Kuraku sat cross-legged in the middle of a shifting landscape, watching the scenery blink in and out of existence. It was no good, the program was irrevocably corrupted and he wasn't going to be able to fix it. They would have to start all over, and it had taken them almost a year to get this far. "That was a stupid mistake." He muttered to himself and the repeatedly flickering room. "What was she thinking?"
"What the hell is wrong with this place?" A confused voice from behind him asked, causing Kuraku to twist around with surprise. He found Tenshi watching the room, his colour slowly fading as he began to look a little sick.
"What are you doing here?" He demanded, causing the other player to look away from the disorienting landscape. It wasn't exactly the politest greeting in the world, especially for someone he'd been having a Realm-relationship with for the past few weeks, but he was too annoyed with the program glitch to be concerned with that.
"I was looking for you. This is... can we go somewhere else?"
Tenshi really didn't look very good. Kuraku nodded, then stood and took the blue-eyed man's hand. In a millisecond they were away from the corrupted room, and standing on the edge of Kuraku's lake. He was a little surprised at the location, but it made sense. After all, he had been working on the personal level program, so why wouldn't he end up in his own place?
"This is much better." Tenshi whispered, looking around at the moonlight-kissed water. Kuraku watched him, loving the way wonder played across his expressive face. Tenshi really hadn't intended to hide anything when he created his character design. Kuraku didn't really understand it; his own design had been intended to conceal everything. Secrets were the greatest power there was inside the Realm.
"Why were you looking for me?"
Tenshi turned and began to blush. "I wanted to, um, talk."
"Not to challenge me?" Kuraku asked innocently, and Tenshi shook his head.
"Not yet, I haven't had any time to train."
"Oh, then you must have had something else in mind to do." He teased, walking closer and slipping his arms around the other player's waist.
"I said talk." Tenshi muttered.
"No you said, 'um, talk.' There is a difference."
"Technically," he muttered, leaning back into the embrace slightly, "but I still meant talk."
"So, talk." Kuraku directed, nibbling lightly on Tenshi's neck. To his disappointment, the blue-eyed player pulled away. Sighing, Kuraku watched as Tenshi walked to the edge of the lake and began to run his hand through the water. "I take it there's something on your mind."
"Yes."
"Well?"
"Why do you do this?"
"What?" He was confused now.
"Come into the Realm, fight with people, and..." he blushed, "and visit the Red Lights District. Why do you do it?"
"Why do you?"
"I asked first."
"That doesn't guarantee you the first answer."
Tenshi sighed and gave him an exasperated glare. "Just tell me."
"Sore wa himitsu desu." Kuraku replied with a smile, trying not to laugh as Tenshi's exasperation morphed into outright annoyance.
"What kind of answer is that?"
"The only one you'll get. There are things that you are not allowed to know bishounen."
"I'm not allowed to know why you come in here?"
Kuraku shrugged. Perhaps that was interpreting his instructions a little broadly, but he wasn't about to let Tenshi know that.
"Can you at least tell me why you -- " He broke off with another blush. "Why me?"
Kuraku thought about it. Really, he didn't have an answer to that. The other player had an attractive appearance, that was certain, and he was definitely pleasing partner, but there was something about him that Kuraku really couldn't explain. "Do you have a problem with it?"
"I don't know." Tenshi admitted, turning to look out across the lake again. "I'm starting to get confused."
"How so?"
"There's someone on the outside. Coming in here with you, it's like I'm cheating on him, and I don't like the idea of that."
"This isn't real."
"So you say. How can you make that differentiation so easily?"
"You can't?"
"No! It's... I don't know. It's just, it's almost the same on an emotional level."
"I think you're too connected to your Realm image Ten-chan. How can you have an emotional connection to someone you don't even know?"
"I know you."
"Not really. You have no idea what I'm like beyond what I show you. Nothing in the Realm is real. Not me, not you, not this place, nothing. It's an illusion, a game. A very realistic and convincing one, but still a game."
"I can't always make that separation."
"You should learn to. Otherwise, you might get hurt." Tenshi turned to look at him with a little smile. "Maybe, but I'm not sure I want to change. What's the point in any of this if I'm not the one doing it?"
Kuraku blinked. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Doesn't it? Then why do you do it? Does it have any meaning for you at all?"
"I..." Did it have any meaning? The challenges, the meetings in the Red Lights district, did any of them have any meaning at all? If they did, then why did he always end up alone and miserable in the end? He didn't want to think about that, but he couldn't escape Tenshi's questioning look. No, that wasn't quite true, he could escape. Shutting his connection down with a thought, the dark robed figure disappeared leaving Tenshi alone by the side of the moonlit lake.