Friday evening, May 2nd. Just after the Protest Debut PV dropped on the official Project MirAIs channel.
A private booth at the Maji Toraki Udon store in Roppongi Hills. There, Hope, Erie, and Juliet had stopped by to celebrate the first step on their journey together.
As always, Hope wore a fluffy pink outfit. A pink blouse with white lace frills, a white skirt with pink lace highlights, matching ribbons, white stockings and furry pink boots... she was dolled up to the nines in cutesy fashion.
Erie had dressed up a bit too. Since it was technically a funeral for Meryl Kodomo too, she decided to put on full one-piece black dress, complete with heels.
As for Juliet...
Hope giggled as she scrolled through the comments on the video. "Everyone is so excited! Here!" She held her phone out for Erie and Juliet on the other side of the booth to see.
===
> @Anumi: LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
> @InquiringIgloo: I TOLD YOU GUYS IT WAS REAAAAAAL!
> @MiraizFan101: OH MY GOD THE DESIGNS!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHH
> @davinki_enthusiast: RHEA IS THEIR MAMA?! ALL OF THEM!?
> @ridi_coolus: FORGET THAT. JOHN PERSONALLY RIGGED THE MODELS?!
===
Juliet smiled as she scooped up a bit of the broth from her udon soup with a spoon. "I'm glad they're excited."
Erie fiddled with her fingernails, a bit of anxiety on her face. "...Is it really going to be fine?"
Hope pulled her phone back and then frowned. "Are you that worried, Erie?"
Erie grabbed a pair of chopsticks and twirled some noodles from her own bowl of udon. Then she said, "...I mean, I chose the setup. But..." Her hands shook a bit. "...What if it's a big deal? That black company might be owned by Titor now and the worst people left. But..."
"But nothing." Juliet spoke with a firm voice and said, "No one gets to say what we are. And no one gets to define our past except us, Erie."
Hope nodded. "What Julie said." She reached across the table to gently hold Erie's wrist and said, "Also... you aren't alone. It's us together, remember? And if anyone decides to bother you..."
Juliet sipped on a spoonful of udon broth. Then she said, "If anyone decides to bother you, Hana-chan AND Rin-chan will get to them first. The daisenpai won't let her kouhais get hurt."
Erie paused. Then she laughed, shaking off her anxiety. "...Right." She smiled at Hope and Juliet and said, "I forgot. It's not just us, is it? We're a part of Project MirAIs now."
Hope massaged Erie's hand a bit to comfort her. Then she pulled her own hands back and grabbed her fork. Pointing that at Erie, she said, "That's right! We aren't alone! We're part of the big Project MirAIs family now!"
At that time, Maji walked over from the kitchen along with a bottle of sake and some drink saucers. Pouring out drinks for them, he said, "It's funny how I keep meeting you girls. First my part-time job, then here in the shop..." He slid the drinks over to each and said, "If I didn't know better, I'd think the Boss was sending you to keep me on my toes, kehehe."
Hope giggled as she took the sake saucer and said, "It IS pretty funny!"
Erie took her own sake saucer and said, "Well, we're here because this place is the only place we know is private."
Juliet nodded. "Beautiful women disappear quickly in big cities." She let out a grateful smile to Maji and said, "Thank you for giving us a safe space, Mister Maji."
Maji waved his hand and said, "Aw, you're making me blush... but don't worry." He chuckled and flexed his bicep. "All of Tokyo is our turf, so you ladies don't have to worry about a thing. If anything happens, someone will be there in an instant."
Hope let out a warm smile. "That's nice to hear." She looked at her sake and said, "I don't know if I've ever had that. People who would look for me if I was missing."
Erie let out a bitter smile. "Tell me about it. Even after all that happened, no one in my family cared. Or reached out... except to ask about insurance money."
"Ugh." Juliet pursed her lips. "Don't remind me about family..."
A somber silence filled the table as the girls mulled on the past.
But before they could get too deep into their feelings...
Maji snapped his fingers and twirled around, instantly changing into a flashy male idol outfit. "Enough moping around! Today's a celebration, right? So how about some... Eeeeentertainment?!"
[Play: 24 Hour Cinderella]
Erie burst out laughing as she looked at Maji. "Really?!"
Maji winked and grabbed a mic, starting to sing as the campy synths started blaring. But instead of in Japanese, he deliberately sang a bad translation.
"So you know that I LOVE YOU! I swear that it's true. Oh tell me YOU LOVE ME, tonight we will find out if that slipper made of glass aglow, was always meant for yoooou~"
As Maji continued to sing and put on a performance to cheer them up, Juliet looked over at Erie and said, "It'll be fine, Erie."
"Yeah!" Hope smiled. "Now, kanpai!" She held up her sake saucer.
Erie laughed and toasted her. "Sure. Kanpai!"
Juliet smiled and toasted her saucer too. "Kanpai~ And to a bright future."
After that, the girls all downed their drink.
Hope's eyes lit up after she finished and she looked at Maji. "That was really good!"
Erie stared at her saucer and said, "Huh. I've had sake bombs before, but it definitely wasn't like this..."
Juliet hummed, thoughtfully looking at the sake bottle. Then she poured herself some more and took a sip, savoring it. "...This is really high quality stuff."
Maji finished up the song and grinned. "Only the best for the princesses. Besides." He winked at Hope and said, "Yuri is enjoying herself making up new recipes that you'd like, so it's a reward for that."
Hope immediately blushed and said, "My tastebuds aren't that bad!"
Erie laughed and said, "Suuure they aren't- wait." She paused and looked around the table. "...You guys drank alcohol before?"
Hope blinked. "Huh? Of course I have. Everybody's had some alcohol in high school, haven't they?"
Juliet shrugged and said, "I've been drinking wine since... well, probably too young to say. Young enough that I'm surprised my parents never got called in by CPS?"
"Huh." Erie blinked. "...And I thought I was the cool kid for drowning my sorrows in alcohol this year for the first time..."
Hope blushed and said, "That makes me sound like an alcoholic! I'm not! ...I just have a high tolerance!"
Juliet watched Maji head back into the kitchen to whip up some snacks. Then she shifted her gaze back to Hope and said, "...How high is high?"
"Um..." Hope meekly poured herself another saucer of sake. After sipping on it, and after her ears turned a bright red, she said, "...I can finish a bottle of vodka in a couple of hours by myself and still walk around fine?"
"VODKA?!" Erie looked at Hope and said, "Okay, first, awesome. But second, WHY DO YOU KNOW THAT?!"
Hope slid into her seat and said, "It was a bet! ...And I won a thousand dollars off that bet, so worth it."
Juliet slowly blinked. "...No wonder your tastebuds are messed up."
"They are nooooot!"
===
As the Protest girls chatted inside, bantering and enjoying the food Maji whipped up, outside, Kiri and Saji stood side by side.
Kiri lit a cigarette before handing one to Saji. "Want one?"
Saji thought about it. Then he chuckled and said, "Why not?" After that, he took the cigarette and shared a moment with Kiri.
Kiri blew out a puff of smoke and looked into the starry night sky. "Been a while. A lot's changed and a lot hasn't since those day, huh?"
"Yeah." Saji blew out a puff of smoke too and said, "Retiring like this is nice and all... but I kind of miss the days knocking heads around." He glanced over at Kiri and said, "But I bet you're enjoying this, right? Been back to the orphanage yet?"
"..."
"...Kiri."
Kiri sighed. "...I'll visit in summer. I have to stop at Hawaii first."
Saji raised an eyebrow. "Hawaii?"
"Mm. Met a buddy recently. He's looking for his mother. Figured I'd help him out since I have something to do there too."
Saji paused and said, "...Oh. That's where you promised her that-"
"Yeah. Since it's been this long..." Kiri stomped out his cigarette and said, "I figured I'd let go."
Saji was quiet. Then he said, "Need me to come along?"
"I heard that the kids from the Seiryuu-kai that were scared off by boss headed to Hawaii, so if you want to knock heads around..."
"Count me in." Saji laughed. "It'll be like old times, eh, Dragon of Tojima?"
Kiri chuckled.
===
Back in John's office, idly feeding Aurora some veggie snacks that she for some reason adored, John suddenly paused. "...I sense drama. I dislike drama. And I sense a subplot I forgot about. Mm..."
Aurora looked up at John and tilted her head. "Baba?"
John nodded and said, "I'm delegating. We're off-screening the baddies."
Aurora smiled. "Ba! Ahscri!"
John nodded again and said, "Yeah. But anyway..." He glanced back to his computer and checked the time slots he reserved for the billboards on Times Square. "...Time to repeat history. I think John Titor should make a proper appearance in New York at least once, shouldn't he?" John paused. "Wait. No." His eyes widened and he cackled. "I'm John Smith. My name is LITERALLY John Smith. And since we're going with an isekai theme for Protest anyway..." He rubbed his chin with his free hand and said, "...Maybe I should be a bit... atomic."
"Ba! Boom!"
John chuckled.