I do not own or have any affiliation with Sword Art Online. I apologize for any missing words, grammatical or spelling errors that were made into the official text.

Chapter 32: Party Interrupted

Wednesday, September 30th, 2032 | Late Afternoon

"Are you sure your feeling okay? Are your feet bothering you? Am I walking too fast?" The questions were coming from the twenty-three year old expectant father, Kirigaya Kazuto.

"Kirito-kun, you have to stop worrying and take a break. I'm pregnant but I'm not helpless." Asuna said confidently.

"Mama, I can carry my own bag." Yui insisted, putting the satchel over her shoulder.

"Did you like the restaurant we went out for lunch today, Yui-chan?" Her mother asked.

The fifth grader nodded happily.

Asuna patted her hand over her inflated abdomen, the gestation was eight months and twenty-seven days.

She groaned, bit her lips hard and shuddered.

"Something wrong?" Kazuto noticed.

"Yeah, it was just a hard kick. I'm sure it's nothing to worry about."

He took a breath in relief and placed his hand on the expanded navel part. "The way you jumped up, I thought it was a contraction like in the car."

Asuna pecked his lips. "You need to relax."

"You make it sound easy." The husband disabled the electronic lock and fully widened the the front wooden door, revealing a dark house.

Yui flipped the light switch. The immediate flash of light shined on a wide banner, bright streamers and colourful balloons.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!" A myraid of voices came together followed by the overlapping sounds of party crackers, clappers and noisemakers.

"Place looks great." Kazuto signaled his thumb in approval as his wife covered her blushing face.

"Thank you all so much." She sniffled in wholehearted gratitude and wiped her eye.

The other grown women enthusiastically huddled around the mother until the crying stopped.

"What are you doing?" Kazuto asked the closely knitted group.

"Sharing the pain." His cousin answered.

Kirigaya Suguha was in a purple dress with a ruffled neckline, fastened by a black leather belt in the middle and matching black leggings. Her black hair was in an asymmetrical bob. She graduated with a business degree in economics and working as a first-year financial analyst.

"Your...what?" Kazuto appeared puzzled.

"You are such a guy." Suguha sighed. "It's apart of women's intuition."

He covered her mouth. "There are children here." He whispered hoarsely.

The woman's eyebrows crinkled. "Who are going to grow up as women someday."

"But right now they are just young, innocent children." He closed the argument.

"So want do you want to do first?" Shino asked Asuna.

Asada Shino was in a blue teagan blouse with simple dark coloured dress pants. Her black hair was braided in a crown style. After receiving her bachelor's degree in criminal justice, she had enrolled in a policing academy and at the present time, awaiting for the outcomes of her physical and written examinations.

Pop. A sound was heard cutting off Asuna's impending answer.

"Sorry I couldn't resist." Keiko used one of the last of the party crackers.

Ayano Keiko's attire included a blue and white handkerchief tunic top with red stockings. Her light brown hair was worn in a waterfall braid. After graduating with a bachelor's in veterinarian medicine, she became a first-year veterinary school student. She was currently living with newlyweds Rika and Mikado.

"Kya!" Keiko flinched and jumped up when she heard a party horn go off close to her ear.

Blushing from embarrassment, she turned directly to the older woman. "Not funny."

"It was for me." Rika teased.

The first-year mechanical engineer was in a red peplum top with a long grey skirt and floral print scarf. Her mid-length hair dark brunette hair had tapered ends. After getting married she decided to keep her maiden name, as well as the heart shaped fourteen karat white gold ring with the amethyst gemstone accented with the ten dark blue sapphire gems as her wedding band.

After the birthday person blew out the twenty-five candles and cut the cake, Rinko and Shino helped the wobbling Asuna sit down on the sofa.

"Your feet are swollen. Do they hurt?" Seven-year-old Yumeko observed.

"They do sometimes, Himeko-chan." Asuna patted her shoulder.

Yui gave Yumeko a bear hug from behind stating on how good it was to see her again, while the adults were congratulating the second-grader on earning her green belt in aikido and her yellow in jujutsu.

While having a vitalizing and decorative colloquy, the pregnant mother was striked with a rising number of questions coming from her considerate friends.

"What's your biggest craving?" Rinko asked.

"Tea." Asuna rubbed her stomach.

"Is your back bothering you?" Suguha asked her sister-in-law.

"A little."

"Did you think of a name yet?" Shino was leaning from behind the couch.

"We did, but we're keeping it a surprise." The strawberry blonde winked.

Rika tapped her shoulder. "Do you want the windows open?"

Asuna moved her head left and right.

"How about something to eat or drink?" Keiko offered.

A noisemaker and popper was heard.

"Told you, you can't resist them." Keiko stuck her tongue at Rika.

"Remember who gives you shelter." Rika lightly punched her arm.

The noisemaker was again.

Kazuto has his arms cross-folded on his chest, tapping his foot in a slight restless approach. "Asking questions and checking on my wife's well being is my job."

"Then why aren't you doing it again?" Suguha smirked.

"You do realize that I have the power to kick you out right?"

Asuna turned to her husband, raising an eyebrow. "And did you forget that I have the power to keep her?"

"Ha!" Suguha mocked and pointed at her cousin.

"Don't get used to it." He raspily whispered.

The cluster of admirable, accomplishing and divine women removed themselves from the couch's boundary, to give the couple some space.

Kazuto collectedly took her hand. "Are you feeling alright?"

Asuna suddenly clutched her enlarged, distended stomach. "My water just broke!"

Panic struck Kazuto's face. "What?! But your not due until next week!"

Asuna grunted. "Well, it looks like she wants to come now, and I'm pretty sure she's the one that gets to choose." She exhaled. Beads of sweat were starting to accumulate, glistening on her forehead.

"B-but...i-its the wrong birthday!"

"Not according to her its not." Asuna yelped.

The women rush to her side.

In the midst of an adredaline rush, Suguha yanked her older cousin's shirt. "What are you still doing here? Go pack a bag!"

"R-right."

Scurrying to the main bedroom door, jiggling the doorknob with his sweating palm in a frantic state of mind. "It's not opening!"

"Your supposed to turn it!" The female group shouted back simultaneously.

Listening to the instruction, the anxiety-filled young man stumbled inside the room trying to think straight and clearly on what pack for the hospital in the middle of all the heart-wrenching commotion occurring in the living room downstairs.

"Wait a minute... There's no cigars and drinks." Klein took note of.

Agil flicked the side of his head. "What's the matter with you? Can't you see she's in labour?"

Klein rubbed the effected spot. "Yes, and I can also see that there's no cigars or drinks to celebrate this miracle of nature with."

"Do you know yourself as a drinker?" The cafe owner looked at him.

There was a slow knocking on the door.

Rika quickly answered it.

A young man with dark brown hair in a fohawk fashion kisses her lips softly. The first year civil engineer's clothing included a grey vest coat, collared white shirt and black skinny tie with tan pants and light blue high top converse shoes. "Sorry I'm late everyone. Did I miss anything important?"

"My wife is in labour!" Kazuto ran down the stairs with a stuffed messenger bag in hand.

"We already know that!" Suguha yelled back.

Mikado stepped in briefly. "I'll take that a yes..."

The group of ten people were in the waiting room.

Yui and Yumeko were sitting together holding each other's hands.

Is it wrong that I'm not nervous or worried about any of this? Yumeko thought to herself.

Her intangible friend telepathically said it wasn't her fault since she is too young to understand what exactly is going on since it is her first time in this category of contingency.

"I hope she'll be okay." Yui worried about her mother.

Yumeko turned to her, unsure of what to say in order to apply some comfort for her older cousin despite putting a bit more grip on her hand.

Suguha and Keiko came closer to them as Rika and Rinko were leaving as they were granted access to Asuna's room to check on the couple.

When they came back, they noticed that five people from the group were gone, while Klein, Agil and Mikado were left waiting.

Agil informed then that Keiko and Suguha had taken both of the girls to the cafeteria and Shino went to go grab some coffee.

Learning about this, Rinko left go obtain a cup herself.

Mikado leaned his head back stretching his arms, yawning.

"What happened to you?" Klein laid back in his seat.

"You dress nice, but nothing can hide those bags under your eyes." Agil half smiled.

Mikado sighed and pressed his back against the wall, folding his arms on his chest while extending his legs. "I got caught in a meeting with some soil engineers and the developers and another one on-site with the investors. Then I had to go back to the office to help edit some drawings. Thankfully, I had this party, so I got off the hook to get a chance to go home and change." He rubbed his dark blue eyes with his palms still sitting the same slump posture.

"When was the last time you slept?" Klein sympathized.

"Last night, after my parents dropped us off, but I didn't much sleep. At least Rika got the day off."

His wife took his hand.

"So what's happening in there?" Mikado asked.

"Her contractions are getting closer. That's all I can say for now." She responded. Will Asuna and I get more distant after today?

The rest nodded in agreement to the update.

Rika slowly exhaled. "I'm going for a little walk." She rose from her seat.

"I'll come with you. A little exercise would do some good. Maybe we could get a bite." Mikado held her hand.

Their fingers interlocked, making the female newlywed blush.

"Aw, young love. Such a beautiful thing. Takes me back." Klein rested his arms behind his head.

"Back to when?" The bartender smirked.

"Uh..." Klein gave a toothy half grin.

"Thought so." Agil crossed his arms.

"Way to ruin the moment." Klein muttered.

The couple laughed before departing.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out there's something bothering you." Mikado walked with his hand over his spouse's waist.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what. This morning when you and Keiko were taking about your outfits for this party you both were stoked, but when she went to her room, you were obviously upset."

He got me. Rika gritted her teeth with gentle pressure. "It's just that... Everything is changing with every second of the day."

While walking, she cleaned off her squared cyan bifocals with her floral print scarf. "After SAO cleared earlier than expected, I thought I would never see any of them again for as long as I lived. I didn't have any of their contact information. One day, after a rehab session I found out that there was going to a school made just for the players."

Her partner stroked her hair out of comfort.

"I knew that the school was the only way I could finally meet them and see what they were like and feel them in this world."

She took a moment to relax her words.

"Then ALO started a while after school did. We could all finally play side by side together, going on quests and having fun like actual friends. Plus all of us kids needed to get our minds off Himeko-chan for a bit."

She used her scarf to wipe her eye and sniffled.

"I'd hate to say this but...because of Himeko-chan being born that early...brought us together a lot of times. Even when she was sick, we'd keep loving her the same way but more carefully. She went through a lot during first year. She means so much to us."

Mikado rubbed her lower back while kissing her lips and gently moving his other hand over the top of her hair down to the tapered ends. "If you ask me, I think you guys having a sweet, cuddly niece like her when you were in high school. The only stress reliever I had was my basketball, I tried cuddling with it once, but it didn't turn out so good and it wasn't sweet."

Rika smipered, showing her dark brown eyes smiling into his pair of dark blue ones.

"Trust me, everything is gonna be fine." He embraced her charmingly.

Rinko and Shino were in the health care institute's main lobby, sitting on a bench near of the shops sipping on their caffeinated beverages.

"It's funny how things could change like that isn't it, onee-san?" Shino swallowed a tad bit of of her cafe au lait and a little piece of her maple pecan danish.

The scientist agreed moving her head up and down. "We we're having a party one minute and in the hospital the next."

Rinko sipped her expresso macchiato and bit into her strawberry cheesecake scone. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, onee-san."

"After you accepted the invite to join ALO and found out about...my daughter's medical history. How did you react about meeting her?"

Shino took another sip. "I always wonder if you were going to ask that."

Shino exhaled deeply. "When I first saw those hospital pictures, my heart sank, before then I never saw anyone that fragile looking and depending on medical equipment like that. To be frank, I thought it was scary. It was a really feeling to know that she was healthier. When I logged out, the only thing I wanted to do was meet her for real, love her and become a part of her life from then on."

She took another sip to moisten her drying throat. "When I look into those incredibly gentle eyes of hers I was a little off guard. I couldn't remember seeing anyone so full of love and kindness. At first glance, I already sensed that she had been through some things."

Rinko took a slow breath. "If you knew her while she was in the hospital, what would you have done?"

Shino smiled. "I would've visited almost everyday trying to her as much as I could and leaving everytime telling her that she is a very wonderful daughter with a very wonderful mother."

Rinko's smile slowly returned. "If you met her as an adjusted newborn, what would you have done?"

"I would spoil her enough that I'd have to think extra hard about what else to do besides missing her."

The mother placed her hands on Shino's crown braided hair, thanking the younger woman non-verbally with her eyes.

From the corner of her eye, Rinko noticed a pair of familiar, leisurely sauntering figures whom were coming more closer to where they were relaxing.

Rika made a small wave before making it to the exact spot.

"Did you eat something?" Rinko used her caring older sister voice.

"It's kinda hard to figure out what to eat onee-san. There's so many machines." Mikado replied.

"I'll take that as a no, then?" The scientist placed her hands on her hips.

"Not really... we grabbed a couple of things." Rika surrendered and took out the baked potato chips, chocolate gronola bars and milk chocolate with nuts.

"I meant actual food." Rinko tsked.

"W-well, there not going to eat them here onee-san... There for later." Mikado interjected.

"We? You mean your wife didn't put you up to this? Like the time she tried to use my two-year-old in order get away with a bag full of chocolate and cookies?" Rinko raised an eyebrow.

"Onee-san please not in front of my husband..." Rika blushed in embarrassment.

"But she has a coffee and a pastry right next to you." Mikado pointed at Shino.

"I also got a pretty good lecture." Shino took the last sip and threw the trash away. "No one goes past her radar."

"Expect for Himeko-chan." Rika mumbled.

Mikado pinched her cheeks. "Speaking of radar, we should go check on the others in the cafe. Then we'll both get something to eat in front of you onee-san."

The female trio agreed and made their way to the desired location.

Mikado placed his hands his wife's shoulders, pulling her a small step backward after exterting force through a mild and temperament behaviour.

His lips move closer to her right ear. "Care to tell me who uses an innocent toddler trying to get away from a lecture for a bag of treats?"

"It would have worked if I didn't have to teach her how to lie." Rika muttered with a hint of compunction before turning her around.

"Rika." He shook his head displeased.

"What? I apologized, she kissed me, offered a lick her lollipop, kissed me again, said she loves me and kissed me again."

"She kissed you three times even after when you tried to use her to cover for you?"

The female adult casted her down in shame. "I meant it when I told you she was a very affectionate baby."

"Where was your pride then?"

"Apparently it went down like the retail price for those snacks." Rika sighed.

"How did something like that even happen?"

"Well... This one time during our summer break, onee-san invited us all for a shopping date. We went into a store, but it was my turn to watch the stroller."

"Which was a mistake." Mikado poked her forehead.

Rika exhaled and forwarded her narrate. "The thing was that Himeko-chan hadn't seen us in a really long time and had trouble remembering our names and faces so when she woke up from her nap early, and saw my face instead of onee-san's she looked upset and confused and almost started crying. I felt bad for her so I tried cheering her up but nothing worked out so I got nervous. Then without I picked her up...the next thing i knew I had half a bag of treats..."

"Is that it?"

"And..."

Mikado crossed his arms. "There's more?"

Rika nodded. "Thanks for making me feel better after wanting to hear that story."

Mikado snickered and shrugged his shoulders, feeling proud of himself. "You got me."

He cupped her face and pressed his hard lips against her pair of soft ones.

Keiko, Suguha, Yui and Yumeko were sitting at a squared table in the health care facility's luncheonette.

Settled in front of them, the female quadruplicate were two pizzas, two basket of french fries, four carbonated drinks and two ramen noodle cans, all from nearby vending machines stationed in the lobby.

"Onee-san's gonna give an earful to us both when she finds out what we've been eating." Keiko moaned and nibbled on a single greasy potato stick.

The elementary school students said that they wanted to go for a little walk around the room and left the table holding each other's hands.

"Remember the first time she did?" Suguha bit into the cheese filled crust.

Keiko nodded and smiled. "It was the day after the day Himeko-chan was born."

Suguha sighed. "It wasn't the easiest thing realizing that her first 'home' was an incubator for three months."

"Remember that part when Kirito-san didn't finish his homework in time, so onee-san made him wear those cat ears?" The vet school student giggled at the memory.

"And then after she took that picture, she made him meow after the each of each sentence." Suguha guffawed as her face was turning a bright red colour from the laughter. "I still can't believe he uploaded it to his game account after all of that."

"We still couldn't stop laughing." Keiko wiped her eye. "We had a lot of good times in the game."

"By the way you kept falling asleep you looked like you had a lot of good naps." Suguha teased.

The light brunette blushed running her fingers through the ends of her waterfall braided hair. "I think those we had with Himeko-chan were better..." Keiko's voice had a mousy deportment to it.

"You mean those naps we had because of her." Suguha tittered. "It sure was nice of her to snuggle with you."

A floundered Keiko's face continued to blush. "It was just that one time."

"Don't give me that, she loved all of us but its no secret that you were her favourite." The black haired female continued to jest making her friend flustered and quiet. "Like when she was learned to crawl, Himeko-chan would rub her face on and hug our ankles, she'd always when to used last and stayed longer."

"I'd always come in last to...make sure the door was closer properly..."

"Sure you did." Suguha mused over the sight witnessing her friend growing a pink tinge in her face in self-consciousness.

Suguha laughed. "What about all of those extra kisses she used to give you more than us when she was a baby?"

Keiko quickly started to chomp down on a pizza slice and took a gulp her plastic soda bottle in order to help avoid even more blushing. "She was always very kind about them but I never knew why she waited until it was my turn to start drooling or sneezing. When it was over, half of my face would get wet with spit and some on went on my shirt. Not to mention each time, we got kissed by her she'd squeeze our faces pretty hard."

"Then she slept on you right after she stopped." Suguha playfully punched her friend's arm.

"That was one time. She would use a lot of her energy when she did those things." Keiko attempted to distract herself by biting into the vending machine fast food.

Suguha focused her eyesight on her tiny hand mirror, reapplying her lipstick. "I sure miss those days."

"Me too." Keiko sighed as well.

Yui and Yumeko later returned to the table.

"Himeko-chan you bought another ramen from that machine? This is your third one in a row." Suguha pushed one of the pizza boxes closer to the pair of primary school students.

Yui took a slice for herself and ate it, washing it down with one of the fizzy bottled drinks. "I never had food like from a machine before. When I'm at school, my friends and I would eat homemade lunches."

Friends? Yumeko thought to herself.

"What about you Yumeko-chan?" Yui asked.

The girl just nodded.

After that, Yui picked up another slice had her honorary cousin sitting on her lap, feeding it to her.

When Yumeko finished it, the fifth-grader smiled giving her light pecks on her right cheek.

After some minutes of cuddling, the smaller child returned to her own seat.

In terms of vocal activity, Yumeko had been quiet for a vast majority of the day.

However, in terms of mental activity for the day, her progress was slight above her regular daily quota.

During the vist she wasn't doing very much with her special telepathy skill she had learned long ago with the help of her self-knowing 'brilliant', 'wonderfully close' yet 'very top secret', and 'incorporeal' friend.

She took a deep slow breath.

Her grey eyes nonchalantly shifted to her right side, briefly glancing at Yui. When I was born, she was a computer program in a different world, very far from this one.

Then Yumeko slowly moves her irises to the front of her, capturing the present images of her nominal aunts. They were a bunch of kids that just got in high school. They used to come visit me when they could have been doing a lot of better things. Why did they do that? What was I like to them before I was born? Why did they love me so much after I was born? What am I like to them now? Was it all out of sympathy because I came along too early? How did they react to the news? Were there any tears? Did they only be around me because they felt bad for me and the love part came after?

The wayward kind of thinking had met an impromptu standstill, when gentle hands moved softly down the sides of Yumeko's slightly long hair repeatedly.

Yumeko laid her head back, her scalp touching the top part of her mother's abdominal area looking at her face.

In the seven-year-old's point of view, the positioning of Rinko's obviously smiling face was seen upside down. Slowly blinking, she looked directly in her mother's eyes, only finding maternal love and warmth were written inside of them. Something that Yumeko had no understanding of.

Rinko cupped her hands on her deluxe daughter's face, the end of her palms were placed on the sides of her forehead while the round french fingertips tenderly stroked the stretched out, short neck like a cat's.

Lowering her head, Rinko pressed her puckered lips on Yumeko's forehead, next her left and right cheeks, then softly kissing Yumeko's eyes.

The receiver of this display of spontaneous tender, motherly love, simply breathed deeply and slowly, while her heartbeat was as well. Does Mama only love me because she feels guilty about what happened? Yumeko swallowed. Due to her face's upward position, the tears were conveniently held back, preventing to give the second grader's eyes a glossy appearance.

The seven-year-old's immaterial, watchful companion said it was untrue, adding that Yumeko is the most beloved person in her life and always will be. Although, the entity had apologized for not having a clear answer for the reason of the phenomenon known as 'affection' besides giving her a simple definition of the word.

Yumeko using her thought transference ability telling her special friend that it was alright and she could figure it out by herself.

Her friend reminded her that it is fine to get help from other people.

"So have you four been enjoying this meal of yours?" Rinko bit from her daughter's half-eaten second pizza slice, alongside and sipped of her child's drink as well.

"Oh boy..." Suguha mumbled.

"Here it comes..." Keiko was ashamed.

"Oh, this oughta be good." Shino snickered.

"Check it out, front row seats." Rika nudged Mikado in the ribs.

Rinko exhaled and shrugged her shoulders. "There's a cupcake machine on this floor. You kids want to go get one with me? I'm having a craving." She kneeled down to their eye level waiting for their responses.

Yui gladly accepted the proposed idea.

I didn't really eat anything... Yumeko pondering about the fun sounding offer.

Her friend in a way softly replied saying that since she is a good natured person she should treat herself once in a while, but only in moderation, and should be careful not to go overboard so she would prevent getting sick. Why does my friend make me less lonely and always care about so much?

Only her ears heard a little laugh but no words came after.

The seven-year-old agreed into getting the dessert.

Rinko detected the triad of tin cans in front of her child's viewpoint.

"Ramen again?" She playfully poked Yumeko's head.

I forgot to throw them away I was done. Why didn't my friend remind me? Yumeko cringed and blushed, playing with her fingers.

The result of craving it while I was pregnant. "Yuyu, do you remember what happened the last time you did this?" Rinko wrapped her arm across her daughter's torso.

Yumeko sighed. "When you found out, you made me dinner and fed it to me while Papa was holding me on his lap until I was full."

"Yes we did." Rinko moved closer to her daughter's cheek and playfully poked it with her tongue under Yumeko's right eye.

An awe came from the group of five who were watching them.

"Mama...not in public. There's people here." The seven-year-old grumbled and still blushed. Why do I always hear my friend laugh whenever I blush?

Rinko chuckled and pinches her cheeks.

"Wait, she can have two dinners in the same night?" Suguha in a way, wasn't very surprised about it.

Rinko smoothed her hands over Yumeko's mid-length dark coloured hair. "As a mother I always make sure that my only beautiful baby is always taken care of and fed properly." The scientist puffed her chest her maternal pleasurement but also kept the serene smoothness in her vocal tenor.

Beautiful baby?! Why did she call me by her second nickname for me in public?! She told me it was a private one... Wait, is my friend laughing at me? Yumeko sighed a bit annoyed as she was the only one to hear the entity's soft chuckling.

"She can eat that much and still look thin?" Keiko furrowed her eyebrows.

"She has a great metabolism, especially after when a training session is over." Rinko chuckled.

"That's not fair." Rika moaned.

"Someone sounds jealous." Shino smirked at the dark brunette female next to her.

"Are you getting jealous?" Mikado playfully made fun of and pressed his fingertips along the sides and the back of his martial partner's neck.

"One of the best ways to tell someone you love me is through their stomach." Yui giggled after mentioning something Asuna had once told her.

Rinko ruffled Yui's hair. "That's right."

The doting parent picked up her young daughter from her seat. "My beautiful baby is my one true love." She kissed Yumeko's forehead and stroked her in between her mysterious, dark medium grey eyes.

Why is she doing this public? Yumeko breathed deeply as she saw the twinkle in her mother's eyes that had returned from before. How did she feel when I was born? How many tears came from her heart? How many tears came from guilt? How many tears came from pain?

Yumeko blinked her emperor grey doe eyes, wanting to diminish the thought of her mother crying in suffering.

Her friend said that she shouldn't worry about it so much, and she should enjoy her treat as much the little girl could to a practical and attainable magnitude.

Standing in front of the computerized touch-screen appliance, Yui bit in her red velvet cupcake with a cookies and cream topping while Yumeko opened her box holding on her freshly made vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting and strawberry topping.

When they were done, Yui wiped her cousin's mouth with a napkin, making the female adults capture the blithesome moment while the only male just smiled.

Within a moment's notice, they all had their cellphones out simultaneously, reading the mass text that was sent by Kazuto.

Kazuto was holding his wife's hand tight while she was working very hard to compile her iron willpower.

Her forehead was glistening with sweat as he wiped the tears that were coming from her hazel eyes.

They were going to have their second child.

Since meeting Yui whom was amnesiac and wandering in the forest on the twenty-second floor of [Old Aincrad], she had been their own daughter, despite once being an AI whose existence was tethered to an online world.

Kazuto's clasp on Asuna's hand grew tighter. This is finally it... We're going to meet her... Our second daughter.

*Flashback starts*

Saturday, April 24th, 2032 | Asuna and Kazuto's New Home

A month had passed by when Suguha and Rika had graduated from their respective post-secondary schools and began their 'kickstart' into making their mark in the real world.

Meanwhile Shino had been offically enrolled in a policing academy while Keiko became a veterinary school student.

Everyone was gathered for the grand college grad/housewarming/gender reveal/baby shower party.

"Things came so well together." Suguha amusingly moved her hand in circular motion on Asuna's inflating stomach.

"So is everything according to the plan?" Rinko whispered to the expecting mother.

Asuna nodded. "We still need to careful, I think he's starting to get suspicious."

"This is gonna be great, even the kids are in on it." Keiko giggled.

"I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when we told us this plan. It seems unlike you." Shino smiled.

"It took some years, but finally some of my genius rubbed off on you." Rika snickered, rubbing her friend's puffing lower abdomen.

The women share a laugh.

"Did you think of any names yet?" Rinko asked.

Asuna sighed disappointed. "It's not as easy as it looks onee-san, there's so many to choose from."

Rinko nodded. Thankfully it was easy for me.

"Onee-san, how did you come up for 'Yumeko' for her name?" The middle school teacher questioned.

Rinko felt a pit in her stomach and took a sip of her drink. They must have forgotten, it has been a long time, can't blame them. Her lips unveiled her typical warm tenor. "I always wanted a girl... The name just came to me and I thought it was the perfect for her." Her child's actual name echoed deep inside her mind, hurting secretly.

"I can't believe she's turning seven a couple of weeks." the vet student squealed.

"Time slips so quickly." Shino sighed.

"So how do feel about her new schools?" Rinko turned her attention to Keiko and Shino.

"Super nervous..." Keiko inhaled and exhaled.

Rika patted her back. "Cheer up, you moved in with me."

"Maybe that's why she's nervous." Suguha laughed.

"That's just one of the reasons." Keiko joked then received a a soft jab in the arm from the older dark brunette.

"I feel the same way. Training is going to be tough." Shino relaxed her shoulders. "How are the kids doing in school?"

Asuna replied first. "Yui-chan is doing great and made a bunch of friends in her class."

They turned to Rinko. "Well, straight A's like always."

"Is Himeko-chan making any friends?" Suguha looked a bit worried.

"She's a bit too quiet."

"She seems to be very introverted, but not in a bad way." Shino commented.

"She's very smart for most kids her age, maybe that could be a factor." Asuna suspected.

"Maybe she doesn't know how to." Keiko suggested.

Rika shook her head. "Well whoever she befriends will be very lucky."

Rinko smirked. "Damn, straight."

Kazuto came in the between of the sitting group, shushing as he gave Asuna her tea. "The invitation said no swearing during the party."

Asuna rolled her eyes. "It was onee-san."

Kazuto paused and gulped. "Erm...onee-sensei please try to be more careful. The baby is developing its ears... So can you people please speak without any negative language."

"What do you mean you people?" Rika muttered.

"People who don't use coasters on other people's expensive coffee tables."

"Geez, someone's protective." She mumbled.

Kazuto went back to the group of males.

"How'd that go?" Klein swallowed his non-alcoholic cocktail.

"It was your wife."

"For a second I thought it was my fiance." Mikado laughed.

"Hey, any chance of getting a buzz in here?" Klein elbowed the younger adult.

"It's the middle of the day." Kazuto played with a yellow balloon until it hit the hardwood floor.

"What's your point?" Klein refilled his wine glass.

"If only you knew yourself as a drunk." Agil tsked.

"It'll be a sad scene for sure." Kazuto added making the shopkeeper and civil engineer agreed while Klein narrowed his eyes at the younger property owner.

"Do you know what are your having?" Mikado asked the expecting father.

"Only Asuna knows."

The rest exchange glances.

"Do you want to know?" The shopkeeper further the conversation.

Kazuto stratched his head. "I don't think I'm ready for the part yet, and she understands."

"Be honest, do you want a girl or a boy?" Mikado continued.

Kazuto gave a small smile. "I gave it a lot of thought and... I think having a girl would be the best."

"How so?" Klein added.

"Well because of...certain thing regarding Yui, Asuna and I never the chance to see her grow up. Since the only younger than her is Yumemi...but she only knew her from pictures and stories we told her, by having a girl she could experience it with us. Almost like we kids had with Yumemi...and hopefully none of the bad things." Kazuto looked at her socks.

"Your finally getting good with words." Klein trapped him in a headlock, messing up his hair.

"You guys sure got lucky having a niece in high school, wish I had that kind of chance." Mikado half-smiled.

"Yeah, she was good baby, but she had her off days too." Klein smirked.

"Off days?" Mikado tried to understand.

"Yeah, she had a pretty high fever, colic, spasms for a couple of months and the teething didn't go so well."

"That's a long list." The civil engineer sympathized.

Klein sighed. "We were with her all the time. It's hard to realize it's been years." He received a pat on the back from his cafe owner friend.

"Then someday, she's gonna be an awesome lethal weapon."

"You're not going to drop that are you?" Kazuto sighed.

"What? You guys know how much I like to see a good fight go down." The red head replied.

"You don't say?" Kazuto jokingly arched an eyebrow.

"Kirito-kun, can you get some sugar from my tea, please?"

He wore a goofy smile on his face. "Coming."

Asuna handed him the white cup and saucer. "Oh, and could you heat it up a bit more, please?" Her hazel eye's fluttered.

She watched him go into the kitchen. "Told you I have him on a leash." She snickered.

He returned with a now steaming cup.

"Thank you Kirito-kun, but could you also get me a cookie from the table?"

"I knew I was forgetting something. Anything for you." He rubbed her bump in an easy rotation and kissed her cheek before taking off.

Afterward, it was time to cut the cake, inwhich according to Asuna, was a part of revealing their child's gender.

Holding the knife, Kazuto read the odd message written in blue icing:

Look up after making the first slice.

So this isn't like onee-sensei's cake the day she met them.

The couple cut into the sweet, round pastry.

Asuna kissed his mouth and told Yui it was time to open the 'extra special box'.

Yui giggled as the pink balloons were floating out from it.

It's a girl. We're having another girl? Kazuto grinned, unable to recall how long it has been since he felt his blessed.

The party moved on, as the guest gave them their gifts as it was revealed that they were aware of the surprise from the beginning.

Kazuto hugged Asuna from behind, wrapping his hands securily around her stomach. I'm going to have the best birthday present in my entire life. My second daughter.

*Flashback ends*

"I guess she's going to love you more since you two share the same birthday." Kazuto smiled as Asuna was holding their newborn daughter in her arms.

"Well, in that case, maybe she could be better with her words, like me." Asuna gave a tired laugh.

"We'll see about that later." He winked.

"I bet they're going to like her name." The mother stroked her young one's soft black hair.

Their black snow princess, Kirigaya Sachi, had entered their lives.

Thank you for reading this chapter! Leave a review if you'd like!