.Hack: Penance
A .Hack fanfiction by Renfro Calhoun

Disclaimer: Project .Hack and attached characters/concepts are property of Bandai and Cyber Connect. They are used without permission, but with the utmost respect.

Notes: Happens after the end of Quarantine. (Thoughts look like this.) Once again, it seems I must apologize for an unintended absence. Without getting into specifics, let's just say that writer's block hit me long and hard.

In the interests of increasingly shorter space – and the fact that the next chapter takes place from Hiro's perspective – the length of this piece of fanfic will be expanded to 42 chapters: 20 from each perspective, 1 bonus (the next chapter), and one epilogue. To make a long story short, I need to learn how to pace these things better :)

This chapter done to the tune of: Soul Coughing – St. Louise is Listening

Chapter 35 – Coalesce

"So what's going on, man?"

Stolls' eyes were shut as he reclined against the bridge support, contenting himself with listening to the sounds of the Aqua Capital's canal. Kite sat nearby, his feet dangling off the edge of the pier, just inches above the water.

"I know you just wanted to chat," said Stolls, "but I have a hunch you had something specific in mind."

Kite glanced up at him. "How'd you know?"

Stolls half-smiled, opening his eyes. "I didn't." He sat down, arranging his robes as his feet slid out away from the wall, crossing them at the ankle. "But your email hinted you had something pretty heavy on your mind." When the Twin Blade nodded, Stolls asked, "It's got something to do with our current, uh… problems?"

"Yeah," said Kite. "I'm… I'm worried, Dean. If you think something might happen at the show…"

"We've been over that, man," Dean tried to reassure him. "I told you, if anything happens, it'll be behind the scenes. Key is finding who the inside man is at Cyber Connect and catching them making the hand-off, if they haven't already. And I don't think they have."

"So all we can do is wait?"

Dean frowned, as did his character. "Sucks, doesn't it." He sighed. "Look, I don't wanna lie to you, I don't like this either. I'm fresh out of leads, the bad guys are out there, and the ball's in their court. Meanwhile, God only knows what they did to Aura, and I don't think even He would know what that means for The World. All we can do is wait and see. It's a shitty deal, but that's how it is."

Kite swallowed gently, nodding his head. "I just… I'm just worried." There was an audible quiver in his voice, prompting Stolls to listen closer. "Every day… every day when I'd go adventuring in here, I'd worry."

"Worry about what?" Stolls asked.

The boy looked over at him, a haunted look in his aqua eyes. "I'd worry it was going to come into my real life. That one day… my mom might've found me in a coma in front of the computer."

Dean said nothing, looking away, feeling a familiar squeezing sensation on his throat.

"And now this," Kite added. "You know… all the way to Yasuhiko's house, and back… and to school and back, sometimes I feel like I'm being watched. That someone's following me."

The squeezing grew worse. Dean wasn't ready to say that a lifetime ago, he was doing exactly that.

"The other day, Yasu… he meant it as a joke, that one day a car would pull up, and some men would grab me…" another vocal quiver, "it was a joke. I laughed… and then we both stopped talking."

Painful thoughts. Hostile thoughts. Somewhere deep inside, a deep, nasty, echoing voice was urging him, begging him to make Felix suffer, given the chance.

"What do I do?" mumbled Kite, standing up, looking skyward. "I feel like… like there's nobody I can just tell about this. Even if I told mom… told her everything… would she believe me? Would she take away the game? Would that stop it?"

Stolls stood up, watching as Kite spoke seemingly to himself, hatred giving way to pity and sorrow. (He doesn't deserve this.)

"What do I do?" Kite said again, looking down at his feet. "Is Blac… Akira in danger because of me? Is this all because of the bracelet, or Aura, or any of this? I… I…" The boy stammered, his body desperately trying to purge itself. "I don't know what to do. All I know is I'm worried."

(Me too,) Dean wanted to say. (But it's gonna be all right. We're gonna put a stop to this. You're gonna go back to doing the stuff you've always done, and you're gonna go knowing you did your part, you got to be a hero.) If his mind worked that fast, he might've said that. But he was still busy processing the scene before him, the fictitious body of Kite looking sullen and depressed, faint noises coming through the boy's microphone that might have been sniffs.

(You deserve to have a life again.)

Something inside drove Dean to plant a hand on the boy's shoulder, a command that his own fake body followed. Kite stared at Stolls questioningly, and it was all the Wavemaster could do to manage a small, determined smile.

"I'm not gonna let any of that happen," said Stolls. "I promise."

His guard down, Kite turned to face Stolls directly, eyes shimmering, perhaps with tears. Kite smiled back, weakly, as if wondering whether or not he could draw comfort from Stolls' words.

"I'm here, man," he assured the boy.

Another sniff. Kite looked away briefly. "Th-thanks, Dean…"

(I owe you that much. You showed me pity and mercy, even after you knew what I'd done, what I was here to do. You helped me out, and you didn't have to. You're a stand-up guy, Hiro. I'm glad to know you.) Again, his mind didn't work nearly that fast. What came out instead was, "'s all right," alongside a friendly pat on the shoulder, before he finally withdrew his hand. "It's gonna be okay."

Seeming genuinely relieved, if only for the moment, Hiroshi nodded to him. "Yeah… yeah, you're right."

Finally, his mind caught up, just in time to think of a distraction. "You know," he began, tacitly warning that he was about to change the subject, "I've been meaning to ask…"

Kite cocked his head curiously at the Wavemaster. "Huh?"

Dean hid a smile as the boy took the bait. "How's things with you-know-who?"

Kite blinked. "Who?"

Stolls grinned. "You know who."

"Oh," mumbled Kite. A second later his eyes widened. "Oh! Uh… ahm, heh heh…" he started, obviously flustered, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah, heh…"

"C'mon, it's me," Dean urged. "Who am I gonna tell? You and Rose have been getting pretty cozy, I figure something's going on I'm not aware of." His grin relaxed. "So what's the word?"

"Well," Kite began – prompting the Wavemaster to wonder if that was his favorite word – "we've been going through fields and stuff, like we usually do… but lately it's just seemed more… fun." He smiled, somewhat sheepishly. "She's been really nice to me, more so than usual."

Stolls chuckled softly. "That's usually a good sign. Anything else?"

"Yeah… I told you her name, right?" Stolls nodded. "We figured it might be a good idea to know each other's names before we meet each other offline. We even exchanged pictures." Appearing to loosen up a little, Kite added, "We both thought it might help, just a little." A smiley face appeared at the end of the statement.

"Yeah, just a little," Stolls replied jokingly. "Well, that's cool, man. Glad to hear it's going so well. I envy you that. Here's hoping things go all right for you two this Saturday."

Kite looked away briefly, bashfully. "Heh heh… so what time are you going?"

"Around 4. Wouldn't miss this for the world." Thinking for a moment, he followed up with, "And no, that's not a pun."

The Twin Blade couldn't help but reply with another smiley, alongside a chuckle of his own. "All right. I'll see you there, then!"

"Count on it," said Dean confidently. "I gotta be there for the happy ending."

"Happy ending?" asked Kite, peering quizzically at the detective's avatar.

Stolls grinned slowly, turning away. "I've said too much."

News: Final Night of Cyber-Terrorism Conference Commences

With a symposium on modern network security, Cyber Connect commanded the start of the final meeting of the Global Cyber-Terrorism Conference. The event was almost overshadowed by the start of the Annual Global Tech Expo, which opened today at the convention center less than three blocks away.

Vice President Takahashi, who will be delivering the keynote speech later tonight, mentioned that he was "extremely pleased" with the overall progress of the conference. Takahashi was reluctant to comment on the recent attempted theft on the part of Asara CEO Rosenberg. "The incident was deeply regrettable," said Takahashi, "but neither President Hakamura nor myself holds the company responsible for Mr. Rosenberg's actions. Their representatives are still as welcome as any at the conference."

Hakamura's office declined to comment. Meanwhile, police continue the hunt for fugitives Felix Croker and Sato, believed to be key figures in the theft.

He was nervous as he rang the doorbell, more than he knew he should have been.

It was far from the first time he'd been on a date, and more to the point it wasn't even a date in the traditional sense. There would be no dinner, no movie, and the evening was in no way guaranteed to be relaxed and enjoyable. Even if nothing dangerous happened, a tech fair was hardly highest on his list of romantic destinations, and furthermore he wasn't even sure where he stood with her. Maybe that's why he was nervous.

(Or maybe you just like her and want her to like you, genius.)

Unconsciously, Dean ran a hand through his hair, freshly cut and neatly brushed back, short and shiny in the porch light. He adjusted his dark blue button-down shirt, and started to brush a piece of lint off his tan trousers when he heard footsteps from inside the house. He slid his hands into his brown leather jacket, trying to look as calm as possible as the door opened.

"Hello, Dean," said Miku with a smile.

"Heya, Miku," Dean replied, smiling back. "Ready to go?" he asked, eyeing her up and down. Her outfit was not unlike his; simple, nothing fancy, but a couple steps above casual, consisting of a forest green sweater and a nice black pants. He spied a necklace, which disappeared under the collar of her sweater; his gaze moved upward, examining her smooth, narrow face, warm brown eyes and silken black hair, as his nose detected the faintest hint of lilac.

She withstood his visual assault admirably, even shifting a little under his gaze, perhaps in modesty. "Mm-hmm," she answered. "After you, detective."

Dean turned towards the path back to the driveway, looking over his shoulder as Miku stepped out and locked up, her shoes clacking on the porch. "You look nice," he commented when she joined him, following him to the car.

"Thank you." Somewhat slyly, she replied, "you're not so bad yourself tonight."

"Heh heh, thanks. I try. Now c'mon, let's go see what this fair is all about."

"Copy that, dispatch. No activity on the south end. Over."

Masamoto released the button on his walkie-talkie and set it on the table, glancing back at his assigned partner, a uniformed policeman half his age – one of the other two occupants of the security post, which overlooked through a tinted glass window the floor of the conference hall. A security guard sat before a bank of TV monitors, each hooked up to one of the many cameras that dotted the building.

"Anything from the lookout at Cyber Connect?" asked the lieutenant.

"All's quiet," the officer said. "Our spotter said most of the staff has left the building, save for the president and a few other executives. There's also a skeleton crew of guards."

Masamoto nodded. "Tell them to stay alert. Everyone who's anyone at Cyber Connect is going to be either here, at the expo, or at the office."

"Are you sure about that, sir?"

He gave a sidelong glance at the window, staring at his wrinkled face, partially reflected in the glass. "I hope so."

The radio crackled to life. "Post north to post south, come in, over."

Snatching it off the table, Masamoto punched the talk button. "Go ahead, post north, over."

"Takahashi's limousine has arrived, lieutenant. He's on his way in, entrance A3, over."

A glance at the clock told him the time: 4:13. "Is he accompanied? Over."

"Affirmative. He's with his secretary, two aides, and a bodyguard. They all check out. Over."

Masamoto let out a short sigh. "So far, so good. Make sure the chief knows he's arrived, and contact our liaison with the security here, have his men double-check the back rooms and basement. I want to make absolutely sure nobody has entered this building without our knowledge. Over."

"Roger that, lieutenant. Post north out."

Aniki wandered over to the camera monitors, and idly stared through the nearest one. (Your move, Mr. Croker.)

"Have fun, boys! See you at nine!"

Hiroshi waved back at his mother. "See ya, mom!" he called before closing the passenger-side door. A second slam followed Yasuhiko as he, too, stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him.

The two boys watched as the car pulled away from the curb, rounding a nearby corner and disappearing from sight. They then turned up the street and started walking, headed towards the crowd of people clustered near the entrance to the convention center.

"I still can't believe she let us go on our own," said Yasuhiko.

"I told her we'd be okay as long as we stayed in the building," explained Hiroshi. "There's police all over the place, I guess she figures if it's not safe there…"

"I see your point." A trace of humor entered the taller boy's voice. "Guess it's a good thing she didn't ask about your girlfriend, huh?"

"Hey, it's not like that!" Hiro protested, but quickly calmed down. "Well, uh… not yet, at least."

Yasuhiko laughed. "Not yet, huh? I'll try not to interrupt you two, then," he teased.

Hiro started to blush. "Oh, come on."

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Seriously, though, you'll be fine." He grinned. "And she does like you, I know that much. Hell, everybody who knows you knows that."

Hiro's blush deepened, though he didn't seem to mind. "Is it that obvious?"

"Are you serious?" asked Yasu. His voice rose to a mock feminine pitch. "'Hey, Kite, I got you these gloves!' 'Thanks for the necklace you won for me, Kite!' 'Hey, Kite, let's go to that quiet secluded spot in Delta Root Town where couples go to make out!'"

"HEY!"

"Okay, so I made that last one up," said Yasu, "but I'm positive that'll happen sooner or later."

Hiro interrupted his friend. "Wait… I never said it didn't happen."

Yasuhiko stopped in his tracks, his eyes bugging out. "Wha?"

It was Hiroshi's turn to grin. "I'm kidding. C'mon, Yasu, you know me."

"I thought I did," said Yasu between chuckles, "but then I get back online and find out the shy guy I grew up with has made tons of friends and gone on cool adventures without me."

Hiro would have smilied if he could. "I couldn't let you have ALL the fun."

"Heh heh heh. Come on! I wanna meet this BlackRose myself, too."

Hiroshi fell into step next to Yasuhiko. (Me first,) he thought, mirth replaced with anxiety and anticipation as they neared the center, his mind already practicing his greeting.

(I can't wait to meet you, Akira.)

The rumbling of a car engine jarred him from the tiny television, jammed on the desk in one corner of the security booth. Sitting up straight, the guard glanced out the window at the approaching black Lexus, which was followed closely by a dark red SUV. The former rolled up to the gate leading into the underground lot, and the driver side window rolled down.

Leaning partially out the window, a blonde man in his late 20's, clad in a security guard's uniform, passed a wallet containing an ID card. The face on the card was one the gate guard recognized.

"Afternoon, Cole."

"Howdy, Yoshi. The guy in the Range Rover's with me. How's it going?"

"Slow," said the guard. "Security's been tightened because of the conference and all. Are you going on duty?"

"Yeah, I'm on the late shift. Any news in particular?"

"The police put out an APB on some guy named Felix, along with – get this – Sato."

Cole raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Sato? Our Sato?"

"None other. Keep your eyes open on duty. The last thing Hakamura wants is ex-staff on the premises, and now that goes double for Sato."

The driver of the SUV honked its horn, and Cole responded with a disgusted glare. "Yeah, yeah. All right, I'll see you later, Yoshi."

The guard nodded and hit the buzzer, raising the gate. The two cars passed through unhindered, and the gate fell back into place as they entered the lot.

As soon as both he and the SUV were out of sight of the gate guard, Cole shifted to park and unbuckled his seat belt. He then reached into the back, pounding his fist on the seat three times. "All clear."

The seat fell forward, revealing a set of hands pushing it out. An elderly Japanese man in a trenchcoat crawled out from the trunk, into the back seat, groaning out his complaints. "Damn," he muttered, folding up the seat and stretching out his right leg. "So much for a warm welcome."

"I'll have my man secure the floor beforehand," said Cole. "He might show up before you're finished."

Sato grimaced. "I'm counting on it."

Cole returned to his seat and put the car in drive, giving the thumbs-up to the SUV still behind him. Together they rolled further into the parking lot, finding a pair of empty spaces and coming to rest in them. Cole killed the engine and stepped out with Sato, slamming their respective doors shut behind them.

A younger Asian man in a faded bomber jacket, khakis and black running shoes rounded the car, followed closely by Felix, clad in a blue windbreaker and jeans. The latter was humming softly to himself; the notes matched the chorus from Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust."

"Are you sure about this?" asked the Asian. "Using Cyber Connect HQ?"

"Relax Mako, I told you, it's virtually deserted," Cole assured him. "Besides, Sato and I have an asset on the inside. A little added insurance, just in case. Push comes to shove, she's harmless; the girl will be gone, and we'll have our pay."

"I still don't understand why we can't just break the disk and be done with it," Mako grumbled.

Felix stopped humming. "Because it's not that simple. If you'd listened when it was explained earlier, you'd know this." He looked at Sato. "Did you bring your toy?"

Sato pulled aside his trenchcoat, revealing a katana hanging from a sheath attached to his belt. "Of course. And the so-called Queen?"

Felix smiled. "She's in the back. Help me carry her?"

End of Chapter 35