Author's Notes : Way past my hiatus date sorry! Real life issues (Illness :( ) held me back from writing! I'll be continuing from today though so stay tuned! This is a rather short chapter more focused on developing both characters but I promise that the next will be longer and also more exciting!
Please read and enjoy the story! Stick around as I would love to write more!

P.S I extend my thanks to the reviewers and also the followers (as well as those who replied) for showing interest in this story :) Your words bring me motivation to deliver more!

Konno Yuuki

"Now that we're done with intros, time for some punishment~"

Ending her statement sweetly, she claps her hands together and begins rubbing them in preparation as she approaches her target. He was still seated thus, the most he could do to back off from her was to crawl behind futilely using his arms to propel him backwards. What made him so fearful was the evil glint in her eyes and her mischievous smile, together producing a malicious aura.

"Konno ... san?"

He asked, half afraid and half confused as he continued his backwards slide across the hill before stopping. Because if he went any further, he was likely going to go for round two of human bowling ball. But there was no stopping as two small hands shoved his shoulders forcefully and off-balance as he was in his awkward sitting position, there was only one way for him to go.

"See you down below Clumsy-kun!"

"UwaaaaAAAAHHH!"

His screams became mere echos as he bowled onwards for a strike at the bottom of the hill where his reward was finally, a flatland of grass without an environmental hazard in sight.

Kirigaya Kazuto

"Are you trying ... to kill me?!"

Kazuto exhaled fiercely, a hand clenching his chest at where his heart would be.

"No way! After all, in the case of any abnormalities in your vitals, you'll be forcefully logged out of SereGa so you're perfectly safe!"

To fuel his annoyance, she had absolutely no remorse, saying all that cheerfully with a playful grin as she skipped towards him like the innocent offender she was.

"Then why did you do that for.

"Just think about it. There was a girl who was about to take a nice little nap under the bright sun on the soft warm grass, then, a shadow! A human cannonball! What would have happened if she had not noticed? And so, a little revenge~!"

He could have argued further about the injustice of it all but in the end, it was kind of his fault for disrupting her peace. Maybe only a little, since she was abit excessive but Kazuto wanted to move on from their terrible first impression of each other.

"Sorry, Konno-san, it was my fault. You mentioned ... SereGa? What's that?"

Yuuki frowned up him, glaring at his facial expression before shrugging and pointing at the bright blue sky.

"This Virtual Reality is SereGa, Serene Garden. If you're here, you're likely a long term patient or very sick as this is only for those in the hospital. Shouldn't your doctor have told you this stuff?"

Like she had said, his doctors never did tell him about Serene Garden but judging from what Yuuki had said, it was likely for those in need of palliative treatment or maybe some rehabilitation. His case was probably eligible for the VR anyways since he had been able to login with an account prepared for him under his name which made him wonder again about how severe his case of amnesia was. How long would it take for him to finally remember all the pieces that he had lost?

"Knock Knock? Earth to Kazuto-kun, are you awake? Or is another trip as a boulder in order?"

She smirks, lightly shoving his shoulder. Kazuto realised he had been spacing out and shook his head, clearing the negative thoughts. The future was uncertain afterall and it would be too stressful to think too deeply into what he couldn't fathom.

"Oi, don't ignore me! Which hospital are you in?"

"Sorry. Yokohama ... I think."

"Woah! Yokohama General Hospital Kouhoku? That would mean we're at the same place!"

Her face lit up in excitement but ever so briefly, Kazuto saw a falter in the beaming smile, just a little twitch to indicate some form of hesitation but maybe he had just imagined it.

"Have you seen the rooftop gardens? Or the sakura just outside? I've heard its a beautiful sight."

He shook his head and suddenly, she loses her positive energy. Deflated, she politely asked a delicate question in a silent voice.

"A life-threatening illness? ... Sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Her 360 mood shift affected Kazuto, who felt guilty for destroying the atmosphere even though it wasn't of his doing. Thinking for a short while, he exposed his condition since he had nothing to lose except for a potential friendly face.

"It's fine, nothing like that. I just have amnesia."

"Oh .. sorry ... and thanks for telling ..."

She solemny nods in understanding as she intakes the information but then she pauses mid-sentence. A strange though assails her as she closes in on his face, narrowing her eyes as she judged Kazuto who eyes her, getting somewhat used to her spontaneous personality.

"Something the matter?"

Her red eyes seem to scan him, darting up and down, sizing him up. She puts a hand a finger to her forehead, as if thinking about something very important.

"Are you sure you tripped down?"

He visibly struggled for an answer as his mouth opened and closed a few times, uttering nothing but a painful silence. After all, how stupid would he sound if he said that it was not by complete accident that he walked off the cliff on his own accord. Finally, he managed to stutter a question in return.

"Why ... do you ask?"

She dances back, finally giving Kazuto some breathing room to sit upright. Using a hand to shade her eyes from the sun, her gaze shifts to the now faraway tall cliff which they once were under. With a straight-forward and serious tone, she gave her verdict.

"I don't think hitting your head from such a height would get your memories back. Or maybe its possible ..."

Since a light whistling of the passing wind could be heard, it is simple to understand that the atmosphere had somehow froze. Kazuto had a rather bewildered look on his face, gaping at her with his mouth wide open. Then, the ice shattered as he snorted and after, laughing in genuine amusement.

"I'm curious to know ... how you thought about it like that."

"That's an improvement from when we've met. I'm glad!"

Kazuto calms down shortly and then raises his eyebrow at Yuuki to ask a question which she understood.

"You've been looking sad and lost from the first time we met. But now, you have a smile on you so problem solved!"

Indeed, there was the smallest of smiles showing through his normal stoic expression.

"Thanks, Yuuki."

"No problem Kazuto! That's what friends ... would be for?"

"We are friends."

Konno Yuuki

An hour later, both of them climbed up a stone-paved pathway up a small hill to the cosy little village of Roite where Yuuki who was familiar with the place, navigated through a maze of back streets before arriving at a shop with an open terrace that displayed the peaceful grasslands of SereGa. A lone table with a cute blue parsol awaited them and they took their seats. Whilst Kazuto admired the view and possibilities of virtual reality, she picked up the menu on the table and scanned the choices.

"This is pretty amazing. Ohhh!"

He had turned his head and the next thing he saw after the beautiful scenery was a rather large crepe in Yuuki's hands. Glistening cream and shiny fruits glittered from the top of the triangular dessert, threatening to spill out its delights into her waiting mouth but having been interrupted, she takes a brief look at it before holding it out to Kazuto.

"Want a taste? You can order yours later."

Taking it carefully with both hands gently as if it were a priceless, fragile jewel that would break if he exerted even the tiniest bit of force, Yuuki initially smiled at Kazuto as he slowly chewed on the top end of the giant crepe, his puppy eyes widening further as he ingested the sweetness. But he didn't stop there, a world of bliss was in his hands and he was too weak-willed to resist and so he took another bite. And then another. And before he could go any further than half of it, the crepe was contested by another set of hands and on his cheek was the slender leg of a girl, trying to separate man and dessert.

"Waaaah! My crepe! Kazutoooooooo!"

It was like waking up from a happy dream. After all the joy, it was time to be plunged back into reality. Somewhere in his heart and locked memories, a furious female with an intent to kill him felt very nostalgic but he did not want to find out. Faced with a girl, fuming over the loss of more than half her dessert with a very tempting height so close to them, Kazuto figured that he had best initiate damage control before he found himself flung across the fields in an attempt to create a new record for throwing a human shot put.

"Konno-san! ... Yuuki! Sorry, let me make this up to you!"

She was angry but even through her rage, her mind thought of a way to use him for her own fun purposes.

"Anything?"

He nods hurriedly in reply, glancing at the grass off to the side, wondering whether he'll soon find it right in his face. But that wasn't going to happen. For the next three days, Yuuki was going to be rather lonely as her friend, Merida, had been temporarily discharged from her hospital to visit her family and relatives and so since Yuuki was missing her usual companion, she found a 'willing' replacement.

"Ever heard of Asuka Empire Kazuto? We'll have some 'fun' for the next three days."

And how could he refuse with the murderous glint in her crimson eyes despite the cheeky smile.