Disclaimer: I do not own dot hack or any of the characters

Eh, I just recently started getting into the .hack// series. I've beaten all the games and watched most of the episodes from every season of it. So personally I think I have the gist of the storyline and what "The World" is basically about and what goes down in it. Although when I say "watched" I mean "Skimmed" and when I say "beat"…well… I guess I did mean beat instead of something else :) well this is my first fan fiction so go easy on me…

Blackrose- Akira hayami

Kite- Kaito or the nickname Kai…I'm not sure if the name is correct but when I went to a site, this name was printed under the picture…

Terajima Ryoko- Ryoko

Gardenia

Balmung (Appears in later chapters)

Orca- yasuhiko

Marlo (appears in later chapters)

Wiseman (appears in later chapters)

Natsume

Moonstone

Some people don't have rl names for the fact that they don't have any outside of "the world" role. Either that or I just don't remember at the moment. I would look the names up in the game but I'm too lazy at the moment and my friend has it …sorry for that little disappointment. And now without any further putting this off, here's the first chapter of my fan fiction! (By the way, this is post quarantine)

To: Kite
From: Terajima Ryoko
Subject: Just worried…

Kite, it seems like we've been drifting apart lately and it worries me a little. I want to play "The World" with you again. Not having you around isn't fun at all. I guess what I'm trying to say that I miss you. blushes I also remember telling you that you're my only guy friend and I really don't want that to end…

It had been several weeks since the player of the character Kite had been online playing "The World". Most of that was due to issues in his real life. But those were left unsaid to his online friends. The game addicted teen read the message over and over again; feeling a little bit flattered by how much Ryoko seemed to actually miss his company. Not many others seemed to have that same concern. Although this was the first of the new messages that were opened. Still waiting for a reply was, Natsume, Sanjuro, Moonstone, Mistral, and another message from Natsume. But for now the boy had to focus on his reply to Ryoko.

To: Terajima Ryoko
From: Kite
Subject: RE: Just worried…

Sorry Ryoko, I've just been busy and I've also had a lot on my mind. It kinda gets in the way on my Online time…ya know? But next time I log in We'll definitely play together again!

The entire time that Kai had been typing that last reply, many things from the past had flashed through his mind. Like would Ryoko be the only person who even missed Kite while he was gone? Would anyone else even care enough to ask what was wrong and why he was gone? Probably not. Definitely not Blackrose either. The terms those two parted on weren't the best. Most likely she wouldn't want to talk to Kite in quite a while. It might take a while for her to cool off knowing Blackrose and her temper. The thought made the boy laugh a little bit. Honestly…For Akira to be angry with Kai just for talking about his positioning at home and how it wasn't the best, it seemed a little bit childish. It was an honest statement. Maybe she's mad because of the fact her life might be a little worse then my own…I shouldn't have been so inconsiderate.

Just thinking about what was happening between those two was just painful. Someone that he cared deeply about was peeved because of a stupid statement that was made on his part. Next…Kite thought to himself before going back to his mailbox. He read through the list of people whose messages he has yet to open. Whoa…Natsume messaged me twice…might as well see what she wants…With that in mind, Kai clicked her first message.

To: Kite
From: Natsume
Subject: No Subject

Hey Kite! It's been forever since we've played! I've been trying to get a lot stronger! I think you'll be surprised at how much better I've gotten. But of course I won't be as good as you…You're just amazing…

It crossed the depressed child's mind to just not reply to that message. There was really nothing else to say to that. At least nothing that was fitting the current mood of his. And plus, he wasn't feeling all that "Amazing" in the first place. The boy already read the first message so he thought that he should read the second one was well.

To: Kite
From: Natsume
Subject: Is everything…

Is everything alright? You've been distant from "The World" As far as I've noticed. Sometimes I just wait to see if you'd sign on or not. Its hard being away from you and being happy…For the past few weeks I've been wondering what our status is? I mean….I really like you and I want to know if you like me as well…Or if it's just wishful thinking on my part…please write back to me soon…

Kai Cringed. This odd feeling in the pit of his stomach started to rise. Obviously he knew that Natsume liked him for a while but chose not to think too much of it. No one had really liked him too much because Kai was always the quiet and resigned type. People usually avoided him as well with the exception for the few friends that were present in "The World". That wasn't really something to dwell on. The only thing that really should be thought of was what he was going to say. Letting someone know that the feelings that they have couldn't be returned wasn't easy. Kai was the type to be completely honest and soft-hearted. Turning someone down wasn't his specialty either. Seeing as how there was the "lack of experience" in the dating column in his life. If Natsume wanted an answer she was going to get it whether she liked it or not.

To: Natsume
From: Kite
Subject: RE: Is everything…

Let me get back to you on that…I don't know what I'm feeling right now…I'm just mixed up is all. No offense or anything…

Nothing else could be stated. This would keep Natsume from being hurt and this would make things less painful for the two of them. Well on natsume's part anyways. The pain would be ten-fold on Kite for the fact that eventually he would have to end the little act he was putting on. The act that he had some feelings in that way for the female twin blade. Maybe in time they will grow but not right now. Things were all too messed up to make a decision that major. Next Kai sighed.

To: Kite
From: Moonstone
Subject: return?

...Adventure?

"Even Moonstone wants to have a little adventure with me?" The confused tone within the boy's voice was easy to detect and he raised a questionable eyebrow. Why would Moonstone want to play with Kite too? Did the anti-social twin blade think of Kite as a friend? Most likely so. Even though he has a tough outer shell, Moonstone is a friendly guy once someone gets to know him...if he lets you. Kai chuckled and placed a palm to his forehead, sliding his fingertips down and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I guess I'll read the rest later..." The moment his sentence was finished, Kai heard a beeping sound come from the computer. He looked to the upper right-hand side of the screen and saw a "New message Icon". He could've only guessed who it was.

But before the teen could even come up with a reasonable reaction, his jaw dropped as a reflex. The message was from Blackrose. Surely she was going to just vent even more then she did last time and make Kai feel even worse, but...maybe this time it could be a good thing. Maybe this would be the chance for Kite to make peace if all trust was broken. This was probably his only chance to make things up.

To: Kite
From: Blackrose
Subject: No subject

∆ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground

And don't you dare just log out on me this time!

He gulped and closed his eyes, Xing out that piece of mail. That was all that it read and it seemed by the looks of it that Kai was definitely going to get yelled at for talking about how bad he has it sometimes at his house. Akira... The heavy blade player's name echoed through the twin blades mind. It was just a slight reaction but he reached and put on the head-piece for the game and sighed softly.

Now gating into the world was his Character, Kite. Cerulean hair, two red markings on each cheek, Outfit of red with white sleeves that come down to his beige gloves. In his grasp of course were his twin blades. The characters in "The World" Usually don't have colors that consist of red which is why the coloring is a bit unusual for most. But that wasn't something major though. Stepping forth to the chaos gat, Kaito was mentally preparing himself for the worst. Even though Kite had a hunch of what Blackrose wanted to say to him, that didn't mean that he was going to be right. Akira is one of the most unpredictable people out there.

Kite looked left and then right to make sure no one was actually planning on following him considering he needed this one on one time. If anyone else knew that he was online playing the world, most likely a riot would break out. For some reason people just had that sort of thing for Kite. He didn't quite understand the whole situation about that, himself. But that was due to the fact he was an oblivious teen. That couldn't be helped considering day in and day out; he spent his life in his room away from the rest of the world. Kaito just hated the drama people always tended to start. So he figured it was always best to just lay low under the radar. Kaito's character materialized from Delta servers root town and was on his way to meet Blackrose and confront her about this little issue that they were having it was about time that they had a resolution for it. The silence between the two was so unbearable and it ate at Kite so much that he almost broke down every single night.

Once Kite had appeared in front of the cathedral, He could see Akira's character sitting on the steps, looking as if she was patient for once. Uh oh… He sweat dropped and made baby steps towards the cathedral steps. From the way it looked, his expression was blank. No fear of what might happen. No curiosity. Nothing. He'd been working on hiding everything away so he wouldn't have been an easy read this time. That was usually the downfall of Kai. But this new found depression had made the task of hiding away every emotion made this easier. The male player muttered the other's name under his breath and watched her rise as if she were beckoned. His gaze was locked upon the heavy blade. Her magenta threads that tumbled down her cheeks and to her lips. Her Perfect tan skin with not one flaw to be detected. Those Crimson optics of hers that shimmered in the artificial lighting of the area. Truly a vision of perfection.

"You wanted to see me…" He simply stated in a monotonous voice.

The female player nodded her head and the obvious hint of sorrow could be found just by scanning her features. She knelt down and placed her body-length blade against the surface and then continued her way towards the melancholy twin blade. "Look Kai-"

"It's Kite…" He corrected before she was even able to finish his name.

"Fine…Kite," She sent a bit of frostiness in her tone to try and make him stagger back like the normal shy Kai would've done. Obviously there was no trace of that self left for the time being. Although she had a slight suspicion that he was only putting up a front so she wouldn't be so hard on him because of how upset he was. Except the one thing about that was that she didn't plan on being hard on Kite in the first place. "Look Kite…I want to say I'm sorry for getting mad at you. It isn't your fault. I just didn't tell you my own situations in my home. It isn't that great…And when you said that your life was bad, I guess I kinda took it as you were saying you had a horrible life worse then most others…you know sometimes I think too much into things…"

Blinking a few times, Kaito felt his hands begin to tremble against his controller a little bit from the previous statement. Could she really be apologizing to him? That's completely unlike the Blackrose that he knew. What made her have this sudden change in character? Could she possibly miss Kite just as much as he missed her? That might have been what brought out this new side.

"…Blackrose…"The softness returned to his eyes and a warm smile crept upon those lips of his. This meant that most likely the whole stern, emotionless act would be stopped. He could see Blackrose drawing a smile of her own. "I have to…say that I'm sorry for being so insensitive. I didn't think that…someone…someone so perfect like you would have family issues like me." Kite took a small step closer, leaving a gap only about a yard wide between the two. There was a brief moment where the twin blade wielder felt a sudden rush of happiness course his through his veins. This was the first time anything like this had ever occurred for Kaito. It was somewhat strange but at the same time it was very relaxing and invigorating.

Outside of "The world", Kai was honestly feeling a little bit calmer then he previously was. The tense grip on the controller was now less harsh, and the emotions that were in the mix were indescribable. It was hard to explain how one would feel in a situation like this one. A quick gesture with one finger, indicating for the female to wait for one moment was made. The character became completely still and Kaito lifted his face piece, setting it upon the desk that was residing in the northern corner of the teen's room. The leather chair slid back and rolled backwards to the center of the room. Next to the computer desk was the window which showed the drive-way which was a smooth granite color. It was empty which meant that for the time being his parents were gone. At least right now he wouldn't have to deal with their crap now.

Even though she did apologize, that doesn't mean she has any sort of feelings for me like I hope she does. The boy sighed and closed his eyes, folding his arms behind his head. I guess I'll just play the waiting game for now. Maybe she'll come out and tell me eventually…At least I hope she will. Kai opened his eyes whenever he heard blackrose's voice coming from the head-set. It seemed like she was talking to herself about how she was feeling from what was heard. It might not have been exact but he pretty much had the gist of her little conversation.

Blackrose placed her hand at the bottom of her chin and let out a soft breath, staring at the artificial ground. "I really like him but I just don't think I can tell him. What if he just thinks of me as a friend or as a sister…? If I explained to him how I felt then that would just make things awkward…Argh!" She growled to herself and groaned in frustration. Along with that, she kicked her blade across the ground as well. Man…what a temper this wild girl has! Kite was listening in on the entire thing and decided that it was best to stay on Akira's good side. This little attitude spree was getting a little annoying so Kite decided that he had to do something to stop it.

Kite shook his head and laughed quietly to himself, shoving himself back to the computer desk from the center of the room. Hesitantly lifting his headset, Kai slowly set it in place and then placed the visor over to shield his eyes, but giving a good vision of the cathedral. It was standing tall before Blackrose and Kite's presence. The stone steps would've been extremely cold from the amount of vacancy that was in place because of the absent character but Kite soon enough took in a deep breath and was now moving once more. That motionless state probably made Akira very impatient and angry with Kaito. Then again, that wasn't really a shocker to him considering when the smallest thing happened; Blackrose would always have some sort of bad reaction with it.

"Hey, I-I'm back…" Kai's character mumbled from beneath his breath. Of course even though it was mumbled, Blackrose was mean to hear it and it became obvious that she did hear him whenever her gaze was switched back to the cerulean-hair'd twin blade. It almost looked as if she were shocked her would even come back and not just log out like he tended to do when things weren't looking so great. "Aheh :-)…"

The pinkette placed her hands to her waist and put on a pouty expression. She had that whole tough act in place but it wasn't fooling Kite this time. He knew that Akira had indeed forgiven him for his past mistake.

It may have been very petit but there was indeed a smile forming onto Akira's face as well as a small tear drop trickling its way down the player's cheek. And in a low and shaky voice again, she finally spoke. "H-hey…Don't you :-) at me!" A sense of déjà vu seemed to be taking place. Blackrose placed a fingertip to her lower lip and moved her way into a position that made it seem like she was in deep thought. "Didn't something like this happen before?

Now that he thought about it, Blackrose was right. Several times, in fact, have they had a conversation about the Smiley faces. It must've slipped his mind. It was obvious that after the second time he had done it, the pink- hair'd female wasn't too fond of the little emoticons.

On Kaito's end, a car door slamming echoed throughout the house. And considering he was up on the second floor and it was sent the message that obviously his dad was upset and angry about something that went on at work. Either that or he was in one of those moods again. Kai took a deep breath and was about to speak when he saw Akira's character raise her hand.

"Kai, Are you in some kind of trouble or something?" The obvious concern was enough to calm the teenage boy down a little bit but not enough to stop the obvious strain in his voice. "I'll just message you later if I see you're on…I hope you're alright. See ya" Three gold rings moved downwards around Blackrose and the next thing Kite knew, his friend had gated out. Now alone he stood in front of the cathedral.

"KAITO!!!"

Kai's head gunned to the side whenever he heard the father shouting his name in the most furious tone that anyone could possibly imagine. Just the thought alone of what his father might do is enough to strike fear into the heart of many. Especially one who's been through it several times. Quickly, Kai turned off the computer and tossed the headset into the desk drawer and unlocked his bedroom door, knowing that his dad would just rip the door off the hinge if it were locked. The sound of his dad's foot steps were beginning to pick up and the sudden rush of fear could be detected and alone seen just because of the amount of shaking he was doing. Fear was the only thing he could feel now. That and the sudden urge to just leave and never come back. Every single time his father was in this kind of mood, Kai always just thought of whether to climb out of the window and try to shimmy his way to the trampoline in the backyard. From there he would probably head to Yasuhiko's home. He knew already that his parents would invite him with open arms. Kaito was known as there second son already. Mostly because he was over there so often. Although he wasn't over his best friend's as much as he used to be.

There it was. The door was slung open as if it weighed nothing more then two pounds. Even less maybe. Kai's dad looked like he was only seeing red like a bull and from the looks of it, he would snap at any moment. Right away the boy knew what that meant. Here comes the pain...Right then Kai felt a blow straight at the side of his face. Along with that went the frustrated breath heaving in and out from older man ahead of him.

"I told you before not to be on the damn computer unless I'm watching over you!" Earsplitting. That was the only word to describe how loud the elder was being at the time. and followed up with the loud booming voice was another shout. "And where is dinner!? You know better then to have nothing done by the time I get back!"

The whole time his father was on this rant, Kai was trying his best to avoid eye contact. He learned before that it wasn't the best thing to do. While his dad was blinded by rage, everything that Kaito did was always wrong. Last time the teen made eye contact, the older man thought his son was trying to be intimidating and struck his son. "I-I'll get on it now. Sorry..."Such a cowardice voice. It sounded like a mouse just walking delicately across a wooden floorboard.

His father was aware of Kai avoiding his gaze and became even more infuriated then before. His hand placed on the game player's jaw and tightened harshly, turning Kai so that they were looking at one another. This meant he was almost done with the violent rampage. "Get...Everything...done...NOW"

All Kite could do is nod his head and obey.

……………

It was 1:15 AM , and Kai had finally finished doing what his father had instructed. It may have been such a hassle but at least the rampage was done and over with. And for that, Kite was thankful. Little did he know that when he logged into "The World", there was a message from Akira waiting to be read. There were indeed other messages that needed to be read as well, but Blackrose's was the only one Kai wanted to talk to. And seeing as how she was online now, he thought about going back to the cathedral. Kaito sighed and opened the message with a smile.

To: Kite
From: Blackrose
Subject: Hey,

Hey, you alright? Is that what you have to put up with?

By the time the message was finished being read over, the visor and head-set was already put on. Kite didn't even bother replying because he already knew that she would be waiting back at the first location those two had an adventure to. The character materialized in front of the steps where he correctly assumed Blackrose would be waiting.

Kite was the first to greet between the two. "Hey,"

"Hey…" The girl replied. She was still sitting down on the steps, looking forward and her eyes weren't even fixed on Kite. Her optics looked as if they trying to figure out what happened after her online friend logged out. She could only imagine the terror that he went through. "So...What happened between you two?"

The boy was swaying from side to side with the look of pasted across his face. Debation on whether he should tell her the whole story of why he never did talk about his family and above all else, what went on just a few hours ago. He did trust blackrose. Kite trusted her more then any of the friends he'd met in reality. Slowly creeping his way a little bit closer to the best friend he'd made playing this game.

"O-oh...Do you really want to know?" He glanced off to the side.

Blackrose shot a look in his direction and nodded slowly to reassure him that she was ready.

"He screamed, shouted, hit me, and made me do things around the house..." Although he didn't mention the part about how his dad threatened to take away the computer and kick Kite out of the house if he angered his father once more. This discussion was whenever the teen was cooking dinner. "But I have a plan now..."

Blackrose raised a questioning eyebrow and tucked her fist under her chin. "I'm listening."

The plan had been something he'd been working on for a few weeks now and by the way things mentally worked out, it might actually work. It was just going to take careful exicution. It needed perfect timing, and the right help as well. In this case, Yasuhiko was going to be the partner in crime. Hopefully he would agree to helping Kai get away from the tyrant of a father he had.

"I wait for him to leave for work and the moment he leaves for work, that's when the time starts. I have six hours to get my important things gathered. Orca is going to help me with this one. We're going to-" Kite paused and looked at the severe expression on Blackrose's face. It seemed as if she'd already figured out what was going on. Matter of factly, she knew what he was planning from the very beginning.

"..." She couldn't think of anything to say now. Considering this was Kite's decision and his alone; Even though if something went wrong, she might not be able to see her best male friend for a while or at all maybe.

"I'm sorry...let me continue please...We're going to stop by his home for a few minutes to take a rest from our packing. His mom knows that me and Yasuhiko are going somewhere but she doesn't know why." This was one of those horrible situations yet he still was able to hold onto a smirk. It was somewhat of a triumphant look as well. That was because his idea wasn't finished and possibly she might actually accept the ending of it.

Right at that point, Orca seemed to gate into the area. His tall, masculine figure with the teal and white face paint was a major eyesore. The lack of clothes seemed to affect Blackrose every time she had seen his body. "Well? What did I miss?" The rough and mature voice was something unlike anything else. Loud and booming would also suffice for the description of his voice. "Oh and I have more news for you, I convinced my mom that we're leaving to go visit someone in the hospital that we met over 'The World'. I'm surprised she didn't ask me anything else about it!"

":-) Great!" The twin-blade took a few steps towards the blade master.

"Oh, I've also come up with another plan. Instead of just asking Blackrose for…" Before orca ever finished that statement, he watched her completely oblivious expression. It occurred that there was a lack of communication on this topic going around. "Ah, I see you haven't told her yet…" He rubbed the back of his head a little bit ashamed at himself for almost letting his tongue slip and ruining the surprise.

Akira made her character stand up straight at the mention of her name. Something was amiss and she didn't know about it and it was time to get to the bottom of this! The frustration became plainly visible for all to see. With that same pissed, Blackrose had stomped her way towards orca and Kite as if she were going to teach them a lesson. "Listen you, You better tell me what's going on right now!"

It could just be his imagination but Kai could've sworn that the way she was speaking, that was a hidden threat. That made him laugh. Of course he knew already that there was emptiness behind that threat. It was just a bluff to attempt at getting him to explain things that he was about to explain in the first place. And by the teen's side was his best friend Orca who as well was laughing. Naturally, Kite was the first to speak. "Me and Orca were talking this over and we decided that whenever we make our move this afternoon, we were going to make a stop."

Blackrose blinked and he posture eased and her eyebrow cocked upward in an inquisitive manner. "A stop?"

Kite nodded. "Yeah. We're stopping by your place to stay for a while. Is that alright with you?"

Blackrose gulped over her headset and a deep sigh was released. She watched Orca and Kite exchange looks for a second and then nodded.

Kite flashed one of his nervous smiles and let his lids slip closed for a second "By three, we'll finally meet face to face…"

Blackrose felt a small blush form under her visor and the look of shock was now taking over. But all she could do now was just nod.