A/N : Thank you to the 3 reviewers 'till now! I'm glad you guys liked my humour (I think?), and Neptune is a little bit of a pain to write, so I'm happy to be told she sounds like the original. Et merci d'avoir pointé les quelques faux-amis qui se sont glissés dans mon texte, c'est corrigé, s'il y en a d'autre, merci de me le souligner également !
And wow, already 10 favorites and 13 followers in a week, I don't know if it's considered good, but for me it is! I was like : "oh God, people like my story, yay! I need to keep going, where's my computer!?"
So, here is the third chapter! It will cover Uni's feelings towards Nepgear. I hope you'll enjoy!
Chapter 3 : Doubts
Uni was sitting at Noire's desk, relishing in this great feeling, the feeling of being Lastation's CPU, leading her nation with an iron fist...
Who was she kidding? She was just reading some unimportant report about dogoo demography. The actual CPU of Lastation was currently in Planeptune for "official business" and wouldn't be back for another week. Yeah, "official business ", as if. It was just a formal term used by Noire to spend some time with Neptune without feeling guilty. And there definitely was no commercial business done during that trip, only "bed business ". Even if her sister denied it every time, it was obvious, with how she always came back from those little excursions all refreshed and looking weirdly happy. She even was about 15% more honest and more generous for a couple of days. It was remarkable enough that the word spread in the city and companies knew to ask an audience with the nation's CPU when she just came back from Planeptune. Her agenda was always stock full for a week on her return.
But it wasn't Uni's business what her sister was doing in Planeptune, or whom she was doing it with. The younger tsundere was still dubious about Neptune, not believing for one second that she could make Noire happy, but again, it wasn't her business.
She was about to go back to her boring report when she saw a flash of light on the balcony out of the corner of her eyes. She looked up and saw that Nepgear had just landed and disengaged HDD. She waved at Uni with a little too much enthusiasm, which tainted the tsundere's cheeks in red. In no time, Nepgear was beside her, now touching her pointer fingers together in a timid way. That girl's confidence really came and went.
"H-Hello Nepgear, what brings you here in Lastation?"
"Well, this is a bit embarrassing to say, but I won't be able to stay in Planeptune for a little while. You see, I couldn't sleep well for the past few days, because of... well, um, you probably know that Noire is at our Basilicom to spend time with onee-chan. A-And all their moaning kept me up at ni..."
"OKAY! T-That's enough information! I-I understand your situation, you can stay here if you w-wish so."
"Yay! A sleepover with Uni! Can I sleep in your bedroom? It's going to be so much fun!"
"In... In my bedroom?! We have plenty of guest room for you to s-sleep in. And I have work to do, we won't even be able to see each other all that much. And what is it with that mood change! I'm only letting you stay here b-because you are in a dire situation. This is exceptional, got it!?"
"Awww, but I wanted to spend time with you. It was like killing two birds with one stone! Getting away from the Basilicom and having a sleepover with Uni! So, spend some time with me, pretty please?"
"I-I-I..."
"Goodness, you are so red Uni, are you okay? And you look all tense, doing Noire's work must have taken its toll on you… Ah, I know! How about I give you a massage to help you relax? Leave it to me, I'll try my best!"
"W-Wait Nepgea..."
But Nepgear was already behind her, softly leaning Uni's head against her chest. She then lowered her hands to her shoulders and gently started massaging. This made the black-haired girl blush even more fiercely. She tried to fight back a little, but Nepgear was firmly keeping her in place. Finally surrendering, she enjoyed the shoulder massage and closed her eyes. The fact that the other girl was really comfortable and smelled so nice didn't do any good to help her keep her tsundere front. And she also was really weak against Nepgear's rarely showing dominant side.
All this ordeal gave Uni time to think about that same person who was giving her a massage. Their relationship was ambiguous these days, but it was probably just her who saw things that weren't there. Nepgear was just a naturally kind and generous person. She probably paid dinners to all her friends, and gave them all flowers and chocolate on Valentine's day, right? Though she would never say it, those small attentions always made her feel all warm inside, even if it probably wasn't only directed at her. Her heart was always beating like crazy when the purple-haired girl was near, and it was even worst if she touched her. Just like she was doing right now in fact. But, weren't her hands going dangerously low?
"H-Hum Nepgear, weren't you giving me a shoulder massage?"
"Yes, why? Is there something wrong?"
"Hum, t-then, why are your hands lowering towards my… c-chest area?"
"You mean like this?"
And Nepgear took a handful of Uni's breast (or tried to, but really, there wasn't much to grab on). The black-haired girl was so shocked that it took her a good 15 seconds to react. After she regained her senses, she tried to get up, but the purple-haired girl was stronger and kept her seated.
"W-Where do you think you're touching Nepgear?! Wasn't making everyone aware that my b-breasts get smaller in HDD enough!?"
"Aww, it was just a little joke Uni. I'm sorry if it was inappropriate, forgive me please?"
"W-Well, d-don't do this again, or you'll regret it!"
Something was definitely fishy, but Uni didn't have the will to dwell more on it. And the planeptunian girl resumed her massage. But it wasn't a long respite before Nepgear lowered herself and whispered in her ear :
"Would you like do to it on Noire's desk?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Making love. Would you like to make love with me on Noire's desk? Wouldn't it be exciting?"
"W-WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU NEPGEAR?! Let me go right this instant!"
Uni tried to get up again, but the other CPU candidate's arms were now crossing her torso, trapping her on the chair. She didn't know what was going on, Nepgear was so weird, but so... The tsundere-in-training bit her lip and squeezed her legs together, trying to calm this aroused feeling at the purple-haired girl's forwardness and dominance. She was always so mild and sweet and polite, this was a nice change of pace...
The planeptunian girl suddenly turned Uni's chair around so she would face her. She then slowly ran the tip of her fingers down the valley her prey's chest, looking at her in the eyes and licking her lips.
"Kiss me Uni, and I'll show all the wonderful things I can do to you that you never imagined doing, even in your wildest fantasies."
The black-haired girl was left speechless. She was about to push Nepgear away when a small, small part of her spoke up : this might be the only chance she had to do something more than "friendly" with her crush. The purple-haired CPU candidate didn't look like she was joking, she had this seriousness in her gaze, waiting for her to make her decision. And Nepgear would never joke about this kind of thing. Could she really say no to this golden occasion? Would the planeptunian girl be disappointed if she rejected her? But, did she really want her first time to happen like this? Nepgear probably just was under the influence of all the things she heard Noire and Neptune do, and even if she did love her, they weren't actually dating...
Everything in her was screaming to push the purple-haired girl away, exception made of this small part that made her doubt. It was telling her to take what she wanted, to accept that offer since she wanted it so much deep down. Was that... the thing called, in a figurative sense, "her heart"? Should she listen to it? But could she even be honest with herself for once? What if... What if Nepgear was disappointed at her poor knowledge and abilities regarding s-sexual matters? She couldn't disappoint her, she couldn't bear with it.
But... SCREW THIS ALL! This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and she wasn't stupid enough to let it pass by, even worst, to turn it down herself! She grabbed Nepgear by her collar and pulled her down to smash her lips against h…
"UNI!"
Uni's eyes flew open, shocked at the sudden scream. Feeling disoriented, her surroundings spinning a little, she somewhat recognized her bedroom. Confused at first, she understood soon enough that she had been dreaming.
She then noticed that she was still grabbing the collar of someone and trying to push that person towards her. Said person had black hair in twin-tails, red eyes and was fighting with all her might to prevent Uni from kissing her.
"Wha...? O-Onee-chan!?"
"What's the meaning of this Uni!? T-This is most unbecoming for siste..."
The CPU candidate urgently released Noire from her grip and pushed her away, stumbling out of her bed at the same time.
"T-This is not what you think! It's because of my drea..."
"Y-You were dreaming about kissing me?!"
"What? No!"
"T-Then who were trying to kiss brutally like that!?"
"N-No one important! You shouldn't care about that! A-Anyway, weren't you in Planeptune onee-chan?"
"Huh? Why would I be in Planeptune?"
"Well, y-you know, to spend time with, um… Neptune?"
"D-Do you think I should go see her? It has been a while since I last visited… B-But that's not the subject at hand! What was that dream about for you to do something like that!? I deserve an explanation after being assaulted in such a way!"
"H-Hum... It was j-just some random dream about… your desk, yeah."
"About... my desk? You mean, the one in my office?"
"Y-Yeah…"
"What… were you planning to do with my desk?"
"W-We hadn't done anything on it yet when you woke me up, I swear!"
"O-On it? Wait, yet!?"
"Argh, I-I said too much, just… just forget I said anything, please!"
"I-I think that would be for the best… Wait a minute… That person you were with, w-was it Neptune?"
"HEH!? EWW, GROSS, OF COURSE NOT! Why would you even think that?! Now I have to get this atrocious image out of my head!"
"Well, you didn't want to tell me who it was, so I thought it might be Neptune, since it would be inappropriate for you to have such… dreams about my g-girlfriend..."
"You're the only person in the universe who would want to kiss that dumbass, onee-chan! It's not because I'm your sister that I share the same taste you do!"
"Hey! D-Don't insult Neptune! And Nepgear is her sister as far I know, if that's not similar taste, then what is it?"
"What does N-Nepgear have to do with any of t-this!?"
"Uni, even for me, it's pretty obvious that... Oooooh, oh. I see. Nepgear was the person in that dream, wasn't it?"
"Heh? N-N-No..." *looking everywhere except at Noire*
"That... wasn't really convincing..."
Noire then went to the bed and sat down. She awkwardly patted the place besides her, inviting Uni to take a seat, a hopeful look on her face.
"Do, um… Do you want to talk about it?"
The black-haired girl stared at her sister, dumbfounded. Was Noire trying to have a… sisters' talk? As in ; helping her on personal matters and things like that? She understood that Noire was left with a small trauma after she almost died during the Gold Third incident, thus had been making efforts ever since to improve their relationship. And Uni was really glad for this sudden change, because even though her sister had started to make small attempts here and there to better their siblingship before the incident, it was way more flagrant and heartfelt ever since. But was she really ready to talk with her about… heart matters? Even more so, about Nepgear, the little sister of Noire's very own girlfriend? She felt like her big sister would be a little bit too involved, and as sad as that fact was, she doubted that an advice from another tsundere would actually help her.
"I… I'm sorry onee-chan, I think I just need to be alone right now. Thanks for the offer though, it really means a lot to me."
Noire's expression fell, the disappointment and self-loathing apparent in her eyes as she looked at the ground from her seated position on the bed. Uni knew how guilty her sister felt about their awkward and distant siblingship, even before the Gold Thrird incident. Actually, Uni guessed that Noire felt that way ever since witnessing the relationship between the other CPUs and their sisters. The older goddess had realized how much she had messed up with her own little sister, and guilt gnawed at her since then. Knowing this made the CPU candidate feel horrible for having rejected Noire like that, she was only trying to be a good sister after all.
Not being able to bear it any longer, Uni made her way to the dejected woman and gave her a hug. It was awkward, since she didn't how to properly hug someone, she didn't know if it was the kind of hug where you needed to pat the other person or not, but her sister looked like she really needed it. The older tsundere was stunned at first, not expecting a physical contact of the sort with Uni, but quickly returned it, or tried to at least, and they stayed like that for a couple of seconds, until Noire finally retreated and got up, looking better.
"W-Well, if you ever need me, don't hesitate! I'll be in my office, working… And trying not to think about you and Nepgear engaging in intimate activities on my desk…"
"O-ONEE-CHAN! Please, don't bring this up ever again…"
Uni smiled, even though she wanted to crawl into a hole and never come out. She understood that her big sister only wanted to lighten the atmosphere, and yes, it wasn't the best way to do it, but it still had worked a bit. Noire then left the room with a timid wave of the hand, and the CPU candidate was finally left alone. After a moment of pondering, she decided to go for a walk, getting some fresh air seemed like a nice idea.
It definitely wasn't the first time Uni had dreams about Nepgear, though it was the first time it was so… suggestive. It usually only were cute dreams ; them playing games together, going on a quest together, building robots together, going to the arcade together, building guns together, etc. And eventually, there always would be a more romantic feel to them : Nepgear brushing a strand of her dark hair behind her ear, telling her she's beautiful, looking in her eyes, taking her hand, sometimes even confessing her love to the blushing and speechless girl. But all those dreams had one, infuriating thing in common : they always ended when she was about to share a kiss with the purple-haired girl. The recent one didn't stand out from the others on that matter, thanks to Noire's intervention. She was glad though that her first kiss wasn't with her sister… It would have been pretty awkward to explain to anyone.
If there was one thing that the recent dream didn't share with the others, it was the feeling of reality it had. All those doubts, those fears that haunted her… Just thinking about them made her feel uncomfortable, made her want to cry. She had been living with those troubling thoughts ever since she had accidentally fallen in love with Planeptune's CPU candidate, but having them thrown at her face like that, in such a short amount of time, deeply destabilized her. Those uncertainties about Nepgear's feelings were ever present in her mind. She had seen so many signs in their relationship, but really, how could it even be possible for such a sweet girl to love someone cold and heartless like herself? She usually treated the other goddess-in-training quite miserably and it made her feel sick, but she couldn't do otherwise, Nepgear must never discover what she truly felt for her. She most probably would feel betrayed that Uni abused their friendship like that.
And even if by some sort of cruel turn of fate, her feelings were returned, she couldn't bear disappointing the purple-haired girl, and she knew she would. She had nothing to offer as a girlfriend, she couldn't properly demonstrate affection and there were high chances that she wouldn't be able to be honest about herself with her lover, as much as she would want to. Nepgear would be unhappy with her. And if there was one thing in the world Uni had ever wished, it was for Nepgear's happiness.
The black-haired girl was still deep in thought when, suddenly, a bush caught her attention. A purple bush with white D-pads on it. Not having completely reconnected with reality yet, she wondered what such a peculiar bush was doing there and approached it… but soon realized that it was actually Neptune's hair poking out of the other bushes around it. Planeptune's CPU was busy doing… whatever a Neptune does.
Hoping that her sister's girlfriend hadn't spotted her, Uni slowly, quietly made her way back towards the Basilicom, not wanting to attract the weird creature's attention. But unfortunately for Uni, the planeptunian annoyance definitely had spotted her, her eyes too now poking out of the vegetation surrounding her. She jumped out of her self-proclaimed perfect cover and started running after Uni.
"Heeeeey, Noire Jr.!"
"… " *Uni started running too*
"C'mon, don't ignore your awesome new onee-chan like that!"
"… " *Uni continued to blatantly ignore Neptune*
"HEEEEEY! Don't run away from me! Meeting me is definitely an important event since I am the main character of the Neptunia series! Well, except for that game where Nep Jr. was the protag., but I came back with a bang in the third game! Soooo, what I mean is that you're definitely fleeing from a plot-progression flag Noire Jr.!"
"… " *Uni tried shooting at Neptune to slow her down, but it was ineffective*
"Aww shucks. Here I was trying to be nice with my new little sis' by sharing some juicy information about Nep Jr. with you… Guess I'll have to keep the little fantasies she had about you this morning to myself then…"
"!" *This caught the wild Uni's attention*
"Something about a certain type of proposal I think…"
"!?" *Uni stopped dead in her tracks* "W-What kind of proposal?"
"Well… I might be willing to share more information with you Noire Jr. if you call me onee-chan… Y'know, since I'm your sister's girlfriend and all that…"
"That will never happen! And stop calling me that stupid nickname!"
"Aww… Well then, I guess I'll just go and look for my little Noire…"
"W-Wait!"
" 'Twas a nice little conversation we ha…"
"O-Onee-chan, please tell me what you wanted to say about Nepgear…"
"Ooooh, so bribing you with information about Nep Jr. really was a good method to make you call me onee-chan..."
"I did what you asked me to do! S-So now, tell me about t-that proposal…"
"Weeell, I think Nep Jr. might have had a little fantasy about you being on the receiving end of her wedding proposal… And she definitely was enjoying the idea of you accepting it..."
"W-W-Wedding!?"
Neptune then spotted a purple dot in the sky behind Uni coming their way. She didn't want Nepgear to find out she was with her beloved, so she needed to get to the main point of this little talk.
"You should definitely ask Nep Jr. about that next time you see her! Now then, I'll take my leave with a little advice for you, since you so willingly called me onee-chan and I'm feeling like giving tips today : my little sis' isn't as persistent as I am you know. Noire could have rejected me another 35 times and I wouldn't have abandoned my quest to make her mine. As if I would really have stopped after only the 18th attempt. Pfft, never in ever. But Nep Jr. isn't like that. She doesn't want to bother people, so if you reject her too much, she'll stop trying to get her feelings through to you and then R.I.P., you end up in the bad ending route. Soooo, don't waste your chance here!"
Having finished her speech, Neptune transformed and took off for the Basilicom, most probably to go disturb Noire. Uni just stayed there, thinking about what she just heard. So… Nepgear m-might share her feelings… This made the black-haired CPU candidate blush, but it didn't change anything to the fact that she was no good for the other girl. She still was a tsundere (though she would never admit it to anyone) who wouldn't be able to show honesty even if her life depended on it. And the whole purpose of her life revolved around her work for her nation, there was no place for love in it. Nepgear could definitely find someone who suited her better.
Still trying to convince herself of that, Uni was about to head back to the Basilicom when a scream stopped her. Someone was screaming her name. She looked around and saw no one. She then looked up at the sky and saw Purple Sister flying at full speed towards her. Was she… gonna crash on her?
The collision was violent, but Purple Sister grabbed the lastationite girl and shielded her from the impact, holding her tightly while crashing a few trees. As soon as the dust flying in the air dissipated, the transformed CPU candidate got them up and held the still shocked Uni, who just went through a near-death experience, at arm's length.
"UNI! Please go on a date with me!"
Omake
Purple Heart silently landed on the balcony outside of Noire's office and disengaged HDD. Neptune then quietly crawled on the floor towards the unsuspecting tsundere. Or so Neptune thought, but really, she might as well have crashed through the glass doors and it would have been more subtle. Planeptune's CPU had the tendency to find herself really funny, so she was snickering all the way to Noire's desk. Also, a purple and white clad girl crawling on a red carpet wasn't exactly the definition of "subtility ".
When Neptune was just beside her girlfriend, she jumped up, trying to startle her lover.
"HEY NOIRE! You know what's on the menu tonight? ME-N-U!"
"Hurgh, I'm begging to anyone who hears my prayer : please make Neptune stop saying those stupid pick-up lines she annoys me with ever since we started dating."
"Damn girl, is your name Wi-Fi? 'Cause I'm feeling a connection!"
"No, my name's Noire and I'm trying to work here if you haven't noticed, so keep quiet!"
"Aww, you're no fun Nowaru! C'mon!"
But Noire just ignored Neptune. The purple-haired girl wasn't just gonna let the other girl work if she could stop her from doing that, and thus tried every means of distraction : stealing her girlfriend's papers, laying on her desk and her papers like an annoying cat, pushing her chair around, covering Noire's eyes, etc. But nothing worked, Lastation's CPU definitely was annoyed, but she didn't want to play Neptune's games. So the lazy goddess settled on pouting and hugging Noire from the side, cuddling against her.
"C'mon Noire, give little ol' me some attention here…"
Unfortunately, Noire stayed stoic. But she didn't brush Neptune off, so the girl kept cuddling her working girlfriend. Until Noire suddenly grabbed her and seated her on her lap. She then placed one hand on Neptune's tummy to hold her and sorted through her papers with her other one.
"Now, stay still."
And Neptune happily obliged, resting her head in the crook of Noire's neck while the taller girl laid her chin on her girlfriend's fluffy hair, a smile on her lips.
A/N : I don't remember Neptune canonically calling Uni "Noire Jr. ", but I love the idea of her trying to be like a big sister to the younger tsundere since she's dating Noire, so I made her call Uni that. And some of you might have noticed similarities between Noire and Uni's and Neptune and Nepgear's worries and ways of considering things, and that's actually my goal as I believe that since the older sisters basically raised their little sisters and were their only references, the candidates would copy a lot their only role model, resulting in similarities like that. Thank you for reading!
