Someone pointed out that I had yet to do a truth and dare chapter! And some others were asking for the other characters again, so I just combined those requests. But from here on out, it'll likely be just Kazuto and Asuna and Yui.

And just in case you've forgotten: Keiko = Silica, Rika = Liz, Ryoutarou = Klein, Andrew = Agil.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online.


Chapter 54. Truth Or Dare

Cool, autumn air breezed throughout the town, the air a mixture of scents such as hot coffees and warm bread.

Kazuto and Asuna held hands as they walked down the sidewalk, flanked by Rika, Keiko, and Ryoutarou.

"It's been a while since we've hung out together." Rika grinned.

"Well, in real life, at least." Keiko added. "But it's a lot more fun here than it is in-game."

"Except it's more fun to tease Kirito about his wacky hair online." Ryoutarou chuckled.

"Hey, I changed it." Kazuto reminded him.

"Yeah," Asuna added. "It used to be much worse."

"H-Hey..."

The five shared a collective laugh as they continued to walk together; after meeting up together at the nearby park, they were heading toward the Dicey Cafe. Andrew had been inviting them all over for weeks on end, but this was the first time since school had begun when all five of them were available on the weekend.

It had gotten colder in the evenings, but it was not yet the time of year where one could taste snow on the wind, therefore they were dressed warmly, with scarves and jackets to fend off the chill.

Just before their cheeks could start to turn rosy, the cafe came into view. Ryoutarou burst through the door first, shouting out, "Yo, Agil, my man!" and sending the little bells on the handle jingling loudly.

"Ah!" The bartender's face broke out into a wide grin. "About time you guys showed up!"

"It's been too long." Kazuto shook his outstretched hand over the counter as the girls waved.

"Take any table you like!" Andrew offered, waving his hand out to the side. His five companions bowed briefly before taking their seats at a circular table, removing their coats and scarves.

"Order lightly." Rika warned them. "We're not only here to eat tonight."

"Really?" Asuna tilted her head curiously. "What else is there?"

"You'll see~" Her friend hummed.

Asuna gave her a slightly suspicious look before shooting a puzzled look to Kazuto, but his expression was just as confused as hers. Shrugging, Asuna and Kazuto did as they were told and ordered small dishes, like pastries and small slices of different kinds of pie.

Being the only one legally allowed to drink, Ryoutarou ordered a beer as the others grimaced; they all knew how much of a guzzler he could be. Living up to his friends' opinions of him, Ryoutarou downed the beer in less than 3 minutes, and sighed with a grin as he placed the empty bottle onto the table.

"Oh-kay!" He announced. "Now's time for the fun stuff!"

"What do you mean?" Kazuto asked.

Ryoutarou and Rika shared a glance before declaring as if they had planned it: "Truth or dare!"

"...Come again?" Kazuto blinked.

"Oh, come on, Kirito!" Rika pouted. "You know what it is, don't you?"

"Of course I do." He defended. "I just... wasn't prepared for it."

"Well then, get ready." Ryoutarou placed the empty bottle on it's side in the center of the table. "Alrighty, I'm going first!" Without waiting for the others' responses, he gave the bottle a spin.

Five pairs of eyes watched in anticipation as the head of the bottle finally came to a stop on Asuna.

"Oh-ho!" The redhead clapped his hands together. "Okay then, Asuna-san-"

"Okay, we're done." Kazuto picked up the bottle and rolled it back to him.

"Aw, come on! I won't do anything bad."

"I didn't ask if you would."

"Kirito-kun." Asuna nudged him slightly as she spoke his name. "It's fine! You don't have to be so defensive."

Kazuto sent a warning glare at Ryoutarou, but did nothing more.

"Okay then." The older man cleared his throat. "Then Asuna-san, truth or dare?"

"Mmmm... dare!" She decided.

"Hooo gutsy, aren't cha? Okay, okay. Let's see..." He debated for a minute as the others waited for his demands. "I dare you... to eat Kirito's cake."

"What?" Kazuto cried.

"You heard me!" Ryoutarou smirked smugly. "It's your punishment for thinking I'd do something stupid."

"Can you blame me?"

"Alright now," Asuna put her hands up for peace. "I'm not sure if I can eat much more, but I'll try." She said as she took Kazuto's plate. "Order something else and I'll pay for you." She told him as she began cutting into it.

"But now it's your turn to spin, Asuna." Keiko spoke up.

"Ah, right." Asuna reached out to spin the bottle. The motion was ten times as graceful as when Ryoutarou had done it, and it came to a steady stop in Rika's direction.

"Oh god." The brunette mumbled. "Um... truth!"

"Then..." Asuna thought for a moment. "Tell us the truth; what score did you get on your last math exam?"

There was a pause of silence as Kazuto and Keiko held their breaths; everyone knew Rika was a bit of a slacker in school, but her worst subject was mathematics.

Yet the brunette's eyes lit up triumphantly when she heard Asuna's demands. "Ha! I've got nothing to be ashamed of!" She stated proudly. "My last test grade was an 86! Ever since Asuna started tutoring me, I've gotten much better grades." She grinned.

"Wow..." Keiko sounded impressed. "That's a 20 point increase, isn't it?"

"...30 actually..." Rika mumbled. "But anyway, I've gotten loads better thanks to this one!" She reached to her side and slung her arm around Asuna.

"You put in a lot of effort." Asuna smiled, never one to take much credit for her own work. "Now spin and choose your victim."

"With pleasure!" Rika rolled up her sleeves for emphasis as she spun the bottle. It landed on Keiko who abruptly stopped cutting into her pie. "Okay, Keiko-chan," Rika sang. "Truth or dare?"

"Ah..." Keiko seemed to know that Rika was capable of delving into her deepest darkest secrets and making them known to the world, so she refrained. "Dare."

"Okay. Then I dare you to only use your elbows for everything until your next turn."

"Huh?!"

"You heard me! Now spin!"

"Ah, geez..." Her companions chuckled as Keiko scrambled to grip the bottle with her elbows. She gave a twist, but it ended up falling to the floor. "Uwaaah this is hard!" Sparing her the trouble, Asuna picked up the bottle and put it back onto the table.

When Keiko finally managed to give it some form of spin, it wobbled before landing on Kazuto. He did not even need to be asked the question.

"Dare." He smirked.

"Fine." Keiko stuck her tongue out playfully. "I dare you to... uhh..." Her confident expression faded as she fumbled for a good idea. "Ah... um... I... I dare you to say "meow" at the end of your sentences until your next turn!" She blurted.

"Ppft." Rika smacked a hand to her mouth to hold back a laugh. "Of course, this would come from the Cait Sith."

"Shut up! I couldn't think of anything else!"

"Either way," Ryoutarou mused. "It'll be fun to hear a kitty Kirito, don't cha think, Asuna-san?"

As Kazuto glanced at his girlfriend to catch her reaction, he noticed her face turn slightly pink.

"I... guess it could be... kind of cute..."

"Oooh, what's this?" Rika teased. "We all knew Kirito had a thing for cat ears, but could it be you do too, Asuna?"

"Who said anything about ears?" Asuna squeaked.

"O-Okay," Kazuto interjected. "I'll do it, so let's just continue... m-meow."

It seemed the entire cafe went silent at that second. Kazuto took offense. "What is it? That was the dare wasn't it, meow?"

"Y-Yeah..." Rika hid her face behind her hands. "Good one, Keiko!" She whispered.

"N-Now then," Asuna tried to hold off her own giggles. "It's your turn, Kirito-kun."

"Right... meow." He felt it was getting old quickly, but the priceless reactions of his friends were worth it.

He ended up daring Ryoutarou to order the biggest dish on the menu and eat it in under 3 minutes. Surprisingly enough, the redhead had done it, but was more or less too tired to continue playing afterward.

The following rounds consisted of simpler truths, such as Rika asking Keiko where she hid her diary, and the latter retaliating and asking the former how many quizzes she had failed during her high school career.

Just about every time Kazuto's dare had ended, the next time the bottle landed on him, he was dared to continue saying "meow" at the end of his sentences. At one point, Ryoutarou even took a marker and drew whiskers on the sides of his face; Kazuto would have punched him, had it not caused Asuna to laugh so cutely.

Their antics continued on into the night, until it was evident they were all reaching their limits.

"Okay, last one." Rika declared as the others let out a collective, yet amused sigh. Keiko spun the bottle one more time, and once again it landed on Kazuto.

"Okay, hold on let me think..." She mumbled.

"You didn't even ask me truth or dare."

"We all know you're picking dare."

"...Fine."

"...Ahem!"

"What? Oh, sorry... Meow." He corrected himself.

"Let's see..." Keiko glanced about the room, again trying to think of something to have him do. "Oh, how about this?" She got up and scurried over to him, whispering something into his ear that the others could not quite catch. Kazuto was thoughtful for a minute. "What is it?" Keiko taunted. "Too hard for you to do?"

"Of course not." He said. "I'm just trying to think of how to go about it... meow." He added quickly. Then, he let out a sigh as he resolved to see it through.

From her seat at the table Asuna watched him curiously as she mumbled to Rika.

"What in the world is she asking him?"

"Beats me."

Asuna straightened up as her boyfriend sent her a serious look and approached her. "W-What is it, Kirito-kun? Eep!" She squeaked as he took her hand and pulled her up from her seat.

Keiko, Rika, and Ryoutarou watched in amusement, confusion and anticipation respectively.

Kazuto took in a deep breath as he held both of Asuna's hands in his. "Asuna!" He said loudly, loud enough to draw the attention of every other person in the cafe.

"W-What is it, Kirito-kun?" She stammered. "Everyone's looking..."

"Asuna!" He repeated, his whiskered face slightly flushed. "I just wanted to say I love you more than my life! You are my life!" Before he could stumble over his own words, Kazuto leaned in and kissed her hard.

A chorus of squeals and cheering went up from the crowd as Asuna tried to register what had just happened. But she could not waste much time thinking about it, as she swiftly melted into the kiss, closing her eyes and pressing her lips against his with just as much passion.

With the fervent amount of passion in their kiss, anyone would have assumed he had just proposed to her, but for them, it was just another kiss.

"Dang..." Rika was blushing, too. "What was the dare?" She wondered.

"To make the entire cafe happy." Keiko beamed.

"What kind of dare is that?"

"One that worked!"

"Yeah..." Rika smiled as she watched her two friends break apart only to come back together in a hug. "I admit, that was a good one."

"What a lucky bastard." Ryoutarou grinned.

Every person in the cafe clapped as the couple returned to their table.

"Geez, Silica-chan..." Asuna muttered. "Why did you have to ask something you knew he'd make a spectacle of?"

"Hee, it was nice though, wasn't it?" Asuna ruffled her friend's hair.

It was then Andrew made his way over to them.

"Man, you guys just never change, do ya?"

"Guess not." Kazuto laughed.

At last, the five of them slipped into their jackets and headed out, wishing Andrew a good night.

"You've still got your whiskers, there." Ryoutarou pointed to Kazuto.

"And I guess they're staying all night." He yawned. "Cause I'm too tired to wash them off." Kazuto leaned sideways against Asuna.

"Well then, we'll see you guys in school on Monday!" Rika and Keiko waved as they headed off down a diverging sidewalk. Ryoutarou took his leave shortly thereafter, leaving Asuna alone to keep her exhausted boyfriend on his feet.

"Neh, if you're really that tired, just stay at my house tonight, okay?"

"Huh?"

"It's closer." She reasoned. "Plus, my parents won't mind."

"Are you sure...?"

"Positive!" She eagerly pulled him along as Kazuto stumbled after her, not fully aware of the fact that Asuna was taking him to her house for the night.

Only when they slipped through the front door did a stern, familiar voice pull him back into reality. "Asuna?" Her mother was in the kitchen in a bathrobe and slippers. "Why in the world are you so late in getting home? And... heavens, is that Kazuto-san?"

"Ah, yes. Sorry." Asuna bowed briefly in apology. "We ran over at the party, and he's really tired. Do you think he could stay the night?"

"Ah, no actually it's fine!" Kazuto threw his hands up. "I can make it back."

"Nonsense." Kyouko snapped. "Asuna show him to the guest room." She ordered before heading up the stairs.

"There. You see?" Asuna smiled. "Now don't forget to contact Midori-san and tell her where you are. I'll go prepare the room." She left him at the doorway as she quickly slipped off her shoes and disappeared up the stairs after her mother.

It took Kazuto a few minutes to process everything, his mind still blurry from exhaustion. But soon, he dug out his cell phone and called his aunt.

"Ah, yes..." He cleared his throat before explaining. "It looks like I'm... staying at Asuna's tonight..."


A/N: And this will lead into next week's chapter. Hope you enjoyed!

Please review!