Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online.

Asuna couldn't avert her gaze from the ghost in front of her.

It was no secret that the young swordswoman was terrified of such supernatural beings. She had always been afraid of the idea of ghosts since she was a little girl. Just the mere mention of them was enough to give her the chills. Never had she wished to ever have an encounter with them.

Yet here was one now, right in front of her. In fact, it happened to be in her home. As she observed the ghost in front of her, with her wide brown eyes, unable to take her wide brown eyes from it, there was only one thing Asuna could think to say.

"You look so cute, Yui!"

"Gee thanks, Mommy!" Yui squealed underneath the costume her adoptive mother had dressed her up in. "Do I really?"

"You sure do!" Asuna smiled adoringly at her beloved girl. "The cutest ghost ever."

Yui smiled sweetly before turning towards her bedroom mirror, which revealed how she looked in the white sheet that was covering her from head to feet. Only the two holes in front of her eyes allowed her to see her reflection. She was excited to be taking part in this fun-sounding time of the year which had just arrived. Upon learning about Halloween from her parents, she had wanted to dress up for it as all children did. Getting the chance to wear a ghost costume made the AI feel she was one step closer to becoming human.

"I'm surprised you let me do this, Mommy," Yui remarked. "I thought you were terrified of ghosts."

"I am," Asuna admitted. "But as your mommy, Yui, I can't let you miss out on the fun all children have on Halloween."

Yui beamed, grateful to have been adopted by such a caring, loving mother.

"Besides, you're the only ghost I'm going to see tonight, Yui," Asuna continued. "And you're the cutesr one ever to be found."

"The only ghost you're going to see? Are you sure about that, Asuna?"

Asuna froze. A spooky-sounding voice had just suddenly erupted from behind her. It made goosebumps spread across her body. Her heart raced rapidly inside her chest.

"Yui's the cutest ghost ever, huh? Even cuter that me?"

Asuna's teeth chattered. She didn't recognise that eerie-sounding voice, but what it had just bellowed gave her a hint of what it belonged to. Shivering in terror, she turned reluctantly away from Yui - before gasping upon finding out who had joined her and her daughter in their house that evening.

It was a ghost.

"Boo!" it said.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!"

Asuna shrieked, letting off a high-pitched scream which filled the whole house - before lashing out and slapping at the ghost.

"Ow!" The ghost yelped and rubbed the spot where the girl had hit it. "Hey, what's the big ide-"

The ghost was cut off as Asuna whacked it with her palm again. She lunged at the ghost to knock it off its feet. A fierce glare was on the brunette's face as she pinned the intrusive spirit on the bedroom floor. She proceeded to attack it, watched by a stunned Yui.

"Take that! And that! How dare you come barging into my home, trying to spook me?!" Asuna sounded livid, though she was trying to push her fear aside as she pounded on the ghost. "Go find someone else to haunt! You stay away from me and my daughter-"

"Asuna!" The ghost cried loudly. "Cut it out! It's me!"

Asuna was just raising her hand to deliver another slap - when she was stopped by not only what the ghost said, but how familiar he'd sounded. Confusion filled the girl's brown eyes. Reaching down, she brought her hand down towards the ghost's head - before whipping the white sheet he wore away, resulting in a gasp escaping her when she saw who it was.

"Kirito?!" Asuna exclaimed. "Wha-What d'you think you're playing at?"

"I should be the one asking that." Kirito groaned as he sat up on the floor, rubbing his sore spots where his wife had struck him. "What'd you go and beat me up for?"

"Well…" Asuna glared at her husband. "Because you were dressed as a ghost!"

"Exactly!" Kirito huffed. "This is Halloween; the time of the year for dressing up as scary things! I was making my own costume while you were busy with Yui's! I wanted to show you two what I looked like wearing it!"

"Well, I didn't know that was you under the sheet! You know I'm terrified of ghosts! You scared me!"

"You were? I'm the one who should've been scared from the way you were kicking my butt!" Kirito turned to his daughter for support. "Yui, help me out here!"

"Sorry, Daddy, but you deserve what happened to you!" Yui said stubbornly. "It serves you right for scaring Mommy!"

Kirito sighed. Despite being capable of beating deadly enemies he faced in the virtual world, he could never win an argument against his virtual family. He loved both his wife and his daughter, but the two girls he shared a house with really made the Black Swordsman feel outnumbered.

THE END