Chapter 168. Kiana: You and I, brothers-in-arms—who could last even a single bout
"Xander, this parfait is so cold~"
Hearing his voice, Elysia immediately glomped him and started acting cute.
"If it's cold, then eat it slower."
"But parfaits are just too tasty."
"Then what should we do?"
"You feed me!"
"That's no problem, but..."
Looking toward Sakura, who had also turned her gaze over, Xander Masato sounded a little hesitant.
"Don't mind me.
This still counts as break time."
With a gentle smile, Sakura spoke softly.
"On the way here we ran into Sakura-sis, so I invited her to come have dessert with us."
At this moment, Seele quickly offered an explanation.
Sitting beside Elysia and squeezing in next to her, Bronya scooted over to Seele's side.
She was curious what those two were whispering about to be blushing so hard.
"Long time no see.
Are you Anti-Entropy's representative this time?"
Scooping up a small spoonful of parfait into Elysia's mouth, Xander looked to Sakura and asked with interest.
"More or less.
There's an AR-glasses project among them, and I'm the person in charge."
"Oho, should I be congratulating you on a promotion?"
"Don't tease me."
As the mood returned to easygoing, Xander lifted a spoonful of parfait into his own mouth, completely ignoring Elysia at his side with her mouth open, blinking as she waited to be fed.
"By the way, where's Rin?
Didn't she come with you?
I kind of miss her."
"She hasn't finished her studies yet, so I left her in North America."
"A high-schooler, huh.
What a pity~"
Elysia: "Ah~"
Over in North America, Sakura could at least be considered a mid-level manager in Anti-Entropy, so of course she wouldn't let Rin undergo that basically useless "happy education."
That elite-education track over there, once it gets competitive, is no lighter than anywhere else in the world.
Scooping up another spoonful and putting it into his own mouth again, Xander savored the sweet taste and squinted contentedly.
"That kid was still complaining a few days ago about you bullying her before."
Speaking of Rin loosened Sakura up a bit more.
Thinking of something, she remarked with some amusement.
"Bullying?
No, no, no—how could you call that bullying?
I was just letting Rin understand the perils of the adult world a little earlier."
Elysia: "Ah~~~~~~"
Finally, when Elysia's emotions hit the threshold and she was about to chomp down in frustration, a spoonful of parfait arrived right on time and slipped into her mouth.
"Mmm..."
Pressing her lips around the sweetness, Elysia glared at Xander angrily.
Seeing the teasing smile in his eyes, how could she not know he was doing it on purpose?
Right when she was at her limit, he'd give her just a tiny bit to raise the threshold again—was he playing some kind of "stop-just-short" play?!
She put her small hand on Xander's waist, but in the end couldn't bring herself to pinch him.
Instead, she leaned closer and hugged him softly.
That slightly wronged yet deeply reliant look made a heavy sense of guilt well up in his heart.
For Xander, this sort of "soft knife" worked far better than coming at him hard.
Sure enough, Xander stopped teasing Elysia and focused on feeding her, while Bronya, after eavesdropping for a bit, also started catching up with Sakura.
The two had already gotten along quite well back when they worked together in Anti-Entropy.
Bronya had learned a lot from the veteran programmer Sakura.
"Xander, how did it feel just now, standing up on stage?"
Sensing that Sakura's attention on Xander had been diverted by Bronya, Kiana immediately seized the chance and scooted in.
"Not bad.
I've pretty much gotten used to it.
Why, do you want to go up there too?"
As he spoke, Xander clearly caught the eager spark in Kiana's eyes, and he felt a bit intrigued.
"Ahem—j-just a little curious, okay?
Look, you stand up there, and so many people cheer because of your voice.
Doesn't that feel impressive..."
Scratching her head in embarrassment, Kiana said shyly.
"You've got that kind of idea too?
How about you try debuting as an idol?
Fantasia will fund you in full."
"Idol?!"
"Yeah.
Like your 'Big Aunt' Magical Girl Teriri kind of idol.
Back then she was so popular, and the stages she got on were way bigger than today's."
Saying that, Xander suddenly asked, "Right, Kiana—how's your singing?"
"Huh?"
Kiana froze for a moment, then scratched her cheek as her gaze drifted.
"F-fine, I guess..."
"It's only a bit better than a frog's croaking."
Sirin couldn't help snorting a cold jab.
"Hey, it's not that bad!
I—I sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' really well, okay?
Mom praised me!!!"
"It's just that with the easiest songs like 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star' you won't go off-key."
Having her old bottom line exposed by her sister on the spot, Kiana instantly flew into a shy rage.
"Can't sing, huh.
What about dancing?"
"...Uh, does 'martial' as in martial arts count?"
"..."
Shaking his head with a sigh, Xander said, "Forget it.
Maybe don't consider the idol route.
Anyway, you just want to experience standing on stage and getting cheered by the audience, right?"
"Y-yeah, that's right."
"That's simple then.
Let's not talk about the far-off Pokémon tournaments.
There's a great chance coming up soon."
"Details!"
Kiana's eyes widened in delight.
"You've played Apex in the company test builds, right?"
"Mm-mm-mm, it's super fun."
"How's your skill?"
"Hum-hum~
Before me—the one who dominates Yuehai Fish-Fish Cat—there's barely a worthy opponent in the whole company."
When it came to game skill, Kiana proudly puffed out her ample chest that even made Sirin glance sidelong.
Maybe she'd dumped her abandoned INT points into her body, but Kiana's physical gifts were excellent.
Often her body would react instinctively before her brain caught up.
That was especially obvious in FPS games.
Those ridiculous "neuro shots" had people in the company wondering if she was wall-hacking.
Only Bronya and Xander could keep her in check, while Kaguya could only fight her to a draw.
"That's great then.
To promote the new game, there'll be a world-scale entertainment invitational for Apex in half a month.
I can make the call to give you a slot."
"Really?!"
"But whether you can make the audience cheer for you when the time comes depends on your own effort."
"Wuhu—nice!
Xander, I love you!!!"
"Mm?"
Sirin, who'd been smiling, suddenly froze when she heard that.
She looked at her sister beside her in puzzlement.
"Ah… well, um—slip of the tongue, slip of the tongue, hahaha…"
Scratching the back of her head with a dopey grin, Kiana looked all kinds of honest.
Suspicion flashed in Sirin's eyes, but seeing Kiana like that, she quickly pushed it down.
Noticing Sirin still staring at her, Kiana hurriedly grabbed her arm.
"Sirin, let's enter the tournament together."
"I already had an invite… Fine.
You won't hold me back, will you?"
"Relax.
Don't you know Kiana's strength by now, Sirin?
When the two of us charge in together, who could last even a single bout!"
Pulling closer and slinging an arm over Sirin's shoulder, Kiana declared "heroically."
"We're sisters.
Who's your 'brothers-in-arms,' huh?"
Shooting her a glare, Sirin didn't get mad.
Kiana just kept smiling.
"Aiya, it's all the same.
Our relationship's the best anyway, right?"
Saying that, she even leaned over and rubbed her face against Sirin's soft, smooth cheek.
"Tch.
Out of my way!!"
With everyone gathered and chattering away like this, doing nothing in particular yet not feeling bored either, Xander felt that before long the sunlight had already turned orange.
"Thanks for hosting me today."
It was getting late.
Sakura gave a slight bow, planning to take her leave.
"Remember what I offered.
I'll keep a team-lead position open for you."
"Th-then… please let me think it over a bit more..."
Xander and Bronya had had their eyes on Sakura for a long time.
They'd barely been talking before they started poaching her.
As for compensation and such, everything would be preferential.
Xander even painted a big pie, promising to build a separate team with her at the core.
Sakura's skill and sense of responsibility were worth that.
Naturally, Sakura was tempted.
As one part of the Anti-Entropy Group, transferring from Group HQ to Fantasia wouldn't be troublesome at all—basically just a matter of moving her file.
And her compensation would go up so much.
It'd be a lie to say she wasn't tempted.
Most crucially, Xander could also recommend Rin to skip exams and enroll directly at St. Freya Academy.
That was what Sakura desired most.
Seeing Sakura off, Xander and Bronya glanced at each other and saw the pride in one another's eyes.
"Locked in."
"Locked in~"
The moment Sakura started wavering, her jumping ship here was only a matter of time.
What's more, that little girl Rin had long since been turned into an "inside agent" with candy-coated shells.
In the end, she'd just have to blow a little wind into big sis's ear.
Wouldn't taking that little fox spirit down be a cinch?
Though Sakura didn't have donkey ears here, of course.
Even if they hadn't run into Sakura today, getting her to switch over was only a question of sooner or later.
"Any plans for tonight?"
Stretching after sitting too long, Xander looked to his trainee secretary, Seele.
So much time had passed, and Seele still hadn't taken off the trainee cap.
Seele didn't mind.
As such a convenient pretext for "unspoken rules," the two of them were in tacit agreement.
"Mm… let Seele see."
Flipping open her phone and scrolling, Seele quickly replied.
"Bro, there's still one engagement tonight.
It's with the manager of Anti-Entropy HQ's AR Department.
Because they're also Anti-Entropy, I didn't decline earlier."
"Okay.
It's getting late anyway, so let's go."
"In that case, we'll head back first~"
For things like social dinners, Elysia and the others naturally wouldn't tag along.
The pink elf pulled four girls aside to whisper—who knows what mischief they were plotting.
The ones left—Xander, Bronya, and Seele—caught a taxi together.
Twenty minutes later, at the restaurant entrance, seeing Sakura with a tense expression, standing uneasily with her face flushed red, Xander and Bronya's expressions immediately turned playful.
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