Chapter 149: Chapter 148: Winter Break

Things have settled down for the moment and not much of any importance happens for a while. It’s our usual routine of work for me, school for all of us and dates with our boyfriends.

As usual, Kimi and Ako are with us for most of them, Along with our other friends as well. Aoi and Ami now have boyfriends. The two they showed up with at my birthday party asked them to be their girlfriends and they said yes. Apparently, they have been chasing after the two of them since the beginning of the school year and they finally said yes. They do make cute couples and I hope it works out for them.

Hiro’s new house was finished and he moved in on the 1st of October. True to his word, he hasn’t asked Miyuki to move in with him. Miyuki is making good progress, but it’s still going to take more time for her to heal. Airi doesn’t tell us what they talk about, but she does keep Hiro and me up to date with her progress.

I haven’t told her yet, but Shin and his friends' trial is set for January 3rd. If you’re wondering why I haven’t told her yet, it’s because I want her to enjoy our trip. I highly doubt she will if I tell her since she’s still rather high strung and would most probably spend the whole time focusing on that. Might I be wrong in not telling her? Maybe, but I talked to Mama, Dad and Airi before I made the decision and they all agreed it would be best not to tell her until after New Years.

As for the government, they followed through on everything they agreed to. Requests and shipments of materials are basically rubber stamped and expedited. For all that people say the government is wasteful and slow to do anything, I would point to this as an example of how they can do things efficiently when they have reason to do so.

I haven’t really gone into TGR that much. I’ve more or less allowed Mirai to run everything as usual. Although I did get a call from HR when Banri, Kimi’s Dad, tried to set up a dual direct deposit. When I found out that he was wanting to send money to his account and to one he set up in Ako’s name, I was more than happy to approve it for obvious reasons.

Dad and I had a meeting with the deputy director of the Ministry of State about Yakushima. I spent two and a half hours that morning where I had to detail all of my plans for it. We took a break for lunch and then afterward, we spent another four hours hammering out an agreement.

I thought I did rather well in getting them to agree that we would be semi-autonomous with minimal interference from the Diet. That little aspect of the agreement took the most time of everything we negotiated. The national academy, police, courts and other minor things were easily agreed to by him. One thing he demanded and I happily, and readily, agreed to is that they be allowed to have a small base for the JSDF. I should probably mention that it will be a training base for a company of Special Forces, as well as a battalion of JSDF regulars. Also the JMSDF will have docking rights when the seaport is rebuilt. Believe me when I say that it doesn’t hurt my feelings that they will be there. Even with them there, we’ll still be setting up a PMC. The deputy director readily agreed to have the SF help train them. It’s a win-win because he said once they are trained they can be an OPFOR (Opposing Force) for the SF and regular troops.

Which brings us to Monday the 14th, sports day at school. Basically, you can think of it as a mini-Olympics. The festival began with a parade by all the classes accompanied by our school band. After the parade, we lined up as the band played Kimigayo while the Japanese flag was raised.

If you’re curious, the events included a 100 meter relay, which I took part in and we took second place. Disappointing, but still not too bad. Next they held the 100 meter sprint. I was so proud of Ryu when he took first place. Other events include the long jump, ball toss, tug-o-war, rugby-ball dribbling races, sack races, and so on. Another event I took part in was the “exciting relay”, which is an obstacle course relay in which you have to clear challenges. We again took second place.

Of course there is always the obligatory three-legged race, making a stretcher with a blanket and bamboo poles and then carrying an “injured” teammate, laundry hanging, crawling under a net, and doing cartwheels across a mat.

Astonishingly, I, along with Chinatsu, Kimi and three other girls were chosen to cheer for our class. The uniforms they made for us were super cute and apparently, many of the boys thought so as well. I would have never thought that I would be chosen for something like that, since basically, it’s a popularity contest for who’s chosen to cheer for the class. Regardless, I really enjoyed it, so next year I’m thinking of trying out for the cheerleading squad.

Sports days are a lot of fun, even if we are exhausted by the end of the day.

[Thursday, October 17th]

Today is Chinatsu’s 14th birthday. Mama and Daddy went all out just like they did for mine. Trust me when I say that everyone had a lot of fun, though Dad had Chinatsu in tears with his toast to her. I also returned the same present of giving her a night alone with Ryu, although I ended up sleeping with Sofi that night. I don’t know why I can’t sleep when I’m alone, but I can’t.

[Tuesday, October 22nd]

Honoka’s 15th birthday is today and again, Mama and Daddy went all out. She’s actually 23, but it isn’t as if it matters since she has my nanites. Dad gave a toast to her as usual, though Jim really surprised everyone when he stepped up and gave a toast to her as well. Even more so when he publicly told her how much he loved her. In other countries that would simply be par for the course, but Japan is still very conservative in a lot of ways, even though we’ve come a long way from where we used to be forty years ago.

[Monday, November 4th]

Today is the Culture Festival at school. As you are probably aware, these festivals are held to show not only what we’re learning, but it’s also a recreational diversion. Many of the Alumni and those of the surrounding community visited, so as big as our school is, it was packed.

It took us a week to get everything ready for it and you can bet there were several late nights doing it as well. Our class decided to do a cosplay cafe of popular anime characters. As for me, since I can cook, I was one of the three chosen to do so. Chinatsu and Sofi were absolutely adorable in their costumes. Both of them decided to go retro in who they chose to cosplay as. Sofi chose to be Taiga Aisaka from Toradora and Chintsu cosplayed as Sailor Jupiter and I loved the way the costume showed off her legs. Ryu grumbled and groaned when he was chosen to be a waiter, but it was easy to dress him in his tuxedo and cosplay as a butler.

As usual, several types of food and tea were served in classrooms that were transformed into restaurants or cafés. The Drama Club also held a play of Cinderella, in which they did quite a good job. Some of the Dance Clubs also held recitals. One of the Music Clubs also held a concert. While they were no Essence, they did a great job and everyone enjoyed it. Later that day, there was a dance with a huge bonfire, which all of us attended.

[Tuesday, November 19th]

Mama’s birthday today. She refused to have a huge party partly due to her being very pregnant and the other because she didn’t want to make a big deal out of turning 34. It isn’t as if you can tell though. She may be 34, but she looks like she’s in her mid-twenties at most. I’m sure the nanites will make sure that she continues to look just as beautiful for a long time to come.

[Wednesday, November 20th]

After school, I went in to TGR to talk to HR and Accounting. This Saturday is Labor Day and after talking with Mama and Dad, I decided to make it a mandatory long weekend, along with providing a small bonus to show appreciation for their hard work. I say small, but I gave every employee ¥50,000. I also made Friday and Monday paid days off for them. Hopefully, Tuesday they can come back well rested and continue to work just as hard.

[Saturday, November 30th]

Eir woke us up out of a sound sleep at 4 in the morning because Mama was having contractions. Needless to say we hurriedly dressed and went to the hospital, only to find out that it’s false labor.

[December 15th]

Mama went into labor this morning right after breakfast. Fourteen hours of labor later at 10:38, we finally got to meet our little sisters, Kaede and Eri. Kaede was born 14 minutes before Eri and both are as cute as can be.

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[December 20th]

We get home from school to find that they finally let Mama come home with Kaede and Eri and the huge plus is that today was also the last day of school until January 6th. Yay! Winter vacation! I don’t mind school, in fact, I rather enjoy it, but right now it means it’s more time to spend with my friends, Chinatsu and Ryu.

We’d already set up for us and our friends, along with all of our boyfriends, to meet up at AD1988 for dinner. As you can guess from the name, it’s a retro café with a 1980’s theme. I called yesterday and basically reserved the whole place for us since it’s not all that large. It’s a bit expensive doing it that way, but it means we won’t be disturbed and it isn’t as if we can’t afford it. One of the reasons is to celebrate the end of the term. There are close to 3400 students in our grade. I placed first, Kimi 6th, Ako 7th, and Chinatsu placed an amazing 17th. That’s a huge jump in placement for her. Ryu and the rest of our friends and their boyfriends placed well too since all of them were in the top 15%. It seems all of our study sessions are paying off.

Another reason is to explain to everyone the plan for our trip. Ryu and Chinatsu wanted to go skiing, which I don’t mind and everyone else was all for it. I was fairly good at it when I was still Sora-nii, so I believe I’ll be fine. Luckily, everyone's parents agreed to allow them to go.

After we pick up Jim, Kei, Hiroaki and Mayumi, we head to the café. Yes, Mayumi and Kazuto are going with us as our adult supervision. We arrive a little early and we ask them to bring together enough tables for all of us. Once they have, we take our seats and the rest of them begin trickling in.

Once everyone is here, seated and we’ve placed our drink and meal orders, Honoka stands. “Okay, we all know why we’re here, so we made reservations at Nozawa Onsen Snow Resort. As their name implies, they are a combination of an onsen and a ski resort. We’ll be leaving very early Monday morning since it’s a four hour drive, so please be ready by 6:00.”

Aoi asks, “Why aren’t we taking the bullet train and shuttle to the resort?”

“The main reason is security. The other is we aren’t allowed to take public transportation and you know that.” Aoi nods. “Alright. Don’t forget to pack some extra nice dresses and heels because we’ll be eating dinner in 3 and 4 star venues. Our Dad said their dress codes are very strict and they will turn us away if we’re not dressed properly. Boys that means you need your suits and ties. We’ll return on the 30th because we have a New Years party to attend that evening. Any questions?”

Hiroaki speaks up, “Umm, I only have one suit and tie, so if this is going to be an everyday thing…”

Honoka looks at me and I tell him, “No problem. That’s easily solved.” I lean over to Ryu and quietly ask, “Would you mind taking him to see Mr. Kano and have him set him up with several suits?”

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you. Take the SUV and at the very least, you’re taking Jason with you.”

He nods. “I already planned to, but why do I need security?”

I merely stare at him, then ask, “Do you really need to ask me that? You need to consider what it would do to Chinatsu and me if something happened to you. Honey, I know this isn’t the life you saw for yourself, but this is the reality of where we find ourselves. Don’t you think that Chinatsu and I would prefer to go on dates with you alone?”

He sighs. “I know. Believe me, I know all of that. I simply hate the fact that we have to be surrounded by security.”

“I understand. I don’t like it either, but the alternatives are even worse.”

Thankfully, our food arrives and interrupts our rather depressing conversation. My mood does brighten as the evening continues though.

Back at home, we bathe and after we dry ourselves, we slip on some panties and our nightgowns since we want to see our little sisters before bed. We find Dad in the living room and head to their bedroom to find Mom, Kaede and Eri.

I tap on the open door, we enter and I say, “Hi, Mama. We came to see Kaede and Eri.”

She smiles. “They sure are lucky to have 4 sisters that pay so much attention to them.”

I giggle and reply, “Hard not to when they are so cute!” I walk over, pick up Kaeda out of her crib and cuddle her against my chest while Chinatsu does the same with Eri. I sing-song in a high pitch, “Hi there. Did you have a good day?”

She coos and latches on to a lock of my hair. Truthfully, all this does is reinforce that I want babies of my own, but we promised Dad that we wouldn’t until we graduate high school and I’m not going to break any more promises to our parents. Regardless of anything else, them being disappointed in me is devastating. At least, to me it is.

I smile as I gently rock her in my arms.

Mom interrupts me when she asks, “Did you have a good time with your friends?”

I look up at her as I reply, “Mhmm. We’ll be leaving to pick up everyone at six Monday morning.”

“The same rules apply as Okinawa.”

I nod. “I know, we’ll…” I chuckle and look back down when Kaeda latches on to my nipple. “Sorry li’l sis, but there’s no milk for you there…” Of course, it isn’t as if she can understand me, so she continues to suckle as I smile at her. Looking up at Mama I say, “Mama, I think someone’s hungry.”

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