SAO CAMPING!

“I can’t believe that today is finally the day~!” Sinon said as she finished packing her luggage. Today was the day that things would change~.

A few days ago, Silica sent a group chat out to all of her friends, inviting them for a huge 3-day camping trip during the summer. While shopping Silica’s mother won a small lottery giving her and three others the chance to use a cabin in the words! It was so amazing that she just had to invite the children that had taken care of her daughter during the 2 years she was stuck in SAO and after that while helping her adjust to society. These two were Kirito and Sinon. Two lovely little kids that meant the absolute world to her daughter.

Sinon was excited to get the chance to go camping with Kirito since staying in a cabin would help both of them remember their home in SAO. Not all the time that they spent there was bad, and their love was proof of that. Kirito was supposed to be picking her up soon, where could he be right now?

-1 hour ago-

Kirito was already set and packed for the camping trip and was about to head over to pick up Sinon, but before that he was just finishing up a small job that he had to do for Rath. Kirito was contracted by Rath to test out a new VR game pod, which was said to revolutionize the field of VR.

Kirito always being one that could never say no when it came to this involving VR, took the chance to test it, despite them warning him that it could be dangerous as there were many glitches and bugs that they were still trying to fix.

Luckily for him, the beginning of the test was perfect. In fact, the gameplay was so real that he forgot at one point that it was even VR! Everything was going well, and the test ran without much issue. This pod would be ready for public use in a year or so thanks to his help.

“The machine works great~,” Kirito said as he was let out of the pod and gave his initial review. “I want nothing more than to test it out some more but as you guys know I’m going to be taking the next 3 days off to go camping. It would probably be best if you guys run a few more tests before letting anyone else in that thing again,” he said putting on his black biker jacket, and getting ready to leave.

“Don’t worry about that,” the make engineer said back to Kirito. “There is no way that anyone is getting back into this before we run a full body diagnostic on this thing. Now go have fun with that girlfriend or rather wife of yours~. Though try not to do anything too naughty, you are still both minors~.”

“Ha-ha, very funny, but she’s not coming this time,” he said to them.

“Dang Kirito, I wish I had the same luck with the ladies that you did~.,” the engineer said back to Kirito, slightly teasing him as Kirito left the room and then the Rath research building. Once out he got onto his motorcycle and drove down to Sinon’s place without delay.

-Present-

DING! DONG! DING!

“Kirito, finally you’re here,” Sinon said to him.

“Have you both taken your shots?” Sinon asked him, concerned for his health. There were many germs in the forest, so it was best that her entire group was properly protected.

“Shots?” Kirito asked sounding confused. “I thought that we only needed one.”

“Sigh, I knew that this would happen, so I made sure to come prepared~,” she said, pulling out a syringe with a blue liquid in it. “Hold out your arm and we’ll make this quick,” she said to him.

“Fine,” Kirito said, willing to do what she asked of him. He wasn’t overly fond of needles, but for her, he would bear through it.

“There, all done~!” Sinon said before properly disposing of the needle. “Now come on Kirito let's go~!” Sinon said dragging Kirito out of her house and then onto his bike.

As Kirito and Sinon drove down to Silica’s place, Kirito felt an odd tingle run his spine. This feeling spread throughout his body as the shot that Sinon gave him flowed through his body.

DING! DONG! DING! DONG!

When they finally arrived at Silica’s home, Kirito rang the doorbell, though he didn’t have to wait long for the door to open. Within seconds after the doorbell rang the door swung open and before he knew it Kirito found himself being hugged!

The person hugging was none other than Silica’s mother. The moment that Silica’s mother heard the doorbell and opened the door she instantly saw the young man that had saved her daughter’s life in SAO and she couldn’t stop herself from hugging him.

“You’re Kirito, right? Silica has told me so much about you~!” Silica’s mother said. “I have been waiting to meet you for quite a while now~!” she said, releasing him. “You wouldn’t believe how much both Silica and I have been looking forward to this trip~!”

“Miss Ayano, it is a pleasure to meet you,” Sinon said, trying to make a good first impression.

“Oh my~. You are here as well, where are my manners?” Silica’s mother said before releasing Kirito and then going over, hugging Sinon.

“Silica made sure to tell me all about you as well~,” she said to Silica’s embarrassment. There was nothing that she could do to stop her mother when she got like this. “She says that you’re not only like a big sister to her, but also a symbol for the woman that she wants to grow up to be~. Thank you very much, for helping to keep my daughter on the right path~.”

“D-don’t…don’t mention it,” Sinon said, finally managing to escape from the clingy mother. “Silica always tries her best and you can’t ask from a better teammate than that.”

“Thank you both, for everything,” Silica’s mother said back to them. “Now I knew that the trip will be long, so I prepared some snacks~,” she said holding up a bag filled with chips, candy, and soda.

“Kirito sweety you can put your bike into our garage,” she said to him, so he wouldn’t worry about his bike while they were gone.

Once Kirito had his bike safely stored away in Silica’s family garage the girls had already gotten into Silica’s mother’s car and were waiting for him. Unfortunately for him, Kirito was stuck sitting next to Sinon in the back.

After the four of them were seated the drive toward the cabin finally began.

“So Kirito-kun I hear from Silica that you are already working while still in school. What is it that you do again?” Silica’s mother asked so that she could get to know everyone better during their drive to the cabin.

“Oh, me? I work as a game and system tester for RATH,” Kirito proudly said to her. “I make sure that everything runs the way that they designed it to and then give my feedback on how to fix it.”

“That’s amazing~, don’t you agree girls~,” Silica’s mother said back to others, who gave her a slight smile already knowing what Kirito does, but they didn’t want to ruin her fun.

“It’s really fun, in truth they have plans for me to help them out with a secret project,” Kirito said, happy that there was someone that appreciate his work. The other girls weren’t that interested in it since they use VR all the time, so for Silica’s mother to listen to this she was quite overjoyed to learn new things.

For the next few hours, the group chatted with one another and had fun. Though it would seem that the one that did do the most talking was Silica’s mother herself. She had so many stories to share about Silica as a child that there were multiple times when Silica had to beg her to stop.

“Oh careful now, we’re going on a rough trail~,” Silica’s mother said as they finally entered the forest trail to the cabin where they were staying at. It was a bit secluded from the other cabins in the area, but she preferred it that way. The more time that they get to spend together the better~.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!! THUMP!

The car started to rattle all over. At the same time, Kirito was opening a soda can, but the moment he did the can exploded soda all over the back seat!

SPLASH!

“Eeeeek!! Kirito!!” Sinon yelled at him, feeling all of the soda sliding down her hair.

At the same time, Kirito was feeling embarrassed about what he did and his body started to feel strange. It was as if his body was becoming hotter and his mind started to feel fuzzy. Then without his knowledge, he shrank right in front of them. Though fortunately no one noticed as the soda started to get into Sinon's eyes and she had to wipe it away. At the same time, Silica and her mother weren’t paying attention.

Little did Kirito know that the extra shot Sinon gave him was causing him to have an allergic reaction. Because if this shot his body would start to shrink throughout the next 3 days. Though this is something that he wouldn’t find out for a while~.

“Oh my, I am terribly sorry~,” Silica’s mother said back to them.

“It’s not your fault ma’am,” Sinon said back to Silica’s mother. “Kirito should have held onto his drinking better. Though either way it looks like each of us has to take a bath or else we’ll be sticky all night.”

“That is quite alright dears~,” Silica’s mother said back to them. “There is nothing needed for tonight besides dinner. Worry not, the bathroom in the cabin is quite big, so you can use it first Sinon before Kirito~.”

“Thanks,” Sinon said back to her. She didn’t blame Kirito for what happened, but wished that it didn’t, since she took a bath this morning.

“Alright, everyone we’re here~,” Silica’s mother said as they pulled into the driveway of the cabin. “Sinon you may go in the first~. Kirito you may stay outside for the time being~.”

“Alright,” Kirito said as everyone got out of the car. Silica and her mother were in charge of taking out everyone’s luggage while Sinon went inside to bathe. As for Kirito, he was left outside to wash his hands with a hose.

Kirito stayed outside for the next half hour before Silica’s mother came out to get him.

“Alright, it’s been long enough,” Silica’s mother said to him. “She should be out of the bath by now. There should be no problem if you head up there now~.”

“Thanks,” Kirito said to her, walking inside the cabin and then up the stairs to the bathroom. Thinking that no one was inside thanks to what Silica’s mother said he opened up the door and to both his surprise and hers,  Sinon was still getting dressed!

“Eeeeeeek!!!” Sinon screamed out at him, scared that he may have seen something the moment the bathroom without knocking!  Though luckily for her she had already assumed something like this would happen, so underneath her towel was her swimsuit.

Right at that moment as Kirito was feeling very uncomfortable, and he shrunk yet again, tripping as he tried to look away and falling flat on his ass!

While Kirito didn’t shrink by much it was still more than enough to prove that he was actually shrinking. Sinon wanted to yell at Kirito, but neither of them had the chance to as looming above the fallen Kirito was Silica’s mother, and she did not look pleased.

“What’s going on here?” Silica’s mother asked them, trying to see what they would say. She had seen them attack this poor young man, though she did not notice him shrink just yet.

“It’s Kirito’s fault!” Sinon yelled, insisting that none of this was her fault.

“Are you sure that it is just his fault?” Silica’s mother asked her. “It is clear to me that yes, Kirito did not knock, but the door should have been locked if you were still getting changed. This is not fully Kirito’s fault, and it is not yours either. It is clear to me that both sides made a mistake, so wouldn’t it be best if we all forgive one another~?

“…I'm sorry for overreacting,” Sinon said to Kirito, knowing that Silica’s mother was right.

“No, I’m the one that should be sorry it’s my fault for not knocking beforehand,” he said to them, making sure to keep his eyes shut.

“Very good, isn’t this much better~,” Silica’s mother said, happy that everything was resolved quickly and easily. “Now you go to the bedroom on the right while Kirito gets freshened up~.”

“Yes ma’am,” Sinon said, feeling as if she was talking to her own mother right now. It was odd just how comfortable the felt around her.

After she left Kirito took his bath, slowly relaxing as he did, finally washing off all of the sticky soda that drenched his body. When he finally got out of the bath, he noticed that his clothes seemed a bit baggy on him. This was a given since he had already shrunk twice and was now shorter than Asuna. Though he still didn’t realize that he was shrinking.

Once he was done changing, he headed downstairs to find that, Sinon and even Silica were already in their pajamas, and sitting in the Livingroom with some snacks laid out on the coffee table before them.

“Perfect you’re all here~!” Silica’s mother said, already wearing an apron. “I’m going to start preparing dinner~. You four should all watch one of those scary movies while you wait~.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Sinon said, pulling Silica down to sit with them on the couch. Kirito soon followed and sat down at the edge of the couch himself. As he did, he turned back and saw Silica’s mother smile at him. He was glad that his mom wasn’t like this, or he would be dying of embarrassment right now as well.

“Alright, so what movie should we watch?” Kirito asked, noticing that the tv was connected to the internet.

After they decided the movie started off as normally as it could have, but somewhere from the middle of the movie to the end of the movie Sinon was stuck clinging to Kirito, pressing their breasts against his arms. All at the same time Silica was stuffing her face right into his chest so that she wouldn’t have to watch the movie. She was wrong about it not being scary!

Though in all honesty, the movie wasn’t that bad, it was just that it had a lot of jumps scares that made them freak out over and over. Kirito was used to this sort of thing so the movie itself was relatively average for him. That is if you don’t include the three girls that were glued to him during it.

Because of the embarrassment he experienced while being clung to by these girls, he shrunk again, though luckily for him Sinon was too distracted by the movie to notice. Even Silica could feel that he was shrinking, but since her face was shoved firmly into his chest, she just assumed that he was moving around a bit.

When the movie was finally done, the girls didn’t let go of him until the lights of the room were abruptly turned on!

“Fufufufu~,” I can see that the four of you enjoyed yourselves~,” Silica’s mother said to them, opening up the blinds. To reveal the setting sun.

Seeing the way that she was smiling at them, the two of them released their grip around Kirito and jumped off of the couch. Sinon and Silica were completely embarrassed by what they found themselves doing.

“I know that the three of you are getting a bit hungry, but it’s going to be a bit longer before everything’s ready~. Silica could you help me out in the kitchen?”

“Anything to help take my mind off of that movie!” Silica said, eager to forget about what she just watched.

“Sweety, it was just a movie, nothing to be afraid of ~,” Silica’s mother said to her. Silica took everything too seriously after SAO and her mother wanted to make sure that she always knew that she was safe.

“She right,” Kirito said trying to comfort her as well.

“Will the two of you be alright by yourselves~?” Silica’s mother asked Kirito and Sinon.

“That’s no problem,” Kirito said back to her. “I need to stretch my legs and get some air anyways so it’s no problem,” he said standing up.

“Oh, I’ll come with you,” Sinon said following him to the door. “I’ll make sure that we’re back in time for dinner~,” she said to them.

“Sinon, I think that I’ll be fine remembering that myself,” he said back to her as they walked over to the door.

“Just be careful you two,” Silica’s mother said to them. “If you start to feel cold please come back as soon as you can. It would be terrible if either of you two got sick~”

“She’s right,” Kirito said, grabbing his and Sinon’s hoodies from the rack they were put on by Silica's mother before putting them on. Seconds later they walked outside and down the forest path which was illuminated by fireflies.

“You know after everything that’s happened to us since we met and even before that, I can’t believe that we can relax like this,” Sinon said to him. So much had happened between them that it was overwhelming for her. He saved her life more than once.

“Same,” Kirito said looking up at the night sky. “Ever since SAO, it’s been one thing after the other. It’s hard to believe that I have this time to rest. With school, and my job, VR has been my only way to rest up till now but being here with you is more than I could have ever asked for.

“Well Kirito aren’t you the charmer~,” Sinon said, teasing him a little before looking over at him, her face slightly turning red from the cold air. “There is so much that I want to thank you for, but I don’t know where to start. I guess this will have to do!” she yelled hugging him without warning. When she did Kirito took a step back into a ditch causing him to trip backward.

THUD!

Sinon ended up landing right on top of Kirito, her breasts firmly pressed against Kirito’s face, suffocating him!

“S…Si…on…S..non!” Kirito tried to grab her attention by saying her name, but it was only when he slightly touched her side that she noticed him.

“Eeeeppp!!” Sinon screamed out as Kirito accidentally touched her in a very sensitive place, causing her to jump to her feet, smacking him in the face as she did.

“Kirito! What was that for!?” she asked, mad that he would do something like that to her out in the open where anyone could see if they were walking by.

“Sorry, but you wouldn’t get off of me and I had to do something to… hey that’s odd… why are you…?”

“Huh? Is there something wrong?” Sinon asked, wondering why he stopped mid-sentence.

“...No…I must have been mistaken,” Kirito said back to her. For a split second, he thought that Sinon was the same height that he was, but he saw that they were on a small hill and Sinon was just a bit further up it than he was. Besides, it was dark out now so his mind must have been playing tricks on him.

“Alright if you say so,” Sinon said to him, holding out her hand to him as he stood up. To be honest, when she helped him up, she also thought for a split second that she was taller than he was. Though just as Kirito had assumed that the hill was the reason for her beginning taller than he was, so did she.

It’s getting late, and we’ve walked quite a distance,” Sinon said to him, “I believe that it is time that we should go back. They are probably finishing making dinner right now.”

“Yeah, let’s go back,” he said to her as they silently walked back to the cabin where the warm smell of dinner filled the outside air.

Once they got back, Silica and her mother were just finishing setting up the table outside, with a more than a generous meal. The night was beautiful so it would be a waste not to eat outside.

GRRROOOWWLLL~

Kirito’s and Sinon’s stomachs started to rumble loud enough for everyone to hear after seeing all of the food before them.

“Kirito, Sinon~! Welcome back!” Silica happily yelled, hearing their stomachs as they walked in. “It looks like you two arrived just on time~.”

“Indeed, they did,” Silica’s mother said to them, walking up beside Silica, before placing her arm around her daughter and pulling her close. “Silica worked hard to help me prepare this meal, so the two of you best each as much as you can~.”

“Mom~!” Silica started to nervously fidget, wondering if her friends would actually like the food that she helped prepare. Ture her mother and Sinon did most of the work, she did her best to help. In fact, she made the mashed potatoes all by herself~!

“Thanks, it looks delicious,” Sinon said as the four of them sat down at the table.

“Silica could you pass the salt and pepper?” Kirito asked her. Complying with his request she handed him the pepper, but when she went to give him the salt, Sinon grabbed it before her and “accidentally,” dropped the salt, spilling it all over his food.

CLATTER!

“I’m so sorry!” Sinon said, nervously bowing her head to him. While she did mean to mess with him a bit, she didn’t mean to ruin his whole meal!

“It’s fine,” Kirito said back to her, cleaning up the salt that spilled on the table for her, but his food was unfortunately ruined.

“Kirito here have some of mine~,” Silica said, placing some of her food onto a smaller plate and handing it over to him. She couldn’t bear to see them have nothing to eat, so she was easily willing to share hers.

“…Silica, I don’t think that… fine.” Upon seeing her expression Kirito knew that he couldn’t help but do as she asked. There was no way that he could say no to her, but that didn’t make this any less embarrassing for him. While he ate the food she gave him he started to shrink some more unbeknownst to everyone else.

“Kirito sweety there is no need for you to share food~,” Silica’s mother said, handing him a new plate filled with food. “Eat as much as you want, a growing kids need to eat a lot in order to grow~.”

After they finished the main course, they were all given a slice of chocolate cake. The girls were eagerly eating their slices, while Kirito was taking it slow. He was feeling a bit full after Silica’s mother forced him to eat so much and is slowly eating the cake.

At this time Sinon saw that he still had one more bite to go but didn’t look as if he was going to finish it. So, without warning, she snatched the last piece of the cake just as he was about to eat it.

“Hey! What the heck was that for” Kirito asked her, in truth actually feeling relieved that she took it from him.

“Come on Kirito, I did you a favor,” Sinon said teasing him. “I think that you’ve already had more than enough to eat so far,” she said, pointing out the three cleared plates in front of him, making him blush, while the girls playfully laughed at him.

“…Fine I guess-,” he said back to her. In truth, he was glad that she finished it off for him since she saw that he was having trouble finishing it.

After that several more minutes passed before everyone else was done with their desert and decided to help clean up!

“Now, now,” Silica’s mother said, seeing that Sinon was making Kirito upset. “There is no need to make fun of him since you all had your own slices,” she said, noting that the girls had each eaten their own slices of cake already. “Young boys like Kirito can lose that weight easily, but for us girls, we need to be careful what we eat~. I second of sweetness on your lips equals a 1 year on your hips~.”

“But I…nnnnnnhhh,” Sinon could do nothing to deny that she had a bit of a sweet tooth, but she had a good metabolism so she would be fine.

“I’m sorry sweety, I was just kidding~,” Silica’s mother said back to her. “Just remember though that even jokes can hurt you, so you need to be nice to your friends, okay?”

“…Okay…” Sinon felt as if she was being scolded by her mother right now, it was humiliating!

“Now let’s clean up shall we~!”

CLATTER!

“Thank you again~,” Silica’s mother said to Kirito as she picked up all the dirty dishes and placed them in the sink for Silica and Sinon to wash.

“Don’t mention it,” he said back to her, continuing to clean up the rest of the table for her, with her help. “We should be thanking you for such a great dinner.”

“Nonsense~. Seeing all of you eat the food that I made was thanks enough~,” she said to them. “I’m always afraid that I make too much, but thanks to you there were nothing but cleared plates today~. Thank you~.”

“You shouldn’t underestimate yourself,” Kirito said complimenting her. “If you had a restaurant, I would gladly be a regular.”

“Are you serious? You don’t have to flatter me that much,” Silica’s mother said, feeling embarrassed. She usually just made food for her family, and they never complimented her like this. Perhaps this would have been the type of praise she would have received if she had a son.

“He’s right,” Sinon said to her, popping her head out of the window. “Your cooking is amazing!”

“Yeah mom, don’t put yourself down like that,” Silica said to her. “Dad and I might not say it often, but we truly do love your cooking~!”

“You children truly are the kind ones,” Silica’s mother said to them. They were such sweet children to compliment her when they didn’t have to, though she didn’t think that she could take more compliments than this. “Now it’s time for bed~!” she said ecstatically, trying to help get them going so she could have some time for herself to cool off. “I have a big day planned for us, so be prepared~! “Silica would you be a dear and show Kirito and Sinon where the bedroom is~?”

“Sure thing~!” Silica said, eagerly grabbing Kirito’s hand before dragging him upstairs, with Sinon closely following after them.

“Hey Silica, are you sure about this?” Kirito asked her, awkwardly helping her set up a mat on the ground for him to sleep on. “I could easily sleep on the couch, there is no problem with that.”

“Nonsense,” Silica said to him. “My mother would throw a fit if I made you sleep on the couch. Besides she’s already insisted that you sleep here. Just try not to get too close.”

“Yeah, just try not to do anything weird, alright~,” Sinon said to him.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” Kirito said to her. “I’ll stay here since you insist, but if you feel awkward in any way then please just tell me,” Kirito said taking off his shirt so that he could sleep.

For a few seconds, neither Silica nor Sinon could look away from him. To be honest Sinon read books like this but never thought that she would be a part of something like this.

Luckily for Kirito when he woke up the next day, he was still the same size as the night before. Though unfortunately for him it would seem that he was stuck between both Sinon and Silica’s frame. It would seem that while Kirito slept Sino woke up in the middle of the night and fell right into his bed. It would seem that the horror movie they watch scared her more than he thought. When he looked over, he saw a giant mound of blankets and pillows which he assumed was Silica.

“Oh no,” Kirito said quietly to himself, worried that the girls would freak out at him if they woke up with him like this. Feeling extremely embarrassed to have accidentally fallen asleep in a situation like this Kirito started to shrink again. As he did, he slowly started to crawl out of the bed, but as he did, the mound of blankets that was Silica started to move and Silica ended up falling on top of all of them!

THUD!

“Ooooofff!!!” her head landed straight into his gut, and her left hand slapped Sinon in the face!

“Owww~!” Silica what the… oh my god! Kirito! What are you doing in our bed!?” Sinon yelled out while dragging the groggy Silica off of the bed with her.

“Ugh… I think you mean my bed,” Kirito said, trying to catch his breath.

“What are you talking about you perv, of course, you… oh…,” Sinon said realizing that they actually were in Kirito’s bed.

“Fufufufu~, I can see that you all had a fun night~,” Silica’s mother said, teasing them, seeing that they were already up and about by the time she finished breakfast for them. Kids these days woke up much earlier than she did when she was their age.

“It’s not what you think!” Sinon said, being the first one to deny everything. Though in truth she didn’t have to do that as Silica’s mother knew that they were all good children and that nothing happened, so there should have been nothing for them to be embarrassed about, to begin with.

“It’s alright dear I believe you, no come along, breakfast is already waiting for you~,” she said walking downstairs. The girls followed after her a few seconds later leaving Kirito alone in the room to get dressed.

While he had still yet to realize that he was shrinking he was finally starting to take notice of it. His center of balance felt different, and his clothes still didn’t fit him properly. His body felt alright for now, but who’s to even know if that will change?

When Kirito got downstairs, he was surprised to see that the dining room table was filled to the brim with food. The smell of bacon, eggs, and even French toast. While this wasn’t the normal type of breakfast that Kirito or even Sinon were used to they didn’t hesitate before partaking in the meal. Silica’s mother watched them happy to see that her hard work had not gone to waste. Though she was a tad bit worried that she didn’t make enough.

As she watched them, she noticed that Kirito’s clothes were starting to get loose on him and were a tad messy.

“Kirito dear, I see that your clothes are a little messy, do you have any others that you can wear?” she asked him, not mentioning that the clothes were too big for him.

“I do, but they’re just like this,” he said back to her. “I was just planning on wearing these for the next two days.”

“Nonsense, you can’t wear those types of clothes while we go hiking,” she said to him. “Luckily for all of you I bought hiking gear and clothes for all of us to use today~!” she happily said to him. Though if she was being honest, she got them last night. She saw that his clothes were getting baggy and that he was around the same height as Sinon, so she made sure to get him clothes roughly the same size as hers. How odd though, she could have sworn that he was taller before. Perhaps she was just imagining it.

“You don’t need to go that far for me,” he said back to her.

“Nonsense~, It was my pleasure,” she said back to them. It was worth losing a few hours of sleep to make sure that these kids had a fun memorable experience on this camping trip.

“Wow! These are so cute~!” Silica yelled opening the bags where the hiking gear and clothes were kept.

“Silica it’s rude to leave the table while everyone still hasn’t finished their breakfast~,” Silica’s mother said, reprimanding her daughter.

“Sorry~!” Silica said, sitting back down in her chair. “They look super cute mom~,” she said, hoping that she wasn’t in too much trouble.

“Pfft, Silica I don’t think that they are going anywhere~,” Sinon said to her, seeing how cute and awkward the girl was. “I think that we can wait till after breakfast.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Silica said, feeling embarrassed for how childish she acted. She spent 2 years trapped in SAO, she needed to do her best to become a proper adult.

Once they were all done it was time to look at the new clothes.

“Oh my, Silica you were right, these are quite cute~,” Sinon said checking out the clothes that Silica’s mother got them.

“Not bad, Kirito said, checking out the clothes given to him. Unlike the girls, his looked pretty normal.

CLAP!

“Alright everyone, time to get changed~,” Silica’s mother said to them.  “Staying inside all day is no fun, and I bet that the four of you will find it much more enjoyable going out for the day on a nice hike~.”

“Wait, mom… are you not coming as well?” Silica asked her.

“Don’t worry sweety, I’ll be coming along as well, but unfortunately for me, I was never one for outdoor activities, so I’m afraid that I may slow you down~. Worry not, I shall meet you all at the campsite later tonight, with smores waiting for you~. There is a trail that I can drive up to so there is really no problem at all~.”

“Are you sure?” Silica asked her. “We could slow down if you wanted to.”

“Yeah, there’s no problem here,” Kirito said to her.

“I wouldn’t mind either,” Sinon said.

“Come on mom, don’t you want to come with us?” Silica asked, eager to do a nature walk with her mother.

“Are you sure that I wouldn’t be a bother?” she asked worried that they were just trying to be nice to her and asked her only out of courtesy.

“Nonsense, it’ll be fun~.” Kirito and Silica said to her at the same time, each one of them taking one of her hands.

“Alright…” Silica's mother said to them as they all got ready for the hike. Luckily for Kirito, the clothes that Silica’s mother got him were a perfect fit~!

Once they were all dressed and had the necessary gear packed, they headed out the door, beginning their hike.

For the first half hour, the hike was quiet, with the occasional slow walk passed a deer or rabbit. Though Silica’s mother was traveling at a slower pace and Kirito saw that Sinon and Silica were traveling ahead of her, so he decided to keep her company.

“Kirito you don’t have to bother staying by me if you don’t want to~,” Silica’s mother said to him, worried that he was forcing herself to stay close to her.

“It’s no problem at all,” Kirito said back to her. “Ever since SAO I’ve been trying my best to increase my stamina, but I still have a long way to go before I can get up to Silica’s standard.”

“She truly is such an energetic girl isn’t she~,” Silica’s mother said, looking at the beauty of the trees and nature. She never went out often herself, as she spent her days taking care of her family. It was nice that this young boy was helping her and staying near her. She had always wished to have a son, was this what it felt like?

“Well has she told you how we first met?” Kirito asked her.

“…I believe it had something to do with her dragon friend Pina,” Silica’s mother said, thinking for a second before answering him.

“Yeah it was certainly one of my more… interesting experiences,” he said to her, not mentioning Titian’s Hand to her. He didn’t want to scare her with details of what happened.

“So if I have to ask, what do you have planned for dinner to-”

“Come on slowpokes!” Sinon yelled teasing them for being slightly behind them.

“Don’t take it to heart Kirito,” Silica’s mother said, turning back to face him. “Slow and steady wins the raceeeeeee~!” While they were talking Silica’s mother accidentally tripped over a pothole and fell straight into Kirito, causing them both to fall right into the dirt!

“…Are you alright?” Kirito asked her. Luckily he was able to properly break their fall so neither of them was injured.

“I’m fine,” she said back to him while trying her best to stand, but her legs were a bit wobbly right now. “What about- oh my~.”

Kirito helped her like an absolute gentleman, holding out his hand and carefully helping her to her feet. He was concerned for her well-being.

“I’m fine,” he said back to her, making sure she was steady before letting go of her hand. “Let’s keep moving.”

After that, they continued their hike for the next several hours while taking a few breaks in between. After a full six hours after they started their hike, they finally reached the campsite location. It was a nice open area, designated as a safe spot for campers. Now all that was left to it was to set up the place

Kirito and Sinon took care of setting up the tent while Silica and her mother were setting up dinner. The sun was setting in the sky and they wanted to make sure that everything was set up properly. When everything was all set up and done, it wasn’t long before curry was served to everyone!

“OMG~! This is amazing!” Sinon said to Silica’s mother. “Your cooking last night was great, but this is on a whole different level.”

“Nonsense sweet, it’s just the environment that makes it seem better~,” Silica’s mother said back to her happy that these children liked her food so much~.

“She’s right,” Kirito said holding out his plate, asking for seconds, which Silica’s mother eagerly filled. They were all still young and needed to eat a lot especially since Silica and Kirito were in comas during their growth spurt years. Her daughter was rather short for her age.

“Your food is amazing,” Kirito said, complimenting her some more.

After they finished dinner, Silica’s mother brought out what everyone was waiting for, the smores~! The sun had officially set, and the darkness was setting in. It was the perfect chance to make and participate in eating smores.

“Careful now sweety~,” Silica’s mother said to her daughter who was about to char her marshmallow.

“Mom~! I got this~!” Silica said, not wanting to be babied by her mother. “See, I did it!” She happily said showing a half-charred marshmallow.

“Yes, you did sweety, now let’s see how the others are doing~,” Silica’s mother said, happy that her daughter didn’t burn herself.

“Now this is perfect~,” Sinon said, showing everyone her perfect golden marshmallow. She knew a lot about surviving in the wilderness thanks to GGO events, so something like this was easy for her.

“Dang it! Not again~,” Kirito said, letting out a sigh of despair. Silica’s mother noticed that there were several completely charred black marshmallows in the small waste bin that she brought. It would seem that Kirito was even having a tougher time than her own daughter making a simple roasted marshmallow for a smore.

“Here, let me help you she said putting a marshmallow on her stick and roasting it almost as well as Sinon did. After that, she placed the marshmallow between two gram crackers and a piece of chocolate.

“Here you go sweety~,” she said, handing him the smore, making him blush from embarrassment. As he took it from her hands he shrank again, but yet again no one seemed to notice. Then it was like it wasn’t even happening.

“It…it’s good,” he said meekly not knowing how to respond, but before he or the other girls could do anything Silica’s mother already had 3 more smores made for them.

“It’s not that fun just eating one smore, you at least need 2~,” Silica's mother’s said to them. She didn’t partake in any herself as the sugar would go straight to her hips, but she was happy enough enjoying these kids' eat and living life to the fullest~.

“Yawn~! It’ looks like it’s time for me to go to sleep,” Silica’s mother said to them. She was still tired from staying up later last night and needed some rest for the rest of their hike tomorrow. “Just promise me that you won’t stay up for too long, alright~.”

“No problem,” Sinon said to her as Silica’s mother started to walk to her tent.

“No need to worry here ma’am,” Kirito said to her.

“Goodnight mom, see you in the morning Silica said to her mother as she entered the tent.

“…Alright,” Sinon said after waiting a few minutes before deciding to tell everyone what she had planned. “Who’s ready to tell scary stories~,” she said with a sly grin on her face.

“S-sc-scar-scary stories,” Silica said nervously. She wasn’t good when it came to scary think and even the movie, they watched last night was too much for her. “Do…di we have to?”

“Come on Silica, it’s a tradition when you go camping with friends, and they’re just stories so it’s not like anything bad could happen.

“She’s right Silica,” Kirito said, agreeing with Sinon. “We have to do it. Besides the only other option is a test of courage and we can’t do that with the number of people that we have.”

“… Fine, but nothing to scary,” Silica said to them hoping that nothing bad would happen.

“Alright I’m first~!” Sinon said excitedly. “Have either of you heard the story about the tale of Area 22 in ALO? In the daytime is a calm peaceful forest, but during the night things start to change. At night you can hear the cries of an old man begging for release. Some say that he is the ghost of an SAO player that was trapped in ALO when he tried ascending to heaven. And other say that if he sees you, he will try to take over your avatar and then your own body, so that he may make it his own~.”

“Not, bad, not bad,” Kirito said to her. Her story was simple and basic, exactly what a scary story should be. Now it was his turn to start.

“That…hat was alright,” Silica said, marking down in her mind never to go to Area 22 in ALO anymore.

“If you thought that was scary listen to this,” he said eager to share this story which was all too real.

“Back in SAO on floor 31 lived the Goblin Queen. There was a quest to subjugate the queen and free her captives. Though with this quest there was a catch. By accepting the quest you were given a time limit to beat her. 1 hour was all that was given. If you couldn’t defeat her in an hour your equipment would be stolen by her and your inventory was locked!”

“Most monsters would just kill you if they saw you in such a weakened state, but the Goblin Queen did not. She would grab the player and paint them green from head to toe, and essentially make them her children. She would raise and train the player to be nothing more than mindless goblin children that she would take care of. No one knows if this was what her character was supposed to be like in the beginning, or if it was just another glitch in the game.”

“The Goblin Queen was defeated every so often, and after the first few times, she started changing her patterns. Inside of waiting for the player to come to him, she would come to them. Some say that after SAO went under, she transferred to a new game still searching for more players to make her children. Perhaps one of these days she’ll come out from the darkness and grab you, taking you to be her new child, never to be seen from again~!”

“Huh?” Kirito saw the faces of the girls turn to pure horror all of a sudden. They were each looking behind him. Then all of a sudden he felt a hand touch his left shoulder so he slowly turned around and to his horror, it was her! It was the Goblin Queen!

“Kirito what are you trying to do to these young girls~?” she said, stepping out from the shadows to reveal that she was none other than Silica’s mother wearing a green face mask. Beauty like hers took an effort to maintain, young kids had it easy when it came to that.

“Eeeeeeppppp!” Kirito could help let out a small scream with the girls before they realized that it was just Silica’s mother. Getting scared by his own story, Kirito shrank again, but once again no one noticed.

“What is something wrong?” Silica’s mother asked them, confused by why they were acting like this. Was it the mask? Her husband did say that she looks a bit weird while wearing it.

“It’s…it’s nothing,” Sinon said back to her. “We were all just telling some scary stories before we went to sleep. Did we wake you?”

“Oh no dear, I was still getting ready for bed when I heard you~,” Silica’s mother said sitting down next to Kirito. “I don’t suppose that I can have a shot at telling a story~.”

“Sure… go ahead,” Silica said, glad knowing that if her mother told a scary story then she wouldn’t have to.

“Alright~. Once upon a time, there was a loving and happy family of three. This family included a mother, a father, and their sweet baby girl. Everything in their life was perfect, until one day an evil man locked the daughter away. He made sure that the mother and father could see their baby girl for two years, while their baby girl had to fight obstacle after obstacle.”

“When the evil man was finally defeated, and their daughter was brought back to them, the parents were amazed by how much the girl had grown. The father was proud of his baby girl for surviving for two years without them. Though her mother couldn’t help but feel disappointed. They missed two years of their daughter's life. So from that day forward, the mother vowed also to be by her baby girl’s side, taking care of her and watching her. And for those that helped her daughter during these two years, she would do the same for, always taking care of them and always watching them, keeping them safe, so they may never leave her again.”

The three of them looked back at her in silence. What she described sounded like the SAO disaster and everyone coming back. Did she actually mean that? Kirito actually shrank a tiny bit after hearing that story.

“What? Are you really scared of that?” Silica’s mother asked them. “It was a children's story that her mother told her when she was a child. How on earth could they ever be scared of something that was supposed to be sweet rather than scary? Kids these days, never did have a proper appreciation for loving family stories.

“I…I think I’m going to go to bed,” Sinon said, slowly standing up.

“I’m…I’m going to sleep as well!” Silica said, quickly following after Sinon.

“Hmm, that was weird, I have no idea, why you are all so scared of that story~,” Silica’s mother said, seeing that Kirito missed his chance to escape. “Kirito sweety, could you tell me why?”

“Well, if you want me to be honest here, then I guess I don’t have a choice,” he said to her, hoping that she wouldn’t get upset with him for telling her. “Your story kind of reminded us of the SAO disaster, and you made it sound as if you would never let Silica and her friends ever leave you, keeping us trapped as your family forever.”

“…Pfft! Hahahaha~!” Silica's mother started laughing for a second. “Kirito sweety, I would never do that to you kids~. You all have your own lives to live and I would be remiss if I tried to stop you from living your life. That was supposed to be a sweet little fairy tale. To think that you and… oh no the girls~! They must think that I’m some kind of freak don’t they~!” Silica’s mother cried out realizing what she did wrong.

“It’ll be alright,” Kirito said to her. “Just make sure to tell them tomorrow and I’m sure that they’ll understand. They wouldn’t hate you over a mere story. Now I’m going to head off to bed myself. Hiking does take a lot out of you. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Silica’s mother said following Kirito’s lead and going off to bed herself. She needed to make sure that she made up for them the best way that she knew how with her cooking~! These kids would be in for a treat when they woke up~!

The next day Kirito, Sinon, and Silica woke up to the smell of breakfast in the air!

“Wow, mom this is amazing~!” Silica said, coming out of her tent first with Sinon soon following her.

“Just think of it as the start of my apology~,” Silica's mother said, explaining what she told Kirito last night. It was never her intention to scare them but to tell a nice story. Though given the circumstances it came off as scary.

“Alright everyone eat up~,” Silica’s mother happily said as she passed out the food to the girls first. Though when she went to give Kirito his food, a small squirrel came out of nowhere and grabbed a bit of his food!

“You little rat, get back here!” Kirito yelled chasing after the squirrel. He wasn’t used to sleeping outdoors in the real world and he was a bit grumpy right now.

“Kirito dear it’s fine,” Silica’s mother said back to him. “There is still plenty of food left~. Just let the small animal have it~.”

“…Fine,” Kirito reluctantly said back to her. Though when he went to grab his food again, serval more animals grabbed his food and ran off. “What!? No way!” Kirito yelled out in despair.

“Kirito don’t worry it’s…fine?” When Silica’s mother went to get him some more food, she saw that all the remaining food that she spent hours making during the break of dawn was being eaten by the woodland creatures! It was at that point she knew that she needed to lay her foot down.

“I am very disappointed in you~!” Silica’s mother yelled at the animals. “You are all very naughty, stealing other people’s food~. You could have asked if you were hungry, and we would have shared. You little one need to apologize right now!”

“Um… thanks for caring but… what the heck!?” Kirito and the others thought that Silica’s mother was a bit messed up in the head for talking to the animals before them. Still, to their shock, the animals stopped eating and a few of them brought over some edible berries for Kirito to eat before running away.

“See Kirito, they didn’t mean any harm~,” she said handing him the berries, making him feel so embarrassed by what just happened he shrank again, without one even paying attention.

“I guess… I guess you’re right,” he said back to her, eating some of the berries, but they were a tad bit sweeter than he would like, but he ate them knowing that she would feel sad if he didn’t eat them.

“Alright everyone we just need to do a bit more hiking, and we’ll be at the stream so we can have some fun~. Make sure that you are put in your swimsuits before we go~,” she said getting into her own tent to change herself.

“Once everyone was changed and ready, they all made their way back onto the trail. For the next hour, they casually walked through the forest, experiencing nature to its fullest. It wasn’t long before they reach the stream.

The moment that Sinon and Silica saw it they dropped their bags and stripped down to their swimsuits before running straight into the water!

SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!

“Oh my, they certainly are having some fun now aren’t they~,” Silica’s mother said looking back at her two girls. It was so nice that they got to play and get along like this~.

“Kirito are you not going to play with them?” she asked, as she set up her area. She wasn’t too big on going into the water, but luckily for her soon the sun would be directly overhead, and she could get some rays.

“No, that’s not my thing,” Kirito said back to her as she stripped down to her bikini and laid down on her soft towel. “I’m more into this,” he said pulling out his collapsible fishing rod. Ever since SAO, he fished from time to time.

“Oh my, how wonderful~,” she said back to him. Maybe if you catch enough we can cook them up for dinner tonight~.”

“I’ll do my best~,” Kirito said back to her.

While in SAO Kirito wasn’t that bad at fishing, but in the real world, he didn’t have much luck. On several occasions when he went fishing with Klein and his friends, Kirito only ever caught a few fish, and they were tiny ones at that. Though today was going to be different. Today Kirito would catch a ton of fish!

Or at least that was what he had hoped. I full hour had gone by and nothing. Not even a nibble.

“Come on Kirito when are you going to give that up?” Sinon and Silica asked him, taking a break from playing.

“You should just play with us instead of that,” Silica said to him.

“Sweety, it takes a big man to know when it’s time to call it quits~,” Silica’s mother said to him.

“…Just let me try one more time!” Kirito yelled, still refusing to give up.

SPLASH!

In what seemed like a miracle, the moment that his bait ate the water he felt a tug! Feeling overjoyed, Kirito pulled in the line as fast as he could, but because of his carelessness in doing this, the fish slipped out of the hook and flew down. Not wanting to lose the fish, Kirito tried to catch it, but that was yet another mistake.

The moment that he tried to catch it, the fish slipped out of his hands, flying straight up into the air again! So Kirito tried again, and again. Each time he tried to catch it, it would jump/slip out of his hands and he would have to try to catch it again! All at the same time he was moving closer and closer to the stream! The girls tried calling out to him, but the only thing that was on his mind was catching the fish.

SPLASH!

“Kirito! Are you alright!” everyone yelled, running over to make sure that he wasn’t hurt.

“I’m… I’m fine, but the fish got away,” he said disappointed in himself. He felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him and he shrunk in front of everyone, but no one even noticed. It was quite obvious that he shrank, but Kirito and everyone else did not seem to notice, how odd.

“That’s alright dear,” Silica’s mother said to him, holding out her hand to help him up. “All that matter is that you’re alright~.”

“Thanks,” Kirito said, accepting her hand, and rising to his feet.

“It’s a good thing that we came prepared with swimsuits, or this may have been a problem~.” Silica’s mother said, glad that no one would catch a cold. “Though I do think that we have all been here long enough. Let’s head back down the mountain and back to the cabin. I’m sure that everyone would like to spend our last night here in a warm cabin than the cold and creepy outdoors~.”

“Yes ma’am!” everyone said in unison, each of them going to their own areas to dry and change. Once they were done it was time to make their trip down that mountain. Luckily the trip down was much faster than the trip up.  It only took them half the time to get back to the cabin and by that time it was time to eat dinner.

Luckily for them, the best mom in the world had everything covered, since the day before she already made the main portions of the food and all she had to do was cookout.

“Alright if you could help set the table and then go get changed I’ll have everything done shortly~,” Silica’s mother said, already putting her apron on. It was time for her to cook!

About half an hour later she was done and everyone eat in silence. The past day had been a bit more physically taxing on the, so it was obvious that her cute children needed some time to rest. That means that tonight she could take a nice relaxing bubble bath before loading everyone into the car and going home.

“Ugh? What? Did I pass out without taking a bath first?” Kirito asked himself, noticing that it was only 10 pm currently. The girls seemed to be asleep, and this was the perfect chance for him to take a bath since no one else was up. Unfortunately for him, he was wrong again.

“Oh my, Kirito. What are you doing here?” Silica’s mother asked still in the middle of taking her bubble bath.

“I-I’m sorry!” Kirito yelled his face turning beat red. He was so embarrassed this time around that he passed out the moment that she casually stepped out of the bath!

THUD!

SPLASH!

“Oh my, what poor child,” she said stepping out of the bath wearing her swimsuit. After what happened the night before, she made every effort to make sure that this young boy stay out of naughty events like this~.

“To think that he has been shrinking this entire trip,” she said revealing that she knew all along that Kirito was shrinking but didn’t bother to say a word. Right now his current height was that of her own daughters, in fact, it could be even 1cm less. Hopefully, this is where his shrinking ends. Now it was time to put this boy to sleep.

Silica’s mother picked him up with ease and carried him back to his room, tucking him in before giving him a goodnight kiss on his forehead.

“Goodnight little one~,” she said before leaving the room. “I do hope we have more time to spread with each other in the future~. I have always wanted a son, and you are just perfect~.