Mega man Battle Network: Virus mutations

Chapter 16: A week part 1
Day one: Devoid

To be rid of him for a week, to be devoid of Zero's presence completely, when the half virus had said that it sounded like Zero was about to give Blues an early birthday present.

Sure it sounded good, but he had to admit, he didn't expect Zero to actually go through with it. He'd made deals with Zero before of a similar nature...well, more like threats, but regardless of what they were they had all been failed attempts, why did he listen this time? Well...he had detect a seriousness when Zero had offered it to him, giving him something he knew he wanted simply to go with him. Zero seemed to have some inane need to confirm some notion deep down inside of him that there was something wrong with him.

Though still, he hadn't expected it when he woke up on his own, not under Zero's influence. It seemed like such a long time ago, a time when he wasn't brought back to consciousness by Zero's loud voice and hard shaking.

There was always something with him, and it aggravated Blues to no avail.

It was not just the fact that he seemed to have some hole in him that could only be filled with criticism among other negative things. And he acted strangely sometimes, it wasn't annoying, it was just....odd. Blues knew what type of person Zero was, annoying yes, but weird, no, and over time he'd seen Zero act in some strange ways. Blues grunted, folding his arms and crossing his legs, “Annoying Bastard.” He grunted with annoyment. If he never hated Zero before, then he hated him now! For the first time in a whole he wasn't here, and some how Zero had manage to be the first thing on his mind when he woke up.

No, Zero was annoying, but he wasn't odd, and with his behavior becoming increasingly such Blues was starting to think there was something wrong. He found a stirring curiosity growing with in him every time he saw the half virus, and it some how seemed to grow deeper then a curiosity every time he saw Zero behaving strangely, it was so annoying!

Like when he was talking to Zero, and all of a sudden he just started looking around, like he wasn't even there. Then he'd get this confused look on his face, even though Blues was fairly certain that Zero knew what he was talking about, as much as he questioned himself some times, he knew Zero was a fairly competent person, he certainly wasn't stupid. He just acted like it.

Blues' face twisted into a questioning, he felt that deeper feeling hinting at him again, something he knew was beyond, stronger then curiosity. Dammit! This was so annoying! He hated this! His first free day and all he could think about was how strange Blues was! “...” Blues shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts of Zero.

And there were times when it was completely silent, mainly because he was ignoring Zero, and all of a sudden he just started looking around and talking to himself. What was that about? And then there were other times when he acted suspiciously, like he was trying to hide something.

Blues shook his head and scowled, he didn't understand him at all. He startled to feel almost happy that he didn't have to deal with it for a full week...no, not almost, he was happy. He didn't have to see that annoying smile of his, or hear that annoying voice. “...” Blues snorted, his stomach swelled with an oddly guilty feeling. “Goddamnit...” He grimaced, his eyes narrowing. Ok...well, it wasn't the smile that was annoying, it was when he showed it. It was always when he was the angriest at him, always when he was a few words from striking him, he always smiled, finding some amusement that he himself couldn't see. How can a person just stop being angry like that? It was aggravating! And it wasn't his voice that Blues found fault with, most definitely was the words.

'Tch. Doesn't matter, I wont have to deal with it.'

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Day 2: Embrace

The heat of golden sunlight shined through the window with a warm breeze that blew the white curtains away forward off of the wall in a graceful flow. A faint conscious that had been spurred in the mists of Lan's sleep had sensed the abundance of light that had grown from a dim ray to a flood that illuminated the room. He wasn't sure how long it had been since then to now when golden light had finally reached his bed and shined on to his face.

Lan's closed eyes squinted with a soft sigh and he shifted around in the bed slightly, becoming aware again of the warm covers on top of him, then of his position messily sprawled out over the bed. “...Annng....”With a soft groan he opened his eyes, but quickly clinched them shut again to block out the blinding light. The notion came to him that if he was taking up so much space, where was Megaman sleep? “Oh man...” He mumbled, half aware that this wasn't just a thought, that he was speaking aloud. “I hope he's not on the floor again...” Lan peak one eye open and looked around. His P.E.T was resting on his desk, displaying 201102 as it always did when Zero wasn't there, Megaman was beside him buried underneath the cover, curled into a tight ball as to take up little space.

“Unn...” Lan slowly lifted his arm and draped it over his forehead, shutting out the light completely. 'I wonder what time it--' “!!” Lan flinched with a startled gasp as a strong bout of dizziness rose in his mind all at once, it didn't build or grow, it exploded on to his body so sharply it was as if he was struck with a blow from behind. “Ahhh...” he hissed with pain, Lan sat upright abruptly enough to throw the covers of of himself. The world was spinning before his eyes, like a storm raging over the ocean the world was up towards in in a hard and strong wave, crashed on top of him and receded, he couldn't even tell which way was up. “!!”

“?” Megaman was spurred out of his sleep by the loud sound and fleeting warmth of the covers leaving his body. “...Lan?” Megaman's sleepy green eyes drifted upward and his vision was saluted with the sight of an en pained Lan.
Lan's hands fumbled over his body blindly, as if it was all new to him, until they wrapped around his chest with all of his strength. He felt nauseous, so strongly he could barely speak without feeling like whatever was in his stomach would find it's way out of his mouth. “Annnn...” He grunted, and whatever balance he had was pried from in in the spinning world. “!!” Before he knew it he was falling to the side and landed curled up opposite of Megaman. *Ugurp*

“!” And to Megaman's dismay he found himself facing another glitch, his body seemed to be locked like stiff muscles. It took him nearly a full minute to uncurl from the ball and sat up right. “Lan, what's wrong?” Megaman felt almost a panic burn through him, fumbling around in confusion until he realized there was nothing he could do at the moment, he didn't even know what was wrong.

“Di..zzy.” Lan took in a deep breath and tried to drive back the nausea, tried to ride out the disorientation, but a surge of pain knocked him off balance. '!!' “Ahhha!” Lan moaned loudly, before he could get to loud he sucked in air with a hiss of pain and bit down on to his lip. It blindsided him, a strong pain in his head flaring up like a small flame that had just been dounced in gasoline.

Megaman wrapped his arms around Lan's waist and pulled him up right, almost immediately Lan grabbed on to his shoulder and fell into Megaman's chest. “Lan, are-”

“My head...it hurts.”Lan grunted weakly, his hands tightened desperately against Megaman's shoulder, so dizzy he couldn't see beyond twisting and obscured blurs. Then all at once he pushed Megaman away and scrambled forward, managing to climb to his hands and knees. The pain made him want to curl up into a ball and stop moving, but the nausea was much too strong, Lan moved forward blindly, but was so dizzy that he stumbled and fell into Megaman's lap. He didn't stop there, Lan nearly clawed, frantically attempting to pry himself forward by grabbing on to anything.

Megaman watched in confusion as Lan stumbled painfully off the bed, hard enough to make him pause and groan. “Lan!” Megaman winced as if he'd felt the same pain and climbed off of the bed, dropping to his knees beside the fallen Lan. He wrapped his arms around him again and helped him on to his knees ,looking over him with a pang of worry tearing guilty through him. Lan grabbed on to the door frame and pried himself to his feet, making little more noise then his harsh breathing, he stumbled out of his room and into the hallway, Megaman following behind.

“!!” Lan felt like the world was twisting and turning around him, making it hard for him to go strait, he felt his shoulder brush roughly against the wall and he pushed away. But he got only a few steps before he lost his balance, but Megaman reached out and caught him just as he faltered. Lan regained himself and pushed away, finally simply clinching his eyes shut and running forward as fast as he could before fell again. This time he found himself stumbling against the bathroom sink. He felt like something was bubbling inside of him, and the small pockets of air were pushing their way out.

“Lan what are you trying to-” Megaman flinched when he heard Lan begin coughing, violent, choked sputters. He could hear the boy attempting to breath, but every time he tried another cough choked it's way out. Megaman knelt down beside Lan and rubbed his back softly, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the coughing dull away into hard, gasping breathes.

Lan felt the intense, pounding headache ease and fade away, as well as the dizziness and the nausea. “I-I think I'm ok now.” He said, his eyes still clinched tightly while his breath was returned to him.

“...”

'?' Lan glanced back over his shoulder and opened his eyes, Megaman was holding an uneasy silence. “Megaman, what's-” Lan turned his head to look into the mirror, but something else caught his eye and he looked down instead. The sink was splattered with a spray of blood, the faucet, the wall, and the floor around it. “Whoa...” He wasn't sure what to say.

“Lan, I should go-”

“No.” Lan shook his head adamantly, “Don't tell my parents. Not yet.” He pleaded.

Megaman slowly climbed to his feet, nervously stepping to the side as Lan scrambled to the door and closed it, leaning his back against it nervously. Then he looked back at the sink with a hesitancy. “Lan this isn't something that I can just hide.”

“Come on please.” Lan pleaded, looking up at Megaman desperately. “I'm not talking about hide it...” He felt almost a shame in this, he didn't want to tell his parents, they would worry, they'd make a big deal out of it. He didn't want that, and he knew they'd take him to the hospital, and he wouldn't be practically confined to his room like Enzan was. Then he wouldn't be able to go and see him, among other things. Maybe he was being stupid, it wouldn't be the first time, but out of a particular sense of shame of his current condition, he wanted to keep it as much as himself as possible. “Just-”

“Lan, this is not nothing!” Megaman exclaimed, “You need to go to the hospital.”

“I feel fine now.” Lan said, a poor defense, he knew, but it had to mean something. “And besides, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, what's a day?” Lan looked up at Megaman hopefully, begging him, “Please?”

Megaman looked away with a conflicted expression, he wanted to go along with it, he really did, he knew it would make him happy, at lest happier then he was right now. But at the same time he was afraid for Lan, what if, what if this happened again? What if he really needed to go? What if it couldn't wait until the morning? But likewise, what if it could? He'd never seen that happen to Lan before, not this strongly, not with blood. But what if a day would make no difference either way, he could give him that much? “...I...I-I Uh...” Megaman held his head down, feeling as if he had just coincided defeat, he knew he shouldn't have, but...”O-ok....”

Lan smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. “Thank you.” Lan slowly lifted his arm and wiped his mouth with the back of his wrist, his eyes fixed on the blood for a moment, the on the sink. He could still taste the metallic twinge of the warm liquid, it tasted bitter to him, more so then it actually was. “Oh man, this place is a mess.”

Megaman took in a deep breath, well, he was in this now, and it would be no point in promising Lan he wouldn't say anything if his Father came in and blood everywhere. “Don't worry Lan, we can clean it up.” He said, gently rubbing Lan's back. His eyes were drawn to the bandages around Lan's head, the front was stained with wet patches of fresh red, quick and dry the memory of Lan coughing up the same blood 'Maybe that was why he was so dizzy...' “But first we have to change your bandages.”

“Huh?” Lan looked up questioningly, slowly lifting his hand to his forehead and feeling the familiar dampness. “Oh, don't worry about it.” He shook head discardingly, thinking nothing of it.

But Megaman shook his head, looking down at him chastisingly. “Lan.”

Lan sighed and dropped his head. “But Megaman-”

“No way.” Megaman shook his head firmly, there was only so much he could take. He was more worried about Lan then he'd ever been in his life, his stomach sank with guilt and an unbearable concern as it was. He had to at lest do this. Without another thought Megaman turned and slipped open the door, listening to Lan's quite protests but paying them no heed as he shut the door. He rain with quick, hurried steps toward Lan's room down the hall. There was a small exhale with relief if when he made it without hearing so much as a sound. “Alright, where is it...” Megaman began digging through Lan's desk, he knew there was some gauze here, somewhere.

“Megaman?”

Megaman glanced over at the P.E.T resting on the desk, usually he would have been scared by the call of his name so abruptly when he was attempting to be inconspicuous. But Zero's voice always sounded familiar to him, not sharp and distinct as the voice of others, but like a thought in his head. “Zero? Where were you?”

“Nowhere...where's Lan?” Zero asked questioningly.

Megaman pulled a roll of bandages from the second drawer and stood up right, nudging it shut. “Uh well, Lan...he...” Megaman looked up thoughtfully, he wasn't sure how to say this the right way, Lan wasn't sick, or at lest he didn't look so, he didn't seem hurt, as far as anyone could really tell. “He got dizzy and a little sick I guess.”

“Is he alright?”

“Why don't I just let him tell you.” Megaman decidedly picked up the P.E.T, warming silence as he slipped out of Lan's room and trudge down the hall. Thankfully with no sign of Lan's parents. With another satisfied breath of relief he slipped into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

Zero looked around in a confused horror, for a moment he was speechless, this wasn't the sight he was expecting,not at all. Immediately his thoughts turned to Lan, “Lan? This was Lan? Is he alright?”

“I'm fine.” Lan said with a discarding wave, sitting listlessly against the side of the tub. He reached up and Megaman gave him toe P.E.T, leaning leaning forward as Megaman slipped behind him and sat on the edge of the tub. “Don't worry about me.”

“Are you sure, because I'll know if your lying.” Zero said accusingly, but his voice held a downward tone of worry.

“Heh. I'll live.” Lan smirked a little, he was sure that Zero and Megaman would make certain of that. He complied willingly when he felt Megaman push his head down. “Where were you?”

Megaman slowly and carefully loosened the bandages, his eyes narrowed and his face tightened in concentration as he began unwinding the bandages as delicately as he could. He moved slowly, especially when he was striping the fabric away from Lan's fore head.

“Nowhere.” Zero said with a bored sigh, he wasn't lying when he said nowhere. He'd awakened and left his PET simply because he was so use to doing it. It wasn't nearly as fun when he was alone, or wasn't looking forward to going to a particular destination.

“Nowhere?” Megaman lifted his head questioningly. “Your not going to see Blues today.”

Lan narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “Wait, don't tell me your actually going through with that?”

Zero sighed and nodded, “Yeah. I'm not going anywhere near him.”

Megaman stripped away another layer of the bandages, coming down to the last one. “Go through with what?” It became a little harder to move them now, they stuck to Lan's skin, plastered by a seemingly constant flow of blood.

“He and Blues made a bet, a deal or whatever that Zero would leave him alone for a week.” Lan explained, “But I didn't think you guys were serious about it.” Lan winced, a small hiss of pain slipping from clinched lips as a jolt shot through him from his head. “Ow.”

“Sorry.” Megaman apologized tensely, as he gently pulled away the bandage from the wound, it stuck to the healing flesh that seemed to be trying to grow over it. As much as he tried he couldn't strip it away without hurting him. “Sorry about this.” Lan clinched his eyes shut and yanked the last of the bandage off with one, swift pull.

'!!' Lan clamped a hand over his mouth an cringed, forcing himself to keep from screaming. His eyes watered and a few stray tears slipped out, but he quickly wiped them away. “Ow...”

“I'm sorry.” Megaman leaned forward, tilting Lan's head back to study the wound, he could barely see it for all of the blood that now seeped freely without the bandage's constriction. “Isn't the bleeding suppose to stop after a while?”

“Huh?” Lan felt a sudden surge of curiosity run through him, maybe it was the way Megaman sounded when he said it, maybe it was the way his head was being held back like this. “What do you mean?”

Zero looked up thoughtfully. “Did it even get better?”

“What? What does it look like?” Lan slipped his head out of Megaman's hands and tried to look up into the mirror at any angle that would allow him to see himself. A small stream of blood dripped down the bridge of his nose. But before he could, Megaman pressed a towel against Lan's head and pushed it back.

“No you don't.” Megaman slipped a hand underneath Lan's chin, balancing the towel over Lan's forehead while he reached down blindly and took the boy's, leading it up to the towel. Lan held it in place as Megaman began wiping the dried blood away, as well as the newly formed stream. “Just be still.”

'?' Zero looked around uneasily as Megaman's and Lan's voices began to drift away from. 'Huh?”

Ow, that hurts.

I'm sorry, there's just so much of it.

'Wha....What's happening?' It was strange, Zero heard the conversation fading away from him, receding as if he was falling asleep. He felt like he was being pulled away from them, they looked distant, fading away, blurring into the background that had become little more then an obscured vision. 'Shit...' They were gone, their voice distorted echos he couldn't make out...'!' He winced and clamped his hands over his ears, clinching his eyes shut after a blazingly loud burst of chaotic static burst into his mind, and just as suddenly his vision was covered in static, it was like staring at a TV with no channel. 'D...Dammit!' He cringed, pushing tighter against his ears, trying to block out the sound.

Zero?

He heard a faint voice, Lan's maybe, peeking through the static, but it barely reached him and he could pay it no attention.

Zero?

“Unga...” He breathed weakly, his head didn't hurt, he felt no pain, only a loud clatter that made it impossible to think. It was like a war had just started inside of himself....

“Zero?”

All of a sudden the static faded and he heard Megaman's voice clearly, 'Huh?' It was almost as if Megaman had been the one to make the static stop? “Megaman?” He looked up, and immediately he could see some time had past since they had faded from him, Lan's head was clean with new bandages. That was strange, it had only felt like a minute or so.

Megaman leaned over Lan's shoulder and stared down at Zero. “Are you alright?”

Zero stiffened and rubbed the back of his head, laughing nervously. “Uh, yeah...just thinking.” He lied.

“Oh. I thought I lost you there for a minute.” Lan smiled, without knowledge he slipped his finger underneath the fresh bandages and scratched his head. 'I hate these things..' He never liked fresh bandages, they always itched. Tilted his head back into Megaman's lap and stared upward into the focused green eyes. “Please tell me your done?”

Megaman nodded, “Yeah.” He said, resting his hands on Lan's shoulders for a moment before standing up. “I'm done...on to the next problem I guess.” Well, after changing Lan's bandages, and cleaning his wounds, the sight of the blood spewed over the sink and surrounding wasn't as ominous as he first thought. “On to the next problem I guess, I'm not sure if we can do this well enough.”

Lan took Megaman's hand and slowly climbed to his feet. “Huh? Why do you say that?”

“Your dad, he's like CSI, he never misses anything.” Megaman felt his cheeks flush when he thought about the thoroughness of Lan's father, if there was anything that was wrong, he'd find it, or find out about it eventually. Megaman suddenly found their attempt to be inconspicuous completely futile and without hope, when had anyone ever successfully hidden anything from that man?

“It's not like it's impossible right?” Lan said hopefully. “I can get a few things over on him, I think we can do this.”

“I don't know Lan.” Megaman rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “He knows things.”

“Then we're just going to have to work harder then.” Lan interjected. “Nobody act suspicious, this place cant smell to clean after words, and we're gonna have to be really quiet.” He said, as if it was a simple matter, like they could do it easily.

Megaman rubbed the back of his head with a sigh, everything he felt inside, his worry for Lan, his nervousness about all of this being discovered, all of it swirled together in a horrible mix. There were plenty of new things he felt since he got this body, things he'd never felt before, new types of pain that came in a way he'd never experienced. What he felt now, it was hard to describe, it made his stomach feel weak and the bottom of his throat quake, it was something deeper then worry. Maybe this was what it was like to feel nauseous, sick. “I guess.” He hated it.

! - ! - !
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It had been harder then he'd thought to clean up Lan's mess. Megaman and Lan scrubbed the sink, and then got down and scrubbed the floor and the walls and what other surface the blood may have splattered on to. Megaman had thought that when he finished that they were actually finished, but Lan insisted that he could still smell a lingering scent. So they scrubbed some more, Megaman heedlessly complied, cleaning until Lan was satisfied. Now he was worried it smelled too clean. “No use thinking about it now I guess.” Megaman sighed. He lay again under the warmth of the covers, his arms wrapped around Lan, the boy was pulled perfectively against his chest.

Megaman grinned wildly himself, a pleased content came over him, feeling as if he'd been waiting for this moment all of his life. The feeling of warm life, of Lan in his arms, feeling that he protecting him, even if only from something small, it gave him a sense of completion that he'd never had before.

It was still early, 7:30 now, a little over half an hour since Lan had come stumbling out of the bed. “What do you mean?” He asked softly, he was completely still, staring blankly at the wall without not seeing, his thoughts were distracted elsewhere. He'd never found use for laying in the bed like this when he wasn't sleepy, or planning on sleeping, and he never laid around like this otherwise. But he found a different quality to this non-action it this time, with Megaman holding on to in a way that made Lan question if the former Navi would ever let him go.

“Nothing.” Megaman shook his head discardingly. It was the brightest day Megaman had seen in a long time, it seemed the heavy clouds had loosened enough for 12 hours of sunlight. The room was flooded with the golden illumination, shining brightly over them and the white sheets. As content as Megaman was, he couldn't help still being worried about Lan, even without remembering the image of Lan coughing up blood his mind still held the faint, underlaying thought that something of that nature would happen again. It fashioned his thoughts, every idea, every word was breed in a distant fear. “Um...Lan?” Megaman leaned forward, slipping his chin past Lan's shoulder, veering just enough to see the faintest glimmer of his brown eyes.

“Hmm?”

“I don't think it's such a good idea for you to going anywhere today.” Megaman said, his voice sounding as if what he was saying were a plan still being thought out. “I mean, maybe you should get some rest.”

“...” Lan opened his mouth and took in a deep breath with a large yawn, one not out of sleepiness, but out of fatigue. “That might look really strange to my dad.” Lan thought informatively, by the sound of his voice it didn't sound like he thought much of it, even though he was the one bringing up.”

“Maybe.” Megaman didn't particularly care at this point, Lan would think of some lie to tell him as to why, something, all he knew was that...

“Megaman?” Lan looked over his shoulder at the former navi, he could only stare with awe and fearing as Megaman's words drifted off and an utterly blank expression came on to his face, his eyes distracted with thought, his mouth still open slightly, as if he'd forgotten what he was doing. “Megaman?”

Megaman was silent for a few seconds... “?...” Then he simply shook his head, like what had just happened wasn't the least bit strange, and he offered no explanation, as if he had no idea he'd even stopped or what what he was talking about. “Huh? Yes Lan?”

Lan stared at him suspiciously for a few seconds more, his eyes searching Megaman's for something to do, something he could say? His face held an expression that would have told anyone who was paying attention that he'd just seen something strange, something he hadn't liked, but Megaman didn't seem to notice it. “Uh...Nothing.” He turned and stared at the wall, what difference would it make anyway? Megaman couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't stop it, why make him worry over it. If he hadn't noticed it, Lan would let it be, he felt like it wasn't for him to understand yet, he was depending on his father to figure it out. “Hey Megaman?”

“Yes?”

“Can you...stay with me?” Lan asked, his voice was uncharacteristically timid when he spoke, like a person who was afraid to ask.

“Yeah, of course.” Megaman said without hesitation.

Lan wasn't sure rest would work for this kind of problems, he knew nothing of Bio-machines, and he probably wouldn't understand it if someone told him. But he did know that Megaman became dizzy when he extorted himself physically, maybe rest wouldn't help, but it sure couldn't make it worse. “Thanks...”

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Day 3: Mornings

He wouldn't miss him, that's what Blues had said to himself and everyone else, for going three days now and counting.

For the first time in his life, Enzan could remember every, agonizing second of the roughly 72 hour period, if only other things could stick with him so easily. Well, maybe that wouldn't be too realistic, the things he needed to remember had substance to them. When his birthday was, when Lan's birthday was for that matter, the exact contents of the preserving solution that had been sprayed on him when attempting to escape his probably half destroyed test company. Speaking of which, he really, really had to go back, there was no way in hell he'd let his Father test in him be failed so easily. Oh yeah, another thing he didn't remember, where his father was right now... 'Hmm...' Enzan wondered what the man had said when he heard the building his son was suppose to be running had blown up, if his father actually got around to visiting him for more then 5 minutes while working damage control he'd probably ask him. 'I can't blame him I guess, he was doing it for me.' Enzan said with a small shrug, since he had managed to blow the place up...or who's ever fault it was.

Oh yeah, here's a good one, Enzan also wished he could remember where he left his keys, he knew he'd had them when he'd woken up...Enzan really wished he could remember all of those math classes he'd taken, because this would take a lot of money to fix...'Where *are* my keys?' Maybe he hadn't had his keys, maybe he dropped them back on the island?...No, better yet, Enzan wished he could remember how he'd gotten out of here without being noticed the first time.

But no matter, Enzan couldn't remember those things because they held some level of detail to them, and because he had to remember so much already. He never paid attention to people like he should have, there was always a few things he was thinking about no matter how hard he tried to give someone his full attention. His mind never seemed to listen to him, he felt like it acted on it's own accord, ironically enough when the stoic boy called for silence, or to focus, other thoughts always came flooding back. It was like trying to hold back a tidal wave. 'Why won't my head just shut up, why is that so hard?' Enzan thought aggrievedly. Maybe he couldn't remember other things as well as he should have, but the past three days he remembered well.

Because they all consisted simply of crushing boredom.

' I should get the hell out of here right now.' Enzan thought to himself, laying idly in his bed covered in clean white sheets. Surrounded by copiously clean white floors, and walls, and softly humming florescent lights. 'The doctors don't make rounds until 10. I can be well clear of hear by then. ' He honestly contemplated it for a moment, they couldn't stop him a third time, right? But just like the other times he thought about it over the past three days, he dropped his head and sighed in defeat. 'I couldn't do that, Zero would never find Blues again.' He never thought Zero would have so much barrings over his actions, but he never thought he liked Lan either.

“One more week.” Enzan said. “One more week and I'm getting the hell out of here, no matter what anybody says.”

“No your not.” Blues snorted with clear disregard, as if he knew Enzan was making an idle threat.

He wasn't. “Tch, the hell I'm not.” Enzan said, he lifted his left leg and let it slip off the side of the bed, feeling the numbing pain of the limb falling asleep. Another reason he was starting to hate this place, he laid idle for far too long. Enzan slowly lifted his hand to his left arm and scratched the bandages there in an attempt to soothe the itchy wounds underneath, he hated new bandages over old wounds, it always itched. His eyes were fixed on the IV pouring a numbing medication into his veins. If there was anything he'd miss, it was the numbing medications.

“Yeah right, if you were going to go you wouldn't have gone already.” Blues accused, knowing that Enzan wasn't an idle person, he never wasted time on things. But he did, however, procrastinate, he took on more then he or his memory could handle more times then he should have. This idea would get lost like so many forms, tasks, meetings, appointments, and objects, it never failed. Blues wasn't sure in what it would get lost in, but what he was sure that Enzan would find a way to forget, he always did.

“I'm waiting.” Enzan said, his tone correcting. Enzan slowly pushed his other stiff leg over the side of the bed and leaned forward, resting his elbows on to his knees and dropping his head.

“Waiting for what? Lan?” Blues inquired.

Enzan lifted his head, Lan, he hadn't thought of Lan? Dammit! Why couldn't he remember that? How come he didn't think of Lan of all people? “No, for Zero actually.” This time he'd been thinking more of his Navi then himself, Blues looked to be suffering jut as much as he was. He could see it in the looks on Blues' face, the way he moved, the sudden restlessness.

Blues felt something inside of him jump, yet he was too confused to attempt to decipher why. Why would Enzan wait for Blues? Was he planing on taking him with him? “Zero?” Blues tilted his head to the side questioningly and his tone lightened without him having realized it.

Enzan smirked, yeah, just as he thought. “Couldn't leave with out telling him now could we?” He said, trying to stifle his amusement.

Blues folded his arms and looked away in distaste. “Yes, I'd recommend it in fact.”

Enzan slowly lifted himself to his feet, feeling more as if he were on lifeless extensions then on his own legs, he felt like he was standing on stilts. He nearly lost his balance, Enzan quickly reached back and caught himself. “No way.” He would have smirked if he wasn't wondering why he lost feeling in his legs when he stood up.

“You shouldn't leave .” Blues folded his arms and looked away, as if he had no regard for the subject, just stating a simple fact. “Your not well enough to go anywhere.”

“The hell with that.” Enzan ignore the feeling and took a few pacing steps forward toward the window, staring outward longingly. He missed the light, crisp, moist air outside, and the warmth of the uninhibited sunlight, the feel of wind and the sound of life moving around him. He couldn't expect Blues to understand the agony of being trapped in one place, Enzan didn't know why he felt like he'd lost his freedom, like he was locked in and would never get out. He'd stayed in hotel rooms for longer periods then this, why did he feel so...cornered now? This feeling was growing, he remembered when he could ignore it, now it was always there, every moment he was in this room. He had to get out of here.“I'm fine enough.”

Blues watched with a silent anticipation, as if he was about to be pushed off of a bridge and waiting for the fall. It was an anxiousness that came about when he watched Enzan slowly walk towards the door, a deep nervousness that sank in his stomach with discontempt and made him unusually aware of his heartbeat and breathing. It was like what he started to feel when he thought about Blues as of late. “Enzan...”

'?' Enzan looked down as the same strange numbness spread through his torso like a cold chill, he felt like the ground was vibrating under his feet, sending small tremors through his lower body like shockwaves...No, that wasn't the ground.... that was his muscles trembling, as if trying to hold a load much too much to bare. A weakness spread through both legs, right before Enzan collapsed and found himself sinking to his knees with waning strength. 'Dammit...' He felt a frustrated anger burn through him, this never used to happen to him before! How was it possible that he could actually be getting worse?! It didn't feel possible, he'd realized it somewhere in him, but his mind refused to accept it and pushed the thought away, like this was just some odd quirk that would pass after he got some rest. “...”

“And that's why you can't leave.” Blues told him in a tone that derived no satisfaction from being right. He was worried about Enzan, he could admit that.

Enzan grunted as he grabbed on to the bed and pulled himself to his feet, when he stood this time he felt that same throbbing pain in a single leg that caused a limp to creep into his form. “Aw shut up.” He spat, climbing on to the bed and slowly shifting himself back into the same spot he'd been in before. It was almost a shame that he felt at his weakness, that made him bitterly embarrassed, too embarrassed to tell his doctor for fear that he'd end up being here longer. And fear of telling Lan because he knew the boy would worry.
Speaking of Lan... “I wonder where Lan is?” He asked in a half mumble, shifting the conversation back into safer fields.

“...” Blues didn't respond, when he thought of Lan, he thought of Megaman, and when he thought of Megaman, he couldn't help but think of that obnoxious idiot Zero.

Enzan smirked to himself, but quickly shook his head, knowing that Blues was thinking of Zero. It was the only time he got that look on his face. “You miss him?”

Blues snorted defensively. “Hell no.”

“I didn't say who.” Enzan said, his voice smug with amusement, “I could have been talking about Megaman.”

Blues glared at him, then looked away. He wasn't missing Zero, he'd told himself and everyone else that he wouldn't. But he hated the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about him. It wasn't continuous, the times when he thought about Zero were far in-between, but they seemed frequent. Whenever it was silent for a long stint of time the half-virus would come into his mind.

'Dammit.' Blues rolled his eyes an annoyment. It seemed he found his mind drifting strait to Zero's odd behavior again, it was like a challenge that sat there in front of him, taunting him, daring him to figure it out. Why did he behave so strangely? Why did he mumble to himself, saying negative things at that, sometimes? Why did he just drift off when they were talking? Why did he just go off, looking around, talking like someone else was there? Why did he always act like he was hiding something, with that nervous laugh and that smile, the only time it came uneasily ... Blues felt that anxiousness again, the same one he'd just felt when he watched Enzan, knowing he would stumble and fall, he knew something was off with Zero. He just didn't realize it until now.

A strong desire rose within him, something like curiosity, only more deeply rooted, stronger. A yearning to ask, to know, to figure the seemingly simple Zero out, like a child that saw something he simply had to reach out and touch, something that drew the child towards it. 'Damn you idiot, what the hell do you think your trying to hide?'

Ok...maybe he was a little worried, even if it was so small he barely knew it was there.

'No I'm not.'

But he wouldn't admit it, some strong sense of bitter pride was there, that made him feel like he was losing, like he was doing something wrong by acknowledging that he may have been worried. He lied to protect himself without having even knowing it.

! - ! - !