Chapter 43.5 #2 - A Nurse's Time

The time was noon, exactly 12 AM, and the day was just as good as it was 2 days ago, when Nico had that date with Neptune.

Said male currently lay on his bed, resting after a morning filled with intense training in his inner world. Biko had once again run him ragged the entire morning, teaching him how to better control his wings and their shapeshifting powers. He truly meant what he said when they were one of the most versatile weapons a DPU had, far different from a CPU's Wing Processors which had to be changed for different appearances and boosts to their stats. The male groaned in comfort as he held an arm over his forehead, looking up at the ceiling. His Trench Coat was hanging on a small white peg that was attached to the Guest room's main entrance, leaving him in his grey polo shirt and camp pants. His military boots stood proudly at the bedside, ready to be worn once he got his strength back. His gloved hands flexed and relaxed occasionally as he thought about his training... as well as the date he had.

Ever since that date, the preteen had been exceedingly hyper, grinning so brightly that she looked like a human lightbulb while completing quest after quest in rapid succession. It was like their date had lifted this seal on her true potential, which was now being shown to the world. It honestly amazed him how hyper she really was when nothing bothered her. It was like she had jumped onto cloud nine for some reason and had never come back down to earth for a break. Neptune completed quests until the late afternoon when she would proceed to train in the front yard. With Compa's permission of course, as long as she didn't damage her beautiful garden. This change, it happened because of him. Nico was sure of that.

Mask reading allowed him to see that Neptune, despite her apparent confidence, had her own worries and fears just like anyone else. That she was just a person, bot a merely just a Goddess, an all-powerful deity that everyone can look up to. This showed him that Neptune, and possibly the other CPUs as well, each had their own feelings, which lead to the speculation that each of them had their own problems as well. It, oddly enough, humanized them in a weird way. Even though they wouldn't ever be truly human, there was enough there for them to properly be counted as humans.

They thought.

They felt.

They can talk.

'But...' his thoughts turned to ones of worry and anxiety. His hands clenched into fists as he pulled his arm over his eyes, closing them to lose himself within his thoughts. 'Even with everything that's happened... Is it really okay for me to be with them?' he wondered, his lips set in a firm line. Nico was no fool, but even so, he couldn't tell why it was exactly that the girls had their current attitudes towards him. Point him at an enemy? Sure, give him a moment and it'll be dead. You want hostages rescued? Sure, give him the right info and they'd be rescued within the hour. But dealing with girls? No, while it looked like it, it wasn't actually his forte.

Then, there was his secret, the secret he protected almost fanatically from others. It was a relief that he hadn't been found out yet, much to his confusion since IF was one of the more observant of the female trio. She should have caught on to his trips to the Bathroom, but she made no indication of being aware of it at all. It was honestly quite unnerving, although he pushed past that in time. As long as she didn't call him out on it, he would be under the assumption that he was safe from her. Still though, the fact remained that while he was with these girls, his secret would always be under threat of being discovered. By his own choice or not, and that could NOT be allowed to happen.

Yet... he didn't want to leave them either.

Nico firmly believed what he said to them in Lastation, how they were goddamn angels for accepting him even with his intense, animalistic instincts. They probably felt flattered by their reactions, but they likely didn't realise the full scope of what he meant, nor the scope of how much meaning their reactions had for him. How could they, when he never showed them or told them his secret? They didn't know a lot of things about him, Nico had to admit. The male had kept most of what he had seen and done in the past a secret, tightly wrapped in chains and buried within history, where it was meant to stay forever. The things that he had seen had been what had caused his deep-rooted mistrust towards others.

SNIFFLE... SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE

It was quiet at first, but Nico's senses eventually picked up a gradually rising sniffling sound. His eyes shot open, his arm moving to his forehead before he sat upright and looked around, eyes swiftly glancing throughout the room. He thought he was hearing things, but soon the sniffling sound came again, and this time there were small sobbing and wheezing sounds mixed in.

Crying... someone was crying. Judging by the sounds, a child was crying.

'It sounds like its coming from outside...' Nico thought, after closing his eyes and listening carefully. His ears told him this, thus he muttered it under his breath, though to a casual observer it would be nothing but inaudible babble. Quickly, Nico stood up from his bed, sliding his feet into his boots as he swiftly tied the laces together before dashing outside.


Outside, Nico glanced from left to the right side of the corridors. His eyes frantically searched through everything within his field of vision, while also moving in fast, long strides as to avoid any unnecessary attention. Yet, despite his efforts, Nico couldn't pinpoint the location of the sniffling child, much to his dismay and confusion. 'What? Why the hell can I hear where this child is? Ami hallucinating again?' the male wondered, now finding himself at the end of the hallway. In the distance, Nico could hear the echoing psychotic laughter of IT from the deepest recesses of his mind, IT's presence clawing its way to the surface of his psyche to try and get his attention. Already, he could feel himself slipping into the madness, the sounds of sniffling slowly being drowned out by the presence trying to invade his thoughts, movements and, more importantly... actions.

'No... Its not there, pretend it isn't there, Nico...' the male chanted in his mind, kneeling on one leg while placing one hand on the ground. He took long, heavy breaths, keeping his mind and psyche focused on that and drowning out the psychotic presence in his mind. Though, in the end, it would probably be regarded as wasted effort... by both parties, as eventually he could hear it so loud that he thought his ears might go deaf from all the chaotic, downright demented laughter that echoed through every thought, laced itself within every miniscule action.

'N-Not good... the headaches...!' Nico thought, gritting his teeth as the sensation of his skull splitting open tore through his senses like a wild beast, ravaging all in its path. 'They-They're... getting worse! At this rate... I'll go crazy!' fear laced through his mind like string, knitting itself through every cell in his body, fear, dread, panic, everything that could describe the emotions roiling within his gut ran through his mind like children screaming as they fled from abusive parents. He could hear the laughter crystal clear now, along with various sounds of sniffling, sobbing and screaming. It was like a song, a chorus, a noise-filled symphony that threatened to make his senses bleed out till there was nothing left, and even then it wouldn't stop.

It would NEVER stop.

What's worse, was that through all the noise, the headaches and the intense agony he was under, Nico still managed to hear mere snippets of voices talking, voices talking inside his head that is.

"-ease, don't!"

"-ou don't mind if I give you company, do you?"

"-onster! Monster!"

"DIE, DIE, DIE!"

"Ni-Ni?"

Wait, that last one... it sounded like it was coming from reality. Nico's eyes, which were previously closed tightly due to the pain, shot open wide as he turned his head faster than a certain blue hedgehog. There, standing behind him, was Compa. She stood there with a look of extreme worry and concern on her features, staring down at him.

This... was real, right?

Not one of his hallucinations...?

'Calm yourself, Nico...' Biko's voice echoed through his ears, and in moments the previous sensations all but vanished. He could feel the anger and frustration IT was feeling as it was forced to the back of his mind once again, much to Nico's relief. 'You were hallucinating once more. I believe that-'

'One moment, Biko, lemme address Compa first. Alright? Then we can talk.' the male thought, interrupting his demonic personification while standing up and facing the Nurse-In-Training. Said girl looked at him with ever present concern on her features, clearly she had seen him during his... moment. Whelp, time for damage control. "You alright, Compa? You look like you went through a nightmare." he asked her.

"Eh?" Compa blinked, momentarily caught by surprise at the question, until she caught her composure and reined it in with a fishing rod. She then spoke, her voice riddled with her worries for him. "I should be the one asking you, Ni-Ni. You were muttering to yourself just now like crazy, and you were gripping the floorboards so tightly, and-"

Before she could continue, the male stepped forwards and placed a hand on her head, ruffling it gently to get her attention. She soon stopped speaking, looking up into his light blue eyes. "I'm good Compa, really. I just had a brief headache just now, so I decided to get some water." he told her, while in his mind he mentally preyed that she didn't prod any further. It wasn't really a lie, he was just understating what happened with his mind and hallucinations. He was damaged goods, dof that Nico was certain, but he refused to allow the others to fall into the same pit of madness as him.

As long as he was hurting alone, then things were okay.

'AHHHHHHH, HOW HEROIC! ITS HONESTLY SICKENING TO MY STOMACH, HEARING YOU TALK THAT SHIT.'

Nico ignored the voice in his mind as he looked at his childhood friend. Said childhood friend immediately went into overprotective mamma bear mode, something she did whenever she saw her friends evens slightly injured. "A headache?! You're alright, right?! You don't need any bandages, do you?!" she exclaimed as she began looking him all over, searching forant signs of him needing some 'bandage care'.

Suddenly, Nico got chills crawling up his spine, getting the sensation that something terrible was about to happen to him... and he had a perfect idea of what that was.

"A-Ah, I'm good, Compa! Really!" the male stammered, quickly taking a step back from her while holding his hands up in a placating manner. "I just need a drink of water and I'm good!"

'I do not understand. Why is it that your thoughts are centring towards not letting this human near you?' Nico cursed under his breath. If there was a time where he didn't like Biko's lack of understanding human mannerisms, it was right now. It had already become apparent, but due to him being born from demonic energy, Biko had... well, a limited understanding of humanity's culture and mannerisms. Thus, he couldn't understand why it was a BAD idea to have Compa treat him in her own unique way. 'As a DPU, she will not be able to harm us, our energy will purge any harmful toxins from our systems, and if she tried to hurt us in other ways our body has means of defending itself from her.'

'Let's just say that this is something only humans can understand, Biko.' the male replied. 'Trust me, its good for your health if you don't venture down the forbidden path.' He heard the demonic personification's muttering, which sounded accepting to him much to the teen's relief. With that land field out of the way, the male opted to push the conversation between him and Compa along before she got any... crazy ideas, like that one time when she tried to kidnap him when he was resting after a Quest one day back at Lastation to 'change his bandages'. The experience left him several bandages shorter, lots of healing items depleted, and a new wariness of Compa's nursing skills. "A-Anyways, is there something you need? You look like you have something on your mind."

Nico hoped beyond all hopes that Compa would just let the issue slide for the time being. If he were a Basilicom staff member, he would have even prayed to every CPU in existence, but fortunately the male hadn't gone that far. Luckily, his prayers were answered when Coma lowered her arms, entangling her hands together in front of her stomach and bobbed her head. "A-Ah, yeah!" she exclaimed, smiling bashfully before she looked to the side. Her entire demeanour shifted at this point, shifting from realisation to that of a flustered schoolgirl.

The male watched as she shifted uncomfortably on her feet, hands now behind her back as she refused to meet his gaze. Her eyes shifted from side to side, trying to find something that wasn't him to look at. "U-Um, I was wondering..." she began to say, the nervousness and timidness in her expression, on her face and radiating from her body made her look almost insane on the levels of the 'cute' meter. "W-Well..."

'Wow... is this like one of those highschool love scenes when the girl asks the guy to spend time with her...?' Nico wondered, shock and surprise coursing through his system... before the realisation dawned on him. He swore he heard the sounds of thunder clapping above him, but there were no clouds in the clear blue skies today. 'Wait, WHAT?! Oh shit, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!' he shrieked, his thoughts going erratic like he was having another hallucination. 'Neptune was alright since she's so readable, but Compa? She'll be an even more difficult obstacle to overcome! If she asks me to go out, there's a 0% chance I'll be able to resist her!'

Sadly, his worst fears came true when Compa, who looked downright like a flustered, shy schoolgirl at this point, finally got what she wanted to say off her chest. "U-Uh... If you like... could we spend the day together? You know, like when we were kids."

'FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!' Nico bellowed mentally, in his mind there was a chibi Nico trying to pull all his hair out while screaming bloody murder to the heavens. One outing with Neptune was enough, he had barely escaped having his reputation questioned when they were at that park! It was a stroke of good luck that they didn't encounter anyone from the Guild that day. He would have rather stayed back in his normal routine of Questing, training and more questing, but it looked like fate was determined to mess with him for a second time. Using his childhood friend no less. "O-Oh? What do you have in mind then...?"

Her eyes, for the first time since this request, glanced at him, and Nico saw that they were filling slowly with hope. A hint of a smile had been gradually breaking onto her face like a pair of opening curtains, quickly silencing much of the urge to deny her request, which died like a dying scream as it fell into the hazy, empty void within his mind. How could he deny this girl the chance for them to spend time together? Originally, that was what he had intended before this entire adventure even started. If things hadn't happened the way they did, Nico was sure they would be having picnics, eating together, and doing things normal people did... well, aside for the countless trips to the bathroom in that case.

"Well..." she started, and there was a noticeable rise in volume within her voice. There seemed to be an increasing confidence brewing within her, probably due to his lack of refusal as she found her voice once more. "I was thinking we could, um... go to the groceries and get some things I need for dinner. Nep-Nep eats a lot, so we need lots of yummy foods ready for that big belly of hers." she remarked, a coy giggle escaping her throat. She could imagine Neptune swallowing large platefuls of food every second or 2, while asking if there was any Pudding left over... with her mouth full of stuffed food.

That... sounded alright, at least better than going outside, a sarcastic part of him quipped as he pondered the request. Nico hid the distasteful frown that escaped his lips at the prospect of going outside and eating human foods. Even though he could hide his discomfort behind a Mask with expert Acting Skills, the male nonetheless hated the thought of swallowing human food. Hunting Monsters had kept IT under control for the most part, so he wasn't completely worried about IT getting out of hand. However, eating foods made by human methods usually left him weakened afterwards. If he didn't have his... diet, then his strength would have been affected much more negatively.

This wasn't good, not one bit. Nico should never have agreed to going out with Neptune or Noire those times. Because of his actions in those situations, Compa must have felt left out, his childhood friend. That should have allowed her a chance to hang out with him, but most of the time they were either questing with the rest of the party or how he accompanied her sometimes on her grocery shopping. She must have felt some form of frustration and jealousy at that. He knew Compa usually wore her emotions on her sleeves. She didn't have to wear a Mask to hide how she felt, because her innocence itself was a great way to mislead people. She didn't wear a Mask in the same manner as say, him or Neptune, but because of her innocent, klutz-like personality, they were often deterred from figuring out her true feelings.

Innocent bliss, indeed. So... How could he?

On another standpoint, Nico didn't have it, he didn't have the heart to deny her this request, even with what he knew about his 'limitations'. He just couldn't bear the thought of losing one of the things that kept him grounded in this world, kept him motivated to keep going just with her presence alone. Slowly, the others had been developing the same effect on him, but it was Compa who gave him the strongest effect out of all of them. Thus how could he deny her this request? Nico may be a many things, a brutal instructor, a vicious fighter on the battlefield, a person who'd see way too much shit for someone his age, but he wasn't enough of an asshole to deny this girl a chance to spend some time with him.

Also... there was this teeny, tiny part of him that wanted to do this, that wanted to spend some time for her... to regain something he had lost a long time ago: his childish innocence. A piece of himself he had long since discarded as useless. In this uncaring, merciless, twisted world, there had been no room for something as minor as innocence. He hadn't even been sure that he even had it before waking up, either. It didn't feel that way, so hey, maybe he did lose his innocence and he didn't even remember the experience!

"Um, alright, sure. I'll go with you."

Compa's, if possible, shone brightly like the sun as a joyful gasp escaped her lips. "#GASP# Really?!" she shrieked with a hopeful tone. Upon seeing him nod with a shaky smile on his face, all Compa saw was grey as she glomped him, wrapping her arms around her childhood friend's torso. "Yaaaaaaay! I get to spend time, with Ni-Ni! Hehehehehe! I'm so happy!"

On the receiving end, Nico blushed as he felt a pair of hot, circular things pressing against his chest. "Wh-Whoa, calm down Compa!" he exclaimed, although it was useless to even try. She was just too far gone in her joy that all his words were rendered moot. The next few seconds passed, before Nico's body lost its original rigidity, and he gave a relaxed sigh through his nose. Slowly, his arms wrapped around her back, resting on both the upper and lower sections as he tenderly hugged her back.

It lasted for several minutes, though to both it felt much longer. Compa, and to some extent Nico although he wouldn't admit it, but they both LOVE hugs. Maybe even more so than other affectionate things like kissing and coitus. To them, hugs were a much more direct way of displaying affection, as well as warmer and easy to do without feeling too embarrassed. In hypothetical terms, say that they were out in public, like going out on a street or to the shops like they planned to after this. They wouldn't do either of those two things as it would be too embarrassing for them to do so, given their personalities. Compa's meek innocence and Nico's aversion to perverted activities was the source of this.

However, to hug someone was an acceptable form of affection in both of their books. To hug someone didn't seem as 'expressive' of affection as a Kiss in a direct sense, more of an underlying sense. It was a hidden display of affection that only certain people could truly understand. Most passer-by's wouldn't give them as much attention as they would if they were making out or engaging in coitus. Instead they'd just make a mental or verbal remark about them and move on. Hugs for them was something they loved doing, and not just to display affection.

It was what started their friendship after all.


After ending the hug, Nico waved Compa off as she headed downstairs to wait for him while he returned to his room. Closing the door behind him, the male swiftly got ready, having been mostly in his PJ's when he first began searching for that sobbing hallucination.

He swiftly changed his outfit with his Bracer, heaving a relieved sigh. 'Man, I'm glad that I escaped that trap unscathed...' the male thought to himself. 'Who knows what her reaction would have been if she saw that whole thing...' he could only shiver at the thought.

'Indeed. According to my analysis, she would not take it well.' Biko commented within his mind. It nearly made Nico jump, he had almost forgotten about his mental tenant. If Biko was insulted by this, he didn't show it as he continued on with no changes in his tone or any remarks about it. 'Shall I give my conclusion on these recent events in your mind?'

'Yes, please do.'

'According to my research, it appears your mind has seen that your nightmares are not enough to 'keep you on your present course'. No matter how many times they come, you have stayed your present course and have diverted from what it wanted you to do. It see's that despite its warnings, you seem to continuously experience moments that divert you from your original path.' Biko explained.

Nico pondered this information as it was being told to him. That did make sense, considering how he had been repeatedly getting closer to people. Lately, in a way, anyhow. No matter how many nightmares Nico had, he always seemed to try to get close to the girls, either through training them, or helping them with their problems. Its possible that his mind could be trying alternate forms of keeping him along his original path. 'So, its shifting tactics, now starting to make me hallucinate now?' Nico questioned.

'Indeed.'

Biko's blunt response made the male face palm into his right gloved hand, an irritated groan seeping out of his lips as he gritted his teeth. 'Damnit, this is fucking messed up. My own mind is trying to tell me something by tormenting me.' he whined, almost falling to the ground in a lamenting fashion, though he remained standing upright. It truly was a twisted thing, having his own mind acting against him. He couldn't rely on it to stop with these hallucinations, and even now he could feel IT's presence more clearly than before. Likely this was an effect of not having the drugs pumped into him from his armour for so long.

'While on the subject of... IT.' The teenage Spec Ops lowered his hand as he listened to his demonic personification. Had he discovered something about it that he didn't already know? Or something speculated by them several times already. 'I have run ample tests, and have determined that a constant flow of demonic energy through your body will help keep IT in check. It will be active like a sustained ability in the original #r#go# A#e, limiting your demonic energy reserves, though not by much. In addition, I have discovered that IT has grown adapted to the drugs, having used cells from your body still infested with them to form a resistance. Not an outright immunity, due to the drugs' lack of presence in your system. However, be sure that they will NOT work as effectively as they used to in the past.'


Downstairs, Nico noticed that Neptune was sitting on a pink beanbag in the living room, playing on some games. IF, to his surprise, was beside her, the motions he saw her arms doing indicating that she was playing a game with her. Glancing to the screen, Nico realised they were playing one of Planeptune's more popular racing games: Virtua Racing. 'Huh... I haven't seen that game in years. Didn't that game get a "3rd Most Influential Racing Game Ever" award a couple years back?' The male wondered.

Seeing that the two were too deep into the game, Nico decided not to disturb them, and headed for the door. Compa was standing there waiting for him, wearing something new over her normal outfit: a pink Padded Belted Buckle Neck Midi Coat. "Huh... that's a new coat, isn't it?" Nico questioned as he stopped beside her. The male also noticed that she was carrying a set of unused grocery bags in her right hand, but he didn't feel the need to comment on that to her verbally.

The Nurse-In-Training nodded happily, a light bounce in her step. "Yep, I only got it a day before you came back. I was going to show it to you, but um, you know..." she blushed, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly as she remembered the day that Neptune dive-bombed, literally, into their lives. How much had been changed by that lovable purplette's appearance into their daily routines was something she didn't even try to consider, even if she was good at math.

"Yeah, I know..." Nico replied, a sheepish chuckle escaping his lips as he thought of the purplette. Out the corner of his eye, Nico noticed a faint slice of white, and when he glanced discreetly towards it, he found that, to his sock and dismay, that it was the same child as the one he saw in that dream in the Mirror World. The child was looking at him, his gaze empty and emotionless, as he sat in a fatal position deep within the shadows.

Glancing away from the child, Nico did his best to ignore it as he opened the door for his childhood friend, smiling along the way. "Since they are somewhat occupied, though I doubt IF'll hear my future Text saying where we are, lets get going, shall we?" The male suggested, noticing that the child had vanished to his relief. So his next sentence was much happier than before. "We don't want that dinner of yours to come too late, otherwise Neptune might raid the fridge again."

"Yep."


Leaving the house, Compa and Nico walked together in double file, down the countryside-like outskirts to the main city. They took it slow and began chatting on random topics, like they used to in the past. If anyone saw them, they would just see two people walking side by side while enjoying each other's company. There was also this peaceful serenity in the air around them, like the two were at peace with each other and were ignorant of the chaotic world around them. Such was the innocent bliss that blossomed between them.

When they finally arrived at the city, Nico looked about and frowned in concern. "Hmmm, looks like we picked a bad time to leave the house..." he remarked, eying the streets. The reason he said this was because the streets looked quite crowded. Men and women of all ages, some of them couples and others with children, walked back and forth through the streets, either going to work, school, or doing their own thing. It created this constant chattering sound which made the male wince in his mind, feeling his sensitive ears ache slightly from all the sounds being processed. There was a downside to having enhanced senses, and that was how acute they were, which made them... a slight problem in crowded areas.

Luckily for him, Nico got used to it after a few moments.

"I heard that today's a special Sale at the supermarket, Ni-Ni." Compa informed him, her eyes gazing across the crowded streets with just as high a concern as her companion. "I heard that they're trying to raise funds for the military so they can continue their task of pushing monsters back from our territories. Its a really big deal."

'I've heard about that...' Nico thought to himself, feeling a sense of familiarity within the Nurse-In-Training's words. He took had noticed the odd increase in military personal at the Guild, whenever he went through the streets, and sometimes leaving the City to travel to other settlements. The Planeptune Military seemed to be getting a rush of funding from the Government, and according to the Articles he read, this was due to the military getting successive victories against the monsters, be it normal or Abnormal. Although it was more against the former than the latter, as the latter involved minor casualties. So far, they had been retaking mining caves, old power stations, and other essential territories that humanity had abandoned in their fight for survival. "Huh. Interesting. Looks like the Military's finally getting its shit together, huh?"

Looking up to her companion, Compa tilted her head curiously. "Huh? What do you mean?" she questioned.

The male glanced down at her for a moment, seeing the inquisitive stare in her eyes before he looked back into the streets. "Basically, the Planeptune Military has been subject to... various difficulties in the past. They've been suffering one defeat after another constantly, losing ground in a gradual manner to the Monsters. Towns are abandoned, Mines become overpopulated with Monsters. and military garrisons are overrun constantly. People began losing faith in them, and with a lack of faith morale dropped too."

Compa gave a frown, understanding and sympathy for the military dawning on her features. It must have been tough for them, having to endure all tat hardship. Compa could only imagine what those brave men and women had to endure, losing so many of their strongholds, their friends, their livelihoods. Their families would be devastated, she would imagine. Yet, Compa felt that what she was thinking was merely an understatement compared to the real thing. She was only a Civilian after all. an Adventurer true, but still a civilian in terms of the military. They must see things far differently compared to people like her. The only kind of people she could think of who could come close to understanding their way of life would be the Spec Ops Agents, since they both saw similar sides to the Monster attacks.

Adventurers usually see the weaker sides, they don't usually see how dark, cruel and twisted their world really was. They only saw the thrill of the adventure, and usually consisted of people who want to be heroes and have all that cliché happy ending stuff. However, Spec Ops and, to an extent, Guild Agents see a more realistic version of things It made quite the rift between these three classes, something that saddened the Nurse-In-Training. She didn't like it when people fought amongst themselves, why she didn't like fighting at all. It didn't mean she wouldn't fight, especially when they were endangering her crush, but still.

Seeing that the crowd was too large for this street, Nico swiftly raised his right forearm and activated his Bracer. A Holomap of SAGA soon formed on top of it as he examined it intensely. "Hmmm... Looks like we can't use any other streets to get to the Market, practically all of them are massively crowded." the male mused to himself. He couldn't transform into Crimson Soul, either otherwise he'd draw way more attention to himself than he'd like. However, if he were alone, this wouldn't be much of an issue, Nico could pass through crowds as silent as the winds when he had to. But that was the problem, he WASN'T alone...

And he'd be damned before letting Compa go off on her own. She'd probably end up somewhere completely different to where she wanted to be.

Thus, his next course of action was clear, although he didn't necessarily like it. Nico tried to fight down his blush as he swiftly grasped Compa's hand in his own, electing a surprised squeak from her. 'Its only to guide her, its only to guide her...' Nico constantly chanted inside his mind, his eyes shadowed by his hair so that he didn't have to notice both her expression... and the group of childish figures wearing hospital clothes in the fatal position around them. 'Ignore them, they're only hallucinations, they aren't real...'

"Its alright, Compa." he told her, getting her attention as she looked up at him. Her eyes couldn't see past his hair as Nico started to walk towards the crowded streets. "Its just so that we don't get separated. I'd hate to lose you in that crowd..."

The combined factors of Nico fighting his blush, his shadowed eyes, his refusal to look at the (in his mind) scandalised expression on Compa's face, made him oblivious to how she had froze upon hearing the 'hate to lose you' part of his sentence, as he pulled her along through the crowds. Her eyes landed on their interlocked hands, and a small, dreamy smile formed on her features. 'Ni-Ni's hand... its been a while since I've felt it on my own...'


It took them a lot longer than previously expected to get to the supermarket. Thanks to the number of people on the street, instead of a 45 minute walk to the supermarket from her house, it took them a full hour. They almost lost each other even while holding hands several times, but both managed to pull through, and in the end, they managed to reach the Supermarket.

It was a massive, white building with a purple stripe wrapped around its top. There was bubble writing set in an arch over the front entrance, saying 'Nep's Gamarket', the name of the Supermarket as well as the Company that owned it. 'Gamarket... Why do I get the feeling that's also a reference to something Hyperdimension related?' Nico wondered, but shook his head to clear those thoughts from his mind. 'No matter, we're here so we should focus on gathering the supplies we need...' The male then looked down towards his friend, who looked to be deep in thought about something, something that must be big considering the conflicted gleam in her eyes. "Hm? You alright, Compa?"

"H-Huh?" Compa blinked several times like an owl as she returned to the real world. She soon realised though, that Nico had asked her question, and thus she responded with a flustered manner, pulling her hand from his and waving both in front of her. "O-Oh, its nothing, Ni-Ni, r-really!" she stammered, blushing furiously. "I was just having a but of de ja vu, is all..."

The male watched, eyebrow raised, as Compa shyly poked her index fingers together, while looking at the ground below. 'Uhhhhh... I'm not sure what to say about this...' he thought to himself. Eventually, he decided to get this outing going again, after a short moment of awkward silence. "I see... anyways, we have some shopping to do, right? We better move otherwise Neptune may accidentally start the oven and burn the house down." He remarked, thoughtfully, placing his hands in his pockets before he began making his way inside the Supermarket.

His words eventually snapped Compa out of her trance, and soon she paled at the thought of Neptune destroying her house on accident... worse, she could imagine it, too. "H-Hey, wait, please don't let Nep-Nep destroy my house, Ni-Ni!"


Now inside the supermarket, Nico grabbed them a trolley to help them with the bags and gathering the items. Looking over to his companion, who stood by his side while he pushed the trolley along the walkway between the isles, Nico decided to inquire. "So Compa, what's on the menu today?"

"Well..." Compa paused, reaching into her hip purse with a concentrated look on her face. "I'm sure I put it in here, at the bottom of my nurse pouch..." she muttered under her breath.

The male couldn't help but sweat drop as his enhanced senses picked up what she was muttering. He knew that being a Nurse-In-Training was a demanding job that required you to carry a dozen or so items, but seriously. That hip purse of hers must make finding items within it difficult. 'She should seriously think about getting a better organisation for her items...' he couldn't help but admit in his mind. He didn't dare try to say it out loud, as that would be rude.

Finally, her eyes brightened as she found what she was looing for. "Ah, here it is!" she exclaimed, pulling out from her hip purse,, a neatly folded piece of paper. The male watched as she unfolded it and looked the contents over, naming them as she did so. "Alrightie, we need some beans, peas, apples, oranges, bananas..." she began, going down the list till she reached the bottom.

Once she did, the Nurse-In-Training looked over to her friend, who hummed to himself as he cupped his chin with his left hand. "Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... Hmmmmmmmmmmmm... Ah, I see!" he exclaimed, fisting his right palm as a metaphorical light bulb went on above his head, understanding flashing through his eyes. "You made it so that we have to visit every isle along the Supermarket, instead of just randomly searching through them." Every item Compa had listed, and by the Goddesses there was a long list of them, had been neatly arranged so that they didn't have to waste time backtracking to isles they had already passed. Saved them time, something that was good since they doubted IF would be able to handle Neptune on her own for an extended time period. The Guild Agent didn't have the patience Compa had for Neptune's antics.

Compa happily nodded, glad that Nico had understood her plans for this shopping trip. 'Although... Ni-Ni probably doesn't see it this way, but...' the girl looked to the side, eyeing the other shoppers in the vicinity. For a while, she had seen mostly couples shopping for stuff to buy, and with so many around them... 'This... makes us look like we're a couple in a relationship...' There was a reason why she chose TODAY to make a shopping trip, and to take specifically Nico along for the ride. It was a day where she had observed couples having the highest numbers in the market. With all the Monsters roaming about, Couples usually made trips to Supermarkets like this one to stock up on supplies. On days like this, when Monster activity was reported to be less than its usual quota, Couples took the opportunity. Plus, since Neptune didn't have as much awareness of the stock market as she did, she wouldn't be able to do much to stop them from enjoying today with each other.

Quite a devious scheme for our Nurse-In-Training.

It also helped that she and Nico used to help her grandfather shop when they were kids. They would run off together, search for the items her grandfather would place on the shopping list, argue over which would be the better deal (something she was proud to admit she won quite often) before bringing the chosen items back to their grandfather, who would laugh boisterously at how they decided which was the best. They were bright kids for their age, but Compa usually excelled better since she was so good at maths, made item accounting a specialty of hers.

"Whelp, the sun's not going to stay up forever..." Nico's words snapped the young girl from her musings, alerting her to how he was already starting to head down the isles. "So lets get what we need and then head back." Compa nodded with an affirmative 'HM!' before bouncing along with him, a slight skip in her steps as they made off to get the items they need.


A while later, the Nurse-In-Training stood beside the trolley, Nico having left to go further down the isles to get something. He didn't say what it was though, something that caused her to pout in annoyance. "Mou...! Ni-Ni's real stingy when it comes to his secrets..." she remarked, her pout making her look absolutely adorable. Several males who passed her by actually looked like they died of heartburn at the cuteness Compa radiated unknowingly, much to their female partner's ire. Several yelps and whimpers followed them when their partners either pinched them or threatened to make them sleep on the couch.

Closing her eyes, the teenage girl decided to lose herself in memories, memories of the first time that they went to the Supermarket...

(FLASHBACK)

"Stupid head, stupid head, stupid head!"

An 10 year old Compa pouted with puffy cheeks, much like her older teen self, stood by the supermarket entrance as she crossed her arms and looked down at the path, refusing to acknowledge anyone right now. She had muttered several childish insults towards her sole friend, Nico, as she brooded over her recent experience. Before, she and him had a bit of an argument about which sweets they should buy, and it had lead to her storming off when his stubbornness refused to co-operate with her.

'Stupid Ni-Ni! Why are you so stubborn, those sweets were WAY out of our average spending funds, those other sweets were of the same type and deliciousness! Why didn't you see it?!' She thought with annoyance as she remembered the absolute refusal that shined in her childhood friend's eyes while he stubbornly refused to accept her reasoning's. His stubborn streak rivalled hers, and the look on his face and in his eyes, as if he knew he was right and she was wrong, despite the contradictory evidence, did little to improve her mood.

Hopefully, her grandfather would knock some sense into that noggin of his when they get back-

"Hey look, its the crybaby!"

Her eyes shot wide open, her body tensing as she felt her heart sink down to her stomach where the dread originated from. 'Oh no, not now, why now of all times?!' She cried in her mind, desperately trying to fight away the tears that threatened to spill from her eye sockets. In front of her, she could see 3 shadows, 3 familiar shadows, belonging to some kids that she knew... she knew all too well.

Against her better judgement, Compa slowly lifted her head to look up at her tormentors, seeing that they were 3 older looking boys wearing hoodies and shorts of varying colours. All of them had arrogant, mocking smirks on their faces as they ganged up on her, blocking any exit and sealing her fate. The leader stepped forward and leaned downwards, being a head taller than her. "Aw, what's the matter crybaby? Too much of a wimp without your precious grandpappy? Heh, what a loser!"

His two lackeys laughed madly at her, the left one speaking in-between laughs. "She-She probably can't even do anything right by herself, since she's such a klutz. She can't even do a proper job at carrying boxes!" the speaker was an overweight boy with pudgy cheeks, and a few teeth in his gums. A reminder that this kid got into fights quite often. "Everyone at school calls her the 'Klutzy kid!'" he added on after a moment's laughter, escalating it further.

The other lackey, a thin, lanky boy with multiple piercings in his lips, ears and nose. He looked like a stereotypical gangster just starting out as he pointed to her and looked to his friends. "Heh, she can't even make proper friends, like us, can she?! If she did, then we'd have her do our homework for her whenever we pleased, so we could play games all day! Not even go to school!"

Their leader laughed in joy at the thought, grinning widely at them. "Heh, yeah! Hey, you know what, that gives me an idea!" he exclaimed, much to the surprise of his lackeys, and to Compa's growing dread. "Why don't we make her obey us right now? There's nothing stopping us, plus our dads are in the police. Who would try to snitch on us?!" he suggested, and his friends soon followed his train of thought.

Horror, dread and fear ran around inside Compa's gut, going on a merciless rage as she cowered before the three boys. They soon began to advance towards her, hands in their pockets to try, and succeed, to intimidate her as much as possible while she fell to the ground, curling into a ball. . Thoughts of being used as nothing more than a slave to these horrible boys plagued her mind, like a never ending nightmare she would not awake from. Because of her meek personality, Compa never had the strength to stand up for herself. She didn't like fighting, she never did. That was why she wanted to be a Nurse, so she could help people heal from their boo-boos when they come back from a whole load of fighting. She liked helping her grandfather and her sole friend when they get an owwie, even though they usually tense whenever she mentioned the word 'bandages'.

Nevertheless, none of these thoughts would help her now, nothing more than distract her from the fear born from whatever these boys were going to do to her. She didn't know what, but if the dark looks in their eyes were any indication, she didn't want to know what they were planning for her.

However, just before they were at arms distance...

"Oi, looks like you bozos haven't learned your lessons either!"

The sound of a voice that brought great relief and joy through her, and made the three boys pale in fear, rang throughout the entrance to the Supermarket. The Voice's owner came from their right, and when they looked, there was a young boy about Compa's age, running at them like an angry bull with an utterly livid facial expression, with bared teeth and furiously clenching fists. One could even see veins pulsating from them as he made his way to Compa's defence. The boy had crimson red hair, and furious light blue eyes while wearing a simple high collared shirt, with tan shorts, black socks and shoes.

"N-Ni-Ni...?"

"Oh crap, bro, its the crazy kid!"

A cry came from the pudgy kid as 10 year old Nico jumped and planted a foot into his face, sending him crashing into the ground. "You assholes just LOVE to get beat, don't you?!" He yelled, giving them a vicious snarl that was reminiscent of a wild animal. He reached forth and grasped the arm of the lanky kid, pulling him down so he could head-butt him. The leader tried to swing his fist at him from behind, but the red haired boy simply grabbed his offending limb and tossed him overhead. "Hah, looks like you forgot! I've taught myself how to fight you goons! To help make my friend smile, I'd even become a monster!" He bellowed.

Though his form took a 180 in terms of outward expressions as he landed in a crouch, slowly standing up as he hung his head, speaking in a barely audible volume, yet one that sent chills down their spines. "Maybe I should give you all the 'centipede treatment' shall I?" Nico queried, stepping in front of Compa and lowering his hair. It shadowed his eyes, but not the sinister, slasher smile that he was sporting.

Despite their initial fear of the boy, their leader did his best to act tough in front of his lackeys, putting on fake composed look with a matching arrogance as he sneered towards the red haired 10 year old Nico. "Hah, things won't end the same way as they did before, you bastard!" he boasted, cracking his fists as he prepared for a beating, though this was just an act to get his lackeys composure back. It seemed to work as they followed his lead, but when the boys made to gloat further, their words died in their throats at what happened next.

An aura of thick, heavy, and dense KI radiated from Nico's prone form as he spoke that last sentence. It filled the three boys with fear and dread so intense that they could literally feel their breathing go erratic just to keep the same amount of air in their chest. Their heartbeats pounded like jackhammers, sweat rolled down their foreheads like waterfalls, and their whimpers could be audible from their quivering mouths. But that, compared to everything else, paled in comparison compared to what happened next...

From that thick cloak of KI, a silhouette manifested, circling around Nico's frame. Its form could be seen as clear as crystal to the boys, whom were whimpering with increasing amount of trembles in their forms. Its form may be shrouded in darkness... but there were some things that the fearful boys could make out blood dripping from its maw, like saliva as hungry beady crimson red eyes stared down at them, an intense desire to feed shining forth from within them

Judging by its shape, it could only be one thing... a Centipede

Despite themselves, they tried to remain tough on the outside, although this failed miserably considering their violently quivering forms. It gave a loud hiss at them... then reared its 'head' back... before it released a loud shriek at their faces that was louder than a Banshee's, prompting them to scream like frightened toddlers watching a horror movie, and then run away with their tails between their legs.

"Good riddance..." the boy muttered under his breath. "Those boys need to be taught a lesson... maybe I should do something in the future..." Compa thought she heard him mutter something like that, but quickly dismissed it. It sounded too quiet for her to hear, so she didn't press further. Disabling his KI for the moment, dismissing the silhouette in the meantime, Nico turned to face his friend, eyeing her shaken form with a concerned gaze. "You okay, Compa? Those creeps didn't do anything to you, did they?" he asked her, kneeling before her shaking frame.

Weakly, Compa managed to nod, the events of the previous moment still taking their toll on her mind and body. "Uh... Uh Huh..." she muttered, holding her hands in fists under her chin while her legs dug deep into her chest.

Nico's eyes gazed down at the girl, his gaze that of a concerned parent for their child, but just for a brief moment. He quickly stuffed that aside as he huffed and put his fists on his hips, looking to the sides. "Honestly, this is what happens when you run off like that. You had grandpa worried sick, ya know."

Now, Compa got all defensive, her eyes hardening as she shot to her feet. She aimed an angry pout at him, her cheeks inflamed with red while being puffed to the max, teardrops in the corners of her eyes as her earlier frustration kicked in. "Hey, that's not very fair, Ni-Ni!" she protested, stomping her foot on the ground. "If you weren't so stubborn, I-"

"Oh yeah, we chose that item you were talking about."

His words stopped the girl cold, momentarily sending her into a daze. That moment, drew itself for a while, silence dominating the two kids. A small breeze blew by, ruffling their hair for a brief moment, and it was Nico's grimacing as he complained about the wind that snapped her out of her funk. "E-Eh?! Huh? Ni-Ni, what...?"

She tried to speak, however her words failed her. It was a mix of both what happened before, as well as the thing Nico had casually admitted like it was just the weather forecast. Did he... Did he just admit what she thought he did? The younger Compa opened her mouth several times, trying and failing to find her voice.

Her efforts turned out to be unneeded as Nico seemed to notice what she was trying to say. "Yeah well, I brought them to grandpa and asked, he says you were right. I tried to protest, but, well you know what happens when I try that..." he began, scratching his cheek while looking to the side awkwardly.

Silence passed by them after the boy admitted that. Both of them thought of how her grandfather got whenever they tried to protest something. Her grandfather may not be in his prime, but he could be scarier than even an Abnormal. They say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but that person never met her grandfather.

"He told me 'A man must never make a woman cry no matter what, otherwise he will be regarded as scum of the earth with no hope of redemption'. I think he meant that I should do my best to make sure you smile, but uh, I don't get why he would say that, since I always try to make you smile, eh?" the male remarked, a sheepish chuckle escaping his lips.

While his chuckle conveyed how awkward he was being, there was also a sense of endearment and cheeriness to it. The cheerfulness behind that chuckle though, did succeed in making the girl giggle, forgetting her earlier fears as she felt the warmth of his ensuing grin seep over her. "Hehehehe, that's true... when you're not being a stubborn meanie." she remarked through her giggles.

The boy blinked in surprise at her for a moment, and made to defend himself, until he realised that he really did do that just now. "Uhhh, yeah, sorry 'bout that..." he apologised, grimacing deeply at the humiliation. Goddesses, how humiliating. That was what the boy thought, judging from his expression, Compa theorized. He must have let his stubborn pride take over back in the supermarket... He had to find a way to fix this stain, but how?

Oh, an idea!

An idea popped into his mind, making his eyes widen in realisation as he began rummaging through his pockets. Compa paused her giggling when she saw him doing this with such an intense expression in his eyes, but before she could inquire as to what he was looking for, Nico's eyes shone with glee and relief. "Found it!" he exclaimed cheerfully, a wide grin stretching across his lips as he pulled the object he wanted out of his pockets. "Here Compa, take this!"

"Eh?! But that's..."

In Nico's hands, was a pendant, connected to a thin black chord. The pendant itself was shaped into a glittering, beautiful crystal blue snowflake. Its points looked well maintained, refined, and the entire thing glittered in the sunlight when its waves reflected off the snowflake pendant's surface. The pendant swayed left and right from the residue forces acting upon it, while Nico presented it towards the awestruck Compa. "Here, it's yours! Gramps said I could buy it for you, so here!"

"E-Eh?!" she exclaimed, shock rushing through her system at what he just said. "Grampa let you buy it?! But this must have been expensive!" she tried to say, but she had already taken the pendant, tenderly, in her tiny hands. She couldn't help but marvel at the beauty the snowflake pendant radiated as clear as day, she literally couldn't take her eyes off it.

The boy just laughed in pride as she pushed his chest out, wiping the bottom of his nose with the bottom of his finger. "Heh, its no biggie, like gramps told me, 'a lady's tears demand a heavy price to be sated'. I don't get it myself, but that Pendants some form of custom in Lowee. Its said that if one gives one half to the other, then waits for a time to get the next piece, then its a guarantee that they will be together forever." he explained. "Though, I haven't a clue what it meant."

Unlike him though, Compa's instincts told her EXACTLY what this meant. She knew what this was, she had seen it several times in the past few trips they had made to the supermarket. It was meant to be a Lowee custom to help someone become a couple with someone they have a romantic interest in. The first piece was supposed to be a promise of friendship between the two, no matter what happens to them. That they would always think of that person, of every minute, of every hour, of every day. The time period was meant to symbolise the life trials that is thrown one's way, and the last piece was a show of love towards the other, that despite the trials thrown at them, they would always be together, in both body and soul. The first piece was cheaper than the second piece, as a test for the couples involved.

Nico could never have known at the time, but he had just gotten her one of the greatest gifts a girl could ask for. She may be from Planeptune, but the Snowflake Charm was something every girl in Gamindustri knew about, and it had been well known to bring couples together for life. Her little heart fluttered beyond imagining, a searing hot warmth spreading through her chest. She almost choked at the emotions welling up inside her, tears coming from the corners of her eyes once again while she clutched the pendant tightly in her hands. She made sure not to damage it though.

When he saw this though, Nico immediately assumed the worst, his face morphing into one of panic as he stepped backwards, waving his arms frantically. There was little logic to that last part, it was mostly done out of adrenaline and instinct. Safe to say, he looked kind of like an idiot as he frantically stammered out a sentence. "Wh-whoa, wha-wha-wha?! What the heck, why are you crying?! I thought this was a good thing, on Gramps is going to kill me-!"

Whatever he was about to say was stopped when the young Compa barrelled into him, embracing him tightly while thinking him for the gift over and over.

(Flashback: END)

Opening her eyes, Compa smiled fondly at the memory, feeling warmth spread through her chest just by thinking about the innocent gesture Nico had made. He had been so clueless back then, it had been super cute and adorable. Even her grandfather and some of his friends had agreed with her when she told him about it. Much to the boy's humiliation, his face had never bee so cherry red before as people cooed over his sweet gesture, Till this day, Compa knew that Nico didn't understand the significance of that gesture, even now. He was never someone who was into all that lovey-dovey stuff, in his eyes. Nevertheless, she always kept the Snowflake Charm in a secure place in her bedroom, where not even Neptune won't find it.

"Yo, Compa, I'm back!"

Blinking owlishly several times, her thoughts left her as Compa turned to the source of the familiar voice, to find the male Spec Ops Agent walking back to her, waving slightly with his right hand with the other in his pocket. "Hey there, Ni-Ni! Did you get what you wanted?" she asked him with a slight hop, while the male stopped before her with a nod of confirmation.

"Yep, it took me a goddamn long time, but I finally got what I wanted." he responded, chuckling for a brief moment before glancing down at the trolley. "Looks like you've already got most of the stuff we need, so shall we make this a speed run?" he suggested, wincing as he shook his hands, though the mirth in his eyes showed her that he was faking it... kinda. "Ugh, pushing this trolley has been killing my hands recently."

A sly giggle escaped Compa's lips at how childish the male was acting with her. Nico never did like pushing the Trolley like her grandfather did, it was why that job always fell to her or her grandfather. The fact that he had went this long without complaining was an achievement in itself. "No we're not doing a speed run, Ni-Ni. I'd be one sad Compa if Ni-Ni got all injured while being reckless like that." she told him with a slight scolding in her tone. Nico merely stepped backwards and raised his hands in surrender, oddly enough resembling his 10 year old self having a panic attack.

After that little display, Nico and Compa continued their shopping.


Once their shopping had been concluded, the two proceeded to head back home. Both of them carried two bags each, well, Nico had a third around his back from the front so it made breathing easier. The two were constantly talking about random topics, though most of them did have to do with Neptune or the other party antics that they had seen throughout their journey so far. "...Hehehehehe, And then there was that time Neptune almost looked like a murder victim when IF stuffed her face with eggplant pudding that one time after training." Compa remarked, smiling widely at the memory.

Nico cackled to himself. He remembered betting with the brunette that the purplette would make that kind of over-the-top reaction, and managed to win 200 Credits from that Bet. "Yeah, Neptune can be an amazing actress. Can you imagine it, her on a stage in a play like Romeo and Juliet? In that death scene at the end of the play..."

The two continued to talk like the childhood friends they always were, walking down the street in the direction they had come from earlier. One difference though, was that the street wasn't nearly as crowded as it had been in the morning. It was early afternoon right now, so those who were going to work would be well into their jobs by now. Those that still roamed the streets were likely either doing what they just did with the shopping, or going out for walks or to perhaps just enjoy the greatness of the afternoon sun.

'This... how long has it been since we last did this?' Nico wondered, laughing on the outside. Inside though, he wore a pained frown, and if he could right now, he'd clutch his chest in a pained manner. In his eyes, everything had been replaced with a beautiful yellow background while he and Compa were their 10 year old selves, laughing merrily without a care in the world while running back and forth. Playing like the innocent kids they used to be. 'I can't... I can't remember the last time... I just spent the day with my childhood friend, like this.'

While he thought about the past, Biko suddenly quipped from within, breaking his thoughts to pieces. 'These outings with your friends... I do believe they are helping your mind, somewhat, Nico.' he commented. 'I can detect signs of significant recovery from it, to the point where the damage that IT has caused before has mostly been repaired. However, it is also a double-edged sword. Your times with these girls are indeed soothing your troubled mind. However, they are also making you diverge from your original path. Thus, you will suffer hallucinations and nightmares, thus damaging your psyche... perhaps, forever.'

'Thanks for the mood-ruining talk, Biko...'

Biko didn't respond to his thoughts though, but Nico knew that his demonic personification was right. Despite enjoying this outing with his childhood friend, she and the others were basically both helping and hurting him at the same time, just by being around him. Their happiness was contagious, and it made him want to experience their happiness with them. That was not allowed however, according to his mind anyways, for whatever reason he did not remember yet at the same time, refused to remember. Like, it wasn't time for him to remember just yet.

Nico never did understand why, but his lack of searching for his lost memories really bothered him. He didn't know why he didn't entertain the thought of regaining them, they were basically a large portion of his childhood and, if his hunch was correct, had answers to a lot of his questions, questions that plagued him through day and night. Yet, Nico made little headway in searching for them, why was that?

All he could tell was that... something was stopping him from remembering. Something was stopping him from trying to delve too deep into the dark.

That 'something' seemed to be his own mind, blocking him from even thinking of trying to regain his memories, while at the sae time rebuilding itself little by little. Thus, Nico deduced that it was to do with trauma. Something happened during those times that made him want to forget about those particular memories, memories that at the time, must have been horrific enough to warrant such an action. They say wounds of the flesh were deadly, but in his eyes, damage to the mind, to the psyche, was way worse than physical damage ever could be. Physical damage could be repaired, especially in his case, but mental damage was something else, something completely different.


Finally, the two made it back to Compa's house. It was slowly getting dark out, with the sun setting behind them and some stars becoming visible despite it not being completely night up in the skies. It honestly surprised the two as they headed towards the door. "Wow, who knew that we'd take most of the day going to the groceries, huh?" the male mused, adjusting the bags' handles in his hands as well as the one around his neck. He'd be all too glad to get rid of these as soon as possible.

"It must be all the talking and stuff we did, Ni-Ni." Compa responded, wearing a cheerful smile. She didn't sound like she minded that they spent more time together than expected, nope, not the least bit dismayed. Nico couldn't help but sweat drop though. Why did he get the feeling she was trying to one-up someone? Particularly a certain Amnesiac?

Shake your head, Nico, shake your head. Girls, do NOT try to understand them.

'Author's lame yet wise advice aside, I'd better not open that can of worms...' the male thought in contemplation. He soon shrugged his shoulders, deciding to drop the subject. It wasn't likely that Compa wanted to one up someone, otherwise she would have tried to do so in Nurse School. They texted each other a LOT in between his missions, so he knew how she, um, 'felt' about certain people. When Compa got mad she could be scarier than the True Goddess, something he had the unfortunate pleasure of witnessing one time.

His thoughts were broken once again, when Compa put her bags down before the doorway, and then twirled around to face him. "Thank you, again Ni-Ni, for coming with me today. I had a whole lot of fun." she thanked him, bowing her head as well.

"Now, now, no need for that formal bowing in front of me, young missy." Nico commented playfully, smirking while shaking his head in mirth. He heard her laugh lightly at his comment, which just made his smirk widen. "Anyways, aside from that, I had fun too, some of those arguments we had about item prices were like old times, eh?"

"Yeah... they were, huh?"

'Okay, now what's up?' The Spec Ops Agent wondered while his smirk turned upside down, becoming a deep frown when he saw Compa's mood darken considerably. He didn't know why she had just did that, but referring to their past together, instead of filling her with joy like it used to, just seemed to make her sad, the exact opposite. "Uh, Compa? You alright?" he asked her in worry.

The young Nurse-In-Training, whom had been looking to the side in an awkward manner, slowly looked up to him, facing his concerned gaze with her own. "O-Oh, its nothing, Ni-Ni... really." she tried to deny it, but Nico did not get fooled in the slightest. Something was troubling her, something that has been there for a while, just hidden away from the populace. What it was, Nico had no idea, but he was determined to find out.

Seeing that he wasn't convinced, Compa frowned as she looked back down towards the ground, her hands put together while her fingers interlocked with each other. "Its nothing, I just... I just worry..." she started to say, before pausing. She took a few breaths, broken, shaking breaths as she formulated what she wanted to say. "I worry... We've had so much fun today, it made me feel like we had never been apart. It was so fun, and while II enjoy our times with Nep-Nep and the others, I enjoy our personal time much more. Its just... when will it be the last one?"

Nico's eyes widened at that, his breath catching in his thought. Did she ask what he thought she asked? Did she just ask when they would be together last? Pondering it in a few seconds, along with calculations that no human mind would be able to comprehend, made Nico realise what she was implying. "Compa, were you...?" he began to say.

However, the young girl cut him off. "Yes, okay?!" she shrieked, finally releasing it all in one big outburst. She couldn't stop now, though she didn't want to. Her words flowed out like an overwhelming flood, as did the emotions swirling painfully in her chest. "I'm scared, okay?! We go off on adventure and adventure, and nearly every time we almost lose each other! We nearly lost you that time in the Monster Cave, when you lost control, during those Spec Ops missions, I worry that next time might be the last time we get to see each other! Is that so wrong, is it really so wrong to want t just spend time together like when we were children, back before any of this stuff happened?!"

While this happened, the poor guy had nothing to say. The male's wide eyes gazed at the Nurse-In-Training, his jaw open in an 'O' shape, the male too flabbergasted to speak properly at what he was seeing from his childhood friend. For the first time since they had started this journey, Nico saw Compa break down. She had glomped him, wrapping him tightly in her embrace as if afraid that if she let go then she would lose him forever. It was obvious that, due to the shaking shoulders and the wet feeling that was staining his shirt, that she was crying.

That's essentially what she was afraid of: Losing people she cared for, or worse him, in their adventure. True going on adventures was something that was meant to be fun, resulting in new friends and memories made. It can make people stronger than they were originally, teach them lessons in was that only an adventure could. It could easily be one of the best things that could happen to a person.

On the other hand however, there was a darkness to going outside one's comfort zone, like a rose an adventure can have hidden prickly thorns just waiting to claim their next victim. Adventurers can be dark, twisted, and full of danger. If one wasn't prepared enough, they could quickly find themselves at death's door with the Reaper there to usher them to the other side, leaving behind nothing but grief, agony and loss to their loved ones. An adventure can be a cruel mistress, it can teach people in harsh manners, like taking their comrades away from them, or give birth to tyrants when they see so many horrible things in the world, and none of the good.

What scared Compa was that darkness to the term 'adventure', Nico realised as he just stood there while Compa held him like he was a stake of wood in a violent storm. She remembers the close-calls they had together, the quick brushes with death they had, and fears for the future if they were to keep getting into these situations. Nico couldn't blame her, things like this didn't really scare him that much, not so much as what would happen to those that he left behind anyways. However, Compa was a normal civilian turned adventurer, who aspired to become a Nurse.

A Nurse specialises in preventing death as much as possible, even if they fail sometimes. She had been taught that death was the worst thing to have for a Patient, and that A Nurse was supposed to be able to prevent death through medicine. To see a patient die... well, it was equivalent to failing their duties as medical professionals. Even though they were supposed to be accustomed to the thought of failing, using it as a reason to get better, it can still be taxing on the mind. She must have felt so useless, not being able to help her comrades, him when he practically died that time against Arfoire, when IF almost died to the C Virus which was now under her control, and when they almost all bit the dust back in the abandoned factory.

She was a civilian, so she had limits on how much of this she could take. Apparently, she had reached hers.

"Listen.. Listen to me, Compa..." The male began, after a moment of letting Compa vent her pent up stress from worrying so much. He gently grasped her shoulder and nudged forwards, making her look up at him. He eyes looked puffy, and had redness all around them from her crying. "I get it, I really do Compa. You're worried whether or not we'll all make it out of here alive. Worried about if this fun we had may be our last. I get it, an adventure is both a time of joy and great anxiety, you never know what's around the next corner."

His words succeeded in making sure her attention was on him, something he wanted right now. She gazed into his eyes uncertainty shining within them as she tried to figure out where Nico was going with this. She wasn't sure her voice was going to be useful right now. "However, we must brave that unknown, Compa. We've come a long way, and there have been dangers laid out before us. I don't doubt there will be more of them, but you know what, I don't care. No, that's a lie, I do care, because I have comrades to look after. You've done so well in handling this so far, you can't quit now Compa. In fact, you have no idea how PROUD I am of you, having done so well for a civilian. In my eyes, if you wanted to you could be a Guild Agent right now. I'd definitely recommend you." he explained, grinning at the end as he patted her on the shoulder.

Her eyes had started to regain that light to them, that light he adored so much. However, if she thought he was done, she would be in for a rude awakening. "Do not EVER think you're useless, either young lady. I won't have it, Neptune won't have it, hell the entire Party won't have it. Whether you're partaking in our dork of a leader's antics, or on the battlefield, there is plenty of use for you with us. We all would rather have you than any other Nurse out there, even if you failed your Nursing course."

Now THAT got her attention, a surprised squeak escaping her lips as she tried to form a reply. However, the male shushed her while placing a hand on her lips. "Ah-ah-ah, lips closed, missy." he stated teasingly, a matching smile on his own, making Compa pout at him before he continued. "Of course I've known about that all along. You can't hide things from THIS Spec Ops, Compa. Who cares if you failed your course, that's only for official reasons anyways. How many battles have ou partaken in where you had to heal your friends of their injuries? How many times have your healing talents saved our skins? The correct answer is thus: more times than we'd care to mention. You are FAR from useless, Compa, don't EVER forget that."

The light in her eyes shone brighter, and her lips were curling upwards ever so slightly. Her grip on him tightened, and Nico could tell that she was slowly making it to a full recovery. There was one thing he could do to take this baby home, and he mentally cheered at finally being able to do this. "Oh yeah, I also got you something." he told her, igniting a curious 'huh?' from his childhood friend. "I still don't get it, even though I asked around. Apparently, it must be something good because people kept calling me a 'lucky sod' or 'goddamn bastard' in a jealous manner for some reason." he remarked, sweat dropping as memories passed through his mind.

Reaching into his Pocket, Nico pulled something out. Whatever it was, had been concealed purposefully, so Compa couldn't make out what it was. He hung his hand out before her, before unclenching his fist. Time seemed to slow in Compa's perspective, her eyes slowly becoming saucers as her jaw fell open, everything within her freezing in shock. There, dangling from his middle finger in a crimson chord...

Was a Charm: the other half of the Snowflake charm.

The Charm looked just as beautiful as the other piece Compa had from all those years ago. It glittered like a divine object in the last few rays of the sun behind them, like an old lover whom had just returned to his family after a long journey. Its shine lured her in like an angler fish did with her prey, not letting any of her attention slip from its grasp. Slowly, Compa's right hand retreated from its previous perch on Nico's shoulder to tenderly grasp the object into its grasp, holding it like it was the most fragile piece of equipment she had ever taken.

"Looks like you like it..." the male mused, smirking in pride as he held his fists on his hips, putting his chest and nose out there with his head held high. "It took me a while, since apparently it only works after a prolonged time period, but I managed to get the other half of that Charm. I think its supposed to bring you luck, but I'll go a step further." The male's expression then morphed, his eyes becoming stern and intense like a pair of bonfires. He straightened himself out, looking more like a gentleman as he pointed towards the Charm. "That there's all the proof you need. Proof that whatever happens in the future, I'll always have a reason to survive, a reason to keep on living. As long as you hold onto that Charm, when its complete of course, I'll be making sure that I live. To come back alive, so we can have many more fun times in the future." he told her.

'That is... a very deep claim there, Nico.' Biko commented, and was it just him, or did Nico detect some form of surprise in his voice? Nah, it couldn't be. 'However, are you sure you can live up to those words? Its not like you to make a promise you can't keep.'

The male mentally responded firmly to his mental tenant, his tone filled with resolve and determination that shone though their bone like a roaring furnace. 'Yeah, I'm sure. My mind may say otherwise, but whatever happens I'm going to do my damn best to make it back to her. I mean, come on, its practically what 've always done these last 4 years. I'm only officially stating it now.' Yeah, that was truer than anything else in this world. Nico had been in plenty of tough situations over the years, situations that would have killed a normal person. However, there had been only one reason on his mind, one reason that to him was more important than even protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty: returning to his childhood friend alive.

She may think he did much for her, but she didn't realise just how much she had done for him just by existing.

In Compa's mind, her thoughts slowly came back to her as she held the Charm close to her chest, right where her heart was so she could feel the warmth and effort Nico had poured into getting it. She had not been disappointed as the warmth was intense enough to burn away her worries with nothing remaining. That was what it felt like tough, she figured she'd always be worried for their future, at least until the day things settle down and they could resume their normal lives once more. However, right now, the sweetness and innocence behind this gesture, a gesture that spanned over 4 years in the making, filled her with so much joy that she just couldn't contain herself. This was the reason why she loved Nico so, and she would show him that with what she did next.

CHU!

Nico could not have predicted that Compa would do what she did next. In one second, her lips were crashed against his, her arms coiling around him while her left hand held on to his coat for support. Her right hand moved around his neck while clutching her new Charm, and her body looked like it was trying to merge with him, to get as close to his hear as possible while her breasts pressed into his chest. Nico's eyes, while frozen in shock at first, slowly closed in time as he put one hand on the back of her head and the other on the middle of her back.

The two looked like star-crossed lovers, kissing each other in the sunset.


Chapter end

There! The Compa Chapter is DONE!

Goddamn, this took a while to write.

Over 14K words and a serious Chapter. I hope you all like and appreciate what I've done with Compa's relationship development with Nico. This harem will be developed like hell if its the last thing I do! I will make this Harem as unique as the characters in Highschool DXD. Good harem anime, characters have their own backgrounds and the protagonist is very relatable, especially in the Light Novels.

In this Chapter, I was showing just how much Nico and Compa care about each other, and the depths of that care. I made the charm thing up, but there are charms on the internet that do symbolise deep love and commitment. I believe that the romantic, innocence in these charms is an accurate representation of the bond these two characters have. Compa is a largely innocent character, even when she doesn't sound it. This is the foundation o the relationship between them as Nico see's that innocence as the light in the darkness, drawing him to her like a moth to a flame.

If you have questions, let me know in the reviews or PM's. I look forward to hearing from y'all, so until then:

Peace out!