Chapter 4: Visit
"Hahaha! That's so weird!" Uni began typing onto the touch screen of her U-ta, holding back a smirk. "Wouldn't you check to see if the pudding was past the expiration date before eating it!?"
It has been a couple months since the Planeptune CPUs' visit to Lastation. Uni was currently lounging in the living room, lying on the couch. Legs hanging free, Uni was texting Nepgear. As he was leaving with his sister, Nepgear asked for her phone number. Uni was surprised at first, but the girl complied, getting his in the process. When Neptune saw her brother's face after getting Uni's number, she made a face a Noire, which caused the Lastation CPU to toss Neptune out of the building.
Uni smiled at the memory, looking back at her U-ta upon receiving another message. Tapping the "View" button, another message from Nepgear popped up.
Hey Uni, wanna sleep over tomorrow tonight? I got some games I wanna show you!
-Nepgear
Uni rolled her eyes and began rereading the message.
"You don't have to sign your name at the bottom of a text message, Nepge-" The Lastation Candidate paused, her eyes fixated on the words that appeared on the screen.
"Did he…"
After a second, Uni locked and unlocked her screen.
"It's there."
After a minute, the Candidate wiped the screen, breathed on it and then wiped it again.
"It's still there."
After another minute, Uni restarted her U-ta and went back to the message screen.
"It wasn't a glitch…"
Uni opened the app store and went to her settings. Choosing her messenger app, Uni's finger hovered over the "Uninstall" button. At the moment Uni was about to tap the button, a door opened in the distance.
"Uni, I'm about to head to Pinion Go. You want anything?" Noire walked into the living room to see her little sister's face. "Uh, you okay?" Blinking her eyes, Uni quickly shook her head, her side updo pigtails swaying side to side.
"Y-Yeah, I'm good. I was just spacing out for a bit." Noire smirked and placed a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.
"Y'know, you've been happier ever since you became friends with Nepgear." Uni's cheeks flushed a light pink and she waved her hand as if she was fanning herself.
"N-No, I-I'm just happy to have a rival to compete with!" Noire smiled.
"Yeah, well, what were you staring at?" Uni shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh, nothing. Nepgear just invited me to a sleepover-" Uni immediately clamped her hand over her mouth. Noire raised an eyebrow, a sly grin on her face.
"Sleepover, huh?" Uni let her hand drop to her lap and glanced at her U-ta. "Why don't you go ahead and hang out with him?" Uni looked at her sister, mouth agape.
"W-Why should I do that?" Noire raised an eyebrow.
"Beeecuaaase your friends?" Uni grunted in shock.
"T-Then, why don't you hang out with Neptune?" Noire rolled her eyes.
"Neptune and I hold positions of power and because she takes every single opportunity to annoy me." Winking at her sister, Noire headed out of the living room. "You want the usual from the Pinion Go?" Uni nodded. "Alright, I'll be back."
"T-Take care." Getting up, Uni brought her phone to her room. Closing the door, Uni dove for her bed. Sighing, the Candidate looked at her phone again. Staring long and hard at the message, Uni rolled onto her back and held out her phone.
"I know that Nepgear and I are supposed to be 'friendly rivals'- whatever that is- but, I just can't help but feel like something isn't right." Sitting up, Uni curled up into a ball. "It's like I'm lying to Nepgear, just to make Noire have a better opinion of me." Leaning her head on the headboard, Uni closed her eyes. "But Nepgear…"
ↀ Д ↀ
Neptune flew out of the Basilicom's, landing on the concrete floor with her rear sticking up in the air.
"N-Neptune!" Nepgear ran after his sister, helping her up. Neptune pouted at the Noire as she walked up to the brother and sister duo.
"Owwwwch, Lonely Heart!" Noire glared at the smaller CPU. "Why do you gotta be such a meanie butt!" Crossing her arms, Noire huffed at Neptune as Uni calmly walked up to the group.
"I am NOT lonely! So stop calling me that!" Uni watched as Neptune and Noire began their literal game of cat and mouse. Nepgear walked up to the other Candidate and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Um, Uni?"
"Yeah?" Nepgear gave the Candidate a small smile.
"I'm really glad…" Uni stepped in an attempt to save herself from Nepgear's endearing eyes. "...that you want to be friends." Cheeks slightly reddening, Uni turned to the side and put a hand through her hair.
"D-Don't get the wrong idea- I just see you as a respectable person, that's all." Nepgear smiled. Neptune slowed to a stop, ignoring the fact that Noire just tackled her to the ground.
"Aha, got you!" Noire grinned triumphantly.
"Hey, Noire?" The CPU of Lastation blinked.
"What?"
"Me thinks, that your little sis is training in the ways of the Tsun." Noire furrowed her eyebrows.
"Wha-" Neptune held her arms as high in the air as she could.
"Praise the tsun!" Noire drove a fist into Neptune's temple.
"Will. You. Cut. That. Out!" With each word, Noire twisted her fist with, causing Neptune to twitch and yelp.
"Owwwwwch!"
ↀ Д ↀ
"...he was so happy then." Uni clutched her dress in her hands. "And here I am just trampling all over that."
Suddenly, Uni's phone vibrated in her hands. Startled, the girl checked her phone to see that Nepgear sent another message.
Uh… you can just say no if you don't want to go…
-Nepgear (-ω-、)
A drop of sweat rolled down Uni's face as she stared at the emoji Nepgear used. "Make it harder for me why don't you…" Scratching her head, Uni bit the inside of her cheek. "What should I do?"
Suddenly, there was a knock on her door. Glancing at the door, Uni put down her phone.
"Who is it?" The door opened to reveal Noire, carrying a greasy bag.
"Here, the usual." Uni watched her sister place the bag of food on the cabinet nearby, along with a medium sized soda.
"T-Thanks." Noire leaned against the door frame.
"So, did you answer him yet?" Noire smiled and walked over patting Uni on the head.
"It's okay to do things, even if you think otherwise." Uni looked up at her sister, confused. "How do you think I can handle Neptune's idiocy?" The Candidate made an O shape with her mouth as Noire giggled. "Now don't worry about what's what and just enjoy yourself." Smiling, Uni nodded her head enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" Nodding her head, Noire turned around and left the room while waving a hand. Uni's beaming eyes followed her sister as she left the door.
"Noire gave me advice! She even patted me on the head!" Uni glanced at her phone. A surge of confidence within her, Uni grabbed U-ta and began typing a message. After hitting the send button, Uni got to look for her bag.
Almost immediately, Uni's phone got a message, but she didn't need to know what the message was.
٩(◕‿◕｡)۶
-Nepgear
ↀ Д ↀ
Carrying a bag filled with necessities, Black Sister hurdled through the skies of Gamindustri, making a straight shot for Planeptune's Basilicom. As she was flying towards the upper areas of the building, she found Nepgear looking around. From what she could see, Nepgear wasn't wearing his regular pilot- it's what Nepgear wants to call it- outfit. Instead, all the Candidate could see on her friendly rival was a ton of white.
Spotting Black Sister in the sky, Nepgear raised both of his arms and waved excitedly.
"Uni! Over here!" As Black Sister approached the balcony Nepgear was on, she got a closer look of his outfit.
Nepgear still wore his D-pad hairclip, but the rest of his outfit was completely different. The young man wore a long sleeved white button down shirt. The shirt had dark purple buttons, a pink lining around the pocket around his heart and two rectangular purple patches. The shirt's collar was mainly purple with white stripes, a theme it shared with his cuffs and hems of the shirt. Wrapped neatly around his neck was a yellow tie, while a dark purple clip fastened to his shirt. Also on his neck, there was a white choker that reminded Black Sister of a collar. Nepgear's legs were covered in a comfortable pair of slacks. As soon as Black Sister got closer, she could see pink and white striped socks peeking out between his slacks and his white sneakers. It was refreshing to see Nepgear wearing something other than his boots. The lacing of the sneakers were pink while the tongue and soles of the sneaker was dark purple. On the insoles of his shoes a pink N surrounded by dark purple emblem.
"Uni, you made it!" Upon touching down, Black Sister transformed into her human form. Uni nervously shouldered her bag as Nepgear run up to her.
"H-Hey…" Grabbing Uni's hand, Nepgear began to pull her inside the Basilicom. "W-Wait, how's your arm?" Blinking his eyes, Nepgear smiled and rolled up his right sleeve, revealing that his arm was fine except for some faded scars.
"Yeah, It's just about healed up." Scratching his cheek, Nepgear pulled Uni through the bright colored living room. "Although it was kinda painful as it was healing, especially the ones where pieces of the Gear Buster sunk deep into my arm." Uni grimaced as she watched Nepgear poke at one of the faded scars. "It turns out that having metal stuck in arm makes it heal slower than burns. That's weird, right?" Nepgear chuckled as Uni's eye twitched.
"W-Who knew…" The Lastation Candidate gripped her bag and tuned out the young man. Noticing Uni's discomfort, Nepgear hastily rolled out his sleeve and awkwardly smiled at the young girl.
"S-Sorry, Uni. I'm just really happy you're here." Nepgear turned around completely to face Uni, stopping in front of a door that was slightly ajar. Uni felt a pang of guilt, but at the same time, her cheeks flushed a light pink.
"Really?" Nepgear's smile turned genuine.
"Mhm!" Nepgear turned to the door, pushing it open. "Anyway, here's my room!" Before Nepgear could reveal the entirety of his room to his friend, a pair of arms and a smaller body latched onto the Candidate and nearly caused him to fall over. Uni stepped back, slightly surprised.
"Heya, Nep Jr.!" Neptune's head popped up from behind Nepgear's shoulder, nestling her head on her little brother's neck. "Ah, Uni! Hey there!" Uni gave the CPU of Planeptune a small wave, a bead of sweat rolling down her face.
"H-Hey." From Nepgear's other shoulder, a tiny girl with fairy wings floated over the young man's head. Sitting on a thick, open tome, the girl's bright blue eyes shined upon seeing Uni.
"You must be Uni. (*^▽^*)" Uni nodded her head, eyes following the tome fairy as she floated in front of her. "I am Histoire, Planeptune's Oracle. (≧∇≦)/" The Oracle shifted herself to an upright position. "Please make yourself at home. m(_ _)m" As Histoire made the emoticon, the Oracle bowed towards Uni. Caught off guard, Uni bowed as well.
"N-No, thank you!" A cat-like grin appeared on Neptune's mouth.
"See? She's a good girl!" Histoire nodded. "Not completely honest, but a good girl." Uni looked and furrowed her eyebrows.
"Hey!"
"A little too much, Neptune… (^_^;)" Histoire smiled at Uni. "Anyways, thank you for being Nepgear's friend, it really means a lot to him." Uni bit the inside of her cheek.
"N-No, it's not really…" Neptune patted Uni on the back, giving her a large grin and a thumbs up.
"Don't worry about it! Just have fun!" Neptune's grin grew wider. "In fact…-NEPU!?" Suddenly, Histoire's hand grabbed Neptune's hood and pulled her away. "Aw, come on Histy! Just a couple of games!" Histoire waved to Nepgear and Uni as she floated down the hallway.
"No, Neptune. Nepgear needs this break more than you need to work. Speaking of which…" An anger vein popped up above Histoire's head. Taking a deep breath, Histoire smiled at the Candidates, while the vein was still pulsing. "Uni, please enjoy your day." Histore turned the corner, dragging Neptune with her.
"Just one game, pleaaaase…" Nepgear let out a light chuckle as Uni watched the duo disappear.
"Histoire is really strong…" Uni looked to see Nepgear fully open his room, the owner gesturing to the open door.
"Want to play some games?" Uni shrugged her shoulders and grinned.
"Well, that's why I'm here." Nepgear stepped aside and let Uni walk in first. The young man's smile grew from side to side. Nepgear walked inside his room.
And closed the door.
Nepgear and Uni's Lily Rank: 1 (Acquaintance)