Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Oh yeah, the trip to Miyazaki fell through, in case you didn’t know.” Ruby said to him idly, laying on the couch after a dinner between the two of them and Miyako. 

It had been a common occurrence for the three of them after Miyako had officially adopted the pair of twins, but for the past few weeks they hadn’t been able to do it, given Aqua’s busy schedule due to the Tokyo Blade play.    

“What? Why?” Aqua replied, this coming out of nowhere to him. With the gaping hole in his schedule caused by him no longer working on the play and the sudden revelation that his father is dead, he had actually been slightly looking forward to that trip.

“Anemone, the director for the video, had a sudden family emergency and ended up having to cancel all her shoots in the near future. I considered keeping the trip so you all could relax and go sightseeing, but. . .” Miyako answered for Ruby, trailing off as she ended the sentence, looking at the reason why they still hadn’t gone. 

“Hey, we don’t have any time to waste! If we’re not doing anything idol related up there, I don’t see a point in going!” Ruby said, but Aqua could tell there was something else at play there, some other reason she didn’t want to go to Miyazaki. 

Did it have to do with her past life? Had she also lived up there, like he had, before the two of them were reborn as Aqua and Ruby Hoshino?

Whatever that other reason was, Aqua hadn’t asked about it, which left him laying in his room that night, wondering what exactly he was going to do with his time.

His phone buzzing on his nightstand drew him out of those thoughts, and he slowly got up to go get it. 

Maybe he could pick up some acting classes, to learn how to act without having to suffer the whole time? He’d been hearing nothing but praise for his work in Tokyo Blade, and there was a sense of satisfaction he felt for being part of a work that was considered good. He could see why Arima and Akane loved acting so much.

Even though he’d gotten into it exclusively for the purpose of revenge, it was something he could actually see himself doing in the future. That was good, since before the talk he had with Himekawa the other day, he hadn’t planned on even having a real future. 

Speaking of his talk with Himekawa, since then he’d felt somewhat of a split within himself. Well, maybe he’d always been split into two halves, and he was only just now noticing it. 

Half of him accepted the fact that he would never be able to get the revenge he worked so hard for on his father. That was Aquamarine Hoshino, a teenager who was ready to live a life where he was able to be free, to be happy. 

The other half of him. . . 

The other half of him was Gorou Amamiya. That was the part of him that would berate him whenever he felt happy, the part that kept him on track towards his revenge. Whenever he strayed too far off the course, that side of him would bring him right back to the day Ai died, making sure he never forgot what his one purpose in this life was. 

That was how it was, until his talk with Himekawa. Since then, it hadn’t popped up at all, even when Aqua felt happy at certain times, but he could still feel within himself that it would never truly move on. That without seeing the man who caused Ai to suffer as she did die by his own hands, the rage that was present would never cease.

He wondered if this split was a reincarnation thing, or simply his own psyche trying to deal with the notion that all he had worked towards this far in his life wouldn’t end up in him getting what he so desperately wanted. 

Aqua picked up the phone, deciding to not go any further down that rabbit hole in his mind, though he did think about asking Ruby about it, given she was the only person in the world who could relate to him with this. 

That idea was quickly cast to the side though, he and Ruby had set their past lives as a sort of taboo between the two of them, and they’d never discussed it aside from the most basic of statements. 

The notification that had caused him to get out of his bed in the first place was from Melt, someone who’s LINE Aqua had gotten, thinking it would never be used. 

Melt - To you and Kana

Would you two be interested in coming to a party I’m having to celebrate the end of Tokyo Blade? I would try to reach out to the other cast members as well, but you two are the only ones who’s LINE I have. 

Before Aqua was even finished reading the first message, Melt quickly added onto it.

It’s just gonna be a small thing with me, whoever from the cast shows up, and a couple of my close friends, if that’s alright with you guys.

Aqua almost immediately rejected the idea in his head. Going to a party hosted by Melt was something that had no benefit to him. There was nothing there that could get him a step closer to-

Oh, right. He didn’t have to worry about that anymore. 

Aqua unlocked the phone, and quickly typed out a response. 

I’ll go. Just tell me when and where.

With the trip to Miyazaki canceled, there was something Aqua had to do. Akane had said she didn’t want to talk about the future of their relationship until the trip, but since it wasn’t happening anymore, that was something Aqua had to do now. 

Keep it short and simple, straight to the point. 

That was exactly what he did. 

He had ignored Akane’s expression while he spoke, delivering the line as effectively as he could. Akane had wanted to go down to hell with him, and that was something he had no intention of letting her do. He no longer planned to sink straight down to hell either, but the fact that she would go down with him without a second’s doubt meant the two of them couldn’t stay together. 

After he had broken up with her, it looked like Akane had something she wanted to say, something at the forefront of her mind, something that he needed to know. Whatever it was, she didn’t tell him, and the two of them went their separate ways. 

That led him to where he was now, sitting across from Arima Kana , who was staring at him like he’d grown another head. 

“I’d seen the message, but to hear you actually say it is different! You really want to go to that party?” She asked incredulously, and Aqua could honestly see where she was coming from. 

“Yes.” 

“Are you going to invite Akane? I’d talked to a couple other of the cast members, but all of them just weren’t interested or had other things going on this Saturday.”

“I broke up with Akane yesterday.” Aqua said flatly, eliciting an over the top response from Arima. 

“What!? Really!? I should’ve known, seeing as it was a business partnership and all! Like I said before, there was no way a girl as beautiful as Akane Kurokawa could’ve really fallen for you of all people~!” Arima replied, with so much joy that Aqua couldn’t help but be a little annoyed.

He gritted his teeth though, and quickly tried to change the subject.

“Arima, can you do me a favor?” He said as the redhead across from him continued to go on and on with the insults. 

“I mean really, did you think that- Wait, what?” She said, processing what the boy across from her had just said.

“Can you do me a favor? I’ve actually never been to a party before, and I don’t know what I should wear.” Aqua said, unaware of what he’d just done. Instead of stopping the insults, this question only served to make more come, as Arima grew a giddy smile on her face at the idea of Aqua needing her help. 

“Wait, what’s this? The Aquamarine Hoshino has never been to a party before, and needs my help~?” 

Aqua simply put his head into his hands, waiting for her rambling to end.

He seemingly blinked and it was the day of the party. He and Arima were going to meet up, and then go to the party together. As he was about to leave though, he was met at the door by his sister.

“And where do you think you’re going? Does Miyako know about this!?” She said to him, pointing an accusatory finger at him as she stood in her sleepwear. It was only 10:00, yet she was acting like he was trying to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night. 

“I already spoke to Miyako about it.” Was all he said in response, but he was stopped yet again as he tried to walk past his sister, who put her hands on his shoulders.  

“Nope! I’m not letting you leave until you tell me where you’re going!” She said, holding her ground in a childish display of stubbornness. Aqua simply stared at her for a moment, wondering how a sixteen year old who had also lived previously managed to be this immature. It didn’t really make any sense to him. 

Unless, she’d died young? 

That thought brought a pang of guilt and sadness to Aqua, but he brushed it off. Ruby was simply just immature, her past life was none of his business. 

“I’m going to a party one of my costars in Tokyo Blade is hosting with Arima.” 

“With Arima, not Akane?” Ruby asked, her eyes getting bigger in shock as she spoke. 

“I broke up with Akane a couple days ago.” 

“What!? Really!?” She asked, continuing upon his nod. 

“Aw man! I was really looking forwards to meeting her too!” She paused for a moment after that, closing her eyes in consideration. After a couple of seconds she opened them up, and began to speak again.

“Alright, I’ll let you go. . . But! You have to be back here by 1:30 at the latest, ok? I also don’t want any scandals involving you and Kana!” Ruby said, showing her own overprotective streak. He supposed the two of them were similar in that way, but they just showed it completely differently. 

He understood where she was coming from though, so he’d be sure to make it back home by then. Ruby stepped to the side, and as Aqua walked out of the door, he responded to her last sentence. 

“You don’t have to worry about any scandals Ruby. I’m not an idiot, I know what happens when an idol get involved with a man.”

When Aqua made it to the bus stop he and Arima had agreed to meet at, she was already waiting for him. Seeing her standing there reminded him of how cute the girl was. He wasn’t wowed by her looks or anything, after all, only Ai could do that, but he could admit that she looked nice tonight. 

“Arima.” He said simply, drawing her attention from her phone to him. She grew a small smile on her face, and said hello to him as he walked over to her.

The two of them made their way over to the location Melt had sent to them, not talking much on the way there. They weren’t completely silent, just having short bursts of conversation between the two of them. Aqua found it oddly pleasant, just walking side by side with her. 

He describes it as oddly pleasant, but Aqua isn’t stupid. He knows what he feels for Arima, and he knows that it’s something that can’t happen. Like he’d told Ruby, he knows what happens when an idol gets involved with a man. Even if Aqua was ready to live his own life now, he wasn’t selfish enough to endanger her like that. 

“We should be getting close, right?” Arima asks him, given that he’s the one with the location pulled up on his phone. Aqua quickly snaps out of his musings, and checks the directions that he had. 

“Yeah. Just go down this road, take the first left and it’s at the end of that street.” Aqua says. He gets to the end of the road and turns left, noticing LED lights changing colors in the house they were supposed to go to.

“A small thing, huh?” Arima says, mirroring Aqua’s thoughts exactly.

Aqua sighs, before proceeding to walk towards the house anyways. He turns back towards Arima, who hadn’t started to move yet, and spoke. 

“It’s not like we have anything else to do.”  

The two of them get to the front door, and though Aqua wants to knock before he enters, he knows that no one will be able to hear it over the songs that he could hear playing right now. Instead, he settles for quickly texting Melt, telling him that he and Arima had made it. 

A few seconds after the text is sent, the familiar face of Melt Narushima swings the door open, a sheepish smile already on his face. Before he can even say a word, Arima is grilling him.

“Wow Melt, this really is a small thing. Couldn’t you have invited more people?” She says, while Aqua counts at least fifteen people in his eyesight right now. He could only guess just how many people were in this house. 

“Sorry guys! I know I said it was gonna be small, but then one of my friends told his friend, and then that friend told some more people, and it all spiraled out of control.” Melt replied, taking a look at the two of them and then sticking his head out, looking for someone. 

“No Akane?” He asks, turning to Aqua. He quickly responds, explaining what had happened for the third time.

“We broke up a couple days ago.” 

“Oh.” Was all Melt managed in reply, and with that he and Arima walked in. Aqua let her in first, and once he took a step inside the household Melt quickly put a hand on his shoulder. 

Aqua turned to look at the purple haired teen, wondering what he wanted to say. He opened his mouth for a second and then closed it, looking torn between two different things on his mind. The next time he opened his mouth though, he spoke, and even though it was at a normal level, with the music playing no one except for Aqua was able to hear him. 

“I’d just like to say thanks for coming. I honestly didn’t think you would. Also, thanks once again for helping me with my performance, without you. . . Just, thank you.” Melt says to him, and in response all Aqua can do is nod. A second later, Arima is walking back over to him, grabbing his hand and dragging him further into the house with her. 

“Arima!” He says, surprised at the girl’s forcefulness. “What are you doing?” 

Like he’d thought earlier, just the room they’re in has so many people in it that it goes beyond the word crowded. Arima has to push her way through some people just to make it to an open space.

He’s not even sure if she heard him, but a second later she turned around, letting go of his hand in the process.

“I didn’t come here to hang around with a bunch of random people from Melt’s school. Now come on, there has to be something for us to do other than stand around.” She says, but before the either of them can do anything, a girl walks up to the two of them, a red plastic cup in her hand. 

“Hi, it’s Aqua, right, and Kana? I’m Sakura, I was a really big fan of both of you guys on Sweet Today!” The girl, who Aqua now knows is named Sakura, says to them. She has shoulder length black hair, and stands just a little shorter than Aqua. 

“That’s nice.” Arima replies dryly, her lack of happiness with this girl approaching them written clearly on her face.

Sakura quickly flashes a smile at Arima ignoring the sarcasm that anyone could spot, and then speaks again. 

“You two want to get something to drink? I’m sure it beats just standing around.” As Sakura talked, Melt walked up to the three of them. 

“You guys are getting some drinks? Mind if I come with you?” He asked, and from there he and Sakura led the conversation. The two of them began to walk off after a few more words, and he and Arima shared a look before sighing and walking along behind them.

It wasn’t a long walk to where the drinks they had were. There was water, some canned sodas and then some red juice in a big glass bowl. 

“What’s that?” Aqua asked, leaning closer to Arima as he spoke. With how loud everything was, he needed to make sure the girl heard him. 

“Just some punch, if I had to guess. I’ll probably just stick to water.” Arima responded, also getting a little closer to Aqua as she spoke. Afterwards, neither of them pulled away, and they were basically shoulder to shoulder as they watched Melt grab a water bottle for himself.

Aqua was thinking of doing the same, but Sakura quickly handed him a glass of the punch he’d just asked Arima about.

“Here Aqua, you should try this punch! It’s really good, I promise~!” She said, taking on somewhat of a flirtatious tone with him.

Aqua felt nothing towards this girl, and he certainly wasn’t in the mood to flirt with someone he’d just met, but he wasn’t going to be an asshole to her. Because of that, he took the cup, and thanked her. 

He noticed Arima’s expression shift in the corner of his eye, getting angry with the fact that this girl is trying to flirt with him. Lifting the cup up to his lips and taking a sip, he had to admit that Sakura wasn’t lying. The punch was good, but there’s some other taste in there along with the fruit that was inherent to the drink. He can’t tell what, and he doesn’t really ponder it much, more interested in talking to Arima and Melt. 

Sakura continues her advances towards him, and Aqua tries to let her down gently, hinting that he’s not interested. It doesn’t exactly work, and it gets to the point where he swears he can see steam shooting out of Arima’s ears. 

As the night goes on, Aqua starts to feel different, but once again doesn’t think much of it. This was his first party ever, he’s pretty sure that’s the case for both of his lives, so this just must be how it feels to be doing something like this. 

Surprisingly, Aqua finds himself taking more than he usually would, words spilling from his lips before he can contain them as he always does. It happens a couple times, but most noticeably one time while he’s talking to Arima. 

He’s drunk three, or maybe four, he wasn’t keeping track, cups of punch so far. Now though, he’s in the middle of  a conversation with Arima. She’s talking to him, going on about how he needed to keep an eye out for groupies that just wanted him for his fame. 

Sakura and Melt are gone for the moment, both of them going to get some more drinks, with the former offering to refill Aqua’s cup, but he doubts that Arima would’ve held her tongue even if Sakura was there with them. It wasn’t like she mentioned the girl by name, but that was obviously who she was talking about. 

“I’m telling you, you’re lucky I’m here to look after you. For how cool and collected you try to be, you never seem to say no when someone offers you something. Or at least, never outright say it.” She says, bringing up some faint memories of Gorou Amamiya to Aqua. 

Even now, he would still follow other people’s wishes, huh? As he thinks, he closes his eyes, but when he opens them, that thought is cast to the side. 

He sees Arima Kana, and for a second, he’s stunned. It’s just like what had happened at JIF, or when Akane first acted as Ai, or even when he first saw Ai herself. For a brief moment, Aqua’s mind freezes, and just like what had been happening tonight, words flow from his lips before he can contain them.

“You’re beautiful.” He says, awe-struck by the girl in front of him. Arima Kana is the sun, and right now he’s nothing more than someone who’s lucky to watch her shine. 

Her head is slightly turned, and the light from the glowing LED lights catch her just right, making her red hair look even better than it usually does. The same goes for her equally red eyes, and her skin slightly glows. Her eyes are meeting his, and Aqua is pulled into them, staring endlessly into her red irises. 

For that short moment, Aqua’s enraptured by her, and he wishes that he could simply remain by her side for the rest of his life. 

“What?” She asks, and Aqua snaps out of whatever stupor he was in. 

“Oh, nothing.” He says, averting his eyes from hers in fear that the same thing might happen again. Aqua is nothing but a liar, but for that brief moment he was forced to tell the truth. It shocks him, but he’s also slightly mesmerized by the fact that Arima had that effect on him. 

If she can do that to even him, who was so desperately hung up on Ai, then she could definitely rise to the top of the idol world if she wished. It wasn’t like he didn’t already know that, but it was just another piece of confirmation. That same reasoning was why he also couldn’t pull her down with him. Arima had a bright future ahead of her, and her getting involved with Aqua would only serve to stop that. 

If Aqua was smart, he’d just cut her off right now, cause the least amount of pain for the both of them, but in the end, he was selfish. Even though he knew he couldn’t, he wanted to be with Arima, even just as a friend. 

“No, I’m pretty sure I heard you say something, and I wanna know what it was~!” Arima says to him, walking in front of him, forcing him to look at her. Aqua once again turns his head away before he responds.

“I’m telling you, it was nothing.” 

“Oh, really? You’re that scared of what you said? That much of a coward?” She said, trying to get a rise out of him. Unlike her other insults, which he could usually take without getting riled up, this one cut him a little deeper for some reason. That, coupled with the lack of restraining himself he was able to do tonight led to him responding immediately, turning to face her again as he did.

“What if I said you were beautiful, Arima? What would you say then?” Aqua regretted saying it immediately after he did, his face heating up in embarrassment. Arima didn’t need any help to tear him apart verbally, and yet he’d just given her everything she needed and more. Why did he say that!? It was so stupid, there was no doubt in his mind that- 

Wait. . . Arima hadn’t responded yet. 

Aqua looked at her, and was completely shocked when he noticed the red dusting her cheeks. That had seriously worked? 

“Shut up.” She murmured, clearly not meaning it. Aqua didn’t know what to say in response to that, but luckily for him, Sakura and Melt were just now getting back. They walk up to the two of them, and Sakura hands him his cup, now filled to the brim with that same red liquid. 

“What’s up with you two? What, did Aqua already move on that quickly?” Melt asks, and though Aqua can tell he’s joking, the question throws him off, and he needs a second to think of a response. He quickly downs his cup, a convenient excuse to not talk, while he hears Arima begin to sputter next to him.

For some reason though, this drink tasted differently than all the others, but he hadn’t noticed until it was all down his throat. Aqua put the cup down, and suddenly his world was thrown off balance. 

It was then that he realized the other taste in the drink that he had noted before. That taste was a lot more prominent in this cup, and it allowed him to put a name to it. The punch was spiked.

The full gulp he had just took was the last straw, with all the previous alcohol that he had consumed hitting him in that moment. It didn’t make too much sense, if he had only been slightly buzzed before, why did this cup hit him so hard? In the moment though, he had no time to consider it. 

“Melt, where’s the bathroom?” He asked, coughing slightly as the liquid he just drank burned in his throat. 

“Up the stairs, first left.” He quickly answered, and Aqua could barely mutter a thank you before he rushed through the mass of people, trying to get upstairs as quickly as possible. 

It didn’t take him long to get up there, and he noticed just how different upstairs was to what was happening down below. Unlike the crowds of people down there, Aqua didn’t see another person up here. 

He found the bathroom rather quickly, and he’s in such a rush when he gets there that he doesn’t even shut the door behind him, instead leaning over the sink to look at himself. His cheeks were slightly flushed, and they probably had been since he drank his first cup. 

“I was wondering how long it would take to really kick in.” Aqua turned to the door, which Sakura now stood at the edge of. Aqua didn’t respond, only looking at her, which she took as her sign to continue speaking. 

“The punch was spiked, but it was barely anything. Even if you were a lightweight, it’d take a lot for you to really get drunk. Luckily, you let me be kind enough to go fill up your cup. I just put a little extra flavor in it.” She said, reaching in her jacket and pulling out a small flask. 

“Now, I think we should-” She took a step towards Aqua, but was cut off. 

“What are you doing!?” Arima said, now standing at the door frame. The appearance of another person apparently wasn’t part of Sakura’s plan, and as a result the girl quickly abandoned it.

“Oh, I was just seeing how Aqua was doing, but I’ll leave you two be.” She said, a fake smile plastered on her face as she quickly exited the room. Arima ignored her, instead walking over towards Aqua, and putting a hand on his back.

“You ok?” She asked, and there was so much sincerity in her voice that Aqua couldn’t help but be amazed.

“Not really, I need to lay down.” Aqua said, sighing as he kept leaning on the sink for support.

Arima didn’t respond to him, but instead a few seconds later he heard the sound of her calling someone. 

“Hey, Melt, you mind if Aqua lays down in one of these rooms up here?” She says, and after a pause she speaks again. 

“Alright, thank you.”

“What, no! Don’t even think about that you weirdo!” She says a few seconds later, hanging up the call after that. She then turns to face Aqua, who hadn’t moved as she called Melt.

“Do you need help getting there? It’s the last door on the right.” She asks.

“No, I’m good.” Aqua says, only to stand straight up and almost fall down right afterwards. Luckily, Arima manages to get under him and hold him up, somehow supporting his weight. 

“Come on dummy, I’ll walk with you.” She says, letting Aqua drape his arm around the back of her neck to stay upright.

They make it to the room without much trouble, except for having to turn sideways to get through the door frames. When they get there Arima flicks the light switch, revealing what the once dark room looked like. It was pretty barren, just a bed and a nightstand there. 

Arima slowly led Aqua to the bed, and allowed him to lay down on it. Once that’s done she sits on the edge of the bed, and softly speaks to him.

“I told you to watch out for those girls who are only after your fame. What a way to be proved right, huh?” She says, and Aqua’s pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to hear it. The loud music downstairs is muffled by the floor beneath them though, and Aqua’s even able to hear her whisper to herself. 

“I didn’t even want to flirt with her or anything. I had no idea she would. . .” 

“Spike your drink, right? I can tell you’re drunk, you know.” Arima said to him from the edge of her bed. “I shouldn’t have let her walk away then. She’s a piece of filth.” She looks down at the floor as she talks, obviously upset with herself.

“It’s alright, you couldn’t have known. Either way, you saved me.” Aqua replies, trying to cheer her up a little. There’s no response, and in the silence, Aqua can’t help but speak his mind. It’s something he would never do if he wasn’t intoxicated, but since he is, the current him doesn’t hesitate, thinking the words that were about to come out of his mouth were only natural. 

“I did call you beautiful earlier. I looked at you, and I couldn’t help but say it.” For a second after that, whatever remained of his objective mind screamed at him.

What was he doing? Sure, Arima was beautiful, he already knew that, but letting her know he thought that was a stupid idea, and falling in love with her more than he already had was even stupider. He’d just have to cut off his emotions, like he usually does, and-

“The freedom of love is a basic human right, after all.” 

They had just talked about this the other day, hadn’t they? That line popped back up into his head, and Aqua couldn’t help but be selfish, at least for this night. Just for this night, he could pretend he was allowed to love her. That would be ok, right?

He thinks that now, but he knows that if he shows his love for her today, he won’t just be able to cut it off the next. Not even he could control himself that well, especially not around her. Regardless of the fact that this would only cause him more pain later on, Aqua decides to stick to it in that moment. 

Arima turns to look at him, her lips slightly parted, and the slightly remaining portion of him that was trying to stay rational vanished. Only a moment later though she has a sad smile on her face.

“That drink really did hit you hard. It’s weird to think that you of all people is a lightweight.” She says, laughing a little at the end. It’s forced though, Aqua can tell.

“Arima, I’m being serious.” 

“. . .” 

Aqua sat up, and scooted closer towards her. He went to put a hand on her shoulder, but before he could even made contact, the girl leaned forwards and latched her lips onto his. It took Aqua by surprise, so much so that he fell back onto the bed, but Arima followed him down there, making sure their lips stayed together. 

It felt amazing. Their lips touched and Aqua’s whole mind was filled by how sweet Arima’s lips were. It sent electricity all throughout his body, and in an instant he found himself kissing back. They broke for a moment, and then went straight back, not even taking the time to catch their breath. 

Arima pressed her lips onto his as hard as she could, trying to make the distance between them even smaller. Aqua slowly starts to sit back up, making sure to keep the time that he and Arima weren’t kissing to a minimum. Once he’s not on his back anymore, he presses his tongue onto her lips, silently asking to be let in.

Arima’s eyes are half lidded as they make out, but with the feeling of his tongue on her lips, she seems to come back to reality. Her eyes widen rapidly, and she suddenly pulls back from him. Aqua leans forward a little, not wanting it to end so soon, but Arima’s out of his reach. 

She suddenly starts to breathe heavily, looking at Aqua and then down at her hands, which are now shaking. 

“Aqua, I’m so so sorry.” She says, her voice quivering as she does. She gets up from the bed, still hyperventilating as she does. She’s still talking, but it’s not towards Aqua. 

“I’m a horrible person. I’m a piece of filth, just like that girl that tried to take advantage of him. I did take advantage of him.” After those words her eyes lock onto Aqua’s. There are tears welling up in them, and she can barely speak anymore when she says her next words.

“Aqua, I’m so sorry! I need to leave! You don’t need to forgive me, I’m so so so sorry. I’ll leave now, I’m so-” She stops when Aqua grabs onto her hand. 

“Arima, calm down. You’re not taking advantage of me.” 

“Yes I am. I’m just like that other girl, no, I’m-I’m even worse.” The tears are spilling down her cheeks now, and she takes big breaths in between her words.

“Arima, I want this.” Aqua said not letting go of her hand. He makes eye contact with her, and keeps talking. “We don’t have to kiss or anything if that makes you feel like you’re taking advantage of me, but I want you here.” 

That seems to strike a chord in Arima, as she calms down slightly, her breathing evening out a little. 

“Ok.” She says, sitting back down onto the bed, wiping her eyes as she does. “What do you want to do then?”

“We can just talk, if you want.” 

“That’s fine. I’m sure drunk you will say plenty of embarrassing stuff for me to tease you about later.” Arima says, a genuine smile slowly creeping onto her face. It only remains for a second, but it makes Aqua happy to know she isn’t beating herself up over kissing him, at least at the moment. 

Once again, words that Aqua would never say if he was in his right mind spills from his lips. 

“What, something like ‘I love you, Arima Kana’?” Said girl's face lights up, and it takes her a couple seconds to respond. 

“So you’re a flirty drunk, huh?” Arima replies, falling back into their rhythm of trading sly lines and insults.

“Nope. I’m just an honest one.” He retorts immediately, and it gives him immense pleasure to see the red hues of Arima’s cheeks grow even redder. 

“You say that now, but I know for a fact that sober you would never say anything like this.” She says after a few seconds. 

“Like you said earlier Arima, sober me is a coward. I’ve liked you for a while, I guess this is what it took for me to finally stop being too scared to admit it.”

“Oh? So if sober you is a coward and you’re not, then you would actually say something concrete, instead of just being a flirt.” Arima says, confident that will shut him down. The smug smile on her face is just telling Aqua to wipe it off though, and he proceeds to do just that. 

“Ok. Arima Kana, will you be my girlfriend?” Aqua asks, a smile growing onto his face at how that flusters Arima. 

“You-I. . . Ugh. This is unfair, of course you’re more bold and less likely to get embarrassed when you’re drunk.” 

“Jokes aside, I mean it, Kana. I’m sure you’re right, if I was sober, I wouldn’t act like this, but this is how I feel all the time.” Aqua says, shifting from the playful tone he had earlier to a completely serious one now. He meant every word of what he said too. 

Aqua Hoshino was nothing but a liar, but for right now, he couldn’t help but be honest.

“Alright then, I’ll wait till you’ve sobered up, and then you can ask me that question again.” Arima replies, a small smile on her face. Aqua smiles back, when a sudden wave of sleepiness hits him. 

“I’m about to take a nap, and I know you said you were gonna wait till I was sober, but will you lay down with me?” He asks, and Arima simply shakes her head. 

“No, Aqua. I’ll sit on the bed, but I’m not gonna do anything I don’t know if sober you would do.” She says to him, and though Aqua wished she would say yes, he loved that she stuck to her beliefs. 

“Ok. I don’t know why, but I’m getting really tired now.” Aqua has to pause in the middle of his sentence to yawn. 

“So goodnight, Arima.” He finishes, getting under the covers and closing his eyes. 

“Goodnight, Aqua.” Are the last words he hears before he falls asleep. 

Aqua quickly falls asleep, and Kana lets go of a breath she didn’t know she was holding. Being around him when he was drunk, it wasn’t something she disliked, but she had to constantly be on her toes. Every word she said was an opportunity for him to mess with her, to throw a flirty line out, and see just how flustered he could make her. 

It was completely different than the Aqua she normally knew, who would only flirt by complete accident. He would do things that made her flustered and embarrassed, sure, but it was never for that purpose alone. Even on their ‘date’ the other day, it was just him being who he was, and her falling for him even more. 

The drunken Aqua is like a whole different person. He doesn’t seemed weighed down by whatever always keeps him gloomy, doesn’t look like he’s always in pain except for certain few moments.

Ultimately, it just wasn’t him. Aqua wouldn’t ever be that bold towards her, he wouldn’t ask her to lay down with him and he certainly wouldn’t. . . 

It would be nice if he would though. 

A small smile grows on her face as she watches the person she loves sleep. 

Yeah, that would be nice.

Aqua doesn’t have any dreams while he sleeps, and it’s like he’s only blinked when he wakes up. It’s to the sound of his phone ringing, and now still slightly buzzed from the alcohol and slightly grumpy from being woken up so suddenly, Aqua answers the phone before he even checks who it is that’s calling him.

Before he says a word, he takes a quick look at Arima, who was still sitting on the edge of the bed, just on her phone. She’s noticed him wake up now though, and when her eyes meet his Aqua simply points at the phone he’s holding up to his ear before speaking.

“Hello?”

“It’s 1:30 bro! Where are you!?” Ruby’s voice comes through the speaker, and Aqua’s eyes widen at the time. He’d meant to honor Ruby’s request, but he’d ended up sleeping straight through it. 

“Wait, it is?” He asks, even though it’s a dumb question.

“Duh. I wouldn’t just lie about it.” Ruby says to him, and Aqua doesn’t have a response for that. After a slight pause, he hears his sister sigh.

“It’s ok if you lost track of time, but just get back home soon, alright?” Ruby adopts a more caring tone as she speaks, and Aqua can’t help but sympathize with her.

“Ok Ruby.”

“Also, you better make sure Kana gets home safe!” With those words, his sister ends the call, and Aqua looks over towards Arima, who is waiting for him to explain what’s going on. 

“I need to get home. I told my sister I’d be back by 1:30.” 

Arima simply nods, and gets up off the bed. When Aqua follows in her footsteps, she lets him grab onto her hand to get up. 

He gets slightly dizzy when he first gets onto his feet, but after a second of standing still his balance is just about back to normal. 

“You ok? Still need help walking?” Arima asks him, and Aqua shakes his head no in response. That is, until he takes a step, and nearly falls over again. Arima comes to support him, but Aqua manages to steady himself out on his own. 

Arima stares at him for a couple seconds before speaking in a deadpan that fits him more than it does her.

“I’m not letting you go home alone like this.” She says it, and Aqua can tell she won’t take no for an answer. He simply nods along, not having the mental energy or will to argue with her about it right now. 

It’s only when they walk out of the room that Aqua realizes how this might seem to anyone else. Two teens, coming out of a room after being in there alone for an hour or two? It screamed scandal. Especially with how his hair was most likely a little messed up right now. 

“Arima.” He says, getting her attention. The girl stops walking and looks at him, and when they meet eyes Aqua gets the sudden urge to kiss her again. He shakes it off though, and says what’s on his mind. 

“Aren’t you worried about how this will look? Especially after what he said earlier, Melt might think-”

“Melt knows what happens, he was in the room for a couple minutes while you were sleeping. He kicked that girl out too, serves her right, that piece of shit.” Arima says, her face quickly scrunching up when she mentions the reason he’d gotten drunk in the first place. 

“Oh.” Is all Aqua can manage to say in reply, and Arima continues walking a second after that. He follows along behind her, and the two make a quick exit out of Melt’s house. It’s mostly empty, with only a few stragglers remaining there. 

He and Arima walk past everyone in there, and luckily no one recognizes the two of them. They get to the door, but before Aqua leaves, he wants to say goodbye to the only person other than Arima that he knows in the house. 

“Where’s Melt?” He asks, looking around the room. He hadn’t seen him on the walk to the door, but who knows, he might’ve just missed him in his buzz. Arima laughs a little, the noise music to his ears. 

“Yeah, you definitely shouldn’t head home alone. Look behind you, idiot.” She says, a smile on her face. Aqua turns around, and just like Arima had said, he can see Melt standing outside, talking to what looked like a few of his school friends.

Aqua doesn’t say a word back to Arima, instead sighing and swinging the door open, letting her walk through first. He follows after, and the host of the party walks up to him, putting a hand on his shoulder as he whispers what he has to say.

“Look, Aqua, I’m really sorry about-” He begins to apologize, but Aqua isn’t having any of it. 

“Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault.” 

“I know that, but still, you came out here, and then it got ruined like that.” 

“It’s alright, really.” 

“It’s really not, but ok. With the way you helped my acting, and now this, I really owe you one. . . If you ever need a favor, just let me know, alright?” Melt pauses, and while he doesn’t convey it in the best way possible, Aqua can tell the boy’s feelings are genuine.

“I will, Melt. Thanks for inviting me.” 

“Of course, anytime.” 

With that, he and Arima say goodbye to the purple haired teen, and begin the trek back to Aqua’s house. It’s filled with Aqua stumbling, to which Arima is always there to make sure he doesn’t fall. After a particularly bad one, where Aqua almost causes the both of them to fall to the ground, Arima giggles as they resume their normal pace.

“Really, you owe me big time for escorting you home like this.” She said, causing a small huff from Aqua. 

“Thanks so much miss, I feel soooo much safer with you here.” Aqua says, sending a little of Arima’s trademark sarcasm back at her. 

“If it wasn’t for me you would’ve already cracked your skull on the concrete multiple times, so you should feel safer with me around.” She quickly shoots back at him, and Aqua doesn’t have anything to say to that. Instead, he quickly shifts the topic, bringing up what had been on his mind since they’d left the house. 

“I’m guessing this doesn’t count as sober to you.” He says, looking over towards the girl walking beside him. 

“Of course not idiot. Don’t even think of getting flirty with me right now.” 

“Yes ma’am.” He jokingly replies with a deadpan, ignoring when Arima smacks the back of his head for it. 

The two of them kept walking in silence, and Aqua took that time to really think over what he was doing. He knows what happens when an idol gets involved with a man, and he’d said he’d only be selfish like this for tonight, but right now he found that he didn’t care about that. 

It might be the alcohol that remained in his system, or it may be because that he’d finally gotten everything off of his chest, but he didn’t want things to just stay as they were after what had happened tonight. 

Either way, he wanted to be in a relationship with Arima as soon as possible, which meant that the second she considered him sober, he’d ask the question. 

Aqua only stumbled one more time before they made it to his house, which was when he realized something he really should’ve thought about earlier. 

Arima still has to go home, right? But she couldn’t just go alone, and he was in no shape to take her back. After a moment’s consideration, Aqua comes to the only logical conclusion in his mind.

“You should spend the night here, I’m not gonna let you go home alone at this time of night.” He says, swinging the door open after, waiting for Arima to enter. She stares at him for a moment, not moving an inch before she replies.

“Why not?” She asks, like the answer wasn’t obvious.

“Stalkers, murderers, creepy men, obsessed fanboys-” Aqua goes on with no intention of stopping anytime soon when he’s cut off. 

“Took you long enough to get back.” Ruby says, walking up to the open door. “Also, why is Kana here? You were supposed to take her home, not the other way around.” 

Arima opens her mouth to reply to his sister, but Aqua beats her to it. 

“My drink got spiked by this weird girl, so she didn’t let me walk home alone. Also, help me convince her that she shouldn’t go home alone at this time of night.” 

“Your what!? Are you ok!?” Ruby says, rushing over to him and ignoring the second part of what Aqua said. 

“I’m fine, my head just hurts a little. Now, tell Arima she can’t go him alone.” Aqua says, and Ruby’s focus shifts quickly once she’s confirmed that he is in fact alright. 

“You know this is one of the rare times my brother is right. It’s way too late for you to be walking the streets alone. We don’t have a guest room, but you can sleep in mine! It’ll be a sleepover!” Ruby says, staring at Arima with pleading eyes. 

“No.” She says back curtly, but Ruby doesn’t miss a beat. 

“Please! I’ll even let you get most of the bed!” His sister keeps staring, and Aqua looks over at the redhead as well. He can tell that she wants to say no, but she ultimately can’t. After a few more seconds of thinking it over, she sighs.

“Ugh, fine. Both of you Hoshinos are so damn overprotective.” She eventually relents, walking into the house. Ruby cheers as Aqua shuts the door behind him, and Aqua notices the way Arima’s lips slightly twitch upwards at the younger (two minutes still counts) Hoshino’s antics.

Ruby rushes Arima off to her room, and the two of them are in there with the door shut before Aqua can even say another word. With a sigh, Aqua goes off to his room, and gets ready for bed, still tired from what had happened earlier that day. 

Before he goes to sleep though, he needs to say goodnight to the two women in his sisters room. Well, it’s not something he needs to do, or even usually does, but Aqua honestly just wants the excuse to see Arima’s face again before he sleeps that night.

Aqua makes it over to Ruby’s door, and surprisingly can’t hear his sister’s voice through the shut door. He knocks, and upon hearing Arima say he can come in, does just that. The center of B Komachi is the only one in the room.

“Where’s Ruby?” He asks, and Arima quickly replies.

“On the balcony. She said something about getting some fresh air before bed.” Arima quickly replies, looking up at him for a moment as she does. Aqua nods, and pauses, wanting to say so many things to the girl in front of them. After a few seconds, he settles on one thing, and the words spill from his lips before he can even think of reviewing them in his head.

“Will I be sober to you in the morning?” He asks, and Arima lets out a laugh.

“Yeah, if you’re worried about it that much. But wow, I can’t believe you’re so desperate to ask me out~. It’s pretty s-” Arima starts to tease him, but Aqua shuts that down as quickly as he can.

“Can I kiss you again?” He asks, ignoring her previous requests of not getting flirty with her. It causes her to blank for a second, and Aqua takes satisfaction in knowing he can throw her off like that. The girl sighs, letting him take the win this time.

“Remind me to keep you away from alcohol in the future.”

“I’ll try. Goodnight, Arima.” He says, a slight smile on his usually blank face as they conclude the small back and forth. She smiles back at him when she replies.

“Goodnight Aqua.” 

With that Aqua leaves the room, softly shutting the door behind him. He makes it up to the balcony, and steps out into the cold air, noticing his sister leaning over the railing, looking up at the stars.

“What’s up with you?” He asks as he also walks over towards the railing. He takes up a spot next to her, looking up at the same sky she was observing. It was beautiful, all the stars up there shining brightly. They reminded him of Ai, who would illuminate just as brightly as they would. 

“Your drink got spiked, and I was just sitting around here. If something bad happened to you I- I don’t know what I would do. I don’t want to see. . .” Ruby trailed off, but her message was clear enough.

I don’t to see another person I care about go through something bad

Aqua sighed, not knowing how to respond to that. The question he had thought to ask Ruby about earlier, about the split he was experiencing recently came to mind, but he ignored it. After all, they had long ago established that talking about their past lives was taboo. 

A couple seconds later, Aqua realized how stupid him thinking that was. He’d already broken a taboo tonight be admitting he wanted to be with Arima, so what was one more. 

“You know, I was a doctor in my past life.” He starts off, and he feels Ruby’s eyes on him as he keeps looking up at the night sky. He can understand why she’s shocked, after sixteen years of not speaking about their past lives, he was just opening up out of nowhere.

“I was actually supposed to be the one that delivered us. Except, the day we were born, I was murdered, pushed off a cliff by the same man who ended up. . .”

“Ruby, I knew about him and didn’t do anything about it, and because of me, Ai. . .” Aqua’s voice begins to crack, more emotion spilling out than he would ever usually allow.

“Don’t you dare blame this on yourself. I don’t wanna hear it.” Ruby says, and Aqua nods, looking over towards his sister and composing himself a little before he continues.

“Sorry, I got off topic. Anyways, recently, I’ve been feeling a split between my two lives. I don’t view myself from this life and my last as one being, but now as two distinctly different ones. I was wondering if it was the same for you.” 

“No, not really. I can’t really think of any differences mentally between myself and the me of my past life. I’m sorry bro, I think that’s just a you thing.” Ruby says, ending Aqua’s hopes of talking this out with someone who could understand where he was coming from. 

“Oh.” Aqua says, and it might be because he’s still slightly drunk, but he begins to ramble a little, words coming out of his mouth for no real reason other than that they’re what’s on his mind.

“It’s just that, I’m ready to live my life, but Gorou Amamiya refuses to move on. It’s most likely just something caused by-” 

“Gorou Amamiya?” Ruby says, disbelief in her eyes as she stares at Aqua. Aqua makes eye contact with his sister, wondering what was causing that look.

“Yeah. Did you know me in my past life or someth-” 

“Sensei!” She cries out, tackling him to the floor. 

With that one word, Aqua can feel his own tears starting to well up, because the one person who Ruby reminded him of so much also called him Sensei. 

“Sarina?” He asks, already knowing the answer to his question.

One teary reunion later, Aqua was completely exhausted, and fell asleep the moment he laid down in his bed.

That morning, Aqua is slightly groggy, but he gets up, and is immediately on the lookout for one person. She would consider him sober now, right? So even though his head is killing him, he runs around the house, looking for the girl who he couldn’t help but compare to the sun.

He eventually finds her giving Ruby singing lessons, she’s in the middle of going through the new song they’d just been sent, which would be their first original song as the new B Komachi. He’s heard it, and as a former (though some would argue current) idol otaku, he can say with confidence that it’s good, great even. He was excited to see the group perform it live. 

Arima was in the middle of talking Ruby through what note to hit where, but when she notices Aqua she stops singing immediately. His sister is confused to why Arima stopped talking out of nowhere, but even seeing him she understands, her eyes darting between the two of them.

The whole room goes silent, but after a few seconds his sister speaks up.

“Why are you here?”

“I had something to talk to Arima about, but it can wait until the lesson is over. Just let me know once you two are done.” He says, and he’s about to leave the room when his sister talks again.

“Oh no, it’s ok! I need to use the bathroom really quickly anyways, so just talk to her while I’m gone!” She says, practically running out of the room as she does. Aqua’s sure that she’s lying, but he’s alright with that. He’d just take it as her repaying him for all the looking out he’d done for her in the past. 

With that, the only two left in the room are him and Arima, and Aqua can’t help but feel a little nervous. There’s no more alcohol in his system, so he’s nowhere near as confident as he was last night but regardless of that he still wants to ask her the question he’d asked her then. He looks up at Arima and sighs, deciding to just go ahead and do it. He was nothing but a liar, but for right now, he would be honest.

“Arima Kana, will you be my girlfriend?” He asks, still doubting what the answer would be, even though the logical side of his brain knows the most likely response. His doubts are erased in an instant though, as Arima grows the biggest smile he’d ever seen on her face, and wraps him up in a hug.

“Of course, you dumbass!”