Hajime chuckled. "Your dad would kill me if I took you along, so no. Maybe after you manage to cultivate some spiritual energy."
Akane pouted. "But you said that's impossible in this world!"
"Tough luck then, Kiddo."
Akane clicked her tongue. "You're always making impossible demands, Uncle Hajime."
Hajime chuckled. He walked around the desk and ruffled Akane's hair before saying, "Keep an eye on the kid for me and my daughter-in-w. Ooh, and my troublesome daughter too."
Akane paused and then said, "You're leaving? Now?"
Hajime pulled his hand back and said, "Yeah." He gnced off in the distance, as if peering through space itself, and said, "That guy helped send my wayward daughter home. Even if she's a bit of a fujoshi and die-hard NEET otaku now, she's safe at least. I owe him a favor, so I might as well help him find a way to visit Earth Prime again."
Akane sighed and said, "You're always so hard to understand, Uncle Hajime."
"And you're better acting a cute girl like this instead of the cold femme fatale type, Aka-chan." Hajime grinned and stuck his hand back in his pocket. "Don't worry your little head about it. Leave the multi-dimensional and multi-versal shenanigans to the adults and returnees. You just have a good life on this little blue pnet and have fun with the kids."
Akane sighed. "Fine. But one day you have to expin what this is all about, Uncle Hajime."
Hajime smiled. "Maybe~ Try getting a boyfriend first, Aka-chan."
Akane immediately swung her leg in a roundhouse kick at Hajime's head, cracking the air. But it didn't connect.
Hajime's voice echoed through the office. "I'll see you at Christmas with the family, Aka-chan. Good luck~"
Akane lowered her leg and clicked her tongue. "Dammit. Uncle Hajime is always messing around too much..." She sighed and fixed her clothes.
And then Akane realized something.
Hajime was the headmaster of Zenkai Academy. And while he was mostly hands-off, he was still in charge. Since he had left, if something came up...
"...Won't I have to deal with it?!" Akane stomped and gred at where Hajime was before. "Uncle Hajime! Get back here!"
At that time, a small slip of paper materialized, floating through the air.
Akane snatched it and read the message.
===
Leaving everything in your capable hands, Aka-chan~
Love,
Uncle Hajime
===
Akane crumpled her hand, turning the paper into mulch. "Uncle Hajime! You bastard!"
===
In the VIMS HQ, the building was mostly empty now after a long discussion about logistics and the future pns for VIMS.
It was a big headache for me. But fortunately, it all boiled down to me just continuing to stream as Azura, helping Celes set up her own streaming, and then showing Yui the ropes.
There had been a bit of talk about roping Hanako in too, but...
I stared at said girl seated across from me.
Hanako sat on a plush lounge chair, happily sipping a cherry soda. With her straight bck hair and bangs, along with her pristine porcein skin, cherry lips, and light brown eyes, she looked like a perfect Yamato Nadeshiko type. The ideal Japanese beauty.
You'd think that'd make her perfect idol material, but...
"Hehehehe."
I shivered. Yeah, no. The fact that she was a ghost just a day ago wasn't leaving my head anytime soon.
Hanako noticed and then bowed her head, looking sad. "I'm sorry, Sen. It's a habit..."
I wave my hand. "It's fine. It's just... I'm not used to it."
Hanako shook her head. "I'm sorry. I was always a bit weird even before I died..."
Could you like, stop repeating that?! I'm trying to get the fact that you were a ghost out of my head, Hanako-chan!
[Help: Is Mister Sen prejudiced against ghosts...?]
Of course not! Ghosts are people too... I guess. But... Man, I still can't believe ghosts are real. And that the system can do something as crazy as bring them back to life...
[Help: Anyone can become an idol if they work hard enough!]
Suuure they can. What, am I going to be able to recruit a divine monkey girl by just picking up a rock then if the system wanted to give me a talent?
[Help: You'll need some lightning, but yes!]
...
I decided to ignore Help-chan for now.
[Help: (T_T) ...Is this what Senpai feels like...?]
"Anyway." I look to Hanako. "It's really fine, Hanako."
Hanako let out a shy smile.
I smiled back at her.
After sorting out the business with Zenki, everyone left the office to do their own things. Zenki went to go check on Ayumi Sensei while Sena left with Celes, Cici, and Yui to do some shopping.
I didn't feel like it, so I decided to wait in the office for them to come back. And Hanako had volunteered to stay and keep me company.
Just like a resentful spirit would.
...Man, this is still giving me the heebiejeebies...
[Help: Why are you so scared of ghosts anyway, Mister Sen? Didn't you die already?]
Hey, just because I died doesn't mean I was a ghost. And ghosts are creepy and unnatural. Reincarnation is normal, hanging on as a disembodied spirit after you're dead isn't.
[Help: You sure have weird standards, Mister Sen...]
[Help: SENPAI!]
Oi! Cici! Outta my head!
And stop calling me that!
Hanako smoothed her bck skirt and adjusted her white blouse. Looking up at me through her bangs, she smiled and said, "It's strange, being alive again. But... I'm in your debt, Sen." She gave a deep bow and said, "I'll help you with whatever you need. E-Even if it's ecchi things... hehehe."
I immediately jumped to my feet and took a few steps away.
[Help: L-Lewd...!]
Hanako blushed. "S-Sorry! It's just... when I died, I didn't get a chance to do that. And ever since I was a spirit, couples kept sneaking out to my territory in the woods and-"
"OKAY!" I crossed my arms in an 'X.' "Officially WAY too much information!"
Hanako turned a bright red. "S-Sorry, Sen..."
I shook my head and swept my gaze around the area to try and regain some composure.
We were in the entrance hall's lounge on the first floor.
I hadn't appreciated the building much when we walked in... but Yui's comment about the pce being expensive made sense.
The office was nice and spacious, and everything was decorated with inviting high-end furniture and pnts. While the building was only three floors, it was still pretty big.
The first floor had the gaming studio, conference rooms, and this lobby lounge area. The second had the office, recording studio, and dance studio. And then the top floor was apparently an apartment where Zenki and Sena lived.
I wondered how much this whole pce cost to rent? The fact that it was a combined commercial and living space meant it was probably extra expensive, right? Especially in a pce like Shibuya? I didn't know much about real estate here, but considering that Shibuya was mostly famous for shopping, having a pce like this couldn't have been cheap...
[Help: Don't worry! Myth Incorporated has subsidized all costs for subsidiaries operating under the MIRAIZ app ecosystem!]
Myth Incorporated? Huh?
[ADMIN: Ignore her.]
???