The soft orange glow of the sun shined against the flying goddess, who smiled at the beauty of the rising celestial body. She continued her journey, passing by many various size buildings of the now awakened Leanbox. If it were any other day, Green Heart would've to stop midflight to take the time to admire her own nations beauty. However, attention was needed elsewhere.
The goddess glanced at the candidate huddle into her arms, happy to find the young girl's dozy expression to be a peaceful one.
"It seems the nightmare had subsided for now. I hope it doesn't return." She mused as she looked ahead. Eventually, to her relief, she spotted her basilicom on the outskirts of Leanbox, a giant white mansion surrounded by natures greenery at only a mile away.
"I won't have Chika or the others to help me this time." The goddess reminded herself. The basilicom was empty after she had given her basilicom members, including Chika, a one-week vacation for all their hard work contributing to the nation. Chika was of course against this proposition which Vert had to do some hard convincing to budge the oracle out of the building. It took some time, but she finally agreed to go on vacation, before she left the basilicom she gave Vert an unsettling grin which made the hairs at the back of her neck stand up.
There's no telling what the Oracle plans were when she got back, she just hoped it isn't anything too embarrassing, especially when Uni is now staying for who knows how long. Chika and the others would be back in a few days, so Vert has to prepare for the worst.
"It'll be my responsibility to help assist my little sis- i-I mean Uni, yes! I'll help her in any way I can heh." Vert tried masking the excitement in her voice. It would be a horrendous lie if she said she wasn't happy about this ordeal. She can't wait to get back to her home and make Uni all hers.
The goddess made her decent and opted to land on her large balcony of the mansion since her room was on the third floor. She made her way inside the mansion halls, ignoring everything and concentrated on one objective, finding her bedroom.
Green Heart pace herself with Uni in her arms, making sure she was gentle and kept her steady. It didn't take long before she was Infront of the door to her room.
The doors in the mansion were identical but living in the basilicom for her entire life she knew the workaround of this place like the back of her hand or as an MMO video game. The door was tall, dwarfing Vert with a green and peachy design. She placed her hand on the door and gently pushed it open, she turned on the lights to find herself inside a familiar, comfortable room.
Lady Vert's bedroom had the nature of fancy, high class, elegance, its everything Leanbox was. The bright colors of Leanbox's green, gold and white and in Vert's case a bit of red. Her carpet was this such color, red, perfectly blending it with the smaller green square carpet in the middle. The green rug had a flower design etch to it and gold fat outlined around the rectangular rug.
What settle on top of the green carpet was a couch in the center facing a small table and a tv stand with a 4k television sitting on top.
The tv stand had a second compartment which had consoles from other nations display all to see. The far left of the carpet was an excellent large queen size bed fit for a goddess of "Large proportions." A green blanket as cover with gold pillows and a gold headboard with hearts of different sizes drawn.
However, her main gaming comes from the work desk in the very back of the room opposite of herself, a three-monitor set up PC, ready for any MMO gaming. Two large windows with green curtains, on the right side of the room.
The walls of the room were a soft gold, brown color, invoking a sense of warmth, mix with the green which covered the sides of the ceiling. The middle of the ceiling looked more like chocolate, and a fancy, large, bright chandelier lamp, emitting a soft yellow/orange glow. A closet was right next to the entrance, full of long gowns, and dresses fit for the Leanbox Goddess.
Unfortunately, that was the end of the everyday room items. The CPU is a massive fan and collector of the boys love fantasy which littered all around her room. Portraits of various yaoi boys from different animes hanged around each side of the wall, there was one on top of the tv, computers and near her bed.
Toy figures of anime men encased in window cabinets by the computers, two more on each side of the tv, a large cabinet dedicated for the figurines as well as a few more sitting on the small table by her bed.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Goddess even has a life-size figure by the two windows and a giant beanbag with an angel guy on it near her bed. The least weird items were the big plushies of monsters scattered randomly on the floor.
Vert's room sure does have its kinks, but it's her home, and she loves it. It would be Uni's temporary home as well until the little candidate can get her bearings and go back to lastation. Despite that, the goddess secretly hoped Uni would stay forever, it was selfish, but can you blame the sisterless CPU?
No time to worry about the small things, the CPU hurried by the bedside. Vert stopped herself from laying Uni down on the bed, realizing she needed to deal with the soaking clothes first.
Luckily her HDD form was more than capable of carrying the lightweight girl in one arm, and she did so while getting an extra blanket under her bed. The blanket was used for cold gaming nights, she needed to stay warm to be best at her games of course.
Green Heart placed the blanket on the bed and settling the candidate down. Figuring its the perfect time to transform back to her normal form, she did so with a bright flash of light emitting from her body. It took a second, and Green Heart no longer stood in place.
Vert stood in the middle of the room, unlike her HDD form, instead of the green ponytail, she had long curled light blond hair with long bangs neatly framing her face, complimenting her sad blue droopy eyes, an emerald green dress with gold markings that shows off her commonly praised huge breasts. Big/loose light green and white gloves and along the top part of her skirt is a big peach/orange bow. Around her neck, she wears a big white collar with green lining around the bottom and a very thin white cloth connecting the dress and neckpiece together. At the center is a gold circular piece with a small blue gem in the center and tiny red ribbon with gold in the center.
She drew in a long breath and exhaled while jiggling her chest, which was a habit for Vert that irritated a particular flat CPU. Now with the first step done, the Goddess moved into the massive closet to find anything suitable for Uni's size.
She skimmed through her clothing to find nothing but long dresses. Obviously, none of these would fit the small candidate. "Oh dear, it seems I don't have anything for your size Uni… Wait a second."
The Goddess strode pass dresses until she came to a stop at the end of the closet to find a large gold dresser right next to the bathroom door, "Let's see here… I might still have my…" pulling the bottom drawer, she dug through more dresses until she found what she needed, "Ha hah! I found it! My white undershirt when I used to work out…" Her face contorted to disgust at the remembrance of those sad days, "Hopefully, I would never return to those days of misery."
She had thought her body was gaining weight from all the junk food she was consuming during her gaming nights but realized it was a lie from Chika to get her to stop playing video games every day.
A smart plan until the CPU decided to weigh herself without Chika knowing and found her weight precisely the same as before, maybe a little less because of the workout but still.
The goddess didn't hate Chika since it was understandable, but she did hold a grudge against the green hair oracle after all these months. One day she would have her revenge! Probably after Chika gets her revenge when she arrives back.
Shaking her head, the Goddess was brought back to reality after hearing a sneeze coming from the main room, "Oh Uni I'm so sorry!" she quickly found a pair of green socks, the red shorts that went with the white shirt and undergarments of green color. The CPU then grab a brand-new towel on top of the drawer
She rushed back to the main room and settled the clothes by the sleeping girl, Vert's cheeks redden, embarrassed at what she had to do next. "Ooo hehe, N-no Vert! Calm yourself! I mustn't look at a young girl's private parts! Forgive me, Uni, but I must do this."
She commenced with the candidate's shoes and arm warmers, which ironically are causing her to freeze more than warming. The ribbons were taken off. For the last part the Goddess loosened the collar connected to the dress, she gently pulled the collar forward, with one hand on the collar and the other on the dress she pulled it off slowly, revealing the porcelain, soft skin of an undress candidate only in her cute black undergarments.
The Leanbox Goddess had to avert her eyes a little bit, her blush intensifying at the beauty in front of her. She had to fight the urge to do anything inappropriate against the candidate. Her breathing hastened
"I must remain calm. It's not like you've seen her half-naked before." She reasoned with her lewd side and remembered when everyone bathed in the hot spring, everyone was half-naked, including Uni, yet this was massively different in comparison.
She's intruding on the girl's privacy even if it is for a good cause. The older CPU sighed before covering her eyes and began drying the girl with a towel. She removed the bra and immediately replaced it with the green slightly larger bra… well extremely large in Uni's case.
Vert, after replacing Uni's panties, put the red shorts on with difficulty, a couple of times the candidate coughed onto her face. Grimacing the CPU wiped away the little saliva and resumed her duty.
She opened her eyes, and in less than five painful minutes, she finished almost everything. Vert glanced down to see the last thing she needed to put on Uni.
The CPU couldn't help, but awe at the cute little pair of feet huddled each other for warmth. A smirk plastered on her face as she began to tickle both small feet with her fingers, wiggling around Uni's toes like they were toys
"Uni you have such small cute little toes Heheh," her eyes notice Uni blushing, a small squeal escaped the candidate's mouth, she couldn't handle the torture the older girl was doing, "Sooooo adora- ow!" Uni's right foot crashed into Vert's face with little force.
Vert had to step back, trying hard to suppress her laughter, "Okay, okay, I'll stop! Heheh" The CPU noticed Uni's cheeks puffed up.
"It's like she hears me even in slumber… Must be a natural tsundere trait heh."
The Goddess replaced her grin with a small smile before walking out of the room with Uni's wet clothes. She later came back with a blanket after putting the candidates clothing in a dryer.
Vert noticed her body was still shivering immensely even with the new clothing, "This should stop the shivering." Placing the blanket on top of the young CPU. In a gradual time, she saw the shivering lessened a considerable amount.
Uni's face had calmed down, and her expression softened a little bit from the new warmth. Her breath was soft and steady, so peaceful that even Vert couldn't keep her eyes open.
Although her drowsiness was kicking in, she resisted the urge to sleep on her personal bed where Uni laid; the next best thing is to sit down on the nearest chair and fall asleep. However, before the CPU could act on it, a loud notification from her computer speakers alerted her of something, she looked towards the right to see the three monitors awake from sleep mode, a pop-up notification for a goddess online invite.
Her eyes widen to the size of dinner plates and shame across her facial features. How can she, an MMO legendary gamer, forget about the ultimate update for the best MMO's of all time!? The multicore expansion which included one of the hardest dungeons to ever release as well as having the most valuable loot in the game. The update even included new moe cosmetics and various mini-dungeons full of content.
Vert was shaking with pure enthusiasm, which caused her drowsiness to dissipate almost instantly, this means a bunch of energy drinks and chips was in order.
The Leanbox Goddess had been waiting for this update for weeks since its announcement, even marking it on her calendar for the day it arrived.
The distraction from the never-ending quests must have tempered with her own memory, and now the situation with Uni only amplified her forgetting the update. The invite was no doubt sent by her online friends; she must prepare her gamer fuel this instant!
She quickly left Uni's side, attention now on gaming, her eyes were twinkling with excitement, and her body was shaking in anticipation. "Don't worry friends of mine, Vert is on her way!" she shouted, but before she could sit on her gaming chair, a loud groan broke her thoughts.
A groan followed by heavy breathing, gasps, and other noises came from Uni's general direction. Vert's enthusiasm disappeared, replaced with worried as she ran towards the young girl. Her concern eyes rested on the sleeping candidate who's fidgeting around, sweat pouring down her face of terror, and muttering inaudible words.
"Oh, dear, she's having another nightmare. It looks much worse than before." Her worried face deepened as she went off to the bathroom to get a cold compress, "I never dealt with this before. Usually, I'm the one with the nightmares, but if I remember correctly from the times Chika took care of me, then this should work in theory."
She arrived back to find Uni muttering words, her head shaking to the side, moving around, shifting from right or left.
Vert carefully and gently rested the warm compress on her forehead, a slow effect, but it did calm her enough from the erratic movements. Unfortunately, the candidate's face didn't change, but she finally muttered something audible.
Vert leaned in to hear the broken voice of a desolated girl.
"N-Noire… N-Nepgear… please d-don't leave me…" she pleaded to the people she cared about in her dreams. A spark of hope evident in her voice, wishing for those people to come back.
Vert softly shook her head, she was hit with an array of emotions, wrapping her arms around herself, the smile she had a minute ago long gone. Oh, how she desperately wanted to help the unfortunate candidate.
Her eyes widen a little when Uni's arm raised only inches from the bed and outward towards her as if she wanted to hold onto something or her own hand. Vert gave the girl a soft nod and a small heart warm smile.
"I may not be the one you cherish and love, but I'll try my best to help you Uni." She whispered to the candidate, hoping her words would pierce through her nightmares. The CPU intertwined her fingers with Uni's and gave it a small squeeze for the girl to acknowledge. The Goddess couldn't help but feel Uni's skin, admiring the softness to it against her own, a little sweaty but warmer and more delicate than Chika's by far.
She held the hand for several minutes, and to her surprise Uni's entire demeanor had changed to a calmer state, breathing lessened as did the fidgeting around. The scared expression no longer presented as it been replaced by a cool, wholesome one. A warm, perfect smile adorn on her angelic pale face.
Vert's was mentally jumping in joy at the holy scene. Small tears formed as she used her free hand to wipe off any stragglers which manage to slip down her cheek. The sight of the candidate sleeping peacefully will never be forgotten by the gamer addict for however long she lives.
Her smile… that damn smile…. It really pulls on her heartstring, trying her hardest to not cry in joy, she rested her head on her free arm, never letting go of Uni's precious hand.
"I-is this what feels like to be a big sister? Of course, Uni isn't related to me in any way b-but this feels so nice… To be appreciated like this by someone else… Even if she is asleep, I can't help but want to protect this precious girl forever."
She glanced back at Uni with red eyes and a happy smile. However, her smile diminished when remembering why Uni had been in the forest in the first place.
"Noire is part of the problem, but she also mentioned Nepgear. If I remember correctly, those two were going out. And If that's the case, then why didn't she opted to visit Planeptune? Why would she end up in the Gapain forest?" However, her pondering was broken from the movement in front of her, she glanced back at Uni's adorable face causing the Goddess to aw at the scene.
A realization came to her, "The only other explanation is that those two must have broken up. That explains why she was lost in the forest, she was escaping Noire and couldn't go to Planeptune because of her rocky relationship with Nepgear. She had nowhere to go except to wander off in the lands. Almost becoming a meal for a Fenrir." She sighed, glancing at the digital clock on her pc to see it was eight am.
She looked at the candidate deep in her sleep, no signs of waking up anytime soon. Unfortunately, Vert's stomach growled in hunger, ready to digest anything that is breakfast.
The gamer knew not to deny her stomach of food, feeling Uni is content in sleeping and not a sign of any nightmare resuming. She slowly moved her hand away from Uni's tight grip, "I'll go prepare some break-"as soon as the flag had left the base, Uni cried out like she was in pain with tears resuming back in full motion. Quickly Vert held her hand again in a swift motion to avoid any mess, "Okay, okay. I suppose not."
A large sweatdrop appeared on Vert's forehead as she smiled in a worried manner. Uni instantly went back to normal with a warm smile placed on her face.
Vert's stomach growled louder in protest.
"Oh, dear, where's Chika when you need her."
Her eyes twitch, slowly they opened, revealing a pair of red eyes, blinking many times to regain her awareness as she stared at the unfamiliar ceiling above. Blurriness settled in, the candidate had no collection of where she would be, but whatever it was it did feel comfy. Uni gritted her teeth at the small pain when moving her head upward only inches to observe her surrounding area, only to groan from the headache when moving her head slightly to any direction.
With how blurry her vision was she needed time to adjust, blinking several times and regaining her proper vision or close to it. The young girl recognized she was in a room of sorts and laying on a very comfy bed. "So that explains the coziness, but why am I here?"
The lastation candidate was having a hard time moving her head for some time without suffering from the headache, but pushing through her pain, she saw a blurry yellow mass on the side of her bed but didn't pay any mind to it, thinking of it as a pillow.
She rested her head back on the pillow, her headache subsiding allowing her to remember the past events that transpired beforehand. Accessing through her memory vaults, she remembered running away from the lastation basilicom because of what her arrogant sister had said. The pain in her heart was resurfacing after remembering she was flying in the sky, lost and lonely until her body gave up and she fell downwards into a forest.
Cold rain soaked her body until minutes later, she found herself running from a Fenrir. Her heart clench, remembering the scene. Her idiot self-had to trip on a bloody rock like one of those dumb girls in those horror movie clichés. She turned around and saw the Fenrir was only an inched towards her face… what happened next? She wasn't sure, and this headache wasn't helping either.
A groan escaped her lips. No doubt in her weakened state she was eaten by the monster… Most likely becoming the first CPU Candidate in history to die from a simple monster.
Or maybe Noire saved her in the nick of time and… she threw away the possibility in the trash can at the back of her mind. Nope, she definitely died. But if that's the case, then what is this place? Maybe this was the afterlife? She sunk her head further into the soft pillow, closing her eyes again as she sniffed the pillow basking in the scent and aroma pleasing to her nostrils.
This wasn't her room, yet it smelled oddly familiar. Like she had smelled this scent from somewhere. The candidate couldn't put her finger on it, but she didn't care. Her body was aching and attempting to move one of her legs released an enormous amount of pain through her nervous system. Luckily her throat was too dry to produce the smallest of yelps.
She may be hungry and thirsty, but this bed provided the best warmth, comfort, and best of all, peace. There was not enough strength or stamina her reserves to get up from this comfortableness
She whispered to herself, her throat, dry and raspy, "If I'm in heaven… T-then I don't have to think about them anymore… I'm finally at p-peace." Her voice cracked at the end, her lip quiver fighting back the tears attempting to fall.
Before the tears could fall freely, a loud noise on her left broke her thoughts, causing her eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates.
"What the hell was that!?" Her stamina regenerated back faster than the speed of sound, and her head frantically moved to its left while sitting up.
"L-lady V-vert?!" Her vision wasn't blurry anymore, allowing her to see the blurry yellow blob in a better picture, what she saw earlier was none other than the CPU of Leanbox herself, Vert. The candidate blinked several times make sure she saw things correctly.
Blonde beautiful hair, colorful dress, and large chest… "That's definitely Vert…"
The candidate squinted at the Goddess, trying to figure out why she was in her domain. With her vision now restored, she took the time to scan the room again. Judging from the extensive yaoi collection in the room, she concluded it was Vert's bedroom all along. Mentally facepalming at the weird hobby, the Lady of Leanbox has, "Well I guess I can't judge… I do love guns and military stuff. At least Vert's hobby is less destructive compared to mines."
Now deep in her thoughts, the candidate realized she had never once stepped foot in the CPU's room before. Even when visiting for diplomatic problems regarding Gamindustri, she didn't take the initiative to enter most if not any of the rooms in the basilicom. However, she can appreciate the coziness and warm colors in contrast to her own depressing black room back at lastation.
Despite the comfort, her headache hammered away into her brain, until a flash of imagery came into existence. Her eyes slightly widen at the realization. It was, of course, her memories after she was face to face with the Fenrir. Near-death, the candidate remembered hearing a signature technique yelled by a certain goddess which pierced the creatures hide, successfully killing it in the process. The goddess who saved her was Green Heart aka Vert aka the blonde female sleeping next to Uni, who no doubt brought her here to Leanbox.
The candidate narrowed her eyes at the sleeping CPU, wearily about the reasoning for saving a weakling like herself from death. Fortunately, her headache disappeared after recovering her memory, she attempted to pull her left arm to rub her eye but found resistance. "Huh?"
Looking down, she saw Vert's hand intertwine with her own, a little blush appeared on her face, "W-why is she holding my hand!? I-I mean I don't m-mind it bu- Wait! Where's my clothing?!"
True to the statement, she was confused with the new change of clothes, everything was large on her. Shorts, shirt and most definitely the undergarments.
Her cheeks puff in embarrassment at the bra size, "Hmph. You could've not given me any bra instead of belittling me."
Getting over her jealousy for the green Goddess's bust size, Uni narrowed her eyes and press her lips together, "I guess I should thank her for saving me… Even though she must have an ulterior motive for doing so."
Thinking back further, the green Goddess never really took an interest in Uni; usually, it's either Rom and Ram or the purple one that got her attention. Honestly Vert and herself never spoken longer than two sentences. Actually, that was a lie, she did remember the time when the busty CPU forced all four of them to wear cosplay costumes which she forgot the reasoning for but remembered how embarrassing her outfit was.
The costume was way too revealing for her taste, but she begrudgingly wore it after Vert had left to do her meeting or whatnot. Seeing the others wear their costume in joy did bring a smile to her face, prompting her to wear hers. In retrospect, they did have a connection to one another, but it wasn't anything significant.
A sigh escaped her lips, guessing its time to have a conversation with the goddess who saved her, she used her other arm to hesitantly shake the CPU enough to bring her back to the world of real life. Slowly the older female groggily woke up with a little bit of drool sticking out before wiping it away.
A big yawn from the Goddess as her eyes widen when noticing the candidate was awake.
"Oh, my Uni, you're awake!" she expressed her concern as Vert released her hand from hers, putting her glove back on. The CPU quickly glance at her computer's own clock to find out it was 9 pm, she slept the entire day which honestly wasn't too bad considering a hardcore gamer like herself usually sleeps in the daytime after long gaming nights.
Confuse at the lack of dialogue from the candidate to her question, she turned to see Uni, who then pointed towards her throat, "W-water." She said in a raspy voice. Acknowledging the request, she hurried towards the door.
"Ah yes, I'm so sorry, you must be quite thirsty after the long nap. Luckily, I have a case full of water bottles in the other room, wait just a second." Vert said as she hurried out of the room. Uni waited until the CPU arrived with a water bottle at hand, "Unfortunately, it's a little warm since I didn't get the time to refrigerate them."
Uni gracefully took the bottle and drank almost half of it in a few gulps, Vert had to keep her eyes from bulging out of their sockets at the amount she was drinking. "She must have been out there for a long time to be this thirsty."
Uni finished the entire bottle to Vert's astonishment, she handed it towards Vert who notice the shaky hands. The goddess took the empty bottle and leaned forward towards Uni who backed away, unsure what the goddess was doing, she relaxed when Vert had grabbed a compress from her forehead.
Instinctively she reached towards her forehead wondering how she didn't feel the darn thing.
"It was to ensure you would have a wonderful sleep." She settled the thing on her lap and focused her attention on the candidate, "I assume you were awake for a while?"
Uni nodded, "Y-yeah, I've been awake for a short while, I was confused at where I was until I put two and two together." Her red eyes settled on her hands, avoiding eye contact with those intimating droopy blue eyes from the Goddess.
"Yes, about that, as you can see, you're no longer in lastation but in Leanbox now, most specifically in my room." Uni folded her arms fully knowing the questions that will ensue.
"I have my concerns and questions on the matter… But first I'm sure you're starving and in need of food, yes?
Right on cue Uni's stomach growled, a blush adorned on her face, "Y-yes, P-please."
"You don't have to be shy, little one, we've spoken before, we're no strangers to each other, well I hope we're not." The Goddess stood up with a warm smile with the empty bottle and compress in her hands, "I'll go cook Leanbox styled food that I'm sure you'll enjoy." Turning around, the CPU walked out of the room, leaving a distress Uni.
The candidate leaned back on the pink pillow, the back of her head resting on the golden headboard. Thinking back at what the goddess had said, she supposed Vert was right, there was no need to be shy around her. They aren't strangers to one another. She knew Vert but not well enough to trust her per se. I mean, who can she trust when the young candidate had no one else to talk too? No one, not her sister or ex-lover… No friends to speak too. She's all alone.
The candidate clasped hands over her head, desperately wanting to forget everything, oh how she wanted to be like those lead characters who suffered amnesia at the start of a video game or anime. Unfortunately, life wasn't as simple as those fantasy games. Being a heroine, slaying the evil villain and then live happily ever after with a lover… it wasn't possible.
Her hands drifted apart from her head as they fell on the soft bed. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the figurines on each side of herself, remembering Vert had a weird craving for these things she picked up the closest one with shaky hands.
The figure was any generic looking protagonist of an RPG, having long black hair, black clothing with gray padding of armor on his limbs. He carried a thin sword which Uni was sure didn't look like it could slice a dogoo without suffering any damage. Overall, she didn't understand the reasoning for these things and didn't like them one bit.
Tired of looking at the figure, Uni was curious to find out the location where this particular figurine was made. If the candidate had to guess it might have been in Planeptune. Planeptune always had a knack at making these types of things. Oh, how wrong she was. Uni looked at the bottom of its stand, and her heart stopped.
"Made in Lastation."
Her grip on the figure tightened, trembling as she tried her hardest to not let the tears flow down again.
She failed.
The water droplets fell across her cheeks like rain flowing down a stream on the side of the road. Uni ran her hands through her hair, even from afar, lastation continued to plague her mind. The nation she once loved and lived for only brought hurtful memories of Noire. Noire is Lastation, which indirectly caused Uni to hate her once beloved nation now.
Overwhelmed with mix emotions, hatred, fear, grief, anything which signals distress, she threw the figure at the entrance door, causing a loud bang. Uni could care less if anyone heard the noise as she went under the covers facing the wall on her left.
Hearing the loud thump from down the kitchen, Vert stop whatever she was preparing and barge into the room alarmed, "Uni? Are you okay? I th-"The CPU noticed Uni hiding under the blankets sobbing loudly. She sped walk before stepping on something, looking down she was bewildered to find her figurine on the ground, "Why is this her-"
Seeing the cause underneath, the stand, She mentally facepalmed at her mistake "Ah. How idiotic of me, I should've removed those figurines before." A sigh escaped her lips, "It seems anything originating from lastation will cause a breakdown, I need to remember that."
The CPU settled the figurine by the tv and strode by the bedside, frowning as played with her fingers "Uni I-I I'm sorry, I should've removed anything related to your nation…" The CPU cursed herself for this mistake, causing more pain to the poor girl who's already reached her limit.
Her frowned deepen when the girl didn't give a response. Nevertheless, her sobbing did cease. Sniffing every second and not budging a bit.
"Uni?" she said again in a worried tone.
Again, no response. The Goddess looked around the room unsure how to proceed with this. She never dealt anything like this before in her life, Chika nor any of her basilicom members never had issues akin to Uni. The poor girl is young and is in the process of growing mentally, she wasn't a therapist nor know how to get through and ease the candidate's mind.
What came next shocked the CPU to her very core and hoped she never had the pleasure of hearing it again from the young candidate.
"You should've let me die." She muttered, dark, and lifeless in her tone.
Vert shook her head, frantically, "Don't be ridiculous! I would never allow that to happen, I'd rather sacrifice my life to protect yours if need be."
Uni pulled down the blanket and stared into verts eyes for the first time, her red puffy teary eyes full of intense hate directed at the Goddess with her scowl.
"D-don't pretend you care! You don't even know me nor acknowledge me until now! I can see through deception, you're only doing this so I could become your little sister, that's the reason right?" Vert step back at the ferociousness Uni gave off.
A pain of guilt struck the CPU "N-nonsense! I'm just trying to help!
"Liar… now that I broke relations with my sister, you'll try to take her place to satisfy your desire for one."
"U-uni." The CPU Looked down in shame with a hand on her arm, Uni had hit the nail in the coffin. An awkward silence ensued.
The candidate eyes widen at her own behavior and quickly went back under the covers and bury her face with her hands after realizing what she had said, "J-just leave me alone…"
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The CPU nodded in understanding, with her head down, she strode towards the open door, entering the hallway, she looked back at the girl with a frown before sighing as she closed the door behind her.
For the first time in forever, Vert was useless in a situation. The CPU of Leanbox, a goddess, was worthless in dealing with someone's problems. She could slay monsters without a hitch, stop evil from taking over the world, yet she was inexperienced at saving people from their own destruction of their selves.
How can she call herself a CPU after this? "I'm a terrible goddess, I'm sure even Neptune would fair better at this than me."
She rubbed her temples in disappointment. Even the red, comfortable couch she sat on was making her feel the opposite effect. The CPU was right next door in a room similarly decorated like her bedroom, just without a bed, computers, and windows but a much larger tv and a more towering video game collection stack near the tv.
Hours ago, Vert had made her famous burgers in all of Leanbox, top with the most quality ingredients fit for a candidate. Sadly, no matter how enticing she made the burger, as expected, Uni ignored her and the burgers. Not even reacting to the fantastic aroma emitting from said food, Vert propose another idea. "Perhaps she doesn't want to eat when I'm around." Vert settled the food on the small table near the bed and left for an hour. She came back to find the burger, nor the plate moved an inch.
She threw the cold burger in the trash, groaning at her fail attempt to get the candidate to talk again. She sat on the couch and played random video games all which failed at capturing her attention. It was already morning time, and literally, the CPU stared at the blank television screen for an hour. "I know what she had said was hurtful, but I'm sure she didn't mean it right?"
Sure, the goddess can and in fact play any video game in the world, enjoy the art of watching anime or Neptube videos, she had a beautiful nation with amazing citizens, a nice large basilicom with an amazing oracle. Everything was peaceful with the other nations and CPU's she now called friends. Yet deep within Vert was a want, no, a need for something she never once had. A little sister.
The very thing she lacked, and a great deal of jealousy wielded inside her when she saw the other CPU's enjoy their time with their own sisters. They had sisters they can cuddle with or do any sisterly things. Right in front of her no less as she tried to put on a gracious smile. Vert smiles were genuine as she enjoyed their sisterly bond in action, but it didn't stop the pain within her heart at each time she witnessed.
Noire's sister, Uni, was right, her desire grew tenfold after the whole incident with ASIC. She watched as the other CPUs were embraced by their beloved sisters while she stood alone with no one to embrace…Well she did have IF and Compa, and she's gracious for their company, but it wasn't the same as having a blood-related sibling fighting for your returned and crying in your arms when you do return from being captured.
Vert slumped her shoulders, ashamed, so, so ashamed for thinking of Uni as an opportunity to make the candidate her sister. She completely overlooked at her current situation. The young girl had trust issues that much she knew. Most likely cause of her own sister and possibly Nepgear as well.
"She needs guidance and help. I shouldn't try to act like a sister, I need to be someone she trusts. I need to understand her feelings. I need to become her friend first."
Vert sat straight up with new determination in her eyes. She rarely if ever interacted with the young candidate, so their "Friendship" Was bleak, only meeting with one another whenever Noire had business with herself. And usually, it's just a simple greeting.
The Goddess stood up, fire in her eyes, "She needs not to feel alone anymore!" The Goddess wiggled her fingers around with a grin on her face, "And I wanna play with her cute little toes again, hehe."
Vert's new goal: to become friends with the lastation candidate Uni!
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Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. This new goal was no doubt, going to be a challenge for herself. The first step in her plan is to gain Uni's trust by inching closer and closer until the candidate felt comfortable enough to talk. Allowing herself to breakthrough her shy interior and form a small bond. An establishment of trust must be made. To do this, Vert needed the stubborn candidate to eat.
Since it was morning, she created a simple, delicious breakfast of bacon, and eggs with an orange juice drink. She tried to make the aroma appealing as possible to attract the girl out of her bed.
"Uni, breakfast is ready." She said, unsure if the candidate was sleeping or not, her position didn't seem to change too much since the last time, and her face was obscured by the positioning. "I-I'll leave it here on the table." She said before exiting the room.
After 2 hours Vert came back to find the girl in a slightly different position, the food remained untouched, but Vert did smile to see the cup of orange juice empty.
She found this a small little victory, "No matter how stubborn you can be, you'll always need to quench your thirst."
In the afternoon, she brought lunch, a bowl of perfect beef noodle soup.
"I'm not sure what your favorite foods are, but I'm sure you'll love my beef noodle soup. Many guests who visited the basilicom say my cooking is at the utmost high tier level, some even say I cook like their grandma," Vert scratch her head and closed her eyes, "Eh I'm not sure if I take it as compliment, but at least I now know I'm grandma tier of cooking."
A faint giggled emitted from under the covers was barely audible, but with her trained CPU ears she was sure Uni had taken her joke as comedic. "Progress is key." A small smile adorned her face before making her leave, "Well, I hope you enjoy it if you have the strength to eat."
Hearing the door close, Uni pulled down the covers to show her puffy eyes, not showing any signs of restoration. "I can't believe I giggle at that." Sighing, she looked at the food, "I don't understand why she's still nice to me even after what happened. If it were anyone else, they would've yelled at me and throw me out in the streets. Yet I'm still here on her bed and being provided with food. What is lady Vert planning?"
The soup's aroma filled her nostrils, "It smells delicious I have to give her that," she moved closer to the table, her eyes widen to see the soup was crafted in a professional, high-class manner she would see in fancy restaurants, "It looks good too…" Her stomach growled as saliva slowly form around her mouth, "N-no I can't eat it, I-I'm not hungry! P-plus she might've gotten some witch to make a potion that will make me her little sister!"
No matter how much she fought her stomach, the candidate was slowly inching forward and reached towards the spoon. "N-no brain stop don't do it!" She grabbed the spoon an attempted to lift it up with a nice serving. Centimeters before her drooling mouth, the door bust open.
"Oh, Uni I almost forgot to give you a drink, I got you a cold-water bottle from this nice brand... U-uni?" The CPU stared wide-eyed at the candidate who looked visually disturbed.
"EEEeeK!" Uni mentally screamed as she dropped the spoon and quickly went under the covers, shaking uncontrollably. A confuse Vert walked towards the table to get a glance at the soup, frowning to see it was full, "D-did she not like my cooking? M-maybe she isn't a fan of beef noodle soup. Yeah, that's it… I-m a grandma tier cooker after all… Maybe that wasn't a compliment."
She settled the bottle on the table before making her leave. It was a small blow to her cooking prowess, reminding herself constantly the soup wasn't the candidate's ideal lunch. She at least hoped Uni would eat her food in the evening.
"I'll make something she'll enjoy even if it's the death of me!" She yelled in an empty kitchen. The kitchen was as big as her main bedroom itself with high quality, highly efficient machinery for all cooking needs, all made from Leanbox's best of the best engineers.
A marbled counter separated the kitchen from the living room, much larger than the two previous rooms combined but still held the same style of the two rooms.
Red carpet, green ceiling with a massive chandelier, golden walls and such. A 100-inch Tv in the front on top of a large Tv stand with see-through glass, every Leanbox made console placed inside for all to see. Green sofas surrounded the tv with a large glass table in the middle. The exit door on the right and across from it was another room, green walls with a white flower pattern and boys love posters framed on the wall.
A mini-chandelier hovered over the red wooden table with a row of four fancy red chairs on either side. The CPU brought out her famous cookbook, a book she proudly made herself, she smiled as she thought of a certain Lowee goddess who appreciated the book after Vert had given her a copy as a gift.
"Blanc is such a terrible cook. Hopefully, she's doing better now after the gift. I swear I don't understand how you can manage to burn yogurt. Yogurt!" She shook her head in disappointment. However, she rubbed her arm with a tint of blush on her cheek, she did miss the short CPU, "Maybe I should visit her sometime, it has been an awful while."
Shaking her head, "Right, Uni." The busty CPU reminded herself as she began cooking something simple for the young girl.
Vert walked down the brown marble floor, passing by many double doors on her right and windows on her left, the corridor, darkly lit with only the orange sunlight of the sunset from outside brightening it.
The goddess carried a plate of ground beef gyros; it was simple but enough to fill the candidate's stomach. This time she didn't forget the water bottle as she carried it under her armpit.
Opening the door, she sighed in disappointment to find the girl in a similar position, she walked in and settled the food on the table as well as the water.
"For dinner, I went ahead and made Ground Beef Gyros, I'm not sure if you ever had one, but it should fill your stomach up in no time."
As expected, no response except a little body movement.
"Uni, please eat, you haven't eaten anything since I brought you here, you have to be extremely starving right now."
The candidate responded but not by her mouth, more so her stomach did the talking and agree with Vert's statement with a growl under the sheets.
Vert crossed her arms, rubbing her cheeks as she steadily walked out of the room. Hoping the young girl would finally eat her food.
Two hours later, after the sunset, the CPU walked down the hallway, she had gotten done eating dinner of her own and used her phone to researched ways on how to gain someone's trust. Unfortunately, most of these pieces of advice and tips from these sites had poor reviews and comments concerning them.
One of them even went in detail on how the author basically ruined their friendship with all their friends, and family. There was more to it, but the CPU would rather forget about the explicit details and remarks the commenter made.
After searching and searching, she found a site called NepHow, a website dedicated to learning how to do well, anything. The page went in great detail about trust and how to be a reliable person.
The comments seem less polarizing and genuinely had people thanking the author. Having nothing else to do, she decided to give it a read, reading the entire thing in minutes, and absorbing every detail.
Surprisingly the page did cover new things the CPU had never thought about, but the rest was stuff she already knew beforehand. Honestly, it did help regain her confidence. The new confidence bestowed upon her shall aid in the battle against Uni's stubborn nature.
Vert strolled to her destination, enjoying the moons light shining through the windows. Many would say the sun's rays were a thing of beauty, never mentioning the moon's light in the same way. Unlike their opinions, Vert love them both for they brought different meanings. Sunshine brought life across the lands, and at times the sun would get ahead of itself and accidentally burn the territory it once gave life too, after correcting itself it once again brings the inner beauty of nature and provides hope and comfort to those in need.
The sun was essential to all, without it, everything would be cold and dark, a world suffering from lack of warmth. The moon itself also relied on the sun upon its comforting light, wanting, no, in need of its heat for it was desolated and alone in the dark space.
The sun would reach its sunlight towards the moon, coupling it like a blanket giving it a new sense of hope and life, the moon was no longer alone. Instead, it had another celestial body to rely on.
Happy with the new bond, the moon reflected the sunlight on to the earth, creating its own in the form of moonlight as it shines across lands the sun could not reach, reminding the areas it wasn't alone, and the sun hadn't left them. No, the moon and the sun had become closer, and it will only continue to until their departure.
Vert smiled warmly, the moonlight shining on her face as she stared at the full moon. That's how the Leanbox goddess liked to imagine, in her own fantasy perspective. It was also a reason she rarely turned on the hallway's ceiling lights.
Now at her destination, she opened her bedroom door and turned on the lights. Her eyes widen at the sprawled figure of the candidate on the bed, no longer hiding under the covers. She was moving around in frantic motion, sweat pouring on her forehead with a terrified expression.
"Uni!" Vert yelled before running towards the bedside, she took off her glove and placed her hand on the girl's forehead to check on her temperature.
A sigh of relief as she removed her hand, no sign of any fever, "She's having a nightmare like the first time."
Uni's rapid breathing, muttering to oneself, etc. It's all the same as last time, Vert frown, "Is it the same nightmare!? Oh, dear, I hope this doesn't become a regular occurrence."
The goddess felt her throat hitch when Uni's hand reach towards her like she knew of her presence. The CPU stared at the candidates trembling hand who was muttering a similar phrase as last time.
"Please don't leave me…"
Vert's heart clenched, without hesitation, she removed her glove and held the candidate's soft hand.
"I will never leave you Uni." She whispered softly towards the sleeping candidate.
The words must have pierced through the candidate's nightmare as Uni's horrified expression changed, and a small smile formed. The CPU couldn't help but smile back at the sleeping girl. It didn't last long though as the tiredness settled in.
A yawn broke out as Vert used her free hand to cover the younger one with the blanket. She reached and pulled the chair near the bed and flop onto the seat, her smile never leaving as she laid her head on the mattress by the candidate. Never letting go of her hand the entire night.
Uni shifted in her bed, her red eyes opened, blinking several times as she sat up to look around the darkened room, thankful for the sun's morning rays from the two windows, her eyes widen when she noticed the blonde CPU sleeping soundly next to herself. The same way she awoke the first time.
Their hands were intertwined like before, and with the same reaction, Uni's cheeks blushed at the skin to skin contact. "W-whats with her holding my hand?!" She crinkled her nose, "Don't tell me she has that weird hand holding fetish I've heard about?"
The candidate's face softened when staring at the happy expression on her sleepy face, "She looks so peaceful…" Uni thought solemn as she moved her fingers underneath Vert's palm, "This isn't so bad… I kinda like it."
Her slender fingers slid across the older girl's soft skin of her palm, unintentionally she was tickling her as Vert started giggling in her sleep from the action.
A slight close-lipped smile was etched on the candidate's face, for some odd reason she was enjoying this. However, a thought crossed her mind, "Wait! Did she do something to me when I first arrived here in my sleep?!" suddenly her toes unconsciously wiggle around as if it was trying to tell their owner something.
The candidate suddenly remembered a faint dream of a green, slimy monster, no face but had this odd beautiful blonde hair fondling her feet with the smuggest of grins. It was horrifying since Uni was helpless in the situation, being strapped to the bed and tortured by the act of tickling. The most terrifying dream she ever had, honestly, she would rather be in the presence of a mean ferocious Fenrir then the blonde bimbo monster.
Narrowing her eyes, Uni's sneaking suspicion was directed towards the peaceful slumbering CPU, and the wiggling of her toes to confirm said suspicion, gave detective Uni a clear-cut answer. No doubt the culprit of the nightmarish scene was Vert.
The lastation candidate puffed her cheeks up, "Y-you you think you can mess with my feet when I sleep!? Well, I'll show you! I-I will have my retribution!" the candidate yelled as she furiously pokes Vert's cheek, stretching and contorting her face to various degrees.
"How do you like it if I mess with your face!? Huh?!" A blush crept on Uni at the uncomfortable reality of a stranger like Vert playing with her feet, the candidate could only wonder what other things this CPU did to her. Knowing Vert's creepy factor for little sisters did little to ease her mind as she increased her attack on the goddess.
Unfortunately, due to her already low stamina, Uni had to cease her rampaging mess against the goddess. Breathing heavily and her arms cramping up by being in the air for too long, how was she this tired? The candidate figure she needed to get out of this bed soon. Still, she ignored the pain and survey the damage and smiled to see Verts face all red from the marks she inflicted, however, a smirk formed on the blonde's face just like the monster in her dreams.
A vein appeared on her forehead, eyes twitching at her failed attempt of causing any sort of reaction, no embarrassing face, no weird Vert noises, only a smirk. "She's mocking me…" She glanced at the blonde's massive chest, an idea pop in her head as she formed her own devilish smile.
Ignoring her post exhaustion, she yelled a "HAH." and without hesitation, poked both gigantic melons on her chest as hard as she can in a quick session.
The blonde goddess released a loud moan with her own blush dusting her cheeks, well it was hard to say if she was blushing because her entire face was red, to begin with, thanks to Uni. However, it didn't stop the candidate from feeling a sense of victory before realizing what she had done. The candidate had awakened the beast and a busty one at that.
A loud, tired moan filled the room as Vert lazily sat up. In an attempt to stay awake she rubbed her face and immediately felt the burning hot sting of pain, "O-ouch why does it feel like my beautiful face was attacked in my sleep by an angry little lastation candidate?" She whispered, blinking several times to get her bearings, her tired blue droopy eyes landed on the candidate's flushed face.
Uni could swear she saw Vert's eyes narrowed at her with a hint of malice for only a second before changing back to its original droopy self. Shivers ran through her spine, scared at the possibility of another attack during her sleep. Those thoughts vanished when the CPU expressed a warm smile towards her which radiated of sincerity, Uni avoided her gaze and quickly force her hand away and scooted far back from the CPU, keeping her distance as she went under the covers.
A few seconds later, Uni's eyes popped out of the covers like a curious puppy, wary of the CPU's action. Her red eyes stared anywhere, but Verts own.
"I'm making great progress! She's at least isn't completely hiding from me now." Vert happily thought.
Vert stifled a cough, and in a well-mannered tone, she spoke, "Well, good morning to you little one."
The CPU's eyes widened in surprise when Uni responded with a question of her own. She had expected another round of ignoring from the small candidate but to get a response this early in the morning when she had just woken up no less, was a blessing.
"U-uh L-lady Vert why do you keep h-holding my hands? You did it twice whenever I w-woke up." She said in a shy manner, a light blush on her cheeks as the younger girl looked down. She wanted to get it off her chest but didn't have the courage earlier to do so.
The only replied she got from the CPU was a barrage of giggles, and then the giggles turned into a burst of full-blown laughter, further angering the candidate as she puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"W-what so funny?!"
Vert wiped the tears from her eyes as her laughter died down.
"I'm sorry Uni, I just found it a little funny that you would think I would hold your hand for no reason heh."
"W-well yeah, I thought you just had a-"
"Hand fetish?" Vert finished the sentence, Uni nodded from the answer. The CPU shook her head with a frown, "You think so low of me, dear."
Uni lowered her head in shame, quickly the green CPU responded, "Don't feel bad, Uni, I was only kidding." She put on a reassuring smile, "And the reason for it was because you were having nightmares, horrible ones at that. You were so into them that you subconsciously held your hand up towards me like you needed support, and I took the initiative and held it."
Uni twiddled her fingers, paying close attention. Vert raised a finger to her chin, "To my surprise it worked, you were finally at peace with a content expression that warmed my heart." Uni's blush intensified as she went to hide under her domain, within the covers, of course, the CPU wasn't clueless and knew the reasoning for as a smug grin appeared.
"Oh, the best part is when I tried moving my hand away buuut, your sleepy self was so inclined to want my hand back that you cried like a little toddler, and being a nice goddess, I am, I complied, and bam you calmed down. Sleeping like nothing ever happened. At that moment, I had no other options but to sit there and sleep throughout the entire night with our hands interwoven. The second night was the same deal, unfortunately. And that's the end of the story, any more questions?"
The goddess knew she was leaving out some essential parts, like when Uni muttered Nepgear and Noire's name during her sleep, but it was best if she kept it to herself for now.
After her story, Uni hadn't shown any interest of coming out of hiding, Vert speculate it had to do with the crying part, how right she was.
"That's so embarrassing! I can't believe I would do something like that in my sleep! Let alone with someone else in the room." A sigh escaped her lips, "I see…" she said while masking the hint of embarrassment in her voice.
The green goddess nodded, understanding the young candidate still isn't up to par with having a full-length conversation yet. The best thing she could do right now is to give her space. Vert stood and walked towards the exit.
"I'll prepare you some nice breakfast that would satisfy your hunger, so please do eat Uni." She said in a pleading tone as she exited out of the room.
Unknowing to her, the candidate wasn't paying attention, her focus was primarily on her thoughts about the holding hand situation.
Only 20 minutes after, the CPU came again to bring the candidate waffles top with blueberry compote and lemon ricotta cream. To her dismay, Uni was back in her blanket cocoon and showed no reaction to the breakfast.
"M-maybe she's a pancake girl…" another reason she held on too, Vert didn't want to believe the candidate hated her cooking, but it was getting difficult to find reasons to not dispel the belief. If it was indeed the truth, she couldn't risk starving the poor girl to death because of her pride as a chief.
Later, for lunch, Vert had made Beef and swiss wrap, full of healthy ingredients which should get Uni's mouthwatering at how delicious it smelled and looked. She held the plate with cross fingers in hopes Uni had at least eaten half of her breakfast.
Entering the room. Vert let out a defeated sigh, shoulders slump to see the waffles she had made left untouched. She swapped the cold breakfast with lunch, "I see you haven't touched your waffles…" The CPU stared at the lunch, "I g-guess you're a pancake person. Well, in any case, I hope you'll like this beef and swiss wrap I made." Uni's eyes widen.
"B-beef and swiss wrap… N-nepgear's favorite food…" a wave of emotion hit, tears slid down her face, a low whimper emitted from her voice, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried her hardest to contain the sadness within her domain.
Unknowing to Vert, the candidate's posture was changing dramatically. Without glancing at the candidate, she left the room in disappointment, her head hung low as she took a deep breath. This time the CPU planned to give up, it was apparent Uni wasn't into her cooking, and Vert definitely wouldn't want to force her to eat the food she doesn't like.
An idea pop in her mind, instead of cooking up anything worthwhile for dinner, she opted to go with junk food she had stashed in her other room. Only serving for her gaming needs in long, eventful nights on Goddess online.
Right in front of her bedroom door, she took a sharp breath and opened it quietly as she stepped inside, gasping when she found Uni out of her covers but curl into a fetal position. Vert tried to catch a glimpse at her face, but the room was still too dark even with the bright sunlight coming in from the window.
Her eyes were shut tight; however, Uni knew who it was and pleaded in her mind, "Take it way… Please take it away…" clenching her fists, her rapid breathing increase as did her heartbeat like if they were racing each other to the finish line and the prize is death by a heart attack.
The sounds of the kitchen utensils being replace elevated her worriedness, releasing a sigh of relief.
"Uni I-I apologize for my lackluster cooking skills. I know you believe it to be horrible and it may be the reason why you haven't eaten any of my food."
The candidate widened her eyes at Vert's wrongful assumptions, "W-what?! N-no your cooking looks fine! I-I just don't want to eat for other reasons." For whatever reason, her mouth was kept shut, not allowing her to speak out her thoughts.
"I don't want you to starve, so I went ahead and gathered some chips and water. For the healthy part, I left a granola bar as well. I know this isn't going to quench your hunger, but it's only for a little while before I can go out and purchase microwave food instead."
Uni slowly opened her eyes. She looked down at her hands, the guilt slowly ramming into her gut. Vert's cooking was fine, no it looked, smelled, and probably tastes amazing. The problem lied in her trust issues, Uni just isn't willing to give her trust to another person, not after feeling a great deal of pain when she was left abandon by the two people, she trusted the most, "I-I just can't Vert…"
Unfortunately, Vert didn't have the ability to hear other people's thoughts, taking the silence as a cue to leave. She walked towards the door, rubbing her shoulder in comfort, "Well, I'll leave you be. Please enjoy…" the pain in her voice didn't go unnoticed, it cut knee-deep within Uni's soul. The candidate squeezed her eyes shut, desperately wanting to yell at the blonde CPU to tell her it was a misunderstanding, yet no matter how hard she fought the fear, it won in the end. She heard the door shut softly; it was far too late now.
Uni opened her eyes, she drew in a long breath and exhaled, waiting for a few moments before breaking out of her fetal position and begrudgingly sat up. Her hand hovered against her chest, the pain of guilt still present. "Why am I such a coward!" She ran her hand through her hair in rage.
The broken girl glance at the doorway, wincing a second time when she heard Vert's voice repeated in her mind, "Well, I'll leave you be. Please enjoy…" listening to it again, she can distinctively hear the pure disappointment, something Uni rightfully understands.
She reached towards the mini table to grab the two bags of potato chips Vert had left. She opened them with no difficulty and took one chip out of the bag, staring at it with disgust.
"It doesn't smell as good as her cooking… M-maybe I should apologize…" her lip quiver. The remorse slowly sinking into her veins, "She's at least not like Noire." She said nothing but straight venom at her sister's name. Her fingers accidentally added to much force onto the chip, crushing it with little effort as the dust fell gracefully onto the bed.
Whatever guilt was left was consumed by her anger, eating away the remorse like Uni aggressively eating her chips, "N-no! I see what she's trying to do! She's just trying to get me to like her! When I do, then she'll turn me away and break my heart and leave me in the dust!" She said while munching on her food, "W-well I won't fall for that a third t-time." Her voice cracked; tears fell like a waterfall as she continued eating.
The candidate finished her so-called dinner and tried her hardest to sleep, but her brain wasn't following direction. Not able to slumber, she laid there and stared at the glowing window which wasn't glowing per se rather the light of the moon shined through the glass and hitting against Uni's face.
She couldn't see the beautiful moon from her distance and positioning, but she knew it was there. Unlike last time during her fall into the forest's depth, the trees had obscured the view, completely shadowing it in darkness. She had thought the moon had abandoned her in a time of need, alone and desolated in an area she wasn't familiar with. The young girl breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't the case, the moon never left her in the first place, it was here and comforted her with its moonlight.
"It's beautiful." She whispered in wonderment, as she continued looking at the marvel sight with a smile, suddenly the door to her room opened, and immediately she closed her eyes. It happened so fast she didn't get a glimpse at the person. Her ears perked up at the chair being moved and a soft calming whisper.
"She's not having a nightmare this time. Even so, its best if I can keep it that way throughout the night." The voice Uni recognized it to be none other than the Leanbox goddess herself. I mean she should've expected it to be since she hasn't heard or saw anyone else walking in the basilicom which the candidate thought how odd it was. Nonetheless, the Lastation girl pushed those thoughts away as her heart rate fastened, and a small blushed appeared when she felt the CPU hand intertwined with hers.
Uni was glad her blush was hidden well within the darkness, even with the moonlight shining on her face. The bedside caved in a little, presuming Vert was laying her head on the bed to sleep like last time.
Her heart was thumping like crazy at this interaction. Usually, she would be asleep when this happened but to be awake and her hands intertwined with someone other than the purple one was so weird…. She wasn't complaining though…. Uni waited just a few minutes to be safe before peaking to see the goddess was indeed asleep.
Seeing it as safe, she fully opened her eyes, tilting her head she saw the moonlight shining onto Verts face like she was a one true goddess. Honestly, she couldn't help but admired the scene, Vert was no doubt the prettiest out of the four Goddesses after seeing her in this position.
The beautiful slumber of the abyss hasn't overtaken Uni; instead, she tilted her head up and stared at the familiar ceiling just like she had during her first awakening in Leanbox. Out of nowhere, her mind went into a blanked state, processing not a single thought, nor daydreaming.
Outside her steady blank state, time was still flowing, minutes have gone by, even a couple hours have passed, and the candidate wasn't feeling the effects of sleep deprivation. Maybe she had fallen asleep with her eyes open? A plausible explanation.
What seemed like an eternity, the young girl finally moved but not willing, no, Uni was startled by the sudden movement to her side, causing her to jerk in motion. She quickly looked at the CPU with widen eyes, afraid she was already planning to wake up, a brief sigh of relief to find the CPU lightly snoring in her sleep like a sleeping puppy.
It was kinda cute, although she was curious as to why a smile adorned on Vert's face, "A sweet dream?" She glanced at their intertwined hands, "Maybe because she's holding my hand? N-no no that's dumb." She shook her head at the ridiculous notion.
A familiar pain of guilt returned as she continued to stare at Vert. Not once did the lastation girl apologize for how she acted. It's been several days, and she still hadn't said thank you to the CPU for saving her from the near-death experience.
Uni then realized how cold, distant, and just a terrible guess she was during her stay. She was only thinking about herself and her own problems and not recognizing the person who was supporting her stay the entire time. Vert…a goddess who should be more concerned about her country and work ethic continued to support the candidate by cooking her amazing meals and overall trying her best to make her feel at home. The CPU was more concerned about her wellbeing than even Uni was.
Why? Why is she doing all this just for her sake? What's the reasoning? What was she planning?
These questions burrow into her mind, she so desperately wanted to know the answers. And the only way to get them is from asking the source itself.
"It's now or never." She whispered to herself, gulping as she shakily reached towards Vert's arm. Placing her palm on the older girl's shoulder, she shook it.
Her eyes immediately looked down as she bit her lip in anticipation. She tried her best to resist the urge to hide under the covers as Vert slowly rose from her slumber.
The CPU emitted a long yawn, rubbing her tired eyes which widen when it landed on Uni's awakened form.
"O-oh Uni! U-um is something the matter?" She asked, surprised at this odd circumstance. This was a turn of events; indeed, for the shy candidate to have the courage to wake her up was significant.
Vert waited patiently for Uni's response, she knew the young girl was gathering the courage, as evident with how she avoided eye contact. Minutes pass, however, and Vert was growing a little anxious at what the Lastation candidate was going to say.
"Um, Uni? Ar-"
"Why?"
Vert was taken back by the simple question, blinking several times to regain her bearing, "P-pardon?"
Uni pulled her intertwined hand away which the CPU had entirely forgotten about. "Why do you keep trying to be nice to me? A-after everything I've done to you." Her red eyes finally made contact with her own blue, "Is this all part of your plan?"
Vert frowned, knowing full well what the candidate was getting at. "And what is my plan if you mind me asking?"
"T-to try to steal me away from Noire! A-anyone else would've thrown me out by now! Even when I was rude to you and said those horrible things, and ignoring you all this time you still try to comfort me…" her eyes shimmered with tears, "Y-you even held my hand throughout the night to calm the nightmares of my past… I-I just don't understand the trouble you put yourself. T-the only thing I can think of is that you're only deceiving me just you can be my big sister…"
Uni attempted to wipe away the tears, staring intently at Vert. She was surprised to find the CPU smiling but not an evil smile she was hoping to see. It was a sympathetic smile, and this time, it was Vert who looked away.
"If I had to be honest, yes that was my original goal after I saved you…" Uni eyes widen, but Vert quickly spoke, "But after what you said to me on the first day was what changed my outlook. I completely ignored your feelings, the whole situation you were in and only thought of making you, my sister…"
Uni listened carefully; her breathing slowed as Vert proceeded.
"I see now that it was wrong of me to do and I fully apologies Uni." She stared back into Uni's red eyes with pure, honest sincerity, so much, so the candidate had hair strands standing up on the back of her neck.
"I see how heartbroken you are in the inside, your nightmares, and the way you act now is the proof of that. I'm certainly not going to sit here and watch you rot. That's why my goal isn't to become Noire's replacement… no. My goal is to form a new friendship with you. That way, I can relieve the pain you've experienced and free your soul from its shackles so you can shine bright, brighter than any star in the night sky. That's my only reason." Her voice was sincere and no hint of lies.
Uni's heart skipped a beat, a small blush on her cheeks as she stared away. She didn't know what to say. I mean, what can she say in this situation? The guilt crashing down hard. She felt like a total dummy for believing Vert was only after her for malicious reasons.
"Ram would call me a dummy right about now." She thought a realization hit her "Ram… Rom and Kei… I almost forgot about them." She mentally slapped herself, pinching the bridge of her nose, Vert tilted her head with a frowned confused by the sudden action.
How can she forget about the twins and the oracle that has always been there for her! They were her last real friends… The twins even sided with her during her breakup with Nepgear. Calling Nepgear big meanie pants did put a smile on her face during the hardest moments of her life, and that's not to mention Kei who was like a guardian to herself.
Kei may be a hard person to speak too, but the oracle will always have her back in the hardest of times. Uni's rational thinking was reforming, "I can't believe I was going to kill myself by starvation because I didn't trust Vert! What was I thinking!" Uni covered her face. Vert clapped her hands together with a smile, slightly amused by Uni's actions.
"She was only trying to get close to me, and then my big dummy self had to push her away… I'm no different than Noire." Her hands fell by her side, "M-maybe it wouldn't be so bad trusting another person…"
Uni, although hesitant, made eye contact with Vert. The candidate was shaking like a schoolgirl asking out her crush, a top of her flushed face, Vert had to focus all of her inner power to stop herself from screaming at how adorable Uni looked several times, "L-lady V-vert I-I'm sorry for doubting you. I was a dunce this entire time believing you poisoned the food to make me your little s-sister or something." The shyness in her voice came back, Vert seriously wanted to squeal out loud, she can't handle it!
"Oh, I see, you really think that low of me?" She said jokingly, scratching her head with her eyes closed.
"S-sorry Lady Vert."
The CPU shook her head and smile, "Oh Uni, I was only kidding. And there's no need to be formal, just call me Vert."
"R-right um I know it's the morning time now b-but i-"She was cut off by a roar coming from her stomach, Uni immediately hugged her own belly. Vert giggled at Uni's embarrassing smile.
"Y-yeah what he said."
Vert stood up, "Don't worry, I'll make sure your little monster tummy received its fair share of food. I'm sure it's quite hungry for hm pancakes? Or waffles? You didn't eat the waffles from before, so I wasn't sure if you preferred pancakes or just simply hated my cooking, but now I know it wasn't either."
"Y-yeah sorry about that. I like both, but u-uh actually I wanted to eat some spaghetti if you don't mind." Uni twiddled her fingers in such an adorable fashion, "I know its morning and all."
"Spaghetti? Is there a particular reason you crave it in the morning? Or is it your favorite food?"
"You hit the nail on the coffin, it's my favorite. But that's if y-you want to make it, I don't want to force you. Geez, it feels like I'm asking so much…" Uni scratched her head.
"Nonsense! I love the delicacy of spaghetti, and I'll be happy to make you something you enjoy!" Vert clasped her hands together, her tiredness disappearing as she walked towards the door, "I'll make sure to use my most famous recipe that will surely make your hunger go away!"
Uni hovered her hand over her mouth and giggled silently at the older CPUs enthusiasm for cooking. Vert left the room and onward towards the kitchen with a new goal in mind.
With Vert gone the candidate decided it's time to finally get out of this darn bed. She grumbled, knowing this will be torturous for her legs. First thing first, she tried with her might to scoot over at the end of the bed, sitting on the bedside as her legs dangled in the air.
She was breathing a bit; the entire action was easier said than done since she had to use her full arm strength to pull her weak body. This took a considerable amount of power.
"Ugh I've been stuck on this bed for too long it now feels like my legs are dead." She planted her feet on the ground and slowly stood up to feel her legs wobble against her weight.
It took a couple of failed attempts, relying on the bed for support before being able to stand without its aid. She started walking, each step caused her legs to wobble even more.
"I went from a goddess candidate who can kill monsters with ease to an old man who needs a walker, great Uni." She released a massive sigh, slowly but surely, she walked towards the small table, putting away the small figurines onto the bed and pulled the table into a more spacious area. She was glad the smooth carpet made it easy to drag it or else she no doubt would've fallen from her weak legs.
The same story with the chair, needing a new chair for herself she pulled the one used for Vert's gaming. Before she did, however, she supported herself on the table to gather energy, accidentally her hands had moved the mouse, causing the pc to be turned on from its slumber.
Uni wasn't sure if she should be snooping around Vert's computer, but she was far too curious not too. The low hum of the fans as the triple monitors lit up, Uni squinted at the brightness before adjusting to it.
"Huh no password, she must really trust the basilicom members here." Uni moved the mouse and clicked Verts account to exit the lock screen. As it went to the home screen, immediately the goddess candidate was bombarded with notifications of goddess online, all requests for BustychampXx to join... Uni covered her mouth and laughed at Vert's ridiculous name.
After calming down, she looked further into the notifications, and they were all sent from either her guild or friends. All messages and invites dates spanning since the day she arrived here. All left untouched.
It warmed Uni's heart a considerable degree. The one thing she knew about Vert was her sacred love for the game, recalling the many times the CPU would always mention Goddess online during the ASIC situation, always complaining that she needed to get back on the grind. Something along those lines.
And yet she didn't play a single game since Uni was here. "W-wow she really does care…" she said with a happy tone and a small smile. Figuring there was nothing else to do, she put the pc back to sleep mode and with a new surge of energy, she pulled the chair towards the table and finally sat on it.
Right on time, Vert came through the door with two plates of spaghetti and two water bottles on each armpit. Eyes widening when she saw Uni out of bed and sitting comfortably at the table.
"Do my eyes deceive me!? You're actually out of bed! And you've even set up the table all on your own!" she said radiant with enthusiasm for Uni's small recovery.
"W-well yeah, I'm a big girl I can still do basic things heh." Vert lightly laughed at Uni's first act of comedy and to herself, nonetheless. Uni was still avoiding eye contact, but she was slowly making progress.
Thinking none of it, the goddess placed the food and bottles down and sat in her chair. Uni eyed at the spaghetti in front of her, she couldn't help but drool a tiny bit, as her stomach growled for the sacred food. The candidate couldn't recount a time in life when she wanted to eat more severely than this moment.
"Well go on, I promise I didn't add my secret little sister converter potion in the ingredients." She smirked.
"H-hmph, I'll trust you this time Vert." her cheeks puffed up as she lifted the fork with a serving of hot, spaghetti noodles and nonchalantly put it in her mouth.
She chewed and chewed, as Vert was on the edge of her seat, awaiting her answer. However, the goddess then noticed tears sliding down her cheeks.
"Oh, dear, does it taste bad?!"
Vert's heart reached tenfold of pureness when Uni finally looked into her own eyes before closing them and smiled a real genuine smile, the warmest smile, she had ever seen express from the girl. Her smile was so pure it could melt the coldest regions.
Honestly, she couldn't tell if this was a dream or not. The girl from two days ago had the coldest, depressing facial features, utterly different than the young candidate she's looking at right now.
"It's the best spaghetti I've ever had. T-thank you Vert," she said in warmth. Vert tried her hardest from jumping over the table and tackling the young candidate with a hug… Maybe later, she will. But for now, she just wanted to enjoy her time with the Uni.
She giggled at the candidate, who stuffed her face into the spaghetti in an unladylike manner.
"I sense an amazing future for the two of us."
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A/N: Holy moly this is the longest chapter ive ever written lol definitely not doing it again. I only did it since ive been gone for a long while so i decided to give my readers a gift. Writing this long aint my type of thing but im glad that i was able to finish it. Since its summer and ive graduated from school i can try to update much faster. Ill be mostly busy writing my original story but ill definity update this story as well as creating more in the future. Right now im thinking of a naruto/ HeartCatch Pretty cure crossover or a Hyperdimension one involving my favorite Villian Pain hehe im excited for either one. Anyways i hope you peeps enjoyed this massive chapter! ill see ya'll laterrrrr!