Abyss of the Shrine Maiden

Fighting the Future

Koharu, the next day

"Hmm… Hmm… Mhmmm… Yes, that definitely explains why you've been glowing all day, Koharu." Asuna smiles knowingly as she, Koharu, and Tia take the front of the party of seven. Their respective boyfriends, Premiere, and Leafa file out the rest of this team as they walk to the Teleport Gate in the Town of Beginnings.

According to what she learned at school, their friends had continued the hunt for certain charms to unlock the pathway leading to the floor boss. Tia deduced that the item she's looking for is there, guarded by the boss, just as it was with the prior floor. Their exploration has taken them through a desert-like area and a dense, grassy biome broken into small, floating islands, possible remnants of interconnected areas with the tundra back on Ainground. Now all that remains is to make it to the boss.

As of now, Koharu doesn't know what Asuna means by 'glowing', but if it explains why she's in a good mood, then yes, Koharu is indeed as bright as the sun. But there's something behind what Asuna's saying, and it's more how she said it that clues Koharu in. "Today's been a good day, hasn't it? Plus this coat is so warm."

"Not that kind of happiness, This is a whole different look from your usual good mood, and I would know, we were together for two months straight and then every now and then. Plus I am a girl. I know that look, Miss Hardin. Gotta say, if that can cure a fever, what else can it cure?"

Koharu's cheeks burn with realization. "Oh...um...it was just in the moment! I wasn't feeling well until much, much later… I think…"

"Took you two a while."

"Two years too long."

"And Argo made a killing off Kirito yesterday too." Asuna turns around to Kirito, in the middle of the pact with Premiere. "Kirito, how did it feel to learn that both Koharu and I beat Jaymes without using cheap tricks and at the skill level he's currently at?"

"Ugh…"

"That is true, Big Brother," Leafa comments, then turns to the boy walking beside her. "Did you go easy on Koharu?"

Jaymes shakes his head. "She used everything in her skillset and more. Unlike your brother, who used a cheap elbow to the face to barely win."

Kirito sighs. "We went a year without telling that story, and now you guys won't let it go."

"Koharu," Tia speaks up, the NPC eyeing her inquisitively. "What does Asuna mean by 'glowing'? From my perspective, you look normal."

Koharu did not figure that Tia or Premiere would be curious by the conversation, but not the starting point. How do you explain that act to people who have no concept of...hormones. "It's… It's an expression."

"An expression? For what?"

"Um… When two people who...care for each other...are happy together?"

Tia seems to accept this response and ponders over it. "So you and Asuna care for each other, so if you make each other happy, you two would be 'glowing?'"

"Huh?"

"T-Tia!"

"Or like Jaymes and Leafa right now, they seem happy together."