A/N: I am financially quite in a dire situation right now and might lose my home. If you have anything to spare and enjoy these works, please consider giving to pa treon/Kuugenthefox (remove the space)

"I can still taste the dirt..." Nene started to spit again – on the ground, in the bushes, all in an attempt to get the last bits of dirt out of her teeth.

"Don't do that." Umiko reached for her girlfriend and got rid of some bits of dirt that were stuck in her hair. "I'm surprised you're not complaining about your legs. You ran so much that people started to call you the golden rabbit."

"It's a compliment, right?"

Umiko looked a bit sadistic right there and then. "Considering how bitter they were, a great compliment."

"You're making a really evil face."

"I am allowed to, out here."

"My legs don't hurt that much, but… I am totally sore. I could use like a bath, a massage, then another bath, then pudding, then maybe another massage and-"

"This was only day two, Nene. We won't have to run around as much tomorrow, but it will become harder to advance."

"Why doesn't this game follow the same rules as usual?"

"Complaining about it won't do us any good. Nobody expected them to change the rules for this year. But I guess they want to make it more thrilling and not have the same elite teams crushing newcomers every year."

"Works out for us though!" Nene put her hands behind her head and looked past the crowns of the trees that surrounded them to enjoy the sight of the setting sun. Twigs, leaves and the dirt beneath her boots smelled strongly of the nature – she hadn't been this immersed in the wild ever before, at least not that she could remember. "But everyone here is so tall. It's like I'm in some kind of real life attack on titan."

Umiko, shouldering her assault rifle and pulling out the cartridge to count her remaining ammo, didn't say anything. She had endured countless anime and game references over the last forty-eight hours. Working with Nene and spending a bit of time after work with her was completely different from being around her non-stop for 24 hours a day.

"With all these trees I could totally fly around using 3D maneuver-"

"Nene, I really do like spending time with you, but you need to dial back the anime talk. I don't understand half of what you're saying."

"Eh, you haven't seen that? But it was so popular! Like everyone knows the opening song at least. It goes like this." Starting to, incorrectly, whistle a tune, Nene was not deterred whatsoever by Umiko's request.

"Sakura-san."

That still worked with perfection. The tone of voice, the sharpness of her words – Nene immediately shut her mouth and looked away. "Sorry."

Umiko didn't enjoy doing this anymore. It was nice to tease Nene occasionally, but this was different. Sticking the cartridge back into her gun, still resting it on her shoulder, Umiko put her free arm around her girlfriend's shoulder and pulled her close enough that they nearly fell over each other's feet. "I understand how excited you are. But if you stay in high tension like that, you're going to run out."

"I'm always at super high tension! Although I don't turn purple!"

"I am banning you from dragon quest references."

"Eh, why?!"

"They're the competition."

"Oh come on, they're a totally different type of RPG!"

"Also, I dislike dragon quest seven."

Nene spat again. "I can still feel dirt between my teeth..."

"Bear with it. We'll be at our tent in a few minutes."

"Did we really have to camp all the way at the edge? It takes like two minutes to get to the toilet… and it's super dark at night." Nene was not a big fan of going to the toilet alone – at night – surrounded by people with weapons.

"Why do you think we moved there?"

"I wonder what we should get to eat. Did we earn any coupons?" Changing the topic because she didn't want to admit that it was her fault that they were all the way out there, over ten meters away from everyone else. I can't help it! If I feel good, my voices come out!

"The extracurricular missions today were Find the Cache, Take the Flag and Eliminate the Third Parties." Umiko went through her breast pocket, wearing real professional airsoft clothing, and looked at the tags she had collected. "Do you have any cache tags?"

Nene checked the pocket on her butt and pulled out four tags, all four of them flag ones. "No. What do we get for the flag tags?"

"Five minutes of hot water for three tags."

"I got four."

"I got one."

"Aw..." Nene really wanted a hot shower. The Eisenkreuz games were a much harsher place than she anticipated.

Food was provided and smuggling in food from the outside was forbidden other than pre-packaged and officially registered rations – which all tasted like wet cardboard that had been dried in the sun. Showers were also cold water only. And to top it all off, only a limited amount of munition could be brought in. All three of those were tied to different extracurricular missions every day to spice up things and make it harder on the richer and bigger teams. More members meant that most of them would only eat basic rations and that it would be difficult to supply everyone with enough munition for the next day.

There was no rule regarding trading tags however and as such, just as evening hit, everyone, including those that had been cut from the competition, met up to trade coupons. Food tags came in the form of a black bear. Shower tags in the form of a bucket. Munition tags in the form of a star.

"I'm going to go back first and look at our stock." Nene handed over all her collected tags to Nene. "You did really well yesterday, so I trust you." A brief and very rare big smile was on Umiko's face as she sent her off. I wish I could brag to Yagami about how well she is doing. Nene could beat her ass in a 1 vs 1 by now. When we get back I am definitely going to challenge her!

While tents were left unsupervised during the day, the organizers had put cameras up so if something was stolen it would be immediately obvious who it was. Crawling into her tent, it was not the kind that was big enough to stand in but definitely big enough to kneel and let four people sleep next to each other. There was only one very large sleeping bag right in the middle, surrounded by rations, water bottles, some hygiene articles, changes of clothes and packs of munition as well as a few replacement weapons. Umiko's car had struggled to transport all of it in one go and Nene had been surprisingly good at bringing only the bare essentials.

Kneeling in the tent and counting what was left of her munition, she realized she had forgotten to take Nene's handguns. Heavier equipment just didn't suit the short girl who was unbelievably quick on her feet and a real monkey when it came to evading pursuers. I better don't tell her that it wasn't just the golden rabbit they called her. Umiko grinned all by herself when she thought of how mad those other players had been. Being tall and able to wield large caliber guns had always been a very strongly sought after factor in survival games. And now this short girl that's running around with two 8mm guns is driving them insane because she's too hard to hit and she can pass through spots much taller people just get stuck in.

Counting losses, Umiko hoped that Nene didn't trade away all the star tags. They needed to refill on her 8mm handgun bullets and while they were much cheaper than sniper rifle or assault rifle munitions, that didn't mean they were free.

"Umiko!" Nene's head alone poked into the tent. "I got us a big haul!"

Looking a bit worried, Umiko turned around, slowly, because there was no space inside the tent to turn around quickly. "What did you get?"

"It's mapo tofu for food tags today so I couldn't find anyone that was willing to trade them. We had five, so I traded one for two star tags and one for a shower tag! I haggled the guy down from also giving him a star tag for the shower tag! He really must want that mapo tofu.."

"So what do we have total?"

"Three food tags, six shower tags and seven star tags."

"Scary."

"What is?"

"Your negotiation skills. I think they're looking down on you because you look so young and then they get caught off guard when you're as shrewd as a lawyer."

Nene's cheeks inflated with the stuffy air from inside the tent. "I can't tell if you're being nice or mean."

"You did a great job."

"Right?"

"Five minutes each is still not a lot, but after crawling around in the wilderness all day, it is going to feel like heaven."

"Ten minutes."

"It's five minutes for three tags and we have six."

Nene's right hand reached into the tent and she moved her index finger back and forth in front of her lips. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. The stalls are big enough for two."

"The rules clearly state that the shower stalls are a pure hygiene zone. No sexual affairs of any kind. Not even masturbating."

"Who said anything about that? You have a dirty mind, Umi-chan."

"Who tha hell ya calling Umi-chan?" Slipping into an accent from her hometown when Nene made her angry was one thing she just couldn't control.

"You're Umiko, so Umi-chan. Or do you wanna be Miko-chan? That 'd be a real hoot because you're nothing like a shrine maiden!" Nene escaped outside when Umiko reached for her. "It's not a lot, but we gotta share one mapo tofu. I remember you like spicy food so you can ask for extra spicy if you want."

Umiko was now the one whose head poked out from inside the tent, looking right at Nene, who squatted in front of their temporary home. She's still cute up close – even with dirt smeared on her face. "You will not call me Umi-chan."

"Eh, it's like Aocchi. It's cute!"

"I don't like it."

"Stingy."

"I will let you have the mapo tofu if you-" Umiko could not even finish offering the bribe before Nene got on her knees, leaned forward and kissed her in plain sight for everyone to see – everyone that cared to look.

"You're so serious. I won't call you that if you really hate it, silly. And I'm not gonna sit there and eat mapo tofu while you gotta eat rations. I'd rather share not eat it at all than eat it alone."

Umiko blushed a little because she wasn't used to being treated like that. "I won't feed you. But… I'm happy you want to share."

"What kinda girlfriend wouldn't share? Geez, you gotta expect more of me, Umi-chan." Nene called her that one final time before she jumped on her feet, ignoring her girlfriend's annoyed expression.

"I am doing fairly well with my rifle ammo, but we have almost nothing left for you. You're a bit too trigger happy."

"It's hard to hit people!"

"Of course it is hard to hit these people. They're all doing this a lot."

"Maybe you should have let me take the rifle I wanted."

"You were out of breathing after one kilometer holding that thing. It weighted almost four kilos, without the magazine. And your right arm was all bruised after you tried it out at the shooting range."

"I could have trained."

"I don't want a muscle girl girlfriend."

Nene felt sick at the thought of being all muscly. "Same here..."

Making their way towards the common grounds – which was really just a small number of very big tents to accommodate the participants and some vetted audience. One that housed a temporary kitchen and some benches to eat – eating outside was not an option. Another that housed a large boiler and some temporary shower stalls that offered a modicum of privacy. And the final tent housed the armory, where participants could trade tags, or kill shots, for munitions.

"It stinks." Nene raised up her own arms and sniffed. "Oh."

"Not surprising, after running around all day." Umiko was well aware of how they must smell. She was not nearly as girly as Nene was and while stinking still bothered her, she knew that everyone else smelled no better.

"Shower first?"

"We'll sit on our food tags then. First come, first serve." Umiko grabbed Nene's hand and dragged her towards the food tent. Picking up a metal tray on the way in, Umiko left her girlfriend in line for the real food – not without briefly kissing her on the forehead.

Rations were handed out in small plastic bags and Umiko dreaded having to eat those. "Magic Eagle." The man behind the counter checked his list, made a check mark and handed over a bag of roughly 800 grams of rations with the name Magic Eagle written on it with permanent maker. There were a lot of different sizes bags – they were packed according to team size, age, gender and so forth.

"Umiko!" Nene stood, not sat but stood, on one of the benches and had her arms over her head and still she didn't make for a very good point of visual reference. But Umiko found her in no time flat. Sitting down next to her, the pipping hot mapo tofu made her mouth water. It was the only real meal they could get all day. Breakfast and lunch, if a team took the chance to eat rations during the match, were not provided separately but included in the rations handed out every evening.

"I think I am never going to look at food the same way again." Nene enjoyed every spoonful like it was breathing new life into her. She had separated the pieces of tofu in an even number and so essentially split the dish into two. "It's a bit too spicy though..." Nene felt her tongue burn.

She had them made it extra spicy despite not liking spicy food. "You're so cute."

"I know, right?" Eating for a few moments in silence, surrounded by strangers – opponents – the two women were really glad that they had signed up for the contest. It was harsh – on their legs all day, sleeping in a tent, with the bare minimum of comfort. But it was also a lot of fun. "Why am I so cute?"

"You asked them to make it extra spicy, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"You put up with things you're uncomfortable with for my sake. That's really cute."

"Hehe."

"You know what I meant to begin with, didn't you?"

"Of course! I'm super smart!"

"I would say you're cuter than you are smart."

"So I am super duper cute!"

Umiko had a chuckled. "Yes."

Finishing her side of the dish, Nene wished there was more. "I wish I had pudding."

Umiko had the last piece of tofu on her spoon and decided to not eat it. "Nene."

Briefly distracted by her own thoughts, Nene just absentmindedly turned towards Umiko. And the realization of what she saw hit her like a truck. Smiling so wide that the upper half of her head was seemingly about to pop off, Nene opened her mouth. "Ah~."

Despite telling her that she wouldn't feed her, Umiko did it anyway – out of her share on top of it. Standing up and taking the tray, Umiko waited for Nene to join her, still grinning like an idiot. "You look like you just won the games."

"Nah, that wouldn't make me as happy."

"It wouldn't?"

"I'm here to be with you. It's fun to chase people around and kinda fun to get chased, but I totally wouldn't be here without you." Holding on to her girlfriend's left arm with both hands, Nene was as happy as she had ever been. "And? Are you embarrassed?"

"You read too many love advice columns, Nene."

"I do not!"

"I saw your browser history the other day when I logged into work."

"Ah! Never check my browser history!"

"Discounts on sexy bikinis. And a figure of that tanned girl from the last Final Phantasia?"

"I'm gonna shout so someone shoots me if you keep going!"

"I felt… flattered. I always thought I stuck out in a negative way with my Okinawan skin."

"Seriously? It's super hot."

"Is… that a pun on the climate in Okinawa?"

"Stupid. I really mean you look hot!"

"Actually, since Okinawa is really warm, I am quite cool all year long and-"

"You suck!"

Umiko snickered. "How does it feel to have that game turned around on you?"

"I am not that mean!"

"You can be quite the imp."

"Is that what you picture when you think of me at night? In skimpy leather clothing with little horns and wings and all bondage like?"

"That is a very specific and descriptive example."

"I-I don't think about you that way if you wanna imply that!"

"So you look at figurines of tan girls instead?"

"I can't help it if I started liking tanned beautiful women!"

"Maybe I should have looked into that bookmarks folder that was labeled Ero in English."

"I will break up with you if you look at that!"

"Peachpulsar."

"Gah!"

"The sea, you, and the sun."

"Stop!"

"Tags, dark skin, yuri, tribadism, fingering and-"

Nene sunk to her knees. "Just shoot me."

Umiko was still smiling wide. "I have that in my favorites as well."

Nene's mood immediately changed by a hundred and eighty degrees. "It's great, right?"

"I once met the people behind that circle."

"No way!" Jumping back on her feet, Nene pulled and pushed Nene so hard that the tall girl's hair was flying everywhere. "That's so unfair! How?! When?!"

"I went to the comiket where they sold things and they had a fan that was a little too enthusiastic. So before things became troublesome for the circle, I gently told him to leave."

She totally beat up a dude that was getting out of hand and told him to scram. "I'm jealous."

"I do have hard copies of almost all of their works."

"Almost?"

"I couldn't go to comiket a few times because of work."

"I only found them recently."

"If my schedule lets me we can try and go to the next comiket. Just wearing our uniforms will probably count as cosplay, too."

"Hehe… Aocchi actually let something slip regarding the next game you will be working on. It's still in design phase and stuff but I am definitely positive that the mains will be two girls! One with dark skin like you and one super cute and short and white like snow and adorable-"

"She said the protagonists remind her of us, didn't she?"

"Bingo. You're so smart."

I would wonder if you're stupid if I didn't know you so well. "Don't feel bad about looking at erotic manga." Umiko lowered her voice quite a bit and she was pleasantly surprised when Nene looked embarrassed. I can't stop thinking how cute she is. "Especially not if it is peachpulsar."

"Having my girlfriend know what porn I look at is super embarrassing."

"You also know what I look at now."

"That's different!"

"How is it different?"

"You're not the innocent type!"

"And you are?"

"Of course!"

Umiko tried with everything she could. But it was no use. Covering her mouth and laughing so hard that she nearly tripped, Umiko looked at her girlfriend and thoroughly rejected that idea. "If one of us had to be the innocent one, it would be me before you were ever considered."

"Hey!"

"I am not the one that could not keep their hands to themselves despite being told so."

"I was asleep!"

"Of course you were. That means your body knows you're the lewd type."

"Am totally not!"

"Oh? Then you won't mind if we just go straight to sleep after a shower."

Nene puffed up her cheeks so much that she hurt them and started rubbing them. "Ow, ow. ow..."

"Are you okay?"

Looking away, pouting, Nene was genuinely a little upset.

"I'm sorry." Bending down a little, Umiko whispered something to her that got Nene to forgive her right away. You can be on top tonight.

Nene had envisioned that showering together would be lewd, naughty and exciting. But in the end it was just cramped, she repeatedly stepped on Umiko's feet and while ten minutes of hot water had been really nice, they both felt strangely tired after. And not exactly turned on. Seeing each other naked was not much of a thrill when they slept in the same sleeping bag.

The tent was still pretty uncomfortably warm because the sun was shining on it for almost two hours right before it set. Sitting outside in the grass, in spare uniforms they kept clean so they had always one clean set of clothes on hand, Nene was using Umiko's lap as a pillow and watched her count munitions.

"We have more than we started out with thanks to your trading skills."

"I'm so good at getting good deals."

"Yes. I'm glad that I brought you."

"Just for the trading?"

"No. Just reiteration."

"Praise me more!"

"Your head is going to get so big that you'll get a head-shot from across the field."

"Lies!"

"Who was it that was overly excited and ran off despite my warnings and was then pinned down for twenty minutes in the dirt?"

"Bringing up the past is cheap!"

"That was yesterday."

"Still the past!"

Umiko couldn't help herself but grin. "I suppose so."

"When we're not playing it's kinda boring here."

"Lots of people turn in early to be up early and do some maintenance or get a feel for the weather. Or eat a while before the match so they are done with digestion."

"I knew this was gonna be super serious but I feel like everyone else is taking this way more seriously than me."

"For a lot of them, myself included, it's a contest with our pride on the line. This is only once a year and the position at which we finish will determine if we can answer proudly or with eyes averted. Doing really well might also get some of the companies involved in making our weapons and gear interested in you and give you prototypes or even make you a custom build weapon in exchange for the weapon having their logo on it."

"I didn't know it was so business focused."

"Now you know." Gently poking Nene's nose, Umiko held her arm into the tent. "It's still pretty warm."

"Can't we leave the tent open?"

"We'll be eaten alive by bugs. A few people try that every year and you can always tell who they are because they're covered in bite marks from the bugs. Being this far away from civilization and by a forest, and in this season to top it all off… bugs everywhere. You don't notice them right now because they're all swirling around the bug traps the staff has set up a way behind the big tents so the big tents don't fill up with bugs."

"Oh, they really thought of everything."

"The first few years were a mess. But I wasn't even born then."

"Wow, this contest is ancient then!"

"Sakura-san, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing!" Nene raised her hands and covered her face so she wouldn't get forehead flicked or anything. "My mouth moved faster than my mind, that's all!"

"Now, is that so?" Umiko reached for the grass and pinched Nene's butt. "I am sorry, Sakura-san, my hand moves faster than my mind, that is all."

"You bully!"

"Oh?"

Nene rolled off her girlfriend's lap and through the grass and immediately realized she was gonna end up dirty if she was going to run around and what not. "I would raise the white flag but the only white thing I have on me are my panties and-"

"Surrender accepted." Umiko looked worried for a moment. "Please keep your panties where they are."

"I don't understand why they don't let people bring in more clothes."

"Because in real combat you don't even have the luxury of one set of clean clothes, most of the time. The contest tries to be as real as possible without turning away people."

"So I guess they changed the rules of how to play because of that, too?"

"They used to just have small make-shift fences all around the region, making fields for two teams to fight it out but since everyone could bring as much as they had money, the same teams won every time and the competition was losing participants. This is actually the least amount of participants in 10 years at least."

"How do you know?"

"They have some videos on their website about past events."

"You nerd."

"Hey."

"I'm glad I came. This is pretty fun. Not as fun as a new game, though!"

"You can be such a couch potato, Nene."

"Sitting around all day long and playing games is already ingrained into my soul!"

"Do you have any work lined up after this?"

"Uh huh." Nene sat back down next to Umiko and this time just leaned against her. "It's a big game. Way big. Guess what it is."

"Mass Effect Andromeda."

"Not that big! They probably got a whole bunker full of beta testers!"

"Dragon Quest 11."

"You somehow cheated!"

"Your comment about super high tension gave it away."

"Spoilsport!"

"I'm surprised they don't do their beta testing in-house."

"They do, but you know, it's coming out for the 3DS, the new Nintendo console and the PS4! That's a lot of ground to cover."

"I'm not happy about it coming out on PS4."

"Because it's competition?"

"Yes. As a company that also develops primarily RPGs, I don't like them much."

"But Fairies 3 did really well!"

"I am not going to change how I feel about them."

"So you're going to be mad that I work on it?"

"Only if you work on it harder than you did on Sophia's game."

"I'm just a worker ant over there! They don't get the special 1 to 1 Nene service like you do."

Umiko felt relieved and smiled. "Then I'm glad."

"Heh."

"What's so funny?"

"The proud Umiko, all worried I might cheat on Eaglejump with another company and RPG. I can't wait to tell Aocchi about that."

"Say, Nene, did you know there's a few urban legends about this contest?"

"Hm? Nope."

"There is one in particular… rumor has it that every year some people leave early or play zombie during a match and then… they're just gone. They don't show up back home, they don't check out, they just vanish. Their tent remains untouched and some people say that at night they hear some strange kind of cry from inside the forest."

"Come on, pulling my leg like that."

"The strange thing is that every single year the same thing happens. Like something is in those woods, hibernating for a year and when we all come in and wake it up, it takes someone. Come to think of it, when I looked at the list of missing people, they were all kinda short. The kind that wouldn't be able to fight off some kind of big beast. Maybe it sneaks up on them from behind, after they let down their guard. Maybe it even comes down to to this camping spot and-" Just as she was about to finish her words, Umiko heavily tugged on the back of Nene's uniform, pulling her back.

Nene fell backwards and looked at Umiko. "I'm not five, you know!"

"I was very sure you would reaction like an anime character."

"Geez, you're terrible at making up scary stories! If people went missing here they'd have this game shut down in no time flat!"

"You are no fun."

"I'm a lot of fun!"

"Not when it comes to scary stories."

"You know, if there was some scary thing eating people, it would probably look like that grass covered dog over there."

"A what?" Umiko looked over her shoulder and couldn't spot anything. "They don't allow animals on the grounds."

"Over there, between the two blue tents. You know, the ones with the grizzly men that I traded a food tag with yesterday."

"I can't see it."

"Look at the grass. It's there. You can see a bunch of grass moving about. Geez, no wonder you always overlook some bugs!"

Umiko would not let that slide and she focused as hard as she could. I know she is just pulling my leg, but if there really is a dog or a raccoon or something I have to report it.

"You still can't see it?"

"You're just making fun of me, aren't you?" Umiko turned back around and what she looked at made her freeze. A big slab of grass wiggling right in her face, making horrible barking and snorting noises. "Sakura-san. What have you done to the lawn?"

Continuing the barking and snorting for a few more seconds, the mass of grass was hit in the head and then dropped to the ground. "Ow! Domestic violence is a crime, you know!"

"Sakura, you can't just cut out pieces of the lawn."

"It'll grow back!"

"You still can't."

"Boo!"

"No."

Having cut out a piece of the wild lawn with a knife, in a hurry, Nene tried to stuff the piece of earth back where it belonged but it was mostly fallen apart by now. "Uh… what now?"

"You're on camera already. I think they'll at most give you a warning, if they decide it's necessary. So please no more cutting up the lawn."

Nene nodded and suddenly felt bad. "I thought I'd scare you."

"I'm not mad at you. Last year I broke someone's nose for playing zombie and shooting me as a zombie."

"You punched someone in the face?"

Umiko breathed in long and deep. "I am not proud of that."

"I wish I could 'a seen that!"

Umiko felt a little better, seeing Nene so excited over that. "It did make a satisfying crunching sound."

"You're like a hot tan lady terminator!"

Umiko put on her best scary smile. "Is that perhaps a comment about my weight? Terminators weight hundreds of kilos."

"I totally didn't mean that!"

"Did you now?"

"I swear!"

Nene leaned to the side and kissed Nene's forehead. "Of course I know you didn't."

"Bully."

"After my vacation is up and we have to go back to work… are you going to be working on weekends?"

"I probably would at Eaglejump but no way am I gonna put in overtime somewhere else. I get paid peanuts or nothing for overtime!"

"Are you making an okay living with beta testing work?"

"So-so. I definitely can't afford a car or a fancy vacation though. But I can buy new games or clothes no problem."

If we're still together by the time I hire her for Fairies 4… and she does good work, I think I might ask her to move in with me. It does feel like I won't meet someone that suits me so well again.

Nene poked Umiko's forehead. "What'cha deep in thought for?"

"I was thinking that you will have to go all the way to Shinjuku for your next job."

Nene looked tired already. "Getting up at 6 in the morning… it's like I am back in school."

"You probably shouldn't tell anyone there that you're dating a programmer from Eaglejump. We're not a huge company compared to Square Enix but they probably still see it as a conflict of interest or that you could leak confidential information to me."

"I didn't think about that at all."

"Would be silly if you get fired for something like that."

"They wouldn't do that. Right?"

"They would."

"Wow."

"Companies can be really strict. They will definitely make you sign a NDA too."

"Can we talk about something else?" Nene leaned back against Umiko. "I don't wanna go to sleep thinking about contracts 'n stuff."

"You're thinking of going to sleep? Not just to bed?"

Nene blushed, unintentionally. "And you say I'm the lewd one!"

"I do find myself quite attracted to short girls as of late. I wonder why."

"Just short girls?"

"Short girls with blonde hair."

"And?"

"Big breasts?"

"And?"

"A cute face."

"Hmm?"

"A very cute face."

"Hehe, must be because of me then!"

"I also seem to be very attracted to girls that are very full of themselves."

"You're cheating on me?!"

Bonking Nene on the head, Umiko felt the inside of the tent again. "It has cooled down quite a bit. It'll take hours for it to become actually comfortable and we definitely need to rest more than four or six hours."

"You're not gonna ask me what kind of woman I'm attracted to?" Nene felt a bit disappointed.

"I have a feeling that whatever I am going to ask, there will be a cheesy answer waiting for me."

"Bee!" Sticking out her tongue, Nene started to pout. "I guess I like the stingy, stubborn exotic beauty that really likes being a spoilsport!"

"I guess I can live with that." Crawling into the tent, with her boots still on, Umiko took them off and left them next to the entrance. Leaving them outside was just asking for the morning dew to make them all cold and uncomfortable.

Nene followed suit a few seconds after the Okinawan had taken off her boots and trousers. Wearing trousers in general had been a new experience for Nene; skirts just were not a permitted option in these games. Despite being very excited to share a sleeping bag with Umiko, Nene had fallen asleep within minutes after the first day.

Umiko wore extremely plain black panties and an equally plain black sports bra. Nene had objected to this strongly. A girl; a woman, had to dress like one at all times. But after pointing out just how much her breasts would hurt running and jumping around all day in a forest, Nene conceded quickly. She wasn't big on pain. Neither of them wore anything but underwear under their camouflage uniform. It was unnecessary baggage and it was hot enough already to begin with.

"I still don't like wearing this..." Nene tugged on the sports bra she wore – that Umiko had insisted on she wore, and frowned. It provided a lot of hold but it made her actually look more childish.

"You would be groaning with pain if you didn't."

"Is there no… stylish option?"

"Do you want to look stylish for me?"

"Of course I do!"

"That's cute of you."

"We could at least wear something better when we go to bed!"

"Even though mine would barely stay on for one minute, just like yesterday?"

"It was totally more than a minute!" Complaining while she undressed, Nene pulled the sleeping bag over herself as she crawled up next to Umiko. It was far too big, even for the two of them. They could have fit Aoba and Hifumi in there with them and still not feel too squeezed. Umiko had ordered the absolutely largest one they could find, on Nene's insistence.

Nene was completely covered by the sleeping bag while Umiko was tall enough, or rather – had moved up far enough, to have her head poke out of the hole that was specifically designed for that. Nene scurried around like a cat beneath covers within the confines of their much too large temporary bed. Emerging like a diver from a deep sea dive, Nene looked excited. "Guess what?"

"You took off your clothes."

"You have got to be cheating at these somehow." Nene looked suspicious.

"It is not my fault you are so adorably easy to read, Nene." Sliding one arm over and another beneath Nene, Umiko was surprised when she was promptly forced on her back. She's stronger than she looks.

Lying on top of the dark haired girl, Nene realized that being so much shorter than her made a position like this kind of awkward. And the tent was not high enough to do a kinda cowgirl position. Not to mention that they had no toys with them. I'm kinda no good with my fingers. And come to think of it… I was never actually on top before!

"What's wrong? You can't decide how to start? Or have you lost your passion after that little grass monster gag going awry?"

"Did not!" Using Umiko's shoulders to pull herself a little closer to her girlfriend's face, Nene didn't account for how much pressure she was exerting. Rubbing against Umiko with so much force, both of them let out a strange sound as sensitive spots connected and reacted. And much like they shared the strange sound they shared the way they looked at each other with excitement clearly written on their faces.

This wasn't their first time – that had been over at Nene's place after a particularly exhausting evening and some alcohol on Umiko's side to loosen the inhibitions she still held. But since then they had only done it twice more.

Nene overreached and put both her hands on Umiko's throat, just below her chin, to keep her still while she put her passion to work – her own lips, lead by curiosity and unbridled passion, met with Umiko's, which were like unmoving gates of a fortress for a few short seconds before she responded with a much more clearly directed passion of her own.

Losing her spot on top after just a few seconds of kissing, because it was far too uncomfortable to stay there, Nene was now by Umiko's side, naked inside the sleeping bag, and while she kept the much taller girl busy with just here lips and nothing else, she tugged, pulled and shifted her girlfriend's underwear.

No matter how many times she tried, Umiko almost lost when it came to kissing – surprisingly both in technique and stamina. Panting, her chest rising noticeably beneath the cover, there was a dark blush on her face – and without giving her pause, Nene vanished below the covers and Umiko could hardly reach for the bag's rim in time before a thrilling sensation hit her chest.

Even within tents, the contest had a policy that participants could not be so loud that they disturbed other people. Umiko let go of the rim, covered her mouth and just barely suppressed a heavy combination of moan and gasp. Nene was a little crude in her approach but Umiko absolutely loved that. She was not the type to get off on pretty caressing or moving fingers over each other's skin. Throwing her head back, into the bag of clothes that was resting beneath the headpiece of the sleeping bag, Umiko was sure she had just felt Nene's teeth on her nipple.

Nene herself was more into wild sex than rough, but those two coincided a lot in bed. Crawling back on top of Umiko, Nene's head, her forehead covered in sweat already, popped out from the bag again, playfully biting into Umiko's shoulder. She didn't have a really good grip on what her girlfriend liked but rough, as Umiko had explained, was basically being a bit mean. And she could definitely do that!

Rubbing her shin between Umiko's legs for a little bit, Nene let her full body weight push her down on her partner, without supporting herself on the ground at all. And within seconds after that, the two rolled left and right in the sleeping bag, Umiko holding on tight to Nene, both of them fighting for superiority – to be on top. For Umiko this was just a farce, she gave Nene what she wanted. A wild experience.

Struggling side by side, Nene bit into Umiko's lower lip and pulled on it a little too hard and Umiko flinched. "Sorry. Was that too hard?"

"A little." Umiko licked the inside of her mouth and could taste blood. If I show her that, she's going to freak out. Licking her lips as lewdly as she could, Umiko grabbed Nene by her hair and shoved her inside the bag. "As punishment you'll-" Umiko's words, and breath, got lost along the way when Nene just continued full steam, not bothered in the least that she had slipped up just now. Biting, pinching and pulling on Umiko's breasts, the tanned girl retaliated purely on instinct. She didn't have enough composure left to really think about what to do; not anymore. Two of her nimble fingers vanished between Nene's legs in an instant.

Umiko could hear her moaning over her own noises and more so; through the sleeping bag. "Such a lewd girl. You should be testing R18 games instead."

Nene popped out of the sleeping bag again and Umiko lost track of where exactly her hips were. "Says the maso programmer."

"I enjoy a bit of force, not pain. Like so." Putting her arms around Nene's back instead, Umiko held on so tight that the breasts of both girls were pressed against each other so hard that they were flattened. Nene struggled against her, but at the end of the day, Umiko was just stronger.

Rolling over again, Nene was the bottom now and now there was no escape. Umiko had her pinned down, the two of them panting heavily – they had completely forgotten about the rule to not disturb other people. Her sports bra shoved so far up that was almost a scarf now, her panties lost somewhere around her right ankle and still Umiko didn't care. She showered with Nene, there was nothing to be embarrassed of now.

Biting Umiko's lip again the second she came close enough for a kiss, Nene felt the dark skinned girl shiver from top to bottom. She really likes that. Nibbling, almost playfully chewing, on Umiko's lip, Nene was glad that she had stopped a mere second before she felt something enter her her between her legs.

Their tug of war continued for several more minutes before Nene felt a massive bolt of electricity surge through her – Umiko had found her most pleasurable spot by complete accident and hit it really hard. Shaking and aching, Nene came while she was lying on top of Umiko, squirting all over her partner's stomach. "Uh… sorry…"

Licking her fingers, the very same that had just caused Nene to come, Umiko smirked. "I win."

"This was only round 1!" Nene felt a little weak in the knees but she wasn't going to let Umiko lord this over her tomorrow.

Before they could continue, someone knocked against the tent from outside. "Look, I can sympathize and stuff, but keep it down, okay? I'm not gonna call staff or anything, just dial it down a notch."

Umiko and Nene looked at each other for a long few seconds as they heard someone walk away. Then they picked up on where they had left off; adding non-stop kissing to their activities so their voices wouldn't leak out as much.

=== Chocolate & Vanilla ===

"Ah geez! I can't believe we lost!" Nene complained loudly as she stuffed her belongings into her big bag. "And we were so close, too!"

"Making it to the last day is pretty impressive for just the two of us." Umiko had already packed and was waiting for Nene to finish up so she could put the tent together. "I hope losing didn't make you regret coming here."

"I only lost the stupid game. I'm still the biggest winner here because I got to go home with you!"

"You want to come back here next year and have your revenge?"

"Yep! I mean, if you're taking me!"

"Who else would?"

"How rude! I bet I am like, super wanted on any team because I gave everyone a massive headache." Dragging her bag out of the tent, Nene looked down on herself. "What am I gonna do with these clothes though?"

"Wear them when we go to a game." Umiko started folding up the tent. "Can you get the tent bag?"

With no answer, Nene just did as Umiko asked. "I think I am good for a little while though. I wanna get through some games I've been hoarding!"

"Do you want me to come over to play?"

"You would?"

"Playing survival games alone, after this… it wouldn't be the same." Umiko felt a little disappointed with herself now. Was that all her love for survival games amounted to? Something that was overshadowed immediately by her love for Nene? I suppose that's fine. Survival games are my hobby, my obsession – but Nene is more than just my obsession. That I didn't even stop to consider who is more important to me – that I immediately knew it was Nene… that just tells me that there is nothing wrong with feeling this way; that it is okay for her to have taken the top spot.

Nene jumped on Umiko's back. "What'cha so deep in thought for?"

"I was just thinking how you need a lot more training so we can win next year."

"I'll bite you again!"

"You left a mark. I can still feel it."

"You liked it."

"I liked it when you were a bit rough. But you bit me hard enough to leave a mark that is still there after four days."

"Sorry."

"I'm not mad at you."

"Still! Sorry."

"You could apologize by getting off of me so I can finish putting our tent away."

"Yep." Doing as she was asked, Nene stood by and watched Umiko. "I got carried away with the biting."

"I never knew you were the type that is hung up on her mistakes."

"I'm not!" Nene kicked her feet on the green and looked mildly annoyed with herself. She messed up a lot, lots of little things. But biting Umiko hard enough to make her flinch so hard that she was thrown off – that was a fuck up so big that she still felt bad.

"Nene, sit on that for a moment."

Sitting down, cross-legged, on the tent, Nene turned with Umiko and watched her pull the zippers close. "I didn't know they had tents like this. It's super handy."

"I would have normally used the old tent I had. It's a second-hand army tent that was barely used. But it's smaller than this and I didn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Marry me."

"In a few years. Maybe." Umiko grinned and she found herself doing that a lot lately. Much, much more than she ever did without Nene in her life. "Grab your bag, we're done."

"Roger!"

Umiko and Nene didn't care to stay for the final results. A handful of teams, at most, were still fighting it out and Umiko had explained that they were all veteran teams. Nene didn't care about other teams to begin with and she really wanted a long, nice bath. Getting in Umiko's car, Nene felt exhaustion hit her like a steamroller.

I'm not gonna fall asleep! Just as she thought that, Nene yawned so loudly that it drowned out the starting engine of the car. "Home we go!"

"I am going home. You are going to be freeloading at your girlfriend's place." Umiko still liked to poke fun at Nene.

"Mean with a capital M!"

Driving back onto the road from the dirt parking lot, Umiko held on to the wheel with one hand and grabbed Nene's with her other. "This was the most fun I ever had."

"There you go again."

"I am not exaggerating."

Nene suddenly felt out of her depth. She was the honest one, the one that always spoke her mind and pried her feelings from the depths of her heart. "This is unfair."

"What is?"

"Being all touchy-feely with me!"

Umiko squeezed Nene's hand. "Don't be cruel. It's not easy for me to tell you how I feel."

"But..." Nene looked out the window. "I know how you feel. You don't have to put it in words, you know? I can tell from the way you smile and laugh. You bend over backwards to fit me into your life. And how things have changed between back when we first met and now. It was just Sakura-san constantly in that negative tone and now it's always Nene with that happy tone and a smile to go with it. I tell you how I feel because I'm kinda… you know."

"A whirlwind of emotion?"

"Hm." Nene stopped looking out of the window and turned right towards Umiko. "I don't look the part but I'm good at telling how people feel! I could tell how Aocchi feels about Hifumin, too."

"Even if I don't have to say it, I wanted to."

"I don't know how to react to that."

"That's fine. In fact, it is kinda cute how honest and lost you are when I say it."

"You're bullying me again!"

The car slowed down and finally came to a full stop. Umiko leaned to the side and pulled Nene by her hand, the two of them sharing a brief kiss, an escape from the reality around them. The setting sun was shining red and fiery through the window, throwing shadows on their faces as the two opened their eyes and looking at each other up close.

=== Chocolate & Vanilla ===

It had been six weeks since the unending grind of work and responsibility had returned them to their normal, mundane lives. Or at the very least what passed as such for two women like them. Nene didn't flinch, or even pay attention, to the rattling of the lock being turned. There was only one person that had a key to her flat and that person was always welcome, at any time of day or night. Hearing the door shut after being opened, Nene hit pause and looked up. "Umi-chan!"

The dark skinned programmer stood there at the entrance, taking off her shoes, holding two different bags. One was the very same one she always brought to work and the other was unmistakably just from a convenience store. "No pudding for you."

"I take it back, I take it back!" Leaping to her feet, Nene ran over to her guest. "I thought you were going to work overtime tonight?"

"Someone covered for me." Umiko left her shoes and walked past Nene, quickly taking the frozen goods to the fridge. "Because today is a special day."

"Huh? I am pretty darn good about dates and stuff! I know it's not your birthday and it isn't my birthday and we're still way off from having the anniversary of going out."

"I checked because I was not sure but today was the day you came to Eaglejump."

"It's like I'm a Shoujo-novel." Grabbing her partner's arm, Nene pulled her in. She still had to stand on her toes to kiss her when they both stood next to each other, and she was positively awful with high heels, but she didn't mind, not anymore.

"So I shouldn't have brought pudding?"

"Pudding is always welcome!" Nene opened the fridge and Umiko bonked her on the head with not a moment to spare. "Hey!"

"That is desert. What about dinner?"

"But I wanna have pudding for dinner, too!"

"Denied." Umiko shoved the fridge close, not without spotting that there were six brand new cans of the alcoholic soft drink she had recently come to enjoy. Going through Nene's cupboard in expert fashion, knowing where everything was without having to ask or look, Umiko put everything together to make fried rice. She wasn't a great cook, not by any metric, but she was getting better, little by little. "How is work?"

"A drag." Nene was completely blunt over how she felt about the game she was testing. "I really wanna quit but then everyone will say I'm just lazy and picky and what not."

"What's so bad about it?" Turning on the small stove, Umiko put her hair quickly into a ponytail. She avoided doing that most of the time because Nene liked that look a little too much and would never simmer down, no matter how sharp her Sakura-san got.

"That's the thing; nothing. It's just kind of really bland and recycled. I don't like FPS that much to begin with and this game is not… it's not bad. But it's also not good. It's almost offensive how inoffensive it is."

"It's the upcoming world war two entry in the Call of Duty series, right?"

"Bullseye." Nene paused and then giggled. "Oh, get it? Because-"

"Don't pretend you made that pun on purpose." Raising her voice to reach Nene over the sizzling of the oil in the frying pan, Umiko briefly stepped away and took a look at Nene's beta version. "I see they still have that good old bug where everything about a soldier is invisible but the teeth and the eyes."

"I don't get how that's still a thing." Nene picked up the controller. "I played through this section probably like fifty times already and I still can't reliably cause it to happen."

"A game beyond the understanding of Sakura Nene." Umiko smiled a little and returned to the stove. "Is the pay good?"

"So-so. I made a lot more testing for Square."

"Even though it's Activision?"

"Nah, the beta testing is actually handled by the developers for some reason and their budget didn't give them a lot of leeway. I mean, they didn't even have the space to let us come in and test on-site."

"I'm glad. I wouldn't want you to be stolen by another company. Food's gonna be ready in a few minutes. Can you get some dishes and spoons?"

"Without you I'd just eat pudding all day."

"You'd be perfectly square then."

"Wow, that's mean! I'm not that short! And my enormous brain eats up all those calories anyway!"

"Enormous, hm? Your confidence certainly is."

Nene walked past Umiko and then stood next to her. She didn't even have to say anything to communicate. Umiko took a step to the side and let Nene open the cupboard and take out two dishes. "Are you staying the night?"

"Do I ever not when I come over?"

"I'm irresistible so of course you always stay." Carrying the dishes to the low table next to her bed, Nene realized she had forgotten the spoons. "How is work for you?"

"A lot of stress. It's different to the last minutes changes we had with Sophia's game. We switched engines so we have to create a lot of stuff from scratch. That friend of yours in the animation team is struggling to get used to the new routines."

"Hajime?"

"Yes, her."

"She'll be fine." Grabbing spoons from the cupboard next to where the dishes were, Nene felt her mouth water. "Maybe fried rice is almost as good as pudding."

"You say that every time. But what is it with your obsession over pudding lately?"

"It's the fault of that RPG I played after we got back from the Eisenkreuz games."

"You really are influenced so easily." Turning off the stove, Umiko didn't have to say much. "Nene."

"Two orders of fried rice, coming right up!"

"You're the one eating, though. I made it."

"Don't be stingy!"

"Stingy? Well, I suppose these are your ingredient- wait a second, didn't I bring the onions and the rice with me on the weekend?" Despite their playful bickering, Umiko scooped up the rice with excellence and divided it neatly into two portions. She was a lot taller than Nene, but Nene's stomach was as big as her mouth was.

Talking with her mouth full, Nene didn't wait to sit back down at the table to eat. "Hm? I guess?" Heading to the table, closely followed by her girlfriend, Nene sat down and happily ignored the game on pause.

"You're so carefree." Umiko couldn't hold it against her.

"Say, when is Eaglejump gonna hire testers for the next game?"

"In two months, but I'm not on that project."

"I could come over!"

"Why do I have this strange feeling of deja vu?"

"I dunno."

"Nene… you did the exact same thing with Suzukaze when you first worked at Eaglejump. That's why I had to relocate you to keep an eye on you."

"Oh. Yeah."

"That's all? You're not going to deny you did that or tell me you wouldn't abandon your post to come see me?"

"Definitely did and definitely would." Stuffed her mouth until she resembled a starved hamster, Nene jumped up and ran to the fridge. Not to get pudding, not yet, but something to drink. Saying completely unintelligible things, she held a bottle of water in hand and kept the fridge open.

"Sure. And thank you for buying them."

More unintelligible nonsense followed and Nene brought with her a can of the soft drink that Umiko liked. Emptying half the bottle in one go, Nene gasped in relief and joy. "That was really good." Showing Umiko one thumbs up, Nene reconsidered and made it two. "Five stars!"

"So one thumbs up is two and a half stars? That sure gives me a new perspective on game reviews."

"Don't tell anyone. It's a secret to everyone."

"I recognize that quote."

Nene put her index finger to her lips. "Ssh. Don't tell anyone. It's-"

"Are you done with work for today?"

Reality caught back up with Nene and she felt the wind taken from her sails. "I really ought to at least find a way to trigger that bug all the time. But eh…" Crawling around the corner of the table, Nene threw herself flat on Umiko's lap, lying there. "I wanna spend time with you instead."

"I won't be good for much. You probably think I still look pretty fit, but the moment I close my eyes I am going to fall asleep."

"Aw." Nene turned over and looked up at Umiko. "We can turn in early if you want."

"With your work unfinished?"

"They didn't fix that bug across like five games. They probably don't care anymore."

"That's not very professional of you."

"My job as your girlfriend comes first!"

"I can't argue with that." Poking Nene's nose, Umiko smiled over how cute she was. "You actually managed to eat without getting any on your face, I'm impressed."

"Boo. This is a Nene bully free zone."

"It's a compliment."

Both of them started to chuckle at the same time because of how silly their conversation had turned. Nene rolled off her partner's lap and proceeded to grab the empty dishes before taking them to the sink. "You've been coming over way more than I go to your place."

"Does that bother you?"

"You have a car and I don't, so not really. But you always take your clothes back home! You didn't even notice I cleaned out part of my closet for you!"

She's so cute. "You want me to keep clothes at your place?"

"Yeah! That's what couples do, right?"

"I'll bring some next time." Standing up, and sneaking up behind Nene, Umiko bend over so far that she could put the girl within her embrace. "No strange doings with my clothes."

"As if I'd do that. Stupid dark elf."

"I am not going to cosplay Pirotess."

"Crud."

"You really are influenced easily." Umiko couldn't help herself but let out a yawn. "Sorry. It looks like I'm more tired than I thought."

"I wish I could come to work with you tomorrow. Instead I'm stuck here playing Blandus McShooter World War two edition."

"Think of it as image training for survival games."

"Survival games where convenient cover is everywhere, everything constantly explodes, one person mows down hundreds of people, heals away bullets like they are cotton candy and-"

Covering Nene's mouth, Umiko instantly got her to shut up. "You'll hate playing it even more if you keep thinking about it like that."

"If I could hate it, that'd be something! It's like playing stale soup simulator."

"Someday that is going to exist. Most likely somewhere in the west, on that PC games platform."

"With 6 million yen of DLC!"

"So many soup variants."

Both of them laughed again and Umiko finally separated from Nene, just as she felt a second yawn come on. Heading for the small bathroom, Umiko was pleasantly surprised to find a second brush, a slick mahogany color. She even bought a brush for me. She's just like when we started going out. Pushy and definitely rushing into things. Brushing her teeth, and walking out of the bath while she was at it, she saw Nene turn off the console. "Done?"

"I don't wanna ruin my night with you."

Finishing up preparations to go to sleep, something she usually skipped through at her own place, Umiko stripped on her way to Nene's bed and left her clothes simply on the floor. Nene was surprisingly clean and neat with her place, so she could just do that. Crawling into bed while Nene was in the bathroom, Umiko almost immediately felt overwhelmed by the pillow smelling so much like Nene. It's kinda… sweet.

When Nene almost jumped into bed, she found Umiko sound asleep, breathing lightly and peacefully, clutching the pillow from below. She still had her hair in a ponytail and Nene carefully reached over her and pulled the hair tie out. Lying down next to her girlfriend, Nene didn't attempt to do anything to her. No clingy hugging, no kissing. She just let her sleep. And soon enough, she too was sound asleep.

=== Save data for NG+? ===

Ending Note: I feel that unless there is some extraordinary demand for more of this storyline specifically, it could stand easily on its own and be finished. Even if there is more demand of Umiko x Nene, I feel a new storyline might work better.