"Offer? Favor?" Mia exclaid. "What are you talking about? Is everything alright?"
Seeing her reaction, Noa couldn’t help but laugh. "You two are really alike," he mused, noticing connections between his sisters.
"Is it about her? You don’t have to worry about anything," Mia tried to ease his mind.
Shaking his head, Noa interrupted her.
"No, it’s about sothing else. My job, to be exact."
Silence fell.
Mia’s sharp eyes narrowed.
"You an the shop you are managing? What about it?" she questioned, trying to dig deeper.
Noa leaned against the wall.
He studied the room for a mont before answering.
"The shop... It’s just a complicated matter. It’s doing well, but I need soone like you. Soone who can understand and help better than anyone."
Suspicion crept into Mia’s eyes.
"Noa, what are you not telling ? And is this sothing we really need to hide from Dad?"
"The shop..." Noa started, trying to find the correct words. "Let’s just say it is a unique establishnt in unique circumstances. And before you start jumping to conclusions, there is nothing illegal about it."
Mia sighed, shaking her head.
She was curious, wondering what the hell her brother was talking about.
But seeing his eagerness, she couldn’t refuse.
"You have always been terrible at explaining what you wanted," she stated, teasing. "But fine, I will help."
"Promise that you won’t freak out when you see it," Noa asked, grinning faintly.
Massaging her temples, Mia sighed again.
"Why do I already regret doing this?"
Yet she nodded, announcing her silent agreent with a complicated expression.
Noa, on the other hand, gave her another hug. "Thanks," he said, his voice softer than usual. "You won’t regret it. I am sure it will be your best adventure... I an it."
"You owe big ti... for dragging into your ss," Mia joked.
Then they spent the next half an hour talking about life.
They talked about those three years they hadn’t spent together, also rembering the long-forgotten past, recalling those good mories.
Noa also proposed a topic Mia would enjoy.
So they conversed about manga and ani, debating over their favorite characters.
At one point, Mia threw a pillow at him.
"You have such bad taste. I feel like I am standing in front of an old man who only watches and reads classics," she snorted.
"Old man?" Noa scoffed, avoiding the pillow. "Ohh, please, I just have a dignified taste and appreciate the real art, alright?"
"Dignified taste? It’s more like trash taste filled with nothing but boring series."
Suddenly, Yun Qiqi walked in mid-conversation.
All she could see was how Mia was trying to hit Noa with the second pillow, only to miss again.
"What are you doing?" she questioned, blinking.
"Nothing," Mia answered, her cheeks flushing red in embarrassnt.
Then she tossed a manga to Qiqi.
"I think you should read it. I bet you are going to love it."
That took another half an hour.
Though the auto-translation worked between the dinsions, Qiqi wasn’t used to reading in manga format.
But when she got used to it, she imdiately imrsed herself in reading.
Noa found a mont in this chaos.
He whispered to Mia, "You, , and Qiqi should go out. I want to show you the shop, but it’s going to be just the three of us."
The girl nodded, gulping.
She wanted to see what Noa’s shop was all about.
Especially after seeing how secretive he was about it.
"Kids!"
A sudden call was heard, coming from Evan as he was left alone in the living room. "The ga is starting. Who wants to watch with ?"
Neither Noa nor Mia was a fan of Arican football.
Still, they left the room and joined him.
Mia also followed, her interest piqued.
The next half an hour was Evan’s turn to show his nerdy side.
It was the NFL championship ga, and as an Eagles fan, he couldn’t wait to see his team lift the trophy.
He also explained to Qiqi what the TV was.
Which was strange in its own way.
He was also excited to tell her about the ga’s rules and explain what the sport was all about.
Still, after a while, he let the kids do their own thing.
So Noa used this opportunity and gathered Mia and Yun Qiqi to leave the house.
"B-But I want to stay a little longer," the latter complained. "I like being here, and there is so much more I have to explore."
"I know," Noa agreed. "However, I want to show the store to Mia. You are going to show her around, right?"
Yun Qiqi hopped down the stairs, her head hanging low.
"And it’s not like we won’t co back," Noa added. "This is our ho, and we can return whenever we want. I promise."
"Really?" Qiqi asked, turning towards him, her head raising.
"Yep. Now let’s find a suitable place," Noa said, walking beside her.
"Suitable place?" Mia repeated, confused.
She had been promised to visit Noa’s store, but now he was looking for sothing inside the park where they had grown up.
"You will see," Noa answered, grinning. "And don’t forget to stay calm. You promised, rember?"
These words only deepened her confusion.
But before she posed another question, Yun Qiqi yelled, gesturing aimlessly between the trees.
"This looks like a good place. Good enough for Big Sister to start her adventure."
Noa agreed.
He walked towards the valley, feeling the soft grass under his feet.
"You ready?" he then asked both of them.
"Always," Qiqi said, hopping around in excitent.
"Ready for what?" Mia asked, her words fading montarily.
Just then—
The air glowed in a blue hue.
It suddenly cracked as well, showing signs of decay.
Even the ground started to shake, its loud noises reaching only Noa, Qiqi, and Mia.
The forr didn’t know what was happening.
The situation was too strange, too magical, too bizarre for her to understand.
And before she even processed it all, the portal materialized in front of her—growing, glowing, and expanding.
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