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n“Bwahaha! Foolish mortal!” Yudi laughed as he triumphantly raised a shimmering gold ticket. “To doubt this regal self for a single moment! You have eyes, but cannot see Mount Tai!”

nThe store clerk started to sweat. “Y-Yes, dear customer. It appears that I have been too arrogant…?”

nYudi nodded and then set the golden ticket down. “This regal self is feeling generous today. We shall forgive you at once if you return with our rightful reward.”

n“O-Of course.” The store clerk bowed and then walked back inside the store.

nTitor sighed and then rubbed his face. “Is this how it feels when people watch me?”

nAmadeus gave Titor a blank stare and said, “Yes. Yes it is.”

nTitor lowered his hands and then looked over to Yudi.

nThey were shopping in Akihabara. Mostly because it was the closest place to where Titor and Amadeus lived, but partly also because Yudi’s eccentric behavior would stand out a bit less.

nAfter all, people routinely went around the place running their mouth like full chuunis and the worst that people did was give a blank stare.

nTitor knew that from personal experience.

nBut anyway, after convincing Yudi that they knew a perfect place to go shopping, they headed down to Akihabara to shop around.

nAt least, that was the plan. But today was Christmas Eve. And since it was Christmas Eve, there were also a bunch of raffles going on. Prize games to both entice people into last minute shopping as well as give off Christmas cheer by handing out prizes.

nOf course, most of the prizes were lame. Pressure cookers, some restaurant vouchers, gift cards… the usual sort of reward. Nothing worth batting an eye at.

nTo the normal person.

nBut Yudi wasn’t normal.

nTitor shifted his gaze to Yudi’s side. Or rather, to the dozen different bags filled with all the prizes he had won since trolling the streets for the different raffle games.

nThe shop clerk came back with a shiny gold bag of chocolate truffles and then bowed, holding it out to Yudi. “Here is your prize, dear customer.”

n“Wonderful!” Yudi grabbed the bag and tucked it with his other prizes. “This will make a wonderful gift for our granddaughter!” He laughed and then walked back towards Titor and Amadeus.

nThe shop clerk shook his head and walked back to his post outside the store, plastering a bright smile on his face while he looked for the next customer.

nTitor looked at Yudi and said, “You seem to be enjoying yourself, Mister Yudi.”

nThe Jade Emperor laughed and flicked his emerald robes. “Of course! Is it not every father and grandfather’s joy to be able to surprise their children and grandchildren with gifts?” He raised the dozen or so bags of various knick knacks up for Titor to see and said, “Such trifles are insignificant in the grand scheme of creation. However, We are certain that our peerless daughter and our brilliant granddaughter will appreciate our efforts.”

nAmadeus mumbled, “What efforts? All he did was flex his damned maxed out luck.”

nYudi tilted his head.

nTitor cleared his throat and said, “Ignore her, Mister Yudi. My wife is just a bit upset at having to change our holiday plans.”

nAmadeus blushed and said, “I’m not your wife! I’m- Wait.” She paused and then turned an even deeper shade of red. “Dammit, Titor!” She walked up and smacked Titor on the arm. “It’s because you keep teasing me!”

nTitor laughed.

nYudi blinked and thoughtfully stroked his beard while staring at Amadeus.

nShe noticed and then huffed. “W-What are you looking at, Old Man?”

n“Your name… It was the one beloved by the gods, was it not?” Yudi hummed and said, “How fitting. You appear quite similar to this regal self’s peerless daughter.” He paused and turned to look at Titor. “And when We consider things more carefully… you also appear quite similar to our foolish son-in-law…”

nTitor shrugged and said, “Maybe I’m his long lost twin or something?”

nAmadeus smacked him on the head.

n“Ow!” Titor winced and clutched his head. “What was that for?!”

n“Dumbass!”

nYudi chuckled and then shook his head. “Ignore this regal self’s musings. Now.” He looked around and said, “Where is this holy ground that We may use our grand abilities to gather more gifts for our beloved granddaughter?”

nTitor rubbed his head a bit and then looked at Yudi. “Are you sure you want to try and win them instead of buy them, Mister Yudi?”

nThe Jade Emperor waved his hand and said, “This regal self has imposed upon you and your wife far too much. That you have endured this regal self’s demands as well is also praiseworthy… Rest assured. We shall compensate you most handsomely upon reunion with our peerless daughter and her husband.”

nTitor smirked.

nThat old guy rewarding Titor? Considering he didn’t have any treasures on him or any sense of Earth currency, it was going to end up being John figuring that stuff out.

nNow *that* was a conversation he’d love to see.

n…Though that would also mean that Titor would have to reveal that he was technically John’s clone. And that Amadeus was also at least half Yue… And that they were hiding those facts from Yudi the entire time…

nMeaning the old man would probably get pissed at him. But also probably gush over Amadeus, since that meant Yue technically had a sister.

nEh, probably worth it.

n“Hoh?” Yudi stroked his beard and said, “You appear quite eager for this regal self’s reward.”

n“A little. But I’m more excited to see how you do in these trial grounds.”

nYudi threw his head back and laughed. “This regal self challenged by mere mortal tribulations? How laughable. But very well! Lead the way, man who acts like our son-in-law but is not our son-in-law! And you as well, daughter of the heavens!”

n…Alright. Did that guy know and was just trolling? Or was he oblivious and those names were coincidences?

nTitor glanced at Amadeus.

nAmadeus shrugged.

nTitor let out a mental sigh. But he plastered a smile on his face and said, “But of course! Now!” Titor swung his arm back, causing his lab coat to flutter. “To the crane game arcade collection!”

n—–AI|IA—–

nA pitch-black apartment room in the middle of Myth Inc. HQ. One with blackout blinds covering all the windows and a door that didn’t allow a single ray of light to shine from the hallway outside.

nComplete and perfect darkness. Not only that, but complete silence as well, perfectly isolated from outside noise by one of Titor’s patented noise cancellation system.

nPeaceful. Quiet.

nAnd then a loud chime echoed and a blinding white rectangle flashed from the ground.

nMeggie groaned and fumbled around to grab it.

nTsuki groaned as well and rolled over, covering her head with a pillow. “Make it stop, Meggie.” She mumbled and then pulled a blanket over her head. “I wanna sleep.”

nA polite young girl’s voice chimed in. “Yes. Big Sister, please make it stop. I was greatly enjoying the peaceful darkness.”

nAnother young girl’s voice echoed after that. Similar, but slightly different. “What Sister said. Xuan wishes to sleep. Xuan stayed up too late watching Big Sister Alphy…”

nMeggie grabbed the white rectangle… No. It was her phone. She grabbed the phone and flipped it over, mashing the volume button down.

nAfter that, she let out a sigh of relief and flipped over to go back to sleep.

nAnd then there was a loud buzz.

nA chorus of groans echoed.

nMeggie let out a deep sigh and then picked up her phone. After that, she stood up and fumbled her way to the bathroom in the dark, carefully stepping over the sleeping Xuan and Wu on the way there.

nOnce inside, Meggie reluctantly turned her phone on. “Who the hell is texting me right now…?”

nMeggie told everybody that she, Tsuki, Xuan, and Wu would be staying up late and sleeping in late. And she also said that they didn’t want to be disturbed.

nSo who the hell texted her?

n“…Of course. It’s Dad.”

nMeggie sighed and hid her irritation. Instead, she tapped on the message to see what he had to say.

n—

nDad

nSorry to bug you, but don’t leave the room. Emergency situation. Safe, but messy. I’ll come get you when it’s over.

n—

nMeggie blinked. And then she turned her phone off and closed her eyes. “Whatever…”

nIf it wasn’t serious, Meggie wasn’t going to worry about it. She was too tired to care.

n…And come to think of it, the bathroom floor was kind of cozy. Nice and cool. And dark. And-

nLike that, Meggie blacked out, flying back to slumber land with her dad’s message completely forgotten.

n—–AI|IA—–

nAlphy paused in the middle of chopping up some chocolate bars.

nSakura noticed and looked over. “Something wrong, Alphy?”

nAlphy frowned and then slowly shook her head. “No. But… I feel like Papa’s involved in something complicated right now.”

nSakura finished whisking some pancake batter and set the bowl aside on the countertop. After that, she grabbed a box of blueberries and shrugged. “Your dad’s always involved in something complicated. And besides, aren’t your kouhais debuting today? It’s probably that.”

n“Maybe…” Alphy’s frown deepened.

n“Do you want to call him to check?”

n“Mm…” Alphy thought about it and then shook her head. “It’s fine. I have a hunch it’ll make Papa panic more anyway. I’ll wait for him to call me instead.”

n“If you say so… Ah, could you hand me the chocolate now? Gotta fold it in with these blueberries…”

n—–AI|IA—–

nBack at the Maji Toraki Udon shop, a trio of former Yakuza members sat around a table.

nMaji dealt a few cards to Kiri and Saji on the table and said, “Think Boss forgot about us again?”

nKiri picked up his cards and shrugged. “Boss is busy.”

nSaji picked his cards up as well and said, “Yeah, Bro. Besides, Boss isn’t a micromanager. We do our thing and he lets us.”

n“Tch. Still a bit annoying though.” Maji flipped three cards on the table and then looked at his hand. “Wish Boss would come visit to at least try our noodles. And check.”

nKiri reached into his pocket and tossed a crumpled 100 yen note on the table. “Raise. And you haven’t invited him yet, so what do you expect, Maji?”

n“Shut up, Kiri-kun. You haven’t-“

nA soft chime from the front counter. After that, a smooth and slightly sinister male voice echoed. “Hello? Is this shop open for business? Or do I have to find another target?”

nMaji paused and looked over. “Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Looks like we’ve got customers.”

nA tall man with flowing silver hair and piercing green eyes.

nAnother man with spiky blonde hair and glowing green eyes.

nA male foreigner with parted brown hair, wearing a cop uniform. And next to him, a Korean woman wearing a crimson dress with a gun strapped on her thigh.

nThen rounding up the group, there was a young Japanese man in his mid-twenties with his hair already gone white. He sighed and said, “Seth. Do you have to make everything you say sound sinister?”

n“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

nMikata Seigi shook his head and then looked at Maji. “Sorry to intrude, but Takashi-san said you guys made good udon?”

n_________

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