this quarters dead + finals week was extra spicy, but at least its over
(watch as nothing changes afterwards)

EDIT: added section breaks cus im dum and forgot to put them in in the first place; thank you Christopherweeblingjr ^ ^


Blanc stares a little under the camera with just enough confidence. "Hello. I have been doing fine for the past few days, and I'm sorry for worrying anyone who has been concerned where I have been." Only the most attentive can detect that something is different with her, whether it be a tinge of apprehension in her posture or speech.

"There is a rumor that I have lost my memories. Though sounding far-fetched, that is true; I lost them a few days ago during a quest." She hesitates for a moment. "Another consequence of that incident is that I, uh, have become different personality-wise. It isn't too drastic of a change, as I still think I'm fairly quiet like before, and, in actuality, I feel better off with this change.

"You see, my friends tell me that the most significant difference is that I don't get angry as often. I know that was a major facet of me, and I can see that losing that so suddenly can be jarring for everyone...But, I feel more comfortable being calmer and think it's better for everyone in the long run. Despite these abrupt circumstances, I ask that you all bear with me as I aim to distance myself from that part of my past self. It's a bit hard to describe why at the moment...so I hope you will understand my reasoning in the near future.

"Some of you may be worried that I also have lost my skills as a CPU and a leader, too. While that is true, and I am going to have to re-learn some things, that will only take a short amount of time, perhaps a few days, and then I will be just as capable as before. If you are still worried, I would also like to announce that our Oracle, Mina Nishizawa, has returned, so she will assist me in managing Lowee."

Her focused look slowly, but naturally, shifts towards a warm smile. "Going beyond that, I will do my absolute best to be just as great as your CPU, continuing to find more and better ways to serve my citizens. Please, feel free to let us know if you have any questions or comments, and we will answer them, either in direct response or in another video. All that I ask from you all is to keep placing your faith in me, and I will continue to champion our Land of White Serenity."

That's the end of the video. "Hm." Though she can immediately tell that Mina had to do a lot of handholding, C-sha thinks Blanc couldn't have made a better first public impression. She'll have to stop by the Basilicom to get her thoughts after making that video, too.

But, lunch is still top priority at the moment. Looking around again, C-sha sees a fair amount of people funneling towards the Guild. What could that be about? While she's still looking, she might as well check out what it is. Maybe there'll be food.

(-)

Entering the building, C-sha sees those people all going down one particular hallway. She continues following them all, where she is led to the secondary back hall. "...Huh. What's goin' on here?"

From the looks of it, someone's holding what looks like a mini-convention, or maybe a fairly elaborate get-together with friends. There's only a few stands, each consisting of single foldable tables, and a few cosplayers out and about. The adjacent side rooms seem just as loud as this foyer.

"Ah, Lady C-sha!" An attendee runs up to her. "I didn't know you were gonna show up!"

She puts on a polite smile. "Ah, just 'C-sha' is fine; that title's for Blanny, now. Anyways, I didn't know about this, so I just wanted to check this out. What's going on?"

"Oh, it's the Nep Fan Club and Lowee Multineppit Community meetup!" she explains, excited to see her potential interest.

The meetup between what? "That's nice, I guess. What do y'all do here?"

"Oh, nothing too flashy. It's a little get-together where we get to share our dedication to our favorite goddesses!"

"Ah, I see." A bit odd, but not that it bothers her. "Say, you got any food around?"

"We got a whole serving of club sandwiches from a local catering service. Oh! And also, you have to try our pudding and manjuu!" she answers while pointing them out.

Hey, free food! Can't argue with that. "Alright, thanks! I'll make sure to check those out." Speed-walking towards the sandwich table, her hunger is immediately apparent to everyone nearby, including the caterer.

"Ah, hello, Lady C-sha!" he greets.

"Hey." She takes one without skipping a beat. "Do ya allow seconds?"

"Hmm...Yeah, we got plenty of extras."

"Awesome." She takes two, no, three...four? Five. She puts five more sandwiches on a paper plate and takes a water bottle. "This isn't too much, is it?"

He gives a small chuckle. "Nah, it's alright, really."

"I appreciate it," she thanks while opening one and carrying the rest in her arms. After eating half of it, she already feels much better. "Mm…pretty good."

"Thank you!" It's nice to hear Lowee's former leader enjoy his food.

After taking a sip, she comes with an idea. "Say, did you see Blanny's new announcement?"

"New announcement...? Oh, that! What about it?"

"Well...what do ya think about it?"

He gives it a bit to think it over. "Hm...I do have to agree with her that all of this is a bit sudden. But...to be honest, I'm sort of looking forward to what's going to happen with that change in personality."

C-sha nods in understanding. "Yep."

"How about you? I knew you two were close, so this must be big news for you," he'd like to know.

"I already knew about it ever since it happened, but we were kinda scared to just blurt it out until she's ready, yeah?"

He easily understands what she meant.

"Anyways, it might suck that she forgot all of our memories together, but she's more than eager to make new ones together. All the differences will take a bit of time to get used to, but, in the end, it's still Blanny, right?"

"Eh, some people will say that it's not Lady Blanc without the angry bits," he remarks.

"Being crabby isn't everything about her, you know. The rest of her is kind of the same. In fact, you could say this is an earl..." She stops herself.

"Hm?"

Perhaps it's best to be safe with spreading new information in case Blanc doesn't want to. "Uh, never mind; I got her confused with someone else. Anyways, thanks for the food."

"Hey, it's what I do best, Lady C-sha," he replies.

"Just 'C-sha' is fine." Waving back with a smile, she leaves the table as she starts eating her second sandwich. She randomly picks another attendee to ask. "Excuse me; can I ask you something?"

The young woman turns around. "Hm? Oh, Lady C-sha! Sure, what is it?"

"Just 'C-sha.' I wanted to know what you thought about Blanny's new announcement, if you don't mind."

She's quick to understand why she's interested. "I was pretty surprised about it, and...do you mind if I'm being honest?" she sheepishly asks.

"I'd prefer honesty over anything else."

"Alright. I feel a bit unsure about what's gonna happen next. Losing your memories is a pretty big deal, and what if something bad happens soon?"

"That's a valid reason to be worried," she agrees.

"I don't know...I think I might just be too scared of change, I guess. Something about her seemed...off, and I also don't know much about Mina, either."

"Nah, that's fine; it's okay to feel that way. If things get too out of hand, I'm still here, y'know?" she assures.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Well, thanks for lettin' me know."

"No problem!" They both wave to each other as she walks away.

(-)

C-sha continues asking for everyone's opinions.

"I've been curious to see what Lady Blanc would be without her signature anger."

"She didn't seem that different, at least compared to most of her other public appearances."

"It's a shame that she forgot all of her memories for good, but it could be worse. I'd still trust her to get back on track just fine."

"It's nice to see Mina back; I'm sure she'll keep things in check until Lady Blanc gets better."

"It might sound weird, but her strictness was what kept Lowee afloat; I can't expect good things from this."

"I'm gonna be honest, I was more distracted by the fact that her hat is missing."

"The suddenness of this all makes me suspicious that something else is going on…"

"I feel like making that announcement will just invite trouble...but I'll stay cautiously optimistic."

That phrase "cautiously optimistic" sticks in her mind. Finishing her second-to-last sandwich, she decides to get one more opinion. Near the manjuu stand, she picks out a random attendee: a young woman with a beret and silver apron. "Hey, can I ask you something?" she calls out to her.

"H-huh?" She turns her head to her solicitor. "Oh. Hey, is something wrong?"

"Not really. Just wanna ask a quick question."

"Uh, sure, why not? Go ahead and shoot!"

"What do you think about Blanny's new announcement?"

"'Blanny?' Hmm...I wanna call her that…" She looks rather deep in thought over just a nickname.

"Uhh…"

"...Oh, sorry!" She refocuses herself to C-sha's question. "Yeah, definitely saw it. I think Lady Blanny's gonna be better than before. I mean, she's a lot cuter now, don't ya think?"

C-sha feels like she should interrupt her now, but lets her continue.

"Also, yeah, she did say she lost her knowledge as a CPU and all that stuff, but, like, now she can learn stuff better...learn more stuff...you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah, I get ya." Mina said something like that before.

"Plus, she doesn't seem so cold now. I hope that means that she'll hang out with us citizens more often! Wouldn't that be really cool? I mean, you've already met the guys from Lady Neptune's fan club, right? Imagine if we had a similar club for Lady Blanny! It's a no brainer, I think!"

"She's still pretty shy, if not more shy than before. I don't think she'll enjoy any kind of fan club that I know of."

"That's what makes her cuter! But, uh...yeah, I guess you're right. Well, she's going to get better, no? Just give it a little time, and I'm pretty sure she'll warm up to the idea. I know it! Well, at least, I really hope it happens."

"Is that why you're here? To propose the club idea to these guys?" C-sha asks, continuing to entertain her.

"Well, not really. I just came here about, um, two days ago! So, you know, I wanna check out what it's like and all; pretty convenient that this mini-convention is here, right? Getting a little view of what others are like here..." She starts talking progressively faster. "But, you know what? Maybe I will propose the idea. I don't see why not! I'll do it right here, right now! I'm sure a lot of people would want to-ack!" She abruptly coughs, choking on her spit.

"Whoa there; might wanna slow down. You want this?" C-sha offers her unopened water bottle while chuckling.

She wipes her mouth with her sleeve, giggling at herself. "I'm fine, I'm fine, but thanks anyways!"

"Alrighty then." This looks like a good time to slip out. "Well, I'm gonna get going, now."

"Ah, really? Well, see ya soon!" She amicably waves back.

Something tells her this isn't the last time she'll see her. "See ya." She waves back before exiting the building, making her way to the Basilicom.

(-)

There's a knock on Blanc's door. "Who is it?" asks Mina.

"It's C-sha. Just stopping by."

"Come in."

Opening the door and stepping in, she sees Blanc sitting on her bed, looking down at her rapidly tapping foot, and Mina standing next to a desk. "Hey, nice job with the video. Everyone seemed to like it."

Both of them immediately turned their heads at that. "R-really? What do you mean?" asks Blanc.

"Well, at least most of the handful of people I asked had positive thoughts about it."

"Is that so?" Mina breathes a sigh of relief. "I was about to start gathering public opinion, but thank you for going ahead with that."

"Eh, if you want to be formal about it, you ought to go ahead. I know that there were some who were afraid to tell me all of their doubts, but, I can't do much about that." She places her plate with the last sandwich on Blanc's desk. "By the way, Anyone want this?"

Blanc's heartbeats are almost visible to the other two. "Did...did they really say they like me?"

C-sha takes a seat next to Blanc. "Better believe it! A lot of them really do think you've got what it takes, honest. You really did convince them that you got potential!"

"I…" She isn't prepared for how ecstatic she feels. "I did?" She looks at Mina, right about to tell her how grateful she is.

She interrupts her before she can start. "It was mostly your efforts, not mine, Lady Blanc. I might have done a lot of correcting, but most of the words and the ideas behind it were truthfully yours. It is especially outstanding that you did so without any prior experience," praises Mina.

"Wow, I…" It's a bit hard for her to find the best words to express how she feels.

"So impressed with yourself that you can't believe it?" asks C-sha with a grin.

With flustered red cheeks, she suddenly stands up. "I, I don't know how to completely describe how I feel, but, at the very least, I want to at least thank you two for helping me, especially after saying you wanted to turn me back," she spouts in one go. "It makes me happy to know that I'm capable of being a CPU, even if I still feel a bit scared for future stuff, but it makes me even happier that you both turned around to support me! I promise I'll keep doing my best!"

"Whoa…"

"Um…" The other two weren't expecting such an answer.

Their lack of answer immediately shoots down her outspokenness, and her cheeks redden more as she sits back down. "U-um, I meant…"

"It's fine, it's fine, Blanny. We just didn't, uh, expect such an answer. Which makes it even more meaningful to us! C'mere!" C-sha goes for a friendly tight side hug.

"H-huh?!" Initially averse to her arm, she's surprised to find herself wanting to return the gesture.

Mina is tempted to join the hug, her expression beaming when seeing such a scene. "Indeed; your words are heartwarming, Lady Blanc. What surprised us was that your way with words is...rather variable." She'll be sure to keep that in mind for later speeches.

"I-is that bad?" she immediately asks.

"No, not at all!"

"What's more important is that ya opened up to us, y'know?" C-sha seems a bit bashful herself. "To be honest, just what you said made my day."

"Re...really? That's...really nice to know." Hoping she won't notice, Blanc tightens her hug a bit more.

Seeing her like this makes her feel bad that she felt adverse to Blanc at all. "Yeah. I shouldn't be worried about our friendship; we'll be just fine together."

Mina looks on for a bit until she notices the clock next to the door. "Oh my; is it that time already?" she announces before turning towards the door. "I would have liked to stay here with you both for a while longer."

"Huh? What's happening?" asks Blanc.

"It's nothing dire; I simply planned to start working on something soon."

"It'd be fine if ya stuck around just a bit longer, right? There's some other things I wanna talk about," says C-sha, letting go of Blanc.

Mina doesn't look so bothered. "I...suppose so. What is it?"

"Well…" She stands up, stretching her arms. "...First, you wouldn't mind if we took a little walk around, would ya? From the looks of it, the two of you could use some fresh air; it's like y'all have been holed up here since morning."

An oddly correct prediction, but… "I suppose you are right. I will take you up on that offer."

Blanc pays it no mind and stands up with C-sha. "Okay."

"Cool! It'll just be to the front balcony." She leads the way to that part of the Basilicom with the other two following.

(-)

"By the way, was there anything else worth noting about what you have gathered?" Mina asks as the three walk down the Basilicom's halls.

C-sha thinks something over. "...Well, I think you two already know this, but there is a little nuance I found: they're under the impression that we can't bring Blanc back." She isn't particularly fond about this type of lying by omission.

"As I had planned," confirms Mina. "We had feared that including that fact would have caused too much short-term backlash than we can handle."

"I get it. It's just that that means we have to keep another secret to the public."

"This should be much easier, right?" asks Blanc, seemingly unfazed by the idea while munching on the sandwich C-sha gave her. "We just have to not talk about it." Ideally, there should be no need to talk about restoring her memories, either.

"That would be simple if the people who already know can be pretty loud…" points out C-sha.

"Who- oh." Dread immediately sets in her at the thought of Rom and Ram not just revealing that to everyone, but also them going out of their way to go around and slander her. They'd do something like that, right? "U-um…"

"Don't worry, Lady Blanc. I will make sure that they will not cause any trouble about that," ensures Mina.

"...Really?"

Her Oracle nods. "Just like you, I know how they think after taking care of them for years, and I am fairly certain they will learn to respect their sister again."

"You seem pretty confident about that," points out C-sha. "Though, I guess that makes sense with how you've been with them for much longer than I have."

"Ever since they were born," she remarks. "I had a lot of trouble deciding if leaving in the first place was a good idea, thinking of how much I would miss them, too."

"Guess that basically makes you their mom, doesn't it?"

"H-huh?" CPUs can have parents?

Mina gives an unimpressed smile. "Hearing that comment repeatedly was something I did not miss, though."

"I shoulda figured. Speaking of leaving, do you think you're gonna go back once Blanny's back on her feet?"

"Well..." She hasn't thought that through, expecting that Blanc will need her help for a while. "...Perhaps I have taken enough time to better myself, and now is the time to apply what I learned from my travels."

"Hey, the more, the merrier. I look forward to getting to know you more."

"Um, Mina…?"

"Hm? What is it?"

Blanc has been thinking about this for a long while. "How long have you been my, uh, Oracle? Before you left."

"For a long time, Lady Blanc. I began working for you shortly after you were born, I believe."

"Really? That long?" C-sha and Blanc ask at the same time.

She wonders how many people know this. "Why do you ask?" she asks back.

"Well, um…I don't know. I just had a feeling that I knew you for a while. That doesn't make sense, though, since…"

"...Oh, I remember. You mentioned seeing me in a dream, no?"

She almost forgot that herself. "Yeah."

"By the way, how have your other dreams been? Have you been sleeping well?"

It's still difficult for her to recall her dreams, but she can recognize at least one shared theme among them. "I think they all might be about my past."

"Interesting…"

"You've been getting them every day?" asks C-sha.

"Mhm."

"That only makes this more unusual...could you perhaps keep a dream journal?" suggests Mina.

"What's that?"

"It's just a notebook you keep by your bed. Then, when you wake up after a dream, just write down what you remember," answers C-sha. "It's a lot easier to remember them when you do that, anyways."

"I see."

"I know you're pretty irked about the whole regaining memories thing, but usually, these dreams are supposed to tell you something else. At least, in my experience."

To be honest, she didn't mind these dreams trying to return her memories, given how gradual they're coming back to her. "Alright; I'll look for a notebook to write in."

"I can get you one later," says Mina as they arrive at the end of the hallway with the balcony in front of them. From there, they have a wide and nearly complete view of the colorful capital city from below.

Blanc remembers seeing a similar view when she left to the other Lowee. That view was nice, but now that she's on solid ground, not moving at dangerous speeds, she can take in more merits of her nation. "Hmm…" Even if it's a bit cold for her right now, a slight smile builds up as she observes the finer details of her view.

Mina and C-sha join her in her sightseeing, with both of them leaning on the railing. "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Yeah...so all of this..."

"Everyone here, and many more, looks up to you as their leader, more and less," answers Mina, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know that it is overwhelming to you, but, as I have mentioned before, trust me when I say you are more than capable."

"Don't be afraid to rely on us, either. Leading isn't a solo job," C-sha is quick to remind.

Sometimes, it feels like the more they try to reassure her, the more nervous she gets. She tries her best to put their best intentions front and center in her mind. "If...if I must, then I'll try not to disappoint."

"You're making it sound like it's some chore. There's a lot of ups that come with being a CPU. I still remember you calling Lowee a 'relaxed magical fairy-tale kind of place,' so, hey, why not enjoy what you've worked for whenever you can?"

That seems like an oddly specific thing to remember; must've been important to her. "Yeah, you're right." Blanc looks back at the city with a more optimistic view. Close by to her left, she can see one of Lowee's various amusement parks, and she watches as kids run out of the school nearby with their parents there. To her right, a crowd has gathered next to a large building, enduring the cold to watch someone perform a rather flashy magic performance. "How did he do that…" she murmurs.

"A little bit of talent, but a lot of practice," responds Mina. "I believed he was in one of my classes I taught, years before I left."

"So you're also a teacher?" C-sha asks curiously. "Well, I mean that's obvious when I look at you."

She gives a humble nod. "Someone had to have taught Rom and Ram their magic. I tried teaching Lady Blanc as well, but, as time went by during her Candidate years, she leaned much towards physical attacks, like she does now."

"Her later years? Does that mean-"

Blanc speaks up. "Learning magic doesn't sound that bad." With what she's experienced with fighting, ranged attacks like the ones she's seen her sisters perform are much better at keeping away from danger.

A genuine tinge of surprise shocks Mina. "W-well, you did have some trouble learning magic, but I suppose with enough time and effort, anyone can master at least one element. If you want a ranged option, though, there are many physical options; Uni uses guns, for example."

C-sha scoffs at that suggestion. "Blanny with guns? As if! You've already tried a magic spell, right?"

"Yeah." Blanc tries recalling what attack she used. "'Jafar's...Lake Tan?'"

Mina's eyes widen, having never heard such a slaughtering of a pronunciation before. "Did you mean...Gefahrlichtern?"

"Huh? 'Gefahr…'" She already forgot how to pronounce it.

When Mina looks at C-sha for an explanation, she shrugs her arms. "Hey, it's been a while since I've seen her use that attack. Well, not that it matters now, 'cause the name's stuck now that you've declared it like that, so you're going to have to keep yelling that if you want to use it again."

"Wait, really?" She certainly doesn't want to yell that more than once, especially in front of other people.

"No, that is not true at all." Though annoyed at C-sha and her growing smirk, the idea of getting another shot to teach her goddess magic is almost too good to be true. "Jokes aside, if you truly want to adopt magic into your repertoire, then I am actually more than happy to help you with that."

Blanc hasn't seen her act this eager. "Sure, that sounds nice."

"Excellent! Let's start immediately."

"I thought you said you had something to do." C-sha also finds her enthusiasm charming, if not dorky.

"...Well, as soon as possible, anyways." She takes a deep breath. "I think I have taken a long enough break, however. If you need me, I will be in my office."

"We can just call ya, right?" C-sha holds up her phone. "We ought to exchange contacts before we forget."

"Right."

Blanc stares at the two as they fiddle with them "By the way, didn't I have a phone?"

"You do, but it's locked with a passcode, which, along with the rest of your memories…"

"...Oh..."

"No other way to unlock it?" asks C-sha.

"I'm afraid not. It should be relatively simple to reset and restore it, though, so remember to do so whenever you can. I stored it in one of your personal desk's drawers for the time being."

"Yeah, I can help with that. Best to get you your phone back before something bad happens." After finishing their exchange, they all walk back inside. "You don't have anything else to do right now, right?"

Blanc nods. "Mina said that I just had the speech for today."

"Really? Cool. After we deal with your phone, wanna head out?"

She did say she wanted her to explore Lowee, but she still feels fairly tired after all that work. "Um…sure..."

C-sha notices her fatigue as well. "You sure?"

"Yeah…"

"...Alrighty then."

"Do make sure to stay safe," warns Mina.

C-sha smirks. "Still not helping that mom archetype, y'know?"

"It's still good to keep in mind," she refutes as she splits paths to her office.

"Yeah, yeah. Catch ya later." She waves to her as they walk away.

"Likewise." Mina waves back.

"Heh. I can see how she's a good family friend," C-sha observes once she's gone. "No wonder Rom and Ram love her."

"But what about yester-"

She is quick to go back from that subject. "Eh, never mind." Still, though, she ought to check in on them...nah, that can wait; they should be fine for now.

(-)

"Hey, whatcha looking at?"

Almost hunched down looking at her phone, Nepgear snaps back up, looking at Uni. "H-huh? Oh, I was just waiting for something."

"What is it?"

"It's…" She sighs when she can't find a good way to explain it. "...Never mind. Sometimes, Neptune says the weirdest stuff and I get caught up with it."

Her logic doesn't appease her. "...Why though?"

"I don't know! A lot of times what she says turns out to be right."

"'A lot?' I think she's just lucky. Besides, she needs you to stop her from going through with the dumb stuff she comes up with."

"I...guess…" Nepgear quickly stands up from the bench she was sitting on. "Let's just forget about it. So, what'd you got there?" she asks, pointing to Uni's large bag.

"Hm? Oh." Her annoyance quickly turns to giddiness. "Get this: there's a stand just dedicated to selling Nendoroids; they're all really affordable, too!"

"Ooh, I should've come with, then. Where is it?"

"I think it's just behind this hard-to-see hallway. Here, I'll show you!" Uni doesn't waste time walking back to the stand.

"Oh, okay!" The two Candidates walk down a somewhat narrow corridor sandwiched between two food stands. Despite its poor lighting, both of them can see bright and vivid decorations at the end and… "Is that…"

In front of them are the other Candidates with Financier. Having not noticed them while facing away, they seem unusually still.

"Hey, Rom! Ram! Financier!" calls out Uni.

All of them turn around, each holding a cone of ice cream. "Hey! Is something up?" asks the latter.

"Everything's fine, and we're enjoying our time here. How about you three?" asks Nepgear.

Financier shrugs with a slight smile. "Ah, you know, just taking a little break from all the walking."

"This ice cream is pretty yummy…" Rom comments.

"Yeah…" While Rom might seem a little glum, Ram definitely still looks indifferent to everything around her; a far departure from her usual self.

"Found anything you like?" asks Uni. "I know I'm gonna come out of here with a lot more bags."

"There was a figure of a cute magical girl holding a teddy bear I saw," answered Rom. Reaching down to her bag on the floor, she pulls out the aforementioned item, still unopened from its box.

"Hey, that's a nice show! I don't see a lot of people talking about it, but yeah, I think she's cute, too," compliments Nepgear.

"Mhm," grunts Ram, staring at her sister's purchase.

"Did you buy anything yet?" Uni asks her.

Even at this moment, she seems to be thinking about something else as she automatically replies, "Nah."

Nepgear speaks up what she and her friend are thinking. "Is everything alright? You can tell us anything."

"I'm fine," Ram brusquely asserts.

"So...where are you gals heading? Found something interesting?" Financier asks, still chirper as before.

"We were just heading to look at a Nendoroid display," answers Uni, not sure if they'd be interested in that kind of stuff.

"Hey, that sounds neat. You wanna come with?" she asks the twins.

Rom seems alright, if not neutral to the idea. "Okay."

Her sister, though, doesn't look so interested. "...Eh, they look creepy, especially with how you can swap their faces."

"Aw, really? You don't have to…" Nepgear trails off as she notices a hooded figure pass behind the other three, leaning to her right to get a better view of them.

Everyone else notices and tries to find whom she's looking at. "What is it?" asks Uni.

Right before they lose sight of them, she asks, "...do any of you know where Noire went? I haven't seen her for a while."

"Me neither. So disappointing, too…" laments Uni before realizing what she's implicating. "...Was that really Noire? I wouldn't expect her to try sneaking around like that right now."

"Well, not sure if it was just me, but I think I spotted some pretty characteristic twintails behind that hood," observes Financier. She steps out of the corridor to get another look at this mystery person.

The hooded figure, who still hasn't noticed the eyes following them, continues to walk with two bags on each arm towards a much less decorated section of the mall.

"Hmm…"

"What is it, Uni?" asks Nepgear.

"That's where they're holding voice actor auditions…" Already accepting that that's Noire, disappointment starts to set in on her. "And here I thought she really wanted to hang out."

"Maybe it really isn't her," Nepgear reasons in an attempt to cheer her up. "Let's get closer!" She runs ahead to keep track of them.

"Hey, wait for us!" Without waiting for the other three, Uni chases after her.

"Let's follow them!" Financier leads the twins by their hands.

"H-hey…"

"Don't make us spill our ice cream!" They catch up to Nepgear, again peeking around the corner. They become confused when they don't see them anywhere. "Where'd she go?"

"They went into the bathroom; do you think there's some sort of secret entrance in there?" wonders Nepgear.

"Don't be ridiculous. Noire's probably going to change into some crappy disguise."

Sure enough, everyone is able to notice Lastation's CPU walk out. The only differences with her normal appearance are that she undid her twintails, brown contact lens, her princess-like dress swapped with unremarkable office attire, and, lastly, red glass frames. She still doesn't notice her friends spying on her and quickly walks away.

"Called it. Geez, I've seen her use that disguise so many times, yet no one ever figures out it's her," complains her sister.

"I don't know. Most of it is kinda easy to see through, but those glasses really seal the deal," explains Nepgear.

"You're sounding too much like Neptune." Uni sighs and walks out of her cover. "I need to talk to her about this."

Before she leaves, though, Nepgear calls out, "Hey! I just got an idea."

"What is it?"

Wryly grinning at Rom and Ram, she asks, "Do you two wanna play a prank?"

"Miss Nepgear wants to play a prank?" An unusual combination, but that only makes it more interesting for Rom.

Uni also didn't expect her to suggest that and gets defensive. "W-what are you saying?"

"Hm? I thought you'd like the idea, since, you know…"

Is this an appropriate way of getting "revenge" on her sister, if there's such a thing? Either way, she also recognizes that this isn't for her sake, but for the twins' and retracts her surprise. "I mean, I guess. Just, don't take it too far."

"Yay!" Nepgear asks Ram, "Do you have any ideas to start us off?"

At first, her spitefulness over what happened last night is enough to convince her that this is somehow related to Blanc, even if she can't find a good reason to turn down the offer. However, she then decides to take another glance at the others.

Under Nepgear's and Uni's relatively neutral expressions, she can tell that they're worn down by her silent treatment and, just as they've been telling her, genuinely want them to go back to being friends, regardless of what's been going on with her older sister.

Financier, despite her usual cheeriness, shares the same sentiment. "Hey, it'll be fun! I won't tell Mina, either."

Lastly, she looks at her sister.

Understanding her the most, Rom already knows why she's acting that way without her telling her. With the smallest smile and nod, she silently assures her that there's no sort of trick; they wholeheartedly just want to have some fun with her.

With her opinion in mind, Ram eases up her bearish frown, and, finally, she starts to retrospect on her actions. Upon differentiating between which of them did she really mean and which ones were led by her emotions, she is quickly thrown off by how many of them fall under the latter, despite her memories strictly telling her that everything she'd done was rational. Why does she need to be so uptight to everyone? Even now, her feelings are getting to her, being too embarrassed to admit that she's in the wrong. Instead, her mind starts wandering further back, keen on reflecting more on herself.

Deep in her contemplation, Rom disrupts it by handing her a bucket of water. "Look what I found."

Completely caught off-guard, she almost stumbles backwards when it almost splashes her face. "H-Huh?"

"We don't have time to stand here all day," Uni cheeringly reminds her, elated to see her change her mood.

"Um…" Looks like she "admitted" it anyways through her silence. At the very least, though, seeing her friends' encouraging reactions is the push she needed to get out of the emotional rut she was in. She missed being able to smile alongside her friends, so if this really doesn't have anything to do with Blanc, maybe it's fine to take their offer.

Without a word, Ram walks away.

This immediately worries everyone else. Nepgear asks, "W-where are you-"

"I remember seeing something cool and useful this way," Ram replies, continuing to walk.

With a collective sigh of relief, the others follow her. "Jeez, this is the most dramatic I've been with a prank…" remarks Uni.

"But we get to play a prank with Ram…" Rom gleefully says back. "It's going to be fun; I promise!"


im noticing that a lot of the ideas im coming up with is mostly slice-of-life-like sidetracking, which i hope doesnt look like too much filler
its probably that im getting an increased urge to write cute moments, not just needing to flesh out stuff

on a second note, im at 100k words !
even if it took a year, id never thought id reach that high as someone who didnt enjoy writing for school often

at the same time, now that im in this deep, i look forward for the next 100k words and possibly more (which will probably take another year)

big thanks to everyone whos been reading (tolerating) my writing through it all; please keep reading on ^ ^


Despite what she thought earlier, Blanc's work continues to pile on. The complaints sent in from both businesses and the public keep coming, barely leaving her enough time to investigate the cause of all of this. "When I get their hands on them, I swear..." she murmurs as she tries to rub away a headache.

There's a sudden knock on her door.

"What?"

C-sha opens the door and promptly walks in. "Lady Blanc, did you hear what I discovered yesterday?"

"That Copypaste was hacked? What about it?"

"I have some crucial information that can uncover who was behind that attack!"

Something tells her it's going to be something non-sensical, but she silently nods to offer her an opportunity to explain.

"In order to sabotage him, they covertly installed an external unit in his programming. On that chip, there was 'For Bom-' written on it!"

"...Meaning that whoever made that intended to turn Copypaste into a 'bomb?'" That seems only obvious.

"That's what they want you to think!" she confidently answers. "In reality, I found numerous companies starting with 'Bom,' most of them originating from Lastation! Please, you must come with me to investigate further!"

It's true that there's a lot of demolition businesses starting with "Bomb" around Gamindustri, making this breakthrough a lot more useless. At the same time, she had talked with Noire and Rei about suspicious activity coming from Lastation...perhaps she might just be right. At the same time, she can't be too confident in her conviction. "I'm currently busy at the moment. It should be better if you went by yourself. You can ask Noire for help if you need to."

"But..." Her uptight confidence turns into disappointment. "Alright, Lady Blanc; I trust your judgement. I will return by tomorrow to report what I found." With a salute, she leaves just as quickly as she came in.

That was an odd exchange. Blanc still barely knows anything about her and feels rather uncomfortable at how this girl just showed up, acting like some knight who pledged her vow to her goddess. She doesn't seem too suspicious, at the least, so maybe she'll warm up to her, unlike the last person who tried to wedge herself into her life. "I almost had a heart attack when I realized I left all of those diaries she was about to steal out in the open..."