The next two days seemed to pass in a fog, leaving only dim memories of concerned friends and family wondering what on earth was wrong with him to make him so distant, but finally the time came for him to make the long journey to Oran Island - courtesy of Yaito, who kindly loaned him her ship for the day without even asking to come along - and find out once and for all why Enzan had said those words to him. He might have normally enjoyed the trip, stood up on the deck and grasped the railing and felt the cool ocean breeze on his face, but this time he just quietly stayed below deck and didn't bother emerging until one of Yaito's maids came below deck and politely informed him that they'd arrived. Swallowing hard, suddenly finding himself apprehensive, he nodded his thanks and climbed the short staircase to the upper deck, an almost hungry desperation filling him as he saw Enzan standing at the edge of the dock and looking out over the beach. Before he could even think, he was moving, running down the gangplank and across the dock towards the answers he so desperately sought.
You're important to me.
He swallowed again to wet his suddenly dry throat and called out. "Enzan!"
Enzan turned, and for a split second, his expression mirrored Netto's own - unsure, desperate, almost frightened - before it was all wiped away by the faintest little hint of a smile. "You're early for a change. Who lit a fire under your butt?" he called back teasingly, pleased to see Netto smile as he came to a stop a few feet away, skidding a little in the soft sand. "...Look, Netto, I know that what I said wasn't exactly the easiest thing to understand, but this isn't going to be a short explanation...or a simple one. Let's walk a little, and I'll try to tell you what I meant." The small smile had long since faded, replaced by a deadly serious look, and Netto could only nod and fall into step with Enzan as they left the dock, making their way towards the beach.
"When I said you're important to me..." Enzan's eyes had gone half-lidded, completely opaque and unreadable like a wall. "I meant it, Netto. You are important to me. To understand why, you have to remember that first." He glanced over to make sure Netto was still following his words, and went on at seeing no hint of confusion in curious brown eyes. "I don't understand you, Netto. All this time, you've insisted on pushing yourself closer to me, on being my friend, on making me open up to you - and I don't understand! Why do you do that? Why do you think I'm worthy of your time? I'm just as confused as you are!" Frustration was creeping into his voice now, making it high and shaky, and he paused to gather his ragged control about himself before he went on, walking more slowly now. "How can I tell you how to understand me, any better than you could tell me how to understand you? We're never going to find all of the answers we want, Netto. But please believe me when I say..." They had reached the steps down to the beach now, and he stopped, turning to look Netto dead in the eye and putting his hands on the smaller netbattler's shoulders. "You are important to me. You are someone I don't ever want to lose."
Netto stared at Enzan for a long moment, his breath suddenly catching in his throat as his eyes widened with realization.
Enzan's gaze softened, a hint of fear darkening sapphire eyes. "...I like you, Hikari Netto."
"...Enzan..." Netto couldn't look away, suddenly grateful for the warm pressure of Enzan's hands on his shoulders, feeling like the ground had suddenly dropped out from under his feet and left him with no footing, either physical or mental. Biting his lip slightly, he did the only thing he could think of to do and slowly reached up to grasp Enzan's hands, lifting them from his shoulders and twining their fingers neatly together in the sudden need to hold onto something that wouldn't suddenly let go and leave him tumbling away. "...You...like me? As in...like me?" he asked hesitantly, almost holding his breath, grasping Enzan's hands tightly and letting out a soft sigh at the affirmative nod he received. "I still don't understand...but at the same time...at least I have an answer to why you do so many things for me," he said quietly, taking a step closer before he could think about it, releasing Enzan's hands to instead slowly wrap his arms around the blue-eyed netbattler's shoulders and feeling himself begin to relax as Enzan returned the cautious embrace, pulling him close. "...I'm not...really sure," he started, sounding suddenly like a frightened child as he looked up at Enzan's face. "But I think...I like you too."
It was Enzan's turn for his breath to catch, a soft smile turning the corners of his lips upward as he kept his gaze fixed on Netto's. "I'm not very likable, you know," he murmured softly, unable to resist the urge to tease Netto a little bit before dropping any pretense of playfulness. "If you need some time to think about it...I don't mind. Take all the time you need. I know this has probably just raised even more questions that I can't answer, but I think you can answer them all on your own when you think about it." He slowly reached up, brushing away a few damp specks of sand that had attached themselves to Netto's cheek with a passing breeze, his expression softening even more when Netto closed his eyes partway and leaned into his hand. "You've probably figured this out on your own by now, but I wanted to make you think deeply about what I said to you at that time. I wanted you to give me a reason to finally tell you everything I did today, and you did..." His voice went low, holding a hint of a smile. "Just like you knew what I wanted from you all along," he finished.
"I didn't. Rockman was the one who suggested I should ask you what you meant. I wonder if he'd figured it out." Netto looked thoughtful now, glancing down at the PET holster that rested at his hip, not expecting any sort of comment from his Navi and hence not surprised when one never came. "There is one thing I still don't get, though. Why couldn't you have just told me all of this when you emailed me back? I mean, sure, it wouldn't have been this...this personal...or had quite this much of an impact, but..." He laughed a little nervously, meeting Enzan's eyes again, relaxing to see the taller netbattler giving him another one of those small, gentle smiles. "Just answer me this one last question, Enzan. Why?"
Enzan's smile widened. "Because I wouldn't have been able to do this through email."
Before Netto could ask what 'this' was, Enzan hugged him close and pressed a very soft kiss to his unresisting lips, waiting a few agonizingly tense heartbeats for a reaction, making a soft noise of relief when Netto opted to simply settle against him and allow himself to be kissed instead of pulling away. He'd meant to keep the kiss as gentle as possible and pull back after a few seconds, having planned and rehearsed it over and over and over again in his head while waiting for Netto to arrive, but now that he'd actually kissed the other boy he couldn't make himself leave those trembling, innocent lips. He clenched his fingers against Netto's back and pulled him closer still and kissed him harder, only pulling back when they were both flushed and breathless, their gazes meeting and locking together; neither one of them spoke for a very long moment, until Netto took a deep breath and opened his mouth. "...Why...?"
"Because," Enzan replied simply, and kissed him again.
You're important to me.
-owari-