("Someone was pulling Net somewhere," he said, raising his arms as Mama helped him put his shirt on. "I think it was Nii-chan? We were supposed ta' be going to sleep." Shirt now worn properly, the scrunching of Net's nose could be seen as he thought hard. A hand then pinched his nose gently. Net giggled, covering it with his hand.

"Then?" Mama asked, a patient smile on her lips.

"All Net remembers after is…black. Me and Nii-chan, we fell…?" the younger brunet fell quiet at his lack of recollection.

"It's alright, Net-chan." Mama ruffled his hair. "Now, let's go visit Papa, nee?"

Net nodded. "Yeah! And Saito-nii, too!"

Haruka's lips twitched. "R-right.")

Netto glances at his younger counterpart, arms folded behind his head. From what Mama heard from his story, this younger Netto was five years old and didn't exactly know how he got here.

She told him to refer to the younger him as "Net-chan" in order to avoid confusion.

He settled on calling him "Net" instead because he never wanted to hear that nickname ever again. Ever.

Mama gave him some of his old clothing to change into, glad that she hadn't given them away yet to some charity or other. So right now, Net was wearing his old orange shirt and shorts not unlike the one he was wearing right now, only they were smaller. He had to lend him one of his headbands too. No matter how much their mother told him that it would be best to lay low, Net had plotted himself on the foot of their stairs with a pout, saying he wasn't going anywhere without his headband.

It was weird not having his mother's exasperated stare directed at him, but he had to admit it was highly amusing. He could see why Rock enjoyed seeing that.

Watching the younger...him (ugh, this was still gonna get some getting used to-) happily skip en route to SciLabs wasn't the weirdest thing ever but still, there was another him! A younger Netto Hikari! There were two Nettos, and he's surprised the universe didn't collapse on itself the moment they touched, because that's what happens in some of the movies he watched.

Speaking of things he'd seen in movies, he thought that maybe this was some sort of time travel thing. (Maybe like Beyondard?) But, Netto tilted his head to the side, wouldn't he remember time travelling too, or something like that? He never had that many disappearing acts when he was that age, the time when he'd been furious at Rockman for nagging him all the time being the only one coming to mind.

He doubts that's it, though. Netto glances once more at Net, an odd envy coming forth from his heart as he remembered the other thing Mama said to him.

Because this Netto's big brother didn't die and last time he checked, his Saito was still his navi, still mostly living on the digital plane of existence, and still hasn't blown the candles on their birthday cake with him yet.

And loathe he was to admit it, he was kinda...jealous.

"Netto-kun!"

Net gasped at the familiar voice. He wasted no time turning tail and running towards said voice with a grin plastered on his face.

"Nii-chan!"

The brothers reunited with a hug, Net ending up tackling his older brother to the ground with how happy he was to see him.

"Oof- Ototou-kun is really heavy."

"Ehh?! I'm not! You are!"

Saito sticks his tongue out at the younger boy. "No, you are!"

Net narrows his eyes and grips Saito's hands, pushing him towards the ground in retaliation, saying "I'll show you heavy!". While Saito is trying to push him off, the younger doesn't relent in his struggle as the hug turned into a full out brawl between the brothers.

"Take that back, Saito-nii!"

"Never!"

"Boys! Stop that this instant!"

Mama's stern voice had the two of them frozen in place. Slowly, they turned to their mother who had her hands on her hips and simultaneously gulped nervously. They rose to their feet quickly.

"Well?" she said, brow rising in expectation.

"Sorry I said you were heavy," Saito started, a smile appearing on his face.

"I'm sorry, too..." Net reaches in for a real hug this time and the older twin hugs back warmly.

Haruka lets a fond smile escape her at the adorable sight.

"KID!" Rockman popped up from the corner of the hallway as he ran towards them. "There you are."

Saito let go from the hug and turned his eyes to the blue navi. "Navi-san!"

"Thank goodness, I thought I'd lost you-"

"Navi-san, Navi-san! I found my Mama and my Ototou-kun!" the kid grinned at him, pulling on his sibling's hand and running towards Rockman. "I want you to meet them!"

His eyes widen, the child the kid was pulling looked a lot like Netto-kun. Even more so than the other did, so then that must mean-

"Rock!" Recognizing the familiar sound of his brother's voice, he smiled and saw Netto-kun and Mama just behind the two children who were running up to him.

"Navi-san, this is Netto-kun! My ototou-kun!" He then points to Haruka. "And that's our Mama!"

Well, that confirms it. Kinda.

"Wait, you're a NetNavi?" the younger Netto exclaimed and Saito's expression became panicked, hand starting to reach and grab at his twin's shirt.

"Ne-"

"And you're in the Real World!? That's so awesome!" He raised his arms up and asked Rock to carry him.

(He ignored his counterpart's bewildered stare. How curious.)

He couldn't find it in him to deny that request, so he hoisted up the younger with relative ease. Giggles reached his ears (or technically, his sound receptors?) as brown and blue began to step away from his vision.

A pair of small hands clasp his cheeks and he suddenly finds himself at the end of a scrutinizing stare.

Rockman froze.

Younger Netto-kun tilted his head curiously as he seemed to observe Rockman's features carefully. Did he know-?

Seconds pass and Rock couldn't breathe.

(Not that he needed to, there just was no other way to explain that sensation he felt.)

...

"You look like Saito-nii," was all the younger Netto said before shouting for his brother, wriggling out of his hold and running towards his older counterpart, dragging the younger hi... -and dragging his older twin with him.

They began to trail after Mama after she'd decided to continue introductions and catching up on the way to find Papa.

The younger Hikari siblings held hands while they walked, arms swinging to the rhythm of their pace. "He looks a lot like Ototou-kun," Saito said, lips pursing and eyes narrowing at the older Netto.

Behind the pair, Netto hears the comment and grins. "That's because I am. Well, 'Ototou-kun', that is."

"Un," Net nodded excitedly. "Nii-san is an older Netto! Net is going to be so cool when Net grows up!"

"Why are you calling yourself 'Net'?"

"Because Mama said so!"

Saito tilts his head at his twin. "Yeah, I get that. But why?"

"Hmm," Net put his free hand under his chin and after a while, smiled at Saito. "I don't know," he answered cheerfully, his brother nearly tripping at the given answer.

"Ototou-kun..."

"What?"

Rockman chuckled at their younger versions' antics. It was a blast from the past, seeing a five-year-old Netto again. It made him feel nostalgic. He didn't know what to make of this younger, non-digitized version of him though. Netto had shared his theory of some sort of time travelling or some other variant of it being involved in this since, well...

Since this Saito was still alive and all that. Y'know, not stuck in the computer and wishing he could be with his family, actually physically be there with them?

"Hey, Rock?" Netto had his arms crossed behind his head.

The navi hummed, "Yeah, Netto-kun?"

His twin kept his gaze at the children in front of them. Lips wound tight in a neutral expression and eyes staring longingly as the two kids joked with the other.

This was a look Rock absolutely hated to see on Netto's face.

"Do you think..." Netto struggled to find the words. "Do you think we would've been like them? If-..." Rockman didn't need him to finish the sentence, knowing exactly where it was going.

(If you hadn't died?)

Netto just shook his head and put on a strained smile, arms falling back to his sides.

"Nevermind, it's stupid."

Rockman frowned, not knowing what to say. Instead he wrapped an arm around Netto's shoulders and gave him what he hoped was a reassuring smile, hoping that this was enough to ease the negative feelings brewing in his younger brother's mind.

Judging from the small smile he got in return, Rockman would say that his message was received loud and clear.