As they all decided to get back to their respective guilds (those who had one/were in one), they all smiled as they split their earnings from the defeated dungeon amongst each other. Their party was already reaching the point of legendary, and not even the strategist of said party knew where things were going to go from here, aside from meeting up the following day for yet another adventure.
Before Shiroe had the chance to flee the scene to find somewhere for his avatar to sleep (who knows what Kanami would try getting him to do, he did have his class that he... reluctantly had to attend) he heard the familiar noise of the telepathy. It was Soujiro. "Shiro-senpai..." the ladies' man started, with his usual cheerful smile. "... stay safe, okay?" Chuckling to himself, he answered the Samurai the way he usually did.
"I'll be fine. I'd just rather have one night where I'd actually get some sleep, I've got a class tomorrow." He sighed as he finally found a comfortable place for his avatar to lay rest while he, himself, rested and prepared for class.
He could still hear the telepathy going... was he laughing? "The same as always, good night Shiro-senpai." The conversation ended. Logging out of Elder Tales, Kei put his computer to rest while he tried doing the same.
~*~ Next Day ~*~
It wasn't long before he became anxious. Checking the time over and over again on the computer, he watched for the Enchanter to show up, knowing he was a good ten minutes late, he wondered if maybe he had some homework to do before he got online... still... it wasn't like him.
Just as he was about to check the status of his friend via friend's list, a figure popped up beside him on his screen. In his usual cloak, he apologized for his tardiness. "Apparently Naotsugu-san is a creepy stalker and found out where I went to school and decided to surprise me..." He said as Soujiro nearly spat out his water 'they knew each other outside Elder Tales?' he was immediately interrupted from his thoughts going any further when the Guardian himself showed up, using voice chat as per usual.
"Oi! Shiro, aren't I a good detective?" He laughed as his character began moving, almost as if he was trying to taunt the Enchanter. Turning off the Telepathy and just switching to an open voice chat.
"So you ARE a creepy stalker, eh Naotsugu-san." Soujiro laughed as the chat went silent for only a moment.
"Not stalker, detective. Get it right Soujiro-chan." He said teasingly as his character pounded his fists against the chest plate of his armour.
They chattered like this for several minutes while waiting at their post for the remaining Debauchery Tea Party members to arrive. Soujiro enjoyed the company, and was genuinely glad that these people he became so close to in the party, were alright people even in life outside Elder Tales. That's when he started to wonder if he was close enough to meet the Enchanter in person, despite knowing that the other male was, pretty much, an hikikomori, he would gladly just meet at his house if it meant meeting Shiroe. Although he didn't quite know why he had this urge to meet him. Friendship maybe? Someone that wasn't female? Quite a good possibility. He chuckled to himself, not realizing that he was, once again, lost in his own thoughts as the chat room became silent again.
"Well, everyone is here, we should head out and kick some butt, what do you guys think?" Kanami said chuckling as her avatar began dancing between the rest of the members of the legendary party.
"Let's get ourselves some Griffins to take us home after!" Naotsugu exclaimed as everyone laughed and nodded in agreement as they entered yet another dungeon.
After some time, and thinking they didn't really have a lot of progress to speak of, they managed to go from one boss to another, it was hard work with something that was, clearly meant for more people, but it could be done. With the help of Nazuna and Saki, their health never really went down too much before the necessary attention was given to each individual.
A couple of days later they sat in-front of the door, which they suspected was the final part of the dungeon, and decided to rest, get everyone to full strength and make sure each person didn't have something that took them away from the computer. Players went one at a time, making sure that if anything happened before they were all done what they needed to do, at least a group of people would be there protecting the still bodies.
Some people were asked to leave their posts for family dinners and what not, so only a handful of people remained waiting at the front gates, including the Enchanter and the Samurai. As Shiroe made a couple of plans in regards to how to approach this particular boss, as much as Soujiro didn't quite understand most of what the party's strategist said planning wise, he still looked over his shoulder to admire the work of an intelligent mind. "I hope you don't mind, it's fascinating seeing the scribe subclass work their magic." the younger male admitted, smiling brightly at his computer screen.
"Quite alright, I like this particular subclass, makes certain obstacles less of a hassle when dealing with some of the rules of Elder Tales. Although it'd be a lot more useful if the game was one of those... that you see often in manga where you're in the game, feeling and seeing everything as if you were there. The copying function would make much more sense in those types of games." Letting his character do it's own thing, he decided to see how much homework was left, considering it would be a while before anyone else was back from their dinner.
"Naotsugu-san was talking about his work getting busier, in fact, a couple of other people in the party are saying similar things. Is this really going to be the last one we do, as a part of the Debauchery Tea Party?" Asking Shiroe more out of concern of him being one of those people about to become inactive on the Elder Tales network of players, the person controlling the Samurai player known as Soujiro was trying to see if he could consider joining his guild.
Sighing, Kei didn't quite know how to respond to his worried friend on the other line in the chat. "I'm not quite sure, I know this will be Naotsugu-san's last adventure, I haven't heard from anyone else yet, I just know he was mentioning it earlier today and that was the reason he met up with me in person."
Trying to ask the question he didn't quite know how to ask, he decided to be direct. "Shiro-senpai?" He started.
"Yes Soujiro-chan?"
"I know you're usually a solo player aside from this party, but if this party ever disbands, would you like to join my guild? I normally wouldn't ask, but I thought I'd give it a shot, then at least some of the Debauchery Tea Party members would be together." Heavily sighing, his heart was pounding, 'why am I overreacting to such a simple question, we're still on each other's friend's list...'s.
Smiling to the computer screen, Kei realized the proposal that his friend was offering him... but after the last experience with that last one... "I'm sorry Soujiro, I don't think I'm fit to be in a guild at the current time. It's not that I don't appreciate the offer, I'm just declining for now." He said, trying to be as apologetic as possible while rejecting the offer his friend gave him.
Sighing he almost half knew that would be the answer, he just didn't want to admit it to himself. "My offer is always there if you change your mind Shiro-senpai."
"Thank you Soujiro-chan. I'll keep that in mind." They both smiled at their separate computer screens, the guild leader of the West Wind Brigade knew he was at least one step closer to the Strategist than he was a few days ago.
~*~ Two Days Later~*~
Finally, finishing that battle, they were making their way home, and everyone agreed with how busy people were starting to become, they all kept everyone's contact information from the party. Even without that exchange, Nazuna and Saki still decided to join Soujiro's guild and most of the people would keep in touch through telepathy each day. Considering only a few people were stacked with work, and those who weren't, were obviously still going to be online. Soujiro still didn't have any idea if Shiroe was going to be one of those people to disappear from the gaming world that was Elder Tales.
To cover as much distance as they could using their new flutes, they made it so they switched between Griffins, two people on each. Despite the women in the party's dismay, the Samurai climbed with the Enchanter. Since they were both going to be heading in the same direction right away, they all found it best to just mount with the person going in the same direction. They could have used Fairy Rings to get back to their respective areas, but everyone agreed that the Griffins NEEDED to be shown off at least once. So the long way it was.
The two chatted up a storm about everything, from what they had for dinner, to what the outside world was like where they lived. Shiroe talked about his life in school, and how he was close to finishing and finding a career to call his own. One more year left, and he felt like that'd go by incredibly quickly. Soujiro explained a couple of things in his life, but mostly that about his guild and how he really (honestly) didn't understand how and why it was growing so fast.
"Seems like just yesterday I had maybe two people in it other than myself. There's not much happening outside the game world here..." He shrugged as he noticed them creeping closer and closer to their destination point, where they would part ways. Soujiro dreaded that particular point in time, considering he had no idea when they'd be meeting next, if the older man's schooling didn't catch up with him.
Noticing it was about the right time to dismount from said Griffins, their time to ride them was coming to a close as they finally decided to land, just a few feet from the town of Akiba, where Soujiro's guild had finally settled, and where most of Shiroe's acquaintances stayed (in the guild hall).
Later that evening, the leader of the West Wind Brigade was just paying attention to the ever growing number of guild members when he received a message from the text chat. Intrigued, he decided that the calm time would be the best time to open said message. Noticing who it was from Shiroe, he thought he was finally accepting his request that he made two days ago, noticing that the subject had nothing on the details of said request made his heart sink slightly, only until he opened the message and realized what the contents were.
It was the contact information that the only other person who had said info, was Naotsugu. He almost didn't know how to react other than to leave his computer to get a cup of tea, to calm himself down to get ready for sleep. He even specified a meeting time and everything which he could more than do, he had nothing else really to do for the rest of the year (or so he thought, he never knew what would happen). Jumping towards the opportunity to do something he was wanting to do for a while (although he just assumed he wanted to meet the all the friends that he shared so much conversation with while with the Debauchery Tea Party), it didn't take long for him to message the Enchanter back. The moment the two knew they were both still online, a telepathy call ensued between the two as they began making some decent plans on where to meet.
Soujiro knew it was going to take some time considering he didn't live quite that close to Shiroe, but he thought it was worth it considering even if they lost touch online, they would be able to contact each other in the world outside Elder Tales. As they made their plans, the hours flew by as they looked online, seeing what route would be the quickest, and most convenient for both parties (although the younger male didn't really mind either way, he was more concerned about recognition, would he recognize the other male once they were looking for each other at the train station?).
Telling each other their real names, they figured if they really didn't recognize the other person, they could look by calling names (Shiroe really just wanted to cut all obstacles from appearing when they're trying to look for each other, although he was quite sure Soujiro would recognize him). Once that was settled, they looked at the time, and realized it was almost morning of the next day (whoops).
Chuckling to himself quietly, the person known for playing as the Samurai said his goodnights as they both decided to put their characters (and themselves) to rest.
"Good night, Soujiro-chan." Kei rubbed his eyes as the conversation came to a close.
~*~ Three days later~*~
Exam time came to a close, so Kei's heavy course load was done, at least for a month or so. Although he had made plans days ago, he still dreaded the thought of going outdoors. He'd have to get ready to go out, find something... to wear (looking at what he was wearing didn't help his case much, typical stay at home gamer attire), he'd have to deal with the general populous (good with online people... and Naotsugu, not really that great with strangers...), and it would be a little longer than having a cup of coffee or heading to class.
Although he wouldn't admit it to himself, he felt bad for the rejection. He really wasn't interested in being in any guilds after his horrid experience with the last one, he'd rather be a solo player with certain parties he'd do stuff with. That was what fun meant to him in terms of being a veteran player of a game like Elder Tales. He wanted the younger male to realize it really wasn't his fault, he just asked at a really, really bad time (in other words, he thought he'd make up for the rejection of joining his guild by meeting up with him, maybe making a friendship outside of the game).
Unsure of what he would wear, he saw a lot of the same thing in his closet, sweats and hoodies. Searching through his wardrobe, he finally found something somewhat better than what he wore at home. Yeah Kei really... really didn't like the fabric of said pants, he thought he'd be able to live with them for a couple of hours. Putting them on with a t-shirt he had also found in his closet, he noted the weight he seemed to have lost "Well... that was unexpected..." to the point where he actually had to find a belt for said pants. He already was having issues going outside... his clothes were not helping his case.
~*~ Soujiro's place ~*~
Unlike Shirogane's situation, Soujiro had an interesting time picking things once he found something to wear, something else caught his attention. Before he realized it, the younger male was surrounded by his own clothing. After much thought, he thought about what would be the best in comfort in this weather, and finally narrowed it down to one outfit. "Geez... took me long enough..." He said as he rushed everything else, quickly grabbing his wallet and bolting out the door before anyone could ask where he went.
Making sure he still had Kei's number on his phone, he notified the friend that he was on his way to the train station and although it would be hours before they would actually meet up, his stomach churned, flopping this way and that.
~*~Shirogane Kei's place ~*~
Seeing the usual site of his phone vibrating, he looked at the message to see Soujiro was already well on his way. Heavily sighing, the hikikomori in him didn't want to go outside, but the friendly part in him won this time as he was already dressed and put the effort into looking at least more decent than his usual college attire.
Grabbing his essentials, he knew if he took his time, he would still be at the train station before Soujiro, so he didn't rush (he liked not rushing to any extent, considering his brain liked to contemplate staying home even now). While he fumbled for his stuff slowly, he realized the other piece of contact info that Soujiro had given him days beforehand. His email, Skype, and other social networking stuff, for more online contact. "Well... while I wait..." He did just that, looked him up on there... almost cheating considering he'd find out what he looked like beforehand.
"I'll add the Skype and email first, no pictures right?" Shirogane said justifying his actions as he opened up his computer and, for the first time, didn't set up Elder Tales (took a lot of strength to avoid that familiar icon on his desktop). When he added the email, the first thing that popped up was in his email calendar. "Hmm?" Checking that, because he hadn't had any notifications from that calendar in what seemed like years.
It was Soujiro's birthday. It was tomorrow. Like the timing couldn't have been more perfect. "Well, now I definitely have an excuse to go outside today..." He sighed as he decided to leave his place earlier than anticipated.
Deciding to skip the bus and walk, he realized that he was quickly tired out, "this is what I get for not going outside... at all..." he said out loud to himself as he slowly made his way to the station.
Soujiro was on the bus (finally) well on his way to the train station. It'd take him a good half hour to 45 minutes to get there considering traffic could get ridiculous real quickly. His heart skipped a beat when his phone vibrated in his pocket, quickly grabbing it, he noticed a message, confirming that it definitely was the right number, and that he was walking down... wait...
Kei would be there for a good hour before Soujiro got to the train station, let alone the stop he needed to get off at. Frantically texting the older male, he looked around out the windows of the crowded bus to see how close they were to the station... still a good 20 minutes. He didn't want to keep him waiting there forever, he felt bad. Heart sinking slowly, he felt a pit form where his stomach once was and waited for a response.
'It's okay, I'm walking, it'll take me a little longer to get there anyways. Need the exercise apparently...' Soujiro calmed down and chuckled to himself.
They texted back and forth, just to keep time flowing, although Kei seemed to take forever to respond, the dark haired male didn't seem to care, he was just happy that this was actually happening despite how far he is from the other male's house.
He almost ran full tilt for the train when he got off the bus, he didn't want to miss the opportunity to catch the earliest train he could. ALMOST missing one, he managed to push his way through. 'Man I wish I had the same body and endurance that I do in Elder Tales... that run would have been nothing for his character...' He laughed as he struggled to catch his breath.
~*~An hour later~*~
He didn't wait too long before he saw a train pop up. He didn't think Soujiro would be coming out of there considering how worried he was about his timing leaving his house vs Soujiro's. Although shortly afterwards he received a text, looking at his phone, he didn't even get the change to read what the text was before he felt something, someone tug on his sleeve. Turning around, he was shocked at how much he looked like his character in game (face and height wise yes... everything else... completely different). Noting how much changes he had made to his character, he blushed, embarrassed.
"Shiro-senpai?" His voice and the honorifics gave him away before anything else had a chance to settle in. It was definitely Soujiro. Realizing he was just gazing down at the male, he decided he wouldn't keep the male waiting.
"... That was awfully fast considering how worried you seemed on the phone..." he commented, seeing the relief spread across the younger male's face. He was more than grateful considering he really hated the crowds... even after only a few minutes he was starting to feel claustrophobic. "Can we go somewhere... less crowded..."
Noting the awkward-ness of the tea party's Enchanter, he smiled shyly. "Sure, you know this area a little better than I do, where do you want to go?"
Realizing that the younger male didn't seem to click that his own birthday was the next day, he decided to take total advantage of that very thing. A surprise perhaps? He was officially being tested on his strategist-like movements outside of Elder Tales... he thought he could manage considering he didn't know too much about Soujiro, but he did mention how much he loves fish and tea. So... pretty much any place in town was good food-wise. As for anything else... he'd probably have to let the younger male lead the way... in Kei's neighbourhood.
Once they exited the station, it seemed to die right down, the crowds seem to be next to nonexistent. Excited to finally be in this area, Soujiro knew things in the vicinity, but only because he heard from other classmates (or the times that Naotsugu would boast about going to this place and that). "Anyplace in particular you would like to go? I assume that none of us have eaten anything yet... maybe lunch?" Looking around, he noticed that he had completely forgotten to eat anything before getting ready to leave, and his stomach was trying to silently remind him of this.
Nodding, Kei began talking about the many places in the vicinity to eat as the younger male just walked beside him, nodding his head and, almost just listening to the older male talking. As they walked, all the smells and sounds of the small area were enticing. They both spoke of the past times, and were genuinely sad to see the Debauchery Tea Party disband, but at the same time, they understood the circumstances. At least the two were able to see each other even now, to Soujiro's excitement that left his stomach dancing around both of hunger and nervousness... the second feeling he didn't really understand. They have had these kind of conversations before, it's just now they're face to face instead of via voice chat.
Smelling the incredible aroma emanating from the building in front of them, the shorter male recognized it the moment it hit his senses. As they both entered the restaurant, Shirogane tried to be as nice as he could and hide the discomfort of being in public with so many people. Soujiro noticed the nice gestures here and there, from opening the door from him, to letting him pick where to sit, blushing, he sat down by the window of the little cafe they decided to make their way to. Watching the younger boy's eyes scan the menu the tea party's strategist smiled, completely at ease, catching himself, he started up yet another conversation with the male across the table from him while glancing out the window.
Noticing the small talk, Soujiro already knew what he wanted and got excited because nearly no place in his area carried this particular dish. Smiling, he checked his phone to see that his bank account was on par with what he wanted to do today. He noticed once more after looking up how awkward the situation seemed to be for the older male... almost like he was uncomfortable. "Shiro-senpai... are you feeling okay?" Putting his menu down, he reached across the small table to put a hand on the older male's shoulder as their eyes met.
"Oh... sorry, yeah I prefer the indoors... haven't actually been out in a while since that one day Naotsugu-san met up with me after class..." Shrugging his shoulders, he decided to be honest with his friend about the feelings that were brewing on the inside. He liked hanging out with Soujiro, but he didn't like this whole concept of being outdoors... for any reason.
As much as he knew it was the strategist's idea, he still felt bad for dragging the guy outside his comfort zone. "I-I'm sorry... we could leave and go back to mine or your place... if you wou-"
Shaking his head, Kei chuckled slightly, "Don't worry about it, it was me that decided to have a hang out outdoors, I knew what I was getting into when we talked on the phone. Although mind you after this I would like to get away from the crowds for awhile at least..." lightly chuckling to himself, he did appreciate the gesture and would take him up on the offer... but he felt bad for making him worry.
The lingering feeling of guilt still hung over Soujiro, but he kept reminding himself of the same thing Shirogane was telling him moments earlier. His stomach was doing back flips to the thought of Shiroe being over at his house. His family wasn't home for the weekend, shaking his head to stop his thoughts from wondering. He still couldn't figure out why his brain was acting this way towards a friend, but he shrugged it off, smiling while waiting for the food and enjoying the good conversation that helped keep both of their minds from thinking about the nerves.
After they finished eating, they made their way back to the enchanter's home (because it was closer, and less crowded on the way...). Soujiro almost couldn't contain his excitement, he was torn between wanting to meet his parents, to wanting no one else to be around. He chuckled nervously to himself as the older male opened the door and gestured him to stepped inside.
"At the moment no one is home, but that shouldn't be a thing for too long, make yourself at home." Half smiling, Kei didn't know what to think of the two of them being alone in his home, not even Naotsugu had visited him at home, like, his friend knew where he lived, but had never attempted to come inside to explore.
In other words, he had no idea how to host guests in his own home. He didn't want to be too clear on it (he felt too embarrassed to even attempt to say anything, so the room was pretty silent already). So ignoring the stomach flipping, he showed Soujiro around the place, only to make sure he knew where the bathrooms were and where to get food if necessary. He already had some green tea ready to go when they got home, so he decided to pour both of them a glass. Weather personally didn't stop him from having it, and he knew it didn't stop the younger male either when he noticed how intrigued he was at the amount that was made.
Sitting down on a couch eventually, they both began talking about the other members of the Debauchery Tea Party, which Soujiro couldn't remember most of them for the life of him. Except for the obvious people... like the butt-hurt strategist Indix. Shirogane's opinion of her was next to nothing because he clearly didn't remember her, but Soujiro knew what she was about... and kind of didn't like her. Once Shiroe took over as the tea party's strategist, she was gunning for him ever since. Although if the man himself didn't care, why should his samurai friend... right? Still didn't stop him from doing it anyways as they lightened the mood slightly to the new expansion they were all desperately waiting for. A good year or so wait that they really didn't want to wait for.
"... but if they bring it out now, it'll ruin their reputation, no?" He had a great point, and it was that point that made it worth the wait. Elder Tales had a brilliant reputation with the existing players on their updating and keeping up with the times. Submitting an expansion pack too early could mean glitches that could have easily been avoided with ease. They're not like every other game for a reason.
Hours went by as they continued talking about their daily lives and sipping tea, ever so often refilling their glasses as their nervousness slipped away. Noticing the time hours later, Soujiro did realize he had to leave, his family was expecting him to be home at some point. Thanking him for the birthday brunch and the conversation, he didn't get to meet Shirogane's family (regrettably so...). Walking the young man out to the train, they skipped the idea of taking the bus, the cool air was refreshing for both people.
As the walk continued, they walked in silence as Soujiro contemplated a way to thank him for today without being too obvious. He, honestly, dreaded the fact that his mind was jumping around, acting like the girls do at his school (and on Elder Tales), and he could have any girl he wanted, his parents knew that... didn't stop his mind from wanting something he knew he couldn't have. He had to at least come to terms with it, and maybe move on to someone else (or so he hoped it would be that easy).
Looking at the train station, the time slipped by once more as they waited for a train. His body became so stiff he didn't think he could walk another step, let alone turn to thank Kei for his hospitality.
"Happy Birthday..." He smiled, noticing how nervous the shorter male was as they waited for the train to arrive. The schedule said ten minutes, so he might as well make the air less heavy and tense. He knew something was on the other male's mind, but couldn't quite place what could be bothering him... but he knew something was. He was never really good with comfort, receiving or giving, so he had next to no idea how to be in these scenarios. He was also never really all that good with relationships outside of the online world, so keeping friends was something he... generally didn't do (let alone having anything more than friendship... that seemed like way more effort than the heartbreak that would ensue).
However, not everything went unnoticed. He may push people away from getting far too close to him, but that didn't mean he didn't notice Soujiro's constant blushing response to the last few hours worth of conversation. Smiling, he thought it was cute, considering it looked like he wasn't used to being the one that was flustered (he saw the boy's harem, those girls get bashful quite quickly at the slightest glance from the Samurai in game). He felt bad, however, because he looked worried about something.
Then it hit him all at once, he felt really stupid and oblivious. "Th-Thanks Shiro-senpai." He spoke while looking straight ahead of him, smiling and hiding everything, all the nerves that have been trying to surface for... who knows how long.
Trying to strike up some small talk before the train arrived, he asked some questions about Soujiro's birthday, like what his plans were for the actual birthday celebration tomorrow. Simple stuff seemed to put the younger male at ease finally as Kei noticed his shoulders loosen up.
It wasn't long before he noticed the two of them only had another two minutes before the train was expected to arrive. Knowing just how uneasy the younger male was basically transferred to the uneasiness that Shiroe now felt as he tried to think of an instant solution to his problem, he didn't want their friendship to be diminished by one simple encounter. He contemplated this for quite sometime, about what he would do if this were to ever happen (because being horrible at dealing with people doesn't mean it won't happen anyways, got to be prepared for all outcomes), and thought of a solution, that may or may not fix the ever growing tension that hovered.
But... before he could muster up the courage, the train was in sight. Taking a deep breath, he noticed Soujiro turn around and walk to stand in front of him. Well, if he was going to figure out how to be in these scenarios, he better start now, he was twenty-four years old, it had to happen at some point (or so the hikikomori thought to himself as an excuse for what he was about to do).
As he was pulled in for a hug, Soujiro's face burned, he was not expecting that at all. Wrapping his arms around the older, slender male he smiled warmly at the thought of a good friendship starting (his mind was thinking more, but he kept shoving that to the back part of his brain, hoping it would just curl up and die). That warm and fuzzy feeling quickly took over as the short bodily contact ended, but Shirogane's hands remained on the younger male's shoulder. "Thank you for today, sorry for all the tension, I'm getting better at that..." He said with a smile.
Nodding his head, he was speechless and frozen still once more. Tension? He noticed, not that Soujiro noticed how much the other male paid attention, he realized it a little too late as their lips met for a split second. Letting his hands move before anymore thoughts could process the situation, he held the tea party's strategist in that spot, face burning. Hearing the train pull up to it's spot to let people on, they separated and waved their farewells. Soujiro's heart was officially in his stomach as he became super excited about the times that were to come, little did he know what was to come next.