Narrator:It's now day two of Nikolai's counseling sessions, and he decided to go in for another one already. Let's see what the next session has in store for him.

*Nikolai woke up the next day, and headed straight to the rehabilitation center*

Nikolai(mind):The faster I get this done, the faster I can hang out with the other girls.

*He greeted Mana, who was surprised that he came back*

Mana:"You're back?"

Nikolai:"It's only been one session, and I'm not quitting that easily."

Mana:"Alright then. Take this."

*Mana handed him an earpiece, and Nikolai put it in his left ear*

Mana:"This session isn't going to be monitored. This will act as a communication device, radio for help if anything bad happens. Understood?"

Nikolai:"Of course."

*Mana nodded, and Nikolai headed into the counseling room. Once he entered the room, he couldn't find Quency anywhere again*

Nikolai:"Not this time!"

*Nikolai quickly turned around, but didn't find her*

Nikolai(mind):Huh...so she's really gone? Maybe she escaped somehow. Where could she even get out?

*Nikolai searched every inch of the room, and found a tunnel behind a curtain hidden on the wall*

Nikolai(mind):Gotcha! You can't hide your tunnels from me!

*Nikolai entered the tunnel, and noticed it took multiple paths. Nikolai attempted every path there was, but couldn't find Quency. He was about to head back after his final path took him to the back alleys somewhere in the city*

Nikolai(mind):Where am I now?

*Nikolai heard two people talking further down the alley, and noticed Quency was talking to a suspicious person*

Quency:"Alright, see you."

Man:"Thank you for your business, Quency."

Quency:"Always a pleasure."

*Quency turned around, and headed back to the tunnels. She then noticed Nikolai standing right outside the tunnel, and sighed*

Quency:"Ugh...you seriously came back for another session? Better yet, you searched for me?"

Nikolai:"Yeah, and I've got something to say about this tunnels."

Quency:"What? You got a problem with them?"

Nikolai:"No, not at all."

Quency:"Relax dude, I didn't mean to be hostile."

Nikolai:"I know, you're not hostile at all. I was only going to ask why you set them up so I could find them."

Quency:"So you could find them? Are you questioning my escape artist skills-"

Nikolai:"I know you made it easy to spot for anyone who searches the room. My question is why'd you make it that easy?"

Quency:"Ugh...why would I tell a counselor that?"

Nikolai:"I think you're unaware of what my role here is."

Quency:"To monitor me."

Nikolai:"To free you. I'm here to help you so that you can be free."

Quency:"Heh, why would I need you to be free? I could easily leave you behind."

Nikolai:"But you didn't, you left the tunnel there for me to look for you."

Quency:"..."

Nikolai:"Am I wrong?"

Quency:"...Fine, you got me. I did leave the tunnel there, and made it it noticeable enough for you to find it."

Nikolai:"I want to know why you did that, and I want the truth."

Quency:"Ugh...I wanted to test you. See if you would actually got looking for me."

Nikolai:"Why? Didn't my speech yesterday clarify that I'm not giving up on you until you're free?"

Quency:"I...never mind. Forget it, I don't wanna talk about it."

Nikolai:"...You've done this before, haven't you?"

Quency:"Huh?! What do you know-"

Nikolai:"I'm only assuming here, but you've done this with another counselor before. That counselor promised to help you, you made a tunnel in the counseling room, and he went to go look for you. If you were testing me, I'm guessing the other counselor who passed the test...was the one who succeeded in your rehabilitation, that commander."

Quency:"Jeez...all that from a mere test? I just wanted to see if you were gullible enough to actually go and find me."

Nikolai:"Sure, you keep telling yourself that...I don't think you even believe it."

Quency:"Ugh...fine, fine! You're right, there, happy? Now you can leave for the day."

Nikolai:"Why? We haven't had our session yet?"

Quency:"Yeah...about that, we shouldn't really have it here."

Nikolai:"Oh, yeah. You're right."

Quency:"And also...oh, look! Your shoes untied!"

Nikolai:"Huh?"

*Nikolai looked down at his shoes and looked back up, only to see that Quency has disappeared*

Nikolai."What?! Oh, come on!"

Nikolai(mind):How did I even fall for that? My shoes don't even have laces! I guess she just doesn't want to do a session today then.

*Nikolai gave up, and headed back through the tunnel. He exited the counseling room.*

Mana:"What do you have to report, Commander Nikolai?"

Nikolai:"I got as far as I could get today. She didn't want to talk anymore, so I let her be."

Mana:"I see, thank you for your work today."

Nikolai:"No problem. now I'll be taking my leave."

Nikolai(mind):Now that I finished that, and it's about lunchtime, I think I'll visit the girls at the hospital.

*Nikolai walked over to the hospital, and greeted the pink haired girl from yesterday*

Nikolai:"Hello, again!"

???:"Ah, you must be here to see Anis again, right?"

Nikolai:"Correct, is she still here?"

???:"Yes, she is. She's also getting discharged today, she's been healthy and lively all morning."

Nikolai:"Really? That's great! I'm relieved to hear that."

???:"You really care about her, huh?"

Nikolai:"Well, yeah. She's my friend."

???:"A commander who's friends with his Nikke..."

Nikolai:"Huh? Is something wrong?"

???:"Oh, nothing. I just admire your gentleness, sir."

Nikolai:"You can call me Nikolai."

???:"I'm Pepper. Nice to meet you, Nikolai."

*Pepper brightly smiled at Nikolai*

Nikolai:"Well, I'm going to visit Anis now."

Pepper:"Oh, right. You're free to go, have fun."

Nikolai:"Thank you so much!"

*Nikolai walked through the halls, and made it to Anis's room. He opened the door, and saw her moving around her hospital room. Next to her bed was a bunch of soda cans*

Nikolai:"I can see why the nurse said you were so lively this morning. This much soda in the morning would make anyone get up and running."

Anis:"Oh, hey Nikolai. Don't tell me that you came to take me home, did you?"

Nikolai:"Nope, just visiting."

Anis:"I see...well, make yourself at home."

*Nikolai entered Anis's hospital room, and watched Anis pull out another can of soda from a mini fridge*

Nikolai(mind):Dang, she really had everything in this hospital.

Nikolai:"So? You feel better?"

Anis:"I told you that Nikke don't feel pain. But I do feel better, thanks."

Nikolai:"I'm happy to hear that."

*Anis was taken aback from Nikolai's concern, then made a smug expression*

Anis:"Well now...you weren't worried about me, were you?"

Nikolai:"Of course I was. What would I do without you?"

Anis:"T-That's not what I mean. Jeez...you have such a childish personality."

Nikolai:"Is that bad?"

Anis:"In some cases, yes. But...I guess it isn't bad for now."

Nikolai:"Alright then, I was thinking when you get discharged, you wanna have dinner with me?"

Anis:"N-Nikolai...are you...asking me on a date?"

*Anis tried to make another smug expression, but was falling apart due to shock*

Nikolai:"Yep, you, me, and the rest of the squad."

Anis:"Oh, right..."

Nikolai:"I haven't had dinner with you girls yet, so I hope you'll join us! I need to go tell the others right now."

Anis:"Of course, I'll be there."

Nikolai:"Great, then I'll see you later!"

Anis:"Yep, see ya."

*Nikolai left the hospital room, and headed back to his dorm*

Narrator:So Nikolai now has a date with the members of the Counters squad. We'll see that next time, so stay tuned for the next episode.

Hey bros, it's me, the author! I almost forgot about the author's note before posting, so thank goodness I remembered. Anyway, I started cried at the new event in the game. I didn't think there was going to be lore for a low rarity Nikke, but I guess they deserve a backstory too. However, that's all I've done in the game so far, I still haven't finished Quency's rehabilitation, so I probably won't make any progress it in this story until I complete it in-game. Now here's the meme of the week:

Only for Diesel! Anyway, see you guys next time!