Title:

Chapter: Living in the Present

Warnings/Notes: A nice, little Valentine's day story. Why? 'cause my Christmas Upload present was pretty meager, and frankly, I want to upload something for every 'holiday' that my stupid school gives us- even if it's just a break from homework (blah). So, Happy Valentine's Day!

There was something different in the air. No, wait, that was just breakfast. Or maybe it was the hot-pepper curry he had last night. Well, either way, there was something different about today. And it was really bugging him. More than his alarm clock. More than his Navi screaming at him to get out of bed, even. Ah, good old bed. The best spot to hide, sleep, and ignore the rest of world. So warm, soft, fluffy, comfortable... yes, no one could bother him here.

-Netto-

Well, except that annoying mental twinge which accompanied the also mental voice of his brother and Net Navi. And that really bad feeling that was now pounding in the back of his head, forcing him from his fluffy cave of retreat.

Crawling out of bed, he glared at the blue armour-clad figure glaring at him through the screen of his PET.

"Why'd you wake me up so early?"

The Navi's eye twitched. "Maybe because YOU HAVE FIFTEEN MINUTES TO GET TO SCHOOL!"

His eyes widened, and he immediately began running around his room, trying to take off his PJs, put on his everyday clothes, and gather everything he needed for school- all in the space of about thirty seconds. A plastic bag, like one from the grocery store, sat on his desk, small little envelopes completely filling it. One or two envelopes lay on his desk, which he hurriedly scooped up, and dumped in the bag, before trying to find his History text book.

"WhymewhymewhymewhymewhymeWHYME!"

His Navi's expresion relaxed from anger, before becoming far more worried. "Netto, the bag is about to- er, nevermind."

Netto looked over to see what he was talking about. "ROCKMAN! Couldn't you have told me sooner?" He exclaimed as he set about on his hands and knees, trying to find all the envelopes and stuff them in the now almost-empty bag, which was currently on the floor.

"I would have, had you not been blocking my view."

"Still... have I missed any?"

"I don't think so..."

"Well, I'm gonna be late anyways, so I'll check one more time."

And, saying so, Netto went through nearly every nook, cranny, hole, crack, under blankets, piles of clothing, magazines, books, and toys, making sure he had not forgotten any of the envelopes. Rockman just shook his head. "Explain to me again why High School still does this passing around Valentine's Day envelopes again?"

"I dunno. Hey... is that breakfast I smell?" Netto asked as he straightened, almost knocking the bag over again.

"NETTO! Just grab breakfast on the way out, and move it! You only have five minutes to make it to class now- you shouldn't have stayed up all night, net battling."

"Hai, nii-san. But you shouldn't take- you're only a few minutes older, AND you were there, too!"

"But I don't have to go to school- you do. Now, MOVE IT!"

"Alright, alright! I'm going!"

As Netto sprinted out of the room, trying as hard as possible to tie his headband on properly while holding his school bag, the plastic bag, his socks and his shoes, his PET now safely in it's holder on his hip, neither brother noticed how a small, specially made envelope still lay on the desk, underneath a History text book.

There was something to be said for Valentine's Day, Meiru realized, as she scooted to school. Something different, strange, almost... romantic. The Sakura were almost in full bloom, a sure sign that Spring would be coming soon. Young and old alike delighted in the brisk, February air, as some exchange cards, chocolates, flowers, notes, or their own, very... personal shows of affection.

Meiru almost blushed as she saw two older teens who went to her high school in a full make-out session under the trees. Then she realized that this was normal for that certain couple, and continued on her way without a thought. Except for those thoughts on who she would get Valentines from, and whether one specific person would grant her the honour of being his valentine-

'Stop it. You're getting ahead of yourself. He probably doesn't even know what love is... yet.' She scolded herself mentally as she entered the school grounds.

Arriving at her desk and sitting down, Meiru looked around.

'Typical. Netto's going to be late- again.' She sighed, before jacking Roll into the school's computer systems to get all the information for the day ready as a few grls in the class that Meiru knew decided to grace Meiru with their presence. Although normally extremely ditzy, today the three girls were so amazingly not even on the same plane as the rest of the world that Meiru couldn't believe that they even knew where she was, where the desks were, or where anything was.

"Meiru... aren't you just so excited!" One of them squealed.

Meiru rolled her eyes, before turing towards the window and empty seat between her and it, waiting for the seat's occupant. "For what? We've been doing these Valentines for years- it's not like they're going to be any different."

"How can you say that? Today is the day that people confess their love for each other! When people finally realize their soul mate, and make that fateful decision! And you don't care? How can you say something like that?" Another one exclaimed.

"I know! It's like you've never experienced love, and all that it holds!" The last one almost glared at Meiru- however, her eyes were so starry and obviously not concentrating on the here-and-now.

Meiru sighed and shook her head, biting back the response that she was dying to give. Instead, she shrugged. "Honestly? No, I haven't experienced 'love'- not the kind that you're refering to."

The last girl turned to Meiru. "What? You mean that Netto hasn't proposed to you yet?"

Meiru blushed at this, and quickly retorted, "And why would Netto propose to me?"

Th First girl squealed again, her eyes going more starry- if that was even possible. "Well, just they way how you two always hang out, and seem to have such a good relationship... I would like to be able to do anything with my boyfriend, like you two do!"

The second girl joined in immediately after hearing this. "That would be so cool... but why do your Net Navis always hang out? Are they in love, too?"

"They must be!"

"If their Net-ops are in love, they should be, too!"

"Totally!"

"Yeah!"

Meiru sweatdropped as the three started going on about how romantic it was as they moved back to their desks near the back of the room. A sudden feeling made Meiru grin, before she grabbed her things and held onto them tightly. Those around her took one look at what she was doing, and immitated her, all knowing the consequences of not securing all loose objects just before the late bell rang after being in Hikari Netto's class for six months.

As predicted, most loose articles of clothing, hair and materials were blown randomly around as, also as predicted, Netto raced into the room, plopping into this seat and jacking in Rockman before sighing.

Meiru rolled her eyes, before looking at Netto's state, and could't help but start giggling. The rest of class, also used to this by now, had returned to whatever they were previously doing, and ignored the two by the window.

Netto gasped, turned to face the still giggling Mayl, smiled his normal, genki smile, and said happily, "Ohayou gozimasou!"

"Ohayou, Netto-kun." Meiru replied between fits of barely controlled laughter.

Netto blinked, and began wondering what was so funny. "Nani?"

Meiru gently pulled the blue bandana off Netto's neck, and showed it to him, before placing it in his hands and brushing his hair away from his eyes. "Your headband. I'm surprised it didn't fall off on the way here."

Netto rolled his eyes, before trying back his hair quickly. However, he notived Meiru's disapproving glance and stopped. "Now what?"

"You know, you look so much more mature with your bandana not around your head."

Netto blushed at this compliment, and removed his bandana from around his head. "Then how should I wear this?"

"Like this." Taking the bandana from him, she quickly tied it off around his upper arm, over the uniform white dress shirt he was wearing. Realizing what she had said and done, Meiru's face quickly darkened, before both shared a look- and burst out laughing.

Lunch was simple. As Netto had so conviently forgotten to bring his bento to school in his haste to get out that morning, Meiru had to share her bento with him. Of course, this being an almost-regulr occurance, Meiru had packed more than enough foor for herself. However, regardless of whether or not this was a regular occurance, certain people in the class made sure to make a big deal out of it.

"Aw! That is so cute!"

"I know! I would love to have a boyfriend who forgot his lunch, so that he could share mine!"

"...you don't even have a boy friend."

"So?"

"And you don't know how to cook, either."

"I don't care! It would still be so sweet!"

Meiru rolled her eyes, Netto blushed, and both continued to eat while Rockman and Roll went over their Op's homework and notes- and talk, of course. "I cannot believe that you had to use your Link to get Netto-kun out of bed! Honestly, he would sleep his life away if someone wasn't there to wake him up." Roll commented as she continued making comparisons between Meiru's notes and Netto's notes, and changing wrong words or spellings to the correct ones.

"Not only that, but he knocked over his bag of Valentine's Day cards, and was scrambling to find them. I'm surprised he didn't forget one." Rockman replied, as he finished looking through Netto's organizer, adding whatever homework Netto had recieved during the morning and re-checking that homework which would be taken up later in the day.

"Did you count, to be sure?"

"There was no time, Roll. If Netto's late one more time-"

"Yeah, I know. But, I hope that he didn't forget one- especially Meiru's. She's been looking forward to today just for Netto-kun's card- oops."

Rockman grinned at Roll's slip. "Even so, Valentine's Day isn't actually until Sunday. Why aren't they exchanging cards on Monday, who knows, but even if Netto did forget Meiru-chan's card- which I REALLY hope he didn't- he still has until Sunday to get it to her."

Roll thought about this, before nodding. "You're right- but if Netto-kun did forget Meiru's card, then he better have flowers, candies, and a ton of money for dinner ready when he gives her the card."

"I know." Roll finished what she was doing, and both Navis switched from their operator's desks PC to the main class room PC, where most of the other Navis were.

"It's kinda boring now, with Yaito-chan and Enzan-kun in Creamland, Deako-kun in Jawaii, and Tohru-kun in that private accademy- Hawthorn, or something along those lines." Roll commented as she and Rockman made their way through the groups of Navis to the small area, off the main part, where they usually went when not doing anything for their operators while in the school's PC.

"Not to mention Chisao's back to that young, genious-kids school." Rockman sighed as both of them summoned digital chairs and made themselves comfortable.

"At least Mariko-sensei has decided to follow Netto-kun and Meiru through their school career- what, it really seems that way!" Roll protested Rockman's quick glance, holding her hands up as if trying to keep off a predator.

Rockman sighed. "I think it might be because of me."

"Nyu?"

Rockman chocked on... well, nothing, since there's no air in the net, and looked at Roll. "Please don't tell me the neko virus got out again."

Roll laughed, and petted his head, like he was a cat. "No... I just say that sometimes. You should know by now."

"So?"

Roll rolled her eyes (that sounded weird), before bring Rockman's attention back to what he had previously said, to which he replied, "Well, think about it. Mariko-sensei is probably the only person not in our inner circle of friends and family who knows about... well, me. Not even Commander Beef, the other Net Saviors, with the exception of Enzan-kun and Blues, or anyone else... anywhere, knows about it. Especially our Link. So, she's probably afraid that I'll help Netto cheat on tests, or something like that."

Roll laughed. "She knows that you know better."

"She also knows how close we are- Netto and I. Even if she knows I wouldn't, she's probably doing this so that we don't scare whoever our new teacher is." Rockman replied, slumping in his digital chair.

Roll saw this and stood up, moving over to Rockman to comfort him, her chair disapearing as she stood. "Maa maa, Rock-pi-" She laughed as she saw his eye twitch distinctly, "-the world doesn't revolve around you, although most Net Terrorist Organizations seem to. Ther's probably somr other reason- better salary perhaps?"

"Then why did she switch around in elementary?"

"You, Rock-chan, are asking the wrong Navi." She grinned at him, Rockman about to protest her calling him 'Rock-CHAN', when she turned and walked quicklyl out of the corner, back towards the links that would take her back to the desk PC.

Rockman, grumbling about, "Stupid Reservoir Chronicle," also stood up to make his way over to the link.

Netto sighed as he stretched his arms, relaxed after all the good food the Meiru has so kindly made and let him eat. Meiru sighed, packing up her bento, watching her best friend out of the corner of her eye. He seemed happy, relaxed, perfectly content- but there was a nervousness, stiffness to his figure that she immediately identified with him being worried about something.

"Netto-kun? What's wrong?" She asked gently, turning around fully to look him in the eye.

"Er... nothing's wrong, Meiru-chan... really, nothing!"

"Right... has anyone ever told you that you are a horrible liar?"

"Eh? Well..."

"Netto-kun, you can tell me what's wrong."

He sighed. "You're probably going to kill me, and I appologize SO much in advance..."

Meiru's eye twitched. "I really hope you weren't being sarcastic there, Netto-kun."

He sweatdropped. "NO! I mean, no, of course not! Heh..."

"Then spill it already!"

The nervous look that was on his face increased ten-fold. "Well... er..."

"Yes?"

"Well... when I woke up, I only had fifteen minutes to get to school... and when I was running around, I knocked over the bag of Valentines... and... er..."

"You picked them all up, right?"

"Well, yeah, of... course I did..."

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"Well... when I was checking my bag for my History textbook-"

-Which you left on the desk- Rockman reminded him through their Link.

"-I found that I... didn't exactly have all my Valentine cards..." Netto continued after glaring at Rockman who only grinned at him.

"I... gomen nasai, Meiru-chan!"

She sighed, before turning away from him. "You forgot MY card?"

"I didn't have-"

"You never have time now, Netto-kun, not for anything! Not for me, your other friends, even your family- with the exclusion of your brother, of course, for obvious reasons. You only have time for net battles and the Net Saviors now. So why do you bother even trying to be nice to me?" She hissed at him, making sure not to be heard by others.

"M... Meiru-chan..."

"Call me Sakurai-san from now on, Hikari-san."

He gulped, turning away from Meiru, at a loss on what to do. He groaned then, looking over at his friend- well, ex-friend now, it seemed, before closing his eyes. Rockman, trying to keep Roll from attacking him, suddenly stopped moving as he felt Netto open their Link.

Nii-san... I don't know what to do...

-I hate to say it, but I don't, either. Netto, you have to figure out some way to make Meiru your friend again! I'll even delete all messages from NSHQ if it will help, since she seems to be angry about that, too.-

Would you, Saito?

-Yup... but I'm not a human anymore, and I only deal with Navis, so I'm pretty clueless on what to do. But I think Roll's giving a pretty good imitation of what Meiru wants to do to you...-

Nani?

Opening his eyes, Netto looked on as Rockman resumed trying to dodge Roll's furious attack, while Meiru silently cheered her Navi on.

Netto lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Even after school had let out for the day, and even after his thousand-and-one 'gomens', 'gomen nasais', and 'sorry's, Meiru still refused to talk to him, or even look at him, for that matter. Rockman and Roll were no better off- however, Roll's frustration on Rockman for his brother hurting her opperator was far more... physical than Meiru's silent technique, and Rockman was currently trying to re-gain his arm, after Roll had so kindly hacked it off in her anger with a Long Sword supplied by Meiru after Netto had accidentally called her 'Meiru-sama'.

The attacks- both physical and verbal (or the lack thereof)- ceased only when Netto had somehow made it to his house and Meiru had continued onto her own, refusing to say good bye to him, or acknowledged his absence.

Netto sighed, not wanting to disturb his brother from his repair job, but wanting- no, needing to talk to someone about this. The only person he could think of that might listen to him would be Enzan, as his mother was at one of her social gatherings, and his father on another trip.

"Nii-san..."

"Hai, Netto?"

Netto shot up in bed, looking over at his computer screen, which displayed Rockman, fully armed (excuse the pun).

"Saito! You're okay?"

Rockman nodded, before wincing at the look in Netto's eyes. "I'm fine, Netto. It's not your fault, either, so stop blaming yourself. I didn't notice the envelope either, you know."

"Hai, nii-san. But... what should I do?"

"Well, when Roll and I were talking earlier, she said that if you did forget Meiru-chan's envelope that you had better be prepared to treat Meiru-chan to the best day she has ever had."

"If you and Roll were talking about it earlier, then why was she so angry?"

"With the state Meiru-chan was in? I'm surprised she didn't try to out-right delete me."

"Er...? What do you mean?"

"Well it was either take Meiru-chan's side, and attack me for not seeing the envelope, or take our side and be at odds with Meiru-chan. What would you have done?"

"I really hate being at odds with Meiru-chan, so I say... do what Roll- oh. I get it."

Rockman nodded. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I have no idea."

Meiru didn't really care if she slamed the door on her way into her house, did not care if her feet fell heavily on the stairs, did not even care how she recklessly threw her bag against the wall above her couch (onto which the bag then slid). To be frank, by the time she had collapsed onto her bed, Meiru didn't care about much in the world-

'Note to self: remember to never get so angry angain. It can be very tiring.'

-except that. So, as she lay face-down on her bed, pillow happily fluffed up around her head, she decided that now would be a good time to 'think' about why she had been so angry with Netto.

'Well, exactly what I said- he doesn't have time for anyone or anything anymore, unless it has to do with a mission for the Net Saviors. And if he's not on one of those, it's doing homework, or off to the arcade... at least Roll gets to see Rockman on the net... but Netto? No, he's up in his room, or off somewhere, and I have no idea where... he doesn't bother to tell me, come around to see me... he pratically IGNORES me most of the time! Why that little-'

"I'm gonna kill him!" Meiru growled into her pillow. She did not like being ignored- especially not by Netto.

Roll blinked, hearing her operator explode. "M... Meiru-chan? Are you alright?"

Meiru sighed, pulling her PET from it's holster on her hip to her face, making her be able to see Roll, glancing at her anxiously. "It's nothing, Roll. It's just... Ne- er, Hikari-san-"

"Meiru, just call him Netto."

Meiru shot a glare at her Navi before continuing. "It's just that HE doesn't have any time for anything other than Net Navis, Net Battles, or Net Savior duties- basically, anything to do with the net."

"Is that what you're angry about?"

"NO! I'm still angry at him for forgetting-"

"Meiru, face it. You wouldn't have reacted like that to Netto-kun if there wasn't something else bothering you. You're annoyed at something else..."

"Okay, fine, he keeps ignoring me, too!"

Roll blinked. "Well, you do that just as much as him. Remember? There were those times when he came by to ask if you wanted to do something, and you had piano lessons, or was going shopping, or doing something else along those lines. So it is kind of both your faults..."

Meiru's eye twitched. "Are you telling me that it's MY fault that he forgot my card?"

"No, it's your fault that you two haven't seen each other in a while!"

Meiru was amazaed at this comeback, and looked at Roll. Deciding that she didn't WANT to be happy, or give in to what she knew would eventually happen, she glared at her Navi. "So you're on THEIR side now?" Seeing Roll's indecision, Meiru pushed more. "WELL?"

Roll blanched, blushed, and realized that the floor was quite interesting. "No, Meiru-chan... demo..."

"But what?" Meiru's tone softened- Roll was one of the only people, if not THE only person who could get her to calm down so effectively.

"Well... it's just... me and Rockman were talking..."

"About this? Did he know that-"

"NO! He was worried, because is seems to be their luck that something like this would happen. Just give it a bit of time, won't you, Meiru?"

Meiru glared at her Navi- Roll had managed to calm her down faster than she would have wanted. "Meiru... do you honestly want to be so angry at Netto-kun?"

After shooting a quick glance at Roll, she flopped back down onto her bed, closed her eyes, and pretended to think- which quickly ended up actually thinking about why she wanted to hate Netto for forgetting her card- and everything else he had forgotten, too.

'Well, why amI angry? No, wait, figured that out already. Why do I have to think about this? Why can't I just hate Netto in peace? ...why do I hate him, anyways, besides the obvious? And isn't that just what Roll asked me? Well, not quite I guess, but pretty close. So... why do I hate Netto, or want to hate him? One: he never spends any time with anyone other than Saito- well, Rockman, not that I can blame them, I guess... but still! He could at least talk to me outside of school! Well, he does... I guess... SO, what else? Er... He's amazingly insensitive! I can't believe him! ...not that I can think of a time lately when he has been... but that's just because he's never around! I wouldn't mind him being insensitive if he was around! Er... my card! Well, that goes without saying, so... oh, I don't know!'

Having thouroughly exhausted her mind, thinking about why she was so determined to hate Netto, she only came to one conclusion: "I want him to be around, and me to be around him."

Roll, used to the silence, was surprised by the sudden noise, and completely missed her operator's words. "What did you just say, Meiru?"

The red-headed girl sat up slowly, eyes wide in surprise. "Roll... I want to be around Netto more. To be by his side, even if we have to go on Net Savior missions with him. Just... to be around him...And he hasn't been aroundlately..."

Roll's eyes immitated Meiru's in surprise, before narrowing into little slits, a violent grin appearing on her face, making her look just like Empress(1). "It sounds like you're in love with Netto-kun, Meiru!"

"I am NOT in love with Netto!"

"Ha! See! You are!"

"No, I'm not! What gives you that impression, anyways?" Meiru added the last part a bit calmer, indicating that Roll should, too.

"Well, there's the fact that such blatant denial usually means the opposite. That and, while before you swore to only call him Hikari-san, you started called him Netto-kun again- only without the suffix!"

Meiru gasped. "I might have gone back to calling him Netto, but I still- er, I mean Netto... er..."

Roll smirked in triumph. "See! You are so obviously in love with him, Meiru! And the fact that he forgot your card was just too much to think that he didn't like you enough to remember it, even though he woke up with only fifteen minutes until he had to leave for school, and knocked over the bag, too!"

Meiru blushed, but tried to protest, only have it thrown back in her face. "You know," Roll said with a slightly evil grin again, "the more you deny it means the more you love him."

This Meiru also denied, and was thrown back in her face a number of times, until she finally gave in and finally acknowledged, "Alright, fine. I guess... I might like him, but not love him." If Roll's snort was any indication as to what the Navi thought, then Meiru began to be worried. "Roll..."

The Navi looked at her operator's face, before conceeding to the unspoken wish. "Alright, Meiru-chan. I won't say anything, not even to Rockman... can I go check up on him?"

The pink Navi's sudden need to see Rockman made Meiru a little suspicious. "Why?"

Roll rolled her eyes. "In case yuo've forgotten, Meiru, I did kind of cut his arm off!"

Meiru blinked. "You... cut his arm off? And he let you? Why? When?"

Roll blinked. "You were so angry, you probably didn't notice it. Even though our bond isn't anywhere near as strong as Netto-kun and Saito-kun's, those two being twins and all, we still have a bond, ever since I was captured by Plantman, anyways. I felt that you were really angry- and, I guess I just acted on it."

"And Rockman didn't retaliate?"

Roll blushed. "Well... we both just kinda stood there afterwards, not sure what to do or say, and then... I just logged out."

Meiru just shook her head. "Roll... honestly, do you think you couldn't have at least healed him?"

"Well, I dunno... I just... wasn't sure if you- er, I mean-"

Roll looked about to say something else, but stopped at the sight of her op's face. "Meiru? What is it?"

"Do you think they hate us, Roll?"

Roll blinked in surprise. "Hate us? Come on, Meiru- maybe dislike us, but Netto-kun didn't seem to be too angry... and Rockman just looked shocked..."

Meiru turned to Roll. "When you go see Rockman, can you see if you can figure out if they hate us?"

"And if they do?"

"Then... then we'll just have to say sorry for over-reacting, and hope that they won't stay angry. Besides, Netto has this weird ability to not be able to stay angry at anyone unless they've tried to kill him."

Roll snorted, before continuing, "And if they don't hate us?"

"Then Netto better be ready to do something really nice for me!"

It usually went without saying that at exactly 5:30 pm (or 17:30, if you like that better) Netto and his family would have dinner- which usually consisted of just Haruka, as Saito, being a Net Navi, couldn't exactly eat, and Yuucihiro was hardly ever home. And, as ever-puncutal as Haruka was (being one of those 'Super Moms' and all), she called Netto down at exactly 5:30 to eat dinner. And, as ever-forgetful (and lazy) as Netto was, he left Rockman still jacked into the computer and his home page on the net. And, as ever-observant as Meiru and Roll were, they knew the moment that Netto left the room.

With a quick exchange of approximately three words each (give or take a few), Roll has stepped onto the link from their home page to Netto and Saito's.

Rockman was sitting calmly on the floor waiting for Netto to return from dinner when Roll appeared. He turned feeling a Navi enter his home page, not worried or anything (two words: direct linking), but was immediately nervous and on-edge seeing it was Roll.

Roll, noticing his nervousness, became nervous herself- until she saw his arm. Being the sweet, caring, wonderful, healing, and sometimes-violent Navi that she was, Roll dismissed all other thoughts and ran over to him, plopping down beside him, and pulling his arm out, looking at the healing process. Rockman only sweatdropped at her sudden exclamations and rappid speech.

"Kami-sama, Saito-kun! It's well healed- no doubt the work of that program your father made for you so that you wouldn't be so easily injured or deleted- again, might I add- but I'm surprised it did this good a job! And it looks to be in perfect condition, can you still use chips though? After all, getting your arm cut off might not the best thing in the world- and, oh Rockman, can you ever forgive me? I didn't really want to- but I could feel Meiru's anger, and I wanted to act on it, and... oh! Please forgive me?"

Rockman's sweatdrop proceeded to only grow bigger as she not only continued on after this, but switched between topics almost too quickly for him to understand.

When Roll finally stopped (only taking a break to catch her breath), Rockman held up a hand to stop her from continuing, which she didn't see, and instead placed one finger on her lips, effectively stopping her from not only talking, but all other motions, too.

"Roll, yes, I forgive you. And I'm sure Netto will, too. I think you said something about us hating you, and no, we don't. And finally, Roll, my father just updated the program to relieve some stress off of you, so that now it works at least twice as quickly."

Roll, however, made no move to answer, and he removed his finger from her lips, realizing what that might look like to anyone looking in in passing as a blush stained his cheeks.

Roll blinked, and looked over at him. "Do you really not hate us?"

"Yes, Roll, and I forgive you, too." After a short pause, Rockman continued, "Netto does as well. So don't worry yourself."

Roll sighed in relief, before leaning aginst him. "I was so worried... over you and Netto-kun and Meiru..."

Rockman shook his head, trying to rid himself of his blush.Realizing that at their close proximity that was impossible, he settled for just trying to calm it down. "Roll... you don't need to be worried..."

"NO! No... I know I don't, but still..." Roll's mind suddenly realized something, connected it with Meiru's thoughts on the situation, and put her plan into action. "But you're always away on those missions..."

"You're NOT coming with us, and neither is Meiru-chan." He replied flatly.

Roll wanted to pout, but tried another tactic. "I know we can't, but it always worries us so much- I'm always worrying about you, and Meiru about Netto-kun-"

"Meiru-chan worries about Netto? And you worry about me?" Rockman cut her off, looking at her in surprise.

Roll scoffed, then changed it to a reassuring pat on his arm, seeing another emotion in his eyes. "It's not that we don't have any faith in your abilities, Rockman... but... we just don't want you two to get too hurt, you know? Regardless of how good our programs are, it still causes pain, and we don't want you to go through pain..."

Rockman raised his eye brows at her, and Roll blushed and giggled nervously. "Well... that was strictly impulse..."

They both sat in silence for a few moments, before Rockman ventured out, "You really worry about me?"

Roll nodded her head vigorously, before turning her light grasp on his arm into one of life-and-death. "Really worried. Always."

Rockman looked over at her and pulled her into a very awkward hug. Roll was surprised, then quickly relaxed into the hug, feeling so safe and comfortable in his arms. She then felt something in his hands.

Pulling away, she watched as he pulled out a packet of data that was so strange, weird, and different colored, formed, and moving, that it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, so perfect, so admirable, so... amazing, that she couldn't take her eyes off of it.

As she reached out to touch it, Rockman placed it gently in her arms. "I was going to give this to you the same time that Netto gave his present to Meiru-chan, but I couldn't wait any longer."

Roll's eyes widened in surprise, realizing that she hadn't gotten him anything, before going back to admiring her present. "It's... so beautiful, Rockman..."

He grinned, amused at how easily her attention was drawn by the orb of data. Another silence began, this one a comfortable one, broken only by the simulated breathing of the Navis. Roll gently tucked the data into her item storage area, and then ave Rockman another hug. "You are so nice, Saito. Arigatou."

He was shcoked by the lack of an honorific on the end of his human name (Navis not usually having honorifics), and looked at Roll. "Roll..."

She grinned then, deciding that leaning on him was more comfortable than the way she was currently sitting. "I just thought- this is gonna sound stupid, I know, but- we've known each other for so long, and I just... I dunno, it felt weird to call you 'Saito' with the honorific, just as it feels weird to say 'Deako' or'Yaito' or 'Tohru' without it. If you don't want me to..."

He glanced down at her, and, somewhat numbly, let his arm wrap around her. "...arigatou, Roll. Of course you can." He slowly worked up a bit of courage, and let a slightly evil smirk appear on his face. "If you'll do something for me..."

She raised her head to look at his face, when her view was blocked by his face, Saito's lips gently brushing upon her own. She froze, before pulling his face back to hers. This was ecstascy, complete and total bliss, as close to heaven, or (as Dichin-dono would say) to nirvana as they could ever reach. Eventually, though, both pulled away- well, only about five inches, but their faces weren't stuck together anymore, so that's saying something.

"Saito..." She sighed, then leaned completly onto him. Trying to make the added weight (NOT that Roll weighs a lot... of COURSE not...) more bareable, he gently pulled her into his lap, where she fell right into his chest, her back molding to his own well-formed torso. His arms looped around her waist, and her own arms covered his.

Letting the silence continue, both found comfort in the other's presence, the silence being more like a bond being formed than a lack of noise. Eventually, though, Roll decided that they would have to do something about their operators. Saying so to Saito (A/N: weird, ne?), she was given the response: "Well, yeah. But what?"

"What else? Get them together!"

"...why do I get the feeling that this will involve some kind of pain for either me or Netto or both of us?"

"Now you're just being silly. We can do this without any pain what-so-ever!"

"You don't honestly doubt my match-making skills, do you?"

"Well, considering that getting US together required cutting off my arm..."

"Oh hush. Don't worry, I have it all planned out- all you need to do is moniter Netto's actions and comments."

"And you?"

"I'll be doing the same. The hard part is going to be to influence those two from here. But, never fear, I have a plan!"

"Aren't thoseusually cause for fear?"

"Since when have my plans ever caused trouble?"

"Well, there was the time you sent Gutsman through a wall of fire, propelled by an aqua tower..."

"...that was in the heat of battle! But, trust me! This plan will work so well, those two could never hate each other again!"

Saturday, February 13

The day started off as naturally as could be expected. Well, with the constant, invisble communication-proff barier between the Hikari and Sakurai residences, anyways. Roll had somehow convincedMrs. Sakuraito take Meiru shopping, leaving Roll free to help plan everything out. She and Rockman had gone over basically what was going to happen, and how- but, there were still a few things to smooth out.

Like, how they were going to get Meiru and Netto together for mearly a few moments- and what Netto should bring to appease Meiru.

Rockman was currently with Netto, at the Scilabs, helping test out new Syncro chips and Chip Gate, so Roll was having to wing it, with only knowing as much about Netto as Rockman, Meiru, and personal experiences allowed her.

Which was quite a bit, so Roll was nearly done with all her planning by noon.

Of course, barely a few moments after she had finished the last details, saving the layout in her own, special sector of the PET, and closing down the screen, Meiru came into the room, hands filled with shopping bags, and a gigantic smile on her face- a huge, ridicuously big, obviously FAKE smile on her face.

"Meiru...?" Roll asked, uncertainly.

"Roll..." Meiru's smiled faltered, then slid completely off her face as the bags dropped to the floor and Meiru plopped onto her seat. "Kami-sama, you wouldn't believe what happened today!"

"...dare I ask?"

"Well..." a sigh followed the word, before Meiru conceeded the information. "On the way back from shopping (Okaa-san decided to stay for another hour), I ran into Netto-kun on the subway. He looked so nervous! I felt sad, and said 'hi', and he said 'hi' back, and then... nothing! No conversation, no talking, no asking to carry all my bags- we just stood there! It's almost like he doesn't even want to be around me anymore..."

Roll sighed. "Meiru, first of all, of course he's not sure what to say around you! Not only are we female- face it, we have the ability to spin ANYTHING around to make it insulting- but after yesterday... well, I'm surprised he didn't say "meep" and try to find cover. And secondly- you're not married yet, so give him a break- at least wait until you're a couple to expect to say or do that."

Meiru blushed, and rounded on Roll. "Married? A couple? Roll, where did you get THAT idea?"

"Oh, nowhere... listen, I'm going to go talk to a friend I met on the net last night. Think you can handle unpacking without me?"

"Sure. But be car-"

"-'be careful', I know Meiru. See you soon!"

Roll quickly took the long way around, going through the net to get to Rockman and Netto's HP. When she did, she quickly checked to make sure the Netto wasn't paying attention- he wasn't even in the room- and walked right over to Rockman who was apparently waiting for her.

An embrace and kiss later, and both proceeded to sit down on conjured-up fluffy chairs- well, Rockman did, anyways. Roll just sat on his lap.

"I guess you heard what happened on the subway, Roll?"

Roll nodded, before letting her body slump against his. "The one thing that made Meiru so mad with Netto-kun now is that he barely spoke to her, and seemed afraid of her- closely followed by him not offering to take her bags."

"Did you tell her-"

"That she should wait until they're married or at least a couple before she should expect him to do that? Yeah."

He chuckled. "That wasn't what I met, but it answers my next question."

"Then what was your first question?"

"Did you tell her that Netto has a... er... what did you call it? A 'special' message to give her tomorrow?"

"No. I'll do that as soon as I get back. How about you?" She looked up at him, and starting playing with one of his spikes of hair. He grinned as he felt the gentle tugging.

"Right after we got into the house, I played the "You got Mail" noise and told Netto that Meiru wanted to talk to him, tomorrow, under the Sakura in the park."

Roll nodded. "Well, Netto wouldn't notice anything, but Meiru..."

"I've already written 'Netto's' message to her. You just have to give it, saying that you got it from... well, somewhere, not me."

Roll smiled her appreciation as she put the e-mail away.

Another comfortable silence followed this, once again both enjoying the other's company, when Roll happned to check the time and see how late it was. "Alright. I should get going back, Sai-"

You'd probably be wondering why Roll was cut off in the middle of her sentence? Well, it should be super obvious, to those to who it isn't: Rockman had happily silenced Roll with his mouth. Otherwise known as a kiss.

When Roll left, both were happy, both were blushing, and both paid basically no attention to anything around them.

Ah, the wonders of not needing to breath.

Sunday, February 14

Sunday started off much like Saturday, what with the invisble barrier.

However, there was one BIG difference. The barrier seemed to have shurnk or weakened a bit, and apprehension filled both hearts, minds, and souls of two, young, now-grade-nine students. Who were they? If you don't know, you haven't been reading this story. Or the summary, for that matter.

Rockman had instructed Netto to buy a small case of chocolates, a small bouquet, a necklace with a small amber pendant, and to make the card even nicer than it was (as per Roll's orders from Friday night, hence why Netto was away on Saturday).

Meiru had a small lunch prepared, and was dressed in a red skirt and a white shirt with a low, square-cut neck line and pouffy white, shimmery transparent sleeves. Both skirt and blouse were trimmed in black.

Slowly, noon approached, and found Meiru standind beneath the Sakura. Still no fully in bloom, none of the pink petals littered the ground, which made it quite easy for Meiru to pick a place to sit. She spread out the blanket, took out the food, and sat down to wait.

'I really hope that Netto-kun is on time- or, if he's not, that he brings something REALLY nice. For his sake, anyways.'

It was nearly another ten minutes before Netto showed up- with his arms laden down with anassortment of things. Barely visible beneath the items was a light blue shirt, black short with blue stripes, and his usual bandana. Meiru almost giggled at the sight of him nearly toppling over with everything, before she remembered that she was supposed to be angry at him, and let her face have an almost impassive look to it.

After sitting down, and arranging everything, Netto finally looked at her. Taking in her appearance, a small blush appeared on his face, and he said quietly, "You look... beautiful, Meiru-chan."

She inclined her head, letting him continue. He realized that although she had invited him here (or so he thought) that she wanted him to do the talking- after all, he was technically the one in the wrong.

"Er... Meiru-chan... I just wanted to say... I am so sorry for forgetting your Valentines Day card. There's no real good excuse why I forgot it... and, er... Kami-sama, I'm really not good at this." Meiru knew he was right- even if she was meeting him for the first time and hadn't known him for most of her life, his nervousness and uncomfortable-ness was obvious in his voice, face, and demeanour.

"So, er... please, Meiru... kore uketotte kure! (Please accept this!)"

She eyed the small box and the over-decorated card that he held out to her, his head bowed as though he was afraid to look at her. She gently picked up the card, and noticed that it was home made. She somehow was able to pry the front cover from the back (Netto was NOT good at art it seemed) and read what it said:

"Dear Meiru-chan

I want to wish you a very happy Valentine's Day, and I hope that you have a good year. Would you be my valentine?

Love,

Hikari Netto"

This was followed by a post-script, which had somehow been shrunk into the centimetre or so of card that didn't have decorations or other writing on it.

"I want to appologize, cause I'm probably gonna mess it up verbally. I am really, really, really sorry for forgetting this Valentine on Friday. I hope that you can forgive me... cause... well, I would really miss not having you as a friend... or... well, yeah... so, please please PLEASE forgive me. Domo arigato for even reading this."

She eyed the spot about how he would miss her. The three dots and the "or... well, yeah..." was written over top of something that had been hastily rubbed out. Her eyes lost some of their hardness as she re-read the card. Next, of course, was the box, which she opened a little hesitantly.

However, upon seeing what was in the box, her eyes lost the last of the hardness, and gained the caring, compassionate light that people who truly knew Meiru were used to seeing. She gently fingered the pendant, and looked up to Netto, who was still sitting with his head bowed, unmoving.

She grinned, and moved right in front of him, whispering, "Iiwa."

He stiffened, before mumblilng, "Nani?"

"Iiwa." She lifted his head by her pointer and middle fingers, forcing him to looked at her in the eyes. "I... I am sorry too, Netto... gomen nasai... I forgive you... will you forgive me?"

His eyes turned from sadened to surprised, then to joyful. "Of couse! Demo... what is there for me to forgive you for?" He finished off with a puzzled look on his face.

The look of confuzzlement on his face made Meiru giggle, before she shook it off. "Iie... nothing." She pulled out the food that she had brought (including one large thermos containing Netto's favorite curry), and motioned for him to join her. The smell of curry reached his nose, and he was quite close to just digging in, when he noticed the box laying on the blanket and the flowers and chocolates behind him.

Instead of eating right away, he quickly grabbed the pendant, flowers, and chocolates, and moved so that he was sitting right behind her. Meiru, not realizing this, froze when she felt his hands around her neck. "Netto-"

The amber pendant looped around her neck then, followed by a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a heart-shapped box of chocolates. Seeing them, her eyes filled with tears. "Netto... they're... beuatiful... arigato."

"Welcome, Meiru."

It was about this time when both realized that they had been talking to each other without the honorifics on their names. This caused both to blush, and Netto, who was leaning forwards to present Meiru with the gifts properly, to fall over, knocking into her and sending them both tumbling into the food.

"NETTO!"

Yes, I know, kinda weird, and a day late. BUT! To make up for this:

A MINI EPILOUGE! (I really wanted to put the February issue of Shonen Jump to more use, so...)

NOTE: This epilouge thingy contains Netto/Meiru fluff. If you find fluff disturbing, like those little dust bunnies that steal your socks, then you can skip ahead to the Author's Notes at the end! If not, read on!

The sun was setting, the birds were chirpping, and people were returning home from a wonderful, relaxing Valentine's Day at the park. Among them was our heroic niners, whom everyong seemed to be ignoring. But that's just fine, because we don't really care about them, do we?

Anyways, back to the niners. Netto and Meiru had happily spent a day together as friends once again. The entire time, both had the memory of what it was like to be at odds with each other in the back of their minds- but now that they weren't, there was no problem, so that memory was happily cast aside.

They were even able to catch Saito and Roll in the middle of a make-out session, which both disturbed and humoured the Net-ops.

However, all good things must come to an end, and that's just about what brings us to the beginning of this section.

As they made their way from the park, Netto holding the picnic basket and blanket, Meiru her flowers, chocolates, and the card, they passed the play ground. Meiru stopped, looking at the climbing mound (2). Netto, walking slightly in front of her, stopped when he noticed she wasn't following and looked back at her.

"Meiru?"

Both had gotten quite used to calling each other's name without the honorifics during the day, and both were glad that there was no longer that weird formality between them.

However, when she didn't react to this, he decided to walk back and see what was wrong- or at least what she was staring at. "Meiru... yoo-whoo... anyone there?" He waved his hand infront of her face for good measure, feeling like and idiot. "O...kay... erm... Meiru... dono?"

Her eye twitched and she glared at him, but her meerly shrugged, indicating the landscape again. "What were you staring at?"

"Come here."

He blinked as she took his free hand which he had used to wave and drag him towards the climbing mound. Depositing her burdens outside (and forcing Netto to do the same) she dragged him towards one of the openings in the mound, which they were now far too big to fit inside. Once there, she gestured to a slightly faded, but still discernable, heart-shapped inscription on the wall.

"Remember this?"

As she turned to look back at him, she noticed the suddenly blank look in his eyes. Close to looking like he was talking with Saito, but one look at the screen of the PETs and that thought was completely erased.

"Netto?"

He snapped back into reality, and looked at Meiru as though just seeing her for the first time- plus something else that she wasn't sure she knew very well. He blinked once, twice, and once more, before grabbing her arm, and pulling her to her feet. By now, the sun was almost set, casting red light every where, and the few people left in the park were far too interested in the other's face (well, mouths, really) to notice anything.

For some reason, Meiru couldn't look away from his eyes, shimmering crimson-almond in the afternoon light. His hand was still on her arm, but hs grip had loosed a bit though she felt no impulse to step away from their close proximity.

After a few more seconds standing like this, she closed his eyes, as though surrendering to something, before slowly opening them again. It was now that he spoke.

"Meiru... I... I don't know how to say this..."

'You don't know how to say a lot of emotional things, Netto.' She thought, with a small smile twisting her lips.

"Demo... honto wa... honto wa... Meiru ga sukida. (To tell the truth... to tell the truth, I love you, Meiru)"

She froze hearing this, unsure of what to say. What could you say? Instead, she did the only thing that seemed plausible, especially after all her recent soul-searching.

Pulling his head down the inch or so that he had grown over her, she pressed her lips against his own, drinking in his strange, exotic scent. All too well she realized why Roll found so time to be with Saito, and have her face glued to his.

Eventually, Meiru pulled away, leaving Netto with a weird, obviously pleased and dazed expression on his face.

"Ashiteru, Netto. (I love youtoo,Netto)"

His expression became slightly more normal, before he bent down and picked up everything.

She grinned, and took her flowers and chocolates from him. Neither decided to speak about the kiss, nor about their feelings. It was obvious enough, and they would tell everyone at the right moment, and not a second before.

Just before they left the park, Meiru turned to Netto. "Kyo wa suteki na ichinichi datta. Arigato. (It was a wonderful day. Thank you.)"

"Issho ni kaero? (Shall we go home togther?)"

"Aa. (Sure)"

Ha! There! The end of an actual one-shot! And it took me forever to do this stupid thing!

So, yes... some quick notes now!

(1) Empress is strictly from the anime. I keep refering to her, cause, well... she's cool!

(2) Okay, ya know that weird semi-sphere thingy with holes in it that nearly ALL Japanese playgrounds have? That's hollow? Yeah, that.

Okay, I'm done. Happy Valentine's Day!