Career Plan

"So you're a vegan?" 

"Yep."

"But you eat meat?"

"Yep."

"What are you? Schrödinger vegan?"

I was passing by and I just heard a ridiculous conversation between two strangers, shaking my head, I went toward the jewelry store where everyone was gathering.

"Is this really necessary?" I heard Ai speak to my sister in an uncomfortable voice.

"Yes, now wear it. I don't like wasting my time on something unnecessary." Lorelei cold replied with her usual cold tone.

I stared at the source of the argument and saw that it was a bracelet, not just any bracelet but a bracelet that was made in 24k carat gold along with different kinds of gems around it.

It was the type of bracelet that only a few would willingly buy, not because it isn't beautiful but because it's ridiculously expensive for just a single accessory that isn't really needed on a daily basis.

I look at the price and indeed, it is really expensive, for normal people. For me and my sister, this kind of price is something akin to spare change to us.

Becoming rich and along with being a magus skewered my perspective of what 'normal' is, what normal it is to me now is entirely different from common masses.

Ai eventually gave up arguing, probably realizing it was pointless to argue with Lorelei, she tried the expensive bracelet with a rather uncomfortable look on her face.

Not that I blame her though.

—

"Exhausted?" I asked Ai who just finished trying all sorts of jewelry that Lorelei bought for her.

Ai didn't answer, she just stared at me with a very exhausted look on her face.

"Point taken." I let out an amused smile at her expression, then I gave her a juice that I bought a while ago.

Ai didn't hesitate to take it, as she was obviously thirsty at this point considering it's been a few hours since the shopping started.

"Thanks." Ai didn't forget to thank me, before taking a sip of the lime juice, however, didn't anticipate how sour it was, making her cringe.

I noticed this and laughed a bit. "Too sour?"

Ai nodded and replied. "Yesh, f-from all drinks why this?"

"Because it's the nearest around..?" 

Ai stared at me with a deadpan look.

"Hey, don't look at me like that. It's not my fault that it's the nearest to my spot."

"But it was your choice."

"Yes, but-"

"No buts!"

Then both of us started bickering with smiles on our faces, it might be nothing special but we're definitely enjoying each other's company.

—

I covered my mouth to avoid myself from laughing at my son's current outfit, not to mention that expression he's making makes it a lot funnier.

He looks like he was 'dead' inside, right now he was wearing a 90's gangster outfit, with a mini-sophomore jacket and golden chains on his neck, along with a blue cap.

He looks hilarious, even Shirou was looking everywhere except for Aqua because he's afraid he wouldn't be able to stop himself from laughing.

Even he wasn't immune to laughter.

However, the girls were different. They found Aqua cute. Ai once more was rapidly taking pictures of her son, while Lorelei was sneaking a glance. She thought that no one would notice but I did.

I could even see her lips curve a bit, obviously amused at the sight, while Ruby didn't hold back and laughed at her twin brother's out-of-date outfit.

—

After hours of shopping, finally, we took a break since it was already time for lunch. Honestly, we could have just gone to some restaurant in the mall, but Lorelei wasn't having it.

She didn't want to dine at some commoner's restaurant, very ironic coming from her, but I won't say that out loud.

We went out of the mall as Lorelei booked an entire 5-star restaurant for our own, as she didn't want anyone to bother us while dining.

I certainly wasn't complaining about her choice, but the rest of the group do.

"A waste of money," Shirou says.

"I don't think being in a 5-star restaurant is necessary," Ai says.

"Abubogaga (I can't understand rich people)," Aqua says, (or at least what I could imagine him saying based on his expression.)

"Awawawawa! (It's been my dream to eat in a 5-star restaurant!)," Ruby says, (I think?)

Considering the excited look on her face, it may be accurate, but who knows?

–

The waitress served our order, and Ai looked visibly uncomfortable with this kind of treatment, while she may have experienced being served in a cafe, or a simple restaurant, however, this was on another level.

"First time?" I said while sipping a cup of tea.

Ai looked at me and nodded. "Obviously, while I may have experienced eating at a restaurant, this is the first time I've tried a high-end one, where the cheapest meal on the menu is twice as much as my monthly wage for being an idol…"

"Out of curiosity, how much do you earn a month?" I decided to ask.

Ai pondered for a bit before answering. "It's between 80-100,000 yen."

My eyes widened in surprise. "That's…"

"Not a lot right?" Ai smiled, I could tell it was fake but didn't say anything about it.

"Yes, it's not…so if you didn't manage to track me down, then you'd be still…" I can't help but think if she didn't track me down and I would remain ignorant of my children's existence, they probably would have lived in poverty, well not poverty but a single step away from it.

From what I know about the entertainment industry, it wasn't a kind place and Ai would probably work herself to the bone to support their children.

"Don't be sorry." Ai suddenly said, making me snap out of my musing.

"What do you mean?" 

"The look on your face says you're sorry."

It did? I didn't even realize that I was making such an expression.

"It's not your fault you know."

There's a lot of things I want to say about that statement, it was entirely incorrect, not to mention one-sided. 

I shook my head. "No, it's mine ss it is yours, we made a choice and did the deed and the twins are the result, if I knew you were pregnant at that time I wouldn't have left you."

"Well, it already happened, there's no point thinking about it."

Indeed, she's right about it, the past can't be changed. "You're right, anyway about my question before, what are your plans now? Are you going to continue your career as an idol or well you could retire and be a full-time housewife?"

I paused for a bit and thought about what I said and I could help but cringe and thought. 'I can't believe I just said housewife in her face without blinking.'

First of all, we aren't dating nor is she my wife. I wonder how she would react to my words.

Ai suddenly blinked a bit at my words, before blushing. "H-housewife..?"

I let out a groan and answered. "Well, 'take care of the twins' is the right word, you don't have to take the housewife word literally…but if you want to.."

Once again her blush deepened.

Okay, me and my big mouth, I should just shut up.

—

It took a while for her to calm down, and now I asked her once more. "So about your idol career…"

Ai looked at me straight in the eyes and replied. "Well…if you asked me that question a year ago, I might accept it and quit as an idol, but right now I can't because I own the strawberry production, especially the president. I can't just quit because it would be ungrateful of me."

Hearing her reason, I can't really blame her for that, if she worked with an ordinary idol production company, there's no doubt they'd abandon her as soon as they realize she's pregnant and she would essentially be jobless.

And there's only one route possible for an ex-idol like her if she's really desperate.

The porn industry and honestly, I don't want to think about that, just imagining Ai working in that industry made my stomach sick.

That's why she's very lucky that the strawberry production helped her, despite the risk.

I would say that the president of the company is crazy for risking everything for a single idol, however, I'm honestly grateful for that.

Because of that, I'm going to support them, they helped Ai and my children, naturally, I would help them.

"I understand, if that's your decision then I'm going to support you," I replied with a smile.

Ai smiled back at me, this time it's a genuine one. "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me though, I'm just expressing my support," I said while already thinking about how to push the company to the mainstream of the entertainment industry.

Doing something like that isn't particularly hard, not to mention it's not the first time I've done something like this, making a small company into one of the top companies in their respective industry.

With money, there's very little that you can't do and fortunately, this is one of the things that can be solved with a deep pocket.

After that, we continued our meal in the restaurant Lorelei booked for our 'family'.

—

A/N: I'm quite frustrated by my lack of vocabulary. I know I can do better but I just forget a lot of big words. I wish I had an editor.

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