Chapter 485: A bit of Yuri (no not THAT yuri) |
Yuri walked over to the sofa in the living room, still carrying Aurora. Then said, "Thanks for coming, Hope. I was thinking I'd be stuck here watching Rory all day by myself."
Hope set her bags down and said, "I'm happy to help! And hello there!" Hope walked over and knelt down to be eye level with Aurora. Then she held out her hand and said, "I'm Hope! Nice to meet you! ...Oh! Should I be talking in Japanese?"
Yuri rolled her eyes and said, "You've been talking in English this whole time, so it's too late for that. But also, I'm pretty sure Rory here understands both. Right, Rory?"
Aurora giggled and said, "Eigo! Ogey!"
Hope blinked and she said, "Does Rory understand people already?"
"Not sure." Yuri shrugged. "I want to say yes, since her responses are natural. But at the same time, since she was born on Christmas and it's only April, she's like... what, four months old?"
Aurora giggled and held her hands out to Hope.
Hope smiled and scooped Aurora up. "Okay, Sweetie. I've got you."
Aurora immediately shifted around to make herself comfortable in Hope's arms. "Hope! Hapi!"
Yuri sighed. "Well. Guess that's a yes? Of COURSE John's baby daughter would be a genius. It's not like the rest of his family isn't already ridiculous or anything."
Hope giggled and then rubbed her face against Aurora's cheek. "Aren't you a cutie?"
Aurora giggled with Hope and said, "Bah! Cu... cu... cu-pe!"
Yuri rolled her eyes and stretched out her legs. "Ugh... what a mess though."
Hope sat down next to Yuri and said, "What mess? Oh! Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
Yuri nodded. "Yep. Supposed to be. But school's cancelled because of the whole thing around Meggie's girlfriend. Or, 'friend' like she says."
Hope's eyes widened. "So Meggie really DOES like girls!"
"Huh? I thought it was obvious. All of John's kids are into chicks. Alphy, Betty, Meggie... Probably Rory too considering how much she likes being carried."
Aurora raised her hands and proudly said, "Bubi!"
"...See?"
Hope gasped. "Rory, no! Bad!"
"...Bubi...?"
"No booby- I mean, you can't say that!"
Aurora sniffed. "Bu-bubi... nono?"
"...W-Well...?"
Yuri sighed. "Just give up, Hope. I tried getting her to stop for an hour already."
"...I see." Hope sighed. "...Well. It... could be worse? Like curse words...?"
Aurora tilted her head, her teary eyes vanishing like it was just an illusion. Then she said, "Fah? Cu?"
"RORY NO!" Hope let out a scandalized gasp.
Aurora giggled.
Yuri groaned and then grabbed a nearby pacifier. After rinsing it in the sink, she shoved it into Aurora's mouth. "There, you little menace. Chew on that and be good for at least an hour."
Aurora giggled, but then she became quiet and kept nibbling on the pacifier.
Hope let out an exhausted smile and said, "I see why you wanted me to come over..."
Yuri sighed. "I thought it was going to be fine. I remember Rory was behaved in the past. But maybe John's been a bad influence on her... that or Meggie's been watching too many streamers around Rory."
Yuri still remembered the sweet and innocent little infant... Now it was only four months in and she was already a menace.
As if she could hear Yuri's thoughts, Aurora immediately giggled.
Yuri wrinkled her nose and then sighed. "Anyway..." She looked at Hope and said, "How's Japan been treating you, Hope? Do you like it here?"
"Oh!" Hope smiled. "It's amazing! The people here are so nice! And the streets are lit up at night, so it feels super safe to just walk around! Back where I used to live, if you weren't home before 7 PM, it was... um, pretty scary..."
Yuri raised an eyebrow. "Really? That bad?"
"A-Ah. Well... There were... Um. How do I say it...?" Hope glanced at Aurora, happily nuzzled against her chest. Then she glanced up at Yuri, clearly thinking of how to say it in a family friendly way... "Um. There were... nightworkers? And lots of people who drank and used other things?"
"...Oh." Yuri slowly nodded. "Yeah, I can see why. And since you look like that..."
Hope was beautiful. But she was also pretty delicate.
Since she had been eating better after coming to Japan, Yuri could see that Hope had filled out a bit... that was probably Meggie's doing too since they'd become close friends.
But Hope was clearly someone who couldn't defend herself if push came to shove.
Did Hope realize Yuri's thoughts? She giggled and said, "I was okay, Yuri. I might not be strong, but I'm good with guns!"
"E-Eh?" Yuri blinked. "S-Say that again?"
"Oh! Well, I sold it since I couldn't bring it to Japan. But I always had one on me when I worked! And I was super good at the range! The old timers there always said I could shoot my way out of a cornfield! ...Whatever that meant."
Yuri slowly blinked again. Then she said, "I heard Americans had guns. But... you just like. Had one? On you? All the time?"
"Doesn't Rhea-senpai do that too?"
"She carries a prop, not the real thing!"
"Oh. But isn't that more dangerous?" Hope tilted her head. "If they know it's a fake, then they'll just rush you... That's the first thing they teach you in self-defense class!"
"What kind of self-defense classes were you taking?!"
"Well, there was this nice lady named Eva and her boyfriend Leo who lived in my town for a year. Apparently, they were super secret spies looking for a bioweapon! I'm not sure what that is... but they needed money, so they taught self-defense classes!" Hope giggled. "Leo kept doign backflips though, and Eva kept scolding him for that."
Aurora pulled out her pacifier and raised it in the air. "Babip! Ba!"
Hope smiled and booped Aurora's nose. "Yep! Backflip! I can't do one though, so no flippies from me, Rory."
Aurora smiled back at Hope. Then she plopped her pacifier back in her mouth and kept nibbling on it.
Yuri sighed. "...Is there anyone in Project MirAIs who's normal?"
Hope blinked. "Am I... not normal?"
"...I think you're by definition not normal because you know how to use a gun properly, Hope."
"Huh? But like, most American gals can. At least, where I lived?"
"...Okay. You're right." Yuri nodded. "You're normal by American standards. But CLEARLY, America is NOT normal- Wait. Is that why John is like this? He DID say he was American..."
That... would explain so much.
The bombastic actions. The nonchalant 'I don't care at all what you say' attitude. The over the top affection towards his wife. The boatloads of money he just tossed around. And the fact that he was WAY too damned good at cooking... probably from all the food they throw away in kitchens in America.
Hope blinked. "Mister John is American?"
Yuri paused. "You CANNOT be serious."
Hope blushed. "I-I thought he was like, British! I mean, he looks so dignified! And he has blonde hair and light green eyes! Most guys in America have brown hair!"
Aurora giggled.
Hope blushed more and poked Aurora's cheek. "Quiet, you! No laughing at people! That's mean!"
Yuri shook her head. "Okay... I retract what I said. You MUST be normal if you don't even know that... Just how little did you know about Project MirAIs in the first place?"
"Um. I know about all of my senpais? And a little about Mister John? But I know more what you do rather than anything about you in general..." Hope paused, blushing. "...I still don't know which is which Senpai. Um, Yuri-senpai. You're... Rhea, right?"
Yuri froze. "You have GOT to be kidding me."
Aurora giggled again.
Hope blushed and said, "Y-You're not? B-But you've got the same energy. I mean, you're all rough and tumble and a little vulgar...?"
"I'M MIYA, DAMMIT!"
"...Oh. OH! I-I see it now..." Hope turned a deep red. "Uu... I'm so embarrassed... I should have realized it. I watched all your videos..."
"Damned straight you should have-" Yuri paused. Then she felt her face heat up. "A-All my videos?"
Hope looked up. "Y-Yes! It's how I learned how to cook! Your ramen video saved me a lot of money! And it kept me healthy too!"
"A-Ah. Well, that's..." Yuri coughed. "I'm happy... B-But still! How can you not know?!"
Hope fidgeted. "...Th-Then... If you're Miya... Is Suzume-senpai Rhea-senpai?"
"NO! Oh my GOD." Yuri facepalmed. "Chi-chan was right. We SHOULD have done the guessing game. You would have failed SO bad..."
"W-Well excuse me for being bad at telling people apart!"
"Our models LITERALLY look like us, but fancier!"
"I-I thought it was a fakeout! Like wrestlers!"
"A fakeout?!"
"Y-Yeah! You know, like how some wrestlers pretend to be bad guys but end up being good guys the whole time... or the opposite?"
Yuri groaned.
'This kouhai of mine... no wonder her name is Hope. Just how helpless IS she...?'