Book 4: Chapter 6: Patch 1.0: Settling In

“My hero, are – are you going to eat like that?” Alice asks.

None of the girls expected him to be perfectly fine with those drawings and labels all over his face, but he’s accepting them all. “Yep,” he answers.

Serra can hardly hold back her giggling at the sight of him.

“This is great, by the way. Thanks,” he tells Alice and Cassandra. “I’ve never had mashed potatoes with this much garlic in it before,” Cassandra and Alice look nervously at each other, “but it’s great. I think I might prefer them this way now.”

The two girls breathe sighs of relief.

“Good!” Alice says. “We were worried that you would not like such a high amount of garlic.”

“You could have just asked me if I liked garlic,” Ryouta says.

“It – we wanted to surprise you,” Cassandra says.

“Trying to surprise people with food is pretty risky, but it worked out. Are there any other surprises I should be looking out for?”

The girls shake their heads.

“By the way, what was the store like?” Ryouta asks.

“It was… a store,” Cassandra answers. “I think they’re open twenty-four-seven, so next time, we should just go in the middle of the night instead.”

“Why that late?”

“Too many old people during the day.”

“That’s fair. Alice?” He looks at Alice, seeing just how excited she looks.

“It was a wonderful journey! It was my first time ever going into such a market! There were signs telling you where things are, assistants walking around whom could help you locate specific items, different sections of the store dedicated to different types of products, and robotic arms that placed all of our groceries in bags for us!” Alice recalls like an excited kid freshly home from a field trip.

“You’ve never been to a store before?”

“I have, but not one for food! The stores I have been to have always been for clothes and wigs.”

“You really are a spoiled princess.”

Alice smiles and nods her head. “The only downside was having so many stares directed at me. I understand why, but I will admit that it still makes me uncomfortable when in a new area.”

Serra, who’s been reading their lips the entire time, nods at Alice’s latest words.

“But, that is partially on us, after all! We are the ones choosing to live like this instead of making use of the technology available,” Alice tells Serra.

Ryouta, after dipping his meatloaf into his mashed potatoes and eating the result, says, “I just read something about that the other day online. Apparently, since people with disabilities are considered a protected class, they stay that way for tax benefits and government help and all that. Government can’t force people to get surgeries which aren’t completely necessary, so they just keep their disabilities.”

“That is true, my hero, but not all of us do it for that reason! It is just an identity issue for some of us. It is who we are, and we accept that.”

“Didn’t you tell me before you like it since it’s tragic?”

“That – that may be part of the reason! But, truthfully, it has more to do with being my identity. I liked my wheelchair as a child since it made me feel unique and I was allowed to decorate it however I wished. While I do enjoy being able to run and swim as Nell, I find my chair much more comforting than those leisures.”

Serra nods along with everything that Alice has to say, but then she signs to the group telling them that her parents got tax breaks for her living with them while remaining deaf. She even tells them about how her parents were half-joking around about being sad that she was moving out since that meant they’d have to pay higher taxes.

Ryouta and Cassandra look at each other.

“Doesn’t this mean we get those tax breaks now?” Cassandra asks.

“I’m pretty sure,” Ryouta answers.

“Alas, neither of you will need to be paying taxes in the first place since I will be providing for us!” Alice says with a smug smile and arms crossed over her chest, not noticing the bit of mashed potatoes on her cheek.

“You’re a princess. Be more careful,” Cassandra says, wiping away the mashed potatoes from Alice’s cheek with one of her fingers and then licking said mashed potatoes off from her finger.

Alice slowly turns red while maintaining her pose and expression until she slumps over in defeat.

“Cass,” Ryouta says.

Cassandra looks at Ryouta and sees mashed potatoes all over his lips.

“You look gross. Wipe that off,” Cassandra says, tossing a napkin at him and sighing.

“It was worth a try,” he says. “Hey, wait. All this legal talk has got me thinking. Alice, are you legally allowed to live over here?”

Alice lifts her head and almost lets out an embarrassing snort when she sees Ryouta with the mashed potatoes still covering his lips. “I – I am, my hero, yes,” she says, unable to look directly at him. “Let us just say that my family has some very useful ties to this country’s government, so getting the proper paperwork done was easy! I legally have dual citizenship now.”

“That’s… just how high do those ties go?”

“High enough! Speaking of which, you may all be granted dual citizenship as well if you wish to ever move across the ocean.”

“You spoil us.”

“You really do,” Cassandra agrees.

While those three talk, Serra steals some of Cassandra’s macaroni and cheese.

“What can I say? I love to spoil those whom I love!” Alice explains.

The rest of dinner continues with much more mundane topics.

It is the topic that comes after dinner which sparks various, interesting reactions.

While Ryouta and Serra do the dishes as Cassandra and Alice lounge on the couch, Ryouta says, “So, about sex.”

Serra, focusing on doing the dishes as quickly as possible, doesn’t notice the topic nor how Cassandra and Alice freeze on the couch.

“Wh-what about it, my hero?” Alice asks.

“You all want kids, and we’ve had sex in-game before, but we’ve never actually tried to have real sex in real life before. Is… is there a reason for that?” Ryouta asks them. He peeks over his shoulder and sees the girls looking at each other with bright cheeks.

“A-ah… well, you see… I just – we, we…”

Cassandra takes a deep breath before saying, “We’re just afraid.”

Ryouta puts down the dishes he’s holding to turn around and look at them properly. “Why are you afraid?” he asks.

“Because we look different in-game, and… I know this is stupid, but it’s just – we’re afraid you wouldn’t like our bodies as much as you do in-game, and it would hurt, and… yeah. “

“Is that it? There aren’t any other reasons?”

Alice and Cassandra nod their heads. “We have been making Serra wait for us to be ready as well,” Alice admits.

“Honestly, I’m happy that’s all. It’s not really stupid, either. I mean, of course I’m going to love your real bodies even more than your in-game bodies, but it’s understandable. I’ve been feeling the same way.”

“You have?” Cassandra asks.

“I mean, yeah. I know you’ve all already seen it, but… it’s pretty obvious I made Fenrir’s dick bigger than my own, and not just by an inch. Plus I made him way more attractive in pretty much every single way, so yeah. I feel like the real thing is a downgrade from him.”

Alice and Cassandra both look at him. The look in their eyes tells Ryouta that they’re… mad at him?

“Ryouta!” Alice says. “Do not insult yourself like that! Your real body is an upgrade from Fenrir’s if anything! Yes, Fenrir may be attractive, but only because we know you are the one playing him! He looks too artificially handsome, and the real you looks much more – well, real! Everything about your real body is far more perfect.”

“Don’t worry about something stupid like your character’s… size, you dumbie. That thing in-game is way too big anyways. We’re already worried about you hurting us with what you really have. You think either of us want you to be even bigger? We want to feel good; we don’t want to die from pain,” Cassandra says with an annoyed huff.

“Hey, don’t team up on me,” Ryouta says. “You’re both guilty of it too! Alice, I tell you all the time how much I love how soft your thighs look and how much I want to play with them, but you don’t let me! Cass, your boobs are even bigger in real life, and you’re shorter than you are in-game, and I love both of those!”

“Yeah, well, I think you look adorable in your sleep!” Cassandra shouts at him.

“And I like how much softer your body is in reality as well!” Alice shouts back.

While Serra continues doing the dishes, a shouting competition of complimenting each other somehow occurs behind her.