Ishihara Residence

"Hate the crap they give you to start out with," muttered Kazu as he slipped one of Oberon's favorite chips into the PET, watching with satisfaction as it prompted the white Navi to fly into an elaborate maneuver. "The least they could do is give you a bunch of Minibombs, a couple guards, maybe a few elemental chips."

Kazu pressed a few buttons and the viewpoint on the laptop screen zoomed out to include Kitt, who mercifully had appeared some distance away from the melee. "Incoming," he said, pointing to three oncoming Metools on the screen. Kazu was obviously worried; Jean hadn't done any operating since she came out of her coma.

Jean watched her precious navi as she entered the battlefield. Jean's whole mind was in the battle, she needed to concentrate. Though she had played many strategy games as a child and well into adulthood, she had become more reclusive and found herself cleaning instead of battling like she had before her coma.

She muttered quick and precise orders to Kitt, explaining exactly how to conduct herself in battle. Kitt already knew most of the information Jean was throwing at her, but she listened anyway, sure not to miss anything.

At the end of a long train of commands, Jean finished with, "Go." Kit immediately started in action, throwing herself at the targets in front of her, even though Oberon had attacked many of the virii already. Jean said nothing for the rest of the battle as she watched her intelligent program function without her.

Jean was proud of herself, her navi was like Kitt in every way. With an ear-piece in her ear, Jean could hear every sound Kitt made, including the grunts and grins that escaped her. She had tuned them perfectly to the sounds she had known for as long as she could remember.

Kitt had been there since Jean was three, and Jean remembered nothing before the first day she met Kitt. It was her first memory, and only two hours after her precious little sister was born. Kitt's wide eyes were the gray of a newborn baby's. They stared at Jean with youthful innocence that never leaked out of them. Even on her deathbed, with Jean standing right over her sick little sister, Kitt's youth shone threw her tired eyes and straight into Jean's heart. It made it that much harder for Jean to let go of her childish Kitt.

Jean zoned out during the battle, not realizing that she had at all. Her eyes were still fixed on the laptop screen, but her mind had drifted. This was a rare thing for Jean, but she was not worried. She snapped back to attention, realizing that Kitt.EXE was still in battle. She was doing perfectly.

"Kitt would be proud," said Kazu quietly as he watched his wife's Navi perform. He wondered, how much of the real Kitt was in that little Navi, and how much of it was only being inserted there in appearance by Jean?

Jean stared at the computer screen, figuring what to say. "I'm sure she would've." What she said often sounded like she was being irritated, but that was simply how she was. Jean was distraught over her sisters death, and no matter how life-like her Navi was, she would never come over on the second Thursday in May just to have coffee. She would never call Jean and send her flowers because Kitt could hear sorrow in Jean's voice. She would never jump out of that computer and look at the ants and pull the leaves of the grass or hug Jean until Jean turned bright red from embarrassment. It would just never happen again.

Kitt, thankfully, had escaped, but now Titania and Oberon had other problems. "I would wait before sending her back in," said Kazu, a little worried, as he listened to the conversation ungolding in his earpiece.

Kazu sneered as he saw Titania gesture to be removed from battle. Before she left, though, she left a nasty surprise for Shinokami. Perhaps it would delete him. Wouldn't that be nice.

Jean found herself on the couch, a pillow snuggled under her head where Kazu's leg had been when he was still net battling. Obviously the battle was over now, as his laptop was closed on the coffee table. Groggy, she sat up slowly and walked into the kitchen.

The tile floor was slippery as her foot slid a little when she stepped on it. The white tile and wooden cabinets were so welcoming to her, it had been too long since she had been home. As always, a soda can was left open on the table, and Jean smiled to herself. Not a muscle on her face moved. Kazu always drank too much soda. Soon his teeth would go. It was a good thing that he always brushed his teeth.

Next to the empty can of grape soda there was a yellow lined post it stuck to the table. "Jean," it read, "I had to run out to get the dry cleaning. I'm sorry I forgot for so long. You reminded me of it after the battle. I'm so sorry I forgot for a month. I'm getting it now, I promise. I love you, Kazu."

Jean looked at the note, amazed that Kazu had remembered at all. He was supposed to pick it up the day before she left, but he promised to do it the day after. At least he was getting it now.

Jean woke up her PET and sat on the couch. "Kitt," she said quietly, "Are you there?"

Kazu tapped out a message quickly so that he didn't have to take his eyes off of the grandstanding kid in the subway station for very long. He was going to make a fool out of this kid, and he wanted everyone to see it.

Some punk issued an open challenge in the station. Not gonna let this stand. Be home as soon as I'm done cleaning up the neighborhood.

Love, Kazu.

Jean read the message quickly. "Kitt, listen to me."

The Navi's head turned toward Jean and smiled. 'Course Jean. What's up?

"Go find Oberon and Titania and see if you can talk to Kazu. I want you to join the battle if you can. I will let no one come and ruin the peace in my home." Jean paused for a moment, thinking. Quickly she added, "And don't let him forget about the dry cleaning."

Having spent the better part of an hour operating his Navi(s) when he should have been finishing with his errands, Kazu checked the time and sighed. Jean would be upset. She probably would do a damn good job of not letting it show that she was upset with him, but Jean was nevertheless going to be upset.

"Oberon?" He said to the rock concert poster outside the metro station. "You too, Titania. I'm going to be away for a while. Keep Kitt safe." He slipped his PET into his inner coat pocket and then pressed a button on his earpiece so that he would not be disturbed by the sounds of battle, but would still recieve a direct line from a Navi.

As he picked up the groceries and headed to the dry cleaners', Kazu simultaneously pressed a different button and said, "Jean." The gadget replied with a dial tone, and connected him to Jean.

"I'm coming home," he said. "And I've got the dry cleaning."

Jean ended the conversation with Kazu after she heard what he had to say. There was really no reason to reply. She simply watched Kitt participate in the netbattle with Oberon. She munched on some left over chinese noodles that were in the fridge and watched the battle that was playing on her screen. It was like watching a movie where everything was in cyber space and you could actually tell the actors what to do. It was quite entertaining.

Kitt and Oberon were currently waiting for the next set of virii, and Jean was slowly getting a little bored. At least Kazuhiro was finally coming home. It took him forever just to get the dry cleaning, but she understood the circumstances. He wanted to battle that "punk," but he never showed. Some virii did though, so they still battled.

Jean relaxed on the sofa, laying back down. She had sat on this sofa since she woke up, with one exception. Perhaps Kazu could take her out to dinner or something, in celebration of her return. Unlikely though, since she wouldn't bring it up. It didn't particularly matter, as long as she ended up sleeping in her bed for the first time since she had gotten home with him. That would be good enough.

Just as she had gotten comfortable and reasonably bored, she heard the knock on her door. Her heart skipped; Kazu was home early? It couldn't be, he just called not two minutes ago. She didn't know where he was, so it could be him, but it was most likely not.

She forced herself to get up when she didn't hear the keys in the door rattling. Her body was lazy and she didn't want to get up, but whoever it was at the door knocked again.

When she looked through the door, her heart stopped. It absolutely could not be. Mitsue stood there, wrapped up in bandages and grinning, on her front step.

The station was just far enough to be a difficult walk while carrying a lot of groceries, and just close enough to make driving a waste. So, Kazu, being the environmentally aware citizen that he was, walked.

It felt like it was forever. Taking Jean back home had been a dream, one that he wanted to get back to. He hope she'd approve of his greatly improved cooking abilities, too, he thought.

Jean's jaw dropped. Not as much as the exaggerated cartoons showed, but just enough to make her closed mouth slip open. She reached out a hand to touch Kitt. Something was wrong. Jean just went to her funeral not two months ago, and here she was, standing at her door.

Kitt flinched when Jean touched her shoulder. She was solid, not some ghost from the accident. "Ouch. Jean watch out, I'm still a little sore from my bruises." Somehow, Kitt's voice was different. Jean noticed, but didn't give it much thought. It was still Kitt.

Jean welcomed Kitt inside and sat her on the couch as Jean ran into the kitchen to make tea. She didn't know why she was making tea, as neither Kitt nor Jean liked it much. She just needed to do something in her anxiousness.

After starting the hot water, she eagerly stepped back into the living room and sat on the couch. Kitt looked at Jean, and then looked away.

"I'm so happy that you're alive and okay," Jean said to her sister. "I realy thought you were gone for good."

Kitt turned her blue eyes back towards Jean and said, "You know, if you hadn't moved so far away in this icy wasteland with that idiot, I never would have crashed."

Jean froze. Her sister's words were harsh, though her voice was conversational. "Wh- What- What do you mean?" Jean studdered. Surely Kitt wasn't blaming her accident on Jean. Kitt would never do that.
"You know what I mean. It was on these frozen roads that I had my accident. I was coming to see you." Kitt's voice started to match the venom in her words. They made Jean shudder.

"But you were in the SciLabs. I went to the hospital there to see you. You weren't anywhere near Sharo." jean tried frantically to make sense of this. It could not be happening.

"Jean, you idiot. I asked the hospital to take me somewhere far from here and tell you I had crashed there. I didn't want you to feel guilty. But I thought about it and I realized how much you should know about your ignorance."

She couldn't believe it. Jean was apalled at her sister's bitterness and hatred. Kitt had never said any such words to Jean, ever. Jean had never seen Kitt like this.

It's all your fault.

It's all your fault.

It's all your fault.

It's all your fault.

The words echoed in her head until Jean wanted to scream. It wasn't her fault. she didn't even know!

"You didn't even realize that your sister was in danger." Kitt's mouth moved to the words, but it wasn't her voice that said it. It was her own mind's voice that made those deadly words.

No! Jean felt the insides of her soul tear as she tried desperately to ward off the ever-growing guilt.

She screamed. She let it out, finally. She screamed and screamed until her voice grew hoarse.

Then she heard soft singing. A lullaby. A soft tune that she was familiar with, but didn't recognize.

Kazu slipped quietly into the house, leaving the groceries on the kitchen table. The door slammed behind him and he winced as he realized that Jean was sleeping on the sofa. With as much stealth as he could manage, Kazu crept up to where she was dozing and sat next to her. She couldn't have been sleeping for very long; she had been operating Kitt minutes ago. With a small smile he ran a hand through her long hair.

Something was troubling her, he could tell. Her face twisted and clenched as if in pain. Worriedly, Kazu woke her up by placing his hand gently on her shoulder and whispering in her ear. "Come on," he cooed. "I'm home, Jean."

Jean was uneasy for a little while before growing comfortable in the lullaby. She opened her eyes.

"Kazu!"" She was so relieved. She hugged his arm and refuse to let go.

Kazu frowned as he saw the email out of the corner of his eye, but his attention was quickly diverted away from it.

Mostly. The content was troubling... he hoped that the trouble could wait for a few minutes. He might have been worried, but he also sense how troubled his wife was.

Pushing aside his instinct to immediately run out and help his old friend, Kazu looked curiously at Jean. "What's wrong?" He said finally, placing a hand on her shoulder and trying to look into her eyes. "Everything's all right, isn't it?"

"Yes." Jean's voice was a little shakey, but it was subtle. She continued to hold on to Kazu's arm. She noticed that Kazu was a little distracted, but she paid no mind. Right now Jean was feeling especially selfish, and especially shaken.

Jean laid there in thought, thinking about the two people in this world that she loved most. One was deceased. One had blamed everything on her in her dream. One had cracked the code into her heart. Kitt introduced her to Kazu. Kitt told her about people, animals, and all sorts of imaginary creatures. Kitt had always known everything.

And here was Kazu. Always. He was always here, holding her in his soft arms and waiting for her to run out of tears while she soaked his shoulder. He had cracked the code too, with help. He was always happy with her, and she was always happy with him. She would never let him go. He couldn't go. She'd lose everything if he went. She would hold on to his arm forever, and he would never leave her; never die. Never leave her to be alone.

She clutched his arm tighter.

Gently, Kazu turned his body so that he could comfort her, running his fingers down her back in a way that he knew would please her. Sometimes he was afraid that their relationship was empty, an echo of something lost with their teenage years. This was not one of those times. Kazu didn't know what Jean could possibly have dreamt of that would make her so upset, but he had an idea. Two things had a tight grip on his wife's heart, and one of them was him. The other...

Kazu placed his hand under Jean's chin, and kissed her. He wanted to whisper that it was all right, that he would always be there, that anything she needed, he could give-- but it would have sounded hollow and untrue. His kiss would have to do.

As he drove home from SciLabs, Kazu reflected on the days behind him. He was starting a new chapter, creating a new beginning. Every time before, his Navi had been bred for combat from day one, but this child was too human for that.

Human. Toshokan had been a machine that dreamt of being human. Maybe he would meet that particular program again. He wasn't sure if he looked forward to it.

All Kazu knew now was that he could feel the fresh newness of the next chapter of his life entering. No foreboding. No hatred. No ghosts to cloud his vision, at least not until he was good and ready for them. He was coming home to his wife, with a new friend who embodied perfectly everything that he felt. The smile that crept across his face made him feel warm and fufilled as he clamped his PET into the holster on the dashboard and activated it for the first time.

Hello, my name is Memoriam-- nice to meet you, Mr. Ishihara! The Navi's voice was high-- boyish, one would say. His exceptional appearance fit perfectly the refreshing and lighthearted feeling he brought to the car's interior.

"You can call me Kazu," said Kazuhiro sagely, returning his attention to the road. Memoriam... the name was ironic.

Jean watched television, not really paying attention to it as she waited for Kazu to return home. He called her earlier; he was leaving Scilabs. He should be home in a few hours. What was she going to do until then?

Just as she flipped open her pet to talk to Kitt, the doorbell rang. Kazu couldn't possibly be home already-- who was at the door?

Jean opened her door, the light from outside blindingly bright to her eyes. The tinted windows did their job well; keeping the light and heat out of the house. Her eyes hurt for a few moments before she could properly see the paper boy standing at her door.

"Yes?" Jean's voice was soft spokn, but not very welcoming. It wasn't so much that she didn't want him around as much as her voice was just that way. She didn't mind the boy.

"Um... Mrs. Ishihara, could I, um, come in?" His voice faltered a little, like he was being shy. He looked earnestly at her, big round eyes pleading.

She nodded, and the short boy stepped into the house and made way to the couch. "Is, um, Mr. Ishihara, uh, here?" Often he put incomprehensible pauses between words, like he didn't know how to continue his sentence.

Jean shook her head once, analyzing him in her mind. He was short, as she had seen in the door, her had not had his growth spurt, and if he had, he didn't grow very much. His hair was short, but long enough to fall almost flatly on his head. His hair was colored brown and bleached blond, his face small and round. His eyes seemed almost dominant on his face, but when he smiled nervously, it rivaled his wide eyes. His teeth were white and his lips were quite pink in contrast. his nose was wide but still small, his face was almost flat. He had mostly Asian features with the exception of his unusually wide eyes. He wore a white T-shirt with khaki cargo shorts and wide, brown shoes that were left untied. He was thin, with just barely tanned honey-brown skin that seemed to soak up energy and make the world around him a little more dull than before. Overall he had a boyish look to him, though he couldn't be less than fourteen years old.

Before Jean realized it, he had asked her a question. "What was that?" She asked politely, wanting to be a good host, but not used to other's company.

"Why don't you guys have children?" He paused for only a second. "I mean, uh, I wouldn't want to overstep any boundaries, but I, uh, was just wondering, you know, 'cause I, uh, yeah." He closed his mouth and looked away, obviously being shy.

Jean was taken aback by the question. Children? She had never really considered actually having children-- she had always had Mitsue, her kiddish little sister. "I don't know." Her voice was quiet and stony, with no feeling in it at all. The conversation dropped dead quiet and remained there, awkward and apparent.