Disclaimer: Don't own SAO (I or II), or any of the characters.

Rating: T

A little trip on a day-off

RL

Animal Shelter

February 6th, 2031

Kazuto had to admit, it'd been a little surprise when for their day-off today, Yui had asked if she could visit this place. It was for cute, curious reasons of course - wanting to see more animals - and it made them feel warm, yet it'd still been surprising.

"But we'd do almost anything for our daughter" he thought, this making him think back, to that one time she'd told him (with Suguha and Sinon present) that he was spoiling her... hehe. "Even when we do spoil her though, she's too nice and self-aware to become spoiled, period."

Just beside him, Asuna smiled at Yui, who was holding her hand. "You excited?"

"I am" their daughter breathed, looking the part in her winterwear, though there were other elements present. "But I also worry a little, about keeping them all in only one building."

"Come on, I'm sure it's not that bad" he said easily, bending down a little; Yui looked at him. "Keiko promised us the VIP treatment, once we can find her of course. This is the point of an animal shelter: to find and take care of animals found on the street, those who've had hard times and all. Plus they're always looking for people who'll take good care of them."

Yui smiled, nodding. "I know, daddy" she breathed, "I just want to make sure they're being treated right."

"I'm sure they are" Asuna answered in his place, quite gentle.

"Yup" Kazuto added.

Yui soon giggled, the excitement starting to rise again.

...

Though, they did have to wait a little - the reason for that being they were a bit early, and Keiko was apparently supposed to have been back from something five minutes ago. There wasn't any problem with them being here, but they obviously couldn't give them the VIP tour without Keiko because she'd volunteered/arranged the whole thing, while the others had jobs and such to do, including her own work.

So they waited... until:

The door opened, Keiko shoving it open with her shoulder in a bit of a hurry, slightly out-of-breath and carrying a sorta-large cardboard box poked open with numerous holes. "I'm here!" she said quickly, holding that box gingerly while sounds came from inside, of a very particular kind.

"Keiko, what took you?"

"I just found this outside some store, just out of the falling snow, signed that they were free" she told the counter woman. "We're gonna need a place for them, and some food and water."

"Ah, sure. Just give us some time; gotta finish up what we're currently doing."

"Okay."

Just then, Keiko turned, about to lower the box to the ground before she caught sight of them. "Oh, hey guys" she greeted, they returning this with little smiles + raised hands. "Sorry I'm a little late, and in the middle of something, but I still promise you'll get that tour."

"I hope so" Yui answered, standing up. "Could I see though?"

Keiko slowly glanced at the box, before smiling. "Sure thing" she said, Yui's excitement growing even as she finished lowering it to the ground. "Just no sudden movements, and if I tell you to do something, do it."

"Mmh-hmm."

Kazuto stood up, only a little behind Asuna, both of them sharing a little smile- they shared in Yui's curiosity, but they knew she'd be the most vocal about it, as well as cute. Even as they approached to another side, Keiko worked the box a little, the sounds from inside continuing (with Yui very curious), Kazuto guessing there were about half-a-dozen.

Once the box opened: "*gasp* Of my gosh, they're so cute!" Yui absolutely squealed.

After the initial glimpse, he and Asuna were too busy feeling warm to pay much attention, because they were looking at Yui, who's attention was absolutely focused. Said box contained exactly six dark-furred kittens inside, young enough that they could literally fit in the palm of your hand, reacting to the box being moved, as well as their presence.

"Make sure you go slow, Yui" Keiko assured. "Cats always sniff to make sure if something is safe or not first; if you just suddenly reach out, they're likely to scratch you with their claws or bite, especially since you're so big."

"Right."

Just like that, Yui carefully reached inside the box, her fingers extended a little- one kitten saw her coming, stood up and rested it's paws on the box wall, sniffing at her finger with much interest. The others paid absolutely no attention to their sibling or Yui, because they were still busy sniffing each other, the air, looking at something else, and otherwise being kittens.

"Hehe" Yui giggled, so excited. "Hey there, little guy- Oh? Uh, is he a boy, Silica?"

The older woman looked slightly embarrassed, but it didn't last long. "Uh, you can't tell that without a close-up look, in specific areas" she breathed, sheepishly glancing in their direction, hoping she didn't have to explain more. Luckily for her, Yui just appeared to go with the 'she didn't know' angle, then quickly got distracted (in the good way) when the curious kitten began to lick her hand.

"Ah!" she breathed, quickly moving her hand up a little, making the kitten confused. "That tickled, but it also felt a little rough."

"That's normal, Yui" Asuna assured their daughter. "Cat's tongues are like that, as they frequently clean themselves, making sure to get everything. However, they're not so rough that it hurts when they lick you; it takes some getting used to, but it won't hurt."

"Okay! Hehe!"

Keiko smiled as Yui returned her hand to the kitten, who still seemed curious, then looked up at him. "At this rate, I'm gonna have to wait till the food and water come by, before we can separate these guys" she said, quite playful.

Kazuto chuckled, agreeing: Yui's curiosity + happy excitement at playing with the kittens (well one), Asuna helping her a little- it was good to watch. He might join in soon, because he's sure Yui would ask him to, but even if he didn't, it was good anyway.

/

Asuna had to admit, part of her wanted to share in Yui's cute reaction, but seeing her daughter so happy brought a familiar warmth around. And once Yui discovered the self-perpetuating sound that was a cat's purr, the little girl was almost beside herself with how adorable these kittens were, particularly that lovely sound. Even now she was petting the little kitten carefully, who pawed at her lap, both making Yui giggle and worrying her a bit; these kittens still had their claws. She worried about that too, as while the winterwear stuff was pretty thick, the rest of her clothes might soon get holes in it; didn't want that to happen, particularly in the skirt.

Still, they're pretty adorable, especially as another one kept licking her finger.

"Here we go" Keiko cheered a little, she and the counter woman working together to pour milk into a bowl, just high enough that the kittens could reach down and drink, but not fall in or anything. "I don't know how long they were out there, but they might be a little thirsty."

Yui giggled, still petting her own kitten, who kept arching under her finger. "They're definitely in good hands though."

"They sure are" Asuna breathed gently, patting her daughter's shoulders. "Still, while I realize you want to stay with the kittens, they're not going anywhere."

"Mmh-hmm."

After a few seconds, Yui put the kitten down by the bowl, who didn't want her to stop, but she quickly moved herself away. Keiko gave them an understanding look, but shared a few words with the counter woman, who assured them they'd be fine, before leading the two of them through a series of other doors-

They came upon the 'keep' area behind closed-doors, which they all took a moment to look over, except for Keiko obviously. Aligned along the walls, as well as several neat rows through the middle, hosted spaces containing various animals of different species, breeds, and so forth. Rather than metal, each space was made of some sort of green plastic, clearly soft(ish) to the touch and good enough to scratch at, because several nearby spaces sported scratched walls. Each space was considerably big, about as much as your average desk if not bigger, allowing some to have numerous occupants, or the biggest guests to still have plenty of space to stretch in. Each space not only provided a sleeping arrangement and toys, but also food and water arrangements, usually automated but with some bowls and such out - both pets and arrangements were even now being checked by a few select workers.

-Kazuto stepped just ahead of them, looked back. "So this is where you keep them all" he breathed, but interested. "I dunno if this is right or not, but the place looks bigger than I was expecting."

"Believe it or not, sometimes we wish it could be bigger, each animal's 'room'" Keiko answered, Yui looking up at her. "After all, where they sleep + eat is comfortable of course, and we regularly play/exercise with them when possible, also giving little affections of course. Still, we are an animal shelter, and that means some manner of 'quantity' of spaces, but we try to keep the quality up until they get truly loving homes."

"It's still pretty impressive" Asuna breathed, feeling that a little. "I mean, you don't just keep them here; you make sure they're comfortable and healthy, above what most places would be like."

"Well, we try" she answered, a little sheepish. "Our boss is flexible that way, allowing us to do what we want, but we don't get payed extra for all this on-our-own-time care."

"Well you should" Kazuto answered. "Seriously; this kind of work deserves a medal or something."

"You bet, daddy!"

Keiko almost blushed a little, purely in reaction to the praise. "I don't think I'd go that far, but thank you" she said easily. "All of you."

"You're welcome, Keiko" Asuna agreed, glad to see her friend like this - maybe she didn't get payed extra, but she clearly liked this job and had good, hard-working co-workers. "And I'm sure if Pina could see this, he'd be excited and curious to have so many playmates his size."

"He sure would" Yui added, nodding. "But Pina's a smart one, so he'd always get the edge on the others in games!"

To that, Keiko just laughed, holding up her hand up for a high-five - Yui needed a split-second before she recognized the gesture, but returned it with a giggle. After that, she was quite curious and clearly wanted to get closer to the other animals, so Asuna caught Kazuto's eye and nodded... he smiled after a moment, nodding back before he nudged Yui in that direction.

Asuna looked after them for a little, before making a sound. "You should've seen the excitement in Yui's eyes when she asked if we could come here" she whispered, content. "Sure, we heard about her 'incident' with the puppy, and I've seen her reactions to pictures of other animals in our picture books, but live ones are always the best."

"Of course they are" Keiko breathed, happy. "But I can easily imagine. I still remember Yui's reaction to that little puppy, though I didn't plan on him getting so ahead of me. But it was too cute really; you two are so lucky to have her."

She agreed, and knew Kazuto felt the same, even if he didn't say it out loud much - but this also made her briefly wonder back to last week; was Yui affecting even mom, just a bit?

Maybe... but back to now:

"Speaking of that little puppy, is he here now?" she asked. "Or did you find him a good home?"

The other woman glanced around, briefly seeing Yui bent down beside one area, Kazuto and her talking/playing with another (bigger) cat. "Don't tell Yui this yet, but I'm afraid you guys just missed him" she said, apologetic. "I was planning on showing him off during the VIP tour, during plans and everything, but then he got taken away."

"Oh" Asuna breathed; what a shame.

Keiko still smiled. "He'll be taken good care of though, so that's still great" she added, before glancing over again. "And besides, even without thinking about him right now, it's not slowing Yui down one bit."

"Hehe, nope."

"Still, when she does ask today, or later, I'll make sure to say he was taken recently- oh, at least in context of a month or so."

"Good thinking there" she agreed, before she looked at one of the nearby spaces again, and noticed the scratched walls on one. "Oh, does it worry you when they scratch?"

Keiko shook her head, moving over to show her. "See the walls? They and the ceiling are connected, but the floor is separate" she explained, "Therefore, once they've scratched the walls to pieces, we can simply put a new section over it."

"What about the padding?" Asuna asked, figuring that had to be a different matter.

"That's... harder, but we try. And also-"

...

Same time

"Wow, she's so big" Yui breathed, amazed - she'd seen these breeds in the books, thought about how they'd compare to her size, but seeing one in person was another thing entirely. Indeed, this 'Great Dane' breed looked to be three feet tall from paws to the shoulder, which she'd read was their real measurement, since they could lift and lower their heads. This one looked at her curiously, her brown eyes so big, just like the puppy's despite being an adult- hehe, looks like Silica and Lisbeth had been right; all dogs could do puppy-dog eyes. Even with this very-large dog, she still had to fight an urge to giggle regarding this one's cuteness there, which was harder than it sounded!

Beside her, daddy leaned down. "I knew Asuna taught you about dogs, cats and such, but this is kinda crazy" he admitted, "They always look bigger in person than in pictures."

She laughed then, holding her hand up to the door, which had numerous circular holes for breathing - the dog leaned up slightly on it's hind legs, paws resting against the door, sniffing her hand. After the slight surprise (they could move quickly despite being so big), Yui giggled, feeling the rush of air as it sniffed, though she squeaked a little when the dog's nose managed to brush against her fingers once- she didn't think they'd be so wet!

Daddy hummed when she said so. "Well actually Yui, that's supposed to be a good sign" he said, making her 'huh?' with curiosity; he just smiled. "I don't know the particulars, but apparently a wet nose means dogs and cats are healthy."

"Oh" she breathed, before giggling. "That's so cool! Just unexpected, hehe."

"Always is the first time" he teased, but put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That applies to a lot of things you've reacted to."

Yui just stuck her tongue out, laughing even as daddy returned it - she knew her family enjoyed her curiosity (she did too), but that doesn't mean she can't be playful back!

Then she looked back at the dog, had a little shock when the dog then stood up on it's hind paws, enough to hook it's claws into the door, sniffing a few times. Her tail looked to be wagging as if excited, and Yui laughed, putting her hand back up- but as soon as she did, the dog barked once, making her yelp + take a step backward.

Didn't expect it to be that loud, or deep!

Guess that came with her first experience being the higher-pitched tones from the puppy!

...

Back parking lot

"Catch!"

Just like that, Kazuto threw the red frisbee again, Lucy (the female Great Dante) ran over the snow like an eager puppy, jumping up and catching it with little effort. She came back up to Kazuto just as eagerly, he laughing a little as he slowly took it back, though there were little expressions about the saliva.

Asuna privately giggled for that, but bent down near Yui, who was holding a blue frisbee. "In a little time, you'll be playing too" she assured, her daughter nodding brightly, before she slowly prepared herself - she kept trying the wrist-movement carefully.

Just five feet away, Keiko was ready. "Don't worry, Yui; you'll do great."

"Hehe" Yui breathed, testing it twice more before: "Mhmmpf!"

Because she'd been aiming straight at Keiko, the frisbee veered quite a bit to the left, much to Yui's surprise - Keiko herself had to make a rather low grab to get it, but she got it, laughing.

"That was a good first try, Yui" Asuna cheered, "Really."

"Thank you mommy, but why did it's path curve?"

"That's kinda what they do" she answered, nodding to Keiko, who threw it back- she deftly caught it herself. "They're made out of a very light plastic, so they catch the wind easily, and while the wrist movement is straight, the arm itself moves it just off-course."

"Oh" Yui breathed, taking it back then, giggling. "Well this time I'll get it!"

She smiled, happy to see that enthusiasm.

Yui adjusted herself a bit, threw it again... except out-of-nowhere, Lucy jumped in from the side and caught it, startling them. The big dog was still happily playful though, so she then came right up to Yui, the frisbee still in her mouth with bits of saliva- Yui wasn't quite as enthusiastic for that reality.

Asuna was about to offer to take it for her, when Kazuto moved beside her. "Lucy can run" he breathed, slightly playful as he shook his head, "She heard you three playing over here, saw Keiko's last throw, then got ready for Yui's next one before I could get her attention back."

She laughed a bit, looking at Keiko, who looked similarly affected with her big smile... meanwhile, Yui had gotten her frisbee back, making little sounds while Lucy just got ready for the next throw.

"She's certainly got spirit" she agreed, watching their daughter for a bit before she moved closer. "But now, I think it's your turn to play with Lucy."

Yui made a sound, sheepish. "I'm probably gonna be covered in this stuff when we're done" she breathed, looking up. "Will it wash out?"

From beside her: "Yeah, easily Yui."

Their daughter was quite relieved; Keiko shook her head in a knowing fashion, probably knowing all about such issues. Meanwhile, Yui looked at Lucy, who barked in excitement before running after her thrown frisbee - barely a few seconds later, she jumped and caught it, before running right back... except she was was a bit late on slowing down.

"Ah! Wait- Wahh!"

Asuna worried when they 'fell', but it quickly looked like Yui wasn't hurt (just really surprised), the frisbee dropping from Lucy's mouth. Yui made several sounds, no doubt at the very-large dog on her body, before she really yelped/squeaked when Lucy just started licking her face.

"Oh boy" Kazuto said beside her, half-sheepish. "That's really gonna make an impression."

"You have no idea" Keiko added, having run up to them; she looked quite sympathetic to Yui's 'plight' over there ("Ah! H-Hey, stop it!"). For Asuna's part, she was already moving, quickly drawing Lucy's attention when she tried to pull the dog away, but boy did she have some heft to her. "Kazuto" she called, making a 'distracting' motion, and made sure to help Yui sit up. "You okay, Yui?"

"Uhh..." her daughter breathed, instinctively wiping at the saliva. "Yeah, I am, but that was... a little overwhelming."

Keiko bent down beside them then. "If you're worried about it being disgusting, don't worry; dog's mouths are cleaner than ours" she assured.

"Really?" Yui asked, that distracting her.

"Yeah. Naturally, and especially ones we try to keep healthy, particularly in hygiene."

Her daughter was clearly trying to decide whether that'd been overwhelming, fun, or a mix of both - Asuna knew the feeling, because she wasn't sure she'd appreciate that big a dog bowling her over. Still, she knew Lucy was just being playful as well as affectionate, so she would've laughed off the whole thing, aside from the whole saliva angle-

-because that took some getting used to.

As 'revealed' from Learning, set ahead of this, the puppy had recently gotten a good home - here that has a slightly-interesting take on 'recent', but still works because they aren't that far apart XD

Meanwhile, dealing with an affectionate large dog does take some getting used to lol