Throwing A Celebration

Hey, Shun here!

Parties are always fun, especially when you're celebrating with your family and friends. I'm not someone who enjoys going to parties, even my previous self seems to hate it, but it wouldn't hurt to celebrate once in a while to loosen up.

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(Shun's POV)

After getting our rewards from the system, it was time to throw in a celebratory banquet. It's not everyday that we'll get to gather together in one place as a group after all.

"Heeeh~, Shun-kun's world's really similar to my dimension's Earth, isn't it? It's more futuristic though…"

"Carriages~?"

"There are so many fast carriages nodesu! Where are the horses, Master [Admin-sensei]?"

Currently, I'm out shopping with Mutsuko-san, Tama, and Pochi. Rokuko, Tsuka, and Fenny also wanted to come with me but they sadly couldn't since they got dragged by Satania-san and Kaede-san who needed their help in preparing some ingredients that are already there.

They even enlisted the help of my little sister, Miu. I'm actually surprised that they even managed to convince her to extract herself from the game.

"Is your world like our old world where the technological giants started selling your data to others? Nowadays, those people are having a harder time doing that since people learn how to fully encrypt their data…"

"Hee, that sounds interesting. Then, does companies like Nimtendoe still exist here or did they ever exist?"

Upon hearing the name of the company, the two beastkins reacted in a way that you would expect they would.

"Nimtendoe nodesuka? Sounds like a not delicious bread nanodesu!"

"Name is, baad~?"

"Haha. Yeah. It really sounds like that alright." I said while laughing at the two's antics. Even Mutsuko-san couldn't help but laugh.

"Anyways, I did hear about Nimtendoe a long time ago. If I remember correctly, Mom and Dad talked about it in one of their conversations…"

Mom and Dad would usually talk about game companies and such over breakfast whenever they're home. They stopped doing that though.

It's probably because they now wanted to spend whatever free time they have with us more than anything else.

"Hee… Then, what happened to them? Do you know?" Mutsuko-san asked while picking up three fruits of the same kind and checking its quality.

"If I remember correctly, their company declared bankruptcy after their competition overtook them. Chief among them was the Monster Hunter franchise. They really took off when the full dive Virtual Reality technology started to gain popularity. They're considered to be one of the pioneers of the VRMMORPG genre…"

Yes, it turns out that hunting huge ass glorified dinosaurs was more fun than playing a virtual reality version of the franchise that made a killing out of making an electric mouse as their mascot.

Ah, this one's not good. Hmm, this should be good though… I thought to myself while helping Mutsuko-san pick out the good ingredients.

"My Dad did say that Nimtendoe was brought out by a young genius who's well known now as the father of full dive technology though. He was the one who first figured out how to achieve 100% realism it seems…"

"Pochi-chan, Tama-chan, you should look at how I pick out the best ingredients and try to do the same, okay? Ah, sorry… So, what happened to that guy, Shun-kun?"

"It's fine Mutsuko-san…" I said while smiling. I then continued.

"Well, it looks like he died because he got electrocuted. He apparently saved a young girl from suffering that fate. The girl was the daughter of a worker of the company…"

After that conversation, we continued to walk around the marketplace. Tama and Pochi helped us pick out ingredients happily while me and Mutsuko-san praised them for doing a good job.

Many passersby would often stop to look at our group but no one from our group really paid them any mind as we minded our own business. It probably took us an hour or so but we finally finished shopping for ingredients.

Oh, did I mention that I had to reprimand Tama and Pochi for asking to buy too many meat? The dejected looks on their faces was quite cute, to be honest.

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"Tama, can you pass me that bowl over there please?" I said while focusing on cooking.

"Yes, Master [Admin]~."

"Thank you."

Tama immediately went towards the table before handing the bowl over to me. Pochi, on the other hand, who's also inside the kitchen, watching us cook, thought that she could also do something.

"Can I do something too, Master [Admin-sensei], desu!?"

"Then, can you bring me the salt Pochi? Thank you."

Currently, inside our house's kitchen, knife there's only me, Pochi, Tama, and Rokuko. The others are busy preparing the table and overall just chilling like what we usually do.

That was when I heard a voice I'm very familiar with coming from the front door.

"Shun, Miu, Mom's home~! Your Dad wouldn't be home today because he's busy with the company. I also made you guys your favorite desserts~!"

"Mom?"

It seems like Mom's voice made time stop as the ruckus that I've been hearing coming from the dining room came into a screeching halt. I could only hear Tsuka and Fenny's occasional squeaks and nothing else.

As the sounds of someone's footsteps approached, I could hear the sound of someone gulping loudly.

"Hey Shun, are you home? Miu? I saw a lot of shoes near the front door—"

Mom momentarily stopped talking.

"—Eh? Who might you young ladies be?"

"H-Hello Mrs. Shirakami… I'm Takanashi R-Rikka. It's nice to meet you…" I could only imagine that Rikka is very nervous right now. Actually, now that I think about it, this is one of the few times I've seen her actually get embarrassed or nervous.

As for the others…

"I'm Sakaki Mutsuko, Mrs. Shirakami! I'm one of Shun's friends." Mutsuko-san is of course okay. She's one of the most outgoing people within our group.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Shirakami. I'm Honjou Kaede. Like Mutsuko-oneechan and Rikka-san here, I'm also one of Ad… No, Shun-san and Miu's friends." Kaede-san, aside from being a little too formal compared to her normal speech, doesn't sound nervous to me at all.

What surprised me was that Satania-san actually stuttered a little when she was Introducing herself.

"I-I'm Kurumizawa Satanichia McDowell! A friend of A… Shun and Miu." What's with everyone almost calling me [Admin] Shun in front of my Mom?

"Oh my, so you're my son's and daughter's friends, huh. Welcome welcome! You don't have to be so nervous, I won't eat you."

Being the sharp woman that she is, Mom of course noticed the nervousness of Rikka-san, Satania-san, and probably to a lower extent, Kaede-san.

While I was thinking of such things, someone poked me on the side.

"Hey, Shun."

"Hmmm? What is it Rokuko?"

"Do I also have to go and introduce myself to your Mom?" Rokuko asked while lowering her voice. I don't really understand why she needs to lower her voice but I also lowered my voice.

"I don't think you really need to but you could if you want…"

Pochi and Tama also copied what we were doing and, in almost an inaudible voice, asked the same question to me.

"Master [Admin-sensei], can Pochi and Tama also go nanodesu?"

"Yes. Tama also want to introduce herself nanoda~."

Eventually, I simply said yes and watched them leave the kitchen and introduce themselves to Mom. That includes Fenny who Tsuka and Rokuko introduced to her.

Miu was upstairs at the time but she eventually heard the ruckus downstairs and got down to see what it was all about. She was very excited, to say the least, when she saw Mom home.

Right after interacting with Miu and all of the girls who are the members of our [Group Chat], Mom helped me out on the kitchen. Everyone also wanted to help out but, since there really isn't a need to have so much people cooking at once, Mom just tasked them with plating the dishes.

She even went out of her way to teach them, which was kind of unexpected given that I only ever saw her do this to us, her kids. Even our close cousins doesn't get the same treatment.

But, to be honest, I don't think she's only doing this to teach them. There seems to be some sort of underlying reason as to why she is so enthusiastically teaching them.

As I watched them interact from the sidelines, I think I have a pretty good idea as to why she was doing so. I think she's trying to figure them out or something. She have this sort of inquisitive gaze as she looks at them from time to time, after all.

An hour or so later, we finally finished cooking all of the dishes and, with everyone's help, managed to serve the dishes in no time. On top of that, Mom brought many confectionaries with her which will serve as our, you guessed it, dessert.

With everyone gathered on the dining table, we could now finally relax, chill, eat, and chat over the table. Everything was going great and everyone was having fun eating and talking with each other.

"Mom, you're really good at cooking! Onii-chan is good too of course." Miu said while heartily eating the dishes that Mom and I made, especially her favorite curry.

"Maa, Thank you Miu. Fufu, Pochi-chan and Tama-chan really like meat as well huh…"

"Meat-san, strongest~. Mom really good. Tama approves~!"

"Yesh~! Meat-shan ish the strongest nanodeshu!"

"Thank you Tama-chan. Pochi-chan, you should empty your mouth first before speaking. You girls as well. I and Shun cooked many dishes so don't be shy and eat as much as you like."

"Yesh, nanodesu!"

"Thank you Mrs. Shirakami… Your cooking is really very yummy though."

"Thank you Mutsuko-san. You can also cook like me if you study how to do it enough you know?"

"U-Um… Then, can I ask for your guidance?"

"Sure. Also, you don't have to be so nervous Rikka-chan. You also, Kaede-chan. You also want to learn how to cook better, right?"

"Y-Yes! How did you know?"

"Hehehe… I have my ways… Ah, eat slowly Tsuka-chan."

"Squeak… Yes, Mom…"

Very quickly, Mom got acquainted with everyone. It even came to the point that Pochi and Tama were calling her Mom.

Mom have always liked children, especially cute children like Pochi and Tama, so I actually expected that this will happen. What I didn't expect was that she actually managed to make Fenny call her Mom as well.

While the latter was very much surprising to me, what surprised me even more was her next lines.

"I'm glad that everyone is getting along with my children. I'm really glad that they have friends like you. But, hey, Shun… I'm curious so I want to ask you something…"

"Hmm? Sure, Mom. What is it?"

"Do you have a crush on any of these girls?"

"Sure, I ha— Eh? What?" I almost couldn't believe what I just heard so I, on reflex, asked once again to clarify things.

"Well, Mom and Dad was worried that you'll end up having no girlfriend since you're too serious at studying, taking care of the house, as well as your little sister. That's why Mom is really happy that you brought home so many girls with you today. Mom no longer have to worry…"

After a brief pause, Mom once again asked me the question that made me go stiff.

"So? Do you have anyone you like among these girls?"

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※~To be continued~※

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Author's Remarks:

※ So? What do you guys think of this chapter? It's a transition chapter with some references towards my other fanfic which I'm in the middle of rewriting…