Progressive Factor II: Lacrimosa Of A Reaper

An Aincrad Christmas, Part Three

Jaymes

Kizmel dropped Jaymes and Koharu in a similar room across from Asuna and Kirito. Still, unlike how she was antsy to deny Asuna the chance to suggest another girl stays with her, Mito announced she'll stay with him and Koharu. Neither they nor Kizmel offered any retort, so once the elven woman left the room, Jaymes found himself stuck with two girls.

Just every boy's dream, isn't it? Kirito gets the queen of the front lines, and Jaymes gets two equal beauties for himself. Just what in the heck was Kizmel thinking...no, no, this can't be the thought of Kizmel. A god is watching him somewhere, using Kizmel as his agent to make Jaymes' life a living hell. It's already bad enough that he has to encounter a high-level artificial intelligence; it's worse that AI put him here.

To be fair, he isn't complaining. He'd been happier to be here with Koharu alone. It's what he's used to. Mito adds an unknown variable to a stable situation between the partners, one he isn't looking forward to. To address that, he turns to her, narrowing his eyes. "You could have stayed with Asuna and Kirito. Aren't you wary of leaving your real-life friend with a strange boy?"

She shrugs uncaringly. "She'll be fine, plus it's not the first time they've been alone, right? If Kirito wanted to make a move, he could have done so. Of course, if he does, the system will handle it...or maybe she'll go along with it too, hehehe." She chuckles, making Jaymes more apprehensive about the iliac-haired girl's intentions. When she's done crackling like a witch, she points at Jaymes and Koharu with a winking eye. "Besides, it is you two I'm more interested in."

"U-us?" Koharu stammers out.

"Yes. I wonder how you two can be so close despite being strangers as he suggested of the others. So to answer my questions, I need to observe things for myself... Koharu, how old are you?"

"I'm fourteen."

"You?"

"Fifteen." He'll be sixteen in two weeks, five days into the new year. Jaymes decides not to divulge that information in case someone decides to get celebratory. He wouldn't mind it, as it is his birthday, but he rather that Koharu keep her mind on the game. Yet... he so wants to know when her birthday is. And she's a year younger than he is? Jaymes figured they were the same age. She doesn't look surprised that he's older.

"I'm fifteen myself. Good. See, we know each other a little more." She moves her finger to the wall behind her, pointing at the door to the west. "Now, here's the deal. I'll take this room, okay? Koharu, you take the other one..."

Ah, so he's to sleep in the living room. That'd make the most sense. If Koharu said he could sleep with her, he would do so, but with Mito here (and already messing around) it might be better not to cause misunderstandings. He'll lose the comfort of a bed for a couch, but the prize of not having a headache later is unbeatable.

There are two other doors in the room. One is most likely the bathroom, which must be the bathroom, and the other...maybe a closet. Mito will take the bedroom closest to the bathroom...and already Jaymes wants to leave. He's having flashbacks to the first floor when Asuna and Koharu (because Argo is an idiot) ran out naked, and while he admits to admiring Koharu's form (accurate to her real form, thanks to the Nerve Gear's calibration scan and Kayaba's day one 'gift') it doesn't mean he will take every advantage to see it. Her wet clothes pressed against him at the beginning of their time on the fourth floor are still at the forefront of his brain. Mito is quite the looker herself, and her experience with games brings a sense of familiarity from his past. Girls have never been a problem for him in social situations, but nerds or "otakus" have been easy to befriend. His old friend Momiji was a gamer girl herself. If he met Mito in the real world or had a better first impression when they did meet over a month ago, they would have hit it off perfectly.