Bleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep
The heart monitor made one monotonous, sickening sound. The sound of death.
Not only death but the death of a young soul.
The doctor stepped out into the hall there he saw a man a woman and the boy's twin. He quickly shut the door to cut of the horrible sound. "I am so sorry. He didn't have a chance." A nurse inside unplugged the heart monitor and the one note symphony stopped. The father sighed.
"Can I..." the unfinished question hung in the air.
"Yes, for a few minutes."
Yuuichihiro Hikari stepped into the hospital room. He saw the still figure lying on the bed. His face as white as the sheets surrounding him. His eyes filled with tears. He picked up his infant son's limp hand "I am so sorry, I promise you will see us again. I promise you... Netto."
It was the end of the first week of fifth grade and Saito Hikari was skating home as fast as he could. His eyes sparkled as he waited to tell his mom that he had gotten a 100 on his first test. He was dressed in a white shirt with black marks on the elbows, and over that was a dark green vest. He was wearing gray shorts with light green stripes going down the sides. His messy brown hair was tucked into a blue bandana with a red, black and gold symbol on the front. His shoes which were the same color as his vest has the roller-blades attached to them. He reached his house and walked into his home.
"I'm home mama." he called.
"Welcome home Saito."
"I got a 100 on my test."
"Wow, that's great! Your father has sent you a letter." she pointed over to the counter where a white envelope was lying on it.
"Yay! Papa remembered!" Saito dashed over to the counter picked up the letter and dashed upstairs leaving behind a very confused Haruka.
Saito dashed upstairs and shoved his PET into the slot. He put in the disk and quickly downloaded the program. His standard navi was there "Mail, Diary and Memo updates complete."
"That's all?"
"Will finish in a half an hour."
"Hmmmmm maybe papa is trying to trick me." Saito sat there for a half an hour and when the upgrade was complete he saw his standard navi start to change. When the data bits where gone there stood a navi wearing a dark blue jumpsuit with light blue stripes. A blue helmet shoved his nut-brown hair out in spikes. His brown eyes were kind but sharp.
"Hello my name's Lan."
Saito stared at the strange little Navi. Then a wide grin formed on his face.
"Hi! I'm Saito! Its really nice to meet you. I hope that we will get along alright. I'm kind of new at operating but I guess I'm pretty good," he blushed.
"..." Lan blinked and eyed Saito.
"Um, is something wrong?" the human shifted nervously.
"You look like a dork," Lan stated.
"Wha?" Saito lost his balance and fell over. "H-Hey! That's not very nice!"
"Well you do..." the Navi cocked his head to the side and smiled. "At least you Netbattle, right?"
"Yes..."
"Then you are forgiven."
"Forgiven for what? You're the one that's being rude!" Saito frowned. He'd never heard of a Navi with such an attitude before.
"For being a dork." A scream from the kitchen cut Saito off before he could retaliate.
"Mom!" he gasped and grabbed the PET. He ran down the stairs and entered the kitchen.
"Saito, the oven is on fire! I can't put it out!" Mrs. Hikari yelled. Saito grabbed the fire extinguisher and released its cold contents on the fire. For a moment it looked like it might go out but then ignited and seemed even hotter.
"Saito-kun! Saito-kun!" Lan screamed from inside his PET. "Plug me in! I'll beat the viruses!"
"I don't know..." Saito hesitated.
"Do it before we all die, you idiot!" Lan yelled even louder. Saito jumped and quickly plugged his Navi in.
"Plug in, Lan. EXE! Transmission!"
Lan quickly set to work destroying all the viruses in the system. If he didn't hurry, Saito might get hurt! And there was no way he could let that happen. After a few moments he finished off the last virus.
"There we go...Huh?" he turned to see a strange body within the cyber fire. "Hey! What are you doing over there?" The Navi didn't answer and plugged out of the system. Lan frowned but did likewise.
"That was awesome!" Saito cheered. "I can't believe how strong you are!" The human half expected some kind of cheeky remark but was surprised by what the little navi said.
"Are you okay, Saito-kun?" Lan looked a little worried. "I mean, you did get pretty close to that fire..."
Saito was taken aback by Lan's sudden change of tone. He recovered and smiled broadly at his new partner. "Yes. I'm fine."
"Good," Lan blushed slightly. "So... Uh, about that dork thing... I think I can deal with it."
Saito didn't get mad, he just smiled even wider. "Glad to hear it."
He had a feeling that he and Lan would get along just fine.
The next morning the sun rose and shone upon the window of Saito's room. The light crept sneakily toward the sleeping boy's bed. It moved across the floor and onto his pillow. Saito stirred slightly then opened his eyes.
"Nnnnh...Lan, what time is it?" he stretched and rolled over to face his navi friend who looked as though he had just woken up as well.
"Ah, 8:30."
"What!" Saito jumped out of bed and tripped over his sheets then he received a mouth full of carpet. "Owwwww!"
"Hahahahaha! You okay?" Lan giggled loudly.
"No I'm not okay. I'm already thirty minutes late for school! Why didn't you wake me up?" Saito ran around the room trying to get all his clothes on and pack his backpack at the same time.
"Was I supposed to?" Lan asked innocently.
"Yes! I asked you to last night!"
"Oh...Oops."
Saito slowly entered the class room with his head bowed in shame.
"Sorry I'm late, Mariko-sensei..." he said softly.
"That's okay, Saito. You've never been late before, just don't make a habit of it. Now please take your seat."
Saito did as he was told and sat next to his friend, Meiru.
"Why are you so late?" she asked quietly.
"My alarm clock forgot to wake me up..." he grumbled bitterly.
"I resent that!" Lan called from his PET.
"Oh! You got a Customized Net Navi?" Meiru turned toward him. "Can I see?"
"Sure," Saito handed her the blue device.
"Hello, there, little navi, I'm Meiru!" she waved to the digital figure.
"Hi! I'm Lan. EXE, Saito Hikari's Net Navi," he said.
"Hey, he's pretty cool," Meiru handed Saito the PET.
"Don't say that. It'll go to his head," the boy took his PET and placed it on the desk.
"Hey, Hikari!" a loud obnoxious voice called. The owner soon had Saito in a head lock. "I thought I told you to stay away from my Meiru-chan!"
"D-Dekao! Let go-! I...can't breathe!" Saito gasped.
"Oy! Ugly dude! Leave my operator alone!" Lan yelled angrily from the monitor.
"Hm? What's this?" the bully snatched the PET up to get a better look at it.
"H-Hey! Hands off, fatty!" the Navi snarled.
"Dekao, give Lan back!" Saito pleaded and reached out for it. Dekao lifted it just out of the smaller boy's reach, earning another wave of frantic insults from the pixilated warrior.
"This Navi must be defective or something!" the over weight boy snorted in disgust. "Stupid thing should learn to keep it's mouth shut. Not to mention it looks totally wimpy. No way it would be any match for my Gutsman..." He tossed the PET back to it's owner.
"Ack! Saito-kun, catch me!" Lan cried as the devise tumbled through the air. Saito fumbled for a second then held it securely in his hands.
"That wasn't very nice, Dekao!" Meiru scolded sternly. "Leave Saito-kun alone."
"Aw, I was just fooling around, Meiru-chan!" He put Saito in another "friendly" headlock. "See?"
"GET OFF, YOU DOUGH BOY REJECT!" Lan screamed. He was not just mad, he was infuriated. That stupid jerk had not only insulted him and his operator, but now he was trying to ack like it was no big deal. Well, it was! Dekao had totally crossed the line and, if Lan could, he would of strangled the annoying human.
"How dare you? I've just about had enough of your mouth!" Dekao glared at the PET. "That does it! After school me and Gutsman are going to rip you apart!"
"Me and Saito will make a laughing stalk of that joke you call a Navi!" Lan challenged.
"Lan... Be quiet...!" Saito was terrified.
"We'll see! You better not chicken out, Hikari, or else!" the over grown fifth grader then stomped off to his seat.
"Now look what you've gotten me into!" Saito groaned.
"Relax! We can take him, no sweat!" Lan smirked.
"I hope so..."
"We're here Lan." said Saito nervously. "Why on earth did you do that?"
"No one will pick on you in front of me and no one will ever insult me and get away with it."
Saito sweatdropped "Oh..."
"Prepare to get creamed by my Gutsman." said Deako as he came in the room.
"Will you be OK?"
"Only if you can operate."
"OK then... plug-in! Lan.EXE, transmission."
Both navis were in the field. "Prepare to be defeated." Lan yelled.
"Gutsu de gutsu."
"What too dumb to talk?"
Gutsman did not like this cheeky navi and ran up to him preparing to hammer the annoying little brat into the ground. Lan smiled and put up his hand as he caught the giant yellow fist heading towards his face. Even Saito was surprised.
"Lan..."
"Well operator what now?"
"Oh ummmmm..."
"Geese some NetOp you are." Lan pushed the fist away and started to punch him in rapid succession. But as soon as he was about to finish him off Roll came into the battle.
"Meiru, she... she!"
She opened a link and showed what was happening.
There was a raging inferno in Meiru's room. Meiru was on the floor of her room and was coughing. She was almost unconscious and no one seemed to be trying to help her. He was alone and she was trapped.
Lan's and Saito's eyes opened wide.
"Lan go through the link and try to stop it." said Saito, his voice shaking.
Lan nodded and disappeared.
"Gutsman, save my Meiru-chan!" yelled Dekao frantically.
"De gutsu!" Gutsman followed Lan into the link that Roll had provided.
"Don't worry Roll-chan." said Saito gently. "We'll save her, I promise."
Roll nodded and disappeared into the link.
Lan appeared in the inferno. He started to blast the viruses but then he saw a shadow. He grabbed Roll and jumped. Where they were standing appeared a firey bomb.
"Heh, you could evade my attacks. Quite impressive for one so small."
"Who are you?" Lan glared at the intruder ready to deal out some payback for the quip about his size.
"My name is Fireman. Welcome small one."
Dekao and Saito got Meiru out of her house and started to look for a way to reach someone for help, when Deako's PET beeped.
"Gutsman, logged out." The big navi was now in repair stasis mode in the PET.
"Gutsman!" Dekao was horrified at the toll that was taken on his navi. It seemed that he was almost burnt to deletion.
Saito looked at his own PET and saw that Lan was in danger. "Lan..." he looked at Dekao "Stay here with Meiru." And he ran back into the fiery house. He plugged into the oven.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!" yelled Lan. "Get out of there NOW!"
"No, you're in danger." Saito glared at his headstrong navi. He was NOT about to loose an argument too his navi.
Lan growled. "I guess I will have to finish this fast so my operator doesn't die." he said to Fireman. "No hard feelings."
"You are quite sure of your self." Sneered Fireman. "Let's see how you do up against THIS! Fire arm!" he smashed his arms onto the already hot ground and two towers of flame came out of it.
"Lan!"
The small blue navi looked at the oncoming attacks. "Saito, please tell me you have a water battle chip!"
Saito dug frantically through his battlechip pocket and came out with an aqua tower.
Meanwhile in the PET, Lan had successfully dodged one of the oncoming towers but was now pursued by the second. The tower was so close he could feel the heat.
Fireman started to laugh as Lan turned around to face the flames. "So, going to die standing up?" he laughed
"Stand up, yes. But who said anything about dying?" asked Lan
"Aqua tower, slot in!" yelled Saito pushing the tiny battlechip into the battle chip unit.
"Aqua tower!" Lan slammed his hand onto the ground in the same fashion as Fireman but instead a stream of cool water came out instead.
The water flowed in a tower towards the flame counterpart and both crashed together and digitized.
"Saito! Another battlechip, now!"
Saito nodded, a battlechip already in his hand. "Battle Chip, sword, slot in!"
Lan rushed forward and feinted to the left and did a backhand slash.
Fireman's arm came off and the red navi clutched the now digitizing stump. "We will meet again." said Fireman as he logged out.
"Lan!" Roll rushed forward and hugged the blue navi. Lan blushed red and looked at the pink girl navi. She was really pretty...
"Are you Ok?" he asked Saito when they were outside.
"Yes, I'm okay and the doctors said Meiru-chan will be perfectly fine by tomorrow.
"Thank god. I was really worried when you went in like that. I could have handled him. You have to promise me you will never put yourself in danger like that again."
Saito was touched at how much his friend cared. "I can't promise that if you are in danger. But I will never deliberately do it, I promise."
"You better not, dork."
"Hey!"
That night Saito sat down at his desk working furiously at his homework. Lan's PET was placed next to him where the Navi could see what he was up to.
"Saito-kun, can't you do this later? I mean, its Friday and I'm bored. Let's Net Battle! You need the practice!" Lan announced.
"I also need to do my work. School is very important."
"All work and no play, makes Saito-kun a dork."
"If you're really that bored you could always help me out..." Saito teased.
"Uh...! No, that's okay. I'll just...um..." Lan looked around the monitor for something, anything, to save him from having to use his "brain". The young operator giggled at his Navi.
"It's okay, Lan, I can do it on my own," he giggled when Lan made a small sigh of relief. "Just give me a few minutes and I promise that I'll play with you..."
"Fine...Saito-kun, its been a few minutes. Will you play now?"
"No, I'm not done."
"...Now?"
"No..."
"...Now?"
"Lan...!"
"Can we play now?"
Lan spent the rest of the night in the sock drawer.
The next day Saito woke up and gave a long stretch. All his homework was out of the way and he had the rest of the weekend to do whatever he wanted.
"MMPH!" a muffled voice screamed from one of his drawers.
"Oh, I almost forgot!" Saito threw open the drawer and searched out his PET and was met with his less than happy Navi friend. "Good morning, Lan?" he offered weakly.
Lan's eyes narrowed and his face turned red like he was ready to explode. The human braced himself...
Haruka Hikari hummed to herself as she placed some waffles on the table. It was such a lovely day! She giggled at some birds who were singing happily along with her. Yes, it was a very Disney moment...
"SAITOOOOOO! YOU JERK!" much colorful language followed along with the sound of her son trying to apologize and calm his partner down.
"...I guess Saito's up..." she sweatdroped. "I wonder if that Navi has a bug or something...I can't imagine Yuuchiro programming anything like that..." The mother mused. "Oh, well, as long as Saito's happy..."
"Look, I said I was sorry..." Saito felt guilty for what he had done to Lan. But the Navi wouldn't hear any of it.
"Ha! So you say! Next time, why don't you shove me in a hamper! I'm sure it would be a lot better than your stinky socks!" came Lan's heated retort.
"Lan, you're in a PET. You can't smell it..."
"Its the principle of the matter!"
"Saito, eat up now," Haruka waved her son to the table.
"Thank you, Mama!" Saito took his seat and listened to Lan rant for a while until he was cut off by a beeping noise.
"Saito-kun, you've got mail," Lan's mood did a 180 and he now seemed very curious and a little excited. "Its from Gutsman! I bet he wants a rematch!"
"Let me see..." Saito read the E-mail carefully. "It says that Dekao was bitten by something and is in the hospital!"
"Serves the pig right!" Lan cheered from his place on the screen.
"Lan!" Saito scolded his partner. "We should go and check on him and make sure he's alright."
"Do we have to?" Lan whined. "You promised that we would Net Battle!"
"We will after we visit Dekao!" Saito said firmly. "Thanks for the meal, Mama! It was great!" he hopped out of his seat and headed out the door to come face to face with Meiru.
"Oh, Saito, I uh...Guess you got the E-mail from Gutsman?" she asked.
"Yes, we were heading over to go visit him."
"Dumb flubber gut probably just wants attention..." Lan grumbled.
"I think it's very sweet of you two to go check on Dekao like that," Roll's voice drifted from Meiru's belt. Lan didn't complain at all the rest of the way.
"Why are you guys here?" Dekao grumbled. He was totally miserable. So miserable that Lan almost felt sorry for him, almost.
"Gutsman said that you were hurt so we came to check on you," Meiru told him. Dekao slapped Gutsman's PET shut.
"You should be grateful!" Lan called from his PET.
"Lan, be quiet!" Saito shushed.
"I'm happy to see that my Meiru-chan is here... You and your, one card short of a full deck, Navi however..." Saito quickly hit the mute button to prevent Lan from retaliating.
"Come on now, you guys. If you want to be left alone we can understand," Meiru smiled gently. "Let's go Saito!"
"Right!" Saito started after her but tripped over his feet and wavered when a tissue box came in contact with his head.
"Stay away from my Meiru-chan!" the perpetrator snarled.
"Ah...AHH!" Saito lost his balance and tumbled to the ground trying to grab hold of anything that could stabilize him. Unfortunately for Dekao, that happened to be his blanket.
Everyone froze at the gruesome sight. The horrible lump which had protruded from under the sheet was now reveled. The fall had jarred the mute button and Lan's laughter filled the room.
Attached to Dekao's leg was a toy cat.
"I-I-I'm so sorry!" Saito gasped as he stumbled to his feet. "Dekao, I didn't mean to..."
"GET OUT!" Dekao screamed and sat up, making as if he was going to strangle Saito. This jarred the strap that supported his leg loose and it hit the bed with a small thump. "...nnngGAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry! Lan stop laughing!" Saito yelped then shot out the door. A giggling Meiru was soon to follow.
On the way back home Saito was talking with Meiru "I didn't mean to... the tissue box and the..."
"Saito, you have no right to blame your self for something he brought onto himself. He has probably picked on people like that all his life. It was just a chain reaction he started." said Lan. "It was entirely his fault."
"Lan is right." said Meiru
This brought a surprised glance from Saito, but he stayed quiet.
"He never should have done that..." said Meiru, getting ready to rant but she was interrupted by Masa coming down the road.
"Oh a date." He said grinning wickedly.
"N-no I.. I mean we..." started Saito but he was quickly cut off by his partner.
"Of course it's a date pops," said Lan "and who are you?"
"Oh a voice?" Masa jumped with his hand over his heart "Is there a demon around here?"
"Down here idiot." said Lan
Masa looked down at the PET and then looked at Saito "You should teach that thing some manners."
"L-lan please..." said Saito quietly, silently begging Lan to stay quiet.
Lan ignored him no matter how many messages were sent his way, subliminal or otherwise. "Well, who are you?" he asked rudely.
"I am Masa-san fisherman extordenaire and dedicated to promoting calcium to all the youth of Japan!" he said striking a pose. A large Japanese flag came out of nowhere and became the background as a wave crashed.
Everyone sweatdropped, even Lan.
"Riiiiiiiiiiiight." said Lan. "You have weird friends Saito, but at least this one is not as rude as the doughboy kid in the hospital."
"Hospital?" asked Masa.
"Yes Deako-kun is in the hospital." said Saito quietly trying not to blush. He really needed to have a talk with Lan.
"Oh, dear! Someone his size will be in trouble if he doesn't take his calcium... I am coming Deako-kun!" and he rushed off.
"H-he wasn't kidding about the calcium was he?" said Lan disbelievingly.
"No, he never stops ranting about calcium. You'd think it was sent from heaven the way Masa talks about it." said Meiru sighing
"Well, calcium is important." said Saito
Lan snorted. "Yeah... riiight. I totally believe that."
"You're a navi." Laughed Saito. "You don't know what it means to eat."
When they turned the corner they saw Mariko-sensei going into the antique shop. Both knew about the fortune teller who worked there and curiosity got the better of them. They went inside to see what was going on.
Saito and Meiru quietly entered the antique shop. The room was furnished with all kinds of ancient instruments and pottery. A scent of lavender and other spices haunted the room.
There, at the front desk, a young woman had a gothic look about her stared into a crystal ball. Her eyes were a cold violet and seemed to see beyond even the heavens and the stars. She stared deeply into the sphere of glass instead of at her costumer, Mariko-sensei.
The teacher fidgeted in her seat and muttered something that Saito couldn't quite pick up on.
"Mariko-sensei!" Meiru called. The curly haired woman jumped and slowly turned to take a peak at the two children, made a squeaking noise and hid behind the chair again blushing and muttering to herself. Saito found this behavior very strange but said nothing. Lan, however had a lot to say.
"I can't believe a teacher believes in this sort of stuff!" the navi scoffed in disapproval.
"Er, well, I-I'm not here to...not really...Its just...um..." Mariko stumbled over her words and turned several more shades of red. Saito felt a little sorry for his sensei. Meiru calmly stepped up to the fortune teller.
"I've always wanted to have my fortune told! Could you tell me, please?" she asked.
"It sounds interesting..." Saito smiled thoughtfully.
"It sounds like bull-"
"Lan! Hush!" the human blushed with embarrassment then turned to the fortune teller. "I'm really sorry about all that..."
"...Silence," was all the woman said. Saito seemed somewhat surprised by the blunt request and did as he was told. Mariko and Meiru hovered over the orb curiosity shining in their eyes. Even Lan was quiet.
Moments passed that seemed to drag on for hours. The whole room seemed to freeze. Not even the traffic outside registered in their ears.
"Water," the psychic whispered.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" Lan muttered. Saito ignored his navi's statement.
"I'm a little confused, too..." he said softly.
"Miyuki-san, please continue," Mariko added.
"I see water in your future, Saito..." Miyuki stared at him directly. Saito felt his hair stand on end. "...and great danger."
"Danger? Are you threatening Saito-kun!" Lan growled menacingly.
"...Your navi..." Miyuki looked at the PET.
"I'm sorry for his rudeness," Saito said quickly, more out of a new reflex than anything. Apologizing for his navi had become a natural thing to him.
"There is something I sense about him...He is very special...It's almost like he could be..." Saito listened intently to her words. What about Lan? Why did she think he was so interesting? Lan had fallen silent and felt a deep sensation of dread flow through him. Did she know the truth? How?
Please...Don't let her know...Don't tell Saito...
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHGGGG!" A scream of pain snapped everyone out of their dreamy state. Lan's prayers had been answered!
Someone up there likes me.
"Saito-kun! Lets check it out!" the navi cheered.
"Right." The three customers left the shop in a hurry leaving the psychic to brood over what she had sensed. That navi...
It felt human...It felt like...Saito.
OOOOOOOOOOOOO
People on the boards really seemed to enjoy this fic, so I'm posting it here for your viewing pleasure. If you review enough maybe Achie will give us a new chapter!
Anywho, hope you liked it. There's alot of chapters in this one XD