"AND THE WINNER IS LAN HIKARI AND MEGAMAN!"

The crowd erupted into cheers, the arena echoing with the voices of thousands. All cheering his name.

All the training, all the lost sleep, had been worth it.

Lan looked around him, basking in the glory.

"LAN! LAN! LAN! LAN!"

"Lan!"

"I know, I'm just that great! It was easy!" He laughed, throwing his head back.

"LAN!"

"LAN HIKARI!"

"UWAH!"

THUD!

He grumbled, rubbing his head as he got off the floor. He looked to where his PET was, the face of his net navi giving him a smirk.

"Good morning. Care to rejoin the living?" Megaman quipped.

"I'm up, I'm up." Lan stretched his arms over his head. "What time is it?"

"6:40 AM. I got you up before you gotta really get out the door. Don't wanna be late for that test, right?"

Lan grimaced.

"Riiight, because that worked so well when I was in elementary school."

Megaman rolled his eyes, chuckling. It was hard to believe how fast the years had flown by. Upgrades, netbattling… and getting to know each other.

Already 14… Where did the time go?

"Alright, Mr. Sassy, go get breakfast unless you wanna go to school hungry. Again."

Lan grabbed up his PET heading downstairs.

"Don't you even start!"

"Heh!"

Lan stretched his arms over his head, making his way over to the dining area. Haruka was already busy cooking up breakfast, Airisu helping in whatever way she could, mainly with the stove and moderating the temperature.

Lan sniffed the air, sighing happily at the cinnamon tinted smell that filled the room.

French Toast…

Haruka looked to him, smiling.

"Morning, Lan. I see Megaman was very attentive about getting you out of bed."

Megaman appeared on the screen Airisu was on, a grin on his face.

"He had his head up in the clouds about entering the net battling championship again."

"Mega!"

Airisu giggled, patting Megaman's head.

"I know you think about it too, sweetie."

"Ari!"

Haruka laughed, shaking her head.

"One day, you two, one day. Right now." Haruka flipped two pieces of french toast onto a plate, handing them to Lan. "Preparing for the school day."

Lan grinned, hurrying over to the dining table, digging right in.

"Thanks, Mom! Airisu!"

Haruka smiled, nodded, going to make more.

"He's definitely going to want seconds with his hollow leg."

"Can I help?" Megaman asked.

"Of course!"

Megaman pumped his fist in the air before joining Airisu in managing the heating controls.

"That's right, nice and gentle." Airisu smiled, helping guide Megaman through some of the steps. They had done this plenty of times but he was still perfecting it.

Megaman nodded, following along.

"Hey, Lan!" Megaman called out. "First navi to ever be developed for maintaining the peace and organization of the net?"

"Pharaohman!" Lan grinned, taking another bite of his food. "Designed by Dr. Albert Wiley. He was also the fourth personalized navi to ever be built."

"And the first?" Airisu called.

"Megaman X, designed by Dr. Tadashi Hikari, AKA X. A war veteran in his own right too." Lan smirked. "And a research navi now for SciLabs."

Megaman chuckled.

"That one was easy. First navi to be used for net battling as a whole as part of the current line?"

At this, Lan sighed, throwing his head back.

"The undefeated Protoman… Who I swear, if I ever meet his netop, I'm gonna defeat him!"

"One day, but later on." Megaman smirked. "I want a chance to beat him too, don't worry."

Airisu giggled.

"You boys and your net battling. I have no doubts you'll be champions one day. You did well in the local tournaments the last few years."

"Yeah, though not with a few blows to our pride." Lan rubbed the back of his neck. "Not all was great."

"But, we're getting there." Megaman grinned.

"News report!"

Megaman looked behind him and Airisu to see a Mr. Prog behind them, a hologram screen floating in front of him.

"Would you like to listen or ignore?" Mr. Prog asked.

The screen projected a "yes" and "no" option.

Megaman looked to Airisu.

"Yes, please." Airisu looked back at her work. "I want to see if they have any updates on a situation I've been following."

Megaman raised an eyebrow at this before hitting the "yes" option, taking the screen from Mr. Prog.

"Have a nice day!"

Mr. Prog floated away before disappearing into bits of data.

"Okay, let's see…" Megaman started looking through the reports. "We have three articles… One for about the latest game from Blaze Tech… Another for something about rumors of the shady place that is the Undernet…" Megaman's eyes widened at the last one. "Oven Fires?"

"Play that one out, please." Airisu requested.

Megaman got a worried look before choosing the article, a new screen popping up, showing a reporter wearing a frog cap of sorts.

"Hello and good morning ACDC Town! I am Kero Midorikawa AKA Ribitta reporting to you live with my co-host navi, ToadMan!"

"Kero! Hello!" Toadman cheered, waving at the screen.

"This morning's report is about the mysterious oven fires that have been plaguing our dear city. Numerous people have been reporting that their ovens have been going up in smoke with no known cause, creating multiple house fires in the process." She read off her tablet. "Thankfully, no casualties have been reported, but a fair deal of people have been injured as a result and two houses have been burnt completely to the ground. It is highly recommended that you have your oven serviced. We'll keep reporting as the story develops."

"Kero! And don't forget your net navis can investigate as well to keep an eye on things!"

"I see… So, it's still going on."Airisu frowned. "Well, guess I'll be doing triple checks this week."

Megaman frowned as well.

"Do you want help?"

Airisu gave a small smile.

"No, no, I got it. You worry about your duties and I'll worry about mine. I'm the caretaker of the house and you're the caretaker of Lan."

He smiled a little.

"Right. Just be careful."

She patted his head, giving him a reassuring look.

"No worries. While I don't fight as often as you do, I'm no pushover."

"Okay."

Lan glanced up from his food, looking to his mother.

"Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have someone look at the oven. Take some of the load off Airisu."

"Already having someone stop by while you're at school." Haruka ruffled his hair before checking the time. "Speaking of, you two better get going. Finish your breakfast."

Lan quickly finished off his food, aiming his PET at the screen.

"We'll see you guys later then!"

Megaman waved before he jacked out, reappearing in the PET.

"One last cram session on the way?"

Lan bolted for the door, slipping his shoes on as he did so.

"You know it!"

oooooo

Lan heaved a sigh of relief as he left his history class. He swore, sometimes, he thought he was never going to finish that test with his sanity intact.

"Please, please tell me that's it for the day."

Megaman pulled up a schedule.

"That's the last test for the day and last class so… looks like you're clear in that regard. Only other thing of note is… What time is it right now?"

"3:15 PM."

"Okay, good, we'll be on time then. We have a meet up with Mayl in the music room at 3:45 PM. She said she wanted to show you her latest piece."

"Oh, right, I promised her." Lan rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, better get a move on. We both know how she gets when we keep her waiting."

"You mean like that time with the noodle store-"

"Ap ap ap. We don't speak of that!" Lan put a finger to the screen of the PET where Megaman's mouth was. "We had very important things to do that day!"

Megaman crossed his arms.

"Yeah, you losing twenty zenny to Tori and Iceman."

"Shhh!" Lan picked up the pace. "Last I checked, your record wasn't so clean either. Who missed by like an inch trying to push Roll outta the way in Virus Busting Class today?"

Megaman put both hands over his face.

"ROLL LOOK OUT-!"

"METTOOOOOOO!"

THUD!

"That mettaur hit her right on the head…"

"Mm-hm. Least she forgave ya."

"By throwing it at MY face."

Yeah, that's Roll for ya. Like net navi like netop, she's fierce.

He soon found the music room, slowing down as he heard soft piano music coming from it. He put a finger to his lips before peering through the crack in the door.

Early as always…

Mayl had her back to the door, her fingers flying across the keys, her PET propped up on its stand on top of the piano.

Lan smiled, waiting until she was finished before knocking.

"Come in…" She called, looking behind her, her brown eyes lighting up at the sight of him. "Lan!"

He waved, walking up to her, warmth in his eyes.

"Hey you! Hope I didn't keep you waiting for long."

She made room for him on the piano bench, letting him sit next to her.

"Nah, was just warming up."

"I heard… What song was that?" He asked.

She smirked.

"Shelter. Someone translated it into the sheet music so I wanted to try."

"Ah, I see." He placed his PET besides hers before turning to her fully. "Sorry about what happened in class."

"I think that's between Megaman and Roll more than you and me." She giggled. "But don't worry."

"Thanks." He smiled. "How're your hands?"

"Not sore today. I really overdid it the other night." She grinned sheepishly.

That hadn't been my best moment.

"Ooow!"

"Easy, Mayl, easy. Just hang on, lemme grab the ice."

"Uuugh next time I get the bright idea to go for three hours, smack me."

"No smacking, just giving "The Look". Deal?"

"... Deal."

Lan sighed in relief.

"Good… So, how about it?"

Her eyes lit up once more, a bright smile on her face.

I always love seeing her happy…

Lan fell quiet as she began to play, the piece unfamiliar to him but he was content to listen, watching her play.

Her eyes closed as her hands deftly moved across the keys as her song echoed through the empty music room.

So talented…

He propped his chin up, a warm look in his eyes. Spending time with her was something he always enjoyed, even just sitting like this while hearing her songs.

Inside the PETs, Megaman was listening, more so watching as Roll swayed to the music. He fiddled with his fingers before poking her.

"Hm?"

"I really am sorry about earlier."

She waved him off.

"We were even with that awhile ago. Don't worry about it."

"Still… Can I make it up to you?"

Roll tilted her head.

Megaman bowed a little.

"May I have this dance?"

Roll smiled, a gentle look in her eyes before they started to follow along to the music.

The two fell into step quickly, enjoying themselves, their netops doing the same.

All was right in the world of them.

Just as it should be.