Sword Art Online (5)
Sword Art Online (5)
'It's no different from the photo.'
It wasn't much different from the photo enclosed in the report.
A slender, androgynous face, innocent-looking eyes, and long, flowing straight hair.
When all of that combined, the future looked promising.
No, looking closely, the real thing was much better than the photo.
In the first place, there's no way a secretly taken photo could compare to the real person who came out all dressed up.
'Looks like she's looking for me.'
Kazuto kept looking around.
Seojun stared at her intently. Soon, her gaze locked onto him.
Thus, they exchanged gazes in the air for a few seconds.
She cautiously approached Seojun.
"Um...."
Kazuto, having come closer, fidgeted.
Seojun preempted her before she could speak.
"Are you Kirito?"
"Oh, yeah. That's right. Then are you Jun?"
"Yeah. I'm Jun."
"Wow, what a relief! I thought you were someone else!"
Her expression brightened.
Just a moment ago, she looked like she was worried about what to do if it wasn't him.
Seojun chuckled and held out his hand to her.
Kazuto tilted her head at that, but soon realizing he wanted to shake hands, she quickly grabbed his hand.
"Nice to meet you, Kirito."
"Nice to meet you too, Jun."
Seojun said after finishing the handshake.
"Then, let's do a proper introduction. I'm Lee Seo-jun. As you can tell from my name, I'm Korean."
"Wow, Korean? You speak Japanese really well."
"Well, I've lived in Japan since I was young. So, what's your name?"
"Ah, I'm Kirigaya Kazuto."
"Aha, so the nickname Kirito comes from your name."
"Yeah. Jun, you made your nickname from your name too, right?"
"It's more convenient that way."
"Hehe, that's true."
They thought it would be awkward, but the two got along quite well in reality too.
Settling down on a bench in the park, the two chatted happily for a while.
The more they talked, the closer they felt.
"By the way, I never expected Kirito to be such a pretty girl."
"......Huh?"
She looked flustered at the sudden compliment.
However, she soon blushed and waved her hands.
"Nah, what's pretty about me? My name sounds like a boy's, and I look androgynous, too. My younger sister Sugu is prettier than me."
"Really? I don't know what this Sugu person is like, but I think you're pretty enough."
"Even if you compliment me like that, nothing's going to come out of it~!"
Kirito turned her head away sharply.
Seojun chuckled at her cute appearance for a moment.
Then he focused on what she said next.
"More than that, I was the one who was surprised. I never expected Jun to be this handsome."
"Oh, thanks for the compliment. It feels really good to be complimented by a cute girl like you."
"Sigh."
Kirito let out a deep sigh.
She didn't really like Seojun's slick response.
However, it wasn't like she was completely averse to it.
She is a girl, after all.
Naturally, it feels good when a handsome man compliments you by calling you pretty.
However, since the feeling of being friends was still stronger than romantic interest, there was a slight resistance.
Well, he understood that perfectly.
They might have interacted a lot, but that was only in the context of the game.
Since today was their first time meeting in reality, it would actually be strange to expect romantic feelings.
But it would change gradually.
Because he had the Incubus trait.
Time was on his side.
After that, the two went around playing here and there.
Well, it was practically a date.
Though it seemed Kirito enjoyed it with the feeling of hanging out with a friend.
'Glad she liked it.'
He planned the date course himself.
Since Kirito had similar tastes, she liked the places he liked too.
Maybe that's why he felt very proud.
Thus, the four-hour date reached its end.
"Let's meet again if we get the chance."
"Yeah. More importantly, are you going to log in today?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Kirito nodded at Seojun's answer and waved.
He responded in kind, and with a short farewell, the two headed to their respective homes.
One day, a few days after the date with Kirito.
Seojun headed to the place where he had a date appointment with Asuna.
"Jun-gun!"
"Sorry, did you wait long?"
"No. I just got here too."
Seojun looked at Asuna.
It was obvious she had prepared thoroughly.
A smile came naturally at the fact that she dressed up like that to look good for him.
"Wow, you look pretty today."
"Hehe, thank you. Jun-gun, you look even cooler today too, don't you?"
"It's a date with Asuna, so of course I put effort into dressing up."
Exchanging pleasantries, the two walked leisurely along the planned date course.
Seojun had planned the date course himself, just like with Kirito, and he had quite a hard time trying to match the universal "insider" (popular) tastes.
He was nervous, but he was relieved because the reaction was good.
The two enjoyed their date.
They walked arm-in-arm, took sticker photos, watched a movie good for couples, and fed each other crepes.
Before they knew it, the sun was setting.
They enjoyed themselves without realizing how time was passing.
"Whew, that was fun."
"I'm glad you had fun."
The two strolled through the park, fingers interlaced.
Each other's warmth was transmitted through their hands.
While chatting about trivial things, when they had leisurely walked around the park once, Asuna spoke.
"Jun-gun."
"Yeah?"
"I have something I want to tell you, Jun-gun."
Asuna's eyes were filled with determination.
Ah, this is that.
Seojun intuited what was about to come out of her mouth.
And the words that came out were not much different from his prediction.
"Jun-gun, I've liked you for a long time. Will you go out with me?"
A direct confession.
Seojun's brain spun rapidly at that.
'I shouldn't be getting a confession already, should I?'
The plan he had set initially went awry.
Normally, the confession should happen inside Sword Art Online.
But perhaps because he worked too hard on building affection, Asuna ended up dropping the confession first.
'......I'd definitely be happy if I accepted.'
Even if it's 2D that feels like 3D, Asuna is definitely a good woman.
He would definitely be happy if he dated her.
However, to achieve his harem plan, he couldn't just date her alone.
Seojun mentally crunched the numbers on how high her affection level might be right now.
'This might work?'
Since he even had the Incubus trait, it was worth a try.
But in return, he had to be prepared to become a piece of trash.
Seojun weighed his options.
Harem and trash.
Naturally, the former's side of the scale was heavier, so the conclusion was quick.
Seojun replied to Asuna.
"Thank you, I like you too."
"Phew, so it wasn't just me who liked you..."
Asuna's expression brightened visibly.
However, her expression reversed due to Seojun's following words.
"But I can't go out with you."
"Eh? Why?"
"Because I like Yuuki and Aiko just as much."
Asuna looked straight at Seojun.
Their gazes clashed in the air for a moment, and soon Seojun's mouth opened again.
"So I want to go out with all of you."
Seojun thought he sounded like a real piece of trash even as he said it.
Honestly, he never dreamed he would say something like this.
But he had to get used to it for the sake of the future.
He waited for Asuna's answer while writhing in self-loathing.
"Yeah, I thought you would say that, Jun-gun."
She gave a bitter smile as if she had expected this.
However, she soon said with a bright smile.
"Jun-gun, you said that because you didn't want the two of them to get hurt, right?"
No, I didn't.
I just wanted to start a harem.
Those words came up to his throat, but Seojun smiled bitterly without showing it.
"Haha...."
"Yeah, in love, the one who likes the other first loses. Honestly, I didn't want to see the two of them sad either."
"Does that mean?"
"Let's go out together happily, just like you said, Jun-gun."
At Asuna's answer, Seojun set off a fanfare inside.
'Woo-haha, fanfare~!!'
It seems the Incubus trait was more of a cheat in relationships than he had thought.
To have a harem accepted in a monogamous worldview.
"However, there's a condition."
"Eh? A condition?"
"Never treat me carelessly. Because I'm a girl who gets more jealous than you thought, Jun-gun."
"Of course! I'll treat you preciously."
"Then... kiss me to celebrate us going out."
Asuna reached out her arms as if asking for a hug.
Seojun held her in his arms and brought his face close.
As they got close enough for their breaths to touch, Asuna gently closed her eyes.
Seeing that, Seojun kissed her cautiously.
They kept their lips together for a moment, then he gently inserted his tongue.
Asuna flinched.
She opened her eyes and looked at Seojun.
The look of embarrassment was palpable.
Seojun smiled with his eyes and tapped her teeth with his tongue.
Then Asuna slowly opened her mouth, and Seojun's tongue penetrated inside and gently stirred the inside.
"Slurp. Chup. Haum."
The sound of tongues mixing rang out explicitly.
Asuna's face turned bright red, whether from lack of breath or embarrassment.
Soon, their lips parted.
A transparent thread stretched from the tips of their tongues and broke.
"How was your first kiss?"
"......Jun-gun is a pervert."
At Seojun's question, Asuna answered while burying her face in his chest.
Seojun smiled with satisfaction at that reaction and smacked his lips.
Her mouth tasted like strawberry crepes.
Kirigaya Kazuto (Kirito)