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nSakura yawned and then glanced back at her laptop.

nAt the moment, she was sitting at the kitchen table in her house. Since she dropped Rin off earlier and she had a stream at the office building, Sakura was completely free. And since Rin was having a sleepover at Alpha’s house to celebrate Alfi Titor’s debut, it meant that Sakura didn’t need to pick up her sweet daughter today.

nSpeaking of Alfi Titor… Sakura didn’t think it was possible, but it seemed like that cold eldest daughter of John was actually a lot cuter than she let on. Going against expectations must run in the family.

nThinking about that, Sakura muttered, “Now I’m even more curious about who that guy married- No, who married that guy.”

nFrom what Sakura had gathered from the bits of conversation she had with Beta and Alpha, as well as the bits of information Rin mentioned now and again, it seemed like John had been quite a lady’s man in the past.

n“Well, I’ll probably find out sooner or later.” Sakura stood up, getting out of her chair to stretch.

nJohn was worried about how his wife would react to Rin, so it seemed like that woman wasn’t too far off in showing up. Sakura would get her answer then… And she should also probably get a bottle of wine to share with the woman.

nStifling another yawn, Sakura walked over to make herself a cup of coffee. “Let’s see…” she muttered. “I just finished up the article for Gotaku about the upcoming game releases. John’s article was paid for this morning and I received the funds… which were as excessive as expected. Which means… I’ve got nothing to do?”

nSakura put a kettle of water in the coffee machine and poured out some coffee grinds into the filter. Pressing the button to start it, she leaned against the countertop and pulled out her phone. “What time is it anyway?”

nA glance at the screen revealed that it was ten o’clock. About two hours after Alfi Titor’s debut.

nHana’s stream was at six, so Sakura still had a third of the day before she could watch her sweetie’s stream.

nRealizing that, Sakura frowned. “Just what am I going to do today?”

nAs if sensing her struggles, her phone suddenly rang. It was ‘that idiot’… in other words, Kai.

nA faint smile crossed Sakura’s face, and then she answered. “Calling me in the morning on a Friday. You really must have nothing better to do, Kai.”

nA low chuckle echoed from the phone, followed by Kai’s voice. “You wouldn’t be wrong. After all, our mutual friend just resolved the biggest worry on my plate.”

nSakura shifted her phone to her other ear and frowned. “So it really was him who took care of that bastard.”

n“I will neither confirm nor deny that.”

n“Heh. I’ll take that as a yes then.”

nIt didn’t come as a surprise. After all, only someone like John could pull off making that bastard admit his wrongs. Though she was really curious about how he did that considering that bastard was so unyielding…

n“Anyway,” Kai said. “I just called to tell you that I’m going overseas for a while on a trip with Tsuki.”

nSakura blinked and then said, “Overseas?” She paused to think and then said, “…Is there trouble?”

n“Nothing like that. Again, our mutual friend resolved the issues. I’m just going to take a proper vacation to spend time with my princess.”

nSakura crossed her arms and then said, “About time! You make sure to treat Tsuki well and buy her lots of gifts! She won’t always be that cute forever.”

n“What do you mean? She takes after her mother, not me. She’ll always be cute.”

nSakura rolled her eyes. “Not like that, you idiot. I meant that there’s not much longer you can spend time with her like this. She’s twelve, isn’t she?”

n“…Yes?”

n“Mmhm.” Sakura nodded and said, “Then you’ve only got a couple of years left before she goes through her rebellious phase and starts being interested in boys.”

nSilence on the other side of the line. Long enough that Sakura pulled her phone back to check if the call was still on. It was, so she placed her phone back to her ear and said, “Kai?”

n“…I didn’t consider that.”

n“Mmhm.” Sakura leaned back against the countertop and said, “You should cherish this time with her. Like you said, Tsuki inherited a lot from her mother, but she has your eyes, you know? Those looks with those sharp eyes in the future… she’s going to be a drop dead beauty. Boys are going to trip all over themselves to get her attention.”

n“I see. Thank you for the reminder. I will be… certain to address the concern appropriately.”

nHearing the stiff response, Sakura laughed and said, “I hope you do. It’d be a shame if your precious princess said she hated you and stormed out because you scared a boy she liked.”

n“That’s… I would never…”

nSakura smiled and said, “I’m just messing with you, Kai. Don’t worry about it too much. Tsuki’s too sweet of a girl to do that to you. And she’s good friends with Rin, so I’ll make sure to keep an eye on her if she does run out and leave you heartbroken.”

nKai sighed. “Your tongue has gotten even sharper with age, hasn’t it, Sakura?”

nSakura played with her fingernails and said, “A girl’s gotta find some way to defend herself. Words just happen to be the most convenient way to do so… along with wit.”

n“Just don’t go losing it in your old age.”

n“Rude. At least I don’t have gray hair like you.”

n“I like to call it being ‘distinguished.’ It shows my life experience.”

n“You mean the experience of spinning your wheels in place and ruining women’s lives?”

n“You… really know where to hit where it hurts, don’t you?”

n“Ah.” Sakura blinked and muttered, “Sorry.”

n“It’s fine. It’s true anyway.”

nAn awkward silence filled the air.

nSakura cleared her throat and said, “Anyway. Relax. Have fun with Tsuki and make some precious memories. And when you come back, don’t forget to bring souvenirs.”

nKai chuckled. “Did you want something in particular?”

n“Mm, not really. But I would love it if you could get something for Rin. Her room could do with a bit more decoration.”

n“I’ll remember that. And I’ll get you something nice too.”

nSakura laughed. “I’m flattered, but you should be careful. A girl like me might get the wrong idea, you know?”

n“…Right. Of course.” Kai coughed and said, “That’s… That was all I wanted to say. I’ll text you before we leave later today.”

nSakura waved her hand. “Sure. Not like it’s my business… but I’ll keep an eye on my phone. Happy?”

nKai sighed and then said, “Take care of yourself, Sakura.”

nThe call ended.

nWhen it did, Sakura was the one who sighed. “That guy… He really should stop trying.”

nIt was obvious what he wanted. Kai had never been very good at covering up how he felt. Even though he got a lot better at talking over the years, that awkward guy who had his heart on his sleeve and flew off the handle so easily never really changed.

nBut…

nSakura tucked her phone away and muttered, “You can’t turn back the clock, Kai-kun. And we’re different now.”

nHe had Tsuki, and she had Rin. Not only that, but both of them had already become used to living their lives alone for a long time.

nStarting now was…

nSakura shook her head and poured herself a cup of coffee. “Dammit. This is the problem with having too much free time.”

nAll that Sakura had to deal with were her thoughts. And that was never a good thing.

nShe picked up her cup of coffee and headed back to her laptop. Maybe there was an interesting commission she could start up to get her mind off of things…

nSakura sat back down at the kitchen table and set her cup on the side. That done, she opened up her email and scrolled through the recent job offers.

nSince her piece about John and his business, Sakura had gotten a lot more job offers. Most were the usual contenders, requests about playing through a game and then reviewing them.

nBut she didn’t really feel up to that… not to mention that the only consoles they had right now were the ones that Rin had.

nSo that wouldn’t do.

nNext was a request to write about an upcoming VR headset. Something about innovative technology using brain wave manipulation. It seemed like it was called… NERV_Gear?

nInteresting, but she had written a lot of articles about those before she was hospitalized, and after the headache deciphering how John’s tech worked, she really wasn’t up to more science research.

n“Pass.” Sakura muttered and archived the message, scrolling through the rest of her inbox.

nMore of the usual… There was one that stuck out. Something about an innovative VRMMORPG called Lightnaught finally being released after coming out of a decade long beta testing period.

nBut like the other request, it was too complicated and time consuming.

nSakura sighed and leaned back in her chair, staring out the window.

nA cloudy sky, with light snowflakes drifting down. It seemed like the weather had changed sometime during Alfi’s stream.

n“Looks like winter’s coming, huh?”

nTime had flown by. It seemed like just yesterday that she was huddled up with her baby trying to make ends meet. That it was just yesterday when she didn’t have a single moment to spare, always needing to use every second to scrape whatever she could together.

nAnd now she had all the time in the world.

nBecause of John’s support, both for Rin and from the recent article that Sakura had written, there weren’t any financial concerns. And because that bastard was voluntarily behind bars and genuinely remorseful, that issue was resolved as well.

nStress-free. Worry-free.

nSakura was grateful about it. She really was. After spending a decade and a half working to her bones, being able to take it easy and having the freedom to be lazy was incredible.

nBut it also created an interesting new problem that she hadn’t considered.

n“…What am I going to do now?”

nSakura took a sip of her coffee and then frowned.

nMost women her age were either married with kids and a stay at home mom or single and deep in a career.

nThe usual activities would be sitting home and watching dramas, or going on the prowl for a husband… but Sakura really wasn’t interested in either.

nAfter all, her life was more dramatic than any show on TV, and a husband… Yeah. She’d pass on that.

nMaybe a new hobby? But what could she do? Cooking was relaxing, but when it was just her that was a waste of food and money. Gardening was something she was never good at. And unlike her sweet daughter, Sakura wasn’t blessed with talent for music or dancing.

nSakura sighed and then opened up Readit on her laptop. Maybe there was something interesting to read about…

n“Hm?”

nAs if to answer her request, she saw something.

nIt was an ad. And not a random one, but the sponsored ad that a company had to pay Readit directly to have appear, linked in between the different posts.

n“Ars Nova Productions is looking for a scenario writer for its breaking ground upcoming visual novel…?”

nSakura frowned and then clicked onto the ad.

nUnlike what she expected, it wasn’t a job description. Well, that was there. But the qualification to get the job was different.

n“A writing competition?” Sakura muttered and then scanned the page.

nIt was fairly simple. Given a specific writing prompt and two key characters, write a short story. The genre was romance, and pen names were allowed. If the creative director approved, then you were in.

nShort, sweet, and straightforward.

nEnough for Sakura to be skeptical… but after ten minutes of research, everything seemed legitimate.

nSakura frowned and said, “Did someone get inspired by John? Or are people just dropping in out of the blue?”

nWell, whatever the case… it was something to do.

nSakura hadn’t written romance before, but her life had been a rollercoaster of emotions. And with recent events, it was essentially a Shoujo manga plotline brought to life, so she had plenty of inspiration to draw from.

nThe deadline for the story… Ah. It was Christmas. Just over a month’s worth of time.

n“Might as well give it a shot.” Sakura cracked her fingers and then filled out her information, using a pen name of ‘Scattered Blossoms.’

nAnd after submitting, she got the information for her writing prompt.

n“Let’s see… Write a story about Princess Snow and the Golden Emperor. Princess Snow is the POV character and a woman obsessed with perfection. The Golden Emperor is a handsome young man who’s clumsy and charming. Princess Snow hates the Golden Emperor at first but finds herself slowly falling for the guy after he showed her the beauty in imperfection… Mm. I can work with this.”

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