Chapter 9: Moving on
20:45 PM (Japan Time), Wednesday November the 21st…
"… Uh-unh… Ugh… My right forearm…"
"Netto – kun…"
"Huh…? Saito – niisan…? Where… is this at…?"
"The hospital…"
"Hospital…? Ah!"
"Calm down."
Netto had slowly woken up and suddenly sat up on the hospital bed before Saito (sitting on a chair next to the bed) had him lie down on it again: there was some bandaging around his right forearm.
"Now… You won't be able to exercise this arm for half a month more or less, the medics said. The bullet damaged some bones as well so they have to heal." Saito told him.
"And Zarashe…?" Netto asked.
"The Committee agents reduced him and he's under examination: it turns out they'd implanted a chip implant like yours into him, too. And that must be why he didn't remember anything ever since August." Saito explained with a sigh.
"Zarashe … He's a victim… Of "evil"…" Netto muttered.
"Papa and Mama were here until a while ago but they went to speak with the medic… But they don't say you're to blame, either. You were doing your mission." Saito formed a weak smile.
"… Yeah… I know, but…" Netto trailed off.
"Relax."
"Alright…"
"Try to think of something nice."
"Excuse me. May I come in?" Someone asked as they discreetly knocked into the door.
"Come in." Saito invited.
A man came in: he looked on his mid-20s and his hair's color was jet black and his eyes' irises were blue in color: something about his face made it look slightly reminiscent of that of Netto's.
He sported a black suit plus a black tie and brown shoes.
"Oh. Vadous – san… It's been a while, sir." Saito politely greeted.
"I heard from the agents." He admitted with a sigh.
"Why was Zarashe …?" Netto asked.
"From what we've gotten out of Dr. Raher… He claimed it was the proof to his hypothesis."
"Hypothesis…?" Saito asked, surprised.
"Yeah. He claimed that a person could live on without memories and could rebuild their personality from scratch. He wanted to proof it, so he picked Zarashe given his connection to you two and had him be tortured in his "Young – M" club before taking advantage of his weakened mindset and implant the chip. He then blocked all of his memories and only told him he lived to serve him. But when he had one of his agents transfer his belongings to the secret apartment managed by Dr. Raher he couldn't have foreseen that there was photo album containing photos of each school year event and promotion. That's when he began to dig up but the safeguards on the chip's programming didn't make him deter from the purpose set on him." Vadous detailed.
"Like what happened to me…" Netto muttered.
"True, yet…"
"We know, sir. The end result was different, sir."
"Yeah. He'll need intense therapy but I've decided to keep his worse memories locked just in case."
"I see… I hope he recovers…" Netto trailed off.
"He'll recover. I'm sure of it." Vadous encouraged.
"… Bertie~! Show me your secret weapon!" An amused voice suddenly rang out.
"Omega. Who told you to sneak into my PET?" Vadous demanded as he drew a purple and black Link PET with the Alphabet "V" letter engraved on it as emblem.
"Clark Kent – sama~ demanded more elixir of eternal life~ so I came to buy some~!" Omega announced.
"Clark Kent… Super Man? Super Man doesn't need that stuff. Don't bring up Occidental Middle Ages witches' tales." Vadous fumed.
"Roger, shachou~!"
"I – am – not – a – shachou." He sentenced in a hushed tone of voice while sounding annoyed.
"Who knows, Danna?" Omega teased next.
"I do. Now go do something useful." He ordered.
"Invent the Garuu V666?" Omega laughed.
"Why 666?" Vadous frowned.
"The Devil's Number…!" He tried to sound sinister.
"Oh. Come on. That's another Occidental myth. Stop being so Occidental already." Vadous snapped at him.
"My! Brad Shad! Good secret weapon, yessir!" Omega suddenly complimented.
"Sir Omega, sir! Blood Shadow, sir! And I don't see the point of the secret weapon, sir!" Blood Shadow protested.
"Omega… You're a bully." Vadous told him.
"What? Me? A bully? That's a first!"
"Yeah. You're always provoking Blood Shadow because he's the youngest onboard. How many billon times do we have to go over this? And stop messing with the passwords, too." Vadous drily told him.
"Good evening!"
Meiru, Dekao, Yaito, Hikawa and Hiro came in.
"Everyone!" Netto exclaimed.
"Yo! Netto! Stealing the glory outta me?" Dekao asked.
Meiru actually stomped his right foot with left foot: Dekao yelped and the other three looked surprised.
"Dekao – kun! How rude! Do you think it's funny to get a bullet on your right shoulder twice? Huh? Huh?" Meiru snapped at him.
"Wha! I didn't want to anger ya, Meiru!"
"Hmpf! Useless fatty…"
"Wha!" Dekao gasped.
"Dekao – kun…" Hikawa rolled his eyes.
"Cha got that 'cause cha are a bully." Yaito told him.
"I'd rather a disgraced actor." Hiro muttered.
"Sakurai – san is right, Ooyama – kun. You should be more polite to people and not try to think you're omnipotent or the star of the show. It isn't funny at all." Vadous told him.
"Yikes! Eh… Hai~…" Dekao gasped.
"Guts, guts! What's going on, guts?" Guts Man wondered.
"Don't mind it!" Roll shrugged.
"Eh…" Glyde trailed off.
"Scary, desu…" Ice Man muttered.
"Yeah. Totally scary." Delta muttered.
"Yo! Sakurai! Are ya gonna check out Hikari's secret weapon hidden behind two layers of clothing?" Omega teased.
"How rude!" She grumbled.
"Omega! Get out!" Vadous whispered in an annoyed tone of voice.
"Okay. I'll go prepare the carnival with Forte and Zero."
"Carnival? But that's not until… He left." Vadous began arguing before he spotted how the PET was empty.
"That guy was vulgar!" Yaito played the offended.
"Huh? What?" Dekao frowned.
"Don't mind it." Hikawa dully told him.
"Really…" Hiro rolled his eyes.
"And every time I try to lock up those stupid programs he finds a way to loophole them…!" Vadous muttered.
He fumed and began to articulate his right hand's fingers as if trying to shake off tension: he inhaled and exhaled before seemingly relaxing somewhat.
"… I need some fresh air. I'll be back on a while." He told them.
He exited the room in silence while Meiru placed some flowers in a pot and smiled at Netto: he returned the smile while Saito glanced at Roll's hologram for a second before focusing on Netto again.
"… Well! Get fine soon." He told him.
"Don't worry! I'll surely be able to come to class tomorrow but I'll have to learn how to write with the left hand again… Niisan… Can you give me a hand on that?" Netto asked.
"Sure thing." Saito confirmed.
"And one day I'll become Akihara Town's champ!" Dekao exclaimed.
Meiru directed a hostile glare at him and he quickly shut up…
21:03 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Delta – dono contacted me. It'd seem his friend is out of danger. And the "Devil Syndicate" is history by now, too."
"Ah! Good!"
"It'd been sad to see Delta – dono in a depressed state…"
"He's guided us all the way to this point!"
Red Sword was chatting with Blizzard Man, Cloud Man and Cosmo Man inside of the old Gospel HQ sector of the Cyber World: they looked and sounded glad at the news.
"BRAINSSS…"
They all gasped and whipped around to see a legion of zombies advancing towards them while extending their arms forward and uttering terrifying moans: Red Sword suddenly drew a cannon-like weapon and shot a red spheroid of energy at them: it flew through them and hit the floor further away.
"… Omega. We know it's you. Stop screwing around and show your repulsive hide before we have to draw you out of hiding." Red Sword grumbled.
The zombies disappeared and Omega stepped in followed by Forte and Zero: the later looked like he was beginning to get fed up with their crazy combinations, even.
"Omega… Forte… When will you stop the act with the zombie horde hologram? It's… childish!" He protested.
"Yeah? Last time I checked, zombie games were rated 18+ around the world!" Forte grinned at him.
"We know that in Japan 20 is the legal age, but, hey. 18 years old is not about being childish, I'd say." Omega added.
"I give up… Count me out of the email jokes club. I've more serious stuff to do over at the Science Labs."
"Do as ya like, Mr. President." Forte grinned at him.
"You really need to be psychoanalyzed. I insist. I'm sure even Serenade will agree with me on that point." Zero told him.
"Serenade is always open to ideas, I know."
"Go help hunt down gangs." Zero shrugged.
He turned around and walked out while bringing a head to his forehead as if being sick of the whole business.
"Mwa, hah, hah, hah… Demon Man came!"
Sigma suddenly showed up behind Red Sword while laughing in a creepy tone of voice but Red Sword and the others directed unimpressed glares at him.
"What… There's something in my face?" He teased.
"No." They all replied.
"A grain, I'd say." Forte joked.
"A stain, I'd say." Omega joked next.
"Shut up." Red Sword snapped at them.
"It'd seem the party is getting awry, so… Let's go to the cocktail bar and have some cups before we retire into the private room and play some games there…" Omega told Forte.
"Oi, oi…" Now Forte looked nervous.
"Uh-oh." Sigma gulped.
"What's wrong?" The three Navis asked.
"… Don't mind it." Red Sword told them.
"Forte~! Come at me~!" Omega grinned.
Forte actually ran out: Sigma logged out while the "Hunters' Guild" fled the area, too: Omega shrugged and giggled under his breath…
22:11 PM (Japan Time)…
"… Ah… Niisan… Stop it already… We shouldn't do this here… What if they notice?"
"They won't, Netto – kun. I feel impatient so I'm going to tease you like this… Heh, heh, heh…"
"Ah… Uh… Ah… No good…!"
Saito was grinning as he sat on the same chair next to Netto but had pulled his covers away while lowering his hospital cloth's pants and boxers to reveal his cock: he was using the right foot to rub it while he looked on with a grin and Netto was uttering some low-toned moans.
"Heh, heh, heh. This is fun."
"Ugh!"
Netto suddenly released and Saito quickly used some handkerchiefs to cleanse everything while Netto panted: Saito put his right sneaker back on and then tossed the handkerchiefs into the garbage bin: he hummed a tune and put on an innocent smile as if to further camouflage what had happened there.
"Ah… Ah… Ah… Whoa… Felt… strange…" Netto muttered.
"Heh, heh, heh… That voice and that face… I turn you on! Don't I, Netto – kun?" Saito teased.
"W-well… S-somehow…" Netto blushed.
"Ah… You can't hide it from your niisan! I know you too well. I know it hasn't been two years yet since we reunited when I still was Rock Man EXE but I've learnt that you can be rather predictable! Next time I'll spice it up a bit…" Saito teased.
"Oi, oi…" Netto gulped.
"Don't worry! Just a little aesthetic thing…" Saito assured him.
"I hope so…" Netto muttered.
"What… You don't trust me, Netto – kun?"
"No, no! I mean… As long as it's an aesthetic thing…"
"It's fine, right? Relax… I'll make you see the white world."
"Uh… The white world…" Netto muttered with a hint of eagerness.
"We've got some intense months ahead of us, so… We'll make sure to play from time to time. And I know you like me taking the lead. You're too timid to try to go first." Saito told him as leant closer to him and rubbed his right cheek with the middle finger of the right hand.
"You wanna tease now?" Netto rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. I feel ready for more but I'm holding back until you get totally healed." Saito caressed the cheek with his hand next.
Netto's PET beeped and Saito picked it up: he looked something up and didn't seem to find it funny.
"… Okay. This is lame." He muttered.
"What's lame?" Netto lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
"Omega – san! He sent me a mail saying this: "Sai – chan! Come with me to the club: we'll have some vesper cocktails and then retire into the private room where we'll play an amusing game: it's called Boss and Grunt! I'll be waiting! Mars Warrior." … This is a provocation. He's legally an adult so he's behaving like a shotacon. He could get into more than one pinch because of this." Saito read before expressing his opinion on the matter.
"Ugh. I have to agree with you on that one, niisan..." Netto grimly muttered.
"I'm not sure if I should bother Vadous – san by telling him about this, but I guess I should: he's going too far and someone should halt him before he actually ends up doing it." Saito decided.
He wrote a reply mail and then sat down again on the chair while rolling his eyes in obvious defeat.
"Anyway… I should try to sleep. The medics will come early but luckily tomorrow is Thursday, so we start at 9:00 hours instead of 08:00 hours giving us an hour's margin to get ready." Saito told him.
"Yeah… I feel way more distressed by now, too. And let's tell Dekao that he's gotta hurry to complete the Gorilla Idiom – Japanese dictionary if he wants to impress Meiru." Netto giggled.
"Which he won't ever do…" Saito guessed.
"And he'll blame us." Netto shrugged.
"Gorilla Man will be left clueless about what's going on, too, and will end up trying to fight Sigma – san only to get beaten to the last of his rusted bolts." Saito joked.
"Yaito will tell Dekao that his hairstyle is outdated while Meiru will be orbiting around Tooru – kun to make sure he's not trying to pull something on her but Tooru – kun is not that type of guy."
"In short: we're part of a pretty crazy class." Saito summed up.
"Fua~h… Yeah, yeah… One of the craziest classes ever… Hmmm… Gotta sleep… Night, Saito – niisan…"
"Good night, Netto – kun. Beware of my right foot."
"Hah, hah… I get the joke…" Netto rolled his eyes.
He closed them and was soon sleeping while Saito stretched and leant backwards on the chair: he checked his own Link PET (colored green and white) and smiled.
Netto – kun didn't notice how I recorded this… Not like I intend to do anything bad with this, but it'll be a memento of the first time I played a new type of game with him… Heh, heh, heh… Anyway… I'm sure we'll soon have forgotten this tale and moved on forward… More adventures are waiting for us and our friends!
He finally fell asleep with a broad grin on his face…
THE END