Warning: Majorly long chapter...
Disclaimer: I do not own any more of the .hack conglomeration than
copies of the games, manga and anime. This plot happens to be mine, but
allusions and references are made to events within the games/anime. And
I do change things about the after-game things that happen (such as a
tweak with the return of the bracelet and the heading off to Hidden
Darkside Holy Ground to reclaim Mia...). So, no flaming!
About reviews: I would LOVE to have at least one person who reviews every chapter and gives me feedback other than "It was wonderful" or "It sucked." Suggestions, comments, and critiques are wanted and welcome.
Chapter 2
Elk, Mimiru, Tsukasa – the real world
I miss you so much, Mia! I could confide in you, tell my troubles and be comforted... But you're gone... And now I have most need of your strong presence... It's so lonely... oh Mia, where are you?
- Elk
"Get out of my way, show-off shrimp."
The command came from behind, so a boy, too short and thin for his age by far, turned around, looking up into the beefy face of one he would never call a friend. The boy didn't have any friends, at least not in the real world, so he couldn't expect anyone to intervene. It was probably too late to avoid getting beaten up now anyway.
"Why, Yaku?" sighed the little boy, feigning apathy, though he was frightened, as always, by this other boy who insisted upon tormenting him.
"You're the smart one, Hidezki, why don't you tell me?" sneered Yaku.
It was true, the small boy was the smartest one in his class, taking advanced courses in nearly every subject, though these classes covered things beyond what the entrance exam for high school required. However, the intelligence wasn't something Hidezki was proud of. Others teased him for it, secretly or openly jealous and hateful. Therefore he tried to hide his intellect, or at least hide himself. It resulted in him having no friends to speak of. It also resulted in him becoming a fast runner, fast as an elk someone had once said.
Now, Hidezki didn't bother to answer, but shifted his stance for a better position at running. On the sidewalk he was on around the corner from school, he knew that if he ran back there, the others wouldn't follow him. If he ran home, then the others would indeed follow him and they knew no one besides Hidezki was home at this time. The boy barely prevented a shiver coursing through his body at this thought.
"What, isn't the teacher's pet going to answer?" asked another boy who had followed Yaku over with several others. They now began to form a ring around Hidezki, trying to cut off an escape.
"Leave me alone," hissed the small boy, narrowing his green eyes behind a pair of oval tortoiseshell frames.
"No," replied a third boy who had come behind Hidezki. "And we aren't going to let you run away, little elk, not this time."
"I said, leave me alone!"
"Why?" asked Yaku. "Because otherwise you'll cry? You'll start spitting tigrinometry (Hidezki mumbled, under his breath, "Trigonometry." But he went unheard.) problems at us? Ha... Let's get him."
Hidezki cried out in alarm as, faster than he could bolt, one of the boys jumped forward, grabbing Hidezki's legs and tackling him to the ground and causing the satchel he was holding to be thrown forward, the books it contained scattering. With a clink, the boy's glasses went flying onto the pavement, but their sturdy frames didn't break or bend, thankfully. However, Hidezki could not retrieve them for, though he struggled to crawl away, another boy grabbed his arms and lifted him up so that his legs dangled off the ground, forcing him to kick and flail in a last effort to avoid being pummeled. The boy did manage to kick Yaku in the face and give him a bloody nose, but that was all before the first hit from another boy landed in his stomach and it landed hard. Hidezki groaned in sickly pain, trying to curl up almost involuntarily. It was a good thing lunch had been a while ago, otherwise he might have thrown up. As it was, he felt he was going to anyway.
The teenager, who had hit Hidezki's stomach, grinned and pulled back his arm to punch again, but Yaku said the next hit was his. Therefore, it was Yaku who punched the side of Hidezki's face and giving him a bloody nose, if he hadn't actually broken it. Hidezki bit his lip to keep from crying out this time. It would only encourage them. Another punch landed on his stomach and his shoulders ached from the awkward position in which they were held. More hits and smacks came, but Hidezki was slipping into a dull haze.
"What the hell are you doing to him?!" cried a female voice.
"Leave him alone," said another.
The beating halted as the boys turned to see who had spoken. A tall, slim girl with long blue-black hair pulled back into a pony-tail stood there, stormy gray eyes glaring at them through a pair of round wire-rimmed glasses. Next to her stood a girl with dark brown hair, honey brown eyes and no glasses, glowering at them as well. At first the boys, save Hidezki who was semi-conscious and without his glasses he couldn't have seen the pair anyway, simply stared, open-mouthed. No one, except teachers, had ever tried to defend Hidezki before. Therefore, since these girls were obviously students, though one was not from their school, the boys were unsure what to do.
"Who are you?" asked Yaku, after a moment.
"Why do you care?" snapped the bespectacled girl, the one who had spoken second before. "No one else does. Now, let the poor boy go!"
The brunette gave her friend an odd look, then stepped forward, brandishing a fist threateningly. "Just because we're girls, doesn't mean we can't hurt you..." she threatened.
"Umm... I know you. You're Mimiru," said Yaku to the brunette, taking a step back. "Fine, then. Take the scrawny elk. We couldn't care less."
With a nod to his 'henchmen,' Yaku turned and began to walk off. The others followed him, one throwing Hidezki at the two young women's feet. The boy landed with a thud, groaning and curling himself into a ball. The gray-eyed girl gazed at Hidezki a moment before stepping forward and kneeling down next to him while Mimiru watched to make sure the boys left. The former set down her books and picked up Hidezki's glasses..
"Hey," she murmured, shaking him gently with one hand while holding his glasses out to him with the other. "You're safe now."
Hidezki eyes, or rather one eye as the other was swollen shut, flickered open and then widened in surprise, glancing at his glasses then at the girl who held them out to him. The boy took the spectacles and fitted them on his face again.
"Who are you?" he asked, not able to get up just yet.
"My name is Amaya," replied the girl, retrieving a handkerchief from a pocket in her skirt. She handed it to the boy. "Use this for your nose. What is your name?"
"H-hidezki," replied the boy, holding the cloth to his nose and slowly sitting up, though he winced with even the smallest movement. "Thank you for getting rid of them."
A half smile flitted across Amaya's lips a moment, then disappeared, replaced by the strange sad regretful look of before. "Can you stand up?" she asked.
"I think so," muttered Hidezki. "They've never beat me this badly before... I..." He trailed off into silence, glancing over at Mimiru, who was gathering his scattered books and putting them back into his satchel.
Amaya nodded and stood up herself, then offered a hand to Hidezki. He took it and rose slowly, coming barely to the shoulder of the girl, though she was barely a year older than himself. Mimiru came over to them her backpack on her back and Hidezki's satchel over one shoulder.
"Hey, you all right now?" she asked.
"I think so," he replied. "Though I'm rather bruised and, ugh..."
Try as he might, he couldn't help but moan softly.
"Do you live far?" asked Mimiru, concern filling her face.
Hidezki nodded. "But no one is ever home, now. Mother has to work."
"Mimiru, what about your home?" suggested Amaya. "Your family's apartment is only a block and a half away."
"True. D'you think you can make it that far?"
Hidezki nodded again.
"All right then," said Mimiru, smiling broadly. "Let's go. I'll carry your bag for you and Amaya can help you if needed."
- -
A slow walk, the climbing of a flight of stairs and the opening of a door later, the three were in Mimiru's apartment.
"Mom! I'm home! Can you come here?" she called.
"Hello honey! I thought you and Amaya were going to get ice cream," came her mother's voice from down the hallway. Presently, Mrs. Kurosawa came out from the kitchen, dusting her hands off on her apron. She smiled at Amaya, then espied the bruised and battered Hidezki. "Oh dear! You poor child! Mimiru, who is this?"
The woman bustled over to the boy. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up. You two go on into the living room."
"This is Hidezki," said Mimiru. "Some idiots from my school were beating him up."
"Hidezki Moro? Aren't you in seventh grade? The child taking the college courses?"
"Yes, ma'am," murmured the boy as he was lead into the kitchen.
"I've heard about you. You ought to get along well with Amaya. She's taking college courses, too," said Mrs. Kurosawa. "Anyway, as long as you're here, would you like some cookies? You'll have to wait a little while because I've only just put them in the oven..."
The pair disappeared into the kitchen, Mimiru's mother acting the part, showing the kindness and love to Hidezki that she would have shown to Mimiru. And Mimiru smiled after her. Amaya gazed longingly after her.
"I wish that I could have parents like yours," murmured the girl, pushing her glasses up her nose. "They are so kind and loving."
"What are your parents like? You've never actually said," stated Mimiru, setting down her backpack and Hidezki's satchel against the wall and sitting down upon a couch. Amaya set her bag down next to the other two and following her friend to the couch.
"Parent. Mother died when I was very young," murmured Amaya, obviously uncomfortable with this topic.
Nevertheless, Mimiru pressed on, curiosity driving her. "But what about your father? I've never seen him and you never talk about him..."
Amaya remained silent, gazing at the ground. Mimiru prompted her, saying, "Well?"
"I don't want to talk about that bastard!" snapped Amaya, suddenly.
For a moment Mimiru gaped at her, then she said, "Uh.. All right... At least you didn't disappear like you used to in the World."
There was silence for several moments, before Mimiru broke it with the exclamation, "You should get along well with this Hidezki, he's just like you, taking college courses... You people are too smart."
Grateful for the change of subject Amaya smiled vaguely and replied by saying, "Not too smart. Maybe it's the rest of you who are too dumb?"
"Hey," replied Mimiru, glaring at her friend. "I'm not dumb! Just because I'm not a frikin' genius..."
"Genius requires a certain IQ, above 160, if I remember rightly, and, as I have not tested my IQ, it is impossible to say whether I am a genius or not. Therefore, you have no basis in your assumption."
"Oh shut up, Amaya. Or I'll start calling you Tsukasa again. By the way, as I've told you so many times, you really ought to start playing again! The whole incident with the girl and the problems with the server is over. You won't get trapped again, I promise."
Amaya shook her head. "Again, no! I don't want to! You just don't understand..."
"Look, I know you still are haunted by it, but the only way to conquer your fears is to face them. Come on, Amaya," pleaded Mimiru. "Besides, if you did get trapped again, you wouldn't be alone. Me and Subaru and Bear would all be there for you."
"I know," sighed Amaya. "But, still... You can't... you don't... know what I feel... what I remember..."
Mimiru opened her mouth to say something further, but was interrupted by her mother and Hidezki entering the room. Blood had been cleaned from the boy's face and bandages had been applied to his face. Mrs. Kurosawa had also given him two ice packs, one he held to his stomach and the other he held to his nose. The woman herself carried a tray upon which was a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies and three glasses of cold milk.
"Now, I'll leave you three with the cookies and milk. I'll go call your home, Hidezki," said Mrs. Kurosawa, her voice as bright and cheerful as Mimiru's.
"No one will be home," he answered, his voice somewhat bitter.
"I'll call anyway, you never know. In an hour or so I can drive you home, if you wish. But you can decide that later."
With that Mrs. Kurosawa set the tray down on the coffee table and swept out of the room. Hidezki stumbled forward and half-collapsed on a big comfy chair next to the couch.
"You're mom is very nice," he said. "Thank you for bringing me here."
"No problem," beamed Mimiru. "Actually, you should thank Amaya because she's the one who saw you and demanded that we go over and help."
"Thank you," said Hidezki, turning to Amaya.
She was gazing at the wall, her mind obviously wandering, but Amaya turned back to the boy and gave him a half smile. "I can't stand people getting beat up by others who feel the need to assert their masculinity."
"Mimiru-san, might I check my email, please?" asked Hidezki after a few moments of silence.
"Oh, sure!" she said, standing up and picking up the tray. "You can check it in my room. I'll bring the cookies with us because I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants one."
They traipsed after her, down the hallway and into another room. The room was furnished with a bed, covered in blue sheets, a nightstand, a bookshelf, a desk and a desk chair. The walls were a light blue and the carpet was a deep midnight color. On the walls were posters of a few different bands, a calendar and picture frames containing photos of friends and family. One picture on her desk in particular attracted Hidezki's attention. Within the frame were two pictures, one a group of people, including Mimiru, Amaya, a younger kid, a girl in a wheel-chair, an older man and an older woman. The other was a screen shot from the World showing the same number of people plus one, consisting of a smiling heavy blade who bore an uncanny resemblance to Mimiru, a tall, broad shouldered blade master, a grinning twin blade with green hair, a heavy axe-woman with wings, a long arm, and two wavemasters. One wavemaster was a blond woman who was smiling like the rest, but the other was staring off into space, his purplish gray eyes filled with a strange sadness, making Hidezki think immediately of Amaya.
Mimiru sat down at the desk and turned her computer on, while Amaya took the tray from her and set it on the nightstand. Amaya glanced at the picture Hidezki was examining and sighed, swiftly looking away as if what she saw pained her or stirred up memories. She took a drink from her glass of milk and sat down on the bed.
"Do you both play the World?" asked Hidezki as Mimiru quickly checked her own email.
"I do," said Mimiru. "Amaya used to, but not anymore. I'm the heavy-blade in that screen-shot and Amaya's the wavemaster with the staff like a shepherd's crook. Do you play?"
Hidezki nodded, looking back and forth between Amaya and the picture. The eyes of herself and her avatar were almost exactly the same, save the wavemaster didn't wear glasses and Amaya's own eyes weren't tinted lavender. "I play a lot. It's the only place in which I have friends, really," he sighed. "Actually, my character design is pretty similar to Amaya's, but the colors are different as well as many of the details."
"What's your user name?" asked Mimiru as she typed up a reply to an email from someone named Bear.
"Elk," replied the boy, setting down the ice packs and picking up a cookie and a glass of milk. "Yours?"
"Mimiru and Amaya's Tsukasa," replied Mimiru, logging out of her email account. "Go ahead and log in, now."
Mimiru rose and joined Amaya seated on the bed. Hidezki sat down at the desk chair and entered his name and password for the email. He had four new emails. One was an add for S.P.A.M., a disgusting canned meat product. Another was from Kite asking how things were and answering a question Hidezki had sent him the day before. The third was from Balmung, asking for suggestions on research sites for a project he had been assigned, but the fourth email was what held Hidezki's attention. It was from Aura.
The boy's eyes widened and he leaned forward as if that would somehow make the email open a little faster. The message ran thus:
"Elk-
Another birth is about to take place.
But something is going to try and stop it. This must not happen.
Go to Omega, Hidden Dark Side Holy Ground."
"I've got to go home!" said Hidezki, logging out and turning swiftly from the computer, staring at his new friends with earnestness that amazed them.
"Now? What for?" asked Mimiru. "Has something happened?"
"Well," began the boy, fidgeting. "I think someone important needs help... And I've got to help her! It might... She might... She might be talking about Mia..."
Not quite following, but pressed by his urgency, Mimiru nodded and stood up. Amaya, however, remained seated a moment longer, gazing at him curiously.
"It this in the World?" questioned the girl, at last standing up.
Hidezki nodded.
"I can help you, then," said Mimiru. "If you want..."
The boy shook his head. "No... thank you, but..." He trailed off, a pained, worried expression on his bruised face.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Later, Hidezki, with a package of cookies from Mrs. Kurosawa, was at home, seated in front of the computer, waiting with impatience as it booted up quickly, but not quick enough. Mimiru, told by her mother that she ought not to play games until her school work was finished, did not log in, but did her math homework. Amaya went home, walking slowly. When she arrived, relief coursed through her body to find that her father's car was not in the driveway.
The girl unlocked the front door and entered in, locking it shut behind her. Then, Amaya made her way to her room, barring that door shut, for the lock was broken. Her room was the only place in the entire house that was neat and orderly. The rest was filled with disarray, things broken, shattered. Glass was scattered across much of the living room floor, reflecting any who passed through like fragments of a shattered mirror. Fragments of a shattered mirror... That described how Amaya felt most of the time, too...
Turning her mind from these thoughts, the girl looked at her computer, then at the box sitting next to the desk, the box that contained the software, the controls, the headset for the World. Her eyes lingered upon that box for long moments before she turned them away and sat down upon her bed. She picked up a book and began to read it. Gradually, however, her eyelids drooped and she drifted off into a fitful slumber
Author's Notes:
First of all, Happy Halloween...
Not all of my chapters will be added this quickly, by the way...
WOW!!! SIX WHOLE REVIEWS IN ONE DAY!!! omg! -passes out in amazement-
To my reviewers:
Dreamcaster:
Thankyou! The reason they were both posted in the same day was that I felt that the prologue and the first chapter ought to be seperated. You'll find out what has happened to Kite in chapter 3, I promise! I've already written part of it. I love weekends and nights! Uninterrupted writing time! About my other fics: I'm kind of stuck and unhappy with life of death and am in the process of figuring out what to do with the next chapter... The sake one just requires me to be in a humorous, slap happy mood for me to finish it...
Shar-dono:
Thanks a lot! I do
indeed use a thesaurus! I abhor using the same word repeatedly unless
a) there are no other words that fit quite right, b) there are no
synonyms, c) I am trying to make a point or d) it's a test or busywork
for school. Except for a proofread for major grammar mistakes and
spelling errors, I just posted the chapter and prologue (thanks for
pointing out the spelling, by the way) as it was. I suppose once I
finish the story I will go back through, fiddling and editing to
improve it. Furthermore, I'm expiramenting the structure of my tale,
but thanks for the critisism... -glances over first chapter- eh.. It's
too fresh in my mind for me to do a good proof-read and editing job...
Sesuna:
Thanks
for reviewing, Kennith, Kenneth, Kenny, Goten, Sesuna, Mr.Holt. I still
haven't gotten into the dark stuff, yet, such as Amaya's dad...
muahaha... I'm just mean to Tsukasa in all my fics... First she gets
impaled, then she gets drunk and now we get to see just exactly why she
calls her dad a bastard... er.. that's in the next chapter, by the
way...
Sarah:
Thanks for reviewing! Eh.. I hope I'm giving a good enough description of the character's home lives...
Other stuffs:
Names:
Kite - Kite
Elk - Hidezki Moro
Blackrose - Akemi
Tsukasa - Amaya
Kazu - Kazuo
Mimiru - Mimiru Kurosawa
Mia - Mia (obviously)