The Hibana family household...
Or in other words, Rin's house since Sakura spent most of her time over in Akihabara at an apartment near the Ars Nova Productions studio.
"Huh." Erie stared at the surprisingly normal suburban house and said, "I was thinking that Rin-senpai lived in a fancier place than this."
Hope nodded. "Me too! But I guess she likes this place?"
"Must be." Erie nodded. "God knows that she makes enough to buy like ten of these at this rate. Have you seen how she deliberately turns off superchats on some streams because people want to spoil her too much?"
Hope giggled. "Oh, I remember! I watched a few of those! Like the Meincraft stream where she made a challenge to capture all the mobs!"
"Yep. So, uh." Erie stared at the door. "...You wanna know first?"
Erie and Hope were standing at the sidewalk leading up to the door.
But since they'd arrived at the house, neither of them had moved forward.
And the reason for that...
"I-I think you should." Hope's sky blue eyes flitted up towards the window on the second floor where a shadow just blurred.
"M-Me? Why me? You're the leader!"
"You like ghosts! There's CLEARLY a ghost up there!"
"W-Well why don't you just call Julie?"
"I did! Her phone's dead!"
"...T-Try messaging Rin-senpai?"
"She's offline..."
"..."
The two of them stared at the door.
Hope fidgeted in place and said, "...You don't think Rin-senpai will... throw knives at us or something if we knock?"
"You see, before we had a chat with Mister John, I wouldn't think that. But now I'm kind of worried. She lives alone when Miss Sakura isn't here, right? And she's not scared at all even though she's only... what, 16?"
Hope nodded. "Yes... S-So what if she-"
*BANG*
"EEEK!!!" Hope screeched and jumped behind Erie.
"WHADAFAQ!?" Erie let out a garbled curse and immediately stepped back in a fighting stance, both hands held up at the ready.
And then a bright and cheery voice echoed. "Hope-chan! Erie-chan! Good morning!"
Hana stood in the doorway, wearing an oversized black hoodie, jeans, and pink slippers. After fixing her orange hair with a ribbon, she smiled and said, "Did you come to visit too?"
Hope peered out from behind Erie and blinked. "...Hana-chan?"
Hana giggled. "Were you expecting Rin? Sorry! She's still tuckered out from chatting with Julie-chan all night. But I'm awake! Come in!" She stepped inside, leaving the door open.
Hope glanced at Erie.
Erie glanced back at Hope.
Hana glanced back at both of them and rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to murder you or anything. You're my kouhais! Well, technically, you're Rin's kouhais, but you're practically mine too!"
Erie nervously followed after Hana, noticing how unnaturally smooth Hana walked as well as how she didn't make any noise at all. "...I'm kind of worried that implies you'd murder us if we weren't your kouhais..."
Hope followed after Erie and hesitated at the doorway for a bit. But then she closed the door and continued after Hana and Erie. "M-Me too... I've heard some crazies say that back in America before they were arrested for being serial killers..."
Erie immediately looked back at Hope. "YOU KNEW ACTUAL SERIAL KILLERS!?"
Hope blushed. "O-Only kind of! I mean, technically, I knew a girl whose mom went to school with Jeffrey Dahmer-"
"OH MY GOD HOPE!" Erie ran a hand through her crimson hair and said, "WHAT IS YOUR LIFE?!"
"I'M JUST ME OKAAAAY!"
Hana giggled. "You two are fun." She laced her hands behind her back and spun around in a twirl. "That's good! It means that we'll have more fun when we hang out in the future!"
Erie slowly turned to look at Hana. "...Why does that sound like a threat?"
"A threat?" Hana blinked. "What do you mean? I'd never threaten my cute kouhais!"
"...That means you threaten other people though?"
"Well... Only sometimes!" Hana giggled.
Hope let out a nervous laugh. "B-But never us, right?"
"Of course! And sorry about scaring you guys last time! We didn't mean to... Oh!" Hana clapped her hands. "Is THAT why you're scared of me?"
Erie slowly nodded. "...Kinda yeah."
"Well, don't worry!" Hana placed her hand over her heart and said, "I'll be the best senpai you've ever known! If you ever need anything, message me!" She tapped her head and said, "I'm always online! Oh! I have a different account from Rin though. The Hana Homura VTuber account is hers, so I have my own... there!"
Erie and Hope's phones buzzed.
Hope checked hers first and saw a friend request from 'Cereal Murderer.' "...C-Cereal Murderer?"
"Yes! Because I love cereal and I murder it when I eat it!"
Erie stared at Hana. "...You're doing this on purpose. Right? Like, no way you're actually like this..."
Hana giggled. "Maybe~ I think it's good branding! After all!" She struck and idol pose, making peace signs with both her hands. "I'm the strongest imouto! I can be cute AND scary!"
"...Wait." Erie paused. "...Are YOU like this? Or is Rin like this and you're just copying her?"
Hana smiled as she led them into the kitchen. "You see, that's the funny part! I'm actually the normal one! Rin's a lot crazier than me, even if she never realizes it. The one you see streaming as Hana Homura isn't me, you know?"
"IT'S NOT?!"
Hana nodded. "Mmhm! I'm her moderator during the streams, but she's the one streaming! The crazy yandere things are all her. I just go along with it because it makes her happy!"
Hope blinked. Then she said, "...Oh! So then Rin is really Julie's Oshi! That's why they're still asleep!"
"Yep!" Hana giggled. "They were talking all night and super excited. Rin doesn't have many real friends and she doesn't chat much with her fans in person. I think this is the first time she's met a fan as herself instead of as me? She had a lot of fun."
Erie checked her phone. "...Isn't it already ten AM?"
Hana nodded. "They just fell asleep around an hour ago, so it'll probably be a while until they get up. So until then... it's just us!"
Hope's eyes widened. "Just us... Justice! Ooh! I have to use that in a rap sometime!" She pulled out her phone and started typing.
Hana walked over to the coffee maker in the kitchen and said, "How do you like your coffee? Strong, medium, mild?"
Erie immediately replied, "Black like my dead heart."
Hope replied too and said, "Black and so bitter that vodka tastes like candy!"
Erie gave Hope a blank stare.
Hope stared back. "What?"
"...Are you real? Who the hell would say that?! No, how is that a comparison that you even know how to make?!"
Hope puffed her cheeks and said, "Vodka tastes better than black coffee! Black coffee is suuuper bitter and acidy and icky!"
Erie rubbed her face with her hands and said, "...Your logic is out of this world. If you hate the taste of coffee that much, why even drink it?"
"Because it's like medicine! Of course it's icky! But because it's icky, everything else tastes better!"
"...Oh my god, is THAT why you eat struggle meals?"
"No, I just like them."
"WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS!?"
Hana giggled and started up the coffee machine. As she did, she said, "You know, Hope. Yuri is still complaining about how your tastebuds don't make sense. And she's surprised how you can taste some things even better than she can. Like sour things and poisonous stuff."
Erie slowly turned to look at Hope. "...Poisonous stuff?"
"Oh!" Hope nodded. "During that first week I was hanging out with Yuri-senpai, we went to get sashimi! Apparently, I can taste something called... um, what is it? Ciguatera poison?"
Erie gave Hope a blank stare. "Ciguatera poison? You mean that tasteless, traceless, impossible to detect poison that's in fish? The one that you usually can only find out if you got poisoned AFTER you did?"
"...Yes?"
Erie grabbed Hope by the collar and started shaking her again. "ARE YOU A SHOUJO PROTAGONIST HOPE?! WHY IS YOUR LIFE LIKE THIS?!"
"I dunno-! D'oh!"
Erie froze and stared at Hope.
Hope stared back. "What?"
"...Oh my god. You're a female Homie Simpson."
"...Huh?"
Erie let go of Hope and said, "It all makes sense. The dumb luck, the close calls, the ridiculous backstory dropped out of the blue..." She spun around and pointed at Hope. "You aren't a real person! You're a family sitcom main character!"
Hope blinked. Then she pointed at Erie and said, "Wouldn't that make you the comedy relief character who almost dies every episode then?"
Erie froze. "...Okay, we're done with metaphors..."
Hana giggled and poured some freshly brewed coffee into insulated mugs before handing them over. "Well, let's sit down and enjoy some coffee to unwind. Then we can chat!"
"Right." Erie shook her head. "Important stuff first."
Hope nodded. "Yeah! Like exploring abandoned hospitals and asylums!"
Hana paused, her orange eyes sparkling with joy. "...Did I hear that right? You want to explore abandoned hospitals and asylums?"
Erie nodded. "Prisons too. We're trying to get ideas for my new chain of pizzerias. You know Freddy's, right? We're thinking of doubling down on the spooky bits, so-"
At that time, a door slammed open from upstairs and someone vaulted down the stairs, sliding towards the kitchen.
Rin, light brown hair in a mess, wearing nothing but an oversized t-shirt, and eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep.
She immediately looked at Erie and said, "Did I hear exploring abandoned buildings?! And Freddy's?! AND PIZZA?!"
Erie blinked. "Uh. Yeah?"
Rin pointed at Erie and said, "AMAZING! NEW FAVORITE KOUHAI!"
Hope giggled. "Poor Julie, abandoned by her Oshi already..."