女らしいプログラム!

The Feminine Program!

Chapter Nine:

Anxiety!

-

Wednesday faded into Thursday and Thursday fell into Friday and finally, Netto Hikari was willing to discuss the matter of letting Rock join Searchman on a date to the fair that Yokohama's Network was holding in honor of the Real World's fair, which was celebrating its seventy-fifth year. It was a big deal out in the city and Netto knew that the place would be filled with different Navis who wanted to enjoy the frivolous joy of riding a Ferris wheel or throw colorful plastics balls at some bottles in order to obtain a prize. But it wasn't the fact that the fair would be packed…

It was the fact that any male NetNavi had gained even the slightest bit of courage to ask his female partner out.

Staring down at his blank piece of paper on the table during Study Hall, he wondered briefly as to who else might have asked Rock out on a date.

At the beginning of this nice little 'lesson,' the last thing on the student's mind was the possibility that Rock would be graciously asked to go on a date. Another thing that he hadn't quite seen coming was that it would be Searchman to ask her out. Personally, the brunet had assumed that maybe Gutsman would gain half a brain, but then again, Rock had easily sparked fear into the bumbling, large Navi that first day a while back, so cross him off the list.

Glyde was a possible second, but the idea of him proposing to go to the fair was somewhat off of Glyde's interests and personality. Netto figured that he would have been a little more than a bit perturbed if the butler NetNavi had inquired Rock to join him anywhere.

His hand moved to cross out Glyde's name.

And then there was Blues…

Immediately, his right hand flew across the paper, ripping it apart with his pencil. There was absolutely no way he was going to let that happen. And Blues was a bit too cold to be Rock's type anyway.

Though he found that girl's did like the 'heartless jerk.'

Gathering the bottom part of the poor paper after rolling his eyes, the Net Savior began to ponder more of other Navis that could have asked her out. Searchman, of course, ended up on the bottom. Himself, in fact, ended up in the slot above the camouflaged-Navi, which completely destroyed the main point of the list; what other NAVIS could ask the pretty little Rock-chan out?

'This is going to be a long Study Hall…' Netto thought dully as he tapped the eraser end of his pencil against his hard head.

But, at the end of Study Hall, which came with several yawns and thirty minutes later, the paper had been unmercifully ripped, marked, and scratched over, and Netto soon reluctantly decided that if any male had asked Rock out, he would be happiest with Searchman. Even if he didn't quite like Laika, he still had a bit of respect for the Sharo native's Navi. And with that whole mental conflict resolved, the teen walked down the hall to his next class.

Unfortunately, though, his jealous heart didn't quite agree with his judgment.

-

Friday afternoon and Saturday morning flew by and by Saturday afternoon, Netto was walking home from school while contemplating exhaustedly on how he would approach his quiet Navi about the next day. Neither had said a word about the date after Netto's ballistic fit and in all actuality, it was probably a good thing. The brunet was aware that sometimes Rock would step back a bit so that he could vent and get through his anger before returning to prod at him with an apprehensive air. He felt guilty at how he had irrationally hollered when the blue Navi's words had beaten him across the head with a mallet. But he knew that in the end, it didn't matter anyway, because he would give in, regardless of how much of fussed and fought over it prior, and allow her to go to Yokohama's Network.

Yawning as he turned the corner to walk down his street, Netto realized just how tired he was.

Hikari Haruka was there to greet her son at the door while cooking away for dinner but her smile and happy 'hello' seemed only semi-infective today. "Netto, sweetie, what's wrong?" she asked when she saw his half-drooped eyes and his slow gait over to the couch. "I'm just tired… with school and everything, it's just hard to keep up sleep…" he answered with a wistful tone before laying his head back all the way to recline into the cushions.

"My poor baby," the woman sighed as she stepped over to him to lay a comforting hand on his forehead, hearing her son mumble that he wasn't a 'baby.' She then crouched beside him to gaze at his relaxed countenance and then a sad smile traced her lips. His only response to her words was a grunt before his hand went to his PET to pull Rock out and look at her. Rock watched him with as concerned a gaze as his mother and he smiled gently at her anxiety. "Don't worry… I'll stay awake long enough to let you pick out a dress for tomorrow…"

Rock tilted her head in question before her emerald eyes went wide with shock and a smile broke out on her pretty face. "R-really, Netto-kun?! I can go?" she inquired hopefully as she raised her slack fists to her upper-chest in a plea. "I don't see why not… After all, you were probably planning on going regardless of whether or not I said yes," her Operator replied matter-of-factly with a shrug, causing a tint of red to form on the girl's face.

"Arigato, Netto-kun!" the female Navi exclaimed joyfully before jumping up and down in her jubilee. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Chuckling softly at the energized sounds and movements of Rock's excitement, Netto then laid the azure PET next to his head and closed his eyes. But then a second later, his countenance winced as he felt his heart constrict. But a second later, his envious heart let his nerves go and he relaxed, hoping that Rock hadn't seen.

"So, where are you allowing Rock-chan to go, dear?" Haruka asked from the kitchen, having left her son to rest on the couch. "Um…" Netto mumbled slightly, "Searchman asked Rock-chan out on a date…"

"Searchman?" Haruka called back thoughtfully, "That's not Ijuin Enzan's NetNavi, is it?" Shaking his head against the pillows, the high-school student exhaled another small yawn. "No, Mama… Blues is Enzan's… He's the red NetNavi, remember? Searchman is Laika's…"

"Laika, huh? …Oh, you've talked about him before," the brunette woman realized suddenly as she stirred the stew in the pot before checking on the rice in the rice cooker. "Isn't he one of your friends?"

'If only she knew' Rock thought to herself, but remained silent verbally.

"Not really… We don't really get along…" Netto muttered before opening his eyes to glance at Rock, who was reading one of the many clothing magazines Roll had given her and he smiled when she glanced at him. "But Rock-chan and Searchman get along just fine… So, I guess I can stand him for a little while…"

Turning her head back towards the boy, the mother grinned at his comment. "Well, I guess you're starting to learn the lesson," she stated plainly before turning back to the stove and bringing her stirring spoon from the pot up from stew to taste it. Satisfied, she twisted herself again to tell her son that dinner would be ready in a few minutes.

Netto didn't say a word.

-

After dinner and greeting his father home, Netto trekked upstairs to plug into the Network and let Rock find a dress for her date. He quietly hoped that she wouldn't pick a real expensive one, but let her roam free through the stores regardless and after a couple of stores, he heard her sigh forlornly. Raising his head from his manga, he watched as she shifted some of the dresses in a shop.

"What is it?"

"I can't find anything…" she whispered to him as she pulled a dress of the hanger to inspect it before putting it back. "There's nothing that seems to… jump out at me."

"…Jump…" the teen repeated befuddled.

"Yes, jump, Netto-kun!" Rock hissed in irritation. "I want something that Searchman will look at and say 'wow, she sure spent a lot of time finding the perfect dress! I'm so happy!'" Sticking her nose up at another selection, she walked out the store to head across the walkway to another one. "I can't really imagine Searchman saying 'wow,' but okay," he murmured mutely to himself.

"Is it that hard, Rock-chan?" Netto asked as she walked through the door, which signaled a beeping. A forced, happy welcome was heard and Rock responded with one of her own. "Actually, it is. I didn't think that it would be, but it's turning out that way," answered the blue female as she glanced around the clothes on display. Other girl NetNavis occupied the store, some with friends, others with boyfriends who wore bored expression, and the rest were by themselves.

Through all the lavenders, pinks, and yellows, Rock felt very much out of place.

"What about that one?" she heard her Operator question helpfully as she passed by a short, sleeveless dress, "It's blue."

"I think I want something with sleeves this time, Netto-kun," the blue-suited girl snapped unintentionally.

Throwing his hands up in a tease, he grinned and laughed at her rejection after seeing her apologetic face. "Okay, okay, I'm just trying to help!"

"I know… But it's just-!"

"Can I help you find something?"

An adorable NetNavi clad in light hues of purple stood next to Rock. She wore a pin with the digital lettering of her name and a message; Konnichiwa! Atashi wo HITOSHI!

"Anō… I'm looking for a dress… I have this date tomorrow, and-!"

"A date?!" Hitoshi squealed exuberantly, as if this stranger going on a date with someone was the greatest and most wondrous thing she had ever heard of. Rock was afraid that somehow, fireworks would shoot out around the sparkling-eyed Navi and cause a scene, but thankfully, there were no explosions. But there was a weird little helper Navi in awe from her words. "Oh, we'll just have to find you the perfect dress! I couldn't bear letting you leave without having at least trying our very hardest!" But then she paused, and the glimmer faded from her eyes and an embarrassed blush took over her face. "But I've never been on a date before… Wow… What does your boyfriend liiiiiiike…?"

"U-um…" Rock stuttered as a ruby flooded her lovely countenance, "b-boy… friend? No… he's…" Okay, so she ran out of words quicker than she wanted… but Searchman… her boyfriend? It was hard enough to believe that he even had the ability to ask girls out on a date, but going as far to say that he could be someone's boyfriend, lover, or whatever else there was out there concerning the subject was really stretching reality out of proportion.

"Oh… first time with him?" Hitoshi perceived from her customer's reaction with a nod. "Understandable. I mean… if I went on a date for the first time…" With this, the lavender NetNavi tilted her head skyward and raised a finger to her chin. "I wouldn't consider him my boyfriend. Have you known him long?"

Rock sighed, attempting to calm herself down and succeeding by only a little bit. "I've known him for at least six years." Give or take a couple of months, Rock decided mentally.

"Is he from this area?" Hitoshi asked nosily.

"No… He's from Sharo." Rock stated plainly. "I met him before his Operator was stationed over here about four years ago."

"Ah! He's a foreign Navi! Oh, those are the coolest ones, don't you agree?" the excited one of the two didn't even wait for an answer before continuing the fun game of 'twenty questions.' "What does he look like?"

"Um, well…" Rock thought before realization slapped the back of her head and a humiliated plus angered look formed on her face. "I'm sorry, but don't you think that you're getting a little personal?!" blurted out the blue NetNavi. Rock hadn't noticed that her eye started twitching after her words hit the air and poor Hitoshi was obviously stunned that a customer would just yell at her when she was trying to make 'small talk.'

Calming down the instant she heard sniffling, Rock saw the other Navi's eyes water. Remorse filled the ex-male NetNavi and hung her head in shame. "G-gomen ne…" Hitoshi whispered through her sniffling, "I didn't mean to pry into your business. It was… v-very… UNPROFESSIONAAAAAAL!" Flinching at the wailing of the employee, Rock opened an eye to see that the girl had fallen onto her knees before leaning sloppily over to sob into the floor. "I-I'm so sorry!" A bit of hollow disgust showed on the blue Navi's countenance with a wrinkle over her eyebrow as she warily eyed the spectators, but then her Operator's boisterous guffawing caught her attention and she cared little about the audience.

"Good one, Rock-chan!" Netto laughed out as his fist hit the desk two times to help ease his happy fit.

"Shut up, Netto-kun!" Rock snapped immediately. "Nobody asked you!"

"You should have seen your face! Ha!" the brunet retorted, only half-hearing what Rock had said. "Priceless!"

"…"

"Nē … Rock-chan?"

Sniff. Sniff.

"Rock-chan! No, no; don't cry," Netto comforted awkwardly. "It's okay! You didn't mean to yell at her! And I'm sorry that I-!"

"Waaah! Netto-kuuun!" Rock wailed, mimicking that of Hitoshi, who was still sobbing on the floor of the store and causing a scene, "How can you do this to me?!" Weeping soon filled the store and the speakers of Netto's computer as Rock, too, fell to her knees. It was a truly pathetic sight, the teen admitted mentally, seeing two NetNavis so engrossed with crying on the ground. "So much for finding a dress…" muttered the crying Navi's Operator as he turned back to his manga. After all… it was no skin off his back.

-

After ten minutes, Netto finally heard his name being called by his partner and he glanced over the scene where the main character was slashing at the enemy with his sword, screaming 'die!' in hiragana. "Done shopping?" he asked, acting half interested when he noticed the transfer of data and a change in the amount of money in his account on the screen.

"Un… Oh, and I'm sorry that I caused an incident in the store… That wasn't very… mature of me…" Rock bowed slightly to imply her apologies better and in response, Netto shrugged his shoulders. "I'm used to being embarrassed… I mean, I do something stupid just about everyday…" Netto stated with uncomfortable laugh at the end. He wasn't foreign with making fun of himself, but still, it did harm the pride, even if it was just a bit. "Besides… you got your dress!"

"Uh-huh! It's pretty, too, and it didn't cost as much as the last one did! I thought I made a bargain, wouldn't you believe so, Netto-kun?" she asked frantically as she opened the programmed and showed of her dress for her Operator.

Netto couldn't help but beam at his NetNavi's joyous actions, which consisted of twirling around the homepage, letting the skirt of her dress flutter and rustle about while babbling on how great Sunday was going to be. But when so many statements about how 'great' tomorrow would be were heard by the teen, his smile soon broke into a curled frown as he half-listened to her while in thought.

"… And then he'll win me a whole bunch of a stuffed nekos and chibis and I'll get balloons and then I'll put flowers in my hair and everyone will just be so jealous of us and…"

'…Him…'

"… And then, when it's 'nighttime,' we'll go on the Ferris wheel and the lights will be like the stars and he'll hold my hand and…"

'It'll be him…'

"… And maybe, just maybe… he'll kiss me!"

'I'll delete him if he even tries…'

-

That night, after Rock had turned off the lights and the screen of her PET to recharge, Netto stared at the ceiling for a while, thinking of how tomorrow would turn out. He hoped that it wouldn't end up in a horrible fight between any of them, but at the same time, he had a feeling that something was going to happen.

'I wonder if Laika even knows about it…' Netto pondered wordlessly, 'I would have thought if he did, then I'd get death threats sent to me…' But he hadn't received much of anything from Laika or anybody else, so he presumed that Laika was oblivious to the date. 'It's just as well… I really don't want to deal with him…'

Glancing at the clock and seeing the red-glowing numbers, he sighed, wondering why he couldn't go to sleep. But then his stomach nervously churned and reminded him why, causing him to groan miserably. 'Why am I so worried about this? They're just going to the Yokohama fair… No need to bring myself to an anxiety attack! Everything will be fine!' But try as he might, it still took him an hour to fall into a restless half-sleep after his 'self-assertion.'

-

End of Chapter Nine!

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Japanese Lesson 101

- Dōshita no? (What's wrong?)

- Gomen nasai (I'm sorry)

- Gomen ne (Sorry)

- Konnichiwa (Hello)

- Atashi wo HITOSHI (I am HITOSHI)

- Anō (Well)

- Nē (Hey)

- neko (cats)

- chibi (a cute, smaller version of a character, animal, etc.)

-Un (Yeah/Yes)

If any of these phrases or words are incorrect, please tell me.

-

I am so sorry that it's taken this long to bring you another chapter, but between Annual, school work, family problems, school problems (like breaking all ties with my idiotic class DX ), and stuff such as that, my drive to finish this chapter has been lacking. o.o But I hope that I can bring the other chapter to you soon.

R&R!