Chapter 29

Why do I always find myself in these situations? I believe I said Martin and I would hang out. Yet somehow my other friends found out about it and are bringing even more to the party.

It's only been about an hour since school let out for the day. Sure I should be doing what the teacher's assigned us but can I? No, I was knocked out for a good majority of the day so it was impossible for me to get any of the assignments.

But… I'm glad all of them showed up. It's crazy, but I feel comfortable around them now.

Well, almost all of them. Nepgear still makes me feel light headed whenever I look at her. I'm still not sure if I can ever get used to her. I'll try though, after all she is my girlfriend.

"Jack, you breaking or what?"

Looking back from the cue stands, Ram is waiting for me to get over to the pool table. It's a two on two game between Rom and Ram, against me and their big sister Blanc. Thinking back now, this might not have been the best idea.

Blanc and I are much more skilled than the twins when it comes to pool. It would've been better for one of them to be on my team instead of Blanc. But in proper twin fashion they must stick together.

"Um…"

"Could I… be on Mister Jack's… team?"

Well this certainly is surprise. Never before in my time of knowing Rom has she ever said what she wanted. What's more surprising is that she wants to be on my team.

Usually she'd want to remain by her sister Ram's side. It's getting more strange by the minute.

"Wah? No way, Rom won't be on anyone's team but mine!" I expected this from Ram, I think deep inside we all expected this.

Call me crazy but I think I know how to deal with this. Or I can let Blanc deal with it and we get kicked out because someone got knocked out. I'll go with the option that doesn't get me hurt in the end.

I kneel down to Ram to match her eye level. "You know, sometimes grown ups have to get out of their comfort zone. Aren't you a grown up like the rest of us?"

Grown up is a harsh term for all of us. We're all in our mid teens right now so we can't be classified as that. Great for tricking kids into learning a life lesson though. Part of me does feel bad about this, like it will come back to bite me in the end.

Ram puts a finger on her chin to debate what I've just said.

After coming to a consensus in her mind, or at least I think that's what that face means. She pouts at me, showing internal struggle.

"I guess… I am a grown up after all… dummy." That last part she whispered, but I could still hear it.

Turning back, a few of my friends have surprised looks on their faces. Overall Blanc's face is the most shocked out of the others.

"How… How did you do that? I've never seen Ram so easily give up being with Rom!"

"I guess I just know how to talk to kids." I smile while putting my right arm behind my head. Even I don't know how, as I said, I must be good with kids.

"If our Jack over here is good with kids, maybe he should consider having one with Nepgear." Inappropriate as ever Vert.

It's not that I don't want to be a father one day, I'm just not ready. Then there's also the fact that both Nepgear and I are still a fresh relationship. Having a kid would be rushing things too fast. Even I think that kiss we had was rushed, a spur of the moment thing.

Both Nepgear and I are blushing tremendously. The thought of it is just absurd in every way, shape, and form. I can take this heat but Nepgear is really letting this get to her head.

"I… Uh… we…"

"Nepgear, it was just one of Vert's jokes." I'm not even sure if I believe myself on that one. Knowing Vert… it can go a multitude of ways. Most of which are not favorable to me.

Nepgear's face turns back to it's natural color except for her cheeks which are still stained red. From what I can tell she's mostly back to normal.

"Ok, I'm back to my senses. And I believe you have a game to win. Go get them Jack!"

Nepgear gives me one of her heartwarming smiles. I don't even know what I was getting flustered over anymore. I've found something new to think about, and her name is Nepgear.

"Alright, let's do this Rom!"

"Kay…"

'Crack!'

"Take this, Hyia!"

'Crack!'

I must admit that Ram is stronger than she looks. Dare I say stronger than Blanc? Nah who am I kidding, that'd be impossible.

"Ah shoot!"

Ram's latest shot at one of her balls only managed to knock it to the edge of the pocket. A classic kick in the pants of Pool. From what I've noticed from this game, Ram has the power to knock balls around, but is extremely sloppy in her technique.

Rom on the other hand has more precision when it comes to Pool. She's able to hit her mark where she wanted it to. However she is weaker in terms of physical strength and can't always get enough power to get it into the pocket.

"Alright Rom, you just have to hit the eight ball in." I'm trying not to pressure her, but it is her turn and we're one ball away from winning.

"Kay… I… can do it…"

Whenever I've seen Rom out and about she's shyer than this. But when she's around me she gets slightly less shy than before. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, but I'll take it as something good.

Rom lines up her pool cue to the cue ball. As expected, she focuses more than Ram because she wants to hit the target. Between their two playing styles, Rom would easily beat Ram on one-on-one.

"Hyia…" Even her battle cries are adorable.

'crack…'

The eight ball goes into the upper right pocket. Luckily she used enough force to get the ball in the pocket. Accuracy was never an issue, I knew she could hit it at least.

"Aw man, we lost Blanc!"

"Don't cry over it. A loss is a loss."

Blanc tries to cope with the sore loser that is one of her two younger sisters. I can only imagine how it's going to turn out.

Rom looks really satisfied with herself right now. I can't blame her, she just accomplished the impossible, beating her sister at something.

Ram pouts slightly after taking Blanc's words in. The best part about being angry is you sleep a whole lot better when you are. I only wish I still had that child like anger.

In the corner, I can both Martin and Noire talking. They're too far away to make sense of any of what's being said, and I can't read lips. They have a bit of history together that the others don't know about, or maybe even want to know.

Part of me wants to talk to Noire about this, yet the other part of me wants to see how this goes. I mean, she could've been raped by that horny prick. There's bound to be a few emotions scattered here and there about the incident.

Well I'm sure Martin knows what he's doing, he did save her after all.

"We're going to head home, we'll see you guys later."

Blanc grabs her little sisters and waves us off before exiting the pool hall. It's around five thirty right now, maybe it is a good idea to get home.

"I must be off as well. I'll see you all again tomorrow." Vert says while smiling before she leaves as well.

"Yeah, Uni and I have to be off. It's not like we want to stay here." One of these days she'll have to get over this tsundere attitude.

"I hate to cut this short, but I must be off. Tally Ho."

The rest of us wave goodbye to our group of friends. We've been hanging out for around two hours now, I suppose it's time to head home and prepare Maurice's dinner. Then again, I'm already at a restaurant, and I have my girlfriend with me.

He needs to learn how to cook anyway. But another problem comes to mind. How am I going to do this with Neptune around?

Part of being in a relationship is going out on dates right? Neptune here will ruin chances of connection and break the barrier of awkwardness.

"I know, I'll leave you two alone."

How the hell did she know what I was thinking? I know Neptune is random and can be the voice spontaneous insanity, but this is ridiculous.

"What? What does she mean?" Nepgear is as confused as I am. Not sure if it's the randomness or the deeper meaning.

Taking Nepgear's right hand, I look into her amazingly adorable purple eyes.

"Well… Um… Nepgear… we're already at a restaurant… so I thought… we could have a first date…" My shyness and uncertainty is shown in my last line. Luckily she heard me, and hopefully she doesn't flat out reject me because she's even more shy.

"Ok… I'd like that…" She's speaking in a softer tone, probably due to her still being uncomfortable with the relationship. If I'd have to guess, this is her first relationship. If that's true, then we're in the same boat.

"Oh, and one more thing," Neptune pulls me in close. She whispers to me, "if you do anything that harms my kid sister… I'll kill you."

Ok now I'm scared of dating her sister. Neptune will totally kill me if I step out of line in her eyes. But… nobody fell in love without being a little brave. I'll take my chances with Neptune.

Neptune smiles at the both of us as she walks out of the building. I don't think Nepgear knows this, but that was a smile you'd see on a serial killer.

"So… shall we?"

"Yes… we shall."

We take our seats at a nearby booth. Though it may be weird, I'll get through this, and advance my new relationship.

A/N: I know people hate cliffhangers, but they are necessary to keep interests up in the readers. As always please leave a review, I don't care if you think the story isn't all that good, I love constructive criticism.

On another note happy new year. I hope there is a plentiful year of chapters to be published schedule permitting. If you have an idea please submit it right in. I'm running out of ideas as we speak for filler chapters. That was a joke.

But seriously, submit your ideas. Most ideas will be accepted. Ending ideas are not recommended, I already have it planned. Anyway, see you in the next chapter.