Around the World

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Edited by RedPandaChick

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Our glasses detected we had entered a new country a few minutes before landing, and they recommended changing some settings to improve our experience. It was done with a single instruction.

The changes became evident before we even stepped out of the plane. Subtitles appeared in front of my eyes when the flight attendants welcomed us to the country, indicating they had done so in the country's language, but I could also understand them perfectly thanks to my glasses translating their voices in real time.

The subtitles became annoying quite quickly, so I disabled them as we walked down the tunnel into the airport.

Once inside, I had no trouble understanding the instructions to grab our luggage, nor did I reading every line of text in the announcements, signs, or whatever other words were written. This included some of the holographic signs that floated in front of people waiting for other people.

Even though we didn't struggle to find the person that was waiting for us, my glasses were smart enough to outline her and her sign from a significant distance away. We approached her and she introduced herself as the chauffeur that would take us to the hotel.

We followed her out of the terminal where a small crowd of fans was waiting for us. Even though it was somewhat creepy that they knew which airport we were going to arrive at, and what terminal we were going to come out of, we stopped so the girls could take pictures with all of them. We had Butcher and Sugioka with us and we still had plenty of time before we had to go to the venue.

Knowing we were taking pictures with fans, several more of them arrived at the airport. The crowd wouldn't stop growing, so I had to ask the girls to be quick to avoid any problems.

As soon as they finished, we followed the chauffeur again.

Two vans were parked in front of another terminal since there were no other parking spaces available. Another chauffeur ran to us to help us put our luggage in the van, and the other chauffeur did the same in the other van.

Finally, we were on the way to the hotel. Despite the unending view of dull buildings, we all couldn't stop looking out of the windows. We saw a couple of landmarks in the city and chatted with each other about being in another country as a group.

We arrived at the hotel and rested for an hour. We then headed to the venue at noon to greet Aeryx and their team, participate in the sound check, and then open the concert for her.

Performing for less than an hour was a piece of cake for the girls now that they had toured on their own, with concerts that lasted around two hours.

No major problems happened throughout the first half of the tour. The main difference in the concerts was that the venues had a lot more capacity. The smallest one on the tour could host up to five thousand people, while the biggest one had a capacity of twenty thousand, which was the last venue of the tour. Not all of them were sold out, but they were close.

We were able to wander around a few of the cities and the girls even live-streamed some of it. Sadly, we had to stop once there were too many fans.

Even though the break halfway through the tour was only a couple of weeks long, it definitely helped us recover some energy. Luckily for me, Haru officially joined GIMA as Co-CEO, so I was able to rest even more.

Her first job was to plan the expansion of HQ. It was exciting, but it also meant that Aki, Umi, Tomokazu, Jun, and I needed to look for apartments once the tour ended.

The tour resumed after the break. However, instead of taking a plane, we were going to take a ship to the continents on the other side of the world.

The first half of the process was the same as in an airport, but instead of seeing planes parked out of the window, we saw ships parked far from each other. My excitement build up more and more every time a ship took off.

Finally, it was time for our flight. We headed to our gate and lined up for a few minutes, then we entered an underground tunnel where a monorail waited for us and several other people. Once everyone hopped on, it accelerated away, and so did my heartbeat.

The trip to the dock only lasted a minute. Everyone got off the monorail and lined up again, although this time it was to take the elevator up to each person's floor.

Even though the fifteen of us were together, we were split and joined by other groups since the elevator could only carry up to ten people. Aki, Tomokazu, Umi, and I took it together, while the rest had to wait for the next one.

The doors closed and we started going up. A second later, we emerged from the ground to reveal the bottom thrusters of the ship that we were going to hop on through the glass walls. Even though it was one of the smallest models and wasn't the same as an interplanetary ship, which had four pillars connected with crossed rings, it still was huge. I couldn't stop looking at it as the elevator climbed up to the seventeenth floor.

Eventually, we got high enough to be able to see the spaceport in its entirety. I wasn't the only one excited. A kid burst into excitement at his parents and asked them to look at the spaceport. They smiled with him.

It made me realize I had never been on a ship with my parents. Still, I was just as excited as the kid, but my adult brain wouldn't let me show it.

Finally, the elevator reached the seventeenth floor and the doors opened. Our group of ten people walked through a short tunnel. Then, we were inside the ship.

The cabin was incredibly wider and taller than an airplane's, which meant that the seats were farther apart from each other. Not only was it more comfortable, but it also was needed.

Holographic signs with advertisements that emerged from the floor and extended all the way up to the ceiling split the cabin into several rows of seats. Again, our glasses marked our seats with an arrow above them. Luckily, TOTOT was able to get us tickets so we could all sit together, and I almost screamed in happiness when I saw that we were going to be close to the window.

Aki and I sat together. Although I was two seats away from the window, I could still see pretty well.

Umi, who was the closest to the window, stood up out of nowhere and approached me.

"Change seats with me," she said.

"Huh? There's no need."

"Yes, there is. You look like an idiot smiling like that."

Aki chuckled, but she quickly apologized, "Sorry."

I smiled. "I'll still look like an idiot even if we change seats."

"But at least I won't have to see it."

Not knowing what else to say, I simply said, "Thank you."

We changed seats, and now I could see outside the window better. Luckily, we were sitting close to the back, so the tower that was holding the ship in place didn't obstruct the view. It wasn't going to matter after taking off anyway.

Aki held my hand as I stared outside while waiting for the rest of the passengers to board.

Slowly, the remaining seats filled up and the place grew noisier. Then, the holographic signs that split the floor into rows changed from displaying advertisements to showing instructions. At the same time, a feminine voice read the same instructions out loud through the speakers.

Just as she explained what the seats were going to do, they started doing it.

The cross seatbelts fastened on their own. Then, the seats slowly rotated forward until every person was facing the ceiling, which explained why the back side of each seat was weirdly big and round.

Aki and I never stopped holding hands as the announcer explained the remaining precautions and emergency procedures. I assumed she was one of the pilots.

Finally, the instructions were over. Just as she had explained, the thrusters blasted for the first time to prepare for the launch, yet I could barely feel the vibrations. Still, Aki's grip on my hand grew tighter.

Another feminine voice started counting down from five. At the same time, the number appeared in front of me on the ceiling.

As the moment approached, Aki and I had to stop holding hands because of the precautions.

Then, it was time.

"Zero. Enjoy your flight."

The blast was even louder this time, and the g-forces pushed me into my seat instantly. Although I could barely move, I was able to turn my head to look outside the window.

We flew farther from the ocean slowly at first, but the speed quickly ramped up, and so did the g-forces. They became so strong that I had no other choice but to stop looking outside and straighten my neck.

Eventually, the g-forces stopped getting stronger, and after a couple of minutes of climbing up, they vanished in a snap. In fact, I felt no weight at all, only the seatbelts pressing against my chest to hold me in place. Although we couldn't stand up for obvious reasons, I could move on my seat again.

My eyes got teary as soon as I looked out of the window. The Earth was in front of me, with its blue atmosphere wrapped around it. It was clear and filled with green, brown, white, and more blue. I couldn't imagine a time when we had almost destroyed it.

Seeing our planet like this also reassured me that Blostars was on the correct path. I couldn't wait to see other planets like I was seeing ours.

Sadly, we were going incredibly fast. We had gone around the entirety of it in a mere twenty minutes. Then, it was time for another odyssey: the descent.

Opposite to being pushed into the seat, it felt like we were being lifted from them. Obviously, the seatbelts did their work perfectly and I barely moved from my seat.

A minute later, we landed at the next spaceport smoothly, and we were back on the ground several minutes later.

The rest of the tour progressed without major issues, but a problem always appeared at the last minute.