Back home in the States Jayce knew a few people who had orthopedic body pillows. It was something he hadn't really thought much about until coming to Japan. In Japan they almost seemed like a top commodity. Dakimakura, as they were called in Japan opened his eyes to a whole different culture. While still remaining true to being a body pillow, most had various characters printed onto each side of the pillow. Usually this consisted of anime characters in, more often than not, compromising poses. Coming from the Midwest United States, Jayce found it hard to understand how anyone could feel comfortable using a dakimakura.

The lewd printings of anime characters aside, he now was understanding the draw of a body pillow. There was something comforting about being able to wrap your arms around a large, soft pillow. Maybe he had been too quick to judge people who used dakimakuras in the past. If he had known they could be this relaxing to cling to then perhaps once he was out of SAO he would have to consider buying one. Preferably one without the erotic anime printing on it. The only real problem that came to mind right now as he shifted his head was that there weren't any body pillows in SAO.

Jayce's eyes opened wide and he could physically feel his heart pounding against his ribs. There was no such thing has body pillows in SAO, or at least not on these lower floors. If they didn't exist, then what exactly was he holding onto right now? His hand was resting just ahead of his face. The fact that he could feel his head and see his hand move up and down ever so slightly continued to amplify his fears. This of course was also because he could see strands of white hair covering his hand and arm.

"No..." The terror in his mind came out as a verbal whimper. There was only one origin of white hair that Jayce was aware of. Given that his head and hand rested on something very soft covered in a white t-shirt he knew that pain would be coming soon.

"What is this? I slept in my own room didn't I? This doesn't make any sense!"

"Hey, what are you doing in my room?" Jemza's voice pulled him from his thoughts and he tensed up reflexively. This was her room? It was possible since all the rooms looked the same, but when did he go into her room?

"This isn't possible; I couldn't enter her room without her letting me in. The doors are locked. Did I go to her room at some point? Why can't I remember?"

"I know you're awake. You've got three seconds to explain why you're in my room and why your hand is touching me there." Panic swept through Jayce's mind as he tried to piece everything together last night. He didn't remember anything past falling asleep in his own room. What else had happened that he didn't know about. Were parts of it just a dream? What about the things she said in the middle of the road in the rain, was that just a dream?

"This is impossible! Did I somehow get into her room last night? The game wouldn't allow that though right? I'm going to die aren't I?" As slowly as he could he lifted his hand off her body.

"Please don't kill me." It was the most pathetic sounding voice he ever heard come from his lips, but given that this was equally the most confusing situation he'd been in, he couldn't help it.

"I don't know what kind of girl you think I am Alchemist, but if you think you can just sneak into my room and take advantage of me, you are dead wrong." She wasn't using his name which meant she was mad. Was everything last night just a dream? Maybe he dreamt of her confessing her feelings to him and he went to her room not fully aware it had just been a dream? That didn't explain getting into her room though.

"No, I didn't I swear! I can't even get into your room without you letting me in." He didn't have the courage to look up at her and instead buried his head. He felt her take in a sharp breath and hold it for a second.

"First, if you're in a group you can enter each other's rooms freely. That's common knowledge. Secondly, would you get your face of my chest." He had completely forgotten that if his hand was somewhere it shouldn't have been then his head was too. To make it worse he had just turned and buried it into her. He quickly backed away off the edge of the bed hitting the ground hard.

Was what she said true? If group members could enter each other's rooms then maybe, he did sneak in here last night. Why didn't he remember doing it though? He wasn't the type to sneak into girls' rooms and slip into bed with them. After the thorough beating Jemza gave him for the last misunderstanding he would never do something like that to her. Everything that happened last night must have been a dream. Since he didn't understand that until just now he must of subconsciously went to her room last night. It didn't sound at all like something he would do and yet here he was.

"Now you've really done it. I thought you were different, but it looks like you really are just looking for one thing from me. It makes sense why you were so enamored with Rose yesterday." Jemza rotated after sitting up in the bed so that she was facing him, her legs dangling off the side of the bed. She wasn't even trying to cover up the fact that she was in her sleep wear. Just how angry could she be that she wasn't concerned with him seeing like this?

"That's not true! I swear I don't remember coming here! I would never do that to you!" Jayce didn't even care that Jemza's smooth legs hung a few inches away from his face. There was far too much danger to notice something like that right now.

"Oh? I suppose you don't remember groping me all morning either do you?" Was it just his imagination or did she sound...amused? This wasn't like the other morning at all. There wasn't the same shocked anger she displayed. This sounded more like she talked when she was picking on him.

"There's no way...wait a second. That window is overlooking the front of the inn. Your room was on the west side. Your window should be overlooking that small restaurant next door." Jayce turned back towards her and she visibly cringed a bit.

"How dare you try to change the subject after what you pulled!" She rarely panicked, at least not like this. Something was definitely up and Jayce knew he would never do the things she was accusing him of.

"No, I'm right, this is my room. What are you doing in here? What was all that about Rose just now?" Confidence in his deductions began to surge through him. Slowly he could see Jemza beginning to falter and crack under the pressure.

"This isn't my room? How were you able to drag me into your room without waking me up?" The ridiculousness of this girl had officially reached a new level. He knew he had her caught in whatever she was trying to pull, but Jemza was too proud to admit defeat. She never knew when to quit.

"Do you even hear yourself? I didn't drag you anywhere! I never went in your room, and I would never dream of laying a hand on you while you slept! That means you came in here on your own...and got in the bed...and..." The confidence he had in questioning her was still there, but piecing things together bit by bit was making him more aware of her. Now that he was sure he hadn't done anything wrong his eyes began to register to his brain properly. Aside from the other morning when she quickly became violent in regards to her modesty, he had never been this close to her like this.

He couldn't help but stare at her legs, mostly since they were filling a good portion of his current vantage point. Did they always have a slight shine to them? She always wore tights so how would he know anyway? They were exposed well up past her thighs until they reached her shorts. Could those even be called shorts at this point? She wasn't trying to cover herself this time, but he was staring for far too long. It wouldn't be long until she snapped like always.

"You're...embarrassing me." One of her feet rose and pressed against his forehead pushing him back just a few inches. Her voice wasn't angry like he expected, but something entirely different. She really did sound embarrassed or even shy. He could just barely see a timid smile on her lips from around the edges of her foot. It was by far the most beautiful face he'd ever seen on her.

"Sorry, I was staring again." He lowered his head, but a slight bit of pressure from her foot pushed his head back up to its original position. She was battling with some sort of internal struggle.

"I don't mind." She was barely whispering and it took her a long time to say what she said. She pulled her foot back and folded her hands nervously on her lap.

"What's going on? I still don't understand what exactly happened." Jayce forced himself to not stare at anything except her face for now. At least until he got a full grasp on this morning's events. In responses Jemza breathed out heavily and looked away ashamed.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I started over thinking things and came up with a really bad idea to come in here. I thought it might be the only way, but it backfired."

"Over thinking what, and it might be the only way to do what?" As he pressed her further she seemed to shrink back even more. He had never seen her so guilty before and it was hard not to laugh.

"Geez, of course you'd make me say it. I got jealous that you stared at Rose the other day. Then after last night when I said I lo...when things happened I started thinking maybe you liked girls like that. I thought you might look at me the same way if I snuck into your room and you saw me like this. I was hoping you'd be more panicked, but it didn't work out very well. I'm sorry." Jayce stared at her dumbly in response not sure how to proceed.

"Rose is an NPC and I already told you that her actions simply caught me off guard. I wasn't staring at her. This isn't like you at all, I don't understand what the point of all this was. I mean if things had gone your way what was the ultimate goal of all this?" So, she was still having issues with what happened in the Thieves Guild yesterday. She became so jealous that she was willing to go to this extent, but why?

"Isn't it obvious? You never said anything last night!" Her face became desperate for a moment before she quickly pulled back and looked away. Now it made sense in his head. Nothing was a dream at all. The <<System>> engaged before he could say anything back to her after she poured her heart out to him. The rest of the night had gone by awkwardly with little conversation. She must have spent all night wondering how he felt. She put aside her own nervousness and modesty to try and corner him into blurting it out.

"Why didn't you just ask me? You didn't have to go through all this you know?" It never ceased to amaze him just how much her facial expressions could change. She was pretending to be angry at first, then became shy, but now there was real anger beginning to bubble up.

"I'm sitting here dressed like this, admitting that I did something stupid all for the sake of wanting to know if you love me, and you're going to lecture me?" This would be the time when red lights and warning sirens came to life in the room. She already knew now that she had made a mistake and he was rubbing salt in the wound.

"Hey, you came in here remember? Plus, those are just pajamas right? It's not like you're in your underwear." He laughed nervously hoping to ease the tension, but he could almost make out little balls of fire in her eyes.

"You're saying it's not a big deal for me to look like this? I guess I'll just wear this from now on so everyone can get a good look."

"No!" Medical and scientific thoughts began to enter Jayce's head. Reactionary responses were always performed without intelligent thought. Take for instance now. The thought of anyone seeing Jemza like this elicited a natural protective response from him. He didn't own her, but he couldn't deny that he wanted certain aspects of her to himself. That was the mental response to what she said.

The physical response, and likely the far stupider response, was to reach out and grab her. This was of course not done violently, but out of pure fear that she would up and run out the door. A logical person would gently grab her hand or arm to show that he didn't want her to leave. Logic took time and brainpower which reactionary responses rarely allowed for. So, that meant he had reached out and grabbed the closest part of her available. It was strange how you could instantly regret and yet equally be excited by a single action. They both looked down at his hand holding her leg a good distance above the knee. In slow motion they both looked back up into each other's eyes.

"You..." Those balls of fire he saw earlier in her eyes...were they getting bigger?

"I can explain!" Reactionary responses from Jemza were fairly standard. Anger, rage, and usually finished with violence. Why hadn't he removed his hand from her leg yet? Was it possible for something to be this soft and smooth?

"You!" Ah yes, her voice had moved past anger now. This was rage, the second step in Jemza's reactionary response. Usually by now Jayce knew to cower and apologize, but his inability to let go of her leg seemed to be draining the intelligence from his head. He could already see her fists balling up and the fire in her eyes seemed to be more like an inferno now. This was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met and couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face.

"I love you." He said it and he felt that the smile on his face would convey just how much he meant it. His loving touch on her leg would only help to spread the emotion he felt towards her in a way that she would fall into his arms. That of course was the stupidity that had replaced the intelligence.

"Round three Alchemist!" Her first fist came racing forward, but the smile never left his face. He even squeezed her thigh just before it connected. If he was going to die, then what did he have to lose. Who knew that even while in a <<Safe Zone>> you could be beaten so badly.