After an almost two-hour-long talk with my mom and my dad, who later in the call joined for a few minutes, I was a little exhausted. She wanted to know almost every little detail about what I've been up to, which I gladly obliged, of course without telling her about anything DGC-related. Although I did mention there was a certain girl I might have had my eye on which is primarily the reason for the long conversation.

Anyways, after talking to my mom for so long, I realized I had been reading papers for a few hours at that point so I was hungry. Deciding to try the fancier restaurant in the hotel, I changed into the suit I had bought and went downstairs. Luckily the restaurant didn't require reservations for those staying in certain rooms, like mine, so I didn't have to wait. Unfortunately, my initial aversion to fancy food was correct.

The food itself was very pleasant to look at while the portions and taste were unsatisfying. Clearly, the chef was trying to go for looks and creativity over taste which I suppose is not a bad thing for some, but for me it was. Left unsatisfied, I went to a nearby Chinese restaurant to get some take-out before taking it back to my hotel room where I ate it while continuing to read papers.

Like a few hours earlier, my phone rang as I was in the middle of reading.

"Come on, why am I so popular all of a sudden?" I said as I picked up my phone.

"Unknown number might as well pick it up. Hope it's not a robocall." I mumbled as I answered.

"Hello."

"Is this Garetty-sensei?" asked a male voice, which by the honorific used, as well as the slight Japanese accent, I could tell the call was probably related to my shares.

"It is, how can I help you?"

"Good evening, Garetty-sensei. I am calling on behalf of Shinomiya-sama."

"Oh, Shinomiya-san, how is his health?"

"Very good, he has recovered tremendously since last you saw him. But, I am calling because he wanted to invite you to talk about another medical matter."

'Him having another illness is highly unlikely, it's more likely a smoke screen and an excuse to meet since no one but us should know about my shares. This is even more likely because if the caller knew I had shares in the company, I doubt he would use sensei, but sama instead.'

"Another medical matter? Is he okay?"

"He is, but ever since he fell ill and recovered, he has become a very cautious man and does not want to take any chances."

"Understandable. Very well, I can be on the next flight out to Tokyo in the morning."

"That will be unnecessary. Shinomiya-sama has arranged for a private jet to bring you to Tokyo. It is at Newark Airport. We also have a car waiting for you outside your hotel, ready to take you there at your convenience."

"I would expect nothing less from the Shinomiya Zaibatsu. I'll need an hour to get ready and I'll be on my way to the airport."

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"Very well, I wish you safe travels, Garetty-sensei."

"Thank you." I said before hanging up.

'Haven't spent any time in New York and yet I'm already flying off to Tokyo. I'll take all my things with me just in case I don't make it back before I have to check out. But finally seeing Tokyo with my own eyes, my weeb self is very excited. Although technically I have seen it when I went to diagnose him in my memories but not really.' I thought while packing my things and making sure I didn't leave anything behind.

'Wait, Ciri jumped straight to her world before we left and we didn't go through the whole her leaving the hotel thing. It'll be a slight pain in the ass to ask her to come over and help me out just for her to jump back right after. I'll just create a hologram projector with my nanites and put it on top of my stealth suit to make it seem like I'm her and walk out. A little complicated, but it's fine.'

After making it seem like Ciri left the hotel, I flew back up, picked up my luggage and went downstairs, as myself this time, and got in the car that was waiting. A short drive, and a handsy security check, later and I was in the air on my way to Tokyo. I had already interacted with a commercial airliner but I interacted with the private jet, just in case anything was different.

~~

"Garetty-sensei, we are about to land." said the flight attendant as she gently shook me awake.

"Got it. Thank you." I said to her before she walked off.

'Jesus, that was a long flight. I really need to make that tech company idea of mine a reality so I can "invent" faster planes. 18 hours of flight time, can't even imagine that on a commercial airliner in coach. Anyways, I haven't bought a language ability, nor do I think I will at the moment, so I'll just use my nanites to change my vocal cords and ears into automatic translation devices from Cyberpunk. I'll also take this opportunity now that I'm here in Japan to read someone's memories so I can learn Japanese.'

After a few minutes, we finally landed at Haneda Airport in the area of the airport only for Shinomiya Zaibatsu use.

"Thank you for flying with us today, Garetty-sensei." said the staff as they bowed.

"Thank you for the pleasant experience." I replied in Japanese as I got off and into the car that was waiting for me.

"Good afternoon, Garetty-sensei. My name is Masato Hayasaka and I am Shinomiya-sama's secretary." he said to me in English.

"Ah, please, we can speak in Japanese. I have been learning ever since I first came here, and I think I've become fluent enough."

"Oh, I must say Garetty-sensei your Japanese sounds very natural, almost as if you've spoken it all your life."

"I appreciate that, I tried my hardest to sound as natural as possible."

"I'm sure it was difficult. But onto more important matters. Shinomiya-sama has not told me why specifically he wished to see you, just that it was of great importance. I fear he might have fallen ill but is unwilling to show weakness again. What do you think are the chances of that occurring, Garetty-sensei?"

"Well, unfortunately, lupus is a chronic condition which means it can't be cured, just managed, so the chances of him falling ill are not low. And taking into consideration his age, the chances are higher than normal. But, I don't believe that the lupus has reared its head especially since we caught it early before it had the chance to run wild and really cause damage. If it is as you said on the phone, he has just become more cautious."

"I see, thank you for culling my worries, sensei." he said while slightly bowing.

"You seem very devoted to your employer. Something that is rarely seen in America, but I suppose is something more commonplace in Japan."

"I do not know if it is more commonplace in Japan, but my family has been serving the Shinomiya for generations. We are more than employers and employees."

"Fascinating, and where are we currently headed?" I asked as I noticed we were heading in a different direction than the last time I "visited."

"Shinomiya-sama is currently waiting for you at a hotel owned by the Shinomiya Zaibatsu. He has asked for a very famous chef to come to prepare and serve the food for today."

"Oh? A famous chef you say? Who might that be, if you don't mind me asking?" I asked, curious to see if the chef would be from the infamous Food Wars series.

"Of course not. The chef he has invited is Yukihira Jōichirō." he said while adjusting his glasses, causing them to shine.