Diclaimer: I do not own .Hack or any of it's characters. I do, however, own MY CHARACTERS! So please ask before using them!

Thank you for your consideration!

:Eternal Sunshine:

Chapter one: Introductions!

Running across the city, Tai managed to dodge many of the people in her way. It didn't matter if she ran into a few. She could handle angry emails. This was The World, after all. No one actually knew her, accept Mya. They went to school together. But Mya was the only one who knew The Real Tyler Kinomoto. Thank god for that..she thought, running faster. She had to beat them...So close..

"SURPRISE!"

Huh..?

That was her last coherent thought before being thrown into the river. Swimming upwards, she surfaced, sputtering water. Her friends Effie, Mya, and Sirena were at the edge of the bridge, laughing at her. Tai glared and swam to the edge, pushing herself up and out of the water. Mya held out a hand to help her up.

"Sorry. Effie couldn't resist. You know how horrible she is at playing hide and seek!" Mya laughed, trying to sincerly apologize, yet not succeeding.

Tai glared and dramatically squirted water from her mouth. She shook her head, raining them all with drops of water from her long, violet hair. She'd always wanted purple hair, but her mother wouldn't let her dye it. So when she created her character for the world, she instantly chose purple. Effie had a cheat code to change hair color, so if Tai or the other ever got bored, all they had to do was email Effie. But Tai loved her hair.

Sirena squealed and tried to hide behind Mya, who was drenched from the spray. The sight was comical, because Sirena was the tallest of them there. Mya, even though she was average height, still looked dwarfened compaired to Sirena. It was quite pityful. Sirena's golden hair reined around Mya, who's black hair was hidden beneath the cuirtain. Her bright blue eyes stood out however. Effie was short, which was typical, since she was only 12 in the real world. Her hair was short and a reddish pink. Her eyes were a crystal blue, which was what usually caught everyone's attention. Well, that and the pouty expression she always wore. Sirena's attention getter was her long golden hair. Mya had attitude. Tai wasn't sure how she fit into this group, or Zane's for that matter. They just kind of accepted her. Tai used to be a loner. Even in the real world, she had no friends until Myana Tomoyo moved to Japan. That was when everything changed..

Mya reached over and poked Tai's cheek. Tai blinked at stared wide-eyed at Mya.

Mya giggled, "C'mon! We're gonna go find Derrin. He's probably still hiding!"

Tai smirked and ran across the bridge, "I'll beat you to him!"

Sirena started laughing, Effie was giggling, "Wait! Your going the wrong way!"

Tai froze in mid-stride, then tripped. She was about to go face-first right into the brick wall until two big arms wrapped themselves about her.

"Be careful, now..." whispered a hot breathe against her ear.

The mystery savior held her tightly, as if hugging her. Tai blinked and twisted to look up at the man, but he was wearing a hunter-green cape, so she couldn't look at his face. He set her down and stepped away, as if uncertain. He suddenly reached over a gently flicked her nose.

"Stay out of trouble now.." and with that he was off.

Tai stood frozen to the spot. Her eyes were glued to where he had once been. Who the hell was he..?

The world finally came back to her quickly, thanks to Mya's incredible flying shoe that hit her square in the head. Mya laughed at her and put her shoe back on. Tai scrunched up her face in thought, the sighed, looking up at the sky.

"Sorry about that, but you were zoning out on us again. You ok..? Who was that guy? Is he for real..?"

Mya continued to ask questions, but Tai blocked her voice out of her head. She wasn't in the mood for questions. She finally decided that pondering on the man wouldn't bring him back. She smirked, then clapped her hands together.

"Righty-o! We've got to find Derrin, member! Let's hop to it!"

She ran in the other direction, the right one this time. The others gazed after her. Effie hopped up onto the bridge railing to see if her gaze would go further, but without such luck. She started to pout and Sirena patted her head absentmindedly.

"What's gotten into her?" Demanded an impatient Mya.