Fragments of a Shattered Mirror

Disclaimering: I own Bandai all the .hack enterprise.. In my dreams, that is... Look, I don't technically own any more than copies of the games, manga some of the anime (as in Liminality 2 volumes of Dusk)... But the plot and some facets of the characters as I have chosen to portray them belong to my imagination..

Review would be nice once you've read this. If you truly hate it, tell me why... But don't expect me to fix everything that bothers you. Suggestions are always welcome, if not always followed.

Note: For now, I'm referring to Tsukasa as 'she' especially because the way she is right now is a combination of her two selfs, but the "Amaya" part of her is more forward at the moment. Ack.. I don't know if you got that, but ok...

Chapter 11

The World

Tsukasa continued to half laugh and cry as she leaned against Kite, though he was silent. However, as she subsided into mere weeping, Kite squeezed her shoulder gently and murmured, "Amaya.. I'm really sorry for getting you into all of this. Dry your tears… As you told me, we'll find a way out, somehow…"

He tried to sound comforting, though he only half believed his own words, if that. Still the words had some effect. Tsukasa looked at Kite, a sad, wan smile upon her tear-streaked face.

"If only we had some idea of what to do," she murmured, mirthless smile fading. "But don't apologize. It's just that… well, I don't know. Like in the cathedral, held back feelings are leaking out in rather wet fashion."

She sighed, sniffled, and wiped her tears aside with her sleeve. Somehow, the wavemaster managed to prevent herself from crying again.

Kite nodded. "I think I understand… aarg!"

The twin blade jerked away from Tsukasa, clutching at his head. A look of deep concern and fear filled the wavemaster's face. However, after a few moments, the twisted expression of pain left Kite's face to be replaced by one of confusion.

"Kite?" asked Tsukasa.

The twin blade looked at her. "She pressed forward so suddenly, but she didn't try to assert control… Just probed and left…"

"Odd." Tsukasa blinked. "I wonder what she's planning…"

Kite shook his head. "I don't know."

Hospital

Yasuhiko was returning to Kite's room to return the cell phone to Mrs. Nakahara when he passed Amaya's room. Pausing outside the doorway, he debated going in. It wasn't like he really knew the girl, but he might as well see her. After all, Amaya was a girl at his school, a veritable genius as far as he was concerned, and he recalled that she had been in a coma for several weeks, maybe a month, but had come out of it about six months before he fell into one to begin with. Thus, he didn't think her original coma was because of the World. She didn't even play the game, did she?

From the angle he was at, Yasu couldn't see more than the foot of the bed. Curiosity pulled him into the room and it was only then that he realized there was another girl in there, sitting in a chair and gazing at Amaya with a mixed expression of perplexity and sorrow. However, at Yasuhiko's entrance, she turned her eyes to him. Nevertheless, Yasuhiko didn't really look at her for a moment, instead glancing at Amaya's unconscious form. It surprised him how different she looked without her glasses and with her hair down. She actually looked… pretty. Pretty and sad, even though her face was expressionless and was partially obscured by an oxygen mask. Like Akira, she wore a hospital gown and had various sensors and equipment hooked up.

"Hello?" The other girl seated in the chair frowned, then asked, "Who are you?"

"Hmm? Oh, sorry," replied Yasuhiko, turning back to her. "I'm Yasuhiko. Amaya's a classmate of mine, so I thought I'd look in on my way to a friend's room. Who are you?"

"I'm Mimiru, a friend of Amaya's. Your friend, was he or she just brought in? Because this is a temporary ward…"

"Yeah. He's next door, as a matter of fact. His name's Kite. Well, actually, it's Akira, but everyone calls him Kite. He and I and Amaya all have history together. Hey, didn't Amaya fall into a coma nine or ten months ago?"

A flash of recognition filled Mimiru's eyes upon hearing Kite's name. "Yeah, Amaya did… This Kite, does he play the World?"

A chuckle escaped Yasu's lips. "I should think so… How else do you think one of the so called 'dot-hackers' did what they did?" However, the slight mirth in Yasu's voice and face died. "Actually, I'm the one who introduced him to it before… uh… never mind."

"I see. I've met him the World a few times, twice in two different dungeons and a few times trading. He's often hanging around with this girl Black.. uh.. Blackrose, I think. I swear she copied my character design! Ah well, before what, by the way?"

Yasuhiko sighed. "Before I fell into a coma," he murmured.

"Because of the World?"

"Well, because of Morganna, at any rate. So, yes."

"Then you'd believe me if I said Kite is within the World right now along with Amaya, who goes by Tsukasa there? That is, by the way, where she was when she was in a coma before."

"That's what I feared when I found Kite passed out next to his computer, headset still on over his glasses."

"Yeah. But I found out 'cause Sora told me where to find them. And so I went there because Tsukasa wasn't replying to my emails and Amaya hadn't answered the phone when I called her… If not for that, I don't think any of us would have realized she was trapped in the World again… at least not for a while… How long would she have just lain there?"

"Huh? Wait, so how did you get her here anyway? Didn't her parents find her or something?"

A mirthless chuckle escaped Mimiru's lips. "What parents? Her mom died when she was little and after that, I think her dad ignored her or abused her or something. I do know that he was alcoholic. According to Bear – a friend of mine and Amaya's - the guy offed himself this morning, jumped in front of a subway."

Yasu's eyes opened quite wide. "God… That's awful! I never knew… never realized.. so that's why… Didn't she ever call the police or anything? Didn't you?"

"Amaya never did. Maybe she was too scared or something, but it's really hard to get her to open up anyway, so maybe she just didn't want to burden others? Anyway, due to some things her father did while she was in a coma before, the police conducted an investigation, but nothing came of it. A few beer bottles don't prove anything. They didn't do much investigation, actually. They didn't seem to care… At least now, though, when she wakes up, she won't have him to deal with."

Neither Yasu nor Mimiru knew why she was telling him this. Nevertheless, Yasu listened with a growing understanding of just why Amaya was so introverted and why she strived so hard at academics.

"Kite's family is pretty together. His sister's at college somewhere and his dad's often away on business trips. And, though my family's moving soon, we all get along, but… god… No wonder she's always so sad and lonely… I mean, if my family was like that, I'd… I don't know what I'd do, actually."

Mimiru nodded. "Me neither. I live alone with mom, but… Say, do you want to meet me online later and we can go find them?"

Yasuhiko considered a moment. "Maybe. I'm only allowed to be on an hour, and I want to get on as soon as get home. How long will you be here?"

"As long as it takes mother to get things sorted out. What's your username? Mine's my name, Mimiru."

"Orca."

"Not Orca of the Azure Sea?"

"Heh. That's me."

Mimiru giggled.

"What's so funny?"

"I thought that Orca and Balmung would be really nerdy looking in real life. Although, I have yet to meet Balmung."

Yasuhiko rolled his eyes. "I have to return this phone to Mrs. Nakahara. Mom and or Dad should be here soon, so I can go get my backpack from Kite's house and then go home. See you later, I suppose? Where should we meet, by the way?"

Still giggling, Mimiru nodded, "Mac Anu? See you!"

And with that, Yasuhiko left the room with a half bow.

Yasu's Home

The moment he arrived home, Yasuhiko went to his room, dumped his backpack on the floor, and flicked on the computer. It didn't take long to start up, and within minutes, he had inserted the disk and donned his headset. A few clicks of the buttons and the entering of his username (Orca) and his password (a3z1u4r1e5s9e2a) and another keystroke later, he was logged in.

The World

"Ought we to go somewhere else, maybe? Or do you think we should wait for Blackrose or Mia or someone to come here?" asked Tsukasa.

"Hmm… Well, when you were trapped here before, was there a way you could contact people without actually talking to them?"

"Yea… I could send and read flash mail... why?"

"Well, if we were to leave, then we could tell the others where we were if we needed to. So, why don't we go wander around someplace else?"

Tsukasa sighed. "I suppose. That's what I did when I was here… Just wander around and attack those tear drop things that come out of Springs of Mist."

"Why'd you attack them? They can upgrade your stuff."

Tsukasa grinned and stood up. "Because they have the most annoying voices! They give me a head ache."

"Look who's talking," said Kite, grinning and standing as well.

"Hey! That's not very nice…" Tsukasa glared at Kite and lifted her staff as if to hit him.

Kite leapt away. "Oh no! You aren't hitting me! My sister does that enough when I bug her, thank you very much."

"You have a sister? How old is she?"

"Naomi is in college. She's a sophomore. She'll turn twenty soon."

"Will she come home for her birthday?"

"For the weekend. Though you'll never catch me saying this to her, I do miss her when she's gone."

"Hmm… I don't have any siblings. I would have had one, maybe two brothers, but mother miscarried both before and after I was born. Ah well…" She sighed softly. "So, where shall we go?"

Kite looked thoughtful. "Well, someplace that is no longer infected and that isn't too high a level. I don't know about you, but if I can feel things here, I don't relish fighting something difficult."

"No… Especially things that use spells," agreed Tsukasa. Suddenly, she paused, frowning. "I wonder…"

"What?"

"There is a place within the World where Aura slept… It's not accessible by any normal means, but maybe I can still get us there… If it still exists, that is."

"Is it in the bottom of a dungeon somewhere?"

"Yes and no. I first went there through a portal opened behind a Ghott stature in a dungeon, but the portal was only temporary. I don't think it exists within the game's parameters. Well, the parameters CC Corp gives it, anyway."

"How do you get there? If it involves gate hacking, then please no! Using the bracelet might.. well.. you know."

"No… But it was Morganna who gave me the power to go there in the first place, so I don't know if I'll be able to."

"So… You still haven't said how to get there."

"Warp without using a chaos gate. That's how."

"And how do you do that?"

Tsukasa smiled. "I can't really say… Hackers like Helba do it by hacking, but I just… went. Shall we try?"

Kite was about to answer when the noise accompanying teleportation was heard nearby and a deepish male voice called out, "Kite!"

Author's Corner! Muahahah!

Cliffie sort of ending. Aren't I just evil? Buahaha! Sorry about the delay in updating... As with other chapters, I rewrote portions of this. Anyway, onto the reviewers!

Reviewers:

Windchaser90: Thanks for reviewing! Is this long enough for you? I, too, wanted Kite to get stuck in the World and, welp... Lookie here! He's stuck!

Twilight: Nope. I'm not puttin' Balmung down! Actually, data draining him would be fun! Buahaha.. NO! Piros will not be in this fiction at all, if I can help it. Wait, am I the overacheiver or is TSukasa? Actually, both of us are over acheivers! Buahahah... Well, sometimes I am, anyway... Not with World History, I can assure you, though. Ah, so that explains the dark cardboard shape in my closet.

Steeple333: Is Blackrose's name really Akira? xD That's a guys name, I thought..And I named Kite that. Ahahaha.. that's hilarious.

Dragon's Hitokiri: Buahaha-ish poked and pokes back- Poking War! Thanks for reviewing!

Dreamcaster555: You'll find out what will happen soon enough! Right now, things are just building to the climax.

Theatre-Sama: Thankyou very much-gives you a Skeith plushie because... Skeith has a really spiffeh wand-

Spirit Alleron: Woot! I just read your review for the first time today. Thanks for reviewin'! Kite may or may not be ok and he may or may not (but more likely 'may') have romance with Amaya, although nothing above a PG to PG-13 level. You'll have to wait and see!