Notes: So I must have been more tired than I thought last night because I accidentally updated with the next chapter instead of this one! So you lucky people get two chapters for the price of one!

Chapter 3

"Grandpa~!" Netto sung out as he walked into the house. Saito was a couple of steps behind him, wiping his shoes on the doormat before entering.

Netto tried the door from earlier but it was locked.

"Grandpa said he was working, right? Maybe this can wait until after dinner. And homework."

Netto groaned and stomped his foot. "Always with the homework!"

"Always," Saito responded softly with a small smile. It worked well against Netto's energy as he calmed down and grinned at him.

"Whatever, at least you've got to do yours as well."

Saito pulled out his bag and the homework, watching as Netto did the same. It was simple stuff but five minutes in, Netto was fidgeting. He tapped his pen, looked around, jumped at every noise and adjusted his position. It was beginning to drive Saito crazy as it distracted him from his own work.

It wouldn't be as simple as telling him to sit still. He had tried that as Rockman a couple of times and it never worked. Saito thought and thought and lost his trail of thought as Netto tapped his pen on the table.

He groaned, causing his brother to look up and pause in his tapping.

"Saito, what's wrong? It is difficult?"

Saito wished he could slap that smug grin off his brother's face.

"It's not difficult. It just-"

"Dull? Monotonous? Stupid?" Netto suggested.

"Not that last one," Saito said. "And your fidgeting isn't helping."

"Oh." Netto frowned and looked down at his page, apologising.

"It's okay. Can you read question ten to me?" Saito asked. "I want to make sure I understand it right."

Netto nodded and started reading. He finished and grinned in realisation, solving it himself. Saito looked over and blanched a little. He had known he had read it wrong and quickly adjusted his own response.

"Saito, can you help me with question six?" Netto asked.

"Read it to me," Saito said. Somehow that seemed to help as Netto trailed off partway through and scribbled down an answer.

"How does that look?" Netto asked.

Saito checked the answer and nodded. Exactly what he had.

"Good. Let's get this thing done," Netto said. "Then we can- oh." Netto paused.

"What?"

"I was going to say we could go on the net and bust viruses but," Netto waved his hand in Saito's direction. "You're not exactly able to bust viruses right now."

Saito sighed. "I know." He really could have done with the exercise. "Netto, can you read question eleven to me?"

"Sure."

That's how they worked their way through their homework. Saito liked hearing Netto read the questions as he solved them on the paper. Reading the questions also seemed to help his brother focus.

"I wonder what everyone else is doing?" Netto said once their homework was finished.

Meiru opened the door to her house and frowned at the interior which didn't match anything like what she had decorated it as. She pulled out her PET and looked at Roll.

"What do you think?"

"Enzan has a point," Roll said. "You're the best person to try and contact Netto."

"But," Enzan had suggested she try and get him alone and let him know about their meetings. If he was from their world, he would try and meet with them. "They all seem to think that he's our Netto. What if he isn't?" The idea scared her. This world was different in little, disturbing ways.

"I'm still here," Roll said. "And I guess, you do everything you can to return to him. I bet he's waiting."

Meiru smiled at her pink navi. She wondered how Roll seemed to have the answers ready and then remembered that there was no Rockman here. Roll was probably telling her exactly what she had been telling herself since learning of Rockman's absence.

Meiru took a calming breath. Do everything she could to return to him. She was doing that.

"What do you think? Should we go see if they're home?"

Roll nodded enthusiastically, glad that Meiru seemed to be back to her determined self. Meiru walked out of the strange house which both was and wasn't her home and crossed the yard over to the Hikari's house. She knocked on the door and waited.

"Boys!" a deep voice sounded on the other side. "Can you get that?"

The response was an in unison cry of 'no' followed by a softer, "sorry, Grandpa, we're at the boss!"

The door opened to a round, large but old man. His hair was a shocking white which matched his fluffy beard which reminded Meiru of images of Santa Claus.

"Um… hello?" she said.

He brightened, obviously knowing her in this world. "Meiru! I'm sorry about the boys, you know how they get when they're playing."

"I hope their homework is done," Meiru mused.

"I believe they finished it fifteen minutes ago."

Meiru was surprised. The old man chuckled, belly jumping as he laughed.

"I know. Netto actually did it for once. I think Saito helped him."

"Netto did it himself!" Saito called back, voice strained. "I would never do it for him!"

A high screech came from the couch. Netto's voice barked a moment later, "focus Saito! You almost got us killed!"

"I am focusing! You're the one who keeps jumping into the enemies!"

Meiru looked to Tadashi Hikari. The old man was smiling in a fond but tired way.

"Boys, maybe you should turn that off while Meiru is here?" he suggested.

Twin disappointed cries of 'grandpa' rang out and Meiru couldn't help giggling. She entered the house to find two similar faces staring at her from the couch.

"Hi Meiru," Saito said in small but sad voice.

"Meiru," Netto greeted flatly. "What's up?"

"I just came to see if you finished the homework," Meiru said. It was the only pretext she could think off, since she didn't know much about Netto's past in this world.

The boys shared a look.

"Of course," Netto responded. "Why wouldn't we?"

Meiru blinked. That didn't sound like her Netto.

"How's Roll?" Saito asked. His voice was soft and almost musical. Meiru found herself answering him. It was a harmless question.

"She's fine. Why?"

"Ah," Saito looked to Netto and then back to her. He ran a hand through his hair and gave a nervous laugh. "I was just wondering. You know we don't have customised navis and stuff and Roll's kind of cool."

"Cool? Really bro? Roll?"

Saito frowned at Netto, cheeks puffing up a little as he said, "shut up."

Meiru stared at Netto. "Wouldn't you like a customised navi though?" The Netto in her world had loved talking about customised navis before Rockman had come along. Then it had been all about netbattling and making Rockman stronger. Although, Netto did talk about certain customised navis whenever he encountered an 'awesome' one.

Netto looked at his brother with a thoughtful expression. "Nah. I think I'm good."

Saito's jaw dropped open, mirroring Meiru's. Netto grinned at their faces, chuckling a little.

"Come on guys, it's not like there's anywhere to plug in."

"You could netbattle," Saito pointed out.

"Against who?"

"Enzan, Dekao," Saito listed on his fingers. "Meiru-"

"Ah, no," Meiru responded, shaking her head. "We're fine thanks."

Saito stared at her. "That's a shame since Roll's so strong."

"He thinks I'm strong?" Roll questioned from the PET in a surprised and pleased voice. Meiru found her heart racing in panic. The strange program which had attached itself to Netto was winning Roll over!

"Um, I should probably go," Meiru said. "I need to get some piano practice done." She walked out of the house, hearing Netto question, in his dense way, why she had come over in the first place then. She also heard Saito scold him for being rude and making her feel unwelcome.

In a moment, she had crossed over to her yard. She dropped to the ground, leaning against her front door and staring at the sky.

"Meiru," Roll said sadly.

"I miss him," she responded, tears coming to her eyes. "I don't know anything! He has a grandpa and a twin brother here. Are we even childhood friends?"

"Of course we are," a voice responded from nearby.

Roll gave a high pitched squeak and turned the screen of the PET off as Meiru looked up to see Netto looking down at her with worried eyes.

"I didn't mean to make you feel forgotten," Netto said. He glanced over at his house, where Saito was waiting. The twin smiled and waved.

Meiru found herself waving back and smiling weakly. Saito seemed nice. She thought it was a shame that Netto wasn't a twin in their world. Netto seemed to make a good brother.

"It's fine," she responded. "I'm just being silly."

"It's not silly," Netto responded, shaking his head. "It's never silly to feel alone. I don't know what I'd do without Saito."

Meiru smiled, imagining the Netto she knew. He was fine without Saito but he also loved netbattling and had Rockman.

"Look, Grandpa says I should invite you to dinner."

Honest Netto. He couldn't just invite her, he had to tell her why. Meiru was okay with it as he wouldn't have asked if he didn't want her over.

"Sure."