Happy.
Vert was undoubtedly happy.
No, she was more than that. Beyond happiness, beyond excitement, beyond even joy and delight!
Vert was blissful. If there was truly a moment where the CPU transcended all boundaries of merriness and pleasantness, this would be that time! She was over the moon! Past the planets and galaxies in overwhelming euphoria! Not even a supernova could surpass this explosive emotion!
Sitting next to Vert, happily watching TV on her own luxurious bed, was a gift. A gift blessed upon her from the heavens above. A gift that she had been begging for for years on end, only to receive it as she was finally losing hope...
Three simple words, words that she had never thought she would ever say, were finally hers to utter.
Her little sister.
The latter two were only her dream, a way of referring to her delusions. The first word, however, was much more important, the proof of the small girl's very existence.
Vert had received a little sister.
An unbelievably adorable, darling little sister.
Verna.
'SQUEEEEEEE~'
Internally, Vert was almost dying from ecstasy overload. On the outside... well, she wasn't any better: a big, stupid grin was plastered onto her face as she stared nonstop at her cute little sister, the kind which would look outright creepy to any outsiders. But, honestly, could you blame her!? Lady Green Heart, the CPU without a sibling to call her own...
Finally. Gained. A. Sister!
This wasn't just a good day, this was the best day of her entire existence! It was incredible! It was unbelievably amazing! It was simply too grand to be put into words!
Verna still seemed somewhat distant from her, but, with Vert's endless upon endless amount of in-game knowledge, she knew exactly how to max out Verna's affection points! It was-
"Siiiiiiiis..."
"... Huh?" Vert's train of thought grinded to an immediate halt. She had been so transfixed in her happiness, so overwhelmed with excitement, she had failed to properly register the world around her.
The little girl, who before was watching the strange children's program about an anthropomorphic sponge, was looking at Vert with expectant eyes. Verna's hand was placed over her stomach, and she frowned cutely.
Then, still staring at Vert with her sad, blue eyes which certainly asked for something, she tilted her head curiously.
"Sis...?"
"..."
'SQUEE~'
Just like that, Vert was losing it again. All she could focus on was Verna's adorableness. Her soft, marshmallow-like cheeks which just begged to be pinched! The amazingly cute pout she was shooting at the woman! Her wide, puppy-like eyes that stared strangely at her!
This girl was, without a doubt, the most adorable little thing in the entire-
"Sis, you're weird."
Vert choked, her suddenly empty smile freezing in place.
In an instant, her mood fell like Planeptune's shares.
'Did she... D-Did she just...?'
To be fair, Vert couldn't blame the young one for saying that. Vert had been smiling stupidly at her for quite some time.
But, still...
'I feel as though I have been stabbed right through my heart...'
That was horrible. Terrible, even.
To think a little girl could hurt her so much...
As she was thinking that, Verna suddenly climbed on Vert's lap, staring right into the woman's eyes all the time. Her gaze slowly went from weirded out to curious as she stared at the older blonde.
"..."
"..."
Then Verna poked her cheek.
"..."
"..."
Once again.
"..."
"..."
Vert blinked.
Verna poked her one more time.
"..."
"..."
And that was when it happened.
'Ah~'
Suddenly, Vert fell into bliss once more, her smile once again gaining warmth as she stared at the curious little girl on her lap.
'C-Can I... j-just grab her and hug her forever~?'
Needless to say, Vert's mood was back to soaring the skies, flying all the way up to Celestia itself-
"Sis, is your brain dumb?"
-before hitting the ground with a sickening 'crack,' her smile descending to subzero once more.
That was a hit. A critical hit.
'C-Children are so cruel...'
"A-Ah, um..." Vert cleared her throat, pushing all her multitude of hurt feelings aside and putting on a motherly smile. "What is it, dear?"
"I'm hungry..." The little girl pouted.
"Uh, Verna, it hasn't even been a few minutes since your first meal. It was quite the spread in celebration, too."
"But Sis, I'm hungry..."
"..."
Vert blinked.
'Dear me, is her stomach a bottomless pit?' Vert pondered, eyes wide. 'I do remember when she practically vacuumed down her food, and licked her plate clean. Honestly, that reminds me of when C-Sha ravaged the All-You-Can-Meat buffet...'
It was then that it clicked.
'Ooooooooooh...'
"Sis...?"
"Oh my..." Vert was beginning to see what she was dealing with, and she did not like it. "Erm, c-can't you wait just a bit-"
"I'm huuuuungry..."
In an instant, Verna's lips began to quiver. Her eyes became adorable shimmering pools of azure, twinkling like the little stars in the night sky.
"A-Ah... Um..." Vert was thrown off by the sudden display. "Er..."
Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-
'I-I can't do this, it's far too soon for another snack! B-But, she looks so adorable and heartbroken... No! This is an obvious trick to goad me! B-But, oh she's tricking me so effectively! Ergh, those eyes...'
"P-Please, big sis...?" Verna spoke in an overly theatrical sad tone.
"..."
Vert had lost.
"I-I shall obtain a snack for you, then..." The woman dejectedly relented, no match for the full force of Verna's Puppy Stare.
"Yay!" With a big smile on her face, Verna wrapped her arms around Vert. "Thanks, Sis!"
'Hnnnnnnnnn-'
It took everything Vert had not to squeal as obnoxiously loud as possible right then and there.
"Mm...~" Vert did not hesitate to pet Verna's fluffy hair, however.
'So cute~'
It took almost a full minute for Vert to regain herself, what with the extremely adorable giggles her little sister was emitting, but when she did, she lifted the young girl off her lap and plopping her on the bed.
"Stay here, I shall bring back something for you." said Vert, pointing to the spot Verna was seated on.
"Okay!" Verna nodded excitedly before going back to watching TV, giggling at the sponge and the stingy crab on-screen.
Chuckling to herself at the adorable sight, Vert slowly rose to her feet and made her way out of her room, silently wondering what she should gather for her cute little sister as she walked down the hallway. 'Perhaps some fruit, or maybe chocolate. Chips? Hm...'
With those thoughts swirling around her mind, Vert calmly walked towards her own sacred stash of snacks in the kitchen, smiling all the way as she did so.
... Had she looked back, however, Vert might have noticed right then a certain Oracle peeking – or more specifically glaring heatedly – into her bedroom right by the doorway, biting down on a green handkerchief as hard as humanly possible.
"T-That accursed brat...!"
nibble nibble
Vert had never thought something could have been eaten so cutely. She never thought someone could eat cutely.
nibble nibble
The young Candidate sitting on her bed served to prove her assumptions false. She was eating a chocolate bar, akin to a bunny eating a carrot.
It was adorable.
'How does she do it~? Squeee...' Vert was careful not to make her 'squeeing' audible. She couldn't help the smile, however. It was impossible to keep that contained.
"..."
As such, Verna, yet again, looked at her strangely.
"..." She ate her chocolate bar, staring at Vert as if she were some foreign creature.
'Hm...' Vert knew that look and, not wanting to have her feelings hurt for a third time, came up with a plan.
She raised her hand.
"...?" Verna tilted her head.
She lowered her hand onto Verna's forehead.
"..."
"..."
Vert then ran her gloved hand through the tiny one's golden locks, practically cradling her head. She was almost tempted to bring the little one in for a crushing hug...!
'Not... now... Hnnnnn-'
"..."
Verna smiled. Adorably.
"That tickles... Heehee..."
'Ah...~' Vert did it again, she had another glee attack. Undoubtedly, she had acquired dozens of Affection Points from that action alone! She was making excellent progress!
nibble nibble
'Please, be adorable forever...~'
Vert went back to staring at Verna, silently pondering what to do next with her adorable little sister. The Candidate, meanwhile, went back to eating her snack, not even noticing her big sister's gaze at first...
"Rgh..."
And Chika remained vindictive and hateful from her room, watching the two sisters through the hidden camera in Vert's chambers.
'That little... ARGH!'
"Sis, what is this...?"
Verna was seated in front of a large computer screen. The blinds were shut, the lights were off and the room was encased in darkness. The large screen shined brightly, making the young blonde squint, and what was displayed on the screen only served to confuse her.
Vert, meanwhile, wore a smile that could light up a nerd's basement. If happiness was measured in miles, she would be in Lowee.
'I can sense it! A round of 4GOII will undoubtedly awaken her gamer side!' Vert grinned, practically bouncing in excitement. 'I will show her the ways of MMO! the fascination of world building and grinding! The feeling of victory and excitement when you triumph over those lesser than you! Oh, we will be the greatest sibling team in history! I can see it all unravel before me!'
Vert knew it to be true.
She and Verna... will conquer the MMO world!
No one could stand in the way of their sisterly power!
Her enemies will tremble before Vert's might, and be swayed by Verna's cuteness!
They will be unstoppable!
"Sis...?"
"Yes, darling?"
"Why is that lady wearing so little-"
"Oho! Let us find something else do to, my dear sister!"
And thus, the dream died before it even became a reality...
'I had cute DLC outfits for her too. Oh...'
"..."
"..."
Verna was eating chips.
"..."
"..."
Vert was staring, occasionally smiling and petting her sister.
"..."
"..."
More staring...
More petting...
"..."
And then it hit her.
'Good goddess, what am I doing!?'
Any sort of good mood she had was drowned in misery and doubt. It was as if her entire world fell apart in that moment.
'I-I... I do not know the first thing about raising Verna...' she wailed internally. 'All of my experience comes in the form of imouto VNs! B-But...'
Vert looked back at Verna, who was snacking casually and completely unaware of the total meltdown the CPU was having right now.
'I-I have been blessed with the real thing, b-but my knowledge is rendered ineffective here! Ooooooh...' Vert visibly faltered. 'All those hours, all of those Affection Points, all of those achievements...! They are useless...'
She honestly felt like crying. It wouldn't save her from the titanic amount of shame that overcame her entire being, but at this point her pride had all but been thrown out the window.
'I feel so foolish...'
It was all a very tragic irony for the blonde. For years, Vert had teased and mocked Blanc about her methods of raising Rom and Ram. She had chided Noire for being hard on Uni. And, after a certain game, she had went all out on Neptune for basically treating Nepgear as if she were a stain on the carpet.
Vert had considered herself to be of higher sibling quality than them. She frequently invited the Candidates to her own home, played with them, dressed them up, and even tried to adopt Rom on a few occasions.
But...
'Compared to me, Blanc may as well be a model sibling! Gah...' She felt a jab to her heart when she thought that. 'Even Neptune... I feel so pitiful...'
"Siiiiiis, I'm thirsty..." Verna had been totally oblivious to her sisters self-deprecation. As a result, she eyed the older blonde with expectancy and an empty cup in her hand.
"... Ah." Vert says with a detached tone. "Of course, I will supply you with a refill..."
"Thanks, sis!" Verna bounced, then went back to watching the show about ninjas and turtles.
Vert smiled, then exited her room with the cup in her hand. 'At least Verna doesn't have to witness my inner sadness...' She sighs. 'Goddess, I sound like an edgy teenager now... or S-Sha...'
Traveling down the halls, passing the living room as she entered the kitchen connected to it, Vert approached the fridge.
'I feel like such a fool...' The blonde opened said fridge. 'Blanc will never let me hear the end of it, if she finds out...' She grabbed a carton of juice and poured it into the cup
Ding Dong~
...Or she would have, if the CPU hadn't heard the sound of a doorbell being rung.
"Coming." A dejected Vert placed down the stuff in her hands, made her way to the front door, and swung it open. "Who is- Cave?"
"Oh, Lady Vert." The redhead waved, greeting her formally.
"What... brings you here?" Vert's sadness and dejection was replaced with curiosity for the moment. "I do not mind your company, but..."
"Well, after your mysterious disappearance in the morning, and receiving no answers to my phone calls in the afternoon, you can say I grew worried for my Goddess' well being."
Vert grew flustered. "I apologize for making you worried, Cave. I was distracted by... certain events."
"Oh?" Cave tilted her head. "What has transpired? If it was enough to distract you for several hours, then it must have been important."
"Erm..."
"Big sis! What's takin' so... long...?" Verna popped up in between Vert's legs, then proceeded to stare at the 'stranger' in the doorway.
"..." Vert went silent.
"..." Cave went silent.
"..." Verna went silent.
"..." Chika, wherever she was, went silent as well.
It remained that way for a long time...
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...Lady Vert...?"
"I can explain."
A/N: And that was the day Vert learned that real life and imouto VNs are two very different things. The irony is real with this one, folks. All we need is Blanny stopping by and smiling smugly at Vert's dumbness.
Anyway, I just wanted to point something out: the age thing. It was established in mk2 that CPUs are born as children, most likely five as Verna is, but they grow up and 'freeze' when they hit maturity. The same will happen to Verna. Sorry to those who wanted her to be little forever, but that's how it works. owo
Also, reviews. Gimme 'em. /owo/
-Yuri