Chapter 309: 297 – Prodigies lining up, Big Bro is overbearing

Yuri checked her make up and her dress in the mirror before looking back at the other girls. "Are you sure we have to dress up? It's just a Christmas party with Mister John and his family, right?"

Chihiro paused in the middle of applying some eyeliner and said, "It is. But are you sure you can walk in with your head held high considering how many other beautiful women are going to be there, Riri?"

"...Fair." Yuri sighed and went back to fixing her outfit.

The studio area for the Prodigy girls in Project MirAIs.

After a fun girl's night out with Jenny, Yuri and the others woke up to prepare for the Christmas party with John and his family later in the day.

Yuri thought that it was a bit excessive to throw a party. They just had one a few weeks... a couple days? Time seemed like a blur recently with everything going on...

Anyway, John had just thrown a recent party with the baby shower, so Yuri thought that it was a bit much.

Though Jenny said that there was something else too... but that woman vanished early this morning after mentioning that and telling the girls to get ready.

Shu buttoned up her suit and then stepped back to look at her reflection in the mirror. After that, she sighed and said, "Should I wear a dress instead?" She frowned and tugged her suit. "This is a bit stiff..."

Suzume glanced over while fixing a crimson sash around her waist. "No!" She shook her head and said, "Your style is perfect for a suit, Shu! Wearing a dress would be too much."

"R-Really?" Shu smoothed her suit and frowned. "I mean... I guess I'm used to wearing these things, but..."

Chihiro spoke up and said, "Suzume's right. The gap moe would be too big if you wore a dress. We've already got Alphy Senpai for that, so it'd be bad to have someone else too."

Shu blushed. "G-Gap moe? Me? Really?"

Yuri sighed and put her make-up kit away. After that, she said, "My life really did turn into a manga, didn't it?"

It was just like something out of a shoujo manga. Her and her friends dressing up to go to a party. One of the girls blushing, the other praising her...

Chihiro looked at Yuri and laughed. "A manga? Riri, this is what girls normally do." She paused and said, "But I guess you'd be confused. After all, you didn't really have any friends until now, right?"

Yuri felt her face heat up and she said, "I-I did!"

Chihiro raised an eyebrow. "Name one. And Shu doesn't count."

"Um..."

Crap. Okay. Who did Yuri know again...?

"Oh." Chihiro spoke up and said, "And boys don't count either. You're a pretty girl, so they aren't real friends anyway."

"...F-Fine!" Yuri looked away and said, "I didn't have many friends, alright? But at least I wasn't a loner like you!"

Chihiro fixed her glasses and then tidied the blue hairband she was wearing. After that, she smiled at Yuri and said, "I'm not teasing you, Riri. Being a loner has its advantages, you know? People eventually stop bothering you with annoying things and you get to do what you want."

Suzume frowned and said, "That sounds a bit sad..."

"Meh." Chihiro shrugged and grabbed her gift bag. "The internet keeps you occupied."

Shu followed Chihiro's lead and grabbed her own gift bag. But then she shook her head and said, "That's even sadder, Chi-chan!"

Chihiro shrugged again and said, "Well, let's make some happy memories together. We're friends now, right? So friends should have fun and make life not boring."

Yuri grabbed the rest of her belongings and frowned. "With someone like you as my friend, maybe I should stop worrying about enemies with how much you make fun of me."

Chihiro waved her hand and said, "It's all in good fun, Riri. Besides, you need thicker skin. People don't trust a thin chef, you know?"

"Excuse me!?"

Chihiro laughed and started walking off. "Come on, girls. Let's go have some fun."

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

Jenny hummed to herself, happily shifting in place while cradling a pile of presents against her chest.

She was standing in the elevator at the moment, waiting to head back downstairs to help set up for the big party.

Personally, Jenny thought it was a bit weird that everything was happening in the basement of Myth Inc. HQ still, even if John and the others could redecorate it properly. Though, they were in the middle of Tokyo, so there really wasn't much else they could do on short notice.

She definitely needed to remind her big brother to start getting a proper home.

Mixing work and family was never a good thing. Definitely not.

And speaking of her big brother...

Jenny glanced over to her side at the other person waiting in the elevator with her.

"So you three are coming in a bit later?" John held his phone against his shoulder while fiddling with the ribbons on a few of the remaining gift boxes, trying to make neat bows. "No, it won't be a problem at all. I think Takashi said he's going to be manning the desk again, so he'll let you through. Some of the other staff should be coming too though, so don't get confused if you see some new faces."

As busy as ever. Though, he was busy in a different way than Jenny remembered. Or at least, thought she remembered.

It was still a bit weird. She had a set of memories that were clearly John's. After all, *she* wasn't the person who dressed up as a courtesan and snuck around the famous pavilions to learn the techniques to teach Zhaozhao.

But she also remembered that John was always busy and never really got the chance to relax. Super tense all the time and ready to rail against the heavens at any moment.

...Did she remember that? Or was that just her impression?

Mm... food for thought. Maybe over some nice tea with Yuyu- Ah, they weren't that close yet. Sister-in-law might be too close too...

"Alright. Love you, Little Zhao. Drive safe. And for the love of all that is, don't let Xuannu touch that steering wheel." John finished tying the ribbons and then grabbed his phone, ending the call.

Jenny looked over and smiled. "Worried about making more headlines?"

John slipped his phone back into his pocket and said, "I just want today to be calm and happy. An ordinary Christmas day. That's all I'm asking for." He paused and then said, "And yes. After the mysterious phantom car story that popped up around the time of Comiket, I am very much concerned about Xuannu taking it as a challenge to try and become a god of drag racing."

Jenny laughed and said, "I don't think this world works like that, Big Bro."

"Wouldn't stop her from trying." John tidied up the gifts and said, "She's been distracted right now with everything, but if things start getting into a lull..." He paused and then let out a deep sigh. "I really need to find some things for my sisters to do before they start getting ideas of their own."

Jenny smiled and said, "Well, leave it to me! Your cute baby sister will solve all of your problems!"

John stared at Jenny before slowly saying, "That's weird."

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"E-Eh?" Jenny flinched. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. But..." John rubbed his face and muttered, "Is this a gift, or a curse? Is someone up there trolling me, or is this to help me out? I *am* owed a lot of interest for my troubles, but technically it's evened out because I have the best family and a great life now along with everything else, but..."

"Big Bro?"

John shook his head and then smiled. "Don't worry about it. This will just... take some getting used to." He paused and said, "...Though now that I think about it, Mom and Dad probably would have had another child after me, wouldn't they? And since Gray vanished... No. Probably better not to think too much about that."

Gray?

Jenny frowned and wracked her head.

That name didn't seem familiar...

Before she could think too hard about it, Jenny felt a hand on her shoulder. John's.

Jenny blinked and looked up to see him smiling at her.

Ah, no. That wasn't a smile. It was the look of a drowning man having found a lifeboat.

"I'll be counting on you a lot from now on, Jen. No backsies on being my secretary and managing my personal affairs, got it?"

"Um..." Jenny's intuition told her that she should refuse. That her life was going to get a lot more complicated the moment she seriously started acting as John's secretary.

But...

Jenny took a deep breath and then nodded. "You can leave it to me, Big Bro!"

...It was her job as the little sister to make her big brother proud.

Right?

Right.

...Right?

John patted Jenny's shoulder and said, "Great. We can make the rounds introducing you to everyone later. Ah, and thanks for picking up the slack with the Prodigy girls. Been busy with all of these shenanigans, you know... Which reminds me that we need to hire some community managers and support staff. Qing's been slacking on that... though considering he seems to have gotten honeytrapped by an isekai'd yandere Demon Lord because of Titor, I don't blame him too much. Make sure to start looking for some good people though. Memberships should open up soon for everyone, so you can start with the mods for each girl and vetting them. I'll take a look later and-"

Jenny blinked, trying her best to keep track of everything John was saying.

John paused. "Oh. Sorry." He cleared his throat. "That's later. It's Christmas, so let's just have some fun. Have you had some eggnog yet?"

"...No?"

"Great. Then we'll tuck these away beneath the Christmas tree and I'll whip you up a glass. Then we can go mess with Titor a bit before grabbing Meggie and everyone else. ...And come to think of it, you're pretty thin. Have you been eating well? I haven't seen you much since Comiket. What have you been up to anyway? I think I overheard some of the girls mentioning you streamed as well?"

A rapidfire series of questions, a matter of fact attitude, and almost suffocating concern. Completely different from how John treated his other 'sisters.'

Jenny gave John a blank look.

"What?"

...So it turned out that John was that type of big brother after all. The sort that tossed everything on his younger sister and dragged her along wherever he went while fussing about her the entire way.

Jenny didn't mind it. In fact, it was nice. Definitely made it clear that John cared about her a lot.

Only...

'Isn't this too different from how you treat everyone else, Big Bro?!'

Jenny forced a smile on her face and shook her head. "Nothing, Big Bro."

"Great. Then get ready. We've got a big day ahead of ourselves."

The elevator chimed and the doors opened, revealing a snowy and Christmas themed ballroom. One with a Christmas tree in the center that seemed to extend far beyond the ceiling through holographic and mystical wizardry.

John walked out first, covered head to toe in giftbags and carefully balancing neatly wrapped gifts on every part of his body.

It was ridiculous.

It was stupid.

...And it was the person who was her big brother, apparently.

Jenny shook her head again, letting out a faint smile. After that, she followed after him, cradling her own stack of gifts against her chest.

Which reminded her that she should probably delete that 'Christmas Cake' video skit she recorded to gift John the other day. Considering how things were now, that would probably... DEFINITELY be a bit too awkward.

Though the look on his face-

No, no. Wrong season for that. Maybe in April...

For now, that'll remain an exclusive VIP LonelyFans perk-

Oh.

Right. That was going to be another awkward conversation, wasn't it?

Jenny sighed. "Careful what you wish for, I guess...?"

"Jen?" John looked back and said, "Something wrong?"

"Nothing~!"

She could think about all of that later. For now... Jenny just had to follow after her big brother and figure out where she fit in with everyone else.

...And think of a good explanation for Yuyu so that she would stop sending Jenny those dagger eyes.

HappyVainGlory

Appreciate you guys for sticking with me!

P.S. Any POVs/characters that you're particularly interested in for the upcoming party? We'll be hopping around a bit, but since there's so many I'll focus more on the characters that you guys want screentime for.

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