MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Trouble With Insolent Nekos ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The next morning Enzan woke up and sat up. His throat hurt a little but and sitting up made his head spin. He coughed and the sound was not pleasant. Enzan winced and sighed.

Of course, he just HAD to get sick.

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Enzan got out of bed and but his feet on the cold floor. He stood up and swayed quickly sitting back down on his bed.

"Enzan-sama, are you all right?" asked Blues.

“Yes, Blues. It's just a little head cold.” Said Enzan in a raspy voice.

“Yes Enzan-sama.” Said Blues, thoroughly unconvinced.

Enzan took a deep breath, then he went into a coughing fit. Afterwards he stood up and after much effort, managed to get dressed and make it down stairs.

Blues was concerned about Enzan. He seemed to be very sick and pale. His blue eyes that were normally sharp and clear were very dull, it didn't take a doctor to realize that Enzan was very sick.

“Enzan-sama, if I may make a suggestion, maybe you should stay home from work today.”

Enzan's eyes flashed. “You may not make any such suggestion Blues. It's just a head cold. I will drink some tea and go to work.”

“As you wish Enzan-sama.” Then Blues disappeared from the link in a shower of pixels and appeared next to Rockman.

Rockman jumped when Blues came into the computer, but he quickly regained the composure he lost before Blues finished materializing.

“What's wrong Blues? Shouldn't Enzan be at work?”

“Enzan is sick, and he refuses to listen to reason. He is insisting on going to work even though he can barely stand.”

Rockman put his chin into his hand and looked to the ground with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Well, I normally don't have issues keeping Netto from school, so I'm afraid I have no experience in this kind of thing.”

Netto, who was under all his blankets, was brought out of his sleep to hear two muffled voices. At first he felt no motivation to move and got ready to snuggle deeper into the warm bed but then he recognized one of the voices of Blues. Now, Netto may be a bit thick at times, but he knew that Blues wouldn't come to Rockman before Enzan left unless it was important. Maybe Enzan already discovered the pink hair dye he had bought when he went out.

Netto poked his head out from under the covers in time to hear “Now Enzan-sama has a fever and is coughing horribly. If he goes to work, I'm afraid he might catch something worse.”

Netto, came completely from under the covers into the cold morning air. “So, Enzan got sick?”

Blues looked over to the Neko boy and nodded. “Yes, and he refuses to listen to me.”

Netto grinned. “Just make sure he doesn't leave while I get dressed. I'll be down in 5 minutes.”

Blues and Rockman looked at Netto warily, both knew his love to prank, and the last thing that was needed was a sick and upset Enzan.

Netto shook his head. “Don't worry, I'm just making sure Enzan doesn't kill himself. I CAN be nice, you know.”

Rockman laughed. “You also want to humiliate Enzan because he's sick and you aren't, right?”

Netto pretended to think it over. “Well….. That too, I guess.”

Blues just shook his head and linked himself to his PET. He found Enzan getting into his coat getting ready to go out the door.

“There you are. I was about to leave without you.” Informed Enzan

“I'm very sorry, Enzan-sama. I was having a quick talk with Rockman to make sure Netto-san has not gotten sick.” Said Blues, taking a guess at a certain soft spot.

“Oh, and is he all right?” Blues grinned. His bet had worked out perfectly. “Yes, Enzan-sama, but we are not sure if he will get sick or not.”

Enzan looked out the door and then back upstairs. Maybe he could just pull a half day. Enzan shook his head, no, there was no way he would miss work for anything.

During Enzan's small internal battle Netto came downstairs quickly and shut the door.

Enzan looked up, jerked out of his thoughts. “Hikari, what the hell are you doing?”

“Making you stay home, because you're sick; and why Hikari all of a sudden? You've been calling me Netto for some time.”

“Because, I'm going to work.”

“No, you're not. You're staying home and getting better. Come on, it's just one day, you'll be fine by tomorrow. Besides, everyone deserves a little unscheduled break every now and then.”

Before Enzan could protest Netto put his hands on Enzan's shoulders and steered his out of the entrance hall. “Come on, back to bed.”

Enzan tried to twist out of Netto's grip, and it was only then that he realized how weak he was.

“All right, but only ONE day.”

Netto snickered. “Yes, Enzan-sama.”

Rockman sighed. “Is this a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked quietly.

“Only time will tell.” Said Blues

After much pushing, shoving, curses and some hissing, Netto had managed to get Enzan into bed. Enzan was not particularly happy about any of this, but a tiny section of his mind was enjoying the attention from the brunette. He felt the heat of a small blush creep over his cheeks when Netto cam in a half hour later. Netto being the oblivious person he was, thought Enzan's new hue might be due to a fever. He put his hand on Enzan's forehead to check his temperature and Enzan's blush deepened.

"Netto, I'm fine." he said pointedly

"No, you're sick. I'm just making sure it doesn't get worse, and what happened to calling me 'Hikari'?" Said Netto, grinning fiendishly.

Enzan shook his head, the blush thankfully subsiding. His cheeks regained their normal flesh tone. "You said you didn't like me calling you 'Hikari'." He reminded Netto.

"No, I never said that. I just brought up the fact that you stopped calling me 'Hikari' about four weeks ago, and then you randomly started to call me by my last name again."

"Well then, what do you want to be called?"

"What do you want to call me?" shot back Netto

It took Enzan about ten seconds to realize that he and Netto were flirting. It never dawned on him that something like that might actually happen.

Netto wondered about Enzan's sudden stop in the fast paced conversation. "Enzan?"

Enzan pretended to think about it. In truth he knew he wanted to call him by his first name. the subtle informality just made him feel better. It was like he had a friend, someone his own age that he could relate too. But, in the spirit of the conversation, he pretended to ponder his answer.

"Well, I believe since we are no longer informal acquaintances, I will call you by your first name, just to avoid awkwardness."

Netto snorted at Enzan's speech. "We've never been 'informal acquaintances. The only time I've known you is as a partner, and that is the farthest from informal as someone can get, aside from a personal relationship." said Netto making Enzan blush slightly.

Netto missed the blush entirely "Netto, the only thing I've know you as is an annoyance."

Netto looked a but put out but didn't retaliate, which surprised Enzan greatly.

"What, no smart comeback?" he teased

Netto shook his head making his ears flop gently.

"Are you getting sick too?" asked Enzan nervously

"No, I don't think so. I'm just kind of bored."

"You're always bored Netto."

"Who's fault is that, I wonder."

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"Well at least Enzan-san isn't trying to go to work anymore." said Rockman

Blues nodded "But, he could try to get up at any time."

Rockman shook his head. "No, I don't think he'll be leaving any time soon."

"What makes you say that?"

Rockman pointed out of the security screen showing Enzan's bedroom. On the screen was Netto curled up in a ball next to Enzan on top of the covers. Enzan was reading a novel and subconsciously scratching Netto behind the ears.

Blues looked at the scene with widened eyes that were invisible to the world. Rockman, however could sense his surprise.

"Well, it was really obvious. And Netto will be pretty angry when he wakes up."

"What makes you say that?" asked Blues

"Netto? Willingly letting his ears get scratched?"

"So, he's asleep?"

"Yeah, Netto has taken a lot of naps lately. But it's no wonder. I mean, when I had the Neko virus, all I felt like doing was staying in stasis mode."

Blues sighed. "I didn't much care for the Neko Virus."

Rockman laughed, the mental picture of a Neko Blues was just too much. Blues scowled and glared at Rockman.

"Your helmet takes away from your death glare." said Rockman, his giggles sub-siding.

"How can you tell that I'm glaring at you? What if I wasn't."

Rockman shrugged. "Well I can yell what you're doing. It's kinda something I picked up after fighting with you for so long."

"I need to be more discreet." said Blues giving a small smile.

Rockman shook his head. "Well, it's still hard to tell what you're thinking because your eyes are always covered. The only reason I can tell was because I look at other signs."

"Like what?"

"Well, when you're really angry your mouth kinda twitches."

Blues smiled. "You observe quite keenly Rockman.":

"Not really, I just like to know when you're upset so I can avoid you."

"Really am I that scary?" asked Blues

"You can be, but mama will forever be the scariest person I know."

"Haruka-san? She seems quite even tempered."

"She is, but when she's angry at Netto-kun, look out!"

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In Enzan's bedroom Netto sneezed. He slowly woke up and felt a pleasant motion behind his ears. The motion was slow and hypnotic, almost lulling Netto back to sleep. He was about to give up to the blanket of sleep when a faint sound reached his ears, a small rustle. Netto lay there trying to place the sound when he heard it again. The small whisper of a sound once again reached his ears, when it hit him. It was the sound when his father stayed up late at night looking through files. It was the sound of rustling paper. Enzan must be reading a book or doing some kind of work. The rocking motion behind his ears was starting to make him wonder when he came to another realization, Enzan was scratching his ears.

Netto quickly flicked his ears back to get Enzan to stop. He felt a fine heat creep across his cheeks. How long had he been there? When did he fall asleep? WHY WAS ENZAN SCRATHING HIS EARS?

“You awake?” asked Enzan drowsily

“Y-yes.” Netto would never give away his nervousness but his panic showed through quite clearly.

“Ah, you've been asleep for about two hours now. I was worried you might be getting sick.”

“Enzan, I'm part cat. Cat's sleep. Even I know that.”

Enzan grinned. “Cat's also sleep lightly, but I doubt a heard of elephants could have woken you up.”

Netto scowled. “Why were you scratching my ears?”

“Why did you change the subject?”

“Because I'm curious, tell me.”

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“Satisfaction brought him back.”

“I'm surprised you knew that.”

“I remember papa telling me that once. But that's not important, just answer the damn question.” Netto sat up glaring at Enzan through silted eyes.

“Well I thought you might like it and when you didn't protest I kept on reading.”

“I was asleep!”

Enzan shrugged carelessly, a very Un-Enzan-like thing to do.

“You've taken medicine haven't you?” asked Netto warily

Enzan shrugged again.

Netto shook his head making his ears flop again.

Enzan sunk into his pillows half asleep. “You look really cute with those ears.” He said right before he fell asleep.

Netto blushed furiously, then slowly got off the bed and padded out of Enzan's room. “Baka Enzan.” He muttered.

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Netto went downstairs muttering to himself. His thoughts were starting to race in his head. Enzan had just sent him a sign even Netto couldn't ignore. So much for subtlety.

Netto walked down the endless halls absorbed in his own thoughts. He was very confused and Enzan wasn't helping. In fact, Enzan had made his situation worse. Why did he have to be so nice all of a sudden? The protectiveness, the park, hell, even making doing nice things like making him a lunch before he left for work. Netto thought he was just being nice, but now he wasn't so sure.

“Netto-san, are you all right?” came a voice from the computer to his left.

Netto turned to see Blues in the PC looking at him. “Ah, yeah, I'm fine.” He said

“Netto-san, do you even know where you are?”

Netto looked around. He was in a long hallway that he had never seen before. “Heh, apparently not.”

“Netto-san, if I may. Did something happen between you and Enzan-sama?”

Netto blushed and his heartbeat raced. “H-happen?”

“I mean, did you two get into a fight?”

Netto's heartbeat started to return to the norm. “Ah, no. He's just really tired, and he took some cold medicine.”

“I see.” Said Blues

“Anyways, can you tell me where I am?”

Blues nodded. “This mansion has a state of the art security system. So far you've somehow managed to evade the traps but if you had taken one more step you would have been caught.”

“This place is worse than Yaito-chan's mansion…” said Netto; sweatdropping.

“Well, as long as you follow my instructions you should be fine Netto-san.”

Netto bristled. He was used to taking Rockman's suggestions, not Blues' orders. “All right, I'll follow you then.” He said forcing a smile

Blues either ignored the smile or didn't notice it; instead he disappeared in his pixel shower and appeared down the hall three monitors away. “Come this way and make sure you don't step on any of the circles in the carpet.”

Netto looked down at the carpet and realized for the first time that its pattern was dark read squares with black dots in the middle. Netto wondered what the black dots did but he decided to ask Enzan later instead of finding out for himself. Five minuets later Netto came out of the carpet hallway and ended up in a polished white hallway adjacent to the carpeted one.

Blues appeared in the monitor on the wall. “I've disabled the security measures of this hallway. You can just walk through.”

“All right then.” Said Netto

He walked cautiously through the hall hoping that Blues was telling the truth. He really didn't want to get caught in something again. Spending the entire day in a net is an experience one only wants to have once.

Sure enough, Netto got out of the hallway and into the next hall just fine. He also got through the other halls without any harm or embarrassment.

“Okay, Netto-san, this is the last hallway. After this there are no more hallways with this security system.”

“Thank god.” Muttered Netto

He walked through the last hallway which was a hallway with portraits of Enzan's family. Needless to say, it was a very imposable hallway. Netto finally exited the enormous hall and turned left.

“Netto-san not that way!” said Blues in a loud voice

Netto quickly turned around and triggered a thin red beam that went across the floor. Just then Netto saw the silent alarm go off.

“Oh crap.” He said quietly.

“Netto-san, don't move. This hall triggers a trap door that will dump you into Enzan-sama basement.”

“Can you disable it?” asked Netto through gritted teeth

“I'm trying. Once an alarm is triggered, it is very hard to turn it off.”

“Obviously.” Said Netto; under his breath.

Blues sighed, Enzan-sama was right; Netto wasn't the easiest person to get along with. Rockman was a lot easier to give orders and suggestions too. He may object but at least he followed them.

Netto's tail was starting to hurt from being kept still for so long. He didn't even realize it till that minute, but he had very little control over his tail's actions. It was almost like it wasn't part of his body.

`Of course it's not.' He hissed at himself mentally `You're human, remember?'

`Ah, but if you're human, then why are you infected with a computer virus?'

Netto shoved the reply out of his head and gulped, praying that Rockman wasn't paying attention to his thoughts at that particular moment.

`Please don't move.' He begged his tail. `Just a few more minutes and the alarm system will be turned off.'

His tail gave a very small twitch.

“Netto-san, I'll be done soon. If you move now then we'll both be trapped.”

Netto laughed nervously. “We don't want that do we?”

Blues shook his head and went back to the program.

`Did Enzan give him a sense of humor program?' Netto wondered. He kept staying very still and trying his hardest not to move. Which was very hard for him; in fact, if Rockman was there he would say that Netto had never stayed that still, that long, in his life.

“Almost, Netto-san.” Said Blues, finally starting to understand just how hard standing like that was for the human.

Netto's tail gave one final twitch.

“Oh… crap….” Said Netto

/Security System Activated/ said an electronic voice. Then both Blues and Netto disappeared into separate traps.

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Enzan yawned and turned over in his sleep while Rockman started to wonder where the heck Netto and Blues were.

“Maybe Netto-kun got lost?” wondered Rockman. “Hopefully Blues will find him soon.” Because who knew what Netto would do before he actually asked for help.