It took nearly the rest of the semester for life to go back to normal for Erich. And the only reason this had happened, was because the government of the Germanic Star-Empire had come out and made a public statement saying that they had investigated the claims regarding Erich's alleged act of racial disgrace, and found that he had in reality committed no wrongdoing.
This was shocking to Erich, because he had one hundred percent slept with Yumi the night he first moved to Germania to attend the Naval Academy. And if the government truly investigated the matter, it would be easy for them to convict him.
Clearly, there was someone in a position of power looking after Erich, and he knew for a fact that it was not his father. There were only a handful of people in the Empire who could bury his crimes, and each of them was a terrifying presence that he did not want to associate with.
Little did Erich know that his little stunt in the simulator had caught the attention of the Grand Admiral himself, who was willing to overlook a simple act of youthful indiscretion when it was committed by such a promising young talent.
When the semester ended, and Erich received his grades, he was pleasantly surprised that he had maintained his flawless marks in all subjects. Though, in order to accomplish this, he was forced to work harder than he had ever done so in his life. As a result of his efforts, Erich was now at the rank of a Cadet Captain, and stood proudly at number thirteen on the leaderboard.
Erich was officially halfway through his years at the naval academy, and by the time fall began next year, he would graduate before entering the most elite school the Empire had at its disposal. That was assuming he managed to maintain his current position on the leaderboard, or even improved it.
After saying a particularly lighthearted farewell to his friends, Erich boarded a starship, which would take him back to his homeworld of Alemannia, where he would spend the holidays with his family, who he had not seen for almost an entire year.
However, this time he did not have a chance encounter with a foreign beauty. Instead, Erich sat next to a group of Germanic citizens who immediately recognized him for being the mutant who had caused such controversy over these last few months.
Despite their taunts, Erich did not respond to his fellow passengers, and instead thought deeply about how this past year at the Academy had gone for him. He had met several friends, who he could already tell would be amongst his social circle until the day he finally died.
As unreliable as Dolph, Karl, and Fredrik could be, they were still a good group of guys and were unlikely to suffer a permanent death during their military careers. Something which could not be said for Erich, whose supremely dangerous role in the Navy, would put him at such a risk quite often. Especially if he was forced to fight beyond the range of the Empire's Interstellar Network.
After a particularly grueling journey back to Alemannia, Erich accessed the first taxi available, which drove him back to his parent's home. Where immediately upon entering the building, he was glomped by his mother, who was beyond happy to see that her son was doing so well for himself.
"Erich, you are finally home at last! I missed you so much! Did you miss mommy as well?"
Erich had never seen his mother behave this way before, and he got the feeling that she was deeply worried about the attention he had gathered on the grid, especially after Erika had reposted the photo he took with Yumi in what seemed like a lifetime ago.
However, he was quick to assure the woman that he was fine, after all, he was used to being harassed by the public, and all they could really do was say mean words to him over the grid, which had no effect whatsoever on his mental state. In all honesty, Erich could not fathom what kind of sensitive sissy would get so offended by such nonsense.
"I'm fine, mother, and yes, before you start pouting, I missed you. Why wouldn't I? You are practically the only person in this universe who actually cares about me!"
Krista had a warm smile on her face as she hugged her eldest son tightly in her arms. These were exactly the words she wanted to hear and was quick to voice her agreement with them.
"And don't you forget it. Now come, I have prepared all your favorite meals while I waited for your arrival. I can only imagine what kind of cheap food they feed you all at the academy!"
His mother's words were a bit harsh. The reality was there was nothing wrong with the food served at the Naval Academy. It was mostly healthy and tasted great. Though nothing could beat his mother's home cooking, at least not so far as Erich was concerned, and thus he smiled as he followed the woman into the dining room, where he saw that his father was sitting at the head of the table, by himself with a rather stern expression on his face.
Upon seeing that her husband clearly intended to speak with their son in private, Krista took the hint, and fled to the kitchen after leaving some parting words.
"Oh, I just remembered the spaetzle is still in the oven. I'll leave you two alone while I go fetch it!"
Though Erich did not want to speak with his father, he realized he had no choice but to do so, and thus quickly sat down at the table with a particularly loathsome expression on his otherwise handsome face as he spoke to his father in a rather informal manner.
"Go ahead, get on with it. I doubt mother is willing to wait forever for you to begin your little scolding…"
Henrich looked at his errant son as if he was looking at a criminal, and could only click his tongue for several minutes, as if to audibly display the disdain he felt for his son at this moment before finally speaking in a voice filled with hatred.
"You have a lot of nerve, you know that? After everything I have done for you over the years, you repay me by fucking some alien slut on the day you were supposed to report to the academy. Do you have any idea of the trouble you have caused me? I can pretty much say goodbye to becoming an over sector governor within the next century thanks to your actions.
The only reason your atoms haven't already been scattered across the universe is because the woman you slept with was the aunt of the Oni Emperor. And she went out of her way to make sure you weren't punished for your actions. Which is more than I can say for most of the idiots she seduces.
Normally, this would have been the end of things, but you just had to post a photo of the two of you together in a way that made it seem like the two of you were fucking. Do you have any idea the flak I got from my superiors because that image of you went viral? I can't believe they haven't executed you already, I do not know what kind of powerful friends you have made at the Naval Academy, but you better watch your back from now on, because the favor he showed you, by burying the evidence of your crime, is the kind of debt you do not want to have.
You are, without a doubt, my greatest failure in life, and unfortunately, I have the ultimate displeasure of being your father. I want you to go back to the academy, and never show your face around here again. I will no longer allow you into my home after what you have done. You are an utter disgrace to our race and are no son of mine!"
Krista was secretly listening into the conversation, and was utterly flabbergasted by what she had heard. She knew that her son was rather fond of Oni women, something she had gone to great lengths to conceal from her husband. But she had never believed that her boy would be foolish enough to actually act on those wicked desires.
Nor did she expect that her husband would go to such lengths to punish their son for his crimes against the Empire. The poor woman was in tears, knowing that this was perhaps the last time she would ever see her eldest son. And thus, she rushed forward out of the kitchen, and clutched a dumbstruck Erich into her breast.
"Oh Erich, what have you done?"
It took several moments for Erich to realize that he had just effectively been disowned by his parents, and no matter how much his mother loved him, she was honor bound to obey her husband. Thus, she could only cry and hug her son while comforting him over the fact that he had just lost his family.
No longer welcomed in his own home, Erich quickly picked up his bags and left the scene without even saying another word to his parents. He then climbed into the nearest taxi, and took the next flight back to Germania, where he would spend the rest of his winter vacation alone in his dorm room.
For the entire duration of his flight, Erich stared into space, completely dumbfounded by the fact that his parents had disowned him. As much as he knew that his father had always despised him for being a mutant, he thought that the bond they shared as a family was strong enough to overcome that. Apparently, he had misjudged his father, who cared more about his political career, and his public image, then he did for his own son.
If he was being honest with himself, losing his father and siblings was not something that Erich truly cared about, at least not after thinking about it for some time in silence. No, what tore his heart apart was the fact that he had just lost his mother, who was perhaps the only person in the universe who actually cared about him.
Thus, after arriving at his dorm on Germania, and staring into space while taking a shower for what seemed to be a lifetime, Erich climbed into his bed and activated the grid. Honestly, he did not know what had come over him in the hour of his grief, but in his bewildered state he sent a direct message to someone who he had never spoken to before in his life, someone who hated his guts almost as much as his father.
---
Erika had just gotten out of the bath and was dressed in nothing but a towel, which barely concealed her voluptuous figure. She had a pretty smile on her face as she dried her hair and applied her makeup. Never in a million years would she anticipate what was about to happen to her.
A direct message appeared in Erika's social media while she was dressing up her hair in a ponytail, which she immediately noticed. Thinking that perhaps it was her manager, she quickly opened the chat to see that it was from someone she was all too familiar with, but had never spoken to in the past.
"I hope you are happy with yourself… I don't know what I have ever done to make you hate me with such zeal, but because of you, I have officially been disowned. You will never know what it is like to be in my position, nor do I think you are remotely capable of the most basic form of empathy. But allow me to explain to you my situation, in the vain hope that you might learn from your actions and become a better person in the future.
Since the day I was born, there has only ever been one person who has showed me any kindness that was beyond superficial, and now, thanks to you, I will never speak with her again. I have no one, and within a year, I will enter military service, where I will be risking my life so that pampered little girls like you can continue to live your carefree lives.
So by all means, enjoy your victory, for you have effectively ruined my life, and yet despite my many hours of soul searching, I can't think of what I have ever done to deserve this. Goodbye Erika, I hope we never meet in this life. Because I can't imagine what I would do to you if I ever saw you in person…."
Despite the fact that she had emerged victorious in her one-sided vendetta, Erika did not feel the slightest bit happy about this outcome. She had never once thought about the possible outcomes of her actions. After all, she was a teenage girl who was simply venting the frustrations she had with her condition by attacking someone similar to herself. It was never supposed to be anything serious.
But now, after realizing the damage she had caused, the teenage idol felt as if there was a black hole in her chest, one which was constantly sucking the life out of her. She was just about to respond to Erich's message in an attempt to redeem herself when a knock resounded on her door.
"Erika! What are you doing in there? You have five minutes before it is show time! Hurry up!"
Knowing that she had a concert to perform, the pink-haired beauty turned off her notifications, and finished getting dressed, before fulfilling her responsibilities as an up-and-coming idol. However, the guilt she felt in that moment had not vanished, and all she could do was mask the pain with a pretty smile and flirtatious gaze.