A/N: Hello, everyone! Erricane has been quite busy with stuff lately. That guy seriously is addicted to anime now. Which is the reason why he couldn't update this story. However! I, Silver, will finish this for him. I already know what he wanted to write but the guy seriously priotize his addiction for his fandom more than doing his work. Lazy, I know. But he will be back once he's done with the fandom. So as for now, I will be the owner of this profile! Though, we already share the profile anyway but I never got to write which is the reason why I let Erricane use his pen name instead. But anyway, I hope you all enjoy this chapter! And Erricane apologizes to all of you for leaving you all hanging.
Disclaimer: I'm suppose to put something here… Zootopia belongs to Disney and Disney only. Except for the characters in this story.
"Hey, sis," Julie called as they walked. "What anime does Max-san like?"
"Max-san…?" thought Sophie. "Er… I don't know actually." She tilted her head a bit when answering. That was the first time she's heard Max being called that. And 'san'? She was confuse at what that meant.
"Ah, mou…" Julie said with puff cheeks. "I thought he was your boyfriend." She placed her paws behind her neck and leaned her head back.
"Max-san?! Mou?!" Sophie realized that she heard of these words before. Back at the beauty salon, she remembered Kitsuna, one of Max's acquaintance back when he was in Japan. And she realized… The way her sister was talking has the same kind of tone that the female fox have.
"Um… Julie…" she called with a nervous expression. "You wouldn't happen to be a fan of anime are you…?"
Julie smiled and stopped at her track. "Yep!" she answered without hesitation.
Sophie just looked at her and she felt her body getting a little heavy. Somehow… Anyone related to her… They would be something Japanese-related.
"And also, sis…" The younger hare raised her index finger with a wink. "We're called otakus." She giggled slyly.
Hearing that made Sophie more depressed almost as if she was left out from the circle of her relationship with anyone. However… She was never the type to think negatively so easily. After all, she also know that this was the first time she and her little sister has ever communicated this much. And it felt really refreshing at least.
She stood up straight and finally got rid of that depression with a smile. "Otaku, got it," she said with a nod.
Julie looked at her sister in surprised and smiled with her jaw dropped and eyes of hope. "T-then…" she stopped halfway before looking away with a flushed face. "Is it okay if I call you… Nee-san?"
Sophie blinked a few times and giggled. "What does it mean, first of all?"
"It means big sister."
'Big sister'… It was the first time Sophie has ever been called that. Of course, it's not in a language she understand. But it sure had a big meaning to it.
"Sure," Sophie said, nodding. "At least it's better than 'sis'.
The two of them eventually head on to the top floor where the entertainment section is. This was Sophie's first time at a place like this. She had no reason to since she never had real friends to enjoy it with. But for someone like Julie, it was quite beneficial. The sisters kept walking until they reach to their destination.
"Hey, Julie," Sophie called. "Now that I think about it. How come you never told us about your passion for anime?"
"Huh? Um…" She placed her index finger on her chin and looked up. "I guess I was just afraid all of you might find me strange." She smiled while saying that.
"Why? Silvia will definitely won't mind."
"Well… It's just that…" She scratched the back of her head a bit. "From what I read from the internet, there's this conspiracy where only one member of a family will like anime. The rest will hate it. Like, they will hate it so much that they will take anything related to anime away."
Sophie frowned and a drop of sweat rolled down her temple. "Didn't you say it was a conspiracy…?" she thought. "Ah, that also reminds me. You've never let anyone in your room, have you? But what about the maids when cleaning your room?"
"Oh, that? I actually tidied my own room. I told them they can take the credit and be quiet about it. After all, I couldn't take the risk."
"She's been cleaning her room by herself?!" Sophie exclaimed loudly in her thoughts. She sniffed. "She can definitely survive!"
"Nee-san? Are you okay?" Julie noticed Sophie's sudden reaction.
"Ah, yes, yes!" Sophie wiped her nose. She has never been so proud to have another independent sibling.
"We're here!" Julie said proudly. "Jan jaaaan!"
Sophie looked up at the sign of the shop. 'Otaku Island'. Inside was a very bright and colorful themed store with beautifully drawn characters on the wall as wallpapers. There were even multiple gashapons on either side of the entrance. Mangas were neatly stacked on the shelves and figurines were placed in glass cases. The shop was rather quiet as all the customers were browsing around for any product worth buying.
"Come on!" Julie grabbed her sisters paw and dragged her in happily.
Seeing her sister's happy reaction, somehow made her happy as well. It must have been the first time she's been so open to someone.
"Ah, look, look!" Julie commented, pointing at a figurine of a white vixen with red eyes, and a black uniform with a red tie, wielding a katana. "Do you think he'll like Akame?"
Sophie nervously laughed. "I… Don't know… But I'm sure he does…"
Julie looked back at the figurine. "Then I'll get him this then!" She went to fetch the store clerk to help get the figurine down for her carefully.
Sophie was looking at some of the keychains. Unlike Julie, she knows nothing about the world of anime. But she saw something that caught her eyes. There were two matching keychains. One which was red, the other pink. The keychains were shaped what looked like a bird standing on a hook. She picked them out and stared at them.
"Ah! That looks perfect!" Julie said after seeing what her sister found. "Nee-chan, you DO know what to look for, huh?" Julie nudged her sister as if she was teasing her.
Sophie gave the same nervous laugh as before. "You think he'll like it?"
"Oh, trust me." Julie closed Sophie's hand to hold on to the keychains. "He'll love it." With that said, she gave her a wink and a smile.
(The keychains Sophie bought were two Fairy Tail symbols. One red and one pink. I'm sure some of you get what I'm trying to say here. ;) )
Meanwhile with Max…
The young fox had returned home with many bags in his paws. His hoodie was zipped all the way up, covering his lower muzzle along with his hood covering the top of his head. Yet, he sneezed.
It was getting rather colder than before. Probably due to the season.
"Can't they at least increase the temperature?" Max said to himself. "I seriously need to stop talking to myself…"
As he entered the manor, he quickly shut the door as quickly as he can to avoid any cool air from entering. And shook his head, flicking the snow off of his fur and sighed to get a little warm after putting down his hood. He blinked a little to get his vision back.
And the first thing he noticed was the whole manor was brightly lit with bulbs hanging on the side of the ceilings along with some reefs. He could hear some rustling in the main hall even. He walked towards the noise and spotted some mammals were putting up and decorating a large Christmas tree with Damien standing there, watching them with crossed arms across his chest. The Christmas tree was so huge that it almost touched the ceiling.
"Make sure you cover everywhere with the decorations," he said. More like, demanded. "And be sure to put the star firmly this time."
Max watched this and somehow, he had a feeling of disgust but didn't show it. "Oi," he called walking up to the hare.
The jack shuddered and turned around quickly. "Lord, don't surprise me like that!" he scolded softly with a strong frown. "You predators… Really, I can't ever turn my backs for a second…"
Max glanced at some of the workers. He noticed the predators were a little hurt after Damien's remarks. Even the preys were concern about their employer.
"What do you want?" Damien asked, looking back at the workers.
"An answer," Max answered a little coldly. "What's the meaning of this?"
"Huh? You mean this? It's just preparing for Christmas like we always do every year."
Max watched them carefully hang the ornaments with his eyes showing a hint of disappointment. He turned to Damien. "Then why aren't you doing it?"
Damien sighed. "Because I'm too small. Do you even think before asking the question?"
Max's right ear twitched a little. "Of course, I do. So, answer me. What is the meaning of this?"
"Do you suffer from short term memory loss? I've already told you."
"That wasn't an answer. You said you are preparing for Christmas, yet you're standing her giving orders. Now answer my question truthfully this time."
"What kind of bizarre explanation is that?!" Damien was starting to lose his cool as he faced Max completely, uncrossing his arms. "What you are saying does not make sense! Now that I think about it… Sophie said you were a delinquent during your school days after you left Zootopia, weren't you?"
Max shook his head slowly. "I know it doesn't make sense…" he said turning his backs on the hare. "But at least it has a meaning to it… A prey should know this. I'm surprise I, the predator, understood it more than you, the prey."
Damien choked a little when he heard that. He looked down at Max's paws and noticed several bags. "Oh? Shoplifting again? As expected from a delinquint." The jack smirked and crossed his arms just like before as if he managed to insult the fox to the fullest.
"You have no proof of that. Do you even think before asking questions?" Max mocked before walking up to his room.
Being shot by his own quote truly left the prey almost speechless. "You…!" Damien bit his lip, stopping midsentence as he watched the guest of the family walked up the stairs.
Max could have been proud of what he said, but he just couldn't. After all, he knew very well where it will lead if the argument kept going. He just could not stop thinking of how immature the eldest son in the family can be. "Really now…" he thought. "Someone like you can never understand what Christmas mean…"
"Ah, Max!" Silvia's voice was heard from the other side of the hall.
Max turned to her. "Yo," he greeted tonelessly as usual.
"Oh, Christmas gifts?" she asked, walking up to him while noticing the bags in his paws.
He nodded. "I made sure everyone in the manor gets one," he answered.
"But…" Silvia counted carefully. "That's more than 20 stuffs in there."
"I know. I did say everyone in the manor gets one. Each."
"Eh?!" Silvia was in disbelief when he said that. "As in… Every… Single… One…?"
Max nodded again. "It's as thanks for taking care of me for the holidays. That's why everyone who lives and works here gets their share of presents."
"Y-you don't have to!" Silvia said with a nervous laugh. "There's no need to spend so much on this household!"
"It's fine. This isn't even a bit."
"Huh?" Her eyes immediately turned into two dots after hearing his exclaimation.
"I've already got too much money anyway. So I don't mind."
Silvia's eye twitched. "Um… Exactly… How much do you have…?"
Max looked up the ceiling while doing some math. "In Zootopian dollars… 30 trillion or more?"
A huge silence filled in their conversation and the only thing Silvia could hear were the voices in her head, like, 'What did he do back then?!' or 'How did he get so much?!' Truly he has beaten the Glace's annual income. But the problem was that the 30 trillion wasn't even his income and it'll take years for anyone to reach that much. But him? At the age of 20 even.
"If you wanna know, I robbed banks," Max said which brought the older jill to look up at him. "Christmas is coming so I should not lie. And I can tell from the long silence, you're probably wondering how I got that much. Not just rob banks. I would help with drug trafficking, kidnap or kill targets for clients for how much they are worth, and maybe even sell illegal contrabands. But if you want my most honest answer… I never liked doing any of those… They were just jobs that I'm capable of doing…"
Silvia looked into his eyes. Althought his face no signs of emotion, his eyes looked serious about it and she smiled hesitantly. "Honesty is the best virtue…" she said. "Then… What about now? Now that you're dating my sister."
"I left all that behind after the ZPD cleared my records," he said without hesitation. "Right now, I'm an employee at YakDonald who just wants to live his own life with someone he cares deeply for. And…" He faced the door to his room. "Not get her involve into any of those things."
Silvia listened in awe and nodded with a gentle and honest smile. "Then…" She winked at him and give him a thumbs-up. "I'll leave Sophie in your paws from now on."
Max nodded slowly, trying to smile but couldn't.
"Hm? You don't smile so much, do you?" she said after noticing his attemption to grin.
"It's not like I don't want to. It's just that I can't. Anymore."
Silvia raised an index finger. "But! I caught you smiling whenever you're with Sophie. In other words, she's the only mammal that you can really show your true self. Don't worry!" She placed a fist on her chest. "As your future sister-in-law, I'll accept you no matter how you look!"
A gloomy aura wrapped around Max. He felt a little annoyed but in a good way. "This female is like one of those noisy anime girls…" he thought. "But… It's not like I hate that type anyway…"
"We're home!" Sophie's voice echoed from the front door.
Silvia looked down from above. "Hey, you two!" Silvia exclaimed in a cheerful tone. "Where did you run off to? We were suppose to help with the dance hall."
"Sorry…" Sophie said, closing the door after Julie entered. "We'll get to it. Just let us hide our gifts."
Max leaned over the railing and waved at his girlfriend. "Okaeri," he said. With a smile this time.
Sophie smiled back after noticing him. She was about to wave back until…
"Tadaima!" Julie quickly replied, waving at the fox.
A/N: Alright! What do you all think? I hope it's not that bad. As I've said before, I'll probably finish this for Erricane instead so we can get this story done quick. Yes, I said we because it's also my story. Expect the next chapter written by me again! Silver, going back to work! Whoosh! :D
Side notes
Gashapon: A type of vending machine that is common in Japan where you get mini prizes in a ball for 100 to 500 yen depending on the value of the prize.
Okaeri: 'Welcome home' in Japanese.
Tadaima: 'We're/I'm home' in Japanese.