He couldn't help but wonder; was it at all possible that the content of a written document could change the more you read it?

If so, he was probably getting close to finding out, because he had looked over this particular piece of paper countless times at this point.

Hopefully, someone would march into his dressing room in the next couple of seconds and tell him to get his act together because the kickoff of the streaming event was only around an hour away. Maybe even less, he wasn't sure how long he had locked himself in here already.

As the moderator, he needed to be there right from the get-go. Otherwise, people would be furious at him.

Ruby would yell at him, slightly punch him in the side most likely, asking him what the hell was wrong with him lately. He had realized that she had begun to openly worry about him more and more over the last couple of days. The reason was somewhat unclear to him though. From his perspective, he hadn't been behaving much differently than before, no matter how much the situation weight on him, however, his sister was definitely looking at him in an unusual way ever since the promotional shoot.

Had something happened that day that he wasn't aware of?

He read the document again.

No. It hadn't changed.

Miyako and Pieyon would a hundred percent call him unprofessional if he would show up late. Both had invested quite a bit into the event, be it money, time, sleep, or trust in everyone involved. He shouldn't let them down. It would hurt his reputation.

He needed his reputation, right?

The letter continued to look the same.

It wasn't only Miyako and Pieyon who had worked hard, Mem had as well. She had done more online promotion than anybody involved. Practically managing three channels at the same time while being active on different platforms other than just YouTube too. How that girl was still not only standing upright but laughing and dancing like nobody had ever been better rested was anyone's guess.

Another look at the paper.

No. Still the same.

Akane would most likely be disappointed. She was looking forward to working together with him on this one, that much had been clear ever since she had accepted the offer. Taking into account the amount of online attention the stream was likely to receive and her… 'history' with online exposure, he was pretty sure that she overcame a major mental barrier by taking such a step. It must have been important to her.

Helping her succeed in taking that leap was another goal of his for the stream. Why hadn't it been more important to him from the start? If it had been, maybe he wouldn't be sitting in a corner of this empty room now, leaning against a cold wall and contemplating the wrong choices he constantly made in life, while dozen of people were running around outside, trying to prepare everything as best as they could for the event.

One more look.

"With a probability of 99,9 percent, we can safely deduce, that the male in question is not the father."

Kana would be furious.

He had promised her his help. She was the reason why he joined the project in the first place. Not that he wouldn't have done it if his sister had been the one who asked him, but the fact was she hadn't. Kana had.

If he didn't show up and deliver now, he would let her down. Just like he had let her down when he told her he wouldn't pursue any of the participants on LoveNow, but then he did, because it benefited his selfish desires. Just like he believed to let her down every single time he felt distracted while working with her on Tokyo Blade because the quality of the play had never been his priority. He just needed to get closer to certain people.

…And after a while, she would forgive him, even though he didn't do anything to deserve it and he would be left to question how she could let go of her anger just like that, while he kept on following his path toward hell regardless of how much the world was screaming at him to stop.

He wanted to look again.

Maybe now the content had changed.

It had to eventually. Otherwise, he would have to face the reality that he was too weak to let go. That he was chasing traces of a ghost he would never be able to see.

His one and only purpose in life was completely pointless, he knew it, and yet he would come back to it at the slightest possible chance, dropping everything in the process and doing whatever it took for the smallest chance of a step forward that was sure to be impossible because he was already standing on the edge of a cliffside.

It was the same with Ai if he was brutally honest with himself. Every time Akane began to impersonate her, no matter how much he told himself that this wasn't his mother, that she was dead, and that he would never be able to feel her true presence ever again, he couldn't help but wonder if… if there might be a chance…

Was he simply incapable of moving forward? Was that it? Was he stuck in the past with no way to advance into the future? If so, why even try?

Maybe he himself was only a ghost. Just a shell of the person he used to be.

What sense did it make then to keep on going, to try to change himself, if he would eventually revert to his original ways anyhow?

He didn't try to look this time. Instead, he forcefully crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it in the direction of a nearby bin. Missing the thing by quite a margin.

Right as he did though, the door to his dressing room opened and he could see a familiar silhouette enter the room. Without even an attempt of knocking first.

Typical.

Wearing the same Tokyo Spirits jersey he had seen on her the other day, she looked like she was about to go on air already.

At the beginning of the event all participants, with the exception of the moderators, would be wearing their sports outfits, to hammer home the theme of the stream. Later on, she along with most of the other cast would most likely change into something more comfortable so that she could take part in the games and look as approachable as possible, before changing once again into her idol outfit for the final performance of the night.

Before she was able to say anything, her look fell on the paper ball to her right and Aqua instantly began to panic.

Reaching the paper before her was impossible without making a major scene since she was already kneeling down to grab it.

If he would try to take it from her by force now, he would only make himself look even more suspicious, resulting in her wanting to know the content of that letter even more.

As she took the paper, the red-haired actress took one curious look at it, before turning in his direction.

After a moment of silence, she exhaled loudly, shook her head a couple of times, let the ball drop, and then kicked it into the bin he had aimed for earlier. Surprisingly, she actually hit the thing.

"What the heck are you still doing here dummy? Aren't you supposed to get your makeup done like… ten minutes ago?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

Whatever she had said didn't reach his ears.

Why hadn't she looked? Considering his current situation and her nosy personality, he had been certain she would want to check it out if he didn't outright stop her. So, why didn't she?

When he didn't answer right away, she exhaled again, this time a little more annoyed, she closed the door and stepped closer to him.

He only watched her.

"I know you´re more of the silent type most of the time, but this is overkill. What´s up with you?" Being an actress, it was second nature for her to pretend. But, seeing as he was an actor himself, he could tell most of the time. Right now, she was likely trying to hide the fact that she had been worrying about him once again.

Still confused, but composed enough to actually answer her question now, he tried to look at her without hiding his current emotions for a change.

"I needed to figure something out and got distracted." No more lies if he could help it. "I´m sorry."

Only for a split second, he managed to look into her face, before turning back to staring at the ground.

"Don't worry about it." In an instant, like she didn't need to think about it or anything, she sat down right beside him on the ground. So close in fact that their arms practically touched. He had totally forgotten that he was still crouching in the corner. "You have some time left. It´s not like you really need makeup anyways."

"Still… I apologize." He could feel her eyes on him. She was clearly checking if he was okay or not. Possibly searching for any sort of clue that might tell her what was going on.

Well, if she hadn't thrown away the paper for whatever reason, she might have just found out the complete truth.

"I like your outfit." Oh right, he was already wearing his suit. It was crème colored. He and Akane had selected matching outfits a couple of days ago. "Although I don't think Miyako would appreciate that you are sitting on the dirty floor with it. Care to explain why that is maybe?"

"Even if I did, you wouldn't understand."

"Just try me."

Turning his head towards her, she didn't seem to pressure him in the slightest, as he had expected. She wasn't even looking in his direction anymore. That… didn't really sit right with him either though.

"I like your outfit too by the way." That got her undivided attention once again.

"…It's a stupid sports jersey. And it´s too big for me."

"I know. But I stand by what I said."

"Your taste is weird sometimes. Should I dress up like that at one of our next concerts since you like it so much then? If you chose to cheer using only my white glowsticks I would consider it you know? Showing Ruby and Mem who's boss for a change, haha."

Without really realizing it, he started to calm down.

"As much as I would like to see that. Ruby would kill me if I wouldn't cheer for her."

"Oh? And you think I wouldn't? I might be small, but I starred in a couple of martial arts advertisements back when I was little." She looked him up and down before smirking. "I think I could take you, skinny boy."

She smiled.

He smiled.

How the heck did she do it? Without any noticeable effort and without even knowing what was going on with him she managed to pull him out of his self-digged hole. Just like that.

Maybe… she could actually… help him this time?

"Kana?"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Promise me you will get up and ready after that?"

That very much depended on her answer if he was honest. But he knew there was only one right response here so he nodded.

"Then ask away!"

"What would you do if your dream of becoming an actress would somehow become unattainable?" His voice was as calm and calculated as usual, not at all hinting at the struggle that was currently going on inside his head. "You could still attend auditions, but you would know beforehand that you wouldn't get the part. Regardless of your effort, you wouldn't come any closer to achieving your goal. Never." He looked directly at her confused face. "What would you do? Please tell me."

There was a small pause. She observed him like he was a fragile doll, ready to implode if she didn't choose her words carefully.

This was one of the main reasons why he never opened up to people. He didn't want them to worry about him. He needed to do things on his own so he wouldn't endanger anybody else. Confidents who actually cared about him were nothing more than an unnecessary risk.

Maybe… this was stupid. What was he trying to achieve here after all? Was he truly trying to solve his own mental problems by probing a 17-year-old girl for answers?

Yeah, that definitely was idiotic.

His head dropped back to the wall with a thud.

"Never mind. That was an irrelevant question. Forget I-"

"I don´t know." She interrupted him before he could take everything back. "That sounds like a horrible situation. To still have the opportunity to fight for one's dream, while knowing it will be in vain regardless… that's terrible."

That was his last month in a nutshell. It felt like he was Don Quixote fighting against the windmills.

"I have felt close to that point at some stage you know? Thinking that regardless of what I did it would all amount to nothing. I considered giving up on multiple occasions. It´s honestly a miracle that I didn't, now that I think about it." Aqua didn't know everything about her past. He knew enough though to realize that it was difficult for her to open up about the topic.

At least without making fun of it or belittling herself in an almost cruel way while doing so. Which was what she usually did to protect herself.

"Recently I learned something though. Something that gave me… reassurance if you can call it that." When their eyes met it felt like Aqua was suddenly in danger of drowning. There was so much certainty, so much strength, and so much belief in them. There was no way one person would be able to put that much emotion into a single expression, but somehow he was sitting next to the only person in the world that could.

"I know you would help me in that situation Aqua. I know you would be there for me." Her hand wandered on top of his, and without a moment's hesitation, he grabbed it. "And I know my friends would be there as well. Ruby, Mem, Miyako, even Pieyon!" The warmth of her smile was mesmerizing and he couldn't help but stare. "This might sound cheesy, but I think… even if I would feel totally lost, I might just… find my way again with all your help. If that makes sense…"

Somehow Aqua found himself drawn closer to her like she was a magnet.

This girl was unlike anybody he had ever met before. She was so troubled herself, he had seen it firsthand, yet she possessed the strength to be there for anybody who needed her. Or maybe… was it because of her troubles that she wanted to be there for the people close to her?

It didn't matter.

He never felt so attracted to somebody because of a single attribute before.

Without a chance to resist it, his grip on her hand tightened and he began to lean in closer. His focus on her never wavered.

She noticed what he was doing, but didn't pull away.

Not when his hand cupped her small cheek, which was painted in a beautiful shade of pink, seemingly just for him.

Not when their faces were so close to each other that they could feel the other´s breath touching their skin, and not even when they both simultaneously decided to close their eyes as well as the distance between them both once and for all…

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

Then she shoved him with all her might and he fell over with a backflip, before hitting his head on the little coffee table in his dresser.

"Aqua? It´s me Akane. People are getting a little worried about you so… are you in here?"

Oh yes. His 'girlfriend' unlike a certain someone was definitely the type to knock before opening a door.

Thank god.

As he looked back at Kana. It seemed like she was completely losing her mind right now.

She was red like a beet, frantically fidgeting with her hands and most likely very tempted to just run away from the situation if it wasn't for the person on the other side of the only door out.

He was a bit flustered as well, but unlike her, he wasn't truly a teenager. Hadn't she pushed him away, there was no way he would have let himself get stopped by a random knock at the door.

Although… maybe it was for the best. That could have resulted in a lot of trouble.

The words from Himekawa echoed in his head again.

Had he been this close to being a complete asshole here? Technically, he was still in a relationship. Not to mention that Kana was an idol. The risks he was potentially putting her through…

"Aqua? Is everything okay?"

"Yes." He answered as calmly as he could. "I´m sorry I had to do something real quick. I´ll be with you in a second."

"Okay! I´ll be waiting by the moderating table for you!"

After that, he could hear the fading sound of Akane's steps as she walked away from the door. Or was it his heartbeat that still pulsed through his entire body? It was hard to tell.

"I- I- I- I need to get going now too!" Oh right, Kana. "Ruby and Mem are waiting for me and- and- and- yeah!" She stood up and he followed suit. Then she stiffly turned towards him, stepped a couple of steps closer, patted him twice on the shoulder, and tried to move away again "See you later my friend! Don't take too long now okay?!"

Could she be any more adorable? Maybe if she wasn't screaming.

Without thinking too much about it, probably because the rational side of his brain would have advised against it, he grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving right away. Regardless of how morally dubious his actions were at this moment, she had just pulled him back into reality, and there was no way he was going to let her leave just like that.

She didn't resist or anything, she just continued to look extremely flustered.

In an attempt to calm her down, he grabbed her other hand as well, which thankfully resulted in her movements coming to a standstill.

Then, without a second thought, he bent down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. Her skin felt even better on his lips than it had on his fingertips, but he needed to restrain himself somewhat or there might not be a way back from this. When he turned back to look at her, he could swear that she had turned into a motionless sculpture.

"Thank you, Kana. Let´s have fun tonight shall we?"

"W-W-WHAT?!" Aaand the sculpture went back to being a volcano. "Y-You are crazy! We have work to do you idiot! I need to leave!"

She pushed him away for a second time and rushed to open the door, but before she left, she turned around one more time and whispered "Your welcome though…" With that, she practically sprinted out the door.

Huh, now that he thought about it, maybe she had slightly misunderstood what he meant by 'having fun'.

Be that as it may. This encounter, confusing as it might have been on so many levels, had been able to clear his mind.

He would act according to Kana´s advice for now. March on in life and believe, that when he might struggle, his friends would be there to catch him should he really need it.

As long as he had people around who cared about him, and who he cared for, he couldn't stop trying to better himself. He needed to keep moving forward. If not for himself, then for them.

A pretty idealistic way of thinking. Not so long ago he would have laughed about such an outlook on life, but right now he wanted nothing more than to believe in it. Perhaps Ruby´s influence on him couldn't be completely denied after all these years.

Cleaning himself up just a little bit, he took his notes and went out of the room.

He had a show to moderate.

.

.

.

She couldn't help but wonder when she had become such a mistrustful person.

It couldn't be that long ago, since she had not once doubted the intentions of the producers from LoveNow just a year ago, even though they behaved so obviously shady.

Perhaps it was a situational thing. She was wary of strangers to be sure, but the people closest to her were unfortunately also a regular target for one of her more distasteful character trades.

As she hid behind a corner a couple of feet away from her 'boyfriends' dressing room, she didn't have much time to contemplate the rightfulness of her actions, because it didn't take long for her underlying suspicions to be validated when a very shaken-up red-haired actress stepped out of said dressing room and pretty much ran right past her.

They were lucky she wasn't a reporter, otherwise, they might have a small scandal at their hands.

Part of her wanted to go back and confront the idiot head-on about what had just transpired and why he had felt the need to lie to her, but another part wondered if that would really be such a wise move only minutes away from the show. Additionally, she didn't know what exactly happened behind that door, nor had she a truly legitimate argument to scold him for his actions, if there had been any.

Their relationship was only for the camera. Aqua had made that perfectly clear to her right from the get-go and she had agreed to it. It wasn't his fault that she was secretly hoping he would change his mind… eventually. She wasn't supposed to be this jealous.

Still. That didn't mean she couldn't be angry about it. They were in a relationship, however romantic it may be.

That moron!

Had he really spent the last hour or so alone together with… with Kana?

No.

She was already in her football jersey when she came out of the door.

Because of what happened last time, it was more than likely that she would stay in her street clothes for as long as possible, simply to not give her any openings for further taunting. Ergo; she wouldn't have already changed a whole hour ago.

…Had her former role model simply checked on him before she herself had decided to do the same?

If so, what did that say about her relationship with Aqua? Just how close were these two…

And why did it always have to be her anyways? It felt like she couldn't take a single step in life without stepping on one of her nemesis´s toes. Be it professional or private.

It didn't matter now. This was not the time to beat herself up about this. The show was about to start and she would have a major role to play in it. She had a job to do! For charity nonetheless!

And… she hadn't given up yet!

If Kana Arima wanted a fight today, she was going to get one!

.

.

.

Maybe, just maybe, it was finally time to punch her brother.

And not in a playful manner. No. She was seriously considering punching him in the face.

The scene, which had unfolded before her very eyes over the last minutes was cementing that thought into her brain.

She had been on her way toward his locker room because he was taking far too long for her taste and she didn't trust her senpai to be strict enough with him to bring him back on time.

…At least not after what she had overheard in the conversation between her and Mem a couple of days ago.

It looked like her instincts had been right, when a very flustered Kana, stormed straight past her, with no Aqua anywhere to be seen and without acknowledging her presents in any way.

Only another corner away stood her brother's supposed 'girlfriend', pretty much equally distracted as the girl in the football jersey and sort of… talking to herself? Motivating herself? Whatever it was she was staying clear of that.

Her positive opinion of the girl suffered a major hit once she found out why she was acting like her mama while she was around Aqua. Kana might be able to believe that there were no bad intentions behind it, but she wasn't. Mostly because it had also affected her as well.

That didn't excuse her brother's behavior of course.

Even if she hadn't seen what happened here in its entirety, all evidence she had been able to gather so far pointed towards Aqua turning into some sort of Gigolo and toying with the hearts of two – mostly - innocent girls!

Not to mention that she was working with one of them!

What the heck was he thinking?! Since when had he become such a drama queen?!

This needed to stop as soon as possible and she was going to be the one to put an end to it. It was her sisterly duty to put the hormone-driven teenage boy in his rightful place!

Especially since it was so, so obvious which of the two he had truly fallen for!

Well… at least as of late!

Not gonna lie, she had already considered playing Cupid ever since the promotional shoot, but now, she would definitely have the situation resolved by the end of the event! Her brother's love escapades were not going to put any more pressure on her idol group! Instead, they were going to do the opposite! They would make their bonds stronger!

Consolidating them for eternity if possible! Till death do them part! Like in the movies!

Ruby Hoshino, sixteen years of age but equipped with the womanly instincts of a thirty-year-old was on the case!

"…Ruby?"

"Waaah!"

If she hadn't recognized the person that had scared her half to death by addressing her out of absolutely nowhere, as her brother just in time, she would have already fulfilled her promise of punching him.

"Why are you just standing here in the middle of the hallway? And… were you just shadowboxing?"

"No!" Maybe she shouldn't have judged Akane´s behavior before. Thankfully the girl was nowhere to be seen anymore. "I was merely stretching to get ready for the stream! I´m a football player after all."

The way he looked at her made her feel like she was four years old again.

"Right. Anyway, we should get going. No more goofing around."

Okay, she should have definitely taken that chance and punched him. That condescending know it all.

But, she was better than that. She was keeping her cool. She had a plan. A couple of plans actually.

"Lead the way, dear brother."

.

.

.

"Piyo Piyo Piyo Pieyon channel!"

Right from the get-go, Kana was more than aware that this event wouldn't be messing around. The light show that started as soon as the cameras began to roll was truly a sight to behold.

In the center of the whole affair and smack down in the middle of the spotlight stood the host of the stream and the owner of the YouTube channel which was mainly broadcasting the event. The no shirt wearing, chicken-loving, more than a little nosy mountain of a man known as Pieyon.

"Welcome everybody and thank you all for tuning in to this year's Strawberry Productions charity stream! Seeing as I don't need any introduction - if the chat begs to differ I will ban you – let's get right on it shall we?!"

This was the first time she was able to see the man actually in his element and not in some sort of off-character teaching role. The longer she looked at it, the more she understood how he had become so successful doing what he did. She knew that there were some key points that his introduction speech needed to hit and had been a little nervous when he had laughed at the idea of using notes, but her worries turned out to be completely unnecessary.

The guy was nothing less than a bonified pro.

He hit every mark sport on and seemed very funny and approachable in the process. Even many of the interventions from the massive audience online got fluently integrated into his performance, which was crazy to see.

As an actress, she of course wasn't a stranger to improvising, she even considered it one of her major strengths, but what this guy was showing them at the moment seemed to be on a completely different level.

If he weren't doing it in a chicken costume, she would have actually felt true respect for the man.

"Miss Arima, your helmet please, you´ll be up in just a second." Oh, right. She had been so fascinated by what she was watching, that she nearly messed up before even appearing on stream! "Miss, eh, Mem and Miss Hoshino you two as well, please!"

"Oh!"

"On it!"

When she saw both Mem and Ruby struggling to quickly put on their helmets as well, she couldn't help but feel a little more lighthearted. She wasn't in this alone. And in contrast to their first concert as B-Komachi all these weeks ago, it was a source of strength for her this time around.

"Your main man Pieyon is going to start the whole thing off with not one, but two bangs! Firstly, in only a couple of minutes, I will start with my personal challenge for the first half of today! I will run an entire marathon around our location and I will do it in under two and a half hours!"

Yeah, he wasn't kidding. He had been looking forward to that for quite some time. He would also be miced up the whole time as well as carry a body camera so that the team could switch to his perspective whenever they wanted to.

"If I can beat that time, then you guys must reward me! Donations of one dollar per mile per person! Otherwise, you lazy couch potatoes have to run the entire marathon yourselves and believe me, I´ll know if you did. I. Always. Know." He pointed a finger at the camera.

That was the queue and all the lights in the greatest hall of the location went up. Revealing parts of the backstage and staging area to the audience to reflect a sort of amateurism that clearly was intended.

"But Pieyon, I hear you all ask, who is going to play the games and moderate the show if you are running all the time? Well, the second 'bang' of the night will answer that question, but first, let us introduce our participants for the day!"

And that was her personal signal.

Every on-screen person was sitting in a race kart and in groups of three were driving into the hall through a small tunnel.

The three B-Komachi girls were the last trio to enter and they were especially proud of the whole affair because one of their songs was being played as the entrance music.

It felt kind of weird to listen to her own voice while showing up to such an event, but it was also pretty awesome.

One after another every participant was showing up, driving circles around Pieyon who called them all out by name.

"Second to last we have three of our youngest participants!" She could swear that Mem´s kart lost a little bit of speed for a second after these words. "In the yellow kart, we have the one and only Mem-Cho! The red kart is driven – without a driver's license mind you – by non-other than our precious little Ruby! And of course, driving in the center as always is our very own lovely Kana!"

All of them were kind of waving into the cameras, but doing that while trying to keep a kart on track was pretty difficult.

Well, at least it was for Kana and Mem.

Her jaw quite literally dropped to the ground of the vehicle, when Ruby suddenly did a couple of donuts before drifting in the final corner with a whole lot of momentum only to come to a perfect standstill right next to them both just as planned.

"What the actual heck Ruby?!"

"Didn't you tell us you have never driven karts before?!"

"Maaaaybe that was a slight misunderstanding girls. I meant to say there was never a time when I haven't driven karts! My bad."

The voices of all three of them were echoing through the entire racetrack and they knew that they were also live on YouTube right now. They could mute their audio with a single button, but as long as they didn't do that, everything they said could possibly be broadcasted in real-time. However, that didn't change the fact that their surprise at Ruby´s secret driving skills was very much real and not at all manufactured.

"Haha! The first upset of the day already! Nice work Ruby!"

"There is a lot more where that came from Pieyon Sir!" The two-finger salute of the blond girl kind of made her look like an actual pro.

"These three lovely girls will be our eyes and ears on the field tonight, just as promised! However, this event would never function without our final participants, seeing as they are here to guide us all through the show, because I´m too unqualified to do it and I wanted to run a marathon!"

The unqualified part was clearly a lie, but what did it matter?

Both Akane and Aqua came out on the back of a real car. The two of them were currently dressed much fancier than any of the participants and Aqua helped Akane off of the vehicle like a gentleman when they arrived at the center of the hall.

Normally that wouldn't sit right with Kana, but considering what had happened between the two only a couple of minutes before the start of the whole thing, she felt pretty secure about herself at the moment and didn't care too much.

…The boy who was still wearing his crème colored suit and who was currently introducing himself as well as his co-moderator, had tried to kiss her! He definitely had. No wait, he had kissed her! On the cheek of course but still. There was no doubt. Hadn't she been such a scary cat they could have already been a couple now! A real couple! Not just for the cameras!

That had to give her the edge at the moment… right?! RIGHT?!

"My, my, what a lovely young couple you two make." He addressed Aqua and Akane.

Scratch everything positive she had ever said about Pieyon so far.

She hated that freak.

"I feel like you guys should take over now. My legs are itching to run and I can't take it anymore. Akane, if you would be so kind, take my time?" He gave her a stopwatch and after she loudly counted to three the man started running.

Both Aqua and Akane held a small promo, that included a shoutout to all the different sponsors and helpers that made the event possible, before announcing the first game.

Unsurprisingly for most of the audience, it was a kart race. But not any ordinary kart race, they were driving on a virtual racetrack and could use certain items to their advantage. Like a rocket, a shell, or a canon. Both the track as well as the items were simply projected on the ground, and the karts needed to drive threw to collect them just like a player in Mario Kart would.

As Aqua was explaining the rules, the rest of the cast drove to five different starting spots, so they wouldn't get into each other´s way too much.

While driving to her spot, Kana checked one of the many donation counters that were digitally projected on almost every wall of the area and nearly drove into said wall out of shock.

Only around fifteen minutes in and they were already close to half a million dollars in donations! This was insane! Sure, she had known about the possible dimensions of the event beforehand, but seeing it live was another experience entirely.

"Alrighty! Now that everything is cleared up, all that's left for Aqua and me is to get out of the way as quickly as possible."

"Should I lead the way? You have bad eyesight remember?"

"Oh, don't worry I can see everything just fine."

Mhm.

Kana was too far away to actually see anything, but Akane´s voice sounded a little different than normal. Was she putting up another act? If so it wasn't her usual one. Her presence was nothing like what she had experienced at the promotional video shoot.

Were they… fighting? That would come in handy right now!

Whatever. Questions for later.

Right now, she had a race to win!

.

.

.

Aqua and Miyako were pretty much the only people in the entire studio that weren't at all surprised by the outcome of the race. Well, with the exception of the person who won of course.

Ruby had steamrolled her competition. Beating two professional motorsports YouTuber in the process.

After winning two out of three races, she was now standing on top of her kart, pointing both fingers to the sky and throwing kisses at the cameras.

"Why is your little sister so good at kart racing?" Akane, who was standing next to him on a balcony above the racetrack clearly didn't believe her eyes. "She hit a man in the face with a football she was trying to kick in a completely different direction, but she can drive kart like Michael Schumacher?"

"What should I tell you, she needed a hobby and wasn't allowed to do idol stuff, since Miyako forbade it because of her age." He wasn't bad at it himself, but Ruby had been all but obsessed with the sport at one point. If the girl was putting her mind to something, she was giving it her absolute best.

"Come on. We should be heading downstairs. We will be up again right after the interviews."

"Yeah, yeah. Coming"

"Is something the matter?" It hadn't been obvious to him from the start, but the longer the show went on, the more it looked like Akane wasn't her usual self. She had been so… indifferent about everything.

Also, she hadn't gotten into character once, even though she explicitly asked for his permission only yesterday.

Surprisingly, she glared at him as the words came out of his mouth and her expression suddenly said everything but indifference.

"You tell me!" She stormed straight past him and down the stairway.

Okay, he had definitely done something to upset her.

…Had Kana talked about what almost happened in his dressing room? Unlikely. Although not impossible. She seemed like the type to brag about stuff in front of a rival…

He had to admit, that had been reckless. Not to mention wrong. Even if he wanted to act on the moment, Akane deserved better than that. She had a right to an open discussion beforehand at the very least.

Huh, was he actually planning for the future right now?

…That was new.

This was neither the time nor the place for it of course. He had made the whole thing way too personal already and didn't plan on letting it get out of hand any further.

There wasn't much time to think about what exactly that might require, however, because as both he and Akane joined Ruby on the winner´s podium, they were already back on camera.

"Congratulations Ruby! That was quite the race. I think I speak for everybody when I say; we didn't really see that coming."

"Speak for yourself." His sister and he exchanged a quick fist bump as well as a knowing look.

"Siblings… Anyways Ruby! Since you are our first victor of the day, you get to decide on a punishment for any of the participants! What horrible idea has your innocent mind come up with? The chat is dying of curiosity!"

The small amount of sweat that was still present on the blond's face was making her smile even more sparkly than it usually was.

"Well, seeing as I was pretty confident I was going to win this one, I already prepared a fitting punishment! Mem. Kana. Would you be so nice as to bring me the bag I just gave you?"

In retrospect, he should have started to worry when both of them were required to bring a tiny bag on stage.

And also, shouldn't the punishments be picked at random? Whatever happened to that?

Ruby wasted little time and proceeded to pull out a black T-shirt from the bag.

"I think that shirt will look much better on you for the rest of the day than that overly formal suit Aqua!"

"Huh?" He didn't understand. "That´s your evil punishment? You just want me to wear a T-shirt?"

"Exactly! I´m a reasonable person after all. Put it on!"

That was… weird. Especially when he realized what that T-shirt represented.

It was Kana´s personal fan merch. The B-Komachi logo surrounded by a white heart.

The person in question seemed to notice it too, judging by the color of her face.

But, why would Ruby of all people want him to wear this? Was it just a coincidence and she simply wanted him to show off their new merch? Or did she pick it out on purpose? Until now he had been under the impression that she liked Akane and was very much rooting for her.

Regardless of the reason, it was fortunate that said actress seemingly didn't know about the possible double meaning of the item and so the danger of further conflict seemed to be minimal.

"As the chat might have already guessed, that is a newly designed fan shirt for B-Komachi´s center girl! Our very own Kana! I figured since my brother is possibly her biggest fan, he would be much more comfortable in this shirt than any other!"

Okay. Or maybe it was the exact opposite and his personal health might be in acute danger.

When he risked a look at the girl on his right side though, he noticed that Akane´s expression didn't change at all. Either she truly didn't care, which would be very mature of her as well as very unlikely. Or she was simply being a pro for the camera. In the end, he respected her for both.

When he was done changing into the T-shirt, which wasn't that easy considering all the cables and stuff that had been put on him, the stream had already moved on to the next game, in which neither the moderators nor B-Komachi were involved.

He reentered the area in which the talent that wasn't currently doing anything could rest in and it was like the Cold War had broken out again.

In the east there were Ruby and Kana and in the west Akane and Mem. Divided by an iron curtain which in this case was a small coffee table.

There was definitely something he had missed while he was gone.

Be that as it may, right at that moment, he wished for one thing and one thing only; to please be Switzerland in this constellation.

…Although somehow, he felt a little bit more like Germany…