Thread: Sword Art Online: The Frontier Chronicles

Tsuki, being a girl and a rather perceptive one at that, understood a bit of what was running through the young man's mind at the time and tried her best not to feel put-off by his embarrassment. Given his reaction, he didn't seem used to being familiar with girls so she understood that he might misunderstand her actions, but she felt certain that even if they did not fully understand each other they could still be good friends. His up-front offer to try to get to know her better caused her to visibly flush and her arms to tense up, but thankfully his back was turned at the moment so he likely wouldn't notice. At her school, boys hardly ever gave her a second look, let alone invited her out to dinner. In her own estimation she was little more than just a bit over average-looking, but it was more than likely that this was primarily due to her firm and serious side that she showed to the public caused boys to turn away rather than approach her. Sure, food always tastes better when eaten with friends, Tsuki coughed twice, as if trying to clear her throat, Its natural for friends to what to know more about each other... I want to know a bit more about you, too. Just do what you have to do and we'll talk when you get back- She glanced over her shoulder to see that he was already walking away, muttering to himself under his breath. She could feel the distinct sensation and weight of a sweatdrop form on the back of her head as she watched him leave for a moment before turning back toward camp. In the very least, she had acquired a strong ally that day, and had even earned a level for her trouble, yet the greatest victory in her own mind was that she had finally started to open up to someone else and a boy at that. She wasn't exactly the most social person in her own life, mostly interacting with her own family and a small circle of friends at school, none of which where boys. She had a slight reputation among those who knew her as intelligent and perceptive, but beyond that no one took particular notice of her. This was one of the reasons she had started playing online games with the nerve gear in the first place. It allowed her to live more freely and transcend the stifling norms imposed upon her by society. She didn't want to just be an ordinary, nondescript girl who went to an ordinary high school, had ordinary friends, and would grow up to be an ordinary woman slaving away at some firm for less than what a man would be paid to do the exact same job. In an odd twist of fate the attention she drew from boys while online was oddly satisfying. Until it was confirmed that she was, indeed, female many of the male players mostly kept their distance. Instead of being admired from afar, she felt like some sort of scarce resource of feminine interaction that the young men of the world of SAO knew they would be largely deprived of for the foreseeable future. She wanted to be respected and valued for her plain, ordinary self rather than be coerced into it out of lack of outlets for their instinctive male drive to hold female companionship. She liked the attention, but at the same time she was also repulsed by the somewhat demeaning intentions in their behavior. Shinn, on the other hand, was different. He seemed to view her as a companion and friend that he wished to become closer to, who also happened to be female. He couldn't deny this fact any more than she could deny that her hair was black or any other aspect of her own existence. Perhaps it was simply her own delusions working on her, but she wanted to believe that there was more to Shinn than simply another would-be admirer out of abject desperation. For the time being, she would grant him the opportunity to prove her correct.