for some reason im unconsciously trying to make each chapter longer than the last and i REALLY need to stop that
by the time i finished this chapter i found out i could just split it in two
"Eh…"
"Uh…"
Looking at people sleeping or yawning can make you sleepy as well. This is cleanly exemplified with Blanc resting soundly on Vert's lap, halfway in a fetal position, and Neptune seated on the opposite side of the long couch, dozing off with a few papers on her lap at risk of having drool splattered on it. While Vert is technically awake, unhurriedly tapping buttons to an RPG on Neptune's console, her half-lidded eyes suggest that it won't be long before she's next to fall asleep.
At least, until she hears the two newcomers behind her. After a delay, she pauses and looks back to check who these girls are. "Oh. Greetings, B-sha, C-sha."
"Hey, Vert." The latter awkwardly waves back. "Just, uh, checking in on Blanny. Was starting to get a little worried when she wasn't coming back."
"Did Neptune not tell you earlier that she's staying here for the day?" Neptune texted her about it last night, so why not the others?
"Nope." That would've been much nicer to know earlier. C-sha walks past the couch to get a closer look at her friend. "Anything I should be worrying about?"
Vert shakes her head with a warm smile. "Everything is perfectly fine, as you can see here."
"Eh, looks pretty fishy if ya ask me," chips in B-sha, setting a large and flashy box down next to Neptune. "Something not safe for kids, y'know."
"I assure you that nothing of that nature has happened," she firmly refutes while stroking Blanc's hair, earning a slight grimace from the two. "Did you know that Blanny has become a quick fan to Minebuild?"
"Really?" C-sha vaguely remembers Rom and Ram playing that game once.
"Indeed. She could play it all day from when she gets up to when she goes to bed."
"You could say that again. What about Neptune, then?" B-sha sits down next to her box and starts unboxing it. "I wanted to stop by to show off this new figure to her, but..."
"Oh, her?" Vert pauses a bit. "I...was not paying attention, but it doesn't take much to realize what putting Neptune and paperwork together results in. Waking her up should be fine, if you wish."
"Huh?" B-sha did not see the papers the first time. "Whoa, Nep Nep's actually doing paperwork?!"
Neptune snaps out of her nap at the sound of that cursed word. "Paperwork?!" Said papers end up scattering around her in every direction.
In a chain reaction, Blanc's next to wake up from Neptune's cry. "...Mm?" Using Vert's lap to push herself up without realizing what she's touching, she wipes her eyes, yawns, then realizes the other two present. For a slight moment, her peaceful face slightly falters. "What's going on...C-sha? And…" Who's this blonde peppy-looking kid?
Fortunately, the leader of Gold Third already told her colleague what happened to Blanc on the way here. "B-sha, Planeptune's hero, at your service!" She greets with an enthusiastic grin and a thumbs up pointed at herself.
"'Planeptune's hero?'" What does that mean? This unfamiliar girl is a bit loud, similar to Neptune, but, also like her, seems to mean well.
"Ah, don't worry about it. She's just another cool and awesome friend of ours." Fully awake, Neptune notices the box B-sha put down. "Ooh, a new Nepgeardam model? I thought they stopped making these!"
"Me too! C'mon, let's get to building!" Like children on Christmas morning, they immediately get to pulling out all of the individual parts.
"Building?" Is this like Minebuild? Regardless of if it is, Blanc is still curious about the box ever since she spotted its colorful packaging, so she walks towards the two.
C-sha stops her by walking in front of her. "Hey, Blanny, I want to talk to you about something first."
"Huh?" Most of the cozy feeling Neptune and Vert built up today is dissipating from Blanc's body. "W-What is it?"
"Hey, come over here, Blanny! You should help us cobble this thing together while B-sha's here!" interrupts Neptune.
"Um…" Looking as apprehensive as Blanc, C-sha knows that what she wants to discuss is going to take a while. "Could us two talk first?"
Neptune shrugs. "Eh, I dunno...building these figures takes a lot of attention, and she's gonna be pretty clueless if she joins us late. You know how it be, right, B-sha?"
"I get what you're saying, Nep Nep, but…" She already knows it's not exactly wise to ignore C-sha's requests like that, but her goddess friend seems keenly hopeful that she back her up. "...Yeah, if Blanc wants in, she should jump in now while we're starting. You can wait until after we're done, right?"
A tad bit taken back by her response, C-sha reconsiders her confrontation. "Well...I suppose we can wait; it's nothing urgent." With a sigh, she sits down next to Vert and starts spectating her gameplay. "I have some time to kill to wait around."
Vert casually offers her a controller. "Would you like a turn? It's a rather fun RPG I have been wanting to show Blanny."
"...Eh, might as well."
(-)
As Vert and C-sha check out that game, the other three are sitting on the floor, making quick work of their Nepgeardam model. In particular, Blanc continues to develop her interests in building and constructing stuff, though not so much her creativity given the limited amount of pieces available and the lengthy but strict instructions printed on flimsy folded paper. "Wasn't the Nepgeardam supposed to look like Nep Jr. but with the weird box head?" Neptune asks while staring at their box.
The robot has a more traditional build, making it a much more serious mech. Well, more serious except for the wide-eyed stare that's still present on its face. "Yeah, I bet your sis had something to say about it. I mean, at least it'll look a little bit better with the rest of my, er, our collection," says B-sha.
"Um, Neptune…" Blanc softly asks in between the two.
"Hm? What's shakin' bakin'?" She asks back while opening the paint set.
"Do...we have to paint this like the box wants?"
"Huh? But it's a new release, so I really want to see what it's supposed to look like," B-sha explains for her friend while holding their figure. "Also, this was a boat load of credits, so I definitely don't wanna mess anything up…" she mutters.
"Oh! Okay…" Though somewhat disappointed, she's quick to understand her reasoning and starts reading up on how to paint the figure.
Neptune crawls over to behind Blanc to look at the instructions. "Hey, want me to show ya the secret Neptune way to paint? Even professionals are linin' up outside the Basilicom trying to learn it."
"Nep Nep, the last time you used your 'secret Neptune way,' the figure became some rainbow mess, and we had to toss it into the incinerator. Just paint it normally, okay?"
"Bleh…" She begrudgingly puts away a second paint set and starts painting the "normal" way.
Each of the three are now painting separate parts at varying speeds. With B-sha being the most familiar with the hobby, she's able to make quick and accurate work on her paint job. Blanc, on the other hand, can only try to replicate her perfection. To an extent, she's successful. Of course, though, she paints much slower than the others in exchange for her precaution. She rarely blinks, or even moves for that matter, as she paints, always anticipating when she's going to mess up. "Mmn…"
"Hey, Blanc, what's Rom and Ram up to nowadays? They still playing with the Bandam figure I gave them?" B-sha asks after a long pause between them.
"H-huh?" Even with no intention of doing so, the sudden question startles her. She isn't completely shocked, but it's enough for her to jolt her brush a centimeter to the left.
"Didn't C-sha tell ya about the whole deal?" asks Neptune.
"Well, yeah, but that was a few days ago. She knows by now, right?" It seems that C-sha didn't exactly tell her about last night's conflict.
"U-um…Neptune..."
"Yeah?"
Blanc slowly holds up her mistake to the two, being much more worried than them. "I...messed up. Sorry…"
B-sha knows that C-sha told her about Blanc's new personality, but her meekness still takes a while to get used to. She scrutinizes the mistake, but eases up after a second. "It's alright; you're going to paint that over!"
"Really? I thought…" She takes the box to try to find her part in the finished product, but finds out that where her error would be is not visible. "...that part was supposed to be unpainted."
"I don't think so. I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to be purple," she refutes. "Besides, do you really want to keep your self-proclaimed mistake in or not?"
Despite her solid reasoning, Blanc still has the urge to keep asserting that she's right. "Oh...Okay, I'll paint it purple."
(-)
While those three paint, C-sha stares at them while trying out Vert's game.
"So, how do you like the game? It's a classic that's been recently remastered," she asks while drinking a cup of tea she brewed.
"Eh, it's alright. Not a keen fan of turn-based RPGs; definitely prefer to play the more real-time and action-orientated ones in my free time." Her gaze only switches to the screen to read the dialogue.
After a few more A presses, Vert gives another question. "What do you think of the main characters? I always found them to be particularly endearing."
"...I guess they're okay; nothing special."
"Is that so?" She takes a long sip from her cup.
Even after the cutscene is over, C-sha is less attentive to the game than she should be.
"...You know, in the short time she has been here, the new, or rather renewed, qualities she has shown certainly merit giving her a chance," Vert suggests after a considerable silence.
C-sha finally looks away to look at her. "Guess it was written all over my face, huh. Care to explain?"
"For one thing, she seems much more capable of planning things ahead."
Blanc's friend frowns at that. "As opposed to before?"
"Well, at least compared to when she first became a CPU. I would love to see how she takes Lowee with those skills in the future."
"'Compared to when she first became a CPU,' huh…" She raises an eyebrow at that. "What was that like?"
"Hmm...In short, she was much...colder," she starts with a giggle directed at herself. "It was initially difficult to even get a hold of her during the Console Wars, so I had thought that she was a calculative and scheming type of adversary. As it turns out, she simply did not want to actively engage with anyone. Once you find her pet peeves, though, just mentioning them was enough to invoke her full fury. You can already guess which of us three tactically took advantage of her the most back then." The busty CPU has an almost nostalgic smirk.
To C-sha, she already knew or would have guessed most of that, yet it still bothers her when she compares that Blanc to this Blanc. "Sometimes, I still can't believe they are the same person. Are you certain that this version of Blanny is actually her 'earliest' version? Blanny as a CPU Candidate?"
"I am still not sure of that. Perhaps that is another reason to allow Histoire to compile her memories for us to view," she suggests with playful smugness.
C-sha mostly ignores that comment and goes back to staring at Blanc, Neptune, and B-sha mess around with their figure.
Another long silence ensues. "I am probably the least likely person to convince you, but, at the very least, I believe it would be best that you postpone any confrontation until tomorrow."
"Hm? And why's that?" She brusquely asks. "What if I wanted to tell her that I'm okay with her as she is now?"
"Even then, she would appreciate it if she went a day without having to worry or even think about this whole identity crisis, no?"
"I…" She takes a while to look at the past few days with hindsight. "...suppose you're right."
"After all, it does feel unfair to gauge an opinion of someone if you have only seen them in a distressed or confused state."
"Yeah, I know." A sigh forces itself out of C-sha as she sits back onto the couch, tilting her head up and staring into the ceiling. "I should know that the most. Back when I had trouble with that delusion fiasco when we first met, Blanny could've ditched me, yet she didn't. Even when I attacked her or shoved her away, she still believed in and forgave me. I really should be returning the favor…" She sighs again. "It's...I've been mostly occupied thinking about what everyone else thinks about her. I still don't know where Rom and Ram ran off to, by the way."
"Oh, they'll be fine. They just need a day to calm down, just like Blanny here. They'll be back in Lowee's Basilicom by tonight," Vert ensures.
"If you say so…" She takes another look at the other group, only to find their tools laid about with none of them present. "Huh? Where did they go?"
"Where did who go?"
C-sha whips her head to her left, finding Blanc seated next to Vert, staring at her while holding her controller. "Wha- How did you get there so quickly?!"
"What do you mean?" her friend empty-mindedly replies. "...Oh! Were you playing this? I-I'm sorry…" she quickly hands the controller to her.
"N-no, you can play for me." She lightly pushes the controller back. "But, where's Neptune and B-sha, then?"
"Nepgeardam, go!" A painted figure drops from above right in front of C-sha's face.
"O-oi!" C-sha immediately lurches to her right. She isn't surprised when she finds B-sha giddily holding the figure with Neptune close behind her, though. "You know, you should be glad I didn't accidentally whack your toy into the air on instinct."
"You were lookin' pretty spaced out there, C-sha. Were you, perhaps, thinking about pudding? 'Cause that's what I'm also thinking about," asks Neptune.
"I'm fine, just…" Everyone around her seems so lax; perhaps she came in here much more tense than she should've. "Never mind." She looks to Blanc. "So…"
"Um…" She quickly remembers that C-sha came here for a particular reason. Once more, she attempts to steel herself for some tough questions. "...What is it?"
"How's your day been?"
"...Huh?" Certainly one of the last questions she expected. Is she trying to throw her off? After getting her brain unstuck, she asks, "What do you mean?"
"Well, I don't know how else to explain it." C-sha shrugs playfully, finding a bit of entertainment in intentionally confusing her. "Just, what have you been up to recently?"
Even if it's at her expense, her smile is infectious, and Blanc's hesitation disappears as she subconsciously smiles along. "It's...been pretty good. Vert showed me this fun game earlier, and it showed me how fun and interesting architecture and building can be."
"Architecture, huh?" C-sha wasn't expecting that answer, but she welcomes it.
"Yep! She was like this…" Neptune bulges her eyes out with a concentrated glare for a moment. "'Must...build...things…' for maybe an hour straight, and then fell asleep IMMEDIATELY after."
"I d-didn't say that…"
"That is pretty hardcore. Is that why you wanted to join in on the figure building?" asks B-sha.
"Yeah. I thought since they both involved constructing something, I would enjoy it, but…"
"...Yeah?"
Blanc doesn't want to offend a new potential friend by insulting her hobby like that. "...I...really like the creative and planning aspects of Minebuild," she tries to explain subtly.
B-sha takes some time to process what she was implying. "...I guess that's what you meant by asking if we didn't have to follow the instructions, huh. That's okay if you don't like building figures, though," she assures with a thumbs up. "There's plenty of other stuff to like about Bandam figures!"
The Nepgeardam didn't give a good impression on what these robots are supposed to be, but she isn't against the idea of learning more about them. "That's nice to know; thank you," she replies with a smile. When she notices no one else is asking her anything, she resumes playing Vert's game.
"Do you need any help understanding the game, Blanny?" asks Vert. After all, she picked it up right in the middle of it, so it would make sense that she'd be lost trying to understand everything about it.
Since it's still the beginning of the game, she doesn't seem so fazed. More importantly, she is more focused on trying to understand the game's mechanics. "...Huh? Did you say something?"
Instead of restating herself, a piquing curiosity silences her as she starts gazing at her gameplay. "Oh, it's nothing. Carry on."
"...Okay." After skimming the tutorials, it only takes her a few minutes to read the menus and embark on the first hostile area, where she makes quick work of every enemy using a move combination she found to kill them all in one turn. When she makes it through while barely taking any damage, a barely noticeable smile grows on her face, satisfied with her discovery.
"By the way, what's this game, Vert?" asks Neptune.
"Isn't this the one that you were super excited for when it first got announced?" B-sha interjects while Vert chooses to stare hard into Blanc's gameplay instead of answering. She slightly grimaces upon remembering how particularly loud she was that day.
"Really?" Her memory is particularly slow in recollecting that, but when she does, her face lights up. "Oh yeah! That one!"
"You seem pretty surprised for someone that apparently got so excited for the game," C-sha points out with a chuckle.
"Eh, that's what happens when you're a CPU like moi; you can't always remember everything!" she explains with her signature overconfidence.
As Blanc quickly and proficiently adapts her party to a new game mechanic, Vert nods to herself, completing a decision. "Excuse me, Blanc; could you perhaps do a favor for me?"
"Hm? What is it?" The determined look on her blonde friend puts her off a bit.
"Could you save this game, go into the menu, and start playing a game called '4 Goddesses Online?'"
"Um...sure. Is this another game you want to show me?" Is it as fun as Minebuild?
"Whoa, what do ya think you're doin', Vert? I don't want her on my account!" Neptune irritatedly asks. "She might accidentally sell all my pu-"
"Don't worry. She can log on to her account," Vert steadfastly guarantees.
"Log on to her account...to which she forgot the login information?" C-sha asks the obvious in disbelief.
"Don't worry about that, either." Once Blanc arrives at the character select screen, the inquisitive CPU holds her hand out to her. "Allow me."
"Okay."
As fast as one can type with a controller, Vert types "GalaxyLibrarian06" followed by "PasswordTo4G04ccount" to make a small priest appear on screen.
"Uh…" The others, excluding Blanc, are stunned by her quick performance. "So...how do you know Blanny's 4GO password?" C-sha quietly asks.
"She just happened to leave it on a screen I was passing one day," she answers while handing the controller back to Blanc.
"Have you 'happened to see' any of our account stuff, you big ol' snooper?" Neptune acknowledges that she is much less careful with keeping her passwords secret compared to the old Blanc, as well as probably the new one, too.
"Do you think you can understand this, Blanc?" Vert inquires with anticipation while ignoring Neptune.
Unhesitant, the inquisitive girl begins her game-inspecting process anew through its menu. This time, however, as this account is already at least hundreds of hours old, it doesn't take long for just the spell list of a level 74 priest to send her into a rabbit hole of strategy crafting. "U-uhhh…" It might not be a yes, but Blanc isn't ready to give a no, either.
"...Are ya tryin' to pull Blanny into MMORPG hell, Vert?" Neptune accuses.
"The fact that she is even trying to understand this...just how much RPG knowledge was Blanc born with?" Vert mutters.
"...Yep, she's getting dragged into MMORPG ya know it, Lowee's gonna collectively cry when they find Blanny dead from trying to pull an all-weeker with Vert." Neptune sighs obnoxiously. "Welp, who wants to bet when that'll happen?"
Her dramatizations break Blanc's stupor. "W-what? I'll be dead from playing this game?!" She almost throws the controller down in fear.
"Neptune, please. It's important that she understand the majesty of 4GO early," asserts a still determined Vert.
"Aw, can't ya do that later? We're all here, so the only thing she needs to 'understand the majesty' of are multiplayer games!" reasons Neptune. "Just like we do every week, or whatever!"
"Yeah, isn't that why you all brought her here?" asks B-sha. "I thought you were gonna play some party games, not single-player stuff while everyone else backseats."
"I...suppose we really should play a multiplayer game with all of us gathered here." Everyone around her doesn't seem rather stoked to stare at Blanc trying to study a game, with even the CPU in question also concerned with how bored everyone would be. "I apologize; I really did get caught up with 4GO."
"Eh, it's alright Vert! As long as we finally get to play somethin' together." Neptune steps to the TV, opens a cabinet after pushing away the wires obstructing it, and fishes out a box. "Like...this racing game Noire gave me! How 'bout it, gals?"
"Ooh, that's a great one, Nep Nep!"
"Eh, sure. Why not?"
"Hm?" The unfamiliar but colorful cartoon characters with goofy expressions on karts give off a good impression to Blanc. "It looks fun."
"I am not a large fan of having to share a screen with three others, but I am more than eager to play a game with Blanny!" adds Vert. "Though, with five of us and only four players allowed…"
As that realization dawns on everyone else, the five girls start exchanging glances between each other, trying to silently decide who's going to sit out.
"I can sit out," volunteers C-sha, breaking the silence.
"Are...are you sure?" Blanc asks. She's seemed pretty stressed out ever since she came here. "Don't you want to play?"
It's nice to know that she's concerned with her missing out. "I'll be fine with just watching, but thanks for asking!" She stops herself from saying that Blanc sounded like Rom and Ram when she asked that.
"Then it's settled!" Neptune quickly shoves the disc in the console, plugs in extra controllers, shoves one to each player, and plops herself down on some papers that someone carelessly threw on the couch.
With everyone seemingly excited to play, or at least content with, this particular game, Blanny cracks a small smile as the excitement spreads to her.
why doesnt not allow at symbols i tried using them for blanc's password only for them to disappear lmao
anyways bc i split this into two i should be able to post the 2nd half later this week after looking it over
and unlike last time, i will deliver on that; ill bet my entire yugioh collection that ill post it this saturday !
(i dont own any yugioh cards)
"'Compared to when she first became a CPU,' huh…" She raises an eyebrow at that. "What was that like?"
"Hmm...In short, she was actually a rather peppy girl. She was actually the first among us to stop the Console Wars," starts Vert, much to the surprise of C-sha. "I remember when she was trying to offer Noire some home-baked cookies, even when she was still being attacked by her!"
"...What?" C-sha really couldn't imagine Blanc like that; that's too far from even this newer shy Blanc. "You're kidding me."
"I don't know what else to say than that is the truth." She sighs before continuing her retrospective. "Yes, she was truly everyone's favorite. It really was sad when..."that" occurred."
C-sha simply sits in silence to tell her to elaborate.
Her voice becomes ominously low. "Yes, when the four of us were gathered in a meeting, she told us she wanted to share a new catchphrase. The moments she spoke those words...'Blanny Blanny Bii-'"
"Excuse me, what?" She cuts her off.
Vert interrupts her back. "-a bright light blinded us all, and by the time we could see what was happening, there was a hole in the ceiling, and Blanny was replaced by a different version that you're more familiar with."
C-sha could only frown at her after hearing that whole creepypasta-esque story. "Yeah, that's a cool story and all." She immediately turns to Blanc. "Hey, Blanny! Come over 'ere for a sec!"
"Hm?" Blanc puts down her part and does exactly that.
"C-sha, that may sound like a silly story, but it's anything but. Do not do what I think you're trying to do," Vert gravely warns.
She continues to ignore her in disbelief. "Could you say, 'Blanny Blanny Bii' for me?"
Neptune has also caught on what was happening. "Wait! Don't liste-"
"...Blanny Blanny Bii-"
Everyone instantly becomes blinded as if they were just hit in the face with a flashbang. "Ahh!" Everyone screams.
"Dang it, Vert! Why'd you tell her in the first place?!" Neptune yells while still blinded.
"That doesn't matter; what does is that she still did it even when I told you what happened!"
This light is taking a long time to dim. "Er, that means we're gonna get the old Blanny back, right?" C-sha nervously asks. She still can't believe that Vert was telling the truth the whole time.
Finally, the light subsides, and instead of finding a shy Blanc who always looks unsure of herself, this one seems like the calm and quiet one that we're all familiar with.
"Welp, fanfic's over," Neptune sighs with a very annoyed frown. "Are you proud of being the person responsible for creating the most anti-climatic ending to a story ever, C-sha?"
"E-er, I guess the sky just really doesn't like it when she says 'Blanny Blanny Bii,' huh?" C-sha nervously responds. She still can't believe that Vert was telling the truth the whole time. "But that means we have our old Blanny back, right? Unless her saying it replaces her with a different version every time she does it..."
Before anyone could ask, Blanc rushes C-sha and, with speed that the fighter wishes she had, suplexes her with expert quality, knocking her out in one blow. "Woo!"
"What? She's back?! That was such a crappy omake, and now the author wants to use that gag again?! We should've seen that com-"
Without hesitation, Blanc does the exact same maneuver on Neptune. "You no-show! You has-been! You fake gamer! I never had amnesia; it was all just a ruse!"
"You can't just say the same thing twi-"
Blanc grabs Neptune's legs and starts swinging her around like a plumber. "So long, gay Neptune!" She utters as her "opponent" flies out of the tower through the window.
"We didn't exactly say you had amnesia..." interrupts Vert. This should just be a new version of Blanc, right?
"...Oh." She doesn't offer any more explanation than that.
No one else asks anything either; they simply choose to stare each other blankly. "..."
"..."
...
Everyone comes up to Blanc and picks her up, cheering Blanc on as they carry her into the window, smash it open, then crowdsurf out of the Basilicom into town.
