Ram was ecstatic. She was flying around and running around and telling everyone she knew the good news. She also may have rubbed it in Nepgear's face — but just a little! — when it had gotten time to tell her about this awesome news that she had. How could she not be a little cocky? She had been told something amazing — no, better than amazing! She didn't know what the word for that was, but whatever word there was for such a thing, this was definitely that word!

Earlier, Ram had learned that today marked the start of the greatest holiday ever. It was unlike any holiday she had ever heard of in all her life ever ever. She didn't know how it was celebrated or what anyone did during it, but quite frankly, she really just did not care. With what the holiday was, she just knew it was the best! It was like looking at the cover of a new game and knowing that it was gonna be the best one you've ever played! It was like watching the opening to a new TV show and knowing it was gonna be so great!

Ram was so excited!

She still couldn't believe she'd never heard of this amazing holiday before. How could such a magical, magnificent holiday have escaped her knowledge for so long? Had everyone been trying to hide it from her? Was that it? She would totally get it if that was why. It wasn't just the best holiday in the wild world, after all...

It was a holiday that lasted a whole year.

Who wouldn't love a holiday like that? Who wouldn't be jumping for joy? Have you ever heard of such an incredibly holiday? Bet not!

But hold on, because it got so much better. It wasn't just a year long holiday. If it was just a year long holiday, Ram would still be happy, but that was only just the beginning of the festivities.

It was a year long holiday about her.

It was her year.

This holiday... This year... It was the year of Ram.

Blanc pinched the bridge of her nose as she watched Ram run down the hall for the tenth, maybe twentieth time, cheering excitedly as she past. Rom was hurriedly following after her, an array of decorations clumsily stuffed in her arms (probably by her sister), with some tumbling out of them as she went. Behind the twins was little Peashy, visiting from the other dimension. She had an armful of stuffed dolls in the shape of Ram in her arms, and was doing her best to keep hold of them while still keeping up with the twins. Plutia had been with Peashy at some point, but it seemed like she had fallen asleep somewhere about an hour ago after Ram's fifth lap around the Basilicom's enormous halls celebrating her holiday. At the end of this train came Nepgear and Uni, looking torn between amusement and exasperation.

That was fine. Blanc was allllll ready to be exasperated for everybody if those two weren't willing to go all out.

She didn't know what her sister was imagining in that little head of hers, but she was sorely tempted to stop this before it got out of hand.

"So am I gonna have to be the one that has to tell her that this is the year of the ram? Like... the animal?" Turning away from the hallway, Blanc looked to the other three CPUs. Their reactions had not been helping any. Neptune and Vert thought it was cute (though Neptune also thought it was funny), and while Noire seemed to share the sentiment, she seemed much more happy to know that Uni was smart enough not to make this mistake in the first place. "I'm not the moron that didn't make it clear to her in the first place."

Neptune and Vert pointedly looked in opposite directions, the former sniggering and the latter smiling sheepishly at the wall. From Neptune's side, Noire couldn't help but sigh. The brunette at the other end of the table looked like she was going to explode any minute... This probably would be a bit of a pain for Blanc if it lasted to too long, wouldn't it?

"She probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference, right?" Noire turned Blanc's attention away from the two CPUs who had inadvertently caused this catastrophe, instead trying to fight the battle with good, old fashioned logic. "No, that would feed her ego. Then it's not just the year of Ram, it's the year of the Ram. She might go around talking in third person — 'The Ram wants dinner!, The Ram wants cookies!'... that kind of thing."

As soon as Noire spoke, Vert slapped a hand over her mouth to cover the "kyaaa!" that had come up at the mental image of a little Overlord Ram running around. Even Neptune gave her a look that time, but she paid them no mind.

"I guess..." Shaking her head, Blanc sunk into her seat. It was easy for them to talk about this — they didn't have to live with this potential headache. Still... Maybe she was overthinking it? "I just hope she forgets before they start officially celebrating this thing. It doesn't really start for another few months, right? Maybe I'll get her and Rom a couple new games or something so they have a way to pass the time before it gets in gear. Crazy lunar calendars..."

"Awww, come on Blanc, what's the harm? Let her have her fun." For her part, Neptune didn't see what the big deal was. She'd love to have a holiday named after her! Even if it turned out she'd totally been wrong about it, she was sure the fun she'd have leading up to it would be worth it. "It's not like she'll keep this up all year, right? She's a kid, she'll get bored in a week. She might not even make it that long. You'll see."

After a moment, Blanc shrugged. She supposed Neptune was probably right. Noire too... It wasn't going to be that bad. How could it? This was just one little girl they were talking about here...

It wasn't like this was the prologue to a collection of short stories about Ram that was going to last an entire year or anything, right?

If they only knew. Oh, if they only knew.