Chapter 79
After having breakfast with Maurice I decide to do a load of dishes just so it doesn't get too bad later today. It's not like I have anything better to do right now anyways, so it doesn't really hurt me in the end.
"So, you're got the day off huh? What's your plan today?" Maurice asks me while he finishes putting on his coat. Ever since he got his new job he's been getting up earlier and he even had enough to get himself a really nice coat.
"I'll probably just hang out with Nepgear and the rest of my friends. So nothing really." Normally I would just spend a snowday in my room, but I have friends now, I don't have to seclude myself.
Maurice buttons his last button and turns his attention to me. "Before I go, I just wanted to that there's something in your closet for you." He laughs a little, then stops walking towards the front door.
"You didn't put what I think you put in there did you?" Worry fills my tone. Knowing Maurice it could be anything. And if it's what I think it is I'm going to kill him.
He gives off a small laugh and faces the door. "Wouldn't you like to know?" His laugh only grows as he leaves, leaving a sense of uneasiness in my mind. Maurice always finds a way to do that it seems.
As I finish washing the last dish and leave it to dry, I decide that it's time to put on my actual clothes instead of my trashy looking morning ones... and to see what surprise that Maurice left for me.
I go back to my room and open my closet door, expecting the worst Maurice has to offer. To my surprise, the only thing out of the ordinary except a plain, white box on the floor. My prediction about anything being in my closet still hasn't been taken off the table.
Cautiously, I peel off the tape and I slowly open the top of the box. Looking through an opening that's not too large, but whatever it is, it's too dark to make out what it is. I fully open the box now, and I see what looks like a piece of black fabric with a piece of paper over it. The paper only has one word on it. "Jack."
I unfold the paper and start to read the words written inside inside. As I read I can tell that it's a letter to me at least, nothing seems out of the ordinary here.
"It's a little late to call this a Christmas gift, so I'll call it an early Birthday present. I'm sure you've noticed that things are different than they used to be, I'm sorry about that. I'm getting back on track so we can be happy in the end, and I think this will be a good way to start. You've never really had a nice coat have you? Well, you've probably already noticed it, but there's one in this box. Spoilers, I know, but it's all I can really say. I hope this can help bride the gap between us just a little bit, that's what I hope happens anyway. With that said, stay in school, don't do drugs, and I love you."
My eyes water up, it's hard to see right now, then the sensation spreads to my cheeks that start burning with emotions. It's hard to not whimper like a dog at this display, even after making up to him earlier. He must've planted this here while I was gone last night. That at least explains the redundancy of what went down earlier.
Wiping the tears into my arms, I put my brothers note down so I can see the coat. I lift it up to inspect it fully. From what I can tell just from the look of it in the box, I knew it was black and possibly made of wool. I wasn't wrong about that, but now I can see that the interior of it is made out of smoother materials to feel better on skin.
It's nice, probably the nicest thing he's ever given me. I'll make him something nice for dinner tonight to show my thanks. There's not really much more to think about now, I'll just finish getting ready for the day.
I walk outside and immediately feel the cold air blast against me. Thanks to my new coat most of my body is unaffected, it's mostly my face that gets cold. Nothing less than expected of a winter day.
Something catches my eye though, a familiar silver car that I've seen many times before. The drivers side door opens and I'm greeted by the sight of someone I haven't seen in a while. But seeing him sparks a question.
"Were you waiting for me?" Kind of seems like stalking to me, but I'm probably wrong.
"No actually, I just arrived moments before you came outside." Martin's never lied to me before, I trust him.
"Ok then... what brings you here?" I didn't expect to see him so soon today, I thought we were supposed to meet up in town later on in the day.
Martin scratches the back of his head for a moment then returns his attention to me. "I stayed the night with Noire, but she got up early today and didn't want to wait around too long for everybody." Well that explains why he looks more tired than usual.
"Does that mean you're here to pick up Neptune and Nepgear too?"
"As mush as I would've liked to assist them, they left before I arrived to discuss matters with the other Goddesses. Nepgear actually asked me to come pick you up." I'm happy to see she's always looking out for me.
I give Martin a smile and start walking towards his car. He gives me a confused look but I'm pretty sure he understands what's on my mind right now. After all, he and Noire are doing good lately. She's told me how happy she is that Martin's been helping her recover after our last battle.
"Alright, let's go then." I never did like wasting words. My response seems... fitting at least.
I get in the passenger seat of his car and close the door. "What do I like your slave?" This is a surprise, usually he's so reserved.
"Just shut up and drive."
It's not that long of a drive to get to Noire's, only a drive to the other side of town. But today, traffic seems busier than it should be. School's out for today so that could be why everyone's out and about. Martin hasn't really spoken on the way here, maybe I'll try to get him talking.
"So... seen any good movies lately?" It's a bit cliché but it does well as a conversation starter.
"Can't say that I have, I rarely get out for that long. Except to see my friends of course." That makes enough sense I supose.
"That's something that's been bugging me for a while. Why are you still part of our group? Any normal guy would've quit after learning about other dimensions and literal gods." Even saying it now makes me think it isn't real. It sounds made up but it's a truth that few people will ever know.
"True, but I'm not exactly normal now am I?" He's not wrong but that's still going to need some explanation. After all, I'm not sure that I know that a lot about him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means whatever you want it to mean. My words may influence your opinion of me, but it's my actions that truly influence opinions." Well that didn't make any sense. I hate it when he talks in that damn cryptic way. Why can't he just speak normally?
"You know I'm an idiot right? Explain it in a way I can understand." I don't think I've ever been this confused talking to Martin.
"All you need to know is that I'm your friend, and my actions will continue to support our cause." Ok, I can understand that at least.
"Alright but I'm still not sure why you're with us." I'm sure that I've asked him before this point, but even if I got an answer it just wouldn't seem real no matter how reasonable it is.
If I really start thinking about it, it just doesn't make sense for a normal person, especially one as intelligent as Martin to get involved in such an outlandish situation. Other dimensions and actual gods exist in some capacity, that alone should turn off someone to this.
Martin laughs while keeping his attention to the road. It's like he understands something about the situation that I don't get just yet. "It's not like I'm insane or anything if that's what you're thinking. No I stay with you because it's what I want to do."
"If that's your response then your life must've been boring before you came here." It's only a joke, but knowing him that might actually be true.
"You're not far off from the truth, whether it was humorous or not." Wait really? I was right? "Before moving here, I was a bit of an outcast if you would believe that?" You don't say?
"That still doesn't explain everything."
"It was rather boring honestly, nothing truly felt extraordinary for me. My parents decided to move here for a change of pace for both themselves and I." I didn't get to meet his parents the last time I visited him. I wonder what they're like.
"So in a way, I guess it means that this is the first time I've ever truly been excited about anything." I never knew he had this side to him. I've been where he is though. Just waiting idle while every day passes by. Both of us have experienced loneliness and isolation, we were both able to scratch and claw our way out of this pit.
"I see.. I guess that means you talked to us on your first day since losers attract losers?"
"You've hit the the bullseye my friend." Martin and I start laughing like normal friends would. It feels refreshing to be able to share a brief moment like this.
"As much as I'd like to continue this, but it seems we've arrived." I was so entranced by our conversation that I never noticed where we were in town. It must've been so pleasant to just talk with Martin like this.
He parks his car in Noire's driveway and immediately I see Nepgear, Neptune and Noire standing on the porch talking. Without any delay, we exit Martin's car and start walking towards them.
"Oh good, you two are finally here." Noire is the first to greet us, seeing as this is her place after all. Just from looking around I can see footprints and mounds of snow, so people were playing but are probably inside now. Blanc would be inside guaranteed, probably reading a book like always.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, we may have gotten a bit carried away in conversation." Martin speaks up to his girlfriend as we approach, slowly pushing ourselves through the snow.
"Sorry that I like sleeping in on my days off. I give Noire a glance and move it between Nepgear and Neptune. I'm still a little tired even after having a while to wake up.
"It can't be helped, since we've been working so hard so I say we all deserve an extra serving of pudding with our dinners." Noire smacks Neptune on the back of the head for that comment.
"Ow! Hey, what was that for?!" Neptune is unsurprisingly angered by being hit. Hell I'd be too if that happened to me.
"Because you've barely done anything to help. Nepgear, you haven't been rewarding her have you?" Noire turns to Nepgear to interrogate her about giving her sister undeserved treats. Nepgear's face turns red and looks away from her.
"I-I... um, don't mean to give her sweets. But... It's hard to resist her when she starts begging." Next time she should let me take care of her sister.
"Wha...! You know if I don't have pudding everyday then I'll die!" Knowing her I can almost believe that.
"Don't indulge her anymore Nepgear. She'll never learn her lesson if you do." True dat Noire.
All the while our trek through he snow is almost done. I don't think we've had snow this thick in a few years at least. It's already past my ankles and it's only going to snow harder as the day goes on.
But for now the best path to take is on the snow covered walkway leading up to the porch. We start passing by one of the snow mounds as we make our way up. Almost there, I start to think of what we're actually going to be doing today.
"Are the others inside or something?" I just would've expected Rom and Ram to be out here still. I know they've got more energy than a couple of snow mounds and trenches.
"Oh you know, a few of them are staying warm. The others are... really close." Neptune sounds cryptic as she speaks, she never talks like this unless it's her Goddess form. She must be planning something.
Wait... Rom and Ram aren't here... there's a couple of large snow mounds on each side of the walkway. I stop where I am and freeze, surprisingly not from the cold.
"Oh shit..."
Suddenly, I feel something grab my legs and my body jerks forward in surprise. As I fall down, I can see that the two mounds start to rise from the ground and two people burst out of them.
*Thud!* I crash deep into the snow and have the wind knocked out of me as a result. Now I know exactly who did this, my earlier suspicions were right.
"Attack!" Ram fully comes out of her snow mound and charges towards me.
"Charge..." Rom makes her way out too and attacks in unison with her sister. It's scary to think what those two can do when they work together.
I try to pick myself up before they make it to me but my fatigue makes it hard to get up effectively. Just as I make it to my knees, Ram jumps onto me from my left side.
"Time to go down!" She tries to throw me off my balance and yells at me in the process. I try my hardest to shake her off me, but I can only manage to regain a foothold with her still clinging on me.
I feel like I can deal with Ram once I get onto my feet... until Rom runs up to me and tugs on my coat, pulling me to the ground once more. All of the stamina I had in me vanishes as the twins defeat me Monster Hunter style.
"Yay! It totally worked Rom!" Ram cheers while still on my back. The little devil pulled a fast one on me that's for sure.
"We got you Jack..." Rom walks back up and pats my head or consolation. It doesn't feel bad actually, this must be payback for the head pats I've given her. Still, Rom's the person I'd least expect to do something like this.
I look forward from the ground to see my friends on the porch. "Why didn't you guy tell me that was coming?" I really can't be angry, it's too early in the day for that.
"If we said anything then it wouldn't have been as hilarious." Noire remarks from just above me. Trying her best to hide her amusement behind a smug face is her style definitely. I wouldn't have it any other way though.
"Pfft, you went down like a rock!" Oh Neptune just you wait, I'll get you back one of these days. I'm just biding my time for revenge.
Nepgear walks forward and extends a hand to me. "It was pretty funny you know." From an outsiders perspective maybe. For me? I'm freezing down here and the wind's knocked out of me, so not all fun and games for me.
I pick myself up just enough to take Nepgear's hand and be pulled up. I'll give her this, she's stronger than she looks. At last I'm back on my feet.
"Ah... Thanks, thought I was going to die down there." I know I'm exaggerating but I think I could use a break from being abused on the whims of the Gods... well Goddesses.
"I'm sorry, I probably should've warned you, but I think it worked well in the end." Nepgear gives me one of those smiles that I can't say no to. I think she knows how to manipulate me at this point. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case, I was manipulated for a few months anyway. That's in the past though, I've forgiven them.
"Easy for you to say..." I'm stopped suddenly by Nepgear brushing the snow from my face and shoulders. It's something that I forgot to do myself. Man what would I do without her sometimes?
"Your face was getting pretty red, sorry if I interrupted you." Nepgear takes her other hand and holds my cheek, letting me feel just how warm she is right now. It feels good, to the point that I just want to hug her right now. I'm still not sure how I feel about doing small things in front of people. Even a hug feels wrong sometimes.
"Hey! You two are like totally about to do icky couple stuff aren't you?" Ram interjects after we've just kind of been standing here for a while. Immediately making Nepgear's face go red and my face go... well more red.
"N-no, I was just making sure he was alright!" Nepgear goes from cute to worried in three seconds flat. It sometimes amazes me at how we can both change at the drop of a hat.
"Ram... I think she... was just brushing off his new coat..." Rom responds to her sister's question. But she noticed my new coat? I guess she likes observing me from time to time. It makes sense that she would notice.
"Oh, he did get a new coat. It looks nice on you." Noire speaks up from her porch throne. Since it's coming from her mouth I know it isn't a lie.
"Y-yeah, it suits you well." Nepgear stumbles for a moment before going back to normal mode.
Neptune walks forwards and starts to what it looks like, sizing me up. It feels weird to have her look around me at every angle like someone fashion critic. After a few moments she takes a step back and nods her head.
"You've got style that's for sure." Neptune gives herself a satisfied grin.
"Thanks... I guess." I've never really known how to respond to Neptune. It's like her superpower is just knowing how to confuse everyone and everything, there are no exceptions.
Still, out of all the people to notice first it was Rom. As I said earlier, she must like observing me at least somewhat because no one else seemed to notice it before that point.
Well it's already been quite the eventful morning it seems." Martin comes up from the side with deftness that can barely be matched. In the confusion I forgot her was here, or at least so close to us.
"It's fun to watch this all unfold, so let's have some more fun shall we?" Martin's got a point, maybe should just have some more fun. I mean, we have snow, so that's limitless fun already if you know what you're doing.
I won't deny that getting ambushed by Rom and Ram was a little fun in a weird sense. Only afterwards though, being dragged to the ground isn't fun at all.
"I couldn't agree with you more, and I've got the perfect way to go about this." Noire steps off the porch and joins us. With the smile she has now I can only imagine what she's thinking.
"You woke me up for this?" Blanc groggily speaks from the porch, taking sips of what I can assume is coffee as she does. Noire went to wake up Uni and decided that she wasn't going to let Blanc sleep on her couch any longer.
"Come now, don't be like that. We spent so long making these, so you could at least enjoy them." Vert is of course referring to the numerous snow forts set in Noire's backyard. They took a little while to build, but I think this will be really fun.
Blanc sighs defeated, setting her mug down and joining the rest of us. As we decided earlier Blanc and Vert would be on a team together. Currently it's all the sisters on their own teams with Martin and I being outliers with Blanc and Vert.
"I was a but skeptical at first Noire, but you've actually had a fun idea." Uni speaks to her sister, almost as if saying Noire doesn't know how to have fun.
"Of course I would, even I know how to relax with... my friends." The stumbling at the end makes something very clear. Noire still isn't used to calling people friends yet. As a countries ruler it doesn't seem like she'd have time to really socialize with anyone considering her work load.
Then there's also the fact of the Second Bound Deity's death took a huge weight off her shoulders. It felt a little bad in the end, but I'm pretty sure her wanted to die in the end. But if this is the end result of that battle then it had to be done.
"You are a bit of a drag Noire..." Neptune goes savage on her.
"W-who are you calling a drag?!" Noire's face goes red with anger centered on Neptune. Man if I had a nickel for every time I've felt like that, I'd have sixty three.
"Who else Lonely Heart?" At this point Noire's turning a shade of red that doesn't have a name yet. It's a miracle that Neptune hasn't been murdered yet. Martin takes a few steps forward and places a hand on her shoulder.
"Now now, don't you think that it's only Neptune being Neptune?" Don't try to calm her down man, it doesn't work the way you think it will.
With one swift motion she reaches down and cups some snow in her hands. Only a second later she chucks the hastily made snowball at Neptune, hitting her directly in the face. I'd laugh at the noise Neptune made when she got hit if it weren't for the fact that this is a declaration of war.
"Time to show you the might of Lastation!" Noire dashes with Uni following behind her shortly after to their snow fort. After a moment of confusion the rest of us try and scramble to make it to our own. Neptune even manages to crawl her way up and stumble a lot with Nepgear's help.
Once we're all settled in we prepare for war. As discussed before, I'm on a team with Martin. So I'll try my best to work with him. We've shown to work well in games, but let's see how we are in a snowball war.
"Woohoo! Let's show them what we're made of!" Ram gives out her declaration of war.
"Let's... give it our all!" Rom's actually shouting, it's a rare sight indeed. I can probably count the number of times I've heard her shout on one hand. It's kind of cute to be honest.
Without much warning though a flurry of snowballs is thrown out randomly, hitting everyone's forts in the process. The flurry of snow makes e cower a little before peeking out to check the damage. Surprisingly, not a lot of damage has been done by the hastily made ammo.
"Damage report?" Martin says while crouched down, making our own supply of snowballs to use.
"Nothing so far, everyone seems tucked away for now. I'd suggest a counter-" I'm cut off by a snowball flying past my face. My gaze shoots and darts around for a moment, until I see a head of black hair sticking out, accompanied by a red eye.
"The next one won't miss!" Uni yells to me from across the battlefield. So she has it out for my blood today? Noted.
"What's the rush? There's plenty of us here." I'll try to buy time for Martin to craft us even more ammo that can be used as warning shots. If it's one thing I know how to do, it's distracting Uni.
"You seemed like the easiest target at the time. Nothing personal really." Her and that smug attitude of hers. It never fails to catch people's attention.
While we're talking Neptune raises her head out of her fort and throws a snowball to Noire and Uni's fort. It crashes into the wall with immense force and leaves a dent in it. "Thanks Jack for distracting them!" She retreats back down after seeing Noire come out with a few snowballs in tow.
Before she gets the chance to throw them, Rom and Ram throw another barrage at the rest of us. Instead of getting behind cover, Noire tanks the hits and lobs the snowballs over Neptune's fort. You can tell she was hit by the noises coming from that area. This is giving me an idea though...
"You know, I really appreciate all of the cheap shots!" I give martin crude signs with a concealed hand. Since we know that Noire will tank a hit, we can take advantage of that with a two pronged attack.
"Then maybe you shouldn't leave your head out in the open!" Uni takes the bait and throws a snowball at me. This one grazes my ear, leaving behind a sensation of gripping cold. I look down and see that Martin's pretty much finished with what we need, and the twins will probably attack again soon.
There's just one thing that needs to happen first. "Hey Neptune... pudding sucks!" That's the only thing I could think of that would offend Neptune enough to become irrationally angry.
"Oh you've done it now buster!" Neptune pops out of the fort with a few snowballs in hand. As if on cue, Rom and Ram barrage the battlefield once more with a light assault. Noire comes out during the chaos and takes aim for Neptune.
She ignores the minor hits like last time, and this time her sister joins her in attacking the Neps fort. Before they can fire, Martin and I put our plan into action. "Wide open!" We yell out in unison as we leave the forts protection.
We throw a couple snowballs at Noire and Uni while tanking some small hits from Rom and Ram in the process. When they realize that their focus should've been on us, it's too late.
*Pfft* They make an audible thud when they make contact. The looks on their faces is just priceless. You can tell that they're sisters just by them turning the same shade of red.
"Martin! I'll get you for that later!" Noire yells to her boyfriend. Looks like he's sleeping on the couch tonight.
Uni retreats to the safety of her for to brush off the thick snow plastering her coat. Nobody else is out right now, so I decide to celebrate with a goofy dance during this moment of peace. I can hear a few laughs coming from other forts showing that they're still watching.
*Schwoo!* *Pfft* A snowball comes flying at me during my celebration dance and hits me dead center in my chest. It had enough force to knock the wind out of me completely, and make me almost throw up. It doesn't take me long to find the culprit of this sneak attack.
"Good shot... Vert..." She and Blanc were so quiet through the battle so far that I forgot they were a threat for a moment. They must've been biding their time, waiting for this moment.
"You left yourself wide open, it would've been a waste to not take the chance while you dance." Vert sounds both satisfied with herself for injuring me but also that rhyme. Then again, so would I if I got a good shot like that. Oh wait, I did.
"Although, you let yourself become distracted too easily." Vert's words sound foreboding now. Wait a second...
"Gotcha you rat!" Blanc appears quickly and throws a couple of snowballs at me with more force than Vert did. This combined with her war cry causes me to freeze in place and tank the hits.
"Ah!" The first snowball hits my chest like Vert's did, but this one hurts even more. I look back up from my pain and time stops suddenly as I see the second snowball about to collide with my face.
"Well fuck... *Pfft* The second one was harder than a normal snowball, it must've had bits of ice mixed in as well as being really compact due to Blanc's strength.
"Oh my, that didn't quite hit the mark." Vert sounds genuinely concerned at her partners throws. From the sound of it they didn't mean to hit me in those two places specifically.
Some of the group stops the battle and turns their attention, including Noire to me. "That looks pretty painful, are you alright?" I'm covering the part of my face that got hit with my hand. There's no doubt now, there was ice in that snowball.
"Yeah, I'm fine... I'm just gonna go walk this off." I think some of it got in my eye. I wouldn't exactly know since my face is all numb now. Nepgear walks up to me and helps me onto her shoulder.
"I'll go with you." The look on her face shows concern, which is understandable. It's not like I'll die though, it was just two well timed hits that make me feel like shit. Still, I', happy that I have someone I can lean on at times like this.
"Thanks, this way please." I motion to go down the street. Just for a short walk to clear my mind and body. She nods and we start walking side by side down the frozen sidewalk.
After a couple minutes of walking I'm able to move without Nepgear's help. I just sigh and start to stretch a little. "That was a big hit you took huh." She rubs my back for a few moments.
"Knocked the wind out of me. Thanks for coming with me." I take one of her hands into my own and immediately feel warmth rising in my chest. The look in her eyes sends another wave of warmth throughout my body.
"Wouldn't anyone do something this simple for someone they love?" Nepgear leans towards me and gives me another smile. A moment later her eyes close, and our lips meet. Her body moves closer to mine, letting me experience the contours of her body through my coat anyway.
We deepen the kiss for a moment before Nepgear backs away, showing me another smile with a nice blush. I in turn smile to her and give her a hug. Her head rests snugly on my shoulder. I think now I'm comfortable with public displays like this. "I love you."
"I love you too." I say back to her, stroking her hair with a free hand, hearing her softly moan in response. It's so quiet that you'd have to be this close to hear it.
"This sure is a sight." From a little distance away I hear a voice that I haven't heard in a while. Nepgear's eyes go wide in surprise too, and we break our embrace as a result.
As we look back we see Andrew walking towards us, and slightly behind him is a girl that I've only seen once. Blair is her name, I couldn't forget that.
"The snow and two people's love is a real delight." He holds an arm out and sweeps it around to show off the snowy landscape. The girl behind him looks like she's uncomfortable just being here. I'd guess that means she's not in Deity mode then.
"What do you want Andrew?" There's no need to be fancy with him anymore, I'll just be blunt.
"I just wanted to enjoy the day in the snow. Is that a crime?" Just hearing him talk so casually is enough to piss me off.
"You know, I think I liked you better when you spoke brokenly." Looking back, his broken speech and being a dick were a lot better than he is right now.
"That doesn't matter though, what does matter is that things will get real interesting soon." His tone sounds ominous in a sense. I know I shouldn't brush his words off so easily. I need to be cautious.
"Your words are hollow, you don't scare us anymore." Nepgear speaks up and moves to stand by my side. She grips my hand tightly and looks at Andrew with fire in her eyes.
"Ah yes, the purple one. Shouldn't you be thanking me for not blowing the lid on your little plot sooner?" What does he mean by that? He knew about their secret before I did? Well I guess that makes sense.
Nepgear takes a step back and her grip on my hand weakens. It's almost as if what he said brought up painful memories. Just from glancing at her, tears are starting to manifest around her eyes.
I hold Nepgear's hand tightly and look her in the eyes for a brief moment before returning to Andrew and Blair. "I don't care what you're talking about, but that's in the past. Whatever they did, they had to do it to survive. So go away, unless you want a repeat of Halloween."
Andrew puts both of his hands in the surrender pose and backs up slightly. "Whoa whoa, just chill out. I'm only enjoying the day remember? I'm not here to fight."
"Please don't antagonize them... They've done nothing wrong to us..." Blair timidly speaks up from behind him. Andrew's face contorts from the cool guy to the drunken angry stepdad.
"Did I say you could speak?" Andrew talks down to his ally in a menacing tone that sends shiver down even my spine.
"Eek!" Blair retreats back more than she already was. The look on her face is one that I've seen, and even experienced countless times. Fear.
"Just leave us alone will you? You're starting to piss me off." No fancy threats here either. I'm getting angry, and I don't need a long speech to tell him that. I think that'll do just fine for now.
"Don't worry, I was just about to leave. Useless, do you have anything you want to say?" He beckons the scared girl that's cowering behind him. Even though she's my enemy, I don't like that he refers to her as Useless.
"Ple...please..." Blair's cut off by Andrew smacking her hard across the face. She let's out a scream of pain at the abuse. It even made Nepgear and I winch a little bit.
"Spit it out already!" Tears flow down Blair's cheeks and her lips quiver. With only another moment of hesitation she straightens up and speaks.
"Please forgive me for anything that I do later!" Practically yelling at this point, Blair expresses what she was trying to say all along albeit in a more crude tone.
"That's better. Let's get going now, we've got work to do." And with that, the two of them start walking away. As they do, I see Blair glance back at us with tears still pouring from her eyes. The sight makes my stomach hurt for a moment, but it passes as soon as it's just me and Nepgear here.
I turn to face her so we can go back to the others, but I'm met with the sight of her eyes obscured by her long hair. I reach a hand out and call to her. "Nepgear?"
"I'm sorry..." Her voice doesn't sound as steady as it usually is. Whatever Andrew did, he got her overthinking about something probably.
"For what?" After I ask, she takes both of my hands into her own and finally she looks me in the eyes. They're red and puffy, but tears haven't started yet so she's still on the brink.
"Remember the night of the dance, when I said that Andrew and his friends were making fun of me for hanging out with you? It's like he said, he could've exposed us that night, but he didn't." Nepgear looks away and doesn't meet my gaze anymore. I hate it when she sounds like she's doubting herself.
"It doesn't matter, that's in the past." I give her my best smile to reassure her, or at least that's the goal. I hope that I can help her this time because she's always the one helping me.
"But it's another lie to the mountain of lies that came before." She starts to let go of my hands and tries to step back. So what if she lied to me one... well multiple times, her heart's in the right place.
"And? I sure that I've lied to you in the past for some reason or another. But you know what? We got through it in the end." I let go of her hands and place one on my chest and the other on her chin so she can look me in the eyes.
"This Sharicite is proof that one lie doesn't matter. If it did, you wouldn't have saved my life." I smile again in another attempt to reassure her that everything is alright.
"It just feels like our relationship is built on lies sometimes." So that's how she feels about this? I never knew something like this would be eating her up behind closed doors. It would only take the right push to bring it out.
"If there's one truth to it all, it's that we love each other through it all. We already proved that didn't we?" I need to pull every trick out of the bag to bring her out of darkness this time. But I'll do that if it's what it takes.
"You love a liar like me?" I can see a few tears, but she's at least looking at me fully now, despite me holding her head up.
I give her a kiss, followed by another kiss after that. I look back into her eyes and smile for a final time. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't." Damn I'm getting sappy today.
Nepgear wipes away her tears and smiles brightly. Sometimes she can have depressive periods, but it's times like those that I have to be somebody to lean on. She's been my support for so long, now I'll support her too.
She leans forward and kisses me twice like I did, then she nuzzles her head on my shoulder. "You know, you're a lot sweeter than you let on to be."
"Only to you Nepgear." I stroke her hair like I did earlier, the sensation bringing my mind and body to complete relaxation.
We remain like this for a few moments before breaking apart and looking into each other's eyes. The warmth and passion that I see in them only serves as a reminder to what I'm fighting for in all of this. To what we're fighting for, even if it may end badly for me.
"You know, maybe we should prove our love later." Nepgear says suggestively, not completely looking at me while she speaks. Ok, so that's still a weird subject to talk about with her then. But even so...
"I think I'd like that. We probably have tomorrow out of school as well, maybe we should just spend it together." I pitch an idea that will only serve to strengthen our bond.
"Alright then, but let's get back to the other's. They're probably getting weird ideas about us being gone for so long." She's right, that's the kind of group we're friends with after all.
"Just a little longer..." I plead with her like a kid would to their parents. I want to spend more time with Nepgear today, even if we do have a date tomorrow.
Nepgear rubs my head just a little bit, only messing up my hair. "Alright, just a few more minutes." As soon as she relents, I move in to hug her fully. She wraps her arms around me too, sharing a loving embrace as it was meant to be.
I really can't wait for tomorrow, it's going to be a day where we just get to spend time together with no pressure. The way we want to. And who knows? Maybe we'll end up proving our love the way Nepgear suggested.
A/N: Well this chapter was delayed for a few reasons but it still came out... relatively early for me anyways. This chapter, a snowday chapter is a gift to a reader who helped me out a long time ago with some things. I don't know if you're still reading, but thanks man, I still owe you.
Onto more pressing news, I'm actually writing the next chapter as we speak because I'm stuck in an airport for 13 hours because of stupid reasons. So yeah, if anyone's in Denver and wants to help me out that would be Greeeeeat.
As always, I look forward to writing again for you guys, and until then, I'll see you in the next update.