Chapter 32: It’s You!

*ding* The soft chime of a bell sounded as the door to a cafe opened.

John walked in, followed by Rin and Sakura, with Alpha taking up the end.

After driving around for a bit, stealthily scanning the city for a decent place that was open and served Western style breakfast, John managed to find one about fifteen minutes away from the office.

It was a bit pretentious sounding, called ‘God’s Tongue’ or whatever, but he figured that it was bound to be good if it was called that.

“Good morning, dear customers.”

A man walked out from behind curtains leading to the kitchen. He seemed fairly old, with mostly silver hair and a wrinkled face. However, his eyes were bright with a youthful energy and he had a warm smile on as he greeted everyone. It also seemed that he was the chef, since he wore a white apron over a plain t-shirt and jeans, revealing well trained arms.

John nodded and said, “Good morning.” Taking a look around at the place and seeing a lack of customers, he frowned and said, “Did we come at a bad time?”

“Oh no.” The old man shook his head and said, “I was just setting up for the day and training my first staff member.” Brushing his hands off against his apron, the old man grabbed a stack of menus and then walked over to the seating area. Looking at John and then the girls, he said, “Would you like a booth? Or a table?”

John glanced back. “Rin?”

“E-Eh? Me?” The high school girl flinched.

“Well, yeah. This is to celebrate your success, remember?”

“U-Um… a booth then?”

John nodded and turned back to the old man. “What the young lady said.”

The old man smiled. “I see. This way then.” He led the group over to a booth in the back and then placed the menus down. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll send the waitress over soon to take your orders… Ah, but is there any drink you would like to begin with?”

Before John could say anything, Alpha spoke up.

Staring at the old man, Alpha said, “I would like a glass of orange juice if you have it.”

Rin’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Me too!”

Sakura smiled and said, “How sweet… Ah.” She looked up at the old man and said, “I’ll have some coffee with milk and sugar.”

the old man chuckled and turned to John. “And you, Sir?”

John shook his head. “I’ll just have some water.”

“Understood. Then I’ll send her out shortly. Until then, please, take your time.” Bowing his head to the group, the old man walked off.

After he was gone, John glared at Alpha. “Did you have to jump so quick to answer?”

Alpha stared at her fingernails and said, “I was slightly impatient. It could not be helped.”

“…You really play that game too much, Alpha.” John frowned and then sat down on the inside part of the booth. “At this rate, you’ll become a NEET.”

“NEET?” Alpha blinked, taking a seat next to her father.

“That’s mean, Mister John!” Rin frowned and took the seat across from John. “Miss Alpha wouldn’t be a NEET! And she’s done a lot of work to help me and Hana out!”

John nodded. “That’s true. But she’s also logged a hundred hours in Smash Brawls in the past week alone.”

Rin paused, blinking. She tilted her head to the side, doing some math, and then said, “…A hundred hours? But it’s only been five days?”

“Exactly.”

Rin blinked again and turned to look at Alpha. “Miss Alpha? Do we need to stage an intervention?”

Alpha coughed, flushing a bit. “I have it under control. And it is simply a hobby of mine. No more, no less. At the moment, there is not much for me to do regardless.”

John scoffed. “Because you make your younger sister do all the work.”

Alpha raised an eyebrow. “And you do not?”

“Hey! I do half the work! Who do you think makes all the creative stuff and assets?”

“…So you are doing the entertaining duties and leaving the drudgery to someone else again?”

John coughed, averting his gaze.

Rin laughed.

Sakura chuckled and sat down next to her daughter, on the outside seat across from Alpha. “You two really are father and daughter, aren’t you?”

John looked at Sakura and said, “What? Still doubting it?”

Sakura shrugged. “I can’t help it. For a man your age, you look remarkably young. That, or Alpha is surprisingly mature.”

Alpha muttered, “If only Father acted his age half the time…”

“What was that?”

Alpha gave John a blank look and said, “If Father acted your age half the time, perhaps your life would be less hectic.”

“…” John sighed and shook his head. “I miss when you were polite.”

“And I miss when Father acted mature. So it seems that both of us have been disappointed.”

Rin looked between Alpha and John and then giggled.

Sakura smiled, hiding it with her right hand.

Seeing that, John decided to change the subject. “Anyway…” He turned to Rin and said, “You’re going to stream again later tonight, right? Do you have everything set up right at home, or do you want to use the studio again?”

Rin shook her head. “It’s fine. I can’t bother Mister John all the time, so I want to try streaming at home too. Miss Beta already setup the wi-fi, television, and computer, so it shouldn’t be too hard to do.”

Sakura nodded. “As my sweet daughter has said, it should be fine, John. Moreover, haven’t you been working non-stop since you’ve hired Rin?” She looked at John and then at Alpha. “You should take a bit off to spend time with your daughters as well, you know.”

“True… But this is important. If we don’t take advantage of everything now, it’ll be all too easy to fade away into obscurity, even with all we’ve done.”

Sakura waved her hand. “Even so, a day or two will be fine. I still won’t be Rin’s official manager, but if it’s for that short of a time period, I can handle things.” She stuck out her chest and said, “I might not look it, but I’ve handled my share of idols and…” She glanced at Rin for a bit before looking away, “…’talents’ in the past. I’ll make sure she doesn’t do anything that will get her or the company in trouble.”

“Mm…” John frowned, placing his elbows on the table and then rested his head with his fingers.

That did sound tempting. After all, it had been a non-stop grind since he got here. And since the debut had happened, it was a fact that things should wind down for a bit since there wasn’t a real need for using the studio and practicing all the time.

At least, they could reduce the schedule to only a few days a week instead of every day.

So then-

“Your drinks.” A refined and elegant female voice called out before placing cups on the table. “Two orange juices, one coffee with milk and sugar, and then a water.”

‘Hm?’ John blinked.

That voice sounded vaguely familiar.

At the same time, his instincts kicked in- No, his intuition when it came to troublesome women.

“Thank you, Miss!” Rin’s polite and bright voice.

“Thanks.” Sakura’s.

“Thank you for the beverage.” Alpha’s calm and somewhat monotone response.

The woman walked over, placing John’s cup of water in front of him. “And for you, Sir- Eh?”

John looked up.

A beautiful young woman with blonde hair and brown eyes. It was styled a bit different, tied in a ponytail, and she also wore different clothes. Unlike the high school uniform she wore at the warehouse before, at the moment she wore a plain white blouse and black skirt, with matching leggings. A cute and refined outfit that should have softened her appearance- No, one that did soften her appearance.

That was, until she saw John.

He froze, subtly covering more of his face with his hands and hoping that she wouldn’t notice.

The young woman frowned, her brown eyes narrowing in concentration… And then she snapped her arm out, pointing at John. “You! You’re the bastard who ran away last time!”

“E-Eh?!” Rin blinked, looking between the young woman and John. “M-Mister John?”

Alpha narrowed her eyes, glaring at John. “Father. What did you do this time?”

As for Sakura…

“Pft.” The brown-haired woman shook her head and said, “I knew it. It’s impossible to not stir up trouble with a face like that.”

John sighed and covered his face.