[Play - Star Anis: We could be]
After finishing up the meal and grabbing some souvenirs at the gift shop, Hope, Erie, and Juliet took a walk back towards Hope's apartment.
At least, that was the plan.
But before they could even get out onto the sidewalk to walk back, a sleek black sedan pulled up with blacked out windows.
Erie noticed first, instinctively stepping in front of Hope and Juliet.
But then the windows rolled down, revealing John in the driver's seat and baby Aurora in a car seat tucked into the passenger's side.
Hope blinked and said, "Mister John?!"
"Yo." John waved. "I was off running some errands when I got pinged that you girls were nearby. Figured you might want a ride."
Aurora waved from the carseat and said, "Ba! Hai!"
Hope immediately melted when she heard Aurora and dashed over to the window, peering in. "Oh my gosh! You're adorable!"
Aurora giggled and waved her hand at Hope. "'Ope!"
"Ope!" Hope gasped and looked at John. "Mister John! She knows about Ope!"
Erie walked over, amused. "I think that's just her trying to say your name, Hope..."
"Ope!" Aurora giggled. "Hai~!"
Hope let out a happy squeal and then rummaged in her bag. Pulling out a plushed power star, she placed it in Aurora's hands and said, "Here, sweetie! A gift!"
Aurora giggled and then hugged the star tight, squishing it. As she did, her blonde hair became frazzled from static electricity, making her giggle more.
Juliet opened the car door to the back seat and carefully tucked her dress in before shuffling to the far side and making room for Erie and Hope. After she did that, she looked at John and said, "What brings you out here, Johnny?"
Erie hopped into the car next, sitting next to Juliet. After that, she leaned into the gap between the two front seats to look over at John. "Yeah. Were you stalking us, Mister John?"
Hope entered the car last and closed the door. After shifting her souvenir bags around, she said, "I'm sure it was just a coincidence. Right, Mister John?"
John checked to make sure the girls were buckled in and secure. Then he started the car and drove off. As he did, he said, "Well, I was actually here to get a gift for Suzume. Her birthday's May 6th, and she wanted to get the limited edition Morio tarot card set." He let out an awkward smile and said, "I'm also technically her uncle and missed a lot of birthdays, so I couldn't miss this one."
Juliet blinked and said, "Suzume-senpai's birthday is two days after mine?"
"Huh?" John glanced back at Juliet. Then he paused. "...Oh, huh. You're absolutely right. Both of you turn eighteen around the same time."
"Wait, wait, wait." Erie spoke up and said, "Suzume-senpai isn't an adult? Like, the age on her Project MirAI's bio as Tsubame is her real age and birthday?"
John chuckled. "She's mature and gives off some old-timey vibes... but yeah, Suzume's only 17. She can't even drink yet. Legally. I think since she's from the countryside originally, she's probably had sake before or something though."
Hope frowned and said, "Should you be telling us that, Mister John...?"
"Probably not. But you girls aren't the type to gossip like some of the others anyway, so it's fine."
Erie looked interested and said, "Some of the others? Ooh, spill it, Mister John. Which of our senpais loves to chat?"
"Rin, obviously. Alphy too. And from Prodigy... ironically, Suzume and Shu."
Juliet nodded. "As expected of the strongest imouto... nobody's business is safe with her."
Erie gave Juliet a blank stare and said, "Do you just like, have a mental short circuit whenever Rin or Hana is brought up?"
"I have no idea what you mean, Erie."
Hope giggled and said, "Julie just loves Hana-chan that much, Erie."
Erie looked mildly concerned and said, "I get that. And I get that unconditional love is unconditional... but man. Seeing REAL unconditional love is terrifying..."
John nodded. "I completely agree. That's why I have conditional love in my married life."
Erie blinked. "...What?"
Hope giggled. "That makes sense! Miss Yue DEFINITELY doesn't love you without conditions."
John chuckled. "Yeah. My wifey will kill for me, die for me, and pretty much do anything I ask her to. But if I cross her bottomline, she'll snap."
Erie slowly blinked, processing what John just said. For a second, she looked concerned. But then she stopped to think about it some more and said, "You know what? Based. Get yourself a reformed yandere like Miss Yue, I guess."
John nodded. "Yanderes are the best."
Erie looked amused and said, "Is that why the first idol in Project MirAIs was Rin?"
"Nah. I just have a history of running into sweet girls who end up being yandere types because of the mental trauma they've endured."
Erie and Juliet immediately looked at Hope.
Hope blushed and said, "W-What?! I'm not a yandere! ...Whatever that is!"
John nodded. "Don't worry guys. Hope isn't a yandere. She is, unironically, a total normie."
Aurora pumped a small fist in the air and said, "Ba! Nomi!"
Hope pursed her lips. "...It's good that you're saying I'm not a yandere or whatever that is. But why does it seem like that's an insult...?"
Erie nudged Hope's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Hope. It just means that you're the mentally stable person in the group."
Hope blinked. Then she smiled and puffed up her chest. "I *am* good at taking care of my mental health! I do wellness breaks, eat sweets when I need to, have nutritious...ish meals! And I take vitamins too!"
Juliet nodded. "And that's absolutely why you almost got Hoshino'd. The world decided you were too sweet to keep living."
Hope huffed.
John laughed. "I mean, you joke about it, but unironically true..." He glanced at Hope through the mirror and said, "You are super sweet, Hope. Even after everything you went through, you still kept going and believed in yourself."
Hope's breath hitched. But then she let out a soft smile and placed her hands over her heart. "Thank you, Mister John. That means a lot. ...Even if you're technically a creepy guy who just shows up at girls' houses unannounced with a suitcase and contract in hand."
John snorted. "If you think I'm bad, you haven't met Kai. That guy has like, the WORST luck with women. The absolute worst. First impressions? Horrible."
Erie's eyes lit up and she said, "That's Prodigy's manager, right? I read in the handbook that he was actually ex-yakuza and involved with Rin's mom or something. Was he really?"
"The or something, for sure. Ex-yakuza... Eeeh. He sucked at being a yakuza too, so I wouldn't call him one. I don't think he even has a proper back tattoo."
Aurora nodded and said, "Ba! No batoo!"
Erie glanced over at Aurora and said, "Huh. Isn't Aurora like just four months old? She's pretty aware already."
"Yep. My daughter's a little smarty pants. I am in terror of when she can properly speak. She seems to have a flaming type of personality..."
Hope blinked. "Flaming type?"
"Ope! Nomi!"
"...Oh." Hope sighed. "Flaming type. As in roasting."
Juliet laughed, looking at Aurora. "I guess we have a future comedian on our hands, huh?"
John paused. "...Oh no."
Aurora's green eyes glittered with mischief.
John immediately spoke up and said, "Please don't give my baby daughter any ideas about future career paths that involve humiliating others and/or manipulating them. You don't understand the terrifying mix of features that could result from someone with my charisma and her mother's ability to plot the downfall of entire nations."
Aurora giggled.
Erie looked at Aurora and said, "I think it's too late for that, Mister John... Better just brace for it now."
John sighed.
Hope looked up at John through the rearview mirror. Then she paused and said, "Huh? Mister John? Were your eyes always blue? I thought they were green?"
"Oh, they change colors every now and then. Don't worry about it, Hope. I get bored looking the same so I do it to throw people off and make them wonder if I'm a doppelganger. It's a fun trick for interviews. Especially when Claud is around."
Erie slowly blinked. Then she gave John an incredulous look and said, "Mister John. You're already like this... You think Aurora will be any different? She's just going to be worse."
John sighed. "...Yeah..."
Aurora giggled again and said, "Ba!"
Juliet smiled. After fixing her dress a bit, she said, "So are you heading back to HQ to drop us off, Johnny?"
"That's the plan. After I drop you guys off, I have to pick up Alphy and Asako to go check out the wedding venue."
Hope gasped. "WEDDING VENUE?!"
Erie's eyes widened. "Wait! That wasn't a bit?!"
Juliet started vibrating with excitement and she said, "ONEE-CHAN AND ANEUE ARE REALLY GETTING MARRIED?!"
"Yeah. A family friend took pictures of the proposal already for the wedding too. He managed to time it with fireworks and stuff, so we've got things ready... I think you met him last time too."
Hope paused. Then she let out a soft smile and said, "Oh. Mister HVG?"
"HVG?" Erie blinked. "Wait. You mean that weirdo with the fedora?"
Juliet tilted her head. "...Oh. OH! He's the one who gave Meggie those vintage booster boxes!" She paused. "...The one with a booster pack that Hope ripped in half... ugh."
Hope blushed. "That was an accident!"
Erie laughed. "An accident worth a semester of college tuition..."
John shrugged. "Don't worry about it. That guy has like, unironically, infinite money in this place. Plus, he's just in it for giggles. I think he's busy with stuff though, so he probably won't be around again."
Erie clicked her tongue. "Darn. I want to get spoiled with expensive cardboard too..."
John chuckled as he turned the car into the underground parking ramp beneath Myth Inc. HQ. "I think he just feels bad for Meggie. She's stuck in shoujo yuri drama hell."
Hope giggled. "We heard about that! Does Meggie really have two girls crushing on her?"
John stopped the car. "Yep. Tsuki and Emma. I'm curious how it's going to end up. If it was me, I would have friendzoned both since I'd rather be the bad guy in the situation to both than to make one feel like they weren't enough. But Meggie's a bit greedy..."
"Wow, Johnny." Juliet opened the car door and stepped out before saying, "You're terrible. Friendzoning girls for that reason?"
John shrugged. "It makes things work out in the long run if you can snip the romantic part out. That's why Zhaojun, Daji, and Xuannu are still in my life as my adopted sisters."
"Oh my god." Erie got out next and said, "You are LITERALLY that guy. The one all dads say to stay away from."
"Nah." John chuckled. "That's my brother, Gray. He chose two girls. I picked one and I've been loyal to her for longer than you can imagine. Though she's a bit much at times... Still love her though. It's complicated."
Erie helped Hope get out and said, "So what I'm hearing is you're in a toxic and barely not abusive relationship with your wife that's only working because you two managed to get over the crazier parts of your personalities."
Juliet laughed and said, "That's just marriage, Erie."
Erie looked amused and said, "Should you joke about that? Aren't you Catholic?"
"My family is Catholic. I'm not. Which is funny, because they keep saying I'll go to hell for it." Juliet chuckled.
John laughed too and said, "Oh, that's EXTRA hilarious. They're the ones going to hell and a handbasket after all. I shorted their businesses last night. They're like super broke. And I also put a bounty for embarrassing photos on them all."
Juliet gasped. "YOU DIDN'T!"
John winked. "You'll be having a funny birthday gift next week... But anyway." He checked his watch and said, "Asako and Alphy will be out in a bit. If you see them on the way back, let them know I'm out here."
Hope waved. "We will! Bye, Mister John! Bye Aurora!"
"Bai!" Aurora waved.
Seeing that, Hope let out a happy squeal again and placed her hands over her heart. "Ooh, you're so adorable! I love it!"
Erie laughed and grabbed Hope's hand. "Come on, Hope. Let's get out of here before you get babyfever."
"I will not! ...Maybe! ...Do you think I could adopt a baby girl? I mean, I'm an adult and have a stable income..."
Juliet rolled her eyes and started walking off after them. "See you later, Johnny."
"Ciao~."