Chapter 2 - Falling from the Sky, yo!

After his little 'episode' in the bathroom, Nico made sure to clean himself up so that none of the vomit that lingered in his mouth was visible. He made sure to take a few breath mints as well, wiping down his face, neck and the tops of his clothes. This one was worse than normal, considering how much human food he had stored inside of him, but it wasn't anything that Nico couldn't handle. He couldn't let anyone figure out his secret, at least nobody that he couldn't trust. Compa especially couldn't know this, because she would ask questions that he didn't have the answers to. It hurt, having to keep this a secret from her, but it was necessary.

For this secret depth demanded the utmost discretion.

Soon he returned downstairs where Compa was washing the dishes. He smiled at her as he approached from the entrance, "hey there, need any help with that?" he offered, gesturing to the dishes beside her. It didn't look too big, the pile anyway, but she did cook the meal herself, so it was common courtesy to offer to help with the dishes.

Compa turned to look at him, smiling before shaking her head, "No need, I can do this by myself. It's kinda fun actually, gives me time to clear my head after a stressful day." She told him while cleaning the plate she had used with a cloth that was white with a pink border and had a love heart pattern a lot like her stockings.

At that, Nico could relate. He too found it relaxing to do menial chores like dishes or vacuuming to clear his head. Shame he never got around to them often considering his profession. It usually involved him facing tough opponents on the front lines, leaving little time for him to wind down. Fortunately, he had the option of hunting in some of the weaker Dungeons to vent whatever stress he had, or things REALLY would have gotten ugly.

Seeing that there was no changing the girl's mind, Nico relented to her will. It was her house after all, so it was her rules. As the saying goes, 'When in Lowee, do as the Loweans do.' He wondered if that was a reference to something, but dismissed it with a nonchalant shrug. "All alright then. Is there anything you would like for me to do? It wouldn't feel right if I just lazed about while you do all the work." He asked her.

Pausing her current activity, Compa looked up while placing a finger on her chin, becoming immersed in thought. "hmmmm… well, most chores have already been taken care of, and it's getting pretty late, so… oh! I know!" an idea sparked in her mind. If he was crazy, Nico would have sworn that he had seen a light bulb switch on above her head. Turning her head to face him again, Compa showed him her excited face, which consisted of her being starry-eyed while grinning widely. "Stargazing! We can stargaze like we did when we were kids!"

As he heard those words, Nico's eyes widened when he remembered those times. 'Oh yeah!' he thought, fisting his open palm as he had just realised something major. 'We used to gaze at the stars a lot when we were little after a particularly stressful day of school, bullies and nagging parents…' he chuckled mentally at the address he had used there. That was how many kids viewed their parents whenever they tried to tell them what to do. "Sure, I guess that's good. Where should we star gaze? On the roof?" he asked her.

The cream-haired girl nodded quickly. "Hmmm! That'd be perfect, Ni-Ni! The roof is the best place to star gaze, and it just so happens to be a clear night tonight. It's the perfect scenario for some star gazing!" she proclaimed. With that confirmed between them, Compa suddenly turned back to the dishes and began washing them with a new intensity that wasn't there before. Nico swore that flames were dancing in her eyes as she did them. 'Whoa! The girl must want to gaze at the stars if THIS is what hypes her up!' the male thought.

Once the dishes were done, the two retreated to Compa's bedroom, one of the places where they could get up onto the rooftop the quickest. The two teens didn't mind that they had just entered a girl's room since they had known each other for years now, so they were quite familiar with each other and trusted each other well enough with this lack of space between them. Nico had vaulted onto the rooftop from the window first, then helped Compa up onto it.

The two sat side by side, gazing upwards at the many twinkling stars in the night sky. They could also see the full moon as well, something one doesn't see every day in Gamindustri. "Ahhhh, they look so pretty…" Compa said with joy in her eyes. They were sparkling with awe at the beauty that the stars possessed.

Nico agreed with his childhood friend, the stars were beautiful tonight. They had done this together many times when they were children, but no matter how many times they did, it always had a certain kind of magic that Skills and spells used by Guild Agents, adventurers and the Lowee citizens, who specialise in that field, lack. Nico always found himself in awe of how big the world was, not just Gamindustri, but all the worlds out there. He knew that they couldn't be the only race in the world, it just didn't make sense otherwise. After all, the universe was said to be ever-expanding, right? So that meant there had to be other races out there, perhaps even alternate dimensions.

Something came over him that moment but left again at the next second, which confused him.

'Why do I feel like I'll be getting an up close and personal experience with something? Oh well.' The male thought before dismissing it. Perhaps it would be one of those things that the Author uses to refer to future stories that he may make in the future…

…

…

Wait, what?

Before he could think about that, Compa started a conversation again. "Hey, Ni-Ni?" she began, turning towards him with a look in her eye. Nico looked back at her, becoming confused at the way she was staring at him.

"What is it, Compa?"

"It's been a long time since we first met, and I know I asked you already, but you never answered me… why don't you give me a cute nickname?"

Now THAT was a question that Nico never expected to hear from that girl's mouth. His eyes widened in surprise when she asked it, and the male looked towards her with a gobsmacked expression on his face. "Wh-why do you ask this so suddenly? I mean, it's not like we need to refer to each other by cute nicknames, your name's only 2 syllables same as mine." He replied, embarrassment filling his voice at the thought of giving Compa a nickname like she did him.

"W-well…" looking down, the girl timidly poked her index fingers together, refusing to look up at him. "I call you Ni-Ni, but I always wanted to be referred to as a cute nickname, but you never do. I was just curious as to why?" she elaborated. It was true, no matter how many people she met and was nice to, nobody gave her a cute nickname. She hoped that would change one day, and couldn't wait till it came.

Normally, a guy in this situation would say something randomly to get this embarrassing subject dropped and move on regardless of how the female takes it, but Nico could see that this was very important to his childhood friend. He was surely embarrassed at the question, but his desire to see Compa smile was more powerful. "Hmmm… I guess it's because it's hard to think of one with your name… I mean, Compa is so easy to pronounce that it's essentially a nickname alone. I could go with Com or Compy, but they seem lazy to me." He explained, his thumb scratching the side of his jaw while he refused to look at her gaze.

"Muuuu! I wanna have a cute nickname…"

Turning his head back to her when she said that, Nico was greeted by the sight of a Compa with slumped shoulders, her head hanging low with a depressed aura around her. Now THIS made him feel even sicker to his stomach than eating human food, seeing how sad his childhood friend was. It infuriated him that the world could make such a sweet girl feel sad about herself like that.

'Well, not if I have something to say about it!'

"Compa, look at me." He spoke sternly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. This was something Nico couldn't allow to continue for a second, not just because she was someone important to him, not just because this was their first face-to-face meeting in 4 years, but also because he hated seeing girls sad like this. Nico may have lost his parents potentially, but they did instil something in him that most guys in Gamindustri today lack: respect for the female gender. Perhaps it was also because of her grandfather being a good man who respected women and treated them fairly, due to being from an era much different than their own, but Nico always felt that he had to treat women with the utmost care and respect, especially those who were insecure about themselves. It ground his gears to think that girls who could be super beautiful have such shyness about their appearances. And then some felt they had no way out and…

It was obvious that Compa was startled by his sudden action, judging by the "eh?!" and the rapidly blinking eyelashes he saw. When she looked up at him, her eyes were full of shock and confusion. She had been so depressed that his actions had completely thrown her off guard, "N-Ni-Ni?" she stuttered as a red-hot blush formed on her cheeks. 'wh-wha?! What is- I can feel his chest with my hands…!' she thought as her hands had landed on his chest area. Nico, while not a massive bodybuilder, had a solid build of his own honed through a history of combat. It was enough to make any girl find him attractive enough to do… lewd things too.

"Nicknames may be something of importance, but there's something even more so," Nico told her, not caring about her question. She needed to hear this and she needed it now, at least in his mind anyway. Nico hoped that he wasn't being too arrogant like some of the assholes he knew were in the Guild. "The memories you make with friends can be the most important thing of all when it comes to making bonds. Nicknames can be important, but memories are more so. Even if you don't get a nickname, at least you'll be able to remember the faces of those you're close to."

At the end of Nico's speech, Compa's eyes widened with shock and disbelief… until seconds later when she began feeling touched that he would say such sweet things to cheer her up. The cream-haired girl's eyes glistened for a moment as they filled with tears, tears that made Nico fear that he had said something wrong. He just meant to cheer her up, not make her feel worse!

Luckily for him, that was not the case as Compa quickly embraced him with her face dug deep into his chest. "You know exactly what to say to cheer me up, Ni-Ni, just like when we were kids…" she muttered. Nico's senses picked up the smell of something wet, and he quickly realised that they were in fact, tears. The male's arms wrapped around her, gently hugging her back with one hand on her back, drawing circles on it while the other was on the back of her head. "I try…"

"and you succeed…"

The two just stayed like that, loving the tender moment that they were having together. Nico mentally congratulated himself on cheering his friend up, it felt like a huge weight off his shoulders now that he had done his task right. Meanwhile, Compa had felt warmth sprinting like an Olympic runner through her body at the kindness that her friend showed her. She was lucky to have met such a nice boy when she was little, as most boys tended to be mean and pick on her because of her timid personality. And even now, amongst all the perverts that roamed Gamindustri, Nico had not once fallen to their level which earned him more points than the female population. Though he likely didn't realise it considering how oblivious he was. 'The best ones always turn out to be the densest…' Compa recited her grandfather's words in her mind, knowing now that they held a lot of truth.

After a short while, they pulled apart, Compa wiping her eyes to get rid of her tears while Nico watched with a small smile. When she was done, the girl looked up at him with an amazing smile. "Thank you for that Ni-Ni." She thanked him, sure she was done with her tears this time. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you."

The male shook his head in denial of this claim. "Nah, not really." He replied, chuckling as he looked back up at the skies, the star's allure starting to tug at his mind as he finished his response to the cream-haired girl. "It's just that you are such an amazing girl, so amazing in fact that anyone who doesn't like you is as bad as all the murderers and rapists out there." He stated firmly, and he believed that with every fibre of his being. He'd punch anyone who'd talk smack about her for those reasons alone, not just because she was his friend.

"Ni-Ni…" Compa muttered with a beaming smile. She had been giving those a lot recently, she realised, and she didn't mind one bit. Just as she was about to comment again, something caught her attention. "Hm? What's that?" she muttered, catching Nico's attention.

He repeated his friend's question. "Huh? What's what Compa?" while tilting his head curiously. That was when his right Bracer began making a beeping noise, drawing his attention to it, alongside that of his childhood friend. "Now my Bracer's acting funny. Let's see…" he quickly began pressing a few keys on the Bracer, which soon displayed a holographic map above its screen for him to view. The map displayed Planeptune at first until He began zooming in with his index finger and thumb.

Compa watched with bated breath. "Wowee… that's some neat gear you've got, Ni-Ni." She complimented with awe. She really shouldn't be so surprised, considering his position in the guild. Nico was bound to get access to some top-grade technology. She knew of his codename DEATHSTROKE, one of their best Spec-Ops Agents to date, but still amazement filled her as she watched him get to work on whatever was triggering his Bracer.

Nico smirked at this as he adjusted the Map till the blue hologram displayed a specific Dungeon, one of the weaker ones called 'Virtua Forest', where there was a red dot deep inside with several red waves emitting from its centre. The male frowned at this, concern written over his features. "Hmmm, judging by what my Bracer is telling me there's a strange energy signature coming from Virtua forest. I can't pinpoint its exact signature, but I can get its exact coordinates." He explained to his friend.

"I see… then we should go investigate," Compa stated firmly, much to his surprise. Did he just hear that correctly? Did she just say she wanted to go with him? Nico wasn't sure that was a good idea this Dungeon may be weak compared to the ones he usually fought in, but monsters weren't as easy as one might think. Plus, there was one monster out there that he did NOT want to go anywhere near Compa, not even the most dangerous ones.

But when he saw his friend's face, he knew there was no stopping her. When Compa had, her mind set on something then she would do it no matter what the obstacle was. With a reluctant sigh, Nico relented towards her demands. "Alright, but you do have a weapon on you, right?" he asked her, only for the male to go bug-eyed, eyes becoming completely white, when he saw Compa pull out from her Inventory, a trait most Gamindustrimen and women possessed for some reason, a huge syringe that could be held in 2 hands. 'Oh gods, that's terrifying…'

"Yessie! I'm always ready to help those in need! Now let's go see what's up!"

With that, Compa went back inside, finding it much easier than getting outside, before heading for the door. Nico took a moment to regain himself before he quickly deactivated the Bracer's map display and vaulted inside to follow her.

Later, the two had walked outside the City and headed towards the Dungeon known as Virtua Forest. Nico constantly checked his Bracer's Holomap of Planeptune to see if there were any signs of monsters in their vicinity. Sometimes they would attack party members in the form of Random Encounters and most cases, they were underprepared leading to either heavy injuries or death. That wasn't going to happen to him, not on his watch, and even more importantly Compa was here too, which led to him being extra vigilant.

Fortunately, no monsters came to them this time.

When they were at the entrance to Virtua forest, Nico and Compa wondered which way they should go. This Dungeon was, despite being full of weaker monsters, quite large and thus had multiple routes. This was usually the case for a lot of forest Dungeons, plus some Cave ones and Mountain ones.

"Hm… looks like if we take THIS path." Nico began, pointing at an entrance to the Dungeon on the Holomap and then the same entrance to their right. The entrance looked like a large country path with a metal futuristic gate that monitored the number of people who entered and left the Dungeon. How the workers had constructed these gates without attracting the monster's attention he would never know. "Then we'll be able to swiftly get to the source of the energy signature."

Compa nodded in acknowledgement at this as she proceeded to walk into the Dungeon entrance, Syringe in hand. "Alright let's go, Ni-Ni. We got a mystery on our hands." She said, turning around and waving him to come over. 'Is she referring to something like a kid's show? Whatever…' Nico thought to himself before heading on over, walking deeper into the Dungeon with Compa at his side.

For some reason, Nico and Compa didn't get attacked by any monsters. Hell, none of them were even around right now, but the male looked up at the night sky and assumed that they were sleeping or something. Even monsters need to sleep, he should know, Nico had hunted some of the more dangerous monsters and killed them while they slept. Compa though, remained curious and didn't realise the reason for it.

Because of the lack of 'distractions' both teens made it to where the source of the signature was. It was a large crater which had replaced a large arisen dirt platform, much to their disbelief. "Damn, wonder how much it could cost to fill in a hole that size…" Nico muttered with dismayed eyes, not noticing how Compa blushed at the partial innuendo he had unknowingly said.

But then, they saw what lay within… and both sweat dropped. 'You've gotta be kidding me…'

If there was a time when someone would say that something like this would happen when he would reunite with his childhood friend, Nico would have called them a crazy psychopath and decapitated them. But seeing it in front of his very eyes made him rethink this. In the middle of the crater, something was sticking out of it at a slight diagonal angle like a spear, or a certain sword that made a King of a country. From the looks of it though, it wasn't a weapon at all, no it was …

A person.

'Okay, this is GOT to be one of the weirdest things of my life. Weirder than that time when that one monster lost the lower half of its body revealing white shorts with poker dots and short skinny legs.' Nico thought while sliding down the side of the crater and then jogging over to the person. Compa soon followed suit with a worried expression on her face, how typical of her. Considering her scary Syringe Nico was aware that she was a Nurse in Training, so it wasn't a surprise to see her worried for a stranger's wellbeing.

"Oh no, that person can't breathe! Help me, Ni-Ni! She'll die of suffocation if we don't do something!"

Compa quickly rushed on over with an urgency in her steps, finding herself at the back of the person, she grasped both legs and began to tug, but the person, apparently, it was a girl, was lodged tightly into the ground. To the point where Compa was having difficulty pulling her out.

Nico jogged over and placed his hands on her ankles, making note that the person was a skinny petite little thing as they both managed to successfully pull her out of the ground, falling flat on their asses in the process. 'Gah! Ouch, that smarts…' the male thought, cringing as he rubbed his backside, which slightly ached from the sudden collision. However, IT soon took care of it, and by IT he meant something else that was part of his 'condition'.

Before he could address anything though, Nico opened his eyes and was greeted by a sight that he did NOT see every day. There was a dirt-covered face before his own, eyes closed so he couldn't tell who it was, but something DID tell him that this person was the same one they just pulled out. Now that he got a closer look at the girl, Nico began to analyse her appearance and condition.

The girl had fair skin for starters, which was blemished by the amount of dirt on her, with sort of lilac-coloured hair that flared outwards, and messy bangs covering her face. She had a pair of D-pad Hairclips on top of her head, covered in dust from being in the dirt for so long. Her apparel consists of a choker around her neck with a light blue D-pad symbol on it and a short-sleeved mini hoodie with blue and purple lining around the sleeves and the hood. The hoodie is closed by a button emblem with a large N in the middle and has two strings that look like controller plugs. She wore light blue and white striped thigh-high stockings with frills at the tops and her shoes were purple and blue with an N on them.

Now, any normal guy would be singing that they had a cute girl land on top of them and push them into a… compromising position now that Nico noticed. However, the male's first thought popped into his head, and it WASN'T what one would expect, '… how have her D pad clips not been damaged by the impact?' he wondered, looking at her hairclips. Now that he was looking at them, aside from them being covered in dirt from the earth they looked relatively unharmed, which confused the hell out of him.

That was when things… got a bit heated.

The girl on top of him began to shuffle about, rubbing herself on him with her arms wrapped around his body, rooting him in place. Nico gasped as his eyes became white and his face turned scarlet red. 'Wha-wha-wha, what the hell is going on here?!' Nico screamed in his mind, struggling to break free but to no avail. Unlike what her petite appearance suggested this girl was still very strong, just like Compa was. His blushing intensified when he felt her grinding against his nether regions, and Nico struggled even more to contain both the urge to moan in pleasure at the sensation, as well as the animalistic urge to go and…

'NO! DO NOT LET THAT URGE OUT! YOU DON'T WANT TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR A PAIR OF DEATHS!'

Fortunately for the Spec-Ops Agent, it wasn't long before his friend regained her bearings too, getting to her feet before noticing what her friend had been put into. "e-eh?!" she exclaimed rushing over and pulling the unconscious girl off him, flipping her over her shoulder like a firefighter. "N-NI-NI, you didn't do anything to her, did you? You're supposed to go on dates first before any M-rated stuff happens." She asked him with worry… and a slight edge of jealousy, though Nico didn't notice as he was too busy trying to defend himself against Compa's accusations.

"N-N-No! She just fell on me, nothing happened at all I swear!" the male stuttered with an embarrassed look on his face. Nico couldn't believe that Compa thought something like that would have happened between someone who was freaking unconscious and him! Seriously while he knew some who would have jumped at the chance he at least had standards! And besides, it wasn't like he was attractive or anything. He usually got weird and creepy stares from them instead of affection!

The slight moaning of the girl brought their attention back to the task at hand: getting that girl to somewhere where she could rest and clean up. "W-we can worry about that later! Let's get her to your place Compa, by the time we get back most of the Hospitals will be closed for the day, so your house is the best option." He told the Nurse in Training who quickly nodded to forget what had just happened. After Nico managed to get onto his feet, the male quickly followed her as they left the area with the girl in tow.

Later, the two returned to Compa's house, Nico having forced himself not to think about what had just transpired with that girl in favour of keeping watch on his Holomap. It looked like luck was on their side yet again, considering how they didn't get attacked by any monsters yet again, something that Nico grew suspicious about. Then again, monster behaviour has been out of whack lately, so this could be another example of that.

They both entered her house and went upstairs into Compa's bedroom. Nico excused himself though as a gesture of respect for the two girls and their privacy. He moved down into the living room and sat on the sofa, taking the remote that lay on the Armrest and flicking on the TV. He watched the news reports on monster activity, as well as what was going on with the other Nations.

Apparently Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox were handling the monsters better than Planeptune thanks to their leaders, the four CPUs of Gamindustri, returning from the heavenly realm known as Celestia to the mortal world. However, there had been no sign of their CPU, Purple Heart, which worried the citizens greatly. The Basilicom, which was the place where the CPUs directly communicated with the people of the lands they oversaw, had been quick to try and persuade the citizens to remain hopeful, but the question remaining was: how long can they keep it up?

Nico frowned as he looked at the TV screen, switching it off with the remote. 'how far things have fallen…' he thought to himself, thinking about the situation brewing in Gamindustri. Unlike most of the world Nico didn't believe in any Goddess, never mind the CPU of the Nation he was born into. After fighting for so long, and witnessing what he had, Nico had come to one conclusion: you can't rely on the Goddesses for everything, to truly live in this world one had to fend for themselves when the Goddesses couldn't. they were merely four individuals, so they couldn't be part of everyone's lives. It was pathetic and arrogant to think otherwise.

That was what he had stuck to, and still, he had survived the toughest of battles that few other Agents of the Guild could on their own.

An hour or so later, Nico heard footsteps come down the stairs as Compa emerged into the living room through the entrance from the Hallway. "How is she?" the male asked as she sat next to him, having taken off her boots at the entrance to her house. He had done the same with his boots and coat, too. He referred to the unconscious girl above them, who was likely sleeping in Compa's room right now.

"Oh, she's alright now. Nurse Compa cleaned her up and put her to bed. She should be resting now." Compa explained to him, snuggling up to him. If anyone were to look at them they would think that they were an old married couple, and the two-mentioned people would vehemently deny it with massive blushes. They had just known each other for so long that they were cosy with each other and showed each other affection.

The male nodded at that, smiling to himself. "Good, hopefully, she will wake up soon enough that she'll tell us why the hell she was there." He mused, getting a giggle from the cream-haired girl.

Looking up with her eyes, a theory popped into her mind. "I saw her when she was falling from the skies, so maybe that has something to do with anything?" she asked him, to which Nico began mauling it over in his head. That did seem like something of note, no normal person would just come falling from the skies. And they say that the other CPUs returned from Celestia, so could it be merely a coincidence? Nico wasn't sure, so he decided not to think about it.

Fatigue soon assaulted and won over his resistance in a short bout for dominance. Slowly, his eyelids closed, and the male fell asleep, with Compa soon following suit. The sweet sound of oblivion came to them both, with silence being there to usher them towards it.

The next morning, Nico awoke from his slumber, momentarily forgetting where he was until he remembered, before heading out to go to do his usual Quests. Nico hadn't wished to leave Compa alone like that, but he had work to do, so he left a note for her telling her where he was and that he would be back. However, he never said when because being who he was meant that things could spiral downhill all too quickly.

Fortunately, that didn't happen as throughout the entire morning all he had to do were fetch quests. He located the correct items via his Holomap, found and sometimes fought monsters that dropped them when defeated, and he was good. In the afternoon, Nico only had a couple of hunting quests, which were also easy to do considering their low levels and his skills. Though, Nico was slightly saddened to not see IF at all today, she must have been on a long-term quest or perhaps she had moved on to a new Landmass. Likely Leanbox or Lowee as Lactation seemed to have a problem with its economics. All in all, it was an easy day today which didn't happen often.

Which left him time to go back to Compa's house.

Upon his return, Nico found himself surprised when he didn't see Compa in the living room or the kitchen. 'huh? Where could she be? I saw her boots at the front there, so where… Wait, I hear noises above me…' Nico looked up and heard noises coming from Compa's room. The only one in there was that girl, so… 'Okay, let's see what's up.' He thought before heading upstairs.

Soon, the teenage Guild member had gotten to the door to Compa's room. The sounds had gotten progressively louder the closer he had gotten to them, which confirmed that they were coming from his friend's room. When he was close enough to the door, Nico placed his ear on the door and listened in:

"Urrgh! H-Hold on! Can you make it a bit looser? It's getting tight-!"

"You don't want it too loose or you'll trip. Just be patient now."

STRETCH!

"Ugh! I can't breathe… my back! Ahhhh-! Ah…"

"Nep-Nep? Are you okay? Please come back! Nep-Nep? NEP-NEP?!"

Okay, NOW Nico was concerned as he quickly barged into the room. "Compa, what happened?! I heard!" the male began, fearing that something really bad had happened like a murder. However, he was forced to do a spit take at what he was seeing, his face soon sporting a massive blush at the sight. Any normal man would be like 'Awwww yeah!' while singing the merry-go-round anthem, but Nico didn't. he could barely comprehend what was happening before him correctly without his brain short-circuiting.

Before his eyes, Nico saw both Compa and the girl they had just rescued. The latter was completely naked, save for a series of tightly wrapped bandages that barely covered her modesty. She had fallen onto the bed with her face a mix of blue and purple, looking like she was about to pass out from the lack of oxygen. Compa kneeled beside her, staring at him in shock like a deer caught in the headlights.

That shock soon faded, allowing her to speak, and not completely stutter-free, either. "N-Ni-Ni, what are you doing?!" she cried out in alarm. "this is a serious operation I'm doing here!" the male didn't answer her in favour of helping the poor purplette. he ran to the side of the bed, after grabbing some Scissors, and with a flurry of motion managed to cut some of the bandages that limited her breathing.

The girl took a large breath of air almost immediately, her eyes shooting wide open. "Air! How I missed you!" she bellowed dramatically. She did this while kneeling on one leg and raising her arms to the heavens like she was talking to the divine. Nico idly noted that they were a darker shade of lilac.

"There, now that that's done…" Nico began… before turning on his heels and hightailing it out there, closing the door behind him with an Audible THUD that made the girls jump at the volume. "Compa let the kid do the Bandages, or bondages in this case!" he bellowed while going downstairs. "I'll be downstairs when it's done, so Text me on my Phone."

"Got it! And they're Bandages, Ni-Ni!"

Moments later, Nico was texted, and the message told him he could come back up to the room again. Whatever THAT had been about, Nico didn't wanna have a repeat of it, he so hoped that wouldn't happen again, he had almost had a heart attack at how she had done all that. His mind just couldn't comprehend the fact that something as simple as Bandages had led to THAT kind of situation.

When he finally decided to gather his courage, Nico stood up and went upstairs, soon entering Compa's room. To his relief, the situation looked to be resolved as the girl had dressed herself properly and had bandages that weren't trying to squeeze her lungs out of her orifice. She was sitting with her legs crossed like an X on the bed with Compa standing not too far away, looking down in shame as memories of the same situation flashed through her mind.

"Th-that was close…! I was an inch away from entering… the light." She said, pausing a few times to take a breath while at the end a bit of drama could be detected from her tone of voice. She then looked at Nico, her eyes scanning over his form as she held her chin like an inspector.

It served the purpose of making Nico uncomfortable though, as he shuffled nervously at her gaze. "Uh… you need something? Is there something about me you don't like?" the teen questioned, trying not to wilt under her stare. The way she was looking at him sent his nerves onto the edge, something that he found discomforting for several reasons.

When it ended, the girl's expression became the exact opposite. She gained a grateful glint in her eyes as her face softened into a bright smile. "Thanks again buddy, ya know, for saving ma Nep hide there! I would have had a bad end if you didn't step in." she thanked him with a thumbs-up sign. She stuck her tongue out childishly while doing this, which made Nico smirk at her childishness.

"No problem, girl. I'd feel rather like crap if I let you die. Though Compa here did help heal you despite the... incident. Anyways, the name's Nico, Spec-Ops Agent. Nice to meet you." The male introduced himself with a bow.

This made an amused grin form on the girl's face as she hummed to herself, a hand on her chin as she processed this formal introduction. "hmm, a formal introduction to a character huh? Interesting, not very common in this Franchise. Alright, my name is Neptune. Nice to meet." She greeted me with a salute. While Nico was confused about what she meant by "character" and "Franchise" he nonetheless ignored it, figuring that it was part of her personality or something like that.

"Meh, anyways, I assume Compa's already into herself?" he asked, turning his head to face the Nurse in Training, who nodded happily, inwardly glad that they weren't commenting on what had just transpired anymore. "Alright then, let's get down to business. why were you-"

Before he could say any more, a loud groaning sound interrupted them, sounding like a bear's mating call. Nico's eyes shot open wide in surprise at this as he looked around for the source of the sound. 'Whoa! The hell?! Why do I hear bears this deep within Planeptune? I'm pretty sure they aren't kept as pets…' he thought, before his gaze narrowed down onto the now flustered looking Neptune who was rubbing the back of her head sheepishly and looking like a criminal guilty of a crime. "… that your stomach?"

"Hehehe, yeah, I'm kinda hungry, to be honest…" the girl replied, causing Nico to face fault. 'Seriously? That sound almost made my hair stand up on end.' He thought in amazement while Neptune turned to Compa who was looking thoughtfully at her. "Hey, um, Compa? You have anything I can eat?" she asked her pleadingly. Whatever had happened to her must have drained her quite a bit if her stomach had made its desire for food known like that.

Thinking hard about the question, Compa soon concluded what she needed to say as she went towards the door. "Food? Well, I don't have much, but how about some pudding?" she offered the purplette.

Said girl just tilted her head in confusion, it was like she had never heard of Pudding before, "Pudding? Um, what's a pudding?" she questioned, drawing surprised looks from the other two occupants of the room. They didn't expect this, well, that wasn't completely true, as Compa was unsuspecting while something was brewing in Nico's mind about the situation. But he didn't say anything about it just yet.

"How about you wait and see? I'm sure you'll like it."