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“I’m getting paid overtime for this, right?” Shamir asked as she drove her and Kiria down familiar roads.
“Huh?” Kiria turned and stared at Shamir with a puzzled look. “...You’re taking me to see your family.”
“Hey, whenever I’m escorting you anywhere, I’m working.”
“Does that include when you’re ‘escorting’ me to your bed?”
“Yeah, my bed is the safest place I know of.” Shamir answered with a smirk. “Best place to ‘protect’ you with my hands.”
“I felt what those hands have done. There was no ‘protecting’ whatsoever.”
The two laughed as they continued on their trip. It was Winter Break, and Shamir had just finished turning in grades for the semester. At the same time, Kiria had finished her last concert for the year, so she had some free time. So when Shamir asked her (secret) girlfriend if she could get some autographs to send to her younger siblings for Christmas, Kiria gave her the better idea of visiting them herself, which took them on a road trip back to Dagda.
“You sure you didn’t want to take a flight there?” Shamir asked. “It would’ve been a lot faster and more convenient for you.”
“It’s fine. This lets us spend more time together, just the two of us.”
Shamir briefly turned to Kiria, saw the soft gaze on her face, and turned back away in a feeble attempt to hide a growing blush. “Yeah sure, but that’s gonna change once the kids find out who you are. They won’t let you out of their sights.”
After another half-hour of driving, the two women finally arrived at Shamir’s home. Kiria quickly donned a hat and sunglasses, and followed Shamir to the door. The professor gave a light knock.
A tired-sounding voice called back. “Coming…” The door opened to reveal an older man, bags under his eyes, and turquoise hair disheveled. “Ah! Shamir, welcome home!”
Shamir smiled and gave him a hug. “Hey Dad.”
Another voice called out. “Is that who I think it is?” A woman emerged from the kitchen, just as tired as Shamir’s father, but also perking up at seeing Shamir. “There’s my girl!” She shuffled to the doorway to pull Shamir in for another hug.
“Heh, hi mom.”
Shamir’s dad turned his attention to their other guest. “Ah, and you’re the friend Shamir said she’d be bringing, right?” He held out his hand to shake Kiria’s. “I’m Clark, Shamir’s dad. And this is my wife, Yurina. Friends of our daughter are always welcome here. She mentioned your name was Kiria? Funny, same name as that pop idol our kids are obsessed with.”
“Quite a coincidence.” Kiria joked, while shooting a knowing side glance to Shamir.
Yurina quickly started to usher the two inside. “Come in, before you catch a cold.”
“Thank you.” Kiria said. “I’m not intruding, am I? Shamir mentioned you have a lot of kids under your roof already. I hope I’m not being a burden.”
“Far from it!” Clark answered. “My wife and I love having new people here.”
“I’ll say.” Shamir said. “We invite a lot of kids who need a place to stay. Sometimes, they become permanent residents.”
Yurina had a proud, yet somewhat sad look on her face. “Yes, and Shamir does a lot to help out when she really should be using that money for herself.”
“It’s fine Mom, I’ve told you that.” Shamir said. “They’re my brothers and sisters. That said…” Her eyes squinted with suspicion. “You and Dad didn’t pick up any more siblings for me while I was gone, right? Or make a new one?”
“Aha, no don’t worry Shamir. Same number of kids as when you left.”
“I’d love to meet them, if that’s alright.” Kiria said.
“Alright, but just know that they can be a handful sometimes.” Clark headed towards the stairs and called out to the floor above. “Hey kids! Shamir’s back!”
A commotion erupted from the second floor.
“Shamir’s back?”
“Big Sis is back!”
“Let’s go!”
Suddenly, a gang of kids came roaring down the stairs. “Shamir!” They cried out as they ran up to their older sister to give her a hug.
“Hey you brats.” Shamir said as she ruffled her younger siblings’ hair. She turned over to Kiria and started pointing to each one. “Oldest to youngest, this is Kazuo, Marisa, Wu, Mitsuru, and Cynthia.”
Kiria immediately noticed that each of the kids had some form of her merch. Cynthia, the youngest, was fully decked out in Give Me!! Pajamas. Wu and Marisa, both around middle school, were wearing Labyrinth shirts. Marisa, looking about to be a freshman in high school, had a Kiria phone cover. And finally, Kazuo, a high school senior, had Kiria headphones around his neck.
“Alright, settle down you kids, let my friend introduce herself.” Shamir ordered.
The kids calmed down, then all gathered by the couch and turned to Kiria. As they started to look at her more closely though, their eyes started filling up with suspicion. “Are you co-workers with Shamir?” Kazuo asked.
“Sort of. Really, you can call me her boss.”
“Oh, in that case, thank you so much for letting our daughter do some extra work for you.” Clark said, slightly bowing his head. “The money’s really helped us out.”
“It’s no problem, honest. If anything…” Kiria turned back to the kids, a grin on her face. “I should be thanking them for being such big fans of mine.” The kids’ eyes widened, and their jaws dropped. To them, time seemed to go in slow-motion as Kiria took off her hat and sunglasses, letting her hair drop, and the stars in her eyes shine for them as they did for her audience. “I’m Kiria Kurono. I’ve heard so much about you all. It’s great to finally meet you!”
Immediately after Kiria revealed her identity, Shamir’s younger siblings swarmed her, and Shamir and her parents had trouble settling them down. Throughout the rest of the day, the kids were constantly asking Kiria questions, getting her to sign stuff, and requesting that she do her dances with them. It only ended late into the night when the kids finally spent the last of their energy and went to bed. Shamir insisted on letting her parents take a break as well, leaving her and Kiria to finish cleaning up. After doing the dishes, she and Kiria relaxed on the couch, putting on some Christmas special on TV, but paying it minimal attention.
“I’m sorry about my siblings.” Shamir said, her arm around her girlfriend as they relaxed on the couch after a long day. “I told you they wouldn’t leave you alone.”
“It’s really no problem.” Kiria answered. “Seeing fans like that is a performer’s joy. She leaned in closer to Shamir’s embrace. “You and your parents raised them well.”
“Heh, yeah well they’re all good kids. That’s why I wanted that side job. So I can alleviate some of my parents’ burden, and the kids all get to be happy and have good childhoods. So…thanks Kiria, for giving them a great Christmas gift.”
“Happy to help. Besides…” She lifted her head to look at Shamir. “I got something out of this too, you know.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
“I got to see the kids make you happy. And seeing you happy like that is my own personal joy.”
Shamir seemed stunned for a moment before chuckling. “You’re something else, you know that?” She gently caressed Kiria’s cheek with her free hand before leaning in and kissing her girlfriend, Kiria reciprocating immediately. It was looking to be a nice, quiet night for the two of them.
At least until they heard a gasp.
“Oh my gods…” Cynthia said, watching her sister and her idol kiss from the staircase above.
“Oh geez…” Shamir whispered. “Cynthia, I’m going to need you to be quiet-”
“Big Sis and Kiria are dating!?”
Cynthia’s voice immediately woke up the other kids and they rushed out of their rooms, the energy thought to have been expended now returned. All of them saw Shamir with her arm wrapped around Kiria on the couch. They immediately barrelled down the stairs and started hounding the two with questions once more.
“When did you start dating her, Shamir!?”
“Are you living together!?”
“If she marries you and becomes family, do we get free stuff!?”
A not-so quiet evening for Shamir and Kiria it was then.