Chapter 283: 273 – All I want for Christmas is…

Tuesday, December 24th 2024. Christmas Eve.

Jenny yawned and then reached up to stretched her arms. After that, she sat up.

The blinds were closed, but the faint rays of the morning sun were starting to filter through.

Seeing that, Jenny smiled and then took a look around.

It was the studio for the Prodigy members of Project MirAIs. After a long and fun night playing games, eating tasty snacks, and chatting about random things, she and the girls fell asleep in the lounge after pulling out some spare futons in the supply closet.

Well, they were secretly comfy futons that Jenny made with her powers, but what the girls didn't know wouldn't hurt them.

Since it was still early, the girls were fast asleep.

Yuri lay sprawled on a futon, her arms thrown all over the place with the sheet tossed to the side.

Suzume quietly slept beneath her blanket, perfectly tidy and unmoving like a sleeping beauty.

Shu slept on her side, clinging onto a pillow like a teddybear and hugging it to her chest.

And then Chihiro slept facedown on her pillow, hugging something beneath it. Something shiny and made of cold steel that Jenny pretended to not see.

Though she also made sure to keep the safety trigger on so that Chihiro didn't accidentally use it.

Jenny smiled after watching the girls resting and then stood up.

'What should we do today?'

The girls were debuting, but it wasn't until noon. And even then, they were only going to debut for a short while each in a relay before having a big collab stream.

But altogether, they'd be done by evening. Which meant plenty of time to celebrate and enjoy the Christmas cheer.

Jenny hummed to herself and then walked over to the kitchen, rummaging through the ingredients to make the girls some breakfast.

Crepes sounded good. Maybe some strawberry cream too... And of course coffee.

As she pulled those out, making sure to keep quiet to not disturb the others, Jenny thought about future plans.

Her 'Onii-chan' said he'd get them all to do a Christmas album, but of course he forgot.

Well, considering that was because he spent the time with Little Xuan and Little Wu instead, she didn't blame him.

But Jenny had been looking forward to singing a knock-off of the famous Mariah Carey song... Maybe next year.

Jenny pulled out some batter mix and a bowl. As she did, she made a small one-way sound barrier to let sound in, but keep the noise she was making from spreading.

Again, she didn't want to wake the girls.

She also wanted it to be a surprise. She'd always wanted to do a surprise breakfast for friends or family.

Ooh, maybe she should do that for John sometime?

...Though he seemed to be put off by her whenever Jenny showed up.

Maybe she shouldn't have gone the 'help me stepbro' route in teasing him... But that was so fun! And she had always wanted a big brother to tease.

...*Had* she always wanted a big brother to tease?

Jenny paused in the middle of whisking some batter and then shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

She still wasn't entirely sure who she was or how she got there. All Jenny knew was that she had some special powers like John, that John was basically her big brother, and that she wanted to make sure he and the girls in Project MirAIs were happy.

Which meant that she needed to get some money to provide for the girls since she didn't want to ask John for handouts.

Thankfully, she had a lot of cool fans who supported her. And who enjoyed her teasing on the LonelyFans streams. Surprisingly wholesome fans too, all things considered.

Though Jenny Smith was always supposed to be a 'pure' idol, so maybe that was why?

Jenny shrugged and then heated up a greased skillet before turning to slice some strawberries. As she did, she hummed and said, "Let's see... Alphy, Rin, and Asako are spending today together. Betty is out with Emily. John and Yue are spending the day together while Zhaojun and the others watch the kids... And Titor is doing whatever he usually does with Ama-chan."

Jenny scooped up the sliced strawberries into a bowl and then started whipping some fresh cream.

If it was possible, a family get together for Christmas would have been nice. Even if Jenny wasn't *really* a part of the family... She wished she could be. And she would have really enjoyed being able to get to know each other more.

There were some vague memories floating around her head about each person. Like how John met Yue, who all of John's adopted sisters were, and also about all of her cute nieces.

But they were like a story book. Things she read, but didn't experience. Kind of like reading someone's diary instead of experiencing them in person.

Jenny sighed. But then she perked herself up and set the whipped cream down. "Give it some time, Jenny."

She was cute, bubbly, and adorable. Not only that, but Jenny genuinely cared for everyone... And she was free to babysit or chaperone whoever, whenever.

Jenny would get properly accepted into the family sometime soon. She just had to slowly gather affection points first.

A slight crackling sound echoed. The skillet, getting up to the right temperature to make the crepes.

Seeing that, Jenny set her thoughts aside and focused on cooking.

It wouldn't do for the girls to start such a big day on an empty stomach, would it?

-----AI|IA-----

Back at Rin's house, Sakura sipped on a cup of coffee and then said, "Thank you so much for spending time with Rin, Alphy." She smiled and said, "My sweetie always brightens up when her Onee-chan is around."

Alphy giggled and sipped on her own cup of coffee. "It's my pleasure! I'm always happy playing with Rin too!"

Sakura's smile widened and then she took a look around.

She and Alphy were relaxing in the dining room, seated across from each other at the dining table.

It was still early morning... which meant that both Rin and Asako were fast asleep.

Sakura's sweet baby girl still had the bad habit of staying up too late scrolling through Readit and reading manga on her phone, so Rin wouldn't be up until well past noon.

And Asako wasn't streaming today, so she definitely wasn't getting up anytime soon either.

Sakura shook her head and then looked back at Alphy. "Well, it's going to be just you and me for a while, Alphy. Those two sleep like logs until the afternoon on the weekends. Since it's a holiday, they'll definitely be getting in their beauty sleep."

Alphy sipped on her coffee and then smiled. "It's fine! Rin and Asako work super hard, so it's better for them to rest up when they can."

Sakura blinked and then shook her head. "You really are different these days, huh?"

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"P-Pardon?" Alphy tilted her head. "I don't understand what you mean, Miss Sakura... Um. Am I really that different?"

Sakura shrugged and said, "Maybe it's just because I haven't seen you in a while. But you've lightened up a lot from the first time we met, you know?" She laughed and said, "And I still can't believe I thought you were your father's secret lover."

Alphy giggled and said, "It's fine! Dad still looks young, so I can see where you got confused. It's like when you get mistaken for Rin's big sister, right?"

Sakura sighed. "Yeah. That's happened a lot growing up." She paused. "Though in hindsight, that's a lot less awkward than having to explain that she's my daughter. The number of nosy old women who tried patronizing me about being reckless..."

Alphy frowned. "Rude."

"I know, right?" Sakura took a long sip from her coffee and said, "Saying that I ruined my future... Well, I showed them. Now I've got a super adorable cute idol daughter who's famous worldwide AND I'm working on the most ambitious visual novel in existence. As the lead writer too!" She huffed and said, "And I did all of that without a man in my life."

Alphy hummed and said, "Well technically..."

Sakura waved her hand and said, "I know your dad helped a lot, but let me have this one, Alphy. Old ladies like me need an ego boost every now and then to keep ourselves sane." She paused. "...Oh my god. Is that why those aunties kept beating down on me?"

Alphy giggled.

Sakura smiled and then leaned back in her chair. "Anyway... Enough about me, Alphy. Did you have anything special planned for today? I know John mentioned something about a party tomorrow, but there's nothing today, right?"

"Mmhm!" Alphy nodded and said, "Papa wanted to get everyone together for a big Christmas party. But then Mama reminded him that we just did that with the baby shower. So instead, he's going to have a small family get together tomorrow. I think he's just spending time with Mama today though."

Sakura nodded. "Makes sense. And I'm guessing your aunts are watching Meggie and the kids?"

"Yep! Ah, and I think Betty said she might visit them too." Alphy looked smug and said, "I convinced her of that. She's been spending too much time working."

Sakura coughed. "R-Right."

Alphy paused and then turned to look at Sakura. "Come to think of it... Couldn't you have convinced Betty to take some time off, Miss Sakura?"

"...I was having too much fun. Sorry."

"Oh." Alphy shook her head. "I guess that's fine then. You've worked hard too, so you deserve to have some fun for once."

Sakura frowned and rubbed her arm. "Now you're making me feel guilty..."

She forgot about it in all of the rush, but it was only recently that all of John's family moved to Japan, right? And in the middle of all that, Betty focused on the grind and ignored her family.

Sakura knew about it, but since Betty didn't seem to mind, she didn't bring it up. But maybe she should have...

Alphy set her coffee cup down and waved her hands. "Don't be, Miss Sakura! It's Betty's fault for being such a workaholic in the first place. But don't worry. I gave her a long scolding, so it won't happen again!" She paused and said, "Ah. But I'd appreciate you helping out too."

"Of course!"

Note to self: Make sure Betty goes back to check on her family.

It would also give Sakura a chance to check up on Rin and Asako more often.

"Anyway!" Alphy clapped her hands together and said, "I'm thinking that it'd be fun to have a party for us girls today. Do you think you could help me get things ready?"

Sakura smiled and said, "I was going to do one anyway, so of course I will, Alphy. What did you have in mind?"

"Lots of hot cocoa, marshmallows, cream, chocolate, and cakes!"

Sakura blinked and then laughed.

Alphy tilted her head. "What's so funny, Miss Sakura?"

Sakura sipped on her coffee and said, "Nothing. Just... You and your sister both like sweets, huh?"

Alphy blushed. "W-We can get healthy things too! Like... Um... Apples?"

Sakura waved her hand and said, "I'll get everything sorted, Alphy. For now, how about we brainstorm a bit? And maybe think about some surprises too?"

"Ooh, surprises are good! How about...?"

-----AI|IA-----

"You dare to obstruct our path, metallic golem? The regal self will-!"

"That's just a decoration, Mister Yudi."

The Jade Emperor... Or when not translated, Yudi, frowned and then peered at the Santa-inspired mech he bumped into. "A decoration? Such a well crafted figure? ...True, it appears to lack the spark of life and any sort of spiritual energy. However to expend such efforts to such a trifling thing... Impressive."

Titor resisted the urge to pinch his nose to stave off the headache.

Standing next to him, Titor saw Amadeus do the same.

...Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that Christmas was a time for gift giving. Or offered to take him shopping.

Dammit. John owed him for this-

Ah, wait. Considering the flow of events... That guy was probably in for a situation FUBAR any minute now.

Titor would just take this as an advance payment.

"Mortal!" Yudi spun around to look at Titor and said, "This regal self beseeches you to lend me your spatial pocket so as to allow this regal self to withdraw funds!"

Titor sighed and said, "That's not how it works here, Mister Yudi. I don't know how it's like overseas, but we mostly pay with credit cards."

"Credit cards...? Ah." Yudi nodded and said, "Promissory slips. How amusing." He stroked his beard and said, "This regal self supposes that would resolve the manner of carrying currency. And in a world lacking such wondrous abilities, it would indeed be troublesome..."

Amadeus sidled over to Titor and poked him in the side. As she did, she whispered, "I take it back. You're cringe, but at least you're not delusional like the old man."

Titor whispered back to her and said, "Isn't he technically your dad? Don't you have any respect?"

Amadeus whispered back and said, "He is. But both 'me' and 'Zhuque' don't have a shred of respect for him in the first place for rejecting John, so..."

"This regal self apologizes for rudely interrupting you mortal lovers. However, this mortal realm's law of time flows much more swiftly than our own. We beseech of you two to quickly guide us to the nearest children's toy store."

Titor paused and then tilted his head. "Why a children's toy store?"

"To celebrate the birth of our newest grandchild of course! That is the reason that this regal self risked traversing the unfathomable void to begin with by accepting that invitation!"

Titor blinked.

Then he blinked again.

And then he burst out laughing. "That unlucky son of a-"

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