MegaMan NT Warrior (Rockman) Fan Fiction ❯ Little Predicaments ❯ Beach ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Netto wasn't quite ready to swallow his pride yet and once again he bound himself. He left before his mom woke up to avoid the drama that would ensue from finding him, she'd find out soon enough anyway. He slipped as quietly as he could out of his house and started to skate towards his destination.

“Hey Netto-kun, are you angry at all?” Rockman asked suddenly.

Netto stopped, “No! What gave you that idea?” he asked.

“Well, it's my fault that you're infected with the virus, you seemed kind of…” Rockman searched for the right word, “upset.”

Netto snorted, “Yeah, well who wouldn't be? When I agreed to the link thing I did not expect to become a girl, however I'm not mad at you. Right now, I'm mad at Dr. Cunningham, but not you.”

Rockman laughed and Netto started to skate again. “Well, that's a relief,” he said.

Netto smiled, “Hey, it's not like I could keep something like `I'm mad at you' a secret from you anyway. You just read my thoughts, right?”

“I would never do such a thing!” Rockman said indignantly.

“Right,” said Netto.

“I wouldn't!” Rockman said, trying to defend himself.

Netto laughed, “Calm down, I was just joking.”

Rockman rolled his eyes even though Netto couldn't see him and didn't reply.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Netto rolled into the head quarters long before anyone else, and the few people that were there were very surprised to see the normally late boy come in so early. When Netto walked into the specified conference room Laika whistled, “Wow, you really couldn't sleep could you?” he asked.

Netto crossed his arms over his chest almost wincing, “And just what is that supposed to mean?” he growled.

“It means you normally can't be on time to save you life,” Laika said back.

/Netto-kun, drop it and sit down,/ said Rockman calmly.

To Laika's surprise, Netto broke his eye contact and sat in a seat two down from Laika. Enzan came in little more then a minute later and sat across from them. “Well, we know why we're here, so let's start.”

“You're very formal today, Enzan,” Netto laughed.

Enzan rolled his eyes, “Do you want to try and do something or not, Netto-chan,” he narrowed his eyes.

“Hey! That was mean!” Netto said.

Rockman giggled, “Hey, he has a point,” he said.

“Yeah yeah, whatever,” Netto muttered.

“Okay, so if we say that we're on a mission to find out who created this virus we may find out who made it, why and how to find and/or stop it. So, anyone object?” Enzan asked.

“Not objection but a point, Enzan we're kids. We need an adult to get out of the country on a mission,” Netto said.

Enzan nodded, “I know, I already called Manabe. She should be here in a matter of minutes.”

Just then Manabe came into the room, with a blushing Yui behind her. “Sorry, I decided my secretary should be in on this. I just had a hard time getting her out of bed,” Manabe laughed.

Yui blushed, “I'm very sorry,” she said.

“Hush dear, its okay. Now Enzan-kun, what did you want to talk to me about?” Manabe asked.

Netto glanced uneasily at Yui; Enzan did too but cleared his throat and gave her his speech on how they could stop the virus by finding the programmer.

Manabe nodded, “Yes, very clever. Actually I think it's a wonderful idea.”

“So you'll supervise us?” Enzan asked.

Manabe nodded, “Of course! Do you mind if I take Yui along, boys?” she asked.

Netto shifted in his seat, /Rockman?/

/I don't mind if she knows Netto-kun, you're closer to her then I am./

Netto looked at Manabe and nodded.

Manabe clapped her hands together and said “Excellent! I shall get started on preparations immediately, get ready to fly out tonight. Oh and Yui, I have something to talk to you about. Netto-kun, Saito-kun, may I be allowed to handle this on my own?” she asked.

“Yes ma'am,” Netto and Rockman said together.

Yui gave them a puzzled look as she was steered out of the room by Manabe.

Rockman sighed, “I really wish she wouldn't call me Saito.”

“Why not?” asked Blues.

“Because, I'm afraid someone will put two and two together and find out,” Rockman said.

Netto rolled his eyes, “No, you just hate it when people find out your name and go, `Netto and Saito! That's such a cute pun!'”

Rockman smiled, “Okay, that too. I'm so glad I didn't have to grow up with that.”

Netto nodded vigorously, “Yeah, you and me both.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Yui came back out of the office looking a little shaken up. Netto, Enzan and Laika were playing cards and didn't see her exit the room. “Rumme!” Enzan said and picked up the stack of cards.

“Awww man!” said Netto, “I saw that one too.”

“Have to be faster then that, Netto-kun,” said Rockman.

“Obviously,” said Laika.

“Ummm…” said a small voice behind them. They all looked up to see a blushing Yui.

Netto blushed himself and stood up, “Well, I guess Manabe-san told you everything. Did you get confused at all?”

Yui shook her head, “No, I was just,” she searched for the right words, “very surprised.”

Netto shrugged, adopting his usual careless air, “I can understand that.”

Manabe came out of the room that she and Yui was in and walked up to the little group. “Okay kids, this is it. Ready for a search mission?”

“Yeup!” said Netto brightly.

Laika and Enzan both nodded solemnly.

“Okay, we're first going to Jawaii. Any objections?” Manabe asked.

All three boys shook their heads.

“Okay, Jawaii it is. I have a hot tip that Dr. Cunningham may be there in one of the secluded caves on the south side of the island. However if we want to catch him we'll have to act cautiously, he's a smart man and has avoided almost all human contact for the last two years,” Manabe explained.

“So… undercover?” asked Laika.

Manabe paused and thought about it, “Well, in a sense. More or less we'll be posing as tourists while we gather information on where exactly he might be on the island. We can't just start searching the sea caves because you can bet that man has some kind of detecting equipment.”

Enzan nodded, “Makes sense, so we go around the island searching for definite coordinates. Anything we should avoid?” he asked.

“People finding out you are Net Saviors, which will be hard because I heard that you three, especially Netto-kun, have built up quite a reputation on Jawaii,” said Manabe looking pointedly at Netto.

Netto looked a little nervous, /Okay, I'm not going to ask what se means by that for fear of my sanity,/ he said to Rockman.

/Well, I think I have a good idea…/ started Rockman, but Netto cut him off.

/That I don't want to hear. I'll deal with it when we get to Jawaii,/ he said a little crossly.

/Delaying the inevitable?/ asked Rockman.

/You could say that,/ Netto replied without any humor.

Yui was hopelessly lost in this conversation. Manabe and the boys were so… scary in a way. She had never heard children talk like that and she found it vaguely disturbing.

“They're kinda creepy when they talk like that huh?” asked Netto in a whisper.

Yui looked down at Netto a little surprised. She hadn't even seen him come over, “Ah, yes,” she said falteringly.

“It's okay. Enzan and Laika are really nice, they just sometimes don't know when to act like normal people,” said Netto.

“That's not nice, Netto-kun,” said Rockman quietly.

“But it's true,” said Netto in a matter-of-fact tone.

Yui giggled silently as the other three continued to plan out their mission on Jawaii. “Are they always so severe looking? Enzan-san looks like my old boss in a way.”

Netto laughed too, “Most of the time, but sometimes you can get them to let their guards down which is always hard but always worth it. I have some really good blackmail pictures of them both.”

“Netto-kun!” said Rockman in a reprimanding tone.

“What?” said Netto looking completely innocent.

Yui giggled again, “I'm glad I'm coming on this. I think it will be very interesting,” she said.

“Did you two get all that?” asked Enzan.

Netto and Yui snapped their attention to the other three looking like school kids who just got caught napping.

“Get what?” asked Netto sheepishly.

Enzan rolled his eyes; sometimes it was a mystery as to how Netto got to be one of the best Net Operators in the world.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

They were flying en-route to Jawaii on one of Enzan's private jets. Netto sunk into the over stuffed seats and tried desperately not to complain on boredom. Mostly because he knew if he did that Rockman would start harping on him about how he was acting like such a little kid.

/Bored Netto-kun?/ asked Rockman.

/No!/ said Netto in a sarcastic tone.

Rockman sighed, /Netto-kun, sometimes I wonder if you're still five./

/Hey, we've been up here for two hours and we still have two more hours. I'm allowed to be bored,/ he said.

/And soon you're going to start complaining about it too, right?/ asked Rockman.

/No,/ Netto muttered even though they both knew the chances of that happening were slim.

Yui saw the cross look on Netto's face as he argued with his navi. She didn't know he was arguing with anyone and thought he was in a bad mood because of what happened, so she went over to try and cheer him up. “Hey,” she said.

Netto looked up and saw Yui standing over him. “Hi,” he said.

Yui motioned towards the seat next to Netto, “Is this seat taken?” she asked.

Netto shook his head and Yui sat in the seat. Almost immediately she sunk into the material and lost her balance falling against Netto. Netto laughed and pushed her upright where she sat looking a little sheepish. “These seats are, big,” she said.

Netto nodded, “And uncomfortable,” he added.

“Netto-kun, that's rude. You're in a plane that's not yours and being given a free ride to Jawaii,” Rockman said.

Netto rolled his eyes and Yui smiled. “You and your navi are very close,” she said.

Netto blinked, “Well, of course, Manabe did tell you about the link right?”

Yui nodded, “Of course she did. But you two are very close as friends too. Trust me, I know a lot of brothers and they aren't like you two.”

Netto turned a little pink and Rockman smiled. “I would hope so. I didn't tell Netto-kun who I was until he was 13 for a reason. I liked having a friend more then the awkwardness I thought we would have if he knew.”

“Hey I am here you know,” said Netto.

Rockman laughed, “Unfortunately.”

“Hey!” said Netto. “That's not nice either.”

“But you're my little brother, I can tease you any time I want,” said Rockman slyly.

Netto crossed his arms and huffed into his seat. “Meanie,” he said.

Yui laughed again, “You two act a lot like brother too,” she observed.

“Again, I hope so,” said Netto sitting back up in his seat.

“So what do you want to do when we get to Jawaii?” asked Yui.

Netto blinked, “I want to find Dr. Cunningham and not be a girl,” he said.

Rockman snickered, “I don't think that's what she meant.”

Yui shook her head, “No that's okay.”

“What do you want to do when we get to Jawaii?” asked Rockman.

“I want to relax on the beach,” she said with sparkles in her eyes.

“That's boring,” said Netto.

Yui smiled, “Not when you're an adult and haven't had a proper vacation in over a year.”

Netto's eyes widened, “You haven't had a vacation for a year?” he gasped.

Yui shook her head, “Nope, I was trying to get a decent job in the recession. But intern jobs only pay so much so I had to work all the time to stay in school and live on my own.”

Netto frowned, “That doesn't sound like a lot of fun.”

“I'll say,” said Yui. “I wasn't, but I did end up getting a good job. Now I just hope I can keep it,” she said.

/I can't believe Yui-nee-san hasn't had a vacation in a year!/ said Netto.

/Well, maybe that's why she's excited we're going to Jawaii,/ said Rockman.

Netto looked like he was deep in thought. “Netto-kun?” Yui asked.

“I know!” he said brightly. “When we get to Jawaii, Rockman and I will have a vacation with you.”

Yui laughed and hugged Netto-kun, “That's so sweet!” she said.

/Can't breathe…/ he thought.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

The plane landed two hours later in a private air field on the southern half of Jawaii. Netto looked around in interest to see if anything had changed since their last visit. Not much really had even when the hurricane hit the small island only three weeks before. “Not much had really happened since we were here last, huh?” asked Rockman.

Netto shook his head, “Nope. Kind of weird though, I heard a really big hurricane came through here a few weeks ago.”

Enzan nodded, “You're right. But Jawaii is used to such things, so that means when a hurricane comes the people on the island know how to rebuild it fast. Staying down too long will cause a lapse in their tourism commerce, which is how they normally get their money.”

“Really?” asked Netto, slightly interested.

Enzan nodded, “Yeah, so when there is a hurricane you can normally make a safe bet that the island will be okay in about a week.”

“Is there any chance Dr. Cunningham got caught in it?” asked Laika.

Enzan frowned, “Well, that's hard to say. If he was here at the time the hurricane hit then yes, he did. But there is every chance that he came right after the hurricane.”

“Why would he do that?” Netto asked.

“Well, coming into an area right after a huge disaster makes for a good cover,” said Manabe behind them as they walked down the sunny street towards their hotel. “However it also brings attention at the same time. That's how I got the hint,” she said.

“Oh!” said Netto knowingly. “Okay, that makes sense.”

They walked up to a very luxurious looking resort called the “Sundance Hotel.” Netto whistled as they walked into the impressive building.

“Oh my,” said Yui, slightly intimidated.

“Heh, kinda big,” said Rockman.

“That's an understatement,” Netto muttered back.

Yui nodded mutely.

“So, how long are we staying here?” asked Netto.

“As long as it takes,” said Manabe. “Why, sick of it already, Netto-kun?” she teased.

Netto sniffed, “Not likely. I just want to find Dr. Cunningham.”

“We can't search for him directly, we need to get clues, remember what I said before?” asked Manabe.

“Yeah yeah,” said Netto.

“Undercover, right?” Enzan asked.

“Preferably,” said Manabe. “We can't risk Dr. Cunningham learning that the Net Saviors are looking for him or he'll just hide even deeper.”

“Not good,” said Netto.

“Exactly,” said Manabe. “So be careful about who you tell your real name to, okay?” she asked.

Everyone nodded and she looked pleased. “Okay good, I'll check us into our rooms and then you can do as you please for the remainder of the day.”

“Yay!” cheered Netto.

“Okay, Yui and I will share a room and you three will share another room that's next to ours. Any objections?” Manabe asked holding up the keys.

Everyone shook their heads and Manabe nodded handing Enzan the key. “Okay, see you tomorrow. I'm taking a nap.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

The rest of the day was uneventful as everyone was tired from the long plane ride. So not long after everyone checked in they all decided to go to bed. Netto had a better night's sleep that time around mainly because he was so tired from the trip. Rockman however was grateful, regardless of the reason. Hanging out with a crabby Netto was not one of his favorite things to do.

“Mnnn… curry…” Netto babbled in his sleep and Rockman let himself have a quiet laugh. Always curry.

“Netto, shut up,” said Enzan crabbily, throwing a pillow at Netto.

Netto didn't even stir as the feathered missile came on top of him.

“Enzan-san, he won't wake up from that,” said Rockman quietly.

Enzan sighed. “I don't care. Netto is really annoying at night, can't you do anything about it?” he asked in a whisper to Rockman.

Rockman shrugged, “Sorry, I don't have any control over Netto when he sleeps. I can only yell at him when he's conscious.”

“To bad,” said Enzan only half jokingly.

“I can wake him up, but I don't think that would solve anything,” said Rockman.

Enzan shook his head, “No, it wouldn't. But still, he's annoying.”

Rockman laughed quietly, “Don't worry, he not normally this bad. He's just kind of restless.”

Enzan rolled his eyes and fell back into his bed. “Good night, Rockman.”

“Night, Enzan-san.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

The next morning, Netto woke up farm more refreshed then he had the previous day. He was still a little tired but it was a far cry from staying up all night. “Morning Netto-kun,” his navi greeted from the monitor.

Netto was still half asleep and didn't respond right away, when his did he just muttered, “morning,” back and went into the bathroom.

“Not much on a morning person, is he?” Searchman asked from Rockman's left.

“Wha?” Rockman jumped and turned around to face his friend. “Oh no, Netto-kun has never been much of a morning person.”

“I think we knew that already, Rockman,” said Blues from Rockman's right.

Rockman jumped again and whirled around quickly to face Blues. “Good Morning to you too, Blues.”

“You're jumpy today, aren't you?” Blues observed.

Rockman laughed nervously, “Yeah, I don't know why though. I just have a bad feeling.”

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

“I have to WHAT?” Netto yelled.

Searchman whistled, “Nice call Rockman.”

They had gone downstairs for breakfast and their new assignment was handed to them. Needless to say, it wasn't a happy moment for Netto.

Manabe raised her hands in a pacifist gesture, “Calm down Netto-kun. I'm sorry, but there really is no ifs ands or buts about it. Point being, you all are known on this island. It's just easier if you pose as a girl, that's all.”

Netto turned a bright red, “No, no no! Absolutely not!” he said.

Enzan sighed, “Netto, chill out. Didn't we come here to reverse what happened? How can we do that if you're not willing to make a few sacrifices?”

“Uh oh…” Rockman muttered.

Blues sweatdropped, “Enzan-sama…”

Before Netto could unleash his fury on Enzan, Yui came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Its okay, Netto-kun. If you don't want to go out, I'll stay here with you.”

Netto blinked, “Yui-nee-chan.”

“I don't mind,” she said.

Netto sighed, “No, that's not fair. Rockman and I promised you that you would have fun. I don't break my promises.”

Rockman nodded, and Yui smiled. “You're really sweet Netto-kun!”

Netto blushed and rubbed the back of his head while everyone else sweatdropped.

~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~/~

Netto, Enzan, Laika and Yui all walked down the street in loose summer shirts and shorts. Netto, finally breaking down, was posing as the younger sister of Yui. Laika and Enzan were Netto's friends and they had come for their summer vacation. Or at least that's what their story was.

Netto was blushing as they walked and Rockman was silently trying to console him. Yui on the other hand was running from store to store in hyper bliss. “Oh, this is so exciting!” she said. “Like a movie!”

Enzan sighed, “Okay, she's the one who's supposed to be watching us.”

Laika watched her as she flew from store to store looking slightly nauseous after a few minutes. “She's almost as hyper as Netto.”

“I heard that,” Netto muttered.

“Okay Netto-kun, you need to cheer up,” chided Rockman. “You don't play the part of a school kid in vacation very well.”

“I got air sick on the way over and I'm not feeling very well,” Netto replied.

Rockman face faulted in his PET, “That's not what I mean.”

“Shouldn't we be actually searching for information?” Enzan asked.

“Sure, where do we start?” asked Laika.

“No idea,” Enzan admitted. “Netto, you've been here the most out of us, where should we go?”

Netto looked at him, his arms crossed over his chest. “You've been here more then me, what are you talking about?”

“I don't actually go anywhere, I'm normally in a meeting,” he said.

Netto shrugged, “Well, the beach is normally the place where most people go…” Netto admitted.

Yui came up behind them in a flash, “The beach! Oh, I haven't been to a beach in years!” she said.

Netto realized his mistake, “Oh, hell no!” he said.

“You said it yourself,” said Enzan with a touch of laughter.

“The beach is where most people go on Jawaii,” Laika finished.