Going Innawoods with Uni - CompaAnon

Camping with Uni
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Friday is a wonderful day, and this particular Friday is no exception.

You swipe through your phone and start to call two of the people you love most in the world.

“Uni?”

“Uncle! We’re going camping right?”

“Of course. You ready?”

“Duh! I was ready all week!”

“That’s what I like to hear, Compa told me to call her when I got the chance. See you soon.”

*click*

When calling your wife, the phone almost goes to voicemail, you hear a loud fumbling and a crash upon the phone being answered. After some whining and heavy breathing, your beloved’s voice rings out.

“Sorry, I’m super busy and just dropped everything I was carrying trying to answer you.”

“Are you coming with Uni and I tonight?”

Compa sniffles.

“I forgot! I got scheduled to cover someone’s shift this Saturday!”

As if Compa needed something else in her day to be messed up, it's on your shoulders to alleviate her concerns.

“Well, I’ll make sure to be back for breakfast on Sunday. If you’ve got a short weekend, we’ve got to make it count. Right sweetie?”

Your wife’s tone immediately switches to a lower, quiet tone.

“I’d like that a lot…”

She picks up immediately, getting far too excited to be holding the phone so close to her mouth.

“With lots of cuddling OK!? You should bring Uni over too! We can have lots of fun!”

“You just want to stuff her with food and tease her…”

“So what? Don’t forget it! I’ll have a super-duper breakfast ready for you and Uni when you get back!”

Compa’s cheer brings to a smile to your face. Among the dozens of reasons you two were inseparable, her attitude was one of them. Nothing can keep that little woman down long, especially with you to help her soar. Through the phone you can almost see her gleaming smile.

==============================================================================

Uni sports some woodland camouflage pants held by suspenders with a standard issue belt holding a canteen, a small pouch and a few magazines for her prized rifle. A small pack holds the diminutive lady’s sleeping bag and rations. A coat matching Uni’s pants is tied to the side of her pack.

A huge grin fills the girl’s face as you stop, jumping out to help her pack into the bed of the old truck.

“Where are we going?”

“I figure that Planeptune has the best places to camp, Nep is so lazy that the nature is mostly untouched.”

Uni looks a little smug and jumps up into the bench seat after putting a knee on the truck’s frame.

“Had a little trouble there shorty?”

“HEY! I’ll be big like Onee-chan someday!”

You start the engine, putting the old thing to work after putting it in gear. Lastation has pretty nice roads as long as you stay on the major ones.

“Awww, that sucks, I like you this way!”

“Then why’d you make fun of me old man!?”

Uni is pretty flustered, but the rosy blush under her eyes is worth it.

“Because I love you obviously, teasing cute little girls the job of a good uncle!”

“I’M NOT A LITTLE GIRL!”

You tousle her remarkably fluffy hair, she very visibly relaxes and leans into you a bit.

“You wouldn’t take the middle seat right next to me for no reason, would you?”

“I-I… Of course! Walking all the way around the truck would have been dumb!”

Uni does try to act like her sister Noire in every way, it's pretty cute when she breaks character.

The old truck moans as you pull to a stop, making a final few mechanical noises as it shuts off.

“Let’s get innawoods!”

“Finally!” Uni is practically leaping towards the forest.

The temperate early fall forests have a pleasant smell of wild fruit, leaves and what can only be described as the wind. The weathered FAL rests over your chest, impressing an old feeling on your soul. Uni keeps a brisk pace in front of you. Uni’s pack and rifle keeps a beat through a slight bouncing motion on her shoulders. You carry quite a bit more weight than your adopted daughter but manage to keep up, years of work has primed your body. Your own belt bears a few magazines, a canteen and a drop pouch.

Uni stops in her tracks.

You take a knee, she follows quickly, pulling her rifle from its resting place.

“See something?”

“Did you intentionally choose a place with monsters?”

“I told you Nep was lazy. I did want monsters though.”

Uni’s mouth slips into a slight grin.

“You’re the best! I mean- whatever! Let’s get these guys out of our way!”

You grab the FAL by the pistol grip, swinging it away from your chest. The sling goes taut as you adopt a firing stance and pull the charging handle, loading your old friend 7.62 NATO into the chamber.. Uni pulls the bolt on her rifle, chambering a round.

“Is that straight-pull?”

Uni’s eyes beam for a moment while she responds.

“Isn’t it so cool!? Ehm- Oh. Right, I’ll take the first shot.”

CRACK!

The first minion falls to Uni’s precise shot, your following thunderclaps bring down two. Uni calmly works the bolt with a professional slickness, following shots into two closing foes. A gremlin sized creature jumps from the bush at you, rapidly meeting a boot and your bayonet.

Ping!

“Oh hey! Uncle we got a rare drop out of that!”

“Huh, how many credits?”

“Uh, about 12,000, a decent start.”

You continue walking, this time side by side.

“So, you got a fancy straight-pull bolt action, anything else cool about it?”

Uni’s borderline obsession kicks in, she looks overly satisfied to explain.

“Well, I set it up so that I can use the iron sights with a scope attached, I chose a magnum 6.8mm cartridge for a great ballistic coefficient and moderate recoil. It uses 10 round magazines and has the optimal barrel length for the specific handloaded ammunition I make.”

“Of course, I would expect you to only accept the best, Nepgear was trying to make Compa cook you dinner more so you would stop skipping meals to spend more on guns.”

“Wha? Why? I- I would never spend all my allowance on guns…”

“Really?”

“Maybe. That doesn’t sound too bad though, Compa does make some really good food.”

“That doesn’t mean a growing girl like you can skip meals though. Be a bit more responsible and I might help you with your allowance.”

Uni’s excitement returns like a storm.

“SWEET! I promise I won’t spend all my allowance on guns!”

“Promise?” You look at her expectantly.

“I swear it! I Promise!”

Uni brings a smile to your face, she trusts you and there’s no one else around to make her hide her feelings. Even though you wish that Uni would show this gem of a personality around others, for now it’s fine that you’re one of the only people who gets to see this side of her.

You make your own path as you venture through the forest, Uni whistles a little tune for a moment as you go through the repetition of hiking. The trees seem to thin out a bit.

“Hey, I bet there’s a clearing up here. You wanna check it for monsters and set up camp?”

“Sure.”

==============================================================================

Having the weight off your back feels good, you sit with Uni for a bit, using your packs as a backstop. You brought a smaller tent than usual, there was no sense in carrying more weight if you didn’t have to. The synthetic flaps fluttered in the warm fall breeze. Uni is still on her toes, waiting expectantly with her rifle. There was no sense in keeping her still and you might as well go with her.

“Let’s head out while it’s bright, we can still get monsters with ease.”

“Yes!” Uni is on her feet immediately, you take a moment.

“Hey, shouldn’t you check your mag first?”

“Oh, dang, good call.”

Uni’s thin fingers pull the magazine from the nearly flush magwell, the indicator shows five rounds. You know that your mag needs a top-off as well.

After a series of banter and metallic clicking, you follow Uni in replacing your magazine and begin to walk.

The sun is just starting to get to a position where it will begin to shine in the glorious colors of sunset. The first fallen leaves of fall crunch under your boots as you venture into the wild.

“Wanna stop for a drink? Do some spotting?”

Uni nods silently, sitting with you against a tree.

You sit for a bit, the quiet of the afternoon is pleasing for your patrol.

“Uncle… I uh, I made this for you, well the both of us.”

The girl retrieves a small bag of cookies from her waist pouch after unburying it from a pile of loose ammunition, various useful bits and first aid supplies.

“It doesn’t seem right to have made an odd number, why five cookies?”

Uni blushes, she gulps before speaking.

“Well, I uh, thought we could break one in half… you know, share it for good luck.”

You trap the girl in a hug for a moment, soon backing away to accept her gift.

“You’re gonna steal some guy’s heart on accident Uni, this is super cute.”

“Hey! Don’t think I’ll do this for just anyone.”

Compa has a small figure, but Uni sets a new record for you. Uni’s tiny shoulders nearly fit under just your upper arm.

“Are you ready to head out? We can have the rest of your delicious cookies when we have dinner.”

“They- You thought my cookie was delicious?”

“Of course. Anything-”

Uni cuts you off while looking as proud as a lion and bearing a great smile.

“I’ll cook anytime for you, I know Compa keeps you well fed, but I wanna do stuff for you too!”
“Maybe we could go check out some gun or surplus stores instead, Compa would get pretty offended if she caught you making me dinner.”

You start walking again, scanning the trees while talking with Uni.

“Uncle, I didn’t want to get either of us in trouble.”

“It’s fine, Uni, Compa can be a bit clingy and weird sometimes but she loves both of us.”

Uni sighs and looks concerned for a moment.

“Compa’s giant needle scares me, and I’ve got no problem clearing any kind of monsters out.”

“Tell me about it, I’ve got a fear of needles.”

Uni looks shocked and stares at you for a bit but quickly returns her eyes to scanning.

“How on earth did you marry Compa then?”

“It took a while before she took that thing out, we didn’t go out on quests when we were dating. By the time I saw it, it was too late.”

Uni has accepted the situation a bit more.

“Well, nothing we can do about it, any things in particular you want to look for at the stores?”

It takes a moment to respond, you’re occupied in climbing a bizarrely steep bank of rock and dirt. After giving Uni a hand in mantling the obstacle you continue.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think I want to collect some more pistols, maybe find some old surplus holsters to match.”

Uni looks unsatisfied with your answer.

“Jeez, I expected a better goal from you of all people. I wanna get some more reloading materials and collect the uniforms of all the cool tiny armed forces of the world.”

“Sounds-”

This time, you freeze, taking a knee.

The bank slopes down to what looks like a long retired quarry. All sorts of monsters prowl the now loosely shadowed nooks of the rocks.
“I don’t know if we can take that many.”

Uni looks at you with her trademark mischievous grin.

“Well, let’s set up so we can.”

With only an hour and a half before you have to return to camp, you make use of your time wisely, cutting trees and positioning rocks to make a simple stockade. Sharpened sticks make up the front of your firing position, a few rocks covered with dirt make up your place in the entrenchment. The simple earthworks allow for superior weapon support for accurate rapid fire.

You wipe the sweat from your brow as the sun paints the sky with the crimson light of impending night.

“Ready to head back?”

“Yeah, I’m starving!”

==============================================================================

The crackle of a fire populates the adolescent night. A pot of stew sits over the flames, bubbling slowly. You and your tiny family member sit together, cleaning your rifles and lubricating them cautiously in preparation for tomorrow. As you slide the bolt carrier down the rails and move to replace the dust cover, Uni starts to speak after a long bout of silence.

“I hope I… nevermind.”

Uni looks ashamed.

“Hey, don’t be afraid, talk to me.”

Uni clutches her hands in her lap.

“I hope I find someone, someday. Someone like you. Compa is really lucky.”

“I never told you how we met, did I?”

“Is it funny?”

“It’s exactly what you would expect from Compa. I had just fallen into this world and was walking around in town in the middle of the day looking for some help or directions.”

You set the rifle down against your pack, also taking out a couple crackers for the stew.

“Alright.” says Uni as she slurps at the edge of her mug.

“I turned a corner, I was a bit close but someone was walking in the opposite direction carrying a giant pile of stuff; whoever it was couldn’t see in front of their self really. We were both right at the corner and BOOM, we were on the ground, laid out in a pile of random stuff. The lady was super sorry, I started to help her reorganize her stuff.”

“That sounds like Compa.” says Uni with a smile.

“Well it was, I got her name after I refused to let her carry all the stuff on her own. We had been chatting for a bit before we got where she was going. I asked if she knew any places that were hiring, I didn’t have a job. Compa didn’t bat an eye, she pointed me in the right direction. The moment she did that for me, I had to date her. It wasn’t just her kindness, we just had such a similar heart when we were talking. She took her lunch break and we went out for the first time. The rest is history.”

Uni looks a little antsy, she looks into her mug for a moment.

“That’s enough about me though, how have you been doing?”

Uni’s shoulders slack, her face takes a more somber look.

“I wanna do stuff with big sis, she’s so concerned with her work she can’t even take a break to play a game or watch anime with me.”

“Have you told her it upsets you?”

“Uh…”

“She can’t know that you miss her if you don’t tell her. Noire’s pretty hard headed about stuff like that.”

“I-I guess you’re right, maybe you know a trick or something to make this a bit easier?”

You smile.

“None. The only thing that will work is telling Noire to her face that you love her and want to have fun together.”

Uni looks deeply concerned, she buries her face in her sleeping bag.

“But… but… I can’t, big sis wouldn’t do that…”

“You’re not Noire. You’re Uni. Teach her what it’s like to have a little sister again.”

Uni barely peeks out of the fluffy sleeping bag. You lightly pinch her cheek the moment you see it.

“Be a pain, because Noire could use some harassing. Say it’s from me, just do it.”

“I… I guess… AND STOP pinching me!”

“Alright, so get over here and eat.”
==============================================================================

The stew is a hearty dish, with plenty of cubed beef, potatoes and various other vegetables. Uni lays on top of her sleeping bag and lightly taps her own behind with her heels while she eats. You ladle Uni an extra helping of the viscous ration and lay next to her after unrolling your own sleeping bag.

Through the open front of the tent, the night is unfolding. The moon rises as the stars begin to shine. The light from your fading fire flickers and dances along the surrounding treeline. A breeze starts to pick up as you wash out the dishes from dinner.

Sigh.

If only Compa was here, she would love this scene.

Upon returning the tent, Uni pours a little water over the fire and quickly slips back into her unzipped sleeping bag. You follow the girl in and close the tent behind you.

“Night.”

“Good Night.”

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You wake, the night is still alive. You can see your breath. Uni is shivering next to you, partially tucked under the edge of your sleeping bag. Her eyes peek open.

“Uni… you’re cold?”

“Ch-ch- gu- just a little.”

“Uni… let’s combine our bags. I’ll unfold my wool blanket.”

Uni’s little hands are icicles on yours. She gives a weak smile.

“I guess I know why Compa always wants to cuddle with you.”

“Yeah I guess, gimme your hands.”

Uni turns bright red as you clasp her tiny frozen hands in yours.

“Ehehehe, Achem. I mean, thanks for warming my hands, I’m fine I swear.”

“You can’t lie to me. Did I hear a girly giggle just then? Anyways, Compa was designed for cuddling, don’t doubt the powers of that magical sweater she wears.”

“Oh man… that does sound nice right now… Uck, I mean no way...”

Uni’s teeth stop chattering as you tuck the blanket under her slender frame, she peeks out of a fully body wrap at you with loving eyes. She inchworms towards you, laying her head on your chest.

“I- I figure I’d ask you, its not like- who am I kidding…”

Uni looks far more serious. The tsundere pretext quickly disappears.

“It sucks not having someone to love… To keep you warm in the cold... I don’t have anyone…”

“I thought you and Brave-”

Uni’s face turns down.

“Giant robots can’t keep a girl warm… plus we don’t get along very well.”

“Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened, that’s why we didn’t stay together. How is a three story tall robot supposed to take a lady out on dates?”

“I guess you’re right.

Your hand migrates to Uni’s head, you softly massage her head. Uni’s hair is much curlier than Compa’s, it's quite an effort to not get tangled up. Each calm stroke mesmerizes the girl, pulling her back to sleep. Your fingers finally stop above her ear. You lightly impress and plant a kiss on the top of her head.

“I’m sure things will turn out good in the end. Sleep tight Uni, we’ve got a lot to do in the morning.”

You try to pull away, but no matter how you try, it seems like Uni migrates towards you. The chilled girl seems to leech your heat with her cold toes and fingers. Eventually, you just give up escaping the girl’s grasp. You hear a satisfied sniffle, a short, sharp exhale from her nose as Uni relaxes and falls fully asleep again.

==============================================================================

Uni is still passed out at your side when you wake up. A nudge pulls the girl from her rest, slowly emerging from the covers. Uni retreats quickly when she feels the temperature, mornings in fall are quite crisp.

The MRE heaters can’t work quick enough in this weather, you and Uni sit by the meals, warming your hands on the bags. Unidentified meat chili for you and chicken pasta for Uni doesn’t nearly compare to the feast you had last night. However, hot food is hot food, and the MREs taste far better than they should. The old adage “Always add the salt and pepper packets” sets in as you get through the entree.

The early morning chill creeps into your soul. Uni doesn’t like coffee but you eat a final cookie with her after having some rations. Uni nibbles on a cracker, wearing her full camouflage outfit. You stand up and place her matching cap on her little head, snugly pulling the brim down.

“Hey!”

Uni scrambles to fix her hat and hair, quickly realizing your plot.

“You could have asked if you wanted a hug…” Uni whines.

Your arms tense around the small girl’s back pressing her chin into your shoulder.

“Really? I’ll make sure to do that in front of Noire, and everyone else then…”

“No No No! No way, I would never-”

You let go of the girl. She sees your smile and relaxes.

“Are you ready to operate?”

“Always!”

“That’s what I expected out of my Uni.”

==============================================================================

The leaves betray your motions, loudly crackling with each step. It must have tried to frost at some point last night. Uni’s adorable little hand sits in your woolen mitt as you hike to the infested quarry in the young morning.

“All right, all right… Jeez. You can stop holding my hand now Pops.”

“Pops, huh? I like that, just like my cute little daughter. You know, I’ll have to tell her next boyfriend how adorable you get when someone teases you. Maybe I’ll even tell you that head pats are your absolute favorite.”

Uni blushes hard enough that you can feel her hand warm up through your mitt.

“All you- All you do is bully me sometimes I swear…”

You squeeze her hand.

“We’re together and here for a battle. Let’s be the best family to ever clear out these monsters.”

Uni looks smug.

“I get first shot you know~ Plus, I’m gonna kill waaaay more of them than you.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

CRACK!

Like a race, you’re off. From your emplacement you lay into a crowd of minions, bringing more firepower to bear than Uni’s manual action is capable of.

After a series of mag changes, your count is racking up much quicker than the girl’s. It takes no effort to line the shots up when you’re in the zone like this. Every slam of that weathered wooden stock into your shoulder seems to follow a burst of pixels. As the horde thins out, Uni seems to gain an advantage, scanning and changing targets much more quickly than you can from an emplacement. In addition, you’ve cleared much of the mobs visible from your position and Uni was nabbing the same targets. With a mag in the gun and another on your belt, you slide down the gravel walls of the old quarry, taking up a position in a rock to push a few stripper clips onto your magazines.

When seeing Uni in combat, it makes you question why she’s so panicked in conversations with those she loves. The rapid, collected motions that the girl takes are all as professional as one can get. Such was life with a young lady, who knows how she would change as she grew into a woman under your watch. What mattered is that she would remember these days you spent, rummaging around the woods and shooting anything deemed a target. She would remember how you kept her warm, how you made sure that she was safe and comfortable… even if you didn’t.

Alas, you’re in combat and there is no time to be melancholic. With a fix of the bayonet and replacement of the magazines into their pouches, you continue down the landsliding surfaces of gravel and rock.

With flying rocks, brass and lead, you clear the path. The enemy that dares rush either meets a 7.62mm FMJ or the boot and bayonet. Thud, thud, the hot brass flies off from your rifle as you go through the motions of clearing. Every single pocket and recess in the great mounds of rock must be checked. The situation becomes less of a contest and more a typical system of bounding advances. Uni slips her day pack open, retrieving an FN P90.

“Hot damn! You didn’t tell me about THAT!?”

“Pffft, I TOLD you I had some cool new stuff~”

With a mere 3 magazines, the girl carries more ammunition than you have all together at this point. She pulls the charging handle and leaps over a boulder, precisely placing three shots per hostile in semi-automatic fire.

Uni tucks down, adopting a highly aggressive stance as you peek through a graveyard of rusted, archaic machinery. You hear Uni flick the fire selector into automatic. She has the right idea, you draw the old Hi-Power, in all of it’s lovingly used condition and let the FAL slip behind your back. Being in such cramped conditions with a full size rifle is asking for trouble.

Click, responds the thumb safety.

“Hot, have your back.”

Uni responds in sharp near shout.

“Half empty, taking point.”

The sand around here muffles footsteps, yours and the enemy’s alike. Checking each intersection in the haphazard piles of metal is not only confusing but terrifying. You have at most a few seconds if a hostile rushes you to respond.

You stop Uni before the maze turns into an utterly labyrinthian stack of container crates.

“That place is a death sentence, I’m more worried about a mistake moving than the enemy, and if we did get ambushed, I doubt we could safely fire.”

Uni’s mouth slips aside into a slight grimace, she doesn’t like the answer but knows that you’re correct.

“Let’s take a break, eh? I’m thirsty.”

Uni takes great care to not actually sit in the sand, complaining about how even with pants it gets in everything, and that if you make a stupid remark on that she’s going to hit you. Her arms fold over her chest in a frustrated hurry as the P90 goes slack on its’ sling and rests on her back.

“You’re the one with the mind in the gutter-”

Uni turns red and shouts at you while beating on your arm.

“STOP STOP STOP you big idiot!”

She’s huffing while standing next to you.

“You done?”

The girl angrily sits on a stack of old steel conveyor frames with stiffly folded arms..

“We’re gonna clear this place out still yeah, but you’re being a dork!”

“You are what you insul-”

Uni’s jaw grits slowly in the corner of your eye

“I think I’ve teased you enough today.”

Uni stands, arms still defiantly folded.

“Jeez, you can’t take anything seriously.”

“That’s not true, plus it’s much better to remain calm on the battlefield. Too much adrenaline makes you prone to flinch, shaky and inaccurate.”

You eat a snack with Uni, she warms up a bit after some weapon discussion. After a long draught of water, you take steps towards a ravaged segment of the quarry, still divided by halfway dug out partitions. The remaining earth turns everything into a giant series of rolling hills and bizarre valley like constructs. Traces of dilapidated machinery obscure smaller mobs from view.

Each step is a struggle through the soft gravel and sand of the hill you chose to use as a vantage point. You take a knee while scanning. Uni whines a bit while taking a breather. It’s difficult to make headway, you spend most of your time following the ridges of the hills. From the occasional vantage point you and Uni fight over a few lesser monster kills.
The hiking becomes less work but more nerve-wracking as you enter a rocky area, spending more time avoiding crushing Uni with unstable boulders than looking for hostiles. It takes a few hours but you make a full loop back to the earth embankment that you started at.

“Compa expects us back for breakfast tomorrow, let's get back to camp.”

“Alright, gimme a hand.”

You pull the girl over the edge of the quarry past the sod and root cliff that inhibits movement out of the quarry. Erosion will slowly ease out this old pit over time, especially as nature slowly regrows. Ah, your mind is wandering. Thinking of the possibilities is pleasant though, of possible reclamation or settlement, maybe even particularly cute families playing on formerly ruined earth.

Uni tugs at your sleeve until you oblige and follow her.

The woods is a different beast at night, the shadows dance from your headlamp, fleeing as children from an angry parent. You feel little hands grasp your arm.

“Scared of the dark Uni?”

“N-N-No way! Really though… I shouldn’t uh, uh have forgot my light...”

The wind sweeps leaves across the wandering trail as you trudge along, beloved adopted daughter in tow. You break the girl loose so you can pick a few smaller pieces of dead wood for a short fire. Seeing camp is always a soothing yet exciting feeling, like a home away from home. You sit cross legged with Uni while starting the newly born embers into a fire.

Uni deals some cards between you two, betting pebbles and ammunition on whatever games you can force to work with two people. Uni’s bad at bluffing because she starts to nervously teeter when she has a bad hand. You eventually turn in, taking a small bag of Uni’s ammunition.

“I’ll trade it back to you for more cookies~”

Uni turns red.

“I’m NOT baking you a ton of cookies! Onee-chan will get nosey and start trying to investigate!”

“Hey, I only said ‘more’ not a ‘ton’, that’s all you.”

“F-Fine.”

“I didn’t say they were delicious for no reason. Would you please, Uni?”

Uni turns her head away quickly before speaking.

“I-I guess, just don’t let a bunch of people know, th-they get the wrong idea about these things.”

You pat her head, depressing her airy hair under your firm touch. She looks back at you, smiling for a moment before trying to compose herself.

“Let’s eat, the foil dinners are done.”

==============================================================================

After trying to burn yourself several times, you fish out the foil wrapped vegetables and meat that make up your dinner. Uni pokes her upper body out of her sleeping bag to eat, looking quite pleased as she bites into a healthy chunk of a potato coated in meat and onion laced sauce.

She flops over, patting her belly.

“I’m full~ I can’t believe Compa is gonna make us eat tomorrow~”

“Well, I’m sure if you don’t eat, I’ll have to make up for it or just call some other poor souls to help.”

“Onee-chan warned me about Compa, she said you had to drive her home last time she had dinner with you two.”

“Nothing I can do about it, anyways, it’s always great food. I bet IF and your sis will be there too.”

Uni smiles as she looks into the clear night sky.

“Jeez, if onee-chan shows up, then Neptune will show up and it just goes from there…”

You smile, following Uni’s line of sight before responding.

“I doubt we would complain about a surprise banquet, besides Compa and I having to visit the store the next day.”

You sit together, watching the fire’s sparks try to meet the stars for a bit before retiring for the night. You don’t mind much when Uni wakes you up again, freezing. She stops shivering the instant you pull her into a hug so you suspect ulterior motives yet it doesn’t matter. Uni tucks into your shoulder and passes out.

Heh, so much for being a tough little girl.

The end.
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