Megaman Battle Network – Tournament
Chapter 16 – Celebration
WB: She will, not yet but she will.
Lan lay back on his bed going over the last week of matches in his mind. He considered strategies for beating all the winners from the last week but Chaud and ProtoMan always stuck in the back of his head.
It wasn't that he hated them, in fact Chaud was a nice guy when he wasn't being Mr. I Know Everything About NetBattling but he still would end up going through him for the title and he just couldn't think of a way to beat them.
"Hey Lan," said MegaMan, "Email from Yai again."
"Same as last time?" said Lan.
"Same as last time," replied MegaMan.
"Tell them I'll be there," said Lan.
"It also says to find out what Sarah's doing tonight that's so important that she can't attend," said MegaMan.
"Tell Yai don't hold her breath," said Lan, "If Sarah wants to keep a secret the only way to get it out of her is to search her memory banks on the computer."
MegaMan shook his head, now barely anyone thought Lan and Sarah as anything but brother and sister, still, at least Lan wasn't brushing her off anymore. He sent an email asking Sarah about it. If he couldn't get the info then even Dad would have trouble.
He didn't get the information, in fact he had deleted Sarah's reply as soon as he'd read it so Lan wouldn't have to read it and have a go at her over it.
Lan met the group at DenTech hotel that evening, Mayl and Yai were dressed up but Lan and Dex were still wearing their usual clothes.
"Do you have any clothes but green t-shirts and blue shorts Dex?" said Yai.
"Yes," said Dex, "But they're only for special occasions."
"The same goes for you Lan," said Mayl, "Do you have any other clothes than that jacket and jeans? At least take the headband off."
"Yes Mayl," said Lan taking his headband off and shoving it into his pocket. Everyone else just laughed. Higsby and Ms. Mari walked up as well as Masa, Sal and Miyu.
"You're paying for all of us Yai?" said Mayl.
"Of course," said Yai, "Who else did you expect to pay for all this?"
"Sarah," said Mayl.
"She isn't coming," said Yai turning away from the group, "What I want to know is what's so important that she can't come tonight?"
"I sent an email," said MegaMan, "But I got no reply."
"Yeah," said Lan, "All I had today is that junk mail that MegaMan deleted."
"Lan," said Mayl, "Did it ever occur to you that, that was Sarah's reply?"
"What did it say MegaMan?" said Lan.
"In shorthand," said MegaMan, "Keep your nose out of my business."
"The full message," said Lan.
"Basically along the lines of if you ever poke your nose into my business again then I'll make sure your live won't be worth living," said MegaMan, "And a hell of a lot more along those lines."
"So it's best if I don't know," said Lan.
"Pretty much yes," replied MegaMan.
"Hey," said Mayl, "Where's Tory? I thought he'd be out of hospital by now."
"They're still running tests," said Yai, "Whoever hit him on the cheek had a good right hook and they think his jaw may be broken. They say he'll be able to be in the match tomorrow though."
"Good," said Mayl, "If he had to forfeit I'd have killed whoever hit him."
Lan for once was silent.
They went inside and ordered the meal. Everyone felt like they were going to have a great night.
Sarah and Chaud left the cinema and walked along the road.
"Fancy something to eat before you go home," said Chaud heading into DenTech Hotel and holding the door open for her.
"Oh look," said Yai, "It's Chaud, and it looks like he's brought a date."
"Who is it?" said Lan twisting his head to get a better look.
It would be an understatement to say that everyone's mouths hit the floor as they saw Sarah walk in.
"Look's like we've found out what Sarah was doing," said Yai.
"Chaud and Sarah," said Mayl, "Who'd have thought it?"
"It's always the most unlikely ones," said Dex, "Hey, where's Lan?"
Lan was currently running up to Chaud with a clenched fist. He'd have hit Chaud too if Sarah hadn't noticed and stepped in at the last moment.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Lan?" said Sarah.
"What does it look like?" said Lan, "I'm going to beat him to a pulp for this."
"For what?" said Sarah.
"Forcing you to come here with him," replied Lan.
"Lan," said Chaud, "You've got it wrong, she agreed to come with me."
"Like I'd believe that," said Lan.
"It's true Lan," said Sarah, "I even have a copy of the email in my PET."
"Why?" said Lan lowering his fist.
"It was business," said Chaud, "Not pleasure. We had some things we needed to talk about and I decided to take her out for a meal afterwards, is there something wrong with that?"
"I guess not," said Lan.
Lan walked away and went back to the table.
"How come at the halfway mark in both N1s you somehow manage to get into a fight with Chaud?" said Mayl.
"I don't know," said Lan picking at his food.
"He looks really upset," said Sarah looking over at him.
"I think the fact you agreed to come with me hit him hard," said Chaud, "When should I drop those clothes off at your house anyway?"
"I'll ring you when Lan's out," said Sarah, "It wouldn't be good for him to find out you took me clothes shopping."
"Yeah," said Chaud, "He may die of shock from the fact I brought them."
Sarah laughed, this surprised her as she wouldn't normally laugh at something like that. She looked at Chaud.
"You think you're all that Chaud," she thought to herself, "Well I can read you like a book. You're in love with me but don't even want to admit it to yourself."