"I can't stand you," Asuna huffed, plopping onto the couch in depression. She missed Kazuta. She helped making herself deal with Nobuyuki easier.

Nobuyuki gave her a sneering smirk. "Same could be said about you, Asuna-san."

Asuna gave an annoyed look his way and inwardly sighed. She knew her friend was busy with the beta-testing, but still! Why hadn't she called yet? Asuna had been tempted several times to just storm over to her home and see Kazuta, but she also knew this was important to her friend. She didn't know how this whole beta-test worked after all.

"Your phone's been vibrating for at least a minute," Nobuyuki drawled in boredom.

Asuna grumbled something insulting under her breath, but picked up her phone. She became excited when she realized it was Kazuta calling though.

She answered it quickly. "Kazuta! About time. I've been waiting for you to call me. How's things?"

Nobuyuki had immediately strode over when she said Kazuta's name and he snatched her phone out of her hand, putting Kazuta on speaker.

"Oh! I apologize, Asuna-san," Kazuta's voice spoke through the phone. "I haven't been home. Actually...for the beta-testing, I've actually been staying at the testing site."

Nobuyuki and her actually were of the same mind for once, exchanging shocked and confused looks.

"Whatever for?" Nobuyuki asked, butting into the conversation.

"Nobuyuki-san? You're there as well?"

"Yeah, he's here," Asuna gave him a dark look that he just sneered back at her with. "But tell me what you mean!"

"Aa, well it was like this, you see..."

And then she explained about her panic attack, how she met Kayaba Akihiko and how he actually helped her calm down and then got her into the building, afterwards even getting her set up into the beta-testing himself. Asuna was floored, more so when Kayaba offered to let her stay in the building until the beta-test was over and how he'd personally been helping her to try to get over her incapability of dealing with the outside.

"Wow, that's amazing! And I really can't believe he did all that for you. More than that, though, Kazuta, I'm so proud," she said sincerely, utterly proud of who had quickly become her best friend (and just a bit of a crush, she'll admit!).

After everything Kazuta had been going through and for her to come this far, Asuna was definitely proud of her friend for pushing through her fears and trying her best to deal with her issues. At this point, while not completely recovered, it sounded like Kazuta was much, much better than she had been.

"Listen, I'll have to go, but I just really wanted to call and catch up! I apologize again for such a long absence and not saying anything. I promise we'll talk more when the beta-test is over and I come back home."

"Okay! But you better!"

Kazuta hung up and Asuna was already missing her.

"Why does she need him for?" Nobuyuki spat out. "He's just some second-rate game developer!"

Asuna raised an eyebrow at him. She wasn't into the whole technological or even gaming industry culture, especially not like Kazuta, but even she knew that Kayaba Akihiko was a big deal and definitely more than that. She could practically picture the dismay on her friend's face if she had heard her idol being described as a "second-rate game developer".

"Don't let Kazuta hear you say that," Asuna laughed. "You'll hurt her feelings, insulting her idol like that."

Nobuyuki scoffed, sneer back in full force. "Ridiculous. She could do much better than him, and she's had us to help her. She didn't have to deal with that man!"

Asuna was amused as she saw her stupid fiancé get all worked up, looking and sounding so upset and...jealous? Oh God, he was! Nobuyuki was totally jealous and the more he ranted, the more she realized he was caught up in a jealous rage.

She started laughing hysterically in her head, though she couldn't help outwardly grinning. Hah! Kazuta was better off with her celebrity crush on Kayaba and getting to bask in the man's presence while she could, rather than deal with this dumbass asshole.

Well, she did kind of feel sorry for him since he did seem (for once) genuinely interested and concerned over someone, even if that someone was her best friend...

She supposed it was something to deal with in the future though, what with Kazuta currently being unreachable.

[O\\\\\[========================-

Kazuta hung up and stared fondly at the phone. Soon, she'd get to see Asuna and even Nobuyuki. She could even, not just tell them, but show them her progress and how she was able to sort of be around the outside. Maybe they could even eat out together!

Smiling to herself, she finished packing and then faced her door. Taking a deep breath, she went out without problems and continued on to the first floor to have breakfast. It was the beta-test group's last breakfast and she wanted to be there, even if it was for a short while.

At entering the cafeteria, she did end up pausing and staring at the already half-full room. Wincing, she felt herself take a step back, before she was greeted by Seijirou, who half-stood up from his seat to wave her over, calling out her name enthusiastically.

Blushing, she slowly made her way over and sat next to him and across from Misumi, who she remembered had let her know her username as Argo. Misumi gave her an acknowledging nod, while Takahiro smiled fully at her.

"Misumi-san, Taka-san," she greeted before she turned to Seijirou. "Good morning, Seijirou-san. Thank you for saving me a seat."

"It's no problem, Kazuta-san," he continued to smile kindly at her, seated again. "I think they have bagels today. They have lots of fruits too, if you want a light breakfast."

Breathe, breathe, breathe.

Kazuta held onto her pant leg and looked over at where the food was, debating to herself on what she saw.

"I think I see some oatmeal," she noticed. "Perhaps I shall have some of that."

She stood up again and went over, glancing around at the breakfast tables, choosing to have the plain oatmeal that she sprinkled some sugar on and a few blueberries. She also took a tiny plate full of fruit for her to snack on after her oatmeal, and returned back to her seat.

"I'll be glad to try out the final version of the game," Takahiro said. "It's good so far and since there were so many of us testing, they'll be sure to make the game even better for the final version."

"That's true," Seijirou mused. "It only stands to reason that the testing results provided will help their development."

Kazuta listened in but had nothing to contribute, especially given that she hadn't actually participated with the group and had more or less ventured into the game on her own or sometimes with Akihiko.

"I wished that Kayaba had shown up more," Takahiro said in disappointment. "It would've been nice to see him around and even better, have him interact with us."

"He's a private person," Misumi added. "I'm surprised he even came for just a bit."

"I have seen him around though," Seijirou commented thoughtfully. "Around the building though, not around us. He's been here at least."

Kazuta bit her lip, definitely unsure whether to say something. The choice was taken out of her hands though, when Akihiko himself appeared in the cafeteria and spotted her, heading straight towards her.

"Kazuta-san," he said, calling her by her actual name for once. "I believe your ride will be here soon. Your bags were gathered and placed by the entrance for you."

Eyes widened, she stood up and bowed to her 'new friends'.

"Please excuse me. It was really nice meeting you all and I hope we can meet again in the game," she said quietly and then headed towards Akihiko.

She almost felt awkward, not knowing if they were to go around like they usually did, but it seemed he had no issue with it, holding out his arm for her and letting her hold onto him as was usual.

They walked out and headed towards the front entrance, where they stopped. She could see her aunt's car idling in front of the building and knew she would be gone soon. She licked her lips and faced her idol.

"Akihiko-san," she said solemnly. "I wanted to thank you so much for everything. You just...I don't know if you understand how much you, how important..."

She struggled with her words, but he only grasped her shoulders and squeezed. She could already feel herself shaking a bit and trying not to look around her, but his presence was grounding and familiar, steady and there.

"It's okay, Kirito-san," he murmured, back to calling her by what was now not just her username but a nickname from him. "I just wanted to do all that I could."

Then he leaned just a little down and pressed his lips to her forehead, making her breath hitch in surprise.

Then they took a step back and separated from each other, with her casting him one last small smile and then retreating out the doors to get into her aunt's car, grabbing her bags on the way.