OriFic Hightime Stories Collection

Christmas in Planeptune

(Hyperdimension Neptunia)

​

Genre : Humor / Drama

Synopsis : A story about the Planeptune gang during Christmas Eve. Everyone seems to be busy with their own antics, it would be nice if they can get together like family.

Spoiler: Christmas in Planeptune

Christmas Eve – at Planeptune's Guild.

Regardless of it being the holiday season, the guild was filled with dozens of typing sounds, the scribbling noises of pen, the punching of stamps, not to mention the lights coming out of the scanners. A lone copy machine left unused in the corner of the building's second floor, which was mostly unoccupied lest for a select few. Outside the window, a mild snowfall occurred. Even with the heater just at the half-output, the temperature was still bearable.

A lone teenage girl with lengthy brown hair, wearing a leaf-shaped ribbon sighed as she stetched her hands back. Faint puffs of white smoke escaped her mouth. The lightning was rather dim. She reached towards one of the pockets on her lenghty jacket. Seemingly wanting to check the time: It was about four'o'clock in the evening. As she carefully checked out the special paperwork and stamped the things she provided about, she piled the finished documents on the other desk, where it would be carried into the first floor, where most of the noise was about.

The documents contained the details of various quests posted in Planeptune's guild. Quite a lot of people beside the agents and the CPUs reporting in. They mostly in it for the nifty sum of reward. Not now though, since most of the agents kinda took a paid vacation and the CPUs were having a vacation at Lowee, where the pure white snow glimmer beautifully in the open fields. During this time when everyone else was out doing some action, the agents were mostly doing desk jobs—which wasn't exactly the most exciting thing to do.

A lot of them were rather stressed out, but as for this certain girl, she figured it would be a nice change of pace after adventuring a lot with the CPU Party. She was one of the top agents, a bright and hard-working one on top of that—her name was IF. That to be said, as soon as she picked up the job, she kinda regretted it soon after. Quite a long while not doing desk jobs, her mind went sluggish and unable to be as meticulous as she used to be.

It's been three days and there's no sign of work ceasing. IF felt like she's about to cry, especially when she had to miss the party with CPUs, mainly Neptune and Nepgear. Those two were like a family to her.

"Please don't tell Nep, Histy. Just tell her I'd catch up to them surely. They'd be staying 'til the new years, right? I'll handle all the work. Regardless of her not caring about the world, she could be very meddlesome when she wants to, that can be really annoying."

"The CPUs were mostly busy year round, and they didn't have that much chance to meet, but I can go and visit her whenever I'm done with work, so please let her have this kind of experience."

Hearing IF's inquiry, Histoire, the Planeptune's oracle and also the guild's leader, got even more concerned with IF.

"Think about it, IF. Those two, Nepgear and Neptune, they will always be the same, no matter how many years had passed. The same with the other CPUs. But you and Compa. It won't be that long of year when you can still celebrate holidays together as young girls (-_-)b"

Even as for this day, she still continued to watch IF from behind with a concerned look, sitting on the lap of her floating book. Her tiny stature looms over IF's back, most of time trying her best to assist whenever she could.

From a distance, a yawning voice could be heard. It came from a pink-haired girl with a voluptuous figure. She wore a thick sweater and clutched a fluffy backpack with the shape of miniaturized Neptune wearing her usual hoodie shirt.

"Compa, she always visit you despite being busy at the clinic ._." muttered Historie, occasionally glancing at the documents in order to double-check things.

"I kept telling her I'm alright but she's just so stubborn, honestly..." IF let out a sigh once again. She never sighed so much before—she wondered if this kind of desk job wasn't actually fitting for her, at least in this season.

"In any case, I think you actually did far more work than adequate ^_^. Our shares should be good for the remainder of year. It may be rare for me to say this to anyone but, would you like to take some rest, IF? (^-^) You can just go and catch up with them at Lowee... ('_')/"

"I can't abandon my duties midway. I want to settle this once and for all before I could finally wrap this year up. I need to be useful to Nep and the others..."

"No need to worry about it one bit. If I were to reprimand someone for not being useful, it's most likely obvious who's who (-_-)"

"True that, ahahaha. She never changes."

Near the sofa in which Compa was napping, there was a lantern in which emited a tangerine light. The luminous spectacle enveloped her body with a mild warmth.

"Nep Nep...pudding."

"I guess her sleep-talking also didn't change." IF smirked.

"Did you watch her sleeping that often, IF? :3"

"W-what are you assuming? O-of course not! I, I was just happen to notice because she slept earlier than me even though I was the one doing physical stuff."

"So you two slept together in the same bed? (＾▽＾) "

"Ah..."

There was a pause. This awkward inquiry made Iffy (IF) slipped her pen on a clean request paper, in which she used it as an excuse to dodge the question. She reached for some white-out and pretended that question never existed in the first place.

In Compa's bag, there was a pair of matching lunch boxes, on a shape of a pink dogoo—a monster which resembled a combination between a slime and a doggy. Famously known to be Planeptune's mascot, and really friendly to people when domesticated. A lot of them often found causing trouble in the wilds though. The meal was Compa's home cooking-they were already eaten during last lunchtime.

In the bag, there was still quite a bunch of pudding, came in a set of five. It was placed neatly in a compact ice-box.

It was meant to be eaten together with the Planeptune family. Though yeah, the CPUs were off somewhere else, or did they? Speaking of which...

"...ahnn...Iffy...don't rub me in weird places, please stop, it's so ticklish..."

Amidst the chill winter day, something in IF's face heated up, which caused her cheeks to be flushed red and her expressions be as clear as broad day.

"I wonder what Compa was dreaming about.^_^)9" Histoire kept pressing on the question out of her curiosity, putting on emphasis on certain words to make IF flinch due to pressure and spill out everything.

"Enough of it, enough already! Aren't we supposed to finish all of this work before the year ends?"

"Well, seeing as you got distracted so easily, isn't it about time to call it quits, IF? We can continue in about three days. （￣□￣；） "

Three days, pretty much like Histoire, IF thought. Still, what amazes her the most was, that the supposedly serious tone had been completely ruined, even without the presence of a certain Nep.

"Let's just say, she actually have a bit of good influence in her. If only she was half as hardworking as you guys, we won't have to worry about shares anymore. -_-"

"Hahaha..."

"Would you like to spend the night together at the Basilicom? It's rather lonely out there with those two out. ( '_' ) "

"We'll be glad to Histy, after all, you've been such a great help. It's quite a sheme to abandon the rest of the work though."

IF started to sort out the finished documents and put it in a certain file, meanwhile the remainder of the unfinished ones, still piled a lot, were sent to a certain kind of box.

"Not to worry, when those slacker of agents came by, I'm going to work them to the bone（￣ー￣）. Not like it's the job for you alone in the first place. ^o^"

"I kept forgetting that. Does that mean I'll get something for going the extra mile?"

"That goes without saying. （・∀・）"

"Not that I'm expecting something special though. Oh well, Compa, let's go. We've just about done here."

Deep in her mind IF was expecting something though, but she shrugged the thought soon after.

IF and Histoire went to where Compa's napping—she slowly opened her eyelids at the call.

"...Iffy?"

"Come on."

IF extended her hands to Compa, in which met by a rather sluggish grip.

"You sure had lot going on at the clinic, huh?"

"Yes, we got quite a number of dead people in here."

"Eh..."

It's best to pretend I didn't hear that line, thought IF.

After tidying things up, three of them went to the Basilicom.

Xxx​

Actually, on the way to the Basilicom, Compa want to go shopping for groceries. She mentioned about making a Christmas Cake to eat with everyone, and also a feast when they finally arrived.

The supermarket was quite bustling with people of varying ages. From lone youngsters who would hoard a number of instant meals to families with children around and even elderly couples thinking about the meal tonight.

"When it comes to treats, expect it to be gone within seconds with Nep around. She would ate all except eggplants."

Iffy was pushing around the shopping cart filled with various cooking ingredients. Be it meat, fishes, fruits and vegetables. There were also a bit of boxed snacks, and most importantly, the stuff for making cakes. Compa was at the vegetable section, browsing some good eggplants on sale.

"...but eggplants are good for your health. That's why Nep Nep has so little energy that she lazes around all day."

"Compa, I think that has something more to do than just having little energy."

Iffy told her that it's a bad idea to make something with eggplants, no matter what. Having been traumatized with similar things in the past.

"You're right. To think about it, we need something that makes Nep Nep and Ge-Ge happy."

They went into the dairy section, with various foods showcased in a cooler. The thing which got Compa's interest in particular was a pack of gelatinous treat, neatly lined on display: all jiggly and chill.

"Shopping for pudding again? Didn't we already have a full set on your bag?"

"One is not enough for Nep Nep."

"Yes I know, but if it's Nep, ain't she like the ones you made best?"

"We might not have enough time to make everything."

"Frankly speaking, it's still evening out. Still,yeah, who knows if we'll make it. Shall we get going then?"

They paid for the groceries with the Credits they got from Histoire. There were still quite a bit left from all the shopping. Since Compa was already hungry, they ordered two portions of hotcake in the supermarket; ate it on the way back to Basilicom.

The shopping bags were heavy, but since they grinded enough level with Neptune and co, it felt rather light as a feather. So much that IF started to swing it around, before Compa warned her the contents might accidentally fell out and be scattered all around the snow.

Since Compa felt a bit exhausted from all the walking, they stopped on a certain seating where it's canopied from the snow. A pretty wide bench made out of stainless metal, with quite comfy cushion, not to mention, a stray newspaper left alone at the sides.

The surroundings were adorned by festive decorations, all lighted up with assorted vibrant colors. In front of the shops, various people were dressing up in variety of mascot characters, giving out coupons, leaflets and stuff like that.

IF and Compa dropped the hotcake litter at the nearby bin and came to sit out together. Quite a lot of people still passing here and by during this hour—it's the shopping district after all. It might be fortunate, their seating was empty aside from them during the moment, due to stuff Compa brought out of blue:

"Iffy, do you think we'll be as close to Nep Nep and Ge Ge when we get older?"

"Beats me. It's not the thing I'd like to think about."

"I don't want Nep Nep and Ge Ge to leave me because I'm an old lady. I want them to still go and play with me, always. I'm scared, I don't want to get old so fast and die."

"I feel pretty much the same way. Though, it might be even harder for them to live on, interacting with us humans who will eventually grow old and disappear."

"...wait a minute, Iffy. Don't you remember Falcom who came to our dimension when we were kids?"

"We do get help from her when we're running errands for Nep, ah, come to think of it."

"It's been 10 years and more, and she still looks about our age when we grew up, the same with the others too...when we attended that barbecue party."

"Iffy, was it because of our special abilities even though we're just normal humans? I mean, we can use magic and stuff like the CPUs. Does that mean we also stopped aging at certain point?"

"...I don't know, maybe it's because they're being a part of DLC which ain't really directly related to the main story."

"If I remember correctly, we're also included in the DLC as party, Iffy.
We're also there in the main story albeit not fighting. The DLC practically made us a party member."

"I guess it's really the power of DLC which made us stop aging."

"On a second thought, Iffy, what is DLC?"

"It's downloadable content, right? Nep often talked about that while she's with her handheld, on how she couldn't buy the appropriate DLC since her game was region locked. Are you saying that we lived inside a video game?"

"Maybe yes. How about we try waving at the player and say hello while we're at it?"

Imagining someone was looking at them directly from a screen, they put on a smile and waved their hands. As a result, some of the passerby gave them a concerned look, though some others actually went along and waved to the 'player'.

"Hello to you playing this game, we beli-hey, why are we goofing around like this instead of going back to Basilicom?"

"I think it's Nep Nep's influence, ahahaha."

"Seriously, Compa. Nep can be such a bad influence."

Xxx​

"Achoo! Damn, why does it feel someone's talking about me?"

"It's just your imagination, sis."

"If you're going back in advance, you two should've informed me earlier. I almost got a heart attack there. （ ﾟ Дﾟ）"

"Ahaha, sorry Histy." said Nepgear with a blush.

Back in Basilicom, the Nep sisters had went back ahead of schedule. Neptune was busy munching up the leftover custard pudding from the fridge and Nepgear brought a few buckets of fried chicken on the way back.

There was a fast food joint near the Basilicom and since they got no time to prepare for Christmas, they thought it's the least they can do.

"Gee, what a bummer. Blanc's in a terribly bad mood as she remember her novel's deadline. Instead of partying, Noire and the others had to help out too."

"What about you, Neptune? ( '_' )"

"We, uh, snuck out in time. Thanks to my awesome Ninja Nep skills."

"I got a feeling that we might make Blanc really furious by tomorrow. Be sure to apologize next okay?"

"Can I just email her?"

"We better apologize in person by tomorrow. That won't do, big sis."

"...now that you mention it. We did play around a lot and ate quite a portion at Blanc's place."

Though as Neptune ate a spoonful of pudding, her thoughts went to someplace else, "Eyy Nep Jr, can I have that bucket of chicken?"

"Didn't we agree to eat it together with everyone? I mean, IF and Compa are coming too. They will bring lots of delicious snacks so please bear with it, okay?"

"...pwetty please? Ah, my stomach is churning and I can't hold on another second...ahh...I need fried chicken...I want it...please Nep Jr.."

Neptune started to pose in a cutesy and seductive manner, slowly unbuttoning her shirt and revealed her petite, slim shoulder to Nepgear.

"Uh, if my big sister really want it then..."

"Will you two cut it out? I'm still here you know. _" Histy was rather annoyed by the antics of the sisters.

"Does that mean we could screw up when you're not around?" Neptune punched in at an awkward time, causing more of Histy's veins to bulge.

"...Nep-tune... (*￣m￣) "

Just when Histore's anger was about to burst, the bell came in and up those two dropped by.

"Sorry for intruding by, oh it's just Nep and Gear. You guys have a good time at Lowee?"

"Nep Nep, Ge Ge. I totally miss you..."

Nepgear let out a sigh of relief.

"Ah...we're saved."

Meanwhile Neptune already had three chicken drumsticks in her mouth. When being reprimanded again, she merely said:

"Ish okway ewvan z here (it's okay, everyone's already here)."

"But you promised to eat only after we all started together, big sis."

Iffy went in and pulled a punchline, "More importantly, shouldn't you remind her not to talk with her mouth full first?"

Meanwhile, Compa sat on the table where the chicken bucket's at. She began to unload packs of pudding for everyone.

"Nep Nep, please don't eat both pudding and chicken at the same time." said Compa, reaching her hand out to Neptue when she's about to take the pudding even while still munching the crispy tender drumstick.

"Hwngwy..."

"No means no!"

"Ah, big sis. Eating pudding and chicken together might spoil the taste. The contents might mix up in your mouth and turn it into an eggplant monster."

"Silly Gear, there's no way anyone's going to believe that stuff—no way, it worked?" Iffy was rather bewildered when Neptune actually stopped reaching for the pudding.

"That's our Iffy!" Compa let out a smile of innocence, in which made Iffy blush when she stared at her.

In the meantime, Neptune already finished her drumsticks and drowned the entire contents with the bottled water Compa brought. As usual, she went for Compa's ice-box pudding first.

"Oh well, since our Neptune is hungry, let's just eat shall we? By the way IF, Compa—feel free to rest up here if you want. We'll have a sleepover ( ・ω・). "

"Whoa! That's our Histy!" Neptune felt overjoyed due to the announcement that she stopped eating pudding for a while.

"Calm down big sis, restrain your excitement, the night's still young you know.."

Not sure if Nepgear meant anything suggestive by that though.

"..and before it's even midnight, Nep is usually the ones to collapse first. Ain't it right, Compa?"

"Nep Nep is just like a growing kid!"

"Umm...everyone, since the story probably would drag too long if this keeps on. Let us go skip the entire dialogue, shall we?"

It's Nepgear who had broke the fourth wall. Quite weird how Neptune hasn't broke it yet-

"Nep Jr, do you mean we're actually inside the story, and that someone's actually stalking our very lives at this moment. Oh no, I will never be able to get married!"

Ah, there she goes.

IF plainly smirked.

"Eh, don't be ridiculous, who wants to marry y-"

"Don't worry, Nep Nep, I will marry you even if no one else would!"

"That's not fair Compa, I want to be big sis' bride too!"

"Y-you guys.."

Even with her sigh, deep down Iffy also wanted to be someone special to Neptune. That's how she worked hard for the nation, even with her just being a guild agent. She often thought, on how she wasn't honest about her feelings at all. She wanted to open up to Neptune, but she didn't really believe Neptune would understand something serious like that.

Iffy thought, that would just so out of character for her. That would just made a fool out of her in front of Neptune.

The drumstick was hot and ready. Iffy didn't feel eating all that much. It wasn't because of the hotcake earlier, but something else that's been clouding her mind lately. Thing she repressed a lot, and it came back to haunt her.

"Umm...you folks just go ahead and eat, I'll go grab some fresh air."

It was quite an awkward exit to the balcony. She left a chill in the table, and no one had a feel to eat after seeing what happened.

Even Neptune.

"Iffy..." Compa was concerned about her childhood friend, though she seen no way to butt in for the moment.

She knew, it was the thing concerning a bond between certain two. A different one between her and IF. Thinking about that, she felt a little jealous, but she couldn't help it, since she understood what it's like to feel something similar.

The snow was cold out; IF pondered about things out alone without a care of her surroundings. She thought about how Neptune really was to her, to make her feel so attached. Neptune was more than just a friend.

She was...

"Did Histoire asked you to come here?"

Even for just a faint footstep, she knew it was her.

"Uh...Iffy? I don't know what's going on but, how about we eat together-"

"Nep, I'm asking you whether Histoire sent you here or not."

"...I'm not telling."

Both of them stood in the snow-laden balcony. It was mild earlier, but the snowfall kinda accelerated as night came. It might be a show-off to see the one who's more stubborn.

"It's been a while since we're together alone like this. At first, it was just me, Compa and you."

"Yup."

"I noticed that as the time goes, I was mostly just getting in the way. You know, even though I'm in the scenes, it's mostly just you CPUs fighting."

"...and we actually finished the boss by just spamming EXE attacks, eh."

"Such an anti-climatic battle, but you guys do have a share of cool lines too."

"Iffy."

"What now?"

"I've got a disc chip. If you keep giving me the cold shoulder, how about we go to dungeon and raise our lily ranks?"

IF began to slowly tear up, thinking: Nep, you're really terrible at reading the mood.

"Nep, what I'm saying is. I really hate how I can't be a lot stronger than my current self. I wish to be a lot more useful in battle, you know."

"...uh, but you're actually the second fan favorite after Blanc. The fans also liked your appearances in the story a lot. A lot of people enjoy this game because of the story you know."

"...but...I..."

"If you want to complain about being rather underpowered, you can blame the developers for kept buffing the goddess and nerfing the humans with the new EXE system and that chip exploit, which practically made the non-CPUs unable to spam their EXE's over and over, unlike the CPUs."

"My gears and stats were also kinda bad, until I got the final one . I also didn't get a lot of useful combos to build my SP. In the previous games I was the main precursor for early game grinding since I could just one-shot those mobs with AOE and get that SP back from leveling up."

Nep nodded in affirmation.

"Thankfully I heard from the developers that they will buff you in the next game, and they'll bring back the old EXE system too. Rejoice, Iffy! It's super rejoicing!"

"Damn, stop it Nep. You sound like some creepy old man from that certain anime in which my voice actor was starring. Anyways, glad to hear that."

Actually, Neptune haven't watched the anime yet. She just browsed for the memes and got rather hyped.

"Speaking of which, upsy daisy...I got thingies for you."

Neptune pulled out some small object with straps and stuff. It was a cellpone strap of her wearing a hoodie shirt.

"Nep, it looks cute and stuff, but it's kinda narcissist when you give it yourself to me..."

"Whatever, just please accept it!" Neptune got really excited when Iffy called the strap cute, "It will increase all your stats to 9999 and greatly boost your max HP. It also cuts all your SP usage to zero!"

"Eh..."

Iffy thought, if only Neptune didn't go with the game stats thing, it would be far more convincing. She accepted it anyway and immediately strapped it into one of her most used phones. There was already a Compa strap in here though.

"Well then, Merry Christmas, Iffy."

Neptune clasped her hands together as if forming a prayer, even though she's the actual one people had been praying to. She closed her eyes shut—her stature so solemn, just like an actual goddess.

"Nep, hate to break it out to you, but now's still Christmas Eve."

"Now, now. Don't sweat the small stuff, shall we? Let's go back and eat."

"Oh well, alright then."

Both of them went back without any signs of frostbite, oblivious to the rapid snowfall in the balcony. In the end, things went rather well, much more than expected.

Xxx​

Back in Lowee, Blanc was sitting down at her desk, typing up the finishing touches of her novel. The little sisters beside Nepgear were busy playing games at the living room. Meanwhile, Noire and Vert played a detective game next door, it was the newly released one for the Lowee console. It was around dinner time but they've already finished so soon.

"It's not that fun eating together without Neptune around." thought Blanc, "You actually did care a lot about that girl. Can't blame you. It's also nice for me to see this side of you after so long. Because of you, I finally got the inspiration on how to wrap up the entire story."

After a while of typing, editing and doing backups to her story, Blanc finally finished her work.

"Now let's go out and have some fun." she skipped to where the little sisters were at and watched them play games. She smiled in satisfaction, not merely just for meeting the deadline, but more of able to write something which satisfied her.

Back in the document, the ending text went like this:

Christmas in Planeptune - Fin​

Author's note : the universe setting was kind of a mix up between the three Re;Birth games and also the anime. I was planning to add Plutia and Peashy too, but thinking about it again, I want to focus on the relationships between IF, Compa and Neptune--the way it was in Re;Birth 1.

At first I was hoping for a teary and heartwarming ending, but those kind of things, I couldn't really get some ideas on how to execute it well enough. I also wanted to put on a backstory on how Christmas was celebrated in Gamindustri, told by Histoire, though I felt it might ruin the focus of the story, so I scrapped the idea.

This story contains the things I love from Neptunia series. The characters, their goofy interactions and also their complete disregard for the fourth wall. Since I was just starting out writing an actual story, things might not turn out that well, but I hope I can learn much more in the future.

Thank you so much for reading, and see you guys again on my future works.

 

kalo yuri sebenernya ada tapi agak terselubung dikit

 

Black Hole Nep

(Hyperdimension Neptunia)


​

Synopsis : About Nep Nep, her hobbies and overeating.

Spoiler: black hole nep

Black Hole Nep

The CPU of Planeptune, Neptune, often got called the 'Black Hole Nep' by her friends--typically because of her tendency to eat a lot more than what she looks. Despite of that, her petite stature still remained pretty much the same, even if she mostly just lazes around the Basilicom. It was quite a mystery on where did all the excess food went. It gained quite some amount of hate, especially amongst the CPUs and CPU Candidates who had to maintain healthy diet and regular exercise to stay in shape.

Frankly, it didn't bother them all that much. All of them got preoccupied by their own thing : Noire cosplaying, Blanc writing some yuri fanfiction (some of them involve the other CPUs or Candidates), Vert playing games to the point she forgot to eat regularly. Rom and Ram playing outside, Uni with her regular gun maintenance and Nepgear doing some robot tinkering. Iffy got some regular patrolling as an agent and Compa had a busy time with being a nurse..

The CPUs actually got a lot of work, but most of the errands were mostly carried out by Stella and Felis anyway, so there you have it. Out of everyone, Neptune didn't seem to have an actual hobby she could invest most of her time in.

One thing she knew, she always seem to come up with the wildest ideas, so she tried being an Author just like Blanc—whom told her she needed to read quite a lot of fiction to understand how to write an actual story. She got interested quite a lot when Blanc showed them some perverted stuff, which was actually a fanfiction between Neptune and Noire, with names and other obvious details changed.

All that Neptune was rather excited to write for was actually something perverted, but after putting up few absurd lines, she was like: how did I get here?Ending up quickly abandoning the story just as she wrote it. Neptune never really had that much interest in books. There's this thing about detective, but Neptune only read the title and looked at the cover image, mostly defining her own scenario—which couldn't really be much further than the truth.

Kinda bored with writing, Neptune wanted to pick up drawing. She went to Rom and Ram, and ask if they can show her a naughty pose of a naked girl. The kind of sudden inquiry caused Rom to cry and Ram started calling out Neptune's act as sexual harassment. Out for tutors, Neptune searched the internet for some tutorials on how to draw naked girls.

The application of this got her so excited, she creamed her pants—although all she drew was still just stick figures. At that time, her imaginations ran so wild and intense, as soon as she came—she fell asleep. Nepgear quite often caught her sister sleeping on the computer desk, with one hand slipped into her pants—yeah something like that. Since Nepgear kept complaining about her being indecent to the point it's ringing in her ear--Neptune practically stopped.

There was this online gaming with Vert. Neptune dreamed about being a first division competitive player with lots of achievements—of being an mvp to the team and all that, but as soon as she entered the game straight out, she just straight wrecked by the enemy team. Her team was just calling out some harsh words, and in turn hurt her feelings deeply. Up until now, Neptune had been having a trauma about online gaming. Only she and Vert knew much about it.

Since Vert was feeling rather remorseful due to Neptune having a bad day, while playing games with her, Vert lent her entire collection of eroge to Neptune. Though it kinda struck her in the weird bone that Neptune's preferred collection was incest. It might be a bigger question on how Vert got hold of all of these questionable titles. She'd just say: it's the magic of Leanbox, or something like that though.

Though, yeah. Histoire found out about Neptune's newfound awakening and sent back all of the titles to Vert. In addition, she also banned all communications between Neptune and Nepgear in order to avoid some incestuous slip at night.

The last one kinda went rather well at first, actually. Neptune kinda thought, she probably good at singing and dancing, so she wanted to be an idol. She came to 5pb at Leanbox for some tutoring. It all started up fun, but as it went by Neptune got rather overwhelmed by the intense amount of training to make for—she quitted before she made her debut.

It all kinda evens out in the end, when Vert produced both Neptune and Nepgear though, but that's another story.

Neptune didn't really have an interest about gun and robotic tinkering, or even be a guild agent and being a nurse. She wanted to go adventuring with Falcom, but she was afraid whenever they went close to seas. Red actually has a life by running a pachinko parlor business, despite her carefree appearance whenever she got no screen time. Cave was too good at arcade games for Neptune to even match up. Mages seems too weird for Neptune to even strike a conversation with.

As for Tekken, Neptune was also traumatized getting hit by some 10-hit combo out of nowhere. As for the others, Neptune never really interacted much with them to even ask out a favor. Well, in the end she came to Brocolli, who gave her a very delicious meat, which made Neptune quite obsessed with food as for now. Well it's actually a pudding with a meat-pizza like flavor.

In the end, her hobby went back to eating as usual. This time she ate three times the regular amount, which caused both Nepgear and Histoire to be rather awestruck, and the other goddesses and candidates, seeing the Black Hole Nep in action again, got so sick with the amount of meals eaten by Nep during that day, they went sick on duty.

...and that's a rare occasion where Planeptune's shares actually went up.

 

mungkin lain kali bisa dibikin, pas kemaren2 ada mood nya bikin bt nep nep gara2 baca manga yg hello new world

 

yg gw tau hobi dia itu males2an, gk tau sih klo soal ngusilin orang lain (klo menurut bbrapa video gmod sih iya)

yg beneran hobi ngegim itu vert iirc

 

The Protagonist is Dead

Chapter 1

Spoiler: aaa

I was born for this day. A perfect moment for me to shine. I would come forth as a great hero and my deeds will make the world a better place. I was the chosen one.

...yet no one in this world took me seriously. When the world was going to end, what would they'd be if it wasn't for me? Who was going to save all those people from their peril? Even as a hero I was, I couldn't save them all, so it's best to warn them one by one.

It wasn't due to disappointment which discourages me; it wasn't due to all of these rejection either. It's just—someone finally found me really annoying and decided to kill me.

That's when I noticed, even when this world needs a savior like me, they didn't deserve it.

I didn't remember the details when all of it ends. It was just like a slow hum as that old man fired a bullet from his revolver. It struck right through my chest, and I felt nothing, only sheer emptiness. Even during my last stage of consciousness, I couldn't see any blood pouring out.

...but his words, I remember them very clearly.

"You're a human trash, a miserable existence. I shall put you out of your misery."

In the end, what were my efforts for? I have been tasked to deliver the prophecy ever since I was born and I did it well, yet what did I get? Even as the moment passes and I was slowly drifting into some other places than this Earth, I still believe I was right.

This world was going to end any moment soon.

There was no meaning in working for tomorrow.

Abandon your dreams and live in the present, expecting nothing but a simple kind of happiness.

The end of the world came like this: a shooting star would pierce the Earth's atmosphere. It was tired of granting the wishes of everyone that will never end without them giving anything in return. As a retribution, the star would scorch all of the life on Earth, this time much more severe than what they did duirng the age of dinosaurs.

It shall come when you least expect it; be prepared to die at any moment soon. Treasure all of the life you had, and you shall live with no regrets at this point.

Thus all the prophecy I received ever since I was born, has been delivered to you.

Xxx

For the longest time I've been watching the stars.

Drifting in darkness of night sky, right in outer space. Watching a blue gleam of a planet from afar, as it slowly changes and rotates, but always there in my sight.

So much time spent contemplating about things I've done as I lived. I replaced the truth with more and more blatant lies. Since whatever happened wouldn't matter at all. I kept the notes of what happened right in a secret stash, but what happened next, was something I always yearned.

Instead of actually dying to a gunshot out of pity, I lived long enough to see the civilization advance, to the point it would be able to wrong the prophecy itself. Under my words of tutelage, it made them strive to keep their entire civilization alive.

Even as the meteors hit, they already prepared armada of spaceships taking the enormous shooting star. As they fired their anti-matter rifle, everything flashes by, and the biggest shockwave ever was heard during the night sky, which caused everyone to be awake and alert.

The hyperdrive I told them to install had teleported them back towards the surface—back to the station they all were raised ni. From promising young cadets, to the saviors of this planet. They went back alive and kicking, and me, as the world's president, has awarded them the highest award of all, for them saving the humanity from a once-inevitable prophecy.

As I thought about all of these unrealistic scenarios, a meteor has just passed by its orbit onto the Earth.

It vanished in a mere instant while I wasn't paying attnetion.

My sanity crumples apart as I saw, all what's once my hope and dreams, disappeared as if it wasn't even there right from the very beginning.

That is fine.

I don't have to do anything anymore.

With all of this happening, at least I've done my best, and I'm sure all of the people living there would spend their last moments without any regrets, because I told them so.

Goodnight, Earth. May you rest well.

 

The Protagonist is Dead

Chapter 2

Spoiler: aaa

I used to be a hero, but this world didn't acknowledge me as one. I thought of myself as a savior, yet they labeled me as a nuisance. Even so, regardless of all mistreatments I got, I couldn't help but grew fond of the place I used to live in. Even if their actions evil and thoughts negative, deep down, I believe there's a good person who will listen to me.

If only I had enough chance to try more and more until someone actually opened their hearts to me.

As for now, there was nothing left. Either me, the earth and its people. All reduced to a lump of nothingness. Yet, the Moon was still there, like an abandoned child cast away from her only parent. I stared at its lonely surface, and to the other side, I saw a bright, shining star—it was the Sun. I saw the Moon drifting closer to that light, past the Earth's brother and sister: Mercury and Venus. Before my eyes, I saw it burn; reduced to a gigantic pile of cinder, all floating in a vacuum environment, which is surreal by itself.

A brief passing moment gave me a silence so deafening. The cinder pile flew throughout all directions, and in turn, the Sun drifted away, further from my sight. Where the Moon and Earth had resided, Mars with his children, Phobos and Deimos resided. Other planets adjusted their distance as if to balance the gravitational pull throughout the entire solar system. I didn't know about Pluto and Xena though, it felt like they were being left out since they were small in stature.

Pluto was distant and ice-cold to everyone, while Xena was a really shy new children in the class. Mercury could take the heat and love to take his time, Venus was still toxic and hot as ever. Mars was still not fond of chocolate, while Jupiter, Neptunus and Uranus were busy playing the Age of Mythos in their home console.

The Earth was once the most fair maiden in the entire solar system. Her atmosphere was the one most welcoming for the growth of life. She was envied by the other planets for her motherly care to sustain a lesser insignificant lifeform known as humans. I knew Earth wasn't the only one, there were hints of other Terran planets able to sustain life on its own, like the Orion and a few left in the Stringent Galaxy near the Taurus Nebula.

Yet, it's the place I was born. That why I was so biased about it. I wanted to go to Orion and see how different it was compared to my home—I heard of it being a highly advanced planet with such sophisticated development of society. Yet I doubt these extraterrestrial beings would bother visiting. I mean, us Earthlings were most likely not interesting enough for their vastly advanced civilization.

Or they had interest, but known full well that direct interaction with us was most likely not a good option. I kinda feel that way, when I had been rejected
for the umpteenth time as I tried delivering the prophecy. Yet, for the longest time, I was so preoccupied with my task of being the hero and savior, that I forgot, what does the prophecy actually meant for them?

I never bothered asking questions. My entire life was about my duty. I never felt as alive and joyful, thinking about how the world was going to be saved when the entire human race were united as one in living their fullest. That no matter what happens, they would accept everything in open arms—no one could stop their dreams.

Yet, I realize one wrong thing. Why does the prophecy only paid attention to the human itself, not the precious Earth we live in? Was Earth truly nothing more than a comfortable house to settle down?

Maybe I was looking at the prophecy the wrong way. What if Earth was a mother who had to sustain every children she bore so they all could live? The Earth lived much longer than any of her child, but no one knows when her time will be up. The prophecy doesn't explicitly say to save the Earth, but to prepare for the worst.

It also doesn't say to me that everyone must live and abide by that rule in the entirety of their lives.

This is the continuation of the prophecy.

I will tell you this: this doesn't have to be the way you live your life. Those who still lived to this day, help yourself first and ignore everyone else before you're finally able to stand up on your own.

..but first of all, listen to me, and please do me a favor. You must spread this prophecy to everyone you cared about.

Whether or not they will act or stay still, it's up to them, but their fate depends on you give them the choice or not.

I want the everyone in this Earth to be saved, but even it's far beyond my own power if they have a different way to follow.

...

Maybe it's just a wishful thinking, and that the entire prophecy just contradicts itself.

What is the meaning of being saved, if in any case, we're all just going to die anyway? Nobody wants to die on its own. Nobody wants to hear about themselves dying unless they already had a death wish and on the verge of committing suicide.

...but, did I really die even after the bullet pierced through my chest?

Techinically yes, but I still didn't feel much different, other than having no such events able to affect me physically anymore.

I wasn't sure about my soul, since after my purpose was no more, I had been drifting in the vast blackness without being able to do anything. I could only think, for the longest time, about whatever was left in my own memories.

I noticed how the time might have flown much faster that all of the planets had aligned itself together so quickly. There was a bang so bright, I had to close my eyes, and the next thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a completely white surface.

It's as if the entire world had transformed into an enormous landscape filled with pen sketches. Not so far of walking distances away, I saw a group of stick people making something—judging from the smell--was it curry?

I approached them with my feet slightly limping, having lost its touch after floating so long in the sky.

What came to me as I conversed with them made me contemplate about the prophecy itself even more.

 

Chapter 3

Spoiler: aaa

"You said you're a hero? No actual heroes ever proclaim themselves as one." said one of the stick figures as they served me a delicious plate of curry.

"I didn't go telling everyone that I'm a hero. I just went around spreading the prophecy, I want the world to be saved."

"Listen there, sir Hero, have you ever thought why everyone wouldn't listen to your prophecy, no matter how good you think it is?"

"Of course, it's because I haven't tried that much in order for my message to get across to them."

"If they accepted your message, would that change anything?"

"They will be saved."

"By words alone?"

"It's not just a mere word, it's the thing which gave me life and reason for existing."

"That world will surely know peace if everyone thinks the way you do, sir Hero."

"Yes, that is my dream, for the world to finally know peace."

"What will you do after the peace is achieved? If any case, you were able to unite the world as one through the prophecy?"

"I want them to develop and grow, in a way that tehy can be...uhh...able to continue on living despite everything that happens."

"Doesn't that go against the message you told them?"

"Not exactly. I think, when people already be prepared for the worst that might happen, they will be able to give their all, since they were prepared to lose everything, and that is the creed that makes me able to deliver my message, no matter how many rejection and ill-treatment I've got."

"...but why do you get killed as if you're a criminal, rather than finally finding a company of good people who understands your good intentions?"

"That doesn't matter. Things like this do happen in life. It's merely that my fate drew the short end of the stick. I probably was content since I merely did all of thing for my own sake, that I finally got to proclaim I am a some kind of messiah."

"Do you think that life is merely a series of chances? Which means, were the prophecy only be a mere speculation of a chance, before it actually happened?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't create how the life works, I'm just merely being tasked something and I have to do what I must do, in order for my life to have a meaning."

"In other words, forgive us if we seem harsh—but if that's the case, aren't you just a puppet who can't think for yourself about what's right or wrong?"

"It doesn't matter if I can't think at all. As a mere human, I have such minuscule amount of wisdom compared to the wealth of knowledge the prophecy the Gods had given me."

"Why do you even bother preaching the words that you couldn't understand?"

"At the very least, I understand that it must be done, and I think it's something which rings a bell to me."

"We're not saying about how well you understood it for yourself, but also for others to be able to find any sense in it."

"I don't know what's so complicated about it, all the things I've said was something quite simply put. I think, as long as they understood my language, it's fine."

"We meant as if—have you ever thought about putting your shoes in those with much different background than yours? Like, those who had a job, a happy life something to look for in the future. How would they feel if you told them everything was going to end? Wouldn't that actually destroy their spirits and make them drown in despair?"

"I'm sure things will work out when I explain it thoroughly---"

"How much explanation has to be done if that prophecy was only that simply put? Wouldn't that just mean you're rubbing the salt even more on their wounds, by emphasizing on how hopeless it might be for some others? Remember, that each of us think differently and might react differently even if we were given a same issue. "

"Yes, you guys are right. It's impossible to understand the minds of others. Yet, am I supposed to just sit there and do nothing if there's no one out there I can't understand?"

"There's gotta be someone who shared similar mindset and beliefs as you, no matter how eccentric you are, we believe we're never alone."

"In the first place, that's why I delivered my message to everyone, hoping that at least there'd be ones who shared my concern and beliefs! How can you say that I'm wrong when your ways doesn't even warrant anything at all!"

"We didn't explicitly said your ways are wrong, but we know your ways ain't exactly right either. At the very least, we prefer getting no results rather than having to bother so many who didn't have anything to do with it. We abide by saying, birds of a feather flock together. If you're actually one of a kind, as a hero, and you still didn't find anyone after searching for so long, that means your kind was already extinct—your world doesn't need heroes anymore."

"...or maybe they simply doesn't deserve it."

"Whatever floats your boat, sir Hero."

Those stick people simply left as if not caring about me at all. Leaving me with a bowl filled with curry. A lot of plates still filled up in the table; it aroused a diabolical sense of hunger in which I ended up eating their entire supply of food.

Why didn't they eat at all? Why didn't I realize they were actually not eating their food sooner?

I saw other groups making fried rice, steak, chicken soup—a lot of other things together. All the meal got me so dizzy. Felt so tired—I needed to find a place to rest. Realizing I was in the middle of nowhere, something shaped like a pencil and eraser came to me.

"Want to have a house? We have infinite spaces available." said the pencil

"I can help you adjust the design if you didn't like your current one." the eraser smirks at the pencil before giving me a reassuring glance.

"Just make whatever that is comfy to rest with, the fastest one you can make. I'll think about the adjustments later."

At my request, they went to work. It didn't take long before the entire house is finished—fully furnished with all the rooms and furnitures too. I observed their dexterity to flesh out all the details using just a tip of their head. Sure they could float and its as if they were fleshed out by a help of a masterful invisible hand—who could it be?

As I entered the house, there was a young man about my age, sitting in the couch with such extravagant clothing, as if he's expecting me:

"Welcome to the humble abode of me, the legendary hero! I--"

"..please let me sleep."

Due to all of these sudden sleep-deprivation, I nonchalantly walked across the room and had my entire balance tumbled onto the nearest bed I saw.

It was supposed to be my own home, what happened to the initial agreement?

Speaking of which, this kind of annoyed feeling was probably what they got when I kept nagging them about the prophecy—and he didn't even speak much yet, he just introduced himself as a 'legendary hero'.

In the corner of my eyes, he just observed me as if I was an interesting subject, apparently giving no reaction to my rude behavior—in normal means.

...he might just be okay with it, or he might as well be quite adept at hiding his true emotions.

The inner hearts of people, it's most likely a mystery I wouldn't be able to solve that easily. Even if I do, what stuff can I get outta it.

Will I use it to manipulate them so they will finally cknowledge me?

As the time went by, I realize my train of thought was turning from an unknown, underappreciated hero towards a soon-to-be heinous villain.

...or maybe, at the very beginning, I wasn't even a hero at all.

Whatever.

 

Chapter 4

Spoiler: aaa

"Don't worry 'bout people who don't care about you when you're in trouble. It just means, you can take care of it on your own."

"You can be kind to them, but don't expect them to return it back. There's no point in kindness if there's nothing you can gain from."

Am I really strong enough for that? I don't know. I'm not really sure. All these nights spent without helping others out has given me a shade of doubt in my own capabilities.

Once I had a certain dream about my past while I was drifting in the night sky. I actually had parents in which they had high hopes of me, but our ways of thinking went complete opposite ways as the time went by. My entire life, I always rely on them for many things, except the present, where I actually saw the real world with my own eyes, not through their words and teachings. I decided, I want to try something different.

They didn't agree with me being a hero who will save the world. They said, I've got to go to college and become a salaryman, who in turn will be a father of a peaceful family. I told them: I can't save the world being a salaryman.

A salaryman didn't get to say anything in his workplace beside 'yes' and 'i understand'. I know that, because that's what my father always said when my mom lash out at him.

They didn't have to worry about me, I was just the youngest of five siblings. No need for each of us to go the same way. Since they didn't approve of me, I had to sneakily run away from home in order to finally become a hero. This is my true calling, this is what I was tasked for, to deliver the prophecy.

All of us knew, the world was going to end. The question was: when?

The third part of the prophecy was actually the first one I've received.

These are the truth only given to those who bear the prophecy, you shall forget it the entire time during your task, but you shall remember it once again after you have succeed.

The world had always ended; we had always died. The truth of all living beings is dying and nonexisting. Therefore, living is primarily a temporary state of illusion, and I hope everyone in this world could slowly acknowledge that fact.

I wished for them to struggle to the very end, reacting differently to their timely demise. That's why the prophecy was spread—for my own amusement. You have done well, hero. Now you are free to do whatever your heart tells you, and nobody will be able to stop you, since there were nobody around besides you.

The exact same dream happen when I slept at Gilgamesh's house—well technically it's my house since I was the one requested it but he was there first.

He's the legendary hero with two left arms and one right arm. He had clothing especially tailored for him in sleek extravagant patterns, with a gloves adorned with exotic jewelry and an eyepatch made out of gold. He had a gold colored hair, and a red headband which surprisingly made out of regular material—most likely silk or cotton.

"I have no name." that's what I answered when he asked me.

"I cannot refer to you as 'hero' either, for I am the king of heroes himself. If someone refers to a hero, I shall be the first one in their minds."

While he might appear boisterous, the deeds he's done and spoke about seem so picturesque and real. He talked about something he had proven to everyone many times over. He wasn't just someone who's just all talk to me. He told me about how he had collected all the treasures of the world and stashed it in his very domain which exists beyond the fabric of space and time.

How he had romanced each of the world's most beautiful women throughout the history, about all the battles he took part, which resulted in complete victory, about how he was undefeated in almsot every sense.

"Even after that, they refused to acknowledge me as a god. In their eyes, I had always been a mere human. The gods who didn't even do anything, yet were worshipped so much."

"Using the weapons I've collected in my treasury, I waged war, me against the gods. Yet, my undefeated stance has come to an end. I was sealed away inside my own treasure—had to spent what seemingly an eternity before I ended up here—what a silly place."

I could only stare in awe to his stories, to the point hours went by and I forgot how long I haven't eaten anything after I woke up.

Gilgamesh offered his bottle of La Mer wine, which you could eat like a taco but still taste like a mixture of grape juice and roasted salmon.

"There was an old saying, those who don't work, can't eat. I shall say the opposite, those who don't eat, can't work." he said it with his mouth full as we ate.

I told him I need to have some fresh air. My interest came by as I saw, the once plain world made out of lines and stick figures before now changed into a village atop lush green hill of plains, with assorted color of flowers and vivid morning sky as if the sun had smiled upon me.

I want to explore this beautiful new world. Gilgmesh said of it being vastly different from a metropolis like La Mer, the town he used to rule over. He didn't want to go outside as of yet, but he also find the invigorating air to be mildly pleasant.

Before I went on my way and said him goodbye, there's one question I've been dying to ask him.

"What it means to be a hero?"

"To be honest, it doesn't mean anything. It is just a title to make yourself feel good. The next moment, people start calling you a hero and the meaning changes as the time goes by. What I'm saying is, I am the king of heroes. Anyone other than me who call themselves a hero, is just trying to make themselves feel good, but it's not entirely wrong. They can be a hero, but I will always be The Hero."

More or less, I was trying to be The Hero, but if being one means I have to do osmething better than Gilgamesh, I don't think it was all worth going for. To be honest, I like someone confident like him to be the king, rather than someone as me.

"Have safe travels, unknown hero. I shall bless you as the king." he said as I exit the house. He seened a bit fond of me, maybe since I was the first person who listened to him after such long time of being alone.

Come to think of it, it's also been such a while since I had someone to talk to, someone to converse about. I wished to go back and talk to him some more, but it might just waste his precious time. So I ventured further across the town, watching various buildings—most of the business there had signs—whether it'd be an Inn, Item Shop, Weapons Store, or Daily Necessities Store.

Since I had no money, I wasn't sure if I could buy anything. More importantly, how am I gonna live here if I got no roof I own? How am I thanking the king of heroes when he occupied what was supposed to be my home? I don't know what to do really.

Feeling dejected I realize I was straying to the outskirts of town, where vacant lands laid all over—no one seems to be owning it.

Beneath a large tree I originally want to use to ponder about what to do for my future—there lies a young girl—she was bleeding profusely.

"....help me, save this world....demon king...is..."

I got the picture already, so stop talking. I ended up having to tell her to shut up a bunch of times as I carried her to the nearest clinic.

Since the doctor was an asshole, he refused to treat the girl before I pay. I told him I had no money at all--I was dirt poor.

That's where the pencil and eraser came to my aid as I exit this place with such pent-up rage felt for the first time in a while.

I asked them to give me some money. They sketched a sack of gold coins. The treatment was actually not that expensive, only 100 gold. I got about 20000 gold coins, that's what it says when I checked some digital console which the pencil and eraser gave me.

It also says that I'm currently level 99 God Knight equipped with ultimate weapon which is Pencil and Eraser as shield, it has an instant kill ability. Gilgamesh is a Lvl 1 Bard, and his actual name is actually Teddy. Sounds to be quite a bad joke, I knew he was the king of heroes, he can't be a scam.

With that much of a gold, I purchased an old castle, and made the pencil and eraser remodel it into a spaceship, somewhat like a giant flying saucer. Forget about the demon king, I want to be a shut-in for a little bit. I kinda lost interest in the outside world when I got tools that could practically made me a sandbox hero.

The moment I discovered video game consoles again, I practically forgot about my calling as a hero. Instead, I was playing this Hero Quest game for a while since it was just so fan—I also got the limited edition artbook and it also has the guidebook, a palmtop-sized figurine of the shrine maiden at save points, an adorable keychain of that blue slime monster thing.

While I was just busy gaming, there was a noisy rupture outside, but wasn't that noticeable due to all the insulation on my place. A bit of explosion and violent grunts, but that's it. I just wanted to finish the tutorial, goddamn it. After few hours of playing, I got an email from someone.

She said she was the girl who I saved earlier, she also said about the demon king trouble being rid by someone king stuff since he felt it was too noisy, since he wanted to read a book in peace.

I asked her how did she get my number.

"I am the envoy of the ones behind the prophecy. There was a slight disturbance, but I'm glad that I have the means to contact you. I'd be there in your humble abode any time soon. My time is not much, so I hope you can be available."

As I finished reading the message, I heard a knock on the entrance door.

Isn't this development a bit too soon? So I thought.

...oh well, might just hear the truth as soon as possible.

 

Chapter 5 (End)

Spoiler: aaa

This is the final part of the prophecy, addressed to the bearer itself. It was delivered much later on, as a word to congratulate their valiant efforts.

Did you become a hero because it's the sort of obligation you want in your life?

To make the world depend on you; to make the world feel such amount of loss when you're finally gone.

Let me say this.

This world doesn't actually need you, but you need them to shower you with appreciation, praise and worship.

We were born with the ability to solve our own problems, but we don't, because there are always heroes to help us so we didn't have to do anything.

Can you still say, that you saved humanity and the entire world should be grateful of you?

If you can still say yes with utmost sincerity in your heart, then you deserved all of that praise you've been getting. That's right, whether or not they helped themselves doesn't really matter.

Being a hero is all about helping yourself to become the person you wished to be.

..but you already know that, since you have come this far. This is actually something you found by yourself, that's why I save this for the last time. Just to reaffirm, that you've made the decision for yourself.

Thus I say, congratulations, hero.

...

After quite a long talk about the prophecy, this girl just watched me play the Hero Quest for a while. She appeared to have similar interests, be it video games, movies or music. I thought it'd be rude for me to cast her off right away, but I asked:

"Well, since you already delivered the message, when will you be coming back?"

"Did you find my presence here unsettling?"

"It's not that, I was just worried that they might assign some new tasks for you when this was done, and I don't want you to lose your job over this."

"Not to worry, my job is to watch over you, always, unless you don't want me to."

"Well, a company is always welcome, but I just felt I need to explore the outside world a bit more. It seems I abused the pencil and eraser a bit too much that I didn't feel like going outside."

"I think you'll eventually be bored and finally decided to explore this new world."

"Who knows."

As the day went by she was getting even closer to me, more than just close friends. I felt as if with such compatibility I had, I wish I got the courage to marry her, but I just want to explore the whole world a lot more and make a lot of memories as a friend before moving a step further.

Until one day came by when I mustered the courage:

She told me that she only liked girls. She could be close friends with anyone, but she could only love a girl.

I asked her why: she said it was the same reason why I couldn't love a man even if we had such perfect talks and compatibility.

She didn't mind if the girl had some extra parts which they found necessary, and even if I could use the pencil and eraser to remade myself into someone who she could love, I still loved me being this way. Being my old self—I don't want all these memories to disappear.

In the end, I guess I do love myself too much, that I didn't want to be someone that she could love.

Eventually, I almost done something heinous, by thinking about re-writing her heart so she could accept my love as it was. As if I was forcing myself into her and she got to accept it.

..but I also loved how eccentric, a fair girl like her was, with her tendency to only be able to passionately love another girl. It was a difficult choice between which ones to love more. I didn't want to lose her, especially when she found a girl whom she could get along with, but at the same time, I didn't want to be a girl either—I really felt insecure whether the thought came up.

She didn't like it, even if it were a man who looks just like a girl. She could sense it from deep inside. It was a really complicated thing.

I asked her if she was okay being turned into a man, that way she could love other girls without being taken of as weird. As much as I couldn't love her that way, as long as she could be happy, I'm fine with it. Even if it's painful for me, it would be for the better.

That's when she slapped me for the first time. Not because she hated the thought of being a man—well she actually didn't want to be one either, as much as I didn't want to be a girl.

She hated my tendency to put others over myself when push comes to shove. Even as selfish I am, while trying to push the beliefs inside the prophecy to them, I still put my own well-being on the bottom most of my priorities.

"i don't mind, if you tried changing me to a person you want me to be...if that could make you happy."

"You fool."

Maybe it was either out of pride, or out of fear of being ridiculed. Maybe I didn't mind being a girl if it could make her happy, especially if I could keep that one part intact, just to keep a memory about who I once was.

I was really afraid of what everyone else will think, and not about the desires of the ones I really loved. It's not that I wished to become a cute girl just like her, so I could experience weird skinship with her. I just wanted her to be happy. If she's happy, I would also be happy.

It's not that I was putting myself down below, but sometimes sacrifices must be made.

Though when I finally made a firm decision to make her happy, she just said that:

"Actually it's okay if you're not a girl, the entire time I might be just pulling your leg—I really want to found out about your desires."

I didn't realize that I was sighing in such disappointment that she chuckled.

"I guess you actually do wanted to be a cute girl with that extra part, but was too embarrassed to do so. You do react very strongly when I said it's okay for them to have it."

"Well, come to think of it, wasn't this really weird that we came to this kind of talk from discussing about heroes when we started?"

"Not at all. I think a hero is much more than merely saving the world, he is more than just a job. Ehehe, you must be that embarrassed to change the topic so sudden."

"Uh..."

"It's fine. Well, if you're interested in that idea just out of sake of curiosity, I think you can just change back and forth--"

"Really?"

"....you're just like an open book. More importantly, now that we've cleared things up—what do you want to do from now on? Remember that I'll always be with you."

"I want to live forever and explore the entirety in which this world can offer me."

"Then I'll accompany you for as long as you wish."

"This might be the first time I said this, but during the longest time ever, I was alone in the night sky, feeling nothing, just letting the eternity pass by. As I looked back and forth to this moment, it might be really painful if I have to be alone, when I formed such bonds with someone like you. At that time I didn't feel anything since I have no one, but as for now, I don't think I can handle it anymore. I can't stand being alone again."

"It's okay to depend on me. I was just thinking that just by being with me around, you might be really bored."

"The only boredom I got was from being alone, so please don't sweat it."

"You're one silly hero."

"Hahahaha..."

Even at this moment, as both of us stared at the shimmering seas of night sky, atop the roof of the flying saucer—it's still quite complicated to truly define the true nature of our relationship. I couldn't openly say that I'm her lover—that term just felt so shallow and meaningless to describe how much I need her. Nor a soul mate, since our bonds felt much deeper than merely just the soul itself.

I just, want her, to always be a part of me, but at the same time, I want her to be as free as possible to express herself.

I realized one thing just now. A hero could have so many definitions, depending on how each people sees them.

I define hero as someone I truly need to save myself from things beyond my own control. Since I couldn't save myself when it counts, I couldn't possibly be a hero.

..but she, is probably the hero I was looking for in my entire life.

Even if she might not always be able to stay by my side, even if we lived forever. I want to treasure all the moment that we experience. As vividly as possible, that no such darkness would be able to penetrate this vibrant journey I would be taking with her.

As cheesy as it sounds. There might be a long road ahead in store for both of us, but I believe in the power of our bonds, and that will be alright.

I just got that feeling, and I believe this was the right thing to believe in.

So I choose to cling to this belief forever.

~ Fin ~