AN: Well, it's been awhile. On vacation, I ended up having to write this chapter twice, due to my Dana going crazy and deleting everything. However, I prefer this rewrite anyway. It took me awhile to get it up because of finals and just busy with school. In this chapter, we meet Taka, who is inspired by my friend Allison, because she wanted to be in the fic. XD So read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from .hack or My Life as a Teenage Robot. I do own the online personas of Kakera, Aoshi, Rai, Tobira, Akumu, Youkai, Jamie, and Taka.

.hackdimenions

Chapter 8 Conspiracy

The stars were just beginning to shine as Kakera and Aoshi stepped out of the dungeon and into the field. The sky was a deep blue; the only light that of the stars and the crescent moon. The two warriors walked hand in hand into the field, no particular path in mind, their thoughts only drifting into the night and into the light of each other's hearts.

"Aoshi," said Kakera, breaking the silence of the night.

"What is it?" replied Aoshi, sounding concerned. He turned towards Kakera and stopped. "Is something wrong?"

"Nnno, nothing." Kakera shook her head, and was glad for the night to hide her blushing features.

"Hmm, it's getting late now," continued Aoshi. "Maybe we should both log out and call it a night."

"Oh! Is the great and powerful blademaster Aoshi actually, dare I say it, tired?" Kakera broke her grip with him and collapsed into the ground in laughter.

"Humph," replied the blademaster in a joking manner. "Maybe I wouldn't be so tired if a certain heavy blade had helped to take care of that monster."

"Excuse me?" laughed Kakera, sitting up. "I thought that you could take care of anything that got in your way."

"Don't believe everything you hear about me." Aoshi smiled down at her. "People aren't always right."

"So you're not as strong as they say then?"

"Well I didn't say that."

"Well I think that you're wrong." With that, Kakera pulled the blademaster down to the ground, and rolled him over, pinning him to the ground with her body. "Now would the "strong and mighty Aoshi" not notice that attack coming at him?"

"I never said I was quick to see attacks. But I'm rather good with counters." Aoshi kicked up his legs, knocking Kakera into the air to land on the ground behind him. He then sprung himself up to land on top of the heavy blade, pinning her to the ground.

"That's why I always win," said the blademaster smoothly.

"But you're the one who isn't getting the prize," said Kakera.

"Prize? What prize would that be?"

"This." Kakera leaned up and gave Aoshi a kiss on the cheek, before even she could realize what she was doing. She blushed and continued. "That's why I always win."

"Who says that you have won?" Aoshi smiled and leaned down to plant a kiss of his own on her cheek. "Both of those were great prizes to me."

"Aoshi..." Kakera whispered, a great feeling washing over her. 'Is this love I'm feeling?' she thought. 'Aoshi, are you the one for me?'

Aoshi blushed and looked away. "I've never done that before," he admitted under his breath.

"What?" asked Kakera, sitting up a bit.

"Kissed someone before. I mean, real life or virtually."

"Really?" Kakera was shocked. "But, with all those fan girls, I thought that..."

"I've never talked to any of them, I don't know them, and they don't know me." He looked towards the heavy blade. "They may think I'm god or something, but I'm not. I'm just another person playing the game. And this..." Aoshi pulled at his clothing. "This is just a mask. They expect me to be exactly like this everywhere, but I'm not. If they really want to love me like that, then they should find someone else."

Kakera could not help looking at Aoshi now. 'He's right,' she thought. 'He may not be exactly the same in the real world. I mean, look at me. But then why...'

"Aoshi," said Kakera, sounding slightly unsure. "If you feel that way, then why did you kiss me?"

"Because Kakera," said Aoshi. "You're someone I trust, someone who has seen more sides to me than any of those stupid fan girls. And well.... I like you."

Kakera stopped breathing, too shocked to speak. 'He likes me?'

"Look, I'm sorry," said Aoshi, getting up. "I gotta think about this. Seeya tomorrow, Kakera." He looked back one last time, then disappeared into a yellow portal.

"Aoshi!" called Kakera a moment too late. "I.... I like you too." The heavy blade sighed. "He really is deeper than I thought, but I think I love him all the more for it." She rose to her feet and stared at the sky. "I will be here for you Aoshi," she whispered to the stars. "I'll let you know who I am if you want, I just want to be with you." Kakera shook her head. "I better think about this some more as well." With that, a yellow portal appeared and Kakera disappeared from the area, drifting back to the real world to become Jenny once again.

"Well isn't this interesting..." said a voice from a group of bushes close to where Aoshi and Kakera had once been. They rustled a moment and out stepped the tall blonde heavy axeman, the one who had helped Kakera before.

"So that bitch is having a fling with the great Aoshi then," she said to herself. "This will not do. This will not do at all. The only fling that my love god could possibly have would be with me or the great mistresses." She clenched her fists and snarled. "When I get my hands on that bitch I'm gonna..." She stopped short and grinned. "No, let her have a worse punishment. I will tell the mistresses, give them my report. They will know what to do, and they will do what they do well. And for the information, I will be rewarded greatly, greatly indeed. Aoshi will be mine, and he will have Jamie, the Heavy Axeman Spy for the Aoshi Fan Club, as one of the first of his many flings with our members. You will be mine Aoshi, you will be mine."

"Who do we want?"

"Aoshi!"

"When do we want him?"

"Now!"

"Who do we want?"

Chants echoed through the stone hall in the water capital, Mac Anu. The baize stone auditorium was filled from wall to wall with tons of players. Heavy axemen, blademasters, wavemasters, heavy blades, twin blades and spearmen were everywhere. Although the majority of the group was female, there were a few guys scattered about the group as well. They were all seated around a large stage on one side of the room, where a podium stood backed by red curtains. There was no one on the stage except for a tall female spearman on the side, standing guard. A young male heavy blade led the chants with a large drum at the foot of the stage, his eyes constantly glancing behind him for the approach of his mistresses. A female heavy axeman beside him cried out the chants while he pounded the drum.

Quiet ensued in the room as the drum began pounding louder and louder, increasing in speed. Suddenly, it stopped, and the spearman called out in a large booming voice: "The ladies Youkai and Akumu approach!" With this call, every person in the room rose to their feet and turned towards the stage in attention. The curtains on the stage opened slightly at the center, than closed again swiftly after two figures entered, a tall spearman and a slightly shorter heavy axeman.

The spearman had a dark skin color and short spiked pink hair. She wore nothing more than a blue sports bra and incredibly short denim shorts that would not be considered decent anywhere. Her shoes were flat and black. in color, with no extra decoration whatsoever. She had a few tattoos, one a stripe crossing across her stomach around her bellybutton. The other tattoos where triangles coming up each of her cheeks. Two small pink bat-like wings came from her back as well. She wore an expression of superiority as she carried a huge brown spear, the blade a hand span long and bright silver in color. Right below the blade was tied green and yellow ribbons that hung down a ways.

The heavy axeman had very pale skin, but the same bright pink hair. Her hair, however, was much longer and was put up in two ponytails on the sides of her head. They were held up by yellow scrunches. She wore a pink armor bra, and over that a denim shirt that only barely covered her shoulders, and did not go more than an inch below her bra. Her small denim skirt was just as indecent as the spearman's, small pink triangles adorning the end of the fabric. She wore the same black shoes as her friend, and the same tattoos were on her as well. Her wins were slightly longer than her counterparts, but otherwise looked the same. Her look of superiority was just as strong as that of the spearman, but showed foreboding of a different sense. The blade of her axe clutched in her left hand had small cracks on the outside, making it look worn and broken. On closer inspection however, the blade appeared very sharp and ready to endure a long battle.

"Welcome all to the meeting of the Aoshi Fan Club!" called the spearman called out to the audience. Cheers erupted at these words and continued for some time until the spearman told them to calm down with some hand motions. "Mokumu and I welcome you all to this meeting, to worship the character known simply as Aoshi."

"Yeah yeah, we get it already Youkai," said the heavy axeman. "But we do have business to take care of first before any drooling over Aoshi can take place."

"You're right Akumu, of course. Now then, it appears that over the last couple days, Aoshi has been spending time with a group of newbies, named Kakera, Rai, and Tobira. We thank Member #327, Jamie, for this information. We sent her out to track this group some time ago, and she should be reporting back any time now."

From the back of the auditorium came a loud slam from the door. The audience turned to see the blonde heavy axeman storm into the room, the marks of tears that had been shed on her face. She stopped at the foot of the stage, and stood at attention. "Jamie, Member #327 reporting. I bring word of Aoshi and the group of newbies."

"Come onto the stage and report then," said Youkai. Jamie walked up onto the stairs, placed her hands behind her back, and began to report.

"After gaining the tracer device for Kakera after meeting her, I located the group in one of the lower leveled areas. There, the heavy blade Kakera was apprehending one of the moth monsters, and was being cheered on by the twin blade Rai, the wavemaster Tobira, and Aoshi. She defeated it in a critical attack, and was congratulated by the group. From my position I could not catch any of the comments that were said."

"Get to the point already," said Akumu impatiently.

"Yes of course," continued Jamie. "Soon after, Rai and Tobira left the area, and Aoshi and Kakera were left alone." Gasps echoed through the room. They had never heard of Aoshi being alone with one individual before. He had only ever been in a group or by himself. "They headed towards the dungeon in the area, so I followed some distance behind. Conversation was tried, but Kakera was very nervous. I could not follow the group into the dungeon, for when I reached it, the entrance was blocked, as if some kind of force field."

"A virus perhaps?" suggested Youkai.

"This is a matter we will look into at a later point," replied Akumu. "Please continue."

"Well," said Jamie. "I stayed behind the building for some time, until the two emerged once again. This time they were holding hands as they walked out." Whispers erupted but Jamie ignored them and continued to speak. "It gets worse than that I am afraid. They appeared to flirt for a bit, and then...."

"Then what?" interjected Mokumu.

"She kissed him." Shouts and conversations exploded. This was something that should be only reserved for members of the Aoshi fan club, not some random newbie!

"There is more," continued Jamie, trying to stay calm.

"More?" questioned Youkai.

"Aoshi..... he.... he kissed her back." Now there was only silence. This was something none of them had expected. "After that, they both left, Aoshi first, and then the bitch. I still cannot believe what happened."

"Thank you," said Youkai, as calmly as she could. "Although this is sad information, I thank you for it. You will be rewarded appropriately." Jamie bowed to her mistresses, and then walked down the stage into the audience.

"We must do something about this," commented someone in the audience. "Send someone to rid us of the bitch!"

"A player assassin!" cried another. "Send a player assassin!"

"That would only eliminate her for a couple hours," said another. "We need something more permanent, something to rid us of her for good!"

"There is something, you know," said a voice from the back of the stage. "Will eliminate her for a day, and after continued attacks a week, a month, a year, and pretty soon, she will be gone." Everyone turned towards the voice to see a female twin blade.

The girl was dressed in a yellow tank top that went down to just below her belly button. Her yellow pants had a zig zag design that went across them. A zig zag cross appeared on her shirt as well. Her hair was a bright green that hung down to her chin, but was held back by a yellow headband with zigzag triangles across it. She had yellow fabric sleeves tied on at her elbow with a purple thread which hung down past her fingertips. At the moment she was leaning against the side of the stage, twiddling a blade in her left hand.

"Who are you?" asked Youkai.

"Member #787, but you can call me Taka." The twin blade grinned and snatched her blade out of the air. "Professional player assassin at your service." She bowed mockingly, and then leaned back against the stage.

"What do you mean by this method of keeping her out of the game?" asked Akumu.

"Simple really," replied Taka. "Under the boundaries of the World, if a player is killed, he or she is locked out of the game for two hours, not to mention that anything that wasn't saved is lost. But by using a simple little virus, it fools that program into locking out the character for longer periods of time."

"Interesting. Where did you come across that?"

"Made it myself. I wanted to take care of a cheating little bastard boyfriend, so I used it a few times on him. He still has, oh, 6 more months before his lockout period ends."

"Perfect," said Youkai. "You use this virus a few times on the bitch, and then we shall be rid of her. Only way she could come back then would be if she remade her character."

"Not possible," countered Taka. "Not only does this lock out the character, it also damages the computer equipment. It would knock out the equipment for the same amount of time as the lock out."

"Excellent. Well then Taka, I do believe that you know your assignment."

"Not so fast ladies. There is still the matter of, oh, say payment?"

"How does first alone time with Aoshi sound, before even I or Akumu." Akumu glanced up at Youkai disdainfully, but the spearman only grinned back.

"Sounds fine to me," replied Taka. "I'll take care of the heavy blade. Tomorrow, the real game begins."