Disclaimer: Don't own .hack. 'Nuff said.

Author's note: For a while, I've wondered what it would be like to write some fanfics where Kite met other .hack characters in real life, but both parties were unaware of it. So, this fanfic started. Any ideas/constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated, so feel free to comment.

New Note: Edited and such. No big changes, but special thanks to Jonathan Priest for advice.

Wandering

It was raining, he noticed as he walked down the street, a crowd of people around him. The rain was currently a mere sprinkling, though the gloomy clouds above him showed no signs of stopping and the forecast predicted the rain to increase later on. This was trivial to him, though, as he made his way to his destination to see his friend at the local hospital.

He left his home knowing that he would most likely not be allowed to even see his friend, just like the other times, but the gesture still needed to be made. He wasn't too fond of this pattern, but knew he preferred it this way. His friend, who was quite popular within The World, now lay in a hospital gown on a bed, not responding to the pleadings of his family, lacking the vitality and warmth that drew people to him. Seeing his friend like that, void of all that which made him alive, would depress him and lead him to ask himself why he couldn't have been the one to go comatose, why his friend couldn't have been the one to live and be the hero of this adventure, which he certainly didn't need, nor would his friend want.

Accidentally nudging someone and muttering a noncommittal apology, he crossed the street with all the other people who were headed in his direction as well. After he crossed, he turned in another direction and proceeded forward once again, passing a small coffee shop with an outdoor area for those who preferred some fresh air while eating. Making a small note to stop by on his way back for something warm to drink on this chilly day, he continued on towards the hospital without much incident, just reflecting on the last few weeks.

Passing yet another outdoor café, he was startled out of his thoughts when he felt someone tug at the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing. Turning with such haste that he startled more than one passerby, he found himself facing a middle aged man, not more than forty years old, dressed in blue jeans and a closed brown leather coat. Seeing the surprised look, and then the narrowed gaze on his face, the man quickly spoke to him.

"I'm sorry to startle you, but I'm looking to meet some old friends of mine at a small coffee shop in the general area, and I can't seem to find anything other than this café, and none of my friends are here. Could you tell me where I might find it?", he asked, his brow furrowed in worry, "It's called Run's Coffee. We were planning to meet there for a reunion of sorts, but I seem to have lost the address."

Nodding, the boy gave the directions to the coffee shop, which happened to be the one he had passed some minutes ago. Grinning, the man thanked him and started to jog to his parked car, saying something about how An would owe him dishes for a week for betting against him.

Shrugging, the boy started to walk away, ready to forget all about it, but paused as he saw something lying on the ground where the man had been before he left. Frowning, he bent to pick it up and found that it was a picture of the man with a woman and some children, with the name Ryo Sakuma written on the back. Glancing up quickly to find the man in order to return it, he failed to spot him and decided to find the man in the phone directory at his house and return it to him then through the mail. Standing up again, he put the picture in his back pocket and prepared to resume his original goal. He only made it a dozen steps before the question of "what would Yasuhiko do?" drove him to turn around and head back towards the coffee shop at a brisk jog, intending to catch up to this Ryo Sakuma.

He wasn't about to fail, either, as he caught sight of his target about to enter the coffee shop, the neon sign above the door which had recently turned on giving the man's coat a rougher appearance as the light rain beat upon it. Giving out a cry of "Mr. Sakuma!" the boy managed to catch up to his target, the man stopping after hearing his name. Upon reaching the man, who was giving a confused look to the slightly winded boy in front of him, he thrust out his hand, which now held the photo, gasping out between breaths, "You dropped this, Mr. Sakuma."

The man took the offered photograph, and upon giving a slight jerk at realizing what it was, reached for his wallet and placed it in, making sure that it wouldn't fall out. Returning his attention to the returnee of his personal treasure, he smiled and spoke, saying, "Thank you very much for returning this, young man. Is there anything I can do for you? Buy you a drink or something?"

Waving the offer off with a "It was nothing, really" and a small grin, the boy turned around and resumed his trek to the hospital without any other obstacles, while the man frowned at not being able to show his thanks properly but went inside the building to meet with his friends.

An hour later, the boy returned from his trip to the hospital in a slightly down state. As he had expected, he had been unable to see his friend again. That, and the fact the formal sprinkling of rain had picked up into a steady downpour, caused him to curse himself that he hadn't brought an umbrella like so many other pedestrians, but was clothed only in a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeve shirt, had set him up for bad mood. Wishing vainly for a pair of dry clothes and for a warm bed, along with a number of other impossibilities, he headed towards into the coffee shop he had shown the man, no, Ryo Sakuma, he reminded himself, and grasped at the door handle.

Before he managed to reach it, however, the door quickly swung outward, causing him to jump back in surprise as two people came out. One was a man in a business suit, who was pushing a wheelchair, which contained the second person, a teenage girl who, upon seeing him stumbling backwards, smiled apologetically and asked if he was alright. Nodding and apologizing needlessly for getting in the way, he stepped aside and let the two pass. After waiting a moment, he stepped inside the shop, mentally thanking the builders of it for having a heater in it. After ordering a hot chocolate, he sat beside a window and watched the rainfall while drinking his beverage and relishing the warm, dry environment.

When he was done, however, he was reluctant to go outside, as the rain had steadily increased in to a pounding force. He internally debated if he wanted to wait another couple of hours or so for his parents to get off work and be able to come pick him up, or if he should just walk the remaining distance so he could make some possible headway in helping his friend's recovery. His musings were stopped, however, when he noticed someone standing behind him trying to think of how to talk to him.

Turning around, he found himself looking at Ryo, who had just opened his mouth and who's hand was reached out to tap his shoulder. Surprised at the timing of the boy's turn, he hesitated speaking, causing the tall, teenage girl behind him to lightly hit him on the shoulder for hesitating and spoke for him.

"Excuse me, but you're the boy who helped my directionally challenged," at this, Ryo glared at her, "father here find this place, right?" Seeing his nod, she continued. "Well, he felt bad for not being able to repay you, so he wanted to offer you..."

At this point, Ryo interrupted her, saying "I can speak for myself, An. What she was trying to say is that as a token of gratitude, would you like us to drive you to your home? I noticed you were walking a hour ago, and the rain has picked up..."

Seeing hesitation in his eyes, An spoke up again, a faint smile in her eye. "If you need to, you can use my cell to call your parents to let them know what's happening. That way, if we are kidnappers," at this point, Ryo looked shocked until he saw that she was joking, "the police would know who was kidnapping you, where you were last, and, with all the people who know us, find you. That make you feel better?"

Glancing at both her and Ryo, who did seem to want to help, along with being in better spirits than he was ten minutes ago, the boy nodded, playfully growled out, "Where's that phone?"

Five minutes later, after leaving a detailed message on his home answering machine and giving Ryo directions to his apartment complex, the boy found himself in the back of an old minivan. Staring at something that was older than he was, his incredulous expression, along with his barely heard question of, "Does this thing even work?" had sent An into subdued laughter when they had gotten to it, while Ryo had put on a long suffering expression, explaining to him how An and her friends had said the exact same things when they had first seen it. Ignoring the obvious age and used condition of the van, the boy did have to admit it had a nice homey atmosphere, while also being a far step above being in the rain or waiting hours for his parents. The quite ride, however, was interrupted when, at a traffic stop, Ryo glanced at him through the rear view mirror and spoke.

"So, have you heard of The World?" He asked, starting off on a topic almost everyone knew something about.

Surprised, the boy looked up and responded. "Yeah, you could say that."

Without glancing at the boy again, Ryo continued to speak. "You have, huh? Do you actually play it?"

"Yeah, my best friend introduced me to it, and you could kind of say that I just have to play it."

Not saying anymore, silence fell back over the group until An spoke. "You make many friends? I made some of my first friends from it, though some are kind of weird. Are your friends like that?"

After reflecting on it, the boy answered with a smile in his eyes. "Yeah, actually. After my friend who introduced me to the game, I started to meet all kinds of people. I met a girl, a fellow beginner, actually, who tried to act like a pro. I met a wavemaster and blade master who collect a useless item, a samurai player who collects katanas, a rare item hunter, and a couple others. One twin blade I met is trying to build self confidence, while this one axe man role plays as a knight, though he's kind of clumsy."

This being the most the boy said to them so far, Ryo encouraged the boy to go on, saying, "Well, that certainly is a lot of people. Any of them famous players?"

The boy seemed to freeze for a minute, but no one seemed to notice since he actually grinned the next moment, before replying. "Yeah, actually. There's this one long arm, and she had her own fan club. When I went to that field, they forced me to give her a love letter, of all things. What was funny, though, was that when they arrived, she actually turned and ran the other way! You had to see it to believe it."

The boy's grin was infectious, and Ryo found himself grinning along with the boy. After a brief chuckle, An said, "Yeah, I know how she felt. There was this one time a couple of months ago, and over a dozen of people were chasing me around the net." With this she and Ryo exchanged looks, while the boy thought it to be simply a private joke. Something occurring to him, he faced Ryo and asked a question.

"Mr. Sakuma ..."

"Just Ryo, please."

"Mr. Ryo then," a sigh of resignation answered him as An smirked at the boy, enjoying his jab at her father. "Were those people you were with in the coffee shop your friends from The World?"

"You could say that. We aren't all the best of friends, but we got to know each other in The World, and we just thought we'd meet for a reunion of sorts. Why do you want to know?"

Having all the attention put on him, the boy lightly flushed and replied, "I'm sorry if I was prying. I was just wondering."

With that, Ryo just laughed and waved the apology off. The group drove on for a while in a content silence, before An looked back at the boy. "Hey," she asked, "where were you walking from anyways?"

Silence was her answer for a moment, before the boy replied, "I went to see a friend at the hospital."

"I'm sorry. I've had my own troubles in the past, so I know what it's like to need an open ear. Do you want to talk about it to me?" she asked. The boy didn't answer this time, his unspoken answer leaving an uneasy silence.

"We're here," Ryo said as the van stopped, doing so before An tried to break the silence again by apologizing. The boy carefully got out of the car, and was about to head inside the building after murmuring his thanks when Ryo called out to him. "Hey, kid," he said, getting the boy's attention. "Here, take this," he said, pulling a small card out of his pocket and handing it to the boy. On it was his name and contact information, most likely a business card of sorts. Seeing the boy's confused gaze, he clarified. "I still owe you for what you did for me. If you ever need anything, or just want to talk or meet up online, call me. Either An or I will answer, and I'll do what I can for you."

The surprised boy, who accepted the card with a soft thanks for the offer, put it into his pant's pocket, where it would most likely be conveniently forgotten. There wasn't any reason to drag anyone else into his mess, after all, when they could be hurt merely for being near him. Giving another thanks for the ride, and deciding to put the card somewhere safe to be used after the current crisis was over, the boy walked the last several feet to the front doors of his apartment.

As he walked through the sliding door into the building, An, realizing something, rolled her window down and gave a yell.

"Kid! We didn't catch your name!"

However, it was to late, a timely blast of thunder muffling her voice as the apartment door closed, giving no hint that the boy had even heard them. Deciding that it wasn't worth the trouble to get soaked in the heavy rain that had appeared to run in and find out, An shrugged and turned to her adoptive father. "Well, that was strange. I wonder who he was, and what do you think was upsetting him?"

Shrugging, Ryo pulled back onto the road and drove off, while An's last question hung in the air, before sliding into the back of his mind as he drove off. The boy had been troubled, and he could always use some of his abundant time to investigate, but that would have to wait for later. Somehow, even though it should have been no surprise, he couldn't help noticing it was still raining.

Author review: Well, how was it? Do you know who's who? Please note that I used the real names for the characters, a character without a real life name is simply unnamed, like the boy. If I have misspelled them, or someone points out something fatally wrong, I'll correct this. I do plan on making more of these stories, but they may or may not be from the same point of view as this one. Well, please review.

Final Notes: Edited, like I said. Mostly in the last few paragraphs, but I think it's better now.