Friday, 2:46pm.

Asahi was on the couch in his living room, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with his backpack beside him.

He was holding Kanin in his arms, stroking his fur. “Kanin, do you want a space that is just yours in our home? Like I have my bedroom for example.”

Kanin lowered his little head, and thought about it for ten seconds or so, then looked at Asahi. < Not right now. I want to learn more about what I like and who I am as a person first, but thank you for asking. >

Asahi smiled. “Alright. When you’re ready, just say the word and we’ll make it happen.”

Kanin nodded. < Okay, I will. >

 Asahi picked him up and embraced him. “I’m gonna miss you, but I’m glad that you chose to stay. That way you can have fun instead of pretending to be a pet the whole time.”

Kanin rubbed his head on Asahi’s chest. < I’ll miss you too. Fumiko and Mayumi as well. >

Asahi patted Kanin’s head. “Soon, Thea and Trish will be arriving, so you’ll have five friends to keep you company.”

Kanin wagged his tail.

When Asahi mentioned that Kanin was staying Thea and Trish immediately offered to keep him company. It wasn’t just because of that though, they also wanted to properly get to know Amaya, Ryota and Setsuko.

Asahi lifted Kanin a bit higher and gave him a few kisses. “When I come back, we can do anything you want.”

Kanin rubbed his head on Asahi’s cheek, giving it a couple licks. < Yay! I’ll think about what I want while you’re gone then. >

“Just keep in mind that if what you want to do involves other people besides me, it might not happen right away, okay?”

Kanin nodded. < It’s okay, I can wait. >

Asahi gave him a couple kisses. “You’re such a good child.”

While he did that, Mayumi walked into the living room wearing jeans and a hoodie, with her backpack filled with clothes for the weekend.

She put her backpack on the floor and sat beside Asahi. “Can I get in on the kisses?”

Asahi gave her a light kiss, then handed Kanin over to her.

As soon as he did that, Aurora spoke.

– Thea and Trish have arrived. I already let them in. –

Asahi nodded. “Thanks Aurora.”

– You are welcome. –

He got up and walked to the front door, already sensing the presence of Thea and Trish in the elevator, opening the door to wait for them.

They got out of the elevator wearing light dresses, with their hair loose and a backpack on their backs, chatting with bright smiles on their faces.

He looked at them and smiled.

They greeted each other with a hug, a kiss on the cheek for Thea, and a light kiss for Trish.

Thea lightly slapped his chest. “When are you going to show me your new car?”

He chortled. “I don’t think you’d like it. It has all the cheats, to the point that I don’t even need to drive it.”

Thea frowned. “Boo. And here I was hoping that I was going to teach you how to drive it properly.”

He patted her head. “We can do that. I can just ask Aurora to put some limitations on it.”

Thea smiled brightly. “Yay! It’s a promise, no take backs.”

Trish chuckled, wrapping her arm around Thea as they entered.

Inside, Kanin was covered with kisses by Thea and Trish, happily wagging his tail.

They chatted for ten minutes or so, until Fumiko finished her work.

Fumiko left her room wearing jeans and a t-shirt, with a backpack on her back.

She smiled as she looked at Kanin, who was on Thea’s lap, having his fur stroked. “I’m ready.”

She then greeted Thea and Trish with a kiss on the cheek, and gave Kanin a goodbye kiss as well.

After they said their goodbyes, they left to the underground parking lot.

 

In the parking lot, they stood in front of a dark-red high-end sedan with tinted windows. It looked quite expensive, but nothing like a supercar.

Mayumi furrowed her brow. “Surprisingly inconspicuous, given what it’s capable of.”

Asahi smiled. “At first glance, yeah.”

When he said that, the doors on the passenger side opened. Each of them opened vertically, then folded on top of the roof, like wings.

The passenger seat was turned backwards, facing the backseat.

Fumiko guffawed. “Very inconspicuous. Is Aurora going to drive?”

Asahi nodded. “Yeah. I’d like to spend this time just talking to you both. We’ve been so busy lately, that almost all we do just the three of us is have sex. Don’t get me wrong, the sex is great, but I want some time with my friends too.”

Mayumi hugged him. “I know, I miss just casually talking to the two of you as well.”

Fumiko joined in on the hug. “When the semester is over, how about we go on a trip?”

Asahi kissed the top of Fumiko’s head, and Mayumi’s cheek. “I was thinking that we could go on a couple trips. One just the three of us, and another one with everyone.”

Mayumi’s eyes sparkled, like she had an idea. “There is probably a beach somewhere for powered people, we could take Kanin there, so he could have fun in the sand.”

Fumiko nodded. “That would be great. For ours, I was thinking about something more intimate, where we could relax and enjoy each other’s company.”

Asahi smiled. “I’m down for both of those things.”

They let go of the hug, put their backpacks in the trunk, then got into the car, with Asahi on the passenger’s seat and the girls on the backseat.

As the doors close, Asahi spoke. “Aurora, please drive us to Fumiko’s home in Toyama, and give us some faint background music as well.”

­– As you wish. –

He then looked at the girls. “Beverages?”

Mayumi raised her hand. “Neapolitan milk shake, a big one.”

Fumiko chuckled. “I’ll have a chocolate one with caramel then.”

From a structure between the front seats, a tray with four cupholders rose and extended itself. Two large milkshakes appeared on it.

A third one appeared on Asahi’s hand as the girls started to drink theirs.

The ride was so smooth, that they couldn’t feel a single vibration from the car. It was like they were relaxing on their living room.

Fumiko looked at Asahi with a pensive expression. “Have you decided how exactly you’re going to start to do more with the System? Aside from the things you intend to hand to the minister that is.”

He nodded. “It can’t be all at once, and I don’t want to touch the TS or the Consortium for now, but I’ll have Aurora do a sweep in the entire world, and find all the criminals that haven’t been convicted for their crimes. She’ll send the proof to the proper non-corrupt authorities, so they can handle it. We’ll start with crimes against children, then expand from that. Of course, the whole process will have a lot of steps and nuances that I don’t know and/or understand. It’ll be done in a way that doesn’t cause chaos in the world.”

Mayumi’s eyes widened. “That’s huge.”

“Like I said before, I myself won’t really be doing anything. Aurora and the System get all the credit for this one. My only merit here is that I’ll ask them to do it. Also, she’s not gonna go after someone who pirated a video game, or stole some bread to feed their family. Actual criminals only.”

Fumiko smiled. “What really matters is that it gets done. I can’t wait to see what the world will look like in a couple of years, when it starts to sink in that there is a seemingly omniscient entity catching criminals. I assume that you’ll leave the TS and the Consortium for when they pose no threat to you, or those close to you.”

He nodded. “Yup. When I can crush them with a snap of my fingers, then I’ll tell Aurora to start a deep cleanse.”

Mayumi chuckled. “You’re really starting to sound like an anime protagonist.”

He chortled. “Hopefully one of the decently written ones, at the very least.” He then looked at Fumiko. “Changing the subject, how is your masters going? You’ve been working quite a lot lately.”

Fumiko grinned. “And there is a really good reason for that. I might actually finish everything this semester.”

Both Asahi’s and Mayumi’s eyes widened as their mouths went agape.

Asahi blinked, trying to process the information. “Like in completely done with your masters?”

Fumiko took a big sip from her milkshake. “Yup. You know those bright lightbulb type of moments? I had quite a few since school started. My professor had the same reaction as the two of you”

Mayumi looked at her with a quizzical expression. “Are you gonna pursue a PhD right away?”

Fumiko laughed. “Fuck no. I’m going to relax for at least a year before even thinking about that.” She then displayed a gentle smile. “Actually, I might have if I hadn’t met the two of you, and now Kanin. The thing is, I don’t have a grand plan or anything. I just enjoy encryption, that’s all. I already have quite a lot of money, and I don’t really need to work for the next few years. I know that you guys will be busy even after I finish my masters, but meeting you made me want to enjoy life more.”

Mayumi kissed her cheek. “I feel the same way.”

Asahi smiled. “Kanin will be thrilled.”

Fumiko sighed. “Speaking of Kanin, I feel like I’m going to go through withdrawal symptoms for not hugging him until Sunday.”

Mayumi chuckled. “I know, right? He feels like a super intelligent but child-like friend in the body of the cutest animal ever. I don’t think it’s possible to not adore that little cutie.”

Asahi looked out the window, then back at the girls again. “The thought of not doing the ritual until I talked to the two of you crossed my mind, but it went away as fast as it came. The System probably already accounted for your consent when they told me to do it. Does that bother either of you at all?”

Mayumi shook her head. “Of course not. I actually trust the System 100%, and it’s not blind faith, but pragmatism. First of all, it doesn’t make sense for a cosmic entity to just appear to mess with us for nothing, we’re nobodies in that scale. That would just be a poorly written story. Also, if such an entity wished us harm, or to deceive us, what could we possibly do?  For our own sanity it’s just better to trust them.”

Fumiko guffawed. “That sounds like something that I would say, but yes, I completely agree.”

Asahi smiled, nodding. “Yeah, that was pretty much my mindset from the get go. On a completely different subject, do you guys have any ideas for our trip?”

They spent the rest of the ride talking about what they could do during summer break.

 

Close to five hours later, they arrived in front of a large walled two-story house in an upper-middle class in Toyama.

Mayumi whistled. “Fancy.”

Fumiko chortled. “I guess I never mentioned how successful their store was.”

Asahi teleported to the driver’s seat. “They never wanted to open some branches in other cities?”

Fumiko shook her head, using the remote to open the gate. “Nope. They’d be way too busy to have time for me and my siblings, and for each other as well.”

Asahi smiled. “They seem like great parents.”

Fumiko smiled brightly. “I can say that I have no complaints whatsoever.”

Inside, there was a three-car garage, with only a silver SUV parked in the middle spot.

Fumiko pointed to the spot on the right. “You can park there.”

After parking, they got out of the car and picked up their backpacks from the trunk.

As they were doing so, the door that went directly from the garage to the house opened.

A woman that was the spitting image of Fumiko, only looking a decade or so older came out. Although she was in her forties, Nishimura Kasumi seemed to be at most in her early thirties. She wore casual clothes, and her long and silky hair was tied in a ponytail.

Kasumi smiled brightly. “Hi, I’m Miko-chan’s mom, Kasumi. It’s really nice to finally meet you both.”

Asahi smiled. “Likewise.”

Mayumi smiled. “Nice to meet you too.”

Kasumi looked at them, seeming to have a million questions in her mind. “You’re both even more beautiful in person. Let’s go inside, Keisuke and Tomoe are playing video games in the living room, and your dad is at the store doing inventory.”

Asahi and Mayumi both displayed a light blush, but only Mayumi replied. “Thanks.”

Kasumi gave Fumiko a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek before leading them inside.

As soon as they arrived at the spacious living room, they saw two teenagers playing a party game on a big TV.

A sixteen-year-old girl that looked a lot like Fumiko, but slenderer and a bit taller. She wore booty-shorts and a video game t-shirt, which matched her long dark-purple hair.

The boy was around 1.7m tall, seemed to be really in shape, had short hair and a somewhat handsome face. He wore shorts and a plain shirt.

Fumiko smiled. “Bad move Kei-chan, you’ll lose in two rounds.”

The siblings paused the game and turned to look at them.

Keisuke was the first to speak. “Hi, I’m Keisuke. I feel like I’m already acquainted with both of you, since Miko-nee talked so much about you already.”

Tomoe chortled, with a light blush on her face. “I know, right? I’m Tomoe, nice to meet you. Do you wanna play with us?”

Mayumi chuckled. “Hi, of course we do.”

Fumiko interjected. “But first, we’ll take a shower and change.”

Both Mayumi and Asahi had to take a couple seconds to process that they had to actually shower, which looked slightly weird to Fumiko’s family.

Asahi smiled awkwardly. “Right, shower.” He then looked at the two siblings. “We’ll be back to play and talk more, but nice to meet you.”

As they left, Kasumi went back to the kitchen to continue to make dinner, and the siblings went back to playing their game.

Fumiko led Asahi and Mayumi upstairs to her room, which was quite spacious. There was a queen-size bed, a desk with her old computer and a few monitors, a few shelves filled with books, a wardrobe, and a workbench, where she fiddled with electronics.

Mayumi nodded, smiling. “This room is extremely you.”

Fumiko chuckled. “I didn’t want a workbench at our place because I don’t have the time to use it.” She then looked at Asahi as she closed the door. “Are you okay?”

Asahi sighed. “Not quite. If I were to pinpoint my problem, while being honest with myself, I’m probably envious of you. I didn’t quite get that when I met Trish’s family, but I think it’s because of your siblings. I always wanted a family like this, and I think that there is a part of me, as tiny as it may be, that resents the fact that you got to have that. I don’t like that even a part of me feels like that, but I can’t really help it.”

Fumiko smiled, lightly slapping his chest a couple times. “Congratulations, you’re a real boy.”

He guffawed, and gave her a light kiss, then gently pulled Mayumi close to them. “Yup, and meeting both of you help a lot with that.”

After enjoying the hug for a bit, Mayumi spoke. “So, what’s the showering order? Also, I need a towel, because I forgot that taking a shower is a thing.”

Asahi chuckled, making a couple towels appear.

Fumiko smiled. “The three of us at the same time.”

Asahi raised his right eyebrow. “Really?”

Fumiko nodded. “The shower area is big enough, and my parents don’t care. The worst that can happen is Tomoe teasing me. Besides, we’re taking a shower, not having an orgy.”

Laughing, the three of them grabbed a change of clothes from their backpack, and went to the bathroom.

 

After a nice shower, they changed into their usual attire that they wore at their apartment, then went down to the living room.

In the living room, there was a smug Tomoe and a defeated Keisuke.

Fumiko patted his shoulder as she sat between her siblings. “Told you that it was a bad move.”

Keisuke sighed. “Yeah, yeah…”

Asahi and Mayumi sat on the smaller couch.

Mayumi looked a Tomoe. “Tomoe-chan, have you narrowed down your options for university majors already?”

Tomoe shook her head. “Nope. Honestly, I have no idea if Uni is even for me. I wanna work in animation, both 2D and 3D, but I find that I make a lot more progress when I’m learning by myself. I’ll probably work at a company or something for at least a year before deciding if I wanna go to Uni or not.”

Mayumi smiled brightly. “Yeah, that sounds reasonable. I know you’re a bit young for that question, but what about you Keisuke-kun, do you have something that you’re passionate about already?”

Keisuke nodded. “I want to work in healthcare, but I don’t know at what capacity yet. I know that I can get a scholarship through Kendo, but I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a medical doctor. A therapist would be nice as well.”

Asahi smiled. “May I know what prompted you to work in healthcare?”

Keisuke immediately blushed.

Fumiko smiled. “You’ll meet the reason tomorrow, she’s beyond cute. Fortunately, she’s fifteen, so there’s no risk of Asahi stealing her away.”

Asahi laughed. “Oh, come on, that was 100% undeserved. You make it sound like I go around wearing a shirt with NTR written on it, while deviously rubbing my hands together. Tomoko’s divorce was due to her ex being a cheating scumbag, among other things.”

Mayumi guffawed. “To be fair, I literally told you to NTR him.”

Tomoe looked at Fumiko with an extremely curious expression.

Fumiko chortled. “Asahi’s first time was with a married woman, right after she decided to divorce her then husband.

Keisuke asked timidly. “Can you all give me some tips as to how to tell her how I feel?”

Mayumi nodded. “Sure, how long have you known her and how close are the two of you?

“We’ve been friends for almost two years. I know that she’s into guys, but I’ve never seen her show any interest in dating. As for how close we are, we often play games together, and once in a while have sleepovers.”

Mayumi chuckled, smiling. “Super easy then. When you’re alone with her, and she’s not in a bad mood, just tell her.”

Keisuke gave Mayumi and incredulous look. “That’s it?”

Fumiko wrapped her arm around Keisuke. “That’s all you need to do. Just keep in mind that she might not feel the same way, but no matter what the end result is, it’s highly likely that telling her is the right thing to do.”

Keisuke sighed, clearly feeling the pressure. “Thank you.”

Fumiko kissed his cheek. “Alright, let’s play some games to take your mind off of it for a bit.”

The five of them played games until dinner was ready, but that didn’t do all that much to relieve Keisuke’s stress.