Accelerando

Around 11:30 AM, a pink luxury sedan pulled into the parking lot of Myth Inc. HQ.

Rin got out of the car, wearing a beige coat over a white blouse and jeans. She adjusted the duffel bag carrying her spare clothes around her shoulder and then closed the car door behind her. Turning back to the car, she smiled and said, "Thanks for driving me here, Mom!"

Sakura waved her hand and said, "You're welcome! And have fun today, Sweetie! Call me when you want to head home, alright?"

Rin paused and then said, "Aren't you going to come watch?"

Sakura shook her head. "Sorry, Sweetie. But I'm going to be busy writing articles today." She paused and then muttered, "And a lot of research to sort out what the heck that guy was talking about."

"Hm?"

"It's nothing, Sweetie. Just work."

Rin frowned and then said, "Don't strain yourself, Mom. You've worked hard enough. I... don't want you to get sick again because of me."

Sakura let out a soft smile and said, "You're too kind, Sweetie. But your mom's not the type of woman to just sit around and let someone else do the work for her. Where do you think you get your work ethic from?"

"But-"

"No buts! I can't be a lay about like John and rely on my daughter to do all the work for me now, can I?"

Rin giggled and adjusted her bag around her shoulder. "That's mean, Mom. Mister John works hard too!"

"Works hard, hardly works. Same thing."

Rin shook her head. "If you keep being mean like that, Mom, no guy is going to want to date you, you know?"

Sakura laughed. "Me? And a guy?" She shook her head. "Sweetie, your mom doesn't need a man in her life as long as she has you."

Rin frowned and muttered, "Looks like it will have to be in the long run after all."

"What was that, Sweetie?"

Rin smiled. "Nothing, Mom! Don't work too hard today! And make sure to drink plenty of water and get rest!"

"Right back at you, Sweetie! Don't stress yourself and just have fun. We aren't in a pinch or anything, so don't feel the urge to force yourself, alright?"

"Okay!"

Sakura waved and then drove off.

Rin watched her mom leave until the pink car rounded the corner, and then she adjusted her bag around her shoulder before walking towards the office building.

Pulling out her phone, she said, "I have... about thirty minutes before the stream starts. That should be enough time, right?"

Her new Eldest Sister didn't send her a message saying to arrive early, and she hadn't heard anything from Mister John or Alpha nee-chan... so it should be fine.

She hoped.

Rin took a deep breath to calm herself and then walked through the front doors.

"Welcome to Myth Inc... Oh!"

Rin looked up and then waved at the professionally dressed woman behind the front desk. "Hi, Miss Asako! You look cool today too!"

Asako blinked and then let out a complicated expression, as if unsure how to react. Eventually she settled for a smile and nodded. "And you look cute today, Miss Rin."

Rin walked forward and shook her head. "Just Rin's fine, Miss Asako! I'm not important enough to be called 'Miss.' Ah!"

Again, that complicated expression on Asako's face. But she nodded and said, "If... that's what you want, Rin."

Rin looked around and said, "Is Eldest Sister- I mean, is Miss Beta around?"

Asako adjusted her glasses, glancing to the side and muttering under her breath. After that, she shook her head and said, "Miss Beta says she's busy with a side project at the moment. You can head straight to the studio though. Mister John should be there to help you with the stream."

"Is he?!" Rin smiled and then said, "That's great! Thanks, Asako nee-chan!"

"N-Nee-chan?"

Rin didn't realize her slip-up and just rushed to the elevator.

Pressing the button, the doors immediately opened, the elevator already waiting on the first floor. She stepped inside and then pressed the top floor button, smiling at the thought of being able to show off for Mister John.

"W-Wait a moment, Rin!" Asako called out from the front desk.

"Hm?" Rin tilted her head and looked over.

Meeting her gaze, Asako frowned and said, "Did your mother-?" Before she finished, the elevator doors slid shut, cutting Asako off.

Rin frowned. "My mom?"

Did Asako want to pass a message along?

Rin paused, wondering if she should head back down. But then she remembered that there wasn't much time left and shook her head. "I'll ask her about it later."

After all, Rin would be seeing Miss Asako every day now, so it wouldn't be hard to meet with her.

More importantly...

"I wonder how Mister John's been?"

Although he had been in the chat of her streams recently moderating, it seemed like it had been forever since she had last seen him.

Rin fidgeted, feeling warm at the thought of him maybe praising her for her work... And then she sighed. "Come on, Rin. You can't think like that."

It was too selfish. Mister John was busy. And he did warn her before she started about him not always being able to be there. Did he already know how much work he'd have to do at that time?

Rin frowned, mulling over her emotions in silence. And the elevator arrived at the top floor.

The usual chime echoed and the doors slid open.

Rin walked forward and sighed. "It's alright."

It was enough for Rin that she had the Ohana and that things were going well.

Wanting to be praised on top of that and wanting him to watch her stream all the time was a bit-

"L-Like this, Father?"

"That's right. If you're planning to dance when you sing, it's important to not make too broad of a motion... especially for you. Remember what happened last time you tried to 'dance' up here?"

"T-That was a mistake! A-And... I wanted to show off..."

Rin blinked.

Was that... Mister John and Alpha nee-chan?

Curious, Rin slowly crept down the hall and then peered around the corner into the streaming area. There, she saw them.

John stood in front of the wall monitor, with John Titor mirroring him. Next to him was Alpha. But unlike how it usually was, the avatar for Alpha in the wall monitor wasn't the usual Anime version of the beautiful black-haired young woman. Instead, there was a cool silver-haired beauty.

Rin blinked again, and then realization hit her. Before Rin realized it, she squealed and ran forward. "Nee-chan! You're joining Project MirAIs!"

"R-R-Rin?!" Alpha flinched and spun around. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked between the monitor and Rin in a panic. "T-This isn't what it-"

Rin pulled Alpha into a hug and then looked up at her. "Why didn't you tell me you wanted to join? I would have helped you practice!"

"T-That is..."

"Does this mean you'll be debuting soon?" Rin gasped and said, "Does Hana have a kouhai now?!"

John laughed.

Alpha blushed and then glared at her father. "T-This isn't funny, Father!"

"Sorry, Alphy. But it really is. Especially when I remember how you said you-"

"FATHER!"

John chuckled again and then nodded, cutting off his sentence.

Rin stepped back and then gave Alpha a once over. Seeing her outfit, Rin nodded and said, "You look really cute today too, Nee-chan!"

"C-Cute?" Alpha's blush deepened and she looked down, fiddling with her bowtie. "D-Do you really think so?"

Rin nodded and let out a bright smile. "Super cute!"

John smirked. "Told you, Alphy."

"H-Hmph." Alpha crossed her arms and turned her head to the side, but she couldn't hide the wide smile on her face.

Rin looked to John and said, "Is Alpha nee-chan going to be debuting today with me on my stream, Mister John?"

John shook his head. "Alphy still needs to practice a bit more to get comfortable with the streaming setup and her debut information. Also, it's probably best to have her stream on her own a little while before doing collaborations so that she can get her own fans too."

"Oh..." Rin nodded.

That made sense. It wouldn't be fair to the Ohana to ask them to support someone else too. But...

John smiled. "Don't worry. It won't be too long. My beloved daughter is just burning up to stream with her cute senpai. Aren't you, Alphy?"

Alpha huffed and then walked away towards the elevator. "I-I'm going to practice singing."

Rin watched Alpha leave and then waved. "Have fun, Nee-chan!"

Alpha glanced back and smiled. And then she realized what she was doing and quickly turned her head back, speeding up her steps.

John shook his head and said, "That girl needs to be a bit more honest with herself."

Rin turned her attention to John. "But that's what makes Nee-chan cute, right?"

He chuckled and said, "So you noticed it too, huh?"

Rin smiled.

John rolled his shoulder and then walked back to the computer. "Let me get this set up for you and Hana since Betty's doing other work right now."

Rin blinked. "Betty?"

John clicked a few things on the computer and nodded. "Betty- Ah, I mean Beta. It's her nickname... though I don't think anyone but me calls her that."

Rin gasped. "But it's so cute!" She paused and said, "Wait, then is Alpha nee-chan's nickname 'Alphy?'"

"Yep. But you probably shouldn't call her that."

Rin frowned. "Why not?"

"She'll overheat and faint from embarrassment. Probably." John typed a few things on the keyboard.

Rin smiled and then walked over to the side to place her bag and coat down. After that, she headed to the streaming area.

John looked at her and said, "Did you want to change?"

"It's fine! Me and Hana are just singing today, so it should be good like this."

"That's the right attitude to have. As long as you're having fun."

Rin walked over to the streaming area and looked at the monitor. The display rippled, turning back into Hana's room. And her 'reflection' changed to Hana as well, the bright-eyed virtual idol smiling back at her.

Rin waved and said, "Morning, Hana!"

She didn't reply, but like always, Rin felt like she heard her respond back.

"Hm?" John paused and glanced over at the monitor.

Rin noticed and looked back. "Is something wrong, Mister John?"

"No. But... Hm." He carefully stared at the monitor and muttered, "I might have made a miscalculation."

"Eh?"

"Nothing. Anyway... I didn't plan to be the one in charge of your stream today, but I'm already here, so let's get to it." John smiled and said, "It's been a while since I've watched you stream live. Why don't you show me what you've got?"

Rin's heart warmed and then she smiled. "Yes!"

-----AI|IA-----

12:15 PM.

*Phew! That song was pretty hard... but I'm glad it turned out well.*

Kai smiled and tapped the Superchat icon on his phone before sending a message.

[100k yen - Keep up the good work.]

*E-Eh? A red superchat already?! From Mister... Troublemaker? A-And now there's more?! Stop it!*

Kai chuckled and then put his phone away before smoothing his expression.

Minato adjusted his fedora and then glanced at Kai. "Finished watching your anime or whatever, kid?"

Kai shrugged. "You wouldn't understand, old man."

"Tch. Still got lip after all these years huh?"

"And who's the guy who got knocked out flat by Maji without being able to fight back?"

Minato winced and then rubbed the back of his neck. "That's different. And I'm sure that bastard still has a grudge against me."

"Sure, sure." Kai crossed his arms and then glanced off to the side at their target.

A tall office building in the middle of Akihabara. The relocated headquarters of the Torabu clan after they were kicked out of the Eternal Tower in Kamurocho.

Minato followed his gaze and then frowned. "Are you sure about this, kid? If you go through with this, there's no going back."

Footsteps echoed, followed by a cackle. "Don't worry, old man. We'll pick up the slack." Maji walked over, followed by Saji.

Saji nodded. "Like my bro said, we'll handle the fallout. But..." Saji looked to Kai and said, "Are you sure you want to be here right now? What about your daughter?"

Kai felt a pang of guilt but quickly suppressed that. "...It's fine. Everything will be over by tomorrow night."

Maji flicked his sleeve and flipped a knife around. "Not that I'm complaining... but you're in a real rush. Something happen?"

"...Don't worry about it."

Kai looked up at the building and said, "It's about time we finish this anyway. The yakuza have been around for too long now, and if those old relics keep insisting... Well." He flicked his sleeve, causing a knife to fly out and appear in his right hand. "I can't let my new friend solve everything by himself, can I?"

More footsteps approached and a group of men emerged from various areas, quickly gathering around Kai. The loyal men from the current generation who were fed up at the old regime.

Maji cracked his neck. "Well... Boss did say to speed up the time table..."

-----AI|IA-----

Back at Myth Inc. HQ, Rin and Hana were having a blast singing some anime song covers.

During that, John was sitting at the computer, monitoring the chat and the streaming set up.

Everything was going well.

The chat was wholesome as usual. The Ohana were bullying Rin and Hana with money. And even that one guy who always posted lewd comments was gone from the chat.

All-in-all, things were great.

"...So then why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?" John muttered, wracking his mind to try and remember what it was.

He couldn't put it into words, but... it was kind of like when you mentioned something in passing to a friend that was important, but you forgot what that important thing was. Like telling them to remind you of something you needed to do.

As John was frowning and trying to figure it out, he noticed sirens blaring in the distance.

Police sirens.

The streaming area was isolated from sound by various formations, so Rin couldn't hear them, but John could. And as he did, his frown deepened.

He glanced at the time to double-check.

12:45 PM.

"It's not even an hour into the afternoon yet. So it's probably nothing." Muttering that, he turned his attention back to Rin's stream.

And then he heard more sirens. Like a coordinated effort by the police from across the city.

John paused, realization slowly starting to dawn. At the same time, he started to sweat.

Those guys... when he said to speed things up, they wouldn't have just decided to go all out in one day.

Right?

They had asked for him to lend a bunch of ordinary shadow servants to coordinate events later on and John had obliged... but surely they weren't crazy enough to do anything in broad daylight.

Right. So it was probably just a coincidence. Probably just the Seiryuu getting into trouble or something after he cursed them with bad karma and misfortune.

There was no way that-

*Yo, Boss! Great news! Your friend just became the new Torabu patriarch and waged war on the Seiryuu, so we should be finishing up with everything by evening. Get ready for the showdown with that demonic bastard later tonight!*

...Goddammit.