After the disastrous lunch that was practically a war crime against humanity because of the food tastes that had been divulged and the warring opinions...
Hope took Juliet and Erie back to her apartment to unwind for the afternoon.
Once inside, Erie immediately flopped into a sofa and said, "Ugh. I can never look at Alphy-senpai the same ever again..."
Juliet shook her head. "Cereal and water... Why? Just... why?"
Hope shut the door behind them and giggled. "Well... She lives just across the hall with Asako-senpai, so you can ask her yourself?"
Erie immediately crossed her arms in an 'X' and said, "Nope! Hard pass! I might like curses and spooky stuff, but I feel like I'll legitimately get cursed with food criminal tastebuds if I hear her explain it."
Juliet quickly nodded. "Yeah, we are NEVER bringing this up again. Especially not in front of Alphy-senpai." She rubbed her arm and said, "I have a feeling she'll be able to act cute and convince us into trying it until we like it..."
Erie nodded. "Exactly. Have you seen the Alfis? There's a reason they're like a cult."
Hope walked over to her fridge and opened it up to pull out some yuzu sodas. "The Alfis aren't a cult! They're just... um."
She paused, thinking about Alfi's fans.
Then she thought about how they always said Alfi-sama changed their lives. And how they would devote their lives to honor Alfi-sama's grace. And how they were all extremely rich and had mysterious sources of income...
And then Hope thought about the pyramid schemes that old ladies kept falling for. And the one time she met a girl who said she was Mormon but definitely hadn't been Mormon since she talked about how she shared a house with a man in a compound along with twenty other sister-wives while they didn't worship god or anything at all...
"...Okay." Hope handed Erie and Juliet a soda each and said, "...They might be a cult."
"Right?!" Erie cracked open her soda and said, "The only reason it isn't one is because Alphy-senpai is genuinely nice and cares for them. But if she wanted to exploit them..."
Juliet sat down next to Erie and said, "It's fine. Since she's Johnny's oldest daughter, she's probably already been through it all. There's not really anything she'd want from her fans anyway, right? I think she just streams for fun."
Hope nodded. "Mmhm!" She pulled a chair over to sit across from Juliet and Erie and said, "Alphy-senpai is set for life already. Asako-senpai is too! But they both just like streaming, so they're living their best lives having fun with their fans."
Juliet smiled. "That's nice... I think I'd like that too." She sipped on her soda and said, "Being able to not worry about money and just play music for people who enjoy it... Being able to bring just a bit more cheer into their lives..."
Hope let out a soft smile and said, "Right? I think I'd like that a lot. It's why I wanted to join Project MirAIs."
"Right." Erie snapped her fingers and leaned forward. "We should talk about that, right? We're Protest. And the site's been updated announcing us already. Well, at least saying that we're a thing."
Hope's eyes widened. "It has?!"
Juliet sipped on her soda and said, "I saw that. But it's just 'Protest' right now. There's nothing about us or members."
"Well, yeah." Erie nodded. "That's because we haven't decided on anything. Since we're all here, we should talk about that."
Hope fidgeted and said, "...Do we have to decide now? I was thinking we could just get to know each other for a bit..." She looked over at Erie and then Juliet before lowering her gaze. "...It's the first time I've had real friends my age."
Erie paused. Then she looked at Hope with soft eyes. "...You know what? Yeah. Same here." She fiddled with her soda can and said, "I don't think I've ever had any real friends. I mean, like, people who cared."
Juliet set her soda down and said, "...We're all in the same boat, huh? I never really had friends either. The ones that called me their friend... well, they always just wanted something. Or they were backstabbers. Lots of backstabbers."
Hope giggled. "Oh, I know the type. Like the Queen Bee who pretends to include you but then spreads rumors about how you're an easy girl behind your back, right?"
Erie's eyes widened. "H-Hope? What?"
Hope sighed, sipping her soda. "...People don't like when you're pretty. And look different."
Erie paused. "...Oh. Is that why you started dyeing your hair?"
Hope nodded. "White's too different. And I look really pretty with white hair, you know? But if it's blue, people just think I'm weird, so they don't bother me as much." She giggled. "It's different now, but anime and cosplay got you made fun of a lot back in high school."
Erie let out a sympathetic nod. "Oh, I know... All those normies pretended liking 'Chinese cartoons' made you weird." She snorted. "And now everyone's talking about the next mainstream anime like Demonblade Slayers and Sorcerer's Battles."
Juliet tilted her head. "...Was it really that bad? I mean, I can get why it was bad for Hope since she grew up in the rural midwest, but aren't you from Cali, Erie?"
Erie let out a long suffering sigh. "You don't understand how toxic Asian family households get, Julie. And I'm talking like, the American Asian family households. Apparently it's different here in like Japan. But..." She reflexively tugged at her crimson hair and murmured, "...It's not good. I'll leave it at that."
A long silence fell upon the room as the three young woman sat in silence.
But after a bit, Hope cleared her throat and said, "L-Let's talk about more fun things." She looked over at Juliet and said, "Since you're here, Julie, does that mean Mister John sorted out your passport?"
"Not yet." Juliet shook her head. "I'm still not eighteen until... Friday? Saturday? What day even is it right now? The timezones have got me all confused."
Erie checked her phone and said, "Looks like Tuesday, 4:30 PM. April 29th, for the record."
Juliet nodded. "My birthday's on Sunday then. It's May 4th."
Erie gasped and pointed at Juliet. "You're telling me that your birthday is Stellar Wars Day?!"
Juliet blinked. "...What?"
Hope clapped her hands together. "No way! Julie, your birthday is May the Fourth!"
Juliet slowly nodded. "Yes. It's May 4th."
Erie rolled her eyes. "No, Julie. Don't you get it? May the Fourth. May the Fourth be with you? You know?"
Juliet paused. Then she let out a long sigh. "...You're joking."
Hope giggled. "We should get you a fun cake! Like Dark Vader's mask or something!"
Erie shrugged. "Well, it's on theme. Princess Rhea had a doomed romance with her twin brother Lucas..."
Juliet groaned. "Could we not? I've heard Juliet jokes my whole life..."
Hope gasped. "Ooh! Julie! You should sing Love Story!"
Juliet paused. "...You're right. You're ABSOLUTELY right!" She got up and ran a hand through her black hair. "Why have I NOT been singing a song by literal Juliet?!"
Erie burst out laughing and said, "You're telling me, Julie. You, our local lyricist... the gal who's been writing her own songs... Never covered THE Juliet song?"
Juliet turned a bright red and said, "I-I like Taylor Sweet's other songs more. Like We're Never Getting Back Together..."
Erie let out a scandalized gasp. "Giiirl. Are you a fake Sweetie? A tourist?"
Juliet huffed and said, "I'm not! I'm a fan! I just... don't like all her songs?"
"Fake fan alert~"
Juliet rolled her eyes.
Hope finished her soda and giggled. "It's okay! I don't like all of M+N's songs either. I can appreciate them, but I wouldn't listen to them."
Juliet nodded and pointed at Hope. "See? You don't have to like all the songs of an artist too-"
"But I can still name every song on his albums, you know?"
"..." Juliet's ears turned a bright red and she said, "F-Fine. I'll admit it. I only listened to a few of her tracks because those airheads kept blaring them on their phones."
Erie tilted her head. "Airheads?"
"Yeah. The fake ditzy social girls that my parents kept dragging me around to 'make nice' with. You know the type. Designer bags, designer shoes..." Juliet shook her head. "Ugh. Such a waste of money."
Erie snorted. "Says the girl who has a literal secret vault of CapsuMon cards."
Hope's eyes lit up. "Oh! You collect CapsuMon cards, Julie?"
Juliet smiled. "Yep! I've got a lot. Johnny said he's working on getting them all over. They're precious to me." She puffed up her chest and said, "They're also in perfect condition."
Hope said, "Wait here! I have a really rare card!"
Erie froze, suddenly getting a sense of foreboding. "Hope. Are you going to get-"
"Yes! It's the super rare one that Meggie said people pay thousands to get!" Hope went to grab her wallet.
Juliet's eyes widened and she said, "Don't tell me you have a first edition-" Her voice cut off the moment Hope held it out.
"Ta-dah~! It's my good luck charm!" Hope held out a creased, folded, and wrinkled first edition shadowless CapsuMon card. "I've had it with me for a long time! I carry it everywhere too!"
Juliet let out a strangled sound. And then her eyes rolled up in her head and she fainted.
"J-Julie?!" Hope quickly ran over and patted her face. "H-Hey! Wake up!"
Erie bit her lips, not wanting to break out into another laughing fit. After barely managing to rein it in, she said, "I think you should just leave her, Hope. Poor Julie's had too many shocking things happen today."
Hope frowned. "What's so shocking about showing my good luck charm?"
"Hope, our sweet friend." Erie slowly said. "You just showed a die-hard card collector who treats them like museum paintings your worn and crumpled good luck charm. It's like folding the Mona Lisa in half in front of an art curator."
Hope gasped. "It's that bad?! But it's just a card!"
Juliet let out another strangled gasp and then completely passed out.
"...Oops?"
Erie laughed again, clutching her ribs. "Owowow... Have to... not laugh... Pft! God... dammit... hahaha!"