Only Human (Goddess of Victory NIKKE SI)

[VH777Dragon]

this chapter had me laughing, glad to see this updated! And yeah, missed opportunity, hope Anderson tells Joe about what could've been. Thanks for the update! Also, I can almost feel the timer counting down for when Joe loses all self control. He's got a Large group of gorgeous women who want him emotionally and carnally... and he's running out of excuses...

Click to shrink...

Pretty sure that's part of the problem, didn't baka say this isn't a harem story , so it kinda looks like Joe is leading those girls on unintentionally by innocently flirting slash teasing which might be excused except these are nikke who tend to have some pretty shit prospects romantically for the straight women.

 

[BakaSmurf]

===
Chapter 97 - Clear the Air
===

The elevator stopped at the officer's quarters with little aplomb, which elicited a little 'oooh' from Emma, who stepped out with a small smile on her face. "Look Vesti, Rapi's living it up in the penthouse suites. No wonder we never see her in the Ark, she probably gets maid services and food delivery up here too." She turned to give Joe a sly little grin. "Have you been trying to seduce our little Rapi with kindness and generosity since she joined your team, Commander?"

While Vesti blushed with wide eyes at that inquisition, the man in question just kept his eyes locked forward as he took a deep breath-

"E-Emma!" Vesti started in a nervous tone, leaning forward with her hands curled up into little anxiety balls. "I-Ingrid told you to behave yourself and not be 'weird' with other teams!"

Emma shifted her attention to Vesti with a deeply amused expression on her face, smiling lovingly down at her diminutive squadmate. "Ingrid instructed me to keep my hands to myself, Vesti, and look!" She suddenly held her hands up, presented her palms to the pair with a wide, innocent smile. "I'm not touching the Commander at all!" She then… "No matter how enticing the fact that you can see his chest hair even though he's wearing a crew neck is." …Said while blatantly ogling Joe's collarbone, right before she started making grabby motions with her hands.

"E-Emma!" Vesti cried out in horror and mortified embarrassment, planting her face firmly in both of her hands, now trembling where she stood in her impressively tall thigh-high boots.

Joe took a very deep breath, closing his eyes as he did so. It was one thing to be faced with a woman that looked like Emma. It was another for a woman that looked like Emma to just say that she wanted to grope you. And here the man thought that she couldn't be anything like Rapunzel when she was activated… He prayed that the two titty monsters would never meet, if this was the way Emma would flagrantly behave with nary a hint of shame, entirely unprompted.

"Ingrid never said that I can't feast with my eyes, Vesti!" Emma outright chortled, god damn near sounding like a dirty old man trapped in a gorgeous young woman's body. "Mmm, and what a feast-"

"So Rapi's room is right over here this way!" Joe started out the elevator with a purpose, marching onward and pointedly not looking in the direction of a gorgeous blonde built like a fertility goddess that was stopping just short of invading his personal space while he was already suffering from the gaze and intentions of both Rapi and Cinderella as it was and now he was thinking about the fact that the only reason he hadn't gone to town on Rapi earlier was because of that concussion-

"Awww, look, the Commander's shy~!" Emma nearly sing-songed in a very husky tone. "Rapi must be having so much fun with you-"

"Rapi!" Joe cut the vivacious bombshell off, barging into his second's room with desperation. Get away from it get away from it get away from it get away from it-

Rapi's eyes snapped up to focus on the intruder, wide and shocked. She had been sitting on one of the packable Nikke-grade field stools they were supposed to bring out on operations, in front of an out-of-place mirror set atop one of the inexplicably fancy crates that their Tetra Line rations came in. Her hair was tied up in a long, trailing high ponytail that looked wonderful on her, and was being lightly brushed with exacting precision.

Not by Rapi herself, but by Cinderella, who too stopped to acknowledge Joe's sudden appearance with no small degree of surprise. "Prince?" She started, as she ever did. "Is something wrong-?"

Only for Emma and Vesti to slide into view behind the Commander and take in the sight with wide, even sparkling eyes. It was Emma that spoke up first. "What's this? Rapi! Who's your gorgeous friend?" She inquired as she stepped into the depressingly sparse room, given how Rapi furnished her quarters with the absolute bare minimum—hence the mention of glorified camping equipment.

"E-Emma?" Rapi looked more than a little bushwhacked, glancing past the comparatively towering blonde to spot Vesti quietly ambling in after her partner. "Vesti? What're-"

Attention was stolen, however, by Cinderella—who started preening intensely at Emma's passing compliment, even as she was mid-stroke through brushing Rapi's hair. As the silverette reflexively posed—however minutely—at having her looks acknowledged, Emma stopped and openly leered. Cinderella was back in her perilously tiny summer dress, which was more modest than her battle suit, but only at a glance, considering the very bottom of her posterior peeked out from behind the high-cut bottom hem when she was standing. It was, regardless, more suited for everyday wear.

At any rate, Joe looked between the four gathered women, then blinked as something occurred to him. Rapi had just told him that she was working on her gun, which was nowhere in sight as Cinderella was combing her hair-

"R-Rapi," Vesti started, looking at her former squadmate with wide eyes. "You… you look so… Cool!" She declared, gazed fixed on her old bright red pleather jacket and scarf combined with her ponytail. "You, you've changed how you dress, huh?"

Emma tore her eyes from Cinderella's shockingly exposed bosom to take in Rapi's new outfit, lightly cocking her head as she contemplated the change in attire. "Red suits you, Rapi. You've decided to stop wearing the squad uniform, then?"

Well, she wasn't wearing the beret or jacket, but she was still wearing the rest of it- Ah, sans the necktie as well. She was indeed shifting just a bit more towards outfitting herself as she used to as Red Hood—even using that ponytail she very occasionally wore back then.

Joe wondered how long it was going to be before he found Rapi wearing a cowboy hat and spurred cowboy boots again, given how she liked occasionally repping the American Southwest back then, Arizona girl that she was.

Unaware of the Commander's internal musings, Rapi's eyes widened ever-so-slightly further in response to Emma's inquiry, before averting her gaze with a self-critical expression now painted across her features. "I…" the ruby-eyed blonde halted, seeming to need to steel herself before continuing. "...Yes. I'm staying with Counters. I'm… I'm not coming back to Absolute."

While Vesti did look more than a little heartbroken at that declaration, Emma presented more of an aura of resigned relief. The tall blonde hummed before she replied. "I see. It's good to know, finally." Letting out a deep sigh, she continued. "You should tell Eunwha. She really needs closure."

"Um," Vesti awkwardly started. "Y-yeah…" She nervously agreed with her squadmate.

Rapi's brow fell along with her lips, and she remained silent. That made sense to Joe, given how virulently hostile Eunwha was to Rapi. He wouldn't want to have to interact with her unnecessarily either, frankly.

After a few moments of silence that rapidly grew uncomfortable, it was Cinderella that spoke up next. "Rapi?" She started, shifting her position to lean over the blonde's shoulder. "Are you at odds with your former squadmate?"

Rapi's frown deepened, it took her a few moments to reply. "...I-it's not that. I just…" She trailed off, the room finding itself overtaken by quiet.

Expression growing pensive, Cinderella leaned just a little closer in towards her fellow. "Rapi, were you not estranged from Joe and I for many, many years? If such a divide could not truly sever the bonds we share, surely, that which you'd formed with your new friends can be restored in short order as well?"

While Emma and Vesti's eyes went wide and sharply locked on Joe, the man just smiled faintly at the sight of Cinderella being a good friend. He adored it whenever the girls helped each other like this.

Rapi started to fidget uncomfortably in her seat. "I-I…" She stammered out, deeply warily.

"Rapi," Cinderella continued, her tone taking on a degree of firmness usually not present. "You stop that. You are surrounded by friends. Friends that want what's best for you and only want to see you happy. If Eunwha is your friend, you should be doing everything you can to mend the bond you share."

"Y-yeah!" Vesti piped up, momentarily showing a degree of certainty before she just as quickly shrunk in on herself again.

Emma, meanwhile, lightly stroked Vesti's back in a comforting display before she interjected as well. "She's right, Rapi. And it's not like you'd be talking to Eunwha alone. We'll be there with you, you know. Just like always."

Closing her eyes, Rapi took a deep, bracing breath. For as much as she didn't want to have to deal with such an uncomfortable situation, she was surrounded and overwhelmed. As it was, she was going to be forced to confront Eunwha over everything, and for what? What difference would it make? She'd still left Absolute. She'd still run away and refused to interact with her former squadmates. She'd still been broken by what they'd done together. She'd still lied to them about who she was…

"E-Eunwha said she'd be at the armoury…" Vesti noted in that tiny voice of hers, anxious little bean that she seemed to be.

"Come, Rapi," Emma beckoned the smaller blonde with an encouraging smile. "Eunwha doesn't want to be mad. She just misses our friend and comrade. We're going to be deploying on this next mission together, so it would be best if we're all on the same page with the air cleared between us. Professional as Eunwha prefers to be, she's… More emotional than she'd like to believe, as you're well aware."

Rapi was quiet for several long moments, closing her eyes and taking a long, deep breath. With a pained grimace, she eventually replied. "...This is so sudden…" She noted with some hesitation.

"The operation isn't happening quite right now today," Emma noted with a warm smile. "By the end of today, or even tomorrow morning is all we're asking for. Come with us to talk to Eunwha when you're ready, just, don't take so long that we have to deploy with Eunwha still mad at you."

Letting out a deep breath through her nose, Rapi took a bit to eventually give her answer by way of a single, shallow nod.

The relief on Emma's face was palpable, while Vesti just looked happy to potentially see her trusted comrades become friendly again.

Cinderella hummed in satisfaction, continuing to brush Rapi's hair with exacting precision as the situation seemed to be adequately resolved.

After a few moments of quiet, Emma glanced around the room before settling on her fellow blonde again. "The more things change, the more they stay the same though, huh? You still refuse to spend any of your paycheque on yourself, or a proper chair, or a proper table, or nice decorations, Rapi?"

While Rapi's lips curled down into a little frown at the observation of her… Ascetic living conditions, it was actually Cinderella that spoke up next. "This is fine, my own quarters are much the same way. Such is perfectly acceptable for the time being, seeing as how our current living situation is only temporary until we move into the Commander's Suite with Joe regardless."

It took a few moments for the man in question to actually process what he'd just heard. When he did, his brain froze along with his face, expression locked into a wide-eyed but otherwise blank visage. What did- Did she- Wait a minute, hold on what did she just- 'WE?'

As Cinderella continued to idly brush Rapi's hair, with the strawberry blonde notably sharing Joe's expression, Emma's attention gradually shifted to focus on the man, her smile gradually growing to reach her ears, even as Vesti's face turned cherry red in accordance with her eyes becoming unto dinner plates.

"Co-mman-der~!" Emma started, her voice pitching up several octaves as she cupped her own cheeks in excitement. "I knew it! I knew it from the moment I set eyes on you! An insatiable hunger, a lust for the perfection of womanhood! You could never hide from your own kind, Commander!"

HOLD UP, WAIT A MINUTE MAN- WHAT?

As Joe remained frozen in place, his pupils snapping about as he struggled to process what was happening, Vesti was once more hiding behind her hands while now whistling like a kettle, and Cinderella was looking at Emma out of the corner of her eye, lips pursed as she seemed to be considering something.

Emma, not noticing the twintailed platinumette's attention, focused her own on Rapi. "Is that why we've never heard about these two before now, Rapi? To be 'estranged' from two you're so close to—a lover's spat only recently mended, perhaps?" She asked, clearly high on the entire notion and speaking without thinking first.

Thus, Emma was likely not quite expecting the resulting wave of ice water that washed over the room, how intensely awkward the air between Joe, Rapi, and Cinderella suddenly became as the three's expressions shifted to utter embarrassed horror, as Emma just unknowingly stepped on a landmine, and everyone heard the 'click.'

With the three now averting their gaze from anyone else in the room, it quickly became clear to Emma that she'd just made a mistake, even as Vesti stared up at her in abject horror. With the air now being charged in the worst way, it became very clear to Joe that there was probably a reason Ingrid apparently had to try ordering Emma to reign herself in around others.

"...O-oh, oh shit, I uh," Emma's eyes snapped between Joe, Rapi and Cinderella, a teeth-clenched grimace finding purchase on her face as it registered that yeah, she had just unintentionally jammed her thumb into a sore wound—there was probably a reason Absolute never heard about Joe or Cinderella in the decades they'd been comrades with Rapi, it only just occurred to her.

"H-hey!" Vesti stepped forward, face burning with horror at the situation, yet still, she steeled herself as she valiantly put herself in the midst of the burning room. "Rapi, can we go talk? We- we've really missed you, and it'll help you, um, right, ease into talking to Eunwha later!"

Though Rapi was clearly still mortified by the unintentional reminder of how awful she'd been to Joe back during the days of Goddess, after they'd been such happy lovers for so long no less, it wasn't intentional on Emma's part, and, she had to admit, Rapi did miss her friends. "...O-okay," Rapi started as she stood from her seat. "Cinderella, we can spend more time together later, since you live in the Outpost too, while Absolute-"

"I understand," Cinderella replied, reaching over and lightly pressing on Rapi's shoulder to push her towards Emma and Vesti. "Go on, we'll have all the time in the world once your upcoming mission is over and done with."

Rapi couldn't help but smile appreciatively at her fellow's understanding, and she moved for her black-and-red clad former companions, cutting a distinctive figure that stood apart from her previous appearance, with her hair done up like that and her neon red jacket announcing her presence like a flare in the dark.

Walking past Joe, Rapi looked up at him, their eyes meeting for a moment. Her expression was painfully apologetic, which the man didn't care for in the least, but they could talk about… How their previous relationship had ended later. Cinderella was right, Rapi should take the opportunity to clear the air with Absolute before deploying into a Heretic combat zone with them.

So, he didn't stop her. She stood before her old squadmates for a moment before they started off out the hallway door, Emma and Vesti both hesitating only to shoot Joe apologetic looks of their own, with Emma's being much more guilty than Vesti's for obvious reasons.

After a moment, it was just Joe and Cinderella left in Rapi's depressingly spartan room. The two remained quiet for a time, until the pair's gazes met, and Joe was suddenly hit by the reminder of Cinderella's use of 'we,' in the context of… "'W-we?'" He asked with no small amount of uncertain wariness.

"Hm?" Cinderella vocalized her confusion, tilting her head at the man in a display that was too damned cute.

"E-Ellie…" Joe tugged at the collar of his shirt, pausing to clear his throat. "You said, until 'we' move in with me?"

"Yes?" The blue-eyed beauty replied, brow lightly furrowing. "What are you-?" She paused, stared for a moment, then her eyes widened as awareness hit her. "Oh- Joe, what in all of creation are you confused by? You and Rapi are, and always have been an item. I am no fool, I have always seen the manner in which you two gaze upon each other, both back then, and still now, how you each steal longing glances at the other when the other thinks they aren't looking."

Wait, Rapi was longingly looking at him too-

"In acknowledging you two as an item… My Prince, did you think I sought to usurp Rapi's place at your side all this time?" Cinderella inquired, her expression falling into a very slightly hurt one.

The Commander blinked, lightly cocked his head, and stared as he struggled to process what was being said. She- she didn't mean, there was no way-

His thoughts were interrupted as, being alone and at no risk of being seen doing so, Cinderella took a step towards him, lifting off mid-step to meet his gaze with a stable hover. Now eye-level with the significantly taller man, she reached out with both hands to cup his face, letting out a small sigh with a slightly disappointed tilt to her voice and expression. "You and Rapi belong together. Any and all could and can see it clear as day. Never did I operate under the impression that I would replace her in your heart. No, you two… One would have to be a truly delusional fool to not understand that you are both a package deal. One does not come without the other. And besides…"

She smiled lightly while stroking the man's cheek with her deceptively delicate-seeming finger.

"A bird does not fly with just one wing, my Prince," she lovingly stated with resolute certainty.

…Oh.

Oh.

Now smiling more broadly, Cinderella lightly squeezed Joe's cheeks as she held her position, just staring into his eyes with those big blue sapphires of hers.

It took a few moments, which included Joe clenching his eyes shut as he took a very deep, bracing breath. He did, eventually, manage a reply. "Ellie, I- This needs to be set aside. I don't… I don't want to save Marian, only for her to see—after she spent what she thought were her last moments and words telling me she loved me—how quickly I moved on from her. She… She deserves better than that, when she helped me and was so resolutely a protector even in the short time I was the Commander of Silver Gun."

Though Cinderella's expression fell, it only fell into one of neutrality, which itself quickly became understanding. "That is why you and Rapi haven't truly reignited your torches for each other. Because you cannot bear the thought of hurting Marian after all she's been through."

Emitting a shuddering breath, he replied. "It's as I said: I just don't want her to be released from the Corruption, only to find that I'd moved on, so soon after she passed. That's all. After that, after I've had the chance to talk to her…"

"I understand," Cinderella cut him off, relenting her, however soft, grip on his face. "I've waited a hundred years for you already. A few weeks, or even months longer-?" She stopped, her breath hitched, and she settled a hand over her chest as she closed her eyes. "No, it is not the same. Because you're right here. I can see you. I can touch you. I can feel you… I will not seek to deceive you and say that it will not be torturous, yet, Marian did so much for you in the short time you knew her, that I at least owe her this courtesy."

Opening her eyes again, Joe saw that arresting resolute diamond sparkle once more, as she spoke with certainty.

"However, after that… I would see you soaring like an angel through the Heavens upon wings of promised victory. Just as you once did for me." She allowed her hand to fall by her side once more, still meeting the man's gaze without faltering. "Do we have an understanding?"

Joe, however, did falter. Not because he didn't understand, or because he disagreed, but because he was stunned.

"...Joe?" Cinderella spoke once more to break him from his reprieve.

"-Ah!" He shook his head and slapped himself on the forehead, grimacing at the display. "I-I'm sorry I-" Taking a deep breath, he answered her. "Yes. Understood." Cinderella, at her best, always had that damned tendency to just… Make his heart ache. Why did she have to be so damned pretty?

Nodding lightly in turn, Cinderella let out a small sigh. "Then we shall set this topic aside… For now. Otherwise," she took a shallow breath before continuing. "Is there anything else?"

Pondering the question for a moment, Joe nodded once before noting: "As soon as Snow's back from the Arctic, Andersen said to let him know. He's going to come up to actually reunite with everyone once we're all back in Shangri-La together."

Cinderella's breath hitched again, this time, she looked intensely relieved. "...Okay. Good. I'm glad." Her brow then furrowed in naked frustration. "Stupid old man, making his daughter wait so long…"

Joe snorted at that. "Yeah, he's terrible, isn't he?"

"Just the absolute worst," she declared, pursing her lips in a small display of petulant anger. "...As soon as we're all here together?"

"The very moment," Joe nodded.

"Very well then," Cinderella lowered herself back to the ground, settling her toes then her tall heels on the undecorated floor with preternatural grace. "...You likely have much to do in preparation for your next mission?"

He nodded in affirmation.

"Then I shall leave you to your duties," Cinderella declared as she started out the door herself. "I believe I will collect Rapunzel, and we will go visit the church being built here. It has been so long since we've set eyes on one which wasn't in ruins… Such will doubtlessly lift each of our spirits." Stopping at the door, she turned around to look over her shoulder, presenting the Commander with a broad, loving smile. "I will wait diligently, my Prince."

With that, she took her leave. Joe, in turn, grasped his heart with nobody around to see it, before registering that, while Rapi didn't exactly seem to really consider this room hers so much as just the place where she slept… It would be weird for him to just stand around in her room alone.

Regardless, though he did so with affection, the man did ponder as he departed from the officer's suites himself, how these two Goddesses were just as liable to be the death of him as they could be his salvation. They were so much more than mere women, while he was only human, after all.

 

[Dsaeg]

No, it is not the same. Because you're right here. I can see you. I can touch you. I can feel you… I will not seek to deceive you and say that it will not be torturous,

Click to shrink...

Huh, thats a new one.

 

[Earl Silver]

Cinderella really do be proving why she's so fucking awesome, huh?
Don't get me wrong Red Hood is still my favorite Nikke girl, if only Shift Up would give her a cowgirl fit that wasn't effectively assless chaps because I'd pay so much money for that, but Cinderella is not lagging far behind in this fic.

 

[NooneImportant]

while he was only human, after all.

Click to shrink...

Roll credits (to the backdrop of Joe slowly spinning on a turntable).

 

[The 17th Immortal]

Roll credits (to the backdrop of Joe slowly spinning on a turntable).

Click to shrink...

~You spin me right 'round
Baby, right 'round~

 

[NooneImportant]

~You spin me right 'round
Baby, right 'round~

Click to shrink...

No-no.
~Some people got the real problems
Some people out of luck
Some people think I can solve them
Lord heavens above~

Spoiler: Pretend this is a cute anime girl or Joe or something

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2Kssvj_RF1E&pp=0gcJCUABo7VqN5tD

 

[Ace of Scarabs]

Ellie really pushing hard for being Best Girl.