Chapter 465: The day of a busy father – I |
Rin couldn't help but smile as she watched the fidgeting young woman through her laptop screen.
'Cute. Super duper cute.'
Was Mister John just that good at finding beautiful women who needed help?
...Or was it that beautiful women tended to be the ones who needed help the most?
Rin wasn't sure, but she DID know that her latest kouhai here was amazing.
Beautiful sky-blue hair, glittering blue eyes, and a gentle face that hid a clear inner strength.
At least, that was what Rin felt from Hope-chan.
Resting her elbows on her table and then resting her head in her hands, Rin smiled and said, "So it's just you and me now, kouhai! Tell me about yourself!"
Hope blinked and then her eyes flitted down a bit. Probably reading the subtitles from Rin's words.
When Rin thought about it, Onee-chan and Aneue both knew English already. Betty nee-chan did too. And her mom definitely knew English from work...
'Oh! I should learn with the Ohana! I'm sure some Kaigai-Niki can help with that!'
New stream idea, get!
Oh! But Rin should focus on Hope-chan. That's the whole point of this!
She shifted her attention back to Hope. And as she did, Hope spoke.
It was in English. But the moment it went through, Mira-chan translated her words into Japanese for Rin.
*Um... there's not much to tell, Senpai. I'm just... me? I like singing and dancing. And, um... Well...* Hope fidgeted and then spoke up again. *...I always wanted to say this. But... thank you. All of you. It really helped me at a time when I needed it.*
Rin paused. Then her bubbly energy simmered down a bit as a warm smile crossed her face. "Silly. There's no need to thank us for that. Thank YOU for still being here."
Hope's voice hitched and her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. But then she nodded and said, "Okay, Senpai."
"Good!" Rin leaned back into her chair and then clapped her hands together. "Now! Lightning round!"
*L-Lightning round?*
"Yep!" Rin let out a bright smile. "Favorite color! Favorite food! And who's your oshi?"
*U-Um... sky blue? Like my hair. Food... I like crepes. And my oshi... Um.* Hope blushed and quietly finished in Japanese. "...Anata?"
Rin gasped.
Hope turned a beet red and said, "No! Kimi! Kimi!"
Rin giggled. "A-na-ta~?"
"Noooooooooooo!"
Rin's giggles turned into a full laugh.
Oooh, this kouhai was going to be fun to mess with~
...Hm. Maybe Yuri was right. Rin WAS enjoying tormenting others a bit too much these days...
Oh well~
Senpai privileges~
===
John was in his office at Myth Inc. HQ.
Since there was only a half day of classes on Saturday, and since Yue had finished her girl's day with Sakura early because Rin's mom had some urgent business to attend to, John managed to trade off with his lovely wife in babysitting Rory.
Which was AMAZING since John had ABSOLUTELY forgotten to follow up with the members of [Prologue] for Project MirAIs EN.
"Let's see... I just checked in with Hope. I haven't interviewed the other two girls yet though, have I?"
Mira-chan emerged in a shower of pixels, hovering as a holographic chibi version of herself over John's desk. "Nope~! You completely forgot! Just like you said, having a cute baby girl made you a dumdum dad~"
"Ugh..." John ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. Well, at least Jenny's on it. I guess Hope must have been the most pressing matter since she didn't bug me about the others."
"Mmhm~!" Mira-chan floated around John before sitting on his shoulder. "Hope-chan really needed the help, you know? She was on her last legs! The other two are a bit down on life, but they aren't a bad day away from... well, disappearing?"
"...Did Titor program you to guilt-trip this hard, or was it me?"
Mira-chan giggled. "Silly, John! It was your wife, obviously!"
"...Right. Obviously." John sighed. "...And that reminds me that I still need to have a play date with Little Xuan and Little Wu."
John had made sure to call his two adoptive daughters often and check in on them. But it HAD been a bit since they had actually done anything together in person.
Thankfully, the last he heard, both had been practically adopted by Suzu-chan and were spending a lot of time with her.
Which makes sense considering Suzu-chan was the mortal reincarnation of the woman that Little Xuan and Little Wu considered their big sister.
But anyway...
"Okay, let's do a proper checklist." John pulled out a notebook and a black ballpoint pen. "We're doing this old school. First, MAKE SURE
...Man, he felt guilty about Hope. She sounded so broken and in disbelief when John called.
He had been under the assumption that he made it apparent she was joining Project MirAIs after the interview, but CLEARLY he did not.
It was a good thing that he planned around himself forgetting though.
"Note to self: take Jenny out for something nice..."
His younger sister was bailing him out a lot these days. John definitely needed to make sure she knew how much he appreciated it.
...Though it was still a weird thought.
He never did figure out if Jenny was his actual sister or some sort of metaphysical entity that was brought to life from the collective wishes of the human consciousness that were impressed by him cross-dressing.
And John HAD asked Gray about it.
But Gray had just deadpanned that he got isekai'd before John, so he couldn't have known either.
...So yeah.
Jury was out on that verdict.
But for all intents and purposes, Jenny was his sister.
...What was he thinking about again?
"Oh, right. Things."
John glanced back at his notepad and continued building his task list.
"Look over... auditions... for Project BRAVE..." John mumbled and wrote that down as line item three.
It would probably be a bit rocky.
John could already anticipate the backlash from opening up a male talent branch.
THANKFULLY, none of Prototype were the girlfriend experience type of streamer.
Prodigy... might be a concern.
John knew that Chi-chan DEFINITELY played into it. She was full e-girl mode even after the life counseling.
Suzu-chan... Mm, should be fine.
Shu was just straight action movie at this point, so no worries there.
Yuri though...
'Doesn't she market herself as the literal girlfriend of the viewer?'
That might be difficult...
It should be fine though.
John would just have to make sure that there were clear company boundaries in place and socially manipulate the boys to treat the girls as sisters.
As for how...
"...Note to self. Make sure the candidates for Project BRAVE either have girlfriends, or find them girlfriends the moment they get onboarded."
John quickly added that as line item four.
It was pretty simple reasoning.
While the girls in Project MirAIs were all amazing, a boy who had a girlfriend would definitely not have the time to start anything with them.
Mostly because said girlfriend would feel unimaginably threatened by the girls and do her best to keep her man.
Case in point: Yue and John's entire life situation.
And if worst came to worst... well, he'd just have his wife help sort it out. She was a girl's girl for sure and would make sure the guy stayed loyal.
Though, John wouldn't bring on anyone who would go for a member of Project MirAIs to begin with.
Intercompany activities were going to be a thing, and he was NOT going to deal with ANY of the drama that would unfold from that mess.
Besides that...
'I could always make a trip back to the Three Realms too in order to find the boys a wife...'
Although John and Yue weren't actively involved anymore, they DID still have a sect there. And he knew there were plenty of disciples who would be eager to give up cultivating to settle down in a completely safe environment.
Plus, considering the fact that the standard of beauty in the Three Realms was just that ridiculous...
"Wait." John rubbed his chin. "Hm... should I open up a match-making business?"
Japan DID have a declining population issue. And there were plenty of people he knew who would be more than happy to embrace a mundane family lifestyle. Then there was the fact that most of the people from the Three Realms would see an unfit spouse as a project and genuinely stay loyal while helping them become their best self...
"Definitely gotta explore this idea later." John wrote it down and then continued through his task list.
First, send out things to
Second, look over auditions for Project BRAVE.
Third, after finding the candidates for Project BRAVE, make sure they are NOT single.
Fourth...
"Hm." John rubbed his chin. "What else do I need to do right now?"
Socially, there were a lot of things he needed to catch up on. He still owed the guys a bar night. Akira, Takashi, Gray, and all the other guys... they were long overdue a proper hangout session.
But that was low on the list of priorities. Guys were guys. They could pick that up whenever.
In terms of Myth Incorporated and Project MirAIs though...