Disclaimer: I don't own Rockman. And that's all I have to say this time.

Chapter 11: "You Can't Die!"

"Mou! WHERE THE HECK IS HE!"

Meiru tapped her foot impatiently on the porch of the Hikari household. However, no one answered the pink haired girl and the only sound that could be heard was the ruffling of the leaves of the nearby bushes and the faint bark of a dog somewhere else in the neighborhood. But this house just loomed above her, silent and empty. And despite her outward frustration, fear took hold of her heart. Everything was amiss. The fact that Netto was gone not so much, after all, the brunette was often gone. But it had always seemed to Meiru that his mother was always there to greet her with a cheerful and welcoming smile. But now even she was not here and the house stood motionless and void of life.

Then there was the fact that the boy in question had not answered his PET for the two days, despite her constant calls. She had even risked calling him during school today, just to see what would happen. But like the calls the day before and that morning, the PET just rang and rang.

At first Meiru had forced herself to stay calm. After all, Netto had ignored her calls before. But now the span of unanswered calls was growing too long. In the past, Netto had always given in eventually—or Rockman for him. Surely at least Rockman would have answered by now.

So slowly Meiru found herself giving way to worry, even though she still outwardly expressed the emotion as frustration. She could not help but wonder if something happened after they had left the day before yesterday. Was Netto really okay?

"Roll-chan?" Meiru pulled out her PET for the millionth time that day.

"Call Netto, right?" Roll guessed. Meiru nodded. Roll smiled understandingly and tried once again to get hold of the missing boy and his navi. She waited for the PET to start ringing, but instead was greeted with an unwelcome beeping:

"The person you are trying to call in unavailable at the moment," the automated voice informed the pink navi and her netop.

The two stood in silence, stunned, as the PET continued to beep and replay the message.

"It seems they have disconnected the link," Roll finally said, not quiet sure of why Netto would take such an action.

Meiru twitched.

"Meiru-chan?"

"NETTO! YOU BAKA!" Meiru yelled out, not caring if anyone cast scared looks at her.

"Netto-kun! You can't do that!" Rockman nearly screeched as Netto set the PET back on the table.

"Netto-kun! Turn the link back on!" Rockman scolded again when his brother did not respond. He watched dismayed as Netto rolled over in response, away from the nagging Rockman and cuddled further into his blankets.

"NETTO-KUN!" Rockman yelled again. Netto looked at him from the corner of his eye, but did not move from his current position.

"I can't sleep with the PET ringing all the time," Netto answered groggily.

Rockman crossed his arms. "You're going to give Meiru a heart-attack."

"I'm going to give her one if I tell her I had one," came Netto's muffled retort as he pulled the blankets up further over his head.

Rockman sighed and decided to give up. Netto had been disagreeable the whole day—at least for the parts he had been awake for. Unfortunately, Rockman couldn't blame him though. Netto had not slept well the night before, his heart refusing to settle for almost the entire night. Thankfully, it had not grown into a full-fledged attack, but still the stress of knowing the diagnosis was surely taking its toll.

Rockman looked up as the door opened and Yuuichiro came in, holding a weary Haruka in his arms.

The scientist looked at the small blue navi.

"Is everything okay, Rockman?" he asked, his voice clearly tired. Rockman was pretty sure that the man had not slept at all the night before; and if he had, it was a very limited amount of sleep.

"Yeah. Of course," Rockman said, forcing a reassuring smile.

Yuuichiro helped Haruka into a chair and then collapsed in the one next to it.

"I thought I heard you yelling," he said, taking of his glasses and attempting to rub the sleep from his eyes.

Rockman rolled his eyes. "It was for something that doesn't really matter," he answered.

"You can't nag me anymore about it then," Netto called out from under his blankets.

"Netto-kun! I thought you were asleep!" Rockman said surprised.

Netto slowly pulled the blankets down and turned his head toward the navi. "I wish," he mumbled. Rockman smiled sadly.

Haruka rose from her seat and went to Netto's side, gently lifting his hand into hers.

"How are you feeling, honey?" she quietly asked.

"Tired. Are you okay?" Netto returned, forcing a smile to comfort her.

"I'm okay," she said, also forcing a weary smile.

"So you're finally awake."

The four in the room looked up as Enzan entered the room.

"Did you come when I was asleep?" Netto asked tiredly.

Enzan nodded. "A couple of times yesterday and once today," he said, and then commented, "You don't look so good."

Netto laughed gently. "Neither do you. Looks like you pulled an all-nighter."

Enzan shook his head and pulled up a chair next to Netto's bed.

"I had a lot on my mind," he simply said.

Netto closed his eyes and looked as if he would fall asleep again. "Me too," he said quietly.

Enzan took a deep breathe. "Did they find out what is wrong?" he braved to ask.

Netto did not move.

"Netto?" Enzan asked, not sure if he had fallen asleep.

"I'm awake," Netto responded.

"Do you know the diagnosis?" he asked quietly again.

This time Netto nodded.

"And?" Enzan hesitantly pushed.

"I have a heart disease called HBD." Netto put bluntly. Rockman eyes clouded while Haruka grip on her son's hand tightened. Yuuichiro stood up and grasped his wife's shoulder reassuringly.

"How long…will you be here?" Enzan asked.

"They've given me several months," Netto answered, his eyes still closed. Enzan thought his face was strangely calm and peaceful, but the way Netto had answered tied Enzan's stomach in knots.

"And then everything will be back to…normal?" he asked, fear creeping into his chest.

Netto opened his eyes and looked into Enzan's clear blue ones. The gaze sent chills down Enzan's spine.

"No, Enzan. It won't be normal. At least, I don't think. You'd have to tell me really 'cause the doctors say most likely I won't be here."

Enzan couldn't keep from staring into Netto's unreadable brown eyes. He was barely aware when soft sobs started to come from Haruka as Yuuichiro embraced her into his comforting arms.

Netto broke his gaze from Enzan and looked at his mother.

"Mama…" he whispered.

"Is there…no treatment?" Enzan asked quietly, redirecting Netto's attention from his mother back to him. He really did not want the answer, but he felt he had to keep searching for any glimmer of hope.

"No," Netto answered.

Enzan's fists tightened in his lap and his eyes became unwillingly wet.

"Enzan, it'll be okay," Netto reassured him.

"YOU CAN'T DIE!" Enzan yelled as he erupted from his chair.

Everyone but Netto's eyes jumped to the heart monitor as the beep skipped, but it returned to normal before anyone could see the irregular pattern displayed on the screen. Their gaze then fell back to Enzan, who looked like he was either about to kill someone or cry—maybe both.

"You can't die," he repeated, sinking back in his chair, realizing that he had just expressed more emotion than he ever had—expect maybe the time when he cried in front of Netto because he had thought he had lost Blues.

"You can't die," he repeated again in an inaudible whisper.

"Enzan, it'll be just fine," Netto said comfortingly, moving his hand to clasp the other's shoulder.

"But Netto…" Enzan began, finally looking back up at his friend.

"Hey, it's me. I'm always in trouble and we always get through it, don't we?" Netto smiled at him reassuringly. Enzan was pretty sure he could see a glimpse of Netto's all-too-common cocky look in that smile. making Enzan sigh. Either Netto was being overly optimistic, in complete denial, clueless to the real situation at hand, or just openly lying to provide some sort of comfort for him. Of course, it could have easily been all of the above—all were characteristic of the boy who had unexpectedly grown to be one of his best friends.

"It'll be okay," Netto said once again, shaking Enzan's shoulder reassuringly. Rockman had to smile at his brother: he was always more worried about others then about himself.

Enzan lifted Netto's hand off him, more out of habit than from wanting the hand to not touch him. He actually slightly wanted it there to tell him Netto was still there. "It better be, Netto," he said, "for your sake."

Netto picked up on the threat and smiled, though he had to wonder exactly how Enzan would exact revenge on a dead person.

"So, have you told Sakurai yet?" Enzan asked for a slight change of subject.

Netto laughed weakly and uncomfortably before pulling the blankets up as if he was going to go back to sleep.

Enzan shook his head. "Then when are you going to tell her?"

"Enzan, I'm really tired," Netto said, dodging the question.

"Netto," Enzan said crossly under his breathe, frustrated that Netto was avoiding answering, even if his excuse was legitimate.

"Why don't you call him," Rockman suggested. He smiled innocently when Netto glared death threats at him.

"Why?" Enzan asked, raising an eyebrow at the brunette, who had now pulled his blanket over his head, pretending to have fallen asleep. Both his parents also looked at Netto, confused as to what was going on.

"He cut the link so no one could call him," Rockman explained, glowering at his hiding netop, who visibly tensed up under the blankets. He didn't need to see Rockman to know he was being scolded both in voice and body language.

"Netto," Enzan sighed.

"I was trying to sleep," Netto mumbled as an excuse from the protection of his hiding place.

"She has find out eventually, Netto," Yuuichiro put in, realizing that this conversation was becoming much like the one that had taken place the day before yesterday.

"I know," came the muffled answer. "I just want to time it right."

Rockman, Yuuichiro and Enzan all looked at each other.

"And the right time is…?" Rockman asked.

Netto cautiously emerged from his refuge. "When I don't feel and look like crap," he answered before continuing to explain: "The first day would have been okay, except we didn't know what was wrong. I was asleep all of yesterday. And today I hurt and am still tired because I didn't sleep last night." Netto then forced himself up into a sitting position, the first time he had adopted such a position that day. "Maybe I'll tell her tomorrow," he said once he was sitting up. "I'm starting to feel better and if I sleep well, everything should be near normal." His eyes then seemed to become downcast. "I just don't want her to worry more than she has to," he said quietly.

"You can't stop people from worrying, Netto," Yuuichiro said softly.

"I know, but I can try," Netto said without looking up. There was a slight pause before Netto whispered again, determination flowing into his voice and the exhausted haze in his brown eyes seeming to burn away from the sudden passion: "I can as sure as heck try."

Yuuichiro, Haruka, Enzan, and Blues looked at Netto questioningly. Rockman, however, knew exactly what Netto had meant: right now, there were so many unknowns and things beyond their control—but that didn't mean they would give up. They knew that this time they might not win, but that meant in no way that they could not at least try. If they gave up now, there would be no chance at all for winning. Absolutely none at all.