Megaman sucked in a breath. It was 6:43. Two more minutes and it would be time to wake up his NetOp. If Megaman was just a few minutes late—say, he woke his NetOp at 6:50—he knew he wouldn't hear the end of it. Such was being the NetNavi of the most self-entitled kid in all of DenTech.
He checked the clock again. It was time. Turning his attention to the human world, Megaman took a moment to appreciate how peaceful his NetOp looked asleep. The moment was short lived, however.
"Lan!" the Navi yelled. "It's time to get up! You don't want to be late for school, do you?"
It was a stupid question. Lan was never late. Never.
Lan stirred and groaned, immediately getting to work at kicking his covers off. "That's Lord Lan to—" He yawned. "—you, Megaman."
Ah, Lan was such a darling in the morning.
"Sorry Master Lan." Megaman sighed. "But you still need to get up. Mom's waiting for you to start breakfast, and you don't want to keep her waiting, sir."
"Yeah yeah; whatever."
Lan hastily climbed out of bed and donned his usual dress: A long sleeved white shirt, black pants with orange stripes down the sides, and a bandana with the Hikari family symbol tied around his right upper arm. Once dressed, he grabbed Megaman's PET and secured it to his belt before heading downstairs. Currently, Lan and his parents still lived in the small, two-story white and blue house they had for eleven-plus years, but Lan's father, Dr. Hikari, mentioned them moving once Lan finished elementary school.
Alas, that was still a school year away. So, for now, Lan was stuck in this puny little house he would have no qualms about leaving.
Downstairs, the smell of eggs, rice, and beef stew—Leftovers for breakfast, really? At least it's Mom's cooking.—wafted from the kitchen to the scent receptors inside of Lan's nose. For leftover beef stew and simple rice and eggs, it smelled pretty good.
"Lan, you're up! I started to worry that you slept in." Haruka stepped out of the kitchen with a wide smile. Lan noticed that she wore the pearls his father bought her last week, but wore a really unimpressive green skirt and purple and white tee.
"Mom, tell me you aren't going out in that. Please."
Haruka chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. "Go sit. I'll bring the food out."
"I-I think you look lovely, Mom!" Megaman stammered from his PET. Although he couldn't technically see Haruka, she always looked so pretty no matter what she wore.
"Aw, thank you honey. Now Lan, what did I tell you?" She grabbed Lan by her shoulders and forced him to turn around. "Go sit!" With a gentle push, Haruka sent her son into the dining room before doubling back into the kitchen to bring out breakfast. Momentarily alone, Lan whipped out his PET and glared at it.
"Thanks a lot Megaman," he hissed. "I looked like a jerk in front of Mom." Megaman opened his mouth to apologize, but Lan cut him off. "Forget it." Lan shoved his PET back into its carrier just as Haruka walked in, carrying a tray filled with food for them both.
In his PET, Megaman sighed and fell back onto the cyber-floor beneath him. "The things I go through just for being nice." Rolling onto his stomach, Megaman began tracing patterns on the yellow-y white panels. After a bit, he smiled. Nice. Roll sure is nice. She's always so cheery and kind… And cute, which he wanted to add, but Megaman settled for kind. Yes, kind fit her very well. It was as if Roll oozed kindness and if you just touched her you'd be covered in some kind of pink kind-goo. "Heh. Kind-goo…"
Maylu stood outside of Lan's house, waiting for him to come out and greet her. They always walked to school together and today was no different. And, like always, Maylu arrived several minutes early despite how they lived next door to each other. She just wanted to feel like he was late instead of agonizingly on time. For two people who were supposed to be the best of friends, they really didn't get along well. Or even try to. It was like trying to mix water and oil; they just didn't go together.
Well, water and oil never went together. But, once upon a time, Lan and Maylu actually were the best of friends. Unfortunately—what was that saying again? Oh, right—all good things must come to an end.
"It's too bad. I know you had a crush on him, y'know."
Maylu's eyes shot open. She hadn't said anything, had she?
"No, you didn't," Roll continued, as if carrying on a casual conversation. "But I know you, Maylu, and whenever we wait for Lan to be on time, again, for the hundredth thousandth time, you always think about how you guys once got along and how he changed. And then when I say something about it, you act all surprised." Roll giggled. "It's cute!"
"Rooooolllllll," Maylu whined, pulling out her pink PET and frowning at it. "One day Lan is going to hear you, and I don't need that happening."
The pink Navi put her hands on her hips, silently challenging her NetOp to continue arguing with her. "He's not going to hear us. We have two minutes and fifteen seconds before he's even near the door. Why don't you just go in and get him?"
"Because," Maylu sighed, leaning against the front of the house. "If I did that then he'd act like I was waiting for him or something."
"But you are waiting for him! Every morning, you wait for ten minutes just so you can feel like he's late." She threw her hands in the air. "You should just go in and get him, or let him walk alone to school. He's a jerk, anyways. Megaman is the only nice one of the two, and his mother doesn't deserve a brat like him."
"Calm down Roll, Lan already doesn't have any friends because of his attitude. Let's try not to trash talk him while we're on his front porch, okay?"
Huffing, Roll puffed out her cheeks. "Fine, but only if we can trash talk him at home."
"Deal."
They shared a mischievous smirk before Lan came out and Maylu had to put her PET away. "Ready?" she asked. He ignored her, adjusting the straps on his book bag as he walked towards school. She followed, already regretting not taking Roll's advice and walking to school alone today.
They walked most of the way in silence; it wasn't until they entered the school gates that Maylu said, "Hey, remember the new student Ms. Mari told us about?" When Lan responded with a grunt, she took that as a 'yes' and continued. "He's supposed to be here today. I wonder what he's like?"
"Who cares?" Lan snorted. "What, are you hoping he'll become your new boyfriend or something?"
Maylu slammed her elbow into Lan's ribcage, ignoring his cry of pain and shock as he doubled over, clutching his wounded side. "No," she said, not sparing him a moment's glance, "I hadn't even thought of that, but hey, if he's half as nice as you are a jerk then he might just be perfect!" She stormed off, leaving Lan to regain his breath and listen to Megaman fuss over him and the pain in his side.
Oh, and to have someone run into him from behind.
Wait, what?
Someone crashed into Lan from behind, knocking both themselves and Lan into the dirt. Worse yet, the unknown person landed on top of Lan, whose temper flared. He pressed his palms to the ground and jerked to the side, knocking off whoever was on top of him. "Great," he muttered, "now I'm filthy." Taking a moment to dust himself off, Lan looked at his 'attacker'. A boy around his age, with weird black and white hair and a poorly made red vest, stared back at him, a look of horror on his face.
"I'm sorry!" the boy exclaimed. "I wasn't paying attention; I didn't mean to hit you. Here!" The boy stood and grabbed Lan's wrists, pulling him up with such vigor that Lan felt his arms nearly pop out of their sockets, ligaments and tissues stretching and tearing from how callously the strange boy treated them. Just as well, the sudden transition from sitting to standing sent a wave of dizziness over Lan, giving the dual-haired boy just enough time to blather off another apology and take off running.
What's his rush? Lan wondered as the world righted itself beneath his feet.
"Master Lan," Megaman called, "Master Lan! Master Lan, the bell! You're going to be late if you don't hurry!"
"What are you talking about? I'm never—" He pulled out his PET and gaped when he saw the time. He had less than three minutes to get the class. "Argggh!" Lan yelled, running full speed into the school. He hoped he could make it before his perfect record of never being late was ruined. Stupid kid, he thought, I better not be late because of him.
Ms. Mari looked over her class, smiling as everyone was accounted for, even Lan who had barely made it in time. "All right class, settle down. I have some big news today!"
"Early summer break?"
"We can NetBattle all day?"
"Field trip to the Moon?!"
Ms. Mari shook her head. "No, no, and definitely no!" Sighing, she turned to the door. "Everyone, let's give a nice, big 5th grade welcome to our new student!" With a flourish of the arm towards the door, it opened, and in walked the new student with a wide smile on his face—until he saw Lan and the glare he was receiving from the brown-haired boy. He slinked head down to the front of the class, next to Ms. Mari who put a reassuring arm around his shoulders. "Go on, introduce yourself," she prodded. "Don't be shy! We won't bite."
"Just great," Lan muttered. "Of course he's the new student."
"Shhh, pay attention," Megaman hissed.
"I'm Chaud," the boy announced. "My dad and I just moved here for his job. My NetNavi is Protoman, and we're pretty good at battling. Hey, maybe I can battle some of you guys sometime!" Chaud brightened up considerably at that. Some of the students responded with shouts of, "You're on!" and "I bet you're not so tough!" Ms. Mari had to clear her throat a few times to get the class to return their attention to her.
"Now now, I don't mind you kids NetBattling, but remember that it is against the rules to battle on school property or anywhere that is not specifically designated for NetBattles, okay?" The class chorused their agreement and Ms. Mari nodded. "Good. Chaud, there's an open seat next to Dex. Go sit."
"Yes ma'am." Chaud trotted over to his desk, flashing the larger boy he assumed to be Dex a smile. The larger boy sneered at him, but either Chaud didn't notice or didn't care, as he was practically vibrating with joy. He was seated next to a window, had a nice teacher—this was great! He was so happy he didn't even notice Ms. Mari start the class.
Protoman sighed. Another school, another empty space of a school computer. This was Chaud's third school in six—no, seven now, years of school. Personally, Protoman didn't mind moving, but he worried more for his NetOp. Ah well, there was nothing he could do about it now.
He wondered if this year would be different for Chaud. Maybe he could convince Chaud to get a tutor. It could help.
Protoman created a new memo: Ask about good tutors. He paused and added, Convince/Trick Chaud into getting a tutor.
As he started making folders for Chaud's homework and notes, someone streamed into his comp. A pink Navi digitized a little ways off to his right. He craned his neck to get a good look at her.
She was almost completely pink from head to toe, except for a little black on her arms and legs, and some yellow. Two ribbons protruded from the front of her helmet, arching in perfect semi-circles behind her head. She stared at him with bright green eyes and smiled one of those super bright, mega-cheery smiles Protoman often saw Chaud sporting.
"Hi!"
"Hello." Protoman closed the folders and approached the new Navi with some caution. "Who are you?"
"I'm Roll, Maylu's Navi." Roll extended her hand to Protoman. "You're Chaud's Navi, Protoman, right? It's nice to meet you."
He took her hand and shook it once, firmly. "Likewise."
She giggled. His lips quirked into a small smile.
"So, how do you like DenTech so far?" she asked, rocking back and forth on the heels of her feet.
"DenTech seems suitable. Chaud definitely enjoys it here."
"Well, he better! DenTech's a really nice place; I'm sure you'll learn to like it here, too. Hey! Why don't we go over to Yai's comp? Glyde and Gutsman are there, and Megaman might join us too."
"I don't know. I really should stay here and—"
"Oh, just for a minute? Please?"
Roll took his hand in hers and leaned in close, fluttering her eyes at him in a way that screamed, Pretty, pretty please? Protoman leaned back, astonished by how pushy she was. Did they not get new students often? Not wanting to be rude or remain under her gaze for much longer, he nodded. "Very well then. Lead the way?"
"Sure!"
She let go of his hand and smiled at him one last time before streaming to Yai's comp, Protoman only steps behind her.