Author's Notes: If it wasn't for Spellcaster Hikaru then this fic would have been abandoned... Also I'm using a few lines from the YuGiOh movie song "You're Not Me".

Net Nitro chapter 19; You're Not Me

It was a dreary, dark day for Netto Hikari and his Navi Megaman.exe. The skies had suddenly opened up, scattering rain with fast winds. Netto was watching the rain from the balcony at school, kept safe and dry behind the tempered-glass windows, waiting for the storm to pass.

"Netto-kun, how about doing your homework while you wait?" Megaman's voice came from the PET. Netto groaned, leaning against the railing. "I already did it back in study hall Megaman...but there's one problem left and I can't solve it! I hate math. I'm no good at it."

"That's not true! You're getting a B in the course, sheesh! Which one are you having problems with?" Megaman asked. Netto got out his notebook (there was nothing better to do anyway... he had the period off since he finished the test everyone was taking early). "Uh... 5 x 10 x 45 x 32 x pi..." he drawled off.

Megaman's eyes widened. "And they expect you to solve THAT without a calculator? They're nuts. I suppose they want the work shown, too, right...?" Netto got ready with a pen in hand and an empty page.

"5 x 10 = 50. Then 50 x 45 = 2250, and 2250 x 32 = 72,000, and 72,000 x pi...(3.141592654) = 226194.6711." Netto furiously jotted down what his NetNavi had told him, reciting it back to him to make sure he'd gotten it right.

"That's a lot of numbers..." Netto laughed a little, closing his notebook and sticking his pen in his ear so it laid on top of it. His hair was everywhere, spikes flying every which way, unbound by the usual bandana. Megaman nodded his head. Both of them fell silent again. Obviously this day, nothing much was going on, and nothing either of them tried to do lasted.

{ You think I've got it all, everyone thinks I've got it made }

"Megaman...?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss my friends..."

Megaman sighed at the longing tone to Netto's voice. This had been going on for a while since the World Three base had been destroyed... his Operator had become lonely.

"...Why?"

Netto looked at his PET.

"Why what?"

"Why do you miss them?"

"...because they gave me attention."

{ Well how come my only friends are the ones I pay }

"They would only come to me if they needed something, so it was kind of like I was paying for their attention. But still, my sacrifices were nothing compared to that feeling of being needed." Netto paused to chuckle. "With the excitement of World Three gone I don't have any attention at all anymore. Who cares, I mean? Dex, Yai, and Maylu don't want anything to do with me. They hate me for what I said."

"I wish I could take it all back." he continued. "Maybe... switch into someone else's shoes. I'm the only one who's alone."

{ No one understands what I would do to change my life for just one day }

Megaman was quiet for a moment.

"You can't just do that Netto-kun... sure, it'd be great if that would happen, if you could turn back time and all, but it's too late. Even if you completely change... your friends will still look at you the same way."

Netto backed up a bit from the windows. The rain was still pounding hard against the glass, the trees outside gradually losing their leaves.

"No one can understand my despair. There won't be anyone else out there who'd give me attention for who I really am. Just people like Dex, Yai, Maylu..." he muttered.

{ Don't say if I were you or tell me what to do

or how things would be if you were in my shoes

'cuz you're not me }

"If I were you, I'd just forget about them." came a voice from the left.

Netto turned towards that direction, and saw Tohru Hikawa, who'd just transferred in a couple days ago. The two shook hands briefly. Of course, Tohru had heard rumors about Netto from Yai and Dex, so Netto and him had a shaky friendship at best. Netto gave him a small smile.

"I know. It's just not easy, Tohru."

Netto absolutely hated it when people said things like 'If I were you I'd do this' and people who described stuff when they had no experience about the situation he was in. But he knew Tohru was just trying to help him out a little.

Tohru smiled and turned, clutching his umbrella as he headed for the school doors.

"Sort it out soon, Lan!" Netto waved goodbye as his brownish-grey haired classmate disappeared through the doorways. A frown placed itself back on Netto's face. His 'friends' were ruining everything for him. He could have made a friend with Tohru... he seemed pretty nice.

{ Yeah, you'll never be... Why can't you see that you're not me }

Netto saw that the rain wasn't going to be letting up anytime soon. But he couldn't really get his PET wet... and he didn't want to shove it in his backpack either. Megaman was his best friend. No, he was...

"Netto-kun! Hey, you're zoning out again!" Megaman called from the PET. Netto realized that he'd been staring at the phone in the lobby for a while. That was the first place he'd jacked in Megaman.

"Heh, sorry... I'm zoning out a lot today." Netto laughed lightheartedly. Megaman's look of concern was still on his face, in his eyes. His hands were placed on his hips as if he meant business.

"What's bothering you Netto-kun? For real this time?"

Netto gulped. He couldn't resist anymore. The despair was killing him.

"You're the problem Megaman!" he admitted. Megaman's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Wh-what?!" he sputtered. It took him an instant before his shock disappeared. "Because I'm a reject Navi, right? I cause too many problems? I'm no good for you? Is that it?"

"No!" Netto shook his head wildly before looking his Navi in the eyes. "I can't believe you still think all that stupid crap is true! That's not it at all! See, Megaman, you're... perfect."

Megaman stared at his Operator.

Netto was blushing nervously. "Uh... I... What I mean is..."

"I know what you mean, Netto-kun." Megaman paused. He spoke in a serious tone.

"We need to talk."

Netto opened his mouth to say something, but it caught in his throat. He'd slipped up back there and said something that ending up coming out the wrong way, and maybe Megaman was going to scold him and get mad at him for saying that. But... he meant the words in a way that surprised him. Therefore, doing that couldn't have been all that bad of him to do.

"What? Right now?" Netto voiced his surprise.

"Someplace private."

Netto paled. "Wait until we get home. There's too many eavesdroppers."

"No. Not home."

Megaman had shaken his head, fiercely insisting it. Netto blinked... just what were they going to talk about anyway? "We can talk about it here, Megaman. There's no one around yet, besides, the periods aren't going to be over for a while yet." Netto said. Megaman nodded his head slowly.

"What do you – er, we – have to talk about?" Netto inquired as he sat down on the floor by the wall. He looked down at his PET, attentive, to hear his Navi speak.

"First, you have to tell me what's been bugging you. You've been zoning out too much lately, and it's almost gotten you in trouble with the Principal. Plus, you just haven't been your normal self since we'd gotten back from the base."

Netto sighed. Megaman was just worried about him, and didn't want to scream at him after all.

"I just miss my friends. I don't want to... it's just that, I regret a lot. I want things to change, Mega... I'm so sick of this I'd do anything to change it all back to when I was happier."

Megaman frowned sadly. "You don't mean that though, Netto-kun... I know you don't." Netto raised his head from where it had fallen down on his chest. "And how do you know?" he inquired.

"They're the cause of your despair! Can't you see that?!" Megaman exclaimed. "You wouldn't want anything from them because then they could manipulate you. You don't want that."

"Then if you understand me so well, then tell me what I really want." Netto tested him. It was obvious that something had set him off.

"You want someone you can trust who loves you for who you are and not for what you have to offer." Megaman had said that plainly.

"Yeah, that's it. So tell me who would want to do that?" How could he believe that there was someone out there who would treat him that way?

"That's what I have to talk to you about." Megaman said. Netto nodded, letting him take his turn. "I know that this could get you in a lot of trouble and pain, Netto-kun... but I have to tell you this. Are you willing to listen? Please..."

From the way Megaman was acting, his head against his chest hiding his eyes, this was like a life-or-death thing. "I'm listening, Mega." It took a while for Megaman to speak. It was as if he was deciding if he should tell him whatever was on his mind or not. Netto silently urged his Navi on.

"Ever since I came here... ever since I met you, Netto-kun... I've felt for you."

Netto blinked. "As a friend?" It was all he could come up with at the moment.

"No... not just that."

Realization hit Netto like a ton of bricks.

"I know. You love me."

Megaman lifted his eyes up, connecting with his Operator's.

"Could you tell that all along?" Megaman asked.

Netto shook his head. "I never did... I never even noticed until you've told me now."

The blue and yellow Navi smiled a bit. Netto did, making the both of them feel better.

"So... now that you know that I love you... tell me what you feel." Megaman brought up in curiousity. Netto placed a finger under his chin, trying to put his emotions and feelings into place for once. It was impossible – they seemed to be everywhere, as mixed up as alphabet soup. He wrinkled his face in so many complicated ways that Megaman couldn't help but laugh.

"I don't know... I can't quite place it." Netto said. Megaman looked at him. "I mean... I don't understand my feelings enough to explain them to someone else..."

Megaman nodded in understanding. "That's okay. But when you do figure it out, will you tell me?" Netto nodded in response. "You bet I will."

The school bell rang suddenly, signaling the end of the school day. Netto got up and ran outside just before the usual stampede of classmates ran out the doors heading for home, avoiding getting run over. Megaman watched as Netto saw his friends off through the gates from afar. The expression on Netto's face was different, but he couldn't quite place it. It wasn't the usual longing expression, it looked more like a 'getting over it' kind of thing... the good thing was that he was smiling.

"Let's get home, Megaman. I left my journal there, and I want to write in there." Netto said as he put his binder over his head, so that his hair would be kept dry. He held Megaman under his vest, making it so that the Navi could still look up at him. "Just how many pages do you have left in there? You've been writing an awful lot in that."

"I've got 20 pages left. It's only got a hundred, you know. That's not a lot." Megaman fell over at the news. "ONLY 20 pages! What on earth do you write about?!" he exclaimed in shock. Netto smiled, wagging his finger in front of the PET. "It's a private journal, Mega, so I'm not supposed to tell you!" Netto made his way down the sidewalk towards home. "But... most of the entries are about you, so... do you want to read it when we get home?"

Megaman blushed a bright-red tomato color. Netto wrote about him in his journal! It was like hearing that a girl was writing about him in her diary! Oh wait, that was the same thing as this. He was the figment of Netto's entries. But none of the entries would be anything bad, right? Netto wouldn't write about that... could he?

...tbc!