•How to Not Confess Properly for Gun Dummies!•
9) Forget cleanup day, jam in a shootout.
Emergency Quests.
Special missions which usually end up in the Guild's bulletin boards at the most unexpected times, offering unusual rewards for equally unusual tasks.
Despite their name, it's not as if volunteers undertake massive operations to bring down God-level threats. Rather, the contents of such missions are usually somewhat simple, such as guarding convoys or seeking strange materials.
Still, they pay considerably more than normal quests, and also tend to accept far more volunteers than the usual "exterminate X monsters" requests. As if that wasn't enough, more often than not these kinds of missions give away tiered rewards depending on contribution, reason enough to have entire hordes of Hunters rushing to sign up.
What ensues in such cases, needless to say, is nothing short of pure chaos.
An impromptu gold rush.
First come, first served.
Friendly fire enabled.
Hardcore Ranked match.
No items, Hunters only, Final Destination.
In other words, it's a massive battlefield, where glory is forever miles away while failure creeps centimeters behind, just waiting to claim any fool who lets their guard down.
Incidentally, it's also fun as hell to participate in a PvP war for once, as opposed to fighting monsters and gathering herbs all day.
Nothing is more liberating than throwing yourself into the mayhem, after all. And the fact that there are lots of unspoken rules—such as the aforementioned "no items," coupled with "no skills," an obviously important "no explosive attacks," a necessary "don't hit anyone with less than 50% HP" and the complimentary "run the hell out when you have less than 50% HP"—essentially turns it into nothing more than a big war game instead of tragedy waiting to happen.
That Hunters are nothing if not serious about their unspoken rules also helps; acting out of line is a great way to paint a target on your back and a black mark in your curriculum.
Still, no amount of embellishment can change the truth: no matter what the goal is in an Emergency Quest, you will be attacked by fellow Hunters, more dangerous than any mindless enemy; you will have to fight back, pushing both your body and mind to beyond their limits; and, at the end of the day, you will be either long gone, achieving nothing but a meager consolation prize, or standing proud, having bested even the most cunning and dangerous of your adversaries.
It might be a war game, but the first word in that term is not just for show.
Currently, that's the sort of the situation one can find at Virtua Forest, under the cloudless sky of Sunday, approximately 10 AM.
Today, a considerable number of Hunters from all over the continent gathered to search for a recently formed dimensional dungeon, detected by Planeptune's sensors and emitting enough readings to make anyone drool just thinking about the possible loot. After discovering the entrance and sharing it online with everyone else—another rule created out of basic courtesy—the second phase begins, which means getting in and hoping to the True Goddess there aren't too many Risky Foes guarding the shiny stuff.
In theory, that is.
In practice, bolts and flames fly to all directions, metal hits metal as shadows dance between and above trees alike, and magical songs fill the air as all sorts of people unleash their specialties at once in a cacophony of destruction, unwilling to let anyone else grab the spoils before themselves.
It's fun for the whole family, basically.
And, as the battle rages, Uni finds herself atop a particularly large and tall tree, perched on the edge of a branch as thick as a sidewalk and aiming with her newly bought dark, sleek and somewhat blocky sniper rifle, an holographic screen of a scope displaying what the camera under the barrel's end sees in the distance.
Money well spent, if anyone asks her... despite the shameful state of her savings.
The ravenette wanted to hold off on expensive things until the money wasted on weeks ago on that robot came back, she really did. But when Passe offers a hefty discount for anyone who pre-orders their newest state-of-the-art weaponry...
Well, there's only so much a girl's self-control can take.
*VWEEN*
With a distinct noise and surprisingly rough recoil, a red orb the size of a grape flies away with the arousing speed of 1300 m/s, hitting some hooded, violet-skinned elf girl right on the forehead just as she attempted to sneak up on a brunette—
Oh, that's IF, funny seeing her here. Weirdly enough, the elf seemed familiar too...
...Eh, must not be that important if the memory didn't stick.
*ta* *ta* *ta*
As soon as she spots a blue light coming from a bush, Uni doesn't hesitate to fall to the side, her shoulder touching wood as the shots sail past.
"Hey, chickenhead, stop camping!"
"It's a legitimate strategy!"
With that truthful shout, the ravenette scrambles to her feet and runs along the branch towards the trunk, ducking and dodging as many bullets as magical projectiles and bladed weapons—that was definitely a 32-Bit Megablade, and someone is gonna pay for it—before hopping to another adjacent branch, placing the tree between herself and her attackers.
Although not exactly winded, Uni still takes a few quick breaths as she presses her back against the trunk, feeling the vibrations that follow each impact.
Were this an actual fight, the girl would likely be giving away curses like candy during Halloween.
Here, though, she can only smile at what she just pulled off.
This... is the best way to relieve stress.
Ever.
... Still, as great it'd feel to use up her stress wasting thermal clips all day long, Uni has a second, much more important objective here than unleashing the hell inside her lonely, single heart.
'Now, which direction was it...?'
Without a care in the world for the outrageous amounts of enemies coming for her, the girls raises the scope to her eye and begins to scour the forest for signs of her target. Fortunately, the trees don't block much of the view from the tall branch where she finds herself.
As luck would have it, the ravenette spots a certain lilac-haired girl in mere seconds. She's running through bushes and clearings, N-Gear in one hand and a laser sword in the other, and waving her head around in search for something.
One would need to be an idiot not to realize she's looking for the dungeon, even amidst the chaos of competition.
That in itself is amazing, of course. Pretty much everybody else is just sort of hoping someone stumbles upon it before they're eliminated, at which point they'll all rush for the loot and the exponentially higher rewards attached to them.
Instead of holding that sort of absentminded mentality, Nepgear is diligently seeking their objective, even using her N-Gear's sensors constantly.
Unlike her, most people just peek at their devices then and again before rushing to the rumble like crazed barbarians looking for a fight, Uni's own growing desire to do just that notwithstanding.
It's like they're all playing Hot and Cold, and the Planeptunian Candidate is the only one taking it seriously.
The thought makes Uni chuckle. That's her girl.
... Well, her future girl.
'If she keeps going in that direction, taking in consideration the distance between us, then...!'
Running the math in her head, Uni throws her sniper rifle aside as it dematerializes back to her inventory and brings out a fancy revolver instead, its similar dark and sleek look—save for its cylinder, obviously—revealing it as part of the same series as the previous weapon.
Who said the sniper was the only one included in the deal?
Smirking to herself, the girl doesn't hesitate to shoot forward, jumping off the tree and hitting the grass in a crouch with a heavy thump.
Today, Uni joins the hunt.
"Who the flying—Lady Uni?!"
She aims to the right and pulls the trigger without looking.
A yelp and a loud explosion sound as her entire arm rocks from the recoil, her aim raising full sixty degrees from that alone as the cylinder spins ninety degrees. The ravenette springs to action immediately after, scrambling to her feet and running off towards Nepgear's direction.
Her arm feels a bit sore from the test fire, but damn if that didn't feel amazing.
Shotgun energy blasts from a revolver. Can't get much better than that.
However, she mustn't lose sight of her goal.
As the thought comes, scarlet eyes sharpen, actively searching for any disturbance that may trouble her amidst the trees, grass, and circuit-like glowing marks present in several surfaces.
While it certainly crossed her mind, Uni isn't here for the ongoing battle royale. If she manages to get a good amount of money, that's great, but the treasure she seeks is far better.
Namely, Nepgear.
More specifically, Lily Points with her.
The girl has to hold back her imagination at that, unwilling to daydream about their beautiful future together right. There's a time and place for everything, and "imagining married life" doesn't exactly mesh well with "running through a battlefield."
Besides, she'll have time to think about what's to come after this is over.
At that, her smile widens. That's right... Even if Uni doesn't manage to actually cross the finish line today, she'll still have farmed a nice amount of points!
Nepgear, being the beautiful, dreamy and sensible person she is, tends to participate in all Emergency Quests she can, essentially giving the ravenette a constant to work with in a sea of variables. Also, since her future wife isn't one to fight for the sake of it, she instead focuses on the goal, only making use of her weapon to protect herself!
And that's so mature, so responsible, it makes Uni feel like forgetting about restraint and throwing herself—
*rustle*
"!"
On reflex, the girl takes half a second to feel whether the person in the bush next to her has a safe amount of health, and the other half to discharge another shot as she runs by, and the surprised shout that follows is incredibly pleasing.
The same can't be said for the slight pain in her arm, but, eh, sacrifices.
In any case, this chance is simply too good to miss...!
How cruel it is that Nepgear is alone on her quest, scurrying about in such a dangerous place without the will to unleash her beast and fight! Fortunately, Uni, being as diligent and caring as she is, has no qualms against putting herself on the line to accompany and protect the fair lady who one day shall become her bride!
Well, it's not as romantic as that, but the point stands. Were she to accompany the object of her affections in such a place, not bonding over fighting off attackers and seeking a hidden treasure is borderline impossible!
"Oh, what a coincidence to meet you here" is what she'll begin with, and then it'll go from there! Depending on how this goes, they might even hold hands before the day is over!
Of course, one might ask why the ravenette didn't just head out with Nepgear in the first place—in fact, that's exactly what K-Sha asked—but showing up to help during a difficult and dangerous mission is far more impactful than just being a generic starting party member.
It's all about drama, and Uni isn't willing to miss out on a multiplier for her points!
That's her decision, she's sticking with it, and nothing can stop her.
It's with such a mindset that, as soon as some armored guy she can't be bothered to pay attention to walks into her line of sight, another shell is used up, and the cylinder rotates again.
Uni grins at the feeling of EXP merging with her mana, raising her capabilities ever so slightly.
That the person she shot flew five whole meters back also brings a rather nice feeling.
Unfortunately, that leaves her with only one of four shells still live inside the cylinder. Call her sentimental, but it sort of feels like her last shot before the first reload should be used in an important way...
"Argh, lookie there, matey! A mini ol' Nowa, searching for my Nepsis' boot—"
*BOOM*
... There.
Ignoring the loud protests from the fallen CPU she left behind, Uni brings up her gun and maintains it as still as possible as she dematerializes the shells back to her inventory, summoning four more straight into the cylinder.
Should someone mess up the coordinates when bringing out the live ammo, it'd still show up in the correct spot, but with an added force as if someone was pushing the casing a bit too hard against its confines towards the spot where it tried to appear.
Obviously, that leads to an entire world of problems; as such, summon feeding is a rather advanced trick.
'Good thing I can pull it off with my eyes closed.'
With the weapon once again loaded, the ravenette continues to trudge tirelessly through the forest, aiming at any noise in her way.
Just a bit more and she'll reach Nepgear—
Something splits the air behind her.
Uni has barely enough time to throw herself to the ground, the momentum sending her rolling several meters further.
As soon as she comes to a stop, the ravenette doesn't waste a moment to think before scrambling to her feet, raising her revolver with both hands towards the prideful voice from before.
It doesn't take a moment for Uni to analyze the situation.
She's in the middle of a small clearing, surrounded by trees and shadowed by their leaves above. In the trunk directly behind her is a wooden stake, large enough to be called a natural weapon, that suddenly disperses in green particles.
And by the edge of the clearing, calmly walking towards her, is the smiling CPU of Leanbox, looking as unsettlingly cheerful as she can possibly manage.
Uni scowls.
Of course, she doesn't lower her weapon.
"Mind explaining what you think you're doing?"
"My, so feisty!" The woman halts ten feet away, folding both arms under her sizable chest. Just like that, a condescending look crosses her face. "I could ask you the same thing, little girl."
"That," Uni snarls, "is approximately zero percent your business."
If she were to see her right now, being so openly hostile to a full-fledged CPU despite being only a Candidate, Kei would surely have a fit.
But there's no other way.
This person's goal is far too obvious.
"Gosh, you needn't be so mad," Vert begins, her smile only widening. "After all, we're all friends here."
"You shot a spear at me!" the ravenette snaps back.
"It was a lance."
"That doesn't make it any better!"
Uni grits her teeth. The number of curses in sounding in her mind is outright scandalous. Out of all interruptions, why the worst case...?!
"Strange, I expected you to be happier to see me. After all..." Out of nowhere, the woman's smile becomes outright haunting.
"You never went out of your way to deal with me."
"..."
The Candidate gulps, taking a step back.
Now that she thinks about it, that was certainly an oversight.
A big oversight, at that.
Even so, she forces a smirk to her lips, hiding the fear taking root in her heart. "I just thought I'd be done with this fast, or at least before you managed to pause your game and unglue your face from the computer you love so much. Can you blame me?"
Vert actually chuckles at that, shooting the ravenette an amused expression. "Oh, Uni, how so very like you."
Her smile dies.
"MMOs cannot pause."
"!"
Uni nearly gasps.
It happens out of nowhere.
The atmosphere grows heavy, as if withering under the woman's gaze. Frost creeps up Uni's spine, her body threatening to shiver.
A cold sweatdrop slides down her face, its descent a perfect analogy to her hopes of succeeding today.
This isn't good. This really isn't good...
But...!
"I won't let you stand in my way!" the Lastationite Candidate declares, tightening her grip on the revolver. "Someone as twisted and corrupted as you can't be allowed near Nepgear!"
"'Twisted'? 'Corrupted'?" Vert laughs, shaking her head at the mere notion. "You really can't understand, can you?"
She takes a step forward, prompting Uni to step away.
"You must understand, I have none of these filthy traits you list! After all..."
With a vigor that doesn't match her ladylike persona, the blonde rotates her hips so her side faces the girl, arms still crossed and bearing radiant smiled filled with pride.
"My heart and actions are utterly unclouded!"
Unfolding her arms, she moves a fist to her heart, closing her eyes.
"Yes, that is correct... My heart... My actions... Even my dreams...!"
In a maneuver that'd make Nisa proud, Vert's eyes snap open as she thrusts an open palm towards the ravenette, her other hand finding its way to her waist.
"They are those of sisterly affection!"
...
...
...
After a moment, Uni raises an eyebrow, frowning.
"Chika would cry if she heard that."
"That is irrelevant."
"I think Blanc is laughing from wherever she is."
"No relation to this situation."
"Noire wouldn't even know what to say."
"Must I repeat myself?" The woman huffs, folding her arms once more and adjusting her pose into something normal. "That aside, you seem to misunderstanding me. I am not strictly against your wishes, you see..."
"Hmhm." The ravenette nods twice, thoroughly unconvinced.
"But it'd be quite troublesome to convert that girl into my little sister if she already has another strong, non-familial bond beforehand," she explains rather simply in a friendly tone, as if begging Uni to understand. "Therefore, as happy as I would be to see your cruiser set sail, this shall be as far as you go for the time being."
Vert smiles.
"Go home."
"No."
The answer is instantaneous, as is the destruction of the friendly atmosphere.
As the Candidate maintains her glare, the CPU's lips twitch.
A sigh sounds.
"You are simply unaware of your limits, are you not?" Vert laments, shaking her head. "I tire of watching your inane advances. Believe it or not, my original plan was to be generous and allow you to kindle the flames before roasting my marshmallows on them."
Uni just stares at the blonde, whose arms are crossed as if to accentuate her chest.
Did she just...
"... That might have been a poor choice of words," the blonde bashfully admits, her cheeks gaining a light tint of red. "Still, I am quite serious when I say that I magnanimously granted you a chance. As things stand, it'd be far easier to force you out of my way, but I fear my heart is too kind for such an act. Thus..."
With all the grace of a savior addressing an ignorant mortal, the CPU of Leanbox extends a hand, reaching out to the girl before her.
"If your wish to act now rather than wait is so strong, then join me, and together we shall rule Nepgear as her big sister and lover!"
As expected, that has Uni raising an eyebrow. "Um..."
"Individually, I mean," the woman quickly adds. "Anything else would invite conflict with our personalities. I believe it to be rather obvious who's who in that arrangement."
"Yeah, no."
Just then, Verts lets out a joyful huff. "I knew you'd see reason. You were always the most reasonable of them—"
She pauses.
Three seconds later, her expression turns blank.
"Eh?"
"I won't lie, that does sound pretty nice." The ravenette shrugs, still holding onto her raised weapon. "Except, y'know, I'd need to trust you before even thinking about it. Which I don't."
She lets a smirk cross her lips.
"Obviously."
"..."
For the several moments that follow, Vert simply gapes at her, as if disbelieving that anyone would deny her gracious—and also "totally safe with no risks of betrayal™"—offer.
Incidentally, that also means it's time to scram.
"Okay, since we're clear on that," Uni begins, taking a step back, "I'm a bit late for an appointment with love, and it'd be a shame to miss it. Here's hoping I don't see you again so soon." With that, she turns around and runs off, sure that the blonde won't try anything funny in her confused state—
Two seconds later, the ravenette blinks. She's lying on the grass.
Her face hurts.
Climbing to her feet, the girl slowly reaches outward with her newly free hand. Rather than air, it meets...
... an invisible wall?
"Hehehe..." Vert's voice sounds. "Hahahahaha..."
Uni turns to face the CPU, now bearing a rather unladylike grin against her own shocked stare.
Well.
Shit.
"You didn't think I would be so careless as to allow you a way out, did you?" the woman speaks, each word containing as much pride and outright superiority as the last one.
And the worst part?
The ravenette really had thought just that.
"Wouldn't you agree that the Internep is simply great?" Vert begins, sounding beyond pleased with herself. "You can find all sorts of items to buy! From new weapons to fashionable clothes and..."
She chuckles.
"... portable boundary fields that only require plastering runes around to set up."
This time, Uni's cursing isn't only inwards.
She underestimated this person.
"So that was your angle, huh," the ravenette growls, once again raising her revolver towards her enemy despite the uselessness of such an act. "Your goal wasn't to 'convince me' to step down... Instead, all this stupidity was just to make sure this second-rate barrier actually worked...! And now that it did, you're free to leave me stuck here while you go find Nepgear!"
How didn't she see it?! That they were just conversing should have been incredibly suspicious, and yet she turned a blind eye to it as if such a thing was a given!
What's the height of stupidity? Why, Uni's own 149 cm, of course!
At the accurate accusation, Vert's grin recedes into a smirk, threatening to part for a chuckle. With an arm supporting her chest, she brings up the other hand to cover her amused mouth, looking at the little girl in front of her as if a deity staring down its worthless creations.
Each movement only serves to heighten her superiority over Uni, that's as clear as day...!
And then she looks away.
"In retrospect, I really should have done that."
"... Ah?"
In a single instant, all nervousness evaporates from the ravenette's entire being.
Uni can only stare.
And stare.
Now that she's paying attention, it's easy to see something rippling behind the CPU, no doubt one of the edges of the barrier.
Behind Vert. Except there's also an invisible wall behind the Candidate.
As in, the woman's also in the boundary field.
Inside her own trap.
"..."
The girl's aim actually wavers.
"Was trapping yourself part of your plan?"
"I actually planned on defeating you and heading out," comes Vert's casual response.
And, in a way, it's incredible. Amazing, really.
She overestimated this person!
"Well, thanks for the tip," is what the ravenette responds with, if only because saying anything pertaining this woman's ineptitude might turn into a long and time-wasting rant. "That means you can break this thing from the inside, right?"
The CPU actually smiles at that. "Why, indeed! However, you'll never..."
She trailed off.
Uni blinks.
Why did she trail off?
"... It's gone," Vert states flatly, turning towards the roots of a nearby tree.
"Huh?"
"The switch rune I placed inside the field," she specifies. "It's gone."
"Huh?"
"It just disappeared."
"Huh?"
"As if someone snatched it."
"Huh?"
"Then again, I might or might not have forgotten to check whether the adhesive was in a good state."
"Huh?"
"This shall certainly cause difficulties when it comes to escaping this barrier."
"Huh?"
...
...
...
After a long moment of silence, Vert raises a hand, her expression solemn. Then, directing her eyes towards Uni...
She boops her head, shooting a wink at the Candidate.
"I'm so clumsy, aren't I~?"
Uni's trigger finger twitches.
"Huh?"
.
.
.
.
.
"So," K-Sha begins, arms crossed and a rather unamused look on her face as she eyes the two crestfallen females seated on one of the somewhat crowded Guild's metal tables. "You were trapped for a full hour before remembering that phones are things, and by the time I got there to get you out the Quest was pretty much over."
"Indeed." Vert nods from her cushioned seat, idly playing with her locks whilst staring at nothing with the emptiest expression the schoolgirl has ever seen. "In retrospect, perhaps I should have spent more time in the planning phase."
"In my defense," Uni speaks up casually, her head rising from its hiding spot against the table between her folded arms, "I was too busy trying to shoot that moron over ther to think about calling home."
K-Sha simply raises an eyebrow. "Is that supposed to improve my opinion of you?"
The Candidate just shrugs, because what else can she do?
At least she got a thousand credits for just being there, so that's something. Nevermind how the better rewards would have rescued her savings from the abyss.
Perhaps Uni should get a part-time job for an actual income besides allowance...? Actually, is she even allowed to do that?
Now there's a question.
"Hm? You guys were there too?" a familiar, approaching voice suddenly speaks up. "It's a bit unusual to see you together."
As the three girls glance at the direction it came from, Uni isn't particularly surprised to see Nepgear dodging the crowd and heading towards them; she always had this ability to show up whenever the ravenette's feeling down.
Sometimes it feels more like a curse than a blessing, though.
Like now.
Even so, as soon as the lilac-haired girl stops by their table, Uni forces a smile to her face, prompting the other two to follow her lead. "Yeah, I kinda wanted some extra credits from the reward. Then I ran into Vert and ended up stuck with her."
Technically speaking, there's not a single lie in there.
"Currency is universally important, and there is strength in numbers," Vert follows up in a sagely tone that almost makes the Lastationite Candidate choke. "Is it truly that surprising to find me here with some company?"
As expected of the Leanboxian CPU, she said two truths and a question that actually don't even scratch the truth of the matter...!
It seems Uni still has a lot to learn.
"You two..." Unsurprisingly, K-Sha lets out a big sigh, bringing a hand to her face. "Incredible. Not even my dear Noire would be able to keep herself together after such a failure. It's almost like you're happy with the lowest reward."
"Er..." "..."
At this point, the pair can only hang their heads in shame.
When she puts it like that...
"W-Well," Nepgear begins, with that bashful "I'm fully aware that you messed up but allow me to comfort you" smile that makes the other Candidate feel like fading from existence, "you can't always win...?"
No, but you can always lose.
At least that's the conclusion Uni feels herself approaching.
"Oh..." Of course, the lilac-haired girl instantly notices the sudden mood drop. "I-I mean, failure is just another step to success?" she tries. "Tomorrow is another day? Keep your head raised? Learn from your mistakes? Believe in the you that believes in—"
"That would be a good point to stop at." K-Sha's lips twinge slightly upwards, something between embarrassment and amusement crossing her features. "I think you're making my bosses there suffer some leakage issues."
"O-O-Of course not!" Vert responds in record time with a tone that strangely resembles whining.
She proceeds to wipe her eyes with a sleeve.
"How pathetic... Shouldn't you act like a CPU?" Uni taunts the woman, leaning a bit too forward against the table.
The noise that comes a moment later sounds suspiciously similar to a sniffle.
Nepgear's smile only grows more constrained at that. "I-I see..." Thanks to her unmatched experience with weird people, however, the girl rebounds in an instant, her expression growing far more natural, if only a tad too apologetic. "Anyway, I'd love to hang out a bit more, but I sort of have an appointment soon... I better get going right now, actually."
"An appointment?" The Lastationite Candidate raises an eyebrow. "It's Sunday, though."
"Yes, well..." Nepgear scratches her reddening cheek, clearly embarrassed about something. "I ran into Rom during the quest, you see..."
Uni suddenly perks up, followed by Vert doing the same.
K-Sha just seems to be on the verge of sighing again.
"One thing led to another, and I might have promised to show her some new candy stores in Planeptune, hahaha..." The girl lowers her hands, twiddling her index fingers as if to ward off the uneasiness. "I do want to invite you guys, but I don't think she'd be happy if I turned it into a caravan, so, um... Sorry?"
"... I see," Uni speaks after a moment, sounding strangely steely as she folds her arms. "Have fun there."
"Indeed." Vert joins both hands in front of her face, looking unusually serious... or just plain shocked. "Enjoy your time with her."
"Y-You don't need to look so down for being left out..." Nepgear tilts her head at them, definitely coming to the wrong conclusion. "We can hang out together afterwards, just... not today, I guess?"
Oh, if only that didn't hurt enough as is.
"Don't mind them, they're too busy sticking themselves in mud." K-Sha smiles radiantly at the lilac-haired girl. "Just go have fun while it's still Sunday. Oh, and send me some addresses later!"
"Yes, of course! We could even go there next time!" In a moment, the Planeptunian Candidate slips into the role of a fellow schoolgirl a bit too easily, as though to match her usual outfit. She seems to notice it soon enough, though, coughing in her hand with a blatant blush. "I-In any case, I should be going now! See you guys later!"
"See you~!" "Take care." "B-Bye!"
It's rather obvious who said what.
With that, Uni's elusive future wife waves at them before turning away, seemingly in a hurry as she makes her way to the room's exit.
"..." "..."
Unsurprisingly, two pairs of eyes continue to stare at her a bit too intently.
"Seriously?" As the schoolgirl turns back to the table, her earlier cheer seems to be long gone. "She's going to eat candy with the materialized idealization of a little sister, and you're jealous? Now that's just plain paranoia, you know?"
Neither of her current companions responds.
"Oh, for fu—"
"Shhhhh!" Uni raises a finger, signaling silence. "I think I can see her."
"That does seem to be the case, yes." Vert nods.
Rolling her eyes in resignation, K-Sha follows their lines of sight. Indeed, the crowds parted in such a way as to allow full view of the Loweean Candidate near the large doorway just as Nepgear reaches her. They exchange a few casual, decidedly non-romantic words—the sort that has the schoolgirl groaning when the other two start seething—before heading together to the exit, standing a few centimeters apart but not engaging in anything startling like hand-holding.
Uni blinks, while Vert simply looks pleasantly surprised.
Maybe there's really nothing to it.
Just then, Rom seems to catch sight of their watching, turning towards the table with a curious look.
"See?" K-Sha speaks up, sending a smile to the Loweean Candidate. "I told you—"
She smirks.
The schoolgirl's voice dies in her throat.
Out of nowhere, Rom smirks—the gesture startlingly natural in a face so similar to Blanc's—and proceeds to reach for Nepgear's hand.
A single line sounds in Uni's mind, far too recent to be forgotten.
"As if someone snatched it."
And then, those two are gone, disappeared amidst the crowds.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Seconds pass, and then a full minute.
Some ranting adventurer nearby, retelling an overly embellished version of his exploits, is taken by the flow and stomps on the floor.
That's the trigger.
K-Sha manages to choke on nothing and starts coughing violently. Whatever Vert says next sounds more like a thoroughly broken whistle.
As for Uni?
"▅▅▃▃▂▂..."
*bang*
As her head hits the table, she just stops thinking.
If anything, that's better than the alternatives.
