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Chapter 16: Gift

Tuesday September 30th, 2025

The sunlight sparked a great shine through the transparent window hitting in several small spots of the large bedroom.

The charging cell phone produced multiple vibrations waking up the sleeping beauty in the bed next to the night-table.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and blinked as they were adjusting to the invading natural outdoor lighting.

Asuna checks her phone and smiles at all of the birthday wishes that she had received from her friends.

Her look changes from happiness to curiosity when she read the one that her boyfriend sent her:

Morning! Hurry up and check your email and please follow the instructions.

"Instructions?" She mumbled to herself and logged into her inbox.

She clicked on the piece of mail with the subject line called The First Part.

He sent me this when!? That dummy, he may even sleep through his morning classes. She sighed and folded her arms on her chest.

After going through the provided guidelines very carefully, she connects her phone to her computer terminal via cable link.

As she read further on, she found an file link with a strange label attached to it and a dialogue box appeared:

[Execute YNP2025exe?]

Agreeing to download the extension file, she clicked on it.

The final instructions were to not log onto any internet connection using the cellular device until she sees him during their planned lunch hour date in the school's courtyard. The sentence ended with a smiley face emoticon.

What so important that I can't use it right now? What did I download just now? And why does it have this kind of title? The rest of her thoughts escaped her mind when another line said to hurry and get ready before her mother started calling her.

"Kya!" The girl gasped and logged off of the account and the machine as she realized that she had to be downstairs and eating her breakfast in less time that her regular morning time routine typically allowed her.

She ascended down the staircase in a rushed pace.

"It's about time you showed up." Her mother was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in front of her.

"I'm sorry Mother. I slept in." Asuna dishonestly excused herself.

"That doesn't matter. At least you didn't need to be dragged down." Asuna's father came into the dining room.

"Happy Birthday sweetheart." The former CEO tenderly wrapped his daughter into his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Thank you, Father." Asuna smiled and went near a dining chair.

"That adult friend of yours sent you a little something. A card came with it." Her mother gave the medium-sized box to her daughter.

"Oh, how is that daughter of hers doing?" Her father kindly asked.

"She's doing very well. We're all very proud of her." She smiled.

Asuna carefully opened the envelope and read the card. Here's a little something from your Big Sis. Have a good one.

The teenager pulled on the soft red ribbon and ripped and folded the wrapping paper then, uncover of a small somewhat heavy fixture rolled under multiple layers of bubble wrap. She looked through the glass flip top canister jar that was filled assorted cookies.

The birthday girl sat down and ate the ready-made breakfast sitting on the pristine tablecloth.

Then she carried a small picnic basket filled with her homemade sandwiches, bottled drinks alongside a few napkins.

Perhaps because of the cosmic universal force that she was bestowed upon on her waking moment comes on one's birthday, the girl was able to get into the car on time as usual without a minute too soon.

On her way to her first morning period class, Asuna heard her name being called twice from behind. The student stopped in her path, rotated herself and looked for the source of it.

"Happy Birthday." Rika and Keiko seemed to have appeared in thin air.

"Suguha-san, you were off-key again." Keiko spoke into the mobile phone's loudspeaker.

"Sorry about that. I'm not getting a very good signal over here." Her voice came through.

"That's okay, Suguha-chan. That text message you sent earlier was good enough." Asuna spoke up.

"So did you get any presents this morning?" Keiko asked.

Asuna nodded. "Onee-san sent me some cookies."

"For real? Were they good?" Rika asked with a hint of anticipation.

Asuna shrugged her shoulders. "I was a little late getting downstairs. So I didn't have any time to try one of them. But I took a picture."

"That sounds great. I can't wait when I... I mean when onii-chan gets his next week." Suguha spoke.

"Gee, I wonder how mine will look like." Keiko said excitedly.

Rika hit Keiko with a light jab on the arm. "Your gonna find out next Friday."

"Have you two seen Kirito-kun?" Asuna asked them.

Both girls shook their heads.

"Why do you ask?" Keiko looked at the older girl.

"No reason. I was just wondering." She replied.

The ringing of the first morning bell made the students and staff members walk faster to their designated rooms.

Suguha ended her call and the trio of friends stopped talking to each other and separated going to different directions of the long school hallways.

I wonder how Kirito-kun is feeling right now. Asuna sat in the middle of the room. She sighed to herself as took out the tablet-type computer from her school bag as more people showed up in the room and the teacher begins to administer the lesson of the day.

Asuna walked to the plain wooden bench near the beautiful rose garden.

She inhaled the fresh air while rays of sunlight trickling through the partly cloudy sky.

All of a sudden, she felt something or rather someone cover her hazel eyes with their hands.

"Happy Birthday Asuna." A male voice laughed and sat right next to her.

"Thank you very much Kirito-kun." She smiled.

"So how was your morning?" She gave him a napkin and one of the sandwiches.

"It was okay I guess. The thought of eating your irrestible cooking helped a lot." He said in between bites.

She rolled her eyes at the compliment.

"Did you do that thing I told you to do this morning?"

"You mean download that file? I did."

"Great." He grinned.

"So is it okay for me to connect the internet onto my phone now?" She passed one of the drinks.

"Well...you could...if..." Kazuto took two large sips.

"If?" Asuna looked at him.

"If I hadn't forgetten to bring a cable wire with me..." He stretched his words.

"Honestly Kirito-kun. You can be so clueless sometimes." She frowned

Kazuto clasped his together begging for her forgiveness .

She grew tired of the act and surrendered.

"But why did you need to bring a cable wire in the first place?" She took a sip of her own drink.

"So I could connect it with my phone and give you the latest updated version." He explained to her.

"Updated version?" Asuna looked at him curiously.

Kazuto nodded. "Yeah with some more help I got from onee-sensei, I was able to tweak a couple of bugs during my spare time that I got in my classes."

What does onee-san have to do with this? Asuna wondered to herself. "So you programmed an entire extension file just for me?"

"Of course I did. It's your birthday after all... I just wanted to something special."

Sensing his guilt, Asuna rested her hand on his knee. "Why won't I come buy your house later and you could give that update for me there?"

"That sounds like a good idea." He agreed to the suggestion.

"So it's settle then. What do you want me to bring over?" She asked.

Asuna walked up to the front door and immediately noticed that there was no car parked in the driveway.

A young girl with short girl opened the door. "Happy Birthday." She greeted in an excited tone.

Asuna giggled. "You don't have to keep on wishing me, Suguha-chan. The text and the call were plenty enough." The older girl entered inside.

"If a birthday wish is not made face-to-face, then it is not made personal." Suguha lifted her hand as if reciting a legally binding oath.

They both go into the kitchen where Suguha took out a small plate, a chocolate cupcake, a candle and a lighter. Then she calls Kazuto to come downstairs.

After the scruffy black-haired teenager came down in his home clothes, Asuna blew away the small flame burning on the single candle, making a wish.

"Onii-chan, I think now would be a good time to give her the rest of her present." Suguha nudged him.

"Yeah, you're right." Kazuto took Asuna's hand and went upstairs into his bedroom.

Asuna curiously sat on the mattress observing her boyfriend's actions the very second she handed her phone over to him.

Within a few minutes the electronic device was soon in her rightful possession.

"You can try opening it now." He informed her.

Asuna pressed on the application icon and the screen went black until the floating moving image of a pixie came out of nowhere.

"Mama, can you see and hear me clearly?" A familiar small voice called out from the speaker.

"Yes, I can Yui-chan." Auna answered the question.

"Will you be logging in the game tonight?" Yui asked.

"Yes, I will." Asuna sniffled.

"I can't wait!" The AI happily chimed.

"Neither can I. I'll be logging in very soon. Goodbye for now."

"Goodbye Mama."

The screen went blank again.

Asuna placed her phone beside her. She lowered her head and shut her eyes tightly. She used a hand to wipe away a stream of salty water exiting from her right cheek.

The girl suddenly felt a hand brush her long, strawberry blonde hair. "Happy Birthday Asuna."

"Thank you Kirito-kun." She looked up to his face.

"So this means that I can talk to her whenever I fell like?"

Kazuto nodded.

The young couple continue talk for a little while and the male student mentioned his future plans about creating a probing device that will help their virtual reality daughter grant access into the real world in real world standard time. The conversation ended when Asuna received a phone call from her mother ordering her to come back home so they could she cut her cake after dinner.

After eating with her parent and older brother who made it back home just in time to give his younger sister an expensive gift and wish her. Asuna ran inside her bedroom and had a quick change of clothing and laid comfortably in her own bed wearing her AmuShphere.

"Link start!"

In a few moments, she found herself floating alone in mid-air. Her blue hair bouncing in the beautiful cool wind as her wings begin to pick up speed.

Her body was soaring gracefully, gliding in the seemingly endless virtual sky.

Alas the time came where she had no choice but to land on the cold, hard ground surface as she grew closer to the inn.

Walking within the narrow hallway, she stopped at her room, moving the door handle, the Undine race player entered the vastly magnificent beautiful room.

Out of nowhere, the body of small person flung her arms around the blue haired avatar.

Both of their artificially simulated hair colour blended together for a single moment.

"Happy Birthday Mama." The AI chimed in her sweet voice and briefly nuzzled into the online player's chest.

"Thank you very much, Yui-chan." Asuna hugged the full-body version of her adopted daughter.

She glances at the other smiling colourful players who were occupying the room and thanks them for being able to make it in time despite their around-the clock schedules in the real world.

This was simply the first of the many birthdays that this online family would have the honor of spending together.

Thank you very much for reading! If you have any suggestions for later chapters feel free to drop by my PM box. Please review. :)