Chapter 6: Author's Side, Same Story
*Buran* *Buran* *Buran*
Nnnn… what time is it?
*Buran* *Buran* *Buran*
...Eight in the morning?
*Buran* *Buran* *Buran*
Ah… crap. I stayed up all night again.
*Buran* *Buran* *Buran*
Oh, right the alarm. Stretching my arms, I stood up from my desk, where I've been all night since those girls came and stayed over, and looked at myself in the mirror. Seeing my disheveled short brunette hair- What? Did you think this was Noire? Nah, it's me. Blanc, Neptune's best friend and basically his sister.-I turned around to see the younger versions of my little twin sisters hugging each other while asleep. Man, that brings me back.
...Wait, was that footsteps? The only person that's usually awake this early is Neptune, but he's exhausted from handling the goddesses that he'd be sleeping like a log right now. Besides, that doesn't sound like Neptune's footsteps, his are heavier since he drags his heels across the ground. These were light and faint, as if they're trying to not make noise… Wait a sec…
Leaving my room, I see a head of raven hair move down the steps. Huh, Noire's awake. Normally, she'd sleep in since Neptune takes care of the household chores during the weekends while Noire takes care of them during the weekdays. Following her downstairs, I saw that she had was dressed in a purple sweater and blue jeans. Noire tied her hair up into twintails just like she did back then, with her shoulder bag that Neptune bought, with Vert's advice and my urging, Noire walked into the kitchen. I heard the fridge open as I reached the kitchen door.
"Mornin'." Noire's head popped up from the other side of the refrigerator door, surprised.
"Blanc, you're awake early again?" I answered her question with loud yawn. "Ah… you didn't sleep did you?" Shaking my head, I headed into the kitchen and took out two mugs from the cupboard. I need some coffee.
Turning on the coffee maker and causing the smell of roasting coffee beans to fill the air, I turned to Noire and pointed at her wardrobe.
"So, what's with the clothes?"
"Oh this? My manager called last night." Oh? If I remember correctly… "Saying that I'm being cast as a heroine in an anime." That's right, Noire's a voice actor.
"Heroine? Nice." Hey, coffee's done. I poured some into a mug for Noire, handing it to her before I poured myself a cup. "What's it about?" Noire took out her phone and began to read something, probably a text.
"It's about a high school student whose parents work for the government, leaving him alone since his younger sister is enrolled in an all-girls' school. However, during the summer break before his senior year, his little sister returns with her friends from school and he has to adapt to the situation."
"That… sounds familiar." Noire shrugged her shoulders.
"That's the plot and I'm heading to the company to grab the script and start recording. I don't think I'll be home until later tonight." Wait…
"Does Neptune know about this?" Noire nodded. Oh I guess then it's okay.
"Yes. Well, I better get going."
"Noire, wait. You should eat something before y-" Noire held a bento box with grin on her face. "...When did you make that?" She was drinking coffee just now and earlier she just rummaging through the fridge for something to eat! There's no way th-
"I made it after I received the call last night." Oh, right. I forgot that Noire likes to prepare when she can. "Well, I'm going now!" Noire waved to me as she headed towards the front door.
"Be careful!" I heard the front door and close. Huh… I guess I should get back to-
"Um…" Hm?
Peeking her head into the doorframe, Tiny Rom, in her light blue onesie, walked into the kitchen, looking around as if she was looking for something to do.
"What is it?" Tiny Rom turned towards the living room.
"Ram and I wanted to play some video games but the couch is occupied." By what? Taking a sip of my coffee, I followed the goddess version of my little sister to the living room, looking over the couch. Oh yeah… that's why.
Sleeping on the couch was little me, but she didn't look happy at all. It was probably the thing that was next to her.
Arms wrapped around the tiny version of me, the goddess version of my twin sister, Vert, also slept on the couch.
"How come Sis gets to be held by Vert? She won't let us do that, cheapskate." Looking up, Tiny Ram huffed and placed her hands at her hips. When the two of us made eye contact, Tiny Ram pointed at the T.V. screen. "Hey, Hey, Bigger Sis! Can we play on the T.V.?"
Hm… I don't think that was a good idea with these two here. But it looks like that the twins want to play a game. Oh, I got an idea!
"Hey, how about we go and play in my room?" Tiny Ram had sparkles in her eyes.
"Do you have a game console too!?" Shaking my head, I patted the girl on the head.
"No, but I have a handheld you can use." Tiny Ram nodded, immediately dropping her intention to play on the T.V., and ran back upstairs. Turning to Tiny Rom, I held her hand and headed upstairs and back into my room. Once we were inside, we were treated to Tiny Ram hopping on my bed and looking at me expectantly. Sheesh, this little one is too excited. "Hold on. Let me grab my 7BZ, alright?"
Letting the tiny twins sit down on my bed, I moved over to my desk and opened it, seeing my white 7BZ. Pressing the tiny chip that held the game- Good, it's Maria Festa ZB. Okay, back in there you go.- and checking to see that the handheld was fully charged, I turned around and handed it to Ram. As the energetic side of the twins began to go to town with the game, the quieter one looked at with wide eyes. Oh, right. Tiny Rom too.
"Maybe Neptune still has his 7ZB." I told the twins to stay still and I left the room, heading towards Neptune and Noire's. Opening the door, I found my best friend still asleep, his lavender hair spread messily across his pillow. Now to wake him up, without angering him.
Poke.
...Nothing.
Poke.
...Nope.
Poke. Poke.
Oh? He felt that one.
Poke. Poke. Poke.
"Nnngh…"
There we go. Neptune slowly raised his head and turned tow- Woah, his eyes are really dark.
"Blanc… what do you want?" Neptune dropped his head onto his pillow so that only one eye was looking at me, the other one closing. I explained to him the twins' dilemma and he pointed to dresser nearby. "Top shelf, now lemme sleep…."
Yeesh, he's tired. I mean, I would too after having to put an upset baby to sleep then having to lecture Tiny Me and the others in three new rules that he made up. Which were:
1. No fighting (unless it's a simulation and someone's watching them)
2. Listen to Noire (his wife)
3. No screaming at night (so that Plutia doesn't wake up)
Pretty simple. Funny thing was that Neptune made them up as he went. I could tell because he wasn't looking at them in the eyes and glancing at objects in the room between each rule. Well, whatever. I'll let him sleep a bit more.
I moved over to the dresser and found his purple 7ZB, next to it was a ZBy/7ZB charger and a case, which was filled with all of the games that Neptune bought for it. I checked to see if Maria Festa Z- It's not in there. Instead, Mega Bash Buddies for the 7ZB was inside. Neptune really loved this game. Okay, out we go and now to look through his case of games. Geez, there's a lot of them in here.
"Let's see here…" Maria Festa ZB… No, that's UltraGirl Zeta Collection. Maria Festa ZB...Dammit that's Pocketed Monstrosities Titanium. Ah, there it is. Maria Festa ZB. Inserting the game into the handheld, I closed the drawer and left the room, leaving a sleeping Neptune in his bed.
Returning to my room, I found an ecstatic Rom reaching out to the purple 7ZB in my hand. Giving her Neptune's 7ZB, I helped the two choose their characters and a map.
"I wanna be Maria!"
"I… wanna be Momo…"
"Hey Rom, let's do a 2v2!"
"Mhm!"
Once the twins were into their game, I sat back down on my desk and picked up my dull pencil. Pushing it into the automatic sharpener, I used my sharpened pencil to edit my manuscript. It's gonna take sometime for Neptune to wake up and make breakfast anyways.
Hmm… what's that smell? Bacon? What time is it? Oh, it's ten already. I made some progress on this manuscript, I'm satisfied for now. Hmm, I wonder how the twins are doing…
"Aw man! Rom watch out for that Qupi Space!"
"Oh no…!"
"Noooo! Qupi, don't take our Energy Sprites!"
"He chose… Take Energy Sprite!"
"NOOOO, THAT WAS THE LAST TURN TOO!"
The twins began to cry as the results of their game showed up until Neptune's voice came downstairs.
"Everyone, breakfast's ready!" Immediately, the twins put the handhelds down and grabbed my hands.
"Come Bigger Sis! Let's eat!"
"...Eat!" Sheesh, these two.
"Alright, I'm going." The two pulled me downstairs and into the dining room. We found Neptune setting up the table. Plutia was sitting in the chair just for her and playing with her plastic spork, pretending it was plane. In her other hand, Plutia held a stuffed doll of Noire that flung around her 'plane'.
"Morning you three." The twins greeted Neptune and took a couple of plates from him, seating themselves next to each other. As I helped the twins settle down, Neptune walked into the kitchen and came back with plates filled with sunnyside eggs and bacon. "Blanc, can you bring the rice cooker over? It should be done cooking on the counter." Nodding, I headed towards the kitchen and unplugged the rice cooker and brought it over to the table, placing in the middle.
"Oh, is breakfast ready?" Tiny Noire and Tiny Uni came into the room as I sat down. The two were still wearing their black and gray pajamas… well all of us are actually. While the two were getting ready to eat, Tiny Blanc walked into the room, irritated and tired. When she sat down, she looked at me and narrowed her eyes.
"...Traitor." Traitor, for what? Before I could ask her what Tiny Blanc meant, Ti-er… Somewhat Tiny Vert walked fully rested and with a smile on her face. Finally, Tiny Nepgear came in and- Wait a second. Where's her sister?
"Good Morning everyone." Everyone greeted Nepgear as she sat down. As everyone was about to eat, Neptune asked Nepgear the exact same thing I was thinking earlier.
"Nepgear, where's Neptune?" The smaller Nepgear blinked and smiled, a sweatdrop rolling down her cheek.
"We-Well, my sister said she was tired so she wanted to sleep in more."
"It's ten."
"Uh...yes it is."
"And you want her to sleep in?"
"...Yes?"
"When she doesn't have a job or go to school?"
"...Um, yes?" Neptune exhaled and stood up from his seat, leaving the dining room but stopping before he went through the doorframe.
"Don't eat yet, I'll be back in just a second." Neptune vanished behind the door and we could hear his footsteps as he walked up the stairs.
Almost immediately, we could hear thuds and the whining of Tiny Neptune. Also, we could also hear Neptune lecturing Tiny Neptune about a regular sleeping schedule.
"I mean, sleeping past eight is fine during the weekend but ten? Not in this household."
"Aw, come on Other-Me. I wanna grow into a hot bod!" We could hear Neptune coming down the stairs with an upset Tiny Neptune. My best friend came into view, carrying his pajama-clad counterpart over his shoulder. Plopping her down into a chair next to Plutia, Neptune put a plate in front of Tiny Neptune and sat down.
"Let's eat!"
Neptune's breakfast was good, not as great as Noire's food in the morning, but it's still better to eat something fresh and cooked than something that's microwaved or store-bought.
The girls were chatting and enjoying their meal, Tiny Rom and Ram were trying to eat the yolks of the sunnyside eggs to no avail. Tiny Blanc was had finished eating and was reading a book, one that I've never seen before. Did she bring that over from her world? But, she wasn't holding anything when she came here with Noire… then how did sh- Nevermind. Going back to the other, Somewhat Tiny Vert was watching Tiny Rom and Ram with sparkles in her eyes. Tiny Noire was arguing with Tiny Neptune about something random, with Tiny Nepgear and Tiny Uni watching. Finally, Neptune had finished his food already and was feeding Plutia her food.
Neptune put down the spork and turned to the girls. I guess Plutia's full or something.
"Girls, why don't we go outside today? On a picnic, maybe?" At the sound of a picnic, Tiny Rom, Ram and Neptune agreed immediately while the others happily chatted about it. Neptune locked eyes with me and grinned, giving me a thumbs up.
I bet you just don't want to get house destroyed if anything like the Tiny Neptune's ketchup bottle incident happened again. Ah, whatever. I need to think of some ideas for another novel so I have something to do when I'm done with this one.
*Hapi Full~ Cure Pure Dimenshon Toripaaa!*
Ah, that sounds like Neptune's phone. The man picked up his phone while cleaning Plutiea's mouth.
"Hello, Mr. Planeptune here." Neptune removed the cloth from Plutia's mouth and his baby girl reached out for him. "I see, so Mr. Anonydeath can't make it." My best friend picked up his daughter and cradled her in his arm. "So, what do I have to do with this?" Neptune began to bounce Plutia in his arm as she tried to grab one of his super long sideburns that honestly doesn't look like sideburns but really long sidebangs. Eventually, Plutia was able to get her hands on one of them with all her enjoyment, but her father wasn't affected by it at all. Instead, he just tilted his head while still on the phone. "Oh, I guess I can… for how long?" My best buddy kissed his child on the forehead and nuzzled her, causing Plutia to squeal in happiness. "Alright, I'll head there right now." With a sigh, Neptune hung up his phone and hugged Plutia.
"What's up, Neptune?" My buddy looked at me with a solemn look on his face.
"Well, one of the teachers supervising a club activity at school, a club training apparently, got sick and he can't go. So, I just got a call from his wife asking me to take over." ...What?
"So, what about going outside?" Neptune sighed once more and Plutia in my lap.
"I guess we'll have to do that tomorrow or something." Turning around, Neptune left the dining room and headed upstairs. "Blanc, do me a favor…" I swear, if he's going to ask me to- "Could you watch over the house while I'm gone, including the girls?" Ah dammit, I had a feeling.
"Aaaah, you're such a pain Neptune. Fine." My best friend grinned at me.
"Thanks, I'll make it up to you later." You better.
"You owe a white chocolate tangerine." Neptune raised an eyebrow and scratched the back of his head.
"Wha- That's a Valentine's Day only thing you know." I nodded and grinned at him as I let Plutia play with my shirt.
"I'm patient you know." Neptune laughed and headed upstairs.
"Aight, thanks buddy."
"Don't mention it." Oh, wait.
"How long are you going to be out for?" Neptune stopped right in front of the stairwell.
"Uh, eight hours or so." What!? That's basically the whole day!
"Yeah, I know." Neptune rolled his eyes and headed upstairs. Well, I've got a whole eight hours to watch after eight girls who are goddesses, and a baby.
I think I might get some ideas from this…
I hope.