Chapter 51
My body still aches from the beating I took about three hours ago. I have to give Neptune perks on how much damage she can deal without dealing a fatal blow.
"Ow…" I sit down on a bench at the courtyard of the school. If sitting hurts this much then the rest of my day will be complete and utter hell. I've handled worse though so it's all good.
We're allowed to roam to some areas of the school during the lunch period. I told my friends that I was going to take a walk and went on my way. As far as I know no one followed me here.
"Ah…" The cold wind blows across the exposed areas of my body. That includes my arms and face. The chilling sensation feels refreshing, taking away the pain for only a moment.
I like it out here, that's all I can say. In a world where everyday is a new chapter of chaos, it's nice to just be alone every once in a while.
Being alone also gives me a chance to think about what's happening in my life right now. The past twenty four hours have been pretty eventful after all.
So far Neptune doesn't mind me dating her sister anymore, and accepts the fact that we like each other enough to become really close. That much is self evident.
Before that I took Nepgear on a date and told her about a gift I ordered her. Speaking of which that should be arriving today. I can't wait to see her face when she puts it together.
And of course we have the event that started it all, Nepgear and I becoming real intimate on her bed. Which resulted in one of two brutal beatings that I'm still feeling.
All Neptune wanted was Nepgear to be her little sister for a little bit longer. I'm touched and really respect that. It reminds me of the days when I was still a brother to Maurice. Now I'm more like a son.
"Deep in thought as always… you never change do you?" One of my friends decided to give me some company. I look up to see Uni walking towards me.
"I just have a lot to think about right now is all." My mind has become overburdened with thoughts in the past ten minutes I won't deny that.
"Mind if I sit with you?" I respond by scooting over a bit to make more room for her.
Uni sits down near me and goes quiet. The wind picks up again and makes my wounds go numb again. For Uni though, her silky black hair flows without much resistance. If I weren't in a relationship already I'd say she looks pretty damn beautiful right now.
The new thoughts running through my head cause me to blush in her presence as well as stare blankly. Needless to say she picks up on my derailed thought train.
"Wha-what are you looking at?" She says while sounding pissed off.
"I… um… like I said before. I'm thinking about a lot of stuff right now." I say with hints of uncertainty in my voice.
"Is it about what you and Nepgear did?" Now this is a surprise. I'll bet Neptune had something to do with this.
"How the hell do you know about?!"
Uni lets off a laugh before she speaks. "Neptune was telling everyone about it after you left. Everyone thinks you're a pervert now, but I still think you're cool. Don't tell anyone I said that by the way…"
She sounds about the same as usual. Giving off great advice but doesn't want me to think that she's nice. I don't mind it though, Uni has a good heart.
"Thanks Uni… now I don't feel bad about it." I was feeling like a huge pervert until now. It's amazing what one friend can do.
Uni looks to the ground again and stares blankly at it. From the way it looks, she might have a lot on her mind as well.
"She's just so lucky to have you…" Her cheeks lighten up when she says that.
"What do you mean?" I'm still clueless most of the time. You get used to it after a while.
"You're an overall perfect guy. You have your priorities in check for the most part. The only people I know that match your intelligence would be Martin and my sister. And most importantly… Even though you get into fights with that jerk Andrew you remain calm afterwards."
I look her in the eyes with as much determination as I can. She's wrong about me… about most of those things anyways.
"You're wrong about that Uni… I'm not perfect. And every time I fight with Andrew I'm anything but calm on the inside. And when he starts hurting you guys… something changes inside me."
This children is what we call a psychological breakdown. It's like I don't know good from bad anymore. And worst of all my fears of becoming the beast I dread may come true.
"Huh, Uni?" Uni holds my forearm with a lot of force. I can feel her passion in her grip and I'm impressed by it.
"You've got Nepgear by your side. Don't worry as much ok? She'll never let anything bad happen to you." Uni smiles to reassure me on her words.
She's right though, as long as I have Nepgear with me nothing van hurt me. She helped me get through those dreams, and she broke the hard shell over my heart.
"I guess you're right. I don't know what got into me." I'm smiling now. That moment of obscurity is over and I can think clearly again.
"Thanks Uni, I think I have everything in check now."
Uni smiles back before speaking to me again. "Oh, it's almost time to get back to class. We should head back now." She's right, we need to head back soon.
I nod and we get u p from the bench. She offers me a hand to get up with and I take it. My bruises make it harder to stand after all. And so we walk back to the school while making light conversation.
"Hey Jack… you know I still like you right?"
"Yep."
"And you know I'll still go for you after this?"
"It'll make things more interesting."
"Will you ever go out with me?" Now this is a topic I should tread lightly on. I'll need to be careful.
"How about this… I'll give you a kiss one of these days as a friend. Deal?"
"Deal!" The rest of the walk is spent in silence. We get back to our classroom and resume with our day.
The Friday school day comes to an end. The band group of us pack up our instruments and put them in our lockers. I never practice and never found time to.
We walk out of the classroom and meet up with the rest of our friends who take different classes during that hour. It's great to see them now especially on a Friday.
It's just the anxiety of the day ending that kills you. Personally I think that it's worse than the case of the Monday's.
I feel a tug on my sleeve, turning around its Blanc who's trying to get my attention this time. I'm almost afraid to ask what she wants.
"Hey Blanc, what do you need?"
Blanc stares at me with her usual doll face, not showing the slightest bit of emotion. "I didn't want to ask you this now because you're a perv. However I have no choice since you're still the only one out of this group that I trust."
"You see, Ram won some sort of Pocketed Monstrosities contest and has to go to a convention for the weekend. Being the oldest one in our house at the time I have to take her."
"Pocketed Monstrosities? You mean PokeMon?"
"Yeah sure whatever. Anyways I need someone to watch Rom for the weekend. I would stay behind myself however someone has to take her. I've already talked this over with both of them so Ram is fine with leaving Rom behind."
I don't think behind should be the right term for it. However I can see where this gets tricky. Rom and Ram are the closest people I've ever met. If Ram went away for the weekend both of them might get a little depressed.
But Ram most likely doesn't want to miss out on this. So it would only make sense for Rom to let her sister be happy while causing herself some discomfort.
"Ok, I'll watch Rom for a couple days." A new quest is activated for my life.
However this raises the question of why their parents couldn't do it. To this day I still haven't met any of my friend's parents. Martin's the only one with an excuse.
"Say Blanc… why couldn't your parents do this instead?" My nosy side is kicking in again.
"Well… they had a business trip this weekend." There's a hint of uncertainty in her voice. I let it slide though because I trust Blanc more than anyone else except Nepgear.
Blanc keeps quiet about certain things unlike certain people I know. And she's just an overall cool person to be around. Almost a mirror of me as a matter of fact.
"Alright, I'll go home and get a few things then I'll be over."
Blanc smiles and walks away towards her sisters. A weekend watching Rom eh? This is definitely a first for me. I don't have any experience in this field but I'll try.
Maurice is here, so it's almost time to get ready. This is going to be an eventful weekend for sure. And something tells me that I'm going to grow as a person even more.
"So… my little brother is babysitting one of his little friends."
"When you put it like that I just want to hit you."
I told Maurice what I'll be doing for the weekend and he said I could go. It's not like he cares or anything, he just wants to know where I am for safety reasons.
As you can see he's giving me a hard time about it because of his older brother nature. Annoying as he is he still cares about me and that's all I could ever ask for in a family.
"Anyway, I've got my bag packed. I'm going to go say by to Nepgear real quick and be off." I turn and walk towards the door.
"Ok, and Jack…" I look back at him. "Be safe alright." I give him a thumbs up and a smile before I make my final departure from our apartment. Now tell Nepgear about it.
She's already waiting outside her apartment so this should be easy enough. I kind of want to get to Blanc's place anyways. I always have time for Nepgear though.
Nepgear already knows what I'm doing, I want to say goodbye is all. Blanc and I only live about two kilometers apart so it wouldn't be that big of a walk if she wanted to visit.
I can't have her over though per Blanc's request. She text me on the way home that I can't have anyone over because I am a quote on quote "Pervy bastard." Thanks Neptune for my new reputation.
"You all set? You aren't forgetting anything are you?" Nepgear asks with her usual concern for me.
"I've got everything in this bag, I'm fine. I'll be back before you know it." Even though I'm not going that far. Damn rules that Blanc set.
"Alright, I'll see you Sunday then." Nepgear looks happy at thinking about Sunday.
"You know I could just call you in the evening?" An idea that just popped in my mind.
"Of course! How could we forget about that?" Sometimes my girlfriend can be a real space case. Yep, there's definitely some of her sister inside of her. But that's what makes her all the more interesting.
"Ok, I'll call you tonight. I love you Nepgear."
"I love you too Jack."
We share a quick kiss before I head off to Blanc's house. Like I said before she only lives about two kilometers away from me. By the time I get there she'll have already left and it will be Rom and I.
As I walk I start to think. And when I think I get really into it. All there really is to think about is how to make this weekend successful.
Rom's still a kid, which requires a lot of attention. But Rom is really shy around people and unfamiliar situations. This constitutes as an unfamiliar situation.
What I'm saying is, I'm not sure if she'll like when it's just the two of us. I have no experience with kids, and every time we've hung out Ram or Blanc were always with us.
Whatever the future holds, I'll make sure nothing bad happens to her while under my watch. Blanc would hang my ass over her fireplace if any harm came to Rom.
There's no more time to discuss things in my head. I'm already here, and the time to see if I can get along with one of my kid friends while alone is at hand.
I open the door to her house and step inside. The last time I was here she made me take off my shoes so I do as such when I enter.
The living room looks beautiful to say the least. There's a fireplace at the far end of the room on the center of the wall with a T.V. hanging above it. To either side of it is a tall bookshelf filled to the brim with books. There is a couch too which appears to be covered in a fur of sorts, fake most likely. Across from it sits a recliner make of black leather that just looks really comfortable to sit in. And finally there's a loveseat between the couch and recliner made of the same fur looking material as the couch.
I take a few steps and Rom comes out of hiding. It surprises me so I stand still like a deer in headlights. She stares into my eyes, and I stare into hers. Neither of us moving from the position we've found ourselves in.
Already this is shaping up to be a great weekend.
A/N: Hey, hey, hey I'm still alive. That dark moment of my life has come to pass thanks to a multitude of things/people. One such person is Twilightiger1602. You helped me out bro, and for that you have my thanks.
On another note, this chapter or rather the premise of Jack watching Rom for a weekend was one of the first ideas I had. I always had a sort of respect for Rom as a character. And she's like the sister I never had. Plus I never could get too attached to Ram but it's all good.
Things are shaping up to be an interesting story aren't they? Stay tuned to see what happens in the next chapter. It might even come out faster if enough reviews come in. They're sort of like crack to me just getting to read them.
Anyway, until next time, see you in the next update.