Chapter 43. 5 - A Nep Date

The following day soon came rolling, shining its sunny rays down upon the world known as Gamindustri. Down in Compa's house, Nico slept in one of Compa's guest rooms, his face buried in the large fluffy pillow. His face lay buried within the warmth generated by the soft, fluffy pink pillow while the large blanket covered the rest of his half naked body. He wore his black and red PJ's and boxers right now, with his clothes safely tucked away in his Void Storage. Only his Bracers were clad on his arms right now, something that was as natural to him as breathing. Nico never went ANYWHERE without these babies, they were as important to him as his beloved Armour. His mouth was slightly open, soft snores escaping from within. To the casual onlooker, there was nought a trace of the hardened mentally damaged Spec Ops Agent in sight, instead there lay the face of an innocent toddler getting much needed rest for the day.

In simple terms, Nico had a cute, childish sleeping face.

The Guest Room was much smaller than Compa's bedroom by far, but it was still comfortable to stay in. Her entire house had that warm, family feeling to it, something that he absolutely adored about her home. Even after Compa got it from her grandfather as per stated in his will upon his passing, it still felt as homely as he guest room, if one looked at it from a bird's eye view, would be like a 'P' in shape. There was a short walkway that had a small shower room installed at the right side. At the back there were some cream colored curtains covering a matching sized window, while before that was a simple single person bed. It had a wooden frame, with a bright pink mattress and a fluffy pink blanket cover. At the wall to the bed's left, was a small Stand, which had a similarly small TV and a planeptune game console stashed neatly underneath it. There was a controller and a few games, too, while on the wall opposite the bed was a tall wardrobe, filled with various clothing.

It had been in many of his fantasies, coming back from a stack of tough, brutally difficult missions, all stressed and depressed from the things he'd seen, to this place of warmth, solace and comfort. One could say this place was like the light to his darkness, a single slice of heaven in a world full of nothing but sheer hell. This was a place Nico would love to return to every time he felt the weight of life battering him to pieces, of that he was certain. Not to mention the company he'd have here, an angelic, heavenly house like this deserved a matching owner, and his childhood friend was that in a nutshell.

Compa... Just by muttering her name within the depths of his subconscious brought a small smile to his face. Back in Chapter 1, she did comment on how she was worried that he'd forgotten her, thus his initial lashing out. He could NEVER forget someone like her, not even for a little bit. For so long, she had been the reason why he stayed alive for so long, he would stay alive so he could just survive and then return to his childhood friend. Then, they'd sit down and enjoy themselves for the rest of the day, chatting, joking and laughing without a care in the world. It honestly reminded him of the days that they spent as kids, laughing and chasing each other in the yard without a care in the world, nor a care for the dark, cruel world around them. For so long, he always thought that Compa was one of a kind, an angel among angels.

Now though: He'd found another.

" GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MOOOOOORNINNNNNNNNNNNNNNG NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICCCKKKYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

Eyes shot open wide when his instincts screamed against him. Without thinking about it, Nico pushed himself into thew air from his former all fours position, flipping like a sausage to avoid the white and purple missile that suddenly slammed into his bed. "Whoaaaaaaah!" the said 'missile shrieked, panic laced within her voice as she was rebounded off the bed and into the wall beside the window. Slowly, she slid down to the bottom, before flopping down to the ground, landing on her side.

An abrupt THUD signaled her landing, combining with the one Nico made when he landed on all fours in an almost musical symphony. The male, who'd landed almost like a cat, spent a few precious seconds catching his breath while trying to push the haze from the early-morning wake-up call. "Huff, huff, huff... Man, that's one way to wake someone up..." the male muttered under his breath, before closing his eyes and clearing his thoughts. He brought the storm of emotion within his mind to a standstill by willpower alone, which took a few moments before he opened his eyes and stood up, arms crossed before his chest as he looked down sternly towards the culprit behind this act. "What the hell are you doing, Neptune?!" he asked her, his voice slightly louder than his expression would allow.

Hearing the question/demand from him, the missile unraveled herself on the floor, revealing it to be a sheepishly laughing Neptune, who was only dressed in her hoodie with her stockings and shoes vacant. Did she just get up or something, Nico wondered in his mind. "Ahahahaha... Mornin', Nicky! Your wifey just came to wake ya, is all." she told him with a bright grin, shooting up to hr feet in a flash. "This Nep's a-whoaaa, whoa-whoa!"

Apparently, she'd gotten up too fast, for the purplette soon looked dizzy, holding the side of her head as she swerved dangerously on her spot. Just when she was about to fall over though, Nico shot forwards and caught her, his eyes now showing urgency and concern instead of his previous sternness. "Easy, easy girl. You got up to fast from your little stunt just now..." he muttered showcasing the emotions in his eyes as clear as crystal. Nico quickly made sure that the preteen Goddess was alright, that she could stand on her own two feet, before his sternness from before reared itself again. "Now then, care to tell me why you just did that, young lady?"

"Eeeeh... Hehehehe." Once again, Neptune laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head as she shamefully remembered what had just happened to her. "First my morning entry scene messes up, and then I almost hurt myself a second time? What, is there a hatrick being aimed for here?" she remarked, obviously trying to be meta in order to defuse the situation. However,the look in Nico's eyes told her that she had better answer him or something horrible, like the loss of her Pudding rights, might befall her. "Okay, okay, fun's over, I get it." she said, taking a breather before she opened her eyes again and focused on him. "Compa said she's making breaky for us all, so she told me to come and get you."

"And you thought dive-bombing me was a good idea?"

"Yeah... not one of my best plans, but hey at least the scene was interesting!"

'I do believe this was an attempt at a reference, Nico.' Biko commented within his mind, making the teen sigh. It was just like Neptune to try and replicate a scene from an anime, and if that was the case, then he had a good idea of which Anime she was trying to reference. It's been referenced several times during the story, so hopefully the readers can catch the anime reference.

Leave it to Neptune to use memes and references to defuse the tension.

"In any case, I'll be down in a moment, I need to get changed, first." Nico told her, after face palming and dragging his hand down his face. He turned around and made to raise his bracer...

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However, the preteen made no movement to leave, much to Nico's confusion/irritation. He turned to her and aimed a glare that showed just how much he was feeling those two mentioned emotions, a brief spike of demonic energy swirling within his gut. "That's your clue to vacate the premises, y'know." he told her, his the indicating heavily how he wanted her to leave.

Though, in typical Neptune fashion, the preteen remained where she was as she put her hands behind her back and leaned forwards, stepping towards him with a dopey grin on her face. "Awww, what's the rush? Can't you lemme stay for a bit?" she asked him with her version of a 'cutsey face'. This one involved Neptune's face being inches away from his own, with her eyes large and wide and upturned lips. Nico stumbled back slightly, so she stepped forward and pressed onward. "I mean, we've slept together many times by now, so we should be comfy with seeing each other naked."

Nico's brow twitched visibly as he recalled the few times he had woken up and seen Neptune and Compa in the same bed as him. That's probably what she was talking about, he assumed. Nevertheless, it didn't mean that he would be okay with seeing her freaking naked of all things! That was a MAJOR no-no in his book! "Have you developed some of your HDD personality into your own or something?" he remarked, his lips dripping with sarcasm like i was venom, only to earn a slight smirk from Neptune for his troubles.

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In an instant, Nico was behind her, the door having somehow been opened so fast Neptune couldn't see it, and then Nico kicked her up the backside, launching her flying through the air. "Ahhhhh-awawawawawa-oof!" Neptune shrieked, flailing her arms wildly before she landed face first on the wooden floorboards. Her lower body arced above her, making her look like a 'C'.

"Wait outside like a normal person, Neptune!" Nico yelled with several tick marks on the top of his forehead. This girl gave him migraines, she actually gave him migraines. With that done, Nico slammed the door behind them, allowing him some privacy at last.


Later, Nico had gotten dressed in his usual Spec Ops attire, and decided to go down to meet Comp for Breakfast. The male took the walk slowly though, since he kept gulping nervously while trying to make it look like he was as nonchalant as possible. Internally though he was nervous as all hell. It had been done many times before, him eating alongside other people, but all those times he always had a stream of nervousness coursing through his veins. Nico literally walked on a tightrope every time that he agreed with these little meals. One small misstep, one tiny mistake could clue them in that there was something wrong with him, and thus they would try to investigate. True he had that excuse in mind, but how long would that last?

'EHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE, AW, ISN'T THIS JUST DELIGHTFUL?!'

Nico's brow twitched, his foot freezing mid step as he tensed. His form quivered slightly, hair shadowing his eyes as he clenched his fists hard. Gradually, they began to turn a ghostly white with how hard he was clenching them as Nico forced himself to focus only on the pain. The pain, that was the only thing real right now, the pain, pain, pain...

'YOU DON'T THINK THAT WOULD WORK ANYMORE, DO YOU?!'

The surroundings distorted, and everything became a white hazy space. The space was large, ever expanding and all consuming like a never-ending hunger for everything around it. There was no sign of the warmth Compa's house radiated,. nothing of the sort. Instead, there was this coldness, this dark emptiness that deeply contrasted the pure whiteness of the surroundings. Behind the shadows of Nico's hair, the male's eyes were wide and sported many crimson veins, a look of pure insanity coming from him as horror and fear roared within him, battling for dominance as he struggled to maintain control. He couldn't lose it, no, not here, not now, not ever! He had done it once before and... wait, what?

'HAHAHAHAHA! YOU'RE LIKE A BROKEN RECORD, NOT RECALLING EVERYTHING N THE CORRECT ORDER. THIS IS YOUR FAULT YOU KNOW. YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THIS, YOU ARE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE WAY YOU ARE NOW.'

Suddenly, Nico felt something icy grip around his neck, making him let out a silent gasp in a desperate struggle for air. He couldn't even feel his windpipe anymore, as a numbness quickly settled in over his neck, spreading throughout the male's body thanks to that horrible, bone chilling, blood curdling touch. Yet, Nico did not dare scream, he didn't want to egg this thing on, he knew what it liked, he knew what it wanted. He had... always known... but the thing would not get what it wanted, not while he had any say in the matter.

'YOU THINK THEY WILL ACCEPT YOU FOR WHAT YOU ARE? ARE YOU THAT BLIND, OR ARE YOU A STUPID LITTLE RABBIT TRYING TO CLING TO SOME SENSE OF FALSE HOPE? NO, THEY WILL...'

A chilling breath ran down the back of his shoulder blade, sending shivers up Nico's spine. His eyes shook violently, like they were on the verge of falling onto the depths of oblivion while black dots danced across his vision. He could hear them, the cries, the screams and the psychotic laughter of the twisted ones, echoing through his mid and his very being. He felt a painful weight settle o his chest while slowly being dragged backwards, the voices growing louder and louder. Fear and panic filled him, while all the while the mad ones laughed in higher and higher pitches till they resembled hyenas on a sugar rush. He tried to raise an arm, but several more grips latched onto his limbs, holding them in place while the presence behind him edged ever closer, creeping forth from within the deepest depths of his mind, like a deadly wraith in the darkness of the shadows. Here to bring him back to that twisted neither that it had once came from, back to that place, that place. No... no-no-no, no! He will not, he will not go back!

No, not there!

Not back there!

Nevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernevernever-!

BADOMP!

It all ended. Nico gasped as the surroundings returned to that hallway in Compa's house. The warmth of the heating, the warmth and comfort of a familiar place, almost rushed back to his senses and enveloped him with their presence, calming down his panicked mind. Nico gasped again, taking heavy breaths as he fell to one knee hands firmly on the ground as he greedily soaked up the familiar sensations. The icy chills he felt on his limbs and neck were gone, like they had never been there in the first place, while his heart pounded away within the confines of his rib-cage painfully, like a jackhammer. Familiarity was good, familiarity was great. not familiarity was bad, not familiarity was horrible. That was the only thing that ran through his troubled mind as Nico tried to regain his bearings, utterly shaken down to the core from what just happened.

'AHHHH, LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE NOT READY YET.'

That voice, that goddamn, insufferable voice that was worse than anything Neptune could come up with, remarked with complete nonchalance, like it saw what happened just now as a minor pebble along a cobblestone road. Nico didn't remark to it though, because it was right, alarmingly right at that. Nico could remember every time something like this happened, and most of the time he had managed to break free before he had truly lost it. Though, there were times that he didn't and well... let's just say nobody was around to witness what usually happened next.

There were only a select few exceptions to this though..

'NO MATTER, I'M SURE YOU'LL COME AROUND, KING! AFTER ALL, THE THRONE OF THE KING IS YOURS BY RIGHT, IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT YOU RETAIN IT. EVEN AFTER EVERYTHING, YOU SEEM TO REMAIN FAZED... SAVE FOR WHEN I'M TROUGH WITH YOU.'

The voice chuckled, its twisted, eerie echo resounding through one ear and out the other like a painful sound wave. Nico forced himself not to flinch in response. He'd heard it so many times that he had honestly gotten used to it, to the point where instead of shrieking like a child that had a jump scare, he just flinched. Kind of fucked up if you think about it, if one experiences something enough, they tend to build a tolerance to it. This was the law of things, adapt and survive or stay still and die. In his case, it was learn to tolerate the voice's corrupt presence, or have it take over his sick, fucked up mind beyond repair.

'I'LL LET YOU HAVE THIS ONE, KING! BUT KNOW THIS, YOU CAN BE A KING OR A STREET SWEEPER, BUT IN THE END EVERYONE DANCES ALONG WITH THE GRIM REAPER.'

Finally, much to Nico's immense joy, relief and satisfaction, the voice's presence vanished, or rather, receded back into the shadows of his mind from whence it came. By no stretch was it gone however, oh no, Nico would NEVER be rid of this affliction. No, this was permanent, otherwise he would have tried to cure himself of it the moment he realized what he had become.

'Damnit... looks like I'm having hallucinations now...!'

If things could get any better, Nico heard the voice of his demonic personification echo through his thoughts, bringing his full attention away from the experience, if but for a short moment. 'Nico, are you harmed? Your mind looks like it has taken a severe beating from itself.' Biko questioned. While his tone sounded apathetic, non-carting even, with the short amount of experience that he had with him made the Spec Ops Agent able to detect the molecule of concern within.

'I'm good... i'm good...' Nico responded, slowly picking himself up and wiping away the sweat from his brow that had formed from his little... gave a low exhale, his mouth shaped like he was using a whistle as he glanced about, using his enhanced senses to see if anyone was within the immediate vicinity. He had hoped this would have been a private thing, and to his good fortune, it seemed that it was. 'Looks like... I'll have to go hunting soon. I guess I can't rely on their rations for the time being.'

Biko didn't say anything for the moment, he didn't need to. He had been a witness to the male's mind almost tearing apart the chains that bound it just then, chains that it had placed there itself. He knew exactly what that thing was, and deep down, he knew that Nico did too, at least on an unconscious level. That thing... from the moment he was first birthed by the demonic energy reserves within the male, Biko instantly became aware that the demon energy user had never been fully 'normal' to begin with. Most of his body was human, down to the simplest of cells.

Then, there was this non-human aspect of him, something that shouldn't have been there. From what he could tell, this aspect of him had been around Nico for a long time, thus it made destroying it practically impossible. The Crystal had sensed this upon the merging with its current master/host, whatever is preferable, thus had ordered the energy not to tamper with it to avoid the risk of destroying its host completely. The result was a DPU, but not exactly a full one. Instead, there was a Hybridization of one, a DPU and... whatever this thing was. Whatever it was, it, along with several other factors unknown to Biko, were the cause of Nico's misfortune, his tragedy and burden.

Whatever it was, Biko knew that there was only one way he could help his host...and that was to support him in these trials, as well as the ones that would come.


After that little incident, Nico managed to regain his previous composure after a few moments... and the prodding of one particularly persistent purplette who had suddenly appeared behind him. He had almost gotten a heart attack that time, nearly unleashing IT upon reflex, however he had barely controlled it n time. Poor girl didn't even realize just what kind of horror she had just avoided, something that passed through his mind rather quickly when Neptune began pushing him down the stairs to where the Kitchen was.

Scents that would have smelled wonderful to a normal human, whiffed into Nico's nostrils and he had a horrid time pushing back his urges to scowl in disgust. Out of all the three meals, Nico found breakfast to be the worst. Anything cooked for breakfast always tasted like rotten rice in his mouth, sticking and turning into garbage that had spent years under a landfill. Lunch foods tasted like baby shit while tea foods tasted more like dog shit, though these descriptions were hardly the only ones he had for them.

Nevertheless, he managed to mask his disgust while sitting at the table, where IF was also sitting with one leg crossed over the other. She was looking at one of her phones, making the male roll his eyes at her behaviour. "You do realise its rude to have your phone out at the dinner table, right?" he asked her, a slight teasing smirk tugging at his lips, begging to be let out in full.

His question earned him a dull look from the brunette Guild Agent, who rolled her eyes back at him. "Hah, yeah thanks DAD." she snarked, electing an amused chuckle from him which got a small smirk from her. The two exchanged quick chuckles, before Neptune ruined it by suddenly appearing behind the male and wrapping her arms around him from behind.

"Heya, Nicky! Ya miss littl' ol' me?"

"Hey, get off, Neptune!"

"Daaaw, you know you like it! Hubbies like it when their cute little wifeys hug em."

As usual, Neptune proclaimed how he was her 'Hubby' despite the statements to the contrary. Nico grinded his teeth as the two began to argue about how he was her hubby and just in 'denial' as Neptune put it with a shameless grin on her face. IF, now unable to focus on what she was doing earlier, looked up from her phone with an annoyed scowl at the two. "You two should really keep it down, or at least get a room." she remarked to them.

"That's not the problem, here!" Nico tried to protest, however the look that the brunette Guild Agent gave him made it seem that she didn't believe him, a statement he figured to be truthful considering what he knew about her. The male gave a groan a few moments later, it was just barely morning and already he wished he could go back to bed. But, he had stuff to do today, so that wasn't an option. He had a backlog of quests to complete, 40% of them revolving around Abnormal activity which was rising at an alarming rate. Settlements and villages were getting increasingly worried for their safety, according to his browsing of the Guild Website. "Anyways, moving on, what do you have planned for today?"

It was the preteen who answered after a few seconds of silence, as she threw her arms into the air with her lips curled into a large smile. "I wanna just laze about, play games and eat pudding!" Neptune proclaimed cheerfully. Already she could imagine herself surrounded by pudding cups. A little slice of heaven I her mind, she would happily proclaim from the tops of the twin towers!

Now, if only she could get Nicky to call her 'wifey'...

While ignoring the sudden shudder Nico showed for some reason, though she had a feeling that a certain purple haired idiot Goddess was involved, IF rolled her eyes as she gave a response to what she would be doing today. "Well, Nep's response was expected. Aside from that," she took a small pause to scroll down her phone's screen, before looking back up at them. "I gotta head out as well. Like Nico, I've got things to do. Quests have been piling on, so-"

"Wait, I changed my mind!"

Her sentence stopped in its tracks, and IF swore she heard the sound of tires erratically screeching to a halt for a moment, before she shook it off and glared at the perpetrator. Said perpetrator was now, in a show of strength, trying to pull Nico out of his seat, of which the male was currently trying to resist her. However, his efforts were nevertheless rendered moot, for the strength the grip had was much greater than he had anticipated, although IF did notice that, for a brief moment, Nico had looked... relieved, for a moment. Why that was, she didn't know. "Ugh, I swear, you're so random, Nep..." the brunette commented.

"Thanks, Iffy! You'll get more love points like that!"

"I don't want any 'love points' like that, and that wasn't a compliment."

Her eyes saw signs of an impending argument, thus in an attempt to play peacemaker and not have Skill attacks flying all over the place, Compa broke into the conversation while wearing an apron. "What do you mean you changed your mind, Nep-Nep?" she questioned, curiously.

Turning her head to look at the Nurse-in-Training, Neptune answered with a shining gleam in her eyes. "Why, I'm gonna have a date with Nicky, silly!" she cheered, pumping a fist in front of her with a resolved light in her eyes.

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Silence reined supreme across the entire house. Hell, even the landscape around the house was silent, as if everything within a hundred mile radius had heard Neptune's declaration, while the three could only just stare there, blinking dumbly every occasion. This went seemingly for forever, as if everything else was no longer relevant compared to the bombshell that had been planted by the beaming preteen.

Finally though, the bomb detonated in a blaze of glory

"HUH?!"

All three occupants cried out in union, staring at the preteen like she had grown a second head. When did she get this idea that a Date would be something she wanted to do? Moreover, choosing to go on a date when she had more character-esque things to do like play games and eat pudding? That was what she had said she was going to do originally, so what the fuck changed?

Apparently she sensed their confusion like a sonar scanner, as Neptune spoke, after of course discarding this strange set of sonar detecting technology she got from... somewhere. "Well, didn't Noire go out with him on chapter 42? Well, I had an epiphany: That should have been mwa, the main heroine of this franchise!" Neptune proclaimed, before puffing her cheeks out in irritated frustration, bobbing her fists up and down in front of her. "I'm supposed to be in the OTPs of every fanfics out there, but this one's different! I can't allow that, so pucker up Nicky, cause the Nep's about to establish our territory!"

Before Nico, or anyone else, could come even close to regaining their composure enough to shout their denials about such an idea, IF for how ridiculous it was, Compa for... well, jealousy reasons since she wanted to date him first, and Nico for the same reasons as IF, Neptune acted swiftly and dragged Nico by his neck out of the house. Her yells reverberated throughout the house.

"Don't worry Compa, pretty sure the Author's gonna give ya a turn, but not before the Nep's! Mwahahahaha!"


"Ugh... this is not how my day was meant to go..."

Nico had to curse himself as he held his palm over his face. He stood in front of a sweet shop, one that sold Pudding as part of its menu. He recalled sneaking looks at receipts Neptune had discarded, seeing them as 'useless' and found out something interesting. This was a branch of the same shop that was in Lastation, the one Neptune had visited when she ditched them. This was another example of companies branching out to different nations. It was a difficult process, he'd heard, but people do make a profit this way. Plus, whenever Neptune brought huge stacks of pudding to the Party, everyone had initially feared the worse for their Credit reserves. After all, with how bad Lastation's economy was, and with the quantity of Pudding Neptune brought over, it was only natural to fear for their collective wallets.

However, those fears had been put to rest one day when, out of a stroke of curiosity, Nico had examined some of the Receipts that came with these excess purchases, expecting the numbers to be massive. Much to his surprise though, while the numbers were large, larger than average for Pudding, they weren't as large as he had initially calculated. In fact, Nico almost assumed Neptune had changed the receipts somehow, but found no signs of tampering when he scanned the receipts with his Bracers. That meant that what he had seen was legit.

In the end, it became apparent that, after a bit of digging, it had been revealed that Neptune had been purchasing Puddings at a specific shop, all the time. She didn't visit many other shops that sold similarly baked goods, and the reason why had been because this particular shop had them on sale every so often. Thus, Neptune made sure to buy enough that could satisfy her hunger, but only when that sale was on. It surprised him at first, until he realised that Neptune DID listen to what he and the others said, despite looking like she didn't.

Looked like she wasn't as dumb as people thought she was... she was just lazy.

"Heeeeey, Niiiicky! C'mon, hurry uuuuup!" Neptune's shrill shouting cut Nico's thoughts off like they were on an execution platform. The male looked and saw that she was standing by the entrance to the shop, bouncing from one foot to the other while holding her hands close to her chest, clenched into fists. She had this urgent, impatient expression as she looked at him.

Rolling his eyes, Nico slowly started making his way to the Pudding shop, dreading the thought of having to consume so much human food. "Alright Neptune, I'm coming, I'm coming!" he yelled to her, his hands placed within his pockets, as if that could hide away the unease he felt deep inside his gut.


Once inside the metaphorical 'scent cage', Nico's nostrils almost hurt with how many nauseating smells that hit them. They passed through his nostrils like a disgusting plague trying to tear him apart from the inside out, but nevertheless Nico remained impassive, not even a twitch out of place as he moved to where Neptune sat, which to his well-hidden dismay, was by the closest table to the counter.

The shop's interior reminded him of a hallway with its layout, with tables arranged down the left side, and the counter on the right. There were cakes, sweets, and of course Pudding, displayed within pieces of transparent glass, each one proud and unblemished, like finely cut jewels in an exquisite jewel box. Checking their prices, Nico mentally smirked in satisfaction, his mind almost screaming with relief at having something to focus on instead of the protesting signals his nostrils were sending him. 'Heh, seeing the prices like this, it makes me almost pity Lastation. If their economy were not hit like it had from Avenir and Umbrella, I don't doubt their wares would be similarly priced.' he thought to himself, walking over to where Neptune sat.

'Nico, I do not understand why you force yourself to go through this. I do understand why you don't tell them your secret, but surely this cannot be the ideal situation for you.' Biko questioned within the confines of his mind. Nico figured he was sensing what he was, considering that he was a part of him now. He likely had access to his five senses so he could see through him to the outside world. After all, how else could he comment on things with near perfect timing? It was the only answer Nico could think of. 'An answer that is correct. I can access your senses to see the outside world. It is how your energy repairs you along with that... thing... unfortunately, it includes feeling what you are ignoring.'

'Sorry dude, don't worry though, I'll make sure we don't stay here too long...'

Said Preteen kicked the air under the table joyfully, tilting her head from side to side as if listening to a mental tune in her mind. She was even humming to some imaginary lyrics, something that made this experience a little less unbearable. The little things, the ticks and actions, of Neptune and the others never ceased to set his mind at ease. Good thing for Biko, since the lessening stress impacted him as well.

Sitting opposite her, Nico decided to get straight to business. He wanted to spend as little time in this place as possible, outside it wasn't so bad, but once he was inside Nico had never felt the urge to skedaddle as powerful as he did at that moment. "So you've brought me to this place, eh?" Nico questioned, raising a brow in Neptune's direction. "Why, though? Why not just play games?"

"Mwahahaha! How little you understand my young, sweet, little Nicky." Neptune responded, chuckling merrily as her playfulness shined through her lilac coloured eyes. "We're going on a date, didn't I tell you? A date is where a guy, and a girl, who are-"

Quickly raising a hand, Nico cut her off as he spoke sharply, leaning forwards on one elbow what a date is, Neptune." he told her.

"Really? I thought you'd be as dense as a pile of bricks since you act like a harem protag from time to time."

'... hold in the urge, Nico. Hold I the urge to lash out at her, you're better than that...'

'Even I must admit that this train of thought would be satisfying, but its worth is being brought into question...'

Nico would have done more, but he knew Neptune, and knew from her behaviour that thinking about this would get him nowhere. Thus, he just decided to move on. From what he could assume, Neptune seemed to want to go on a 'date' with him, for whatever reasons she had. Nico didn't understand why though, Neptune hadn't seemed like the person who would be into going on dates, maybe in HDD form, but not her human self. Thinking back on it, Nico realised most of her advances were done in HDD form, when she had the confidence to back her advances up. His eyes narrowed as a particularly... disturbing thought came to mind. 'If THAT's her angle...'

Since Nico wore Masks often, he'd gotten good at reading people, sort of 'looking behind the Mask' if one would. It was a Skill he found handy, especially with how twisted and fucked up people could be. It helped him in more situations than he'd care to mention, saved him from some pretty tough scrapes in his time as a Spec Ops. In his eyes, everyone wore Masks, facades to hide their real feelings and personalities. Someone could appear nice and sincere on the outside, but behind the façade there could be someone who gave no fucks about shooting someone for the hell of it. In contrast, someone violent and seemingly sociopathic could actually be someone who was just hurting inside and was looking for someone to trust. Anyone could hide behind a Mask, it was a common thing to do in order to fit in, lest they be outcasted by the rest of humanity.

Apparently, this included the Goddesses, too, then.

"Say, Nicky..." Neptune began, getting his attention and breaking him from his thoughts. "What do you usually think about?" she asked him, looking intently at him from her side of the table.

The male almost looked away from how intense her stare was. There was nothing negative about it, nothing of the sort. In fact, it was just that, a stare, but behind that Nico could see a powerful fire in her eyes, a resolve to do something even if it meant going drastic to achieve it. It was something that normally, he would see in her HDD form, but instead it was on her human self. Another sharp contrast to what Nico usually saw from her. Nevertheless, Nico answered her question with honesty. "I'm just surprised, is all." he admitted, scratching his jaw thoughtfully as he met her gaze with his own. "I never expected you to be so... well, brazen I guess, with taking me like this."

"Why's that?" Neptune's intense stare changed, instead of what it was before, it now became a curious frown, mixed with confusion as she tilted her head in a manner that made her look absolutely adorable. It was at this moment that Nico felt that he could understand a bit why Neptune had so many fans in the Basilicom, her petite frame and cute mannerisms made the hearts of many swoon and almost fizzle out with heartburn, leading to death by cuteness. "Its my shtick, ya know? Bold, brave and completely fearless!" she proclaimed, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her head upwards like those comic book superheroes.

Ironic he was making a comparison like that when his armour resembled that of an infamous comic book supervillain, huh?

Moving forwards, Nico paid attention to her body language, her tiny movements and other micro-expressions. He peered through the cracks behind her Mask, having ample experience with hers. It had always been easy to tell that she hid her feelings from the world, he'd seen it as clear as day when they travelled together, but after that first time that night when she dropped the Mask completely, it was almost second nature. "Yeah, I can see that." He remarked, before deciding to play along. He made a matching pose and spoke in a deeper, more pronounced masculine voice, imitating an announcer. "Captain Neptune, here to save the innocent, and protect all Puddings from evil!"

The Preteen gave a mad bout of laughter at his rather silly performance, holding her sides as she made no effort to conceal it. "Hahahahaha! Yeah, you got it in one, hubby!" Neptune proclaimed as she regained her composure and pointed a finger at him. Her grin was so wide that it practically split her face. "Captain Neptune and her sidekick/hubby, Nicky! Here to provide truth and justice for the people of Gamindustri!"

They both laughed like little school kids, sniggering and covering their mouths to suppress the laughter that slammed repeatedly against their mouths. After a while, the two slowly but surely calmed down, and let out long, drawn out breaths. Both even slumped backwards on their seats, looking up at the ceiling with dazed eyes... while still in synch.

"Man, that was interesting... and exhausting..." Nico muttered under his breath. He didn't mind though, because it helped him forget about the smells that were in the room. There was no waiter, so people had to go to the counter to get their treats. They didn't because there was a large queue, so they had taken a seat to wait till the queue died down.

It was then, that Biko made his own comments about what happened. 'Your emotions have stabilised greatly, as has your mind, Nico. I sense that you are far more relaxed than you have been in a long time.' he spoke, every word oozing with truth like it was a sludge. Nico even felt that, if he had a body that he could see right now, Biko would be crossing his arms and nodding in confirmation.

'Yeah well, that's a thing I like about Neptune. She always has this sense of cheeriness that brightens anyone's day. Honestly, I don't think this party would be complete without her...' he thought back to the demonic personification. Then, a sense of foreboding hit him deep in the heart, as if what he just said was a premonition of things to come, which worried him slightly but not enough to make it show on his features. 'Why do I get the feeling that I've just jinxed us?'

No response came from Biko.

"Hey, Nicky, Nicky-nick."

"Eh?"

"I guess #o#e l#v# likes you, since your name goes with 'Nico Nico Niiiii!'"

"... Goddamnit, Neptune."

"Tee hee hee!"


...

...

...

Ugh, can't believe Neptune did that.

That was the first thought that came to Nico's mind as he once again had a palm over his face, the cheery preteen walking next to him as they walked along the streets. Neptune was happily chowing down on some Pudding, her face set into a face of mystic-level bliss. When the queue had died down after that... jab, at his name, Nico had gotten Neptune one of their Puddings, with her recommendations of course, and then they left. Paying of course, they weren't criminals.

'Nico Nico Ni? I get a feeling she is using an overused meme of sorts...'

'Yes, yes she is, and please don't talk about that ever again. I swear to the Goddesses that will not become a running gag. It must NEVER become a running gag...'

After telling, or rather DEMANDING, that Biko forget about that moment of cringe for the rest of eternity, and even that sounded too short, Nico and Neptune now were walking through the streets, basically sightseeing. Since the 'date' was so spontaneous, there hadn't been any time to prepare. Fortunately, Neptune was one of those quick-to-adapt kind of girls, so this was basically no problem for her. Neither was it a problem for him, either. In fact, he liked this kind of date, nothing planned, and the wonders of the city to explore.

That thing with Noire was merely a small outing, at least in Nico's mind it was. There was hardly anything remotely akin to a 'date' thanks to Noire wanting to know more about the man that helped protect her Nation. Thus, Nico felt that this, was his first ever... actual date with a girl. EVER. Usually, Nico never had any interest in these kinds of things, opting to remain socially distant from those who wanted one from him and focusing more on his Training and Quests as a Spec Ops Agent. Thus, Nico had... little experience in the world of dating, in fact, something like this would have been awkward as all fuck... if it weren't for the date being Neptune. It was for that reason, that Nico felt that Neptune hid more than she let on, like she planned this all out in her mind, just to get a date out of him in a way that other girls would NEVER have succeeded in.

Now, now he was on a so-called 'date' with a cute girl, and Nico felt that... he didn't really mind. That was the bad part though, he couldn't afford to get any closer to the girls, Neptune, Compa, even IF and Noire. It was too dangerous, for both them and him, so it would have been better if he went and searched for the Key Fragments himself... only to find that, much to his surprise, he didn't.

Instead, he remained with the girls and stuck by them, through thick and thin without any regards to his secret. No, that wasn't quite right, he was aware of his secret and the risks of it being found out, but he didn't give it as much thought as he used to... only a slight fraction less. Fr some reason, a part of him was pleading for them to tell the girls the truth, that they were indeed trustworthy. It reasoned that if they could handle his intense... instincts, then surely they could handle the rest.

Unfortunately, that part was squashed by everything else.

"#SWOOOP#"

"Huh?"

Looking down, Nico felt something touch his arm. No, not just touch it, coil around it like a serpent, encasing it in a firm, yet not uncomfortable, grip. At first, he feared that it was something to do with his... hallucinations, but then he felt the heat coming from it. That was no hallucination, usually they were cold and dead, a lot like his mind when in that state. But this, this felt warm, inviting even... as well as very familiar.

When he saw the white and purple colours around what was coiling around his arm, he soon realised why, and looked up to the side of Neptune's head, She was way closer to him than she was before, and had linked her left arm with his right. "Uhhhh, Neptune...? What are you doing?" he asked her slowly, uncertainly. He took a slight gulp as he stared down at the petite beauty, her scent and the feeling of her flesh on his was... mouth-watering...

'No! Don't you DARE think of that bullshit, Nico! She is NOT like THAT...!'

"What, isn't it normal for couples to hug like this?" Neptune asked him innocently, looking up at him with massive, wide eyes. There was no mischievous smile this time though, just an expression of pure, childish innocence that only someone who had never experienced dating before could pull off. Neptune didn't look particularly shy about the gesture, instead she looked like it didn't bother her in the slightest, not one bit. Surprising... if one didn't know how to look underneath the underneath.

Before Nico could remark about it, though, the male noticed that they had found themselves walking by a park, one that was filled with a significant amount of people. There were young adults, teens, middle aged and even some elderly people just being there and enjoying the day. But what connected these people the most, and what sent a surge of dread mixed with embarrassment through his spine, was...

All of them... were couples: either holding hands or making out.

'... you have got to be shitting me...'

'My calculations show that this is indeed reality.'

'Not helping, Biko!'

If there was any way this could have gotten worse, this was it. Nico began to sweat bullets as he eyed the many couples, some being a bit more... vulgar, than the made sure to not look at those. "Uhhh, looks like we have a crowd here, Neptune." the male remarked, before he made to walk away. "What do you say we head on out and-"

"Nope!" Neptune quickly and decisively shot him down with no mercy, quickly proceeding to drag him into the park. "We gotta be like a couple on a date, ya know. That's what this whole thing is about!" Her grip tightened on him, and just out the corner of his eye, a dismayed Nicocaught a smug, self-satisfying grin etching itself onto her features.

He quickly realized that this was karma for training them brutally all those times.

'Goddamnit Neptune... I'll definitely get my revenge!'

And thus, began their little walk through the park.


Walking along this pathway, surrounded by trees, wilderness and people, Nico glanced about nervously as Neptune hummed a merry song, snuggling into his arm like it was a soft pillow. In contrast to his nervous, agitated demeanor, she looked like she was having the time of her life. 'All these people here are couples... if the other Agents caught wind of this i'll never hear the end of it from them...' the male thought to himself, pale with fear and dread at the ensuing shame of such an event. It was no secret that many of the more popular Spec Ops Agents were trying to get him a girlfriend or two, or at least get him laid. He could imagine it now, him sitting in the fatal position with the silhouette of a female standing by him with a ladylike posture, and so many silhouettes with the words Spec Ops on them giving him cheers and congratulating him on 'becoming a man'.

Out of everyone in the Guild, Nico was one of the few bachelors n their ranks. It made for some... various awkward moments when he would be set up with someone else from the Guild, be it a fellow Agent or a member of staff. Nico had this the worst though, as even though he wasn't as well-known as the other Spec Ops, there were still plenty of females who desired him, either for a sex night or to have as a cute little servant. He'd lost count of how many times his colleagues tried to hook him up with someone for each attempt to end in failure thanks to his desires to work outweighing needs for physical human contact. Plus, team RAIL helped out there, keeping the horny ones away from him.

He wasn't some damsel though, so this behavior often got annoying. But he could understand why they would do it.

"Hey, Neptune..." this time, Nico had broken out of his thoughts of his own accord. The reason being, that there was something he wanted to know concerning the preteen. When he received a sound of questioning from the preteen, Nico looked down at her while they passed a couple making out behind a tree. their wet slopping sounds, indicating the level of passion they were enthralled by, flew over their heads as he asked her his question. "Why the heck do you still call me Hubby? We're not even married."

That was something he had been wondering about for some time, why would Neptune call him something like that and give people the wrong idea? True, Neptune could just be messing with him, she did already have a cute nickname for him after all. However, it was something that plagued him endlessly, promising no respite until it was resolved. Hence, why he had asked her now.

Neptune, after hearing his question, looked away and hummed to herself in a thoughtful manner. she placed an index finger on her chin, looking upwards towards her temples and pretended to be deep in thought... for a few seconds. She then retook her position on his arm, her smile ever wider as her eyes shone brightly with her happiness. "Why not? Its a term f affection, hubby. Plus i like doing it." she stated. "We're a part of a harem of cute girls after all, so why should we not use terms of affection?"

"Okay, one:"Nico, whose eyes almost flew out of their sockets, looked down sharply at her while raising an index finger. "We're not in a harem. I'd never treat girls that way, you know me. Plus, nobody would want someone like me anyways." He saw that Neptune was about to speak, likely to say something stupid, when Nico continued as he raised his middle finger. "Two, we're not even married, so Hubby doesn't count as a token of affection." he sated bluntly, making Neptune pout in his direction.

"Meanie."

"Yup, you know it."

"I'll just have to tickle you till you submit then then!"

"You try, and I'll make sure you cannot eat Pudding ever again."

"Eeek! Not the Pudding!"

Nico grinned as he outwitted the preteen. It may have seemed a bit cruel to threaten her pudding, but he did NOT like being tickled. It reminded him of his adoptive mother's attempts to do so herself... she ended up usually being thrown into a wall for her troubles. He'll make sure to buy Neptune some more Pudding later as an apology though, since he didn't like that flash of sadness in her eyes when he denied her that.

Before he could comment any further though, the duo passed into a small clearing where a couple sat on a log together. They looked quite happy, with the woman leaning her head on his shoulder and sighing in soft bliss. The woman then spoke in a tender, caring manner that shone volumes about the love she had for her boyfriend. "I love you..." she said, looking up at him with twinkling eyes. The man, whom was smiling back at her, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in closer. He muttered something under his breath, and then whispered into her ear. The woman blushed crimson, and gave a fan-girl-like giggle.

This made Neptune detach herself from his arm, and gush over the couple with stars shining brightly in her eyes. No it would make more sense to say that they had literally become her eyes at this point."IIEEEEEEEEE! How adorable! Those two really must be close for that kind of Lilly rank!" she exclaimed joyfully, somehow not interrupting the two lovers.

Nico looked at the man, taking a few sniffs. The man;'s scent seemed... odd, it smelled of the woman's perfume, he could tell. In fact, it was drenched over him, an obvious sign that the woman and him have been... 'active' in that sort of sense. However, there was also something else... something underneath that which DIDN'T belong there. It wasn't like what he feared deep inside, Nico realized, much to his relief. However, there definitely was something off about that man.

Then, he caught a few twitches near the man;'s eyes, twitches that signaled that he was quickly glancing at something before returning his attention to the woman. Nico's sharp eyes caught it however, unlike Neptune who was too absorbed in the scene to notice. The male trusted his instincts, and they told him he was up to something sneaky. Glancing downwards in the direction the man;'s eyes had flickered for a nanosecond, Nico caught sight of something sticking out of his pocket, something black and rectangular.

'A... Phone? Why would he...?'

A mental frown marred itself in his mind, confusion etched onto the teenage Spec Ops' features for a brief instance. He then narrowed them into a steely gaze as an idea hit him harder than one of Biko's attacks, if this was what he thought it was then... shaking his head, Nico took a larger sniff, inhaling the two scents radiating from the man to better distinguish the two. One was perfume from the woman, he realized, and the other... was another perfume, from another woman. After all,men don;t wear perfume, so it became PRETTY obvious what this dude's angle was.

'This would be what is called in human culture 'two-timing' would it not?' Biko questioned, his tone neutral, but... Nico wasn't sure, but there was something off about his tone.,. Not that he paid much attention as Nico's thoughts were mostly dominated by his anger. Anger at the man for what he was doing, and anger at how Neptune was being deceived by this asshole.

'You would be right, Biko... bastard, this is why I hold other people in such low regard...!'

Compa's grandfather was a man of honor. He was from a generation that knew how to treat a woman with respect and affection.. It was how he had met his dearly beloved wife after all. He didn't know much about her other than the fact that she was once a Basilicom staff member before she retired to start a family with him. Nevertheless, it didn't change the fact that her grandfather was Nico's role model of how a guy should act around women, and Nico did his best to follow such an example... too bad that when he looked at how the current generation was, he saw nothing but forms to be disgusted at. This was just one example, and even then this was, ironically, one of the lesser things he'd seen that defiled his grandfather's example.

He knew there was no such thing as a perfect couple, but... if Compa had met and dated such a person... Nico didn't want to think of what he would do to that scum for daring to break her precious heart...

Glancing towards Neptune, Nico made to get her aware of the situation, however the words refused to leave his mouth. The blissful look on Neptune's face looked just too good to taint with a negative situation like what he was concluding from the man. Plus, he didn't want to clue her in on his secret either, though considering his thoughts right now, that prospect had taken a backseat for the moment. 'I'll stay silent for now, but I bet if that is what I think it is, then that man's about to be exposed to a bunch of a little thing called karma.' He thought, staring at the man with a slight pang of irritation and anger.

Those feelings soon left him when he glanced to Neptune again, a soft smile forming on his features as he examined her blissfulness. She seemed top be lost in a daydream right now, imagining something that likely involved her and Nico in some fashion. Hopefully, it wasn't anything too perverted, otherwise he'd probably die of embarrassment. Being fantasized about in public? Not something he'd want people to know about, lest it damage his reputation.

"Hey, Neptune!" he eventually called out after letting Neptune embrace her bliss for a good five minutes. He could hear the clicking of high heels in the distance, and judging by the sound and impact of them the wearer wasn't too happy. They seemed to be advancing towards their position too, making Nico mentally grin evilly. "Let's get a move on, shall we? We got this walk to finish off!"

His words did their purpose, and snapped Neptune out of her delusions with an audible SNAP sound echoing across the area. Although, it only seemed that him and Neptune heard it for the Couple made no motion of hearing it themselves. She whirled around to face him, throwing him a salute while winking at him with her tongue sticking out. "Aye-aye, sir! Autoneps, lets roll out!" With that, Neptune turned to the road ahead and began running, bouncing like a kangaroo all the while. He swore he could hear her going all "I'm a Kangaroo!".

The sounds of heels getting closer made Nico start walking at a high speeds, hands in his pockets and a smug smirk etching onto his lips. Nico could hardly wait to listen in on the commotion that would await that man.

Serves him right.


By the time they exited the park, Nico couldn't help but use his enhanced hearing to listen to the park behind them. He couldn't contain his gleeful grin when he heard the sounds of feminine fury and screams of agony from within, a notion that Biko shared with him. 'Looks like the bastard has been dealt justice by those two women...'

'I feel a sense of satisfaction, knowing that this two-timer got what he deserves.'

Nico nodded his head as he responded to Biko's mental comment. 'You and me both, dude, you and me both...' There was just something hilarious about experiencing what happens when you scorn a woman you were in a relationship with. Feminine fury seemed more amusing when you weren't on the receiving end of such things.

"Whew, that was a doozy, huh Nicky?" Neptune proclaimed gleefully as she stood tall and stretched her arms above her head. She gave a groan of satisfaction as she worked the stress from her arm joints, feeling the tension leave them like a waterfall. She then lowered her arms and turned to look at her date, noticing that he was deep in thought about something. "Hmm? Hubby, you ok? Your sadist side is coming out there." she asked him, sweat dropping slightly. The face Nico had on, well, she could only compare it to the expressions he made whenever he trained with them, and it was NOT an expression that filled her with ease.

It took a moment, but Nico eventually heard the slight worry in Neptune's query, and quickly snapped out of his thoughts to bring himself to reality. "Huh? Oh, sorry. Just thinking how wonderful Karma is." he replied hastily, making Neptune give him a weird look. Where the heck did something like that come from? Why would Nicky want to think about Karma? "If you wanna know, use your fourth wall powers. Pretty sure that's how you go all meta on us all the time."

Neptune thought about it for a moment, mulling it over in her mind, before she eventually shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe later." she said, before linking their arms together with him once more. Only this time, thanks to the lack of couples looking around Nico didn't feel nearly as uncomfortable as he did before. This felt... more private, like it was their own little thing going on and nobody could compare. Honestly, Nico preferred it this way, it made this feel more... unique. "Right now, there's only one place left I wanna go, Nicky. You'll love it, trust this little Nep."

Before Nico could respond, the male was dragged away by the preteen once more. How many times was he going to be dragged along like some sack of potatoes, he wondered. Though, no answer came to him.


They spent 45 minutes, according to the time on Nico's Bracers, walking through the streets and outside of Planeptune. Outside, the male had made sure to engaged the Motion Tracker in case they were to get a random encounter, until they arrived at the place that Neptune wanted to show him. The preteen had literally began pulling him along when they were 3/4 of the way there, having seemingly lost her patience and began to hurry the journey along, going all meta and exclaiming that their chapter needed to be done quickly.

Finally, the duo had arrived, and what Nico saw took his breath away, his eyes widening and his jaw hanging loose. If it had not been connected to his skull, it would have dropped to the floor.

'Holy... shit...'

'This... This is...!'

The two stood before a tall hill, one that had a single large tree at the center. The hilltop offered a great view of the surrounding plains, as well as the plains in the vast distance. One could even see silhouettes of the other Nations, Lastation, Leanbox and Lowee if they looked hard enough. The tree's branches were ripe with pure, dark green leaves which eagerly sucked in the sunlight from the sun, filling themselves with rich vibrancy and life. Because it was late in the afternoon, practically approaching evening, the skies were beginning to turn an orangish peach color, with tints of pink to them while the sun set on the horizon.

"Whoa..." Nico gaped, utterly flabbergasted at the sight. He had been all over the four nations, but Nico hadn't heard or seen this place before. Then again, this didn't come as a surprise as he never really stopped to take in the local sights when he was done with assignments, just returned to the Capital city, turned in his Quests, got paid and spent the night at a hotel or something. Now, though, Nico began to wonder what else he had been missing. Such a sight right before him was, in one word... glorious.

Grinning at the male's expression, Neptune bounded till she was right in front of him, the sunlight shadowing her form in his eyes."You like? C'mon, the view's great from up top!" she proclaimed,grabbing his hand and proceeding to pull him up the hill. She didn't have to, honestly, because Nico was already jogging up the hill with her.

When they reached the top, Nico and Neptune stood beneath the tree, watching the surrounding plains as well as the sunset with awed gazes. The sun illuminated the orangish peach sky, almost twinkling as they spotted some stars vaguely start to appear from behind it's light. It was almost mesmerizing to witness, enrapturing the duo with its brilliance.

"Compa told me that the Sunsets in Planeptune were sights to behold. Though, they were second only to Leanbox's for some reason, I don't recall why." Neptune spoke after a small silence.

The male nodded wordlessly, barely hearing her. He did find the logic in that statement though, this was an amazing sight to be sure. However, Leanbox, known as the land of Green Pastures, had the best nature of the four Nations. Planeptune only came second due to how much futuristic technology they possessed, since it had merged with the local nature, with Lowee coming in third since their nature was mostly a blanket of snow with icy lakes and even colder mountains. Lastly was Lastation, but that was almost common sense, given their situation. Though, even before all that nightmarish stuff happened, their lands were heavily polluted by the smoke produced by factories.

"I can honestly see that..."

"Yeah... so, um, Nicky...?" Nico looked away from the sight, albeit reluctantly which was shared by his demonic personification, to the one who showed him this incredible sight. He instantly regretted it when eh saw how nervous and... subdued the preteen looked. She looked downwards, refusing to meet his gaze as she nervously poked her fingers together.

Almost immediately, Nico's brain kicked into overdrive, analyzing everything that had happened today and swiftly came to a conclusion. This was a case f Masks once more,. Neptune had hidden intentions for this date, and throughout the entire thing she had been masking it. 'Whelp, time to follow up on my promise, then...' the male thought to himself, Biko agreeing as his mouth began to open. "You want to talk about something, Neptune? Go ahead, drop the mask and i;ll listen to anything you have to say." he said to her, a kind smile on his lips.

Finally, Neptune looked up and gave him a thankful nod. "Its just... you probably realized this already, but I did have a reason for this date..." she muttered, shuffling nervously. "And its, well... uh what I meant to say s, um..."

"Hey, how about we sit down?" Nico suggested gesturing to the base of the tree. "You look like you want to get something off our chest. Perhaps sitting down might help."

Neptune swiftly nodded her head in acceptance, the male going first and sitting at the base of the tree's trunk. the soft wind blew by, making his hair rustle as if it were grass. That didn't register to him though as he offered a place on his lap, the preteen soon sitting on his lap like she was a baby and he the father. Her feet swayed from side to side while Nico placed his arms at her sides, the two feeling heat from each other warm their bodies from the cold the ind provided. "So, what's been bugging you, Neptune?" he asked her softly, barely above a whisper. "You looked like you really wanted to talk to me alone about something."

"Well, lets see..." Neptune began, but then took a pause to think of a way to say it. Nico did say that she didn't have to keep up a Mask around him, that she could be open with him about anything she wanted. "Well... what do you think of us? Me, Compa, and Iffy?" she finally blurted her question to him.

When she saw how confused he was, the preteen rolled her eyes, before elaborating as she leaned her back against his chest, looking up at the leaves above them. "I mean, I've been thinking about it for a while, now. Honestly, I think I've always known, but still I just didn't pay it much thought till after Lastation, but... icky, you were basically strong-armed into this Quest. You, someone who wasn't meant to be involved in all this, were sadly dragged into my mess in my quest to find my lost memories. Compa, too, but I already talked to her. she says she didn't care that she was always in constant danger on this journey, she said that her friends were just as precious as her home was to her, if not more so. But you, Nicky you aren't like that. You don't spew out friendship stuff like we do, you don't do things the same way do. Honestly, it feels like even if we;re in the same party, we couldn't be more apart, like the skies and the ground."

Wow, pouring out her true feelings was harder than it looked in the movies. Neptune realized this the second she began, as she had trouble forming her sentences. Well, this wasn't exactly unexpected, since she was someone with amnesia, and even before this it seemed she wasn't someone who had lots of skills in this brand of talking. This was a massive first for her, both as a Goddess and as a girl. Nobody had ever told her it was okay to take off her Mask before, nobody had told her they could let her bear her soul out to them like doubted many fanfic writers chose this path for her character, either.

Nobody... but Nico, that is.

"So... what do you think about all this? YOUR reasons, not standard ones like duty or whatever. I mean, you practically didn't need to go along with this, and I know i'm a pain to you, but I-"

Her words were paused when she let out a surprised squeak. The reason? Nico's arms suddenly wrapped around her stomach, gently squeezing her in an attempt to get her to be quiet. His chin was on her shoulder right now, but she couldn't see his eyes. Well, not completely. She could see them out the corner of her eye, and when she saw honestly stunned her into silence.

Resolve, determination, fondness and affection, all mixed together to form the gaze Nico had on right now.

"Stop right there, Neptune." he demanded, his voice soft, yet with an undertone of firmness that all but shattered any attempts to speak from her. "I get it, just from that alone can get where your coming from." he whispered into her ear. He gave her stomach a gentle squeeze, his hands moving on their own to entangle within hers, heat radiating from them that filled her with a mounting warmth. In any other circumstance he'd be a blushing mess for touching a girl like this. But right now, much like when Neptune first dropped her Mask, Nico knew that her comfort was more important than her embarrassment.

Now that he had her attention, Nico continued. "You do not have anything to worry about. Like I said back in Lastation, yes you can be annoying. Your antics can grate on my nerves... but not ONCE do I regret coming along with you. To be honest, I probably would have gone with you even if it wasn't anything important. This Quest, while important, is only secondary to me. You remember what I said to you and the others back in Lastation? That you were freaking Angels? Well I meant every letter, and I intend to show it to you all throughout this journey. You girls don't properly realize it yet, but people can be the worst monsters out there, yet there are some exceptions to this trait. You all are some of those exceptions, so why would I not want to fight beside you? Yes, I don't spew out friendship power and that other bullshit. That's more your shtick than mine, anyhow. However, if there's one thing my ideals and yours have in common, its that the innocent must be protected and the guilty punished. Guild Agents, Spec Ops, adventurers, we're all defenders in a way. We just go about it differently."

The male made to continue, when he remembered something from way back when, and closed his eyes. "I remember a while back now, at least a couple years. There was this group of people who wanted the world to change. They wanted humanity to stray away from the old ways, the ways of the CPUs, to a more... modern way of warfare. While their goals were the protection of humanity, the way they went about it was wrong. Because of their actions, their cause, innocents were wrongly hurt, people needlessly lost their 's why they had to be stopped." he explained to her, remembering that can of worms with a mix of fondness and anxiety. Those were troubling times indeed, and many lives were affected by it. It was fortunate that things turned out the way they did, as Abnormals in that time were stronger than ever.

"If you want to take something from this, then there is one thing us Spec Ops, Guild Agents like IF, and adventurers like you, Compa, even the other CPUs like Noire have in common. Our top priority is to protect the innocent, to fight for the ones who can't fight on their own. We are the ones who endanger ourselves so that others don't have to. We're the truly 'strong' not like the 'strong' that pray on the 'weak'. This quest we''re on, is like that on a larger scale, so why would I regret coming along for the ride? If anything, I should be commending you and the others for these efforts." Nico gave a brief chuckle, moving one of his hands away from her own and using it to ruffle her hair gently, caressing it tenderly.

He then began going into the nitty gritty stuff, remembering everything they'd gone through up to this point. "Also, why would I not like you? You have your quirks, but honestly you make sure that things never are boring around here. I'll definitely say you can make me laugh easily with how you are. Same for everyone else you meet. Its practically impossible for us to hate you, get annoyed maybe, but definitely not hate. So don't you worry that little head of yours, Neptune. You just focus on your stuff. After all, you're our leader, aren't you? Can't have captain Neptune losing her cool, can we?"

...

...

...

You know, it shouldn't even be surprise at this point. That thought constantly rung inside Neptune's mind as she regarded the male whose lap she sat on. Her eyes gazed into his own, searching for any signs of deceit or stuff similar to that. However, there was nothing but pure honesty shining in his eyes like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm. It shouldn't have surprise her that Nico would say that, but it did. However, that was what she liked about this guy, he was a major help to her, someone she could consider precious. Just like the rest their group of misfits.

Way back when, she had been satisfied. Even without her memories, Neptune had already amassed a group of friends with Compa, IF and Nico. A group that would surely grow with time as they progressed through the story, but hey. She had been sated with that, as long as she had her friends, her video games especially her Super secret HDD collection, and Pudding, then Neptune had what she wanted out of life. While she didn't know what she was like in the past, Neptune had an idea from what little she DID know from Noire and her own brief flashbacks, and from what she had seen, there wasn't a lot of fun. No, there wasn't any fun at all.

That was why she had been satisfied with her current state, even with her desire to regain her memories... until these weird feelings popped up.

Neptune may joke or tease Nico with sexual innuendos or perverted remarks, but like normal girls, Neptune had no experience in the romance department, aside from manga and visual novels. Even then, she didn't really anticipate her being in this situation, what with having feelings for a guy, to come up so she didn't really clue in on the whole romantic relationship part. Even in the past, she doubted she had any romantic relationships before, so all these sensations, like her gut overrunning with butterflies or how her heart's rate shot through the roof, were practically foreign to her.

It wasn't something she liked to admit, to be honest.

Her, the protag of all protags, behaving like an insecure schoolgirl over her first crush.

It totally wasn't like her, and yet, that was the best analogy Neptune could come up with.

This stuff was whole new territory for her, territory that she had never expected to come across in her lifetime. This was one of the few times Neptune had felt so... vulnerable, like a child seeking answers about a subject she didn't understand from her mother. Her hear sometimes felt like it would rip in two whenever she pondered these thoughts, a heavy aching sensation assaulting her chest all thew while, robbing her breath away. However, she didn't exactly hate it. She didn't know many things about love, romance or any of that stuff, and in a sense, Compa was ahead of her in their quest to get his affections.

She had been harboring these feelings for a long time, way longer than Neptune ever had. The only time Neptune had realized what these weird feelings were was when she first dropped her 'Mask' in front of Nico after all that crap in Lastation. She understood these feelings, and Neptune didn't. But, there was one thing that they both shared in common with each other, and that was hesitation to truly act on those feelings. Ironically enough though, that had changed when Neptune had claimed him as her 'Hubby'. In truth, that action had surprised even Neptune herself, like it was something that she just felt was right to do in that situation. Maybe a bit extreme, like Nico constantly said, but hey, Neptune ALWAYS went to the extreme.

She knew that things like this, wouldn't make this relationship she sought with Nico any easier. In fact, she could almost feel how hard it would be for their adventure. With so many twists, turns and dangers around the corner, there could come a time where she might lose him, as much as it pained her to admit. Neptune wasn't all powerful, nothing like how the Basillicoms depicted their Goddesses. They could love, sure, but they could also lose love, too. That scared her more than anything, losing those she was close to either from battles, or by time, since she was immortal and would eventually outlive her friends.

But, what Neptune WAS sure of, among these whirlpool of uncertainties and nervousness, was that she indeed wanted to be with Nico. These feelings, while difficult at times, were indeed real.

Neptune gave a sheepish chuckle, a slow, but content, grin spreading across her face as she shifted in her makeshift seat, so she leaned on her side against his chest with her head buried beneath the crook of his neck. "Hehehehe, Nicky... you really do know what to say to cheer a lady up, don't you?" she remarked, chuckling with mirth as she trailed a finger over his torso. "You lady-killer you."

Briefly, Nico huffed in indignation, before he scoffed and looked away from her. "I'm no lady-killer, Neptune. I'm just a normal guy with his own views." he stated, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing crimson. With how Neptune seemed like she wasn't so worried about his thoughts anymore, his embarrassment about being so close to a girl returned with full force.

"Yeah, sure, 'normal'..."

"I get the feeling your trying to imply something."

"Nope, nothing at all, hehehehe..."

"Your laugh isn't exactly reassuring..."

Their short conversation died down, as the two spent their time overlooking the sunset, bathing in its warm glow. Most of it was gone by this point, with the sun having only a quarter of its form visible and the sky having grown mostly dark, with few stars emerging from the night. Nevertheless, these two didn't really care about that. Neptune hummed in satisfaction, trying to get as much of this warmth that Nico radiated as she could. While she may have lingering doubts, fears and insecurities, same as every girl who just enters her first relationship did, they didn't need to be expressed. Moments like these, moments filled with affection and comfort, washed all those away. If this was what it was like to have someone in your life...

Maybe now, Neptune could understand couples better.


Chapter end!

Finally! This thing's done!

Goddamn, this thing was difficult to write. I mean, its hard to keep Neptune in character with her canon self, what with her lack of experience in the romance department. But then, I realized something. I could actually make use of that with the way i've characterized her in my fanfic.

In my fic, she is her usual self, but she disguises her negative feelings with a Mask. I'm sure people have noticed already, but for those who haven't my story has a theme going and that's 'Masks and reflection'. How people hide their true feelings behind a facade. In Neptune's case, she's a Goddess whose been around for centuries and most of that time she has spent fighting the other CPUs. Nevermind her amnesia. Thus, things like romance isn't something she has experience in. Thus, she hides her insecurities behind her Mask, which Nico can obviously see through, and even comforts her about them. Friendships are easier for her, but relationships are a whole new ball game.

Personally, I like this chapter, even though it was hard to write with my lack of experience in romance. It didn't help that I had problems getting into my account for a time. I feel it establishes how both Nico and Neptune feel about romance, with Nico fearing what would happen if someone got that close to him, and how inexperienced Neptune is. IMO, this is a realistic date between these two characters, and the way I depict them is something that isn't done quite often.

To all those who see anything cliche about this chapter, remember that couples who are new to relationships have these kinds of concerns, these doubts and lingering insecurities. I myself have never had a proper relationship before, so I can't speak from experience. However, this is my best means of interpreting what one would be like.

This almost reminds me of highschool drama, only... not at the same time. Its weird, but hey, Neptunia IS weird, both plot and humour wise.