The following day Uni, Noire, Nepgear and Neptune made their way to Kei’s office. As they walked everyone could hear Noire grumbling under her breath. “Seriously the nerve of some people. Trying to make my sister sign an exclusive contract. I ought to beat some sense into that girl!”
“Big sis… Kei didn’t try to force me to sign the contract.” Uni said.
“Of course she didn’t. She knew she’d get a beating from me! There’s more than one way to get out of a contract and it doesn’t always have to be legal.” Noire said, in the same tone as before.
“Whoa… Noire is scary.” Said Nepgear.
“Yeah, but can you blame her? I mean Kei tried to get you to sign a contract too, right?” Asked Neptune.
Nepgear shook her head. “No. She actually dropped the subject when I told her that I wouldn’t be able to sign.” Said Nepgear, folding her hands together in front of her.
“What?! But you’re so reliable!” Neptune said, before crossing her arms angrily in front of her chest. “Not trying to make my baby sister sign a contract despite being so reliable. There’s more than one way to get you an offer and not all of them are legal!” Neptune said, annoyed.
Nepgear sighed deeply. “Sis, do you even know why you’re mad?” Nepgear asked.
When the girls finally reached Kei’s building, Uni opened the door and waited for everyone else to go inside, but halted Nepgear before she could go inside. “Nepgear could you please help me settle my sister down?” Asked Uni.
“Yeah, but my sister might need to be settled down as well.” Said Nepgear. Both Nepgear and Uni looked into each others eyes before they sighed deeply.
“So you must be Kei.” Noire said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “My sister told me you wanted her to sign an exclusive contract.”
“Ah! So you must be Noire.” Kei began, getting to her feet and extending a hand to the raven black haired girl standing before her. “She’s told me a lot about you. I’m happy to meet you.”
“Uh… Thanks.” Noire said, feeling slightly disarmed. Noire shook Kei’s hand. “So about this contract. I’m sure you wouldn’t want me to read it, but-”
“Of course I would.” Kei said, pulling out the contract and handing it over to Noire. “I’ll also be glad to go over it with you and we can iron out any details you’re unhappy with.”
“Uh…” Noire began. “Um… Good!”
“I can tell, thanks to Uni, that you’re a good big sister. She refused to sign anything until she got your permission. I also had a feeling that you’d want to come down and look the contract over for yourself. That’s what a responsible guardian would do.” Said Kei, matter-of-factly. “While you’re reading that, why don’t I get everyone some tea.”
“Uh… Thanks?” Noire said. Noire took a seat as she started reading over the contract. Meanwhile Kei made her way to the back where she started making some tea. Before the tea finished however, she returned and introduced herself to Neptune.
“Yeah I heard about you! What’s the deal offering Uni a contract but not my beloved big sister! She’s reliable!” Neptune snapped.
“Oh no. I would love to offer both your sister and Uni the same contract, but she informed me that you were on a quest. Of course if she has your permission, I would love to have her work for me.” Said Kei.
“Really?” Neptune said, perking up. “I appreciate the offer, but Nep Jr. and I are on a quest.”
Nepgear sighed even deeper than before. “Oh big sis…”
Kei giggled. “I see.”
A silence fell over the five girls as Noire continued to read through the contract. When Noire finally reached the end of the contract she took a deep breath. “Alright. I read through this entire contract and it’s pretty good, but I saw a small problem I would like to discuss.”
“Of course.” Said Kei.
“First off I have to ask. How many other hunters have you signed up so far?” Asked Noire.
“As of right now. None. Uni would be the first.” Said Kei.
“I see. So if you asked her to collect a certain item from a monster, she would have to act on her own. Correct?” Noire asked.
“Yes.” Kei said, nodding her head several times.
“You already see the problem, right?” Asked Noire.
“I do.” Said Kei.
Uni looked from Kei to Noire. “What’s the problem?” She asked.
“Uni you’re strong, but that doesn’t mean you can hunt every monster by yourself. You need a way to refuse a job for safety sake.” Said Noire.
“That was an oversight on my part. I apologize.” Said Kei, bowing a little. “Please give me a few moments to create a new contract.”
“Thanks.” Said Noire. “But before that, I need to ask you something Uni.” Noire turned in her seat and looked up at her sister. “I agree this is a good deal and Kei does seem like a trustworthy person to work for, but I still have to ask. Do you want to work for Kei?”
Uni opened her mouth to say something, but quickly changed her mind. “I mean… I like doing quests with you… It’s just… Um…”
“It’s okay Uni.” Noire said, taking Uni’s right hand into her own. “If you want to work with Kei. I won’t get upset and of course I’ll help you out whenever you need it. If you don’t want to work for her, no one will force you. You know that.”
“I know.” Uni said, nodding her head. After a few moments of silence, Uni took a deep breath and said, “I want to work with Kei.”
“Excellent.” Kei said, happily.
“Alright. And of course I expect you to do an amazing job while working for her. No slacking off.” Said Noire.
“Right!” Said Uni.
“Wait a minute!” Neptune said, marching up to Kei’s desk. “What about Nepgear? I know she can’t sign a contract, but she’s still reliable!”
“Yes she is.” Said Kei. “And she’s more then welcome to work here without signing a contract.”
“Great!” Neptune said, before twirling around to face her sister. “No slacking off Nepgear.”
“Right.” Nepgear said, her cheeks were bright red now.
“I doubt Kei has to worry about Nepgear slacking off. Now if she were hiring you Neptune, then she might need to worry.” Said Noire.
“Exactly my… Hey!” Neptune snapped.
“Anyways. I’ll get a new contract written up in a few moments.” Said Kei, before turning her eyes to Uni. “Uni? Welcome aboard.”
Uni smiled brightly. “Thanks!”
***
After the contract was signed Kei requested that Uni and Nepgear return the following day to officially start working. Even though Nepgear wasn’t able to sign a contract, Kei promised to pay her a fair wage. “Thank you very much. Please look after both of our sisters.” Noire said, as she and Neptune bowed a little to Kei.
“My pleasure.” Said Kei.
When Noire stood fully erect she furrowed her brow. “I didn’t want to say this before, but you look familiar. Have we met before?”
Kei shook her head. “To be honest. I’m not really sure, but yes. You look familiar to me too.”
When the four girls finally returned home, Uni was left a bit surprised. “Noire? Aren’t we going to take on some quests today?” She asked.
“Not today.” Said Noire. “We’ve saved quite a bit in the bank. Besides I want you and Nepgear to go into work fully refreshed tomorrow.”
“Thanks big sis!” Said Uni.
“Yes. Thank you.” Said Nepgear.
“I also want you two to relax for the rest of the day as well. Neptune and I will take care of quests today.” Said Noire.
“Whaaat!?” Neptune cried. “I thought we were relaxing today! Now I have to do work? Boo!”
“Don’t worry Neptune. It won’t be that difficult.” Said Noire. “Besides. We need to prepare for our trip to the next Fairy Tower. We only need to activate two more, right?”
“That’s true, but still…” Neptune said, sighing deeply. “Noire’s a slave driver!”
Noire grabbed Neptune’s hand and led her back out of the house. “Come on Neptune.” Said Noire, dragging the girl out.
Once Uni and Nepgear were alone, the two girls were left staring at each other. “So… What should we do?” Uni asked.
“Uh… How about video games?” Nepgear offered.
“Sounds fun.” Said Uni.
***
Neptune was nearly doubled over. Her arms swung lifeless back and forth as she followed after Noire. “Noire… Time for a break!” The girl called out.
Noire sighed deeply. “Neptune. We are taking a break. I wanted to do something nice for our sisters so that’s why I told them we were going to take on quests today.” Said Noire, glancing over her shoulder at Neptune.
“Really?” Neptune said, suddenly straightening back out and perking up. Now Neptune was walking beside her friend. “What kind of surprise?” She asked.
“Well were going to buy some gifts for our sisters.” Said Noire, smiling happily. “Uni’s had her eye on this rifle part for some time now and I know about a video game she’s been wanting to. You need to pick out a few presents for your sister too. Presents she would enjoy.”
“Really? Wow!” Neptune said. “Here I thought you were a greedy miser, but I guess you’re pretty nice after all.” Said Neptune.
“Hey!” Noire said, annoyed. “I might be frugal sometimes, but that’s for our sake. Bills are high, but thanks to you and Nepgear we’ve been put over the top. So I want to celebrate with them.”
“In that case were going to need some food.” Said Neptune.
“Yeah, but these presents…” Noire began.
“Huh? I’m going to pay for Nepgear’s presents and the food. Don’t worry about that.” Said Neptune.
“Huh? Are you sure?” Said Noire.
“Of course I’m sure! I can even pay for Uni’s presents too!” Said Neptune.
“Hold up.” Noire said, placing a firm hand on Neptune’s shoulder. “Do you come from a rich family or something?”
Neptune giggled. “Nope! Purple Heart pays me every time I activate a new Fairy Tower. She’s never missed a payment.”
“Whoa… I wish Black Heart offered me that kind of deal.” Said Noire, before she shook her head. “Regardless let me take care of Uni, okay?”
“Alright.” Said Neptune, shrugging her shoulders.
“We also need to get some supplies for our trip to that fourth Fairy Tower. Like I said before, that tower is located in the middle of an abandoned city. Who knows what kinds of monsters are living there now.” Said Noire.
“Why was the city abandoned?” Asked Neptune.
“I’m not sure.” Noire admitted. “As far as I can remember, the city has always been abandoned, but I’m starting to realize that we can’t rely on our memories.”
“Tell me about it.” Said Neptune.
“Well enough talk. Let’s start shopping!” Said Noire.
***
When Neptune and Noire finally made it back home they had purchased several things. “I think we might have gone overboard.” Noire said, when she realized that she bought more than two gifts for her sister.
“No way. Our sisters are worth it! Right?” Said Neptune.
Noire nodded. “I guess so.” Said Noire, before a large smile appeared on her face. “Either way I know Uni’s going to love her gifts!”
“Same with my sister! She’s such a nerdy nerd when it comes to electronics, so I bought her stuff that I know she can use!” Said Neptune. After opening the door the two girls walked in. “Hey girls!” Neptune called out.
Nepgear and Uni were sitting on the couch playing a video game. “Welcome back-” Uni began, but stopped speaking when she noticed all the packages in her sisters arms. “What’s all this for?” She asked, getting to her feet.
“Well we decided to reward you girls with a few gifts!” Noire said. “Nepgear? We have stuff for you too so get over here!”
“R-Right!” Nepgear said.
Neptune and Noire felt incredibly excited as their sisters tore into their gifts. “Oh wow! I can’t believe it sis! Are you sure I can have this?” Uni asked.
“A brand new tool set! Thanks Neptune!” Nepgear said, brimming with joy.
Neptune giggled and scratched the back of her head. “You’re welcome girls!”
“That’s right!” Said Noire, placing her hands on her hips. “Enjoy your gifts!”
