Chapter 329: – To the Hotsprings! – I
Chapter 329: – To the Hotsprings! – I
“You sure that it’s fine for you to go on a trip with us, Alphy?” Asako glanced over at Alphy while tucking a shirt into her duffel bag and said, “Don’t you need to be nearby for your new baby sister?”
Alphy smiled and said, “It’s fine. I want to play with Aurora some more too, but I think Mama and my Aunties are going make that difficult for a while.” She checked her bag, carefully patting a stuffed blue dragon inside before zipping it up.
Asako saw that and felt her cheeks heat up, but she pointedly ignored it.
It was Saturday morning, December 28. The morning after Alphy’s stream of Boomer Band.
Well, more like after the first episode of Alfi’s Training Dojo.
Right now, she and Asako were seated on the floor of Asako’s room next to piles of clothes and packing for the upcoming onsen trip.
As for why Alphy’s clothes were in Asako’s room… Asako would never tell.
Asako grabbed a pair of sweatpants and started folding them. After that, she said, “That makes sense. Yue seems like the clingy type and your aunts dote on you and your sisters a lot.”
“Mmhm!” Alphy nodded and said, “Plus, Aurora is super cute! I think she’s going to be even cuter than Meggie in the future!”
“Miss Spitfire is going to yell at you about that if she hears you, Alphy.”
Alphy grabbed one of her sweatshirts and started folding it. “It’s okay. Meggie thinks Aurora is cute too, so she’ll accept it as the proud older sister. She also needs a bit of an incentive to keep in shape. Have you noticed how much pudgy she’s become?”
“I haven’t, but I’ll take your word for it.” Asako chuckled and went back to packing.
The two of them sat in a comfortable silence for a while. But eventually, Alphy said, “Did you remember to set the premieres, Asako?”
Asako rolled her eyes and said, “I’m not *that* bad at streaming, Alphy. I remembered.”
“I just wanted to make sure. People like making memes, and I think they would meme a lot about you if you didn’t have any premieres while Rin and I did.”
“What are you, my mother?” Asako zipped up her duffel bag and stood up. After that, she looked at Alphy and said, “I don’t need you dogging on me about every little thing, Alphy.”
Alphy checked her bag one more time and then stood up as well. After that, she looked at Asako and said, “But I’m your wife, so I have to make sure you’re doing well, don’t I?”
“W-W-Wife?! Since when?!” Asako blushed.
Alphy tilted her head and said, “Papa approved, didn’t he? And you have to take responsibility after that…”
“Y-Yeah, but… I mean… Wait.” Asako paused and then glared at Alphy. “You’re teasing me again, aren’t you?”
Alphy giggled and said, “I’m sorry! You just look so cute when you’re flustered.” She put her bag on and then walked over to Asako’s side. “I understand why Betty wanted to keep you all to herself now.”
Asako sighed and started heading walking towards the exit. “You and your sister… I swear. You’re going to be the death of me one day.”
Alphy suddenly paused, staring into space with a serious face.
Asako noticed and looked back. “Alphy?”
Alphy casually brushed her hand through the air and said, “Nothing, Asa-chan. Just brushing off some pesky flies.”
Asako groaned and said, “I knew I shouldn’t have left those bananas out for so long. I hate fruit flies.”
“Don’t worry! I got them!”
“Thanks- Wait. Did you call me Asa-chan?”
“Mmhm! That’s because you make my morning waking up next to you. Do you not like it?” Alphy paused and said, “I could call you ‘Coco’ too, but I feel like it would be a bit disrespectful.”
“…Let’s just go pick up Sis. We’ve got a long car ride ahead of us.”
Alphy smiled and then grabbed Asako’s left arm. “Okay, Husband! Let’s go!”
“@#[email protected]$!#@!”
Alphy giggled.
—–AI|IA—–
Back in the Hibana household, Rin was finishing her packing while waiting for her big sisters to arrive and pick her up.
“Let’s see… Clothes, toothbrush, phone, combs… and a bunch of other things that Mom said to bring.” Rin finished going through her bag one more time and then zipped it up, slinging it on her back. After that, she took a look around.
Gray walls painted a sleek gray color. Modern furniture. Fan art hung up on the wall, with a few pictures of Betty, Alphy, and Asako scattered around. Some manga to break up the gray, along with other collectibles…
“The Ohana can’t complain about it now, right?”
Rin made extra sure to add some color after being roasted on her last stream. …Though the fact that Mister John dropped off the first batch of what the Ohana sent her helped with that.
She’d never admit it though. If watching Asako’s chat was any indication, showing weakness would be the end.
Rin was grateful for the Ohana, but they *did* like to tease her a bit too these days.
She blamed Asako. Aneue was a terrible influence for the chat… Though it was kind of fun teasing back and forth sometimes.
“Sweetie?” Sakura’s voice echoed. “Did you want some breakfast before you leave? I made pancakes!”
“Yes! I’ll be right there!” Rin gave her room a once over to make sure she didn’t leave anything important… Nope. Looks like she grabbed everything.
Since that was the case, Rin headed over to the kitchen.
Sakura had already placed a fresh plate of pancakes on the table and was busy cooking some more. When she noticed Rin walk over, Sakura glanced at her and said, “You can start eating, Sweetie. Asako said that she and Alphy are on their way, so you should hurry.”
“Already?” Rin sat down at the table and started eating. “Looks like Onee-chan is a good influence. Aneue usually sleeps in when she doesn’t have a stream.”
“Well.” Sakura flipped a pancake and said, “I guess it’d be hard to not wake up when the person you share your bed was gets up first, right? Like in all of your doujins.”
Rin froze. Just for a brief moment. But she quickly recovered and went back to eating. “That’s funny, Mom. I don’t read doujins though.”
“Oh really? That’s not what your search history says.”
“MOM!” Rin’s face heated up and she said, “Why are you looking through my computer! That’s for work!”
Sakura glanced over at Rin and grinned.
Rin blinked. And then she realized that she got played and covered her face. “Uuu…”
“It’s okay, Sweetie. You’re about that age, so-“
“Shut up!”
Sakura laughed. “Still, it’s a bit weird to have doujins of your big sister and her girlfriend, you know? I mean, I have some weird tastes, but I didn’t think that you-“
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”