Chapter 461: more generic Chapter title here |
Emma stumbled to her feet after Meggie set her down, fixing her windswept blonde hair. "S-Scary..."
Next to her, Tsuki smoothed her clothes, her face still a bit red. "That was fun, but... yeah, scary."
Meggie pulled out a scrunchie and pulled her hair into a ponytail before saying, "It wasn't THAT bad."
"Not that bad?!" Emma puffed her cheeks and swept her arms out at the surroundings. "WE'RE IN AKIBA! THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PREFECTURE FROM HOSHIGAWA ACADEMY!"
Meggie finished fixing her hair into a ponytail and said, "And? It's not that long of a sprint."
"WE RAN ACROSS ROOFTOPS! AND CARS!"
Meggie poked Emma's puffed cheeks and said, "For someone who liked me so much, you're complaining an awful lot."
Emma froze, turning a bright red. Then she deflated and sank into a crouch. "Uu... not fair. It shouldn't be this easy to calm me down..."
Tsuki sighed and said, "Tell me about it..."
Tsuki flinched. "Right. That's... fair..."
Meggie groaned. "Could you two NOT do this right now? I just wanna have some fun and destress."
Was this how Dad felt all the time dealing with girls? If so, Meggie suddenly felt the urge to buy him a sympathy card. This was NOT fun.
...Though it was a bit cute seeing Emma and Tsuki upset-
Ah.
Hm.
...Maybe Meggie was more like her mom than she liked to admit...
Because she was starting to understand why her mom was always smiling when she made beautiful women cry.
'I am finding out too many uncomfortable and true things about myself today...'
Like the fact that she was curious about how it would look making both Emma and Tsuki cry because of her-
"NOPE." Meggie immediately cut off her own train of thoughts by sweeping her arm out and saying, "*NOT* thinking about that right now."
"E-Eh?" Emma blinked. "What are you talking about, Meggie?"
Tsuki tilted her head. "Um... Are you okay, Meggie?"
Meggie grabbed both their arms and said, "NOT okay. So we're going to MAKE me okay. By having fun in arcades and playing games. So come on."
First stop, the claw machine arcade. Because if there was one way Meggie knew to make herself calm down, it was cleaning out an entire arcade machine and going home with a bag full of new toys.
Emma blushed and said, "A-Arcade? Like... the ones that guys take girls out for dates?"
Tsuki blushed too and said, "Th-this isn't a date! What are you saying, Emma?"
"I-I'm not saying it is! I'm just saying that Meggie's taking us to a place that guys usually take girls on for dates-"
"PLEASE be quiet." Meggie cut them both off and said, "This is NOT a date."
Emma paused and let out a soft, "Oh."
Tsuki flinched and shifted her gaze. "R-Right. Yeah. Not a date. That would be WEIRD..."
...
...Dad. If you can hear this somehow, I swear to the heavens above, I will do ANYTHING you ask later, but SAVE ME FROM THIS PLEASE.
===
John paused in the middle of watching Rory proceed to put all the blocks she had through the square hole on the toy bucket he got her. "...Huh." He tilted his head, feeling a bit weird. "Did I just get a prayer?"
That was a nostalgic sensation.
People didn't usually pray to him. Even after he got Heaven's Mandate.
There was a small stint in the past where he larped as a god to see if divinity was separate from normal cultivation, but he learned that it was just another dao, so he gave up on it.
Still...
"Huh." John chuckled and then shifted his attention back to Rory. "Looks like your big sister's floundering around trying to be normal, Rory. She's desperate enough to pray to me of all people."
Rory paused in the middle of sticking a triangle into the square hole. Then she tilted her head and said, "Megi?"
"Mmhm. Meggie." John handed Rory another small pile of blocks and said, "Your big sister is stuck between a rock and a hard place."
Now, if John was a good father, he would call Meggie and give her an out to whatever awkward situation she was in right now.
But John wasn't a GOOD father, he was a GREAT father. And great fathers let their kids learn lessons the hard way when it was safe for them to learn it.
So...
'Let's see what the problem is... Ah. Meggie's stuck in a love-triangle. A GL triangle of all things...'
At this point, John had given up on having a son-in-law from his three oldest daughters. Clearly, they all aprpeciated beauty more than handsomeness.
Not that he minded. It was just a little disappointing he wouldn't be able to pull the overprotective father schtick on a normal teenaged boy.
But that aside...
'Tsuki and Emma, huh? Hm... I guess it runs in the family. Or at least on my side of the family.'
Both Tsuki and Emma had been saved by Meggie. The savior complex ran strong, and the princess falling for the savior effect ran strong too.
Meggie didn't realize it, but she was DEFINITELY going to be stuck with those two for some time. And those two also didn't realize it, but they were very much in the yearning stage already.
"...I should tell Sakura. She'd get a kick out of it."
Rin's mother would ABSOLUTELY find it hilarious karma considering that Tsuki could potentially lose to another blonde girl despite being Meggie's childhood friend.
The parallels with herself, Kai, and Elise were just waaay too on the nose.
Though, Meggie wasn't Kai, so she wouldn't fumble either girl.
No daughter of John's lacked the ability to hold onto beauties, after all.
Case-in-point, Alphy and Betty.
Alphy could literally go anywhere, pick up a girl, and keep them. She just chose Asako instead.
And Betty...
Well, the last time John was with his second eldest daughter, they were out with Rory. And the number of women that kept giving Betty their numbers, social media accounts, or physical gifts...
'Not sure if I should be proud or concerned about this...'
If John ever had a son, he had a feeling the poor guy would get an unintentional and devout harem. And since said son would be Yue's son too, he'd probably inherit her sense of responsibility and not be able to say no...
'Well, problem for future me and my potential future son.'
John would think about that later.
"Ba! Papa!" Rory proudly raised the bucket, filled with blocks. "Ba!"
John laughed and picked Rory up into his arms. "You're my smart little princess, you~ Already learning that the easy way is thinking outside the box~"
Rory giggled and then nuzzled against John's shirt.
John smiled and ruffled Rory's fuzzy blonde hair. "You are going to be SO much trouble when you're older. I can already feel it... but worth."
Rory giggled again and then yawned, already drifting off in her father's arms.
John's smile softened and he walked over to the side to pick up the baby sling before settling Rory in for a nap, resting against him. After that, he remembered what he was doing before he got distracted.
"Ah, right. Meggie."
Now, it would be remiss of him as a father to just ignore his daughter's earnest plea for help. So...