AN: Here is finally... What you wanted! Netto and Rockman together! I hope you like it a lot.
Some people still felt weird about the last chapter because Ann let a kid go by himself. As I said, I didn't wanted Netto to run away, and if he do it, he won't really survive correctly, cause Ann gave him stuff that will help him at least. Don't forget that Rockman is here for him... But not only him right ?
I like making some drawing for this fic, it really force me to draw every week so it's cool for me.
Chapter 4: I could not afford for him to get hurt.
Netto hopped along as he walked. This was it, he was out of that town. Although he felt sad to have left Ann, he was at least happy he was able to do something by himself. The first thing he had to do in this forest was find Rockman and try to calm him down. Deep down, he knew the soul of his Navi was still there. He looked at every detail of the forest, searching for even a shadow of the wild Navi.
"Rockman?" he shouted once while circling around.
The child continued his walking and his calls while being careful as he looked around.
"Rockman!" he continued.
Netto stopped, looking at the empty place where he was. Nature was quite wild, the trees were very big but there were no animals. He sighed, and finally took in a big breath.
"Rockman!" His cry was so loud that the birds flew out of the trees.
He moved his shoulders as he realized what he had done. He scratched his head several times in annoyance. The child already felt completely lost, but if his best friend wasn't coming, then he would have done all this for nothing.
"Come on, Rockman, I know you're there." He grumbled in a rather loud voice. "Answer me, I know you're waiting for me."
It wasn't long before he heard a loud "boom" behind him. Startled, he bent his knees to hide his head in his hands. As he slowly got up, his hood fell back and he looked at what was there. Rockman in that strange form was in front of him crouching on a rock, his fingers touching the rock to keep his balance. Netto stood up with a big smile on his face, he walked over to him quickly.
"Rockman, I'm so happy, you have no idea how-"
His sentence was cut off as Rockman roared at him again. Netto raised his arm to hide and looked at the Navi with fright. The red eyes were as crazy as ever.
"Rockman, what the-"
Once again cut off by another shout from the feral Navi. In fear, Netto took a few steps back. He noticed that as he backed away, Rockman stopped becoming so hostile, his eyes began to calm down. The child lowered his arm and put his hand on his chest. There had been many times in the past when he was afraid for Rockman, the time he learned that he almost deleted Roll, and against Iceman and Numberman was probably the time he felt most afraid for him. But this was the first time he was afraid of Rockman. At the same time, it was hard for him to be afraid of him since they didn't live in the same reality. But now here he was in front of him, and in a form that sent shivers down his spine.
The child tried to regain his courage, the Navi looked much calmer, but still contained rage. Was he going to jump on him? To his surprise, Rockman climbed a tree and sat on a branch, but he didn't go any further, and he didn't look at the boy on the ground. Netto tried to think, the Navi didn't want him to approach, but if he spoke to him, maybe he would get a reaction?
"Rockman, you do recognize me right?" he asked at first, waiting for the Navi to look at him again. "You know it's me!"
But no reaction came from the bestial Navi on the tree branch, he was more interested in watching his hand move.
"For some reason, I was turned into a child," Netto continued, still hoping the Navi would answer him. He spun around, making his cloak fly. "Did you see that? I like this cloak, it was the lady who took care of me who gave me these new clothes! She was really nice!"
He smiled as he thought back to Ann, but the Navi still hadn't moved, except for his tail which was wagging in all directions. As he watched him, Netto remembered something.
"Ah yes!" He slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand.
The boy put his bag down and looked inside, it was pretty neat since Ann had put it away for him. He rummaged around and realized for one thing... that his original clothes were gone! He gritted his teeth, Ann had probably taken them off thinking that they would be useless. He finally sighed, once he was home and everything was back to normal, he would email her asking for a delivery if possible. But he continued his search, finding what he wanted. In his hands was the broken PET, he held it out in the direction of Navi.
"Rockman look! Your PET is broken, I hope you don't have any abnormalities. If you have anything, please tell me!"
He then noticed Rockman put his hand against his stomach, as if in pain. He was leaning forward a bit more, and his hand looked like it wanted to sink into his own stomach.
"Are you okay? Is this the PET doing this?" Netto asked as he moved closer. He could have continued, but the beastly Navi had turned around very quickly, his eyes red in fury, shouting at him again. This was the third time for Netto, but he no longer fell to the ground.
Rockman continued until the child began to back away. The Navi finally calmed down and stopped looking at him. Netto looked at the PET in despair, what if it was because the PET was broken that Rockman was reacting like this? He tightened the device and put it against his chest.
Then he felt his stomach growl. Netto started to blush and tucked his PET into the bag. He looked for a box that Ann had left for him, where she put some food that he could eat quickly. After all, he had forgotten to eat at lunch with all that happened. He took two onigiris and took a bite first from one, then from the other, not wanting to eat one at a time. At least eating put him in a good mood.
He might have thought he had a moment of peace to himself until he looked up and noticed that his Navi was looking at him from the end of the branch, his eyes far wider than before. At first, Netto began to eat slowly, until he realized that the look Rockman was giving him was very stressful. He turned, wanting to hide to eat. Why did the Navi have a sudden interest now? He had tried to talk to him only to be ignored, and now he was scrutinizing him like something he had never seen before. The child was able to finish his food and stood up while picking up his bag. He turned back to Rockman, trying to hide his discomfort.
"Well..." He put his hand in front of his mouth, hiding a sound. "We should go, Rockman."
Netto began by walking and Rockman retreated to his tree branch, all the while watching him with narrowed eyes. The child shook his head, wanting to ignore what the Navi might have in mind. As he walked away, he heard noises in the trees. As he turned around, he saw that Rockman was following him, but he still hadn't touched the ground and was far away from him. The boy continued his walk without really worrying about Navi, he was following him and that was the most important thing.
How long did it take until he finally reached the end of this forest? It was annoying, but in the end, Netto could see light. Further on, he saw a plain that seemed to have no end. Looking around, he could see a dirt road in the middle of this natural green. He made a noise of victory and then turned to the Navi still on a tree.
"Too bad, there are no more trees, you'll have to stay on the ground!" Netto proclaimed while finishing with his tongue out of his mouth.
He did not wait for a response from his Navi as he began to run out of the forest, jumping forward as his cloak flew, its shape resembling wings. Rockman first stood on a tree and watched the child play, and then he looked at the ground. He dropped to the ground and landed on his feet. He walked out of the forest, watching the sky turn gray. Netto finally saw him, smiled, and walked towards him with arms raised on both sides. He slowed down, however, when he saw Rockman's eyes twitch and heard him growl. The child stopped. They were keeping some kind of distance, why? Finally, he lowered his head while looking away in disappointment and shrugged.
"You're really not funny anymore..." the child commented in a whisper.
He walked while looking at the ground, not paying attention to his surroundings. The sooner they got home, the sooner these problems would end. Rockman followed, but always at a distance from him, looking at him with his eyes half open. They seemed to be suspicious of everything, and he kept only one target: The child before him. However, he raised his head when he heard a strange cry, which the child also heard. A gigantic Tinhawk came flying through the air, claws open, ready to take something. They realized with horror far too late as the giant virus hawks paw grabbed the child, taking him with it. Rockman on the ground could hear Netto's cries of distress, he began to tremble as his eyes became distorted... Again.
Netto was thrown to the ground. The giant virus landed and was looking at the child like a simple insect. The young boy's eyes widened as he noticed that he had been put on a very large rock. He wanted to get up, but the giant bird leaned forward, its beak trying to grab him. Luckily, the child quickly pushed himself away. He backed away, but he was not safe from a second attack. Breathing heavily, he got up to run to the edge of the rock, only to realize that it was far too high. The virus had come closer to him, its wings raised and its beak open. Netto had to go to one side, so he could avoid another attack. But he found himself on the ground again, he turned around and looked at the Tinhawk who was still watching him. He felt too weak to move, his heart in his chest, exhausted. As a scream was released from his mouth, he recognized something.
The Tinhawk was hit on the head by a bolt from a furious Rockman. The virus fell backward as the Navi landed in front of Netto, who was very happy to see him again. No sooner had he said something the Navi charged forward again, landing another blow to the winged virus' head. He continued to hit it just as hard and once in the air, Rockman swung his head around and sent a burst of flame at the virus. Netto analyzed it all, but this attack was unprecedented. The Navi landed once again in front of the child and quickly grabbed him by the hip, who let out a shrill gasp. Rockman jumped from the top of the rock and landed further away, still on the green plain. He dropped the child who was looking at him with admiration.
"Rockman! What you just did was awesome!" he exclaimed with raised fists.
While he would have liked to get even closer to the Navi, the Navi turned towards him with his mask gone. The first detail he noticed was his mouth of filed fangs, but his expression was even more terrifying. Like a wild beast, he shouted at the child knocking him to the ground once again. If Netto thought he was used to it, the fact that Rockman was screaming at him, but his monstrous mouth and raging eyes made him think otherwise. He finally let go of his fear, he let the monster in front of him show how terrified he was. He didn't notice, however, that the creature stuck the tip of its tail in the ground as if to hold back. His heart wanted to leave, he took his head in his hands and shook it weakly, his eyes stung. He finally got up and ran away from the enraged Navi. There he saw a rock under which he stayed hidden. The child let himself fall, his legs against him and his head resting on his lap.
Netto ceased all impasse, and he let fall all the tears he contained, his mouth evacuating audible moans, and his hands tightened against his legs. What had he thought? That Rockman would be back to normal with a few words? No, that would be too easy. Yet he had saved his life again. If Rockman was still there, why was he so aggressive with him?
The rain began to fall, he felt the drops mixing with his tears. Netto finally wiped himself and shook his head, even though he continued to sniffle. But he couldn't stay there forever, especially if it was raining. The child got up limply and looked behind the rock to see if Rockman had moved. He was still in the same place, crouched down, looking at him with round eyes and his mask back over his mouth. Netto didn't really know how to react, the fatigue of crying made him say he had to move on and not worry about his Navi. He turned around, looking at the ground. The rain was giving him a cold, he tightened his cloak against him while having put back his hood.
The child walked for a long time, but on the horizon, he saw a small village that, unlike the first, was not protected. Without any reaction, he walked forward, the rain was getting a little lighter. He could see that the day was beginning to fade and that it would soon be dark. It was time to find an inn. Once in front of the village entrance, he hesitated to look behind him, only to find that there was nothing. Rockman was nowhere in sight. Netto mentally panicked but thought that maybe it was for the best. Rockman had to be out of sight of the humans, otherwise who knows what would happen.
Netto went around several houses. If the first village was lively with nice buildings, this one was the opposite. The houses were poorly maintained, and some people lived in tents. He noticed a little further on a huge building that could be a temple. And two statues representing... The two monsters he had seen in his book. He blinked several times and looked at every detail. He stood in front of the statue that looked like Rockman, wanting to understand what it was.
He sneezed, feeling tired. The young boy had to find a place to sleep. He continued his search, he could always ask, but the people around him did not make him want to talk to them. Netto could have looked at each building in detail when a vaguely familiar man stopped him.
"Oh my, it's you. We met this morning."
Netto swallowed, the man was the one he saw at the market. The one Ann had told him must be part of a sect. He backed away slowly, his eyes widening. He shook his head gently.
"No, leave me alone," he gasped.
He could have gone further, but he felt hands on his shoulders. Other men were there, also wearing the same pendant as the first man. Netto started to shake his head and tried to run away, but the hands were too strong against him.
"Let me go! Let me go!" he shouted.
He looked around, but the people did nothing, except look at him in pain. Usually, people would act when a child or even a person was being assaulted, but no, no one came to his aid.
"I knew I'd get this one," affirmed the man in front of him, addressing his cronies.
The other men laughed. They forced the boy to follow them as he continued to scream, pleading for help.
The raindrops rolled gently over his hair and face. Since he had become human again, Rockman allowed himself a moment to enjoy the sensation of the rain. It was strange but funny. He looked down, felt the cold, and sneezed. He rubbed his nose and started walking to where he had last seen Netto. He felt so bad for shouting at him, but he had to. He needed Netto to be afraid of him so he wouldn't come near him and hurt him. Ever since he came to him, his instincts wanted to take only a bite out of him.
He wanted to... devour him.
The boy put a hand over his mouth, a nauseous feeling rising in his throat. The thought of imagining Netto under his claws and seeing him bleeding made his stomach churn like crazy, his stomach was already hurting too much. Now that he was human, he could always see him again without being a problem. He started to run, wanting to find the missing child.
In the distance, he saw a village. He froze, did he have to go there? He felt strange to be around humans, yet he was one now, there was no harm. Humans were like Navis, and it wasn't as if he had ever been around any other humans except Netto. But the list was short, he could count every human he bonded with on the fingers of one hand. His father, Meijin, Enzan... Meiru. He thought quickly of the latter, does she know that her childhood friend as well as her Navi had disappeared and that they would never be able to listen to the rest of this song? This made his heart ache in pain. He shook his head; now it was Netto he had to find. He approached the village and went inside. The newly human boy noticed a lot of rather impoverished people, and the place seemed sad. But he ignored them, his concern was to find his former operator.
"Netto-kun?" he began softly, not wanting to be the center of attention.
Maybe he should ask the others? He didn't feel like talking to people he didn't know, but hey, it was just a matter of getting some information that could help him in his search. He approached a middle-aged woman and an old woman.
"Excuse me, have you seen a little boy with a dark blue cloak?" he asked in a sober voice.
With hesitation, the middle-aged woman preferred not to answer but instead held out her finger in a direction. The former Navi turned in the direction indicated and looked at the woman with a smile.
"Thank you very much."
He took the path that had been pointed out to him, continuing to call the child's name. And then he heard his voice, but it was not to answer him. The boy followed that voice, which called for help. He came to a street where hiding behind a wall, he could see the child surrounded by several people, one of whom was obediently holding him by the arm. It did not take more than that that he began to clench his teeth.
If Rockman had been in his Navi form, he probably would have killed them in no time, yet even in this human form, he wanted them all dead. His rational side took over, and he looked first at the frightened child between those men and frowned. The best thing to do was simply to play the human being to embarrass these people. If an outsider came to them and asked about Netto, they couldn't be more protected. He nodded and walked towards them with a smile.
"Netto-kun!" he shouted as if pleased to see him.
The men raised their heads as they saw him approaching. The child on the other hand was agitated and failed to see Rockman.
"Netto-kun!" he repeated as he dropped to his knees in front of him. "There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Netto said nothing, only his mouth was very slightly agape as he examined the boy facing him in shock.
"Who are you?!" asked one of the men violently who was behind Netto.
The older boy stood up, put on a fake innocent face, and pointed at himself.
"Me? I'm taking care of this boy here. Thank you for finding him for me!"
Another man leaned forward while approaching the boy's face.
"Oh yeah? Sorry, but we can't get this kid to leave."
"But it's getting late, we have to get home," he replied while staying in this fake comedy.
His heart was pounding in his chest, his stress was getting to him even though he tried to hide it, it was unbearable. He had to keep up the fake act or it would end badly.
"Boss, what do we do?" asked another man from behind.
The designated man mused and tensed a smile as he looked at the boy in front of him.
"Well, that's simple, we take him and his brother."
The former Navi's eyes narrowed as he heard that he had designated him as a brother. Even if it was the truth, he didn't want men as repulsive as them to taint his first brotherly contact with Netto. He pretended to scratch his temple, with a bead of sweat falling falsely on his forehead.
"Look, I'm not sure I understand, but I'd like to get Netto-kun back and we'll leave you."
Netto had still not said anything, he was still frozen watching this stranger defend him. But he was pulled back with force. The other boy found his arm taken by the man in front of him with such ferocity that he clenched his teeth in pain.
"Listen to me, we're going to take you both. Let's say we're going to take you to your new home. What do you think?" said the man.
The former Navi tried to remove the grip against his wrist and looked around, although there were few people, no one reacted. They didn't even dare to look at him. The man noticed this, studied around him, and moved closer to his face.
"You don't have to scream for help, this town is under our control, no one will dare come to help you."
He bit his lower lip. This was too much. The reasonable part told him to be patient and wait for his transformation back into Navi if he wanted to take care of everything... But the crazy part just told him that just because he was human, it didn't mean he couldn't fight. There was no time to waste; he had to get Netto to safety.
He fiercely lowered his arm which was held by the man's hand and raised his knee quickly while kicking the man in the head. The hand let go of him, and he stepped back. Netto gasped loudly, as did the others. The former Navi lowered his leg and looked at the others with a stern expression.
"I said we have to leave, now."
The man who had just been hit pointed at the boy.
"What are you waiting for?! Seize him!"
The men around him started to run at him. It was easy to avoid the blows and even easier to strike back. When he was a Navi, he knew how to fight without a chip or a buster, but the difficulty of the rival programs required reinforcements. Against these humans, he was glad he didn't need weapons. His way of fighting was still powerful, but very agile. He was happy that in this human body he was still able to fight as well as when he was the blue Navi.
The man who had taken a blow and was holding the child looked at the scene in despair. This kid had just taken down all of his henchmen. Once finished, the boy looked at the man, challenging him with raised brows.
"Well? Can we go?"
The man frowned while widening his eyes. He grabbed Netto's hair and forced him back and then pulled out a device that looked like a PET in his direction.
"Alright, try to face that, then!"
Both boys widened their eyes as they watched the man call for his Navi, but a rock smacked his hand, causing the PET to drop to the ground. With a look of pain on his face, he looked to see who had done this. He noticed the townspeople holding rocks with clenched fists. "We don't want you here anymore! Leave these children alone!" they shouted.
"No, it is I who controls you! If you do not obey me..." resumed the man, but was again cut off as he picked himself up several stones.
"Go away, you and your stupid sect, leave the children alone!"
Netto took the opportunity to walk away as the man stepped back. He and the others had no choice but to leave while grumbling.
"Good riddance!" commented a woman.
"Thanks a lot for kicking their butts!" declared a man this time as he approached the boy.
The young preteen felt his cheeks heat up, and he tightened his shoulders and looked at the ground.
"It's nothing, I was doing this to protect..." He didn't continue his sentence, only he noticed the young child looking at him strangely. It seemed that Netto did not dare to say anything.
The people around him came even closer.
"You know these guys have been here for months. They made a pact with us," explained the old woman he had met earlier. "These men wanted to use our town as one of their secret bases and kidnap any children who ventured out, and in exchange, they would leave our children in peace."
"We saw a lot of children being kidnapped, but we couldn't do anything! Otherwise, it was our own who would go down!"
Netto listened to them while making mental notes. He shyly moved closer with a weak voice.
"Is it because they are part of the... sect?"
"Yes, of course, Gregar's sect or Falzar's sect, the followers kidnap children for who knows what reason," spoke the old woman.
"Maybe they want to use them as a ritual... I can't imagine..." commented another person in a depressed tone.
The older boy had his head down as he heard them. He kept it all as a mental note.
"Gregar...? Falzar...?" he muttered, trying to understand.
He felt a hand on his shoulder that snapped him out of his reverie.
"Anyway, since you made those fools go away, can we offer you something?"
The boy still backed away with that awkward, shy look on his face.
"Oh, that's all I need, I wish... um..." he started but looked for something.
Netto looked at him hesitating, and then he spoke in a sober voice.
"An inn."
He heard him and blinked.
"Yes, we just needed an inn!"
The people around him reacted together.
"Oh sure!" said a woman. "I'm the owner of the inn, I'll give you a room for free!"
The former Navi nodded and looked at the child, who kept looking at the floor. As he followed the woman, he made sure the child followed him, which he did. They were in a rather bright inn, and the woman showed them the room. Once the door was closed, The boy dropped onto the bed.
"Aah," he said.
Netto on the other hand continued to observe him. He didn't understand how he ended up sharing a room with him, not that he minded. He didn't know who he was, or even how he knew his name... let alone this... resemblance they had. But he had saved his life and he could feel his benevolence towards him. He approached him as the boy had gotten to his feet.
"That was... Awesome what you did!" Netto began shyly, only to resume with a cheerful look.
Rockman rested his hand behind his head, quite happy to have impressed his operator... Again.
"It wasn't much..."
"Yes, it was, when you hit that guy, and knocked the other one down... And then afterward..." He couldn't help but recount the scene in his own words, which put the boy in a quandary.
"Thanks, I just wanted those guys to leave you alone."
Netto stopped his speech to look at the ground, his cheeks a little red.
"Thanks for saving me..."
The boy nodded as he heard him.
"By the way... Who are you and how do you know my name?" asked the little boy finally while looking at him with confusion.
At first, the former Navi lowered his head, how could he tell him? His heart was thumping against his chest. He never thought having a heart would be so cumbersome.
He looked back at the child with a smile. "It's me." That was all he said to him.
There was a long silence. Netto had been blinking the whole time. He finally frowned as he tried to figure out who he was, but all he could think of was that he was... some kind of clone of himself. He couldn't get it through his head that this boy looked like him.
"It's you... Who?"
The boy stopped smiling and felt disappointed. Netto didn't recognize him at all. He bit his lip and had to make another plan. He thought that if his operator recognized him, it would be easier for him to tell the truth. In the end, nothing worked in his favor. (After all, Netto was unable to recognize who Commander Beef was, was that a surprise?)
"It's me..." started the boy again rather shyly, searching for his words. "I'm the boy who stayed with that lady last night." He hoped the child would understand what he was talking about.
"Oh!" Netto quickly responded. "You're the boy who left this morning from Ann's?"
Surprised that Netto knew that story, he nodded, continuing with that plan.
"Yes, I'm the boy Ann-san took in, I was gone very early this morning to do something and when I came back, she told me that you had left. I asked her if I could find you to look after you."
Netto blinked, so it all made sense... But he noted another detail.
"Wait... Those are my clothes!"
Rockman let out a noise. The child frowned and the former Navi looked away, still with that redness on his face.
"I... Well, yes, but I was naked, so I needed them…"
The child stopped looking so cold and simply shrugged.
"Well, I can lend them to you in the meantime, I don't... need them much anymore."
"Oh..."
Netto waited for at least some confusion from the boy, but there was simply silence.
He looked at the boy while frowning again. "Why aren't you saying anything?"
The boy in front of him tilted his head in confusion. "Should I say something?"
"Usually people don't believe me when I say these are my clothes."
The boy touched his orange jacket, examining it. "It isn't?"
The child shook his head and moved closer to the other boy. "If I tell you something weird, will you believe me?"
The newly human boy still looked at him confused but nodded.
"Yes of course."
Netto looked down at the ground, unsure of himself, but he raised his head again and put a hand down to point to himself.
"How old do you think I am?"
The boy in front of him was taken aback by the strange question. He could quite easily tell him his real age, but if he did, he would risk being suspicious.
"Um... Six or seven?"
"Well no! I'm actually twelve!"
He walked away with his back to him and his arms crossed.
"Before I ended up here, I was in my father's lab destroying viruses with my Navi, Rockman. Afterward, he disappeared and I started flying, and then... I woke up in a forest in this child's body."
Rockman's eyes widened as he heard this. He knew what had happened of course, but he didn't know what had actually happened to Netto. So he hadn't been conscious until he landed in this world. The child turned to look at him, the former Navi looked curious as he looked at him.
"You don't believe me, do you?" Netto asked, dissatisfied.
"Yes, I believe you!" tried to answer the other boy.
But the child lowered his head, he really thought he was not believed. The boy moved closer to the child while placing his hand on his shoulder.
"I believe you because... Something even crazier happened to me."
The child could see his eyes shaking. He offered him a confident smile.
"I too flew away and disappeared. Because of a breach above me."
The child opened his mouth wide, equally shocked at what he had just said.
"And when I woke up, I had no clothes on and I learned that I was in a parallel world," he continued his explanation.
"A... parallel world...?" Netto repeated, his eyes wide.
The former Navi nodded.
"But wait... How did you find out you were in a parallel world?" Netto asked with doubt.
At that moment, the boy put on the most serious look he'd ever had to put on, it was the card to use.
"Duo."
A word that sounded like a weight dropped on the child's head. He took a step back, shocked to hear that name, raising and lowering his head.
"Wait... No... How is that possible? You couldn't know this guy..."
The preteen pursed his lips, he had forgotten that. He tried to resume sounding credible.
"He came to me and introduced himself, he told me he was going to bring me to this world... For an experiment."
Netto looked at the ground even more confused and shocked at what he was hearing. He did not understand what was going on and how this guy could be from another world... Unless...
"You said... That there was a breach above you?"
The boy realized this, and he nodded his head.
"There was one when Rockman and I tried to deal with viruses... At least in the Cyberworld..."
Seeing the child get caught up in thinking, the boy came up with an idea that could surely guide him to leads more easily, even if he didn't like to use them like that.
"Duo also told me..." he began as the child looked at him again. "That there was another person in this experiment... Could it be you?"
It was so suspicious, but it was the only way he could make him understand that he, too, was trapped in this world.
Netto stepped back for a moment as he looked at him, realizing. This made sense to him. The fact that he was under a gigantic dimensional area, the Count Elec who was in a coma, Scilabs and his house not responding...
"Why?" asked the child in a small voice. He turned around looking at his right hand, believing he would see Duo's sign. "Duo had already chosen me for a trial some time ago, and I wasn't the only one, there were several of us. Why just me? What did I do?"
Rockman wanted to put a hand on his shoulder but the child turned away, his eyes misty.
"Why did Duo bring me here? Why did he turn me into a child? Why is Rockman like this?"
Although the boy in front of him knew the answers, he could not really answer them. Instead, he only nodded his head very slowly.
"I don't know."
The child held back from crying again. He wiped his eyes furiously. The former Navi noticed this, he wanted to know if there was anything he could do, the best thing would be to comfort him... And then he remembered something else.
"There is still hope." He stood up and sat down on a desk chair. "I know what we have to do. He told me we have to go to a special place that could take us home."
Netto looked at him, his eyes slowly regaining hope.
"In the north of the country, there are ruins called... Kaikyou, I think? That's where we need to go."
The child's head twitched.
"Wait!"
He went to his bag and rummaged through it. He pulled out a folded map and brought it to the boy. They unfolded it and found a miniature version of the map of Japan on it, the older boy scanned every detail and finally, he found the name of what he was looking for.
"Here!"
Netto's mouth dropped open.
"That's way too far! It's in the Hokkaido region!" he complained.
"Unfortunately, we have no other solution."
He closed the map and handed it back to the child. All he could do was sigh as he looked at the map in his hands.
"Hey, we'll probably find a train that can take us there directly!" reassured the former Navi.
Netto slowly nodded his head. He finally sat down on the bed limply. It made the boy laugh softly as he looked at him like that.
"By the way..."
The boy paid more attention to the child now that he had called out to him.
"I still don't know your name."
He gasped as he heard the question, he hadn't expected the question to be asked. Deep down he thought Netto still knew it was him... No he didn't know his human part, the part that was his brother. So maybe it was time for him to introduce himself officially.
"My name is Saito," he replied, feeling a strange chill deep inside him. "Yes, it's Saito."
Netto noticed his reaction, which seemed rather strange. Yet, to him too, it was strange, his body also felt a shiver, that name was familiar to him.
"Nice to meet you Saito," Netto replied with a smile.
Saito answered him with a nod. But Netto's smile faded as he turned to the window. He moved closer and looked through it.
"Is there a problem?"
The child shook his head still looking through the window.
"I'm worried about Rockman... My Navi." He turned to Saito looking at him with concern. "Rockman was a totally normal Navi, he was my best friend and we had the best adventures together..."
The boy smiled upon hearing this, his heart warmed.
"Although he can be annoying telling me what to do all the time."
Saito stopped his smile and frowned.
"But here's the thing... He's my best friend... And since we've been here, he's changed his appearance to be some kind of wild Navi."
Netto walked closer to his bag, looking for something he pulled out while looking at him. He was holding his PET.
"Before I got here, my PET broke, and I'm wondering if that's related."
He held out his PET to the other boy, who took it in his hands with sadness.
"I don't know what to do now... Under this dimensional area, he can stay out but it acts like a wild animal. Every time I go near him, he starts roaring at me..." He paused and resumed in a much more fragile voice. "I'm... scared of him."
Saito wiped the PET emblem with his thumb as he listened, raising his head in shock when he heard the child's last sentence. He'd gotten there in the end, he'd managed to scare his own operator just to make sure he wasn't in danger.
"Yet he has saved my life several times... So what should I do?" added the child sadly.
Saito resumed a softer tone towards Netto who was already in a bad state.
"You know, I think your Rockman is still there to save your life."
Netto nodded his head.
"However," the boy continued. "If he is in a wild state, it may be because he cannot control himself. Maybe he doesn't want you near him because he's afraid he might hurt you. Don't you think?"
How to explain the truth to him without actually saying it was the truth? Only Saito could do that. Netto thought and then nodded, trying to get his mind right.
"Do you think Rockman will return to normal?"
The boy was silent for a moment and then nodded his head in reassurance.
"Everything will go back to normal once we get to where we need to go. And you'll be back to being a boy of your age."
Netto managed to give him a sincere smile. He removed his cloak and boots and plopped down on the bed.
"By the way, do you have a Navi?"
"Oh."
Saito sighed, not really knowing how to answer that question. He looked to every point in the room to look at the boy sitting across from him.
"Well... No, I don't have one," he replied.
"Ehh?"
"Sorry, I couldn't help you with the NetNavigation thing."
Netto lowered his head with disappointment, but Saito gritted his teeth, he felt his stomach giving him grief again, his throat was dry.
"I... I'll be right back, I'll just go... there." He pointed in the direction of a door.
Netto raised an eyebrow.
"The bathroom?"
"Y...yes."
Saito slowly stood up with his hand on his stomach and locked himself inside. His heart was beating too much, it was awful. No sooner had he been human, than he could no longer bear the pounding of his heart. He had at least managed to survive his encounter with Netto in human form. And now he had this crazy ache, which he's had since the morning. He walked over to the sink and took out some water and drank it. It felt good, but it didn't calm his stomach ache. Did he have a new disease? Was he going to die again? No, that was absurd. Otherwise his life would have been far too ironic.
The boy looked at himself in the mirror and realized that he had never seen himself. His face was an exact copy of Netto's, but his hair was quite well styled unlike his twin. He looked a little more like his father with hair like that. But with this resemblance to Netto, he couldn't hide. As much as it was easy to hide who he was when he was Rockman. Here, even his eyes had turned brown.
His stomach rumbled again which made him blush but he was in so much pain... Saito looked at the rest of the sink, he saw a strange white melting object. He took it in his hands and the smell seemed good. He thought the thing to be... Edible. He opened his mouth and bit into it.
Netto was lying on his stomach on the bed, his feet moving in the air. He continued to think about the recent events. Saito seemed like a very nice boy, but what he had shared with him had disturbed him. Duo was the reason for all this, and he wasn't even in his world anymore. What the hell. He looked at his right hand again, no crest on it. What did Duo want by bringing him here? He wouldn't have any answers unfortunately, especially if even Saito didn't know them. But he remained a little confused, this boy looked just like him, didn't he? That was what had shocked him first. He remembered Meiru's words that she had told him when he had met Mariko's sister. It can happen that there is someone in this world who looks like us. But here he was too close and too disturbing. He heard the bathroom door open, seeing Saito looking very sickly.
"Uh... Are you okay?"
Saito let himself fall back into the chair with a look that seemed... Disgusted.
"I wanted to taste this," he said while pointing to something in his hand.
Netto widened his eyes when he saw said thing.
"Saito... That's soap."
The boy turned his head towards him, his cheeks red with embarrassment.
"I... I know!"
"But why did you want to eat soap?!"
"W... Why not?"
With his mouth open in... disgust or uncertainty, Netto still looked at him without understanding. And then he heard a noise from Saito's stomach, which made the boy's eyes widen even more.
"If you were hungry, you should have said so."
Netto got up from his bed and looked in his bag. So that was it, he was just hungry? He had heard Netto make that kind of noise before, but he never thought he would feel pain. The child had a box with him, opening it, he placed two onigiris in plastic on the table.
"Ann-san made these for me before I left, I have four left, so two for you and two for me!"
Saito looked at one of them and took one in his hands. He noticed Netto eating his. He imitated him by bringing the one he had to his mouth.
"Saito, aren't you taking the plastic off?" Netto asked as he looked at him while eating.
The boy noticed the invisible paper, removed it, and put it on the table. Finally he could enjoy what he wanted to do. Once in his mouth, something changed. He could feel something in his mouth and something in his eyes. He began to speed up, wanting to take more.
"Hey... Saito? Be careful you'll choke!" Netto commented as he looked at him.
He swallowed quickly and looked at the little boy. "Sorry, I..." He wiped his eyes. "I'm really not used to it."
"You're not used to eating onigiri?"
"It's more than that..."
He tilted his head as Saito shed tears which he wiped away.
"Hey! Don't cry about it! You know since I'm in this body, I cry quite easily, because I have to be more fragile, but you have no reason!"
"Sorry..."
He looked at the onigiri for a moment and smiled fondly. All along, he had just been hungry. And it was something normal. For so many years he had dreamed of it and here it was. When he was Rockman, this urge to eat was felt by violence, now he understood why he wanted to eat it... But he had no reason to worry anymore. The positive thing about being a human for the moment... was tasting food, and sharing it with Netto.
"Papa...?"
"Yes, Saito?"
"Why am I not allowed to eat...?"
"Because you are too weak, and your heart can no longer endure the food that your body must digest. So now you'll have this tube that will feed you."
"That sucks... I want to eat mom's pancakes..."
"I know precious, but you can't, as long as you're sick, you can't eat anything."
"When will I get better?"
"I don't know... But soon... I hope so."
Saito woke up. Was that a memory or a dream? He had the impression that it was something that had already happened. He looked at the little boy sleeping next to him and then out the window. The sun was about to rise. Another chance to be awake before being transformed. How long would this last? He moved away from the bed and looked around. He put on the orange jacket and his shoes. But he couldn't leave the child without saying something. Either he would wake the child and tell him he had to go, or he would have to leave a message.
He looked at the desk and saw a paper and pencil. Taking the pencil, Saito tried to make a bar... But... His arm shook, his breathing was slow. His hand was unable to make any kind of correct line. In the cyber world, he knew how to write with touches, not with a pencil. He bit his mouth. He finally gave up the idea and looked at the child in the bed. He placed his fingers on the boy's forehead and let out a whisper.
"Netto, I'll be back... I promise... We'll meet again tonight. Rockman will continue to watch over you."
Saito stood up and walked out of the room. It hurt him to leave him like that. As he walked down to the inn, he saw the woman from yesterday at the counter, smoking a cigarette. Although the smell didn't make him want to approach her, he had to do so when an idea passed through his head.
"Excuse me," he called.
"Yes?"
"Could you leave a message for the little boy for me?"
To be continued...
AN: I hope you aren't upset that Saito still haven't told him the real truth, that's the whole deal of this movie, Saito is here but Netto don't know and don't know he is Rockman and his brother. I really like these story where the MC live a double life with a character that is important for them, in one of my pokemon fanfic, it's also the same plot lol, I'm recycling haha.