After taking our seats, dinner settled into a comfortable rhythm. For a while, only the sounds of cutlery and quiet conversation filled the room. Then Fran suddenly spoke up.
"By the way, Mom."
She carefully cut off a piece of fish and moved it onto her plate before glancing toward Anathasia.
"Hm?"
"The International Student Association meeting tomorrow..."
Fran hesitated briefly.
"It's being held in one of Kithia's privately owned stadiums?"
Anathasia nodded while scooping rice onto her own plate. Then, without asking, she added another spoonful to Fran's.
"More or less."
She began eating before continuing.
"Originally, your Aunt Hinami wanted to hold it in Kyoto."
A small shrug followed.
"But the only venue available on short notice was the large stadium near Haneda Airport."
"So the organizers and executives agreed to use that instead."
Fran paused mid-bite.
"Executives?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"You mean people like that CEO you hired?"
Anathasia hummed. Then, for some reason, pointed directly at me.
"Most of them were hired by your Dad."
I immediately narrowed my eyes.
"Traitor."
She ignored me.
"I don't like dealing with complicated corporate stuff. It's exhausting."
Anathasia took another bite of curry.
"So Kyle handles most of it."
"No wonder..."
Fran murmured.
Her eyes shifted toward me. Then toward Anathasia. Then back toward me again.
After a few seconds, she actually lowered her head slightly.
Like she was offering condolences.
I nearly choked on my drink, raising an eyebrow at her.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Fran quickly looked away.
"Nothing."
A pause.
Then she spoke again.
"Actually..."
Her gaze moved between us.
"I'm still surprised Mom and Dad act like college students sometimes."
I already knew this wasn't going anywhere good.
"How does that even work?"
Fran tilted her head.
"And did either of you ever have a boyfriend or girlfriend before meeting each other?"
Silence.
The two of us stopped eating simultaneously. Then looked at each other. Then resumed eating as though the question didn't exist. The silence somehow became even worse. Eventually, Anathasia broke first.
"Nope."
She answered so casually it was almost alarming.
"I never had anyone else."
A crispy piece of fish disappeared into her mouth.
Crunch.
"I'm pretty sure I've made that obvious already."
She swallowed.
"Honestly, it wasn't even a difficult decision."
A shrug.
"I recreated existence just to meet him again, after all."
Fran froze.
Completely.
Her fork stopped halfway to her mouth. Slowly, she turned toward her mother. Then toward me. Then back toward her mother.
"...Eh?"
I sighed.
Then nodded.
"Yeah."
A brief pause.
"Literally, too."
Fran blinked twice, then three times before simply simply staring.
"I don't remember much from before all of this."
My hand gestured vaguely around the room.
The house.
The world.
Reality itself.
And everything beyond what I currently seeing at the moment.
"Honestly, I don't remember much at all."
Fran's expression somehow became even more confused.
"So when your Aunt Roselia and Aunt Rania call your Mom The Source..."
I searched for the right words.
"It's not really the same thing as calling her God."
My gaze drifted toward Anathasia. Who was currently eating curry with absolutely no concern for the existential crisis she had just caused.
"You'd probably understand it better if you looked into some philosophy first."
I pointed my spoon toward her.
"What was it called again?"
"Apophaticism and Gnosticism?"
Anathasia answered immediately. Like someone naming their favorite anime genres.
"Right."
I nodded.
"Those."
Another spoonful of curry and rice disappeared. After swallowing, I continued.
"As for the dating question..."
I shrugged.
"I was an NGSB back then."
Fran blinked.
"A what?"
"Mhm."
I nodded.
"No Girlfriend Since Birth."
Recognition immediately appeared on her face.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
I pointed at her.
"Students still use that term nowadays, don't they?"
"A lot."
"There you go."
I leaned back slightly.
"I never really had any interest in dating."
"No crushes."
"No love life."
"Nothing."
A shrug.
"I was mostly focused on grades and surviving college."
Fran slowly nodded. That sounded believable. Then I pointed at Anathasia.
"Then your Mom barged into my life."
A laugh nearly escaped me as memories surfaced.
The massive campus.
The chaos.
The absolute menace sitting beside me.
Anathasia immediately noticed. Her eyes narrowed into a warning glare.
I cleared my throat.
"Anyway."
"Your Mom was my first relationship."
"A bit difficult to adjust to, honestly."
"Especially because she kept attracting attention everywhere she went."
"No."
Anathasia immediately cut in, then she pointed her fork at me.
"No, no, no."
"Let's not rewrite history."
I sighed.
Here we go.
"A few guys tried approaching me."
She shrugged.
"I rejected them."
"Problem solved."
Then she jabbed her fork toward me again.
"You were the actual problem."
"Excuse me?"
"You had long hair."
She counted on her fingers.
"You looked suspiciously pretty."
"Professors trusted you for some reason."
"Students liked asking you for help."
Her expression darkened.
"And somehow I kept getting scolded."
Fran looked interested now. Very interested. I could see it. Anathasia leaned back dramatically.
"Rumors started spreading."
"People began calling me—"
She pointed at herself.
"Abe's girlfriend who keeps getting lectured."
A pause.
"It doesn't even make sense."
Fran immediately covered her mouth. Trying and failing not to laugh.
I finally decided to defend myself.
"It wasn't for no reason."
Anathasia scoffed.
"Yes it was."
"No, it wasn't."
I pointed at her with my spoon.
"I kept reminding you about deadlines. You ignored them. I reminded you again. You ignored them again. You spent entire weekends binge-watching anime."
"I was conducting research."
"On what?"
"Character development."
"Through twenty-four episodes?"
"That's called dedication."
"That's called procrastination."
"Tomato, tomato."
"That's literally the same word."
"Exactly."
Fran finally broke.
The laughter she'd been holding in escaped completely. And for the first time that evening, the dining table became a battlefield.
Not of cosmic entities. Not of Outer Gods. But of two former college students arguing over academic deadlines from more than twenty years ago.
—
By the next day, the three of us stepped out of the house. Only to find the convoy already waiting outside the gate.
Rows of sleek black vehicles lined the street, while men in tailored suits and dark sunglasses stood beside each one with military-like discipline.
Fran immediately stopped walking. Her expression flattened. Then flattened even further.
"Why does it feel like..." she trailed off, staring at the line of vehicles stretching down the road.
"...there are more cars now?"
I hummed thoughtfully and counted them.
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
"Four."
My gaze continued down the street.
"Five..."
"Six..."
I paused.
Then slowly looked toward Anathasia.
"There's twelve."
Beside me, Anathasia swayed slightly. Still half asleep. Her eyes remained closed as she leaned against my shoulder.
"Mm..."
A completely noncommittal response.
Very helpful.
Before Fran could say anything else, the gate opened. The same man from yesterday stood outside. He immediately dipped his head.
"Good morning, sir. Young lady."
A polite smile rested on his face as he stepped aside.
"The meeting begins in a few hours. We have prepared transportation."
Prepared transportation. That was certainly one way to describe twelve vehicles.
"Thanks."
I returned the smile and guided the still-half-conscious Anathasia forward.
She barely reacted as we walked past the line of suited men. At this point, she seemed capable of sleeping through a natural disaster.
One of the men quickly opened the limousine door. Anathasia immediately climbed inside.
Still asleep.
Still leaning against me.
Somehow.
A talent, honestly.
Fran entered after us, and moments later the engine quietly hummed to life.
The convoy began moving. Through the tinted windows, Tokyo drifted by in a blur of glass buildings, signs, and morning traffic.
Fran sat on my left.
Anathasia occupied my right.
Or more accurately, she occupied my shoulder. Her head remained firmly planted there. Completely motionless.
Meanwhile, Fran scrolled through her phone.
Then suddenly froze.
A few seconds later, her expression became increasingly complicated.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
She slowly turned her phone toward me.
A livestream was playing.
On screen, reporters stood behind bright orange and yellow barriers while camera flashes constantly lit up the area surrounding a massive stadium.
A commentator's voice echoed through the feed.
"The Abe family is expected to arrive at Yontō Stadium within the next few minutes. They are the final attendees scheduled to arrive after student representatives from academies around the world have already entered the venue."
The camera panned across the crowd.
More reporters.
More cameras.
More spectators.
More people than I was comfortable seeing before nine in the morning. I stared at the screen. Then at Fran. Then back at the screen.
A long silence followed. Fran's lips pressed into a thin line. Her expression had become painfully dry.
"Why...?"
I honestly wasn't sure which part she was asking about.
The livestream.
The crowd.
The reporters.
Or the fact that there appeared to be a live countdown dedicated to our arrival. Across from us, one of the television helicopters entered the frame. I immediately closed my eyes.
"I'm starting to think your mother might've underestimated how famous Kithia actually is."
Fran lowered the phone.
"*Starting?*"
"Fair point."
On my right, Anathasia finally stirred slightly. One eye opened. Then closed again.
"Mm?"
"You caused another incident."
"Mm."
"There's a livestream."
"Mm."
"Thousands of people are waiting outside."
"Mm."
A pause.
Then she opened one eye again.
"Isn't that normal?"
Both Fran and I stared at her for several seconds. Then simultaneously looked away.
Neither of us had the energy to unpack that statement. Outside, the convoy continued rolling toward the stadium.
And judging from the livestream...
The moment we arrived, things were about to get significantly louder.