Scryptic Encounter

Balmung, Blackrose, and Orca ended the battle and headed towards the Zeit Statue in the next room. After collecting the items, however, their return to the field was cut short by his partner's snickering.

"I'm sorry, I can't hold back any longer!" he exclaimed through his giggles, "When were you going to tell us you were hooking up with Scryptic, eh? EH?!"

"HA?" Blackrose gasped, "Isn't she like your worst enemy?! Are you for real? Haha! You know each other in the real world?"

Balmung only turned away, however, his ears ringing from the heat of his embarrassment. He eventually gave into his friends' persistence, realizing he couldn't continue to avoid the subject. He and Scryptic were too well known on the net; it was better that his friends knew rather than some strangers on the Board.

"…She's a classmate of mine…"

Shouta blushed as his tutor leaned over to check his work. She then tapped one of his steps and told him to revise it. Once he found his mistake, he followed the advice and reworked the problem.

"Mm! See, you're getting it!" the smell of cherry blossom filled his senses and he realized it was her perfume. She was sitting so close, but he never even budged in the other direction. He was both terrified and intrigued by the girl's bold personality and her...gothic clothing.

"You're going to rock the next exam!" the twenty year old shyly smiled at the encouragement.

"It's all thanks to you. I wouldn't have survived this class without you, Mimi."

Mimi Kent was a computer engineering student who was working towards her masters in the field. She was currently a developer for CC Corp, and managed debugging programs for the online game, 'The World'. After failing his last test, Shouta had run to her aid after finding her tutoring flyers. She admitted that he was only one of her few students, however, as people had often doubted her skill because of her foreign appearance.

Mimi had been born and raised in Hokkaido, but was ethnically Nigerian. She explained that she didn't mind her foreign-label and was more bothered by how she constantly had to prove herself. Shouta was inspired by her determination, though, and found himself studying harder than ever with her struggles in mind.

"Haha! You probably would've survived, but now you'll pass with no worries!" Shouta dismissed her faith in him.

"You give me too much credit, but thank you."

"Heeeey hey!" she argued with a nudge to the arm, "You're almost as stubborn as the famous Balmung of the Azure Sky! You said you played 'The World', right?"

Shouta's eyes widened at the name, but she didn't notice his reddened features.

"He has a cool design, but man he acts like he permanently has a stick up his ass. Or maybe you don't know him that well. Balmung and I…we have something of a history. I like to mess with him, y'see. I test all the hacks on him and it is SOOO funny."

The tutee gave a shaky laugh and felt his stomach churn with nerves. Scryptic? This girl was his net-wide enemy?!

"Hahah!...Ah…sorry. Haha. I know that seems mean, but it's all harmless. I'd never permanently damage a character, and especially not Balmung." Shouta perked up at this and turned to her inquisitively.

"…Why do you say that?"

"Mm...well I know his player, y'see. He's in my class, and I think he's really awesome." she winked tellingly, issuing more color from his cheeks.

"….How did you know?"

"It's pretty obvious. You're not that different from your character; when you get frustrated, it's still funny."

Balmung sighed at his friends' laughter, but couldn't resist a smile himself.

"That's the cutest story ever! So you're dating, now?" the winged character hesitated at the word, but slowly nodded, which earned cheers from his companions.

"Wow! So is this your first girlfriend? Congratulations! You should invite her sometime!"

"Actually, I meant to ask you two if you were busy next weekend. Kite messaged me recently and said that Elk turned fifteen a few weeks ago. He wanted to throw him a party."

Orca and Blackrose matched expression of surprise.

"Kite's talking to you again? He didn't text me or-"

"He specifically asked me to relay the message to everyone. I think he's busy with other things."

"Oh…" the pink-haired character began, "Well, I'm not doing anything next weekend, so…I'll be there! Are you gonna invite your girlfriend?" Balmung blushed at this and nodded.

"She's coming, yes. Try not to embarrass me, okay?"

"Hahaha! I'm not sure we can if you're dating Scryptic!"

"Haha…ah…you are…very right…."