Chapter 42. 5 - A Tsundere Outing

Stress.

That was what Noire felt coursing through every fibre of her being right now.

The blackette groaned into her pillow as she lay on her bed, already dreading having to get up and complete her daily routine. It had only been two days since Avenir's little scheme with the BOWs and the Infected, and already she was exhausted. Not only did she have to listen to the government's squabbles about who should be blamed for this incident, but she also had been helping restore the City from the damages that it had suffered. The latter part of her work was fairly straightforward, if a little tedious. She would just transform into Black Heart and do what needs to be done, like lift heavy objects, chop up wood for the new frames that would be used to repair the damaged buildings with her sword, and assist in management. Someone like her, who excelled in leadership and the business side of things, would find the management part to be the easiest, and most familiar, for her. Aside from that, the physical labour only stressed her out physically. It made her sweat, took lots of her stamina, and generally exhausted her body. She didn't mind though, because she owed it to her people, to help right the wrongs she had committed against them. To be the CPU she was meant to be, not some crazy warmonger.

What stressed her more was the mental aspect: basically listening to pointless complaints made by the two factions in her Basilicom. Because of the recent incident involving the infected, her Basilicom staff which were once completely loyal to Avenir, had split into 2 warring factions: the Pro CPU and the Avenir factions. Like their names suggested, one was on 'her side' for what she did during the incident. Noire didn't like them regardless though, as most of them had been workers who had treated her unfairly back before the incident. They saw her as nothing but a monument, a figure that they could decorate and expect to stay in their control, which severely ticked her off. Nobody controlled her except herself, damnit! But, even she had to admit that it was good that they had, since their efforts resulted in giving her back more of her shares.

As for the other faction, it was the faction trying to make Avenir out to be the victim in all this, that it was all Umbrella's fault and that there was some 'Neo-Umberella' out there causing problems. This would have been believable, they even tried to supply them with fake documents to try and convince them. However, Noire had seen right through it and had her soldiers, the ones that were still loyal to her, burn the documents while she clarified that they had been indeed faked. Neither faction was happy about that, for obvious reasons.

They also had the audacity to try and make Noire out to be the villain, for making it so that Umbrella's experiments were unleashed upon the people once again after what happened at Racoon City. They brought up how Noire had never even lifted a finger to help them during that time, so why should she have the right to claim to have helped them this time alongside several others? Including a well-renowned war hero who had done the CPUs job for her back at Racoon City. Noire had to admit they had a point there, that she had indeed failed at being there for her people when they needed her back then. However, she had responded with how things had changed since then, how she had recognised her previous mistakes as a leader and was going to correct them from here on out.

When confronted with what Avenir had been doing for the business economy, by becoming the 'top dog' in the business market the economy had boosted in its ratings. However, Noire had brought up how even though they were indeed successful as a business, competition was what drove businesses to be better. If Avenir had continued to advance like it was unchecked, they would be unmotivated to make better wares fairly soon, as they had nobody to rival them. The drive was what was important for running businesses, and that was something Avenir didn't have. She had tried to have Avenir disbanded, however that was overruled by the majority of the Basilicom. They had reasoned that if the Avenir corporation, a corporation responsible for funding military fees, were to be destroyed Lastation would be overrun by Monsters. That, and combined with their 'standard taxes' did much for Lastation's security, of which the 'conveniently' ignored the budget cuts from Lastation's military when she brought it up.

Thus, Noire decided that while Avenir would not be disbanded, yet, they would be investigated thoroughly while the budget cuts on Lastation's military would be admonished. Of course, the Avenir supporters tried to overrule the idea again, fighting tooth and nail to retain what control they could over the Land. She may not have her full power, thus she couldn't regain complete control until that happened. However their combined effort was met with failure this time, thanks to the majority of the governing bodies agreeing with that course of action. They were also silenced by the dark, evil glare that Noire had sent their way. She was tired of all their, excuse her language, bullshit. No more, no more would she tolerate such attitudes towards her country, her people. From now on, she was coming back, bitches!

...'Oh goddess, that sounds like something SHE would say...' Noire thought to herself as she tried to bury her head in the pillow she used as a hugging pillow. She didn't know why, but this hugging pillow emitted a warmth that made a silent giggle escape her lips.

That combination of matters she had to attend to was what stressed her out at the moment. She was going to need a LOT of aspirin for the days ahead.

Still, she had a long way to go. She was just starting to regain the people's faith, and right now she could tell that it was under intense scrutiny. she could feel her powers in her body again, but they were flickering, unstable and not solid like they once were. She had a LOT of work to do before her powers were completely restored, but the journey would be worth it. She would get to learn more about the people she had left for the Console War centuries ago, as well as herself. It actually sounded sort of exciting for her. What would await her in the next corner? What kind of adventured could life bring her?

"...e."

'I mean, of course I'm probably going to get daily migraines, that's to be expected. I have a lot of work to do, but that will not stop Noire, CPU of Lastation!' she thought to herself, her arms wrapping around her 'hugging pillow' tighter. 'But, for the first time in a long while, I'm actually feeling... more alive, than I have been in the last few centuries.' she had to admit to herself, fighting so constantly for as long as she had, while she would never admit it be it in human or CPU form, slowly become a chore. If she had been a bit more level-headed, Noire would have left for her Country a lot sooner. Unfortunately, she was competitive, aggressive and dominating in HDD form, and even a little in human, so that wouldn't have happened.

In addition, Noire's thoughts wandered to the Spec Ops Agents. Agents that were way better than normal Agents. After the incident, she had immediately looked them up in her personal study in the Basilicom, gathering files, papers, reports and surveys gathered in the last few centuries about them, before sitting down and getting in some long overdue research. The piles upon piles of paper she had made herself go through reached the top of her ceiling in height, and she finished that amount of work in an afternoon.

Let it not be said that Noire was a hard worker.

"...re."

From her research, Noire had unearthed information she could never have guessed beforehand about the Spec Ops Programme. The programme was about 500 years old, as in that time there had been what Gamindustrimen had called the 'Monster Cataclysm'. This event in history detailed the sudden surge of monsters from an unexplainable reason , like a great tide that swept through every pore of Gamindustri. Some emerged as much more dangerous breeds, breeds that didn't follow the norms Gamindustri monsters did, and their behaviours were equally as bad. These, were the Abnormals, and their power dwarfed that of the original monsters by leaps and bounds.

They overran settlements, reducing them to a sea of flames, ruin and devastation. They destroyed battalions of military troops that were sent at them, men ad women were separated from their families never to return whenever they embarked on a mission with even a small Abnormal presence, and if any survivors were found they would only describe their experiences as insane babble, spending the rest of their lives . Whenever Guild Agents had been sent to take them down, they were always sent in large parties of 10 or 20, way more than the usual party of 4 that was used in common days, and whenever they would return from those missions, their numbers would be in the single digits... with more dying from their injuries right after returning.

It was a hellish time indeed. Noire had to pause her research to take in what she had heard, leaning back on her desk while putting a hand over her forehead, her eyes wide and her jaw set in an 'o' shape at the time. She couldn't help the shiver that ran up her spine like a child parading across a beach at that moment, the sheer horror and dread that rolled within her stomach at each description, each report she had read, made the Abnormals of that time seem truly like monsters. They made the Monsters she was used to look like cute little pets in comparison, and the ways they were reported to kill, with most of the breeds still around to this day, made her want to throw up, run away and hide in the darkest corner of Gamindustri, praying for her soul. CPU pride be damned.

Yes, they were THAT terrifying.

"...oire."

It eventually, after about 3 years, reached to the point where humanity had neared the point of extinction. Towns were desecrated, refugee camps dotted the entire landscape in what few large cities remained from the constant attacks. Soldiers had little morale , ammo, weapons, equipment and numbers to fight back the incoming hordes. Faith was mostly blind at this point, which at the time Noire figured was the reason why the CPUs didn't notice that they were in danger. As long as they had an ample supply of Shares within them, Noire doubted they would have noticed this terrible event happening. It made her sick to her stomach, just thinking about how oblivious she had been thanks to being so into the Console war, that she couldn't have noticed something so dreadful happening to her country, her people.

Just how many prayers went unheard? Just how many lives could she have saved if she had just kept an eye on her Nation? Noire would always tremble at the thought, these thoughts constantly plaguing her mind like an eternal judgement being cast upon her. She would remember this incident, even if she wasn't part of it. She would never forget the burden that she had brought on herself, the one she must carry for the rest of her life.

Finally, when people had lost all hope, one man, his name unfortunately being lost to time, had decided to 'fuck the old ways' and began devising a programme with the remaining Agents. The Man would forego the old ways of the CPUs, the overreliance on their power to the point where they wouldn't save themselves. He created a set of regimens for the remaining Agents, at least, the ones that felt the same as him. Back then, the faith in the CPUs, despite the times, was still borderline fanatical, so the outcome of someone trying to change this belief would... not exactly give him any favours. In fact, it was said in the documents she read abut the Monster Cataclysm that he was put under heavy scorn by the Basilicom, by everyone in Gamindustri save for the ones that agreed with his ideals. Even then there were only a handful who did.

Pity and respect swelled within her at the thought of this mystery man. While she didn't know his name, the documents did call him the 'first progenitor' which was likely a title that they gave him at some point. Noire didn't like the fact that he was discriminated against for his beliefs, not one bit. Even if he had lost faith in them, he still tried to save his fellow man. In essence, all he was doing was something that all Spec Ops Agents seem to believe: fight for something OTHER than blind faith. Still, to keep going like he did, in spite of everything that had happened to him, Noire had to admit she had gained a begrudging respect for the human. If only there were more people like him, willing to take the initiative and do what was necessary to survive. Perhaps then things wouldn't have gotten so out of hand.

Despite everything though, his efforts resulted in a group of Agents that, when the first horde of Abnormals attacked the city they were stated in, they were able to destroy tem by the dozens, using new weaponry, skills and tactics to their advantage. Their tactics were unusual, they planed traps for the tougher Abnormals, they were able to use Skills previously unheard of to wipe out swarms that came their way. They also wielded unconventional weapons, like explosives, firearms, and more, and despite their slow start, things soon turned out that they were far superior to the average Agent. Their success had stunned everyone who mocked him for his ideas, and as these Agents stopped more and more Abnormals, it became clear to them that these Agents, were the type that they needed to survive. With this in mind, the man had shared his knowledge with the rest of humanity, and they managed to retake their former territories from the Abnormals.

Thus, the Spec Ops Programme was born.

Over the centuries, the Spec Ops Programme swelled with both popularity and scorn. People still looked to the old ways, and thus considered the Spec Ops to be an affront to the CPUs. They believed that when they needed the CPUs the most, that they would have come and shown their divine wrath to those Abnormal monster scumbags, and thus looked upon the Spec Ops with distaste. They couldn't do much about them however, as their accomplishments, love from the public, and the amount of people wanting to join them kept anything negative from happening. Even if they were narrow-minded fools, they weren't stupid. They didn't want to lose the love of the people, so they just bit their tongues and waited, waited for the opportune time to dispose of the project... a time that never came.

"Noire!"

Her eyes shot open wide as a frightened gasp escaped her lips when a loud, masculine voice broke her from her thoughts. It was like a loud saxophone ripping through her eardrums when she had let her guard the most down, such as the shock she was put under. "E-Eeeek!" she shrieked, her eyes frantically looking about as she tried to locate the one that had broken her peaceful slumber, ruined her resting and good mood. "Wh-whose there?! Show yourself this instant!" she yelled, her arms tightening their grip on her hugging pillow.

She had been about to grab it and throw it wherever the voice originated for ruining the peaceful atmosphere that was meant to ease her stressed mind, when the voice called out to her again... and this time, she found that, thanks to her recovered senses, that it came from... above her? "Um, well, It's me Noire, but uh..." the voice sounded so familiar to her, yet for some reason there was a significant portion of hesitation and... embarrassment? Yeah, that was it. there was embarrassment and hesitation in the voice's tone. Noire identified it as masculine, offhandedly.

"E-Eh?"

Slowly, Noire looked up, and to her surprise, a pair of light blue eyes, shining with concern and a noticeable fluster in them, met her ruby red ones. Those eyes belonged to a face tinged with crimson red, like blood was just under the surface of the cheeks and trying to get out onto the surface. Her eyes wandered upwards, from the light blue eyes to the crimson red hair, which was in a familiar gravity defying style as it lay against the pillow... wait, what?

Now, Noire was confused. Wasn't she holding a pillow in her arms? It did seem unusually warm for some reason. Slowly, her eyes trailed downwards again to her arms, which she soon saw were wrapped around something, something large. Noire blinked owlishly, momentarily befuddled at what was going on, until she realised that it was a torso.

Not just any torso, though. It was the Spec Ops Agent, Nico's torso.

She was hugging Nico's torso like a hugging pillow.

Hugging a pillow...

Hugging Nico...

Hugging... a guy... in the same bed as her.

...

...

...

...

...

...

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Whelp, took her long enough to get it through her thick skull, huh?

In a fit of panic, embarrassment and anger, Noire, whose face was redder than a tomato, acted faster than an Olympic runner going at maximum speed. She unwrapped her arms from Nico's torso, put her hands on his chest and, with an exertion of force only a startled young maiden could accomplish, pushed him away from her, electing a surprised gasp from the male. Her eyes were closed as she refused to look at him, to see what her actions would result in.#

The male, while startled by her actions, acted reflexively as well. He rolled off the bed and landed on the ground with a THUD! He then rolled to the opposite side of the room, to which he used the momentum to spin around till he was doing a reverse handstand, of which he jumped into a flip and landed on his feet directly facing her. 'Whoa, now that was a doosy...' Nico thought to himself, holding the side of his head as dizziness plagued his brain. He looked a little wobbly for a moment, until he shook the dizziness away and regained his composure. Looking up at Noire, Nico grimaced as he resisted the urge to yell 'fuck my life!' right now. 'Goddamnit, now to deal with this...'

"Wh-wh-wh-wha-what are you doing in here, you perv?!" Noire yelled. she clutched the bed covers over herself as if in a protective manner, attempting to preserve what little modesty she could after losing most of it to this guy. She glared at him with her cheeks a burning crimson, tears in the corners of her eyes as she gritted her teeth. How humiliating, she had been hugging a guy in her sleep! What the heck?! How did that happen, she was sure she was using a pillow as her source of comfort! "I made sure to lock my room door!"

Her intense rage, plus his desire to retain what little manly dignity he had left, made Nico hastily raise his hands in a sign of surrender. "Girl, your door was NOT locked, I know this because I checked!" he yelled, throwing an arm to the side and pointing to the door behind him. He stepped aside, allowing her to see that the lock had indeed been unlocked hence proving his claim.

"How do I know you didn't do that yourself?!"

"Hell to the no! I promise on my honor as DEATHSTROKE that I had nothing to do with this! I swear, i'm innocent!"

All this was making Noire's head hurt from how annoyed and frustrated she was. Combined with her embarrassment and indignation, and the fact that Nico was making a conscious effort not to stare at her, made her mood more sour than a bunch of lemons. She couldn't admonish the guy since he seemed to genuinely make an effort not to look, hell he was practically looking like a frightened little toddler right now, and he had shown that the lock was already undone by the time that he had arrived at some point, so yelling at him wasn't going to do much good.

Glancing down at herself, Noire half expected herself to be naked. After all, she was in her bed and generally when one was in their bed they would generally be either naked or clad in PJ's. She couldn't remember changing into any PJ's, so she had to assume that she was naked... 'Eh? I'm not?' Noire could only blink, here embarrassment soon fading away and being replaced by confusion. She saw that, instead of being in the nude, she was actually still wearing her own clothes: dress, boots, skirt and all. She was safely covered and not like what she had thought.

Why was she clothed, when she should have been naked? Not that she was complaining though, it saved them a lot of dignity, at least.

Memories assaulted her mind, memories to do with the previous night. With how hard she had been working, Noire had been plenty stressed and tired. She didn't want to return to the Basilicom to rest, since it reminded her of all the political bullshit she had endured, plus the squabbling Basilicom Staff which irritated her to no end, thus she had returned to Chain's damaged Cafe, which had recently gotten its living quarters renovated, to sleep. She practically forgot the thought of changing and just fell asleep on the closest bed she could find. 'Well... I guess that explains why I'm still clothed...'

Seeing as she had, fortunately, managed to retain her pride as a girl and a Goddess, Noire gave a sigh of relief, a hand on her chest that felt her pounding heart calm into a steady rhythm. "Whew, that's a relief..." she muttered under her breath. She did NOT want to have to deal with any embarrassment so early in the morning...wait, what was the time? Noire's eyes glanced to a clock on a set of drawers next to the bed. It read 11:00 AM, which meant it wasn't as early as she would have liked. "Oh..."

She didn't think she would have anything to do with meetings till the late afternoon, so she could prep herself for that. Though, she could also spend some time doing some Quests. While there were few Quests available for her, she knew that there were at least some still open at the Guild. Plus, since Abnormals were still a major threat, she could take care of those as well. Those Quests were usually reserved only for Spec Ops Agents, or those in a Party with them, but as a Goddess, she too had access to them. She knew this because she had checked it out with the Guild.

Just then, she glanced towards Nico and saw that he still wasn't looking at her, thinking that she was naked under the sheets. A surge of pity swept through her, as she gave an annoyed scoff while turning her head to the side and crossing her arms under her chest. "You can look now, Nico. I'm fully dressed already." she told him with a mild irritation bleeding into her tone. Though, she couldn't really blame the guy for being like this. He had almost gotten a fist to the face just now for crying out loud.

Nico slowly, hesitantly turned his head and opened his eyes, still cautious about being hit. When he fully opened them, the male witnessed the sight of a fully dressed Noire, making a huge sigh of relief escape him. "Oh, I'd say 'thank the Goddesses' if I wasn't aware of how ironic it would be for both parties." he remarked, smirking nervously. It would have sounded strange, coming from someone like him who didn't believe in any CPU. Plus, there was who he was talking to, which would double the irony.

His remark broke some of the tension in the room at least though, of which he hadn't completely intended since it just came out that way. Noire gave a brief smile, one that carried both her understanding and her awkwardness as she shuffled on the bed. "Yeah, you could say that..." she responded, before she decided to move the conversation along. the sooner the better in her eyes, and something told her that the Spec Ops Agent before her would agree too. "Anyways, I'm sure I unlocked the door before I came in, so..." she began, quickly examining her vague memories of last night. She remembered locking the door, if a bit vaguely, but she was certain of it. That just made this situation all the weirder. "So, how did it come undone?"

Nico frowned, curious about that himself. When he had returned from his mission with Team RAIL, they had parted ways when they returned to Lastation. They had other matters to attend to, and he wanted to visit Chian's damaged Café to assist with any additional matters. He didn't expect to have been bombarded with hugs and tears from both Neptune and Compa though, and IF had given him a look that basically said 'this is your fault, so you deal with it'. When he had asked them what was wrong, they had tearfully responded with their worries about him, how they had finished training by killing those Abnormals he had recommended, but he hadn't shown up yet so they had gotten worried. It had made him feel like a prick, honestly, so he had resolved to spend the rest of the day with them instead of training like he had initially planned.

They spent that time visiting what hadn't been destroyed, even ventured to the other Districts. One such place was the sweet shop Neptune had gone to when she vanished from their sights upon their arrival. He hadn't destroyed her hopes and dreams at the time, since this was something he was doing to pay them back for worrying so much. Nico had been stunned with how worried they'd been though, it was the first time a girl would worry about him like this. He kind of figured Compa would, since they were childhood friends, but Neptune? Someone he didn't know for nearly as long? That was something that blew his mind.

Looked like those two were more similar than he realised... that fact, quickly became something Nico cherished like a religious person would a holy relic.

That night, they had decided to forego going to a Hotel again and just slept in the Guest rooms of Chian's Café. IF had called the owner and she had given them her permission. When asked if she was sure, Chian had stated that they more than earned it for what they did for the people, which filled their beings with pride and joy. At least they had been able to help SOME people back then, that was a thought that passed through all their minds. Seeing so much tragedy around them, from the corpses of the fallen to the depressed faces of those left behind, it was like a light within the darkness, something everyone desperately needed from all this.

Which lead to the following morning.

"... Hold on, I have to make a call." Nico spoke, his tone suddenly shifting as his eyes hardened and his voice stiffened into one of a stern lecturer about to unleash a verbal lashing on his rebellious student. Noire stiffened at such a voice, remembering the first time she had heard it. Back at West Wind Valley when she first met them... in human form, of course. In his mind, he was thinking one thing, and one thing only. 'I believe a certain someone owes me some answers... and a little bit of payback.'

As she watched him activate his right bracer and manipulate the holographic screen that appeared, Noire couldn't help but quench her curiosity as she began making her bed. "Uh, who exactly are you calling?" she asked him, watching as a holographic headset appeared on his head. He never answered though, and while that did annoy her, the look of intense concentration, anger and promise of retribution on his face stopped any thoughts of repeating herself. There was the sound of a dial coming from it for a few seconds, before the signal reached where it wanted to reach.

Noire soon got her answer, when a chipper, girlish voice spoke from the other side, a voice that Noire knew all too well. It also caused her brow to twitch in annoyance, quickly figuring it out herself. 'Oh boy, if this is what I think it is, then she will have brought a terrible fate upon herself...' she thought, shaking her head in both disappointment, and irritation at the receiver of the call.

"Heya, Nicky! Whassup?"

"Don't "Heya Nicky" Me, Neptune, young missy." Nico hissed angrily as he began pacing back and forth from one side of the room to another. "What the hell kind of stunt were you trying to pull here? Sending me into Noire's room while she was sleeping? Really?" he asked with just as much irritation as she was feeling. "She very nearly socked me! If we hadn't come to our senses in time, we'd have been traumatised for the whole day!"

Briefly, Noire felt a spike of indignation at the exaggeration that Nico was showing just now. The way he was making it sound made her think he saw looking at her naked as a crime. 'Although, he is kinda on point, that would have been both embarrassing and humiliating for me on a whole new level...' she reluctantly admitted to herself, fighting back the urge to blush at the thoughts racing through her mind. 'It doesn't matter if he's a great guy or not, I hardly know him! And there's steps to take before that kind of stuff happened!' While she would admit that she had a fair amount of attractiveness, Noire still would have agreed with Nico on this one.

A laugh came from the other end of the call, a laugh only a prankster whose plan had succeeded epically, as Neptune responded while trying to hold back her mirth. She may as well have not even tried, since they could tell just by how she sounded when she spoke. "Aw, don't tell me you didn't like it, Nicky!" she said in a mischievous manner. "Did seeing Nowa in the nude get you all hot and bothered? Well, you're a lucky dog, cause I'll be riding that D when the time comes!" she remarked cheerfully and without shame.

She had the intended effect.

"GODDAMNIT NEPTUNE!"

Both couldn't help but yell at the preteen, even though she wasn't even in the room, as their faces heated up in milliseconds, one out of embarrassment and the other out of anger. The innuendo she was saying was clear to them, and they didn't appreciate it in the slightest, nor did they like the thoughts that plagued their minds thanks to it. Noire finished making her bed only to flop right back on it to hide her face, as Nico restrained himself from storming off to wherever Neptune was and giving her a harsh lecture.

"Hehehehehehehehehe!"

Whatever Neptune was going to say was cut off when Nico cut the call, the holographic headset dissipating into nothingness to reveal Nico's madly twitching brow. His eyes shone brightly with intense rage. "That little midget... I swear, I'm so getting back at her for this..." he muttered while clenching a shaking fist, a fist which was raised to his chin level while sporting a few veins. His eyes closed, Nico made a smile as he tried to contain his rage, but the vein covered fist gave everything away.

Noire could only sweat drop, now sitting in the Japanese sitting position on her bed as she watched him plan his 'vengeance' against Neptune. 'I'm pretty sure this is Neptune getting him back for that incinerator incident... though judging by that innuendo...' she thought to herself, fighting off the blush that came with remembering what Neptune had blatantly said she would do to him. Her gut told her she wasn't lying either, that girl had little to no shame when it came to Nico, unlike the angel known as Compa. As she heard his muttering though, another equally sweat drop-inducing thought came to mind. '... Sometimes, Nico can be just as childish as Neptune. Seeing him like this... they do work well together.'

She looked down at herself and, from a slight hunch, sniffed herself and had to bite back a wince. She smelled, and she didn't like it. Her clothes were covered with her sweat and scent, which wouldn't bode well for the day. Since yesterday was so sweat-inducing, today may prove to be just as sweaty, too, something she was NOT looking forward too. 'I'll take a shower then change, I should have some spare casual clothes lying around. I had a small stash just in case something were to happen, just didn't think I'd use it so soon...' she thought to herself.

"While I would like to listen to your revenge schemes..." Noire began with sarcasm dripping from her words, cutting Nico from his ramblings. "I'd like to take a shower, so could you wait outside please, I'd be very grateful."

He didn't need to be told twice.


Half an hour later, Noire emerged from her room's shower room, her body clad in a towel while she used another one to dry her hair. Since she didn't have it in her usual twin tails hairstyle, her hair fell down and reached her knees in length. "Whew... I'm glad that the water was restored in this place, I would have had to return to the Basilicom drenched in sweat..." she muttered with a relieved sigh, before a shiver went down her spine at the thought of her followers seeing her stench-tainted body. Most would likely be disgusted by it, while others...

Well, there were sickos in the world.

It wasn't long until she opened a hidden compartment in her bed, one she had discovered not too long after Chian had let her have this room for the duration of her stay, and pulled out a set of clothes. Once she did that, Noire changed her clothes, putting her expensive dress, skirt, boots and the rest of her attire into a nearby wash basket. She'd wash them later when things weren't so chaotic.

She now wore a more... casual outfit: a tan coloured tube top that exposed a bare minimum of cleavage, with a pair of dark blue tight jeans that hugged her legs. They were held in place by a black belt with a silver buckle, while on her feet were a pair of high heeled brown sandals. Her hair was no longer held in the two tails style, but rather allowed to flow down to her knees. She even had put the ends into a set of swirls to complete her look.

Noire looked herself over at a nearby mirror, checking herself for any lacking details. She knew she had a... well-desired body, it was as obvious as Neptune's true identity. In her normal clothes one would definitely say she was insanely attractive, she did receive stares of THAT kind a lot whenever she went out. Plus, she had dealt with a few more... inappropriate clients several times during Questing, so Noire had a low opinion of males in general. There were few exceptions however, Aiden, Ivan although he definitely had an appreciation for the female body, and... Nico. So, in a casual outfit like this, Noire wondered what would happen if Nico saw her like this. Would be his usual self or act like most of the other men she had encountered?

Time to find out.

Once she had found her look satisfactory, the blackette CPU turned her head to look towards the Door. "You can come in, now!" she yelled towards the door, and Nico soon entered, closing the door behind him. She hadn't noticed before, but Noire had never once seen him change his attire. He always wore that black getup, the only time a change in his attire happened was whenever he donned that creepy Mask. Although, Noire had to admit, it did fulfil its role well. It was like he was entirely themed around Masks and reflection, how people hide their true selves behind facades. She had to admit, she liked that philosophy, she saw it practically every day ion Avenir, the Basilicom, even herself.

'... Huh, so this is what Noire's room looks like...' Nico thought to himself. He admitted that it was a little plain, there was little changes made to it by the blackette but he figured that she didn't have that much time to even attempt to personalise the room. It looked like the standard room, with a red carpet over the floor, light green walls with white frames, and a black ceiling. There was a light in the middle, and at the back was a window. Before it, was a bed with black bedding, with the wooden frame pained a silvery white colour. Opposite the bed, was a human length mirror that stood tall, next to a set of draws and a wardrobe next to the entrance. There was also another door by the wardrobe that led to the shower room, which judging from his senses had been recently used.

His eyes cast their gaze on Noire at last, and he soon realised that she wore a different outfit. His eyes momentarily widened in surprise, before he realised what was going on. 'Oh yeah, that's right. Noire's outfit probably wouldn't smell too good so she's wearing a different one.' he thought to himself. For a moment, eh had hardly recognised her, since she changed her look so much. This was the first time he'd seen her with her hair down like this, and he had to admit, she looked good like that. 'Best not say that out loud, otherwise I may look like a fool...' he thought to himself.

Instead, Nico hummed thoughtfully as he glanced to the washing basket that was next to the wardrobe. "Just curious, but when did you get a new outfit, Noire?" he queried to the woman before him. Nico never saw her visit any shops while she was with them, so he assumed that she had gotten them on her own time.

If the expression she was making was any indication though, Nico somehow felt that she was annoyed with him for some reason. "I got some after we parted ways after that Killachine incident." she explained, flicking a strand of her hair before checking her red coloured fingernails. "Figured that I could do with some more casual outfits so I didn't stand out as much, what with Avenir likely going to gun for me from now on." While that was one reason, another reason was that she wanted to try something new True she looked professional in her original attire, but in these clothes she felt more like an ordinary girl. It was something she had never experienced before, and she wanted to try it. "Anyways, where's everybody at? I would have figured that I'd wake to Neptune trying to bounce on me or something like that."

Nico resisted the urge to chuckle at that, finding that to be something that Neptune would do. The teen then pondered her question for a few swift seconds, walking to one of the walls and leaning against it. The male then responded with his eyes closed and his arms crossed, his features set in a relaxed posture. "Neptune's with Compa right now. She's gone and dragged her out on a shopping spree, likely for more Pudding since we don't have any here. Kept on whining about it being the end of the world since there was no Pudding." Both teens rolled their eyes at this mannerism, it was so... Neptunish, to worry over something like Pudding in such an exaggerated manner.

The male then put his thoughts on the brunette, his relaxed posture faltering slightly. Noire took this as a sign that this was a less carefree topic, and she got th feelings he knew why. "IF's at the Guild right now, she's busy applying for the Spec Ops Exam. Since she's from Planeptune, she'll have to have her initiation there, but she decided to get the process started early. Said she wanted to have as much prep time as possible before the exams take place to hone her abilities." He then checked his Bracer for any messages, his eyes cast their gaze over the newly-appeared holographic screen. He found that there were no messages received from anyone, before deactivating the Bracer. "I did recommend her, so she's practically a Candidate already, which won't go well with other Agents. They will see her as someone who can't take care of themselves, and if she reveals her reasons for joining that hate will likely increase. Thus, she's applying for it in the old fashioned way to make it easier on her." he explained to her, and to Noire it sounded more like he was telling her his worries for his comrade.

"Huh... I see..." the blackette muttered under her breath.

'You idiot, why aren't you saying anything about my outfit? Not that I particularly want you to or anything, but it'd be nice to have an outsider's opinion!' she shrieked in her mind. When he had said what he did, Noire couldn't help but feel a pang of irritation at him. Irritation for not commenting on her outfit, not like she wanted to impress him or anything. She just wanted to know more about this boy that Neptune had taken a liking to. Then again, she had to admit to herself, not that she would to anyone else, that she was indeed curious.

Curiosity, a desire to know more about something that prior to the experience, one wasn't aware of. Noire was curious about the Spec Ops Agent, more so than she was about Neptune and the others. She was curious because out of all the people in the Party, Nico was the one she knew about the least, yet held the most gratitude for. Aside from Neptune, he had given her deep insight to how useless the Console War truly was, and also inspired her to talk to Neptune face-to-face, instead of just killing her when she got the chance. Noire knew that he was an accomplished Agent, she had looked up his profile and mission records, but what she didn't get was that many of those missions said that he played a lesser roll in clearing, handing the credit to other Agents. It was like he wanted to remain out of the spotlight for some reason, and Noire wanted to know why.

Not just that, but she was curious about him as a person, as well. Not just as a Goddess wanting to know about a mortal who didn't put his faith in any deity. Their talk in the Café had enlightened her to the knowledge that Nico had a lot to tell, both his adventures and his character. He was someone who got things done, he made sure that they were prepared for any bad encounters that came their way, and most of all he was someone who didn't use his... second head... very often, if at all. It made her curious about him...

It made her want to know about Nico.

Who was he? Where did he come from? How did he see the world? How did he become the way he was? So many questions pounded away at her mind, threatening to burst out her skull if they weren't answered. Yet, Noire wasn't really sure how to ask him about these things. She wasn't used to guys talking to her on a level like this, she was more used to politicians and businessmen trying to earn more favour in her eyes. Aside from them, there was the other CPUs at the time, too, and they were all girls, so her interactions with guys was fairly limited. Not to mention how grateful she was to him for making sure her city suffered the least amount of casualties as possible. Someone like him... he had her attention, and her interest.

But how should she go about it?

"Hey, you alright?" Noire almost eeped when Nico's voice, which sounded WAY closer to her than it had been before, broke her out of her musings like she had been shaken down by a earthquake. She jumped slightly and looked to him, noticing that Nico had walked till he was about 6 feet away from her with his eyes showcasing worry and curiosity towards her. "You were staring at me oddly just now, so I wanted to know what was wrong."

A stream of embarrassment coursed through her at that, and in response, Noire fell back onto a certain way of thinking: the thinking of a Tsundere. "-I wasn't looking at you! No way, don't get ahead of yourself!" she shouted, huffing while turning her head sideways as she crossed her arms under her chest, unknowingly pronouncing her boobs in front of him. However, Nico didn't notice as he tilted his head in her direction, not at all believing her.

"Uh, yes you were."

"No, I wasn't!"

"Yes, you were."

"No way, I wasn't!"

The two bickered back and forth, and it no longer looked like a Goddess talking to a mortal, but two teenagers arguing about daily matters. The atmosphere, which was previously awkward and slightly tense, had died down and now had a less formal, and more casual, tone to it, something that neither of them noticed in their heated debate.

Eventually, Nico just gave up and decided to move on. "Anyways, enough of that, pretty sure that we have other things to do than just argue like children." he stated, sighing in frustration. He felt like he was getting a migraine, and those were usually reserved for annoying people... and Neptune. There was the annoying ones, and then there was Neptune who took it to a whole new level. Yet, he couldn't find it in him to hate her for it, she just was too likable to hate. If that made any sense whatsoever. yes you were."

"Yes, I do agree that that would be best." Noire replied with a scoff, while internally she was sighing in relief that she had gotten herself out of that situation. Awkward would have been an understatement if she were to describe what the situation would have been like if she admitted what she had thought of him just then. "Well, I'm going to be busy with Quests today, meetings will be held late in the evening so I have time to help the people."

Nico nodded in understanding, before he stepped towards the door. "That's good, I was about to do the same thing. Staying cooped up inside a city like this just isn't my style, I'd rather be out there making myself useful. Mind if I join you?" he asked her, turning his head behind him to look at the CPU, who was looking back at him with a mildly surprised expression on her face. Like she didn't expect him to ask her that. "It'll make the Quests easier with more people, then you could prep more for those meetings."

Now this wasn't something Noire could have foreseen, however she didn't discard this opportunity. She could use this as a chance to learn more about the Spec Ops Agent. Get a feel of his character and personality, and maybe find out why Neptune was so taken with him. She had to admit to herself that was also something she wished to know ever since Neptune had proclaimed it so loudly to her over the phone one time. "Humph, very well. I supposed I can let you tag along with me, just don't get in my way." Noire responded haughtily, a matching smirk on her face as she held her head high.

The male just rolled his eyes, much to her indignation, and remarked a dry "Sure." before exiting the room, Noire following suit.


Walking through the streets, Noire and Nico headed towards the Guild Building. Noire had checked on their website and found a Quest, a Spec Ops Quest, and wanted to take it. Unfortunately, since she wasn't an Agent of the Guild, like Nico was, she had to travel there herself to get the Quest. It paid well to be a Spec Ops, as well as a normal Agent.

Unfortunately, all was not well with the two, or rather, to be more specific one of them was regretting their life choices right now.

'Uuuuu...!'

Noire mumbled inaudibly as she glanced about, shyly trying to avoid the stares directed at them by Lastation citizens as they walked by. Sure, the looked like a normal pair of teens, albeit one was over hundreds of years old, however the scene they presented could have been interpreted as another situation entirely. Plus, people loved gossip, gossip about anything if social media was anything to go by. Noire was sure that people would be spamming messages about her walking alongside a guy like this all over social media, they loved things like this.

'People are talking about us in a hushed manner... That can not be a good sign...!'

Rumours would be bound to spread, and that wasn't something Noire wanted out of this. She knew that her situation's delicacy rivalled a fractured glass object, on the verge of shattering. Thus, she didn't need any... suspicious rumours about her. In addition, Avenir would likely try to slander her reputation with those rumours, using the media as a weapon to discredit her. That would result in a much harder, more uphill battle for control over Lastation, something she did NOT need right now.

Also, what would happen if the other Nations heard of this? Planeptune she felt was alright, since she was getting along with its CPU now, if only barely, but the rest...

"Uh, Noire?"

Said CPU nearly jumped out of her skin, when she heard the voice of the male beside her. Looking up at him, thanks to his height of 5 foot 8 being superior to her 5 foot 2, Noire couldn't help but feel like a small child under his gaze. Said gaze was a mix of worry, concern and a gentle softness that came with someone who wanted to know if their companion was alright. While it would have soothed a normal person, Noire couldn't help but curse herself for revealing her state of distress so visibly, if anything Nico was insanely observant. Once he caught onto something, like Avenir's potential threat to Lastation after hearing about the current events, he became hooked on it, his gaze that of a Hawk's. "You alright? You looked like you were spacing out there."

"U-Um, ye-yes, I'm fine, really!" Noire stuttered, her cheeks aflame as she turned her head away, refusing to meet his concerned gaze. 'Its no use, I won't be able to deflect the question like this!' she shrieked in her mind. The stares, combined with his gaze, were making her lose her cool gradually. Yet, she could feel the mental damn breaking bit by bit. If she didn't do something and soon, then... she didn't know what would happen, and that scared her more than anything. The Unknown was something normal people may get skittish, perhaps even a little afraid, about. It was only natural to fear something you didn't know anything about, though humanity's response to this situation can... vary, at times, and most of those times they don't respond positively.

But for an immortal Goddess like her, the unknown was two things: a source of interest, and an absolute hellish nightmare. She both feared and liked the unknown, for various reasons. As an Immortal deity, she was supposed to be aware of everything going on within her Nation. She had once learned that the former Goddess once ruled all of Gamindustri, which meant that the workload she had was way bigger, much to her sympathies. Both cases revolved around knowing everything in a situation, having all the variables to make an equation, sort of. To not know even one Variable, would result in lives being put at risk, and no matter the outcome, it would always be the leader's responsibility in the end whether lives were saved or lost.

Yet it was also the unknown that drew interest, the desire to venture into unknown territory and learn something she wasn't aware of, despite the dangers. It was similar to the dangers based off the fact that, thanks to being immortal, she was supposed to know much, more so than any human ever could. To learn that there was much more that she didn't know, or was even aware of, was like a breath of refreshing air that travelled down her spine and made her insides tingle with life. It energised her, made her realise that there was still more to life that she could learn, it almost felt like a childish glee inside the pits of her stomach.

It made for a... complex series of emotions warring inside of Noire right now.

Deep thoughts with Noire aside, she still had to find a way for Nico to drop the subject, but the blackette felt tongue tied at the moment, her mouth refused to form a coherent sentence while opening and closing repeatedly. She was embarrassing herself at this point, she could tell immediately. Yet, what could she do? Nico was too observant and he would likely keep a suspicious eye on her after this, which isn't what she wanted from this at all. Noire tried to think up something, anything, to get Nico off her back, but thanks to her panic and the tension she was feeling, nothing came to her.

Eventually, Nico made to ask again, much to her mental horror, but then she was saved by an untimely event. A loud grumble echoed throughout the street, silencing all whispers. Everyone but Noire and Nico looked around, curious on where the sound came from, while the blackette CPU cast her gaze to the ground, her face redder than blood as steam rose from the top of her head. Nico raised a brow in her direction, curious at her mannerisms. "Huh? You hungry, Noire, is that it?" he queried, frowning pensively for a moment. His expression morphed to one of understanding after a few moments. "Alright then, why didn't you say so? I know of a place nearby, it's reasonably cheap and thanks to your actions back in that incident, they've all been converted back to believing in you." the male stated with a cheery smile.

Mentally however, his thoughts were of a different sort. 'Looks like the stomach isn't all Noire is thinking about, but I have a good idea of what that is already. A shame she couldn't admit it to me face-to-face though...' Nico was no fool, he could tell just from watching her and hearing the hushed whispers the citizens made what was bothering the blackette woman. He didn't think that they would be much of a problem though, for reasons he intended to explain to her when he got the chance. This Café break actually could work in his favour since, like he said, every member of staff and visitor are now loyal to Noire. That meant they didn't have to worry about being snitched, betrayed or anything to do with Avenir.

Noire breathed a sigh of relief, making sure that (in her eyes) that Nico couldn't hear it. "Whew, that was close..." she muttered under her breath. She didn't know why, but for some reason Noire didn't try telling him of her troubles, something that would likely have resulted in her getting some good advise from him. After all, he'd done that before when she was conflicted about Neptune. Maybe once she knew a bit more about him, then she could open up a little to him. A part of her wondered why she wanted to open up to him in the first place, a question that remained unanswered in her mind as she followed the male to this 'cafe' that he was talking about.


The Café Nico had told her about, 'Black Regalia', really was nearby... like a corner away from them. Noire had to admit that there was some strange convenience at work here, but her rumbling stomach pushed those thoughts out her mind. The smell of food whiffed into her nostrils, making a pleasant moan escape her lips as they entered. The doorbell rang when the door was opened, signalling their entry, before closing behind the two.

It had a horizontal layout, with the bar counter at the back with stools lined up beneath them. Most were in use, though, either by large-looking men or women. They looked like they had been construction workers who wanted a break from the stress their jobs packed onto them. there were 4-seat tables aligned on both the left and right sides, most being occupied by citizens of varying appearances.

Noire noticed that the Café was chock full of people, all of various age groups. She could see middle aged men and women, teenagers, young adults, etc. Some even looked like couples, much to her chagrin. Nevertheless, Noire remained silent, trying to ignore them as the blackette followed Nico to an empty table. When they reached it, the two sat on opposite sides, the male straightening his coat before sitting down. It wasn't long before they took a menu that was on a stand and began looking through their choices, either. The sooner they satisfied their individual needs, the sooner they could get this quest done.

Still though, all these people about didn't help sooth Noire's nerves. In fact, they just made them worse, in her opinion, something that Nico noticed quite quickly. "Yu alright, Noire?" he questioned, although he had a fairly good idea of what was bothering her. Still though, he would rather it come out of her out than his right now, sine it would mean that she at least trusted him a little. Trust and Loyalty were rare these days, and because of that he valued them highly. "You look like you're about to jump and defend yourself from an unknown attacker."

"E-eh?!" Noire blinked as she jerked at his question. Nonetheless, despite his extreme analogy, she had to admit she kind of felt that way at the moment, something that she felt ashamed of for some reason. "N-No, its not that, its just..." she tried to say what was on her mind, but her mouth refused to listen to the orders her brain was giving her. Likely it was because she... why was she doing this exactly? Oh yeah, she wanted to get to know Nico better, but wasn't that a two way street? If she wanted him to be open with her, shouldn't she be the same with him? But, there was no guarantee that he would be open with her at this point, since they hardly knew each other. But they HAD fought as allies, so they sort of had some manner of trust going...

In the end, Noire decided to go for it. It may have went against her usual responses to deny things about herself, but right now she wanted to know more about Nico more than her desires to hide things. "W-Well... I'm not exactly used to... this sort of thing." she remarked, her tone becoming lower and lower until it was barely audible, sort of like a mix of a mumble and a whisper.

'Well, its not what I wanted... but its a start...' the male Spec Ops Agent thought to himself, though there was no sarcasm in his thoughts regarding the CPU. To be honest, he didn't really blame her for this, since he wasn't really a social person himself. If the girls hadn't suggested it, he probably wouldn't have gone to that Karaoke bar, either. His place was on the battlefield, which was why he got along with Team RAIL so well. Plus it helped that he knew them as individuals beforehand, so he could be a person around them... when not on missions, of course. "No worries about that, trust me. I'm the same way, not exactly a people person."

The blackette couldn't hide the 'really?' look on her face as she heard him say that. "Serious? Then how is it that you seem so calm right now? You practically look like you've been here all your life." she asked him with a slight challenging edge to her words. From what she could tell, Noire had the impression that Nico wouldn't really visit these kinds of places, and what she just heard had contradicted that hypothesis.

Nevertheless, Nico remained calm and responded in a easy manner as he began to explain. "When on missions, I sometimes visit these places to meet up with contacts. I learned to tolerate the masses this way, otherwise I'd rather sort out my stuff at a private hotel room or something similar in terms of privacy." he told her, and she had to admit that was a believable response.

Thinking back, Noire remembered everything she could about the male. It wasn't much, as she was more focused on Neptune at the time, but she did remember how anti social he was, sometimes disappearing for long time periods for no apparent reason, then returning late at night. She hadn't known what he was doing back then, didn't really care, but looking into it made her learn that he had been prepping for the inevitable attack by Avenir. Thus, that showed her that when he wanted something done, he got it done. There was no lollygagging, no hesitation, nothing. It was a working mind-set that Noire rarely found outside of Lastation, and it was something that admittingly drew her attention all the more.

Nonetheless, none of those times involved him going to a public place like a Café for social reasons. That time with the Mask Shop (she'd already bookmarked it on her phone) was an exception since it was more for her sake, which made her realise something. Nico only did these things because the girls wanted to, not because he found enjoyment in it. In fact, the blackette was sure that he didn't find joy in things like this, instead he would find joy out there in the big wide world, fighting monsters.

Could he be one of those battle maniacs? Or someone with similar tendencies?

Before she could lose herself to those thoughts, Noire noticed that a waitress had headed over to them, clad in a conservative maid outfit. Noire didn't know if this was one of those Cosplay Cafe's, but if it was then she might have to visit more often. "Greetings, welcome to the Black Regalia. What can I get you?" The Waitress asked them both, holding a notepad and pen.

Nico put down the menu, he'd seen that his usual order was on the menu still, so he didn't exactly need it right now. "A simple coffee, please Ma'am." he responded politely, getting an affirming nod from the Waitress. The male then let himself get lost in his own thoughts, thoughts of how his training was going to pan out for the future and that of the girls. They may be stronger than average Adventurers right now, maybe even more so than the average Guild Agent since they could fight Abnormals, but that was only because they worked together.

The power level for these three classes were as follows:

Adventurer

Guild Agent

Spec Ops.

The Adventurers were considered to be the weakest, as their abilities were trained by themselves and nobody else. They had their own styles which usually were self-taught, and their weapons were mass produced. Thus, there wasn't much remarkable about them, with few exceptions. However, there were lots of them about, their numbers were the highest of the three classes thanks to people taking to self-training. In fact, if she weren't a Goddess, Neptune would be considered one officially, though in terms of power that would be seen differently. Same with Compa, she'd be considered officially an Adventurer.

Guild Agents were stronger than the average Adventurer, with access to Skills, weapons, and resources that the Adventurers didn't. The Guild Agents weren't as numerous as the Adventurers though, but only slightly. They could be considered at least better versions of 'foot soldiers' in military terms. While their access to weapons were similar, a Guild Agent has the pro of making their own weaponry from scratch, something that wasn't so accessible for Adventurers. Guild Agents had access to the smithing facilities within the Guild itself, something that the Adventurers lacked.

Spec Ops Agents were stronger than both by far though. The difference in strength between them would be as clear as the distance between the sky and the earth that people walked on. They had full access to the Guild's WDD, so they always had the latest tech and access to a larger variety of resources for their needs. They had access to newer, deadlier Skills that Guild Agents wouldn't, and generally were more specialised than they were. Unfortunately, compared to the other two, their numbers weren't so great. Each nation only had a small number of them compared to Guild Agents and Adventurers, mostly due to their economies not being stable enough to support more thanks to the Monster attacks. Of course, a certain Nation had politics involved with the Spec Ops Programme, but that was another issue entirely.

As for Neptune and the others, in terms of power, he'd rate them as in-between Spec Ops and Guild Agent, even Compa who was arguably the weakest link in the party thanks to her being a Nurse-In-Training. However, her Armour and Spec Ops Training, delivered to her by yours truly, had that mostly covered. As for Neptune, her powers as a CPU helped her get up there even with her lack of proper fighting style. Brute force and devastating damage was what she specialised in with her Murasama, which combined with her Armour also elevated her beyond an average Guild Agent.

Out of all of them though, he'd consider IF to be the closest to a Spec Ops Agent's power, thanks to her transformation into a BOW. She may not have showcased much of her powers, but it was enough for Nico to formulate an opinion of her skills. While she has kept her Qatars and Pistols for the time being, her BOW powers more than enhanced her already unique Skillset. She didn't seem to proficient in Magic, but that was to be expected since she was raised in Planeptune, which specialised more in combat than magic. Lowee earned that reward, and the only reason why they had magic books to begin with was because of raids on Lowee.

Many Nations raided each other in the past, getting some pieces of technology from the other. Those pieces weren't used to their full potential, usually, since the Nations wouldn't understand how they worked. However, that was where Planeptune's futuristic technology gave it the edge. There was a reason why it was the most well-off Nation out of the four, and even it still suffered as much as the other Nations.

While Nico was lost in these thoughts, he didn't notice the stares he got from the Waitress, something that Noire did notice however. 'Wow, I can see why those guys in Team RAIL comment about Nico the way they do...' she thought with a sweatdrop. Seeing how Nico could easily lose himself in thought like this, made her realise a bit clearer why guys were jealous of him, he loses himself in thought and girls take the opportunity to stare like horny rabbits. Even Noire had to admit, deep within the recesses of her mind though, that his thinking face was quite... cute, in a way. A word she NEVER thought she'd use to describe him with. If she ever uttered it out loud, Nico would likely say 'I'm a badass, not cute!'

Yeah, that sounded a lot like him...


Finally, Noire gave the waitress her order: a simple lettuce sandwich and a glass of water. She wanted to eat light so that she had enough energy for the Quest, yet also enough so that she wouldn't have to worry about throwing up when, not if but WHEN, she would engage in combat.

Once the Waitress was gone, Noire shuddered as she felt some of the stares that she got from some of the men in the café. It wasn't something she enjoyed in the slightest, like some girls did. She would rather, if someone WAS wanting to talk to her, to just do so and not be a creep about it. Fortunately, she was able to start off a conversation to put her mind off those lecherous stares. "Hey, Nico?" she began, bringing him out of his musings. Another personality trait she observed was how he got lost in thought so easily, but was just as easily pulled out of them. It was likely that the male developed this habit so that he could think on things, but be ready in case a surprise attack comes his way.

"You want to know more about me, am I right?"

Her eyes widened and a small gasp escaped her lips, to which Nico raised a brow while fixing her with a knowing gaze. How did he know? Nico had spoken with such surety, such certainty of her goals, that made her think he knew them. But how did he figure her out? She was sure to have kept the perfect poker face on the entire time they were together! Well, embarrassing moments were an exception, but still!

Seeing her confusion, Nico decided that it was time to come clean. With a sigh, the male leaned forwards on his seat so he could cross his arms on the Table. "It wasn't so hard to figure out, girl. It was as easy as deducing how uncomfortable you were with the hushed whispers from those civilians. In an effort to ease you, I brought you in here to a more relaxed environment. You were worried about possible rumours that could be used against you, am I right?" he questioned her, although with how he looked at her, Noire figured that he knew perfectly well how he'd hit the bullseye.

"I-I uh..."

Nico rolled his eyes as he saw how she was unable to form a coherent sentence. "Don't worry, you can speak your mind." he assured her calmly, but Noire didn't look like she believed him. Thus, the male glanced to a set of civilians on another table. "See those people there?" he asked her, prompting her to look in their direction. There wasn't anything noteworthy about them, they looked like ordinary civilians enjoying a day out. Thus, she didn't see what Nico was trying to show her to calm those nerves of hers. "See the fractured 'L' on their shoulders? That shows that they are loyal to Lastation's CPU. Its a system that was recently implemented by Lastation's Oracle some time ago. Only now, thanks to your slight retaking of the Basilicom, has it been implemented and more importantly, people are openly displaying their loyalties towards you."

The Blackette CPU furrowed her brows at that information. She didn't like the thought that her people were now separated like this, instead of one union. Some support her and the others support Avenir, likely. Part of her bitterly remarked how those that supported them were likely all businessmen and rich members of the community, while the ones supporting her were the lower ranked citizens. However, her mind screeched to a halt when she heard the mention of a certain word from the male's lips, although she managed to wait till he was finished when her brain finally rebooted. "Hold on, the Oracle? Kei? But I thought she..."

"Was on Vacation?" Nico finished for her, a wry smirk on his lips at the notion of that woman taking a break. "Please, even if you forbid her, that woman will still be committed to her work. Her loyalty to you actually kept several companies inspired to support you as well, Noire. Even on Vacation, your Oracle remains loyal to you, and that isn't something you can simply dismiss." he explained to her.

Not that she would, but Noire distinctly remembered giving the Oracle a Vacation. It hadn't been long after she returned from Celestia, but when she did, she had seen how ragged and stressed her Oracle, Kei Jingugi had been. Thus, she had immediately told her to go on Vacation and leave the management of Lastation to her. Kei had protested for what felt like hours, but in the end her fatigue, stress and own desires along with Noire's stubbornness had won the argument. She should have figured that Kei would not take 'having a break' as an excuse when the Nation was in peril. If she had been a betting woman, then Noire would have said her break was barely a day's length... at best.

Oracles were basically the direct assistants to the CPUs. They have been so for the last few centuries, helping govern the lands in the CPUs Absence. Like the Spec Ops Programme, the concepts of Oracles was only established several centuries prior to current times, although they weren't very well known outside the Basilicom right now. Hopefully, once this Console War was over and done with this status quo would change for the better.

Right now though, Noire had no time to be thinking about that. Instead, she was more focused on how Nico had seen through her despite her attempts to hide it. "I guess you are... you say that these people are loyal to me and not to Avenir?" she asked him. He gave her and nod and wordlessly gestured to everyone in the building, making Noire look at them carefully. Now that she was looking for it, Noire noticed that everyone wore the same fractured 'L' symbol on their clothes, the location varying.

That meant that, according to his word, that these were Pro CPU supporters in this Café, including the Staff. Suddenly, Noire realised why Nico had taken them here of all places, this was a place where they could talk like normal people and not be criticised for it, and when she processed this fact Noire felt like a large weight was lifted off her shoulders, which slumped from the lack of tension as she gave a small sigh. "Ugh, I see... I wish this was all over with, already..." she almost whined at her complaint, but right now she didn't care.

"Believe me, you and I are on the same page there." Nico admitted, glancing to the side with a scowl on his features. Avenir wouldn't be in control of Noire's nation, not for long anyways, not while he had any say in the matter. That much he could guarantee. However, now was not the time to be planning that, so Nico turned his head back to her. "Anyways, you wanted to know about me, right? So how about we ask each other questions, then?"

Noire blinked at this, but soon understood where he was coming from. Thus, the questions began.

Seeing as she was the one who agreed, she decided to go first. "So, what's your favourite colour?" she asked him, eyeing his clothes. She figured that since he dressed darkly, that he was a fan of dark clothes, which was kind of cool in its own right. He and her had that in common, she figured.

Turned out, Noire was right as Nico leaned back and, with a grin of self-pride, gestured to his clothes as he responded. "Black, baby. Black is the best, nothing beats it. Other dark colours are cool too, but black's my guy." Nico LOVED the colour black, for it was not only stylish for him, but also practical. Who could hide in the darkness at night when you wore colours that practically shone like sunlight? Not him, Nico loved the darkness, he was all about that stuff. Hell he listened to things like Skillet and Starset, both bands sing dark songs that resonate with parts of his inner soul.

Now it was his turn, and Nico already had a question on his mind. "I've always wondered, but... are you a Cosplayer?" he questioned, making Noire stiffen. He had always been curious, ever since Noire tried to use it as an excuse to hide her identity. While she was bad at hiding her cover, Nico HAD noticed an odd sense of passion and embarrassment when she spoke, like she both liked it but refused to admit it.

In response, Noire looked down, shifting in her seat. She rubbed her hands together on her lap, and fidgeted, biting her lower lip as she gazed down at the table. At first, he thought she wasn't going to answer, but then he heard it. A muffled "Yes..." under her breath combined with the most shy, adorable look on her face that he had ever seen.

'Holy shit... I just discovered why the Lastation Fanbase exists...'

With how she was acting right now, Nico felt it wise to not pry too much, but he couldn't help but comment about her hobby. "Hey, no need to be shy now, you hear." he told her, firmly. Looking up at him with surprised mixed in with her expression, of which Nico nearly felt his heart burn at the cuteness, he nonetheless continued. "Doing something you enjoy is NOT something to laugh about or mock. If you like Cosplay, don't let people tell you any different. I know a few Agents in the Guild who like that sort of thing, so don't worry about it." he told her, smiling a kind smile at her and having total honesty in his eyes.

This was something that made her blush worsen, yet there was a sense of joy and relief in her eyes, shining like sparkling stars. She had always feared what people would think about her if they learned she liked to cosplay, and before Noire would never have admitted to it. But, somehow, Nico was able to not only drag it out of her, but assure her that it was alright, that he didn't mind that she liked it. Maybe they could do it together sometime in the future, where things weren't so crazy.

It took her a while to calm down from how happy she had felt when he said that, and when she did, Noire decided to query on something that had been bugging her for a while now. "Well, I guess it's my turn now." she muttered, before gathering her courage. this was getting easier and easier as time went on, a part of her noted. "So, what do you have as a favourite weapon? Normally people stick to one, yet you have a sword, a pair of guns, and from what I've been told a set of claws and armour. Which one's your favourite?"

"Honestly, I have no favourites, Noire." Nico replied, and that surprised her. She had assumed that he would pick either his sword or Plasma Claws, according to what she had learned from Neptune. He had seemed to favour those weapons highly, above the others apparently. Hearing him say that he had no favourites threw her off. "I may like some more than others, but I wouldn't call any weapon I have a favourite of mine, because they all have helped me survive up to this point. When one fights with a weapon, they tend to form a bond with them, and that's what I did with my weapons." Though, if he were to say which one he would be the best at using, there was one weapon that he felt could fit the bill... and it wasn't any of the weapons in his Void Storage or an Armour-built one. Not even Soul Edge or DDD would beat this weapon.

Shame he wouldn't use it around others.

While she pondered this, and thought about her own HF blade, about how attached she had become to it, Nico decided on a question of his own. This one was based on several onlookers though, all of them curious about their interactions. Perhaps he could silence all possible scandalous rumours and also install faith in Noire at the same time. Kill two birds with one stone. "What do you feel about yourself as a Goddess?" He asked her, causing Noire to stiffen in surprise at his question.

Did anyone notice how each question was being increasingly detailed, she wondered. Nevertheless, Noire had an answer ready, one that she had made based off interactions between her, Nico and Neptune. IF and Compa were more like acquaintances compared to those two. "Well... In the past, I probably would have said I was the best Goddess ever..." she started, frowning deeply as she recalled how she was like in the past. Thinking back on it, with what she knew now, made her almost want to laugh mockingly at her past self, a self who never even realised all the horrible atrocities being committed within the Nation she was proudly promoting to be the 'best'. "But now, with what I know I'd happily say that was a, pardon my language, but a fucking fantasy. I was blind as too the suffering my people were gong through, and I know I can't do anything to change that."

The admittance of that... didn't feel as heavy as she had suspected it would. Maybe it was because she was talking to someone she knew wouldn't judge her for it, someone who had convinced her to change, but whatever the case was, Noire was nonetheless grateful. "But, even so I still intend to retake Lastation. I intend to make amends for my past mistakes. That is my pledge, my oath sworn on my pride as a Goddess of Lastation." she said, her tone having shifted from is previous solemn to one of undying resolve. Her eyes shone with the determination bridled within her, a clear sign of her pledge.

Seeing this side of her made Nico smirk in satisfaction, but what made his smirk widen all the more was the pleased muttering of the Customers and staff that had listened in on them. It looked like their faith in Noire was growing, and by the time the day was done, he bets he would feel a significant rise in power from their faith. Normally, he would have frowned upon them from putting their faith in a deity instead of their own hands, but this was an exceptional exception. Before, he never knew the Goddesses on a personal level. Before, he hadn't seen how they were capable of change.

In his mind, various exclamations of 'about damn fucking time!' and 'Fina-fucking-ly!' ran rampant.

After calming down from her brief verbal pledge, Noire looked back at the male with a thoughtful expression on her features. "Its my turn again." she commented bringing his attention back to her. "What do you think of the girls?"

"Huh?"

"I mean Neptune, Compa, IF, Raven and that Lucy girl. What do you think of them?"

"Oh." Nico blinked, momentarily surprised at the question. He never expected her to ask him that question, his train of thought had predicted her asking him what life as a Spec Ops Agent was like, but this could be interesting too. Nonetheless, Nico opened his mouth to answer, but then the Waitress returned with their orders. They politely thanked her and she gave him a much more noticeable glance this time. This one, made Nico shudder, something Noire noticed but didn't comment on, before the Waitress left and Nico responded to her question. "Well, I think Neptune's a bit bipolar, to be honest."

Noire raised a brow at the description he gave her. It sounded a bit vague, so she asked for clarification. "Bipolar?"

The male nodded, leaning back while taking his coffee and bringing it to his lips. "Yeah, I mean, one time she can be cute, innocent and a major pain in the ass, but the next she can be a bit... grabby, I think that's the way I can put it." he shuddered, remembering several events in the past where Neptune did attempt to get... frisky, with him. For whatever reason he couldn't comprehend. Then, the incident that made her name him her 'hubby' came back to his mind. "Other than that, I do find her fun to be around, even with her quirks. She doesn't let anything get boring, and jokes about a whole hell lot. She does have this charismatic charm to her too, but I guess that's to be expected from a CPU. Still working on processing that, even now..."

A chuckle came from the blackette. With how Neptune was, it always did seem difficult to believe that she was a CPU. Thus, she could understand his bewilderment, even if he figured it out already. In fact, it would have been worse for him since he knew her for a long time before her identity was revealed. So he was used to thinking of her as an adorable brat, or something similar.

"Still, can't really hate her for it, in fact, one could say I'm rather fond of her. Anyone who hates Neptune gets my boot up their asses." Nico stated, and if she knew him as well as she thoughts he did, Noire felt that he would carry out that threat. "If anyone harbours even a shred of negativity towards her, or even goddess forbid Compa, then they are scummy assholes. For Compa, she is one of the purest, most kind people I have ever known. She is innocent, a bit ditzy as well as clumsy. Plus the way she tries to use sayings that actually have weird context to the conversation is all part of her charm. She has this gentleness that makes you wanna hug her and never let go. Oh yeah, she absolutely LOVES hugs and affection from her friends. It always puts a big grin on her face."

The male had to cackle at the memories. He remembered one time when he'd held er in his arms when they were watching a scary movie. Poor girl couldn't even look at the screen for a few seconds before burying her head in his chest. Nico had watched it the whole way through though with a big smile. He always did like horror and gore movies, much to his childhood friend's dismay. Though, the plus came from how he'd hold her and whisper softly into her ear a series of comforting thoughts.

"While those two make me feel like I can defy the world, IF's the level-headed one. She helps me stay grounded, and is quite easy to talk to. She's got this tomboyish vibe going for her, even though she's definitely feminine. Sometimes though, I get the feeling she wants to strangle me sometimes whenever I get sucked into the previous two's antics one time, then laughs at others. She's also someone I can talk to about my hypothesises and actually discuss them in detail, which I'm really grateful for."

Not to mention the fact that she was Spec Ops material, Nico mentally added. He was sure she possessed the brains, the brawn and the guts to pass the exam with flying colours. That exam was tough, tougher than anything she would ever go through, Nico just knew it. Nevertheless, Nico had every confidence that she would be able to pull through, she was just that good. Whether or not she passed the biggest of all his tests had yet remained to be seen, though.

"As for Team RAIL, well I'll talk about them both in this paragraph since this is getting to be a long ass chapter. Raven and Lucy are like two sides of the same coin. One is calm, serious and cold, while the other is wild, bold and sunny. They were like the sun and moon in that respect, complete opposites. Yet, they trust each other despite their differences. As for them individually, I'd say that talking to Raven is much easier than talking to Lucy since she and I are similar in terms of serious personality traits. On the other hand, chatting with Lucy always feels like a wild ride, you can never get enough of her. She has that way of making people want to talk to her, though she uses it in ways that... don't give her the best reputation."

That was putting it mildly, Nico thought. He wasn't unaware of how Lucy had flirted with and bedded nearly every Agent in the Guild, then moved on from them. But, he knew WHY she did that, why she only engaged in 'physical stress relief' as she called it, so he didn't really judge her for it. The rest didn't though, since she had pleaded with him not to tell anyone, that she didn't want what she had right now to be taken from her. Thus, he had complied and kept his mouth shut. As for Raven, there was also a story of how they met, one that was the reason why she tolerated his presence, as well as Aiden and Ivan's, respectively.

Noire listened to how Nico described them, listened to how he spoke, the expressions he made by talking to them, as well as the words he used. She wanted to know how he FELT about them, because it was clear as day that both Neptune and Compa were rather smitten with him. IF didn't seem as interested in him, but she could almost feel that something was about to change with her. The way he described them, it was a bit of a mix really. He saw them as close, at least, but there was something else, a... wistfulness about it all. Like he wanted something but he couldn't have it. Nonetheless, while it wasn't clear if their feelings were returned, it did seem that a friendship wasn't the only thing he saw in them.

That meant they had a chance, at least...

Their questioning took place like this, and soon enough the two were absorbed into their conversation, looking more and more like two people having a good time... and becoming closer for it.


In the end, they talked so much that the entire day passed by without them even realising. They had been so engrossed in each other's conversation that they hadn't even realised that the shop was about to close until one of the staff members informed them that they were closing. Seeing as how it had gotten late, Nico and Noire decided to head back to Chian's Café. Despite the fact that they didn't get to Quest today, Noire and Nico both felt this sense of fulfilment and satisfaction. The sense that something interesting had indeed been accomplished today. Both knew what that was however, so naturally they didn't talk for the entire walk home.

Once they returned to the entrance to Chian's Café, Noire opened the door to the Café part, and then turned to Nico. "Well, looks like we talked so much that we lost track of time..." she remarked, refusing to meet his gaze as she shuffled mindlessly. Having talked to him as much as she did, Noire had accomplished her objective of learning about the male. Of why she had seen so many girls fall for him as hard as they had.

In the end, she could definitely see why.

"Yep, looks like. Apologies for that, I didn't expect to be so into that conversation..." Nico apologised humbly, lowering his head in a means to bow to her. As far as he was concerned, Nico had never truly submitted to anyone, and he was determined to keep it that way. Nevertheless, he did feel the need to apologise to her for keeping her from Questing today, he didn't expect to be so engaged in conversation with her like that. In fact, it made him see Noire in a new light, as instead of just a Goddess, now Nico knew her as a fellow fighter, a warrior queen, and a potential equal. While they talked, Nico had asked her what she liked most of all, and while she did comment a bit about Cosplay, albeit in a nervous manner, she also said that she felt a warrior's spirit was part of her, thus she would always seek the thrill of a good fight, a fight against a worthy opponent. This was more prominent in her HDD form though, but he didn't care about that.

To him, he had found a fellow warrior.

Said CPU however dismissed the apology with a wave of her hand. "No problems, there'll be plenty of times where we can Quest later." she remarked offhandedly. While no Quests were done today, there was always the next day, in her mind anyways. There was always going to be requests made to the Guild, problems that need to be addressed, things to do and people to protect. That would always mean that the CPUs, the Spec Ops, and the Agents of the Guild would be needed. She could take solace in that.

Now came a hard part, something she had been thinking about for the majority of their walk home. Noire looked down, avoiding his gaze as she put her hands together, playing with her thumbs. "Hey, um, Nico...?" she asked him hesitantly. She didn't need to look up to see that he was gazing at her right now, a gaze of confusion about her mannerisms changing significantly.

"Hm? What is it, Noire? You alright, or-"

CHU!

Nico's eyes, and mouth, flew open wide as he suddenly tensed. The reason, Noire had practically closed the distance between them instantly and gave him a peck on the cheek. His brain refused to work for that one instant, his body paralysed by the shock coursing through his system. There was literally nothing he could do right now, for at this moment, he was at Noire's mercy thanks to her actions.

'Is... Is she...?!'

Before he could resume his thought process, Noire pulled away while casting her gaze to the side, her cheeks, along with the bridge of her nose, a healthy pink as she put her hands behind her back. "That was... for showing me a nice time. Its kind of relieving, you know..." she began, before chuckling with mirth, raising one of her hands and scratching her cheek awkwardly, an action influenced by how embarrassed she was at what she just did. "I mean, its not often I got to talk to someone like that, not even Neptune could hold a conversation like you, so... thanks..."

Her tsundere personality then returned with a vengeance however, as she gave an angry glare at him that... didn't have the intended effect of scaring him as much as it should have. "But don't you even think of telling this to anyone, you hear?! Especially to Neptune!" she demanded of him. By the Goddesses, Neptune had the biggest blabbermouth she had ever seen, several examples of this appearing in her mind like her casual insults to both her and Avenir. The potential humiliation she could cause with this was something that gave her shivers.

Fortunately for her, Nico understood her intent immediately. "Girl, my lips are sealed." Even he understood that Neptune wasn't the best at keeping secrets, a time when she tried to blurt out the fact that she was a Goddess on social media came to mind, only for Nico to wind up next to her in a major show of plot convenience. Girl was dangerous even if she didn't want to be.

With that said, Noire turned to go inside for the night... before turning back around and giving him a brief hug. She then finally went inside, closing the door behind her and leaving Nico outside.

'Wow... Noire definitely acted differently today...' Nico thought to himself, before turning away and walking into the night. He had things to do still, before he would return to the girls. IF had texted him a message saying that they had found a Hotel for the rest of their time in Lastation, so they wouldn't have to worry about constantly booking rooms.

Though, he hoped they didn't buy one that would significantly affect their Credit savings...

'Wait a minute... could this be considered...? Nah, that wouldn't make sense, she just wanted to know more about me. Nothing like that at all...'


Back at Chian's factory, everything was mostly silent to the blackette. There was no indication that Chian had returned yet, which was something she was both relieved and saddened for. Noire leaned against the door, looking downwards as she thought about what she did just now, to Nico. Her cheeks made a digivolution from pink to burning red as she thought about how his cheek felt on her lips. 'Oh goddess, why did I just do that?! I literally pecked him, sure but that was all! a Peck! He deserved it for taking me out like this, not that I liked it or anything!' she screamed within her mind.

While the intention was to get to know him better, talking to him like that made Noire wonder. Was that all she wanted from that encounter? She had expected to be pissed off beyond recognition about not being able to Quest for the day, plus she could just read up on what happened at the meetings, but for some reason Noire had felt more satisfied with today's events than she would have if she'd done those things.

Why was that exactly?

With those thoughts running through her mind, Noire let loose a huff as she walked up to the living quarters Chian's factory had. She would think more of this later on, but for now she had sleep to get. After all, tomorrow was going to be extra busy thanks to today.

She thought she'd feel annoyed by this...

She didn't...

And that's how the Tsundere evening went.


Chapter end

THERE!

Goddamn that was a long ass chapter! Longer than my last long one, which was over 15K!

Thankfully I've done it, readers! I've made a new chapter focusing on Noire and Nico!

We get his thoughts on the girls, and while he doesn't have insanely high romantic interests, I feel that Nico's character is in a steady position. Noire's also staring out, but it'll be slow. This harem will NOT be rushed, Compa has the childhood friend card so she is safe, and Neptune has had several arcs so far. Plus, we've seen a bit of Vert in this Arc if you haven't noticed, and I do have plans for Blanc.

Also, what would you say to special scenes like in those games? Little tidbits that aren't too important to the story yet have an insane amount of references.

let me know with reviews, PMs etc.

Hunter signing off

Peace out!