Heidi's eyes blinked open, trying to adjust to the darkness, as the the panic from yet another nightmare was fading away. It took her a few moments to realize it was still in the middle of the night; the steady, rythmic breathing of her peers seemed to snap her out of her trance. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, opening her menu to check the time- it was currently 2 in the morning. She sighed- that was a long ways from the 8AM everyone was going to wake up to. But Heidi realized that once she was awake, she would never be able to go back to sleep again. Perhaps it would just be better to take a walk, or something, rather than sit there, bored. Heidi figured doing some monster hunting, and XP gaining would do her good as well, so she would probably go out and do that- she felt confident enough for this floor. Plus, her Blue Rose Sword would make killing monsters a hell of a lot easier- just from grinding with Nelson, she had killed so many monsters, that her level had gone up to level 31.
Heidi got to her feet, being careful not to make much noise. Looking to her right, Nelson was turned away from her, but appeared to be sleeping. Heidi needed to change out of her pajamas- but she felt a bit awkward doing it infront of him. Though, it should be okay- it was dark enough for her to be hard to see, Nelson was asleep, and she would only be in her underclothes for a few seconds. Quickly opening the menu, she selected her profile, and swiftly switched out her sleeping clothes for her uniform- a navy blue cloak that exposed her shoulders, and cut off at the waist area, to show off her dark red skirt, and gray lower-thigh socks. Her heart quickened for the few seconds she was in her underclothes, but slowed down once she was properly dressed again. With her sword shealth clanking against her hip, she tiptoed out of the room, long dark blue hair swishing, as she slowly closed the door.
She zipped down the wooden stairs, and pushed out the door, exhaling as the light, night-time breeze pressed against her face, soothing her. At the moment, Heidi couldn't see a thing; it was pitch black outside, with no street lanterns. Heidi felt happy to turn on one of the skills she had been working on; Night vision. It was currently at level 18, so it wasn't perfect, but in general it did the trick. She began to walk down the street, enjoying it's emptyness, and peaceful quiet. Feeling relaxed, Heidi let her guard down, figuring nothing would happen.
Heidi was just about to slip out of the town, and into the fields, when she heard footsteps behind her, coming quickly, full-on. Her whole body tensed up, her breath quickening. She froze, unable to turn around, as her hands moved to her sword, shaking. It was getting closer now.. One.... Two.... Three! Twisting herself around, she drew her sword, hair falling in her eyes, with her rush. Thrusting it forward, towards the human running towards her, she knocked into him (at least, she thought it was a him) pushing his body back, as the Safe-Town protection system took effect. You couldn't hurt, or kill anybody within a safe town, but if you hit them, a shield-like bubble would form up, making your sword bounce off. But if you hit the person hard enough, it would be effective enough to stun, and push them back a few meters. Heidi's attack did just this; with an "Oof!" The man bounced back, grunting. He seemed stunned- Heidi was finally able to get a good look at him.
Her jaw dropped.
"N....Nelson?" She whispered, hands shaking. "Is that you?"
"Yeah! You've got a really strong attack, I swear a bit of my HP went down!" Came the smooth, slightly raspy voice. He sounded a bit pained, and stunned, but was okay in the long run.
"I'm sorry!" She groaned, realeasing the dealth grip she had on her sword; it almost seemed to emit a faint blue light. "I didn't know who you are... I thought you were a crazy axe murderer or something."
"Well, I don't seem to be wielding an axe, do I?" Nelson stated sarcastically, grabbing Heidi's outstretched hand, to pull himself up. He rubbed the back of his head, giving a yawn. Heidi thought he looked tired.
"Why are you up, anyways?" She questioned, squinting at him, hands on hips.
"You kind of woke me up, leaving." He responded. Shuffling his feet. "I didn't want you to go out alone, so I followed you."
"Oh." Heidi muttered, kicking the ground with her foot. "Well, come along.. If you'd like. I was just going to go for a walk or something, maybe kill a few monsters."
"Yeah, that'd be great. Y'know, it's kind of dangerous for a girl to be going out alone in the middle of the night like that."
Heidi's eyesbrows raised, as she stared hardly at him, as if scolding a young child. "Are you saying that, just because I'm a girl, I can't handle myself?"
Nelson's eyes widened, and he raised his hands in surrender. "No, noo! I just meant, it's not safe for... Anybody to be out alone in the middle of the night!"
"Ahhh, that's what I thought." She grinned, walking forward, and entering the field. The pop-up message "Leaving Safe Zone" appeared in the right hand corner of her vision, vansihing within five seconds. Neson followed in persuit, trailing behind her for a few seconds, before appearing by her side. The two of them strolled quietly, enjoying the peace for a few minutes, choosing to take a path that was mostly free of monsters, during the night. It was enjoyable, Heidi found. Sneaking a side glance, she took the chance to peer at Nelson's face, as he gazed on ahead, admiring the dark plains. Nelson truly was handsome; witha slightly longer nose, rounded almost like a child's at the end, beautifully structured jaw, and capturing almond shaped eyes, the perfect colour of chocolate brown, with gold flecks in them, Heidi wondered if he had a girlfriend back in real life. In secret, she adored his long, slightly curly dark brown hair, that fell into his eyes, and curled around his ears, and at the nape of his neck. She watched his pale pink lips part, as he took a deep breath.
Heidi seemed content watching the boy at her side, but after a few minutes of looking, Nelson seemed to notice, and turned his head, their eyes catching eachother's gaze. A blush quickly spread across Heidi's cheeks- she hoped he wouldn't be able to notice it in the dark. Even if he did, Nelson seemed to ignore it, giving her a small smile, and turning back to look across the fields.
"Do you want to stop and have a sit, here Heidi?" He asked, stopping. It was a nice hill, that was without a monster in sight. Heidi couldn't say no.
"Sure."
Both of them took a seat, leaning back on their elbows, as they gazed at the rolling plains. They were quiet, thoughts taking over, for a little while, before Nelson took up conversation.
"I know this is going to rude of me to say, but you seriously remind me of someone from back home." He confessed, looking down, rubbing the back of his head.
Heidi turned her head to the side, her hair reaching the ground, the single strands curling on the ground. "Really? Who, if you don't mind me asking? I remember you saying something like that earlier."
Nelson nodded, now looking up at the sky- he seemed to be avoiding her gaze. A faint blush burned at his cheeks. "Ah.... A girl, I used, or ah, I'm not sure, still like. You two could literally be twins, it's crazy. .. I actually thought you were her, when I first saw you at the meeting- my heart stopped...."
Heidi administered a nervous laugh, playing with the grass around her hands. A deeper blush formed on her cheeks. "Hmm... That's weird!" She replied.
He, a guy that looked like him, had a crush on a girl that looked like Heidi? It made her scoff- the girl was probably a lot prettier than her.
"Y..Yeah... It's kind of weird, hey?" Nelson laughed, laying down.
"Y'know, this is kind of strange, but you remind me of someone from back home too." Heidi murmured, "A boy named Hiroki." Her heart ached again.
"Strange, how that happens, hey?"
"It is."
Heidi leaned back too, looking up at the starry sky- of course, they weren't real stars. They weren't even stars from Aincrad's real sky- they were just apart of the floor's lighting system. If one got to the edge of the floor (some of the cities were located at the edge) you could see a big part of the real sky- sunsets and sunrises were amazing. Heidi had caught a few with Max and Remi on the first floor, in one of the further towns. It was almost like a real sunset.
The two enjoyed eachother's company for about fifteen minutes, allowing the cool breeze and the sound of waving grass lulled them. Heidi's eyes were drooping, nodding off, as she rested her head on the soft grass. Perhaps it would be okay to doze off for a while.... She slowly slipped off into a light sleep.
"Heidi." Came a soft voice, one she presumed was Hiroki's. She was under the allusion that she was still in real life, with Hiroki after school, in the fields where they always met. More often than not, she would doze off, using his lap as a pillow.
"Hiro, I have to be home by 7... What time is it?" She muttered, sitting up, rubbing her eyes..
"Ah... Heidi, it's Nelson?"
Heidi's eyes flew open, blinking trying to get used to the dark. She suddenly realized what had happened.
".... Sorry! D-did I fall asleep?" She looked towards the ground, ashamed of herself.
"Yeah, it's not a problem though. You were only out for about an hour. But, want to head back? It's getting kind of late." Replied Nelson, softly. He picked a piece of grass from her hair, casually, like he was unaware of his actions.
"I'm really sorry- you should have woken me sooner!" Heidi insisted, fixing her uniform.
"Really, it's no trouble- it was relaxing." He replied, with a slight chuckle. A slight frown formed on his face, right after though; "who's Hiro?"
"Ahhh, just the person I was talking about earlier." She replied, looking away.
"Oh, okay." Suddenly, he scooped her up, holding Heidi bridal style.
"Bwuahhh!" Heidi squeaked, hastily wrapping her arms around his neck, to avoid falling. "W-Whatare you doing?"
"Carrying you back, of course. You're tired, so it's fine by me."
"Um.... Alright, I guess."
And with that, Heidi rested her drowsy head on his shoulder, and the two of them headed back towards the Inn. In a few hours, all four of them would start a new day. Heidi hoped her friends wouldn't notice the both of them coming back in.
{Hey guys, A bit of a filler chapter, sorry! But at least Heidi's and Nelson's relationship improved right? Haha, see you next time!