The meeting had gone smoothly. The publishing company side had a big expectation for Haru because of the quality of his novel and his writing speed. They'd gotten hyped up after Haru presented the rest of the clean hard copy of his works. Haru's (plagiarized) work—Sword Art Online—would get published in June.
There was also a talk about an illustrator for his novel. The specific illustrator that both Haru and Sora knew got mentioned. The publishing company side was surprised when they discovered that the mentioned illustrator was Haru's and Sora's aunt and legal guardian.
In the end, they decided to have another meeting in the next several days to iron out other details.
Haru and Sora left the publishing company at 2.47 PM. They then decided to go to Hakuo Academy to pick Suzuka up. At first, Sora had her misgivings going there because she'd dropped off of the senior high school division several days ago. But, she changed her mind after Haru persuaded her. She agreed to accompany Haru in picking Suzuka up, but she would wait in a family restaurant near Hakuo Academy.
After ±30 minutes on a train, ±5 minutes walk, and ±10 minutes on a bus, they arrived in the restaurant built near Hakuo Academy. Haru then led Sora inside the establishment and approached the counter.
"Pardon me, is there an empty private booth left?" Haru asked the young female staff behind the counter.
She seemed to be in her late teenage; she had light brown hair in a short bob style and amber-colored eyes. Her height was 159 cm. She wore a green Polo shirt with a red collar under a dark green apron with a red-colored logo of the restaurant. Her uniform and apron couldn't properly hide her ample bust. There was also a name tag, displaying "Nitta Io/新田 維緒."
In truth, the counter keeper was within his strike zone. He wouldn't mind acting a bit flirty with her if he was alone. But alas, he couldn't do it because there was Sora with him.
"Yes? Pardon me! Let me check out the book first!" She replied in high tension, and red hue smeared on her pale cheeks. Apparently, she got flustered because of Haru's attractive appearance and 'unique' presence.
Haru unintentionally formed a wry smile after witnessing the staff's reaction. He was aware that it was the effect of the Aura of Harem Protagonist, but he kept it inside him.
Looking at the flustered girl behind the counter, Sora felt vexed and vented on Haru; she pinched his waist with a sulking expression.
"Ouch! What's wrong with you?"
"Hmph!" Sora ignored Haru's inquiry and threw her face out of Haru's vision.
Haru was speechless by her moody behavior before recovering quickly. "Are you jealous?" He moved his face close to Sora's and teased her in a low voice.
Sora inflated her cheeks and sent a resentful glare at Haru from the corner of her eyes. It was clear that she was absolutely jealous.
Haru shook his head in exasperation and then lovingly smiled at Sora. At the same time, he gave Sora a head-pat. A moment later, Sora's expression relaxed, but she still stubbornly kept her face out of Haru's vision.
"Ano, pardon me…"
Haru turned his head to the restaurant's staff after hearing her awkward calling. "Yes?" He intentionally ignored the girl's awkwardness and asked as if nothing happened.
"There is an empty private booth. Would you like to use it?"
"Oh? Of course, I would like it," Haru replied, feeling glad that he could get a private booth, "By the way, is there a problem if we use it for a couple of hours? We are waiting for someone else."
"We don't have problems with such arrangement," she politely replied.
"That's good. Very well, then. Could you lead us to our private booth, or is there someone else who might lead us there?"
"Ah, I don't mind to lead you there. All right. Please wait for a moment," the girl replied before leaving the counter. She then led Haru and Sora to their private booth.
After that, Haru and Sora ordered cold drinks. Then, they waited for their order in silence.
The tension was due to Sora's unreadable stare on him.
"Haru," Sora finally called him, breaking the tense silence.
"Yes?"
"Do you like them big?"
"Pardon me?"
"Do you like big boobs?"
Haru was stunned but quickly recovered. "Why did you ask?"
"You are glancing at that girl's boobs," Sora sulkily pointed out, and Haru unintentionally made a wry smile, which Sora didn't miss. "So, you really like them big, huh?"
"Is this about your size?" Sora nodded glumly, and Haru continued, "Don't worry about it. I don't care if yours are big or small. Either way, I still love them because they are yours."
"But, you would rather like them big, right?"
Haru decided to keep his silence.
"Geez, you're hopeless…" Sora pouted in dissatisfaction and turned away her head.
Then, their drinks came. Haru and Sora sampled their drink in silence.
"Haru," Sora called him again.
"What now?"
"You can do magical stuff, right?" Sora asked in a low voice that only Haru could hear.
"Yes?" He looked at Sora with an uncomprehending gaze.
"Could you make mine big with magic?"
Haru gave Sora a deadpan. He wanted to retort at her funny question but stopped when he saw her pleading expression. It looked like she wasn't joking.
'Well, sure, I can do something about her washboard…' Haru contemplated silently and imagined Sora and Suzuka with an over-inflated pair of tits. He unintentionally made a strange face because of how odd they looked with them.
Haru snapped out of his imagination when Sora threw him a splatter of her drink. He blinked and gave her a narrowed gaze.
"You're thinking something rude, right?" Sora accused.
Haru closed his mouth and decided to change the subject into something safer. "Anyway, I am going to look at it first," he vaguely told Sora.
Sora gave him a scrutinizing look before nodding in acceptance. "All right. I'll wait for the good news."
"Pressuring much, aren't we?"
"That's for your own good. You like big, right?"
Haru decided to shut his mouth. After their weird talk ended, Sora asked for the script of the third volume of Haru's novel. Then, she read it in silence. Meanwhile, Haru waited until the time to pick Suzuka up came.
***
Around 4 PM, Haru waited for Suzuka in the gate of the junior high division of Hakuo Academy. Soon, Suzuka came out.
"Onii-chan~" Suzuka called him and hurried over. She then threw herself to Haru and hugged his waist, snuggling her face on his chest.
"By the way, Suzuka, let's go. Sora is waiting for us," Haru ended Suzuka's hug and said.
"Okay~" She energetically replied.
After that, Haru led Suzuka to the restaurant where Sora was waiting for them.
"We are going to celebrate for Onii-chan's novel got accepted by the publishing company, right?" Suzuka, holding Haru's arm tightly, said.
"Yeah. By the way, it looks like Aunt will become the illustrator for my novel."
"Her, huh?" Suzuka made a thoughtful expression. "She came to our place with her daughter, right? Her daughter is dropped out of school because of bullying, right?"
"Yeah." Haru nodded in confirmation. He then thought about his aunt and cousin.
In truth, Haru only knew about them from his predecessor's memory and experience. From that, he assumed that his aunt was a bit perv, er, open-minded, and she liked to tease Kasugano twins to see their funny reactions. The woman was the little sister of Haru's and Sora's true mother, who had died when giving birth to them.
Both of their deceased mother and her sister actually came from Russia. Their mother had accompanied her little sister to Japan in the past because of the latter's fascination with Japan's subculture. Then, their mother met their father by chance, and they married after dating for a while.
Well, all digressions aside, let's return to the topic about Haru's and Sora's aunt and legal guardian.
She was already in her mid-thirty, and yet she seemed to be in her mid-twenties. She had a pretty face and a sensual figure. In addition to her exotic white hair and bright, blue eyes, she would make any straight, healthy man covet her.
As a matter of fact, she got abandoned by her irresponsible and cowardly boyfriend after getting pregnant. She had been taking care of her daughter as a single mother.
That woman was really something, and Haru thought that her former boyfriend was a fool to abandon a keeper like her.
Then, there was also her daughter—
'Another top-class 'Little Sister' character, huh? And if I am not wrong, she has a crush on me,' Haru was almost unable to stop his wry smile when he thought about his cousin.
Haru snapped out of his thoughts when he and Suzuka finally arrived at the restaurant. They entered the establishment and went to the private booth where Sora was waiting for them.
Sora and Suzuka greeted each other amiably, something that impossible to happen in the past. Then, they ordered food and drinks to celebrate Haru's novel, that would get published in the future. There was no alcohol because they were still underage, though.
After their orders came, Haru, Sora, and Suzuka held their glass and readied themselves for the opening of the celebration party.
"So, who is going to start it?" Suzuka asked and then looked at Haru.
Sora wordlessly gazed at Haru, silently telling him to open the celebration.
Haru acquiesced and said, "All right. For my future novel and our harmonious and peaceful life together. Cheers!"
Haru pushed his drink forward. Then, Sora and Suzuka lightly clinked their glasses with his and declared, "Cheers!"
***
[Afterword]
NOT_A_SisCOn, here~! We finally reached the end of the Volume 01: Start of A New Life!
Thinking back, well, there were many ups and downs as I wrote the first arc. In fact, I have revised the chapters several times until I became satisfied with the result.
For you who still read this fanfiction in spite of my bad habit (yes, I am self-conscious of it), I truly appreciate it!
Also, you might/mightn't know of this, but I've made up my mind to write at the minimum of 45k words in one volume.
Anyway, that word count limit came after I browsed on the internet about the standard length of novel. According to Google, the standard is 50k to 70k words.
However, according to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America that specifies word lengths for each category of its Nebula award categories, 40k words can be considered as a novel. Admittedly, I decided on 45~50k as my word count per volume. The first volume is ±47k words.
Speaking of the next volume, it will focus on a new heroine, who's Haru's Cousin!
Gasp~! Another incest there!
Well, it can't be helped since this fanfiction is that kind of story.
Anyway, that Cousin-chan will get conquered by Haru in the next chapter. But, it doesn't mean Sora and Suzuka will get pushed aside! They will have their role to play in the next arc~!
Other than that, Haru will start his new career as Novelist, who plagiarized (only us who know this truth, though) the works from his past life.
Additionally, Haru will begin creating sentient lifeforms and building a kingdom in Paradise, so be prepared for the appearance of random wild Female Characters from other series~!
So far, I want to thank mu patrons for their patronage. Your support motivated me to become better! Thank you very much!
Let's meet again in the Prologue of Volume 02, which will be released on the 5th August!