am." she smirked with a slight glint in her eye. Then she looked to her husband. "And you too, of course." she added, widening her smile. Mizumi, however was at a loss.

"WHAT IS TOMORROW THE DEADLINE FOR?!" she practically shouted, drawing the attention of nearly everyone on the beach. Sinon and Kirito simply smiled at each other as they simultaneously replied:

"The Bullet of Bullets."