“Roll, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Of course Maylu. Lan is going to be late again!”

I cannot suppress the smile my Navi’s comment inspires in me. Lan is never on time, I’ve gotten used to it. He’s the only kid in our class who, while everyone else is already in their seats, unpacking their books, refreshing notes or nervously finishing homework, will nevertheless postpone his arrival until the delay gets dangerously big.

“Hey, Maylu! Want to bet Lan’ll cross the edge today?” Dex suggests jokingly. I glimpse at the door once and then turn around, briefly refusing his offer.

“No thanks, Dex. Lan’s late every single day, so I know better than to take that bet.” That carries the message I’m not in the mood for his games right now.

“Wise of you, well, that makes sense,” our self-proclaimed class bully concludes, but he tries asking others the same. I return to my preparations, thinking that my words and my hopes don’t match. Again. I couldn’t depend on Lan being on time at school even if he was supposed to actually teach us instead of learning, but at the same time, I wish for the best for him, that this once, for a change, he wouldn’t be late.

I have so many wishes, so many hopes… But so far, not one of them came true.

“Maylu, Miss Mari is coming!” Roll alarms me. I turn to watch the classroom door, which our teacher closes after entering. Everyone’s chat mutes pretty quickly, we track her steps with polite smiles on our faces to welcome our favorite teacher.

Miss Mari puts her folder on her desk and opens our list, then announces in the same fashion she has done it for the last 7 years. “Alright class, let’s check your presence quickly and move on to the lesson. Yai Ayanokouji…”

“Present!” replies our youngest classmate, the rich genius that always holds fancy parties. I listen to the names miss Mari calls out with my eyes on the doorknob, knowing it should move any moment. Two more names and…

“Lan Hikari…” The words come, but he doesn’t. Miss Mari takes a look at our class and spots his empty seat, asking in surprise. “Where’s Lan? Shouldn’t he be with us just about now?”

“Mmm… He’s probably just a bit more late than usual…” I explain in place of the absent Lan, who obviously can’t excuse himself. “Let’s wait for him. He’ll show up for certain.”

“It’s okay, that can happen. Tori Hikawa…” Tori does reply. Dex too. And me, when it comes round to my name. But Lan still doesn’t show up, even after we begin the lesson. He finally appears after 18 more minutes, when we have already started worrying over him. Well, better late than never.

“Sorry sorry sorry!” the bandana boy apologizes. Walking in, he pushes the door open too much and it recoils from the wall, hitting him back! I gasp in worry, but he doesn’t seem badly hurt. After all, he must be okay if he can explain himself the way he does.

“Oww… Not again…” he starts, touching his forehead where the door has hit.

“Lan, it’s all because you hurry so much! The more you do, the more accidents happen to you!” Megaman lectures his operator from his PET.

“No! If you had woken me up on time, none of this would’ve happened!” Lan counters, shifting the blame from himself. There is no denying it though, because we all know what struggles Megaman faces every weekday morning.

“Lan, we’ve been through this ten thousand times. I did try to wake you up!” the Navi replies the way I predicted. They never seem to grow tired of this argument.

“Lan…” miss Mari interrupts them. “I know you have a great excuse, but I’d rather you went to your seat and joined us. Your late arrival cost us enough time already.”

Sighing, still rubbing the hurting spot, the bandana boy gets back to his feet and closes the door normally. He walks to the desk to my left with a defeated look on his face, staring at the floor to avoid our looks. I so wish our eyes could meet for even a brief second, but he sits down as instructed.

(The lesson carries on…)

Our lessons continue roughly uninterrupted, the short breaks not long enough for me to catch Lan’s attention. I finally manage to talk with him at lunch time. All five of us, him, me, Dex, Yai and Tori sit down at one table. Dex is the first to speak up. “So, Lan, what amazing obstacle stopped you from coming today?”

“Like I said, it was Megaman’s fault! He didn’t wake me up on time!” Lan replies and begins to wolf down his lunch. We watch in amazement how he absorbs the rice, chicken, salad and tea, only stopping to throw excuses. “… late from the start… misplaced my clothes… didn’t even eat breakfast… forgot Megaman’s PET … hit my head on the door before leaving home…”

“Lan, stop whining. You really shouldn’t have stayed up so late last night!” his Navi starts anew their usual argument. I listen with little care, though Dex eagerly laughs. Although I pretend to be paying attention, I can barely eat my food. My thoughts drift so far away when I am reminded of how it was before…

Lan wasn’t always late for school. He used to be on time daily, thanks to me coming to check on him. We walked to school together and were always on time… Always had the time to talk on the way. About so many things…

“So anyway, Lan, want to meet up on the net after school?” Dex suggests, biting off a whole chicken leg and spitting just the bone out. It catches my attention, flying across my line of sight, hitting the wall and dropping straight to the garbage bin. The one at the opposite wall, 20 feet away. He loves to show off like that.

“Of course! Count me in, I’ll be there as soon as I get home!” the bandana boy eagerly proclaims.

“La-a-an! What about your homework?” Megaman reminds him, ruining his good mood. Lan exhales and hides his face in his hands, his elbows on the table. I cover my mouth to suppress a giggle – world threats are nothing, but homework is a challenge for Lan anytime.

“Remember Lan, you were very late today. Miss Mari might require you to stay at school longer than usual.” Tori adds, the threat very possible this time.

Suddenly Yai reaches for my hand under the table. Feeling her touch, I glimpse at her briefly to notice a meaningful wink. She then announces “That’s okay, Lan. Don’t worry, we’ll wait for you there.” She sends the same signal to Dex and Tori, then finishes “See you at my homepage, alright?”

Naturally, Lan has no idea what that means. But I do. I remember…

Lan’s birthday is coming up!

After lunch we return to class only briefly. Miss Mari announces the results of our recent exams. Proud at my B and jealous of Yai’s A, I try to guess what the others could have gotten. Tori appears unmoved, but he had to do well, as usual. Dex sweats and mutters complaints under his breath, it seems he’ll have to write it all over again…

I am particularly interested in Lan’s result. When it appears on his screen, he tenses from the previously relaxed position. The hands he had wrapped behind his head now travel to his desk and firmly grasp its edges. He leans forward to shorten the distance and blinks twice. I briefly hold my breath until his lips spread into a smile of happiness, almost euphory, at the grade shown. I exhale in relief, careful not to let him notice. He surely passed.

Well, he wouldn’t have passed if it wasn’t for my help. I warned him about this test a week in advance, even inviting him for a night’s revision at my house. At first I was sure he wouldn’t come, he seemed reluctant about the idea. All the more surprised I was to hear the doorbell and find him waiting outside. That night we studied until midnight, totally losing track of time. He slept over, on our couch, then I woke him up on time for us to get to school for the test. Overall, it now seems my efforts reward me.

“Alright class, that’s it for today. I can tell you can’t wait for vacation to start, but you’ll have to come to school these couple more days. Don’t worry, it’ll be easier, with no more tests or homework…” miss Mari announces. Lan pumps his fist into the air in the victory motion, but she hasn’t finished yet. “… Except for, I am afraid, you, Lan, and you, Dex.”

“Me? Why? I thought I passed the test!” the bandana boy exclaims. He freezes in a pose of shock, opposing the idea with his whole heart and soul. Unfortunately, arguing with the teacher never works.

“Well, yes, but you came late today and I want you to catch up on the material you missed. Don’t worry, it’ll be just two-three lessons this afternoon.” the teacher explains.

“TWO-THREE WHOLE LESSONS?!” he can’t help but yell in surprise. “FOR BEING LATE A MERE 20 MINUTES?!”

“… crowning a year of your masterful attempts at skipping the beginnings of every single day.” miss Mari says. “Sorry, Lan. I am already generous to have you repay your absences on a single day. Do you have any other duties that can’t wait?”

He hesitates, lowering his head before mumbling quietly “I wanted to hang out with friends this afternoon…”

“Your friends will understand school is more important. I asked about your duties, not mere plans to spend your free time. Think of it this way: at least you won’t have to worry about it tomorrow.” the teacher suggests.

Nothing can change Lan’s mind – more school is never good, sooner or later. For us, however, this is an exceptionally good opportunity. Before Lan returns we should already decide how to arrange the party… AND what presents to choose for him.

We rise from our seats, all except Lan free to go. I feel sad watching him lie on his desk like this, as if what awaits him aren’t a few extra hours of learning, but rather, eternal damnation. An idea suddenly hits me – maybe after this he’d be willing to walk with me to school every morning again?

He stopped because he felt he didn’t need my wake ups, but now… He may well change his mind.

I return home and go to my room immediately. I’m all alone: mom’s at work and dad is out, as usual. I climb the stairs and enter my private sanctum, closing the door carefully once in. I lean against the door in a fashion that seems to communicate I fear some intruder. My Navi notices this and asks “Maylu, what are you so careful about?”

“I just… It’s nothing Roll, I just hope nobody can spy on us here. I still don’t know what present I’ll buy for Lan, but I want it to stay a secret until his birthday comes up.” I reply, putting away my purse and reaching for the pink PET at my hip. I turn to the computer, aim the device and announce “First, let’s meet with everyone at Yai’s homepage.”

“Jack in, Roll, execute!”

All of our Navis arrive at the chosen spot, letting us debate via the cyberworld. The discussion is a tough one…

“As always, you can count on me to host the party! I’ll take care of everything!” Yai announces, her famous forehead shinning even across the digital connection. “But remember not to buy for Lan any of Gabcom’s newest video games. I already reserved a whole collection for him!”

“Whoa! Yai, you do that every year! Why not be original for a change?” argues Dex, feeling our options diminish dangerously fast. He also envies Lan because Yai doesn’t buy the same for HIS birthday!

“Says who? You’re the one who always presents him with a one-in-a-lifetime chance to battle you and Gutsman!” the blonde girl declares with striking confidence. Still, it’s only natural we can’t afford any presents like those to which she has access.

“Guts, guts! But each day awaits a new challenge, guts…” Gutsman argues, striking his own chest so that a metallic noise echoes across our net.

“I agree that Lan needs something new for a change. What about you, Maylu?” Tori speaks up from the screen behind his tiny eskimo Navi. “What are you planning to give Lan?”

“Actually… I still don’t know.” I admit to my dilemma. “I’ve known him since childhood but I’ve never really figured out what present he would most like to get.”

“You just don’t understand Lan!” Dex proclaims with certainty. “He’s a man of action! He doesn’t really need any fancy toys, just a good battle to help him stay in shape!”

Hearing his words, I suddenly discover a solution that slipped my mind before. “A battle… or maybe a new battlechip?”

“Hey, that’s a good idea, Maylu!” Roll agrees at once. “That might just work!”

“Right, now that you mention it, I could well enough add one or two to that collection of games…” Yai wonders, making Dex scream out.

“Hey! It was our idea! Why don’t you just…” and he tries to convince her not to change her mind after all. She appears unmoved though, a mischievous smirk passing her face as she moves her head left and right.

“Why don’t we all just get whatever battle ship we can get and present them to Lan? Let’s keep them a secret until the end, that’ll be fair.” Tori proposes. We all accept his solution and begin to ask Yai about the details of her party. We agree it’ll start at 8 pm in the evening so none of our schedules conflict, loosely set the ending time as “after midnight” and pick other people that we’ll invite. Dingo, Shuuko, Chaud, Anetta, Jasmine… All our good friends who are roughly our age. Dex argues we could ignore Chaud as no friend of Lan’s, but Yai badly wants him there, so the beaten class bully gives up.

After a longer while, Megaman joins us. He’s alone because Lan instantly dozed off after returning home! I am almost unable to believe how convenient the events turn out for us. We fill him in and split up for today.

“Maylu, what kind of battlechip we’ll give Lan?” Roll asks me once back in my PET. “I’m certain he has enough of my Navichips by now.”

“We’ll see Roll… I’m not sure yet, but somehow I feel I’ll find the perfect one for him…” I answer with pride, fighting off my doubts. We finished fast, but by no means can I rest. I leave my room and go to the kitchen, starting to make dinner. By the time my parents arrive, it’ll be ready. My thoughts still float around Lan though.

“Lan… I sincerely hope this year will bring a change. May I fulfill your wishes and you fulfill mine too…”