Chapter 16
Flashback
Hikan raised his sword and slashed down another bunch of lizard men, then jumped into the air and roundhouse kicked an Ancient Dragon to stop it from attacking from behind, then he chucked his sword right into the dragons head and it fell dead before it hit the ground, Saito and a bunch of other people were standing behind a glass window, watching Hikan.
"The boy seems to be growing stronger each day, he even took out a bunch of opponents in a matter of seconds." one of the people said,
"Of course, he has a special power within him, that's why I brought him with me." Saito said,
"But why are you training him to fight the CPU's? aren't you going to be the one who takes control of Planeptune?" another person said, Saito looked at him and started laughing,
"It's obvious that I'm almost too old for this, he'll be the one ruling Planeptune, he certainly has the power to do so." Saito said before looking back at Hikan, he was now fighting a horde of monsters within the simulation he was it, every time he took a hit, he would only attack his attacker and kill him without mercy,
"But what if he doesn't know how to control his power? He could end up destroying Gamindustri." another person said, Saito just shook his head,
"Then we'll deal with it." Saito said before leaving the room.
End of Flashback
Hikan's POV
I woke up alone in my bed, I guess Neptune left sometime in the middle of the night, I was still shirtless, but I had my pants back on and I was covered up all tight, I guess that's good that she still wasn't sleeping in my bed naked, if IF found us like that, I'm sure I wouldn't be alive right now, still I can't believe what I did with her, I couldn't control myself, and I ended up doing it,
"So, how does it feel boy?" Saito said, I can imagine him sitting down in a chair with a large grin on his face,
"I-I don't know what to say, it kinda just happened..." I said, I actually slept with Neptune, not only that, I think I promised her that we would do it again,
"Well boy, at least you got something, not a 'friend' anymore is she?" Saito asked, I guess I can't really call her a "friend" anymore, but I'll admit, I do love her,
"Fine, you win, she's not just a 'friend', happy now?" I said, Saito started laughing,
"Well, now you have another one to go after, but I wouldn't recommend it." Saito said, did he mean Noire?!
"What?! Saito you don't mean Noire do you?!" I said, being careful not to say it outloud, Saito sighed,
"Who else is there? You aren't going after that girl with the brown hair or the nurse are you?" Saito said, what the hell is he saying?!
"Shut up! I didn't mean to do it with Neptune and besides Noire said she doesn't like me." I said, Saito sighed some more,
"Do you nothing of Tsundere's boy? Forget it'll be a waste if I tell you." Saito said, what did he mean by that? I got out of bed and opened the closet, I pulled out one of the red hoodies that have just been washed, I guess Compa must've washed them, that reminds me, I need to wash the sheets...
I stepped out of my bedroom to see that everyone had already gathered and was getting ready to leave, I guess they came up with a plan,
"Hey everyone." I greeted, they all looked at me and smiled, well except Noire, why was she here anyway?
"Good morning Hikan." Compa greeted,
"Morning." IF greeted,
"Mornin Hikan!" Neptune greeted, this will be a pain if everyone found out, Saito don't you think of anything either, then I heard a laugh in the back of my head,
"How did you sleep?" IF asked,
"Like a rock. I never slept so comfortable in my life." I said being careful to not take a glance at Neptune, "So, I guess you all came up with something?" I asked, IF nodded,
"I think our next stop will be in Leanbox." IF said,
"That's... quite a bit away isn't it?" I asked, I'm pretty sure it was, it's a longer walk than from Planeptune to Lastation,
"Yeah, but we've been through worse." IF said, I sighed, but nodded anyway, we had to get moving to the next fragment.
"So, you guys are leaving?" Noire questioned, Neptune had that same teasing look on her face, dammit stop thinking about it Hikan!
"Don't worry Noire, we'll be back as soon as we get our mission done, then you won't be lonely anymore." Neptune said causing Noire's face to redden,
"I'm not lonely!" she said, Neptune just shrugged,
"Well, looks like we better get moving, we shouldn't keep Noire from doing her job." I said, Noire gave me an eye signal that said "Thank you", I'm getting really good at telling that stuff,
"Alright, let's get moving." IF said as she and Compa walked out the door, Noire kept taking glances out me, but tried to make sure I didn't notice, she wasn't that good at acting was she?
"Hikan, I want to say thank you..." Noire said, she was still averting her gaze from me, but she was blushing,
"No problem, just be careful, that saviors group has probably already heard about Kinoshita's death, just keep your guard up." I said, Noire lifted her head a bit, but still kept her gaze away from mine, she muttered something under her breath, then turned to look at me,
"Of course I'll keep my guard up, I don't need you to tell me that!" Noire said, I smiled a bit, at least she sees me as something, better than being an enemy, I heard Neptune behind me,
"Noire, don't even think about it, I already called dibs on him, remember?" Neptune said, as she wrapped her arms around my waist, then Noire blushed some more,
"Get your hands off of him!" She yelled and forced Neptune's hands off of me, I will admit, I wasn't expecting this kind of reaction from her,
"Noire! Don't get in the way of our romance!" Neptune said flailing her arms around,
"Don't you see that Hikan doesn't like when you cling to him!" Noire said while putting her hands on her hips, she really doesn't like it when Neptune acts that way around me,
"Noire, do I hear a bit of jealousy in your voice?" Neptune said, Noire face was blushing so red that I thought her head would pop,
"No! Why would you think that!" She yelled as she put her hands on her hips, is this what Saito meant by "I know nothing of Tsundere's"?
"Classic Tsundere!" Neptune yelled, Noire stomped her foot on the ground and left the room, leaving me and Neptune alone, she walked up to me and whispered in my ear,
"Last night will be a secret between us." she said and kissed me, I nodded and we walked out the door, and locked it with the key.
We were all on our way to Lastation's gates, IF and Compa were chatting in front of me and Neptune, who kept trying to cling to my arm, but was stopped by Noire every time, the randomness that Neptune brings with her, and Noire's Tsundere personality together always brings a smile to my face, Before I started this journey, all I ever did was lock myself in my home, only coming out to get food or to work for money, and out of all things be an emotionless wreck, but now I got friends, and... a girlfriend I guess?
Even though Noire says that she doesn't care if I spend time with her or not, I can tell she's enjoying the company, She's been like me ever since this saviors group started harassing her, everyone lost belief in her and she had no-one she could trust, but now she trusts me, I just know it,
"Alright, this is where we part ways." IF said, I glanced ahead and sure enough we were at the gates, I turned around and glanced at Noire, who was having an argument with Neptune, and smiled, I care about both of them, I have a special connection with both of them, I don't know what it is yet, but I know I have one.
"C'mon Neptune let's go." I said and she walked up next to me, I waved goodbye to Noire then turned and started walking, this next walk was going to be a long one, but I know what my goal is, no matter how tough the road may be, I need to push on, I smiled to myself and I felt an arm cling to mine, who else but Neptune, she looked at me with that smile she always had, my other goal is to protect her and everyone, that group will not hurt anyone else, not if I had anything to say about it.
"*yawn* I'm so tired..." Neptune said while I was carrying her on my back, IF and Compa were dragging their feet as well, I was able to keep going, but we need everyone at full energy, we probably would've been back in Planeptune by now,
"Alright, we'll stop here." I said and I sat Neptune on the ground, I looked over the horizon, the sun was setting, looks like we're setting up camp for the night, I looked behind me and saw a couple trees, those twigs will make enough fuel for a fire, I walked over and withdrew my sword, everyone stared at me wondering what I was doing,
"Hikan, are you going to make the fire?" IF asked fighting to hold back a yawn,
"Yeah, give me a minute." I said as I started to climb up the tree, I started to cut off some branches and twigs and leaves, the trees were also growing some apples as well so I picked some of those too, it's never to hard to find a good apple,
I jumped down from the tree and started to get working on the fire, I built your standard wood fire, and lit it with two twigs, when you're living alone with no-one to trust you, you learn a thing or two,
"Ah~ so warm." Neptune said as she cuddled up next to me beside the fire, IF didn't really care that much anymore, I guess she just learned to deal with it, like I always say, You can't prevent the inevitable,
"How much farther till we get to Leanbox?" I asked IF, she thought for a second,
"I don't know, if we continue along here then we should be there tomorrow, but I don't know, I only went there once for guild work." IF said, as long as she knew where we were going then it'll be fine, right now all we need to do is rest and get at full energy, who knows what's waiting for us, I glanced at my arm and Neptune already fell asleep, she was still clinging on my arm and was drooling on my sleeve, I picked her up and laid her under one of the trees, IF watched me the whole time, she was blushing and she kept looking away from me when I looked at her, what was wrong with her?
"IF, you alright?" I said catching her by surprise,
"Huh?! Oh yeah, I'm fine." she said averting her gaze from me, yeah that's a lie,
"Tell me what's wrong, I can try and help you." I said, she blushed some more before looking at me,
"What's your relationship with Nep. I know you two aren't just friends." she said, where did this come from?!
"Well she does act like we're not just 'friends', but I promise you, we're friends." I lied, I didn't want to mentioned the night I had with Nep, if she found out about it, I got a feeling that I would be dead,
"Are you telling the truth?" IF said staring into my eyes, I smiled,
"Positive," I replied, she nodded her head and let out a yawn, "Go ahead and get some sleep, I'll take first watch, besides I think I'm the only one with enough energy right now." I said, she nodded and took a seat next to Neptune and Compa and closed her eyes, now it just me, I took a seat in front of the fire and blew on it a bit,
"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Saito said in my head,
"How can I forget someone who lives in my head?" I asked,
"Well whatever, you really are getting stronger boy, soon you won't need me to help you with the saviors." Saito said, but he was going to be with me no matter what,
"What are you talking about, I will need you, all anime cliches have that same thing, the last guy is always the most powerful." I said, yeah I break the fourth wall alot, but if you hang out with Neptune as much as I have, it sticks to you.
"I'll agree with you there, but still, you can't rely on me forever." he replied, of course I know that.
"Yeah, I know." I said, my vision was getting hazy, I must not be full of energy as I thought, I walked over to my own tree and leaned against it, I'll rest my eyes for a bit, I shut my eyes and deep sleep took over immediately.
Saito's POV
Alright, let's get this over with, that sleep ability will only last a good amount of time. I got up and walked over past the fire pit, I looked back at the other three to make sure they were asleep, I went through the trees and continued walking down the path, I arrived in a clearing and saw one of the cloaked figures, he turned and looked at me,
"There you are." He said with that quiet voice of his,
"Yeah, I'm here, so what do you want to talk about," I replied, he pulled out a piece of paper and tossed it to me, it was a picture of a headless Kinoshita, "Oh okay, is this what you want to talk about," I asked, he reached into his back pocket, I rushed toward him and pulled up his arm, what he had in his hand was a dagger, "Sorry, but you're not going to do that, I suggest that you think smart and not try to kill me, you saw how that ended for Kinoshita." I said with a smirk, he released himself from my grip and jumped back,
"What is your plan, if you're not on the same side as us, then what about the CPU's?" He said, again with this stuff,
"I already said, it's foolish to fight the CPU's, they can't die and you can, it's a unfair fight." I said, he shook his head,
"No, you said to think smart and I am, you can't die either, so why did you join them?" He said, he was smart, I'll give him that,
"If you can't beat them, join them." I said, something in my mind told me to hurry up, I was almost out of time.
"Fool, you know this won't work, we'll take over Gamindustri and rule it the right way." He said, before turning around and walking away, thank god, I collapsed on the ground and left control of Hikan's body, I was so close to getting caught.
Hikan's POV
I woke up in a clearing, I was alone and I looked all around me, it was still night and I didn't know where I was, not good.
"Neptune! IF! COMPA!" I yelled all three of their names, all I got was an echo, what happened?
"Finally you woke up." Saito said, at least he was with me,
"What happened? Why are we out in this clearing?" I said,
"You got up and started walking in a random direction, you must have been sleep walking or something." Saito said,
"Why didn't you stop me!" I yelled, Saito sighed,
"Because I can only take control of your body if you give me permission. So don't yell at me!" Saito yelled back, I cringed a bit, I completely forgot about that,
"Sorry, looks like we need to find a way back." I said outloud and started walking in a random direction, this may take a while,
I've been walking in the same direction and I still can't find anything, I think I got myself lost,
"Where to now?" I said,
"I don't know, climb one of the tree's like you always do." Saito said, I can try, but I don't have my sword with me, but I'll try, I started to climb a nearby tree, it was tall enough to see where I was going, it was actually really easy to climb, I reached the top and looked out at the view, I couldn't see much thanks to the darkness, but I did see a place that looked like where we were when I set up camp, I started to climb down the tree, but it went faster, because I lost my footing and tumbled down the tree, I hit several branches on my way down and landed on my back at the end of it, that fall would've killed any normal people, but I got back up and dusted off my clothes, I had no scratches on me at all, I could've swore that I felt blood go down my arm, I guess I should thank the healing ability.
I walked over to the place I was talking about, I was dead wrong, I arrived at a lake, the lake was huge, it had to be the size of two football fields, not only that, but something else caught my eye, I looked to my right and by the lake was a black yukata with dark purple highlights in it, I walked over to it and picked it up, the highlights started in the waist region and it wrapped around the back part and went down more to the lower body region, it revealed the chest area quite a bit and beside the yukata was a dark purple bra, the bra was also rather huge, I don't fully understand the bra's, but I think it was at least a size D, the same as Neptune in her Purple Heart form, why would these clothes be here? Then I heard a splash come out of the lake, I turned around and was greeted by a gorgeous sight...
A/N: Another cliffhanger! Who is the mysterious person coming out of the lake? could it be the infamous "Lady of the Lake"? Meh, doubt it, but I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and also this story is now in collaboration with my good friend and twitch streamer noxiouskey, I really hope you'll like the ideas that we'll come up with, anyway that's enough for now, see you all later!
