[Vocalist's POV]
[December 25th, 7:01 am]
(Music playing: Clarity - Zedd ft. Foxes)
I usually hum a tune as I cook food. Gives me concentration. That or I'm bored. Ehehe...
I decided to cook an omelette, yes the simple omelette... Also a few hotdogs...
I check the rice... Okay, seems like it's cooked. Oh, its aroma... It's making my stomach growls intensify even more...!
"Let me see now..."
I carefully put the omelette onto a plate and divide it into three... Of course, the twins need to eat. I dunno when was the last time they ate, but... They were hungry so...
"Alright! Are you kids there...?"
"Yes, Mr. Vocalist..." Rom quietly said.
"You two can call me by my real name, Kato... I don't mind..." I enthusiastically said to them. I gotta make them feel easy. This must be so confusing to them too, with all of—
"Nah, I'll stick to calling you Dummy..." Wow, Ram. *sigh* Not that I expected you to call me Kato anyway... I roll my eyes...
This is all so confusing, yes. How did the Twins end up in my house? Some weird thing? Wow, I should have believed my parents coz they were right... Who knew?!
*vibrate* Huh, who's calling?
Calling: IdiotDrums
"Oh, John..." I decided to accept the call.
"Yo, Kato... So any gigs?"
"Didn't I tell you that we don't have any gigs yet? Are you overexcited or something? Can't stand still?"
"Uhh... Nooo..."
"Your voice is giving you away, bro..."
"Aw, fine... You got me..."
"Ehehe... Come on, have patience, man..."
"Fine..."
"I'm cooking right now, so I'm hanging up, bye..."
"Alright, just don't go Food Wars on me."
*beep*
John and his anime jokes... Well, back to reality...
"Alright kids, here they are..."
"You sure these aren't poisoned?"
I cringe, "Uh, Ram, why would I poison food that I'm ALSO eating from? That's nonsense."
*nom*
Well, at least Rom took the initiative of eating it...
"Wow, Mr. Kato... These are good..."
"Well, I sometimes get visitors and all, so I try to make my food taste good..."
I'm also the cook for our band... John's just plain terrible at cooking, and Anton can't cook... Guess why...
Ram also partook of the meal. Judging by her face, she liked it. "I admit, you cook pretty well, dummy..."
"I'm just gonna pretend to not hear 'dummy' and take that as a compliment," I sigh. Ram won't be really popular with the other kids (and adults) here... She should respect people once in a while...
[Some minutes later]
"So you kids like my cooking?"
They both nod in agreement. It made me smile, and as I dig in my part of breakfast, I still can't help but wonder how these two came along. Looks like my parents were right. Give em a Nobel Prize already.
*faint Skype call ringtone*
Eh? Who's Skyping me at this hour? I quickly run towards the computer.
[Calling: Unknown (Voice) (Video) (Drop Call)]
Unknown?! What in the... I'll just accept the voice feed...
*click*
Bzzt... Bzzt...
Static. Static. Okay, I'm dropp—
"I-is anyone there?" Wait, that voice!
"Um... Hello? Eh, excuse me..."
I look back to the twins. And with nervousness in my voice, I answered, "W-who is this?"
"Oh, hopefully I can trust you... Before I answer that, let me ask you, have you seen two young girls somewhere?"
She must be referring to Rom and Ram. Okay, to make this easier for the both of us...
"Hey, you two, come here," I call out to the twins. The peeps back in the Neptunia universe must be worried. Especially their older sister.
"Yeah, what is it, dummy?"
"That voice... Rom? Ram? Are you there?!"
"M-miss Histoire?" Rom asked. Yes, Histoire called me through Skype. W-wait... How did she access Earth's communication systems? And how did she find my Skype account?!
"Are you two okay?"
"Yes, because of this dummy..."
"You really need to change the way you call people, anyway, do you mind if I turn on the video feed? So that you won't be worried more."
"A-alright..."
*click* And the screen was full of static...
And now it's clearing up. Now I see someone floating off a book. I don't need to describe her elaborately, obviously because I know she's the Oracle of Planeptune, Histoire.
"I'll leave you guys for a while, to catch up and stuff," I said while smiling. They need some alone time. I go out and call my parents. If you haven't guessed what their job is, they're researchers.
*beep*
"Hey, mum, pops?"
"Kato? Why did you..."
"Listen, I have a favor to ask..."
[Third Person POV]
Meanwhile, while Kato was calling his parents, John and Anton have a little talk about Kato and his "anxiousness" in the last call.
"Hey, Anton, Kato was acting weird when I called him again."
"What do ya mean, John?"
"I'm saying that he's hiding something..." said John.
"Eh... Maybe one of yer stupid premonitions, John..."
"Nah, even if that's the case... I can't help but be curious..."
Anton fell deep in thought. He doesn't think that Kato would hide something from them... But what if he did...? It wasn't a far-fetched idea. Well, if anything, it is a possibility, because even best friends hide some secrets from each other.
"Okay, how about this... We go in there earlier than he expects..." the brown-haired boy suggested. John was surprised.
"Wow, that's actually a good plan..."
"Then, what are we waiting for? Oh wait, I gotta go back to my house, meet up here at 10, alright?"
"Yes!" John gave a thumbs up while grinning.
[Vocalist's POV]
*beep*
Phew, glad they cooperated...
Actually, now that I called them, I really miss them now. *sigh* Family. Wonder how those twins are feeling. I went back inside.
"Oh, it seems you're back, Mr. Manchester," the Oracle spoke out after seeing me. Wait...
"Uh... Histoire... How do you know my last name? Come to think of it, how did you access this world's communication systems, especially my Skype account?"
"Oh my. It looks like I'm not the only one that needs to explain how you know my name..." Wait, I'm supposed to be off the hook with the explanation because Rom already said her name, that was supposed to give her an impression that—Oh wait, I should've said, "H-Histoire, right?". I practically dug my own grave. I ready my throat for a long explanation.
"Well, you see..."
"...Got it now?" Phew that was a heck of an explanation.
"So, we exist as video game characters in your world?"
"That's correct," I nod.
I continued, "Hey, how did Rom and Ram end up in my home? This is... Too confusing, even for me..."
"We... Do not know either... Blanc said that they were in their room sleeping last night, then this morning, they disappeared. I detected a bit of an anomaly, so I decided to check the other dimensions, and that's how I ended up calling you, Mr. Kato Manchester. It is a good thing my first call to an unfamiliar world was a jackpot..."
"Uh, Histoire, no need for formalities, just call me Kato," I said while snickering a bit to give her my point.
"Oh, if that's what you wish, Kato. We're trying to devise a plan to bring back Rom and Ram back to Gamindustri... But it'll take a long time to..."
"Actually, I can help, since my parents are researchers."
"What do you mean, Kato?"
"Well..." I scratched the back of my head, while the twins look at me with curiosity.
"...My parents are researchers that try to prove the existence of multiple universes/realities/dimensions. They've been researching ever since I was born, due to their grandfathers' experiences with something that happened in 1921, so they say. Sure they're busy but they still have time to care for me."
"Anyway, I told them earlier of the existence of the Neptunia universe, which they found already by the time I called them. Right now, they're building some sort of 'Rift Device' or something of sorts that can take one to your universe safe and sound," I explained.
"That means we can get back home?" asked Ram.
"Yeah, the problem is someone in the Neptunia universe would ALSO have to construct the same device, no matter if it's more advanced or something..."
"Then, I'm on it, just send me a blueprint of the device," Histoire called. Ah, wait... They sent me a copy... Dunno why... But hey, at least it's a kind of plot convenience...
"Alright th—"
"Hey, Histy, we just looked everywhere on Planeptune and—" Ah, that ditzy voice... Nep is gonna break the fourth wall for real now that... *sigh*
"Oh goodness, Rom, Ram!"
"We-we're fine, Miss Nepgear..."
"Yeah, good thing we ended up at this dummy's house..."
Again, really? *facepalm*
"Oohh... Who's this guy that looks like Blanc if she was male?" Uh...
Well, can't blame Nep. Brown hair, blue eyes, short (I'm a bit taller than Blanc though, and trust me, I'm a late bloomer like my mom)... Anyone who likes Neptunia would think that... Annnd... She just literally broke the fourth wall. Know what? I don't care anymore.
"If you two are gonna ask who I am, it's Kato, or Vocalist, your choice..."
"Oh, sure Mr. Fellow Protagonist..."
"Please Nep, don't obliterate the fourth wall... And I'm not a protagonist. I'm a plain NPC character... If I describe myself that accurately..."
"Goodness, are you okay?"
"Well, with everything going on, I'd say a bit, Nepgear..."
"Huh, how did you know Nep Jr.'s name? Are you a stalker?"
"The heck, woman?!"
"You see, Neptune, his dimension has us as video game characters..." Phew, you saved me, Histoire...
"Oh, so that's why he didn't want me to obliterate the fourth wall, nah, still gonna do it," Nep said with her tongue sticking out.
"Ugh..." I massage the temple of my head.
"Well, you okay there, twins?" Neptune asked.
"Y-yes, Miss Neptune..."
"Well, it's a good thing they were in my house... This world is unpredictable..."
Yes, there might be thieves, murderers... Pedophiles. *shivers*
"Well, ya gotta take care of them, fellow protag, coz if you don't~"
*bang*
Wh-what was that...
"Hist, did you find my sis—"
Uh oh. She's looking at me with those murderous eyes. (You know who it is…)
"YOU! WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY SISTERS!?" EEK! Even though she's just on the screen, her anger fills me with fear!
"Woah, Lady Blanc, please calm down... He is the one taking care of your sisters in his dimension..."
"*sigh* Thanks for clarifying that, Histoire... Anyway... Nice to meet you, Lady Blanc. Even though you threatened me through interdimensional connection... Don't worry, they're safe with me."
"Yeah, don't worry, big sis, Dummy here already has a plan to get us back...!"
"Yeah, just like what Ram said. My folks are already rushing to build the machine..."
"You... What's your name?"
"It's Kato. Rest assured, I'll find a way to get them back safely..."
"So by then... Kato... Please keep them safe in my account, alright? I'll kill you personally if you don't...!"
I put on a serious face (to hide my fear), "You got it, Blanc!"
"And you two, please don't trouble him..."
"We won't," the twins said in unison.
"Ah... Looks like time's up... Let us talk again soon, Kato..."
*bzzt*
*sigh* Looks like that's over. Hm.
I look at the twins. Their faces are etched with worry. I pat them both.
"It'll be alright, I'll protect you two..."
Then, I look at the computer time... 10 am huh...
"Hey, Kato! Anton here! We decided to come over early!"
"YIKES!" THEY'RE HERE ALREADY!?