It was the day after 'the incident.'
Both John and Juliet had arrived in Japan and were on the way to Roppongi Hills.
Meanwhile, Hope and Erie were being escorted to a private kitchen in Roppongi Hills to wait for John and Juliet to arrive. As for who they were being escorted by...
Jenny ran a hand through her hair and murmured, "I swear. Every time I take some personal time for myself, Onii-chan and the girls make something crazy happen."
Hope smoothed down her frilly pink dress and stared at Jenny as they walked through the crowd.
Beautiful golden hair kept in a wolf cut. Deep blue eyes that looked like the ocean. A face with delicate features and a body with soft curves... And wearing a white blazer over a pink blouse and a blue miniskirt, along with pink heels... she looked like every bit a foreign fashion model out for a stroll.
But more than that...
Hope blinked again and said, "Sorry, Miss Jenny. But... you're real?"
Erie stuck her hands in the pocket of her black hoodie and walked beside Hope. Glancing over at Jenny too, Erie said, "...I don't know what's scarier. The fact that you exist, or the fact that John can dress up like this..."
Jenny rolled her eyes and checked her white painted nails. "Onii-chan is scary good at make up. And apparently, he used to like trolling people by pretending to be a girl, so he perfected acting as a beautiful breathtaking woman. I'm just a girl."
Erie shook her head and said, "I don't know if you can call yourself 'just a girl' when you're that pretty..." She looked over at Hope and said, "Is all of Mister John's family like this?"
"H-Huh?" Hope blinked and then paused to process Erie's words. After she did, she said, "Um... I think so? I haven't properly met Mister John's brother, but I think I've seen him a few times picking up Meggie's cousin? He's pretty handsome. And you saw Alphy..."
"Ugh." Erie sighed. "Don't remind me. I didn't realize someone could be that beautiful... It's like she has a filter on, but in real life."
Jenny pulled out a set of keys as they rounded the corner to a discreet alleyway. After that, she said, "If you think Alphy is pretty, you should see Betty. Alphy is 'cute' but Betty is 'devastating.' And that's not even considering Onii-chan's adopted sisters..."
Hope tilted her head and said, "Adopted sisters?"
Erie's eyes widened. "Mister John has MORE siblings?!"
Jenny unlocked the back door of a high rise building and held it open for Hope and Erie. As she did, she said, "You should ask Lore for a diagram of the family tree some time. It's confusing, but kind of funny. But anyway." She handed Hope the set of keys and said, "Lock up after you head inside."
"H-Huh?" Hope blinked and looked at Jenny. "You aren't coming with us?"
"Me?" Jenny laughed. "I've got a date with a spa, some vanilla bean ice cream, and an entire Steem backlog to play through, so no." She turned around and walked off, her heels clicking with every step she took. "Enjoy yourselves~ And remember to keep receipts for tax season!"
Erie watched Jenny leave and then said, "...I'm still not entirely convinced she isn't just Mister John dressed up."
Hope watched Jenny leave too and said, "...I see what you mean. Mister John IS pretty... but I think Miss Yue would get mad at him for doing that, right?"
"True." Erie laughed and said, "Come on then. Let's see what sort of spooky place this is before John and Julie get here." After that, she walked deeper into the building.
"H-Hey! W-Wait for me, Erie!" Hope followed her, locking the door behind them and pocketing the keys.
===
A weirdly empty industrial building. The lights were all on, and it was day time. Because of that, everything was well lit. But...
Hope looked around the empty hallways and swallowed. "I-Is this the right place?"
Erie laughed and said, "What are you so scared of, Hope? It's just an office building- AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Hope screamed and jumped behind Erie.
Erie burst out laughing and poked Hope's cheek. "Got you~"
"You!" Hope huffed and then swatted Erie's shoulder. "Don't just randomly start screaming!"
"Fine, fine. I won't- KYAAAAAAAAAAH?!"
Hope screamed again and covered her eyes.
After a few seconds though, nothing happened. And then Erie laughed again.
Hope lowered her hands and then huffed. "That's not funny! What if there's really someone here?!"
Erie rolled her eyes and waved her arm out at the empty office. "It's just an office building."
"Yes! But the kitchen is supposed to be in the basement!"
"Huh?" Erie blinked. "Wait, really?" She swept her emerald eyes around the area to take a closer look.
They had entered in through the back. And this definitely wasn't Myth Inc. HQ, but another building deeper into Roppongi Hills.
Which meant neither of them knew the layout... although Erie had only been in Japan for a few days so she wouldn't have known anyway.
Hope crossed her arms around her pink dress and said, "M-Maybe we just stand here and wait for Mister John and Julie...?"
Erie rolled her eyes and said, "Where's your sense of adventure? Besides, Miss Jenny handed us the keys. Myth Inc. probably owns this building anyway. It's not like there's going to be anyone here-"
"Boo."
Erie screamed and stumbled backwards.
Hope flinched and then let out a nervous laugh. "V-V-Very funny, Erie! Now, stop-"
"Oh hi."
"KYAAAAAAA?!" Hope screamed and dove behind a file cabinet.
A pair of giggles echoed. Young girls too.
Hope slowly peeked out from behind the file cabinet. And when she did, she saw them.
A pair of young girls, both in purple kimonos. Twins. Except, one had black hair and the other had white hair.
"Sister, sister." The black-haired young girl tilted her head and pointed at Hope. "She looks fun to play with!"
The white-haired girl nodded. "Yes, Sister Xuan! And this big sister looks fun too!" She pointed at Erie and smiled. "You look funny when you scream!"
Erie scrambled to her feet and huffed. "I swear to god... Did Mister John put you up to this?! No, who are you girls? Am I hallucinating?" She looked at Hope and said, "You're seeing this too, right?!"
Hope slowly walked out and said, "Y-Yes? Um... Hello?"
"Hi!" The black-haired girl waved.
"Hello, Big Sister!" The white-haired girl did a small curtsy.
Then, together, they said, "Father said to wait here for the Big Sisters to come!"
Erie slowly blinked. "...Father? Wait. Are you two Mister John's kids too?"
The white-haired girl nodded and said, "Yes! I am Xiao Wu!" She pointed at her sister and said, "This is Xiao Xuan! Father is John!"
Xuan nodded and said, "Yes, yes! We were playing here because Father said he would come to cook!"
Wu nodded too and said, "But it was boring! We were playing hide and seek, but then you two entered!"
Xuan let out a bright smile and said, "So we surprised you! Boo!"
After that, the twins giggled in unison again.
Erie placed a hand over her heart and let out a sigh. "Okay. So not ghosts. Just cute little girls who like jumpscaring people-"
"Boo!"
"Gya?!" Erie stumbled back and then her ears turned a bright red. She pointed at Xuan and said, "Stop that! And how are you so good at jumpscares?!"
Wu giggled and played with her white hair. "Father showed us a fun game!"
Xuan nodded. "Yes, yes! It's Spoopy's House of Jumpscares!"
Hope blinked. Then she slowly swept her gaze around the building, a sense of foreboding suddenly welling up inside her. "...Spoopy's House of Jumpscares...?"
Erie froze, suddenly realizing what Hope had caught onto. Specifically, the fact that the building was strangely empty... as far as they could see. But the furniture that WAS there had been rearranged to have deliberate blindspots.
Hope let out a nervous laugh and said, "Um... We can play later? How about we head to the basement and the kitchen to wait for Mister John?"
Xuan puffed her cheeks and said, "But that's boring, Big Sister!"
Wu puffed her cheeks too and said, "Yes! We worked hard! Come play!" After that, she grabbed Hope and started tugging her forward.
Hope's eyes widened and she said, "W-Wait! I don't-"
*BOING*
"KYA?!" Hope screamed and instinctively scooped Wu up, jumping backwards.
And when she did, a cardboard turtle dangling on a string appeared in front of her.
"..."
Erie burst out laughing.
And then-
*GEHEHEHE!*
-An ominous laugh echoed and a rubber hose dropped on top of her.
Erie screamed and scrambled backwards in a panic until she realized what it was. Then she slowly shifted her gaze towards Xuan.
Xuan let out an innocent smile.
Then Erie chuckled and said, "Oh, you're good. But I love jumpscares and spooky places, so you're going to have to do better than-"
*bzzt*
Erie froze and slowly looked down at her phone.
Hope set Wu down, but then noticed that Erie's phone was buzzing. Then she quickly shook her head and said, "E-Erie. Don't answer that."
"Pft." Erie let out a nervous laugh. "It's just Mister John, probably. It's not like it's One Skipped Call or anything..." She fearlessly swiped answer on the call even though it had an unknown ID. Then she said, "Hello?"
Silence.
Then a soft whisper.
"I see you."
Erie froze.
At the same time, a door closed in the distance.
"E-E-ERIE?!" Hope immediately grabbed Wu again and pulled Xuan in for a hug as well.
"Hug!" Wu smiled and hugged Hope.
"Ooh! Thank you, Big Sister!" Xuan hugged Hope too.
Both the twins didn't look scared a bit.
Hope, on the other hand, looked on the verge of hyperventilating.
As for Erie...
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a rosary, emerald eyes wide with genuine terror. Holding it towards the door, she said, "Th-Th-The power of Christ compels you! Cease!"
Another door opened, and then footsteps echoed.
Hope quickly scrambled back, rummaging in her pockets for the key. "W-W-We need to go!"
Erie scrambled back too. "Y-Yeah! Screw this! We're-"
An orange blur. A brown blur.
And then both Hope and Erie felt something poke their sides.
Hope screamed first and crumpled into a ball, shielding Xuan and Wu with her body.
Erie screamed next and blindly swung her rosary.
And then a familiar pair of laughs echoed.
"Rin! You were right! Scaring our kouhais IS fun!"
"Right, Hana~? And we get to have fun with Little Xuan and Little Wu too! Also, hi~"
Hope froze.
Erie blinked.
Then, when she saw Hana and Rin both standing there with mischief clear on their faces...
Erie fainted.
Hope blinked. Then she fainted too.
"W-Wait!"
"HANA!"
"This was your idea, Rin!"
"Don't blame me! Quick, help me carry them before Mister John gets here!"