Disclaimer: I do not own the MegaMan characters or the name Mamoru. I wish I did, but I don't. Don't sue me. I am not worth it. However, I DO own the Hallissys and their Navis. They are mine.

Chapter One: The Meeting

March, Friday Morning

"Hey Chaud. Time to get up," ProtoMan said. "Get ready for school."

"Sure. Whatever..."

"Geez, you're friendly today. C'mon, let's go. Ten minutes."

"Yeah... only three more months of eighth grade and then I'll be in high school," Chaud sighed.

"Like it'll be any better... or are you hoping to see someone?"

"Shut up," Chaud snapped, turning a little pink. "You know there's no one I like at school, now or ever."

"Suuuure... let's go, Chaud."

Chaud picked up his schoolbag, starting out the door, picking up a note from his father:

Out of town late tonight. Don't wait up.

"Of course he's out of town. BlazeQuest conference, right?"

"People expect a lot from your dad, Chaud. Let's go."

About five minutes away from school, they saw an unfamiliar black car in the parking lot.

"Wait... is that a Netopian flag?" Chaud asked.

"Yeah... hey, I remember hearing from Roll and Maylu that there was going to be a new student sometime this week," ProtoMan said.

"WHY, exactly, were you talking to Maylu and Roll?" Chaud asked.

"All the desk ports go to ONE place. And where we are, it's not exactly hard to hear them."

"True." Chaud was situated right by Maylu and Lan, both of whom he tended to avoid to varying degrees.

Chaud walked to his normal spot near the office building. It was close enough to his class so that he wouldn't be late, but just far enough to keep away from Lan and his friends. He took a book out of his bag, turned to his bookmark, and started reading.

For some reason or another, he couldn't keep his focus. His eyes read the words, but his mind wouldn't register them. He put the book away, a little annoyed.

I'm just tired, he thought.

The bell rang. Chaud got up, made his way to class, and walked through the door. He strode over to the lonely two-person desk that no one shared with him.

"Jack in, ProtoMan."

ProtoMan made his way to the school's server to report Chaud's attendance, semiconsciously aware of an unfamiliar Navi in the server as well.

The Navi was a girl, a real fighter by the looks of it. A ninja. Her dark hair was long, tied in a ponytail, somewhat like his own. She was a deep violet color, her shoes and cuffs were a dark gray, as were her eyes.

"Pardon?" she asked. "Qu'est-ce que c'est?"

She obviously didn't speak English, either. (A/N: I am studying French. For purposes of the story, I am also pretending that Netopia is the MegaMan equivalent of France. I apologize in advance if any of it is wrong. I will fix it eventually. Until then you must deal.)

"S-Sorry..." ProtoMan left, slightly confused.

"What took you?" Chaud asked quietly.

"There's a new Navi here. She's Netopian."

"Oh. Interesting."

From then on, it was business as usual for the class. Open discussion and questions about the previous night's homework, about twenty minutes of reading (during which Chaud STILL couldn't concentrate on his book), then a lecture, this time about the most recent viral studies and how 'civilians' can aid in the studies.

However, halfway through the lecture, Principal Nomura entered the room. Just outside the door, Chaud could see a Netopian man, and...

His daughter, perhaps?

"Mr. Matsu? A word, if you please."

"Yes, sir." He stepped outside, which, predictably, set the students to talking the second the door closed.

"Did'ja see her?" Dex asked, turning around to face Lan and Maylu.

"See? I told you we'd get a new student, Lan!" Maylu said triumphantly.

"Yeah," Lan conceded. "I thought it'd be a guy..."

"Oh, well. Too much to hope for, I guess," Dex sighed.

"We'll like her," Yai said confidently, also turning around. "But...she's a Netopian, right?"

"Aren't Netopians supposed to be... I dunno... bigger?"

"Yeah, you're right," Lan agreed. "Like you, sort of."

"Good point," Maylu said. "She's on the small side, at least from what I saw."

The door opened. Mr. Matsu led the Netopian girl inside. "Class, this is Namirra Hallissy. She will be joining our class for the remainder of the year."

A general murmur of acknowledgement echoed throughout the room. Slightly disheartened at the lack of interest, Mr. Matsu directed her to the spot next to Chaud, being the only empty chair in the room.

And, thusly, Mr. Matsu continued with the lecture.

She is small, Chaud thought, paying less and less attention to the lecture. Hmm... there's no way she could be Netopian. Unless... huh. She almost looks like she's from Nation X... no. No way. That's impossible, he told himself, pretending to take notes.

Namirra, however, really was taking notes. Unlike her Navi, it seemed, she understood English. It was almost unnatural the way she wrote: completely silently. Her small hands and long black hair swaying freely below her shoulders, gray eyes and graceful manner...

Chaud shook his head quickly, trying to focus.

For some reason (no doubt some antic of Lan's or Dex's) the class burst out laughing, nearly drowning out the sound of the bell.

"Homework!" Mr. Matsu shouted over the shuffle of books and bags. "Three-page essay on virus studies and data compression! Due on Monday!"

"Great... gotta love essays."

The Rest of the Day Passes

Chaud spent the last hour of the school day trying (and still failing) to read his book. WHY can't I concentrate today?

His attention kept wandering to the new girl, Namirra. At lunch, Maylu and Yai had no trouble introducing themselves, and then introducing her to Lan and Dex. Normally at that point, Chaud wouldn't have given her a second thought since she was involved with Lan, but it struck him as a surprise that Namirra preferred to sit alone.

Like he did.

Alone, outside, under a tree, near the C-wing.

Quite bizarre.

The final bell rang at last, ending the most torturous homeroom period he had ever had to go through.

"Chaud! Come here a moment, please!" Mr. Matsu called through the crowd of people anxious to get out and go home.

Chaud froze. What had he done?

"You're not in trouble," he added. "Come here, please."

Namirra stood beside the teacher's desk, absently watching the students filter out of the room.

"Yes, sir?" Chaud asked.

"I would like you to show Namirra around the school. She's new to this area and I think she would appreciate any help you could give her. Perhaps today...?"

"Okay. I'll so that right away."

"Wonderful. Thank you, Chaud. I would do it myself, but things have been disappearing from school lately, and Principal Nomura wants me to look into it." Mr. Matsu motioned Namirra over. "Chaud here will show you around today. Is that all right?"

You'd think he'd ask her that before I agreed to do it today, Chaud thought.

"Yes. Thank you sir." Chaud was a little surprised. In retrospect, this was the first time he'd heard her voice. She didn't have an accent.

"All right. Get going, you two," Mr. Matsu advised them, "most rooms will be unlocked, but hurry before they lock the gates." He left in a hurry.

"Well... let's go then," Chaud said rather awkwardly. "Um... Namirra, right?"

"Call me Nami," she said quietly. "Chaud, is it?"

"Yeah," Chaud nodded, feeling incredibly embarrassed. "Let's go... Nami."