"Ne, ne..." She asked, walking through the hill. "You seriously not goons tell me what is beyond this hill?"
Shiki just chuckled, which told that they had all the time in the world. "You'll see."
"That's not an answer." She said, puffing her cheeks cutely, "What if it's something Stupid. What if it's just a rock shoed like loop birb."
"That's... Actually tempting." Shiki said, as if he is perplexed.
"I'll throw Sir Pebblestone at you." Ai growled, puffing her cheeks, glaring toward the sky.
Shiki just smirked, "I like to see you try, kitten."
"You're the worst." Ai said, before stopping on her path, "Wait... You didn't told me your name yet." Looking toward the sky.
Shiki grinned, "Seriously? We have been talking for so long and you only just realises."
Ai frowned, puffing her cheeks, like an angry kitten, "I was distracted by the stupid teases. You keep half answering stuff and continue with bullying me."
Shiki snorted, "Maybe I just wanted you to ask nicely."
"Voice in the sky, don't test me, I'll-"
"Shiki!"
"Huh?"
"Names's Shiki." Shiki finally said it, grinning like he waited to drop it.
She blinked, twice, "Shiki..." She repeated, testing how it felt on her lips, "That's... Actually cooler than I thought."
"Kitten, thanks."
"No I mean it." Ai said, immediately.
"I didn't said you didn't." Shiki teased.
Ai just puffed her cheeks, then asked, "Ne, be, Shiki... Wanna show me 'you' like actually you."
Shiki started at the screen, "You mean... Here?"
"Yeah." She asked, her eyes sparkling, "I wanna know how you look like. Unless..." She teased, "You're bidding because you look like a potato."
"I was waiting for the full nerve gear to release before this. But we'll found out."
In the real world, Shiki wore his VR heatset.
A faint light sparkled between them. Then a figure stood before her.
Shiki's avatar was something else.
He was wearing a black fitted dark adventurer coat lined with silver trim. deep-blue tunic underneath laced at the chest, black gloves with the fingertips cut away, a leather belt packed with pouches sitting snug around his waist, and sturdy black boots. Oh... and because anime logic doesn't care about weather, there was a long, deep-red scarf around his neck swaying dramatically behind him even though the breeze was barely there.
Ai's jaw dropped, then she blushed.
His hair in this form was a little longer, a little messier, but in that effortless cool way that only worked in fiction, and his eyes… sharper, catching light in a way that made them seem almost unreal. He was taller here too… or maybe it was just the way he carried himself that made him feel taller. Either way, it annoyed her just enough to notice.
"So…" he said, tugging his gloves tighter, "potato?"
"You don't look like a potato," Ai said, blushing.
"And?" Shiki teased.
"…You're… uh… cooler than I thought," she admitted reluctantly. "…And kinda handsome."
He tilted his head. "Kinda?"
"Shut up." She started circling around him like she was inspecting a rare animal. Her gaze went up to his shoulders, broad. Down to his chest, flat but solid. Waist, narrow. Legs, long, annoyingly so. "…Okay, seriously, what's with your build? You're all wide here, slim there…" She poked his side, then gestured vaguely at herself. "…And you don't even have these."
"Huh?"
"These..." Ai said, pointing toward her boobs.
"That's because I am a guy and and you're a girl." Shiki said, dead paned.
"...Oh," She looked down again, to his hips and then his legs. "Less curves huh..."
"That's how it works." Shiki snorted.
She steeped, tilting her head like she was taking metal notes, "That's unfair. You had this cool thing going around. And I am had to move around with this."
"You're comparing weights now?" Shiki teased.
"I'm just saying, they get in the way when you run, y'know? And they're heavy. You probably don't have anything on you that throws off your balance like that."
"…Can't say I do."
She frowned up at him. "Also… why're you so tall? Is that a guy thing too? Or did you cheat?"
"Maybe both."
Her mouth opened to protest, then closed, then opened again. "Wait, so guys are just… built like this? Bigger on top, straighter down below? No curves?"
"Pretty much."
"That's boring," she decided. Then asked again. "Do you have anything at all that's bigger than girls?"
He almost choked on a laugh. "I am not gonna answer that."
She smirked like she caught him. "Suspicious."
"You're the one interrogating my body shape."
"It's research," she said firmly, tapping her temple. "You're literally the first guy and person I've ever seen."
"Uh-huh." He leaned down just enough so their eyes almost lined up. "Curious, huh?"
Her cheeks warmed. "Shut up."
"Kitten, you're cute when you get all flustered."
"Stop saying that."
"Why? It's true."
She groaned, "You're smug. And handsome. And it's annoying."
"You keep saying handsome, kitten." Shiki pointed out, smirk deepening.
"I hate you." Ai puffed her cheeks.
"Cute," he cut in.
She blinked. "What?"
"You're a cute kitten." he said like it was a weather report.
She blushed furiously. "Shut up."
"You asked."
"I did not, ugh!" She pulled her hood down over her face for a second, tugging it so far down it almost covered her nose. When she peeked out, her glare was still there, but her ears were twitching like she couldn't decide if she was embarrassed or mad. "You're smug. And handsome. And it's annoying."
"You keep saying handsome,"he pointed out, again.
"Slip of the tongue!" She replied. "It doesn't count if it's... uh... repeated for emphasis."
"That's… literally the definition of 'I think you're Handsome.'"
Ai groaned. "You're impossible."
"And you're cute," he said itagain, just because he could.
"Stop saying that!"
"Why? It's true."
"It's not."
"It is."
"It's not."
"Still is."
Ai cried. "You're doing it on purpose now."
"Doing what?"
"That!" She said,. "Saying it like... like it's some kind of spell you can just cast whenever you want!"
"Is it working?" he asked, lips twitching.
She steoed forward, poking him in the chest. "Well, stop it. You can't just–"
"Cute," he said again, and she almost combusted on the spot.
Her mouth opened, closed, opened again, no words came out.
He tilted his head. "That was an easy win."
"Win?!" She half-sputtered, half-growled. "This isn't a game!"
"It's always a game," he said casually, stepping toward her just a bit, enough to be in her space. "And I'm winning."
Her cat ears on her hoodie twitched wildly. "You're… You're impossible. Impossible and smug and—"
"Handsome?" he offered.
"ugh, I walked into that one." She slapped her own forehead.
"Yeah, but you didn't deny it."
Her cheeks went even redder. "Shut up."
"You first."
"What does that even—"
"Cute."
"Shiki!" she yelled, shoving him in the chest, but not enough to move him an inch. "You're doing it again!"
He grinned. "Kitten, you're easy to tease."
"I'm not!"
"You totally are."
"I hate you."
"Cute."
Ai cries in a high pitched voice, "Stop it!"
"Make me."
She froze. "Did you just?"
"Yeah."
"That's it." She walkes right up to him, eyes narrowed like she was about to chew him out, but then, without warning, her arms wrapped tight around him.
Shiki froze mid-smirk. "Uh."
Don' say anything." Her voice muffles by his coat, "If you cute now, I am hitting you."
"Tempting." Shiki teased.
"Shut up."
His scarf brushed her cheek as he tilted his head down a little, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Y'know, you hug like you mean it."
"Yeah, well…" she mumbled against his coat, "I'm just… really happy, okay? That there's someone real here. Someone I can actually talk to without staring at the sky and wondering if anyone's even listening."
Shiki's smirk faded, replaced by something softer. "Glad to be that someone."
She leaned back just enough to look up at him, still gripping his coat like if she let go, he'd vanish. "No, I mean it. You feel real."
"Guess that's a good thing."
"It's a great thing," she corrected instantly. Then, like she remembered she was supposed to be annoyed, her eyes narrowed again. "Still smug, though."
"And handsome," he added.
She groaned and buried her face in his chest, heeling his warmth. "Yes, you're. You're the msot handsome guy I have ever seen."
"Cute," he said, tesing her again
Her cat ears on her hoodie twitched. "I walked right into that."
"Every time."
For a moment, neither of them moved.
"Aren't you going to let go." Shiki asked, hugging her back.
"Hmm... You're warm." Ai hummed, ignoring him.
"Cute." Shiki teased again.
"And you're smug and handsome and warm, really warm." Ai teased back.
Then, slowly, reluctantly, she let go. Then she looked at him, blushing, "You're still not going to tell me what's beyond this hill."
"Let's not spoil it, my kitten. We'll found out soon." Shiki teased.
"Hmm..." Ai nodded., as she started walking again.
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END OF CHAPTER : 5 : MEETING HIM!
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