.hack//SIGN Fan Fiction ❯ Fragile China Doll ❯ Fragile China Doll ( Chapter 1 )

DJ LIM: Wat up!!! This is my first .hack fic, and hopefully if I get some good reviews, I'll write some more!!! But anyway, since this is my first, go easy on the flames and criticism………..I'd appreciate it. Anyway, let's get started!!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own .hack//sign, the games, the manga, the TCG, whatever!!!! Bandai has all legal rights to that, so don't start questioning me!

Note: This takes place after .hack//quarantine. Also Kite's thoughts are marked in italics. Just a little heads up for you guys.

Fragile China Doll

It's over. It's finally over. Months after hard work and playing The World, we succeeded. We, who the other players call the .hackers, have saved The World from total corruption and have saved the comatose players who would have been forever lost throughout eternity. And I'm finally ready. I'm ready to enjoy The World in its true form, the form it was meant to be in. I'm ready to enjoy the battles, making friends, the daily events. Hell, I'm even ready to get killed a couple times! As long as The World doesn't go back to its past corruptions, I can finally be at peace within this game.

Now that Orca's back, I'm spending a lot more time with him, even if it is for just one hour. He still hasn't told me why he's only on for one hour, and I may never know the reason. Oh well, not my problem.

Of course, I still hang out with my other friends. I went to Wiseman's game on the weekend, and it was great! I was surprised to find out that he's only a little older than me. So we chatted for a bit, and became quick friends in the real world. Next is Balmung, who was around the age of 20, but that was no surprise. But anyway, he invited a ride on his bicycle, and I was freaked out on the fact that 2-seaters still existed in 2010. Nevertheless, I still rode with him……..despite the stares we got from people. At one time a guy came up and said, "Hey look at the newlyweds!" It was at that point, that Balmung flipped the guy off and rode back home. He later told me the bike was for him and his girlfriend, who he returned his feelings for her a little while after he rejected her. Perhaps that e-mail conversation we had did the trick………….

And then there's Piros and Moonstone. Both I only know in the game, and even then they act pretty weird. Moonstone's usually silent and Piros……….is Piros………..I don't think I would like to meet up with him in the real world. I'd have nightmares for the rest of my life.

Sanjuro is a pretty cool guy who believes in the way of the samurai, and I think that samurais have great honor and respect. That's sorta like Sanjuro himself, yet at the same time he can be a kick-ass guy. He said he was coming down to Japan sometime and I would love to meet him.

Gardenia is another person to file under the silent type. She can also be obnoxious at times, but she does have a sensitive side. She loves flowers, a trait that I think all women must possess. A couple times, I would send her messages in a floral background, and she would reply with pictures of different flowers in her background, and she would open up more to me. Some women are just like that.

I went to see Nuke Usagimaru's show in Shinjuku, and needless to say, it was horrible. At a few times, I thought I was the only one laughing out of symphathy. Now I know why people were staring coldly at me the whole time!

Marlo's another kick-ass person who I'd love to meet in the real world. Sure he may be an alcoholic and a loud mouth S.O.B., but some guys are just like that, and it would be cool to hang out with a person who seems to have no worries in his life.

I also stopped by Mistral's house a few months after her baby was born, and she did prepare a nice feast me. I was able to meet her husband, who was also an obvious lover of The World, but it seems he couldn't access at home because Mistral was always hogging the computer 24/7. Poor guy. I also met the baby, which was a boy. I even held him and I think I felt what it was like to be a father.

I can feel for Elk. I know he has a lot of sorrow within him. But after we got Mia back from venturing to Omega Hidden Darkside Holy Ground (AN: which I have not beaten yet, but I know that's what happens. I'd really love to know how you get through 13 goddamn floors without a system error! Sadly, I can't get past B4) he's been feeling a lot better. Still, it'll take some effort from me, Mia, and my friends to cheer Elk up, and I look forward to the day he's freed from his prison of sorrow.

Now the friends I'm concerned with, which would be Rachel, Terajima Ryoko, Natsume, and BlackRose. These girls I love as my friends, and their thrilled to have me as their friend, but I think that they all might be in love with me. I mean Terajima Ryoko wants her father to meet me, which is sorta an obvious sign of love, and Natsume told me flat out in her e-mail that she loved me! Rachel says she wants to meet up as quote "business partners…..well for now, at least…" and I can see where that's gonna head. Then there's BlackRose, whose been with me ever since the start of my journey, a girl whose been through a lot of emotional stress for the past few months because of the whole incident with her brother going comatose. She said in her e-mail that she was just joking when she said she was in love with me, but deep down I feel that BlackRose needs someone to be by her side and protect her during her time of stress. Knowing that these 4 girls are in love with me, I have to say I'm scared. No really, I am! Four girls who I don't even know in the real world in love with me? To me it's just a bit freaky…….

June 20, 2010

5:30 P.M.

I've done a bunch of adventuring today, and I think I'm going to call it quits for tonight. I hung out in Omega server for nearly the whole day and went on at least 7 dungeon adventures with Marlo and Natsume today. Then I had to help Piros out in another dungeon with one of his strange requests, this time it was to find him a "so called" legendary axe, so I thought I would help the guy. Turns out, the legendary weapon was called "Dog Catcher" and when Piros equipped it, it put him in a humiliating doggy suit. Needless to say, I was laughing my ass off. Oh well, Piros was always a way to get a little humor in The World during the time of the 8 Phases. Anyway, I think I'm gonna log out and have myself a nice dinner, take a bath, and watcha little tv. Maybe I'll evn call Orca and see how he's doing……

Kite slowly walks up to the Chaos Gate and he opens up his menu. He scrolls down to log out, and selects it, causing the confirmation window to pop up. He's just about to hit OK when……..

BING!

Kite nearly jumped out of his seat in the real world from the sound of his flash mail tone. Realizing it was just flash mail, Kite wiped the sweat off his forehead in the real world and opened up the flash mail to find out it was from BlackRose. Interested, Kite reads the contents of the message.

To: Kite

From: BlackRose

Subject: I need to talk to you…

We really need to talk. Please come to Delta server immediately.

BlackRose………Something must be wrong, she's never usually this urgent.

Deciding that he'll talk to her, Kite cancels out the confirmation screen, and opens the Chaos Gate Menu. He scrolls down to Other Servers, presses it, and then selects Delta Server. After he confirms his selection, he is whirled away as his screen goes dark for a few moments and then is replaced by the screen with name of the Root Town on it, which was Mac Anu. His screen suddenly goes bright as he is teleported into the scenery of Mac Anu. Kite stared in awe as this once small town has now become nearly a bustling city, filled to the brim with players from all around the world.

Wow…….before it was nothing like this……so many players………I guess I should be happy for what we've done.

Seeing the streets crowded, Kite shoved his way through the numerous amount of people in his quest to find BlackRose. He began his search at the bridge, in hopes that he could spot her from there. However, the bridge was so crowded that he couldn't see a foot of free space in front of him, so he tried to move on.

Ok, is it me or did Mac Anu get wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too crowded? I know I should be happy for saving The World from extinction, but this is ridiculous!

Next, Kite tried the local shops and see if BlackRose was hanging around them. Yet, it was too crowded to identify anyone specific within the hundreds of people walking around. So Kite moved to another area in hope of finding BlackRose somewhere in Mac Anu.

Why the heck couldn't BlackRose tell me exactly where in Mac Anu to look for her?! It's impossible to find her unless I know exactly where she is!!!

Kite decided to try one more area before giving up-the back alley behind the magic shop. Making his way past the crowds of players, he made the turn into the dark alley behind the magic shop. To his surprise, no one was on the path before him; a complete oddity compared to the rest of Mac Anu.

Weird………it's as if no one knows about this part of town……………

Kite slowly traversed down the lonely alley, expecting to find someone along it's path, and yet……..no one was there to greet him, or just simply pass by him. Coming along to the turn to the dead end of the alley, Kite expected to find BlackRose waiting for him, probably pissed off for taking so long. And when Kite made the turn, he found that his prediction was true.

BlackRose was there, waiting for Kite. And the second half of Kite's prediction was also true. Blackrose was wearing a pretty pissed look on her face!

Yikes! Bad way to start this off………

BlackRose took the intiative. "What the hell took you so long?!"

Kite took a step back in fear of BlackRose's tone. "U-Uh Mac Anu was so crowded I didn't know if I could find you," he stammered.

"Oh," was all that BlackRose could say, her anger now calmed. "Sorry….."

Kite sighed in relief, now that BlackRose was calmed down. It was then that he remembered the urgency of BlackRose's request for them to meet. "So……what's up? You sound like you're in need of some help," he asked politely.

To Kite's surprise, BlackRose seemed to have gone into a bit of withdrawal and remained silent for a few moments, then started off slowly on her question.

"W-Well……I just w-wanted to know……….," she started slowly.

Kite started to sweat profusely. Was she really going to ask him that question?!

Crap! She's not going to ask me how I feel about her…………is she?!

"G-Go on…….." Kite hesitated.

BlackRose gathered up her courage and finished her question.

"I wanted to know……..if you've seen Kazu around in The World?" BlackRose asked.

Instead of Kite being relieved that she didn't ask the original question, Kite began to panic even more than before.

Oh hell! Kazu told me not to tell her sister that he's been coming to The World after school! But BlackRose looks like she might get seriously upset if she doesn't know where her brother. Ohhhhhh! Do I lie or do I tell her the truth?!

"Well……..you see……" Kite hesitated.

For some reason, watching Kite juggle the answer to the whereabouts of brother made her extremely angry. And it just so happened that she decide to vent her anger by grabbing Kite by the shirt and hoisting him high into the air.

"DAMNIT KITE!!!!!!!! DON'T LIE TO ME!!!!!!! I KNOW YOU'VE MADE CONTACT WITH HIM, NOW TELL ME WHERE THE F**K HE IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" BlackRose roared.

Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, okay I'll confess, just don't kill me!

"Okay, Okay I'll tell you!!! Kazu's been using an internet café to log onto The World after school! He told me himself!" Kite admitted.

"ARE YOU SURE?!!! YOU BETTER NOT BE LYING TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" BlackRose continued to scream at Kite as if she wanted to rip his head off.

"I'm telling the truth, honest!" Kite pleaded.

Grunting, BlackRose set Kite on the ground and turned away from Kite. Gasping for air, Kite shakily steadies himself back on firm footing.

God, I'd never thought she'd explode on me like that!!!!!!!!!! That was freaky!!!

Kite took in a deep breath, and exhaled the same breath out. He wanted to get the shock of BlackRose blacking out on him out of his system. But he knew it wasn't right for him to keep Kazu's location a secret from his own sister. He knew he should have apologized to her and apologize was what he was going to do right now.

Except that BlackRose had beaten him to it.

"I'm sorry Kite……" she apologized in what sounded like a teary voice?

Huh? BlackRose………?

BlackRose fell to her knees and continued to sit on the ground in that position. Kite watched and listened as he heard BlackRose………sob?

"I'm really sorry Kite……I din't mean to get angry at you," BlackRose apologized once more that convincingly sounded like a teary voice.

BlackRose………are you…………crying? Oh no……I've made her cry………what have I done?!

"BlackRose….! It's my fault, I should've told you since I first saw Kazu about how he was logging in after school. Please don't cry……." Kite begged.

BlackRose got up and slowly turned around, revealing her face to Kite. What Kite saw would probably stick in his mind like glue for the rest of his life.

He saw a BlackRose totally different then the one he was used to. Tears were stricken over her face and her hair was ruffled. She constantly was biting her lip and she continued to sniffle. This was totally different then the fiery BlackRose he was friends with in The World. This was BlackRose's sensitive side. This was the fragile china doll.

Oh man………I've really done it now……I………I didn't mean for this to happen………

BlackRose leaned her head on Kite's shoulder and continued to cry deeply.

"Kite! I'm sorry about all the times that I yelled at you, I'm even sorry about calling you a newbie in the beginning!" she cried.

She doesn't need to be sorry………her feelings are justified………

BlackRose continued to cry in Kite's shoulders as she lets out her feelings, her emotions. "But, you've g-got to understand, Kazu's my brother!!! After he went into a coma, I thought I'd never see him again!!! And even though he's out now, I still fear the worst may happen to him again!!! I'm worried so much about him!!!"

Yes…it's just like how I worried about Orca when he went into a coma. I thought I couldn't do anything, but together we saved the comatose victims, including Orca and Kazu…

"I worry about him just as much as I worry about you!!!" BlackRose confessed.

………………about me?…………BlackRose…………

BlackRose lifted her head up gently and stared at Kite directly in the eye. Her mouth was quivering as if she had something very important to say, yet she was too embarressed to say it. However, she said it despite the embarressment.

"Kite……….I love you……..," BlackRose professed.

She needs me………………

"I don't know what I would do without you…….." BlackRose continued.

……………………… ……

"……..so please tell me that you feel the same way!" BlackRose pleaded, not leaving direct eye contact from Kite.

………………and I need her…………………………