Chapter 10

It all went wrong. Saito wasn't sure what had happened. He had tried to ask Netto about why he didn't want to talk to his friends about being a netnavi. First, Netto laughed and made up some excuses like there was no reason they needed to know and how everything was fine so why upset everyone? Saito pointed out that it had been pretty upsetting to have his copyroid battery drain during class and it would have been nice to rely on someone. Saito didn't want Netto to experience that. That was a reason to tell them, right?

Apparently not. Netto had gone quiet and Saito had assumed that meant he was making progress. However, when he pushed, Netto started yelling at him. Saito couldn't recall all the things Netto said as most of it consisted of telling him that he didn't know anything, he didn't remember what it was like to be just human and to 'get out', which was difficult when they shared a room.

The door slammed behind Saito and the lock clicked into place. Uncertain of what to do, Saito stumbled down to where their mother was cooking in the kitchen.

"Mama," he said.

"Is something wrong?" Haruka asked her eldest son.

Saito looked back at the stairs and once again wondered what had gone wrong.

"Netto's locked himself in the room. All I wanted was for him to tell Meiru about what happened and why we had to leave."

Haruka sighed and pulled Saito close, stroking his back and hair. "You did what you thought was right. Now, let's give your brother time to calm down. He might be ready to talk at dinnertime."

Saito nodded. He sat on the couch and played video games. The empty space next to him where Netto would usually sit occupied his thoughts. Netto would make comment after comment, brightening up the game with his descriptions and jokes. The game was duller without them.

With a sigh, Saito dropped down to lie on the couch.

Why did Netto kick him out? They could have talked about it. He lost track of time as he lay there.

Dinner came and went. Netto didn't leave his room. Saito didn't move from the couch. Haruka quietly ate alone. The boys didn't need to eat so missing meals wasn't a problem. However, the computer was in their room. So were the charging beds. While a cord plugged into the wall worked for an emergency, it would take more than a night to charge the copyroid to full.

"Mama," Saito said in a worried tone, wringing his hands together.

Haruka went up and knocked but there was no answer. She tried again and this time there was a thud from inside serving as a sign of life but nothing else.

"Saito, you'll have to spend the night in another room," she said. She had seen Netto like this only once before. When his father had ended up in hospital, Netto had completely shut out the world. But he had kept Rockman close that time.

Saito used Papa's computer to get back into the net. The next day, he was going to go talk to Enzan since his advice was what started this. However, Mama stopped him before he could leave the house.

"Could you go to school in Netto's place? I already rung to inform them. Someone needs to get his homework and take notes for his classes."

"What?" Netto hadn't come down at all. "But-"

"Saito. Please," Haruka said. "Let's just give Netto some time."

Saito sighed. He thought he knew what was best for his operator but he trusted Mama.

"Okay, Mama."

Saito stood before the class. This time as himself.

"Netto Hikari is not feeling well today so his brother, Saito Hikari, is here in his place." Mariko Sensei gave him a worried look. "Will your own school work be okay?"

Saito nodded. "I go to school online. I'll be fine."

"What are you doing here?" Dekao demanded to know the moment Saito sat down.

"Weren't you listening? Netto isn't feeling well," Yaito huffed.

"Is he okay?" Meiru asked. "The last time he missed school without warning, he disappeared to another country."

That's because he had been sick and then died, Saito thought to himself. If Netto hadn't died, he would have come back to school with a story about being sick in hospital for a while. If he hadn't… Saito shook his head. There was no point wondering about 'what ifs'.

"Ouch!" A pencil hit the back of his head.

He glared back at Yaito.

"Meiru asked you a question," the little blond girl scolded him.

"Oh." He hadn't answered that, had he? "Yeah, Netto will be fine." It wasn't like he could die again. "He's just not well enough for school."

Saito blinked as he looked around to see people looking at him. "Um…" Immediately, questions were being through his and Meiru's way. Was he really Netto's twin? They looked so alike! Where did he go to school? Why hadn't they heard of him before now? How come Meiru knew who he was? And so on.

Saito dropped his chin to his desk, almost falling asleep. Class was boring. He wanted to be on the net, fighting viruses and hanging out with his friends. Anything but sitting here and taking notes for Netto's classes.

"I wonder if Mama is trying to punish me," he sighed to Meiru as the final bell of the day ended.

"It's the end of the day now," Meiru said. "So you can go home and stop complaining about how bored you are."

"I wasn't that bad," Saito muttered in an embarrassed tone.

"You said you were bored four times in the last half hour," Meiru pointed out.

"I have a running tally," Roll helpfully added, tally-marks appearing on the PET screen.

Saito stretched out over the desk. "But I am bored." Roll added another mark to the total. "There's nothing to do."

"The classwork maybe?"

"Come on Meiru," Yaito said. "He's a lost cause like Netto. It seems neither of them are made for the classroom."

"What would Tab and Mick think if they saw you like this?"

Saito stared at Meiru. She didn't really get the chance to know those two, did she? "Tab wouldn't care too much as long as we still hung out during breaks and Mick would celebrate my rebellion."

"Seriously?" Meiru huffed as her opinion of Mick went down.

"Mick only attends class out of respect for Mr Mach."

"If Netto's not here, I'm goin' home," Dekao announced, grabbing his bad.

Saito stood up with him. "I'm leaving too."

"Let's all go together!" Meiru announced. She gave Yaito a pleading look.

Yaito nodded and grabbed her bag. "Well," she said haughtily, "I guess the limo can wait. I'll walk some of the way with you."

Yaito walked with them until the turn off for Dekao's street. Then she jumped into a limo which seemed to appear from nowhere. It left Meiru and Saito alone in the street.

"Is Netto really sick?" Meiru questioned in a worried tone as they walked home.

Saito didn't want to answer that.

"Probably not," Roll muttered from her PET. "You said something to him didn't you?"

"Uh..." Saito stumbled. Of course Roll would figure it out.

"Let me guess, this is the result of Blues' advice."

Saito sighed. "Yeah."

"And that's why you think Mrs Hikari is punishing you."

Meiru looked from Roll, in her PET, to Saito standing just behind her. "What's going on?" she asked them both.

"I upset Netto," Saito admitted, feeling like there was a weight hanging off his shoulders. "I think I said something wrong but I have no idea what."

"Oh, so he's doing that sulking thing where he locks himself in his room?" Meiru questioned.

Saito was surprised that she had figured it out. "Yeah."

Meiru frowned, unimpressed. "I thought he grew out of doing things like that. It's a bad habit of his."

"I know." Netto liked to lock out the world when he was truly upset. However, that only made the people around him worry more.

"Did he do the same thing back when you guys moved for the copyroid experiment?" Meiru asked. "After all, I'm sure Netto stopped going to school first and then you moved later. I saw Mrs Hikari running around to get things ready but I didn't see Netto once."

"Something like that," Saito said nervously. He could feel the glare Roll was sending his way. However, he couldn't tell if it was because Roll thought he should tell Meiru or if she was telling him to be quiet and let Netto tell Meiru when he's ready. He played it safe and assumed she wanted him to stay quiet.