Disclaimer: I do not own .hack. There are some characters here not in .hack/sign but you can have them!
A/N: BEWARE OF THE FIRST SCENE. THE WHOLE CHANGING POV's THING MIGHT CONFUSE YOU. WORD OF ADVICE: DON'T!
HERE WE GO!
Crim walked through the virtually hot sands of the large desert.
He saw a familiar figure walking up to him.
"Subaru"
"Hey Crim." The girl greeted with a wave.
"Hello. So how's everything doing? Fine I suppose?"
"Oh everything's doing great. Tsukasa is a lot happier now that she can log out again…"
While Subaru was talked, Crim busied himself admiring her. She looks so beautiful. He thought. She looks even more beautiful in the real world. He could still remember the first time she called him. He knew that voice was so familiar. The numerous movies she starred in got him so well acquainted to her voice that it made him all the more positive it was her.
"…I've finally met Tsukasa in the real world…"
Crim thought about himself in the real world.
"…we met in Shimokida the other day…"
What am I thinking!
"…Mimiru was there too. We bought a lot of things…"
He was breaking his own rules! THE REAL WORLD AND THE GAME ARE TWO SEPARATE PLACES AND THEREFORE CANNOT ENTWINE!
"…After that, we went to the food court and talked about a lot of stuff…"
In the real world, Crim does not exist."…Trukasa is real nice IRL you know, you should get to know her more…"
In this game, his extremely rich, extremely powerful and not to mention extremely handsome self did not exist either.
"…Crim?"
The millions of girls that worship the ground he walked on whenever he was out in public were nonentity in THE WORLD.
"Crim?"
His extremely money-hungry diva of a fiancé didn't exist here either.
"Crim, are you listening?"
Crim's line of thought was interrupted as soon as the angel's voice snapped him back to reality. "Huh? Uh, no." was his frantic reply. Subaru startled him and it took a few more seconds for his mind to process her question.
"Well then I don't feel the need to be here wasting my time with you any longer! Goodbye!" Subaru said with an infuriated and rather insulted look on her face.
"Subaru, wait! I didn't mean to, my mind was—" But his efforts were cut short when the fuming administrator warped off elsewhere. "Well goodbye," sighed the poor long arm as he walked off in another direction.
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"Hey Subaru, what's up?" chirped Mimiru as she walked up to her.
The only reply she received was a soft sigh.
"What's wrong? You don't seem to be yourself today. Is there something bothering you?
"Well, it's Crim."
"What about him? If he did something bad to you I swear I'm gonna beat him up to a bloody pulp, HIS OWN MOMMA WON'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HIM WHEN I GET THROUGH WITH HIM!"
"No, it's not that," answered Subaru, surprisingly calm after one of Mimiru's nuclear outbursts. "It's just that I don't think he's been himself lately. Earlier today, it seemed that his mind was very much preoccupied with a lot of things so I thought maybe I should just leave him with his own thoughts."
"Oh."
"…"
"Well I think it's really thoughtful of you to be sensitive to his feelings. Don't worry. I'm sure he's just having problems in the real world. He'll live."
"But he's a very good friend of mine and if I know he has a problem then I wouldn't have to feel helpless as to stand around like an idiot and do nothing about it. I want to help him, Mimiru."
"But that guy never opens up to anybody. I doubt you'll be any different. But good luck all the same." And with that, Mimiru waved goodbye to look for Bear and Tsukasa.
"I know I can make a difference, I know I could. Oh Crim, all I want to do is to help you. Please, let me." Subaru whispered to herself as she watched Mimiru leave
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In a large neat office on a towering building overlooking the whole of Tokyo, sitting on a well-polished desk, a raven-haired young man at around his early twenties was busy working on his papers while designing his presentation for their upcoming business orientation meeting.
There came a beeping sound and what followed it was a disembodied voice. "Mr. Winter, Ms. Pennelope is here to see you sir."
"That's future Mrs. Winter to you, girl" another woman hissed as she shoved the secretary aside and grabbed the receiver.
"Oh Kojikins, I'm coming in," came the sickly-sweet voice of his fiancé—Pennelope Snipes.
Moments later, Koji's door opened and a beautiful woman with fiery red hair made her way through the office, strutting like there was no tomorrow.
"Pennelope, what are you doing here? I'm busy." Koji said as he finished his last paperwork.
"I just stopped by to remind you about our wedding. Preparations are almost done. It's going to be so grand!" Pennelope told Koji as she sat on his desk, fiddling with the things on the table.
"That's what you came all the way here for?" Koji asked her with a quizzical look on his face.
"No."
"Okay then what is it? But make it quick. I have a lot of work to do." The young businessman told his fiancé with an exasperated look on his face.
"I want a solid gold ring with a big diamond on top as my wedding ring and I don't want anything less. Okay then, that's it. Bye!" she said as she kissed him and left.
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Subaru warped into a chaos gate at the same gate Mimiru logged into.
"Subaru! I didn't know I'd bump into you here. What a big coincidence."
"Yes, very…" agreed the other player, disappointment evident in her expression.
"Huh?" Mimiru tilted her head. "What's wrong?"
"Oh it's nothing," answered the Heavy Axeman.
"Is it Crim again?" the heavy sword asked, putting her hands on her hips.
Subaru flinched.
"Listen to me when I say this Subaru. You have to stop thinking about him and think of yourself for once. Look at you. You look terrible."
"I just want to talk to him, that's all. But I haven't had any luck finding him. I'm worried."
"There you go again! I told you, stop thinking about him for just one freakin' second! Do me a favor and log out, eat something and get some rest. You'll feel a lot better when you wake up."
The smaller player nodded. "Okay." Before she logged out, she looked back at Mimiru, her amber eyes meeting the tanned girl's blue green ones.
Mimiru sighed, rather annoyed. "Alright, alright. If it makes you feel any better, I'll look for him while you're gone and tell him how worried you are.
Subaru smiled and logged out.
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In the wide fields of Dun Loreag, the clashing of blades can be heard. A red and purple figure out in the distance were duking it out.
"Tired yet Sora?" Crim mocked.
"Not in the least old man!" the twin blade retorted.
"Old? Ha! I'm not the one slowing down here!" commented the Red Lightning as he easily blocked Sora's attack with his weapon. Quick as a flash, he maneuvered his spear in attack position towards Sora, who leapt out of Crim's reach. He ran back towards Crim once more, flying in the air and doing a corkscrew front flip, landing right behind the long arm.
Crim thrust his spear backwards, the reverse side of his weapon meeting Sora squarely on the gut.
The green-haired player used a cure item and looked back up the red clad figure standing right above him.
Where is he looking at? Is he looking at somewhere NOT me! How dare he! Does he think I'm weak or something!
"HEY! ARE YOU NOT LOOKING AT ME!" Sora shouted.
Crim simply closed his eyes and warped off.
Sora blinked, his mouth half open. He quickly recovered as his lips slowly shaped into a wide grin. "HAHA! Thor retreated! That means I win! HAHA! I wonder what he was looking at?" the PKer asked himself, interrupting his own celebration and looking into the direction Crim set his eyes on before he left. "Lady Subaru?"
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Subaru looked out into the fields of Dun Loreag to the spot where Crim once stood, the spot where Sora was now standing on.
Sora ran towards her, did another leap and landed right behind her.
Subaru turned around, startled. It all happened so fast.
First Sora was just a speck in the distance and now he was right in front of her.
"HAHA! Lady Subaru! Everything seems to be going great between you and Thor! So great, that he warped off when he saw you! You two must be real close, huh?" the twin blade piped up, cheerful sarcasm evident in his high-pitched tone.
Subaru frowned and looked away. "Thor is the god of thunder Sora."
"What did I say?"
Subaru sighed in defeat and softly whispered, "Forget it."
"So something IS wrong with between the both of you." came Sora's voice, surprisingly serious.
This caught Subaru by surprise, causing her to look back at the green-haired player, only to find him already walking away.
Sora shouted back, "I've got better things to do than to meddle in other people's business!" the taller player waved his hand. "That's BT's job. I'd rather go kill someone, HAHA!" Sora jumped high up in the air and warped off.
He left Subaru just standing there, all alone.
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Bear walked through the ever-busy streets of Mac Anu. He saw Crim leaning on to a tree, arms folded and eyes closed. Bear walked up to him and leaned on to the same tree Crim was under.
"Thinking?" Bear suddenly put in, breaking both men's silence.
Crim finally opened his eyes, his golden orbs scanning the Blade Master who, at this time, had his eyes closed now.
"Yeah," came the long arm's soft reply.
"About what?"
"It's nothing…"
"You could tell me you know, or you could keep it to yourself and go mad. You have to tell someone eventually. There's no use hiding it."
"If you must know, I'm gonna get married. I'm gonna get married to my fiancé on Saturday. This Saturday. And the worst part is, I don't know exactly how to break it to her." Crim informed him, rather distressed.
"Just go ahead and tell her. What's the big deal? She's going to know anyway. What's best is that she hears it from you and not from anybody else. At least that's my opinion. In the end, that's just for you to decide." Commented the older player, eyes still closed and arms crossed.
Then, from out of nowhere, Mimiru came running up to them and faced Crim, the fire raging in her eyes. Without any warning at all, Mimiru raised a dangerous hand and slapped him across the face.
Crim put his hand on his left cheek. "WHAT WAS THAT FO—"
He didn't get the chance to finish his sentence as Mimiru started screaming in his ear. When the screaming had stopped, Crim repeated his unfinished question. "What was that for?"
"How dare you keep something like that from her! She's been so worried about you. She wants to know what's been bothering you. She wants to know why you're always so distant as if you're always lost in your own thoughts. She wants to know what you're always thinking about all the time. Now I know, but I'm not gonna tell her. Like bear said, you have to be the one to break it to her. I'm outta here. Later." Giving Crim one last disgusted look, Mimiru ran off.
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Sora smirked, his expression giving away his evil intentions. He leaned closer to the tree, making sure the players on the other side of it don't notice him listening in on their conversation. He hung his head down, his eyes hidden in the shadows. When Mimiru screamed, he raised his head and chuckled to himself. Crim's getting shouted at, he thought. He listened more closely at what Mimiru was saying. His face brightened and his evil smirk came back.
"…you have to be the one to tell her…" was the last thing he heard from the heavy blade before he warped away, already planning his latest scheme.
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Crim walked down the bustling shops of Carmina Gaderica hoping to get a glimpse of the small familiar figure of his angel. But she wasn't there.
Great. Just when I finally get the courage to tell her, she disappears. Where could she be? Thought the long arm as he passed by a number of Subaru look-alikes. They waved at him and he waved back, putting on his best smile. He knew that mask well. It helped him a lot. It usually stopped him from answering stupid questions like, "Is something bothering you?" or "What's wrong?" or stuff like that. It never worked on Suabaru, though. Maybe it's because she knew his so well or she was also very much familiar with that expression, he didn't know. He didn't give it any more thought. Right now, he had more important things to do. He searched through the whole of Carmina Gaderica but all he chanced upon was Sora, who just looked at him and laughed out loud.
I wonder what's up with that guy? Crim asked himself, but just shook the thought away. The matters on hand were more important to him that anything else.
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"Mr. Winter, I'm so sorry to interrupt you sir but I don't think it does you any good to stay in that game this long. Please sir, you've been on for ten hours now. You haven't even taken your lunch yet," his maid pleaded.
Stupid girl. Why can't she mind her own business! "I'm fine Mizuki. Don't worry about it. You can leave my lunch there." Koji told the young girl, acting as nice as possible.
"But sir…"
"I said leave it there! Didn't you hear me?" Koji raised his voice at her. This girl is driving me crazy! He thought
"This isn't right." Mizuki objected and with that, she left Koji's room.
Mizuki went to the phone and quickly dialed Pennelope's number.
"Hello, Mrs. Winter…" (A/N That's what she wants to be addressed as though they're not officially married yet. Hehe.)
"Yes, who is it?" cackled the ugly witch on the other line.
"Um…Oh, it's master Koji." the small maid's voice quivered uneasily.
"Yes, what about this Rey? Does he need treatment? Is there anything I can give him? Some healing potions from human bile, pig's mucous membrane and cow's ptyalin perhaps? I can give you a discount if you add in some bat's wings. We're kinda low on those."
"What!" You're not Ms. Pennelope!"
"Nobody said I was honey. Now about those bat wings…"
Mizuki slammed the receiver, annoyance written all over her face.
Mizuki dialed again, this time carefully selecting the numbers so as to not make the same mistake she had just committed.
"Hello? Who is this? It better not be a prank call or else I'll sue!" came the angry voice of a woman, obviously one who had been having a bad day.
"Mrs. Winter?" the maid asked quite unsure of herself.
"Mizuki? What is it?" Pennelope asked, concern drowning out her anger. She knew that the only time Mizuki would call her was when Koji was doing something really stupid.
"It's sir Koji…"
"I'm there. Oh, and Mizuki…"
"Yes ma'am?"
"If anything happens to Koji before I get there, you're the one to blame. Do I make myself clear, MAID?"
"Yes ma'am" Mizuki hung up the phone and made a face. She never wanted to call her but this was urgent. She never even dreamt of calling that demon but desperate times call for desperate measures. She only hoped she did the right thing.
"Where is he?" the tall red-haired woman asked as she got to her fiancé's big mansion.
"Right this way mistress." The young maid said as she led Pennelope in the direction of the young businessman's room.
When they got to Koji, he sat there, on the rotating chair. The character portrayed on the computer screen clad in red seemed to be looking for something. But what?
Pennelope leaned over to Koji's side and kissed him on the cheek. "Oh Kojikins, why don't we take a walk in the park? It'll do you good. I assure you. C'mon. It's been a long time since we went somewhere together. Come with me Koji." She told him as she tried to pry him off the game console.
But Koji wouldn't budge. The tall woman sighed and looked at the glowing monitor.
I don't know what he sees in this game. Though his character DOES look very attractive. She thought. "Come now, honey. Our wedding day is only three days away. We should spend more time with each other so that our love will become stronger." Pennelope told her fiancé shaking him lightly.
"Subaru…"
"Who?"
No reply came. Koji's fiancé glanced at the computer screen once more. What's he looking for? Pennelope turned to leave.
"But mistress, aren't you going to do something to make him stop?" an incredibly worried Mizuki asked, hoping for her to do something more than just to shake him lightly and try to talk him out of it.
"Leave his lunch there. He'll eat when he's tired and hungry. He's not a little boy, Mizuki"
"Yes ma'am I understand." The small girl responded, very much defeated.
Pennelope went for her car, whispering to herself. "Whoever this Subaru person is, I don't care. He'll get over her in time for the wedding. Don't worry darling. Only three more days and you'll be mine at last."
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Subaru was with Sora in Dona Roriak. While the Heavy Axeman was sitting on a rock, the Twin Blade was standing up, hands crossed behind his head.
Both had nothing else to do so the taller player began telling the administrator stories about his amazing adventures to rid them of their boredom.
"…I was surrounded by these monsters. I looked everywhere for any hope of escape, but there was none. At that point, I knew the only thing I could do was to fight. I drew out my blades. They closed in on me…"
Subaru, however, wasn't saying anything and was looking off in the distance as if she was looking for something. Or someone. She wasn't even listening to the player killer right behind her.
"…I slashed them all, one by one and—" Sora stopped abruptly seeing that nobody was listening to him. He put his hands on his side and looked at the angel.
"Thinking about Crim again?" The player killer said, leaning slightly towards her, eyeing the expression of Subaru's face.
Subaru didn't answer, nor did she even look at the green-haired player. She had a faraway look in her eyes.
"Her, I know something about MR. CRIM!" Sora piped up, trying to get Subaru's attention. "But that's okay if you don't wanna hear it." he added as he turned to leave.
"Okay then let's hear it," the Heavy Axeman agreed, sitting up and facing the Twin Blade.
Sora turned around, an evil look on his face. "Wouldn't you wanna know."
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"I can't believe you!" Subaru burst out.
Crim had a questioning look on his face. "WHAT?"
The scowl on her face worsened.
The Long Arm cocked his head in question. "Now what's that for? Are you mad at me for some particular reason? Could I know what it is then?"
"Why must you hide things from me! Do you think I can't handle it or something! Do you think my feelings would get hurt! Do you think I'm much too young to handle this! Well guess what, Red Lightning. I'm not the child I was anymore. I'm not the child you're so used to protecting any longer. I've grown to handle these sort of things."
There was a moment of silence as tears streamed down the angel's cheeks. Crim just stood there, dumbfounded.
"Who told you?" the red clad warrior asked, almost in a whisper.
"It's not important right now. What matters is you didn't tell me." the Heavy Axemen choked out.
Crim walked over to her to wipe her tears. "I was gonna tell you right now but it seems you already knew."
Subaru pushed his hand aside. "NO MORE LIES! I HATE YOU!" She ran to the nearest chaos gate to log out
"Subaru, wait!"
The angel stopped and looked back. "I should be happy for you. I hope you'll have fun in your new life." And with that, she logged out.
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Koji woke up with a start and turned off his alarm clock.
WHY IS THE ALARM SET TOO DAMN EARLY!
"Mizuki!"
The small girl clambered into the room, nearly tripping on herself. "Yes sir?"
"What is this!" Koji shouted, pointing at the alarm.
"It has to be set very early sir. There's a long day ahead of you." the maid informed him.
It took a while for Koji to think about it. He was dreaming before the alarm went off. He had no work today. There was nowhere special to go to. Unless…
He looked at the calendar. It's Saturday. It was his wedding day! He quickly changed into the tuxedo Mizuki brought in and went to his car to drive off to the castle where Pennelope's fairytale dream wedding was going to be held.
When the young businessman finally got there, the crew was almost done setting up the place and he was greeted by a barrage of complaints.
"Don't be fooled by that dastardly woman. Nothing good will come from this."
"Break away from her spell!"
"She's only using you to get rich. She'll kill you right after your marriage for sure!"
"Whatever happened to the nice simple blonde girl you used to go out with?"
"Koji, you could always say no. It's still not too late. It's never too late until after the 'I do's'. Think about this. PLEASE!" one of his cousins pleaded. Koji didn't absorb any of it. His mind was still very much preoccupied with the events that happened the previous day. He just couldn't believe how Subaru knew about this.
The wedding had gone smoothly. Koji's family members wore very sour expressions while Pennelope's family looked like they won a million dollars. Well, actually, they were going to win more than a million dollars since their representative was going to be married to a multi-billionaire.
"Do you, Pennelope Snipes, accept Koji Winter as your lawfully wedded husband?" the priest asked.
"I DO." the woman answered dreamily.
"And do you, Koji winter, accept Pennelope Snipes as your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I…"
Then it hit him. He didn't have to be here. Heck, why was he even here. He loves Subaru now, not that woman.
"I don't."
Pennelope laughed. "He's just nervous. What he meant to say was I DO." she told the mass' celebrant.
"NO."
Everyone looked at the direction of the voice. It was Koji.
Pennelope looked distressed. "What do you mean NO!"
"Penny, I'm sorry."
"EXPLAIN!" By now, the redhead already had tears wetting her cheeks.
"I'm sorry." he repeated. "I DID love you but you've changed. You've changed a great deal. You used to be simple and kind-hearted. But after the company became even more successful, you started acting strange. You started wearing expensive clothes. You dyed your beautiful blonde hair…"
"I'm sorry. I don't love you anymore."
"HOW DARE YOU. Koji Winter, you'll regret the day you refused to marry me! You'll regret this in the future, I swear you will!" and with that, Pennelope walked away.
There was a moment of silence as Pennelope's guest walked out of the building. When they had cleared out, the remaining crowd erupted in a mixture of laughter, celebration and cheers.
Koji went home. He still couldn't believe the fact that he quit on his own wedding. All that money simply went out in smoke. But for some reason, he was happy. He was happy because he did something he knew he would never regret.
He was home now. All he needed to do now was to take care of some unfinished business.
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Crim warped into Dun Loreag.
He looked around to find his angel standing on a cliff and looking out into a distance. This was it. This was the time he had been waiting for. He could hear his heart pounding loud and fast, like the drums you could hear in a parade. Except there was no festival and there was no band.
He took a step forward and making his presence known to her. She looked at his direction and a smile spread across her face.
"Hello" She greeted with a sad look on her face. "I want to congratulate you about your—…"
The taller player raised a finger to her lips.
"Please. Don't say anything. I only get one chance to tell you this and I feel that this could be the best opportunity I can get. I quit on my wedding."
The other player looked surprised
"Subaru, I quit because I… I love you. I love you more than anything, I really do."
Subaru looked stunned and she opened her mouth to speak. But Crim cut her off once more, pressing his finger against her lips.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I just wanted to tell you. I have no hopes of you loving me back. I… I have to go." Crim turned to leave.
"Crim…" she called back.
The Long Arm turned around, fearing for the worst.
Subaru looked up at him and placed a delicate hand on his left cheek.
"Subaru, I…"
Please, I don't want to hear it." She reached up to him and closed her eyes, attempting a kiss. Crim just looked at her, a surprised look on his face, not knowing what to do with her.
Suddenly, her angelic features suddenly transformed into a grotesque head. It opened its gigantic mouth to reveal sharp dinosaur teeth, dripping with sticky saliva. Crim never had the chance to react when it bit his head clear off his shoulders. It all happened so fast.
Everything went black.