12 "Reunion Tsukiko"
"Well, that's good"
" Thank you senpai, please take care of Fuku, Fuku, please listen to everyone while I'm gone, they're in charge, I'll pick you up tomorrow."
"Miah!"
Fuku glanced at him from on top of Ryo-Ohki.
Today, Fuku was being left to stay at Tenchi 's house.
" Don't worry I'm close by, I'll contact you as soon as I have time."
"Don't worry I'll take care of getting your bike fixed." Tenchi told him
"Um ... .... maybe it's best that he doesn't ride his bike while he's here on earth.. " Washu said
"Um ... .... maybe it's best that he doesn't ride his bike while he's here on earth.. " Washu said
"... ... Hey Seina, I know that you can't help me today because you promised to meet with Tsukiko, but you're going to stay at our place tomorrow right? There's some thing I want to talk to you about ......... so make sure you make it back over here." Tenchi told Seina as he got in his father's van
"oh ... ... okay I'll make sure of it ... ..."
"Well then, I'll be waiting for you tomorrow"
Tenchi said Seina got in the van.
"Thank you Tenchi! We can really use these carrots, I'll give you the payment on our tab next time I come by"
Nishia, seina's father said from the drivers window. Tenchi bowed to him.
"Bye Tenchi" Kiriko waved"
"Well then we're off."
Nishia said as he began to drive off face from the window
It was a moderate walk to Masaki village for an adult, but it took less then five minutes in a van. soon the care van arrived there in front of Tsukiko's house.
"Kiriko! Seina!"
In front of the house Tsukiko waved as she waited for them to get off the bus.
"Tsukiko, san!"
For a moment Seina thought back to what Kuisu said to him on Jurai, and it canceled out his familiar perception of Tsukiko but her waiving and the scenery of the village brought him back to it.
However, Seina didn't call her "Aunt Tsukiko ", rather he called her "Tsukiko-san".
When Seina got out of the van, Kai heard him and came out.
"Oh friend of mine you've returned!"
Kai came out in a tuxedo for some reason.... Perhaps he was checking how it looked on him in a mirror.
"What brings you back to the country aaahk ... ...!"
Kai saw Amane come out for the van and quickly took seina and took him to the side to talk to him "What? What's wrong, Kai?"
"W-w-w-w-w-what's going on Who is that girl !?"
"Oh, she's my colleague ..."
"Sre you saying you go to school with a transcendent Hyper Ultra Deluxe beauty like that every day?!That is not at all what I expected you to be doing ... ... ... are there really girls who look like that in the city !? "
"Oh... that ... yes.... I understand why you would feel that way."
"Is she single? Do you think I have a chance?!"
Kai closed his eyes and made a kissy face , seina got mad and punched him
"oh shit..." He suddenly remembered he was Bio-Enhanced
"oh shit..." He suddenly remembered he was Bio-Enhanced
Kai went flying back.
"oops...uhm......... sorry. Are you OK?"
"oops...uhm......... sorry. Are you OK?"
"uhhh ... ... ahahaha, Seina, that was a good punch, thanks for that... now I know I'm not dreaming."
Kai said jumping to his feet exhilarated. His nose was bleeding.
"Well, that's good"
"Ha ha ha! what a Hyper Ultra Deluxly beautiful woman!"
But when Kai went to look back Amane had already gotten back in the van and Seina's dad had already drove off.
"Why did she leave! why? Why? Why ??!"
Kai fell to his knees and did a clap and a prayer.
"Are you going to stand outside for ever being stupid or are you going to come on in!"
Tsukiko looked down at her son coldly.
"Oh I nearly forgot to say hello to my funny brother"
Kiriko patted Kai on the back
"s ... ... Sorry ... Sorry! Seina!let's go inside! ...."
Kai took Seina and ran into the house... however Tsukiko hit him on the head
"How many times have I told you don't run in the house!"
"ah sorry!" Kai got down cowering. Tsukiko raised her long elegant legs as she prepared to drop kick him. Seina caught a glimpse under her skirt. She stopped herself.
"How many times have I told you don't run in the house!"
"ah sorry!" Kai got down cowering. Tsukiko raised her long elegant legs as she prepared to drop kick him. Seina caught a glimpse under her skirt. She stopped herself.
"Oh! I forgot we had company ... ..!"
Tsukiko stood back up embarrassed. and took a deep breath to calm herself. She fixed her hair and clothes
" Go home, Seina-chan"
she said with eyes that reminded him of the one's Kuisu had towards him. The image of the two overlapped in his mind. Seina turned red and his heart raced desperately
"But I am home"
was all he could manage to say the two found themselves unable to look away from each other as there eyes met. It looked like a pair of lovers looking at each other across the room.
"Mom! Seina! are you planning on just standing there forever?"
Kiriko said with a frustrated face She grabbed Seina by the arms and pulled him out into the dining room. Tsukiko snapped out of it and hurried to follow them.
---------
"owww! Mother, you know I'm just glad that Seina came back, you didn't have to be so harsh with me."
Kai said as he sat at the table.
"So Seina, how does it taste? I hope it tastes just like you remember it... It's been a while since I last made this dish." Tsukiko kept staring at Seina's face. Of course,it was partially because she wanted to ignore Kai.
"It's really tasty" Seina was eating Tsukiko 's curry. It had Summer vegetables that were harvested in the village and Tenchi's carrots, and Taro's grandmother, Kei raised the chicken carefully to be delicious. but the Roux was store bought.
In a sense, it was very common curry that anyone could make, but Seina thought this curry was the most delicious thing in the world.
"............"
Kiriko seemed a little mad as Seina ate his curry.
Indeed, Kiriko could make a much more authentic curry, but seina was used to Tsukiko's curry so when she made it for him she would make it the way Tsukiko would but she wasn't ever be able make it taste like exactly Tsukiko's that way.
"Anyways, Mother your curry is good why don't you make it more often? This is the first time you've made it in nearly half a year"
"............" Kai's mother ignored him.
"Sis, it's ridiculous she won't ever make it for me when I ask but the second seina comes back she starts preparing it the night before."
"............" Kiriko also ignored him.
"... .... Mother! can I at least get some more!" Kai was then ignored by both Tsukiko and Kiriko
"Seina-chan, what about you?"
"oh hold on. I'll get it." Tsukiko took Seina's plate and made him seconds.
".... So... Seina. Where are you staying? Are you in Tokyo or Osaka or Fukuoka?"
"Well ... uhm ... ...." Seina wasn't sure what to say because he didn't know what lies they had told Kai.
"What ever happened with that pamphlet... did you get to see that theme park?"
"Well, about that ... ...."
"Here you are, I've explained it to over and over again, do you even listen to me!" Tsukiko rushed to give Kai seconds to get him to shut up about seina.
"I'll explain it to you again later when he l......"
"Wow ~ ~ ~ Curry!" kai talked loudly over Tsukiko... and then he began eating quickly.
She kept this up all throughout dinner and Kai never got to hear about Seina's "life in the city"
------
Kai changed into more comfortable clothes and plopped down on the sofa and rubbed his stomach. "You two should go bathe... you were outside in the garden and you're covered in mud..."Tsukiko said while clearing the table
"A bath sounds nice... Hey Seina I hear your folks recently installed a huge bath... we should go check it out."
"why would you want to go bathe at my house... there's a bath right here..."
" I want to get a peep at that Hyper Ultra Deluxe beautiful woman you brought here with you aaaaah ~ ~ ~, ...!" Tsukiko drop kicked him and stood on top of him.
Seina again caught a glimpse of her panties from the gap in her skirt.
"Oh!!" he panicked and looked away but his enhanced vision from his latest round of bioenhancement etched the image clearly into his mind.
---------at this point seina has undergone bio-enhancement for like a 3rd time and now basically echo locates images of things whether he wants to or not... he even ends up seeing through peoples clothes at times--------------
Tsukiko was confused by this. but then she turned red once she realized the view seina was getting. she lost track of time as she was embarrassed and was accidentally crushing Kai's windpipe
"Seina.... help" Kai tried to call out
Tsukiko rushed to hold down her skirt and ran to the kitchen to escape the situation. Kai got himself back up and sat at the table and keeled over on it as he struggled to breathe and passed out.
"..... got damn it Kuisu-san ... I'll get back at you for this" Tsukiko said as she got in the kitchen.
------------------------------------
Seina took the stunned Kai to his room and laid him in his futon. He had expected him to regain consciousness as he took him back but he was still unconscious and limp.
"...... times like these make me really appreciate my Bio-Enhancement."
It takes more power than usual to carry a knocked out person.
"... ... Seina-chan" Tsukiko 's called to him from outside of the room.
"Ms. Tsukiko?"
"Sorry but if you could... could you just stand there and listen to me... "
Tsukiko hurried to stop Seina from going out into the hallway.
"... I'm sorry ... I lack the confidence to say this properly to you face to face."
"Huh?"
it felt weird to him to talk to her like this but he also wanted the privacy so he didn't turn into a blubbering mess.
"This is about Kuisu, isn't it?"
"You aren't in trouble... this isn't anything bad ... ...it's just I'm embarrassed because what she told you as me was true."
"………It was true?"
Like Kusiu had said, her acting out Tsukiko's feelings for Seina were real.
Seina's heartbeat sped up.
Although it is was confirmed via Kuisu, she had confessed her lover to Seina, it was the first time someone had done that to him.
"I ... I've been thinking about it for a long time, What if you had stayed on Earth, what would have happened?"
"What would have happened ...?" Seina thought but, as always, it only resulted in him being aware of the fact that there were almost no choices for him in life if he hadn't gone to space.
Even if he got older and acquired new knowledge, it wouldn't have changed anything, no matter how smart he got.
"Well high school and college would be impossible, so that would just leave be being a burden to Masaki village ...at least that's my usual conclusion."
"The only logical conclusion is you and me together in this house."
"Oh I guess that's right, if that's what you wanted" seina had always intended to live in a vacant house in the village, but if Tsukiko was ok with it there would have been reason to refuse her.
"And what then...?" The way Tsukiko talked to him reminded her she usually talked when explaining things to Kiriko.
"I guess there is the chance that I would eventually learn the truth of Masaki village."
"Yes and most likely Kiriko would have stopped coming every now and then to see you....... ... so surely I think over time we would have just naturally fallen in love with each other."
"oh!!" Seina 's face turned red he panicked slightly
Seina was accustomed to trouble, but not to confessions of love.
It was a strong poison for seina.
Indeed, things like romance seemed like a super expensive commodity that was out of reach.
"In ten years the physical difference between us will disappear, and anyone who saw us would logically assume we were a couple."
seina thought about it.
"We would make for a perfect couple!" Tsukiko said powerfully, as if reading seina's heart
"But Seina went to space, and that timeline didn't happen... but I thought that's okay... I could still be your aunt Tsukiko, and you could be Seina, my son's friend and the boy who adores my daughter ... .... "
Kuisu had rushed what she had planned to wait a decade to tell him.
"I'd still like for that to be the case seina, I'd like for you to still see me as an aunt for now."
"... but ..."
But where does Tsukiko's romance go? When did you notice that feeling I wonder? Where would Seina's feelings go now that he knew about it?
"There's not much difference how couples are, whether they have life span of several thousand years or not, sometimes they get married, sometimes they break up, sometimes they break up and get back together again, but it's the same everywhere.
Here it's usually just Birth and raising children, and then their lifetime ends with them inheriting their wisdom.
But we are a long-lived people, We don't have to spend all our lifetime doing that. besides being married over hundreds of years creates a bond stronger then blood. "
"Stronger then blood?"
At that time, Seina remembered the conversation he had with Yosho at the Shinto shrine over Airi's repeatedly attempted infidelity.
----------------------------
"............" Kai's mother ignored him.
"Sis, it's ridiculous she won't ever make it for me when I ask but the second seina comes back she starts preparing it the night before."
"............" Kiriko also ignored him.
"... .... Mother! can I at least get some more!" Kai was then ignored by both Tsukiko and Kiriko
"Seina-chan, what about you?"
"oh hold on. I'll get it." Tsukiko took Seina's plate and made him seconds.
".... So... Seina. Where are you staying? Are you in Tokyo or Osaka or Fukuoka?"
"Well ... uhm ... ...." Seina wasn't sure what to say because he didn't know what lies they had told Kai.
"What ever happened with that pamphlet... did you get to see that theme park?"
"Well, about that ... ...."
"Here you are, I've explained it to over and over again, do you even listen to me!" Tsukiko rushed to give Kai seconds to get him to shut up about seina.
"I'll explain it to you again later when he l......"
"Wow ~ ~ ~ Curry!" kai talked loudly over Tsukiko... and then he began eating quickly.
She kept this up all throughout dinner and Kai never got to hear about Seina's "life in the city"
------
Kai changed into more comfortable clothes and plopped down on the sofa and rubbed his stomach. "You two should go bathe... you were outside in the garden and you're covered in mud..."Tsukiko said while clearing the table
"A bath sounds nice... Hey Seina I hear your folks recently installed a huge bath... we should go check it out."
"why would you want to go bathe at my house... there's a bath right here..."
" I want to get a peep at that Hyper Ultra Deluxe beautiful woman you brought here with you aaaaah ~ ~ ~, ...!" Tsukiko drop kicked him and stood on top of him.
Seina again caught a glimpse of her panties from the gap in her skirt.
"Oh!!" he panicked and looked away but his enhanced vision from his latest round of bioenhancement etched the image clearly into his mind.
---------at this point seina has undergone bio-enhancement for like a 3rd time and now basically echo locates images of things whether he wants to or not... he even ends up seeing through peoples clothes at times--------------
Tsukiko was confused by this. but then she turned red once she realized the view seina was getting. she lost track of time as she was embarrassed and was accidentally crushing Kai's windpipe
"Seina.... help" Kai tried to call out
Tsukiko rushed to hold down her skirt and ran to the kitchen to escape the situation. Kai got himself back up and sat at the table and keeled over on it as he struggled to breathe and passed out.
"..... got damn it Kuisu-san ... I'll get back at you for this" Tsukiko said as she got in the kitchen.
------------------------------------
Seina took the stunned Kai to his room and laid him in his futon. He had expected him to regain consciousness as he took him back but he was still unconscious and limp.
"...... times like these make me really appreciate my Bio-Enhancement."
It takes more power than usual to carry a knocked out person.
"... ... Seina-chan" Tsukiko 's called to him from outside of the room.
"Ms. Tsukiko?"
"Sorry but if you could... could you just stand there and listen to me... "
Tsukiko hurried to stop Seina from going out into the hallway.
"... I'm sorry ... I lack the confidence to say this properly to you face to face."
"Huh?"
it felt weird to him to talk to her like this but he also wanted the privacy so he didn't turn into a blubbering mess.
"This is about Kuisu, isn't it?"
"You aren't in trouble... this isn't anything bad ... ...it's just I'm embarrassed because what she told you as me was true."
"………It was true?"
Like Kusiu had said, her acting out Tsukiko's feelings for Seina were real.
Seina's heartbeat sped up.
Although it is was confirmed via Kuisu, she had confessed her lover to Seina, it was the first time someone had done that to him.
"I ... I've been thinking about it for a long time, What if you had stayed on Earth, what would have happened?"
"What would have happened ...?" Seina thought but, as always, it only resulted in him being aware of the fact that there were almost no choices for him in life if he hadn't gone to space.
Even if he got older and acquired new knowledge, it wouldn't have changed anything, no matter how smart he got.
"Well high school and college would be impossible, so that would just leave be being a burden to Masaki village ...at least that's my usual conclusion."
"The only logical conclusion is you and me together in this house."
"Oh I guess that's right, if that's what you wanted" seina had always intended to live in a vacant house in the village, but if Tsukiko was ok with it there would have been reason to refuse her.
"And what then...?" The way Tsukiko talked to him reminded her she usually talked when explaining things to Kiriko.
"I guess there is the chance that I would eventually learn the truth of Masaki village."
"Yes and most likely Kiriko would have stopped coming every now and then to see you....... ... so surely I think over time we would have just naturally fallen in love with each other."
"oh!!" Seina 's face turned red he panicked slightly
Seina was accustomed to trouble, but not to confessions of love.
It was a strong poison for seina.
Indeed, things like romance seemed like a super expensive commodity that was out of reach.
"In ten years the physical difference between us will disappear, and anyone who saw us would logically assume we were a couple."
seina thought about it.
"We would make for a perfect couple!" Tsukiko said powerfully, as if reading seina's heart
"But Seina went to space, and that timeline didn't happen... but I thought that's okay... I could still be your aunt Tsukiko, and you could be Seina, my son's friend and the boy who adores my daughter ... .... "
Kuisu had rushed what she had planned to wait a decade to tell him.
"I'd still like for that to be the case seina, I'd like for you to still see me as an aunt for now."
"... but ..."
But where does Tsukiko's romance go? When did you notice that feeling I wonder? Where would Seina's feelings go now that he knew about it?
"There's not much difference how couples are, whether they have life span of several thousand years or not, sometimes they get married, sometimes they break up, sometimes they break up and get back together again, but it's the same everywhere.
Here it's usually just Birth and raising children, and then their lifetime ends with them inheriting their wisdom.
But we are a long-lived people, We don't have to spend all our lifetime doing that. besides being married over hundreds of years creates a bond stronger then blood. "
"Stronger then blood?"
At that time, Seina remembered the conversation he had with Yosho at the Shinto shrine over Airi's repeatedly attempted infidelity.
----------------------------
"well we've been together over 700 years and we've only been only back together for like 500 years of that ... and that's a long time to only be with one person... especially living long distance and besides that... philosophers just tend to be sexual deviants.... "\
--------------------------------
"it's not even uncommon for both partners to end up partnered with another partner, sometimes even while maintaining that tight connection. "
Couples commonly had other different lovers as well as each other. There was no such concept in space of it being an affair like it was on the Earth. Of course there were no legal problems with it either.
"So Seina you and I may reach that timeline together again maybe in a few hundreds of years from now ... ... and that's enough for me, we're still young."
"Are we young ...?"
"Yes we are, the average life expectancy now is 2,000 years, assuming that the average earthlings lifespan is 80 years , it's about 25 times shorter then ours, our difference is less a year if you think of it on that scale"
"I guess that's true when you put it that way." Seina understood what she meant.
"... ... It's taking me a while to realize that I'm really not an Earthling anymore."
"Heh, well, then, why don't you go take a bath, Seina-chan. It's been a long day."
"Okay, Aunt Tsukiko." Seina was glad to call her Aunt Tsukiko again. they could finally look each each other in the face again normally
"Hey Kiriko when he's done will you take a bath together with me?"
--------------------
"... ... You look happy, what happened?"
"Come on let's go" she didn't answer Kiriko's question and headed to the bathroom.
"Wait a moment!" Like a chick following a mother bird, Kiriko hastily followed after Tsukiko.
The two took off their clothes without saying anything. it looked like a mirror if one mirror showed what the person would look like in a few years
------------------------------------
<--- tsukiko at kiriko's age | Kiriko ----> 
-----------------------------------
They got in the bath
"Hey mom, I have a question about earlier ..."
"I've dealt with my relationship with seina properly, everything is back to normal."
"oh.."
"Are you suprised? I just put things back to how they were before Kuisu got involved, But what about you, when are you going to tell him?"
"Hah, when are you going to make up your mind ...?" Kiriko pretended not to hear her.
"He's surrounded by attractive girls now ... .... If you don't act quick you might miss your chance." "But I ...! ... I ... ...."
"It's not like you're not pretty enough"
"aaaah!" Tsukiko gave Kiriko's butt a tickle
" What's the problem why are you so particular about keeping a distance between you and Seina?"
"Oh! That ... ... ... That's what you mean"
"You don't need to do that anymore, you have made amends with him already and you shouldn't have had to make amends with him in the first place."
"......... but I know what I did and I can't forgive myself ...! " Kiriko painfully covered her face with her hands.
"Well then I'll forgive you."
"……eh?"
"I've been watching over Seina for the same amount of time as you have, the exact same time ... ...."
Tsukiko brought her face closer so that she looked into Kiriko's eyes.
Her eyes were not that of a mother's but the eyes of a woman. Eye of jealousy not of charity .It was as if she was issuing her a challenge.
"I will forgive you, not as mother, but a woman the same as you."
her worlds quietly reverberated in the bathroom.
Tsukiko at that time looked exactly like a mirror image of Kiriko.
"the same as me ......as a woman ..."
"Yes ... so please stop worrying ......"
"Don't worry? ... stop it?" like she was hypnotized by looking into Tsukiko 's eyes, Kiriko repeatedly spoke back Tsukiko' s words, Tsukiko slowly nodded.
"!!" And the spell of the mirror was unraveled and the animation returned to Kiriko's face.
"Okay, do you understand Kiriko?"
"........ yes I understood ... ... I understand ... ... I will make an effort."
"Good, you don't want the other girls getting ahead of you ... ...."
"... Was about you?"
"I won't hold back either" she said with a face like Gyokuren might make,
"Mother!"
"I reset the relationship with me and Seina, but I can choose to pursue it at anytime.
Thanks to Kuisu, everything is set and ready for me when I want to go."
Tsukiko stared at her like a snake would stare at a mouse.
Kiriko stiffened up and got sweaty.
"So do your best." Tsukiko brought her face close to intimidate her.
"... ... Yes, mother"
Kiriko nodded with little tears in the corner of her eyes.
-------------------
Seina was looking up at the moon outside. he hadn't seen earth's moon in a long time but it was still just as beautiful as he remembered . Especially in the village where there where no street lamps or lit buildings to block out the starts it had a special beauty that shined in the darkness of the night.
"... ... the moon looks beautiful tonight doesn't it?" a voice said behind Seina. It was Kiriko who had just gotten out of the bath.
" What did you and my mother talk about?"
"eh!?"
Seina was shocked. Seina had thought Kiriko was Tsukiko.
"oh... uh nothing..."
"What are you doing out here?"
"... ... It's strange, isn't it? I never thought I'd ever be able to go to the moon ..."
"Well, now you can go even further"
"... ... Is it farther ...How far can we go?"
"............"
Seina wasn't looking at kiriko but she was upset and began crying.
"... I wanted you to leave me stay here... don't go." she said meekly
"What?" he turned to look at her but she had ran off inside. Tsukiko had come out in a yukata as he looked around for her.
Tsukiko came to Seina and looked in his eyes.
"If you're not sleepy yet, I'd like for you to go out with me for dinner, ... what do you say?"
"...... well.. ok but ... ...."
"It's no where fancy, I just want to talk somewhere nice outside where we can talk so I can tell you some things I can't while Kai is around."
"Oh I see."
"So how about it?"
"……sure"
" There should be some nice clothes in Kai's room. please change."
"alright"
----
Tsukiko went into the living room while seina went to change.
"If you don't want me to be alone with Seina then please get ready to come with us."
tTsukiko said to kiriko who wiping the tears from her face.
--
Tsukiko poured seina some plum flavored Italian soda she made from syrup and some carbonated water she brought with her and booze for her and kiriko.
" So do you like it?" Tsukiko asked as Seina took a sip
"Yes, it reminds me of summer."
"I'm happy ...... Kai only ever drinks cola!"
"Why are you still waiting to tell Kai the truth?"
"I know I should have done it already, I'm just waiting until Dai is gone."
"Mr. Dai is in town?"
"Yes... but I told him not to come over again.... The bigger Kai gets the more he misses his father.... well he misses his wallet at the very least... but if he really wants to see him he can do it once he get's into space, until then he can wait.... Anyways I hate to leave Kai alone like this but I just needed to get out so we could talk." Tsukiko downed the entire glass.
"He's starting to annoy me.... but I don't want to grow to dislike my son."
Kai had begun acting a bit like Dai but she understood this was because he was partially his child.
"so when Jai goes into space ... you'll be alone ............ Have you decided if are you going to go back to learn at the Academy again?"
"What!" Kiriko raised her voice.
"I might, I'm technically on a leave of absence so I can if I choose to."
"Oh I see……"
"If you didn't know, once you're enrolled in the academy your accepted until you either withdraw or die."
"Well then, I guess marriage and child rearing must have been a bit of an obstacle for you... so what was your major mother?"
" I specialized in AI ... Research on artificial intelligence"
"Oh, so ...that's how .... oh..."
Seina realized that was how she met Miki's father Hiroshi, but that made him not want to talk as it would remind him of Miki's death. Of course Tsukiko didn't want to talk about it either.
(Oh, right... that time with Aunt Tsukiko and Miki's father ... ...)
But Seina remembered that at the lake. Miki's death was still a painful event for him, but thinking of the relieved face of Miki's father back then relieved a bit of the pain.
"By the way, artificial intelligence is something like NB, if only you could have brought it here with you"
"Well... that might not be a good idea even if I could...He acts a bit ... ... ... strange"
"Oh well how your NB's AI turns out is different for everyone, of course some just treat them as objects... to prevent that, if the owner treats them like they have a personality usually one emerges. "
"Is that so? .... I'll remember that" Seina said... Kiriko laughed
"Why are you laughing?" Tsukiko said to Kiriko.
"I don't think that's the issue. There was some weird software installed on it when he first got it... and Amane put even weirder character software on it..."
Oh really? It was made by airi right? Did you try sending it back to her?"
"Once ... ... but ... It got even more strange when it returned."
"Wow ... ... That's amazing, but if it's impossible to fix for her then it's defiantly impossible for me."
"Heh ... is that so?"
"Oh, your glass is empty," Tsukiko refilled his glass
"There is plenty of plum syrup left over from last year, so please don't hold back, if you like it, please take some back to your place."
"Thank you"
Tsukiko sat back down... the chest of her yukata was open and her cleavage was visible
"Oh, mom!.... ... it's loose..." kiriko pointed with her eyes at Tsukiko
"Oh.... can you fix it for me?"
Kiriko got up and leaned over seina to tighten it.... kiriko and tsukiko talked to each other as seina was accidentally sandwiched between Kirko's breasts....
A fight broke out between them as she tightened tsukiko's yukata when tsukiko said something to Kiriko about Seina that made her mad. at this point they were both very drunk and started fighting about Seina.
They continued to argue with each other and Seina got pulled into their breasts and was nearly smothered to death by both of them as they fought over him until they got so drunk their argument stopped making any sense and they drunkenly made up... and then passed out.
----end of chapter-----
click here for chapter 13
"it's not even uncommon for both partners to end up partnered with another partner, sometimes even while maintaining that tight connection. "
Couples commonly had other different lovers as well as each other. There was no such concept in space of it being an affair like it was on the Earth. Of course there were no legal problems with it either.
"So Seina you and I may reach that timeline together again maybe in a few hundreds of years from now ... ... and that's enough for me, we're still young."
"Are we young ...?"
"Yes we are, the average life expectancy now is 2,000 years, assuming that the average earthlings lifespan is 80 years , it's about 25 times shorter then ours, our difference is less a year if you think of it on that scale"
"I guess that's true when you put it that way." Seina understood what she meant.
"... ... It's taking me a while to realize that I'm really not an Earthling anymore."
"Heh, well, then, why don't you go take a bath, Seina-chan. It's been a long day."
"Okay, Aunt Tsukiko." Seina was glad to call her Aunt Tsukiko again. they could finally look each each other in the face again normally
"Hey Kiriko when he's done will you take a bath together with me?"
--------------------
About 30 minutes later, Tsukiko who confirmed that Seina had left the bath called out to Kiriko who was lounging in the living room.
"... ... You look happy, what happened?"
"Come on let's go" she didn't answer Kiriko's question and headed to the bathroom.
"Wait a moment!" Like a chick following a mother bird, Kiriko hastily followed after Tsukiko.
The two took off their clothes without saying anything. it looked like a mirror if one mirror showed what the person would look like in a few years
------------------------------------
-----------------------------------
They got in the bath
"Hey mom, I have a question about earlier ..."
"I've dealt with my relationship with seina properly, everything is back to normal."
"oh.."
"Are you suprised? I just put things back to how they were before Kuisu got involved, But what about you, when are you going to tell him?"
"Hah, when are you going to make up your mind ...?" Kiriko pretended not to hear her.
"He's surrounded by attractive girls now ... .... If you don't act quick you might miss your chance." "But I ...! ... I ... ...."
"It's not like you're not pretty enough"
"aaaah!" Tsukiko gave Kiriko's butt a tickle
" What's the problem why are you so particular about keeping a distance between you and Seina?"
"Oh! That ... ... ... That's what you mean"
"You don't need to do that anymore, you have made amends with him already and you shouldn't have had to make amends with him in the first place."
"......... but I know what I did and I can't forgive myself ...! " Kiriko painfully covered her face with her hands.
"Well then I'll forgive you."
"……eh?"
"I've been watching over Seina for the same amount of time as you have, the exact same time ... ...."
Tsukiko brought her face closer so that she looked into Kiriko's eyes.
Her eyes were not that of a mother's but the eyes of a woman. Eye of jealousy not of charity .It was as if she was issuing her a challenge.
"I will forgive you, not as mother, but a woman the same as you."
her worlds quietly reverberated in the bathroom.
Tsukiko at that time looked exactly like a mirror image of Kiriko.
"the same as me ......as a woman ..."
"Yes ... so please stop worrying ......"
"Don't worry? ... stop it?" like she was hypnotized by looking into Tsukiko 's eyes, Kiriko repeatedly spoke back Tsukiko' s words, Tsukiko slowly nodded.
"!!" And the spell of the mirror was unraveled and the animation returned to Kiriko's face.
"Okay, do you understand Kiriko?"
"........ yes I understood ... ... I understand ... ... I will make an effort."
"Good, you don't want the other girls getting ahead of you ... ...."
"... Was about you?"
"I won't hold back either" she said with a face like Gyokuren might make,
"Mother!"
"I reset the relationship with me and Seina, but I can choose to pursue it at anytime.
Thanks to Kuisu, everything is set and ready for me when I want to go."
Tsukiko stared at her like a snake would stare at a mouse.
Kiriko stiffened up and got sweaty.
"So do your best." Tsukiko brought her face close to intimidate her.
-------------------
Seina was looking up at the moon outside. he hadn't seen earth's moon in a long time but it was still just as beautiful as he remembered . Especially in the village where there where no street lamps or lit buildings to block out the starts it had a special beauty that shined in the darkness of the night.
"... ... the moon looks beautiful tonight doesn't it?" a voice said behind Seina. It was Kiriko who had just gotten out of the bath.
" What did you and my mother talk about?"
"eh!?"
Seina was shocked. Seina had thought Kiriko was Tsukiko.
"oh... uh nothing..."
"What are you doing out here?"
"... ... It's strange, isn't it? I never thought I'd ever be able to go to the moon ..."
"Well, now you can go even further"
"... ... Is it farther ...How far can we go?"
"............"
Seina wasn't looking at kiriko but she was upset and began crying.
"... I wanted you to leave me stay here... don't go." she said meekly
"What?" he turned to look at her but she had ran off inside. Tsukiko had come out in a yukata as he looked around for her.
Tsukiko came to Seina and looked in his eyes.
"If you're not sleepy yet, I'd like for you to go out with me for dinner, ... what do you say?"
"...... well.. ok but ... ...."
"It's no where fancy, I just want to talk somewhere nice outside where we can talk so I can tell you some things I can't while Kai is around."
"Oh I see."
"So how about it?"
"……sure"
" There should be some nice clothes in Kai's room. please change."
"alright"
----
Tsukiko went into the living room while seina went to change.
"If you don't want me to be alone with Seina then please get ready to come with us."
tTsukiko said to kiriko who wiping the tears from her face.
--
Tsukiko poured seina some plum flavored Italian soda she made from syrup and some carbonated water she brought with her and booze for her and kiriko.
" So do you like it?" Tsukiko asked as Seina took a sip
"Yes, it reminds me of summer."
"I'm happy ...... Kai only ever drinks cola!"
"Why are you still waiting to tell Kai the truth?"
"I know I should have done it already, I'm just waiting until Dai is gone."
"Mr. Dai is in town?"
"Yes... but I told him not to come over again.... The bigger Kai gets the more he misses his father.... well he misses his wallet at the very least... but if he really wants to see him he can do it once he get's into space, until then he can wait.... Anyways I hate to leave Kai alone like this but I just needed to get out so we could talk." Tsukiko downed the entire glass.
"He's starting to annoy me.... but I don't want to grow to dislike my son."
Kai had begun acting a bit like Dai but she understood this was because he was partially his child.
"so when Jai goes into space ... you'll be alone ............ Have you decided if are you going to go back to learn at the Academy again?"
"What!" Kiriko raised her voice.
"I might, I'm technically on a leave of absence so I can if I choose to."
"Oh I see……"
"If you didn't know, once you're enrolled in the academy your accepted until you either withdraw or die."
"Well then, I guess marriage and child rearing must have been a bit of an obstacle for you... so what was your major mother?"
" I specialized in AI ... Research on artificial intelligence"
"Oh, so ...that's how .... oh..."
Seina realized that was how she met Miki's father Hiroshi, but that made him not want to talk as it would remind him of Miki's death. Of course Tsukiko didn't want to talk about it either.
(Oh, right... that time with Aunt Tsukiko and Miki's father ... ...)
But Seina remembered that at the lake. Miki's death was still a painful event for him, but thinking of the relieved face of Miki's father back then relieved a bit of the pain.
"By the way, artificial intelligence is something like NB, if only you could have brought it here with you"
"Well... that might not be a good idea even if I could...He acts a bit ... ... ... strange"
"Oh well how your NB's AI turns out is different for everyone, of course some just treat them as objects... to prevent that, if the owner treats them like they have a personality usually one emerges. "
"Is that so? .... I'll remember that" Seina said... Kiriko laughed
"Why are you laughing?" Tsukiko said to Kiriko.
"I don't think that's the issue. There was some weird software installed on it when he first got it... and Amane put even weirder character software on it..."
Oh really? It was made by airi right? Did you try sending it back to her?"
"Once ... ... but ... It got even more strange when it returned."
"Wow ... ... That's amazing, but if it's impossible to fix for her then it's defiantly impossible for me."
"Heh ... is that so?"
"Oh, your glass is empty," Tsukiko refilled his glass
"There is plenty of plum syrup left over from last year, so please don't hold back, if you like it, please take some back to your place."
"Thank you"
Tsukiko sat back down... the chest of her yukata was open and her cleavage was visible
"Oh, mom!.... ... it's loose..." kiriko pointed with her eyes at Tsukiko
"Oh.... can you fix it for me?"
Kiriko got up and leaned over seina to tighten it.... kiriko and tsukiko talked to each other as seina was accidentally sandwiched between Kirko's breasts....
A fight broke out between them as she tightened tsukiko's yukata when tsukiko said something to Kiriko about Seina that made her mad. at this point they were both very drunk and started fighting about Seina.
They continued to argue with each other and Seina got pulled into their breasts and was nearly smothered to death by both of them as they fought over him until they got so drunk their argument stopped making any sense and they drunkenly made up... and then passed out.
----end of chapter-----
click here for chapter 13