Part II: "Akumu" ("Nightmares")
Enzan woke the next morning a little later than he usually did. His PET had gone into Sleep Mode shortly after he'd gotten to his bed. Mostly to preserve the batteries since it was not on the charger. Blues had probably managed to activate it himself since he knew Enzan wasn't awake to do it. Enzan pushed himself from the position he'd fallen asleep in and sat on the edge of the bed, reactivating the PET. Blues appeared on the screen as if he'd been standing there the whole time, but Enzan was used to it.
"I'm sorry, Blues. I should have at least put you on the charger last night."
"No. It's fine, Enzan-sama," Blues replied. "Since I went into Sleep Mode, my power levels are high enough to get through the day. You should get ready to go. You're due at a meeting in two hours."
"Thank you, Blues," Enzan didn't really feel like going anywhere today, but skipping anything was never an option unless he were truly sick. That had only ever happened once, and he made himself go back as soon as he could. Despite Blues' insistence that he take one more day at the time. "Which meeting is this morning?"
"Iris Marketing first, this afternoon is Stratitec Games," Blues replied.
"But I thought Stratitec was next week?"
"You received an e-mail with the update. You read it last night, Enzan-sama."
"I don't remember reading anything, Blues," Enzan didn't sound mad, but he did sound a bit confused. He put the PET on the charger; despite what Blues had said; and hurried out of his room to shower and change. Blues took the opportunity to gather any e-mails that were waiting and additional information on what Enzan had asked him to look up yesterday. It took Enzan 15 minutes to return, and another 4 or so to get dressed. He went over to his PET, and looked for his Navi, but found him missing from the screen. "Blues? Are you there?"
"Yes, Enzan-sama," Blues replied as he reappeared on the screen in a flash of pixels. "I've gathered a little more information on what you requested yesterday, and you have two more e-mails concerning your agenda today."
"What's changed?" Enzan asked, as he picked up the PET.
"Both have been shifted an hour ahead. Your first meeting is now in a little over a half an hour, Enzan-sama. I've already called a car for you."
"There's no way, even with a car, I can get there in half an hour! There's no way to put the time back?" Enzan ran from his room, not looking to the PET, and seemed to skip every other step on the way down.
"This was sent three hours ago, normally there should be enough time for schedule changes. I'm sorry I didn't try to get your schedule for you sooner, Enzan-sama," Blues expected Enzan to be mad at him, since this was almost completely out of character for the red Navi... but Enzan wasn't mad at him. In fact, what Blues could make out of his Op's reply was that he was mad at himself now. This just made him feel worse about it. He fell completely silent as Enzan hurried into the waiting car outside.
----------xXx----------
Like Enzan, Netto had also forgotten to put his PET on the charger. But Netto was having trouble getting himself fully awake, and Rockman knew that if he'd gone into Sleep Mode, Netto would never wake up for school. But because of that, Rockman was already feeling the lack of power to the PET affecting him.
"Netto-kun... Wake up! You'll be late!" Rockman's voice sounded as tired as he felt. He just hoped he'd have enough power for Netto to get through school. Netto wasn't budging from his bed. "Netto-kun?" He got a low grumble in reply. "Netto-kun! Wake up! You need to get to school!" Rockman was as loud as he could be, and very demanding. He'd already let Netto sleep longer than he should have.
"Rockman... I don't want to get up. I can't move..." Netto mumbled into his pillow.
"You have to try. You'll feel better if you do. Take the time to get a short shower. It'll help you wake up." Rockman suggested.
"Only if it's ice cold. And I hate cold showers," Netto replied. He kicked his covers off haphazardly, and slumped when he managed to sit up. He looked to the screen of the PET, having taken that with his hand when he pushed himself up. "Rockman, why didn't you got into Sleep Mode? The PET's battery won't make it the rest of the day, it's too low!" He seemed much more awake now, and took note of the Navi's posture.
"I'll be fine for the length of a school day. But you'll have to come home after school and plug the PET into the charger, Netto-kun," Rockman explained. Netto looked worried. Rockman sighed, "Alright, alright. I promise once you get to school, you can put the PET into Sleep Mode. But you don't have time to charge the PET before you leave. You'll be too late and get in trouble with Mariko-sensei."
"Agreed," Netto said, hesitantly. He got up, and changed into clean clothes, brushed his teeth and hair, put his bandana back on and ran downstairs with his backpack and Rockman. He never stopped for anything to eat, and barely got his blades on his shoes correctly before he took off for school as fast as he could go.
"Netto?" Haruka turned, after she heard the door slam. "That's strange... Usually he at least takes toast before he goes..."
----------xXx----------
During lunch, Enzan didn't bother to eat. Blues had insisted, but since he'd been late this morning, his father had given him a bit extra to do to make up for the fact that he'd had to take the first meeting this morning. Enzan now didn't have time to even eat a sandwich for lunch if he wanted to get enough work done and things that he'd need ready for the afternoon meeting with Stratitec. He didn't even get to look over the additional information that Blues had gathered for him from his request yesterday. An hour later, he had 15 minutes to be down the hall for his meeting when an incoming message; marked as 'urgent'; arrived. Upon opening it, Meijin's face appeared, and Enzan immediately bit his lip. This wasn't a good day...
"Enzan-kun. A group of Garauss Viruses are attacking--"
"I can't, Meijin... Get Netto to--"
"I can't, Rockman's not answering the PET and upon checking with the school, he has to stay after school for being late this morning. Yuuichirou also prefers we don't take him from classes," Meijin frowned slightly. "You're the one who's closer, regardless of all of that. The viruses are two buildings down from IPC. I'm sorry if I've taken you from something important, but you're the only one available at this moment." Meijin finished, but Enzan didn't reply. He looked at the clock... and bit his lip. His father wasn't going to like being asked to take over the Stratitec meeting, no matter how good a reason for it. Then he recalled the other Net Saviors that should be there as well. "Why can't--"
"Enzan-kun, please. I'm very sorry, but you are a Net Savior. Those duties are just as important as being Vice President of IPC. Please hurry," Meijin didn't give time for the boy to reply to him and disconnected.
"Enzan-sama... You.. You could just ignore it and go to the meeting if you don't feel the need to-"
"Meijin's right."
"Eh?" Blues was actually confused. He understood how Enzan had to feel about the events that happened this morning, and why he was acting the way he was towards Meijin in response to his message. But...
"Blues? Can you honestly tell me whether I'm awake? Could you, yourself, tell me that I'm not really going off on a Net Savior mission, but instead, I fell asleep at my desk during lunch?"
"I..."
"The last two nights I've had a dream that I thought was real, but I woke up from it finding that no matter how off or terrible it was, it still wasn't real. I don't remember falling asleep, but that doesn't mean I didn't. I didn't remember falling asleep any other time," Enzan stopped and looked around the office, "Still, there was usually something else strange about the situation, and I'm not seeing it."
"Enzan-sama... I'm s-"
"No, Blues, don't say it... It's not your fault. But decisions like this aren't easy to make. Listen to me. I can't even tell if I'm awake or asleep. I'm even giving logic to this being a dream and denying it at the same time," Enzan sighed, and stood up, picking the red PET up off the desk. "No matter what, this isn't a condition I should be in to handle a business meeting. Send a message to Otousan. Tell him an urgent Net Savior mission came up and he has to take over the Stratitec meeting. There's no choice. And if this is a dream, I'll wake up and get to that meeting anyway, right?"
"Right... Enzan-sama..." What could Blues really say? His Op was starting to make less and less sense as the day went on. But he was still his Op, no matter what the situation. Blues sent out a short message to Ijuuin Shuuseki, as Enzan left his office to leave the building. Blues was sure Enzan wasn't dreaming, but there was no way he could think of to convince his Op of that. Besides... of all the things he didn't have this morning, coffee was not one of them. He'd had three cups at least since he got into the car this morning, and Blues was sure that was enough to get Enzan through most of the day. The red Navi read the message that was sent in return to his... and couldn't bear to give the news to Enzan now. He felt rather guilty even just sending it, despite the fact that the memo had been worded as seriously as text could be. He decided he would wait until after the mission to break it to his Op... it'd be another long night when he got back...
----------xXx----------
Netto was only half conscious in his class, Rockman had been put into Sleep Mode as he promised Netto could do. Meiru asked him at lunch why Roll and the others couldn't see Rockman. Netto had to explain what happened. Though Meiru seemed to understand, Dekao and Yaito called him stupid for forgetting something like that. Though Yaito said she could easily have Glyde call for a charger if Netto wanted to charge Rockman's PET while at school. Netto declined, though no one could make out what he'd said as a reason. He had been starved by the time lunch had arrived in the first place, but he hardly ate anything once it got there. Meiru had to wake him up 5 minutes before lunch ended so he could try and get a few more bites of food and wake up for afternoon classes.
"Netto-kun?"
"Hm...?" Netto replied rather tiredly.
"Do you know the answer?" The voice was that of his teacher, and it took him too long to register that. His reply made that obvious... well... at least the fact he wasn't paying attention...
"The answer to what...?"
"Netto-kun, are you even paying attention?" Mariko sounded disappointed, but also concerned. She could see his face. He looked beyond tired.
"Netto, it's math," Meiru whispered, poking him in the back.
"Bath?" Netto blinked, and looked back to Meiru; now more awake than a minute ago.
"Math, Netto. Math. Numbers?" Meiru pointed at the book on her desk. Netto looked back to his, and realized he'd never changed subject books. He felt much more stupid than he must have looked.
"Netto-kun? Why don't you come up here and do the equation for us?" Mariko silently hoped that getting him to stand up and walk a little would help wake him up. Netto seemed like he just changed from flesh-toned to ghostly pale in two seconds... with a tinge of pink on his cheeks.
"Me!"
"Yes, you. It's not that difficult, is it?" Mariko tried to sound as stern as she could. Netto nodded and got up, heading up. Just that made him feel like the floor was moving, but he ignored it. Mariko handed Netto her piece of chalk for him to use, but his grip didn't seem very firm... Not one kid didn't notice Netto's handwriting seemed sloppier than normal as he tried to write the numbers for the equation presented. He stopped in the middle of writing, and Mariko watched, wondering if he was trying to think or not. Her mental question was answered as the chalk fell to the floor and broke in two. The brunette boy that had a hold of a moment ago was following it. Mariko barely caught him before he hit, and sent the girl nearest the door to the nurse's office.
...Meiru took this moment to grab Netto's PET and wake up Rockman...
"Netto... kun...?" The blue Navi seemed more tired than usual, and rubbed at his eye before he realized it was Meiru he was seeing. "Meiru-chan? What's wrong with Netto-kun?" Rockman seemed much more awake now and his instinct was right, of course. It shouldn't be anyone but Netto waking him up unless something was wrong. Meiru's face also told him he'd been right before her words did.
"I don't know, Rockman. He just collapsed at the chalkboard," Meiru looked as the nurse came in, briefly looked over Netto, and took him with her. Mariko looked at the class, and had to announce that they'd move on despite what happened.
"He... collapsed?" Rockman sounded almost scared, and a moment later, Roll appeared beside him in a burst of blue pixels. She gave him a hug, which Rockman couldn't make himself return. His Op had just collapsed in school... That was all he was thinking about... "Netto-kun..." Roll made a face, a little upset that Rockman didn't return the hug... but she understood why...
----------xXx----------
Yuuichirou hung up the phone, and looked upset. He turned, and sped past Meijin, who was watching the rather swift, but strange battle Enzan was having with the Garauss. What was so strange was that it seemed like the boy; even Cross Fused; was being overtly hesitant about making choices and moves. This was prolonging the battle unnecessarily... and wasn't like Enzan at all. The lights flickered momentarily, but Meijin ignored it and took a few steps after Yuuichirou, calling out to him, confused.
"Hikari-hakase? What's wrong?"
"Netto's collapsed at school!" Yuuichirou called back, without stopping. Meijin blinked... that went too fast. He looked back to find Enzan had only a few Garauss left yet, and wondered what would have made Netto collapse, and if Enzan's current battle actions were from the same thing... He hesitated to ask the question though, as Enzan might ask what prompted it...
----------xXx----------
...While in Enzan's mind, he was trying to figure out why; if this was a dream; he hadn't woken up yet. He didn't remember actually getting into a battle before. Just the events that would lead up to it, and Blues would wake him up around then.
"Enzan-sama, please be more careful. You should be finished by now. Are you sure you're alright?" Enzan used the sword to slash two more of the wolf-like Viruses, leaving only three more.
"I'm fine, Blues, though I realize this can't be a dream... I'd have woken up by now... or at least found something else wrong with this entire thing. Aside from Garauss attacking a candy manufacturer. Which I don't remember," Enzan was almost rambling. Blues felt worried when he realized that.
"Battle Chip, Wide Sword! Slot In!" The Wide Sword appeared over top the red sword Enzan had, and he dashed forward. Realizing how few were left, he made his move to take the last three out with one go. He would have made it too, but the last one saw what happened to its brothers, and leapt aside. The Garauss snarled, loudly, and leapt towards Enzan.
"Enzan-sama! To the right! Blues tried to warn his Op, but his reaction wasn't fast enough. He just barely made it turned in time to put the Wide Sword up, and the Garauss bit into it and it snapped. Enzan thought he just found something else that was odd, yet it still made sense to him... The rest of the sword disappeared into his hand, and he backed up. He heard a strange, but familiar noise, and his surroundings seemed to be changing. Enzan realized what was going on.
"W-wait a minute... I'm not-" Enzan was interrupted when his body glowed white, and the Cross Fusion burst into pixels; reforming his PET in front of him. But the Garauss had been there before the Dimensional Area had gone up... and as such, it didn't disappear when it went down. Enzan quickly grabbed his PET, but no message from Meijin was received for an explanation. He didn't wait long enough to be told to move. He couldn't fight a Virus without being Cross Fused with his Navi. It was an outmatched fight, him being on the losing end. He wasn't stupid. He made it outside, and hoped he'd lost the wolf, Meijin finally appeared on the screen, but it seemed there was no light behind him.
"Enzan-kun! Are you alright? The power's been cut from the Labs, it interrupted the Dimensional Generator. With us now on Backup Generators, there's not enough to resume the Dimensional Area. Is everything alright?"
"There's one left, but I think I lost--" He didn't get to finish, his PET was thrown from him as the Garauss pounced on him from the side. The impact with the street knocked the wind out of the boy's lungs, and he lay gasping for air.
"Enzan-kun?" Meijin's voice was almost completely drowned out by Blues'...
"ENZAN-SAMA!"
"BLUES!" Enzan managed to cough out rather loudly. The Garauss wasn't liking the loudness so much... it gave a loud snarl, and almost managed to land its teeth on Enzan's throat...
...Almost.
Enzan barely grabbed the wolf's jaws, and held them in place. He was obviously struggling with it, but had no choice.
"Meijin! You HAVE to find someone! I need-- Ow... I need help with this thing!" Enzan truly hated to ask this, but considering he was barely keeping the wolf's jaws from snapping shut on his hands, he knew there was no choice.
"There isn't anyone, Enzan-kun. Laika's not here at all and couldn't get here in time. Netto's collapsed at school--"
"WHAT!" The last one caught Enzan off-guard, which was a bad thing... his precarious position slipped, and the Garauss' teeth sank completely into the boy's left hand and wrist. The sudden, intense pain made him scream... it was nothing anyone else would do in that situation, and pain hurt just as much to Enzan as it did to anyone else...
"ENZAN-SAMA!" Blues cried out, openly scared about the scream he'd heard. Though he was relieved to see his Op pick up the PET a minute later, he looked to still be in pain. "Enzan-sama, are you alright?"
"No time for that now, Blues," Enzan replied, and took off, still half-coughing from having the wind knocked out of him. The wolf had no hesitation in following his prey. It bolted after Enzan, who was running towards where he'd been earlier in the day. He hoped that he'd find somewhere to get away from; or trap; the Garauss before it could do any more damage. As he neared the building, the fact that he was a two-legged creature caught up with him... The Garauss once more leapt at him, but slammed into his back hard enough to send him; ironically; crashing through the glass doors to the IPC lobby. He managed to hold onto his PET this time... but with little point... as his trajectory slammed him into the desk within the lobby, and knocked the boy unconscious almost immediately.
"Enzan-sama!" Blues cried out for the 10th time today, easily. This time, however, he got no response... Enzan-sama?" He sounded much more panicked, realizing that if his Op was unconscious, and there was no one around, the Garauss would win...
...and his Op would...
Blues heard about three shots fired at the same time. He recognized two of the voices as belonging to Security Guards at IPC.
"What is that thing?"
"It looks like a wolf?"
"It's a Garauss Virus!" Blues yelled from his PET. "Keep it away from Enzan-sama!" That was his main priority. He searched for the closest network, and put a signal out for an ambulance. He also informed Meijin that Enzan was hurt, and the Garauss was still loose. The security guards didn't hesitate on taking their orders from the Navi. It seemed the silent, third guard became a new piece of prey for the Garauss, as it no longer seemed to be after Enzan... The other two guards were trying to get the wolf off their colleague now.
...Blues felt a little cruel for thinking this way, but he couldn't help having the thought that at least they were doing their job of keeping Enzan safe...
----------xXx----------
Rockman was taken from the classroom by Yuuichirou, and the two of them went to the nurse's station to see Netto. The nurse had put him in a side room on a bed, but couldn't find anything all that wrong with him. She explained what happened, but admitted she was puzzled. Rockman spoke quietly when she was finished.
"He's been extremely tired the last two days, Papa."
"I did notice he fell asleep in his clothes last night..."
"He fell asleep three times yesterday. If it hadn't been for Enzan, he would have been hit by a truck going home," Rockman looked down, ashamed to admit his Op could have been hurt so badly and there wasn't anything he could do... Not if Netto wouldn't listen him. Being inside a PET gives limitations. Ones that bothered him too often lately.
"I see..." Yuuichirou looked up from the PET, back to the nurse, "Have you tried to wake him?"
"Yes, but he's not responding. What confuses me more is that there's no signs of an injury that would cause this and he really does seem to just be sleeping. I can't wake him up no matter what I do," she replied. Rockman's voice once more broke in, but it was even quieter... Since all he had was a theory...
"You might not be able to until 3:20..."
"What do you mean? Why 3:20? Rockman, do you know what's wrong with Netto?"
"No, Papa. But the last two nights I've tried to wake him up from nightmares, but he doesn't respond to what I do. He seems to hear me, and always wakes up at 3:20. Yesterday when he fell asleep at home, my clock read 3:20 when he hit the couch. He didn't stay asleep very long, but he still seemed to have a bad dream in the short time he was out," Rockman looked at Yuuichirou with a lot of fear as well as worry in his bright, green eyes.
"This is strange..."
"P-Papa... no..." Netto's voice weakly called from the room. Yuuichirou turned and quickly entered the room where his son was. The boy was shifting under the thin, white sheet over him, and now appeared to be sweating. His left hand was clutching the sheet, while his right seemed to just be at his side.
"Netto-kun..."
"No... No, it's Enzan... He... He's..."
"Netto?" Yuuichirou tried, but the boy still wasn't replying. He spoke again, but it was mumbled less coherently than what he'd said so far. Yuuichirou looked at Rockman on the PET's screen, and noted the battery warning had appeared, and Rockman seemed much more tired than he had been. "Rockman, why isn't the PET charged?"
"Netto-kun barely made it to bed last night. He forgot to plug the PET into the charger like he normally did."
"Why didn't you go into Sleep Mode to preserve battery power?" Rockman's initial reply to that was to look down, ashamed.
"I know I should have... but... if I had... Netto-kun would never had gotten up to come to school in the first place. I'm sorry, Papa. I didn't know this was going to happen! If I had known what would happen with Netto-kun, I'd have gone into Sleep Mode. I wouldn't have worried about waking him up! I--"
"Rockman, calm down. You did nothing wrong. It's alright," Yuuichirou knew Rockman was upset with himself. He felt he'd caused his Op to collapse. It was too obvious in the way he was acting. "What time is it?"
"2:15 PM, Papa... If what I believe is what's going to happen, it's going to be another 55 minutes before we can get Netto-kun awake," Rockman sounded as if he wanted to cry. The PET beeped, and in a moment, an image of Blues appeared in the corner. Rockman jumped, and looked to the red Navi... even without seeing his eyes for the visor, Rockman knew immediately that something was wrong.
"Blues? What is it?" Yuuichirou asked; almost for the little blue Navi.
"Enzan-sama was..." Blues stopped, and visibly bit his lip. Yuuichirou looked over to Netto, who still seemed to be experiencing something horrible, but had quieted his words.
...he recalled what Netto had said clearly...
"No... No, it's Enzan... He... He's..."
'Could... Could Netto have seen...?' Yuuichirou thought, but Rockman's worried voice broke through.
"What happened to Enzan, Blues...?" Rockman was looking at the small window.
"Enzan-sama is... in the hospital... He was attacked by a Garauss Virus that couldn't be taken care of before the Dimensional Area was lost. The power to the Labs was cut," Blues explained. Yuuichirou jerked, and looked to Rockman, then to his son.
"Do you know if the power has been restored to the Labs, Blues?" He tried to sound sympathetic, but the power just suddenly being cut made him feel strange.
"I don't know," Blues looked away. The bit of his face that was visible seemed paler than usual. Rockman took note of both that and Blues' strange manner.
"What's wrong with Enzan...? How bad--"
"You can see for yourself if you want to. I don't want to describe it!" Blues snapped his reply. He said nothing more, and immediately ended Transmission before it went any farther.
"Papa..."
"What is it, Rockman?"
"Maybe you should take Netto-kun to the hospital as well. This can't be good for his health no matter what," Rockman suggested. Albeit, hesitantly.
"I think you might have a good idea, Rockman..."
----------xXx----------
...now I lay me down to sleep...
----------xXx----------
Voices... Random... Familiar, yet strange... calling indistinctly...
"Vice President? Are you in there? Sir?"
"This is not the way you are supposed to act in a business!"
"Should we open the door, Sir?"
"Yes. I need to see what's so important, he's skip out on another meeting. He knows his responsibilities."
Enzan's head flew off the desk, and he sat straight up in his chair. His PET looked to be completely off, which was the first odd thing he noticed. The second was the clock on the wall clearly reading 3:20... but the digital display on it was blinking that time, which meant it could be wrong. Either way, he was late, and knew the voices he'd heard hadn't been part of a dream. He picked up the PET, but found it wouldn't power up. A moment later, the door to his office was forcibly opened, and just the scene that was walked in on looked completely wrong. Enzan's hair looked so very messy from having slept on his desk, and the way he held the PET in his hands seemed different than usual. He had stood up when the doors opened, and had a look of shock on his face as he stared at the man behind the two Security Guards.
"Explain yourself. In less than one minute." It was the only thing Shuuseki said to the boy in front of the desk chair. He dismissed the two guards, and closed the office doors behind him. Enzan was still half-asleep, his brain hadn't caught up with everything yet; but it was trying damn hard to do so as fast as possible.
"Otousan... I... I don't... It..." This wasn't like him at all. He never stuttered. He hadn't acted like this since he was 6. He still had his thumb pressing the Power button, but it still wasn't activating. 'Blues... Come on... I need you!' Enzan thought, still unable to answer his father.
"Thirty seconds," Shuuseki replied.
"I'm sorry..." Enzan finally got out. As close to his normal tone as possible.
"Sorry!" The man's hand swung, but never hit Enzan. Instead, the PET was smacked out of his hands and bounced across the floor. Enzan visibly winced, and pulled his hands towards himself. "You're late for a meeting this morning; though you did give a notice on the way; and you completely abandon the meeting this afternoon but find the time to have Blues send me a random message about Net Saviors? Only for me to find you here anyway with your PET instead of doing any work?"
"Otousan, I never sent... Th-the PET isn't--"
"You are too far behind in your work for me to take you seriously right now. I don't understand what's gotten into you, but you've laxed too much on what you should be doing. This Net Savior business is not as important as your job is here at IPC. You need to learn that," Enzan's father looked to where the PET had landed, and headed towards it. The boy panicked, realizing where this was going faster than he believed his brain to be working yet. He turned and got to the device faster, begging the PET to power up, but it still refused. He found his father's hand on the device, and felt it being pulled away.
"No!" Enzan tightened his grip on the PET, but the rounded edges were making this harder than it had to be. He was only looking at the PET and his hands, trying desperately to keep hold of it. He had developed a sense of danger during his battles with Blues by his side. This kicked in a little later than usual, as he blinked, and turned to have a hand impact with his cheekbone. It released his grip, and sent him to the floor, almost sprawled. He stayed there, wincing, for a moment before he pushed himself to his knees, and looked to his father; who was now leaving with his PET. "WAIT!" This got Shuuseki to stop, and looked back to the boy on the floor. The one with a cold, angry glare in his blue eyes.
"I didn't say you'd never get Blues back. But I believe; at this point; you're going to need to show me you can earn him back. I know how you normally work, Enzan. Get rid of this new side of you. It's unbefitting to my company," Shuuseki finished, and left the office. Enzan flipped himself over to sit on the floor, and pushed himself backwards until he was against the wall nearby. Normally, with something like this, he'd probably start in to work immediately. Intent on getting his Navi and PET back as soon as he could. But this wasn't a normal situation. He didn't know if he'd just woken up... or just gotten to sleep. For all he knew, he was still sitting at his desk; out cold; with Blues in front of him.
...-I pray the Lord my soul to keep-...
Any minute now his Navi could call for him to wake up.
...He begged to hear Blues asking him to wake up...
"Blues...?"
The silence was getting to him much more that what just happened...
"Blues... Please... if you can hear me... wake me up... Wake me up..." Enzan lowered his head and put his hands behind it, using his arms to cover his ears. His voice lowered to nothing but a whisper. One that sounded to have serious tears behind it. "Wake up, Ijuuin. Wake. Up..."
----------xXx----------
...if I should die before I wake...
----------xXx----------
He could hear distant cries. None of them were possibly calling him, were they? It was nice here... He couldn't remember the last time he'd been able to enjoy this place. It was calm, quiet, and relaxing. Somewhere he knew he'd been many times.
...Sleep.
And he would be enjoying it, completely, if he didn't hear these annoying voices getting louder. They were certainly coming for him. He recognized the two of them.
"Netto? Netto, honey, please wake up..."
"Netto? Can you hear me? Please wake up, son..."
"P...Papa...? But... But I saw... Mama!" Netto sat up, his eyes seemed to take forever to adjust. He recognized the Nurse's Office at school. His parents were both there, alone with him, in the room. He leapt from his position and pounced his mother. "Mama!" Netto still sounded half-panicked, and was clutching Haruka for dear life. She felt her son shaking slightly, and tightly wrapped her arms around him.
"Netto...? What's wrong?" Yuuichirou asked, seeing the concerned look on his wife's face.
"I... I saw... I watched... Mama... Papa... Everyone... I..." Netto made a small squeak, and continued, "It's my fault. All of it is my fault..."
"Netto... Whatever it was, it was just a dream. A Bad Dream. I promise you. Nothing happened here. And nothing is your fault..." Haruka's voice was soft and comforting, but it didn't stop the boy's shaking.
"Ro... Rockman...?" He shifted, to look back at his father, and released his mother enough to reach for the blue PET. Yuuichirou handed it over easily, but Netto found it had been turned off. He felt sick, and didn't know why. "Papa... Why did you turn Rockman's PET off...?" His voice now audibly shook.
"I didn't turn it off, Netto... Maybe it went into Sleep Mode?"
"But... Rockman was in Sleep Mode during class. This is off. Not one light is on. There's no power at all, not even in a Standby Mode," Netto hit the power button, hoping to power the PET back up and find out what happened. But when he hit the button, nothing happened. He was going to ask his father about it, but he caught sight of glowing digits on the man's wristwatch...
15:20...
...3:20 PM...?
That time... It meant something... but... he had no idea what... He tried the PET again, frantically.
"Rockman...? Rockman, please... I need you! Come on! Power up!" He repeatedly pressed the power button, but nothing was activating the PET. Netto started to cry. He feared his own stupidity had done something that couldn't be fixed. If Rockman had been in the PET when it went off, he was trapped there. If it wouldn't even power up into a basic mode, there was absolutely nothing he could do to bring it back online.
"Netto, calm down. I'm sure it's a simple--"
"Rock...man... Wake up... Please wake up... Please... Rockman...?" Netto clutched the blue PET against his chest tightly. His parents had no idea what to do. Netto wasn't acting at all rational about this. Yuuichirou couldn't seem to suggest he could fix the PET, and Netto seemed paranoid that it was gone.
...-I pray the Lord my soul to take-...
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TBC. XP
It's hard not to fall into a Stereotype with Enzan's father. XD;;; Ain't it?