A/N This is the first thing i've written so the writing more than likely isn't the best. Hope you still enjoy it though.

Oh, and I have not read the Progressive series. (At the time of writing this anyway) So any differences from it, or events that coincide with that series are me not knowing about them, from seeing them in other fics, or changed to fit the narrative and setting I am going for. Oh, and the usual disclaimer about not owning SAO, because i don't.

"Kirito? Is that you? Why do you look like a girl?"

'Klein? Why is he asking that of all things?' Turning to face Klein to ask what he was talking about, Kirito saw a most unusual, and somewhat concerning, sight. In front of them was someone that both did and didn't look like Klein; it was still noticeably them, but it was like if video game graphic modeling was applied to an actual person instead of the usual "this is definitely a video game character" look he previously had. Ignoring his questions,they ask their own instead.

"Klein? You are Klein...right?" To add to the oddity of the situation, the voice Kirito heard come out of their mouth was not the one they had chosen for their avatar, but one higher in pitch and softer, like a young girl's.

"Yeah, it's me, but whats up with you? After the lightshow ended you got replaced with a girl." Klein said, gesturing to their entire body.

Upon looking down at their avatar Kirito noticed that Klein was definitely not messing around when he said that their avatar was a girl. All things that one would normally associate with a girl were there...or in the case of one particular thing, not there if what Kirito was feeling was any indication. Though they definitely weren't going to check, that would be both all too weird and way too real if it was true.

"Wait what?! Why is my avatar a girl now?! The hell did Kayaba do with those mirrors?" Then, as if to answer their and surely many other's questions, Kayaba began once more.

"As you can all see, I have stripped away the facade of your characters, and replaced them with who you are in reality. Because this now is your reality. To help you adjust to your new lives here in SAO and your real appearances, I have provided you all with one free Name Change. You can access it from the menu and it will update your name in the system retroactively. Now, to go along with that, there is one final thing I should mention. Humans aren't the only sapient race here in Aincrad, you won't encounter them on this floor, but they will make an appearance. Your interactions with them could change your lives drastically, for good or for ill. And on that note, the tutorial for Sword Art Online is now finished and your lives here begin."

With those ominous closing statements, the giant figure that was Kayaba Akihiko vanished back from whence he came, into the system. Everything was quiet for a few short seconds, before it was shattered irreparably by the growing panic of the crowd.

"Klein! We need to get out of here now! Before mass chaos and panic happens!" Kirito shouts as they manage to drag Klein's mostly unresisting body out of the square and into a side alley, despite the new center of gravity and generally different bodily proportions messing them up.

"If we want the best chance of survival, we need to get an early start on leveling and quests. I know a good route to take. It should put us ahead of the curve and be reasonably safe." 'This is too weird, this body isn't mine, and it's a literal death game. Just great.

"Woah woah woah, wait just a sec Kirito! All of my friends are still back there! I can't just abandon them! Say, why don't you help me find my friends and join us instead, so that we have a better chance at beating this messed up game? Maybe even make a guild." Klein says while gesturing emphatically at Kirito in response to their offer.

Kirito opens their mouth to quickly shoot down the idea, before closing it when they realize the idea has merit. Especially considering the situation they are currently in where everything feels odd and different. If they tried to pull off some of the stunts they managed in the Beta then it was entirely possible they would mess up and die. It would be best if they played it safe and got used to their new body before doing anything extravagant.

'Isn't there like some study about this? About how different bodily proportions can throw off your movements? even in VR? Whatever, unimportant right now. Probably best to join Klein for now.'

"Ok Klein, i'll do it but only because it would be dangerous if I ran off like this. I don't know why it changed me to be like this and it's really throwing me off. What are your friend's names and what do they look like?"


'I'm not sure if its a good thing that it only took us an hour to find all of Klein's friends and then find a place to stay for the night. Or bad that it took that long, I really need to get out more.' Kirito thinks before turning their mind back to the task at hand: actually getting to know Klein's friends and hopefully his soon-to-be friends. Luckily for them, Klein breaks the ice.

"So! As was stated earlier, this is my friend?" He looks back at Kirito to see if that is fine, after a slight nod from Kirito he continues "Kirito. Shortly after I logged in I encountered them and asked for help because they looked like they knew how to play. Which they do, apparently they were in the beta test. Apparently something weird also happened to them due to the mirror we all got? Mind elaborating on that?" Klein summarizes the events leading up to this moment pretty succinctly

"Yeah, for some reason the mirror caused my avatar to become younger, and female. Which is very weird because on everyone else it seems to have copied what they look like irl, or well, copied as close as the game's rendering and modeling engine would allow anyway. But I can assure you I do not look like this in real life." After saying this Kirito puts a hand on their chin in the classic 'thinking pose' before continuing. "Actually I don't know what I look like for the most part. Hopefully this place has a mirror somewhere, I'll be right back."

They then get up and walk into the bathroom in search of a mirror. Only to encounter another unexpected sight when they find one. 'You've got to be kidding me. I somehow turned into Suguha? But why? That doesn't even make any sense! Unless…..there was that calibration thing when you get the Nervegear and have to move it around your body. That still doesn't answer the question of why it would have Suguha's data though. She doesn't even like video games. So why would she have used my Nervegear? Ugh. For every question I answer another seems to appear. Damn Kyaba.

Walking out of the bathroom and back into the large inn room they were all using, Kirito continued with the explanation of the incident, or their understanding of it anyway.

"Ok, so I might have figured out why it turned me into a girl. This avatar is basically a copy of my younger sister, and when you first use the Nervegear you need to calibrate it with the general measurements of your body. Which the Nervegear might have saved and the Mirrors then loaded and applied to all of our avatars. Thus giving us our irl appearances. Though I have no idea why my sister would have used my Nervegear. She has never shown any interest in it before."

"So yeah. For whatever reason I am now like this unless there is some way to change back. Moving on from what though, would you 5 please introduce yourselves? Klein told me your names earlier but that was basically it." While saying all of that, they go to sit down in one of the few chairs placed around the room before looking at Klein's friends.

While Kirito did get their names and general appearances from Klein when looking for them, that was it, and only now do they have the time to actually observe them individually. Of the friend group 4 were male and 2 were female, unless something like what happened to them happened to one of them, but going off the names it was unlikely.

First up was one of the women, named Anna who was a bit below average height, had dark gray hair and had a bit of a stockier build compared to the others. In their brief interactions so far, she seemed pretty nice though that was a trait shared by all of them.

Next was one of the guys named Dynamm, who looked somewhat reminiscent of a pirate, though that might be unkind to say. He was of average height and build, with his hair covered by a red bandana. Though he had somewhat of a scruffy face and a bit of a roguish look to go with it. However despite appearances he seems pretty decent.

After him is a dude referred to as Harry One, however despite the name he is clean shavel and has short hair. With somewhat of a stoic air about him.

A person named Issin is the other woman of the party, though in some ways she is the opposite of Anna. While Anna has more of a stocky build and slightly shorter than the guys, Issin was tall and angular, leaning more towards 'skinny' then 'lithe' for overall build. She is also the only one with light brown hair.

Finally, there was a fellow named Kunimittz, who seemed to be the most serious of the group, with his relatively angular face only adding to that. Otherwise he seemed to be reasonably nondescript.


What followed next was all of them introducing themselves properly and how they met each other. As it turns out, they had originally met each other a few years ago through a MMO where they were all part of the same guild. One thing led to another and they decided to meet each other in person and become good friends irl as well. So, when they heard about SAO they all planned to get a copy and play together, but Klein logged in first due to obligations and responsibilities the others had.

"So Kirito, with all the introductions and whatnot done. As the leading expert here, what's the plan?" Taking the initiative to move the conversation along, Klein asked the big question.

"Well, since your friends don't have any experience due to logging in a bit before the Announcement, and I need to get used to my new body. We should only fight the low level mobs. I know a few good spots from the beta where there should be less people to contend with for mob spawns. While also avoiding the general chaos. It won't be as fast due to having 7 people but it will definitely be safer." Kirito then proceeded to lay out the plan they came up with for how to get everyone up to speed quickly and safely. As well as some of the ideas for future goals.

A/N btw, the only using they/them pronouns for kirito is intentional. I started out using he/him but it just wasn't working and kept using they/them way more than would normally happen and was it confusing about which pronouns actually applied. So changed it to only they/them, it is important to note however that Kirito themselves still identifies as male at this point in the story. The pronouns are because it's easier to write them like that. Also, i don't own the cover image so if you do happen to own it, and want me to not use it. Just message me and i'll change it to something else