It was a peaceful day in Gamindustri. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, the monsters were being brutally murdered for the 1% chance of a rare drop... It was just impossibly perfect out — and this was no less true for the CPU Candidates. The quartet of young goddesses had decided to have a picnic, and after much deliberation, they had settled on having it in a forest in Planeptune where they could pick all kinds of tasty fruits to go along with their dessert (they had learned about the place after Nisa once told them she had fought a homeless RPG hero dressed up like an orange... or maybe it was a lemon...). The CPU Candidates had just finished eating their sandwiches and were enjoying the good company, all seated together in a circle, when...

It happened.

"Hey... I've been wondering... Why is it that when Ram transforms, she's a different color than Rom?"

Nepgear's question, seemingly innocent in nature, took all three other Candidates by surprise. It didn't particularly sound that strange to her, at least she thought so — it was just something she had been thinking about. Sitting across from her was Uni — and while Uni had never thought about it, now that it was being brought to her attention, she too found it strikingly unusual that two twins ended up such strikingly different colors upon transformation.

"Yeah, that's true. You're not the same color as your older sister either, right? Only Rom is..."

Neither Nepgear (seated on her knees and looking over at the twins curiously) nor Uni (lying on her stomach, legs kicking up behind her while she too looked over at the twin in question) expected any particularly strange reactions out of the twins. There was no reason to expect it, after all — it probably wasn't anything serious...

At least, that's what they would have been able to think had they not actually looked at the two girls.

They were acting... unusual. Ram looked more alarmed than both Nepgear and Uni had ever seen her — she was spluttering and was at a loss for words, as if she'd been caught playing a game that she'd just got done saying was one that she didn't like, or if someone at school had seen her with a pimple she'd spent hours trying to hide... Rom, for her part, was more surprised for her sister's sake than her own, and seemed to be quietly trying to figure out what to do. Maybe... honesty was the best way?

Taking a deep breath, Rom gave her sister an apologetic look from across their circle (which went unnoticed by the intended party) before finally revealing the secret they had been keeping for so long.

"R-Ram... Ram is our touch screen..."

"Uwaaah... Really?" "W-Whaaaat!? She is!?" "ROOOOO-OOOOOOOOM-! YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T TELL!"

The reactions of the other three Candidates came instantly. Nepgear seemed interested in the matter, but had quickly been silenced by the other reactions. Uni seemed shocked for some reason, for she bolted upright and was now propped up on her palms and staring. As for the GameGirl Touch herself, Ram had pulled her hat down over her eyes to hide from the reactions of her friends, her face a horribly bright shade of red now that her dastardly secret had been revealed. Rom, on the other hand, was at her sister's side, apologizing quietly.

"I-It's okay... It's Nepgear and Uni... T-They won't..." Rom looked hesitantly at the two girls for a moment, before looking back at her sister, who looked like (from Rom's vantage point of just barely being able to see under the tugged down hat) she was on the verge of tears. "They won't tell anyone else... It's our secret still, it's just... Um..."

The Candidates became momentarily silent. Ram was still feeling shell shocked that her most shameful secret had been revealed in such a way — without warning no less — while the others were simply processing the events that had transpired.

"Hmph... I-I won't tell anyone." Surprisingly, it was Uni that spoke of first rather than Nepgear, but Planeptune's CPU Candidate followed suit as soon as she did — nodding her agreement and offering noises of assent as well. Shooting a look at Nepgear, Uni realized that this seemed to be up to her, and thus, she continued onwards. "So... C-Chin up! You're, um, killing the mood, okay?"

With the implication that all was well, all should have been well. Even so, Ram simply looked bitterly down at the blanket they had been sitting on, remaining silent for a few moments. Everyone was looking at her expectantly... Nepgear and Uni perhaps more so than Rom.

She didn't feel like staying. She really didn't feel like staying anymore. She wanted to run away and pretend no one knew. She wanted to go home and hide in her bed and pull the covers over and make sure no one would call her a gimmick or "unique" or "polaroidilizing" or... or anything else that was weird or too big for her to understand like that — not that anyone here had done that, but that didn't mean they wouldn't! She was just Ram! That was all she was!

With everyone looking at her like that though... Maybe that was how they already felt?

She supposed... She could stay... It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't going to make fun of her...

"F..." Swallowing her nervousness, Ram forced a half-hearted smile to the group. "Fine! I'll stay!"

And so Ram stayed. At first, all seemed like it had indeed returned to normal, just as Ram had been led to believe. The picnic, which had been essentially almost over at that point anyway, wasn't quite the same afterwards. Although the four girls resumed what they were doing — trying to just enjoy themselves and their day off — without much issue, it slowly started to become obvious that something was amiss.

As Ram began to eat her dessert, finally starting to think that maybe she had just been overthinking things, that she really could count on her friends, something shoved her side — her cake splattered onto her face, her fork poking her in the cheek, rather than going anywhere near the intended target of her mouth. Already in an emotionally sensitive place as it was, Ram most definitely didn't appreciate the loss of comfort food. But why? What sort of dastardly monster could have caused her to lose out on her precious cake?! Sure, there was still some fruit and cookies left, but she had wanted that cake!

"Oh no Ram, it's gone everywhere..." Oh... It was just Nepgear. She had been sitting next to Ram — it must have been an accident. Sighing in annoyance, too tired to whine at Nepgear, the CPU Candidate raised her hand to see if she could salvage the treat on her face — only for the girl to suddenly look strangely alarmed about it. "Wait, let me do it, Ram...! Here, you can have some of mine — you only lost yours because of me after all..."

Offering the girl a smile, Nepgear scooted closer to the CPU Candidate to offer some of her own cake, seemingly as a peace offering, with a napkin in her other hand — apparently all set to clean up the mess she'd made. Seeing no harm in it, Ram shrugged and took it onto her plate. She'd just been planning on eating it, but if she got this much cake out of letting Nepgear wipe it up for her, she didn't mind. She happened to be proud of the fact that Mina didn't have to do that kind of stuff for her and Rom anymore, but... There was cake involved this time.

Thus, Ram settled in to eat her newly gained cake. It seemed a little odd at how attentive Nepgear was being when it came to cleaning up Ram's cheek, being really gently with her napkin and using her hand to check to see if there was any grease or frosting left that she couldn't see, but when you're a little girl that had gone from almost crying and running away after a humiliating secret was revealed to your best friends to a little girl with your favorite flavor of cake, you're probably going to be too drained to take notice off things as quickly.

Did she mention the cake? Because there was cake.

Once the cake had been finished, the girls tugged over the baskets of fruit they had all picked prior to settling down to eat. Having retrieved for herself an entire handful of grapes, all for herself, Ram was really starting to cheer up now. Grapes were super yummy! Her smile, which had finally started to return, began to spread from ear to ear as she plucked one grape from the rest in her hand, slowly but surely bringing it towards her mouth-

"Wha-"

Splat!

- when something roughly got her in her side, the surprise causing her to crush all the grapes in her hand while the one she had been trying to eat went tumbling onto the ground, probably for some lucky dogoo to find after they left. Her face and hand were now covered in grape guts, complete with grape juice, and Ram knew from experience how sticky all of that could be if she didn't clean up. Groaning, more concerned with the immediate issue of the incoming stickiness than whatever had caused it, Ram was just about to get up to go find that river they had washed all the fruit in, when something held her still.

"S-Sheesh, Ram... You have to be careful..." Oh... It was Uni. When had Uni gotten that close to her? Nepgear was still on her other side, and now Uni was on this one... When had a Ram sandwich gotten added to the menu...? And why did Uni have those towelettes? Wait, no, she wasn't going to do that, was she?! "H-Hey, hold still! You'll get all sticky and gross if you don't... H-Here, uh, you can have this orange. W-When you're done peeling it, I'll be all done with your face, okay?"

Knowing that that was true, Ram sighed in defeat and let Uni do what she had to. She was starting to feel frustrated that both of her friends had just treated her like a baby — and right in front of Rom no less — when they had never done anything so embarrassing before, but both times had seemed like they had been done with good intentions... Hadn't they?

Rom watched, curious, as Uni joined the close pair across from her. It sort of seemed like they were all getting along better now... At least she hoped they were. It had almost looked like Uni had done what she had on purpose, like she'd wanted to bump into Ram's arm, but considering how guilty Uni looked for the mess she'd made, Rom was fairly sure that that couldn't be true... She would have felt terrible if Ram didn't feel happy or comfortable with their friends anymore because of what she had said...

Oh well. Shrugging, Rom merrily stuck her fork into her own piece of cake. If nothing else, all this room she was getting on this side of the blanket meant she didn't have to worry about anyone bumping into her. She could talk to Ram later when they were alone anyway, it was obviously better to let Nepgear and Uni try to apologize for how they had reacted earlier to Ram.

That... was what they were doing, wasn't it?

It wasn't until after the second time Uni did something strange (Nepgear was on her third by that point) that Ram finally started to catch on to what was going on with her friends.

And she didn't like it one single bit.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ram, I didn't realize you were there..." Nepgear smiled apologetically as she moved out of the way.

"Hey, d-don't look at me like that! You were in the way..." Uni averted her eyes as she withdrew her arm.

It seemed innocent at first, but it couldn't be innocent after so many times...

Nepgear just happened to accidentally run into Ram every time she moved and got up.

Uni just happened to accidentally keep bumping into Ram every time she reached for or did something.

"Oh goodness, Ram, I didn't see you...!"

"E-Eh?! Ram? Were you there? Hmph, don't look at me, your outfit is just the same color as the blanket! I-I just didn't notice you."

Maybe it had been innocent at first, nothing more than reaching for the same thing at the same time... Ram hadn't even noticed it, whatever it had been. It was when the curious minds of the even more curious CPU Candidates started to forgo tact for the sake of answers that Ram finally caught on. It was like they were both curious now, both wanting to see just how being what she was made her different from her "normal" screen twin sister. Their eyes were looking hungrier and hungrier, consumed by an appetite for restricted information that only a select few people had.

They had to know...! They had to see...!

What happened when you touched the touch screen!?

Surprisingly, Ram was being a trooper throughout it all. Biting down hard on her lip, her cheeks burning brighter and brighter as it became more and more obvious what her two friends were after. This was so embarrassing... It was so unfair... She was just like everyone else, wasn't she? She hadn't wanted anyone to know! This kind of thing was exactly why she hadn't wanted it! Now it was too late, and now... Now everything was ruined...!

"I-I'm gonna go home first, 'kay, Rom?" Her eyes downcast, Ram tried to wiggle out of the sandwich Nepgear and Uni had forced her into. She wasn't going to let this get to her — she was a big girl and she was going to prove it by not having a tantrum (though she was going to beat up some of her plushies when she got home...) — but she wasn't going to sit here through all this teasing. "I... don't wanna- I mean, um, I think I should go."

Rom watched this all take place feeling more helpless than she ever had. She had been the one to say it, she had been the person to tell a secret that wasn't hers to tell, and now poor Ram was stuck with the consequences. She had to make this right... Somehow, she had to...

"Hey, Ram...? B-Before you do, I have to say something."

... do nothing as Uni approached Ram again...? Oh no...!

Uni had apparently also seem the expression on Ram's face, for she had finally stopped with her not-so-subtle game and opted to sit down in front of Ram, her legs folded under her knees straight on. Rom thought it was uncomfortable just looking at how Uni was sitting, but apparently the CPU Candidate of Lastation was unaffected by pain! Rom finally winced after watching Uni sitting that way, but too late did she realize that that left Ram open for whatever Uni was about to try next — and Ram could only look at Uni and wonder what it was she had to say next after all that she had already done.

"I, um..." The black haired girl seemed hesitant now that she had approached Ram directly — perhaps being able to pin it on being accidental circumstances earlier had given her the confidence to tease and be mean (for that clearly was what she had been doing), but now Ram could see that she was being consumed by guilt over her cruel actions!

W-Well, it served her right!

"W-What is it?" Even so, considering how close she had been to tears, Ram couldn't take much solace in that knowledge. With that in mind, she simply gave Uni a dark look as she hurriedly wiped her eyes with the back of her arm, hoping she didn't look as weak and humiliated as this experience was making her feel. "Y-You're just gonna make fun of me, right? You wanna tease me about how weird I am, r-right? 'L-Look at Ram, she's a touch screen, she's not a real CPU, she's j-just a g-gimmick'!" Blinking furiously to fight back her tears, she crossed her arms defiantly. "Go on! Say it! I know you wanna! You've wanted to this whole time! B-Both of you have!"

There it was. She had finally let it out.

Ram had always known it might happen. She didn't blame Rom for telling — she loved Rom too much to ever do that. It was because she was different that this was happening. It was because of her that she would get teased, so she couldn't let Rom feel bad either, like she was now.

She expected teasing. She expected name calling. At the very least, she expected snickers or even laughter. She had been expecting it all for a long time — it was her deepest, darkest, super embarrassingest secret. Lowee got complaints like that all the time, how their games were kiddy and gimmicky, how everything they did was "for casuals," all sorts of mean things like that — Ram hated how they treated her sister's hard work! — but... how could she not worry about such things coming her way in particular with what she was...?

To her surprise, Uni didn't do any of those things. She looked stricken by guilt, but it seemed like there was

"No Ram, I-I can't. I can't make fun of you... I can't. I can't ever, because I... I'm..." Uni swallowed. She looked from Ram to Nepgear and then to Rom, but settled on Ram once more. This was probably going to be the one and only chance she would ever have to say this while in the company of someone who she would be able to relate to without it being weird. "I'm turning into a CPU Candidate with two touch screens next gen!"

Rom and Nepgear blinked.

Ram gasped loudly.

"I... I wanted to know what it was like, since I'm scared, y-you know? I didn't know that was how it was and..." Nepgear and Rom gasped next, for now it was Uni who was starting to tear up. "W-What if people think I'm just selling out t-to compete? I... I just want to be as good as my sister, I j-just want to compete e-evenly with you guys, b-but..."

In that moment, Ram felt like she went through a miraculous, life changing transformation. She had gone from someone who was different, someone who didn't belong, to feeling like there was finally someone who understood everything she had been going through all this time.

Naturally, a heartwarming moment like this, filled with understanding, redemption, and so many other big words and emotions called for nothing less than a dramatic tearful embrace between the two CPU Candidates.

Rom smiled at the two as they let out all their emotions — Ram's pent up over a long time, Uni's having begun to build with the incoming new generation.

She knew just watching them that everything was going to be just fine.

As for Nepgear, on the other hand... The CPU Candidate could only stare. At some point, flower petals had started falling from the nearby sparkle trees, turning this into quite the fantastic scene — it was a good thing it wasn't violin bee season, or this could turn into a full blown musical number! And honestly, as far as Nepgear was concerned...?

"Umm... Am I the only one that doesn't think this was a big deal...?"

Upon hearing the comment made from the one who had gotten close to Ram first, Rom couldn't help but turn towards the other CPU Candidate in confusion.

"Huh...? But... If it's not..." She didn't understand. How could Nepgear mean what she was saying? Maybe she had misunderstood? "If it's not..."

"Hmmm? What is it, Rom?"

"I... I get why Uni wanted to know what it was like for Ram now..." The girl innocently tilted her head, before looking towards the purple haired girl that had started all of this. One thing just did not make sense to the young goddess at all, and now she had to know something. If Uni was worried about becoming a double touch screen soon, her curiosity made sense... "But... Um... Why were you so curious... Nepgear...?"

To that question, the CPU Candidate could only avert her eyes, laughing bashfully as a guilty look crossed her features — she suddenly seemed completely and utterly unable to look in the direction of the youngest CPU Candidate among them.

"O-Oh, you know, I just... wanted the excuse...?"