Haruka turned her head when she heard the front door open "Netto? Is that you?"
"I'm home, Mama," was the tired response, immediately worrying her.
"Welcome back," she replied, setting the ladle in her hand to the side "Amai-chan: ten minutes, please."
"Of course, Haruka."
After wiping her hands on a dish towel, Haruka walked out of the kitchen, catching her son halfway up the stairs "Netto?"
"Hmm?"
"What happened?"
Netto came to a stop, turning his head slightly to glance over his shoulder "Eh? What do you mean, Mama? Nothing happened."
"That might work on everybody else, Netto" she started, coming to stand at the foot of the stairs, eyes boring into her son's back "but I'm your mother and I know you better than that. What happened?"
The boy was silent for a moment, refusing to turn towards her.
Haruka placed one foot on the bottom step "You ran out of the house so abruptly, I was worried, I still am."
She reached up to gently grasp one of Netto's hands "What's going on, Netto?"
Silence reigned for a moment before a light sniffle had Haruka tugging on her son's arm, forcing him to turn around.
Netto's eyes were shining with tears that he valiantly held back until his mother pulled him down and off the steps, into her arms.
"What happened?"
He sniffled again before pulling away slightly "I…I had a fight with Rockman."
"Oh, honey, whatever for?"
"Because…because I'm mad at Meiru-chan," he wiped at his eyes "and Rockman took her side."
Haruka pulled him into the living room to sit on the couch, stroking his hair soothingly "Why are you mad at Meiru-chan?"
"She came in to school today with a weird hat and was acting really suspicious about it," Netto explained "I pulled it off and her hair looked funny and it made me laugh. Well, I tried not to, but…"
He sniffed again, rubbing his eyes harder in a vain attempt to stop the tears "She got mad…"
"Mm, I'd imagine so," Haruka mused "but that still doesn't explain-"
"She…she deleted my homework."
Things became still as his mother processed the information.
She blinked "I'm sorry, Netto, but did I hear you right; Meiru-chan deleted your homework?"
"Yeah..."
"Because you laughed at her silly hairstyle?"
"Yeah, but-"
"What does this have to do with Rockman?" Haruka interrupted, pulling away to see Netto better "For that matter, where did you just come from? Is that in any way relevant to what happened?"
"Um, well," Netto scratched his head, pulling his bandana off "Gutsman contacted me and Rockman not too long ago; he said that Fireman had given Roll an email to give to Rockman."
"What did it say?"
"It was a challenge for me and Rockman, from Fireman and his operator."
"And who are they?"
"They're, umm…" Netto hesitated "they're part of World Three; they're the ones that made the oven explode."
Netto watched his mother's face pale, glancing over her shoulder at the kitchen.
Her mouth opened and closed for a few seconds before she turned her head towards her son again "Continue."
"Um, Gutsman said that Roll and Meiru-chan were going to go in our place…because they wanted revenge for Fireman overheating the dryer that ruined Meiru-chan's hair."
Haruka folded her arms "And that's where you went? To help her?"
"Not of my own free will," Netto grumbled, tossing his bandana onto the coffee table.
"So…?"
"Rockman wanted to go, he wanted to help Roll," he rubbed his eyes roughly, as fresh tears started to burn his eyes "And I…I..."
"Wanted to make sure Rockman was safe," his mother finished for him "Yuichiro-san said it was almost impossible to create backups for him, since his coding is much more complex than other Navis."
Netto nodded "I don't like backups; it's like saying one of your friends is easily replaceable."
Haruka smiled, tugging her son closer to her side "So, what happened when you left earlier?"
He sniffled, resting his head on her shoulder.
"You were worried about me?" Meiru asked, smiling softly at Netto "That's why you came to rescue me."
Netto stared at her for a moment; what was with the expression?
Did she think that he'd forgotten what she'd done this morning?
Because she made the stupid decision to fight Fireman on her own?
"Th…that's not it at all!" he cried, moving around her to the console, where all their Navis were gathered on screen "Rockman!"
"Netto-kun!" the blue, burn-covered Navi responded from beside Roll.
"What happened?" the brunet asked as he connected his PET to the terminal, Rockman moving back into the device.
Rockman laughed nervously, his burns disappearing as a recovery chip was slotted in "J-just an unfortunate run-in with a Fire Tower."
"Netto!" Meiru's voice startled Netto, making him turn toward the irate redhead "Stop ignoring me!"
Netto stared at her blankly, before turning back to Rockman and looking over his stats.
"Rrrr!" she growled, clenching her hands into fists.
"Netto-kun, it's not nice to ignore Meiru-chan," Rockman admonished.
He didn't respond, placing his PET in its holster and turning to walk out of the room.
"Netto-kun!"
Meiru ran ahead of Netto, standing in front of him with her arms spread out "Netto!"
"What?"
"What's with the attitude?!"
Netto stared at her, unimpressed, before she growled again "Why do you always have to be this way?! You're so mean!"
"Excuse me?"
The redhead blinked, surprised by the sharp retort.
"I'm so mean? Why, because I don't feel like talking to you?" Netto continued, trying not to raise his voice "What about earlier when you deleted my homework and got me in trouble with Mariko-sensei? That wasn't mean?"
"You deserved it!" Meiru yelled back, stabbing a finger in Netto's face "you laughed at me!"
"So did he!" Netto stated, pointing to the side, where a dizzy Dekao was sat in a roll-away chair "I didn't see you deleting his homework!"
Meiru glared "That's different!"
"How?" the brunet crossed his arms "Why does he get away with laughing at your stupid hairdo?"
The redhead growled, face turning red.
"Yeah, I thought so," Netto declared, walking around her and out the door.
"Netto-kun!" Rockman cried, surprised by his operator's temper "Go back!"
"Why?" the boy asked, pulling his PET out to look his Navi in the eye "I worked hard to get that assignment done!"
"You shouldn't be fighting with your friend!" Rockman protested "Why can't you make up with her?"
Brown eyes narrowed "I just said why: I worked hard on that assignment and she deleted it over something stupid."
"You shouldn't have laughed at her!"
"I'm sorry for laughing at something I found amusing," Netto said sarcastically "but I couldn't help it."
"Go back and apologize!"
"Whose side are you on?!"
Rockman flinched, taken aback "What…"
Netto's hands clenched tightly around the PET "How can you…how can you defend her when she…she…"
"Netto-kun-"
"No," angry tears stung Netto's eyes "you obviously think I did the worst thing ever and have no right to be angry and should just forgive her-"
"Wait, Net-"
"-for deleting my homework-"
"Netto-"
"-so why don't you stay here with her! You'll have all the time in the world to talk about how much of a bad guy I am and get to spend time with Roll!" he declared with a sardonic smile, a tear trailing down his cheek.
Rockman stared at him for a moment, shocked, before the PET was placed on the ground and Netto was racing out of the building, ignoring any and all calls for him to come back.
Haruka stroked her son's hair as fresh tears fell down his face.
"It's not fair," he said, hugging his mother tightly "why am I the only one who did something wrong?"
"Shh," his mother soothed, wiping his tears away "It'll get sorted out soon enough."
She moved to stand, tugging Netto along with her "Dinner's almost ready, so why don't you go wash up?"
"Okay."
"And we can go get ice cream after dinner, okay?" Haruka promised, ruffling her son's hair lightly.
Netto smiled, squeezing her waist lightly "Thanks, Mama."
Sometime later, after dinner and a trip to a nearby ice cream shop, Haruka was composing an email on her PET when a knock on the front door interrupted her.
"It's getting late, I wonder who that could be?"
"Well, unless it's someone trying to rob us, I can only think of one person…"
A slight laugh escaped Haruka "Really, Amai-chan…"
The door was opened to reveal a familiar red-haired girl wearing a green, lampshade-like hat and holding a PET in her hands.
"Meiru-chan, what a surprise," she greeted, leaning against the doorway "I was wondering if you'd come over."
Meiru looked surprised "Were you expecting me?"
"Well, I was hoping you'd at least bring Netto's PET back," the older woman answered, tilting her head to the side "but I wasn't sure whether to expect you or not, considering what Netto told me."
The redhead let out a huff "And what did he say?"
"He told me you deleted his homework."
"He deserved it!" Meiru replied indignantly "Netto pulled off my hat and laughed at my hair! Both him and Dekao-kun!"
"Hmm," Haruka stepped outside, closing the door behind her "I remember Netto mentioned something about Dekao-kun; did he get in trouble for laughing at you?"
"Eh!" Meiru took on a panicked expression for a moment, before lowering her head, avoiding Haruka's gaze "Um, well…Dekao-kun…"
"Did you delete his homework as well?"
After a few moments of silence, Haruka's eyes narrowed slightly "Meiru-chan, I asked you a question."
The younger girl flinched, not used to being spoken to in such a stern tone "Um…"
She looked to Rockman in his PET, who seemed just as uncomfortable with the situation as her.
"Sakurai Meiru!"
"N-no…I didn't delete Dekao-kun's homework," she finally admitted.
"Then, if you didn't delete his homework in retaliation, what did you do?"
"We…w-we…"
"We went to the arcade after school," Roll answered from Meiru's waist, voice small in the face of an irate mother "Meiru-chan and Dekao-kun played whack-a-mole together."
Haruka stared at the girl's green-clad head before bringing a hand up, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a deep breath "So, let me get this straight, Meiru-chan…"
The younger girl cringed, hands clutching Rockman's PET tightly.
"Both boys laughed at the way your hair looked, correct?"
"Y-yeah…"
"Netto got his homework deleted over it, while Dekao-kun got to play video games with you after school, is that right?"
"W-well…I…I…"
"It's a simple yes-or-no question, Meiru-chan: either yes, that is what happened, or-"
"Yes, that's what happened."
Haruka placed her hands on her hips "Alright, then, why is that?"
"I…I don't…" Meiru mumbled "He…Netto…pulled my hat off…"
"Does that give you the right to delete his work?" Haruka asked, leveling a stern look at the redhead "Does it give you the right to get him in trouble?"
"N-no…"
"Mama-"
"Quiet, Rockman," Haruka answered firmly, making the Navi flinch "You'll have your own talk once I'm done speaking with Meiru-chan."
"What? Why?"
"I believe over a fight the two of you had before he came home," the older woman remarked coolly "Something about you taking Meiru-chan's side."
Rockman balked "But I-I just…"
"Can't I just apologize?" Meiru asked in a small voice, looking up at the taller woman, some small bit of hope in her eyes.
"Would you mean it?" Haruka asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest "Or are you just saying it in the hopes you'll be forgiven? Do you really think an 'I'm sorry' would be enough to make up for the time and effort Netto put into the assignment you so spitefully threw away?"
The redhead lowered her head again, giving a light sniff.
A hand rested on her head for a moment before Rockman's PET was tugged out of her hands "Now, Meiru-chan, I believe it's time for you to go home; it's late and you have school in the morning."
Meiru gave a jerky kind of nod "Y-yeah…"
"Netto won't be going to school tomorrow," the front door was opened, Netto's mother stepping back inside "I don't think he'll be feeling well in the morning."
"R-right…"
"Goodnight, Meiru-chan."
And the door was shut, leaving the redhead feeling small and alone until Roll managed to coax her to head home.
A sigh was released, as Haruka locked the front door, bringing the hand with the PET up to look at the blue Navi within.
Rockman appeared to still be flabbergasted at the idea that his defending Meiru could warrant his operator's mother's ire "Mama-"
"Rockman, it's late and I already had to not only comfort my son but also scold his friend in place of her parents," the brunette interrupted, walking into the living room "I don't want to hear whatever excuse you have for thinking Meiru-chan should be easily forgiven for what happened."
He cringed "But-"
"Amai-chan," Haruka ignored his attempt, picking up her own PET to address her Navi "Did we finish the email?"
"Yes, Haruka," the pink NormalNavi responded, showing said message onscreen "I'm ready to take it to Mariko-sensei."
Mariko-sensei? Rockman thought, watching Haruka nod at Amai.
"Send it."
"I'll be back in a moment," the pink Navi stated, leaving her PET.
Haruka proceeded to turn out the lights, moving upstairs and quietly opening the door to her son's room.
Netto was fast asleep, curled up under his blanket in such a way that made his mother smile; he would protest but he was still her cute baby boy.
Rockman's PET was inserted into its charging station, the Navi watching her smooth Netto's hair before leaving the room to go to bed.
I don't understand, he thought, looking at his sleeping operator I just wanted them to stop fighting; Netto-kun wouldn't listen.
"Cancel your morning alarm," Amai said from behind him, startling the blue Navi.
"Wh-what? Why?"
"Because Netto's not going to be feeling well in the morning," she said, crossing her arms "Haruka will want him to rest."
Rockman was confused "But I've never seen Netto-kun get sick, how do you-"
"Netto doesn't normally get sick, that's true," Amai interrupted "But he was crying quite a bit when he got home earlier and the last time he cried that much, he ended up with a slight cold."
"O-oh…" Rockman shifted uncomfortably, not sure what to say, before a thought occurred to him "What was the email to Mariko-sensei about?"
"She is being informed of what happened with Netto's homework."
"Uh!" the blue Navi startled "But-"
"What that girl did was inexcusable," Amai stated firmly "and she certainly shouldn't get away with just a scolding."
"But-"
"Haruka and I hope Mariko-sensei will have an appropriate punishment," she continued, ignoring the other's attempts to speak "I can't imagine she'd be too happy to learn one of her students deleted another's homework, no matter the reason."
"Hasn't Meiru-chan been through enough?" Rockman protested "She just got scolded by Mama, after an argument with Netto-kun, helping Roll-chan fight Fireman, and being laughed at because her hair was ruined by a hair dryer."
The other Navi stared at him, the stunned silence being the only indication of her shock.
"I'm sorry," she finally managed to say, "I'm afraid I don't follow; has she been through enough?"
The blue Navi nodded.
"Well, let's see," Amai started "she got scolded because she deleted Netto's homework, which was unnecessarily callous-"
Rockman winced.
"- Netto had an argument with her because he was still upset about that," she stated matter-of-factly "surprisingly enough, it actually takes time (longer than a mere school day, I'd imagine) for someone to forgive another for something like that."
He ducked his head, running a hand over his helmet.
"I can't imagine where they got the idea that fighting a WWW agent over something as trivial as a bad hair day was a good idea; especially one that, at one point, was going around setting people's homes on fire."
"Umm, well..."
"In fact, if what Netto said was true, you and he were the ones that battled that same Navi when he set fire to Meiru-chan's house," Amai continued "so I can't imagine where they got the idea that they were in any way capable of taking him on, one-on-one."
"Roll-chan managed to beat him!" Rockman objected indignantly.
"All by herself?"
"Yes!"
She tilted her head "So, if you were to share your memory with me, I'd see Roll-chan defeating this Fireman by herself, with no help from you."
He faltered "Ah..."
"You could make this easier on yourself and just show me what happened," she commented "why waste time with explanations when you can just share your memory?"
He was silent for a few moments, before sighing in defeat.
The blue Navi stepped towards the shorter one, ducking his head to link their ear pieces together, transferring his memories of what happened from when he got to the meeting place to when Netto left him behind.
"Hmm," Amai mused "so, they did need help, after all."
Rockman cringed.
"The way you so adamantly defended them, I was under the impression that it was an easy win," she crossed her arms "and, yet, not only did you have to deflect what was an easily avoidable attack as soon as you got there, you also had to push her out of the way of a Fire Tower she could have gotten out of the way of on her own."
"Roll-chan-"
"And got injured in the process," she continued "you should have let it hit her and worried about yourself."
"Roll-chan could have been deleted!"
"So could have you!" Rockman leaned back slightly to avoid the finger suddenly being pointed at his face "Did that cross your mind; that you could have been deleted instead of her? Do you have any idea what that might have done to Netto?"
Green eyes blinked, confusion showing at the mention of his operator "Netto-kun?"
"Yes, Netto," the pink Navi placed her hands on her hips "Do you have any idea how badly your deletion could affect him?"
"Well…"
"You're the reason he even went to help," she explained "he was worried about you."
"But…Meiru-chan-"
"Got herself into that situation," Amai stated firmly "she's the one who decided to go into a fight she wasn't prepared for; she's the one who put her NetNavi at risk, not Netto."
"If we had gotten the message, he would have."
"Perhaps," she conceded "but Netto is confident in both your strength and his ability to support you. How long did it take Meiru-chan to start supporting her Navi? Did she try to protect Roll-chan before you showed up? What was the first thing Netto did as soon as he was able to establish a connection with you again?"
"He…" Rockman looked to the side, at a screen that showed the outside world "he healed me…"
Netto was still curled up beneath the bed covers, facing the PET.
The blue Navi studied the sleeping face, finding a lack of tear marks but the areas around his eyes and nose were still red from where he had been rubbing them.
"I…I think earlier was the first time…I'd ever seen Netto cry," he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly "And that was my fault…"
"You can apologize in the morning; after he's woken up on his own."
The PET's alarm clock was brought up, Rockman disabling it for the next day.
The pink Navi nodded, satisfied "And it had better be a sincere apology," then she was gone, heading back to her PET to rest.
Author's Notes
Just an idea I had after watching episode 8 and thinking how I or anyone else would have reacted to someone deleting their homework. Admittedly, I would have been more violent at age ten.