Chapter 471: A Hopeful Sunday |
Hope glanced at the message on her phone, reading it again and again.
---
[Mister John]
In case nobody told you, I'll be there to pick you up around 9 PM your time. We'll be taking a private jet. Don't go to the airport, I'll take you there myself.
---
"I-Is Mister John really coming? Here? To pick me up? At my place?" Hope glanced around the room, a bit of panic welling up inside her.
A small studio apartment. A rough area of town...
"I-Is it going to be okay?"
Mister John was definitely rich, right? If a guy like that showed up here...
...It was a small town though.
"Oh no."
Hope's eyes widened as a thought came to mind.
"They'll think I'm an escort! Aaaahhhh-"
Hope covered her face, blushing. "This is bad, bad, bad...!"
If Mister John showed up at the door, dressed like he usually did...
And considering Hope's situation...
"My reputation..."
It was a small town.
Rumors traveled fast. Too fast.
And considering what everyone had been pushing Hope to do...
"Wait."
Hope paused.
"...Does it matter?"
Hope glanced around her room.
Project MirAIs merch that she scraped every last dollar to buy. Posters that she printed herself since she couldn't afford the real things...
Not a single gift from friend or family because she didn't have any. Not any real ones.
People knew her in this town as 'that girl' or 'the pretty but weird lady.' That, or they were always flirting with her and trying to pressure her into a relationship or... 'that.'
Hope paused. "...They don't care about me anyway."
So what if they thought she suddenly had a sugar daddy. It wasn't true. She was doing work.
...Okay, they probably might think that she was a cam girl or something. But even so...
"...Forget it." Hope nodded to herself. "It's better this way."
Her lease was month to month anyway. And she had to actively renew it. So it didn't matter if she just left everything behind.
"Right." Hope nodded. "It's settled then."
...While she wasn't sure when Mister John was arriving, she should still get packing.
"If we're taking a private jet, it should be enough to pack, right?" Hope took a look around.
Her Project MirAIs clothes, her merch, figurines...
There was the essentials, toothbrush, make up, shampoo...
But other than that...
"I guess it's just my laptop, right?"
In hindsight... Hope realized she didn't have too much. Everything she owned could be placed in a laundry basket... which she did.
The bed, furniture, sheets... everything else was here from the start. She'd cleaned it up, but it wasn't hers.
Hope hugged the laundry basket to her chest and let out a sad smile. "My entire life... this is all there is to it."
Silence lingered.
Hope let it. But then she forced out a breath and smiled. "Well, that's not all there will be going forward."
Even if this was all she had right now to her life, it wouldn't be for long.
Hope had friends now. Real friends.
...Sure the language barrier might be a problem, but it would work out!
Not only that, but she had a job. A real job, with a proper W2, benefits, and all of the adult things that Mister John had included in the contract. Like, tax things and investments too.
Then there was the fact that she would be visiting Japan. The country she'd dreamed about going her whole life.
"Yeah." Hope smiled. "Everything will be fine."
At that time, there was a knock at the door.
"Coming!" Hope set her laundry basket of her life's belongings down and walked over to open the door. "You're a bit early, Mister-"
A moment of panic.
A stranger at the door. Someone Hope didn't know.
A knife in that man's face.
Hope's eyes widened in shock and she froze.
And then-
"Nope!"
A golden blur, followed by a heavy impact.
The stranger- No, the home invader's knife flew through the air, piercing into the wall nearby. Meanwhile, the man himself fell to the ground, knocked out cold.
John lowered his fist and sighed in relief. "Man. It's always like this with me and girls, huh?"
Hope blinked, finally processing what just happened. And what could have happened. Against her will, her body started to shake and she took a step back.
"Oh. Right. Uh." John looked panicked. "First, it's me, John. Your boss. Second, we are DEFINITELY moving you out of here. Third, don't open doors for strangers. We don't want a Hoshino Ai incident. Fourth..." He reached into his pocket and then pulled out a chocolate bar. "...Chocolate? It helps calm nerves."
"Y-Yes. U-Um..." Hope hugged herself, trying to calm down. "S-S-Sorry. I've never..." Her eyes flitted to the unconscious stranger laying against the hallway.
John followed her gaze and then waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'll have people tidy this up later."
"W-What?"
"I'm saying relax. Here." John unwrapped the chocolate bar and then placed it in Hope's hands. "Eat." He glanced at the laundry basket. "Were you packing?"
Hope took the chocolate bar and nibbled a bit. "Y-Yes. I don't have much to pack anyway, so..."
"Great. Up we go." John picked up the laundry basket and placed it on his left shoulder, balancing it there with ease. After that, he held out his right hand to Hope. "Come on, Hope. Let's get going."
Hope hesitated.
Everything was so sudden, and she was still coming off the adrenaline rush of that stranger.
But she took a slow breath and then exhaled. That helped a bit.
"O-Okay." Hope tucked a strand of her sky blue hair behind her ear and then shyly walked forward to hold John's right hand with her left.
"Don't worry." John smiled. "I'm pretty good at martial arts. Even if we have to fight our way out of the hood, I've got you."
"I-I don't think that's necessary... B-But thank you...?"
"No need for thanks. Now." John walked forward, guiding Hope along. As he did, he deliberately stepped on the stranger's leg, a loud crack echoing as he did.
Hope winced. "I-Is that fine to do...?"
"Hm? Ah, force of habit. I've had crazy people get back up after knocking them out..." John hummed and looked around the dimly lit hallway, leading the way out. "That aside... you really live here, huh? If you didn't get this chance, you really would have been at a dead end."
Hope flinched and lowered her head, hiding her eyes with her bangs. "That's... yes." She quietly whispered. "I... probably didn't have much time left."
That stranger was proof of it.
Luck. She'd been lucky. Up until now, so many things could have gone wrong. And if it had been a little longer...
"Don't stress about it too much." John gave Hope a warm smile and said, "Life takes crazy turns. A life changing event can happen a millisecond from certain death, you know?"
Hope resisted the urge to glance back, sticking close to John's side instead. "C-Clearly..."
"It's a bit nostalgic though." John chuckled. "Something similar happened when I was recruiting Rin."
Hope tilted her head. "Rin?"
"Yeah. She's our first talent at Project MirAIs." John winked. "You've met her already."
Hope blinked. Then she gasped. "You mean Hana-"
"Shh." John chuckled. "No doxxing."
Hope puffed her cheeks. "That's terrible! You can't just drop that and expect me to be calm! What if I mess up in public?!"
"Well, we have countermeasures for that. But it got your mind off things, right?"
Hope paused. Then she realized that, yes, she was calmer now because that had flustered her. The adrenaline was wearing off now, along with the fear from the sudden shock of seeing the home invader earlier. "...You're good at that, Mister John." She poked his arm and said, "No wonder Miss Yue is so worried about you. Aren't you a natural womanizer?"
John nodded. "Yep. That's why I make sure to draw proper boundaries." He paused. "To be explicitly clear, I'm not interested in you. And relationships would be no-go."
Hope blushed. "I-I know that! I'm not a homewrecker... Besides. You're, um... not really my type."
John paused. "Huh. Really?"
Hope's blush deepened and she said, "Y-Yes... I like um... more muscular men..."
"...That's officially too much information."
Hope covered her face with her hand. "...Sorry..."
"It's fine. But, uh... Yeah. So, Japan. What are you looking forward to?"
Hope clung onto the topic change and quickly said, "I-I want to go shopping in Shibuya! I saw they had a lot of pretty jirai kei clothing. Like, lacey and bright... It would be nice to get some."
"Perfect. I'll let the girls know and you can all go on a shopping trip. We'll put it on the company card."
"E-Eh? Really?!" Hope's eyes brightened. "You mean it? I can buy frilly clothing? And wear it around all day?!"
"Of course. But first, to Japan."
John walked Hope out of the apartment building and onto the streets, where a nondescript black sedan was waiting.
Hope walked over and giggled. "This is real. It's really real..." She quickly pulled out her phone and said, "Can I take a selfie, Mister John? To remember this?"
"Sure, but we're doing the thumbs up and heart pose. No misunderstandings. Here." John took a step back and gave a thumbs up.
Hope giggled some more and took a shaky selfie of herself and John. Then she clutched her phone to her chest and sighed. "Best day ever."
John put Hope's laundry basket of belongings into the backseats and said, "Oh, you haven't seen the half of it yet, Hope. The girls have tons of stuff planned for their kouhai, you see..."