Chapter 415: – Turnabout Pursuit |
It was an ordinary weekday. Most adults were out working, and most children were in school.
Of course, that didn't apply to John and his twin adopted daughters.
After settling the gameplan to clear up the scandal around Variant Hue and to also clear up the reputation on VTubers and VTuber corporations, John had picked up Xuan and Wu from his sisters to hang out for the day.
Well, also to explore where the incident happened, but since it should be a fun trip regardless, it was fine.
Right? Killing two birds with one stone and all that jazz?
...Hm. Maybe he should start reading some books on proper parenting. John was pretty sure he was good on being a Dad to teenagers and adults now, but toddlers and infants were still a bit foreign to him...
Note for later.
In any case, John was walking through Shinjuku, holding hands with Xuan and Wu.
Historically, it had a bad rep for crime, so it should have been the worst place to bring kids around.
Xuan looked around with wide eyes, her black bangs shifting as her head swiveled back and forth. "Wow! There are so many colors here, Father!"
Wu nodded, causing her white bangs to bob. "Indeed! It is pretty, Father!"
John blinked. "You really think so...?"
There were a lot of flashy signs around, but it wasn't like the place was lit up or anything like it was at night.
John frowned and said, "Don't Xuannu, Zhaojun, or Daji take you two out to explore?"
Xuan shook her head and said, "Aunties often take us out to Tow Kyoo, but never to a colorful place like this!"
"Oh!" Wu spoke up and said, "But the cherry blossoms were colorful!"
Xuan's eyes lit up and she said, "Yes! I had almost forgotten, Sister!" She smiled and then patted Wu's head. "You have a good memory!"
"Heehee!"
Aaaahhhh. They were so cute!
Was this what he was missing by working so much?
Dammit. He needed better time management. And boundaries.
What was the point of working if he missed his cute kids growing up?
"Father?" Xuan looked up at John and frowned.
Wu frowned as well. "A-Are you upset by us calling you Father instead of Big Brother...?"
John shook his head. "Of course not!" He knelt down and smiled at them both. "I'm happy to hear it."
Xuan hesitated and then said, "...But is Miss Yue okay?"
Wu's lip trembled and she said, "She isn't upset?"
John pulled them both into a hug and said, "Of course not. Who could be upset at girls as cute as you two? We've just been all busy."
Yue being upset was a thing, yes. But after Rory was born, she definitely started having a bit of baby fever.
John remembered that she had already gotten over it and apologized, but he was sure that if Yue saw Little Xuan and Little Wu right now, she'd be wrapped right around their fingers.
Mothers were critically weak to cute kids, after all.
Probably fathers too, but John was always weak to cute, beautiful, and defenseless things, so...
Wu let out a sigh of relief. After that, she smiled and said, "Excellent! Sister and I thought you had left us again."
John felt a stab of guilt and then pulled them tight. "I won't leave you two anymore. In fact, if you want, there's a room at our house just for you two."
He'd been meaning to find a time to bring them in, but it hadn't worked out just yet.
But heavens be damned, he wasn't going to let this go on any longer. What kind of father would he be if he did, right?
...Not to mention that Gray would roast the hell out of him when he found out.
Having an older brother around who will troll you for messing up tends to be a great way to keep on track.
Xuan's eyes lit up, but then she shook her head and said, "It's okay!"
Wu nodded and said, "We like living with our Aunties! They're nice, and Brother Bai and Brother Qing visit often too!"
"Oh?" John stood back up and then started walking again. "Are they doing well?"
Xuan nodded. "Yes!"
Wu smiled. "Really well! They are getting married soon!"
John paused. "Wait. What?" He blinked and then looked at Wu. "Why haven't I heard anything about this?"
Xuan gasped and looked at Wu. "Sister!"
Wu covered her mouth with her free hand and said, "Oh no! It was a secret!"
Xuan shook her head and said, "Brother Bai and Brother Qing will be upset..."
Wu started tearing up. "N-No...!"
John let go of Wu's hand and then pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Don't cry, Wu. I never heard anything."
Wu sniffed. "R-Really?"
"Mmhm! We were just walking and talking about how colorful this town is, right?"
Wu wiped away her tears and then giggled.
John grabbed her hand again and then the three continued walking.
Xuan looked around and then said, "Father? Why are we walking here again?"
Wu looked around too and then wrinkled her nose. "Yes. This place is icky."
Xuan nodded. "The colors are lying. It's pretty, but it's icky icky."
Oh right. John forgot Xuan and Wu could see fortune and fate.
Although it was cleaned up, considering all the bad karma and criminal acts happening here, it would look pretty disgusting.
...But the fact that they didn't realize until now was odd.
Were they really that happy to be with John that they didn't realize it?
...Man, now he was feeling super guilty.
Do better. He just had to do better.
But to answer their questions...
"We're looking for clues to help someone get out of a tough spot."
"Oh!" Xuan nodded and said, "Are we saving another big sister?"
Wu's eyes lit up, and then she said, "As expected! Father is saving people again!"
"Well, not exactly saving." John looked around for the spot that Hiroyuki and Co. sent him, and then said, "Someone already did that. But we can help by figuring out what happened."
An apartment building with balconies overlooking a courtyard. And one with a large sakura tree that had some branches broken... Ah. There.
The sidewalk turned into a small interior area between the buildings. A bit further in, there was a six-floor apartment building with balconies overlooking a grassy park area.
In that park area, there was a large sakura tree with branches spreading out in every direction. There were a few that were almost in reach of the apartment's balconies too. But a majority of the branches on that side had snapped, like something crashed against them.
After comparing the address, the picture, and the directions on the navigation app, this definitely looked like the place.
John hummed and then looked at Xuan and Wu. "Do you mind if we take a look at the tree for a bit?"
Xuan shook her head. "It's fine, Father!"
Wu nodded. "We will help look too!"
John smiled. "Thanks for understanding. I promise we'll do something fun after this, okay?"
Since they liked colorful things, maybe a trip to Mintendo Land would be fun.
But first, business.
After getting closer, John was sure that the branches were broken from someone falling onto them.
Although the branches had healed a bit, the fracture angles and bits of dark stains on the bark showed someone crashing through them at high speed.
Not only that, but considering the size of said branches, that person must have had pretty severe lacerations too...
"Hm..." John walked to the spot beneath the broken branches and then tapped the ground with his foot.
It was a bit mushy. Not hard, so landing here wouldn't be lethal.
But even if it was, it didn't matter since that wasn't what happened.
Although the ground had leveled again, there were faint indentations of footsteps on the ground, as if someone had caught the person falling.
Which was the likely outcome.
Hiroyuki and Co. didn't elaborate on Meryl Kodomo's condition, but John could infer enough.
But then...
He turned to look at the apartment and frowned. Afterwards, he glanced at Xuan and Wu and said, "Do you see anything strange around here?"
Xuan stuck up her hand and said, "I'll look, Father!"
Wu nodded. "I as well!"
A breeze suddenly swept through, shifting both Xuan and Wu's bangs.
Xuan's eyes turned gold, and then she started looking around with a focused expression.
Wu's eyes turned black, and then she started looking around too.
And after a bit, Xuan furrowed her brow, staring at the tree. "Someone's fate ended here."
Wu stared at the ground and said, "Here, disastrous misfortune was reversed to heavenly blessings."
"Really now?" John rubbed his chin to think.
He'd been having an odd feeling about the 'Meryl Kodomo' incident after what Hiroyki and Co. sent him.
And now that he was here, it seemed too unlikely for someone to have survived jumping from so high... Especially since the branches were broken from around the sixth floor.
...He probably shouldn't, but since things were odd...
John narrowed his eyes and stared into the 'record' of the area. His eyes flashed a pure jade green as they read the recorded history of the world in this area.
And then he saw it.
Two overlapping records. One where a girl fell and died after colliding into the ground. Another where a man caught her before she landed.
The latter was pieced over like patchwork, overwriting the tragic fate. And tracing the one responsible for that-
*CRACK*
Ah.
John quickly pulled his vision away. At the same time, he spread out his power to stabilize the world.
An imperceptible 'something' shuddered. But then everything stilled.
Xuan gasped. "This world is so fragile!"
Wu ran over to John and tugged on his sleeve. "Father! You cannot use your powers that much!"
John laughed. "Yeah. It seems like I can't... Though I probably should have taken a look sooner."
The 'parallel dimensions' theory? Yeah, it was a law of existence here.
The Earth that John had arrived at was just one of many reflections that created a 'whole.'
...It was complicated, but basically, there were lots of layers. Ordinarily, they shouldn't interact, but because John was here, and because Titor made the Incarnation system, shenanigans were happening.
Basically, the Mandela effect. People and chunks of history from alternate 'records' were folding into each other to make up the 'Earth' that John was living in.
But setting the 'how' aside, the 'why' that was important was that his life was definitely going to ramp up in silliness sometime soon.
John sighed and scratched his head. "Well... I guess I should really start that interdimensional immigration services system..."
Xuan tugged on John's arm and then pointed towards the apartment. "Father! Look!"
"Hm?" John looked towards where Xuan was pointing. "What is it- Hoh?"
A young woman with dyed blue hair. Wearing a plain white t-shirt and jeans and carrying a clumsily taped box, she looked like she was just moving out or something.
But she was staring at John with wide eyes. And when she saw John looking, she flinched and started running.
John stared after her for a bit and then chuckled. "A guilty conscience does weigh heavy..."
The young woman dropped something as she ran. A charm that fell off from the keys she had clipped to her belt.
John walked over and picked it up.
A cutesy anime chibi of a blue-haired lamia.
John didn't recognize it. But it was definitely important.
Placing it back exactly where it was, he took a quick picture before pocketing it.
As John put the charm away, Xuan stared at it and shivered.
Wu wrinkled her nose in disgust.
John noticed and said, "What's wrong?"
Xuan shook her head and said, "The owner of that charm is icky." She rubbed her hands against her arms and said, "It feels like Miss Yue when she scared us."
Wu nodded. "It stinks of jealousy, Father..."
"Oho?"
John smiled and then patted Xuan and Wu on their heads. "Good job, you two."
It seemed like they really were playing the 'Best Lawyer' games IRL now.
Next...
John looked at the apartment and said, "We'll check one more thing and then we'll go have some real fun and tasty snacks, okay?"
Xuan gasped. "Truly?"
Wu raised her hands and said, "Yay!"
John smiled. "Come on. This will be quick."
Now, to see if Variant Hue is dumb enough to try and physically remove evidence...
