{ Oh! Thank you for all the reviews =D I love reading reviews: it's my favorite thing in the world -^^- I'm sorry to say this fic isn't on my top priority list by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope to get updates up a little faster than this one had been.
Questions:
"What does Sengoku Jidai mean anyway!"
Oops, sorry for not making this clear earlier. Sengoku Jidai is the "Warring States" era: the time period in which Inuyasha (manga/anime) takes place. Thanks for your review!
"It's sorta like dot.Hack//sign!!"
Okay, this isn't a question, but I felt I had to comment anyway. You're absolutely right, and I didn't realize this until after you pointed it out xx; -sigh- Now half my story's ruined, because it only gets more like it and I don't want that. I'll just have to come up with something else ^^;; Thanks for reviewing! }
Virtually Real
chapter two – Reality is Overrated
By Jamethiel1
Kagome sat down to her computer, clicking the power on and waiting for it to start. It wasn't the greatest machine in the world so she had a while to do just that. The sun was just now rising and Kagome had only had time to come home from work and take a quick shower before she was back in front of the screen.
She glanced around her one-roomed apartment as she waited for the computer to load, sighing at its sorry shape. But it had a bed, microwave, and computer: the essentials to her new life. Actually, she could pretty much cut out the bed. She rarely slept anymore, but that was okay; it was worth it.
It had been almost a year since she entered the contest, and in that time she had come to be addicted to this role-playing game. It beat reality. The story had enthralled her from the beginning, but life had dragged her away from the game for days at a time. She had school, after all, household chores and other such tasks.
Whenever she returned to Sengoku Jidai, he would be there waiting. Inuyasha was always on, so much so that Kagome found herself wondering if he even slept at all. "Doesn't this guy have a life?" she asked herself on more than one occasion. Soon, however, she had found herself skipping classes, canceling dates with her friends, and shirking her responsibilities to spend more time online. She barely even registered the change, except that she felt more complete living her alternate self's life. It didn't seem to matter that it wasn't real.
Her character had an actual family, for one. Kagome's own mother was dead; her father might as well be for as much as she knew about his whereabouts. She did have a brother, but he was older than herself and away at college. He didn't even bother to write. That had left her with an uncle who was unpleasantly drunk most of the time, and only got worse when he was sober. She had been all too happy to escape into this virtual world.
Then, thankfully, Kagome had turned eighteen two weeks ago, so had packed up and left that particular living arrangement. She had finished school a short time before that, so there wasn't much else to keep her away from her favorite RPG.
By this time Shippou, Miroku, and Sango had joined the gang as well. Though Kagome didn't know their life stories, the three were online as often as she and Inuyasha were. Kagome found herself forming a tighter bond with the four of them than she had with anyone in her own life.
Shippou was the sweetest and cutest being in the world.
Miroku was a pervert, but a good and dependable friend.
Sango was like the sister she had never had.
And Inuyasha.. she had fallen for him just as hard as her character had.
She knew how pathetic it was, but she felt she knew him, she felt that they really had gone through so many hardships together. But there were a couple problems with this realization: One – she had no idea what this guy might really be like. And two – there was absolutely no out of character conversations to be held in Sengoku Jidai.
In regards to the first, she felt that he must be like his character. If she was picked and assigned her own so carefully, surely Inuyasha was the same. Surely she was seeing his true face, minus perhaps the ears.
As to the second, at first this had been a good thing; it kept everyone to the story and made it all the more real. Now, though.. there was no way to contact Inuyasha. Their meetings were restricted to the role-playing sessions they held. She told herself it didn't matter, that there was no chance the guy playing Inuyasha would have any feelings for her anyway. Only she was foolish enough to fall in love with a made-up character from an online game.
So she was restricted to swooning over the image she held of the person behind the hanyou, knowing nothing could come of it. Reduced to true tears whenever Kikyou would make her appearance; sharing all of her character's worries, fears, and emotions. Yep, she was pathetic.
Kagome snapped out of her musings as her computer flared to life. "Finally," she breathed, and felt the familiar fluttering of butterflies, excited to be returning to Sengoku Jidai and her friends. Before she could log on, however, something popped up on the screen to distract her. "2 New Messages." Kagome automatically clicked the pop-up, and it brought her to her e-mail inbox. Let's see who's bothering me today.. she thought as she glanced at the first of the two.
From: perfectoffers Subject: FW: guaranteed cash prize!
She didn't even bother opening the junk mail; she just deleted it and moved on to the next.
From: Naraku Subject: Sengoku Jidai
For a moment Kagome's heart raced, before she shook her head and laughed at herself. Naraku was just a normal person who happened to play villainous character in the RPG. It wasn't as if he could control who the company had sent him; he had to follow his character's part in the role-play, just as she did. Then why did she have a bad feeling about this? If her character matched her and her personality so well, didn't everyone's? Swallowing hard, Kagome tried to tell herself she was making a big deal out of a little thing, as she clicked open the mail.
From: Naraku
To: Kagome Higurashi
Subject: Sengoku Jidai
You want to meet him?
I know how you can.
Kagome stared dumbly at the screen, unknowing of what to make of it. Two simple lines, and yet they seemed to hold all her hopes and desires in them. She had little doubt who the 'him' Naraku referred to was. It had to be Inuyasha. Kagome was vaguely aware of the fact this person couldn't know she wanted to meet him, but that part was locked away by the rest, the larger part that was screaming, "Yes!" Yes, she did want to meet him, and Naraku, if he was to be believed, knew a way for it to happen. Not thinking of the consequences, no longer doubting Naraku's character, she hit the reply button and typed in a single word:
How?
Sending the e-mail, Kagome forced herself to breath. Don't get your hopes up, she warned herself, this could all be a stupid joke.. "I know that," she spoke aloud, defending herself. She knew better than to fall for random messages like this. When she had first started the role-play, there had been countless e-mails from people claiming to be management for Sengoku Jidai, asking for her password. She wasn't stupid enough to fall for those, so why did she suddenly get so excited over this?
"You're losing it, Kagome," she informed herself, then laughed. Now I'm even talking to myself, she thought mockingly, but not without humor, I really need to get a life. Then she remembered her mission for awaiting her intolerably slow computer's startup, and smiled. She had a life; though it might not be considered by many to be appropriate, she loved it more than anything. Even if I don't get a reply, she mused as she thought back on the e-mail, "I'll survive." And yet, despite her talk, her hand shook slightly as she spotted something pop up in the corner of the computer screen.
"1 New Message"
end of chapter two
{ Evil place to end it? Perhaps. But I wanted to get something up, even if it was as short and horrible as this. I lied last chapter, this is also pretty much an introduction :\ Maybe we'll actually get to the plot next time! Please review ^^ }