[PP-F2] Getting to know one another in the Crossing Field. (Shizuka)

[Greg Baxen 0]

It had been a few days since Greg and Shizuka had had their first date, and now Greg wanted another. He pondered his options as to what to do, and set out searching for a suitable date spot that hadn't already been used (So no Frostbite Lake again). Eventually, he heard of a place called the High Fields of Crossing, which he heard had many different types of flowers and was often chosen as a date spot. Greg, seeing the chance, recorded its location before sending a PM to Shizuka asking her out again. It read:

Quote

Hey there Shizuka. Greg here. I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me to a place on Floor 2 called the High Fields of Crossing. PM me with an answer if you are, then meet me in Urbus by the teleport gate. By the way, (and I know this'll probably get old), I love you.

Once that was done, he thought about what he was going to do on the date if she accepted. On that day he had announced his plans to marry her in the future- today, he was going to take her advice from that day and get to know her better, letting her know about him in return.

[Shizuka 0]

It really wasn't that much time since Greg and Shizuka had had a date and well, she truly hasn't expected him to come and request of yet another date so soon after the first one which was located in the Frostbite Lake. Indeed, the first date was truly remarkable for the pink-haired girl and she enjoyed it very much to her delight. With a smile, the bored Shizuka stood up from her chair which was placed perfectly in her shop before going out to the entrance in order to reach the second floor in as less time as possible. She could imagine Greg just jumping up and down in impatience as he waited for her arrival at the second floor. He had mentioned that he wanted to go to the High Fields of Crossing and even though she had not personally been there by herself, she had not expected Greg to choose that place. Indeed, she knew that the place was one of remarkable romance and well, in her opinion, Shizuka truly didn't think of Greg as the romantic type as much as she would've like as she too wasn't very romantic at all. He surprises me every single time. Shizuka thought, well prepared for a day of fun and relaxation.

Soon, Shizuka reached the second floor through the use of the teleportation gate which helped her reach the floor in absolutely no time. With a side smirk, Shizuka looked around to see if Greg was there and indeed, the familiar blonde was standing rather close to the teleportation gate as well. There he is. Shizuka thought, looking and inspecting the floor like she always did. Ah... The town of Urbus, known as the primary settlement of the second floor. A very romantic place this is as almost everything was built in the style of European Medieval designs and she enjoyed it much, finding flavor in the building types. Soon, Shizuka walked up to Greg hurridly before waving when the distance is right and casually saying a nice little, "hey". But she really didn't do well to hide her excitement.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg smiled as Shizuka came walking up to him. "Hey." he responded with the exact same phrase she said. He then pulled the girl into a short hug. As that point, he took Shizuka's hand and begun leading her towards the field. "Well, let's get going." he said with a smile on his face, as he did this. As the he led her towards the place he had picked out, Greg begun to speak again. "What you said during our last date got me thinking. We don't really know much about each other outside of SAO, do we? When I got that thought, I immediately figured that I would remedy it during the following date- this one, to be precise." Greg explained.

Edited November 30, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka clutched tightly upon Greg's sheltering hand which was full of warmth before allowing him to lead the way and allow her to follow him to the great field. However, along the way, Greg mentioned telling her about his real life and well, Shizuka kind of gasped and flinched right there. Luckily, it was only for a short period of time and well, Shizuka really didn't want to share her past with the boy as she thought that the man would take it in a difficult way. During the last date, Shizuka had indeed decided that she would tell Greg as little as possible about her background... Not because it was tragic but rather because it was better than 99% of the population of Sword Arts Online and that was the point. She was so much more different compared to everyone else. Nevertheless, Shizuka decided that if Greg was to ask her for her background, she would tell him as he is one of the few people he can trust in this game, the other being Calrex and of course, if she hadn't told Greg about her background, there was no way she was to tell Calrex. With a nod of the head, Shizuka agreed silently before continuing to allow Greg to lead her along the path that would soon take them to the field of High Crossing.

Soon, they have arrived at the base of the mountain where they were recognized by the system as being in the safe zone. Indeed, the place was completely safe, free from any sorts of mobs that could deal them much harm. However, the mountain was rather high and she felt her legs tremble at the thought of climbing that. Nevertheless, Shizuka decided that what would be awaiting them up there would be quite a sight and she couldn't wait for that. With a bit of exaggeration, Shizuka put on an excited face before jumping up and down. "Ok! Let's get up there as quick as we can to see if there's anything interesting there!" Shizuka said with quite an energetic and excited tone.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg noted Shizuka was getting excited, and started jumping up and down. Grinning, he spoke. "Yeah, Let's do it!" Greg said as he begun to run with Shizuka behind him, going up the mountain as fast as possible. They soon reached the top, and the sight was more spectacular than Greg had thought it would be. It was a massive flower garden, with flowers of all different colours blooming. Greg's jaw almost dropped. "Woah... I was expecting beautiful, but this, this is something else." Greg said. It had seriously blown past his expectations with flying colours.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka was beyond stunned. Indeed, this place was absolutely fantastic. The sight was beautiful and Shizuka stood there, completely dazed by the scenery that stood in front of her. She hadn't seen something as beautiful as this and only something like the most beautiful area in the fourth floor can compare to this place. With a wide-eyed stare, Shizuka could see many different colored petals in the sky dropping down from above onto the face of the earth. The petals ranged from blue to pink to green to purple, and of course, the most traditional colors of flower petals, white and red. Nevertheless, words cannot simply describe the beauty of the place as it truly is an amazing, lovely, wonderful place. No matter how many words you throw at it, it will just bounce back with a meaningless void. Indeed, there is truly nothing that can describe the place unless you lay your eyes upon it. 

Shizuka must have stood there for more than three minutes and soon, she regain conscious having been staring at the petals in the air with a wide-mouthed gaze. Soon, Shizuka looked down to see that the flowers were equally amazing if not even more amazing. "Wow! Look at all the flowers. This place is lovely! We should come here more often Greg." Shizuka said as she held out her palm, allowing a butterfly to fly on it and land there. With her other hand, she petted the wings of the butterfly before smiling gently and finally, throwing the butterfly out into the sky with a smooth, gentle push that allowed the butterfly to fly once again. This place was absolutely astonishing, perfect, and completely unexpected.

[Greg Baxen 0]

"Well, now I see why this place is used as a date spot- It's absolutely gorgeous- to the point of downright absurdity! Seriously- if this were an anime or something, my jaw would've dropped!" Greg quipped. "I definitely agree on us coming here again sometime Shizuka- and I already explained why." Greg continued, repyling to Shizuka's comment about coming here more often. He looked at Shizuka, who was enjoying herself a lot. Smiling, Greg decided to pick a flower and hand it to her. "For you." he said as he did this. He was blushing once again. _{"Man, I'm still not used to being romantic and all that. I hope I'm doing things right."} he muttered under his breath so that Shizuka wouldn't hear. After this, he searched for a spot where the two could sit down without damaging the flowers. Eventually, he found a spot. "Let's sit over there." he said, taking Shizuka's hand once again and pulling her over to the spot before sitting down himself.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka snickered when the blonde boy made a comment about dropping his jaw if this was an anime and well, Shizuka had indeed actually dropped her jaw despite the fact that this was the reality. Nevertheless, Shizuka was enjoying herself quite a lot even if Greg didn't appear to be THAT impressed with the place even though he did indeed compliment the area on its beauty and amazingness. Shizuka sighed before she watched Greg bend down and pick up a pink flower that was actually blue in the middle. A perfect choice really... Shizuka wouldn't have been able to pick a better flower as a present in all honesty. Indeed, the flower represented a bond and whether Greg realized it, she cared not. All she cared about was the fact that the boy had given her a beautiful flower and of course, like a typical white girl, she was going to freak out about it and indeed, that was what she did. With a couple of thanks and "I love it"s, she soon calmed down before allowing the flower to go into her inventory. Hm. I'll keep that for now until our marriage where we will remember that item. Shizuka thought before having her hand be carried by Greg. 

Soon, Greg managed to somehow find a good patch of area for them to sit in and of course, Shizuka happily took the offer and of course, sat next to Greg in that bare ground where no plants were exactly 'in the way' even though the place was completely filled with grass and flowers. Butterflies roamed from above and well, it was an astonishing sight and despite that there were many people around, it mattered not. Shizuka was going to enjoy this to the fullest.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg sighed in content, before starting his questions to Shizuka. "Okay, so, since we're going to get each other better (We can't get married without doing so after all, that would just be weird), I suppose we should start with something simple- our real names." Greg said. "This goes double since I do actually plan on, at the very least, getting in contact with you after this whole mess is over, if not flat-out meeting you in person." Greg continued. "I'll start... well, you already know my real first name- It's actually the very same name I use here- Greg. Yes, I know it's poor conduct for online play, but let's be honest here, Greg is an incredibly average/generic name, so... yeah. As for my last name, it's an extended version of the one I use here. My full name is Greg Baxendale. What's yours?" He begins, telling her his real life name.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka smiled and nodded cheerfully even though she hadn't really thought that allowing Greg to know her real name was going to be something that she desired. Indeed, being a well-known person in the popular country of the United States truly wasn't something that she'd like to share as the fact was... Most people were able to recognize her name and indeed, she was actually quite surprised that no one had recognized her by her facial features yet. That's the way I'd like to keep it. Shizuka added with a frown as she began to focus on Greg Baxen's words. Indeed, perhaps this would be a better option instead of hiding her. She had managed to find out more about Greg Baxen and hopefully Greg wouldn't mind her being who she is. Soon, it was her turn and Shizuka let out a gulp.

With an innocent stare, Shizuka began to speak. "Well, I guess it is my turn. First, let me tell you more about my background. Indeed, you probably have heard of my name from somewhere either from magazines or newspapers. And well, I hope this doesn't impact our relationship and at first, I hadn't really thought that I would be telling you about me, but that would only be right as we are a couple..." Shizuka paused before continuing.  "Ok. My name is Samantha... Samantha Crudes. Child superstar. My father is a political leader and my mother is a pop-star... Yeah, my family's pretty rich." Shizuka finished and as soon as she finished, she closed her eyes and clutched her hands tightly and closely, waiting for Greg's response and hoping that he wouldn't judge.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg seemed a bit surprised that she was rich and famous for a moment, before shaking it off. "Well. I can't say I saw that coming. And I honestly haven't heard of you- but then again, I don't pay attention to politics or popular music all that much. That being said, I'm not gonna judge you- I don't care about material things like money and fame- well, I do to an extent- but I love you for, well, you. You're one of the sweetest people I've met and you also have a good head on your shoulders- Why would your background change my opinion on you? The only backstory that's gonna change my opinion on someone is a dark or tragic backstory (Like killing someone in the past, or being an orphan), and I would only judge the former if I deemed their actions unjust." Greg responded. "As for me? I was known as the big nerd back in my childhood. I was bullied a lot and struggled to make friends with people. I suppose I'm what people would call an... 'otaku'? Is that the right terminology for someone who loves Video games, anime and manga lots? Anyway, I try my hardest to not upset the people I'm close to (like you) for fear of losing them and being alone again." Greg revealed. He stopped for a moment before talking about his plans after getting out of Aincrad. "Once we get out of Aincrad, I'm going to continue pursuing my dream of being a Video Games Programmer. I've always loved computer games since I was... what, four, five years old? That's what drives me on the route I'm taking through life."  Greg told his beloved. "You don't need to hide anything from me, Samantha." he said, using her real name. "I can promise that I'll at the very least try to understand you." He told his girlfriend, looking her in the eyes as he said this, trying to convey that he meant every word.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka blushed when Greg made eye contact. Indeed, that was probably the few times that she had actually blushed when that happened. Indeed, she couldn't count the amount of times in which male models have approached her and stared at her in the eye with an attempt to woo her and none... Zero. There was absolutely no possibility of her flinching when she meets a greedy model which has only money and looks. Greg was something different. He was someone that Shizuka could place her heart in and trust Greg to value her like she was something precious like she was special and beautiful. Greg could make her happy and that was what she valued. She valued Greg's love, his compassion and his emotions towards her. Shizuka's blush grew wider and wider as the eye contact lasted longer and longer and soon, Shizuka looked away.

Her face was burning. Like, actually burning. Indeed, she could feel how red her cheeks were and she was sure that Greg would know as well. Indeed, she didn't really do anything physical out here as well... There were many players around here that that were probably watching Shizuka. Indeed, Shizuka had earned quite a reputation for herself. Indeed, she was recognized and well-known in the world of Aincrad for being one of the greatest supports to be of existence while having the looks that she possesses. Not that she really cared or anything, but she didn't really like the attention that she sometimes get when she is outside... especially with a male character... Not to mention her own boyfriend. However, she managed to drown that all out and was currently, having her mind blank. Emptiness... She really really didn't know how to respond to Greg's perfect and well-created speech.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg noticed as Shizuka began to blush, a very large amount, then look away. He realizes that he may have had more of an effect on her than he intended. He wanted her to loosen up a bit and talk, without worry about what he was going to say. She ended up having her face turn red, and being unable to speak. Greg, having somewhat of an idea of what Shizuka was going through, just looked up at the sky and awaited a response. 'Welp, I think I overloaded her brain with that speech. Best let her cool down a bit.' He really enjoyed this, and hoped that he would have more moments with his girlfriend, like this one, in the future. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. Not quite a hug, but just holding her close.

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka gasped as she was pulled closer to Greg. It wasn't the speech that overloaded her mind, it was actually Greg. Indeed, the image of him is just driving her crazy. She knew that she loved Greg, but she truly hadn't thought that she would need him this much. Indeed, she hadn't thought that she was going to be going crazy over him. (Song reference). Shizuka smiled as Greg pulled her closer, causing her to regain conscious before she felt her face close to Greg. Very close indeed. It was almost like time had frozen and well, it seemed like their own fairy tale has just begun and the story would begin here. They were going to make so many wonderful love stories, adventure stories, all sorts of different emotional ones... And everything starts here... Everything starts with a tiny, little kiss.

The setting was perfect really. Flowers were flying in the air, petals blowing through and forcing through the atmosphere with the breath of wind. Indeed, it was truly beautiful and what was more beautiful? A beautiful girl and a handsome man sitting in a patch of multi-colored flowers with their hands together and their mouths touching. 'Tis a shame that the girl didn't have a dress on and the same can be said about the man not having a suit but other than that, it was a touching and beautiful sight... Good enough to probably make the cover of the game! Nevertheless, Shizuka did not consider anything else. She focused her eyes directly at Greg's and on matter how hard it was for her to keep it there but soon, when their mouths were touching, Shizuka closed them, allowing herself to enjoy the period of time when she still could and when bosses were not too challenging.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg was surprised when Shizuka kissed him. 'I could get used to this.' He thought. It seemed it was becoming a habit of Greg to do something that caused Shizuka to come closer... only for her to kiss him. He wrapped both his arms around her and kissed back. He wondered what Shizuka was feeling like right now. She was the one who initiated the kiss, so it was only reasonable to assume that she was, at the very least enjoying it. Greg on the other hand was feeling an overload of emotions- they were all over the place. Happy, confused, scared, excited, amazed, all at the same time. One thing was for certain though- Greg wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She made him feel special. Greg was never one to receive large amounts of praise or affection. He was usually lonely. Shizuka solved both of these issues. She showered him with affection and wanted to be with him. She was smart, kind, beautiful- all these factors made Shizuka irresistable to Greg. Not one factor prevailed above another- better looking women were out as far as Greg was concerned. Shizuka was the only one for him.

Greg found it strange. He knew a lot of people spent a good portion of their life searching for true love. He knew that few actually found it. He figured that of the few who did find it, even fewer found it young, usually being quite old when they eventually found it. Yet, here Greg was. 18 years old, and not even searching for true love, and yet he found it with Shizuka, who, he figured, was actually younger than he was. All due to getting stranded in a death game, leading to a chance meeting in a ramen stall and a kiss in a foggy forest. 'Fate works in strange ways, I suppose, but I'm not complaining, with THIS result.' he thought to himself.

Edited December 2, 2015 by Greg Baxen

[Shizuka 0]

It was a peaceful, quiet night. Now that the sun had completely dropped from the sky, the moon had come out to take its place instead. Of course, what better way to spend a night then to peacefully chill with the person that you love with all your heart. This was Greg and of course, she loved the man and will not part him no matter what. Little did she know that a terrible event will soon happen to her in an event in the future and of course, this will affect her very much. However, that was a complete different story and right now, she was just trying to enjoy the moment. To enjoy the moment that she shared with Greg, her lover and of course, share some history and background between her and him.

"You know... As a little kid, I have never really interacted with a boy as I was pretty much kept inside the house and prevented from exiting the house." Shizuka began as she lay on the ground and stared at the sky in which the stars were shining down upon the numerous couples that were currently lying there. Of them all, Shizuka and Greg were probably the most well-known couple mainly due to Shizuka's reputation in the world for being the all-powerful Azure Brigade's main support. However, didn't want this to ruin the moment in which she could rarely have the time for. "This is why I'm grateful for this game even though it is a virtual prison. Without this game, I would've never met you Greg and I can't imagine what that would be like for me." Shizuka finished.

[Greg Baxen 0]

Greg chuckled at Shizuka's comment. "My situation was pretty much the exact same as yours, except me staying in was by choice." Greg said in response. "The feelings are mutual, Shizuka (or should I call you by your real name?)." Greg said, as Shizuka said she was grateful for the game bringing them together. "Honestly, I think this is actually the happiest I've been in a long while. Just being able to relax and actually feel special and important to someone. And in turn, making them feel special and important." Greg told his girlfriend. No matter what happened, Greg was going to stick by Shizuka until death claimed one or both of them. Greg would do his greatest to ensure that it did not claim either's life prematurely, and what he didn't know is that his resolve was going to be put to the test in the near future...

[Shizuka 0]

Shizuka did not mind if Greg was going to call her by her real name. Indeed, she would rather be called that in a private setting. Of course, she trusted Greg with all her heart and even if she did give the man her name, she was sure the boy wouldn't do anything shady with it. Hence, Shizuka smiled before starting to speak once more.  "Alright, Greg. You can call me by my real name if you want to. I have full trust in you to not give my name to the public and that trust is natural given that you and I are lovers. Of course, please do not call me by my real name in public as that would cause a bit of trouble."

(Sorry for short posts... Running out of ideas)

[Greg Baxen 0]

(It's okay, don't worry about it)

"Oh, yeah, of course. I never planned to use it in public anyway. It's just when we're alone together." Greg said, smiling and giving her a thumbs up to confirm he got it. He then yawned. "It looks like it's getting late... want to call it a day and head back to our shops?" Greg asked as he got up, before offering his girlfriend a hand. "We do need to get some sleep after all."

[Shizuka 0]

"Yes, I'm feeling rather tired. It would be good and nice if we head back now." Shizuka replied. Yes indeed, she did not like the feeling of tiredness and even though it was a day of pretty much doing nothing but relaxing, Shizuka could feel her eyes closing at the very moment. Time sure passes fast when you enjoy it and of course, Shizuka had enjoyed her time here with Greg and Shizuka stood up before supporting Greg and holding his hands. "Let's go, then." Shizuka said as she began to walk with Greg and eventually they would reach their own, personal shops.

(One more post and this thread can end.)