Sorry that I haven't been able to get this done sooner; a lot's been on my plate for the past few weeks.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed! )

Rock, Netto, and everybody else is owned by Capcom. I own nothing… except the idea.

女らしいプログラム!

The Feminine Program!

Chapter Four:

Mushy Stuff!

-

When Netto and Rock returned home, it was already dusk and the brunet was extremely exhausted. After dealing with Laika's temper, Enzan's teases, and Rock's unwillingness to help him, he found himself falling face first into the couch, groaning tiredly. He stayed there for several minutes, letting the silence take over. It was relieving, he thought offhandedly, to be able to have peace and quiet for a while…

That was… until…

"Netto-kun?" a soft, timid voice queried, obviously concerned.

The teen sighed, burying his face further into the pale blue cushions of the couch. Maybe he would sink into the couch and he'd never have to hear anything again… But the cushions would give him no mercy as he heard Rock call for him again, worry slipping out into the voice.

"What is it, Rock-chan?" he asked, aggravated that she wouldn't leave him alone. But, Rock did somewhat act like his own mother; she always knew when something was wrong and she always knew when to ask about it. It reminded the brunet of the phrase 'a woman's intuition' for some 'unknown' reason…

Rock waited for a moment, trying to piece all the words she wanted to say together. She was afraid that Netto's bad mood was caused by her and how she had acted in the presence of Netto's two rivals. Though she knew of it, she acted like it wasn't their from time to time, finding their 'competition' childish, as she would mutter every once in a while.

Though she saw the rivalry between the three, she felt no such thing towards Searchman and Blues. Yes, at one point, she did act as such one time with Blues earlier in their meetings, but that had faded as they became teammates, knowing that their job came first. But, Netto just didn't 'connect' with Laika and Enzan, finding them a bit too confident and 'cold.' But that didn't mean that Rock could immediately take their side when Netto was be mocked; that was her Operator, and she should have known better. Finally, she came to the answer she wanted to say.

"… I'm sorry…" Rock muttered, hoping that he would receive her apologies without much fuss. She despised fighting with the brunet and it tore her heart in two every time. Every time they fought, she felt as though she was pushing him away, causing him to confide in other people instead of herself, which saddened her.

Rock would found herself jealous of some NetNavis at times. Complete obedience… never a word against their Operators' actions or commands… loved for their service and not for their personality… yet hated because of their inability to feel.

The blue Navi had thought at times to delete the personality data deep inside of her programming, and becoming completely obedient to Netto once and for all. But every time she tried, a password would stop her and her shaking hand wouldn't stay steady enough for her to hack into it. And then, she would silently cry every night she attempted such a feat, trying her hardest not to wake Netto as her tears fell…

Netto laid silently for a while, knowing why Rock was apologizing, but at the same time, wondering why she would. But the female Navi was complex… even when she was male, she was complex. He chuckled one time when Meiru had compared Rock to a Ruber… Ruby… Rebez… cube. The pink-haired girl had explained that no matter how many times you tried to figure it out, moving columns and rows to help yourself, you'd never quite complete the puzzle, finding one part unable to be deciphered. Rock had just stood there, listening intently before turning back to talk to Roll.

"It's all right…" he whispered at last, causing Rock to perk up. "You were just mad… I do the same thing to you, you know…" He turned so that he was lying on his back, gazing at the white ceiling. Smiling briefly, he pulled Rock's PET out of the holder, bringing it up to stare into the screen, seeing the tears brim her emerald eyes. He grinned gently at the NetNavi, watching her hesitant smile slip upon her face, while a voice nagged him at the back of his mind, tugging incessantly; "Look how broken she is…"

-

By the time his parents came home, Netto was upstairs, playing an on-line game while Rock shuffled through some files, obviously searching for something. He paid little heed, struggling against an enemy onslaught of ships that threatened his defenses. "Oh, come on! I'm only on level five! They should be bringing out such heavy artillery!" he whined miserably, hitting the fire key on his joystick and destroying several smaller ships. Rock turned her attention to her Operator for a moment before moving the files again, looking intently for her goal.

After searching for two minutes, she found her prize at the time where Netto bellowed in defeat, his line of defense and main ship having been blown away easily in level seven. "It's not fair!" he yelled, slamming his fists against the desk. "It cheats! It cheeaaats!"

"Oh, hush, Netto-kun!" Rock whispered to him, materializing the fluffiest chair Netto had ever seen and sitting in it. Her lithe body slid into the cushion, a soft, content sigh emitting from her lips. "Finally… I was waiting for you to lose…"

"Hey! It cheated! I could have won easily!" Netto snapped back, glaring at the blue NetNavi as she brought up a translucent screen and tapped on a button. The lights on the screen dimmed and a large screen appeared, along with the credits for a movie.

"Oh, what movie are you watching? Is it action? Suspense?" he asked, his defeat long forgotten as his short attention span caught sight of something else. Rock barely moved, wondering about her Operator before turning back to the movie and smiling when soft music began to play. "No. It's a romance," she answered, snuggling into the chair further. An old, Italian town showed and Netto stared at her flabbergasted. "Romance! When did you start watching Romances!"

"Since just now," Rock answered as if it were a simple 'how do you do' question, causing the brunet's temper to shorten. He couldn't believe that his partner was watching a movie about kissing and love and all that mushy crap he didn't find all too appealing. "Is that all that's in this movie!"

"No. There's angst in here, too. I believe Roll said that the girl killed herself."

"I should have known… As long you don't cry and it's not a soap opera or something like that…" Netto sighed, laying his head on his hand, watching Rock with a soft smile.

A sweet giggle came from the NetNavi as she watched as a young man roamed the Italian streets. "Oh, no; soap operas come on tomorrow!" Rock cheerfully interjected, grinning to herself as she heard the teen groan sarcastically. "Whoopee. I can't wait. At least I'll be in school tomorrow… Man, can't believe I said that."

"Oh, but, that's what time records are for, Netto-kun!"

…

"Aw, man… I thought we were supposed to be looking for Forte tomorrow afternoon!" The teen hoped that mentioning the rogue NetNavi would help 'bail' him out of enduring soap operas. He inwardly shuddered at the thought of those shows, knowing what would happen if anyone ever found out he was forced to watch them by his partner…

"Forte can wait!" Rock said matter-of-factly, "As long as he doesn't cause mayhem until after the shows are over, then it doesn't matter!"

Netto scoffed, turning his head away from the computer screen. "Making you into a girl made you… different, Rock-chan." Rock giggled once more, tilting her head as the boy and girl met on the movie. "That's the whole idea of the lesson, dear Netto. You must learn to adapt to the differences between male and female. Now, quiet! It's getting good!" Rock hushed him before watching the rest of the movie.

-

"H-how could she k-kill herself, Netto-kuuun!" Rock wailed as tears fell freely after the young girl in the movie jumped off the bridge, the man's love unable to save her from her inevitable suicide. The poor boy was left speechless and heartbroken after screaming her name and proclaiming his love as she fell into the dark freezing waters below. They were now showing the boy at a funeral with very few people standing around an open grave.

"I don't know- 'cause the script told her to?" Netto mumbled, bored out of his mind and agitated that Rock could get so worked up over a movie. "She's so stupid," Rock blurted out, hiccupping slightly, "He goes out of his way just to show how much he cares and she goes and throws his love away by jumping off a bridge!"

"It's 'original,' all right," Netto whispered to himself, watching the credits roll after a few words between the enclosed corpse and the male. Thankfully, Rock didn't hear, too wound up into the horrible thought of killing oneself when there was someone there to love you. It was such an awful thing to think about, she figured, so she tapped a few buttons, causing the screen to turn black before disappearing.

"Well, at least it's over…" Netto grumbled, standing up from his chair to stretch out. "Ne, Rock-chan… I didn't have any homework over the weekend, did I?"

"How can you think of homework after watching such a sad movie!" Rock wailed slightly, huffing before mumbling about how 'insensitive men were.' The brunet spun around abruptly, glaring heated daggers at the screen. "Why are we so 'insensitive?'" Netto emphasized, leaning forward to be level with the screen. Emerald eyes crossly met his chocolate ones and he could have sworn he saw sparks fly. "Well, you won't admit that you're sad! You all have to act big and bad in front of everyone when all your girlfriend wants is for you to be sweet and compassionate!"

Netto laughed snobbishly at the comment, making Rock angrier than she was previously. He was just placing himself as example number one in her book, humiliating himself obliviously. "Then why do girls swoon over the bad boys? It's those 'big and bad' boys that win all the girls!"

"It's because those girls believe that they can change them! Haven't you ever noticed? The sweet, innocent cheerleader believes that she can change Mr. Rock Star? C'mon! Surely you've seen that at school before!" Rock protested loudly, her leer cutting into Netto's. "Well, so-rry if I don't notice all the gossip that girls frolic over!" Netto yelled back, fire roaring in his eyes. "Last time I checked, you were programmed to be male!"

"Well, last time I checked, you got me changed into a girl because you couldn't grasp the fact that they're just a bit different from you!"

Taken aback, Netto stayed where he was, the fight obviously doused as he averted his gaze onto a poser adjacent to him. She was right; it was because of him that Rock was now a girl… and what was so bad about was how much she both hated and yet loved the change. She covered her true feelings up; even Netto could tell what she was doing…

And that's what stabbed his heart the most.

'I can't stay in here…'

Suddenly, Netto turned to proceed out the door, defeated and embarrassed. He reached the door and twisted the knob, stopping with the door opened halfway. The brunet stayed motionless for a few moments as if hoping Rock would say something to stop him, but when no words came, he decided to say something. "Yeah, well…" he started, his voice cracking with pent-up emotion, "I'm sorry about that, too…"

"Net-!"

The door slammed against the call of his name, creating an echo that seemed endless to the small Navi as she sat quietly, head hung low as she cried.

-

"Ugh! I can't believe how she is now!" Netto argued to himself, his parents watching him warily as he stomped downstairs. "It was bad before, but now… It's like I can't even sit there quietly without us fighting for five minutes!"

Haruka watched her son with concern before glancing over to her husband, who seemed entranced by the teen's fit. She sighed, stepping out of the kitchen with two glasses filled with water and several ice cubes. "What now, sweetie?" she asked worriedly. "It's Rock! She's so difficult and she makes me feel bad about this whole catastrophe by blaming me!" Netto answered furiously while throwing his hands around and pacing around the living room floor. "It's awful! At least before she didn't cry every time we fought! But now, she always in tears at the end of the fight, making me feel worse than I already was!" As Netto finished, his chest was rising up and down with his angered breaths, his face coated in a thin layer of sweat and his eyes bright and wide, staring at his stunned parents.

"Well…" Yuuichirou began quietly, "welcome to life, son. When you take a wife, it'll be just the same." Haruka nodded in agreement with him, laying a hand on his after sitting down beside him on the couch. "Your father's right, dear," she began, smiling at her husband before doing the same to her son, who didn't quite appreciate it, "Marriage is a compromise. In fact, every relationship is a compromise, just about. You have to change things in order to accommodate her."

"But shouldn't she do the same! I mean, it's not a compromise then if I'm the one changing for her, right!" Netto immediately inquired, wondering where there was a balance to this stupid thing called love. "Yes, that's true, but you have to realize—she's been forced to make the biggest change of all. Rock is no longer a male and she's trying her hardest to figure out how to react to everyday life now," Yuuichirou replied, grinning sadly at the brunet teen, eagerly waiting to see if his son was perceiving what they were trying to explain to him. Chocolate eyes could only blink at the couple, finding everything so dissimilar to a few days ago. Everything was altered- 'messed up beyond belief,' Netto thought- and now he had to take other things into consideration before stepping right into things. He knew it would be difficult for a while, but until his parents let up on their 'lesson,' he would have to deal with it the best way he could.

"All right…" the teen began, scratching the back of his head in humiliation, "I guess I see where you're coming from…"

Haruka and Yuuchirou beamed at him, feeling a burden be lifted from their shoulders. They were trying to raise their son as best as they could figure out and they had hoped that this lesson would teach him something important. And as Netto trekked back upstairs, the married couple looked at each other lovingly, one unspoken thing told between them.

We have a wonderful son.

-

By the time that the brunet Operator returned to his blue-painted room, the screen was black, signaling that Rock was now in Sleep mode and that she didn't want to speak to him anymore for the rest of the night, which was a relief. Though he knew that he needed to apologize to her, he didn't feel like causing even more tension between the two, knowing that their emotions would clash and end in a standstill. Tomorrow afternoon, he resolved, he would sit down and talk with her and try to mend the wounds that both had caused. They didn't need to go on like this, since there was no telling at how long that this lesson would last. So, with that settled in his mind, he prepared for bed, knowing that the routine in the morning would be 'troublesome'… at least on his part…

-

End of Chapter Four!

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