[PP-F22] A Day Where We Start A Different Path [Mikoto No Shouen]

[Crozeph 0]

Not a morning person but...

Crozeph opened his eyes, it was still dark or rather light and dark are still fighting over who shall reign this time but for sure it is light. Crozeph opened his in-game menu and saw the time "4:57 am, I guess I woke up because of something" he thought as he sat up. Tatami mats, a kotatsu, and possibly some back pain. He was sleeping on the floor, not that it was new, he was more used to it. Crozeph stood up and scrolled through his still open inventory. He change his attire into his casual one. A white long -sleeve formal shirt and black slacks, it was quite a fit on him and probably the first time in a while that he changed into clothes that aren't battle-ready. Light began to peek as he saw through the paper screen of the shoji, since he was the first to wake up it would be his chance to cook. He rolled up his sleeves and began to make his way to the kitchen. 

Now what should...

Crozeph stood at the center of the kitchen and thought of what to cook, maybe some fried eggs and coffee would work. He didn't want to push it with his mediocre skills at cooking, he can't even cook for himself. Crozeph opened one of the food storages and grabbed four eggs and placed them on the table. He turned around and gently lit up the stove and placed a frying pan over it. "This place is well furnished," he thought as he circled a few drops of cooking oil at the frying pan. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, opening his menu and looking for something about making coffee. The game had convenience when it comes to it but Crozeph wanted to feel normal this day and prepared the coffee manually. Seeing that the pan is already hot enough, Crozeph cracked open the eggs he grabbed earlier and placed it inside the pan one by one. It took only a few minutes for him to finish frying and the last thing was getting a pot of tea, just to make sure there are choices.

5:45 am

A plate with fried eggs is set on the table, two more plates, and two cups. Crozeph brushed up his hair as his fringes began to annoy him and finish the cup of coffee he had poured earlier, "I should wake her up" he thought. Sunrise has begun and with breakfast ready, there was no reason not to wake up unless there's nothing to do. A pretty good weather for him, he wasn't sure if he should cook some rice but first he has to wake her up. He walked to the door of her room, the person who gave him permission to stay in her manor. He was offered a guest room but it turns out he transferred to the floor in the living room, bad habits. He knocked on her door, gently but loud enough "Yuki are you awake? I made some breakfast for you" he uttered as he knocked.

@Zajcica

for Reference:

Spoiler

 

	Crozeph [Level 32]   | HP: 640/640 | EN: 64/64   | ACC: 2 | DMG: 12 | EVA: 1 | MIT: 44   | FREEZE +1 | RECOVERY +2 |
** Rank 2 Merchant - The Night's Watch ** WARNING: Mitigation cannot fall below 0!
Hide contents [Equipment] Lamina De Skadi [T2 Rare] -- Freeze +1 - Natural critical attack rolls of 9-10 (1 slot) or natural successful attack rolls of 8-10 (2 slots) remove the enemy’s action on their next turn. Frozen opponents lose any evasion properties. Striking a frozen enemy before the effect ends will end Freeze and deal an extra (12 * Tier) unmitigatable damage. [Must hit to activate the status condition.] -- ACC +1 -- A katana with a black hilt and an azure blade like a clear,  blue, lake water. The name translates into "Blade of Skadi" a goddess who also represented hunting and winter, signifying its use as for hunting or attacking foes by freezing them. When equipped, the user 's breath will be like one who is breathing in a cold place and the freeze effect is seen as some kind of water splashing that freezes upon contact with the target. Cloak of the Oath -- MIT +2  -- EVA +1 -- A black haori who belonged to a vice-president of the Shinsengumi. Enables the wearer to withstand attacks and also evade it. Caster's Mystic Code -- Recovery +2 -- ACC +1 -- A platinum band for the wrist with runic inscriptions worn by a Babylonian king who had access to magecraft. This item gives a boost on accuracy and ability to restore energy to cast more spells just like how the previous owner wanted it to work, it glows a vibrant blue when it activates through the lettering. [Battle-Ready Inventory] x1 Liquor of Light x2 T2 Perfect Fiery Dragon Roll [MIT] x2 T2 Rare Udon Bowl +2 ACC X2 T2 Rare Mochi +2 LD X2 T2 Rare Ramen Bowl +2 EVA      Skills   Hide contents Mod Count: 1/5 Katana | Passive | RANK 5/5 > Finesse R3 Light Armor | Passive | RANK 2/5  >  Battle Healing | Passive | RANK 2/5 >  Curved Sword | Passive | RANK 1/5 >  First-Aid | Active | RANK 2/5 >  Extended Weight Limit | Passive | RANK 0 >  [Extra] Survival | Passive  Meditation | Active I +10 EN Familiar Mastery: Fighter | Passive | RANK 2/3 Misc. Buffs   Hide contents  Relaxed | Passive | House buff >

 

Edited June 18, 2020 by Crozeph

[Zajcica 0]

The peering daylight was shining through the open outside door on the other side from where Crozeph knocked. The girl groaned heavily as consciousness came back to her. Her thoughts were muddied from just waking, but she could barely hear Crozeph's voice muffled through the thin door frame. Lifting her head, the woman looked over at the door to see his darkened silhouette of the boy.

"Crow... Wath tim is iht?" The girl squinted her eyes to look at her HUD seeing that it's currently 6am. Honestly, she just wanted to go back to bed at this point, but she could faintly smell some eggs or something. Crozeph seems to have made breakfast which was nice of him, but usually she prefers to make her own food. Not that she was going to decline him or anything.

Finally, the paladin rose from her bed and stretched her back out. With a loud yawn, she looked out to the sky of the open door. It was nice right now, but it seemed like it was going to rain soon. The moisture was in the air. Her pajamas draped down low on her body, some of the baggiest clothes that she owned. She closed the outside door to her room and made her way to the second door that lead into the hallway of her home where Crozeph was waiting. Her eyes seemed tired and a bit out of focus.

"Mroning." The girl said giving him a quick, tired hug before making her way to the kitchen to see what he had decided to cook up for them. Eggs and coffee. Not bad. A simple meal that he did good enough on. Though it was missing some things, Yuki's voice cleared up as she began to speak again. "You made eggs but there's nothing good to soak up the yolk of the egg like bread or biscuits. Also, the dish lacks a main focus. Sausage or bacon would have been a good addition." She naturally starts putting sausage on the stove along with toasting some bread. It was a natural thing, not that she was trying to belittle Crozeph's attempt cause the eggs looked fine.

"The eggs aren't bad though. Thank you for the thought." Within no time the other pieces of the meal were done and now it was a breakfast with some reasonable girth to it. "There you go. That looks a lot more tasty, doesn't it?" She said with a smile.

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Yuki's appearance was rather surprising for Crozeph, maybe he was used to seeing her in a kimono or her heavy armor but she still looked good to him. "I think it's six in the morning already,  I don't know when you wake up so I tried to cook something and offer you..." he turned red as Yuki hugged him before making her way to the kitchen. He's still not used to it at times, while the feeling had always been good to him, he was still new to it. Maybe he got used too well at the feeling of watching out for danger, it's not like some kind of trauma for him. He followed her to the kitchen and heard her comments about the missing pieces of the breakfast. He scratched his head at the mention of it, but Yuki seemed to be approving of what he cooked.

"I wasn't really sure where to look so I grabbed whatever I could recognize around"  he uttered. He watched as Yuki added a few more of food and Crozeph nodded his head in approval, it indeed looked tastier with how she added sausages and bread "s*** I forgot the bread, I committed heresy"  he thought as he sat down near the table "I gotta take notes on that, especially with me staying here more frequently, I'm glad you liked what I did. It's been a while since I really cooked something" he then made a mocking smile at the eggs he cooked "I got nervous because I might burn it" he told her. 

"I've got nothing to do today, no calls or messages from Jacob's Ladder yet and no quest to do at the moment," he told her "so you'll be seeing my face for the whole day or do you want to go somewhere around this floor?" he added as he grabbed a bread and took a bite.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

The paladin rubbed her eyes as she transferred the plate of food over to the kotatsu with Crow. While she felt like they were on a pretty good touchy-feely ground, she didn't want to make him feel awkward with the constant contact. She sat to his side on the kotatsu, making sure to get her feet under the cover. It was breezy, so she made sure to turn the heater on low. 

"I think it's going to start raining soon." Yuki mentioned before stuffing one of the perfectly cook sausages in her mouth. It was seasoned perfectly for the food that they were eating even though Yuki was barely ten minutes awake. It had come as natural as breathing to her at this point. The eggs that Crozeph had made were pretty good. He at least knew how to make simple things pretty good. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to show him the ropes so he could make vanity food for himself.

"We can just stay here and relax." She mentioned remembering the events of what happened with Mari the day before. If there was something she needed right now, it was a break away from this death game. "I... I don't want to do anything but relax with you. I haven't taken a day to relax since I started this game. No better person to share it with." She gave him another warm smile and bit into the eggs he made her.

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Crozeph turned his head still biting a bread and looked to where he could see outside "yeah that looks like an indication of a rain falling soon" he agreed. He wondered if Yuki hangs out some laundry outside, the game had some mechanics for people to emulate things in real life but it would be a bit of a stretch if a laundry system existed. Aincrad is an RPG game, not a simulator but he can't help but ask Yuki just so he can crack some of his weird and lame jokes at her.

"You don't have any laundry outside do you?" he asked her. With how Crozeph likes bread he finished the first toast he got faster than the usual he then proceeded to eat one of the eggs he cooked. He got lucky with this one and was glad that Yuki liked it, he was a terrible cook for himself back in the world outside so it was a really lucky shot. "You know I used to cook for myself before I got stuck here, so I'm really glad you liked it" he said just to express what he feels in a not so weird way "I don't know if it's just me but sometimes I do things just the way they are since I'm alone in my apartment, it's not like no one visits me but sometimes..." he took another bite and swallowed "... the solitary life can rob me of adding lively things even with cooking."

He didn't want it to sound sad so he smiled as he said it, as if it was a thing of the past that amuses him just by remembering it. He wanted Yuki to know him more, that there are parts of him that might cause problems for what they have started now. He then shifted his topic back to the laundry joke "yeah I can remember ruining my laundry always too, no matter what I do it comes out smelling bad from the dryer. I'm glad I don't have to do laundry here" he told her before making an awkward laugh.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

"No, I don't have any laundry out right now." She reassured him, but she seemed to pick up on his sadness. Moving over to the side that Crow was sitting on, the girl looked down at his hand sitting on the table and took it in her own hand, hoping that this wouldn't be an invasion of his privacy. A blush formed on her face as the embarrassment began to wash over her. "You aren't alone here. Don't worry." She said resting her head against the two hands and smiling, her face still red across the cheeks.

When his mood changed back to a smile, the girl seemed a little more brightened up. She pulled her head up off her hand and scoot the plate of food over to her, keeping her grip on his hand if he would continue to grasp hers. "It's been years since I woke up to someone in my house... Thank you for being here."

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

There was no laundry, he figured so and her hand to his was also an assurance or her being there for him "I know I'm not alone anymore, thank you for that" he returned the words while holding her gently. He didn't know if he was doing it right, all he could was go with it and let things flow naturally. It was probably what he missed, a normal day where he could just talk about random things and do normal tasks, just like he did back then. "I also wanted to learn a few things now that I won't be doing things alone, most of the time I keep messing things up because I act like no one is with me which I wasn't really doing on purpose. Some habits don't go away easily like how I slept on the floor here like some kind of drunk person" he told her.

Crozeph smiled at her when she thanked him for being here "you're welcome, I'll stay here more for you. The only time I'll leave is when the guild would call for something to do" he told her. Even if he wanted to live life as normal as possible with Yuki, there's still a problem they need to solve and that's to get out of the game and help his guild in doing so. Crozeph then took a bite from the sausage, still holding Yuki's hand "it's been a while for me also to wake up inside a house and make breakfast, I also get to share it with you which is really nice for me" he added.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki subconsciously moved slightly closer to Crozeph, resting her side on his and leaning her head against his shoulder. Her curled hand around his was beginning to get warm. The morning hadn't quiet woken her to the point of staying awake, so it seemed as though she was about to fall asleep again leaning against him. She pulled Crozeph's hand into her lap and closed her eyes, breathing slowly and quietly. The food was hardly on her mind right now, as much as she needed to eat.

Rubbing her pink hair against Crow's clothing, the girl spoke quietly. "I've never had a chance to experience a feeling like this Chris. I love it. I don' think I could have asked for anything greater than this, even if we haven't decided to take this relationship to the next level, at least formally. I'm not sure if you want to call me your girlfriend, or if you want me to call you my boyfriend or anything like that, but in the time I've known you, I want to continue going until we're comfortable with those terms, if you are okay with that."

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

It felt weird for him, the more Yuki drew closer the more he gets comfortable by it. The first time they met he was carefree around her until she had to ask a question which was reasonable enough for him. Now they're close enough to each other, he's getting used to it and that was a good sign. It would be really bad if his fears or his worries trigger when Yuki is around, thinking about it, Yuki was the one shutting all those down one by one. He liked how they are now too and he wanted to know her more and her know him more.

"I'm okay with it" he answered "we've still got a lot of things to figure out with each other or things I could only tell you" he added. He never experienced this before too, he was clueless about most things even though he knows how someone looks when it comes to these kinds of feelings. Now he gets to experience it himself and he doesn't know where to start and fortunately, they are on a good start. "I'm already comfortable with you on most things,  well I want to get myself used to some unexpected hugs." It feels nice always just that he wanted to be more relaxed when it happens, he didn't want to make an uncomfortable reaction to her.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

When Crow brought up her unexpected hugs, Yuki pulled her free hand around the boy's upper frame, squeezing him tightly. She didn't know if that counter as unexpected for him, but she knew that he would appreciate it nonetheless. After a moment, she let go of Crozeph and continued to eat her food. It was around now that the rain was starting to pick up outside. The downpour started soft, but then came with more ferocity after a few minutes. Yuki got up from her seat and headed to the door, opening the sliding frame to see the falling water crashing with the morning coolness. She looked back at Crow, adjusting her falling pants before they revealed any more than they should to him.

"I love the rain." She started, taking a deep breath and admiring the bad weather in front of her. "It soothes your weary muscles and has the feel in the air that just relaxes your body. Even still in this digital world I can feel the rain washing away my troubles. My real world problems are so far, yet they still feel so present. I've been throwing myself at everything in this game to avoid having to think about it. Forcing myself to think only about survival. Now that we're here Crow, I want you to know more about me, I want you to know that even though this world is digital and fake, my feelings are not." The girl took a seat just on the inside of the door frame, well away from the splashing of rain on her patio. She closed her eyes and though about everything that was happening in the world outside of this one. Then she remembered a crucial detail that she would have to reveal to Crozeph sooner or later. How was she going to tell him about her biggest secret without freaking him out.

"So... Chris... I have a secret that could alter your opinion on me. I'm... worried. So I'll ask you: Do you want to know my greatest secret?"

[Crozeph 0]

He couldn't deny that he liked it. There's something about hugs that made him feel safe despite him slightly hating physical contacts. That's who he was back then, when someone grabs him chaos ensues. Not that he won his fistfights with other children back then, he was a weak kid and the feeling of losing someone got to him at a young age and it made him wary of physical contacts. Yuki made it easier for him, even with the feeling of danger. There's always that feeling of loss, right now his time with Yuki was the best thing he could ever have and he didn't want it to end now that it has started. As Yuki move to the patio and watched the rain pour, he listened to how she likes it.

Crozeph neither like or love the rain, maybe it's because he lived in the city. No matter how lively the lights are in the city, Crozeph only saw people living for nothing. Hearing Yuki and her troubles being washed away by the rain and how her feelings are real despite them being inside a virtual world made him smile "I know, if it weren't real we won't be having this breakfast right now" he replied. The rain fell hard but it still sounded gentle to him, there are far more chaotic sounds he has heard and living on floor ten was enough to make him immune to such sounds. "I lived in the city so I don't really know if I really like the rain, I don't hate it either but the city made sure it wasn't enjoyable to people like me who don't bring umbrellas,"  he told her. 

"What secret?" he thought. Yuki was hiding something? or she simply wanted to reveal a part of her to him. "I'd say it's your call if you want to tell me your greatest secret, whether you tell me now or later I won't mind" he placed his hand on her hair, this time he's the one who pulled her gently and made her rest her head on his chest "I don't let my opinions get in the way of my feelings, it may be trivial but I'm already a broken person before we met. I doubt things besides death and fear would shake me."

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

The paladin smiled lightly, looking at the muddy wet ground just outside her wooden patio. If there was any better time to tell him about her secret, it would have to be now. It something that she was entitled to keep a secret to the one she loved. Especially one that meant so much to her. Only a few people know about this, but it was time she told Crow. He deserved to know. When she spoke to him next, the tone of her voice deepened slightly past her normally soft, peppy tone.

"Chris. I... I am not a natural born woman. I was born as a boy, but have been in treatment to change my sex for over 3 years now. In the real world, I am still male, but here the system has picked my model to be female. I don't want to be a boy, so I have to change my body. My legal name is Mikoto, Jun. I feel like it is a stretch to ask you something so selfish, but: Can you please love someone like me?" Her hand wrapped around Crow's, her body relaxing into his chest. Her eyes closed for a moment soaking in the quiet of the rainfall, letting Crozeph ruminate on her secret. After a moment, she would open her eyes and look up at him, tilting her head backwards to see his face.

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Crozeph watched the rain patter before them. Hearing Yuki's words as she tried to explain to him her secret, while the rain continued to pour down in her manor. Even with all the downpour, Crozeph heard her words loud and clear, who she was or rather who he really is. The treatment he went through, who he wanted to be, and how the game gave her the thing she wanted. He wasn't familiar with people like her, he was already drowning in the aimless waves of his broken like and broken self that he didn't know what it feels for Yuki but hearing the tone in her voice made him understand a little why she was saying these things to him right now just when they are taking this path together. 

His eyes met hers, waiting for his answer. It's as if her question had a bit of a request, was it even necessary to ask? He already mentioned it to her, aside from death and fear, there's already nothing that could shake him or make him act irrational in this moment. A life of solitude was what he envisioned for his, it is not what he wanted but how the gears of chances and affection moved it felt like he had no need of someone. It has always been the need, what do people need? what would benefit? a simple want would never work most of the time that's how he saw everything. Distancing himself unless he is needed and stepping away before they could have the chance to cast him away once he shows signs of insignificance. Deprived of options to want things for the sake of keeping his life peaceful but the world will never give it to him fully...

But I wanted to live for the simple things...

The person in front of him, someone who gave him what he wanted, the simple things. The food, her smile, a bash to his head when needed. All of it given to him even though he wasn't saying anything about what he wants. The things and warmth he wanted that was denied to him it turned into a need. Yuki told him her secret but was it even something that would stop Crozeph and his feelings? "I wanted to be honest with myself," he thought. He moved his face closer to hers, his smile this time had more warmth to it that he doesn't even realize himself. His eyes locked to hers and with all those things he told her his answer "I live for the simple things, whoever you want to be I'd still love you" he said it. No hesitation, no sign of regret. Honest words he could come up with without the usual "make-it-weird" tone. He could feel her breath "you gave me what I wanted with me not even asking, you don't have to ask me to love you, I already do" he said. He kissed her on the forehead before gently pulling her back to him, now he could return all the hugs he wasn't able to. The rain continued to pour and now that everything's out in the open for the two of them, Crozeph made a smile holding Yuki in his arms, the simple things, the happiness he wanted here right now.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

Yuki’s breath became uneven as Crow dipped in further to get close with her. This feeling of being close with person you was only something that she had dreamed of in her teenage years. The last few months have been some of the weirdest feelings that she would probably experience in her entire life. The number of friends that she had made in such a short time not to mention the realization of how much she preferred men to women. Her thoughts raced as Crozeph’s breath beat against her cheek.

A peck of his lips against her head nullified and hesitation that she was holding in. His words had melted her heart, there was no time to debate if what she was about to do was even a good idea. Her arm roped behind Crow’s head, hand grasping at the dark, short locks. A faint voice could barely be heard over the downpour. “Chris...”

And with that, Yuki escalate their scene by pressing her lips to his. The softness of her kiss landed onto Crow.

Time seemed to stand still in that moment. Up until now, Yuki hadn't kissed anyone. In the heat of the moment, her body had moved on it own. Once their lips parted, Yuki adjusted her position into Crow’s lap. Her face towards him flushed deeply red after that experience, but a warm smile across her cheek, she wrapped her legs around his core and placed her head into his chest. She closed her eyes and contemplated something - anything - to say. Sooner or later, the only thing that she could fall on was the simplest phrase one could use in thid situation.

”I love you.”

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Crozeph didn't turn red this time even with Yuki kissing him. As far as he could remember, that kiss was his first. He moved one if his arm back to support them both once she started to wrap her legs around him. At this point, Crozeph can only enjoy the moment. The rain somehow added peace, the pour made a calm pattern of sounds as Crozeph listened to it and despite the cool breeze, Yuki's warmth was enough to keep things in balance. "That was my first kiss," he told her

Crozeph eased himself so Yuki would feel more comfortable, he doesn't mind staying like this for a few more hours. It would be a pain though once they stand up, as she rested her head and once again uttered the words that he wanted to hear from her. He smiled, it sends feelings that he didn't understand but his heart believed. Which was a funny thing, he isn't the type of person to listen to his heart until now "I love you too" he replied kissing her again after saying it. He then shifted his attention to the rain "looks like it won't be stopping anytime soon, want to stand in the rain?" he asked her.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

"As much as I love the romantic idea you have in your mind," The girl started in response, "I think it would lose feeling after a few moments when we're completely drenched." Mostly, she didn't feel like getting up from this spot. It was warm, tender and a feeling that Yuki wasn't ready to escape just yet. Latching closer to her lover, she smiled warmly.

"How about instead we talk more about these feelings of ours? I mean, we just had our first kiss. This was my first kiss ever and yours. I don't think I've ever felt anything so romantic in my entire life. You see it in TV shows and stuff but nothing could ever beat that moment that I just experienced with you, Chris. That sounds so cliche." The girl chuckled as her head rested just below Crozeph's chin. The downpour getting much heavier had only strengthened her want to stay in doors for the day.

All this lovey-dovey had reminded Yuki about something. "Um, hey Chris." The girl said raising her head and adjusting her position to look the boy in the eyes. "I heard that there's a quest where we can get married with in the game. I know this is awkward, but you want to do it in time? I hear we can have an actual wedding and everything. It sounds so beautiful in my head."

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Struck him like a lightning, Yuki was right. It's all romantic and stuff until their clothes stick to their skin, thinking about it made Crozeph crumple that idea and dump it into the abyss of worthless things in his mind. Crozeph leaned back and used both his arms to support them. He wanted to let Yuki enjoy it, he liked it too. Crozeph was never into things like this not because he doesn't like them but simply because he's no good at it but somehow they both managed to make it warm and enjoyable. "Yeah let's just sit here and let it pass," he told her.

Crozeph didn't know how to talk about their feelings or their kiss. It felt good but how should he say it? add some Shakespeare reference? or go ham with some descriptions from Songs of Solomon? or be normal? as if it was normal for him to be normal. "Our feelings? well for starters I love you" he replied, having that strange confidence that can get out of hand if not kept in check. "I like the kiss, it felt soft like..." and with that, his mind pulled any possible words that would be a synonym for soft, that is if his thesaurus was earthbound... which is debatable.

"Your lips felt soft like the mochi you make for me, and warm," he said as he begins to piece his words. "Looks like it was our first kiss both, unfortunately, I don't watch a lot of things about romance, I just sit on my chair at home and think of what to do with my life," he told her with a rather cheerful tone on his face, he's learning how to do it because of Yuki and so far it's not bad.

As Yuki began to mention something about a wedding, Crozeph blushed as he heard it "we're getting married now? he wasn't ready about the whole marriage thing, not that he didn't want it but in all his life, marriage always sounded serious like it needed the utmost attention and preparation. He remembered his father marrying another woman after his mother died. It looked painful to him but he didn't want to deny his father of happiness. Now he is also given the chance to do it even though it's inside the game "I want that, it sounds awesome for me too, but marriage always sounded like a big thing, are we ready for it? 

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

"I-I didn't mean right this moment or anything.." Her face flushed entirely red thinking about what she just said out loud. She hadn't meant for it to sound like that, but that was the way it came off. However, Crow seemed to take her comment in stride and even humor it. "I honestly never thought I'd be getting married with anyone in my life. Not like getting married here means in anything outside of it. I won't complain if we start thinking about getting married... I think we might be rushing a bit, but in all honesty, I'm liking this so much right now that I don't think I care."

Finally, Yuki crawled up to her feet and reached down to help her spouse up off the floor. "Some time this week, we can go check out the quest to get engaged. After that we could start planning a wedding. Start up a guest list and get prepared. I think we could aim to do it after the floor boss to help any front liners that want to come with their schedules. It will be a refreshing relaxation period for them after killing the floor boss. It can be like a celebration party along with our wedding." The girl smiled holding his hand in both of hers.

"I'm still pretty tired. Do you... wanna come and rest in my bed with me?" She asked, pulling him a long to her room.

@Crozeph

[Crozeph 0]

Crozeph made a soft laugh at Yuki "yeah I never thought I would get a chance to get married, in a game or not" he told her thinking that it would make Yuki think less about not getting married. "I guess two people who thought they won't get married found each other, only in a weird and dangerous place" he added. It was kind of ironic for him, he already planned his life of solitude even before getting stuck in the death game. How things changed he doesn't know but it was a chance he doesn't want to slip off his grasp.

Crozeph stood up as Yuki pulled him "sounds really exciting, there's an engagement quest where we could plan the wedding? I never thought Cardinal prepared for that" he told her as he follows Yuki into her room "I only have a few people I could invite in our wedding and yeah it would be a nice relaxation for our friends in the frontlines, another reason to celebrate" he told her.

As Yuki ask him if he was tired and wanted to sleep with her in the room, he picked up Yuki and carried her into her room "yeah I could use more rest, I like naps" he told her. Crozeph didn't even notice the rain anymore. It was just a day where he and Yuki can enjoy each other's company, no one can disturb them or see them. It was raining but it was a really peaceful day, something that rarely comes into his life.

@Zajcica

[Zajcica 0]

"Uwa-!" The girl yipped as she was suddenly picked up like a princess from a cartoon and carried into her bedroom by Crow. Behind the pink curtain of bangs, he could she her blush taking away from her normally pale skin. The over sized sleeve of her shirt had fallen down, revealing her shoulder but keeping the goods hidden enough from view. She quickly adjusted it before he saw anything.

Once she was let down in her bed, she made room for him, raising the blanket over her and opening it to him. He crawled under the covers with her, giving her time to pull the blanket over him and scoot close. Her face, the color of a strawberry, was stuffed into his chest. "You keep finding ways to keep me smiling. I was beginning to think that this world held nothing for me whatsoever, but now I think I'm glad that I ended up in this mess. If I didn't put on the Nevergear, I would have never met you. Thinking about that sort of present makes me sad, but this is the one I have now and I couldn't be happier." With a quick peck to the boy's lips, she gets comfort able in his arms and slowly lulls to sleep. They could sleep this rainy day away and get back to the grinding later.

Spoiler

Rewards:

SP: 1 page; 1 event
Col: 400 Col to Crozeph