On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

One Hundred And Eight

“So…” my sister put away the bank card in her purse, her hands trembling a little. “… what are we doing today then? You said we were going to go shopping for souvenirs, but that won’t take all day, will it?”

“Well, I did have one event organised, but that is in the early afternoon, so we have plenty of time yet. I guess we’ll wait for Eri to wake up, get some room service, then see where the day takes us. We are heading home early tomorrow, so we have to make all the memories we can today, right?”

“Sure, but… it won’t be the last time, will it big bro?” my sister asked. “This has been really fun, and I’m grateful, but now I’ve tasted this life, I’d be sad if I never got to do it again… save me from that cruel fate bro!” Aiko leapt over and hugged me. “I’ve become accustomed to luxury! You’ve ruined me, so take responsibility!”

“Akio is already taking responsibility for Eri. He has none left for you!” Shaeula snickered. “Besides… you are his sister, I believe he can not-not marry you.”

“Wow, I knew you didn’t forget my mistake last night, but to think you’d be so mean. Big bro…” she turned to me, putting on a whiny voice. “Shaeula is bullying me!”

As we laughed and played around Shaeula asked me how much money I had left on me. I pulled out a hundred thousand dollars and she smiled. “There is one of these casino places in this hotel, is there not-not?” she asked. “We may as well have some fun while we wait for Eri to wake. I shall send her a text to let her know to call us when she rises-rises.”

“I think you might be addicted.” My sis warned. “But I guess we do need to kill some time. Let me have a quick wash and I’ll get changed. You… you two should probably wash too… you reek of… ugh, don’t make me say it…”

“We should all go in together. I shall wash your back for you-you.” Shaeula offered magnanimously.

“You can, but not big bro! I haven’t bathed with him since elementary, and I’m not starting again now!”

“I do not understand.” Shaeula was puzzled. “You were fine yesterday were you not-not?”

“Oh, wow.” My sister buried her head in her hands and let out a long, painful groan. “I made the same mistake again. I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s up with me! I thought you meant… naked… That’s it. I will accompany you to the bath Shaeula, and you can drown me. I need to die to forget my shame!”

“You seem to have much on your mind since last night. Perhaps it was rather too stimulating for you-you?” Shaeula grinned, patting her gently. “But death is not necessary. Akio thinks no less of you, I am sure-sure.”

With that we had a quick wash in the hot-tub, in our swimwear of course, and after changing we headed down to the casino. My sis watched from some seats outside the gaming floor, while Shaeula and I headed for the tables, fifty thousand each in hand.

Is it me though, or are people looking at us? I can hear them whispering too. Focusing my superior hearing I could make out them calling Shaeula ‘That girl who won the slots jackpot’ and me as ‘the guy on a mad heater the other night’. I guess word travels fast. At this rate we’ll be barred from all the casinos on the strip. Lucky this is our last day…

We both attracted a crowd, and freshly blessed by the fortunate winds again we both won regularly, and those that followed us also profited. Still, security were keeping an eye on us almost from the start, so I settled for winning a quick twenty thousand, and went to drag Shaeula away from her sport. As people begged her to stay I had to apologise, saying we were going to meet our family, and it was good timing, because we received a text from Eri saying she had woken up.

Taking Shaeula to change our chips, my twenty thousand was added to the thirty-five thousand she had won in short order. Damn, it’s so easy to win with our epic luck and these high-stakes tables… still we must be due a loss sooner or later… although when buffed with the winds our luck was in the fifty-percent increased ballpark, which compared to the casino house edge of less than ten percent on most games… it was as if we were running a crooked game ourselves. Speaking of crooked… tonight I am going to make that bastard regret trying to kill me… it would have been better if I could have silenced him, considering… but there was no way… I shocked myself even considering it, but if being soft could put my family and allies in danger…

“So, how much?” my sister asked and when I told her we had made over fifty thousand in well under an hour she whistled. “Damn big bro, Shaeula. They’ll be throwing us out at this rate.”

“Yeah, I had thought the same…” I laughed.

********

Back in our room Eri was up. “Welcome back.” She smiled at me. She still looked tired and was walking a little gingerly, so I quickly went and started healing her. Giving her a kiss on the lips I bade her good morning.

“Yes, it is a good morning, isn’t it? I had such a wonderful dream, only to wake up and find it wasn’t a dream, but my life.” Her smile was truly blinding.

“Wow, still so lovey-dovey.” My sister complained. “Anyway, come on Eri, get washed up and we should go out!”

“Breakfast first!” I warned her. “Order whatever you want from room service. I’ll help Eri bathe, she’s still tired from last night.”

“No fooling around though. My mind is already messed up enough…” my sis protested. “… if I have many more misunderstandings I really will want to die!”

“I wouldn’t.” I replied. “We can’t risk Eri’s health yet. But…” I hugged her close. “I think we are intimate enough to wash each other’s bodies now,”

“You can’t be any more intimate…” my sister groused, but she agreed.

I led Eri to the bathroom, and in the large tub I cleaned her thoroughly, my hands roaming over her. She was flushed from the heat of the bath and arousal, but we contented ourselves just with kisses. Damn, somehow she seems even more beautiful than before. Is that the power of her Charm at work? No, she had me charmed before…

“Wow, hey, we can hear you getting hot in there! Bad bro, bad Eri! If you don’t come out soon Shaeula and I will eat all the food!”

Looking at each other we started giggling, and after some more hugs and kisses we got dressed and left the bathroom. My sis wasn’t kidding, as she was devouring food at a rapid pace, pouting.

“Finally. I would say ‘get a room’ but we have a room, the problem is I’m sharing it!” she shrugged. “Still, the food sure is good as always.”

I saw she had ordered top of the line stuff. Oh well, the cost doesn’t matter much anyway. As we ate my sister asked me a question that had been on her mind this morning. “So, when you talked to that banker lady, you discussed land. That’s got something to do with a shrine, right? So just what are you going to do in the future? Sooner or later you’ll not be able to raise money by gambling. Your luck right now is frightening, but still not impossible right? Someone has to keep winning big for a while, that’s statistics. But if you continue time after time… no way they won’t figure out something is up.”

“Yeah, pretty sharp, little sis.” I praised her. “This was to raise funds for the next stage of my master plan. Shirohebizumi shrine… I’m going to make it the heart of my Territory and build a training school there. At first it’ll just be people from the shrines that I have allied with, but in the future… well, let’s just say I have big plans. Real big plans.”

“And they’ll let you do that? If it’s a shrine that goes back fifteen hundred years like you said, their land must be expensive and have historic value, right?”

“Yeah, even on the outskirts of Tokyo, that much land is worth a ton. But it’ll benefit them in the long term. And it is inevitable for knowledge of Astral Emperor-candidates to get out eventually, so when it does… if we have a training school with a proven record of success, don’t you think it is something people would be willing to pay a lot for?”

“Hmm, pretty sharp bro, it sounds feasible. But are you sure you can pull it off? It’s going to be tough.”

Beside me Eri nodded. “You… you aren’t thinking of training the girls like you did with me are you?” she was smiling, but there was doubt and anger in her eyes. “I wouldn’t like that at all, no, not at all. I’m the only one you can do that with. I’m your lover!”

Her jealousy… it’s actually kind of cute, and I know she doesn’t really think I’d do that.

“Of course not Eri. Shaeula has us covered. They’ll just have to learn like my sis there will have to. Lovers’ Link is a sealed skill, have no fear. It may be on my sisters’ mind, but…”

“I told you to forget that!” she pouted, and again more good-natured laughter filled the suite. “Seriously though.” Aiko continued. “So Shaeula has her future sorted. And Eri… I think you’ve made up your mind about yours, haven’t you?”

Eri nodded, her arm in mine, which was making it a little bit hard to eat, but she was still feeling the need to cling to me after last night, so I let it slide. She feels so soft anyway… all my fellow otaku would condemn me to death if I complained about this…

“Yes. I’ve no wish to go to University. Once I graduate I’ll move to Tokyo to be with Akio. I’ll work for you!” she smiled up at me. “In the day I’ll be under your care, and at night… you’ll be under mine.” Her voice dropped with embarrassment at the end, her face flushed.

“Adorable, Eri.” Shaeula tittered. “My best regards to you then, we shall be comrades under master!”

“So, what about you then sis?” I asked. “I know you said you wanted to try for a Tokyo University. Money might have been putting you off before, but now I can certainly give my adorable little sis a stipend to make it work.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve been thinking…” she began slowly. “… there’s been a lot on my mind recently, thanks to you three. I’ve not come to a decision yet, but I do have an idea of what I might want to do, and how I can repay you, big bro, for always having my back.”

“You don’t need to…” I began, but she cut me off.

“Wow, annoying. I hate it when you do that, don’t you Eri? I bet it pisses Shaeula off too, right?”

“Indeed, he is too humble. A male should be more bold-bold.”

“Right. When we tell him we are grateful for what he has done for us, it’s rude to dismiss it out of hand. We aren’t making it up, we feel that way!”

At their retorts I sighed. “Sorry. I can’t help it. It’s a guy thing, okay. Us Japanese men are too modest. But I’ll try to bear it in mind. Anyway, you were saying?”

“I think I need to discuss it with our parents, and I’d like you to be there for moral support, bro. But yeah, I’m close to a decision.”

“Well, you know I’ll back you a hundred percent. Unless it’s you are quitting school to get married to some jackass like that Kenji prick.”  I made a joke, and Aiko flushed, embarrassed.

“Wow no, that’s disgusting, unless I can get a guy as good as Eri did, no way…”

As we finished up our hearty breakfast I checked the time. “Well, we should be heading off soon, if we are to make it for what I have planned. But before that… there’s somewhere else I’d like to go…”

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