Lane

— Lane to Shadow, asking about her status while fatally injured himself in *Flower*

**Lane** (レイン, *Rein*) is a player of the light novel series, *Zenith: Across Worlds*, who was the one of the main characters of the Clash of the Shops Arc. A representative sponsored by Kuwei and Friends, he participated in the Second Annual Clash of the Shops and was a member of the Coalition. He has not been seen since he had his health drained after he tackled Blaze over the cliff in *Flower*; it is unknown whether he is dead or alive in real life.

## Appearance

Lane is seen as a tall, young man who is described as strong and agile, yet "not bulky with muscles". He has dark brown eyes while his hair, which is straight and styled to the side, is black. He is most often seen in his white hooded jacket that is accented with gray hemlines and padding. Its sleeves from the elbows down are fastened with leather strings tied in a crisscross fashion. Underneath, he wears black pants with gray sneakers. He does not have any tattoos but seems to have a scar under his right eye.

## Background

Because he is mostly quiet and keeps to himself, most of Lane's background is unknown. However, after he grew closer to Shadow, he freely shared with her several of his experiences with the game, some to humor her, such as his getting lost during the exploration of Glacier's Hollow; others, like his first meeting with Kuwei, he seemed to keep close to his heart.

## Personality

Lane, in most of his appearances, could be a very quiet person, reserving many things to himself and rendering much of his background unknown. Before Shadow began talking to him, he seemed distant during his time in the Coalition, and, according to Shadow, acted as though he was not in an alliance, "only laughing" and "smiling when the others did". Only later was it revealed that Lane was actually very friendly and nice, free to share several of his stories with her, some of which seemed very important to him. Kind-hearted and aware of his surroundings, he comforts Shadow many times during the event and does so successfully.

Under situations of stress or tension, he remains cool, calm and reserved, as shown in *To Choose Your Fall* when he hides patiently with Shadow underneath the table from the uroko-jōmonos. He also seems very analytical, mindful of both his odds and the odds of his opponent, as his sacrifice depicts.

Although he may stay cool during stressful scenes, as his aggressiveness and outbursts reveal during the Fall of the Coalition, he has a tendency to act hostile when a person he cares about is in grave danger. Very different from his normal quiet nature, he has been shown to curse loudly and profusely and adopt a courageous and bold, if carelessly impulsive, attacking style. Additionally, he seems to only concern himself with protecting the person in danger. Because of the nature of his fighting under these conditions, this leads him to leave little to no care for his own wellbeing.

## Equipment and Abilities

### Weapons

Lane makes the use of a primary Modern-styled weapon. It is likely that he has secondary weapons, such as a knife, but they were not seen throughout his appearances in the Clash of the Shops Arc.

* *A4*: Lane's rifle, it is his primary weapon of choice. Although no description to its appearance or usage had been included in the light novels, other than it firing with semi-automatic action and the inclusion of a scope, the writers have confirmed that it is based off of the American M16A4 rifle, which its inspiration can be seen from its name.

### Abilites

Like all other players of ZAW, Lane is allotted only five abilities. However, in all of his appearances, no abilities have been named. Although he "whispers abilities and enhancements" to empower his bullets, there is only one ability that has been confirmed to have been cast, its effects still mostly unknown.

* Attack - This ability was used twice by Lane during CotS Part V II, which, on both occasions hit targets they were not meant for: Shadow and Winter. Enhancing his rifle, one of his rounds take on a glowing light and carve their way to the target. The bullet then inflicts severe internal ripping damage that is meant to bleed out and disable the opponent. Needed healing and regeneration for the wound is much greater than a regular bullet wound.

## Chronology

### Clash of the Shops Arc

Because it is unknown whether or not he was entrapped in the game, it is unknown whether he is dead or alive in real life.

### Not Alone Arc

In Training, Shadow and the others have commented that they have not seen him since his death in the event.

## Relationships

### Shadow

Lane met Shadow during the Clash of the Shops event en route to the first objective. Although Shadow had not seemed to care for his actions in the beginning, she later accepted him happily when he opened up to her; they often conversed with one another in between objectives. At times when Shadow had been perturbed or depressed, Lane would be the first to notice and to comfort her. However, although their relationship with one another would be punctuated by seriousness, it was playful and, at times, comical. For instance, in *Blind*, when Shadow paces around, worrying about their position during the riddle objective, Lane coolly walks up to her and holds her in place, murmuring, "Stop pacing." Since the competition, she often reflects about him, and although her thoughts at times bring her back to the painful memories, she slowly learns to accept his death with the help of Guradel and Rayde, that a very likely possibility being that no one has seen him since.

It is unknown whether or not Shadow and Lane had both liked one another in a romantic sense. They had both seemed to concentrate on each other during conversations and had equal reactions of desperation and heroics when the other was injured. However, Shadow often mentioned that the reason for doing so was that she "sincerely cared for all four of them, even in the midst of those bonds breaking [the betrayal]". On the other hand, Lane would only mention his stories and thoughts to her, be it relevant to the current events or simply to cheer her up, even if doing so would ridicule himself. Additionally, although Shadow is extremely depressed when Winter dies, she has a different reaction when Lane does, as seen when she finally leaves Guradel; she is silent and deceiving, suggesting an emptiness.

## Quotes

* "You'll live."
* "... Ku-Wei walked up to her slowly and said, 'I think you'll need a friend for that Ponju to keep him happy.' Haha, she had hopped around that store, looking through each shelf to find another stuffed toy. Suddenly, she stopped and ran to me and Ku-Wei, and grabbed our hands and pulled us along with her. She wanted one that all three of us liked. I didn’t really care either way, but even so, it had probably taken an hour or so to find one she really liked... it was fun... Since then, I've been friends with Ku-Wei."
* "Hang in there."
* "I'm sorry for your loss."
* "Blaze!... You're fighting me, right?"
* "What the f\*ck are you doing?... What the f\*ck did you do to her?"
* "Shadow... are you okay?... Don't worry about me."
* "Blaze!... You aren’t going to win. Concluding it right now, it would end it all. Give it up!"

## Trivia

* The fan-made couple name for him and Shadow is "Shane".