Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Date A Live or Hyperdimension Neptunia or its characters.
"You have heard it."
Shidou was vaguely aware that he was dreaming again. The voice that had been a regular presence in his dreams was oddly clear and he had the distinct notion that it was possible to communicate now.
"There are many things I wish to tell you. Yet at the same time, I feel guilty for dragging you into this. Your history, fraught with peril, was something that you did not regret. The results of your choices are without a doubt something you cherish."
The voice of Histoire sounded melancholic, her words and tone causing Shidou's own heart to be plunged into confusion.
"Indeed I had asked for your help, yet at the same time I wished that I did not need to."
Shidou was not sure on what to say, but he eventually decided that being indecisive at this point after coming all the way to this point would have been foolish of him.
"…whatever it is that you need, I will surely try my best to grant it."
Shidou did not know Histoire at all – despite hearing her voice within his dreams, it did not mean that he knew who she was. He wasn't even aware of what she looked like; but despite his own lack of information regarding her, there was something about her that made Shidou feel a sense of nostalgia.
As if there was something shared between them that made their relationship more than strangers.
"Thank you..."
Whatever it was that Histoire would have said next was soon washed away by a growing and encompassing light.
The next time that Shidou regained consciousness, he almost wished he hadn't.
A nauseating pain assaulted his senses from nearly all over his body that it was easier to tell what part didn't hurt. The pain nearly made Shidou throw up, but perhaps due to the passage of the day or the exertion that he went under before he fell unconscious; nothing came out from his attempts.
A small blessing under the misfortune he was feeling right now.
Apart from the overwhelming pain that his body was feeling to the point that he could barely feel anything else, Shidou could still tell that a weight was present by his chest… along with a moist humid feeling around that area.
…he certainly hoped that he wasn't bleeding.
Cautiously opening his eyes (something that Shidou was glad did not take much effort), the first thing he noticed was a mop of purple hair by his chest.
"N-Neptune…?"
Shidou's voice came out slightly cracked, his throat unusually parched.
How long had he been out?
Opting to wake the purple haired teen with his right hand (as while she looked cute sleeping on his chest - the drool wasn't exactly very comfortable nor very hygienic) he quickly realized that he couldn't move said hand.
It wasn't because of a sense of paralysis nor was it something as gruesome as having it amputated, but there was a sensation of warmth and resistance where his right hand was.
Shidou couldn't quite tell what was holding his hand down due to the pain, so tilting his head slightly to the side, the cause of his hands inability to move quickly became apparent.
IF, who had her head propped next to his sides, had held his right hand with both of her own.
At the sight, Shidou couldn't help but feel guilty at the amount of worry the two must have felt upon seeing him blackout.
Unsure of how to proceed from this point onwards, as shaking his body was just about impossible due to the immense pain his body was feeling – the door, to which Shidou realized was not the safehouse that he and IF had been sleeping at in the past few days (far too pink to be anything like the safehouse they used), swung open revealing the fourth member of the party.
"Y-yo…"
Shidou's words were more of a rough hacking cough than anything resembling a greeting.
He did not know what to expect after he uttered his greeting, but what Compa did next was not part of anything that ran through his mind.
Which was only natural as he didn't really know Compa too well.
"Mr. Shidou, you're finally awake!"
Tears cascading down her cheeks, she quickly moved forward to the side of Shidou's bed. Her exclamation had stirred the other two by his bed.
"Wa, waaa… what's going on, Compa?" Neptune muttered, wiping the drool out of her lips. "Is it breakfast, already?"
"Urgh… my back feels a bit stiff." IF muttered, looking hazily towards Compa who was hugging Shidou's head. "Compa you're going to suffocate hi-"
"M-morning, IF." Came the muffled voice of Shidou.
"Sh-Shidou?! Compa, get off of him!" Immediately standing up in attention, IF attempted to push Compa away and after a while, managed to actually succeed – but before she could get a good look at Shidou, Neptune had latched towards the blue-haired boy.
"Shin! You're awake!"
"S-Shin…?"
Despite the pain, Shidou gave a wry smile as everyone within the room fussed over him. He felt a bit bitter that he must have worried them quite a lot, but for now, he just let himself go with the flow.
The nickname given to him by Neptune was certainly new, but it felt like something he had heard from the past.
Once everything was done and over with, Shidou braced himself for impact…
"Didn't I tell you not to use it? I told you twice in the span of ten minutes and you didn't listen!"
"I'm sorry…"
"Sorry, doesn't cut it! You were lucky that Compa here is a nurse-in-training, otherwise who knows what would have happened!"
This had gone on for nearly half an hour and if Shidou wasn't in so much pain as of the moment, IF would have no doubt forced him to a seiza position as she lectured about why he had made a poor decision and the consequences of going through with said poor decision.
"Hey, Iffy… you told me that it wasn't that woman's fault that Shin ended up like this, but you never told me what made him like this."
Neptune inquired, after devouring a cup of pudding. She had just stayed by the sidelines, far too enraptured by the pudding she had gotten from somewhere to have contributed to the conversation before now.
IF sighed as she crossed her arms over her chest.
"…it's something that I'm leery about telling anyone else." IF admitted.
"Hey, there's no need to keep secrets to yourselves! We're a party now, so secrets like that should have been thrown out the window the moment that you guys joined us! Unless of course you're one of those party members that ends up betraying us or dying because the plot demands it, but otherwise, you're with us forever!"
"Didn't I tell you it was you guys that joined us, not the other way around?! Ugh, whatever…" IF turned her attention back to Shidou, and for a moment, he thought that the lecturing was set to begin again. "It's your call. It's your secret after all."
Compa and Neptune directed their attention towards him and given the light shining in Neptune's eyes, Shidou knew it would be difficult to dissuade her from learning more about the thing that he did.
"Alright, it's not like I planned to keep it a secret after what happened there in the cavern…"
Shidou had no qualms about revealing his secret. It was something he had resolved once the situation demanded its use. And although he had only known of Neptune and Compa for less than a day (by his perspective anyway), Shidou was sure of their integrity and trustworthiness. It also helped that there was something about Neptune that made him feel reassured, especially in that other form she held during the battle.
"I had first accessed the blade, Sandalphon five months ago in the land of Leanbox." Shidou began. "But based on what IF and I had discovered, Sandalphon only became accessible to me after we defeated an Ice Titan in the land of Lowee as that monster, unlike other monsters, faded into light and dropped a purple colored crystal shard."
Normally, monsters don't fade away and drop items like those in video games. That particular memory was ingrained within Shidou and IF's mind simply due to how oddly powerful the Ice Titan was and the event that occurred after its defeat.
"Crystal shard?" Upon hearing that term, Neptune perked up and began rummaging within the pockets of her hoodie. And after a while, took out a golden colored crystal shard no bigger than the size of her thumb in length and more than half of that in width. "Like this?"
"Y-yes." Shidou was just as surprised as IF upon seeing the shard. Although now that he thought about it, that shard was what had appeared after they defeated the Sandworm.
"So how do you use this to get a power up? I mean, as nice looking as it is, it's not that good of a light source." Neptune said, looking intently at the dimly glowing crystal.
"Er… that's the thing. IF and I don't exactly know. When IF took hold of the crystal, there was nothing of note apart from the warmth that the crystal emanated. But the moment she gave it to me, the crystal melted into my hands as if it was water seeping into a drain."
"Is that so?" Neptune squinted hard at the crystal and inexplicably, "Here, catch." She threw it to Shidou.
"Wha-" Hastily moving to get his hands into position, the crystal bounced once into Shidou's open palm before the shard seemingly melted into his hands in a way reminiscent of snow melting into water. But unlike the phenomenon of snow melting, there was no trace that the shard had ever existed within Shidou's open palm. The only indication that something had ever been there was the odd sense of discrepancy that Shidou felt once the crystal had faded away.
"Huh… figured it was a character specific upgrade." Neptune said, disappointed.
"Hey, give a warning when you're going to do that alright? Who knows what might have happened!" IF said, heatedly.
"Eh, it turned out alright, right? Anyway, Shin, did you receive another cool upgrade? What is it?"
"I… I don't know." Shidou admitted after a moment of considering it. "I didn't know of Sandalphon, until after I manifested it and called out its name. I probably wouldn't know what this one does – if anything – until I call upon its name."
"So it's something gives you power as the plot demands it? As expected of a harem protagonist." Neptune said nodding to herself, as if it explained everything.
"H-harem protagonist?"
"A-Anyway, Mr. Shidou, if Sandalphon is the blade that Neptune said allowed you to match up to the enemy we fought in the caverns, why did you end up being so injured?"
"We're not entirely sure if this is true or not," Shidou began taking a glance at IF who merely shrugged. "But it was Sandalphon that caused damage to me."
"Caused damage to you…?"
Compa was utterly dumbfounded by those words.
Neptune must have already said to Compa that it was due to the blade that allowed Shidou to not only fight in equal terms with the mysterious woman, but to also provide the necessary opening that allowed Neptune to end the battle. Hearing of the weapon that had tilted the scales to their victory to be the one that had sent Shidou into a short coma sent an unpleasant feeling run down her spine.
"I'm not sure if it is because of my inexperience in using it, but using the power that Sandalphon grants me seems to cause great pain every time I swing it. It's like my muscles would spontaneously tear itself apart at its inability to handle the stress…"
In the two times that Shidou had summoned the sword, each swing felt like it chipped away at his life bit by bit. The unexplainable pain that would erupt as energy gathers and expels from the sword had encapsulated him with a primal fear as he was not sure what part of his body would receive damage if he swung the sword again.
It felt too much like he was playing a game of chance, where a 'lucky' event would be receiving an injury that wasn't fatal and while being 'lucky' is a common event, being unlucky even once would be the last and only time he would encounter such an event.
Nevertheless, despite the pain, Shidou felt he would have still been able to withstand swinging the blade a few more times. If there was anything that he had going for him, was that he had an abnormally high pain tolerance.
Even now, although his body was still aching, if the situation called for it, Shidou would still be able to stand up and swing a sword about. It also helped that Sandalphon seemed to empower him every time he held it.
"I see, so it's like your special move uses your HP instead of your special attack gauge!" Neptune devolved into using video game terms, but Shidou didn't bother correcting her as she was on the spot at that one. "But, Shin… if that's true, then please don't use it unless there's no other choice alright? I mean, as heroic as it was that you would throw your body into the fire to save little ol' me, it would be a bitter sweet ending if you end up dying for me! As romantic as that is…"
Neptune held her cheeks with a light blush, which for reasons Shidou wasn't exactly privy too, made IF gnash her teeth in anger.
"R-right… I'll be careful next time." Shidou replied with a hesitant smile.
"By the way, Neptune." IF began, after finally reigning in whatever it was that was angering her. "What did you do back there?"
"Oh, you're talking about my HDD?" Neptune puffed up her non-existent chest with a less than modest expression. "Pretty awesome, huh."
"As much as I regret saying so, you were extremely helpful with that 'HDD' of yours. So what is it?"
"I don't know."
"Pardon me?"
"When Compa and I were taking down the Guard Vermin, Histy came up and told me I can access it! She went and explained it just like those mentors that you either fight in an epic climax or end up saving because all they can do at that moment is give ghostly advices."
"Histy?" When Shidou mouthed out those words, he had a distinct feeling as if he had heard the name before. "Do you mean… Histoire?"
"Yeah! Wait, how do you know that name? Do you have ESP too? Or maybe we have a telepathic link that allows you to read my thoughts… hmm, it should be two way, right? So…" Neptune squinted her eyes at Shidou, a look of intense concentration entering her face before it faded to one of understanding. "Nope. I got nothing."
IF had been ready to throw Neptune's explanation out of the window and ask Compa for clarification, but after hearing Shidou's interjection, she had turned her attention towards her partner.
"Do you know of her?"
"More like I got her name the last time I had fallen asleep." Shidou said. "Somehow, my words finally got through and she answered… all this time however, she had been asking for my help. But I had no idea how to begin or what she wanted help from."
A reoccurring dream that had the same content – that was what Shidou had experienced in increasing occurrence ever since he had touched the crystal that had been dropped by the Ice Titan. At first, he could not recall what the contents were; only that it made him feel apprehensive as if there was something important that he had forgotten, but frequently having the same dream eventually imprinted itself into his memories. That even if the contents within the memory were to be diminished, he would still be able to fill the gaps.
It wouldn't be wrong to say that he had memorized what Histoire had been saying all this time.
But because he had, he felt all the more guilty that he couldn't help. He felt more and more restless as the dreams occurred in greater frequency that, to keep his mind off of it, he immersed himself in whatever task was in front of him. For if he was left with nothing to do, he would simply dwell with the contents of the dream he could do nothing about.
Thankfully however, his recent dream had at least made it possible to reliably communicate with Histoire instead of being unable to reply to her pleas.
IF, noticing Shidou's expression, gave a sigh.
"So what did this 'Histy' person say to you? And back then, you mentioned something about a key fragment, what is that about?" IF asked, deciding to fish for more information before deciding on a course of action.
"Histy said she's locked up somewhere." Neptune said, shrugging. "She said that she needs four key fragments, one on each landmass to be set free."
"And you believed her?"
"Well there's no guarantee she's some evil fairy that's actually leading us to releasing her master to ravage multiple different universes, but it's not like you can't say she's not just some damsel in distress, right?"
"So you'll confirm it with your own eyes? That's actually pretty sensible of you."
Was IF's evaluation of the girl that low?
"What do you mean by that? I'm plenty sensible!"
"Who in their right mind would bring a wooden sword to a boss fight?! If you didn't have HDD, you would have been eaten alive and the worst you'd give that sandworm is a case of splinters!"
"It can't be helped; none of the NPCs are selling any weapons for me!"
"What, how can that be –"
"It's true Miss IF, lately due to the rampant monster destruction in Planeptune, there have been less capable people to smith weapons like swords. Healing materials are abundant, but that's only because most nurses or doctors are either holed up in their homes or were eaten by the monsters."
To IF's surprise however, Compa supported Neptune's words.
Shidou did not know much about the troubles that Planeptune was facing despite having supposedly originated from the land mass. Apart from the time he had been picked up by IF, he had not been to Planeptune until the week they were tasked to hunt the sandworm. Given that they still had supplies they had bought from the other landmasses, they had not bothered entering any shops.
Perhaps if they had eaten in a local shop, they may have obtained some information to know how badly things are going in Planeptune, but because they had not, IF and Shidou could only know about the true extent of what's going on from Compa's words.
"What is the CPU, doing?" IF finally said after a moment of stunned silence. "I've heard that the other CPUs have appeared in their respective Basilicoms, but I haven't heard anything of the CPU of Planeptune."
CPU, otherwise known as 'Console Patron Unit', is the designation of the goddess that rules over a specific landmass. The CPUs main task is to protect the citizen of their respective landmass as to maintain their faith towards them. As the faith of the people towards a CPU strengthens the CPU, conflict between the four nations was common – until recently that is.
You couldn't exactly wage war when your people were busy getting eaten, right?
It was for that matter that a truce had been built five years ago to deal with the monster threat. Yet despite that, the monster threat had only grown worse and various factions had made a living hunting monsters.
From what Shidou could remember of IF's initial teachings, Planeptune was under the guidance of the CPU, Purple Heart. Unlike the CPU of the other four nations, Purple Heart had not been seen for over three years. There were even doubts that she had left Celestia, the land that CPUs originated from.
"I'm afraid we don't know anything either, Miss IF." Compa said, a bit disheartened.
When Shidou turned his attention towards Neptune, she had said exactly what he was expecting to say.
"No idea!"
…Shidou felt that he was getting far too good at reading Neptune for someone whom he had just met.
IF soon began discussing the current state of affairs with Compa along with confirmation from Neptune's story regarding the key fragments. With the length of the discussion, the pair had decided to move towards the kitchen… of Compa's house (which in hindsight, sort of made sense given how pink the room was and that, apart from a hospital, had materials for healing). Neptune on the other hand had decided to go buy pudding after realizing that Compa's fridge was now out of it.
…there should be a limit at how 'at home' one should feel, right?
While the pain that Shidou felt wasn't to the point of crippling, it was still to the extent that he felt like vomiting if he caused any more pain by carelessly moving his body. The muscles itself were unnecessarily stiff and it also felt like his flexibility was quite limited.
It wasn't anything unexpected, but for the point of recovery, Shidou was confined to a bed for the duration of his stay in Compa's house.
Surprisingly, it only took Shidou two whole days to wake up after being incapacitated, but it took three more days before he had recovered enough to walk with his own strength. In a sense, the injuries he received were closer to the unlucky spectrum than the lucky side of things for him to be bed ridden that long. The first time he had used Sandalphon had left him unconscious for only three days but he was capable of moving on his own once he had woken up.
Perhaps it was the difference in treatment? Shidou had been treated in a hospital after the first time he had used Sandalphon, but in this instance he had been treated by Compa.
…not that he was ungrateful or anything, given the situation that Planeptune was facing as of the moment, Compa was the next best option.
Nevertheless, it was a bit disheartening that he was the sole reason why no progress could be made to move onto another landmass to search for the Key Fragments, but the others reassured him that if it weren't for him, they probably wouldn't have survived the encounter with the mysterious woman.
The Key Fragments… after hearing of Neptune and Compa's quest, Shidou had been all for joining the cause. At first, Shidou had thought that IF would have been against it as long term quests with no guaranteed benefits were something they had rarely (if ever) taken. Surprisingly however, IF had agreed the next time that she had come back with Neptune and Compa after accomplishing a request from the Basilicom while he was bed ridden, a day after he woke up.
She had also pointed out that she had already seen the glint within Shidou's eyes upon hearing of the name 'Histoire' so she could only reluctantly tag along.
It made Shidou's worries float away – he didn't want to part with IF if he could help it. Still, there was the fact that IF was being pulled along by Shidou's own selfishness…
"Oh, Mr. Shidou – are you fit enough to be up already?"
Upon stepping into the kitchen of Compa's home after the fourth day of being stuck in said house, Shidou was greeted with the sight of Compa donning her apron. A little bit over to the side was Shidou's apron folded neatly by the table.
"Well enough to move around the house, I think." Shidou replied with a hesitant smile. "Although as much as it pains me to admit, I probably won't be fit enough to fight until tomorrow."
"You shouldn't worry too much Mr. Shidou. We are all grateful with what you did. So there's no need to beat yourself up over it. Rather, if I was more competent, you wouldn't have been bedridden for so long…"
Hearing that, Shidou felt that he had stepped on a landmine.
"N-no, Ms. Compa you have nothing to blame yourself for! If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be alive right now!"
It took several more exchanges before the pair could realize that they were essentially trading roles of self-depreciation, and before they knew it, they were laughing.
"You're a really humble person aren't you, Mr. Shidou." Compa remarked with a smile that was no longer as hesitant as before.
"And you're an extremely kind person, Ms. Compa."
"That may be the case, but for your continued recovery, please return to your bed."
Shidou however, did not want to return to bed. It had been enough that for the past few days, the only times he wasn't on the bed was when he went to the restroom, and now that he could move his limbs more freely, he wished to be away from the bed for at least longer than a couple of minutes.
There was also the fact that he was sleeping in a girl's room…
"Can't I at least help out for lunch?"
Compa gave Shidou a mildly confused look.
"You know how to cook?"
"That apron by the table is mine, if you hadn't asked IF about it."
Compa was initially hesitant, but once Shidou began cooking up a dish, any of her hesitation was thrown away in favor of her own curiosity with the way Shidou cooked.
Compa had been living on her own for quite some time now; unless she wanted to spend money for fast food every day then it would be cheaper to produce her own food from the kitchen. It was also advocated by those in the nursing school that a good nurse should know how to cook…
It was to that end that she was confident with her own cooking ability.
Watching Shidou prepare food however, made her suddenly feel a bit inadequate. It also didn't help that for some reason, Shidou looked quite natural with an apron over his short sleeved unbuttoned blue polo over a black short sleeved shirt and black pants…
"By the way, where's IF and Neptune?"
Given how much focus Compa was giving Shidou's cooking, it took her a while for her to reply to Shidou's question.
"T-they were out looking for a new sword for NepNep. Miss IF said that the knife you gave Neptune was already beginning to chip and a wooden sword wouldn't be of any help in the future."
"…I'm still surprised you manage to beat a Guard Vermin with Neptune wielding a wooden sword."
Although now that Shidou thought about it, when Neptune entered HDD her weapon seemed to change to a black katana. He hadn't had a good look at the weapon, but seeing as how it had easily cut up the sandworm; it would certainly be leagues stronger than his own great sword.
Within minutes, Shidou had prepared oyakodon.
…at least, that's what Shidou called the meal he had made. It was the first time that Compa had ever seen such a meal in Planeptune.
"Is this a delicacy from another land mass, Mr. Shidou?"
"Delicacy? Hmm… I'm not actually sure. It might have been from Lastation, but I've only ever been in Leanbox and Lowee."
"Have you tasted this sort of food before?"
"…you make it sound like I don't know what I'm making. Why don't you taste it? Even though I only started cooking a week ago, I have confidence with my skills."
Those words did not exactly fill anyone who heard it any form of reassurance, but Compa gave a strained smile as she took a knife and fork to cut the cutlets so that she could taste it.
"…!"
Daintily putting her hands to her lips, a combination of flavors that she was not quite familiar with assaulted her taste buds. It was not unpleasant to say the least, and it was definitely something that spoke of experience in the kitchen rather than a beginner's luck.
"So how is it?"
Compa did not reply right away. She placed her utensils down slowly by the table, and turned to Shidou.
A strange glint was showing within her eyes that nearly made Shidou back up out of trepidation. Before he could do more than make a small squeak from his lips, Compa had grabbed his right hand with both of her hands and directed a glare that wasn't quite a glare towards him. Her expression was so serious, that if Shidou had known her for a longer amount of time, would make him think that this was quite out of character for her.
"Mr. Shidou."
"Y-yes…?"
Shidou could vaguely hear the front door open and the distinct sound of Neptune crying out 'I'm home' echo through the home of the girl in front of him, but he found it hard to focus on those details as Compa leaned slightly forward making the veritable mounds of flesh to become more visible within his line of sight. It was hard to decide where to keep his eyes at, as if he focused towards Compa's face, he felt like he would soon be devoured in a way that wasn't too different from a tiger pouncing towards a deer. If he looked lower than that, it wouldn't be wrong to label him as some sort of pervert.
The close proximity that Shidou had with Compa also allowed a sweet fruity fragrance to waft into Shidou's nose, making him feel a tad bit light headed and his cheeks to redden.
Despite living with IF for more than a year, he hadn't felt this form of nervousness with the opposite sex. It was more than likely due to getting used to IF's presence and that, at first, he had less interest with those kinds of things as he had more pressing issues to deal with – like his absent memories for instance. Neptune on the other hand felt more like a child and it also helped she looked like a child as well so it was harder to see her as someone of the opposite sex (although it was a different story for her transformed form).
Compa was neither of those two, and perhaps due to the situation, Shidou realized he had no idea how to tread forward. He would have probably treated Compa rather normally, but the situation he was currently in brought about thoughts that normally didn't enter his mind when interacting with girls.
Things like the smell, the way they dressed, the way their skin felt and various other nuances that he paid little attention before were now in the forefront of his thoughts and running at a speed that felt like it would make his mind overheat if it kept going.
"Compa? Have you seen Shidou? He's not on his be-"
Vaguely, Shidou could have sworn he heard the sound of glass shattering. Mechanically tilting his head towards the doorway, all color had been drained from IF's form as she stood wide eyed and slack jawed from the scene unfolding before her.
"I-IF?! Uh, t-this isn't what it looks like!"
What did the scene before IF look like anyway?
Compa was holding onto Shidou's right hand softly yet firmly, and her eyes looked straight at Shidou's form with unyielding determination. This was certainly an out of character moment for the cheerful but soft spoken nurse in training, and it made one wonder why she would do such a bold action.
Perhaps due to the possibilities that the position they're at alluded to, Shidou felt a distinct chill that said his life was in danger.
"So what does it look like huh, Shidou?"
"P-please don't say my name with such venom! And don't take out your katars! Also, Miss Compa, why are you holding onto my hands?!"
"Mr. Shidou."
"Y-yes?"
"Would you be…"
Shidou swallowed heavily, unsure of what Compa could possibly be asking. A hint of red had made it to her cheeks, but her eyes were still alit with that same determination ever since she had tasted his food.
What could it be that she was asking for?
Whatever it was that this scene might hint to, nothing was registering within Shidou's mind apart from the increasing killing intent that was coming out of IF's no doubt irritated form and the fruity scent that came from Compa's hair…
"Would you please be my rival for cooking?"
"…huh?"
"Eh?"
A dull silence echoed within the kitchen as Shidou and IF's mind grounded into a halt. The silence was only broken when, from behind IF, Neptune entered carrying a sword longer than she was tall.
"Hey Iffy, did you find Shin? I want to show him my cool new swor- Eh? Eh? Did something interesting happen while I was gone? Come on, let me join in!"
It took a while before things could become orderly again.
Author's Notes:
Uploaded a bit earlier than I expected, but given that my job is set to begin a week earlier than planned, it couldn't be helped...
No idea when the next chapter will come seeing as I have to do some more editing with what I've already written (I've done about 60% of the initial Lastation visit already) and I doubt I'll have enough time for that in February since I need to first get acclimated to work.
As a repeat for those who are curious about pairings - it's generally the same situation as that of Date A Live. Those who know the light novel would generally know what I mean by that. That said, pairings are not the main focus of this story especially this early on. There would be ship teases every now and then, but that's the most you will get for the time being. Though that'll probably be thrown to the wayside should the plot develop in a tangent I had not planned (seriously, sometimes this story writes itself...).
Anyway, if you have any concerns regarding the story do tell me. Be it grammatical, or plot wise, I'll be interested to hear what you have to say so I can improve as a writer. That said, there's no guarantee I will do what you guys tell me, and my reply might either come from a very late PM (if I don't reply right away) or when the next chapter comes. In regards to plot talks however, please understand that I won't spoil things that will be tackled in the future. If something is confusing, I might clarify it but if I purposely had that in mind, then chances are it would be elaborated later on.
