Waking up after a good night's sleep, Ai found Ruby still asleep next to her while Aqua wasn't around so he was probably watching TV as per usual. Today was going to be the biggest day in her career. She would be performing in the Tokyo Dome in front of tens of thousands of fans and even more watching at home. To say that she was nervous was a major understatement but now she has the enviable task of making Seiya Kinzoku, a man who told her in her face that he didn't listen to idol music and she boldly declared that she'd make him a fan the same way he did with her. Why did she put more pressure on herself? It was one thing to put on a performance of a lifetime for her fans, but making someone who was more musically talented than her to like her music was like trying to give a present to a person much richer than you.
Oh well, she got herself into this mess, she can get herself out of it. Besides, it's not like he would think any less of her if he ended up not enjoying the concert. She doubted that he was that shallow. Ai then gently got up from the futon, careful not to wake up Ruby. Making her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her kids, she spotted Aqua watching TV like he always does. When she walked closer towards him, she saw that he was watching the news, as per usual. Honestly, couldn't he act more like Ruby? She didn't want her baby boy to grow up too fast, "Oh Aqua, why can't you watch more child-friendly shows?"
"Because they bore me, Ai. It's always the same lessons and they talk down to you like you're stupid. We're kids, I get it, but we're not lobotomized," Aqua complained. Seriously, where did he learn all these words? Even she didn't know what lobotomized means. She supposed that's one of the difficulties of being a child genius, it's probably hard for him to relate with other kids his age.
"Well, mama's about to make breakfast so call me if you need anything. Oh and wake up your sister for me, would you?" Ai asked him kindly.
"Sure," was his only reply. With that, she set off to the kitchen to make some pancakes for the twins and herself. Making the pancakes were simple enough. While she wasn't that great of a cook, the instructions were easy enough that it wouldn't taste horrible. Soon enough, Ruby was walking towards the dining table while yawning and rubbing her eyes. Aqua trailed behind her and sat in the seat next to her and Ai served both of them their pancakes.
"Morning, sleepyhead," Ai greeted Ruby.
"Morning, mama. When will you leave for the Tokyo Dome?" Ruby asked.
"Well, I'm supposed to leave in the afternoon. There's a lot of things that we need to go through before the actual concert. Don't worry, Miyako will keep you company in the meantime," Ai assured her daughter.
"Oooh, I'm so excited to see mama perform in the Tokyo Dome. The fact that we'll be backstage is just super awesome, especially after how fun last night's concert was," Ruby said happily.
"Well if you think Chasers were good, wait until you see your mama on the big stage. I'm pretty confident that as good as Chasers were, B-Komachi will knock them out of the park," Ai hyped herself up for Ruby.
"Of course you will. I like Chasers a lot but they're not you," Ruby cheered.
"Of course they aren't like B-Komachi. Chasers are a metal band but I have to admit, I can relate more to Chasers' music more than B-Komachi's," Aqua gave his two cents.
Of course, Ai couldn't really blame him. Their songs were firmly stuck in her head, proving just how impactful the songs were. Even though the kids couldn't understand English, which was half right, they could understand the emotions Seiya poured into his songs.
"Hey! Are you saying you like Seiya more than mama now?" Ruby questioned her brother.
"Maybe in terms of singing and musical ability, the rest is hard to judge. But ultimately, comparing them is stupid because they perform two completely different genres," Aqua rebutted.
"Well, now that Chasers are signed with Strawberry, they'll release their songs on the radio so that means we can listen to mama and Chasers' music as well," Ruby said dreamily.
Ai always enjoyed these little moments with her kids. Unfortunately, these moments were becoming rarer and rarer as she's been getting more jobs and the twins were at school so they mostly spend time with each other at nights. So she wanted to spend as much time as she could with her twins before she had to leave for the Tokyo Dome be it watching TV or playing whatever board game that was there.
An hour before she was about to leave, there was a knock on the door and she went to the door to get it, "President? Miyako? Is that you?" but when Ai called out, there was no answer and the knock on the door continued. It was then she remembered what Miyako said to her over a week ago, "If you think anyone and I mean anyone is following you, call us immediately and only open the door for either me or Ichigo."
The fact that neither of them answered her when she called immediately triggered alarm bells in her head and she slowly stepped back from the door. Apparently, she was taking so long to open the door and the knocks got louder.
"Ai, what's going on?" Aqua came over to see what the commotion was about.
"Stay away from the door, Aqua. It's not safe," she warned Aqua.
Aqua, noticing the threat present, spoke up, "Ai, call the police, now!"
Taking her son's advice seriously, she dialled 110 and was met with an operator,"110, what is your emergency."
"Yes, someone's banging on my door loudly. When I called for who it was, he didn't answer and he's still knocking on the door. Please get an officer here quick," she pleaded as she gave the operator her address.
"Police are on their way ma'am. Are you safe for the moment?" the operator asked.
"The doors are pretty sturdy so I think I should be okay," Ai replied.
"Alright ma'am. Just stay away from the door until the police arrive. Even if the knocking stops, that doesn't mean that you're safe. Only answer the door for an officer," the operator reasoned with her.
"Alright, thank you," she hung up on the operator to make another call. It didn't take long for Ichigo to pick up.
"Ai! You're excited for the Dome tonight?" Ichigo greeted cheerfully, completely unaware of the situation Ai was in.
"President! Someone's trying to get in. I think it's a stalker or something. He's still trying to break the door down and I already called the police," she frantically informed Ichigo of the situation.
"WHAT?! Okay Ai, stay where you are now. Me and Miyako are coming to you as fast as we can," was the only reply Ichigo gave before hanging up.
"Open up, slut! I know you and your brats are in there! You think you can get away by lying to us like this!? You think you can just go ahead and fuck some guy and have his kids while leaving us in the dark!?" the stalker screamed from outside.
Ai stood there frozen. How did he find out about her children? Did he spot them together on the few occasions they would go out together? Did he follow them to the house? "Mama, are we safe?" her thoughts were interrupted by an obviously frightened Ruby.
The sight of her scared daughter snapped her out of her thoughts and she immediately comforted the little girl, "We're okay, Ruby. The door's strong and the bad man won't be able to get in. But in any case, just stay behind me and stay with your brother, alright?" Ai made sure Ruby and Aqua were behind her.
Then suddenly, a feminine voice from outside caused the banging to stop, "Tokyo Metropolitan Police! Step away from the door, drop the knife and hands behind your head!" he had a knife!? He was actually going to kill her!?
"I said back away from the door and drop the knife!" Makoto shouted again while aiming her gun at the suspect, "It's in your best interest to comply."
The suspect slowly backed away from the door and bent down to put down the knife and bouquet of flowers. But as soon as he let go of the objects in his hands, he immediately made a beeline away from her, "Shit!" Makoto cursed and she made chase but not before talking to the victim from the other side of the door, "Ma'am, I'm pursuing the suspect now. Please do not open the door for anyone other than me or another officer," she finished frantically before pursuing.
The suspect was stumbling down the stairs in a panic before getting up and continued running while Makoto was hot on his tail. Despite the fact the suspect had a speed advantage due to his gender, he would run out of steam before long, that worked to her advantage as she was in relatively good shape due to her police training. As the chase continued, she realized that he was heading straight into oncoming traffic.
"Hey! Stop!" Makoto yelled. In hindsight, she should've called out that he was running straight into traffic but in the heat of the moment, all she could think about was stopping him from getting run over.
Unfortunately for the suspect, when the words left her mouth, he turned his head at the worst possible time. When he took a glance at her, he didn't realize that he ran into oncoming traffic, right in front of a speeding truck. He could do nothing as he was mowed down by the multi-ton vehicle. Makoto could only watch as she reached for her radio to call for assistance, "This is officer Makoto Amamiya, requesting for paramedics at my location, suspect was struck by a moving vehicle," Makoto moved towards the mangled body but she already knew he was dead or will be without immediate medical assistance which was probably minutes away and would be too late to save him.
A certain Crow Girl was overlooking her domain until a soul came to her. She inspected it and commented, "Hmm, you're here earlier than expected. Wait, where's the other one?" she took a closer look at the soul in question, "A truck accident? That's different but rules are rules," she then proceeded to open a portal and tossed the soul into the void, "Farewell Ryosuke, I would wish that whatever world you end up in you'll find success there but considering your personality, I doubt that. Now, what could cause such a drastic change in destiny?"
Ai sat at the exact spot, holding her children close. She followed the police officer's words to the letter and has not opened the door yet. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Ai immediately stiffen and held her kids closer, "Ma'am, this is the officer from earlier. Don't worry, you're safe. I'm just here to ask a few questions," when Ai heard the police officer's voice, she relaxed her entire body and released the twins from her protective grasp.
She walked towards the door but not before looking through the peephole to make sure that it was indeed an officer. She released a breath she didn't realize she was holding and opened the door but not before addressing her kids, "You two should go back to your room, we're safe but I still need to talk with the police," Aqua being his usual mature self, nodded in acknowledgement and dragged Ruby back to their room. Once the door was opened, Ai could see the surprise present on the officer's face at seeing the victim was the famous Ai from B-Komachi. She then raised her eyebrows in realization after witnessing what just occurred.
"Miss Ai, I'm Officer Makoto Amamiya. I'm here to ask a few question about the incident that just happened. Is that okay with you?" the red-eyed police officer asked politely and calmly as she took out a pencil and notebook. At the mention of the name Amamiya, she had to make sure of something.
"Yes of course but if I may ask, are you related to a Gorou Amamiya? He's a doctor at a hospital in the countryside, he's been missing for about four years now if I remember correctly," Ai asked.
"I'm sorry but the only Gorou Amamiya I know is my four-year-old son and as far as I'm aware, my husband is an only child," she denied any relations to the missing doctor. Ai had a disappointing look on her face but was brought back to reality by a cough from the officer, "The questions?"
"Oh right, sorry about that. I can get easily distracted sometimes," Ai said while lightly knocking the top of her head and sticking her tongue out, hoping to help brighten the mood.
"That's totally fine, miss. Now first question. We've identified the culprit as a Ryosuke Kagawa. Do you know him or why he would have a motive to go out of his way to attack you at your own home in broad daylight?"
"No, I'm sorry but I don't recognize that name. I'm more familiar with faces honestly so if you could bring him to me I could probably give a reason for why he would want to attack me," Ai denied knowing the man.
"That would not be possible, he was hit by a truck and the paramedics have pronounced him dead. The police will be investigating his home but all we have now are theories. But considering you are an idol, it's most likely that you did something completely harmless but in his delusional mind, he saw it as an insult and stalked you for a number of days and decided to kill you on the day you were supposed to perform in Tokyo Dome to make a statement if the bouquet of flowers were any more of a motive," Makoto gave her reasoning as she pointed at the flowers on the floor.
After hearing that she was partly responsible for a person's death, she felt bad for that and Makoto could see the downtrodden look on Ai's face, "Miss Ai, it's not your fault that he died so you shouldn't blame yourself. He had every opportunity to surrender and he could've chosen not to attack you in the first place. He made his bed and now he's lying in it, it's unfortunate that his bed happens to be a mortuary table. You are not responsible for his actions," Makoto reasoned to hopefully get Ai out of the funk she put herself in.
"I appreciate that officer. I know that idols have to deal with stalkers but I never expected they would resort to this," Ai said sadly. Before Makoto could comfort her further, a shout interrupted her.
"AI!" came a blonde man and a strawberry-blonde woman, running towards Ai, "Oh thank god you're alright," the man breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry but are you her guardian?" Makoto asked but she didn't push them away since Ai seemed to know them.
"Yes officer, I'm her manager, Ichigo Saitou and this is my wife, Miyako. Thank you for making sure Ai's safe," the married couple bowed at the police officer.
"Just doing my duty. I don't think I have any questions to ask you so I'll get out of your hair. The paperwork for this is gonna be a pain," she muttered. As she was about to leave, Ichigo stopped her.
"Wait officer, I have to ask, who tried to attack her and what was the motive?" he asked.
"Like I informed miss Ai earlier, the culprit was a man named Ryosuke Kagawa. We still don't have a motive for the attack as he died after getting hit by a truck. But I assume he was a stalker who's been following her for some time. That is all I can say, detectives will investigate his house and we should find more evidence there," she informed him.
"Right, thank you officer," he bid the policewoman farewell. He then turned towards Ai, "We should head inside," Ai nodded and the three went inside. Once inside, Ichigo immediately gave Ai a hug, "Thank god you're safe. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you," Ichigo said while maintaining the embrace.
Ai, shocked at how much compassion Ichigo was showing her, smiled and returned the hug. They then heard small footsteps running towards her, "Mama!" Ruby came barrelling towards her followed by Aqua who was trying to get her to stop running. Ai let go of Ichigo to give her running daughter a hug.
"Is it over now? Have the police left?" Ruby asked.
"Yes sweetie, things should be in the clear now," Ai consoled Ruby.
"Not to be the bearer of bad news but unfortunately it's not quite over yet," Ichigo interrupted the moment, "The fact that a stalker managed to find out where you live even though you just moved to this place means that you're no longer safe here. We're gonna have to find a new home for you which is easier said than done. Houses in Tokyo aren't cheap, not to mention that we still have to pay for this house so it might take a while," Ichigo said, dampening the mood.
It was then Ruby had a brilliant idea, "I know! What about we stay at Seiya's house?" everyone in the room looked at her like she just grew a third eye, "What? It's a good idea. We'll have a place to stay and he can protect us from any bad guys with his kickboxing skills," Ruby gave her reason.
"Honestly, that's not a bad idea," Ichigo commented, causing the group minus Ruby to look at him in confusion, "What? It makes sense. We can't let Ai stay with us, our address is rather public knowledge. Ai's not exactly close with the rest of B-Komachi so asking her to live with one of them for an extended period could jeopardize morale. Besides, he's a part of Strawberry Productions now so this can be a part of his NDA," Ichigo suggested. Ruby was positively beaming that Ichigo agreed with her.
"But what about his parents? Even if we can trust him, how can we make sure his parents will keep their end of the bargain? That's not even mentioning if they'll even let Ai live with them in the first place," Miyako countered.
"Which is why, you'll have to talk them into agreeing to let Ai live with them. Tell them we'll compensate them for her stay and pay a bit extra to keep quiet about it," Ichigo proposed.
"Am I the only one not going insane here? Are you actually agreeing with Ruby about letting Ai living with some guy we only met yesterday?" Aqua asked Ichigo.
"I have to agree with Aqua. What you're suggesting is crazy. I know you want to make sure Ai's safe but this is a bit much, don't you think?" Miyako sided with Aqua.
"I know, I know. The plan's a bit out there but we don't have much choice right now. We can't afford to pay for a decent place for Ai and the kids to live and this place at the same time. There's still a year in the lease. So our best option is to have Ai stay with Seiya and the kids will stay with us," Ichigo gave his reasoning.
"Yeah! Mama'll stay with Seiya and we'll- Wait, what did you say?" Ruby asked, obviously not expecting the direction the conversation was going.
"Well, obviously I wasn't about to let you two stay there. I'm already risking a lot by having your mother live with Seiya. The B-Komachi girls still think you both are mine and Miyako's so why would I let Seiya and his parents know about the two of you?" Ichigo told the news.
Ai, who has been silent throughout the whole conversation, finally spoke up about having to separate her from her children, "Then find someplace cheaper. The three of us can manage to live in a tiny apartment. Just, don't separate us, they still need their mother," Ai pleaded for Ichigo to think of an alternative solution.
"I'm sorry, Ai. While I know that you can live in a box somewhere, those places aren't exactly safe and soon enough, your address will be leaked again and we're right back at square one. If it makes you feel any better the twins will live with us and who knows, maybe we'll send the kids there every once in a while for you to 'babysit' them," Ichigo offered a compromise.
Everyone in the room stayed quiet. Aqua and Miyako not having any other options to solve their living situation, conceded. Ruby, despite coming up with the idea of having Ai stay with Seiya, was second guessing her decision now that she would have to be separated from her mama. Ai meanwhile, was rather conflicted. While she understood where the president was coming from but to have to live separately from her children was not something she looked forward to. She's never spent more than a day away from the twins, let alone for who knows how long she'll have to stay there but she knew that the kids' relationship with her have to be kept a secret, no matter how much she trusted Seiya.
"Alright," Ai's voice broke the tense silence that developed in the room, "I'll stay with Seiya and his parents but you two better promise to take good care of my babies when I'm away," she directed that at the Saitous.
"Don't worry, we'll take good care of the twins. But I need to ask, are you sure you're able to perform? I know what happened earlier has you spooked and I need you at your best, we can't just cancel hours away from show time. So, can you still be Ai from B-Komachi for another night?" Ichigo said, in an attempt to keep her focused on the concert.
"The show must go on right? I'm not hurt so I shouldn't disappoint my fans," Ai said confidently.
"Alright, Miyako, call Seiya and see if he can let Ai stay at his house. Ai, you and the kids need to start packing. Even if you're not able to stay with him, worst case scenario we'll check you in a hotel for a few days. I'll try my best to stall the media coverage as much as I can," Ichigo told them then he went off to make a phone call of his own.
Looking down at the twins, Ai could see that both of them were less than pleased with the situation, "D-Do you really have to leave, Mama?" Ruby stammered while trying her best not to cry.
Ai knelt down so she could pull them in for a hug. Ruby immediately clung onto her while Aqua didn't pull away like he would usually do, "Trust me, Ruby, mama doesn't want this either but this is our best choice for our safety. So you two be good and listen to the president and Miyako, alright?" Ai asked them gently.
The moment those words left her mouth, the dam that was holding back Ruby's tears burst and Ai could feel her dress getting a bit wet as Ruby hugged Ai tighter, "You be careful too, Ai. You weren't hurt earlier but who knows if something like this will happen again," Aqua gave his two cents. While he wasn't as upset as Ruby, he was still rather unhappy with the situation.
"Of course, I'll make sure that no creepy stalker will get close to me. Even if they do, Seiya'll protect me," Ai assured Aqua which was a first for her since Aqua was always an independent child.
"Okay, I finally made contact with Seiya, had to get his number from that gremlin though but I called him and he said that his parents are willing to negotiate. Problem is, we have to go to his house in Edogawa," Miyako addressed the group.
"Edogawa, huh? That's about half an hour train ride from here," Ichigo grumbled finishing the phone call on his end, "Alright, let's split up. Ai, you're coming with me to the Tokyo Dome, there's still some preparations that need to be done. Miyako, you take the twins to his house and negotiate with his parents. Call me if they agree or not," with plans made, the group separated and went to their respective destinations.
After a thirty-minute train ride, Miyako and the twins stood outside of Seiya's house. It was a two-storey detached house in a pretty nice neighbourhood and in the driveway, was a Prius which was more likely the family's car. Miyako expected the family to be reasonably wealthy so she wasn't surprised that they live in a nice house. Approaching the front door, she knocked and called out Seiya, "Seiya. This is Miyako Saitou from Strawberry Productions. May we come in?"
"Yeah, give me a second," Seiya's voice came from the other side before it opened to reveal himself, "Hey, come in," he ushered the three of them in. Once inside, they were greeted by two bundles of fur.
"Woah! Those are big cats!" Ruby said happily as she attempted to hug the cats but struggled as they were roughly as big as the twins were. One cat was a ragdoll that had white fur on the bottom half of its body and brown fur in its face, other half of its body along with the tail. The other was an even bigger orange Maine Coon. Both were sniffing the three of them, similar as how a dog would.
"Sorry about that. They like meeting new people. Which is why they're not allowed outdoors, it'd be too easy for them to get stolen. None of you are allergic right?" Seiya asked.
"No, we're fine," Miyako responded.
"Okay, that's a relief. Corpsegrinder, Doomslayer. Come on," he motioned for his cats to follow him which they obeyed. Honestly, they were confused whether these were cats or dogs.
"You named your cats Corpsegrinder and Doomslayer?" Aqua asked the vocalist.
"Yeah, Corpsegrinder," he pointed at the ragdoll, "is named after the vocalist of Cannibal Corpse. Doomslayer here," he pointed at the Maine Coon, "is named after the main character of the Doom series," he explained but Aqua remained unimpressed.
"Well I like it so don't listen to Aqua about him thinking their names are stupid," Ruby defended the man.
"I knew I liked you kid," he and Ruby hi-fived each other while Aqua sighed in annoyance. Miyako meanwhile smiled in amusement seeing Seiya and Ruby were already getting along.
"Thanks, my name's Ruby by the way," Ruby said cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you, Ruby. My folks are in the living room," he looked towards Miyako and ushered the three of them along with the two giant cats to the living room. Once in the living room, she spotted a few cat towers near the corners of the room along with a TV, an armchair and a couch. On the couch there were two people. One was a bald Japanese man in pretty good shape despite being in his fifties. He had a serious look on his face and his eyes were focused on Miyako. The woman on his right however was the complete opposite of her husband. She had long blonde hair that were showing signs of greying which was natural for a woman in her fifties and unlike her husband, she had a warm smile to contrasting the frown on his face.
Miyako sat on the armchair to the couch's right and Seiya took a seat next to his father. As for the twins, Aqua opted to sit on the arm of the chair while Ruby sat on the floor where one of the cats was lying, "Mr and Mrs Kinzoku, it's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Miyako Saitou vice president of Strawberry Productions. I'm sure your son has told you about our situation?"
"Pleasure to meet you Mrs Saitou, I'm Daichi Kinzoku and this is my wife, Melissa. Yes, he told us one of your idols was nearly attacked by a deranged lunatic and you decided that it was a great idea to have her stay with us for who knows how long," the now named Daichi told her.
"Yes, the situation is less than ideal but considering your son's friendship with Ai we thought it'd be best for her to not only be with someone she's familiar with, but someone who can protect her when needed," Miyako gave her reasoning.
"And we're the only option you have? Can't she stay with her family or with one of the girls in your group?" Daichi asked.
"Unfortunately, a lot of idols aren't really close with each other. While some are really good friends, a majority of them see each other as competition so Ai's relationship with B-Komachi isn't that great. As for family, she doesn't have one. She grew up in an orphanage so she has no family to speak of," Miyako explained to the family.
The three of them had sympathetic looks on their faces about Ai's past. They looked at each other before they started discussing it among themselves. Miyako waited patiently for them to finish their discussion with the twins waiting anxiously about their decision since this concerned their mother. After a few minutes, they stopped what they were doing and faced her, "Alright, we'll let her stay here for about ¥70,000 a month. Granted, I would've asked for more but considering that she's Seiya's friend and you probably couldn't afford a better place for her, I think it's fair to charge that much for rent. But if she causes trouble for us, we're kicking her out," Daichi gave his conditions.
Miyako let out a sigh of reelief, "Excellent, my husband will provide the necessary paperwork to sign and of course a few NDA's. I assume her location is safe with you?" she asked just to be sure.
"Lady, if we leak her whereabouts, we'll be leaking our address as well and I have so many shotgun shells," Daichi informed and Miyako paled at the mention of shotgun, "What? I have a license to own it and I will use it if I have to," of course Miyako forgot the fact that even though he was Japanese, he was born and raised in the US where gun laws are incredibly lax.
"Right, I hope you don't need to use it but I understand. Oh and Seiya, you're still attending the concert, right?" Miyako asked.
"Of course I am. At the very least, I should give her support after what she went through today," Seiya told them.
"That's my boy. Never one to leave a damsel in distress," Melissa joked while ruffling with his already messy hair.
"Come on, mom. This is embarrassing," Seiya complained causing Miyako to chuckle at the scene.
"Oh lighten up, it's just your boss' wife and their kids. Nothing to be embarrassed about," Melissa lightened the mood.
"Anyway, we'll pick you up after the concert along with Ai so you should stay back a bit until me or Ichigo calls you," Miyako told him.
"Alright, just don't take too long. I'd rather not wake up feeling like a zombie tomorrow morning," Seiya replied.
"We'll try our best. We'll take our leave now. Come on kids," Miyako called for the twins to leave with Ruby obviously disappointed that she had to stop playing with the cats. Once outside, she made a call to Ichigo, "They agreed. Ai'll be living there from now on. How're things on your end?"
"Well, I talked to the police and I managed to convince them not to publish the story until tomorrow morning. Now I'm just getting the girls ready for the concert," Ichigo reported.
"Do they know about what happened?" Miyako asked.
"No, don't want them to get distracted on the biggest day of their lives. Better they learn about it tomorrow and not get cold feet in the middle of the concert," Ichigo refused to tell the girls about what happened which made sense but she still didn't like keeping such important news from them.
"Okay, that's everything on our end so we'll be making our way to you," she said.
"Alright, we'll see you there," Ichigo replied before hanging up.
"Okay, you two. We're going to the Tokyo Dome so spend whatever time you have left with Ai, alright?" she suggested to the twins.
"Yeah, let's go! By the way, how often can we visit here? I like this place and Seiya's a pretty nice guy. Not to mention that I can play with the cats," Ruby asked excitedly while Aqua was once again rolling his eyes at Ruby's antics.
"We'll see. We can't have you there too often or else they'll get suspicious. Well, let's get going then," with that, the three were on their way to the Tokyo Dome.
(Later that night)
Ai and the rest of B-Komachi were in the waiting room, minutes away from the biggest concert of their lives, waiting for President Saitou to give them a motivational speech, "Alright, ladies. This is it. You're finally going to perform in the prestigious Tokyo Dome. I know, this is bigger than anything you've ever done but I know you deserve this. You didn't work your asses off for the past decade to be just another idol group, no. The fact that Tokyo Dome gave you an invite is proof of that. So go out there, and show the world what B-Komachi is capable of!"
The speech was short and a bit generic but it did its job. The girls were now more motivated and cheered loudly. While they were hyped up, Ichigo pulled Ai aside from the girls, "Remember, Ai. After the last song, get changed and get to the car. I don't want you stay out more than you need to," right, Ichigo already told her that she'll be living with the Kinzokus after this. While she was rather excited about living with Seiya, she didn't like being separated from her children. It was disappointing she couldn't give her kids a big hug after they and Miyako returned from Seiya's place as she could see Ruby was doing everything in her power to not run up to her and call her mama. Aqua fared a little better since he was always mature for his age. The good news was that Ichigo and Miyako will try to get the three of them to spend time together.
"I understand. Don't worry about me, president. I'll be sure that this concert will be one that's remembered for a long time," Ai declared confidently.
Ichigo could only smile at Ai's enthusiasm. It felt like it was only yesterday that the young woman in front of her was a country bumpkin who could barely sing or dance and seeing her right now, proud was an understatement, "That a girl. Now go out there and knock their socks off," Ichigo said while lightly tapped her back as Ai joined the rest of the girls in the centre position on the raising platform.
As the platform slowly raised up to the stage, the crowd's roar grew louder and the bright lights were shining on all seven of them. All seven members of B-Komachi got into their pose for the first song and waited for the music to play.
(play Sign Wa B by B-Komachi)
"Anata no IDOL Sign Wa B! Chu~"
As she uttered the first line of their famous song, the crowd chanted along with the lyrics while waving their glow sticks. B-Komachi went on with their choreographed moves that were incorporated into the song. Ai, while still keeping with the rehearsed choreography, she was scanning around the VIP section looking for the man who she'll be living with for the next year. But with the sea of people around where he was supposed to be, it's proven difficult to find him. But as the song was about to reached its climax, she found him. Despite wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap and a hoodie over his head, she could recognize that head of hair anywhere and he was holding a red glow stick. She didn't know if he just picked it at random or he knew that red was her colour but she was both grateful and happy to see him.
The moment she saw him, her smile became wider and a new sense of determination came over her. After all the craziness that happened today, she forgot that she made it a mission to make Seiya a fan of idols, or at least of her. So with that in mind, she upped her game and performed with more energy while also maintaining the choreography.
(stop playing Sign Wa B by B-Komachi)
As the song came to an end. The crowd roared in excitement at their performance. Ai then sneaked a glance at Seiya and saw him… smiling. That's it? A smile was all she was going to get? She just performed her heart out and he just smiled? This was obviously going to be a challenge but she had two hours and thirty songs left for the concert. Surely she'll have him screaming for joy in that time, right?
(two hours and thirty songs later)
She couldn't believe it. After having the best performance of her life for the past two hours, the most she could get out of him was an applause. That would've been demoralizing if it weren't for the fact that tens of thousands more enjoyed B-Komachi's concert more than he did so that softened the blow a bit for her. While her mission to make Seiya her fan might've been a failure, at least the concert was a massive success based on the crowd's reaction so she still considered this a victory. As the concert came to an end, the girls gave the crowd a bow and stepped back on the platform as it descended.
Before the girls were out of the crowd's view, Ai decided to go off-script a bit and addressed the crowd, "We've been B-Komachi, thank you and goodnight everyone! I love you guys!" she yelled into her microphone, taking a page out of Seiya's book from last night. Once they're no longer on camera and the mics were cut off, the girls immediately cheered and dogpiled each other. Ai appreciated that even though they didn't necessarily get along, at least they can celebrate big milestones like this without it being awkward.
"Well done, ladies!" Ichigo approached them while slowly clapping his hands. Behind him, Ai spotted Miyako and her kids by Miyako's side with Ruby jumping with joy with Aqua beaming brightly and giving her two thumbs up, "Now normally, I'd take you to a fancy restaurant to celebrate but unfortunately, there was a mix up with the scheduling at the restaurant and there were no slots for us. So sadly, we'll have to reschedule the party at another time," Ichigo came up with the excuse so that Ai could get to safety as soon as possible. The girls who were still unaware of Ai's situation, groaned in disappointment, "Now, now. I know this sucks but to compensate, you guys are getting the entire month off with full pay," Ichigo announced which caused the entire group to cheer, "Okay, now get changed and go home. You guys deserve the month off," he said while subtly glancing at Ai.
She understood what she was saying and subtly wink at him. With that announcement, he left the girls to their own devices, "Man, what an anticlimactic way to end the night. Well, at least we can rest for a whole month without having to worry about rent. About time we get paid for what we're worth," Nino commented.
"Yeah. So what are you girls doing after this?" another member, Meimei asked.
"Well, I'm pretty tired after the concert so I think I'll be heading home," Ai gave the excuse to leave.
"Wow, Ai. It's not even ten o'clock yet and you're already going to bed? To think you're the same age as us," Watanabe joked while also delivering a bit of a jab about their ages. They're all in their twenties now so at best, they only have five years left before they're forced to graduate.
"Sorry, girls but I really should go home. Besides, if we go out for dinner at a random restaurant, we'll be flocked by fans," Ai responded.
"Yeah, you got a point there. See ya, Ai," Watanabe said her goodbyes followed by the rest of the members. Having said their goodbyes, Ai changed out of her idol outfit and into her disguise. She then made it to the VIP parking lot where Ichigo's car was. She reached the car and spotted the four of them where Ai immediately swooped in to hug her babies.
"Mama! You were amazing! That was your best concert ever!" Ruby cheered as excitedly as ever.
"I have to agree, you were on another level today, Ai," Aqua complimented her as well.
"Well, did you expect anything less?" she looked around and noticed they were one person short, "Where's Seiya? Is he not here yet?"
"No, I texted him the car's license plate and where it is but the dome's pretty big so it might take a while for him to find us," Ichigo informed her.
Just as they were mentioning him, they heard footsteps from a distance and saw Seiya jogging while looking for their car. When he spotted the four of them, he jogged forward to them, "Hey, so we're going or what?"
"Yeah, get in. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can move on to the next headache," Ichigo called for them to get in the car.
Ichigo and Miyako got in the front where Ichigo would be the one driving so Seiya, Ai and the twins had to seat in the back. That was when they encountered a minor inconvenience, "Oh, I guess there's not enough room for the four of us," Ai pointed out.
"That's fine, the kids can sit on our laps," he said as he picked Ruby up who laughed excitedly and got into the car.
Following his lead, she picked up Aqua, "Come on Aqua. Don't want to keep everyone waiting now."
Aqua struggled to free himself from his grasps, "Ai, I can get in by myself," his cries fell on deaf ears however as he was forced to sit on Ai's lap next to Ruby and Seiya. Miyako looked at the four of them and smiled seeing how good the four of them looked. Maybe Ichigo was on to something.
"Alright then. Seiya, you know where your house is from here right?" Ichigo asked Seiya.
"Yeah, I've been to a few Giants games and Wrestle Kingdoms here so I'm pretty familiar with the route," Seiya responded. Ichigo nodded and started driving. With his conversation with Ichigo over, he turned his attention towards Ai, "So how're you holding up, Ai? I know you still performed out there but from what I heard about what happened, it couldn't have been easy," Seiya sympathized.
"Well, I can't lie. I'm still a little shocked after what happened especially after hearing that he died. But he wasn't able to touch me so I have no excuse to not perform and disappoint millions of people," Ai said to him. He gave her smile to show that he understood and agreed with her, "By the way, what did you think about the concert? I noticed you in the crowd and only saw you smiling and clapping so I couldn't really tell if you liked it or not," Ai asked prompting Ruby to look up to hear his answer.
"Well, it was good," the moment those words left his mouth, an imaginary arrow struck Ai in the stomach, the fact that she was only 'good' didn't sit well with her, "The dancing and synchronization you had with the other girls were great. Singing could use more work but otherwise solid. I could tell you were having a lot of fun on stage so that's always a positive. The one thing I don't like are the songs. They feel pretty generic and the music is pretty shallow so I can't say I loved your performance," the more he talked, the more arrows that struck her.
"Hey, you alright? You look like you were about to pass out," he asked out of concern.
"Yeah, just didn't expect you to be so blunt is all," Ai responded as she was taking the imaginary arrows out of her body.
"I just tell it how I see it. If you ask my opinion about something, I'm going to answer honestly so sorry if you took that personally. Besides, I've never been interested in the whole kawaii aesthetic so trying to make me like it is a pretty tall order. Just because I don't like your music doesn't mean I don't like you as a person and you still have over a million fans who disagree with me so don't feel bad about a metalhead not liking your music," he said as he patted her on the back to comfort her Ai jolted a bit from the sudden contact but calmed herself knowing that it was an attempt to let her down easy.
"Aww, that's a bummer. She was really hoping to impress you," Ruby complained from Seiya's lap though thankfully didn't accidentally call Ai mama.
"Well, you can't please everyone, kiddo. That's the sad reality of the world," Seiya said while patting Ruby on the head.
"He's right, you can't please everyone so Ai, focus on your existing fanbase. Don't try to alienate them by appealing to a different one that may or may not support you," Aqua chimed in.
"Aye, aye, Captain Aqua," Ai gave Aqua a mocked salute.
"Damn, boss. How smart is that son of yours," Seiya asked Ichigo.
"Well, he's always been a bright kid for someone his age. Honestly, sometimes I think he wants to be a grown up as fast as possible," Ai answered him much to his confusion.
"You seem to know the kids pretty well," Seiya pointed out, causing the occupants in the car to panic a little, "You babysit them often, Ai?"
"Yeah. We're pretty busy so we usually have Ai babysit them whenever she's available. Speaking of, do you mind if we send them to your place every once in a while? They've grown attached to Ai so having someone else babysit them probably wouldn't sit right with them. Plus, I see Ruby's already friendly with you so you being with them couldn't hurt," Ichigo quickly covered Ai's mistake and gave the twins an excuse to visit Ai, which she was thankful for.
"I don't mind, my mom loves kids and my dad might look like an intimidating guy, well he is being a former UFC fighter and all, but he's a really nice guy and there shouldn't be any problems having them over," Seiya accepted which led Ai to smile softly at him.
Meanwhile, Miyako looked on at their dynamic and she could see people mistaking them for an actual family. She reached over to Ichigo and whispered, "You may be right about them. They look good together."
"Told you so," was all Ichigo said.
The drive went on for another fifteen minutes uneventfully until they finally reached Seiya's home. Seiya woke up Ruby after she fell asleep and leaned against his body. Ai laughed seeing how comfortable Ruby was using his body as a mattress. They got out of the car and Ai got her luggage from the trunk. When Seiya opened the door, he was greeted by Corpsegrinder, "Hey, Corpse. Come on," Seiya then held his hands out for the large cat to jump up to him.
"Wow. Your cat must really like you," Ai commented.
"Cats actually. Doom's probably upstairs. Ah, there he is," he spotted the other cat coming to the door, "Hold him for me would you, Ai?" he passed Corpsegrinder to Ai which led to the ragdoll sniffing the new human. He held his hands out like earlier and like before, the other cat jumped up to his arms.
"Seiya, how was the concert?" suddenly, his father came into the hallway from the living room.
"It was okay. Not my kind of thing. Again, no offense Ai," Seiya told him.
Daichi then stepped forward to Ai, "So I assume you're the Ai that's staying here?" he asked her.
"Yes sir, that's me. Ai from B-Komachi," she greeted as she struck her idol pose while still holding a massive cat in her arms albeit a bit shaky since Seiya's father looked pretty intimidating.
"Please don't do that again, it's weird. Just greet me normally. Daichi Kinzoku, Seiya's father," he said as he reached out his right hand for a handshake.
"Oh right, Ai from B-Komachi. It's nice to meet you," Ai shook the man's hand.
"Seiya? Are you home?" a voice called out from the room on the right.
"Yeah mom, we're in the hallway," Seiya called back.
Seconds later, his mother came out to greet them, "Oh, you must be Ai. Seiya said you're an idol but you're prettier than I expected."
Ai laughed bashfully at the compliment, "Oh thank you. You don't look too bad yourself," Ai complimented her back.
"Alright, as fun as this get together has been, we really should get going. Ai, behave yourself here. I don't want to bail you out if you cause trouble for Seiya and his family," Ichigo warned her.
"I'll be on my best behaviour, president," she said cheerfully.
"Alright if there's nothing else, we'll leave her to you. Keep her as safe as you can, okay," Ichigo told them.
"Don't worry boss, we'll make sure if someone stalks her again, we'll give them a good dose of PTSD," he joked although he was most likely serious about that.
"Okay, say goodbye to Ai, kids," Ichigo told them.
"Bye, Ai," Ruby waved goodbye despite feeling strange having to call her Ai instead of mama.
"We'll see you, Ai," Aqua followed with his usual stoic tone.
"Bye, you guys," she wanted to give them one more hug for the road but held back as it would look suspicious in front of the Kinzokus.
A cough brought her out of her thoughts, "You can put the cat down, if you want," Daichi told her.
"Oh, right, sorry," she then promptly laid Corpsegrinder on the floor.
"I'm pretty sure you must be exhausted from all the singing and dancing you had to do all night. Come on, let's get you to your room," Melissa went down the hall and turned right so Ai grabbed her bags and followed her. They both went up the stairs where there were only two rooms, "This is Seiya's room. He usually leaves the door open so if he closes it that means he's either changing or, well, best not to interrupt him either way," Melissa commented and it took a while for Ai to get what the woman was suggesting but realization hit her and her face turned beet red.
They stopped at the only other room on that floor, "And this is where you'll be staying," inside, the room was about as big as the one in her old apartment. Although currently, there was only a bed, a wardrobe, a standing mirror and a desk along with a chair that occupied the room, "It's a bit empty but feel free to add whatever decorations you like."
"Thank you very much for letting me stay here, Mrs Kinzoku. I'll be sure to help out around the house a bit during my hiatus," Ai offered.
"That's nice of you and by the way, just call me Melissa or Mel. No need to be so formal with me. Well, I'll leave you to unpack now. Breakfast is at six. Good night, Ai," she wished her good night.
"Night, Melissa," she responded. When she closed the door, she just left her bags on the floor. She couldn't be bothered to unpack now. So much has happened today and all she wanted was for this day to end. With that, she plopped onto what she can describe as the most comfortable bed she's ever slept on and lulled herself to sleep. Uncertain how much will change now that she's here.
AN:
Hey, it's me again. So that happened, Ai's alive and is living with Seiya. Not gonna lie, them living together was a bit of a cheat to force them to spend more time together. Hopefully the reasons Ichigo gave made sense as to why Seiya's house is the best option. And yes, that was Makoto Niijima from Persona 5. I couldn't help but add Persona characters in knowing that Aqua's former name was Gorou Amamiya. And yes, Ren's with Makoto if it wasn't obvious enough.
Now I would like to thank altajir95 for not only giving me advice for this story but also for creating a TVtropes page for this fic. Here's the link if you want to check it out.
tvtropes pmwiki/pmwiki . php/Fanfic/WhenAnIdolMeetsMetal
Also, I'll be focusing on Gloria's Bloodtrail next. So combine that with my slow update schedule and my compulsive ass writing a new fic willy nilly, it'll be a while before I continue with this story. But that might be a good thing since the manga is expected to finish in April 2024 so I have time to catch up for the full story to unravel.
Anyway that's enough out of me, I'll see you guys later.