Chapter 447: Aftermath of the Hotspring Incident (1/2) |
Friday evening in Tokyo, around 6 PM.
After a day making the rounds in America and a few other places around the world checking future prospects for Project MirAIs EN, John finally finished and headed back home.
Unlike the bustling cities from just earlier, the Smith family household was quiet.
John walked inside and smiled, feeling the usual comfortable atmosphere of the suburban home.
Although...
'Hm. It's pretty quiet.'
Usually, Meggie would be hanging around the living room playing some games. That, or Yue would be watching a movie with Aurora.
John tossed his suit jacket on the sofa and then walked over to the kitchen. 'Might as well enjoy some peace and quiet.'
After everything that had happened in John's life, he had learned to take and appreciate these rare and calm moments when they appeared.
John suddenly cut his train of thoughts off, feeling a sense of foreboding.
It would be nice if it was just paranoia.
But John didn't get paranoia. He only ever got his suspicions concerned. And right now, he was feeling like something very troublesome was brewing in the background that he wasn't aware of.
Family related?
...No, it wasn't that. John felt like there was some trouble brewing there, but it was a bit further out still.
Project MirAIs?
...Definitely that. But not Prototype. So then...
John pulled out his phone, a sense of foreboding in his heart. "...Prodigy didn't do something ridiculous, did they...?"
Rin had asked to take everyone out on a fancy onsen trip because they were all stressed from school.
John had agreed, since he knew firsthand how hard it was to balance school life and any sort of job, let alone something as mentally demanding as being a streamer. So he had done a little handwaving and got them a top pass at the best onsen in Tokyo. Cherry Blossom Springs... or something.
Wait.
"They... aren't streaming from there. Are they?" John started to sweat, carefully reviewing what Rin had asked in his head.
*Mister John! Can Hana and I take Prodigy out to the onsen? They're stressed about school and what to do for the off-collab, so I think it'd be a good idea to go an onsen for it!*
John froze. Then he facepalmed and said, "Rin. You need to be more specific...! Ah, wait. No, I need to be more clear..."
It had sounded like Rin was just asking to take the girls out to an onsen because they were stressed about school and the off-collab. And it had sounded like Rin had thought taking them to an onsen was a good idea for them to relax.
But, now that John was reviewing those words... and the fact that Rin would have said directly that she was taking them to relax...
John groaned. "Is this Rin being a smart teen, or me becoming too much of a dad?"
It was the exact sort of wordplay that a girl would use to go out to a party and later say, 'but you said I could!'
"...Maybe it's not that bad?"
John hesitantly pulled out his phone.
Miya was still live. It seemed like she was the one in charge of the collab this time. And it looked like she had been live for a couple hours now.
"The thumbnail is tame. Maybe it's just sitting and chatting-"
*Hn~? W-Wait, R-Rhea~ S-Stop that!*
*Ara ara~ I didn't think you were so ticklish Mimi~*
CRACK.
John blinked and realized he had crushed his phone. He let out a long and suffering sigh and then repaired it before opening up his contacts app and calling Kai.
One ring.
Two.
And then Kai picked up. "Yeah, John?"
John forced a smile on his face and said, "Kai."
"...Why so serious? Did something happen?"
"Oh. You could say that." John turned on the TV and tuned into Miya's channel, watching as the Prodigy girls chatted in very very very much borderline territory in the onsen. "You're the manager for Prodigy, right?"
"...Y-Yes?"
"And you realize that, of the girls, NONE of them are adults?"
"Of course. That's why they need a manager, right?"
John laughed. "That's right. So. Tell me why YOU LET THEM STREAM PRACTICALLY NUDE TO AN AUDIENCE OF OVER 10,000 PEOPLE AND ARE STILL STREAMING?!"
Silence. Then Kai whispered, "Oh my god."
"I THOUGHT YOU HAD EXPERIENCE WITH IDOLS!"
"I do! And this was okay... but I guess those idol groups were run by the yakuza so-"
"CUT IT! NOW! BEFORE IT ALL GETS NUKED!"
Kai's line went dead. No doubt in full panic mode.
John groaned and rubbed his face. "Okay. Let's stay positive. Worst case, we run operation Ba Sing Se and pretend it was all a Mandela effect. But dammit... I need to have a talk with the girl about how far 'freedom' stretches and where 'responsibility' starts..."