Chapter 8: New Nep, New N (Part 1)
N walked into the convenience store, hands in his pockets and head low. IF had been placed in Arfoire's care for the time being until N came back from the convenience store. Then, when he picked up IF and dropped off his stuff, they would go to the Guild to get N's motorbike back along with installing a sidecar for the little one.
Walking over to the hair products section, N looked at the selection before him. There were a plethora of boxes containing different hair colors, braids, and even styles for some reason. N was intimidated by the variety of hair dye before him. If someone looked at his face, they might see swirls in his eyes as they darted from box to box. Taking a sharp inhale, N closed his eyes and reached for a box.
"L'oactual? If I were you, I'd pick a better product." Opening his eyes, N glanced to his side to find a familiar face. Noire stood beside him, no longer in a Vert-style disguise, but rather in her regular Noire-style color scheme. She had her arms crossed, one eye closed and another with her brow raised.
"Noi- I mean, Lady Noire?" Noire made a smug smile.
"I mean, I'd rather go for a temporary hair dye, or one that you can wash off if you're going to use it for a day and-" N blinked.
"Uh…" Noire stopped and waited for N to speak. "What if I just wanted to dye my hair black and keep it for a while?" Noire hummed.
"How long is a while?" N scratched the back of his head.
"Uh… I dunno, is twenty years a while?" Noire furrowed her brow.
"You might as well be immortal if that's a while for you." N made an awkward chuckle.
"Right on the money as always, Noire." Noire rolled her eyes.
"Well, semi-permanent hair dye lasts about six or so weeks before it starts to fade." Noire grabbed a box and pointed to some words on it. "Unless you went for permanent dye, which will never change after you use it." N stared at the box, nodding and making a mental note.
"Alright, thank you Lady Noire." Noire smiled.
"Of course, this is nothing for me." N found a box with a shade of black that he liked and looked to see if it was permanent or not. "Oh right." N turned his attention to the Lastation Goddess. "If you want a hair color that would be for guys, you wanna go down there." N blinked, stared at Noire for a minute, then looked up. The sign above him said
Women's Hair Dye.
He then looked further down the section to see another side.
Men's Hair Dye.
"...Oh." N stood up straight, his face red. "Uh… Thanks." Noire giggled.
"It's fine, it's fine. It's not like the hair dye will change your gender or anything." N had a confused look on her face.
"Whuh?"
"Hair dye doesn't really matter for a guy or girl. Hair color is just hair color." Noire pointed towards the men's section. "They just have hair colors that guys would like in the men's section." N made a small o with his mouth.
"Oh okay." N walked over to the men's hair dye section. "I guess going for a guy's shade of black might be better to disguise myself with…" The sounds of footsteps behind him pulled N from his thoughts. Glancing over his shoulder, he found Noire following him. "Uh…" N stopped and so did Noire. "Why are you following me?" N shrunk away from her. "Could it be…"
"What?" Noire felt an annoying feeling she hadn't felt in years.
"...a stalker." Noire was taken aback.
"Wha- No! I'm just making sure that someone that's clearly new to hair dye doesn't mess it up!" N let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew, I thought I was gonna have a CPU for a stalker." Noire opened her mouth to say something but N continued talking. "Well, that would have been one heck of a plotline." Noire paused. N noticed that Noire stopped talking and looked at her. Noire looked like was looking behind N and into space. If N was still Neptune, he probably would have done something like use his fingers to fake kiss her cheek or put cat ears on her head since she was so distracted. N smiled to himself. If only Noire knew who he was, she'd probably treat him the same as she used to. He kind of missed those days. But for now, he has to face reality again. "Lady Noire? You good? Lagging?" Noire blinked twice.
"Wh-What, no. It's nothing. I just felt nostalgic for some reason." N raised an eyebrow.
"Nostalgic? Over hair dye or being called a stalker?" Noire's eye twitched.
"N-No! I just…" Noire sighed. "It's just, I don't know. Just talking to you reminds me of someone I used to know." N froze.
"Ah." N felt like this had happened before.
"Y-You used to know?" Noire nodded, her eyes downcast and she turned to the hair dyes. Her eyes fell on a hair dye that looked a lot like N's hair color.
"I… used to have this friend. She really annoyed the hell out of me. She always got on my nerves and never left me alone." Noire put her hand on the hair dye box.
"She's talking about the old me…" N thought to himself. "Wonder how she really thinks of me." N felt a little guilty prodding Noire about his old self, but it wouldn't be him and Noire if he didn't.
"Oh." N shifted his weight to one side. "That doesn't look like a good friend to me." Noire hmphed and N swore that he felt a small glare pointed towards his way.
"I wish." Noire made a small smile. "If it wasn't for Neptune, I think the only friend I'd have is Uni." N widened his eyes.
"Holy crap! Noire admitted it!" N wanted to tease her real bad, but he had to beat back his inner Neptune for now.
"Really? You seemed to be real close to the other CPUs." Noire made a face that Neptune never saw. Anxiety.
"Yeah, only cause Neptune wouldn't leave me alone. She just kinda brought them to my side and they 'adopted' me." Noire made air quotes with her fingers while rolling her eyes. N chuckled at the motion. "If it wasn't for her," Noire picked up the box, stroking the color with her thumb. "I'd probably be in my office, working my face off without talking with anyone but my staff or Uni." Noire sighed. "It's just kinda sucks that she's gone." N raised an eyebrow. "She was basically my best friend." Noire gave N a look, an embarrassed blush appearing on her face. "D-Don't tell Blanc or any of the CPUs I said this okay!" N put his hand to his heart.
"I would never." Noire looked relieved. "If I did, I'm pretty sure Noire would actually kill me this time." N watched Noire put the box back. "It seems like Lady Neptune did do something positive after all." Noire rolled her eyes again.
"You'd be surprised at what she could do if she actually put her mind to it," Noire held out a finger, then put up another one. "...or was bribed, or Histoire made her do it." N let out an awkward chuckle.
"Heh, I can't tell if I should admire or scold her." Noire suddenly turned to N with a lot of energy.
"Right!" Noire noticed N's startled look. "S-Sorry, I just haven't had someone to agree with that didn't try to suck up to me in a long time." N nodded, continuing his search for a good dye.
"Really, does that mean Lady Uni isn't a good conversation partner?" Noire widened her eyes.
"N-No no! Uni's perfectly fine! I just… there's a lot of things I can't share with her, especially since she knows everyone I know. Uni doesn't blab, but I don't wanna change how she looks at people or me…" N smirked.
"So a random acquaintance of Lady Blanc's is okay?" Noire pursed her lips.
"I mean, if Blanc likes you enough to train you for a while, I'm pretty sure you're trustworthy enough." N smiled.
"I don't know about that…" Considering who Noire was talking about, N felt like he was the least trustworthy person she could know. "Well, as long as she doesn't find out."
"Well, thanks for trusting me Lady Noire." N gave her a small bow, just as Blanc taught him. Noire straightened her back, a wide grin on her face.
"Don't mention it." Noire glanced at the selection of dyes. "Now, then let's look for a hair color that'll look good on you." Noire walked past him. "You said you wanted black right?" N nodded his head.
"Yeah, but I think I could with brown too so I can match with Iffy." Noire gave him a deadpan look.
"Wow, what a doting parent." N grinned wide.
"Well, of course! Who wouldn't?" Noire shrugged.
"Alright, follow me." N mocked saluted her.
"Yes, ma'm!" Noire rolled her eyes and shook her head. While N was scouring through the colors again, Noire stared at him.
"He really does remind me of Neptune…" Noire wasn't sure if it was the hair, cause N did have the same hair color as Neptune. Almost to a startling degree. "If he grew his hair out… and was a little shorter." Noire thought of N's personality. It was similar to Neptune's, but muted. And well, N is a guy and Neptune was a girl. "If Neptune was a guy…" He was a little too tall to be Neptune's height. In fact, he was almost as tall as Noire, if not taller. Noire narrowed her eyes at the thought of a Neptune as tall as her, already feeling all the headaches she'd get. Shaking her head, Noire scanned the rest of N's body.
It seemed like his build was a little buff, not like the petite and somewhat pudgy Neptune. Noire's eyes moved downward and stared at a specific backend area of N's. "Neptune always did say that she had a nice butt…" N stood straight, holding two boxes.
"Alright, looks like I found something!" N's voice snapped Noire out of her trance, heavily blushing as she realized what she was doing. "Lady Noire, I-" N turned around to see a very red Noire shaking her head. "Uh… You good?" Noire turned around, hands on her cheeks.
"I-I-I'm fine! I didn't stare at anything!" N raised an eyebrow. N checked the back of his pants.
"Was my underwear peeking out?" Feeling for his underwear and finding out it was not in the public eye, N shrugged. N watched as Noire crouched down and lowered her head, her face covered in her hands. A sight that N hasn't seen in a long time.
"I can't believe I was checking out some guy I met because he looked like Neptune!" Noire could feel her whole body turning red. "What kind of weirdo am I?" Noire's eyes suddenly opened. Standing up and turning to face N, Noire coughed into her fist and stood straight, fists on her hips. "S-Sorry about that." N shrugged.
"No worries. I honestly have no idea what happened." Noire coughed out a laugh.
"A-Alright," Noire took a breath. "What did you find?" N held up a box of black dye and a box of brown dye. Noire leaned forward and stared at one box, then at N. She did the same with the other box. Noire hummed. "Black hair seems like a safe bet for him. Brown hair… maybe if he grew out his hair a bit more." A Neptune in black or brown hair appeared in her head. "Hmm, Neptune might be better in black hair… No, she might say we're matching. Wait, I'm doing it again!" Noire slapped her face, surprising N. Noire pointed at the black box and told him her thoughts, excluding the Neptune bits.
"Huh." N looked at the brown box with a sad face, he had picked the box specifically because it was similar to IF's hair color. Taking Noire's suggestion, N decided to come back for the brown color when IF was older and he got her to stop pulling hair.
Taking the two boxes, N turned to Noire to see her picking out her own boxes herself. N noticed the look on her face. The way her gaze meticulously scanned the boxes, the small hmm's she made as she stared at each box, and the absolute focus she emitted. It was the look of a veteran in their element. It reminded N of another bustier CPU that could enter the same mode whenever she had a raid to lead or a new game to play. N wondered if Blanc did the same when she wrote stuff, whenever she wasn't annoyed by the twins that is.
After a couple minutes, Noire made a disappointed sigh and straightened her back, stretching out her arms and letting out a relieved groan. Shaking her head, Noire turned to N.
"Not here either…" N raised an eyebrow.
"Looking for a specific dye?" Noire nodded her head.
"Yeah, I was looking for a specific brand that I liked. It's very high quality and makes you feel like your hair is just a different color instead of feeling dyed." N gave her an incredulous look.
"Dye can do that?" Noire shrugged.
"Not really, but the mentality feels nice." N looked at his choices.
"Makes me wanna second guess now." Noire waved a hand at him.
"Nah, those are fine for beginners." Hearing the opinion of a veteran, N dropped his regret.
"Well, thanks again Lady Noire." Noire rolled her eyes.
"Please, call me Noire." She narrowed her eyes at him. "I don't know why, but it feels weird every time you call me 'Lady'." N tilted his head to the side.
"Why is that?" Noire shrugged again, keeping her hands in the air this time.
"No idea. It just feels… wrong." Noire eyed the selection again with another side. "I went all the way to Planeptune because it's out of stock in Lastation and the brand is based in Planeptune. But every store I go to doesn't have it."
"Huh, that explains why you're all the way here." N pointed to the cashier with his thumb. "Since you helped me an' all with my hair problem, mind if I treat you to something?" Noire perked up. "Might as well make the trip totally not worth it. Especially since you went so far." Noire recomposed herself and coughed into her hand.
"I'm not one for receiving thanks for something so simple," Noire's eyes glanced over to the sweets section. N made a quick grin. Noire closed one eye and crossed her arms. "I-I wouldn't mind if you bought me some pudding…" N's grin grew wider.
"Hey! I love pudding!" N swore Noire's twintails stood up like cat ears.
"Really!" Noire grabbed N's free hand with both of her hands. "That's awesome! I know a sweet cafe that-" Noire just realized what she had done. She froze in her tracks, her eyes glancing at her hands, then at N, then at N's hands, then at N.
"Whoa…" N was just startled. Eyes wide.
To Noire, she just grabbed the hands of a random civilian she was acquaintances with. The amount of problems that could happen if someone saw this would annoy Noire just as much as Neptune did.
To N, it wasn't that a CPU just grabbed his hand. It was Noire who grabbed her hand. The Noire that showcased herself as Neptune's rival, her old rival. The person that Neptune dragged around by grabbing her hand, her best friend. Noire never grabbed Neptune's hand unless she needed to hold her down so she could either yell at her or headbutt her. Or to drag back to the Basilicomm to make Neptune do more paperwork. The Noire that Neptune had to barge into her office, piss her off in order to get her to get up, then surprise hug her from behind to drag her outside to touch some grass and feel the sunlight.
The Noire that Neptune joked about having no friends even though that probably wasn't true.
That lonely Noire.
Noire grabbed N's hand.
She grabbed N's hand.
With such joy.
That never happened before.
Neptune felt so proud that Noire was finally taking steps to climb out of her own shell.
Neptune hadn't felt Noire's hand in a long time.
But.
It wasn't Neptune that Noire grabbed.
It was N.
And N wasn't Neptune anymore.
Something wasn't right.
"Oh crap! S-Sorry, N! I just-" Noire tried to let go of N's hand, but N wrapped his hand around the one he could hold onto. "Huh?" Noire looked at N's face. "N-N?" N's face was staring straight at their hands, his eyes had a wispy look to them. "N?" Noire could feel the heat on both of their hands, and on her face. "Hey, N!" N's grip tightened. "Wha-Hey!" Now Noire definitely knew she was blushing. "N!"
N blinked, violently returned to reality.
"Wha-? Oh." N reluctantly let go of Noire's hand. "S-Sorry, N looked away. His eyes fell to the floor beside him. Noire pulled her hand to her chest, taking a deep breath.
"It's… It's alright." For some reason, when Noire saw how sad N's face looked, she felt guilty. "N, I-" N suddenly made a goofy grin.
"It's not everyday a goddess grabs your hand, huh?" Noire paused. "Lucky me! Wonder how much my hand would sell for now!" Now she was annoyed.
"D-D-Don't just say something tactless like that!" Noire swiped at N's head. The strike, while light for Noire and other CPUs, wasn't for N.
"Agh!" While he didn't lose consciousness, N dropped to one knee. Catching himself with his free hand, N's dropped his dyes and let them fall onto the floor. Noire widened her eyes.
"Oh no!" Noire dropped to her knees. "I'm so sorry, I just kinda went with the flow and swung like that!" Noire reached out and touched N's head. N, on the other hand, was still processing what happened and dulling out the pain as best he could. He was pretty sure that his ears were ringing.
"Wow, CPUs… are really strong." If N had been Neptune, this would have been the generic slapstick that the two always had. But N didn't have as much durability as Neptune had. Thankfully, Blanc and Histy had the foresight to realize that and put him through hell to be able to tank attacks like he used to. But during that, N was ready for it and Blanc held back (as much as she could dealing with N's shenanigans).
However, N wasn't ready and Noire doesn't hold back.
N felt his pain subside and he could see a faint green light.
"She healed me?" N raised his head to see a relieved Noire. "Talk about excessive care." Noire helped N stand and pick up his dyes.
"Oh my goddess, I'm SO sorry, N!" N shook his head.
"I would joke about people being jealous about getting slapped by Lad- Noire and then getting healed by her, but I'll pass on the backhand again." Noire sighed.
"You really are like her." Noire shook her head.
"Wha-"
"Nothing." N dusted himself off and then turned to the dessert section.
"So… how about some pudding?" Noire widened her eyes.
"How could you think about pudding at a time like this!?" N grinned.
"I think that I like to learn and live."
"I'm pretty sure that's not the phrase." N shrugged as he walked toward the sweet treats.
"Whatever, come on. La- Noire." Noire rolled her eyes, but smiled.
"Fine, but I'm warning you. I'm an expensive eater." N's wallet felt dread.
"Oh. Oh boy."
After having bought the dyes and pudding, N and Noire stood outside the convenience store. Each of them had a bag in their hand.
"Well, that was an adventure." Noire raised an eyebrow.
"Adventure? Aren't you a guild agent?" N nodded, putting his hands behind his head. The paper bag in N's hand dangled behind him.
"Yeah, but I'm a dad now! Can't go out like that no more!" Noire gave him a pitying look. "Ey, don't feel bad about it! Spending time with Iffy is like a mini-adventure in itself every day!" N threw his hands into the air, the bag flopping in the air. "But yeah, I can't do anything scary or dangerous until Iffy's big enough to take care of herself." N scratched the back of his head. "Lady Blanc might beat me up for being a deadbeat dad." Noire gave him a small nod.
"Alright," Noire held up the plastic bag in her hand, full of pudding for her and for Uni. "Thanks for treating me." Noire made a worried face and pointed toward her head. "Are you sure you wanna treat me after that?" N snickered.
"I had already promised I would and this guy don't break no promise!" N puffed his chest out. Noire smiled.
"Sure sure." Noire turned around. "Well, I better get going. Gotta check some more places before I go home."
"Alright," A question popped into N's head. "Oh wait." Noire turned back to face N. "Question."
"What?" N pointed at Noire's hair.
"Why are you dying your hair?" Noire's eyes widened. N knew from staying at Norie's place as Neptune that Noire had a hobby of making clothes and stuff. Not that Noire told her. Neptune kinda snuck into Noire's office in the middle of the night during a sleepover and saw her posing in front of her mirror while trying on some clothes. Neptune was pretty sure some of them were from an anime they watched during one of their watch parties with Blanc and Vert.
"I-uh-UM." Noire's face was turning redder than when he grabbed her hand. For some reason, N felt a little jealous. Okay, maybe a little more. "I uhh…." Noire's eyes darted all over the place to find an answer.
Thankfully for Noire, Neptune's creative mind took over.
"Maybe…" Noire felt dread in her heart. Did someone actually find out her cosplay hobby?! Neptune already found out about how she made her own costumes. Thank Histoire that Neptune just thought she liked making clothes so Neptune kept asking her to make a jacket. Noire made a sad smile. Sadly, she was so busy that Noire didn't get around to making a jacket for Neptune before she died. "Are you doing your own espionage!" Noire stared blankly at him.
"What."
"You dye your hair so you can spy around and do secret agent stuff!" N moved around, making secret agent and spy poses. Noire swore he did a ninja pose in the middle of it. "Right? Right? Riiiight?" Noire's eye twitched.
"No-"
"And then you save the day for all of Gamindustri!"
"No I just-"
"Then, you sneak into your rivals' Basilicomms and steal their pudding, you sneaky gal~." Noire squeezed her eyes shut and shouted with her soul.
"IT'S JUST COSPLAY!" N paused.
"Wait, wuh?" Noire glared at him.
"Cosplay! It's just cosplay!" N held up his hands.
"Okay okay. Alright. Calm down~." Noire took some deep breaths.
"Cosplay huh." Noire froze, once again realizing her actions have done something worse than grabbing a civilian's hands in a somewhat romantic fashion. Noire squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable mocking. "That's pretty cool." Noire opened her eyes. She stared at N.
"Cool?" N nodded. "You think it's cool?" N smiled.
"Yeah, pretty cool." N thought back to all the Neptune cosplayers he had seen throughout his lifetime. "I think it's admirable that people are able to copy so many details of a costume." While all of them were of considering they didn't have Neptune's body shape nor her powers, they were all really close to the former goddess. "Some cosplays I've seen are super life-like. Like it's awesome!" That isn't even going into Purple Heart cosplays or other cosplays he randomly sees on Chirper. N gave Noire a big smile. "Yours must look pretty good too!"
Tears started to form in Noire's eyes. Startled, N almost dropped his bag.
"H-Hey! Did I say something wrong! Uh, please don't slap me again!" Wiping her eyes, Noire shook her head and smiled.
"No, it's just I thought…" Noire recomposed herself. "I thought that it'd be weird for a CPU to have a hobby like that…" N raised an eyebrow.
"Is she kidding?" N thought back to all the hobbies of other CPUs he knew. Blanc wrote stuff. He could only call it stuff cause it wasn't that great. If Blanc knew that he said that, she'd probably kill him, and it would work this time. Nepgear was a science nut: robotics, chemicals, explosions, all that good stuff. Vert hypergames to the point that even N is worried for her health. Furthermore, he was pretty sure Uni had a literal wall of weapons that she collects. Noire's hobby didn't seem that bad.
"Well, everyone has their thing, like Lady Blanc." Noire blinked. "Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the other CPUs had their own hobbies they'd be embarrassed to share!" Noire let out a small laugh.
"I don't think that helps, but thanks." Noire checked her eyes to see if there were any stray tears. "But just hearing the fact that someone is okay with my hobby is enough for me." N smiled.
"Oh okay." N turned away. "Well, I gotta go and make sure Iffy's alright." Noire nodded.
"Alright," N took a few steps before suddenly he felt his shoulder get yanked back. "Wait!"
"Wha-!" N turned back to see Noire holding out her phone up to her face.
"You- You have Chirper right?" N could already guess where this was going. N would cheer her on if this was someone else, and N was Neptune. N didn't know if he had the heart to say no to the incoming request.
"Ye, I don't really use it besides looking at random news and messaging though." Noire pressed on.
"I-It's fine!" Noire cleared her throat. "Is it okay if I f-f-friended you?" N smiled at the Lastation CPU.
"Sure!" N swore he saw Noire's eyes shine as he took out his phone. After registering Noire and sending her a message to confirm that they had their accounts correct. N put his phone away. "Alright, Noire. I guess I should be going for re-" N looked up to see Noire holding up her phone to the sun. "I… I'll see you later." Waving goodbye to the CPU, who snapped out of her trance and waved back, N started down the path home. N looked at his watch.
They must have taken a long time to talk. It was almost four o'clock in the afternoon. IF was probably going to get lonely.
"Huh… guess I'll just head home. Maybe I'll head over to the Guild another time."
"And that's how I got these hair dyes." N told Blanc. N was currently sitting in his bathroom with Blanc. He was sitting in a chair while wearing a one-use poncho that he got from the convenience store. Blanc was currently reading instructions on how to dye someone's hair.
"So… why the hell was Noire there?" N shrugged. He didn't expose Noire's hobby to Blanc because he felt that would be a little mean considering how much courage Noire had put forth in asking N to be her friend.
"Not sure. Didn't even know she was into dyeing her hair." Blanc scoffed.
"Well, she does dye her hair from time to time. As if that could keep people from recognizing her." Blanc had run into Noire multiple times in different types of hair colors, the blonde version at the park being the latest. "If she wore a wig or- I don't know- sent someone else, that would be better." N turned to face Blanc.
"But Blanc, isn't it kinda cool that she's going around doing spy stuff herself?"
"No-" Blanc thought for a moment. "Actually, it is kinda cool." N grinned.
"Right!" N faced forward, his smile dropping for a second as he sighed. "But that girl is working way harder than I thought." He turned back to Blanc. "Keep an eye out for her okay?" Blanc glared at him.
"Why do I have to do it? You're her friend now, so you do it!" N pouted.
"Yeah, but having a Maker look out for CPU doesn't sound right." N made a smug face as Blanc narrowed her eyes. "It should be the other way around or CPU to CPU and stuff." Blanc sighed as she turned back to the instructions.
"Whatever." N heard Blanc click her tongue. "I swear, it's like you didn't fake your death and go into hiding at all." N chuckled.
"Sorry, sorry. Blanny. -Ow!" N felt a hair get plucked off of his head. "Why you gotta do that, I'm gonna enter my bald dad stage sooner." N pouted as he rubbed the back of his head. Blanc scoffed.
"You don't even know if you're gonna end up bald, idiot." N slowly turned to face Blanc again, this time gesturing to his sitting form hidden underneath his poncho.
"Yeah, but I got taller." N fluffed up his soon to be colored hair. "And my hair got shorter." N stared at his hands. "Even if I don't die. I'm definitely feeling something from the years passing by."
"Hmm… We do know that you're aging," Blanc opened up the dye bottle. They had decided to go with black as a hair color this time. Currently, IF had a habit of grasping onto people's hair and pulling. N and Blanc couldn't tell if it was for attention or she liked it but they had to hold off on growing out N's hair again until that habit went away. Until then, they decided to dye N's hair black. "But, we don't know if you're gonna age like a normal person or have way longer lifespan than most. Now, hold still."
"Mm…" N looked at his palms as Blanc got to work on his hair.
His hands had a slightly darker tone compared to when he was a CPU. Working outside for a handful of years had exposed his now non-divine skin to the power of melanin. Other than that, N's hands had gotten rougher and calloused from having to fight without his powers. If he looked closer, N could see faded scars from either fighting, tripping on the floor, making food and other miscellaneous things that required his hands to do things.
When they found out N was growing, he didn't even realize he was growing until Blanc showed up one day.
Blanc rapped on the door, bouncing her foot as she waited for N to open the door. It was already 3 pm and she could tell he was sleeping in.
"Oi, N. Open up, need you to do something for me- WH-" The door opened up to see a sleepy N, but that wasn't what surprised her.
"What is it, Blanc. I finally got a day off~." Rubbing his eyes, he looked straight ahead to stare at Blanc, only for him to stare at the top of her hat. "Huh?" N glanced down to see a wide-eyed, glaring, and probably jealous Blanc. "...Why are you down there?"
Blanc grabbed his shirt collar, yanking him down. She could barely look at him without baring her teeth.
"HOW THE HELL ARE YOU TALLER THAN ME NOW!?" Neptune and Blanc were of similar height when Blanc finally felt that Neptune, now N, could go out on and live on his own. That was a year ago.
"...I dunno." Blanc could feel a tear build up in her eye.
"THE HELL!? THIS ISN'T FAIR!" As Blanc shook N, the realization finally hit him.
"Am I… growing?"
"Yes, now gimme some of that height!" N laughed as Blanc changed into White Heart, lifting him into the air. "You think this is FUNNY?!"
"Well, yeah. Now we can say that you're the shortest CPU-" White Heart shut his mouth with one hand.
White Heart gave him an earful that afternoon.
N smiled.
Blanc was one of the few people that he could be his old self again. N could actually count the number of people who knew on one hand: Blanc, Ganache and Histoire. It was refreshing everytime Blanc came over. Sure, Rom and Ram come by every once in a while, but they don't know who N really was. They just think N's just some guy she took in as a disciple one day and "adopted" him. It was nice to have the two as pseudo little sisters, but it didn't beat having Nepgear as a little sister.
"Nepgear."
N thought back to his encounters with Nepgear.
The girl was still grieving for Neptune, even though Neptune had officially died for years now. She seemed better after the encounter at the park, and even better after they reconciled a little the previous time Rom and Ram came over. He hoped that the girl would get better soon. N knew that the best way for Nepgear to recover would be to expose himself as Neptune, but if he did, Nepgear would probably try to drag him back into regaining his powers and authority as a CPU, which is the opposite of what he wanted right now. Was it selfish? Maybe. But N knew better than anyone that Nepgear can push through this. She was his sister and she can do it.
But…
He still missed Nepgear, from her constant fretting over Neptune to her happily following Neptune like a puppy. He missed sharing pudding with her and playing games til they passed out or Histoire got mad at them. He even missed the wild science experiments that Nepgear would do, from making a potion to make new shares to just blowing things up. Blowing things up was fun, even Histoire would join in to let out some steam. N sighed.
"Stop moving." Blanc continued to work on a section of his hair.
"Sorry." N could hear laughter coming from outside the bathroom.
N glanced out the door of his bathroom, while Blanc worked on N, Rom and Ram were currently trying to teach IF their names. They had even drawn some pictures with their names on it, as little as that would help. Smiling, N silently thanked them. He may miss Nepgear a ton, but the two more than helped fill the void. Furthermore, the twins are pretty much willing to look after IF while N had to do adult stuff. He couldn't ask for more. Rather, N would probably run out of ways to pay them back.
"Hey Blanc?" Like her writings, Blanc was hyper focused on getting rid of N's lavender locks.
"What."
"Do you think I should pay your sisters for taking care of my baby girl?" Blanc hmphed.
"Do whatever you want." Blanc thought for a minute. "It might give them the initiative, but I would just stick to food." N smirked.
"Don't you wanna see them earn their first hard earned credits for once?" Blanc pursed her lips as she dyed the ends of N's hair.
"Yeah, but I also don't want them spending money on random crap." N chuckled.
"Such a helicopter parent." Blanc yanked another hair. "Ow- why!?"
"You don't get to talk." N pouted again.
"I am not a helicopter parent yet." Blanc raised an eyebrow.
"Yet?" N nodded.
"Yeah! Once Iffy gets older and gets into boys and junk, then I'll get the angry eyes out!" Blanc felt a giant comedic drop of sweat roll down her face.
"Sure…" Blanc had finished dying about 3/4ths of N's hair. She now began to attack the roots of the last fourth. "So, did Noire do anything weird yesterday besides the hand grabby thing or that slap that almost killed you?" N thought about it.
"Hmm…" There was something that N couldn't figure out. "Well, she stared at my back for a bit." Blanc tilted her head to the side.
"Your back?" N tried to nod, but Blanc held him in place.
"Yeah, my lower back. I thought my underwear was sticking out for a bit." Blanc blinked. Blanc knew that just changing Neptune's gender was just stupid, but it fooled most of the world. However, Nepgear almost found out just from one look at the guy. If there was someone who might have found out. It was Noire. Especially…
"You sure she wasn't checking you out?" N tried to turn his head. "Stop moving!" Blanc lightly knee'd his lower back.
"Owie! Why you gotta be so mean to me now, Blanc!?" N fake cried with actual tears in his eyes.
"Well don't ask me to dye your hair when you clearly know I don't know how!" Blanc cleared her throat. She didn't wanna scare IF, because a scared IF means a concerned N. A concerned N means an annoying N and an annoying N means an angrier Blanc. "Sorry not sorry."
"Okay, but what do you mean she was checking me out? Is my guy form that attractive? I know I used to be super cute!" Blanc rolled her eyes. She could close her eyes and still be blinded by that stupid grin. "It would make sense if I was handsome now. Hmm?" Blanc really wanted to stain the back of his neck with the dye but the box said not to. "Not that I wouldn't mind getting checked out by a CPU or anything. But why?"
"I'm surprised with all your stupid 'protagonist powers' and 'fourth-wall breaking' you like to do that you didn't pick up on the signs." Blanc turned away. "Well, not like any of us found out til after you died."
"What signs?" Now that Blanc mentioned it, N always did have the ability to see gameplay mechanics and utilize them to an extent. However, ever since N had given up being Neptune- and the powers that came with it, that ability also left N. At first, it confused N because it was something that N helped out when it came to fighting. However, after a while, N started getting used to it since not seeing damage numbers anymore made seeing incoming attacks a lot easier.
The fourth-wall breaking thing was something Neptune had naturally. However, N had to reluctantly stop pointing it out. According to Histoire, one of Neptune's most standout character traits was to break the fourth wall. Constantly. So Histoire and Blanc had to drill into N to not do that around everyone else.
Blanc, Histoire and maybe Ganache. Fair game. Technically, Iffy was fair game but she's just a lil' baby and that could confuse her brain.
"Yeah, so." Blanc can apologize to Noire when she finds out who N really was. "Noire liked you." N's eyes turned into big white circles with a thick black outline around them.
"Wuh." For all of Neptune's situational awareness, Blanc could never understand how she could ignore the poor Lastation's CPUs signals. To be fair to Neptune, Noire was the master of sending mixed messages. Intentional or not.
"Yeah, she liked you." N titled his head to the side.
"Like, as a friend?" Blanc narrowed her eyes.
"Sure, and more." A question mark appeared above N's head.
"Like, besties more?" A vein mark popped out on Blanc's temple.
"More more." N's eyes turned into two large white circles.
"Like… Siblings more?" Blanc's face shaded.
"Dammit, Neptune." A comical drop of sweat rolled down N's face.
"What do ya mean mo-" Blanc started to shake, gritting her teeth.
"SHE LOVES YOU, MORON!" N jolted, but Blanc held him in place.
"Wha- Who- Why-" Blanc sighed. However, she could finally see this idiot be flustered about something. While Neptune had kept her heart on her sleeve, the idiot had a surprisingly good poker face when it came to reacting to something. Seeing N's face turn a bright red gave Blanc a sense of catharsis her training that involved beating him up to toughen the guy didn't. "Why me!?"
"How should I know?" Blanc didn't respond for a second. Burning N's red flustered face into her memory for later and for content. She let down N's hair and began to apply hair conditioner. N had bought some along with the hair dye at Noire's suggestion. "Anyways, she only told me after we pulled off your stupid death plan." Blanc saw N's eyes look down. "Also, apparently she had been putting out signs since a couple years ago." N's eyes widened.
"How-" Blanc shook her head.
"Vert and I had to sit her down after she told us some of her 'signs'. We had to tell her that her signs were absolute bullcrap and even we wouldn't have gotten it." Blanc began to wash her hands, cleaning them of the dye and conditioner. "She apparently had planned on telling you how she felt after that last battle."
"Oh…" N took off the poncho.
"Yeah, she only told us a little while after the battle." Blanc shook her hands of excess water and dried them. N stood up, balling up the poncho and tossing it into the nearby trash can. Blanc turned to face him, finding it annoying that she had to look up to face him in the eye too now.
"So uh…" N reached for the back of his head. Blanc slapped his elbow.
"Don't touch." N let out a nervous laugh. The blush on his face was lighter now, but Blanc could tell he was still processing it.
"Hehe, sorry." N crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "How did it go down?" For once, Blanc smirked and N didn't like it.
"Don't worry, I'll tell you." Blanc looked towards the mirror, pointing at it. "Next episode!" A glint appeared in Blanc's eyes. N stepped back.
"Next epi- Wait, you just fourth wall broke me! That's my thing!" The glint got bigger.
"You can do it, so can I. Take that, jackass." N pouted.
"No fair!"
"Deal with it." Blanc put on a pair of sunglasses and crossed her arms. N pointed at them.
"Where did you get that?"
"I've been waiting years for this. Let me have it." The glint spun in place.
"Oh, okay." N turned aside. "Was I always like this?"
"Yes, yes you were." N turned to Blanc, astonished.
"Hey, even I didn't read other people's thoughts with that power!" Blanc adjusted the sunglasses.
"And now you can't." N puffed out his cheeks.
"Man, this sucks!"