For many, it was just another peaceful day in Lowee. The Lowee U was starting to pick up more steam, little by little, and the citizens were all excited for many of the upcoming games and promotional events that the nation was lining up. As far as the average citizen of Lowee was concerned, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the world as it was right then. Why, things were looking up, after all! Planeptune and Lastation's union would bring exciting new things on their end, their goddess would be as lovely as always, and everything would continue as it always had now that Planeptune had been restored to normal.
The problem was, of course, that those people didn't have a damn clue what was really going on — and none knew this better than the nation's CPU.
However, she wasn't planning on talking to anyone about it. Ever, if she could help it. Unfortunately for her, her plan was about to meet with two small flaws.
Two small flaws that took the forms of her little sisters, that is.
Rom and Ram exchanged worried looks as they stood outside of Blanc's bedroom. They had gone to greet their older sister as she returned from... well, from wherever it was she had gone that morning, and they had immediately realized something was terribly wrong. Blanc's eyes had been red, her jaw was set, and her face was contorted into an expression that neither of them could understand as being their sister's. It was an expression that was almost alien to the two of them. It was an expression that they had never seen before on the face of the sister they loved so dearly.
Blanc wasn't just angry... She was defeated.
How could this be? She had never worn this expression, in all of the time that they had known her (which was to say their entire lives), and knowing her as well as they did, the mere prospect of her ever showing them such an expression was beyond them... But here she was, and it was clear on her face, strange — not to mention scary — that it was to see.
Defeat.
Blanc, the greatest and toughest and scariest and overall bestest person in the entire world, looked defeated.
But by what? She hadn't been in any fights — that much was obvious to the twins. And if she had been in a fight, even a terrible, horrible one, there was no way she would make that kind of expression! This was their super strong, super confident, super awesome, super never-losing-ever older sister! She wouldn't make that kind of face if she lost a fight! She'd make an angry face and jump right back into it, that's what she would do!
And yet... She was in a bad way, a way unlike anything they had ever seen, and they understood this. They wanted to ask what happened. They had wanted to approach her — but they knew they would get yelled at, so they chose to simply watch her and her strange behavior.
That behavior wasn't the strangest part though. Seeing this when Blanc arrived wasn't even close to being the strangest part of all here, not by a long shot. The truly strange part came after all of that — when Blanc had finally noticed the twins, once she landed on the balcony just outside of her office. They had expected her to yell at them for staring at her like that, but instead of that? Instead of yelling or screaming or being sour and dry like normal?
Instead she forced a smile for them (little sisters know when it's forced, they just let the big sister think they don't) and told them everything would be okay, that they wouldn't have to worry about a thing, that she would never let anything happen to them. After that, she had locked herself up in her bedroom and hadn't come out or made a sound since.
The twins were worried, but more than that, they were scared. They had never seen their older sister, who they loved so much, act like this. They had seen a lot in their life, at least relatively speaking anyway, and they had personally faced quite a bit on top of all of that as well. But this? This was something else. Something they would trade dealing with that gross robot for any day.
"What should we do, Ram...?"
"I-I dunno, Rom..."
They exchanged looks once more and let out sighs in unison.
"Maybe we should draw her a picture!"
"Or... Or bring her a snack..."
"I bet she'd like a new book to read!"
"M-Maybe something to drink..."
"Oh, a new game might be nice!"
"Lots of games..."
"That's a great idea! Let's go get all of this stuff right now!"
"O... Okay...!"
Hoping, oh how they were hoping, that Blanc would be okay while they were off assembling the various items that would hopefully make her feel better, the twins left after casting one final look towards Blanc's door.
Completely unaware of her sisters' actions, inside the room was Lowee's lone CPU. She was laying on her bed, a hand outstretched towards her ceiling, as if she was reaching for some impossible-to-grasp dream — a fleeting hope that she would never be able to grasp. Like she was reaching out towards another world, a life where none of this idiocy had been forced upon her. Her eyes might have been a little red, her cheeks might have been a little wet — or maybe it was just a trick of the light. Who could say? For a while, she didn't make a sound as she continued to stare up at her ceiling, her arm outstretched as her mind danced around from place to place, desperately trying in vain to do something about the situation.
Eventually, Blanc let out a long, tired sigh — choking on the end of it. She dropped her hand to her chest and clutched the fabric of her dress that covered the area just above her heart.
She closed her eyes and exhaled shakily. Naturally, the word she breathed next was the name of the one who had been on her mind most throughout all of this.
"Neptune..."
She clenched her other fist and grit her teeth. She had finally begun to accept that she had missed her chance, in her own way she was coming to terms with the fact that she would have to move on... But she didn't want to move on like this. She wasn't ready, damn it! She had the right to take it at her own pace, didn't she...?! She didn't think it was possible to be ready for a situation like this... But that wasn't true, now was it? Noire had stepped up to the plate without hesitation — and she hadn't even been in danger herself at the time.
Did that make Noire better than her for offering to help Neptune? What about Neptune, who had accepted that help?
Did that mean that she was weak? Was that it?
Was there any other possible explanation?!
Blanc let out a choked, strangled noise.
"Damn it all!"
After eating a light lunch (it was a bit too soon after their brunch for a real one, but too soon for dinner even so), Neptune and Noire found themselves chatting about all kinds of things in the restaurant that they had eaten in — there wasn't any particular goal to it, they just wanted to pass the time together to cool off after how heated things had been before. What's more, for all intents and purposes, this impromptu lunch seemed to have done the trick — both CPUs were in a much better mood than they had been earlier, and now their stomachs were full on top of it!
"So, Neptune... About the concert..." Noire bit her lip. The truth of the matter was, after how they had made up, Noire was once again entertaining ideas of how she could seduce Neptune. In fact... Despite their fight, the desire was stronger than ever, if anything. Maybe because of it, even! At the same time, now that she knew what Neptune had wanted to do at the concert — and why she wanted to do it... Not to mention how Neptune had been feeling throughout the whole mess... She supposed she could live with it. She might even get in on it too. For Neptune, she felt like she could do anything.
... No, not anything. Neptune was too wild, too embarrassing for that. Definitely not anything.
But she could do this. She might even enjoy it.
"Already taken care of," Neptune replied coolly, a bright smile on her face as she waved off Noire's worries, much to Noire's surprise. As Neptune saw Noire gaping at her, Neptune winked at the black haired CPU, puffing out her chest as she struck a rather heroic looking pose — or so she hoped, anyway. "What, you think I'd come and find you without dealing with that? The first thing I did was tell 5pb. we weren't coming, silly."
"Neptune..." Noire found herself blushing and lowering her gaze towards the table that they were sitting at. Truthfully she had expected the matter of the concert to still be an issue — she hadn't expected Neptune to go ahead and take care of it, just for her, given how much Neptune had apparently wanted to do it. She had to admit... She was impressed. More than that, she appreciated the gesture.
"What's with that look?" Neptune shook her head, laughing a little. "I told you, didn't I? Or maybe I didn't." Neptune paused briefly, a thoughtful look crossing her face. Between one Noire talking to her and her talking to the other, she had had a lot on her mind since she had made that call to 5pb.. "Well, anyway- Look, Noire. As long as I have you, I don't need to tell the world anything. Sure, don't get me wrong, I feel happy enough to, and if it wouldn't make you storm out of here and yell at me, I'd totally jump up on this table and tell everybody in here how much I love you right this seco-"
Noire gave Neptune a look, a look which Neptune replied to with a broad grin.
"My point is that I can live with not bragging on stage about how lucky I've got it now. What I can't live without now..." Neptune reached over and put her hand on Noire's. Despite already knowing exactly what was coming next, Noire still found herself turning scarlet as Neptune said it. "... is this CPU over here."
"S-Since when have you been so good with your mouth?" Noire asked defensively, doing her best to cover up how touched she was, how much these comments were affecting her. Even after a month of things like this here and there, she still wasn't used to it! Would she ever be? ... She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to be. She liked how Neptune made her feel special like this...
"Funny, I thought you figured that out on our wedding da-Mmph!"
Aaaaand she ruined it.
Before Neptune could finish, Noire reached over and slammed her hands on the other CPU's mouth. There was no way she could let that sentence be spoken in a public place! No way! Never ever ever!
"Stop that!" Noire whispered, shooting looks around the restaurant. Thankfully no one had overheard them, but if it got out what they had really been doing on that day... Not to mention that night! Ohhh, she would never ever ever ever be able to live it down! She'd have to hole up in her Basilicom and never leave it again! Not even Neptune would be able to get her out after that! "That was supposed to be our little secret, remember?"
Pulling away from Noire so she could speak again (not to mention breathe), Neptune shrugged at her wife, then grinned mischievously after a moment of thought.
"I kiiiinda think everybody totally knows what we were doing, Noire," Neptune ducked as Noire's hands made an attempt to block Neptune's mouth again, at which point Neptune could laugh happily at her wife's poor attempts to stop her from speaking. "You're gonna have to come over here if you want to stop me, Nep Black! The evil General Neptunia will never stop her evil ways! Bwahahaha!"
"O-Oh, for goodness sakes! Stop with that name! And now you're a general?!" Withdrawing her hands to her sides, Noire crossed her arms, blushing at the nickname and the memories it had brought up. Since the wedding and union with Planeptune, she'd actually been invited back to the amusement park to make special guest appearances on the show, believe it or not. She hadn't agreed to a single one yet, naturally... but she hadn't exactly turned them down either...
"What's the matter?" Neptune wiggled her eyebrows up and down, a smirk forming on her lips as Noire's expression got more and more flustered. "Don't want anyone to find out your secret identity?" Placing a hand on her chest, Neptune continued. "Don't worry, Nep Black! Your secret is safe with-Mmmph!"
Once again, Neptune found her mouth being covered by a pair of hands.
"Hmph! Like Nep Black would ever would trust her secret identity with an evil general like you."
It had taken some time for Chika to finally wake up. Vert had dutifully stayed by her side during the entire period that it took for her to wake up. Once she had, Vert had wanted to avoid the subject that had caused her to freeze up if she could, but to her surprise, Chika had pushed the matter almost immediately — more than Vert herself even had with Blanc. To say that it was a surprise would be a bit of an understatement, but there was nothing Vert could really do at that point... And so, faced with that, Vert could do little else but explain the situation to her Oracle in full detail.
It had taken some time for Chika to finally stop crying after that — Vert had certainly tried, but Chika was Chika after all. She had always been one for reactions that were dramatic and unnecessarily over the top, but this time, Vert knew that over the top as it was, it was honest all the same. What's more, it almost felt like, in a way, Chika was shedding the tears that she herself was holding in, for Chika's sake as well as for her own.
And so it went. Chika cried for herself, for her lost chance with her beloved Vert, for the loss of her happy days with her CPU that would someday becoming to an end, either through tragedy or through an unwanted union. Chika cried for Vert, for the things Vert was going to be giving up for the sake of Leanbox, for the sake of even Chika herself and her safety in the years to come. And after a while, she just cried for the sake of it, and she cried because the situation called for it.
Eventually, as Chika found herself wiping her tears, she realized that she was feeling oddly calm. Abnormally so. She was hardly "over it" yet, but... Her affections for her CPU were temporarily overriding that. Her mind was starting to move a mile a minute. She turned to Vert, who had stayed with her throughout her entire shameful display, and felt a heavy feeling settle in her chest. She wasn't sure if it was her nature as an Oracle egging her on in ways it rarely ever did or if it was her feelings for her CPU trying to fight back against this horrible union in the only way she could think to, but whatever the reason, Chika spoke up.
Perhaps she would be out of line in doing so, and yet... And yet she couldn't help herself.
Vert would not be unhappy.
Chika would sooner die — or at least be severely bruised — before that happened on her watch.
"What should we do with all of the gifts that you purchased for Lady Nepgear?" Chika finally asked quietly, unable to meet Vert's gaze as she let the words leave her lips. She knew that it was surely going to be hard for Vert, who so obviously had some sort of feelings for or attraction to the CPU Candidate in question. It was hard not to see it, even from her Vert-plus-herself-centered perspective.
Her beloved Vert had taken such a liking to the girl as they had gotten to know each other as they fought against ASIC with the other CPUs, other Candidates, and their other friends. When the CPUs had been saved from the Gamindustri Graveyard and all were reunited with their sisters, Lady Nepgear had reached out to Vert, who had no sister there who wanted to see her again, who had had no one there who had wanted to save her, or even so much as greet her. Before all of this "Planeptune in trouble" business, Lady Nepgear, despite her flustered words, would still often come to Leanbox to spend time with Vert, play games with her, even wear all kinds of clothes together with her — oh, Chika was so jealous! How could Vert do all of those things with Lady Nepgear when she was right there all along...?! And if the two of them had really been so close, why hadn't she said anything to her sister, hmmm...?
Chika sighed inwardly, shaking those bitter thoughts away. Now was not the time.
Because... She still couldn't deny that all of those things, those moments, existed, either. Since then, it had just continued to escalate too. More and more and more and more — even the Vert from the other world had apparently latched onto Planeptune's CPU Candidate and taken a liking to her. Under normal circumstances, such a thought would infuriate Chika, but in this moment...
She saw hope.
Vert likely didn't suspect anything more from her, of course — how could she? In this moment, Chika was not thinking of herself. She was thinking purely of her treasured and wonderful sister, and only her. And this did need to be addressed eventually. The items were just sitting around now, after all... And Vert had spent so much and had been so excited about all of it...
Chika didn't want these things lying around, making Vert depressed — especially when she could put them to a good use that Vert very well might not.
"Shall I dispose of them?"
The Oracle might have felt guilty saying something that might have come off so heartless, having caused the clearly hurt expression that flashed across Vert's face, but if Vert just let her do this one thing...! If Vert let her handle it instead of deciding to do it herself...! It would be for the best...!
"That won't do. I bought them so she could have things to do and enjoy when she woke up... I can't imagine she'll have a lot waiting for her, given how Neptune's been so distracted." Vert pursed her lips. Chika knew why. Vert had bought a good deal of those gifts to be enjoyed together with Lady Nepgear, not by her — alone. Shaking her head, Vert stood and made a "go ahead" sort of motion with her hands. "Just... send them on, as planned. In fact, send them right now if you can, but have them marked as from an anonymous sender. This is important."
There was a pause. Chika hated seeing Vert like this. She might have said it would have broken her heart if she knew whether or not there was anything left to break right now.
"It... It's better than way."
As Vert left, Chika bit her lip. The way Vert was walking... It appeared it hadn't sunken in until just now what she had agreed to do with Lowee's CPU. For a brief moment, Chika seriously considered chasing after her, telling her that nothing else matter, and so many other things, but... She didn't. Chika let Vert go. For the first time in her life, Chika left Vert to her lonesome — perhaps when Vert needed her most at that.
After all, she had already decided what she would be doing right now. Vert's order to send the gifts anonymously had been unexpected, admittedly, but it didn't matter to Chika. What could Vert do to her that was any worse than what had just happened? Fire her? That might be a blessing at this point... No, no it wouldn't be — but it still wouldn't hurt as much as this had. With that in mind, it was decided for certain — for the first time in her life, she would disobey a direct request from Vert.
It would be directly for Vert's sake, however.
If it could bring Vert happiness... If there was even a small chance of it... Even if it damned Lowee at some point down the road...!
If it made Vert happy, then nothing else mattered to Chika in that moment.
And so, as Chika later sent the countless packages along to Planeptune to be given to Nepgear upon her awakening, she made sure that the sender's name was very clearly labeled. She wanted Nepgear to know that, without any question in her mind, it was Vert who had sent those items. She wanted it to be made clear, without a shadow of a doubt, that it had been Vert who had been thinking of the ailing CPU Candidate.
Maybe Chika couldn't be the one to bring Vert happiness... But maybe that little sister of Lady Neptune could before it was too late.
Maybe it was selfish of her, maybe it was shortsighted of her, and maybe it was just plain stupid of her, but in that moment, she didn't care. She didn't care about any of it. All she cared about was erasing that expression from Vert's face and the feelings that caused it from the CPU forever.
"Don't let me down... For my beloved sister's sake... Don't let me down."
Little did Chika know just how much change this little act of defiance would bring about.
No one could have.
Only time would tell if it was change for the better, however...
