Author's Note: Yeah, before I forget one of these.
Now; this is my very first fanfiction in god knows how long -aside from the other fanfic, but that's with EvilHanyou. Yes, yes, they are both "Mary Sue" like deals, wherein my friend Mii-chan and I are... well... in. Don't kill us, because we absolutely just... would not die. Yeah. So, anyway, I seriously do not own any .hack characters. Nor do I think I ever will. However, I do own myself, and Mii-chan owns herself. So you can't steal us. That would be kidnapping.
"Kite's down! Balmung, heal him. Don't give me that look; do it!"
Balmung clamored through his bag of items, grumbling about how he was running out of items. When he finally came across a Resurrects, Kite had become a ghost; and then, he was whole again. Granted he was out of SP, but that didn't stop him from jumping at the chance to at least maim his attacker. He grumbled again, stealing a glance at Shugo, far off in the distance. He felt as though he needed to be with them, but Kamui had stolen the chance before Balmung even had one. In fact, he noticed the woman looking in his general direction just then; and scowled when she laughed. No doubt Kite had died again.
"Balmung-san!"
"Oh, all right, dammit!"
There. Now he was down to five Resurrects. Kite owed him big time. Out of the corner of Balmung's eye, he spotted his next target: a Mad Grass. Dear god, did it get any easier? He didn't understand why Kite was having problems; and then he remembered that Kite no longer had the bracelet, and his levels had mysteriously disappeared when he'd lost it. That was right. But why in the world were Shugo and his team wasting their time in such a low level?
A half of a slash destroyed the Mad Grass. He rolled his eyes at Orca when Kite leveled up. "Oi, don't you think…"
"Mii-chan! This is insane! Tell me why we are in the Japanese server again?" An extremely short Wavemaster, garbed in a light blue dress with midnight cuffs and Russian-looking hat, and shoes, and a seemingly beginner's staff, paused when she nearly bumped into Balmung. Her eyes traveled up his armor and she snickered, "Well, well. Look who we have here."
"Sierra? Where did you –Oh, there you… wow."
"Oi, let's just go." Sierra turned around quickly, shooting a sharp glare at a very confused Balmung, before disappearing over the hilltop.
The fight had finished sometime within that appearance, and Orca slapped Balmung on the back to bring him back to reality. "Who was that?"
"Wakaranai. She… That voice…"
"Eh?" Kite managed to wander over, healing himself a few times. "She did sound familiar, Balmung-sama."
"Yeah… So, are we going to that dungeon or what?" He took off at a run, grumbling the whole way about strangers and how annoying they were.
But this is Balmung, so what else would you expect?
The dungeon was littered with parties that day, almost packed to the brim. He had set the rules, so Reki stood at the entrance to the dungeon with a glare written across his features. And he was standing behind the enormous mass of players with his party, just aiming to enter and win yet another one of his own contests. Honestly, Reki growled, can't he just get to his duties and stop this nonsense already?
He shook his head. Balmung would never change. The green light on his marker glowed and he let the next group in.
"Sierra! Ugh, not again!" A Heavy Blade stood before Reki, taller, and stared at him. "You haven't seen a Wavemaster in light blue, have you?"
He blinked, shaking his head. "Er… Not that I know of. Dou shite?"
"I seem to have lost my party," she sighed, defeated. "However, you get used to it sometimes, I guess."
Boy, didn't that sound familiar. "Gomen-ne."
"Iie. It's not your fault that she wandered off. Sierra has a habit of finding 'hot avatars' and tailing them like a lost duck. It's a good thing she's at a high enough level to work by herself because she sure as hell doesn't give any thought of –oi!"
Sierra seemed to appear out of nowhere before Mii-chan's eyes, poking the girl on the boob. "Random habit," she sang.
Reki stared at the duo when his green glowed again. "Ano… You can go in now…"
"Eh?" Sierra blinked, looking Reki from head to toe with an evil grin. "Nice! Aw, Mii-chan, how nice of you too look out for me like this!"
The Heavy Blade glared at her friend. "Sierra, this is an event. Come on, let's go."
"Ah! Demo –Mii-chan!" She stole another glance at Reki and shot him a peace sign as they disappeared into the dungeon.
He watched them go with slight annoyance –they were American; that enough was obvious by their accents and actions. Aside from Hotaru-chan, Reki hated Americans. Someone cleared his or her throat above him while he glared at the ground beneath his feet, and his head lifted to see Sanjuro-san and Ouka. When he looked at the beeper, the light was blinking green at him. Ah, he'd waited too long.
"Gomen-ne, Ouka, Sanjuro-san. Go on, onegai."
Sanjuro snickered, winking at Reki as Ouka stepped in. "Keep an eye on that Wavemaster, eh? She seems suspicious. Balmung-san told me to tell you."
Reki glanced at his boss over the heads of others as best as he could. Balmung was engrossed in a conversation with Kite, both looking awfully pensive. Orca was left out of the conversation, rubbing the back of his head and chatting with a cheerful Magi, who stood beside him. Reki felt a slight twinge of jealousy but snipped at it before it grew. He'd found he'd been having awful thoughts about his co-worker, although she was Kamui's assistant, and he absolutely hated Kamui. Not to mention that her avatar was a male…
A tiny Twin Blade tugged on his sleeve, pointing to the beeper. He'd done it again. And, once more, he apologized. Balmung was not going to be happy.
Indeed, some odd ten minutes later, Balmung arrived at the entrance with the others. He was scowling, lost in thought himself. Reki stared at the older man, resorting to stabbing him with his large book of information before he received any sort of a response. And even then it was a grunt. Orca sighed, prodding Balmung himself.
"Hey," Kamui yelled into his ear, "your subordinate wants your attention, Baltan!"
He glanced in Reki's direction, growling at Kamui, who had retreated to Magi's side, sticking her tongue out at him. He reminded himself to poke her mercilessly back at the office, and then tease her about the little girl that she really was. But Reki came first. "Nan desu ka?"
"Finally," he muttered under his breath. "What is this about this Wavemaster? And why am I supposed to keep an eye on her? You know she's from… America."
Still on that deal, eh Fujio? Balmung thought more than once about slapping the younger man across the face and reminded himself to perform the action later. "I have meetings to attend and the like. I do not have the time to watch her. And there's something not right about her."
Kite was staring at Shugo enviously, and continued to do so as he chipped in. "That wasn't even her login name."
"Sierra and Mii-chan…" Balmung glanced at Reki's hand. "Oh, come on you two. It's our turn. Reki, when this is over, look into those two, okay?"
"Hai."
He always had to do the dirty work.
