Hoshino Aquamarine peered over at the fellow 3 year old who was taking a break, enjoying the wind taking sips of water from his water bottle.
In a surprising turn of events, the aggressively wholesome 3 year old was the first to tire of playing, deciding to take a break before even Aqua, the seemingly most introverted among the children.
At his and Ruby's exclamations of surprise at the boy's relatively quick exit to take a break (although, Aqua had to admit privately, they had been playing for an hour and a half or so already), Arima Kana only had this to say: "Mana's always like that, he always gets tired so quickly." Kana pouted, as she emoted to the twins.
As Ruby made 'ahh's and 'ooh's in acknowledgement of Kana's statements, Aqua wondered. Introverted? Or simply low stamina?
Aqua shook his head. There was a joke somewhere there, but this was a 3 year old and he should really be more mature, he's a 30 year old doctor with an extra 3 years on his belt.
Arima Mana, in his opinion, was… strange. More than a little strange. He had no clue how the kid managed to both headpat and hug AI all of a sudden, dragging both Hoshino twins into it. Not even 5 minutes later, everyone was in a group hug, all at the influence of the Arima brother once more.
Does the kid just hug everyone? He didn't seem touch starved, certainly not shying away from hugging people.
Were kids these days just hyper aggressive? Aqua could recall Arima Kana being pretty aggressive on their first meeting, actually. Perhaps the aggression is something that runs in the family.
Aqua witnessed Ruby and Kana, still playing, arguing competitively about who won their last bout. Aqua couldn't help but sweat in embarrassment at his twin sister's antics.
Ruby… Aqua drawled in his head, shameful. You're a reincarnated individual. Please don't embarrass yourself any further by arguing with a literal 4 year old…
With that scene in mind, Aqua hastily changed his conclusion from the aggression being an Arima bloodline to the aggression being pure, unbridled, childish energy.
But… If Aqua thought about it that way, then… Aqua hesitated. Ruby was reincarnated, and was a child, right? Or so he suspected just now.
He and Ruby never talked about their past lives. Ruby never seemed to want to talk about her past and, like a true Japanese man who senses the air, he never asked her about it or pushed her on it.
Besides, she seems fine, Aqua thought, watching Ruby and the Arima sister who seemed to have ended the argument and started another round of what seemed to be hide and seek.
Watching his sister play with her newfound friend so innocently, Aqua promised to himself.
'No matter what difficulties you may have had in your past life -' Aqua paused for a moment, a cheerful smile from another life invading his mind's eye, briefly overlapping a grinning face. 'I will make sure that you will be happier in this life.'
Arima Mana idly glanced at the so-called-kid who was idly watching over the two girls who were still playing for a brief moment.
'Did my intervention turn Aqua into a siscon?' Mana thought, wiping a faint bead of sweat with the towel provided by his mother. Mana felt like that gaze was very much different to what he'd seen in the series.
Aqua did seem to care deeply for Ruby, enough to be the villain to her so that she could theoretically be safer, but Mana remembered clearly how, after Ai's death, Aqua specifically considered himself to have nothing to live for, even with Ruby right beside him.
Whether or not this was a good change or a bad change was something to think about.
In his previous life, Mana used to watch and read a lot of isekais and SI fanfiction. It was a not-so-guilty pleasure; Mana seriously didn't care if people judged him for his taste. But all of that 'experience' led him to be relatively familiar with common tropes and patterns in the genre.
The genre always loved to have some sort of 'butterfly effect', wherein the smallest action could eventually result in the biggest changes. It was honestly this effect that Mana relied on in his original plan.
He was supposed to rip the band-aid off, indirectly push Ai to think more about her insecurity, push her to admit her love for her children faster, then they're happier, live happier lives, hopefully they never have to deal with crazed psycho daddy, being content with being happy.
'But.' Mana realized. 'My mere presence seems to be distorting the timeline.' Mana worried a little as he watched Aqua's gaze towards his sister turn a little more resolute.
Mana was previously honestly considering trying to help them realize they knew each other in their past lives just to get that drama over with, but that gaze worried him a little.
'The timing seems bad.' Mana considered. Aqua might actually turn into an obsessed siscon, worse than what had happened in the original. And as for Ruby…
Ruby was a child. Is a child. And she is very attached to her sensei. Mana flushed a little, a little embarrassed to actually be considering this possibility. Who knows if she would go the twincest route if their relationship as siblings doesn't fully develop? After all, instead of developing and growing as Aqua and Ruby, they would develop as Goro and Sarina who were cosplaying as Aqua and Ruby.
'It's quite a stretch.' Mana considered. Even if he honestly didn't care if they went that route, so long as nobody gets hurt. 'Although perhaps, as their friend, I should probably safeguard their futures as members of society.' Mana considered as the moralist he was.
And Mana absolutely intended to be their friend. As fellow reincarnators, special case he might be, Aqua and Ruby were people who would just understand certain things.
Being a reincarnation isn't easy, after all. There were tons of moral and social issues. All sorts of troublesome little things.
'They'd never understand everything.' Mana admitted to himself. 'But they'd get closer than most.'
Honestly, Mana was jealous of those two. Because while he was, not quite alone at home, but rather, always had to be the bubbly, happy go lucky, somewhat normal child to everyone in the household, those two at least had each other, and to some extent, even the Lady, Miyako.
Mana could never be genuine because the world would eat him up. He was an isekai protagonist, an alien. He was not a normal human, he wasn't even a 'normal' reincarnator.
SIs fanfiction and isekai series always made integration into the world so easy. Like you just literally become a member of the world, and whenever plot convenient, you're using parts of your old life to get an advantage in your new life.
Those guys are the heroes of their stories. They worm into the hearts of all who meet them, are instantly loved, love those people back, and they all become super successful in their next life using information from their past life.
But nobody ever explores the idea that a new world could be completely alien. Even one so similar to reality, like this one.
Does anyone understand the power in your hands, to be able to distort reality, mold it to your will?
It wasn't completely intentional, but somehow, Arima Mana was already worming into the hearts of the Hoshino family. All because he adlibbed a specific line in a scene in a movie. Because he looked into Hoshino Ai's soul, found her deepest and darkest insecurity, and pounced on it like a predator hunting prey.
Arima Mana exhaled. He was over thinking things. Maybe. Mana raised his head only to find Aquamarine gazing at him.
Mana opened his mouth to cheerfully start a conversation and perhaps redirect any suspicion just as Aqua opened his mouth to ask a question when both of them were interrupted by a cheery voice.
Hoshino Ai has returned from her activities. The first playdate's ending approaches.
'I had more fun than I thought I'd have.' Ruby thought to herself, as they walked home, practically already in front of the door.
After Ai arrived, nothing of note really happened, at least to Ruby's perspective. 'Or maybe she was just getting used to the Arima family.' Ruby thought, not even super surprised anymore when she spotted Arima Mana once more head patting her mama and her brother again after her return.
'That mama-hunting, idol-snatching, brother-stealing little boy.' Ruby resorted to calling him names in her head.
Compared to that kid, who she had personal issues with, his sister was a lot of fun to be with. She didn't even know how much she was missing until she realized she had it.
Playing in the playground was some of the most fun she'd had in forever. She hadn't really played like that with the children, in her past life as Sarina. She was always too weak, too sickly. 'And childrens' playgrounds were notoriously unsanitary.' she thought to herself, the thought shifting into the voice of one of her former doctors, asserting firmly.
She giggled at the thought of that stuffy doctor, even as the thought of the doctor got her to think of her precious and beloved doctor, Goro, himself.
'It hasn't been too long since my death.' Ruby thought, memories upon memories of her time in another life flicking by scene by scene in her mind's eye.
'Perhaps I should go and-' Ruby thought, smiling to herself, when Aqua's finger made its way to her rib, shocking her out of the thought.
"Aqua?!" Ruby was both furious and giggly. She didn't realize up until now that her new body was ticklish. Sarina's body never was ticklish, contact only really being pain. Being ticklish was a new sensation she'd only really seen in anime and manga, and she couldn't help but smile widely.
Aqua looked a bit weirded out, stepping back, and Ruby pouted, a little annoyed. "Don't ruin my fun, Aqua…" Ruby mumbled out, practically inaudibly.
Aqua hesitated it seemed, for a moment, before he asked his question. "Uhh, are you alright, Ruby?" Aqua questioned.
Instantly Ruby was a little alert, being triggered by the words. As a fragile person in her previous life, being asked if she was alright always made her actually consider if she was feeling alright. "Hmm, yeah, I think I'm feeling okay." Ruby answered a little seriously. "Why do you ask, Aqua?"
Seemingly unused to her relatively more serious mode, Aqua looked a little more worried. "… What?" Ruby was getting annoyed.
Seeing she was getting annoyed, Aqua quickly made to explain himself. "It's nothing, it's just Mama was asking you a question and you were just staring off into the air making funny faces." Aqua made a disturbed face.
Ruby instantly felt bad, turning to their mother. "Sorry!" she immediately apologized, clinging to her mother. "I wasn't paying attention." It wasn't really an excuse, but rather, an explanation. "What was your question, again?"
Hoshino Ai, Ruby's wonderful mama, and all-around godly and super amazing idol, giggled, something in her tone Ruby couldn't place. "I was wondering what you thought about Mana-kun." Ruby's mama reiterated, poking her cheek slightly. "You talked a lot about Kana-chan and how much you enjoyed playing with her, but you never really mentioned Mana, you know?"
That kid again? Ruby couldn't hold her disbelief. What is with that kid and why does he keep popping up? "Him?" Ruby thought she had to choose her words carefully. Both Aqua and Ai were looking at her with some weird expression.
"I don't like him." she eventually settled with, wanting to be honest. She wanted to be an idol, a sparkling light in the sea of darkness. She couldn't falter here.
"Oh? Why so?" her mother pushed on, leaning in a bit closer. Aqua replicated the gesture.
Ruby felt like she was the one getting weirded out now. Those two were acting weird. "Well, he's weird and he keeps headpatting and hugging people." Ruby complained, more than a little jealous of the boy who kept being affectionate with their mother.
"Does that bother you?" Aqua asked, and Ruby couldn't help but peer suspiciously at her brother. 'What's he up to?' she wondered.
"Not really." she admitted, a bit surprised to see Aqua relaxing slightly at the thought. She was just a little peeved that he was getting affectionate with her mother. 'That's it.' Ruby declared to herself. 'I'm gonna get mama to spoil me lots today. Lots and lots. We're much closer than that boy and Ai are.' Ruby declared to herself, more than a little competitively.
"Must be those cooties, huh." her mama commented, a strange expression on her face. 'What's with all these weird looks and comments?' Ruby complained to herself in head. "Yeah, those cooties!" she agreed, mostly to get things over with.
"Mama, headpats please!" she initiated her plan to be filled with all of her super wonderful mama, and all-around godly and super amazing idol's affection and love, not noticing, or more precisely, choosing to ignore the weird looks everyone was giving each other. Ruby didn't care anymore and just let herself get carried away by all of her mom's love.
Aaaaaaand we get another Mana chapter, somewhat. I honestly wasn't planning on using Mana's perspective again so soon, but I felt like people seemed to appreciate seeing Mana's perspective underneath wholesome rizz(?) moments. I'll add his perspective more often when it feels appropriate.
Also, I'm so happy to see all the fanfics! We're nearing 100 Oshi no Ko fanfics by the time I post this chapter. I read pretty much every single one in English, well, except the ones with romance with Ai. Nothing against that kind of fantasy, just, well, it feels a little wrong to romance Ai... Not without a lot lot lot of development, not only in terms of their relationship, but Ai as a person.
I'm just desperate for more Oshi no Ko fics, so please, keep posting more!