"Anyway," Noah waved a hand dismissively before pulling his arm off my shoulder. "I actually have something to ask."
At his words, Anathasia and I glanced his way, both raising an eyebrow.
For a moment, he simply stood there watching his daughter like the doting father he was. Then he turned toward us again, his expression suddenly serious.
"What the hell is wrong with you two this time?"
The room instantly fell silent.
Only the occasional babble from baby Sayaka and Hinami's soft laughter drifted through the air while Anathasia and I froze at the question.
Noah cleared his throat.
"I mean, look. I know you guys aren't *physically* human or anything, but seriously..." He dragged a hand down his face in exasperation. "I was literally playing with my daughter when my phone started blowing up because some massive airliner was apparently about to land at Narita carrying high-profile individuals."
He pointed at us.
"And it turns out it's just you two idiots."
A long sigh escaped him before he continued.
"Next time, please don't pull up in a plane that's usually reserved for presidents, alright?"
His expression flattened.
"Do you have any idea how annoying it is clearing part of the tarmac for an entire seven-four-seven?"
Another sigh.
"It's not easy being a director either, you know."
When he finished, Anathasia and I exchanged a brief glance.
Almost immediately, Anathasia looked away and began fiddling with the hem of her red dress before quietly hiding behind me.
Noah stared.
Then his stare slowly transformed into the exhausted look of a man who had known us for far too long.
"You guys are impossible."
"Don't blame me," I said, raising both hands before stepping aside and gesturing toward Anathasia. "I asked her to use the jet. I was expecting the Gulfstream or something."
I pointed at her.
"She's the one who took the seven-four-seven out of the hangar."
Her eyes widened instantly.
Then she pointed right back at me. For several seconds, she said absolutely nothing.
Noah and I simply watched her try to come up with a defense. Nearly twenty seconds passed before she finally managed to speak.
"I... he said jet!"
"Jet. Not airliner."
"They both use jet engines!"
"A Gulfstream is barely thirty-five meters long. A seven-four-seven is around seventy." a small laugh slipped from my lips. "That's a huge difference, y'know?"
Her finger remained pointed at me.
"They both use jet engines!"
"You already said that."
Noah rubbed his temples.
Then he waved us off as he started walking toward Fran and Sayaka.
"Whatever."
A defeated sigh followed.
"You two do whatever you want anyway."
We watched him walk over before carefully taking Sayaka into his arms while Hinami stood beside him. The baby's cheerful noises immediately filled the room again.
Meanwhile, Fran made her way back toward us with her notepad already in hand.
"Dad."
"Hm?"
"Can you check the time?"
I nodded and tugged back my sleeve before glancing at the watch around my wrist.
"Nine forty-five."
My gaze lifted to meet hers.
"The meeting starts in about twenty minutes."
I shrugged lightly.
"And I'm pretty sure most of the representatives are already here, so let's just wait."
Fran gave a small nod.
Then she walked over to the table in the middle of the room, pulled out a chair, and took a seat while scrolling through her phone.
"So..."
Beside me, Anathasia suddenly spoke. Her arms were folded across her chest as she glanced my way.
"Hm?"
"Where am I supposed to sit once the meeting starts?"
I looked down thoughtfully for a moment before shrugging.
Absentmindedly, my fingers twirled a strand of her hair. For some reason, my eyes remained fixed on it.
"You can just sit beside me."
I glanced at her.
"I'm the faculty representative anyway."
Then I nodded toward Fran.
"She'll be sitting in front of us."
Anathasia hummed in response and casually leaned against my shoulder while watching Noah carry Sayaka in his arms. Nearby, Hinami laughed softly at something Noah said, making the atmosphere feel strangely lighter than before.
"What's the meeting agenda again?" Anathasia asked after a moment, tilting her head slightly while still leaning against me. "Bullying? Academic stuff?"
"Mainly delinquency."
My gaze drifted toward Fran's back as she continued reviewing something on her phone.
"And a few discussions about growing illiteracy across different countries."
That earned a raised eyebrow.
"Shouldn't that be the responsibility of each country's education sector?"
"Normally, yeah."
I nodded slowly, my lips pressing into a thin line.
"But the situation's already gotten bad enough that the International Student Association ended up being formed in the first place."
My eyes lowered toward her.
"If it was already bad back in twenty twenty-six..."
I paused briefly.
"It's a lot worse now."
That immediately made her go quiet.
The curiosity on her face faded into contemplation as she hummed softly to herself, her eyes lowering in thought while her arms remained folded across her chest.
Since we still had around twenty minutes before the meeting started, I reached for two nearby chairs and dragged them closer.
"Let's sit here while we wait."
My gaze settled on her. Anathasia looked up, nodded once, then took a seat without complaint.
And after we both sat down, she somehow still ended up leaning against my shoulder.
I shook my head slightly but didn't bother commenting on it. Instead, I pulled out my phone while Anathasia had already gone back to scrolling through some webnovel on hers.
The waiting room gradually settled into silence. Before we knew it, twenty minutes had already passed.
Click.
The door opened slightly. One of the organizers peeked through the gap, carefully looking inside.
Anathasia looked up from her phone immediately. Fran did the same, both of their gazes settling on the woman standing by the doorway.
"Um, Ms. Francesca Abe? Mr. Kyle Abe... and Ms. Anathasia Abe?"
The woman swallowed before dipping her head politely.
"The meeting is about to begin. We would appreciate it if the representative and guardian could join everyone in the hall."
Another small bow followed.
"Thank you for your time."
Once she left, Anathasia tucked her phone away and stood up. Fran followed immediately afterward. I let out a quiet sigh before standing as well.
"After this..." Anathasia murmured.
Fran and I both looked her way.
"We can finally do whatever we want in Japan again, right?"
She turned toward us and nodded enthusiastically, her eyes practically sparkling.
"Right? The meeting shouldn't take hours or anything."
Her smile widened.
"Then we can just spend the rest of the day however we want."
Almost immediately, she started counting plans on her fingers.
The first finger went up.
"We could try okonomiyaki or whatever it's called."
Then a second.
"And ramen too."
A third followed.
"Oh, and takoyaki would be nice."
Then a fourth.
"And that famous omurice place—"
"Alright, alright."
I cut her off before the list could grow any longer, gently grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her toward the door.
"We'll do all of that afterward. Deal?"
Behind us, Fran shook her head as a small laugh escaped her lips.
Watching her mother get physically redirected out of the room had apparently become a familiar sight.
Once outside, the security personnel from earlier positioned themselves on either side of us as we made our way through the corridor.
They only stopped once we entered the main hall.
A long red carpet stretched ahead while representatives from academies across the world were already seated at their assigned tables.
The three of us quietly slipped inside and headed toward our seats near the upper corner of the hall.
A small nameplate already sat on the table.
Saints Private Academy.
Fran went first.
Anathasia and I followed shortly behind.
Once seated, we simply watched the remaining representatives file into the hall one after another until the final delegation from Germany finally arrived.
As the meeting prepared to begin, Fran glanced back toward us and lowered her voice. Just enough for the three of us to hear.
"Dad, that's the Disvinadiya person from Sevanelle."
"Yeah..." I murmured, looking toward the silver-haired girl seated beside an older woman while two other adults stood behind her.
She was already organizing a stack of documents with practiced efficiency.
"She seems strict."
Anathasia leaned forward slightly, tilting her head as she observed the girl from afar.
"That's the person Liscia was talking about, huh?"
"Yeah."
I nodded once.
"Pretty much."
Before we knew it, a man was already standing at the center of the stage.
He began by thanking everyone for attending before moving into the discussion itself, talking about how functional illiteracy remained one of the major contributing factors to delinquency, especially when coupled with excessive screen time usage.
Even as he continued speaking, I occasionally found my gaze drifting toward the silver-haired girl seated across the hall from where we sat. Every now and then, Anathasia would follow my line of sight and quietly offer her own commentary.
"Looking at her now..." she murmured, leaning slightly against me while folding her arms across her chest. One hand rose to her chin as she studied the girl thoughtfully.
"I really do think it's an Author's work."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Maybe someone Rhea knows."
"Huh..."
I hummed softly, lowering my gaze toward the floor for a moment as I thought about it.
"So Authors really can shape realities."
Anathasia pulled back slightly before giving a small nod.
"More or less."
She shrugged.
"They have Authorship, after all. It's not just changing a script. It's writing an entirely new one."
Her hand moved vaguely through the air.
"Narratives. Histories. Entire chains of cause and effect."
Then she paused.
"That said, Rhea's case is completely different."
She leaned back into her seat.
"A typical Author could probably create meta-narrative structures by writing them into existence through Authorship alone."
A small smile tugged at her lips.
"Rhea writes entire Eras."
My eyebrow lifted slightly.
"The kind that already contain Authors, stories, and everything that comes with them."
For a brief moment, her gaze drifted toward nothing in particular. Then she shrugged again.
"But she doesn't seem all that interested in doing that anymore, I guess."
A beat passed.
"Who knows?"
A faint laugh escaped her.
"Maybe even she might end up getting married someday."