I didn't think that this story would be so well-liked! Thanks for the reviews everyone! I hope I can continue to make you happy.
Once again, I own nothing; Capcom does. Also, there might be slight spoilers, but I don't think it will be much.
So, now, onward!
女らしいプログラム!
The Feminine Program!
Chapter Two:
The Trouble Begins!
This morning was just like any morning for Hikari Haruka. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, her son hadn't awoken yet… or he hadn't come down, since she could hear him somewhat… The only difference between today and any other day was that her husband was home for a few days and she found that she couldn't be happier. Everything was perfect…
Until she heard that scream that literally shook the house…!
"AHH! NETTO-KUN! WHAT'S GOING ON!"
…
"PAPA!"
Haruka winced when she heard the feet pounding on the stairs as her only son ran down them, rushing into the living room, huffing, face in shock. "Mama… Rockman… I mean… He is… She's a… I think I'm gonna faint…"
She giggled slightly, though a tinge of guilt stressed itself across her eyebrows. Maybe this 'idea' had been a bit too drastic… but talking with Netto probably wouldn't have helped, since his attention span hadn't grown with his age…
"Netto, sweetie-!" she began, moving away from the stove so that she could help explain the situation to her son. But his stunned expression stopped her slightly before he became even more frantic than he was, flinging his arms about and screaming all the way. "Something's wrong with Rockman! He's a she, Mama! He's a girl!" Netto had no idea what to do, but keeping on panicking sounded like the best plan to his freaked-out mind. But what didn't click was the look on his mother's face. No shock… no stunned, wide eyes… nothing. It would irk him even more had he not wanted an answer to the newest mystery in his young life…
"Netto… calm down, you're going to hyperventilate…" Haruka muttered, walking over the rest of the distance between her and her son, resting a hand on his back. Her poor boy… she should have known that Netto's ability to exaggerate things would 'shine' through, but… "Mama, how could this have happened!" he moaned dejectedly, hanging his head. "I thought that program was supposed to help our bond, not his-er, her looks…"
"That's how it's supposed to help; turn Rockman from a male program into a female one so that you may learn to adapt to the complexity of women."
Netto's head raised to see his father walking into the kitchen, stretching his arms over his head before striding leisurely to his family. Haruka couldn't help but giggle at Yuuichirou's grin since it reminded so much of the Cheshire Cat… However, her son didn't find anything funny with the situation, and wanted, no, demanded an explanation. "But why! I get along with girls!" Netto retorted, unable to grasp the idea.
The scientist sighed, patting his son's head. "I know that, but you treat them like male friends. I understand that you've been friends with Sakurai Meiru since you two were little, but you still act as if you can say or do anything around her like you used to could," Yuuichirou began, pointing up the ceiling matter-of-factly while speaking, "Altering Rockman's appearance and personality will help you better perceive how different males and females are!"
"… Mind saying that in English?" Netto asked confusedly, scratching his head from the information. Haruka exhaled softly, turning back to the stove to finish breakfast while her husband formed 'simple' words. "In other words, Rock's a girl now and it will help you learn how to treat women… Especially when you get married…"
"Papa!" Netto bellowed, a blush streaking darkly across his face. "You make it out like Rockma-… Rock-chan and I will get married!"
"Well, if your father ever figures out a way for NetNavis to come into our world, you might could!" Haruka interjected, laughing slightly at the image of Rock walking down the aisle in a crisp white dress to marry her son. "I wouldn't mind, since I'm so used to him… Oh, I mean her!"
Yuuichirou laughed along with his wife before turning back to his son, whose blush became even redder. "Speaking of Rock, where is she?" he asked happily. "… I let her stay upstairs… I thought she was going to faint… if that was possible," Netto muttered in reply, scuffing his foot against the tiled floor of the kitchen. The brunet teen wondered if Rock was going to despise this as much as he would… 'At least she didn't hear the 'wedding plans'…'Netto thought gratefully, hoping that wouldn't be the only thing she would overhear today. "Why don't I go get her? I'm sure you want to make sure she's okay…"
Yuuichirou nodded at the teenager before the brunet began to tread hesitatingly up the stairs to retrieve Rock's PET.
-
"Rock-chan?" Netto asked as he opened his bedroom door, peering in slowly to stare at the PET.
The screen was blank, meaning that Rock was either charging or didn't want anyone to see her…
It was tensely quiet as he walked in, causing the teen to feel the weight of their new situation fall even farther on his shoulders. If Rock was too embarrassed or too scared to say anything, it might make it even worse. What if Rock didn't want anyone to see her? What if became… 'depressed?' 'Is that even possible?' Netto asked himself, 'I know Rock's the more serious one of us, but still… he… she knows when to enjoy life… Oh, man, how am I going to explain it to the others? What if they laugh and make her feel worse? What if she begins to… hate herself?' All these inquiries rushed speedily through his young mind, causing a minor headache. Groaning, he limply fell into his desk chair, glaring up at the bright ceiling.
'Of all things to happen… It couldn't be some evil NetNavi or group that wants to rule the Net… No, the newest adventure in my life is trying to get used to Rock being a girl…'
A soft beeping brought Netto out of his thoughts and he turned his head to find Rock on the screen, a sad expression on her lovely face. Her Operator sat before, gently picking up her PET to better examine her countenance's emotion, which made a soft blush appear on her cheeks. The teen chuckled quietly, finding it somewhat humorous that the NetNavi seemed embarrassed by the inspection. "Are you all right?" he asked almost mutely so that she wouldn't be startled. Her downcast eyes glanced at his pitying ones before she sighed. "I guess I'm as fine as I should be," she replied. He didn't seem to have much of a response; what was he supposed to say? 'Oh, well, that's just great!' or he might say 'Oh…' or maybe even '….'So many possible sentences, and yet he couldn't find at least one within his mind to say to her.
"So what did your father say?"
"Huh? Oh… well, um, he said that this is how… um… you're supposed to look for right now," replied the brunet, who was now looking to his side, finding the cluttered shelf of books and magazines quite fascinating for once… He placed the PET back into its holder just in case…
But after about a minute, he was surprised that Rock hadn't started screaming or rampaging or whatever it is women do when something like this happens to them… However, despite his estimation on her reaction, she stayed silent, her emerald eyes held to the ground and her hands clasped in front, making her seem as if she were scolded for something trivial and stupid. He couldn't help the blue NetNavi as much as he wanted to… he couldn't hug her or rub her back… plus, he was too afraid to say something for the chance of listening to the girl prattle angrily at him for speaking the wrong words… 'How does Papa do it?'
After a while, Rock finally lifted her head, eyes shimmering with tears, a sight that stabbed at Netto's heart. It ached so much in his chest that he thought he would keel over from the emotional pain... but he knew he had to stay strong... at least, until, he could find a way to talk his father into changing her back...
Leaning in when he noticed she wanted to speak, the brunet waited as patiently as he could so that he wouldn't appear to be rushing her.
"… So, the program…"
"Yeah, it's supposed to teach me how to treat women, but I guess you're the one who takes the true consequences of it."
…
"What do you think the others will say?" she inquired faintly, the dread of what his answer would be seeping into her voice.
"I don't know. They'll be shocked, but… I don't know. But…"
"I know… they'll have to know sometime. I guess today's as good as any since you're supposed to meet up with them today to eat."
Netto exhaled, laying his head on his arms while gazing at her. After a second, he smiled encouragingly at the NetNavi, hoping that it would be better than she was predicting. "Yeah… Maybe it will… And who knows… this might be a fun experience!"
'Yeah right...'
-
The soft jingle of bells tinkered about the restaurant as Netto walked in, face set in determination, but it wasn't the same determination where he usually tried to find the best in things… no, this time it was showing because he was busy thinking.
'Even though I told Rockma-! … Rock-chan it was going to be okay, there's no telling what my friends'll think! They might begin to think I'm some perverted Operator or something…! Geez, I couldn't get 'The Talk' like normal kids do… Nope, I can tell my kids that when I was their age, my parents decided to change my NetNavi's gender to teach me a lesson! Well… at least it's somewhat original…'
"Netto-kun! Don't try to destroy the restaurant before eating!" Rock's voice squeaked just before Netto crashed into a waitress bearing several breakable plates in her arms. Flailing in embarrassment, he quickly moved out of her way, apologizing kindly to her as she carefully went along. "… Arigatou, Rock-chan. The last thing I want today is paying the bill for those…" he muttered to the NetNavi, who was vaguely blushing. "Well, I haven't lost the ability to keep you out of most trouble at least!"
"Aww… that's a shame. I was hoping you wouldn't nag me about my curfew anymore…"
Smiling at the sweet giggling, Netto proceeded to the back, searching for his friends before finally spotting hot-pink hair towards the end of the aisle. He grinned, jogging up to the table to find Meiru and Hikawa Tohru sitting in a booth together, reading through the menu. "Oh, Netto!" Meiru perkily interjected as the brunet teen moved to sit opposite of her, waving playingly. "Hey, Meiru! Haven't seen you since… school? Man, has it really been that long! I've missed you so much!" Netto laughed along with Meiru at his 'stupid act' before turning to Tohru, who was sipping at his drink. "What's been going on lately with you? You weren't at school yesterday…"
"Oh, Dad freaked out after I fell down the stairs coming down for breakfast. I couldn't really walk on it, but I was fine after a while but you know him…"
Nodding, Netto folded his arms across the table, leaning slightly over. "Yeah, Mama's like that sometimes, too."
"Meiru! Netto! Are we too late?"
Meiru looked over her shoulder to find Ayano-kouji Yaito and Oyama Dekao stepping up to the wooden table, the blonde sliding in with Netto and Dekao grabbing an extra chair. "No, no! You're fine!" Meiru answered joyfully, giving her menu to Yaito before intertwining her hands together to rest on the table's surface. "So, anything happen after school?"
"Naw, not really. Just worked on Gutsman a bit and went into work," Dekao replied, shrugging carelessly, "Nothing really to report…"
"Well, you'd never believe yesterday! Such a disaster! I couldn't find my new jacket to wear to the opening ceremony of the new company! Why, I don't know, but I had to wear that old, out-of-style one I bought last week!" Yaito exaggerated, motioning with her hands the 'despair' she went through. "And then, right when I thought everything was starting to get better, some buffoon decides he's going to trip and pour punch all over me!"
"It was simply dreadful!" Yaito's NetNavi, Glyde, exclaimed.
Netto chuckled as Meiru stared at her quizzically. "Aw, it's all right. I'm sure you still looked rich anyway…" The younger female nodded brightly. "Don't I always?"
"Oo, what a compliment! Netto, you should be some kind of professional… er… complimenter!" Tohru said, listening to their laughter before pulling out his PET and plugging Iceman into the restaurant's server. "Hey, plug your NetNavis in!" he bellowed when his friends gave him a weird look, "It's not right for us to have fun and our Navis not to!"
"Yeah, you're right!" agreed Meiru, shuffling for her pink PET and doing the same to Roll. Yaito and Dekao did the same, leaving Netto to stay motionless. Meiru was the first to catch on, turning to him immediately and inquiring him.
"Netto, why haven't you plugged in Rockman?"
Yelping, the brunet jumped slightly, expression sheepish. "Um… uh…" Netto tried to gather coherent words, but the very idea of them finding out… "Um… Y-you know, th-the waiter hasn't be-been by yet! Maybe I-I need to go find him! Yeah, I need to go find him!"
"But… there's one right over there… we can just call him over…"
Gulping helplessly, Netto squirmed under the pressure, wondering what to do. 'They're going to find out and laugh and then Rock-chan'll be embarrassed, I'll be humiliated, and I never be able to show my face in public again!'
"Netto-kun… just… plug me in…"
Blinking unbelievingly, Netto reached down to pull the azure device out of its holder. "Rock… man… are you sure?"
"… They have to know sometime…"
"Hey, is something wrong with Rockman?" Dekao asked urgently, "Don't tell me he's gone wimpy…"
"No, she-! He hasn't!" Netto barked angrily before moving his hand to plug Rock into the Network.
Silence was interrupted by rapid thumping heartbeats in Netto's ears before a muted squeal came from the ex-only female NetNavi of the group, causing his heart to skip a beat while the others twisted towards the screen. "What happened to you, Rockman?" she demanded through her shock, eyes wide as she saw the blue NetNavi.
The next sound was Netto's head banging loudly, cursing loudly about 'stupid smart parents and their ability to make life a living misery…'
-
"What happened to you, Rockman?"
Rock's blush deepened even more than possible as she shifted uncomfortably under the stunned gazes of her friends. Why had she pushed Netto into plugging her in? Why had she caused this, knowing that they wouldn't like her as she was now?
Well, it didn't matter now, since what's done is done and she could nothing more than answer with "I got a new program installed…"
No answer came and the intense quiet was causing tears to well in Rock's eyes. She didn't want to be here… all she wanted was to be safely secured in her PET and be in the holder clasped to Netto's waist… He would keep her safe… No one would ever have had to learn about this if she hadn't said anything… and now she was reaping the unfair consequences, standing before her friends, tears beginning to stream down her face.
"Rock... man…"
"I-It's…" Rock stuttered through her 'sore' throat, tears falling faster down her crimson cheeks. "R-Rock-chan now…"
Netto watched the scene play out on the computer screen, finding the sad sight of Rock crying quite… beautiful. It almost resembled something he would see from a movie where a young girl is being scrutinized by her boyfriend/husband's family with him there, unable to help her. Though the 'family' was doing nothing but being quiet, the brunet was in a position where he could not save her. Well, he could just take her out of the Network, but for some reason…
'Maybe… getting past this first step… it'll help…'
"I-I'm sorry… Netto-kun… could you-!"
"Wait!" Roll interrupted, abruptly walking over to place her pink-clad hands on Rock's shoulders. "It's all right! You don't have to leave! It's just…" Roll trailed off, gazing at the now shorter Rock, who looked far from all right… "It's… different."
Glyde agreed, nodding. "Yes, I must agree. It's a bit of a surprise, but…" the NetNavi smiled, stepping closer to the female, watching the shimmering swirls of tears and emerald fill Rock's irises, "you are quite lovely."
Rock's tears stopped suddenly and a new blush formed from the bashfulness taking over her emotions. It was strange, hearing such words from someone, especially Glyde, but it seemed to ease her fear, much to the others' satisfaction. "Arigatou, Glyde…" Rock's bright verdant eyes met with the bright, ivory floor, a small smile forming on her countenance.
"Well, if I were a guy NetNavi, I guess I could say the same thing, but that would be awkward, wouldn't it?" Roll jokingly added, tilting her head to the side to try to meet Rock's shy eyes. "It's okay! So you wanted a gender change… I know a bunch of NetNavis who have gone through that! Just wish you had warned us first!"
…
'Uh-oh…' Netto thought as he saw the left eye of his NetNavi twitch dangerously. 'I know that look… Mama gives it to Papa when he doesn't do something… This'll end badly…'
"You actually think I would purposely change myself into a girl?" Rock scoffed furiously between words, glaring daggers at the other female. "I can't believe you would say that, Roll! To think, of all the things you could have said, you said that!"
"Uh… U-Uh…"
"For you information, I was altered by Netto-kun's father because he seems to think that Netto-kun doesn't comprehend the complexity of females! But what else is new!"
"Yeah… Hey!" Netto yelped dejectedly, pouting. "I get some things… Don't make fun of me when I didn't do anything!"
"Netto-kun! Keep out of this!"
The brunet instantly back down, shrinking down into his seat beside a still stunned Yaito. "… Yes, ma'am…"
As Rock prattled on angrily, Gutsman watched bumfuzzled, scratching the back of his head with one of his large fists. "Gutsman confused, guts. Always thought Roll was pretty but now… Rock-chan is prettier than Roll! Who to like, then, guts? Roll or Rock?" He paused from his open-conversation with himself to watch the small NetNavi scream even more at both Roll and Netto before coming to a quick conclusion…
"Rock-chan too fussy, guts…"
"AND ANOTHER THING-!"
"… Guuuts…"
-
End of Chapter Two!
-