No Destination
Midnight: the time when the decent world slept and the less savory elements roamed free, or so Netto liked to think of it.
Out here in the sticks, there was very little to guard against at this late hour, deserted as the roads were. Nonetheless, there were people posted in the chemical facility's guardhouse. It was easy enough to fool them. Netto used the cover of the darkness to get in range, then started sending in Mirror's Eyes to loop the security cameras' footage.
"You're not sending one of us in to destroy the sensor program?" Rockman asked via Netto's auditory implants as he carefully weaved around the beam of green light at the gate, meant to catch an unexpected truck but undoubtedly just as effective at detecting a relatively small person.
"Whaddya think this is, amateur hour?" Punk scoffed, saving Netto from having to reply. "Gettin' in and out without leavin' too much of a trace is half the point."
"I… guess most of the people we fought before weren't thinking of it that way," Rockman said sheepishly.
"Amateur hour," Punk concluded. "Know how many of those programs I've gotten told to blow up just to trip another alarm? All'a them."
"It does flush out all the security Navis and make for an impressive entrance…?" Rockman said, defending what must've been every sort of Navi-based organization Netto remembered coming up against in the process. "Which… isn't the point, you're right."
The main building was where some doors needed unlocking, but before that, Netto set up a remote connection with the laptop to make sure there wasn't an alarm set to trip upon any sort of unauthorized Navi access. There was one, of course; at least these people were trying to think of every possible scenario. Considering how serious some of the precursor chemicals stored at this facility were, Netto supposed that was simply due diligence. Having seen alarms set up like it several times before, Netto easily disabled it for the remainder of the hour and sent Punk to let him in.
Once they were in, Punk was retrieved from the isolated lock while Rockman went into the system to find them directions. Netto started heading closer to the center of the building; chances were this was going to be a room deeper in the facility, to make it harder for someone like him to just swipe the chemicals and go.
"You're on the right track, more or less," Rockman reported upon his return, with Netto now in what looked like a foyer. The hologram function, usually used for displaying Navi-related things, now supplied a handy map for Netto to refer to as he walked. Their goal was helpfully highlighted in orange.
Another check at this door; another alarm to disable, this one protecting both against Navi access and someone touching the door handle without first going through the digital lock; and rows and rows of blue barrels met Netto's eyes as the door swung open. Punk was sent in to keep watch while Netto searched for the correct labels. He didn't need an entire barrel of either chemical he was in here after; just a scoop of powder off the top with one of the several measuring cups he'd bought at a big-box store. Each scoop was carefully set into separate storage bags, then stashed away into a dinosaur-themed cooler he'd also purchased for the occasion.
"Almost time for 'em to do rounds," Punk reported as Netto zipped up the cooler and started working his way out of the storage room, resetting everything he'd disabled along the way. The security officers seemed to be on the far side of the building to where he'd started; he briskly but quietly made his way back the way he'd come, removing all traces of his entry on his way out the door. He even retrieved the Mirror's Eyes from the guardhouse, since there was no such thing as being too thorough when it came to this kind of infiltration.
Netto made his way back to the rental car they'd left on the side of the highway, a half mile out from the facility; and then Rockman drove them away into the vastness of the nighttime countryside.
"Two down, three to go," Netto commented to himself, pulling up the address of the next location.
"That went… really smoothly, compared to how I usually see it going from the outside," Rockman remarked.
"First problem there is that ya saw it," Punk pointed out.
"Obviously," Netto said, smirking. "Of course it'll go smoothly out here. This is way closer to what I'm supposed to do as an agent, and they're just civilians." It was sort of fun, even, riding along in the middle of the night like this, the buzz of having something to accomplish in the darkness electrifying Netto's senses. There was something beautiful about the emptiness of the countryside at night, watching the moonlit trees fly past the car, and it made Netto feel more at peace just to be there. He rested his head on the side window, feeling the road rumble through his skull.
"You're pretty used to staying up late, then," Rockman said, smiling.
"Yep, no chance of you getting me in bed at a reasonable hour anymore," laughed Netto. On the door panel was a button that seemed to correspond to a sunroof; he leaned the seat back halfway as the sunroof slowly whirred itself open, revealing a full moon overhead. "Even when Atsuki takes back over for the physical part, I still stay on the line to support him."
"So, really, you're sort of like Atsuki's Navi in those cases…" Rockman next asked, "What do you plan to do after this? With Atsuki, and with us."
"Nothing," Netto said immediately, the honest answer.
"Netto-kun!" Rockman scolded.
"But since you've taken that option off the table…" He drummed his fingers on the door panel. "Guess I ought to go into business for myself," he mused. "Kaita told me once that I should be able to with my experience, and I was pretty successful freelancing on the side over the spring. And that way, Atsuki can do what he's used to, too. I just need to decide where we should settle." After some reflection, he said, "Maybe Kingland. Atsuki and I had to pretend we were from there once, but neither of us've ever actually been."
"I like that idea," Punk said. "I've been just about everywhere ya can go in Japan, so it'll be a fresh start for all'a us."
"Why not stay here?" Rockman asked. "In Japan, at the Ministry of Science?"
"Don't you think that'd be the first place the General would look for me?" Netto sighed. "Besides, the sort of stuff they do at the Ministry isn't what I do."
"They do just about everything at the Ministry if they feel like it," Rockman pointed out. "I'm sure they can find a place for you, too. But we probably would have to do something about the Silver Division first to keep everyone safer, wouldn't we…"
"And there's no chance of that happening anymore," Netto sighed. It was almost hard to remember the resolve he'd kicked this mess off with under the weight of how ridiculously wrong it had gone. At the moment, his focus had narrowed to keeping Atsuki alive. "All we can do now is run…"
"At least it's lookin' like we managed to shake 'em all by keepin' our heads down," Punk said. "Darkland an' the Ministry alike."
"I wish I could convince you to reach out to them," Rockman sighed to Netto. "They want to help you."
"I'm sure they think they do. But right now, Atsuki and I are stuck in this together," Netto pointed out. "And why would they ever help someone as crazy as Atsuki?"
"I don't know." After a moment, Rockman deftly flipped the question around. "Why do you?"
It took Netto a moment to figure out how to explain it. "When I was down there, under the Citadel, I just wanted to disappear. But Atsuki wouldn't let me. I don't know if he saved me because he thought it was funny to or… or what, but he's still the closest thing I have to a friend. I'll always owe him for that."
"Those Net Saviors are too pigheaded to pick up on that kinda nuance," Punk pointed out. "An' I know you'll just say that they meant well or whatever—"
"Because they did!" protested Rockman.
"—but d'ya know what their crap looked like from out here? So much of our survival's dependent on other people an' what they think of us, an' on top of that, Netto was tryin' to keep the collateral damage to a minimum. Then there those two were, forcin' things that shouldn't have happened," Punk explained. "They got Netto in real trouble for a while there, through no mistake of his own. Made gettin' through the last few months much harder on him than it had to be."
"They were just worried," Rockman explained. "They didn't have your side of the story—all they saw was Nova, and they just wanted their friend back."
Netto couldn't really say their friend was there to get back. Even this, how he'd been enjoying riding along under the night sky in order to commit the third crime of the night, felt like proof that he'd changed far too much to ever fit back into the Ministry. All of his memories of it, obscured as they were by the period of time he'd spent trying not to think of what he'd lost, were so inexplicably warm.
Meijin and Hikari-hakase could have tested him invasively enough to have things to study like the Synchro Imprint and what he'd brought back from Beyondard, after all, and they hadn't. Back then, he hadn't even known it was a possibility.
"See, ya scared him," Punk was saying, patiently but firmly, when Netto blinked back out of his reverie. He realized that he was hugging his knees to his chest, as if crumpling into himself would make the subject go away. "We aren't livin' in a fantasy here, Rockhead, an' it doesn't help anyone if ya pretend otherwise."
"I didn't mean…"
"I'm okay," Netto reassured them, swiftly unfolding himself. "I was just thinking, that's all." He laced his fingers together, to better help his hands stay still.
He wasn't a bad person.
But he wasn't a good person, either; and the Ministry of Science was a place for good people.
With a considerable amount of relief, Netto noticed, "We're close enough. I think you'd better park the car somewhere around here."
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The sun was rising again by the time they had dropped off the rental car and made it back to their hideout, cooler full of very illicit chemicals. Netto liked to think that nobody would possibly look in a dinosaur cooler for drug makings, mostly because he found the idea pretty funny. Especially now that there really were various measuring cups full of powder bagged and nestled in it.
The sight of Atsuki was enough to chase any further thoughts of dinosaur coolers out of Netto's head.
"He isn't any worse, but he's definitely no better," Burnerman said flatly as Netto rushed to Atsuki's side. He didn't seem to have lost any noticeable amount of weight overnight, but he didn't respond at all to Netto drawing closer, and his head was cold and clammy to the touch.
"I'm halfway there," Netto said softly, kneeling closer to Atsuki's side. "I just need you to make it a little longer and you'll be okay again, got it?"
"Who… are you?" The voice was weak, barely louder than a breath.
Without hesitation, Netto answered, "It's me, it's Netto."
"Right. You're Netto, and I'm Atsuki." Atsuki smiled, eyes drifting shut. "To think it… would end like this."
"I've got everything I need to mix the injections," Netto said hurriedly. "I was gonna just go in and out without a fuss, but I can't let this get worse, so I can always pull the fire alarm—"
"No."
"—and send everyone home early so…" Atsuki's weak protest finally caught up to Netto. Faintly, he managed to stammer, "…what?"
"No, Seven," Atsuki repeated, voice stronger. "This is it."
"No, it's not," Netto protested desperately. "I'm going to fix this–!" But even to himself, he sounded like a child trying to deny the inevitable.
"I didn't have that much time left, anyway. They said the older I get, the less stable I'm going to be. So there's no point in worrying over me, got it?" Atsuki smiled up at him with tired eyes. "I could already feel myself starting to fall apart, even before this week. You can still return to the Citadel, even after all this, so don't risk your position any further. Just let me go."
"I–"
Atsuki had to be right.
"I–"
Nobody would know his own situation better than himself, after all.
"I don't care!" Desperation made Netto hug Atsuki tightly; then, he sprang to his feet.
"Don't do this, Seven," Atsuki implored, but it wasn't like he could stop Netto in the state he was in.
"You can hang on for one more day, right? That's all I need." Netto gathered his things and bolted away, but then turned back in the doorway, afraid that he'd never see Atsuki alive again. "Just… don't leave me yet. Please, not now. Please."
Then, he ran before Atsuki could say anything more.
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It wasn't like Atsuki could feel; at least, not the way most people did. He had grown up under the Citadel, so it and its very different morality was all he knew. Then there was the way all the drugs warped his emotions, made it so he could rocket from mischievous to murderous in the span of seconds. Netto had seen Atsuki do any number of awful things on a snap decision, with a grin on his face and adrenaline coursing through him. His kindness, too, was just another whim. Netto knew better than to think that Atsuki felt anywhere near the same sort of closeness to him that he did.
For a whim, it had lasted for a very long time. For a whim, Atsuki was so careful around him and no one else, because close contact always startled him if it was too sudden–his mind would play tricks on him, and he'd think he was being dragged away by the Citadel guards, moments away from being subjected to more of the General's 'corrections'.
He still remembered Atsuki's face that night they'd figured that out, as reality had reasserted itself. If he hadn't known better, he would've said Atsuki had been sad, and worried, and relieved to see him respond.
But he knew better.
Didn't he?
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There wasn't anyone in the bathroom trailer parked by the coffee truck, so Netto used it to change clothes—and apparent genders, as the hologram projector winked to life. He bolted from the men's restroom in hopes that nobody was paying enough attention to notice he wasn't in the right place.
"Wrong door, huh?" laughed a woman's voice as he caught his breath. "S'ok, we all mess up when it's this early."
He laughed, too, light and nervous.
"Still got another fifteen before the ten-minute mark," Punk said, now that Netto was prepared for his first and only day of work at the chemical lab.
"Hmm." Netto pondered the coffee truck's drink list. "I haven't tried this matcha lychee thing yet, and it's probably strong enough to keep me awake all morning."
"And at least a scone or something?" Rockman suggested.
"I'm not hungry," Netto said, which was the honest truth, especially after hearing Atsuki ask to be left for dead.
"You can nibble at it," Rockman said adamantly. Netto didn't reply immediately, so his Navi added, "Just humor me?"
Netto rolled his eye. "As you wish, Mother."
Once the scone and tea had been collected, it wasn't far to the chemical lab.
"Oh, you must be the temp!" said the secretary at the main entrance. "I'm Emiri. Right this way." Noticing Netto's drink, she said, "Nice choice! That's my favorite."
"Thanks!" Netto beamed, and so too did the holographically generated prettier version of himself overlaying his face. "I've, um, actually never had it before. I'm glad it's good!"
"You've got to go to the one by Densan U," Emiri enthused. Netto noticed the nail polish and bangles adorning her hands and wrists—the kind of person who seemed to frequent the place whenever he'd turned up with Yumi, albeit with the sheer exuberant girliness dialed down in the name of professionalism. "The decor is so cozy! So, like, where d'you go most of the time?"
"I have a French press at home," Netto fibbed. "But I wanted to treat myself, since it's a workday!"
"Ah, that is supposed to be the for-real way to do it. But you've gotta have something fun on days like this, for sure!" Emiri used her badge to open the hallway door. "Welp, here it is, your temp abode!" She explained, "Mostly you're gonna be taking calls and stuff, right? But if anything else comes up, you let your girl Emiri know!"
"Thank you for everything," Netto said, cheerful enough to keep the enthusiasm train going.
"Aw, no prob!" She hid a giggle behind one hand. "You really remind me of my bestie! She's a small bean, too."
"Huh...?"
"Anywho, toodles!"
Netto held the smile until he was absolutely sure Emiri was gone; then, it was time to get down to business. "Any emails we need to take care of before we get started?" he asked, setting the scone and tea down at the desk before taking a seat himself. The temp, of course, had her own email address, where any work-related missives would land. Its mail server was Netto's own laptop; when it was deleted at the end of the day, no trace of the temp would remain. He took a sip of the tea, and found it to be nicely balanced between the grassy matcha and the sweet lychee.
"In the temp's inbox, there's just another email reminding everyone of the shift change," Rockman explained. "We've also got what looks like some kind of newsletter."
"About what I expected," Netto said.
"And… there's another email that just arrived, but it's in the regular inbox," Rockman said. "From… 'Central Control'?"
For a moment, Netto was paralyzed with terror.
"Who… Is this from Darkland?"
"Obviously," Netto answered with a levity he didn't feel. "Who else would it be, the North Pole?"
His orders were to return to the Ameroupian continent on his own, then write a further message for someone to pick him up by land and discreetly return him to the Citadel. The General felt he could not endanger any more agents or show his hand any more directly in Japan after this. Underscoring this, Netto was not to respond to the message until he was ready for extraction in Ameroupe.
There was something kind of funny about being told to prepare a detailed report on what had gone wrong when he was the root cause of it all.
On his second read, he noticed that he was presumed to be traveling alone. The General had already written off Atsuki as dead.
"Kingland," he said faintly. "Definitely Kingland."
"Huh?" wondered Rockman.
"It's not on the continent," Punk pointed out.
"…It's an island just off it," Rockman finished. He sounded disappointed; not surprising, if he'd been serious about trying to get them all back to the Ministry despite what a terrible idea that was.
"Kingland can't be that bad," Netto said, softening his voice again just to keep the habit. "It's full of historical stuff, isn't it? And lots of famous bands are from there."
"An' bread," Punk said, his tone dry as a crouton. "Think of all the spiffy bread you can pester Netto ta eat."
"I just want to make sure he's eating something since we've been so busy, that's all!" protested Rockman, flustered.
"I'm just sayin', you're awful conscious of food for someone who doesn't hafta eat, Rocky," Punk said.
"Someone's got to be! Anyway, I… I'm sure we'll have lots of fun there, especially with all three of us."
"But it'd be hard for you, wouldn't it," Netto realized. "You still had Roll and Blues and… and Hikari-hakase, before all this happened. No wonder you'd rather go back to the Ministry."
"I don't want to have to choose between you and Roll-chan. You're both important to me in different ways," Rockman admitted. "But… You need my help right now, Netto-kun, so I'll stay with you. Though I'll definitely write to her." After noticing the look Punk shot him, Rockman quickly added, "Without giving our exact location!"
"You can send her video of the landmarks from your perspective, that's kind of a pen-pal thing," Netto suggested, suppressing a giggle. "But no action cam, okay? What we do on the clock stays secret."
He gave the rest of the world a little longer to settle into work, occasionally sipping the cool, refreshing tea and managing to let a corner of scone pass his lips when Rockman pestered him about it.
When he was sure nobody was going to interrupt them, he rose from the desk and, ever-so-casually with tea in hand, walked into the work room behind it. Once he'd familiarized himself with the layout, it was clear the room had everything he needed, save for what was in the cooler at his side.
"This shouldn't be too hard for you two to keep track of," he said, plugging his Navis in before connecting the laptop and typing in the instructions he couldn't possibly forget. "Let's get cooking."
Once everything was measured out and the Navis were controlling the reactions, it was just a matter of preparing for the final step for Netto. The gel-like vehicle spun around in a pair of centrifuges, waiting for the drugs that would be mixed into it. Next to it, Netto set four vials, as well as the syringes that would eventually be used to administer the injections. There would be enough for two doses, and by the time six days had passed they would, with any luck, be long gone.
After that, it was just a matter of waiting.
His thoughts should have been all about Kingland, and how Atsuki was absolutely going to be okay and they were going to be needing plane tickets next, but instead he found himself unable to budge from Rockman's disappointment that they couldn't return to his home. How Rockman was so convinced that Netto was worth following that he was willing to uproot himself, potentially for the rest of his Operator's life. That dumb, uncompromising promise he'd made Netto make.
Promise me that you won't forget that you aren't a bad person, no matter how horrible things may look.
How many times had he heard something to the contrary? The General, standing over his workstation in the Citadel for a weekly inspection; Netto, breath caught in his throat, irrationally hoping that the General wouldn't notice what he hadn't been able to fix. If one were to ask the General, Netto's problem was never that he hadn't been given enough time, or that he had so many other tasks assigned to him, or that he had never done anything like a particular project before. The problem was that Netto was spoiled rotten, and needed to adjust his thinking so he would work harder.
He could hear the General's gravelly voice clear as ever in his mind. "Only you can control your actions." It was as if he would turn and see salt-and-pepper hair, bronzed skin, and a flash of cold eyes he was by tradition not supposed to look directly into. The Silver Division members were only theoretically parallel to officers of the Darklish Army—in practice, as Atsuki sometimes pointed out after a few too many drinks, they bore a far stronger resemblance to ancient Darklish thralls, and the General was their master.
It wasn't that Netto was exhausted, it was that he gave up too easily. It wasn't that it was too cold under the Citadel and the portions of bitter food too small when they weren't withheld as punishment, it was that Netto was whiny. It wasn't that what they were doing was wrong, it was that Netto was a petulant child. It wasn't that the General hated children, it was that Netto was rude and doltish. It wasn't that the General wanted to hurt him, it was that the General needed to iron out all of Netto's flaws.
And so the General did. Over and over and over, until hope was extinguished and those reprimands were all that filled Netto's head other than languages and manners and bugs needing fixing.
From there, he'd invented further corollaries. It wasn't that he didn't have a choice, it was that he did have a choice and by choosing the path that would keep what was left of him in one piece he was one of them. It wasn't that he felt anything at all, it was that he had to make do within the constraints of what he'd chosen—he couldn't desperately miss his home or his friends or Rockman, he couldn't dare to think the General could be wrong about anything. It wasn't that it wasn't fair, it was that he'd deserved it for making that choice.
If he hadn't deserved it, truly hadn't deserved any of it, then where did that even leave him?
What was he even supposed to think about where the last five years of his life had gone?
Netto leaned back in his seat, staring at the ceiling in a daze.
There were very few voices that could have snapped Netto out of it; one of them, like another dream of the past, echoed through the empty room to do so.
"I see you've become well-acquainted with the vices of this world I wished to destroy, Hikari Netto."
"How are you still alive…" Even before he turned to see the man glide out from the darkness in a hoverchair, Netto knew he could only be talking to one person. "Doctor Wily…"
"This network age is merely a gilded one, is it not?" Wily asked. "Mercenaries sent to fight proxy wars over resources. Children used as pawns in the battles of old men. Companies overlooking the suffering wrought in their names in order to protect their bottom lines." Wily steepled his fingers. "But we both know the score. What will you do about it?"
Netto turned back to monitoring Atsuki's solutions. "I… I understand why you did all those things now. I do. And if I thought I was that important, I'd try to change it all, too." The finished products were still some time away from completion, but there was no reason for him to sit idle while Rockman and Punk worked. "But you said it yourself, didn't you? All I am is one of those pawns." As the individual components were completed, he carefully measured out what was needed and added each to the proper centrifuge. "I'd only be exchanging one old man for another if I went along with you, wouldn't I?"
"'Going along with me', eh? You're jumping to conclusions," Wily said, almost kindly. "So, you choose to do nothing? Just survive like this, for as long as you can manage?"
"I'm not idealistic like you. I don't want to make other people suffer, even if they're only comfortable because someone else isn't. I know it doesn't make sense, compared to you or the General, but I just can't do that." Netto sighed. "But since I can't… I don't even know how I'd start."
"The world's problems are simply too big to comprehend, is that it?" Netto remembered Wily's smirk as being harder; but it seemed age had softened his features. "What a mess we old men have made. And yet here you are, struggling on, trying to save a madman."
Netto knew that was referring to Atsuki. "I can't just let him die like that," he said quietly. "Not after how much he's tried to help me."
"But you've thrown caution to the wind, moving so quickly," Wily said pointedly. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to find you again. Many people have been searching for you since the harbor, you know. You left quite a mess behind."
"As long as Atsuki lives, whatever happens to me now is fine," Netto said. "Everything's fallen apart too much for me to get it back on track, anyway. There's nothing left I can do."
"Nothing? I find that hard to believe."
Netto could no longer tell if Wily was playing with him or if he was serious, but he found it unnerving either way. "…Anyway, everyone can move on without me," Netto said quietly. "They already had, before I showed up."
"Not everyone. Otherwise, we wouldn't be in this lab." Netto tensed, but didn't—couldn't—say anything. "Where will he go, Hikari Netto?" Wily pressed. "When you have left him alone in this world he'll never fit into?"
"I…" Netto looked down at his hands. Wily was right, but he couldn't bear to think about it. "Look, I'm stupid, okay?! I can't think that far out. I just want him to live." Overcome with fear for Atsuki's future, Netto squeezed his eye shut. "I want him to figure it out somehow. He's better at surviving than me, so I have to believe he can."
"You've started this ball rolling now," Wily pointed out. "No use crying over it."
"Then why did you make me think about it?!" Netto asked, scrubbing the tears away only for more to fall. "Everyone asks me to think about what I'm doing, and I can't!"
Wily laughed. "Humans are a confusing lot, aren't they? At least machines and computers have some underpinning logic." He glanced over at the station behind Netto. "Your Navis' side of the work appears to be complete. Stand up, keep going, as you always do." Wily wheeled the hover-chair around.
"Hey, hold up!" Netto protested. "Why did you track me down like this?"
"Just to satisfy my curiosity, for now. Go on and survive… until it's my turn to call you into action."
Netto slumped back in his seat, alone again.
All the talk of Kingland over the course of the morning hadn't seemed entirely serious, though it had been easy enough to play along. He and Atsuki had shared countless numbers of those kinds of fantasies over the years, imagining themselves as finally being the ones in charge of their own destiny. But they'd known perfectly well that they had no way to reach a future like that.
Now, it no longer seemed to matter if Netto couldn't conceive of any future for himself. There would be next days and next weeks and next years that the people and Navis around him were counting on him to be there for. He had a sinking feeling he even knew who his first client was going to be once he'd started freelancing in Kingland.
"I really do… have to live, don't I?"
"Netto, what's goin' on out there?" Punk asked, jumping back into the laptop.
"Nothing," Netto said. "All right, we need to wrap this up."
Netto had barely finished making up the vials when the fire alarm went off. Netto quickly packed them away in the cooler and ran for the door, stopping only to pick up the remains of the tea.
He had only been planning to pull the fire alarm, but Wily had apparently set off a real fire. Greenish smoke billowed from the building as Netto ran to deliver the injections, weaving past confused staff.
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"You're just in time," Burnerman said, sounding disappointed.
Netto no longer had time for sarcastic rejoinders. Atsuki laid motionless under the lantern light, breaths so shallow as to be unseeable. Fortunately, Punk was there to point out, "You're welcome for savin' your life."
"Some life this is," Burnerman scoffed, but said nothing more.
Netto cast his personal effects to one side and prepared the injections. First the shot of steroids, then the one of stabilizers went into Atsuki's arm. He didn't react at all.
Afraid of knowing Atsuki's condition, Netto hesitantly put his ear to the taller man's chest. He could hear a heartbeat; faint, but steady.
Somehow, Atsuki had survived again.
"I knew you'd come back here."
Netto had just enough presence of mind to slip his PET off and into Atsuki's jacket while he was hunched over him, and then there were hands everywhere. He could barely keep hold of his own consciousness as he was dragged off Atsuki. This was a sensation he knew all too well, and what happened next was not going to be pleasant.
The Darklish men holding him on his knees were the same as ever, but instead of the General standing over him, it was Two.
It was so strange to see her alone. She and Four had been inseparable for as long as Netto could remember.
"Can't I at least make sure he wakes up?" Netto asked, though he could see the answer in her eyes.
"You didn't even bother to come back and see if Four was in one piece," Two said flatly. "Why should Three be any different."
"I didn't–"
"Enough," Two said, cold and grieving and so very alone. "You may plead for mercy when we've returned to my camp. Until then, I think I'll let my men do as they wish. We've all had a very trying time because of you."