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The following is a fan-based

FICTION

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Chapter 11: Family Matters (3)

Beta-Reader: Ant0nius

Hikari entered the dorm room without saying a word. Cyan eyes opened wide as she explored the modest-sized room with utmost fascination and curiosity.

I stared calmly as she swiftly looked around, trying to get a proper thought of what kind of place her older sibling had been living in for the last few weeks.

The beds had been prepared in a proper fashion, and anything that had once occupied the floor had either been moved elsewhere or put in the trash earlier that morning.

The room had been fixed before we had left. Miles wasn't someone that liked going through this on a daily basis and so early in the morning, but the Cat Prime had long learned to respect a decent degree of hygiene while we shared the same room.

Not only would we not end up having the trouble of fixing the room once lessons were done, but we would also not have a messy room to show to any guests visiting.

The latter case was perfectly exemplified by the current predicament, and it will certainly be used as a good reason to keep up with this habit.

The little girl wandered around for some time, ultimately settling herself on the couch and… bounced a little bit from feeling how comfy the pillows were.

"This room is so big!"

Her quiet exclamation got my smile to twitch in amusement. She was incredibly active despite the silent and polite personality she displayed during the walk.

I could only guess that the wonder had easily outmatched her nervousness and I took this opportunity to get to know her a little more.

"Uhuh," I agreed with a nod. "It has to be big so that it can house three individuals at once."

She glanced at me with an inquisitive look, and I almost confused her curiosity with the one that Shin would get while reading the newest argument by his textbook. It's quite impressive how similar these two were in both appearance and attitude.

"How big is the school?" Hikari asked quickly, and I took a moment to reach her by the couch before answering.

Settling myself on the unoccupied side, I decided to not get too close to her for the sake of not putting her in an uneasy stance.

"Well, Prism Uni is pretty massive," I replied with a kind nod. "Since it's a famous academy, it receives lots of funds from various rich people and the various governments in the world as to make sure everyone studying here has a comfortable stay here."

"But why is this school famous?"

Oh my, she got quite the pressure going with her queries. In normal circumstances, this very trait would've been troublesome to satisfy. But instead of feeling unnerved by the stream of questions, I continued to answer her in each turns.

Maybe it was connected to the fact that Hikari just acted like the innocent child that just wanted to know. And not like some brat just trying to get people annoyed at her.

The conversation that ensued was nice and simple, with Miles mostly keeping quiet as he settled by his bed and entertained himself with his phone. Either he was playing games, or he was checking on some pictures of girls living in the campus.

There were some suggestive ones uploaded by a couple of students, with most of them having plenty of censors to avoid getting insta-banned on the online page.

Still, the current situation took a good turn as Hikari leaned further and further into the pillow behind her. I took it as a sign that she was slowly growing more trustful of me.

"So Oniisan was nervous during the first day?" The girl asked with an intrigued tone. "But he's smart. Why would he be nervous, Frankie-nii?"

"Well, I guess it has to do with the fact he is studying with people much older than himself," I replied calmly, hiding the mirthfulness exploding at being referred to with that specific honorific.

I wasn't someone that watched too much anime nowadays, but there was a time that I did when I was a kid. But, hearing the honorific delivered with her adorable tone was enough to make my heart melt at the sound of it.

"Shin is smart. Miles and I have noticed that, but he is also incredibly insecure about making a good impression with others and not appearing arrogant about his accomplishments," I continued to explain.

She nodded, understanding what I was saying, but before she had the chance of continuing, Miles decided to quip some words himself.

"He is book-smart, but not life-smart," The Cat Prime suddenly pointed out, drawing the girl's attention. "He can easily solve a complicated problem in the homework in mere seconds, but he fails to get a proper grip over himself when he is dealing with talking with new people."

I blinked in surprise at how on point that depiction was. I glanced at Miles, but the guy graced me just a brief nod before resuming his browsing.

"Miles is correct about this. Shin is a genius, but that doesn't mean he gets friends really easily," I added with a sigh. "He is nice, but also reluctant to show around how nice he truly is."

Hikari hummed. "But you two are his friends now, right?"

"Yes."

…

"Were you nervous as well on your first day at Prism, Frankie-nii?" The girl asked, quickly switching the topic elsewhere since the previous one had grown stale.

"I was. In fact, I almost turned up late for the initiation ceremony that very day," I said with a nod. "But I think my greatest worry was that I was, and still am, the only human student here at Prism Uni."

Her eyes widened again, her jaws dropping a little as I mentioned this last bit-

"You forgot to add that I was the one that saved you from lateness, prick," Miles piped in once more, eyeing me with a frown. "At the very least, don't exclude my incredible intervention."

I snorted, shaking my head at how 'aggravated' the Cat Prime looked in that very moment. "Yes, Miles offered me passage to the entrance. He had a car and-"

"Weren't you scared?"

…

What?

"Uh-"

"You're the only human here. Don't people find it strange?" She inquired rapidly, and I gave a little nod.

"I was afraid that… there had been a mistake with the enrollment," I answered slowly, remembering the lingering dread that existed up until I got assigned to this room. The possibility that it was all the result of some electronic mistake had pressed me into a minor paranoia. Maybe I hadn't been picked and… I was going to get my hopes drowned down the moment I got told that this was all the result of a 'silly mistake'.

But now that entire debacle was gone and mostly forgotten, and instead of sporting a grim look about that remembrance, I showed a small smile.

"I thought that someone had messed things up since Prism Uni isn't known to accept humans. But I discovered that I had been chosen through someone manually reviewing the document I had sent, so there were no mistakes about my enrollment."

"So you weren't afraid of making a bad impression."

I shook my head. "I was afraid of that too, but I knew better from judging people before I even had the chance of meeting them."

She nodded and… smiled back at me. "I'm glad that you're here then," The girl pointed out with a satisfied nod. "I bet you two are nice friends to Oniisan."

I blinked in surprise as the little Prime quickly reached out for a hug. It was an adorable attempt as she was unable to fully wrap her arms around my waist. Too tiny, but I decided to carefully wrap my right arm over her shoulders and bring her closer. She giggled as I gave her head a soft pat.

"Thank you, sweetie."

There was some silence at first in that embrace, but then I heard the snap noise that came only… when someone was taking a photo through a phone.

I froze for a moment, then I glanced to the only individual that had access to such a device and I stopped to see a smug look on Miles' face.

"Miles-"

I frowned even more as I saw him write something and then… wait. He continued to smile as we stared at each other and-

Someone started to knock at the door.

Hikari peered from my shoulder. "Is it Oniisan?"

It was a little bit too strong and 'urgent' to be Shin or Hope, and I was a little bit confused as to why I felt dread rising up in my stomach all so suddenly.

"No," I calmly replied, interrupting the hug and standing up from my seat to approach the door.

I reached the handle, turning it a little bit as I planned to just peek a little bit outside before fully opening it.

The individuals waiting outside weren't that patient, and soon the barrier between us and the world beyond the room was slammed open by a giddy-looking… Tiggs.

"Cutie!" She squealed, lifting me up in a moment of absolute strength and staring at me with a starry-eyed expression. "Where is she?"

I frowned. "Tiggs? What is-"

Before I had the chance of asking, I saw another familiar figure enter the room with an interested look. Vixy looked fairly giddy herself, not as much as her close friend, but enough to get my frown to deepen.

"Miles sent us that adorable picture. Where is that cute girl and-"

The Fox Prime paused, noticing that Hikari was staring at the new arrivals with a nervous and confused look.

"Tiggs, we're scaring her," The leader of the cheerleader seemed to sober up a little bit.

The words seemed to hit the Tiger Prime into a stiff silence before ultimately letting me back on the ground.

"Tiggs?" I asked again, my brain failing to compute a proper question about the scene unfolding before my eyes.

"Miles sent us that picture where you were hugging that cute child," The big girl explained with a slightly nervous tone. "Sorry for being abrupt and-"

"It's fine, I know you can be quite determined when you want to," I appeased with a sigh. "Still, I thought you two still had an hour or two before ending the morning sessions with the cheerleaders."

I remember Vixy giving me a copy of the schedule so I would know when the two were free from their duties with the other girls, and right now I was quite sure that it was a bit too early for them to be done with the practices.

"I decided to end things early since we started earlier than usual," The Fox Prime pointed out with a nod. "We were on our way to our room when Miles sent Tiggs the photo."

Vixy looked at Hikari with a curious look. "By the way, I don't think you've introduced us to..."

I blinked, quickly turning to the white-haired girl and nodding. "Sweetie, you can come closer. These two are good friends to us."

There was some hesitation at the request, but Hikari was driven to approach the curious characters that were now staring at her so… fascinated.

"This is Hikari, she is Shin's little sister," I introduced with a cautious tone, keeping her close as I turned my attention back at the two young women. "And these are Vixy and Traci. Traci likes to be called Tiggs, and she is a big softie."

The Tiger Prime huffed a little at the compliment, but the Fox Prime nodded in agreement to it.

"He isn't wrong, Tiggs," She admitted with a mirthful tone, getting a faux pout out of our mutual friend.

Hikari blinked at the reaction, slowly realizing that despite her size, Tiggs wasn't someone to be nervous about. In fact, instead of keeping quiet, the young girl bowed and let out quite the unexpected words.

"And she is beautiful."

Maybe she thought that returning the favor by complimenting the very person that called her 'cute' and 'adorable' was common sense. I wasn't sure what happened next as Traci's face showed a full blush at that innocent compliment.

"She isn't wrong, Tiggs," I repeated Vixy's words, getting a shy look from the plum-haired girl before we all started to sober and have a proper conversation.

…

But who would've thought that the ones to arrive at the dorm room first weren't Shin and Hope.

~Kate's POV~

Worry still stirred in her mind, this time the cause of her uneasiness being her youngest.

Kate was starting to get irritated with how easily she was losing composure. She wasn't completely annoyed by it since she should've expected initiative from her daughter to find her brother as quickly as possible.

Both siblings were attached to each other, and Hikari had shown multiple times already during the trip to reach Prism that she missed her older sibling.

The mere sight of her little one suffering through that unexpected separation left her in a paradoxical state of contempt over his son's unruly decision and… her own unwillingness to accept the rebelliousness in Shin's mind.

Her son was just trying to be normal. The concept just felt so offending now that her life had grown peaceful, but Kate would be lying in saying that the way her family lived was common.

Isolation never helped people already at peace. Isolation is useful only when one needs to mourn and cope with loss.

Shin and Hikari… they didn't need time away from society. They were clueless of what true loss was and, while that lessened their understanding of the value life should have and why certain choices are imposed rather than picked, that was something that Kate had long looked at as a boon for her happy ending.

Their children… they will never know of the dreadful thing that was war.

They will hear of it through spoken or written words, but they will not feel the knowledge on their skins.

The horror of the battlefield…

Still, the situation that should've by all means seen her and her husband pick the city inside out to find where their youngest child ended up before it could've turned chaotic and destructive.

It was only when an old friend approached them by the hotel that the situation reached an uneasy peace for both her and Bengala.

"I'm still surprised that you stuck around Prism Uni," The Tiger Prime mused as the trio now ventured through the streets, the formal man that had once fought along them looked fairly confident and calm of the situation, and his explanation had served as a proper means to cool down their nerves. "I remember you saying something about retiring from the 'boring and cursed job'."

"To be fair, I still regret keeping up with the paperwork for little more than just three years," The Lion Prime leading the College mentioned with a tired sigh. "I swear, these young men and women are out to make my life difficult."

"That doesn't sound like a good explanation to me, 'Aken'," Bengala commented mirthfully. "Come on, you can tell us what has you, a simple academic that planned for a lone hermit experience to ditch all prospects to keep the desk."

Professor Aken frowned dryly at that remark.

"Things tend to change quickly when interesting people cross our paths. Let's just say that I have my own personal reasons, but it was a request from Ambar that got me to stay longer than I had initially hoped."

"You don't get intrigued by things, Sem," Kate rebuked calmly. "You're not the kind of person to get interested by anyone of this era."

The man groaned, the Crest of Light knowing that her fellow Crest had his own reasons to keep his identity hidden by all those that he couldn't trust with his infamous title.

The Crest of Death. Many remember the Lion Prime as a warrior of no words, and endless terrible deeds.

The fright his imposed title offered to his enemy was enough to make him a commendable leader during the Galactic War.

Only a handful other than the other Crests managed to get emotions out of him other than abject indifference. The list was so short that Kate was quite confident she could count those just one hand.

But with the end of the war, Sem found a dreadful issue lingering for the first few decades of peace.

Nobody trusted the 'malicious-looking' beholder of the keys to the afterlife.

The connection the Lion Prime had over Death itself was more abstract and… natural. Sem didn't seek to cause pain over those around him. Even back during the war he had been lamented by Ambar for being too 'soft' in some battles.

Decisions that spared many of the men under his care, and yet condemned the conflict to be extended for a couple more months.

He was controversial to the large majority of those that didn't know him personally, and beloved as a caring but strict leader that led his soldiers to a just victory.

Not many could be defined as 'unchanged' as Sem. While the backlash his reputation dealt to him when the war was over had limited his chances of having a life in that peace he had helped create, careful planning and secrecy had lowered the chances for him to be recognized by the people.

The Crest of Death wasn't depicted by anyone, just like the rest of the Crests were. With the sole exception of Carmesi, Bengala, and Ambar, none of their groups was meant to be recognized by anyone else except Knights, trusted allies, and fellow Crests.

"As I've said, kitty, things tend to change incredibly quickly," The teacher rebuked with some annoyance, ignoring Kate's own irritation at that nickname. "And for good reasons, I can't tell you more about said 'request'."

Bengala huffed. "It can't be that important-"

"But it is," Sem interjected curtly. "Which is why I can't tell you anything about it. You might feel something, but it would be a surprise if you actually did."

Silence ensued after that sentence, and Kate distracted herself by looking around at the entrance of the school.

Prism Uni had been something Ambar had spoken highly about, but the Crest of Light knew well enough that it was more of an indirect self-praise since the college had been created under the High Prime's guidelines.

And while the Crest of Wisdom had limited control over the place, she still had plenty of influence over the administration to make things go her way.

The green spaces and the pleasant looking shades offered by the couple of trees settled around offered a contrast compared to how 'steely' some spaces had turned into modern cities. It reminded Kate of the time when there were more parks around and… less skyscrapers making things difficult to travel around by acrobatics.

The presence of various young Primes carefully wandering around the paths of stone offered renewed calm to the blonde, but not enough to dissipate the impatience that was slowly building up the more she looked around.

Was she expecting to find Shin already? Maybe. Or maybe she just hoped to find her daughter first and proceed to plan out an encounter with her son with proper timing and place.

Patience was a virtue she knew on a personal level, but before the circumstances that led her in that place this soon… she was rekindling her relations with her own childish uneasiness over the trouble waiting around the corner.

Sem had mentioned that the people that had found Hikari were also roommates to her son. The coincidence was surprising, but the Crest of Death had paid little attention to this unexpected development.

Maybe there was something that made the two young men stand up compared to the rest.

Her curiosity increased the more steps she took and… soon, she found her entire mind piqued by what was happening on the other side of the door in front of them.

The hallways leading to the dorms were spacious. It was enough to not give a sense of claustrophobia that hotels' hallways and other corridors that led to small rooms used to give to people.

Taking the initiative, Sem knocked twice and soon they heard footsteps approaching.

The door creaked, opening just enough to offer enough space for someone to peek outside.

A head slowly popped out to the open, bright blue eyes scanning around before settling on the Crest of Death.

This individual… wasn't a Prime. A human, a young man with short dark hair and slender build. There was some muscle, but it wasn't overly noticeable through his clothes as he opened the door wide.

"Professor Aken, I didn't expect-"

"I brought Mr. and Mrs. Aryoko, Mr. Parker," Sem interjected coolly, but instead of sneering at the boy, the man merely nodded politely. "I suppose young Ms. Aryoko was cared for properly."

The human nodded, making his way inside as they saw what was happening inside. The room was neat and well-cared for… but was also lacking much other than a couch, three beds, and a large wardrobe.

A small group of three Primes, two girls and a young man were playing together with Kate's youngest… at what looked to be a board game. Hikari's eyes lit up as she saw her parents by the doorstep and she quickly rushed her mother for a quick hug.

Kate was surprised, but relief overcame her confusion that had roused at seeing what the group of young students was doing in that room.

"Okaasan, you should try this game! It's so fun!"

The girl looked ecstatic and the blonde frowned at the rambunctious exclamations coming from her child. Bengala chuckled a little, his hands reaching for their daughter's head and ruffling her hair a little much to Hikari's brief annoyance.

"You've discovered the entertainment only Monopoly can give, little Star?" The Tiger Prime inquired mirthfully. "I was planning to buy a copy of the game so that you could try it first at home, but I guess you're already enjoying it as of now."

"Uh Uh!" She nodded happily. "Frankie-nii is helping me beat Tiggs-nee, Vixy-nee, and Miles-nii."

Kate blinked at the way the girl was addressing these people. Somehow this little group had gained her child's trust and respect with mere talking and playing.

Maybe that's why Sem gave this much trust to these two young men. He hadn't said anything about the two girls, but perhaps these were good friends of her son and his roommates.

Still… a human? Kate wasn't following much of the policies of this school, but she could remember Ambar mentioning that the place was considered restricted only to Primes.

A sudden change to the curriculum? It wouldn't be much of a surprise that the High Prime was just trying to see if it would be worth the fun to include humans among the crowds of Primes.

She would mention 'equality' and 'an attempt to bring an end to some silly diversity', but in the end it would all be for a childish whim. Either one born from amusement… or for something beyond the common amusement.

It was odd to see Ambar actually follow through the second reason… but then again there was a strange shift in Sem's behavior when he addressed the young human that just made things tilt to that very possibility.

Another curious element that Kate gave thought to was the fact that one of the girls, the Fox Prime, reminded her so much of a certain prideful Crest.

The same blonde hair-locks… just like Carmesi.

It was absurd to believe that the Crest of Fire had actually sent her daughter to study here… and not keep her to train as a possible vice in the tribal administration she had over her Fire Clan.

It had to have been Howl's intervention to win over this decision. Carmesi wouldn't have accepted this very circumstance, even at the behest of Ambar herself. Especially not at the behest of Ambar.

Gods know what would happen if the High Prime just ended up getting this much leeway over the rest of the Crests.

The chaotic damages caused out of stealing a giggle or two from a situation would surely create devastating scenarios that Kate really didn't want to even think about.

Despite the two odd predicaments, the blonde's mind was set elsewhere as she took notice of a single detail that could either be interpreted as a good thing or a dreadful development.

Where was her son?

Her question, albeit directed at Sem, was answered by the only Human.

"Shin was with Hope, I called her a while ago and she told me that they were coming to the dormroom."

Kate had almost forgotten about Hope. The girl had been somewhat close to a second daughter, and the Crest of Light shared a close connection with the Crest of Love.

Grace was a marvelous person that Kate couldn't help but be inspired by as to take care properly of a normal family.

Hope and Joy, both girls looked both healthy and loved by their parents. It was ironic how the oldest of the Ravenhurst siblings had connected quickly with Shin, but Joy had outright ignored Hikari when they first met.

Thankfully, her own daughter didn't mind the development as she preferred to play more with her older brother and Hope.

Maybe it was the age difference, but part of the Crest of Light already knew that the youngest Ravenhurst had inherited her father's bluntness coupled with her mother's headstrong personality.

"How much is 'a while ago', Mr. Parker? Please, do offer a more approximate answer."

Professor Aken was… insistent, and that pressure got a better answer out of the confused student.

"I would say about twenty minutes ago. From what I remember, Shin and Hope were busy at the library, so I believe they will turn up in about a few minutes."

Sem nodded curtly, and there was a strange sense of calm after this.

Hikari became quite insistent for the young human, Frankie, to resume the game with her.

The rest of the Primes looked fairly reluctant to go through that match, but the blonde got a reason as to why they were so dejected as the game continued.

While there was what looked to be a massive disadvantage since Hikari was playing just with the human, the truth of the situation manifested the very moment the human took his turn on the first moves.

Monopoly… wasn't a game Kate was experienced with. But with a quick glance over the match unfolding before her eyes, she slowly learned that it had to do with 'conquering' tiles and making them expensive for adversaries to step into by investing the funds available to each player.

It was fairly simple, but strategy was the main key to success. And while the trio should've been in the best of positions to not only attack but cover their own weak spots thanks to their higher amount of coin, circumstances favored the human as he quickly set down two new traps.

Careful placing and a good handling of the money rendered the young man a dangerous opponent in this game and-

"Does this have to do with what happened yesterday?" Vixy inquired with a huff. "I swear, I can't help but think you're making this more excruciating for us just because we used Miles."

"Nah," Miles himself said while shaking his head. "He's only angry at me about it. In fact, he's already exempted his revenge on me… I think."

"You speak of today's wake up call?" The human inquired rhetorically, his smile disrupting the oblivious tone he was aiming for. "I guess you can say that betrayals come in full circle."

"But- But why are you so good at it?" Tiggs whined while groaning in her own hands.

"Well, I just learned how to play the game after losing several times against mom," Frankie answered with a sigh. "I swear, the way she handles out justice in this game made many call her the 'Monopoly Queen'."

It sounded quite… odd.

Just as Kate continued listening to the group, unaware of the fact that her husband was looking at her intrigued reaction with extreme amusement, everyone in that room found their attention drawn to the door as three knocks came from it.

Soon the door was opened, revealing a slightly tired Hope spearheading a giddy-looking Shin holding two bags filled with books.

"I-I'm sorry for being late. The library ended up giving away a large part of the old copies of the books available in there, and Shin wanted to get some for himself-"

There was a pause as Hope's green eyes widened at the overall situation. Shin soon followed with a similar reaction, but instead of keeping quiet, the White Tiger Prime addressed the two individuals that he hadn't expected to find.

"Father… Kaasan?"

Kate held back her breathing, feeling like the moment of truth had finally come for her and her son.

AN

Shin now has to deal with his family, and things will be quite odd to unravel.

Especially when it's not just them listening and speaking. I wonder if Bengala will try to smooth things out-

Or if Kate will actually make a helluva of a mess by trying to fix things up.

And Vixy is here to listen, understand and… get some doubts sowed in her mind over the situation for her peers, fellow Crests' children! Stay tuned for some fun!