On Astral Tides: From Humble Freelancer To Astral Emperor

“Wow, this ryokan looks awesome.” My daughter, Aiko, was saying to her childhood friend and daughter of my best friend, Eri-chan. As they both huddled over the laptop, looking at photographs of the lodgings we would be occupying in Kyoto, I couldn’t help but smile. Ai always was very excitable, that’s for sure. She gets it from me, I think.

That was one thing I had always struggled with, the reserved nature of the Japanese. My husband, Taichi, who even now was sitting at the table frowning, was no exception, though obviously in private he was more open and affectionate than he was in front of our children, or the Mori’s, despite being friends with them since his childhood. I remember meeting him when he was in England for work. He was a pretty cold guy back then, and we didn’t hit it off immediately. Still, as he became a little more accustomed to life in Britain, he did warm up.

Shaking my head, I focused on what was important, which was the happiness of our kids. Well, Eri has always been my daughter too, just as Hana thinks of Ai and Aki as her children. And it’s not as though it isn’t true, is it?

“Look mom, auntie!” Ai was practically screaming. “This is so cool! You even have to take the boat to reach it, cruising along the river! And the restaurants, open air baths, hot springs… wow, it’s amazing! And of course bro got us great rooms!”

Beside my excited daughter, Eri was calmer, giving a small, contented smile. That’s not something I used to see much. Eri-chan was always a taciturn girl, cripplingly shy. Still, Ai used to drag her everywhere, following after her brother. It was pretty heart-warming to see how Aki always used to look after them. I really did think that he and Eri-chan were destined to get married, back when they were kids. After all, she’s really cute, and boys do love a cute, shy girl…

“Look, Aiko.” Eri-chan sighed, a touch exasperated. “We are going there for work, to support Akio. It’s not a holiday. I’m a bit nervous, you know. We’ll be meeting all these important people, some like Akio, and… well, if we make mistakes, it’ll cause him problems. I don’t want that.”

“I know, all right.” Ai pouted adorably, and once more I was struck at how much she resembled me, where Aki was more like his father, and not just in eye colour. Ai had my boisterous temperament and thirst for adventure, whereas Aki was quieter, but deadly serious when it mattered. I was surprised when Aki decided to move to Tokyo. Taichi didn’t approve, saying it was too expensive, but Aki dug deep and worked to support himself through Uni. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, after all, he did save for half a year to help Ai buy her bow for Kyudo, even if what he put together was no more than a token. To think… to think he was just running away from Eri-chan and Ai. My stupid son…

Ai had told me about it, that it was their overdependence on him that had overwhelmed Aki, him not being a strong person. Sure, in a situation like with the dog, when there was no time to think over it or stew in his thoughts, he could be as brave as a lion, like his father. But when that was over, he was surprisingly cowardly. All the more reason I’m surprised now. Although… I always did feel there was something about Aki that was different, special. Maybe that’s a mother’s prerogative?

“Let little Ai have her fun, Eri.” Hana said, looking over their shoulders, peering at the pictures on the screen. “I’m sure she knows how serious this is. But why not be excited? I must say I’m looking forward to a soak in the outdoor bath with Emi and my precious daughters.”

“Well, you’ve got more daughters than you know.” Ai smirked. “Seems like my bro picked up another woman, though this one was expected. I think… there could be one more too, if she grows a spine.”

At that Eri-chan looked displeased. “That girl… I don’t much like her. But Akio does, it seems, so if she pushed, he wouldn’t say no. I do concede she doesn’t seem quite as fake as she did before, but even so… well, I can’t do anything about it now, can I?”

At that Hana looked troubled, as well she might, and Taichi and Junpei exchanged looks. They were both drinking, rather early in the day, but at least it was beer, not the nice spirits Aki kept sending us. Still, as for me… It’s really strange. All this time, I wanted Aki and Eri-chan to get together, make us and the Mori’s a true family. And I’m delighted they have, Eri-chan always looks so happy now. But… I can’t help but be thrilled that my boy is charming everyone left and right. Well, it helps that Shaeula was so cute and nice, and those noble girls are so refined and elegant. What mother wouldn’t want such daughters-in-law? Our grandkids are going to be something else…

“Well, looks like my dream of having a football team of daughters-in-law is going to come true.” I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.

“Well, it’s all very well, but I can’t say I’m too thrilled about it.” Hana said, and I winced. Yes, it’s a sore subject for her.

“I think… we’ll just leave you all to it. we have to pack anyway.” Ai said, deciding to scuttle out, the atmosphere tense.

“Yes, I should pack as well. Mother, mother-in-law, please don’t fight. This… this is for the best.” Eri-chan said, as if to convince herself. “Akio isn’t normal, he’s a hero. Well, he always was mine, but now he’s everybody’s. What’s normal doesn’t apply to him, or to us. After all, Aiko and I, we chose to join him, to fight by his side. So… try to understand.” And with that, the two of them departed, leaving a strained silence behind them.

“So, yeah. Eri-chan sure has grown bold.” I said lamely, and Hana shook her head, annoyed.

“Look, I get it Emi, I do. Your boy, the little Aki we both watched grow up into a fine young man, he’s breaking hearts left and right. As the mother of a son, it must make you pretty happy. But… my Eri, I wanted her to have a normal romance, a normal love, a normal marriage. The sort I had with Junpei, and you with Taichi. Is that so wrong?”

“Of course it is not wrong.” Taichi said, sighing. “There is a reason marriage is between one man and one woman. It’s the proper way.”

“Is it though?” I felt the need to protest. “You talked to Hinata-chan, Motoko-chan and Natsumi-chan, right?” Such good, nice girls. I can still hardly believe they’ll be marrying my Aki. “And their parents, Taichi.”

“Yes. I had that pleasure.” He said, his tone a little softer. “It seems that concubines and mistresses are indeed common in the upper classes I was not even aware existed. So they see it as quite normal. Historically, I suppose it was…”

“Yes, I was shocked too.” Junpei agreed. “They were so nonchalant about it, so… well, unphased. And Eri, our girl… when she came back from Las Vegas, she was so happy, but clearly insecure, nervous it would all break or vanish on her. But then we went to Tokyo, and she changed. I guess it was then she accepted sharing him with Shaeula.”

“It’s all very well. I like Shaeula too, don’t get me wrong, and Eri says without her, she never would have had the courage to confess, or push hard enough to break down the walls in little Aki’s heart.” Hana said, thinking. “But it’s different for the mother of a daughter. What would you do if Ai was involved with a man who had multiple women, and was saying he would look after and marry them all? I doubt you would be so overjoyed. I have to think of my little Eri and her happiness. Though…” she bit her lip, uncertain. “… Eri assures me this is the path to her happiness. And so far she seems joyful enough, but I worry as time goes on…”

If Ai was in some harem, just one of many? That question gave me pause. “Well, to be honest, I’ve been a bit worried whether we’d ever see any grandkids.” I said, drawing surprised looks from the others. “Well, come on. Aki, much as I dearly love my boy, when he blew his chance with his beautiful childhood friend by moving away, and never reported so much as a whiff of romance to us, I started to think maybe he was one of these guys who didn’t care about girls. As for Eri-chan… sorry to say this, but… well, you know.”

“I do. I worried too. I had hoped that eventually if little Aki never came back for her, she’d move on and find a nice, quiet boy who would look after her, but she seemed so opposed to it, unwilling to talk to anyone but little Ai. I hadn’t given up hope but… a mother worries. Still, Ai seems to have no trouble talking to boys or making friends…”

“Yes, but…” It’s not that, is it? Ai follows me, personality-wise, but she isn’t me, and she has her own issues. I can laugh about them now, I think, but… “… Ai was always too close to Aki. I mean, I wasn’t worried anything weird was going on, Aki and Ai are both way too normal for that. But she always seemed to compare other boys to Aki unfavourably. Besides…” Saying this was hard, but it seemed the time. “I always thought that … well, that Eri-chan and Ai were too close as well, if you know what I mean?”

“Really?” Junpei said, surprised. “They are just best friends, like Taichi and I were. Nothing strange about that at all.”

“You think? Maybe I was imagining it then, but I always did wonder what would happen if Aki never came back. Maybe we’d have our kids get married after all, just the girls.” I smiled to lighten the sting of that, but I had genuinely pondered it on occasion. Still, all that was in the past. “As for… well, if Ai was happy… ugh, you are right, Hana. It does feel different when it’s your daughter. But look at it this way. If Aki accepts whatever relationship Ai ends up with, we have to as well. You think my little siscon son will let Ai enter into a toxic relationship? Just look at the baseball, he defended her honour rather dashingly.” I giggled at the thought. “So long as Ai is happy, I think I can accept it, whether it be a same-sex relationship, polygamy, or anything else. I just don’t want her to miss out on love. It’s a wonderful thing.” I smiled at Taichi, remembering his clumsy courtship of me, my pregnancy, Aki, then my second pregnancy and our return to Japan. Damn that was hard. Japanese people can be really shitty with foreigners. If it wasn’t for Hana and Junpei supporting us, I’d still be an outsider, my kids too… which is why… “Look. Aki loves Eri-chan, you know that. And Eri-chan loves Aki. Shaeula told me that she’ll support Eri-chan in managing the harem…” it still shocked and thrilled me in equal parts saying that word in conjunction with my Aki. It was just like a manga. “… besides, honestly, even if this isn’t what you wanted, can you look me in the eyes and tell me that Eri-chan isn’t the happiest she’s ever been, Hana?”

“No, I guess not.” Hana conceded, defeated. “Damn, give me one of those beers.” She snatched one off the table and started drinking it. “I just worry, you know? And why shouldn’t I? Shaeula, those nobles… what if my Eri can’t compete?”

Before I could open my mouth, Eri-chan was back, a sour, annoyed expression on her face. Another new expression. Compared to the blank-faced Eri-chan who missed Aki so, I like this a lot more. “Mother, don’t be stupid. I get it. I was worried too, and sometimes… sometimes I still am. It’s only natural. Shaeula is a Faerie princes, and she’s disgustingly head-over-heels for Akio. And I’m not rich like Hinata, or from a good family like Motoko or Natsumi, or even able to fight like Hyacinth. And as for this new girl… I’ve not met her, but she’s a friend from Uni, and that’s part of Akio’s life we don’t really know. But I know things about Akio that they don’t. After all, I’m his childhood friend. We have a lot of memories together. Happy ones.”

“Uh, how did you know we were talking about you?” Hana asked, and Eri rolled her eyes, reminding me of Ai.

“I have really good hearing now. Sometimes it’s a nuisance, but… look. Mother, father. I get that you are worried for me. But…” she flushed, her pale skin turning pink. “I am Akio’s first kiss, his first… time. His first wife. Shaeula may have said it as a joke or a bribe, but I intend to take that role. Whenever I worry or I feel lonely, I can call him, and he’ll reassure me. And soon, in just half a year, I’ll be with him, together at last.” Her smile was radiant, and I once more was amazed at how cute our daughters were. “So you just worry about more important things than me, like how you are going to help Akio at this Conclave. I’m glad I get to go on a trip with my family, but I’m there to support Akio! Oh, and mother-in-law…” she turned to me, and I felt nervous. “… I love Aiko very much, yes. She’s my precious best friend. But somehow I don’t see us being together that way. It’s not a relationship I’m interested in, or love. It’s Akio. I think Aiko feels the same way. She’s not in a rush to find love. But a girl like Aiko, she won’t find it hard to find someone when the time comes.”

Oh gods, Eri-chan heard that. I hope Ai didn’t too. As if reading my thoughts, Eri-chan’s expression changed, turning impish. “Aiko heard too, though her ears aren’t as good as mine. She’s currently hiding in her futon, unwilling to come out.”

“I see.” I managed, mortified. “Well, it’s not like…” As Eri-chan burst out laughing, it was me that was blushing now.

“I know. Aiko knows too.” She said after she calmed down. “We were all wrong, Aiko, Akio and me. I’m sorry if we made you worry. But everything is fine now. It is. Better than fine. I’m happy, Aiko is happy and Akio is happy. And this happiness… now we have to fight for it.” she clenched her fists. “So enough talk of stupid things, back to thinking about how to support your son, okay, auntie Emily?”

With that Eri left again, leaving us all exchanging glances. My face was hot still, and Hana was amused as her daughter defeated me soundly, but she looked a touch melancholy too.

“She’s really grown up.” Hana sighed. “It somehow makes me a little sad. To think my shy little Eri, who wouldn’t even ask little Aki out, until pushed by a strong rival, is talking about fighting for happiness. She’s right though. Whether I approve or not, Aki and Eri chose this. So, Kyoto. I still can’t wrap my head around it.”

“I always knew my boy was special. But this…” I said, and Taichi laughed then, surprising me.

“Special? I always thought Akio was anything but special. Eking out a living in Tokyo doing freelance work, spurning the affection of the girl he was most likely to settle down with… a typical foolish young man, if you ask me. Still, it seems I was wrong. Just like I set out for foreign shores in my youth, so too has Akio, though the shores are far more distant than anything I ever travelled to.”

“This Boundary.” Junpei agreed. “I still can’t believe it. Another world full of strange creatures and magic overlapping our own. Still, there’s no choice but to believe, is there?”

That’s true. We’ve seen it for ourselves after all. “Yes. I worry about Eri-chan and Ai, that place is dangerous. But then…” I remembered seeing Ai with that fiery bow, and Eri-chan swinging that huge axe, her pretty goth-loli dress fluttering as she darted about at inhuman speeds. Apparently Aki made those clothes, or helped or some such. He must really Like Eri-chan in those sort of outfits. Poor Ai only got a leather jerkin and trousers and seemed rather sore about it. Still, what could she expect? Eri-chan was his girlfriend, Ai was only his sister, and what brother wanted to dress up his sister in cute outfits? Not even Aki was such a siscon.

“… my Eri seems so strong.” Hana agreed. “I can hardly believe it myself. The other day, I asked her to move a chest of drawers for me, forgetting it was still full of clothes, but she lifted it up and carried it like it was her schoolbag. Seeing that makes this real…”

“My aches and pains seem a lot better too.” Junpei agreed. “Ever since the… Chirurgery, wasn’t it…?” At our nods, he continued. “… I’ve felt less tired, with more energy and my bad knee barely hurts at all. I think if nothing else, that’s a great thing.”

“Still, I do not like it.” Taichi frowned. “My son… fighting. He isn’t just responsible for himself anymore. He is responsible for your daughter now, Junpei, Hana. And this Shaeula, and more. If he dies…”

The thought chilled me. I had no wish to think of Aki getting hurt. I had been horrified when he was wounded as a child, fighting that dog. But I was also proud. He stood up for his sister and his friend, despite the risks. But does he need to be the one to stand up here? I’m not sure…

“… if he dies, Eri will be heartbroken. But… secure.” Junpei said bitterly. “It feels rather shameful, taking money from our son-in-law, even if we’ve always been close. Apparently provision has been made should anything happen to him, with Eri and Aiko the joint beneficiaries.”

“Well, our families have always done the best we can. After all, we aren’t exactly wealthy, any of us, are we?” I smiled at Taichi. His job put food on the table, but that was about it. Junpei made even less, and his family had debts from the expense of paying for Hana’s parents to undergo treatment for their illnesses. “Now Aki is just doing what a good son should. But yes, money or no… Eri-chan would be devastated.”

“He will not back down though. No matter what we say.” Taichi declared. “How many times did I scold him and chastise him when he was younger, for taking your daughter out up into the mountains at night?”

“Yes, he did do that a lot.” Junpei recalled, and Hana smiled fondly.

“My Eri, she always loved the stars, and would pester him to take her to the mountains so she could see them. Even now she loves them. The other night she took the telescope Aki got her for her birthday up to do some stargazing. I tried to tell her not to go alone, but she just laughed at me, saying if a bear attacked her she could beat it up. And seeing her in that Boundary, I believe it…”

“Yes, and there was that time you were called into school, Taichi…” Junpei was chuckling. “… when he made the girls that were picking on Eri cry. And that other time, when someone stole Aiko’s outdoor shoes…”

As they told stories of our children, I found myself smiling. Kyoto, huh? I’ve never been, despite living in Japan for so long. Going as a family is nice, even if that family is a lot larger now. It’s a shame that the noble girls can’t come, some naked socialising would help us get to know each other better. Still, Ai said I would get to meet this Hyacinth girl. She’s like Shaeula, right? A Fairy? Brownies, I’ve heard of them. Fairy tales are all real, it seems…

“So, we are all in agreement then?” I said, as the story time finished. If Eri-chan and Ai were listening still, no doubt they’d be even more embarrassed. I’ll have to make a nice dinner to make it up to them. “All that matters is protecting the happiness of Ai, Aki and Eri-chan, as well as the new daughters we’ve made?”

Hana pursed her lips. “As long as my Eri is consenting, I can hardly say no, can I? But if any of these girls hurt her…”

“Akio would not stand for it.” Taichi denied her. “He is a man now, and while he has chosen a reckless, selfish path, much like when he faced the dog, so long as the injuries are only his own, and those he has chosen to love come to no harm, their hearts protected, well then… as a man myself, and a husband who loves his wife…”

I blushed at that. Taichi wasn’t particularly demonstrative, but could be surprisingly affectionate when he wanted to be. A bit like Aki it seems. Romanic dinners, gifts and more. I’m proud of my little boy! I guess there’s hope for that football team yet. I wonder what this girl he liked from University is like? I hear… I hear there was a bad accident. I hope she’ll be okay…

“… I can respect that, and call him a man, if a greedy, reckless one.” Taichi finished, and we applauded the sentiments.

“So in that case, we need to remember, Kyoto isn’t a holiday, it’s work, right?” I said, and everyone else agreed. “Give me that.” I took a beer, ignoring their protests that I couldn’t handle my booze, which was clearly wrong, as being British, drinking was in my blood. Cracking the ring pull, I took a sip, satisfied. “Well then. First, what we need to do is…”