While the intense fight between John's adopted sisters occurred in a pocket dinsion near the Myth Inc. HQ, three beautiful young girls were relaxing in Alpha's room.
The first was Alphy, sitting on her couch in a plain white dress shirt and jeans.
The second was ggie, sitting at the countertop in the room and working her way through a box of chocolate chip cookies. Like her older sister, ggie was wearing jeans. But unlike Alphy, she was wearing a loose gray hoodie.
As for the last person, it was Suzu. Still wearing her slightly worn high school uniform, she sat next to Alpha and stared at a tablet with wide eyes.
Alphy smiled and said, "Are you excited, Suzu?"
Suzu shook her head. "I'm going to be doing this too, Miss Alphy?"
"Mmhm!" Alphy nodded and said, "And I'm sure that you'll be just as cute as Hana when you debut!"
ggie huffed and stuffed a cookie in her mouth. "Hana isn't that cute."
Alphy laughed and leaned back on the couch, staring at ggie. "You should be more honest with yourself, ggie."
"Hmph." ggie grabbed another cookie and then frowned. "Why do I have to be here anyway? I wanted to spend more ti with Tsuki."
Alphy shook her head. "Didn't you hear what Auntie Xuannu said? Tsuki's dad is spending ti with her today to make up for yesterday."
"Yeah, well Kai should have been a better dad in the first place then. Even Dad checks up on us more than that guy does for Tsuki." ggie chomped on her cookie and said, "Stupid bas-"
"ggie!"
"What?"
Alphy sighed and then turned towards Suzu. "Sorry about that, Suzu."
"Oh. It's fine. But um..." Suzu looked between ggie and Alphy and said, "Are you sure it's alright for to stay here? If it is too much trouble, I can go find other lodgings..."
Alphy quickly waved her hands. "No, no. It's snowing outside right now. It's not good to go out in this weather, especially when you don't even have a coat! Besides, Papa already said you're going to be part of Project MirAIs, so it's fine!"
"But..." Suzu looked at ggie and said, "Your little sister doesn't seem too happy about being here."
ggie stuffed another cookie in her mouth and said, "That's because I thought I'd be spending ti with my Onee-chan, not so stranger."
Suzu flinched and quickly bowed her head. "My apologies. I didn't an to intrude... If it bothers you that much, I will... I suppose I cannot leave, but I can remain silent in the corner. Please, just pretend that I do not exist."
ggie flinched as well at Suzu's response and then shook her head. "Stupid. Don't apologize for sothing like that. I'm just... It's weird being around strangers, okay?" She finished with a mumble, hiding her face with a cookie.
Suzu raised her head and let out a relieved smile. "In that case... I should introduce myself." She stood up and turned towards ggie before bowing her head. "My na is Akairo Suzu. Akairo is my family na and Suzu if my given na... But if you wish, you may call Suzu."
ggie paused in the middle of grabbing another cookie. She looked at Suzu and then put the cookie down. Brushing her hands off, ggie nodded and said, "My na is Ex Nihilo Oga... But it's a mouthful, so you can just call ggie."
Suzu gasped. "You have such a noble na!"
ggie blushed and averted her gaze. "You don't have to flatter ... I know my na's awkward and pretentious..."
Suzu shook her head and then said, "That's not true! You have a wonderful na! One that suits a beautiful young girl with such a regal deanor!"
ggie blinked. "R-Regal? ?"
Suzu nodded. "Yes! I thought that ggie looked like a beautiful young princess. Such a noble na proves it, does it not?"
ggie averted her gaze again and mumbled. "W-Well I *am* the daughter of one, so-"
"Amazing!" Suzu's eyes lit up, staring at ggie with genuine admiration.
Seeing that, Alphy laughed.
ggie narrowed her eyes and said, "What's so funny, Onee-chan?"
"Nothing." Alphy smiled and said, "Just musing on how similar you are to your mother."
ggie blinked. "...I am?"
"Ah!" Suzu clasped her hands together and turned back towards Alphy. "My apologies, Miss Alphy! Are you a noble as well? Have I been treating you poorly? If so, you have my humblest apologies!" She finished her words with a deep bow.
Alphy shook her head. "It's fine, Suzu. I'm not a princess or royalty... and even if I was, soone as elegant and beautiful as you bowing to isn't right."
ggie nodded and said, "Listen to Onee-chan, Suzu. Soone like you should hold your head up high! In fact... I've decided!" ggie hopped out of her chair and pointed at Suzu. "I'm appointing you as my royal handmaiden!"
Suzu gasped and turned around to look at ggie. "Truly?!"
"Of course!" ggie smiled and patted her chest. "I don't go back on my words!"
Alphy laughed. "I suppose you take after Papa a lot as well, ggie."
ggie froze and then swung her hand down. "And what's that supposed to an?!"
Alphy smiled. "Nothing~! But rember, we're just normal people here. You can't really make Suzu your handmaiden."
ggie paused and then hopped back into her chair. "That's right... I forgot about that."
Suzu giggled. "It's fine. I'm honored that soone like yourself would even consider a lowly peasant like myself as a handmaiden."
ggie frowned. "...You don't look like a peasant though. And where are you from anyway? Your na sounds like it cos from this land, but you don't look anything like the other mortals."
"ggie! You're being rude!"
"A-Ah." ggie coughed and muttered, "Sorry."
Suzu smiled. "It's fine. We're friends now, right?"
Alphy nodded. "Of course!"
ggie looked away and mumbled. "I-I guess so..."
Suzu giggled again and said, "Then I don't mind talking about myself a bit." She looked at ggie and said, "You are correct, ggie. I do not hail from this land, but the kind couple that raised do. As for my na... I'm not sure. I only know that I have had it as long as I can rember."
ggie frowned, carefully staring at Suzu. "...Suspicious."
Alphy sighed. "Be nice, ggie."
"But it is, isn't it, Onee-chan?" ggie looked back at Suzu and said, "How did you even find out about the job? No, how did you even get here?"
"Ah." Suzu humd. "It's a long story. Prior to arriving in this city, I was studying to be a shrine maiden in the mountains. But before I could finish my training, I felt sothing call here, so I took a long pilgrimage to arrive here."
ggie blinked and then tilted her head. "...You're kind of stupid, huh?"
Alphy covered her face and let out a deep sigh.
Suzu giggled. "I suppose that's true. But..." She placed her hand over her heart and said, "I couldn't help myself."
ggie was quiet for a bit and then nodded. "Well... I guess you got here safe and t us all, so that's fine. But a shrine maiden... I guess that explains why you're elegant enough to be my handmaiden."
Suzu smiled. "Thank you. But I'm still far from a proper shrine maiden- Ah. That is to say, I still have far to go in both my speech and mannerisms."
"Mmhm." ggie nodded. "A real shrine maiden wouldn't just run to town on a whim in the middle of their training after all."
"g-gie." Alphy stood up and crossed her arms.
"What?! It's true!"
"Even so, you should be more tactful! Talking like that won't make you many friends!"
"S-So what? I have Tsuki, you, Betty, and now Suzu! I don't need any more friends!"
Alphy shook her head. "But you'll make enemies if you keep talking like that."
"...Fine." ggie grumbled and stuffed another cookie in her mouth. "...I'll be more careful."
Suzu looked at Alphy and ggie and smiled. "You two are quite close, aren't you?"
ggie blushed and looked away. "N-No. Why would I care about that an Onee-chan who keeps teasing ?"
Alphy laughed. "That's only because you're super cute when you're flustered, ggie." She paused and then placed a hand on her chin. "...Is this how Betty feels when she teases ?"
ggie huffed. "I'm not cute. Onee-chan's still cuter..."
Alphy let out a happy squeal and then ran over to hug ggie. "No, you're cuter! My cute and lovely baby sister!"
"S-Stop that! I'm not a baby! L-Let go!" ggie squird and then finally managed to get out of Alphy's grip.
Alphy laughed again and then let her be. After that, she turned to Suzu. "ggie's cute, right?"
"Oneeeee-chan! Stop embarrassing !"
Suzu giggled and nodded. "Of course!"
"Argh... Whatever." ggie spun around on her chair to face the wall and went back to eating her cookies. "I hate you two."
Alphy smiled and then turned her attention back to Suzu. "Anyway... Are your parents fine with you spending the night here, Suzu? I'm happy you want to, and I'm super happy to have a friend to talk to... but won't they worry?"
Suzu waved her hand. "It will be fine. The kind couple that adopted frequently spend ti traveling around the world to fulfill my adoptive father's dreams. They are probably still away from ho at the mont."
Alphy frowned. "...In that case, where did you plan on staying, Suzu? Do you even have any money?"
Suzu shook her head. "I do not. But that is why I wanted to audition." She placed her hand over her heart and said, "It's true that I felt drawn to the job... But it's also true that I needed resources. And the flier said that it was a job that provided a lot of money with no experience needed." She smiled and said, "It was exactly what I needed, so everything worked out."
"Dummy!"
Suzu blinked. "P-Pardon?"
ggie hopped off her chair and pointed at Suzu. "You need to be more careful! Advertisents like that are always bad! Especially for a beautiful young woman like Suzu!"
"Hm?" Suzu tilted her head. "Why?"
ggie froze. "T-That's because... Um... W-Well...." She coughed and said, "Th-They'll make you do bad things!"
"Like what?"
ggie started to sweat and then looked at Alphy. "Onee-chan! Tell her!"
Alphy frowned and then nodded. "ggie's right, Suzu. Job fliers like that are usually from bad people who will take advantage of you and make you work long hours without rest. That's bad."
ggie blinked and stared at Alphy.
Alphy stared back. "What is it, ggie?"
ggie frowned. "...Are you joking, Onee-chan?"
"Hm?"
ggie sighed. "Of course. The big sister I thought was pure and innocent turns out to be worse than our father and the one I thought knew how terrible the world was is sweet and nave"
Alphy tilted her head.
-----AI|IA-----
John's office. There, three n were seated across from each other at a table.
On one side, Bai and Qing, the two divine beasts, both dressed in suits.
On the other, John, wearing a casual sweatshirt and jeans. Looking at the two n across from him, he shook his head and said, "And that's the end of our discussion."
Bai growled and said, "You're not listening!"
"I am. And I did." John stood up and then turned his back on Bai and Qing. "Like I said, add Miss Akairo to our roster and send the lineup for the other candidates. I'll sort through them after the concert."
Qing stood up as well and said, "That isn't the issue here, John. The issue is-!"
"I'm leaving. Don't bother with this again."
A gust of wind and a spatial distortion as John vanished.
Bai slamd his fist on the table. "Dammit!"
Qing sighed and slumped back into his seat. "...Why won't you listen, John?"
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