Disclaimer: HDN belongs to Compile Heart and Idea Factor.
This story takes place after normal and Leanbox endings of mk2.
Chapter 1: Rebuild
The nation of Leanbox is in serious trouble. At least according to Chika it is, with the Oracle being a well-known drama queen and dramatising everything like the end of the world. Though there is some truth within her beliefs this time though. Since the defeat of the Deity of Sin at the Gamindustri Graveyard, Leanbox's CPU is often found in Planeptune instead, always playing cosplay with the CPU Candidate there.
Due to that, many things in Leanbox have been stagnant and does not look to be getting better anytime soon. It was normal for Vert to sometimes take time off for gaming sessions or some other hobbies. However, what made the current events just so unbearable for Chika was that the hobby was cosplay, and moreso that it also did not involve her at all, but Planeptune's CPU Candidate. Truthfully, Chika would rather not have to see Vert go to Planeptune or Nepgear over at Leanbox at all, how dare something take away all her time with Vert!
Yet, that was the reality of things, and it had all gotten so bad that it was all reflected off the shares of Leanbox. Usually in Gamindustri the friendless workaholic known as Noire (And Uni, but at least Uni has friends) would have most of the shares, then Lowee is behind them with an intelligent CPU and her sisters. From there on, it was Leanbox and Planeptune floating around the same with shares due to laziness with their respective CPUs. Not so right now though, with Vert always with Nepgear, Leanbox's shares have fallen even below Planeptune, a very embarrassing position.
"Ugh, Vert has left everything here, what does she see in that CPU Candidate anyway? I must do something before Vert is lost!" Chika said, looking at all the work piling on her desk, while looking towards the direction of Planeptune, most likley where Vert is at right now. Yet, most of the time Chika refused to really interrupt Vert's time with Nepgear, seeing how happy Vert was is most of the time. Still, she could not help but wonder why it had to be like this. Was Chika not enough for Vert? And why that Nepgear of all people? Vert could have just taken a sister from Lowee and Blanc probably would not even notice (Well she would, but at least she has two sisters).
It was no use in trying to think things over and over, Chika went outside to try and relax a bit. Hopefully there would be some work done soon, but Chika could not be so sure of it, as it was only herself for the most part. Still, for whatever reason, Chika found herself heading in the direction of Planeptune, muttering how she wishes the Planeptune's CPU Candidate would not steal her Vert away.
"If only that Nepgear wasn't around... then my life would be better..." Chika whispered to herself, exaggerating the crisis and fumbling around aimlessly by Virtua Forest. Of course, while Chika is all focused on her own problem, she failed to notice a small herd of Dogoos racing her way. "Oh no..."
Before anything else happened though, another figured jumped right into the scene, smashing the Dogoos into a big liquid mess. Even though the execution was messy, the Dogoos were taken care of quite promptly, which saved Chika a bit of trouble. Still, this figure looked like Nepgear! And there could not possibly be anyone worse to see. Fortunately though, this figure had two white D-Clips on her head instead of the single one that Nepgear has.
"Whoah! It's Chika, whatcha doin over here today? Oh wait, you're lookin for Vert aren't you?" Said the figure, who Chika recognises as the Neptune.
"No... I mean, yes! Today I shall reclaim Vert from that Nepgear's brainwashing and finally build up Leanbox again. There is so much work to be done, and right now everything is about to fall apart..." Chika responded, determined to somehow get her Vert back.
"Yeah I hear you. Though most of the time, it is mainly Vert that is leading the way and taking Nep Jr. away from me..." Neptune corrected, knowing that Nepgear was not capable of brainwashing people (and it was more likely the other way around).
Chika sighed, knowing what Neptune said is the truth, Nepgear did not do anything to Vert, but rather it was Vert who was always running to Nepgear instead, "I know... but still, why does my Lady Vert abandon me like this? It has been so lonely all this time, and without any work done, Leanbox is in trouble! Oh, my life feels all spent too, I cannot go on anymore~"
"(Oh wow, Chika seems to be in a really bad shape... I wonder if this is how Histy feels when I run away all the time? Even though I have been the one doing all the work with Vert always taking Nep Jr. away from me... hm, I think I know what to do!)" Neptune thought, having an idea to (hopefully) turn things around for the better. "Umm hey, Chika? Are you still alive down there?"
"Uggh, barely hanging on. Leanbox is dying and so am I," Chika responded, having fallen to the ground in exhaustion (even though she would like fake it as dying from lack of shares).
"So uhhh, I know you're missing Vert a whole lot here, and it's kinda the same thing for me too, Nep Jr. never has time for me. And you know, I was wonderin if I could help you out..."
"Huh? You will help me?"
"Yeah, I ain't no Vert, but I've got work too, if we work together, we can figure something out," Neptune finished, while picking up the Oracle and heading towards Leanbox.
Arriving back at Leanbox, Neptune had let Chika rest in the basilicom and went to the guild to turn in some quests. Of course, Chika had realised by now unlike the other people that knew her well enough, Neptune did not catch on to her drama queen tendencies and actually mistook her for actually dying. Still, this was not the worst situation, Neptune did have a point, the two of them were in the same situation with work as well as their closest loved ones unreachable.
Nevertheless, Chika made a mental note not to abuse her drama queen self to manipulate Neptune, because that would just be mean. Getting up from her "rest" Chika inspected the large pile of papers that Neptune had laid on the nearby desk, it seems like Neptune was not lying about having to do all the work around Planeptune. After all, with Vert playing cosplay with Nepgear, it only left Neptune to do most, if not all of the work. Histoire had probably let things slide with Nepgear considering the Candidate's recent adventure and fight with ASIC.
The door to the room opened shortly afterwards, with Neptune entering and feeling exhausted from the work day already. "Ahhh, I feel tired already, but it is only half way through the day! Oh, you're alive!"
"Yes, I am feeling much better now, thank you. So now, what did you have in mind for getting Vert back to here?" Chika asked, knowing her priorities.
"Oh... well, normally I would say take her shares so that she would have to take notice of it, but..." Neptune trailed off, since even she was aware of how pitifully low Leanbox's shares are compared to Planeptune with Vert's negligence.
"Yeah, I would have thought that she'd at least notice what's going on, but instead she continues to go to her..."
"I know, I wished Nep Jr. would see how much I am suffering too. But anyway, I would think that the first thing would be to clear out some quests so Leanbox doesn't crumble to pieces. You have any suggestions for me?"
"Hm, I do know of some items the guild needs as well as areas where monsters are causing trouble, are you willing to help with that?"
"Of course! Fighting and getting drops are my thing, not paperwork!"
Having the list of quests, Neptune set off to complete them as promised, while Chika took a break from going through all of Leanbox's work to help Neptune with the paper work. Of course, it was not as if Chika was forging signatures or anything, she simply summarised the core issues and made a list of things the proposals described and made it so that Neptune only needed a signature to complete the work. Naturally, some of the more controversial or important issue she left to Neptune's discretion on whether to sign it or not. Even though all of this work would not directly bring Vert back, at least Leanbox will not be in critical danger, and that was enough for Chika (for now anyway).
As the day drew to a close, Neptune opened the door to the room again, even more exhausted than before, but she had accomplished all the quests and more for her own Planeptune as well.
"I am so done for, it felt like I have been all over the place! But... at least Leanbox has bigger sized pudding!" Neptune said, pulling out a massive pudding cup that was about twice the size of what she could buy in Planeptune.
"Well, I am glad Leanbox suits your tastes. Anyway, good job out there, I have been hearing reports of everything throughout the day. I have also simplified your paper work, all you need is to sign them," Chika responded, handing the mountainous stack of papers back to Neptune.
"Ooof! Thanks I guess... Well, we haven't done much to get Nep Jr. or Vert back, but this is a start, right?"
"I don't exactly know how to get Vert to stop what she's doing, but I am all open to suggestions."
"Well, I'll think of something. If I can somehow get Nep Jr. back, then Vert will probably return. Anyway, once I finish up with these papers, I will think about it tonight."
Having just needing signatures on the papers to approve or deny proposals, Neptune was able to fill out all the required forms and headed back to Planeptune. Surprisingly, even while it was getting late, Vert had not yet returned to Leanbox's basilicom yet. However, Neptune sort of knew what was going on, because in addition to cosplay, Vert had also been taking Nepgear outside all around Gamindustri for whatever activities suited them (And this of course, annoyed Neptune more and more by the day. Yet, without Nepgear to help out with the workload, Neptune had less time to intervene). Having entered the basilicom, Neptune placed down all the papers on her desk and breathed a sigh of relief, it had not been an easy day.
"Neptune!" Said a voice from behind, making Neptune jump.
"Yikes! It's Histy!"
"Where have you been all this time? Didn't I say there were lots of work to do today?" Said the tome, unhappy at how late it was when Neptune finally returned to Planeptune.
"B-but Histy! The work is done! Just take a look," Neptune protested, handing the papers to Histoire, who then confirmed that indeed, everything for today was done (to her surprise).
"Well, I apologise. It looks like you had been working hard for today, good work!"
"(Phew! That was close, I'd better be off to take a break now)" Neptune thought, now that Histoire is satisfied with the work, she retreated back to her room. Naturally, wherever Vert took Nepgear, they were not back yet as the room had no lights on, but it did not matter to Neptune for now. Right now, she needed some rest after completing numerous quests for both Planeptune and Leanbox.
"(Now, how am I going to go about this? There will always be work, which will take away a lot of time. I need to think of someway to take Nep Jr. back! There has to be some way for Vert to realise how much Chika is stressing out too...)" Neptune slowly drifted off to sleep in her thoughts.
At the very least, Neptune was not alone in this, as Chika in her own room also thought about what to do. Today had still been a good day though, Leanbox had just got some much needed shares to prevent a meltdown, and even though she was not too fond of asking another CPU to do the work, she was very thankful for Neptune's help both for today and trying to get Vert back. After all, Vert will always be Chika's first priority, and today was only the beginning.