Nepgear doesn't know what is happening. First she was with Neptune's slumbering body, checking to see if her big sister was uncomfortable. Then there was Miss Lyka who asked her to take care of her daughter for a short-while, to which she reluctantly accepted.

But now?

Now she doesn't know what to do. A couple minutes passed since Miss Lyka bid her farewell to her daughter and to the temporary babysitter, it was all well and good…for a few moments that is. Nepgear shifted in her chair as she watches the little girl read silently and the only sound that could be heard was the flipping of each pages.

Nepgear watches with awkwardness mixed with amazement. Well for one Alyria was reading a thick book, almost a tome at this point and she wonders how smart the smaller girl was. Back when she was as tall as the girl in front of her, instead of doing whatever it is that kids in their past time, she was busy trying not to get hit by her previous owner. She would often see her master read a book with a struggling look on he tried to absorb the contents, those were times she could only enjoy herself as her master was too busy to do anything to hit or order her around.

Curiosity got the better of her when she would sneak around the mansion's library and took a peek at the books that was occupying the room. The first book she ever read was a medical book to which she was extremely amazed at how the human anatomy works. It was not a book for a little girl like her to understand or read, but it didn't falter her. It was also the book that taught her to heal herself, which was a huge relief, but all those late-night readings caused severe punishment and being accused of being a thief when one of the maids caught her, to which she naively tried to defend herself.

The brown haired girl furrowed her eyebrows as she could intensely feel a gaze on her. Shyly peeking up her book, she saw Nepgear's amazement to which caused her to fidget in her seat. The older of the two noticed the uncomfortable expression that Alyria was expressing and immediately went to apologize.

"A-Ah! I-I'm sorry." Nepgear bowed her head down. "I-I was just admiring how you could r-read such a t-thick book…"

The brown haired girl was surprised at the apology and lowered the book down.

"Does…Does big sister Nepgear like to read too?"

Purple eyes look up, almost hurting her neck, but still she was taken aback when the younger girl asked. "I…I do."

Alyria's eyes widened and jumped out of her chair as a dazzling smile framed her face. She took note of Nepgear's confused expression and she giggled.

"Really?! All the kids aren't and they were also mean to me when they would see me with a book." Alyria's smiling face faltered for a second, but it instantly returned when she looks at Nepgear once again. "Do you want to see what I'm reading?! It's not a kids book and I could really just read this when mom's away. But since she isn't here I'm free to do whatever!" The brown haired girl grimaced when she looks at the older girl. "…You wouldn't tell, right?"

Nepgear took a second to respond, but eventually shook her head slowly. The younger girl gave out a wider smile and immediately shifted the chair next to the purple haired girl and share what she has been reading.

The moment purple eyes scanned what was in front of her she knew she was a goner. Immediately, her eyes absorbed every detail that was written on the book, and a look of focus took over her face. It took a few minutes before Nepgear realized that the book wasn't hers and instantly look at the little girl beside her.

"Hey, big sister Nepgear. Can you read it aloud? Like how mom reads me bed time stories."

"I…I…hmm." Nepgear nodded slowly and returned her gaze on the words. It was…good. Reading a loud was good without the consequences of being caught and hit. But she has to admit reading a book about the arts of alchemy wasn't a thing to read a story to anyone, much less a child. But Alyria looked like she was enjoying herself and her big eyes would light up whenever Nepgear would read through how a certain component is built, and that cause a small smile to tug through the corners of her mouth.

A couple of hours passed and Nepgear could feel her throat burn. But it was a good burn if she has to be honest. Even the little girl was tired of listening to alchemy and suggested that they play outside.

"B-but what about your mom? Isn't it dangerous to go outside?"

"But I wanna playyyyy! I don't really have any friends and I've seen how they play and it looks so fun! They never wanted me to join, but now that you're here we could at least play tag!" Nepgear sweat dropped at the energetic little girl in front of her. It only made everything harder when she saw the brown haired girl's pout.

It took everything in her to resist, but she eventually gave in and earned a squeal from the younger girl and hugged her new friend. Alyria dragged Nepgear out of the house and furrowed her eyebrows on what to do. She had observed the other kids shouting 'tag you're it!' whenever one of them touched the other and run away from them.

"Tag you're it!" Alyria shouted as she started to run away from the purple haired girl, leaving her in confusion.

"Chase me!" Nepgear stared at the running girl and did as told and ran towards her. Their squeals of delight whenever the purple haired girl would tag the younger girl and vice versa, was so fun. Nepgear panted with a smile on her face as she caught up to Alyria once again.

Several minutes passed, the children were now resting under the shade of a tree. Alyria starts to nod off, and Nepgear immediately noticed and scoot a little closer to her friend (?) to let the smaller child lean on her shoulder.

"Hmm…fank you." The brown haired child mumbled as she finally closed her eyes, while the beholder of purple eyes nodded, fidgeting from the unfamiliar situation she's in.

Nepgear heard the other child's patterned breathing and released a breath of her own as she now looks at the house from a distance. Today was easily one of the best she's ever had. If it was the past her, she would certainly think that all she was experiencing was a distant dream.

A breeze passed, lightly tousling Nepgear's hair. Her mind quickly drifted off to Neptune who was safely sleeping, and still she wonders when her big sister would wake up. It has been too long since she has seen Neptune's grinning face and she worried she might not see them anymore.

Nepgear shook her head as she tries to remove the thought from her mind. No, her sister will surely wake up and when she does she will make sure to watch her back at all times. She cannot afford to make the same mistakes-

Shouting could be heard just a couple of feet away from the resting children and Nepgear was immediately alerted. She looked at the sleeping child on her shoulder and guiltily woke her up.

"Hmmm, big sister…Nepgear?" Alyria said, confused as to why the purple haired girl woke her up.

"Ah, t-there's something happening…uhm…" Nepgear stuttered. The previous sleep laden eye Alyria suddenly shifted and heard the commotion that the older girl was talking about. Both children took a peek behind the tree and saw a kids circling a poor child with black flattened fox ears protruding from her head and two tails puffed up behind her.

Nepgear was surprised to what she was seeing, quickly shifting into anger when one of the kids grabbed one of the mysterious kid's tail as the gaggle of kids laughed when the poor thing yelped.

Without much of a thought, Nepgear removed herself from where she was and run towards their direction, ignoring the calls of Alyria who stayed clutching the tree and worry evident in her eyes.

As the purple eyed girl was nearing them, she heard a fairly stout kid say-

"Look at her weird ears!" He said as he grabbed them painfully, making the downed kid hissed and growled at him. "I heard beastkin ears are sensitive, you think they're true?"

"Let…go!" The black haired beast kin said through gritted teeth. She used her claws to try and hit the person in front of her but only stumbled on the ground as he immediately dodged to the side. A series of laughter was heard as the five children pointed at her embarrassing fall. Her red eyes turned to slits as she clenched the grass below her-

"AH!" The beastkin shouted in pain as one of them stepped on one of her tails.

"Oops, I didn't notice the tail weirdo. They're so black they look like dirt." A girl with two missing teeth said condescendingly.

Tears was starting to well up in her eyes, but then sensed an overwhelming mana being accumulated behind her.

Snapping her head towards the direction, she saw another child with two purple magic circles in front of her hands.

"G-Get away from her!" Nepgear shouted, clearly trying her best to be under control while streaming point was at the tip of her tongue.

The children was clearly afraid at the newcomer, and hesitated in moving their attention to the purple haired girl. The chubby boy from earlier only sneered at the other child, as he daringly stepped forward.

"Hey, we were just having fun!"

"Y-Your fun doesn't l-look fun at a-all." Nepgear said, her legs shaking as she tries to keep It cool.

"Oh, man this is a riot, she stutters guys hahahahaha!" He said as he pointed at the purple haired girl. But the kids behind him hesitated in laughing alongside him.

"W-what's with the f-f-flashy c-circles?" He mocked, clearly trying to irritate Nepgear but instantly froze in surprise when Nepgear casted streaming point in front of him, just a few centimeters from his right foot.

The children looked at her in fear, as a small crater formed from the girl's spell.

"I-I won't ask again." Nepgear said, with conviction this time as her purple eyes gave an unusual glow. The bullies took a step back with horrified expression on their faces.

"W-WITCH!"

"SHE'S A WITCH!"

They scrambled away from the scene and quickly head to obviously tell their parents. Nepgear held her stance before dropping it when they were not in sight.

The black haired girl with red eyes watches her in amazement and wondered how such a tiny child could have that much mana. She noticed her savior was now looking at her in a panic, and stuttered cutely as she asked her if she was okay.

Feeling a heat come up the beastkin's face, she mumbled that she was fine and that made Nepgear gave a relieved sigh.

"I-I saw them, m-making fun of you and- a-are you sure you're alright? Them s-stepping on your tail m-must've hurt."

"I told you I'm fine!" The girl shouted, causing Nepgear to cower and instantly felt guilt. "Sorry…"

The purple haired girl looked at the other and gave a gentle smile making the red hue to return from the mysterious girl's face once again.

"I'm…I…I'm…!" Nepgear looked listlessly, and the constant stuttering made the other girl annoyed.

"What? Just say it!"

"I'm…N-Nepgear." The black haired beastkin looked at Nepgear with wide eyes. That was all she wanted to say?

"I didn't ask for your name." The beastkin immediately regretted her words as she chided herself. "I-I mean, I…It's quite weird for you to say your name." She said with a huff and took a side glance at Nepgear's deflating expression. "G-Geez, you don't have to be sad about it! You're making me feel bad!"

"Sorry…"

"Geez…" One of the black haired girl's ear flickered and her tails swayed expectantly, clearly betraying whatever she was feeling right now. "Uni."

Nepgear looked at her with a confused expression, while Uni could only huff adorably with a single canine poking from her lips.

"The name's Uni! And you better not forget about it!"


I revised the thing about Uni being a cat girl and turned her into a fox girl.