Ordeals of Kirito

Ordeals of Kirito (キリトの受難) is an audio drama bonus short story. It was released on April 6, 2012 as part of the Accel World + Sword Art Online Drama CD, a Drama CD jointly created by the Accel World and Sword Art Online projects.

The story is set in the real world at an unspecified time following the Phantom Bullet Arc, chronicling a tale about Yui one day booking Kirigaya Kazuto on three consecutive dates with the heroines of the Sword Art Online series.

Prologue
One morning, Kirigaya Kazuto was abruptly awoken by his cousin and adoptive sister, Kirigaya Suguha, who reminded him that they had planned to go shopping that day. Although Kazuto could not remember having made such a plan, seeing how Suguha was disheartened by how he could not remember his promise, Kazuto claimed that he had still been partially asleep, but now remembered it. After Suguha went downstairs to wait for him to get ready, Kazuto called out Yui to enquire about his schedule. Yui informed him that his schedule included shopping with Suguha, an appointment with Shinozaki Rika (Lisbeth) and Ayano Keiko (Silica) in Akihabara, as well as a meeting with Asada Shino (Sinon) in Ikebukuro. Yui also informed him that she was the one who accepted the invitations in his name. When Kazuto told Yui that she should have asked for his consent before accepting the invitations, Yui suddenly claimed that she did not care about him and disappeared. Not being able to contact Yui anymore, Kazuto decided that he had no choice but to follow the schedule Yui had set for him, and thus he went downstairs to go shopping with Suguha.

Suguha Chapter
In a shopping district, Kirito discovered that Suguha wanted him to help her choose a new swimsuit. The two went to the swimsuit section of a store that was recommended by Suguha's friends. There, Suguha began by asking for Kazuto's opinion about a one-piece swimsuit, but Kazuto complained about it exposing too much skin. When Suguha asked him what he would deem as being fine, Kazuto chose a childish swimsuit, resulting in Suguha complaining about it. Kazuto then told her that he believed she was still a child, which led to Suguha hitting him with a hanger.

Suguha then told Kazuto to be serious with his choice, but as Kazuto did not know much about swimsuit fashion, he asked for the help of a shop assistant, despite Suguha wanting him to be the one to pick. The shop assistant offered a very revealing design, prompting Kazuto to protest. Since Kazuto then asked for less adult-like models, Suguha took the swimsuit the shop assistant offered in anger and stated that she would try it.

While in the dressing room, Suguha complained about Kazuto treating her like a child and began dressing. However, she soon discovered that the strings had become entangled and she could not remove the swimsuit, thus she asked Kazuto to come to dressing room to help her. After Kazuto helped untie the back strap, the shop assistant came to ask if the swimsuit fit and offered her help in changing, but Suguha rejected, as Kazuto was in the dressing room.

In the end, Kazuto chose a swimsuit with a fluttering ribbon and the two left the store. On the way home, Yui suddenly informed Kazuto that he had five minutes to get to the station or he would be late for his next appointment. Kazuto faked a stomachache and told Suguha that he needed to go to the bathroom at the station immediately, thus she should return home without him, and then dashed towards the station.

Liz & Silica Chapter
At an ALfheim Online (ALO) fan appreciation event in Akihabara, Yui informed Kazuto that Rika and Keiko were in a participant booth and disappeared. Entering the booth, Kazuto discovered that Rika and Keiko were getting dressed, and was told to leave immediately. Some time later, Kazuto returned to the booth and apologised for his intrusion. He then noticed that the girls were dressed as their ALO avatars and was told that the girls were participating in a cosplay contest to win a rare item, but needed a third member to participate. Thus, Silica showed Kazuto his white costume, shocking him that he was supposed to be the hero of light.

On stage, the group's turn began with Kazuto performing an imitation of «Vertical Square»; however, the audience was not impressed. The next was Keiko, who immediately captivated the crowd with her cuteness and imitation of a spell incantation. Finally, it was Rika's turn, but due to stage fright, she had a hard time with her performance, and eventually tried running off the stage, tripping on the microphone cord. To her surprise, the audience soon began loudly cheering for her.

In the end, the group lost to a team dressed in bikini armour, and had to settle for second place. Kazuto ran to his next appointment without even listening to the results, while the girls agreed to exchange their photos of the event, with Keiko saying that the photos alone were worth the effort.

Sinon Chapter
After running at full speed, Kazuto finally arrived at a game centre in Ikebukuro, complaining to Yui about basing her calculations on his running speed, rather than his walking speed, but Yui ignored him. At that moment, Shino greeted Kazuto and, while they were in the line, she explained that she had tickets for one of the attractions, but needed help, since the attraction was meant for pairs.

In the briefing room, the setting for the attraction was explained and the two participants had to choose the roles of a veteran and newbie detectives. Although the newbie detective role was intended for girls, Shino immediately took the role of the veteran detective instead. Shino explained that the newbie detective would have to wear a jacket, and if the jacket was touched by zombies, they would lose points.

During the game, Shino easily dispatched the zombies, surprising Kazuto that Shino was not scared at all. Kazuto decided to prank her and hid from Shino. Realising that Kazuto was not following her, she went back along the same path, with Kazuto eventually jumping out to scare her and being shot in return by the angered Shino.

The two soon reached the boss room and Shino explained her strategy to have Kazuto distract the minions while she handled the boss. Just when Kazuto asked how he was supposed to get the attention of the minions, Shino kicked him into the room, and explained that they would come at the closest person.

After the battle, during which Kazuto struggled with all the minions that attacked him until Shino defeated the boss, Shino expressed her disappointment in the score, gave Kazuto his personality assessment, and left.

Asuna Chapter
After completing all his tasks, Kazuto tried contacting Yui again, but could not reach her. He soon realised what the cause of Yui's bad temper was and called Yuuki Asuna to meet with her. At a small park close to Asuna's home, Kazuto found her on the swings. Asuna asked what Kazuto had been doing that day, and revealed that she knew all about his adventures due to Yui reporting to her.

Asuna was about to explain the situation, when Kazuto suddenly interrupted her apologised for forgetting his promise the previous day. Asuna then explained that she asked Yui to confuse him in return, but she did not expect him to get invited to three dates. Kazuto immediately denied that his meetings with the girls were dates. Eventually, Kazuto jumped onto Asuna's swings and showed Yui the sky via a camera.

Some time later, Asuna had to return home for dinner, apologising that she could not spend more time with Yui. Kazuto then brought up the idea of hanging swings on the World Tree, but Asuna suggested hanging them near their virtual world instead. Kazuto agreed and promised to have it big enough for all three of them to ride.