Nice Guys Finish First
Author's Note: Enjoy the story and R&R.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to or of the Rockman EXE series.
Pairings: Pre-slash Netto x Tohru, one-sided Meiru x Netto, one-sided Mary x Netto, unrequited Dekao x Meiru, one-sided Roll x Rockman, one-sided Ring x Rockman. Referenced established Chisao x Kosuke, one-sided Jasmine x Netto, one-sided Pride x Netto, one-sided (canon) Aquaman x Rockman.
Summary:
Hikawa Tohru elects to keep his romantic feelings a secret from his crush, but a tiff between two of Hikari Netto's wannabe girlfriends might just tip the scales in Tohru's favour.
"Why don't you just tell him already? He's not that closed-minded. When Chisao came out, you saw how supportive Netto was!"
Oyama Dekao, his younger sibling, and Hikawa Tohru were walking home from school, a whirl of sakura petals blowing figure eights in the late March zephyrs. Today, it was just the three of them. When they were on their lonesome, the topic of their conversations invariably turned to Tohru's longstanding crush on one Hikari Netto.
"There's a big difference between having compassion for gays and being gay yourself. You love your little brother no matter who he is. That doesn't mean you'd be comfortable if a guy started hitting on you. I mean, how would you like it if I suddenly kissed you?"
Chisao looked to Nii-chama reverently.
"Fair enough. Don't kiss me, by the way. I don't need you to prove it."
"Relax. The day I finally kiss a guy is the day Iceman learns how to troubleshoot without losing focus playing hide-and-seek with Aquaman and making my brand-new laptop explode."
"It exploded, chu?"
"Kablam!" Tohru demonstrated, arms mushrooming. "Otosan went nuclear getting stuck with the bill, haha."
"I said I was sorry, desu!" his roly-poly NetNavi eeped.
"You're hopeless. Bent out of shape for Netto. What's that saying Masa-san muttered before he left? 'There are plenty of fish in the sea'? Buck up and go bag him, or move on and find another tuna!"
"But Masa-san would never surrender Mariko-sensei to Higure-san either, so…"
It was a nugatory, roundabout argument, and they knew it. Tohru could concede his dream boyfriend no more readily than his slacking Navi could perform a half-decent computer analysis on a buggy system.
Whoops, Tohru blurted that bit out loud. Iceman rehashed his apology.
"In my experience, it's better to be upfront."
"You can only claim the one experience. With Chisao-kun."
"And it's been very informative! Chisao is much cheerier with his feelings out in the open. That kid Kosuke stays over practically every night! Video games, video games, video games! Me, I try to sleep while they button mash past their high score on Space Invaders. I swear, it is the worst habit he picked up during his time in Amerope!"
"600,000 and climbing, chu!"
"What a blast," Tohru laughed, not envying Dekao's sleeping arrangements.
"Point is, give Netto a chance, champ. He may surprise you."
"Because if that happens, you'll have Meiru-chan to yourself, heh?"
"Be doin' you a favour!" Dekao ducked the insinuation. "Hey, there they are! Yo, Netto!"
The preteen peace preserver waved lamely. "Hi, Dekao. Chisao. Tohru-kun."
Tohru had to consciously order his kneecaps not to buckle. His crush was crushing him.
Sakurai Meiru and a girl Tohru and Chisao did not recognize – blonde, permed, and dressed in frilly pink frock and purple culottes – were butting heads in a slanderous altercation. Swapping some pretty nasty comments.
"Who's that, chu?"
"Her name is Mary. Towa Mary. She's a foreign exchange student in our class, and she's bunking at Yaito-chan's," Dekao revealed. News to Tohru and Chisao, as they received their education in rooms 6-B and 4-A, respectively.
"Back off, man stealer! I see the angle you're aiming for!" Meiru shrieked, inches shy of breathing fire.
"That's my line, you heart snatcher!" Mary screamed, her repartee identically catty.
Predictably, Meiru's ego tripled in size. "Netto, you agree with me, don't you?"
"No, I am in the right here, aren't I, Hikari-kun?"
Netto's lips were chapped from the knots he twisted them into. "Rockman, what do I do?"
"Search me, Netto-kun." The Blue Bomber shrugged in the cyberworld, facing a similar conundrum.
"Rockman! Quit joking around! Take Meiru-chan's side!" Roll snagged and tugged him towards her.
Her conceited rival pulled him in the opposite direction. "No, listen to me, stunning bishoujo Navi, Ring-chan! Take Mary-chan's side!"
"Ahh, ouch! It hurts! It hurts!" Rockman quailed. He hadn't been this divided since Aquaman became enamoured with him and Roll endeavoured to pry the cutesy puddle pumper off his waist by exercising reverse psychology, hugging him to death. Leave me out of this, please!
The girls' mudslinging boomeranged, increasing in intensity.
Chisao laid low, lily-livered, behind his brother's leg. "W-why are they so upset, chu?"
"No clue. Mary-chan asked whether I could accompany her to Animal Farm, and then Meiru-chan sorta spun outta control. Women are a hassle, huh?"
Incredible. Denser than a Stone Cube, that boy.
"Let's settle this! NetBattle!" Meiru challenged.
"You're on, sister!"
PETs primed, the dames bogarted a nearby phone booth, shooing away its disgruntled tenant mid-chat.
"Plug-in, Roll! Transmission!"
"Plug-in, Ring! Transmission!"
This was how things always were. A revolving cast of soubrettes jousting over Netto's tone-deaf, underused affections. Working a field which included, among others, Meiru, a kung fu pharmacist-in-training, the princess of a whole country, and now Mary, Tohru didn't measure up.
He was invisible to him. A ghost.
Hmph. As the maidens feuded, he sighed to himself.
Three fingers looped around his pinkie.
For a heart-pounding nano, Tohru froze, fighting to keep down a blush. Netto – Netto-kun's holding my hand!
Thank heavens Meiru and Mary were concentrating unflaggingly on the match. If they caught on, he'd surely be a goner.
Choosing bravery, Tohru ventured a whisper, "Dekao-kun told you, didn't he?"
Still staring straight ahead, Netto cracked a smile. "Yep."
Tohru clenched his pearly whites beneath a closed mouth grin. Perhaps he should afford Iceman a second shot mending his laptop after all.