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Chapter Text

- Akane -

B-Komachi Idol Ai (20) Stabbed to Death by Stalker

Thursday, November 29, 20XX-13

Today at around 11 AM, Ai-san of the idol group B-Komachi was stabbed to death by a man, seemingly a fan, at her home. Several hours later, the suspect was pronounced dead at the hospital after an apparent suicide. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, Ai-san had recently moved, so they are acting under the impression of a possible accomplice.

Ai-san’s scheduled live performance at the Tokyo Dome has been canceled, and many fans are

–

“You’re waiting for Ruby-chan, right?”

I immediately press my phone’s lock button, then turn to look at Mom, standing beside the couch where I sit and giving me a warm little smile. I didn’t even hear her approach.

“Yeah,” I say. “She should be here any minute now.”

Mom nods. “What are you two going to be up to?”

“No specific plans,” I say with a shrug. “She’s said she’s interested in acting, so I’ll probably end up telling her stories about that.” This is mostly a lie.

“Well, I hope you have a good time,” Mom says. “And if she wants to stay for dinner, do let me know.”

I return her smile. “I will.”

In truth, Ruby-chan hasn’t told me exactly why she wants to meet with me – just that there’s something important she wants my help with, and I can’t tell anyone about it, including and especially Aqua-kun. I don’t know for sure what it is, but…

“Hey, Akane-chan, why do you think Onii-chan became an actor?”

“I knew you died the day we were born!”

“Only downside is, he’s probably gonna be even more of a siscon now that he knows who I was.”

…I have my suspicions.

It’s less than a minute later when the doorbell rings. I stand up and make my way to the door before unlocking it and swinging it open. Sure enough, behind it is a certain beautiful face whose resemblance to Ai’s I can’t unsee, atop a black coat and a cheerful pink scarf. As the door reveals her, I see her eyes momentarily flick over my shoulder – probably at Mom standing behind me past the entryway. “Heya, Akane-chan!” she says with a friendly, carefree smile.

“Hey, Ruby-chan,” I say, smiling back as I step to the side to let her in.

To Mom, Ruby-chan is simply a new friend of mine, an up-and-coming idol, the sister of my now-just-friend Aqua-kun – another young person working to carve a path for herself in the entertainment world. But over the past couple of months, I’ve learned that the full story of the Hoshino family is stranger than many of the fictional tales I’ve helped tell as an actress. And at the same time, I’ve gotten myself personally entangled in their secret lives – which is all the more reason why I have to do my best to do right by them.

After Ruby-chan removes her outdoor wear and exchanges a few pleasantries with Mom, I lead her up to my room for privacy. Just like the last time she was here, we take seats opposite each other, I in my desk chair and she in a chair I brought up from the kitchen ahead of time. This time, though, it’s her turn to reveal what we’re here for.

No trace of cheer remains on Ruby-chan’s features now. She takes a heavy breath… and then reaches into her handbag hung on her chair. “Okay, first of all… do you see this?” She removes and holds out a flat plastic object that looks like a keychain ornament. The printing on it is a bit scuffed, but I can still clearly make out a cartoon drawing of Ai in her idol outfit, alongside the words Ai’s my fave forever!!! And I feel like I’ve seen it before somewhere…

I furrow my brow as I peer down at the ornament. “Was that… on Amamiya’s corpse?”

“In his lanyard, yeah,” Ruby-chan says. “I gave it to him in my past life. And then I took it back while you weren’t looking.”

“Was he a fan of Ai back then?” I ask.

Ruby-chan blinks as if disoriented. “Y-Yeah. We both were. But anyway… The morning after we found his body, I was pacing around near the hospital with this in my hand, when this weird little girl came up to me and started taunting me about how I took it off a corpse.” She’s frowning bitterly now. “I told her to leave me alone, but then she said she ‘knew what I wanted to know’. She started talking about how ‘a famous idol’ gave birth there long ago, and Sensei was in charge of her delivery until he went missing the day of the birth. And at the same time, two guys were lurking around the hospital – one in university, the other in middle school – and one of them was Ryousuke Sugano, the stalker who killed Mama three years later. But the girl wouldn’t tell me who the other one was. She just said it was my ‘role’ to find out, and then she left.”

A mysterious stranger trying to manipulate Ruby-chan? I can’t say I expected anything like this. How deep do these layers of secrecy and scheming go?

“Do you have any idea who the girl was?” I ask, just in case.

“Nope,” Ruby-chan says. “She knew about all those things that happened before she was born, so maybe she’s reincarnated like Onii-chan and me? But how could she tell where I got the keychain without even getting a good look at it? It’s like she knew everything that happened the night before too…”

I frown worriedly as my own thoughts take shape. “The first of only two nights we spent in Takachiho, and your hotel room key got stolen by a crow that retreated to the exact location of your Sensei’s corpse. And then that girl confronted you half a day later to tell you where to direct your anger? It’s so convenient that I wonder if it was planned somehow.”

“Planned?” Ruby-chan repeats. “But how would she have known I had history with Sensei? Did she know who I was in my past life all along…?” She shakes her head. “Anyway, listen. After Mama’s murder, the police thought Sugano might’ve had an accomplice feeding him information, but they never caught one. Sugano was twenty-two when he killed Mama, which means he would’ve still been university age when Sensei was killed. So if the girl was telling the truth, I’ll bet you anything the middle schooler was the accomplice, and he and Sugano killed Sensei too. And for all we know… he’s still out there.”

“So do you want me to help find him somehow?” I ask.

“Well… kind of,” Ruby-chan says. “See, here’s the thing. After Mama died, Onii-chan… changed. He got all gloomy and aloof, and he started spending lots of time apprenticing with Director Gotanda, or even just shut alone in his room – but he’s always been vague and cagey about what he’s been up to. You told me he became an actor because there’s someone in show business he wants to meet, right? Well, I think that person is the accomplice. Onii-chan must think he’s someone Mama knew from work, someone she trusted with sensitive information. Just like how Onii-chan’s trusted you with hints about our secrets. So, Akane-chan… based on everything you know about Onii-chan… can you figure out any of the leads he’s been following?”

“I mean… maybe I could,” I say, my eyebrows knitted – pretending for the moment that this is all new to me. “But you don’t think he’d tell you himself if you told him about the girl?”

“I know how much he cares about protecting me,” Ruby-chan says, a bittersweet glimmer in her eyes. “And I can’t risk him deciding this is something he needs to protect me from.”

I give an understanding nod. “What are you going to do if you find the accomplice?”

Ruby-chan hesitates, and I can see her briefly grit her teeth behind her lips. “I’ll figure out some way to get justice for everything he’s done to my family.”

So in the end, Ruby-chan’s request was roughly what I expected. But that doesn’t mean my mind is made up about how to respond.

What should I do?

Ruby-chan bows her head and clasps her hands in front of her chest, the keychain ornament between them. “Please, Akane-chan. I know this probably isn’t what Onii-chan would want, and I know he’s the one who lost his own life to these people. But I can’t just act like everything’s fine and leave it all up to him. Ai was my mom too.”

I didn’t want Ruby-chan to worry about this, any more than I wanted Aqua-kun to. I wanted them both to leave Ai’s tragedy in the past and move on with their lives. But given the circumstances, that’s seeming less and less feasible for Ruby-chan.

And besides, I can see where the twins are coming from in wanting revenge. The idea that there exists a living, free man responsible for taking Ai’s life and ripping her away from her family, for ending Aqua-kun’s existence if not for a miracle, for leaving him wracked with trauma and survivor’s guilt and Ruby-chan mourning the first loving parent she ever had… thinking about it all, my blood boils too. I don’t want to let that man get away.

But the dangers down this path… I can’t let Ruby-chan succumb to them like Aqua-kun did. In her case, if I can make her promise me, then maybe…

“Alright,” I say. “I’ll help you… on one condition.”

“What’s that?” Ruby-chan asks, her gaze turned back up at me.

I give her a concerned look. “Finding the accomplice and getting justice… I know it’s important, but don’t let it consume you. Don’t let it become your only reason for living. And don’t sacrifice your own future for it. But if you can promise me that, I’m here to help you as much as you want.”

Ruby-chan just stares at me for a moment, looking a little surprised – but then a hint of a smile creeps onto her face. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to give him that victory.”

That attitude of hers is encouraging. I’ve made up my mind – I’ll tell her everything I know.

The only problem is… what am I going to tell her about how I know it? The truth would reveal the ways in which I’ve already deceived her… but I don’t know what kind of lie I could keep up forever here. I think my best option is to just come clean now, and hope it earns me more trust than it breaks.

“Alright,” I say with a sigh. “Here’s the truth. Aqua-kun actually told me before the Takachiho trip that he became an actor in order to kill the person behind your mother’s death. I’m sorry I hid it from you before – I didn’t want you to worry about it. But I have a good idea of who he suspects.”

Ruby-chan’s expression has turned disconcerted at my words – but now, resolve surges back through it. “You do? Who?!”

“Well, first of all…” I say. “Aqua-kun told me he believes the accomplice is your father.”

“Our… our father…?” Ruby-chan repeats, glancing down at her hands in her lap. “Why does he think that?”

I fold my arms in thought. “I don’t know for sure, but it seems like a reasonable guess. Sugano knew the location of the hospital where Ai gave birth, and the address she moved to several years later, but he didn’t seem to know her home address in between, right? That suggests his informant had intimate but very infrequent access to Ai’s personal information – like a trusted ex-boyfriend might.”

Ruby-chan frowns. “You think Mama was giving him chances to visit her? To visit… us? And he sent a stalker after her instead?”

“I think it’s a possibility,” I say. “But there’s more Aqua-kun told me. He didn’t name names, but I know the people he was talking about. He said he’d been doing DNA tests on people in show business, and… do you know Taiki Himekawa? He’s in the Lalalai Theatrical Company with me, and he played Blade in the Tokyo Blade stage play. And he has the same father as you and Aqua-kun.”

Ruby-chan’s eyes go wide. “Seriously? Himekawa’s our half-brother?” Then, she takes on a thoughtful look. “Makes me wonder if he’s reincarnated too…”

“Uh… I mean, he’s acted his age for as long as I’ve known him,” I say. “But anyway, Himekawa’s parents were both actors themselves – Seijuurou Uehara and Airi Himekawa. Many years ago, they were found dead together in an apparent double suicide. And it seems like, as soon as Aqua-kun learned about that, he concluded that avenging Ai wasn’t possible anymore. I think obsessing over revenge was making him miserable, and he wanted to finally be free of it.”

“Onii-chan has been a little more cheerful lately,” Ruby-chan says. “Even before he found out who I was. Maybe that’s why. But… you’ve got doubts about Uehara being the accomplice, huh?”

I nod. “What Aqua-kun must’ve overlooked is that Uehara died over a year before Ai’s murder. Which means that either the accomplice isn’t your father, or your father isn’t actually Uehara. Aqua-kun’s DNA test doesn’t rule out the possibility that Himekawa is the product of his mother cheating on Uehara with your father.”

“Man, this is complicated,” Ruby-chan says, holding a hand to her forehead. “How does the middle schooler that the girl mentioned fit into all this? I guess if he was in his last year of middle school, it wouldn’t be that weird for Mama to have dated him – but he couldn’t be Himekawa’s father too, right?”

“Well… not necessarily,” I say, frowning. “Himekawa was born in November 20XX-20, which means he would’ve been conceived around February 20XX-20. A boy who finished middle school in spring 20XX-16, when Ai was heavily pregnant, could have just begun puberty in time to conceive Himekawa.”

Ruby-chan gives me a funny look. “You think an adult actress might’ve cheated on her husband with a boy who was… what, like, eleven?”

I lower my gaze. “I think we can’t yet eliminate the possibility that an adult actress took sexual advantage of an eleven-year-old boy.”

“…Okay,” Ruby-chan says, a little uncomfortably. “So… where do we go from here?”

“Well, I’ve told you everything I know,” I say. “So if it were me, I’d start by investigating the possibility that the accomplice, the middle schooler, and your and Himekawa’s father are all the same person, and that he knew both Ai and Airi Himekawa through show business. It’s far from certain, but it’s where all of the leads converge. If that search doesn’t turn up any good suspects, you can broaden it by relaxing your assumptions.”

“That makes sense,” Ruby-chan says. “But how should I investigate that…?”

I take a moment to think. “You could start by looking through every production that Airi Himekawa was involved in up until Taiki Himekawa’s conception, and noting any male child actors of the right age. That’d be ones born around 20XX-32 or 20XX-31.”

An odd look flickers on Ruby-chan’s face when I mention the years – regret? mournfulness? – but it disappears quickly. “I can do that. And… after I’m done, can I talk through what I’ve found with you? Y’know, in case you notice something I don’t.”

“Of course,” I say. “Like I said – I’m here to help as much as you want.”

“Thanks,” Ruby-chan says. “Just…” She looks me in the eyes. “Can you promise me that if you ever do find something I don’t know about, you won’t hide it from me?”

“I promise,” I say, meeting her gaze. “I know I tried to bury this investigation before, but… that was a mistake. You’re right to want it completed, and you’re right to want to be part of it.”

Ruby-chan nods – and I catch a glimpse of a smile. “So, when should we meet next?”

“Well, my family and I are going to be vacationing in Hawaii from tomorrow until next Sunday,” I say. “But I can set aside time to video call.”

“You’re going to Hawaii for a whole week?” Ruby-chan says. “Lucky.”

I chuckle, a little awkwardly. “My dad already travels a lot for work, but they pay him well for it.”

“I see,” Ruby-chan says, a hint of concern now on her face. “How often do you get to see him?”

“Oh, he’s here for a few days a month,” I say. “And my mom and I call with him every weekend he’s away.”

“That’s not too bad, is it?” Ruby-chan says.

I give her a soft smile. “It’s not.”

Ruby-chan smiles briefly in return before speaking. “So about our call… can we do it this Sunday evening? Like at 8 PM?”

“That’d be 1 AM for me,” I say. “But… I’ll have a separate hotel room from my parents, and calling while they’re asleep might help maintain secrecy. So sure – let’s do Sunday at 8.”

“Great,” Ruby-chan says. She puts the keychain ornament away and takes out her phone in its place, presumably to enter the plan into her calendar. I take the chance to do the same.

“Oh, and Ruby-chan, if you don’t mind me asking…” I say as we finish. “Aqua-kun told me on Tuesday that no one except the three of us knows about his past life. Is it the same with yours?”

Ruby-chan frowns a little. “I mean, besides maybe the girl in Takachiho… no one else knows as far as I know. I-I don’t like keeping it a secret or anything, but… I mean, how many people would even believe me?”

I can’t help but recall that Ruby-chan told me about her reincarnation only reluctantly, even after I signaled that I already suspected it. But to be fair, we’d only known each other personally for a few days, and the past I was prodding her to reveal involved a lot of pain. I can understand if she’d prefer to keep it to those closest to her.

I give Ruby-chan a nod – and then a follow-up question. “Before Ai died, did she know anything? She raised you and Aqua-kun from infancy, didn’t she?”

“Oh, she just thought we were super-geniuses,” Ruby-chan says, smiling amusedly. She begins to laugh as she continues. “I mean, who knows what would’ve happened if she found out, right?” A moment later, though, she seems to notice that I haven’t joined in the levity, and her laugh awkwardly peters out while her smile falls away.

There’s silence for a few seconds.

“So, uh…” I say. “Do you want to stay for dinner? My mom offered to have you.”

“I… should probably get home before Onii-chan and Miyako-san notice I’m gone,” Ruby-chan says, glancing at my room’s door. “But I’ll thank her for the offer.”

“Sounds good,” I say, standing up and turning my body a bit toward the door. “Good luck with your search.”

“Thanks,” Ruby-chan says, taking on a grimly determined look as she collects her handbag and stands up herself. “We’ll get this guy one way or another. I know we will.”

We again. She’s really taken my promises to heart, hasn’t she? But I won’t let her down. Not her, and not Aqua-kun.

I return her expression. “We will.”

And with that, we head for the door.

Chapter Text

- Miyako -

Something has changed between my children.

I suppose the first sign of it I noticed was on Wednesday night – Christmas Eve. Without any plans for the evening, I decided to get some work done up in the office-slash-lounge – but once Ruby’s party with Kana-chan and Mem-chan wrapped up downstairs, I took a break to go down and throw together a meal for myself. As I ascended the stairs ready to return to work, though, I heard muffled sound through the door to the office – and when I opened it, I found Ruby and Aqua side-by-side on the couch, wrapped together in one blanket, with some sort of romantic drama film playing on the wall-mounted TV.

They weren’t at fault for not knowing I still wanted the room, of course, and it didn’t inconvenience me much in the end. I waved off Aqua’s apology and left him and Ruby to their movie night; my work could easily wait until the next day. But it wasn’t often I saw the twins go out of their way to spend time together like that, and I would’ve thought Aqua preferred to maintain more personal space. It was a chilly night, but still.

And that isn’t all I’ve seen. Like at breakfast yesterday:

“Ruby-chan, could you pass the butter?” Aqua asked.

“Sure,” Ruby said through a decent mouthful of toast, grabbing the butter tray from near her plate and handing it to him – with no hint of surprise at the honorific he gave her.

And then this afternoon, while the three of us were preparing dinner… I once caught sight of Ruby, chopping up the pork for the curry sauce, lifting her eyes from the cutting board and resting them briefly on Aqua as he filled the rice cooker. He didn’t seem to notice the look, but her whole body subtly relaxed in its wake, as if the mere sight of the brother she’d lived with since birth had brought her some sort of reassurance.

And after we sat down to eat…

“So, do either of you have any plans with friends over your school break?” I asked in a pause between bites of salad.

Typically enough, Aqua kept quiet, but Ruby spoke up once she’d swallowed. “Well, Frill-chan’s invited Minami-chan and me out ice skating on Wednesday, and… oh, that’s right! Onii-chan, B-Komachi’s next mini-concert is on Saturday evening! You should totally come! Miyako-san, we can get him in even though he didn’t enter the ticket lottery, right?”

I took a moment to think. “He is both a performer’s family member and another talent from our agency. I suppose there’s room in the crowd for one more.”

“Is there something special about this concert?” Aqua asked.

“I mean, we’re gonna be debuting the new song we filmed that music video for last week,” Ruby said. “But more important, it’ll be the first time – ” She glanced at me and then hesitated for a second, just smiling at Aqua in the meantime. “ – y’know!”

Aqua nodded understandingly before replying. “When you put it like that… I’ll have to give it some serious thought.”

Ruby shot him a glare – while visibly trying and failing to suppress an amused grin. “You – !”

Aqua smiled a little in return. “I mean it this time. Promise.”

Ruby sighed and shook her head slightly, still smiling herself. “Just don’t keep me in suspense too long.”

“I’ll check my schedule after dinner,” Aqua said.

“Thanks, Onii-chan,” Ruby said, before returning her attention to her food.

This exchange went completely over my head, and I don’t think that was an accident. What are my children hiding from me? I know they’re both nearly adults now, and I don’t need to know everything that happens in their lives – but alongside the other odd behavior I’ve witnessed lately, this honestly has me a little worried that their relationship is developing in an… unhealthy direction.

And so, once we’re all done eating and cleaning up the kitchen, I discreetly put my hand on Ruby’s shoulder before she can follow Aqua out of the room. She stops and turns to me, a hint of nervousness on her face.

“Ruby,” I say gently, “can you tell me what’s been going on between you and your brother?”

“Nothing’s ‘going on,’ Miyako-san,” Ruby says. “We just… well, it’s a long story, but a few days ago we cleared up a misunderstanding and talked some stuff out, and we’re closer now, I guess. Everything’s fine.”

Admittedly, this doesn’t do much to dispel my fears. “You know,” I say, trying not to sound too accusatory, “as your manager, I don’t mind if you get an actual boyfriend as long as you keep me in the loop about it.”

Ruby gives me an annoyed look. “It’s not like that, Miyako-san. Onii-chan and I are already family. We don’t need to be together that way.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You did cuddle up together and watch a movie on Christmas Eve.”

“Well, Onii-chan’s date with Akane-chan fell through at the last minute ‘cause they broke up,” Ruby says defensively, “and he passed up joining B-Komachi’s party, and I didn’t want him to spend the whole evening alone! Seriously, Miyako-san, stop making it weird.” She begins turning to leave.

“I’m sorry,” I say, holding up my hand as a “wait” signal. “I just… want to make sure you’re safe and happy.”

Ruby sighs. “I know. But really, you don’t have to worry. I’m fine.”

I just give a nod. And this time, as she turns away and exits the room, I don’t try to stop her.

I suppose this isn’t the first time I’ve had to resign myself to uncertainty about a mystery surrounding those kids. To this day, I don’t understand why I clearly remember them speaking to me in complete sentences many times before even their first birthday, claiming to be incarnations of gods. Did I somehow dream it all up? Am I misremembering things that actually happened after they’d reached a normal talking age? It couldn’t have been real divine intervention, could it? To begin with, if Ai was favored by the gods like the twins said in my memories, then why…?

Of course bringing gods and destiny into it is ridiculous. What happened to Ai is squarely on us humans. But now, if I want to fulfill my responsibility to the children she left behind, I should at least try to understand the most important things going through their heads, shouldn’t I…?

Sometimes I wonder if the twins would be more open with me if… if I was their real mother. Or if I had more time to spend on them instead of on running this whole company. But I couldn’t just abandon our talents and the other staff after Ichigo did, and I’ve been able to provide better for the twins this way than I could with any other job.

I just hope I’m doing right by them.

- Ruby -

I’m sitting at my desk, idly scrolling through social media on my laptop to pass the time until 8 PM, when my phone chimes from the desk’s corner.

Aqua

Aqua: Saturday evening’s all clear for me. I’ll be happy to come to the mini-concert.

Ruby: Awesome! Looking forward to seeing you in the audience! ✨

I let out a contented sigh as I set the phone down. I really am living the dream these days – and Onii-chan knows it too. He knows better than anyone what dancing and singing up on that stage means to me. I wasn’t lying to Miyako-san – the walls between him and me have finally been torn down, and I couldn’t be happier about who I found on the other side.

Or, well, they’ve mostly been torn down…

At 8:00 sharp, my phone chimes again; Akane-chan’s sent me a video call link on a cross-platform messaging app. I pull it up on my laptop, wait a couple seconds for the connection to go through… and there she is, her face and the hotel room behind her lit only by the dim glow of her own laptop screen. Earbud wires snake out from under her loose hair, and a pale blue nightgown rests over her shoulders.

“Hey, Akane-chan,” I say.

“Hey, Ruby-chan,” I hear her reply after a moment of lag time, her voice kept quiet. “Can you hear me?”

“Yeah,” I say, lowering my own voice a little. “How’s Hawaii?”

Akane-chan raises her eyebrows. “Oh. Uh… I’ve only been here for one full day, but it’s nice as usual so far. We had great beach weather today. Also, I learned about something kind of interesting. You know those little bottles of shampoo and conditioner and so on that hotels like to leave in your room?”

“Uh… I do, yeah.” I guess it’s my turn to be surprised at the conversation’s direction.

Akane-chan nods in acknowledgement. “I never paid them much mind before, since my family’s always brought our own hygiene products. But I noticed this morning that the bottles here have lids that you can easily screw on and off – not like the bigger disposable bottles I buy. Which made me wonder if the hotel actually refills them between guests when they get used. But no, everything I found online says hotels always dispose of them – and if they have any product left in them, they don’t get recycled. Groups of Hawaii legislators have apparently tried to ban them twice over this, and some hotels have replaced them with dispensers. I guess it’s like how food stalls on Oahu never give you plastic containers or utensils these days.”

“…Huh,” I say, aware that I don’t have much to contribute. “When Onii-chan and I were little, Miyako-san would always have us use the hotel shampoos and bring them home if we didn’t finish them. But I’m pickier about what I put in my hair now that I’m the one choosing, of course.”

“Of course,” Akane-chan agrees. After a brief silence, she speaks again. “So, uh… how are you? How’s Aqua-kun?”

“Oh, I think we’re both doing well,” I say pleasantly. “He went into his shell a little after the breakup, maybe, but he’s opening back up now. He said he’s coming to B-Komachi’s next mini-concert on Saturday. And it doesn’t seem like… he suspects anything.” I take on a small frown as I finish.

“That’s good to hear,” Akane-chan says. “Speaking of that last part, about your search through Airi Himekawa’s old co-stars…”

“Right, sorry, one more thing before that,” I say. “You didn’t tell me Airi Himekawa was the lead actress in My Bright Sky!”

“The morning drama?” Akane-chan asks, sounding a bit confused. “You already knew about it?”

“I watched it!” I say. “It ran while I was in the hospital. And, well, I didn’t have much to do for fun besides watch TV back then. Especially since this was before I got into idols.” I let out a sad sigh. “Man. I can’t believe we’re investigating the My Bright Sky lady for being some kind of child predator.”

Akane-chan frowns sympathetically. “I’ve… gotten the sense that the industry was a scary place back then. Even more than it is now.”

I nod slowly as a new thought forms in my head. “Honestly, if we find out that my father really was a third-year middle schooler… I’m going to feel bad for him because of Airi Himekawa, of course, but… I’m going to be kind of relieved for Mama.”

Akane-chan is quiet for a couple seconds, her jaw shifting subtly like she’s second-guessing what to say. “Me too. But your search for actors who could fit that description… did it turn up anything?”

“Nope,” I say with a hint of disappointment. “I looked through Airi Himekawa’s whole career, but she never worked with any guys born between 20XX-36 and 20XX-29. Everyone was either too old to have been in middle school when Mama was pregnant, or eight at the oldest when Taiki Himekawa was conceived – and weirdly young for Mama too.”

Akane-chan frowns and raises a hand to her chin. “Damn. So how likely is it that your father is the middle schooler the Takachiho girl mentioned? If he isn’t, was the girl misleading you, or is your father just not the accomplice? I wish I knew for sure why Aqua-kun thinks he is…”

“Well, I was thinking about where to go from here,” I say, “and… could we try asking Taiki Himekawa about what his parents got up to? To help us figure out whether his mom really did cheat on his dad, or vice versa? I know they died when he was young, but…”

“No, that’s actually not a bad idea,” Akane-chan says. “You’re Himekawa’s half-sister, so you’ve got a good excuse to inquire if you frame it as curiosity about your father and his wife. Although, what story should you tell Himekawa about how you know you’re half-siblings…?”

“I mean…” I begin, taking a moment to gather my thoughts. “A few weeks ago, Onii-chan stayed out all night and said he spent it at Himekawa’s place. And then he said he’d introduce me to Himekawa someday, but he didn’t explain why – and he hasn’t even talked about it since, so maybe he forgot? But anyway, he’s probably already told Himekawa about our relationship – and if I just tell Himekawa that Onii-chan got around to telling me, he shouldn’t have any reason to doubt it, right?”

“I wouldn’t think so, no,” Akane-chan says. “Here, let me give you Himekawa’s number.” She removes the earbuds from her ears, stands up, and walks away from the camera. I see her bend down over a nightstand in the background; I think her phone is charging there. Around ten seconds later, I get a text from her with an unfamiliar phone number. I add it to my contact list as she returns to the video call setup.

“Okay,” I say resolutely, looking back up from my phone. “I’ll text Himekawa and ask him to meet and talk with me. Let’s hope we get at least some kind of clue out of it.”

Akane-chan nods. “Keep me updated – uh, I mean, if you want to.”

I give a chuckle. “I will.”

Akane-chan smiles a little in response. “And good luck.”

“Thanks, Akane-chan,” I say. “So, bye for now?”

“Bye for now,” she agrees, before reaching for her touchpad and ending the call.

Now back by myself, I return my gaze to my phone, still showing the new contact page for Taiki Himekawa. I’ve seen him in person before, acting as Blade up on that fancy stage-around… but if this plan works out, then in not too long, I’ll meet him face-to-face as half-sister and half-brother.

When I awoke into this life, the first face I saw was Ai’s – Mama’s – smiling kindly down at me. But looking around a minute later, the second face I saw was that of another newborn, nestled in a blanket like mine, sharing Mama’s lap. I still remember the mix of wonder and trepidation I felt when I realized that I had a sibling, that I was a sibling. Onii-chan wasn’t exactly the cool, supportive big sister of my dreams, and it took me a little while to warm up to him – but by now I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world, especially with our full history together unearthed.

A half-related stranger like Himekawa is a different ball game, of course. But still… I wonder what he’s like. I’m glad to realize that part won’t be a lie.

Taiki Himekawa

Ruby: Hi, Himekawa-san. It’s Ruby Hoshino, Aqua’s sister. My brother told me today about the DNA test he did. I’d really like a chance to meet my half-brother, so is it okay if the two of us find a time to get together and talk?

Taiki: Sure. You want to grab dinner sometime soon?

Chapter Text

- Ruby -

After a quick train ride and a few minutes’ walk, I’ve reached the restaurant Himekawa-san suggested for our dinner – a middlebrow teppanyaki place with dark wood décor. As I step through the front door, my eyes scan the waiting area for Himekawa-san, but neither of the couple guys there match my memories of the play or the uncostumed pictures online. Hanging back away from the welcome desk, I pull out my phone and check the time – 5:59 PM. Just about right on time, so I probably won’t be waiting long.

Which I have mixed feelings about, anxious as I am. I mean, the plan is for me to steer Himekawa-san toward spilling clues about infidelity from either of his parents – clues about whether our shared father really is the man he knows as his father – without ever telling him that’s my goal. I can keep a secret, and I can put on an act if I need to, but I’m realizing this double-layered manipulation stuff probably won’t agree with me. Hopefully it won’t take too long to dig through all the dirt, at least, and we can spend the rest of the dinner talking honestly.

After a couple minutes, the front door produces a tall young man in a medium gray hoodie and jeans, with square-rimmed glasses and a black mask covering the lower half of his face. He stops to glance around the waiting room, his gaze coming to rest on me – and combined with the decent look at his upper face I get, I can tell it’s Himekawa-san in the flesh. Once we’ve locked eyes for a second, he wordlessly turns to approach the welcome desk, and I follow him.

About ten seconds later, a waiter returns to the desk, and Himekawa-san addresses him. “I’ve got a private room reservation for 6 PM under Uehara.”

The waiter smiles and gives us a courteous nod. “Right this way, please.”

As we follow the waiter through the restaurant, I try to put my investigation worries aside for the moment and give Himekawa-san a friendly first impression. “It’s great that you could get us a private room so soon.”

Himekawa-san’s face is hard to read with the mask, but for some reason I’m picking up a hint of discomfort. “Well, Mondays aren’t big days for eating out.”

Once we arrive at the room, the waiter slides open the door for us, and Himekawa-san and I take seats at the table opposite each other. We picked a pre-set course plan when we made the reservation, so the waiter only hands us drink menus. Himekawa-san orders a beer; I get apple juice. The waiter promises our drinks soon and the first course soon after that, then leaves us to it and closes the door behind him.

Himekawa-san removes his mask, exposing a couple days’ worth of stubble – but instead of putting it away, he leaves it hanging in his fingers where I can see it. “You’re an idol, aren’t you? We might be eating in private, but aren’t you worried about drawing attention to yourself on the way in and out?”

Himekawa-san’s words send a pang of guilt through me. “I… guess I didn’t think it was a big risk.” But it’s true that there was still a chance of someone recognizing me from my face or voice, about to sit down to dinner with a guy… and I even promised Onii-chan last week that I’d be careful not to get caught in a scandal. Shoot.

“I mean, it’s probably fine,” Himekawa-san says as he stows his mask in his hoodie pocket. “You’re not that famous, and I didn’t see any reporters tailing me on the way here.”

I’m sure he’s right – but now I’m concerned for him right back. “Tailing you? Has that happened before?”

“Oh, plenty of times,” Himekawa-san says, frighteningly blasé. “I think they’re starting to realize I’m not an easy target, though.”

Jeez. Is that what it’s like to be a big-shot like Himekawa-san is? When Mama got that popular, was she always looking over her shoulder even when she went out alone?

But wait – I think I can use this as a segue. “You’ve gotten really famous as an actor, huh?” I remark. “Come to think of it, our dad and your mom were both actors too. Did you get into it because of them?”

“Well… I guess you could say that,” Himekawa-san says. “You must know about the play where I met your brother, right? The Tokyo Blade adaptation?”

“Uh…” I begin, a bit confused about the connection. “Yeah, I saw it on opening night.”

Himekawa-san nods. “That play was directed by my… adoptive dad, I guess you could call him? His name’s Toshirou Kindaichi-san. He leads the theater troupe I’m in, Lalalai, where the play got most of its actors. Kindaichi-san knew my parents, and he’s the one who got me into acting. He invited me to join Lalalai when I was nine or ten, I think.”

Kindaichi-san, leader of Lalalai… This could be a lead. “That’s cool,” I say. “How did he know your parents?”

“He says he met them through these acting workshops Lalalai did in their early years,” Himekawa-san says. “They were bringing in outside instructors, and my parents volunteered. Lalalai jumped at the chance to get my mom, what with her morning drama stardom, and I guess back then they couldn’t afford to be picky enough to turn my dad away. I’ve got vague memories of being brought along to those workshops. My parents never acted in the productions that came out of them, but I think they stayed on as instructors until they died.”

Instructing at Lalalai’s workshops… That’s something both of Himekawa-san’s parents got up to that I didn’t know about. But… “Until they died, huh? So how long did they do it in total?”

“Well, they started before I was born,” Himekawa-san says. “I think maybe a year or two before? So…” He counts on his fingers. “About seven years?”

So if Uehara is our father, he could have met Mama through Lalalai… or if he isn’t, Airi Himekawa could have met our real father that way. It’s a lead, but it doesn’t narrow things down by itself.

To Himekawa-san, I just say: “That long, huh? They must’ve really liked it.”

Himekawa-san takes on a thoughtful look. “I guess so. Lalalai themselves saw the workshops as a failure, though. Kindaichi-san’s so embarrassed he won’t even give me the details.” He’s grown a bit of an amused smile now.

I didn’t expect to hear that, but it sounds suspicious. Were the workshops a failure just for mundane reasons, or did something really messed up happen there?

Before I can form a response, though, a knock sounds on the door. A second later, it opens; the waiter’s here with our drinks. He distributes them to us, we thank him, and he leaves us again.

After the door closes, Himekawa-san speaks first. “What about you? How’d you end up as an idol?”

I guess it’s only fair for me to take a turn sharing, and I’d say I’ve earned a break from surreptitious sleuthing. But I can’t be fully honest here either, talking about my past-life illness and my idol mom’s unfulfilled dreams and my doctor first love (does it still feel right to call him that?) who reincarnated as my brother. I’ve got plenty of experience telling half-truths about this stuff, though, so…

“Well, it’s a long-time dream of mine,” I say with a nostalgic smile. “It used to be I couldn’t dance or anything, but I loved watching idols perform, and I really admired them. My loved ones cheered me on, and before too long I got the opportunity to learn to dance myself. I applied for the big idol group CYD50, and I even made it to the interview round, but they passed me up. But then my adoptive mom, Miyako-san – she’s the president of Strawberry Productions, which managed the original B-Komachi. She let me sign with her agency as part of a new idol group! And now the dream is real, and we’re on our way up!”

“You have an adoptive mom?” Himekawa-san says, frowning a little. “Your brother wouldn’t tell me who your real mom is, but… I’m sorry about her.”

It’s not like I wasn’t thinking about it, but the air is suddenly a lot more melancholy. “Well… thanks,” I say. “I… I’m always trying to make her proud.” And to do other things – most recently, hunt down the monster who set her up to die – but again, half-truths.

Himekawa-san just nods sympathetically.

“I didn’t know before,” I say, “but our family situations are a lot alike, aren’t they? I mean, with you and Kindaichi-san…”

“I guess,” Himekawa-san says. “But was Miyako-san your adoptive mom before she was your agency prez, or after?”

“Oh, many years before,” I say, as Himekawa-san takes a sip of his beer.

Himekawa-san speaks once the glass leaves his lips. “It’s the opposite for me. Kindaichi-san only took guardianship once I aged out of the children’s home.”

“Oh,” I say, my view of Kindaichi-san suddenly less rosy. “When was that?”

“Fifteen,” Himekawa-san says. “I passed up high school to focus on my career.”

Huh. Part of me wished I could do that when high school entrance exams came along, but Miyako-san and Onii-chan wouldn’t have had it.

Also, I’m curious… Mama never talked much about it, but she came from a children’s home too, so…

“What was it like growing up in a children’s home?” I ask.

Himekawa-san shrugs. “It got mundane pretty fast. You eat in the dining hall, you sleep in your room, you put up with the other kids. It’s a place to live.” He sips his beer again. “But if you’re asking, you must not have spent much time in one yourself, huh?”

“None at all, no,” I say. “Miyako-san… she’s known my brother and me since we were born, and when we lost our mom, she took us in right away. I’m really grateful to her for that.” Even acknowledging that, I hope Himekawa-san doesn’t feel like I’m looking down on him.

Luckily, though, I can’t spot any hostility on Himekawa-san’s face – just a hint of wistfulness, maybe. “I see. What’s she been like since then?”

“Well…” I say, gathering my thoughts. “She’s busy with work a lot. It used to be her husband was the agency president and she was just a manager, but she suddenly had to take over the company when he disappeared on us.” That last bit comes out with a note of anger that I didn’t quite expect. “But still, I can tell she really cares. She tries to get us together for a family dinner at least once a week. She’s been putting in the work to help my idol group get off the ground, even though we’re not super profitable yet. And it feels like she does like spending time with me when she can. Even when she worries a little too much, I know it’s ‘cause she cares.”

After swallowing another mouthful of beer, Himekawa-san takes on a wry frown. “Lucky you. Kindaichi-san’s supported my career a lot too, but sometimes it feels like that’s all he cares about. One time at this bar, when I told your brother about him adopting me, he was like, ‘People who lack something are great. Himekawa pretends he’s a proper human being, but he’s not. He soaks up technique as if he’s looking for the missing piece.’ And I mean, I don’t know if he’s wrong, but… thanks, ‘Dad’.”

“Yikes,” I say sympathetically. “I’m sorry he treats you like that. But also, has my brother really gone out drinking with the two of you?” Come to think of it, does Onii-chan count as officially old enough to drink?

“Well, he did that once,” Himekawa-san says. “It’s, uh, a long story. He didn’t drink any actual booze, though.”

“Oh. I see.” Knowing that, he probably did it for investigation reasons, didn’t he? Just like what I’m doing now. And that reminds me –

Another knock on the door steals my attention. This time, the waiter enters bearing a tray with a few small plates and bowls for Himekawa-san and me each. He takes a moment to remind us what each dish is – griddle-cooked wagyu beef, shrimp and cabbage soup, toast with truffle butter, that kind of thing. I’m only half-listening, though; I know I should be digging for more clues, trying to narrow down whether Uehara is our father, and I need to figure out how.

Once Himekawa-san and I are alone again with our food, he starts working on a plate of crab legs without another word. I follow suit with my toast, not wanting to look weird – and besides, I am kinda hungry. But once it feels natural, I pause taking bites, wash them down with one more sip of apple juice, and then execute my new plan. “So Himekawa-san, I’m curious… when you found out you had half-siblings through your dad, how did you feel? Were you surprised?”

Himekawa-san thinks for a second, growing a slight frown. “I wouldn’t say I was surprised, really. Did your brother pass along what I told him about our dad sleeping around?”

“Uh… he didn’t, no,” I say. “Maybe he thought it went without saying? But – what’s this ‘sleeping around’ our dad did?”

“Well, rumor has it he had a habit of hooking up with skilled actresses,” Himekawa-san says. “Even though he’d already married one. Maybe he was trying to fight insecurity about his own lack of talent. I don’t know for sure if my mom ever knew, but with the sudden double suicide, well…”

So that’s it. Uehara, the known serial cheater, met Mama – maybe at a Lalalai workshop – and seduced her. He’s our father after all. Right?

Except… something’s off. Mama was always an amazing idol, and maybe she started practicing acting before we were born, but I don’t think she got her first acting job until we were eighteen months old or so. Would Uehara really have seen her fifteen-year-old self as his type – as a status symbol in the acting world? Was he just that blown away by her performances in the workshops? I mean, it is Mama we’re talking about… but still, this doesn’t feel like a slam dunk.

“I see,” I say to Himekawa-san. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Mm,” Himekawa-san says, still frowning. “I don’t know how you pictured your dad before all this, but… sorry I don’t have better news for you.”

Honestly, I think I just tried not to dwell on the subject of my father until Akane-chan said he might have been involved in Mama’s murder… and especially with that idea in my head, nothing I’ve heard about Uehara as my maybe-father has managed to shock me much.

“It’s okay,” I say – though my voice has a somber tinge. “I’m glad I finally know.”

Himekawa-san nods understandingly, takes another swig of beer, and goes back to eating.

Returning to my own food, I take a minute to reorient myself. My question didn’t cleanly tilt the evidence either for or against Uehara being our father… but it did still yield some new information, and that’s on top of the Lalalai workshops stuff. And I’m getting the sense that Himekawa-san’s parents’ lives are kind of a fraught subject for him, so I’d feel awkward prying into them even more. Meanwhile, Akane-chan’s actually in Lalalai… so maybe I should say I’ve done enough sleuthing for tonight and pass the baton to her for the workshops lead.

I’ll trust her to pass it back.

The rest of the dinner goes by with a lot less discomfort for both Himekawa-san and me. Over the course of a couple more courses, our conversations alternate casual comments on the food with stories of our showbiz escapades – like the time Abiko Samejima herself demanded a rewrite of the Tokyo Blade play script only twenty days before the premiere, or the time Onii-chan physically got down on one knee and begged Kana-senpai to join my idol group.

Himekawa-san shakes his head at that one. “He really needs to stop toying with girls’ hearts like that. Keep an eye on him for me, will you?”

I laugh a little. “Well, we had a talk last week, and I think he’s getting more responsible about that stuff.”

Once we’re finished eating and it’s time for the check, Himekawa-san offers to pay for both of us, saying it’s no problem – and I’m not about to tell him no. And after he’s paid, when we’re ready to leave anytime…

“While we’re here, is there anything else you want to talk about?” Himekawa-san asks.

“Uh…” I say, weighing my options. “No, I can’t think of anything. Or – actually, I just remembered…” How should I put it? “Sorry if this sounds weird, but was there ever a time when you weren’t Taiki Himekawa?”

Himekawa-san furrows his brow in confusion. “Well, my real name is Taiki Uehara. You can probably guess why I picked my mom’s family name for my stage name. Is that what you meant?”

“Uh… don’t worry about it,” I say with a casual flick of my hand. “And that’s all I’ve got.” Knowing another reincarnator could’ve been cool, but oh well.

Himekawa-san shrugs, and then stands up from the table. “Here, why don’t I leave and you wait here for a few minutes. That way no one’ll see us leaving together.”

“Oh, good idea,” I say.

As Himekawa-san puts on his mask and heads for the door, I call after him with a smile. “It was nice meeting you, Himekawa-san!”

He turns back and raises his hand in a wave goodbye. “You too, Hoshino-san.”

- Akane -

I treasure days when I can sleep in and get myself up at leisure – but vacations like this, as nice as they otherwise are, don’t offer that kind of day. My parents and I always go for breakfast together, after all, and the hotel restaurant only serves it for so long each morning.

And so, as usual, I awake to the mechanical chirping of my phone alarm. The morning light filtering through the curtains is dim, too; the forecast did say it’d be cloudy. Maybe that’s why I’m especially groggy.

It can’t have helped, though, that I went to bed knowing that Ruby-chan was about to sit down to dinner with Himekawa, and by morning I’d have heard from her about the outcome. And speaking of that, once I shut off my alarm and check my texts…

Ruby

Ruby: Just got home from the dinner. It all went fine.

Ruby: Himekawa-san says both of his parents were instructors at Lalalai acting workshops from a year or two before he was born until they died. He told me Lalalai saw the workshops as a failure and Kindaichi-san is too embarrassed to give him the details. He also says rumor has it Uehara had a habit of cheating on his wife with other skilled actresses, maybe because he wasn’t talented himself. But I don’t think Mama started getting acting jobs until Onii-chan and I were like eighteen months old.

Ruby: Oh, and I’m pretty sure Himekawa-san isn’t reincarnated.

Ruby: Can you help me look into the Lalalai stuff?

So we’ve got a new lead… and just thinking about it opens a pit in my stomach.

For years now, Lalalai has been my home away from home, Kindaichi-san and my fellow long-term members like a second family for better and worse. But now, I have to consider the possibility that two decades ago, Lalalai was the place where a married man met an insecure, desperately lonely teenage girl and pulled her along with a show of love before leaving her pregnant with his children. Or if not that, something even more sick.

But given the suspicions Ruby-chan and Aqua-kun have to cast on their own father, I’m in no position to complain. And Ruby-chan’s got the right idea – like Aqua-kun with his DNA tests, this lead being close to home should help me follow it.

Ruby

Akane: Lalalai periodically records rehearsals for members to study later. They’ve got a private online collection that goes back around twenty-five years, and it’s all labeled with info like the dates and actor names. Give me a few days, and I can search the older recordings for Ai, Uehara, Airi Himekawa, and any guys who could’ve conceived both you and Taiki Himekawa. I’ll let you know what I find.

Chapter Text

- Aqua -

“Alright, hold that pose,” the photographer says, giving me a smile as she raises her handheld camera.

I oblige, holding myself still on my feet with my body at a three-quarters angle from the photographer, my eyes meeting her lens as she steps forward and backward and side-to-side snapping photos against the white studio backdrop. They’ve got me in an outfit consisting of a burgundy crew-neck sweater with the collar of a pale blue button-up shirt peeking out from the top, plus navy blue chino pants. The photographer never gave me any directions for my expression; my resting face must work well for the aloof look she seems to be going for.

After a few dozen shots, the photographer lowers her camera to her chest. “You’re doing great, Aqua-kun. Now, let’s try another pose. Can you turn forward, raise your chin, and give me a bit of a smile?”

A friendlier impression? I can manage that – especially since smiling comes more naturally these days.

Once I’ve followed the posing instructions, though, the photographer just studies me for a few seconds, pressing her lips together in thought. “Shoulders back just a little?”

I shift them back, my torso naturally straightening in tandem.

The photographer still doesn’t look satisfied. “Stand nice and tall?”

I straighten my legs as well, trying to project confidence like she seems to want.

After another few seconds of scrutiny, the photographer’s expression warms up. “Let’s try this. Aqua-kun, has there ever been a time when you really wanted a girl to like you? Like Akane-chan on LoveNow, maybe?”

So that’s what she wants to see. They use this technique on idols too, don’t they? But it won’t work like she hopes, because for me…

“I stopped in my late twenties, though.”

“Just one scandal can be a mortal wound for an idol.”

“I-I just feel like I’m in way over my head here.”

…those feelings are all tainted in hindsight.

But that’s fine. I’ve got some experience with emotional acting. I know how to selectively call up memories and lose myself in them, embodying an illusion of someone who isn’t real.

So for the moment, I decide I am only Aqua Hoshino, teenage actor. And I think of the co-star I’ve been crushing on.

A small, stylishly clothed body. A gaze that turns my shields to splinters. An unquenchable flame in the darkness.

“Yeah,” I say to the photographer, feeling a slight blush grow on my cheeks. “I can think of a time like that.”

“Wonderful,” the photographer says, before raising the camera back over her eyes. “Now, can you imagine that girl standing here? Pretend you’re trying to give her a good impression.”

I never went out of my way to try and make her like me. But I do my best to conjure the scenario and reflect it in my body.

The photographer grins. “Beautiful. Hold that thought.”

It’s over an hour later when the shoot finishes, and I’m admittedly left more tired than I expected, given that I spent most of it standing still. I exchange thanks with the studio staff before returning to the dressing room, where my assigned stylist returns my own clothes and wipes away the light imperfection-concealing makeup she applied before I faced the camera.

As I sit on the late-morning train heading home, I review my new firsthand impressions of modeling. It’s… like some sort of guided improvisational acting with no motion, no dialogue, and not much of a story being told. I definitely prefer regular acting, and at the risk of sounding like a snob, it’s still no mystery to me why most of the Sweet Today drama cast were unprepared to give performances better than “watchable with careful directing”.

But the photographer seemed genuinely happy with my shoot – and if the magazine ends up liking it too, then they might want me back in the future, and Kaburagi might want to use me in his dealings with more magazines, and I’m sure Miyako-san would encourage me to say “yes” to help grow my career. I agreed to this shoot because I thought modeling was worth at least one try, and I wouldn’t mind more jobs like this as a boost toward more good acting jobs in the long term – just as long as modeling stays a side activity.

After the short walk home from the train station, I hang up my coat and switch my shoes for indoor slippers as usual – and finish just in time to hear two pairs of footsteps from the second floor approaching the stairs. I recognize the cadences, too, and they confuse and discomfort me – but I’m not sure I could sneak away unnoticed at this point, and it’d make me feel ridiculous besides.

And so I stand near the staircase’s foot, and wait a few seconds until B-Komachi’s Mem-cho and Kana Arima arrive in my view.

“Oh, Aqu-tan!” Mem chirps as she and Arima descend the final steps. “How are you? How was your Chr – ” Her eyes flick toward Arima. “ – uh, weekend?”

“Good, thanks,” I say casually, ignoring her stumble. “What are you two here for?”

“We just finished dance practice, actually,” Mem says. “The president moved tomorrow afternoon’s practice to this morning, since Ruby and Kana-chan don’t have school, and this way we can be home in time for Kouhaku tomorrow no problem.”

“Plus, apparently Ruby made ice skating plans with her friends tomorrow,” Arima says with a hint of cynicism. “So we won’t cut into that either.”

Mem chuckles. “Well, I think it’s good that the president took work-life balance into account for all three of us.”

“Not enough that she didn’t keep you and me for that whole lecture, though,” Arima says.

Mem lifts her lower arms in a gesture of indifference. “It wasn’t that long, and better safe than sorry, right?”

I raise a questioning eyebrow at the two of them.

“After practice today,” Arima explains, “we passed through the president’s office and started chatting with her a bit. But then Ruby said something like, ‘Miyako-san, I heard that when you get famous enough, reporters will try to follow you around all the time. Is that true? How do you not be an easy target for that?’ And the president decided on the spot that it was time to sit us all down and walk us through a bunch of common-sense safety measures.”

“Well, common sense for industry veterans,” Mem says. “Stuff like, ‘Only date someone if they’re tight-lipped, no public displays of affection, and reserve private rooms at restaurants.’ ‘Your home needs a peephole or a door chain, and always use them even if you’re expecting someone.’ ‘Don’t get drunk away from home.’ And I mean, you can’t blame her for making sure you know that one, Kana-chan.”

I can’t blame her either. Good on her for all of it, in fact.

Meanwhile, Arima huffs resignedly. “I guess. But, y’know, speaking of dating…” She shifts her gaze to pin me down, and I do my best to hide the awkwardness gripping me. “A little while ago, Aqua, a certain someone told me her relationship with you ‘isn’t a reality-dating romance anymore’. Is that true?”

“When did she say that?” I ask. Also, it sounds like Arima hasn’t heard that Akane and I…

At my response, Arima’s face brightens with pleasant, slightly smug surprise. “The second evening we were in Takachiho, at the hot spring.”

“I see,” I say. “We were serious then, but we broke up a week ago today.”

Mem’s mouth drops open. “You broke up?! So that’s why you didn’t post any Christmas date photos?”

Arima is clearly forcing herself not to smile. “W-Well, in that case, I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

I know where things are headed from here. Without LoveNow or Akane in the way, Arima will want to get closer to me. To be with me, despite the danger. To go on dinner dates in private rooms, to kiss and cuddle and someday go further where the public eye can’t see.

I could – hypothetically – let her. I could trust her to handle the risk. I could… We could…

“Now I know that in this pitch-black world, someone’s been struggling right along with me.”

“A teenage boy and girl escape from the prison of school together, and what do they do? Play a laid-back game of catch in the park!”

“I mean, why not? The freedom to love is a basic human right.”

Except… I can’t truly buy into that dream anymore. Even if Arima wasn’t an idol…

“Do you have middle-school main character syndrome? Grow out of that fast, all right?”

“Arima helped me get my emotions in order. I’m in her debt.”

“You’re doing things just like a rich thirty-ish industry insider would!”

Arima is my friend. I always end up having fun when I’m with her. But at the same time, I’ve been keeping important parts of myself from her – parts that any romantic partner of mine should know and understand, from a perspective that can compare to my own. That’s something I can’t demand of a non-reincarnated teenager – even a relatively independent one like Arima – and trying to string her along until her perspective grows enough would be even worse. I want to chase my own happiness, but… I’ve got no business being selfish or shortsighted about it. I need to say to Arima what I’ve been putting off for too long already.

“Thanks, Arima,” I reply. “Although, I should be clear with you… The reason I turned out not to be compatible with Akane… is also a reason I wouldn’t be compatible with you.”

Arima’s face falls into worried confusion. “H-Huh? What do you – ” Then, she hits me with a wide-eyed stare. “No. No way. All this time, have you really been…?!”

Wait. Has Arima been suspecting my past life as an adult, like Akane did? I did talk about it vaguely in the park that one time, but I thought she brushed it off as some sort of fantasy. Did my plan for our outing a couple weeks ago make her reconsider? I really didn’t think people would be so quick to treat such a clearly supernatural phenomenon as a real possibility, but…

“I’m… sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” is all I can think to say to Arima.

She sighs, her head and shoulders drooping. “It’s okay. I can understand if… if it was something you were trying to ignore. To fit in, and all that.”

I mean… it’s true that the secrets I carry in this life – my reincarnation among them – have often made me feel distanced from my peers. Certainly, my social life would be a lot simpler if I wasn’t reincarnated. I suppose that’s part of why I’ve tried in the past to convince myself it didn’t matter.

“You’re not wrong,” I reply sheepishly.

Arima just gives a slow nod.

I glance at Mem, a look of utter bafflement on her face as her gaze swivels from Arima to me and back. Should I try and fill her in? How would I – ?

“Well, I’m glad to know the truth about you, Aqua,” Arima says, putting on an easygoing smile as she clasps her hands crosswise at her waist. “And I want to assure you I’m not going anywhere as your friend.”

“That’s… very kind of you,” I say, smiling back. I wonder what she imagines I was like before. I should probably tell her sometime when it’s just the two of us.

Arima blushes a little. “My pleasure. And hey, if you ever get a boyfriend, you should introduce him to me!”

Boyfriend – ?

Oh.

“I’m not gay,” I say, suddenly feeling stupid. But what gave her the impression – ?

Arima’s face turns much redder, now with embarrassment. “B-But I thought – at Director Gotanda’s place – I told you the guys in the Sweet Today drama were all really cute, and you let me pitch you right away – What have we been talking about, then?!”

“Uh…” I really don’t know how to respond. Maybe I should’ve just played along with the “gay” thing.

“Wait a minute,” Mem says, frowning and cupping her chin with fingers in an L-shape. She approaches me and shifts herself around to scrutinize my face from different angles. “Aqu-tan, you aren’t faking your age at all, are you?”

“He isn’t like you, Mem,” Arima interjects. “I acted with him when we were both, like, three.”

“Ohh, right, you did, didn’t you?” Mem says, dropping the suspicious body language and backing away. “In that case, I’m stumped.”

“I’m going to exercise my right to privacy and ask that we drop this subject,” I say. Inelegant, but I can’t think of any better options when I doubt they’d believe the truth.

“Fair enough,” Mem says. “Sorry for that, Aqu-tan.”

“No worries,” I say with a shrug. I especially can’t blame her when she had more or less the right idea.

Arima still looks mystified, but she doesn’t argue. After we all spend a couple seconds in silence, she just says: “Well, Mem and I were just leaving, so… see you later, Aqua?”

“See you later,” I concur. With no objections from Mem either, I step past the two of them onto the stairs.

As I climb away, though, I hear Arima whisper to Mem, not quite as quiet as she must think: “Okay, but seriously, what’s this issue of his? Does he have something against dating actresses? Or… is Kurokawa going to copy me again and become an idol?”

Curious, I come to a stop just past the stairs and listen, picking up Mem’s response. “What do you mean ‘copy you again’?”

Arima chuckles. “Next time we’re here, I’ll bring a certain book and you can see with your own eyes.”

“I’ll, uh, look forward to it,” Mem says bemusedly. After that, all I can hear is them getting their outdoor clothes on.

It seems like Arima isn’t too distressed about the mystery of my “issue,” thankfully. I do hope we’ll be able to move forward smoothly from here as friends – at least the kind of friends who see each other around school, or their agency’s office, or who work together sometimes. After all, even if we’re both agreed it’s platonic, just being out and about will only get riskier.

Speaking of public perception, though… that conversation reminded me that a certain someone and I have a bandage to rip off, and sooner is probably better at this point.

Akane

Aqua: Can we set up a time to talk? We need to decide how to announce our breakup.

Chapter Text

- Akane -

I’ve sat myself down on a small-town retail street, in the shade of an umbrella table, for the phone call Aqua-kun and I have planned. I could get more privacy inside, but I’m on Kauai for the afternoon, so there aren’t many other Japanese-speakers around anyway – and mainly, I think these surroundings help ground me. The sun, the breeze, the Americans passing by without paying me much mind… it feels better than trapping myself alone in a room with my fears. Especially when they have to include Aqua-kun sensing the shadow of the things I know – the things I’ve seen – that I’m keeping from him.

I’m taking a sip of the sweet iced tea I bought down the street when my phone rings. I swipe to answer, raise the phone to my ear – and speak out loud to Aqua-kun for the first time since I ended our romance.

“Hey, Aqua-kun,” I say – my voice not quite cheerful, but warm.

“Hey, Akane,” he replies, and I think I hear my sentiment returned in his own subtle way. “Sorry for interrupting your vacation.”

“No, no, it’s fine.” Really, it’s my fault for not getting this ball rolling sooner – and the investigation has kind of steered this trip away from relaxation anyway. “Happy new year, by the way.”

“Thanks,” he says. “It’s still the 1st where you are, right? Are you doing anything for it?”

“Mm-hmm,” I say. “There’s actually a shrine on Oahu about twenty minutes from our hotel. My parents and I stopped by this morning.”

“Is that so?” he says. “It’s nice that there’s enough demand for a place like that.”

“Yeah, totally,” I say.

There’s silence for a few seconds… and I can feel the moment’s warmth draining away.

“So,” Aqua-kun says soberly.

“…So,” I agree. “The breakup announcement.”

After my incident on LoveNow, I’ve tried my best to cut down on ego-searching. I usually don’t even scroll too far down in the comments on my own posts. But even so, I know that a small number of people remain who haven’t forgiven or forgotten what I did to Yuki-chan. People who sense a deep rot in me, and who take every chance they can get to voice and justify that perception. When they learn that things didn’t work out between Aqua-kun and me, I’m sure they’ll try to use it as a smoking gun in their case against me. And as much as I can control it, I don’t want people to believe them.

“When we write the post…” I continue. “Is it okay if we say we’re still friends, and there aren’t any hard feelings?”

“Of course,” he says. “And for what it’s worth, there’s no lie there on my end.”

“Same here,” I say, relieved.

“From what I’ve seen of celebrity breakup announcements,” Aqua-kun says, “they go over best when they signal that the breakup is amicable, but if they lay it on too thick, it feeds suspicions of dishonesty. So let’s aim for something positive but short.”

“Makes sense,” I say. “Although, I don’t know if this would count as laying it on too thick, but I’ve been thinking… Saying you’re on good terms is easy, but acting like it is at least a little harder, right? So if we want to be believed… would it help to meet up and take a photo or two together to add to the post? Not with a romantic vibe, but just a friendly one? I’d understand if that’d be tricky with a boy and girl who’ve officially been a couple, but…”

“I think we could manage it,” Aqua-kun says with casual confidence. “When are you free?”

“I’ve got plenty of spare time on Monday and Tuesday before school starts up again,” I say, relaxing a bit. It’s time that I should be using to dig into a certain someone, but there’s enough to share. “What about you?”

“I’m the same,” Aqua-kun says. “Let’s text each other the hours after this. I’m sure we’ll find some overlap.”

“Sounds good,” I say. “Thanks for taking the time to do this, Aqua-kun.”

“It’s a good plan,” Aqua-kun says. “People may know we’re actors, but they’ll still intuitively give more credence to what we visually show them. And you’re right that the cooperative action required for the photo will be a signal in itself.”

I let out a soft giggle. “Leave it to you to explain what I was thinking better than I could.” Has he read up on psychology too, or is he just putting into words what experience has taught him?

“Well, the last time we talked, you recognized how I felt about my past life before I did,” Aqua-kun replies, a surprising hint of mirth in his tone. “So does this make us even? Or am I looking at it the wrong way again?”

I know Aqua-kun said he didn’t have hard feelings, but it jars me to hear something like that from him with the breakup still so recent. “Aqua-kun, you don’t…” I begin concernedly, trying to find the right phrasing. “If you’re not comfortable joking about it yet, you don’t have to…”

“Akane, it’s fine,” Aqua-kun says, his voice calm and earnest. “You were right. I was expecting things of you that I shouldn’t have been.”

Of course. That’s just like him, isn’t it? I find myself smiling fondly through my concern. “Still, I hope you can find real love someday. You deserve it, you know.”

“Thanks, Akane,” Aqua-kun says – and I can’t be sure whether he believes it, but at the very least, I hope he comes to.

Another quiet few seconds later, I’m about to ask if we should end the call – but then Aqua-kun speaks again. “I’ve… wondered from time to time. How and why were Ruby-chan and I reborn with our memories intact? Are we the only ones like this? Or are there others?”

It’s a struggle to keep my lips sealed about the mysterious girl Ruby-chan told me about, but I try my best to simulate ignorance. “Well, Ruby-chan used to dream about being reborn as a celebrity’s child, right? She told me about it last Tuesday. Did you have any dreams like that in your past life?” As I speak, I lower my voice and quickly re-scan my surroundings for other Japanese people, not wanting to get caught sounding crazy.

“No,” Aqua-kun replies. “She was definitely the one with those sorts of fantasies, not me. I mean, I suppose I wondered what it’d be like to be an actor or a voice actor every now and then. And sometimes I regretted caving about my medical specialization, at least before…” He trails off. “But people die with unfulfilled wishes all the time and don’t get reincarnated, so it has to be something beyond that.”

“That’s true,” I say. “And Takachiho is a place of mythical importance, but its population is around 11,000, right? If regrets were enough to be reborn even just there, it couldn’t stay secret.”

“Yeah,” Aqua-kun says. “But anyway… I had a thought recently. If somehow I met a reincarnated girl who was about my age now, and who died at an age not too far from mine…”

I smile sympathetically. “Then you’d match in both ways.”

“Exactly,” Aqua-kun says. “Although, I have no idea how I’d look for someone like that. If I talked about my past life under my public identity, I’d be ridiculed. If I did it anonymously, I’d be ignored. Strangers claiming to remember past lives could be lying or delusional. And even if real ones existed and I found a girl with the right ages, there’s no guarantee we’d be compatible beyond that.” He sighs quietly. “It’s probably a better plan to just wait until my body matches my life experience better.”

First Ruby-chan wondering about Himekawa, and now Aqua-kun dreaming of this… Their reincarnation really does seem isolating, just like the secret of their parentage. And yet they spent so long keeping their past identities even from each other… Did I open a psychological Pandora’s Box by digging them up?

“Maybe that’s right,” I say to Aqua-kun. “But when it comes to that part of you… I’m glad you and Ruby-chan at least have each other.”

Aqua-kun hums in acknowledgement. “We didn’t take much advantage of it before last Tuesday. But that change was thanks to you, wasn’t it?”

“It was a side effect of me, anyway,” I say – though I’m still flattered. “I hope it was for the best.”

“Well, we are who we are whether or not we talk about it,” Aqua-kun says with just a touch of melancholy. “So I think it was.”

“I’m happy to hear it,” is all I figure I need to say.

After another short silence, Aqua-kun moves to wrap us up. “So, see you on Monday or Tuesday?”

“Yep,” I say. “Thanks again, Aqua-kun.”

“For sure. Bye, Akane.”

“Goodbye.”

I hang up, refresh my throat with a few sips of my gradually warming iced tea, and then open my phone calendar to pin down my availability on Monday and Tuesday. There’s still plenty left to do, and plenty of uncertainty about the outcome, but I feel like I can breathe just a little easier with what Aqua-kun and I have worked out.

And, of course, my secrets with Ruby-chan remain safe – as does the discovery that I haven’t shared even with her quite yet. But share it I will; she’s placed her trust in me, and I’ve got no good reason to risk losing it now.

My chance to fill Ruby-chan in comes late that night, in the form of another video call I planned with her a couple days in advance. With my parents having long since gone to bed in the next hotel room over, I queue up a certain video in my laptop browser, start a call room, and message Ruby-chan the link.

Soon enough, Ruby-chan once again appears at what must be her bedroom desk, dressed casually in a cream-colored hoodie. “Hey, Akane-chan,” she opens – though it looks like her nerves are starting to act up. Maybe it’s something she can read on my face.

“Hey, Ruby-chan,” I reply. I don’t ask how she’s doing; this probably isn’t a good time for general catching-up.

“…So,” Ruby-chan says. “You said you found things in the Lalalai recordings.”

“Yeah,” I say grimly. I find myself reluctant to elaborate – but after a couple seconds, I realize what I need to do about it. “Promise me you won’t do anything reckless.”

Ruby-chan’s eyes widen with building understanding, but her reply is unhesitant. “Cross my heart.”

I nod in acceptance. “Mainly… I found this.” I share my screen, open and fullscreen the video in my browser, and press Play.

The video shows a rehearsal of a scene from what seems to have been the Lalalai workshop production at the time, a historical drama set in the early postwar period. In this scene, a teenage brother and sister talk in their home before their parents return from work. Playing the sister is none other than Ai, fresh out of middle school judging by the rehearsal date. And the brother…

I don’t know exactly what Ruby-chan perceives here with no professional acting experience, but this boy is remarkable for his skill alone. He rivals Ai in eye-drawing charisma, but his movements and delivery carry more nuanced emotion at the same time. He plays masterfully off of Ai and even the stage layout itself; directors must have adored him. But one thing Ruby-chan has to notice is that, short stature and pin-straight hair aside, he bears a striking physical resemblance to Aqua-kun.

Ruby-chan stays silent throughout the three-minute video and even for a few seconds after I end the screen share, looking almost transfixed through her camera – but as she finishes digesting the sight, her face contorts with bitterness and pain. “Who is he?”

“His name’s Hikaru Kamiki,” I say. “Born July 27th, 20XX-32. I looked him up, and he has his own production company now.”

“Hikaru Kamiki…” Ruby-chan repeats, her voice barely above a whisper. “So it’s all true. We got the connections right the first time.”

“Well, most of the connections for sure,” I say. “The issue is, our evidence linking Kamiki to Ai and Amamiya’s murders is still fairly weak. We’ve got Aqua-kun’s belief that your father was the accomplice, our own ideas about why that would make sense, and the Takachiho girl’s claims about the middle schooler – but nothing more concrete than that.”

Ruby-chan gives an annoyed frown. “But, like… who else could it be? When everything lines up like this…”

“It’s true that suspecting anyone else would be pure speculation right now,” I admit. “But… honestly, I don’t trust the Takachiho girl. How do we know that she – or anyone she might be working with – isn’t trying to frame Kamiki for their own purposes? And…” Talking it through now, something’s occurred to me. “Maybe this is out there, but… can we even rule out the possibility that her faction is behind the murders? I mean, they know the secret of Ai’s pregnancy and where she gave birth, don’t they? And we don’t know who they are, what they want, how they know what they know…”

“…I guess you’ve got a point,” Ruby-chan concedes. “But if we need more evidence to tell whether Kamiki did it… where are we going to look for it?”

“Well, to start, I haven’t dug that thoroughly into the information about him online yet,” I say. “Beyond the normal kind of searches I’ve done already, you can research a person through archives of webpages that’ve since been changed or deleted. Old social media posts and profiles, mentions by past employers or schools, that kind of thing.”

Ruby-chan’s giving me a strange look. “Have you done this before?”

“Only a couple times, but I’d like to think I’m decent at it,” I say, a little bashfully. “But also, maybe more promisingly… You know about Kindaichi-san from Lalalai, right? He’s been part of the troupe since its founding, so he must have known Kamiki personally. For several years, in fact, including his secret romance with Ai, since the recordings he’s in span all that time. Lalalai’s next practice session is this coming Wednesday, and after we’re done, I’ll try and get Kindaichi-san’s ear. I’ll bring up Kamiki in the context of Aqua-kun’s parentage, but I won’t go into more sensitive things like Taiki Himekawa’s parentage or the murder investigation, and I’ll see how much I can get Kindaichi-san to tell me. With all of this, I’m mainly looking for distinct evidence of a motive, or a connection with Ryousuke Sugano, or ideally both.”

Judging by Ruby-chan’s expression, I might’ve inadvertently given her more things to feel uneasy about. “If Kindaichi-san knew Kamiki, and he directed the Tokyo Blade play with Onii-chan in it… do you think he’s known who our father is for months all along? I mean, just looking at the two of them…”

“He probably has.” It’s a disconcerting thought for me too, honestly. “But I can understand him not bringing it up to Aqua-kun unprompted – especially if he knows or suspects what Airi Himekawa did back then, and doesn’t see any good in bringing it closer to light.”

Ruby-chan hums with displeased acceptance. “And when you talk to him… you’ll make sure not to let slip who our mom is, right?”

“Absolutely,” I say. “It’s still a promise.” Although I wouldn’t be surprised if he already suspects that too.

Ruby-chan nods. “Let’s go with that plan, then.”

“I’ll tell you everything I find, of course,” I add.

With that, I manage to bring a hint of a smile to Ruby-chan’s face. “Thanks, Akane-chan.”

After a couple-second pause, Ruby-chan seems to recall something. “Oh, and I wanted to ask you…” She reaches toward the side of her desk and holds up the Ai-themed keychain ornament she showed me last week. “Onii-chan doesn’t know I have this, but is there any reason I can’t share it with him now?”

I take a moment to think. “It’s not a potential source of evidence for us, right? You only brought it to my house to help illustrate what happened in Takachiho? You’d need a story about why you didn’t mention it to Aqua-kun sooner after you learned his identity, though…”

Ruby-chan smiles coyly. “I’ll just say it’s been part of my surprise plan for a certain special occasion.”

I have no idea what she’s referencing, but she seems confident enough that I don’t pry. “In that case, go ahead.”

“Cool,” Ruby-chan says, setting the ornament back down. “So, let’s meet again later?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I’ll let you know how things go on Wednesday.”

“Thanks,” Ruby-chan says. “Enjoy the last little bit of your trip, too.”

I’m actually planning to try and squeeze in a bit more Kamiki research here when my parents and I aren’t out and about – but to Ruby-chan, I just flash an appreciative smile and say, “I will.” With only a smile of her own in response, I end the call.

It’s very late in this time zone, and I should get to bed soon – but instead of closing my laptop just yet, I find myself pulling the video I shared back up and seeking through it, pausing on a frame with both Ai and Kamiki’s faces clearly in view.

At this point, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if what Airi Himekawa did – or rather, Lalalai’s leadership discovering it – is the reason why they stopped holding workshops, the reason Kindaichi-san apparently doesn’t want Taiki Himekawa to know. And if so, I’m sure he wouldn’t want me to know either. But if Lalalai has a skeleton like this in its closet – even one they’re only to blame for failing to prevent at most – I am glad I know about it now. Especially since it might well be a piece of a hidden reality bigger and deadlier than Kindaichi-san realizes.

And as much as the truth disgusts me, I can’t help but feel a swell of pride laying eyes on it. Finally, proof that Ruby-chan and I haven’t just been chasing ghosts this whole time. Proof that I was right to doubt Aqua-kun’s conclusion about his parentage, right to suspect Airi Himekawa, right to consider that the father of Ai’s children might not have been an adult predator but himself a past victim.

Just like I was right to imagine that Ai had secret children in the first place. And just like I was right to investigate whether, against all common sense, Aqua-kun and Ruby-chan had lived other lives before they were born to Ai.

It’s one thing to score high on an academic test meant as a fair challenge for people your age. It’s one thing to solve a recreational puzzle by reaching a clever insight left for you by a cleverer designer. It’s something very different to unravel real mysteries and help people learn important truths about the lives and deaths of their loved ones.

Maybe acting isn’t my only valuable skill after all.

Chapter Text

- Kana -

“B-Komachi-san, you’re clear to go out,” the stage technician tells us.

“Got it!” Ruby answers from beside me. This has to be around our tenth mini-concert, but she looks as excited as before the first one; maybe the imminent POP IN 2 debut is what’s behind it. Mem and I join in with nods of confirmation, and a second later we jog out single-file into the glow of the eight-meter-wide stage, giving the dimly lit crowd our best cheerful waves as always.

Any given mini-concert audience samples only a few dozen of our fans, but patterns still show up in the colors of their chosen lightsticks. The selection tonight looks about the same as last time: out of every ten sticks, let’s say five are yellow, three red, and two white. Ruby and I have both been gaining on Mem since JIF, but I’ve been stuck in last place the whole time. For the center, that can’t bode well.

Coming to a stop at the stage’s midpoint, though, my eyes catch on a face in the front row that makes my heart skip a beat. Is that really – ?

As we strike the opening pose of Our Sign is B and launch into the routine on the backing track’s cue, I let part of my attention stay on the sight. For the first time since JIF, Aqua’s in our audience – and though he’s in sync with the crowd instead of going for any extravagant dance moves, he’s once again waving red and yellow lightsticks in one hand and a white one alone in the other. Plus, he’s got a chest-length lanyard around his neck, holding what looks like a keychain ornament in a clear plastic sleeve? I can’t make out the ornament’s details from up here, so I’ve got no idea what that’s about.

What’s Aqua’s game with this sudden reappearance? Is he congratulating us on the song debut? Does he just happen to be in the mood for one of our concerts? Or… is he trying to soften the blow he dealt me on Tuesday? Tell me he still likes me the way he likes Ruby and Mem, even if he doesn’t want to be with me?

I still don’t know why he thinks we’d be incompatible. Part of me hopes it’s just something circumstantial – something that won’t be a problem forever. Could that be why my lightstick is the one he’s holding by itself? Is it his way of telling me I’m special to him?

But… what he said to me on Tuesday wasn’t “not now.” It was just “no.” And if the reason’s only temporary, why was he so cagey about it? I’m finding it harder and harder to escape the sinking feeling that… he just doesn’t want me that way.

Aqua, you idiot. Didn’t you realize how I’d see everything you’ve done for me? Didn’t you care? Why’d you get me so worked up for nothing?

But that… probably isn’t fair to you, is it? It sounded on Tuesday like you’ve had a struggle of your own, coming to terms with… whatever this compatibility issue is. And all the kindness you’ve shown me… maybe it isn’t anything special you see in me. Maybe you really are just a kind person.

So that’s it, huh? I’m your friend, but nothing more. I’ll never turn all your lightsticks white. I’ll never be your only star.

…Then why, again, am I up on this stage? Why am I sacrificing potential acting jobs to prance around in a frilly costume and sing tooth-rotting pop to an audience of like eighty percent socially stunted grown men? At least Ruby and Mem are the kind of freaks who actually like this stuff. I’m just a grumpy, cynical, foul-mouthed, nasty-tempered pain in the ass with nothing endearing about me. I mean, is it any wonder Aqua –

No. I can’t afford to think like this – not now. After all, I do still have at least one reason to be here, don’t I?

Ruby, Mem, President Miyako – they’ve all put their trust in me to help make this group a success. And even if I’m the least popular member, I’ve still managed to get us some fans. I may not have what it takes to really shine here, but I swear that if there’s one thing I can do, it’s put in the work for people who have use for me.

And hey, at least being Kana Arima of B-Komachi is better than being Kana Arima the washed-up child star. Without this jolt to my image, I can’t be sure I’d be anywhere better now than I was before the Sweet Today job.

We’re just about done with Our Sign is B by now. After the backing track’s last note fades out and we spend a few seconds holding the ending pose for the audience to cheer and clap, Ruby springs back to life for some of her trademark crowd interaction. “Thank you for the amazing welcome, everyone! Are you all having fun tonight?!”

More cheers erupt from the crowd. Aqua just smiles and holds his lightsticks high.

As the noise starts dying down again, though, I take the chance to jump in. “Well, we’re just getting started! Next up, are you all ready to be the very first to hear our new song?!” I allow myself some pride at how loud the crowd roars.

“Awesome!” Mem follows up. “Now, get those swinging arms prepared for ‘POP IN 2’!”

I don’t know how much longer I’ll be an idol for – how much longer I’ll be more of an asset than a liability to this group. But first and foremost, I’m an actress – and while I have this role, I’ll play it as well as I can.

- Akane -

Standing on the roadside in front of Seina-chan’s house, I’m practically bouncing on my heels waiting for her to meet me. The instant she opens her front door, I call out to her with a wide grin: “Seina-chan, guess what?!”

“What?” she calls back as she closes the door behind her, a smile growing on her own face.

I hold out my phone with the screen facing toward her. “I got in!”

Seina-chan jogs over to me along the path from her doorstep, eyes fixed on my screen – though she doesn’t need to read it to know what I’m talking about. “To UTokyo?! Tsuba-chan, you really did it?”

“I really did!” I reply. “I saw the offer when I woke up this morning.”

Seina-chan’s just standing and peering at the offer letter on my screen now, looking almost dumbfounded. After a few seconds, I give her a playful verbal nudge: “You didn’t doubt me that much, did you?”

“It’s not you, it’s the maniacs you must’ve been competing with,” Seina-chan says with a shake of her head. “But seriously – this is amazing! Congratulations!” As she speaks, she takes my free hand in both of hers and squeezes it.

I squeeze back, cheeks warming with affection. “Thanks, Seina-chan.”

As I return my phone to my shoulder bag, the two of us begin our usual walk to school, following the course of the river that flows through town. We’ve done this hundreds of times, but this close to graduation, I could count on my fingers how many more chances we’ll get.

“Biology at UTokyo…” Seina-chan muses, still sounding a little awed. “You’ve really come a long way from catching bugs around here, huh?”

“I guess so,” I say with a chuckle.

Seina-chan smiles slightly in response. “After you leave, keep in touch, okay? Mikigawa’s gonna feel that much less lively without you around.”

“Oh, of course!” I say, as if she needed to ask. “We’ll call all the time. I’ll tell you all about Tokyo, and you can tell me what it’s like to be a real working adult!”

“Sounds like a plan,” Seina-chan says. She reaches up to give my shoulder a friendly rub. “And show those city folk some Mikigawa pride for me, will you?”

That gets another laugh out of me. “I will.”

(Exeunt from stage right; end scene.)

“How was that?” I ask Mei-san.

“Well…” she says, pointer finger brushing her chin. “You definitely conveyed Tsubasa’s excitement better this time, but the mannerisms still feel a lit-tle weak.” She holds her finger and thumb slightly apart for emphasis. “I know you want to stay articulate, but you’ve got room for that and some rawer passion, you know?”

The play this scene is from, Fraying, is a bittersweet-at-best story about two childhood friends growing apart despite their care for one another as the differences in their values become irreconcilable. When Lalalai performed it three years ago, I cried the first time I read Tsubasa and Seina’s final goodbye in the script, even though I knew I wouldn’t be responsible for either role. But here in this practice session, I’m revisiting the play’s first scene to work on a different side of my emotional range – and Mei-san, who played Tsubasa back then, is being kind enough to help me.

I nod attentively as I process Mei-san’s feedback. “I think I get what you mean. Can we try… maybe just my first line again?”

“Sure,” Mei-san says. “You want to get into position?”

“Yeah,” I say.

The two of us walk back over to the agreed-upon “stage left” on our side of the studio, Mei-san stepping into the wing in advance of her entrance while I withdraw my phone for prop use. Once we’re both ready, I take a second to try and immerse myself as deeply as possible into my acting mindset – Tsubasa’s mindset.

The tense wait for the UTokyo entrance exam results is over – and I did it! All my hours of studying have paid off, and my dreams are within my grasp! And right now, I want nothing more than to share my elation with my very best friend.

And here she is now! “Seina-chan, guess what?!”

Mei-san frowns a little. “‘Fraid that was about the same as last time. It seems like you’re still being over-cautious out of habit.”

“…Maybe so,” I reply. If trying to feel the feelings more pervasively didn’t help, then maybe it really is down to how I approach expressing them. I can convincingly portray all sorts of emotions – anxiety, contempt, casual cheerfulness – but this kind of sheer enthusiasm is one that my roles have rarely demanded of me. I was right to think I needed more practice, especially…

“Don’t mock me! Just who do ya think I am?!”

…compared to her.

I glance at the clock on the studio wall. “One more try at that line?”

“You got it,” Mei-san says, returning to the wing.

This time, alongside mentally getting into character, I run myself through my takeaways from Mei-san’s advice. Don’t worry so much about staying comprehensible, staying in control. Be expressive! Raw passion!

I call out to Seina-chan as soon as she opens her door – “Seina-chan guesswhat?!”

Mei-san guiltily stifles a giggle, imitating a soft cough into her hand. “Well, that one was definitely nice and expressive! The raised fists especially were a striking choice. But I think you swung the pendulum a bit too far with the vocal delivery.”

Oh. I did make fists, didn’t I? Or clutched my phone tightly, in my right hand’s case. And I raised them up to my chest in excitement… I feel like people see that as a cute, childish kind of mannerism, so I wouldn’t have consciously picked it for a subtly proud character like Tsubasa. That’s another thing I’ll need to reassert some control over.

“Yeah, I noticed that last part,” I say out loud to Mei-san – sheepish, but smiling a little to make sure I don’t worry her.

“It can be a tricky balance to strike,” Mei-san says sympathetically. “But I’m sure you’ll get it if you keep working at it.”

“I hope so,” I say, beginning to step toward the coat rack against one wall. I haven’t even started practicing integrating this type of emotional expression with the charm I’ve been imitating from Ai, so I have a long way yet to go. “Thanks again for everything, Mei-san.”

It looks like Mei-san’s joining me on the walk to the coat rack, instead of trying to fit anything into the few minutes before practice is officially over. “My pleasure, as always. So, you got plans after this?”

“I just want to catch Kindaichi-san before he leaves,” I say. “It’s… a long story why.”

“I see.” Mei-san looks curious, but she thankfully isn’t prying. “Well, uh… I hope he’s helpful.”

“Thanks,” I say. For Ruby-chan and Aqua-kun’s sake, I hope so too – and I’ll do my best to make it happen.

The Tokyo Blade play was apparently a big success financially, so for this practice session, Lalalai splurged on renting two studio rooms to give us more physical and auditory space for self-directed practice in small groups. After Mei-san and I exit the room labeled Studio C, retrieve our outdoor shoes, and wave goodbye, I plant myself just outside Studio D where Kindaichi-san is supervising, my coat and scarf draped over my shoulders in case I don’t end up leaving the warm indoors anytime soon. I’ve already given a fair amount of thought to how I’ll broach the subject of Kamiki and what questions I’ll try to ask, but while waiting here, I find myself nervously turning the situation over and running yet more scenarios in my head.

Before too long, the troupe members in Studio D begin trickling out. Ryouma-san glances at me inquisitively; I just flash him a casual “everything’s fine” smile. And then, bringing up the rear is… Kindaichi-san. Here goes.

I meet Kindaichi-san’s eyes and step over to his side as he closes the studio door behind him. Before I get a chance to speak, though, he goes first, lowering his voice for privacy: “Oh, Kurokawa. I saw your Instagram post yesterday. Sorry about you and Hoshino.”

“I-It’s fine, really,” I say, thrown off just a little. “But actually… I wanted to talk to you about something important related to Aqua-kun. See, he’s told me he never knew his father, and while I was watching old rehearsal recordings last week, I saw – ”

“ – Kamiki,” Kindaichi-san finishes, melancholy resignation on his face. “Is that right?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Aqua-kun’s never mentioned him, and I don’t think he’s from Aqua-kun’s mother’s side of the family, so…”

Kindaichi-san nods. “Kamiki was close with a girl about his age who joined us for a couple workshop productions in the right timeframe. When I saw Aqua Hoshino’s face for the first time, I wasn’t that surprised he existed. If he wants to know who his father is, I think you’ve found what he’s looking for.”

“I see,” I say. “Do you know why Kamiki isn’t in the Hoshino family picture? Aqua-kun’s mother… unfortunately passed away before she could tell him the story herself.” Which Kindaichi-san has to know already – but he isn’t explicitly naming Ai either, and for what it’s worth, I did make a promise to Ruby-chan.

“Well… if the Hoshinos never even called with Kamiki, the breakup might’ve been messy,” Kindaichi-san says. “But I don’t know the details. The kids would probably have to go to Kamiki himself for that.”

I give a thoughtful nod as I choose my next line of questioning. “Kamiki’s acting was really amazing in the later recordings with him I saw. He must be one of the best teenage actors Lalalai’s ever had, right? But I couldn’t find him in a single recording past 20XX-16 or so, and he’s got no publicly credited roles elsewhere after that either. Do you know why he just… dropped off the acting map so young like that?”

Kindaichi-san exhales and folds his arms. “I can’t speak to his career as a whole. But with Lalalai… to make a long story short, he didn’t end up having a good social experience here.”

“Oh,” I say concernedly (though it’s really just confirmation for me). “I’m sorry to hear it. Did he at least make some lasting connections here, or did he just cut himself off completely?”

“The second one, more or less,” Kindaichi-san says. “At least, as far as I know. Although now that he runs his own agency, he sends flowers whenever a Lalalai member wins a major award. Sooner or later, you might get some yourself.”

He likes sending flowers. It could be totally coincidental, but… “What kinds of flowers does he send?”

Kindaichi-san raises his eyebrows slightly. “They’re always white roses, as it happens. Are you into flower symbolism?”

“A little, I guess,” I say with an awkward smile – because otherwise I’d be wide-eyed. “I’m sorry, Kindaichi-san. I’ve kept you for long enough, haven’t I?” As I speak, I try to push my racing thoughts aside and settle my face back into calm. “Thank you for telling me about Kamiki, and for indulging my curiosity about him as an actor.”

Kindaichi-san nods in acceptance. “Once you got close with Hoshino, this was really only a matter of time. I hope it helps answer his questions. But if he does contact Kamiki… please ask him to leave this conversation off the record. Kamiki’d probably take it as me gossiping behind his back.”

“I’ll pass that along to him,” I say. “Bye, Kindaichi-san. Thanks again.” I turn and start heading for the building’s exit, zipping up my coat and wrapping my scarf around my neck as I walk.

White roses. News articles in the wake of Ai’s murder said a bouquet of white roses was found at the scene with Ryousuke Sugano’s fingerprints on it. And for Kamiki to send those same flowers repeatedly since then… I can’t help but be reminded of a criminal’s calling card.

Plus, between what I’ve found online and the new info from Kindaichi-san, I’m filling in a picture of a potential motive. If teenage Kamiki lacked a robust social support network… if Ai was the only person he felt he could rely on… and if something led him to feel betrayed by her… he could have reacted very destructively.

Of course, this still isn’t proof of Kamiki’s guilt. And the flipside of the motive hints is that I’m out of good leads on living people who were close to Kamiki back then. So I guess it’s like Kindaichi-san said – the only place left to take this investigation is directly to the suspect.

Chapter Text

- Aqua -

Heilig looks around stunned at the corpses of the mysterious canine monsters surrounding him – and then at the scraggly young man who just felled them. “Identify yourself,” he commands, pointing his sword at the stranger.

The youth gives him an annoyed look. “Is that how you say ‘thank you’? Paladins, I swear.”

Heilig holds his sword arm steady. “That magic you used against the beasts was wild magic, was it not? Everyone in the kingdom knows it’s outlawed.” The power of nature is chaotic and willful. It can betray its wielder at any time – endangering not only them, but everyone and everything around.

“Well, clearly I know what I’m doing,” the youth retorts, gesturing at the corpses. “And your holy magic wasn’t making a scratch.”

That’s the truth, as much as it confounds Heilig. And he can’t be sure whether his sword and armor alone would have pulled him through.

“Look, if you’re on the road through these parts, you must be heading to Coteau, right?” the youth says. “I am, too. Why don’t we travel together? Even I could use someone to watch my back.”

Heilig might not have a choice if more of that kind of monster lurks around here – but they aren’t the only potential threat. “Why should I trust that this isn’t a ploy to rob me?” he says to the youth, eyes narrowed.

The youth hesitates, then gives a resigned sigh. “Tell you what. We’re not gonna reach the next town by sundown, so when we camp out tonight, you take first watch. If you really don’t trust me, use a binding spell on me in my sleep. Drag me back to the queen herself for my ‘dangerous’ sorcery if you want.”

This boldness disconcerts Heilig. Is it a trick? But… more likely is that the young man isn’t ill-intentioned at heart. Just arrogant and reckless.

Heilig sheathes his sword. “If you keep your word, I give you mine that you’ll go free.”

The youth’s face brightens as he turns to the road ahead. “That’s more like it. Now, let’s get moving again!”

The two set off along the forest-straddled road, the youth slightly restraining his pace to match the more encumbered Heilig.

“What’s your name, young man?” Heilig asks – hoping it won’t be deflected as a question like it was as a command.

“You’re not exactly an elder yourself,” the youth replies teasingly, glancing again at Heilig’s face. “But my name’s Vrij. And yours?”

“Heilig,” Heiling says. He’d ordinarily introduce himself as Heilig of the Order of the Golden Lion, but something tells him the formality would be worse than pointless here.

“Gotcha,” Vrij acknowledges. “While we’re on this journey, let’s get along, okay?”

Overlooking Vrij’s criminal acts like this, Heilig would already be breaking his code if not for his mission taking priority. He’d best not get too friendly.

“We’ll see,” is all he says to Vrij.

Screen actors are better acquainted than most with the gap between how your voice sounds from inside your own body and how it sounds to everyone else – and for voice actors, that must go double. But it’s the kind of thing you learn to compensate for in your performances – and playing back this take of the scene on my room’s desktop computer, I have to admit I’m proud of how it turned out. Heilig lands solidly deeper than my natural voice while maintaining readable emotional subtleties, and even Vrij’s lines are seamless enough that I can almost forget they’re just placeholders for the character I’m not trying out for.

The Alliance of the Paladin and the Outlaw is a respectably popular light novel series with a twelve-episode anime adaptation in the works, and a couple weeks ago the studio sent me an invitation to audition in-person specifically for Heilig; apparently, my performance as Touki in the Tokyo Blade stage play caught the ear of someone involved in casting. I do seem to have a knack for vocal impressions, and I’m curious enough about voice acting work to at least want to experiment with it, so accepting the offer was as easy a choice for me as it was a recommendation from Miyako-san. The audition’s tomorrow, but by now I feel about as ready for it as I can be. The only issue is that if I’m starting to get typecast as dutiful, protective sorts of characters… there’s a certain painful irony in that.

And for the time being, it’s another trigger for ghosts who haven’t quite accepted that their business is finished.

Is this fun for you? Is it fun to pretend you’re someone else? Someone who doesn’t have her blood on his hands?

We’ve been over this, I remind myself. There’s nothing else left to be done for Ai at this stage. If Ruby-chan and I don’t find positive things to achieve with our lives, then Ai died for nothing.

Don’t flatter yourself, you parasite. Ai didn’t die for you. She died because of you.

Enough. There’s no point in retreading this ground. Begone.

That’s the best strategy I’ve found for dispelling those thoughts. I can only hope that, if I keep refusing to indulge them, my tendency to fall into them will fade with time.

It’s getting late. If I want to be in top shape for the audition tomorrow, I should probably cut my practice here and start winding down for bed. I close my recording software and power my computer off, stretching as I stand up from my desk chair.

Until I’m rested, I’ll try to keep my thoughts on subjects other than acting.

The audition’s being held in a three-story concrete brick of a building in Suginami, about forty-five minutes from Youtou High by train. I’m missing the second half of the school day for this, and even though I don’t have much to worry about grades-wise, the bureaucracy of excusing the absence has made me start to regret forgoing the performing arts program with its more flexible schedule. (“I won’t become an actor,” I said. “It takes talent I don’t have,” I said.) Maybe I should look into whether there’s a way to transfer.

Once I reach the audition’s waiting room, I sit myself down in one of the black plastic chairs and use my phone to pull up the document of directions and scene scripts the studio sent for practice, recapping my ideas for line deliveries. Between the young men already in the room when I arrive and the ones who trickle in after me, it looks like I have about a half-dozen competitors for this role. I’m not that well-acquainted with the voice acting world, but I don’t recognize any of their faces – which is about what I expected given this production’s apparent budget. I do seem to be easily the youngest of them, though – physically, I mean, and probably in voice acting experience along with that – which fuels my slight nagging fear that I’m only here to meet some sort of quota for the number of auditioners. In case I’m a real contender, though, I did at least change from my uniform top into a normal white button-up before leaving school for professionalism’s sake.

At a couple minutes past 2 PM, a well-groomed, bespectacled woman who looks to be in her thirties steps into the waiting room. “Welcome to Studio Meteor, everyone,” she says with a slight bow and a generically polite smile. “Thank you for taking the time to visit us in-person for this audition.”

I join the loose chorus of “Thank you for having us” that crosses the room in response.

“I’m Miho Toyosu, sound director for the Paladin and the Outlaw anime,” she continues. “I’ll be taking turns with each of you in our recording studio today, for around ten minutes per person. First, I’d like to invite…”

Toyosu-san calls a name I don’t recognize, and one of the other auditioners follows her out of the room. True to her word, she returns at 2:15 for another of us, and so on. She ends up calling every other auditioner before me – and as I sit alone in the waiting room after my last competitor leaves, I find myself mouthing lines I’ve repeatedly reviewed in my head to distract myself from the reinforced worry that I don’t really belong.

Finally, at 3:12, Toyosu-san comes for me – though I can’t detect any resentment from her at having to bother. In fact, as we walk through the hall to the recording studio, there’s a slight spring in her step that I haven’t noticed before. Relief at being nearly done with the audition? Or am I just seeing things?

When Toyosu-san shows me into the studio, though, my confidence in my grip on reality falls even further – because across from the unoccupied standing microphone setup, there’s a second one manned by a face I’d never have expected to see on this project.

“Hey there, Hoshino,” Taiki Himekawa says with a small friendly wave. “Glad you decided to come.”

“Himekawa? What are you doing here?” A massively in-demand screen and stage actor, involved with a middling-budget anime like this? Maybe it was only a matter of time before our paths crossed again somewhere, but…

“As our story begins with an unexpected encounter, so does our audition,” Toyosu-san says, and I swear there’s a cheeky edge to her smile now. “The story’s centerpiece is the dynamic between the two leads, so you’ll be recording alongside Vrij’s voice actor today – and many more days, if you receive and accept the role.”

“Don’t think you’ve got this in the bag just because of our history together, though,” Himekawa adds with a familiar competitive gleam in his eye. “I’ve had a few good partners today before you, so give it your best shot.”

I can’t deny, these two have caught me completely off-guard. Did the studio invite Himekawa for the same reason they invited me? Or did Himekawa have something to do with their decision to invite me? And again, why did he decide to join the project in the first place?

“I can explain more later,” Himekawa says sympathetically, and I realize I’ve been frozen in confusion for a little too long. I step up to the unoccupied microphone, and Toyosu-san adjusts it for me and hands me a thin script booklet before taking a seat at a computer station off to the side of us actors.

“Let’s start with the scene adapted from near the beginning of Volume 1 Act 4, at the inn in Coteau’s capital,” Toyosu-san says. “That’s on page 9 of your script, Hoshino-san.”

I flip through to find the page, then scan the dialogue to refresh my memory while I wait for the command to begin. I’d wondered if we’d be starting from Heilig and Vrij’s first meeting, but maybe Toyosu-san wants something more representative of their dynamic in the bulk of the story.

“It’s best if you two spend at least part of the time making eye contact, Hoshino-san,” Toyosu-san says, gentle but confident. “Holding your script off-center just a bit below eye level works for most people.” Looking back up, I see Himekawa’s following her advice, using only his left hand to hold the script. I match him.

“I might ask for adjustments to your performance partway through,” Toyosu-san says. “But for now, take it away however feels natural.”

In the second before Himekawa delivers the scene’s first line, he looks as uncharacteristically cheerful as the night I told him we were half-brothers, after he’d cleared the air of the sordid truth about our father. It’s a feeling I don’t fully understand, and I’m not sure if I share. But if he really does value the familial tie between us – if he sees it as something more than a reminder of a painful past – then I’ll accept it, and choose to reciprocate.

Just like in Tokyo Blade, Himekawa transforms to the point of near-unrecognizability as he steps into his role, overwriting his expression with one of mild impatience. “So, success?” he asks with an informal, youthful affect.

I nod, then reply in Heilig’s low, serious register, pointedly not dignifying Vrij’s implicit criticism. “I have an audience with King Sommet tomorrow morning.”

“Awesome,” Vrij says. And then, with a subtle smile fit for an inside joke: “I’m coming with you.”

“You are not,” I say, knowing I’m in no position to stop him if he doesn’t listen.

“I’ll stay invisible around everyone else,” Vrij says, sounding a little offended that he has to reassure me. “While you’re occupying King Sommet and his elite guard, I’ll sneak around the castle and find where he’s hiding the Eye of Odin!”

“If you’re caught, Coteau is almost certain to consider it an act of war,” I say coldly. “Which is exactly what I’m here to diplomatically avert. And if King Sommet isn’t behind the Eye’s theft, you’ll be risking war for nothing.”

“He has it,” Vrij says with sober confidence, as if daring me to counterargue. “And besides, if this turns out to be a trap for you, you’re gonna need someone to bail you out.”

And so I fall into a rhythm with Himekawa. Vocal control, glancing at the script, the pressure to impress the casting staff – it all starts to turn transparent. We simply act together.

I don’t even pause to think about how much fun I’m having.

“Thank you again for coming, Hoshino-san,” Toyosu-san says brightly, standing up from her computer station after we’ve finished. “We’ll send you our decision early next week.”

“Thank you for considering me,” I say with a polite nod. I can’t tell for sure what my odds are, but… I do at least feel like a real contender now.

As I exit into the hallway behind my potential future co-lead, he pauses to let me catch up and says: “So, where are you headed after this?”

“Just back home,” I say. “School would be out by the time I got back, and I don’t have anything else this afternoon.”

“You going by train, or by taxi?” Himekawa asks.

“Train,” I say. “Why? You want to walk to the station together?”

The imperfectly hidden embarrassment on Himekawa’s face says my read was spot-on. “I mean, if you want to.”

I give a small chuckle. “Sure. Then I can hear that explanation you owe me.”

Himekawa reciprocates my smile. “Deal.”

After Himekawa stops off in the restroom and we both retrieve our coats, we return to the lobby and say our goodbyes to the receptionist. Before we leave the building, Himekawa puts on a face mask – presumably to obscure his identity – and I do the same with one in my coat pocket to be safe.

As we step out onto the sidewalk and set off toward the station, I ask: “So, how did you end up with that role?”

“I know, the whole thing surprised me too,” Himekawa says with an amused shake of his head. “See, there’s this producer, Naoki Terui-san, who does a lot of manga-anime-light novel stuff. Back when I was about twelve or thirteen, he brought me on to star in a 2.5D adaptation of School Hero Club, and that was kind of my first big break. And then a few weeks ago, he calls up my agency like, ‘Can I get Himekawa to voice one of the leads in this anime I’m working on?’ And none of us want to be the kind of people who don’t repay favors, I guess.”

I nod thoughtfully, a little ashamed I didn’t think of it myself given my dealings with Kaburagi. It still strikes me as an unorthodox use of Himekawa’s skills and brand, though. “It reminds me of when American animated movies cast popular screen actors for the name recognition,” I say out loud. “Could Terui-san be trying something like that?”

Himekawa shrugs. “Maybe. I can see it catching the attention of some people who wouldn’t hear about the anime otherwise. ‘Specially because it is kind of a weird move around here.”

“Yeah,” I say. “And the other thing I want to ask is… Studio Meteor said they invited me because of the Tokyo Blade play, but – ”

“Oh yeah, I put in a good word for you,” Himekawa says. “They did say they were going to watch your scenes in the official recording to see for themselves, though.”

“Does this make me a subject of nepotism?” I say teasingly, my voice lowered.

“Not if they don’t know,” Himekawa replies.

“Fair enough,” I say.

After a few quiet seconds, Himekawa speaks again. “By the way, I saw that post from Kurokawa about you two. Was the breakup her, or you?”

“We were honest in the post about it being a mutual decision,” I say, a little gently to make sure Himekawa knows I’m not offended. Admittedly, it isn’t technically the truth, but I found myself agreeing with Akane before long – and we thought it’d be the best framing for her public image, which was probably sensible given that the continued flaming of her still hasn’t gained much traction.

“I see,” Himekawa says. “So, does this free you up to go for Arima?”

“I’ve actually turned her down too,” I say. “I’ve been… looking at what I want out of a relationship from a new angle, and I don’t think it’d work out long-term for either of us.”

Himekawa gives a surprised laugh. “Man, when your sister said you were getting more responsible about relationship stuff, she wasn’t kidding.”

I furrow my brow in confusion. “Did she talk about my love life on a livestream or something?”

“Oh, no,” Himekawa says in a reassuring tone. “This was at our dinner last week.”

“You invited my sister to dinner?” I say, my confusion only redirected.

“No, she invited me,” Himekawa says. “Did she not tell you?”

I find myself slowing to a halt and leaning my back against the adjacent building wall to think; Himekawa notices and joins me. “But… I haven’t gotten around to telling her about you and our father. Why would she – ? Did you – ?”

“I didn’t tell her,” Himekawa says. “She said you told her.”

“Well, I didn’t,” I say, triple-checking my memories to make sure I’m not going crazy. “I mentioned that I wanted to introduce you two just after I got back from your place, but I got distracted before explaining why, and we dropped it.”

Himekawa just stares at me for a couple seconds, looking disconcerted too. “So… did she lie to me? But why? And how did she know?”

How did she know? I’m certain I haven’t told anyone besides Himekawa himself about him being my half-brother. The only other person I’ve even told I have a half-brother is –

“Oh… no. I’m sorry. That was pretty heavy stuff… and I’m feeling a little strange… Sorry. I’ll head home.”

…Akane.

It wouldn’t be the only secret of mine that she’d deduced and then told Ruby-chan behind my back. But why keep it all from me this time? And why did learning about it leave her so out of sorts? Unless –

“What did you and Ruby-chan talk about at the dinner?” I ask, feeling my heart beginning to pound with uncomfortable force.

“Uh…” Himekawa says. “Well, we swapped a few stories from our careers, like the Tokyo Blade rewrite thing. We talked about how she became an idol, and how I became an actor, and Kindaichi-san and Miyako-san. I told her about our dad’s history of sleeping around, and – oh, right, you were curious about Lalalai’s old workshops too. My parents were actually instructors there. So maybe they knew the dirt on what went wrong – I mean, not that they could tell us.”

Lalalai. Where Ai must have met Seijuurou Uehara. Where she found the “love” that led to our rebirth, and to her death. But if Akane used Ruby-chan to try and dig more into that history, that must mean she – she doesn’t believe –

Maybe “it’s over” was just your selfish wishful thinking. Again.

I clumsily pull off my mask and lower myself to sit on the sidewalk to try and slow the whirlwind in my head. No – Akane has to be wrong. He’s our father, and he’s dead, and only our father could have done it.

Can you really be sure? What if she knows something you don’t?

I – I don’t know. But she shouldn’t be scheming and lying and manipulating people like this. I can’t believe I’ve been letting her. I need to stop her before someone gets seriously hurt, either physically or reputationally. And whatever she’s trying to investigate… I need to know about it.

“Are you okay?” Himekawa asks concernedly, squatting down next to me. “You want me to call you a taxi home?”

“Thanks,” I manage to exhale.

Himekawa doesn’t prod me to explain myself, which is a relief when I have so much else to worry about. By the time the taxi arrives, I’ve pulled myself together enough to climb in and give the driver my address unassisted. But as soon as he’s got it and we’re off, I’m back to trying to work out a plan.

I could confront Ruby-chan later today, and try to convince her to tell me everything. But without knowing exactly how Akane is manipulating her, I can’t guarantee that she’ll be honest with me, or that she won’t warn Akane I’m onto her – or that she even knows everything I’d want to know about Akane’s plan and its current status. No, I need to confront Akane directly – in person, and unexpectedly, to make it as hard as possible for her to ignore me or feed me convincing lies.

I take out my phone and open a certain app I’d hoped never to use again. Looks like I’ve still been receiving daily pings from it; the battery’s only down to 82%. I disable ultra-low-power mode, increasing the ping frequency to once per minute. This should help me figure out what Akane’s up to – and find the perfect time and place to strike.

Part of me is still in disbelief at all of this. I just talked to her. I talked to her as if we were normal, honest friends. I called her in Hawaii. We met up to take those photos. We wrote that post together. I had come to trust that we had dispelled the last of the deep secrets between us, and we were walking toward the future through the same world.

She’s doing this because she wants me to be free. I know her well enough to recognize that. But revenge for Ai isn’t anyone’s burden to bear but mine. I was a fool to ever even entertain her naïve wish to share it with me. And now she’s not only carrying it without me, she’s sacrificed Ruby-chan’s freedom in pursuit of mine. I need to reclaim my duty from both of them – no matter what it costs me.

- Ruby -

When Akane-chan brings me into her house this time, it looks like we’re free of unaware friendly adults watching us. “Are your parents around?” I ask, glancing across the interior space I can see from the entryway.

“No, it’s just us,” Akane-chan says, stepping out of her briefly-employed outdoor shoes onto the main floor. “My dad’s away until next weekend, and my mom said she’d be with some of her work friends this evening.”

“I didn’t know your mom works,” I say with mild surprise. Last time I came was at 4 PM on a weekday, and she was here then.

“It’s only part-time,” Akane-chan explains. “We’re fine without the extra money.” Then, her gaze sharpens. “But anyway, since I don’t know exactly when she’s coming home… we should talk in my room again to be safe.”

Following Akane-chan upstairs and into her room, my eyes catch on an aberration in the otherwise neat-as-usual space. Covering a section of the wall next to her desk are a couple dozen haphazardly taped-up notepad sheets, plus a few printed-out photos. “Whoa,” I say, turning to look. “What’s with the conspiracy board?”

“Conspiracy…?” Akane-chan repeats awkwardly from beside me. “I-I just find it helpful sometimes to lay out information visually if I’m looking for patterns in it. This is everything I’ve found so far on Kamiki.”

I step closer to the wall of notes, making out the photos first. A couple of Kamiki as a teenager from what look like Lalalai recordings. A group shot with an older Kamiki, wearing tinted sunglasses and a flawless casual smile that looks eerie on a face still so much like Onii-chan’s. A photo of an office building – maybe where his agency’s located.

And then there’s the deluge of handwriting.

Hikaru Kamiki

Representative Director of Kamiki Productions

Born July 27th, 20XX-32 in Kanagawa

14-15 years old when he knew Ai

178 cm tall

Wears suits, even in his private life

Lalalai member from 10-16 years old

Cut himself off almost completely after leaving -> poor support network?

Raped by Airi Himekawa around February 20XX-20

Conceived Taiki Himekawa -> did he know? contributed to trauma?

Toho University graduate – Faculty of Science

Established his agency at 25; means unclear

Relationship with Ai ended in late 20XX-17

Conflict over whether to keep the pregnancy?

Sends white roses for Lalalai award wins

Symbolism: innocence, purity, reverence, “I am worthy of you”

Ryousuke Sugano brought white roses when he murdered Ai

The white roses… I hadn’t thought about them in a long time, but I remember them. Not even just from reading the news – when the police were taking me away after Mama died, they were trying to block me from seeing anything, but I think I caught a glimpse of a bouquet of white flowers lying discarded in a pool of blood, the petals on the bottom stained red with it.

“So after everything, Kamiki sends white roses to you guys as some kind of… congratulations gifts?” I say out loud, disturbed. “That’s so creepy.”

“It does look that way, yeah,” Akane-chan says uncomfortably. “That piece of information is probably the most important thing I got out of Kindaichi-san. It isn’t proof, but it’s pretty suggestive.”

“It isn’t proof.” Right; Akane-chan wants to be careful about jumping to conclusions. And I mean, I wouldn’t want to take revenge on an innocent person either, but when it feels like we’re this close, I’m still itching to… I don’t know, just do something besides stalk the guy.

I turn away from the wall of notes, toward Akane-chan. “So… what do you think we should do now?”

“Well…” Akane-chan begins, avoiding eye contact. “I haven’t identified anyone else with a good chance of being able to tell us things about Kamiki that we don’t already know, so… I think our next step should be to confront and interrogate Kamiki himself.”

“Oh,” I say, eyebrows raised and impatience vanished.

“And I think I should be the one to do it,” Akane-chan continues. “Alone.”

“What? Why?” I demand, suddenly shaken enough to surprise even myself. This whole thing is about my mom, my Sensei-turned-brother. It’s about justice for my family. Leaving Akane-chan to confront the culprit on our behalf is something I’d never even imagined before.

Akane-chan frowns sympathetically, but presses on. “Let me tell you my plan. Kamiki’s supposed to be in-office tomorrow, so after school, I’ll walk over and ask to see him. Here’s how I’ll start the conversation with him – I’ve been rehearsing.”

Akane-chan steps over to her desk, grabs her school bag off of it, and hangs it over her shoulder – I guess as a prop for realism. Then, she goes still and silent for a second, eyes closed in concentration – and when they open again, she gives me a polite, deferential look that wouldn’t fit a talk with me or with her enemy. “Thank you for making time for me, Kamiki-san,” she says with a short bow. “I’m Akane Kurokawa, from the Lalalai Theatrical Company. The reason I wanted to talk to you is…” She lowers her voice. “You see, I have a friend, Aqua Hoshino-kun, who’s told me that his mother passed away when he was young, and he never knew his father, but he’s always wondered about him. And while I was looking through old Lalalai rehearsal recordings a couple days ago, I came upon your work with us, and… it seemed to me that when you were Aqua-kun’s age, you looked a lot like he does now. So, by any chance… did you have any relationships about sixteen or seventeen years ago that could have produced a child? I’m sorry for asking such an invasive question of you, but I think it would mean a lot to Aqua-kun to know the truth about his father. I haven’t told him about you yet because I didn’t want to get his hopes up if I’m wrong, but… should I?”

Finally, Akane-chan’s body language snaps back to normal. “Kindaichi-san made it clear that he and Kamiki have long since dropped out of regular contact, so Kamiki won’t know I’ve already asked Kindaichi-san about this. He shouldn’t have any reason to doubt my story.”

“I mean… I’d buy that performance too,” I admit. “But if Kamiki was behind everything, what’s stopping him from just playing dumb and saying he never got with anyone who could’ve been Onii-chan’s mom?”

“Ah, but that’s the trick,” Akane-chan says with just a hint of a proud smile. “If Kamiki makes that move, then…” Her demeanor switches again, her gaze turning cold and penetrating. “That’s a lie, isn’t it, Kamiki-san? The truth is, Aqua-kun’s already told me his mother is Ai Hoshino of the original B-Komachi, and I’ve seen the video proof of you acting with her at Lalalai back in 20XX-17. Kindaichi-san even said you two were close enough that a pregnancy wouldn’t surprise him much. Am I supposed to believe this is all a coincidence? You’ve stayed out of your children’s sight for their entire lives, and just now, you lied to my face about your relationship to them. The real reason I’m here is that I want to know why.” Then, back to normal. “Kamiki playing dumb here would unintentionally give us more evidence that there’s something about his history with Ai that he wants to hide at all costs, even from you and Aqua-kun. And if I play dumb at first before calling him out on his lie, I can catch him off-guard.”

“But…” I say, trying to put my continuing discomfort into words. “What if Kamiki gets scared you’re onto him about the murders? What if he attacks you? What if he sends someone after you like he did with Mama?”

“I’ll watch my back,” Akane-chan says, sounding surprisingly unworried. “I’ll be careful about opening the door for strangers. And if Kamiki attacks me then and there…” She makes a quarter-turn away from me, and then, in a clearly-practiced series of motions spanning only two seconds or so, she reaches into her school bag –

– pulls out a meat-carving knife with a twenty-centimeter blade –

– and thrusts it forward at the height of an adult man’s stomach.

“…then I can use this in self-defense,” Akane-chan finishes, lowering the knife and turning back to me. “And if my split-second attempt to protect myself ends up hitting something important… well, that’ll be tragic, but the tragedy won’t be the fault of a teenage girl suddenly attacked by a man in his early thirties. We wouldn’t be able to hide it from Aqua-kun, of course – but that’d be okay. Because it’d be over.”

Well… I can’t say Akane-chan isn’t prepared. And I can’t say she isn’t… determined, or brave, or brilliant. I’ve known for a while that she’s scarily brilliant. But still…

“Why?” I hear myself ask. “Why are you doing all of this for Onii-chan and me? We’re not family, and – and it’s not even like we’re going to become family one day, with you and Onii-chan broken up and all…”

“I mean… is there anyone in a better position to do it than me?” Akane-chan says, frowning slightly in confusion.

“…Maybe not,” I say. “But – it’s dangerous! And… and it’s not really your fight, and…” I still feel like I don’t have the right words to explain why I don’t want her to.

Akane-chan’s gaze sinks dejectedly at the words I ended up saying, though. She spends a few seconds in thought, and then speaks. “Ruby-chan… do you know that last summer, Aqua-kun went out on foot in a typhoon just for a chance at saving my life? And after he saved me, he got all the other LoveNow cast members together, stood up to the director himself, and worked really hard editing to help repair my reputation with that video. Even though my scandal wasn’t his fight. And you’ve always gone out of your way to be kind and friendly to me, right from the moment we first met in person…” Her eyes are back on me now, cheeks pink with affection. “Please, let me repay both of you. I’m more than happy to.”

I… don’t really have anything to say to that. Silly me, I guess, thinking I could out-argue Akane-chan. But if she’s going to do this, then…

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll let you. I’ve just got a couple conditions.”

“What are they?” Akane-chan asks dutifully.

“First of all…” I approach Akane-chan, maneuvering around the knife still held in her hand, and wrap my arms around her, pressing our bodies together. “Don’t die, okay?”

“I – I won’t,” Akane-chan says, a bit flustered. I can feel her fumbling with her school bag – probably sheathing the knife in it to be safe.

“And second…” It takes some willpower to pull myself out of the hug, but I settle for holding Akane-chan’s shoulders as I look her still-blushing face in the eyes. “If Kamiki tries to hurt you, don’t hesitate. Kill him dead.”

“I mean, I do have to be mindful of the legal standards for proportionate self-defense,” Akane-chan says. “But… yeah, that’s the basic idea.” She gives me a reassuring smile.

I smile back, squeezing her shoulders affectionately. “You’re my hero, Akane-chan.”

She giggles at the gesture. “It’s just the right thing to do.”

Maybe so… as long as it doesn’t become a heroic sacrifice.

Chapter Text

- Akane -

When I find Aqua-kun again, it’s on the other side of the sliding glass door to the apartment balcony, his back turned to me as he looks out into the night. Before joining him out there, I allow myself a moment to stop and just watch him, imagining what might be going through his head. I feel like I have a much better sense of those inner workings than I did just earlier today, even if he didn’t share them with me voluntarily – and even if it took him having a panic attack.

“What would you do if your mother died?” Good going, Kana-chan. If you know him so well, you must know his guardian’s name is Miyako Saitou, right? Did you not wonder at all about the story behind that? But then again, the severe reaction your words seem to have sparked took me by surprise too.

And now, once-scattered puzzle pieces in my mind are finally fitting together. Ai’s beloved secret child – no, it really was children, plural – were real, and they’re none other than Aqua-kun and his sister. (“Ai Hoshino.” Was that her real, full name? It suits her.) For the twins, Ai’s murder was their mother’s murder when they were only three years old, and the trauma haunts Aqua-kun to this day. I wonder… did he have the misfortune of witnessing it with his own eyes?

Ever since the end of LoveNow, what I’ve seen when I’ve looked at Aqua-kun is a secretive, cunning, kindhearted young man whose mysteries I want to unravel, and whose genuine love I want to earn. But now, I can’t help but simultaneously see the terrified, heartbroken little boy his cold exterior must be trying to protect.

And beyond that… there’s another pattern nagging at me. A guess at an explanation for Aqua-kun’s unusual relationship with acting. Why he does it despite claiming not to be passionate about it, despite belittling his own talent at it – and despite it apparently having triggered his PTSD multiple times before.

Their biological father.

The possibility of multiple culprits.

But I don’t have enough information to know for sure whether it’s true, let alone what I should do if it is true – or at least, I don’t yet.

I want to help you, Aqua-kun. But in order to do that, I need to know you. And I need you to trust me.

I approach the balcony door and slide it open, stepping through into the chilly night air. Aqua-kun just looks at me briefly, his face unreadably neutral, as I close the door behind me and settle by his side.

“Why are you acting, Aqua-kun?” I ask – not accusatorily, just framed as pensive curiosity between fellow travelers. And I am curious to know the answer, regardless of what it turns out to be.

Aqua-kun averts his gaze from me. “The reason doesn’t matter,” he says drily.

“Yes, it does,” I say, gently encouraging. “It’s important. Do you want to be a star? Is it the money? Do you want to be somebody special?”

“What’s your reason, Akane?” Aqua-kun asks – possibly trying to deflect.

“I act because it’s fun,” is all I say. It’s the truth, boiled down.

“Yeah, that’s what it seems like.” Aqua-kun sighs, and then speaks again. “Why am I acting? You wouldn’t get it if I told you… and I’m not inclined to tell even if you would.”

Now that’s suspicious. I’m going to press harder.

I give Aqua-kun a bit of a pout. “There you go again,” I say, wagging my pointer finger at him. “For somebody who says communication is important, you’re really secretive about yourself. Isn’t that the issue with you?” I say that last part teasingly, giving him a quizzical look with one eye closed, to try and avoid coming off too hostile – but I think he’ll understand it’s serious at the core.

Aqua-kun turns his face away again – but when he speaks, it’s eerily low and intense. “In that case, hypothetically… what if I was in this to kill somebody?”

I knew it. And he really does see himself going that far… To think he’d admit it so plainly, even if just as a “hypothetical.”

“My target is at the top of the entertainment industry,” Aqua-kun continues, “and I want to get up there so I can take them out.” He looks back at me, pinning my gaze with his. “If I told you that, what would you do?”

What would I do? What should I do?

If what Aqua-kun seems to believe is true… if the theorized accomplice to Ai’s murder was real, if they’re a powerful industry figure who’d be near-impossible to bring to legal or reputational justice, and especially if they were also responsible for Ai’s pregnancy at fifteen… then yeah. I admit it, I’d also want to see the suffering they inflicted on the Hoshino family avenged by any means necessary.

The thing is, though… Aqua-kun’s smart, but he’s also traumatized. And people don’t always perceive the subjects of their trauma rationally. I can’t simply trust that he’s right about the accomplice’s existence, or that anyone he believes is the accomplice really is, or that any plan he makes to kill them and get away with it will work.

But of course, if Aqua-kun’s aiming for the top of the industry, then I don’t have to decide what to do about his revenge quest right now. I only have to decide what to tell him I’d do. And the way he’s behaving here, revealing this dark secret and challenging me with this stare… The stakes are very different, but I can’t help but be reminded of how he just let me watch his old, mediocre acting that he apparently tends to keep hidden from acquaintances. It’s like he’s testing me, daring me to stay by his side after seeing these parts of him. He’s trying to figure out whether he can believe in my promise to carry his burdens with him.

So right now, I won’t show him my questions or my doubts. I’ll show him loyalty and devotion. I’ll show him the strength and sincerity of my love and care for him. I’ll show him how far I’m willing to go for his sake.

I meet his scrutinizing gaze with a calm, confident smile, and speak in the slightly lowered voice of a co-conspirator. “I’d help you kill them.”

It’s not a lie. Just an exaggeration.

Aqua-kun’s response, though, is to frown uncomfortably and turn to lean on the balcony railing. “Don’t say stuff like that casually.”

Shit. I didn’t expect him to be unsurprised, but… it seems like I’ll have to put in some work to convince him I’m serious. And admitting what I’ve been pretending not to know could easily make things worse, so…

“Well, this is someone you want to kill, right?” I say, resting my back next to him on the railing. “You must have a pretty good reason.”

Although now that I say that out loud, it kind of makes it sound like my support of the killing is conditional on him having what I consider to be a good reason. Which is true, but not what I want him to take away.

“It’s not about whether it’s ‘right’ or not,” I continue with a reassuring smile. “Even if it turns out you’re a reeeally bad boy, I think I should accept you as you are. If you’re going to shoulder a crime, I’d like to carry that burden with you. As your girlfriend, I’m prepared to do that.”

…Except that for all I know, he still doesn’t see me that way.

I turn my smile wry. “Even if this boyfriend-girlfriend thing is for our careers.”

That’s the best stopping point I’m going to get, I think. For a tense second, I wait to hear Aqua-kun’s reply while acting like I’m not waiting tensely.

“You’re messed up,” he finally says.

“Wow, you thought I wasn’t?” I say with a chuckle, flipping around to get a better view of his face. He still looks more disquieted than anything… but at least he seems to have bought it. I should probably pivot to a different subject for now, but hopefully I’ll be able to benefit later from being, in his eyes, someone he can confide in about his revenge quest without risk to himself. And hopefully it’ll be worth how I ended up freaking him out – sorry about that, Aqua-kun – plus what he must think of my moral sense now.

Although, in truth… maybe I’m doing all of this because I am messed up. Even I know that being willing to help your work boyfriend murder his mother’s murderer isn’t normal, and neither is trying to win his trust by presenting yourself as loyal enough to help him murder anyone. And now, my intuition’s suggesting I pivot by framing this as a duty that he should repay me for… with his performances in our shared scenes in the Tokyo Blade play.

But I’m not coming up with anything better, and rehearsal time is short. So, discordant as it is, I’ll go with it. Underneath all the acting, I can only be myself.

A lot has changed since then for the Hoshino twins and me. Aqua-kun’s abandoned the pursuit of revenge out of what must deep down be exhaustion, and I’m sharing that burden with Ruby-chan instead. I’ve unearthed yet more secrets and experienced yet more transformations of how I see people: Aqua-kun, Ruby-chan, Kindaichi-san, Taiki Himekawa, Airi Himekawa, Seijuurou Uehara – and the man who, willingly or not, left his mark on all of their lives: Hikaru Kamiki. But now, as I remove my chosen knife from its rack in the kitchen and slip it into my school bag – not just for a demonstration this time – I nevertheless find myself recalling that talk on the balcony months ago. After all, I suppose, this could be the day when I have to commit once and for all to the answer I gave myself to Aqua-kun’s question.

I don’t particularly expect it to be, if I had to guess. Kamiki gives off the impression of someone too clever and subtle to physically attack me right there in his office, if he’s indeed the accomplice. But it’s important to be prepared for every scenario – and prepared I am. I’ve rehearsed them all over and over – a dozen variations of Kamiki acknowledging his relationship with Aqua-kun and offering to reach out, denying as much as he can as I pressure him, demanding I leave, threatening me, rushing at me in a panic and leaving me to tearfully explain to the police that I only brought the knife to ward him off just in case he got aggressive, he was right on top of me by the time I got it out, I certainly never meant to hurt him so badly he died…

Ruby-chan’s right – this is dangerous. But I’m ready.

After everything I’ve learned, my sympathies don’t only lie with the Hoshino family, either. My heart hurts for the boy Kamiki was at eleven, and for the boy he could well have been at fifteen when he and his only love parted. But if it turns out that the man he’s become is a monster, I’ll show him no mercy.

On the way back out of the house, I pass by Mom as she watches a show on the living room TV – carrying myself casually, as if I’m not doing anything worth pausing to inquire about. Sure enough, she doesn’t give me more than a glance, so I don’t have to deploy my alibi about meeting up with Ruby-chan.

Kamiki Productions is only about a fifteen-minute walk away, and the transportation routes aren’t really worth using. I can afford to spend most of the walk on quiet residential streets, only turning onto the office building’s adjoining wide road near the end. As I weave through the streets, I resist the urge to fill the calm with feverish re-re-rehearsing in my head; the last thing I want to do is choke under my own pressure when the moment comes.

In fact, I’m enough at peace that when none other than Aqua-kun steps into my path at an intersection, I manage to avoid showing any suspicious fright.

“Oh, Aqua-kun!” I say pleasantly. “Nice to, uh, run into you.” As I speak, though, I can’t help but notice that he looks… distinctly unhappy to be having this encounter.

Damn it all.

“Akane,” Aqua-kun says sternly, his eyes narrowed. “What do you know about my family history that I don’t?”

Now my mind is racing. What tipped him off? What do I do now? What does he think of me now? If this is him intercepting me on purpose, then…

“What has Ruby-chan told you?” I ask, pushing aside my mortification to return his cold stare.

“Ruby-chan hasn’t told me a thing,” Aqua-kun says. “I take it you’ve made sure of that.”

Is that the truth? But Ruby-chan is the only one I’ve told about where I’m headed – where I was headed – this afternoon. How could Aqua-kun have intercepted my route without…?

Did he infect my phone with some kind of malware that lets him track it? But I’m sure I’ve never just left it sitting unlocked around him or anyone else, and every link from him I’ve followed has been to a perfectly ordinary social media post or news article.

A separate GPS tracker, then? But how would he have planted it on my person? The only place I can think of to hide it would be…

I rummage in my school bag for my keyring, a chunky cat plushie hanging on it. Aqua-kun’s unsurprised expression as I pull it out seems to confirm my guess. I use the keyring’s multi-tool blade to slice open a seam on the plushie and reach my fingers into the stuffing to find… sure enough, a rectangular black plastic device studded with several tiny buttons. But seeing it here in my hand, I almost can’t believe it’s real.

“How long have you had this on me?” I demand, eyes locked back on Aqua-kun. Were his old plans to “use” me more involved than I realized?

“You’re smart, Akane,” Aqua-kun says. “You should know when I planted it.”

I… I should? What does he mean?

“It looks like my suspicions were right,” Aqua-kun continues. “Your loyalty to me was never as absolute as you wanted me to think, was it?”

My blood turns cold. “You mean… it was after that evening on Director Gotanda’s balcony.” So he didn’t fully buy my improvised act after all.

What an idiot I am.

Aqua-kun gives a nod. “And then yesterday, I ran into Taiki Himekawa at an audition. He told me about Ruby-chan’s dinner with him last week. There’s only one person who could’ve made that happen. So I’ll ask again – what do you know that I don’t?”

Himekawa. Of course. I must not have imagined that actors on such different tiers of popularity would cross paths again so soon – but I shouldn’t have left everything to ride on that assumption.

So what do I say now? What could I say to keep Aqua-kun from falling back into revenge, back into self-destructive guilt and pain… that he’d believe?

Nothing. I can’t get away with lying to him. There’s no way out.

“Aqua-kun…” I take a heavy breath. “Seijuurou Uehara died in September 20XX-14.”

The reaction on Aqua-kun’s face isn’t one of shock. More like… resignation. Once again, I guess, I’ve only confirmed his suspicions.

“And you thrust that ugly truth in front of Ruby-chan first, didn’t you?” Aqua-kun says, protective hostility flaring up beneath his voice. “You’d have been hard-pressed to get her to cooperate without it, after all. Are you really that myopic, involving her just to investigate without me?”

“Ruby-chan involved herself!” I burst out. Aqua-kun’s anger at what I’ve actually done hurts enough; I won’t let him falsely accuse me of something like this. “She put together in Takachiho what you’d been up to for the past thirteen years, and she came to me for information the Friday after we got back. She’s not as naïve as you think.” Technically, I guess, the mysterious girl in Takachiho has the credit for getting her involved – but I don’t know if Aqua-kun would even believe that story coming from me.

Aqua-kun’s eyes widen at my words, confusion and dismay flashing across his face – but only for a moment before his gaze hardens again. “Even if that’s true, it doesn’t change how out of your depth you both are. This walk of yours isn’t just business as usual, is it? Who were you planning to meet up with? A witness? A suspect?”

“I-I have a knife for self-defense.” Even as I start to say it, I realize how foolhardy it sounds when I couldn’t even plan the investigation well enough to keep it hidden from Aqua-kun. In the end, the words come out bereft of confidence – and the disappointed, almost-pitying look Aqua-kun gives me only seals my pride’s fate.

After a second or two, Aqua-kun begins turning to leave, keeping his eyes on me long enough to voice one last demand.

“Stay out of this, Akane. It isn’t child’s play.”

With that, he sets off walking away along the street.

Along with him goes the last of my drive to hold my tears back, or even stay on my feet. I find myself collapsing against the side of the nearest house to hug my knees and sob, still limply holding my keyring in one hand and the tracker in the other – paralyzed by the awareness of how pathetic I am.

Did my plans ever even have a chance of working out? Or was it all just blind arrogance? I’ve probably made nothing but trouble for the quest to do right by Ai, for Aqua-kun, and for… Ruby-chan.

Right. Ruby-chan needs to know what’s happened. Maybe she, at least, can find a way to keep her brother safe. She said yesterday that she didn’t have anything going on this afternoon, so…

I stow my keyring in my school bag – along with the tracker; I’ll have to figure out what to do with it later – and take out my phone before dialing Ruby-chan. As it rings, I wipe at my tears with my coat sleeve and sniffle a couple times to try and regain my composure.

“Akane-chan? What’s going on?” Ruby-chan asks from the other end, sounding a little concerned – and, if it’s not just me, also a little out of breath.

“Ruby-chan, I’m really, really sorry. I…” I begin clumsily, realizing I haven’t thought through exactly what to say. I’m tearing up again already too; so much for composure.

“What? What happened?!” Ruby-chan implores, practically panicking.

I wince guiltily. “Aqua-kun… Aqua-kun found out. He – he put a GPS tracker on me. He…”

“He did what?!” The fear in Ruby-chan’s voice has turned to fury.

“I know,” I say. “I’m so sorry I didn’t think to check, even though he let me in on the secret of his revenge before. I don’t think he knows who we suspect, but – ”

“Where is he now?” Ruby-chan cuts me off.

“He… He intercepted me a bit southwest of Yamate-dori Avenue. He walked away southeast.”

“Sounds like he’s headed home,” Ruby-chan says, in the way someone might talk about a bear they were hunting. “Here, come over and we’ll give him a serious talking-to.”

“‘We’…?” I repeat, somewhat thrown off.

“Yes, ‘we’!” Ruby-chan says indignantly. “I’m not gonna sit back while you do it, and I’m not gonna do it alone. We’ll make the strongest impression if we’re together.”

“I mean, I’ll come for support if you want me to,” I say. “I just… don’t know how much help I’ll actually be.”

The phone is silent for just a second before Ruby-chan replies. “Akane-chan, get real. Did you figure out Onii-chan was my Sensei before I did, or not?”

“I did suspect it,” I admit. “But – ”

“Did you sniff out a calling card in a thirteen-year-old murder case by talking with your theater group director, or not?”

“Well, a potential calling card…”

“Did you talk me into letting you face Kamiki alone, or not?!”

“Okay, I get it,” I say with an embarrassed sigh, climbing back into a standing position. “You have a point. Sorry for dragging my feet.”

“No more apologies,” Ruby-chan says. “We’ll confront Onii-chan together, and we’ll put a stop to all these secrecy games together. And then we’ll find the truth beyond any doubt, and get justice for Mama. Together. All three of us. Without any of us getting hurt.”

Can I believe in what she’s promising? If Aqua-kun were to cooperate with us – to share this burden with us willingly – then we wouldn’t have to fight him even just to know what he’s up to, and at this point, I can’t say for sure that he’s wrong about us being out of our depth trying to investigate without him. And conversely, the hasty conclusions he drew about Uehara only reinforce my worries about his rationality when pursuing revenge by himself, not to mention the emotional toll it takes on him. But his protectiveness of us, to the point of hiding everything from Ruby-chan and planting that tracker on me… Even if we both promised to stay physically away from suspects, I doubt that’d be enough to sway him into collaboration.

Although… with everything I know now, I can’t help but suspect that part of what’s driving him isn’t reducible to simple kindness, or the responsibility that an adult feels for children, or even the guilt of two mothers inadvertently giving their lives for him. If he’s ever going to be free – even free to fully accept help – then maybe it’s more than just powerlessness that he needs to forgive himself for.

And if, in the wake of revelation after revelation, I’m finally seeing that part of him clearly… then maybe, just maybe, I can tell him what he needs to hear to accept our support, and to put his blood-soaked heart on the path toward healing.

“I’ll give it my best,” I answer Ruby-chan, confidence starting to scaffold my voice once again. “See you soon.”