Last Time: Enzan's father comes home from a trip, only to scold his son for some insignificant detail that was out of enzan's control. As they eat dinner, the teen reminisces about his dinner with the Hikari's, and how their home life is so much different than his own.
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Chapter 2: name of another
It had only been a couple of weeks later, and Enzan was already growing tired of his father being around day in and day out. The white and black haired young man was making his way towards the door when his father seemed to be trying to get his attention.
"Rukku!"
Enzan at first thought the old man was talking to a butler, but after realizing that the name belonged to none of them, he paused.
"Are you talking to me?" Enzan asked, turning to the man with his hand still on the doorknob.
"Of course."
"Why did you call me Rukku then?"
Realizing his mistake, the much older Ijuuin thought up a quick excuse. "I didn't say that. You must've heard me wrong."
"Right…" Enzan nodded his head unconvinced. "Anyways, what did you want me for?"
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going to work to pick up some documents that just arrived today."
"Good."
"Good?"
"It's good you're doing your job." Just then, the man seemed to think of a plan. "Say, are you growing tired of working?"
Enzan seemed shocked. Did his father just ask whathe, Enzan Ijuuin, actually felt about the work life he was thrown into, no thanks to the old man?
"Sometimes…but seeing as it's practically my life, not really."
"Perhaps you should take some time off so you can do, well, whatever teenagers your age do."
Enzan scoffed. 'and my age would be what, father?' he thought about asking those very words, but decided against it. "Alright then…I will." With that, he smirked, then opened the door and proceeded to walk out of the mansion.
When the door clicked shut, the man turned with a smile on his face.
"This will work out perfectly."
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Stamping the last of a stack of papers, Enzan sighed, picking up all the pastel and primary colored documents and stacking them so their edges lined up.
"Blues, where do these documents needed to be taken?"
"Sci-lab." The navi responded monotonously.
Enzan let a smile curve the corner of his lips. To him, Sci-lab brought back many memories of a more adventurous life.
"Mr. Ijuuin?" a woman stood at the door meekly, holding a slip of paper.
"Hai?"
"Your fa- I mean the president called and asked me to give this message to you." she nervously walked over to Enzan's desk, handing him the note.
"Arigatou." He nodded, taking the yellow slip of paper.
She walked to the door, gave him a sympathetic look, and walked out.
Gazing at the note, Enzan's eyes grew wide.
"Enzan,
I thought about what you said, and I think it's time for you to retire your position. Please have your desk cleared by Wednesday."
Enzan clenched his fist. "coward" he muttered aloud.
"Enzan-sama, is something the matter?"
"Father just left me a 'note' telling me that he's firing me."
Blues gaped a bit, then closed his mouth. "Why?"
"Apparently it's something I said. I knew something was up when he asked me if I was tired of this job."
"And you told him that you were sometimes, right?"
"Right."
"Unfortunately I am unaware of his intentions this time." Blues replied. He always seemed to know what to say, so Enzan wouldn't grow too stressed out by his fathers antics.
Enzan thought a minute, then turned to his computer.
"Enzan-sama, what are you doing?"
"Searching for someone…"
"whom?"
Enzan ignored the question and proceeded to type in his search as he accessed the civilian records. Mixing his fathers name, and the mysterious name he had heard his father call him earlier, he waited anxiously for the results to come spiraling on the screen.
"What the hell?" he cursed aloud, seeing the one matched result. "Ijuuin Rukku? He has…another son? I have a brother? What?"
Blues listened to his operator desperately -and failing miserably- try to absorb all the facts given.
"Perhaps it's just someone else."
"But it says here on his birth record that the father is Ijuuin Shuuseki…my father." Enzan tapped his fingertips against the desk as he stared at the screen in shock. Not the kind of shock where one's jaw hits the floor, but more of a shock that renders a person so speechless, they have no way of expressing emotions, much less words.
"Enzan-kun…are you okay?" Blues dropped the formalities and his emotionless mask to let true sympathy express the concern he was experiencing for his net-op.
"How…?" Enzan whispered, loosing control over his ability to think before speaking aloud.
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Later that night, black and white hair wandered around the blackened streets idly. Though his father had much to explain, the teen couldn't care less to hear the lame excuses the man would conjure up. The crisp night air seemed to cajole him, even though he couldn't stop thinking about the betrayal of the day.
"heh, must be pretty damn sad when you can't even trust your own family, ne?"
Enzan spun around toward the direction of the insulting voice, with his guard on red-alert. He was faced, however, with a young man only a few years younger than himself. The punk had black hair and long bangs pulled carelessly to one side, which seemed to be his style. Emerald eyes gazed with intimidation at Enzan and a sly grin creased his thin, masculine lips. He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark blue jeans. A street lamp cast an even thinner shadow than the boy already was.
"Who are you, punk? And what do you know of my business?" Enzan shot back, glaring with his icy blue eyes.
"Hey now! Punk? I'm insulted!" The stranger grinned, "That's no way to talk to your brother now, is it?"
'So he's my brother. Father must've sent him out to piss me off even worse. What's with that man?'
"Blood wise, you're my half brother. Family wise, I've never even heard of you until today and you seem to be the cause of all my problems. So if I feel like being a jerk to you, I will."
"Why should I take the blame for anything that father has done? It's not my fault that I'm his favorite." The boy rested his hands in his pockets, much like Enzan was used to doing. In fact, they were both standing in the same exact pose.
"Look, I don't need to take this crap from you."
"So you're leaving IPC all together?"
Enzan scoffed. "So you know about that? You must be in on this with father, huh? You're the little mastermind behind me loosing my job."
"Again, I'm insulted. I never dreamt up such a plan. It's all father's doing. I had nothing to do with it."
"Oh, I highly doubt that." Enzan stared at him, grinding his teeth in anger "To answer your question, I believe what father had intended was for me to leave IPC. So yes, I will be leaving the company all together"
"Then I guess you really won't have to take any more crap from me. That is, unless, father enforces that rule at home."
Enzan kept a calm, unimpressed composure, even as the puzzle pieces to this family fiasco were starting to fit together.
'so he really goes to visit Rukku when he goes on business trips and he's kicking my position to give it to that brat.'
"So how old are you?" he asked, not being able to tell from the darkness of the set sun.
"Twelve."
"Heh, say good-bye to your childhood. From here on out, it's all about work and papers. But then again, you seem like a geek with no life, so this will just be routine, right?" Enzan smirked and walked past Rukku who stood still as a statue.
"Hm. So that's where you got it, huh?"
Enzan paused his gate. "Pardon?"
"Your jerk personality. It's from having no life except work."
Enzan turned around slowly, grinning. "Precisely. So have fun with that." His eyes shot a glare at the boy before he proceeded to walk away.
"Oh…I will." Rukku muttered under his breath with a smirk as he began to walk in the opposite direction.
When his legs finally grew tired of walking, Enzan found himself somewhere completely foreign to his senses. After all, it was dark and not only was he was tired and weak emotionally, but physically as well. Never before had he felt so pointless.
"Enzan-sama, would you like me to call a cab to bring you back to your apartment?"
"Blues, I'm not even sure I even still have an apartment. Looks like father's totally picked me off of the family tree."
"Ma-" Blues was about to speak, but was interjected by Enzan, who now finally felt the need to open up to someone.
"What I don't understand is why he would adore that little brat, and completely discard me. I mean, I learned to become a great net battler in hopes to win his praise. Even after winning the N1 grand prix, he still seemed closer to the mailman than me. Do you realize we don't even HAVE a mailman?! Granted, for a while I was a bit stuck up, but never around father. I never boasted around him, I never disrespected him, I was the most agreeable, obedient son a father could ask for, yet every freaking day of my life he has looked right through me."
Blues gaped. It was the first time he had ever seen his net-op in such a state of emotional despair.
"God, what am I supposed to do?" Enzan found himself pacing around in an alley behind some old, shut-down shop whose previous habitants left only a sign to explain the closure. Letting his back lean against a cold brick wall, he slid down into a ball-like position and cradled his head in his hands. "What on earth am I supposed to do?" he asked aloud rhetorically.
Blues frowned. The red-clad navi couldn't help but feel hatred towards Ijuuin Shuuseki.
'synchronization achieved through anger…gross emotion.' Words of the past echoed and haunted the navi's memory.
Enzan may have seemed like Blues' master to most, but the two of them knew they had a more of a secret brotherly relationship. The fact that Shuuseki was hurting Enzan, who was not only the man's son, but Blues' best friend, made him even more upset.
He noticed water had splashed onto the PET. At first Blues wondered if it was raining, but his brain and instincts made him realize that Enzan was actually crying. It had been a long time since Blues had seen the young man cry, and during those times, the emphasis was on the word 'young'.
"Enzan-kun…"
Realizing he had completely lost it, Enzan wiped his eyes on his sleeve and took a handkerchief out of his pocket to fix his sniffling nose.
"Yes, Blues?"
"I'm sorry."
"Huh? Why?"
"I don't know…I just am." Blues sighed, "I wish I could be there to comfort you. Being stuck here in the cyber matrix doesn't help much when you're upset."
"It's okay. Knowing that at least you're on my side makes me feel a little better." Enzan cracked a small smile at his navi, earning a smile in return.
"Are you sure you don't want to go back?"
"Positive. I have nothing trivial at the house nor the apartment. I've got my PET. That's pretty much all I need to survive." Sighing, he lowered his voice. "I just don't know what to do from here on out."
Not expecting a response to his rhetorical thought, he was surprised when he got one, in the form of a female voice, no less.
"How about picking up your feet and walking?"
Enzan looked up surprised to see a tom-boyish hand reaching out towards him. Glancing at the hand, then the girl, a sort of snappy sounding tone came out "Who are you?"
"Tamika. But you can call me Mika." She laughed as he just sat there staring at her hand. "Honestly, it's not going to bite you. And if you don't stand up and try to do something about your problems, how're you going to fix them?"
"What do you know about my problems?" he asked, taking her hand to stand up.
"Not much, really. I was only walking by when I saw an unfamiliar face sitting in this area of town. I like to visit that shop over there."
"You mean the one that's all boarded up?" He asked, dusting off the back of his pants where he had been sitting on the ground.
"Yeah." She smiled widely. "My friends used to run that shop. I haven't talked to them in a long time, but that shop is kind of a symbol of where we were and how far we've come."
Enzan looked at the girl strangely.
"By the way, what's your name?" she asked, turning her gaze from the shop to him.
"Enzan." He replied nonchalantly
"You got someplace to go? 'Cause I wouldn't advise hanging out here all night. Get's kinda dangerous out about this time." She said, adjusting the baseball cap that added to her street-savvy demeanor.
Enzan looked down at the ground for a few moments then replied solemnly "Nah, not really. I have no idea where I am, to tell you the truth."
"Down town Electown. Where ya from?"
"Densen."
"Wow, you wandered far. Hey, you must be starving! Wanna' come over for dinner? I can make a mean mac n' cheese." She laughed, slapping her hands on her hips confidently.
"No, no, that's alright." He began to protest, but she crossed her arms and looked at him sternly.
"Hey, I got ya outa yer self pity. The least you can do is humor me!"
Enzan actually felt like laughing. Here was this tom-boy, a complete stranger, scolding him for moping, and inviting him over for macaroni and cheese. The funniest part was that he actually had a desire for a warm plate of that cheesy goodness.
"Well? Are ya just gonna keep staring at me with those sad blue eyes, or are you gonna say something?"
"Uh…sure, I guess…"
Mentally, he was kicking himself. For all he knew, she was some assassin, planning to poison his food. But he needed to rely on someone; he was tired of always putting up his guard. It seemed that for all the times he sheltered himself from many caring people, the one cold hearted person he let in was the one who let him down. He knew there were other warm people out there, willing to be loyal and friendly, like Netto and his happy-go-lucky friends, but he shut them out.
'It's alright Enzan, go ahead.' A little voice echoed in the back of his mind. He wasn't sure where it came from, seeing as he had never felt the pressing urge to trust a stranger before. Perhaps letting himself be vulnerable was the best thing to do right now. How could he do otherwise? He was too drained to hold the doors to his emotions shut any longer.
As she motioned for him to follow, they began to traverse to mika's place, wherever it was.
'could this get any weirder?'
Yes, Enzan, it could. And it did.
"Y'know, its funny." She started "You have the same eyes my mother had."
Enzan began to laugh, which we all know was quite rare. "Oh please. Not this again."
Mika looked over at him curiously. "Huh?"
"I've found enough long lost relatives for today."
"Is that why you were down in the dumps?" she laughed "Literally."
"Oh, that was only the half of it." Enzan looked down and laughed exhaustedly.
She smiled "I'm always an open ear if you wanna talk about it."
Of course he did. It felt nice being able to start over and open up to someone, without them judging him for being a hypocrite for all the years past he shut everyone out. So, as they walked the streets, Enzan explained everything that had happened.
"Your father made you VP of his company so young?" Mika looked at him surprised.
Enzan nodded. "When my mother died, father threw me into the company so I could instantly grow up and take care of myself."
"My mother died too when I was seven. But yikes," She grimaced, "I don't know if I could've handled that kind of company stress so young. Now? Maybe, if I were smarter." She laughed.
"What grade are you in?"
"Sophomore."
"High school?"
Mika laughed. "Snap, do I really look that young?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're in college?"
"Yup. What about you?"
"Junior in high school."
"I'm surprised. You look older than that." She looked at him as they passed underneath a street lamp.
"Heh. Should I take that as a compliment?"
"Take it however you want. Some teens hate looking old, others hate looking young." She shrugged "It's all about perspective. When you think about it, age doesn't really play into much except for our physical abilities. Other than that, it's all about maturity and imagination. Some old people are such children at heart."
"You must be majoring in philosophy, right?" he grinned. Perhaps she's not so bad after all.
Somewhat to his surprise, she shook her head 'no'. "Nope, I'm into Net Science and Law."
"If you ever need help, I can be of assistance." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh?" she looked at him curiously "How is that?"
"I've had quite a bit of experience in the field. I've been with the officials for a long time."
"Long time? But you're only a junior, so you're like what? Sixteen, seventeen years old?"
He closed his eyes as he continued to walk, depending on his other alert senses to guide him. "Skill in defending the net doesn't necessarily depend on age. Like you said, it only plays into our physical abilities."
"A rich child prodigy, eh? We could use one of those on our team."
Enzan, who now had his eyes opened, looked over at Mika. "Team?"
She shook her head. "Well, I mean on the good guy side. We need more people who are skilled in the field to be on the side of good."
"I…see…" not fully convinced, he began to interrogate Mika as a he would a suspect. "So what do you do outside of college?"
"Work. I help people down in the dumps, kinda give them a head start towards a new future."
'She seems okay. Perhaps I'm over analyzing a miracle.'
He grinned "So do all of these lucky people get a free mac and cheese dinner?"
"Only the ones who need it the most." She smiled back, and began to walk towards an old apartment block, squished between two taller buildings.
Upon entering, Enzan twitched as the overhanging fluorescent light in the main stairway flickered, signaling it wouldn't be long until it just completely died. Their feet clanked against the rusty aluminum stairs, and shouting could be heard from inside multiple apartments.
"Eh, sorry this area probably isn't what you're used to. It's kinda hard to take care of yourself, others, go to college, and have a job all at the same time." She smiled sheepishly, finally stopping at one of the doors, and inserting a key into the handle. "Besides, I don't spend a lot of time here."
As they walked inside, Enzan mentally insisted to himself that the small apartment reeked of cat-litter. Strangest thing? There was no cat to be found.
"Sorry it's a bit messy. Here, have a seat on the couch and I'll get right to that mac and cheese, I just gotta go to the bathroom first." She laughed, and Enzan cringed.
He could tell the couch was old from the tears and from the way he felt himself nearly sink to the floor. In fact, almost everything seemed old. The t.v. aligned parallel to the couch seemed to be almost vintage, still requiring antenna's, and had the style of an old black and white tube. The way she was taking him in like an old friend made him feel obliged to do something in return. Maybe he would stop by again some day and invite her for a real dinner.
'nah, that would give the wrong impression. Flowers would definitely do that too.' He smiled as he looked at the T.V. 'A new one would be so trivial for me to buy, but it seems she's saving every penny. I'll be sure to get one with antenna capabilities, just in case she doesn't have cable.'
Smiling, he thought about his new friend. The girl reminded him of Netto. A lot like Netto. Open, friendly, active, determined, and most of all, blunt. The truth was, he missed the little runt. He regretted their first encounters, and in fact, meeting Rukku felt like meting his younger self. Snotty, arrogant, self-absorbed, and an overall jerk. He could remember being like that once, and he shuddered.
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"I'm Ijuuin Enzan, licensed net battler." He stepped forward out of the shadows to get a better view of his ally and rival "Hikari Netto, and Rockman, I presume?"
"Ijuuin Enzan…I.E.! He's your colleague Netto!" Rockman exclaimed, but neither one of the boys paid attention
"You fancy yourselves worth of a license? I think not." Enzan replied haughtily
"What?!" He watched as Netto clenched one of his fists in anger, and threw the other hand up to point at the two-tone haired boy "Think what you like! I'm bustin' you down to first grade right now!" The brunette turned to his net navi "Rockman, prepare for netbattle!"
"What?!" Rockman exclaimed, obviously not fond of the idea of battling an ally.
"c'mon Enzan! Time to see who's top dog!"
Enzan closed his eyes and smirked as he pulled out the cord on his PET. "Heh…we'll see alright…just how little you understand about the vast gulf between our skill levels!"
The two boys jacked into the net battle machine, where Rockman was undoubtedly caught off guard by Blues' speed. A s they fought, a lurker came in, confessed to be a world three recon navi, but begged for his life. He claimed that after being abandoned, world three took him in, and if a decent net-op would take him in, he'd leave world three in an instant.
The difference between Enzan and Blues, and Netto and Rockman were spelled out as black and white as enzan's hair, then and there.
"Who would abandon a self aware net navi?" Rockman gasped
"The original net-op should be flogged!" Netto exclaimed
"I've heard enough… You're deleted." Blues snapped coldly. With a swing of his sword, the navi shed into particles, and caused a small explosion.
Rockman stared at the floor in disgust "Why did you do that? H e was no fighter, no threat…he even begged for his life!" Netto and Rockman seemed to echo each other "What possible reason was there to commit such cold blooded deletion?!"
"The best possible reason: He was world three." Blues held out his hand, revealing a small chip. "This is his memory chip. The only thing of any value."
"Value? Why you…" The net-op and net navi glared at their opponents "So that's how you operate?! You and me allies?! Never in a million years!"
Blues analyzed the concentration between Netto and Rockman's synchronization.
"Full synchronization achieved through anger…"
"Gross emotion." Enzan scoffed "How inept. You're an utter failure."
Rockman charged at Blues, swinging his sword and barely missing the swift navi by inches "Blues! You're wrong! You saw evil where it didn't exist! He was lost and alone, with no will to resist! Couldn't you see ANY of that?! Didn't you feel the merest SHRED of compassion or mercy?!"
Blues succeeded in slicing Rockman past all his attacks. "NO! Compassion? Mercy? Those things are POINTLESS."
Enzan spoke up "All I believe in, all that counts…is power!"
"Total absolute power!" Blues echoed
Rockman staggered up from the ground, panting in exhaustion "Absolute power…that's it?"
"Sounds like you and world three have an awful lot in COMMON then!" Netto sneered
"I've had enough of you…" Enzan gritted his teeth
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Arisa: If anyone's curious, that whole last flash back was from the Megaman, nt warrior manga, vol. 2. (I just got it on Friday 3!) I didn't intend to make it so long, but I really wanted to emphasize where Netto compares Enzan to world three. And, of course, since it was in English, they used English names.
Icy: But seeing as we don't like their English names, we changed them to Japanese. So when Rockman is like "Ijuuin Enzan…I.E.!" it was actually "Chaud Blaze…C.B.!" sorry If we spoiled the manga (ehe…)
Arisa: XD…I.E…Funny how that's the initials for Internet Explorer too. Capcom does that…little subliminal messages. I'm sure I'm not the first to notice almost all their names have something to do with music as well.
Icy: at least it's not as bad as 'heroes' (Love that show 3)
Arisa: Hehe, and if you didn't pick up the subliminal message about the mac and cheese, it goes back to the older commercials, "I've got the bluuueesss!"
Icy: it could be saying that Enzan's sad, or just a pun between his navi's name and macaroni and cheese.
Arisa: Anyways, for all you yaoi fangirls (and perhaps fanguys?), just to let you know, the pairing there isn't going to come in for a while, but I will put in hints and such.
Icy: Also, Mika isn't intended to be a major OC, just a necessary character for what's coming up next.
(Later note: Since I've written ahead, I realized that Mika is an essential part to the story, so she's accidentally a major OC. Sorry for you 'mary-sue' haters. But she's not like most, so hopefully you'll like the character she plays)
Arisa: Right. so please review? Arigatou.