"Hey, wait!" Netto said, "I…"

"Please," Princess Pride turned around and looked at him with a pleading look in her eyes.

Netto sighed, "I…"

"Nah, it's okay Netto-kun, I'll meet you back at the house. But you have to do your own homework," he added with a touch of laughter.

Netto smiled, "All right, nii-san," he joked back.

"What, now you want to talk to us?" Gem snapped.

"Gem, be nice," Netto said quietly. "Or I'll mute the PET."

Pride could hear Gem's indignant grunt and she felt a small smile play across her lips. "Maybe you should leave you navi behind?" she whispered.

Netto glanced at Pride and realized what she was trying to do, "Um, no thanks," he answered. He needed Gem there as insurance that they wouldn't ask too many unanswerable questions.

"All right…" Pride answered unevenly.

"I'll see you later," Saito said and walked away.

"What do you need now?" Netto asked her.

"Just… come with me," she said.

Netto followed her until they turned the corner and all the other crest holders were there. 'Oh hell…' he thought. 'I don't want to explain, not now.'

"I don't see what the big deal is," Gem said saucily. "Besides, you need to get your homework done."

"This problem goes a little deeper then homework," Charlie said.

Netto sighed, "Look, I don't know what you guys want…" he said.

"HA!" Tesla yelped making him jump. "You know exactly what we're talking about. We know you're the crest holder 'Netto' and hiding isn't going to do anything. What's wrong, do you like living here? Is this life better then the one you had or something?" she snapped.

"Tesla!" Yuriko hissed.

Netto glared at them, "I have no idea what you're talking about," he said in a low voice and quickly walked away from them using a short cut to get home that only he knew about.

"What the hell was that?" Gem screeched. "'Crest holder' my ass."

"Heh, yeah," Netto said slowly.

"Are you okay?" Gem asked. "Is something wrong?"

Netto shook his head, "Nope!" he said brightly. "I'm fine. But I don't wanna do my homework."

Gem laughed, "Ah, too bad kid."

Netto shrugged and continued to walk home, very fast.

"We have to make him show it to us," Tesla hissed. "There is no way all of us would be here and he wouldn't."

"Netto wouldn't hide like that," Jasmine snapped.

Meiru sat in the back of the room holding her knees to her chest. Laika and Enzan noticed this and walked over while Jasmine and Tesla continued to squabble. "What do you know?" Enzan asked her.

Meiru looked up at them and then back down at the floor. "I don't remember," she said. "But… Saito seems so familiar somehow," she said.

Enzan and Laika exchanged glances, "Do you know something about Saito?" Enzan asked her.

Meiru shook her head, "Nothing but what I see in the class room. And, that might not be Netto," she said with a smile. "I don't think I've ever seen him turn in his homework two days in a row."

"Meiru-chan…" Roll said softly.

Meiru sighed, "I really want to go home."

Laika nodded, "Yeah, we know."

"What are you planning, Laika-san?" Searchman asked from his PET.

"A way to get Netto on his own," Laika answered as they walked away from the Head Quarters building.

"That sounds like a good plan," Enzan's voice said behind him. "Any ideas on how to do it?"

Laika let Enzan catch up with him and they continued to walk down the street. Laika shook his head, "He and Saito seem to be inseparable."

"This is too confusing," Enzan muttered.

Laika nodded, "I know, but we should at least try and get some answers and this is the one way I can think of right now."

Enzan nodded and they continued on their walk.

Gem and Stone had taken a small break to go to Internet City to get some new battlechips while Netto and Saito did their homework. As soon as their navis left the boys abandoned their work and started to talk. "We can't keep living like this," Saito said softly.

Netto sighed, "I know, but what can we do? Who can we go to without revealing anything?"

"I hate to say thing, but I'm beginning to think we're not going to get out of this with our link in tact," Saito told Netto.

"I'm beginning to think that too," Netto groaned. "So, should we just go to everyone else, or hang on for a little bit longer."

Saito gave Netto a small smile, "Hang on for a little bit longer. Who knows, maybe something will happen soon."

Saito nodded and flopped onto the floor. "Netto-kun, is this what life would have been like if I never died?" he asked slowly.

Netto sighed and lay down next to his brother, "I don't know. I'd like to think it would be though. Nice and peaceful like this," he sighed.

"Contrary to what you show everyone you sure like peace Netto-kun," Saito said with a small grin.

Netto stuck his tongue out at him, "There is a difference between net battling and fighting for the world," he said.

Saito nodded, "Yeah, I know."

"Nii-san?" Netto asked, his eyes slipping half closed.

"Yeah?" Saito replied also half asleep.

"Don't you kinda wish we could stay like this, I mean, if it was possible?" Netto asked.

Saito grinned softly, "That would be wonderful."

Netto laughed, "I thought so too, too bad it has to end soon."

"What has to end?" Saito asked.

Netto blinked and looked at the ceiling, "I… don't know," he murmured.

In the computer Gem and Stone exchanged worried glances. Something wasn't right with how they were acting and it just got a whole lot weirder.

Slur turned away from the monitor, grinning softly. "What an interesting little game," she said silkily. "Duo-sama, are you ever going to let the humans and navis go?" she asked.

Duo looked down at his small colleague, "I want to see if they can break free of the illusion on their own. Are they strong enough?" he asked himself.

Slur looked at the monitor, "I don't know about that," she said with a laugh.

"Have you changed anything?" Duo asked her.

"Just a few things, I want to see if Netto Hikari and Rockman are as strong as they seem."

Duo sounded pleased when he said, "Good plan, Slur."

"Thank you, Duo-sama."

"So we'll try tomorrow?" Enzan asked Laika.

Laika nodded, "It's our best bet for tomorrow. Netto might still be upset about today and we need to handle this bit by bit."

Enzan nodded, "Okay, I think I can wait one more night."

Laika turned away and started to walk to his own dorm that was magically provided for him. "It's not like we have a choice," he muttered under his breath.