noire becom hololive vchuber
this chapter is almost as long as the last one !
Blanc arrives at her room and steps up to her personal desk next to her bed. It's much larger than her office one, yet a slew of books and writing utensils take up most of that space. It would take forever to examine what they all say, but with the names, diagrams, bullet points, and mentions of literary devices, she can assume she was in the middle of fervently writing before losing her memories. In the middle of the desk is a computer, this time with a proper computer tower. Even on the side panels there are sticky notes that allude to some big story she was apparently writing.
Following behind her is C-sha. "You can use your computer to look up help online. I don't have the same phone model as yours, but I guess you can still ask me and I'll try to help."
"Oh, thank you." Of the desk's three drawers, two of them are nearly jammed with various books, journals, and stacks of papers, while the last one only contains her phone placed neatly in the middle. Compared to what she saw Neptune talk with, it doesn't look that fantastic, though both of them are far sleeker and seemingly more powerful than what she thought phones were like.
Without any idea on where to start, she immediately turns on the monitor to look up instructions. The black screen flashes the monitor logo, and then she is greeted by her desktop wallpaper: a family photo of herself, Rom, and Ram. "Hm." Even a static image of them brings back memories of the pain and scorn they've put her through, reinforcing them in her mind as things to fear and avoid at all costs. Yet, instead of looking away, blocking the background or anything else to ignore it, she can't look away from them. The way that they're brimming with glee as they energetically hug her from both sides...Of course they'd be glad to be there with her. They've berated her too many times about how great she was, but not is. She's already seen that they'll resort to torture when things don't go their way. And the way she's smiling...it's so neutral, but that has to mean something, right? Her own face is irking her more than it should...
C-sha had anticipated a more skittish reaction from her friend, but her motionless staring at the photo might just be worse. "Uh, you good, Blanny?"
Blanc jumps a bit, having momentarily forgotten that C-sha is behind her. "H-huh? Um, yeah, let me just…" She quickly becomes ashamed for even having such negativity within her. It feels so easy to think about that kind of stuff when they're not around. Hoping to move on from it, she opens the browser, immediately maximizes its window, and enters in her query, again using one pointer finger at a time. Maybe C-sha didn't catch her thinking about the picture for too long.
It's easy for Gold Third's leader to deduce what Blanc was thinking. If she's going to react that way when she sees all the photos with them in her phone once it's restored...Well, she'll probably understand why there are so many photos and can ignore them; she just acted that way to this wallpaper because she didn't expect it.
Meanwhile, Blanc has found the official help article faster than she expected. Even the websites are sleeker than what she thought. The instructions are simple enough for someone like her, rather unfamiliar to today's technology, to easily cruise through the process. Sure enough, the computer soon brings up a new window that tells her to wait as it does all the resetting and restoring.
As they wait, C-sha offers, "Man, I didn't know you used to keep your desk this messy. You want some help cleaning it up while we wait?"
Not like she has anything else to do. "Sure. But...where do I move these books?"
"Just anywhere else like a bookshelf is fine. It's not like there's someone who cares where they're stored anymore," she remarks.
"Okay then." She starts by collecting all of the loose papers. Taking more shallow glances at each sheet, she slowly understands that her story involved some sort of prince on a quest to save his kingdom by travelling the world...It probably was groundbreaking in her mind back then, but it's not exactly the most interesting thing to her now. What is interesting is how she can just tell how passionate she was while writing this. The thick lines, jagged writing, strikethroughs, scribbles, and erasing marks so heavy that they're crinkles near them… "Hey, C-sha?"
"Hm? What's up, Blanny?" she asks from the bookshelf.
"Have you read my books before?"
"A little bit. They were…" Her opinion on her friend's writing is why she's only read "a little bit." "...They weren't my type. Why?"
"It looks like I put a lot of work into this kind of stuff."
"Yep. Almost every other free hour you had, it seemed like you were doing something about your books. Are you interested in picking it up again or something?"
"Well, no, but…" It feels wasteful to throw away everything she's done here. "What should I do with all of this?"
"You don't have to do anything." Frankly, it's not important to her what happens to those documents.
"Hm…" She supposes that it's not the worst if she just keeps everything on the shelf, untouched forever. Though, maybe someone else will find it useful. Perhaps another writer can realize her notes into something worthy, but who can decipher all of this nonsense? She certainly can't...Or perhaps, "she" certainly can. "Hey, C-sha? Let's put everything in a box instead."
"Sure thing. Lemme just find a good box. You're gonna ship everything to someone?"
"Yeah. My other self also likes writing, right?" she asks to confirm.
C-sha lights up at her question. "Ah, I get it! Good thinking, Blanny! The best person to read your notes would be yourself, yeah?" She gives her friend a pat on her shoulder.
Her sudden touch, though startling, feels...oddly nice. "Th-thanks."
Looking around again, there doesn't seem to be any empty boxes, despite her mess. "We might need a lot of boxes to hold all of your stuff, but I think I saw a bunch somewhere else. We're just shipping your notes, not the books, right?"
"I guess so, though maybe I should discuss this with her first." Her other self would probably not appreciate her thrusting all of this to her out of nowhere. "Let's not pack until she comes."
"Eh, fair enough." She understands it'd be rude of them to just thrust a bunch of papers to her out of nowhere. "So you just wanna keep everything here for now?"
She doesn't mind the mess. "Yeah, it's okay."
They wouldn't have to wait much longer for the phone, anyways. "M'kay." There's something else she wants to know after she proposed that idea, though. "Y'know, I thought you didn't like her."
Now that some time has passed, her opinion about her has become more complicated than just resentment like she'd thought. It's true that she strongly dislikes how cold and quick to anger the other Blanc was, and she still wants to try her best to avoid becoming like her, but she was definitely making an effort to be friendly, even coming back and defending her from Rom and Ram. Just like Neptune said, it's just part of her personality, and it's not really her business to try changing it. Unable to sort out her thoughts at the moment, she instead says, "I, uh, really want to make sure my past efforts don't go to waste. It's not like I hate her, either..."
"It takes a lot to truly hate anyone," adds C-sha. "That's what I think, anyways."
Is she implying something about her current situation? "Are you…"
"Hm?"
She doesn't want to offend her by asking the question, just in case she really was thinking about something else. Judging by her neutral expression, she instead chooses to assume that she wasn't. "...Never mind." Nevertheless, that serves as a reminder that she'll have to confront those two someday and, just like with her thoughts of the other Blanc, she'll have to re-evaluate her relationship with them. She remembers her outburst against them, vocalizing her hatred for them and how they treated her in such a fierce manner...She absolutely still feels that way, but when will she change her mind? Should she even change her mind in the first place?
Suddenly, the computer plays a notification jingle, grabbing their attention. "Oh, looks like it's done." Blanc doesn't wait to grab her phone and check it out. Still rather unfamiliar with the device, she presses the few buttons on it at random until its screen lights up. "'Swipe to unlock,' huh?"
C-sha walks up behind her, looking over her. "Mhm. You can set a new passcode, if you'd like. Just make sure ya don't forget it again, y'hear?"
"But-" Turning around to see her friend's playful smirk compels her to copy her expression. "Hah, I see. That's funny."
It's been too rare recently to see her smile like that. "Anyways, we can do that later. Wanna head out now?"
She feels a little less tired. "Uh, sure."
"Cool! There's a lot of nice things around Lowee you ought to see. C'mon!"
(-)
From inside the city is Blanc's third way of viewing Lowee. Of the three, this just might be her favorite. At first, seeing so many people around her intimidated her and kept her close to C-sha. When she looks above them all, however, she sees that every single one of the buildings around her has its own personality that she can grasp just from its exterior. She feels welcomed by Lowee to explore its long, long past just by walking down its streets.
"Speechless, huh?" asks C-sha, walking by her side at a carefree pace.
"Uh huh…" Blanc's subconscious miraculously does the work of matching her friend's speed while avoiding other pedestrians while her eyes snap to each structure they walk by.
But, without her noticing, a couple of kids run past her, and one of them barely shoulder-checks her. "Woah!"
"H-huh?" She finally snaps out of her stupor to see what happened. While she barely felt any pain, the girl she hit is on the ground, rubbing her slightly scraped knee. She doesn't hesitate to ask her while offering a hand, "A-are you alright? I'm sorry, I-I wasn't paying attention..."
Despite her injury, she's still beaming with joy from whatever she was doing with her friend. She takes her hand, answering, "Yeah, I'm alright. Maybe I need a bandage, though…"
"Oh, um…" She doesn't have any on her.
"Ah, that's fine. We can deal with it later," assures her friend. "Though, where's your hat, Lady Blanc?"
She forgot that she usually wore one. She remembers that someone else had it, but not who. "I, uh, don't know."
"That's pretty weird." It's rare for him to see her without it.
"I think you look nice without it," his friend says instead.
"R-Really? Uh, thanks..." Even if they're kids, she still feels rather shy talking to strangers.
"Whatcha doing here, anyways?" asks the girl.
"Just going for a stroll; nothing unusual. You kids staying safe?" asks C-sha with a smile.
"We're fine! You don't have to be worried. We're just heading to arcades 'cause we heard they got new games!"
"Sounds fun. Just don't stay there too late!"
"We know! See ya!" They both run past them, excited to spend hours trying them out.
Once out of sight, she comments, "Going to the arcades after school...That's a classic childhood moment."
"Is that so…?" At least it's nice to see such happy citizens, unbothered by and perhaps approving of her sudden announcement earlier in the day.
"Anyways, you can ask me anything about any place here; I've visited most of them," she offers while they resume walking.
"Really?" There are way too many questions she has, but she'll settle on those about the shop right next to them. Pointing to it, she asks, "Have you been to this one?"
The rather small building with a large front window and a hanging wooden sign, complete with a drawing of a potion on it, quickly rings a bell to C-sha. "Oh, that? It's a pretty great store to stock up on rare but important adventuring goods, run by a pretty nice alchemist. She's a bit peculiar, but I think you can tell that she put in a lot of effort to get this running all by herself."
"Yeah." This place looks like one of the oldest ones around, with its wear and sparse technology showing its age. And, looking through the window, there aren't any employees inside...Well, it doesn't seem like anyone is inside, not even the shopkeeper. She spots a white bunny head-like hat from behind the cashier counter moving side to side, though. "I'll make sure to visit when I need to."
"It might be a bit...advanced, so make sure you come with someone like me." The owner could probably run circles around B-sha in terms of entrepreneurial cunning.
"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." They continue walking, and just the store right after grabs her attention. "What about this one?"
Many variously colored blocks make up this edifice, and many LEDs line up against each of their edges to make their colors pop out. It might seem flashy and obnoxiously loud, but it somehow manages to fit in with Lowee's aesthetics. C-sha is a bit less familiar with this one, but has at least visited it once. "That's one of the larger magic stores and schools around Gamindustri. There's a bunch like it in other places, too, but I think this one is the biggest. But, hey, not like you need to go to a school when you have someone like Mina, right?"
"Mhm." The place looks kind of "fun," if you could describe a store like that. Maybe she'll still visit someday to buy something once she learns enough from her Oracle. Resuming their walk, she soon spots yet another place with interesting decorations, this time far off from the main street. "And what about that one?" she asks while pointing to it.
"That's Loweenie Hut Jr's. I'll be honest, that is one of the few places I haven't been to and probably never will."
"Okay…" She'll decide to ignore it as well and resume strolling.
"So, whaddaya think so far?" asks C-sha, ready to hear her thoughts.
As she thinks of an answer, even just thinking about her surroundings brings a mellow smile to her face. "This place is...really lovely. Like I could walk around forever." Not even the cold weather dampens her mood. In fact, it might even add to the city's comfortable ambience. Knowing that she is welcome to pass through the city whenever she feels stressed fills her with gratitude for being part of Lowee.
"I knew you'd like it! I'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't like Lowee's scenery."
A singular fretful thought does bother Blanc. "And I guess it's up to me to make sure everything stays this nice, huh?"
"Hey, don't worry about it now, Blanny! You gotta save all that responsibility stuff for tomorrow at the earliest. For now, there's actually one place I had in mind that you ought to check out. Shouldn't be too far out, too."
"Oh? What is it?"
She starts jogging forward. "You'll see!"
"Hey, wait!" It's a bit hard for Blanc to keep up with her friend.
(-)
"Woah…" In front of the two is one of Lowee's largest parks, with its vast, open field, neatly blanketed with snow, and quaint brick roads winding through its hills. The lamps dotted along the side of these pathways are turning on just as sunset is about to approach. While some are quietly enjoying a walk along the road, just like Blanc and C-sha, there are also kids running around and playing all sorts of playground games on the fields. There's even a frozen lake with skaters off to one side.
"Wanna take a seat? We've been walking for a while," C-sha asks while pointing with her thumb to a nearby bench. To its side is a snowman with its builder nowhere in sight.
"Um, sure." Her legs have been getting tired.
"Cool. We'll probably get an even better look of the place sitting down, anyways." C-sha is first to sit down, patting the spot next to her. "C'mere!"
Taking her offer, she notices that being stationary really does give her an even more soothing outlook of Lowee. On top of everything she's admired so far, things like being able to properly see the light snow slowly drift down or the trees' leaves slowly swaying in the wind can almost lull Blanc to sleep.
"Make sure you don't nod off; cold weather's still not a good place to sleep in," jokes C-sha.
"Oh, uh, right." Taking her warning seriously, she straightens herself up.
Out of nowhere, An idea pops into C-sha's head, and she suddenly stands up and starts walking away. "Actually, there's one thing that can make this even better, though. Sit tight for a bit!"
She doesn't have time to respond before she leaves. "Um, okay," she answers to no one.
While it's nice to have C-sha or her other friends around, being able to enjoy the view by herself, noting everything at her own pace without having to worry about talking, adds to how calmingly pleasant her excursion has been. Simply staring in slight awe at everything around her in near-silence makes for a sublime experience capable of slipping her into a trance. Maybe she can start sneaking out early in the morning everyday to take walks by herself, where there aren't many people around.
There is one thing in particular that has been piquing her interest: the snowman right next to her on her right. The two large snowballs and branches for arms are pretty typical, but from its front, facial features are poked out to resemble a calm smiling face; Blanc's face, to be exact. There's even an extra snow lump on top that resembles her beret. Who built this? They had to have been here recently to make this, right?
"Hey, nice snowman! Or, actually, snowwoman is more appropriate, I think."
"H-Huh?!" The sudden voice shocks Blanc, nearly jumping off the bench as her instincts repel her away from the source. Turning to her left where the voice came from, she finds...the stranger she met that other night.
Her reaction, in turn, causes the young woman to jump back as well. "Oh! S-sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to say hi!"
Taking a breather to recover, Blanc assures her, "I-it's fine. I was kind of distracted."
"Yeah, I'd be too if I had the perfect spot to look over the national park, heh heh!" She makes herself comfortable, leaning her lanky self forward on the back on the bench. "So, it's nice to see you again, Lady Blanny! Err...Is it fine if I call you that?"
She's never heard that specific name before. Where'd she get it? "Um, sure."
"Yay! Anyways, pretty nice seeing you out here while on my walk. I've been really wanting to know how you've been ever since that night! Did everything work out well after you left with Lady Neptune? I also just read about what happened the day after with your sisters. You've been having a bunch of bad luck, it seems, huh?"
She's still way too overwhelming with her words. What was the first question she asked, again? "U-uh...I've been okay."
A rather vague answer. "Just 'okay,' huh? Well, I guess that's pretty good, given everything you've been through recently. But still! The fact that it happened in the first place is, is just…" She can't even find the right words to describe her pity. "...is just, bleh! If there's, like, any way I can help you or make you feel better, don't hesitate to ask me!"
Blanc is starting to feel more apprehensive towards her. Her good will doesn't appear deceiving...which only makes her more suspicious. Why is she being so nice to her? "Thanks, but I'm not sure that I can share what I'm thinking about. It might be private, or my friends might not like it if I do."
"You can tell me anything! I can keep it a secret, too, if you'd like."
"U-um…" At this point, she's starting to edge away from her, hoping that C-sha will come back soon while getting ready to run out of there.
It's only here that the young woman finally notices how uncomfortable she's making her feel. Backing away to give her space, she apologizes, "Oh, um, sorry about that. The funny thing is that I know that I talk really fast, but I, I just can't do anything about it! Everytime I try to force myself, it just kinda happens anyway..."
It's not just that she's a fast talker. "I...I don't know why you want to help me so much, especially since…I don't know you..." It feels a bit rude saying that, doubly so if this woman is genuinely trying to be helpful, but she just has to point out how meekly uncomfortable she feels.
"Because you're my goddess! I know that it's a bit weird how a citizen like me cares and knows a lot about you, but not the other way around, and the whole amnesia thingy is only making things a lot worse, but I only want the best for you, honest! All of the citizens of Lowee do!"
Is that what's supposed to happen when you're a CPU? Having complete strangers be in full support of you? When she puts it like that, Blanc supposes it makes sense. "I-I see…Sorry about being...you know. But, i-it's hard talking to someone I'm not familiar with."
The stranger quickly nods. "Oh, I see, I see; that's only fair. Well...wanna be friends, then?"
The sudden question only makes Blanc want to withdraw deeper into her shell. "W-what?"
"Wanna be friends? I think you're pretty cool and cute, even more so now, and I promise I can do a lot of stuff to help you out!" She tries to clarify. A moment later, her awaiting smile peters off upon realizing something. "I mean, uh, I guess a citizen asking to be friends with her goddess is kinda weird...Actually it really is weird now that I think about it, huh…" She then flusteredly pleads, "L-look, I, I know it looks like I'm taking advantage of your amnesia situation and stuff, but, uh, I promise I really wasn't trying to! W-we can just forget that I asked that! Sorry if I creeped you out or anything like that by saying that!"
It's true that, under the right circumstances, this strange woman can be pleasant to be around, and she certainly has some likeable traits like trying to be considerate of her or how she stood up for her that night. But, the way she rushes her through conversations so quickly is just so overpowering. Throw in how quickly she changes her mood and she makes for the epitome of an energy vampire for Blanc. The worst part is that all of this is unintentional. Because of that, she'd feel bad turning her away, but there's only so much she can withstand.
In the end, she decides to quietly respond, "I-It's alright. Just, please, slow down. You're kind of...scaring me."
"I, I didn't mean to-" She has to catch herself from speeding through her words again. Hearing that she's frightening her goddess is effective in compelling her to put more effort in slowing herself down. Taking a deep breath, she apologizes with deliberate enunciation, "I'm sorry. I guess I should leave you alone, then."
Seeing her become dejected so quickly makes Blanc feel somewhat guilty, as if she just hurt her with her request. "I-it's alright, you can stay! I…" It takes a bit more effort to admit, "I really think you're nice."
Her shame turns around just as quickly as it came in as she looks at her with wide eyes. "Really?"
It feels a bit funny cheering up someone who looks older and is taller than her. "You did stand up for me that night, even against a goddess, and you were still worried about me...and I think you're trying to change yourself for me, right?"
Even with how quiet and unsure she is, or perhaps it's because of that, her compliments easily make her blush. "D'aww, it's nothing, it's nothing."
"And, I guess I would be okay with you being worried and caring for me if I...knew you better…" That last part was too hard for her to say out loud.
"You would?!" Catching herself from going overboard once more, the young woman clears her throat. "W-well, my name is Gekko, just, uh, any other adventurer in Gamindustri. A long time Loweean who just finished some long-term travelling and began settling back home right in the capital...yeah! Nice to meet you!"
She's already much easier to talk to. "It's nice to meet you, too," she responds with a slight smile.
Before she forgets, she takes out her phone. "Oh, and, uh, wanna exchange info?"
A bit sudden, but Blanc supposes that it makes sense. "Sure." Slowly taking out her own, she needs to take a bit more time navigating the unfamiliar menus.
Gekko tries to show no signs of urgency. "Take your time!"
Does this button lead to the contacts list? No, that's her notes. What about this icon? No, that brings her to her camera roll which has… "...Hm." Why are there so many of them? Did she really need so many?
"Huh? Something up? Ran into frustrating UI stuff?" Noticing her new friend's sudden souring, she takes a glance at her screen and finds hundreds of photos of Rom, Ram, and Blanc in them, newly loaded in from the phone's restoration. "I guess it's your little sisters that are still bothering you, huh?"
"...Oh! Sorry…" Her comment snaps her back, and she immediately tries to exit that menu. Why does she keep falling into that trance whenever she sees those two? And to do it in front of someone new, too...
Before she returns looking for her contacts list, Gekko's hyperactiveness spikes, and she interrupts her by excitedly pointing to one of the photos. "Oh, but this one is really cute, though! The way you're sitting there all cute and reading while they're pillow-fighting with each other next to you…um…" When she realizes her impulsive move, she quiets down when she notices Blanc's mood getting worse. "Are you okay…?"
Those two look the most obnoxious in this picture. Even if they're clearly playing, the way they're hitting each other reminds her of their behavior last night as they repeatedly assaulted her with their magic. It's obviously such a far-fetched and spiteful connection, but...but…it just feels so natural making these perverse thoughts.
"Man, something must've gone really bad if just looking at them is making you like this," she observes, rather concerned.
At this point, her id takes over and...You know what? Maybe she shouldn't be so reserved about telling others about her problems! Her other friends aren't around to tell her to stop her, either, and more people definitely need to know what kind of kids her sisters are. Out of nowhere she exclaims with a raised voice, "It's...They've been just awful! Ever since they got word of a spell that could change me back, all they've done is harass and intimidate me into using that spell, no matter how many times I told them I didn't want to. They even resorted to violence and electrocuted me and froze me over and over when they weren't getting their way! It's all just so…!"
She absolutely didn't expect the Candidates to act so cruel to their own sister, but seeing her goddess burst into this kind of rant out of nowhere is almost equally as shocking...Well, it'd be hard to find someone who could forgive all of that. All she can say back right now is "Ooh...Yikes."
Her scornful gaze locks itself at the myriad of photos of them. "The other me had to beat them up, and now Noire and Uni are watching over them in Lastation. I hope that they stay there for good."
"Well, ah…I mean, I think it's sorta their duty to come back and help out Lowee at some point..." Gekko tries to point out.
She clenches her phone harder. "I don't care. They don't deserve to be goddesses at all. How can anyone look up to them if they whine when someone disagrees with them and use violence to get their way? They could just stay there for all I care."
Her lengthy tirade is only getting more upsetting to hear...Well, maybe she's just venting! Yeah, that's it; she didn't actually mean what she said. Once she lets it all out, she'll feel better. For now, maybe she can help her recover sooner by placating her...with a hug.
Her sudden movement from behind almost makes her drop her phone. "Huh?! What are you-"
Gekko speaks more slowly and softly. "Yeah...They really are just a bunch of nonsense, huh? I'm really sorry you had to go through all of that."
She freaks out at the touch of a stranger...or at least she should've freaked out. Instead, she finds solace from her embrace, just as if she's a close friend. Every attempt she makes to break free brushes her against her arms; a sensation that tranquilizes her panicked state. Why, though? Is it just because she consoled her when she needed it? Whatever it is, it cools her anger at a mysteriously quick rate and calms her back to her usual self.
"It bums me out even more that I can't do anything to help. I totally would do something about it, but...Well, I guess I can try stopping them, but what can I do against a couple of goddesses?"
"It's alright. I'm just glad that you listened to...whatever I said." That resentment towards her sisters is still there, but she can at least look at it from a more rational viewpoint. "I'm sorry that I...yelled out like that. I don't even know why I felt the need to do that. I must look really dumb…"
"It's okay, it's okay! Sometimes, we just have to vent and let it all out! It's a lot better than just bottling it up inside and letting it explode. Lending an ear was the least I could do." As she lets go, she surmises, "Well, I guess I could give some advice on what I would do in your position, but..."
"What is it?"
She's a bit hesitant, but there's probably no harm in just putting it out there. "Eh...It might not be that useful. I was gonna say that, assuming that talking wasn't working out, all that's left is to train yourself super hard for the next time they come. I don't know when that's gonna be, though."
They've already proven themselves to be relentless in their pursuit. Blanc might not know much about Noire and Uni, so it seems inevitable that they'll break free or sneak out and come flying at her once more very soon. And honestly, the idea of indefinitely hiding, running away from them, and crying for help from her friends...None of those have been getting them anywhere close to stopping. If they're willing to fight, it's only fair that she fights back, and she's going to need to prepare herself for that moment. She might've been adverse to engaging in combat, but if that's what she has to do to put this torment to an end, then so be it. "You're right; I should start training soon. Besides, I'm a CPU, so I'm going to have to do that anyways."
"Yeah, that's true, that's true. I'll spoil it right now: you can pull off some really cool moves with all that strength you got!" she informs her with a grin.
"Is that so?"
Gekko's phone sets off an alarm. Her eyes widen upon looking at her new notification. "Oh, I almost forgot about that! Can't afford to be late picking my new furniture up, heh! Sorry, Lady Blanny, but I really gotta go right now."
"But we haven't given-"
"We can talk later!" She's about to take off, but stops herself and faces towards Blanc. "Oh, and Lady Blanny?"
"Yes?"
She flashes a cheerful grin. "You can always let me know if you need any help, whether it'd be with fighting something or if you just want someone to talk to!" After that remark, she quickly sprints back towards the city, waving back at a hasty rate. "See you!"
Returning the wave at a much slower pace, she wants to say "thank you" or maybe try again to remind her about giving her number to her, but she is already out of earshot. Guess she's going to have to find her if she wants to talk to her again.
That was certainly an exhausting exchange, especially the "venting" part, as Gekko called it. It felt strangely cathartic to just let out her feelings to someone new. Even though her new friend didn't mind it at all, Blanc wonders if she's really the kind of person to enjoy doing something like that. She undoubtedly hated what Rom and Ram did to her, but just cursing them out to someone, even if she obviously never intends to let them hear what she said...it feels dirty in hindsight. Maybe she should avoid doing stuff like that in the future before something goes wrong.
(-)
From the corner of her eye, she sees C-sha finally returning, holding a paper cup in each hand. "Hey, Blanny! Sorry it took so long. The food truck was in a different spot than I remembered, and the line was pretty long."
"Hm?" Once she gets closer, she can see steam coming out of both cups. "What did you get?"
"Hot chocolate! Perfect weather for this kind of drink, yeah?" She hands her one while sitting down next to her. "Be careful; it's hot! Wait, I already said that, heh."
"Thank you." She uses both hands to take it and takes a tiny sip. In an instant, just that little amount warms her body up. Even though she was perfectly fine tolerating the cold, this inner heat is a simply sublime feeling; a perfect complement to enjoying the park's view in peaceful bliss.
Just her natural content smile after each sip is a heartwarming sight for C-sha. Totally worth the price for the chocolate, and even more.
Before she forgets, Blanc asks, "By the way, C-sha? I think someone was in the middle of using this bench before we got here." Even though no one came to claim it while she was talking to Gekko, the possibility is still there.
"You're referring to that snowman? Nah, that's always been there."
"Huh...Do you know who built this?"
"Yeah, Rom and Ram did," she casually mentions.
"Oh." She tells herself to not get too caught up with them; she's already done enough raving for one day.
C-sha quickly follows up with, "Speaking of them, there's something I wanted to point out about them. Wanna talk about it?"
Blanc starts suspecting that she brought her here just to talk like this. "If it's important, then maybe."
"Maybe not super-important, but I think you ought to hear me out before the next time you see them." C-sha makes herself even more lax, cementing herself further into the bench. "Again, we don't have to talk about it, no pressure. It's still pretty early to really think too much about them."
Too late to mention that. At least she finished her "discussion" about them before her friend came by. Nevertheless, they still don't make for a pleasant topic, and she's all tuckered out from her talk with Gekko. "I think I'd prefer to talk about it later. Sorry…"
"Hey, it's alright! We can just kick back and relax for now," says C-sha before sipping more of her hot chocolate.
She didn't expect her to easily drop the topic, but that's just another thing that she can admire her for. "Yeah."
Just as if she didn't bring them up at all, she wonders out loud, "Y'know, I probably should've asked you to come along instead of keeping it a surprise. I saw some new yummy-looking pastries that would've gone great with this, but I wouldn't have been able to carry all of them."
Sounds enticing, especially since she hasn't eaten since breakfast. However, given everything C-sha's done for her… "Well…"
She looks over at her, who's staring down at her hot chocolate and avoiding eye contact. "Hm? What's up?"
"You've already done a lot for me today, so, um…" Showing her a bunch of cool places in Lowee, buying her drinks…and that's only the things she's done for her today. She doesn't want to be too much of a burden, especially when she can't offer anything in return.
"Pfft, don't worry about it! It's just what friends do." She then jokes, "Hey, if ya really want to help me back, you can learn how to cook and make me something good every so often."
She looks up, nodding her head. "I see. I'll try to start learning soon, then."
Blanc doesn't seem to get jokes that often. To be fair, that one was easy to take seriously if she didn't know too much about C-sha. "Naw, you really don't have to, unless you really want to learn how to cook. You already have a lot on your plate."
"I do!" She really is rather determined to do something for her friends.
Seeing her so firm about that instead of her usual shy self makes C-sha heartily chuckle. "You're just adorable sometimes, Blanny. Y'know that?"
She wasn't anticipating a compliment like that. "A-am I?"
Taking another sip, C-sha checks her phone when it starts to vibrate. "...Huh."
"What's wrong?" Noticing her friend tense up, she tries sneaking a peek at the message she just received.
"Uh…" No point in hiding it now, she figures.
It's a text message from Mina. "Are you with Lady Blanc now? I apologize for being sudden, but I just got word that Rom and Ram are coming home right now."
"...O-oh." Wait, what? Why are they coming home so early? How is she supposed to prepare herself for them now?!
"Hey, calm down. We said they'd only come back once they're calm and ready to talk, so they're not gonna do anything nasty to you," reassures C-sha.
She doesn't believe for a moment that they wouldn't assault her the moment they see her; that's exactly what happened yesterday. They came to her with the other Blanc to "talk," and look how that turned out.
"And...I'll make sure to protect you if they try anything nasty. Promise."
"..." It's not like she doesn't think she'll try, but remembering how fast they stunned the both of them and flew away with her, it's hard to put her faith in her, or anyone, for that matter.
Trying to conciliate her is already becoming a troublesome task. "I...Remember that thing I wanted to tell you? I think now's the only time to say it, so…"
She doesn't interject. There isn't much hope left in her, but perhaps her words really do have something to help her. Odd how quick she turned from animosity back to fear the moment she hears they're coming...
C-sha sighs and begins with, "We've seen that they've been pretty...impossible to talk to, right?"
She silently nods.
"If we can't talk them down, then you've probably been worried that they'll keep on hunting you down forever, am I right?"
"I wanted to prepare myself to fight them off, but…" There's certainly no time for that, now.
Such an idea causes C-sha to raise an eyebrow.
"...Did I say something wrong?"
That would be the most natural thing to do for most people, but hearing that from this new Blanc... "...No, you're good. Anyways, uh, I want you to think about all the cool places I showed you today. It certainly took more than just you to build them, right? Contracting private services, getting in touch with construction companies, working with licensing..."
"Yes…" She doesn't know where she's going with this.
"And when you're teaming up to work on something, there's gotta be an agreement of some sorts between you and the builders or whatever. "
"Right…"
"You can bet that a lot of those decisions usually involved deadlocks like the one you have with Rom and Ram."
The idea of having to go through everything she's been through with those two but on a daily basis is downright terrifying. "R-Really? Even with all the fighting?"
"Nah. All that scuffling with each other is kinda...a thing that you goddesses like to do, so when you see that happen, there probably isn't anything too serious going on between them, though…" That clearly wasn't the case last time. "Uh, back to what I was saying! It's not like you were beating up a bunch of businessmen. It was a fight with words, but you've already seen that those kinds of battles can still be pretty exhausting. In fact, there were a lot of stories you used to tell me about frustrating meetings with contracting builders and all that stuff. A couple broken desks, yells of pure frustration that can be heard from across the Basilicom...I think for a few of those arguments, you got your way with a couple of unhinged threats or just by your intimidating aura. I bet Mina has a lot more to say about this."
"Sounds scary…They must've been really hard to talk to." She still hopes to avoid being like that at all costs.
"Yeah, but hey, it turned out alright in the end, yeah? Lowee has all of these cool places to visit and check out, and it's all because you managed to find some consensus, even with all the spats that came up."
"How so?" Is there some sort of negotiating tactic from her past that she can use now?
"Well, the catch is that Lowee actually could've been better."
Blanc tilts her head at that. What does that mean?
"At least, better according to you, which, y'know, isn't always what everyone else thinks. Compromise might mean you have to give up something you want, but at least it gets things done between people."
"So you're saying…"
"Yeah. I know it seems impossible, especially after yesterday, but I still think there's some way to talk Rom and Ram into accepting you, possibly by offering them something in return. I would really appreciate it if we gave it another shot." Before Blanc can interject, she adds, "And no, I'm not asking you to return to how you were like they want, honest. They seem pretty hellbent on that point, but there's got to be another way you can appease them. I know it."
Blanc immediately starts thinking of ways to satisfy their demands. But, she quickly runs to a wall when she remembers that their core gripe is how she won't take the spell; there's not really a way to go halfway on something like that.
"And hey, something new might come up! If something calmed them down, we can probably use that to get them completely off your back."
"I guess…" The fact that she doesn't have any specific advice isn't encouraging her. "I still think we should prepare for if…they try to ambush us…"
"Still don't trust them that much, huh…" They must've been really torturous for her to foster this need to focus on self-defense. "They should already realize that Mina won't prepare the spell, even if they get to you again. There's no point for them to try beating you up in the first place."
That makes sense, but there's still a nagging fear of them hurting her for whatever reason. They might even do something like finding a way to use the spell without Mina. "I guess...I just don't know. Are they really going to not hurt me?"
C-sha should've answered "of course," but Blanc's uneasiness is starting to spread to her, too. "We'll...be better prepared. They won't be able to catch us off-guard with a surprise Ice Coffin again. And I still really doubt that's gonna happen! Let's keep our chin up and hope for the best!"
"Yeah…" Her words of encouragement aren't getting to Blanc. Putting her worries about that possibility aside for now, there's still the problem that the end to this sibling conflict is nowhere to be found. The threat of being forced back to her old self will torment her forever or until they really do use the spell on her. In fact, now that she thinks about it, even if she successfully fends them off like Gekko suggested, that won't stop them from trying again. Guess there really is nothing but hoping for something to come out of nowhere to save her…
Her friend has one more thing to say to try cheering her up. It might completely backfire, but it's still worth giving it a shot. "I know that the idea of doing things with them is sickening to you, but...consider this. Helping out to cook dinner for you, taking you places like the other Lowee, wanting to teach you about being a CPU the 'right' way before they learned about the spell… The first two days have shown that they really are capable of being nice to you. They're just as desperate as you in wanting to end this feud, too.
"They want to go back to doing fun stuff with you like reading books, going to amusement parks, or even little things like building that snowman. You might not care if you'll never do those things with them again, and you might think that cutting ties with them or something like that would benefit you all, but you really shouldn't. Sure, our friends and I will try our best to support you, but out of all of us, Rom and Ram really go beyond when it comes to backing you up. They've gone through hell to save you from so many tough spots, and once this is all over, they'll always fight with their lives to keep you safe. I can guarantee that.
"So, once again, I'm asking if you can find it in yourself to forgive them. Don't think of them as villains or something, but just misguided kids. We just need them to look past that spell and get back to accepting you as their older sister. Just like everything I showed you today, I promise that you, I, and everyone else will be happier if we all can come to a consensus to end this feud."
Blanc gives that snowman one more look. As if to satisfy her friend's wishes, she tries her hardest to envision an idealistic future where they truly enjoy each other's company. Running around and playing in these fields, building all sorts of snow structures together, enjoying hot drinks not so different to what she's doing with C-sha…Yet, she can only entertain that thought for so long before her animosity returns and razes that fantasy into nothing. For the first time in a while, she's reminded of their potential as great siblings, but their recent actions are swift to nullify that merit of theirs. She remembers how they both were quick to accept her promise to be a good older sister and quick to reject her the moment she said she didn't want to return to her old self.
But, despite everything they've done to her, all of their wrongdoings really can be traced back to that individual confession. If she avoids getting stuck on demonizing them for being so hard-headed and looks past that, there really isn't much wrong with them. During those first two days, she, dare she say it, enjoyed having them around, and it's clear that her friends want their relationship to return to that way.
Of course, that doesn't discredit that they've hurt her. Something has to be done against them for all the pain they've put her through. Even if they fully apologize for it all...No, that should be fine. If they show remorse for their actions and promise to do better, there shouldn't be any reason to inflict any punishment, right? She's...not quite sure how to answer her own question. Does she just have some desire for retribution? To give them a taste of what they've done to her? If she does, she's certainly too afraid to acknowledge it.
With all the thinking she's done, she's probably kept C-sha waiting long enough, and she needs to give her an answer. However, she's completely 50-50 on choosing to forgive them, unable to confidently pick yes or no. Breaking the silence, she reluctantly settles on murmuring, "...I'll try. I'll see what I can do."
Just the chance that they'll get back together is enough to warm her heart. She responds with an encouraging smile, "Guess all we can really do is try, huh? I promise that this is a step in the right direction."
"Yeah…"
She receives another text. "...Looks like they just landed at the Basilicom. Just in time, too, heh."
Before she types a reply that they're on their way and gets up, Blanc near-inaudibly interrupts her. "U-um…"
"Hm? What's up?"
"...Can we stay here a little longer?" At least she can use this view to give her mind clarity one last time before confronting them.
The way she asked that is not dissimilar to a kid wanting to stay at a theme park, earning another adoring chuckle from C-sha."...You know what? Sure, maybe five more minutes. Gives us time to finish this hot choco, too."
so i guess gekko is my first completely original character, huh
i hope she wont come off as too annoying (same with ud c-sha), especially with the whole over-talkative thing
please treat her well :D (and ill be getting a lot more into ud c-sha, just sometime after i let the lowee cpus deal with their thing)
for physical descriptions, i prefer giving little tidbits about her every so often when she shows up like ive been doing so far, but maybe a lot of people prefer just a full description somewhere?
i probably should write a sneak peek involving rom ram and nepgear flying back but i dont feel like theres anything too important to say (that is, its taking me too long to figure out what to write)
instead have an omake consisting of a deleted unfinished scene from last chapter that in retrospect feels really random; can you guess where this wouldve went in the chapter and how it connected to the story?
"Man, why do they bother opening up a Pizza Tower if they can't build a tower in the mall?"
"They have a tower set up there." Financier points to the plastic decor set up in the corner of the restaurant upon arrival. For the most part, the place with its obnoxiously cartoonish yet charming decorations isn't very busy, given the time of day. The few people who are here seem content with minding their own business.
"Yeah, but...you know what I meant." The multi-floored tower was nice to look at, and it even had a cool play place. "Anyways, can we please have a pepperoni pizza?"
"Sure thing." The three of them get in line.
As they wait, Rom spots something from the corner of her eye: a tackboard, decorated with various crayon drawings, with a pile of readily available drawing tools sprawled across a table under it. Most of the drawings praise the food chain, sometimes with a clever pop culture reference. "Let's draw something, Ram," she asks while pointing to it.
"Hm? Oh, sure." Even if she's not feeling her best, drawing is always fun for her. "Financier, can we-"
"Of course," she answers without skipping a beat.
"Awesome!" They both run off, leaving her in line while they run off to the table. Ram immediately reaches for pink, blue, and brown crayons. "I thought it was that burger place that has these drawings available."
"I dunno; I guess they took that idea." Rom takes a moment to think more about what to draw, looking at the drawings above her for inspiration.
Most of the time, these pictures simply praise the food chain, mostly with fan art of the mascots, sometimes with other video game characters. This time, there's one card that stands out: a very well-drawn, well-shaded view of the restaurant; it must've taken longer than someone's order to finish. Most importantly, the tower in the corner has many red circles drawn on it.
"What are ya looking at, Rom?" Ram looks at the card in question, then immediately to the tower. Seeing as there's nothing wrong with it from the outside, there must be something suspicious on the inside. "You know what we have to do, right?"
"Is it really okay to touch and move the decorations?"
"Yeah; clearly, they were okay with the person who hid something in it in the first place." With a determined curiousness, she runs to the side of the tower and starts pushing the light standee of a tower aside. "I knew it! Rom, come over here!" she beckons after gasping.
"Huh?" Joining her by her side, she becomes equally interested at the sight of a stereotypical pirate treasure chest hidden behind the tower. "Whoa...what do you think is inside?"
"Let's find out!" she announces before finding the lock on the front. "We need a key."
"I think this is someone's personal belongings; they won't want us touching it," believes Rom.
"That's stupid; who'd hide their stuff in a place like this?"
"No one would expect it, though."
"That's what they do in video games; of course people would expect it." Ram stands up and walks back to the cards. "C'mon, they probably drew the key's location here too."
"Oh, you mean my key?"
"Huh?" Both of them turn to find an unassuming stranger smiling at them: a girl with straight black hair, dressed in typical office attire.
"Yeah, I put that there. I thought it would be neat for someone to find."
"What's in it?" asks Rom.
She cracks a mischievous smile. "Well, what's the fun in telling you? You have to open it yourselves."
"Where's the key, then?"
"You're also gonna need to figure that out too." She settles herself on a nearby table.
Fair enough. "Hm…" Ram resumes her search for clues on the board.
"Hint: it's not on that board, Lady Ram," advises the stranger with a smile.
She flicks her head to her. "What?" On the opposite side of the restaurant is another board, so she checks there instead.
Rom follows her sister, helping out to find more clues for this "mystery." "Is there something here?"
"I don't see anything!" There isn't anything of interest here; simply more cards praising the place.
"You gotta look harder!" The stranger shouts over.
Ram does exactly that and looks harder, not even sure how she's improving her searching. "I don't see anything! Unless…" There's a drawing of a soda fountain, quickly drawn with black crayon, with a black circle on the side that might look like a clue. "Hey, I think I found something!"
Rom finds the fountain drawing too. Matching up the drawing with the nearby fountain, though… "Hey, Ram?" she asks while pointing to it.
"Huh? Oh…" Said circle exactly matched with the nearby trash can. She snaps a glare at the girl, demanding an answer. "Hey, what gives?!"
At first, the goddess's scorn strikes fear into her as it should, but she suddenly calms herself to her previous slyness. "It is what it is."
Rom, hesitant to actually search the trash bin of course, realizes something. "I think this is a prank."
"...You're right." She gives another harsh frown at her. "You almost got us, but no way that anyone can prank us! I bet you don't even have anything in that box!"
"No, there's a prize inside, I promise," she assures, still politely smiling.
"You know what?" Fed up with her ruse, she pulls out her staff. "What's stopping me from burning the lock on the chest, huh?"
She doesn't respond, save for a shrug, while holding a solid poker face.
Ram doesn't really care what's inside; at this point, she's doing this out of spite. "You'll regret messing with us!"
"Ram!" Her sister tries to hold her back.
"Calm down, it's just a little bit." Pointing the staff right on target, she uses it like a flamethrower, spewing out tiny flames that only envelop the lock, avoiding the wood chest entirely.
Rom feels like this is being considerably mean, though the girl's indifference is barely enough to justify her sister's actions..
It doesn't take long for her to finish. "Alright, what's inside-"
A splashing sound is heard across the restaurant; everyone present directs their attention to one of Lowee's Candidates with a bucket on her head, drenched in water.
"Huh? Master Ram!" Financier runs over to her from the counter, having just picked up their order.
"Ram!"
