Chapter 479: Omega Hope Power~ – II |
The train doors opened revealing a, thankfully, empty compartment.
Meggie walked inside and immediately sat down in the middle of a bench.
Hope hesitated a bit, debating whether or not to stand. But then she sat down next to Meggie. "S-So... we're going to Akihabara?"
"Mmhm." Meggie pulled out her phone. "You said you had money now, right? You want to go eat, play, or shop?"
"U-Um... I'm fine with anything?"
Meggie rolled her eyes. "That's not answering my question. Choose one."
"O-Oh. Then... shop? I do need new clothes and things..."
"Got it." Meggie hummed. "You like Project MirAIs stuff, so you'll probably like other idol things. Then we can drop by some old figurine resellers to get you some things to decorate your apartment. Maybe some retro games too..."
Hope watched Meggie type notes on her phone and smiled. "You're really organized, aren't you?"
"Double... date incident?" Hope's eyes widened. "You were dating two boys at once?!"
"No, two girls- Well, TECHNICALLY it wasn't a date. And we're friends. But they like me as more than friends, but it's complicated so I'm playing dense, but they KNOW I'm playing dense and-" Meggie sighed. "...Don't worry about it. Anyway, Chinese or Japanese food for lunch?"
"U-Um?" Hope blinked, processing Meggie's words. She was still mulling over the fact that Meggie had not only been dating two people, but two GIRLS. Not guys, but gals.
Not that Hope had anything AGAINST that... but she didn't take Meggie as a girl who liked girls...
"What?" Meggie looked up. "Something on my face?"
"N-Not at all! A-And, um... Shouldn't we have Japanese food since we're in Japan?"
"Well, we could. But there's a good mapo tofu place around Akiba that I want to check out. Probably not as good as Dad's, but I kind of want some."
"O-Oh! Then that's fine- Mister John cooks?"
"...You really have no idea about any of us, do you...?"
Hope let out a nervous giggle. "N-No...?"
Meggie sighed.
===
The train ride was uneventful.
Not that Meggie thought it'd be anything but. She'd already taken the train by herself countless times.
Maybe it was because of her vibes. Or maybe it was a sort of visceral reaction to someone who could snap you in half like a kit-kat bar.
Adults intuitively sensed it, so they didn't bother her.
...Clearly, kids didn't. They were bravely stupid like that.
But while the train ride continued, Meggie glanced at Hope, properly examining her while there was a bit of downtime.
'She's... surprisingly normal.'
All the girls from Project MirAIs were weird. One way or another.
Rin nee-chan was... well, Rin nee-chan. She had been normal at the start... but ever since going back to school she was... Not different, but... 'more?'
It was a bit like she'd been in a protective shell for a long time, and now that she felt safe, she was cutting loose.
Big Sis Alphy and Asako...
Meggie didn't need to explain them.
Big Sis Alphy was Meggie's eldest sister, so that already disqualified her from being normal.
And Asako was the heiress to a literal criminal syndicate, so... yeah.
Then for the Prodigy girls...
Yuri definitely didn't act the part recently, but she was a bigwig in the underground as well. Apparently, if her grandfather didn't retire, she'd be a yakuza princess of the rival clans to Asako's family or something.
Chihiro... well, she was a complete degenerate. She used to be normal apparently, but unsupervised access to the internet, a toooon of PTSD involving her mom and dad, and the realization that you could get a lot of money from flaunting your stuff... both in terms of art and actions...
'That's exactly what Dad tells us NOT to do.'
Meggie thought it was cheap. Being all like 'that' on camera and stuff... apparently, in this world people called it 'empowering.' But from her experience, it just made you... 'easy?' Double standards were a thing, and it made you not seem like a good woman.
But anyway...
Shu seemed normal, but she turned out to be the latest in a long line of martial artists who were secluded in the mountains or something.
...Which reminded Meggie that she still needed to spar with Shu before Shu went back to the mountains.
And finally, there was Suzume. A nice girl. REALLY into fortune telling for some reason. But also apparently the mortal incarnation of Dad's ex.
Ah, though Dad's ACTUAL ex was currently with Titor right now as Amadeus.
...Now that Meggie thought about it some more...
'...Am I just living in an anime?'
Meggie didn't even know anyone who was normal, now that she thought about it.
Tsuki was Kai's daughter, and Kai himself was basically the protagonist of a tragic crime mob flick. And Tsuki's mom was also apparently the heiress of some famous Western rich family, so Tsuki was DEFINITELY not normal.
Emma and Perry were both the children of a famous pop idol who retired because she was pregnant...
Literally everyone at Hoshigawa Academy was disqualified because it was a school for gifted children.
Her family wasn't even from Earth, so they were disqualified...
'...Oh heavens above and hells below. This is what Dad was talking about.'
Main character energy... but in the worst way.
Meggie was literally the main character of some goofy slice of life anime where every side character was ridiculously over the top.
The only exception so far was Hope.
Meggie side-eyed Hope and said, "Hope..."
Hope flinched a bit and almost dropped her phone. But she recovered and said, "Y-Yes, Meggie?"
"...You're just a normal person, right? You don't have like some secret backstory, hidden superpower, or anything like that?"
"N-No?" Hope blinked. "I-I'm just a girl from a smalltown in the Midwest. I mean, I was an orphan and bounced around in the foster care system, but... I don't think so? I don't know who my parents were, but I've been told it was a teenage pregnancy and a mistake, so..." She trailed off, a bit of sorrow entering her eyes as she said that.
"Oh." Meggie cleared her throat. "Sorry."
"No, no! It's fine. I've... come to terms with it. They let you find out who your parents are when you turn 18. And apparently they both overdosed, so..." Hope fidgeted a bit and let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry... I didn't mean to make it dark."
"It's fine." Meggie stretched and said, "That just means we have to have a lot of fun to make up for it, right?"
Hope's story wasn't unique. It wasn't outlandish, and she definitely didn't have any superpowers or hidden backstory bits.
Meggie could tell that.
True to her initial impressions... and to Hope's admissions, Meggie felt that Hope was just a girl who got lucky enough to catch her Dad's attention.
...Though maybe that was a power in itself in a way.
Still.
'It should be interesting.'
This would be the first time Meggie was around someone 'normal.' So she was curious.
Would Meggie finally have an ordinary day for once?
...Or would her ridiculous life keep being weird.
The train came to a stop.
*Now arriving: Akihabara.*
"Wow!" Hope's eyes lit up. "The trains actually say that?"
Meggie hopped onto her feet and said, "The movies, anime, and games don't get EVERYTHING right. But they get a lot right. Now come on. Food first." She glanced at Hope's thin body and said, "You need it."
"O-Okay?"