32 Chapter 32

In the coniferous forests at the 22nd floor of Aincrad, from inside of a modest looking log house, merry laughter and chatter of the little family who was living inside could be heard from time to time. Accompanied by the chirping birds around, added with how beautiful the view around was, with a lake and forest around, made the most peaceful floor of Aincrad become more peaceful than it was.

Almost half a year already passed since Nao and Yui met for the first time, and since then, together with Asuna, the three of them started to live together as a little family inside the modest looking log house. Made it a lively house with chatter and laughter, and warm with their love for each other as a family.

Many things happened since then, and one of them was special a moment at the night of the same day Yui called Asuna mother for the first time.

Under the light which illuminated the room dimly that night, Nao approached Asuna after Yui fell asleep.

He said nothing and hugged Asuna's waist gently while looking at her in the eyes. He caressed her cheek gently, made her a bit confused and surprised at the same time. But she lets him do what he wants and closed her eyes to enjoy his gentle touch.

Nao leaned forward after a while, and slowly and gently, placed his lips on her little soft lips. Asuna doesn't opened her eyes at all and let him kiss her, while also replied his kiss with hers.

While kissing each other, enjoy each other touch and company, they drowned in their own world for a long while before their lips finally separated. Nao placed his forehead on hers after that and kept it like that for a while.

After some time passed, Nao opened his eyes and looked at her softly and lovingly, who was still with still closed eyes enjoying his company with a content smile.

"Will you marry me?" Nao said softly all of a sudden, broke the peaceful silent inside the room, with a small voice like whisper to her.

Asuna was, of course, surprised with what he said very suddenly. She snapped out and opened her eyes widely, couldn't said anything to respond at his words. Her eyes, however, started to moistened. Looking at her reaction, Nao smiled slightly while caressing her face.

He didn't wait her to recover from her surprised state and continue.

"Though what I meant wasn't only inside the game," He said softly, "But also in the real world. Not only for Yui, I want you to become the mother of my other child too in the future." He said and gently wiped the tears that started to trickle down through her cheeks as he speak.

Asuna couldn't control her feeling at that time. Happiness filled her to the brim, then manifested as tears that trickled down from her eyes.

She still couldn't believe that he just proposed to her, not only inside the game on top of that, but also in their real world. She felt as though all of her dreams finally comes true, own everything in this world and made her complete. Everything was enough for her with just together with him and spent the rest of their lives together.

"Will you?" Nao said again, softly, while caressing her cheek gently.

Asuna hold his hand on her cheek gently, looked at him lovingly and said "Yes." with her brightest smile ever.

Her answer made Nao's smile became more gentle than before. He said "Thanks" softly then kissed her gently again afterwards. Asuna closed her eyes and replied the kiss from him with the same gentleness as his, give him every love she has for him.

The both of them officially married since then and really became a family with Yui as their daughter, live together at the log house as a family since then.

Today, as always, the three of them ate the breakfast that Asuna cook happily and cheerfully. Nao, who was chewing his breakfast suddenly remember something and turned.

"That's right." Nao said then looked at Yui, "There's something that Kaa-sama and Tou-sama need to do today too, so...." He said but stopped in the middle of his sentence after looking at how dejected Yui was.

Reached out his hand, he caressed her head gently with apologetic smile on his face.

"It won't long this time. We will be back soon." Softly he said with a smile.

"Really?" Yui lifted her head and looked at him.

Nao chuckled a bit an nodded at her. He then looked at Asuna and said, "Right, Kaa-sama?" Made Yui looked at her too.

Asuna, who sat beside them while looking at her husband and daughter chatting just now, smiled and nodded at her. She caressed her daughter's face gently and lovingly after that and nodded.

"That's right. It won't be long this time. We will be back soon." She said while still caressing Yui's face.

Yui's expression brightened after heard what Asuna said. "Un!!!" and nodded cheerfully afterwards.

Looking at her reaction, Asuna could only chuckled and hugged her after that.

"Yui was a good girl after all." She said while hugging her made Yui laugh happily because of her praise.

"And this is the hug from me!!!" Nao said and hug the two together.

Asuna chuckled while Yui's laugh became more cheerful than before because of that, made the house filled with their laughter once again.

It remain like that for a while until Nao asked Yui once again, directed their attention at him.

"So, where Yui want to wait? At the church with Sasha-sensei and the other, or at the shop with Liz onee-chan?" Nao looked at her and asked.

"Mm....." Yui was thinking about it for a while and answered his question. "Sasha-sensei's place with the other." She said.

"Alright. To the 1st floor then."

"Un!" Yui nodded at his words.

"But before that, finished the breakfast first, okay? Nao-kun too." Asuna then said, interjected them.

""Yeees!!"" Father and daughter said obediently right away and ate their breakfast as she told.

Even though Asuna and Nao decide to took care of Yui and live together with her as her parents, not to mention Asuna's status as the second-in-command of an elite guild like KoB, Nao himself was still an active clearer of the foremost line. That's why the both of them couldn't always on Yui's side all of the time, made the both of them couldn't help but to took turns to take care of her.

As the Vice-commander of KoB, Asuna was the one who go at noon. She leaves the house after breakfast and comes back in the evening, while Nao leaves the house after the dinner and comes back early in the morning, so they still had breakfast and dinner together.

Even so, they still had many time together as a family thanks to Nao who was a solo player, made him had a flexible time. He will go to the labyrinth if he wanted to and stay with them at the house if he doesn't feel like to.

He had a ridiculous kill rate after all even as a solo, made him never lack of exp and his level never left behind the other player.

On the contrary though, he felt even more spirited somehow since began to live together with them. Having someone said "Itterasshai(Have a good day/Take care)" when you leave, then your daughter ran at you, saying "Okaerinasai(Welcome back)" to welcome you back home everyday, made him filled with happiness and more spirited than before.

But still, even though they could take turn to take care of her, they couldn't do it every time. As a clearers, there's a time when the both of them had to go to the labyrinth together at the same time, like when the boss' subjugation raid or when the mid-boss was to hard to handle. At the time like that, they need to go together to the front line to join the clearer group.

But they couldn't leave Yui alone in the house either, so they brought Yui to the church at the 1st floor to make her wait for them together with Sasha and the other kids there.

They met with Sasha when looking for Yui's information at the first floor. Nao knew that it was pointless because Yui wasn't a player to begin with, but Asuna didn't know about that, so he still did that with her.

Though in the end, as Nao already expected, they couldn't found anything about Yui, at least, they manage to met with Sasha and knew about the church along with the kids she taken care of there. Since then, every time Nao and Asuna need to go to the front line together, the both will ask Sasha help to take care of Yui for a while.

Asuna, who was happily looking at her husband and daughter eating the breakfast, snapped by the sound of a message she received.

"Liz?" She said after opened the message and knowing that the sender was her friend, Lizbeth. She smiled after read it for a while and started to replied the message.

"What's wrong?" Nao asked her.

"Nothing. Liz just asked me when we will take Yui to her place." She said while type the message.

"Hm? She knew about the subjugation today?" Nao asked, a bit surprised that Lizbeth knew about it. Today's subjugation was different after all from their normal subjugation raid. Totally different.

"Un! I told her about that yesterday, because maybe we need to ask her help to take care of Yui when we leave. But I already said that Yui want to go to Sasha-san's place today through the message." Asuna said again and looked at him after send her reply.

Aside from the church at the 1st floor, Yui also sometime stay at Lizbeth's store in Lindarth at the 48th floor.

Nao and Yui met Lizbeth for the first time when she was gone for two days, and Asuna couldn't contact her at all. Nao knew that maybe she was with Kirito at the 55th floor when Asuna told him that she couldn't contact her at all.

Asuna really worried about her at that time, so Nao calmed her down and told her to check her friend lists. She calmed a bit when she found that Lizbeth's name was still there. Nao also told her that maybe she was together with Kirito because same like her, Nao also couldn't contact him.

Asuna calmed down a bit after also remember that, a few days prior, Kirito asked her about player that had a high forging skill and she recommended her friend, Lizbeth, to him. She knew that Nao had a high forging skill too, but Nao said to her not to said it to anyone, so she recommended Lizbeth instead.

Though Asuna didn't know why, but Nao must be had his own reason about that. She herself knew about it just a while after she moved here and found his little workshop in the corner of the house, so he must be had his own reason about that.

Kirito and Lizbeth couldn't be contacted at the same time, and on top of that, it was after Asuna recommended Kirito about Lizbeth, so Nao said maybe they went together to find a material to forge something, made Asuna more relaxed because of that.

They couldn't be contacted for two days, so Asuna still felt a bit worried somehow because of that. And as soon as she knew that Lizbeth was already back, she went right away to Lindarth, where her store was at, together with Nao and Yui followed behind her. Far behind her because she ran really fast out of worried as soon as they arrived at the 48th floor.

Looking at how in haste her mother was, Yui looked at her back with curiosity then asked her father.

"Tou-sama, where we want to go?" She asked Nao.

"Hm? It's Kaa-sama's friend place. Her name was Lizbeth and we go to meet her at her place."

"Liz.. ze.. b..."

Nao chuckled looking at how Yui who tries her best to said Lizbeth's name, but still couldn't said the rest of them in the end.

"Just call her Liz, onee-chan or Liz onee-chan then." Nao said and rubbed her head.

"Liz onee-chan?" Yui said.

"Um! That's fine too."

While Nao was chatting with Yui along the way, they finally could seen the store after walked for a while. Especially Nao that thanks to his high level, he could see more clearly than the other. He could seen Asuna, without any ado ran fast towards it, opened the door with a 'Bang!', and entered the store hurriedly.

"Whoa.... If there's someone behind the door, not just knocked down, but without a doubt he would be thrown back mercilessly." Nao said and smiled wryly, while Yui just laugh innocently because of that.

"Let's go." Nao said again and Yui nodded beside him.

The both of them walked towards the entrance of the store hand in hand, but before he could entered the store, his prediction ability caught something.

'Hm? Why is she crying?' Nao thought because through his prediction ability, he could see that Lizbeth was crying when she ran out of the store.

Nao surprised a bit because of that, made him didn't realize that the door already opened and Lizbeth ran out of it with a downed head.

Nao was late to react, while Lizbeth couldn't see that there was someone in front of her. They bumped into each other very hardly and her forehead hit right on his jaw.

"Kyaa!!!"

"Ughh..."

The both of them fell down, crouching and groaning on the floor. Luckily Yui was fine because Nao let her hand go just in time before they bumped into each other. She looked at him worriedly and asked him.

"Tou-sama, are you alright?"

"Yeah, but my jaw, without a doubt, would be broken if it wasn't a game." He said while still crouching on the ground.

"I am sorry." Lizbeth said, but still with downed head and Nao could seen her tears falling on the ground.

Nao wanted to said, 'It's fine', but before the words could be said, Asuna's voice interrupted him.

"Liz!!!" Asuna and Kirito ran at them after heard Liz's scream when she bumped into Nao just now.

As the both of them arrived, they could seen there Nao and Liz crouching on the ground. Nao holds his jaw, while Liz hold her forehead. Asuna didn't know what happened but felt a bit relieved after seeing that Yui was alright. She looked at Liz again and could seen that she was crying.

"Liz, what happened?" Asuna asked her.

"I am fine. I just feel a bit surprised after bumped into him."

"Mou~ You need to be careful."

"Ehehe~ Sorry."

"Nao-kun need to be careful too." Asuna said looked at Nao after that.

"Eh? Me?" Nao surprised and pointed to himself.

"Of course. You are with Yui-chan after all. How if something happened to her." She said and walked at Yui after that. She checked her and asked after that.

"Are you alright, Yui-chan?"

"Un!! Yui is fine, Kaa-sama." Yui replied with her angelic smile.

"Thanks goodness." Asuna said and hugged her gently.

"Ano~" Nao said and raised her hand to get her attention.

"Asuna-san, I was the victim here, you know."

Asuna and Yui looked at him and could seen him looking at them with his puppy eyes. Yui ran at him while giggling, "A hug for Tou-sama too." She said and hugged him.

"Humu. That's my girl." Nao said and hugged her too.

"Mou~." Asuna sighed looking at them, but smiled in the end.

They didn't realized that Lizbeth and Kirito looking at them with a dumbfounded expression written all over on their face, Especially Lizbeath.

'Tou-sama? Kaa-sama?' The both thought at the same time.

They looked at Asuna, then at Nao who was hugged by the little girl who was calling them father and mother. Lizbeth looked at Asuna again after that and said,

"Mm... Asuna, They are?" She said a bit hesitantly while looking at Nao and Yui.

"Hmm? Oh! That's right. It's the first time you've met Nao-kun and Yui-chan, right?" Asuna said.

"Let me introduce you." Asuna stood beside Nao and Yui and continuing, "He is Nao-kun." She said while pointing at Nao. "And she is Yui-chan." She introduce Liz to Yui after that, while caressing her head gently.

"Yui-chan, Nao-kun, she is Lizbeth who I was talking about before."

"Nice to meet you, Lizbeth-san. Please just call me Nao." Nao said to her.

"Un! Nice to meet you too, Nao. You can just call me Liz too." Liz greet him back.

Nao then looked at Kirito, bowed a bit, he then said, "Nice to meet you too, Blackie."

"Who did you called Blackie!? I am not a dog!!!" Kirito said with annoyed look and bulging vein on his forehead.

Nao chuckled, Asuna smiled wryly, while Liz looking at them with a bit confused look.

"My, my. I just called you Blackie, though. I never said you are a dog, Blackie." Nao said lightly.

Another vein appeared on Kirito's forehead after heard his word. He want to refute him back but gave up in the end with a tired sigh.

From their interaction Liz know immediately that they are know each other. Her sight then land on Yui, who was looking at them with her innocent eyes while hugging Haku with the both of her hands. Liz then remembered that the little girl, Yui, called Nao and Asuna father and mother just now, so she looked at Asuna again and asked about it.

"Asuna! Just now, Yui, right? She called you and Nao..."

To what Liz said, Asuna smiled a bit and caressed Yui's head after that.

"Un! Tou-sama and Kaa-sama. She is our daughter." Asuna said with a smile.

Not only Lizbeth, Kirito also surprised with the words that Asuna said. 'Daughter?' They thought. They looked at Nao for confirmation and only got a slight smile from him as a respond.

No one said anything after that, so Asuna continue her words, told them what happened. From the moment Nao met Yui for the first time, about her that couldn't remember anything but her name, how she called them father and mother and how the both of them decide to take care of her after couldn't found anything about her family even until now.

".... That's why, we decide to take care of her and become her parents." Asuna said ended her story.

Lizbeth doesn't said anything, neither Kirito, and the both of them looked at the little girl in front of them, who was looking at them with sparkling innocent eyes while hugging a snow-white winged fox, with regret written all over on their face.

After a while, Lizbeth then looked at Asuna and Nao suddenly as though just realized something. She looked at Asuna once again and asked her.

"Then... You and Nao..."

Asuna gave Liz a bright smile and wrapped Nao's arm with hers.

"We are married." She then said while rested her head on his shoulder made not only Lizbeth, but also Kirito dumbfounded again.

"MA- MARRIED???" The both exclaimed at the same time.

Liz thought before that the both of them only date each other and never expected that they already married.

The same thing goes with Kirito. He knew that they are very close recently and must be in a special relationship. But he never thought that they are already married.

Nao laughed a bit looking at how they are looking at him and Asuna with dumbfounded look and wide eyes. While Asuna only chuckled because of that.

Liz's sight then land on Asuna's earring and said,

"Then, that earring..." She said and looked at Nao after that. "Ah!" She then realized just now that he had the same earring with Asunas on his ear.

"Mm? Earring?" Asuna tilted her head.

"You mean this?" Asuna said while touching the earring on her ear. "Nao-kun gave it to me. Why?" Asuna asked.

"Ehehe, Nothing." Lizbeth shook her head, didn't say anything and just smiled cheerfully made Asuna a bit confused.

Nao felt the same. 'She was crying just now, she then smiled cheerfully all of a sudden.' Nao thought.

He thought about it for a while and realization come at him while his sight land on Kirito, and remember about Liz confession and how Asuna barge into the store just now.

'Hmm~ I see.' He said inside and looked at Kirito meaningfully.

'Asuna must be interrupt her confession and she misunderstood something after that.' Nao thought.

Kirito could feels his gaze and looked at him.

"W- what?" He asked Nao who was looking at him with uncomfortable eyes and smile.

"Hmm? Nothing. I just thinking that maybe you did something to her, considering how, a while ago, she was running out of the store while crying." Nao said with 'Aha~' look in his eyes.

"Wha-"

"As I thought." Asuna interjected and looked at him suspiciously.

Lizbeth didn't say anything. Silent without any words with a blushing face, made the situation more suspicious for him.

"I-I am not. I did nothing to her!!!" He said trying to defend himself as he couldn't hold on any longer, gazed by the two of them with uncomfortable eyes. Not to mention Yui's eyes also gazing at him with its pure and innocent radiant, made him more and more, unbearably uncomfortable.

"Hee~? You sure you didn't 'touch' her?" Nao asked him with an emphasis on the word "touch".

"Of course I am no―" Kirito said but stopped mid of his sentence. He wanted to deny Nao's words, but suddenly remember that they were sleeping while holding each other hand last night. He also remember Liz's confession before it interrupted by Asuna, so he stopped mid of his sentence with a tinge of pink on his face after remember about that.

"Hoho~?" Nao said looking at how Kirito was blushing.

"My~" Asuna also added after him, made the two blushing more hardly than before.

"L-like I said, I am not!!!"

""Hmm~?""

"Y-you two!!!"

Kirito kept deny about that, while Nao and Asuna didn't believe his words even a bit and kept looking at him suspiciously. Liz didn't said anything either, not only because embarrassment, but also because she felt happy inside that what she thought a few moment ago was just a misunderstanding.

Remembered about what happen at that time made Nao smiled while munching his breakfast and chuckled inside.

"What's wrong?" Asuna asked looking at how he smiled suddenly.

"Nothing. I just thought that it really delicious. As expected of my wife." Nao said and gave her a wink make her blushed.

"Hmph! Honey tongue." She said, but really happy inside.

Nao chuckled and kiss her on the cheek.

Like that, their morning time filled with chatter and laughter as always, they got ready after the breakfast was done, and went to the Corral village to teleport to the first floor.