.hack/Morganna's End rewrite

Chapter 14

"Yeah, of course." Kureno said in agreement, pulling something out from behind his back. She had noticed he had brought something with him, but what was the question. "These are for you." It was a dozen white roses, something that cost a lot of money.

"Kureno, these are so expensive, did you spend your allowance on them?"

"Yes, but it is worth it to make you smile." He was right, a childish smile had spread across her face, almost as if to make her completely deteriorate into a slightly happy state.

"I'll make sure to do a favor for you in return. Well, are you ready to get going?" She put a vase down with the dozen white roses down as she said this. Kureno nodded as she locked the door to her apartment. The two moved down the stairs as something dawned on the teen.

"Where are Mizuru and Miho?"

"I gave them the night off, and they won't be back until next week." This was said naturally, no reason for her to lie at all.

"Don't they need to protect you?"

"With Morganna trapped, I won't be in any danger. There is no need to protect someone when they are not in danger Kureno." She turned up the sidewalk, opening a garage door. To say in words, the car in it was old. It was black, and it looked dusty. The car also looked as if it hadn't seen the light of day much.

"Why don't you drive to work? I mean, if you have a car and everything, you could."

"I know, but with the events happening as they were, it was too much of a risk, even for Miho and Mizuru." She opened the car, it was really old. It was opened with a key, and not a keypad.

"Do people steal cars like these?"

"I'm not that old, I have an anti-theft system in it." She smiled, opening the door on the passenger side. Kureno moved in, the inside was not really expensive. The interior was comfortable though.

"What's the seat cover made of?"

"I don't know, I think it's a mix of suede and leather. It's sleather!" She laughed, which caused Kureno to laugh as well. She put the key in the ignition switch, turning it until the engine started. Her next move was to pull the gear shift to reverse, soon they were on their way to see the supposed old friend. The road was one that Elk recognized as the route he and his mother took to visit their father. He had died in an accident about three years ago.

"Are we going to the cemetary?"

"Well, one stop before we actually get there." He saw a stand where the care was turning, it was rather small. He recognized it as one that came and went randomly, Tania opened the door, going to the stand. Kureno unbuckled his seat belt, listening to her request to the man selling the flowers. "Thirteen white roses please."

"Do you want all of them in the bunch?"

"No, bunch twelve, leave the last one bundled as one."

"Alright, that'll be about twenty. Have a nice day." She returned to the car, moving the flowers to the back carefully. She began to drive again, going through the same route he remembered again. However, they were going to a lower level of the cemetary, to where the middle class, such as them would be if there were no honors on them. She parked near a small plaque area, stone everywhere. He followed her out, watching her bring the dozen out to the area. The stone she stopped at was about ten minutes from the car, and she looked at the withered stone. Most of the words were readable up close, but from afar, it looked like a piece of rock. The only word that he could see was 'Adam.'

"Who is that?" He saw her arrange the dozen around the stone, and she looked up at him for a moment.

"This is the person that played the player Twilight Grunty."

"O, so this is the one that Helba said was an AI created from real data?"

"Yes." She nodded to him, standing up as she brushed the dirt from her skirt. "Well, shall we have lunch?"

"Yeah." The two went back into the car, moving to the out direction of the cemetary. He felt better, but maybe he should mention it. "My dad is in this cemetary."

"Really? What happened to him?"

"He was in the army, and one day when he was off in another country, a sniper got him in the back of the head."

"Was that what killed him?"

"No, it was a hit and run."

"Did they ever catch the person who did it?"

"The person ended up dying on the electric chair." She turned to look at him, stopping the car at the destination. However, she unbuckled herself without opening the door.

"Is it something you don't want to talk about?"

"I don't know, but I feel like I can tell you anything." He reached and unbuckled himself, hugging her as if she was going to leave him. "I kept my promise."

"I know you did." She returned his hug, letting everything slowly settle down. Tears left the teen's eyes, and he sobbed. "Just let it all out, I'm right here." She rubbed the teen's back, letting it all leave the teen's worries. He eventually stopped his crying, rubbing his eyes slightly.

"I'm sorry...I should have..."

"Don't worry about it. Don't worry about me all the time. You should feel safe around me, and you should let out emotions that bother you." She handed him the white rose left in the back, he smiled back at her. "You want to eat lunch now?"

"Yeah."

TBC...