Hello all, I offer you the obligatory Valentine's special that simply had to be written! Real note; I didn't plan on writing a Valentine's special, but I thought of this idea the other night and wrote it down and finished it before my own obligations for Valentine's day lol. So I hope you enjoy the spirit of the holiday or whatnot, either today or at a later day.
-marketvalueneps
Synopsis: It's valentine's day and Nepgear is doing everything in her power to hand-deliver hand-crafted delicacies to Uni, yet life seems to be throwing the kitchen sink at her to disrupt her noble goal.
As the valentine's spirit began to take hold around the lands and peoples of Gamindustri, it would appear that even the mighty goddess' were not exempt from the infectious mood of the holiday. For at the very moment Nepgear was putting the finishing touches on all her gifts for her friends around the world. This year, she had gone all-out handcrafting chocolates for all of her close friends and family. Though one, in particular, stood of importance to her as she prepared to embark on her special mission.
Slapping her cheeks to boost her morale, she took the chocolate in hand as she made her way out of her living area and down the tower and into the streets of Planeptune city. Taking a deep breath, she let out a contented sigh as she appreciated the weather of the day. Sure, it was a bit nippy, but overall, it was very pleasant, and considering she had more than enough time she figured she could take the transit to her location, Lastations capital city. More specifically the basilicom, as that was the residence of the target of her endeavors on this valentine's day.
She had run all the calculations, she knew Uni more than she knew anyone, she had handcrafted this chocolate especially for this day, what could be a better opportunity to show and vocalize her feelings for the raven-haired tsundere than this holiday? Nepgear had been looking for a long time for a reason to confess to lastation's second in command, and she would not let this opportunity pass her by!
Putting on her most determined face, she began to make her way towards the central train station in the city, sure there would be a connecting transit after this ride, but she had time, and she knew Uni would be busy early in the day, holiday or no, she never rested. Taking a seat in the lobby of the station, Nepgear hummed a light tune as she waited for her train to arrive. Upon seeing the futuristic magnet train pull in, she eagerly got up and waited for the passengers already on the train to exit.
As the train doors opened and Nepgear prepared to enter, Nepgear seemed to make a single costly miscalculation, there were a ton of people on this train. As they flowed out of the now opened door and rushed by the goddess, she felt numerous people bump and push their way past her, seemingly unknowing of who exactly they were pushing their way past. Ordinarily, Nepgear would just deal with it, but today this proved to be an issue compounded by the fragile creation she had placed in her pocket.
As the wave of people finally passed Nepgear could only look down in horror at the brown spot that was evident on her white dress, sighing as she tried to push her hands into her pocket, only to find the chocolate was far beyond recovering at this point. Trying to keep her mood up, Nepgear simply turned on her heel and made her way back to the basilicom. This was a good day, this was going to be a good day, nothing could ruin her mojo today! Even if she had no clue what she was going to do to fix this, she would just have to figure something out, right?
After burning yet more time on her way back to the large tower she called home, tapping her foot slightly as she waited for the elevator to make its way to the very top of the impressive structure. As the elevator opened, the all too familiar sight awaited her, with her own older sister sitting solemnly on the couch as the none too pleased oracle continued her lecture. Upon seeing her younger sister, Neptune immediately bounced up.
"Ooo Nep Jr!" She enthusiastically yelled as she hopped her way over to her sister, and one could almost hear the vein popping in the face of the tome fairy who acted as the nation's oracle. "Say, Nep Jr, why does it look like a dogoo took a big dookie on you?" Neptune asked with a snicker, causing Nepgear to sigh again.
"I had planned on giving Uni some chocolate for valentine's day, but it kind of got ruined on the way…" Nepgear lamented, and she could see Neptune give her a pout as she offered her some advice,
"Say don't let that get you down in the dumps Nep Jr, even if you don't clear the boss the first time you can always retry the fight as long as you have the key items" Neptune nodded at what she considered to be pretty wise words. And despite this advice likely does not affect most people. But Nepgear wasn't most people, she understood her sister in a way most people could not. She quickly put a plan together to salvage the day, thinking over the words she had received.
"I got it! Thanks, sis!" Nepgear gave her sister a quick hug, before rushing into her room. Leaving Neptune behind with a smile on her face, that was until Histoire descended upon her once more.
As Nepgear looked over her belongings in her room, she soon dug out all of the chocolates she had made for her friends. Would it be pretty rude to leave someone out? Yea, but Nepgear would make a special note to apologize to that person thoroughly after she had delivered this special payload.
Looking over all the creations she had made she pondered who would be the unlucky person to be left out. Narrowing her eyes, she soon made her decision,
"I'm sorry S-sha…" Nepgear said solemnly as she picked up the chocolate she had originally planned on giving to the melodramatic member of the gold third. Sighing, she rationalized the woman would proclaim her lack of interest in such treats upon receiving it, and she probably would be the one of Nepgear's friends who would feel least left out, although Nepgear really wanted to give it to her, especially for E-shas sake…
But it was for the greater good! Or… at least it was for Uni's good, and Nepgear supposed she could justify it to herself in that way, although she certainly did feel at least a little guilty about leaving someone out. Putting the chocolate on her nightstand for a moment, she quickly changed out of her chocolate-covered dress as she swapped out for a cleaner version of the same dress, after all, why fix what wasn't broken?
After tidying up, and making sure to grab her new gift, Nepgear made her way out of her room, and down the hall towards the elevator, sure this was one setback she wasn't expecting, but she still had plenty of time. If it all worked out in the end that was all that mattered rig-
"Hey Nep Jr!" Nepgear was pulled out of her inner thoughts by the loud yell of her sister, who accentuated the act by poking her sister in the hip. Unfortunately, the easily excitable gearhead had lost control of herself in the fright. Which was fine, Neptune did this all the time. But today wasn't any other day it would seem for the poor candidate, as she looked down at her hands, noting a distinct lack of chocolatey goodness.
"Huh" Was all she could say as she slowly looked upwards, noticing a distinct brown splatter on the ceiling. After a few moments of the girls standing in silence, Nepgear could feel something impact her head. She didn't even have to look to know what had happened. "Say, it fell on my head huh?" She said with a somehow completely calm expression.
"Uhhh sure did… I'm sorry Nep Jr" Neptune seemed to feel genuinely bad about what she had caused, so Nepgear figured she couldn't be too mad at her sister for this one, taking a deep breath, Nepgear calmly turned around to where she had come from, stopping at the bathroom across the hall from the Nepsisters room.
After carefully showering and washing all of the chocolate out of her hair, drying herself, and making her way across the hall back to her room wrapped in a towel. Grabbing another replacement outfit, she looked over her chocolates once more.
"Hmmm, I guess Miss Blanc will just be happy as long as Rom and Ram get some… Maybe I can get her a tangerine or something later…" Nepgear reasoned as she grabbed the chocolate, she had originally made for the petite CPU of Lowee. Stepping back into the hall, and making sure to check both directions before, to avoid any comical shenanigans.
Nodding to herself she skipped her way down the hall, finding herself once more in the living room of the basilicom. Hey. She was making progress, now she just had to get to the elevator, electing to not waste any more time she dashed for the elevator.
Feeling something latch around her ankle, Nepgear could only let out an 'eep' as she bore witness to her carefully crafted chocolate go flying across the room. That was fine, sure it might not be flawless, but surely it would survive this tumble, right? Or at least it would have, had it not somehow managed to carefully fly right out of the only opened window in the basilicom's top floor. Nepgear could only let her face fall,
"I guess I have only myself to blame for that one…" She lamented as she looked down at what had tangled around her ankle, finding it to be one of the many cables connecting Neptune's console to the television. Grumbling, Nepgear picked herself up and dejectedly made her way once more to her room.
Much Later-
Nepgear was sure she had cracked the code this time. Sure, it may have cost her being able to give chocolates to S-Sha, Blanc, Noire, K-sha, B-sha, IF, Compa, C-sha, Vert, and now even little Rom and Ram. Nepgear figured it would be pretty bad to give chocolate to one and not the other, so she was currently nestling the combined chocolate intended for the Loweean twins.
Peeking out of her door frame, looking both ways before stepping out into the hall. She had learned better than to take the simple act of walking into a hallway for granted. Her bump in with the cleaning lady, leading to bleach-soaked candy, that was the one intended for IF at first. Making her way down the hall, carefully ensuring there was nothing in her way as she made her way to the elevator. No cords, no banana peels, no hilarious comedy situations. Silently ducking her way into the elevator.
After hearing the ding, signifying that she had successfully made her way to the base floor, the door opening moments later. Carefully watching her feet as the elevator was not quite level with the ground, leading to chocolate in the fountain of the lobby of the basilicom, that was the one originally intended for B-sha. Taking her first steps, Nepgear cautiously made her way through the lobby, using all of her battle-honed senses to weave between the faces familiar and otherwise.
Ensuring the walkway was clear before stepping out into the city, she didn't need to get bumped into again. Figuring she had wasted enough of the day, Nepgear immediately activated her HDD form, before taking off to the skies. The ground was far too full of potential hazards.
Soaring above the streets, taking a deep breath, she had made it past the difficult part now. She just had to soar all the way to lastation and deliver her sweet delicacy to the girl of her dreams. But of course, by this point, you all should know, that just wasn't in the forecast for Nepgear today, as she quickly noticed an approaching flock of birds. No, not box birds, not horsebirds, just birds of the regular variety.
Narrowing her eyes, Nepgear used her heightened senses to dodge, and barrel roll her way through the flock of winged lizards. Surprisingly she managed to get all the way through the flock, letting out a chuckle as she looked back at the disappearing congregation,
"Ha, you stupid birds! Nothing can stop me no-" Only to be knocked by two stragglers who managed to hit her straight in the hands she was carrying the chocolate in. Watching her hard work plummet to the ground once more, Nepgear could only let out a deep sigh at the sight. "It doesn't bother me, it doesn't bother me, it bothers me, it bothers me a lot!" Nepgear ruffled her hair as she yelled out, before taking a few deep breaths, and turning course to return yet again to her residence.
A dejected Nepgear made her way up the Neptower once more, heading to her room and looking at the one remaining chocolate left in her room. Taking a long look at said chocolate, feeling the burning conflict inside of her. This is Neptune's chocolate. If one was in the room to witness the candidate in conflict, they would see her face bore with it the indecision she felt plaguing her heart at the moment. Who would she give this chocolate to? Her precious sister, or the woman she wanted to make her girlfriend? Even if she were to decide to give it to Uni, there was surely no guarantee she would make it there unharmed, not today.
Thinking it over, Nepgear figured that Neptune was going to receive an aberrant amount of chocolate today, she always did. Not only was she naturally charming, and a leader of a nation, but she also did everything in her power to maximize the chocolate she would get. Uni, not so much, sure she would likely receive some, but not nearly as much as Neptune. And Nepgear considered, at least a few of her failures today were directly Neptune's fault…
Nodding while picking up the chocolate, Nepgear decided she wasn't going to play around this time. Instantly transforming into purple sister, before jumping out of the nearest window, and taking off once more to the nation of black regality.
"Perhaps I should have opened the window first…" Purple Sister reasoned with a sweat drop on her forehead, maybe she got a little too into it.
Using all of the training she had received over the years, Purple Sister did everything in her power to maintain awareness of her surroundings at all times, no bird flocks, no insect swarms, nothing. If anything got close Purple Sister came strapped, her MPBL would disintegrate any naysayers.
Although as she made her way it was… strangely quiet. Nepgear half expected lighting to strike her with how her day had gone, but as she made her flight and eventually touched down in front of Lastation's basilicom there was… nothing. Making sure to stay vigilant as she carefully placed her chocolate in her pocket once more, taking a step inside the building, Nepgear was mildly surprised at the sight that awaited her.
It was none other than the ruler of the basilicom pacing back and forth in the middle of the reception hall. Staring for a brief moment before deciding to get to doing what she had set out to do hours ago, Nepgear made her way over to the pacing CPU before starting,
"Uhm hello? Miss Noire?" Nepgear asked gently, startling the CPU who seemed to be in deep thought about something or the other.
"Jeez Nepgear, what are you even doing here?" Noire narrowed her eyes as she asked.
"Ohh uhm… I'm just here to see if Uni is in?" Nepgear nervously asked her question, patiently awaiting the response she would receive.
"Oh, Uni? I think she left a little while ago to make rounds in the city, if you walk around, I'm sure you'll spot her" Noire pointed out with her hand on her hip.
Nepgear gulped. She would have to make her way through the city? With her last precious key item fragily in her pocket? Today? Should she just wait here for the girl to return? If she did that by the time she got back, Uni might be too exhausted to properly receive the gift. Putting on her most determined face, Nepgear turned to head out once more, no matter what obstacle was in the way she would overcome it! As she went to make her way out, she heard a mess of stutters sound out behind her,
"Ohh uhmm well Nepgear?" She heard the nervous voice of the CPU speak. As she turned to face her, she saw Noire fidgeting around with something in her pocket,
"Hmm, what is it, Miss Noire?" Nepgear tilted her head as she asked
"Uhm well, I was just wondering if maybe well I was thinking whether or not your sister would be in today?" Noire fumbled with her words, but Nepgear understood. Giving her a warm smile, she offered her response.
"I'm sure Neptune will either be home or in the surrounding area, and I'm sure she would love to get something from you today, even if she gets a lot of chocolate from various people, her favorites are always ones she gets from people she cares about" Nepgear explained, and she could see a shade of embarrassment make its way on Noire's face, which Nepgear thought was amusing, the Lastation sisters really were alike.
As Nepgear saw Noire walk past her, presumably to go deliver her own sweets, Nepgear found it necessary to stop her to offer her advice, "Say, Miss Noire, be careful out there. Make sure you keep an eye out for birds, people, cleaning supplies, cords, spooks, and definitely keep an eye out for buff dogoo men who beat you up and take your chocolate, that's where yours went" Nepgear gravely explained, as Noire could only look on with her eyes as lines, eventually making her way out, with Nepgear following.
Looking around the city, Nepgear regarded all of the people around her as landmines. She made sure to keep her distance, any wrong move could prove to be fatal. She needed to deliver this; failure was simply not an option. She had gone out with Uni many times on her walking paths, so she was at least a little confident the direction the intended receiver of this gift would be. Making an effort to walk antiparallel to the path she was sure the candidate would take, Nepgear started her trek, making sure to keep her eyes peeled, both for Uni and to ensure no other hilarities happened to her.
After half an hour of walking, Nepgear could feel her mind start to crack, she had kept up a high alert for so long, her mind was starting to turn to goo. Combined with the lack of spotting of her target, Nepgear was starting to get desperate. Luckily for our wayward hopeless romantic, she soon spotted an exceptionally large crowd gathered around something or someone. Acting on a hunch she gently made her way through the crowd, eventually spotting her light at the end of the tunnel, or in this case, the light wore particularly dark clothing.
"Uni!" She called out as she made her way into the center, to the surprise of the girl.
"Nepgear? What are you doing here?" Uni was genuinely surprised to see her friend at the moment.
"Oh ummm…" Nepgear seemed to have lost the confidence she had not 5 minutes earlier, opting for pushing her fingers together.
"Jeez fine, let's take a little walk" She politely offered, before turning to address the crowd, "I apologize, but could you give me a moment to deal with this?" She gave a slight bow, and among the murmurs of the crowd, they soon dissipated respecting the wishes of their to-be leader.
As the pair made their way through the city, Uni turned to face Nepgear, "So spit it out, why are you here? I'm pretty busy, you know?" She huffed as she flicked her hair.
Stopping to a halt, Nepgear fussed as she took a few deep breaths, as Uni gave her a strange look. Eventually, Nepgear reached into her pocket, retrieving the last of her precious chocolates, presenting it to the raven-haired girl in front of her, "Uni, will you be my valentine?" She asked, despite wanting to be all her heart into it, her voice betrayed her, coming out as a quiet whimper.
As Uni stared at the opened chocolate in front of her, she couldn't help but feel embarrassment overtake her features, sure she had been hoping all day that Nepgear would show up out of the blue and do something like this, but she also knew Nepgear well, if she had planned on this all along why was she here so late? Questions for later she supposed.
As Uni went to accept the chocolate, she couldn't help but notice the approaching figure of a car, and with the way, they were standing… Well, it was too late for Uni to do anything as she watched the car nail one of the standing puddles nearby, trouncing both Nepgear and the chocolate in a frankly nasty-looking brownish-black rain runoff. Surprisingly Uni stood completely dry following the encounter.
As Nepgear looked down at herself and the realization of what had transpired set in, she could only feel herself sink to her knees, as the emotion of the moment overtook her. She had taken everything like a professional, she had turned every cheek in her body, and yet? And yet? She could feel herself sobbing as tears made their way down her cheeks.
Uni upon seeing the sight acted immediately, crouching down to Nepgear's level as she gently patted her back, "There, cmon its ok" She tried to placate her, well I guess she didn't quite know what they would be after this, but Uni wasn't really thinking of that at the moment, she just knew she had to help the crying girl in front of her she cared deeply about.
"No… It's not… I spent- I spent all that time hic on working on these now hic no one is gonna get any… and Uni is gonna hate me" Nepgear said in between her growing sobs. Uni could only look at the sight in pity and worry. Deciding to think quickly on her feet, Uni thought of anything and everything she could do to placate the situation. Looking around, she quickly locked eyes with the soggied chocolate on the ground, gulping as she soon picked up the chocolate, before speaking up.
"I could never hate you Nepgear," she said as she put the whole once sweet creation in her mouth at once. She could tell, had the chocolate not been soaked in pavement water, it would have been absolutely lovely. But as it stood now, Uni did her very best to keep the treat down, swallowing hard as she tried her best not to make a face before speaking once more, "I would love to be your valentine, Nepgear, now cmon let's go get you cleaned up" She offered her hand to the girl on the ground, who could only stare in awe. Did she just?
Taking her hand gingerly, Nepgear helped herself up, before looking to the girl next to her. "Say, Uni, it's still early enough, what do you say, wanna head over to Pleaneptune and I can make you a proper replacement chocolate?" Nepgear tried her best to smile as she gave her proposal. Uni, who still had a nasty taste in her mouth, could only give a wry smile,
"Yeah, that sounds nice" Uni could feel her stomach give her a firm sign of rejection at the thought, but she figured she could deal with the consequences later. The two kept their hands intertwined as they transformed, taking off to the skies.
"Say, what took you so long to get over here, not that I'm complaining, but usually you'd be there at the crack of dawn" Black Sister chuckled as she asked her question, using her increased confidence in HDD to get her heart to ask the question.
"Oh…" Nepgear scratched her cheek as she began the lengthy process of explaining the day's misfortune, with Uni responding at important points and asking questions, and soon the two found themselves close to Planeptune city as Nepgear got to the end of her stories, leaving Uni with but one question.
"Wait, so you decided to give me Miss Neptune's chocolate?" Uni was in disbelief, surely there was no way Nepgear would forgo giving Neptune candy just to give it to her? Right?
"O-Oh, yea, I kind of figured sis would get loads of candy from other people and she wouldn't need any from me… Besides, it ended up working in the end, right? I got the sweetest treat of all" Nepgear smiled bubbly as she gave a quick wink to her sweetheart.
Even despite gaining more confidence as Black Sister, she couldn't help but blush at the compliment, thankfully for her the duo soon found themselves landing at the foot of the Planeptower. The two quickly made their way to the elevator and soon to the main floor, as they stepped out to make their way to the living room, and by extension the kitchen, they saw something peculiar as they walked out into the open area.
"Sis?" Both candidates said in near synchrony, for you see in the living room of Planeptune's basilicom there laid Neptune, seemingly KO for the moment, and in the corner of the room sat Noire with a pillow clutched as close to her face as she could.
"Oh, you two, get a load of this!" The snickering voice of IF could be heard nearby in the kitchen, causing both candidates to turn their heads to face the adventuress. Choosing to ignore the audible groan resonating from the corner of the room.
"Iffy be nice!" Chastised the last person present, who soon revealed themself to be Compa, who noticeably had brown lips from all the chocolate she had received on the day, and if one squinted, they would notice a brown outline on IF cheek, but surely that would be looking far too much into things, regardless, IF put her hands up as she continued chuckling.
"Hey, if she didn't want to get caught, she shouldn't have done that right in the middle of the room!" Yet another groan could be heard from the corner of the room.
"Uhh, what happened IF? Is sis ok?" Nepgear asked,
"Oh, she'll be fine, see what happened here wa-"
"NOOOOO!" Noire could be heard yelling from her place in the corner,
"Sorry, the flashback has already started…" IF gravely explained the unspoken rules as everyone looked to the cloud that had appeared showcasing the past, they had long long since stopped questioning its existence.
As they watched they could see Neptune lazing around patting her stomach at the fill she had already had on the day. She really did make a killing this year! Looking over to the quite massive pile she still had. Soon she heard a voice bringing her out of her thoughts, a voice she recognized, torquing her body to face the voice she soon saw the CPU of Lastation.
"Oh, hey Nowa, check all the candy I got today!" Neptune motioned to the large pile,
"Oh uhh" Noire glanced at it, and had to say she was actually pretty impressed, how she even talked to that many people was beyond her, but how she managed that much candy was beyond reasonable explanation.
"What are you doing in this city o' mine anyway? No stealing candy from my citizens, I know they are like the nicest people ever, but you should really try being friendlier and maybe yours can approach the awesomeness that is Planeptunes citizens" Neptune pointed an accusatory finger at Noire.
"No! Besides, don't insult Lastation! I just happened to be in the area, and I wanted to see if you maybe wanted this chocolate…" Noire's voice fell off as she presented her chocolatey creation.
"Oooooo Nowa chocolate! Just throw it into the ol pile, and I'll make sure to eat it when my stomach clears out" Neptune bounced over to her friend, leaning in, causing Noire to overheat even more.
Somehow in her infinite wisdom at the moment Noire's brain could only translate Neptune's words as insulting, huffing for a moment Noire's body acted faster than her overheated mind could stop. Putting the chocolate into her mouth,
"Wh- what kinda tricky trickery is th-" Neptune was cut off by the chocolate being placed in her mouth, causing her to be the one to short circuit next, falling straight down on the floor, before either person present could actually think about what had actually happened, a voice rang out,
"Woooah you shut Nep up, good job Noire!" IF called out from the kitchen.
"And that's how we're here now" IF offered, and both candidates could only shake their heads as Nepgear made her way down the hall to clean herself, and Uni stationed herself in the kitchen to wait for Nepgear's return. Offering a look of pity in the direction of her elder sister.
"I swear I'm not like that…'' Noire could only shudder at her lost dignity. Truly this had been a valentine's day that would be remembered for years and years, and this only showcased what has transpired in but two nations, surely others must be involved, in this dimension and others. But that my friends is but a story for another date…
Why hello again, there's only one this time around so I'll get right to it,
Gigarot- The candidates do do some cosplay in mkII/rb2, but that was at Vert's behest, not Noire lol. Unfortunately, I have absolutely 0 talent or else I would draw a picture to go along with that chapter.
