Blanc got home much later than she had ever expected to. The idea that she would ever find herself out past the twins' bedtime had never even occurred to her, but here she was. She had been shopping for hours, and then hours still after that — perhaps more than she ever had in all of her life combined. She had even had to plead in a manner most unfitting of a goddess for some of the shopkeepers to stay open just a little bit longer so she could finish. It had been worth it, though. Boy had it been worth it. She had gotten something that she was absolutely positive would make Vert glow and shine as much as the thought of Vert's reaction made her glow and shine inside — and she hated herself so damn much for having turned into such a sap (or worse... such a Noire!), but darn it all, she was really looking forward to seeing Vert's face when she opened it in a few days.

Right now, she wasn't as concerned with that. That was still a few days away, after all. Right now, she was just looking forward to seeing Vert. She was still cold from having spent so much time outside — so, so cold — and she just wanted to find Vert. Vert would make it better. She'd make Vert make it better. For the first time since Blanc had known her, she was actually thankful for the... differences between them. Vert would surely make for a decent heater. Blanc would make Vert be a decent heater. That was what she'd been thinking, alongside her mantra of "I am not a tsundere I am not a tsundere I am not a tsundere I am not a tsundere...", anyway.

Well... She had been thinking all of that, at least. She had been thinking it when she'd entered her Basilicom. She knew it was late, sure, but Vert was probably up somewhere on a game, right? That was what Vert did. What else would Vert be doing in the middle of the night? Blanc just had to look around, find her, and maybe guilt her into a back rub under the covers. Nothing to it.

When Blanc found Vert, as it turned out, she found herself regretting some things.

There wasn't a game on in sight. Much to Blanc's surprise, the blonde goddess was sleeping soundly. She was also sleeping soundly in a place other than in the guest room that Blanc had prepared for her. This meant that, among other things, Vert hadn't listened to her, even though Blanc had painstakingly gone through every single room in the Basilicom to make sure Vert got a nice one — a fact Vert would never ever know because letting people know embarrassing crap like that was, duh, embarrassing — but now that effort had been completely wasted.

So, to start off the list of wrongdoings done wrong by the Princess of Wrongness, Green Heart... She had screwed up by being asleep when Blanc wanted to see her. She had failed in her duties. It wasn't like Blanc needed to see her or anything, it was Vert's fault here. Clearly. Vert had also screwed up by not listening to her. She'd not listened to her specifically by sleeping somewhere other than where Blanc had prepared for her, in turn making Blanc feel like a regular old moron for having wasted all the time she had picking out the perfect room and getting it fixed up for Vert and making sure she had an internet connection and...

But wait! There's more!

Where was Vert sleeping? Where oh where had she chosen to go, instead of where Blanc had picked out for her?

Why, in Blanc's own room.

In Blanc's bed.

And, oh yes, it got worse.

In Vert's arms, held protectively on either side and both cuddling this new "hug pillow" like it was the most natural thing in the world, were Blanc's sisters, sleeping as peacefully as she had ever seen them sleep in her entire life.

Her younger sisters were sleeping with Vert.

Vert was sleeping with her younger sisters.

All of this was happening in her bed.

A little over a year ago, any one of these things would have had Blanc transforming into White Heart and chasing Vert out of the room, nay, out of the Basilicom itself and straight into the cold faster than Planeptune's mascot could ever hope to move. A little over a year ago, any one of these things would have had Blanc screaming at the top of her lungs and threatening to declare war on Leanbox if Vert wasn't out of the country within five minutes. A little over a year ago, she would have regretted trusting Vert with anything as major as watching after her sisters. Likewise, a little over a year ago, she would have regretted letting her sisters anywhere near Vert.

As of this moment, however...

"Shit."

Her face was burning. She didn't need to look in a mirror to know she looked like a miserable little sap, blushing like a hopelessly starstruck schoolgirl. She could feel her cheeks being tugged in an unnatural (for her) expression, and there was something caught in her throat. Worse still, her eyes were starting to tear up. What the hell had happened to her?

"Shit..."

The thing was... She actually didn't regret any of that stuff. Not at all. She didn't regret a single one of those things like she would have back then.

She regretted taking so long.

She regretted deciding partway through to get the twins their Pongsmas presents so she wouldn't have to make a second trip.

She regretted not buying all of it online.

She regretted spending more time in the stores than with the three girls in the bed before her.

But most of all, she regretted not having been here to see what had led to this... sight, if a commonplace word like that was worthy of being used to describe the rush of overwhelming feelings it was bringing out of the CPU.

And again... She couldn't believe she'd wasted so much time shopping.

Because now, even if Vert got her something trivial later on? The present she had spent hours picking out couldn't even possibly begin to compare to getting to see the three of them like this. It was no contest.

"Yeah... I can't keep denying it. I really am possessed, aren't I?"

And yet... The strangest thing was, that didn't even bother her. It should have, but it didn't. The cold had stopped bothering her too. If anything... she actually felt rather...

The CPU smiled ruefully at the three girls on her bed, filled from top to bottom with an all too familiar feeling. It was the feeling that had kept her going all night — the loving feeling that she hoped would continue to keep her going for the rest of her life as well. It was a comfy, cozy sort of feeling. A feeling that would always stop her from feeling affronted by the cool air or the chilly gusts of wind of these crisp winters. It was a feeling that felt a lot like...

Warmth