Katoka

Katoka was a bit disappointed that Sam let her go, but when she swam away and perched herself on the blanket she saw a strained look on her face. Swimming up to her legs the blonde placed a hand on Sam's leg, "We don't have to talk about anything that you aren't comfortable with. I know the real world is a touchy subject for most people, even I get homesick and miss things."

Pulling herself out of the water and next to Sam, Katoka saw her attempting to steady her breathing. She scooted close to her and placed her head on her shoulder, reaching out to hold her hand hoping to give her some comfort. "My biggest regret?" she repeated the question, "If you had asked me a few months ago I would have said putting on that damn NerveGear. But now?" she held her chin as she thought about it. "Probably spending more time with my little sister." she laughed a bit, though it was tinged with sadness. "As time went on I spent less and less time with her. It got to the point that we barely talked anymore and I was always shut in my room..." she wrapped her arms around herself to fight of the chill that had crept over her.

She looked into Sam's eyes, her face sad at first. However as she stared, she felt a warmth in her chest that began to spread. Clearing her throat she asked with a slightly hoarse voice, "My question now. Would you consider being my girlfriend, and I yours?" her face flushed realizing what had escaped her mouth. She clapped her hands over her face letting out a squeak of embarrassment.

Once again Katoka's heart was beating like a jackhammer in her chest. She was startled at first being grabbed from behind, but she could feel Sam's warmth through the tank top, and she would feel her body pressed against her back. With her head resting on her shoulder the samurai was flustered yet again, but it wasn't unwelcome. "Maybe it is love," she thought, "it might be a bit early to tell for sure. But it feels just like they describe it in all the manga I've read."

Kat wrapped her arms around herself so she could hold onto Sam as she nuzzled against her and asked again, "I wanted to know what your favorite food was. I really like ice cream." then she thought about it for a moment, "Then again that is just desert. Actual food though I really like pizza. With the hot melty cheese and tomato sauce? Yummy!"

Katoka felt her head bounce against Sam and when she looked back, noticed what she had run into. She quickly turned away and covered her face. She hadn't meant to intentionally bumped into her like that, though she also wasn't upset that it had happened. It made her more embarrassed that she had thought that way, she was surprised the lake hadn't evaporated around her at this point.

As Sam whispered into Kat's ear she felt goosebumps roll down her body, she felt embarrassed by the kiss and close whispering, but also excited by her answer. The thought of Sam in different cute outfits was enough to drive Katoka mad. She wanted to go off to a shop now and start looking for cute clothes that they could wear on my dates. Sam's question caught her off guard, she turned to Sam seeing her hiding mostly under the water now.

"No, at least not truly. I wouldn't really know what it felt like." she said thinking about it, "What I'm feeling and experiencing now," she said as she swam close to Sam, lifting her head from the water so she could whisper into her ear, "I think might be what love feels like."

This time she kissed Sam's cheek and giggled before diving under water to swim away a bit, when she surfaced a few feet away she asked, "What's your favorite food? I really love Ice cream."

Katoka was only a bit disappointed in the lack of desert, she still got to be fed at least. Taking another bite from Sam and grabbing some to feed her she agreed to the questioning terms. After finishing what she had in her mouth she said, "Probably turquoise, or most any blue. Red is good too." she smiled thinking about Sam's hat that she always wore. "So why hide under the big coat all the time? You have a fantastic figure, one I'm jealous of." she glanced away trying not to make it seem like she had been staring, even though she definitely was. Kat let herself float on her back, staring up at the raining sky and pushing herself closer to Sam. As she floated and managed to end up turned around with her head bumping into her lightly, she looked up seeing Sam's face close to her's again.

"Trying new things in games is easy, especially when you figure out the mechanics ahead of time and--" she stopped herself, "I wasn't sure I'd find someone that was as much of a game dork as I am." she laughed, staring at Sam with longing eyes. Katoka took the soda from her and toasted with her, "To all the new experiences and roads we will travel together, may we learn new things about each other every day." she tapped her can against Sam's and turns beat red again as Sam pulls her in and touches foreheads with her. She closes her eyes and smiles at her words. The kiss on her forehead made steam come off of her head, but she took a drink as well.

"So, did you bring desert too?" she asked eyeing the food on the blanket, "I'm getting a bit hungry now and that curry is looking really good right now."

"And maybe" she thought, "If I play my cards right I can get her to feed me some sweets." Kat held her cheeks at the thought trying to hide how pink they had turned thinking about it.

Katoka faced Elora and listened intently to her, she was relieved that she wasn't mad at her, but sad that she felt that way about herself. When she finished her explanation Katoka stood there silently for a moment before tears spilled from her eyes, the blonde rushed forward and hugged the green haired woman tightly.

"Eloraaaaaaa," she sobbed, "I'm so sorry! I had no idea you felt this way. You're my friend and I care about you." she pulled back from her, her face still wet with tears while holding her at arms length, "These things happen though. We're still new, we're going to be bad at managing our energy. You did pull your weight in the fight! I came to help you because I care about you and I don't want you to get hurt."

Katoka hugged her again, "I don't know how you feel about me but I feel like we've grown really close these past few weeks. I think of you as my best friend. If you ever feel down or upset please tell me. I'm not good at picking up subtle stuff and if people get mad and don't tell me why I assume it's something I did."

Pulling back again she apologized once more as she wiped her face, "Sorry for hugging you so much too. I can get a bit touchy with friends."

Turning to Chase she frowned, "And you." she walked forward stopping in front of him and poking him in the chest, "While I don't appreciate you talking about Freyd they way you had, it doesn't mean I hate you." she continued to poke him repeatedly as she talked, "I am sorry for how I acted. It made me mad but I over reacted, I should never have threatened you like that." she stopped poking him and lightly punched him on his arm. "Stop moping and speak slimy."

"This is new for both of us, so let's make a promise now." Katoka held onto edge of the bank with Sam, "We tell one another if we are uncomfortable, we say something if things are going too fast. I want to be able to communicate with you, tell you things, experience life in a new way."

She smiles as Sam offers her food this time, and she takes it with her mouth while still holding onto the bank of the lake, she made sure to get as much of the sauce off her finger as well, "I want to make as many memories as I can with you. Anything and everything." her face flush, with her free hand she tucked a bit of wet hair behind Sam's ear before reaching for a bit of chicken as well, "Care to try again?" she asked offering her a piece now, smirking smugly at her.

Unsure if maybe she had said too much too fast, Katoka waited for Sam. She didn't want to force herself on her, she wanted Sam to feel comfortable. Lost in these moments of thought she saw the woman in front of her get flustered, just as Kat was going to suggest waiting Sam kissed her.

It felt like time stood still.

Her lips were soft and warm, Katoka placed her hand on the small of Sam's back and the other on her cheek. Adrenaline coursed through her body as they kissed, she didn't want this moment to end. But she did finally pull away and starred into Sam's eyes, "I... I've never felt this way about anyone Sam. It's scary and exciting and I..." she felt like she couldn't put it into words. Her cheeks were red again, "Thank you, for kissing me. It was perfect, you are perfect." she gestured to everything, "All of this has been perfect. I know all of this feels a bit rushed, but when we're putting our lives on the line fighting like we do. Sometimes you have to take a small leap." she smiled at her, hoping she understood how she felt a little.

Katoka's heartrate skyrocketed when Sam removed her tank top, she was relived and even a bit disappointed when she had a holder on underneath. She accepted the top and put it the rest of the way on, which proved to be more difficult than she thought while swimming. "It's fine, I'm not uncomfortable so much as embarrassed." she looked down at the crystals under the water, they were absolutely gorgeous. "I hadn't intended for you to see that I had completely dressed up." she her face remained red.

Holding on to Sam's hand Kat felt the rain as it hit her face. She looked up at the sky and closed her eyes, letting the drops land on her face, "Good timing huh?" she asked looking back at Sam, staring into her eyes. She swam a but closer so that she was in front of her, close enough that they could feel each other's breath. "Sam?" she asked as her heart raced in her chest, "I... I'd like to kiss you now. If that's alright."

Katoka tried not to stare, but she was captivated by the woman in front of her. Her face was hot as she fumbled to open her game menu, "I-I-I don't rally have anything to swim in except my... My underwear I suppose." she covered her face as steam rose from the top if her head. This was their first date and Sam was going to see her almost completely naked.

Shaking her head she stood up, she wasn't going to chicken out and miss the opportunity to swim with Sam. Turning around she unequipped her clothing so that she stood in just her underwear, which was black and lacey. She had wanted to feel fancy even though she hadn't planned on removing her clothes. Turning around and covering herself as much as she could she hurried to the water and jumped in, swimming over to Sam and stopping in front of her. "The water is really nice." she said looking to the side, trying not to think too much about how exposed she had been a moment ago.

Katoka takes the drink from Sam in a panic and takes a sip. She wanted to be cute and feed her but that plan hadn't worked out the way she wanted, instead she now had curry on her face and now Kat was drinking form her--

Katoka stopped and looked down at the drink in her hand, "I-Indirect kiss." she said aloud without realizing. "I-I mean, um.." she put more food in her mouth to stop herself from embarrassing herself more. If she kept blushing as much as she had been, she might pass out from all the blood rushing to her head. Once she finished eating some of her food she noticed that Sam still had curry on her face, leaning in some she said, "You still have some on you, do we have anything to wipe it of with?" she asked looking around and checking the bags and gear.

"I've done nothing but strive to live a normal life once I finally forced myself to leave the Town of Beginnings. At first I was looking for someone to make a connection with, someone that I could feel safe with. But it was hard so I focused on getting stronger, and now..." she trailed off as Sam stroked her hand, almost hypnotized by the rhythmic stroking. When she let go and began pulling out the food the blonde snapped back to reality, she giggled a bit, "Sam this day had been great so far, don't let lack of eating utensils get you down."

Looking around Katoka tried to see if there was anything she could improvise chopsticks with, sadly the stick and branches around were not suitable. Finally she opened a food container and simply used her fingers to pick up a bit of food and ate it. She placed a hand on her cheek as she let out a satisfied moan, "Ohh, it's so good Sam. Here try this!" she picked up more with the same hand and offered to feed her, her cheeks turning slightly pink as she realized what she was doing but refusing to back down.

Katoka heard the chime of an alert while she was preparing a drink in her kitchen. She opened her game menu to see that there was someone knocking on her front gates. She arched a brow and made her way to the front door, she hadn't been expecting anyone today and hadn't received a message from anyone either. Opening her front door she heard a familiar voice from the other side.

"Elora?" she called out giggling at her response, walking down the front steps she opened the gate for her "I didn't know you were coming by today. Please, come in." she said as she gestured to her home. She led her friend inside and walked her to the living room, gesturing for her to sit down in the couch. "Do you want anything to drink? I can make you some coffee, or tea, or water if you prefer. Oh! Are these the treats that are for me but only if I'm me?" she asked as she opened the container and popped the food into her mouth. She held a hand to cheek and smiled, "Oooo, it's delicious Elora thank you!"

Katoka | HP:500/500 | EN:50/50 | DMG:10 | MIT:5 | EVA:1 | ACC:2 | LD:1 | BLD:12 | REC:2

Katoka was startled slightly by Elora's tone, she immediately felt her stomach flutter with the telltale signs of anxiety. She looked to Chase and then back to the green haired woman, "I... Y-Yeah, I suppose we should head back now." The blonde began walking as her mind started to race.

"Did I say something to upset her? Should I have not gone in to help? No, that's stupid. Then again taking one hit wouldn't have killed her. But--" she continued to go over things in her head as they walked in silence. The feeling in Katoka's stomach grew the longer no one spoke. Their previously short walk felt like it was taking hours now, in regality it had only been a few minutes.

Finally the blonde spoke up, albeit more quiet than she normally was, "E-Elora, if I did or said anything to upset you I apologize." her voice was slightly strained as if she was holding back tears.

Distracted by the beautiful scenery, Katoka had apparently missed Sam setting up the quilt she had brought along. Turning to her call, she hurried over with the food and set he bags down nearby. Her heart began to race as she sat down next to Sam to wait for her to pass out the food. Being this close with her again the blonde was able to take in how pretty Sam was, seemingly mesmerized by her she reached out and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear and ran her thumb down her cheek, "You've been telling me a lot how cute and pretty I am, but you're probably the most beautiful woman that I've seen in a long time." Realizing what she had said and was doing she turned red again and pulled her hand away, turning to look out into the forest as her heart thumped loudly in her chest.

The small samurai stood with her back to the king, despite her attack his attention still seemed to be on Chase and Elora. Turning to face the one armed elf, she returned her blade to it's saya but never removed her hand from it. She bent her knees and called out to the warrior, "HEY! Over here!"

Her call got his attention as he turned to face her, holding his blade at the ready. "That's right, I'm over here you idiot." her expression never wavered. She remained calm and collected, just as her sensei had taught her. As the two stood almost completely still, both poised to attack at any moment, a single leaf fell from an overhead tree. When it softly touched the ground between them Katoka lunged forward drawing her blade in a fast strike, her sword flashing the bring color of a somehow already charged sword art.

Once again in an instant she was standing back to back with her enemy, with a swift motion she flicked the polygonal blood from her blade and sheathed it as the king slid in half at the waist. As his two halves plopped to the ground and shattered she closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Turning her attention to her companions, Katoka rushed over and stopped in front of them.

"Elora are you alright?" she asked, seeing what looked like frustration on her face. "Chase you good?"

"Right!" Katoka hopped up and downed the last of her drink, "I almost forgot why we all gathered here today." she stopped for a moment, "No wedding pun intended. Let's head out!" as they walked the blonde blushed at Freyd's suggestion of the hot springs rub down and lightly jabbed him on the arm. "I'll have you know I give a wonderful massage." she huffed and crossed her arms.

"If you want someone to tag along while dress hunting Haine I'd be free, if you want to company that is." Katoka was no wedding dress expert, but having a second set of eyes for something as important as this would probably help the bluenette. She was certain though that she would look beautiful in any dress.

As the party trudged through the snow, Katoka pulled her scarf up over her face and mouth to block some of the cold. She walked a closer to Elora and grabbed hold of her arm, "Sorry, I hope you don't mind me stealing some of your warmth. I didn't realize it's be this cold." she shivered against her friend as they walked.

Watching the king Katoka could see that even Chase at a higher level was having trouble with his fighting fighting style. "Dual Wielding is so OP." she said aloud as she watched her companions struggle with their opponent. However when she watched Elora get knocked to the ground and saw the Elvish King looming over her, she felt her body react once again.

She went into the motions for charging her sword art while the tendons in her legs tightened and propelled her forward at lightning speed. It was as if she was watching the king move in slow motion, he drew back on of his blades in the motion to cut down Elora. Before the sword had even made it back down Katoka was standing behind him now, if Elora or Chase had blinked they would have missed it. His health bar dropped immediately to half as his arm dropped from his body and shattered on the ground into a million fractals.

"Get to safety Elora." the samurai said as she turned to face the newly crippled king. Her voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. However her face was stern and there was a fire in her eyes that couldn't be snuffed out, unless it was with her opponents blood. 

Turning an even darker shade of red, Katoka hurried beside Sam, "Holy crap she's smooth." she thought, "If she keeps this up I don't how much longer it'll be before my knees give out."

Hearing that they were close she began looking around excited, when the sound of the waterfall drifted to her ears a smile spread across her face. She kept up with Sam's quickened pace as they rounded the path and emerged in front of a fairly large pond being fed by a tall waterfall. Her eyes sparkling with excitement she hurried to the water's edge and looked around, "Oh Sam it's gorgeous!"

Suddenly the blonde was reminded of a similar but much smaller waterfall she had found while on the hunt for her katana skill, she started to tell the story but remembered that she had ended up skinny dipping in the cold water then and decided that it was too embarrassing a story to tell on a first date. Instead she turned to Sam and asked while practically vibrating with excitement, "So where are we setting up?"

Seeing Sam arrive caused Katoka to stand up quickly, adjusting her skirt and smoothing her shirt in the process. "O-Oh! Don't worry about it too much, you seem to have a lot here though. Let me help you here." she grabbed some of the food bags to free her hands. At Sam's compliment the blonde turned beat red and turned her head away to hide her embarrassment. She did like that Sam appreciated it though, "Th-thank you." she managed to get out before turning back to her, face still flush.

She followed Sam with the food in hand, trying to keep up. Since she was much taller than Katoka her strides were longer so she had to quicken her pace to keep up. "So what are we having to eat?" she inquired, not sure what to talk about on their hike to the spot she had picked out. She wanted to peak into the bags but held back in case anything was supposed to be a surprise.

Katoka barely got any sleep that night. After Sam had kissed her on the cheek and pulled her into a hug before they departed she had went home in a daze. Walking in she fell face first into her bed and screamed in utter excitement. She had a date. A date! After a few minutes of rolling around and flailing about she stopped dead, "What the hell am I going to wear?!"

After searching her inventory and comparing outfits she had managed to settle on something that she thought would be fine. Then she remembered the different weather setting on every floor and groaned. She eventually managed to get about 4 hours of sleep before jolting awake to pace her home, waiting on a message from Sam. She fussed with her hair and went through her outfits again before she got a notification, seeing that their date would be on the 6th floor she settled on her first clothing choice and stored her armor and katana in her battle ready inventory just to be safe.

After vibrating about her house she couldn't wait any long and left to warp down to the 6th floor an hour before the meet time. Being early wouldn't be so bad, plus it would give her time to practice... everything? Having never been to the 6th floor Katoka wanted to get a look around as well before hand, it couldn't hurt to check out at least the main settlement for a little while. It was humid, but the scenery was beautiful. After inspecting the buildings and trying to catch a glimpse of any wildlife through the trees the blonde settled down on a bench near the teleport gate to wait for Sam.

"I really hope she likes this outfit. Oh god, did I get here too early? Nah, half an hour isn't that bad." she said out loud before fiddling with her bow for the fifth time since she sat down.

Once again Katoka was shocked, she hadn't expected this lengthy of a response. She smiled though and responded in kind, "I know what you mean. I spent a good part of my time hiding in my room at the Inns in town and barely making ends meet. I finally decided I would get my life back about a month or so ago and I've clawed my way to where I am now, with some help of course." she thought fondly back to her first few quests with Ruler and meeting her other guild mates.

"As for SAO, my uh, my father managed to get a copy for me." she smiled sadly, "He's a software engineer for a fairly large company in Japan and he knows I love video games. I tried to drop it into conversation casually but it seemed like he never really caught on. Turns out he did and managed to get me a copy." thinking about the real world was making her homesick.

"I just hope he doesn't blame himself for what happened." letting out a sigh, Katoka turned to Shirayuki, "What about you?"

Taking Elora's hand, Katoka stood with scarlet cheeks, "Only my pride had been hurt so far." she replied brushing the dirt off of herself. "Let's not get too careless just yet, we still have the king to take care of."

As the words left her mouth she saw the elvish king striding to the trio, he drew two swords from his back and stood in a readied fighting stance. "Take a breather Elora, I'll see if I can hurt this guy a bit."

Digging her toes into the dirt, the samurai sprung forward ready to strike the king where he stood. When she slid to a stop in front of the elf she let the system guide her blade like she always did, watching the glow of her sword as is cut through the air almost in slow motion. However something was off. The elvish king had a devilish grin from ear to ear as he deflected her attack with ease.

"Damn!" Katoka cursed as she leapt back from her enemy. Looks like he wasn't going to be as easy as she thought.

Having Sam wipe some of her tears away made Katoka blush again, at this rate all the blood in her body would rush to her head if this kept up. Their conversation was cut short, but seeing Sam make short work of their mark made something stir inside her. "Oh my, she's very strong." she thought as she walked back over. Seeing the woman that was being so gentle with her just a few minutes before have such strength gave Katoka goosebumps.

Listening to her proposal Kat nodded profusely, "A picnic sounds absolutely lovely Sam." she played with her hair nervously, "I don't know many spots since I've only been to a few floors here and there so you can pick the spot if you'd like."

She smiled at Sam as they started back towards town, she watched as she walked slightly ahead but turned back and offered Katoka her hand. For the umpteenth time today she blushed and looked away, but not before she took Sam's hand. She hadn't imagined it before, her hand was soft but warm clasped in hers. She fell in line next to her as they walked, "Sam?" she said sheepishly, "I'm really happy you came with me today."

"I..." Katoka took a deep breath, "I don't know wither. I've never been in a rela- in anything like this. But I don't want to regret missing out on anything." she rubbed her face on Sam's back a bit. "Saying... That... It made me feel nice. No one has really told me that before, outside of my family of course. It made my heart feel like it was going to vibrate out of my chest. Almost like the time I got an exclusive drop in Realm of Battlecraft." she laughed a bit at her comparison, feeling her cheeks wet with tears.

"We can take this slow, just coffee or lunch." she removed her head from Sam's back and stepped around in front of her, "I think your very pretty Sam, like really pretty. And I want to get to know you more, laugh with you, talk about old games we've played." Katoka took a deep breath again and closed her eyes before exhaling, "Would you... Like to spend more time with me?"