•[•]•[•] Hiroshi [•]•[•]•
"Hey, Noire." I knock twice on the side of the doorway, watching as Noire turns her head in my direction, a pencil in hand.
"What's up, Hiroshi?" I begin to make my way over to her as she shuts the notebook in front of her closed. As she placed her hand over the notebook, in a suspiciously hurried manner, I caught the word "Lastation" written in black and grey letters on the front.
"Nothing much, just tired is all," I say, flopping down onto the bed, staring at the ceiling, which was dimly lit by the light of Noire's nightlight.
"Whatever you say, Hiroshi." She then opens her notebook once more and begins to write in it.
"What is that notebook that you've got there?" I look at Noire with a sideways glance, finding her gaze focused on me, her red eyes staring into mine. "It's the first time that I've ever seen one in your possession."
"It's nothing special. Why do you ask?" She sets her pencil down, turning her chair so that she's facing me.
"I dunno, it just reminded me of something is all." I avert my gaze from Noire and towards the ceiling again, staring at the boring paint job on the ceiling.
"What's that 'something'? Is it something important?" She walks over to the bed and sits on the floor, her arms propped up on the bed, resting her cheek against it.
"Just a question is all. It's up to you to decide whether it's important or not." I smile, getting a pout out of the tsundere.
"Well just ask it already!" She huffs at me.
"Okay, okay!" I then sit up and look down at Noire, who looks up at me with expectancy. "I-I guess to state it blatantly, what were you like back in Gamindustri? B-before the whole incident happened and all, of course!"
"You're seriously asking that now?" She lets out a sigh and lets herself sink into the bed's cushioning.
"Well I wouldn't be asking it if I wasn't going to ask it, would I now?"
"You're so annoying sometimes, Hiroshi." I look at the noirette and give her a small pat on the head.
"Don't change the subject, Missy." She lets out another sigh before lifting herself up and sitting herself next to me.
"Well instead of changing the subject, let me ask you a question, Hiroshi." I look up to find Noire looking down at me with a hint of seriousness in her eyes.
"What's up?"
"Why do you care so much about my past?"
The question made me pause for a little bit, making me stop thinking about my next retort to Noire's future acknowledgements. Why do I care about her past so much? I've never really thought about it that much. Is it my selfishness? My care towards Noire? A little bit of both? I think to myself, focusing on the pencil, which seemed to be illuminated by the nightlight that rested on the desktop.
"If I were to honestly answer your question," I begin, sitting up so that I could meet her gaze at a comfortable level. "I care so much because you mean a lot to me. Even though we've only been together for nearly three months now, it feels like forever. Also, it's so that I can use it as blackmail against you later."
"Wh-what was that last part!?" Noire lets out a growl and socks me in the shoulder, making me grit my teeth. That girl sure does pack a punch.
"B-But in all seriousness, you do mean a lot to me. You might not know this, but you've definitely changed my life, Noire. You've made quite the interesting appearance, using me as your landing pad and all, but that's besides the point. I just would like to say thanks for all that you've done. Both the good things that you've done, and the not-so-good things that you've done."
"Y-You idiot! You don't ha-" I gently wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her close against my body. Feeling the warmth in Noire's cheeks rising by the second, I let out a sigh and give her a small poke in her neck, making her jerk against my hand which tickled her. So she's also ticklish, huh?
"I-I hate you, Hiroshi!" She pouts before pulling herself away from me, crossing her arms over her chest.
"There's the tsundere I know." I grin and get up from the bed, beginning to make my way out of the room. "We'd better entertain our guests before they leave for the night, Noire. Maybe we can do a 2v2 on the Plaestation or something before they leave. Anyway, I'll be headed downstairs, so take your time and come down whenever you wanna play." I glance behind me at Noire, who now has her arms relaxed and to her sides. Letting out a small sigh, I then turn back and head down the stairs, where I was greeted by Masaki and Uni in the living room.
•[•]•[•] Noire [•]•[•]•
That idiot, teasing me like that! He's gonna pay for doing that! I glare at Hiroshi's back as he makes his way out of the room. Honestly, that idiot goes way too far sometimes...
Letting out a sigh, I turn back to my notebook, which was waiting for me to open it back up and write in it again. Opening the notebook, I find myself staring at a slip of paper, which lay faced up on the notebook paper.
On the paper, it read:
To Noire,
Hey, best pal! It's your buddy, Neptune! Now you may be wondering, 'how in the heck of the King Dogoos did you manage to slip this paper into my notebook!' Well, here's the thing! It's all a matter of the power of plot convenience, you kno-
I stop reading the note and crumple the piece of paper up, tossing it into the recycling bin on the side of the desk. That idiot's going on about that "plot convenience" nonsense again. I let out another sigh and close my notebook, getting up from my chair and exiting the room to join the others downstairs.
As I exited the room, I heard something shift from behind me, making me turn around in curiosity and confusion. Before, my notebook was on the desk, closed with the pen lying on the top of it, but it was suddenly missing along with the pen itself! What in Gamindustri's lands of Black Regality just happened? I begin to make my way into the room to find a note on the desk, written in handwriting that somehow looked familiar, but not enough to strike a memory:
Dear fellow CPUs,
Just as a disclaimer, I have already sent out letters to the other CPUs, informing them about your situations as far as being… cast into another dimension. All of this being according to my plan, I've made some of my own moves as far as controlling things back in Gamindustri! Lucky for you, I was kind enough to continue to have each of your nations completely in tact, as well as each of your share levels to be at a constant rate!
As you have probably figured out, you've all gotten letters from each other via a random notebook that you've suddenly begun to write in, recording your daily history of the past few weeks, correct? Let's call this process "Extradimensional Dispersion". You all are still connected ever-so-slightly by your memories of each other, hence the reason why you've acquired letters from each other. Overtime, you will also be able to regain some of your abilities, so once you do acquire your powers once again, use them wisely in order to help you escape the dimension that you have been trapped within.
With that being said, I won't interfere with any of your events that you have partaken in so far, so with that said, I will end my letter here before I reveal too much information.
Let us partake in conversation once again!
"Well that totally isn't weird at all!" I glare at the piece of paper, which stared back at me with no response. "Who would, or could, even send something like that to me!? And apparently that person has the power to send letters through different dimensions!? That is beyond my knowledge, or even anyone that I know of!" I let out a long sigh before folding the piece of paper up and slipping it into my section of the drawers.
It was then that I noticed something on the bottom left of the handle of the drawer: a small icon. Raising my finger up to it, I slowly press on it, watching as it revealed a small, pop-up screen that read, "How would you like to access your inventory?"
"So this really is just like that person had said!" I exclaim, my voice expressing a hint of excitement, as well as caution.
Quickly typing in a response to the question, a grid, full of items that looked extremely familiar, appeared in front of me. This is the inventory that I had back in Gamindustri! How can this be? I then notice an item in my inventory in the bottom right corner of my inventory. The notebook! I let out a small gasp, staring at the empty desk and back at my inventory.
"Oh, Goddess, how will I be able to explain something like this to Hiroshi!?" I scratch the back of my head with a frustrated grumble before closing my inventory. Turning to the doorway, which lead to the hallway that neared the stairs, I quickly take the letter from the mysterious person and slip it into my breast pocket before heading down the stairs to meet up with Hiroshi, Masaki and Uni.
...
"What took you so long?" Hiroshi tosses me a controller, in which I catch and sit myself next to him. "We nearly finished two rounds without you!"
"I'm sorry that I found out that you brought a bag of chips into the room and that it spilled all over the floor!" Half of that was a lie. I thought to myself as Hiroshi began to set up the next game. There technically was a bag of chips, but it never spilled or anything.
"O-oh, really? My bad." He awkwardly apologizes in front of Masaki and Uni, who have their attention towards their minigame of Rock, Paper, Scissors. "Are you guys and gals down for a few more rounds of Call of D*ty?" We all nod and Hiroshi continues to set up the teams and rules.
"Just saying," Uni glances at me with a cocky grin. "Even though I am your little sister, doesn't mean that I can't beat you at a game!"
"It's no use to get all high and mighty when I've already won the match!" I retort, grabbing my controller and putting on a game face.
"Now that you two are fired up, I can't help but get fired up as well!" Hiroshi grins and starts the match, our characters entering the battlefield, preparing us for a 2v2.
"Game on! We're gonna beat you two so hard that you're gonna wanna wish that you never even played us in the first place!" Masaki taunts Noire and I, the two of us selecting our sets before preparing for the battle.
~Author's Note!~
Hey, everyone! Okay, I know that you all have been waiting yet again another week before I update GoL. I've been extremely busy with schoolwork, and i have also started to partake in some extracurricular work at school as well. With that being said, I would like to formally announce to you that I am going to be most likely posting every two weeks now. At least until I am able to have the motivation to write a lot more (which I haven't got the ideas nor motivation to do so). Anyway, how are you guys enjoying the story so far? Has it been repetitive just like the last story? Is it better? Worse? What about Hiroshi x Noire? Is it progressing smoothly or not really? Nonetheless, if you have read up to this point (or if you're just starting from here, then go ahead and work backwards I guess?), thank you for all of the support that you have given me!
Have an amazing day! :)
