After a long plane ride completely grilling Hope on her very much not okay taste in food, Erie stretched as the private jet landed at the runway on Haneda Airport. After unbuckling her seatbelt, she glanced over at Seth and Claud who were... still playing a card game?
Erie got out of her seat and said, "You two are still playing that game?"
Claud glanced over at Erie for a moment before looking back at the the three-by-five grid playing mat on the table. "This is serious business, Miss Childe. Seth is a Blood Champion. I need to beat him ten times before I can be promoted."
Seth laughed and placed down a shimmering gold card depicting a queen covered in black blood. "It'll be a while before you can defeat me, Claud."
"Tch." Claud glanced at his hand and said, "You're always cheating with those rare cards."
"And you, too, can use them after the reunion..."
"You mean after I let you run the grill for our next get together? No thanks." Claud set down a gold-framed card of... a woman with long black hair, leather gloves... and a way too tight sleeveless shirt?
Erie blinked and said, "Uh... you two have fun?"
Claud waved her off and said, "Toby will escort you girls back. This is more important."
Seth nodded. "We're in Japan. Nobody's stupid enough to try anything. Go have fun. And pass."
"You can't pass in this game, idiot."
"I'm the champion. I decide the rules."
"...Goddammit. I hate that you're right." Claud grumbled and placed another card down.
Erie decided to leave them be. She grabbed her suitcase from the overhead compartment and headed towards the front of the jet, idly glancing out the window as she did. "A clear blue sky, huh?"
It was weird hopping on a plane when the sun was still high in the sky and then leaving with it still high in the sky despite a whole day passing...
But Erie's life had been weird from the get go.
'Almost... eerie. Heh.'
...That was terrible. A good thing she didn't say it out loud-
"It's almost eerie how bright it is, isn't it?"
"!@#$@#$!?"
Erie flinched and flailed her hand out towards Hope's voice.
Hope caught Erie's hand and giggled. "Got you~"
Erie huffed and said, "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?! How were you so quiet anyway?"
"Sorry!" Hope giggled. "You just looked so serious that I couldn't help it." She held the handle to a small roller bag and said, "Should we get going? Mister Reaper's already waiting for us outside!"
Erie placed a hand over her heart to calm it down. Then she nodded and said, "Alright. Let's see what the big deal is about Japan..."
===
"Huh." Erie took a look around the airport lobby and said, "It's so... tidy."
"Is it?" Hope tilted her head. "It seems normal to me."
"No, I don't mean how clean it is. Just... the people? Like, why is everyone moving so... orderly? It's weird."
Erie watched as groups of Japanese salarymen walked past and practically through each other, perfectly timed to not collide while also move on their way.
Hope looked around and said, "Huh. I didn't think about it, but you're right. I guess it's a little eerie..."
Erie groaned. "You're going to do that all the time, aren't you?"
"Guilty~ Or maybe... it's a hung verdict?"
"Stoooop." Erie laughed and elbowed Hope's arm. "You're terrible!"
At that time, Toby walked over. Adjusting a fancy black fedora over his shaved head, he fixed his diamond cuff links and said, "Shall we get you two back to the apartment now? I suppose you would like some rest, would you not?"
Erie flinched and stared at Toby, who had 100% suddenly become a very fancy chaffeur. "...Okay, that is suuuper creepy. How are you good at that? And why does it fit you? You have a freaking barcode tattoo on the back of your head."
Toby smiled and said, "A sincere heart will open many doors."
"...You work at a Chinese restaurant during the day, don't you?"
Toby shrugged. "I enjoy buffets, and being help gets quite a large number of free entrees at close. However." He looked at Hope, amused. "...I overheard you saying you believe BF Chang's is good food?"
Hope's face immediately turned red and she said, "It IS good! Just... maybe not authentic? But for what it is, it's amazing!"
Erie groaned. "I'm only like half-Chinese and I can already feel my ancestors rolling in their graves."
Toby nodded. "I'm a bit of everything and enjoy all cuisines... but I have to say it's a first hearing someone voluntarily state BF Chang's is good without being held at gunpoint."
"Right?" Erie nodded and said, "Hope is crazy- Wait. Held at gunpoint?"
"It's a figure of speech. I usually don't hold people at gunpoint."
"THAT WASN'T A DENIAL!"
Toby smiled.
Erie immediately took a few steps closer to Hope.
Hope tilted her head. "What's wrong, Erie?"
"How are you NOT creeped out by the literal hitman?!"
"Huh? Mister Reaper's nice! It's not like he's a crazy addict or anything."
Toby gave a thumbs up and said, "The only addiction I have is to throwing superchats at indie VTubers along with my friend, Xander Mercer."
Erie still looked concerned. But she started relaxing and said, "...Fine. I guess it's okay even if you are a hitman since you're calm- Wait. Isn't Xander Mercer the name of the scientist who literally had to seek political asylum because Umbrella Corp used his biotech research to reanimate corpses?"
Toby adjusted his cap and said, "It was GeneTech, not Umbrella. And it was only hearsay that human remains were reanimated, not fact."
"...You know what? I like spooky stuff, but government conspiracies is where I draw the line." Erie shook her head and said, "I just recently got a reason to live again. I'm not gonna stick my neck out for something dumb just because I was curious."
Toby nodded. "You seem a decent fellow... I would hate to kill you."
Erie gave Toby a blank stare.
But Hope gasped and said, "Ooh! You seem a decent fellow... I would hate to die!"
Toby snapped his fingers and pointed at Hope, a faint smile on his face. "You know the classics."
Hope giggled and said, "It's my favorite movie! Like... My name is Indigo Montoya... you killed my father. Prepare to die."
Erie blinked. Then she groaned. "Oh, my, GOD. Was this all a setup to some elaborate movie reference? You're SUCH geeks. Why was I even concerned?"
Toby chuckled and said, "Live a little."
"NOT YOU TOO!"
Hope giggled and nudged Erie's arm. "Come on, Erie. Let's go. It's... What day is it now, Mister Reaper?"
Toby pulled out his phone and said, "Since we are in Japan now... Monday. Roughly 2 PM local time."
"That's perfect!" Hope smiled and said, "That means that everyone should be just getting out of school!"
Erie walked alongside Hope and said, "School? Wait... How old is everyone?"
"Hm? Oh! Well, Miya-senpai... Um, I'm not sure if I should use their real names until they say okay... But she's in high school along with Hana and Rhea! Tsubame and Shu are older, so they already graduated. And Alfi and Aoko are adults!"
Erie blinked. "Huh. Wait, then if they're minors... didn't they have a hotspring stream?"
Toby chuckled at that and said, "And that is why they now have to run every group stream idea through Kai. And also why Mira-chan keeps their streams on a variable minute delay."
Erie gasped. "No... They just did it?! Without telling anyone?!" She burst out laughing. "Wow. Okay, I guess John's serious about letting us do whatever, huh?"
Hope nodded. "Mmhm! So we should start thinking about what fun things we want to stream about! Or even if we want to stream at all!"
Toby walked the two girls over to a black sedan and then opened the backseat doors for them. After Hope and Erie entered, he walked to the driver's seat and started the car, driving off. "It'll be a bit of a drive, so make yourself comfortable. Like discussing stream ideas."
Erie hummed and said, "I REALLY wanna do a ouija board stream though..."
Hope immediately shook her head. "Nope! Bad idea! Didn't you see Tsubame-senpai's stream trying to do a tarot reading? It blew up in her face!"
Toby spoke up and said, "I would suggest not antagonizing spirits when you are foreign to the country you are in."
Erie froze. Then she tilted her head, side-eying Toby. "Mister Reaper... are you implying that ghosts are REAL here in Japan? And not just spooky EMP things?"
"I am saying that Japan is a very spiritual country and that you should definitely not wander around the woods at night unless you have a blade, handgun, and some holy water."
"...Hope." Erie smiled and looked at Hope. "...Do you think our senpai would like to do a stream camping in the woods?"
Hope looked at Erie with genuine concern. "Erie... are you suggesting that we take Hana-senpai to go camping in the middle of the night?"
Toby spoke up and said, "She would say yes. And she's killed a grizzly bear with a single knife, skinned it, and made trophies from it, so you would be safe if she comes along."
Erie blinked. "Wait. Hana wasn't joking about that on her stream!?"
"Oh!" Hope laughed. "I forgot about that! She still has the fur hat she made from its head in her room. It's cool!"
"...Pft." Erie burst out laughing, clutching her stomach. "Okay. Best idea ever joining this crazy circus. I have NO idea what the hell is going on here, but I'm SO down."