Sword Art Online-Encroaching Shadows

Chapter 36

Confusion and questions were all Jayce could think about. Why was the <<Anti-Harassment System>> failing to activate? Was it a failure, or had something changed in the last twenty four hours between them? If something had changed that influenced how the system interacted then clearly this was an intentional part of SAO. It made sense that two willing parties would be allowed physical contact, but he had questioned it up until now. The <<Anti-Harassment System>> had been strict so he had begun to think SAO meant to restrict romantic relationships. If the developer meant to trap them here from the beginning then they would have to know that emotional attachments would eventually occur.

Clearly a change had happened and the system recognized that the feelings were mutual. Perhaps some sort of mental or emotional monitoring was in place within the Nerve Gear? The developers must have gone through painstaking efforts to ensure that players were protected from each other unless it was absolutely consensual. Nonetheless, it was still confusing trying to understand how to system worked. Were there stages that unlocked as a relationship progressed? If so, how did the game know when to allow certain actions between two players? The biggest question, however, was how did the developers manage to program a kiss to be like this?

Jemza's fingers dug into the back of Jayce's head. It was as if she were desperate to make sure he didn't slip out of her grasp. Like any moment he might be pulled away and lost forever. With each quick breath she took it was accompanied with a quiet whimper and Jayce could see a shimmer on her cheeks where her tears continued to fall. It broke his heart feeling her shudder every now and again against his body. Something inside her had broken open and whether her tears were from sadness of relief he couldn't say. She tilted her head back slightly away from his face.

"I've never kissed someone before." She was breathing harder than normal and Jayce rested the palm of his hand on her cheek wiping away some of the tears. He had dated a small number of girls in his life, but nothing had been serious. Or rather, none had been long term enough to feel serious. Adjusting to life in Japan after moving from America had been stressful enough that dating had been put on hold. It still made his head spin trying to understand how a woman like Jemza had never had a boyfriend.

"Was it bad?" With limited experience in this field Jayce had no confidence in anything of this sort. Everyone was different and the last thing he wanted was for Jemza to be hurt or uncomfortable. She blinked slowly a few times, a shy smile spreading over her lips.

"No, I liked it. Sorry if I um...I've never done that before so I..." Jayce shook his head to stop her from having to continue apologizing. He already knew where she was going with it and it was far from something she needed to be sorry for. If she had never had a boyfriend before then he expected their kiss to be short. Instead, the moment his lips touched hers she responded immediately, and with reckless abandon. Her tongue found his within seconds and he silently thanked the programmers of SAO for their hard work.

"That's never something you need to apologize for." She lowered her head, putting her forehead on his chest and they lay side by side in the grass.

"You see this in movies right? Two people gradually get closer and closer over the course of whatever the plot of the movie is. Then, at the end they finally kiss under the stars or some other romantic atmosphere and they live happily ever after." Her hands moved around his back pulling his breastplate against her.

"Games and movies aren't so different. A lot of role-playing games also have that same kind of story." She pulled harder on him like what he said had scared her.

"Yeah, but both movies and games have an end. Then, it's all over." Jayce closed his eyes running a hand through her hair. Now, he understood what was going through her head. If they survived this game then at some point they would be free. It would take years most likely, but eventually that time would come and these bodies they met each other in would end. This world and all their experiences that made them fall in love would be gone, and they would never return. This was why she was so desperate in the way she kissed him. Why the way she now buried her face against him felt like it would be the last time.