RaiXGear Chapter 2

[Nepgear's P.O.V.]

Hi. I'm Nepgear…uhm…anyway…

I was out to buy some groceries for a party hosted by Neptune tomorrow. Neptune particularly wanted me to buy a lot of pudding. Apparently, pudding was most of the content of one of my grocery bags. So typical of Neptune to ask for that much amount of pudding.

But, the trip wasn't all exhausting. I finally met one of the most prominent people on the Internep, Raiken. He's awfully nice even when not behind the monitor.

Raiken S. Tsutsumi is also one of Gamindustri's finest commanders. Originally hailing from Planet Earth, our neighboring planet, Raiken was moved to Gamindustri to provide us support. Because of he and his comrade's support, we were able to advance in technology and are capable of protecting ourselves from threats around.

Aside from all that info, well, he's more or less warm-hearted and open-minded. Even if it's for just a few minutes, I treasure those moments we shared.

So, I then returned back home, groceries in hand.

"I'm hoooome! Neptune?" I called out.

Instead of Neptune answering the call, a fairy-sized human sitting on a tome floats towards me. It was Histoire, our nation's Oracle.

"Welcome home, Nepgear. And have you brought those groceries?" she asked.

"Y-Yes, I have. They were a bit heavy…"

"Good work. Neptune is slacking off again. Even though she is the one to be hosting this party." Histoire slumped, annoyed by my big sister's laziness like usual.

"I-I'm sorry…I'll remind her again about it later…please don't worry so will sure be a big day, so save your energy." I replied.

"Very well. I will leave it to you then. If you need me, I shall be at my office." she bowed and then drifted off to the office.

I sighed and went upstairs to the main room where Neptune is. She's pretty much playing video games again. Beside her is some soda and some leftover cake that we had a day ago.

"Oh, hiya Nep Jr.! Welcome back, my sweet lil' sis." she casually greeted.

"Hi Neptune. Well, I got all the stuff we need for tomorrow. We'll be ready at about afternoon. Are you sure about this though? Everyone seems busy at the moment." I worried.

Noire and Uni are always busy with paperworks and stuff. Lastation is a really developed country because of those two working so hard each day after all. Especially Noire. She's always working non-stop. Neptune kind of makes fun of her for being a loner because of it.

Uni on the other hand, is striving to get equal or best her sister. She's always having an inferiority complex, as some tell me. But, its cute that she's giving it her best in a way.

Meanwhile in Lowee, Blanc is always busy too. Most of the time, she loves to either read books that weigh more than 3 Lastation consoles stacked together, or create fanfictions. She doesn't go out much unless invited upon or in an emergency crisis.

And since she keeps her twin sisters Rom and Ram from going outside, they're pretty much stuck too. Mina is also as concerned as I am about those two. They really need to learn the outside world by themselves.

Well…Leanbox, however…is a different story.

Vert, the sole Goddess of Leanbox, is pretty much a shut-in. She's always in her room playing games. Chika sure is having some trouble there about it. All Vert does aside from paperwork is games, anime and manga. She's pretty much an otaku.

Although, one person did come to mind. The one I just encountered minutes ago.

"Hey, Neptune. Can I invite someone over?" I cheerfully asked.

"Eh? A new friend, Nep. Jr.? *GASP* Wait…you don't happen to meet a man in your life by any chance?!" Neptune immediately concluded.

"W-What?! N-No, I don't mean it like that! I-I just met a new friend on the way back." I retorted shyly.

"Ohmigosh, Nep. Jr. has a new male crush! I never expected of my little junior to find hearts at this age. Ah, fanfictions these days sure are…colorful with romance!" she continued on.

"Like I said, it's not like that, sis! Geez…" I screamed back, flustered and pink-red.

"Mhm…so…who's the lucky prince?" Neptune asked.

"Well…its Raiken S. Tsutsumi. Y-You know, the vlogger."

Neptune seemed confused. "…What?"

"Oh right, you don't know him. Well, he's pretty famous. He would like to meet you too, Neptune! It will be fun bringing him here!" I happily replied.

"Well, the more the merrier! And it will be swell to meet an OC character. He has to be cool, right?!" And there goes her meta sentences again…

"Y-Yeah! It'll be fun!" I cheerfully exclaimed.

I then fumbled around my pockets randomly, and I realized something is missing.

It was my RAM chip. I forgot, I was going to upgrade my computer today.

"Oh no!"

"W-What's the matter, Nepgear?"

"My RAM chip! It's missing!" I slouched in misery "Oh no…I saved all of my allowance on it…Its gone…" I sadly sighed to myself.

"Aww, don't worry my dear little tech junkie. I'll buy ya another one." Neptune smiled.

"R-Really? B-But that's expensive…"

"No sweat, my little junior. I had extra pay from doing a little quests!"

"Wow…that's great. You actually worked today…"

"W-Well…Pissty commanded me to. So…" she looked away awkwardly. "A-Anyway, my lovely Nep. Jr., don't worry. I'll buy ya that chip in no time flat!" Neptune grinned. She was so cute. I squealed afterwards.

"Yay! I love you, Neptune!" I hugged her tight as a bear.

"G-Gyuuuh…S-Sure, Nepgear…a-aggh…so tight…" I let go of her afterwards. "S-Sorry…"

Histoire entered the room, smiling.

"You two had best prepare lunch. IF and Compa will return soon from their trip."

"Oh, right! Iffy is gonna nag at me again if I don't do a little cookin'. Lets go, Nep. Jr." she led me to the kitchen as I layed down the groceries.

"So, Nep. Jr., about that hot dude you were talking about, does he play games?" Neptune casually asked.

"He plays LOTS of games! He has done a lot of genres too and uploads his recordings to Neptube. Geez. You were stuck into video games that you don't know what's up. He's on the Trending Channels list."

"Ho! Is he like Vert? A full-blast gamer? Oooh, I would love to play some games with him. Any game he wants, really!" Neptune smirked. "Anything else about him?"

"He's just really an overall nice person. I just happened to meet him, and I already feel his kindness. We can trust him, right? I'm sure you'll be friends with him in no time flat." I replied.

"Heh, of course, he might be the OC of this fiction too. As always, plot really will tell how he may be like…"

Wow…her fourth wall breaking is never going to get old now, isn't it?

[Raiken's P.O.V.]

"…and so we're going to begin transfer of the 11th Armored Division and 82nd Infantry Regiment to these areas here…" a fellow commander narrated his report before our superior in charge.

"I see. Well then, are your papers secure for this matter?" asked our superior, General Craig Dameron.

"Yes sir. I'm already on it." he replied back.

"Good work. Dismissed." and the commander left the room with a salute and bow. I on the other hand remained, standing before the General in attention, awaiting further orders.

"How about you, Tsutsumi? Have you filed your papers?"

"Yes sir. I'm also finished with both documents and hard copies of the transfer. I will supervise them after 4 days to make sure everything is secure. " I replied back.

"No need to make it too early, Tsutsumi. You push yourself too hard. Noble, but not all the time do you have to do things ahead of time. Haste makes waste sometimes, you know." the 45-year old general replied back after puffing some smoke from his electronic cigarette.

"Y-Yes sir." I bowed.

The general sighed. Although he had a significant rank and authority over us, he treats us well. Equal. We were all brave comrades in his point of view. He thinks that because he went through the same rigorous training that we did, and how determined we were while we trained and battled, we were all similar to him in his eyes. He sat down on his desk, putting down the e-cigar and writing on some documents.

"…So, how is your sister?" after a moment of silence, he finally started speaking casually, and calmly.

"S-Sir?" I asked softly.

"It's alright, kid. At ease. Have a seat." he told me starkly, telling me to ease my stance.

I took a seat on the sofa in front of him. A moment of silence once again passed.

"M-My sister is doing alright, sir. She just got recently promoted to manager back at Shakeys."

"Good on her then. Your mother and father must be very proud wherever they are." he said with a sort of sad tone. That tone alone got my mood a little sadder as I remember my parents since he also knew them very well. "Congratulate her for me, will you? I wanted to see her, but I just don't have the time lately."

"T-Thank you, sir. I-I'll definitely tell her that." I replied with a smile.

The old man stood up from his chair and took a seat next to the sofa before me. On the table was a pot of tea, and some crackers made by him. "Have some."

I thanked him and grabbed a cracker and a cup of tea, graciously eating.

"Lately, you've also been doing your work well, even ahead of time. Perfect, but too perfect. Remember, kid; Einstein once said that if you don't make mistakes, you won't learn something new." And he was right about that.

"Yes sir. I'm sorry. I just want to do what I can for my troops. I want to be a good example for the men and women who are giving their lives just for the sake of peace. You too, General. You yourself are doing quite an excellent job." I said silently.

"And we're grateful to have brave men like you. Just like your parents. But, it's not gonna be easy to keep doing this. You have to take a break sometime, son." he told me in a fatherly voice.

"Yes sir. I'm just wanting to follow my father's legacy…"

Moment of silence. During that moment, all I can think of are my parents. They passed away when me and my older brother and sister were at our early teen years. My older brother is back on Earth serving in the Navy. The sad times that started from that very day they both passed away, the hardship and pain and loneliness, it came back to me.

After silence, Craig looked up and smiled as he drinks his tea. "Tell you what, kid. For your hard work and excellent conduct, I'll be allowing you semi-temporary leave after you conduct the inspection of the new arrivals. A free vacation rather. You can report to my office if you do wish for more work, but during this time, you're free to do as you wish."

"W-What? Really, sir? Why?"

"Like I said, you've already helped out enough, son. You did your best. You deserve some rest and all that. I'm sure you have friends and family waiting on you."

He returned to his desk to get a thin piece of paper. It was a check. A five-hundred thousand dollar check. I was surprised as he wrote my name on it and a bit of details.

"Here you go, kid. You're semi-annual pay. You've earned it. Use it wisely." he smiled again.

"T-Thank you, sir. I'll keep working hard." I replied with a bow.

"Now, don'tcha keep all that gold to yourself, sonny. Share it too when you or other people need it. Oh, and on the side, get a hot girl. You're more suited with a lady than you being suave and single, you son of a gun." he winked at me teasingly.

"Hahaha! You bet, sir." I also give a wink.

We both stood from our respective seats and shook hands firmly, nodding at each other.

"Thank you sir. It's been a good day today." I began.

"You too, son. Dismissed. Leave your vacation letters to me. I will call you when I need you."

I saluted and bowed before I left. The old man the returned to his seat, doing more documents as I close the door.

The rest of my half-time was just evaluation. I returned to my office, calmly sitting down on my desk. As I looked at the time, it was 12:15PM. I had to sign more papers before I leave. I took a look at some more documents, and granted some papers for soldiers. Some casual short talk here and there. They know me to be the shy type sometimes.

Occasionally, I would look at 2 photo frames sitting beside my desk lamp. In one frame was a picture of my family when I was young. The other contained a picture of me and my girlfriend, Kurumi, who passed away 2 years ago. I smiled sadly at it whenever I was alone. Somehow, I also get motivated to do better, just remembering the happy memories from my family and my girlfriend back then. Yet, sadness and guilt because of loss and longing still haunts me to this very day.

"Kurumi-chan...I'll do my best for you and live, as you have wanted me to...even without you, I will live on and make myself better. My parents too would be happy if I did...so, you guys can rest easy..." I sadly told myself as I returned to signing papers.

As soon as I ended my shift, some soldiers came to greet me. "Good afternoon, Commander. Taking the day off?" a female soldier from my team asked.

"Yeah. You train hard, ladies and gents. Soon, we will begin advanced combat maneuvers, decision and proper behaviors and situational analysis from 0730 hours to 1330 hours. Understood?"

All of them reply in unison. "Sir, yes sir!"

"Good. I'll be going now. Stay strong, team." we saluted each other and then I left the building.

I walked my way home again. It was 12:30PM in the afternoon. I decided to take some time off before heading back home, taking a view of more of Planeptune's daily livelihood and routines.