Hellooo all, and I bring to you... another sequel! To perhaps my favorite of the shots I've written, ch 10, aka switchdimension. I just love how I set up the characters in that one, and I knew the whole time, that I wouldn't be fine with just leaving that in a one-shot! So here they are again! I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!
-marketvalueneps
Synopsis: The little prankster, Blanc, has gone too far this time! Too far I say! How will Ram deal with the latest blow at the hands of her younger sister, and hey? What's behind that door?
"GODDAMNIT BLANC!" A yell rang throughout the grand central command center of the snowy wonderland that was Lowee. Across the basilicom, a woman with short brunette hair could only sigh as she pushed up her glasses, standing up from her desk, as she prepared to journey to where she had heard the yell emanating from. Already knowing full well what it meant; her twin and younger sister were about to have another one of their spats. Walking down the halls toward the dual CPUs shared room, Rom had to stifle a snicker that was forming in her mouth at the cause of the family's latest 'disagreement'. Seeing her twin enter the scene, Ram immediately voiced her complaints with the older, and calmer, of the two.
"ROM, LOOK AT WHAT YOUR LITTLE SHIT DID TO ME!" Ram sounded like she was on the verge of tears, and her voice also carried the anger she felt at the moment. Rom took a deep breath to stabilize herself, and rid herself of the chuckle fit that was brewing in the pit of her stomach, before turning to face the likely guilty party,
"Blanc." She started; voice as impartial as she could make it.
"What is it? False idol?" Blanc looked at her sister with her uncovered eye, arms crossed under her black hoodie that was simply much too large for her diminutive stature.
"Did you do this to Ram?" Rom asked gently, as she looked at her twin, who by now had devolved into tears, crying as she looked at her precious hair, now dyed to a jet-black color. If Rom had to guess… Blanc probably did it while Ram was sleeping. Ram was about as deep a sleep as there was in gamindustri, well apart from Nepgear's little sister, so it likely was not even that difficult of a task
"I think she looks much better this way" Blanc simply said, rolling her eyes, and Rom could only sigh,
"My hairrrrr… Blanc! Why would you do this!?" Ram cried, before yelling out to her sister, with a sigh of superiority, Blanc faced her nemesis with vigor,
"Black is the true color of the soul. It is befitting you" Blanc nodded as she cupped her chin, before continuing "If you are to harness the power of the souls of this befallen nation, then you must maximize the dread in your own soul!" Blanc explained before Ram clenched her fists together,
"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Before Ram could lash out at the young candidate, she was quickly dragged into an adjacent room, "ROM, LET ME AT HER!" She yelled at her mirror image, who only sighed,
"Ram. I understand your frustrations, but please calm down." Rom tried her best to explain, in truth, she did truly understand her twin's frustrations. Not only was it sometimes difficult for Ram to understand and relate to their younger sister. But, in recent months, Ram was becoming more and more often the victim of these 'pranks' by Blanc. Rom was honestly shocked she managed to calm Ram down after the goat blood in the shower incident…
Ram took a few frustrated deep breaths, calming herself down, before sulking down the edge of the door to the room she had been dragged to, dragging her knees into her body, "Why me, Rom?" She seemed to ask genuinely. She was beginning to get at her wit's end with her younger sister. Where did it all go wrong? It felt like just the other day she was walking into the sharicite room, with Mina and Rom, seeing the young girl that was inside. She swore on that day she would protect her, at any and all costs. She didn't know what she had done to deserve this, had she been a brat, who took great delight in pranking her older sister in some other life? If so, she sure had a few things to say to that little shit…
Wrapping her arm around her twin for a moment, Rom let a small smile overtake her features, "Ram, do you want my honest opinion?" The astute CPU asked gently, with Ram gently nodding. This is how they always were; Rom was there when Ram needed her, her level-headedness, her intelligence. She kept her balanced. She was, like, the smartest person in gamindustri after all!
"Yea?" Ram eventually managed out, almost scared of the answer
"Ram… I think she wants your attention." Rom explained, and for a moment, Ram looked at her twin as if she had been replaced by some alien lifeform,
"Wha-? She… she loves you. Why would she want my attention? That doesn't even make any sense. She hates me. That's why she keeps doing this to me…" For as long as Ram could remember, Blanc had always seemingly preferred the soft-natured Rom. For as long as she could remember, Blanc would always go to her when she needed advice, or when she wanted to talk to someone. Those two seemed so close, and Ram could only feel herself growing more and more distant from her little sister. Seeing the look on her twin's face, Rom considered for a moment, before speaking.
"Ram, she loves you; you know?" Rom knew what Ram felt, those two's relationship was… complicated. At best. But she also knew, as the objective observer. Those two may not see eye to eye on everything, but that didn't stop them from loving each other. Ram would freeze the whole world to save Blanc if she had too, and of course, neither of Lowee's CPUs would soon forget when Blanc, with the other 2 candidates, rescued them from the gamindustri graveyard.
"...I doubt it" Ram pouted as she dragged her knees closer to her chest, grabbing and looking at strands of her now dyed hair.
"Ram" Rom spoke as firmly as her voice allowed for, cringing for a moment, Ram eventually returned the look her twin was giving her, "That little girl… She loves you so much. You just don't know it, and I know for a fact, you love her too, Ram" said CPU could only look down, as she hugged her knees as tight to her chest as she could,
"...Uni was right, wasn't she? She's only the way she is cause I was so mean to her, right? She'd be so much happier if it were only you, right?" Ram asked, her usual sass all but drained from her tone, before Rom turned, wrapping both arms around her beloved sister,
"Ram! Blanc is the way she is, because that's who she is. Nothing more. Uni didn't mean that. I promise you" Rom tried to explain, at the time the words had only served to piss Ram off, but as the months passed, Rom could tell that their fellow CPU's words genuinely bothered Ram.
"But… But…" Ram tried to voice her feelings, failing for a moment, before Rom nodded, having an inkling of a suspicion she already knew what Ram wanted to say- call it a twin's intuition,
"I know Ram…. but who did Blanc go to when she was scared as a little kid? Or, when a monster is too big for her to beat? Or how about that one time those kids in town were mean to her? It's you, Ram." Rom presented, and she couldn't help but see Ram gently smile, as Ram wrapped her arms around her sister as well, and the mirror images remained that way, forming one singular image, for a few moments, before Ram pulled away, with a pout, she began,
"That doesn't change the fact she dyed my precious hair!" She bemused, and Rom could only chuckle, quickly thinking of a solution,
"If I remember… Nepgear should have some dye remover, she had to get it after Neptune tried to dye her hair black to look like Noire's" Rom explained, laughing slightly at the memory. If she recalled, Nepgear let Neptune keep her hair like that for the rest of the week, out of the raw cuteness of the gesture, before forcing her to remove the dye, much to the chagrin of the young goddess,
"Thanks, Rom, I love ya!" Ram smiled, before giving her twin another quick hug, before jumping out of the window in the room they were in, transforming into Pink Heart as she fell. Rom could only sigh at the reckless act performed by her sister, even if she should have anticipated as much, although, she should be thankful at the present moment for her twin's spontaneous nature. Standing up, and dusting off her dress, she opened up the door, looking to the side to see a small girl sitting with her back to the wall right next to the door, curled up into a ball, hearing the door open, she gasped as she quickly looked up.
"It's just me, Blanc, Ram left for Planeptune." Rom gently explained, seeing the girl relax,
"Oh…" Blanc spoke quietly, sitting back down, eventually seeing her sister sit next to her. She had leaned her ear against the door in order to listen in on her older sister's conversation, before crumbling herself into a ball upon hearing what the two had said.
For a moment the duo sat in relative silence, as Rom waited for the young brunette to speak, and eventually, she did, "The forsaken one… she knows… that… I, I uh. I think she's one of my favorite-" She tried to speak before feeling herself choke up, "Ram… she… knows I love her… right? Rom?" She asked, with a sense of desperation. From the way Ram had spoken… it seemed like she doubted it. But Blanc…. She loved her sisters. Dearly. Even if she was the rightful heir to the underworld itself, she didn't know what she would do if her precious older sister hated her…
With the way she spoke, Rom felt like choking up herself. It was very rare that Blanc dropped her little persona, and even rarer for her to show genuine emotion like she was, and it tore Rom up inside. Yet, she managed to keep herself together, putting on her best smile, turning to face the edgelord herself, gently kissing her on her forehead, as she did so many times when Blanc would have her battles with nightmares as a young girl,
"Blanc, I'm sure somewhere deep down, Ram knows very well." Rom gently explained, putting her hand on Blancs shoulder, who still looked down,
"Does she love me…?" Blanc felt the hand on her shoulder work its way onto the small of her back, as it brought her in tight to her sister. The one she felt most comfortable around, the only person she ever let see her as she truly was.
"Blanc… Ram loves you so much more than you know." Backing up, and looking the adolescent in the eye, Rom continued "You know that bed frame of yours?" Rom asked rhetorically, and as Blanc nodded, Rom smiled, "You know Ram built that, right?"
"She- She…" Blanc didn't believe the words she was hearing, never in her life had she ever known her sister to be the handy type, and even less to get herself messy with dirty work, to risk ruining her look "You're lying! Don't lie to me, false idol!" Blanc yelled out, as she forced her way out of the embrace, pointing at her sister, even then could she feel her hand shaking,
"Blanc, I promise you, it's the truth… Ram stayed up for weeks trying to figure out how to build your little coffin bed frame" Rom explained, she remembered it well, it had originally been intended as a birthday gift for the young candidate, and well… it had to get pushed back… a few months. But that didn't matter to Ram, she got at it, nearly every night, and even though her frustration, she managed to get it done, and Rom knew it meant a lot to her to present it to her little sister.
"R…Ra-m?" Blanc had tears in her eyes, as she thought about her older sister and all the horrible things she had done to her over the last few months. "And… all I've done…" Blanc tried her best to cut off her sobs. What ruler of the underworld would cry? And yet, the tears drained from her face, seemingly out of defiance
"Blanc, it's ok. Ram won't hate you; I promise. She might get frustrated sometimes, and say things she doesn't mean, but she'll always love you. You'll always be her little Blanny" Rom smiled, and while usually, Blanc would cringe upon hearing the detestable name that Ram had called her when she was really young, but now? It made her want to cry even more, and as she cried, Rom stayed right beside her, arm wrapped around her. Rom should probably get her to stop playing all those pranks on Ram, but that could wait.
Flying through the skies of gamindustri, a (thankfully still) pink-haired CPU sped at supersonic rates to get to her friend's house as quickly as possible. She couldn't not afford to let anyone see her with this. She could not let it get out. For 2 reasons. Firstly, she was a goddess. She had an image to maintain, she had to dazzle everywhere she went, and this was not dazzling. Secondly, she could not let her see her with this hair. She would never, not for the rest of their lives, let her live this down. And even if now her hair was actually the same color as hers, it was not something she could let her see. Gritting her teeth, Ram sped along even faster.
Did she hate Uni? No, not quite. And she wasn't sure she ever did, even all those years ago, when they were at war. Feeling her face cringe, as it did every time she thought about that dreadful war, Ram continued along. Even if the two tended to get into petty squabbles more frequently than was really necessary, Uni was a friend. Her and Nepgear were great friends, and she knew that deep down, even if she'd never say it out loud. Even if they tended to hang out with each other more than they did Ram, not that it bothered her or anything!
With a huff, Ram continued her flight, in search of a remedy to remove this awful hex her witch of a sister had placed on her!
Meanwhile, across the continent, in Lastations basilicom, two goddesses prepared themselves for the day. Looking at the many stacks of paper on her desk, Uni eventually clicked her tongue, "I can't believe Kei is kicking me out, saying I 'have to take a day of rest' doesn't she know who's in charge here!?" She complained, while at her side, a smaller spitting image of her was seemingly in the opposite mindset, as bouncing as her shy personality allowed for, "Well at least you seem happy" She scoffed, looking over to the small girl at her side,
"Oh-? Sh-should I not be…?" Noire nervously asked, unsure if she had messed up. Uni got mad when she messed up, so she didn't want to do that, now did she? With a sigh, Uni turned to her sister with a far gentler expression,
"Well, why are you happy?" She asked, and looked at how her sister seemed to fumble with her words, before speaking,
"W-well, you said we might go to Planeptune… and I was just excited to see Neptune is all" To this, Uni couldn't help but smile at the cuteness of her little sister, rubbing her hair, before she spoke again,
"Well, I guess we have no choice, I'll text Nepgear to see if she's free, how's that sound?" Seeing her shy sister furiously nod was always a sight Uni liked seeing. Of course, it was a bit of embellishment on her end, knowing her secret girlfriend, as well as she did… she'd make time for her. After a quick text exchange, Uni discovered this was indeed the case.
"Say, you really are close to Neptune huh?" Uni asked nonchalantly, and in a way, she was really glad at that, that her younger sister seemed to have such a good friend in her girlfriend's younger sister. And, she had to admit, Neptune seemed to be doing wonders in helping Noire with her unbelievable shyness. Uni remembered when she was too shy to even leave their home. How Neptune managed to drag her out to go on a journey to save the CPUs was something Uni would never understand, but Uni had to say, it was something that bothered her, mostly because, it likely was very much in part because of how she was that Noire turned out that way.
"Mhm mhm. Neptune is my best friend! She's so nice! I f-feel so much more comfortable around her." Noire brightly smiled as she explained, and Uni couldn't help but feel a smile of her own creep onto her face, as she ruffled her hair slightly, before the two black goddesses quickly made their way over to Planeptune.
After a short flight, Uni and Noire touched down at the base of the Neptral tower, making their way inside they were, as they always were, greeted by the front attendants,
"Hello, Lady Gray Heart. I apologize, but I do not believe Lady Lilac Heart is taking visitors today, I can inform her you were here if that would help." The man bowed as he spoke,
"Wha-? Does that mean I can't see Neptune?" Noire sounded gutted as she heard the man speak, and Uni could only feel her forehead twitch in anger. Clearly, this guy had to be new.
"Listen here, if we come here then she damn well will make time! Shit for brains! Don't make me drag her ass down here to fire you!" Uni degraded the poor employee, who did his best to keep all the fluids in his bowels, luckily for him, Uni's tirade was interrupted by a short girl with purple hair running out from her waiting spot,
"Nowa! Nowa!" Neptune yelled, as she practically tackled the shy girl, springing out from her hiding spot she had gone to the second Nepgear had informed her the two girls would be over today.
"Hey, Neptune" Noire smiled, as she softly returned the gesture,
"See?" Uni glared at the man, who could only nervously wave the girls on, eventually, the trio made their way up the elevator, and into the main living space, as the two young girls quickly ran off into the room, giggling as they jumped on the couch, much to the chagrin of the CPU who was also in the room,
"Neptune… I told you, please stop jumping on the couch." Nepgear sighed, as she reminded her reckless, and overly energetic younger sister for what felt like the billionth time. The young girl, who could only scratch her head,
"Sorry Nep Sr!" She apologized, and Nepgear seemed to be satisfied for the moment, getting up to greet the other arrival, leaving behind the two youngsters, "Say, what're you even doing here best buddy of mine?" Neptune asked, curiously, and Noire brought her finger to her chin, attempting to remember.
"Kei kicked us out" She eventually explained, and Neptune looked at her friend in confusion,
"What? She can do that?" Neptune seemed baffled, of course, she didn't doubt the oracle, whom she affectionately referred to as "tomboy meanie" much to the disdain of the short haired oracle. But, even still, she had never known their oracle to ever kick her or Nepgear out of their own home, even if she probably wouldn't put it past the diminutive woman.
"Yea… Big sis seemed pretty mad about it at first, but her face turned all happy when she said we were coming over. She really likes Nepgear.'' Noire explained, as she noted once more; her sister seemed much happier around Neptune's older sister, and for her part, Noire liked Nepgear too. She was nice, calm, and always gave her and Neptune pudding whenever she was over. Although, Noire didn't seem to like her nearly as much as Uni appeared to, and Noire considered, she still did like Neptune better.
"B-but… I-I like Neptune better!" Noire eventually softly added through her embarrassment, her smile increasing when she saw the genuine smile appearing on her friend's face.
"I like you best too, bestest pal Noire! C'mon! Let's play something!" Neptune eagerly responded, jumping off the couch, and running over to the console connected to her TV to turn it on, so she and Noire could engage in a co-op adventure through one of her new fighting games, "Here! I just got this! I got it at this used games store, it was weird though, some rat ran the store! There was also this weird blonde lady that kept trying to sell me stuff" Neptune explained, and Noire seemed nervous at that,
"That sounds scary… I don't like monsters…" Noire shakily spoke,
"Oh, don't worry! She was really nice. And what did I tell you? If there are any big baddies, we can beat them, together!" Neptune boisterously declared, she understood her friend's avoidance of monsters, and made it a habit to remind her that their teamwork was unmatched in all of gamindustri, not even Blanc's older sisters could come close!
"Y-yea!" Noire agreed, before picking up the controller offered to her, and the pint-sized duo got to their game.
Meanwhile, as the two started up their game, across the hall, the other pair of CPUs settled down in Nepgear's room, enjoying the calmness afforded to them,
"Can you believe that? Seriously, who does she think she is?" Uni laughed as she explained the circumstances leading to her and her sister being here at the moment. Unknown to her, however, was that Nepgear had been in cahoots with the business-oriented oracle the whole time, and the two had devised this as a way for Uni to take a break, because, by the true goddess, both women knew, if they didn't force her, Uni would never take a break. But Uni didn't have to know that,
"Haha, I never thought Kei would be the type" She blatantly lied, as Uni rolled her eyes,
"I know right?! You're so lucky to have Histoire sometimes!" Uni bemused, as she flopped onto one of the various sleeping bags scattered around the room, before looking towards the door to the room as she heard a soft voice,
"I will choose to take that as a compliment" The very tome spoke as she announced herself, "Ahem. Nepgear."
"Yes?" Nepgear sat up as she looked at her oracle,
"I just wanted to inform you that there is a stack of non-essential papers on your desk" She spoke with her usual brand of professionalism,
"Hmm, do you think I could… handle it tomorrow?" Nepgear nervously asked the platinum blonde, as she eyed the other woman in the room, with a nod, Histoire responded,
"I don't see why not, just don't forget to do them. Everyone can use a break every now and again, just don't slip into any bad habits, although you are one of the most professional CPUs in Planeptunes history" Histoire explained herself as she nodded, leaving the two in a sense of peace, as she made her way into the hallway, and back towards her own office, to finish the workload she had for herself for that day. Surprised to hear a fit of cackling resonating from the gaming room,
Curiously, Histoire made her way to the room, to find the young candidates on the ground, their laughter overtaking them. Looking for the source of the hilarity, Histoires eyes soon stopped at the other figure in the room,
"My goodness… Ram? Ram, is that you?" She asked as she stared at the very clearly embarrassed now jet-black-haired CPU,
"Y-yea…" She meekly responded, "Blanc uhh, yea." She explained as much as she thought was needed, gesturing to her hair,
"Dear me…" Histoire sighed, before clearing her throat, "So what brings you here?" She asked, and Ram scratched her head,
"Uh… Rom said that you guys might have some dye remover?" She asked, and Histoire nodded, but before she could respond, the energetic purplette took over,
"Yea! Nep Sr used it when she removed my stylish hair! I made my hair look like Noires!" Neptune complained, having the memory trudged up, and the girl next to her could only try her best to calm her down,
"U-uh… I t-thought you looked really p-pretty Neptune" Noire complimented, she thought it was super-super cool her friend would go so far as that to make her feel better, it was a memory she cherished.
"See! Nep Sr was a big meanie to remove it!" The small goddess levied her complaints about the powers to be,
"We should have some, I believe Nepgear put it in her room, she is there right now, so you can go ask her if you would like. Now, if you'll excuse me" The oracle nodded, as she left the scene,
"Thanks, Histy!" Ram yelled, before making her way down the hall, electing to ignore the conversation the young girls were still having. Walking down the hall, Ram racked her brain, attempting to remember which one belonged to her friend. Making it halfway down the hall, she saw a door still halfway opened, figuring that had to be it, she opened it.
Ram felt every muscle in her body freeze, her mouth completely agape. It wasn't that she guessed wrong, oh no, she certainly guessed right. It wasn't that. Nepgear was in the room she entered all right. The only problem was that she wasn't alone. Feeling her fight or flight kick in, Ram immediately booked it out of the room. Running down the hall, taking a moment to catch her breath to cure herself of the mental image of her two best friends on top of one another. And, if she were a betting girl, had she walked in just a few minutes later she would have seen…
"EW EW EW NO NONONONO!" Ram furiously shook her head to clear the thoughts. Ram didn't even know what she felt. This day just kept getting worse and worse. Everything about this was wrong. Everything. Like a ghost, she calmly walked to where she had come from, gently closing the door, to ensure the poor young, innocent, girls did not have a similar experience to her.
Continuing her way, walking all the way to the game room, she walked in, staring at the two girls, before calmly making her way to the elevator, taking it back the way she had come, and walking out the front exit. Ram calmly transformed back into Pink Heart as she made her way back to her home. All the while Ram could only think the same thing.
This is not real. This is not real. There is no way I just walked in on Nepgear and Uni making out. I'm gonna wake up. My hair will be normal. And this never happened. This is not real! THIS IS NOT REAL!
Some time later, Ram walked through the front doors of her own home. Walking down to the CPU wing, she made her way inside, where she was very quickly greeted by her own twin, who was resting on the couch, who gave her a confused, and fearful look as she spotted her,
"Ram? Are you ok? Why is your hair still like that? You look like you've seen a ghost" Rom gently asked her twin, and beside the CPU, calmly sleeping, was the two's younger sister, who gently rested on the oldest sister's lap.
Looking at her, then at her own hand, then back to her sister, then to her hair. Ram's mouth moved up and down, yet no words came out.
"Ram?" Rom asked again, and Ram's mind eventually sprung to life,
"Oh!" She sprung out of it, looking at her own hair again, she thought at a million miles a second, thinking of a way to explain herself, without disclosing what she had witnessed, "I uhh… I just came to realize that maybe Blanc had a point… yea! She did a really good job with this! Halloween is coming up, and I can probably rock a great goth aesthetic for a few weeks if that'll make her happy!" She declared, and Rom smiled at her sister, gently shaking the resting girl, who yawned as she rubbed her eyes,
"Hey, Ram, tell Blanc what you just told me" Rom implored her sister, who scratched her neck, as the sleepy girl looked back, she was immediately at full attention seeing her older sister. Gulping for a moment, before hearing her speak,
"I uh… I just think you did a pretty good job… yea. I think I can probably rock this for Halloween for a few weeks… just… don't do this again! Ok?" Ram pieced her words together, as she saw a small smile form on her younger sister's face,
"That makes me happy to hear, Ram. I… uhh…" Blanc paused, as she remembered what she and Rom had discussed after she had managed to stop crying, "I'm… sorry" she softly spoke, as Rom rubbed her shoulder gently,
Ram blinked as she looked at her. It was as if she was more foreign than looking in the mirror surely will be. Blanc never apologized. Looking at her, as Blanc awkwardly poked her fingers together, Ram let a smile take over her features, before wrapping her arms around her, with Rom joining in on the group hug a few moments later.
"Awww, that's my Blanny"
For now. That's all that was important for Ram. She had no idea how she would ever look her friends in the eyes ever again. She might even vomit. But. That could wait.
Hello hello, I bring you another section of reviews to respond to, I'll get right to it
end5- Thank you as always, always means a lot!
Gigarot- Well... I'm not sure Noire would be allowed to join seeing as K-sha is a member... but yes, I'm sure she would not have agreed to the name. It took me far longer than you would think to make those acronyms work lol. As for the last part, yes, hopefully, Vert's influence will give Uni the confidence she needs, as Nepgear's tsun translator seems to be not up to its usual standards.
Tony Anderson- Why thank you. I always like to include a few side ships in my shots, I think it's a fun way to mention and include other characters! And I'm glad our tastes seem to be pretty similar, long live yuri!