"Let's have a hotpot tonight." Mom suddenly spoke with a warm smile
Shiver
Is she sick?
"Alright." Klein continued, not questioning the sudden change in behavior
"I shall follow the great master's will" spoke Arrodes, currently in his butler form
"I'll make sure the others are home by then" spoke I spoke
[This shall be a grand feast!] Ddraig said in an excited manner, on the other hand Shiraori, Gray Reaper and the others only nodded, it would be a great time for a family bonding session—If everyone arrives in time.
[The Family] Group Chat (18 Members)
[Make sure to be home by 5PM everyone, we're having a hot pot today] Mom ❤︎ sent 10.47AM
[Alrighttttt] sent by me 11.20AM
OK sign by Sister~❤︎, Mahiru, Firefly, Amane 12.00PM
[I'll clear my schedule] sent by HOMU 14.30 PM
[I'll help.] sent by me 14.30PM
—Gaby Mochizuki
Step Step Step
"Looks like we're gonna have a family hot pot today later." Nicole said as we were walking through the forest of Japan.
"Enjoy your time" Frieren spoke as we still walked through the lush forests, the leaves they were thick and quite hot one could say but, hey, we're all used to it by now
"We'll be fine, we're not gonna take any quests today either way." Vireth said calmly
Step Step Step
"Yeah yeah, don't go have your 'fun' while Frieren's watching though" I said, trying to make the party lively
"Heyyy…" Si-Hyun said, her voice sounded embarassed, I know damn well if I looked behind me I'm gonna see those 2 blush like crazy, and Frieren? Oh She's definitely got her face right now….
Step Step Step
Well, the other me's probably gonna portal us by then… Right?
—Fuijimiya Amane
Step Step Step
"Looks like we're going to have pot today huh"
"Ohhh that's greatttt" Firefly said with a happy tone, it was going to be exciting.
"Hmmm I wonder what's it going to be…" spoke Mahiru as she fiddled with her finger
"I hope Arrodes doesn't add something weird again…"
….
"Mom's definitely gonna kill her if she tries…
"Not even Klein or Kiana can save her that's for sure…" Firefly spoke as she scratch her head slightly..
…
"True."
—Bronya Zaychik
VHOOOMM
Step
As a yellow and blackish portal formed in the front, stepping out of it was the person I once knew the most. Kiana Kaslana, the Herrscher of Finality. Well, she 'was' someone I knew but now she's changed.
Then again…
There's still some similarities between them.
"Sup~ What'cha need help with?"
"Oh Kiana? What a Coincidence~" Spoke Herta as her eyes gazed with an interested look as she usually does
"Very simple actually."
THUMP
"…"
As I placed a stack of paper in front of her, her mouth open agaped.
"These are the paperwork I need to finish today."
"…"
"Fuck." She muttered with a huge sigh, her face screaming 'I walked myself into this didn't I' then—
Snap
Instantly there were 5 Kiana's in the room, all looked identical, the only difference? they all looked, 'dead' to be exact, their eyes had no light.
"Welp, whatever I'll help, Oh yeah Herta, lemme know if you need some help for your 'experiments' later onnn"
"Alright~ come to my place laterr"
"Kayyyy"
"5's surely enough right?"
"…"
"Right?"
"You'll need to read some documents first."
THUMP
Another stack of paper was placed right beside her,
…
Now some of you may ask, why do we still use paper? We're Herta's Society, there was no need to use these kind of things anymore, but truth to be told, somethings are just to difficult to change directly.
"FUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK" Meanwhile Kiana's scream was loud, fortunately for me I had already make sure my room would be sound proof using my authority to create a noise cancelling barrier.
"Baka Kiana." What'd she expect?
—2 Hours later…
Sighhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
"Finally done…"
Thud
Her head banged on the desk, as usual she still hates such things.
"Well we're finally done now, let's head back" I said
"Finally...."
Snap
And as her portal opens, we walked through it, and greeting us was as usual, our family was waiting
"Oh you're finally back" Mom was the first to greet us as we returned,
Thud
"It's finally over…" Kiana on the hand was already sprawled in one of the chairs, acting as if she just won some sort of war, it was just some paperwork…
"Welp"
"Should I get Nicole and Gaby now?" Spoke Klein Moretti as he gave his typical smile
"Yeah you should, they need to shower and get ready after all" as soon as those words left moms an illusory door appeared and opened
—Gaby Mochizuki
SLASH
KIEEKKKKKKKKkkkkkkk
As we slaughtered another one, an illusory door suddenly appeared infront of our faces
"Well that's our queue" Nicole spoke
"Klein, you mind sending them back too?" I spoke
"Sure." He said as he appeared beside me with his typical smile, I myself have gotten quite used to this, on the other hand…
"You scared me." Sister, has not.
Step Step Step
Creakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
Thud.
After passing through the first thing I saw was the other me sprawled tired in one of the chairs with Bronya only going 'Tsk Tsk' and muttering, it was just some 'paper work' Yeah… Paperwork with a workaholic? definitely not a fun experience…
"Oh you guys are back great, now go take a shower—Gavin help me cut these veggies" Mom spoke with haste as I could hear her doing some things in the kitchen already
"Alrightttt" Gavin's voice echoed from the kitchen.
"Here's your towel" spoke the other me as she teleported a green tower right on top of my face, which I catch without missing a beat of course.
Step Step Step
"I'll go first then"
"alrighttt"
—Later
Drip
Step Step
"I'm done sissss"
"Alrightttt"
Step Step Step
Creakkkkk
The door to my room opened quietly as I stepped inside, still drying my hair with the towel wrapped around my head.
Click.
I closed the door behind me.
I tossed the towel onto the chair before walking toward the mirror.
My hair was still damp, the long silver strands sticking together and reaching almost all the way down my back. It was cold to say the least
"Ugh…"
Grab
Vrrrrrrrrrrr—
As the familiar sound filled the room with the hair dryer turned on, slowly I ran my fingers through my hair while drying it, occasionally stopping to untangle some particularly stubborn strands. How did I ever get used to having this much hair?
Back then, I could barely be bothered to take care of my own hair.
Now?
If I don't properly dry it, it'll become a complete mess.
—After a whileee
Vrrrrrrrrrrr—
"...There."
My hair finally settled over my shoulders and down my back, smooth and almost completely dry.
"… I'm too lazy for make up right now…" I'll just get a random shirt and use it, I thought to myself as I opened my wardrobe, only to realize.
I only had adventuring clothes and those that take a lot of effort to use…
…
"Other me, you there?"
"Yeah yeah, this shirt should work, don't forget your inner wear though" as usual she knew what I was gonna ask before I even said a thing
Rustle Rustle
"Done."
Click
Creakkk
Step Step Step
"Oh you guys are back?"
"Yep, schools tiring as usual" Amane said with a sigh
"Especially when you have 2 beauties always being with you no~?" I said trying to tease him only to get a glare in return.
"Well better shower now, Mom's gonna get mad if you're late." I said while pointing at the clock, it showed 4.50 PM
"Hmph."
Step Step Step
It didn't take long for most of us to be ready. well Except for 3 peoples.
"Where the hell are Kiana and Klein at." Mom was starting to lose her patience
"Kanade's room." spoke Shiraori as Gray Reaper only nodded
"I'll go get them." I said as I stood up and walked through our hallways, it didn't take long for me to stand infront of her room, door slightly open, with a slight glow obviously coming from her monitor.
Creakkkk
As the door opened, the first thing I saw were both the other me and Klein just calmly sitting as they waited for Kanade to wake up, she must've been composing till dawn or something…
"If you don't wake her up, mom's gonna go kill you both you know." I spoke, as the 2 of them instantly made way for me to wake her up
Shake Shake
"Mmmmmmm…."
"Kanade… wake up, we're gonna have a hot pot now"
"Nnngh… Okay…." Still rubbing her sleepy eyes as she sat down on her chair
Snap
"Done, clean." spoke the other me as I had already started walking back to our living room, where we're going to have our hot pot of course.
A Huge Kotatsu round table.
The table was already surrounded by cushions, with a large steaming pot sitting right in the middle.
"Everyone sit down! The food's ready!" Mom's voice echoed through the room.
Step Step Step
I immediately took my usual spot.
"Finally." Kiana practically threw herself onto one of the cushions.
"You've been complaining about being hungry for the past thirty minutes."
"I've suffered enough today."
"You did paperwork."
"Exactly."
"You're acting as if wiping an entire place is far easier then doing a little bit of paper work." I spoke trying to cheer the other me up, only to realize… yeahhh…
…
"Wiping the entire world would probably be easier for you huh."
Nod Nod
Thud
Mom placed another plate onto the table. There were some Thinly sliced beef. Mushrooms of different kinds, like Enoki's, Shiitake's, button's, so on there were also some bean sprouts, Tofu's and—Hold up.
"We're using Sambal?"
"It's not something you have to add, only if you need a little 'kick' to your broth" Mom said with a grin as she placed a huge bottle of Sambal, before continuing to add more of the ingridients, a couple of which include
Chinese cabbages, Fish balls, some pork, Gyoza's—Wait Gyoza?
…
"We're just adding everything we can from the fridge" spoke the Little Brat AKA Gavin.
"I see."
[This shall be a grand feast!] Ddraig spoked, his voice filled with excitement, yet a question for me.
How would he eat with us?
Snap
Out of no where a tall, imposing man with messy crimson or bright red hair, sharp emerald-green eyes, with battle-scarred skin appeared.
"Thank you Kiana" from it, Ddraig's voice could be heard.
"Don't mention it"
Splash Splash
I could hear mom placing more stuff in the hot pot
"More Chinese cabbages…"
Plop.
"Fish balls…"
Plop Plop.
"Some stuff tofu's…"
Plop.
"And some pork."
"Mom, you're really just throwing everything in there."
"It's a family hot pot. There's no rules."
"… You're right"
Klein quietly placed several dipping sauces onto the table.
Soy sauce.
Sesame sauce.
Chili oil.
And, naturally—
"Kecap manis?"
"Someone likes it." I looked around the table. Nobody said anything.
…
The smell was already spreading throughout the room, filling the entire house with warmth. Everyone had finally gathered and sat together. Truth to be told, it was a weird mix. There was a Chinese feel, a little bit of Japan, and somehow Indonesia too.
And somehow, this strange combination felt completely normal.
Then again, it's our hot pot.
"Is it ready now?" Ddraig asked his tone getting even more impatient
"Almost." Mom smiled as she finally placed the last ingredient into the bubbling broth.
BOILLLLLLLLL—BLUP BLUP BLUP
The entire table went quiet for a moment.
Stareee
Then—
"Alright." Mom picked up her chopsticks.
"Let's eat."
CLINK.