"I'll be sending your report cards home in a week. It's been a wonderful two years with you-here's hoping you all have a great time in junior high!"

Almost every member of Class 6-A erupted into cheers of joy, and energetic chatter soon filled the air. Three of the students were far more subdued. A heavyset boy shoved his books into his backpack and left quickly, avoiding the only empty desk in the room. The two girls that sat near him put their things away slowly, the taller of the two staring at the vacant desk next to her as she slid her books into her black bag. Around them, the other students threw their things into their backpacks and got up to leave Akihara Elementary for the last time.

"We won't have to all use identical backpacks now that we're out of elementary school," the shorter, blonde girl said to break the silence between them. "When we get really loaded down, these cheap little things don't cut it, do they?" She saw only short, red hair, her friend still looking away at that untouched desk. "It'll-be nice to get a designer bag to cart it all around, won't it-" Her babbling came to an abrupt halt as she, too, turned her head to see what her friend couldn't take her eyes off of. There was a thin layer of dust on the desk; its built-in computer had been completely wiped, while a few bits of trash and eraser shavings were still inside its physical pocket. Its user's parents had come the weekend of the bombing to remove any school projects or supplies that had been waiting for a boy who would never use them again.

The redhead had run out of things to put away. She got to her feet, the only sound by now the scrape of her chair; the other students had already left. "Sorry for keeping you here so long, Yaito-chan," she said, sounding almost like nothing was wrong.

"It's my choice," Yaito said, leaving no room for argument. Her friend finally turned to look at her, her eyes a muddy brown without their usual sparkle, a weak smile on her face.

Their teacher had been packing away a few odds and ends as well; now, she came over to her two students. "Meiru-chan, Yaito-chan, I-" She swallowed, and Yaito realized that she was just as fond of their lost friend as Meiru was. After all, he'd been in her classes for almost two years, and saved her life many times besides. "-I just want to tell you how sorry I am that Netto-kun's gone. When I'd been assigned to see you all out of elementary school, I-I was looking forward to seeing you all graduate... together..." She sniffled loudly.

Meiru nodded, still with that weak, fake smile. "Thank you, Mariko-sensei," she said, and Yaito could tell that she meant it. "I'm sure you want to head out. We won't keep you any longer."

"It's not a problem. You know, I wouldn't mind if we walked together for a little while," Mariko-sensei said, wiping at her eyes.

"Sure," Yaito said, though she was also glad that Mariko-sensei would only be accompanying them until she reached her car. Any more of this and she would lose it too, and then Meiru would be sad over Netto and worrying over her, which was the last thing the redhead needed. Yaito had already done her share of crying when she had first turned on her television to see that a series of bombs had exploded aboard a subway car, killing everyone on board. That had included 'Net Savior and local hero Hikari Netto'. There had been many letters from victims' friends and relatives shown flashing across the screen, but it had seemed like one in every three was about Netto. It had surprised Yaito to see how many people her friend had affected. People whose names she didn't even recognize wrote to tell how Netto had saved them from some materialized Navi or other crisis, and that the city wouldn't be the same without him around. It had taken a few minutes of coverage for it to truly hit her that Netto was dead, and when it had she'd burst into tears, unable to turn the television and its sweeping shots of the smoldering wreckage off.

Meiru hadn't gone to school the next day, or even the next week. Nobody answered the door at her house, she couldn't be found around town. It had surprised Yaito when she'd finally shown up, too quiet to make her attempts at 'normal' believable. She talked to her friends, did all of her schoolwork, and even laughed once or twice; but the new quietness was always waiting to sweep over her again.

"So, where are you and your friends going for junior high?" Mariko asked, causing her two students to look up in surprise.

Meiru showed no signs of wanting to start the conversation, so Yaito began, "Dekao's staying in Jawaii for the rest of his schooling. I think he said Chisao wanted to come here, though."

"Maybe you'll get to teach him, Mariko-sensei," Meiru said. "I'm going to the public school, and so is Tohru-kun."

"That's right," Mariko replied. "And I'm sure you're going along with them, right, Yaito?"

Both girls' smiles slipped a bit. "My coming back to Akihara Elementary was just so I could see everybody again. There's an excellent private junior high here in Japan, so I'm going there for now. With a mind like mine, it'll be a breeze! I'll definitely have time to visit, so it won't be as bad as Kingland was."

Mariko smiled. "I think that's the right choice, Yaito-chan. Just be sure to study hard!" She turned. "Well, there's my car. Good luck, both of you."

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Hikari Yuuichirou had told Meiru two theories. The first said that it was a mostly painless death, if the seat Netto had occupied was the one Rockman's PET had been found under. Between the shattered PET screen and the grime in the hardware, nobody was sure if the Navi inside had survived. According to the detectives, his Operator hadn't had much time to react (explaining why Rockman was under a seat in the first place); the ceiling had collapsed from the smaller initial bombs, and he'd suffered a concussion and been rendered unconscious. Whatever had happened to his body afterwards to reduce it to nothing, he hadn't felt anything at all. This had been meant to relieve some of Hikari-hakase and Meiru's sadness, but it didn't. Hikari Netto was dead, and she'd never been exceptionally close to anyone outside of the little group they'd managed to bring together. And with that group about to separate, possibly forever, she felt more alone than ever before.

The second theory-the one the investigators actually believed, in light of the fact that two other bodies hadn't been recovered-made Meiru want to cry all over again. Rockman's PET had simply been knocked from its holster in the explosion, skidding under the seat by chance. Netto and those two other missing people had tried to get help. Blindly, they had staggered into the depths of the subway tunnels, burned and bleeding and hurt beyond rational thought. They might not have even been together. Alone, searching for his family or friends or someone, anyone who would help, Netto had succumbed to his wounds. He'd collapsed, the life draining out of him, so far into the tunnel system that there was little hope of finding him before something or someone else did. And only then, alone, did he die.

She tried to tell herself to get some perspective in hopes that it would make her feel less sad. What she felt had to be nothing compared to Netto's family. The last time she'd seen either of her friend's parents, Hikari-hakase's unkempt hair and stubbled face had been in extreme contrast to his normal appearance. He'd been trying to recover Rockman's data almost single-mindedly, obsessed with finding something salvageable in the damaged components. It was like getting the Navi back was all that mattered; when Roll had mustered up the courage to ask about the funeral, he'd just mumbled something about 'Haruka's handling it' and returned to hunching over the tangle of parts, the melted husk stripped away to the side. Meiru had often wondered if recovering a Navi from such a damaged PET was even possible in the weeks following that visit, and if she and Roll would ever see Rockman again, much less set foot in the Ministry of Science.

"Meiru-chan?" The redhead looked down at Roll, startled out of her thoughts. "There's an e-mail for you. It's about... well..."

"Open it." Meiru read it in silence. "It's in two days."

She didn't have an all-black dress in her closet, and she didn't feel like leaving the house. It would have to wait until the next day. She laid back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. School always left her feeling drained now; at least she wouldn't have to go to that same classroom, always staring at his empty desk close to hers. That would help, not having any more reminders of him. Next year, someone else would sit in that desk, like Netto had never even been there. In middle school, she wouldn't miss it when he dozed off in the middle of history and she had to nudge him awake-which got her in trouble along with him if they got caught. What kind of nut would miss something like that? It was never like it was her fault when she got in trouble, it was always his. That wasn't entirely true; but whenever she got them in trouble, she almost never remembered to say sorry. She'd never get the chance now. Meiru watched as the ceiling blurred above her. She wiped at her face, wondering why she was crying when she was sick and tired of all these tears. Ever since he'd died, she felt like she'd been doing nothing but crying.

"It's been almost two weeks," she hissed, sitting up and wiping the second round of tears away with frustration. "I'm over it, I'm over it, I'm over it!"

"Meiru-chan..." Roll's pity just frustrated Meiru more; usually, it was followed by some kind of half-hearted reassurance that Meiru knew wasn't true. Nothing would change this, or make it better. All she could hope to do was push it away-was push Netto away. She couldn't bear the thought for long.

"Dresses," Meiru said after a minute. "Roll, I..." She took a shaky breath. "I'll go out to the store and find a dress. Let's go."