This time they were spending time in the building's cafeteria. It was late and it was raining outside.
"Kayaba-san," she started, nibbling her lip and looking at him hesitantly. He nodded to acknowledge her, though he gave her a pointed look to remind her of her recent agreement to him.
"Akihiko-san," it made him smile to hear his name from her, since he had kept repeatedly trying to get her to call on him more familiarly. "Thank you for the taiyaki. It's really good."
That made him very pleased and he glanced down at the taiyaki that was almost gone on the plate in front of her. "You are welcome and I'm glad you enjoyed it. It's been a while since I cooked for someone."
Her eyes widened and he hid his smile. "You cooked it?"
"Yes —I like cooking. It's one of my few hobbies."
He leaned forward and searched out one of her hands. "Kirito, it's been our fifth outing together, even if it's been in the building's cafeteria. Are you having an easier time at all, being outside your home?"
She frowned and shook her head. "Not...not really. Aside for the beta-testing and your requests, I can't make myself go out of my room."
"What about our time together? Do you still have trouble staying after the testing?"
Still, he was a bit disappointed. Then again, he knew he couldn't just instantly cure this. But he was hoping for some progress. He'd really thought that there had been some made and she was getting better, even in some small way.
"I d-do," she started to stutter. She blushed oddly. "I like this. I still have trouble coming with you and making myself stay...but I want to be here and I want to spend time with you. So thank you for forcing me to do this, Akihiko-san."
Akihiko let out a sigh of relief he hadn't meant to. For the first time, and not just the first time with her, he allowed himself a full smile and reached over to take her hand, smiling even more at the red staining her cheeks and her startled expression.
"That's good, Kirito-san," he murmured. "I would hope that I have, in all this time, been able to help you through this time and enjoy the beta-testing, and to somehow at least been able to help you through your issues specifically. If you were able to leave here and find yourself leaving your home more often..."
She gave a strained smile. "I will try," she promised.
For him, he knew she had a long way to go still. Some time here and some work with him was hardly enough time for Kirito to fully overcome her problem or completely help her. But if he had managed to just help along her progression towards good progress, then he could be pleased for that...
"Let's finish our food and then call it a day, hm?" he said then and she picked up her fork again, focusing back on the taiyaki.
A few moments of silence, where he found himself observing her and even committing her to memory for some reason, he was reminded of his drawing of her —where she was this fragile, beautiful fae being that commanded all eyes to her and drew admiration as easy as breathing.
In front of him, he could acknowledge that she was every bit of that drawing and again thought it would probably be more than easy to spot the inspiration if one was to see her and the new in-game character he'd recently derived.
"Are you ready?" he asked, distracting himself.
"Yes," she answered, getting up gracefully. If she was not a fae, he could just as easily re-imagine her as an elegant Lady or Duchess in his head. She had all the grace and elegance of one, and her poise was very becoming of her.
Offering his arm, she gently took it and once more he led her back to her room, letting her open it and waiting until she made it completely inside before he would take off. However, Kirito did not just simply enter her room and say her goodbyes to him.
She stood in the doorway in hesitance and then she stepped back towards him, leaning in close and wrapping her slim but toned arms around him in a gesture he realized was a...simple hug.
Caught off guard, Akihiko took a moment before he realized it for what it was, and he moved to reciprocate, hesitating a bit himself.
"Thank you," he heard her murmur into his shirt.
"You're welcome, Kirito-san," he murmured back.
When they separated, he watched her enter her room and close it quietly, and then he walked away and headed all the way to his office.
He'd sat at his desk for who knows how long, wondering and going back and forth. She wasn't getting better and yet she was. He could remember her from before to now, and know there was a difference.
The phone was in his hand before he could even think about it, and he was already calling Rinko up.
"Rinko? I don't want to do it anymore. I can't. Just...we have a change in plans."
There was an odd sense of relief filling him right then.
[O\\\\\[========================-
Kazuta yawned, stretching in bed. Glancing at the clock blearily, she saw that it was really early and that Akihiko might not even be up yet. Feeling hungry, she looked at her door hesitantly, almost like it was out to get her.
She could do this. She could.
After all the times she's been out with Akihiko, she should be able to go out of her room and down the cafeteria with no problems. It would be a quick, short trip and she's done it a few times with Akihiko before. She should be okay making the journey on her own and it wasn't like she would be taking as long.
And after all the work she's done getting herself to this point, all the effort Akihiko had put in to help her...She wasn't even leaving the building!
She could do this.
So she made herself get ready for the day and then take a step outside of her room. By then, she was focused solely on her breathing and trying to keep calm. She didn't want to have an attack all of a sudden, so she had to monitor herself and get a grip.
She was so concentrated on that, that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings and ran into a person, a male judging by the body she'd hit, and stumbled over her feet. Once she steadied herself and with some help from the mysterious guy, she looked to see who it was and was curious to see a man dressed in traditional Japanese robes, the yukata only fitting for now due to the weather, though with the changing of the seasons it would be too cold for it soon. His glasses was righted quickly on his face and he offered a friendly smile that matched his kind brown eyes.
"Hello," he bowed slightly. " I'm Kikuoka Seijirou. I apologize for the run-in!"
She shook her head, smiling slightly back. "No, it was my fault. I apologize for not paying attention and running into you."
But she was starting to feel antsy and needed to distract herself. Thankfully, he seemed keen on doing that for her.
"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you a beta-tester too?" he asked curiously. "I thought I knew most of everyone here, but I'm sorry if I missed you!" he apologized again.
Here, while trying to wave off his apology, Kazuta started to panic again —for a different reason. She, admittedly, had been isolated from the rest of the beta-testers, and she wasn't comfortable enough sharing the fact she was more or less...a freak? Had issues? Couldn't just be normal?
She also wasn't sure Akihiko wanted to advertise his presence there or that he was spending so much time and focus on her. It could be construed as favoritism as well...
"I had some problems," she said vaguely but truthfully. "They had me set up and testing away from others."
Thankfully, he didn't seem to question it or push her for more details. Instead, his smile grew and he gestured to the general direction of the cafeteria.
"It's pretty early, but I and a few others decided to get up already and meet for breakfast. Would you join us?"
The anxiety appeared back quickly and she almost just blurted out 'No!' But she bit back that reply and tried to remember and focus on all her outings with Akihiko and how much they'd been working towards something like this.
'Clear this level. This is a level you have to clear. He's a Game Boss. Clear this.'
She took a deep breath and focused on the man in front of her, trying to block out everything else.
"That would be nice," she accepted and followed after him.
They chatted as they walked, her explaining how she was a student on break and he revealing he worked for the government. She didn't get to ask more because as soon as they sat down with food, some others started coming in, greeting Seijirou and getting their own food before joining them.
Another flare of panic gripped her and she had to hold tightly onto the edge of the table, knuckles turning white as she focused on pacing her breath and trying not to run away back to her room. She gave a strained smile as Seijirou introduced her to the others.
The last young man held out his hand, introducing himself. He had dark blond hair, showing that maybe he wasn't full Japanese, but black eyes that were bright as they watched her.
"I'm Takahiro," he told her as the others went onto talking with each other. "You can call me Taka, if you'd like."
"Nice to meet you, Taka-san," she said.
"Are you planning on getting the game when it comes out?" he asked while pulling his tray of food closer to him.
"I do," she replied. "I can't wait really."
He smiled widely. "Me too. Let's meet there, huh? My username is Diavel. I hope I'll be easy to find —I've got light-bluish hair and all as part of my avatar and I'll probably stick to that."
"Diavel?" she repeated. "Well, I'm Kirito," she revealed.
Perhaps it wasn't normal to share usernames so easily in the real world, especially to strangers, but...
Kazuta was making herself branch out. She was trying her best to step out of her isolation and that meant following through.
She could thank Akihiko for that.