Kotori

It was strange not to notice a guild member who happened to pass bye, still she had just recently been invited to what seemed to be an exclusive guild. Nevertheless, it made talking and conversing much less awkward than it would've been, especially since it seemed that the boy in front of Kotori seemed to acquainted with Oikawa, if not friends. It was also surprising to hear that Oikawa had been searching for the boss as soon as he got a chance. She would have been happy to have had joined them, but she wasn't strong enough for that type of frontlining yet and unless she continued to fight, she never would be. The player didn't want to stand idle and not respond at all since the man now known as Ssendom wanted to inquire her name now.

"So that's what Oikawa's been doing.. Anyway, I'm Kotori, Kotori Mutsuki.. the name's the same in real life and in here. I would actually love to have company since I was going to fight some mobs here as well, maybe level up enough for the next boss so that I can participate. Honestly, there is no real place I would like to go since the forest is basically it. I just want to fight basically anywhere." she answered before materializing her dagger in a show that she wanted to start fighting as soon as possible. "Since you've been acquainted with the area, lead the way I guess. Also, do you mean if I just call you Dom since your name is kinda of a tongue twister to say?"

"Five damage is fine for regular mobs, but if I'm going to contribute at all... I'm going to have to do a lot more than five measly damage. Even if I'm not the only one fighting... It just won't do.." Kotori started to mumble to herself about how it would be best to get stronger before the eleventh floor boss was going to be fought against. Her eyes weren't watching the road ahead of herself, although she stopped to glance every once in a while. It wasn't until a stranger seemed to pop out of nowhere. The next thing she heard stopped her straight in her tracks as she she heard the next few words that came out of this male player's mouth;

"Hey there. You out here by yourself? Would you like some assistance?"

Immediately the girl jumped up in shock from the words spoken from what seemed to be a person she didn't know very well and had only seen a few times before. Not much she recognized about the odd boy, although she remembered a certain incident where she saw him and Oikawa leave very suddenly, at the time she wouldn't know why but it didn't matter anymore. "Hi.. Sorry I just got a bit startled since I didn't expect anyone else out here.. Mostly everyone is talking about floor eleven being opened up, since not that many people have started to move here.. I d-decided to try to check it out and maybe fight a few mobs like I had been doing earlier... I mean if you want to come along, that's okay with me."

After recently going on tour of floor eleven and its surrounding areas with a partner, the raven-haired girl was ready to go ahead and start fighting again on what was looking to be one of her favorites floor, maybe even more than floor four and its wintery wonderland. The problem was that Kotori had absolutely no idea at all on how she was going to do without another person, nevertheless she would attempt to fight by herself. She had a few potions in case something went south which it might go considering the level and strength of the mobs located on the floor itself. It was something to worry about but she couldn't be bothered since she wanted to become a strong player by herself mostly. Instead of staying around the city a bit before heading out to fight in the forest, Kotori went straight to the forest itself with her dagger in hand. She wanted to level up before the next floor boss, a mob that she was aiming to fight against along with the others in her guild. It was a perfect idea to try herself against tough monsters before going against the big one. She would need to do a lot of damage and even though she did some damage already, it wouldn't be enough once the boss came around and she would need to prove herself. Seven damage wasn't going to do it all and she'd be damned if it would be her downfall. Instead she was going to make it her strength, trying to just be all about damage. There were tanks that could take some of the damage off her so she needed to help them in turn and do something. Now was her chance.

Floor eleven had finally been unlocked. From the what she heard from rumors, a group of four decided to take on the floor ten boss on their own and managed to defeat it along with unlocked the newest floor. It had a been a while since the last floor had been unlocked and they had managed to move the game farther along. Kotori felt delighted to hear about the recent batch of news, something that seemed to be the only think players were talking about the last few days. Never one to stand idle as a new place was opened up to be explored, the girl dashed to the nearest teleportation gate after hearing the news and found herself on the floor. It was... breathtaking to say the least. Its stone walkways and city reminded her of pictures she had seen of Europe and it was beautiful. Of course, the unsafe zone was to be seen as she only heard about a forest that extended outwards from the city itself. The monsters would have to be dangerous of course, she would be venturing in a place where the mobs were very strong and she would have to be completely wary of how she handled herself and attacked. Maybe she would need a partner just in case things went south, but Oikawa seemed to not be available at all. The girl decided to set off towards the forest, maybe a small adventure could be had in light of the news that had brought a smile to her face.

It seemed the two were regretful and sorry for lashing out at her even though she had done wrong in trying to take matters in her own hand, an action Kotori truly did regret attempting. Nevertheless, there was nothing she could since the action was done and she had already re-payed them the loot that was rightfully theirs. Instead of moping about however like a depressed ragdoll, the girl decided to take up the offer and instead join the two in their journey to fight multiple mobs in order to level up fully. "Urm.. Sure, I'd love to join. You don't have to apologize, I should have left the wolf to the both of you. Nice to meet you both, I'm Kotori.." she was able to state. She hesitated to shake the boy's hand, instead offering a bow in her stead.

It was settled then. The three of them would go out and begin to fight in order to get loot and level maybe, the latter being the option she wanted instead of just getting loot when she was somewhat okay with the gear she possessed at the moment. She would've have gave the girl a special dagger she kept close to heart, but this player seemed to enjoy using the standard sword so it wouldn't help her out that much. "So, let's go I guess?" she protested with a slight smile on her face.

Kotori just felt her heart sink more and more as the duo seemed to be furious and yell at her for killing the wolf that seemed to threaten the girl's life. She had only wanted to help the best that she could, she never meant to enrage them or stop them from receiving the loot that they deserved so badly. A melancholy frown appeared on her face and she resigned to the fact that she had made a big mistake over. She really shouldn't have jumped in when they did, she had worried too much when she should have noticed that they really did have it under control.

Looking at the girl, she opened her mouth to speak. "I honestly didn't want anyone to die, I just saw your health go low and then it just happened. I saw the two of you were working so hard although I feared that you might end up dying.. You deserve this anyway so here you go.." Opening her menu, the solemn player sent 400 col each to the two players before closing it and continuing to talk. "I know its not much but since I interrupted your grinding session and got you next to no loot at all, here you go. 400 col each so that you could do whatever you want." Kotori finished before looking at the ground with a glum look on her face and slightly kicking the rocks underneath with a little swing of her foot.

(-800 Col)

It seemed that the girl would need to step in, her appearance might have distracted the two players in their fight against the dire wolf which would in turn put their lives in danger. They wouldn't get any rewards considering that her level was too high to get any from the mob, but that wasn't important at all. What was important was that they didn't die from the attacks of the mob and Kotori found her dagger in her hand before she knew it. Grabbing her dagger, the player dashed in from her location in the hills and went in for the attack.

Instead of her typical dash and slash maneuver she loved to utilize in certain situations, Kotori was going in with a smart maneuver. Making eye contact with the animal, she focused on the locked on wolf to make sure it didn't decide to do something drastic. In an instant she dashed to decide before stabbing at the side of the monster and making a deep red gash in the side of the wolf. It gave its last death call before falling on the floor in a explosion of pixels. What was more a surprise was the fact that loot was actually left behind in place of the boar, something she counted on not happening. Instead of taking it for herself, she gave it to the girl who seemed a bit angry over her killing the boar for them. "Sorry, but I rather not have someone die in this way even if it was unlikely to happen."

ID: 22169

BD: 6 [5 DMG]

Goldenarroz [HP:: 27/27]

Kotori did feel much better after giving an embrace to the boy and she couldn't help but giggle a bit as she overheard the gasp that came from Oikawa's mouth as he did so from the probable shock of her move against him. After letting go and standing there in front of him like a bubbling idiot, she calmed herself down and became a bit more serious although she still felt a bit bubbly inside herself, an odd feeling which she wished wouldn't go away until she went to sleep. "I do feel a bit better after doing, your face said it all in fact." she answered with clarity before allowing him the chance to be. She felt herself feeling less and less awkward around him every waking moment to the point that it was breeze to be able to talk and just be around him.

Even though the time that they have been together felt like it have been forever, it seemed like the day wouldn't end as the sun was still halfway throughout its journey in the sky, something that could be seen as a blessing to the both of them. After this little ice skating trick they intended on doing, they still had much more time on their hands to do whatever else they felt like doing. It was a great thing to be experiencing, this date thing that until SAO was released, she had never would have experienced and most likely ended not doing so at all. Maybe they could have a great load of fun if they hurried up a bit and went to their next location.

Grinding at this point in this game seemed highly unnecessary at this stage in the game, especially since the monsters and creatures that roamed the rolling green plains of floor one were too weak to give much EXP to raven-haired girl. Nevertheless, fighting a few didn't seem all that bad in general at all for someone of her status. Kotori was weak and although level fourteen seemed like an okay level to be at, it wasn't especially with the recent news of floor eleven being reached and then on top of that the floor twelve boss being found already. No, she had to become stronger if it was the last thing she did. It seemed to her however that a few others players were most likely thinking the same thing already.

It was a simple two player fighter against a lone dire wolf, a common mob that was found being slaughtered for its plentiful loot. It seemed the girl was having a bit of trouble, considering that her hits did one damage at a time, a time the ever so watchful player remembered being at. She seemed to have no weapon to call her own and seemed to have no skills to up her game. She needed a bit help if Kotori was going to have say in things. The boy seemed familiar but the point was he was having a ballgame with the wolf, his damages severely injuring it in the battle. She decided to wait till the battle was over to interfere, watching the most recent attack fail under all circumstances.

Oikawa was just the most perfect person Kotori had met. At times he was a bit cheesy and mysterious, but he could be the sweetest person at times. Midway through his long speech towards herself, she felt an urge to embrace him tightly and she decided to just that. She dashed forward and gave the boy the tightest hug she could muster through her skinny weak arms, a blush filling her face as she found herself with the almost addictive happy feeling finding her way to the center of heart. The blush grew ten times bigger as he finished it by saying love. He loved her. And so did she. Somehow she was able to give an even tighter hug as she stood there embracing the fellow. There was nothing really could say without messing up the message she was giving as her hair flowed silently with the brisk wind that was filling the rink. He was the best thing to happen to her in her life.

Of course her enjoyable slumber would have to come to an end as a player decided to awake somewhat abruptly by kicking the underside of the bench that she was laid down on. Kotori found herself falling off the oak structure as the shaking caused her to roll off and on to the cold hard ground below. It was an abrupt wake-up call to the drowsiness she felt from being kicked indirectly. Dusting herself before standing up, she found herself surrounded by a group of players who seemed more interested in the blonde boy than her, something that she found much more accepting than having being the center of attention. Instead of choosing to step away from the group however, the girl decided to stay with them in the hopes of doing something else than just sleep that night.

She counted silently in her mind the numbers of players inside the formation and counted five of them, which also included her. She decided to pipe in and say something to the boy who she assumed had kicked from his position and just how he portrayed himself. Standing there with a blank expression as the wind silently blowing her raven-colored hair, she wiped the stray strands of hair from her face before speaking up. "Well, um.. I just wanted to know why you decided to kick the bench I was on? Unless you did it by accident, then by all means say so I know." She questioned the boy with a monotone voice before awaiting his response.

It wasn't much what Oikawa had said, he was just trying to make her feel better about the news. It was nice and all, but still it made Kotori just feel immensely worse since she just felt so useless and unwanted compare to everyone she knew. She wasn't strong at all, she was probably only be wanted because Oikawa could be received through her and she just plain was sucky in general. Instead of moping about though, the girl found herself following the boy as she managed to stomp her way over to the boy. She could feel bad about it later, at the moment the two of the had a date together and she wasn't going to mess it up with her little dramatic frowns and what-not.

Evening. It was a beautiful to view to the people who had the time to go around gazing at the sunset that at times looked like the most magnificent thing in the game. Even if it was a virtual object programmed by developers, it was still something to amazed by. The colors of crimson, orange and the bright gold filling the sky just compliment the somewhat blurry star that made its descent into the infinite horizon that she could hope to touch, but never would even if she tried her hardest. Nothing was more brilliant, save maybe the lone moon in the night sky and the sunrise itself. Kotori found herself staring at it with the strangest fascination as the raven-haired girl gazed at the sight to behold it for all its beauty. It was one of the few things that she loved about the game.

The sunset had ended and the moon filled the dark sky with its grey light as it stood there silently, almost watching the players as they scurried around and around the first floor. From her bench of oak, the lonesome girl found herself staring to the sky to have the time pass, hopefully maybe fall asleep easier. She wouldn't really fall asleep though, eventually and somehow, somebody would definitely wake her because of various reasons. Still, it would be very annoying and would piss her off to a great amount if someone actually disturbed her in her moments of peace that she had to scramble to find. Shifting her posistion, the player found her laying down on the bench and looking upwards towards the heaven, way comfortable from her previous form. It was tiring.. She felt her eyelids grow heavy as they began to fall as well. Maybe a few moments of sleep wouldn't be too bad. Honestly, maybe all her other experiences of being woken up could be faulted towards not ignoring the person who awoke and instead just going back to sleep. She could do that, but she didn't feel like talking or doing anything. Just sleep.

It wasn't fair that she had to go through this again, her paranoia becoming confirmed once since she got here. No, Kotori wouldn't get angry and she would definitely not look for revenge. At least this gave her a completely valid reason to leave the guild once for all, there was few other reasons that she didn't want to mention for fear of being ostracized. Nevertheless, it made her a bit depressed to know that now she was just seen as an extension of Oikawa it seemed. She was just going to be used as a way to get him. Maybe it would best to stay solo for a bit.. The only viable response given by the regretful girl was a frown that appeared on her face as the person in front of him spoke to her about the predicament that she had managed to find herself in.

Kotori found herself pulling the boy out after the squirrel decided to chip in and help with saving Helios from his frosty doom. It digged his arm out so that the girl was able to pull him out with all her strength before letting go and standing in front of the now freed boy. He seemed to be overjoyed at being out of his snowy cell since he called her a "life-saver." It wasn't that big of a deal, somebody would've eventually have came around and helped him. It wasn't like the game was that realistic in which a person could die from hypothermia or at least from her knowledge. Nonetheless, he was no longer stuck in the ground and was free to move around and frolic. However, instead of leaving after thanking her, he decided to do something she remember happening on that very floor; use a pick up line. However the circumstances around was much different and instead of getting angry like she would've done earlier that year, she decided to say something witty and make sure Helios understood who he was talking to. "That's odd. My boyfriend Oikawa never mentioned that type of material before." she protested with a smile on her face.

Kotori nodded in agreement as she got stood upright from her most latest fall. She didn't want to do anything but take it slow considering going fast was what caused her to fall so ungracefully in the first place. After a few moments of quietness, Oikawa decided to bring up something that he didn't seem altogether happy about telling her, but she decided to listen anyway. Turned out the information could be bad since it was about her acceptance to AP, something she was having weird thoughts about although she couldn't think of anything absolutely bad about it. Nonetheless, she had open ear to what he had to say about this suspicious guild that she found herself in.

Kotori couldn't help but giggle as the fiery squirrel decided to bite the boy's nose in retialation for him trying to get up from his spot in the snow. If she didn't know any better, she would think that the animal was his familiar and they were stuck together. They weren't however and it just made the player's hair its temporary residence. The player decided to introduce himself as "Helios" so before offering any assistance, the girl decided to do so as well. "Nice to meet you, my name's Kotori." There was no need to waste time however since he needed help getting out of his predicament and she could do just that. "If you could get your arm out of the snow, I could try pulling you out of it." she offered as she extended her hand out so that he could grab it and get out of the pile of snow that acted as a blanket to Helios.

[Redacted]

It was sweet relief to find that the person speaking was not a PKer or she assumed not be as they would not reveal their position at all like this player was. Listening into the words that this unknown said allowed to Kotori figure out their location and gender. The girl dashed through the trees before arriving at the location of the boy. He seemed to be in quite the predicament as he was literally stuck in snow with his head sticking out from it, almost as if he was buried there and then left to rot. Not to mention a squirrel was finding his hair to be a sizeable home to make its residence on. Nonetheless, he needed help and she wasn't going to just leave him there like trash. "Seems you've gotten yourself stuck.. Do you want any help there since you seem a bit cozy there." she decided to speak out in the directions of this player. 

It was time to set out on the quest since all of the first group had managed to arrive, Kotori could only wonder about the other two groups that were partaking on this bandit quest. It didn't really matter however, what did matter was getting through today alive so that she could go have a peaceful sleep, something she altogether never did havein the game. Hopefully if she did do well and fought well enough to be considered okay, she could actually do that. Oikawa and Ariel seemed ready and so did King and Ariel's familiar. Vann seemed a bit distant in terms of understanding, he was still kind of a mystery.

It was embarrassing moment to fail at an almost utterly simple task, Kotori was angry at herself for messing up on skating. If she had only took things a bit slower, maybe she wouldn't have fallen onto the ice like an almost complete idiot. At least nobody was laughing or calling her out for being such a clumsy fool, Oikawa was actually trying to assist her in getting back up. "No.. I'm fine." she answered with a monotone voice as she grabbed his hand and lifted herself off the ground. Maybe this time she would become more careful in how she approached skating, that would actually help at the moment.

It would be another day of crafting and what not after another long hiatus. The profession seemed to be lacking something although she just couldn't put her finger on it. It was evasive what she was feeling about her status, but it couldn't be fixed even if she wanted to do so. Her new fixation was making an extra batch of bread in case Oikawa ever came around to buy a couple of more, although he had only bought from her store once. It was a shame that nobody seemed to want to buy anything from here, possibly because the follow-up of cafe opening after she made her own. It was around this point that Kotori saw her profession to be more of a chore than something she for fun or for business. As she finished up her recent craft of just regular plain bread, the girl couldn't help but feel regretful for going on that quest to become a cook.

ID: 22233

CD: 11

She gave a slight sigh as she found herself stepping onto the rigid, frosty ice that was beneath the two of them at that the moment. Instead of going out onto the ice right away, the girl kept herself upright by getting against the wall that surrounded and made up the rink. It didn't seem so hard to skate after all, maybe the wall wasn't doing much and she was just a bit paranoid as usual. "It doesn't feel bad.. I'm going to try to get over to you." Confident in being able to do the task properly, Kotori stepped forward as she let go of the wall. For the few seconds it felt a bit nice, but a sudden wave of nausea came over her and her foot gave way, the blade slipping on the slippery ground before letting her fall into the ground. A pain grew inside her face, but she wasn't wincing or anything like that. The only thing odd about her face was the color of it which was such a bright red it looked as if it could burn the ice itself. She couldn't help but feel angry at everything around for her accident.

Awakening herself, Kotori found herself already somewhat fine enough to go on the quest that she was supposed to endure through with a few others players. It was going to be a simple task that hopefully could end with a good note although there was a few things she needed to do before night came around once again. Still, she was getting ahead of herself in that she had to hurry up and get to rendezvous point although she wished the place the quest had to take place in was something other than the blazing hot floor that was floor nine. She had been there once and there was reason for not coming back save for now. It was a undesirable floor, something that let down players when it had been unlocked.

The girl found herself approaching the small group as she saw the three people she was going to team with. Nodding at Ariel and saying "Hi." before turning doing the same to Oikawa and Vann. Quickly checking to see that she possessed everything she needed, the girl stood there quietly.

It seemed that the girl in front of her was warming up a bit instead of acting more awkward just like before although it was still a bit noticeable. Ignoring the otherwise useless thoughts about assumptions and whatnot, Kotori found herself answering to a question about how it was back at home.  Odd. She used to worry the heck out of herself just thinking about how the world was going on without her in real life and what her father was doing. There wasn't anything else to do and she didn't want to leave the comforts of safe zones at all so that was usually on her mind all the time. Now it was something altogether different. It made her afraid of losing herself to the Aincrad, she couldn't just let the world get to her. No, she wouldn't let it at all. "Honestly.. I don't know. I don't know how he managed to rig the helmets, but he's an evil genius. I have to admit that."

Piera seemed to be the name of the player, a somewhat fitting name for a girl of her stature. Her thoughts were interrupted by the question to her about the circumstances relating the emblem appearing the right of her name. "Oh.. Hehe, that's um.. the guild that I am in. Its called the Azure Brigade, I just recently got accepted into it so I left my original guild for this one." she answered with a bit of a smirk on her face.