Disclaimer/A/N: I do not own anything but the plot in this story. This I s my first attempt at any sort of romance. It might not seem like it at first, but this will be a HaseoAtoli fic, with minor HaseoShino. It has spoilers for all .Hack games. Please be gentle, I wasn't really sure about putting this one up. Also I wanted to name each chapter after a song title or line. Some will be .Hack songs, but most probably will be normal songs. As for the first on, I couldn't think of one. So I just picked a .Hack//Sign name.

Chapter One: To Nowhere

The familiar sunset left the sky twilight colors, painting everything else with a tint of orange. I had my eyes closed at first, a bad habit I have when I warp. Sighing, I opened the door to the real town. Outside the dome was the long bridge to Mac Anu. I would usually ride my bike or use the warp point to get to shop acorn, but I decided to walk instead. Mainly because I had a horrible day at school and even though I left hours ago, I was still pissed. I have a bad habit of taking out my frustration on people who had nothing to do with it. I thought the walk might calm me down. Usually I would go kill monsters or do something that didn't require me to converse with people. I needed to check on Silabus and Gaspard. I hadn't said but two words to them all week. Walking down the crowded bridge, I heard people whisper about me. Calling me "the arena emperor" and "the Terror of Death." Then other people say.

" No, no that's another fake." I sighed. It wasn't surprising that no one recognized me. I looked down at my new design. Everything looked different now. To everyone else, I just seemed like another poser. Nothing unusual at first glance.

I saw them both by the shop. I saw Silabus stare at me, then say something to Gaspard.

" Hey Haseo." The taller one said when I approached. He sounded sad. That offended me for some reason.

"What?" I snapped. They both flinched. I mentally slapped myself. Why couldn't I ever control myself?

"Nothing Haseo." He said, obviously still a little startled. We just stood there, no one saying anything.

" Uh . . . Sorry." I told them, surprised by how gentle my voice came out. They were surprised too, but Silabus just smiled.

" It's okay." He said. Silence again.

" So, what's up? Have you been online?" He asked. For some reason the whole conversation seemed awkward, like this was the first time we'd met.

"Barely . . . " I muttered. I could tell my bad mood was showing. More awkward silence. Finally Gaspard broke it.

" Busy?" He asked. I had been busy. Busy losing all my real life friends.

" Yeah." I said, sounding dazed. I was recalling my week. Which wasn't something I was going to discuss. Betrayal wasn't my favorite topic. I told them I was going to log off, which wasn't a lie. Then I got a flash mail.

Haseo,

Please meet me at Delta Hidden Forebidden Dead Wood.

,Atoli

The message left me slightly uneasy. I really didn't want to deal with anyone now, specially not Atoli.

I entered the lost ground. She was standing by the lake. She turned her head slightly to look at me. The way the glow from the tree lit up her face, sent shivers through me. I cleared my thoughts.

" What is it?" I asked, trying to sound casual. She smiled.

" Actually, I just wanted to see you." She said Then she quickly replaced the word "see" with "speak". Anger rose in me.

" Well, I'm here." I said, annoyed. Her smile vanished and she looked at the ground.

"Did I upset you?" She asked sadly. She had her hands together by her stomach. She looked so innocent. I couldn't stop staring. I heard her say my name. I felt heat rising to my cheeks. I turned around. I didn't want her to see my embarrassment. What was wrong with me? Why was I thinking of Atoli like that? I am with Shino!

"Haseo . . . ?" I felt her hand on my bare shoulder. It sent shivers through me. I jumped away. What had scared me? That I felt something in a virtual world? How much pleasure I felt from her touch? That I loved the idea of the touch so much I imagined I felt it? She looked somewhat surprised, then she looked hurt again. I hurt her again. I muttered something about logging off and left.

After quitting the game I took off my M2D and looked at my desktop. No new mail, no new posts on the forums. I could still feel Atoli's touch. I shuddered. I couldn't get her hurt face out of my mind. I had changed because of her. She did a lot for me, maybe I should go apologize. I knew I couldn't do that. I couldn't face her. When I'm with her, I feel different. Like I would do anything to make her smile, and give anything away to keep it that way. That was bad. I found myself constantly reminding myself. "You're with Shino now." My thoughts were interrupted by the phone ringing. I was the only one home. I picked it up, not bothering to look at the caller ID.

"Hello?" I sighed.

"What's wrong?" My mother asked me over the phone. 'Everything.' I thought.

" Nothing. I'm just bored." I lied with an incredibly fake laugh.

" Okay. I'm going to be late. Something came up at work." She told me. I told her it was okay. It was always okay. After a few more lies, she finally said she had to go. We said we loved each other and hung up. I walked into my room. Nothing was ever on TV since the war started. I just looked around. Lately my life didn't seem very . . . Liveable. I regret getting up in the morning. I only had my net friends, everyone else betrayed me. I almost logged back on. I went to my desktop. I had new mail. One was from Silabus.

Hey Haseo,

Nice to see you again. You were acting like that again. Like, the weight of the world was on your shoulders. What's the matter? Is there anything I can do? If so, please tell me.

I first typed a rude reply. Then decided to write something nicer. I re-read his mail and typed.

Nothing's wrong. I'm sorry I worried you earlier. I've just been in a crappy mood lately. You know how I get.

I sent it. Sometimes lying is easy. You just have to plan what you say first. The next one was from Atoli.

Haseo,

Are you upset with me? I am sorry for earlier.

,Atoli

"Yes I'm upset with you! Why do I like you so much? I should feel this way toward Shino." I said out loud. I already knew I wasn't typing that. So I replied with.

No.

That was it. I got up and decided to make myself some dinner.

Blackness surrounded me. I saw something move. So I ran to it. When I reached it, Two huge hands picked me up and pulled me inside. And inside was Haseo.

My eyes opened. The only light in the room was from the TV. It was a dream? I sat up and blinked, trying to completely wake up. I shivered. It was cold. Mom wasn't home yet? I looked at the TV. More war coverage. The plate from the dinner I had still sat on the table. I just picked it up and threw it in the sink. I wasn't very much of a morning person. I resembled a zombie when I first got up. It was almost four in the morning. Wait, that late and she wasn't home yet? I quickly went to her room and opened the door. No one. I went to the phone and called her cell. After three rings, she picked up.

" Hello." She said.

" Mom." I couldn't hide the relief in my voice.

" What wrong? Why are you up this late?" She asked.

" Nothing. I just woke up and you weren't home." I said.

" All right. I'll be there in about an hour." She told me. Our talk ended the same as the last.

I walked into the bathroom, and looked in the mirror. I had dark hair, the kind you couldn't tell if it was black or brown. It went almost down to my shoulders, after Shino fell comatose I never bothered cutting it. My face slightly resembled Haseo's. Except I had green eyes. Apparently, I wasn't good enough for those ass holes at school. They just started rumors about me. Even though they knew about Atoli . . . I meant Shino, how the fuck did I get them confused.

I was looking in the mirror, when my very reflection shifted. It changed into Haseo, then he smiled. I instinctively punched the mirror. My hand stung then started to bleed.

" Shit!" I cried. I ran to the kitchen and grabbed some paper towels. I wrapped my hand in them. It's official. I'm going crazy.

A/N: Okay, not very much romance yet. It's going to have some though. I hope you liked it.