Koharu, the next day

"Hmm… Hmm… Mhmmm… Yes, that definitely explains why you've been glowing all day, Koharu." Asuna smiles knowingly as she, Koharu, and Tia take the front of the party of seven. Their respective boyfriends, Premiere, and Leafa file out the rest of this team as they walk to the Teleport Gate in the Town of Beginnings.

According to what she learned at school, their friends had continued the hunt for certain charms to unlock the pathway leading to the floor boss. Tia deduced that the item she's looking for is there, guarded by the boss, just as it was with the prior floor. Their exploration has taken them through a desert-like area and a dense, grassy biome broken into small, floating islands, possible remnants of interconnected areas with the tundra back on Ainground. Now all that remains is to make it to the boss.

As of now, Koharu doesn't know what Asuna means by 'glowing', but if it explains why she's in a good mood, then yes, Koharu is indeed as bright as the sun. But there's something behind what Asuna's saying, and it's more how she said it that clues Koharu in. "Today's been a good day, hasn't it? Plus this coat is so warm."

"Not that kind of happiness, This is a whole different look from your usual good mood, and I would know, we were together for two months straight and then every now and then. Plus I am a girl. I know that look, Miss Hardin. Gotta say, if that can cure a fever, what else can it cure?"

Koharu's cheeks burn with realization. "Oh...um...it was just in the moment! I wasn't feeling well until much, much later… I think…"

"Took you two a while."

"Two years too long."

"And Argo made a killing off Kirito yesterday too." Asuna turns around to Kirito, in the middle of the pact with Premiere. "Kirito, how did it feel to learn that both Koharu and I beat Jaymes without using cheap tricks and at the skill level he's currently at?"

"Ugh…"

"That is true, Big Brother," Leafa comments, then turns to the boy walking beside her. "Did you go easy on Koharu?"

Jaymes shakes his head. "She used everything in her skillset and more. Unlike your brother, who used a cheap elbow to the face to barely win."

Kirito sighs. "We went a year without telling that story, and now you guys won't let it go."

"Koharu," Tia speaks up, the NPC eyeing her inquisitively. "What does Asuna mean by 'glowing'? From my perspective, you look normal."

Koharu did not figure that Tia or Premiere would be curious by the conversation, but not the starting point. How do you explain that act to people who have no concept of...hormones. "It's… It's an expression."

"An expression? For what?"

"Um… When two people who...care for each other...are happy together?"

Tia seems to accept this response and ponders over it. "So you and Asuna care for each other, so if you make each other happy, you two would be 'glowing?'"

"Huh?"

"T-Tia!"

"Or like Jaymes and Leafa right now, they seem happy together."

"No, Tia--"

"Sometimes Jaymes and Kirito 'glow' together," Premiere chimes in, furthering the confusion. The five human players stand in place, unable to find a way to correct the NPC twins, yet they don't want to explain it. And when someone does speak it, it is Jaymes who does it… The worst person to say anything, in Koharu's point of view.

"Tia, Premiere… It only happens when you love the other person. Like Kirito and Asuna. Or, in Koharu's case, me and her. Maybe Leafa with her boyfriend. To that point, it doesn't happen with just anyone. Understand now?"

"I see."

"Affirmative."

He sighs and looks at Koharu. "Now, can we drop it and continue forward?"

"Yes."

"Great response to that, Jaymes," Asuna applauds. "I was sure you'd say something disgusting."

"Of course not."

Kirito doesn't look convinced. "...You envisioned something, didn't you?" Jaymes only smiles in response. Stopping, he grabs his best friend on the shoulder, whispers something into his ear for about half a minute, and that turns Kirito red. "D-Dude…"

"It's a wonderful image, isn't it?"

Kirito scratches his head and looks forward, seeing irritation on Asuna, Koharu, and Leafa's faces. "Well… I'm not answering based on the girls' faces."

He shrugs and follows the girls. "I take that as an agreement. I'd pay heavily for it."

Oldengard Fort, Northazard Tundra

As the specter-like Altar Gatekeeper bursts into blue light, Silica cheers happily. "We did it! We won!" As everyone shouts out congratulations and checks their statuses, Koharu sheathes her dagger and looks over her right shoulder at Tia. The white-haired girl looks forward blankly, seemingly uncomfortable with the camaraderie of the humans. Flashing a smile, Koharu faces her new friend and gives her a thumbs-up.

"You did great, Tia."

Tia's cheeks take on a slight red hue as she looks at Koharu's hand. she mimics the gesture with some stiffness and responds just the same. "...Way to go."

"Huh?"

Hearing Kirito's gasp throws Tia off. "What?"

"Ahaha," Lisbeth chortles as she saunters over and clasps Tia's shoulder. "It's okay, you didn't say anything wrong!"

"Yeah! Way to go, Tia!"

"Way to go."

Kirito clears his throat. "Sorry. I just haven't gotten used to hearing that from you yet. Way to go to you too."

"At any rate, that was a masterful fight," Sinon says as she walks over to the quiet red warrior. "Isn't that right, Captain?"

"...Yeah. We're progressing way faster now that you're here, Tia."

"For sure. You're a big help."

"I am?"

Sinon nods, then elbows the boy beside her while eyeing the one in black. "And I bet certain people are extra happy to have someone so strong and adorable in the party."

"What are you glaring at me for?"

"...Well, Tia was kinda adorable just now…"

Tia expresses more embarrassment as she looks towards the ground. "Adorable..."

"Uh-oh, you made her blush!"

Jaymes clears his throat and looks at the barrier-less pathway ahead of them. "Yeah, well, anyway, we have stuff to do. Let's keep moving."

Asuna chuckles. "Alright then. Liz, stop teasing Tia."

"Ahahaha, fiiiiine!"

As the other girls follow Jaymes and Kirito, Koharu keeps her eye on the fidgeting Tia until Premiere comes over to her sister. "You look happy, Tia."

"Huh?"

"Let's go."

"...Happy? Me…"

Jaymes, sometime later

"Looks like a boss up ahead."

Asuna nods. "Hopefully, defeating the boss will get us what Tia's looking for. That key that she needs to get where she's going."

"Uh-huh. It looks like we'll get what we need in there… Jaymes, Ko, you two get prepared. Asuna and I will see what's up."

"Aye aye, sir and madam!" I mock the pair with a salute then watch as they head down the corridor to the entrance to the boss room. Either another raid is about to commence, or they'll be waiting to see if the current one is going to fail or not. There's not much preparation to be done on my end, but it has been a while since I had Lisbeth service my gear, so I head to the blacksmith first as she chats with Silica. "Hey, Liz."

The blacksmith eyes me, then looks at the sword being presented to her. "Ah, it has been a while. Should I look at your shield too?"

"Sure." I place my shield on the ground, then sit by Silica, patting the girl's head. The three of us chat amongst ourselves, with the awkwardness that should have been present between Lisbeth and I virtually absent. Of course, I know why--we're in another mindset presently. She's in blacksmith mode as she inspects my gear, I'm in warrior mode as the upcoming boss battle weighs on his mind...and also Tia.

My eyes are drawn to the four girls on the other side of the corridor, Koharu surrounded by the twins and Strea. Koharu seems to be happy talking to them, she always had a unique touch with making friends of artificial intelligence (even with the straight-laced Alice, who is not present today). Still, I bet she wants to have the same contact with the other humans. I don't expect Liz, and by association, Silica, to be warm to her for apparent reasons, but Sinon and Leafa could try. Leafa and Koharu got along when they were at the festival not too long ago, or so I thought. Then again, I understand their plight in the matter. Sinon is just like Lisbeth, and Leafa probably feels just as awkward around Koharu as she did around the others when she first met her brother's friends, all SAO survivors.

I won't press the issue, though. Interfering in girls' business had gotten me years' worth of trouble. Tia, however, is a different case, and there's one thing I'd like to know before I fight to get an item for her. Without excusing myself from Lisbeth and SIlica, I stand up and walk halfway to the other side of the corridor. "Tia."

"...Yes?"

"Come with me." Tia looks apprehensive at the sudden demand, as she should be. She faces Koharu, who seems confused by her partner's stern tone, but coaxes the woman to join me. As Tia approaches, I take a couple of steps away from our group, to be out of normal earshot (hopefully Koharu keeps the Eavesdrop skill I know she has off), then face Tia. She's still alarmed. I guess I do have the makings of a threat right now, and I do believe I could take her unarmed, but I don't plan to torment her. I clear my throat and loosen my tone as I voice what's on my mind. "I've been wanting to talk to you about a lot of things. There's one thing, though, I'd really like to know if you'd tell me."

...Well, she hasn't warded me off yet, so I continue. "It's been six months, and now you turn up. What happened to you after we stopped the world from breaking apart?"

"...I set out to find the bright future Premiere spoke of. Unlike her, I have no place in this world. I can't hope to belong here like she does."

"Because you don't like people?"

"Yes… So I set out to find a place I belonged—my destiny. I searched far and wide, but no matter where I went, it was nowhere to be found. Until… As I wandered one day, I came upon a small, extremely bright light. I had only glanced at it for a moment before it suddenly flared up and engulfed me. In that instant, I felt a consciousness flooding into me. The consciousness of one who had looked everywhere for her destiny and found nothing. My future self."

"Your own consciousness...from the future."

"I ran away to try to escape her. Once I stopped, I realized my appearance had changed...and then I collapsed."

"So the way you look now...is your future self?"

"Yes. Because I fled immediately, only her consciousness was able to lodge itself within me. But that future consciousness often overwhelms me, as if to punish me for running away. It wants to control me."

I look over in the direction of Premiere. "Hence the headaches...and the reason you're concealing your face under that hood and mask. You're rejecting that future version of you. At the same time, you're mingling with the people you hate so you can find a way to overturn that future… What is this place that you're trying to find?"

Tia looks up towards the ceiling, but I tell her eyes are beyond it. "The core of the light that engulfed me. It's inside the giant sphere that is visible from the floating earth we called forth by prayer."

I know what she speaks of. It is visible from the starting point of the Reimanhills if one looks to the sky. "You're talking about that globelike area, aren't you?"

She nods. "Yes. I will go there and avert the future I do not desire."

"Then I will help you, Tia." She looks down at me with some shock. I warm her up with a confident smirk. "As a heroic woman once said, the future is not yet written. So I, Kirito, Asuna, Ko, we've fought against our futures so many times before…so everyone here will help you fight that future of yours. But we have to beat that boss first. But I promise you, Tia, we will win."

Her head drops. "I… Nevermind."

"Okay." I turn to my right to see Kirito and Asuna returning. They must have the information about the boss for us, so I let Tia go and retrieve my weapons from Lisbeth. "Thanks, Liz."

She nods and looks away. "Be careful."

"Always. I hate for you to shout at me if we fail." That brings a smile to her face as I put my sword and shield in their place, then pivot on my feet.

I wasn't speaking as Jaymes when I told Tia we'd fight for her future. That came from the real me, who was just told by his father to find his own future. That came from the real me who told Koharu to find her path with the second chance at life she's received. I'm sure I've had that same conversation many times recently, like with one of my friends back in the Underworld long ago.

"Ready, Koharu?"

"Ready."

"Then let's help Premiere and Tia by beating this boss."