Drakengard & NieR One-shots

NieR: Gestalt | Nier & Yonah | The End of the Dragon Sphere

The End of the Dragon Sphere       

Nier and Yonah go eat some ice cream and have a good time before the events of NieR: Gestalt.

☘️

June 12, 2003, 14:30

The heat of the day was unbearable. Spring had left, the pollen had settled, only for the glaring sun to take its place. All sorts of people were busily crossing the streets of Shinjuku, and despite it being smack-bang in the middle of Thursday, both businessmen and students alike could be seen strolling the streets. There were parents with their children walking down the city lanes, as the young schoolkids were luckily enough to have a pupil-free day. Amongst the throng of rushing people, there existed two particularly important wanderers; a father in his late thirties and a daughter around the age of ten. The young girl gripped the older man's hand tightly, not wanting to get separated in the surprisingly large crowd of people.

"Daaaaad," she whined, looking up at his sweating face, "how long until we're at the ice cream place?"

"Don't worry, Yonah. It's not much farther from here," he replied, squeezing Yonah's hand. The small girl squeezed it back, bringing a smile to both their faces. They were both uncomfortably sweaty, yet it wasn't as hot as they both made it out to be—but 24° can feel like 50° when surrounded by so many other people. It actually surprised both the father and his daughter to see so many of Shinjuku's citizens out on a Thursday; after all, Thursday just didn't seem like a popular 'let's-go-out-and-have-fun' kind of day. Mayhap it was due to the pupil-free day at Yonah's school, but it didn't explain all the young adults and office workers roaming the city roads. Whilst the grey-haired father was lost thinking about how unusual the whole situation was, he felt Yonah falling slowly behind. He stopped and turned to face her, hearing heavy breaths escape her lips.

"Sorry, dad..." she panted, bent over with her hands resting on her knees, trying to regain her composure. "I'm coming... Just a sec..." Her dad furrowed his brows at how hard Yonah was struggling; he loathed to see her in any form of discomfort in the first place. It appeared that her seasonal hay fever hadn't quite left her system, leaving her breathless and vulnerable to an asthma attack if she were to overexert herself. The silver-haired man knelt in front of his tiny daughter, holding her other hand with his free one.

"How about a piggyback?" He smiled, and Yonah returned his smile with a pained one of her own.

"Aren't I too old for that now?" She laughed, quickly gasping for breath after her small chuckle came to a close. Her father simply shook his head.

"You're never too old for a piggyback, Yonah. Hop on!" He spoke enthusiastically, letting go of the girl's hands and turning around to allow the young girl to climb on top. She grinned, climbing and clinging onto her loving father's back with sweaty palms. All through that moment, everyone in the crowd had dodged them, and the middle aged man stood up to go with the flow of sidewalk traffic. Yonah rested her chin on the older man's head, whistling as she gazed at the people all around her. She could see far ahead now, no longer blocked by the torsos of the sea of people due to her height. She loved being able to see what her father could, and she just loved his piggyback rides in general. As she let her arms hang over his broad shoulders, she decided to ask a question she had been thinking about for a while.

"Hey, Dad," she started, receiving a short 'hm?' from the person below her, "Why are we going to an ice cream shop so far away?"

"Well, the place we're going to was your mum's favourite," he replied, eyes softening at the thought of his long gone wife, "and they've actually got some really nice ice cream. I reckon it's my favourite place, too." Yonah let out a long 'ooo' at the mention of it being her mother's favourite ice cream place, raising her chin from atop the greying man's head to get a better look of her surroundings.