Akatsu

Thread Complete!
Akatsu
200 Col
612 EXP

Ryoubai
200 Col
612 EXP
 

Despite her friend showing up, the kid in Kat’s arms never actually looked up. Kat gently stroked his head. She looked at Ryou, her eyes puffy, and tried her best to smile. “You don’t need to apologize. It’s all my fault, like usual. I just don’t usually have to face any consequences is all.”

Kat’s tears welled up in the corner of her eyes, but the small smile stayed on her lips as she looked down at the kid in her arms. “I always get away with it. And you don’t have to lie to me and tell me that it’s not wrong that I con men for money so I can live a lavish lifestyle. I’ve known a while… I just didn’t care. It was fun and I enjoyed the rewards.”

The tears were flowing again, but her crying remained silent and stoic this time, “Someone finally caught me in a cage with the lion. I have to face that fact, for once.” Kat couldn’t help the dry chuckle that escaped her lips, as she looked back to Ryou, “I think he’s asleep. Maybe we should just all rest a while. It has been a long day. Goodness knows we can’t afford an inn room. But even if it’s in the alley, at least we’ll be together.”

Kat offered her hand to her friend, raw tears staining her face, but a faded smile still ever present in her optimism. For now, she was happy to be alive, and she needed to hold onto hope where she could.

Kat ran breathlessly through the alleyways of the Starting City. There were a surprising amount of people here, huddled together, hiding, crying. She did her best to keep running but also not trip on them as she ran. She zig-zagged this way and that, with no real sense of what direction she was headed in. Her vision was blurry from the tears, and she was struggling to keep her eyes open anyway.  That man wasn't supposed to find her, not ever. Now she didn't want Ryou to find her either. Ryou knew her shame now and had to have hated her. All because Kat wanted to play with this new technology. Now it was coming back to bite her.

Kat gasped as she lost track of the people on the ground and tripped over a small boy. She hit the ground hard, but once again felt no pain, not even a scrape or anything adorned her palms. She groaned as she looked back at the boy, whose eyes were just as wide and filled with tears as hers. "I'm sorry..." she muttered to him, but the boy just put his head back in his knees and arms and began sobbing again. Kat didn't know why he was crying, but his situation probably wasn't much better than hers. He probably wanted his mom or dad and was stuck here. If Kat was being honest, she probably wanted her mom and dad too. As the thoughts filled her with grief again, she started to bawl, and the kid looked up again at her, seemingly shocked that she was crying too.

"You didn't hurt me..." he said quietly, and Kat wiped away her tears with her kimono sleeve and shook her head. "No, no, it's not that..." she admitted, "I just... I was thinking about my mom and dad, and how upset they would probably be at me for what I've done wrong. The trouble I've caused. And of my friend who probably hates me now for abandoning her and making stupid adult promises that neither of us should have to keep." The boy continued to stare at her wide-eyed. The kid couldn't have been more than 14 years old, but instinctively he still reached out to Kat, and gently placed his hand on her head. Kat sniffled and stopped crying for a moment to look at him, and he smiled at her, "Would you like a hug?" It was a pure question full of the innocence of a child, and almost made Kat cry more, but she held it together and gave a small nod. The boy pulled her into a hug, and Kat ended up leaning her head against his, pulling him into her own embrace. Two strangers, finding comfort in a scary world.

Kat heard footsteps run by her, it was multiple sets, heavy like grown men. Then she heard, "Find them! Find the girls! They can't have gone far amidst..." she felt a man's eyes graze her back with his sight, "...amidst these children and their babysitters!" And then the footsteps charged off. Kat hardly cared. All she felt was the boy's warmth. His shallow breathing against her heartbeat. The warm wetness of tears staining her kimono. There were those who were scared, and there were those who were taking advantage of that fear. What a world they found themselves in.

Kat was now caught between a rock and a hard place. Normally she wouldn't have involved Ryou in her fleecing, but if she hadn't the man wouldn't have agreed to give Ryou a Nervegear and Kat would have been all alone in this game. She winced when Ryou said her full name, like she was a dog being scolded, and was ready to cry given her friend's anger. She sniffled as her eyes grew glassy and looked into her eyes, "Look, usually it never goes this far. I didn't expect for him to find us. Yes... I promised... I promised us both to him for a night..."

Kat admitted this and pulled herself away from the both of them, forcefully if Ryou had been holding onto her. She looked back at the man, "We're all trapped here! Why can't you just let us go?!" The man raised an eyebrow, and a sneer drew across his face, his pale brown eyes glistening in the sun. "Let you go?! It's exactly because we're all trapped here that I want my promise. For as long as you two are stuck in this game with me, I'll have my way with you," he stated flatly, the grin never leaving his face.

Kat grew pale and backed away further. She had never actually kept any of these promises to any man or woman. She had never even stayed the night with any of them. And she had never really planned to. For all the bravado and charisma she had, Kat had planned to only give herself to someone special, all she had wanted was the money! "Ryou... I'm sorry!" she told her friend, as she turned and made a mad dash for the nearest alley. All she heard behind her as she cried was, "HEY! GET BACK HERE!"

Kat was glad the adventure was finally starting. She was practically skipping as she left the cafe with her friend. The whole world was open, new and exciting, and all they had to do was reach out and grab it. Nothing in their way, the real world a whispered memory in her mind. As Kat skipped a long not a care entered her mind until she was forced to stop with an audible grunt from her.

She had been skipping with her eyes closed like the absolute ditz that she is, and ran straight into another player. She opened her eyes, and was trying to decide if she would apologize or scold them for getting in the way of a happy skipping girl, as she scanned the person in front of her. As she did, a coldness washed over her, very similar to all those times she got caught out at the bar.

”Well, what do we have here? The tavern wench,” the man looked over Kat’s shoulder, “and her friend in tow. How fortuitous, I had been looking all over for you two, my promised companions. I had so hoped you hadn’t gone and done something stupid like die. I need to blow off some steam after learning I’m stuck here for however long it takes for the authorities to get us out of here.”

Kat’s mouth hung open, of all the people for her to run into. She looked the man over, she never usually paid attention to the men she fleeced, but then again, not very many of them she ever saw again. Once they realized that they weren’t going to get anything out of Kat and their business was concluded, they never came back. But this man, tall, lanky, with greasy looking black hair, was the first repeat offender. Kat struggled to find words. But all that came out was a croak.

Kat couldn’t help the shiver that ran down her spine as she continued to think about people wanting to kill her and everyone else. She tried so hard to make everyone she met not hate her, that the idea that someone just wanted to kill 10,000 people was almost incomprehensible to her. But there were clues to it popping up the more she thought about it.

With a heavy sigh, Kat steeled herself and her thoughts, and brought her smile back. There were plenty of things to do that weren’t dangerous, and even some that were dangerous but manageable. As long as they were careful and worked together. She knew Ryou had her back. And she would have hers.

Back to the topic of money then, “So we need to kill monsters or do quests? Where do we find quests? Did it have any in the tutorials?” Kat’s eyes lit up again, “I want to see what happens when we kill stuff, if it disappears like Dragon Quest! I think that would be cool. Boom! POW! And then poof, right out of existence!!” Kat giggled again and almost tumbled backwards again from laughing too hard, but managed to catch the table with a blush on her face.

”Don’t say anything,” she told Ryou, before motioning to the door, “Come on, let’s start the adventure!”

As Kat was helped up, she giggled at Ryou, “I’m surprised you never heard of Dragon Quest, living in Tokyo. It is basically all over the place. But then again, you do pretty much go straight from work to the bar and back home, so I guess I can understand.” Her tone was teasing, but in reality Kat always hated that routine of Ryou’s. She had tried so hard to get her to do anything, go see a concert, go shoot some pool, do some karaoke, anything! But Ryou was always working, drunk, or asleep.

But this was finally her chance to let go, and Kat got to do all the things she never could back home. She wondered if there would be people putting on concerts in this game, if that was even possible. If they could do karaoke with songs they remembered from the real world. Maybe they even had pool in this world! Kat’s eyes sparkled at the thoughts she was having and to anyone else she probably looked like a girl in love.

She was quickly brought back to reality by Ryou coming to the same conclusion as her about pain. “See?! It’s weird, right?!” Kat couldn’t decide if she loved the idea of no pain or hated it. Pain was supposed to drive fear, and cause the fight or flight reaction to start. But here, perhaps that was the point? “They don’t want us to feel pain… because they want us to get ourselves in trouble and not know to run away until it’s too late,” Kat said, as the realization dawned on her. It was a sensation she knew all too well, considering she has Ryou. She always knew Ryou would protect her, so she got herself too in over her head sometimes. Not necessarily on purpose, but at the very least without fear.

”Ryou…” Kat whimpered, “Do the creators of this game… want us to die?”

Kat watched as Ryou fumbled through her menus. Kat was going to explain how to do it, but Ryou seemed to figure it out, so Kat just went back to lounging. She noticed Ryou's look of displeasure out of the corner of her eye and just stuck her tongue out at her for it. She didn't care if Ryou was displeased, Kat didn't want to read, and that was that. Besides, Ryou did it anyway, so the sass was unnecessary. She giggled to herself as she looked through the rest of the menus, inventory, character sheet, all that good stuff. Very little of it made a ton of sense to Kat, but at least the UI was pretty enough, in her mind.

When Ryou mentioned quests and killing stuff, Kat wondered if she would be able to kill things herself. This was just a game right? But what if it was really bloody and gross like in real life? She would probably not be able to handle it. But maybe the monsters just faded away like in Dragon Quest or something. When she was a kid she had watched her father play that game, and hoped that it was rather like that instead. Just a flash and then it was gone. That would be a lot easier to handle if it was just monsters. Although if people also died like that... no, probably best to not think of that.

"I think I could kill monsters if they died like in Dragon Quest!" she explained to Ryou, wanting her to be in on the thoughts swirling around in her head. She giggled again, and then got really excited about the idea of doing quests. "Ooh, do you think there are like, big bad monsters to kill?! What if we fought the really big ones like you see in anime or in game magazines?! That would be so cool!" Kat got a little too excited though, and the precarious balancing act that she had been relying on to stay stable finally tipped against her favor, and backwards she went.

Nothing but legs in the air, as Kat landed with a crash against the nearby table. But strangely enough, it didn't even hurt. She still winced naturally as if she were in pain, her kimono completely sprawled out around her. But no actual pain was registered. She blinked up at Ryou, who no doubt was ready to scold her for falling over, and quickly said, "Wow, that didn't hurt at all!" She quickly fixed her kimono so that her unmentionables weren't in full view of everyone, not that there was really anyone else around by Ryou. It still wasn't very ladylike. When that was sorted, she tapped her chin thoughtfully again, "Wait, does that mean it doesn't hurt to do things in this game? That almost feels dangerous...."

Kat tapped her chin in thought as she listened to Ryou, her eyes had drifted back up to the ceiling as her friend spoke. She was glad that Ryou was coming around, and was on board with the adventure, despite the fear that threatened to consume them both. Kat realistically had no clue how video games worked at all, let alone this entire virtual world in a video game. The world felt like it operated like the real one, but if that were the case, then Ryou was absolutely right. Where would they get the money? Supposedly, once they got the money it was like any other business. Buy or rent the shop, and then start the sales. But it all came back to how.

Kat had her chair on two legs, balancing precariously as she thought of all of this, and finally, she decided to ask the question to Ryou, who probably had no clue herself but it didn't hurt to ask. "Ryou! How do we make money in this world?!" she asked her friend, her balancing act teetering on disaster. "There has to be a way! There's always a way to make money!" she told her friend, "Maybe this game has a manual on money-making?!" It was a long shot, but it didn't hurt to look. She swiped at the air like she had been taught by one of the helpful strangers she had met before being teleported to the plaza. Kat had not gone outside of the city, she had no real intention of seeing what dangers lie in wait out there, even before she knew she could die in real life. And so some helpful strangers had given her some tips before she could meet up with Ryou in the game.

As her menu popped up in front of her, she navigated to the "help" section of it, and there she found what looked like a bunch of tutorials. But they were all text and pictures and looked incredibly boring. So she looked back to Ryou again, her voice as exasperated as possible, "Ryouuuuu, these tutorials are boring. Can you read them and tell me how to make money? Pretty please?"

Kat listened to Ryou's retort, it made enough sense, even when most of it went in one ear and out the other. Kat still registered the main points and nodded along as if she understood completely. "Hm... well, I think you're right. The problem with all the men is they have weapons too. It's not like in the real world where nobody has weapons." Kat leaned back in her chair, and then scooted back so that she could prop her feet up on the table. Her footie socks rested on the table as she put her arms behind her head and looked up to the ceiling. Her kimono dangled beneath her at the legs, having been cut down the side so that she had some mobility, and revealing her bare skin underneath the kimono.

"Weeeell. If the men are all dangerous, then perhaps we just have to be more dangerous than them?" Kat mused, thinking about what they could do to keep out of trouble. "So, we open a bar, but we also train to fight, and if we can fight better than they can, then they don't stand a chance!" Kat finished, before moving on to address Ryou's worries about being a bartender. Her eyes moved from the ceiling to her friend again, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit. Some patrons don't want to talk, they just want a good, stiff drink. Like you!" Kat giggled as she remembered spending the first few months of knowing Ryou trying to get her to talk to her, just once.

"Getting you to open up was like trying to open a clam to get a pearl. It was worth it in the end, but damn near impossible," Kat said with another giggle, before laughing uncontrollably, "and then, the first time you talked to me, as soon as you finished the sentence you threw up on my feet! It was so gross!" Kat couldn't help but smile as she remembered their time in the real world. And now, they had the chance to start over and make a whole new life for however long they were stuck here. Even if it was just a couple of days while the police arrested that stupid Kayaba guy, it would be the most fun couple of days she could imagine. "I really can't wait to go on this adventure with you..." Kat said as she trailed off, smiling at her friend.

As Kat looked up at Ryou, she saw her looking around a bit shifty eyed, and could feel her squirming lightly in her arms. She let go of her friend and backed up a bit as she offered the advice of trying something new. "I mean, if I'm being honest, fleecing men is about all I know how to do. But I can make drinks too. But making drinks probably wouldn't make as much money." Kat rubbed her chin in thought a bit, before registering that Ryou wanted to go somewhere else. With a nod, she grabbed Ryou's hand and began leading her away from the plaza.

As she pulled, and having no real clear direction besides "not here", she continued her musings, "Maybe I can be the owner of my very own bar, and I can teach the women how to fleece the men for me. If they do that, then I can just reap the benefits of their labor like the owner of my bar does to me. And I stay safe and they take on the danger of men always bullying them. It's perfect! Right Ryou?!" Kat giggled and looked back at her friend, before spotting a nearby cafe that seemed to be devoid of anyone but the waitress, as far as Kat could tell at least.

She quickly diverted into the cafe with Ryou in tow, and pulled her to a table. The waitress didn't stop them, and honestly barely even seemed to notice them. Kat wondered if that was one of the NPCs that she heard other players talking about. She certainly hoped so, if Ryou wanted to be alone. From what she understood of the game, NPCs weren't players, so they weren't real people. She was hoping she understood that concept correctly. After making Ryou sit down with her, she leaned forward, her eyes glittering excitedly, "I can teach you to be a bartender! You'll have way more fun doing that than stupid bookkeeping." Kat giggled, "And you'll make way more money too, if this is anything like the real world. It's so easyyyy, and fun! And most importantly safe! Besides, if the men bully you, you just beat them up. Right?!"

As Kat looked into Ryou's eyes, for a moment she had hope. Hope that Ryou would be okay, that her words had gotten through to her. But then Ryou started crying again, and Kat's smile cracked. Kat put her other hand on Ryou's other cheek and pressed her hands together, squishing her face a bit. She could feel the wetness of the tears running through her fingers, and she tried her best not to lose her own composure. "Ryou, they said on the news that this is happening. We'll be okay! They'll find us in our homes and take care of us, I'm sure! The police will catch the man who did this and we'll all be okay! Your family will be okay, because they'll know you're okay!"

When Ryou finally seemed to come around, and patted Kat's head, Kat couldn't help but giggle. She released Ryou's face from her hands and then dove into her chest again with a big hug. "Yes!" she shouted, her eyes closed as she squeezed her friend. "Yes, it'll be so much fun! Just the two of us in this whole new world! It'll be a big adventure!" She could still feel Ryou's heart racing, but Kat had more than calmed down. This wasn't so bad, but Ryou was right. The men were probably also jerks here. Buuuuut, that may also mean that Kat could actually fleece them in this game too.

"Ryou! Do you think I can make us money here with my charms like I do the bar?" Kat asked, as she tilted her head up to look at Ryou's chin. "I bet they would fall for it just as easily here." She giggled again, "Just think if I make us tons of money we don't even have to go fight and we'll never run the risk of dying! We'll be rich and safe, and we can buy a nice house together instead of you living in that stupid tiny apartment!"

Kat hadn’t been expecting Ryou to swim through the crowd the way she had. Ryou hadn’t been paying attention and had accidentally kicked Kat, but in the moment she didn’t even care. She was happy to see her, and Ryou seemed equally as happy to see Kat. Kat felt herself picked up in Ryou’s arms, and she didn’t think she had ever felt as simultaneously safe and terrified in her life. Without thinking, she buried her face in Ryou’s chest, continuing to sob uncontrollably.

But it was when she felt the warm wetness of Ryou’s tears on her head that she started to get even more worried. Ryou was always the strong one of the two of them. But she was crying too. Kat sniffled and blinked away some tears, her face clearing up a bit. She hiccuped back her sadness, and then slowly turned her face up to Ryou’s. “Ryou… no tears. You never cry!” Kat said, lightly chiding her companion. Her hand moved from Ryou’s back to her cheek, and Kat found the strength to smile for Ryou. “Ryou I’m really sorry I got us into this. But! We have each other!”

Kat’s porcelain blue eyes began to shine as she looked at her friend, “I couldn’t ask for a better person to be stuck with. Think of all the fun we can have without stupid things like work and men who bully me!” Kat was doing this as much to reassure herself as she was Ryou. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she could feel Ryou’s heart racing just as fast. “We’ll be okay!” she reassured them both again, trying her best not to let the tears start flowing once more.

Kat stared up at the sky after Kayaba’s announcement, and her mouth was just agape. There was a large part of her that wanted to scream. And many people around her began to do so, after the initial shock began to wear off. Kat felt people push her, and still she just stared at the sky. Wasn’t this just a game? How could we die in real life if this was just a game?

Kat knew nothing about technology. So the idea that something was projecting her thoughts into this virtual space was already awe inspiring. But for it to then be able to also kill her in the real world? It was almost beyond comprehension. I didn’t ask for this. Neither did Ryou. What have I done?

Her mind raced, and suddenly she remembered Ryou. Kat looked around frantically, realizing that she needed to find Ryou before the crowd swept her away. But in the panic, she couldn’t see her. Kat herself then began to panic. She couldn’t lose Ryou, she was the only thing Kat had in this world. “RYOU!!!” she screamed, and before she knew it, she was crying. It was too much, even for the optimistic Kat. The tears blurred her vision, and before she knew it someone had pushed her hard in the shoulder, and Kat fell on her side, her kimono tripping her up in the chaos.

Sobbing, she looked back up, scared and possibly alone. “Ryou please find me…”

Profile:

Username: Akatsu
Real name: Akiya Otsu
Age: 27
Gender: Female
Height: 5’4” (163 cm)

Background:

In her current adult life, Akiya, Aki for short, is a bartender. She works at a high-brow fancy hotel bar for business people to unwind. The women wear kimonos as their standard work attire, and the staff is entirely composed of women. The primary patronage is men, although a few women will stumble in from time to time.

Aki lives a reasonably comfortable life, as one of the more popular bartenders. She flirts with the men, and they tip accordingly, thinking that all Aki wants is a good sugar daddy to feed her. She never actually lets them get close though, with every man in the bar always left hanging by a thread, and Aki walking away with the check.

But this lifestyle doesn’t come without its risks, as Aki has gotten into her fair share of trouble with the men not wishing to be left dangling and getting a bit too brave. Aki has been cornered more times than she would like to admit, but she is always saved by one key female patron. Her best friend Ryou.

Having met at the bar, Ryou has always been a stalwart, if not completely drunk and not always comprehensible, protector. As soon as the men realize that Aki isn’t alone, they tend to back off, caught in the act of near violence. And Aki, always thankful for the save, attempts to help Ryou as much as she can. But Ryou has none of it. So Aki started getting sneaky and having the businessmen give her two of anything, tickets, toys, trinkets, etc. One goes to Aki, and one goes to Ryou. Because Aki wouldn’t let Ryou just waste a good gift.

All of this leads to SAO. There was an especially well-connected businessman that was flaunting in the bar, loudly, this new video game that was gonna revolutionize video gaming. Now, Aki doesn’t know anything about video games, but what Aki does know is that new tech is always valuable. So she gets in real close with this man, and he agrees to get Aki a copy of the game through his connections if she agrees to spend the night with him in the game.

Now, Aki has literally no clue what that means. But if she’s stuck with this guy to get this tech, she figured she should make it worth her while. So she offers for Ryou to join them. The man, perhaps a little too excited, lights up at the idea of another girl joining them, and agrees to get them both in the game. The next day, the man arrives at the bar, two Nervegears in tow. The girls take their games and set them up, following the instructions as best they can. The rest, as they say, is history.

Virtues

1. Optimistic - Boundless optimism that seeps into every part of her life is the perfect description for Aki. Aki hates frowns, and she hates pessimistic mindsets. It doesn’t matter who it is, or even if she likes them or not, she wants them to be positive and will find any excuse to find the silver lining in any situation.
2. Charismatic - Aki knows how to bend people to her whims with the perfect words, a smile, or a wink and a nod. Depending on the situation, she can make most men, and even some women, bend over backward to do as she wishes. She has no issues getting what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it either.
3. Flexibility - Aki is both physically and mentally very flexible. She can fit herself into most situations with ease, and get out of many of them just as fluidly. She likes the challenge that comes with going against the grain or finding the loophole, especially when it comes to getting what she wants. If there is a way in or out, she will find it and exploit it to the fullest.

Flaws

1. Airhead - Aki is absolutely a ditz. She knows how to rub elbows with anyone, and how to get exactly what she wants. But when it comes to actual attention and smarts, she is lacking. She isn’t especially book smart, and her perception outside of her current target is often lacking, leading to the problems that Ryou often has to save her from.
2. Selfish - Literally only one person has ever gotten anything from Aki, with that being Ryou. And this, like any other transaction, is one of give and take. Ryou saves Aki from trouble, Aki gives Ryou something. But if someone tries to convince Aki to give them something? Good luck. Aki gets what she wants and it’s usually all for her. If Ryou isn’t around, then she takes the whole pot. Greed is the name of the game.
3. Childish - Aki, at 27 years old, has never had a hard day in her life. She loves her job, and more than anything loves the money she makes at this job. She loves how easy it is to fleece the businessmen with a wink and a promise that she will never keep. She absolutely does not understand the adult risks that come with this lifestyle, nor does she really understand the concept of being an adult in general, with all her needs taken care of by men that will never be given the promises she offers.

Skills:

• 10 SP Total: 8 Spent | 2 Unspent
• Claw Skill - [Journeyman] - +4 DMG

Inventory:

New Character Bundle: DPS Package

Equipment

• Rare Claws
  • Slot 1: Accuracy [+1 BD]
  • Slot 2: Accuracy [+1 BD]
• Vanity Kimono (Cloth Armor)

Consumables

• 2700 Col
• 3 Starter Healing Potions [50 HP]

Stats:

• Level: 2 
• XP Total: 612/1000
• HP: 40
• EN: 22
• +4 DMG
• +2 BD

Roleplay Log:

• [F01-PP] Trapped!