A/N:
EDIT: Had a burst of inspiration and added an Omake to the end of this chapter! Now on to last week's reviews!
Hinate: Yep! While her introduction will mirror canon, I'm not killing her off like they did in canon. Yui's here for the long haul!
Jiraphie: Oh she'll be a plot device to some extent, but that's not all she's going to be. I'll be developing her as a character as she interacts with the Renegades during their time in Aincrad. She has a purpose!
Otaku of Anime: Guess we'll find out!
psychominer: Congratulations to your sister!
Morte Cacciatore: That comes this chapter!
Sacredbeats: The fact that many of you have admitted to re-reading my fic multiple times is such a compliment, so thank you! Feels good to know that this story is worth reading twice!
Lord Destroyer: Oh, Mrs. Yuuki is definitely like her canon counterpart, it's just that the circumstances are wildly different, so her opinions are changing in a different way. Shinichi will follow her in, but my iteration of Shinichi is less of a (forgive the term) simp and more her equal in how their relationship is. He's still a bit of an excitable fanboy, but he doesn't worship the ground Suguha walks on. Insofar as Yui's fate, I won't say much more other than that she'll serve a role in the Renegades without even realizing it. If she ever does remember, then things will shake up a little bit…
felipe potter medrado: What can I say? I like a mild cliffhanger. Gives you all reason to come back the following week, y'know?
Wow, that was some really pretty hair!
It was like a light brown that reminded her of chestnuts, and it was so long too! The braid she had going around the back of her head was super pretty. Maybe when her bedmate woke up, she could do the same to her own hair. Once her bedmate woke up, that is. She could stare at that hair forever, so if she didn't wake up for a while, that was just fine.
She felt her bedmate stir and saw her slowly turn over, her eyes still glassy from sleep. She made eye contact, and suddenly her bedmate jolted and sat up. She looked scared. What was so scary?
"K-Kirito!" Her bedmate cried out. "Wake up!"
The man in the other bed next to theirs slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Good morning. Something wrong?"
"Hurry!" Her bedmate whisper-shouted. "Get over here."
As the man in the next bed slowly made his way over, she looked up at her bedmate. She had really pretty eyes. They were almost the same color as her hair. A very warm brown.
"You woke up." Her bedmate said, reaching over. She felt soft, yet strong hands lift her until she was sitting up. "Thank goodness. Do you remember what happened to you?"
What did happen to her? Everything before now seemed so… hazy. Everything was so garbled and fuzzy and hard to read, she wasn't sure about anything, to be honest. Even her name wasn't coming to her right now. It was almost there, on the tip of her tongue…
After a moment, she gave up and shook her head. She'd figure it out later.
"Okay…" Her brown-haired bedmate said. "How about your name?"
…Never mind! Name time!
She dug deep. She almost had it before, so maybe if she tried harder she could figure it out. Did it start with an "S"? No, that wasn't it. That seemed familiar, but that wasn't her name. Her name was short. It was easy to say. Ooh, she was so close! It was… It was…
"Yui." She finally said, looking up at her bedmate. "I think my name is Yui. Yui…"
Her bedmate was smiling now. She was so much prettier when she smiled. "That's a cute name! Nice to meet you. My name's Asuna! And this is Kirito."
Yui looked over at her bedmate, then back at the familiar man. Both were smiling at her now. "A…una? Ki…to?"
She heard them correctly, but why was she having so much trouble with those names? They weren't that hard. She was about to try again.
"Try to remember." A…una said, a strange expression now on her face. Pity? Yui was pretty sure that was the emotion there. Pity. "What were you doing in the forest? Do you know where your mom and dad are now?"
She was trying so hard to remember, but she didn't even remember being in a forest. Is that where they found her? Then there was the matter of her mom and dad. She didn't remember much, but she was pretty sure she didn't have a mom or dad. That was troubling, though she didn't quite know why.
"I can't remember anything." Yui said, still closing her eyes in deep concentration.
"Oh no…" A…una muttered, turning her head to the side. She looked so sad. Why was she sad?
Ki…to looked at A…una with a new expression. Concern? That was it. Concern. Then he looked back at Yui as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "Well, you're awake now. Can I call you Yui?"
She nodded her head. That was her name. What else would he have called her? Calling her something aside from her name would have been silly.
"Okay, then you can call me Kirito." He said. "Can you say "Kirito"?"
"Ki…to." Dang it, why was his name so hard?
"It's Kirito." He said again. "Ki - ri - to."
Yui narrowed her eyes, focusing everything she had into saying his name right. "Ki…to."
Darn it, she did it again! She was hearing it right, but why couldn't she say it?! He reached up and patted her on the head, which brought an end to her frustrations almost immediately. Instead, the gesture sent waves of warmth and fuzzy feelings through her body. That was strange. It felt good. Maybe he'd do it again.
"That's okay, maybe it's a little hard." Ki…to said as he smiled at her. Both his smile and A…una's smile did funny things to her. She felt safe. Maybe this was what having a mom and dad was like? "How about you call me whatever's easier for you?"
That was it! She needed a new mama and papa. These two seemed like good choices. Henceforth, Ki…to was Papa and A…una was Mama. There. So much easier!
"Papa." Yui said.
Papa had a funny look on his face. Shock? Yeah, that was the word. Shock. "Me?"
Yui looked at Mama. "A…una is Mama."
Mama looked shocked too and gasped. Oh no, did Mama not want to be her mama? She hadn't even considered that. If Papa and Mama didn't want to be her mama and papa, that would have been terrible. She'd have to find new ones and she really didn't want to. Papa and Mama had rescued her from wherever she was before. In fact, no, she would never find another mama and papa because Mama and Papa were the only mama and papa for her.
Stranger still was the fact that that sentence made sense.
"Okay." Mama said, giving that smile that sent warm waves through Yui's body again. "I'm Mama, I guess. That works."
Yui beamed and jumped forward to give her new mama a hug. "Mama! Papa!"
Mama stood up on the bed and picked her up, giggling the entire time. "You must be hungry! How about breakfast?"
"Okay!" Yui exclaimed. Breakfast sounded good. She was pretty hungry.
They brought Yui to the living room and before too long, she found herself sitting next to Papa while he ate some kind of sandwich. He read something in his other hand; it was probably important stuff, if she had to guess. Papa seemed like the kind of man who only did important stuff.
It didn't take long for Mama to make them all some food. Papa's food had some sort of stuff on it that looked red and exciting. The food Mama brought her looked good, too, but there was something about Papa's food…
"Oh?" Papa hummed, looking over at Yui. "I don't know, Yui. This one's pretty spicy."
Ooh, that was a tough one. She'd never had spicy food, but she wanted the same kind of food Papa ate. Decisions, decisions…
Yui held out her hands. "I want the same one Papa has!"
Papa had a smirk on his face. "Okay! If you think you're ready for it, I won't stop you! You only live once, right?"
Mama looked… horrified? Yeah, horrified was the right word. What was so scary about spicy food? "Uhh… uhh…"
Yui took the sandwich from Papa's hands and took a big bite from it. It was good! It was crunchy and tasty and saucey and…
Oh. So that's what spicy was.
Apparently spicy meant "makes your tongue feel really tingly and hot." It kinda hurt, but if Papa could fight through it, so could Yui. Once she got used to it, she could see why Papa liked spicy food. It made food more exciting! A little painful, maybe, but exciting!
"I like it!" Yui exclaimed. Meanwhile, her mouth was still crying out in pain.
Papa looked impressed. She was getting pretty good at reading emotions on other people now. He gave her another of those warm smiles. "Wow, you've got an iron stomach! We can do a full course of extra spicy food tonight if you want!"
Before Yui could say anything else, Mama crossed her arms and spoke up. "Okay, let's not get carried away. I'm not cooking anything nuclear!"
Papa looked at Yui and smiled. "You heard the lady."
That was a funny phrase. She decided to try it out for herself. "You heard the lady!"
Eating breakfast with Mama and Papa was fun, but before she knew it, Yui felt herself falling asleep again. She supposed she had a big day, anyway. She was excited to see what else Mama and Papa were going to show her. That was one of the good things about not remembering anything, she supposed. Everything was a new experience for her!
First, though… sleep. Whatever Mama and Papa had in store for her could wait. She'd take a little nap first.
"Papa? Mama? Where are we going?"
Mama looked down and squeezed her hand as they walked across a really big bridge. Papa held her other hand and gave a warm squeeze as well. The tree they came from was really big, too. Yui had never seen a tree that big before. Then again, she didn't remember much before meeting Mama and Papa, so maybe she had and didn't know it.
Retrograde amnesia could be so frustrating.
She blinked. 'Retrograde amnesia?' Where did that come from?
"We're going to see some friends." Mama said as she pointed at a big house in the distance. "We're going to introduce you and maybe they can help us find your family."
That was strange. Mama and Papa were her family. Why did she need to find her family if she already found them? This was all very confusing, but at least she'd get to meet Mama and Papa's friends.
"I already messaged them, so they should all be waiting for us in the foyer." Papa said.
"Good." Mama said before she massaged her forehead. Stress. That was stress. "This is going to be interesting to explain."
"You're telling me." Papa said, mimicking Mama as he massaged his own forehead.
Mama and Papa led her across the bridge, up the hill, and eventually entered the big house. The first thing Yui noticed was that inside was warm; it was nice and toasty, like how Mama and Papa had the fireplace in the other house she woke up in. The second thing she noticed was that it was big. Really big. Like, "fit the first house into this house" big. The third thing she noticed…
"Hey, there you guys are! What's the… oh, hello. Who's this?"
… Mama and Papa had a lot of friends. There were a lot of people sitting around the big room, almost two dozen by her count. Some were on couches, others were on chairs, and some were sitting down on stools next to a long counter.
"Hey Klein." Papa said. "Everyone, this is Yui. We found her wandering in the woods yesterday. We're pretty sure she has amnesia; she doesn't remember anything before meeting us."
"Amnesia? In here?" The boy with the gray hair asked. "Maybe some kind of FNC?"
Mama looked thoughtful. "Maybe. That could explain it, but that still leaves us with no clue as to where her family might be."
"Before we go any further, we should probably introduce you all." Papa said. "If you can't remember them all at once, Yui, that's fine. I'm sure you'll learn them all in time."
"Okay, Papa!"
The man with the red hair fell out of his chair. The girl with the funny white hat dropped her guitar. The man with the big hammer slipped off the table he was leaning on and hit his face on its edge. The lady with the pointy ears choked on her drink while the lady with the pink hair, on the other hand, spit out her drink all over the girl with the pigtails. Everyone else looked stunned.
It made Yui giggle a little. These people were silly. She liked them already.
"Not again!" The girl with the pigtails cried out. "What is it with you people and spit-taking on me?! Stop it!"
"Sorry, did she just call you "Papa"?" The big man with the bald head asked as he handed the pigtailed girl a towel. "I didn't even know you could get pregnant in here. Damn."
"Yeah…" Papa said before his face twisted in surprise and panic. "... Wait, no! That's not what happened at all! She had trouble saying our names, so…"
"So you had her call you Mama and Papa?" The blonde haired man asked.
"No!" Mama denied. "... she just decided to call us that and, well…"
"So you two basically adopted her." The blue haired lady with the bow said.
"Basically." Papa said. His face looked a little red. That was embarrassment.
""Found her in the forest," eh?" The man with the cat asked. "Is that what they're calling it nowadays?"
"You two didn't waste any time, did you?" The man with the hammer joked as he slowly stood up.
"LOK/LEONN!" Mama and Papa cried out in embarrassment. Yeah, she was getting really good at reading emotions.
"Anyway, back to what we were saying before we were interrupted…" Mama took a deep breath and calmed herself. "We want you to meet our friends. That's Sinon, and Liz, and Agil, and Silica, and…"
There were a lot of names to remember, but surprisingly, she remembered them all. What was even more surprising was that she was able to pronounce all of their names, unlike when she tried to pronounce Mama and Papa's names the first time. She was pretty confident she could call Mama and Papa by their actual names at this point, but that just wouldn't do.
They were Mama and Papa.
Soon after, Yui wandered over to Leonn, Sinon, and Liz. Mama and Papa were busy talking with Agil, Klein, and some of the others, and she wanted to learn more about her new friends. It looked like important grown-up talk anyway. Not that she wasn't interested, but the glances Mama and Papa were taking at Yui told her that they were probably talking about her.
"Oh, hey there Yui." Leonn said. "What can your Uncle Leonn do for you?"
"... Uncle Leonn?" Sinon deadpanned, while Liz giggled.
"Of course!" Leonn chuckled. "If Kirito and Asuna are her parents, then I'm going to be the fun uncle that spoils her rotten."
"I wanted to ask you something." Yui said, prompting nods of encouragement from the others. "How did you meet Mama and Papa? They said that you all are very good friends."
Liz looked around the room at the others before answering. "We've known your mama and papa the longest out of anyone here, actually. Well, except Klein, but he doesn't count."
"Why doesn't he count?" Yui asked.
"Well…" Liz trailed as she looked thoughtful. "Klein met your papa first but he didn't stay with him."
Yui frowned. "Does Klein not like Papa?"
Sinon shook her head. "No, it's not that. Klein had to leave your papa so he could help his own friends. Your papa's really strong, and at the time Klein's friends weren't strong. Klein wanted to help his friends so they wouldn't…"
"Wouldn't what?"
Sinon looked hesitant. Troubled. She looked between Liz and Leonn before turning back to Yui. "How much have your mama and papa told you about SAO?"
Yui thought for a moment. Mama and Papa had told her that they, along with many, many others were trapped in a game here. Somehow that part was easy for her to understand. Even the part about people dying was easy to understand, though it did cause Mama and Papa to worry a little.
"Oh, you mean Klein didn't want his friends to die!" Yui exclaimed, proud she figured out what they were hinting at.
The three of them winced and glanced over at Klein, who didn't seem to hear her. Leonn turned back to address her. "That's exactly it, Yui. Anyway, Klein knew your papa was strong enough to take care of himself, but he knew his own friends weren't strong enough."
"Your papa wasn't really alone, though." Liz said. "He had Leonn and Sinon with him."
"Wow!" Yui said in awe. "You two must be strong then, too!"
Leonn chuckled. "Not as strong as your papa. He's the strongest one of them all."
"Please." Liz scoffed. "Let's see Kirito win a wrestling match against a floor boss. Then he can claim that title."
Leonn's face turned red like Mama and Papa's had before. Embarrassment, but a different kind. Flustered? Yeah, that was it. Interesting.
"T-that's not what I mean, Liz." Leonn denied. "I may be physically the strongest, but he's much more capable."
Yui looked over at Liz and saw a variety of emotions on her face. Pride, a little bit of embarrassment. Definitely some admiration bordering on love there. Liz fully believed Leonn was stronger than her Papa. She was entitled to her opinion, of course, but no one was stronger than Papa.
Well, except maybe Mama. Mama looked plenty strong.
"Alright, you wanna know how strong your papa is?" Leonn said, patting his knee. Yui took the hint and took a seat on his knee. "Lemme tell you about the time your papa saved us all from a scary kobold lord…"
For the next hour, Leonn regaled her with tale after tale about Papa's heroic feats, as well as how awesome Mama was. After a while, most of the rest of the guild - she'd learned that they were all called the Resolute Renegades - had joined them and began to add to the stories told, each telling her how amazing her Papa and Mama were. She already knew her Papa and Mama were the best, but hearing exactly how was something different.
The time Papa was slingshot against a big scary elf monster by big brother Lokuss. The time Mama saved Uncle Nautilus from the hungry jaws of a giant crocodile. Scratch that, giant alligator. The many times they teamed up and attacked in perfect sync in what the others called a dance of black and white. Her Mama and Papa were the Lightning Flash and the Black Swordsman, the two strongest players in Aincrad, and she could not be more proud.
She also learned a lot about her new friends, who were pretty awesome too. Auntie Sinon was the best archer ever, Auntie Liz was super good at blacksmithing, and Uncle Leonn was strong enough to wrestle monsters! Auntie Yuna had a really pretty voice, Uncle Nautilus and Uncle Geeou were kind of like Papa but smiled more, and big sis Silica was really fun! Not to mention Pina, who was the cutest thing Yui had ever seen.
Auntie Kizmel and Auntie Kuroi talked and acted kind of funny, but they were really beautiful and cool anyway. Big bro Lokuss was a little strange at first but really funny! Uncle Agil was a little scary at first (he was so tall!) but it turns out he's a big softie, according to Uncle Klein. Big bros Wolfgang and Mako could be silly sometimes and if she didn't know any better, were basically twin brothers with how they acted around each other.
Speaking of, Uncle Klein, Big bros Dale, Dynamm, and Kunimittz were really relaxed and really easy to talk to. Uncle Nezha and Uncle Beowulf were the same way, too. Auntie Liten was really pretty, but she seemed like she was sad about something. In fact, a lot of her new family seemed sad about something. She didn't know what made them so sad, but Yui would just have to help them get happy again!
"Alright, Yui." Papa said, coming up from behind and patting her on the head. "You wanna go on a field trip?"
"A field trip, Papa?" Yui asked.
"Yep." Papa said. "We're gonna go to the Town of Beginnings. Maybe something there will jog your memory. It's where everyone started out, after all."
A field trip sounded fun. If they were going to be joined by their friends, it would definitely be fun. Exploring new places could be interesting. Maybe she'd meet more people and get better at reading emotions. She was getting good at that, and for some reason she really enjoyed it. She beamed and looked up at her Papa and Mama.
"Field trip!"
If she thought Nelluon Arael was big, the Town of Beginnings was enormous.
Yui looked around in awe as she and all twenty-one members of the Resolute Renegades teleported into the Town of Beginnings. According to Papa and Mama, they were all going to split up into smaller groups and ask around, see if anyone knew her. Yui doubted they would find anything since she couldn't even remember being here ever, but maybe they'd find something. They'd already found her a change of clothes, and now she wasn't wearing that white dress anymore. Now she was wearing a pretty pink sweater and a nice floofy purple skirt. 'Floofy' might not be a real word, but it was the best word to describe her new favorite skirt.
Maybe they could find something about her past. The best part about this trip, though? She got to ride on Papa's back, piggy-back style.
Life was good.
Right now, she was with Mama and Papa (of course), but they were in turn joined by Uncle Geeou, Auntie Kizmel, and Auntie Kuroi. She couldn't exactly see Auntie Kuroi right now, but Papa said that she was always around when you needed her.
Strange lady, but a good strange.
"Any ideas on where to start?" Uncle Geeou asked.
Auntie Kizmel looked thoughtful. "I don't think asking every person we encounter if they recognize Yui will be effective."
"Agreed." Mama said.
"Well, we're already attracting attention." Papa noted, glancing around at some of the surrounding players, some of whom were pointing and gawking. "If anyone sees Yui and recognizes her, I'm sure we'll hear about it."
Not that she could blame them of course. Her parents and friends were pretty awesome. She took a moment to eavesdrop on one of the side conversations nearby and see what they were mumbling about.
"... Is that the Black Swordsman?"
"Yeah, him and his wife."
"So it's true? He married the Lightning Flash?"
"Dude, do you even read the paper?"
"...Who's that with them?"
"That's Kizmel and Geeou, dude. Do you live under a rock, man?"
"No no no! I know who they are! I mean the kid! Who's the kid?"
"How should I know? Maybe they found some weird marriage quest and got busy, I don't know."
Yui leaned forward so she could speak with Papa. "Papa, what do they mean when they say you and Mama got busy?"
Apparently she said that too loudly because now Papa, Mama, Uncle Geeou, and Auntie Kizmel were glaring at the players around them. Whatever they meant must not have been good. She giggled when a few of them backed away in fear.
"N-nothing, sweetie." Mama said nervously. "They're just talking about how your papa and I help fight monsters."
"Oh." Yui said. "That makes sense, I guess."
They kept walking for some time, occasionally stopping to talk with some of the other players. Nobody knew Yui, not that she expected them to. Many of them, however, recommended finding some lady named Sasha. Apparently she was a schoolteacher on this floor and knew a lot of kids. To get to her schoolhouse, they'd either have to go back and pass through the center of town, or they could take a shortcut through some parts of the city that didn't have many people.
"So… shortcut or the long route?" Papa asked.
"I see no reason why we cannot take the shorter route." Auntie Kizmel said with a shrug. "Not only are we in a safe zone, but between the five of us, I am sure we can keep young Yui safe from any dangers that might arise."
"Whaddya say, Yui?" Papa asked, looking over his shoulder. "Wanna take a shortcut?"
"Yep!" Yui cried out, pointing ahead.
Mama chuckled. "Well, it's not that way, Yui. We'll have to go this way instead."
"Right!" Yui exclaimed, quickly changing the direction she was pointing. Mama was so smart.
As they walked through the quiet areas of the Town of Beginnings, she had to admit it was a little spooky around here. There were hardly any players around here, and those that did seemed to run away once they were spotted. It's like everyone was hiding from something. But what?
"Leave those children alone!" A voice called out from down an alleyway nearby.
Another voice laughed. "Look, it's that daycare bitch!"
"That doesn't sound good." Auntie Kizmel said, putting her hand on the handle of her sword.
"We've been waitin' for you…" A third voice said.
"Nope. Not good at all." Mama said before she ran forward into the alley. "Come on. Kirito, you keep behind me with Yui. Geeou, Kizmel, with me."
"Right." Uncle Geeou and Auntie Kizmel said together before they started running alongside Mama.
"Leave them alone and let them go!" That first voice called out, this time sounding louder than before.
"You make it sound like we're doin' somethin' illegal, baby cakes." The second voice said. "We're just teaching them how things work around here, makin' sure they pay their way. It's protection money. You pay us, we make sure nothing… unfortunate happens to you."
Yui couldn't see his face, but she could tell the major mental state here was arrogance. She'd started separating things into mental states and emotions and the distinction seemed to be helping. One was a state of being while the other was a reaction to something happening. People were complicated like that.
"Gin! Kain! Mina!" That first voice called out again. "Are you okay?!"
"Help us Miss Sasha, please!" A new voice, this one from another kid like her. "They won't leave us alone!"
"They just want your money, so give it to them and it'll be okay!" The first voice - perhaps this was Miss Sasha? - said. She sounded concerned, but tried to be brave for the others.
"We tried, teach!" Another kid voice said. "They said it's not enough!"
"Hurry." Mama said, quickening her pace. Everyone sped up.
"Yeah, you're gonna need to make up for what they couldn't pay us, miss." Something about the way that voice said "miss" made Yui shiver a little. Very arrogant. "We're gonna need all of your items, even your equipment and armor. Don't give me that look. Come on, honey. Don't be shy…"
"Disgusting pigs." Mama and Auntie Kizmel said together.
Finally, Yui could see what was happening. A bunch of men - nine in total by her count and dressed in scary leather armor - were surrounding a woman in a blue dress in glasses. Just past them on the other side of the alley were three kids, probably older than Yui if she had to guess, who looked worried and concerned. Mama and Papa, with Yui in tow, jumped over the men and landed on the other side next to the other kids, much to the surprise of the mean men.
Mama leaned down towards the kids, who looked just as surprised as the bullies. "You guys are gonna be okay now. Pick up your stuff."
"O-okay." One of the boys said, looking at Mama with awe.
Yui peeked over Papa's shoulder and saw that Uncle Geeou and Auntie Kizmel were on the other side, protecting the woman she assumed to be Miss Sasha.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The one of the bullies said. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Meh." Papa said. She couldn't see his face, but Yui could tell he was confident. He carefully let her down so she was standing on her own. "No one of consequence."
"I got this." The lead bully said, stepping up. "I guess you're all new in town, huh? Maybe we oughta teach you how things work around here. Don't worry, we can't kill you here…but we can teach you a lesson."
"Kuroi, please watch Yui for us." Mama said, as she stepped forward, Papa right at her side.
Kuroi appeared right next to Yui, scaring both the kids and the bullies at the same time. She placed herself in front of Yui and assumed a defensive stance. "Of course, Milady."
"What are you gonna do, Mama?" Yui asked.
"Papa and I need to teach them a lesson." Mama said as she unsheathed her rapier. Papa pulled out his own blades. "You two wanna join in on this? There's plenty to go around."
"Of course." She heard Uncle Geeou say, followed by the cracking of knuckles and the unsheathing of two blades.
"Milady. Milord." Kuroi said, causing Mama and Papa to pause for a moment. "Those are Titan's Hand. I would recognize their filth anywhere."
"Wait, shit! She recognized us!" One of the bullies cried out. "Hold on a second, it's that Shadow bitch! She's back!"
"What?!" Another bully cried out. "I thought she disappeared! I figured she died!"
"Nah, man! I heard she joined the Renegades!" A third bully answered. "Wait, then that means…"
All nine bullies collectively gulped.
"Yup. That's us." Papa said, readying his two swords. "Kuroi, please contact Argo. I'm sure she can get the word out to arrest these idiots."
"At once, Milord." Kuroi said, pulling up her menu and sending off a quick message. All the while, Kuroi never left Yui's side. Kuroi might have been strange, but she definitely made her feel safe. Kind of like a bodyguard.
"This is a safe zone!" The lead bully shouted, panic and fear in his voice. "You can't hurt us here!"
Yui looked on in barely restrained glee, as did the other kids behind her. What happened next could only be described as a smackdown. Mama stabbed the lead bully with one of her sword skills and ended up knocking him on his butt. Papa saw another bully try to help the first one, but knocked him down with two fast swings of his swords. Yui saw more of the bullies, these ones in the back, start falling when Auntie Kizmel came in swinging. Uncle Geeou stood in the back, cutting off any hope of escape.
"Did you just call Kirito your Papa?" One of the kids behind Yui asked.
Yui enthusiastically turned around and smiled. "Yep! He's my Papa!"
The other kids looked confused. Perplexed might be a better word, now that she thought about it. Maybe it had something to do with how young Papa and Mama looked? She could see how that might be confusing. As far as she knew, people Papa and Mama's age didn't usually have kids.
"She's gotta be lying, right?" Another kid asked.
Yui pouted and was about to yell at them when Kuroi spoke up.
"She speaks the truth. She is the daughter of Lord Kirito and Lady Asuna." Kuroi said very respectfully. Something seemed to catch the ninja's attention since she then threw one of her pointy stars at one of the bullies, catching him by surprise so Papa could come in swinging.
"See?" Yui asked pointedly, proudly placing her hands on her hips. "Kick their butts, Papa!"
Papa flashed her a smile as he pummeled two of the bullies into submission. It didn't take long for the bullies to surrender. Many of them were cowering with their backs to the wall, which Yui thought was funny because they couldn't take damage here in a city like this. Mama and Papa put their weapons away while Auntie Kizmel and Uncle Geeou stood guard over the bullies.
"Awesome!" The other kids all shouted. One of the kids, a boy with brown hair, seemed to speak louder than the others. "You're the Lightning Flash, aren't you?! That's so cool! And that's the Black Swordsman!"
Yui smiled. Yes, her Mama and Papa were definitely awesome.
"Thank you for helping us." Miss Sasha said, trying to speak over the other kids, many of whom were so excited to meet Mama and Papa that they wouldn't stop talking over one another.
"It's no problem at all." Mama said, looking a little embarrassed. Humble. That was the right word here. "We're just glad we got here in time."
Yui would have kept listening, but she felt something… tugging. Not in a physical sense, but an urge, a compulsion to look up. So she looked up, and saw the clear blue skies over the Town of Beginnings. The clouds looked so pretty. Some of them looked like hearts. She reached up, and that was when she started mumbling.
"Their hearts…"
"Lady Yui?" Kuroi asked, kneeling down and looking at Yui with concern.
"Everyone's hearts are…"
"Everyone's hearts are what?" The ninja pressed before looking over her shoulder. "Milord! Milady!"
"What's wrong?" Mama said, walking up alongside Papa.
"Their hearts…!"
"Kuroi, what's happening?" Papa asked, looking back and forth between the ninja and Yui.
"I do not know." Kuroi said. "Perhaps she is remembering something?"
"I… I…" Yui mumbled before shrinking on herself. "...I was never here… in this place."
Mama wrapped her up in a hug. "What do you mean, Yui?"
"I was alone…" Yui whispered. "... in the dark…"
Then something in Yui snapped and she screamed.
...
"Ą̷̥̱͎̼̖͛͘A̵̡̙͉͔̱̦͒̈́̑Ą̷̢̛̮̪̼͔̪̰̤̰͕̑̊̍͑̇̉̃̕̚͘͘͠Ä̴̲͎͔̝̬̹̗̳́̂͌͂̑͛̿͋̌͜͜ͅA̴̤͒̊͋̃̾̏̐͂͝H̵̠͇̭̣̾Ḣ̷͉͎̯͎̓͌̿̃͊̍̈́̈́̈͘͝͠Ḫ̶̰̘̻̥̼̮͎̫̻̇͐̌͜H̸̭̄̍͂́̆̈́̋͘̕͠!̷̨̣̘̫̲̀̎̀͌́͌̃̂̾͊͝͝!̷̛̛͈͓̦͋͌͑!̸͕̠̣͙͓̤̞̜̝̏̀̀̾͊̉̔͋̋̅̄̋̚͘̕!̷̢͓͍̪̻̘̣̯̖͙̯̞͈͗̊͆͑̈́͗̉̀͗̈́̽͐͝"
...
Not just Yui, but the air itself began to hum with energy. Everyone nearby, including the bullies, clapped their hands to their ears as a piercing whine shrilled in the air. Yui felt herself slipping. She wasn't holding onto anything, but her hold on reality began to slip as her body went limp. Mama and Papa lunged forward to catch her before she hit the ground, and only then did she stop screaming.
"Mama… I'm scared…" Yui whimpered.
"By the sacred trees, what just happened?" Auntie Kizmel asked, lowering her hands from her ears.
"I… don't know…" Papa said, looking right at Yui with concern.
That gave Yui some comfort. Despite what just happened, Papa still cared for her. Mama did, too, if the tight hug she was giving was any indicator. Yui looked up at him and mustered a faint smile…
…And then the world went black.
Omake - Shopping Spree
"Isn't this a bit much, Mom?"
Suguha Kirigaya loved shopping just as much as the next teenage girl. Clothes shopping was a favorite pastime of hers, second only to shopping for new kendo equipment. Thus, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone that the youngest Kirigaya found herself clothes shopping with her mom.
"Nonsense! It's my grandmotherly obligation to smother my granddaughter with love, affection, and gratuitous gifts!"
That said, it was a little weird to be shopping for her new niece.
"Mom, she probably already has parents!"
Midori Kirigaya ignored her daughter's objections and held up two shirts obviously sized for a young girl. The first was a pink t-shirt with a number of weapons - a rapier, a bow, a dagger, a shuriken, a sword, a warhammer, a mace, and a lute - with flowery lettering underneath that read "Girl Power." The other was a baby blue long-sleeved shirt with an outline of Pina on it, complete with bubble motifs on the sleeves.
"I don't need excuses, Sugu, I need suggestions!" Midori demanded. "Which do you think Yui would like?"
"We've known about her existence for all of one day, Mom!"
Midori maintained her smile while boring a hole in Suguha's head with her eyes.
"... The pink one. She likes pink."
"I thought so, too!" Midori practically squealed, putting the blue shirt back and throwing the pink shirt over her forearm. She wandered off for a moment towards another rack before pausing, looking back, and snatching the Pina shirt anyway. "You know what? We'll just get her both!"
"She might outgrow those by the time she gets out, Mom."
Midori gasped. "You're right! We'll get the next size up, too!"
"Too?" Suguha parrotted. "We're getting both sizes? I don't think the return policy extends that far out, Mom."
"Don't care!"
Suguha couldn't stay irritated at her mom. She hadn't seen her this full of life and energy since before Kazuto got trapped inside that game. Before she knew it, Suguha found herself dashing from clothes rack to clothes rack right alongside her mother. Yui was cute, and her mom had a point.
Suguha had an obligation as an aunt to spoil her new niece rotten and drive Kazuto crazy at the same time.
Deciding to divide and conquer, Suguha spotted some cute shirts nearby and made a beeline towards the apparel. She pulled out the first shirt, a plain white shirt with pretty font that spelled out "Sword Art Online" on it. She frowned before putting it back and making a grab for the shirt next to it, an adorable sundress that had small sword motifs along the hems. There seemed to be a bit of resistance on this particular article of clothing, almost as if someone was tugging on it from the other side of the clothes rack. She peered over the rack and spotted a neatly styled head of brown hair.
"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't know…"
Her eyes met with those of her would-be competitor for the vaunted sundress. Immediately, both she and her opponent let go.
"Suguha?"
"Kouichirou?"
She blinked, and so did her honorary brother-in-law. She got up on her tiptoes and looked past him before Suguha shook her head, disbelieving of what she was seeing. A short distance away, Mrs. Yuuki was browsing more girls' clothes with the aloof air of an aristocrat, yet the glimmer in her eyes betrayed how eager she was to be shopping. It didn't take a genius to understand that the normally distant Yuuki matriarch was shopping for clothing for Yui, just like the Kirigayas were.
She looked back at Kouichirou, and an unspoken agreement was made, both stepping back and walking away from the clothes rack.
"Find anything interesting?" Midori asked once Suguha had returned.
Suguha gulped before glancing at the Yuuki's out of the corner of her eye. She handed her mother the few skirts and dresses she'd found already and shook her head.
"You could say that."