9 Event

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I wanted to release this chapter on New Years Day, but I got sick and had to stay in bed for a whole day, which really put a damp into my motivation. But I still wanted to release a chapter before my classes start on Monday.

Anyways, enjoy.

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After a 15-hour long flight, Akira finally arrived at Tokyo and he was thankful it was over. He drew a bit of attention as a young teenager flying alone on a long flight and had to go through multiple conversations of people asking where his parents were or if he was lost.

When he got to the entrance, he started looking around for Rinko's sister, who was supposed to pick him up.

[A/N: I forgot to mention this previously, but it can be proven that either Nanjiro or Rinko have at least one sibling, I just don't whose sibling it is, whether or not it's a boy or a girl, and whether it's an older sibling or a younger one. For my story, I chose the sibling to be the older sister of Rinko. Her name shall be Meino Aiko (Aiko being the first name)]

It took a bit, but he finally saw a familiar face within the crowd.

Akira: "Aiko-san!"

The person in question then noticed him and waved at him.

Aiko: "Akira! Over here!"

Akira came towards her and shortly found out that she was not alone. Next to her was a little girl that looked to be around 7-8 years old.

Aiko: "Akira! You remember my daughter Nanako right?"

Akira smiled and bent down to match her height.

Akira: "Of course. How can I not remember such a cute little girl. You've grown taller since the last time we met."

Obviously this was not the first time Akira met his aunt and her daughter. They once came to America when Nanjiro had some spare tickets for a tournament he was participating in and Rinko had used them to invite her sister and niece.

---------- Flashback ----------

A couple hours before Nanjiro's tournament, he decided to play Akira as a sort of pre-game warm-up. Of course Akira went all out, but he was still being destroyed.

Rinko had arrived in a car after picking up her sister and niece from the airport.

Rinko: "Nanjiro! Akira! I brought my sister and her daughter!"

She said while waving her hand.

Nanjiro: "I got it. Hold on for a bit."

He then proceeded to smash the ball, scoring the winning point.

Nanjiro: "And that's match. Better luck next time."

Akira: "Tsk~. Stupid old man. I'll beat you one day."

Nanjiro: "Yeah, better luck next time."

Nanjiro was barely sweating, but Akira was drenched and had to his bag to grab his towel. After wiping himself, both of them walked towards Rinko and her relatives.

Nanjiro: "Is that them Rinko?"

Rinko: "Yeah. Let me introduce them. This is my older sister, Aiko and her daughter Nanako."

Aiko did a small bow.

Aiko: "It's a real pleasure to meet you Nanjiro-san and you sure have grown compared to when I last saw you Akira-kun."

Nanjiro: "Thank you for coming Meino-san."

Nanjiro shook her hand and Akira did a small bow himself.

Akira: "Nice to meet you obasan."

Aiko: "Please. Just call me Aiko, both of you. That term makes me sound old."

Akira nodded.

Akira: "Aiko-san."

She smiled in response.

Aiko: "Come on Nanako, You too."

A little girl hesitantly stepped out her mother's shadow when her mother pushed her and bowed. That was the first time Akira was introduced to Rinko's sister and niece.

---------- Flashback End ----------

Nanako blushed and hid behind her mother in response.

Aiko: "Aww~. Look at that, you're making her shy. She's usually so full of life, but it seems like she only gets this way when she sees you."

She chuckled and Nanako then softly jabbed her mother to change the subject.

Aiko: "At least say hello to Akira."

Nanako: "... Hello."

She said peeking out from cover. Aiko and Akira both smiled at this.

Aiko: "Well, we shouldn't just stand here for any longer. Let's go. My car is not parked that far away from here."

Akira: "Sure and thank you for coming to pick me up. I'm in your care."

Aiko: "Just leave it all to me."

They went out of the airport and after a few minutes, they arrived at Aiko's sedan. Akira loaded his luggage in the trunk while Nanako buckled herself in and Aiko messaged Rinko that she had just met up with him and was about to go to the place the house Rinko and Nanjiro bought. She started the car and off they went.

Aiko: "So just to make sure that you understand, you'll be living in your house by yourself for a while and that means that you will have to take care of yourself."

Akira: "Right. I know how to cook and clean, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Aiko: "Good. I can't take care of you myself because of work and there's not enough space at my home, but I'll drop by every now and then to check up on you."

Akira: "I'm sorry for the trouble."

He said with a small bow.

Aiko: "You don't have to be so formal. I'm your step-aunt so there's no need to act all weird around me."

Akira: "But I'm pretty sure that I might have been an inconvenience to you when Rinko-nee decided to adopt me. I am sorry if I caused any tension between you two."

Aiko: "...That's not something a child your age should be worrying about. You should just live out your youth to the fullest right now."

Akira: "But still..."

Aiko fell silent for a moment.

Aiko: "Well... I won't say that there wasn't any arguments, but I'm sure you understand. When Rinko decided to adopt you when she was just a college student, it was one of the craziest things me and my parents had ever heard. I mean realistically, how was she supposed to juggle her education and taking care of you? She had zero experience."

Feeling sorry that he caused strain to Rinko's relationship with her family, Akira lowered his head.

Aiko: "...But that didn't stop her. Once she made up her mind, there was nothing anyone could do to change her mind. I'm sure you know how she is like that. And in the end, she actually did it. She got her degree, got a job as an attorney, and successfully raised you into the wonderful and intelligent boy you are now."

She said while holding his hand.

Aiko: "So what happened in the past doesn't matter anymore. She stuck to her word, gave it her all, and succeeded in the end. She will always be a little sister that I admire because of that and I'm positive that my parents feel the same."

Akira: "...Thank you."

Akira felt a weight being lifted off of him. The mood was lifted quite a bit and after a bit of silence, from then on they had a cheerful discussion talking about life, dreams, etc. Even Nanako silently snuck in a few words influenced by the atmosphere in the car.

As time sped up with their talk, it had felt like only a few minutes had gone by when they eventually arrived at Akira's new home. A two story house that looked to be able to fit a family of 7 or 8.

Aiko: "Well, here we are."

Akira: "Thank you for your help. Do you want to come in for some tea? I'm not the best at it, but I'm pretty good at handling tea bags."

Aiko: "I'm sorry, but we already got plans for this evening. I'll stop by again later and have some tea then okay?"

Akira smiled.

Akira: "You can come by anytime."

He then looked towards the backseat.

Akira: "And I'm not just talking about your mom, you can come over anytime you like Nanako-chan. No matter what the reason, you can stop by whenever you want."

Nanako had a bright blush on her face, but was squirming about because she couldn't hide behind anything. Aiko did that mother-like laugh where she chuckled with her hand covering her mouth.

Akira got out and took his luggage from the trunk.

Aiko: "Well, we had better be going. Say good-bye Nanako."

Nanako: "...Good-bye."

She mutter softly. Akira could only smile at her innocence.

Akira: "Good-bye. Drive safe."

Only did he see their car turn a corner and he stop waving and step inside his new home.

The first thing he did before anything else was unpack his luggage and sort his things. Most of his stuff were mailed over so he had to open boxes and place them in various spots in his room. He didn't have much items except for clothes, book, and sports equipment so it didn't take long for him to finish. The home was bought furnished so there wasn't much else he could do.

After that he went downstairs to the refrigerator to see what he could make for dinner and noticed that there wasn't many ingredients to work with. He added shopping to his checklist in his mind.

Since there wasn't anything else to do in his home, the next step was to walk around the neighborhood and do his needed shopping. He did turn on the TV to see if there were any animes he could watch, but he couldn't find any that he had known or sparked his interest. It seems like watching animes inside this universe wouldn't be a fun way to pass the time like in his past life.

So he went out and walked around, going around the neighborhood and visiting the nearby park that was between his home and the shopping center. He was quite happy to see that he would be able to play around with multiple types of sports in the park.

From there he visited various stores and bought a few things like books and supplies. Only after he finished up by buying groceries did he finally head home. He stood out quite a bit holding that many bags.

Before arriving home, he noticed that something going on in the park. A girl that looked to be about his age was being cornered by some thug-looking youngsters.

Akira: 'Wow! I knew this was an anime universe, but to see a cliché like this in person is quite the experience. And it looks like I'm the only one around.'

Weighing his options, Akira sighed.

Akira: 'I guess this was bound to happen sooner or later. Just didn't expect it to happen on the first day.'

Walking towards them, Akira was about to drop in like a protagonist.