Don't Disappear On Me
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Log 2:
After the fight with Sora, and my brief talk with Yata, I finally was able to log out of the game. Though, while my mind is still hazy, my memories were slowly returning to me. And while I guess that's a good thing, I felt bad because Chika cried over me, again.
I hated to see her sad. I don't know why, but it seemed like such a crime. I promised her that I wasn't going to leave her and I nearly bit it.
Personally I blame Yata and Ovan for that, but I also blame myself. I wanted to protect everyone...I wanted to protect her. But know that I think about it, she would be crushed if I had died.
She hasn't spoken to me in six days. I wonder if she hates me now, or just distancing herself from me.
-----
Ryou yawned as he left work for the day. While he tried not to show it, Ryou was depressed and he knew it. Sighing as he looked up into the sky, he wondered if the clouds were going to open up and rain on him.
"Hey Ryou," Ryou blinked as an older man approached him. He knew this man as Hiroshi Matsuyama, a graphic designed for CC Corp and the character behind Piros the Third. While generally annoying online, he often found Hiroshi's personality offline quite alright.
"Hey Hiroshi," Ryou greeted back, "You look like you're in a hurry. What's the rush?"
"Ah I heard from Takumi, the player behind Yata, that you were Sora in The World R:1, is this true?"
Ryou sighed, "Yeah, its true. I don't ever remember much of what I did back then, but I'm slowly remembering people and faces."
"Ah yes, you did get put into a coma," Hiroshi muttered, "Still, I came to tell you that I'm throwing a party soon, and I wanted you to come."
"You know I don't do well at parties," Ryou replied, "Still, its not your or Ichiro's birthday. What's the Occasion?"
"Well," Hiroshi whispered, "It's a litter get together that the .Hackers throw every year. And well, everyone has been waiting to meet you in person, but nobody ever knew who you was."
"Do you think that's wise?" Ryou asked, "I mean, I don't remember much, but I did some bad things before."
"It'll be fine. So, do you want to come? You can bring a friend."
Ryou grinned. This was exactly the type of thing he needed to get not only him but Chika out of their rut, "Give me the time and place."
Hiroshi grinned.
-----
Upon arriving back at the Apartment complex, he ran into Hana waiting for him at his door.
"Kuramoto-san?"
"I don't know what happened between you and Chika-chan, Ryou-kun, but she's been really down lately," Hana said sighing.
"Yeah...its my fault actually, I did something reckless and nearly got killed for it," Ryou sighed, "Still, I think I have a solution, if I can speak with Chika."
"If you can get her out of her depression, then you may." Hana led Ryou into her apartment and pointed to Chika's room. Ryou hesitantly knocks on the door.
"...Who is it...?" Chika finally asks.
"It's me..." Ryou replies.
"Unless it's an emergency, I don't want to talk to you Ryou Misaki," Ryou winced as she used his full name.
"Well it's not an emergency...but I was wondering if you would want to come to a party with me. A friend of mine was a .Hacker and he's holding a get together with the rest of them..."
Suddenly the door opened, to reveal Chika, dressed only in her Alkaid shirt which was big enough to be worn as a night gown, "...I'm listening."
"He said that they hold a party every year, and told me that since I was a .Hacker, that I could come. He even said bring a friend."
While Chika held her frown, on the inside, she was positively giddy. She didn't expect this from Ryou, as he didn't seem like the partying type, and added to the fact that he was basically inviting her as his date, she couldn't help but to feel warm inside.
"Well...when do we go?" Chika asked.
"Well," Ryou said drawing out his words, "If we get ready now, we'll only be fashionably late."
Chika eyes widen before she closed the door on his face. Then he heard Chika say, "If we don't hurry up, I'm going to kill you."
Ryou smirked as he walked past an amused Hana. Hana shook her head.
Kids theses days.
-----
Ten minutes later Chika was ready to go. Standing outside Ryou's Apartment, she tapped her foot impatiently, 'I hope he's not pulling my leg on this, or I'll really kill him.' Seeing his door open, she was ready to scold him, when he hands her a helmet, "What's this for?"
"...its a Bike Helmet," Ryou replied, "and there's laws about not wearing those." He placed his own on his head.
"Whoa wait a moment...you have a Motorcycle?"
"Yep." Ryou said after locking his door. He headed to the elevator with Chika right behind him.
"And you're now telling me this?"
"I live so close to work, I walk. But since we are traveling a bit far, I decided to break it out," Ryou replied with a shrug as they bored the elevator, "Besides...you never asked."
Chika's eye twitched as Ryou smirked, "Don't make me hit you with this."
After showing Chika where he keeps his bike parked, the two set off towards the party. Ryou couldn't help but to grin as Chika clung to him as he weaved through traffic.
It felt nice.
------
"I know this is a party, Hiroshi," Nobuyuki Hiyama said taking notice at how happy the man was, "But this is ridiculous. You're hiding something."
"What do you mean?" Hiroshi asked while grinning, "Can't I be happy that all my friends are coming?"
"Oh? So do you mean that the last two are finally coming?" Ryo Sakuma asked from where he was sitting.
"That's a secret!" Hiroshi replied with a grin.
"Hiroshi, you actually got HIM to come to a party?" Natsume asked before shaking her head, "I didn't think it was possible."
"Now I'm really curious," Akira said from where she and her husband, Kaito, were sitting, "Who are you talking about?"
"You'll see," Takumi says mysteriously.
------
"Here we are," Ryou says turning off his bike, "As much as I enjoyed it, you can stop clinging to me now."
Chika blushed as she let go off Ryou. Getting off the bike, she was surely tempted to kiss the ground. Ryou drove just as well as he did in The World.
Sadly that's not a good thing.
"Say Ryou, who lives here?" Chika asked, taking off her helmet to get a better look at the nice three story house.
"Would you believe Piros the Third?" Chika gaped at him as he strolled up to the front door.
"That guy who wears that clunky gold armor? THAT Piros the Third?"
"He's actually a great guy offline," Ryou replied, "After all; he did design those shirts for me."
As Ryou was about to knock on the front door he heard a shy voice, "Excuse me is this the right place?" Looking to his right, he saw a guy wearing casual clothing standing off next to a car. He had light brown hair and blue eyes. The one thing Ryou noticed that the guy's skin was quite pale, like he avoided the sun.
"If you mean the party that Piros is hosting, yeah it is," Ryou answered.
"Oh good," the guy said sighing, "I thought I might have the wrong place...my name is Kaoru Ichinose..."
"I'm Ryou Misaki, and this is my date, Chika Kuramoto," Ryou introduced them as he tried to remember where he had heard that voice before. Chika blushed at the fact that Ryou actually considered her his date.
"Nice to meet you Ryou...Chika..." Kaoru replied, "Shall we enter?"
"Yeah...let's go," Ryou nodded as Chika and Kaoru stood behind him as he knocked on the door.
-----
"Ahh that must be the last of them," Hiroshi said practically prancing to the door. After spending a few minutes of dodging questions, practically everyone but Takumi and Natsume was curious to who was coming.
Upon opening the door, Hiroshi exclaimed, "Ah it is you! The one with the nice eyes!"
Kaito nearly face faulted as Hiroshi greeted the mysterious guest like he used to greet him.
"Oi, Hiroshi, must you do that every time," The guest grunted, but everyone knew he was amused.
"Ahh I see you brought some guests!"
"Actually," another voice said this one quieter than the other, "I came by myself. I wish to see the one who has captured my heart."
"Ah well do come in!" Everyone inside held their breath as two guys and a girl come in. Upon seeing some of the guests, however the girl eyes widen.
"T-Thats Mr. Usagimaru and Rei-chan! Ryou!" the girl squealed clinging on to the boy, who started to blush.
"Ahh...Chika calm down!" Ryou exclaimed sweat dropping. Rachael and Nuke laughed at the boy's expression.
"Alright calm down, now that everyone is here, lets announce ourselves, old friends and new!" Hiroshi said, "My name is Hiroshi Matsuyama. In the World R:1, my PC name was Piros, and in R:2, my PC name is Piros the Third!"
Next to speak was a brown haired woman sitting next to a blue haired woman, "I'm An Sakuma and my PC name was Tsukasa."
The woman next to her spoke next, "I am Mariko Misono, and my PC name was Subaru."
"I might not be considered a .Hacker, but my name is Ryo Sakuma, An's father, and my PC name was Bear," the man with what looked like an afro said.
"Nobuyuki Hiyama. My PC name was Balmung."
At this Ryou's eyes widen, "As in Balmung of the Azure Sky?"
"The one in the same," said another man, who was standing next to Nobuyuki, "The name is Yasuhiko Masutani, Orca of the Azure Sea."
"I'm Kaito Kaen," Kaito announced himself grinning, "Kite of the Azure Flame, at your service!"
"And I'm his wife, Akira Kaen," Akira said grinning as well, "I was called Blackrose."
"Hmm..." said a monotone voice," I didn't think you would show, Ryou."
"Who are you?" Ryou asked frowning at the boy his age with brown hair and glasses.
"I am Takumi Hino...also known as the Wiseman...but you may also call me Yata."
Ryou eyes widen, "You're Yata?!"
"Indeed," Takumi said with a shadow of a smirk, "Its finally nice to meet you offline, Ryou."
"Nuke Usagimaru, PC and my name," Nuke said grinning.
"And I'm Rachael, the same as well," Rachael added giggling.
"I'm Natsume," Natsume introduced herself smiling, "it's nice to meet you in person."
Ryou nodded and then realize everyone was looking at him. Sighing, "Alright, I get the picture. My name is Ryou Misaki. In the World R:1...my PC name was Sora."
Gasps went all around the room, "Y-you're Sora?!" Kaito asked with eyes wide. This kid was that had stalked attractive female characters and PK'd them if they didn't give him his member address? Kaito briefly looked over to the pale man next to him a sighed. Poor Ryou didn't notice the strange gleam in Kaoru's eyes but everyone else did.
"Yes...and in R:2 my PC name is Haseo." Suddenly Ryou was glomped from behind.
"Haseo-kun!" Kaoru exclaimed, "I knew it was you, my heart told me so!"
Chika for her part was too stunned at the prospect of someone glomping her date that she didn't realize said man was man fondling her date.
"Arg! Kaoru get off me!" Ryou yelped slipping out of Kaoru's grasp and hiding behind Chika. He knew something was odd about that Kaoru guy, but he couldn't put a finger on it. Now he knew.
"O-oh I'm sorry Ryou-kun," Kaoru replied blushing, "I couldn't help myself."
"W-well that's okay," Ryou said, "But you should really introduce yourself, it's only polite."
"Ah right! Where are my manners," Kaoru said turning to the shocked group, "My name is Kaoru Ichinose...in the World R:1, my PC name was Elk, but now in the World R:2, I go by the name Endrance."
"Hmm fair enough!" Hiroshi exclaimed, pointing ignoring the fact that Ryou was edging away from Kaoru, "Ah yes, Ryou's date. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Uh...My name is Chika Kuramoto...but in The World R:2...I'm Alkaid."
"Ryou you sly dog you," Hiroshi said with a grin, "I didn't know you were dating Alkaid."
"I doing what now? Oh yeah..." Ryou muttered looking up from his hiding spot from behind Chika, who just sighed.
"Somebody has to keep this baka in line," She said grabbing on to Ryou hand. Ryou smiled weakly at Chika who smiled back.
Kaoru glared at Chika but moved closer to Ryou who edged away a little.
"I don't know if I feel happy or sad for Ryou," Kaito muttered. Everyone else agreed.
-----
The party went off without a hitch and Ryou could honestly say he had fun. Despite dodging numerous attempts from Kaoru to get to know him better, he enjoyed catching up with those who helped him in his past.
"Say Takumi," Ryou called, "I didn't think you were a party kind of guy."
"I could say the same thing about you," Takumi replied chuckling, "But I doubt you came over here to talk about the party."
"No...I have an idea about our little project..."
"Oh? Do tell..."
"Well…what if we convince some of the .Hackers to join the guild," Ryou explained, "Other than the members of G.U., they know just as much about The World."
"That's not a bad idea," Takumi agreed, "I'll talk to them about it. "
"What about-"
"Isn't that Kaoru heading this way?" Takumi chuckled as Ryou seemed to duck Kaoru's second glomp and edged away.
-----
After the discussion, Ryou sat on the couch and sighed. 'Well that went well,' he thought sourly. Ryou grunted as Chika sat in his lap.
"Ryou what's wrong?" Chika asked laying her head on his shoulder.
"I thought it would be okay, but some of them were sending me glares all night...I wonder why I even came."
Chika sighed, "Don't worry about it Ryou. Some of them accepted you for you didn't they? They didn't see the boy who was Sora...no they saw the man that you have become."
"Yeah..." Ryou sighed again, "So are we dating?"
"I thought that was obvious."
"I just had to make sure I wasn't drunk again. Hiroshi is notorious for spiking his drinks."
"Ah..." Chika giggles slightly. The thought of a drunken Ryou made her giggle.
Meanwhile Kaito, Nobuyuki and Yasuhiko were watching the young couple.
"He's not at all what I expected of him," Kaito said, frowning.
"He's been through a lot, Kaito, don't hold a grudge against him," Yasuhiko replied.
"He did a lot of things in the past," Nobuyuki, "But he tried his best to make up for that. But what do you think about what He and Takumi is cooking up?"
"Oh about the Anti-PKer Guild?"
"Yeah...what do you think guys? Should the real Azure Knights enter the fray?"
The grins on Yasuhiko's and Kaito's face were all the answer Nobuyuki needed.
-----
The ride home was too quick for both Ryou and Chika's taste but it was getting late. Chika gave Ryou back the helmet he lent her and smiled.
"I had a great time, Ryou, thank you."
"I'm glad you did," Ryou replied blushing slightly.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Chika asked
"I'm off tomorrow so yeah, I'll be home all day," Ryou answered.
"Alright," Chika said smiling. She unlocked her door and opened it, "Good night, Ryou-kun."
"Good Night, Chika-chan," Ryou said before heading to his apartment. Ryou sighed, 'I don't know why I was expecting a kiss...maybe I have changed.'
End of Log 2
About the character names…
Balmung was never given an official name so the name I used is the same as his original voice actor. The same could be said about Yasuhiko, whose last name is the same as his voice actors.
Kaito name roughly translated is "Kite Flame". A humorous twist considering that hes Kite of the Azure Flame.
Ryu was there to make sure An and Mariko got home safely, you know Mariko can't use her legs.
And…that's all I can think of right now Read and Review