"Kirito..."
He stirred in his sleep, the sound of a familiar voice resounding in his head. It was a voice he hadn't heard in years. It was the same tone and sound he would always remember of the comfortable days he was too young to think about gender. The sound of his mother gently trying to wake him from sleep with her words alone. Hearing her voice made him feel like crying.
"It's breakfast time, Kirito."
He'd heard those words so many times, and his first instinct was to open his eyes from the sleep. However, above him wasn't his mother's face in his dream, but yet another unfamiliar ceiling. Another large shared room. At least when he pushed himself to sit up in the bed, he noticed they hadn't left the door open that time. He sighed and stretched himself. Even inside of the game, he was able to feel the sensation as his limbs loosened and they popped at the sound of relieving the tension in him. There were no windows in the room, so he had no sense for time until he would open his inventory screen.
He still couldn't get used to sleeping in his armour, but they couldn't remove that without being marked orange in harassment. He pushed himself out of the bed and summoned the menu screen, immediately being updated on what had happened since the fight against the wyvern. Messages from the rest of his friends in the guild they formed told him that they were going to try dinner at one of the places nearby in the town on the eleventh floor. It was the late evening of the same day. At least it wasn't the full twenty four hours of the previous time.
There were also messages asking how Kirito was doing from the leaders of guilds who had participated in the raid. They were concerned if he was doing alright. Some other members of the guilds not the leaders...somehow unsurprisingly it included Klein, were asking Kirito out on dates. He shivered and deleted the messages asking him out on dates. Except for the one from Klein. At least Klein was concerned if Kirito was alright like the other raid leaders. Only Heathcliff of the guild leaders didn't ask if Kirito was okay.
Kirito set about replying to the messages, and by the time he finished, the girls returned from their dinner out on the new town.
"Oh! Kirito is awake!"
Hearing Asuna's voice say those words was a little embarrassing, but not as bad as all of the date messages. Kirito perked up a little when he was joined in the room.
"Somehow...it doesn't feel strange to all share a room with Kirito-san since he's female in game..."
Silica was the last to join in the room, and apparently neither her nor Lisbeth were informed either about closing the party before purchasing inn rooms to not share a room. Silica seemed to think of the experience on the level of a big sleepover, Lisbeth ventured that idea to move everyone's beds together and make it a real sleep over.
Kirito sighed at the mention of a sleepover. Really, he hadn't had such a thing before...he thought that until he remembered that he used to sleepover with Sinon when they were younger and the both of them had also slept over with Leafa as well. He wanted to avoid that being brought up, but it seemed everyone else was excited at the idea.
"It's all fine since Kirito is so feminine. Leafa and Sinon were telling us over dinner all about Kirito even going to the same girl only school with them. Kirito even has such a reputation~"
Those words from Lisbeth earned a short glare but another sigh escaped Kirito's lips and he had to admit.
"I'm disappointed in myself for letting my life become as it has. It's all because..."
Kirito didn't have the nerve to tell the others about why he and Sinon were living with Leafa's family. He didn't want to bring the troubles of real life into the fight of life or death inside of Aincrad.
"Does Kirito have any boys he likes? Girls?"
Lisbeth continued to tease. She perked up a little and changed the topic ever so slightly.
"How about we play truth or dare? It's something that's often done at sleepovers. I used to always make dares, but everyone chooses truth instead. So Kirito, truth or dare? Truth, you tell us if you have someone you like. Dare, you take off a piece of armour."
Kirito gave her a puzzled look. Everyone did have pyjama outfits for in game under their armour, so there was no issue with taking all of the armour off and being in the well covering pyjamas. He opened the menu and unequipped the chest armour in protest to answering the question. After all, he had a thing against lying, and if he were to tell the truth...
"Aww, Kirito is that certain not to tell us anything?"
"I'm just not worried about being in the well covering pyjamas over saying something so personal."
Lisbeth bore a sly expression when she heard Kirito's reasoning.
"Except...I had a friend prepare interesting pyjamas in case this ever came up. Since you only make nice and decent clothing with your tailoring, I had to go to someone else. There is punishment at the end of this if you end up in the pyjamas alone~"
Kirito started to sweat at the idea of something even worse than spilling privacy would bring up.
"Uhh, fine, next would be me since I already responded. Asuna, truth or dare? Truth, you say what got you into cooking. Dare, you eat one food item from my inventory."
Asuna instantly replied to take the dare. Kirito produced one of the failed dishes he had cooked because he hadn't been paying attention to the refrigerating effects on the pudding he was making during his crafting adventures. Asuna grimaced when she saw the food Kirito produced from his inventory.
"Uhm, Kirito-kun...how did Kirito-kun make something that makes my scent sensory hurt?"
"Refrigeration is very awkward, I found out while making this pudding~"
Kirito was a little jovial in answering, so Asuna pushed it back and said she would answer the question instead.
"Fine...I had to take cooking lessons while growing up. Mom and Dad weren't home very much, and I wanted to spend a little more time with them. I'd been told by my cooking teacher that food can bring people together, so I did my best learning under him to do my best with cooking."
Asuna's answer...touched Kirito in a way that he almost felt he should have gone for truth.
"Hm...that wasn't so bad. Now...Leafa. Truth or dare? Truth, tell us how Kirito really is outside. Dare, we'll continue Lisbeth's dare instead of dangerous stuff like Kirito's failed dishes."
Kirito sighed. He was trying to veer them off from unclothing themselves for the dare. He was also nervous that he might become even more aware of his state within the game. He hadn't been in a private enough situation yet to check over his body, and he was too nervous to.
Leafa seemed to understand how Kirito was feeling, so she continued by answering the truth.
"Kirito outside is...well, for the last few years he was really quiet. He had always been like aunty, really good at cooking and cleaning and taking care of us. He really is very feminine. He's also the reason I got into the beta test. Kirito is...ugh, it's depressing how popular he is and how many people he shot down confessing to him."
The last bit, he was mortified she brought up. His jaw hung open as he heard her start to tell them about the confessions he received.
Everyone's eyes were on Kirito. Leafa seemed to have grown upset as she thought of it.
"Ki~ri~to~...truth or dare? Truth, you tell us why you were so easily and harshly turning down the people who confessed to you. Dare, you take off another piece of your gear."
Kirito was conflicted. Was he okay with approaching closer to being put in the nerve wracking pyjamas? Or would he rather tell the truth? He took a deep breath, and opened his menu to remove the neck and arm gear which were connected. He was starting to feel nerve wracking bare compared to everyone else in the room.
"Uuu...Sinon. Truth or dare? Truth, you tell me why you chose to play a male avatar. Dare, the same condition I gave Asuna."
Sinon easily started to answer.
"It's because I thought it would be interesting to have a male avatar. It's not like I would feel conflicted about who I am. Plus, it helped me keep my mind off of what we went through."
She was the only one so far to so easily and normally answer a question without drama. However, the drama continued after she answered and continued the pattern.
"Kirito. Truth or Dare? Truth, you tell us the same thing as what Leafa asked. Dare, you remove another piece of gear."
Kirito started trembling a little at the thought of how much they were pushing him. Weren't they just bullying him into the pyjamas at this point?
"Fine! I turned down the confessions because I was not ready for anything, and I was harsh because I was too nervous to talk to anyone but Sinon. I especially turned down boys who confessed to me because they made me more conscious of how feminine I am..."
With the answer out, everyone stared at Kirito.
"I...had no idea Kirito was so..."
Sinon was disappointed she had asked Kirito to reveal something so personal in front of everyone. She would have preferred him take the dare and remove the leg armour.
"Silica-chan. Truth or dare? Truth, you tell me why you choose twin tails when other hairstyles would suit you so much nicer. Dare, the food item from my inventory."
Silica gave Kirito a pitying expression which he felt disgusted in earning.
"Why is Kirito being so nice in his questions?"
Kirito insisted her to answer.
"I choose twin tails because...I'm so used to it. It feels cute and Mom likes it."
"I definitely think a hanging tail or slightly waved style with your hair down would suit Silica better."
Kirito expressed that to Silica and she blushed at his opinion and consideration.
"Kirito-san is so nice... Kirito-san. Truth or dare? Truth, how does Kirito really feel about being feminine? Dare...uuh, I'm sorry Kirito-san. I can't think of anything other than what everyone else dared Kirito-san."
Kirito sighed and removed the leg armour. Next, would be the gloves, torso clothing or the pants. Then it was only the accessory items and pyjamas underneath. He was feeling uncomfortably bare.
"Lisbeth. Truth or dare? Truth, why did you start a smith shop? Dare...ugh, let's go with the stupid gear thing."
She seemed to have a difficult time deciding. In the end she chose to answer the truth.
"I decided to be a smith to try and get over my anxiety of talking to people. I'm fine when it comes to friends, but...I wanted to become better at talking to other people. I just...really ended up nervous talking to people or the pressure of having a lineup."
Kirito felt it wasn't anything embarrassing at all for her, but she was embarrassed to admit it. She turned that embarrassment on Kirito for apparently an ultimatum on the truth or dare session.
"Kirito. Truth or dare? Truth, are you afraid of seeing what the game did to your body with your own eyes? Dare, remove the rest of your armour and wear the punishment pyjamas!"
Kirito stared at her in horror as he heard the choices. Everyone stared at him waiting for his choice. It would be simple enough to admit to being afraid of it, but...
Kirito opened his menu and started removing the rest of the gear, leaving him in the pyjamas that he had crafted for everyone, and he was presented with a trade screen from Lisbeth, sending him...a revealing cat-girl themed nightie...
"N-no...no way! You're going to have me wear this?!"
"It's the dare Kirito! You removed the rest of your armour, the rest of the condition is to wear the punishment pyjamas!"
Everyone's expressions changed as they saw how devastated he was with the ultimatum. He had no idea that the pyjamas could be so...harming of his identity as male. Reminder of being dressed up in a pareo and bikini top came to mind and he nearly screamed in protest. He worked up the courage however, pressed the accept button from the trade and curled up as he selected to change the under clothing from his pyjamas to the punishment set from Lisbeth.
"Lisbeth! How could you push so much for this?!"
Lisbeth seemed happy that Kirito was in the outfit and fit it well, but Kirito had come to tears over it. She didn't feel bad about him crying over it. All he had to do was answer the truth and he would have been fine.
"It was Kirito's decision, and everyone else got Kirito to remove his gear as well. Now we know just how much Kirito really looks like a girl here. At least he isn't like Leafa. His figure...is somewhere between Sinon and Asuna. The game shouldn't make big changes. Sinon, Leafa, how similar is his shape here to outside?"
Sinon and Leafa seemed to be conflicted about answering. About other things as well. Leafa ended up answering.
"Kirito outside is...very similar. Everything aside from the chest seems so similar. His skin is even the same."
Hearing it from Leafa, they all looked at him in the disbelief that he really could be a boy outside of the game. He took a deep breath, sighed and fell back into the bed. He covered his eyes with his right hand, and hoped the pyjamas were covering him well enough. The way the material fell over him, the open section on the chest showing cleavage he could feel but not see. That he didn't want to see... He could feel a great deal of his figure revealed to them. His back was hardly covered. It couldn't really be considered clothing, he thought.
"Lisbeth, just where did you get that from?"
That question was asked by Leafa.
"Someone who had been asking me about Kirito last week. He said he would give me one for everyone in our guild, in exchange to give the info required to send Kirito a message-"
"Then that's why I had those thirty date request messages?!"
Kirito interrupted Lisbeth and shot up, feeling more awkward as his chest painfully moved about in the sudden movement. He glared at her for the result of her getting the perverted pyjamas.
"Wh-what?! Kirito had date request messages?!"
"I deleted all of them! Some of them came from guys who were in the raid with us, and the rest were from random people I know nothing about!"
They all looked at each other then back to Kirito as they realized how truly dangerous it was for Kirito in the game. To have that many people after him as a girl in the game already... There was of course the challenge of getting through the game as well.
"I mean, it was fine getting the messages of concern asking if I was alright from the other guild leaders with some sense in their heads. I almost regret answering Klein's message since he was also asking me out on a date. I only told him that I was fine, ignoring the date part. Why the heck are people so fixated on dating when we're..."
Kirito was at a point that it was almost becoming difficult to get the words out.
"Kirito, I can agree to the feeling of wanting to put our efforts into getting out, but you seem to take the whole dating thing more personally that I thought you would-"
"Because I still don't have the courage to confess my feelings to the person I do have feelings for! Even though..."
Kirito cut her off, then caught himself before telling everyone outright who he had feelings for or giving hints. He was completely red in embarrassment. He let his hair hang over his face as if a way of hiding his embarrassment.
"So Kirito does have someone he likes?"
Lisbeth seemed to want to keep prodding the answers to what was asked of him during the truth or dare. She had backed off though when he didn't answer.
"Well, I feel really bad for teasing Kirito so much. Who all is okay with wearing the pyjamas from that person and calling it a night?"
Everyone was ready to call it a night, but it seemed only Lisbeth as atonement and Sinon were okay in sharing the embarrassing pyjamas.
"Why not just switch back to our regular pyjamas?"
That question raised by Kirito before they turned out the lights had everyone giggling.
"Yeah...it might be a better idea than exposing ourselves more in our sleep."
That brought up by Lisbeth made her feel sheepish of showing her body to the rest of their group. There was nothing terribly embarrassing if they were all really girls, but Kirito was truly a boy, and they had to consider that. No matter how conflicted they were on whether he was really male or female with the female body he was given by the game.
