Hello all! Welcome back, after the word soup that was the last shot, I decided I'd write a nice little, short shot to balance it out. This one is based in the anime, really any time after ep1. I always thought this would be a funny little story to write, and I finally got to it, so I hope you all enjoy!
-marketvalueneps
Synopsis: For months Nepgear has been haunted by all those embarrassing photos of her all over the internet, but it occurs to her one day, who was it that was behind that camera again?
Nepgear didn't necessarily consider herself a particularly strong person, she had numerous flaws she was well aware of. Not even in a 'putting herself down' type of way. She just accurately understood where she stood, as a person, and as a goddess. They all had things they could work on, Noire could go for being less of a, as Neptune liked to say, 'unlikeable hardass'. Vert could do for less of her unholy gaming binges. Blanc… Well everybody knows what Blanc could work on. Hell even her fellow candidates had their own weaknesses, Uni could really do without her needless comparisons to others if Nepgear had to say. And obviously Rom and Ram had a lot of maturation to do. Even Neptune, as much as Nepgear dearly loved her… well she had a lot to work on, really.
The point? Everybody has some things they could work on. And Nepgear knew it well. She also knew that she needed to build up more confidence in herself. She was to be a leader of a nation, she needed to be able to stand in front of others and deliver concise and precise messages to her people. She knew that! It's just… why is it so damn hard!
Seeing her face everywhere, seeing herself was something Nepgear always considered nerve-wracking, it was embarrassing! Having so much of a focus on her, walking through the town, and seeing pictures of herself everywhere, it bothered her. Letting out an audible sigh as she walked the futuristic path through the main streets of Planeptune's capital city, this easily being caught by the two women who walked beside her, having finished up more than their fair share of quests for the day (in thanks to a certain goddess) the trio found themselves walking back to the building they more or less called home,
"Hmm, what is it, Ge-Ge?" The first of the two women asked in her ever-kind, ditzy voice.
"O-Oh? It's uhh its nothing" Nepgear nervously responded, playing with her fingers a bit, this eliciting a chuckle from the second woman with her at the moment,
"C'mon, Gear, we both know we won't let it go like that! Talk to us" IF gave a firm pat on the back of her friend, who looked around before speaking once more, gently,
"It's just I don't know if I'll ever get used to seeing my face everywhere, it's so embarrassing." Nepgear explained her dilemma, before adding, "I know I have to get over it, I mean, I'm supposed to run this country one day, and sis makes it look so natural, I just…"
IF considered it for a moment, before she couldn't help but feel a smirk crawl onto her features, snidely, she added, "Well I mean there's a whole catalog of photos of you online that I'm sure the gentleman just love" Almost immediately after the words left her mouth, Nepgear buried her glowing red face into her hands, while the speaker responsible for this received a slap to the wrist from her so-called childhood best friend,
"Iffy! Be nice to Ge-Ge! That wasn't on purpose, you know that!" Compa scolded,
"I know I know! But it's still out there" IF put her hands up as if to signal her innocence, while Compa still glared at her,
"How would you feel if weird photos of you got posted all around?" Compa presented her hypothetical, and IF considered it for a moment, before waving it off,
"It'd probably be ignored real quickly, I'm no hot commodity, I mean Gear is a goddess" IF postulated, before adding under her breath, "Now if someone did that to you, I'd be pissed" IF said, ignoring the irony of the fact that she herself had what could be considered 'weird' photos of Compa on her own phone. Of course, her mumble wasn't quite quiet enough for it to escape Compa's eardrum,
"Hmm, what was that, Iffy?" Ever the ditz, Compa leaned her face, finger on her chin, as IF did everything in her power to stop her glowing face,
"So yea, Gear, I don't see why you get all nervous, you sure looked like a natural when those photos were taken" She rambled, before considering something, "Wait, when were those taken again? Wasn't it during that dogoo hunt?"
"Hmm? I think so…" The still embarrassed candidate added, before IF decided to drop a bombshell,
"Wait? Wasn't it Uni taking those? Why the hell did Uni take those photos? And it was just you, right? I mean we all got ahem done over by those slimes, so why only you?" IF pondered out loud. And Nepgear considered it for a moment, but just for a moment before her brain processed the meaning,
"EHHHHHH!" By the volume of her yell, the Lastation candidate may very well have heard her, but as for the two women by her side,
"Jeez, Gear!" IF snapped at her,
"My poor eardrums… I just dealt with a patient with hearing loss too…" While Compa rubbed her poor ears,
"I uhhh, I'm sorry, it's just I never thought of that…" Nepgear managed to squeak out, rubbing the back of her head, eventually, the two humans seemed to forgive her, and after exchanging a look, IF spoke again,
"So? You gonna talk to her about it?" IF asked, mostly out of genuine curiosity, but to her surprise, this question seemed to perturb the adolescent,
"..." She shifted in place, "I mean, do I really need the answer to that? Maybe she just thought I looked good in those action shots? I mean wasn't it sis who accidentally leaked them?" Nepgear pondered, as the trio made the last leg of their trip, heading into the grand building, and up the elevator, they went.
As the elevator slowly made its journey from the ground floor all the way to the top, IF couldn't help but think to herself. Man, those two need a push, I mean c'mon! Of course, ignoring the irony that lay in the statement, with a very similar situation she herself knew she was in, regardless, IF still couldn't help but think she needed to do something. Luckily for her, she just so happened to be good friends with an absolutely shameless older sister. Snickering to herself as the group made their way to the gaming room, where they inevitably found the revered goddess of the nation, exchanging pleasantries, before IF got to it,
"Hey, Nep?" IF started, and the purple-haired goddess turned to face her friend,
"Hmmm? What is it my most kindred of spirits, Iffy?" Neptune looked over, and IF could only grumble for a moment,
"Ok, enough of that. Anyway, remember that time Histy kicked you out, and we all went and fought those dogoos?" IF asked, and despite the fact she could almost feel the anxiety rising in the nation's goddess in training, she pushed forward,
"Hmmm? I suppose I do, Nowa really screwed the pooch, so I had to save her" She laughed out, before giving her old friend a quizzical look, "So, what about it?"
Sending out an internal apology to Nepgear (which she had no way of hearing) IF responded, "Well wasn't that when all those weird photos of Gear got taken? You know, the ones you sent to the national mailing list."
"Oh, yea! That's right!" Neptune heartily laughed at the memory, before a being dragged back into it by IF again,
"Well, we all got kinda done in by those damn slimes, why aren't there weird photos of us?"
Nepgear knew what was coming, clearly IF wanted to talk about this. She wasn't sure why, but the guild veteran obviously still wanted something out of this. Nepgear doubted it was just to humiliate her, but at the same time. She didn't really want to be here anymore, but seeing as it would be more than a little rude to just leave, she supposed she was trapped… by social convention.
"Hmmm… well Uni was the one taking those, so maybe ask her" Neptune beamed, ordinarily an older sister would be upset at such compromising photos of their sibling being taken. But, Neptune wasn't exactly typical, now was she? And, she supposed, Uni was a fine enough girl. Neptune wasn't dumb, she, like practically everybody else (except apparently the ditzy gearhead herself) that Nepgear caught her eye. She certainly wasn't as fun as the creme de la creme Noire, but Uni was awful fun too, so perhaps she could have a little fun with this~
"Hmmm, is that so?" IF could tell Neptune was getting into one of her moods, which, for once, was what she wanted, so she decided to egg her on.
"Yea, I mean almost every photo in that album was of Nepgear, so I guess we know where our dear tsuny lit's eyes were~" Neptune cheekily added,
"Guys… you shouldn't talk about Uni like that…. She's not even here." It was Nepgear who butted in, doing her best at defending her friend, which was, of course, ignored,
"Hey, why don't we ask her now?" Neptune's mischievous energy was almost infectious, and IF could feel a growing level of satisfaction at their antics,
"Eh!?" Poor Nepgear, however, almost felt like exploding as she witnessed in slow motion her sister withdraw her phone, dialing a number, in a panic Nepgear tried her best, stumbling out a response, "W-wait, uhhh Uni might be uhm Uni is probably busy so why don't we-"
"Neptune, this had better be important!" To Nepgear's surprise, the voice that spoke was not of her ever-nervous best friend, it was of her older sister,
"Oh hey, Nowaaa" Neptune called out, and before Noire could scold her, she continued, "Can you put your dear younger sister on the line, I have a question for her~" Neptune cooed, ignoring the obvious panic in her own younger sister's voice,
"Huh? What do you need to speak to Uni about?" Noire interrogated, it was more than a bit odd for Neptune to want to speak with Uni, and frankly, she didn't like Neptune's tone.
"Just put her on" Neptune insisted, and after a moment, she could hear a sigh from the other end.
"Fine, I'll see if she's in." Noire begrudgingly gave in, going off to fetch the aforementioned candidate,
"Guys… c'mon…" Nepgear practically begged, but to no one's surprise, it fell on deaf ears, dejectedly she resided herself to her fate, looking down, eventually feeling a gentle hand pat the small of her back,
"It'll be ok Ge-Ge" Compa gave her best smile to reassure her friend, and for a moment it appeared to be working, until Nepgear could hear another voice on the call,
"Uh? Miss Neptune?" It was Uni, and she sounded as confused as she should, this had to be a first,
"Why hello darling sister of my trusted ally," Neptune greeted, and soon Uni let out a sigh,
"What do you want?" Uni sounded like she just wanted to get this over with,
"Well. My dear Uni. I seemed to have remembered something, something important~" Neptune cheekily started, "You see, I seem to recall that when certain photos of my precious Nep Jr got leaked, it was a certain tsundere who was the camerawoman"
"Ehhhh?" Neptune couldn't see her, but through even the call, she could tell that the raven-haired candidate was doing her best tomato impression. Yet, still, Neptune knew she could do better,
"Yea, my good friend Miss Iffy over here brought it up to me, but we all got slimed all over, yet, mysteriously, only photos of Nep Jr were taken, hmm~?" Neptune pressed, and she could almost hear the squeal on the other end,
"Wel- well I- I don't, b-b-but I just, Nepgear? She just uh… yea" Uni stumbled out her entirely unlegible response,
"Bwahaha like sister like sister!" Neptune mocked, and as Neptune did her best to make Uni die from embarrassment, behind the scene, Nepgear could only cover her own burning face with her hands.
This was terrible, embarrassing, way too far, and just humiliating. But at the same time… she couldn't help but think. Why did Uni take those photos? Did Nepgear even want the answer? Whatever it was, was it worth the raw humiliation she endured because of it? Sure it was not entirely Uni's fault… but still. Looking up, she saw Neptune with her trademarked overly smug face, although, as she soon witnessed, she apparently still didn't know when too far was far enough…
"Hey hey, Iffy do you think she used those to-" The d-clip adorned goddess was cut off by a firm chop to her neck from her partner in crime,
"Gross!"
"Oww owieee…. C'mon, why else would she need tho-" Yet another chop cut off her yet again, and as she fell to the floor, she felt the need to defend herself in any way she could, "Owwww! Gosh darn it Iffy! You know I also have seen your camera roll, and lemme just say, wow, did I hit a little too close to home?"
Ignoring the muffled sounds of Nep violence, Compa gently sighed as she got up, picking up the dropped phone, with an "I'm sorry about that Uni… those two just like to have fun sometimes is all" she hung up the call, before going over trying to stop her best friend from vomiting deacide.
All the while, Nepgear could only let the thoughts in her head grow more and more… Uni, for whatever reason, caused her a lot of humiliation. Thinking it over, Nepgear pulled out her own device, dialing the ever-familiar digits, hearing the ringing, before the beyond exacerbated voice of her best friend pick up,
"U-uhh, h-hi, Nepgear"
"Hello, Uni, I'm really sorry about sis and IF…" Nepgear started up, before hearing a sigh on the other end,
"...so you heard that?" Uni almost sounded like she didn't want the answer to that question,
"Yea, I uh, heard all of it."
"..."
"So?"
"So, what?" Uni dreaded every word in this conversation,
"Why did you do that? You know even if it was sis who mailed it to the whole country, that still really embarrassed me" Nepgear explained, her tone somehow icely calm,
"I-I-I-I…" Uni stuttered like a mess, there was no way she could do this,
"Hm?"
"I'm sorry Nepgear…" Uni barely managed to whisper out
"You know those really made rounds on nepchan and neppit…" Nepgear casually pointed out, and she could hear the guilt in Uni's voice,
"I said I'm sorry, what do I have to do to make it up to you?" Bingo. Precisely what Nepgear was waiting for.
For a moment, Nepgear considered this was awful Neptune-like. And perhaps Neptune's blood flowed a little thick in her. But, at the same time, she couldn't help the devious smile that made its way onto her lips, she knew exactly what Uni could do…
Welcome back to this little segment of mine, I'll get right to it
Uni-Bot- Well, I have good news, the next one I'll work on has that very idea in it at parts, so stay tuned to next time for 'New DLC'
Gigarot- Why thank you, I am fond of my use of the older sisters in that one. And I think that in particular Noire's parts turned out well. She just really wants to be a good older sister, but is just kinda bad at it, I like to think she looks up to Neptune about that. What can I say, Uni and Nepgear are just really good actresses.
Fedacheese- I tried my best to not make it sound similar to the 'phantom of the basilicom' in BGF, but it appears i failed a bit lol. Real note, if any of you have not read BugDevil's BFF trilogy, I would highly highly recommend it. By far my favorite thing posted on this website.
end5- Much appreciated, also it wasn't just Blanc working on the script, and perhaps a certain pudding-loving goddess had some say in the casting decisions...
