I managed to drop Rainy off at the convenience store and get home before my cousin, Aries, could beat me here.

“I’m home…” I have to admit. Flying is pretty exhausting. Maybe I’m doing it wrong?

“Welcome home. How did your day go?” I teleported in the middle of Valoria cooking. She was putting together a bento for me and had an energy drink to pack with it.

“It went really well. Better than I thought it would. A lot happened, but I kinda want to know how your day went first.”

“My day wasn’t too exciting. It wasn’t too different from what I did back at the palace, really.”

“Really?”

“I walked around, did things here and there, applied for every job I came across. Oh, and I scored pretty high on the history section of my G.E.D. I’m hoping I can score college readiness on all of them.”

“That’s pretty good. I hope you’re able to. I only scored that high on the English section of mine. A little weird since math was my best subject back in the day.”

Valoria continued to tell me about the people she met and helped while walking around the city. In turn, I told her how the stream went—running into Myrian and meeting the other girls.

How my cousin, Aries, rescued us from an ambush.

“This is kind of exciting. I get to meet more of Kyrie’s family.”

Valoria had become giddy over hearing my cousin would be here soon. She threw in a few more ingredients and readied the good snacks and tea.

“Oh, instead of the normal plates,” I rummaged through the closet and pulled out a set of small plates with fighting game characters on them.

“Wow, pulling out the fine china, I see.”

“I’ll have you know I won these from an Iron Fist competition as the grand prize.”

“You fought in a tournament?”

“No, it was a trivia competition, but still.”

Knock Knock Knock

I opened the door to greet my cousin, who was carrying a gift bag.

“Hey, I hope you don’t mind how cramped it is.”

Aries passed me the gift bag, and I accepted it.

“I’m sure it's fine. I heard how you—” Aries didn’t get much further than placing his shoes away that he was stopped by the sight of Valoria.

“Hello, my name is Valoria. It's an honor to meet you. Lawrence has told me that you are an amazing person.”

Aries placed his arm around my neck and pulled me down to the corner next to the door.

“Dude, who’s the perfect-looking waifu?—no wife!”

“That’s Valoria. We’re married.”

“Married?! And you didn’t invite me or tell anyone?!”

“I mean, you know I’m not the type to hold a wedding. We filed the paperwork at city hall, and that was that.”

“Where did a shut-in like you even meet a bijin-san like that?!”

“We met through work. And aren’t you being kind of rude?”

“Oh, right.” Aries stood back up and finally greeted Valoria. “My name is Aries Mundo. Thank you for looking after this useless cousin of mine.”

“No, thank you. It might not seem like it, but Lawrence has done much for me.

I hope you don’t find it imposing, but I will also be in your care. Would you like me to take your jacket?”

“Hm? Oh!” Aries quickly removed his jacket for Valoria to place on a hanger in the closet.

“You can also leave your other things here.” I pointed to a tray on a stand near the door.

“Thanks, that’s actually pretty useful.”

Aries removed his rings and placed his keys next to them.

“I have to leave for work in thirty minutes. I hope you don’t mind. I know you just got here.”

“No, it's fine. I did spring this on you last minute. What are you doing these days? Nothing shady, I hope.”

“I’ve recently been promoted to full-time manager—Ericson’s Convenience store. A conbini pretty close by.”

“Oh yeah, I know it. I stopped by there to get that.” Aries pointed to the bag he handed me.

Looking into the bag, I pulled out a box of expensive chocolates.

“Ooo, those will go great with the tea and cakes.”

Valaria took the box from me and finished setting the table while I folded the gift bag and placed it in the closet.

I turned the TV on and put on a boxing anime in the background while my cousin and I chatted about nothing important—ideology, anime, martial arts, current events here in Lancaster, and politics.

Almost like we’ve never been away.

Before we knew it, it was time for me to leave for work.

“I’ll probably be too tired to do anything when I get back from work, but when I wake up in the afternoon, we can do something together.”

“No worries. I should have worked things out with you sooner.”

As I was about to leave, Aries’ phone began to ring. Normally I wouldn’t be so curious, but a phone call this late at night.

“Is it work?” I asked him.

He sighed. “Yeah, I’m going to need to step out for a moment. I thought something like this might happen, but I didn’t think you would have someone living with you.”

Valoria simply smiled. “I don’t mind you having a key. It wouldn’t be a bother to me.”

With that, I pulled out my key and passed it to Aries.

“Are you sure? I’ve already imposed quite a lot.”

“Haha, it's fine. That just means foods on your tomorrow.”

“Heh. Alright, that’s fair.”

“He didn’t realize it yet, but Aries would later come to regret this decision.”

“I see your sense of humor hasn’t changed much either.”