Little Bit of Sunshine (Tokyo Debunker x OC)

Chapter 19: Jin

I woke up much earlier than I originally planned on Friday morning.

The night before, my mind envisioned all sorts of scenarios going wrong. I started to regret accompanying Rory in the first place. Maybe I should have come up with some other excuse. Then again, I would rather do anything else except be in the same room with my father.

After we got our luggage packed up and got changed into some casual clothes, Rory and I took the Galaxy Express. Per Rory's suggestion and scolding, I brought along with me a bouquet of lilies for her mother and a bottle of whiskey for her father.

I looked out the window, watching the train go through a rainbow of time and space, "Your parents are going to hate me."

Sitting across from me, Rory nudged on my foot with her boot, "Don't say that. They won't hate you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because my parents aren't the ones you should be worried about, it's my siblings. I'll help you win them over."

"Thanks for the reassurance that I should be more concerned about your squadron of brothers and sisters."

"You can win them over though. You're very...nice."

"You sure took your time thinking about it."

She stood up from her seat and sat beside me. "Think of it this way: you're having a sleepover with friends."

"I don't do friends or sleepovers."

"Sorry to inform you, Mr. Grouch, that's what you signed up for. Oh, you should know this: don't swear unless you're ready to empty out your wallet."

"The fuck's that supposed to mean?"

She rubbed her eyes with her palm, "My siblings and I have kept swear jars since we were kids. If someone catches you swearing, you have to pay that person money. So far, Iris is in the lead and I'm trying to beat her."

I took out my wallet from my back pocket and handed her 10,000 yen. "Here you go."

"That's...no, take it back. It was a warning, it doesn't count."

"I gave it to you. You keep it."

"Jin-"

I snatched the bill from her hand and shoved it inside her purse. I then leaned back into my seat, "What do I need to know about your squadron?"

After she calmed down, Rory told me about her siblings while showing me pictures of them on her phone.

The oldest was Dmitry Collier. The restaurant he owned, The Meridian, had dozens of locations all around the world and was highly regarded by top chefs. It took my father two months to get a reservation there.

Next came Iris Monroe, a college literature professor. Though she lived in Italy, she had traveled and taught at several other universities in various parts of the world.

Then was Sonata Everest. Before she finished high school, she was offered an internship at Nintendo as a programmer. Now, she's one of the executives in gaming design.

Finnley Beaumont, was a best selling author in Germany. He could write any genre you could think of and his books were almost always sold out. I had read some of his works when I was in high school.

Fatima Gamal was a dancer and choreographer. She had also participated as a judge on several ballroom dancing shows. She also had her own studio in Switzerland.

The twins Mila and Malik Ashby came next. Mila traveled around the world as a fashion photographer, but lived with her family in Singapore. Meanwhile Malik was a pediatric surgeon at Helsinky Univeristy Hospital in Finalnd.