I do not own or have any affiliations with Sword Art Online.
I'm sorry for taking so long but dealing with final assignments, first semester exam preparation and many other things; I wasn't able to do as much writing as I wanted and I really needed a break.
Chapter 14: A Sweet Visit
Rinko laid tirelessly on the sofa while her beloved child was laid beside her in the bassinet.
The mother closed her exhausted eyes but soon fluttered them open when she was interrupted by an unexpected soft taping sound coming from the front door.
She separated herself from the warm, comfortable position and sluggishly reached for the golden round door handle.
To her surprise, the woman saw four beautiful female students in front of her, smiling outside in the narrow building hallway.
"Sur-prise onee-san." They cheerfully sang and came inside.
"What's all of this?" Rinko noticed the plastic bags that they brought inside with them.
"We got some stuff with us if you don't mind." Asuna said while taking out a large container and set it on the small kitchen counter.
Rinko thanked them for their abrupt yet generous and courteous gestures.
"I'm sorry the place is a little dirty." Rinko sounded embarrassed.
"That's why we're here." Rika said. "I mean, last thing anyone with a cold wants to do is clean. Especially when there's two sick people living in the same house at the same time."
"And we bought more things for Himeko-chan." Suguha handed to small gift boxes.
The first box revealed a small necklace version on an orange crest from an old series involving eight children and their digital monster partners. The second box revealed a single pair of light blue boots.
"You're really spoiling her." Rinko flashed a coy grin.
"We can't help ourselves. We love our little sweetie pie." They spoke innocently.
"I know you do, but you can't keep buying her all of these things whenever you come by." The mother smiled.
"But it's the most easiest thing in the world." Keiko awed.
"And let's not forget it's a great excuse to go shopping." Rika added.
Keiko nudged her in the ribs.
"Hey, it's not like you weren't thinking the same thing." The darker brunette murmured.
"Yeah, but we weren't going to think it out loud." The lighter brunette whispered back.
"I'm sure it is." Rinko laughed while setting a stack of plates and a group of glasses on the kitchen table.
"The place isn't as dirty as we thought. It actually looks like it was already cleaned from before." Asuna looked around her standing position.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you. The thing is that a pair of striking young women and a handsome young boy came by a couple of days ago." Rinko informed the quartette.
"That's alright. We'll just clean up later." Suguha added.
"You girls better go wash up. It's almost time for lunch." The sick woman gave them a grin.
As they all sat together to eat, the girls seemed to have difficulty taking their attention off from the sleeping sick infant in the living room.
"Why do you girls look so sleepy all of a sudden?" Their older sister wanted to know.
"Sorry onee-san, but it seems that she possesses a high AOE skill." Rika yawned a little.
"Maybe even more higher than Kirito-kun's in-game. If he was here he would have already collapsed in his chair in a deep sleep." Asuna nearly shut her eyes closed.
"Is that right?" Rinko chuckled softly.
"But you already know what's that like, onee-san." Keiko sounded tired.
"What do you mean by that?" Rinko looked at her.
The ribbon wearing girl showed her a picture where the said mother/daughter duo were harmoniously fell asleep on the couch during the party.
A light crimson hue appeared on Rinko's face.
"You're the real world's best mother/daughter pairing." Asuna wrapped her arms around the adult's neck while a small cheer and clap came from the others.
"That means a lot coming from half of the virtual world's best mother/daughter duo." Rinko patted Asuna's hair.
The temporary pleasantry of the moment soon dissolved as the atmospheric noiselessness was being drowned with high pitched whining coming from the other side, resulting the mother to hurriedly approach her sick little one.
Rika pulled her cell phone camera up to her face. "Now we get to see the darling smoking hot mother in action once again."
After using salt water and a rubber bulb syringe to decongest the mucus in her daughter's nose. Rinko rocked her, making the infant go back to sleep.
"How did the recording go?" Rinko turned around and smiled.
"Just as good as last time." Rika extended her thumb.
"So you send all of these pictures and videos you make here over to Yui-chan?" Rinko blew her nose with a soft tissue.
The girls nodded altogether in unison.
"Of course, she's apart of the family too." Rika took a bite from her plate.
"And it makes her really happy." Keiko followed.
"Plus she has such a wonderful smile." Suguha added.
Asuna shyly lowered her vision to the floor as a gentle warmness embraced her heart.
That might be a problem for later when that time comes along. I'm going to need to talk to Kirigaya-kun about this later. Rinko thought while nearly finishing her meal.
Rinko then made a pot of tea and served with the pastries that they brought with them.
"So how are you colds coming along?" Suguha asked.
"Oh, there almost completely gone." Rinko sniffled.
"So how is Himeko-chan adapting here?" Asuna sipped the warm liquid.
"It's hard to come up with an exact conclusion after getting mild colic, a fever and a cold as well."
"How long does she need to sleep for?" Rika waited for her tea to cool down.
"About 20 hours, but for short time periods. She gets quite fussy during the night."
Keiko directed her eye contact to the elder. "When does she need to be fed?"
"Every 2-3 hours."
"Does she have a favourite toy?" The question belonged to Suguha.
"She's very fond of that teddy bear you gifted her, she never wants to get away from it."
Suguha's heart fluttered inside while her face showed a light blush. "Well... I can't take all of the credit. It was onii-chan was the one who paid for it."
"Did you cut her nails yet?" Asuna questioned the woman beside her.
"Yeah, luckily Ryo was still here to help me out, and she's thankfully a sound sleeper." Rinko are the strawberry off her cake.
"Himeko-chan didn't wake up during it did she?" Rika said in between bites.
"No, as a matter of fact, he's part of the reason why she's a sound sleeper."
"Wow, they much really love each other a lot then." Keiko complimented.
"Yes, they do." The mother felt the tea warm the inside of her body.
"Oh, Himeko-chan you look very pretty today." Keiko soundly murmured.
"So how is our grey kitten doing today?" Asuna stroked her hair with warm fingers.
"Wow, onee-san you look pretty tired out." Rika observed the woman with her head laid back on the couch seat, still wearing her long sleeping gown.
"She woke up early and had a screaming fit. I haven't been able to go back to sleep since then." Rinko moaned and yawned.
"You can go in your room for a while. There's plenty of us to keep an eye on her." Suguha offered the overly-tired mother.
"That would be great." Rinko got up stiffly. "There's a couple of bottles in the fridge, and feel free to eat anything else from the fridge or cupboards. If you need help don't hesitate to come wake up." She bowed and left the living area.
There was a small silence in the are that was quickly substituted with the girls talking amongst themselves.
"Can you believe that someday, we're actually going to help walk, talk and other things when the time comes." Keiko's voice nearly sounded like a chipmunk's.
"But if you really think about it, will we even be here to help when she does? I mean...we're always busy with school, the game and other things. We hardly see each other as much...right now." Rika felt worried and frowned.
"Sure we will. Just have some more faith in our friendship." Suguha put her hand on her shoulder. She does have a good point though, she silently thought.
"Besides poor thing already has a cold. Let's just focus on making her feel better for now." Asuna tried a hand in comforting Rika. We won't be in school forever will we? The teenager blinked her mind back in the present moment.
"And it's not like onee-san isn't going to stop sending us all sorts of pictures and videos when we're not here." Keiko spoke in an encouraging tone. But will those ever be enough? The girl put on a brave smile.
"Well in that case, she better prepare ourselves for her first heartbreak." Rika smiled a little.
"But before that, her first date." Asuna said with a small laugh.
"And before the first date, we need to be backup support for when she brings that certain person home with her." Suguha added.
A little cough came from the bassinet they were sitting nearby.
"What are the odds of her, onee-san and onii-chan getting colds around the same time." Suguha sighed.
"It's a miracle that you're not sick, Suguha-san." Keiko noticed her seemingly unaffected physique.
"I hardly get sick, thanks to this great immune system of mine." Suguha slouched in her seat. "It also means that I don't really get a good enough excuse to stay home from school whenever I want too." She groaned.
"You know, you could play hooky whenever you'd feel like it." Rika teased the younger girl.
"No way, then I'm gonna have to deal with onii-chan later."
They all giggled together.
Yumeko lets out a little cough and sneeze.
"Oh, it's ok sweetie." Asuna nicely tucked her back in again.
"Be careful that it's not too tight, she's gonna suffocate then." The online blacksmith advised.
"Don't worry, she's fine." Asuna assured her.
"She looks really tired. I hope she'll sleep better tonight." Keiko sounded sympathetic towards the young patient.
"At least it's not like that fever she had before." Rika began going through the kitchen cupboards. "Damn, he hit the mother load and its free." In a pleasant manner she grabbed a couple of bags, and put them on the counter.
"Not so loud, Rika-san." Suguha shushed her.
They hear the door lock being disabled and a stretched out single squeak as it widened.
The current occupants collectively shushed the man coming inside the moment he appeared in front of them.
"When did you kids get here? I didn't invite anyone." Klein scratched the back of his head.
"No one did. We invited ourselves." Keiko stated with a grin her face.
"You barged in my place unannounced?" Klein crossed his arms.
"We didn't barge in par se... We just came in to without any type of notice just to give surprise visit to onee-san." Suguha brightly smiled.
"Yeah, and it's been so long since we saw them." Asuna cheerfully played along.
"Didn't see them? You we're here just three days ago." Klein responded.
"Those were three day ago too long." Rika said while enjoying her snack.
"Are you eating my stuff?" Klein pointed at her.
"We have permission from your girlfriend." The high schooler replied in a resolute tone.
Damn it, I can't top that. He sighed and shook his head from side to side and sauntered to the bassinet other the opposite side.
He reached for his smallest girl's hand. "Did she take her medicine yet?"
"Yeah, a while ago." Asuna replied.
"Where's Rin?"
"Onee-san is taking a nap inside." Keiko answered him.
Klein read the time on the clock that was hanging in the kitchen. As he reached for the door knob he looked at the students who were behind him. "I'm not paying for all of you."
"That's fine. We'll just be here and eat your snacks instead." Rika snickered at him.
"Or you could leave us something in our inventory, like what you did with Kirito-kun." Asuna continued to haze him.
"Are you kidding me? That'll cost me a fortune." Klein spatted out.
"It'll cost you one either way." Suguha pointed out.
"It's all your decision." Keiko's voice followed the other female ones.
"Well, I choose to think about it later. I gotta go." He hurried out of the scene.
"Don't you think you should have told him that we brought food with us?" Asuna lightly tugged on Rika's shirt sleeve. "Nah, he'll figure it out later."
Suguha gave the external impression that she was staring into thin air. The kendo practice felt a hand tap on her shoulder in a fast paced movement.
"What's going on with you Suguha-san?" The voice she heard came from the online Cait Saith player.
"It looks like daydreaming runs in the family." Asuna giggled while burping the baby.
"By that smile you gave it looked you were thinking about someone. It wasn't boy was it?" Rika teased and elbowed her.
"N-no it wasn't anything like that..." Suguha's face grew red.
"Then what was it?" Keiko wanted clarification.
"I-I was just thinking about... About the night we met, onee-san." The girl shyly confessed.
"Remember when she played that song on her ocarina twice in a row." Rika's mind flashbacked.
"Or when she would draw a heart on her stomach, and Himeko-chan would give her a kick in response." Asuna sighed at the pleasant memory.
"And that small grin and laugh onee-san afterwards." Keiko's heart fluttered.
"When we first heard Himeko-chan cry, she... She sounded healthy." Rika bit her lips turning then to white.
"We got pretty mad at Kirito-kun did we?" Asuna giggled once more.
"If I recall we just got upset. But you nearly commented attempted murder." Keiko nudged her friend.
"We owe onii-chan a lot. Without him, we'd never would have meet them in the first place."
Suguha added.
The rest looked at each other wholeheartedly agreeing with the truth.
They hear the sound of a door open and close, followed by heavy footsteps.
"I can't thank you kids enough. I really need some sleep." The rejuvenated woman gave them a wide grin.
The girls huddled and embraced with tender feelings telling her how much they love, respect and admire her.
Thank you for your support! Please review. =3