|
|
Hikari Enzan
By Atreyu452
Author’s note:
Disclaimer: This story and all the characters in it were taken from or based on
Rockman.EXE, and I do not own anything. This story takes place in the anime
storyline, between the beginning of the second season and the introduction of
My style of writing is to have a character say a Japanese
word and then have them repeat it in English. They’re not really repeating the
word; I do it that way so that those who don’t understand the Japanese word
will the second time around. I apologize for the redundancy it causes to those
who understood the word the first time.
“Enzan-sama.
Enzan-sama.”
Enzan
groaned and pulled the blanket over his head. Whoever was bothering him could
wait until morning.
“Enzan-sama,
it is morning.”
Had
he said that out loud? Enzan turned over, deciding to ignore the person, no
matter what they said. His head felt strange, almost like the inside of it was
encased in cotton, and his body was sore. He tried to think about what had
happened to make him so sore, but his brain rebelled. For some reason, all it
wanted to do was sleep, and that was fine with him.
“Enzan-sama,
please wake up. You’ll be late for school.”
What? Against his wishes, Enzan opened his eyes. The bright red
underside of his blankets filled his view. For a moment it blurred, and Enzan
rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. “What are you talking about? I don’t go to
school.”
“Yes
you do, Enzan-sama,” the voice said patiently. “You’ve always gone to school.
Please get up.”
That
didn’t seem right. Enzan knew he had taken several tests that proved his
intelligence matched those of college-level students. By proving that, he had
been able to skip going to school altogether, and instead he spent his days
working at his father’s company and netbattling. Even before he had taken the
tests, he had always had a private tutor. Enzan wasn’t aware of actually
stepping into a classroom in his lifetime.
The
clouds in Enzan’s mind slowly cleared, and he realized the voice he was hearing
wasn’t the voice of Blues, his navi. “What do you mean?” he asked, sitting up.
What he saw made him gasp.
He
was in a small room that he had never seen before. A set of shelves, a bedside
table, and a desk filled up much of the space. Bright sunlight poured into the
room from a sliding door which led to a balcony. Enzan looked at the desk, and
his eyes widened. A laptop and a blue PET were sitting on the desk, but it was
who was in the PET that shocked Enzan the most.
“Rockman?”
The
navi looked puzzled at the boy’s tone. “Yes, Enzan-sama?”
“What—what
happened to me?” Enzan cried, looking around. “Where am I?”
“In
your room, Enzan-sama,” Rockman replied. His face creased with worry. “Is
something wrong?”
“Yes!”
Enzan barked. He climbed out of the bed, his legs nearly tangling in the bed
sheets as he moved. “This isn’t my room! Where’s Hikari?”
“Hikari?”
Rockman repeated.
“Hikari,
Hikari!” Enzan snapped impatiently. “You know, your operator.”
“Enzan-sama…”
Rockman said softly. His tone was neutral, but Enzan could see the worry in his
eyes. “You are my operator.”
“No!”
Enzan gasped. He looked around the room wildly as if he could find Hikari Netto
hiding in some corner. “What’s gotten into you? Where’s Hikari?”
“Enzan-sama,
I don’t know what you mean,” Rockman said. “Are you all right? Maybe you should
calm down.”
Enzan
was about to snap something else when he realized the blue navi had a point. He
sat down on the bed, placed his head in his hands, and took a deep breath. The
intense panic he had felt slowly subsided, and he risked a peek at his
surroundings. It hadn’t worked; he was still in the room, with Rockman watching
him worriedly from the PET.
Okay, let’s try this again without the blind, irrational panic, Enzan thought. He removed his
head from his hands and looked at Rockman. “Rockman, I need to know what’s
going on here. Where am I?”
Rockman
looked slightly relieved. Enzan’s face had slid into his usual expression, and
his voice was in its normal tone. “You are in the Hikari residence, located in
the town of Akihara—”
“That’s
enough for now,” Enzan interrupted. “Where is Hikari Netto?”
Rockman
looked startled for a moment. “Forgive me, Enzan-sama, but I do not know of a
Hikari Netto.”
Enzan
frowned. What Rockman had said was absurd, yet the navi’s eyes betrayed no lie.
“All right,” he said finally. “In that case, Rockman, tell me who I am.”
Rockman
looked slightly happier. It was hard to tell, for every time Rockman displayed
a new emotion, he quickly made his face blank. Enzan got the feeling the navi
was doing it on purpose, but he couldn’t figure out why. In his past encounters
with the navi, Rockman had been almost as emotional as his operator, Netto.
“You
are Hikari Enzan,” Rockman said. “The only son of Hikari Yuuichirou and Hikari
Haruka—”
“Enough!”
Enzan cried. He shook his head, his panic returning. “You’re wrong; you’re
wrong! My name is Ijuuin Enzan!”
“Enzan-sama,
please!” Rockman cried. His face was blank, but his eyes showed his fear. “I
don’t know why you are saying that, but I am telling the truth! You are Hikari
Enzan.”
“How—How
can that be?” Enzan whispered. He stared at his hands for a moment; then his
head snapped up, his eyes blazing. “This is some kind of trick, a lie! Where’s
Blues?”
“Blues?”
Rockman echoed.
“Blues!
My navi!” Enzan cried. He grabbed the PET and yanked it out of the charger.
“Tell me where he is now!”
“Enzan-sama,
I do not know anything about a navi called Blues,” Rockman said softly, nearly
whimpering. “I am your navi, remember?”
Enzan
stared at Rockman hard. What he had said seemed to have a startling effect on
the blue navi. Rockman’s eyes had become obscured by dark shadows, and his head
was bent forward slightly, making his eyes even more difficult to see. Even his
posture had changed from a confident one to that of someone who had been
defeated. His shoulders were slumped, and as Enzan watched, his head bent
forward even more.
“Of
course you are,” Enzan said, carefully making sure his tone and face were
lacking emotion. He would get nothing acting the way he was now, and he decided
to play along until he found out more. “I’m just a little confused at the
moment.”
Rockman
raised his head slightly, and Enzan saw a gleam of hope in his eyes. The abrupt
changes in the navi were almost as puzzling as Rockman’s earlier statements. It
was almost as if Rockman was fearful of Enzan’s reaction.
“Maybe
you are not feeling well?” the navi suggested.
“That
must be it,” Enzan replied. He felt his own forehead with his free hand. “I
could be coming down with something.”
“Then
I should tell your mother,” Rockman said. “If you are not feeling well, you
should not go to school. Enzan-sama, please plug me into the house’s system so
that I may find Hikari-san and tell her.”
“O-of
course,” Enzan said shakily. Things were happening so quickly that he hardly
had the time to think. He plugged the PET into the panel next to the bedroom’s
door and watched Rockman disappear from it. Once the navi was gone, he sighed
and rubbed his temple. He was more confused than ever now, but his questions
only seemed to upset Rockman. The last thing Enzan wanted was to be branded
crazy before he could figure out what was going on.
“What
happened to me?” he wondered out loud. “How did I get here? And more
importantly, where is Hikari Netto, and why am I here in his place?”
“Enzan-sama.”
Enzan
looked down at his PET to see that Rockman had returned. For some reason, the
navi looked slightly ashamed. “Yes, Rockman?” Enzan asked.
“I
told your mother,” Rockman replied, rubbing the back of his head. “And she
reacted in the usual way. If I may suggest, you might want to prepare
yourself.”
The usual way? Enzan blinked. He had no clue what Rockman was talking about.
Unfortunately, he did not get the time to figure it out.
“Enzaaaaaaan!”
Enzan
spun to face the door, halfway into a defensive stance before the door burst
open and someone—something—came through. Enzan only caught a sight of a purple
flash before he was pulled into a crushing embrace and nearly smothered as his
face was buried in someone’s shirt.
“My
poor child!” the thing cried, rocking Enzan back and forth. Enzan’s struggles
did not free him, and the creature holding him did not seem inclined to let him
go anytime soon.
“Hikari-san!”
Rockman cried. “Please be careful! Enzan-sama might be very sick.”
The
arms that encircled Enzan’s shoulders eased, and Enzan pulled himself backwards
in a jerking, nearly violent motion, gasping for breath. His vision unblocked,
he realized he was standing in front of a brown-haired woman wearing a purple
shirt—explaining the flash of purple he had seen earlier—and a skirt. She had
her arms crossed and was frowning.
“Enzan,”
she said, her tone sharp. “Are you going to allow that program to talk so
disrespectfully to me?”
Enzan
blinked. “I don’t see anything wrong with what he said. He was telling the
truth.”
The
woman—Hikari Haruka, Enzan realized—made an angry noise. “That is no
excuse for rudeness. I thought you had trained that thing to be polite.”
“Gomen
nasai, Hikari-san,” Rockman said from within the PET. He bowed low on the
screen. “I am very sorry. It will not happen again.”
“It
had better not,” Haruka muttered. She then looked at Enzan with such an intense
expression of motherly care that the boy could hardly believe she was the same
woman who had been chewing out Rockman in such a harsh tone seconds ago.
“Enzan, are you really feeling bad?” she asked, her voice filled with concern.
“H-hai,”
Enzan answered, feeling a bit unnerved. “Yes. I feel slightly dizzy, and a bit
confused. May I stay home for today?”
Haruka
smiled brightly. “Of course you can. I’ll go get the thermometer and some
medicine. You’ll feel better in no time!” She left the room without giving
Enzan a chance to reply.
What a bizarre woman, Enzan thought. No wonder Hikari acts so strangely with
someone like that taking care of him.
“Enzan-sama,
you have my deepest apologies,” Rockman said. Enzan glanced at the PET and saw
that Rockman was staring at his hands, looking miserable. “I am not supposed to
talk to your mother without your strict permission, and to speak to her so
rudely is unforgivable. If you wish that I be given the usual punishment, I can
administrate it to myself while you rest.”
“The
usual punishment?” Enzan repeated, puzzled.
Rockman
nodded, his expression getting even sadder, something Enzan hadn’t thought
possible. “As you wish, Enzan-sama. If you place my PET in the charger, I can
do it without disturbing you further.”
“Hold
on!” Enzan cried. “Rockman, I’m not going to punish you for a simple mistake.
You’ve apologized for it, and I accept your apology. You won’t be punished.”
Rockman
visibly perked up. “Arigatou, Enzan-sama,” he said, trying hard to hide
a smile. “Thank you.”
Enzan
rubbed his head, feeling a real headache coming on. None of this made any
sense, and it was making less sense as time when on. First he was suppose to be
Hikari Enzan, then his “mother” acts like his navi was a disgusting animal
acting out of place when all Rockman did was try to protect his operator, and
now the small, blue navi was speaking of being punished as something that
happened frequently. In Enzan’s mind, he hadn’t done anything wrong to begin
with. Besides, Enzan would have never dreamed to punish his navi or any other
navi for any mistake, no matter how great. It wasn’t right to exercise such
power over something as helpless as a navi was to an operator. Even World Three
hadn’t been that cruel to their own personal navis.
“Rockman,
I’m going to lie down,” he said finally. “If Hika… if my mother returns, tell
her to leave the medicine and such on my desk. And don’t worry about being rude
to her or not.”
“As
you wish, Enzan-sama,” Rockman said doubtfully. Then his tone changed to one of
concern. “Please feel better soon.”
Enzan
smiled, surprised slightly by the genuine worry in Rockman’s voice. “I will
try.”
Mentally
he was trying to figure out what he had learned so far. This is place is too
real to be a nightmare, he thought. Rockman’s told me too much detail
about Hikari’s family that I had no way of knowing. So if it’s not a dream,
then what is it?
He
carefully set Rockman’s PET in the charger and got back into bed, feeling Rockman’s
gaze follow him all the way. As he pulled the covers over his body, he noticed
for the first time the clothes he wore. He was dressed in a pair of red
pajamas, a long-sleeved shirt and pants; his feet bare. The cuffs of his shirt
were frayed slightly at the edges, a detail Enzan noted as he pulled the
blankets over his shoulders. It was surprising, because although his normal
clothes were modest for the son of a rich company president, they were top
quality. Any sign of wear, and he could and usually did replace them. The wear
and tear on the pajamas not only suggested that they had been in use for some
time, but that there was not enough money to replace worn clothing at leisure.
Enzan
closed his eyes, realizing he was reading too much from one pair of clothing.
For all he knew, it could be a favorite pair of pajamas. Still, from what he
had seen of this life so far, it was drastically different from his old one.
The thought made Enzan remember his mysterious situation, and he vowed to get
to the bottom of it. He would have dwelled on it longer, but his eyelids
already felt heavy, and soon he was asleep.
…
…
…
In
the darkness, the machines hummed, buzzed, clicked, and whirled. The only light
came from a single computer screen. This light was obscured by five people bent
over the screen, all of them peering intently at it.
“This
is boring,” one complained loudly. “All the subject did was go back to sleep!”
“Be
patient!” another snapped. “We’ve only just begun the experience. We must give
the subject time to adjust.”
“Indeed,”
a feminine voice said quietly. It belonged to the only woman in the group. She
tapped a few commands on the keyboard in front of her. “His body is still
getting used to it. By sleeping, he will unwittingly allow the computer to make
the complete adjustments without him noticing. You have to remember—”
“Yeah,
yeah,” the first interrupted. “New technology, first test run, all that. I know
that, I just wish something would happen. This is boring.”
“Things
will pick up soon,” someone else said. “You’ll see. Don’t forget who we’re
dealing with. Things will most definitely get interesting soon.”
The
last figure had remained silent throughout the conversation. He watched both
the screen and the rest of the group halfheartedly, for his mind was elsewhere.
His orders were clear, but achieving his goals was going to be harder than he
thought. The deeper he got into this place, the more complicated things got. This
will not be easy, he thought, glancing at the screen. If I am not
successful, the “test subject” will be on his own.
Author’s
notes: Some
things I could not explain in the context of the story without ruining the
effect. The suffixes I used in the story were “sama” (usually translated as
“lord”) and “san” (Mr. or Mrs./Ms.); they are common in the Rockman.EXE anime
and manga, so I did not feel I should explain them during the story. All
suffixes will not be italicized, because I feel it breaks the flow of the name.
In Japan, the family name is always said before a person’s first name when
referring to someone’s full name, such as in introductions, etc. Most other
Japanese words and phrases will either be repeated in English or, in the case
of common suffixes, will be explained at the end of the chapter. Scene changes between "worlds" will be
designated by ( … … …), and scene changes between the
same "world" will be indicated by (-- -- --).
On to Part 2.
Back to the Main Page.