Okay, I'm going to try and cover a lot in this chapter, so hopefully I can get through all we need to. So get ready and buckle your seatbelts, kids! And remember, we're jumping back to Netto in the hospital.

Also, let's get one thing straight, and that is I DON'T OWN ROCKMAN.

Chapter 9: The Problem

"I'm looking for Hikari Netto."

The nurse looked up from the forms she was filling out at the white-haired boy. "He's on the second floor, room 246," she informed him as she pointed in the direction of the elevators.

"Thank you," Enzan said and walked in the direction she had pointed.

Noting the boy looked tired, Blues hesitantly asked, "Are you okay, Enzan-sama?"

"I didn't sleep well last night, Blues," Enzan answered as he pushed the button that called the elevator.

"I'm sure he's fine," Blues reassured him, though a part of him still worried for his netop's brunette friend. Enzan only nodded as the elevator door opened.

Once on the second floor, he stopped again and asked for room 246.

"Are you looking for Hikari-kun?" the nurse asked. Enzan nodded, surprised that the nurse already seemed to know Netto. The nurse pointed down the hall. "Just go straight and turn the corner. There are already a lot of people there, so it shouldn't be hard to miss."

"Thank you," Enzan said again and walked toward the room. He found the nurse was correct about being able to easily pick out Netto's room because of the pleasant conversation emanating from the room.

"Glad to see you're feeling better," Enzan commented as he walked in.

"Oh, hey, Enzan," Netto greeted cheerfully.

Enzan glanced around the room full of people. "When the nurse said there were a lot of people here, I thought she would be referring to your friends."

Netto laughed weakly. "I'm sure they would be here—if they knew."

"You haven't told them?" Meijin raised an eyebrow.

Netto shook his head. "Nope. I haven't told them for two reasons: One, I've been having those annoying tests all day; and two, they would freak out, especially Meiru-chan. She was already in tears the first time I…."

"THE FIRST TIME!" Kifune, Manabe, Meijin, and Enzan all exclaimed.

"Oops," Netto shrunk back into the bed.

"Busted," Rockman commented.

"What do you mean the first time!" Enzan demanded angrily.

"Err…well…I had fainted at school doing relays earlier yesterday," he said nervously, then exclaimed defensively, "They only said it was because I was dehydrated!"

"Netto-kun, still…" Meijin began.

Netto rolled his eyes. "I've already heard it, okay?"

The all sighed. Typical Netto.

"So, what are they saying this time?" Enzan asked.

"Huh? Oh, they don't know," Netto answered as his PET started to ring.

"It's Meiru-chan, Netto-kun," Rockman informed his netop.

"Crap!" Netto cursed. "Ignore it, Rock."

"Netto-kun! But…!" Rockman stammered.

"I don't want her to freak," Netto returned.

"Ignoring her isn't going to help," Enzan said.

"Have you ever been in a room with her when she's worried?" Netto asked.

"No," Enzan answered.

"Then zip it," Netto returned.

"I think you should still answer it," Enzan said.

Netto shrugged, but by this time, the PET had stopped ringing anyway.

"You can't hide this from her forever, Netto-kun," Rockman said. "And not answering your PET won't keep her from worrying—in fact it'll probably make her worry." He had placed emphasis on the "make".

"I know," Netto responded. "I'm just hoping that I'm out of here before she has to find out."

"Hopefully," Rockman whispered.

Rockman fidgeted nervously. Surprisingly, the nurse that had talked to Yuuichiro had already succeeded in getting him into the nursing program. Apparently, it had not been all that difficult because Netto was already gaining a reputation for being a difficult patient, and they had reasoned that if he didn't listen to them, what would keep him from ignoring a nurse navi? Of course, there still were some doubts about a civilian navi acting as a nurse, but the nurses had decided that, in this case, it was worth a shot—if it did not work, they could always give him a nurse navi later.

But the training program was not what was making Rockman nervous. It was the fact that Netto was going through a test for goodness who knew what and he was not there. Hanako-san, one of the nurses Netto liked better, had come in earlier that morning, announcing Rockman's acceptance into the Nursing Training Program for Navis and also that Netto would be taking another test. She had never said what the test was for, and, of course, finding he had to take yet another test had made Netto rather ticked. But Netto had also started to feel an ominous feeling about the test. And without saying anything to one another, Rockman knew of Netto's tensions and he also knew that Netto knew that he had also felt the same dooming feeling. They both could not help but feel this test was for something serious—after all, they had told them the day before that he was done with tests unless something else had surfaced.

But what had surfaced? Rockman felt his stomach twist, desperately wanting to know. He wanted to be there with Netto. At this moment he felt so helpless, even though he knew what he was doing would help his best friend in the long run.

This thought was the only thing that really kept him going as he hid his nervousness. He knew that if the trainers knew how sick he felt they would probably reconsider training him. And then where would he be? He would have to hand the care of his brother over to someone else and he would be unable to do anything to help him. Rockman couldn't stand the thought of being powerless to help the person he cared most for, so he forced himself to be calm and focused. Netto needed him and he was not going to let him down!

The room was dark when Rockman was finally carried back to Netto's room. Netto's form lay still, breathing peacefully.

"Looks like he's asleep," the nurse carrying Rockman's PET whispered.

Rockman started to nod as Netto's head suddenly turned toward them.

"Rockman?" he called groggily.

"How are feeling, Netto-kun?" Rockman somewhat nerrvously returned as the nurse set the PET on the table beside the bed so Netto could see it clearly.

"Tired," was the netop's quick answer. "They freakin' sedated me."

"That would make you sleepy," the blue navi attempted at slight humor as he projected himself into a hologram.

"I never thought I could get tired of sleeping," Netto wearily picked up on the attempt. He then smiled wearily and closed his eyes.

"Netto-kun?" Rockman hesitantly asked after a few moments of silence, not one hundred percent sure if his netop had fallen asleep.

"Hmm?" Netto answered back, indicating that he was still awake even though his eyes remained closed.

"Do they know what's wrong yet?" Rockman quietly asked, afraid of the answer no matter what it was.

"No," came the sleepy response. "They didn't even tell me what the test was for."

"Oh," Rockman responded. He then looked up as a light from the hall flooded into the room as two people walked in. At first he couldn't tell who they were, but as they moved in, Rockman realized it was Netto and his Papa and the doctor, quietly talking about something.

"…s asleep," Rockman caught the end of the doctor's sentence as they moved next to the bed.

"Nn…'m not 'sleep," Netto mumbled out groggily.

Both men looked down at the bed in surprise. "Looks like you're about to though," Yuuichiro smiled softly as he brushed his hand gently across his son's forehead. Netto could tell, even though his sight was blurred from sleepiness, that something horrible was bothering his father. Rockman noticed the sadness too and his heart sank.

"Do you want to tell him? Or should I?" the doctor asked the forlorn-looking man.

The scientist sighed heavily and said, "I will."

He pulled a chair up to the bed and grabbed Netto's hand, holding it gently but firmly.

"Netto…" Yuuichiro began, but stopped. Netto could tell he was struggling within himself, fighting to get the words out and the tears in.

"It's HBD, isn't it?" Netto quietly whispered after a few moments, sparing his father having to muster out the diagnosis.

Yuuichiro looked at his son slightly stunned before nodded, muttering a barely audible "yes".

Rockman was defenseless against the tears that now spilt freely from his eyes. He had been right. He had been right, no matter how many times he had pushed away the horrible thoughts. He had known, but had been unwilling of the truth—even now he felt some need to disbelieve the truth. And now he knew why the pain had felt so familiar, even if he had denied it, excusing it as the imagination of his cautious and worrisome mind. But now they knew, for sure, and Rockman could do nothing to chase it away. He felt he was losing, with no way to escape…

"Rockman," the soothing and worried voice called Rockman back to the room.

He quickly wiped away his tears. "Gomen, Ne…"

"It'll be okay," Netto cut-off, his voice gentle and comforting. "We always get through, don't we?"

Rockman had to smile, even though the tears continued to fall unhindered. He couldn't tell if Netto really believed that everything would be okay or if he was just saying that to comfort him. But it didn't really matter right now because he was willing to believe what his brother had said just now no matter if it was true or not.

"But, how did you know?" Rockman asked.

Netto shrugged. "I don't know. Just…I guess…" Netto couldn't figure out how he knew. It had just been a feeling, but he now wondered if it hadn't been Rockman's. "Did you know?" he asked

"I…It crossed my mind," he hesitantly answered.

Netto closed his eyes again. "I think I knew because you knew," Netto whispered.

"I'm sorry," Rockman looked down.

"Don't be," Netto answered, his voice fading. "We'll get through this, Rockman. We always do."

"Yes, we do," Rockman whispered back so only Netto could hear, wanting so much to believe it.

Rockman, Yuuichiro, and the doctor watched as Netto fell back asleep; however, they could tell the slumber was no longer peaceful as Netto's face adopted a slightly pained look. Rockman started to feel subtle pangs in his chest ant the doctor noted that the heart-beat on the monitor was somewhat irregular. Nothing dangerous, but definitely something to keep an eye on.

"Can you keep on eye on him, Rockman?" the doctor asked.

"Un," Rockman nodded, not taking his eyes off his sick brother.

"I'll send a nurse to also help tonight," the doctor added. Again, the navi nodded. "Hikari-san. Are you going to stay here tonight?" he asked as he turned his attention to the scientist.

Yuuichiro nodded. "I'll stay here," he stated The doctor nodded understandingly and left, leaving the man clasping his son's hand as if he would never let go.