A/N: Eek! I can't believe I finished this evil thing. xD I'm sorry it took so long. But a couple of notes! Firstly, I know Silabus isn't supposed to really know about the avatars and whatnot, but I figure if he was in the final fight maybe he saw something. That's really just a lame excuse, though. In all honesty, I just wanted to make a SKEEEEITH! joke. Secondly, I did a little research while writing this chapter, which led me to edit a couple things about the universities and whatnot in the last chapter. Nothing big, just made it more... uh... vague? Anyways, thank you so much reading, reviews are always appreciated, and perhaps I'll see you in a sequel of sorts? Enjoy!

chapter 2: [OFFLINE]

Yuuichi Morino anxiously tapped his fingers on the seat of the bench he sat on. He had been in the train station for at least half an hour, glancing at the clock on the wall every couple of minutes. He silently wished that he'd brought his M2D so he could play The World while he waited, but after a long mental debate back at his apartment, he had decided against it. He was a nerd, to be certain, but he didn't want to look like that much of a nerd…

It had been weeks since Haseo first proposed the idea of coming to see the university in Sendai. Now it was finally, finally the day that he was going to arrive, and Yuuichi would meet him face to face for the first time.

Not Haseo, Yuuichi reminded himself. Ryou. Ryou Misaki!

He was terribly nervous. The past few weeks had been like his own personal hell online, dealing both with what had now become Alkaid's daily harassment and his newfound feelings for his friend. He had never realized before how much he enjoyed being with Haseo, or how much the rogue meant to him. It seemed like just by knowing they'd meet face to face soon, the two had become closer than they were before. And whenever Yuuichi had found himself alone with Haseo online, he found his heart pounding faster than when he went to fight boss battles.

About a week or so ago, the two had been sitting alone in the Canard HOME. It was late at night and nobody else was on, and both of them were too tired to level, but not tired enough to get to sleep. The topic of meeting offline had come up, as it seemed to have a habit of doing.

"So how will I know who are you?" he'd asked. "Are you going to wear a sign that says 'I'M RIGHT HERE'?" Haseo shot him the evilest death glare possible, knowing full well what the blade brandier was making fun of.

"Shut the hell up," Haseo spat. "I can send you a pic if you want me to."

Yuuichi dropped his controller when he heard those words. He'd scrambled to pick it up, then managed a meek, "S-sure. If you want."

"Alright, hang on." Haseo's character temporarily froze, and Yuuichi waited impatiently for him to return. After a couple minutes had passed, he got a message on the instant messenger he used out of game. From Haseo. Feeling stupid for being so nervous just about a picture, he clicked the message and accepted the file transfer request. Once the quick download had finished, he opened up the picture file.

The picture was nothing more than a quick, fuzzy snapshot taken with a webcam. The teenager in it looked astonishingly like how Haseo's current form looked. His hair was a flat brown color, unkempt and messy, his bangs flopping into his eyes. He was wearing baggy jeans and a plain black hoodie, sitting in a computer chair at his desk. He looked tired and bored and unamused – in a word, he looked like Haseo.

So much so, that Yuuichi started laughing.

"What the hell is so funny!?" Haseo snapped back in response to the sudden burst of laughter. Yuuichi switched the screen back to The World, seeing again the character that his player looked so much like. He started laughing even harder.

"S-sorry Haseo!" Yuuichi tried to apologize, though he couldn't stop laughing. "You just… you look so much like your character! Right down to the expression!"

"What makes that so funny!?" Haseo prodded, but Yuuichi couldn't stop laughing. The rogue practically started growling, he was getting so sick of his friend laughing. Finally, he said, "Why don't you send me one of you too?"

Yuuichi's laughing almost instantaneously turned to choking.

"Wh-what?"

"You heard me," Haseo said, a mischievous tone in his voice. Yuuichi could practically hear him smirking. "I need to know what you look like too, don't I? Consider it payback for laughing so much."

"I—A-alright," Yuuichi said. He wanted to argue, but fair was fair, and secretly he wanted Haseo to see him. "Gimme a sec." He opened the top drawer of his computer desk and pulled out his digital camera. He clicked the on button, and proceeded to take close to a dozen pictures before he was satisfied enough to actually show one to his friend. He uploaded and sent the picture.

Haseo was silent a second, and Yuuichi chewed his lip as he waited for the rogue's reaction. He assumed Haseo would laugh – though not quite to the extent he did – that Yuuichi looked a lot like Silabus as well, and it was an entirely possible response, considering he did. (He absently wondered why so many people made their online characters similar to how they looked in real life.)

Instead, the rogue said the very last thing he'd expected.

"You're pretty cute," Haseo commented. Yuuichi thought for sure he heard wrong. He said it so matter-of-factly, so bluntly, so… There was simply no way Haseo had possibly said that!

"H-huh?"

"What? You are," the rogue said with a shrug. "Learn to take a compliment."

The whole situation had left Yuuichi blushing every time Haseo so much as looked his way. His face turned red just thinking about it – thankfully he could blame it on the summer heat. He had considered printing out Haseo's – Ryou's picture so he could make sure he'd recognize him when he arrived, but he'd looked at the picture so many times, the image was burned into his mind. Not to mention he was sure he'd do nothing but stare at it if he did. That'd certainly be an awkward way to greet his guildmaster.

He vaguely heard a train pull into the station, but his mind was elsewhere. The picture incident was just one of many similar happenings in the past few weeks. He wondered if that sort of thing had happened before, he just hadn't realized it at the time because he'd been so oblivious.

Thinking back, Haseo had invited him to Hy Brasil when he got that promise card… When Yuuichi had asked him why, Haseo had just shrugged it off and said if he was going kill time with someone, he'd rather it was him. Of course, Yuuichi had been touched by the gesture – but he always considered it more like Haseo's way of calling him a "best friend," rather than a… "more than friend."

Then again, if he'd invited a girl, it would've been a wedding ceremony. Maybe Haseo was trying to be subtle? Yuuichi sighed. Apparently he was being too subtle, considering that was at least two months ago, and he was just realizing it now.

"Hey."

The familiar voice snapped Yuuichi out of his thoughts and he looked up to find its source. Messy brown hair, a gray t-shirt, baggy shorts, and that typical bored expression. It could be no one else.

"Man, you really like green, don't you?" Ryou Misaki stated flatly, looking over his friend's outfit. Yuuichi gave a nervous laugh in response.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied, smiling. He stood up, and found himself surprised that he was looking down at Ryou. Not by much, only an inch or so, but the fact that he was taller than the player behind Haseo boggled his mind. Then again, he was surprised when he found out he was older than him as well.

"Well, uh… Wanna take your stuff back to my place?" he asked, unsure of what to say. "I walked here, but with all your bags we might want to take the bus or something."

"If it's not too far, I'd rather walk," Ryou said. "I've been sitting down way too long."

"Sounds good. Here, I'll help you with your bags."

x x x

"Dammit!" Ryou shouted, dropping his controller to the floor in defeat. "That level is impossible!"

Yuuichi laughed, tearing his gaze from the dark "Game Over" screen on his television to his friend. Ryou sat on the floor with his back against the front of the couch, his arms crossed over his chest, and looking suspiciously like he was pouting.

After their initial awkwardness of meeting in real life wore off, the two were acting like they'd been best friends for years; all it took was a comment about The World to get them going. Since it was late afternoon by the time they arrived at the apartment, and Ryou had automatically gravitated towards Yuuichi's game collection upon entrance, they decided the night would be best spent doing what they did best: playing video games.

"I'm not really that good at FPS games to begin with," Yuuichi said, smiling apologetically. "But they're fun to play online. I didn't think playing story mode would be that hard though…"

"Ah, whatever," Ryou said dismissively, though he was grinning. "Let's just see what's on TV."

"Sure." Yuuichi turned off the console and grabbed the remote, starting to flip through the channels. He had no idea what Ryou might like to watch, but when he opened his mouth to ask, he was answered by a buzzing noise.

"Damn, that's mine," Ryou said, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. "Forgot I put it on vibrate." He flipped it open and frowned at the screen, then started pressing buttons rapid-fire in response to the text message.

"Who's that?" Yuuichi asked. He doubted it was anyone he knew, but he was curious anyways.

"Shino," Ryou replied in monotone, glancing up from his cell to the TV. "Oh, change it back. I wanted to see that movie."

Yuuichi changed the channel back; it was some action movie he'd seen a while ago when it was still in theatres. "Shino?" he asked. "The one from The World?"

"Yeah," Ryou replied, clicking 'send' on his phone and snapping it closed. "She dragged me shopping the other day and I told her I was coming to visit you. She was 'checking up' on me." He rolled his eyes.

"Oh. I didn't know you knew her in real life," Yuuichi said. He had a sinking feeling in his chest.

"Yeah, we hang out sometimes."

Ryou had gone through a lot to save her, and he'd known her for quite a while now, so it would only make sense that they knew each other in real life… So did that mean…

"Are you two going out?" he blurted out. He immediately regretted asking, afraid of what the response might be. He felt his heart beat faster as Ryou looked over at him, raising an eyebrow at the question.

"Nah," Ryou responded, his gaze wandering back to the screen. "She's more like a sister to me now." Yuuichi bit his lip, knowing that he shouldn't press anymore into the subject, but desperately wanting to.

"Now? Does that mean you used to like her?"

Ryou sighed. "Yeah. She was… I dunno. She made me see things differently. She's still important to me though. Just… not like that."

"What about Atoli?"

"What about Atoli?" Ryou asked, narrowing his eyes at his friend. Yuuichi winced; he knew it was only a matter of time before Ryou got pissed off. "Yeah, I care about her too, but she's just not my type. What's with the twenty questions?"

"Sorry," Yuuichi apologized with a nervous laugh. "It just seems like so many people like you, but you don't like anyone back." Ryou heaved a sigh and leaned back against the couch front again.

"It's not that I don't like anyone," he said quietly, staring at the TV screen. "I just… I'm not sure if they like me back."

They? Yuuichi wanted to ask, but something in Ryou's voice indicated he was done talking about the subject. He looked over at the younger teen, his features lit solely by the sporadic light of the TV. He wasn't sure he'd ever heard his friend sound so… insecure about something. It was starting to seem more and more like Ryou really was interested in him…

What if he is? Yuuichi thought, sneaking another glance at his friend. What would happen between them? Would they go out? He could only imagine the uproar that would start online in The World. The former Terror of Death, Haseo, dating the second in command of his guild… Silabus. Rumors would probably fly everywhere, and not to mention how awkward it might be to explain to some of their friends… Maybe it would finally get Kuhn to stop inviting him to parties.

But what about in the real world? What kind of boyfriend would Ryou be? He tried to imagine what it'd be like for Ryou to give him one of his rare, true smiles, and pull him close. To feel his warm body against him, his breath on his neck, his lips against his skin, his…

Yuuichi quickly looked away, his face completely red. He decided that it was a little too easy to be physically attracted to Ryou, and that if he was going to think about that kind of stuff anymore, it would be sometime later, when said object of affection wasn't only a couple feet away.

"What was that for?" Ryou asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing," Yuuichi responded quickly, silently thankful his friend couldn't see how much he was blushing in the dimly lit room. "I think I just… Woke up from a dream."

"Tired already? It's only eleven thirty."

"I'm just usually playing The World at this time of night," Yuuichi responded with a smile. Ryou smirked back. "It's easier to stay up when your crazy friend takes you to a dungeon that's at least twenty levels too high for you and death could be waiting around every corner."

Ryou laughed. "Yeah, I guess I can see that. You wanna play? I brought my laptop."

Yuuichi thought about it a moment. Sure, he loved The World, but lately, majority of the reason he logged on was to hang out with Ryou. Or Haseo, rather. But Ryou was here, with him, not online talking to anyone else, not doing anything else, just there, giving Yuuichi his full attention.

"Maybe tomorrow night," he replied. "You wanted to watch the movie, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but—"

"Don't worry about it Haseo," Yuuichi said, smiling. Ryou started grinning, and it took Yuuichi a minute to realize his slip-up.

"I was wondering which one of us would do that first," he said. "It's been hard to not call you Silabus."

Yuuichi laughed. "Sorry. But… I don't mind it if you call me Silabus."

"Same here," Ryou said, still grinning at Yuuichi's mistake. The two locked eyes for a moment, both smiling at the thought of their dual identities, and Yuuichi swore he saw Ryou's eyes soften, just a little, some unspoken emotion behind his expression. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by an explosion in the movie on TV.

"Shit, that's loud," he muttered instead. Yuuichi automatically turned the volume down a little, wondering to himself what it was Ryou actually wanted to say.

x x x

The next morning – though it was barely still morning by the time the two teenage boys finally roused from sleep – Yuuichi and Ryou set out to see the university. It wasn't too far from Yuuichi's apartment, and though it was summer, the campus was still open. They walked around casually, Yuuichi pointing out what buildings were which and occasionally commenting on the evil professors that taught there.

"Overall, it's pretty nice," Yuuichi commented as they passed under a line of trees. "I mean, I'm sure there are better schools out there, but I like it here." He glanced over at Ryou out of the corner of his eye. "So… you never did tell me why you were thinking of coming here in the first place."

Ryou sighed. "It was either I find a place or my parents find a place for me," he said. "That happened with high school." He shook his head. "It's not bad, but my dad wants me to follow in his footsteps and study business and shit like that. I can just imagine the kind of university he'd send me to." He smirked a little. "I probably wouldn't even be able to pass the entrance exams if I tried."

"Well, there's gotta be something you're interested in," Yuuichi prompted. Ryou had always asked him a lot of questions, but in retrospect, Yuuichi realized Ryou hadn't really talked about himself too much. Then again, he'd never asked about him either.

His friend was silent a moment.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Ryou finally said. He locked eyes with Yuuichi, dead serious, his gaze threatening to kill if he so much as turned up the corners of his mouth.

"I promise!" Yuuichi replied earnestly.

Ryou broke his gaze and stared down at the ground in front of him. Maybe it was a trick of the heat, but Yuuichi thought he saw a pink tint cross his cheeks. "… Japanese literature," he muttered. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head further away, adding, "Poetry, specifically."

"Really?" Yuuichi asked, incredulous. Admittedly, he did find it a little funny that someone tough enough to be considered the Terror of Death was interested in something like poetry, but mostly he was just surprised. He'd have never pegged Ryou as someone interested in liberal arts, like him. "What poets do you like?"

"I've liked Matsuo Basho since I was a kid," Ryou muttered, then eyed Yuuichi suspiciously. "Why am I telling you this? I know you're just gonna find some way to use it against me."

"What?" Yuuichi asked, laughing. "Why would I do that?"

"I dunno," Ryou said with a shrug. "But you always seem to get your way. It's like I can't say no to you." He stopped after that, realizing what he said and probably not meaning to have said it. His face was undeniably red now, and unless he had gotten a major sunburn in the past five minutes, there was no blaming it on the heat anymore.

Yuuichi smiled to himself. They had started walking back towards his apartment, strolling leisurely through town. A comfortable silence had settled between them, and Yuuichi felt like if he were a little braver, it'd be the opportune time to reach out and hold Ryou's hand. It was so nice to be with him, and for his friend to actually start opening up to him. It struck him that perhaps he was the only person Ryou had ever confided in about these kinds of things. It was nice to see something of a softer, more insecure side of him. He had been beginning to think that that side didn't even exist.

"Yuuichi? Hey!"

The teen turned around to see a girl he knew waving at him and heading in his direction. He smiled and waved back. Ryou remained silent at his side, his serious, tough exterior completely recovered.

"Someone you know?" he muttered. Yuuichi nodded.

"Hey Ayane," he greeted pleasantly as the girl approached. She smiled back with a sunny expression. "How's your summer going?"

"Great! I just got back from vacation," she said. "What about you? Oh, is this your friend?"

"Yeah, this is—"

"Ryou Misaki," Ryou introduced himself. "I'm visiting from Tokyo."

"Oh, cool! I haven't been to Tokyo in forever," Ayane commented. "Oh, Yuuichi, there's going to be a party tonight. You remember Fuuko, right? She's throwing it at her house while her parents are out. Do you want to go? I'll bet she'd love to see you!"

"A… party?" Yuuichi repeated, uncertainty in his voice. "Uh… thanks for the invite, but I'm really not big on parties."

"Pleeeease? Your friend can come too if he wants!" she pleaded, putting a cute pout on her face. "I promise it'll be a lot of fun!"

Yuuichi sighed. "Sorry, Ayane, but we already have plans for the night."

"Oh, alright," she conceded, putting her hands on her hips indignantly. "Can't say I didn't try! It was nice seeing you, but I gotta get back to my friend."

Yuuichi smiled apologetically. "Sorry again. I'll see you around."

"Yeah! I'll see ya!" she said, and started making her way back towards the shop she was in.

Yuuichi laughed a little to himself nervously, then the two started walking again. It was weird for him to have Ryou see him talk to a friend from real life. He was inwardly worried that Ryou might see him differently, or perhaps that he acted differently than he did online. A glance over at his friend revealed that whatever kind of connection the two had had earlier had been shattered by the short encounter. Yuuichi wondered what was going through his head, but Ryou was silent the entire walk home.

x x x

"What's wrong, Ryou?" Yuuichi finally asked.

It had been hours since they'd gotten back, and Ryou had hardly said more than ten words. For a while, he figured he'd leave his friend alone and give him time to cool down over… whatever it was he was worked up about. He'd gotten a call on his cell earlier and had taken it outside so that Yuuichi couldn't hear him, but when he came back inside and Yuuichi innocently asked who it was, Ryou only shot him a glare and went to play video games. He'd been there for hours now, ignoring him. Yuuichi couldn't take it anymore.

"Nothing," his friend mumbled in response, leaning back into the couch, his eyes glued to the television.

"Come on, Ryou!" Yuuichi insisted, sitting down next to the younger teen. "You haven't said a word to me all night! Why? Did I do something wrong? Did I say something?"

Ryou was quiet for a moment, and Yuuichi was about to protest his silence again when he spoke. "How do you know that girl from earlier?"

"What?" Yuuichi asked. Was it possible he was… jealous? "We were in the same creative writing class last semester. Why?"

"What about that other girl she mentioned?" Ryou asked, looking over at him briefly, then switching his gaze back to the screen.

"Fuuko? I met her volunteering a few months back," Yuuichi explained. "She introduced me to Ayane and we happened to have a class together."

"Do you…" Ryou started, then paused his game and turned to his friend. "Do you like either of them?"

Yuuichi stared at his friend incredulously. "What?"

"Do you?" Ryou persisted. "Judging by what she said, I'm pretty sure either one of them would go out with you if you asked. So are you interested?"

"No! Of course not!" Yuuichi all but shouted. "I mean, they're nice girls, but they're just friends. And why do you care, anyways? You flipped out when I asked you something similar yesterday."

He felt his throat go dry. He hated arguing, but he knew what Ryou was getting at. If he'd had any doubts that his friend liked him, they were long gone now. But even if he knew, he was too nervous to say anything; nervous that maybe he was completely wrong with all this and he might drive Ryou off by suggesting it. But mostly, he wanted to hear Ryou say it. He wanted to hear him say, straight out, that he liked him.

Ryou let out a frustrated sigh. "Maybe I'm curious about you for the same reason you were curious about me. So you're saying you don't like anyone?"

"I—" Yuuichi started, feeling his cheeks flush. "I-I didn't say that… And being curious about whether or not I like someone isn't really reason to give me the silent treatment for a few hours!"

"Dammit!" Ryou hissed, pressing his palm to his forehead and squeezing his eyes shut. "It wasn't supposed to be like this. I didn't want to say anything… Should've known I'd do this…"

"Ryou?"

Ryou opened his eyes, looking across the room at the paused game on the television screen. "You're the reason I was thinking about going to school here. I figured I can learn the same shit anywhere, so I may as well be close to you… I wanted to be… I… I like you, okay?" he said, his face red. "A lot." Yuuichi felt his heart skip a beat. He was right! It was true! Ryou really did—

"Yuuichi," Ryou continued, his dead-serious tone catching the older teen's attention. Their eyes locked, and Ryou took a deep breath. "I love you."

Yuuichi felt his eyes widen, his pulse quicken. He hadn't expected that… not at all. "R-Ryou, I…"

"I know it's weird, okay? I wasn't planning on telling you here," Ryou said with a heavy sigh. "I wanted to come here to make sure what I felt for you was real. And it is. I was going to tell you online once I got back, so it wouldn't be awkward or whatever." He covered his face with his hand and looked away again. "Sorry, I just… Couldn't help it…"

He knew Ryou couldn't see it – he was too embarrassed to look at him – but Yuuichi couldn't stop smiling. Before he knew what he was doing, he was moving across the couch, closer to Ryou, until he was right next to him. Ryou looked up at him in surprise, opening his mouth to probably ask 'what the hell are you doing,' but Yuuichi caught his lips in a simple, chaste kiss.

He pulled away after a moment, enough to see Ryou's wide eyes and feel his warm breath on his lips. Yuuichi laughed a little, reaching a hand up to caress the younger's cheek.

"I, um," he started, smiling nervously. "I like you too, Ryou…" He gave him another short kiss on the lips. "A lot."

Ryou smiled – he smiled – and wrapped his arms around the other, pulling him onto his lap. Now recovered from his initial shock, he pulled Yuuichi into a fierce kiss. The older teen willing submitted, the kiss leaving him breathless and wanting more once it was over.

Ryou leaned back against the couch, grinning like a madman. "I… I don't even know what to say," he said with a laugh. "I thought you'd kick me out the minute I said anything."

Yuuichi smiled. "No, I… I-I've liked you for a while," he admitted. "I kind of thought you might like me, too, but I wasn't positive…"

Ryou met his eyes again and couldn't resist giving him another kiss on the cheek. "Was I too obvious?"

"Actually, I didn't think so," Yuuichi admitted. "But I think everyone else thought you were. Alkaid was actually the one who brought it to my attention…"

Ryou sighed. "I don't know whether to kill her or thank her."

"So… ummm…" Yuuichi looked down at his hands, uncertainly. "So does this mean that we're… I mean… That I'm…"

"My boyfriend?" Ryou smirked. "Do you want to be?" Yuuichi nodded sheepishly in response, and was rewarded with another warm embrace and a kiss to his forehead. He smiled.

"How long were you supposed to stay for again?"

"I was supposed to stay for a few days," Ryou responded, absentmindedly twining his fingers through Yuuichi's hair. "But I think I can manage to stay a little longer…"

[end]