Chapter 9: A love Heptagon part 2
...
...
Amadeus' POV
"Good morning, Sis. Good morning, Big Brother"
I know that there's probably nothing wrong with seeing Nepgear cooking up a storm in the kitchen early in the morning, but my something-horrible-is-happening senses are tingling.
"Morning, Nep Jr. Morning, Plutie" Cheered Neptune as she took a seat next to Plutia who was snacking on a sticky bun in her drowzy way. She quickly took a platter filled with the stuff before shoving the first one into her mouth.
I just sweatdropped at the scene.
Well, no point in letting them have all the goods to themselves.
I grabbed a sticky bun from the counter and took a seat next to Neptune and I just have to say that Nepgear probably outdid herself with this batch of hers.
"Rmnmnmnmnm...ah! Nice Job Nep Jr." Complimented Neptune, while giving her a thumbs up.
"It's sooooo good, Neppy Jr." Plutia said with sleepy and drowzy bliss as she smiled tiredly at the Candidate.
"I want one to, Neptuna!" Was the last things Neptune heard before a bumble bee girl suddenly rocketed to her. Luckily she managed to catch little peashy before she could top over and fall on the floor.
After this, Peashy wasted no time in stuffing her face with the sticky buns.
"Hey, Slow down P-ko" Neptune said, while trying to hoard majority of the buns for herself.
"But, thersh shooo Good" mumbled the bumble bee girl with a mouth full of pastry.
"Well, that doesn't mean that you can hog all the sweet stuff to yourself, they're mine too" Neptune practicallu dove in as they raced to finish the single platter filled with the sticky buns.
"Awwww, don't fight you guys"
"G-goodness, Peashy, Sis. Calm down. I'll just make a new batch..." Said a slightly panicking Nepgear, while flailing her arms about in worry and panic.
Now being the knowledgable person I am, I would probably seperate these two before sticky buns start flying everywhere...BUT...I want sticky buns too, so...
"Three can play at that game" Losing all pretenses of maintaining an air of a wise and knowledgable person. I dove in to grab some of sticky buns and stuffing them into my face. What can I say? Being intelligent doesn't mean being immune to hunger...or the urge to fight for a delicious piece of food that's wasting away...
"Goodness, Amadeus you too?" Asked a wide-eyed Nepgear before I emerged victoriously with 6 sticky buns in hand with a smile on my face.
"What can I say? These sticky buns are worth fighting for." Was all I said before I stuffed the first one into my face, chewing before breathing in the aroma. "Clearly a culinary masterpiece"
"M-masterpiece?!" Hmmm? I looked over at Nepgear who had a a slightly pink shade coloring her cheeks, while covering half of her face with a platter. Now that I actually got a good look at her she was wearing a purple apron...it lookes good on her to be honest.
Now, I know what you're thinking, and no I am not going to fall in love with her, since I already love someone else.
"Better believe it, Nep Jr. 5 stars, A plus, and two thumbs way up" said Neptune while looking at hr sister with disapproval; with a bit of icing on her face. I just chuckled before walking over to her; with a napkin in hand I gently patted her mouth.
"Are you trying to put the moves on ol' Nep here"
"Is that what comes into your mind whenever someone wipes your icing-drappled face?" If so, then I'd imagine things getting awkward when her sister or her friends did what I'm doing now.
"Nope, but when it comes to a smarty pants who happened to get all flirty and frisky with me 2 chapters ago is the one doing it then..." She never got to finishing her sentence as I shoved the napkin into her mouth in embarassment.
I'd rather not think about my HDD Eye's personality switch right now.
In my peripheral vision, I caught sight of the expression on Nepgear's face and it wasn't one I was expecting in the least bit; she looked like she was slightly...envious. No, that can't be right.
I must be seeing things...
"Peashy, No, you shouldn't eat that all at once" chided Nepgear who looked like she had just woken out of a trance, when she noticed the sheer amount of pastry little Peashy was stuffing into her mouth with no intention of stopping.
"Can't say I blame her." She started tending to the bumble bee girl who looked somewhat annoyed and pouty with the interruption. "They're really good you know." I complimented.
"EEEEEHHH?!" Exclaimed a flustered Nepgear looked at me with wide eyes. She had steam coming out of her head and her hair suddenly hid her eyes. "Wha-wha-what a-ar-are y-you s-saying?"
I tilted my head in confusion. What's up with her?
"I was complimenting on how good the sticky buns were. They were delicious"
"Huh?" Asked little Peashy with a raised eyebrow and face full of confusion. "Nepgear's acting funny. Her face is all read. Pahahahaha!" Before she inevitably burst out laughing and exclaiming.
"I am not!" Denied Nepgear who in turn only got more flustered and even redder than she already was.
"Not so sure about that, Nep Jr. You're looking redder than Noire when a certain maiden mecha man is teasing her"
"..." steam...it's not only for downloading games and covering up fanservice scenes.
"Neppy Jr., are you sure you're okay?"
"You're looking really red there" I placed my hand on her forehead to see if her tempearture was okay, when...
*Faint*
"Whoa, you never told me you could put someone to sleep by touching their foreheads, Ekko. Are you related to that pink-haired queen or the white haired envoy of something?"
*Scene Freezes while I start talking to the readers*
Really? She's making really making references at this time? I'm actually a bit more concerned about the fact that Nepgear fainted. Oh and for those of you who don't know; that little piece of dialogue was made possible by Guilty Crown.
I still couldn't get over that ending...*Sniff*...
*Screen unfreezes*
"shouldn't you be more worried about the fact that your little sister just fainted no three feet away from you, instead of making references?" I asked rehtorically with a raised eyebrow.
"Nah. Nep Jr.'ll be fine" said the laid-back Neptune. "Besides, my main character Nep senses are tingling with the inkling that something big's going to go down and this here's a flag that was triggered"
"Huh? So Neppy Jr. wasn't sleepy?" Asked the drowzy CPU with question marks around her.
"Good morning, every-...one?" Histoire had just floated in and her light and casual tone quickly morphed into one of confusion and befuddlement.
...
*Coffee grinder and coffee maker noises*
I took out the Histoire-sized cup of coffee that came out of my custom-made coffee machine that looked...gigantic and mecha-steampunk-ish, but it was high tech nonetheless. Anyways, I handed the cup of coffee to Histoire and she took a small sip, before sighing in pleasure with her eyes closed in satisfaction.
Hmph. Nothing less should be expected from my inventions.
"Are you feeling alright, Nepgear?" Asked a concerned Histoire as she eyes the now bandaged head of Nepgear.
"Yeah, what was that about, Nep Jr." Asked Neptune casually, before morphing into one of mock horror and terror. "Unless, you suddenly read the mind of a serial killer and the horrified thoughts were too much for your innocent mind?!"
*Scene Freezes while I start talking to the readers*
If you replace serial killer with Sadomasochistic dominatrix CPU, then it's quite possible. Afterall, no one can say for certain as to what Plutia thinks about during her human state, but I bet it can't be very far from what she thinks in her CPU form...
Wait, has Nepgear even been able to read minds?
...
Don't think so and this reference was brought to you by Kotoura-san
*Screen Unfreezes*
"Whoa, Neppy Jr. Can read minds? Hooray."
"Sweet! Nepgear, teach me; teach me too"
"um...No Peashy I can't read minds" said a slightly flustered Nepgear calming down the little ruckus she had possibly started.
"Yep, not unless, Ekko here whipped up something." Stated Neptune, while casually swinging an arm around my shoulders, while looking at me with a cheeky smile and raised eyebrow.
"Nope." She pouted at me, before turning back to the rest.
"Let the record show that Ekko has not invented such a gizmo. Nep Jr. is innocent for the act of mind-reading a psychopath from slasher film" said Neptune while acting out a lawyer from a drama. You could even here the "Point" SFX.
"Yay! Neppy Jr. is innocent."
"Wah! N-Neptune, I-I never read anyone'smind before in my life, much less a serial killer."
"I think we may have drifted away from the topic, Neptune" I couldn't agree more, Histoire.
"No worries, you Honor-isty. I'll get to the bottom of this mystery" claimed Neptune, before the lights suddenly turned off, leaving everything in pitch black...
...which is weird since I'm pretty sure it was daytime a few seconds ago.
Suddenly, a single light bulb lit up the scene and it was a hanging bulb with a cord switch at that.
Nepgear looked to be just as confused with all of this as we were and...why exactly did everything turn black and white all of a sudden?
"Okay, Nep Jr. What happened when you fainted 2500 hours ago" and... Neptune is talking like a cliché interrogater detective from a really old movie.
"Wha-what? Neptune? What are you talking about? 2500 hours? I'm pretty sure I fainted just a few seconds ago" asked a completely and utterly confused Nepgear. Who was tied to a chair might I add. "Why am I tied to a chair?!"
"Nep Jr. You're gonna have to remember I know that you probably hit your head hard and got amnesia or something. But I can't help you, if you ain't helping yourself"
Wait...wasn't this something you usually say to the villain? And not the victim?
"Wh-what the goodness, Neptune?! Why am I tied up and why are you talking to me like you're interrogating a bad guy?" Squirmed the candidate, while Neptune just looked at her with closed eyes.
"It doesn't look like she's going to crack, Plutie."
"hmmm...? Neppy why are we doing this?" Plutia who was by Neptune's side looked completely lost and baffled.
"CUUUUZZZ, we gotta figure out what's going on with Nep Jr.'s mundo. So, that's why were interrogating her."
"oooohhhh, okay..."
Well, that does seem like a pretty solid argument.
"Neptune, I don't think this will solve anything..." Histoire said with a sweatdrop.
"Bah, don't sweat it, Histy. We'll figure out what's going down with little Nep Jr. in a jiffy" said Neptune with a wink before turning her attention back to her little sister, who was looking increasingly mortified by the second.
"Neptune, this isn't really necessary I'm fine" insisted Nepgear, but it fell on deaf ears as Neptune slung her arm over her sister's shoulders.
"Look, I like you. You know that don't you Junior? So what's say we get things wrapped up here and we can go out and get some donuts or whatever" Neptune said trying to imitate the good cop from one of those old cliché detective movies. I couldn't help, but chuckle at the scene, while shaking my head in exasperation.
"I have no words..." Histoire just shool her head in defeat.
"Huh? Donuts? I want donuts too Neptuna. Ask me stuff too." insisted little Peashy as she jumped up and down on her seat.
"Don'cha worry P-ko will get some of those pastries from the J-ko down the street, as soon as we get to the bottom of this mystery" Claimed Neptune proudly. "So, come on Nep Jr. tell us what's up and we can all go and eat"
"What the goodness, Neptune!" Said an increasingly panicked Nepgear.
"If you don't cooperate, ol Plutie here might just..." Neptune meaningfully glanced at Plutia...who was at the moment looking at them with her sleepy smile, but it was enough to make Nepgear shiver and pale; she looked like she was about to pass out any minute now.
"Neptune, maybe we should try a different approach" I tried to reason with her. "preferably one that doesn't have the potential to scar your sister for the rest of her life."
She pondered on the idea for bit before nodding with a close-eyed smile.
"Yup, you're right. Let's try this..." She trailed off before the scene changed again. Seriously I have to learn how to do that.
Neptune is now facing Nepgear (who was no longer tied up) with her back. Wait why is her flowing like she was in a mid summer breeze?
"Tell me Nep Jr." Whispered Neptune in a slightly teary tone of voice. "Why? Did you have a red, embarassed and steamy face when I found you lying on the floor?" She asked in a mock heartbroken tone before turning around dramatically.
You know this starting to sound suspiciously close to a cliché telenovella scene.
"Neptune, it's not what you think..." Really? Nepgear you're just accepting this development, just like that?
*Crunch* *Crunch* *Munch* *Munch* *Gulp*
Then again, I'm no better for eating popcorn like I was watching a drama movie.
"Whoa...what's Neppy Jr.'s secret" Drawled the slightly excited and immersed Plutia.
"This is..." Histoire you don't have to stress yourself out over this.
"Popcorn?" I offered the oracle who in turn just looked at me with disbelief.
"I want popcorn!" Exclaimed Peashy before diving for my bag, which she succeeded. She them strated munching on the buttery kernels before I pulled out and opened a second bag and offered it to Histoire.
She just sighed before taking the bag, which is weird since it's over two times bigger than her.
"Don't tell me...Nepgear...how could you...?" Cue dramatic teardrop fall and closed eyes...oh and slow motion don't forget the slow motion.
"Sis, please...you've got it all wrong..." This is getting really good too watch I can tell because even Histoire is on the edge of her seat, while frantically eating popcorn.
"Then tell me...why were you blushing and all flustered when you fainted...?" Wow she's really into drama, huh?
"..."
The suspense is killing me...
"Meh, it's probably no biggie, I mean it's not like you had an affair with Ekko, right?"
"EEEEEEHHHHH?!" Luckily, Plutia managed to cover Peashy's ears in time.
"I did no such thing ! I am a proper gentleman" I said with an air of superiority.
"S-S-S-Sis...?"
"I'm just kidding you guys" Neptune waves it off like it was nothing. "Nep Jr.'s way too innocent for that stuff and Ekko here is too...conservative that I don't think that going HDD and getting all frisky with him is going to work"
"..."
Yeah, she's got a point...wait what was the last part?...Yeah it's still right. There's no way that I'm going to take advantage...of Neptune's...HDD...form...no...way...
"Do you want to see, Ekko? It's fine I can show you..."
I shook my head violently. Why in the world am I thinking about HDD Neptune purring out those words sedeuctively, while slowly stripping her plugsu-
"Yo, what's with that blush on your face, Ekko? Are ya imagining me HDD naked or something" said Neptune with a mock offended expression on her face and a mischievous giggle. Like she wanted me to do such thing.
"I-I did not!" I said, but the blush on my face suggested otherwise.
Curiously enough, Nepgear had an expression torn between mortified and longing...what was that about?
"I have a horrible premonition about this..."
...
A little while later, the little situation died down and eventually Noire and Uni came along in basilicom. Noire went to talk to Histoire in a seperate room, while Uni went to another room with a paperbag in hand and a considerable blush on her face.
In any case, Nepgear was preparing some snacks, Peashy was eating Nep's pudding, Plutia was...wel...sleeping and Neptune was playing her games on screen. Oh and I was tinkering with one of my latest inventions in hand. It's funny how dimension hopping, didn't really affect my habits in the slightest.
To be honest, I kind of prefer doing this in the hyperdimension, than in my own dimension. Maybe it's because I feel more sense of belonging here than back in my own dimension...
Or maybe...
I sneaked a glance at the gameplaying purplette and smiled.
...that's probably it.
"...so with this, you can see why what I'm asking for is of great importance Histoire."
"Yes I do understand, Noire, but I'm afraid I'm not the one who you shouod be telling this to. It's true that were giving Amadeus a place to stay at the moment, but that does not make him our property or anything. You should ask him yourself."
Looks like the two girls that wandered off to have their own private conversation had just returned back to yhe living room. I wonder what they talked about.
"A-ask h-him?" And why is Noire stuttering?
"Why yes" Histoire said, while raising an eyebrow at Noire's response. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind helping you, and I'm certain that Neptune wouldn't mind as well"
This little (no pun intended) piece of dialogue only succeeded in making Noire even more flustered than she already was for some reason...hmmm...I'm getting a horrible premonition about this.
Noticing that she was losing her usual calm and collected demeanor, she quickly cleared her throat and put on her usual tsundere expression, albeit with a blush on her cheeks.
"I-it's not like I-I'm reluctant on a-asking f-for help o-or anything, I just w-want t-to see w-what he's capable of"
"I see..." Histoire said with an amused chuckle.
From my peripheral vision, I then saw Noire approaching me with an aura of superiority emanating from her entire body; figuratively speaking of course.
"Amadeus" I turned to her with a smile on my face and closed eyes.
"Yes, Noire? Is there something you need?" I said with a casual yet gentlemanly tone and when she tool quite a while I opened my eyes and saw that she was visibly flustered.
She had a red glowing tint on her face, visible sweat running down her forehead, her posture was leaning away from me slightly, she was breathing heavily, she licked her lips every now and then, and her eyes were filled with...desire. In other words, her body was saying "stay away from me", but her face was saying "come closer"
"Noire?"
Seemingly snapping out of her little episode, she cleared her throat and reverted back to the way she was before; with an air of grace, pride and regality.
She cleared her throat. "Yes, well, Amadeus. I wanted to ask for your mechanical expertise to resolve some problems in my nation." She started and I didn't have the heart to tease by saying 'Aren't you supposed to be a tsundere?' Because this was a rare instance of Lastation's infamous goddess lowering her pride and asking for he-
"D-don't get me wrong, I can perfectly fix all of those problems myself. I just thought that you should put your expertise to good use instead of letting it become idle"
Oops, spoke too soon.
"I'd be happy to, so what kind of problems are we talking about? Giant robot attack? Mutant monster escapees? Zombie outbreak? Or are you talking about how to get frien-"
*SMACK*
"I didn't come here to talk about that!" She exclaimed before handing me a miniature piece of paper with a few words written on it. "Here."
I looked at the list once and as luck would have it, I already have blueprints for machines to fix all of her nation's problems.
"Well, it looks like you're in luck, I already have the blueprints for machines that could fix all of these things." I said before standing up. "Let's go you can pick out the blueprints that you want in my room" I said casually, but she just became flustered again as she looked at me incredulously, albeit excitedly.
"Fine" was all she said as she tried to grasp at her regal aura again, before walking in the general direction of my room.
I was about to follow her, when I felt...or rather heard a glare directed at me.
"STAAAAAAAAAARRREE"
I looked at the direction of where the sound was coming from and saw Neptune; video game completely forgotten and sharp gaze directed towards me with an expression that sent a clear message: Don't try anything, buster.
I just looked back at her lovingly, albeit nervously. I didn't Neptune was even capable of feeling jealousy. It looked cute...and at the same time...chilled my spine. I nodded before following Noire.
...
"Here take a look at this one" I took out one of the numerous brass cylindrical cannisters in my room and handed it over to Noire who was looking very flustered, while sitting on my bed with other cylindrical cannisters by her side.
Sure, she looked incredibly flustered, but she also looked to be enjoying herself. Also, every now and then she would shake her head and clutch her head tightly in denial. I really have a horrible premonition about these little things, but I think I'm just overeacting or something along those lines.
She opened the cannister and took out the blueprint inside, while unintentionally giving me a show of her legs underneath her skirt. Not that I paid much attention to that, nor would I know if it was really unintentional, but she was slightky blushing and looked to be having trouble with what she's reading.
Seriously, what is up with her?
"This sounds to be sufficient for what we need." She stated, while rolling up the blueprint again and sliding it inside the cannister.
"Good, then is there anything else you might need?" I asked politely with a smile, while she just blushed and looked away.
"Hmmm...let me see..." She drawled before stretching a couple of times and angling her body in a way that could be considered as provocative, but it had little effect on me.
She was visibly fighting the urge to drop this little act of hers, but for some weird reason she was still going through with it. She looked like she really wanted to stop this show of hers, but was only waiting for a good excuse to do so.
"Amadeus? Noire?"
Thank the heavens for the convenience of this little intrusion because Noire immediately stopped everything that she was doing, stood up and fled through the door in black streak.
The one who stood at the door was none other than the Tsundere Jr. herself, Uni.
Now the fact that she was standing there wasn't all that surprising, but it was the manner in which she was doing so that I really found shocking. She was wearing a slightly skimpy maid outfit (no doubt from her sister's cosplay closet) with a pair of neko ears on her head.
"W-would you care for some tea, Master?"
"..." Master?
She walked over to me in the same manner that a maid would for her master; complete with the small and gentle smile and the closed eyes. She then laid a teacup at my side and began poring the tea from her teapot.
"..."
I, on the other hand, could only look at Uni with mixture of disbelief and awkwardness. What has gotten into these sisters for them to suddenly start acting like this?
*YELP, CRASH, THUD*
I was suddenly brought out of my musings when Uni tripped on something and crashed on the ground, along with the china set that she had brought. Well the tea spilled om the floor as well, but I couldn't care less about that now. Now I was more concerned about Uni being hurt.
"Oh my Gosh, Uni are you alri-"
Before I could finish my sentence, Uni suddenly spoke.
"Will you punish me, Master?" She purred at me with the same expression that was plastered on Noire when she left a moment ago.
The combination of what she just said and her expression stunned me for good thirty seconds and it tool me even longer to realize that she was sitting fetchingly at floor.
What in Gamindustri is happenning?
...
...
Nepstation
"I smell Harem pie baking in the oven of this little story" Neptune said in her usual cheery demeanor before waving at the fourth wall. "Hey there readers, long time no see, huh? Man, how long has it been since we did this segment? Oh well what can you do."
No one stood beside her, she was doing Nepstation alone.
"Oh if you're wondering what Ekko's doing, he's still a little stunned by the Tsundere sisters' show. Seriously I didn't think they could do hot and steamy stuff like that" Neptune said cheerily before retrieving a piece of paper, skimming it, before throwing it away. " Okey-dokey, we missed pongsmas and the nep year, so this story's got a bit of a backlog in the chapter department. Yoy can thank mister author's last minute holiday writer's barricade for our little delay. Anyhoo, he just sent me message saying that he'll try to update the part 3 for this short story, 2 christmas specials and a 1 nep year special within the first week of January. So stay loyal Nepreaders." Neptune winked at the fourth wall. "See you in the next chapter, folks"