Rise of the Titans

Chapter 1: Ruby Tries to be an Idol

"I'm home mama!" Ruby yelled as she got home.

"You're here early." Ai noticed. "Did everything go well?"

"My Sensie let me go early since I had the audition, so I decided to come home." Ruby said.

"What happened at the audition?" Ai asked.

"Well, they asked me a bunch of questions and I maintained an innocent personality the whole time, like you suggested." Ruby said. "I made sure to smile and be really happy and say things that make me more innocent and upbeat."

"Good." Ai nodded. "Remember to focus more on an innocent personality. The only time you want to deviate from that is during a performance, where it's ok to use a little more sex appeal."

"They said they liked me though. They said they'll take my application and review it tonight." Ruby said hopefully.

"Don't get too excited Ruby-Chan." Ai tempered her daughter's expectations. "The business world is never entirely honest, and they'll only tell you what you want to hear. You won't know their impressions until they either accept or deny your application."

"No problem mama." Ruby said, still not able to let go of her excitement. "Do you need any help with chores by the way?"

"Yes, I'm cleaning the kitchen so can you help?" Ai said.

"Of course." Ruby said.

Ruby practically jogged into the kitchen and started helping her okaasan. Ai was busy sweeping the floor and had a mop and bucket ready for when she was done. Ruby went to work on cleaning the counters of the small kitchen.

Ruby ran her finger under the countertop, checking to see if there was any dust or dirt. When she was little, Ai never went too in depth with cleaning like that, but ever since Eren started living with them, he had very high standards of cleanliness. Something the family chalked up to his military experience.

At first, Eren would just do the deep clean himself, but since Ai was staying home and he was either in college or working, Ai made sure he never cleaned. She took it on herself to maintain that level of cleaning since she didn't want him taking those duties since he was the one working.

Also, Ai felt bored when she was alone in the house. She would occasionally go see Meimei or Miyako when everyone was gone and she had nothing to do, but overall, she kept herself occupied.

It was a life she enjoyed very much. Of course, when her kids got old enough, they began to help with the chores, so it got easier over time for her.

"How was the meeting with Kawachi's homeroom sensei?" Ruby asked as she started wiping the underside of the tabletop.

"Exactly the same as the past few times." Ai said with a sigh. "One of his classmates insulted him and it turned into a fight. The only reason he's not getting suspended is that his classmate punched first, but his sensei said Kawachi goaded him on."

It was so difficult to deal with him sometimes. Kawachi would get into so many fights. Ai knew it was possible for him to be a subject of bullying since he wasn't fully Japanese, but he never just ignored the bullies. He always had to fight and prove himself against them.

Ai wondered if this was a consequence of how he saw Eren. As many little boys, Kawachi idolized his otosan and wanted to be exactly like him. He saw his otosan as the standard to be. Eren was a good man, but he was very serious most times and Kawachi tried so hard to imitate that.

Especially after seeing his otosan fight one time when a former fan of Ai's got a little too close to the family, causing Kawachi to see how much of a fighter his otosan was.