Chapter 499: Project MirAIs EN – Protest |
John walked into the room and set his briefcase down on the nearby guest table. As he did, he took a closer look at Erie.
'...Yep. My habit of running into beautiful young women at the end of their rope still hasn't changed.'
Erie was beautiful. Was it Irish blood? Probably from her father? Either way, her appearance was completely striking. Blood-red hair, murky emerald eyes...
If it was the distant past, she would 100% be put on trial as a witch or sorceress.
As it was now though...
'Beauty, no matter the world, continues to be a double-edged sword, huh?'
Bitter, jaded, and defeated.
That was what John felt from Erie. Although she was feeling better right now since John was here, it was pretty apparent that she was a bad day away from the brink.
While she was alive and stable at the moment...
There was that saying that beautiful women were like angels sent to earth. Without a proper grounding, they would quickly leave it.
...Well, John liked to think it was a saying. Maybe it wasn't, but the sentiment was accurate even if the saying being real wasn't.
So that was John's job right now: give this beautiful and definitely talented young woman a proper anchor before she drifted off again. And this time for good.
Erie blinked as John opened up his briefcase. Observing him, she said, "What do you mean by wish, Mister John?"
"Well, before then." John pulled out a Swiss chocolate bar from his briefcase and handed it over. "Eat this first. Chocolate helps you feel better, you know?"
Erie took it with a numb look. Then she laughed and said, "What the heck? Are you a wizard or something? Do you want me to recover from a Dementer attack?"
John's eyes sparkled. "You should expect a patron, you know?"
"Oh my god." Erie laughed, tearing up again. She brushed away her tears and said, "You ARE real. Even my brain couldn't come up with something this ridiculous."
"You'd be surprised at the number of times I've heard that over the years." John smiled and then pulled a chair over to sit at the bedside next to Erie. After that, he waved at the chocolate bar and said, "Go on then."
Erie smiled and gently unwrapped it. After that, she took a small nibble, her eyes softening when she did. "...It's sweet. And warm too. Do you like have a heater in your suitcase or something?"
John chuckled. "Well, I DID walk in the warm sun on the way here. But a melty half-solid chocolate bar is the best, isn't it? A bit messy, but perfect to cheer you up."
"...You're good at this." Erie side-eyed John and said, "...Should I be concerned?"
"There is nothing I can say in response to that which won't put me in a bad light, so I'll skip that conversation dialogue, thank you very much."
Erie laughed. "...Yeah. Definitely not a hallucination from the pain medications or anything." She nibbled a bit more from the chocolate bar and then said, "...You'll really grant my wish?"
"Of course. You've been chosen... Especially since I think you and Hope will get along really well."
John had learned his lesson from Prodigy, after all.
While every one of the girls in that group were talented... Chihiro, Yuri, Shu, and Suzume were all gifted in various ways, after all.
But while those girls were talented, their personalities also didn't mesh very well. Rather than a 'group' they were more a 'generation' of idols that happened to share a name while they did their own things.
...And to be honest, calling them 'idols' was a misnomer too.
'Project MirAIs is basically an entertainment group at this point...'
Well, the exception was with Rin, who definitely still focused on being an idol.
...While doing ridiculous things on the side like having Hana interview her live using the IDOL body to throw EVERYONE off her trail.
Okay, maybe it was a lost cause.
But either way!
Group synergy was a thing.
Prototype was fine because Alphy and Asako were both Rin's older sisters, and because Rin treated them like her older sisters.
But John wanted a PROPER idol group this time.
The fact that Kai had brought back Mystic Bouquet under Myth Inc. as strictly music idols would help set a precedent for it.
But it would be good for Project MirAIs EN to start with that from the get-go.
'We have a rapper/singer in Hope right now. And Erie is clearly a powerful vocalist...'
Ideally, just one more would be good.
Before doing something crazy like LoveLive with tons of members, three was a sweetspot to work with.
And something John was planning to replicate with Project BRAVE too (name pending).
Erie tilted her head. "...Hope?"
"Oh, right. One second." John pulled out his phone and made a quick video call to Hope.
Erie blinked.
And then the line connected, revealing Hope on John's phone.
"Mister John! Hi! We were just talking about you! Is it true that you wore drag and put on a show as Jenny before your sister actually showed up?!"
John blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. "What?"
Erie laughed. "That's hilarious! Is it true, Mister John?"
Hope gasped on the phone and leaned in, revealing her sky-blue hair and matching eyes. "Oh my gosh! Is that a new friend? No, is that my genmate?!"
Erie let out an awkward smile and waved. "H-Hello? Genmate...? So... you're already part of Project MirAIs?"
"Yes!" Hope nodded. "I'm Hope! Mister John met me and helped me move to Japan last week to get ready! Oh my gosh, are you moving here too? We can be roommates!"
Erie's emerald eyes regained a bit of light as she said, "Roommates? Like... living in the same place? And chatting all the time?"
"And we can go shopping and exploring Japan together too! I know a bit of stuff, but everyone's so busy! It'd be fun to hang out- Wait! Are you in the hospital?! What happened?!"
"That's... um..." Erie fidgeted. "...Long story?"
John tilted the phone back towards himself, an amused look on his face. "Should I just leave you here with Erie to talk for a bit?"
"Oh my gosh, can you?"
"...That was a rhetorical- You know what? Sure." John chuckled and handed his phone to Erie. "Here, Miss Childe. Hope can fill you in a bit. I'll step outside while you two are introduced-"
*WE HAVE ANOTHER KOUHAI?!* Yuri's voice echoed from Hope's side.
*Ara? Another red-head? That is interesting... And it seems that the Empress arcana suits her?* Suzume's voice echoed next.
Erie blinked. "...Is that... Miya Musashi? And Tsubame Akairo?"
Hope gasped. "How did you know?! It took me a week to figure that out!"
*That's because you're a bit dim when it comes to people, Hope-chan...*
*Riri, be nice to your kouhai.*
*It's true! I still can't believe she took me for Rhea! Just because we're both blonde!*
Hope turned a bright red and quickly waved her hands in front of the camera. "Ignore them! Anyway, tell me about you, Erie! How old are you? Did you go to college? I wanted to go for business at first, but then I realized that college cost a lot, so I just learned a bit of it on my own... but then I started making music and found Project MirAIs!"
"O-Oh. Um... I just turned 18...? I don't like school, so I was hoping to be a VTuber full-time..."
"That's good! Mister John pays us like a REAL job does! We have a W2 and everything!"
"...What's a W2?"
"...Oh my gosh! You poor thing!"
Erie's ears turned red. "I'm not a kid! I know... some stuff...?"
John cleared his throat. "I'll just... be outside."
Hope waved from the phone and said, "Okay, Mister John! I'll tell Erie to get you if we need you!"
"...Maybe I should have just brought Hope with me in the first place..." John murmured and then stepped out of the room, leaving Erie alone to chat with Hope.
As he left, he heard Hope speak up.
"Oh! I was thinking we could call our generation 'Protest'! To keep up with the theming! And also because we're protesting at how unfair the world is!"
John paused and quickly wrote that down on a spare notepad. "...Project MirAIs EN - Protest. ...Yeah, that sounds good." He murmured and then shut the door behind him.
The moment he did...
"...Mister Smith?"
...A vaguely familiar female voice called out to him.
John looked over and saw a Japanese woman with silky black hair and light gray eyes. A familiar Japanese woman. One who he hadn't seen a while, but who he definitely owed a big debt to for helping bring Rory into the world.
Eri Iyasu, the nurse who had originally been in charge of Sakura's cancer treatment, as well as the one who should be married to Bai Hu.
...And who apparently was, considering that her nametag read 'Eri Hu.'
John smiled. "Congratulations?" He eyed the slight bump on Eri's belly and raised an eyebrow. "...Double congratulations?"
Eri blushed and reflexively covered her belly. "Th-Thank you? Um, what brings you here? This is a private hospital... do you know a patient here?"
"I should be asking you that. Did Bai set you up with a job here or something? No, do we own this place?"
John hadn't been keeping too many tabs on what they did across the pond, so he didn't know for sure. But knowing that white tiger, he was probably doing a bunch of financial moves...
Eri shook her head. "No. I got this job on my own merits... even though Bai keeps telling me to retire already." She let out a soft smile. "I like being able to help people. You know?"
"I completely relate. And as long as you stay conscious of your health."
Eri huffed. "Of course I do."
John paused. "...Huh. I just realized something."
"Hm? What is it?"
"Your name is Eri. And I'm recruiting someone named Erie... This might be confusing in the future." John nodded. "I'll need to make sure you two are never in the same room as each other."
"What?"