Friendship with the Oriental Sunflower
This is my first fanfic, so if I make some mistakes keep that in mind.
Another thing is that during the story I make several references to other things, so for fun why not try to figure them out? Here's a hint: one of them is in the title. For the rest you're on your own. Good Luck!
One more thing: DISCLAIMER! I do not own Rockman EXE/Megaman Battle Network. I only own my characters. Although I seriously want to badly, then I'd be rich! Heh heh…
OK, enough chit-chat. It is time for the feature story. Enjoy everyone!
It was a beautiful spring day in Akihara, Japan. Amid this technologically advanced town, filled with Personal Terminals (PETs) and NetNavis, the A.I.s that live in them alike, the cherry blossoms served as a gentle reminder of nature and civilization in harmony. And for Netto Hikari and friends, there was absolutely no way they were going to miss the annual viewing festival… even if they had to drag out one of them out of his stuffy, dull office in iron chains.
"Thanks for coming along, Enzan! I didn't have to convince you as much this time!" Netto said to a boy with black and white hair to his left.
"…Humph," Enzan said, his cold, piercing blue eyes looking around before resting on the brunette. "Call it what you want, but I still say you dragged me out here, even if I did willingly."
Although this response was to be expected, Netto wasn't going to let that slide. "Oh come on! It'll be fun! Besides, it was Meiru-chan who told me to ask you."
The aforementioned pink/red-haired was more than ticked by that reply, puffing her cheeks out before giving Netto a good slap upside the head."Honestly, Netto, you need to show more respect toward your friends!"
Netto, dense as ever, was not expecting the sudden attack, and ended up spiraling toward a tree. "B-But, he's not exactly my friend!" Netto protested, getting up from the impact with the tree. "Ugh, my head…"
"Friend or not, I agree whole heartedly with Meiru," declared a voice. Its owner was Yaito Ayanokoujii, a young girl with an abnormally large, shiny forehead. She unfortunately was standing in clear view of the sun, semi blinding everyone in a 5 kilometer radius.
"Ack, Yaito-chan, move away from the sun! Don't try to be a spotlight!" Netto cried while covering his eyes with his arms. He was surprised by the sudden flash, but was also slightly relieved for the distraction as well.
Well, Yaito was obviously insulted by the comment, but no one expected that her reaction would be so severe. "Eh? Are you saying you don't appreciate my beauty?!" And with that she threw a tantrum right in the middle of the park trail.
"Um, Netto-kun, I don't think that was the nicest thing you've ever said… Shouldn't you apologize? And besides, you should listen to Meiru-chan. You barely listen to me yelling at you to do your homework anyway," piped up a voice from Netto's shoulder. It was Netto's netnavi, the blue-suited cyber personality known as .
"Aw man! Rockman, not YOU too!" Netto wailed. He then threw his hands up in frustration. "AAAAAAGH! EVERYONE IS GANGING UP ON ME!"
This quickly brings out a laugh from nearly everyone. As for Enzan, he suppressed his laughter (he had a reputation to keep), but he had to smile. Annoying as it was, he was suddenly extremely glad for coming along. He had this nagging feeling that something close to a miracle was going to happen. He just didn't know exactly what.
After a nice stroll through the park, the group decided to rest under the biggest, most beautiful cherry tree there. It was next to a lake with a nice scenery and cool breeze to boot. Yaito soon left to attend this big party for rich people, so that just left the three of them. However, Enzan could clearly see that Meiru wanted to spend some time alone with Netto, so he excused himself with a smirk and went around the tree to the side facing the lake. After a couple of seconds he sat down in the shade, sighed and pulled out his PET. "You think this is far enough away from them, Blues?"
A red and purple Navi appeared on the boy's shoulder. "Hai, Enzan-sama. Though I'm pretty sure that you're wondering what exactly Meiru-san plans to do," Blues said with a sly smile.
"…Don't get any ideas. I only want to see Hikari's reactions play out as they should," Enzan said in an icy tone. "It's highly amusing." As if to prove his point, from the other side came a small yelp, followed by two people laughing. "Oh well," Blues said with a chuckle. Then he paused. "…Enzan-sama? Is something wrong?"
Enzan didn't answer. He seemed to be lost in thought when something yellow caught his eye amid the sea of pink and white petals. That was puzzling enough, but then he heard singing from the same area. He got up and went down the hill to investigate.
At the same time however a girl about his age was coming up the hill as well, distracted and a bit flustered. They crashed into each other and the impact sent both sprawling.
"Ouch, what the…? Oh my, I'm…" Enzan never finished his sentence, as he was too focused on seeing who exactly he almost tackled into the water. She was rather pretty, with black hair with dark brown highlights, but he couldn't make out the color of her eyes since some of her bangs covered her face, even though most of them were pinned down with two plastic hairclips shaped like flower stars. She was wearing a black and white blouse with a music motif, a neon pink skirt with blue and yellow stripes, and yellow combat boots. She also had a red choker necklace, with a light blue music note in the center surrounded by a white circle, and a silver charm bracelet with charms he couldn't define.
"Ouch, that hurt… I was so careless," the girl muttered. "Are you okay?" Enzan asked, gesturing out his hand. "I apologize for my clumsiness." She gladly took the hand, and they helped each other up.
"Don't worry about that, it's more my fault," the girl said, brushing back the stray bangs behind her ears. As she did, he noticed that her eyes were a stunning onyx black that flashed brown in the sunlight.
"What's your name?" Enzan asked. This girl had an amicable kind of aura around her, not as infectiously cheerful like maybe Netto's, but with a mysterious air to it. He wanted to learn more.
"The name's Melody. Melody Hakurei," she replied with a smile.
Hakurei… hm, that sounds like a last name one would find here, Enzan thought. Then why do I get the feeling if I looked around to find her even a month ago, I wouldn't find her anywhere in the country? "Are you from around here?" he asked.
The answer he got surprised him. "No, actually," Melody confessed. "I'm from Ameroupe. I was given a grant to study technology under Professor Yuichiro Hikari at Scilab." She then paused, as the boy was staring at the remaining petals of the yellow blossom she had dropped when the collision happened.
"Oh, this? This is a sunflower, or at least it used to be." She opened her palm and threw the petals into the breeze. "My Navi, Song, insisted on bringing a basket of sunflowers with me when I left."
A pink and white Navi appeared on Melody's shoulder. "Hiya! How do you do?" Song said sweetly with a flirty wink. She then whispered something in Melody's ear that made her blush slightly. "Oh, knock it off," Melody muttered. "You know it's true. I won't press anymore," Song said hands up in defeat. "Anyway, what's your Navi?" she asked. "I want to see him."
"Also, can you tell me your name?" Melody added. "I want to continue this conversation with you."
That gave Enzan a jolt of anxiety. He never gave his name to a girl lest she was a major fan of his. That usually prompted a stampede of fan girls screaming his name in a pitch not healthy for the ears. But Melody seemed different, so he decided to take the risk.
After a short silence, the words "My name is Enzan Ijuin" finally tumbled out of his mouth. He then braced himself for the despair and the ear-splitting headache that was to come. Amazingly, it never came. Looking up, he saw that Melody had an even kinder smile than before. "I am honored to meet you, Enzan. Let's sit over here," she said, gesturing over to the trunk of the cherry tree behind them. "We have a lot to talk about."
"…So, um, what do you know about me?" Enzan asked. Inwardly he cursed himself for how he was acting. Normally he could sweet-talk his way out of many other sticky situations that involved women, but this time he could do no such thing. He also had a twinge of shyness around Melody. That had never happened with anyone before, except maybe his dad, and he didn't see him much.
"Well, let's see, you're the vice-president of IPC, your intelligence extends to college, maybe further, and you're one of the best net-battlers in Japan, with your NetNavi, Blues," she started. As if she had read his mind, she added, "I highly respect you, way too much for me to start yelling my head off. I think you're a good role model for me and my friends. In fact, they convinced me to make a charm of your symbol for my bracelet." She held up her wrist. "I'm wearing it right now."
Enzan peered at the bracelet closely. Along with his symbol, Netto's and Meiru's symbol hung to the left and right respectively, along with other charms that were quite unusual. There was a harp, a yellow arrow-like charm that resembled a shooting star, a charm with the letters Z and X combined, a shuriken made out of sunflower petals, a moon encased in a heart, a mini-Hakkero (at least he thought that was it, he wasn't sure), and a ying-yang orb. The orb was slightly larger than the rest of the charms and had a faint glow.
"These are lovely," Enzan commented. "Any reason for the shapes?" Immediately he regretted that sentence. He could feel mental barriers come up.
"Um, sorry, I'm not too comfortable on explaining that," Melody said in a low voice. "Never mind, I shouldn't have asked," Enzan replied. In his mind though, he was intrigued. What could she be hiding? He decided to wait on that. When the time comes, she would explain, he thought. She has to.
After an uncomfortable silence, Enzan moved to a safer subject. "So, What do you think of the cherry blossoms?"
Melody, grateful for the opportunity, gazed up into the branches. "I think they're beautiful. The remind me of the sunflower fields back home, full of petals. The name 'Saigyou Ayakashi' would fit this tree, seeing that it is so big."
"Wait, you mean that demon tree in legend that has powers to invoke death?" Enzan inquired.
"Yes, that one. But if it is truly legend is the question, eh?" Melody said with a sly grin.
"What do you mean, Melody-san?" "Oh, just call me Melody; I don't mind." She then continued: "Just think, what we may be a reality, sealed off so that the magic and wonder of it can extend off into the horizon. Only the few willing to accept this possibility can truly see it." She then turned to look Enzan straight in the eye. "Would you like to go there, if you had the chance, Enzan?"
He pondered that thought for a minute. Finally he said this: "If by any chance such a place exists, with the people of lore long forgotten, then I would be willing to go, as long as I had a friend to guide me."
Melody had a triumphant smile on her face. "I thought so," she said. And with that she broke into song. It was one of the loveliest melodies Enzan had ever heard, beautiful yet deceptively simple:
Iro wa nioedo, itsuka, chirinuru o
Even though the scent lingers, the petals scattered one day
Samayou koto sae, yurusenakatta…
It couldn't even allow me to wander…
Sakihokoru hana wa itsuka, Oshiete kureta
The flowers in bloom taught me one day
Ikuru dake de wa tsumi to
That living just for the sake of it is a mistake
Hanarerarenai, hanase wa shinai to
We can't be separated, I can't leave you
Idaku omoi wa, kokoro o odoraseru bakari
My feelings, holding on to them, only make my heart excited
Iro wa nioedo, itsuka, chirinuru o
Even though the scent lingers, the petals scattered one day
Samayou kawanai keredo atozusari
I have no place to wander, but I take a step back
Amaeru kayowasato, amaerarenu yowasade
So frail I depend on it and so weak I can't be depended on
Akumuga yasahiku watashi o moteasobu…
The nightmare tenderly toys around with me…
"That's beautiful," Enzan commented. He had realized mid-song that the singing he had heard earlier had come from her.
"Thanks," Melody replied. "It's one of my favorites."
They continued to gaze into each other's eyes… until someone came rushing in from the opposite side.
"Oi! Enzan! Where are you? Oh, there you are…" Netto said breathlessly. He then noticed who was sitting next to the boy. "Oh, Melody-chan! I didn't know you were at the festival too!"
"Good to see you too, Netto-kun. Where's Meiru-chan?" Melody inquired.
"She had to leave for a vacation in Yoka Village," the boy replied.
Enzan stared at Melody curiously. "You've already met him?"
"Yeah, actually. One of the conditions of the grant was that I was to stay at the Hikari residence when I was done learning for the day. It was the first place I went to around here."
Netto nodded. "She's just awesome when it comes to programming and net battles. I have to show you later. Anyway, I just came to tell you that Papa is here to take us to Scilab for Net Savior training. He's ready to leave when you are."
The two stood up and brushed off some dirt. "You should get going," Melody said.
"Actually, I was wondering, would you like to come along with us?" Enzan asked.
He got the exact answer he was hoping for. "I'd love to, Enzan."
Then the three turned around and went back the way they came.
While they were walking, Netto came up to Enzan, pulled him aside and said, "You've been acting funny lately."
"I don't know what you're talking about" was the reply.
"Yes you do. Wait a minute… you're not in LOVE, are you Enzan?"
Enzan turned bright red. "Seriously, Hikari? What made you put that idea in your thick head?"
Netto ignored that and replied, "Whoa! You're even blushing! I seriously need to tell everyone! Enzan's in lo-ve, Enzan's in lo-ve…"
"…Shut up. I don't you can talk either, knowing what Meiru probably said to you."
"H-Hey! That's none of your business!"
Still, Enzan had to wonder. Was this just the beginning?
There! Finished! *passes out* Hoo-boy, that was long! Anyway, what do you think? One thing though: If you have already read "Megaman ZX 25 (2.5, heh) the Network Biometals" by hydraslayer123 and are prepared to shoot me, don't, because Melody and Song are actually mine. I just gave hydra the idea (read: permission to use them). If you haven't though, go read it, it's pretty good.
If you want to hear the song I used in the story, the link is here:
watch?v=cRgqdalnwZQ (Use youtube)
Also, if you recognized any of the references in this, kudos to you. =)
Please Rate and Review, but if you must criticize please be gentle. If not, I'll call in a specific person to Master Spark it out of existence.
Hope you enjoyed it!