Have you ever wondered what happened when Rockman and Roll actually met? The first time you see them together in the anime, it's evident that Roll already knows Rockman—and knows to go to him for help. So I decided to take my fanfic author creative license and write how I imagined the little introduction. Hope you enjoy!
First Meeting
By Serenade of Light
Roll watched through the window that reflected the activities of the real world as the class progressed. Everything appeared normal—Mariko-sensei was at the front teaching and the students were more or less paying attention: Meiru, being the good student that she was, was giving the teacher her complete focus, Dekao was typing something into his PET, probably another date proposal Roll guessed with annoyance, and something in Netto's PET was drawing the boy's attention away from the lesson. But then again, since when did Netto ever pay attention? In the short time she had known her beloved netop and her friends, the fact of Netto's short attention span was easy to pick out.
Yep, it was a completely normal day.
So it did not surprise her when the big navi that she knew as Dekao's Gutsman approached her.
"Hey, Gutsman," Roll greeted pleasantly.
"Dekao wants Meiru to go out on a date de-gutsu. Can she de-gutsu?" Gutsman asked.
Roll shook her head as she opened a window in front of her and put on a professional air: "She can't. Meiru-chan has piano lessons."
The large navi seemed thoughtful for a moment.
"Well, can Gutsman take Roll on a date de-gutsu?" the large navi asked as he attempted to hug the suddenly horrified female.
"No way," she protested loudly.
"But Gutsman loves Roll-chan de-gutsu!" Gutsman stated, still trying to embrace Roll.
"I said 'no'! Roll Whip!" Roll yelled as she attacked the large idiot. She smiled with satisfaction as she watched Gutsman log out, which was followed by the sounds of Mariko-sensei scolding Dekao and the snickering of her netop and the rest of the class.
"Deserves him right," Roll said to herself.
It was at this point that she first noticed him: a small blue navi she had never seen before, whispering closely to a window that allowed communications with the real world.
Roll walked up pleasantly up behind the navi. "You know you're not supposed to help your netop in class," she stated. The blue navi whirled around in surprise.
"Wh…what?" he asked, clearly startled.
Roll did not answer right away—she was too taken aback by his bright green eyes.
"What did you say?" the navi asked again, snapping Roll out of her thoughts.
"Oh, uh, you're not supposed to help your netop in class," she restated.
The blue navi shook his head. "I know that. I wasn't helping him."
"Oh?" Roll challenged playfully. "Then what were you whispering so secretively about?"
"Err, the fire this morning," Rockman asked nervously, not sure how much he should tell this navi whom he did not know at all.
"Fire!" Roll exclaimed in alarm.
Rockman calmly nodded. "Netto-kun's oven caught fire this morning. Apparently there have been a lot of similar incidences recently."
"Yeah, there have," Roll agreed, before nearly yelling, "Wait, you're Netto's netnavi!? When did he get you?" Roll scanned the other navi more closely. "I always thought he would have gotten a bigger netnavi."
Rockman nearly face-vaulted in response. "Yeah, Netto-kun said that too."
"Sorry," Roll apologized as she blushed slightly.
"It's okay," Rockman said. "We already got past that. So you know Netto-kun?"
Roll nodded eagerly. "He's my Meiru-chan's best friend. My name's Roll by the way. And yours?"
"Rockman.exe," Rockman answered, giving a smile. Roll felt her heart melt.
"So is everything okay? With the fire, I mean," Roll asked.
Rockman nodded. "Netto-kun and I were able to delete the virus in time," he answered. Roll looked at Rockman in shock. "What?" the blue navi asked as he noted the change in visage.
"You deleted the virus?" Roll asked in disbelief.
"Yes," Rockman answered slowly. "Well, me and Netto-kun".
At this point, Roll realized she may have just insulted the blue navi, though if he was, he hid it pretty well. However, the lack of displayed hurt feelings did not stop her from backpedaling: "I mean, up until now no one has been able to beat the virus," she said quickly. "A lot of navi's have been deleted trying."
Rockman just smiled as he stated, "Netto-kun's a good operator."
Roll had to smile back under Rockman's kind smile. "Yeah he is," she whispered, suddenly feeling shy. "I bet he'll have you battle Dekao's Gutsman."
Rockman rolled his eyes, "Yeah, he's already set it up. Tell me, net battles aren't allowed here at school are they?"
Roll chuckled. "Did he set it up to take place here?" she asked amused.
"Yeah," Rockman sighed.
Roll giggled again. "Well, since you're so nice, I won't tell."
Rockman smiled. "Thanks, since I don't think I can persuade Netto-kun to change the rendezvous point. He appears to not listen too well."
At this, Roll laughed outright.
"What?" Rockman asked surprised.
"Sorry. It's just that that's Meiru-chan's biggest frustration with him!" Roll answered as she continued to laugh.
Rockman gave a small chuckle. "I can see that. And I've only known him since 7:00 this morning!" At this, Roll laughed harder, which in turn caused Rockman to also laugh.
"Roll," Meiru's voice called, interrupting the two new friends in their laughter.
Roll stopped laughing and looked at Rockman regretfully. "I've got to go, Rockman," she said, waving good-bye. "It was nice to meet you."
Rockman waved back: "You too".
And with that, both navis logged out, ending the first of many times together.