.hack//Afterwards
By: NeoMoon
Rated: PG-13
Part One:
It seemed forever since she had touched the headset, much less the computer itself, but she had to now, after last night she
felt that she didn't have much of a choice. He gone to far last night, it had been too much. She looked across the room,
her dark eyes meeting themselves in the reflection of the old oval mirror. The bandage stretched down the entire length of
her cheek. Fresh tears welled in her eyes. It wasn't her fault; she had to remember that, it had never been her fault.
With a deep breath she slipped the headset over her head, and a moment later the world changed.
* * *
Mimiru, sighed as she stretched and leaned back against the old wooden fence, a sleepy content smile on her face. She truly
missed this place she could believe she'd actually sworn off playing the main game for so long and just read the BBS and her
own mails – and from what she'd read, she'd been missing a lot – after all the old group had mainly disbanded and had gone
their own way.
She had actually had no reason to come here today, she still had way to much homework, and she'd stupidly volunteered to be
on the winter dance committee, but the e-mail she'd gotten was curious and she'd just had to check it out. Closing her eyes
she searched through all her old mail, bringing up the message she'd gotten only a few hours ago and read it again.
"'Meet me on the road to the cliffs . . . T'." Mimiru opened her eyes and shook her head. She only knew one person that had
a T in the beginning of their name, and he . . . she, Mimiru corrected herself, hadn't been seen since after the slums.
With another quick stretch Mimiru pushed herself off the fence. It couldn't be Tsukasa anyway, she wouldn't have come back
to The World, it held too much pain at the hands of the voice, and she'd never risk it. It was then that she noticed the
sorceress standing off to her left, the her shoulder length silver hair flowing behind her in the breeze, her staff held in
the crook of her arm, and a small almost said smile on her face. She looked familiar, but Mimiru couldn't quite place her.
"Do – do I know you?" She asked hesitantly, feeling for her sword, there'd been a score of new Player Killers in the game
according to the BBS recently, and Mimiru wasn't sure if this girl was one.
The young Sorceress's smile faded, her bright green eyes losing their color, falling to the ground. "I – I changed my
character parameters." The girl whispered, shyly looking back up and then down at the ground again.
Mimiru's eyes widened, she knew who it was. The voice gave it away instantly. Slowly she looked the girl over. The
clothes, the tattoos, the staff, the hair and eyes. She should have known. "Tsukasa!" She cried as she wrapped the other
girl in her arms and gave her a tight and overly too long hug. "Oh my God! I never thought I see you again!" She pushed
Tsukasa away, holding her at the shoulders. "And with tits!"
Tsukasa seemed to blush, and pulled herself free of Mimiru's grip. "Sorry, I should have said in the mail . . ." She
trailed off looking away.
Mimiru laughed and started to walk away, just stopping long enough to grab Tsukasa by the hand and pulling her with.
"Nonsense! I love a good surprise, as long isn't people jumping out from behind walls and such." Tsukasa stifled a laugh,
and Mimiru continued. "So how you liking life on the outside, it hasn't been to hard adjusting to eating and not being able
to just "phase" away from an area."
Tsukasa's hand absently ran down the length of her cheek, stopped pulling her hand away from Mimiru's. "Can – can we meet?
Outside?"
"Yeah, oh course." She'd actually wanted to meet Tsukasa for months but had almost given up. "Were do you want to meet up
at?"
Tsukasa was quite for a long time, seeming to consider every option, again her hand touched her cheek, her eyes seeming to
brim with unseen tears. "Were we used to talk about?" She asked.
Mimiru nodded, going over her schedule in her head, and then nodded again. "Okay then!" She said happily, then added. "How
'bout tomorrow, around six?"
Again Tsukasa touched her face, and Mimiru started to wonder if the game Tsukasa was mimicking the real life one, it did
happen. Finally Tsukasa nodded, then added. "Thank you, I got to go now." She started to walk away, then stopped and turned
slightly, the look on her face very sad. "If you see Bear, asking how easy would it be. He'll know what I mean." And with
that final bit Tsukasa was gone.
For along time Mimiru stood on the old dirt road the led to the cliffs looking in the direction that Tsukasa had walked and
thought of many things, not the least of which of what Tsukasa had said about Bear, and her new look. "Tomorrow I'll know
for sure." She whispered to herself, and started toward the gate.
* * *
Krim, watched from the top of the hill, a large smile on his face. Tsukasa was back, that would make certain people happy.
He thought, as he turned away and walked toward the sunset the way heroes always did. Problem was would this new Tsukasa
want anything to do with the coming war?
* * *
Mimiru looked behind her again as the subway car moved through the dim tunnel. The girl was still behind her! With a sigh
she pushed away from the bar she was holding and started to push through the crowded car toward the girl. She didn't really
know who the girl was, only that they were in the same school, and Mimiru was in a grade higher, but beside that nothing, no
name, nothing except that and the fact that the girl was supposedly one of the few in the whole country who was guaranteed a
spot at Todai. Mimiru sighed she wished she was that smart!
The car blanked out, covering the small world in darkness, when the color drowning lights flickered back on Mimiru was
standing next to the girl. Without turning, are even glancing at the girl she started to speak. "Who are you?" She
whispered.
The girl seemed to jump a little, her eyes flickering over at Mimiru. "I – I didn't mean to cause any trouble." The girl
whispered back, moving a bit away from Mimiru. "I'm really sorry!" She blurted out, and quickly pushed her way out of the
car.
Mimiru shook her head and closed her eyes, her memories flashing back to the e-mail she'd gotten late the previous night, and
the encounter it led to.
* * *
It was night, even in "The World," Mimiru had just gotten out of the shower, when she saw the flashing text on her computer's
screen. Still drying her hair, she opened up her mail server, and began to read the message, a small smile on her face as
she realized who it was.
"Bear!" She whispered excitedly as she picked up her headset, and loaded into the game.
Almost an hour later, she waited by the fence that she had meet Tsukasa at earlier, and watched as some people came into the
game and started out on an adventure, or meet up with friends and party members. She couldn't help but smiling a little,
remembering that even during all the hardships, she'd give anything to be back together with the whole party, even that
obnoxious little twerp Sora. She laughed, she couldn't help it!
"What's so funny?" A warm gruff voice said to her left.
Mimiru turned, and smiled as she saw Bear leaning a few feet away from her, his long broad sword dangling from his waist. He
gave her a half wave. "Yo."
They ended up walking down the crowded streets of the city, it'd been too long since they had done that together, and it felt
nice to do so again, but Bear seemed to be weighed down by something. "Mimiru." He began, stopping to look over at the
flowing water in the canal. "Did, Tsukasa, tell you?" His voice was soft as he watched his reflection rippling in the
waters below. He looked over toward Mimiru, his eyes dark. Mimiru shook her head, and with a nod he continued. "When
Tsukasa was stuck in the game, I choose to investigate it, just like most of the old group, in my own way."
"Well, I did eventually find out who Tsukasa really was. You see Tsukasa's past," he paused, and looked away, back into the
water's reflection. "It's complicated." He finally whispered. "A little before Helba gave us access to the Net Slum, I
gave her choice." He smiled a bit. "I couldn't believe it at the time. I truly did consider it, and the offer still
stands." His smile grew larger, and he looked back at Mimiru. "Tell her that when you meet her, and give her this."
A moment passed and Mimiru heard the tall-tale beep of an incoming message. She looked up at Bear wonderingly; he offered
her a nod and turned. "I think I'll start coming on more often again. I meet the deadline after all." He laughed, and
walked away, waving back at her as he left. "Well, message me if you come on." With that he was gone.
* * *
The car jerked to a stop throwing Mimiru out of her thoughts. Shaking her head she made her way out of the car, and up the
stairs. The dim light of the setting sun watched over the streets, and Mimiru leaned against the wall of the gate entrance,
and watched as the crowds made their way through the darkening streets, coming in and out of the stores, bags swinging in
their arms. A thought came into her mind, and she felt like cursing. With a sigh she pushed off the wall and started to
look around hoping to see anyone that even looked remotely like the Tsukasa she knew, after all some people did do their damn
best to model their game persona's on their real selves.
Near the end of the wall the girl from the subway stood, her head slowly turning to look at the faces of those who passed by
her, every so often her eyes would glance down at her watch. Mimiru watched her for a few minutes, she looked very sad, and
in some odd way very much familiar.
Slowly Mimiru made her way over to the girl, weaving through the thin crowd of people walking through the streets. Throwing
her bag over her shoulder, she came up next to the girl and smiled. "Hi." She said cheerfully with a wave of her hand.
The girl jumped slightly, and looked at Mimiru. "Hel – Hello." Her voice was shy, quite. After a moment the girl returned
to her searching.
"Are you," Mimiru started, and looked around the streets seeing if she could find who she herself searched for. "Are you
waiting for something?"
The girl nodded, and looked at Mimiru, her dark eyes searching Mimiru's face, and seeming to make some decision. "A friend
of mine," the girl said, her eyes moving away from Mimiru's face, scanning the ground. "I – I asked her to meet me, but . .
." She trailed off.
Mimiru smiled. "Ya know if it wasn't for the shy voice I'd never have know." She smiled. "So Tsukasa, if that is your real
name. What do you wanna do?"
Tsukasa's face lit up, a large smile playing across her face, and that's when Mimiru noticed the large bandage the stretched
across Tsukasa's cheek. "What happened?" She asked, pointing at the bandage, her mind remembering how Tsukasa constantly
kept touching her cheek, that cheek, last night in "The World."
Tsukasa's hand instantly traced across the bandage. "Nothing," she whispered. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, but . .
." Again she trailed off and Mimiru couldn't help but give an aggravated sigh.
"Look," Mimiru said patiently. "I'll never get anything outta of ya if you don't even finish a sentence." She smiled, then
went on. "Well at least ya ain't running away any more."
With a deep breath Tsukasa slid her arms behind her back and stretched her facing tilting to look up at the night sky. "I
know it wasn't real," she whispered. "But the night skies of 'The World,' were so much more beautiful."
Mimiru joined Tsukasa in watching the night sky, and couldn't help but agree. The nights in "The World," were full of stars
and unknown constellations, it seemed so bright so much more alive then the night sky in the real world, were the lights from
the city seemed to drown out the heavens leaving only the false lights of humans. Mimiru closed her eyes and thought of the
game, thought of how real it all seemed when she logged in, how even though it wasn't really there it felt as if it was. She
smiled, remembering how annoyed and scared she was the night she stayed logged into the world, as she sat around with Bear
and BT, the small fire burning brightly before them, as they tried to solve the problem that was Tsukasa. All through that
night she kept looking up at the night sky at the beautiful crescent moon made its way across the heavens. It felt so real,
she actually remember thinking of the entire event as real, and in someway, deep in her mind and soul it was real.
Slowly Mimiru shook herself at of her thoughts and looked at Tsukasa who still stared at the night sky. "Hey, are you okay?"
She asked softly.
Tsukasa continued to look at the sky, her arms resting limply behind her back, clasping her schoolbag. "When I was little,
before my Mother died she used to take me outside at night, and we'd just look up at the sky, I used to love staring for
hours at the moon, sitting in her lap, as she slowly rocked back and forth." Tsukasa laughed sadly. "I used to full asleep
in her lap, and she'd carry me up to bed." Tears were welling in her eyes, but she ignored them, and looked at Mimiru.
"Anyway, I'm sorry for dragging you out." She smiled, and wiped away the tears. "If I'd known you were THE great Mimiru I'd
have just met you at school."
Mimiru couldn't help but laugh, she didn't consider herself all that great are anything, but she supposed that maybe
some people did. "Yeah well if I'd know ya were the school genius I wouldn't have been wondering who ya were for almost a
year!"
Both girls laughed, and Mimiru noticed Tsukasa visible brightening. "So here we are, two young beautiful girls alone
in the streets of Tokyo! What do ya wanna do?!"
Tsukasa unhooked her hands and looked down at her watch, her eyes narrowing in concern. "My father likes me back early,
before he gets home." She looked back at the stars, her fingers tracing the line of the bandage. "Mimiru, can I ask you for
a favor?"
Mimiru nodded a small bit of understanding already forming in the back of her mind. She didn't want that thought to exist in
her mind are for real, so she pushed it away, hoping to never see it again.
"Tsukasa looked at her hesitantly. "Can I spend the night at your place?"
Without even a second thought Mimiru nodded then hurried and grabbed Tsukasa's hand. "Now come on I'm hungry and Burger
World's got a special!"
Without even waiting Mimiru started to run, dragging Tsukasa behind her, unaware that the other girl wore a large smile.
* * *
"So," Bear said as he walked down the small aisle of the old chapel. "Why did you call?"
Subaru slowly walked down the few steps from the alter. "Things have been going on since everyone left." She stopped
waiting for Bear to get closer, then continued. "I didn't even know about it, Krim recently mailed me." She stopped again,
seeming to be trying to hold herself together. "He said that, that monster from the slums has been seen all over the world,
tracking a mysterious girl." Subaru stopped, and quickly turned around, her eyes narrowing as she watched the darkness.
"Who's there!?"
"It seems." A tall blonde woman said as she stepped out of the darkness, her staff clanking heavily on the ground as she
stepped out of the shadows. "That I haven't improved in hiding myself." She smiled at the two standing before her, she
looked over at Bear. "Hello Bear," she said with an elegant smile. "It was wonderful by the way, but the ending was a
little anti-climatic."
Bear sighed. "Everyone's been saying that." He shook his head. "But it is a trilogy after all. So how have you been BT?"
BT smiled, and walked the rest of the way toward the two, giving Subaru a nod as she passed. "Well, until I got a mail from
a mutual friend." She looked over at Subaru. "I do know who the girl is after all. A friend of mine from Germany told me
that he had spoken with her."
"So, is it Aura then?"
"Yes and the monster that's chasing her is laying havoc across 'The World'." BT said, wariness playing in her voice. "I
thought we would have averted the trouble by freeing Tsukasa."
Bear nodded, "yes. It'd seem that Tsukasa's entrapment in the game was only the beginning. I heard a rumor that three
others have fallen into comas playing the game." He shrugged. "It's only rumor on the boards though."
"Krim wanted us to know this for a reason," Subaru said, looking out one of the slit style windows. "Question is what reason
is it?"
Bear shook his head. "I don't know, but I know we'll find out soon enough."
End .hack//Afterwards Part One.
Author's notes:
Okay please be gentle this is my very first .hack fic, and even though I've watched the series like four times, I really
haven't gotten a true feeling of the characters and am really winging it. Note to mention .hack is a complicated world, and
I don't have the necessary resources to research this completely where I'm currently at. Also I haven't written for months
and I'm rusty . . . Hopefully I'll start to get back into my old groove soon.
Peace Out!
NeoMoon ^_^*
By: NeoMoon
Rated: PG-13
Part One:
It seemed forever since she had touched the headset, much less the computer itself, but she had to now, after last night she
felt that she didn't have much of a choice. He gone to far last night, it had been too much. She looked across the room,
her dark eyes meeting themselves in the reflection of the old oval mirror. The bandage stretched down the entire length of
her cheek. Fresh tears welled in her eyes. It wasn't her fault; she had to remember that, it had never been her fault.
With a deep breath she slipped the headset over her head, and a moment later the world changed.
* * *
Mimiru, sighed as she stretched and leaned back against the old wooden fence, a sleepy content smile on her face. She truly
missed this place she could believe she'd actually sworn off playing the main game for so long and just read the BBS and her
own mails – and from what she'd read, she'd been missing a lot – after all the old group had mainly disbanded and had gone
their own way.
She had actually had no reason to come here today, she still had way to much homework, and she'd stupidly volunteered to be
on the winter dance committee, but the e-mail she'd gotten was curious and she'd just had to check it out. Closing her eyes
she searched through all her old mail, bringing up the message she'd gotten only a few hours ago and read it again.
"'Meet me on the road to the cliffs . . . T'." Mimiru opened her eyes and shook her head. She only knew one person that had
a T in the beginning of their name, and he . . . she, Mimiru corrected herself, hadn't been seen since after the slums.
With another quick stretch Mimiru pushed herself off the fence. It couldn't be Tsukasa anyway, she wouldn't have come back
to The World, it held too much pain at the hands of the voice, and she'd never risk it. It was then that she noticed the
sorceress standing off to her left, the her shoulder length silver hair flowing behind her in the breeze, her staff held in
the crook of her arm, and a small almost said smile on her face. She looked familiar, but Mimiru couldn't quite place her.
"Do – do I know you?" She asked hesitantly, feeling for her sword, there'd been a score of new Player Killers in the game
according to the BBS recently, and Mimiru wasn't sure if this girl was one.
The young Sorceress's smile faded, her bright green eyes losing their color, falling to the ground. "I – I changed my
character parameters." The girl whispered, shyly looking back up and then down at the ground again.
Mimiru's eyes widened, she knew who it was. The voice gave it away instantly. Slowly she looked the girl over. The
clothes, the tattoos, the staff, the hair and eyes. She should have known. "Tsukasa!" She cried as she wrapped the other
girl in her arms and gave her a tight and overly too long hug. "Oh my God! I never thought I see you again!" She pushed
Tsukasa away, holding her at the shoulders. "And with tits!"
Tsukasa seemed to blush, and pulled herself free of Mimiru's grip. "Sorry, I should have said in the mail . . ." She
trailed off looking away.
Mimiru laughed and started to walk away, just stopping long enough to grab Tsukasa by the hand and pulling her with.
"Nonsense! I love a good surprise, as long isn't people jumping out from behind walls and such." Tsukasa stifled a laugh,
and Mimiru continued. "So how you liking life on the outside, it hasn't been to hard adjusting to eating and not being able
to just "phase" away from an area."
Tsukasa's hand absently ran down the length of her cheek, stopped pulling her hand away from Mimiru's. "Can – can we meet?
Outside?"
"Yeah, oh course." She'd actually wanted to meet Tsukasa for months but had almost given up. "Were do you want to meet up
at?"
Tsukasa was quite for a long time, seeming to consider every option, again her hand touched her cheek, her eyes seeming to
brim with unseen tears. "Were we used to talk about?" She asked.
Mimiru nodded, going over her schedule in her head, and then nodded again. "Okay then!" She said happily, then added. "How
'bout tomorrow, around six?"
Again Tsukasa touched her face, and Mimiru started to wonder if the game Tsukasa was mimicking the real life one, it did
happen. Finally Tsukasa nodded, then added. "Thank you, I got to go now." She started to walk away, then stopped and turned
slightly, the look on her face very sad. "If you see Bear, asking how easy would it be. He'll know what I mean." And with
that final bit Tsukasa was gone.
For along time Mimiru stood on the old dirt road the led to the cliffs looking in the direction that Tsukasa had walked and
thought of many things, not the least of which of what Tsukasa had said about Bear, and her new look. "Tomorrow I'll know
for sure." She whispered to herself, and started toward the gate.
* * *
Krim, watched from the top of the hill, a large smile on his face. Tsukasa was back, that would make certain people happy.
He thought, as he turned away and walked toward the sunset the way heroes always did. Problem was would this new Tsukasa
want anything to do with the coming war?
* * *
Mimiru looked behind her again as the subway car moved through the dim tunnel. The girl was still behind her! With a sigh
she pushed away from the bar she was holding and started to push through the crowded car toward the girl. She didn't really
know who the girl was, only that they were in the same school, and Mimiru was in a grade higher, but beside that nothing, no
name, nothing except that and the fact that the girl was supposedly one of the few in the whole country who was guaranteed a
spot at Todai. Mimiru sighed she wished she was that smart!
The car blanked out, covering the small world in darkness, when the color drowning lights flickered back on Mimiru was
standing next to the girl. Without turning, are even glancing at the girl she started to speak. "Who are you?" She
whispered.
The girl seemed to jump a little, her eyes flickering over at Mimiru. "I – I didn't mean to cause any trouble." The girl
whispered back, moving a bit away from Mimiru. "I'm really sorry!" She blurted out, and quickly pushed her way out of the
car.
Mimiru shook her head and closed her eyes, her memories flashing back to the e-mail she'd gotten late the previous night, and
the encounter it led to.
* * *
It was night, even in "The World," Mimiru had just gotten out of the shower, when she saw the flashing text on her computer's
screen. Still drying her hair, she opened up her mail server, and began to read the message, a small smile on her face as
she realized who it was.
"Bear!" She whispered excitedly as she picked up her headset, and loaded into the game.
Almost an hour later, she waited by the fence that she had meet Tsukasa at earlier, and watched as some people came into the
game and started out on an adventure, or meet up with friends and party members. She couldn't help but smiling a little,
remembering that even during all the hardships, she'd give anything to be back together with the whole party, even that
obnoxious little twerp Sora. She laughed, she couldn't help it!
"What's so funny?" A warm gruff voice said to her left.
Mimiru turned, and smiled as she saw Bear leaning a few feet away from her, his long broad sword dangling from his waist. He
gave her a half wave. "Yo."
They ended up walking down the crowded streets of the city, it'd been too long since they had done that together, and it felt
nice to do so again, but Bear seemed to be weighed down by something. "Mimiru." He began, stopping to look over at the
flowing water in the canal. "Did, Tsukasa, tell you?" His voice was soft as he watched his reflection rippling in the
waters below. He looked over toward Mimiru, his eyes dark. Mimiru shook her head, and with a nod he continued. "When
Tsukasa was stuck in the game, I choose to investigate it, just like most of the old group, in my own way."
"Well, I did eventually find out who Tsukasa really was. You see Tsukasa's past," he paused, and looked away, back into the
water's reflection. "It's complicated." He finally whispered. "A little before Helba gave us access to the Net Slum, I
gave her choice." He smiled a bit. "I couldn't believe it at the time. I truly did consider it, and the offer still
stands." His smile grew larger, and he looked back at Mimiru. "Tell her that when you meet her, and give her this."
A moment passed and Mimiru heard the tall-tale beep of an incoming message. She looked up at Bear wonderingly; he offered
her a nod and turned. "I think I'll start coming on more often again. I meet the deadline after all." He laughed, and
walked away, waving back at her as he left. "Well, message me if you come on." With that he was gone.
* * *
The car jerked to a stop throwing Mimiru out of her thoughts. Shaking her head she made her way out of the car, and up the
stairs. The dim light of the setting sun watched over the streets, and Mimiru leaned against the wall of the gate entrance,
and watched as the crowds made their way through the darkening streets, coming in and out of the stores, bags swinging in
their arms. A thought came into her mind, and she felt like cursing. With a sigh she pushed off the wall and started to
look around hoping to see anyone that even looked remotely like the Tsukasa she knew, after all some people did do their damn
best to model their game persona's on their real selves.
Near the end of the wall the girl from the subway stood, her head slowly turning to look at the faces of those who passed by
her, every so often her eyes would glance down at her watch. Mimiru watched her for a few minutes, she looked very sad, and
in some odd way very much familiar.
Slowly Mimiru made her way over to the girl, weaving through the thin crowd of people walking through the streets. Throwing
her bag over her shoulder, she came up next to the girl and smiled. "Hi." She said cheerfully with a wave of her hand.
The girl jumped slightly, and looked at Mimiru. "Hel – Hello." Her voice was shy, quite. After a moment the girl returned
to her searching.
"Are you," Mimiru started, and looked around the streets seeing if she could find who she herself searched for. "Are you
waiting for something?"
The girl nodded, and looked at Mimiru, her dark eyes searching Mimiru's face, and seeming to make some decision. "A friend
of mine," the girl said, her eyes moving away from Mimiru's face, scanning the ground. "I – I asked her to meet me, but . .
." She trailed off.
Mimiru smiled. "Ya know if it wasn't for the shy voice I'd never have know." She smiled. "So Tsukasa, if that is your real
name. What do you wanna do?"
Tsukasa's face lit up, a large smile playing across her face, and that's when Mimiru noticed the large bandage the stretched
across Tsukasa's cheek. "What happened?" She asked, pointing at the bandage, her mind remembering how Tsukasa constantly
kept touching her cheek, that cheek, last night in "The World."
Tsukasa's hand instantly traced across the bandage. "Nothing," she whispered. "I'm sorry to bother you like this, but . .
." Again she trailed off and Mimiru couldn't help but give an aggravated sigh.
"Look," Mimiru said patiently. "I'll never get anything outta of ya if you don't even finish a sentence." She smiled, then
went on. "Well at least ya ain't running away any more."
With a deep breath Tsukasa slid her arms behind her back and stretched her facing tilting to look up at the night sky. "I
know it wasn't real," she whispered. "But the night skies of 'The World,' were so much more beautiful."
Mimiru joined Tsukasa in watching the night sky, and couldn't help but agree. The nights in "The World," were full of stars
and unknown constellations, it seemed so bright so much more alive then the night sky in the real world, were the lights from
the city seemed to drown out the heavens leaving only the false lights of humans. Mimiru closed her eyes and thought of the
game, thought of how real it all seemed when she logged in, how even though it wasn't really there it felt as if it was. She
smiled, remembering how annoyed and scared she was the night she stayed logged into the world, as she sat around with Bear
and BT, the small fire burning brightly before them, as they tried to solve the problem that was Tsukasa. All through that
night she kept looking up at the night sky at the beautiful crescent moon made its way across the heavens. It felt so real,
she actually remember thinking of the entire event as real, and in someway, deep in her mind and soul it was real.
Slowly Mimiru shook herself at of her thoughts and looked at Tsukasa who still stared at the night sky. "Hey, are you okay?"
She asked softly.
Tsukasa continued to look at the sky, her arms resting limply behind her back, clasping her schoolbag. "When I was little,
before my Mother died she used to take me outside at night, and we'd just look up at the sky, I used to love staring for
hours at the moon, sitting in her lap, as she slowly rocked back and forth." Tsukasa laughed sadly. "I used to full asleep
in her lap, and she'd carry me up to bed." Tears were welling in her eyes, but she ignored them, and looked at Mimiru.
"Anyway, I'm sorry for dragging you out." She smiled, and wiped away the tears. "If I'd known you were THE great Mimiru I'd
have just met you at school."
Mimiru couldn't help but laugh, she didn't consider herself all that great are anything, but she supposed that maybe
some people did. "Yeah well if I'd know ya were the school genius I wouldn't have been wondering who ya were for almost a
year!"
Both girls laughed, and Mimiru noticed Tsukasa visible brightening. "So here we are, two young beautiful girls alone
in the streets of Tokyo! What do ya wanna do?!"
Tsukasa unhooked her hands and looked down at her watch, her eyes narrowing in concern. "My father likes me back early,
before he gets home." She looked back at the stars, her fingers tracing the line of the bandage. "Mimiru, can I ask you for
a favor?"
Mimiru nodded a small bit of understanding already forming in the back of her mind. She didn't want that thought to exist in
her mind are for real, so she pushed it away, hoping to never see it again.
"Tsukasa looked at her hesitantly. "Can I spend the night at your place?"
Without even a second thought Mimiru nodded then hurried and grabbed Tsukasa's hand. "Now come on I'm hungry and Burger
World's got a special!"
Without even waiting Mimiru started to run, dragging Tsukasa behind her, unaware that the other girl wore a large smile.
* * *
"So," Bear said as he walked down the small aisle of the old chapel. "Why did you call?"
Subaru slowly walked down the few steps from the alter. "Things have been going on since everyone left." She stopped
waiting for Bear to get closer, then continued. "I didn't even know about it, Krim recently mailed me." She stopped again,
seeming to be trying to hold herself together. "He said that, that monster from the slums has been seen all over the world,
tracking a mysterious girl." Subaru stopped, and quickly turned around, her eyes narrowing as she watched the darkness.
"Who's there!?"
"It seems." A tall blonde woman said as she stepped out of the darkness, her staff clanking heavily on the ground as she
stepped out of the shadows. "That I haven't improved in hiding myself." She smiled at the two standing before her, she
looked over at Bear. "Hello Bear," she said with an elegant smile. "It was wonderful by the way, but the ending was a
little anti-climatic."
Bear sighed. "Everyone's been saying that." He shook his head. "But it is a trilogy after all. So how have you been BT?"
BT smiled, and walked the rest of the way toward the two, giving Subaru a nod as she passed. "Well, until I got a mail from
a mutual friend." She looked over at Subaru. "I do know who the girl is after all. A friend of mine from Germany told me
that he had spoken with her."
"So, is it Aura then?"
"Yes and the monster that's chasing her is laying havoc across 'The World'." BT said, wariness playing in her voice. "I
thought we would have averted the trouble by freeing Tsukasa."
Bear nodded, "yes. It'd seem that Tsukasa's entrapment in the game was only the beginning. I heard a rumor that three
others have fallen into comas playing the game." He shrugged. "It's only rumor on the boards though."
"Krim wanted us to know this for a reason," Subaru said, looking out one of the slit style windows. "Question is what reason
is it?"
Bear shook his head. "I don't know, but I know we'll find out soon enough."
End .hack//Afterwards Part One.
Author's notes:
Okay please be gentle this is my very first .hack fic, and even though I've watched the series like four times, I really
haven't gotten a true feeling of the characters and am really winging it. Note to mention .hack is a complicated world, and
I don't have the necessary resources to research this completely where I'm currently at. Also I haven't written for months
and I'm rusty . . . Hopefully I'll start to get back into my old groove soon.
Peace Out!
NeoMoon ^_^*