"Wanna play some arcade?"
After finishing all the tasks on our farm, Louise suddenly blurted out a question I didn't expect.
"I mean, I'm good at arcade games, but why?"
"How about we meet up after lunch? I really want to try the newly opened one."
It was the first time she'd invited me to meet up in person outside of school. We usually just talked and played online games, or she called me at night to chat. But, anyway, I didn't have any plans this afternoon. My other friends were busy, and honestly, it was better to avoid staying home while Grandpa was around.
"Will you even be allowed out of your house? I mean, you always say your dad's super protective."
"Nothing I can't fix with my teary puppy eyes," Louise said with a light smile, resting her chin on her desk. "He reluctantly allowed me, but only if I have a guard, of course."
By "guard," she meant that pretty woman in a suit who always escorted her to and from school. We hadn't spoken, but she seemed nice and kind when she was with Louise.
—Louise's POV—
'Well, I might have lied that I was meeting up with a girl. Mom just gave me a knowing look and chuckled at my little lie,' Louise thought to herself. 'Sorry, Papa~ I've fallen in love with the grandson of Grandpa's rival—wait, can you even call them rivals if they drink beer together?'
Technically, Grandpa and Yukio's grandfather were supposed to be "rivals," given that one was the head of the biggest Yakuza in Tokyo, and the other was a high-ranking JSDF general. But behind it all, they were more like frenemies. I mean, last time I stayed at Grandpa's, I caught them in the backyard, laughing and drinking like old buddies.
Still, like Papa, Grandpa was annoyingly doting. I love both of them, but they always say they'd never accept a guy weaker than them as my boyfriend or husband. Honestly, it's exhausting.
Thank God for Eri, though. My guard is way more loyal to me than Papa. Her mouth's tighter than any safe I can think of, and I know she'd never snitch.
As Louise hummed to herself, she brushed those thoughts aside, looked at her monitor, and spoke into her mic before logging off.
—Yukio's POV—
"I'm game if you're okay with later. You already have my number, so just text me when you're ready, Yu-chan."
"Alright."
"Too bad, Yu-chan~~ this could've been our first date, but Papa insists on bringing a third wheel."
"Now I'm seriously reconsidering whether I should even come."
Chuckling at her usual playful attitude, Louise said her goodbye and logged out. I followed suit shortly after. Not gonna lie—I was a little excited about this afternoon. If anything, I wanted to see if the usual perfect ojou-sama would actually suck at arcade games.
To be honest, though, I couldn't even imagine Louise losing at anything, whether it was games or life in general.
She was already the undisputed top scorer in our class every year. Ayane, my annoying sister, tied with me for third place, while Masachika held second and Satsuki trailed closely in fourth.
Masachika did mention he planned to slack off once we entered middle school. No clue how he planned to pull that off since he already spent most of his time sleeping through class.
Still, I wasn't worried about him. The real mystery was Daiki. That idiot barely opened a book and didn't seem to care about academics at all. Sometimes I wondered how he will stay afloat in a school like Teiko.
That's when I found myself lost in thought, sitting in my chair, staring at the tiny tattoo on my stomach. It was the seal my grandma placed there to suppress my real-life stats, preventing me from accidentally crushing someone's bones. Thanks to the seal, I could still enjoy being a normal kid—playing games, basketball, and keeping my talents within humanly acceptable limits. If I had the seal removed, I could play four full quarters without breaking a sweat, and I'd be able to run a marathon with ease. Not to mention, I could even enhance myself with Ki.
The genes on our father's side are undeniably superhuman. And then there's my beautiful Mom—her strength is on another level too. I once saw her slice a fly and a mosquito into a thousand pieces with nothing but her glare. Is that what happens when you're the only daughter of a sword saint, You don't even need to touch a katana to pull off something like that?
I could easily deactivate this seal if I wanted to, but Ayane and I would only do so in an emergency, like a bubblegum alien invading Earth or a bug absorbing a robot with its tail to get stronger. Just kidding, but seriously, we'd only resort to it when the situation truly calls for it.
Even if an alien invasion did end up happening, a lot of powerful people would just beat the crap out of them.
I headed downstairs, the aroma of what Dad was cooking filling the house. "Let him cook," I muttered to myself, knowing I'd probably burn my tongue later. When I reached the living room, Ayane was already sprawled on the sofa, Kamina napping peacefully on the carpet.
"Got anything interesting airing right now?" I asked as I flopped down next to her.
"Nope, not a single interesting thing on," Ayane answered lazily, flicking through channels without any real focus.
I got up, unzipped the DVD organizer placed by the divider, and sat on the floor. Flipping through the pages like a notebook, I found the How to Train Your Dragon DVD and pulled it out.
"Want to rewatch this?" I asked, spinning the CD on my finger.
Ayane glanced at me, her eyes following the spinning disc.
"You know what? Just put that thing on. Time to watch some American cartoons to waste my time," she said, tossing me the remote.
Setting up the DVD, I placed the CD in the player and switched the TV to HDMI. I flopped back onto the couch, propping a pillow on my arm as the intro played—a white guy fishing on the moon, filling the tv screen.
—Ayane's POV—
I'm bored, alright, watching a western animation just to pass time. I could just watch some anime, play some video games on my consoles or computer, but funnily enough, even though it's a holiday, I don't have the willpower to game today. Weird, even for me, but hey, I guess everyone has those days when they just want the day to end without doing much.
Me and my brother just stared at the end credits rolling. My mind started to get hazy, and my eyelids started to get heavy while the air conditioner let out some cold air.
Crap, I'm getting sleepy. Time to take a nap. I could just wake up around lunchtime. Stay well, Mother Earth, the human being Ayane will be getting her princess rest.
Before I could close my eyes, an unpleasant smell entered my nose. This familiar stinkiness made me wide awake, and I pinched my nose and glared at Yukio.
"Fuck you," I let out a curse at my twin brother. This asshole just released a quiet fart with a deadly attack on my nose.
"I dunno what you're talking about," Yukio played dumb at his obvious lie. I would have just laughed it off, but I wasn't in my usual mood today.
Even Kamina gave my brother a disgusted look. Does this moron even know how freaking stinky his fart is?
The guy just laughed while I kicked him with my foot and threw a pillow at him for interrupting my upcoming nap. Just you wait till I pay you back tenfold tomorrow, my brother. You're lucky Ayane-sama is on her power-saving mode.
"Ara~ Well, look how close both of you are," a soft, teasing voice chimed in.
Before either of us could react, a pair of arms pulled us into a bone-crushing hug. Standing between Yukio and me in the couch, a woman grabbed each of us on her sides and held us tightly.
"Time out, Grandma," Yukio tapped the arm locked around his neck.
"I can't feel my head anymore," I groaned, tapping her hand in surrender.
I get it—hugging your grandkids is normal—but at this point, it felt like my body was about to snap in half.
Kuboshi Eleanor
Her long, flawless silver hair shimmered, cascading over her shoulders. With skin as pale as moonlight and a face so beautiful it could make even the most radiant goddess feel plain, she was the definition of perfection. Her aquamarine eyes sparkled with a charm more captivating than any jewel, and her figure was so graceful and stunning that even women might find themselves falling for her. For someone her age, Grandma was unbelievably gorgeous.
"Come on, don't be mean to your grandma," she said with a goofy smile, rubbing her head against ours affectionately before finally letting us go.
"Don't jump-scare us like that, Grandma," Yukio grumbled, letting out a sigh of relief as he straightened his shirt.
"You look more like a ninja than a mage with tactics like that," I remarked, shaking my head. Suddenly, my cheek was pinched by her hands.
"Both of you are really cute, so I can't help it," she said with a grin.
"Where's Grandpa?"
Despite the discomfort of my cheek being pinched, I asked my excited grandmother. She released her grip and smiled at me as she answered.
"Hubby is at the car, but I just teleported here to surprise you." Eleanor paused, her expression softening. "Ignoring that nosy grandfather of yours, I'm really sad I can't visit both of you more often. Even though I could just easily pop right in, it's really busy being in my position."
Just then, Dad walked into the living room and saw Grandma sitting with my brother and me.
"I thought you and Dad were in the car together earlier?" Dad said, not even surprised by how Grandma appeared.
"I just magicked myself here, no big deal," Grandma replied with a casual shrug.
Grandma stood up from the couch and walked over to Dad, patting him on the head despite being only slightly shorter than him.
"I'm not a kid anymore, Mom," Dad deadpanned, protesting but still not stopping her.
"Ara~ In my eyes, you're still my boy, Ryota," Grandma chuckled elegantly, continuing to treat Dad like he was still her little child.
Afterword:
Serious-senpai: [What is this type of woman? A gilf? But gilfs don't look that young based on what I see on the internet.]
Author-san: [You already know that term already? But to answer that question.]
Author-san: [Doesn't matter what body you have; if you're old, you're a gilf, no matter how firm, fresh, or juicy your brea—#-#;#+#-#;]
Serious-senpai: [What in the name of Shallow Vernal happened to you?!!!!]
Author-san: [That's just my fail-safe stopping me from spouting the most heinous things. No biggie.]
Serious-senpai: [Should I be worried? Neh, answer me!]