A/N: Ha, I'm such a liar. Summer is over and I barely did anything. School's started a month ago, and that will be a problem because now I have AP classes (basically college courses in high school. I'm such a nerd) and homework is a bitch. So please just bear with me people.

And wow. A lot of you did not want Kazuto to cross-dress. I didn't realize it was that overused. Well, I didn't use it, so you're welcome. I considered it though. Kudos to carlos. hernandez. 56679015 for guessing right :) There were a bunch of other really good suggestions too, and they made me laugh to read, so thanks for that!

Also, in case some of you read my other stuff, I will mostly be focusing on my two earliest fics (and this one of course) until I complete them because they are so close to being done and I want to not worry about them anymore and focus on new stuff, so IDWF will not be updated in a while. I will post on the anniversary though. I try to do that for all my fics, so look forward to that.


Vengeance

If Kazuto were asked to summarize what he felt right then, it would only take four words:

I hate my life.

"Come on, Kazuto! Hurry up!" Rika (AKA Lisbeth) shouted, waving at a certain dark-haired boy down the street from her.

Kazuto just grunted as he walked, picking up the pace a bit with his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets.

Was he moody?

Yes.

Were his feet already killing him?

Yes.

Did he feel ready to go home?

Very.

Did he feel like hitting his head against a brick wall forty million times?

No. Forty million and one.

How long has he been out?

Ten minutes.

Did he hate everything?

That has already been established.

Was he wearing all black?

Maybe.

Where was he…?

A shopping mall.

He wasn't even really sure why he was there in the first place. If he had to guess, this would be Rika's, if not Shino's, idea of punishing him. Normally, he wouldn't mind shopping, it was just a normal necessity of life to get clothes and things like that, but right now? No. Shopping was the bane of his existence.

At least they hadn't made him cross-dress or anything like that. That would have just been weird. They probably would have made him wear a skirt, put on make-up and a wig, then go out in public. He probably would have had to use his falsetto voice too. Embarrassing.

Wait… He was here because…?

Oh yeah. He had pretended to be a girl. On purpose. Of his own free will.

Again, just four little words.

"Kirigaya."

Said boy looked up, a bored expression on his face. "What?"

But his expression instantly changed at the sight of probably the scariest person he had ever met.

Shino just stood there, outside this store Rika had dragged them all to (and by that, he meant the girls, including Suguha, Asuna and Keiko), and glared at him.

Kazuto's back instantly straightened and his hands came out of his pockets. "Uh, I mean, yeah?"

The ebony-haired girl just narrowed her eyes at him, hardly moving.

He gulped.

Finally, Shino just grabbed his sleeve at the elbow and dragged him inside. "Just hurry up."

Once they had passed through the double doors, Kazuto could see racks and racks of clothes of all different styles and colors and groaned. This was going to be a long day.

Suddenly, Kazuto noticed that Shino had let go of him. He turned to look at her, but she had already gone and was looking at a rack of clothes to his far left. He watched as she eyed it, her eyes critically scanning over the various clothes displayed. Finally, she reached out her hand and selected a simple, powder blue shirt.

Kazuto couldn't help a small smile from forming on his face. That was just like Shino: to pick something practical. Summer was just around the corner and it was getting pretty hot, so of course she would pick something comfortable and efficient, not really going by style.

After Shino had moved away, Kazuto began to feel awkward. He didn't really know what he should have been doing at that moment. He didn't really need to buy anything, so he was kind of just there. His eyes glanced around, looking for something to do. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar head of black hair with silver clips in it, and made a beeline for it (or at least the best beeline he could make without running into the displays).

As he neared, Suguha saw him out of the corner of her eye and turned, smiling.

"Hey, Onii-chan. Would you hold this for me?" she asked, holding out a blouse to him.

"What do I look like, a coat hanger?" he deadpanned, but took it from her all the same.

Sugu shrugged. "Have you looked in the mirror recently?"

Ouch. "Mean."

He just received a laugh in return as his sister went back to looking at clothes. A smirk broke across Kazuto's face after that. This was why he came over here with Sugu; he wouldn't be hating every minute of his life. With Asuna, things would just be awkward. With Rika, he would be dragged by the arm all over the place and forced to give an opinion on everything. Keiko… on second thought, Keiko wouldn't have been all that bad. Then again, she was probably with Rika or Asuna anyway. And Shino?

Hahaha—no.

Kazuto glanced up in her direction and saw her across the room, looking through a pile of jeans. If he had been here with her before she was pissed at him, it wouldn't have been that bad. In GGO when they had gone shopping for gear together, Kirito had actually had a bit of fun (for about the first hour until he felt they had been there too long). He learned all about the different guns and specs of the armor and stuff, and in between, their conversations were interesting to say the least. But now, he wouldn't have gotten bored per se, more like… what was the word? Oh, right. Terrified.

"Onii-chan?"

Kazuto blinked before turning his head to the voice. "Yeah?"

Suguha eyed him curiously, her gaze flickering in the direction he had unknowingly been staring. "Are you ok?"

"Oh, yeah. Just don't really feel like being at the store." With everyone.

And that was another thing. He didn't even know why everyone had tagged along. It's not like they had all been involved in his and Shino's fight or whatever it was. He loved his friends, but right now, not so much.

The younger Kirigaya made a humming sound as she turned back to the display. "Then maybe you shouldn't have lied to Asada."

Kazuto sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I know."

Suguha glanced at him. "Have you apologized yet?"

"Uh…" How exactly did he answer that question? Yes? Technically he did, in GGO, but in real life…? Not that he really remembered.

His sister seemed to know what he was thinking as she nodded. "You should do that soon. It might help."

"Thanks, Sugu," her brother replied sincerely. He was glad that he at least had Sugu to talk to whenever he needed to be serious. She was like his best friend, in a way, if siblings could even be included in the 'friend' category.

Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm and dragged him along, almost making him topple over backward.

"Come on, Kazuto." It was Rika's voice.

"Ow! What?" he asked, trying to keep his balance with Suguha's clothes still in his arms.

Rika grinned back at him. "You're the guy of the group, so you have to give an opinion of the clothes we're picking out."

Nnnooooo! So that was why everyone came, to make this day out even more excruciatingly painful!

Sugu saw the look on his face and smirked, taking her clothes away from him before he was taken away. "Thanks, Mr. Coat Hanger."

Kazuto didn't even have time to answer as Rika dragged him over to the corner of the store where the changing rooms were and sat him down in a chair beside a full-length mirror.

"Now don't go anywhere, and if you so much as glance at our feet under the curtains you will regret it."

"Yes, ma'am," he grumbled, looking to the side and propping his chin in his hand in boredom. It's not like he was a peeping tom or anything. Sheesh.

Rika just smiled and with a final "Good," she went behind one of the curtains.

Kazuto just sat there in his chair in the meantime, absent-mindedly looking at his reflection in the mirror.

When the 'fashion show' started, Keiko (AKA Silica) came out first. She looked a bit embarrassed at what she was doing, and stepped in front of the mirror, giving a twirl so that her miniskirt fluttered out a little.

"Wh-What do you think?"

"Keiko," Kazuto said. "You don't have to do this."

"Y-Yeah, I know," she said, her cheeks slightly pink. "But Rika told me to, so just go with it."

The boy sighed and obliged. "It looks great."

Keiko blushed some more before going back inside her curtain. Kazuto watched her go, smiling softly. Keiko, he knew, didn't really like to show off all that much, unless she felt like she had something to prove, so doing this must not have been on her bucket list. But, she was loyal, and if a friend asked her to do something, anything really, she would probably do it.

Next was Asuna. The two of them didn't talk much as she stood in front of the mirror, turning to the side to look at her outfit from the back.

"Does it look ok to you?"

He glanced at her before looking away again. "Yeah. Fine," he answered a bit reluctantly. They may have broken up, and the attraction may have been gone, but that didn't mean he thought she was ugly. Anyway, he had been clothes shopping with Asuna before, so he knew the drill with her.

Rika came out after that. She smirked, her hand on her hip and asked "What do you think?"

"That you're evil."

She rolled her eyes. "Aw, don't be like, Kazuto. At least try to have fun."

"You purposefully took me here so I wouldn't havefun!"

The brunette laughed. "True, true. But you can try to make the most out of it. All of these pretty girls are willingly trying on clothes for you."

Only normal guys enjoy that. I would rather be at home online than here, Kazuto thought, but he didn't actually say it. Instead he just crossed his arms and looked away. "Whatever." Rika just smiled, looking at him expectedly. Kazuto could feel her stare and glanced at her once before looking away. "It looks fine, but I think the shirt should be red. Or pink."

"Hm. Yeah. I kinda thought that too," she said, looking at her herself in the mirror before going back to her changing room.

Kazuto didn't really openly admit it, but he had a pretty good sense of fashion because of all the time he spent with Suguha (and Asuna when they had been dating). It was just a side effect of having a sister so close to your own age.

Almost immediately after Rika disappeared, Suguha came out wearing a black skirt, green blouse, and a denim jacket. She stood in front of the mirror, gave a slight turn, and looked to Kazuto with a smile.

The older teen smirked. "Nice… but you're skirt needs to be longer."

Sugu puffed out her cheeks. "But it looks better this way."

"Yeah, but I don't want you going out in public and having guys stare at you." If he caught anyone doing that, he'd kick their asses… or at least try to, he wasn't exactly boxing champion of the world.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I'm not defenseless, Onii-chan. I take kendo."

He just held his hands up in surrender. He knew that. Of course he knew that. Why wouldn't he? She was third in nationals. "Ok, ok. Whatever you say, Sugu."

"Hmph." She huffed superiorly before turning and going back to change.

Kazuto watched her as she went, thinking. He knew perfectly well that his sister was capable of fending for herself, but did that mean he wasn't allowed to worry as her brother?

He was so consumed with his thoughts, that he almost didn't notice the last curtain open. Seeing movement out of the corner of his eye, Kazuto turned to look and saw Shino standing there, not paying him any mind. For a moment, his mind went blank and he just stared. She was wearing the blue shirt he had seen her pick out earlier, along with form-fitting black jeans.

She stood there for a moment, just looking at herself standing in the mirror. Her body turned side-to-side once, then, without looking at her 'audience,' she left and went behind her curtain.

This went on for what felt like hours. The girls changed outfits, then went outside to where Kazuto was. They seemed to go through several phases or something, like they had planned it all out. First it was casual wear, then more dressy things, and finally, to Kazuto's dismay, swimsuits.

Kazuto didn't really have much to say about any of them, he kind of just looked and gave a simple opinion, although… there were a few things that stood out just a bit.

First of all, he didn't really care what the others did, but Suguha, he was very critical with. Her stuff was fine for the most part, but he thought some of it was a bit revealing. Like her swimsuit. When she had come out of the changing room, he had wanted her to cover up, or, you know, through a curtain over her himself. It's not that she looked bad, just… too much skin. Seriously, there were some shady guys out there.

And then, there was Shino. She was… how should he explain it? She definitely stood out. The first thing that he thought was really something was when she came out wearing a dress with a white, sleeveless top, a black skirt, and a belt around her waist. The pattern resembled lace and it made her look… cute. She looked a bit irritated though as she came to stand in front of the mirror. It took Kazuto a moment, but he finally opened his mouth to give a genuine compliment when she said "Don't. Say. Anything" and walked away.

The next thing, was of course, the swimsuits. Those were the things that really embarrassed him. He tried not to look it, but it was hard to hide. Shino though…

She ended up wearing two. The first one she wore was a modest one piece that she chose only because the others forced her to (they probably forced her to wear the dress too). The second one, was a two-piece that made Kazuto's cheeks feel warm. It was black and white striped and showed off her curves… there's really nothing else to say. Shino's cheeks had been pretty warm too as she came out, avoiding eye-contact.

She was barely out five seconds before she rushed back inside, Rika and Keiko telling her to come back out because she 'looked great.'

Finally it came time to check-out, and everyone stood in line at the counter when Suguha made a sound.

"Agh!"

Kazuto gave her a weird look. "What?"

She dug around in her purse a bit. "I can't find my wallet. I might have left it in my room."

"Oh… I'll pay."

"What?" the younger Kirigaya asked in alarm, eyes looking to Kazuto's hand as he pulled out his wallet. "You don't have to do that! I'll pay you back!"

"Sugu, it's fine. Just let me, ok?"

Suguha continued to argue with him as the others looked on. Shino especially took interest as she had never really seen the two siblings interact before (unless you count those few seconds when she had gone to their house for that project). In the end, Kazuto won and Sugu pouted a bit, but didn't seem too upset.

He's actually not that bad of a brother.

Kazuto turned to the cashier, about ready to hand over the money, when he paused, as if a thought had occurred to him. Suddenly, he looked back at Shino. "Asada, give me your stuff."

She blinked. "What?"

The boy held out his hand. "I'll pay for your stuff too."

"W-why would you do that?" the ebony-haired girl asked, looking absolutely bewildered.

Kazuto shrugged. "I came here to make it up to you, right? Consider this my personal contribution."

Shino eyed him warily. She had her own money and was planning on paying it herself, but… the look in his eyes told that he wasn't going to give up easily.

Finally, she gave in, handing over the few things she had. "Fine. I don't have that much anyway." It wasn't as if she had come because she needed anything, anyway. She had only come because she knew from experience that Kazuto hated needlessly extensive shopping (in GGO, they had gone shopping for gear on more than one occasion, and more than once, when they had been there for over an hour, he had gotten bored to the point of zoning out every ten seconds).

"Oh, Kazuto, can you pay for us too?" Rika asked teasingly.

"No." Kazuto answered, giving the cashier the money he owed. "Sugu and Asada are different, but if I paid for everybody, I'd go broke and then I wouldn't have any money for food this week!"

"Jeez, don't get so worked up. I was only joking," Rika answered, going passed him to pay next.

Sighing, Kazuto handed Suguha her bag and then turned to give Shino hers. Looking from his sister to his former best friend made him remember what Suguha had said earlier, so as he handed Shino her bag back, he spoke.

"Hey, Asada? I'm sorry, by the way, about… you know."

She just stared at him for a long time, her face expressionless. For a second, he thought that she either had no idea what he was talking about or simply was rejecting his apology.

"…Ok," she finally replied, before taking her bag and walking away.

Kazuto sighed in relief. She accepted the apology. She may not have forgiven him just yet, but at least she accepted it. It was better than nothing.

They ended up shopping for hours, and Kazuto was dismayed at how the little money he had was pretty much gone when the sun began to set. But by the time they all went home, he noticed the small smile that had formed on Shino's lips.

Maybe this had been worth it after all.


A/N: I feel like that sucked and could have been better, but I wanted to get something out because I felt bad. At least this was relatively long. Almost as long as a normal chapter for me, so you're welcome.

I also feel like I'm portraying Rika/Lisbeth badly. Don't get me wrong, I like her, and I'm trying not to make her seem bad or anything, this is just how stuff played out in my mind.

The others may seem a bit OOC too, but I guess that's to be expected considering they didn't go through the SAO/ALO development.

Hope you enjoyed and please review!