When Hope opened her eyes, the first thing she realized was that she was laying on a sofa. The second thing she realized was that a familiar pair of faces were looking down at her: Rin and Hana.
Rin let out an awkward smile and waved. "Hi? Are you okay?"
Hope blinked and slowly sat up. "I'm fine, Senpai..." Then she glanced at Hana who was waving too. After that, she said, "But. Um. So. Am I still dreaming? Why are there two of you? Also, where am I?"
It wasn't the empty office hall she remembered, but instead a sleek modern kitchen with chrome countertops and devices that Hope wouldn't know the first thing about.
Hana twirled a strand of her orange hair and said, "Well... since you and Erie fainted, we took you to the kitchen. Mister John isn't here yet, but he should be here soon!"
Rin nodded. "Yep! Don't worry! It's only been about ten minutes!"
"Oh. Okay- Wait." Hope blinked and her eyes widened. "...You're talking in English!"
Rin tilted her head. Then she giggled and said, "Nope~! This is Riri's studio, so there's a lot of fancy tech here to make things automatically translate! See?" After saying that, she pointed at a glowing green box embedded in the wall.
Hope stared at it.
The box pulsed a bit.
Then Hope looked away and said, "...I don't understand, but I think it's better if I don't try to, so... okay?"
Rin nodded again. "That's probably best! Oh!" She clapped her hands and said, "I don't think I've ever properly introduced you!" She held her arms out as if presenting Hana and said, "This is Hana! Hana, say hi to Hope!"
"Hi~!" Hana giggled. "I've seen you a lot, but this is the first time talking in person, right?"
Hope slowly nodded. "Yes... So. You're real? Miss Jenny was real too... Is everything real? Am I real? Is this a dream?"
Rin snapped her fingers in front of Hope and said, "Hey! No derealization!"
Hana nodded. "We're real! And you're not dreaming!" She puffed out her chest and said, "I'm just special!" She pointed at Rin and said, "Rin is a little crazy, so I became real in her head until Mister John made this robot body, then I became real in person too!"
Hope let out a nervous laugh and said, "I need to sit down."
She had just gone along to eat proper food, not get ambushed with jumpscares and then worldbreaking knowledge...
Rin tilted her head. "...You are sitting though?"
At that time, Xuan and Wu hopped onto the sofa with Hope.
Xuan looked concerned and patted Hope's cheeks. "Big Sister, Big Sister... Are you well?"
Wu nodded, her white bangs bobbing a bit as she did. "Yes, Big Sister Hope! Are you okay? You collapsed!"
Seeing them, Hope relaxed a bit. Letting out a warm smile, she hugged them both and said, "I'm fine! Just... tired."
Tired.
Yes, that was definitely the best word for how she was feeling after all the shenanigans she just endured...
A groan echoed from another sofa nearby and then Erie spoke up. "...What hit me?"
Rin and Hana shared a look.
Hope's eyes widened and she opened her mouth to stop them.
But before she could, Rin and Hana had snuck up behind Erie's groggy form. And then...
""You're finally awake...""
"KYA!?"
Hope sighed.
===
John arrived at the high rise building, wheeling a cart full of ingredients.
Juliet stood at his side, eyeing the building before saying, "So you have THAT kind of money, huh, Johnny?" She glanced at John, an amused look on her face. "One high rise office building in Roppongi wasn't enough for you?"
"Well..." John unlocked the front door and rolled the cart inside, double checking on the corn.
Because if Hope was going to commit war crimes on his favorite foods, he was going to return the favor...
But as to Juliet's question...
"...Myth Inc. HQ has a general permit that lets us do whatever, but since we remade a good portion into apartments and also a fancy lounge for you girls, there's not much room for setting up studios. Since Prodigy all want to do interesting things instead of just idol stuff, they need a space for it."
Juliet blinked. Then she placed her hand on her chin. "...That makes sense. Kuromi-senpai is basically being a modern day Jacky Chun. Miya-senpai really wants to show off her cooking. Tsubame-senpai likes doing different readings like crystals and stuff... and Rhea-senpai... Well. She's Rhea-senpai."
John chuckled. "Rhea IS Rhea... Her dad's a bit worried about her, but considering that she's just cooping herself up in a studio instead of out in the streets or something, he's fine with it. Also, it's probably a healthier way of processing her emotions."
As Juliet walked inside with John, she frowned and said, "...Why does that sound like some of our senpais had unhealthy way of processing emotions?"
"We don't talk about Hana."
Juliet blinked. "What do you mean we don't talk about my oshi?"
John blinked. "Hana's your- Oh, right. I think you mentioned that. But... Hm." He looked at Juliet. Then he thought about how Hana... or rather, how Rin acted on stream. Then he thought about Juliet's general vibes...
"...I can see it."
"Huh?"
"Don't stress about it. For now..." John rolled the cart towards the elevator and said, "I can't believe it. Calling BF Chang's good... that's like saying Olivia Gardens is authentic Italian cuisine."
"RIGHT?!" Juliet nodded and said, "And putting ketchup on mac and cheese... Why?! Marinara or a tomato sauce on the side, barely tolerable. Barely. But KETCHUP?!"
John pressed the button to the elevator and shook his head. "Hope clearly hasn't tried proper food. I think we make her an authentic mac and cheese with a béchamel sauce. And since she likes ketchup in it, we can add bolognese layers with marinara sauce."
"I agree. Hope... My god, her poor taste buds..." Juliet shook her head and said, "We need to feed her properly. Thinking that mac and cheese with ketchup is an acceptable meal... blasphemy. Nonna would be rolling in her grave hearing this."
*ding*
The elevator doors slid open.
John wheeled the cart in and pressed the button towards the basement, where the kitchen studio was set up. Then he glanced at Juliet when she walked in and said, "Oh, I can imagine. I bet Hope's the type to break her spaghetti in half too."
"NO!" Juliet visibly flinched. "No way. She can't be THAT far gone...!"
"Struggle meals... they can change a person..." John looked in the distance, remembering the desperate days of mixing ramen with hoisin sauce and peanut butter for just a hint of Asian cuisine because he was too poor to get proper Asian food of any kind.
Juliet pursed her lips and said, "Struggle meals are struggle meals. Preferences are different. And Hope said she LIKES mac and cheese with ketchup. And mustard. Ugh..." She looked up at the ceiling and murmured, "Nonna... what Americans do for a fraction of proper cuisine..."
John raised an eyebrow, amused. "Aren't you American too?"
"I'm Sicilian American, Johnny. Besides, aren't you too? Who are you to be critiquing Chinese food anyway?"
"I have cooked more Chinese cuisine than you could even conceive, Juliet. Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdon, Jiangsu, Fujian, Hunan, Anhui, Zhejiang... no matter what region, I can outdo them all."
Juliet looked skeptical. "...I'll believe it when Uncle Rodger makes a video approving-"
John immediately pulled out his phone and played a video he had saved on his channel.
*Fuiyoh! Nieces and Nephews! Today, Uncle Rodger is reviewing Uncle John's cooking... FUIYOH?! Is that a cast iron wok and a bamboo stove?!*
"..." Juliet stared at John.
John smiled. "If I dare call myself second best in cooking Chinese food, no one would dare call themself first."
"...Your parents definitely babysat you by dropping you in front of a TV with like the Shaw Brothers, didn't they, Johnny?"
The elevator arrived in the basement, the doors sliding open.
As they did, John chuckled and said, "Well, it was either that or superheroes, and they were worried about me jumping out of a window and trying to fly. Probably."
Juliet laughed and followed after John as they made their way towards the main kitchen. "I can imagine that. You seem like you were a wild kid, Johnny."
"Oh, you have NO idea. The things I did even up through my thirties..."
John still had an entire Heavenly Realm filled with souvenirs from those days, after all. Sooo many toys. So many...
After a bit of a walk, they arrived at a pair of steel double doors.
John pushed through them and called out. "Hope? Erie? You girls here? Jenny said she dropped you two off-" He paused, suddenly seeing that Rin and Hana were both here and definitely NOT watching Xuan and Wu like he asked.
Mostly because Xuan and Wu were sitting with Hope at a table, making origami together.
Erie was there too, sitting on the couch and looking like she was staving off a headache-
Wait.
Where did Rin and Hana-
"Another kouhai?"
"Ooh!"
Before John could react, Rin and Hana had sidled up to Juliet's side, Rin on her left and Hana on her right.
Rin giggled and said, "Hello there!"
Hana giggled too and said, "Oh hi~ Hope said you were a fan?"
Juliet froze.
John turned to look at her. Then he said, "Juliet. Breathe-"
"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"