[PP-F2] high fields and high hopes. Koumori

[Glory 0]

Glory sat on her knees and scratched behind the ears of her best friend and familiar Sakura. The wolf pup made a grunting noise which Glory had come to learn after spending so much time with her meant that Sakura was enjoying the attention. She was in the middle of the High Fields of Crossing and unlike other players, all alone. For a while she decided to leave and retreat to her inn room for days and days just because her sorrow got the best of her. Now she wished with all of her heart that she never did that because she didn't speak to her friends... Not Jevi or Takao or Koumori. All she could think was about how much they would hate her if she tried talking to them. All she could do and does is open her friends list and stare at the names that she isn't brave enough to press a finger to.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Glory

[Koumori 0]

I had some strange feeling in the morning that I should go to the second floor. I didn't know what it was but when I woke up I walked to the teleported and went right to my second least visited floor. When I got there it was pretty deserted. There wasn't much for me to do in the towns so I made my way out to the fields. There was no one there either. That was weird. This place wasn't usually packed by any means but there were people. I felt like I was the only person on the whole floor. That assumption was proven false when I saw someone sitting in the grass. Even from a hundred feet away I knew who it was as soon as I saw her. I froze in my tracks at the sight of Glory. I couldn't move an inch as I just looked at her. I hadn't seen her for so long. What had happened? We had that night and then she disappeared. I thought at first that she had died but I never saw her name on the monument. Then I figured she didn't want anything to do with me but I knew she wasn't that cruel. Whatever the reason, my heart took over and sent me running toward her. I reached her faster than I could've imagined and stood behind her. She didn't hear me approach so I stood there for a second and looked at her. Just as I remembered. I couldn't think of anything to say to her. My feelings for her remained exactly as they were before but I didn't know what she felt so I didn't want to jump the gun and make it weird. With the look of surprise on my face, accompanied by a new blush, I spoke out to her. "Glory?"

[Glory 0]

At the sound of her name she froze still and shut her eyes so tight that it hurt. Sakura growled and backed away from Glory in order to move and protect her owner from the stranger. But that voice sounded very very familiar and she decided to just turn around and see who it was after thinking about it for too long. Her brown eyes widened when she turned but Glory had to lift her head since she was still on her knees. Tears were already formed and trickling down her cheeks which caused her to begin sniffling. _"Koumori..." She whispered and her heart beat picked up especially when she thought of their last time together. Her boyfriend... she nearly forgot what he was to her and felt so much guilt inside that it hurt. She jumped to her feet in the next second and wrapped her arms around him without any hesitation. Sakura was confused and sat there when she realized this person wasn't a stranger at all. _{"...P-Please don't hate me..."} She placed her head against his chest and continued to cry because she couldn't stop the tears from flowing. What would he think of her now? Her body trembled at the thought of him leaving her or maybe having found a different and better girl that actually kept in contact. Her heart beat was now so fast that her breathing could hardly keep up.

[Koumori 0]

Glory clenched up before slowly turning around. I saw her brown eyes for the first time in a long time as they sparkled at the sight of me. Before I could say anything she jumoed up and threw her arms around me without any hesitation. I froze for a second, trying to take in what just happened, before the warm feeling over took me again. I wrapped my arms around Glory and squeezed her as tightly as I could. I had almost forgotten what it felt like. I couldn't describe how happy I was to see her again. I looked down at her and saw that she was crying, her head resting against my chest. She must've been overcome with emotion. I could feel her body trembling and her heart beating into my chest. She must've been dreading this moment, wondering what I'd think after she left, but she didn't have anything to worry about. I brought my right hand off of her back and put it on the back of her head while I brought my own head down and rested my cheek on hers. I whispered to her softly and as reassuringly as I could. "I could never hate you, but I missed you so much. Where did you go?" I continued my embrace with her after that but I moved my hand back to its original position so we could look at each other when she responded. Just like the first time, I didn't want the moment to end. The softness and warmth of her body was the best thing I could imagine. Tears welled up in my eyes too when I thought about all the time I was apart from her. I was so glad I found her. 

[Glory 0]

When Koumori's soft skin touched her own she opened her eyes and stiffened as well. She felt her heart beat slow at last and become the irregular pace she was used to whenever her... boyfriend was around he had certain special effects on her for some reason. His warm breath felt just as reassuring as the whispered words but of course Glory couldn't help but feel even more guilt once reminded of what she did. _{"I-I was scared..."} Glory started talking when her head lifted to meet eyes with Koumori. _{"...and what I-I did at the b-beginning... I-I started having nightmares that didn't s-stop!"} She was hysterical and a complete mess by now. _{"J-Just people that were d-dead a-and blaming me for e-everything... f-for letting them die. E-Even Rikuto hated m-me... Even hahaoya (mother) a-and chichioya (father)..."} She lifted a hand to wipe away her tears with the long pink sleeve she had but they wouldn't stop no matter how many times she got rid of them from her cheeks. Her arms lifted and hands touched Koumori's own cheeks when he seemed about to cry which upset Glory. _{"P-Please don't c-cry! I-It's m-my fault isn't it!?"} She felt the most awful she had in a long time.

[Koumori 0]

I continued to hug Glory tightly as she continued to sob in my arms. When I brought my head back she looked up at me and I could clearly see the pain in her eyes. That made me hurt more than anything, I didn't want to see her sad. She took a deep breath and frantically tried to explain what had happened. She was a total mess as she told me about the nightmares and horrible feelings she had been having. I had a feeling I knew just what she was talking about. When we first met, when we were in the diner she told me a story about her first days here. What happened then wasn't her fault and I knew that, but it would be hard to try and get her to feel that way too. I knew how powerful guilt was. I listened to her intently as she went one, her face still only inches from mine. Even her breath smelled nice. How did she do that? A battle was waging in me. A battle between the sadness of the sight and the sheer happiness of having her back. When she reached up and put a hand on my cheek to stop me from crying I smiled and brought up my hand to touch hers. "It's okay." I said softly. I gently ended the embrace and brought both of her hands in mine, separating us. "Whatever you put yourself through, you don't have to do that anymore...cause you have me. I'll carry that burden with you and we can overcome it together, just like we should." I smiled warmly before letting go of her hands and wrapping my arms around above her shoulders and bringing her closer to me once more. I still wished she could be this close all the time. "Don't be sad, I'm not mad at you. Just promise you'll stay this time." I continued to hug her as I waited for her to answer. I wondered if she still considered me her boyfriend after all this time. I figured it was a bad time to bring it up so I just left it be. But based on her reaction I'm pretty sure she did. At least I hoped so.