Sorry for the excessive cursing in this chapter. I got too into it.

Sorry for the excessive length of this chapter. I got too into it.

Sorry for using the wrong toothbrush that one time. It got too into me.

In defense of a lonely heart

The cold wind was blowing across my freezing face. It made me shiver a little. This high up the gusts were relentless and almost unbearable. But I would bare them, for my goal was ever close to being achieved. With fading feeling in my swelling fingers I held on to the guardrail of the rooftop. This building was ten floors tall, but I could still track the movements of the people below. And using my binoculars I could make out almost all the details of the daily hustle and bustle.

"The sun is coming out…" I mumbled with a coarse throat. Until now the sky had been covered in dark grey clouds, but now cracks had opened up to let big rays splash across the city. But even with this my body didn't warm up. The sun was much too weak to thaw out my machine like self.

I exhaled my visible breath and looked to the direction of Planeptune Tower. It was visible pretty much anywhere in this metropolis, but from here it looked almost like a needle. A needle penetrating the clouds like a knife in the kidney. I had grown tired of gazing at this pompous waste of architecture. Lastation's Basilicom was much more practical than that.

But what caught my eye was actually a dot moving towards my direction. It grew bigger over time, in fact rapidly so. That was a flying object of human size. It was Purple Heart.

Instinctively I grabbed the sniper rifle at my back and readied it on the rail. Just as fast I loosened my fingers and let go again. This was a pointless endeavor.

'Hard Drive Divinity'. That was my greatest obstacle. This transformation that was proof of a goddess' privilege would stop any bullet from a normal weapon like mine. From a powerless human like me. This form was a hundred times more durable than a normal person and her superhuman reflexes would probably allow her to dodge or deflect the bullet with ease.

Many times I had considered trying to shoot her out of the sky, but it would have been a pointless action leading to my own demise. Instead I would have to shoot the human, Neptune. She was an enemy I could defeat. I had to defeat!

In mere seconds the purple haired woman landed down below on the open plaza. Dozens of Planeptunian sheep gawked at their false goddess descent as if it was a spectactle. My eyes were filled with contempt instead. She moved on to the café while greeting her people politely. In this form she seemed almost decent. What a joke.

As she undid her transformation the obnoxious small girl returned to the world and created ripples of chaos in the crowd. She acted so familiar with her subjects that I felt sick just watching. And those faithless people scattered as if this visit was just an average occurrence to them. Neptune was allowed to move to her rendezvous point without being bothered.

Yes, her date. With my Lady. I squinted my eyes to see her divine appearance in the café. For a while I had noticed her unmistakable clothing style and elegance at one of the tables. But from this position her head was cut off by the parasol. Once again I was denied to see her cold and awe inspiring eyes…

They met up like in a silent black and white movie. Of course I had no way of listening in on their conversation. And there was no point to do such a thing anyway. All I needed was an opening and I had already made sure of that.

With a deep breath I took hold of my weapon again and focused my sight through the crosshair. Red lines were surrounding the table of the two CPUs. My aim was steady from long practice during sleepless nights. I was confident that even with this painful wind I would still manage a straight shot.

While waiting for my opportunity I mulled things over in my head again. Even though Lady Black Heart was pragmatic and brilliant she was still under the influence of this purple poison. Should her lover bite the dust, she would certainly not remain unfazed. Could I truly take on such a great task? Such a huge burden? My teeth grinded in response to my own wavering soul. This was not the time to fear consequences!

Shooting Neptune in front of my Lady was a cruelty that even I could not justify, so I would do it when she was gone. Under ideal circumstances I would have preferred if she was far away in another country during the assassination. So far away that she would receive the news long after this vile seductress was already buried six feet under dirt.

The death was a necessary pain, but the thorn should be pulled out swiftly and decisively without time to contemplate the pain. Such an ideal reality would never come to be I feared.

I focused. Just now a waitress had tripped over her own feet and spilled coffee on Lady Black Heart's beautiful dress. Under normal circumstances I would have tortured the clumsy girl in my mind a hundred times over, but this was what I had been waiting for. She was paid by me to perform this little mishap. It had not been easy to convince her, but my made up story was that it was for the sake of a hidden camera show. According to my story the CPUs were in on it as well and nobody would be angry with her.

Nothing of the sort was the case, but the confused girl had no courage to bring it up when my Lady got up with an angry expression. Certainly this outfit was priceless to her. But the stupid young girl in a maid outfit only bowed her head repeatedly and apologized before offering something. Finally.

Lady Black Heart left her seat and said something to Neptune who had been moving to get up as well. The short haired girl sat back down and watched them leave for the back. The restroom area of the café. My plan had reached its final stage. While my Lady was going to clean the stain on her dress, Neptune would stay in my line of fire, all alone and defenseless. It would only take one shot and my mission was finally over.

After aiming for her forehead specifically I steadied my breathing and strained my left eye until I could see every wrinkle on her clothing and all the separate hairs on her bangs. Now was the time. This was the perfect moment.

My trigger finger moved… And shook. I bit my lip and scolded myself for hesitating. Poison was indirect, but that made it easier. Pulling the trigger was like pushing the bullet into her skull with my own hand. Seeing that lively expression contort in worry….

"Begone, Neptune." I formed the words on my dry, coarse lips and pulled the trigger.

With the release of the bullet I also expelled my second thoughts and doubts. This was for the best of the only person that mattered to me. The tension in my arms disappeared and I fell forward on the rail completely out of energy. My food reserves had dwindled down after all my expenses in the recent weeks and now I was weak. But now I had executed my target.

Ping.

A light, almost bell like sound made me tense up. Something was wrong, I could feel it in my bones. Hastily I looked through the scope again.

Neptune was… fine.

"How could that-?" I panicked. She didn't have a single scratch on her squishy face. But there was no hole inside the table or the wall behind her either! I couldn't have been such a bad shot that I missed her by so many meters. But when I moved the reticle to the right I saw something almost unnoticeable. An unusual hole inside one of the leaves of a nearby tree. It was a bullet hole no doubt.

I missed?

Rage spilled across my mind. My body was moving on its own, aiming at her nose bridge this time. I could not fail now! This was unacceptable! I simply needed to do it again. My finger pulled the trigger for a second time, this time without hesitation. The bullet sped across the square with precision – and then something blinked for a moment. Suddenly the bullet had rammed straight into the tree trunk close by.

And there was a second silver metal shell rolling across the sidewalk.

A feeling like ice water splashed across my back and I rushed my sniper rifle across the skyline. Desperately I moved the reticle across the other buildings around me, windows, rooftops and balconies. The realization of what was going on had dawned on me. But the very idea was frightening to the core.

A sunray was reflected off the shining metal of the black rifle's muzzle. It blinded me for a moment, but as the shapes returned to my vision I finally saw my nemesis. This was impossible…!

A girl. Red high school uniform. Turquoise eyes. Silky black hair. And calm hands.

She was positioned on the building opposite to my own. This girl that was lying flat on her stomach and clearly aiming my way. My heart almost stopped when I realized that she was looking me directly in the eye.

This… this young girl was the one who opposed me? It should have been easy to take her out, but I had a premonition that she would be the faster shot. That determined expression was frightening. Now it really became clear what had happened. She had been shooting my bullets midair! As impossible as this feat sounded, I had seen the results with my own eyes. Who was this teenager with godly aim?

Sweat drops ran across my face as I rushed through several options at once. I could have tried to shoot her, but that would have made her hostile perhaps. She had not shot me despite having the surprise momentum on her side, so I assumed that it wasn't in her interest to kill me yet. Why was she so passive?

Yet if I could manage my assassination before she changed her mind…

I rolled to the side and behind a chimney for cover. Afterwards I aimed at Neptune again. This would be it! She had no idea about my timing. No way to determine the line of the bullet even with godly aim!

BANG! The shot was released and the bullet propelled towards the hairclip of the target.

Fling.

My eyes widened in shock as my own bullet came flying back towards me and shot straight into my rifle's muzzle, damaging it beyond recovery. The shrapnel sliced open my cheek, but the burning pain was just numb to me.

I sank to my knees and let go of my weapon. My head had left cover, but it didn't matter anymore. This master marksman in the body of a girl… had utterly defeated me…

Why? Whywhywhy?! Did she not know who this monster was? Did she not care about Lady Black Heart's future!? Every single one of these bitches got into my way…! Was the entire world against me after all?!

I punched the concrete roof below me and dragged myself upwards. If she was going to shoot me I would face her with all of my hatred, baring my teeth. From this distance I could barely see her. The bullet didn't pierce my ragged jacket or my chest. Nothing happened for a while.

With a weary mind I picked up the scope of my broken rifle and looked ahead. The girl was still aiming her gun at me. Clearly she was aware of my every move and noticed that I could see her again. Her lips moved slowly. My lip reading skills were nothing special, but at this speed even I could do it.

"D-o-n't u-n-d-e-r-e-s-t-i-m-a-t-e r-e-a-l s-t-a-l-k-e-r-s!" She said.

What?

I almost lost my footing. Her words made no sense! And why could I see the transient outlines of a pink power suit and a blue robot ninja behind her as if they were her spirit guardians…?

I rubbed my eyes and the shapes were gone.

S…stalkers?

Had I really been beaten by someone who could say that with a straight face? My spirit was crushed harder than when I lost my weapon. She had declared it so proudly. Who was she stalking? Neptune? Or perhaps…

"If you know her so well why would you stop me?!" I yelled across the rooftops. I felt an inexplicable pain in my chest. How could she not see that what I was doing was to save Lady Black Heart…!

The girl only shook her head.

Her expression… was one of pity.

"Gggghkkkk!" I balled my fists and bit my tongue till it bled. This humiliation… this pain she forced unto me was unbearable like the icy winds that assailed my stiff body.

My dream was over.

"I won't allow it." A hot burning iron drilled itself through my weak heart and I shook off those defeatist thoughts. It wasn't over yet. As long as I still drew breath…

I did not return to my old hideout that day. I did not have anything worth picking up anyway. The sniper rifle was trashed and my belongings were basically what I was wearing on my body. I was all out of food too.

With a hazy mind I walked into the dark alleys of a slum in the backwater town at the border of Lowee. This sad excuse for a town was closer to a village and as rundown as a ghetto. A gathering place for the scum of society and those who had nothing to return to. At every dark corner I met with dangerous individuals that were armed to their teeth or crooked dealers that wanted to sell me illegal substances.

This was hell on earth. I was not made to traverse these shady districts. Especially not at night. Yet it was the only shot I had left.

That purple witch was protected by all these women in the shadows. A single assassin like me had no chance to get through their tight security. What I needed was a group of people with the same goal as me. People that would take care of the nuisances and give me a chance to finish Neptune off uninterrupted.

Until now I had never considered looking for likeminded people. Villains who would kill the goddesses were unstable at best and detestable altogether. Ironically, despite my ambition, I had not counted myself among their kind. But in the end what really made me different from these bastards? My ideals? I couldn't afford to be choosy anymore.

The rusty door creaked as I kicked it open. My foot hurt from the action, but I needed to appear strong to these criminals. Otherwise I would be eaten alive before the main course was even discussed. My stomach rumbled, but the noise of the arguing goons in the room overpowered it by far. I didn't need food, instead I needed a seat to rest my body.

The scum inside had not even paid attention to my entrance, some of them were too busy punching each other, and the rest was cheering those violent idiots on. It made me want to throw up, but there was nothing left inside my stomach to be pushed out.

"Gyahaha! Give 'em hell Johnny!"

"This inbred bastard thought he coulda cheat me brudda? Fuck you!"

"It's like I'm always sayin'. Brimstone and whiskey, but no blood in my champagne."

"The hell does that even mean Stubby?"

"Tis an old family saying."

"Well your family sound like a buncha morons! Kekeke!"

I leaned against a broken table and held my head. The shapes of the fighting idiots were a little fuzzy… No I needed to concentrate.

"Okay that's enough assholes." A deep voice echoed through the room and made the fighters stop in their tracks. A huge thug had just entered the room from the back entrance. He was at least two heads taller than almost everyone in here and he didn't look amused. "Save those knives for the CPUs."

"Oh ya cannut e'n tell where I'm gonna stuff dat knife once I getta hold of tha lil' girly in the fox pelt heeheheheee!" One of the guys with a broken nose and a face that sported more scars than flesh cackled as he played with two knives. I assumed he was talking about White Heart. Any of these criminals had a different CPU they wanted to see dead for various reasons.

"Shut your bitchhole." The tall man only glared at scarface once to make him back down. He seemed to be a high ranking animal around here. "We aren't here for that. Today's meeting is about the new situation." He was much more formal than the rest of the idiots around here.

"Purple and Black got into a cutsey-wutsey little ship together, eh?" One guy with cracked glasses said with a contemptible smile. "Let's burn the sails and make some holes into the wooden bow."

"I'm totes' with him! There is nothin' more disgusting than a bunch of bitches trying to play house." Eye-patch criminal number 2 declared.

"If Planeptune and Lastation unified that would be counter-productive to our cause." A distinguished voice cut into the yelling and a woman entered through the same door as the tall guy. She was wearing light reflecting glasses and a rather fancy uniform. I recognized the military symbols of Leanbox on her shoulder.

"That is true." The mountain of a man agreed. "I don't care about the Leanbox Expansion Frontier's goals, but two CPUs working together is beneficial to nobody here." He finally sat down on a chair much too small for him.

"Who's that stuck up lady?" One of the criminals approached her with a hunched back and a knife in his hand… before a rifle was put to his nose.

"I am the one with the better reach." She smacked the metal part across his face and sat down on his knocked over body. Behind her three more girls in uniform appeared. "We are not interested in your goals either. All we require is manpower to eliminate Black Heart."

My hand cramped up around the rusty armrest I was holding onto. These women were a danger to my Lady! But… it was to be expected. The greatest threat to Leanbox was always Lastation. Lowee was not to be underestimated, but Leanbox bordered on Lastation and Planeptune. Should those two unite, then Leanbox would be completely cut off from the main land.

"The one who needs to eat lead is that stupid Neptune! I want to shoot her until she resembles a friggin' fly swatter!" A bounty hunter looking man rubbed his gun creepily. "She's taken all my high payin' requests. I don't like competition dammit."

"Agreed! That purple shitstain has been way too smug forever!"

"Kill her!"

"End her!"

"YEAH!"

The overwhelming majority seemed to favor assassinating Neptune. It should have made me happy, but instead I felt a weird sense of disgust.

"You keep repeating this same tired sermon every single time, but why did we never kill them? It's because nobody has the guts to do it." Suddenly a hooded man called the out from the back.

"They have many allies that have to be taken care of first." The huge leader countered.

"Yes… That darn guild girl keeps busting up our hideouts." One of the crooks spat out. "She's got some nerve trying to stop us."

"And Lastation's military is efficient." The Leanbox soldier said with a sigh.

"I don't care about Nep, I wanna see that holier-than-thou twintails dead." The hooded guy said with a growl.

"No, we gotta kill Neptune! Blacky is not so bad. I wouldn't mind being stepped on by her holier-than-thou heels… wahaha!"

"I can't forgive that horndog Neptune! She thinks she can just take our mistress from us?!"

"The heck did you say? That stupid tsundere is the one who's trying to get into Lady Neptunes panties! Those belong to me! Every single stripe!"

Suddenly the amount of people complaining about their crush being taken was increasing. My head was pulsing from the pain this disgusting talk caused me. Every single one of these dirtbags had ulterior motives. The way they talked about my Lady made me want to smash their heads into the windows, but there was no way I could finish all of these people by myself.

"You wanna repeat that asswipe? She's my future wife!"

"Oh yeah? Well I reckon dat wife will be missin' some organs soon kekeke!"

"Remember when ASIC was still runnin' the underworld? Those were bettah days!"

"I 'member you bein' a lackey to a rat pfaah!"

"Warechu was the best boss a school dropout could ever wish for." Another guy started crying.

"He ain't dead…"

"They maimed his villainous spirit!" He kept crying.

They kept spouting nonsense. They kept arguing over trivialities. They never agreed on anything. My hurting ears wanted to shut down.

"Then kill her with your own hands." I said with a cold voice.

"Ey, who's that joker?"

"I said kill her. It's not hard. Take your pals and move to Planeptune tonight. Kill the guards, kill her friends, do whatever you must. Get in there and shoot her. Stab her. Break her neck. Do what must be done. Does nobody here have the resolve?" I might have been delirious at this point, but I was completely fed up with this bunch.

"Are you a moron? If we just went in we'd be dead meat!" The scarred guy clicked his tongue.

"So what?" I shrugged.

"So we won't be able to take our spoils." The tall man said coldly.

"Spoils? Worthless. The kill is the only reward you need. If you can't even stake your life on this, then you can't do it even with a hundred allies." I rose from my chair and weakly held my shaking arm. "For Lady …. Black Heart…" My vision got blurry.

"He's a devotee." The female Leanbox soldier said and adjusted her glasses. "A fanatic."

"Whatever you want to call me." I held my splitting head. "Are you going to kill Neptune or not?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"You wanna catch my foot up yer asses?!"

Their mixed responses were the only clue I needed. These screwed up criminals were all just talk. None of them actually cared about my Lady. None of them had the resolve to make the ultimate sacrifice.

None of them knew the weight of taking a life. They only knew the weight of their own life. Ideals without sacrifice. Bloodlust without ideals.

What did they know of the brilliance that I vowed to protect?

"I am done with this place." I said and stumbled out of the hideout. There was nothing of worth inside here.

"What a weirdo."

"Yeah totally nuts!"

"A suicidal assassin can't get anything in this life." The tall man said with closed eyes.

Options closed up in front of me like doors in a hallway. I had reached the end of the line. There was only one door left. Indirect measures did not work. Ranged attacks would not work. Behind every door stood another ally of that despicable laughing girl.

In other words… I needed to do it with my own hands. Get close in and do it. There was no turning back, that much I knew. And I had given up on my own future all along.

My Lady… oh how I yearned for her. I wanted to see her again. I wanted to see her powerful gaze above me. If only I could free her of all ties that bind.

I had gulped down the last bit of water from my bottle. The only thing I bought from my last credits. Now I was truly out of resources.

Except…

Except this military knife I had stolen from one of the gangsters while I left their hideout.

A knife to end it all. Would it find my own heart? Or that of the one I had to defeat? Either way it would be the end of my suffering.

The crowd was like an endless stream. If the people were the waves then the vehicles were like fish trying to break through the confines of their destiny. Even I did not really know what I was thinking anymore.

In the distance I saw her. Neptune.

In the distance I witnessed her. Lady Black Heart.

Out on a stroll? Shopping? Sightseeing? It mattered not.

I just had to deliver my final strike. To her heart.

The people around me split as I pushed through them. They were glaring at me. Despising me. It was not important. Only a few more steps. To end the suffering…!

"I can't believe you ate 25 of them." Lady Black Heart said with a sigh.

"It's like they said 'Eat me! Eat me now or we will curse you!' So I had to do it." Neptune raised her finger while explaining.

"Are you sure you weren't half-asleep?" She smirked and looked at Neptune… with such kind eyes… I didn't want to see this. She shouldn't see this. But my legs could only move forward now!

"I'm so full, I could explode into mini-neps." Neptune sighed in satisfaction. "If ya cut my belly open it would rain jam ehehe~"

"No surprise there. Those pies were prepared for a whole class. You will be the one explaining that to K-sha by the way." My Lady said with a dismissive shrug.

"Aw shucks, I didn't think of that! They're gonna kill meeee!" She raised her arms in the air and shrieked.

STAB.

I bumped into the purple haired girl. My blade penetrated her chest almost casually. It was not as satisfying as I had hoped in my messy dreams. In fact… I felt nothing. My mind was fading already. The red blood that spluttered on my hand as I pulled back was warm…

Like in slow motion I fell forward past the two girls and to the ground. Behind me I could hear the air stuck in Neptune's throat. I could imagine her mouth wide agape as she coughed blood with white eyes. It was not a sight I wanted to see. In falling I pulled out the knife with a mushy sound.

If I hadn't just killed Neptune, I might have even passed as a careless stranger who just bumped into her by accident. If my legs would still have carried me I might have gotten away with it.

"H-hey hold on! What's wrong?" My Lady exclaimed in surprise. Soon she would probably try to take revenge upon me. But I had freed her… that was all that mattered. The cold pavement welcomed my weary body. "Neptune come on! Don't space out!"

My eyes closed and embraced the darkness. Memories flashed past my inner eye. Days in the sun walking across the park… waiting for her every day. Over and over I would see her determined smile… Ahh… my sins were too great…

"Woah, my shirt's ruined!" Neptune yelled in distress.

Her voice didn't sound pained, if a little regretful.

W-h-a-t…?

I opened my eyes with all my strength. My ears must have failed me…

"That's what you get for stuffing pies in there stupid. We will clean it later, but more importantly you just ran into this man!" My Lady sounded annoyed.

Pies?

From the corner of my eyes I saw Neptune turn around and pat her reddening shirt… she pulled out some squashed pies. There was a pretty deep indent from a knife stab in them.

The red… the red red red red reeeed?!

I licked the 'blood' from my hands. It tasted too sweet for anything that could come out of that ridiculous witch's body.

"I… messed up…" I whispered with tears in the corners of my eyes. My last attempt was for nothing after all. Just like the others. Just like everything I had ever done. I could not beat Neptune. I never could.

"Now look what you did. You made him cry. It must have really hurt." Lady Black Heart scolded Neptune.

"I said I'm sorry, alright?" She knelled down and took my hand.

No, don't touch me!

I wanted to shake her off, but I could barely move a finger anymore.

"Woah this dude's looking like a corpse!" Neptune looked startled.

"Now you are insulting him too? I apologize for her rudeness." She addressed me.

My Lady… talked to me?

I coughed… I laughed… but I coughed. It was painful with my dry throat, but I could not contain my emotions. I couldn't see my Lady and I did not want to turn towards her. Her gaze on the back of my head was already scorching my flesh.

"Are you okay? I didn't know my body was a thousand times folded iron."

"You aren't a katana."

"Well… you aren't a rapier either." Neptune said with a pout. Then she pulled me up by my shoulder. I averted my face, but she suddenly stopped and widened her eyes. "Hey! It's… it's that guy!" She waved her hands trying to remember me.

No… I didn't want it to come to this.

"He's the dude who keeps challenging me during my peaceful walks!" She finally connected the dots.

"Who?" My Lady looked at me in complete lack of recognition. Those cold eyes that barely acknowledged my existence. I shuddered. This was it. That was the true Lady Black Heart.

"Don't you remember? You were with me when he threw fruits at my beautiful face." Neptune said with an expressive hand gesture.

"No idea." My Lady was still not remembering. Exactly. I was nobody.

"He lost every single challenge tho." Neptune said self-satisfied.

My loose mind was moving further away.

Yes, every single day. I had waited in the park. Always with a new scheme. I knew. I knew it all along. Neptune would one day understand her feelings. She would take Lady Noire. She would pull her out of her loneliness. Take her from us all. Love finds a way. I was not blind. Everybody knew that they were going to get together eventually. There was subtext. There was precedent.

Someone had to do something. I was just an average guy switching from job to job. But I adored Lady Noire. She was the perfect leader, the perfect woman. As a child I had been watching her on TV. I had even traveled to the Basilicom to meet her in person. When I arrived she had come back from slaying a strong monster. She was covered in the beast's blood. The Basilicom staff did not dare to talk to her and pushed us onlookers away.

This was before Lady Uni was born, so nobody awaited Lady Noire. She entered the Basilicom with a forlorn look and passed me by. I called out to her. She moved her head and looked over the crowd as if it was not even there.

Her empty gaze passed through me. To her, I did not exist.

Yes, Lady Noire was above us humans. She was the greatest. And nobody should ever try to approach her. I understood that fact in my heart.

So many years had passed since that day. And now I knew that Neptune was winding her way into our goddess' heart. I needed to defeat her. So I challenged her to a duel. It was something silly about catching fruit I think. I was naïve and had no idea how to approach a CPU, so I just took the first thing I found and threw it at her.

She caught them with her mouth and ate all of them.

"Thanks for the treat amigo!" She said with a grin and waved me goodbye as she ran towards some unknown goal.

This is how I started to get obsessed with defeating her. It had to be done. Not just for Lady Noire, but for myself as well. An innocent contest turned into a one-sided feud. Nobody took me seriously, but I knew that no matter how silly the contest, if I beat Neptune at anything, I would have proven it.

Proven… 'it'? What did I need to prove? Why was it so important that Neptune lost? That she could be beaten even by an average joe like me?

"You look starved man. Let's get you some chomp-chomps. My treat for all the fruits you gave me." Neptune looked guilty, but also amicable. She took my arm and put it around her shoulder.

"No… not done… yet…" I mumbled incoherently.

"I told ya, we can go another round after you don't look like you're gonna turn undead anymore."

"There is a café over there. Let's go there." My Lady pointed at the café where I had tried to shoot Neptune. "They have some food as well. What was that about you bullying your citizens Neptune?" She glared at her girlfriend.

"Slander!"

I am not Planeptunian… I wanted to retort, but I would never backtalk to Lady Black Heart. I didn't even deserve to address her.

Neptune was a CPU. I was a human. If I beat Neptune… if I beat Neptune then that would prove that a human could be better than her.

I was worthless. Less than the average person. Lady Noire didn't even acknowledge my existence. But if such a worthless guy defeated Neptune, then she would be less than worthless. Then Lady Noire would never love her. She would never acknowledge her.

She had to lose. If Lady Noire could fall in love with Neptune even though she was less than worthless… then… then that would mean…

These thoughts should never be completed. But I realized it now. After reaching the brink I had finally understood my twisted feelings.

If Neptune could be loved by Lady Noire…. Then anybody could. It would mean that anybody had a chance. That she was always capable of loving someone. That nobody tried hard enough. That no one ever truly attempted to ease her loneliness.

I…. loved Lady Noire. I did ever since I was a child. But I was a coward. I saw those eyes… those cold empty eyes that looked through me… and ran away. I made Lady Noire someone to be isolated… someone above everyone with no happiness to gain or to lose.

I was the worst.

And that is why I needed to defeat Neptune. To prove to myself that I had a chance? That Lady Noire could acknowledge me?

It was too late when they became a couple. Everything was over. That had driven me into a corner. But wasn't it my own cowardice that had forced me there already?

"What happened since the last time at the park? Did ya get fired? Girlfriend left you? You can tell your big sister Nep." She was patting my back as I leaned on the table at the café.

"Stop being so tactless already." Lady Noire smacked Neptune's head. "You can take it slow and tell us your troubles. It's the least we can do." She was looking at me… with a smile.

Was this the woman I had called emotionless? Calculating?

Although perfection was still something I would attribute to her.

"I… quit my job." I said truthfully after sipping on the hot coffee.

"Career change! But you don't look like you got that class."

"And you had no alternative?" Lady Noire cupped her chin with one hand. "The job market in Planeptune isn't very good."

"Hey!"

I looked at my coarse hands and sniffed. They were treating me like a human… even though I was less than trash! Tears were pouring from my eyes.

"Perhaps we should take you home." My goddess said calmly.

"I… don't have a home to return to." I admitted.

"Nooooo way! They threw ya out because you didn't have a job? This is like the most evil thing since Kurome threw monsters at us from across another dimension!"

"Don't be overdramatic." Lady Noire shook her head. "This world isn't just fun and games. Rent must be paid."

"Lalalala I can't hear your crushing realism." Neptune plugged her ears with her index fingers.

"Listen up, I could probably organize a job for you." Lady Noire said while playing with her cup of espresso.

"Eh…?" I couldn't believe my ears.

"If you don't mind some heavy lifting. My Basilicom always needs spirited staff. And if you could keep up with Neptune for that long you must have a lot of patience." She said with a smirk.

"I… I-I-I'm not w-w-worthy!" I stammered.

"What qualifications do you have?" She asked, apparently misunderstanding my concerns.

"….I… I worked in almost every field before." I said slowly. It was true after all. As a disliked employee that never got along with anyone I had to switch jobs all the time.

"That's perfect then. You could help wherever we are low on staff. Get around a little and find out what you are best at. Have you tried security jobs yet?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Well, then I am looking forward to your protection." Lady Noire joked.

Me… officially protecting my Lady? It blew my mind even thinking about it.

"With the rest of the guards of course." She added.

"Yeah, I am already all the personal protection she needs." Neptune winked.

"Someone needs to protect me from your gluttony."

"I only devour sweet things. So it's your fault for being so sugary~"

"Blegh." She stretched out her tongue in disgust from that cheesy line.

I wanted to protect her. And that way I almost ended up hurting her. But I knew people who really wanted to hurt both of them. Perhaps my atonement was to stop that from happening.

"My Lady… I want to… report on some problematic…" I wanted to be of service right away, but my vision faded to black. The shock of the happiness given to me had overwhelmed my last reserves of consciousness.

"Captain, how'd you ever end up in the Basilicom security? You're totally too good for this line of work." One of my female recruits asked. She was always a little too frank to her superiors. But I didn't mind.

"Nobody is too good for anything cadet." I smacked her head. "Don't put people on pedestals they didn't want to climb on."

"Ouch… you're also a jerk." She said with teary eyes while rubbing her head.

"I loved Lady Noire with all my heart and she recognized my devotion, so I got hired." I answered her question.

"Yeah right!" She pouted, thinking I pulled her leg.

"If you didn't always challenge me to your little games you would already have been accepted as a full-fledged officer as well. Then I could finally quit." I said with a teasing voice. She averted her eyes.

"I won't stop just because you're telling me to."

"Guess not." I laughed dryly.

"S-stop acting like a wise old man, you got put into a stupid dead-end job by Lady Noire, so you wouldn't get super famous and be her rival. And you fell for it!" She glared at me and her ponytail swung to the side as she moved her head forward indignantly.

"Where do you get those fantasies from?" I sighed and patted her head.

"I will defeat you tomorrow, okay?!" She yelled and then ran out of the guard house.

And here they said this line of work didn't have any cute girls. Secretary K-sha would probably have scolded me for thinking that though. I was too old to be looking at young cadets that way. And my heart and soul entirely belonged to Lady Noire of course!

I pushed my hat deeper into my face. Perhaps one day I would have atoned for my sins. But this wall wouldn't complete itself. I brushed along the net of red lines and dots. They were all connecting pictures of criminals. All faces that had gathered in a dark room that one night. I had burned all of them into my memory back then. Now there were only their three leaders left. A tall thug from Lowee, a Leanbox ex-soldier and a hooded assassin from Lastation's guild. After all this time we might finally see a world without people who wanted to take down the CPUs.

A protector without name or glory. That was my role now.

Thanks to the love that had bloomed between Lady Neptune and Lady Noire I had found this path.

FIN