Level Twenty: Flirtation
Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – 7pm
"Kazuto? Are you done taking a bath?" the black haired boy looked to the door where he could hear his girlfriend knocking. "I'm done prepping the food, its ready to eat." She stated, leaning back against the wall as she waited for an answer.
"I'll be out in a minute." He called, smiling a little. "If you want me to get out faster, come help me dress." He teased.
"D-don't be a jerk." She complained, but he knew she was bright red in the face at the thought. "I-I'll be waiting." She added, walking back towards the kitchen. He sighed, pouting a little as he finished getting his clothes on. She was so shy sometimes… and others she was so forward.
"Women are so contrary." He mumbled, smiling to himself as he wrapped the towel around his shoulders to keep his hair from getting his shirt wet. He opened the door and stepped out, only to be nearly knocked over by a hug, catching himself on the wall. He felt a pair of arms around his waist and wrapped his arms around the back of the person hugging him. "Mmm… you're awfully into it, considering you turned down my offer." He chuckled, feeling her nuzzling against his collar bone. "…? Akemi?"
"You're terrible." She mumbled, planting a few small kisses along the exposed skin of his neck. "You know I want to… I'm TRYING to behave, but you make that so damn difficult…" she mumbled, hiding her face against him, sucking a little on the side of his neck. Kazuto groaned a little, having not expected her to start leaving hickeys before dinner.
"Nnnn, Akemiiii." He complained. "I'm supposed to do this to you, not the other way around." He mumbled, sliding his hand into her shirt, trailing his fingers across the small of her back as he felt her let his neck go with a pop.
"Too bad." She mumbled, looking up at him with blush coating her face. "It's payback for being mean and trying to tempt me into skipping dinner."
"Oh, well we can't have that." He smiled, lifting her chin up and kissing her gently. "Now… shall we eat?" he asked enthusiastically, making her stand up straight before nuzzling against her, ending up with his head resting on her bust.
"… perv." She mumbled, smiling back at him. "All you think about is food sometimes." She led him to the table, making him sit down before she did.
"Where's Makoto?" he asked, looking around and seeing nary a trace of the younger brother of his lover. "Is he sleeping again?"
"No, he went to stay with Aunty cause… well." She blushed, averting her eyes. "He said last time you were over for the night, he couldn't sleep…" she muttered.
"It's not like we were doing anything serious…" he mumbled. "We were just making out." He stated, plain as day. He hardly even blushed, causing Akemi to sigh.
"It was 3am when you woke me up so we could make out." She reminded him. "And Makoto's never been a heavy sleeper." She added, picking up her sandwich before taking a bite. "I'd rather he get a good night's sleep than be stuck here being a "third wheel" so he calls it..." she added after she swallowed her food.
"Oh…" he nodded, digging into his sandwich with a smile, taking a while before he was able to speak again. "Well, I guess I can see why…" he mumbled, pondering. "Must be weird… hearing your sister and her boyfriend…" he shivered a little. "I wouldn't want to be home if Sugu had a lovey dovey boyfriend…"
"There, see?" she smiled at him. "And you have sauce on your face." She added, giggling as he tried to find it and wipe it off. She stood up and walked up next to him, kissing him where the sauce was and getting it all off before she returned to her chair, causing Kazuto's face to color. "Don't rush. You'll be a mess by the end of dinner if you keep eating like that."
"But it's good." He pouted at her, continuing to eat.
"That's no excuse for bad manners." She teased, continuing to eat her own food. Before long they were both done eating and done doing dishes, so they both went to Akemi's room to look over some stuff about Rise of the Autumn Moon. "So, there is the Grand Arc of the Sea Dragon." She stated, pointing to the arc on her monitor. "If we go online tomorrow evening and pass through the arc, we'll be in line to enter the harbor and move on to the 4 Celestial Arenas."
"Those are the ones with the really powerful bosses, right? The Mods that operate in those areas of the game are the really good ones?" he asked, leaning in a little to look at the map, wrapping his arms around Akemi's shoulders.
"Yeah. Noir operates here, out of the Grand Arc of the Shattered Clock." She stated, turning her head to Kazuto, smiling as she saw him focused on the screen. "There are three other Mods in each of these Celestial Arenas." She motioned to them. "And then on top of that there are the strongest players of the game in Crysanthia Kingdom and the Infinity Gate as the final trial of the game. Those two are gonna be really hard battles. They didn't even announce who the players are, I just know they're professionals." She stated. "Aria's the Queen of Crysanthia, she moderates it as an Iron Maiden. But no one knows Inifity Gate's Mod for sure, there's only been speculation."
"THE Aria?" he asked, eyes widening. "Wow… what I wouldn't give to fight her." He mumbled.
"Hey, come on…" she pouted. "Don't get all smitten with a pro…"
"Huh?" he turned to her. "Smitten? Nah, I just want to fight her." He blinked. "… Oh, you're jealous."
"Sh-sh-I-I am not!" she exclaimed, face reddening. Kazuto pulled her close, kissing her gently as she dropped her hands from the keyboard, instead wrapping her arms around Kazuto, leaning into his kiss. "… Kazuto…" she mumbled, face bright red again.
"Mmmm… that's the face I wanted to see." He smiled. "Want to lay down now?" he asked, closing her laptop before pulling her gently towards the bed, ending up lying next to her, staring into her eyes as he pulled her glasses off for her. "Better?"
"… How is it that you don't even need to try to get me in bed?" she asked, tugging at his shirt, nuzzling against him and tucking her head under his chin, making him smile more. "… I love you." She whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around him, burying her face against his collar bone.
"I love you too." He mumbled, rubbing her back gently. "Go to sleep if you need to."
"Nn… I wanna stay up with you." She mumbled, kissing along his collar bone again, making him sigh a little. "I want you to enjoy this…"
"Ah, so you're trying to seduce me?" he asked, grinning a little. "That's fine too…" he let her look up at him, but gasped as she started kissing along his jaw, choosing a place to stop and suck, leaving him another hickey. "Geez, you like doing that…" he mumbled, feeling his face coloring as her hands wandered to his lower back. "Hey, slow down." He complained, feeling her tugging at the waist of his pants. "You're eager today… did you drink something alcoholic while I wasn't looking?" he asked, feeling her kissing along his neck again.
"No, of course not." She replied, stopping her hands. "I… I'm stressed, is all."
"Stressed?" he paused. "Oh, because of your father?" he questioned, earning a nod from her. "Is he trying to overcompensate?" he asked, causing her to look up at him. She shook her head, sighing again.
"He's… just being over bearing is all." She muttered. "He was trying to talk to me about practicing safe sex the other day…"
"What, seriously?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah… it was weird." She hugged him tighter, kissing his cheek. "He's treating me like a naïve child… like… like he's trying to pretend as though he never left… its awkward and he's being WAY too involved." She added, making a face that showed how uncomfortable she was about it. Kazuto nuzzled her and smiled a little, petting her head.
"You'll be okay." He smiled. "Once we go on our trip for Golden week, it'll be all better, ne?" he kissed her lovingly, causing her to slide her hand into his shirt. "So… for now, just don't think about it too much… Akemi." He whispered her name into her ear, causing her breath to catch in her throat.
"Focus on more… intimate matters, for now."
"K-kazuto…" she whimpered, feeling his hands slipping into her clothes, making her bite her lip before giving herself over to his affection until they both fell asleep.
Rise of the Autumn Moon: Grand Arc of the Sea Dragon – April 26, 2025: 6pm
"Kirito-kun, above you!" Asuna exclaimed, the boy turning just in time to slash at an oncoming opponent. These little minions of the Sea Dragon were impressive in terms of stats. They were strong, fast, and were quick to attack, not like many other monsters they had encountered on other arcs. The group was split in two, with Akemi and Siica separated from Asuna, Kirito, and Lisbeth. The two summoners had been swept away by a wall of water, but before Kirito and the others could find them, they were ambushed by this huge group of little creatures.
"This is getting us nowhere!" Lisbeth stated, slamming her mace into a monster's gut, sending it flying.
"We have to get out of here!" Asuna added. But just as the two were about to turn around, something burst past them and sliced at the creatures all at once, causing them to vanish. They all looked up to see Akemi and Silica, slightly wounded but in decent shape, both with a little creature that resembled a serpentine dragon on their shoulders. "Silica-chan! Akemi-chan!"
"Yo." Akemi smiled. "Sorry we're late. You guys okay?" she asked, jumping down to them with Silica.
"Was that you guys?" Lisbeth asked, eyeing the serpentine things as they stared back at her. "Or those things?"
"These "things", Lisbeth, are leviathans." Akemi smiled. "These two wanted to help out, so we brought them along~" she pat the little one's head, causing it to wrap around her wrist and revert into what looked like a bracelet, Silica's doing the same.
"Oh, isn't that one of those legendary-class summons?" Kirito questioned, looking at Akemi. "The ones from the hidden quests, right?"
"Yeah, that's right." She smiled, petting Kirito's head. "They're really strong, so our arsenal just got that much better~" She added. Asuna congratulated them both, as did Lisbeth (though more reluctantly). "Oh, before anything else." She stated. "Silica, you said you saw a door while we were being swept away, right?"
"Oh, yeah!" she nodded enthusiastically. "It was blocked off by rubble and stuff, but I definitely saw light through it!"
"Well, that sounds like out way out." Kirito stated. "Let's go."
"Right." Asuna nodded, Lisbeth just following quietly. Akemi walked next to Kirito out of habit, glancing around to make sure they weren't being followed and to be sure they weren't walking into another ambush.
"You alright?" Kirito asked, taking her hand.
"Huh?" she blushed, looking to him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine."
"Mmm." He stared at her. "Do I need to carry you off somewhere?" he asked, grinning.
"Oi oi, get a room." Lisbeth stated, turning her nose up at the two. "We don't need to see you getting all lovey dovey." She added, obviously bothered by all the affection the two showed one another around the others. Kirito made a slight face, but he let go of Akemi's hand, sighing.
"If you don't like it, why did you insist on coming with us?" he questioned, putting his hands behind his head. "It's not like we're doing anything BAD." He added, pouting.
"Now now." Akemi said, patting his head. "She's right, we shouldn't do that in public."
"It's not public. It's a dungeon." He retorted, pouting more. They soon arrived at the door that lead out of the Grand Arc, the group exiting and heading up into the light.
Harbor of the Sea Dragon -
"Whoa…" Lisbeth and Asuna and Silica all stood to stare as they arrived at the top of the stairs. The harbor they stood in was huge, the boats massive and the temple to the Grand Sea Dragon that stood at the dock massive.
"This place is huge…"
"It's incredible…"
"Hehe, it is, isn't it?" Akemi smiled. "The Harbor of the Sea Dragon… our departure place to the other Celestial Arenas." She stated, staring at the boats. An NPC walked over and greeted them, letting them know they were among the first 100 players to enter the Harbor. "Please accept these tokens of our hospitality, and enjoy your stay here at the Harbor for a little while before you move on." He bowed his head before walking off.
"Oh? Are these?" Asuna looked at what they had all been given. "Hey, these are keys…" she stated. "Oh! These are keys to a villa!" she exclaimed.
"A villa? Really?" Silica asked, eyes wide.
"Ah, yeah, the villas." Akemi nodded. "Almost forgot about that… first 100 players through the Grand Arc of the Sea Dragon get access to the special villas." She stated. "It's normally 4 to a villa, but since we came in a group of 5, they probably put us all in one."
"Looks like." Silica said, looking at the numbers on the keys. They were all the same. "Should we go figure out which one is ours?"
"Sounds good." Lisbeth stated, Asuna nodding and walking off with the two. Kirito and Akemi followed soon after. When they arrived, the three younger girls went exploring around the villa, but Akemi just stretched and yawned a little.
"Bored?" Kirito asked her.
"Nah… just…" she looked at him, smiling. "I'm still sleepy from last night." She chuckled. "Or maybe more accurately, this morning." She teased, making him blush and avert his eyes. "I do hope you don't intend to keep me up like that our entire vacation."
"O-of course not." He replied, pouting a little as she leaned closer and kissed the corner of his lips. "… Don't tempt me out in the open…"
"Mmm, fine…" she smiled. "If you smile… please?" she cupped his cheeks in her hands, making him stare up at her. He smiled a little, leaning in to skim her lips with his, holding her hands where they were until he pulled away. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He said softly. "Now. Aside from this, is there anything else for today?"
"No, not really." She smiled. "We might as well have fun, since the Celestial Arenas will be tough. We can train here at the harbor too, on the ocean levels." She added. "I think there are also some special quests too…" she nodded her head. "Lots to do while we're here~"
"Cool. But…" he slid his hand to be palm to palm with Akemi's. "That's not quite what I meant." He chuckled. Akemi blushed a little, turning to see Kirito smiling mischievously. She smiled back at him, petting his head.
"Cool it, we're not here for that." She kissed his forehead. She heard someone clear the throat and turned to see the three younger girls standing there. "A-ah, are you guys done looking around?"
"Geez, you two." Asuna chuckled. Lisbeth rolled her eyes and Silica was red in the face. "Go flirt in your room, not in the living space." She smiled. "We're gonna go look around outside now." She had to practically drag the other two out with her, leaving Kirito and Akemi alone once again. The two laughed a little, then went to join their friends outside, not wanting to waste the opportunity to get to see everything first hand.
Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture – April 28th 8am
Akemi sighed, standing around at the station waiting for Kazuto. She stood there in a charcoal gray long sleeve shirt, black leggings, a dark red pleated skirt, and black boots, carrying her bag and a little wrapped box. It was a little chilly, for a day in April, and she had brought Kazuto a gift. 'I hope it's not too corny or girly…' she thought, worrying about it as she had been since last night. The gift was a back plaid scarf that she'd sewn herself, a small felt heart tucked neatly into the corner of the scarf where it would be hidden from view while it was being worn. She was about to call Kazuto's cell when she felt fingers interlacing with her own.
"Hey." She turned to see Kazuto standing there, smiling at her lovingly.
"Hey yourself." She whispered, leaning in to peck his cheek. The pair were ready to leave on their Golden Week vacation, smiling and going about their tasks of getting their tickets and getting aboard the train that would take them to the onsen resort.
By the time the two arrived, it was about 11am, and they were shown to their room by the owner of the Onsen. They went out to explore the little resort's open market walk, munching on various snacks and goodies for their lunch. They were getting compliments about being a cute couple, and no one seemed to notice much when it came to their age difference… it was nice for the two of them not to deal with the stress. Though come the early afternoon, the two were interrupted by a call on Akemi's cellphone. "What do you want?" she asked into the phone, having sighed just before she picked up. Kazuto didn't get to see who was calling, but he could assume it was her father. "Yes, I am on vacation with Kazuto. No I will not tell you where I am. And no, I don't need anything. Just take care of Makoto." She stated simply. At least she wasn't angry, like she was before. When she hung up, Kazuto took her hand and walked her back to their room.
"What was it?"
"Nn… he was just worrying about where I was and all that." She stated. "Makoto will tell him what he needs to know without giving away where we are exactly." She pet Kazuto's head. "Sorry… didn't mean to spoil our date."
"Its okay." He shook his head, smiling a little. "You seem stressed, though. Do you need to go take a bath?" he questioned. "I hear afternoon baths are nice, this time of year."
"Mmm… maybe I should." She pondered. "You going to take one too?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "Want to try seeing if the co-ed bath is available?" he chuckled, making her face color. "What? I promise not to touch."
"Liar." She pouted at him, pulling him into a tight embrace once behind closed doors. "You're gonna be a perv… you always are when it comes to baths." She hid her face as he hugged her in return, his hands wandering over her back.
"Maybe just a little." He chuckled, enjoying her hugging onto him like this, resting his head against her bust. "But it would be nice, right?" he questioned, smiling. "Can we?"
"…" she sighed, cheeks still bright red. "If I say yes, you won't grab me anywhere strange, will you?"
"You never know till you say it." He teased, burying his face into her chest, making her blush more. She mumbled the positive response, and he responded by pulling her into a tighter hug. "Then, let's go have some fun~"
"Honestly, you're terrible." She mumbled as he pulled her off to check the front desk for the couples onsen. No one was using it, and no one reserved it, so Kazuto let Akemi sign it out and they headed back to their rooms to grab their robes and towels before heading to the couples onsen. They separated to change, Akemi sighing to herself. She was embarrassed about this, but at the same time she was very happy to be with Kazuto like this… She put a hand to her chest and took a deep breath, feeling the rhythmic beating of her heart. "… I hope I don't hyperventilate…" she mumbled, face reddening more as her mind began flooding with thoughts. She shook her head, telling herself it would be fine before walking out to the onsen.
((Finally got a chapter up its been so long-
Anyway I hope you all like th lovey dovey stuff. I'm still wring chapter 16.5 - Romance, for the explicit stuff. The bath scene about to occur here is going to be chapter 2 of that stuff Chapter 20.5 - Baths
I hope you all like how the story is progressing, cause I'm kind of just rolling along being ridiculous-
Anyway~ ; u ; Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews, I appreciate your feedback. Chapter 21 will contain some surprises, and in a few more chapters after that there will be something big going on! Please look forward to it~
- Winter Cheshire))