Shirohime Family (Part 1)

The sun slowly rose as the morning came. The chirping birds outside slowly woke Sam up. He rubbed his eyes before looking around the room.

"Oh, right. I'm not sick anymore." Sam whispered as he energetically jumped out of the bed.

He stared at the clock.

"6:30 A.M…" Sam muttered to himself while changing into his casual attire which consisted of a plain navy blue T-shirt and a below-the-knee khaki shorts.

Sam suddenly panicked the moment he realized that Astraea wasn't in the room until he heard him laughing from the room next to his room. He immediately fixed their bed and left the room. Astraea, Lina, and Ashley sang the opening song of the kid's show 'Magical Light Priestess Lily' plays. This kid show is about a girl named Lily who is traveling around the world to locate the person who murdered her mother.

The kids began to cheer and imitated Lily's battle stance as she cast her special finisher move.

"GRAND FINAL BURST!~" the kids cutely shouted in unison as they imitated this Lily character.

Sam watched the group by the door, thinking of wanting to join but feeling a bit awkward, he bailed on the idea. Suddenly, a girl older than him with long brown hair appeared. Sam moved aside as she entered the room.

"Hey, kids! Breakfast is ready!" She reached her voice out to them.

"Eep!" Astraea squealed as he got startled by the girl's sudden entry.

"Big sis! You startled Astraea!" Lina pouted as she comforted Astraea with a hug.

"Who is she?" Astraea asked Lina.

"That's our big sis, Liza! Her full name is Elizabeth Shirohime!" Lina introduced her sister, Elizabeth. "Also, she has a twin sister named Melissa! Her nickname is Lissa!" Lina added.

"Why are their nicknames the same?" He asked Lina.

"No no no, Big Sis Elizabeth has a single 'Z' in her nickname while Big Sis Melissa has a double 'S' in her nickname!" Lina explained.

"Ohhhh!"

"And you, Sam! Stop being too awkward with your sisters!" Liza complained as she patted Sam on the head.

"I'm sorry…" Sam muttered.

"And stop apologizing every time!" Liza complained yet again.

"... I'm sorry…" Sam apologized again.

"There you go again!" Liza pinched Sam in the cheeks.

All of the kids headed out of the living room and entered the dining room. The food that was prepared were eggs, both scrambled and sunny side-up, sausage, bacon, fried rice, bread loaves, and hot chocolate milk in a big jug. They all went to the nearest sink to wash their hands and sat down in their respective places and prayed.

"Thank you for the food!" Ashley and Lina raised their voices in front of their meals.

Sam for some reason was being quiet and didn't do as his other family members did. Nevertheless, they started eating after that.

"How is it, Astraea? Does it taste good?" Lina asked Astraea.

"It does!" Astraea answered as he continued to eat.

"Do you have this kind of food in your world?" Ashley asked as she wiped the crumbs on Astraea's face.

"Yes, my mother always cooks lots of food!" Astraea answered.

Sam glanced at Astraea. He let out a sigh of relief the moment Astraea showed no signs of sadness for that matter this time.

"Hmm? What is it?" Ashley asked Sam when she saw him sigh.

"N-nothing…" Sam continued eating.

After eating, they all put the used plates in the sink and Ashley began washing them.

"I'll wash the plates, you guys can go ahead and play." Ashley told them.

"YAY!" Lina immediately ran outside the moment she heard that Ashley will do the washing.

"Geez, That girl… She really doesn't want to wash the plates…" Ashley sighed before turning to her other siblings. "You, two. You can go out and play, I can do this on my own!"

With that taken care of, Sam and Astraea left the dining room and headed outside of the building.

There they stood in front of the double door, wondering what to do.

"What are we gonna do today?" Astraea turned to Sam and asked.

"How about we go and return to your world?" Sam answered.

"Really?!"

"Really!" Sam nodded.

"Yeah??!"

"Yeah!!"

"YEAAH!!" The two yelled confidently and after a couple of seconds, the two went silent.

"How do we do that…?" The two asked each other at the same time.

"Huh… How about we go to the library?" Sam asked.

"Library? What's that?" Astraea asked right back.

"It's a place with a lot of books!"

"Ohhhh! I love books! I wanna read all of the books from your world!" Astraea jumped with excitement.

"Let's go then!" Sam replied with the same energy before heading over to their newfound destination.

They arrived at the entrance and Leona, who was sweeping the grounds nearby, saw the two head to the nearest flight of stairs.

"Be careful on the stairs, you two!" Leona shouted.

"Okay!" The two answered back but they still ran down the stairs.

Just then, in the middle of the stairs, Astraea's footing slipped and began tumbling down towards Sam and hitting him. The two comically fell down the stairs. Fortunately, they landed on the ground unscathed, with Sam landing on his feet upright and him catching Astraea. They looked at each other, laughed a bit at what just happened. When both of them are back on their feet, they continued

At the Torii (traditional Japanese gate), a lot of people are gathering, seemingly excited about the arrival of a specific person.

"What's going on?" Astraea asked Sam.

"Looks like Aki-nee arrived." Sam answered.

"Aki-nee??" Astraea tilted his head.

"She is my cousin. Her full name is Aki Shouko. She is 17 years old." Sam told Astraea. "She is a model for a fashion magazine and a very well-known singer." Sam added.

"Ohhh…" Astraea nodded.

"Speaking of, I am 14 years old." Sam told Astraea. "How about you? How old are you?"

"Ummm… I don't know…" Astraea stared at Sam.

"Hmm… based on your looks and your height, you look like a 9 or 10 year old." Sam reached his hand over his head and then patted Astraea's, comparing his height to Astraea's height.

"Yeah! I am 9 years old!" Astraea raised his arms in the air.

(He is not a 9 year old but a month old.)

A girl with glamorous long white hair with fox ears, fluffy white tail, pinkish-white skin, and sparkling emerald green eyes comes out of the car parked in front of the Torii gate. Her outfit consisted of a stylish red long sleeve sweater and stylish dark gray short pants and high heeled leather boots. The people began crowding near her, some of them wanting an autograph.

"Wow, a lot of our relatives really adore Aki-nee." Sam smiled as he mentioned.

"Eh?" Astraea stared at Sam.

"Yeah, the crowds there are my relatives. We are one massive family…" Sam points at the crowds.

"Ohhh!" Astraea exclaimed.

Aki saw Sam and Astraea and waved a little at them as she continued signing autographs. Sam waved back at Aki.

"Let's go now."

"You're not gonna go and say hi?" Astraea asked.

"Later. She looks very busy right now." Sam answered as he walked away.

"Okay." Astraea answered as he followed.

Outside the gates, the left side of the road that led to the nearest town was filled with rice fields. Several farmers could be seen tending those lands. The right side of the road was the foot of the mountain. Astraea enjoyed his time walking while viewing the beautiful scenery of the lush green rice fields and a clear blue sky. They reached the town in about 30 minutes and at first notice, Astraea stared at the several buildings and establishments all around the place.

"Ohhhh! The buildings kind of look the same as the ones in my world!" Astraea told Sam.

"Is that so?" Sam looks around.

Most of the houses were 2-story buildings; the houses there had their own unique designs and colors that match its resident's tastes. In the middle of the town is where the public park lies. Multiple kids can be seen playing at the playground while their parents watch them while chatting with the other parents. Some are jogging, walking their pets, or just sitting on the bench, enjoying the beautiful sight. The town hall, police station, fire station, library, and hospital are stationed near the park, which is the exact landmark people look for so that anyone can remember where they are. Sam and Astraea entered the Library.

"Waah!" Astraea yelped the moment he entered the library.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked Astraea.

"... it suddenly got cold in here…" Astraea stared at Sam.

"Oh. That's because of the air conditioning units." Sam pointed at the wall-mounted Air Conditioning Unit.

"Ohhhh!..." Astraea replied.

Because of the summer heat, a lot of people were to be found inside the Library. Some genuinely read books, a few preparing for exams, while the rest pretended to read in order to stay longer and cool off. Not knowing where to start, the newly-arrived two started their viewing at the nearest bookshelf, checking out all of the books that specifically have a bit of connection on getting transported to another world. After half an hour of looking and asking the librarians about it, they both ended up at the library's entertainment section. This place was where all the graphic novels, comic books, manga, and light novels were stationed. Sam stared at the books with a bit of doubt while Astraea's eyes shone as he excitedly looked around which book to read first. Astraea starts with picking up a lot of books that all have 'Another World' in their title.

"Hey hey! I wanna read all of this!" Astraea showed a stack of books he carried to Sam.

"Wait a second. Isn't the title literally the full plot summary?" Sam squinted at the first book he saw and scratched his head. "Why are all of their titles literally the plot summary!? I don't get it?!"

"I know right? That means we can easily prepare for the contents of the book!" Astraea happily replied.

"I guess so, but never judge the book by its cover." Sam doubtfully stared at the book's colorful cover.

The cover contains the title and the illustration of the main character raising his sword in the air as it glows. Several characters, mostly girls, are watching the highlighted main character with sparkly eyes from below.

"What does that mean?" Astraea asked Sam.

"Eh? It's an idiom, which means that one shouldn't judge the worth or value of something by its outward appearance alone." Sam explained.

"Ohhh!" Astraea's eyes glimmered as he learned something new.

"Then uh– don't judge this book by its cover!" Astraea grinned as he stuck his thumb pointing to himself, while wearing a smug look on his face.

"Oi…" Sam's expression turned flat as he stared at Astraea who turned the table against him.

Sam sighed before resorting to a chuckle.

"Fine… Let's go read it."

"Yay!"

Astraea then grabbed more books to read.

"Are you sure you can read all of that?" Sam worriedly asks Astraea.

He stared at the digital watch on his right arm. It read: 7:53 A.M.

"I don't mind if we read them all till 11:20 A.M.." Sam told Astraea. "I'm quite a very fast reader." Sam boasted.

"I'm also a fast reader!" Astraea claims.

"How fast?" Sam asked.

"Ummmmm…" Astraea beans to think. "Very fast!" Astraea exclaimed.

"Uh-huh–" Sam nodded. "Welp, let's go read quietly at a table."

The two picked a table beside the glass window which shows the park. They began quietly reading all of the books they took. As the two are engrossed in the books they were reading, time quickly flew by. The two soon finished reading all of the books they had gathered, Astraea was very satisfied with all of the novels he read. On the other hand, Sam looked dead inside with his reading experience.

"I think I just wasted my time with these…" Sam set the book he held down before looking over to Astraea.

"Eh?" Astraea tilted his head in reply.

"They are all the same!" Sam slams both of his hands at the table. "The way they die and get transported to another world, how they met a 'God/Goddess' who gave them a cheat skill and/or weapon, how they easily eliminated their opponents, and every opposite gender they met always fell in love with the main character! It's all the same!" Sam added, aggressive towards the last part. "Most of these books with 'Isekai' as the genre are utter power-fantasy trash! Although, there's this 'In This New Life, My Own Fantasy Adventure Begins!' that did better than the rest– at least in my opinion." Sam showed the book to Astraea.

"Eh? I think they are all good!" Astraea set the book he held down and turned his attention to Sam.

"Dude… Are you the type who will always like anything?" Sam asked.

"I guess so?" Astraea nervously smiled at Sam while mentioning.

"Heh." Sam patted Astraea on the head. "No use in arguing with you then… People are either apples and oranges."

"Is that… another 'idiom'? I'm pretty sure people are humans." Astraea stared blankly at the table.

Sam nodded.

"It means that people have different tastes and likes in things."

Sam glanced at his watch and read '11:13 A.M' on it.

"We probably should go back home." Sam picked up all the books they are done reading.

"Help me put the books back where they came from?" Sam asked Astraea.

"Okay!"

The two lifted their heaps of books back to where they came from and left the Library.

As they walked back home, Astraea noticed Sam huffing and sweating a lot.

"Are you okay?" Astraea worriedly asked.

"I'm… fine." Sam replied as he wiped the premature sweat droplet from his forehead. "Hoo, I hate summer and its hot weather."

"What weather do you like the most?" Astraea asked Sam.

"Hmmm…" Sam began to think. "I guess I prefer cold and snowy weather the most." Sam told Astraea.

"Ohhhh…" Astraea nodded.

"Though, I hate the rainy and wet weather too!"

"I– like all weather!" Astraea raised both of his arms as he told Sam.

"No surprise there." Sam replied with a dry chuckle.

"Oi! Give me more reaction!" Astraea lightly tapped Sam's back multiple times as he chuckled.

A black car slowly passed by them, Sam stopped walking and stared at the car. Astraea also stopped walking and stared at Sam, wondering why he stopped. The black car soon U-turned with a drift and stopped beside them. Its car window slowly opened and a man with blonde, spiky hair wearing a plain fatigue T-shirt and dark gray pants greeted them.

"Ah! It's my big brother, Leslie!" Sam told Astraea.

"Hop in, kids! I was about to fetch you two." Leslie opened the backseat door for them. The two entered the car and Leslie started driving.

Astraea noticed a sudden uneasiness emanating from Sam. He then Saw him glancing a bit at the woman with long blonde hair sitting on the seat next to the driver.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself… I'm Leslie Shirohime, I'm the eldest among all of the siblings in our Family. This is my wife, Meryl Crescent." Leslie stuck a thumb pointing at the woman on her right.

"Hello you two." She waved at the two kids.

"Hello, I am Astraea Von Ernst Albert." Astraea waved back at them.

"Ohh, that's some fancy long name! Are you from royalty or something?" Leslie asked Astraea as he focused on driving.

"I guess so, my mother told me that my grandpa was the king of the country I was born in." Astraea replied.

"Ohhh! So, why are you here?" Leslie asked.

Astraea went quiet and a frown could be seen on his face.

"Hey bro! Stop asking Astraea some insensitive questions!" Sam exclaimed.

"Ah! I'm sorry! That wasn't my intention…" Leslie told Sam. "I'm sorry Astraea."

"It's okay. Sam said he will help me go back to my world!" Astraea faintly smiled as he assured Leslie.

"Yeah! We will find a way to open a portal and I will personally take him back home! And probably do some sightseeing before returning back home…" He whispered towards the end.

"Oh really?" Leslie stops the car at the parking lot beside the nearest gate. "Well, we're here now!"

All of them left the car and headed towards the mansion at the top of the mountain.

At the top, they were greeted by Samantha, a woman with fox ears, blonde hair tied into a ponytail, and had nine tails shuffled underneath her hakui and hibakama outfit. There were two other women beside her. One was another fox-eared woman, had long lavender-colored hair, also had nine tails, and was wearing the same clothes. The second one was a woman (someone more human this time) with an otherworldly black gown and a weird-looking staff. At the top of her staff was a big ring, in the middle of the ring, a green crystal ball floated while two arrow-looking dark green crystals revolved around the crystal ball. From the looks of it, it kind of looked like a clock. Her eyes are also green but her pupils look otherworldly.

The woman with an otherworldly dress slowly approached Sam and Astraea. Feeling a bit nervous, Astraea hid himself behind Sam.

"Hmmmm…"

She stared at the two.

"What is she planning to do?" She mumbled to herself as she faced away from Sam and Astraea.

"Please, have these two wait for a bit in a room. We have something to discuss." She told the three.

"Ummmm, w-who are you?" Astraea asked the woman in a black gown while still hiding behind Sam.

"..I am Rhielei…" She spoke softly before walking away.

The guards led Sam and Astraea to Sam's room. Sam was anxiously waiting while Astraea was busy reading some books that were originally lying on the floor. Sam peered through the small gaping hole in the window, he can tell they were being watched from the outside.

"Why are they watching us? What are they planning to do to Astraea?" Sam thought to himself.

"Ohhh! So that's why you hate those kinds of books!" Astraea exclaimed.

"Huh?" Sam tilted his head.

"This book has quite the serious theme on it!" Astraea shows the books he just recently picked up. Most of the books he read have the genre of Hard Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Hard Science Fiction, Contemporary Fantasy, Science Fantasy, Space Opera, and Cosmic Horror. Most of the stories in the book he reads are aimed at mature audiences.

"Oh… Those were my brother's books. I end up reading them all to pass the time and boredom from being bedridden before." Sam told Astraea. "I wasn't fond of reading books back then but I end up loving reading books."

"By the way…" Astraea put the books neatly at his side. "I was able to tell that you were a bit uneasy with your brother's wife. Why is that?" Astraea curiously asked.

"Eh? Oh! Ummm…." Sam scratched his head. "I don't really know but I always feel like she's a horrible person, or something…"

"Ohhh…" Astraea nodded.

Despite not knowing why he's feeling that way, he didn't try to pry further. Instead, he thought of a different topic to open up.

"Oh, right! Who were those two with fox ears?" Astraea asked.

"The blonde-haired one is Ma'am Sakuha Shirohime, my great-grandmother. The lavender-haired one is Ma'am Rieiasu Kurohime, our relative." Sam told Astraea. "Both of them are probably gonna visit my great-grandfather…"

"Eh? Great-grandmother? Great-grandfather? Huh?" Astraea asked, throwing in puzzled looks at Sam.

"Well…." Sam scratched his head. "My family's history is kinda crazy…"

"Tell me all about it then!" Astraea added it with a determined look.

"You see, both Ma'am Sakuha and Ma'am Rieiasu married the same man, my great-grandfather. He came from a low-class family who kicked him out of their house because he is a kitsune and an outsider. Ma'am Sakuha and Ma'am Rieiasu found him unconscious and helped him. The two then fell in love with him and he married both of them." Sam explained.

"What's a kitsune?" Astraea asked.

"They are a demi-human with fox ears and tails and can shapeshift into a fox. All kitsune can live for thousands of years. Every time they reach a hundred years old, they gain another tail, up to nine tails." Sam told Astraea.

"Ohhhh!"

Suddenly, Sam's stomach began to grumble.

"Ugh!.. I'm hungry!" Sam shouted.

"Why are they keeping us inside?! What do they need from you?!" Sam shouted.

"Eh?" Astraea stared at Sam. "Can't we just go outside normally?" Astraea stood up and opened the door. He was met with a tall, bulky man with fox ears who stood in front of the door.

"Sorry kid, but the head priestess told me you can't leave this room."

The tall, bulky fox dude just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, blocking any of them from going outside.

"But Sam said he's hungry!" Astraea points at Sam.

"Then wait there. I will ask someone to bring over some food." The tall, bulky fox dude said to him and promptly closed the door.

"They really are locking us in this room…." Sam frowned and slowly felt uneasy with all this again.

"Hmmm…" Astraea sat himself down somewhere and visually concentrated.

"Oh! I have an idea!" Astraea exclaimed at the thought.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Let's escape!" Astraea grinned at him.