Story Title: In the Darkness
Author: Mathais
Rating: T
Fandom: Axess
Warnings: Light Boys Love
Pairings: One-sided Netto/Tohru
Summary: A boy muses in the darkness about his life and comes to a decision.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and elements of Axess.
Notes: This takes place around after episode 5 in Axess.
OoOoO
It hurts.
Of course it hurts, you dummy.
He stared at the sky, pale stars twinkling in the twilight.
It's getting cold.
He snorted.
This coming from the one who has Iceman. This cold is nothing.
The boy sighed.
Nothing compared the cold in here. One pale hand came to rest on his chest.
It is nothing.
The figure leaned against the bench he was sitting on, the breeze blowing his brown hair.
I thought it was supposed to be a fiery passion, filling your senses. It's not supposed to be this... this cold. Is it?
He sighed once more and shivered a bit.
It's so cold... I want the warmth. I need the warmth. Or do I?
The boy frowned.
Do I deserve warmth?
Do I?
Or is this my punishment?
For not protecting my mother?
The boy let a few tears slip from his brown eyes, letting them drip down his pale cheeks.
She had to leave. She didn't love me. I should've been a better son. Tears came faster now. Maybe I wouldn't be all alone with a father who doesn't spend much time at home. He choked back a harsh laugh.
Maybe I'm not destined for love. He mused darkly. I'll never be, I guess.
After all, I fell hard and fast for a straight guy.
He placed his hands to his face and sighed deeply. I didn't understand until it was too late. Damn, he's so energetic and cute, but he'll never spare me a glance. The boy snorted. I'll never be good enough for him. He'd probably go after him if he was gay anyway. Heaving another deep sigh, the boy curled up in a small ball.
Do I deserve love? He wondered. The answer was immediate. Of course not. I don't deserve it. I'll never deserve it. He deserves better than me anyway. She will do him good. Better than I ever will. The boy sniffed a bit, but the tears just wouldn't stop. The pain hurts. The void's empty. It's wrong, but I deserve it.
He sighed shakily, but he was alerted by his PET. "Tohru-kun?"
Hikawa Tohru flipped the lid of his PET and wiped away his tears. "Yes Iceman?"
"It's 5:00. If you don't want to trip up your dad's alarms, you should head back now." The small Navi pleaded.
"All right." He got up and started to walk. "Say, Iceman, how's your love life?"
Iceman sighed. "What do you think?"
"That bad?" Tohru raised an eyebrow.
"No progress whatsoever." Iceman groaned. "Roll would never let me near Rockman."
"Looks like we both fell hard for them." Tohru mused.
"And they are in our way." Iceman sighed. "Will they ever love us?"
"No," Tohru answered in a pained whisper, "they will never. It hurts so much seeing him so often, but not really having him." Tohru choked on a few tears. "Sometimes, it makes me wonder. 'What do I get up for?' 'Why should it matter whether I do wake up or not?' 'Will anyone miss me?' 'Why don't I end it all right now?'" Iceman steadily grew scared for his operator. "It hurts Iceman, but I think I deserve it. After all, no one should love a horrible person like me." Tohru turned silent as Iceman's jaw moved, but didn't work.
OoOoO
"I need help."
Rockman, Roll, and Glyde turned to the smallest Navi there.
"What's the problem Iceman?" Roll asked.
Iceman briefly thought about explaining it, but decided to go blunt. "Tohru's scaring me."
Rockman, Glyde, and Roll blinked.
"Why does he scare you?" Rockman inquired.
Iceman hugged himself. "He was up late last night, thinking."
"And?" Glyde prompted.
Tears sprung to Iceman's eyes. "He started to ask himself questions. Really dark ones. A couple of them were 'What do I get up for?' and 'Why don't I end it all right now?'"
The Navis gasped.
"Did he talk to his mother or father about this?" Rockman insisted.
Iceman merely gaped.
"What?" Glyde asked.
"Didn't you know?" Iceman managed in a mangled whisper. "Didn't you know that his mother left him and his dad when he was four and that his dad is almost never home?"
Roll placed a hand to her lips. "He never mentioned it."
Iceman turned his head away. "I don't know what to do. He's really scaring me, guys. Really."
Anything further was interrupted as panic reached their ears. They were immediately plugged-out and returned to their PETs.
"What's going on?" Iceman called frantically.
"Dimension Field." Netto said as the sky glowed a faint dimensional pattern, yellow.
"We're trapped in the school." Meiru whispered.
Ms. Mariko took charge and screamed over the commotion. "Everybody freeze!"
All the students and panicking teachers froze.
"Follow me in an orderly fashion to a designated safe area." The teacher's voice brooked no contradictions as she marched into the school.
Soon Meiru, Yaito, Netto, and Tohru were left.
A jet of water flew over their heads.
"Viruses!" Yaito called.
"Ready Rockman?" Netto asked as the others ran.
"Of course Netto-kun." Rockman replied.
"Synchro Chip—" Netto was about to insert the Synchro Chip, but a bubble of water hit him in the chest and sent him flying, making him land unconscious.
"Netto!" The rest cried.
"I finally got my revenge puku!" Bubbleman had appeared. "Hikari Netto is unconscious and about to be defeated by me puku!" The water Navi went in for the kill.
Something flashed in Tohru's eyes. His eyes widened as he made a break for it. Snatching it up, but still out of the minds of the rest of the people, Tohru started to Slot-In chips at a speed Netto would be proud of. When he was done, Tohru held his PET out in front of him. "Let's do this Iceman."
"But won't it sap your strength?" Iceman asked worriedly.
"But it's better than everyone being killed because Netto's unconscious." Tohru insisted. "Besides, no one's going to miss me."
Iceman sighed. "All right."
"Synchro Chip! Slot-In!" Tohru put the chip into his PET as he held the device out in front of him. "Cross Fusion!" It didn't come as smoothly as it had for Netto. Slowly and painstakingly, bit of data formed over Tohru's skin, leaving him in a heavy yellow jumpsuit for winter. A hood came over his head and his skin paled, rosy marks appearing on his cheeks. The symbol of ice shone on Tohru's chest. He fell to his knees and coughed slightly.
Are you all right Tohru? Iceman asked.
"I'm fine." Tohru then stood as he stared at the mass of viruses and the Bubbleman before him. "We have our work cut out for us."
Iceman agreed.
"Blizzard!"
As Tohru leapt into the fray, Meiru and Yaito gaped in shock.
"He performed Cross Fusion!" Yaito exclaimed.
Meiru frowned. "I don't think his bond with Iceman is strong enough for this."
Her point was proven when Tohru fell to one knee, clutching his chest. The hybrid recovered, however, and formed a sword in his right hand. A wave of thunder deleted more viruses as he also knocked Bubbleman away from Netto.
"You're mean puku!" Bubbleman growled as he released a bubble. Tohru dodged as another swipe deleted more viruses. Soon, it was only Tohru and Bubbleman staring at each other.
"Puku puku puku!" Bubbleman growled as he unleashed a swarm of metallic fishes and Tohru was in front of Netto!
Tohru scooped up the boy and his PET, just as Netto woke up.
"Tohru?" Netto asked weakly.
"Yeah." The boy nodded as he placed Netto with Meiru and Yaito before jumping into the battle.
"He shouldn't be doing this." Netto struggled to stand.
Roll gasped. "Oh no!"
Tohru had frozen, clutching his chest as he breathed heavily. Bubbleman took that chance to send a swarm of bubbles toward him. The hybrid recovered in time and gave a swipe with his sword, deleting all the bubbles before rushing at Bubbleman and give a huge slash. The Navi Logged-Out.
The next seizure hit as Tohru's transformation wore off as the Dimensional Field disappeared.
"Tohru!" Netto raced over to his fallen friend.
"It hurts." The boy coughed.
"Don't speak, an ambulance will get here soon."
Tohru shook his head. "Don't waste your worry on me."
"You're good enough to worry for." Netto disagreed.
"I don't have much time left." Tohru responded. "I can feel it."
"You shouldn't have done that." Netto whispered.
Tohru gave a small laugh. "Give a good-for-nothing life for a bunch of others. A good trade for all I think."
"You are good for things." Netto whispered, a bit horrified at what was coming out of his friend's mouth.
"Please, can you do me one favor?" Tohru's voice was subdued.
"Anything." Netto whispered, tears welling up in his eyes.
"One kiss?" He pleaded.
Netto complied as he bent his head down. Their lips touched, a light one. Tohru briefly licked at Netto's lips before pulling away. "Thank you."
"Please, hang on!" Netto pleaded, but Tohru was already too far gone.
"I love... you..." All the strength fled from Tohru's body as Netto sat there, sobbing over his friend's dead body.
OoOoO
End Notes (2010): I removed the god-awful framing script that I couldn't stand to see anymore, but that and the line breaks are the only things that have changed, except some grammar errors.