Akatsu

Kat giggled as Ryou tried to explain that she was just having a good time. Kat understood, but it was still nice to hear Ryou say it for once. She didn't mind this adventure, as slow paced and leisurely as it had been. Surely they would have more adventures that were more high action and full of adrenaline. But this was fine for now. Kat figured she shouldn't just sit on her laurels though. She figured she could help Ryou find some materials herself rather than leaving it all to her friend. And so, Kat got on her hands and knees and began rooting around in the grass like she hat watched t

Kat watched as Ryou laid in the grass. “Yeah, I meant it. I’m not all the men at the bar. I was the first person who wanted to be your friend, despite how much of a sourpuss you were.” Kat giggled, and jumped up to her feet, before running off after another set of small boars. These ones were definitely babies, and squealed in fright and scattered every which way from the girl charging at them. Kat wanted to break up the monotony. Her and Ryou had been out in this field for what felt like ages, with nothing to do but pick flowers and talk to each other. And while Kat enjoyed both of those

Kat giggled as Ryou went to grab some more flowers. Ryou really did worry too much, but Kat was honestly used to that. She took the flower from Ryou with a light blush still on her cheeks. She was happy that she had gotten the hug. She was happy that they were finally able to spend this kind of uninterrupted time together. It was almost magical. If not for the fact that they were trapped in a video game and basically being hunted by an evil stalker. But Kat tried her best to put that out of her mind for now. “You didn’t make me nervous, okay?” Kat managed to finally explain, breaking away

Kat squeaked from the unexpected hug. She immediately panicked for a moment, She thought something was wrong with Ryou, usually Ryou only hugged her if she was drunk and needed support. But Ryou definitely wasn’t drunk, so she worried that something else was wrong. Was she hurt? Tired? Once Kat gave herself a chance to think about it though, she realized that this was warmer, gentler. Ryou was just hugging her. Kat’s blush grew even redder as she realized this, and she tried her best not to panic for an entirely different reason. “I-I’m glad you like it! We’ll find a way to keep it alive,

Kat's eyes lit up as Ryou found a solution to her problem. That was her Ryou, all Kat ever had to do was ask, and Ryou would usually find a way. She looked at the bouquet that she had made, and couldn't help the childish grin that drew across her face. She giggled and thought that all the colorful flowers worked incredibly well together, and was so very impressed with all that Ryou had managed to find in just the short time they had been wandering around these fields. But Ryou had always been resourceful, and that was one of the things Kat adored about her. She just wished that Ryou could acce

Kat heard Ryou say the words that she had wanted to hear for so long. That she was glad to be discovering who she was. Kat had seen this Ryou in glimpses, and once at that festival. It was overwhelmingly positive for the both of them for Ryou to be coming out of her shell like this, and Kat would drive that point home as much as she could. She had run out of flowers nearby where she was sitting, and would have normally needed to move to grab more, but then Ryou came over with more flowers. Ryou held them out to her, and Kat's smile grew wider as her eyes sparkled at her friend. "They're s

Kat's eyes watered a bit, but she blinked away the tears. She had never really felt that much gratitude from Ryou before. Ryou was always protecting her and waving off her help like she was trying to be strong and independent. Which she was, and Kat respected that about her. But at the end of the day, she wanted her friend to be her friend. Kat was always so selfish, and that probably wouldn't change anytime soon. But she wanted Ryou to be more than a bodyguard, if nobody else in Kat's life was ever going to get close to her. She felt like nobody else could ever really stand her, except the me

Kat was trying her best to believe that Ryou was having a good time. This certainly wasn’t as fun as the festival they went to, but Kat was still having a good time. Ryou wanted Kat to trust her, but after years of watching Ryou be so high strung, it was difficult for her to be so sure. Ryou led her away to another field of flowers, and Kat’s eyes basically lit up as she watched Ryou find a flower from the field. Kat was being extremely careful to not crush any of the flowers underfoot. In fact, she wanted to be extra careful. She opened her menu and her equipment and removed her booties.

When Ryou brushed the hair from her face Kat naturally tilted her head causing the hair to fall back into her face. She liked her hair covering her face, even if it seemed to annoy Ryou sometimes. She giggled at the gesture. It wasn’t the first time they had it he little back and forth. A lot of men told Kat she had the prettiest blue eyes and that it was a shame she always hid one or the other. But Kat always thought it made her look cuter. When Ryou took her hand her heart skipped a beat, but then Ryou admitted that she had been overthinking again and Kat’s frown deepened. She squeezed

Kat turned back around to Ryou, trying to use the hair that normally covered her face to hide the blush that still lightly traced across it. She smiled and pulled out the dandelion, careful not to lose any of the little wispy seeds that barely clung to the flower's center. "A dandelion!" she told Ryou, before putting it back in her inventory so she didn't mess up the flower. A breeze blew through the plains surrounding them, and that was also another worry, as she saw a couple of other dandelions lose their seeds nearby. "I know it's simple," she admitted, "but they're cute flowers. Dunno if t

Kat stared up at the sky, and smiled. She was seeing Ryou, her Ryou again, and it was wonderful. She wasn't sure that she ever would see that side of her again. Her mind flashed back to the festival that she had gotten a begrudging Ryou to go to on a weekend night. Ryou had even worn a kimono for Kat, and she looked absolutely beautiful to Kat. Kat looked over at Ryou, in her armor and sighed, wondering what it would take to get her back in that kimono again. The blush ran across her cheeks, and she tried her best to get the thoughts from her mind as she rolled back over in the grass and prete

Kat was surprised when she was “punished” by Ryou with a flick on the forehead. Gentle as it was, and despite the fact that it wouldn’t have hurt anyway due to the game’s systems, Kat reacted like she had just been shot in the head. She groaned and wobbled and spun around dramatically, before leaning backwards and plopping into the grass. She stared up at the sky, hoping her drama wasn’t taken too seriously. She was very much enjoying this different side of Ryou. Kat sat up from the grass, some of it falling away from her kimono after she had shaken it loose from the ground with her fall

Kat smiled brightly at Ryou and was so excited that they were finally on the adventure she wanted, even if it was a simple fetch quest. But after finding the mushroom, Kat wondered what else there was to find. She didn’t want to disturb the boars too much, but she wondered if maybe following them would yield more mushrooms. She had read in a book somewhere, probably grade school, that pigs were experts at finding food, and food meant things to give to Zackariah! So she walked up to some boars, and as she walked waited to see if they got spooked. They didn’t this time. They just grazed and

Kat was more than a little surprised when Ryou grabbed her hand, and gave a slight yelp when Ryou jump started the skipping again by skipping herself. She looked at her friend in confusion, and while Ryou looked a little uncomfortable, she wasn’t upset. She actually looked happy, and was even blushing a little. This made Kat blush as well, as she skipped along with her friend, hand in hand, like they were both little girls. Before she knew it, Kat was giggling like usual and humming along as they skipped. It didn’t take too long before they reached the city gates, and Kat gasped at the hu

Kat’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat when she thought of going outside again. Not that she exactly felt safe in the city after being accosted by that terrible man, but she certainly felt safer than she would outside the city walls, without thousands of other players milling about. With a light sigh, she steeled herself and her thoughts, before putting on her customary smile for Ryou. “Okay! Let’s go pick some flowers or something then! If we’re lucky, there’s some stuff just outside the gate!” Kat jumped to her feet and threw her arms up into the air, before dancing around. “It’s fin

Kat was worried but when Ryou patted her head all her worries seemed to melt away. She nodded in response to everything being okay, her smile shining brightly despite the recent meltdown. It was always easy for Kat to bounce back. She had to, or else she couldn’t make the money she wanted to. However, when Ryou mentioned going outside the city walls, a bit of color drained from Kat’s face. “Oh no. Why?! What’s outside the city walls? Are we finally going to have to kill things?!” Kat asked, a bit panicked. She wanted to pretend all day long that she was ready for this. That it was easy. B

Kat stood stock still as she waited for Ryou to respond, the tears flowing freely. She knew she had gone overboard, but she had wanted to get this off her chest for years now. She had known Ryou for so long, became such good friends, did everything she could to take care of her, and still to this day had never gotten to know Ryou. The real Ryou, the one that wasn't overworked and actually lived her life. She didn't know Ryou's family, just that Ryou sent them money. She didn't know Ryou's life, or habits, just that she came to the bar half asleep and ready to get drunk. She wanted to know more

Kat folded her arms and when Ryou presented herself in front of her, Kat looked to the side, away from Ryou. She listened to her apology, and she wanted to forgive her, but this always happened. She pouted and tried her best not to let the tears start forming again, she wanted to be the one to be mad at Ryou, not start crying because Ryou was being nice to her again. She continued to stare off down the street as she said, "I clearly didn't get in trouble. The stupid NPC didn't even do anything, and the potion just went right back on the table as if nothing had happened." Kat tried her best to

Kat grumbled as Ryou scolded her. She hadn’t done anything the game would get mad at her for and Zackariah didn’t care. Kat was ready to throw a temper tantrum because Ryou was upset with her. She didn’t want Ryou to be upset, she wanted Ryou to have fun. But here she was still worrying about things like they were in the real world. It was infuriating to the woman. It was like when Kat had finally dragged Ryou to karaoke but she made Kat sing all the songs because Ryou was too worried Kat wouldn’t like her singing. ”Okay, fine. Let’s get this stupid quest done and over with,” Kat said, be

Kat walked into the store as Ryou held open the door for her, and she was assaulted by the smells of all the potions being brewed. They all smelled wonderful! Mostly. Some of them smelled like medicine. Kat wrinkled her nose at those ones. She looked for those that smelled nice and wafted them into her face as Ryou talked to the old man behind the counter. She presumed that to be Zackariah, but Kat was busy figuring out which potions she didn't like so she could break them if she had to get answers. She had gotten around to picking somewhere around three potions she didn't like the smell of th

Kat frowned at Ryou for not showing the same enthusiasm for her for the quest. It was going to be fun! Ryou needed to live a little. She didn’t think these NPC people were actually people, if she understood after it was explained to her. She could probably hurt them and they forget the next day. That was a grim thought. Kat furrowed her brow as she followed Ryou. Best not to think stuff like that. Kat wanted to be a hero. Heroes get all the glory, not villains. Kat nodded along to her own thoughts as if she had been talking to someone this entire time, barely noticing where they were, unt

Dorian seemed satisfied by the response Ryou gave him, and nodded, but was surprised when Ryou started to leave. As Ryou started to walk away he quickly blurted out, “A-ah, Zachariah! Zackariah the alchemist is who I think I lent the money! I’ll mark your map with the location of his store! Good luck!” And then the two were gone. Dorian gave a small crooked smile and shrugged, “What an odd pair.” He then turned, and as if he forgot the entire thing began to harry the next group passing by. Kat pouted as she was dragged off by Ryou. “Sorry if I made you mad,” she admitted, “you’re right, i

Dorian cleared his throat, "Oh, nothing so grand as a quest, I assure you. I just have a debt I need repaid, and for the life of me, I can't remember who I gave it to. Would you be willing to look into this for me?" As the party leader, Ryou would receive a quest notification screen in front of her, and Kat just stood there staring at Dorian, waiting for him to continue, having received no notification herself. She looked to Ryou, then back to Dorian, "Yes, we would be happy to help!" she explained to the man, but he just stood there waiting for Ryou to respond. Kat blinked, puffed out her che

As Ryou explained that “party” in the video game meant “group” all Kat could think to ask was, “Well, why don’t they just call it a group then? Party means something entirely different!” She puffed her cheeks in annoyance and waited for Ryou to go through the menus as she tapped her foot. She wasn’t necessarily being impatient, she just didn’t understand why video games had to be so complicated! Finally, Ryou let Kat know that there were invitations sent to the “party”. At this point she wished it was a real party. She could use a few drinks after all they had gone through. Either way, Ka

Kat led Ryou by the hand as they followed the boy that Kat had kept them company in the alleyway. He had a lot more energy and seemed to be in much higher spirits. To be fair, Kat was much in the same spirits now that she had taken a nap, and she gripped Ryou's hand tight so she was sure she wouldn't lose her. When all three woke up and talked to each other, the boy found out that the two women had zero ideas on how to play the game. So he agreed to help the two learn the ropes, and the primary way to do that was to do the starter quests. The boy had led them through the labyrinthine Sta