Reality Imperfect: The Sisters' Tale

A Sword Art Online AU

Written by: Konsaki

06 Nov 2022 - Day 0

"Link start!"

With those words, Kazuto's vision washed away into a swirl of colors that quickly resolved into the familiar sights of the Town of Beginnings.

What wasn't familiar was the feeling of a breeze between his legs.

Gulping, Kazuto lowered his head and saw what he now half expected to see, a young woman's body, clad in the blue on white variant of the standard 'female starting clothes'.

"Oh, come on-" Kazuto's voice hitched as he heard his 'voice', the vocaliser changing it into more of a low airy feminine tone.

Clicking his mouth shut, he looked about the small courtyard, seeing dozens of other players logging in, looking about, checking their menus and talking amongst themselves. None of them were paying any attention to the awkward female avatar that started walking towards the fountain in the center of the area.

Moving to a spot where the water wasn't ripping much, Kazuto leaned forward to inspect himself.

A young woman, maybe a couple years older than he actually was, looked back with steely blue eyes framed by a pair of midnight black bangs down her cheeks. The rest of her raven tresses were bunched up in a twin ponytails that trailed down her back. Matched up with the cute, if slightly angular, face, Kazuto wouldn't have been surprised to see her as an idol on television.

A slender neck transitioned into a slender frame, the starter equipment showing her bare shoulders before curving out into a pair of breasts that declared 'this is a female avatar'. Turning to the side slightly, Kazuto breathed a slight sigh of relief that they weren't actually 'huge', smaller than his mother's, but from his perspective 'any' was too much.

All in all, it looked like someone tried to make a 'cute' older female version of his true body.

"If you keep your hair like that, I can keep calling you Nii-chan." A woman's voice broke him out of his inspection.

Turning, Kazuto found a blonde woman smiling down at him slightly, an unmistakable mischievous gleam to her forest green eyes.

"Sugu?" He hedged in his new feminine voice.

"Good afternoon, Nii-chan!" The now identified young woman cheerfully greeted before doing a slow spin. "How do I look?

The long blonde ponytail floated behind her spin before settling back down when she stopped awaiting appraisal. Kazuto could see hints of his sister's real looks under the changes made to the avatar, making him think of an older, more mature version of the girl… with a bigger chest than even her mother had.

"Aren't those going to be hard to fight with?" He tried to gently point out.

Suguha blinked in confusion, following her brother's gaze with her own before blushing heavily and covering the indicated body parts with her arms, ignoring the bright green tunic already covering the curves. "Nii-chan shouldn't look!"

Kazuto just quirked an eyebrow and silently gestured towards 'her' avatar.

Turning her gaze away with a brighter flush. "If it's too much, I'll change it later." Saying that, her vissage once more took up it's mischievous tone. "But Nii-chan is stuck with that for today because of a pen-al-ty!"

Kazuto just sighed at the playful tone coming from his adopted sister. If nothing else taught him to not give unspecific promises, this would be a pointed lesson, for sure.

Still, something clicked in his mind and he cringed. "Sugu, please tell me you didn't delete my guy avatar."

Suguha's bright green eyes blinked before she shook her head. "No, I didn't." She tapped her lips with a finger before pointing towards the avatar she created for Kazuto. "I did use it to help create this one, though. You know, to find out what Nii-chan liked."

"And then created the complete opposite, huh?" He quipped with quirked lips, crossing his arms before wincing and shifting them below 'his' breasts. He didn't really feel anything out of the ordinary, other than the fact they were there, but even that was disturbing, truth be told.

"You'd have had blonde hair, like me, if I did that." Suguha responded before grinning. "We would've looked like sisters! But I already get to call you 'Nee-chan', don't I?"

Kazuto shifted his arms into a crossed warding gesture. "Denied!"

His sister let out an amused laugh, sounding more like her mother than her real voice. It kind of surprised him that it took this long to realise that fact. "Aw, don't be like that 'Kiriko'! Just treat it like a girl's day out with your sister 'Leafa'!"

Quirking an eyebrow, Kazuto swiped the air with his hand in the 'menu gesture', seeing the holographic interface open before him. A quick menu transition showed his character stats page, the name line indeed filled in with 'KIRIKO', as his sister implied.

"I figured you'd like something similar, so I just changed the last character." Sugu- Leafa offered in explanation.

"So, if any of the other beta testers see me, the might figure out I'm cross-playing." Kiriko stated with a dry look to the now wilting blonde girl.

"Ah heh... oops?" Leafa lamely supplied, looking away while scratching at her cheek.

Kiriko just let out a sigh with a shake of his head, sending the twin ponytails waving down his back. "I'll live with it. It's just for today."

"That's the spirit, Nii-chan!" Leafa clapped her hands before her in cheer. "But… Um, what do we do now?"

Glancing at the clock in his still opened menu, Kiriko let out a thoughtful hum. "There's still almost two hours until the opening ceremony and we won't be able to leave the city until then."

Players were able to login into the game three hours before the official 'release', a grand ceremony marking that event. Even so, they didn't want early players getting a headstart, so the gates leading out of the Town of Beginnings were all blocked until the opening ceremony finished.

That still allowed brand new players to get used to the game, though. Not that beta players like him needed it.

"Well, let's start with the menu system…"

o0O0o

"...and that's it." He finished, closing the friend menu, his sister's character name the only one on it.

"'That's it'?!" Leafa stared at the raven haired girl before her. "How do you remember all that?!"

"Time and a lot of mistakes." Kiriko shamelessly replied with a shrug. "I believe in you, Sugu."

"It's Leafa, Nii-chan." The blonde girl mildly chastised her companion. "I read that we're not supposed to use our real names."

"Where'd you hear that?" Kiriko asked, not really refuting her but curious.

"I read it on the official forums. Something about 'Things new players should know'." Leafa explained. "They also said something about 'always be in character' but I didn't really understand it. If I'm playing the game, aren't I already in character?"

Kirito let out a light laugh before jerking slightly, letting out a sigh with the mental note of it was just for today. "I'd ignore that part. It's basically just for people that want to pretend that they 'are' their character and that it's not really a game."

"Oh…" Leafa tilted her head to the side in thought. "Did you do that, Nii-chan?"

"Not really." He answered with a shake of his head. "I mean, I didn't really talk about real world stuff, cause it breaks immersion, but I didn't pretend this was real. You might want to do the same, cause some people get really annoyed about it."

"Okay, Nii-chan." Leafa nodded with a serious.

"Right." Kiriko cupped his chin in thought. "I guess we could go over the Arts system, since we have time still." Giving a nod, he flipped open the menu and equipped the starting iron sword, the blade grip appearing over his right shoulder. "You'll want to equip your sword so you can follow along."

"Okay." The blonde girl nodded before fumbling through her menu, finally equipping the beginner blade on her left hip. "Like this?"

Kiriko nodded, pointing from his sword then towards his sister's. "You can change where it's held later, once you figure out where it's most comfortable. Right now, draw it and get used to the size and weight."

He stepped back and gave the green clad girl some room to swing the sword around in a two handed grip like she was holding a shinai. Taking a moment himself, he started moving his arms and legs, trying to get used to the odd balance the new avatar had compared to his usual one.

Reaching up to draw his own sword, he took a few practice swings before shadow fighting an imaginary goblin. He felt his sword strikes were decent but his dodges were a little awkward due to his lingering balance issues.

"Wow… pretty." Leafa's voice broke his concentration.

"W-what?!" His voice squeaked out in blushing embarrassment.

"That kata you just did. It was really pretty." His sister explained with a warm smile.

"Ah.. oh, right." He coughed into a clenched fist before holding his sword up. "A-anyways, let's go over Arts."

"Right!" Leafa nodded, now serious. "I read that they're super powerful but you freeze in place afterwards."

Kiriko pointed towards her. "That's the most important thing to remember! The more powerful, the longer the recovery afterwards. I've seen more people die to that than anything else."

"Wait, die?!" The girl looked warily around her.

Kiriko let out a small laugh. "Don't worry. All that happens is your avatar shatters and reforms back at the Cathedral after a thirty second timer ends. Sure, you lose a little skill experience as a penalty but it's nothing to freak out over."

"Cathedral?" Leafa asked with less worry and more curiosity.

"You can see the bell tower over there." He said, pointing towards the tower jutting over the surrounding buildings with his sword. "The main penalty for dieing is having to travel back to where you were when you died."

"Oh.. okay."

"Getting back to the Arts, they're all linked to a weapon type, like swords and spears having different Arts, but a lot of the weapons share the beginning Arts to make trying out new weapons easier." He explained, opening up his menu and angling it so she could see, due to it still being in 'party view' mode. "If you go to your skills list and select the weapon skill, in this case 'one handed sword', it'll show you any Arts you unlocked."

"So, Horizontal is an Art?"

"It's the first one anyone gets but don't let that fool you, I was using Horizontal all the way until the end of the beta. It's quick and has a short recovery time, so you can dodge faster if you need to." He selected the Art and a little picture of a blank person holding a sword appeared. "This shows you how to perform any Art you unlock but I can show you easier than this."

"Okay." Leafa accepted with a nod. "So, what do we do?"

"So, Horizontal takes you in a straight line forward with a single horizontal slash, hence the name. You have to hold your sword in just the right spot while standing correctly for the Arts system to recognize what you want to do, but once you do that, the Arts will just happen. It's kinda easier to show than explain." He looked around and oriented himself where he had enough room for the Art. "So, you take your sword and hold it like this. Once it flashes, you just relax and the system takes over."

To show an example, Kiriko held the right pose a second longer than normal, letting Leafa see the sword flash. Then, he shot forward and slashed the air, his ponytails flying behind him while his blade left behind a glowing afterimage for a split second. A moment later, he recovered and stepped back towards his sister.

"Okay, now-"

"That was pretty cool, Nee-chan!" A man's voice interrupted.

o0O0o

"Where are those guys?" Klein muttered to himself as he walked down yet another alley trying to find any of his friends. Letting out a groan of frustration, the tall man scratched at his avatar's long crimson hair before adjusting the maroon bandana keeping it controlled.

Looking down both directions of the narrow street, he tried to spot someone based off the descriptions they shared early today.

Not seeing any of them through the crowded street and merchant stalls, he let out a sigh. "This is going to take forever."

Persevering, he moved on down the alley towards the next street. Instead of a street, though, it looked to open to a small courtyard with a fountain in the center.

He jumped back as a woman flashed into view, her blade literally slicing the air to leave an afterimage.

"Holy shit!" Klein whispered as he cute looking girl recovered and moved back towards a blonde bombshell.

Shaking his head to break loose of his shock, he gathered himself up and sauntered up to the two beauties, one with hair dark as night and one the brightness of the sun.

"That was pretty cool, Nee-chan!"

The lithe looking girl jerked at his voice. "W-what?!"

Taking her reaction as just surprise, Klein grinned and pointed to her weapon. "That thing you did. It was pretty cool!"

"Ah… well, it's just a weapon Art." She said with a light blush on her cheeks.

"Nii-chan was showing me about them." The blonde beauty added, getting Klein to quirk an eyebrow in confusion.

"'Nii-chan'?"

"Ah…" 'Nii-chan's' face grew even more flushed. "The hair! My sister changed my hair as a prank!" She declared, pointing towards the twin ponytails.

Klein blinked his brown eyes before barking out a laugh, hearing the pun playing off of both the title 'big brother' and the number 'two'. "Man, that sounds like something one of my friends would do."

"Yeah…" The raven haired girl let out a strained laugh. "She just won't let it go. I'll fix it tomorrow."

"Well, if it helps, you still look amazing." Klein commented, setting her blush go nuclear while the blonde slapped her hands over her mouth to hold in a fit of laughter, no doubt finding her sister's reaction hilarious. A sudden realization almost made the redhead slap his own head. "Ah, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. The name's Klein and it's really great to meet you two!"

The blonde contained her laughter enough to send him a smile. "Hello! My name's Leafa and Nii-chan's is Kiriko. It's nice to meet you, too."

"Beautiful names to match beautiful ladies." Klein pitched a sweeping bow, getting the blonde to fall into another bout of giggles.

"A-Anyways!" The raven haired girl, Kiriko, cried out, desperately trying to take control of the conversation. "Weapon Arts!"

The flustered girl gave a quick rundown of the menu operation, skills and how to do the first Weapon Art, Horizontal. She even gave another practical example, shooting forward and slashing the air to leave an afterimage.

Now, it was both his and Leafa's turn to use the Art.

"Move your foot forward more and bend at the knee some." Kiriko's directions were all business as she called out what her sister was doing wrong. Glancing in his direction, she pursed her lips. "Your sword is being held too high and your leg's too wide out, I think."

"So, how mu-." His question cut off as Leafa shot forward and executed the same slice as her sister, including afterimage. "Whoa, congrats!"

"Thanks!" Leafa smiled warmly, basking in her success.

"Good. Now do it ten more times." Her older, but smaller, sister directed.

"Alright!" Leafa agreed, moving back to her starting point.

"So…" Klein said to gain Kiriko's attention once more. "What am I missing?"

She looked over his form with a critical eye, cupping her chin with a hand. "Front foot back a little and pull your sword hand back a little."

Giving a mental shrug, he followed her direction before he heard a ping. The next moment, his body shot forward and sliced the air without his input. A second later, he regained control and shook himself. "Whoa! That's a weird feeling."

"You'll get used to it." The raven haired girl commented, watching her sister set up the stance to use the Art again.

"You sound like you've got some experience with this." Klein commented, missing how the girl startled as he also tried to activate the Art again.

"Ah… I read a lot of forums after the beta happened." She said in explanation.

"Makes sense." He stated, trying to find the right position again.

"Move your sword down a bit." She directed, causing him to hit the sweet spot and shoot forward once more.

Shaking himself loose, Klein watched Leafa do the same Art once more. "So, how powerful is this thing?"

Kiriko cocked her head cutely in thought. "A quarter, maybe a third, of the beginner monster health."

"And they even used it at the end of the beta!" Leafa pitched in, taking a break from the practice.

"Huh…" Klein hummed in thought before noticing other players traveling in a similar direction. "Where's everyone headed?"

He saw Kiriko swipe her hand for the menu. "Probably heading towards the central plaza for the opening ceremony. We should probably head that way, too."

"Hey, mind if I join you? You know, until I find my friends?" Klein asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure!" The blonde girl smiled to him, getting him to grin back.

"Thanks!" The man let out a laugh. "I'd probably get lost, even with everyone headed there." He grinned as Leafa giggled while her sister just rolled her eyes. "So, any idea what this ceremony's about?"

"From what I read, it's setting up the main storyline for the game." Kiriko explained, this time truthfully answering as this information only came out after the beta ended. "They didn't really show the story during the beta, mainly focusing on the mechanics and the AI system."

"Makes sense, I guess." Klein mused, scratching his scruffy beard. "So, what do you think it'll be about? Go save a princess? Evil dragon leading the forces of darkness? King gone mad with power?"

"Well, it could be just about anything." Kiriko shrugged it away. "With a hundred floors, where it took a month just to get to the boss room of the tenth, there's a lot of unknowns."

"Oh! What about a race to the top, where the first person to reach it wins?" Leafa suggested with a giggle. "And the prize is a joke prize!"

"Like a phone charm for your sword, right?" Klein joked back with a grin, setting the blonde's giggles off even more.

The raven haired girl just rolled her eyes, though Klein could see the hint of a smile hiding on her lips. "Kayaba-sensei wouldn't do something like that. I'm pretty sure he's more into the grand adventure type quests. You know, the one where you need to save the world or something."

"Kayaba… that's the guy who made this game, right?" Klein asked, getting a nod from the informed girl. "I think I've seen him on TV. Doesn't look like the kind of guy to fight monsters with a sword."

Kiriko let out a snort of amusement. "Well, I guess you just can't judge people by their looks, huh?"

"Yeah, they could be someone completely different once you get to know them. Right, Nii-chan?" The prankster sister poked the bashful girl, who lit up with another flush.

Klein was really interested in whatever this inside joke was between them, but let it slide. Instead, he swiped open his menu as they continued their sedate pace towards the site of the ceremony. "Hey, I hope I'm not being too forward, but you mind if I add you two ladies as friends? Maybe we could meet back up in a few days and see how far we've gone." He offered up, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure! It'll be like a race!" Leafa answered for them both, accepting the friend request he sent her first. "We can see how we all changed!"

Kiriko just endured the nettling, silently accepting the request but having no intention of playing this character again after today anyways. A small smirk quirked her lips.

The payback would be glorious.

"...closed! Please move along to the next entrance!" A loud man's voice slowly resolved over the sound of moving feet and chattering players. "This entrance is closed! Please move along…"

"Weird…" The twin tailed girl mused as the three merged with the new flow of players.

"Maybe that's where the stage is or something." The redhead offered with a shrug.

He was proved correct as they entered the next archway to the central plaza, a line of guardsmen in heavy armor blocking off a section of the open area.

"Wow… look at all the people!" Leafa gazed in wonder at the constantly growing crowd of players as more and more filed in from the other archways.

"There supposed to be around fifty thousand copies sold at release." Kiriko stated, her vision of the area quickly being blocked by the growing mass of people.

"Yeah, this 'limited release' was a real pain." Klein said with a small frown. "I had to use two days of vacation to camp out for my Nervegear." He glanced over at the two sisters. "What about you two?"

"Oh, our mother got one as part of her job and gave it to Nii-chan." Leafa gestured to the slightly shorter girl. "And I won mine at a raffle."

"Okay, not going to lie, I have super envy about your luck." He flashed a grin before trying to look over the crowd. "Mind if I borrow a little to find my friends?"

Kiriko let out a soft snort of amusement. "With all these people, you'll need more than a little."

"Yeah, I know, right?" Klein laughed with the joke. "With how big this place is, how'd you two find each other?"

"I was really lucky and found Nii-chan in the same area I arrive in!" Leafa answered with a smile.

Klein just shoot his head in mild disbelief. "Yeah, you've got to have a 'Super Lucky' skill or something. There's just no way…"

The man trailed off with the rest of the crowd as soft white feathers slowly drifted from the clear blue sky.

"Pretty…" Leafa said in awe, even Kiriko's mouth open in wonder.

Other murmurs of similar feelings popped up in the waiting mass of players as Kiriko reached out to catch a feather, only for it to fade away at her touch.

"Hey, look!" Someone nearby called, drawing their eyes to the mote of gold light that sparked in the blocked off area. As the sparkling glow grew, a heavenly chorus faded in with wordless singing.

"Wow… they're going all out." Klein mused, watching with wide brown eyes.

The players watched, enraptured with growing anticipation, as the golden light and singing grew until a crescendo held till a flash of gold light enveloped the plaza.

Blinking his eyes clear, Klein first noticed that the chorus was gone.

The second was that a larger than life angel floated above the crowd of players, her snow white hair and robes flowing with some ethereal winds, her feathery wings spread wide, haloed by the eclipsed sun. Thin bands of red ribbon floated around her, almost as if embracing the angelic beauty with their soft caresses.

"She's so pretty!" Leafa whispered in amazement.

"Yeah, she is." Klein agreed, taking in the serene smile on the goddess' face.

"Welcome, Adventurers, to Aincrad." The gentle voice spoke to him, as if she was whispering directly into Klein's ear and no one else existed.

"I am Cardinal, administrator of this world." She declared before waving her arms as wide as her wings. "Everything you gaze upon, from the animals and trees to the rivers and skies are under my purview." A sadness took Cardinal's face. "But even one such as I have limitations."

Holding out a gentle hand, an image of the Tower of Aincrad appeared before her, soon turning into a transparent layer of floors, the entirety of it awash with golden light. Slowly, from the very pinnacle and floor by floor, the stack of layers turned a sickly dark, leaving a sole layer a shining gold.

"The dragon queen, Tiamat, has usurped the Throne of Wishes and is using its power to spread her dark children across the lands, bringing decay to any they touch." Smiling down at the gathered players before her, Cardinal waved her hands towards them. "This is the reason you have been summoned, to do that which I cannot."

Klein knew this was a near standard 'call to adventure' but the spectacle and atmosphere weighed down on him, making it seem so much more grand a quest from the angelic being.

"With the celestial laws preventing me from acting, only you summoned adventurers have the ability to cleanse the lands of corruption and set the world once more into balance." She explained, the image of the tower zooming in to show just the current floor and the one above it, a connecting tower between the levels, a dark miasma flowing down it to slowly infect the bottom floor. "Even now, her corruption spreads to the last bastion of hope."

"Tiamat's champions both spread the queen's evil taint and prevent you from reaching the Throne of Wishes, hiding in the spires connecting the world's lands. Those chosen by Tiamat are generals and monstrosities compared to their more common brethren and I fear you will face many struggles to reach the Throne."

Cardinal's concern washed away with a smile as she gave her unconditional support. "But I have faith in you, summoned adventurers."

Klein could feel his fingers twitching at the anticipation driving through his being, only the weight of the ceremony keeping him from fidgeting.

"You will travel the plains, cross mighty rivers and explore the darkest ruins as you quest to spread my light back onto these corrupted lands." She waved her hand and the levels of the tower started turning gold once more, one by one.

Klein blinked as his vision glitched, splitting and then recongoining in a near instant. He chalked it up to nerves, as he clenched his hands into fists to keep them from shaking.

"Adventures to be had, quiet nights by the fire with friends, glory earned through valorous combat with the forces of darkness, all of this await you and more."

"Nii-chan… I don't feel good." Leafa moaned, dragging Klein's view from the angel and towards the blonde girl. She had a hand against her head, looking like she was about to collapse if it wasn't for her sister's support.

"Ung… what's going on?" Another player's voice nearby groaned, dragging Klein's eyes as he saw more and more players showing weird reactions.

"...forth, my brave champions! Adventure and danger awaits around every corner of Aincrad."

Another visual glitch slammed Klein's brain, forcing the man to his knees as his legs gave out. "W-what?"

Throughout it all, player after player falling to the ground, Cardinal continued on. "Glory. Money. Fame. Whatever your desire, the Throne of Wishes can grant it, only if you have the will to grasp it!"

"...Sugu…" Kiriko moaned out before losing her battle with gravity, the sisters collapsing to the cobblestones.

Klein lasted a second longer before tipping sideways, his eyes resting on the floating Cardinal as she reached a hand high above her, a serene smile gracing her angelic being.

"Adventurers! Your own story for the liberation of Aincrad begins… now!"

Her fingers snapped and everything went dark.

o0O0o

Kazuto awoke to the sounds of chirping birds and the feeling of warm sunshine against his cheek. Cracking open his eyes, he saw the face of his sister's avatar peacefully sleeping amidst a halo of blonde hair.

Furrowing his brow, he ran through his last memories; of the opening ceremony, of Cardinal appearing and the otherworldly feeling of awe and majesty she held.

And how he collapsed and blacked out.

Pushing himself up, he realised he was still wearing the Kiriko avatar that Suguha had made for him.

Seated on the cool cobblestones, he looked out over the plaza, seeing all the other players in similar situations as himself, either laying on the ground or slowly waking up.

"Ung… what was that?" Klein's voice groaned out, as he flopped onto his back to hold his face.

"I don't know." Kiriko responded, still hearing the young woman's voice come out of his mouth. Glancing back down, he reached out and softly shook his sister's shoulder. "Come on, Sugu, wake up."

At the stimulus, the blonde groaned and tried to hide her face from the light. "Wa'na sleep…"

"Sugu, wake up." Kiriko repeated with a little more insistence in her shaking.

Leafa finally responded, pushing herself up while rubbing her eyes. "Nii-chan?" Green eyes looked around and saw all the other players on the ground. "What happened?"

"I don't know." He repeated the same answer he gave Klein earlier. "That never happened before."

"Before?" Klein's voice parroted with raised eyebrows.

"Nii-chan was in the beta." Leafa stated, before yawning.

"Sugu…" Kiriko warned his sister, giving a light glare.

"Hey, it's cool! Don't worry! I'm just trying to figure out what just happened." The redheaded man said, pushing himself up to standing. Reaching down, he offered his companions a hand up.

Taking it with his avatar's own more dainty hand, Kiriko felt himself pulled up to standing. Looking down to the hand still held within Klein's bigger grip, he frowned.

"Ah, sorry." Klein let go and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"No, that felt off." The black haired girl stated in confusion, pulling an arm up and pinching the skin only to wince. "Okay, that's weird."

"What is, Nii-chan?" Leafa asked, watching her big brother pinch his arm again in a different spot but with the same result.

"The sensory system, it treats pain like a pressure at the point you get hit. This…" He indicated the two red spots on his arm. "This hurts!"

Klein just looked at him for a moment before his eyes widened and the redhead pinched his own arm to the same effect. "What the hell?!"

Kiriko forced himself to keep his breathing measured, doing his best to prevent any panic as he tried to think things through logically. There might have been a glitch with the sensory processing subsystem, which would explain why everyone passed out. It also explained why the feeling of her hand in Klein's felt weird, too.

A shriek of panic from across the plaza snatched his attention, a brown haired girl pointing at something invisible, probably her menu, while her friend looked at where she was pointing. "It's not there! Look!"

Curious, Kiriko opened his own menu and looked for something missing.

A block of ice ran down his spine.

"Nii-chan?"

"The logout button… it's gone!" He declared, his feminine voice raising in pitch with his emotions.

Opening his own menu, Klein's eyes widened even more. "You're right! What the hell's going on, man?!"

"I don't know!" Kiriko cried out, feeling his heart racing.

Another block of ice ran down his spine as he reached up and felt his neck, feeling the quickened pulsing of the artery, even as more cries of panic emerged from the waking crowd of players.

Looking around, Kiriko felt the mood of the players around his small group shift and felt the intense desire to leave.

Grabbing his sister's hand, he started pulling her towards the archway they entered the plaza through.

"Nii-chan?! What're you doing? What's going on?!" Leafa's increasingly panicked questions came out, causing Kiriko to grip her hand tighter.

"I don't know!" He repeated yet again. "We need to leave!"

"Leave to where?" Klein demanded, pushing along in their wake.

"Anywhere but here!" Kiriko answered back, finally breaking free and rushing towards the plaza exit. "Somewhere I can think!"

As they made their way through the streets and alleys, Kiriko could feel that he was being watched but the only other people were the NPC's manning the stores or walking their programmed routes. He pushed the feeling off, making for the direction of the courtyard he first logged-in in.

Thankfully, it was empty of people, the only sounds were some birds chirping and the soft bubbling of the fountain.

"Nii-chan, what's going on?!" Leafa demanded again, pulling her hand from her brother's grip. "I'm scared!"

"You ain't the only one." Klein muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. "I wanna know what happened back there and why we had to run."

"I…" Kiriko halted as he tried to formulate his words. "Do you really want to be in the middle of fifty thousand panicking people?"

"I… shit. No, I don't but my buddies are still in that mess!" Klein gestured back the way they came. "I can't just leave them like this!"

"They'll be fine." The black haired girl reached up to rub her forehead in frustration. "You can't PvP in town."

"So, we just booked it why?" Klein raised an eyebrow.

"Cause I needed somewhere quiet to think!" He snapped back, shooting a glare at the taller man.

"Nii-chan…" His sister's tone drew his attention, finding her seated on the edge of the fountain on the verge of tears. "I don't want to play this anymore. I want my Mom!"

Seeing the tears fall, Kiriko moved over and pulled her into a hug, sitting next to her. "It'll be okay, Sugu. We'll be okay."

"Hey, you guys!" Klein's shout startled him, causing Kiriko to flick steely blue eyes towards the retreating redhead. The taller man was walking towards a pair of NPC guardsmen who had patrolled into the courtyard but now stood waiting for the player to reach them. "Do you know what's going on?"

"I'm sorry, Adventurer. Could you be more specific?" The helmeted man stated in response, causing Kirito to narrow his eyes.

"Why'd we all pass out? Where's the logout button? Why can we feel pain?!" Klein started to gesture wildly as his voice raised to a shout.

The two guardsmen looked to each other and seemed to hold a silent conversation with their expressions. "Sir… I'm sorry but I still don't understand what you're asking." The guardsman held out a hand that wasn't holding a spear. "If you'd like to, I could try and find my Captain. Maybe he could help you?"

Klein frowned and opened his mouth-

"Klein!"

He glanced back at his name being called, seeing Kiriko shake her head at him, face serious. "I… ah, sorry. I'll figure it out on my own."

"If you say so, sir." The guardsman eyed him warily before the pair turned to continue their patrol.

Kiriko watched them march off before looking towards the approaching redhead, shifting his sister's sniffling frame that now lay across his lap.

"Why'd you stop me?" Klein asked, rubbing his neck in frustration.

"Those NPCs… they weren't acting normal." Kiriko stated, looking to where the guards had exited the area. "They were… too real."

"Too… real…" Klein repeated before shaking his head, pleading with his hands. "Please tell me you're not saying what I think you are!"

"I can feel my heart." The black haired girl said instead with a grimace. "I shouldn't!"

"Oh, come on, please…" Klein pleaded, clenching and releasing his hands into fists. "This can't be happening!"

"Then what did happen!?" Kiriko cried back before balking, feeling his sister's clenched hands gripping his clothes. Taking a breath, he forced himself to calm down. "We can't log out, we feel pain, everything feel real and those guards acted like real people. We can't just ignore the idea that this might be REAL!" He hissed the last word like a curse.

The thought ate away at him, cause if this was real, then he really was a girl right now and there wasn't a way back to being 'him'.

He… he took a deep breath to try and keep his calm.

"Didn't you see when we noticed there's no way to log out? The GM Help button's gone, too." Kiriko said bitterly.

Klein scowled and grabbed at the bandanna ringing his head. "This… this can't be real. It can't… I've got work tomorrow and college classes…"

"And I'm a guy stuck in a girl's body, but there's nothing we can do about it!" Kiriko yelled at the man to try and keep him panicking.

Silence filled the courtyard at that declaration.

"Nii-chan… I'm sorry." The blonde girl sniffled out, causing Kiriko to sigh.

"It's not your fault, Sugu."

"Wait… you're really a guy?" Klein asked, a sour look on his face.

"Yeah." The black haired girl looked away. "This character was just a penalty prank, just for today…"

"I'm sorry." Leafa repeated, gripping her sibling's dress tighter.

Kiriko placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Sugu. It's not your fault." He let out a sigh and looked back up to the grimacing redhead. "Look, maybe I'm wrong, I really hope I am, but what other explanation is there?"

"But why do we still have our menu?" Klein questioned, swiping his hand to show the floating holographic interface.

"I don't know." Kiriko admitted, shrugging his shoulders. "Maybe it's because we had access to them before… before the Change?"

Klein let out a breath before messing with the menu. "Just a sec, let me try something." Kiriko saw him pull up the keyboard and type something in. "You get that?"

Figuring out what he was doing, he swiped open her own menu and opened the messenger function, seeing a 'test' message from Klein. "Looks like that's working like normal, at least."

"Yeah, at least." The man ran a hand through his hair, before letting out a sigh. "Look, I really need to find my friends and see if one of them figured out anything else. You two going to be okay?"

"Yeah… I think so." Kiriko nodded back before indicating the girl laying in his lap. "We're just going to take things easy… maybe get a room at an inn to relax."

Leafa's stomach grumbled, causing her to curl up slightly.

"And get some food." Kiriko added with a wry grin.

"Great… we need to eat, too." Klein sighed at yet another indicator things had gone off the rails.

"To be fair, you needed to eat before, too." Kiriko pointed out. "But it was just a status bar that caused a 'hungry' debuff if you didn't eat."

"Right, well… I'm going to find my friends." Klein stated, nodding towards the guy in a girl's body. "I'll send you guys a message later."

"Good luck." Kiriko called out as the red headed man walked back towards the plaza where this mess all started. Klein just waved over his shoulder before breaking out into a jog as he turned the corner.

o0O0o

"That'll be thirty eight col." The tavern waitress said, placing two steaming loafs of bread and a small clay jar on the table.

"Ah… just a second." Kiriko said, sliding open the menu and typing something in, causing some coins to drop into his other hand. The waitress took them with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, not that the raven haired girl cared.

Looking across the table, he spotted his sister hunched over with a downcast look. Pushing over one of the plates, Kiriko also slid over the small jar of berry jam. "Come on, Sugu. Eat up." He urged, popping the jar open. "The jam is actually pretty good."

When the blonde refused to move, Kiriko let out a sigh. Reaching out, he ripped a hunk of bread off the loaf and spread the jam on it herself before holding it out. "Sugu, eat."

Robotically, Leafa took the food and started eating before blandly saying, "It's good."

Kiriko nodded, tasting the tart berry jam on his own tongue from her own piece. It tasted different from his time in the beta but he guessed that could just be chalked up to the Change. Shaking himself out of his musing, he noticed his sister had stopped eating as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Sugu…"

"Mom was going to make tempura tonight." Leafa whispered, wiping her eyes and looking at her brother. "Nii-chan… What about Mom?"

Kiriko actually thought about it, haven't considered their parent in things yet. "Well, if we're still in the game, she just has to pull the Nervegear off our heads to wake us up." The next thought had him grimacing. "If this is 'real', then… our bodies might be dead, missing or something else. We're sort of running blind here."

Leafa made a sour face. "It sounds like something out of a manga or lite-novel…"

Kiriko let out an amused snort. "You know, if that's true, there's only one thing to do, right?"

"What?"

He jabbed a finger down onto the hardwood table. "We have to 'beat the game'."

His sister eyed him, sort of like he said either the most genius thing she's ever heard or the most insane thing ever. "Just 'beat the game'?"

He didn't blame her, really. It was insane but everything told him this situation was insane, so why not think of an insane solution. "Think about it; before we blacked out, Cardinal was talking about a Throne of Wishes and how we could wish for whatever we wanted. So, why not just wish for everything to go back to normal?"

"Nii-chan… that's stupid… like super stupid." Leafa gave him a flat look before taking another bite of jammed bread.

Kiriko just shrugged her bare shoulders. "Other than waiting for Mom to pull the Nervegear off, this is the only thing I can think of. I mean, what's the worse that can happen?"

"We die?" She answered flatly before a hint of fear entered her eyes.

"Sugu, the menu still works, so that means the death system should still work. The worse that'll happen is we lose some skill points and respawn here at the Cathedral."

Leafa looked at him with her new forest green eyes of hers. "Nii-chan… are you sure? Like, super-duper really-sure sure?"

Kiriko held his sister's gaze for a few moments before letting out a sigh. "No… I'm not." He took another bite of bread, taking the time to think. "Okay, with the amount of Col we start out with, we can last three, maybe four, days until we run out of money, maybe more if we just sleep outside instead of an inn. Even if I'm not sure about the death system working, we can still fight the boars and wolves just outside town for some easy money and experience. In fact, we should probably start hunting sooner than later, so we'll have less players to compete with."

Leafa ate the last bit of her bread while thinking over what her brother had said. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, of this, I'm sure." He responded with a confident smile. "You'd basically have to lie down and let these mobs kill you for them to kill you." He tapped the table in importance. "Really, I'd like to head out to the outpost and fight the mobs out there. They're a little harder but give better rewards. Not only that, but if the quest system's the same, I'd like to get a sword upgrade out there, too."

"If you're sure…" The green clad girl hedged, not really feeling her brother's confidence.

"How about this; we rent a room for the night and then go hunt the mobs just outside the city for practice this evening. You get to fight against real mobs and get used to it, while I get used to fighting in this new body." Kiriko offered, pulling off another piece of bread and spreading jam on it.

His sister hummed in thought, tapping her pursed lips with a finger. After a few moments, she nodded. "Okay, Nii-chan. Let's do it."

Kiriko let off a grin and lifted her mug of water towards his sister. "To us beating the game!"

Leafa smiled back and tapped her own mug against it. "To beating the game!"

END OF CHAPTER 1

o0O0o

A/N

Huge Author's Notes covering my thoughts on the story and where it's going. Read if you want to suggest Avatars or whether Kazuto gets to change back to Kirito before the story ends.

Had a binge session of watching Log Horizon and then SAO. The idea of having SAO in a Log Horizon type situation instead of a 'death game' just kept gnawing on me but I knew just that one change wouldn't have been enough.

Then I remember that Suguha was literally never mentioned until the ALO arc and that's literally years after Kazuto got stuck in SAO. I wondered what Sugu was like before her brother got stuck in the game, with her only just able to visit his comatose body at the hospital, wondering if at some random time he could just die without warning, like some of the others had.

Regressing from that, I saw her as more of a tomboy, what with her grandfather forcing her to start kendo while young but her keeping with it well into ALO. As a tomboy, I figure she'd be more open and connected with Kazuto, especially once she started being interested in something he was interested in, ie SAO.

So, to get her in SAO, I had her win a raffle to get her own Nervegear. I actually wrote out the 'chapter 0' which would have been the first chapter but it just turned out to have the wrong emotional start to the story.

Basically, it was a situation where Suguha was getting resentful of Kazuto spending all his time either in the Beta or studying game mechanics and future updates, so she causes a fight with him. Midori, their mother, basically has a 'come back to us' talk with Kazuto and asks him to spend a day with Suguha, where they come across the raffle.

Suguha basically fanagles a promise from Kazuto that if she wins, he owes her one 'penalty'. When she does win the grand prize of a Nervegear and a release copy of SAO, she demands to make a character that Kazuto has to use for the first day, as a double duty prank. First, he's wondering what type of character she's going to make during the month until SAO releases and, second, he has to deal with it during live gameplay.

From the Anime we know that Crossplay in SAO isn't impossible (Mirror Item scene), so I went with that cause what little sister wouldn't?

Also, since it wasn't going to be a death game, I had to rewrite the opening section where Kayaba would have done the 'haha I'm evil' part and treat it like a game dev would have actually done it. I also had to build a storyline for SAO other than 'kill the last boss to survive' since it's never really explained in the normal universe. It still turns out to be the same reasoning but it's a more defined goal that coincides with the story.

There's also the Log Horizon thing, where the lore of the game turns out to be real after the Transition.

Anyways, expect to see other characters from SAO and ALO in this story, since I expanded the starting player pool from 10,000 to 50,000, which is much closer to a true game release in Japan, even if it's still really small and you factor in a limited first release. I'm not saying everyone will appear and even if they do, they will be appearing as their Avatar, not as their 'real' looks. If they're an ALO character, expect to see a human version of their fairy form, like how I did with Leafa.

If you have any suggestions for SAO characters' avatars, leave them in a review.

Finally, I'm thinking of having them eventually find a 'Shapechange Potion' like they Shiro gives to Akatsuki in Log Horizon. I'm just not set fully on whether or not Kiriko will get one or not. Leave your suggestion and why in a review. I'll take those into consideration, like the avatar suggestion above.