When the weekend came, my grandparents took me to Judy's house.

  When the three of us arrived in front of Judy's building, my grandparents and I got out of the Mizutani Shion MZ3-2. Like the other cars in the Shion series, it had four doors. Ojii loves cars. When I asked him why he chose a Mizutani, he replied, "Since we live in this damn city, at least I’ll drive a Japanese car."

  As we stepped out of the car, the Alvarez family was waiting outside the building at the gate. They approached us with smiles on their faces.

  Aoi-obasan smiled when she saw Judy and said to me in Japanese, "Ara-ara, Sora-chan, what a cute friend you’ve made."

  Although I didn’t know it at the time, Judy had a simir moment with her own grandmother.

  "Vaya-vaya, ranita, pero qué guapo chico has hecho amigo, ?eh?"

  When we approached, my grandparents and I introduced ourselves first with a small bow. This seemed to make the Alvarez family a little uncomfortable. But you know, they invited us to their house, so we had to show gratitude and respect for the invitation. Ugh, all this old-fashioned formality was driving me crazy, but I couldn’t do anything about it with Aoi-obasan around. And even though it doesn’t seem like it, I fear Grandma more than Grandpa.

  Grandpa is serious and straightforward. If there’s a problem, he addresses it, discusses it, and once the argument/fight/scolding is over, he goes back to his usual grandpa mode, as if nothing happened. But Grandma... Grandma is terrifying. She neither forgives nor forgets. If you do something she doesn’t like, she won’t show it in public—she’ll maintain her composure. But at home?

  It’s as if she takes off her human mask and transforms into her true Yuki-onna self. Her icy gaze pierces you, and she won’t speak to you as if you don’t exist. She’ll cook and call everyone for dinner, but your pte will be empty—or worse, it’ll hold a single noodle and a gss of water.

  Grandpa and I have a small stash of food in the training room for these moments, but it doesn’t make her wrath any easier to endure. When she finally acknowledges your existence again, you almost wish she wouldn’t, as her words cut deeper than any bde. She’ll list every single thing that has upset her, expining she doesn’t cook for or care about people who anger her. You might spend three days eating nothing but a grain of rice until she cools down and tells you what you did wrong. It’s brutal. And sometimes, she gets mad over things you didn’t even do—but you only find out after days of silent suffering, when she realizes her mistake and forgives you.

  After our introduction, the Alvarez family introduced themselves. That’s when I met Judy’s grandparents, Peter and Ainara Alvarez. Ainara was an energetic and outspoken woman whose character resembled my grandmother’s—but in many ways, they were opposites. It was as if they were on the same wavelength but at opposite ends of the spectrum: one fiery, the other icy; one direct, the other calcuting; one active, the other serene.

  This contrast became obvious when Ainara opened her mouth and said, "So, this is the kid who left you an AI from a big corporation that’s worth more than the entire building we live in, hmm?"

  Her bluntness caught everyone off guard, and we each reacted in our own way.

  "Hah-haha," Peter chuckled nervously, trying to downpy her comment without contradicting her.

  "Ara-ara," Aoi-obasan pced her hands over her mouth, feigning surprise but clearly entertained.

  "??SORA!! Did you give THAT to someone?!" my grandfather yelled, furious. I had left the chip with the AI without informing or asking for permission. I didn’t even know I couldn’t. Grandpa had given it to me after I compined about school being useless.

  "BIG CORPORATION? It’s worth more than a building? WHAT?" I excimed, shocked. I had no idea the chip was worth so much. When Grandpa gave it to me, I thought it was simir to the tech in the academy series David used. It never occurred to me it might be valuable.

  "?ABUELA!" Judy shouted at her grandmother, frustrated that she had gone straight to the point without even letting us inside the building first.

  "Ainara, I told you not to be so direct. But reasoning with you is always the same..." Peter sighed, shaking his head. Then he turned to Judy and me. "Judy, Sora, why don’t you two go chat while we old folks handle the boring stuff?"

  Nodding, I followed Judy, knowing full well they wouldn’t let us stick around to see Grandpa’s reaction.

  We walked far enough away that I could still hear them if I concentrated and closed my eyes. Judy, noticing what I was doing, looked puzzled. She seemed to think it was impossible to hear them from that distance.

  "I’m very sorry for my wife’s bluntness," Peter said when he thought we couldn’t hear him. Judy tried to mimic me, closing her eyes tightly, which I found both funny and endearing.

  "But I want you to know, Musashi-san and Aoi-san, if it’s okay for me to call you that?"

  "Please, just Musashi and Aoi is fine, right, Aoi?" Grandpa said.

  "Of course," Grandma replied with a smile. "We’re not in Japan, so when in Rome, do as the Romans do."

  Peter continued, "When Judy showed us the chip her new friend from Night City gave her, we were thrilled to see her so happy. But when she asked me to install it in our PQc, I was surprised she couldn’t open it on her own PC. Then I saw it was an .IA file with petabytes of technical knowledge. I was concerned and told her to invite you so we could talk. Also, I apologize for my boldness, but I deleted some unimportant code—code tied to a certain rge Asian corporation—to make it safer."

  "Thank you, Peter-san," Grandpa replied seriously. "This is my fault. I should’ve expined its importance and value when I gave it to Sora. It’s something his mother entrusted to me, so he could learn freely. I’m just grateful it went to Judy, who’s become his friend. As for the code, don’t worry—it’s better gone. Corporations carry too much baggage."

  By then, I’d stopped paying attention. The mention of my mother shocked me. She gave the chip to Grandpa? And with everything they’d said about a big Asian corporation, combined with Grandpa’s supposed past as a bodyguard in Japan, it all pointed to one conclusion: My mother had worked—or still worked—for Arasaka. And maybe Grandpa had too?

  I was so lost in thought that I didn’t realize Judy was talking to me until she punched me in the arm.

  "Ouch! What was that for?" I asked, rubbing my arm.

  "You weren’t listening," she said, crossing her arms. "You should thank me for snapping you out of it!"

  "Tch. Just because you can’t hear them doesn’t mean I can’t," I teased. "I’ve been improving since I was just a cell, after all."

  Judy’s eyes widened. "Really?"

  "BUHAHAHA!" I burst out ughing. She actually believed me!

  Still, how could I hear things from so far away sometimes? My body scared me.

  When I refocused on our grandparents, Peter was waving goodbye to Grandpa, who looked confused as Grandma climbed into the driver’s seat with Ainara beside her. Judy and I watched as they drove off, leaving Grandpa behind.

  "What happened?" I asked Peter.

  "Your grandmothers went shopping and decided to leave your grandfather here to keep an eye on you two," he expined with a smirk. "Let’s hope they’re back before we start the boring stuff."