III. DEATH OF PHASE I AND SUBARU'S CONFESSION
It's too bad, Skeith…If only you had been more obedient…I would have let you live. Now, the souls of Aura, Mimiru, and Subaru are mine. But I must…I must have Tsukasa…
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"Tsukasa! I came as soon as I could – right after school!"
"Hello, Kite…" Tsukasa began.
"Kite!! There you are! "
"Hehe…Subaru? Why are you here?"
"Because I just am. Because I just wanted to be with you…"
"S-Subaru, please…"
"Subaru, could you leave Tsukasa and me alone for a moment? There's something I need to talk about with…him." Kite tried to get Subaru away.
"Kite, you know… Don't be with Tsukasa. He's not worth it. Not one little bit! C'mon, let's go to a romantic area together, Kite!" Before Kite could respond, Subaru pulled Kite close to her against his will warped him to a different area: S Chosen Hopeless Abyss.
Tsukasa just stood there dumbfounded.
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S Chosen Hopeless Abyss was not a smart choice to go to for a romantic walk. For example, there were monsters everywhere! It was a pretty high level area and Subaru was scared senseless by the time Kite had data-drained the monsters on the field.
"Oh, thank you so much for saving me, Kite ! You see, I'm only on level 73. These monsters are so big and scary. I have only been playing for 2 ½ weeks !"
"WHAAT?!? You're on level 73, you've been playing for 2 weeks, and you're afraid of monsters? You don't make sense. How can you be on such a high level? How'd you level up so fast?"
"Me? I've never leveled up my entire life! You see…hey, Kite ! You promise that what I'm about to tell you will stay a secret? Promise not to tell Tsukasa?"
"Depends on what it is…If it's important…"
"Please!"
"I…I promise." Kite crossed his fingers.
"I'm not the girl Tsukasa knows."
"Huh? Tsukasa doesn't know you? But didn't you try to capture him at one point and everything?"
"Yeah, but what I'm trying to tell you is, I'm not her. I'm not Subaru."
"But here it is! Your character's name on my name is spelled: "S-U-B-A-R-U."
"Subaru was my cousin. I'm not her. My name is Riki."
"So, the reason why you're playing Subaru's character is because she gave you her password and permission. But why?"
"I found her password. But I don't have her permission."
"Then the only other reason is that she…"
"She can no longer access the game. Three weeks ago, she fell unconscious while playing the game. According to her mother, she had found an interesting area in the game worth exploring earlier that day. Her last words right before she fell unconscious were, 'What have I done…'"
"No!"
* I must have them all…all four females who took part in my birth…*
* Only you…Tsukasa…left…*
That means…Mimiru, Aura, Subaru…Tsukasa! He's the only one left!
"Kite ? Please don't tell Tsukasa! When I first accessed the game…he was…nice to me, and I wanted to be with him always. I wanted to get to know him as well as he thought he knew me. Then he started hanging out with that Mimiru girl, so I decided to hang out with you to make him jealous. But he doesn't seem jealous. Why ? Why?"
"Because…you can't possibly make a girl jealous of you by hanging out with a guy more than her."
"What are you…"
"Tsukasa's a girl."
"I-I can't accept that! He's…been so nice to me, and…I can't just give him up! You're lying to me, aren't you? Tell me you are! It's because…you're jealous that I like him, right?"
" I can't tell you I'm lying. Because it's the truth."
"You really are horrible!" In anger, Subaru gated out without Kite.
…Oh, well…there was nothing I could do…
After standing for a while in the now quiet field, Kite listened to the lonely background music playing. He was alone to contemplate his scattered thoughts for a while.
Tsukasa's the only one left, and Subaru and Mimiru have both fallen victim…if Tsukasa's the only one left, then – that means Aura has also - ! I must not let Morganna and Skeith succeed. Right now, time is standing still. It feels like I have all the time in the world, but I don't. Even now, Skeith and Morganna are working to get Tsukasa into their hands. But it won't happen just yet. I can feel it.
Then, realizing that it turned night in the area while he was thinking, Kite returned to Fort Ouph.
Tsukasa was waiting for him there. "Subaru told me you'd come soon, but I didn't know you took so long to gate out of an area."
"I was just thinking."
"About what?"
Tsukasa…your friends have all fallen victim to Skeith…do you know that?
"Nothing really."
"Really? You spent a long time thinking about nothing. Are you…sure you don't want to talk about it?" His piercing violet eyes stared right through Kite, making him feel guilty.
"I…"
Are you aware that you are next on the list?
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Tsukasa…I -"
"Shhh…Don't say anything. Tell me when you're ready. Anyway, I'm off to meet someone…See you."
"Wait!"
"What?"
"I want to come along."
"…All right. I'm just going to see a friend. It's nothing important, so don't be disappointed."
I'll never leave you, Tsukasa. Don't worry. Morganna will come sooner or later, but I'll be there when that happens.
"What are the keywords?"
"S Hidden Oblivious Wavemaster."
"All right then, let's go."
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S Hidden Oblivious Wavemaster. It was a beautiful place, actually – one of those fields where it's always night and the moon is always full. The crickets were heard chirping in the background.
"Tsukasa? You're sure your friend told you to meet here?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"Who was it again?"
"Well, I'm not sure you know her. But we're not exactly really good friends – more like acquaintances. Anyway, her name's-"
"Hey! Kite! Over here!"
"Huh?" Kite turned around to see who was calling him. "Elk! What a surprise!"
Elk seemed even more surprised. "What a coincidence! We were just getting ready to meet somebody in this field!"
Huh? Kite thought. "Wait. You and who else? Your girlfriend?" He asked slyly, surprised to see Elk's face blush a deep crimson.
"So, you're here with a girl, huh? Who is she?"
"Um, well, uh…my, isn't the weather so nice today? Where's that other wavemaster anyway?"
"Stop changing the subject, Elk. Tsukasa's right here." But when Kite turned around to show Elk, he saw that Tsukasa was indeed missing. "Oh no! Where's Tsukasa?" Kite asked, turning back to Elk, and then he noticed that Elk had disappeared as well. "Wait! Elk! Where are you?" Kite yelled at the top of his lungs and stomping his feet. Unfortunately, all the commotion stimulated a field portal, and this was a pretty high level area. Monsters came rushing out of the portal, charging for Kite. "Noooo!"
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"So, are you doing alright these days, Tsukasa?"
"I'm all right. Is that all you wanted to ask me about? There must be another reason you called me out here, right?" Tsukasa asked the young golden-haired wavemaster.
"Well, actually, I heard that you couldn't log out again. Is that true?" BT asked.
"Well, what does it matter to you? You've never actually cared about me anyway."
"I just…wanted to see how you were doing. What's so wrong about that?"
"Next time you have nothing to tell me, don't even bother calling me."
"B-BT!!!!"
Tsukasa turned to find Kite with another wavemaster running his way. "Who's that?"
"Oh, that's just Elk. He's the wavemaster who's been following me around the past few weeks. I also wanted to introduce him to you, besides asking you about your strange predicament."
Tsukasa scrutinized the unfamiliar character for a moment. His attire was similar to that of his own character design, except for slight changes in the outfit, hair, and eye color. Yes, this young boy seemed to be someone you could place your trust on.
"Hello, Elk. Nice to meet you," Tsukasa greeted him.
"Who are you? You were the guy with Kite, weren't you? What were you saying to BT?"
BT immediately began to take charge of the situation. "Let me do the introducing. Elk, this is the guy I told you about. Meet Tsukasa."
"Oh, so you're the famous Tsukasa, huh? I've heard about you, and your monster."
Kite looked confused. "What monster?"