Rockman.EXE is not mine. Don't sue.
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Us After This
Chapter 10
~by Shimegami-chan
Author's Note: Whee, somehow got out this chapter quicker than the last.
Incidentally I should be doing schoolwork, but that can wait till tomorrow,
and the editing on EXE 27 doesn't have to be done for another couple of
hours yet. Enjoy kudasai!
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Time passed quickly over the next few days for the Akihara Net battlers and
their families--a week of searching and uncertainties. Life had become a
parody of normality for most; and those that remained became distant, not
knowing what to say.
Hikari Yuuichirou's condition had moved from critical to stable, the coma in
which he slept a morbid parody of the one his son had suffered through just
days before. Haruka was by his side constantly, speaking to him in a quiet
voice, laughing weakly at her own jokes. She often spent the night at his
bedside, holding his hand in her sleep.
The remaining two family members were being faced with a position they never
had before. Saito was in a constant state of feigning normalcy; while Netto
had not spoken in days. Worried for Netto, Meiru and Saito had kept the
predicament a secret from both family and friends.
"Netto, you're going to have to go back to school."
"What?" Saito looked up from his PET, where Emdee was currently putting
together information he had gathered on the remaining WWW faction. "I didn't
hear you come in, Mama."
Hikari Haruka looked tired and worn, her eyes heavy-lidded from lack of
sleep. "I'm not going to sleep at the hospital anymore. You and I have to
start living normal lives again, no matter what happens."
"You want me... to go back to school?" The thought unnerved Saito. It was
fine to pretend to be Netto here, in front of Mama and Dekao and Yaito, but
in front of Mariko-sensei and his classmates was too much. Saito knew how
much his speech habits differed from his twin, and a thousand other details
that had arisen over the years. He knew perfectly well how to be
Hikari Netto, but it wasn't necessarily a role he wanted to play for the
rest of his life.
You could, if Papa dies, he thought inwardly.
He had been forced to tell his mother about the attack on Meiru, which had
gotten both of them off school for the rest of the week while the crime was
investigated. However, the police hadn't reported anything new, and the man
who shot Hikari Yuuichirou still hadn't been caught. There was only so much
Roll and Emdee could do if the Net Police wasn't even on the lookout for the
criminals' Navis.
"It's what's best. I don't want you to fall too far behind." Haruka looked
as though she expected an argument (which was, Saito reflected, what Netto
most likely would have given her). He wondered if Netto could be convinced
to come out of his shell enough to go to school.
"All right, I understand," he said simply. She had been through more than
enough already. "I'll go."
Haruka looked relieved and thanked her
son, closing the bedroom door as she left. Saito put down the PET and
sighed. "Netto-kun...?"
Netto, of course, didn't answer, the same way he hadn't answered in the past
four days. "I can't keep doing this. I can't live your life forever. Why
won't you talk to me?"
The computer hummed softly; Haruka sang to herself in the kitchen. Saito
whispered, "Netto-kun, I miss you."
After a long moment, Saito forced back the feelings of loneliness that had
flooded him and turned to Netto's PC, deciding to page Roll using an instant
messenger system.
Roll linked to Netto's PC almost immediately, her green eyes blinking at him
from inside the screen. "Rock! I haven't seen you at all today. How are
you?"
"I'm fine, Roll-chan," Saito said with a smile. "And you?"
"I'm great," she said happily. "Gutsman and I found a possible link to
Server and Snides' Navis in Den Area 3. We're going to check it out
tomorrow."
"You and Gutsman?" Saito hesitated, but shook the twinge of jealousy away.
"I wish I could be in there helping you guys."
"It's OK, you and Meiru-chan are doing great! Um...how's Netto?"
"Still not talking to anybody."
"Sorry..." she apologized. "This must be really hard for you."
"Yeah..."
"Don't worry, we'll fix everything. Meiru-chan told me Hikari-san is doing a
lot better, and we're closer to catching those loyalists now!"
"I have a lot of patience," Saito smiled. "But this is tough on me too. So
many people have been hurt... because of us. We did what we thought was
right, you know? And now I've lost my program, and Netto's depressed, and
I'm in this unfamiliar body pretending to be someone I'm not..."
"Rock..."
"...I miss you," he said finally, letting his fingertips softly brush the
screen.
Roll clasped her hands together and smiled sadly. "I miss you too."
Saito longed to tell her just how difficult this was for him, but finding
the words was twice as difficult knowing Netto was watching. It wasn't the
same anyway, the boy she spoke to could be Hikari Netto or Hikari Saito, but
it was no longer Rockman.EXE. Not with this face; this voice. Saito wondered
what Roll thought about when she looked at him like that. Did she wonder if
it really was the same Navi she'd known, under the chocolate-brown
eyes?
"...Rock?"
He forced a smile and focused on her once again. "I should get to bed now.
Can you tell Meiru that I'll be going to school tomorrow? I was hoping she'd
come too."
"Okay." Roll looked a bit disappointed--because the earlier conversation had
ended so abruptly?--and stepped back. "Then, good night!"
"Good night, Roll-chan."
She waved and linked out, and Saito slowly closed the program. The chat with
Roll had only served to depress him more, when he was trying so hard to keep
Netto afloat.
He lay down on the bed, focusing on the ceiling. "You know, Netto-kun,
you're not the only one who has it hard lately... You could at least talk to
me. Have you considered the fact that I miss Roll and Gutsman and Glyde? The
only one I have left now is you."
The computer hummed softly on the desk.
"...If you disappear, what am I going to do?"
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Shi-chan: My apologies to people who were enjoying the angst; I started
listening to Brand New Way partway through the fic and my mood kinda
reversed...
Seki: She does things like that from time to time. ^^;;
Shi-chan: Oh, look who finally shows up. AFTER the chapter is done.
Seki: Ya gotta think for yourself sometimes, Netto-kun.
Shi-chan: Don't you patronize me, you lazy muse!
Seki: Aren't you used to it now? :P *runs*
Shi-chan: Omae o korosu!
Making a quick note; Roll does call him 'Rock' in the Japanese version, and
I'm trying my hardest to follow the continuity here. :)
January 4/03 - And I went back and fixed it in the other chapters too
:P