what is real anymore?

chapter eight: Kirito

Hey! Are we really already at eight? That's amazing! The rest of the story will fly on by... lol, I remember the first time I wrote this story, I dragged it on FOREVER, like seriously. Haha, but this time it's going pretty quickly... even if my timeline is slightly screwed again... Oh well, it's already an AU, so... screw the original timeline~ rofl, enjoy the chapter. :) please comment and vote, I'll answer the comments, I swear. <3

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As I knocked on the door, holding Kokoro, a woman stepped out. She had long, dark brown hair, that was pulled up into a messy bun on top of her head. Her clothes were blue, and she was holding the hand of a little boy who had bright blue eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Nori?" Asuna asked.

"Yes, and you would be?"

"I'm Asuna, and this is my husband, Kirito, we would like to ask you some questions."

"What kind of questions?" Nori asked, a little defensively.

Asuna smiled, and held Hikaru a little higher, "I heard you had a child in game too."

Almost immediately, Nori relaxed, and I couldn't help but wonder what she thought we had come here for.

"Yeah, here he is... He's two, I named him Daisuke."

"Great helper?" I asked, remembering the meaning behind the name Daisuke.

"Yes, I named him after my father."

"That's nice," Asuna commented quietly, "This is Hikaru and that's Kokoro."

Nori looked at the two twins as if it was her first time noticing them, and gave a small smile, "They won't be that small forever, you know."

I gave a small laugh, "Yours is only two, just wait."

Her eyes grew sad, "I have two others irl, my oldest should start high school this year, and the younger one should be starting middle school. I know that they grow up fast, but you two seem young..."

Asuna began to blush, making me blush... we were young, I was only 16 - but we were married... plus, I'm not even sure that it's mine.

"Yeah, we are... but we just want to get some information about how they came to be."

"I can't help you there, at least not much."

"Anything you can tell us will help," I told her.

"Okay... well, why don't you two come inside?"

She opened the door, and let us inside, then she followed with Daisuke, who was hiding behind his mother's left leg.

"So, what do you know?"

"Not very much," Nori admitted, "Just that we had been expecting, and Daisuke came around the time my baby irl would have."

"Did you feel any pain?" Asuna asked curiously.

"At first, but it didn't last long. Maybe a few minutes... It would be nice if labor went that fast in real life."

"It doesn't?" I asked dumbly.

She laughed at me, "Not at all, it takes hours."

Asuna winced, and I frowned... She had only been going through labor for a fraction of the time that it actually lasts, and she had been close to passing out.

"Yes, well. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. Would you two like something to drink?"

"No thank you," Asuna answered lightning fast*, before I could even respond, "we have somewhere to go."