You are my safe zone

Second Week - Truth or Dare

"Okay your turn now Kirito-kun!" Asuna cheerfully encouraged me as she put away the dishes from our recently finished dinner.

"Again?" I grumbled, taking a sip of the sweet wine from my glass, waiting for Asuna to intercede, but her not-so-innocent smile indicated to me that she wasn't going to back down "When is this game supposed to end anyway?"

It seemed that, by Asuna's sudden change of expression, my words had come a bit more blunt than I would've wanted to, making me drop my head in instant regret.

"It ends when I feel I have enough information" she spat in a surprisingly accurate Argo fashion, huffing and turning her head away from me "But if you are really having such a bad time with me, I guess we could go..."

With speed that even Asuna herself would envy, I shot my hand forward, getting a hold of her wrist as she aimed for the basket in between us "Wait! Stop!"

"Mm?"

"Truth..." I mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Sorry, what was that?" Asuna asked back with a purposely cute, annoying voice.

"I pick truth" I finally gave up, embarrassed.

After a second of gloating, Asuna turned back to her usual cheerful-self, moving the basket away, inviting me to sit right next to her with one of those smiles she knew I couldn't refuse "Come on then, let's keep playing"

Accepting Asuna's offer -though I'm sure she wasn't offering, but ordering- I sat by her side and shyly looked into her eyes. Those beautiful hazel-brown orbs were shining with renewed expectancy and joy, giving my partner a childish but adorable look, and before I could realize it my body felt lighter, as if someone had taken a huge weight off my shoulders; and my mind much less crowded.

It was the second 'appointment' of our weekly sessions (I had unintentionally used the word 'date' before, earning myself a fully red-faced Asuna in return, so I decided to avoid that specifical term... at least for now) so, as expected from a 16 year old boy without any real nor virtual experience with the ladies, I spent the entire week since our previous 'not-date' as a nervous wreck, planning, scheming about where to take Asuna next. I even asked Argo about it, which cost me a huge secrecy fee in addition to the information I was looking for, just to keep her from selling that juicy piece of info.

All that hard work and overthinking finally paid off, rewarding me with this amazing landscape in which Asuna and I were now resting. A lonely, strong ombu tree gracing us with its comfort and protection. A vast carpet of green and white, dropping rather steeply into a vast hill that extended right before our eyes. The warm breeze brushing on my virtual skin, carrying the sweet smells of nature, drowning me in tempting sleepiness... But along with it, the much sharper, fruity smell of Asuna's cut through my drowsiness, turning my attention to the lady sitting by my side. Just like me Asuna seemed to be lost in her senses. Her long hair was brushing against her cheek while dancing with the subtle winds towards me, almost as if calling for me. I had to gather all of my willpower to prevent my hand from responding to said call, coughing instead to grab my companion's attention

"Ehem... So, what will your question be?"

Unlike me, Asuna wasn't completely lost somewhere else, as she turned towards me without breaking her charming smile as spoke softly, but determined "Do you remember that time in the 5th Floor when you found out I was afraid of ghosts?"

That was not the kind of question I was waiting for, nor I understood what Asuna's purpose was to ask me such a thing, but either way I answered with sincerity "Of course I do. We were doing the 'Thirty-Year Lament' quest and you completely freaked out when the ghost appeared..." I only realized how not-so-touching my phrasing had been once the last word left my mouth, so before Asuna could lash out at me I followed up with another question of my own "But why would you ask that?"