Chapter 504: Protest Meeting |
"Oh my gosh!" Hope walked into the hospital room, a bright smile on her face. "It's so good to meet you in person! Erie and Juliet, right?"
Erie sat up in her bed and widened her eyes. "HOPE?! How are you here?! Hasn't it only been like, 12 hours?!" She quickly glanced at the nearby countertop. "Did I forget to take my meds?"
Juliet blinked and said, "If you're seeing things, I'm seeing things too, Erie..."
Hope laughed and then walked up to hug both Juliet and then Erie.
It was the day after Mister John had met and recruited Erie and Juliet. Becuase there was a lot to do in order to get things up and running, he had left to set various things up. But in the meanwhile, he went to grab Hope on a highspeed private jet back to Los Angeles.
...At least, that was what he told Hope before he left.
...Hope was thinking that they probably hadn't used a 'plane' to get here, but she wasn't about to question it too much.
But anyway!
Hope adjusted her lacy black and pink dress and said, "Nope! I look like a fairy, but I'm real! Do you like my dress? I got it at a Jirai Kei shop in Japan!"
"Mmhm! There's a lot of cool things! And it's only in Roppongi too! I mean, I've only shopped in Roppongi. But the others said there's more in like Shibuya and Akiba!"
Erie sat up and smiled. "That means there's a lot of fun fashion things there... Do you think they sell old gothic fashion?"
"Ooh! There was a lot, yeah! Like, old steel broaches, antique chokers, and all sorts of things!" Hope nodded.
Erie groaned. "If I was healed up, I would go right now..."
Juliet adjusted her pink hoodie and looked at Erie. "Why are you still in the hospital right now anyway? Are you injured still?"
Erie nodded. "TECHNICALLY I'm fine. My bones and things are fixed. But they're worried about infection or something, so they're keeping me another week. And they don't want me moving around too much or something... I dunno." She sighed. "Something about medication mixing weird with my bloodtype?"
Hope gasped. "That's terrible! It must be really boring then!"
Erie sighed. "You have no idea Hope... I don't really get many visitors either. Well." She smiled at Juliet, then back at Hope. "I have you two now. But before then... ugh. I was going crazy. Might just jump out the window, you know?"
Juliet looked concerned. "Should you... be making that joke?"
Erie laughed. "What? Didn't kill me the first time. Not like it will now."
Hope gasped. "That's morbid! ...But kind of funny. Like how I almost got Hoshino'd. Or, that's what Yuri-senpai said."
Erie's green eyes widened and she looked amused. "You almost got stabbed by a homeinvading stalker?"
Juliet tilted her head. "Wait. What's Hoshino'd...?"
Hope smiled and set her bag down on the nearby guest chair. "It's from an anime! My Bias's Child... or something? I dunno, but the main character's mom was a former idol who got stabbed at the end of the first episode. The anime's about him getting revenge... but the senpais said it had a weird ending."
Erie nodded. "It really did. Should've committed to the incest route."
"Huh?!" Hope's eyes widened. "W-What?"
"What? If the author was going to set it up, he should have doubled down on it instead of backing out. Like when I jumped off the roof."
Juliet slowly blinked. Then she said, "You have darker humor than a guy working on wall street..."
Erie shrugged and said, "The therapists said it helps me cope. I think it's funny."
Hope nodded. "Jokes are a great way to vent! Like in stand up! Or rapping!"
Erie tilted her head. "...Rapping? Oh my GOD. Hope. Are you a rapper?"
Hope gave Erie a thumbs up and said, "I try! I'm not good yet, but I'm working on it! But I can definitely rap a lot of M+N's catalog!"
Juliet laughed and said, "Oh, we're going to be a protest, alright... Johnny knows what he's doing with us, huh?"
Hope tilted her head. "Johnny?"
"Mmhm. Mister Smith. I call him Johnny because he's like a Johnny Cashmoney sort of guy. Seen a few like him on Wall Street, you know?" Juliet rolled her hand and said, "Reeks of money, suave, and charisma."
Erie snorted. "Johnny Cashmoney... that's not very cashmoney of you."
Juliet rolled her eyes. "That fell flat."
"Just like I did when-"
"Could we NOT?" Juliet laughed.
Hope smiled and then clapped her hands together. "Okay! Before we get off topic and I forget, I made us celebratory gifts!"
Erie paused. "Gifts? For me?"
Juliet fidgeted. "You didn't have to, Hope..."
"But I did! Here!" Hope reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of bedazzled ribbons. "Ta-dah~! A red one with green rhinestones for you, Erie..."
"Thanks?"
"And a pink one with aquamarines for you, Juliet!"
"Appreciate it, Hope. But..." Juliet looked at the glittering ribbon. "...What's this for?"
Hope pulled out a sky-blue one bedazzled with pink rhinestones and said, "It's our special secret! Like magical girls!"
Erie looked amused. "Magical girls? You mean like Sailor Luna?"
"Yeah!" Hope nodded. "I used to watch it all the time on Toon Network!"
Juliet smiled, fiddling with her sleeve. "Toon Network... I remember watching that in secret." She chuckled. "Mom and Dad hated it. Said a 'distinguished young lady' shouldn't watch anything like that."
Erie paused and said, "You know, I forgot to ask, Julie."
Juliet blinked. "Julie?"
"Yes, Julie. Got a problem?" Erie crossed her arms.
"I mean. No. Just... weird to hear?" Juliet paused and then let out a warm smile. "I kind of like it though. Less tragic than Juliet."
Hope laced her hands together and said, "Julie! It fits!"
Juliet paused. Then her green eyes lit up and she said, "I just had to drop the tea on everyone to be Julie."
Erie groaned. "...Oh no. You're one of THOSE people."
Hope's blue eyes sparkled and she said, "Oh my gosh! Are you a lyricist or something, Julie?!"
Juliet's ears turned red and she said, "A-A little? I do have some original songs that I played. But they don't make money busking, so I mostly played covers..."
Hope grabbed Juliet's hands and said, "We should write songs together! We can do something fun like a rap and guitar! Or country!"
Juliet tilted her head, thinking. "Country, huh...?"
Erie waved her hand. "Hello? What am I, dead to the world?"
Juliet rolled her eyes. "That one fell flat."
Erie gasped. "You GET me!"
Hope giggled. "At least Julie didn't... leave you hanging?"
Juliet burst out laughing. "Hope! That's terrible!"
"What?" Hope looked innocent and said, "Was that one a bit too close to the edge?"
That time, Erie burst out laughing. "Oh god. We're terrible people."
Juliet shook her head, hiding her smile with her sleeve. "We aren't terrible. We're just... a little insane? Just a bit."
Hope hummed. "I think if you aren't a little weird, you probably wouldn't be here, right?"
Erie nodded. "True... I don't think there's a normal person in Project MirAIs." She paused. "...You might be the most normal one here, Hope."
Hope blinked. "Me?"
Juliet paused, thinking about it. "...That's true. Gramps was part of the mob, and my parents are the ritzy couples you see all over New York. Erie is... well."
"Hey." Erie pointed at Juliet. "What are you implying?"
"You asked Johnny for a pizzeria."
"I asked Mister John for THE pizzeria. With haunted animatronics and everything. Also ghosthunting equipment."
"See?" Juliet nodded. "Not normal."
Erie crossed her arms. "You say that as if running away like LITERAL Juliet from your family is normal."
"I mean, if the shoe fits?" Juliet shrugged. "At least I wasn't chasing a Romeo. And it's not a love story."
Hope smiled. "Well!" She looked at Erie and Juliet and said, "Either way, I think we're going to be great friends!"
Erie paused and then let out a warm smile. "Yeah. I think so too."
Juliet nodded. "I mean, as long as Erie stops making morbid jokes. She definitely kills the vibe."
"Oh my GOD." Erie rolled her eyes. "You're killing me softly with your puns."
"Well..." Hope paused, as if wondering if she should say it. But she continued and said, "At least she isn't smothering you with attention?"
"Okay," Erie said. "That one was bad. Aren't you a rapper, Hope?"
"I-I try, okay? And I didn't want to go too far. It needs a little more time in the oven."
Juliet gasped. "Is that a Holocaust joke? Are those allowed?!"
Erie laughed. "Hope!"
"W-What?!" Hope's ears turned a bright red. "It wasn't...! I mean..." She poked her fingers. "...Maybe? Wait!" She pointed at Juliet. "How did your mind jump to that? It wasn't an obvious connection!"
Erie paused. Then she looked at Juliet. "That's true~ Got an explanation, Julie?"
Juliet blushed and said, "I-It's New York, okay? I hear those jokes a lot..."
===
While the three girls from Project MirAIs EN - Protest got along with each other, Seth and Claud stood on guard outside the room.
As they did...
Seth glanced at Claud.
Claud stared back and said, "Seth. No."
"...But they're making jokes."
"That does NOT mean you get to start dropping racist jokes here. Even if we WERE in the ops."
"...Just a little?"
"Stop."
"Wutabout-"
"It you make another joke about Wutai or the Wu-Tang clan, I WILL throw you out the window and stab you through the chest."
"Pft. I've survived worse."
"I know. That's why I'll do it."
"...You're such a kill joy."
"And you were too much of a mama's boy until you took your meds."
"Hey. I got better."
"After you killed my old girlfriend and stabbed my childhood friend."
"They got better too."
"I don't know if you can call being revived due to timeline shenanigans 'better.'"
"...Can we even talk about that?"
"...Just shut up, Seth." Claud let out a deep sigh.
...John had better pay him extra for dealing with this BS...
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