"Ouch." Ryosuke looked at his wound, he didn't acknowledge how much she hurt him physically. The pain surged through his leg, but with his body and mind tired, he couldn't properly process the environment of the hospital bed.

"Ryosuke, right?" The interrogator questioned him.

"Yeah."

"Do you mind if we ask you several questions about what happened?"

"-kay…" Ryosuke's mind was definitely somewhere else, his eyes darted around the room.

—

Over a few rooms across the hospital complex, Ai is waiting to get treatment for her own injuries. The struggles from the incident caused her face and hands to bruise a little, unfit for the dome practice later.

Ai looked at her hospital queue number, disappointment washed over her when she realised she had to wait several more minutes before the doctor could admit her in. Sighing, she whispered the names of her two children, two only two people she cared about the most at this time. At the time, those were the only people she seemed to care about.

Her demeanour was slightly dishevelled, her hair was messy and slightly red from the stains of dried up blood. Her disguise was hap-hazardly placed on, making her look more like a homeless woman.

She looked at the hospital mirrors nearby, her face became red due to the embarrassment she received from looking at herself. Ai's mouth silently ran the words of her children again in an attempt to comfort herself.

"Who is she?" A small child in a blue shirt asked her mother, he was curious on why this mentally unstable and unkempt woman was doing here. The mother of the child simply looked at Ai with a smile of embarrassment for having her child make such rude commentary.

"Sorry… He's 5."

"It's okay~" Ai tried her best to comfort the mother and child with her smile. It didn't work.

Ai quickly receded her smile, seeing that it made them even more uneasy. Ai puts her fingers on each end of her mouth, trying to push it upwards. However, her mouth kept falling down to the neutral position.

—

Aqua and Ruby, being victims and witnesses of the crimes as well, were placed in a separate hospital waiting room. It was illuminated dimly by the outside morning light.

"Aqua… Ai, seems off!" Ruby blurted, breaking the silence that lasted ever since they entered the room.

"What makes you think that?"

"Don't you think the same? She's completely different from what we saw!"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that, but everyone treats trauma differently! She's very mysterious now I get it, but like… I am not surprised."

"?"

"I am just saying, her smile, her actions as an idol, all of them were lies. You heard what she said right?"

"True…"

"You even interrupted her. Incredibly she didn't die because of you…" Aqua's face scrunched up.

"Sorry, but… It's just that, she seems off, that's all."

The room fell silent again, just a little more awkward because of the banter. Both felt the tense and thick air. Again, the silence was interrupted.

"I think we should forget about this moment." Aqua tilted his head forward, placing his hands to support it.

"I agree…"

"I don't want to look at Ai with that feeling again," Aqua glanced over to his left, where Ruby sat.

"Ah! I just want to go back! This is complicated! I don't like it!" Ruby ranted out her feelings, clawing at her hair.

"There, there… you can continue ranting… I too don't want to experience this for another second." Aqua placed his hands on her back, the blood had dried and been scrubbed off.

Aqua basked in the smell of the hospital, it reminded him of Sarina… The scrambling doctors, medication and beds strewn across the hallways. It helped him escape from his dire circumstances.

Now that he thought about it, Sarina's smile was definitely brighter than Ai's. Nothing was fluffed up or riddled with calculations. She was just a pure person, trying to get by life, not deterred by any negative circumstances that blocked her way.

Aqua wanted that mindset, he wanted what Sarina had in the hospital bed. Optimism.

—

During Ai's long and dragged out wait, she jolted, feeling her phone vibrate. Her embarrassing ringtone suddenly blasted across the room. She scrambled to accept the call.

"Ai! Where the hell are you?"

"Oh, Ichigo, I am at the…" Ai scrambles off her seat to see the hospital's name.

"I am… at… Tokyo's General Hospital!"

"..."

"Hello?"

"..." Ai thought to herself, why's he so quiet…

"Ai, please don't ever get into this trouble again…"

The call ended.

Ai went back to her seat, she needed to catch up on some rest and closed her eyes. She didn't think much of his comment.

—

"Darn! Why does Ai have to get into this kind of trouble…" Ichigo's voice had cracks in them and it made his head tilt downward.

"Their dome concert is tomorrow…" Miyako commented, her grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Don't remind me!" Ichigo flinged his arms in the air.

"When did you become so emotional?" Miyako's forehead grew a cross popping vein.

"Ugh, though, this situation is expected. Fans are extremely ruthless, especially those who think they deserve everything. Tch." Ichigo suddenly gained back his composure, slouching on the hard chair ignoring Miyako's condescending remark.

—

"Patient number: 4950, please enter room 8," the loudspeaker called for the next patient. Ai glanced at her number instinctively, and it clicked – the same number.

"Come in!" The doctor finally called for Ai.

The door suddenly opened, and the doctor caught a glimpse of what was soon to be his patient.

"N-name…?" He couldn't believe it. Was his eyesight deceiving him? Was this a dream come true? Her purple hair – it was really her!

"A-... Ai. Hoshino," Ai said, looking down, shadowing her face from the doctor's view.

"You know I won't be able to treat you if you hide your face like that," the doctor remarked. He couldn't hide his excitement; not in a million years would he have predicted his patient was a big idol.

"Eek!" he squealed under his mask, quietly. He saw her face, in its unmasked form, she looked like the Ai Hoshino he so admired on the screen.

"So- So… So… What brings you here today…?"

"I need treatment for these bruises and cuts," Ai pointed to her face and arms, revealing them. As she did so, she sat down and began to observe the doctor's office.

"Mhmm," the doctor began to input these symptoms into his database, his hands trembling with excitement. However, the professionalism in him controlled the lustful thoughts that surfaced.

"This is a nice office you have…" Ai stared at his table, where many figurines, images, posters, mugs, hats, and light sticks were themed after her. Ai's hands covered her face; she was embarrassed.

Ai's thoughts: Welp… this is embarrassing… He even has that plushie.

"Huh?" The doctor didn't acknowledge it.

The medical examination continued, with the doctor becoming less subtle about his obvious actions of affection.

"Wow… Your purple hair…" He whispered to himself, almost letting his finger touch it. Ai was on the examination table with her eyes open, feeling uncomfortable. Not a single moment lasted longer than this examination.

"So… What really happened?" the doctor asked, leaving the examination table and swinging his chair towards the computer again to record the results and tabulate the treatment.

"I'd rather not talk about that…"

"Oh! So… something bad?" At this point, the doctor was straight up teasing Ai, throwing professionalism out the window.

"I said, I'd rather not talk about it…" Ai grabbed her right hand with her left, her body stiffened, looking down.

Does he not have any self-control?

Ai took a moment to observe the room further. Among the glaring merchandise, she saw numerous certificates, awards, and letters from previous patients thanking him for treating their diseases and conditions.

Maybe… He's not that bad after all.

Her eyes darted around the room further, seeing many of the doctor's childhood pictures. His name appeared to be: Ryota Tanaka.

Ironic, his name is the complete opposite of how he acts…

Ryota glanced behind him, observing every characteristic of her body. He smirked, brainstorming an idea to keep her in his office.

Creepy.

Ai, a skilled deceiver, could easily tell when someone's being sly. She used this ability on her children before and was aware of their extreme maturity. In this situation, the doctor was not doing a very good job at lying.

His actions, his demeanour, every lie he said, reminded Ai of her own. She, a gifted individual, took advantage of her audience, lying for her own selfish benefit to learn to love. Her greed for a family would leave her fans empty, the same or even worse than before.

Her thoughts began to wander. What else has she done selfishly…

"Please… Ai…" Ryosuke's words echoed within her. She would do anything for her kids.

Ai's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Ryota's suggestion.

"Hmm… Seems like we need to do some further examinations. It shouldn't take too long; I am just concerned that you might have suffered an infection through those wounds. So if you wouldn't mind, could you lay on the examination table for a while?"

Ai was not having that.

"Doctor… I don't feel sick, nor do I have any other complications than these wounds… I think you're overreacting." Ai definitely wanted to run out of the room at this very instant. However, the doctor had done nothing but give her examinations and had not given her medication.

"Oh, shi-" His whispered words slipped out of his mouth, and he looked caught red-handed. So much for professionalism.

"Knock Knock."

"C-come in."

"Ai!" Ichigo rushed in, with Miyako following behind him.

"Ichigo!" Ai's hands outstretched; she really needed someone to watch over her, or else people with higher authority would take advantage of her again.

The doctor panicked. All those thoughts about using Ai were suddenly shot down by her guardians entering the room.

—

"Wow… Okay, I'll be sure to let the department know about the whole situation." The officer looked to his other colleagues, this story was one to behold.

Ryosuke looked dejected, he told the officers everything. Every detail down to what he said.

"However, since you admitted to intrusion of privacy, trespassing on private property, attempted murder, assault, battery, destruction of private property, abuse of private property… and so… much more.-"

"-You will have to come with us once you're admitted out of the hospital" The female officer looked at him with slight disdain.

"You're also not obligated to a lawyer, you told us everything."

Ryosuke placed his palms on his face, he shouldn't have done that. However, he really needed something to confess to, or else he would die internally from that.

"Welp, it sucks to be an idol I guess." An officer poked fun at the female officer. Teasing her previous ambitions.

"Shut up"

—

The doctor, Ryota, hesitantly gave Ai her medication as well as bandages for her wounds. He tried to savour every moment internally, soaking up the smell of her skin when wrapping the wounds. It was off-putting.

Ai looked at him with disdain. No matter how many awards he had hanging on his walls, no matter how many lives he had saved, his world-view was broken, caring only about himself. She detected his selfish behaviour, hidden beneath social obligations and professionalism. Once those two were gone, he revealed his true nature, a sick person at his core.

And just like that, she was discharged from the office.

"Finally~~!" Ai exclaimed as she stepped out of the office.

Miyako and Ichigo looked at her with confusion.

"May I ask? What happened there? I saw your face when I rushed in. Did something happen?"

Ai didn't want to bother them. She believed she could handle these situations herself; after all, she had been trained for such occasions from the beginning of her career.

Miyako whispered to Ichigo, "I don't think you should bother her..."

Ichigo retorted, "I am her legal guardian and group owner. She needs to be open with me."

"Tch."

"Ichigo, we can talk when I see my Aqua and Ruby. Where are they being held?"

"See?" Ichigo side-eyed Miyako teasingly.

—

"!" Ai squealed at the sight of her children sleeping with their heads leaning on each other on the empty holding room bench.

Quickly, Ai squeezed herself between her children, her longing evident in her touch. Aqua stirred from his sleep, seeing his mother made him smile. Despite her intimidating demeanour, he cherished every moment with her.

Unbeknownst to him, Aqua still harboured that same cold feeling within him. His display of affection worried Ai. She feared that he might be feigning his emotions, and she wondered why.

Then, it struck her. Her introspective thoughts during the doctor's examinations resurfaced, haunting her mind.

Ai clung to her children tighter. She didn't want to be selfish. Everything she did was for her children's sake… wasn't it?

"Ryosuke," Ai whispered.

"What about him?" Aqua inquired, curious about why she had started thinking about him just now.

The only response Aqua received was the sight of Ai's teary eyes and her face contorted in an attempt to hold back her emotions.

"Aqua… do you think… I love you?" Ai's voice trembled, her breaths shaky.

"I… Don't know."

—

"Sigh… I blew it, I wasted that chance. What actually happened to her? Ai… She had bruises and cuts…" Ryota sat back on his chair, leaned onto the headrest and started racking his brain for the conclusion he so desperately wanted from Hoshino.

"Oh! I get it now, she probably got assaulted from one of her fans… Ryosuke? I saw him surrounded by police when he came into the hospital." A grin formed wide on his face, he figured it out, he wasn't a wunderkind for nothing.

—

"Wait, what!? Hoshino Ai had children!?" The department manager for media in the police station was absolutely bewildered by the comment from her colleagues.

"Oh my god, that's insane… She even got assaulted for that, right? Damn…" She leaned back in her chair and stared at her monitor.

Should I post this? Her screen flashed with the Police Department's social media account in view, and the police report placed right before her.

Her mind raced; she could really get a reaction from this news, and it would go absolutely viral… However, something just didn't let her do such a thing. Her conscience didn't allow her to post it.

However, Ryota would let these kinds of things happen in a heartbeat. His post laced with rumours and derived information was caught on the sea of the internet incredibly fast.

Soon, within 1 hour, the post had reached the news.

The news about Ai's assault and her connection to Ryosuke quickly spread like wildfire across social media platforms and news outlets. Fans, concerned citizens, and curious onlookers engaged in a whirlwind of discussions online. The story, filled with rumours and half-truths, took a life of its own, capturing the public's attention.

In the midst of the chaos, there were those who were genuinely worried about Ai and hoped for her well-being. Others, however, seized the opportunity to speculate and gossip, adding their own twists to the already convoluted tale. As the story continued to spread, Ai's reputation hung in the balance, caught between genuine concern and sensationalised fiction.

Amidst all this, the empathetic police officer, Yumiko, closely followed the developments. Her caring nature and dedication to her job compelled her to ensure that the truth prevailed, and that Ai and her family received the support and protection they deserved.

As the news story unfolded, the real challenge lay ahead: separating fact from fiction and protecting Ai's dignity amidst the storm of speculation.