.hack//SIGN Fan Fiction / .hack//LIMINALITY Fan Fiction / .hack//Legend Of Twilight Bracelet Fan Fiction ❯ Episode Three: .hack//Liberty ❯ Recover ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter Four- Recover- The Real World

 

Dan groaned.

“Rise and shine.” He heard Junichiro say.

“Rise and shine, my ass.” He replied. “'M tired.” That garnered a laugh.

“You've been sleeping for three days. You have to wake up.” Dan gave a deep sigh and tried to sit up. Pain shot from his groin to his neck.

“ZUT ALORS ET MERDE!” He cried out in pain. He lay back down. “Pardon my French.” Junichiro and Ryo laughed.

“Hey, what size clothes do you wear?” Ryo asked.

“32 waist, Medium to large shirts. Why do you ask?”

“I would have measured you, but you were, erm, naked.”

“Is it obvious day in kindergarten?” Dan asked. The two older men laughed. “And you don't like looking at naked boys, thank the fates.” Dan said. Ryo laughed again. “Who are you?”

“Ryo. Call me that, or Bear.”

“From The World?”

“You got it. And I would hardly call you a boy.”

“Thanks.” He looked at his chest. He saw the stitches. “No wonder. Can I sit up?”

“I guess. Go slow.” Junichiro advised. “Use the card.” He told Ryo. “Not your earnings from Annwyn.”

“Okay.” Ryo said as he left. Dan sat up.

“You got any pain pills? Water? Food? How did I get stitched up? Where am I?”

“I can answer those. Yes, Yes, Yes, a doctor, and Hollywood.”

“Ah. Well, what can I eat?”

“What do you want?”

“Something soft.”

“Rice?”

“Good. With water.”

“Nope. Fruit juice. Get your blood sugar back up. Preferable orange juice. Sunny D?”

“Sure. And a pain pill.”

“We have codeine.”

“That'll work.”

“It knocks you out!” Junichiro protested.

“Wait and see.” Dan looked at his surroundings. “We're in a hotel?”

“Yep.”

“I take it Helba alerted you guys.”

“Well, Mai and I were already on your case. We were there when you were taken. We followed you here. Helba alerted us, and we asked for back up. We got Tsuakasa and Ryo. She told us that she was crashing their systems at midnight, so we gathered some weapons, and prepared. We were instructed to get you, the security tapes, and get out. We were delayed by getting the computers, but that is a small matter. We weren't expecting you in such a crappy state.”

“Thanks.” Dan said sarcastically.

“We've seen the tapes.” Junichiro said. “We know what happened. If there's anything we can do for you, let us know.”

“What happened to Vanessa?”

“She was just interrogated. The worst she received was a slap on the face. She had a much more compassionate person. The man you had, well, was probably Satan's human counterpart.”

“Glad to know I was hurt by the worst. Or is it the best?”

“You hurt him worse. He's still in the hospital. He has yet to wake up. Neat trick you did, by the way.”

“I don't know what I did.”

“You mean, that was the first time you had used it?”

“Yep.” Dan took a sip of his drink. “It hurts to move my right arm. Must have banged it up.”

“We're surprised you can move at all. We feared you were dead.”

“I merely entered into a deep meditative state to regenerate my mind. I learned how to do that in a book. I breached the line of sanity and insanity by doing that, you know.”

“No, I didn't. Wait, I thought you didn't know what you were-”

“Before I did that, I don't know how I went crazy like that. It felt like I was, well, at peace.”

“Some find peace in a ceaseless storming wind. Neat tricks, nonetheless.”

“The warriors of old, known as Berzerkrs, did that.” Dan said.

“Beserkers?”

“No. B-E-R-Z-E-R-K-R-S. They fought nude.”

“So did you.”

“They were also kinda high on shrooms.” Dan laughed.

“Let me check on your rice.” There was a knock on the door.

“Who is it?” Junichiro asked.

“Is Dan up?” Vanessa's asked through the door.

“Nope.” Dan said. He made sure the blanket covered decently. Vanessa burst through the door, followed by Mai and Tsukasa.

“DON'T TOUCH!” Junichiro cautioned. “Break it, you buy it!”

“What am I, merchandise?” Dan asked, flabbergasted.

“Nope. You're a display item.” Vanessa sat next to him.

“Hey, you got new clothes.” Dan said.

“Yeah, well, seeing as we can't return home, we had to get a new wardrobe. Speaking of that, I assume Bear is out getting you SOMETHING to wear.”

“Yep.”

“You need to wash your hair too. You smell kinda rank.” Vanessa said.

“Love you too. Hey, when I get dressed, you can come back. Until then, I kinda need to be in a guy only environment.”

“Indecency.” Mai whispered to Vanessa.

“He doesn't want to expose himself again.” Tsukasa added in a hushed voice.

“I can hear you.” Dan said.

“RIGHTO!” Vanessa said, standing up. “I will see you later!” She walked out and closed the door. Junichiro brought the rice over to Dan.

“Here you go. Only a few spoonfuls, but enough for now. You shouldn't eat a lot for a few days or so.”

“Why can't we return home?” Dan asked. Junichiro sighed.

“Well, that's complicated. A, because that's where CC Corps expects you to show up.”

“And B?”

“Well, I was going to wait to let Ryo tell you this, but, well, you're officially dead.” Dan soaked that in for a second.

“WHAT?”

“Well, you see, the ransom wasn't fulfilled, meaning you two weren't returned. Thus, both your parents assumed you to be dead. They've already had funerals. Death certificates have been signed.”

“So, you're saying that if we returned, then we would probably shock our parents?”

“Heart attack is more like it.” Junichiro said. “They'd drop dead. Then there'd be an investigation, you'd be questioned, and the truth would come out, and you would be tried by the WNC as a Cyber Criminal. Both of you.”

“I see.” Dan sighed. “I was adopted. I was chosen. Now I have to leave. Forever.” He started to cry. “I hope they aren't that devastated, Mom and Dad.”

“They're taking it day by day. They're solely devoted to figuring out why Jas is comatose.”

“Hope they don't discover the truth. They'll only get hurt.”

“That, in itself, is deeper than anything I have heard as of late.” Ryo said as he walked back in. “I hope I got enough.” He was using two large rolling luggage containers to wheel the clothes in.

“I think you got too much.” Dan said, a smile on his tear glistened face. “No matter.” He looked and saw a staff. He used it to lever himself up. Luckily the pain pill took most the pain away. He looked at his stomach when the blanket fell.

“Well, I DO need to shower.”

“You can get the stitches wet. I made sure.” Ryo said.

“Really?”

“Yep. They're new technology. Pretty cool, huh?”

“I'll say. Hey, can one of you get a hair tie from the girls while I am in the shower?”

“Sure.” Junichiro said. “We'll also put some clothes out in your room.”

“MY room?” Dan asked.

“Well, we kinda figured you might need, well, `special' accommodations. It's the same set up, just with rails to help lever you up from the bath, toilet and bed. Plus, it's blood free!” Dan looked at where he had been lying. There was blood everywhere. He smiled sheepishly.

“Who's paying for all of this?” Ryo held up a card. Dan could clearly read the CC Corps logo.“Damn. You're good.”