Akatsu

Kat giggled as Ryou tried to explain that she was just having a good time. Kat understood, but it was still nice to hear Ryou say it for once. She didn't mind this adventure, as slow paced and leisurely as it had been. Surely they would have more adventures that were more high action and full of adrenaline. But this was fine for now. Kat figured she shouldn't just sit on her laurels though. She figured she could help Ryou find some materials herself rather than leaving it all to her friend.

And so, Kat got on her hands and knees and began rooting around in the grass like she hat watched the boars do, hoping that maybe mimicking them would lead to results. Really though, all this resulted in was her looking a bit silly, foolish even, as she dug around fruitlessly. Falling back onto her butt, she looked up at Ryou with dust and dirt all over her face and hands, giggling away, knowing that she probably looked so silly.

"I got a little too into it," Kat admitted, a giant grin on her face as she watched Ryou in response.

Kat watched as Ryou laid in the grass. “Yeah, I meant it. I’m not all the men at the bar. I was the first person who wanted to be your friend, despite how much of a sourpuss you were.” Kat giggled, and jumped up to her feet, before running off after another set of small boars. These ones were definitely babies, and squealed in fright and scattered every which way from the girl charging at them.

Kat wanted to break up the monotony. Her and Ryou had been out in this field for what felt like ages, with nothing to do but pick flowers and talk to each other. And while Kat enjoyed both of those things, she also knew that the quest was almost finally done. After the board scattered again, and with Kat being none the wiser of any repercussions of her actions, she looked down to find yet another truffle hiding in the grass. “Ryou! I found another mushroom! I got enough materials for that dumb old man!”

Kat giggled as Ryou went to grab some more flowers. Ryou really did worry too much, but Kat was honestly used to that. She took the flower from Ryou with a light blush still on her cheeks. She was happy that she had gotten the hug. She was happy that they were finally able to spend this kind of uninterrupted time together. It was almost magical. If not for the fact that they were trapped in a video game and basically being hunted by an evil stalker.

But Kat tried her best to put that out of her mind for now. “You didn’t make me nervous, okay?” Kat managed to finally explain, breaking away from her thoughts. Kat honestly wanted to tell her how she felt, but Ryou always seemed so serious and no-nonsense that she didn’t think Ryou would actually take to it all that well. She smiled to herself lightly, still allowing herself a bit of a daydream, nonetheless.

Kat squeaked from the unexpected hug. She immediately panicked for a moment, She thought something was wrong with Ryou, usually Ryou only hugged her if she was drunk and needed support. But Ryou definitely wasn’t drunk, so she worried that something else was wrong. Was she hurt? Tired?

Once Kat gave herself a chance to think about it though, she realized that this was warmer, gentler. Ryou was just hugging her. Kat’s blush grew even redder as she realized this, and she tried her best not to panic for an entirely different reason. “I-I’m glad you like it! We’ll find a way to keep it alive, I’m sure of it! You’re so incredibly smart, you can figure out anything!”

Kat heaped on the praise in order to hide her nervousness at being this close to Ryou like this. She hugged her friend back, in the end. And decided to cherish the moment. Who knew when it would happen again?

Kat's eyes lit up as Ryou found a solution to her problem. That was her Ryou, all Kat ever had to do was ask, and Ryou would usually find a way. She looked at the bouquet that she had made, and couldn't help the childish grin that drew across her face. She giggled and thought that all the colorful flowers worked incredibly well together, and was so very impressed with all that Ryou had managed to find in just the short time they had been wandering around these fields. But Ryou had always been resourceful, and that was one of the things Kat adored about her. She just wished that Ryou could accept that herself. She held the bouquet out triumphantly, watching the flowers blow lightly in the breeze that blew by. Kat knew that this was special, and she hoped that the game would let her cherish it forever. But, she also knew that there was someone else who would find it to be even more special.

Kat held the bouquet out, and gave Ryou a light bow, "Do you want it?" Kat asked, hiding her face behind the bouquet so that Ryou wouldn't see the blush that was growing there.

Kat heard Ryou say the words that she had wanted to hear for so long. That she was glad to be discovering who she was. Kat had seen this Ryou in glimpses, and once at that festival. It was overwhelmingly positive for the both of them for Ryou to be coming out of her shell like this, and Kat would drive that point home as much as she could. She had run out of flowers nearby where she was sitting, and would have normally needed to move to grab more, but then Ryou came over with more flowers. Ryou held them out to her, and Kat's smile grew wider as her eyes sparkled at her friend.

"They're so pretty!" she told Ryou, as she gladly took them from her. Kat put one in her inventory for the stupid quest that was going to steal all her nice things, because she supposed she had to care about that at some point. But with the flowers she had left, she laced them into the bouquet of smaller flowers, using them as dressing for the larger bouquet as a whole here and there. Accented by the flowers, the bouquet was now a beautiful rainbow of colors from all the flowers they had managed to grab so far. But Kat was coming around to a problem. She looked at Ryou with sad eyes, "How am I going to bundle them together? We don't have any ribbon or paper!"

Kat's eyes watered a bit, but she blinked away the tears. She had never really felt that much gratitude from Ryou before. Ryou was always protecting her and waving off her help like she was trying to be strong and independent. Which she was, and Kat respected that about her. But at the end of the day, she wanted her friend to be her friend. Kat was always so selfish, and that probably wouldn't change anytime soon. But she wanted Ryou to be more than a bodyguard, if nobody else in Kat's life was ever going to get close to her. She felt like nobody else could ever really stand her, except the men who wanted her for a quick one night stand and that definitely didn't count.

Kat sat down next to Ryou, and started picking flowers for the bouquet she wanted to make. She wanted to make it for Ryou, but she wasn't sure if that was too obvious. She giggled, a light blush starting to creep across her face once again. She had never had Ryou alone for this long before. Never had Ryou be this attentive to Kat and what she said and asked for. "I'm glad I'm relaxing you. That's all I've ever really wanted, was for you to relax and be you," Kat admitted, as she bunched more flowers together for her really poor makeshift bouquet.

Kat was trying her best to believe that Ryou was having a good time. This certainly wasn’t as fun as the festival they went to, but Kat was still having a good time. Ryou wanted Kat to trust her, but after years of watching Ryou be so high strung, it was difficult for her to be so sure.

Ryou led her away to another field of flowers, and Kat’s eyes basically lit up as she watched Ryou find a flower from the field. Kat was being extremely careful to not crush any of the flowers underfoot. In fact, she wanted to be extra careful. She opened her menu and her equipment and removed her booties. She was absolutely amazed at how real the grass felt on her feet as she walked through the field. The technical marvel of this game was far past anything she could have imagined possible.

She looked at the flower Ryou picked and her eyes lit up. “It’s so pretty! I hate that we have to give all these flowers to Zackariah! I want to make them into a bouquet!”

When Ryou brushed the hair from her face Kat naturally tilted her head causing the hair to fall back into her face. She liked her hair covering her face, even if it seemed to annoy Ryou sometimes. She giggled at the gesture. It wasn’t the first time they had it he little back and forth. A lot of men told Kat she had the prettiest blue eyes and that it was a shame she always hid one or the other. But Kat always thought it made her look cuter.

When Ryou took her hand her heart skipped a beat, but then Ryou admitted that she had been overthinking again and Kat’s frown deepened. She squeezed Ryou’s hand and said, “You have to let go!” She shook her head, and tried her best not to be upset, but it was hard. Here they were, picking flowers. Like two little girls. And even then Ryou still wanted to think about home. A part of Kat understood. But given that home was so far away right now, she just hoped that would unlock something in Ryou.

Kat turned back around to Ryou, trying to use the hair that normally covered her face to hide the blush that still lightly traced across it. She smiled and pulled out the dandelion, careful not to lose any of the little wispy seeds that barely clung to the flower's center. "A dandelion!" she told Ryou, before putting it back in her inventory so she didn't mess up the flower. A breeze blew through the plains surrounding them, and that was also another worry, as she saw a couple of other dandelions lose their seeds nearby. "I know it's simple," she admitted, "but they're cute flowers. Dunno if they're any good for potions, but Zackariah did say we could bring him whatever."

Kat watched a boar lazily snuffle by, paying neither girl any mind. Ryou looked like she was starting to stress about things again, and Kat started to get a bit worried that her friend was overthinking things as she tended to do. "What's wrong?" Kat asked simply, before scooting a bit closer in the grass and reaching a hand out to her friend. "Please tell me you're still having fun!" Kat said, a worried frown starting to draw across her lips.

Kat stared up at the sky, and smiled. She was seeing Ryou, her Ryou again, and it was wonderful. She wasn't sure that she ever would see that side of her again. Her mind flashed back to the festival that she had gotten a begrudging Ryou to go to on a weekend night. Ryou had even worn a kimono for Kat, and she looked absolutely beautiful to Kat. Kat looked over at Ryou, in her armor and sighed, wondering what it would take to get her back in that kimono again. The blush ran across her cheeks, and she tried her best to get the thoughts from her mind as she rolled back over in the grass and pretended to search for the materials they were supposed to find for the quest.

She frantically dug through the grass, trying her best to clear her head, before she finally found a dandelion, fully intact. She wondered if Zackariah would accept one? Perhaps, there was really only one way to find out, and so she picked it and stored it away in her inventory. It actually took all of her willpower not to blow all the seeds away, but she wasn't sure if that would damage the flower too much and make it unusable. Still, her mind lingered on Ryou, trying her best to have fun. Kat sat on her knees in the grass, her back to Ryou, and a smile plastered across her face like she was just a little kid again. The danger she had felt seemed so far away now.

Kat was surprised when she was “punished” by Ryou with a flick on the forehead. Gentle as it was, and despite the fact that it wouldn’t have hurt anyway due to the game’s systems, Kat reacted like she had just been shot in the head. She groaned and wobbled and spun around dramatically, before leaning backwards and plopping into the grass. She stared up at the sky, hoping her drama wasn’t taken too seriously. She was very much enjoying this different side of Ryou. 

Kat sat up from the grass, some of it falling away from her kimono after she had shaken it loose from the ground with her fall. Ryou was looking through a field of flowers, and then pulled one out of the ground, saying it looked like Kat. “Pretty! Just like me!” she agreed, before giggling and rolling around in the grass. Kat was having so much fun that she forgot to look for her own flowers for Zackariah. The quest seemed so far away from her mind now.

Kat smiled brightly at Ryou and was so excited that they were finally on the adventure she wanted, even if it was a simple fetch quest. But after finding the mushroom, Kat wondered what else there was to find. She didn’t want to disturb the boars too much, but she wondered if maybe following them would yield more mushrooms. She had read in a book somewhere, probably grade school, that pigs were experts at finding food, and food meant things to give to Zackariah!

So she walked up to some boars, and as she walked waited to see if they got spooked. They didn’t this time. They just grazed and snuffled and paid her no mind. This boar seemed a bit bigger than the ones that Kat had accidentally chased off a moment ago. She paused, watched them a little longer, before finally running forward with a quick, “Ahhhhhhhhh!” The boars looked up at her, one of them squealed back, and then went back to grazing. It was clear these boars didn’t seem as frightened. Kat pouted and went back to Ryou. “Well that didn’t work,” she admitted with a frown.

Kat was more than a little surprised when Ryou grabbed her hand, and gave a slight yelp when Ryou jump started the skipping again by skipping herself. She looked at her friend in confusion, and while Ryou looked a little uncomfortable, she wasn’t upset. She actually looked happy, and was even blushing a little. This made Kat blush as well, as she skipped along with her friend, hand in hand, like they were both little girls. Before she knew it, Kat was giggling like usual and humming along as they skipped.

It didn’t take too long before they reached the city gates, and Kat gasped at the huge grassy plains that spread out before them. “It’s so pretty!” she shouted her eyes sparkling with joy, as she ran out into the field. The boars milling about squealed ran away from the girl charging into the plains, and Kat stopped, “Aw, I scared them. Poor piggies.” She sighed a little, before looking down in the grass where she had seen one boar snuffling about. There was a mushroom. A truffle maybe? Kat wasn’t sure, but she pulled it out of the ground and held it up to Ryou. “Look, I found a thing to give Zackariah!” she declared proudly.

Kat’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat when she thought of going outside again. Not that she exactly felt safe in the city after being accosted by that terrible man, but she certainly felt safer than she would outside the city walls, without thousands of other players milling about. With a light sigh, she steeled herself and her thoughts, before putting on her customary smile for Ryou. “Okay! Let’s go pick some flowers or something then! If we’re lucky, there’s some stuff just outside the gate!”

Kat jumped to her feet and threw her arms up into the air, before dancing around. “It’s finally adventure time!” she said with a giggle and a twirl. She helped up Ryou if Ryou would let her and then began to skip off towards the nearest city exit. About two skips in and she thought about it, and stopped, remembering how that got her in trouble last time. She frowned a bit and stared walking normally, making sure Ryou was still with her.

Kat was worried but when Ryou patted her head all her worries seemed to melt away. She nodded in response to everything being okay, her smile shining brightly despite the recent meltdown. It was always easy for Kat to bounce back. She had to, or else she couldn’t make the money she wanted to.

However, when Ryou mentioned going outside the city walls, a bit of color drained from Kat’s face. “Oh no. Why?! What’s outside the city walls? Are we finally going to have to kill things?!” Kat asked, a bit panicked. She wanted to pretend all day long that she was ready for this. That it was easy. But pretending is easy when you never have to actually do it. She jumped up to her feet and brushed some of the dirt from her kimono. She hadn’t been reading the quest info. She wasn’t even sure where to find it, if she was being honest, so she was trying not to launch into full blown panic mode.

She looked back to Ryou and took a deep breath, “No, these are the starter tutorials. It should be easy, right? Please tell me it’ll be easy.”

Kat stood stock still as she waited for Ryou to respond, the tears flowing freely. She knew she had gone overboard, but she had wanted to get this off her chest for years now. She had known Ryou for so long, became such good friends, did everything she could to take care of her, and still to this day had never gotten to know Ryou. The real Ryou, the one that wasn't overworked and actually lived her life. She didn't know Ryou's family, just that Ryou sent them money. She didn't know Ryou's life, or habits, just that she came to the bar half asleep and ready to get drunk. She wanted to know more about the only friend she had ever really had, and Ryou was always just too busy.

But when Ryou broke down and got down on the floor, Kat couldn't help but break down even more herself. She ended up getting down on her knees and putting her hand on Ryou's head. "I.... Ryou don't cry... I'm so sorry!" Kat stammered. She put herself over Ryou's bowing form and picked her friend up so that Kat could look her in the eyes again. "It's... it's okay! We'll do the quest and we'll have fun! I'm sorry I got so mad! Please don't cry anymore!" She quickly wiped away Ryou's tears, and hugged her friend, "No more tears, please..."

Kat folded her arms and when Ryou presented herself in front of her, Kat looked to the side, away from Ryou. She listened to her apology, and she wanted to forgive her, but this always happened. She pouted and tried her best not to let the tears start forming again, she wanted to be the one to be mad at Ryou, not start crying because Ryou was being nice to her again. She continued to stare off down the street as she said, "I clearly didn't get in trouble. The stupid NPC didn't even do anything, and the potion just went right back on the table as if nothing had happened." Kat tried her best to get Ryou to understand that this was a game, and that she needed to lighten up. She was going to keep trying. "Zackariah didn't even mention the stupid potion, don't you think that's weird? These aren't people, they're programs, and we're just here to do whatever they want for us to get things. It's a video game!" Kat huffed, as she looked back at Ryou, dead in her eyes.

"It's a video game, and I just want to have fun, okay? I've never played video games, because they always seemed stupid, but now I see why maybe people like them. But you have to lighten up and have FUN!" Kat raised her voice, though she didn't mean to. Her anger finally ended up getting the better of her, as tears started streaming down her face, "FUN RYOU! I WANT US TO HAVE FUN FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE! I'VE ALWAYS JUST WANTED TO HAVE FUN WITH YOU!"

Kat grumbled as Ryou scolded her. She hadn’t done anything the game would get mad at her for and Zackariah didn’t care. Kat was ready to throw a temper tantrum because Ryou was upset with her. She didn’t want Ryou to be upset, she wanted Ryou to have fun. But here she was still worrying about things like they were in the real world. It was infuriating to the woman. It was like when Kat had finally dragged Ryou to karaoke but she made Kat sing all the songs because Ryou was too worried Kat wouldn’t like her singing.

”Okay, fine. Let’s get this stupid quest done and over with,” Kat said, before stomping to the door, “Do whatever party leader things you have to do, and I’ll be outside.” She huffed, opened the door, walked out and slammed it behind her.

She moved to the side of the door way and folded her arms over her chest, and tried her best not to start crying. This was supposed to be Ryou’s chance to lighten up and she wasn’t taking the hint. She supposed all she could really do was wait and see if the quest itself let them have fun. She didn’t even know what they’d have to do.

Kat walked into the store as Ryou held open the door for her, and she was assaulted by the smells of all the potions being brewed. They all smelled wonderful! Mostly. Some of them smelled like medicine. Kat wrinkled her nose at those ones. She looked for those that smelled nice and wafted them into her face as Ryou talked to the old man behind the counter. She presumed that to be Zackariah, but Kat was busy figuring out which potions she didn't like so she could break them if she had to get answers. She had gotten around to picking somewhere around three potions she didn't like the smell of that she would break when she overheard the old man telling Ryou that he had an errand for them.

"Hey, old man!" Kat shouted from the back, and Zackariah turned to face her with a smile on his face, seemingly noticing her for the first time, "Oh, you must be this young madam's companion. I bid you welcome. As I stated, all of these potions are the last of my stock. I would be happy to help fill an orde-" Kat cleared her throat and Zackariah stopped speaking abruptly with a bit of a surprised look on his face, "I'm terribly sorry, please let me finish, as I was saying, I can help fill your order-" Kat cleared her throat louder, and the old man stopped once more. Yet despite this, he seemed hardly annoyed, although Kat was beginning to find herself annoyed instead. The old man began the spiel one more time, and Kat instinctively pushed the nearest potion she didn't like off the table. It fell to the ground and shattered into a bunch of brightly colored pixels, which made Kat yelp. She yelped again when a big warning window popped up in front of her, and the potion reappeared on the table as if nothing had happened. Through all this, Zackariah finished his spiel, completely this time without interruption, and looked back at the two women in front of him. "Well? What do you say?" he prompted them again, and Kat just gave a sigh.

"Ryou, this game is so stupid. I can't even do what I want," Kat said, pouting as she pushed the potion off the table again, just because she knew it would ultimately do nothing but make her feel better. At least the little glowy pixels were pretty when she was expecting them.

Kat frowned at Ryou for not showing the same enthusiasm for her for the quest. It was going to be fun! Ryou needed to live a little. She didn’t think these NPC people were actually people, if she understood after it was explained to her. She could probably hurt them and they forget the next day. That was a grim thought. Kat furrowed her brow as she followed Ryou. Best not to think stuff like that. Kat wanted to be a hero. Heroes get all the glory, not villains.

Kat nodded along to her own thoughts as if she had been talking to someone this entire time, barely noticing where they were, until a sign caught her eye. “Zackari- Ryou wait! This is it!” she shouted, grabbing Ryou by the back of her armor’s cloak. “We almost walked past it. But hey, your map reading must be going well if you got us here!” Kat smiled at Ryou. She was having so much fun already.

Dorian seemed satisfied by the response Ryou gave him, and nodded, but was surprised when Ryou started to leave. As Ryou started to walk away he quickly blurted out, “A-ah, Zachariah! Zackariah the alchemist is who I think I lent the money! I’ll mark your map with the location of his store! Good luck!” And then the two were gone. Dorian gave a small crooked smile and shrugged, “What an odd pair.” He then turned, and as if he forgot the entire thing began to harry the next group passing by.

Kat pouted as she was dragged off by Ryou. “Sorry if I made you mad,” she admitted, “you’re right, it has just been a really stressful day.” It was both an understatement and unnecessary to say. They had both experienced it, but Kat felt better saying it aloud to her friend. “We should probably look at the map to find this Zackariah guy. I wonder if we’re going to have to beat him up for money, like in the mob.” Kat pondered aloud, her eyes beginning to sparkle again for all the wrong reasons. “Ooh, maybe it’s one of those things where we break all his stuff and he’s like, ‘please no I’m sorry I have your money!’” Kat then began giggling uncontrollably, after putting on her most masculine voice possible for Zackariah’s line.

Dorian cleared his throat, "Oh, nothing so grand as a quest, I assure you. I just have a debt I need repaid, and for the life of me, I can't remember who I gave it to. Would you be willing to look into this for me?" As the party leader, Ryou would receive a quest notification screen in front of her, and Kat just stood there staring at Dorian, waiting for him to continue, having received no notification herself. She looked to Ryou, then back to Dorian, "Yes, we would be happy to help!" she explained to the man, but he just stood there waiting for Ryou to respond. Kat blinked, puffed out her cheeks again, and then began tapping her foot. "This game is so weird!" she exclaimed.

This seemed to snap Dorian back to life for a moment as he turned to look at Kat, his eyes wide, "Oh, miss, I assure you this isn't a game. Debt collection is a serious issue that must be handled with utmost respect and authority!" Kat's face went red hot, "DON'T CALL ME MISS!" she said, her tension finally boiling over at how stupid all of this was. Dorian was taken aback by the sudden outburst, before turning his attention to Ryou, "Other madam, please tell me your friend will handle herself much better during the ah.... quest, you have presumed this to be?"

As Ryou explained that “party” in the video game meant “group” all Kat could think to ask was, “Well, why don’t they just call it a group then? Party means something entirely different!” She puffed her cheeks in annoyance and waited for Ryou to go through the menus as she tapped her foot. She wasn’t necessarily being impatient, she just didn’t understand why video games had to be so complicated!

Finally, Ryou let Kat know that there were invitations sent to the “party”. At this point she wished it was a real party. She could use a few drinks after all they had gone through. Either way, Kat fumbled through her menus as she looked for the menu to accept the invitations sent. This probably would have been a lot more difficult if not for the blinking indicators showing her that what she needed waited for her in the social menu. She grunted a little in frustration as she pressed the buttons in the air in front of her.

She squealed in surprise as the UI dinged at her and in the upper right corner of her vision, she saw Ryou’s full username pop up next to hers with a big green bar. She guessed that was the group system. She wasn’t sure if she was going to refuse to call it a party yet or not. With a smug smile at her own thoughts, she looked back at Ryou and said, “Okay, so now we talk to monocle man and we’re good to go, right?”

Kat nearly shot off into the air like a rocket as she heard a man clearing his throat behind her, “The name is Dorian, my lady, and yes, I should like to speak with the two of you if you would spare a moment!”

Kat led Ryou by the hand as they followed the boy that Kat had kept them company in the alleyway. He had a lot more energy and seemed to be in much higher spirits. To be fair, Kat was much in the same spirits now that she had taken a nap, and she gripped Ryou's hand tight so she was sure she wouldn't lose her. When all three woke up and talked to each other, the boy found out that the two women had zero ideas on how to play the game. So he agreed to help the two learn the ropes, and the primary way to do that was to do the starter quests. 

The boy had led them through the labyrinthine Starter City and seemed to know exactly where he was going. This was impressive considering after wandering around for an entire day yesterday, Kat had zero clue on where anything even was. If you asked her to get back to that cafe they were at yesterday, she would have had trouble even knowing the direction it was, let alone how to get there. However, the boy not only had confidence in where he was going but purpose. Kat was glad someone did, at least, considering how lost she and Ryou had been.

When they reached the square, Kat found that there were a lot of players gathered there, with a man in a monocle and nice suit running around harrying basically anyone who passed by. The boy stopped and looked back at the two girls, who had been struggling to keep up with his burst of energy. "Right there, miss," he said to Kat, and Kat frowned as she walked up next to him. "Now, don't call me miss. Call me..." she tapped her chin as she remembered the other people she met calling her Akatsu based on her username. She almost forgot that's what she had set it as since she couldn't think of anything more original than combining her first and last name in a fun way. But she wondered if she could get a nickname out of that. She ran the letters over in her head, and finally after what was probably a way too awkwardly long pause with the boy staring at her finished her sentence with, "Kat! Call me Kat!" Her smile didn't do much to not give away how proud she was for coming up with that.

The boy blinked at her, and then his eyes lit up, "Okay! Miss Kat!" Kat's cheeks puffed out in annoyance, but before she could protest the "miss" part the boy turned to the man scrambling around the square and pointed at him. "That's the man who will start your quest. I suggest you two start a party and then talk to him, and he'll tell you what to do. Good luck!" he said, before bounding off. "Thank you!" Kat yelled after him and waved, and he turned and waved back as he ran, before disappearing into another nearby alleyway. Kat really hoped he'd be okay. But she turned to Ryou, "What did he mean party? I don't usually go to parties, and especially not in video games."