Not to toot his own horn, but facilitating a passable final scene for Sweet Today had been child's play for Aqua.
Of course, the key component was Arima giving her ace performance. That was the real meat which fans of Sweet Today and the general audience talked about. The likes of Aqua and the male lead were mere set pieces supporting her, the tears she had cried caught on camera letting it sink in that the pivotal scene of the manga was done the justice it deserved. Even the manga's creator, Yoriko Kichijouji, expressed her appreciation firstly to Arima during the wrap party.
From Aqua's perch in the corner of the restaurant where the wrap party was taking place, he watched as Arima began crying real tears after being so flustered by Kichijouji complimenting her performance. He let himself smile at the scene. The old soul within him was proud of the unpleasant girl growing up to be such a passionate, mature actress.
Although, she had hardly been subtle when asking him if he had a girlfriend a few minutes earlier. Even under the context of warning him about getting caught up in scandals that could potentially inhibit the production of a project helmed by a large crew, Aqua could tell she was infatuated with him. Just a small crush at the moment. It wouldn't be the first he's been subject to, or a witness to considering Cobie's past and Ruby's own share of secret admirers throughout middle school.
Even if he identified himself more as Aqua Hoshino than Gorou Amamiya at this point in his reincarnated life, Aqua still closed his heart to the path of reciprocation with Arima's fleeting feelings. It still felt too awkward for him to square away his mental age and his teenage hormones, and he still had a mission to uphold which he couldn't compromise with frivolous distractions.
Turning his attention away from the Arima, Aqua spotted his primary target weaving through crew members to meet face-to-face with him.
Aqua had already completed the necessary tests and confirmed Masaya Kaburagi was not his father, but that did not mean more could be gleaned from the man.
"Hello there, Aqua!" greeted Kaburagi. "I'm sorry we didn't have much time to talk during filming. If I had known that Taishi Gotanda's apprentice had a lot of good ideas in mind to sweeten the finale, I'd have pushed for an extension on the filming schedule."
Aqua returned the courtesy with his own polite tone. "No need to apologize. I'd say everything worked out as best as possible with the conditions we were under. I didn't mind playing the bad guy to make Arima and Narushima look good."
Arima definitely hadn't been wrong about the male lead Melt Narushima and his poor acting. Still, Cobalt was once at that level of skill when acting on-camera and not emulating another Hoshino. If Narushima truly put in the effort, then he won't need the likes of the theatrical orchestral conductor in Aqua to bring out the best in him for future jobs.
Kaburagi nodded approvingly. "Yes, the real aim of the show was to get young, unproven talents' names out there, and I think we've achieved that." He offered a knowing smile. "Getting a Hoshino as a guest star also brought plenty of eyes to see the episode, as well. I have to admit, I initially thought Kana had been joking when she said she had recruited you as Kaoru Abura's replacement, but I suppose I underestimated both her networking skills and the willingness of Ai's son to take on a realistically small role in the grand scheme of things."
He was the first one to bring up Ai. Aqua pounced on the segue. "You used to work with my mom for a time when she was still an idol, right?" he asked curiously. "I'm fairly certain she and Ichigo Saitou have mentioned your name once or twice."
Kaburagi's smile widened as he thought back fondly on those distant memories. "Yes. Around when she first started modeling for fashion magazines, if I recall correctly." He gave a short chuckle. "For all her talents in singing and dancing in an idol group, she had been dreadful at being a team player for photo shoots. Thankfully, it appears my worries about her son taking too much after her were unfounded."
So the man had no reservations on reminiscing about Ai's faults. Good. With a slightly defensive attitude, Aqua said, "The number of years since you've last worked with my mother as an inexperienced teen idol is only slightly more than the number of years I've been alive. Of course she's changed since then and taught the lessons she's already learned about show business; she is more than fine with side roles rather than taking the center stage these days."
"As an adult, yes," Kaburagi conceded. "Ai's clearly become more modest. It's my own fault for not thinking she'd raise her children to be less hungry for the spotlight. There's more evidence to suggest the contrary; there's been rumors about Ruby Hoshino going to debut soon as an idol succeeding her mother, and Cobalt Hoshino has already made waves over the years as an online personality. That's not even acknowledging our own plethora of prominent roles."
The yarn Kaburagi was spinning was retreading familiar ground. "You have more projects in mind you think myself and my family would be good fits for," Aqua said blatantly.
"I do, but none for you that will also involve Kana, unfortunately." His sympathy was almost condescending, but Aqua wasn't offended. "I'll understand if you had other jobs you were already–"
"I'd like to clear up a misunderstanding," Aqua swiftly interrupted. "I accepted the job not purely to work with Arima again. I also wanted to meet you, Masaya Kaburagi."
Aqua could see Kaburagi's confusion on his face. For all of Kaburagi's success in the industry, certainly Ai's son knew far more influential names than the freelance producer. "Oh? If Ai and her old manager only mentioned my name in passing, where did the interest for me come from?"
"Your familiarity with Ai the idol. I wasn't quite sure how close you were with her, but I was hoping there was a chance that you knew her well enough to also know the identity of a certain individual."
"So… I'm a stepping stone to another contact you think I can connect you with related to Ai's tenure as an idol?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes." Aqua made a show of taking a deep breath. "If you knew Ai well back then, I wanted to know if you had any inkling on who my father is."
The confusion gave way to surprise.
Kaburagi eventually answered, "I think you're overestimating how close I was with her." After glancing at their surroundings and confirming no one was eavesdropping on them (which Aqua had already done), Kaburagi recomposed himself and said, "I'll say it plainly; I'm not your father."
Aqua quickly rectified the potential misunderstanding. "Don't worry. I never really suspected you. I doubt my mother would have spoken about you in good spirits if that were the case."
Kaburagi leered at Aqua with suspicion, but also with intrigue. "Ai is reluctant to tell you who your father is of her own accord?"
"I'm searching for him without her knowledge," Aqua confessed. He let a little humility leak out as he spoke further. "From what little I do know, my mom must have had a falling out with my father. Logically, he had to have been in the entertainment industry for her to meet and develop a relationship with him. She was a loner, after all, and wouldn't have done much to associate with people outside of her career. I assume the fallout that came with my mother's retirement as an idol and the reveal that she had children dissuaded my father from reassociating with her, privately or publicly."
The suspicion was gone. The intrigue and curiosity fully took over Kaburagi. "You think your father is someone of renown still working in the industry to this day? Someone whose reputation could be utterly ruined if it's revealed he was the unseen man involved in Japan's greatest teen pregnancy scandal." Thanks to the various projects Kaburagi has worked on, he must be able to quickly recognize a good story when presented one.
"I'm not necessarily looking to expose him and let the court of public opinion eat him alive." Aqua put more emotion into his next words. "I just… I want to meet him. Even if my mother doesn't want to see him again, I want to at least know his name, know his face, and trade some words with him. Maybe selfishly so, but…"
Aqua neglected to add tears to his performance. A restrained show of emotion should be enough.
"You know," Kaburagi said flatly, "you're essentially asking me, who is for all intents and purposes a stranger whom your mother only briefly worked with years ago, to get involved in your own family drama."
The response to that type of counter to Aqua's plight was a line Aqua had used more than once in the past. "If you can answer my question, or lead me to people who do know the answer, then you get the son of Ai Hoshino lined up for more projects of your choosing."
Adding a cheeky smile to the end of Aqua's offer caused Kaburagi to let out another chuckle. "A trade, huh…"
Kaburagi motioned for Aqua to follow him. They picked up a couple of drinks – non-alcoholic for the underage Aqua, of course, no matter the private temptations to take a dip in the old vice the more he grew older – and secluded themselves in a more isolated area of the venue.
"I'm sure countless people have told you this already," Kaburagi began once they had their privacy, "but you have a beautiful face that greatly resembles Ai's."
Others might have mistaken the comment as predatory. Aqua could tell Kaburagi was simply being objective, and partly mocking him with the implications of a producer saying such a thing to a young actor.
"I can tell you what I know about Ai and her love life, contingent on your participation in and the success of… a reality dating show."
Hmm… Reality TV was never something Aqua had been either a fan of or a participant in, but he can adapt. "Alright," he said easily.
"However," Kaburagi went on with a smirk, "if one son of Ai Hoshino is willing to work with me, then I'd like to work with the second one, too."
Also doable. "That would be more so up to Cobalt than me. He doesn't know about my search for our father, but I can convince him to–"
"–to star in the dating show alongside you?"
Now, that was new. Asking for Cobie to go on a reality show.
And… actually unlikely for him to say yes.
Swearing off the Blue Rose moniker wasn't limited to Cobalt Hoshino's romantic endeavors. Elemental Orel saw a sharp decline in romance-focused episodes. The acting roles Cobalt auditioned for also rarely involved his character involved in romance, even as a mere observer to another pair sharing a dialogue about love. Ai most likely played a part in that selective choice of jobs for Cobie, as a way of supporting Cobalt's vow not to relapse back into the Blue Rose. If not Cobalt himself, Ai was liable to shut down any notions of him taking part in a dating show.
Out loud, Aqua said, "For personal reasons, I sincerely doubt Cobalt would be willing to go on a reality show based around dating."
"Yet surely a reliable older brother like yourself can persuade him, as you just said you'd be able to."
Convincing Cobalt was one thing. Convincing Ai was another beast in itself. "You must have other jobs he can contribute to with far more enthusiasm. Or is the twin celebrity gimmick something you really want to help sell this dating show?"
"You can't deny the appeal of two young men who've inherited Ai's looks and screen presence flirting with girls their age. Whether the two of you play your true selves or exaggerated caricatures, you'll draw eyes to the show."
Aqua played up the indignation in his next breath. "I don't mean to sound egotistic, but my own face will be more than enough if it's only a matter of hooking an initial audience before they turn to the other cast members."
"Exactly," Kaburagi said with a snap of his fingers. "Imagine how many more people will want to see two of your face, especially if they see how much of Ai the idol lives on through her youngest."
It wasn't an unreasonable request of Kaburagi to make. Aqua's been through the ringer of negotiating favors plenty of times already. None of them were working for charity. Bartering Cobie's skillset had come up sometimes, as well. Kaburagi could also prove to be a dead end who had no real information and wanted to exploit Aqua's mission for his own benefit; he wouldn't be first, but the non-zero chance of Kaburagi having tangible leads to finally complete Aqua's ultimate goal couldn't be ignored.
Yet no one in the Hoshino family, by blood and otherwise, knew about Aqua's search. Taishi Gotanda remained his sole confidant. If Cobalt, Ai, and possibly even Ruby were to be convinced for both Hoshino boys to be in a dating show, for what reason would they believe for Aqua to want to cultivate a relationship with Masaya Kaburagi? And a good enough reason to motivate Aqua to pull Cobalt into a job for the freelance producer?
… Kana Arima could be a plausible excuse.
Through Kaburagi, Aqua might find more opportunities to be paired with her outside of Yoto High. Ruby may also find Arima's singing voice and performing ability endearing enough to interview her as a prospective B-Komachi member, so that's another thing to lean on Arima for. Although Kaburagi's first job for Aqua being a dating show excluding Arima would raise some eyebrows, Aqua expressing legitimate interest in Arima as an actress should be feasible. He can put on a character for the show itself anyway.
Ai would be ecstatic at her loner son in Aqua breaking his recent track record of playing villainous characters by seemingly getting out of his shell and trying his hand at dating, even in the backdrop of a reality show.
Yet for Cobalt… In the end, Ai will only accept Cobalt joining a reality dating show if he absolutely wanted to be a part of it.
Which meant Aqua will have to appraise Cobie's current opinions on dating, whether he would be amiable to a return of the Blue Rose, or if he was agreeable to dating as the Cobalt Hoshino who has grown beyond that turbulent phase of his life.
"But," Kaburagi spoke again after a short silence from Aqua, "in the same way you're not obligated to bring yourself and your brother into a dating show, I'm under no pressure to provide you any information I may or may not have on your father." At least the man had the decency to acknowledge the cards the both of them held against one another. He smoothly pulled out a business card and slipped it into Aqua's hand. "If you change your mind, give me a call. Otherwise, I wish you luck on your search."
Aqua read through the information on the card before pocketing. He traded a few more pleasantries with Kaburagi before they parted ways.
The process of gauging arguments in his head to persuade Cobie to join the show were cut short when Aqua, drifting through the restaurant, had his arm grabbed by Arima. He looked down at her, the girl looking flabbergasted.
"Aqua," she said as she pointed to the Sweet Today mangaka standing behind them. "You already met Yoriko Kichijouji?"
Ah, that's right. Aqua had been so focused on prioritizing Kaburagi and then supporting Arima's portrayal of the manga scene that this piece of information hadn't been brought up. "Technically speaking, yes."
"And you didn't say anything?"
Kichijouji laughed softly. "Not him exactly," she said, playing with her glasses. "His spitting image in Cobalt applied to be my assistant about two years ago, give or take. It didn't pan out, but it was definitely a memorable experience."
Arima sent Aqua another questioning look. He shrugged. "Cobie met a lot of different people while he was the Blue Rose."
As expected, Kichijouji cringed at his choice of words. "Please don't use that name," she pleaded.
Aqua knew it brought up too many of the bad moments from Cobie's short career as a mangaka assistant, particularly when Cobie had tried to woo Kichijouji's other assistant who had been another woman too old for him. Cobalt had come up with confusing and unreliable arguments about Abiko Samejima's introverted nature somehow denoting a mental immaturity which made it morally sound for him as a teenager to romantically pursue an adult woman. Evidently, Clayman Animation's latest video during that time frame had been grossly misunderstood by Cobalt.
Thankfully, Samejima and Kichijouji had been very understanding when the rest of the Hoshino family came to help put a stop to Cobalt's inappropriate behavior. Cobalt's internship had ended on fairly amicable terms, all things considered. Aside from the Blue Rose trigger, it was clear Kichijouji held few grudges about it to this day.
Nothing about this story would have done very much to endear the Hoshino triplets to Kana Arima, however, so Aqua hadn't bothered to mention it. Elaborating on it now would also be unwise if Aqua wanted to uphold the image of the Hoshinos being people she wanted to go out of her way to associate with. Best not to sully the waters too early with Cobie's weirdness.
Arima pestered Aqua with questions anyway for the rest of the wrap party. Getting to know her better through this wasn't an unpleasant experience, at least.
Mama was smiling dumbly at her phone as Ruby walked alongside her back to their house.
Adjusting her grip on their grocery bags, Ruby asked. "Whatcha looking at, Mama?"
Wordlessly, Mama showed her the image on the screen.
It was a vertical picture of Cobie standing in the foreground, the masked Pieyon at the back, and, of all people, Masayoshi Inoue in the middle. Their different heights formed three points through which they drew a line diagonally moving upward with the way they posed and flexed their arms. Text on the image reference to a meme Ruby had seen making the rounds this week.
"What's wrong?" Mama asked with concern. She must have noticed Ruby's frown.
They were coming by their house now. Ruby stepped ahead of her mom to open the door. "Do you know the guy in the middle? Me and Cobie met him not long ago. Apparently he's a friend of Shin Hoshigami."
Mama's look of understanding improved Ruby's sudden bad mood tremendously. She didn't know the full extent of Ruby's dislike of Shin, of the young man who Cobalt irrationally looked up to, but Mama never rebuked her precious daughter for the clash in personalities that had clearly sprouted between Ruby and Shin in recent years. Ruby always tempered her own contempt when around him, and it was thanks to Mama that Shin had begun spending less time at the Hoshino house during his Tokyo visits.
"Yoshi works at the gym Pieyon, me and a few other Strawberry folks go to," Mama explained. And she also called Masayoshi Inoue by his nickname. Like mother, like son, huh? "That must be how he and Shin met."
Internally, Ruby groaned miserably. Cobie had been talking more with Pieyon lately in preparation for a fitness-based Elemental Orel video. If they kept going to the same gym, then no doubt Cobie would end up talking more with Inoue and get to better know the man who was secretly porking Shin's girlfriend.
Well, Pieyon was a nice guy, a good person, and a professional YouTuber; all around the kind of exemplary human being Shin wished he could be. So Pieyon should be able to be relied on to keep Cobalt focused on his work first and foremost than to get too absorbed by Clayman's new friend.
"We're home!" Mama announced as mother and daughter stepped inside the house. Mama handled locking the door while Ruby took the weight of their groceries. She only made it a few feet further until Ichigo appeared and lent a helping hand.
"I got an update from Miyako," Ichigo said as he and Ruby continued to the kitchen. "She'll be back in Tokyo in an hour, and probably another half hour until she makes it home."
Ruby resolutely nodded. "Plenty of time to spruce up her favorites!"
Ichigo matched her enthusiasm with a grin as they sorted through the grocery haul and piled up the ingredients necessary for the big meal they had to prep.
Mama joined them before too long. "Cobie and Aqua are due back around the same time," she announced, still typing on her phone before putting it away and freshening up at the sink. "I guess two out of our three boys get to slack off while our big man here gets to earn his keep!"
Ichigo snorted in good humor. "Cobie doing research and Aqua doing his part for Gotanda's latest film are signs of laziness, I'm sure."
Ruby forgot all about Inoue and immersed herself in the lighthearted quips and inside jokes that came when cooking with her family.
It had been too long since they last had an organized, home-cooked family dinner. The divorce between Ichigo and Miyako wasn't even an issue anymore. They got along fine now. No, the prevailing issue these days was that everyone was just so busy with work that slotting time for them all to be together at once had been way too hard to get straightened out. They still saw each other regularly, the kids visiting the Strawberry office or the adults clocking in for a break at the Hoshino house, but regular weekly meals became bi-monthly at most.
Mom didn't even work as often as she used to back when Strawberry Productions had been struggling. Victims of their own success, the likes of Aqua acting and studying, Cobalt animating and collaborating with other YouTubers, and both Miyako and Ichigo managing them and the rest of Strawberry made for fewer opportunities for complete family gatherings outside of vacations. It was only going to get worse when B-Komachi made its official return with Ruby at the helm.
She was happy to get at least one more group dinner in before the triplets started high school.
Some time later, as Mama kept an eye on the sizzling pots over the stove and Ichigo was texting Miyako, Ruby heard Aqua and Cobalt going through the front door. Ruby left the kitchen to greet them and remind Cobie to wash up before he tried tagging in for the cooking team. She could already smell the sweat from his time at the gym as she made her way to her brothers.
Ruby also caught the tail end of a conversation between them.
"It's ultimately up to you, Cobalt. Remember that."
"I know, Aqua. I know. I still have a lot to do for both Elemental Orel and Clayman Animations this year, but I'll think about the job offer, for sure!"
"That's all I ask."
Another acting job Aqua thought Cobie would be a good fit for? That was nice. And an excuse for Cobie to spend less time with a Tokyo-residing Shin for a little longer if he said yes.
Once Miyako was home, it didn't take long for everyone to get settled at the dining table. Miyako expressed her thanks at the selection of dishes she was presented, a somewhat unexpected but greatly appreciated reward after her important out-of-town work. Ichigo brought up a few more names for possible B-Komachi members, though they were all already associated with existing idol groups, so Ruby would have to put that into consideration if she approached them with job offers from Strawberry. Mama voiced her confidence in Ruby finding the right people to liven up Japan's idol scene in due time. Then Mama once more brought up Aqua's work on Sweet Today, poking fun at her "bad boy" of a son being so abysmal in finding a girl he could mutually love back. Aqua took the teasing in stride as he usually did, his love for his favorite idol assuaged after years of being her child; he could no longer be so easily flushed at the attention.
Cobie engaged in the banter, but he was off his game tonight. When talk of Shin's new girlfriend came up, he hardly said a thing. Moreover, he was avoiding looking directly at anyone, his eyes never leaving the food on the table. The curious kid they knew and loved would be darting his eyes each time someone opened their mouth to speak. If Cobie wasn't going with his natural instincts to soak in the ongoing conversations and provide his own commentary, then he was already engrossed by something else taking up space inside his own head.
Cobalt wasn't very good at hiding this, either. Knowing looks were exchanged between Ruby and every other person around the table except for him.
Surprisingly, it was Ichigo who was the first one to bring up the elephant in the room.
"Cobalt," he said gently after swallowing another batch of rice, "you've been forcing your smile for most of tonight."
Even Cobie was taken off-guard by Ichigo's perception. "How can you tell?" he asked as he moved to wipe the mess of seasoned meat he had let fall off his plate.
"You were doing the same thing when we canceled last year's winter trip to Takachiho."
A genuine laugh escaped Cobalt's lips. "I guess you're right! My disappointment back then isn't the same kind I'm feeling right now, though."
Miyako chimed in. "What happened that made you so disappointed now?"
"The Sweet Today finale," Cobalt answered, more eagerly munching on his food now that he didn't feel like he had to hide his feelings anymore. "The live-action episode that Aqua and Arima-senpai were in. Everyone's been praising it and complimenting it."
"And you feel differently."
"A little, yeah."
Sitting right beside Cobie, Aqua patted his little bro's back. "I'm always open to critique. There's no need to beat around the bush."
"It's a weird critique I have, though. I didn't want to ruin the mood of our family dinner, and I wanted more time to phrase my issues out loud."
Mama in her ever enviable empathy said, "You can be as weird as you need to be around your family to get your point across, Cobie."
Encouraged by his mom, Cobie finally spilled the beans. "Okay!" He cleared his throat and used a napkin to wipe his mouth before continuing. "While I think Aqua did the manga justice, I wish he went farther with the liberties he did take for the adaptation."
After rereading the manga, Ruby could recall the details of that pivotal scene from its original depiction like the back of her hand. She recognized the subtle and unsubtle differences when Aqua's episode had aired, but she couldn't say what more could have been improved. "What do you mean?" she asked Cobie. "Aqua did what he needed to get the main leads to act at their very best, right? What more could he have done?"
Cobalt adopted a more thoughtful look, tapping his chin with the opposite end of his knife. "I guess it's not really Aqua's fault, or something he would have done on his own without someone asking him to do it differently. It's more about what I wanted to see out of Sweet Today when I first finished reading the arc with the stalker. With all the other differences the live-action show did, I was hoping that Aqua could do something more interesting than what was originally there."
Aqua prompted, "What did you want to see? I thought I played up the creepy factor very well."
"No kidding," Ichigo said uneasily under his breath. Ruby stifled a snicker, remembering him walking into the room while Ruby, Mama, and Miyako had been watching Sweet Today's episode air, and how Ichigo, exhausted from that day's work, had loudly stuttered and fell over upon hearing the mad rant of Aqua's character.
"No, the performance itself was fine," Cobalt reassured. "All the smirking and licking and sniffing was great at creating a hateable sadist who enjoyed causing others pain. As a creative, I'd have rather seen…" Off-the-cuff words failing him, Cobie reached into his back pocket and flipped through the pages of one of his small notebooks. He rapped his knuckles on one page as a big grin spread across his face. "Oh, this line describes it perfectly! I wanted the stalker to be 'a more desperate, pitiful coward begging for vindication he would never get.'" He shut his book and proudly nodded in satisfaction at finding the right way to convey his ideas. "Like Ryosuke!"
Ruby didn't recognize the name. She noticed Ichigo flinching at its mention, along with Aqua and even Mama visibly freezing. "Who?" Ruby asked. There might have been Ryosuke they knew back in elementary school, or even from preschool, but how would that person be related to storyteller Cobie's image of a narratively interesting stalker?
"Mom's stalker! You know, the one who gave me my scar. That guy!"
Oh, that's who Cobie was talking about.
The sound of a small crash broke Ruby out of the daze she had found herself in. It was Miyako losing her grip on her spoon and letting it slip through her fingers to hit the floor. She had a look of disbelief on her and was…
Wait, Cobie was talking about the stalker?!
Aqua found his voice before Ruby could bring up her own. "You wanted me to act like… that man?"
The vigorous nods of his head Cobie gave as they talked about that man was completely, utterly wrong. "He's the best stalker I know!" Cobie foolishly insisted. "Or, used to know!"
Shin was bad enough, but Cobie already knew how the stalker was a bad guy. Ruby had to shut this nonsense down, now.
"Why do you even remember his name?" Ruby hissed. She's used this harsh tone around Cobie before, so he wouldn't feel too scared of her and also still know she wasn't messing around. "He hurt you, hurt mom, and now he's dead, gone forever. End of story."
With his own brand of stubbornness, Cobie shook his head and whipped out his smartphone. "He's only dead and gone forever if he's completely forgotten," he said plainly as the light of his phone shone into his eyes. "I'm never going to forget. I really can't since I'm always reminded of him at least a little when I look in the mirror."
Technically true, Ruby supposed. In probably the same way Cobalt's thoughts drifted to the man who gave him his scar, when looking at an image of herself Ruby's mind always went back to the beautiful idol whose looks and genes were passed down onto her only daughter. Still, Cobalt should realize how not okay it was to bring up the stalker like this.
Ruby should probably be more happy that all the doctors and therapists who had pestered the Hoshino family years ago had done a good job in getting Cobalt to not get overwhelmed with emotion when referring to the real trauma he had experienced, but using the stalker who deserved nothing more than eternal suffering in the deepest pits of hell… using him as an example for one of Cobalt's ideas for a story or a character, instead of forgetting about him, or at the very least decrying him–
She had gotten too lost in her own head. Miyako and Ichigo were giving their own two cents to Cobie, and their voices were soon drowned out by Cobie playing a video on his phone.
Hysterical laughter filled their ears. It was a clip of Aqua's performance as the Sweet Today stalker.
"There's not a single person who needs you," accused the villain to Kana Arima's character, though the camera for this part of the scene was focused mainly on Aqua as he lay on the cracked concrete floor. "Can't you see? Know your place in this world, little girl! Get your head out of the clouds! You don't have a future. Your life is nothing but pitch black darkness!"
Cobalt paused the video on a perfect frame showcasing Aqua's manic countenance. "The stalker here was trying to make the female lead feel hurt and broken," Cobie elaborated, "because her sadness and despair would make him happy."
Ruby had grown used to Aqua portraying villainous monsters, from the petty delinquents developing psychotic tendencies to the immortal demons possessing a doomed teenager's body. She was even used to Cobie putting on campy or cheesy voices for the cartoony antagonists in Elemental Orel that were their own flavor of intimidating in the world of voice-acted animation.
However, the next words out of Cobie's mouth were a million times worse than… than watching Ai the idol in her acting roles have to play out death scenes.
"You need to pay!" Cobalt yelled, his open eyes now almost looking bloodshot after roughly closing them and pressing against his eyelids with his hands. He was standing up, too, leaning over the table as he pointed his fork at the person directly across from him. "Feel your heart be torn apart, know what it's like for a false love to throw away all the passion I treasured you with!"
Cobie was acting out the stalker, and he was doing this to Ai.
Shifting her gaze to Mama, Ruby saw her unphased mother smiling as easily as she breathed.
But smiling like how a doll or an action figure smiled, unable to change their expression even if they wanted to.
"Those were Ryosuke's exact words," Mama observed… offhandedly… like an afterthought… "I'm surprised you remember it so well."
When Cobalt returned to his true self, setting down his fork and sitting back on his chair, Ruby found herself able to breathe normally again. "Ryosuke didn't laugh," Cobalt elaborated, still in his analytical director mindset. "He was more hysterically sad than hysterically sadistic. He was telling himself that seeing mom cry and be in pain would make him happy, but that was a lie. He wanted her to love him and no one else, which she could never do since she loved us and her other fans. Ryosuke was acting, trying to be like the Sweet Today stalker almost, but he wasn't doing the greatest job at it, since Ryosuke was so panicky and crying that an audience would more likely pity him than fear him. They'd feel a different flavor of distaste and revulsion for Ryosuke."
"… You wanted Aqua to play a stalker who was more pathetic?" That was Miyako, sounding heavily fatigued but far more composede than how Ruby felt.
"Hmm, I guess that's how you'd describe Ryosuke, yeah! If it was him in Sweet Today, It would play out sorta like…"
Ruby nearly mustered enough strength to hop to her feet and tackle Cobie, hold her baby brother close and keep him from reverting back to that horrible character, but Cobalt was faster on the draw than her.
The intense, deranged scowl returned to Cobie as he towered over Aqua, still seated, and violently grabbed him by his collar. "You think you're hot shit because you're a bad boy with a mysterious past?" screeched the petty loser that even a teenage Aqua could manhandle into submission. Images of that and Ruby beating down the stalker on her own had helped motivate her when those first self-defense lessons had started getting harder. Unlike those fantasies, however, wide-eyed Aqua looked helpless as he stared up at the stalker wearing Cobie's scarred face. "I'm sure all the girls just eat up that backstory. It more than makes up for the trash personality you have! You're not special! Not really. Neither is that stupid girl you're fawning over."
No, this wasn't – This wasn't the stalker made real! Ruby could barely even remember the muffled stranger's voice on the other side of the jammed door she and Aqua had been trapped behind. This was just – It was only Cobie's version of the Sweet Today stalker. That's all it was. He was speaking to Aqua as if he was the manga's male lead, and now Cobie was turning to Ruby, to treat as… as the female lead…
It… Ruby was seeing things, with Cobalt was eerily tilting his head and his pupils resembling blackened stars, their sharp points stretching over to intersect the red tendrils surrounding his blue irises. "And you… "
The monster possessing Cobalt's skin made Ruby shiver with each piece of spit that left his mouth during his rant. "No one likes you," the monster growled before ramping up his voice. "No one listens to you. No one cares about you! You're just a pet to him and to your so-called best friend."
Ruby's own life was far from a direct parallel to the girl in Sweet Today, yet the sheer misery and hatred the monster was oozing truly made Ruby think she was under threat by an obsessive stalker.
"You're just something for them to… to indulge themselves with before that precious persona you put up runs its course and reveals your true self! The girl who can't even take care of her basic needs right! Who has to rely on charity so desperately to even get out of bed in the morning!"
No, Ruby wasn't Sarina anymore. Her spirit lived on, yes, but she wasn't as weak or poisoned, or destined for death anymore. She had an entire family who loved her, and she was going to find Sensei and live happily ever after with him! Ruby will take care of him and his needs for every second he spent comforting the old Sarina!
"If you only…" The monster dragged a hand across his face, gritting his teeth as leaned further toward Ruby. "If you only relied on me, I could have shown you how the dark doesn't have to be so scary."
He was going to kill her. He was going to kill Ai and Aqua and Cobie and her. Ruby was going to drown in the dark again. Waking up to the blinding light and struggled breathing as Ai's baby girl had been a beautiful liberation from the dark, but going through it a second time, and having to watch her new family be torn apart right in front of her this time, would irrevocably destroy her.
The monster brandished a knife from the table, clumsily pointing it at Ruby while using his other hand to grab the still frozen Aqua again by his shirt again. "You don't need to play a game of pretend with this pretty boy! I'm the only one who can understand your pain and love you for it!"
Ruby couldn't breathe.
An angel answered her silent prayers. The monster became distorted, its dark eyes scattering with newfound white light taking shape in their place. The bitterness and hunger of the monster disappeared.
Cobalt Hoshino asserted himself again, releasing Aqua and smiling like the well-meaning dork everyone adored.
"See, my idea of the evil stalker would be projecting his own insecurities on–"
Ai appeared from out of nowhere and buried Cobie in a deep embrace.
It was a scene Ruby saw everyday of her reincarnated life, and she was immensely grateful for seeing the return to form. Everything was right in the world again.
"Oh, what's wrong mom?" stupid Cobie asked innocently. And he was being legitimately stupid this time, the unknowing bully. "You interrupted my presentation."
"Cobie," Mama began in a perfect balance of loving and lecturing, "you're scaring your siblings."
"Well, that's the point of the stalker character. Whether they're aware of it or not, they need to scare–"
"Cobalt, you are scaring your brother and sister."
Cobalt looked at them again, and it truly was Cobalt this time, not the monster.
God, Ruby just realized she was crying and sniffling. Without taking her eyes off Cobie, she swiped a napkin and pressed it against her face. Behind Cobie and Mama, she could see Aqua still staring into Cobie's soul.
Cobie's lips quivered. "Was… Was I doing too much?"
Ruby lost herself in the ensuing group hug. Aqua, Miyako, and Ichigo must have joined in, too. She wasn't really paying much attention beyond the way Cobie held her back and bombarded her ear with endless apologies. He was sorry for scaring her and Aqua, for making her cry, and he'll do anything and everything to make her feel better and make up for his regretful, deplorable actions.
He was Ruby's precious, loyal little brother again, and the monster, the stalker, was gone again from their lives forever.
After the family dinner had been inadvertently ruined by Cobalt, almost everyone retired for the night. Ichigo left to return to his own apartment. Aqua, Ruby, and Cobalt all had their own rooms now after Shin had stopped using the guest room and Ai had decided to clear half of her bedroom for Miyako. Though it had been a good few years since Ruby last did it, she decided to take comfort in Ai's warmth and sleep with her tonight, and Ai was hardly one to say no to her weeping daughter.
Aqua was still awake, because Cobalt was also awake, in his own room as he typed up notes on his computer. Most likely he was revising what he had compiled on his portrayal of the stalker as means of redemption for tonight's events.
Cobalt's ashamed, fearful tone when he had reverted back to his real self had been enough to get Ruby to dart toward him and wordlessly join the group hug. Aqua imagined the vulnerability of the regular Cobalt they knew was enough for her to toss away all of her feelings of that disturbing portrayal. She had needed to comfort their vulnerable little brother, and doing that would be easier than making sense of her own sense of vulnerability she had been experiencing only moments prior.
Aqua had almost wanted to do the same. However, despite also wrapping his arms around his family, he never let the image of that petulant, delusional stalker leave his mind's eye.
Ichigo and Miyako had the fortune of never personally encountering that waste of space. Ruby and Ai could only remember the stalker invading their old apartment and inflicting the scars on their family. None of them remembered the vow of a doctor hopelessly devoted to his idol trying and failing to apprehend a stalker who had been a threat to Ai's safety and reputation. A stalker who had killed him.
Aqua remembered, and the nightmares that had come with them.
Cobalt was an extraordinary actor to be able to stir these raw feelings again with a vengeance in Aqua. Even if he still lacked the self-awareness to sooner realize the fear he had instilled in everyone at the dinner table before Ai had to spell it out to him, Cobalt's power was undeniable.
Since Ruby was too drained and Ai was busy comforting her, and given how Miyako had already been fairly tried before Cobalt's impromptu monologue and was probably dead asleep now, it fell upon Aqua's shoulders to truly let Cobalt know how he had once again misused his talents to unnecessarily upset the people around him.
"Oh, hey Aqua," Cobalt said when he finally noticed Aqua standing by his door. Cobie was adequately subdued, shoulders slumped and head hanging lowly. "Again, I'm sorry about earlier. I'll make it up to you, too. I promise."
Unlike with many of the people Aqua had to maneuver around and overcome to achieve his ultimate goal, he didn't play a character to get what he wanted out of Cobalt. What he did was be completely honest, without hiding behind a screen of politeness or consideration toward Cobie. With Aqua being blunt and following his instincts, Cobie was naturally compelled to pay even more attention than usual to his big brother's words. The professional actor dispersing with civility around his family indicated an agency which Cobalt had to respect and appease as much as he could.
"You can make it up to me by answering a few questions," Aqua said shortly.
Resolve filled Cobalt's eyes as he straightened his back. "Okay."
"How are you able to act as Ai's stalker so well?" A horrible implication had struck Aqua when Cobalt's rendition of the stalker proved to be terrifyingly accurate. "You don't consider him as family, do you?" Aqua never confused Cobalt for any of their family members during his acting to the same extent, which made Cobalt's accuracy to Aqua's memories of the stalker all the more disconcerting.
Cobalt pouted. "I know Ryosuke's not our dad," he said – and that was an old misunderstanding that Aqua scarcely could recall the details of – as he twisted his swivel chair around to fully face Aqua, "but he's the reason mom can say she loves us without any doubts. Even if what Ryosuke did was wrong, I could never discount the marks he left us."
"It goes more than remembering him. You're honoring him." How else could one describe such a faultless performance?
"… Well, Ryosuke's parents did visit me and mom back when we were resting at the hospital after he cut us, so not doing a good Ryosuke would also be disrespectful to them."
Had Aqua not developed a keen sense of discipline, he would have faltered and fallen to the floor at this revelation. "His what?"
"Yeah." Cobalt was far too calm… or rather the normal amount of calm he tended to be when dropping the periodic bombshell of information like this. "You and Ruby were never there when they visited, and they never came around after we left the hospital." He wistfully smiled. "They were very nice, very apologetic for their troublemaking son. I got to know Ryosuke better through them."
Cobalt's family often called him a troublemaker in good jest.
Aqua would say he wished Cobie didn't believe there was any aspect of the stalker he should be trying to adopt to honor that worthless piece of slime, but his acting earlier already defied Aqua's wishes.
"Why am I just learning this now?" Aqua asked, digging deep into his memories for any possible signs of these apparent past visits. "Ruby and I were never told that the stalker's parents met with you or Ai."
"Obviously they were super embarrassed about their son being a stalker!" Cobalt wasn't quite out of his downtrodden mood yet, but his energy was steadily returning. "So mom was nice enough to promise not to give away their identities or anything, and I promised with her. Also, you called mom by her name again."
So he did. That wasn't important. "Did you keep in contact with them?"
"Not really, no. But I remember everything from that time. What Ryosuke said, what he did, and how his parents described him." Cobalt patted his forehead, and then his desk and his keyboard. "I've got it all written down in my head, on paper, and in my computer."
His long-term memory must be far superior to Aqua's. Aqua could remember the raw emotions he felt during that turbulent time but not the exact words said aloud. "And you were able to use all of this information to act as him?"
"Yup! Remember when I first acted as you and Ruby during filming for Signal Lost in the Heavens? You said you were proud of me, and that you could see me get better so long as I kept practicing. So I did! And after getting good feedback on my impressions for everyone else in our family, I decided to refer to all my old notes and try acting as Ryosuke! To broaden my horizons! Act as someone who wasn't a relative!"
Cobalt was definitely happy now. He must recognize that Aqua's mental faculties were running a mile a minute to process all of this new information Cobie was throwing at him. Cobalt was happy to be helpful and was thus redeeming himself.
Continuing his interrogation, Aqua noted, "So you've been seriously working on your emulation of the stalker for at least three or four years. Did Ai – Did mom know what you were doing?"
"Of course! Since Ryosuke's parents don't live in Tokyo and we don't have their contact information, she was the only person who knew him well enough to judge if I did a good job or not."
Ai's decision to put a stop to Cobalt's show had been… delayed. Aqua hadn't gotten a good look at her during it, too focused on Cobalt. Had Ai also been frozen in place by the scarily meticulous rendition?
Cobalt frowned again, with the kind of face when he misspoke and wanted to amend his words. "Well, at first she didn't like me trying to copy Ryosuke, but she eventually came around! Mom said it would be therapeutic for both of us."
"… I take it she approves your portrayal."
"Yeah! I had a lot more time to improve my Ryosuke speech after I stopped being the Blue Rose. I'm pretty happy with it."
Pausing his quest to understand romantic love led Cobalt to adopt and perfect an idealized version of the stalker?
And Cobalt had clearly given as much dedication to acting as him as he did when emulating his real family.
Aqua couldn't keep the accusatory tone out of his voice even if he wanted to. "So you think you truly understand Ryosuke," he said, speaking as the thoughts formulated in his head, "his motivations for what he did, and… empathize with him?"
Now Cobalt looked… insulted, crossing his arms narrowing his eyes at Aqua. This was a Cobalt who felt personally offended. "I'm not completely stupid, Aqua. I know he wasn't a good person."
"Yet you honor him."
Cobalt groaned in frustration in the same way Ruby did. He wasn't trying to redeem himself now. He was defending himself. "Honoring Ryosuke for the good he did do, even if it wasn't his original goal, isn't the same as wanting to be him in real life. I know I'm not supposed to obsess over a celebrity in a parasocial relationship and demand they maintain an unreasonable image of 'purity.' By that same virtue, I know it's wrong to hold children hostage and make them bleed in front of their mother. Me remembering and acting as Ryosuke doesn't make him a role model to follow in everyday life."
That was good. Cobalt made a massive misstep in suddenly acting as the stalker during dinner, but by his logic just now, Cobalt knew not to make it a regular occurrence in other circumstances, as well.
"Everybody is a character in a story," Cobalt went on. "Some stories are real, some are just fantasies. I can tell the difference between reality and fiction." Well, tonight suggested otherwise, but Aqua didn't say so aloud. "I'm a storyteller, after all. Ryosuke's character is rooted in a real person, and I try to stay true to what I know of him, but my portrayal is a fantasy. A performance. I would never say or do the things he does in my regular life without context."
Cobalt had the audacity to grin at Aqua. Again, in the same way Ruby sometimes smirked at Aqua when she thought she one-upped him. "I think the fact that you feel so weird about me playing Ryosuke is a sign that I really am a good actor! Maybe even as good as you, Aqua!"
Giving credit for at least one thing Cobalt did tonight, Aqua admitted, "Yes… Yes. If I'm being honest, I almost didn't see my brother when you were speaking as the stalker. I was speechless."
The confession only emboldened Cobalt to pump his fist. "Mom was speechless, too, when I finally had Ryosuke down to even the choked gurgling he did when he ran out of our old apartment."
Ignoring the compulsion to wince at that description, with Aqua's mind imagining Cobalt acting out such a gross image, Aqua watched as Cobalt regressed back to his humbled, saddened state. Cobie receded into a ball as he wrapped his arms around himself.
"But… I guess I need to work on my version of Ryosuke's character more, to make sure I don't accidentally make Ruby cry again." He sighed. "I still don't know if I want to do a reality dating show, Aqua, but I would really appreciate if you could spend time helping me iron out the chinks my Ryosuke still has. I don't want to scare Ruby, you, aunt Miyako, or grandpa Ichigo out of the blue like that ever again. Scaring you all made mom mad at me, too. And she never gets mad at me!"
Cobalt continued to toss ideas about how he could improve his performance, but Aqua became preoccupied by a new idea that suddenly sprung in his head.
A horrendously stupid idea.
A stupid, idiotic, deranged, and all-around bad idea.
But one that could also yield noteworthy results to his investigation.
If Cobalt's mimicry of the stalker was really perfect, if he could say and think just like him in the same way Cobalt seemed to do with every other familial imitation he does…
If Cobalt can get inside the stalker's head and, in a sense, revive his spirit, then Aqua would have a direct line to the one person who may have already known the identity of the Hoshino siblings' father and his role in attempting to have Ai killed.
This could be a dead end. There was no guarantee of the stalker having even actually known their father's name or face, let alone a way for Cobalt to somehow reveal either piece of information out of thin air. That would just be plain impossible.
But… As Cobie said, he was a storyteller, so Aqua could pitch him a compelling one to immerse himself in.
If Aqua concocted a story, a script, for the stalker – for Ryosuke – to follow, built a scene from Aqua's own speculations and deductions of how their father may have convinced Ryosuke to serve as his proxy… then there would be a maze which Cobalt needed to guide his emulation of Ryosuke through in order to reach a satisfying conclusion to the story. A conclusion which may help inform characteristics of their father who had pulled Ryosuke's springs.
This could be a dead end… but Kaburagi could also be one if Cobalt wasn't inclined to join a reality dating show. Ai and Ruby would surely give push-back for that, and Cobalt was unlikely to volunteer a return to his Blue Rose days even if it meant appeasing his big bro.
Aqua has been searching for their father for over ten years. Cobalt had been doing his own work in secret for just as long involving their father's accomplice before more seriously committing to it only a few years prior. Together, however slim the chance was for Aqua's idea to bear fruit, the brothers may be able to apply their accrued labor into something that will bring Aqua closer to his ultimate goal, and secure the safety and sanctity of their family for the rest of their lives.
