19 – Operation Scold – The Beauty that Governs the Heavens

John's personal office in the Myth Inc. headquarters. After deciding to leave the ruined streaming studio for the moment, John led Rin down to discuss their first big step as an idol group... well, technically virtual idol group.

After sitting Rin down across from his desk and settling into his own seat, John opened the mockup he made of her debut stream on his computer and then spun the monitor around towards her. "Here's what I was thinking for the debut."

John tapped on the screen, showing the website where the stream would open and said, "Since I already caused a huge stir, I'm thinking of capitalizing on that with another countdown on the website. Then, when the count hits zero, we'll have the doors break open and show you as Hana walking out. You do an introduction, and then talk about your character setting to get the basics down. I also think it'd be a good idea to end with a performance. But between those two, I'm open to ideas... Ah, don't feel like this is all set in stone though."

Rin blinked, staring at the mockup of the debut John had on his monitor. "I think that works fine, Mister John. But..." She frowned and said, "What about you?"

"Me?" John blinked.

Rin nodded. "You're John Titor, right? Don't you think that you should be doing something too?"

John froze. "T-That is-"

Rin smiled and said, "It was really cool, you know!" She clasped her hands together and said, "Open the gate to new MirAIs... And then there was the code too!" She jumped out of her chair and spun around, turning her back to John and said, "I. A. 0..." She turned back and smiled. "It's too cool! We *have* to do something with that too!"

"A-Ah." John coughed. "W-Well-"

"Oh right!" Rin frowned and said, "What does that code mean anyway?"

"..."

Would it be a bad thing to mention that he just said whatever came to mind at the moment since he was copying that mad scientist?

John cleared his throat and said, "It's an obvious foreshadowing of your appearance, obviously."

Right. That worked. I, A, 0...

"Zero AI Hana Hibana." John nodded. "That's what it stands for."

"Ooh! So that's what it means?"

Faced with Rin's naive and admiring gaze, John coughed.

...Really. How did that guy even deal with acting so delusional so easily...

"In any case," John said. "We'll have you debut on... Saturday? Does that work for you?"

Rin nodded. "Of course! I mean, it's not like I have school or anything now anyway."

"Right, you-"

John paused, suddenly realizing it. "Wait." He mentally flipped through his calendar. It was Monday, November 4th... Japan didn't have any holidays at this time. "Shouldn't you be in school?"

Rin shook her head. "I had to withdraw to take care of my mother, remember?"

John frowned. "That's not good."

"It's not?" Rin tilted her head. "But I'm an idol now, right? Isn't it fine? I'd be too busy for it anyway, right?"

John's frown deepened. "Even if you're an idol, you have to think of the life that comes after too. While it'd be great to be an idol for a long time... you can't be one your whole life, you know?"

He remembered the stories he read about the retired idols both in this Earth and his own, as well as the child movie stars.

Coasting along fame and success while young, but then floundering when that window closed, left to figure out what to do but lacking the credentials or training...

John placed a hand on his chin and tilted his head. "...Should I hire an in-house tutor?"

Realistically, he was the most qualified instructor on Earth at the moment, but the crux of the issue was preparing Rin for a peaceful transition back into normal life after she decided to graduate from being Hana Hibana.

Of course it was possible that she could stick around as maybe a trainer or some other staff member, but he didn't want to limit her future like that.

Not to mention the fact that he wasn't exactly an ordinary person. Heck, he was the exact opposite. And while he didn't doubt that Rin would take the revelation of him being some transcendent being with superhuman powers well, he also didn't want her to get more involved than she had to.

The whole point of John returning to Earth was to live a normal life, after all. That couldn't happen if people found out what he could really do and started treating him like a god or something... Or worse, do something stupid and start some kind of war that would definitely just end with him acquiring the entire planet like with the Blue Polar Star...

"Um... Mister John?"

John blinked, realizing that he was spacing out. "Sorry, Rin." He frowned and said, "Just another thing I didn't think of that I have to make sure to account for soon."

"Oh!" She nodded. "I understand. But um... What did you think about my idea?"

"...You mean me appearing as John Titor again?"

Rin nodded, sparkles in her eye. "I really think it'd be cool! I mean, you already called yourself the MirAIs operator, right?"

John frowned. "True... but to be honest, I didn't really think much past that."

At the time, he was just winging it and copying a good chunk from Operation Skuld.

John shook his head and said, "I'd have to figure out my... Or rather, John Titor's backstory then."

"Isn't it easy though?"

"Hm?"

Rin smiled and placed her hand on her chest. "Mister John pulled me out of that dark place when I had nowhere to turn... Why can't Mister Titor be the same?"

"The same?"

"Mmhm!" Rin nodded. "Hana is basically me, right? Then why not make Mister Titor you? A mysterious man who wandered across the ruins of time, finding girls without a future and giving them a new chance... Don't you think that's the perfect story?"

John leaned back, seriously considering it.

Rin made a solid point.

While his background for John Titor was half-baked, the truth was that he really could share a backstory with John.

The two were similar enough. John Titor was a man from the future who returned to Earth to try and change a ruined world, and John... Well, maybe they weren't similar like that, both they both had the potential to change the future for the better.

Then, maybe 'this' John Titor, instead of changing the future...

Girls whose fates ended in tragedy. Endings that he refused to allow and then instead changed by direct intervention...

"Heh."

Rin blinked. "Mister John?"

John shook his head. "Nothing. It's just funny how some things never change."

"Hm?"

"Anyway..." John nodded and said, "That's a solid plan. While I'm going to hate my life at how cringe-inducing acting as that guy will be, I'll just pretend like it's the olden days of my youth trying to stop the unfair world around me. That should be good enough."

Rin blinked, as if she didn't know how to respond. Then, after staring at John, she carefully said, "It sounds like you had an... interesting life overseas, Mister John."

"Heh. Interesting doesn't even start to cover it." He stood up from his chair and said, "But enough of that." He shut off his computer and said, "I'll get started on your idea and flesh it out by dropping videos on the site over the week to build up hype."

"Ooh!" Rin clasped her hands together and said, "Can I watch you make them?"

"..."

And suddenly, John felt that having to explain why the Jade Emperor found his beloved daughter sleeping naked in John's bed wasn't so bad after all.

Having to act Chuunibyou in front of Rin, who genuinely thought that it was cool...

...Maybe he should have taken a bit more time to settle his affairs before ducking out of the Three Realms back to Earth.

The Celestial Jade Palace, overlooking all of the Three Realms and the Eternal Expanse. Specifically, a pagoda erected just outside of the Realm Source that John had bound to his will.

There, a heaven-defying beauty with pristine skin as pure and polished as the glassy pale moon stood in front of a towering pile of karmic beads and huffed. Picking a pair up in her hands, she crushed them and said, "Leaving me behind like this... We'll see how 'normal' a life you can have at your home world like this, Master!"

Twisting her crimson lips into a scowl, the heaven-defying beauty glared at a picture of a certain blonde man. When she did, her light green eyes flashed with fury and she scooped up another pair of karmic beads before crushing them in her hands.