Chapter 11: Eighteenth Birthday

~11.6~

*****

“I meant to come here after my stay on Atlas, but after thinking about it, I wanted to invite you to stay with us there for a few days.”

Akane had stars in her eyes, and Ginchiyo grinned at her daughter’s response. “Oh my, absolutely! I would love to! I’ll go get ready right now. I’ll be right back!” In what seemed like seconds, Akane returned with a packed bag. “My classes are taken care of for the next few days, and I’m packed. I’m ready!”

Kye looked at Ginchiyo and only blinked. The elder giggled and nodded. Kye turned back to Akane and smiled, but then a thought crossed her mind. “Hmm, wait a moment. Miko lives here, too, right?”

“Yes, but she’s away on business right now. If you wish to invite her, we can have her join us on Atlas if she finishes in time.”

Kye nodded. “Sure, that sounds good.”

*****

“You knew who I was from the start, didn’t you?” Kye asked as they arrived at the resort.

“Of course!” Akane said. “You’re my dear granddaughter! I could spot Zen and Yami a mile away as well. And although your cute attendants aren’t mine, Keiko, Akira, and I look at each other’s grandchildren as our own as well. Liliana, Aliana, and Rika are just as precious to me as you and your siblings.”

“Hear hear,” said Ginchiyo.

Kye looked at her with a classic thinking face. “Speaking of… you and Keiko are sisters… and Hiroto and Jirou are brothers…” She smirked. “Heh. One way or another, the Tachibana and Akari families were going to mix.”

“Indeed! That was a long time ago, but yes. Keiko and I went to school with Hiroto and Jirou in Tokyo. Imagine the looks on our mothers’ faces when sisters started dating brothers. Ha!”

Ginchiyo sighed. “It was a little weird, but it was nothing socially unacceptable. It’s a little weird that Hatsume and I have almost the same family tree. She joked once that we were the ones that got married, not our kids.” She shrugged. “But at least I have one branch I don’t share with her.” She looked at the ground in thought for a moment, then back up at Kye. “I know this is your honeymoon and all… but what do you think of Rika? And I assume Alaira would come, too, if you invited her.”

Kye nodded. “Yeah. I imagine they would. I’m perfectly fine with that, and I can’t imagine the others would be against it.”

“Yes! Bring the whole family!” Akane cheered. “Grandma Akane will give all you youngsters some lessons on the beach!” She had stars in her eyes. “Bikinis and swords to go around! My lovely daughter, my granddaughters, and even my mother in a swimsuit with a sword. I’m getting excited just thinking about it! More sparring matches with all the hottest girls! We’re gonna look so good. Hehe.”

Kye smiled. “That sparring match was fun. I didn’t know you teach in a dojo. Have you thought about teaching at the academy?”

“I did teach there once upon a time. For quite a while, in fact. Kanade wanted to teach there, too, so I retired and opened up the dojo on Yokohama Sekai. She’s one of your instructors, I believe?”

“I see. And yes. She is a swordplay instructor. I rather enjoy classes with her. Maybe I could come for classes at your dojo sometime, too? Would that be okay?”

“I won’t say no, but from the way I’ve heard things, I think you’re about the furthest person from needing classes.”

“Ah, you already know about that, too, huh?”

“I sure do. I also know that you’re soul-bonded with Astraia.”

“Oh, okay. What do-”

“THEY’RE BACK!” came Hannah’s voice from down the hall. She raced toward the group but was shown up by Alethea, who leaped into Kye’s arms and welcomed her back.

“Kye, you’re back! I missed you!”

“I was only away for a couple hours.”

“Yeah, but an hour on a honeymoon is like a year.”

Kye gave her an apologetic smile and glanced behind her. Adele was wearing the same apologetic smile.

“They were pacing so much,” Michelle said with a shrug. “‘When will Eli be back?’ ‘Where is she?’ ‘I miss her so much!’”

“We weren’t like that!” Alethea pouted.

“Maybe you didn’t SAY that… but…”

Alethea stuck her tongue out at Michelle, earned a chuckle from everyone. She smiled and excitedly shared with Kye, “By the way, I went and picked up some stuff for us.”

“Hmm?”

“In the bags in our room. Let’s go try-” She stopped when she looked to the side and saw Akane. “Hello.”

“Greetings, Lady Alethea. I’m Akane Tachibana of Nippon Sekai. You are quite pretty. Thank you for taking care of my granddaughter!” She gave Alethea a warm smile.

Alethea almost had tears in her eyes. “Shi-chan, she’s so nice!” She looked back at Kye but was confused when she saw her staring off toward the nearby window. “Shi-chan?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, something caught my attention.”

Alethea glanced out of the window, trying to see what Kye was looking at, but saw nothing but the ocean from where they stood. “Wanna share with the rest of us?”

“Oh, it was nothing. Let’s go back to our room. You said you got us something?”

“Yes! I think you’ll love it.”

Kye turned to the others. “Well, we’ll be right back, then. Akane, Ginchiyo, will you handle inviting others? Invite whoever you want!”

Ginchiyo glanced at Akane. “You really shouldn’t have said that…”

*****

A few minutes later, Kye was posing in front of the large mirror in their bathroom wearing a simple dark purple bikini. Alethea was watching with her own swimsuit on. Hers was a one-piece pink and white suit with a frilly skirt.

“I’m not sure if I’m ready for this…” Adele said as she walked into the very spacious bathroom wearing a black bikini with a frilly skirt bottom. “I uh…”

“What’s wrong, love?” Alethea asked. “You look beautiful!”

She had been on feminization medication for nine months, and it was showing. Michelle was in a matching bikini and had just walked in behind Adele. “It’s fine, love. Your boobs are showing, even! Nobody is going to look at you and think you’re anything but a hot girl! You look just like Dani like this!”

“That’s right, love!” Kye added with a smirk. “You would be hard pressed to find a hotter girl. You look no less fine than the rest of the royal girls.”

“Thanks, guys,” she replied with a smile.

And with that, they gave each other beaming grins. “““To the beach!”””

*****

Revision: 2024-2-2

A/N: Advanced Chapters are now available on Patreon! See profile for links!