❦

everything seemed moderately normal, at least until a wide transparent screen had appeared in front of aelita, who was now sitting on "her" bed.

     "welcome to jujutsu kaisen — the victorian era — game: corset. to access the menu, just say my name: ujakken, and the screen will appear before you at any point of time.

     please take some time to explore the menu before selecting your personal maids".

aelita found this very exhilarating. everything was so detailed, as there was a live robot that you could chat with if you had questions, and a help button just in case you didn't know what you were doing.

aelita liked that.

aelita was the type of girl to follow rules, do what was expected of her, and exceed those expectations.

she's accustomed to step-by-step instructions, and that's how she lives day by day.

"oh wow...there's even a population count on how many people's playing right now. this game sure is popular", aelita mumbled to herself, noticing that there was at least 9.7 million people playing as of currently, all around the world.

right after she had finished messing with all the controls and such, a question had popped up: "who will you choose as your personal maids?"

┌──────┐ ┌──────┐
zen'in maki kugisaki nobara
+ zen'in mai + nishimiya momo
└──────┘ └──────┘

     aelita wondered if this would affect the game much, as she could only remember misa telling her that the zen'in sisters were superior.

     she supposed that maki and mai were the more correct choice, if there even was such a thing that you could call "correct" in this game.

     and as soon as the choice was made, the screen had dispersed; with a knock at the door, it was as if it were perfectly timed.

     "come in...?", aelita hesitantly answered, to which the open door had revealed two green-haired teenagers with highly symmetrical faces.

     "good morning your highness. my name is maki", the first one — who pertained longer hair — had introduced.

     "and I'm mai. we're grateful for you choosing us as your personal maids, your highness".

     "I'm thankful for you two, as I'll be in your care from now on", aelita smiled, slightly dipping her head in appreciation, as the twins had glanced at each other, slightly astonished.

after all, even though the majority of this game is programmed, all of the characters certainly experienced their own feelings and thoughts; which is what makes this game so hard to accomplish, and why the gaming company was praised for this as soon as it was released.

     though whether this was a happy accident or on purpose, no one really knows.

"your highness is too kind. we're merely your servants. it's only our duty", maki smoothly replied.

     "I'd appreciate if we at least became friends. and aelita's just fine", the blonde girl stated, slipping out of bed, as the two zen'ins had brought out every piece of clothing needed for the girl.

"we couldn't possibly disgrace you by calling you by your first name, your highness", maki replied, as mai had helped the girl into the plain beige corset.

although it was a virtual reality stimulation, aelita could physically feel her organs and ribs being squished into one bony cast that flattered her bosom and hourglass waist.

"it's...no disgrace. please, I insist. your highness is...just too formal for me", aelita managed to breathe out.

once the crinoline, along with many other petticoats, were worn, the final layer of sheer glittery fabric was the cherry on top for aelita.

in her puffy golden dress, the sleeves fell to her thin shoulders that burdened the weight of her matching lemon locks that was accompanied by fresh coreopsis littered randomly in her braid.

     "then...aelita—"

     "mai!"

     "it's seriously alright", aelita assured, momentarily squeezing maki and mai's hand, as she had pushed open the double doors, nearly gasping at how utterly realistic every crevice of the castle seemed.

     the windowpanes were exactly like the ones that she saw in movies, with the brilliant sun penetrating through each square glass.

     "magnificent", aelita mumbled, exploring the castle grounds and gardens, as everyone that she had passed by had bowed to her.

"a-aelita, should we head back now? I believe his majesty's waiting for us to dine", maki stated, boldly testing out the girl's name.

     "mm...give me just a moment", aelita smiled, clearing her throat, as she discreetly called for ujakken.

     the pink transparent screen immediately appeared, as time around her also seemed to pause.

     "what may I do for you, miss aelita?", the monitor questioned.

     "I had fun, but I'll be logging out now, since I'm sure that misa's dying to continue the game herself", aelita lightly chuckled.

     "okay. we're glad that you have enjoyed the experience. please remember to save your progress before exiting".

     as aelita went to go click on the logout button, the screen had done nothing, except show: error.

"error?"

once again, the blonde girl had tried logging out, not even saving her progress, since this wasn't her vr set anyways.

though a red error had flashed upon her screen once more, and continuously so, as the girl had attempted to sign out.

"ujakken, is something wrong with the system? why can't I log off?!", aelita questioned.

the monitor stayed silent for a long moment before answering, as aelita had noticed that their surrounding had started glitching a bit before returning back to normal.

     "apologies, apologies. as player 3504573, you're required to survive through the entire game without fail.

     there will be no more choices nor help from the system. though you can still check how many other players are in the game and the meters for each capture target, only if you call for me: ujakken.

     and reminder, if you fail to survive, you will die in real life as well.

     thank you for playing; please enjoy your experience", the monitor oddly said, it's voice going through different wavelengths throughout all its sentences.

     the screen had suddenly disappeared, as aelita was left speechless, staring off into the abyss.

    maki and mai had started moving again, returning to aelita's side, as they awaited for the girl's next order.

     "u-umm...please tell father that I'm unwell. I...I need to walk by myself for a while", aelita choked out, rushing off, as the two had halted, wondering if it was truly okay for the second princess to run off on her own.

     "should we chase her?", mai asked.

maki shook her head.

"she'll be okay, since she's still on castle grounds. let's report to his majesty first".

͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

aelita grabbed a fistful of her petticoats as she ran as fast as her heels had allowed her to.

dismissing the polite bows and sweet greetings of the other servants, the blonde girl had finally found a lone place for her to sob out her distress.

uncanny tears and mumblings were exerted from the lady, as an incoming headache had appeared with her short breaths.

     aelita has never felt more useless and lost, being stuck in a game that she had no interest in, much less any knowledge of.

     how was she supposed to survive when she didn't even know what was coming for her in the future?

     the irritated girl fell onto her bum, as the dress messily spread like wildfire.

     her tears had momentarily dried, though she was certainly not back to her usual self.

     watching the sun set had made her even more anxious, even though the scenery in front of her was meant to be calming.

     'day one...march twenty-fifth, 2021 in the real world', aelita mentally noted.

a sudden rustling was heard, as aelita had snapped her head around, witnessing a white-haired male that beheld the most glamorous pair of eyes ever.

they pertained the entire sky, the fresh glossy air and pure cotton clouds.

"I was wondering where my favorite princess was", the man chuckled, easily walking through the bush, as his tall stature hovered over aelita.

"e-excuse me?"

     "hm? don't tell me you don't remember me, lita. I was — and still am — your personal instructor since you were three", the man stated.

     aelita had to think for a bit before remembering misa's words. it was hard thinking through things when you were in the midst of a mental breakdown.

     "u-um...gojō...satori?", aelita unsurely responded, causing gojō to chuckle.

     "it's satoru, but close enough".

     'ah right, right. satori's the volleyball player from that other anime that misa watches'.

     "my apologies", aelita muttered.

     "mah~ it's whatever. anyways, I didn't see you at the dining hall today. something wrong?"

aelita hesitated.

it wasn't like anyone would understand her situation anyways. and plus, if she remembered correctly, gojō was one of the targets.

so how was she supposed to up his affection meter without any options given?

"I just...it's just one of those days", aelita lied, weakly smiling, as gojō nodded in understanding.

"we all have those days sometimes, but what matters is that there's always tomorrow", gojō grinned, gently patting aelita's head, as she just stared at the attractive man in front of her.

"you're right...gojō-sensei..."

the white-haired male had momentarily froze, examining the girl's genuine gratefulness for that single piece of advice, as her lips had upturned for the better.

"I'm glad I could help then! shall I escort you to dinner before you complete your nightly routine then?", gojō playfully asked.

"of course, and thank you", aelita said, standing up with gojō's help, as he offered her an arm to lean on.

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┌──────┐
progress loading...
└──────┘

• affection meter:
- gojō satoru: 20% + 5% = 25%
- getō suguru: 0%
- itadori sukuna: 0%

• romance meter:
- itadori yūji: 0%
- fushiguro megumi: 0%
- secret target: 0%