A/N: Here's the first chapter. Hope you'll enjoy~!

EDITED: Changed a few names.

DISCLAIMER: Again, I don't own Rockman/Megaman NT Warriors or it's characters.


Chapter 1:

Murasaki Ayame


I must be hallucinating. Iris concluded when she heard two voices having conversation inside her head. They were talking about someone named Murasaki-san and her daughter but she hadn't had a clue who were those people.

Besides, in the first place, where was she? Everything around her was dark, but she was still relieved though because she knew she could safely assume that they had successfully managed to escape… But what about Trill? Where was he? She suddenly felt alarmed. He couldn't have been captured while she was unconscious!

She began to panic.

"Doctor, the patient is getting agitated. Her heartbeat is erratic."

"Proceed with the usual protocol."

"Yes."

Immediately, she felt drowsy for some reason. She tried to fight back but it's no use. Her consciousness was slipping away again. And so, for the nth time, her mind went blank.


Iris was awoken by the warmth that seemed to be coming from her right hand. When she opened her eyes, she came face to face with a woman sleeping on a chair while leaning on the bedside and holding her hand. Her shoulder-length brown hair was a mess and a few strands strayed on her pale face. Dark shadows could be seen below her eyes and whether it's because of stress or lack of sleep, she didn't know. Her blue buttoned up shirt and black pencil skirt were also full of creases like they hadn't been ironed before she wore them in a hurry. The woman would probably be in her late thirties if it wasn't for her disheveled appearance.

The NetNavi began to scan her surroundings. She guessed that she was in a hospital room as everything was mostly white. There wasn't much furniture, too, except for the small cabinet in the far corner, the table beside her bed and the bed itself. She looked outside the nearest window and only saw trees which sent a cool breeze towards her as it was currently opened. She tried to remember if she had been in this place before but in the end it was still unfamiliar to her.

She sighed and then realized that there's a bag valve mask on her face that helped her breathe. It was connected to a ventilating machine with a green canister that was on other side her bed and beside it was a monitoring device that showed the steady beating of her heart.

Iris was confused. How in the world did she end up here? She remembered that she lost bits of her data during the previous attack but when she looked at her body at that moment, everything was still intact. Then there was a Fossa Ambience—

She froze.

Wait…

Then it finally hit her.

She's back on Earth! She's sure of it. She's also in the Real world for some reason. But how? Did she somehow managed to inhabit a vacant Copyroid by chance? Still it wouldn't make sense why she would be in a hospital though.

She turned again back to the woman sleeping. And just who is this person?

Iris decided to pull her hand from her grip but she won't let go. This led to to a bit of tug-of-war until the lady stirred. Slowly she opened her eyes revealing a pair of caramel orbs. She blinked once and proceeded to grab the glasses that was on the table before putting it on. When their eyes met at last, that's when the woman became stunned.

"A-Ayame?" she mumbled in disbelief.

Iris didn't respond but confusion was evident in her face. Ayame? That wasn't her name and yet this woman seemed to know her and referred to her as that. The NetNavi was sure that she had never met her but for some reason, she did seem to look familiar. But before she could process everything, the woman suddenly wrapped her arms around her.

"Y-You're finally awake." She cried as she tightened her hug. "T-The doctor said you… you won't be able to make it… but I know you would. I-I always believed. You promised that you won't leave me… that you won't leave your okaasan behind."

The girl frowned. "Okaasan?"

"Yes, sweetheart. And from now on, I'll definitely take care of you. That's why please… Please don't give your mom a scare like that again, okay?"

Iris had no choice but to nod albeit hesitantly. "Yes, okaasan."

The lady who had just claimed as her mom finally let go as the former began to wipe her tears with the back of her hand and adjusted her glasses. "T-That's good. I'm really glad." Then she beamed at her. "Well, then I should go and inform Tanaka-hakase that you're awake. Please rest for a while and wait for me, okay?"

The NetNavi nodded again.

When her okaasan finally left the room that's when Iris tried to sort out everything that just happened.

Apparently, the woman had mistaken her as her daughter whose name was Ayame. Coincidentally, when translated to English, it could mean "Iris" which was also her own name. But what baffled her the most was why did the lady thought that she was someone else?

Unless…

Iris immediately tried to sit up from her bed but because of the sudden movement, her head started to ache and her arms grew weak. It seemed like her body is still recuperating and is not yet used to any kind of motion. But still she slowly continued to get up then began to rummage inside one of the drawers on the table near her. When she finally found what she was looking for, she held it out in front of her face and then her eyes widen.

Staring back in front of her was a girl with a long brown hair and emerald eyes wearing a white hospital gown. Even with the valve mask covering her mouth, she can tell that she was pale as a ghost but that wasn't the part that actually shocked her. After all, normally, that's how she looked like when she's in her human form. However, what's wrong was that the girl in the mirror looked nothing like a 12-year-old kid… In fact, she appeared to be much older…

… and everyone knew NetNavis don't age.


"Are you sure you're alright, sweetheart?" Murasaki Shion, her okaasan, asked for the fourth time in the taxi on their way home.

"Yes, I'm fine, okaasan." Iris tried to make her smile as genuine as possible. She had learn for a short period of time that smiling is her only way out from further queries. Truth to be told, she's not used to smiling so often but if it meant that they wouldn't bother her with any more questions, she would gladly obliged.

As usual, the woman seemed to buy it since she also smiled back and then continued her conversation with Dr. Tanaka via phone inquiring about the latest update of her condition. She, on the other hand, went back to staring outside the car's window.

It had been two weeks since she had regain her consciousness at the hospital but she still couldn't accept the fact that she had somehow turned into a human. More accurately, her consciousness seemed to be currently residing inside someone who looked a lot like her. That's the only valid conclusion she had came up with after contemplating about it the whole time.

She remembered that during the war between the cybeasts years ago, they encountered other versions of people from Earth in Beyondard and so she deduced that this Iris was probably the Earth's version of her. But what she didn't understand was why she was sent to her body and how it happened. It also didn't make sense that her counterpart was a human, had a different name and had a mother to begin with. She could tell that the woman wasn't pretending either since the whole time she only showed genuine concern towards her. But since it was the closest plausible scenario she could think of, she decided to stick with that theory for now.

That didn't mean she was already comfortable with the idea though. In fact, she also tried to disprove it by attempting to plug herself in to the Cyber world just like in the past but then she realized she had lost her own PET. Still she tried but after many failed attempts, she finally gave up.

She decided to do what's next best thing, and that was to get to know her new identity.

It turned out that her full name was Murasaki Ayame, 15 years old, and was the only daughter of Murasaki Shion. They were currently residing in Chiisai Island, a small isle which was located at the south-eastern part of Nihon. A year ago, she met an accident which left her in a coma and stayed in ICU for months. They only moved her back to a regular room a day before she woke up. The only reason why they didn't cut her life-support even after many months was because her mother insisted not to and was willing to pay for the bills in exchange. Murasaki-san was willing to use all of her savings because she still believed that someday her daughter will wake up.

And like a miracle, the girl indeed regain conscious but what she didn't know was that her so-called daughter wasn't the same person anymore.

Iris knew she had no choice but to fill in her role as it's the only logical thing to do. If she ever confessed that she was not Ayame and was in fact a NetNavi from another world, it would only cause a great confusion and disturbance among them. Even now, they were already suspicious of her when she didn't respond when they called her many times or when she barely react to anything they say. Thankfully, Tanaka-hakase concluded that she probably had developed an amnesia because of the accident. But she knew that if ever they were aware of her secret, her okaasan would probably send her back to the hospital or worse, the mental institution and she really didn't have time for that.

She needed to find Trill as soon as possible. And, honestly, she had already wasted so much time staying at the hospital when she could have been looking for him during those days. If only Murasaki-san wasn't so over-protective. As a matter of fact, if it weren't for her constant persuasion, she would probably be still stuck in the healing facility for who knows how long. Thankfully, Murasaki-san finally caved in.

But still, Iris couldn't do anything in her current state and she was so worried that something bad might have already happened to the young Navi. She won't be able to forgive herself if that was indeed the case. Her only hope right then was that Hikari-kun or anyone from them would be able to locate Trill and protect him until she could figure out how to get back to her own body.

She sighed.

"Ayame, we're here." Murasaki-san announced happily which interrupted her thoughts.

When she looked around, the taxi came to a halt in front of a small but modest looking apartment. Iris immediately noticed the group of iris flowers in their front yard. She guessed that her okaasan was probably really fond of it. The taxi driver then helped them carry their luggage to their doorstep before he drove off.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to cook something for lunch. What would you like to have?" Murasaki-san asked as she began to unlock the door and opened it for her. "After all, Tanaka-hakase said that you are now allowed to eat solid food. I'm sure you're already tired of eating hospital food for the past weeks, right?"

Iris merely nodded in response while dragging the stroller bag inside. In reality, it's actually her first time to consume human food. (Last time, it was only milk offered by Hikari-kun so it doesn't really count.) NetNavis didn't need to eat in order to survive after all. But, of course, she couldn't say that.

"Then I'll cook your favorite Tamagoyaki. How does that sounds?"

"Wonderful, okaasan!" Iris tried to sound enthusiastic. "Um, can I wait inside my room?"

"Sure, go ahead. Just leave the luggage. I'll be the one to carry it to your room."

"Okay." She hurriedly removed her shoes and wore the indoor slippers from the rack before making her way inside.

It didn't take her that long to figure out which one was hers as there are only two room and the second one was full of stuffed animals and other girly things. Murasaki-san had probably prepared this room for her daughter… but unfortunately, Iris wasn't her. She wondered what could have been the reaction of the real Ayame if she was here. Would she be enthusiastic? Would she jump for joy? She didn't know. And yet, she needed to act as her.

At that thought, she couldn't help but sigh but entered the room nonetheless. She went towards the bedside table and spotted a frame sitting at the top. She then took it and stared at the picture.

They were at the beach. Murasaki-san was smiling. Compared to the first time she met her, the woman's hair was more well kempt and her clothes were neat and not a crease could be found. The girl beside her was also grinning from ear to ear. She was wearing a lilac cardigan over a white collared sleeveless blouse with a blue ribbon in front and a violet knee-length pleated skirt. Her long flowing brown hair was tied into a half-up French braid secured by a pink and violet butterfly barrette. At that moment, Iris realized how similar the smile of that girl and Murasaki-san's was. No wonder, the woman looked familiar to her. Clearly, her Earth counterpart inherited her appearance from her mother except for the eyes.

The former NetNavi then tried to copy her smile but when she looked at the mirror, it only seemed forced. Even if they had the same face and were wearing the same clothes, she could still see the difference.

She bite her lower lip then stared again at the picture. "I'm sorry, Ayame-san. I didn't know why I'm suddenly in your body. I didn't mean to steal your life. But don't worry. I'll also take care of your okaasan in the mean time."

She paused then took a deep breath.

"And when I finally have my own body again, I'll return everything to you."


"You're watering it too much."

Iris stopped watering the irises in Murisaki-san's garden before she turned and saw a boy, no older than her (current age), grinning. His wild dark brown hair was a mess and he was wearing a blue long-sleeved shirt and dark pants. What stood out the most was the large X-mark on his right cheek. Iris's eyes widen. She recognized him.

"Aragaki Kojirou…"

"Yeah…?"

She wanted to ask what was he doing here but then she realized that the Aragaki-san in front her was probably not the same person she met in Beyondard. So she shook her head. "No, nevermind. What did you just say?"

"I said, 'You're watering it too much'." Then gestured at the irises in front of her. "My mom said you shouldn't water the iris flowers too much or else it will rot… something like that."

"Oh… I see." She then returned the watering can to where she found it.

"I heard that you'll be home today at last so I came to visit," he explained a little bit sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck.

"Yes, we just arrived before lunch time."

"So… are you finally okay now?"

"Yes. The doctor said so."

"That's great." He beamed but then frowned afterwards. "You've been out for so long, you know. Everyone's really worried. I mean, I was worried, too. We thought you'd never come back."

She blinked. "Everyone?"

"Yeah, our classmates." He smiled excitedly. "Man, I can't wait to see their faces once you're finally back at school!"

"Oh… Okay." She didn't know how to respond to that. "Um, thank you for visiting me, Aragaki-san."

His eyebrows furrowed. "Aragaki-san?"

"Er… Is there something wrong with that?"

He looked at suspiciously. "No. Not really. But you don't usually call me that."

Iris began to panic. She cleared her throat. "Oh… I'm so sorry, K-Kojirou-kun? Must have slipped my mind."

He stared at her for second before sighing. "It's okay. You're still recovering after all." Then grinned again. "Anyway, I should get going. 'Kaasan's probably already looking for me. See you around, Ayame-chan."

She merely waved back as she watched Aragaki-sanNoKojirou-kun walked towards the house in front their apartment and went inside it. It turned out they're actually neighbors. What a coincidence!

Iris let out a sigh of relief. She was almost caught. Thankfully, she managed to correct herself. But still, she needed to be careful from now on. She might be able to fool everyone with her appearance but she won't last long with her personality. But then, as she stared again at the iris flowers, the ayame flowers, in front of her, she also wondered how long will she have to act as the human girl whose name was Murasaki Ayame


*Okaasan - mother

*Tamagoyaki - japanese omelette