A lively and warm evening. Despite the rough events leading up to the baby shower, once everything was in full swing, the night turned into one filled with festivity and joy.

John hung out with the guys, drinking through the night and belting out karaoke as well as sharing stories. Bonding over sob stories, alcohol, good songs and some drinking games… with John making sure that things didn’t go too far as the only sober guy there. Overall, a great time to just hang out that he didn’t have a chance to do for a long, long, long time.

Meanwhile, Yue hung out with the girls, trading stories about John and men in general. Sakura ranting about Kai after having a few drinks. Eri and Sitri complaining about Bai and Qing. Zhaojun sharing embarrassing stories about John’s younger days when he was still roaming around as a rogue practitioner. And then both Daji and Xuannu chimed in after warming up to the group as well… albeit with a lot of pointed prodding from Betty.

At some point, Meggie, Tsuki, Xuan, and Wu grouped together to play games through the night on a Mintendo Switch… Mostly with Xuan and Wu watching as Meggie and Tsuki played with each other.

And as for the members of Project MirAIs, present, future, and the so-called Operators of Titor and Amadeus, the group spent time together running over how things worked, potential lessons plans, streaming, and rough paperwork.

Of course, Titor made sure to leave dealing with the paperwork proper for John. After all, that guy had to do *some* work. Even if Amadeus ranted at Titor for shirking responsibilities and setting a bad role model.

In the end, it was a lively and festive night for Myth Inc. HQ and everyone involved.

But when morning came, it was back to work.

Thursday, November 28. Three days before the first major Project MirAIs concert on Sunday, December 1st. Then, five days after that on Friday, December 6th, was Comiket, with the Winter Electronics Expo the week after on December 13th.

In short, a busy and packed schedule with a lot to prepare to make sure everything went well.

Preparations that John had been putting off to spend time with Yue, but now had to take proper responsibility for… Especially since he didn’t trust Titor not to make something crazy happen after that mess with Amadeus.

So, after tucking his beloved wife into bed downstairs in John’s private room, having a private chat with his sisters, a closed door conversation with Bai and Qing regarding Zhuque and Suzume, and then ranting at Titor about how he didn’t learn a damned thing about the Moon Cell, Holy Grails, and summoning waifus from all the gacha games and anime they watched, it was time to get to work.

John sat in his office and ruffled through the stack of paperwork left behind by Qing and Titor regarding Project MirAIs upcoming plans as well as Myth Inc’s expansion.

“Alright.” John picked up the first stack of papers and flipped through them. “First off… proper interviews and paperwork signing for the next generation. Prodigy, huh?”

It seemed like Titor was having fun plotting out future generations for Project MirAIs and the themes for each.

The first was Prototype since it was mostly a test run, so there wasn’t really a unifying theme between the three girls other than the fact that they were in dire situations and ‘Titor’ went to save them. Going forward though, it seemed like the situation would be different.

“Geniuses crushed before their chance to bloom…” John muttered and tapped on the profiles of the four members Qing settled on.

The first was Shu Yozora. The girl he gave a large tip to one time back at Starbox. A tomboyish and hard working high school girl who he thought deserved a bit better… who apparently applied to Project MirAIs to try and pay John back mostly.

Next was Yuri Miyamoto. The girl with daddy issues, violently tsun, granddaughter of the infamous chef Minato Miyamoto… and in truth a super fragile young woman who tried covering up a soft heart with violence and harsh words.

After that was Chihiro Kimura. Takashi’s daughter. A second year high school girl who apparently did a lot of fanart for Project MirAIs under the name Kiiro-chi. From Qing’s interview notes, she was also a calm and mature young woman.

Finally, there was Suzume Akairo. The red sparrow… and Zhuque’s mortal reincarnation. An ordinary young woman who was adopted by a kind couple and raised to be a prim and proper young woman. Also someone who had been training as a shrine maiden before feeling a calling towards Roppongi and immediately dropped everything to follow it.

Setting aside the fact that John was connected with all the Project MirAIs idols *again*, the group didn’t seem to have a common thread, especially to the theme of ‘prodigy.’ But that was only on the surface.

John picked up another sheet, this one a combination of both Qing’s notes and Titor’s annotations over said notes. “A genius martial artist, cook, artist, and then dancer… A strange bunch to be sure, but that’ll definitely work… Still.” John frowned and said, “I thought we were an idol company…?”

It wasn’t like John minded the members branching out to other things, but if he just looked at things objectively… didn’t this make Project MirAIs look more like an entertainment group rather than idols?

“…I guess it’ll be fine if they still get the right training.”

John was almost certain that everyone in the next generation except for Suzume couldn’t sing or dance. But then again, the point of Project MirAIs was to showcase a ‘journey’ rather than a ‘product’, so that could go towards their appeal.

“Mm.” John nodded and then said, “The next step is to just make their avatars and counterparts… but before then.” John checked the time.

10 AM.

Titor said he’d make sure to send the girls up to meet him after they woke up to go over the paperwork, but he wondered if that guy would really-

A soft chime echoed. The elevator leading up to John’s office.

The moment the door opened, a voice that sounded almost the same as John’s echoed.

“Fwahaha! To doubt me, the great John Titor… It seems that you underestimate me, Mistah Smith!” Titor walked out of the elevator, hands stuffed in his lab coat pockets.

John shivered and then said, “Do you *really* have to do that? And that laugh too…”

Amadeus walked out after Titor, covering her face with her hands. “Just ignore him. He’s doing it to get attention, and he’ll just keep it up if you give it to him.”

Titor spun around and threw his arms up, sending his lab coat fluttering. “What’s wrong, my lovely waifu? Is my charm too overwhelming?”

Amadeus charged forward and grabbed Titor by his shirt. “I’m not your waifu!”

“Ah, but you love me so, do you not? And I love you all the same.”

“Wha- Idiot!” Amadeus shoved Titor aside and turned her head, causing her crimson hair to scatter. “…That’s not fair.”

Titor laughed.

John blinked and then slowly nodded. “Ah. So that’s why people get pissed off when I’m with Yue…”

“Hm?” Titor looked over. “What was that, my other half?”

Amadeus frowned and said, “I thought I was your other half?”

“You are my better half, my dear waifu.”

“…Why are you even more skilled at talking than that bastard?” Amadeus let out a deep sigh.

John rubbed his face and then said, “I’m wondering about that myself…”

Was this how he was like in the past? Obnoxiously cringey and not caring how much it was? No, completely doubling down on the cringe and laughing at everyone’s reactions?

…No wonder so many people got pissed off.

John shook his head and said, “Anyway, Titor. Did you let the girls know that I wanted to meet them all?”

“Of course. In fact, they should be arriving…”

*Ding.*

“…Now.” Titor smirked.

The elevator doors opened again, revealing a group of four beautiful young women.

Shu walked out first, looking around the room with wide eyes. “Wow! I knew that Mister Smith must be rich, but this really hammers it in!”

Chihiro adjusted her glasses and followed after Shu. “You’re easily amused, aren’t you, Senpai?”

“I’m just saying! Even our dojo isn’t this fancy!”

Yuri walked over, her blonde hair trailing behind her. “Mm… It’s alright. The Eternal Tower has nicer office spaces though. But I guess this place is pretty good too…”

Suzume closed out the group, following behind the other girls. Hearing Yuri’s words, she gasped and said, “You have been to the Eternal Tower, Yuri? Amazing! Does it pierce the heavens? I heard from my parents that you cannot even see the top from the ground!”

Faced with Suzume’s bright eyes, Yuri shifted her gaze and said, “I-It wasn’t that impressive, Suzume…”

“Oh.” Suzume sighed. “A pity.”

Shu looked back and said, “Don’t worry! We can take a field trip to visit it in person when we make it big!”

Chihiro sighed and said, “You should be more conservative with your expectations, Senpai. After all, it’d be a shame if you fell short like Yuri Senpai who thought she could make it on her cooking talent alone.”

Yuri flinched and said, “H-Hey! I’m going to finish high school, okay?! I’m just… taking a break for now.”

Shu rounded on Yuri and cracked her knuckles. “You’d better! If you break this promise, I’m going to have to teach you the Yozora family recipe.”

After observing the girls interact for a bit, John laughed. “Well… I guess the next generation of Project MirAIs is definitely going to be a lively bunch.”