The chapters for this story were botched, so until we can release the official first chapter, this will have to do. We're so sorry for the inconvenience! Please be patient with us. We haven't gotten our shit together yet...
Level 1: Bonus Level - First Year of Red Candidate!
"Uhh... The day hasn't even started yet and I'm already exhausted..."
Nothing was going right for her. Her bookbag was too heavy so it made walking from the auditorium to the hallway a chore. Her shoes were too tight even though they fitted perfectly yesterday. Her mother didn't have the time to buy her new hair scrunchies, so she had to use her old ones that were worn out and her black and red twintails were coming undone. Those were only a few of her many problems that morning.
"Damn... I thought this would be easy..."
Stopping near the lockers, she sighed and searched her pockets for a piece of paper she had folded. Opening it, she reviewed the contents of the paper. However, when she was done, she still seemed to be more than lost.
"Why are these schedules so damn difficult to read?!"
She scanned over the material one more time before giving up and then letting her gut feeling guide her to her class.
Now aimlessly wandering the seemingly never-ending halls, she couldn't figure out where she was going. She wanted to ask for help, but unfortunately, she didn't know anyone and all the students she saw looked rather intimidating.
She decided to look at her schedule one more time. It wouldn't hurt and it'd be better than being late to class. Speaking of which, her face turned pale when she checked the time on her smartphone. She only had three minutes to get to class before she would be marked late.
Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Damn! Why is everyone so strict on the first day of school?!
At this point she was spinning around looking for her classroom. This ceaseless spinning eventually led to her bumping into another girl who was making her way to class. She was more sturdy than the girl who was lost in the hallways, so she didn't fall down. The girl with the black and red twintails rubbed the back of her head. Her jaw nearly dropped when she realized that it was her own fault for not paying attention to where she was walking.
Oh crap... Anyone who reads school stories knows that when the lost kid bumps into someone, it's the bully. I better prepare myself for an asskicking...
The girl who was bumped into brought her hand to her hair and brushed away one of the loose strands.
"Oh goodness... Are you okay?"
That's strange... The bully never asks the victim if she is okay...
She looked up at the girl who was kindly offering her her hand. Her hair was long and light purple with a funny little D-pad hair clip in it. Her face was a cute and innocent one. The girl with black and red hair was having trouble believing that this was her bully. She soon realized that she had not answered her question.
"O-Oh! I'm fine..."
She took the purple haired girl's hand and was instantly pulled to her feet.
"I was just lookin' for my class..."
That grabbed the purple haired girl's attention.
"Really? I can help. Let me see your schedule."
Reviewing the girl's crumbled-up schedule, a wide smile crossed the purple haired girl's face. She then directed that smile at the girl who claimed herself to be lost.
"You're going to the same room as me! We can walk there together~!"
"Oh... um... okay..."
I don't even know her, yet she's so being so friendly...
Now walking to the class that was identified as Goddess History, the girl with the long purple hair spun around to face the lost girl and flashed her the smile she was starting to grow slightly accustomed to.
"I didn't introduce myself. My name is Nepgear. It's nice to be acquainted with you."
The black and red haired girl rubbed the back of neck. It was almost as if she was uncomfortable or nervous.
"I'm Nessui... Likewise..."
As she escorted Nessui to the classroom, Nepgear would point out things around the hall to Nessui and would tell short stories that didn't take too much time to tell. Some of them even amused Nessui and brought her to the point of asking questions about some of the stories. Some of the responses were kind of funny and the two quickly grew to find enjoyment in each other's company.
"Nepgear. How do you know so much about the school despite bein' a freshman?"
"...I owe it all to my sister. She's a year older than me, so she knows this place really well."
An older sister that goes to this school, too? Maybe our sisters know each other and are actually friends.
Nepgear twirled around again and covered her mouth as she giggled for a moment.
"I'm just kidding. My sister isn't exactly the brightest of the bunch. I just went to Freshman Orientation. Didn't you go?"
Nessui's face lit up with shock and a little bit of bewilderment.
"EH?! THERE WAS AN ORIENTATION?!"
Nepgear raised her finger to her lips and made a hushing sound, alarming the freshman known as Nessui.
"You really shouldn't be shouting in the hallway."
...Weren't you just doing the same thing?
The longest class of the day known as Goddess History had finally concluded for the day and Nessui had to have been the most excited out of everyone to get out of class. It wasn't as bad as she had expected it to be, but it was still incredibly exhausting and extremely boring. She was surprised and a little proud that she didn't drift off to sleep at some point. Then again, Nepgear's round-the-clock discussion starting kept her watchful. Not that she really minded, however.
Replaying the events of the class in her head, Nepgear found herself astonished to a certain extent.
"You know a surprising amount of things about Biology, Nessui."
Nessui had appeared so unmotivated the entire period and for some reason, she was rather attentive and acquiescent whenever the teacher had called on her. Even Nepgear didn't seem as perceptive and she was excited to be in Biology was an understatement. Although, the class the school labeled "Robotics" seemed to be way more appealing to her.
"I wouldn't count on that as a good thing. It was almost as if I was competin' with that other girl."
"Now that you mention it, you're right. Every time you would answer a question, she would answer the next one."
"HEY! PIGTAILS!" An imperious female voice roared.
"Speak of the devil..."
Doesn't she have pigtails, too?
The girls quickly turned around and watched as the girl who the voice belonged to ran towards them. Nessui tried to hide her exhaustion and did her best to look presentable. Nepgear helped her out by giving her an accidentally painful chop to the neck upon request.
Once the girl was in conversation distance, she gave Nessui an unwelcoming earful.
"So, you're trying to take my spot as the teacher's favorite, huh?! There is no way I'll let you!"
Nessui was lost from the moment she said "teacher's favorite". She didn't want that.
"Teacher's favorite? You must be mistaken. I'm not interested in that kind of thing. Wait a minute, why am I respondin' to you? Who the heck are you?"
Smugly crossing her arms over her chest, the girl presented Nessui with an shit-eating grin. Her black hair and red eyes added to the intimidating look she was obviously going for, but her height did otherwise as it was painfully obvious that she was well under five feet.
"Listen well, pigtails! My name is Uni! I am the beloved younger sister of the President of the Second Floor!"
Nepgear jumped into the conversation this time, stepping in front of Nessui and receiving Uni's full, undivided attention. In fact, Uni had to look up just to meet eyes with the purple-haired student.
"Ooh~! Your sister is the President of one of the four floors, too?"
"T-Too?!"
"Yes. My sister is the First Floor's President."
"HUH?!"
Uni was utterly appalled. Being the sister of one of the Presidents was a privilege in her eyes, but standing before her was a goofy brat who didn't even act how the President's sister should. Meanwhile, Nessui was still lost. For first-year students, they sure knew a lot about this school. Maybe she should have gone to this orientation, despite not knowing about it until a few minutes ago.
"Uniko? Gearko? What are these... Presidents?"
The two had mixed reactions to their new nicknames. Uni glared at Nessui with steady eyes that said, "Who are you to give me a nickname," while Nepgear didn't seem to mind. To tell the truth, she somewhat adored her new nickname and repeated it in her head a couple of times.
Ignoring Nessui's "rudeness", Uni crossed her arms over her chest once again and openly scoffed at the turquoise-eyed freshman. "Of course you wouldn't know who the Presidents are, yet Miss Uranus loves you..."
Nepgear was kind enough to carefully explain who the Presidents were. In this school, Gamicademi, there are foor floors. Each floor is governed by a person similar to a Student Council President. As Nepgear said, her older sister governs the First Floor and Uni's older sister governs the Second Floor. Whoever governs the last two floors is still unknown, but according to both Nepgear and Uni, the other two Presidents have younger sisters, too.
Wait... Could she be one...?
"Are you okay, Nessui?"
Snapping out of her inner thoughts, Nessui simply nodded as a reply. A loud bell rang and grabbed everyone's attention, halting their movements briefly. They knew that from the bell and from the time on the nearby wall-clock, it was time for everyone to go to lunch. Nepgear and Nessui walked off and followed a large crowd to the cafeteria.
"Thanks for the info, Uniko," Nessui said as she walked side by side with Nepgear and waved goodbye.
Her head titled high, Uni smirked as if she had won a heated argument.
"Hmph! It was only my duty as her sister." She soon remembered what she was supposed to do and ran after the couple "Wait a minute! I wasn't done yet! And stop calling me 'Uniko!'"
She caught up and started walking with the pair. The three of them were now walking to lunch together, with Nepgear in the middle, Nessui on her left, and Uni on her right.
Nessui peaked her head over Nepgear's and looked down at the ravenette with devious turquoise eyes.
"So you're coming along~?"
"N-Not because I want to! I'm only coming with you so I can settle my argument!" Uni was rather quick to defend herself. It made Nessui laugh a little, which in turn made Uni groan articulately in built-up frustration.
"In any case, it's good to have you with us, Uni." Immediately taken aback by Nepgear's good-natured words, a Uni, with a racing heart, watched as the taller girl unconsciously twiddled her thumbs and laughed. With a wide smile, Nessui pointed out a hint of blush on Uni's cheeks, prompting the latter to hastily turn her head to the other side while her silky black hair darkened her red face.
What an odd day... So these are my faithful allies; a bubbly girl and a tsundere. Where have I seen this kind of cast before...?
A girl with black and red hair similar to Nessui's stepped out of one of the classrooms. As the door opened, a voice came with it.
"Rouge! Where do you think you're going?! We're not done yet!"
Rouge briskly closed the door and the irritated shouting was muffled much to her delight. She casually walked away from the door as if nothing had ever happened.
"Sorry, Noire. You may be the President, but I don't wanna hear it anymore..."
Once she thought she got far enough, she did a few stretches and openly stated that she felt stiff from sitting through Noire's lecturing for so long. It was obvious that she wasn't a model student as the way she wore her uniform was rather... curious. She took the opportunity to flaunt by swinging and flipping her wild and messy hair. Smiling while staring at the direction of the cafeteria, she was suddenly stricken with a sharp pain as she hunched over and groaned like an old lady.
"Damn... I knew I shouldn't have carried Neptune's bookbag for her! Who knew pudding could be so goshdarn heavy...? My back is killing me..."
It didn't help how she was waddling through the hallway with a dry look on her face that startled both nearby students and teachers alike. As they ran away, the girl fixed her posture and a fire lit in her turquoise-colored eyes.
"OK, Rouge. Now's not the time to be dramatic!" She gave herself a few quick slaps to the cheeks. "My poor sister needs me! She must be broken by now! A freshman without a guide and without friends! HANG ON, NESSUI! I'M COMIN'!"
Rouge then zipped by another girl who was carrying multiple books with a black beret on top of her light brown hair. She watched the delinquent run down the halls until she was completely out of sight.
A tall blonde girl then got into said sight with a curious look on her face and nearly gave the beret-wearing girl a heart attack. "What's wrong, Blanc? Why are you making such a face?"
Blanc answered her as she used her free hand to fix her beret which was slowly falling over her eyes.
"...It's nothing. Come on, let's keep going, Vert. These books won't return themselves."
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The story after Ultradimension is pretty dark, so we decided that in order to balance out the seriousness and the silliness, we needed to make another side story. After playing Megatagmension, this story was born!
Characters that will appear in the story after Ultradimension appear here, but they should be clear of spoilers.
We hope you enjoy it and we're sorry if this chapter seemed kind of directionless...
-skullpopKYO