Begin!
I have got to be going insane. Chaud continued to gaze out of the massive window of his IPC office. That's the only explanation to all of this that makes sense. It's hard to believe that I'm on speaking terms with one of the head researcher's daughter, and that ProtoMan has some kind of… attraction… to her Navi.
The duel-haired kid turned to study his Navi, who was patiently waiting on his desk for any further instructions. Like his Operator, ProtoMan rarely allowed his emotions to be seen or let them be revealed, but the way the Red Raider was slowly shifting from one foot the other clearly displayed his haste.
Chaud couldn't remember the last time he had seen his Navi act like this. Come to think of it, ProtoMan probably couldn't either.
No doubt about it, I'm losing it. The duel-haired boy reached over to his computer and briefly considered typing up a note to have a psychological evaluation in the near future.
He decided against it.
Hiding his actions behind a display of reading the reports being displayed on the computer screen, Chaud considered what little he knew of the current situation. He knew that ProtoMan had set some kind of… outing… to take with Rhythm this afternoon. Although what the details of that outing were, he didn't know. It was also obvious that ProtoMan was hesitant to remind his Net Op of that fact and to ask to leave.
It's almost as if he's embarrassed to tell me what he's up to. Chaud shook his head as that thought crossed his mind. This is getting ridiculous. I've got to do something to break the ice that's building between us.. but what...?
The screen beeped, bringing the double-haired Op back to the present. He stifled a sigh as he realized that there was no way around it. ProtoMan was feeling a strong attraction to Rhythm.
The boy looked up at the holographic projection of the red Navi on his desk. "ProtoMan, go."
"Go?" The Navi cocked his head as if puzzled
"You, Internet, Net City, Rhythm, wherever." Chaud waved a hand dismissively. "Go."
"Chaud… Thank you."
ProtoMan's holographic form dissolved into a mess of pixels and then vanished from sight.
For the second time in the pasty twenty minutes, Chaud sighed. He leaned back in his chair, allowing thoughts to race through his mind. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he needed someone to be a sounding board as he tried to work through the conflicting emotions he was having.
He reached for his PET and placed a call.
1010101010101010101010101010
With the required streak of red lightning, ProtoMan entered Net City and dropped down to the ground below. As soon as the energy released him, he got to his feet and glanced around at his surroundings. The buildings rose up around him, creating the narrow street in which he stood. Here and there data cables ran from rooftop to rooftop; and, as usual, there was a fair amount of pedestrians around him.
The Raider realized that he was near the spot that he had promised to meet with Rhythm, albeit a little later than he had intended. Four quick rooftop leaps took him over the appropriate intersection. And another drop brought him to the appointed meeting spot.
The Raider glanced around, fighting to keep his heart from sinking. Rhythm was no where in sight… he'd waited too long to get away and had missed her entirely. ProtoMan made another scan of the area, but with the same results.
Surely she wouldn't think that he'd stood her up… wouldn't she?
1010101010101010101010101010
"He's going to think that I stood him up!" Rhythm strained to pull another ounce of speed out of her long legs. She was still several blocks away from the spot where they were to meet, and already late as it was.
"It wasn't our fault." Melody, Rhythm's Net Op, said. "The Network terminals crashed and it took us a while to find one that still worked."
"Yeah, but you know that, I know that, he doesn't know that." The teal Navi continued her mad sprint forward, dodging Net Navis left and right. "Ohhhh…"
"Rhythm, chill… A simple call can straighten it all out."
"I just… really… need him at the Net Star competition."
"Huh?"
Any response that Rhythm was about to make was lost. The red-headed Navi failed to react quick enough when a pink, female Navi stepped right in her path. Rhythm managed to angle her run enough so that there was only a glancing collision, but with her speed and momentum it was enough to spin both her and the other Navi completely around and drop them to the ground.
Rhythm hit the pavement hard, and tumbled over into a sprawling sit. It took a few seconds for her mind to come out of it's own tumble and reorient itself.
The redhead looked up to find the blond, pink Navi on the ground a few feet away from her.
"Sorry!" Rhythm scrambled to her feet and stepped over to the one she had unintentionally decked. "My fault, I was moving too fast. Are you alright?"
"Y… Yeah." The pink Navi took the offered hand and pulled herself upright. "Accidents happen… even in Net City, I guess."
"Yeah… uh, sorry if I hit and run but I'm already late and… there's this guy waiting on me."
The pink Navi giggled and then nodded. "I see."
"Thanks,"
As soon as the other Navi had steadied herself, Rhythm was heading off in another mad dash that was only slightly slower than her previous run. The pink Navi continued to chuckle as she watched the teal one depart.
"Roll!"
The pink Navi turned around to find a blue, male Net Navi jogging up to her.
"I saw what happened, are you alright?" The blue one asked as he came to a stop in front of his companion.
"I'm fine, MegaMan. Just fine."
It's O.K., it's not the end of the world. Rhythm struggled to keep her spirits from taking an unwanted nosedive as she glanced around the intersection. ProtoMan was nowhere in sight. He probably moved on the Net Star Competition. You can find him there… It's not like he's going to let one missed… meeting… destroy everything. Right...?
The teal Net Navi stifled a sigh and set off at a slow jog. It wasn't long before she caught sight of a clock, which in turn caused her jog to become a full-fledged run.
This just isn't my day. I missed ProtoMan and if I don't hurry up, I'm going to miss today's filming as well… and then I'd be in a real mess. Melody's put too much work into helping me for me to let her down by getting kicked off of the ballot due to an absence.
The passing of a few minutes brought Rhythm to the Coliseum, which had been shut down for the day and converted into a stage for Net Star's use. Net Star had then turned around and opened the bleachers in the arena to the public, so the Coliseum was still as crowded as it usually was.
None of which mattered in the least to Rhythm, as a contestant she was able to skirt the entire digital traffic jam and use the 'Authorized Personnel Only' entrance to bypass the large crowd.
I just hope that I meet up with ProtoMan later…
That was the last thought Rhythm had about her love life before she was whisked away into the world of show-biz.
1010101010101010101010101010
"Chaud!"
The duel-haired boy turned around, to find Maylu Sakurai standing behind him. Right after ProtoMan had left, the duel-haired Net Op had placed a call through to the red-head and requested a meeting with her at a local restaurant. Since placing calls to her was not something that he did regularly, much less ask to meet with her, he was fairly sure that she was wondering what was going on.
"Hello…. Thanks for coming at such short notice." Chaud nodded in greeting. "Listen… I don't want you to get the wrong idea… but I need someone to talk to about some… issues that I'm dealing with."
Maylu raised an eyebrow quizzically.
"O.K… if you don't mind my asking, why me? It's not that I don't want to help, but-"
"But why did I come to you instead of Raika or Lan?" The duel-haired Net Op interjected the ending to the question.. "No offence to them, but I don't think that they'd be the best ones to talk to about… emotional issues. You know how dense Lan is and how closed Raika can be. "
A wince passed over Maylu's face as she envisioned Lan trying to counsel Chaud- it wasn't pretty.
"Point taken." The redhead said. "Alright… I'll try to help. What's wrong?"
"It's…" Chaud paused for a long moment to collect his thoughts and voice them correctly. "It's about ProtoMan. Some time back he came across a Net Navi, a female Navi. He's become… attached to her lately."
"ProtoMan's got a girlfriend!" Both Maylu's eyes and her mouth flew open in shock. Quickly she regained her composure. "Sorry… It's just hard to picture ProtoMan being that… open."
"Open?"
"I don't mean that in a bad way. But he's so private, like you, that it's easy to forget that he's…" The redhead broke off for a long moment as she searched for the right phrase to express her thoughts. "a person. You both hold your feelings in so close that it's hard to read them, unlike Lan who wears his emotions on his shirt sleeve."
Chaud considered that statement for a few seconds and then returned to the topic at hand.
"Interesting assessment… Anyway, ProtoMan's developing a relationship with this Net Navi, but for some reason… I find it hard to accept it."
"What do you mean?"
"ProtoMan has feelings for Rhythm. That I can understand. But… the idea that he is doesn't feel right to me. It… seems wrong that he's seeing her."
"You mean that you're having a hard time coming to terms with the relationship?"
"I suppose that would be accurate…" Chaud stifled a sigh. "ProtoMan's hesitant to talk to me about her. He senses my discomfort with this Navi, and so he doesn't bring it up. But I can't understand I feel like I do and it's driving us apart."
Maylu was quiet for a long moment. It was plain to see that her mind was clicking away as it worked at the problem. The two stood in silence as they waited on the redhead to come to her conclusion.
Finally, she spoke up.
"Chaud… you may find this hard to believe… But I think you're jealous."
"Jealous?" Chaud tried to keep the disbelief from showing in his voice. He didn't succeed.
"Yeah… It's… pretty easy to see, even for you. You don't like the fact that ProtoMan is developing a deep interest in someone else, someone who can a special relationship with him while you haven't- and the fact that he is is making you jealous."
"I'm not jealous."
"Just look at yourself, Chaud, you'll see it."
The duel-haired boy shook his head in disbelief- a split second before the realization hit him like a Barrier powered Aura Head. He was envious of ProtoMan's new relationship… Not so much that ProtoMan had one, but the fact that ProtoMan had found his first.
Chaud just stood there as a growing feeling in the pit of his stomach confirmed Maylu's analysis.
1010101010101010101010101010
I don't get it. ProtoMan mused as he watched performer after performer run through their routine on the Coliseum's stage. So the Net Navis get up there and sing, play instruments, or conduct an orchestra, then the general viewers confer the title of a winner on the act that they liked the best. This doesn't make much sense, it all comes down to a contest of who can program their Net Navi with the skills to do these things best, not which one can actually sing better.
The Raider shifted his position, jostling a couple of Net Navis who had been getting too close for his comfort. He had never liked crowds; especially crowds in small, confined spaces. Which was, ironically enough, exactly where he was at the moment.
Top that off with the fact that he could barely see the platform, and would thus miss Rhythm's performance, and to say that he was unsatisfied with his present position would be the understatement of the millennium.
A stray Net Navi thumped him in the back, causing the Raider's annoyance to grow. It was all he could take. It was time to get away from this organized chaos. Spying an opening on the top ledge of the coliseum, the red Navi decided to relocate. A quick bound carried him up and away from the crowd and directly over to the opening in the roof.
It also carried him straight into MegaMan.
ProtoMan hit the blue Navi hard, and that impact was magnified by the fact that neither one of them had been expecting such a collision. The two rebounded off of each other and painfully collapsed to the ground.
The Red Raider gathered his bearings and began getting to his feet at the same moment that MegaMan did.
"ProtoMan! I didn't expect to run into you here." The blue Navi quipped.
"Likewise… What are you doing here?" A split second after the words left his mouth, the red Navi realized how stupid the question was. MegaMan was probably here for the Net Star competition, just as he was.
"Roll wanted to see the competition, and so I decided to tag along." MegaMan shrugged as the aforementioned pink Navi moved over to him. "What brings you here?"
"Me?" Behind his visor, the Raider's eyes jerked at the question. It wasn't that he was ashamed of having Rhythm as a friend, but it wasn't something that he was ready to have revealed to the world yet. "I'm just… doing some scouting on the Net Star."
"There's nothing wrong with it is there?" Roll asked. "It's just a contest, right?"
"If by 'wrong' you mean 'underhanded' then no." ProtoMan replied. "I'm here on business, not as a Net Saver."
Personal business. The red Navi silently clarified his statement.
Thankfully, the awkward conversation was put to an early end when the host announced the next contestant. It was Rhythm, coached by her Net Op, Melody Makoto.
As Rhythm stepped onto the stage, ProtoMan felt his heart take on a mind of it's own and fly into his throat. In the place of her normal teal and gray wardrobe, Rhythm wore a red dress that perfectly matched her hair, which had been fluffed and styled to look weightless and cascaded around her shoulders.
In short, to ProtoMan, she looked drop-dead gorgeous.
"Whoa." The look on MegaMan's face and his own steady gaze showed that he agreed with the red Navi's assessment.
After a few preliminary comments, Rhythm moved into her song. Her voice wasn't up the quality of the previous contestants, and it was fairly obvious that she was nervous, even ProtoMan could tell that. Her breath control wasn't even, which resulted in her cutting some of the high notes short, and she was obviously very green to the world of singing. Yet there was something else in her voice, it had a natural tone to it that suggested she wasn't singing with the aid of special programming or data. She was using her unaltered voice and had built it up to the force that it was, a quality which made it easy to miss the mistakes that she made.
She sang a simple song, one that spoke of a desire to see the love of another. To find something beyond the words, deceptions and lies of the world; it spoke of a chance to look into the eyes of another, to look into the windows of a person's soul, to find the true love that was sought.
As she sang, ProtoMan realized what it was that made Rhythm's performance different from the others. Whereas the other performers were singing for fame and fortune, Rhtyhm wastapping into her emotions that she felt and projecting them into her song. She was literally singing her feelings.
The song ended, and Rhythm bowed off of the stage to a large ovation.
"That was… amazing." MegaMan commented as the trio of friends snapped out of their collective daze. "I mean, she's not as skilled as the others, but she can hold your attention."
Roll blinked and came back to the present. "Yeah."
"What do you think, ProtoMan?" The Blue Bomber turned his gaze to their companion.
"I think… I've seen all that I need to." ProtoMan stepped away from the other two Net Navi. "I've got to go. I'll get in touch with you later."
1010101010101010101010101010
"Breathe, Rhythm! Breathe!"
Rhythm's mouth popped open and she greedily gulped in a large mouthful of digital air.
"Sorry!" The teal Navi panted. "It's not easy being up there in front of so many people…"
"I know. Believe me I know." Melody replied. "But you did great, I don't think that you'll have any problem getting into the next round."
"Thanks, Melody. I know how much this means to you. I won't let you down."
"You couldn't do that, Rhythm. You've already made us more than proud." Melody's voice took on a playfully teasing tone as she continued. "By the way, I saw ProtoMan in the audience while you were singing. He's up there in the roof's landing, if you hurry you can catch your boyfriend before he leaves."
Rhythm's face took on a red hue that came fairly close to matching her hair and outfit.
"Melody! He's not my boyfriend, we're just friends…"
"Sure you are."
There was no disguising the grin in Melody's voice.
Shaking her head, Rhythm set off to find the aforementioned red Net Navi.
1010101010101010101010101010
ProtoMan dropped out of his alcove and cleanly landed on the ground beside Rhythm.
"You were great."
"I was decent…" Rhythm smiled nervously, "But not anywhere near as good as the others were."
"Still, you did well." The red Navi replied. "I'm glad that I came."
"I didn't know if you would make it or not… I'm sorry that I missed you earlier, but all of the ports went down and…"
"It's alright, I was late too… I guess that we just missed each other." A grin played across ProtoMan's lips, "But we found each other, and that's what matters… So… I'd planned on taking a walk through Net City, would you like to come along?"
Rhythm couldn't help but smile.
"Of course I would."
To ProtoMan and Rhythm, the next hour passed by in a blur. Although they covered much, if not all, of Net City, neither one could remember much of what they passed. Much more prominent in their memories was the discussion and conversations they had. They talked about almost everything, from their Net Op's lives and histories to their own ambitions, tastes, and opinions.
Neither one really understood why they could open up to the other, they just knew that they were drawn to each other. ProtoMan never had much trouble opening himself to Rhythm, and Rhythm delighted in the company she found in her companion. Each one was used to going through their lives solo and keeping to themselves; but in each other's company, they were at ease. They could express themselves openly.
"Oh my stars…"
ProtoMan followed Rhythm's gaze across the Net Plaza… and his eyes exploded open in disbelief. There on the side of the main building was a clock, and the time it displayed was much later than either one of them had expected.
"I think we've been a little too preoccupied." The Raider commented. "Our Ops are probably starting to worry about us by now."
Right on cue, ProtoMan heard a familiar voice calling his name. Turning to look over his shoulder, he found MegaMan and Roll heading their way at a brisk jog.
"ProtoMan! Chaud sent us to find you. He needs your help with some kind of security problem at IPC." The Blue Bomber explained as he slowed to a stop before the two Net Navi.
"Alright, I'm on my way." The Raider turned to Rhythm to make a quick good-bye. "I'm sorry, but now that this has come up, I've got to go."
"I understand, you go on."
ProtoMan became aware of the fact that Rhythm, MegaMan, and Roll were exchanging awkward looks. MegaMan and Roll were obviously wondering why a Net Star competitor was spending time with him, and they weren't quite certain how to go about introducing themselves. He decided to relieve them of that decision.
"MegaMan, Roll, this is Rhythm, a close friend of mine. Rhythm, MegaMan and Roll."
"Wait… the MegaMan?" The teal Navi's face took on an expression of disbelief as she glanced between the Raider and the Bomber. "The one you fought in the N1?"
"That's me." MegaMan chuckled nervously.
"And Roll…" Rhythm turned her attention to the pink Navi. "You messed up World Three's plans by destroying that chip during the tag team matches… It's great to meet you both."
"It's nice to meet you too."
1010101010101010101010101010
ProtoMan rematerialized in his PET. He'd been away far longer than he'd intended to be; but as the timeless saying went 'time flies when you're having fun'.
He just hadn't expected it to fly so far or so fast.
"You're back."
ProtoMan looked over to find Chaud entering the room.
"My apologies, Chaud. I didn't intend to be away for so long."
"It's fine, ProtoMan." The duel-haired boy nodded as he moved over to his desk and sat down. He didn't look forward to what he was about to do, but he knew that it was something that both of them needed.
"ProtoMan, while you were gone I spent some time thinking about Melody and Rhythm… and our involvement with them." Chaud wasn't sure, but he thought he saw his Navi stiffen just slightly. This led him to guess that the red Navi was bracing himself for the worst. "The truth is that I was… well, I had a talk with Maylu this afternoon, and she helped to put certain things in perspective…"
ProtoMan cocked his head, evidently waiting for his Net Op to continue.
"The fact is… that… I was slightly jealous of your relationship with Rhythm…" Chaud sighed and continued. "The fact that you were developing a relationship while I wasn't… Well, it annoyed me, and that annoyance turned into envy… I… had always hoped to have a relationship with someone, much like you and Rhythm do. Then when you started building one before I did… I let it get to me… ProtoMan… I'm sorry."
"Chaud, I…" The Red Raider stood there in stunned silence. Of everything he had expected to hear, this wasn't it. "… You're forgiven… And I know that someday you'll find someone."
"Thank you… It's obvious that you and Rhythm care for one another… and, I just want you to know that you don't have to worry about my opinion of your relationship. You have my support."
"Chaud… I appreciate that." All of a sudden, a nasty grin spread across the Raider's face. "And you know that Melody is always looking for someone to escort her to the oversea Net Star competitions…"
"PROTOMAN?"
End
And no, this will never become a Chaud x Melody pairing. I have an extreme distaste for those fics which do use Rhythm as an excuse to pair Chaud off with a self-inserted Mary Sue. And while Melody isn't a self-insertion, I'd just rather not go there.