Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc XXIX Episode IV: Corpo Ladder

It wasn’t long before the party was in full swing. Various other teenagers and young adults that were the children of close friends of Silver Spoon’s parents’ had arrived and made their presence known.

Unfortunately, nearly all of them were rather facetious and self-centered, speaking only of themselves and how successful their own families were while simultaneously ‘one-upping’ each other with tales of their parents spending or the frivolous, expensive items that they had owned.

“My dad just bought an entire yacht company and is having one custom made for my whole family,” one girl commented.

“My dad just purchased an entire stake in a robotics company to fund mech suits for future use,” one boy snidely fired back.

“That’s nothing. My mom’s gonna buy out the entire fishing business so we can start getting rare fish to eat. Fancy some angler, anyone?”

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes as she listened to them from afar. She stood near one of the food tables next to Keiji where she sipped from a soda can.

“Ugh,” she grumbled to herself, “I don’t understand why dad wanted them here.”

“Probably to curry favor with their parents,” Keiji explained in a matter-of-fact way, “I’ve seen this kinda crap all the time where I’m from. Guess the nobility is still the nobility even between different dimensions, huh?”

“Guess so,” Spoon scoffed at this, but she ultimately wasn’t surprised by it. “Still, it’s just annoying when you’re forced to interact with people that you know you won’t get along with and have no interest in. I get that sometimes you gotta try things out, but trust me, I’ve already tried with these corpo-kid bastards.”

Keiji picked a piece of sausage out of his teeth. “Blech. Don’t worry, if any of them bother you, they’ll deal with me. Though, where’s Deets? And your parents? Shouldn’t they be here for your own party?”

“...They’ll be here. I hope,” Silver Spoon muttered in a tone that indicated a sense of doubt. She looked up to see one of her butlers arrive with the pizzas that had been made by the chefs and place them all on the table.

“Salvadore,” she addressed the man, “Are my parents gonna be here in time?”

“Your mother is on her way. Your father is running late due to a prior engagement,” he answered promptly before patting her on the head. “Don’t fret, hm? They truly do love you and wouldn’t dare miss this.”

Silver Spoon sighed. “...Thanks, I guess.”

But as her butler left, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was being genuine or was merely telling her what she wanted to hear.

Keiji was equally curious, having a similar thought process as the man left. “Hm…well if they truly care, they’ll be here like he said.”

“Yeah,” Spoon folded her arms. “Sorry, I guess I just have to be up front with you: I’m jealous of Diamond. Her parents seem like they love each other enough to put their differences aside and come together for her. Mine on the other hand…” she cast a side glance towards the other young adults at her party.

“Yeah, I feel ya there. Her folks had a rocky relationship for a while, but it seems like they’re managing to get it together. Wish I could say the same for my own folks. After all, it’s kinda the whole reason why I’m here to begin with.” He chuckled. “...if anything, I’m grateful that Starswirl put me here. But that’s a topic for another time.”

Fortunately, Silver wouldn’t have to worry for too much longer.

“I’m here! I’m here!” Diamond Tiara called out as she approached her favorite vampboy and bespectacled girl, “Traffic was kicking my ass out there. Happy birthday, Silver!” she squealed while offering her a wrapped box.

“Hey…I told you you didn’t have to get me anything,” Spoon sighed with a smile, “Just having you here is enough for me.”

“Take the damn thing, wouldja?” Keiji interjected, “Show her you appreciate the thought or whatever.”

“As blunt and tactless as ever, huh?” Tiara commented with a smirk in his direction.

Spoon giggled and accepted the box. “He’s right though. It’d be messed up of me not to accept your gesture, Di. So thanks. C’mon, enjoy yourself. My chefs just finished making the pizza for us all.”

“You’re damn right I am,” Keiji proudly answered, “Er--the part about me being right anyway.”

Suddenly, Salad Fork joined the group, shooting finger-guns at Diamond Tiara. “Heyyyy! It’s my cuz’s girlfriend! She talks quite a bit about you and how you motivate her through school. It’s adorable.”

“She does, huh?” Tiara asked as Spoon started to nervously rub her eyes beneath her glasses out of embarrassment. “Glad to know I’ve left an impression on her family.”

“Cuz, please stop,” Spoon begged with a groan, “You’re exposing my private life. Back me up on this please, Keiji?”

No answer.

“Keiji?” Spoon turned her head to see that he was no longer standing there.

As it turns out, the vampboy was engaging in some ‘friendly’ conversation with some of the other partygoers.

“Mind repeatin’ yourself, choom?” With his hands in his pockets, Keiji approached one of the guys that was in attendance, catching the attention of the entire group of five. “I thought I heard you talkin’ about me and I just wanted to hear what you had to say. I must be pretty popular if an entire group of noble kids are chatting me up. Go on.”

“I was just mentioning how surprising it is that gutterwash like you got invited,” the boy snidely jabbed in return, “You don’t look like the type to regularly rub shoulders and cavort with the upper echelon of society.”

“...wha?” Keiji simply scratched his head with a confused, yet put-off grimace, displaying his serrated teeth. “Geez. Hopefully one of you got Silver Spoon a dictionary. Then maybe I’ll be able to understand whatever the hell you just said.”

Angered by the back talk, the boy huffed, “Don’t mock me, fool! My father is the culinary ambassador to Edinburgh!”

“Does it honestly look like I give two shits?”

The boy started stomping up to Keiji with his fists balled, mocking him. “Care to repeat yourself, choom?”

Comments

[Fetch]

Keiji: I actually don't care what any of your parents do. I only care if any of you have done anything to prove your own worth. Well? Have any of you done something except for getting your parents to spend their money on stuff for yourself?

[Jmaster49]

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Basically what he's saying but you made it more verbose lol