Chapter 472: A bit before Hope arrives |
Recommended OST: I FEEL SO ALIVE by Cosmograph
"Okay team!" Rin clapped her hands together. "It's go time!" She looked around at the other girls of Project MirAIs and said, "Since Mister John and Titor said no to the jumpscare, what should we do to welcome in our new kouhai?"
It was Monday evening, and the Project MirAIs girls had gathered in the lounge at Myth Inc HQ.
Twelve hours had passed since Mister John said he would pick up Hope, so Rin had summoned the girls to brainstorm a welcoming party for their latest kouhai.
Sitting on the couch, Chihiro popped a pink bubblegum and ran a hand through her bleached blonde hair. "Do we have to?"
At a nearby table, Suzume idly folded a paper crane to add to a wreath of them and said, "We do not. But if you are fine with being the only one not there to greet your kouhai, Chi-chan, by all means."
Chihiro rolled her eyes and then checked her painted pink fingernails. "Ugh. Fiiine. I guess that'd be rude. And my dad's been bothering me about my manners."
Asako grabbed a rootbeer bottle from the fridge and then gave Chihiro a once over. After that, she said, "...I think that's because you went from reserved JK to full gyaru, Chi-chan." She paused and gave Chihiro a side-eye. "...You haven't made any new... 'friends' have you?"
Chihiro blushed. "EW! NO! It's not a- I'm NOT that girl from that doujin! I just like the look, okay? Oh my god!"
Yuri walked down the stairs from the upper floor, carrying a stack of aluminum trays filled with cookies. "Be thankful you don't get it, Shu. I found that by accident... traumatized me forever."
Rin tilted her head. "Traumatized? Why?"
Alphy giggled. "Well... it's pretty spicy?"
Asako's eyes widened. "Alphy. No."
"But it's a whole metamorphosis~"
"CEASE."
Rin hummed. "Well... okay. But anyway!" She hopped onto the sofa next to Chihiro and said, "We have less than an hour left until Hope gets here! What do you wanna do?"
Chihiro hummed. "...Should we see if she can figure out who's who? Rin-senpai said Hope was a fan, right?"
Alphy's eye sparkled. "Ooh! That should be fun! ...Ah." She frowned. "Hope's already seen me, Rin, and Asako though... so it'd just be you four."
"Even better." Chihiro flicked her bubblegum wad into the trash and said, "Riri. Switch clothes with me."
Yuri's ears turned red and she almost dropped the trays of cookies. "W-What?! Why?!"
"We're both blonde now. And I can totally pull off Miya. Like..." Chihiro cleared her voice and said, "It's Me, Miya~ Not Amiya, not Emiya, but your girlfriend, Mimi~"
Yuri set down the trays on the counter and jabbed a finger at Chihiro. "STOP."
Asako sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "...This is a clown show."
Suzume nodded, having just finished folding another crane. "Not just a clown show, the entire circus, Senpai."
Shu blinked. "Um... Can't we just make a normal dinner to celebrate her being here?"
Rin puffed her cheeks. "But that's boooring, Shu! And we're her senpai! We have to make a strong first impression!"
Shu tilted her head. "...Then can't we just throw a surprise party?"
Silence.
Asako facepalmed. "...You can't be serious. Did NO one here think about that?"
Alphy shrugged. "In our family, it's kind of hard to make a surprise party work, Asa-chan. You should know by now."
Asako paused. "...True. You guys all have weirdly accurate intuition about stuff."
Rin jumped to her feet and struck a pose, pointing into the air. "So it's decided! Surprise party! ...But, um. We only have an hour. Can we do it?"
Alphy smiled. "I can get Betty to help! She's good at this stuff!"
Rin's eyes widened. "That's right! Betty nee-chan can get everything ready! We just need to get in position!"
Yuri raised her hand. "Guys... shouldn't one of us go to pick Hope-chan up from the airport?"
Asako waved her hand and said, "John's got it. He's flying with her anyway."
Chihiro hummed. "You say that, Senpai... But you know our CEO. Do you really think it's going to work out if he's there with a pretty girl by himself? He's the sort of guy who gets into trouble when he's on his own, isn't he?"
All the girls suddenly went silent.
Rin was quiet too, seriously thinking about Mister John and every time he was by himself or with just one of them. "...That... is a good point. Mister John always gets into trouble unless someone's with him, right? Like, someone he knows..."
Alphy hummed and said, "I don't know about ALWAYS... but Papa does have a habit of running into beautiful women in distress."
Yuri nodded. "I agree. So... one of us should go there to check up on Hope and John, right?"
Chihiro hummed. "Maybe we just get our Manager to meet them? Kai jii-san needs to get out of the house more anyway."
Yuri shook her head. "Even if he wanted to, he can't."
Rin nodded. "That's right! Uncle Kai is stuck in a serious chat with my mom and Miss Elise!"
Yuri blinked. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, seriously? I thought you said they were GOING to hash it out, not that they were doing it today, Senpai."
Rin shrugged. "Mom heard what happened between Meggie and Tsuki from Betty nee-chan. Then she said it was time for adult stuff."
Chihiro adjusted her pink glasses and said, "Hoho~? Adult stuff, hm~"
Asako groaned. "Chi-chan. Seriously?"
Chihiro shrugged. "Hey, whatever pays the bills."
"Your dad's salary is 500K USD a year."
"And? It's his money, not mine."
"YOU already make 200K USD a year from being Rhea alone."
"Your point is?"
"..."
Rin clapped her hands. "Okay! Focus! So, three things! First!" She stuck up one finger. "Surprise party for Hope-chan! Onee-chan, get Betty nee-chan to help us get ready!"
Alphy smiled. "Of course, Rin! I'll call her right now."
"Great! Second!" Rin made a peace sign and said, "Airport! For peace! Riri, Aneue! I'm counting on you two! You're the most mature here!"
Yuri sighed. "...I'm kind of annoyed that's true since I'm technically a dropout."
Asako patted Yuri's shoulder and said, "Hey. At least you're not a disgraced heiress to the Seiryuu-kai."
"...What?"
Asako blinked. "Huh? Didn't you guys know? I thought you all found out by now."
Chihiro jumped to her feet. "YOU'RE TELLING ME IT'S NOT A BIT?!"
Suzume's eyes widened. "...Then, is it true that Miss Yue and Mister John are also leaders of a vast clan?"
"Oh!" Alphy lowered her phone, mid-call with Betty. "That's right! Papa and Mama lead one of the greatest clans in the Three Realms. ...Well, it's technically a 'sect' and not a clan, but yes. It was in the handbook."
Chihiro pulled off her glasses and said, "THERE'S A HANDBOOK?! WHEN?!"
Rin sighed.
'...This might take a while...'