Lan bolted up as soon as the bell rang and rushed out of the school. He skated as fast as he could to BlazeQuest, he needed to see Chaud.
Once Lan got to the door to Chaud's office, he was too nervous to open it. He was trying to hold himself together. He reached for the handle with shaky hands and just shoved it open. Chaud was standing, looking out of the window. "Chaud..." Lan whispered. "Lan..." Chaud's voice was shaking. "What happened? Why didn't you call last night?" Lan asked. "Lan...I can't be with you." Chaud said, his voice was cracking. There was a long pause. "What?" Lan said, tears spilling. "My dad...he said he would kick me out, I wouldn't be the vice president anymore, no more money..." Chaud began. "I'll lose everything." he finished, turning to Lan, tears running down his cheeks. He saw Lan, breaking down in front of him. "But Chaud..." Lan pleaded. "Lan, I don't know how to live without this. This has been my life since I was born. I need it." Chaud said, breaking inside. "I guess I didn't realize your possessions meant more to you than I do." Lan said, running out the door. Chaud slammed his fist against his desk and let the tears spill. He watched Lan storm out of the building from the window and it began to rain.
Lan skated as fast as he could down the road. Tears poured down his face, but it was raining so heavily that he couldn't tell the difference. "Lan, please stop!" Megaman yelled. Lan stopped short in an alley and puked, he dry heaved for what seemed like hours. He leaned against the brick wall next to him and cried, letting the cool rain hit his face. "Lan...please..." Megaman said, concerned. "Lan, you need to get up." Megaman said. Lan's sobs were silenced by the storm. "I thought he loved me..." Lan cried, forcing himself to stand. "He does love you..." Megaman said. "Not as much as he loves his money and his power." Lan said, wiping his eyes with his rain-soaked sleeve, but the tears still fell.
Lan walked into his house and his mother looked at him and her heart broke. "Lan..." she whispered and ran to him. Lan was shaking violently, his teeth were chattering. Mrs. Hikari ran to start a hot shower for him. "Lan, get yourself warmed up and I'll make you some soup." his mother said, she was tearing up. Lan walked to the bathroom and peeled off his wet clothes and stepped under the hot water. He cried, his sobs shaking his entire body.
He got into his pajamas and held his cup of soup, just staring at it. "Lan..." Megaman said, he was worried, but didn't know what to say. "It's now only hit me...I've loved Chaud for a really long time..." Lan began, clutching the soup cup harder. "I know..." Megaman whispered. Lan was drained, physically and mentally. He had never been so hurt in his life.
/~***~\\\\\
Chaud walked into his fathers office. "It's over." Chaud said, looking at the ground. "Good, then you're safe. I expect the game to be done by Friday." his father said. "Yes sir." Chaud said and walked to his room. He collapsed on to his bed and sobbed loudly. "I'm so disappointed in you Chaud." Protoman said. "I can't...oh God, it hurts." Chaud cried. Protoman was actually worried about Chaud, but he was worried about Lan as well. "Protoman...please..." Chaud sobbed. "What is it Chaud?" Protoman asked. "Please, make sure Lan is okay." Chaud pleaded. "I'm not leaving you right now, I'm sorry. Megaman is taking care of Lan, I'm sure of it. You need me right now." Protoman said. Chaud curled into the fetal position and cried himself to sleep.
Chaud's eyes fluttered open, they were stinging. He walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. His eyes were puffy and red. He splashed water on his face and tried to compose himself. He walked back into his room and saw Protoman was awake. "Did you check on Lan?" Chaud asked. "No, I haven't left your side all night." Protoman said. "Thank you Protoman..." Chaud whispered. "You're my best friend Chaud. I'm disappointed, but I'll always be here." Protoman said. Chaud just stared out at the window, it was going to rain again today.
Megaman took a huge sigh of relief when Lan finally fell asleep. He had been crying all night long. His mother let him stay home from school. He was sick from being out in the rain for so long. Megaman was exhausted, he hadn't been able to get any rest, he was too worried about Lan. Mrs. Hikari snuck into Lan's room and grabbed Megaman.
"Megaman, can you do me a favor?" she asked. "Anything." Megaman said. "I have a list of things I need from the store. Medicine and food for Lan. But I'm too afraid to leave with him being as sick and upset as he is. Do you think you could deliver it to his father at work?" she said. "Of course, I'll do it right away." Megaman smiled. "You're the greatest." she smiled and took him back to Lan's PC. Megaman jacked into Net City and began his journey to SciLab. Soon, he ran into Roll, Gutsman, Glide, and Iceman.
"Megaman!" Roll yelled and they all ran to him. "Oh, hey." Megaman said. "You look exhausted!" Roll said. "I am, I was up all night with Lan. He's been a wreck since yesterday." Megaman said, worry plastered all over his face. "What happened?" Glide asked. "Chaud told his father about his relationship with Lan and his father threatened to take away his money and his vice presidency. Chaud gave in and left Lan." Megaman said. "Oh no..." Roll said, raising her hand to her mouth. "I've never seen Lan like this." Megaman said, looking at the ground. "Well, I think we all need to go cheer Lan up!" Iceman said. "Absolutely!" Glide said. "Thank you guys, please, anything will help." Megaman said. "Where's Lan now?" Roll asked. "He's sleeping, so don't send anyone over for a few more hours." Megaman said. "Why aren't you resting?" Gutsman asked. "I'm running this list to SciLab to Lan's dad. His mom didn't want to leave him home alone." Megaman said. "Give me the list, Maylu and I will take care of it. You need to get some rest." Roll said. "Thank you." Megaman said, handing Roll the list. "We'll see you in a bit." Roll smiled and they walked away. Megaman walked in the other direction, he just needed to clear his head for a few minutes.
"Megaman." Protoman said. Megaman looked up from the ground to see Protoman standing before him. "Protoman." Megaman stated. "I figured I'd find you around here somewhere." Protoman said. "Just needed to clear my head before getting back to Lan." Megaman said. "How's he doing?" Protoman asked. "Bad." Megaman said, bluntly. "Chaud isn't doing well either." Protoman. "It was his choice!" Megaman yelled, he was angry. "I agree with you, I'm disappointed in him." Protoman said. Megaman was taken aback by that. "You aren't gonna tell Chaud that he's doing bad, are you?" Megaman asked. "No, he wanted me to find you so I could tell him, but I'm not going to. He needs to sort himself out. You gotta take care of Lan." Protoman said. "I'm doing my best." Megaman said. "I'll see you later, don't tell Lan you saw me either." Protoman said. "I won't." Megaman said and jacked out to Lan's PET. Lan was still sleeping so he took the opportunity to get some rest of his own.