Chapter 407: – New schedules |
"Finally!" Rin spun around the courtyard just in front of the main building of Hoshigawa Academy and said, "Freedom!"
Yuri held her bag over her right shoulder and then walked over to Rin. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Was it really that bad, Rin?"
Rin stopped spinning and then stomped her foot on the ground. Puffing her cheeks, she said, "It's the worst!" She spread out her arms and said, "All the classes are so booooring. Ugh." She picked up her bag from the ground and put it on. After that, she said, "I thought that at least gym class would be fun, but why is everyone here so out of shape?"
Yuri let out a sigh and said, "There are Olympic level athletes here, and rising stars that are on the track to stand on that stage, Rin."
Rin turned to look at Yuri and said, "And?" She huffed and said, "If that's all it takes, maybe I should try out for the Olympics too this year."
Yuri let out another sigh and shook her head.
Like Rin said, classes were finally over for the day. Because of that, students were leaving to head back home, either by walking home and leaving by the front gate or by waiting for pick up from the back gate.
Yuri and Rin were in the latter group and planned to head there together. But apparently, Rin couldn't bear it anymore and ran out like someone just released from prison the moment the final bell rang.
There were a lot people staring at her antics. But whether because the 'geniuses' attending here knew better to keep to themselves, or if they had seen stranger things, no one gave more than a passing glance.
Rin walked beside Yuri and said, "I know, I know. Just..." She let out a sigh and said, "I forgot school was this exhausting."
Yuri personally agreed. Especially since she had been held back a year and put in Rin's class when she should have graduated by now...
Stupid credit system and biased teachers.
But in any case, Yuri also knew she shouldn't agree with Rin too much since her... Senpai? Kouhai?
...Let's just stick with Rin.
Anyway, Yuri knew she shouldn't agree much with Rin since that girl had a tendency to go off the deep end on the weirdest triggers.
So instead, Yuri said, "It'll get better. You just have to get into the groove of things again."
"I sure hope so." Rin sighed and said, "If not, I really might go start training for the Olympics. A few of the coaches already asked, and they said we get free absences from class..."
"You know that John's going to scold you for that, right? And your mom too?"
"Grk. True..." Rin lowered her head and said, "...But it's so boooring. Like." She looked at Yuri and said, "You were the only one who even kept up a little with me in gym class."
"That's only because of the minimum standard we need to keep up with the bullshit training John puts us through."
Since John was busier these days, he didn't personally teach the Project MirAIs girls much anymore. Especially since Uncle Kai had become Prodigy's Manager and recruited the former members from Mystic Bouquet.
But every Friday, John pulled everyone in for an extensive master class in idol performance that went from 6 AM to 6 PM.
Dancing, singing, singing while dancing, acrobatics, gymnastics, self-defense lessons, weapons training for some god-forsaken reason...
It was never *too* much. That bastard John seemed to know the perfect breaking point of everyone he trained and also the exact mix of nutrients to optimize growth and recovery in the meals and snacks he gave out during said master class.
But still...
Rin had a point about qualifying for the Olympics. If any of the members from Prodigy... even their resident otaku bookworm Chi-chan.
If any of them tried out, they'd easily make the team in various sports.
And that wasn't even counting Alphy who Yuri was pretty sure was a genetic freak.
Like, what kind of girl with a slim build like Alphy could carry around a dresser full of clothes down ten flights of stairs non-stop just because the elevator was broken for the day and she needed to move it?
"Riri? Hello? Earth to Yuri?"
Yuri blinked and then realized that she had blanked out while walking with Rin, lost in her thoughts. She sighed and said, "Okay, maybe classes took more out of me than I thought."
"See? I told you so!"
Really, it was more the whole ridiculousness that her life had become since joining Project MirAIs... but whatever.
One day she'd be able to go open up a small udon shop like Uncle Maji and just relax. One day...
The girls made their way towards the back gate, walking past various fancy fixtures along the neatly paved sidewalk.
A fancy water fountain made from pure white jade that looked like a palace floating in the clouds from the mist it emitted. Statues of the Four Auspicious Beasts, chiseled out from matching precious gemstones like ruby, sapphire, diamond, and black diamond.
Koi ponds with fancy golden lotus blossoms. Hedges of blue roses...
Seeing all of that reminded Yuri that no matter how much money she thought John and his family had, there was always more.
And also that she should really stop questioning these sorts of things...
"By the way!" Rin looked over at Yuri and said, "How are Shu and Chi-chan? I see Suzu-chan a lot since she comes into the studio every day, but how are Shu and Chi-chan?"
"Oh, they're fine. Busy, but fine." Yuri hummed and said, "Shu said she was heading back home for a bit to prepare things for a big tournament and maybe a movie."
Rin's eyes sparkled and she said, "A movie? Like, a martial arts movie?"
"I think so?" Yuri tilted her head to think and she said, "Shu mentioned she needed to beat a few people up first though, so it might take a while."
"Awww..." Rin pouted and said, "She should have asked me! I'd help! I mean, I took out a bear by myself, you know?"
Yuri gave Rin a flat look and said, "Yes, Rin. I know."
That was explicitly why Shu didn't ask Rin.
"Well... fine. Then how's Chi-chan?"
"She's busy with her own things too."
"Is she better these days?" Rin frowned and said, "I remember Mister Kimura saying that he was worried about her since she was acting a bit weird."
"Oh, she's fine now. There was a bit of a misunderstanding between us all, but we worked it out."
...Hard not to when that bastard John dropped them all into a deserted island for a month and forced them to work together to survive.
'Totally Dramatic Island' my ass...
But anyway...
"Chi-chan's still streaming, but she's focusing on her own projects too. I think she said she was making a lot of assets to put on the MIRAIZ app store and doing some legal stuff to get money from it when people use the AI generator or something? I didn't really get all of it."
"Ooh." Rin nodded and said, "That's really smart! Since lots of people are using the MIRAIZ app stuff now to make things, if she gets a bit of money from it using her stuff, that's a lot!" She paused and said, "...But how does she stop people from just stealing it and using it outside of the MIRAIZ app?"
Yuri shrugged. "I dunno. I think she said there's a secret virus bomb or something that explodes if some idiot tries to steal from the MIRAIZ app? Like an invisible glaze or poison that causes other apps to explode."
"Oh! So like what happened to Googol and Nitrosoft the other day!" Rin giggled and said, "No wonder Mister John was laughing."
"Googol and Nitro-" Yuri paused to think about the ramifications of that fact. And then she decided to stop thinking about it. "Anyway..."
She pulled out her phone to check the time and said, "Are you still planning to stream later, Rin?"
Rin nodded. "Of course! I need to do SOMETHING to have fun after all of this." She hummed and said, "Maybe an unarchived karaoke and just chatting stream... You?"
Yuri put her phone back and said, "Mm... I think I'll do a small cooking stream to make dinner. We've got to fit them around our school schedule and homework now, so it might be a while before I have a regular schedule again... Hah."
"Oh. True..." Rin frowned and said, "And the Ohana are probably in school too..."
A pink sportscar pulled up around the corner as they arrived at the gate.
Yuri glanced at it and said, "There's your ride, Rin."
"Oh!" Rin smiled and then said, "Okay! I'll see you tomorrow then Riri!"
