Beyond The Star Sea

Ah, so she wanted to know more about Joseph and Jotaro. Fair enough, since it would probably be a while until they wandered back home. Well then...

"Well, they're twins, fraternal, not identical," said Nerine, taking out her phone/communicator. Flipping through the pictures, she eventually came to the one she was searching for, and she handed it to Sumia. "This is them, with... a friend they made. I guess." She actually had no idea who it was, but knowing those two...



"They're adrenaline junkies, as I said, but good people--"

"Uncle Josheph and Jotaro always bring me really neat presents when they show up!" interjected the young molzon halfbreed sitting next to Nerine.

"...yeah, they'll usually have something interesting to give everyone when they come back from their little trips. Not... always useful stuff, but it's the thought that counts." Really, everyone would be perfectly OK with just the knowledge that they're still safe and sound. Sometimes they just dropped off the radar, worrying everyone else in the family.

"As for their personalities... well, they're the classic fire and ice duo. Joseph is a bit brash, hot-headed, and forward, while Jotaro is more thoughtful and reserved." They did clash, sometimes, but always made up quickly. "And, finally, in a fight, both are ki users. Individually, they're... strong, but together they're more than than the sum of their parts. Lots of dual techniques, as you'd expect."

The succubus paused for a moment. "...oh, and, uh... they can fuse into one being for half an hour with a certain dance. It's... actually something from a fictional series back home, and when they realized that things from that fictional series exist in this reality, they tried it and... yeah, it worked." Another pause. "...sort of. Their first few attempts resulted in... uh... something that was decidedly less than the sum of its parts."

That was interesting, she wouldn't mind meeting them one of these days when they finally got back to from their recent adventures. The universe could be a very dangerous place but if the two were remotely as strong as Arkay they would be more then a match for most of the beings and things they encountered.

The fusion part did give her pause, or rather the 'fictional' part throwing her a bit off guard. Sumia knew it was a thing but it was always jarring to hear that something you took for granted was just the works of fiction in another Multiverse. Of course, it did range a decent amount of questions of why? Certainly it was a very big and odd coincidence.

Unless it was some practical in joke between creator beings.

"Ah. I have heard of the fusion dance and seen it a few times. The results of a botched fusion are something else." Sumia always found those funny as the results were pretty much always more on the comical side of things. "It sounds like Carlie's brother probably get along with the both of them. He's a Ki user too, but not sure if their style is similar since there are different ways. Not nearly as strong though, if things Arkay said about people from his home are to go by."

Sumia'd seen the fusion dance in action? That was... surprising, given that, as far as she knew, it was a rare thing even here. Not that she was really an expert on the matter. "Huh, I guess Arky was right about you being well-traveled."

"Heehee, I bet Shumia has a lot of fun stories to tell!"

"Yep, sounds like it."

The bit about Carlie's brother being a ki-user was... well, not surprising. Ki use was pretty common, as far as superhuman powers went. Just like back home, actually. Though, again, she wasn't an expert, so she couldn't say for certain. "We'll have to send them his way once they get back. I'm sure they'll get along great."

At that moment, a woman came down the stairs, eyes half-closed and her hair extremely disheveled--it was clear that she'd just woken up. Glancing around the living room sleepily, she... seemingly overlooked Sumia.

"Aunty Shumire, you're awake!" said Hisako

The woman mumbled... what was presumably a response. Oh yes, definitely still groggy.

"Coffee's in the kitchen, as usual... Shumi," said Nerine, using an abbreviated form of Hisako's mispoken name for the elder Schneider sister. "Breakfast too, of course... though, as usual, it's more like brunch at this point."

The woman mumbled a response that sounded vaguely like 'thanks' and then meandered, slowly and a bit unsteadily, into the kitchen to have her liquid energy and brunch.

Nerine shook her head and turned back to Sumia. "...Sumire's not really a morning person, as you may have noticed. Some coffee and food should fix that... a bit."

"I wish I could sleep in as long as Aunty Shumire...." added Hisako.

Sumia was tickled by Hisasko's take on her name, it was cute, really. She briefly wondered what some of the other names she'd adorably butcher in her attempt to say them. Hisasko seemed to be a very bright little girl, which wasn't too surprising considering she was half Mozlon. Arkay had said the people from his world had absurd power growth, so she pondered briefly if any of that passed down to Hisasko.

Not that she'd want the little one to fight. Hopefully she wouldn't; but it was a path in life she may choose.

Sumire came down before too long, stumbling across the way as it was obvious she was barely aware of where she was. Definitely not a morning person, as Nerine noted. Maybe she'd like some of her special tea for that? Though too soon and it seemed she had something to wake herself up.

Her gaze turned back to Hisasko as she smiled. "I have plenty of stories I could tell you Hisasko." Part true; many would have to be edited and some she couldn't say but there were definitely stories she could tell the little one. "If you'd like I could share some with you."

Hisako smiled widely at the mention of stories and she excitedly scurried over her aunt to get closer to Sumia. "Yay, that sounds fun! Tell me how you first joined the sisters!"

Nerine shook her head, smiling, and leaned into the couch. Hisako was at that age where her interests changed constantly, so, in all likelihood, this desire to join those Sisters of Mercy would pass in a few weeks or months. Or... not. It wouldn't be good for anyone's blood pressure, but Hisako, once she was an adult, deciding to use her powers for the sake of good would make Arky--and herself--proud as hell.

Meandering out of the kitchen, half-awake and carrying what looked to be carrying a reheated breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast, Sumire plopped down where Hisako had been sitting, placing her food and drink on the table. Nerine quickly slipped a coaster under the coffee so it didn't do damage to the wooden finish.

Sumire regarded Sumia groggily. "...huhhh, when did we get a maid?"

Nerine laughed. "Shumi, this is Sumia. She's... well, I guess she might help with maid-like duties, but Arky hired her to help with Hisako. This is her first day, so you didn't overlook her or anything."

The older woman was silent for a moment and continued to regard Sumia. "Oh. Uh, well, I'm--" A yawn interrupted her introduction. "--Sumire. I, uh, do work for the police. I don't actually work for them, just, uh, with."

"Shhh. Aunty Shumi, you're not letting Shumia tell her story!" said Hisako, her ears flattening against her head in annoyance.

"Mm," came Sumire's reply, as she acquiesced to her niece's desire to hear the newcomer's story. Instead of talking, she focused on getting herself fueled up for another day of... whatever.

Sumia smiled softly, thinking of a story she could tell that Hisasko would find interesting as well as be something what entertaining to Nerine and Sumire since they were there along for the ride. She decided to go a bit about her recruitment which had some interesting twist but otherwise somewhat mundane with how it came about.

 "...That's about the gist of it. I was really glad I stumbled upon it when I did."  Sumia finished as she sipped more of her drink. "You said you're part of the police right Sumire? If you don't mind me asking what made you decide to join?"

The three listened to the story. Well... Sumire wasn't all there at first, so she half-listened while fueling herself up. Nerine found the story interesting, but ultimately rather... mundane? Not that there was anything wrong with that.

Hisako, however, listened intently, hanging on Sumia's every word. She was, after all, a child, and thus somewhat easily amused, but it was also because she'd developed an interest in the Sisters and wanted to join them someday.

As the story concluded, Hisako pumped her fist. "Hehe, I'm totally gonna join the Sisters now. Oh, oh, tell another story, like, how..."

She was silenced by Nerine patting her on the head. "She asked Shumi a question, Hisako. Let your aunt answer before you squeeze more stories out of her."

Pouting for a moment, Hisako relented and leaned back. "Ok, Aunty..."


Sumire was mostly-awake now, and was in fact just finishing off her coffee. "Not with. I just do... contract work. Mostly, uh..." She hesitated.

"Don't worry. She already knows. Kiiinda let it slip," said Nerine.

Sumire shot her a look that said 'Really?', but her annoyance was pushed aside by a heavy sigh. "Fine... since someone can't keep secrets, you obviously know I'm a Necromancer. I help the police by talking to dead people--murder victims, mostly--and they pay me. Though they also call me in when they need someone to deal with magic, curses, and shit like that." She paused for a beat. "...or if they need heavy artillery, I guess."


"She might not look it, but Aunty Shumire is really strong! Even stronger than Uncles JoJo," interjected Hisako, referring to Joseph and Jotaro with a... weird, yet accurate nickname.

"...might not look it...?" Well, no one in their family looked strong, but... no, no, she was just a kid. No use getting butthurt about it.

Considering necromancers didn't have the best of reputation even here in this universe, Sumia could completely understand Sumire's reluctance and annoyance of her secret being out. Truth be told, she had never ran into a necromancer that wasn't of at least questionable character. To also be fair on that note, she didn't know all so exceptions to the rule, much less from another Multiverse.

"Interesting. I may not look it, but I'm strong in my own right Hisasko." Said, amused at the young girl's reply. Though the other part interested her. "Going by what you said, I assume either your necromancer powers are bit different from those here, or you have something else. When I think of necromancers, raw power, at least here, isn't what comes to mind. It's more utility."

Hisako smiled widely at Sumia. "That's what Papa said about you. That you were a lot stronger than you looked! I can't wait to see what sorts of cool things you can do in a fight."

Chuckling, Nerine ruffled the girl's hair. "I think it'd be better if you didn't have to see that sort of thing, Hisa. Little kids shouldn't be anywhere near fights."

"...I won't be little forever, aunty. And I just wanna see what sort of powers bio-droids have," replied Hisako.

Sumire, at this moment, chose to add her two cents to the conversation. "They've got a few abilities, but their signature is... built-in weaponry, as I recall. Guns, melee weapons... even explosives, I think.  I also think it varies from person to person? Ehh, well, you'd have to bug Sumia for the exact details, Little Missy Hissy."

Sumire cleared her throat and moved on to Sumia's question. "And you'd be right. Necromancers, even back home, are more about utility and versatility. You're also correct in that I've picked up a few more... brutish spells. My greatest talent might be in the, er, dark arts--to be dramatic about it--but I'm pretty talented at all sorts of magic, and, uh... direct methods of conflict resolution are useful to have, sometimes."

She paused for a moment, then added: "Magical capability is really common in our family... which I guess makes sense with all the demon and youkai blood we have. Our ancestors really weren't... picky, if you get my drift. Sometimes, one of those ancestries is strong enough to force a change in species. Neri had that happen with her succubus blood, though she's... like, the least succubus-like succubus ever."


Nerine closed her eyes and sighed. "I've just got reaaally good self-control, Shumi. If you knew half the stuff I was thinking, you'd probably faint."

"...whatever you say, Neri," replied Sumire, shrugging half-heartedly.

Sumia decided to add just a bit more, for Hisasko's sake as far as her powers went. "Sumire is right. For myself I have about four weapons like pretty much all my kind, with a few exceptions. Let's see..I have some revolvers, a rifle, daggers and a really big canon." Hisasko may want to see one day with how excitable she was but she had no intention of showing anything just yet.

When the sibling banter came between Sumire and Nerine, she didn't jump in or add her two cents though she did of course listen. The last turn of the conversation limited the scope, at least with Hisasko there present at the current time. Maybe later.

A slight change of subject and to keep Hisasko's little mind busy, Sumia turned to them smiling. "So what do you like to do for fun?"

"Besides going on adventures? Mmm... oh!" In a flash, she was up and made her way to a nearby display case, taking up a 'look at this!' stance once she reached it. "I like to make figurines and models!"

"Papa thought it'd good for practicing, um, small movements with my telekinesis," she said, taking out a... rather shoddily-crafted figurine. "Thish one was my first, and it's so bad I hate it. I don't know why papa doesn't just toss it out!"



Replacing her first figuring, she took out a much more finely-crafted one. It was far superior to her first work--expertly constructed and with nary a mistake in the paintjob. She held it out for all--Sumia, mostly--to see. It was a white elephant with a butterfly motif. "This one I jusht finished , and I only had to paint it. There's a butterfly on his nose, and normal elephant colors are boring, so I made his ears look like butterfly wings, hehe!"

The figurine lacked the finesse of someone who did it for a living or a dedicated hobby though even so it was easy to tell little Hisasko had put a lot of her heart and pride into it. If she kept at it at this pace Sumia didn't doubt she'd be quite good at it as she got older. Even further along, she could turn that talent into some way to make money but that was getting ahead of herself.

Maybe Hisasko would be into knitting? It didn't sound terribly exciting but she did seem to express some interest in crafts and arts, even if it was just sculptures. "That's a beautiful start Hisasko, if you keep at it you'll improve and even make money off it. If that's what you want to do. Speaking of.."

She pulled out what seemed to be a rather small shirt, obviously for someone younger it was red and had some pattern around it. "Would you be interested in making clothes? I know how to knit, and if you want I could begin to teach you. It might be fun to wear clothes you made one day, or others to."

Hisako cocked her head. "Knit? Isn't that something granniesh usually do?"

Nearby, Sumire snorted at her niece's... lack of filter.

The young half-Molzon's ears flicked as she thought about it. "Buuut... someday I'll probably be a granny, so if I learn now, I won't have to play catch-up when I'm trying to make scarves and... shtuff for my grandkids!"

Nerine chuckled and shook her head. Precocious or not, Hisako was still a kid and had a pretty simple thought process... mostly. Sometimes she could surprise ya'.

Sumia didn't take offense tot it, laughing pleasantly in response. "Yes it is, but other people can enjoy it too. I might not look it, but did you know I'm old enough to be your granny? I'm older then everyone in this room." She wasn't ashamed of the fact, and to be honest she never got the whole 'never ask the age of a woman' some women had. It varied on species to species, but to her personally it just meant you were living long enough to gain more wisdom.

Most of the time.

"But..." The older woman thought, pausing to be a bit dramatic. "Another thing we can work one day is cooking but it'll have to wait until you're a bit older. Still, you like cookies?" She glanced at Nerine and Sumire. "Assuming its all right for Nerine and Sumire that is."

Nerine shrugged. "As long as you don't feed her enough sugar to have her bouncing off the walls, cookies are okay. Aaand about the cooking thing..." She got up, removing her PDA from its resting place in her pocket, flipping through her picture album as she approach Sumia. "Ah! There it is."

Holding out the device, Sumia would see a picture of Arkay and Hisako, well, cooking. In contrast to the sharply-dressed 'business Arkay', in this picture he was dressed rather casually--just a t-shirt, jeans, and... a pink frilly apron. Hisako was standing on a step-stool, wearing a similar (and similarly large) apron, and evidently having made something of a mess, judging from the bits of cooking ingredients on the girl's face. Still, it was a cute picture, with the photographer having caught them in the midst of smiling and laughing.

"Snapped just a few days ago. Whenever he's home, Arky does the cooking, and Hisako's usually right there with him," said Nerine.

"Papa's a really good cook! And so is Aunty Neri!" added Hisako.

"Oh, I'm not that good. Arky's way better, and I'd bet Sumia here is at least as good as he is." Though she did usually handle the cooking when Arky was away, so she wasn't bad, by any means. Better than Sumire, at least... which was weird, because Sumire used to be the best cook in the family. Then she just sort of... got rusty. "Anyway, I'm sure Hisako would be delighted to... further her cooking education."


"And eat cookies!"

"--and eat cookies," confirmed her aunt, chuckling.


"...what sort of cookies?" asked Sumire.

From what Arkay had told Sumia earlier, she had gotten the first impression Hisasko would be much more quite and reserved. Instead of a more withdrawn girl she instead found one that was much more outgoing and excitable from what she saw so far. It wasn't a bad thing but it was a reminder of how parents saw a child and how others did were a bit different.

A small smile formed again at the answers, no one could resist cookies. Except for those people she honestly didn't understand. "I was thinking Oatmeal cookies as it was one of my favorites growing up. It's from earth and we really didn't have anything like that naturally so it was a treat."

She got up from her spot to head into the kitchen, eyes giving a brief glance of what was around and what she could use. "It's that or chocolate chip. Do you three have a preference?

Sumia had tried to call Galan to ask him something but he never picked up, so he was likely busy and get back to her later.

"I love oatmeal cookies! Love, love, love!" said Hisako, trailing behind Sumia, with Verina and Nerine--who was carrying Sumire's dishes--bring up the rear. Verina plopped down near the table, not able to fit under it like a normal dog... unless she were to decide to wear it as some sort of deranged canine fashion statement, which she thankfully did not.

Cookies in general weren't really that healthy, but Oatmeal ones were at least a bit healthier... and usually less sugar-packed. And that meant Hisako would be less likely to get even more hyperactive... though at the moment, she was a fair bit more energetic than usual, since she'd just woken up and was in 'meeting someone new' mode. The succubus busied herself with placing the dirty dishes in the washer and, once that was done, helping Sumia track down what she needed.

"Should have everything you need..." she said, standing on her tippy-toes to try and see inside a high cupboard.

"Don't forget the walnuts!" said Hisako.

"...ah, right, Hisako really loves walnuts in oatmeal cookies. Well, she likes walnuts in general." A mixed blessing... they were definitely healthy, but walnuts were expensive even on planets where they were grown, let alone space stations where they had to be imported. Not that money was really an issue for this family, but still...

The kitchen itself was... cozy and rather traditional. Yes, there were modern appliances here and there, but the style was definitely older and Earth-based. Which should surprise no one, since the family came from Earth. Well, an Earth.

While her aunt and Sumia got things together, Hisako hurried away, returning with several aprons. One for her, Nerine, and Sumia. "Here!"

Nerine shook her head. "Nah, I'm gonna be sitting this one out... kinda tired." She knew the reason, but it really wasn't something she could do anything about. Best to just sit down--which she did--and watch how Sumia handled herself in the kitchen. Her guess was 'pretty damn good'.

From out in the family room, Sumire's voice rang out. "I'm gonna go take a shower and then catch up on some... reading. I'll come out when the cookies are done."


"Shower and video games, gotcha," replied Nerine, teasingly. And entirely seriously.

Hisako, meanwhile, was hard at work... snacking on some of the walnuts her aunt had gotten out, crushing the shells with a quick burst of telekinetic force--crack, crack, crack--to get to the bounty within. It seemed that Nerine had not been joking when she mentioned her niece's love of walnuts.

Sumia graciously accepted the apron from the young half Molzon, she certainly seemed to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm for helping cook around the kitchen. Probably a combination of the young phase where many children wanted to help, her own personality and then of course, the prospect of cookies which she loved.

Verina was too big to fit under the table she had noticed, which was no surprise given how big the breed of dog was. When Carlie introduced herself to them she would be Very curious of what exactly the Rish Sheppard was saying considering her power and how intelligent Rish were. This one in particular seemed a bit even more so, but she may of been over thinking small things.

In the background, Hisasko was hard at work so it was time for her to do the same.

She grabbed a bowl and other ingredients as she began putting them together, at the same time she was talking to her remaining guest. "Put them in here Hisasko, it'll help get us started."

Hisako stopped cracking and snacking the walnuts and instead just got to cracking. Once she'd gotten them out of their shells, she put the walnuts in the bowl as Sumia told her to She gave the older bio-droid woman a wide smile. "Hehe, I can't wait to taste your cookies! And not just normally, but..."

Hisako paused. "Um, well, a lot of Molzon can pick up on the chef's feelings when they eat, so it adds a..." Another pause. "...I don't know. But there's a big difference. Even the good cookies from the store taste... off because they're not made by people." It wasn't really something that someone without psychic powers could understand easily.

Looking around, Hisako noticed that they'd forgotten an ingredient, but she knew exactly where it was! Beginning to heft herself up on the counter to get it from waaay up top, she soon found herself being lifted upwards... by Verina's head. Side-by-side, the dog's gargantuan side in comparison to its charge really stood out... though it was clearly extremely gentle with the girl, as well as watchful.

"Ehe, thanks Veri!" said Hisako as she got the ingredient. Verina lowered her head, and Hisako, once she could hopped off and put the ingredient in the bowl. Verina silently returned to her resting position near the table, keeping one eye on the pair.

"So, what other sorts of foods do you like, Shumia? Are there any foods that only bio-droids can eat? Or... drinksh?"

The small back and forth between Hisasko and Verina warmed Sumia's heart, she could of already tell before that the two were extremely close. The part about Molzon's was actually something she hadn't heard before as far as getting a general feeling of things they eat. It wasn't too surprising though since she hadn't encountered as many of their kind in person and while she was certainly well traveled there were little things here and there she missed.

"Other sorts of food? Hm.." Sumia tapped her chin a bit. "There are a lot of foods I like Hisako. Pizza is one of them far as junk food, then lasagna is another. There are some foods and drinks only we can eat or drink, something that comes to mind is red ice. It's Not real ice, but a sort of drink, I guess. It taste good but most normal organics can't drink it. Do you like those two Hisasko? It's something else I could make for you later."

"Mmmhm, I love pizza!" said Hisako as she attended to her portion of the cookie-making duties. For such a young child, she actually seemed to be... decent in the kitchen. "But it's not alwaysh junk food... papa knowsh this pizza recipe that doesn't have all the greash and... other bad stuff that pizzas usually have in them. He and Neri and Shumire are really super-careful about my diet."

She paused. "I used to get jealous of other kidsh whose parents let them eat as much candy as they want, but those kids got toothaches and cavities and I stopped thinking that. Hehe, and I know that papa always does what's best for me, so I listen to him and eat my veggies, even if they taste yucky!"

For a moment, Hisako went silent, and the next time she spoke, some of the usual energy in her voice had subdued. "...though I wish papa didn't have to work so much..."

"Trust me, Hissy, Arky feels the same way," said Nerine. In truth, everyone felt that way. Or at least wish he worked a less risky job. But... still, he enjoyed it, made very good money--especially considering his lack of significant overhead--and could honestly retire comfortably now. "He was actually planning on retiring after his last job, but when, ah... Carlie, was it, contacted him initially, he... got one of those 'feelings' he sometimes gets. A sort of 'I need to do this' feeling."

"Carlish is a reporter, right? What's she like?" Her papa had mostly told her about Sumia during their conversation last night, since it was more... related to her. "She's an Acornian, right? I have some Acornian classmates... though one of them is a big meany and makes fun of my ears and tail."

Her cheeks puffed up in a cute pout. "...so stupid. He has animal earsh and a tail, too! And fur!"

Sumia was pretty charmed so far by how excitable and full of energy Hisasko was hard not to like overall so far. She was very intelligent and well spoken as well which was a given considering she was half Molzon, her father side might even contribute in some way for all she knew. How much did she really know about his family line? Not as much, at least just starting.

The older woman smiled a bit Hisasko curiously asking Carlie. "Carlie is, hm.." She thought of how best to explain it to a small child though in these cases it was best to keep it simple. "She's a very nice young woman, pretty smart too and easy going. I've known Carlie since she was your age Hisasko."

Information about her classmate and Hisasko's cute pout got her to giggle slightly. "I see. He sounds like a bit of a bully, or maybe he likes you but doesn't know how to express it. Why don't you tell me a bit about your friends at school?"

Hisako said nothing in response to Sumia asking about her friends at school. In fact, she'd stopped moving entirely and seemed... off, as if she were recalling a bad memory.

The snap of a finger broke the uneasy silence--Nerine's doing. Hisako, jolted from her thoughts, turned to her aunt.

"Hissy, the mail should be here. Be a dear and go get it for me?"

"Oh, um... yeah," said Hisako, with considerably less energy than before. With Verina in tow, she left the kitchen.

Waiting until Hisako was out of earshot, Nerine leaned against the counter and glanced as Sumia. "Kind of touched upon a sore subject there... she's not just dealing with that one acorian kid, but... others, including some she'd considered friends. Happened real suddenly--if I had to guess, she's earned the ire of some mean-girls-in-the-making who've spread rumors." She sighed and shook her head. "Hissy said she wants to deal with this on her own, so even Arky isn't aware of this. I have spoken to her teachers and the school's administration, but... we both know that they can only do so much."

Often, 'so much' amounted to 'jack shit'.

Sumia knew something was up when Hisako didn't respond with her usual energy or really at all which caused the older woman to begin to internally worry. It didn't take someone able to make the Alphalim to know she had touched on more then a sore spot in the young girl. Maybe her time in school was a bit more severe then she had thought?

Nerine's interruption and explanation clarified as much, making Sumia frown. "..I see. That would explain why her attitude did a 180 on me just moments ago. Poor girl, I know what its like to be in those shoes but back then it wasn't an whole class. I wish there was more we could do for them, from the sounds if Hisasko doesn't know who spread the rumors or is it keeping it to herself.'

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit worried, but she's a smart girl, and strong enough that I'd... really feel sorry if any of them decide to escalate. She'll figure it out," said Nerine. "If all else fails, once Arky retires, he could always homeschool her. Believe it or not, he's actually incredibly intelligent and seems to have a knack for teaching. Though he can be emotionally... dense sometimes." There was a distinct annoyance in her tone.

At this moment, Hisako and Verina rushed back in, with the former carrying a rather sizable stack of mail. "Hehe, you were right, aunty! We've got loooots of mail today!" she said as she handed the stack to her aunt.

"Good job, as always, Hissy. Now, you should get back to helping your new nanny with the cookies," said Nerine, ruffling her niece's hair and sitting back down. Digging into the stack, it turned out to be mostly... "...most of this is junk. Greeeeat."

Hisako nodded and took her place next to Sumia again, her energy having returned... at least partially. "Okay, let's make cookies! Or, um... keep making cookies!"