Chapter 404: – Not Found |
It was a story from the far distant past.
As John stared at Gray, he began to recall the times long forgotten. The times when he wasn't even a teenager yet.
A "genius" older brother who could do no wrong. One who worked like a machine and faced no challenges, getting a full ride to university. And one who had been on the verge of graduating with scouts already lining up to poach him for the tech field.
John remembered how Gray had ignored them all for that last year, delving deeper into his studies and completely forsaking his family.
And then he vanished. Without a word, without a clue. Without so much as a text.
John remembered that his parents thought he was just being distant as usual. Gray had a bad habit of taking forever to reply to messages.
But then the university called and said Gray never showed up for his finals.
And although a search was put out, Gray was never found again. John still remembered how his parents couldn't believe it.
And John clearly remembered how his life changed from that point onwards.
His mother became super naggy, always asking how he felt, if he needed anything, if he had any concerns...
John hated it. And while it got better as he got older, he still despised how Gray threw everything away and disappeared just to dump everything on John.
But John had forgotten about it. The past was the past, and since it seemed like Gray had died somewhere nobody could find him... something likely considering how Gray's best friend had died.
In any case, since it was unchangeable and not worth dwelling on, John moved past it. He came to terms with the fact that his older brother likely folded under stress and depression from being alone.
AND YET HERE HE WAS.
John adjusted the cuffs on his suit, idly wondering if he should throw another punch or two.
The silver-haired beauty ran up to Gray and quickly held out a napkin, dabbing the blood off his lips. "Are you hurt, Husband?"
Gray glanced at her and smiled, waving his hand. "It's fine. I expected this."
John clicked his tongue.
...So this was how people felt when they saw him and Yue, huh? For some reason, John felt really irritated.
Seemed like childhood trauma and grudges never really went away.
Or maybe it was the fact that the closure John got turned out to be a lie. The grieving, anger, acceptance, and moving on for an older brother John thought had given up on life turned out to be pointless considering how healthy and happy the guy in front of him seemed to be.
But John took a breath and calmed down.
This wasn't the time or the place.
And running up to John to emphasize that was Jenny. "John." She grabbed John's arm and said, "Not here."
John nodded. "I got it."
A casual look around showed people in the cafe stunned into silence. Not only that, but a few of the Project MirAIs fans were glancing between John and Gray, clearly connecting a few dots. And...
Wait. That one guy was wearing an owl badge and lugging around a giant binder filled with notes and sticky tabs... Loreowl?!
The heck was he doing here!?
John resisted the urge to groan, already anticipating the threads that'd be spawned by this encounter on readit and the forums...
Still, John kept his composure.
Glancing at Gray and the guy's wife, John tilted his head and said, "Let's talk outside."
Gray's wife clung to his arm and shook her head. "Husband-"
"It's fine, Eliza." Gray nodded towards John and said, "There's a lot to catch up on."
Jenny looked between Gray and John and sighed.
As for John, he pulled out a stack of 10K yen bills and placed it on the nearest table. Staring at the closest waiter, he said, "Sorry for the disturbance." He looked around at the rest of the people in the cafe and said, "I'll pay for everyone's meal. If this isn't enough, put it on my tab. Now." He turned back to his older brother and then said, "Let's go."
xxx
John led the way to a nearby park. Since it was mid-day in the middle of the week, there weren't too many people around. A couple elderly folk who came out to exercise, but they minded their own business.
A tense silence fell over the group of four as they moved.
But John ignored it, using the time to check on his messages.
It seemed that Alfi and Aoko's concert had started and was going well, and Hottie texted to confirm if John was really going to skip showing up and leave everything to them.
Ideally, he would have like to be there in person at least for a moment. But apparently, life had other plans... Plus he still had to head back to Hoshigawa Academy to pick up Meggie for the Daddy-Daughter date she begged him for.
She didn't call it that, of course. But considering she wanted to go to her favorite food place and then go shopping before stopping at an arcade to try out the newest CapsuMon cabinet that apparently printed special CapsuMon cards...
Yeah, definitely Daddy-Daughter date. Plus, John would get to tease Meggie all about her floundering throughout the school day.
While John was lost in thought, the group arrived at a park gazebo.
John took a seat first at the rectangular table in the center of the gazebo.
Jenny took the seat to his right.
Shortly after, Gray took the seat across from John, and Gray's wife, Eliza, took the seat across from Jenny.
John sent a few more text messages to update people on various things and then slipped his phone into his pocket. After that, he looked up and took a closer look at his older brother.
...Gray was different.
Although it was hard for John to remember exactly, he clearly remembered his older brother always looking like someone just waiting for his life to end. Like he was bored with the world itself and could care less what happened.
The Gray in front of him was different. His eyes were focused and he seemed a lot more... relaxed? Content? But at the same time, he was also dangerous.
Not to John, of course. But comparing Gray to the general population of people here...
Hm. It'd be like plopping Kr*llin from Dr*gon B*ll Z down into Earth?
Aaand that was weird. John had never tried it, but it seemed like the rules of existence censored things that didn't belong, huh?
But anyway, Gray wasn't a normal human.
Though he kept it well under control, there was a lethal and destructive energy coursing through Gray's body and focusing in his eyes. Something similar to a 'law of death' or 'law of the end.'
Then there was his wife, Eliza.
John shifted his gaze over to examine her.
An ethereal beauty. One that wouldn't look out of place among the immortals in the Three Realms.
And also one who wasn't human.
It was different from how Qing's fiancee, Sitri, was a Demon Lord from another world.
She was a being made of energy that happened to take a physical form after anchoring herself to Qing. Kind of similar to Titor in a way.
This Eliza though...
An aura of death wrapped around her, as if trying to snuff out her existence. And consequently, her existence was hazy, as if her life could flicker out at any moment. But she was fine.
Definitely not something a human could endure. Even most immortals would find it troublesome unless they had dabbled in the laws of life and death.
...Or to put it in simpler terms, that woman seemed like she had walked out from the veil of death itself and stayed in life, even though death was trying to pull her back.
That fact paired with the way that Gray was now...
John smiled and said, "Did you have a nice trip to an isekai, Gray?"
Gray blinked and said, "What's an isekai?"
John blinked back and then facepalmed. "Right. Forgot you were a straight-laced and boring guy."
Eliza narrowed her eyes.
Gray noticed and placed a hand on her right shoulder, massaging it. After that, he said, "Can't deny that. But you..." He shifted his gaze to John before frowning. "...You've changed a lot." After that, he looked at Jenny and said, "Also, not to be rude, but who are you?"
Jenny didn't respond at first. Instead, she frowned and said, "I have two older brothers...?"
"Huh?" Gray blinked and said, "Older brother?" He looked back at John and said, "Did Mom and Dad have a late child?"
John waved his hand. "It's complicated."
Maybe yes, maybe no... The jury was still out on whether Jenny was actually his younger sister plucked from another dimension, an alternate version of him, or the embodiment of wishes granted by the world for people who wished Jenny into existence.
"TLDR, she's my younger sister, yes."
"Tea El Dee... what?"
John groaned. "I thought *I* was out of date with the times..."
A/N: Okay, before I forget again, since we've passed the 400 chapter mark, it's time for another Q&A/AMA session.
If you have any burning questions about things in the story (that I totally haven't forgotten about) or about future plot points, feel free to add them below. I'll put it in an update later today answering them all.
Appreciate you guys!
...Also I just realized this story has 2.17 M views... how...? :sweat:
