~Chapter 10~

'We haven't moved or said anything for at least five minutes now' Lei thought to herself, still sharing the tight embrace with UnderNet's most fearsome NetNavi.

Her hands were holding onto his upper back underneath his cloak, and his hand was wrapped around her lower back, grabbing her waist and keeping her gently squeezed against him. Lei could tell he was using almost no force at all, yet his touch still felt incredibly strong.

Both of their faces were still buried deep into each other, and she wondered how things ended up this way.

She remembered how helpless she felt after hearing Bass' story, how shocked and sad she was to learn he had gone through so much and how lonely that must have been for him.

And she remembered she had no idea what to do.

Still, it made her also feel an incredibly strong urge to somehow lift some of that weight off of him; to somehow make him feel better.

Lei didn't expect him to actually hug her back, but somehow.. Both of them holding each other like this felt almost nice, and she had no explanation why.

She slowly lifted her head up from the fabric of his cloak, as she immediately felt him do the same.

Without saying a word or completely letting go, both Navis slowly inched away from each other, until they had enough distance to have a clear view of each others face.

Lei's hands were now pressed against the cloaked Navi's chest on both sides of his scarred Navi symbol, as his hand was now resting on the side of her waist.

Still silent, they both only stared at each other for the longest time.

Lei noticed Bass looked different; he finally had a calm expression on his face, and she couldn't resist exploring every detail of his features with her eyes, as she let them trail off from his intense red ones, which were the first thing she remembered seeing when first meeting him, to the purple streaks on both sides of his face, to his nose, and lastly his firm mouth.

For someone who was rumored to have a 'very intimidating face', she found Bass to be quite good looking.

'It's probably just his constant annoyed look that scares everyone away.' She thought to herself, as she shifted her eyes back to meet his, 'such a waste.'

Neither of them spoke for a few more moments, and they didn't break eye contact.

Suddenly, a familiar ring was heard from a pocket on the strap of Lei's bag, causing both Navis to slightly jolt.

After they both released each other completely, Lei stepped back and took her small communication device out of its pocket in the strap of her messenger bag.

"Sorry, I have to take this" she said as she looked at Bass, "I'll make It quick."

He said nothing, as he watched her answer the call, revealing the face of a young male Navi with brown eyes and similar uniform only with red streaks instead of blue on the other end of it.

"What's up, Lei? Just finished my delivery for today, wanna meet up?" The male Navi said with a cheerful voice.

Lei smiled.

"Hi Dean, I'm good." She answered, "Sorry, but can I call you back in a bit?"

Dean's expression suddenly turned somewhat surprised.

"Sure, no problem. Everything okay?"

Lei remembered her decision to keep the delivery a secret, and she knew she needed to end this conversation as quickly as possible without looking suspicious. She thought about simply not answering him, but knowing Dean, he might just try calling again after a short while.

It made her feel slightly guilty again, but she knew it was for the best.

"Just fine, Thanks! I'll talk to you later, then." She said, and closed the conversation.

The small device was now laying in her open palm as she stared at it for a few moments.

'I'm sorry Dean, I'll tell you all about it when I'm finished.. I promise.' She thought to herself.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the cloaked Navi's voice;

"Is everyone in your company as reckless as you, or is that something only you excel at?" He asked her with a mocking tone.

Lei lifted her gaze back to his face as she put the small device back in its pocket, and noticed his expression was now back to its usual, annoyed state.

She crossed her arms at him.

She was just so tired of hearing that word all the time.

"Reckless.." She said, "So what if I am? If I calculated each and every decision I've made up until this day, I would have never set foot in this place and exposed to how beautiful it is.. I would've probably just stayed in NetCity not even knowing what I was missing, I would've never met the people I did thanks to this delivery, and most importantly, I would have never ever heard about your story, Bass."

Hearing that last part, the cloaked Navi buried the lower part of his face behind his cloak.

"I hope I don't have to remind you, girl, that if you dare tell anyone about what happened here, I will make sure you regret it." He said with malice in his voice and glared at her.

Lei only giggled at his reaction.

"Aren't you tired of threatening me all the time?" She asked him and playfully stuck her tongue at his direction, "And my name isn't 'girl', its Lei. Try saying it."

Bass was silent for a few moments.

"Hmph, I know what your name is, stupid." He scoffed.

Lei stepped closer to him.

Bass didn't move and only watched her.

"Then say it." She demanded, staring up at him.

Lei didn't know why, but she was suddenly filled with the strange urge to hear Bass say her name. She never really cared all that much before when others sometimes forgot it or mistook her for someone else, but for some reason, hearing him say her name was suddenly important to her;

She just really wanted him to acknowledge her by it.

Both Navis just stared at each other for the longest time, not saying a word.

Lei's expression didn't waver for a second, as her blue eyes stared right into his red ones and her mouth formed a small pout.

Bass' just narrowed his gaze at the girl before him, then finally opened his mouth;

"Lei." He suddenly said with a quiet, but firm voice as he watched her.

She blinked as she heard her name come out of the cloaked Navi's mouth.

'He actually did it..' She thought to herself, surprised.

Suddenly, she felt heat starting to radiate out of her cheeks.

Lei stepped back.

'I didn't think it will have this much of an impact..?' She jokingly thought to herself as she shifted her gaze to the ground and started to lightly fan her face with her right hand.

Quickly regaining her cool, Lei remembered the reason she was there.

She lifted her gaze back to Bass.

"So, are you going to answer MegaMan's message?" She asked him with a curious expression.

The cloaked Navi blinked as he raised his left hand and opened it. He realized he had completely forgotten about holding the chip in his fist this whole time.

He stared at it for a few moments.

"No." He finally said and tossed the chip to her, "Just tell him to come to the UnderNet tomorrow at noon."

Lei caught it with both of her hands, and simply looked at him with a puzzled expression.

She was silent for a few moments.

"Are you seriously going to fight him?" She asked him, as her expression turned somewhat worried.

Bass watched her.

"He's my nemesis, we have a score to settle." He answered her.

Lei kept silent for the longest time, and only stared at him.

"What's the point in that?" She asked him, her blue eyes trying to figure him out.

Bass gritted his teeth.

"The point is, to determine which one of us is stronger." He said, as he glared at the female Navi, "MegaMan's powers were meant to rival mine, it's only natural for us to continue testing the limits of our abilities against each other."

Lei went silent again, and her expression turned sad.

'Why is that still so important to him? Life holds so much more to it than just fighting all the time.' She thought to herself.

He just watched her, confused at her odd reaction.

"Why the hell is this so hard for you to understand?" He asked, as he stepped closer to her, his red eyes glaring down straight into her blue ones.

She stared up at him, and kept silent for a few more moments.

''Why' he asks..' She thought to herself, 'Isn't it obvious..?'

"I just.. don't want you to get hurt." She said with a quiet voice.

Bass didn't say anything.

He only stared down at the girl in front of him.

"Stupid." He suddenly spoke, "Believe me, I don't need you to worry about me. Fighting is what I do, and it's what I know best."

Lei didn't like that answer, so she didn't say anything.

Neither of them said a word for a while.

"If you're that worried, just come see me beat the shit out of that fool for yourself." He said and smiled viciously.

She blinked at him.

Did he just invite her to come see his battle with MegaMan?

She wondered if doing that will even calm her worries down, but she figured not knowing what was happening will be much worse.

Lei then realized she had never actually seen a NetNavi battle up close before in her life.

She would lie if she said that fact alone didn't suddenly make her interested.

"Okay." She answered him.

Bass' expression changed into a more relaxed one as he heard her response.

"Now go back to NetCity, your job here is done for today." He said with a demanding voice.

Lei's mouth suddenly broke into a troubled smile.

"I would, but.. You see, I'm kind of lost.." She almost whispered.

Bass stood in shock at the girl in front of him, then broke into a loud laugh.

"How can a NetNavi able to fly even get lost?!" He mocked her.

Lei bit her lower lip at she glared up at him, annoyed.

"Well, company regulations forbid us to fly higher than ten feet while on a delivery mission to avoid missing our destinations, and my GPS keeps dying here!" She explained, frustrated.

Bass stared down at her.

"I see." He said.

Suddenly, with a swift movement and no explanation, he wrapped one arm behind her back and another under her legs, lifting her easily up to his chest.

"Wah!" Wide eyed, Lei only managed to cry in surprise as he flew up, carrying her in his arms.

Instinctively, she clung onto him and buried her fingers deep into his cloak, forgetting for a second that she can fly herself.

He suddenly stopped, causing Lei to shift her confused gaze to him.

"There, you didn't break your company's stupid rule - I did." He said, smirking at her, "Now, see that white path to your far left? Follow it all the way to the entrance to NetCity"

Lei shifted her eyes to the ground and noticed they were high enough for her to finally see and recognize the way she came from.

She smiled.

"Thank you, Bass." She said, as she lifted her large blue eyes back to meet his.

He stared at her.

'Could she be anymore defenseless..' he thought to himself, gazing down at the girl he was holding.

The cloaked Navi said nothing, as he lowered himself back to the ground and let the girl down from his arms to her feet.

Neither of them spoke for a few moments.

"MegaMan will know how to find me easily so just arrive with him tomorrow." He said.

Lei stared at him.

"I'm not going to get lost again." She answered, as she crossed her arms at him.

Bass was silent.

"That's not it." He said as he shifted his eyes away from her, "I was serious before when I said you've attracted unwanted attention, and you're way too defenseless on your own. MegaMan is a fool, but he could at least fend off some low-grade shitheads, if needed to."

He spoke in such a matter-of-fact tone, that Lei almost missed the hidden hint behind his words.

Was Bass actually.. worried about her?

She stared at him, silent for a few moments.

'Okay, I will.' She said softly.

They only stared at each other for a few moments.

"Oh!" Lei suddenly chirped with a surprised expression, "I almost forgot!"

She quickly opened her bag and took out the confirmation form out of it.

Bass didn't need her to explain the procedure again, and he complied without any problem. She giggled at how gently he tapped his hand on the paper, remembering how he had almost accidentally destroyed it by using too much force last time.

"I guess I'll be going then." She said to him.

Bass only nodded and watched her as she floated away and disappeared into the distance, once again.

He stood in his place for a few more moments, then lifted both of his hands out of his cloak and stared at them as he closed and reopened his fingers a few times.

'This stupid lingering feeling isn't going to leave me anytime soon, is it..' He thought to himself, annoyed.

A/N: Ah, I have such nice, evil ideas for this fic that I just can't wait to put in motion. Be sure to stay tuned! :)

*Valinar - Thanks so much! 'ExOr' sounds pretty threatening, I like it.