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

Rating: T

Continuing the story of Yui's time in the real world, now that they've settled into their new family routines.

For any newer readers, I'd recommend reading the previous fics, as they begin the story this one continues. First 'A New World': h(t(t(p(s: / / www . fanfiction . n(e(t / s / 10712061 / 1 / A-New-World - then 'A New World: Snowy': h(t(t(p(s: / / www. fanfiction . n(e(t / s / 10775359 / 1 / A-New-World-Snowy - both without spaces/parentheses.

RL

March 11th, 2031

Home

"It's so weird, even now" Yui breathed, seated in front of the computer. "It's just... it's just-"

"Weird?" Kazuto asked, with a little smile.

She looked at him, nodding with a similar smile, though playful. "Mmh-hmm."

"Well, that's to be expected" he said easily, right beside her, even as Asuna continued to cook just upstairs. "But you'll get the hang of it, right?"

Yui giggled. "I will, daddy" she said softly, before getting more confident. "And because I've spent most of my life inside computers, I know I must master their outside workings as well. You watch; I'll master them so fast that you won't believe it!"

"Now that's more like that" he approved, playfully ruffling her hair, to her laughing even as she tried to stop him. "But of course, we're here to learn how to type, so first thing's first."

"Sounds good."

Then Kazuto bent down just beside her, the keyboard in plain view. "As you can see, there are many keys to keep track of-" he said, before gesturing to a few, "some of which have more than one meaning, if done correctly. For now, let's just focus on the letters, in this three-rowed section in the middle."

"Hmm" Yui breathed, looking them over. "But, why are they so out of order?"

"Honestly, I don't know why that is, but people have made it work" he said, before slowly putting his fingers out. "Familiarity comes later, but you should be acquainted with the 'home' keys - where you start your fingers off, and where they always return to: ASDF and JKL;... and don't ask what that last one does just yet; we'll get there."

Yui slowly held her fingers out, mimicing his stance with empty air, before she blinked. "What about our thumbs, daddy?"

"Those activate the spacebar, that really big key at the bottom."

"Ahh" she breathed softly, then hmm'ed. "So then, with my left hand on ASDF... my pinky finger would reach for the Q key, as well as the Z key below it?"

"Exactly" he assured. "There are other keys it can reach, but focus on the letters for now."

"So each finger can reach three letters, depending on what you want to type?" she asked, curious.

He chuckled. "More-or-less, but there are exceptions" Kazuto answered, before motioning with his forefingers, quite visually. "My left hand can reach F, R, and V as you'd expect, but they can also reach the T, G, and B keys. Same applies to the letters on the right side, in reach for my right hand.

"Ahh, that's so cool" Yui breathed, excited. "Can I try?"

"Certainly" he assured, pulling up a blank Word-ish document for her to practice on. "Just type, and don't worry too much about it right now; you'll learn."

Yui giggled a little, before thinking of what she wanted to type; then something struck her quickly, and she began working with a smile. She was slow going, always making sure of the key she was about to press before she typed anything, and it was all in lowercase - but he smiled at the message she typed out a minute later.

i love my mommy and daddy

He looked at Yui, who was happy as she looked back. "We love you too" he said softly, Yui giving his arm a soft hug in response, which he didn't mind at all. "That sentence is good progress as well, but it's not all you can do."

"I know, hehe."

"For example, I'm sure you've seen capital letters - 'Shift' over there does that, but only if you hold it down while typing the letter-"

/

A little later

"We love you too" Asuna heard in her mind again, faint in-and-out of memory, yet still clear.

It warmed her heart to hear even now, while she continued to work on dinner tonight, smiling to herself - Yui was just plain adorable. Still, even as she worked, footsteps came from downstairs. "How's Yui doing with typing?" she asked gently.

Kazuto's lip curved a little, glancing at what she preparing (several of Japan's usual dishes, but cooked her own way), then he looked back at her. "She's slow right now, and the familiarity won't come for awhile, but she's already typing out a small sentence per minute or so" he said, leaning against the stove, close enough to be close, yet far enough that he wasn't interfering. "I almost think she'll have the basics down by tonight."

"I guess I'm not surprised" she said softly. "It only makes sense that she'd be naturally good at working with computers after all."

"And math" he added, partly to himself. "Most of the equations and routines involved in a VRMMORPG are at/above even the most advanced math of normal high school."

"Are you saying that because you sucked at math?" Asuna teased, liking how he briefly jolted.

After the surprise, he briefly looked exasperated, before coughing. "Anyway, the calluses she got from writing practice earlier today are fading away" he said, with a lighter tone.

"We're definitely gonna have to mention she can loosen her grip; it doesn't need to be so tight" Asuna admitted, but smiled. "Still, was Yui worried when she felt them?"

"A little, but they're only temporary ones; the real ones take a lot of time to build up under pressure, or so I told her" Kazuto answered, stepping closer, just behind her now. "I think you can mention that tomorrow, as it is your turn to teach her."

"Mmh, can't wait."

"But before that-" he breathed, lower in tone, an arm slipping around her stomach (she breathed out). "There's always tonight."

"Obviously" Asuna said, but an instinctive answer; her heart-rate was climbing. "But I swear, if you're teasing me-"

"Don't I always, Asuna?"

"Yes, b-but if you go straight to bed after getting my expectations up like this, you've got another thing coming" she warned, much as she was embarrassed, cheeks showing that part of it.

He hummed, slipping his head onto her left shoulder, the arm still across her stomach as she worked. "Ahh" he breathed, before chuckling a little. "Right, yes, you do hate that, don't you?"

Asuna gasped a little; he'd just breathed against her ear, and it sent a little chill through her.

"Kazuto" she breathed, but resisting. "I do enjoy it when you're playful, most of the time anyway, but I'm trying to cook here."

"As you wish" he said mildly, intentionally in her ear again, before he willingly withdrew from their closeness - instinctively, she glanced him over, waiting to see if he'd try something again as a last tease. He didn't however, other than a few words: "Though of course, I didn't necessarily mean tonight" Kazuto breathed gently. "My tease aside, it's always 'whenever's good for both of us', as always."

She relented with a softer look, "Good" she breathed, briefly making a quick check of dinner. "You never can resist though."

"You're surprised?"

"Nope."

A little hum. "Anyway, we know the home situation" he continued, standing there against the stove again. "Anything major happen at work recently?"

"A few new interns, the head of the building got remarried, mmh-" Asuna breathed, before smiling a bit. "Oh, some officials did a preliminary study of your improvement to the Medicuboid."

"The suppressant system, stimulating the patient's immune system?"

"That's the one" she agreed, nodding. "I think the comments were that it was effective in 80% of cases."

"Not bad for something I created by accident" Kazuto breathed, yet with a brief side-smile. "Here's hoping the hospital experts can advise our technical experts- maybe they can nudge it further up to 100%. That'd be great."

"Speaking of technical experts" Asuna teased, adding ingredients as she went along. "What's new in your line of work?"

"Beta testing, nothing special to speak of recently- but research at the RECT building may have something."

"Like what?"

Kazuto slowly leaned up, which she noticed right away- including when he crossed his arms. "You remember the BoB tournament from GGO, and how it live-streamed footage of the fights throughout?"

She hummed, "Yeah, I do. What about it?"

"Well, said live-stream cameras were accomplished by a lot of sensitive equipment; usually only companies have enough power to run so many at once, and they're not approved for widespread use just yet" he continued. "But anyway, you noticed how they could only see what we did; they can't really give off sound?"

She made a sound, tilting her head. "You mean you're testing out a way to do that?"

"Trying to" he answered, lighter. "If we can, then it'd be greater immersion for anyone watching - plus, it would actually allow a person in virtual reality to call out to real world, in case they needed to, without the need to do charades."

Asuna looked at him for a few moments, then gave him a smile. "That's a great addition, if maybe situational."

Kazuto chuckled a little. "Yeah" he admitted, still light, "If someone in real life wanted to converse with someone in the virtual world, then there's still the obvious 'get in there yourself/other person gets out' angle - not everyone has Amursphere's for each person though. Plus, well I got the idea from the Medicuboid-"

"I thought that'd be part of it" she whispered softly, surprising him; she just felt warmer. "Like I said, a great addition."

/

Dinnertime

He was glad Asuna thought it was a great idea; initially he'd been worried his tech-heavy(ish) explanation was bringing down the mood, or stuff like that. Sure they regularly talked about work, but they just usually did that at the hospital, not at home, where they were more content to just be together.

But anyway-

"Mmh-mmh!" Yui basically cheered across from them, closed-mouthed enjoying her meal before swallowing. "Ah, never gets old."

Kazuto chuckled, finding he couldn't disagree- Asuna merely giggled, probably in amusement how they said similar things on a semi-regular basis (they really did). But of course she was enjoying the praise, and their family in general - he had to focus on dinner, just to make sure he didn't chuckle, which would probably ruin the moment.

"Anything new happen today, Yui?"

"Yeah, I saw Liz and Silica again" their daughter spoke, drawing his attention. "I asked if the puppy had gotten a good home yet at the shelter, and he recently did hehe."

Ah yes, now he remembered; Yui had her first true 'squee' reaction that day, or so he'd gathered hehe - wished he'd been there to see it himself. Good to know about the puppy though, of course.

"Also, they mentioned something about me maybe needing my hair cut" Yui continued, working her bangs as she said it-

Kazuto shared a glance with Asuna, but they agreed: Yui's bangs were level with her eyebrows, and soon might hang in her face, while her usual waist-length hair was starting to reach past the top of her legs.

-"I-Is it really needed?"

"That's up to you, Yui" Asuna breathed gently. "But if your hair starts feeling too much, or it gets in your eyes, then usually the answer's yes. But don't worry; you can tell the barbers exactly how much you want cut off. Visual gestures of where would help too."

Yui didn't say anything, but she seemed to be considering things.

"If it helps, it'd be better than cutting it yourself with scissors" he added lightly, yet mostly sincere - his daughter looked considerably surprised by the fact you could do that, initially anyway, before she hummed. "Either way, just think upon it. And in the meantime, we have a little news that might interest you."

"Huh?"

Asuna smiled. "Remember a few months ago, when we said getting a spare Amursphere rig never came up before?"

Yui gasped, then practically lit up with excitement: "You mean you're getting one!?"

"Might" Kazuto added, much as he didn't want to add that angle. "Your mommy and I have the money now, built up over time, but it's a fairly big purchase - it means if we're gonna get a third rig, it comes with the condition of using it often. Making it worth it-"

"Oh you bet I'll make it worth it!" their daughter basically cheered, giggling. "When you're at work, I'll probably be using it - and I'll get help from all your friends too, when they're on! Oh, after the first visit, when everyone's prepared, o-of course!"

"You're right about that" he continued, his tone knowing. "If the others found out you were about to join ALO, from the outside for the first time, they'd chew me and Asuna out for not being there the first time. They'd understand, you know, that family-first would be reasonable, but they'd still be really ticked off at us."

"An understatement" Asuna noted, with a teasing smile. "Though, I think Yui would prefer to save the family-only interactions for later."

Yui herself quickly nodded. "Uh-huh" she breathed softly, "I mean, I'd like it if it were just us, of course I would. But I'd want to show the others, and have fun with them like we all used to- I did miss the Christmas party after all, along with those two other times."

"Hey, those weren't your fault" Asuna assured, touching Yui's shoulder. "Everyone did miss you, but they were more happy for you finally being in the real world."

"I know, mommy-"

On the sidelines, Kazuto just smiled, hand holding up his chin even as he ate. "Without ever saying the word, Yui's given us her answer" he thought, before mentally chuckling. "Not that there was any doubt really."

"-but still, I wanna adventure in there too."

Asuna giggled, but nodding. "Any idea of your ALO race then?"

"I do, but it's a secret" Yui stated, humming to herself.

He made an interested sound, looking at his daughter, "Well, this outta be good, if even you're not telling us, Yui" he said playfully. "I'm sure there's a good reason for that, but the fact remains."

Yui just stuck her tongue out at him, briefly. "There is a good reason, and that's exactly why I'm keeping it a secret till then" she stated, arms crossed a little. "So I can't say anything more."

"Fine, fine" he answered, still playful, making her giggle.

"Well that's good, because your dinner might get cold if you go on much longer" Asuna noted, slightly chiding but also smirking; Yui quickly jolted, and began to eat quickly again. He merely shrugged to Asuna, but with a smile, eating his portion a little more mildly - of course he liked it, as did Yui; they just got distracted sometimes.

Should certainly be interesting :) Mundane as something might be (like typing), having a fully-aware child learning stuff for the first time makes it unique. But also, we have the situation of Yui soon to embark back into the virtual world, from outside it - very unique for an AI hehe.