An Incident: Hu/AA LaikaxNetto

[Neko]

Christmas Fic for Yue. Because she wanted one and I couldn't think of a better gift.

Damn I suck XD

Here ya go, Yue. Enjoy ^^

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“Netto-kun?” Rockman asked softly.

Netto groaned from underneath his covers and made a point to draw his comforter closer around his body.

Rockman sighed and rolled his green eyes, “Netto-kun, you need to get up. We’ve been given a mission.”

“From who?” Netto called out blearily.

Rockman checked the e-mail he had just received. “From Sharro. They want you to help Laika on a check up mission.”

“Why me?” Netto groaned.

Rockman sighed, “Apparently they want us to check on the old rare metal mine in their country. Unfortunately, they need people who can go in and out without having to worry about the cold.”

“Cross fusion?” Netto asked while slowing coming out from underneath his pile of bed covers.

Rockman nodded, “Most likely. Want to accept?”

Netto sat up and yawned. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, “Why not?” he asked. “It’s summer vacation and you know how I just love the cold.”

Rockman blinked, “Netto-kun?” he asked confusedly.

Netto looked slightly irritated as he got out of bed, “I was being sarcastic.”

“O-oh…”

Netto stretched and walked over to his computer. “Why not?” he asked with a genuine grin now that he was more awake. “I bet Laika and Searchman miss us so much.”

Rockman laughed. “I’m sure Netto-kun. Should I send the reply?”

Netto nodded, “Go ahead. I’m going to get dressed.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Laika checked his watch for a fourth time. “How is it, he comes here on a plane, is brought straight to the base and he is still late?” he asked irritably while looking at his watch again.

“Talent?” Searchman guessed.

Laika rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand. “Apparently,” he said dryly.

Just then a car pulled up and Netto hopped out of it, bundled up as warmly as he could while still remaining mobile. “Hey Laika!” he waved and ran over to his friend. He stopped in front of the aqua haired teen and caught his breath. Laika silently crossed his arms while Netto laughed, “You’ll never believe what happened! We got off the plane and I went out to see if the car was in the parking lot and I…uhh…” he looked up at Laika’s scowling face. “You okay?”

“Peachy,” Laika answered through gritted teeth. “Please continue.”

Netto raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything in regards to Laika but instead he continued his story. “Anyway, I got lost in the parking lot for ten minutes before one of your friends found me. Then we got lost getting back,” he giggled. “It was funny after we got back into the car…” he eyed Laika again as his voice drifted off. “You don’t think it’s funny, do you?” he asked.

Laika sighed exasperatedly. “Oh no, I think it’s a riot. Now let’s go get ready.”

Netto blinked then nodded. “Sure,” he said slowly and trotted after Laika as he walked briskly in the other direction.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Laika looked around the empty mine. “The weather’s claimed a lot of the old veins. I guess it would take a lot of work to get this mine up again.”

Netto blinked and looked around, “Why are we here again?”

“We’re here to check something,” Laika replied while inspecting a crack. “Some water flooded into a vein somehow and froze. Now the entire tunnel is threatening to come down. Now we need to know how bad it is so we can fix it the right way.”

Netto frowned and looked around the old mine. “Oh,” he said softly.

Laika sighed and pulled out his PET. “Dimensional Area, okay,” he said into it.

Netto heard a hum outside as the floor became painted with the iridescent hues of the Dimensional Area. He grinned and pulled out his syncro chip. “Cross Fusion!” he yelled out with Rockman as the PET began to glow. He shut his eyes and when the light faded he saw Laika standing next to him; also in cross fusion.

Netto grinned, “Ready?” he asked.

Laika shrugged and walked down the tunnel silently. Netto sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Still cold as ever,” he muttered.

“Well, at least he’s not yelling at you,” Rockman’s voice said in his ear.

Netto laughed, “This is true,” he said while running to catch up with Laika’s retreating form.

Together the two boys inspected every inch of the area and while Netto was no expert on tunnels, he knew that when a cave had that many cracks it wasn’t exactly a good sign.

Laika became more and more troubled as they went along. Finally Netto’s curiosity got the better of him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

Laika blinked and looked at Netto. “We’re under part of the base,” he said softly. “This part wasn’t mined. The frozen water created this part and if it collapses…”

Netto gulped, the prospect didn’t look good. “What can we do?” he asked softly.

Laika shrugged, once again adopting his cool demeanor. “Right now we can go back and tell the General what’s wrong. I’ll wait for his orders.”

Netto eyed the shaky structure. “But… it could collapse at any time. We’re here, why not just do something about it?”

“Because that’s not how a soldier does things,” Laika growled.

Netto crossed his arms, “So? You don’t need orders to save a life do you? Let’s just think of a way to fix this now before it gets any worse.”

Laika clenched a fist. “You just don’t get it, do you?” he snapped.

“What?” Netto asked him angrily.

“I’m not like you, Netto Hikari. I don’t act on instinct or emotion or the priority of others. I act on the command of my superiors and that is what makes me a soldier. And as long as you’re with me, you will do the same, understand!?” he yelled the last part.

Netto held his icy gaze with his own, “I don’t take orders from you or anyone,” he said dangerously. “I act on how I see fit, given the situation. And I think this situation calls for some improvisation.”

Laika grabbed Netto’s wrist and started to pull him out of the tunnel. “Too bad, we going back.”

“Hey…” Netto pulled on his arm while Laika literally dragged him down the tunnel. “Let me go,” he growled.

Laika let him go and spun around. “Netto, I know you think that we can do the right thing, but we can’t! Not without orders. I’d love to do all I can right here and now to fix this, but I can’t. That’s not how the real world works.”

Netto crossed his arms, “So, what if the cave collapses while we’re waiting for some order?”

“Then that’s how it goes,” Laika said in a careless manner.

Netto gaped at him, “You can’t be serious!” he gasped.

“I am serious, now let’s go,” Laika snapped. “The more time we waste here the less time we have to fix this.”

“But…” Netto protested.

“NOW!” Laika yelled.

There was an echo that reverberated either way along the tunnel. Netto blinked and looked up at the fragile ceiling. “Laika…” he said softly.

“Don’t… move…” Laika hissed under his breath.

A small pebble gave way and came out of the ceiling. Netto blinked then growled. “I don’t care, I’m not waiting,” he snapped and ran down the tunnel.

“Netto, wait!” Laika called out and took off after his friend.

“Rockman, do we have something, anything that could help us for awhile?” Netto asked his navi.

Rockman scanned the chips. “We have a blizzard chip. If we could freeze the rocks in place then it could buy us some time.”

Netto nodded and summoned the chip. “Blizzard!” he yelled and began to freeze the inside of the cave.

Laika ran up behind him and looked around. “Netto, let’s go!” he growled.

“Not yet,” Netto replied while grimacing with the effort of keeping the chip up.

Laika rolled his eyes and began to walk away. “Fine, you deal with the consequences of your idiotic plan. I’m done.”

There was a small rumble over head while Netto continued to spray the interior of the tunnel with the frozen data. Slowly the ice began to become natural as it drew in real water from the rocks. Netto heard the small rumble and turned around to see a rock about the size of a large beach ball work its way loose from the ceiling. “Netto, look out!” Laika yelled.

Netto heard Laika’s yell and turned towards him. “Above you!” Rockman called out.

Netto looked up and managed to dodge at the last second but he wasn’t quick enough to get completely out of the way. He cried out as the large rock hit his ankle on the way down. He rolled out of the way so he wouldn’t get pinned under the large rock but the shockwave the rock sent was enough.

Laika growled and pulled out freezing bullets. “You better appreciate this!” he yelled and began to fire off several shots in rapid succession, slowly freezing the entire area faster then Netto ever could.

Netto sat up and smiled at him, “Thanks, Laika,” he said cheerfully.

Laika sighed and set down his gun. “Are you all right?”

Netto nodded and stood up, with a cry he collapsed into Laika’s arms. “No you’re not…” he growled.

Netto hissed as he tried to put weight on his foot. “It’ll be fine.”

“Netto-kun…” Rockman said softly.

Just then Laika’s receiver beeped. “Private Laika!” a voice barked.

“Yes sir?” Laika asked while trying to support Netto who was in obvious pain.

“I do not remember giving you authority to use weapons in the tunnels!”

“Sir, the tunnel was collapsing,” Laika said smoothly.

“Very well private. Please return with a report to hand in. I’m turning off the Dimensional Area now.”

“Yes sir,” Laika replied.

There was another hum and the dimensional area faded. Thankfully the generated ice remained in tact and held the shaky tunnel together.

Netto gasped out as his pain increased tenfold with the disappearance of cross fusion. “Netto?” Laika asked softly.

Netto clutched Laika’s arms tightly. “It hurts…”

“Of course it hurts you moron!” Laika snapped. “It was almost crushed by a 300 kilogram rock!”

Netto took in a few shaky breaths to try and combat the pain. “Netto-kun, are you okay?” Rockman asked gently.

Netto shook his head but still managed to give Rockman a grin. “No, but what can you do?” he teased.

Rockman smiled but there was a tinge of worry in it. “Netto-kun, we need to get you to a doctor. If you go into shock in this weather you could be in real danger.”

“Ha! I’m stronger then that,” Netto snapped back.

Laika shook his head, “No, your navi is right,” He said while retrieving Rockman’s PET. “We need to get you somewhere where we can check your leg.”

Netto sighed and took his PET. “All right, let’s go.”

Laika bent down and nudged Netto onto his back. Netto fell onto him with a yelp and Laika stood up quickly before Netto could protest. “Laika!” Netto yelled out.

“We’re leaving quickly,” Laika sighed. “Please, just deal with it for now.”

Netto sighed and relaxed. “I didn’t think you would care,” he teased.

Laika gave Netto a tiny smile. “I care. You’ve earned it.”

Netto blinked, a bit puzzled but didn’t say anything else.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

After Laika dropped off the report he took Netto back to his apartment and helped the brunette over to the couch. “They’re sending in a repair team now. Everything should be fine,” he said while taking off Netto’s sock and inspecting his ankle. “You however…” he said slowly.

Netto rolled his eyes, “I know, what I did was irresponsible and juvenile.”

“I was going to say you shouldn’t walk for several days, but that too,” Laika replied with another tiny grin.

Netto crossed his arms and blushed. “Is it that bad?”

Laika ever so gently touched some of the bruised skin on his ankle. Netto gasped out and winced at the same time. “I don’t know, you tell me,” Laika replied.

Netto fell back on the couch. “Fine, I’ll stay off it.”

Laika nodded and slowly began to wrap it. “It’ll get better, it’s just a bad sprain. Not surprising after what you did to it.”

Netto growled, “You’re pushing it Laika.”

Laika shrugged and set Netto’s foot on top of several pillows. “Just… don’t move, okay?”

Rockman laughed, “That’s a tall order, Laika-san.”

Laika got some ice out of his freezer and put it in a bag. “I figured,” he sighed.

Netto took the ice when Laika came back over and set it on his ankle with a grimace. “You two, hush.”

Laika shook his head and sat in a chair across from Netto. “Well, at least the mission is over.”

Netto flopped back onto the couch. “Yay for two boring days on a couch.”

Laika raised an eyebrow, “I thought you liked to sleep.”

“Ha ha,” Netto said sarcastically.

Laika smiled again, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine soon enough.”

Netto sighed, “Yeah, I hope so.”

“Netto?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you insist on going against orders?”

Netto looked thoughtful. “Because even if I’m ordered to do something, that doesn’t mean it’s right. If I don’t think something isn’t right then I won’t do it. And if I think it’s the better thing to do then I will.”

Laika nodded, “That’s an enviable way to think, Netto.”

“Huh?”

Laika shook his head. “Never mind.”

Netto blinked then looked up at Laika. “You’ve mellowed out since we last went into that mine,” he noted.

Laika nodded and stood up. “I know. It’s your fault you know.”

Netto grinned wickedly, “Thank you.”

Laika shook his head amusedly and went into the kitchen. “His fault… huh.”

“Yes, Laika-san,” Searchman replied.

Laika pulled out a tea bag and set the kettle on the stove. “Interesting,” he said softly.
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Roses are #FF0000, violets are #0000FF. All my base are belong to you.

Avatar, credit Yakitate@devart

[Vanilla_Go_Rilla]

So very fluffy :33 I love how this fic started out humorous and lighthearted, then gradually evolved into a more intimate scene later on that made Laika look a lot less stoic and relentlessly boring than usual. I'm in agreement with Laika that Netto shouldn't walk for several days; considering his clumsiness, he should have avoided walking whenever possible. Outstanding work Neko, really looking forward to more of your fics.
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Better to keep your mouth shut and make people wonder if you are stupid, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.

[Yue-chan]

awww, what a cute and fluffy fic! squee! What a wonderful present. Thankees!
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"Life is like a video game; the final bosses always suck." -twinling

[Midnight]

Aww...this was a nice and sweet little fic.

I have to admit, you bring up yet another point about Netto's personality--his intuition and gut feeling, and its value in a crisis situation. I have to chide Laika a bit, since he too must know the value of improvisation, and I wouldn't think that he would eb the kind of person to ignore the potential benefits of that kind of thinking so easily. Nevertheless, such situations led to the slightly warmer and less serious latter half, which turned out to be comparable to your usual work. Great job.
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Today, these three players are after Big Bucks! But they'll have to avoid the Whammy, as they play the most exciting game of their lives! From Television City in Hollywood! It's time to 'Press Your Luck!'--Rod Roddy

The Kingdom of Loathing: An Adventurer is You! // I ♣ Seals

Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Wackoman.EXE]

Ahhh...so very fuzzy. Netto kept up his incessant stubborness and will to do the right thing, while Laika kept his despise to do anything without being ordered to do so first. It was wonderful and I particularly enjoyed Laika's sarcasm at the beginning. Keep up the fluffiness Neko.
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Transcendent Super Spiral Dreadnought Gunmen

[Kitty-Chan]

Fluffy! I love it. We need more fluff in the world.
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Need more Zero/X, Netto/Rock, Rock/Netto, Forte/Netto, & Blues/Netto. PLEASE!
Ano sa...could someone please make me a Zero/X, Blues/Netto, or Forte/Netto avatar/banner? I would greatly appreciate it...
Thanks for the avatar, Mandi!
People! We need more Blues/Netto & Forte/Netto on the net. Come on; help me out here! *gives everyone her Super-Adorable Irrisistable Sad Kitty Eyes(TM)*