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Muu checked one last time the location her mother had sent her to make sure she was in the right neighborhood.
She sighed deeply. Why were they forcing her to visit her annoying uncle?
Muu barely saw him at family gatherings—it made no sense for her parents to make her visit his house once a year!
It was annoying, especially when his son Phillip was there.
Turned out both men were arrogant high-ranking military officers, and they were definitely not the kind of people Muu liked.
Despite all her protests, the blonde girl had no choice but to knock on the door.
After all, she had taken a flight from Japan to the United States, so going back home wasn’t a option.
She knocked on the door a couple of times and waited for someone to answer.
She heard someone shouting from inside the house. She quickly hid the gift box behind her back and smiled when someone opened the door.
"Muu?" said Phillip Graves, her older cousin. He laughed and let her in. "You here to see my dad?"
It was really strange that Phillip was home; after all, he was still actively involved in military affairs and his "Shadow Company" or whatever he had under his command. It seemed like he had the day off.
She nodded. "Mhm, is Uncle home?"
"No idea. I think he went out or something."
Ah, of course. Her uncle Adler wasn’t home either.
Muu had heard from her mom that Russell Adler had been a CIA agent involved in several world-saving missions or something like that.
She couldn’t remember if her mom had mentioned whether her uncle was still active, and if that was why he was never home (though most likely not, since he was getting old), or if that’s just what made him so strange during family gatherings.
Muu entered the house and looked around.
It wasn’t really interesting—furnished like an average American home.
Well, of course there were going to be differences between a house in the U.S. and one in Japan.
Still…
Were all houses this boring, or was it just her uncle’s?
"Is there something to eat?" Muu asked as she sat on the living room couch.
"There’s coffee."
"... Um, don’t you have anything sweeter? Like cake or…"
Phillip laughed at the girl as he walked into the kitchen to do something.
"Hmp."
While her cousin was doing whatever, Muu grabbed the TV remote and decided to check what was on.
"So boring, there’s nothing interesting..."
Most channels were airing boring shows that weren’t Muu’s taste, and others were showing football or sports news she didn’t care about.
She stopped on a music news channel, specifically about a show called Alien Stage.
Muu had heard about it a couple of times, but barely knew what was going on in the show.
The host started talking about the most recent round.
"The winner of this Friday’s Final Round was LUKA!!!!"
At that moment, the screen started showing videos of Luka—another weird cousin Muu had in her family.
Apparently, he had won Alien Stage for the second time. The first time had been a few years ago, and Muu really didn’t remember much about it.
"Well, good for him."
She started changing the channel again when she heard someone knocking at the door.
Phillip came out of the kitchen, set down a couple of coffee mugs on the living room table, and opened the door.
Luka walked in without greeting anyone and just sat on the couch.
"Ah! So good to see you, Luka!" She said with her usual smile.
Luka pulled out a small box from who knows where and placed it on the table. "I came to drop this off."
"Oh! That reminds me of something—" Muu imitated Luka and also placed her gift box on the table. "Mom sent a present for Uncle Adler. She says hi!!!"
Phillip rolled his eyes and pointed to the row of mugs he had already set on the table. "I made you some coffee, take it if you want."
Muu and Luka each took a mug at the same time. Luka smelled his a bit and gently placed it back on the table. Muu, on the other hand, took a sip and nearly threw up in disgust.
The coffee was completely bitter—no sugar at all!!!
"By the way, we ran out of sugar last month."
What is wrong with him??
...
While Muu and Luka were watching TV (well, only Luka, since Muu was texting her friend on her phone), Phillip was washing the dishes in the kitchen.
"So?" Phillip asked. "What have you two been up to?"
Muu yawned. "Muu is studying... exams are next week..."
"I won an international show."
Phillip laughed again, this time a little mockingly.
"Sure.
Some people sing and dance on TV while others work hard to prevent another nuclear war."
Muu ignored her cousins’ comments and texted Rei.
"I hate this 😔
Rei-chaaaaan, I wanna go home!!!"
She put her phone down and tried to take another sip of the awful coffee Phillip had made.
Luka, still relaxed, leaned back calmly on the couch. "Really? Because the last I heard about you, you were being accused of war crimes overseas."
Muu accidentally spit out her coffee and almost choked. She looked at Luka, then at Phillip, then back at Luka.
Did he just say—War crimes?!
Phillip set down the plate he was rinsing and turned to Luka.
"Excuse me?"
"Everyone saw it on the news."
Huh.
HUH??
Muu froze.
Was her cousin—the one right in front of her—a criminal?!
Before she could ask anything, the door opened again, letting in an older man with sunglasses and a large scar on his face, carrying a bag of (probably) groceries. He had likely gone to the store.
Phillip’s annoyed expression changed and he gave a small smile to his father.
"Welcome home," he said, taking the plastic bag and closing the door behind him.
Adler looked at the two blondes sitting on his couch. He nodded at the gift boxes and said something like, "Thanks for the gifts, kids," as he walked into the kitchen.
Muu didn’t even respond.
Her mind was still spinning from the possible crimes Phillip had committed.
Uncomfortable with the situation, she got up and bowed her head.
"I—I uhh... I need to get back to Japan soon. I have exams tomorrow—"
Luka did the same and said goodbye to the men.
"I’ve gotta practice my vocals again tomorrow.
See you next year."
And so, both of them left the house.
As Muu walked through the neighborhood, she called her mom and begged her to let her leave that same afternoon.
She was now more convinced than ever that she wouldn’t visit her uncle or cousin again for at least the next five years.