"A black-haired girl?"
"Seems like a solo player. No one's ever seen her before; recently she suddenly appeared in the high-level Labyrinth. She's quite a pretty child and not weak either. If someone talks to her, she blushes and runs away. Her popularity doesn't lose out to the Vice Commander, you know."
"What did you say? The Vice Commander's popularity could be caught up to by some little girl who just popped out of nowhere!" Someone was clearly unconvinced.
"I mean suitors. A girl who appeared from nowhere and about whom people know very little, shy enough to run the moment she sees people yet somehow daring to roam Floor 65 alone—that kind of mystery is especially attractive to the opposite sex, isn't it? I heard someone even went to an information broker wanting to pay a huge price for her information, though stalker behavior like that only makes people angry."
"Oh, Dual Blades kid!" Godfree greeted Kirito, who had just returned.
Even after joining the Knights of the Blood, he still had not changed his habit of going out alone to farm monsters. Occasionally he went with Asuna, but after that conversation, Asuna had always liked staying beside Yimi and Yui.
As soon as he came back, he heard something he did not want to hear.
He had actually been deliberately avoiding people, and only occasionally encountered a few. Because Floor 65 really was rather hellish, many people could not adapt, so he had helped them a little.
Kirito waved as well, counting it as a greeting.
"The Vice Commander is already spoken for, so that's probably one reason the black-dressed girl's popularity has been higher lately. There are still quite a few adolescent boys in this game," Godfree continued chatting with that member.
He even turned toward Kirito and spoke as if intentionally. "But there are still plenty of people eyeing the Vice Commander. If you two were already married, there'd probably be a lot fewer people like Kuradeel."
"..."
Marriage?
Marriage, in meaning, could not refer to a real-world marriage. It was only a Marriage System like in many games.
After marriage, their inventories would be shared. It was a sign of entrusting mutual trust to each other. In some games, many people formed that relationship for the benefits brought by the Marriage System, but in this Full Dive game where true appearances were used, basically no one treated it as something casual.
He and Asuna had not actually confirmed their relationship, had they? This kind of thing...
"I'm back."
Asuna took time out of her busyness to greet him. "Welcome back, black-haired girl of countless boys' dreams."
"Stop. Don't call me that." Kirito hurried into the room and closed the door.
"Meow meow, meow meow meow!"
It was not merely to keep others from hearing this topic, but also because he saw Asuna chasing Yimi, who had turned into a cat, all over the room. This situation generally appeared when Asuna was about to catch her and take her to bathe.
"Yui, help Mama catch her!"
"Okay." Yui held the cardboard box Asuna had given Yimi to play with and accurately caught the little cat mid-leap.
"Don't overdo it. Otherwise she'll get mad and crawl under the bed later and ignore you again," Kirito reminded her.
Asuna was exceptionally persistent about bathing. That had been the case when they first met on the lower floors too; delicious food might not necessarily attract her, but the moment bathing facilities were mentioned, she immediately stopped in place, even though they actually had no physical bodies at all.
"Raow! Raow!" Held on Asuna's shoulder, Yimi still cursed noisily at Yui.
Traitor. I'm never playing with you again.
"I'm sorry." Yui pressed her hands together and apologized.
"If she doesn't want to wash, don't force her. Anyway, in this world, aside from specific terrain, the concept of dirtiness is very vague." Kirito pulled over a chair and sat down.
"Meow meow." Voicing agreement, Yimi broke free from Asuna's shoulder, jumped onto Kirito's lap, and pressed her front paws against his chest.
Kirito: "..."
Yui came over wanting to apologize to her, but Yimi turned around with her back to Yui and licked her messy fur.
Asuna picked Yimi up again, patted her back, and comforted her. "I just wanted the family to take a bath together and enjoy a brief warm moment."
"Does that include me?" Kirito pointed at himself.
"Are you dreaming?" Asuna blushed.
For things like mixed bathing, at least send the two little girls away first.
"A family, huh."
Kirito sat down and fell silent, then suddenly spoke. "Asuna, let's get married."
"Eh?"
"Is that no good?"
"Idiot, of course it's fine. But this is too sudden. For this sort of thing, shouldn't you choose a better occasion?" Asuna kept drilling the tips of her feet against the floor, and she also noticed Yimi and Yui staring at them without blinking.
Yimi reached out a paw and tugged at Yui. "Your papa and your mama, are getting married."
"..."
"And."
"And?"
Under Kirito's uncomprehending gaze, Asuna began to cover her face and sob.
"Hey?" Kirito hurriedly took Asuna's hand.
Was she this moved? Or had Asuna actually been waiting all along for him to say these words?
"I'm sorry." Asuna suddenly used both arms to hug Yimi, who had turned back into human form, and Yui. Those three words carried a clear tremor.
SAO's facial expressions could not reproduce reality one-to-one, but they were extremely detailed. This tearful, sorrowful look was in no way false.
"Mama?" Yui raised a hand in confusion and used her sleeve to wipe Asuna's face.
Kirito understood what she meant, lowered his head, and stayed silent.
"If Mama says that one day we will leave you, will you be angry?" Compared to reality, she really did prefer life here. But this moment was destined not to last.
"Asuna..." Kirito hesitated, then could only place a hand on her shoulder.
"Leave?" Yimi blankly glanced at the system reassembly progress.
38%.
Usually the kitty was the one telling other people she was going to leave. This was the first time someone had said that to her.
The kitty had been Uno-reversed!
Asuna restrained her emotions and looked sadly at the two of them. "Papa and Mama... no, everyone is working hard precisely so we can leave this world, leave you."
...
Marriage was not a very complicated process. Just like in reality, there was not even any need to have a wedding. As long as they went through the system's procedure, their relationship could already be considered husband and wife.
Ever since Yimi brought Yui back, Yimi, who had always slept with Asuna, had been arranged to sleep together with Yui.
"Don't bring that thing, onto the bed." Yimi unhappily pointed at Mr. Crocodile in Yui's hands.
"Why? Yimi is wearing crocodile clothes herself." Yui held Mr. Crocodile and swung it left and right.
It was a toy Yimi hated very much, but Asuna had given it to Yui, and Yui liked it very much.
"This is a dinosaur." Yimi pointed at herself to correct her.
"Then I won't hug Mr. Crocodile to sleep. I'll hug you." Yui put Mr. Dinosaur down, wrapped her arms around Yimi's neck, and rubbed her face against the hood of the dinosaur pajamas.
Yimi turned her body in confusion. "You don't know Diego Brando?"
"Diego?"
"A very scary person who can cross worlds."
"I don't know him."
"Mm..." Yimi turned her body, looking at Yui. "What's your main quest?"
Because of Asuna's words, plus the fact that everyone she encountered in this world had something like a system, she was already certain that everyone in this world could cross worlds like her.
"Main quest?" Yui looked at her in confusion.
"If you don't have a main quest, how do you cross worlds?"
"Yimi doesn't know?" Yui's expression fell a little. "I originally thought Yimi would know. We're all only a string of programs in this game."
"Meow?"
Ever since Yimi used Love Train on Yui, Yui had remembered. Although what could count as "memories" was only a tiny bit, she had still remembered that weak little bit.
She remembered that as this game's Mental Health Counseling Program (MHCP001), she had been sealed after the game opened, only able to observe the players' despairing states from afar and forbidden to intervene.