The Start of Office Shenanigans

Asako walked out of the elevator and glanced back, waiting for Rin. After Rin walked out, Asako said, "Have you decided what you're going to stream today yet? Is it going to be another karaoke session?"

"Mm..." Rin moved to Asako's side and said, "I was thinking that we all stream together. Onee-chan said she wanted some more practice with the concert coming up, and a dance stream would be fun."

Asako blinked. "Together?"

Rin nodded. "Of course together! It'd be weird for the first stream that we all feature in to be the concert, wouldn't it?"

"I guess... but is it fine?" Asako frowned and said, "Beta and John haven't said anything against it, but..."

They were all in the same generation and group, but neither John or Beta had scheduled Asako to collaborate with Alpha or Rin on a stream yet. That meant that they had plans on how things would work, right?

Rin rolled her eyes and said, "You worry too much, Aneue. If Eldest Sister or Mister John want us to not do something, they would have said something about it."

Asako paused and then said, "That's true."

John wasn't the type to forget something that important, and even if he was, Betty wasn't.

So-

A sudden pair of soft beeps. Phone notifications, one from Asako's phone and the other from Rin's.

Rin blinked and pulled out her phone. "Huh? Mister John?"

Seeing that, Asako pulled out her phone as well. Tapping on the notification, she frowned and said, "Is that guy psychic or something?"

Sending a message just as she was criticizing him in her head...

Asako shook her head and opened the message.

---

[Sender: John]

I'm going to be preoccupied the next couple of days. My beloved and very caring sisters told me to cherish my wife more and insisted I take some time off from work to spend with her. I know I said that I'd help you girls out organizing things for the concert stream, but I can't now, so I'm sorry. For now, just stream what you want to and have fun.

I'll make it up later, promise!

P.S. Betty said she's also going to be busy with something, so it'll be up to you to keep an eye on things, Asako. I trust you to handle things, but if you need help, I've attached the numbers of the COO and the CFO.

---

Rin frowned and said, "Mister John has sisters? He never mentioned that..."

Asako shook her head. "There's a lot that guy never mentions until it gets brought up."

Like being married.

Asako stared at her phone again, reading the last part of the message. She frowned and said, "What I want to know is when we had a Chief Operations Officer and a Chief Financial Officer."

Rin put her phone away and shrugged. "Maybe Mister John and Eldest Sister were getting tired of handling everything and decided to hire people to help out?"

"Maybe..."

Asako checked the contact info that John attached.

Qing Long and Bai Hu... From the names, they seemed to be Chinese.

Were they connected to John's wife? Her name was Chinese as well... and considering that little bit John and his wife had on that last stream about her being trapped overseas for a while, were they people involved from the underworld there? Members of the Triad?

"Anyway!" Rin smiled and then walked over, grabbing Asako's arm. "Since Mister John and Eldest Sister are busy, it looks like we're in charge!"

Asako slipped her phone back in her pocket and then tapped Rin's head. "Don't go overboard. Even if John said he was fine with anything, we shouldn't cause too much trouble for Betty."

Rin nodded. "I know, but then it's even more of a reason to do a collab stream!" She smiled and said, "We can all hang out together, our fans get used to seeing us interact, AND we can have streams afterwards talking about the collab!" She winked and said, "That'll solve your content problems, right Aneue?"

Asako reached out to pinch Rin's cheek. "You're being too cheeky again!"

She laughed and ducked away, letting go of Asako's arm.

Asako shook her head and then adjusted her backpack again before continuing down the hallway.

Rin quickly moved to Asako's side again, smiling bright.

Asako frowned and said, "Can we even use the streaming equipment here without Betty or John to run it?"

"Oh that's fine! Onee-chan and I figured it out last time." Rin paused and then said, "But it might be harder if we want to play a game. I don't think we looked into how to do that up here yet."

Asako opened her mouth to reply, but before she could a young girl's voice echoed from around the corner. "Are you sure you don't need any help figuring that out, Onee-chan?"

"It's fine, Meggie." Alpha's voice. "I think I know how to make it work, but I need to see what games we have on Steem first."

Rin blinked and said, "Onee-chan and Meggie?"

"Seems like it... and it seems like they're trying to figure out how to play those games you were talking about."

Asako rounded the corner with Rin and then took a look around.

As expected, Alpha was seated on a chair at the central desk with the main streaming computer. Wearing a casual white shirt and jeans, she frowned and scrolled through the Steem library page, scanning at the software available.

Sitting on the desk itself was a young girl with light green hair that turned blonde at the end. She was wearing a similar outfit to Alpha, a white shirt and jeans. But she was also wearing an oversized black hoodie that went down to her thighs.

Casually swinging her legs back and forth while eating a cup of ice cream, Meggie had on a warm smile as she stared at Alpha.

One that instantly faded when she noticed Asako and Rin.

"Hm?" Alpha noticed Meggie's expression. "Is something wrong, Meggie?"

Meggie huffed and edged closer to Alpha while pointedly staring at Rin. "Nothing, Onee-chan."

Alpha frowned and turned around, following Meggie's gaze.

Rin placed her coat and bag against the wall. After that, she waved at Alpha and said, "Morning, Onee-chan! And hi again, Meggie!"

Meggie huffed and took a big bite of her ice cream. When she finished, she pointed at Rin with the spoon and said, "It's Omega!"

Rin blinked and tilted her head. "But Meggie is so much cuter..."

Meggie blushed. "C-Cute? That's..."

Alpha giggled. "See? I told you that you're cute."

"S-Shut up, Onee-chan. No one asked you!" Meggie pouted and then went back to eating her ice cream. Even so, she kept glancing at Rin, as if unsure of what to think.

Asako sighed and placed her bag down next to Rin's.

Meggie seemed like an annoying brat, but it looked like Rin's cheery and bright attitude was enough to win her over.

Or the kid was that easy to please.

...Hopefully not. Because if that was the case, John was going to have a hell of a time in a few years when Meggie started to be interested in boys...

It'd be hilarious though, and be just desserts for that bastard considering how he is.

Alpha turned back to the computer and continued looking through the Steem library. "Anyway, be nice to my friends, Meggie?"

Asako walked over and said, "Friends, huh? Didn't think that you'd call someone like me your friend so easily, Alphy-chan."

Without turning back, Alpha said, "Well considering you stay in your room all day when Rin's not around, you need one, don't you?"

"Kuh-!"

Asako grabbed her chest, instinctively taking a step back.

That...

She wanted to refute Alpha's words, but... she really couldn't.

Meggie laughed.

Rin frowned and then crossed her arms. "Onee-chan!"

"What?" Alpha glanced at her and said, "It's true, you know?" She turned her attention back to the Steem page and said, "I thought Betty was a shut-in considering how I haven't seen her face at all except when around Papa, but she at least goes outside. Asako doesn't even do that."

"That's-" Rin paused and said, "Huh. You know..." She turned back to Asako and said, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Aneue text or talk with anybody the entire time we were together yesterday."

Asako coughed and averted her gaze. "That's because..."

Rin lowered her head. "Am I a bother, Aneue? If I'm taking up your time..."

"No!" Asako quickly shook her head. "No. It's not that. It's just... I..."

Dammit.

"Aneue?"

Seeing Rin's pitiful gaze that looked like an abandoned puppy, Asako sighed and rubbed the back of her neck. "...I don't have any, alright?" She averted her gaze and muttered, "I don't have any friends to talk to or hang out with."

After the whole situation with the Seiryuu clan... and apparently everyone that she thought were her subordinates actually being traitors, she had cut ties with the people she could have called friends or acquaintances.

And meeting new people was hard! Especially for someone like her.

The number of times that she thought she met a new friend only to find out they wanted her number... And that was for guys and girls too...

Alpha shook her head. "That's not true."

Asako blinked, confused at Alpha's words. And then she remembered what Alpha had just said and smiled. "Alphy..."

"After all, you're Betty's friend with benefits, aren't you?"

Rin gasped.

Asako froze and then instantly turned a deep red.

Meggie stopped in the middle of eating a scoop of ice cream. "A friend with benefits...? Sister Betty's?" She tilted her head and frowned. "Don't all friends give benefits?"

Rin spun around to look at Asako, her face flush and her eyes wide. "A-Aneue!? What's Onee-chan talking about?!"

Asako took a step back and held up her hands. "L-Listen!"

Rin nodded. "I'm listening!"

Silence.

Asako coughed and said, "S-So about that collab stream..."

"ANEUE!"

Alpha giggled.