Opportunities to get rid of one´s pent-up frustrations were rare while on camera. Not that Ruby had a lot of experience with that, but judging by the way her senpai was acting in private most of the time, she figured as much.

So, she appreciated the chance she had been given here.

"Lose yourself in the music! The moment, you own it, you better never let it go! Go! You only got one shot do not miss your chance to blow!"

She was nearly shouting into the microphone in front of her. Her singing voice needed a lot more work before she could present it on stage, let alone impress anybody with it, however, her rap skills were pretty decent all things considered.

Even if she wouldn't feel the lyrics in a way she hadn't ever imagined in the past, she would have surely done a good job in this game. With everything that was threatening to ruin her plans for today, she was nailing the whole thing like a pro!

Eminem would be proud!

The way the guy beside her with whom she was competing at the moment looked at her in complete awe, like he had seen an alien, would do wonders for her self-esteem on any other day, but it was completely irrelevant to her at the moment.

She shouldn't have apologized to Akane after all!

Not using her character to manipulate anybody huh? Yeah right. As if Aqua would let himself get kissed by anybody at any point in time, much less on camera in front of thousands of people.

Only she and her stupid character that resembled a certain someone so much it was making Ruby´s head hurt every time she was seeing it had managed to do that. And more than just once by now!

Her opinion on that kiss at the end of LoveNow had been mixed at best, but by now it was bordering on the unbearable.

Just a couple of days ago, it wouldn't have mattered all that much to her which one of the two girls her brother would have chosen as long as he would have eventually picked one and been happy with his choice.

That was mostly because she didn't actually know for sure that Kana harbored real feelings for her brother though. In retrospect, it was blatantly obvious. She had always behaved differently when he was around and the finale of LoveNow did have a strangely strong effect on her overhaul mood now that she thought about it again.

The more she worked through the topic in her head, the more she came to the conclusion that the two were pretty much perfect for each other! Sure they argued a lot and tried to get under the other's skin, but that was exactly the point. Both of them needed someone to butt heads with, especially her brother. Ever since their mother had passed, Aqua hadn't had this sort of relationship with anybody outside their closest family, which included the director. It was rare to see him interacting so openly with a person, especially without Ruby having some sort of hand in the matter.

Maybe, and this was still a big hypothetical, there was a slim chance for her to get the old version of her brother back after all. The one that had enjoyed the second chance in life that had been gifted to them both almost as much as she had. The hopeless fanboy who had loved to watch idol shows together with her, and who didn't have a sarcastic comment about everything involved with the industry that was so dear to her heart.

She would be happy beyond belief if that was actually possible. The hints were there at least.

That wasn't the whole reason though. Her brother clearly had a massive influence on Kana as well. Especially on her self-esteem. That could cut both ways of course. Before their first concert, her senpai had been completely down on herself. The attempts of both her and Mem to cheer her up had been pretty much useless until this point, although it could already count as a win that they got her on the stage with them in the first place.

Only her brother had managed to ignite that spark in Kana that had led to her shining performance on that day.

Surely there was a bigger picture involved, Kana had clearly been through a lot during her professional career as well as her life in general and it was constantly weighing on her, but the distance towards Aqua at that time definitely played a role no matter how significant.

Just like their ever-closer companionship afterward had resulted in her becoming increasingly more confident in her own abilities, which resulted in even better performances!

She would never admit it to her face, but Kana was awesome at almost anything she tried her hands at, even if it didn't result in immediate success, and if her brother could convince her to believe that herself, then he needed to stick around more closely!

As the song went on, her resolve grew stronger once more. It was on her to clear this situation up! No matter what tricks Akane and her sneaky sidekick had up their sleeves, she was going to come out of this fight on top because she was on the side of righteousness.

That was not a prediction by the way.

That was a spoiler!

She looked up at the screen in front of her with newfound optimism and a smug grin plastered all over her face as the song came to an end.

"Score: 45! Well, at least nobody died. …We hope."

"What?! I thought I nailed that sucker!"

Only a couple of meters away from the stage on which Ruby was currently throwing a mild tantrum about her overall score in Singstar stood the other wing woman of the ongoing conflict.

Mem was pretty angry at the moment because of Akane´s previous actions. She had defended her all this time and now she was doing exactly what the other two girls had been afraid of; manipulating Aqua by using his weakness for Ai.

It was still crazy for her to believe that a guy like him could be so infatuated with a single person that had died when he was only a small child and that he clearly couldn't have had that much of a personal connection with. Normally, Aqua was like a rock, firm and steady in all of his beliefs, but under the influence of this, he became a totally different person.

Surely there had to be a reason for Akane´s sudden change in attitude though, right? The girl was far too straightforward in her approach to life to ever resort to such tactics on a whim. Had she seen through Ruby´s attempts at boosting Kana and was now firing back with everything she got?

If that´s so, then it was at least sort of understandable.

It still didn't make it right of course.

She would have asked her about it after the entire… kiss situation, but unfortunately she and Aqua had dashed off towards the next game in no time at all. Also, her intuition told her that she wouldn't have gotten a straight answer from her at this time anyways.

What was she supposed to do now? Continue to support her friend, even though she was making it harder and harder to do so with a clear conscience, or should she just stay out of the entire thing? The chances of it having a good outcome were getting slimmer by the minute and Mem really didn't want that whole thing to blow up in her face.

That would mean that she was throwing in the towel in her battle with Ruby though… also not a very pleasant result.

No. She needed to stick to the original plan. If she wasn't going to stand up for Akane, even a little bit, nobody else would. Well, except for the girl herself…

Although, judging by the way things were currently going, maybe that was already enough.

"Mem!" Oh. Speaking of the devil. "Come on we have to do our setup! I already got the recipe from my dressing room so we should be good to go."

Right the upcoming kitchen battle.

"Yeah, ehm, coming!"

Seeing it up close again… this character of Akane… it was really something special. Mem wasn't one to get easily influenced by others, quite the opposite in fact. Her many years of experience in the entertainment industry had taught her to be careful with this sort of thing. But even she couldn't help but feel drawn to this shining persona.

The legendary idol Ai… she must have really been something extraordinary. Even more so than was apparent from the outside.

.

.

.

Kana was furious.

That much was clear.

She just didn't know at whom she was more furious.

Should it be the silver-tongued playboy who, only a couple of hours ago, made it sound like she was someone special to him? The special type of person whom he was willing to get close to more than anybody else, only to seemingly do a completely one-eighty and hold another woman in his arms the second she wasn't looking.

Or, should it be said woman in the flesh who clearly was playing mind games not only with Aqua but also with Kana herself? The way that devilish sorceress had looked at her as they celebrated the donation milestone was permanently burned into her memories at this point… she wanted to destroy something right now!

"K- Kana you are holding on a little tight. Ehm, is something the matter?"

Oh, she nearly forgot. She too had another man in her arms right now.

"Nah everything is juuust fine. Smile into the camera and let's get this over with already." She didn't even look at him, just going through the motions like they had planned beforehand. Dancing something as easy as a regular Cha-Cha-Cha was childsplay for someone like her after all. Even in the long red dress which she was wearing for the occasion.

Luckily, the Youtuber known as F1/24/7 didn't try to probe her for more information. Or maybe he just couldn't. Dave didn't seem to be the most experienced dancer and needed to focus much more on his task at hand than she did.

It was a dancing competition she was taking part in right now. Nothing major, just three teams with one dance each and a jury of actual experts to judge them afterward.

Nobody else in her closest circle was participating here. Even the two moderators were busy somewhere else, most likely preparing for the next big challenge. Which is what Kana would have done as well if Dave hadn't asked her to be his partner in this only a couple of hours before the stream, since his original companion had called in sick apparently. And luck would have it that she was the same size as her and so she didn't even need to worry about a dress.

How should she have said no?

She hadn't taken all these dancing, lessons during her early teen years, and now during her idol training, for nothing. As long as it wasn't something too complicated, it should be a piece of cake to her, so she had agreed without much hesitation.

How should she have known that she would have far bigger fish to fry at a time like this?! Back then she kind of wondered if she could impress Aqua in a long red dancing dress.

Well, that idea had gone out the window faster than she could have anticipated, didn't it?

She needed to do… something about this whole situation! Akane Kurokawa was clearly on the offensive for the moment and wasn't holding back anymore. Aqua was such an oblivious idiot that it wasn't completely off the table that he didn't even know what was going on around him, so the responsibility to make things right lay solely at her feet at the moment.

But what should she do? S- should she also go on the offensive? That could horribly backfire. Not only had her rival the advantage of being the official girlfriend of their shared target, but she also had that character that apparently was able to bring out an outgoing, easy-to-like, almost playful side of her that Kana had never thought existed.

Knowing herself, she most certainly would mess this up if she tried her hands on a similar approach. No. She needed something else. Something that played more to her personal strengths.

"K-Kana?"

"What?!" She didn't mean to yell, but she also didn't like to be interrupted while she was pondering.

"I think you are leading now…"

Huh, she actually was. Who would have thought?

"Got a problem with that F1-Boy?" It was meant as an honest question, but her phrasing combined with the way she must have looked at that moment apparently sent shivers down the older man's spine.

"Nope! I´m all yours!" He tried an easy smile and got a devilish one from her in return.

"Good. Now spin damn you!"

She led them for the rest of the dance, without making a single mistake, all the while trying to plot her revenge. That was made even more difficult because of the thing on her wrist that gave away her every emotion and was therefore a severe handicap she needed to account for.

Turns out, the judges interpreted her apparent takeover during their dance as a symbol of female equality that was more than overdue in the Japan of this day and age and actually awarded them both first place for it.

It only dawned on her that she had won her first game of the evening as the much bigger Dave nearly threw her into the air in celebration. An honest smile crept onto her face as she saw him this happy, even though she was still anywhere but in the moments with her thoughts.

At least she had made somebody´s day tonight.

Maybe she needed to rethink her tactics. Getting overly emotional wouldn't do her any good for the moment. She needed to be clever about this. Hide her true feeling from the audience perhaps. Flying under the radar for now so to speak.

Yes. That's what she needed to do. The reverse Aqua! It was genius.

"Kana?" Oh. Think of the devil.

The boy she had been plotting about was standing a couple of meters away, looking at her just as emotionless as she was used to by now.

"You ready to come over to the kitchen area? We still have to prepare a little and the other two are already there waiting for us."

Trying to imitate his expression she simply replied "Sure." and walked right past him.

She didn't notice how Aqua stayed behind for a second longer.

If she had, it would have probably lifted her mood a little.

Dave was lucky that looks alone weren't able to kill a person or otherwise the guy who was currently showing off his little first-place trophy to some colleague would have been dead many times over by now.

.

.

.

Not every game they were a part of was a spontaneous arrangement. Some of the activities on the stream needed to be prepared beforehand, even by the participants. It was just easier in many cases and resulted in a more fluid flow of the event.

The one they were currently involved in was the best example.

It was a fierce battle in the kitchen between Akane and Mem in one corner and Aqua and Kana in the other. Both groups had known of this way beforehand so that they had a chance to select a tactic or rather a recipe, that would suit them best and in the latter case one that they could actually handle.

Initially, when they had been told about this, Kana looked like she was more than a little excited about the whole thing. Her enthusiasm had slowed down a little though when they both realized that cooking wasn't exactly their strong suit.

After living alone for a solid 10-plus years at the end of his first life, he had a reasonable amount of experience in the field of course, but it was more of the instant noodle type. He had been a medical student and later a young doctor after all. He didn't have time for cooking. The quicker the food the better. In his current life, Miyako had done most of the cooking for him and Ruby. They had helped wherever they could but apparently not enough to really learn more than the fundamental basics.

Since she was pretty much living alone for a couple of years now at this point, Kana knew how to cook as well. She even knew a tiny bit more than he did, because her experience was much more recent. That said, there was a clear reason for why she preferred to eat out almost every day and it wasn't just the fact that she had enough money to afford that sort of lifestyle.

Neither of them would starve when on their own, but compared to who they were up against, it looked to be no contest.

Akane was nothing short of brilliant in the kitchen. He already knew that firsthand for quite a while now. She had helped her mother countless times and had learned almost everything from the woman. Mem was very much capable as well as it turned out, seeing as she had to look after her younger siblings for the majority of her youth, which included a solid dose of healthy cooking.

So, the odds were stacked against team Aquana before they even stepped foot into the kitchen. Whoever made the decision to let these two teams face each other really didn't have equality on his mind.

Kana had been looking forward to it nonetheless. She had teased him about wanting to taste whatever he would be able to put on the table so much it had driven him insane. He had tried to return the favor, but she just shrugged everything off with a laugh and another clever retort. When that girl was in a good mood, she was pretty much untouchable. But, as long as she was having fun with the whole thing, he wasn't going to complain too much.

Right now, however, she wasn't looking like she enjoyed herself even a tiny bit.

Her expression seemed oddly emotionless since the second they went up on stage and she wasn't talking very much. She just did what they had come up with in their preparations like a robot and tried to avoid him as much as possible while doing so.

However, every time the special moderator for the game asked her something, her whole demeanor changed in a heartbeat and she reverted back to her usual self. Which made the reason for her untypical behavior all the more obvious to him.

It was unusual for Aqua to be the one trying to kickstart some sort of conversation with… well, anyone really, but under these circumstances, he had to try it more times in an hour than he normally did in a full month.

"How is the chicken doing Kana? Ready to put it in the oven?"

"Yes."

"…"

"Could you pass me the filet knife? I think we need to cut the vegetables a little smaller, don't you agree?"

"Yes."

"…"

"I think the rice should be pretty much done, mind if I take a look at it?"

"Go ahead."

He switched off his microphone for a second to try something.

"You look extremely cute in that apron of yours. Has anybody told you that?"

"Than- I mean what?!" Ah. Finally a reaction. A typical Kana one at that.

It lasted only a couple of seconds though before the former emotionless expression returned to her face.

"Thanks. You too." He most certainly wasn't wearing an apron.

Okay, so by the looks of it, she was actively trying to suppress any emotion, and the reason for it had to be him. Why though? Was she angry, because of what had happened at the two-million-dollar benchmark?

Well, he wouldn't blame her for it. He was angry with himself. And at least a little with Akane as well.

Sure he had given her the go-ahead a couple of days ago already, but she had never used that character in such an aggressive and personal manner before. It was hard for him to deal with to put it mildly. When she had jumped in his arms and kissed him on that stage, he had nearly collapsed on the spot.

The rational side of him understood why she did it, but that didn't really make it any better. Especially since he suspected that he wasn't the only one to be affected by her behavior.

Anyways, if Kana was actually angry with him, he would much prefer to have her yell at him, telling him what a jerk he is and how he should better himself like she usually did. That wouldn't look good on stream, but everything was better than this non-reaction to everything he tried.

She hadn't behaved like that when she had been with that F1 guy only minutes earlier.

Sure she had looked a little aggressive there as well, but otherwise, she had been her normal self.

And the way she had smiled at Dave in the end…

That did leave a sour taste in his mouth.

It was the complete opposite of the emotionless expression that was currently plastered on her face.

…He couldn't help but wonder if, in a way, he was tasting his own medicine at the moment.

Regardless, he wasn't going to stand for it. Not with Kana.

He knew how he could normally get reactions out of her and he was going to use every possible trick that was available to him if need be.

Plan A: Whenever possible, he was seeking out skin contact.

She was grabbing a fork? Funny, he had wanted to use that exact thing as well.

She was looking at the progression of the food in the oven? He would lean over her shoulder and inspect it intensely as well. They were a team after all.

She was trying to take a plate out of the kitchen cabinet that was hanging on their left side? He made sure to stand closely behind her and assist her in it, like the gentleman he was.

Plan B: Compliment her as much as possible. She likes that.

"I´m impressed Kana. I thought you told me that you don't cook too often nowadays, but you seem to know much more than I do."

…Nothing.

"If your cooking skills are as great as your acting skills, I think we already have that one in the bank."

Only a small twitch in her eyes.

Okay, it was time for the big guns apparently.

"You will make a great wife someday. That much is certain."

She dropped a plate after that one, which he had to clean up.

Slowly, his admittedly not very elaborate tactic started to get results, he believed. Although not truly the kind he was aiming for.

Yes, she was getting more nervous by the minute and yes the blush on her cheek became increasingly obvious the more he complimented her on the most mundane of accomplishments, but regardless of what he tried, she didn't change her overall behavior.

At one point, she even elbowed him in the stomach slightly when the camera wasn't looking.

This was getting increasingly frustrating.

She couldn't be that mad could she? It´s not like he had tried to kiss Akane this time!

… not really the best kind of defense considering his past actions.

Be that as it may, he was once currently making a damn fool out of himself solely to get her attention just like he did at almost all of B-Komachi´s concerts, but this time she didn't look interested in it at all.

He was trying to apologize here damn it! Did he really need to spill it out for her?

Fortunately, endurance was one of his most well-established qualities and he was equally willing and able to see this through to the end.

He was not going to lose this battle.

Little did he know that Kana was dying a thousand different deaths inside at this very moment.

She had indeed been very much looking forward to this particular game. However, Aquas actions from before with Akane had made it near impossible for her. And even if she wanted to, the cursed thing on her wrist prevented her from enjoying it as much as she possibly could.

If she would simply let herself go, she was a hundred percent sure that her heart rate would go through the roof at the smallest of interactions with her partner, resulting in the chat going nuts again and trying to guess a reason for it.

It didn't help that every time she looked at him more intensely she got flashbacks of his stupid handsome face leaning in close to her own, while his terrifyingly blue eyes were beginning to slowly shut, very much expecting her to meet him halfway.

She wanted to scream.

The need to refocus was urgent. She had to keep reminding herself that she was still very much mad at him for acting like a playboy once more.

The plan! She needed to stick to the plan. The reverse Aqua! It was her only hope.

Of course, she hadn't accounted for the fact that the man himself was apparently one-upping her and doing a reverse Kana or something!

Imagine her inner turmoil when she realized that Aqua chose now out of all the possible moments to drive her insane as it seemed.

Why in god's name was he so talkative all of a sudden? Why did he stand so close to her when he didn't have to and why was he being so uncharacteristically nice?! Had he figured her out? Was he trying to make her snap? If so he was extremely close to succeeding at this point!

…And did he actually tell her that she was going to make a great wife someday?! Who the hell was this guy?!

She wanted to be furious at him and get revenge for what had happened earlier, but he didn't even give her a chance!

Luckily for her, their dish was as good as ready. This was fan-freaking-tastic because if this situation continued for much longer she would literally fall apart like a puzzle in the wind.

Three judges were there to taste the food and determine a winner. The first was Ruby because of course she was. The girl had been Kana´s shadow for pretty much the whole event, even though she didn't really know why. The second one was a chef, known for posting easy-to-replicate recipes on Instagram, which she herself had even tried out before.

Last but certainly not least was a freshly showered Pieyon, very much hungry after his successfully completed marathon, but already on the verge of searching for his next challenge. There was currently a pole going on in the chat, trying to figure out what he should do next. Modern Pentathlon was in the lead for now last time she checked.

Akane and Mem had finished their cooking a couple of minutes before Aqua and her, and as they came over to check out their competition, Kana was thankfully (?!) free of the boy´s attempts to break through her defenses.

She had never been more grateful for Akane Kurokawa´s sheer existence than at that very moment. That feeling didn't last long however as she realized that her rival was still very much in character and her anger was threatening to boil over once again.

If she didn't know any better, Aqua actually looked a little disappointed because of it as well. Of course, you wouldn't be able to identify that easily, since he was still Aqua and he was a master of not letting any true emotion show on his face, but she believed to know him better than this.

"That looks good! So you decided to go with the healthy variant of your meal right? How very clever of you!" Mem had casually laid an arm around her shoulder.

"Yes." Oh, she was still in her stoic mode. "I mean that´s right! Easy enough to do and tasty for everybody. Especially athletes." She said with a smirk.

That was their one and only chance at a W in this game. Pieyon had to vote for the healthiest meal and then it was a 50/50 chance! That had been the plan.

In the end, it wasn't enough.

Pieyon had actually voted for them, and eaten their dish in its entirety afterward, but the chef as well as Ruby chose Akane and Mem´s meal. With good reason of course! It tasted fantastic!

That however meant that Kana would once again be subject to some sort of punishment and after her last one had been low-key horrible for her, she really didn't want to find out what else the diabolical mastermind of the adorable sixteen-year-old, who officially was supposed to be her closest ally, could come up with next.

At this point, everybody knew that whenever the young idol was involved, there would be no random choice of punishment.

The chat was on her side and the chat was power.

"Well, well, well. You two again, huh? It makes sense. Neither of you is weak enough to falter after only one punishment, so of course you would both seek out another! Oh, how I envy your sense of competition!"

"Get to the point before I feel tempted enough to show the audience the video of your earliest vocal training… I´m sure they would be interested in that after you pretty much butchered 'Lose Yourself' only a couple of minutes ago…"

While Ruby was trying to appear like the threat didn't affect her, Mem secretly giggled in the background, whispering something to Akane who then laughed as well.

"No such video exists dear viewers! But I will get to the point anyway… Zip it Mem! We are in the same boat here!" Angry Ruby was hilarious sometimes. "Aaany who, seeing as the two of you lost together, I think it´s only fair that you should be punished together! Thankfully we have the perfect game for that! That´s coming up right after Pieyon´s hurdle race, which is next! Stay tuned!"

After a moment, the cameraman again gave a sign that they were off the air for the time being and Ruby exhaled deeply.

"I didn't rap that bad now did I?"

The silence that surrounded her after the question was answer enough.

"You have other qualities." Of course. Big brother to the rescue. "Maybe you should have been the moderator instead of me. You got the chat as well as each and every one of us in the palm of your hands as it seems." It was rare that Aqua was publicly complimenting his sister, but there was no way anybody could deny what he just said.

"Thanks! But you are doing a great job too and I think it's far less stressful for me if I only pop up once in a while."

"Come in. Dish out punishments left and right. Then leave. Yeah, that really doesn't sound stressful at all. It sounds like paradise." Mem was uncharacteristically blunt towards Ruby today she noticed.

"What should I say? I just don't lose… in nothing!" Both her teammates were staring at each other again. That happened far too regularly at the moment.

"Yeah... except for Singstar, am I right?"

Without really thinking about it too much, Kana stepped back a little from the two and leaned over to the closest person to her, which she expected to be Aqua, but just so happened to be Akane at the moment.

"Is it just me or are these two competing with each other about something?"

With the spectacle right before her eyes, Akane didn't seem to notice who she was talking with either, as she just calmly replied. "No. It´s definitely not just you. It´s weird. They are so similar in so many aspects, you would think it would be easy for them to find common ground."

Kana absentmindedly nodded. "True. They normally aren't like that though. I bet the reason is something trivial. Why can´t people just get along I wonder?"

Akane joined in the nodding and crossed her arms as well. "Exactly."

Neither of them looked at the other as Mem and Ruby continued to throw verbal jabs at the other, before finally deciding to pull them apart. Only then did they realize who they had been talking to and immediately headed for different directions with a huff.

Aqua, who had been standing behind them both during their small conversation, couldn't stop shaking his head for the next couple of minutes.

What he needed right now was a mind map to keep track of who was mad at whom at the moment and who was still cool with each other.

Then again, these things changed so quickly today, he wasn't even sure if that would help him for very long.