I don't own or have any affiliations with Sword Art Online.

Chapter 11: Extra Special Birthday

Sunday August 10th, 2025 12:50 p.m.

It was a very busy time for Fuko's apartment, as the party guests scrambled to get every last detail concerning the decorations over with as soon as possible as their deadline was coming more and more near with every second counting.

Keiko and Suguha were blowing up balloons.

Rika and Asuna were helping with the cleaning.

Kazuto was struggling with fit in his giant, pink bunny suit.

The banner was hanging in the middle of the ceiling. The cake was sitting underneath it on a large coffee table. Next to it was a small vase holding a small bunch of Amaryllis flowers, symbolizing the joyful resolution of the lengthy, emotional hardship.

A neatly assembled pile of presents next to a pink bassinet as if were a Christmas tree.

"Hey, guys I just got a text. They'll be here really soon." Fuko announced.

"We're just about done with the finishing touches." Asuna replied while she and Rika were tying a huge pink ribbon attached to a bow on the bassinet and hanging the soft white lace curtain.

"Speak for yourself. I can't get this damn suit to fit on proper." Kazuto grunted. Asuna rolled her eyes and trying not to laugh while helping him with his back zipper.

A rhythmic knock was played on the front door. Four light knocks, Three hard knocks and one jiggle from the door handle. The secret code.

"Wait, I can't find my head." Kazuto looked from left to right of his surroundings.

"You lost your head when you agreed to that stupid bet, Kirito-kun." Asuna looked at him with a mad and stern facial appearance.

Rika shared a little laugh with Suguha and Keiko.

Everyone quickly gathered around the three tier cake as Takato disabled the golden-coloured chained lock and opened the door.

Klein walked in first carrying an empty carseat, while Rinko entered last holding a something close to her chest being covered by a light shawl. She bent her fingers twice as a non-verbal form of greeting them and touched her lips with her left index finger. "She fell asleep in the car." Rinko gently whispered walking to the lovely looking cradle.

She felt a hand on the top of her silky dark gray hair as an arm wrapped around the same arms she was using to support the bundle. Klein then rested his chin on the mother's shoulder smiling with her.

"Gotcha." Takato was holding a camera in front of his face.

With great care and gentleness she slowly uncovered the shawl revealing a small figure wearing a pink dress being softly rocked and safely laid inside the bassinet stationed near to the sofa.

The four teenaged girls looked awe-stricken as they saw Yumeko's face.

Rinko kneeled down, laying her head inside of it kissing her sleeping daughter.

She stood back on her legs while she was wished "Happy Birthday" by everyone in an audible, loud whisper. She performed a short bow in front of them.

"I can't believe that this really happening." Rinko said as Namie and Fuko came at her side.

"Believe it honey, you're over 30. Your life is practically half over." Fuko tsked she shook her head left to right.

"Well, I better leave before the early bird special runs out of all the good stuff." Namie said while mimicking the voice of an elderly woman.

"Hey, Klein how long do I have to wear this thing for?" Kazuto looked a little annoyed as he questioned.

"Until it stops being funny." Klein answered with a half-smile.

"Stupid drinking contest." Kazuto muttered.

"Yeah but you were just drinking Oolong tea. He was drinking the real deal." Agil patted Kazuto's back. "But thanks to that train wreck, now I know what number to cut him off at." He raised an eyebrow at the man wearing the bandana.

"I promise to be...c-c-careful... Damn it, I can't even say it with a straight face." Klein cracked a smile.

"Hey, I didn't buy this cake as a decoration piece." Fuko handed a big knife to Rinko. Small slices of the celebration dessert were set into small plates in a matter of a few minutes, while Fuko brought drinks to the table.

Everyone raised their plastic cups. "To Yumeko-chan, Rinko and the rest of our summer." They all whispered in unison. "Yeah, summer vacation." Kazuto loudly joked as his girlfriend stepped on his foot. "But mostly to Yumemi-chan. We can't be more proud of you." He winced.

The party moved forward after the brief toast was made.

Rinko pinched of Klein's shoulder. "Ryo, you have to stop kissing her so much. There's other people here."

"I made a promise to kiss her at least a million times as soon as she gets out the hospital." He kissed Yumeko's face and forehead repeatedly.

"When did you do that?" Rinko asked.

Klein pulled his mouth much closer to her ear. "The day you gave me her." He softly whispered.

Rinko felt a slight tug on her the sleeve of her shirt. "Its completely alright, Onee-san. She seems to be enjoying it just as much as him." Suguha told her.

"Yeah, at least she's still sleeping and it doesn't look to be bothering her at all." Rika added.

"A male's touch will be very beneficial for her in terms of her development." Keiko stated.

"And its obvious that she loves him." Asuna pointed at Yumeko was cuddled against Klein's chest while he kisses her hands.

Klein rubs his nose his nose against hers. "Her skin feels so good." In the feeling of the moment Rinko laid her head on his shoulder.

"Please don't be one of those manga dads that keep on shoving pictures in other people's faces all the time." Kazuto requested.

"Neh, maybe a couple." Klein placed Yumeko back in the small bed, lightly stroking her face. "Man, I must've kissed her like 500 times already."

"Looks like our self-proclaimed bachelor's all grown up." Agil nudged Klein.

As everyone else was being distracted with their own small talk. Kazuto couldn't help himself looking away while watching Yumeko continue to sleep.

He never really touched her before because he couldn't feel more helpless or pathetic being on the other side of the plexiglass where she lived in day and night. But now knowing the fact that she is now healthy, silently relieved him to a great extent.

The teenager in the bunny suit grinned when his pink gloves were removed and reached his hand to out. "Yumemi, do you remember me? Its Kazuto Oji-san." He poked her nose.

"Gah, she's so soft and squishy." Kazuto lightly squeezed and picked on her face.

A muffle came from the infant's mouth. Her small lips start to quiver. A cry came from the bassinet, gaining the attention of everyone else in the living room.

A group of young female voices were drawing themselves near behind him. "You're dead." If this type of situation was being presented inside a manga, there would be a bunch of mad girls in front of a firey background while the male character's face would be drawn with white circles with black outlines and a squared opened mouth, while his body is shaking with immense fear.

Lub-dub, lub-dub. Kazuto felt like his heart on going to jump right out of his chest.

Takato rushed to put on the bunny costume head on Kazuto...backwards. "He's all yours ladies."

"What? Dude I thought we had a connection!" Kazuto sounded betrayed.

Whack.

The impact of Asuna's fist landing on his head made his knees wobble, nearly dropping onto the floor.

When he regained his sense of surrounding and motion, the teenager took off the pretend head. He blinked twice to clear his somewhat disoriented vision and turned to his Klein shushing in Yumeko's ear while circling the palm of her hand.

"I didn't mean to do that, honestly." Kazuto apologized to Rinko.

The mother looked at him with a seemingly calm stare.

Oh shit, mom's are always quiet when their pissed. Kazuto started to sweat faster.

She wrapped his arms around him. The gesture calmed Kazuto's fast heart rate in the midst of the moment. The feeling was nothing more than warm, magical and mysterious touch of a mother. "I finally got to hear her voice. Thank you."

"Uh...you're welcome... Onee-sensei. I...can't breathe." He struggled to say.

After she released him, Asuna apologized for her physical attack after Rinko mentioned that her "Mega Punch" was super effective.

Klein reluctantly gave Yumeko back to Rinko.

As the mother gently cradled her daughter back and forth, she glanced at her watch. "It's time for her eat now."

"Right on schedule." Fuko tested the bottle on her skin.

Sitting down on the sofa, Rinko puts the bottle in Yumeko's mouth to suckle.

"Woah, look at her go." Kazuto reacted somewhat childishly.

"Looks like someone's gonna get her very future own bar tab." Agil said with a hint of anticipation.

"Its good to see you finally act maternally, Onee-san." Keiko witnessed.

"Nice to see you having some paternal instinct." Agil patted Klein's back.

"Yeah, I never thought I'd still be in my teens to ever watch you do that." Kazuto nudged Klein's ribcage.

The comments made the katana-wielder blush while making a small smile.

The four schoolgirls were sitting on the floor in front of the sofa as if they were small children being told a story. They look at the infant being wrapped in the colourful quilt that they all worked so hard on to finish. The moment was then sealed into a snapshot by Takato taking it from behind. The last time they were together like this the real world was when they visited the hospital, the day after the re-launch of ALO. The pleasant friendly meetings like this were becoming almost rare to them, especially during school days.

*Flashback starts*

Saturday, May 17 2:00 p.m.

"Oh, Himeko-chan you're so pretty. I hope to be as pretty as you someday." Asuna whispered.

"You look very nice in the hat I made. I hope it keeps comfortable." Keiko said in a soothing tone.

"I hope the teddy bear makes you feel less lonely. I made Onii-chan take me to a lot of toy stores to get this just for you." Suguha smiled.

"We're planning on making a quilt for you. But it's gonna take a while." Rika outlined a round panel with her finger.

"We love you very, very much. You're our little sweetie pie." They whispered in flawless harmony like they were singing.

"I'm pretty sure she loves you too." Rinko was sitting in a chair behind them.

"It looks like she also loves sleeping ." Keiko giggled. "Man, can you believe that one day she'll start dating?"

"Yeah, I can't wait til the guys react to that. We should totally get a camera ready. And maybe call a hospital on standby just in case." Rika added.

"I dunno, the response the gave when you mentioned that in the game sounded like they were enforcing some type of law." Asuna sent her hand into the isolette. "But when that the day does come along, she's gonna need tons back-up to help her out."

"And not just for hair, make-up and clothes." Keiko giggled.

"Speaking of helping, Onee-san, would you like to make the quilt with us?" Suguha asked.

"Sure, that actually sounds like fun. I've been going insane not having anything to do at home. I'm pretty good at this stuff."

"But we're still working on our design planning." Rika mentioned.

"It's harder than it looks." Asuna moaned.

The fountain pen was seen gliding, marking a blank white sheet with shining blue ink as she was being told the chosen colours for the project. "There's plenty of time for that later. But make sure that you focus on your studies. After all, you know what the penalty for that is."

Snap.

The woman closed her notebook, adjusting her glasses by lifting them by the corner. "You've seen what happened to him."

A shivering chill traveled downward each girl's spine.

A penalty? One of the cons of knowing a highly educated woman.

*Flashback ends*

I should get more some pictures for Yui later. She'll be so happy. Kazuto smiled as he started to think about the pact he had made with Rinko. Someday. It's going to happen. And she is going to be loved just as much.

"She's going to get pretty fussy later. Good luck. You're basically never going to sleep the same way again." Namie winked Klein.

"She seems pretty calm, if you ask me." Klein responded.

"Ha, trust me. They all do." Fuko grabbed Takato in a headlock, messing up his hair. "Mom, not again. Quit it." He groaned.

"Was I really that loud?" He asked after he was freed.

"Honey, the people from the next building complained."

The 13-year-old's face turned pinkish as everybody else laughed.

I'm hogging her aren't I? Rinko looked down at her child. "So, who want's to hold her first?" She offered the chance to everyone.

"Wait, wait, wait. Let me get a picture of this first." Kazuto took out a camera from his coat pocket and tried to get a good enough angle for the shot. "Say cheese."

A second later, Suguha turned half her body. "Onii-chan, did you turn off the-!"

Hearing her words too late, he pressed the button, sending a brightly white coloured flash only a small distance away from the heartwarming scene.

Today's not really my day, is it? He thought as he watched his honorary niece cry and being consoled by her mother.

"What they odds of her crying twice in less than half an hour." Rinko said in a slight scoff.

It hasn't even been 10 minutes. Kazuto looked like soft of a small guilty puppy.

Sensing her boyfriend's guilty feeling, Asuna quickly came up with something. She took Klein's hand and walked back to the couch. "Hey, why not take another picture together?"

"Another one?" Rinko looked at Asuna.

"Why not? You guys need to take at least, a thousand more. Especially with her." Rika's voice followed.

"Oh, totally. After all there's that old saying..." Keiko added and turned to her left.

"You'll have a child forever. But a baby for just one year." Suguha finished off for her.

"Do you guys rehearse or does that come naturally?" Klein was sitting down with his smallest girl in his hands while his biggest girl laid her forehead on his shoulder.

The girls shrugged simultaneously.

The couple smile while Kazuto holds up the camera after disabling the flash function. "Now Klein say will you marry me."

"Will you-wait what?" Klein's eyes and mouth widened.

A collective laugh was made while the attention was toward the blushing couple.

Suguha pushed her cousin aside, taking the photo herself.

Klein had his finger curled into Yumeko's hand. The infant's eyes were closed while her face revealed a peaceful expression. "It's a nice feeling isn't it?" Namie was standing by the bassinet. "Like when you tap her on her knee." Rinko faced her. "Hey, do you mind if I bite her cheek with my lips when she gets a little more older?" Fuko asked Rinko.

"Why do you want to hurt our baby?!" Klein turned his back on the three women in a protective motion.

"Dude chill. We used to play rough with Takato all the time." Fuko explained. "What do you mean used to?" Takato asked his mother."Mothers are supposed to be nurturing." Klein gently massaged the back of Yumeko's head. "Roughhousing is a way of nurturing." Rinko crossed her arms in Fuko's defense.

"So it's okay if we girls do it then?" Keiko asked. Rinko raised her thumb in approval.

"Girls play rough, guys play soft. Got it." Agil agreed.

"How could you be okay with this? Seriously which side are you on?" Kazuto looked at him.

"I told you before which ever side is being the most funny." Agil grinned back.

"Hey remember that time I hid Takato's bear when he was 2?" Fuko turned to Namie.

"He practically destroyed the lving room trying to find it." The doctor laughed with her.

"But I did feel bad for almost making him cry though." The nurse added.

"How could you do that to your own son?" Klein tsked displeased.

"It's an exercise to help the kid learn about their surroundings." Rinko lightly slapped his knee.

"Oh, remember that time when you told him that you ate his Halloween candy when he was 5?" Rinko added into the conversation.

"It was funny, because it was true." Fuko laughed.

"No it wasn't." Takato crossed his arms in frustration.

"I got a whole new level of respect for this kid." Kazuto patted the younger boy's back. Agil and Klein seconded the notion.

"You know, that's really special coming from a teenaged boy in a fluffy, pink animal costume." Takato sarcastically remarked.

"Pink is a good colour on me." Kazuto lifted his nose up in the air.

Yumeko was now resting on Takato's chest. Her right ear and hands were pressing on his heart. He remembered telling Kazuto and Klein, that she will be asleep to his heartbeat like he was to hers, during that drive they had that Sunday afternoon. I guess that the heartbeat is a nice lullaby after all. He smiled as he circled her back with his hand in a careful, easy motion.

A few moments pass and Kazuto was now able to change back into his normal clothes. The boy sat down near the younger teenager, looking like he wanted to ask him for something. "Uh, can I...try?" Takato slowly shifted his arms closer to his elder.

Yumeko was stirring into her sleep as her body was being passed on. The newborn folds her hands into two fists, flailing them, making small soft sounds showcasing her discomfort while being awkwardly held by the clearly inexperienced male.

"That's not how you do it, you dummy. You need to support her head." Asuna went closer to fixing his hands into their proper stances. "There, do you feel better now sweetie?" She cooed staring into her niece's eyes.

"Yeah it does, but it sounds a little weird talking to me like that." Kazuto commented. "That's because I wasn't." Asuna put her hands on her hips.

Fuko and Namie stood closer and snickered like they were still in high school, or looking up dirty words in the dictionary.

"What got in to you two?" Rinko looked at them curiously.

"You mean you haven't noticed yet?" Agil chuckled along with the women.

"Noticed what exactly?" Klein narrowed his eyes at them.

"You're wearing matching outfits." The nurse squealed.

"Wh..what?" Rinko scanned her clothing and looked at Klein's. She released a slight gasp and scrambled herself away from him.

"That's so adorable." Fuko stretched her words.

"Shut up..." Rinko grumbled as she blushed. The woman hid her face behind Klein's back, while he softly rubs his hand on her knee.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Agil sounded delighted.

Rinko emerged from her not very effective hiding spot while thanking Rika for returning her daughter to her.

"So judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you kids liked holding her." Namie gave them a quick smile.

"I don't think the word liked is the right one." Agil pointed to the quartette of young female students.

They all had star-strucked eyes looking something out a shoujo anime.

"Those hands of hers are like little kitten paws that you can curl her fingers in them all day long no matter what." Keiko squeaked.

"Those big dark gray eyes of hers make you want to give her everything in the whole, entire world." Rika awed.

"No teddy bear on the face of the earth can ever compare to her moe factor." Suguha moaned.

"She's like the human form of a gray kitten." Asuna adored.

Rinko try to blink away the happy tears in her eyes after hearing all those kindly well-worded admirations. "What do you think, Kirigaya-kun?"

How the hell am I supposed come up with something else like that? Kazuto cringed. "Her... her turkey legs are adorable." He quickly spat out and widened his eyes as he heard his words through his own ears. Why does my brain hate me so much today?

The girls instantly phased out of their shoujo anime like state of mind. They turn their heads simultaneously in a spooky, slow, supernatural-like movement. In an old science fiction film or in at least in an harem anime all of their eyes would have either heat or laser vision locking their aim for their preferred target.

"Is that your idea of a compliment?" His girlfriend looked at him like a hungry tigress about to pounce on her prey. Scary.

"A-A-Asuna p-p-please stop! You're going to set a bad example for her." Kazuto pleaded as he slowly began to distance himself away from her.

"Gee, I wonder how many girls I can get with her around me. Especially in at the park." Takato said enough to gain everybody's attention.

"You do that and you are so grounded mister." Fuko trapped him another headlock. "What do you know about girls, anyway?"

"More than you may think." He smirked.

"Look here, Mr. Thinks-He-Can-Be-A-Casanova-At-Only-13." Fuko put her foot down in front of him. She places both of her hands and starts pulling on his cheeks. "If you even think about doing like that. Even in your dreams. I'm cutting your monthly allowance in half and taking away your cellphone."

Takato sighed disappointed. "Well, there goes my plans. I guess I just have to stick with baseball then."

The ever-so-grateful Kazuto mouthed "thank you" to him.

A short amount of time passes. Rinko is still cradling her sleeping daughter. The mother tousles her offspring's hair. All of her facial traits match mine. Not one or even a mix of his. In her heart she knew which man she was wordlessly reflecting about, not the one she calls her boyfriend. But that scientist who had created that beautiful, hovering fortress and who also took so many away from their natural everyday lives while she was left behind on the cold, hard ground.

As much as the small devious piece inside of her ached to kill him. The indescribable and immeasurable piece of her loves and cares for the gift he had left her with was unquestionably, extremely outmatched.

She lowered her lips to the small ear. "Thank you for your strength. You really are my one true love." She faintly whispered.

Her heavy eyelids close as her head falls sideways landing on the armrest.

Her final thought before drifting into a pleasant dreamland was that everything that has happened to them up until now, is only the very beginning of something her heart, mind, body and soul cannot predict. At least just not yet.

The party has now reached its end.

Thank you for reading! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone! Please review.