Chapter 9A: A Wife's Duty
It's been about a week since Plutia first spoke. During that time span, my daughter was able to say, and I quote, "Dada".
My baby girl is a treasure.
Needless to say, Neptune didn't leave Plutia's side for a while.
However, today was a work day for Neptune but he didn't want to leave. It got to the point where he wanted to take a sick day just to spend more time on his daughter. Luckily, my husband wasn't dumb enough to do such a thing and went to work begrudgingly.
"Mor...ning…" Goddess Neptune rubbed her eyes as she entered the kitchen. Smiling, I turned to the sleepy goddess.
"Geez, Neptune. It's almost lunch time!" The purple haired girl grinned as she threw her hands into the air.
"But Big Noire~" Ah, Neptune wrapped her arms around my waist, nearly making me push the pan I was holding across against the stove. "If I don't get my beauty sleep, I'm gonna get cranky and mean like Blaaaanc!" I turned the stove a low fire and placed a hand on the girl's head.
"Alright, alright. Go and play with the others while I finish making lunch." Goddess Neptune nodded and ran into the living room, where I could hear the voices of the other girls as the purple haired goddess interrupted them.
Phew, that should keep her busy for a- Hm? That purple looking box- Wait, is that Neptune's lunch? I thought he took that with him this morning. I didn't even notice…
Hmm…
I stared at the digital clock on the wall. Looks like I have about an hour and half until Neptune's school has lunch time.
I have to bring it to him. I tightened the knot on my apron.
But first I need to make lunch for others first!
"Blanc, I'm going to bring Neptune his lunch. So can you look after Plutia for me?" Looking up from her plate, my stoic and responsible friend nodded.
"Alright." Blanc turned to Plutia, who was playing with her food. "Looks like someone needs a bath later." Aw, she's covered in food… again.
"Ne, Big Noire!" Hm? Goddess Neptune? "I wanna go see what Other Me does too!"
Huh?
"Me too!"
Wai-
"I wanna see Big Neptune too!"
Hold on!
"...I wanna see too…"
But-!
"If Neptune's going, then I want to see to!"
Nepgear-
"Hmph, since everyone wants to go I might as well go too."
Oh, my counterpart too...
"My, my. It seems like we're having a field trip."
"Mm…"
...What do I do?
"Girls, hang on a minute." Blanc? "Noire possibly can't take all eight of you girls, even in her car. At the same time, six of you are essentially younger versions of retired idols and having you girls be found will cause trouble for Neptune, Noire and I." The goddesses looked at each other.
"Then, who can go?" Putting her spoon down, Blanc waved a finger.
"There only two of you who were not idols in this world." Blanc pointed a finger to Goddess Neptune. "You." Then pointed her finger to her divine counterpart. "And you."
Goddess Neptune threw her arms into the air while Goddess Blanc shrugged and returned to her book… which had a different cover from the last one. That looks like one of Blanc's books too.
Blanc turned to me and gestured to the two girls with the tilt of her head.
"So, do you think you can take these girls off my hands for a bit?" Hmm… but what will Neptune think about this? "It'll help me keep track of the little ones here."
"Really?" Blanc nodded. Alright then. I turned to the two girls that were coming with me.
"Alright, you two finish up your food while I grab some clothes for you to wear." Goddess Blanc and Neptune recited a synchronized "Yes!" as I left the dining room and headed upstairs.
"So, Miss Blanc. What will we do alongside watching this little purple ball of adorableness?"
"Well…"
"What do you think?"
I finally made up my mind for Goddess Neptune and Goddess Blanc's clothes. For my husband's counterpart: I got a small black version of her jacket, a white dress with black and white knee socks. For the smaller Blanc: I found a thinner, autumn themed jacket, a white shirt and red skirt and red hat that looks identical to her usual one. It was convenient that Neptune and Blanc's style of clothing was marketed by Arfoire and Histoire, modeled by one of the Nishizawa mothers, Mina. Who knew that Mina was a stay-at-home fashion designer? It also helped out that these two wore identical clothing to Neptune and Blanc.
"Waaaaah! This is super awesome!" Goddess Neptune spun around and posed, making a victory sign with her fingers. Goddess Vert and Nepgear clapped while Noire stared with a blank expression.
"...Comfy." Goddess Blanc put her new hat on and turned to see the goddess twins fawning over their sister while Goddess Uni watched her sister's expressions.
"Alright, are you two ready?" Both of the two newly dressed goddesses threw an arm into the air. Seriously, these two are so cute sometimes. "Then let's go!" Grabbing Neptune's lunch, which I warmed while the girls got dressed, I left the house with the two behind me.
Unlocking my car, I helped Goddess Neptune and Blanc climb into the back. After getting them to put on their seatbelt, and convincing the smaller Blanc to put down her book to prevent a headache or nausea. Upon getting into the driver's seat and starting my car, I turned to the two girls sitting behind me while waiting for the engine to warm up. Goddess Neptune was looking around, feeling the chair and anything in her reach while Goddess Blanc blankly stared ahead.
"Are you girls ready?" The purple haired goddess made a fist pump while her brunette companion blinked.
"...Sure."
"Let's go~!" With that, I drove out of our driveway and towards Neptune's workplace, which happened to be the high school he attended.
"Here we are!" Getting out of the parking lot, I stand in front of the entrance of Neptune's school, My husband's counterpart turned her head left and right, her eyes taking the white limestone that acted as protection against nature. Blanc's counterpart tried to peek at her book until I cleared my throat. "This is where Neptune works." I reached out a hand to both of them. "Now hold my hand so you don't get lost, okay?" With simultaneous "Okay"s, I led the way to the main office, where I could get a hallway pass for me, and the girls, and head over to Neptune's classroom.
Inside there was a young woman working at the main desk, who wore a strange pig mask. The woman looked fairly comfortable despite standing out so bluntly as she did.
"Hello?" Looking up from her computer, the maid's warm red eyes turned to us.
"Yes, welcome to Virtua High. How may Lan-Lan hel-" And now those ruby orbs now widened.
Oh… not again. "A-A-A-A-Are you… L-L-L-Lady Black Heart!?"
"Black?"
"Heart?" The two girls looked at me with confusion. I let a sigh out of my mouth. I thought that name was gone…
"Yes, that was one of my stage names when I was an idol." Goddess Neptune blinked.
"Really? That's cool!" Hm?
"Why's that?" Goddess Blanc was about to pull me over when I remembered that I had a fan that was freaking out right in front of me.
"W-W-W-What are you doing here?" The woman's hands were shaking so much, you'd think she was cold. I held up the bento box that was meant for Neptune.
"I'm here to bring this lunch to a Mr. Planeptune." The woman blinked.
"Ah, Mr. Planeptune?" The woman stood up and now I could see a nametag on her chest, revealing her name to Lan-Lan. Lan-Lan walked over to a piece of paper on the wall, pressing her finger against and paper and sliding down until she reached a certain point. "Would you like Lan-Lan to have someone bring it over for you?" I shook my head.
"No, if possible, I'd like to bring to him." And save him the embarrassment of having a student bring him his lunch.
"A-Alright." Lan-Lan pulled out three hall passes and reached for a pen before pointing to a sign-in sheet. "Oh, Lan-Lan's sorry. But could you write your names first?"
"Oh sure." Wait, I can't write their real names here! I've gotta think of something fast!
…
Hm…
No…
Oh!
For Goddess Neptune: Neptuna! And for Goddess Blanc: Buran!
Alright!
I wrote down our names down and Lan-Lan copied them down onto separate passes. Handing them to me, Lan-Lan smiled wide.
"It was an honor to talk with you, Lady Black Heart!" She's starting to embarrass me…
"Please, call me Noire." Lan-Lan's eyes widened even further.
"Can I really!?"
"Well, I'm not an idol anymore. So, I'd rather be called by my name." Lan-Lan nodded.
"Lan-Lan understands. So, Mr. Planeptune is currently teaching at Class 2-B." 2-B, which is on the second floor and near the staircase.
"Thank you, Ms. Lan-Lan." Lan-Lan bowed.
"No, thank you!" I turned to Goddess Blanc and Neptune, handing them their passes.
"Okay, put these on and let's go see Neptune."
"Okie dokie."
"...Roger."
Once we got to the staircase that lead to the second floor, I heard someone cough.
"So, what kind of daughter comes over to her mother's school without telling her first?" Huh? Turning around, I saw short silvery hair on top of a familiar stoic face. But that face immediately made a smile once I made eye contact with her.
"Mother!" I handed Goddess Blanc the bento box and rushed over to my mother, hugging her tightly as she lightly wrapped her arms around me.
"It's nice to see you, dear." Now that we were close to each other, my mother was shorter than me by a head but she still looked at with the same warm eyes she had when I was a child. Mother noticed the lunch that brought for Neptune and nodded. "I see. So that's why you're here." I scratched my cheek.
"Yeah, I think Neptune forgot when he was fawning over Plutia." Mother chuckled as she nodded.
"I agree. When Plan- I mean, Neptune came to work, he told me about my granddaughter calling him her 'Dada.'" My mother started up the stairs. "Hm?" Noticing the two little ones beside me, my mother patted Goddess Neptune on the head. "Don't worry. I won't question you about these two. I already know from Histoire and Arfoire." Oh.
Wait…
"THEY TOLD SOMEONE!?"
Mother chuckled upon seeing my face.
"Yes, but luckily that someone happens to be your mother." Mother was already halfway up the stairs when she turned around. "Noire, I'll take you to Neptune's classroom, alright?"
"Oh thank you, Mother." Following Mother, she began to tell us about Neptune's progress as a teacher.
"Your husband's been fine as a teacher, although he tends to have a sarcastic tone when answering students' answers sometimes."
"Really?" Mother looked over her shoulder.
"Yes, I thought Neptune would have told you about that." I shook my head.
"Neptune never really talks about his work." Come to think of it, Neptune never approaches me about his problems at all.
"Did you ask?" Uh…
"No?" Wha-!? Mother's chuckling. "What's so funny, Mother?" My mother shook her head and waved her hand.
"Nothing. Nothing." Mother stopped in front of a door, the sign of above it labelled 2-B. "Here we are." Knocking lightly on the door, Mother pushed aside the sliding door and poked her head inside.
"Neptune." I could hear my husband's voice.
"Oh, Ms. Jing- I mean, Mo- I mean, Kei. Is there something that you need?"
"Not I."
"Huh?" Mother pulled her head out of the door and smiled at me.
"You have guests. Do you want them to come inside?"
"Guests? Sure." Thank you, Mother. Removing herself from the door frame, Mother patted me on the shoulder.
"It's your turn now." Mother poked Goddess Neptune on the forehead and kept her hand on top of Goddess Blanc's hat for a second before smiling at me. "I'll be coming over soon."
"Alright, I'll see you later." Mother nodded before heading down the hallway back towards the staircase.
"Class, here's Homework # 42. I'll give you the rest of the class period to work on it." I turned to the two goddesses and nodded to them. Goddess Neptune threw a fist into the air while Goddess Blanc gave me a thumbs up.
Alright, here I go.
I walked past the door.
"...Wait, what you doing here?"