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n“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister Smith! My name is Tsuki Jin- Ah! I mean, Jin Tsuki!” The young girl bowed her head.

nSeeing that, John shook his head and said, “There’s no need to be so polite, Tsuki-chan. Like your dad said, we’re pretty close friends.”

nTsuki straightened and let out a beaming smile. “That’s great! Mommy was worried that Daddy was too serious to have friends that weren’t his subordinates, so I’m glad that Daddy has someone like you!”

nA loaded sentence came out of nowhere from the polite and adorable young girl.

nKai flinched when he heard it, looking regretful.

nAs for John, he glanced at the other man, a load of questions on his mind. But he wasn’t going to ruin the mood of a cute young girl like that.

nBefore John could say anything else, Alpha spoke up.

n“How coincidental. My father is the same way.”

nJohn frowned.

nTsuki gasped. “A pretty Onee-chan like you has a father like that too?”

nAlpha nodded. “Yes.” She pointed at John and said, “This man finds it difficult to make friends of the same gender for various reasons. It is indeed a good thing for him to have met your father.”

nThat time, it was Kai who looked like he had a lot of questions to ask. The man with the slightly scarred face and graying hair frowned, glancing between Alpha and John.

nJohn coughed and said, “It’s not good to stand around like this, so why don’t we head inside?”

nWith that said, he quickly walked ahead.

nKai coughed as well and said, “Yes. Come on, Princess.”

n“Okay!”

nJohn pulled the doors open and walked inside, propping it open for Kai.

nHe gave a nod and walked in with Tsuki at his right side, holding onto her hand.

nThe young girl looked around with wide eyes, impressed.

nAnd then Alpha walked in after the two, her gaze as blank as ever… No. Seeing the way Kai held Tsuki’s hand, the black-haired beauty stared at John with slightly judging crimson eyes.

nHey! It wasn’t his fault that the early years were spent running away in a panic from people stronger than him!

n…Is what he would love to say, but he had a feeling that it would make Alpha’s opinion of him drop even further. And seeing that look from the one who was with him the longest and his most beloved creation… Well. He couldn’t have that.

nKai glanced around the building and said, “You haven’t done much yet, I see.”

nJohn glanced back and said, “I didn’t feel the need to. Like you said, most things were already there. I did change a few of the upper levels though.”

n“Oh?” Kai rubbed his chin, clearly interested.

nBefore he could say anything more though, Tsuki tugged at his shirt and leaned up to whisper into Kai’s ear, looking at John.

nOf course, since John was who he was, he could hear exactly what she said.

n‘Daddy! You didn’t tell me your friend’s name! What do I call him?’

nKai looked troubled.

nJohn was tempted to let him stew for a bit, but seeing Tsuki hesitant, he decided to throw the man a bone.

nNot because he pitied the guy, of course. This was a situation resulting from the guy’s consequences, so John wasn’t going to help out because of that.

nInstead, John was admittedly weak against cute young girls being upset- Ah.

nThat was a lie.

nIt was actually more of a trauma after a particular incident…

nIn any case, he stopped and turned to look at Tsuki. “Right. I didn’t introduce myself properly, did I?” John made an elaborate bow and said, “I’m John Smith, owner of Myth Inc. and the upcoming MirAIs production company.” Straightening, he looked to Alpha and said, “This Onee-chan is Alpha, my rebellious teenage daughter.”

nKai blinked. “Teenage?”

nAlpha narrowed her eyes at Kai.

nHe coughed and quickly averted his gaze.

nAlpha shifted her gaze to Tsuki and gave a slight nod. “As my father said, I am Alpha.” She let out a gentle smile and said, “It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Tsuki.”

n“Wow!” The young girl looked between Alpha and John and then excitedly said, “Are you half too? Is your mother Japanese, Alpha nee-chan?”

nAlpha paused. “It is… complicated.”

n“Hm?” Tsuki tilted her head. “How?” She turned to look at John and said, “Mister Smith?”

nJohn coughed again and said, “Alpha. Why don’t you take Tsuki up to play some games in the office first? There’s something I want to talk with my dear friend here about before we head up… Ah, and could you grab her some snacks too while you’re at it?”

nA faint flicker gleamed in Alpha’s eyes and she nodded. “As you say, Father. Then…” She held out her hand towards Tsuki. “Shall we go, Miss Tsuki?”

nTsuki turned to Kai. “Daddy?”

n“Go off and play, Princess.”

n“Yay!” Saying that, she quickly ran off and grabbed Alpha’s hand. “What games do you have, Alpha nee-chan?”

n“Quite a few. In fact, I believe more than you could count.”

n“Wow! Can we play them all?”

n“I doubt we have the time, but we can go through the library, yes.”

nSaying that, Alpha led Tsuki into the elevator and headed up.

nThat left John and Kai alone in the lobby.

nKai let out a deep sigh and said, “Thanks for that. I owe you, really.”

n“You had better. Showing up out of the blue like that… What were you going to do if I didn’t show up? It’s not good to lie to your daughter like that.”

nKai grimaced and then walked over to the lounge chair to sit down. “I know, I know. But what else was I supposed to do?”

nJohn sat down next to him and said, “Tell her the truth that you were hanging out with an old female friend? I only just met her, but I think your daughter’s pretty mature for her age. I’m sure she’d be understanding.”

n“She would… but she’d also be hurt.”

n“Better now then later when you meet with your friend again.”

nKai paused and then let out a sigh. “It’s fine. It was just a one-time occasion anyway. Won’t happen again.”

nJohn chuckled.

nKai frowned. “What’s so funny?”

n“That’s what I always said. It never works out like that.”

nKai’s frown deepened and then he said, “That’s right…” He looked at the elevator and said, “That woman… is she really your daughter? And a teenaged daughter at that?”

nJohn nodded. “Yep. For better or for worse, Alpha is indeed my biological daughter.”

n“…How old were you again?”

nJohn waved his hand. “Don’t sweat the details. You didn’t tell me everything either. What was that thing your daughter said about having subordinates?”

n“…That’s fair.” Kai nodded and then took a look around. “So, you’ve got the ball rolling yet? It’s always the hardest starting up.”

n“I think I’ve got the hang of things, yeah.”

n“Mm. I wanted to say it earlier, but that advertising campaign of yours was really something else. Timing the surge with the video, showing it in Akihabara… I gotta say, you’ve built up a lot of hype for your group. Do you have the plans to follow through on that?”

n“Well, you’ll have to see.” John shrugged. “It’s definitely not going to be your typical idol group though.”

n“Hm… I was wondering about that. I know you signed one person already through the grapevine, but what about the others? An idol group isn’t a group of one, you know?”

n“That’s what you think.”

nJohn could remember clearly some counterpoints back from his Earth of individual VTuber idols.

nWell, somewhat clearly. It *had* been an almost uncountable number of years since then…

n“Mm. Well if you’re that confident, I guess I’ll just look forward to it. I do owe you a favor though… And I’m technically unemployed right now, so if you ever need someone who knows the ropes…”

n“I’ll consider-” John blinked. “Wait. You’re unemployed?”

n“…I am.” Kai cautiously spoke up, guarded at John’s change in tone. “Though if you’re planning to put me as CEO, PR, or a girl’s manager, I’ll have to decline. The people in the industry would definitely go after you if you did that.”

nJohn sighed. “Of course. That’d be too easy.”

nAnd here he thought he had someone he could dump his responsibilities on… Of course that wouldn’t happen.

nKai stood up. “In any case, should we check on them? We’ve been talking for a while now.”

nJohn sighed. “We might as well. Though…” He frowned and said, “Is your daughter really satisfied with just this?”

n“It’ll be fine. And she seemed really excited to play with your daughter as well, so it works out.”

n“Mm.”

nThe two men stepped into the elevator.

nJohn pressed the button to his office, and then the usual silence as the elevator went up happened.

n“…By the way,” Kai said. “Do you mind if I actually consider you a friend?”

n“Huh?” John blinked and then turned to Kai. “What are you, a grade schooler?”

nKai coughed. “W-Well, Tsuki made a point. I… really don’t have any friends around my age to relax with. The people I know are usually part of ‘that’ world, you know? And since I wanted to go clean…”

n“You need a proper friend who’s not involved with it.”

n“That’s correct.”

n“Mm…” John stared at Kai.

nThe man was shady, of that he had no doubt. Not only that, but he probably did a lot of bad things in the past- No, he definitely did a lot of bad things from the past considering all the black threads of karma John could see wrapping around him.

nAt the same time, the guy managed to have a young daughter that was as cute and adorable as Tsuki.

nWas that old saying about daughters being a means to punish fathers true?

nJohn didn’t know the whole story, but Kai seemed to be scrambling trying to make sure his sweet Princess didn’t get caught up in his past.

nPutting it that way, it was kind of pitiful.

n…And Alpha had made a good point about John not having any friends either…

n“Might as well. Misery loves company after all, right?” Saying that, John stuck out his hand.

nKai smiled and shook it. “Then, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Friend.”

nThe elevator chimed.

nKai let go and said, “Let’s have some drinks after your group’s debut. Then we can share stories about the old times.”

nJohn glanced over at Tsuki and Alpha, silently marveling Kai’s adaptability. But then he nodded and said, “That sounds like a plan. Give me a call afterwards. You clearly know how to reach me.”

nKai laughed.

nJohn walked over, Kai following him.

n“Oh!” Tsuki glanced over and said, “Did you finish talking with Mister Smith, Daddy?”

nKai nodded. “That’s right.” He glanced at the television and said, “Are you having fun with Alpha onee-chan?”

n“Mmhm!” Tsuki sipped on a juicebox and then turned back to the screen, fingers flowing across the buttons as she controlled her character. “Nee-chan’s good at games! She’s the first person to get me down to two lives in Smash Brawls!”

nA polite father and daughter exchange. Peaceful, almost.

nBut on the screen, and to Tsuki’s opponent…

nJohn shifted his gaze to Alpha.

nUnlike Tsuki who was relaxed with a bright smile, Alpha was staring at the screen with narrowed eyes. At the same time, her fingers were spastic, mashing buttons and furiously flicking the joy sticks.

nAnd then-

nGame!

n“Oh!” Tsuki blinked and then turned to Alpha. “Thanks for letting me win, Nee-chan!”

nAlpha gave a stiff nod back. “Yes, Miss Tsuki. It is… my pleasure.” Saying that, she carefully set her controller down and stood up. Turning around, she looked at John and said, “…I am going to sleep, Father. I will see you tomorrow morning.”

nWatching the indomitable Chaos Maiden that struck fear into the hearts of countless immortals and Eternal Emperors walk off like a wounded veteran into the elevator, John couldn’t help but realize it.

nChildren these days… they were really something, weren’t they?

n“Oh! Mister Smith!” Tsuki picked up Alpha’s controller and said, “Do you want to play?”

nKai frowned. “I think we should head off soon, Princess. It’s getting pretty late and John has a busy schedule-“

n“It’s fine, Kai. It’s been a while since I’ve played as well.” Saying that, John plopped himself down where Alpha had been sitting and went back to the character select.

n“Thanks, Mister Smith!” Tsuki beamed and then picked her character, a pink princess that looked an awful lot like the one named after a heart shaped fruit.

n“I’m warning you though, Tsuki. I have no intention of going easy on you.”

nLonk!

nTsuki smiled. “That’s fine! It’s no fun if you hold back.”

n“Alright…”

nJohn stretched his fingers, getting ready.

nTsuki tapped the buttons on her controller, warming up as well.

nAnd then-

n—–AI|IA—–

n“Bye, Mister Smith! It was nice meeting you!” Tsuki waved, led out the door by her father.

nKai waved as well, quietly mouthing his thanks.

nJohn gave a polite nod, watching them leave. And then when they were gone, he turned around with a blank look.

nAt that time, the elevator chimed, Beta walking out. “Father, I sorted out the comments as you asked- Hm?” She stared at John and then narrowed her eyes. “What happened? Was there an attack?”

nJohn shook his head. “No. I just realized something important.”

n“…And that is?”

n“The power level of kids these days is insane.”

nBeta tilted her head.

n_________

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