[PP-F4] Pink and Blue in a Winter Wonderland (Shizuka)

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg wanted to take Shizuka out on a date like the two had agreed a while ago, and had spent a lot of time searching for a suitable location. Eventually, he decided that, despite the fact that he didn't like the floor, he'd take Shizuka to Floor 4, where he had heard of an area called Frostbite Lake which was free of monsters and could be used for Ice Skating. He also heard that it was really beautiful at night. He figured that would be romantic enough. Remembering his past mistake, Greg dressed in his <Coat of the Azure Wind> from the start this time, knowing just how cold the floor was. He then went to Floor 4 and sent Shizuka a PM asking her if she wanted to go out on a date with him on said floor.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka sighed. She was in her shop, chilling it out by herself in boredom, no sure what to do for the day. Indeed, she had gone on quite a quest run the past few days and she wasn't sure if she liked that. Indeed, the quests have managed to tire her out by quite a lot and she didn't appreciate it... Not one bit. That was when she heard a notification coming from her menu... It was a private message and when she saw who had sent it, she immediately jumped up from the small basic, wooden bed that she was provided with when she adopted this shop. It was from Greg, someone that she had found love in and with a smile, she replied the PM saying that she'd happily go up there with him before closing up her menu and charging out the front door. 

Along the way, she wondered about Greg's level position. Indeed, when Shizuka had first met Greg, she was a lot less leveled than him but soon, through the help of many experienced players... she had achieved the position of level 21, something that she had been able to manage in quite a few weeks in game. With yet another sigh, she decided that she would walk faster in order to avoid Greg from becoming frustrated with the amount of time that he might have to wait for his pink-haired girlfriend. Soon, she managed to make her way to the teleportation portal and with a smirk, she equipped her cloak... her pink blossom cloak that had a hood and literally shines the word "Mysterious." Indeed, she had ordered the cloak for a mysterious feeling and she was, no doubt, pleased with the amount of effort that the crafter had put into the azure brigade brand cloak.

As she finally teleported to the fourth floor, she opened up her menu before looking around for Greg. This floor had managed to become one of Shizuka's favorite floors mainly due to the amazing atmosphere and good scenery. As she looked around with her amber eyes, she realized that the scenes had never grown old for her. Soon, she managed to see Greg waiting patiently for her and with a smile, she ran over. "Hey, Greg!" Shizuka said simply and when she was close enough, she jumped forward and clutched the blonde boy's hand. "So, where are we going today?" 

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg smiled as Shizuka came running up to him and took his hand, before asking where they were going. "Patience, Shizuka, It's best if I show you." He responds with a smile, and begins leading Shizuka towards Frostbite Lake. "We should be able to get there soon, and it's quite a nice place. It's also pretty beautiful at night." he continues, not referring to it by name. After a short while of walking, the couple arrived at the location Greg wished to show her. "And we're here. Behold, Frostbite Lake!" Greg said as he showed her the lake in question. "I searched for a while to find a suitably romantic place and eventually chose here, for a couple of reasons, the first of which is what we're about to do next- Ice Skating!" Greg announces to Shizuka.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka smiled when she reached the lake with Greg. However, she had been here before, she had been here with Zelrius after they had finished a quest, but that was back a few weeks ago when the ice wasn't completely frozen and it would be a danger to skate in. With a frown, she went over to the ice and felt it, pushing it down a few times, seeing if the ice would collapse and after two or three minutes, Shizuka decided that the ice was completely safe and it was a good amount of frozenness to skate on. With a smile, Shizuka walked back over to Greg. "I've actually been here with Zelrius before, but back then, the ice wasn't completely frozen and it poses a danger to skate on... Now it seems rather safe... Do u know where we can get those skating shoes?" Shizuka asked before looking around, failing to see any sort of skate loaning place.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"I actually loaned two pairs earlier. It's back in the town." he responded, before handing Shizuka her pair (which were a vivid pink coloured pair, given the colour he associated with Shizuka) and putting his own pair, (which had a deep blue colour) on, and stepping out onto the ice. It took him a bit of time to get the hang of skating, but he got it down quickly enough for him to have composed himself before Shizuka finished putting her skates on. (after slipping and falling on his butt twice or so). As he waited for Shizuka to join him on the ice, he skated around a bit.

[Shizuka 0]

First, let us explain Shizuka's childhood. Indeed, she had been raised up in a rich family full of pop stars and important political leaders... Indeed, this was her position in life before coming to the world of SAO and even though she shared such a good life, she did not share it with anyone as it might cause them to treat her different from everyone else... Something that she does not want. Of course, "Anyone" includes Greg Baxen and she was not going to tell the blonde boy of her historical background either... With a sigh, she put on the skates. Indeed, ice skating had been considered as a fancy, rich people sport as not many people consider doing it, however, this might not even be a surprise based on her wealth, her family had a large man-made ice rink in their basement and Shizuka would practice there every, maybe four days. Eventually, she became better and better as time progressed. Now, she could skate with no trouble at all and even do a few tricks on the ice when she was lucky or have been able to execute the trick perfectly.

As Shizuka put on the skates that had been her favorite color, she watched as Greg fell a few times before finally gaining stability and skating slowly along the rink. With a smirk of humor, Shizuka tied her laces before walking slowly into the rink. I hope video game skating is the same as real life skating... Shizuka thought before slowly walking into the pond and starting skate. First, she started out slowly, one bit by one bit but soon, she gained her experience and began to skate with speed. Soon, she was forcing herself slow as she skated alongside Greg. Indeed, there were pretty much no one in the rank... Perhaps people were too busy to skate... However, there were some watching NPCs but she didn't mind as they were merely computer characters. "Hi Greg, nice technique you got there... Wanna race?" Shizuka asked tauntingly, chasing some fun in the ice.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg's childhood was a rather average one, though he was known throughout his schools as a nerd mostly interested in computer games. He was bullied a few times as a result, mostly in the younger years of school, which led to his shyness, causing him to struggle to make friends. He wasn't gonna tell Shizuka this, though, unless the two shared their backgrounds with each other. However, he'd seen plenty of Ice Skating from programs his parents put on TV when he was younger- before he was an avid gamer like he was now, so he did know somewhat how Ice Skating worked.

Shizuka had challenged Greg to a race. "Alright, bring it!" Greg said with enthusiasm. While this was his girlfriend he was speaking to, Greg did like to compete with others and, although he may not be extremely skilled at Ice Skating, but he was gonna give it his all. But first they needed to establish some rules. "We're gonna need a starting line, and I'd assume there's a number of laps we'd need to go to decide the winner." Greg stopped and waited for Shizuka to do the same. "Okay, so here are the rules. Here is the start point, and the first to complete three laps around the rink wins. That okay with you?" he asked.

[Shizuka 0]

"Sounds fair," Shizuka said with a teasing grin. She was doing this purely for the fun of it as she knew that she would probably be able to defeat Greg in this ice skating contest... Of course, unless he was a professional skater. "You know what, I'll even let you skate in front of me to make it fairer." Shizuka said with humor and cockiness. Indeed, she was not going to lose in a skating contest unless the gaming mechanics make her but other than that, it should be rather easy for her to beat Greg and without hesitation, she pointed at where she thought would be a good place to start before slowly skating over in order to not waste any of her energy. Indeed, ice skating was a tiresome sport and one must reserve their energy for the end of the race in order to pursue the player that was in front of them with a sudden burst of pace. Indeed, she has experience and she was sure that Greg did not have experience. With a confident smirk, she watched as Greg settled into place.

As she prepared to count down, she tried to go over the secrets that she had learned during her time ice skating. Indeed, she had remembered the best technique of turning from braking, picking up the pace, reserving energy... all there is to ice skating and even though she wasn't the master of the sport on ice, she was quite experienced and you know what they all say, "Practice makes perfect." With yet another confident smirk, Shizuka started to count. "3...2...1... GO" And with that, the race has begun and suddenly, Shizuka began to pace, trying to jump ahead of Greg.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg knew Shizuka had the experience advantage but he wasn't going to let that stop him from at least putting in a large amount of effort. Greg begun skating again, keeping an eye on Shizuka's position every now and again. He was maintaining a lead, but just what was Shizuka planning...? She seemed to be pacing herself- was she planning on waiting until Greg tired out, then overtaking him? In that case, Greg thought it was best to pace himself too- not going fast enough to tire himself out quickly, but not going slow enough to allow Shizuka to overtake him. He had to get the perfect pace... something which he was struggling to do. He was constantly adjusting his speed, unsure of what was the right pace. 'Focus, Greg, focus! You've got to pace yourself!' he thought to himself.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka followed behind Greg, trying to stay behind him as she began to feel the methods of skating coming back to her. Indeed, ice skating in the game was not very different from real life except if you fall in the game, it wouldn't hurt at all. With a smirk, she noticed that Greg was beginning to slow down and was a bit slower than when he started the race. With yet a bigger smirk, she focused her energy and with this newly found energy, Shizuka charged forward, skating at almost an impossible speed. At this point, NPCs were gathering upon, outside of the rank yet no one dared to interfere the couple by coming inside... They were all staring in awe at the heat of the contest. Shizuka looked over to see that indeed, much has gathered and this only gave her more of a desire to win the race. She honestly hadn't expected Greg to be doing as well as she is and, well, she decided that she would have to step up her game.

Soon, Shizuka was skating to the left of Greg, Directly across. Shizuka thought. I just need to suddenly burst forward and pounce in front of him. She decided, allowing her competitive nature to take over herself as she began to pick up even more pace as the situation was more than ideal for her at the moment. Then I will keep him behind so I can remain in front by blocking his path. Shizuka thought as she felt the wind coming and indeed, it has boosted her speed. That was when the curve came. It was almost as if the rink had shrunk without her noticing and she hadn't seen the curve right there. She hadn't seen that it was time to turn left and when she did indeed realize, it was too late. With a girly screech and a gasp, she felt herself falling forwards, towards Greg Baxen who was still skating forward with much pace. Oh no. I'm gonna hit him. Shizuka thought as she closed her eyes... Then, collision came. 

[Greg Baxen 0]

Shizuka had burst ahead of him and Greg was preparing to catch up when he realized Shizuka had forgotten to turn... and was falling right towards him. Skidding to a stop (He mastered that, at least), he caught Shizuka before she hit something, but the unfortunate situation is Shizuka falling was unexpected and Greg didn't have time to regain his balance- so while he did manage to catch Shizuka- he then fell a moment later, causing Greg to hit the ground and Shizuka to land on top of him. "Woah- Oof!" Greg yelled out as this happened. Greg was disoriented for a second and wasn't quite sure what was going on... until he realized that he was on the ground... with Shizuka laying on top of him. Once he realized that the two were in an awkward position, he blushed, making a nervous quip "Y-you, uh... forget to turn there...?" Greg quipped nervously. He wasn't feeling his usual snarky self because his girlfriend had just landed right on top of him, placing them in a very... compromising position.

Edited November 27, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka frowned as she lay upon Greg. She had been unable to process what had happened the past few minutes and here she was, laying upon Greg, quite awkward if you ask her. "No dip Sherlock." Shizuka said in a frustrated tone but only to hide the blush that had formed in her cheeks. "Argh... Sorry, let me get up." Shizuka said before attempting to stand up. However, as she tried to push herself up with her hands using the skate, she felt her hand slide and immediately, she knew what was about to happen... In an effort to prevent herself from falling upon Greg once again, she tried to roll out of the way and that was when she heard a crack in her leg. Somehow, her skate was stuck in the mess and when she rolled, she managed to twist her own leg. Instinctively, she gasped out in pain that didn't even exist as that would surely be painful if it was in a real life situation. However, she soon realized that it didn't hurt at all.

(Lmao. Epic fail much? xD)

Shizuka sighed as she felt her hands slip more and more and she was getting close and closer to Greg. "Eh. Greg, see if you can crawl underneath so I don't fall on-" Uh oh. Too late. Shizuka said as she finally felt her own arms falling down, allowing her to fall in a quick motion. "Watch o-" She managed to cry out before falling right onto Greg. Luckily, Shizuka was a bit shorter than Greg and indeed, if she was the same height... Eh. That would be Pretty awkward as she would've fallen in a face-to-face contact. However, falling right upon Greg's chest area didn't help at all and almost instantly, Shizuka blushed before hiding it to avoid teasing from Greg. Sooooo Awkward. Shizuka thought.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg was worried that Shizuka had hurt herself- having twisted her own leg, while trying to get off. She then fell onto his chest area. Greg, in a strange twist of irony, was thinking the exact same thoughts as Shizuka. 'This is so awkward!' Was Greg's first thought after making sure the situation wasn't all too severe. And he didn't miss that blush from her. "I saw the blush, but I'm not gonna tease you about it- I mean, I'm in no position to- I'm blushing too." Greg stated. Oddly enough, despite lying on the ice with Shizuka and being in a rather... strange position, Greg actually felt somewhat comfortable. 'Oh man. I'm not turning into a pervert, am I?' he thought as he realized this, with his blush deepening.

[Shizuka 0]

That was the moment. 'Tis the moment that Shizuka realized that Greg was full of love for her. His dark blue eyes were filled with compassion and love for the pink-haired girl when he stared at her. She knew that both of them had been trying to avoid eye contact due to their feelings of awkwardness and the fact that both of them were rather inexperienced with love, she decided that she would take the initiative. With her face entirely red, Shizuka pulled free her leg away from the ground. The ice was cracked there, but it mattered not. With a gentle movement, Shizuka moved up by crawling, shuffling against Greg's body until she was looking straight at his handsome face... The face that had once been worried about her life or death. Thinking about all the adventures they've had, Shizuka smiled. They had met in a ramen booth, picked cabbages, fought witches. and now, they were ice skating with their hearts full of love.

Shizuka looked gently at the blonde boy as she allowed her long pink hair to scatter upon the ice in a smooth fashion. Soon, Shizuka allowed her head to come down, completely ignoring the gasping NPCs their surprised looks. Finally, Shizuka's mouth made contact, she had kissed Greg... sharing her first kiss between lovers in the real world and in the game. I love you... Were Shizuka's thoughts when she closed her amber, red eyes. I don't want you to die, please stay alive. Shizuka thought... She would dread it if Greg were to leave her in this world and well, she would be lost in the dark once again. At this thought, she felt a tear drop down from her closed eyes.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Shizuka

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg was surprised at what Shizuka did next... she shuffled up so her face was in front of his... and then kissed him. Almost as if sensing Shizuka's thoughts, Greg wrapped his arms around her and kissed back. 'I won't leave you, ever. The only thing I ask of you in return is that you do the same. That's fair, right?' were Greg's thoughts. If Greg had any doubts that Shizuka had loved him back when she first accepted to be his girlfriend, they were now gone. Seeing the tear drop from Shizuka's eyes, Greg wiped it away, before slowly pulling away from the kiss. He looked into Shizuka's eyes. "We're both going to make it out of Aincrad. Together!" he declared with resolve. Greg had a duty- to protect Shizuka at almost any cost- excluding his own death. He had to be alive to protect her, of course, and he knew that if he were to perish, Shizuka would be crushed. Greg couldn't- no, WOULDN'T allow that to happen.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka decided that it was time for her to stand up. Time to exit the ice rink. The NPCs around were scattering as night was upon them. "I'm going to lay in the snow for some star gazing," Shizuka said. "Join me if you want." She had said it in a tone in which wasn't very serious. She knew that Greg would join her in a star gazing night even if he didn't like the snow or this floor very much. Love does that to people. Shizuka thought with a happy smirk before cautiously standing up and pulling Greg up as well. Soon, Shizuka started walking out of the ice rink by carefully maneuvering herself through the freezing rink before arriving at the outside where she unequipped the ice skates and returned them to Greg. "Thanks, Greg, that was really fun." Shizuka said and she truly meant it... She would rather do this than go outside for grinding or material gathering anyday. 

Soon, Shizuka lay on the ground, facing upwards, looking directly at the dark sky and its white shining stars. "It's truly a beautiful sight... A glorious painting." Shizuka said dreamily as she lay there next to Greg. She admired the programming of this game a lot and if it wasn't a virtual prison, she would definitely spend a lot of her time here in this game. But if this wasn't a virtual prison, I wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time with Greg. Shizuka thought as she sneaked a peek at the blonde boy next to him before staring upwards again. "This game is a great piece of art, the foundations, the programming, it's all amazing to the eyes and I love this game... Too bad that Kayaba was an idiot." Shizuka claimed before closing her eyes in disappointment.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Shizuka

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Glad you liked it." Greg replied to Shizuka. He knew she'd been working really hard trying to get out of Aincrad and honestly deserved a break. She jokingly asked if he wanted to join her in lying in the snow for stargazing, knowing that in actuality she didn't need to ask. As she marvelled at the sight, Greg couldn't help but agree. "I'd heard that it got really beautiful at night here, but damn. THIS is something else entirely." he quipped. The sight of it was jaw-dropping, to say the least. Greg's heart was beating very quickly, nervousness rising to an all-time high, because he just knew that he wasn't going to be able to help asking THAT question, despite Calrex's advice earlier. He had confirmed that both he and Shizuka loved each other very much, but it still didn't bring him any relief from the nervousness. He then steeled his nerves, gulped, and then asked the question. What was that question, you may ask? "Shizuka, I know this is kinda sudden and very possibly way too soon, but..." he delayed for a moment before finishing his question. Four words. One very important question.

"Will you marry me?" Greg asked. He had done it- against Calrex's advice, he proposed. He didn't have a ring or anything, but he asked the question. His face was a very deep red at this point.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka gasped at the question. "Marry you?" Shizuka repeated with hesitation. She had considered all the factors in a matter of seconds through her mind. She knew that her parents would object to her marrying someone from the internet even if it was the most realistic virtual game ever created. However, this was Sword Arts Online, not real life... She had to make her own decisions. With a touched smile and her eyes almost in tears of emotions... Good emotions... Shizuka had only barely been able to make out what she had wanted to say. "O-of course. Uh. Still, I think we should hold out a bit as we get to know each other better. Plus, I don't w-wanna have a wedding so soon after T-Tristan's. But consider my love for you set in stone." Shizuka said with confidence there in the end.

Despite her acceptance... She felt that that wasn't the answer in which Greg had expected and wanted from her. She felt like Greg had wanted her to accept and they would be married the next day. However, that was not what Shizuka's heart desired and almost in apology, Shizuka went up to Greg Baxen before crawling on his chest once again, just like how she had done in the ice rink. Digging Greg Baxen into the snow more and as she looked at the charming face, her heart beat faster and nervousness was coming along. Nevertheless, she allowed her head to drop and soon, her mouth touched that of Greg Baxen for an even longer kiss. It was a perfect love story really. Pink and blue, the colors of male and female. There lay in the snow as snow fell upon them, coating them from natural predators... Indeed, it was a lovely sight... a shame that it wasn't scripted in a romantic movie.

Falling In Love

Edited November 29, 2015 by Shizuka

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg understood Shizuka's answer. Of course it wasn't gonna be right away, Greg never wanted that. He just wanted a confirmation. "Don't worry about it!" he said with a wink. "I never planned for it to be right away anyway." he continued. "I just wanted to be sure if you felt the same way I did on the subject... sorry if I sounded weird then." he replied awkwardly. "And I'm glad to hear that you do in fact like me the same way I like y-" Greg was saying, but he never got to finish as Shizuka had kissed him again. Greg did the only thing he could possibly consider at that point- returning the kiss. Well, that was that, he supposed. 'So she truly does feel the same way... that makes me really happy.' Greg thought as he lay on the snow, Shizuka in his arms, the two sharing a kiss. After the kiss was finished, Greg grinned. "Well, now that that's out of the way, let's head inside. I don't want us to freeze to death so soon after confessing to each other (Though I doubt that'd be physically possible anyway considering how warm I feel, and it was technically you confessing to me- I already confessed to you ages ago)." Greg quipped before getting up (helping Shizuka get up, too).

Edited November 29, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka agreed with Greg. Indeed, the night was already bestowed upon Aincrad and the good day was going to come to an end. With a sigh, Shizuka took a peek at the night sky once again in order to admire the white stars that shone and glorified the different features of the fourth floor. I should move here sometimes... It truly is beautiful.  Shizuka thought as she watched Greg stand up and allowed the blonde boy to pick her up from the snow with acceptance. With a wide smirk and smile full of warmth, she stood up and looked around. "Let's go to a restaurant... There doesn't seem to be anything that worth's checking out indoors around here." Shizuka said as she turned in a three-sixty manner in order to see if there were anything worth for her to check out with Greg and sure enough, there wasn't that much around. "Let's go out for some hot dogs... I'm sure there is a restaurant that sells one of those in town." 

Without waiting for a response, Shizuka started to head back into the main town of the fourth floor. Do not ask her how she had known that Greg's favorite food was hot dogs as she had remembered the boy telling her about his favorite food the first time that they'd met and that was surprisingly in a ramen store which was Shizuka's favorite food item in the game mainly due to how quick, cheap, and delicious it is. Still should cut down on some of the ramen though... They are not very healthy. Shizuka thought, regarding to one of her maid's favorite quotes about eating too much ramen. Phffft. This is a virtual video game. I'm not going to get some stupid disease from eating too much ramen.