"One more time; I seriously have to advise against this Akane."

All right, here we go again.

"Your calendar is already full enough as it is. It´s not too late to tell them you changed your mind. They´ll understand."

"But I haven't changed my mind." She knew her manager was only worrying about her when he had spontaneously requested to meet once more in their usual café. He had every right to after everything that had happened over the last year. So she was being extremely patient with him.

"Please, dear. I don't want you to overdo it. All your other projects could suffer as a result. And this is not even an acting offer."

"I know. I just want to see if I could branch out a little. They specifically asked for me after all. So they must believe I could do a good job."

In the back of her mind, she suspected that there was more to it than that. Surely Aqua´s sister had gotten the blessing of the higher-ups to request her, but she wasn't sure if she had gotten the go-ahead beforehand or after…

"I think so as well by the way." Even though she had never done something like this before. "And I already know a couple of people at Strawberry Productions. I´ll be fine. Trust me."

He still didn't look convinced.

"Akane, it is almost a given that this is going to result in gigantic exposure on the internet. Last year the stream nearly constantly had an audience of fifty thousand people and more. As a moderator, it will be expected of you to actively interact with these people. One final time, and I promise I will leave it alone afterward, are you sure you want to do this?"

He was making a valid point. Of course, he was. After what had happened at LoveNow, she had seriously doubted if she ever wanted to have something to do with the internet again. At least in a production kind of way.

However, she wasn't the same person she had been back then and this was not LoveNow anymore.

Today, she was stronger, and she knew the people she would be working with. She trusted herself as well as the people in charge enough to take the risk.

"Yes. I want to do it."

After a very deep breath, her manager actually smiled at her.

"You are unbelievable you know that? Fine. You have my blessing. But I want to speak with Miss Saitou beforehand! I need to clarify some things."

The smile on her face was an honest one. She had the best manager in the whole world after all. "Of course. I expected nothing less from you."

And with that, the topic was done. They proceeded to talk about her upcoming auditions, the next showings of Tokyo Blade, her training schedule, and much more.

In her head though, she was mulling over the invitation.

Why had Ruby called her? The explanation she had given on the phone was that their partner agency had abandoned them without any prior warning and together with them all their registered talents.

So they were desperate. But desperate enough to request a complete rookie? With more than a week left to go until the event? Regardless of what they thought of her as an actress, this was highly unlikely.

Ergo, it had to be about her personally.

This was fine of course. It was personal for her as well.

Sure she was actually excited to see if she could rise up to the challenge. If push came to shove, she would resort to using the character she had created for herself during LoveNow to enhance her personality in front of the camera. It would be interesting to see if this would work out once more or not. In a completely different setting as well.

Although, now that she thought about it, considering who was supposed to be working right beside her… maybe that wouldn't be the best of ideas. She would at least have to clear it up with him first.

Regardless, she could try that out on any other show. One with much less spotlight on it for example.

The real reason for why she was so eager to take the offer was the fact that both Aqua as well as the whole of B-Komachi would take part in the event.

Working together with Mem and Aqua again would be fantastic for sure, but she especially needed to keep an eye on Kana. It was almost a given that she was planning… something. Whatever it was, she was certain that it wouldn't be good for her relationship.

Even if it only existed on paper for the moment.

Also… if she truly wanted to keep her promise and be there for Aqua in case he needed support… there was simply no way around it!

Luckily, he seemed to be doing better recently, but she had been wrong about that sort of thing in the past and wouldn't take any chances with it again if she didn't have to.

So, all that was left now was to wait and see how the whole thing played out.

To sum it up; she was pretty excited about the upcoming week!

.

.

.

School life was becoming more and more fun ever since Ruby´s idol career had finally begun.

At last, she wasn't the weirdo without a job anymore! She was an upcoming idol, under contract with a well-respected agency, and with more than a handful successful concerts under her belt already. The cherry on top; in about one week she will also be a major part of one of the biggest streaming events in all of Japan!

Her career was starting to gather steam!

But more than that, unlike her brother whose only interactions with other people regularly resulted in nothing but girl problems recently, she found it easy to become friends with the people in her class.

Minami had been by her side since day one and over the last couple of weeks, Frill Shiranui, yes the Frill Shiraniu, had also joined their little group. The three of them spent every possible break together, with a couple of exceptions obviously, because all of them had a busy schedule now and were skipping school at least once a week.

So, in short, she had every reason to be excited at the moment.

"You actually convinced Kurokawa to moderate the charity stream? That´s a surprise. If I had gone through what she had to endure in regards to the internet, no person alive would have been able to drag me back into this sort of hellhole again." As always, Frill wasn't sugarcoating anything when in private.

"Hellhole sounds a bit mean. Strawberry Production will take much better care of their talent than the scumbags on LoveNow, right Ruby?"

"You bet!"

The three of them were walking back to their classroom at the moment, after grabbing a bite to eat and some drinks for the way. It was the first time in a while that all of them had a full day of school together and so they finally had a chance to catch up.

Minami had landed a couple of additional modeling jobs, but nothing too out of the ordinary for her, while Frill was close to landing another major role in a big-budget movie production. But this time, Ruby could compete with that!

"Still it´s surprising. From a strictly business standpoint, it doesn't make any sense. If I were her agent, I would have advised against it. The risks are just too substantial. Which only leaves me with one conclusion."

"Hmm?"

"She must really have the hots for your brother."

Both Ruby and Minami simultaneously spat out the juice they had just begun to drink. The latter out of sheer shock, and herself out of laughter.

"Please don't call it that!"

"You can't blame her. He is an attractive guy with an interesting personality. How far have the two gone with each other at this point, you think? Is it possible she could already be addicted to him?"

"Frill!" Minami´s face was as pink as her hair by now.

It was even getting uncomfortable for someone as tolerant as herself. They were talking about her brother after all.

She could keep calm, only because she trusted him enough that he wouldn't do something like that at their age.

Not like that. And not on a whim.

Never.

"I don't believe that's it. Aqua always says that their relationship is strictly professional. However, I don't know if that's her view on it as well…" She had accepted the job unexpectedly fast and without the need for much convincing after all.

Some part of her had expected as much when she made the call. The personal connection between Akane and her brother had been the sole reason why she had contacted her in the first place. Not that she wasn't perfectly qualified for the job mind you.

How could she have known that Kana of all people would be able to convince Aqua without her having to interfere? That seemed a little far-fetched to her. Normally it would be the other way around.

"A-Anyways. Do you already know what role you are going to play during the stream Ruby?" Minami was visibly relieved since she was finally able to change the subject.

"Not exactly. B-Komachi is definitely giving a mini-concert during the finale, and Mem is heavily involved in the whole promotional process, because of the size of her own YouTube channel. That much is clear. Other than that I think we will mostly be part of the games! Which is great, since I´m good at improvising on the spot!" She was really looking forward to it! It was such a great opportunity to gain attention for their group and more than that, it sounded like a bucket load of fun!

"That´s going to be important." Frill always sounded like an experienced veteran when she was talking about the business. "A live show this big, with so many viewers who can actively participate in many aspects of it, is a beast that's nearly impossible to tame. You should count yourself lucky if everyone comes out of it unscathed."

"Don't be so negative! It´s going to be fine." She really didn't worry about it at all. Every possible card was in her hands after all. "In fact, I plan to use the fan participation for my benefit so to speak."

Rubbing her hands together as if she had just come up with the most evil plan in the whole universe still didn't make her look at all intimidating.

"What do you mean?"

"I have proposed a punishment system! You know, for the losers of the games? Nothing big, just some fun for everybody involved. All the participants can write down a funny punishment for a specific person and then throw it in a bag from which we will draw randomly should that person lose a game! Sounds exciting doesn't it? I bet the fans will love it!"

"And Miss Saitou agreed to that?"

"Miyako didn't have a choice! Firstly, the idea sounds great thank you very much and secondly, Pieyon was nearly as excited as I was about the plan. She couldn't actually refuse the host of the entire stream!"

Neither Frill nor Minami seemed convinced.

"Well, she could have, but I guess it just wasn't worth the trouble."

"Or that."

"Aren't you afraid that you yourself might lose a bunch of games and get punished? What if some funny prankster made you cut your hair?!"

"P-please don't be ridiculous. We are all friends there! Nobody would be that mean." Okay, maybe she hadn't thought this threw. "Besides; I´m a very talented person. I simply won't lose!"

"… What if they have like a quiz or something and you play against Aqua?"

"…Crap."

Even though there were apparently risks involved, she was still looking forward to it. After all, her mother would have never let such an opportunity slide! If she wanted to at least attempt to be as successful as her, she needed to do this and she needed to do it well!

.

.

.

"Without a partner agency, the stream was originally supposed to be an in-house-only event am I right?"

"Well, yes. For a couple of short hours, that was the plan."

"And I believe it was a good one. A great one in fact! Think about it, Miss Saitou. If Strawberry Productions would show itself capable of organizing such an event completely on its own, there would be nothing we couldn't accomplish! A whole set of doors would open up for us all. I´m sure even the idol section would benefit from it! A completely different image you know?"

For a second, it looked like the woman that was sitting next to her at the table, calmly drinking her tea was actually thinking her proposal over.

"Wow. You have really given the whole topic some thought, haven't you?"

"Could barely sleep yesterday, so I had a lot of time on my hands!"

"No sleep, huh? I wonder…"

Her plan was working. It was working!

"Kana?"

"Yes?"

"I´m not going to cancel on Akane Kurokawa."

Her plan was in shambles.

"Wha- I never- I mean yes she isn't in house per se but…"

"She is literally the only person taking part in the project not directly employed by our agency."

In retrospect; maybe her plan hadn't been as brilliant as it had sounded in her head at 3 a.m. yesterday night.

God damn it! What else was she supposed to do now? This was all so terribly wrong. There had to be a way to stop this from happening.

Before she could speak up again, however, Miyako intervened.

"Look, I know you and Akane aren't the best of friends. But sometimes when you are in show business you have to cooperate with whoever comes your way. Even with the people you don't particularly like. It´s just the way it is."

"I know that! I have been doing this my entire life! We currently work together on Tokyo Blade. I can be professional. It´s just that…"

This was so difficult to talk about. She knew she could trust Miyako, but speaking about what could possibly turn out to be her worst nightmare was still hard.

"Officially, the two of them are a couple. Her and Aqua I mean. I know he said it was just for the public and I understand why the idiot did what he did. Sort of… I´m not mad!"

"You sure sound mad… But if it's not that, then what is the problem here?"

She fell back into her chair looking up at the ceiling. Maybe, if she pretended to speak to nobody in particular, this would make it easier.

"The charity stream is a public event. The two of them are supposed to be the moderators. They will have to act like a real couple on screen!" It felt good to finally say it out loud. The thought had grabbed hold of her mind sometime yesterday evening and hadn't left her alone since.

The bigger her own role in the stream would be, the bigger the pain every time she had to see them together and act like everything was fine. Up until now, she had pretty much been able to avoid that completely. Aside from the occasional Instagram post.

"I need you to believe me. I´m not some fragile flower. I can take a solid amount of hits. But when it comes to this… it´s already difficult enough during the rehearsals for the theater… We usually do it as far away from one another as possible, because I simply can't concentrate otherwise." Which was especially frustrating, because she actually wanted to look out for him!

Thankfully she was professional enough to not let it affect her acting.

Regardless, this shouldn't be happening to her. She wasn't supposed to sound so defeated all the time. She was a battle-tested warrior when it came to the business! One who never gave up on herself.

Why couldn't she just be a bit stronger when it came to her personal life as well?!

Miyako was patiently listening to her the whole way through.

She didn't want to look at her face right now, because if there was one expression she didn't want to see again, it was pity. She had seen it far too often already during her professional career and it always hurt like hell.

As a consequence, she continued to look at the floor.

"It´s stupid and selfish I know, but I just can't help it." If this conversation continued for much longer, there was no way she wouldn't cry by the end of it. "What's even worse is… he doesn't seem to have a problem with it at all!"

Before she knew it, she found herself enveloped in a warm and very welcomed hug.

Ever since her mum had left for the countryside, she hasn't got to experience that sort of closeness very often… nor at all actually.

It felt so comforting that she instantly felt lighter. At least someone seemed to sympathize with her. If only just a little.

She found herself wondering if Miyako had any sort of experience when it came to hugs. Surely someone like Ruby had needed them more than a couple of times in the past.

…Maybe Aqua as well?

"I´m so sorry. I´m so so sorry! I shouldn't be bothering you of all people with this teenager crap at the moment." She was definitely sobbing now. Hopefully, it wasn't too loud. She really didn't need to get that kind of reputation in the office. "I- I´m sure you have more important things to do."

"Don't worry about it." Her voice was calm and relaxing. It didn't give the slightest indication that she wasn't sincere in what she told her. "I´ve been lucky up until now you know? Ruby is so fixated on everything idol related, that I´m starting to believe she isn't even capable of having boy trouble before she has performed in the Tokyo Dome."

A small chuckle escaped from her mouth, which was still pressed against the older woman's shoulder.

"And Aqua, well, he´s Aqua. He is definitely too proud to ever talk to me about this stuff. Maybe he talks with Gotanda about it. I´m terrified when I think about what kind of advice this old man is potentially giving my son."

Kana couldn't help but giggle again.

"If it helps, I don't think he is talking to him either."

Now Miyako seemed to be amused.

"You are probably right."

After another couple of moments she had recollected herself somewhat, but still thankfully excepted the handkerchiefs that the head of her agency was offering her.

"I know it's tough Kana. The whole situation isn't exactly fair to you and to be completely honest, I don't really understand why Aqua is handling it the way that he does. It´s… unlike him."

Oh, so it wasn't just her? It seemed weird to Miyako too. That was kind of a relief.

"The important question is; do you trust him?"

"Huh?"

"I mean do you trust him enough to believe that he wouldn't actively try to hurt your feelings?"

That was a good question. She wasn't really sure about that. After all, he had sort of played with her feelings already, when he had told her he wouldn't pursue any of the girls on LoveNow, only hours before he decided to kiss Akane Kurokawa on national television!

He had sort of explained it. And he had done a lot of things to get on her good side again after that, but it had hurt nonetheless.

She wasn't even completely sure if he was aware of what he had done. He didn't need to actively try to hurt her. It could all be an accident. Maybe that stupid jerk didn't even know why she had been angry at him at that time. They never actually talked about it.

However, one thing was clear to her, she definitely wanted to trust him!

"I do. Kind of. But don't tell him that!" Hiding her embarrassment behind a ruff façade had become her calling card these days.

"Then believe in him. He is still pretty green when it comes to this sort of thing, but he is also a professional. As is Akane by the way. I´m sure it won't be as terrible as you think."

Maybe she was right. Neither of the two was really the type for public affection after all. Disregarding the one and only kiss up till this point for a second, which very much had been public.

Perhaps she should rethink her approach then.

If she couldn't get the two separated, then maybe she should get herself more involved.

Yes! If Aqua really didn't want to hurt her, then, even if he wanted to, he would hold himself back from doing anything stupid as long as she was around!

Arima Kana the brilliant tactician has struck again! What was the old saying again; If you can't beat them, annoy them? Something like that.

"In that case, I have another proposal for you Miss Saitou!"

"You do?" She looked a little bit skeptical.

"What would you think about expanding the role of B-Komachi? We could be a sort of field reporter! Miced up for the audience so that they could get a close-up look at all the action. That way, ehem, our interactions with the moderating team would be more frequent…"

Her arguments were average at best, and it was all too obvious what she was trying to accomplish, but she might regret it later if she didn't at least try.

"I don't know Kana I-" What was sure to be a rejection got interrupted when the door suddenly swung open and a well-known muscly figure entered the room with a bang.

"I believe that's an excellent idea!"

"Pieyon?!"

The sudden joy she felt, because someone had agreed with her suggestion was short-lived.

"How long have you been eavesdropping behind that door you perv?! Do you even work at some point?! What did you hear? If you or your chicken tell Aqua anything I swear I will-"

"Hold your horses little lady!"

Once again he was doing some random weird pose.

How the hell did that guy make millions while she herself had to fight for every shitty job she could get?!

When she thought about the time she believed she could forget about Aqua and just ditch him for Pieyon she wondered if she might have a serious mental issue.

No hold on. It had been Aqua under that mask at the time though. Which meant she didn't have any issues. She had just thought about ditching the original Aqua for a masked Aqua!

Wait.

"… and so, I believe, that the girls would be excellent in that role! I was actually chatting with Mem just a couple of minutes ago trying to find a way to get her more involved in the stream so that her followers wouldn't be disappointed and this fits perfectly."

Oh damn. She had spaced out. The weirdo had been talking the whole time!

Doesn't matter. He seemed to be on her side for whatever reason. And he was much more convincing than herself, judging by the expression on her boss's face. So, it was all good.

"Well, it is your event after all. Fine. It couldn't hurt to get the group a little bit more screen time for promotional purposes. If they screw up, we can still change it on the fly at any moment."

"Thank you, Miss Saitou! Ehm, I guess? You won't regret this, I promise."

She was this close to hugging her again because she was excited and it had felt so comfortable the first time, but then she remembered that the giant chicken man was still in the room and so she settled for a less intimate handshake.

"Not a problem. Now go tell your fellow teammates about the new plan. Ruby should be back from school any minute now. Oh, and I will set up a training session for the three of you sometime this weekend. Just so we know that you have the oratorical skills required for that job. Even though I doubt that any of you will have problems with that."

After a quick bow to both of the adults in the room, even though only one of them actually looked like it, she rushed out the door.

All in all, this could have gone far worse, even though she really hoped Miyako wouldn't tell anybody about her short breakdown…

A little bit later on it began to dawn on her, that she had spontaneously negotiated herself into a bigger role in a streaming event she hadn't actually wanted to be a part of in the first place. Which resulted in her once again questioning her own sanity.

"First Ruby and now Kana. You really have a weakness for the new B-Komachi haven't you captain?"

The man took off his mask and laughed in a deep manly voice. The total opposite of his chicken persona.

"You´re right about that one. But ever since that time he dressed up as myself only to get that girl to listen to him, I´m totally on Team Aquana, so can you really blame me?"

"You are what?"

"Team Aquana? Aqua + Kana = Aquana? Like the Pokémon? I think it fits. Made it up myself. If it ever comes to fruition I´ll make a Hashtag out of it."

"…How old were you again?"

.

.

.

Today was one of these days when he was wondering why he had even bothered to drop by the director's place at all. Or rather, why he had decided to stay over for dinner after the man had told him that there wasn't really any work for him at the moment.

"Here Aqua honey, take seconds. You are far too thin for your age and you´re still growing after all! You need the energy!"

It was pointless to refuse the director's mother. She always got what she wanted in the end. It hadn't taken very long for him to find that out once he started to stop by regularly.

"Thank you Misses Gotanda."

"You are pampering the boy far too much Ma." The director was sitting on the opposite side of the dinner table, currently eating his third bowl of rice. "By the way, Miyako called earlier. You trying to be a moderator now prodigy? What do you expect to gain from that?"

"How opportunistic do you think I am?"

"Very." The man could stare down a lion if he really wanted to. Sometimes, Aqua wondered just how well he could actually read him…

Their staredown got interrupted though, when Misses Gotanda hit her son on the head with a spoon. "Don't be mean Taishi!"

After that, a short fight broke out between the two, resulting in Aqua eating his second portion of rice in personal peace.

When he was finished, and before he could do something about it himself, the older woman grabbed the dishes and hurried into the kitchen. Say what you want about her, she definitely cared for her guests.

"It´s getting late. I better get going." Ruby had asked him for help regarding her math homework for the day, most likely because she hadn't done a single minute of actual studying since she became an idol and he intended to not let his sister's grades suffer under her own short-sightedness.

"You still haven't answered my question from earlier boy."

The director was lying flat on the ground now. A base cap covered his face so that Aqua couldn't see how serious he was about the topic. Though his gut feeling told him that the man wouldn't let this one slide so easily.

"A friend asked me for a favor."

"All right, so it´s not for Ruby. That would have been my first guess. Was it Kurokawa then? You clearly want to keep that girl around for some reason and Miyako told me you and her will be working as a team on the show."

"Coincidence. I had already agreed to do it when I was told that she would be involved as well. And you are far too interested in my personal life by the way."

Neither of them said a thing for about a minute. They just sat/laid there, not even looking at each other. This sort of thing happened regularly between them.

Eventually, Aqua cracked.

"It was Arima."

"Ooh, the former child star!" He didn't really sound too surprised. "And what do you expect from her in return?"

"Nothing. She already helped me out a lot. It´s only fair that I do this for her." That was nothing but the truth. For once, he didn't have any ulterior motives.

"You know, despite your looks, I would have never picked you for a womanizer. You should be careful with that. In every love triangle, eventually, someone will get hurt"

"There is no love triangle." Maybe, if he said it enough times, he would start to believe it himself.

Himekawa had told him something similar before. That he shouldn't be playing with Akane´s and Kana´s feelings. He had denied the allegation at that time. Akane had been important for his revenge plot, so he needed her. And Kana… she was just… there.

He had never really thought about his long-term future up until recently. It would all be over anyway once he was capable of enacting his revenge plan. At that point, both girls would have been free of him regardless, so what did it really matter if he kept both of them close for the time being?

However, his revenge was off the table now.

There would be no clear-cut end of the road for him.

The director was still waiting for him to elaborate. And he decided to grant him that wish.

"I know the situation might get weird on the show. It was already awkward at Tokyo Blade. But we are all professionals. We can make this work without lowering the quality of the product."

The over-thirty-year-old doctor in one corner of his mind was completely fine with keeping everything a secret, but the sixteen-year-old teenager on the other side was glad to finally talk about this with someone. Even if only briefly.

Throwing the cap away, the director sat up and looked him in the eye.

"Eventually, you will have to make a choice kid. Nobody can free you of that. Do me a favor and figure it out before one of you three gets seriously burned in the process."

"For a bachelor in his forties living together with his mother, you give very wise relationship advice."

"Make fun of me all you want, it doesn't make it less true."

Okay, he had enough of this conversation for now.

"I´m leaving. See you tomorrow."

After collecting his things and saying a quick goodbye to Misses Gotanda, he was already halfway out the door, when the director reached out to him again.

"Aqua." He put his hand on his shoulder to prevent him from leaving. Simultaneously signaling him to turn around once more. "I didn't know if I should give you this. Maybe I´m making a terrible mistake, but… here."

He gave him a small business card. "Akira Web Production."

"Yeah. I keep in touch with your agency more than you think. When Miyako told me about her initial plans for the stream, she mentioned an old sponsor that she had convinced to come back on board."

The beating of his heart became louder and louder as he read the name on the card until he could barely hear his own breathing. The usual flashbacks to his past played in his mind once again.

"Apparently the prospect of involvement from the new B-Komachi alone was enough to convince him to get back into the business."

Naturally.

"I don't have to tell you how much of a fan of the original he was… you still recognize the name right?"

"Yeah." His voice nearly broke. Shouldn't he be done with all of this? "Akira Shiratori." It was as if a fire was being reignited inside of him. "He was a registered contact in Ai´s cellphone."

"…Don't do anything stupid kid. I mean it."

He didn't answer. All he did was walk out of the apartment.

His father was supposed to be dead. The murderer of his mother was already residing in hell. His revenge was done. That person couldn't be his father. It was impossible.

Unless he had made a mistake somewhere…

When he saw his reflection at the entrance window to the building. He knew he couldn't just let it go. He needed proof. Regardless of how small the chances, he needed to be completely sure.

It was like an obsidian-colored star had clouded his usually azure blue eyes in darkness.

Maybe his mission wasn't finished after all.