Work Habits - Netto x Meiru, sort of.

[Ming Yi]

This originally intended to be a Netto x Meiru fic, but the focus seems to be more friendly than romantic. ^^ Suggestions are welcome!

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Work Habits

Meiru heaved a deep sigh as she browsed through more pages explaining the concepts of botanic development. She skimmed through a paragraph that was speaking of leaves during autumn, and then switched to another website. Roll had found a couple of more helpful pages relating to the topic, but the red-haired girl felt that she couldn't stomach this much information at once.

That was why she had a partner for the project, but, well, her partner... Meiru sighed again, eying Netto. Let's just say that I'm doing most of the work here, she thought sourly, turning her gaze from the Net Savior back onto her computer monitor.

Much as she enjoyed Netto's company, this was just one of those times where Netto being Netto was just plain irritating. Meiru was starting to wish that Yaito was her partner for her science project. At least she wouldn't forget to do her share of the work until the day before the work was supposed to be due.

Sadly, Mariko-sensei just had to choose partners from a randomization from her computer.

Still, Meiru was happy that she ended up with someone she got along very well with. She admitted to herself that maybe she liked him a bit more than just a friend, and her partner just happening to be Netto seemed like something out of a school romance drama. Meiru bookmarked another page on her Internet browser, and then turned to the boy to see how he was doing.

"How's it going, Netto?" asked Meiru, hoping that he had actually started creating the visual for the project just like he had promised. Her half-smile quickly flipped upside-down into a frown.

Netto was engaged in a deep sleep on the floor, snoring all of his troubles away. Meiru rolled her eyes and nudged him with her foot. The boy only responded by turning over onto his side, arms contorted in random positions on the soft carpet. "Netto!" she scolded, kneeling down and giving his shoulder a hard shake.

"Mmmm," groaned Netto in reply.

"Netto," said Meiru louder, shaking him harder, but Netto still lay limp in her arms.

Rockman obviously wasn't kidding when he said that Netto slept like a log.

At last, Netto's eyes finally opened, and he sat up. As he looked around the room, he rubbed his eyes. "Oh. Right. Sorry about that, Meiru-chan."

"It's okay," sighed Meiru in reply. "How far are you close to being finished?"

Netto went silent, and stared at his work with a gulp. His distressed gaze mournfully reverted back to Meiru, giving a nonverbal apology.

"Not done?" Meiru filled in for him tiredly. Netto said nothing, but gave what looked like a nod.

The girl turned her attention towards the computer resting on her desk. "It's okay, Netto. Take all the time you need to finish constructing the visual. I'll just look over a couple more resources to see if there's anything interesting to add, and then I'll help you."

Netto yawned and groggily rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry, Meiru-chan."

A thousand apologies from Netto couldn't make up for the mental stress weighing on Meiru's shoulders, but at least it gave her the satisfaction that Netto was still showing some dedication towards his grade. Meiru was about to open her mouth to complain about the bulk of the work she had to do while Netto was off someplace else, but felt it unreasonable to do that, especially what Netto had done for the community.

A hint of headache flashed upon her forehead as she continued transferring windows to make sure her document was accurate. Meiru forced herself to ignore it. It's worth the full points anyway, if Netto doesn't create the visual, she told herself.

Frustrated, Meiru fought back a groan as she continued to stare at her computer monitor instead of her next-door neighbor. If she wasn't stressed, who was she kidding?

It was times like this that Meiru felt like crying, crying and kicking up a storm because of her misfortune. It certainly wasn't her fault — what in the world had she gone through to deserve this?

To her surprise, Netto continued, "I know you had to do almost everything for this project. Being a Net Savior takes more responsibility than I thought." He breathed in deeply, squinting at his work. "But, for you, I'll make sure your hard work doesn't go to waste."

Meiru bit back her words of scolding as she sensed Netto's budding determination. For some unfathomable reason, his promise rendered her silent and encouraged her to support him. She shouldn't yell at him. She shouldn't complain. She shouldn't pound his thick head no matter how irritating the situation was; after all, Netto was trying his hardest, and it wasn't like he was playing video games instead of working on the project.

What Netto said after that temporarily took away Meiru's ability to speak.

Netto tilted his gaze upwards, seemingly talking to the ceiling rather than his childhood friend. "You know, I'm kind of glad I'm working with you as a partner. We already make a good team, and I bet we can create a project better than Yaito-chan's!"

At his words, Meiru turned her attention away from her computer screen towards Netto, speechless. At his preserverance, Meiru had no clue of how to respond — should she hug him? Kick him for "saying that everytime and not getting his butt to work?" None of them seemed to express how she really felt for this sort of trust... this relationship...

This partnership.

Netto didn't notice the hint of the embarrassed blush tainting her cheeks; he was already asking Rockman for ideas that he could model the visual off of, and at this sight, Meiru couldn't help but smile. Despite Netto's ignorance of homework most of the time, he could never let her doubt him when it came to cooperation.

Meiru relaxed. She felt thankful towards Netto, though she knew she didn't have to be. Mariko-sensei would have deemed this thought as nothing, since it apparently was Netto's responsibility to do his share of the work, but that didn't matter — Netto always made her smile at times of doubt, and would always fulfill his promises. Meiru was about to open her mouth to express her gratitude towards him and —

"Meiru-chan!" Already Netto was calling her name more alertly, contrary to the last few minutes of being half asleep. Meiru snapped back from her reminiscing and saw that Netto was pointing at a picture in one of the library books Meiru had checked out.

"Does this look good, Meiru-chan?" Netto asked again, gesturing to a display of different stages of a plant's life.

Meiru's eyes widened in surprise when she remembered that the two had a project that they were supposed to be working on, but regained her composure. Furrowing her eyebrow as she studied the picture carefully, she grinned in relief and nodded. "This looks fine," she agreed. Busying her fingers with the keyboard, she added, "I'll reorganize my information so that it'd look neater. This is going to be the best project ever."

"Yeah!" Netto was excited by now. "Mariko-sensei will be so enraptured that she'll cry!"

They both laughed.

Meiru focused on resuming her work as she started copy-pasting paragraphs of her document into the right sections. Her "thank you" would have to come later.

[Midnight]

Hmm...

This was short and sweet, and certainly a lot better than many of the other fics that I have read recently. It went along at a decent pace, and there was nothing that detracted from the fic, save the interchanging of terms from the original to the dub.

I noticed that although it was short, it could stand to be a tad longer. Parts of the prose could have been fleshed out a bit, and made the characterization a tad more in-depth. Nevertheless, it was a good read, and something that will hopefully revitalize this forum. Good job.
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Avatar by Spork. I very much appreciate it! <3

[Ming Yi]

Thank you for the kind review! I've tried extending the ending a bit.
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I'll remember that day, and I won't let it go.

[Unknown Neo]

That was nice and pretty cute. I'm sure lan can do his work, he's just kind of lazy. Kind of like me. I can be lazy but I do get things done pretty well when I do.

[RT-fact]

It's been months since I've last read a fan fiction, and this one is pretty good. Although it just focuses on a specific, single moment, it has quite a depth. It also made me notice how Meiru had control over her psychology over Netto; she could yell at him but she reconsiders about it since he has gone through his personal responsibilities as a Net Savior for a long time.
Your fiction could be better and more catchy, but the current state is good enough.

Unknown Neo> Me too, I usually don't finish my homeworks until one or two days before the quota. Don't many of us guys do that?

[Ming Yi]

Thanks for the reviews! ^^ I admit that I'm pretty simple when it comes to writing endings. I'll try to add on more when I attempt to revise the story.

And Unknown Neo, you're not alone. I'm one of the people who waits until the last minute as well. X3
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I'll remember that day, and I won't let it go.

[CrimsonZero]

I'm just like Netto. Procastinating until the last minute, but I always get my work done. Anywho, this was a good fic so far, detailed and nice.
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[Heliumbunny]

Well, pretty good. i guess just a little more towards the romantic aspects might have been better, but I still enjoyed it. I was watching it in anime format in my head. :D
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