"I think it's time to unwind after all that." (Uzume)


After the initial celebrations, Leanbox had gone into a quiet period, as everyone was looking to rebuild, as well as rest after many days of intense fighting. With Vert's clue into the enemy revealed, Histoire had been notified, and she began looking into the word 'GRADAC' for any additional information. It was not a word familiar to her at all, and it's not even certain that the word could even bring up anything else. Still, it was a lead, and she had to try.

As with the times the other nations were liberated, the party was given some time to rest and recuperate, hopefully with no interruption. The firewall was still an issue at the Azure Coast, as well as some of the land masses outside the mainland. However, with the four major nations free, some sense of normalcy was returning to the citizens of Gamindustri. There was some concern about whether the enemy would attack again, but so far, all was quiet on that front.

This was time for Thomas to look around Leanbox proper, and get some much needed rest. Even though he's visited Leanbox from time to time, he never stayed too long. Perhaps that was why he hardly felt comfortable being around these parts. In all the other nations, he eventually grew accustomed to some aspect over there. Even in Lowee, where he despised the cold, he could curl up in one of the libraries to read. In Leanbox, however, he just wasn't sure what to make of it.

He had some new ideas, thanks to the suggestions of one Lady Green Heart. Vert wanted Thomas to get to know Leanbox a bit more, and suggested a few places to check out. The suggestions ranged from entertainment complexes to arcades to places at the market. Thomas mulled through the options, coming to the realization that Leanbox was really heavy into the competitive scene. Sports, film, music, gaming, everything seemed geared in that direction. While that might appeal to him at another time, he just wanted to rest. Couldn't he simply sleep at a guest room at the Basilicom?

It was then that Vert offered a few more laid-back options, which Thomas was happy enough to try out. It wasn't too far away from the Basilicom, though Thomas came in at a time when there wasn't so many people. Thomas was hoping that it would be the case, as he went inside and went to the reception to sign in and pay a small fee. His financial situation was nowhere as troublesome as Affimax's, but he still felt he was dipping into the red, spending more than he got while adventuring. Still, it was a long way before he would have to worry. All that time saving and investing...

Regardless, he thanked the reception and proceeded ahead. After passing a few doors, he made his way to his destination, going into a change room. By now, I guess I should unveil where exactly Thomas went on this quiet day. Today, Thomas was going to take a rest at one of the public baths in Leanbox. The popularity of hot springs in the moe-oriented nation was pretty high, and many places offer such services where people can enjoy a nice warm bath. Hearing that some of the girls had some relaxation at one of these things earlier in the adventure piqued his interest. Perhaps it was just what he needed to ease some of that stress he's had.

Changing out of his clothes and cleaning himself, Thomas wrapped a towel around his waist and hips, covering the things one would not be seeing in a family-friendly fanfiction. From there, he left towards the next room.

While the facility here had a variety of baths, Thomas took a fairly large room, with what looked to be a traditional hot spring, or, at the very least, an incredible simulation. A large pool filled the center, stretching out pretty far, with giant rocks surrounding the area for people to rest against, and even a few boulders in the middle for people to rest. There was so much space to lounge around in, and since it seemed to be a quiet day here, Thomas had this bath all to himself. This might turn out to be a good financial deal.

As he stepped around the bath, there was one thing Thomas might gripe about. He stepped a bare toe into the water, finding the temperature to be nice and warm. That said, there was quite a bit of fog, or steam, in the room. Sure, one could expect some fogginess whenever warm or hot water was involved, but this was quite a lot. There were times where he could barely see past his chest.

Thomas shook his head. It was not going to bother him that much. If anything, he could go to a nice out-of-the-way corner and just rest, unlikely to be bothered or noticed by anyone else coming in for some bathing. In fact, this was just the idea he had in mind. Not moving too far away from the entrance, Thomas slowly dipped himself into the water, trying to find a nice, comfortable spot to sit in the shallow pool.

He eventually found a spot, which would normally overlook a good portion of the room if not for the aforementioned fog, but that didn't matter to him. The warm, clean water was already helping out, easing some of the tension he had. It even helped with some of the wounds he had accumulated over time. It was hard to tell whether the soreness he felt was the result of fighting or fatigue. It may as well have been both.

Sitting down, Thomas splashed a bit of water along his shoulders, and went to rub the one to his right. Taking a seat in the shallow water, Thomas took a deep breath before exhaling a sigh. The water level reached just about chest level, allowing him to drop down his shoulders and relax his arms underwater.

"Lady Vert was kind enough to suggest such a place for some R&R," Thomas said quietly to himself, recapping what was narrated, "So far, this doesn't seem so bad." Now that he could relax, he had time to collect his thoughts. No crazy randomness from the goddesses to distract him this time around.

It was as good a point as any for him to delve into what's transpired. He closed his eyes and went through the events in his mind, trying to sort them out. Without going into each random thought that popped into his mind, I'll try and organize them into a narrative here.

First, he thought of what was ahead. He expected that the next area to visit for the party would be the Azure Coast, still surrounded by a large barrier. Unless the party needed more Share Energy somehow, it should not be difficult to take that down.

He wasn't certain what to expect ahead. Could this be the final area where they discover where the villains have been holed up the entire time? He had his suspicions of where they could be in the area, but his main priority should be the safety of those in the cities. Would those cities face a similar state that Leanbox and Lastation had? Would there be a complete lockdown? Until he had any additional information, he could not be certain.

Thinking further back, he remembered of the time he spent at the Azure Coast during the last crisis. He recalled that metal bird that watched him and others during that time, likely collecting information on what they were doing. Just what could the enemy have done with this information, though? Just what were they doing during that time? He would have to go back and get his old record of what happened then. Were they in cahoots with the delusional monsters? No, that couldn't be it. The delusional monsters acted quite differently, and he didn't recall any of the robots he faced nowadays to be among them.

Thomas furrowed his brows, as his thoughts once again went back to that last crisis. He knew fairly little compared to everyone else in the party, and at this point, he reasoned that it may have some connection to what was happening now. Maybe. But if so, Histoire would've said so by now, since she certainly would have as much information as everyone else. Yet, she seemed as stumped by this as the others. Surely, if the others knew, they would have mentioned it. Yet, he was the one who mentioned the robot owl being something he saw then.

This frustrated him, giving him a little headache trying to figure this out. The CPUs wouldn't withhold information like this from him, would they? It was quite unlikely. Yet, he was still in the dark about several key details. Would such info be of use?

Thomas decided to do something... about the headache, and took a deep breath, before holding it in and dipping down into the warm water. He didn't seem to mind doing this, and it gave him an opportunity to see how long he could hold his breath.

His thoughts turned to the last crisis while underwater. He winced a little, as that involved thinking about Uzume, the revived CPU. Ever since he was captured, and since that dream, he grew a bit wary of the topic. But since he was here to delve into these thoughts, he may as well.

The two knew nothing of each other when they started off, but over time have grown to know a bit more, and establish some sort of connection. A casual, if somewhat awkward partnership. Uzume had been around to learn much of Thomas' history since the first meeting, sometimes even snooping around on her own accord to find out. On the other side, Thomas had learned much about some of her quirks, her personality, and even on her being a CPU. Yet, much of her history wasn't mentioned.

Thomas continued to hold his breath for a while, still going through his thoughts. Prior to his capture, he waited for Uzume to get it all together so she could explain her past. She was just getting to it as well before they were rudely interrupted. What she did say, however, gave him some bit of concern.

It was time to come up for air, and Thomas sat himself up, breathing out and getting back some much-needed air. As he panted, he frowned a little, realizing he forgot to count how long he was underwater for. His mind was too preoccupied, apparently.

Speaking of, he returned to his thoughts. The power over dreams, huh? Odd that she mentioned this with that dream of his involving an 'Uzume' telling him to stop what he's doing or face disaster. Did she still have that power? What could she do with it? Does she know of those dreams? She doesn't seem to act like she did. If she did, why would she push him to keep going while awake but not so when asleep? The one in his dream couldn't be Uzume. She knew too much of his history, including a detail he kept this whole time to himself. To say it was a touchy subject would be understating it. And yet, there she was, taunting him with it, knowing what happened to his father...

He shook his head, with some of the water droplets flying off his face. He had to get to the bottom of this. He waited patiently for Uzume to get her story out, and could wait again. Yet, this was rather important. Thomas was aware of something, as well, given everyone in the party seemed happy to see the other Neptune. But she was a villain, right? Well, more playing both sides, so she said. That Neptune was a strange one to figure out, but even he saw how Uzume reacted upon seeing her again. He could tell how ecstatic she was, and how the two shared a bit of a bond. What did happen back then?

Thomas sighed, muttering as if to scold himself, "I must be overthinking again. The last thing I need is to start thinking up wacky conspiracies." If he wanted some answers, he would have to ask them himself, right? Just go ask Uzume about it when he has the chance. They have all been trustworthy, after all.

Thomas heard a little bit of splashing from somewhere further away. It looked like he wasn't alone, after all. Thomas smiled weakly. That was fine. It wasn't like he paid for exclusive access or something. There would be others who would take some time to come here, of course. He leaned back, wiping a little of the water off his face so he could see better. Nope, it was still quite foggy. He could barely even see past his shoulders. He'll have to talk to the staff about this.

His ears could hear the sound of some bubbling, slowly getting closer. Apparently, someone decided to go underwater too, as he turned to kinda see some movement in the water. This wasn't really a swimming pool, but clearly someone decided to be a little submarine. Thomas held his legs together and arched one eyebrow up at the approaching sub. "There's more of the pool to check out," Thomas said quietly. The movement in the water came to a stop, with some air bubbles still coming up.

"Are you a regular? Did I take your spot?" Thomas said dryly, not expecting that person to hear him. He could make out a silhouette of a person in the water, huddled up in wait. Thomas wasn't sure whether to move aside or leave or stay still. With no idea how to proceed, he waited.

Finally, the person burst up suddenly to get some air. The first thing Thomas noticed was the length of hair being flipped back, stretching well past the person's shoulders. It was then that Thomas' eyes widened, realizing that this person's body figure was noticeably different from what he would expect.

While he couldn't really see that clearly, what he could see was a young woman hopping up. Thomas couldn't even react before she sat herself nearby, the water just barely going over her bare chest. With a giggle, the person joked, "Hope you were counting the seconds, because I kinda forgot how long I was under for. Still, went for pretty long, wouldn't ya say?"

It was Uzume Tennouboshi, and yes, she was quite naked. Only the density of the fog and the placement of her arms were enough to cover the areas we shouldn't be seeing. Speaking of not seeing, Thomas quickly shut his eyes and turned his head away. "U-U-U-Uzume!" Thomas stressed to keep his voice low, even though it was clear he was panicking. "Whatareyoudoinghere?" He rambled quickly, all while blindly looking for the towel he set aside.

"Hmm?" Uzume's reaction seemed to be a mix of puzzlement and amusement, "I saw ya heading down here and thought I'd join in too. The baths here are really nice, doncha think?" She smirked, "The last time I went, I had a bit of fun so I thought I'd liven things up a little here. You did look to be down of late, and -"

"Ididn'tmeanthatUzume," Thomas scrambled, grabbing his towel and starting to inch away, "Imeanwhatareyoudoinghere?" Despite his quieter tone, he emphasized the word, before slowing down his words, "This isn't some co-ed bath!"

"Eh? Co-ed?" Uzume blinked at the response. We take this moment to pause, and not because of the fanservice, but to go through what just happened here. I can only make guesses here, but looks like Uzume here made a major goof.

You see, in the past, Uzume was fairly self-conscious about showing off her body. It was one thing to show off your personality or skill, but another to show off your physical self. As a result, she was a bit shy in that department. Despite this, during her time in Zero Dimension, she washed herself outdoors, usually on a roof with whatever water she could manage.

It became a bit awkward once she met up with Neptune and Nepgear, as Neptune said it was fine to bathe together. Eventually, she did manage to join in, despite feeling odd showing herself in front of the other girls. In time, she grew a little more confident about bathing with other people, especially recently when she surprised Plutia during a trip. Plutia looked to tease both her and Nepgear a little, but Uzume seemed comfortable and even enjoyed the time together.

Notice that in all those situations, it was with other girls that Uzume opened up to. Far be it for me to note this, but Uzume should be well aware that Thomas is a guy. This is not some old-school RPG where the pirate turns out to be a long-lost princess... as far as I know. That isn't one of the plot twists in here, is it? No? Alright, just checking with the script. Guy.

Besides, when Thomas came in, he went into the men's change room, while Uzume did in fact go to the women's change room. However, there was a divider between the exits, as the women's change room led out towards another room altogether. And yet, Uzume just went through the divider without really thinking about why it was there.

Did she really forget? Was she really this dense? I can't say for sure. All the same, we're here now, and I'm going to unpause riiiiiiiight abouuuuuut... now.

"Ehhhhhhhhhhh?" The realization hit Uzume like a bullet train, as she finally put all of what I mentioned together. Now that both are on the same page, the two turned bright shades of red, both desperately trying to cover up. "Whydidithavetobeoverhereyoupervert?" Uzume's voice changed tone, and also became more panicked.

"You're the one who came over here, ya weirdo!" Thomas exclaimed, though still kept his voice down.

Before the two could engage in more panic, the two froze once they overheard some random male voice say out loud, "Did I hear something?"

"What do you mean by that?" Said another male. It came from near the entrance. While Thomas and Uzume were close to the entrance, they were on the other side of the room. Both immediately began worrying about getting caught in this predicament. If both were seen like this, who knew what sort of scandal this would bring up.

Uzume immediately took a deep breath and dipped back down underwater. Meanwhile, Thomas took his towel, and crouched further down, trying to 'hide' beneath the rocky edge. While he could afford being seen alone, he didn't want to stand out presently.

"I thought I heard..." The first person heard sounded like he thought he saw something, only to sigh, "Freaking kids. Must have been messing around early on."

The other voice spoke out from further in the entrance, probably from the change room, "You probably spooked them good."

"Probably," the man said, turning back inside, "But now I don't feel like going out there. It's way too foggy. It does give me the idea, we can go to the nearby sauna."

"Yeah, we could do that," the other man said, "we'll be able to discuss business there."

"Yeah yeah, we'll do that," the man finished off, "We're supposed to relax before talking about rebuilding efforts."

"Oh, right!" The other man laughed as his voice got quieter, "Sorry, I am a little impatient on that..."

The voices faded off, presumably to head off to the sauna. With that, Thomas muttered quietly, "They're heading off. You can come up now, Uzume... Uzume?" First off, Thomas briefly forgot his words wouldn't be heard from where Uzume dipped down. Second, and more importantly, Uzume was no longer seen. Her silhouette was no longer there, and Thomas couldn't seen anyone else through the thick fog.

"Uzume?" Thomas blinked. Just as quickly as she came in, Uzume had fled.

Unfortunately, Thomas could not feel any relief. His heart was still pounding.


In the women's change room, Uzume had cleaned up, dried off and changed back into her clothes, as evidenced by her closing the locker door with her fist. After releasing some of that tension, Uzume plopped down onto the nearby bench, going to retie her long hair. Her face was still quite red after that... that.

"How could I be so stupid?" Uzume scolded herself through her teeth, "Why? Why did I just go in without thinking?"

Much like Thomas had shown on occasion, Uzume could be rather impulsive, going ahead without putting much thought. Uzume was a very passionate individual, after all, not wanting to stay behind during whatever comes up. Still, to simply forget on such a level was too much of a faux-pas. Not to mention extremely embarrassing, looking back on it.

It wasn't like she wanted to tease or do something untoward, either. Uzume fumed while fixing her hair, thinking on it. "It's not like I was trying to be bad," Uzume grumbled to herself, "I... I just wanted to see what was up. It's been a while since we talked and I was happy to see he was still alive. I wanted to check up on him, but..."

Uzume winced, "Listen to yourself, Uzume. That was totally not cool of you to do. No, not good at all. That's no good!" She finished the last tie, now idly making sure her hair was back in place, "Stupid Uzume. Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid... urgh..."

This wasn't Zero Dimension, where she was the only person left in the world to fend for herself. This also wasn't her getting along with the other CPUs or girls either.

Uzume closed her eyes, feeling worse about it in hindsight. If there was any positive, it was that it was so foggy that neither could really see too much of the other. Though what she saw...

Uzume shook in place, "Nononononononono! Bad Uzume! Uzume should not be thinking like that! Uzume is a pure CPU! Uzume should not be thinking anything like that with another person." She tapped her forehead multiple times, somewhat punishing herself for such things, "Uzume doesn't feel right about that kind of relationship when Uzume..." She calmed down a little, sighing, "When I haven't told him everything yet. Seriously, this is a real pain in the ass."

With that, Uzume's eyes spun, swirling like the symbol on her tie, "I don't know if I can ever forgive myself for this. Someone just kill me now." Thankfully, no one was nearby to help Uzume fulfill that request.


After a while, Thomas returned to the men's change room, cleaning up and getting back into his clothes. He slumped down onto a bench, taking some deep breaths to try and calm himself down. So much for that relaxation. He was still a bit red from what transpired, not sure exactly how that all came to be.

Just then, he heard someone walking in, and Thomas tensed up momentarily. It soon turned out to be another male, who looked a bit confused at the look he got, "Something up?"

"Oh, no, just about done here," Thomas said, trying to crack a casual smile. He could still feel his heart beating quickly, but nonetheless managed to pull the wool over the man's eyes. Either that or he didn't care too much to pry.

"Cool," the man went over to one of the lockers to start to get changed, "How's the water today?"

"Water's good, warm," Thomas said with a glance away, "A bit too steamy for my liking, though." That last sentence, in hindsight, made him inwardly cringe.

"Again?" The man rolled his eyes, "Even after all that's happened, this place still gets too foggy. I swear, people can easily hide themselves in there."

Thomas laughed weakly, "Y-y-yeah, funny, that." The man shrugged it off, heading to take a quick shower and leaving Thomas alone.

Alone, Thomas tried in vain to put away what he saw. He didn't see a whole lot in the fog, but the silhouette gave enough of a picture for Thomas' imagination. As his mind briefly wandered, Thomas muttered quietly, "Was it me or was her chest a lot bi-" He immediately bit his tongue, "Ow! No, Thomas, don't you dare think about that!" He made sure to move a bit away so his words didn't reach the man currently showering and heading off to the bath.

It was becoming more difficult for him to get around this lingering issue. It wasn't a big deal earlier, aside from some teasing, but it was starting to get to him, especially after what just happened. He remembered Plutia, among others, asking if he was interested in any of the girls, in, well, that way. He answered that he wasn't sure of anyone.

In truth, he wasn't really looking. At least, not so much any romantic interest. He flustered a bit at this, "I can't look at these people in such a manner. These are goddesses, for maker's sake." The CPUs were cute girls and all, and it made sense that there would be fans or people who would see in a certain manner. He saw enough of that with 'Admiral' Larry and others who were infatuated.

But they are goddesses, near-immortal deities and rulers of nations. These CPUs saved his life, at a point when he was lost and unsure of what to make of himself. Seeing that power over people's lives, even from afar, was remarkable. Triumphing over the Deity of Sin and overcoming many other threats, he had thought them to be truly divine beings. From what he read, it painted such a textbook case of what to expect from living gods. That was what he thought when he decided to follow the faith.

Neptune broke that view, along with the fourth wall and everything else in its vicinity. Thomas came across a lazy girl who was addicted to slacking off and eating pudding, and thought her as just some kid at first. It wasn't long before that old view of his was challenged by the others as well. More and more, he saw how the goddesses acted and they hardly were fitting of deities. Indeed, they were flawed individuals, with their own weaknesses, quirks, and other personal traits. They were acting, well, human. And, like the ones they were supposedly lording over, they too had their own issues, suffering through as much if not more than the average person.

It was there that he changed his view. He was to help out in any way he could, to pay back the debt he owed to each of these goddesses, these people. Later, he even wanted to become friends. Friendship was not something he had much of as an isolated child. Only his father and the few people they rarely met made for social interaction. Despite his awkwardness, he had managed to make personal and business contacts around Gamindustri while working his way up. Making friends was fair, right?

But, now? With all the teasing by everyone, including himself? Was it even possible to go further? Would such a relationship even work between a mortal and CPU? Would the nation even accept it? If he knew how other worshipers acted, it wouldn't go so smoothly. At all.

"Why even think of that?" Thomas said to himself. This was ridiculous, he likely thought to himself. He wasn't particularly attracted to them physically, so he told himself. Unfortunately for him, that was not likely the case. Not of late, anyway. It also didn't help that, subconsciously, he was already fairly attracted to Uzume. He didn't think of it much, then, but that brief time he spent with Uzume, not knowing she was a CPU, had him briefly thinking if maybe...

You didn't see people, or goddesses to be worshiped. You saw a means to an end. They're nothing but tools to you.

The words of Uzume, or the one in Uzume's voice, back in that dream, returned to remind him. His heart, which was returning to a normal beat, sank with that. He likely asked himself, was that really true? Was he really just deluding himself this whole time? Trying to make something more out of his initial ambitions? Was he really simply that desperate? That sad?

Thomas slumped once more, growing depressed by the thought. This wasn't something he had in mind when he first came here.

The two had later left the facility at different times, on their own. It was going to be a bit awkward the next time they meet, and would certainly overshadow whatever plans they had to finish Uzume's story. But, for now, neither were willing to bring what had happened up. Nor would they forget it.