Chapter 486: Hope has descended and is coming for you |
"OHAYO!" The front door to John's house opened and then a man wearing a snakeskin jacket, jeans, and an eyepatch walked in. A backpack filled with boxes of... udon? Was visible as he walked inside.
Maji set the backpack down and said, "Special delivery for Yuri-chaaaan~"
Hope flinched and looked over with shock. When she saw Maji properly, she instinctively held Aurora close and ducked behind the couch.
Yuri groaned and said, "Maji jii-san, could you enter normally for once?"
Maji cackled and said, "Audacity is the spice of life, Yuri-chan! Although." He noticed Hope's reaction and then took on a professional demeanor. "Apologies for the scare, Ojou-chan."
"A-Ah. It's fine...?" Hope slowly peeked up. "...I-I guess you're a family friend...?"
Yuri nodded and said, "This guy's my uncle... kind of. And he works for John, so it's fine."
Maji gave a thumbs up and said, "Boss and I go way back! I owe him my life! In more ways than one."
"I-I see." Hope slowly nodded.
Maji noticed and walked over. "Ojou-sama~ How've you been?" He knelt down to eye level with Aurora and said, "Enjoying life like a proper lady?"
Aurora giggled and pulled out her pacifier. Then she reached out to pat Maji's head and said, "Baji! Boo!"
Maji laughed and then covered his face, playing peekaboo for a bit. "Boo~!"
Aurora giggled again and reached out for Maji.
Hope still looked a bit uncertain and glanced at Yuri.
Yuri waved her hand and said, "It's fine. Maji jii-san looks scary, but he's completely harmless."
"...O-Okay. Then... here, Rory...?" Hope hesitantly held Aurora out to Maji.
Maji scooped Hope up and said, "Relax, Ojou-chan." He smiled at Hope and said, "This little Ojou-sama is as safe as can be with me."
Aurora nodded. "Ba! Baji! Shef!"
Yuri spoke up and said, "Safe, Rory, not chef. Even if that's true."
Maji immediately moved Aurora over his shoulders so she could get a better view of everything. Then he said, "Our little Ojou-sama's getting bigger, hm? Talking already."
"Bah! Biga!" Aurora giggled.
Hope's eyes widened and she placed her hands over her chest, a nervous response. Glancing at Aurora clinging to Maji's head while sitting on his shoulders, Hope said, "A-A-Are you sure that's safe for a baby?! Isn't Rory only four months old?!"
Maji waved his hand and said, "It's fine. The little Ojou-sama's special."
"I don't think that resolves the issue here?!"
Yuri walked over to the boxes of udon and said, "Relax, Hope. Look at the bracelet that Rory is wearing."
"Huh?" Hope looked over at Rory's arms and noticed a hi-tech bracelet flickering with numerous lights. "...Is that... a safety device?"
Yuri grabbed a box and opened it up, pulling out the bowl of udon inside. After pulling out her pair of golden chopsticks, she nodded and said, "John and Titor still won't say how it works. But it makes an anti-gravity forcefield in case Rory falls."
"...C-Come again?"
Maji laughed. "Here." With that, he immediately dropped Aurora.
Aurora let out a happy scream.
Hope ACTUALLY screamed.
And then Aurora slowly floated to the ground instead of dropping.
Silence.
Then a thud.
Hope fainting from shock.
Yuri groaned. "Maji jii-san..."
"...The ojou-chan has a weak heart, huh?"
Aurora giggled and then started floating towards Hope. "Bope! Up! Up!" She patted Hope's cheek.
After a few pats, Hope's eyes opened. Then when she saw Aurora safe, she instinctively hugged her. "Oh thank god..."
Aurora let out a bright smile. "Up!"
Hope shakily sat up with Aurora and glanced at Maji. "You shouldn't do that with babies!"
Maji let out a solemn nod. "I'll remember for next time, Ojou-chan."
Hope sighed and then noticed Yuri eating udon. Especially the golden chopsticks she was using. "Huh? Yuri-senpai... are you eating with real golden chopsticks?"
"Hm? Oh." Yuri held them out and said, "You don't know, huh? I have what chefs call 'Absolute Taste.' If I eat with normal metal, wood, or other utensils, I can taste everything so it spoils my appetite. Doctors said it's a trauma response that rewired my brain at a young age or something... Gold doesn't taste like anything though, so this helps. Also, Maji jii-chan's udon is prepared in a way that's non-offensive to my tastebuds."
Maji gave a thumbs up. "Of course! Yuri-chan's tastes are my priority~"
Hope blinked. Then she blinked again. And then she murmured, "I think I get what Meggie means now. Am I in an anime or something...?"
===
Time swiftly passed by. Hope slowly got accustomed to her new ridiculous life in Japan. Especially her new friends and coworkers.
And then it was time for Hope to get a proper look behind the scenes at how the Project MirAIs girls streamed. Mostly to get a feel for how she would be working in the future.
As for normal streams, it was fine. Hope knew that.
But the full immersion streams where the 3D model moved around the room...
Hope had been curious about that.
And so today, Hope was going to be making a guest appearance on Hana's stream as 'Friend E.'
...Apparently Rin-senpai said it was short for Elpis.
Hope didn't know what that meant, but it was supposed to be a synonym for her name?
Either way...
===
[Live Chat]
> @funkymonkey IT'S BEEN SO LONG!
> @uglyraindrop HANAAAAAAA!
> @icypenguin What are you talking about? Hana just streamed the other day
> @righteoussunbeam @icypenguin She has, but look! It's the studio! It's been AGES!
> @unknownpeliper Who's Friend E?
> @everydaysalaryman Our imouto finally has friends! T_T
> @jumpingtiger Is this allowed?
> @wonkyribbon It's our imouto. She's spoiled, so anything goes
===
Hope stared at the prechat and felt the nerves creep up. Her stomach felt like it was twisting into a knot. Glancing over at Rin... No, 'Hana,' Hope fiddled with her face mask and said, "S-Senpai. Is this fine?"
Rin leaned into the wall monitors to check on her appearance as Hana, raising her hands to fix her hair. After that, she glanced back at Hope and said, "Relax, Hope! It'll be fine! You just need to be you!"
Spoiler
Hope glanced back into the wall monitors herself. As she did, and seeing the generic looking woman there with plain black hair and a facemask... one who looked similar to her, but also... not.
"This... is weird." Hope tilted her head, watching as the young girl who was but wasn't her stared back. "And... do I really look this pretty? Or is it a filter?"
Spoiler
The young girl... teenager? The one staring back at her through the 'mirror' was pretty. Prettier than Hope ever was... or so Hope thought, at least.
Rin glanced back and puffed her cheeks. "Don't talk down on yourself! You're SUPER pretty, Hope- A-Ah. I mean, Friend E!" Rin nodded. "Have to remember that... But anyway, look!" Rin skipped over and pulled them close together. "Look closely! It's a little prettier, but the model is us! Mister John made it so that we don't look TOO different!"
Hope shifted her gaze to the monitor again and stared at her reflection... or rather, the similar but dissimilar reflection staring back. "...Oh. Then..." Hope hesitantly reached up to touch her face. "...I'm this pretty? I mean, people called me pretty, but..."
It was the first time.
Maybe since it was different enough that Hope didn't just discount it as herself. But the reflection looking back...
Hope giggled. "...Does this mean that if I wear frilly clothes it will look good on me?"
The young woman looking back at her from the mirror... while it wasn't the same, the facial features were definitely similar. And Hope had the sense that the 'reflection' she was seeing would look nice in frilly clothes. So...
Spoiler
Rin gasped. "THAT'S RIGHT! We were going to dress you up! Later! Definitely doing that later!"
Hope smiled. "That'd be nice. I've never worn pretty clothes like that..."
"Then we'll dress you up SUPER pretty! Oh! But it's almost time! Get ready!"
"H-Huh?" Hope's eyes widened. "W-Wait, Senpai...!"
"Three!" Rin smiled and walked Hope back into the center of the room. With a flick of her wrist, Hana's outfit turned into a casual white t-shirt and jeans. That done, she turned herself and Hope to face the camera on the wall and the live chat replay on the wall monitors. "Two!"
"S-Senpai! I'm not ready for-"
"One!"
"SENPAI!"
"Go live, Mira-chan~!"
*Got it, Hana~! We're live!*
_________