Chapter 2: Humans Being

Life for the Kirigaya family had just upgraded exponentially. Not only were Asuna and Kazuto married and moved into their new home (Yuuki Konno's old home), their daughter Yui was now with them in the real world.

Although Yui was adored by almost everyone she came across, one person was very skeptical to see this as a good thing. In fact, this person still resented the marriage despite having giving permission.

Kyouko Yuuki was not excited at all about Yui's announcement or the marriage of her daughter to one she dubbed a 'commoner'. Whenever Asuna told her that Kazuto had proposed and she accepted, Kyouko was not happy. She wasn't angry, just disappointed that her daughter would choose to be with someone of such a low class upbringing. Now, they have a daughter so soon after being wed. This was only getting worse in her eyes.

Whenever Kazuto was around Kyouko, he always caught her glaring at him. During dinner at their new home, Kyouko glared at him and Yui almost the entire time. It got so bad that he sent Yui upstairs to her bedroom for the time being. Afterwards, he returned and confronted her.

"Mrs. Yuuki. Is there an issue?" Kazuto stood at the head of the table.

Asuna placed her hand on his. "Kazuto-kun."

Kyouko stood from her own chair. "Yes actually. You are not worthy of my daughter."

"Mother!" Asuna stood as well.

Shouzou also stood. "Kyouko, not now."

"No! He wants to know my problem with him? He's going to know." Kyouko moved around and got up in Kazuto's face. "You want to know my problem? You, not being anywhere near good enough for my daughter. You seduced her during a weak point in that stupid game. It's bad enough you 'married' her in there, but now you bring that inhuman creature out here and claim it's your daughter and basically forced Asuna to marry you. You disgust me."

Kazuto had been through many things without losing his cool. He'd battled Heathcliff, Oberon, Kuradeel, Death Gun, Quinella, and even the evil forces of the Underworld. But nothing hit home like someone calling his daughter an 'inhuman creature'.

Right as he was about to go off, someone beat him to it. "Get out." It wasn't very loud, but it was powerful.

Everyone stared at the person that spoke up. "What?" Kyouko stood aghast at the remark.

"You heard me mother. Get... out." Asuna's eyes narrowed as she stared down her own mother. "You don't know what I've been through. Yui-chan brought a new sense of purpose in my life in that living Hell of a game. Yui-chan helped save me from Sugou in Alfheim. Yui-chan may not be anything more than computer code, but she's my daughter and I love her! So damn you calling her such a horrible name." The room was silent as Kazuto moved behind his wife and held her shoulders. "Father, you're welcome to come visit for Christmas and whenever you want, but she's not allowed in this house until she's apologized to not only Kazuto-kun, but Yui-chan as well." A tear of anger leaked out.

They all were shocked. Asuna was always so calm, yet she just went off on her own mother.

Kyouko scoffed. "I'm not apologizing to something that can't process it."

Shouzou pulled her shoulder. "That's enough." He turned to his daughter. "I'm very sorry Asuna, Kazuto. We'll be leaving now. And give my gift to Yui-chan for Christmas."

Nothing was said as the parents left. As soon as the door shut, Asuna broke down in her husband's chest. Kazuto stroked her back and let her cry. It was understandable that her mother wasn't excited about the marriage, but to go as far as to insult her daughter was unthinkable. The worst part was, she did it completely sober.

"I-I can't believe m-my mother would... would."

"Shhh. It's alright. You have me and Yui, and all of our friends. We're fine here. Yui is fine." He looked up towards where Yui's room was. "Want to go see her?" Asuna nodded her head. Together, they walked up to Yui's room.

'knock' 'knock'

"Yui-chan?" Asuna called from the door.

"Hai? Mama." Yui's sweet voice answered.

They opened the door and entered. Yui was watching TV and learning as much as she could about the real world. They hoped she didn't hear any of what Kyouko had said to them. "So, Yui. What did you think of Mama's parents?" Kazuto laid down on the bed, wrapped an arm around his daughter and smiled.

"Mr. Shouzou is a funny man. I like his jokes about computers because I understand them. Mrs. Kyouko was a little hostile. I think she hates you Papa." Yui showed no clear emotion, but didn't smile about it. She looked so innocently confused.

"Yea, I don't think she likes me either. I guess a lot of in-laws are like that." He gave a heartless chuckle and squeezed Yui tighter. "We love you Yui. We love you so very much."

"I love you too Papa, Mama." When Yui's dark grey eyes caught her mother's, Asuna almost lost her composer. She rushed and hugged Yui.

"I'm so sorry, Yui-chan. My mother has always been like that. I hope you can forgive her."

"What am I forgiving her for?"

"She called you... an inhuman creature." They were all quiet for a second.

"That's what I am, more or less." As expected, the comment didn't effect Yui at all.

"No! You're more than that. You're our daughter and we love you Yui!" Asuna pulled both her husband and daughter to her chest and sobbed. It was long night and Yui came to sleep with her mother.

Christmas came to the Kirigaya home and it was a blast. Since Yui was such a late arrival, she said she also doubled as Asuna's Christmas present. Of course, Asuna accepted it and held her daughter all morning long.

Kazuto had gotten Yui a fluffy jacket and skirt set. She was trying on the jacket, when Kazuto thought of something funny. "You know, she's going to be this size forever so it won't be hard to buy clothes for her.

Asuna looked over at her daughter. "I guess you're right." She put a hand his chest and leaned on him. "Kazuto-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"Did we do the right thing? Bringing Yui to this world out of a computer." She kept staring as Yui finally pulled her arm through the left sleeve.

Kazuto looked from his wife to his daughter and smiled. "Yea. I think so. Yui always wanted to see this world with her own eyes. Now she can." It didn't take long for her to realize why she asked. "Asuna, don't worry about her. If she can't see how happy this little family right here is together, then she doesn't have to be a part of it. We have our family. You, me, Yui, Sugu, Lis, Silica, Klien, Agil, Shino, and Alice. That's all we need to be happy. We have our family." He wrapped his arm around her and rocked back and forth. Together, they just watched Yui play with her new things.

"You know, she can be very mature and very childish sometimes." Asuna wiped a joyful tear from her eye.

"Yea." Kazuto kissed her head then reached behind the sofa. "Yui."

"Hai, Papa." Yui came bounding over.

"Grandpa got you something for Christmas." It wasn't a very big box, but he knew it was special.

Yui's artificial eyes lit up as she smiled. "Really? Can I open it?"

"Sure."

She tore into the paper around the box and finally found the cardboard beneath. The tape on the box flew off and Yui threw open the top. "Wow!" Inside, was a small necklace of two swords. One was Kazuto's Elucidator and the other was Asuna's Lambent Light. The two swords intersected in the middle of a little blue crystal gem. That gem was the same one Asuna wore called 'Yui's heart'.

Asuna stared wide eyed at this. She had no idea that her father was going to give her something so personal. After a second, she turned to Kazuto. "D-Did you?"

"I may or may not have provided the specs for them, but it was his idea." Kazuto smiled at his wife and daughter. This was his ideal life.

A couple of hours later, their friends started to arrive. It was around 11 o'clock so it wasn't quite time for lunch, but it gave them time to prepare. Asuna had been cooking since yesterday to prepare lunch for today. Yui had offered to help to which she gladly accepted. Together, they made cookies for their guests.

The first guest to come was Suguha and her parents.

Sugu entered first and was immediately greeted by Yui. "Aunt Leafa!" She jumped on her father's sister/cousin and hugged her.

"Hey Yui! What did you get for Christmas?" Sugu was lead off by Yui to the living room where she proceeded to show off her multiple presents. Most of which were decoration for her room. After she showed off her little necklace, Sugu pulled a tube shaped present from her bag. "I got you something too."

Yui sat next to her aunt and stared. "What is it?"

"Open it and find out."

Yui once again tore into the parcel and opened the long tube case. Inside, was a smaller version of the poster that Sugu had in her bedroom of Leafa. "It's you!"

"I have a really big one in my bedroom at home, and I remembered how much you loved it when you saw it." Not long after Kazuto finished uploading Yui, they ventured to Sugu's room to show her and Yui fell in love with the large poster.

"Thank you Aunt Leafa."

Kazuto came around the corner and patted her head. "Yui, her name is Suguha, you know that right?"

Sugu was quick to shake her head. "No it's fine. She met me as Leafa, so I don't mind." She wrapped her arm around Yui. "She can call me Leafa as long as she wants to."

While they sat in the living room, Rika and Keiko arrived. "Hey guys!" Rika called out as she and her shorter friend joined them in the living room.

Both girls had brought presents for Yui to decorate her bedroom. Rika pulled out a blue plastic sheath that held a hard plastic version of Kazuto's Dark Repulsor. It was very well done and not dangerous where it would cut anything. When Asuna asked why a sword, Rika told her that she needed to learn to use a sword like her parents.

Keiko had managed to find a company that would make a plush version of her dragon Pina that Yui was so attached to in Alfheim. She also brought her cat Pina so that Yui could have both of them in the same room.

Yui was once again adored by everyone in the room as she sat with her plush dragon in one hand, and her new sword in the other. Kazuto sat beside her and held her to his side.

Andrew (Agil) and his wife showed up after another thirty minutes and joined Asuna and Kazuto's parents in the kitchen. About the time that food was ready, Shino came in. "Sorry I'm late guys. My train got delayed and people can't walk anywhere in any sort of timely manner." She sighed and pushed her glasses to her face.

"No worries. Here let me grab that." Kazuto stood and took the parcel that Shino brought with her. "This is for Yui?"

"Yea. Yui should know how to shoot a gun too." All the girls looked over to her with worry and confusion. "What? It's not a real gun. Yui want to open it?"

"Sure!" She pulled open the box and pulled out a plastic dart gun.

Shino and Kazuto smiled at her as she brought the toy to her lap. "Make sure to shoot your daddy whenever you get the chance. He's hard to sneak up on." She slapped his shoulder lightly.

They all laughed since it was about as true as you could get. Not long after that, they all gathered around the table to eat. Asuna began to pass out dishes and drinks. Right as she was about to set down the last plate, a knock came from the door.

Kazuto stood to answer it. "Were we expecting anyone else?"

"Klein said he couldn't make it, so I don't know." Asuna replied from the table.

He opened the door to reveal Alice. "Oh, hi Alice. I wasn't sure if you were coming today."

"Ms. Rinko surprised me too. I thought I wouldn't be able to leave the compound, but she had a car waiting for me to come here." She fidgeted her hands back and forth.

He noticed that it was freezing outside. "Sorry, come in. Your metal chassis must be freezing."

Alice walked past him and turned back. "Actually, it has an internal heater. Quite the innovation. I'm still getting used to the technology of this world, but this is amazing." She didn't seem to have a gift for Yui, but that was just fine. Having someone around that was like Yui was enough.

"Well come on, we're just about to eat."

"You know I can't eat right?"

Kazuto smiled. "Neither can Yui, but it's nice to be around family during Holidays."

After a few hours of playing games and watching Christmas movies, Andrew and his wife left the party. Not long after, Kazuto and Sugu's parents left as well. Sugu decided to stay the night so her parents left her. Alice was also taken back to RATH, but Kazuto promised to make it up to her. Rika, Shino, and Keiko also decided to spend the night.

They continued to watch movies deep into the night. Eventually, Yui started to fall asleep. One thing about Yui's battery life was that when it was under 15%, she would get sleepy. The more she exerted herself, the more tired she got and faster. Kazuto picked her up and carried her to her bedroom.

Once they got to her room, he laid her down on her bed to charge and pulled her blanket up. "Yui?"

Yui's eyes fluttered open. "Papa."

"Did you have a good day?" She nodded her head sleepily. "That's good. Your aunts are going to stay the night so they'll be downstairs. Aunt Sugu will be in the bedroom next door."

"O..kay." Her eyes were struggling to stay open.

Kazuto leaned down and kissed her head. "Goodnight Yui."

"Goodnight, Papa."

Asuna and the other girls were downstairs still. They had all watched how Kazuto handled Yui today and it rekindled their love for him.

Shino was the first to speak. "You know, I've never really given thought to children. But seeing how well he was with Yui, I can't help but think." She was bundled up under a blanket on a recliner.

The other girls let out a lovestruck sigh. Keiko went next. "I've always been good with kids, but I think I'm not old enough yet." Truth was, she was still 17. The other girls were all about 20 to 22. Rika was the oldest at 22.

After those two, Rika spoke up. "I don't like kids. They're way too loud as babies. But, I think I could do if I had someone like Kazuto with me."

That was the first thing that tipped Asuna off. She'd had ideas that the other girls liked Kazuto for a while now, but none had ever actually said it to her.

Right as she was about to bring it up, Sugu chimed in. "He's always been good with kids. They just seem to flock to him. Maybe it's his feminine face but they all love him. I just wish I could be with someone like that."

Seeing as how that was a very specific set of features Sugu was saying she wanted, Asuna knew it was true. All the girls around her had crushes on her husband.

"D-Do you all... like Kazuto-kun?"

All of them turned to face their older friend. Sugu tried to speak up. "I... uh... we..."

Shino took over with flushed cheeks. "We thought you knew. It's painfully obvious. But he seems to only have eyes for you Asuna."

That made Asuna feel both thankful and sorry for her friends. On one hand, they didn't actively pursue him despite their feelings. On the other hand, she wanted all her friends to be happy.

"W-What if he took each of you on a date?" Asuna's voice was soft and quiet. She still wasn't sure of her plan, but it was what she had.

"Huh?" Rika looked up from her phone. "What do you mean 'date'?"

Now she was stuck in it. Asuna's face turned a rosy red. "Well, um. I know you all like him, and I know he would go along with it if I asked it of him. And since I didn't get you guys anything for Christmas..." She started to babble on and on.

"Asuna." Shino cut in.

"Yes?"

"That's very kind of you, but we don't need it. We're fine being close enough as it is." All the others nodded their heads in agreement.

Footsteps creaked down the last step of the stair case. "Close enough to what?"