Be an 1an here! One more chapter and Ian Becker goes to Japan! Before then, the family has decided to spend the night before he leaves with Allan, so this chapter will focus on the entire family. Please tell me how I did on the chapter via review or PM and please follow the story. Thank you for reading this, readers!

Waycross, Georgia

United States, Real World

May 19, 2022

Ian Becker

The drive to Georgia took at least three and a half hours, and Ian found Nikki sleeping halfway during the trip, her head leaned on his shoulder as she slept. Her mouth was slightly open and her bun was becoming undone as the minivan rumbled along, threatening to scatter long dark locks across the backseat.

This is one of the cutest things ever. Of all time. he thought fondly as he placed an arm around her shoulders. Just then, a particularly large bump in the road caused the minivan to shake and Nikki immediately jolted awake, her brown eyes alert and her hair all over the place as she came to.

"Good morning again, sleepyhead." Ian said jokingly in response, patting her on the head with his free hand.

"Are we there yet?" the girl asked, yawning.

"No, but we're halfway there." the boy answered, looking out of the window.

"Hmmm. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get some sleep." Nikki set her head on Ian's shoulder again and slowly fell asleep once more, and in his mind, hardly anything was more beautiful than her.

"You're gonna be so much trouble when you turn eighteen." Ian said quietly, gently stroking her hair.

An hour later

The worst part of the trip was the traffic. It had taken an extra thirty minutes to get around it and to Allan's house, and when they finally got to the house, Ian gently shook his twin to wake her up.

"We're here." Ian told her curtly.

"Whazawhat?" she sputtered as she came to for the third time that day.

"We. Are. Here." Ian slowly said each word so Nikki could hear him since she was still somewhat asleep, causing her to make sure her bun wouldn't come loose.

They had stopped at a two-storey sky-blue house that was well-built and pleasant-looking, with a decent lawn and a shed in the back, likely a lure-making area, which fit the fishing-loving Allan's needs for making high-quality lures for his successful fishing lure business.

"Oh, did I miss something?"

"You missed the majority of the trip here since you slept through it." he answered, watching her pout a little. Nikki loved to look at her surroundings during a trip, but she also had a habit of sleeping during long drives, which usually resulted in her missing out on the view and a cute picture involving the brunette snoozing.

"That sucks a lot." she simply said, making sure her dress wasn't hanging too low on her well-endowed chest.

"Try to stay up when you go back home, Nikki." Ian told her.

"Okay."

"You two, let's go!" their mother told them as she left the minivan. The twins bolted out of their seats and opened their doors to get to the house so fast that they nearly fell on the ground.

"Don't try to go so fast, you two!" their father called out to them.

The twins recovered from nearly falling and caught up to their parents, who were at the door.

"Here we are." Ian said when he and Nikki got to the house.

Their father knocked on the door and after a few seconds, a tall young man who had short black hair and brown eyes with a friendly face answered the door.

"Hey, Mom." Allan Becker greeted, raising his hand in greeting. "Welcome to my place."

Without further ado he walked out of the front door and tightly hugged his parents, then he set his sights on the twins.

"Hey, you two. You look fabulous in that dress, Nikki."

Nikki flushed, then jumped up and gave Allan a ferocious bear hug, immediately pulling his face into her bosom.

"You're kidding me." Ian facepalmed. "Are you going to pull everyone's face into your chest?"

"Oh, my gosh! It's been too long!" Nikki squealed in delight at seeing her older brother, ignoring her twin's question.

"I--can't--b-breathe--!" Allan wheezed.

"Um, Nikki, how does Allan take Ian to Japan if you kill him?" their mother asked dryly.

"Oh, right!" Nikki let go, allowing Allan to take a much-needed breath.

"Ugh. That felt uh--"

"Soft?" Ian supplied. "Nikki here hugged me like that twice already. It isn't that nice when the hugger has a, uh, you know..."

"Large bosom?" the cheerful girl suggested. "Or is it because of something else~?"

"Um, can we go inside and sit down?" Ian asked, heat flooding his face. It was bad enough that she was this blunt when talking about stuff like that, but when she did it in front of his parents, it was far too much.

"Sure. Come on, everyone, I made lunch for you when you got here." Allan said, pointing to his open door. Everyone nodded in agreement and followed him inside the long hallway and into the wide living room.

"Wow, you have a wonderful place, Al!" Nikki said, taking in the cozy home.

"It's not that great, you know." the young man said modestly, placing a hand on his neck.

"Quit being modest." Ian said. "It doesn't fit you."

"Oh, alright."

Thirty minutes later

After getting used to the house and filling each other in on their lives, the Beckers went and ate their lunch, which Allan had masterfully cooked.

"Man, that was good." Nikki said, patting her stomach. Her face had a few crumbs on it, which were promptly wiped off by her mother.

"Yeah. Even after all my improvement, you still beat me at cooking." Ian commented. "And everything."

"Don't be like that." Allan said, collecting the dishes. "You'll get better at things. I know you will."

"Yeah. I guess so." he said a little dejectedly.

"Cheer up, Ian." Nikki told him, patting his shoulder and beaming. "Don't be like that."

"Yeah, you're right. I should cheer up." He slowly allowed his dejected mood to fade, then he got up to help with the dishes.

"So you're coming to help with the dishes?" Allan asked. "Why?"

"I enjoy washing dishes." Ian answered, picking up a dirty plate from the table. "There's something refreshing about it."

"Ah."

The brothers walked into the kitchen, setting their dishes down on the counter and emptying a sink out.

"So, what do you plan on doing once you get there?" Allan asked Ian, retrieving a bottle of soap from the counter and pouring some into the sink. After placing a sink stopper in the drain, Ian turned on the hot water and began to build up suds in the sink.

"I dunno." Ian replied honestly. "I think I might stay with you until I can support myself. I'm still only fifteen."

After the sink was filled, Ian and Allan put the silverware into the sink, followed by the plates.

"Hmmm." Allan started washing, making sure he got everything off of the dishes with the red sponge he had.

"You know, you could take your lure-making profession to Japan if you like." Ian suggested, rinsing the dishes Allan washed.

"Yeah. We need to find you something to do." Allan said, finishing the last plate and gathering the bowls up to wash.

"I think it might be possible for me to get a job." Ian said. "People who finish middle school have the option to go straight into the workforce if they don't want to pursue better education, but that might only count for natives, not immigrants."

"Well, I know just the thing." his older brother said thoughtfully.

"What is it?"

"You can help me with my business until you can support yourself."

Ian's eyes sparkled and he reached over to give Allan a one-arm hug.

"Thank you so much. I'm really grateful for that." he said, letting go to resume his work. After rinsing a bowl, he heard footsteps and turned around to see a mane of glossy dark brown hair behind him.

"Hey, Nikki." Ian said, raising his hand.

"Need any help?" she asked, leaning on the counter and looking their way.

"Um, you'd get your dress dirty." Ian told her matter-of-factly, rinsing the last bowl and accepting a cup to rinse.

"Damn it." she cursed under her breath. "This is why I hate wearing stuff like this."

"I thought it was too revealing." Ian said, smirking.

"That too, although this one's admittedly pretty nice to wear."

"Well, you're with your family right now, not a bunch of random guys." Ian reminded her.

"Yes, I know that." she told him, crossing her arms. "But I can't do stuff in this thing like washing dishes or yard work."

"Wait... you like doing chores like that?"

"Yeah. I find chores relaxing in a weird way. I can't explain it."

"I wish you could help, Nikki, but not this time." Allan said.

"I know. I'll go back to Mom and Dad." Nikki left the kitchen, leaving the brothers alone again.

"You know, I never knew she liked chores so much." Allan started, now bringing in pots and pans.

"I did. Whenever there wasn't a chore in the morning that wasn't done by me, it was her." Ian said, smiling a little.

"I bet that you'll miss that."

"I'm gonna miss her in general, you know. Same goes for our parents."

"Yeah. Could you wipe down the counters after we're done?"

"Sure. Leave it to me."

Five hours later

After washing dishes, the Becker brothers rejoined their parents and sister, playing board games, watching movies, and more. As the credits for Halo Legends rolled, the family members talked about their favorite parts.

"My favorite one was definitely 'Prototype.'" Ian commented. "There's just something special about it that gets me every time."

"I liked 'The Babysitter.'" Nikki said. "I thought how O'Brien threw an apple at that Marine's head for disrespecting Cal-141 was funny."

"'The Duel.'" Allan put in his two sense. "I like that one for the lore, and the 'He's a demon!' line was so humorous. Although, we ought to go make dinner before it gets late."

"That sounds good." their mother said. "You have anything planned for dinner?"

"Yeah. I caught some nice freshwater fish yesterday, so we can have that." the young man grinned.

"Sounds good to me." their father said.

"I'll help." Ian offered, standing up.

"Thanks." Allan said. "If you want to help me, Nikki, I've got an apron for you to wear."

"Alright!" Nikki walked over to Allan and followed him into the kitchen, shortly succeeded by Ian.

Dinner time was effectively a time for the family to just talk to each other, but this time around, the main topic was Ian's departure plan.

"So, you want to help Al with his work until you can support yourself, right?" their father asked, eating a piece of fish.

"That's the plan." Ian replied. "I wonder if I can make any friends over there."

"You might." Nikki said, already finished with her food. "You're charming."

"But am I charming enough, though?"

"Probably." the others told him.

"You're definitely going to make a new friend." Allan said.

"And not trust them forever." Ian laconically commented.

"I'm sorry we've got trust issues, but me and your father have been betrayed by so many people before we got together." their mother said. "You might have better luck in that department."

"Yeah, maybe." Ian finished his plate and took a sip of sweet tea. "That was delicious."

"If you meet any good cooks while we're there, then I'm going to try to best them." Allan said.

"Right. You can't stand it if someone's better than you." Ian said, smirking.

"Yep." Nikki agreed with a matching smirk.

"Well, I've got to do the best I can, you know." Allan defended himself. "You know how it goes."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Well, I know what I'm gonna do when I get there, but I don't know what you guys are gonna do once I leave." Ian said.

"We'll just move on and wait for you to return." their father said.

"Yeah. You know how it goes." Nikki said, looking at her hand. "We'll deal with it."

"What if something happens to you?" the teen asked worriedly. "What if I can't help you because I'm not here?"

"It'll be fine." Nikki assured him.

"I guess." Ian murmured, not entirely sure about it.

"Still, please try to come back as soon as you can." Nikki pleaded.

"I will. What's the worst that could happen? I end up getting trapped inside of a video game? That sounds a bit outlandish, though."

"That was a joke, right?" the others said.

"Yeah, it was."

At bedtime

Ian decided to let Nikki go to sleep with him again, since he was leaving the next day. Their parents went back home before they went to bed, but they were coming back to take Nikki home at the airport. However, neither of them could sleep, for obvious reasons.

"Hey." Ian sat up and addressed his twin, poking her smooth cheek.

"What?" she asked, sitting up.

"You think I should stay here?"

"No. We can handle you being gone. Al will make sure you stay safe." Nikki answered, yawning. Thanks to her forgetting to bring extra clothing, she decided to wear her crimson underwear to bed, causing Ian to blush a little as she was pressing her covered breasts against his arm. Her hair was also free from its bun, letting it cascade down her back like usual.

"Yeah. He'll do his best. I still feel like a traitor, you know."

"You shouldn't, although I'll miss you for sure."

"Don't worry, I'll return."

"I hope so. I still can't believe you decided to joke about getting trapped in a video game, Ian." the girl groaned as she rested her head on her brother's shoulder.

"How would that be possible?" he asked her. "I know that the NerveGear uses false brain signals to simulate the game world, but there's got to be stuff that prevents the user from getting trapped in the game world."

"That would be common sense."

"Okay, next time you plan on staying somewhere other than home, bring extra clothes." Ian told her, his embarrassment at both her state of dress and how closely she was pressing against him reaching its limit.

"I will, but you shouldn't think this is embarrasing. I'm your sister, and we did bathe together when we were younger."

"But we were little, and I didn't think about it that much." he said, sighing. Fuck him being a hormonal teenage boy.

"Don't think about it, Ian." she advised sagely. "Okay?"

"Yeah." Ian murmured, stroking Nikki's hair to distract himself from his thoughts.

"Just so you know, if I do find a boyfriend, you won't have to worry about me. I've got good taste in men."

Even with that knowledge, Ian couldn't stomach the idea of some guy dating his beloved sister, and as such, he decidedto speak up.

"Yeah. Look, I just want to meet a pretty girl who respects my opinion, is honest, and treats me well."

"Funnily enough, Sophia fits that criteria." Nikki noted idly.

"Don't start."

"I'm just saying, if you can get over yourself, then you two could be together." Unlike the usual teasing tone she used when teasing him about Sophia, her tone was a bit serious, as if she truly wanted her brother to be happy. Then again, Nikki Becker loved her twin brother more than anything.

"I know." Ian yawned. "Good night."

"Good night."

The twins spent another hour laying there, and knowing that they had stuff to do tommorow, they slowly fell asleep, although the brother knew that them sleeping in the same bed would be an interesting sight for Allan tomorrow morning, and that it would take a lot of explaining to defuse any bad thoughts or presumptions.

And that's Chapter Four. Next chapter, Ian and Allan finally leave for Japan and Nikki has one last thing to do. Thank you for reading and following my stories, and please feel free to criticize me if I need it. Note that if I see a mess-up in writing, then I'll fix it without notice. Also, I wanted to do another Halo reference in the story, so the Beckers watched Halo Legends. As always, thank you for reading, and I'll see you around.