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the world was in shambles.

men, women, children, and those who all favored the game corset, were drowning in the virtual reality world.

those around them were desperately concerned, suing the company for creating such a horror show, as none of their loved ones could be saved.

     the ones that had taken the initiative to forcefully pull the headset off their loved ones had quickly learned that they had severed their only chance of survival, causing them to weep and mourn — and to carry the guilt — for eternity.

     with that being said, more than half of the players had become deceased, prompting the news to go haywire, as the company had no way of repaying those who had fallen victim to the game.

     not only that, but — for those that were still in the game — another vast majority had died, due to their inability to reach the end of the game successfully.

     hence, why those that were fortunate enough to still be breathing, were brought to the nearest hospital.

     "I'm sorry...aelita...", misa whimpered, being the only one to sit beside the girl's hospital bed, as aelita's parents were still overseas at the moment.

     "I'm sorry...", she repeated, clenching onto her pants, as she felt the tears dripping onto the back of her hands once more.

     her usually neatly combed brown hair was now in knots from the amount of times that she was anxiously messing with it.

     misa could only pray that aelita would miraculously wake up. however, based off of all the news that's been going around, she doubted it.

"if only I didn't force you to try the game...this wouldn't have happened...", misa cried, pushing all the guilt onto herself, as her and her family have yet to inform aelita's parents of the condition of their daughter.

though misa's parents were more concerned about being sued by aelita's parents, misa couldn't fathom the possibility of losing her only best friend.

"I'm sorry aelita...I really am...but I hope that you can make it. I really do..."

͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

     aelita spent her first night in this game studying — the only thing she claimed that she excelled at — the land of japan.

apparently, the girl was the second princess of the naruse (north) kingdom, facing head to head to the zen'in (south) kingdom that was just across the boarder.

the two kingdoms were united based on the fact that they knew that if they were to start a war, both sides would receive a painful loss of manpower and utilities.

with that being said, the two kingdoms weren't exactly friendly with each other either.

it was the ideals of the zen'in clan that had separated them from the naruse clan, as the former believed that women cannot rule, and are born to only serve men.

"so how did you two end up here?", aelita asked, forcing maki and mai to sit with her, even though they claimed that they did not deserve to sit with the girl.

     "our clan prioritizes boys over girls, as you already know, your—I mean, aelita...and sometimes when the naruse and zen'in clan meet up for the more important events, such as his majesty's birthday, there are gift exchanges", maki explained.

     "so you're telling me that your father just gave you two away?", aelita questioned with disbelief.

     "well...technically our uncle, who's the head of the clan, but yes", mai answered.

"we were given to his majesty for his forty-ninth birthday, since we didn't play much of an importance to our clan anyways", maki bluntly said.

"but luckily, his majesty's a very kind and loyal man", mai slightly smiled, grateful that she didn't have to marry someone she didn't love.

"oh, so king hotaru's not a ruthless tyrant?"

     "aelita...pardon my rudeness, but do you always refer to your father by his title?", maki suspiciously asked.

     aelita's finger ever so slightly twitched, as she realized that she is the second princess now.

     "it was a slip of a mouth", the girl slyly lied.

     "I've been reading these books for so long that it must've gotten to my head", aelita lightly chuckled, shutting the book that she was currently holding in her hand, as she picked up her miniature fork, stabbing a slice of apple.

"I see...but to answer your question, no. his majesty's very loving not only to his family, but to the servants and commoners of his kingdom", maki replied.

aelita sighed a quiet breath of relief.

'thank goodness...perhaps I might just survive this game then'.

"aelita, is something on your mind?", maki questioned, as the blonde girl had momentarily handed her fork to mai, who was caught staring at the refreshing apple slices.

"aelita, please don't spoil her anymo—"

"thank you aelita!!", mai interrupted, snatching the utensil as she chomped down on those apple slices.

the blonde princess just smiled, as maki sighed.

     "I'm fine. I'm just wondering if it possible to find certain people", aelita stated.

"certain people? is there someone that you're particularly looking for?"

"mm...yes. their names are on the tip of my tongue, and I've seen them enough times to know what they look like...", aelita said.

"perhaps you should ask his majesty's advisor. he seems like the type of person to know everything about this kingdom", mai chimed in.

"his majesty's advisor...?", aelita unconsciously repeated.

"mr. getō, the best friend of your instructor, mr. gojō", maki stated.

     "right...another capture target, if I remembered correctly", aelita mumbled.

     "I'm sorry, but what was that?"

     "ah, nothing in particular. I am a bit tired though, so I suppose that we'll call it a day then?", aelita unsurely said.

     "of course. we both wish you a very good night", maki bowed, as mai had grabbed the empty bowl of apple slices — and fork — and left.

     aelita's smile then dropped, as she opened the door to her room's balcony.

she had successfully managed to live through the first day.

taking a seat on one of the chairs that was accompanied by a round table, aelita had glanced up at the sky for a few moments, wondering how many were still stuck in the game like her.

"ujakken, how many people are still playing?", aelita questioned.

     "there are exactly 3.6 million players left", the monitor replied.

     aelita's breath hitched, as she recalled it being over nine million earlier today.

     "disappear", aelita airily commanded, to which the screen before her had dispersed.

the fifteen year-old covered her eyes with the back of her hand in distress, as she accidentally launched a small vase of roses with her other arm when she stood up with her palm planted onto the circular table.

aelita hastily leaned over her balcony, attempting to catch the vase before it fell, however, her ambition was too unrealistic, as her body weight tipped forward and caused her to frantically grab for the ledge.

     the balcony pillars weren't thin enough for the girl to easily grab onto, and with her weak upper body strength, aelita struggled to pull herself upwards.

     looking down, aelita cringed at the thought of landing on the shattered vase and thorns of the roses.

     though even if she were to land, she'd probably break a few bones in the process as well, since she resided on the fourth floor with the rest of her "family".

     just then, aelita's strength had reached her max, as her fingertips slipped from the edge of the balcony, causing her body to fall rapidly.

the girl shut her eyes, expecting for a harsh impact, as she tried to calm her breathing pattern.

though to her luck, a pair of arms had caught her right before she had hit the ground, causing her to snap open her eyes.

"your highness, are you alright?", the boy calmly asked, about to set the girl down on the grass, until he realized that she didn't have any shoes on.

"I...I'm alright thanks to you now", aelita breathlessly answered, still not believing that she fell from the fourth story and still managed to be uninjured.

"I see...so is it alright if I let you down?"

"yeah, that's fine. thank you for saving my life", aelita bowed, causing the dark-haired boy to immediately kneel, as no royalty should have to dip their heads in appreciation.

"it was only my duty, your highness. no need to degrade yourself to me by bowing", he hastily said.

aelita motioned for the teenage boy to stand back up, as she finally got a good look at him with the moon acting as the light for her.

'he's one of the romance targets that misa told me about...but what's his name again...?'

"well, if your highness doesn't need my service anymore, please excus—"

     "wait!! I—umm....what's your name?", aelita awkwardly asked, as she was never good with interacting with people.

     because she was the future valedictorian of her class, those that approached her only wanted her homework answers and such.

     however, misa was different.

     misa knew her since their middle school years and stuck by aelita's side, never once hiding her true intentions from the girl.

     "fushiguro megumi", the boy answered, snapping aelita out of her thoughts.

     "ah...nice to meet you, fushiguro-kun. umm..."

     aelita's toes and fingers unconsciously scrunched up, as she tried to recall what misa would do in these type of situations.

     fushiguro slightly tilted his head to the side, observing the nervous princess.

     he waited patiently for her to speak.

     "c-could you accompany me on a walk tomorrow afternoon? I wish to repay you!"

aelita nervously awaited for fushiguro's answer, as the dark-haired boy softly spoke.

"if that's what your highness desires, then I shall comply", he answered.

at that moment, aelita had glanced up, meeting fushiguro's darkened emerald green gaze, as the boy's shadow hovered over her.

"thank you", she bashfully smiled.

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• affection meter:
- gojō satoru: 25%
- getō suguru: 0%
- itadori sukuna: 0%

• romance meter:
- itadori yūji: 0%
- fushiguro megumi: 0% + 3% = 3%
- secret target: 0%