Light of Hope

by JKrlin

The soul of Orel Puppington finds itself experiencing life again as the youngest of Ai Hoshino's three children, Cobalt Hoshino. He lacks most tangible recollections of his first life but still finds his fair share of drama, laughter, misunderstandings, and adventures with his new family.

14. Special Chapter 1: Blooming Blues

The Dealer

Ichigo had his arms folded as he looked between Ruby, brooding with a surly frown, and Sergeant Junpei Asanuma, his hat tipped forward to partially hide his awkward wince, beside her.

"Run this by me one more time," Ichigo requested.

The police officer who the Hoshino family had gotten to know fairly well over the years obliged. "One of the newer officer transfers noticed Ruby stalking–"

"I wasn't stalking!"

"Allegedly stalking someone through the mall. Hiding around support columns, kneeling behind plants, reading a magazine upside down; the works. He brought her to the precinct, and I called you."

Ichigo nodded thoughtfully. "Thanks for the heads-up, Junpei." Picturing the rest of the year's calendar in his head, he penciled time for the officer and his wife to get VIP seating for the stage play an actor on Strawberry's payroll was going to star in.

Ruby getting apprehended by the police had certainly been a surprise. He hadn't been phased when Junpei had rung his phone, expecting to hear about Cobalt in the middle of another mess. The kid had been more withdrawn in the days after his first break-up, so Ichigo had taken it as a calm before the next storm. Ruby striking some of the thunder for the storm wasn't totally unexpected, but an accusation of stalking had been otherwise inconceivable to Ichigo given her intimate knowledge of pop idols and celebrity life in general.

Puberty for Ai's children appeared to be the prime time for all of Ichigo's expectations and predictions for the runts to be proven wrong. Cobalt's first girlfriend initiated a break-up, Ruby was apparently stalking someone… If Aqua turned out to be secretly using his genius to conduct organized crime on the side, or some other complex, illicit deed befitting the intelligence of a child prodigy like him, then Ichigo was sure he'd have an aneurysm.

"Officer Asanuma's got it all wrong!" Ruby countered. They were in a private room at the police station, so at least there wasn't an intrusive audience for this. "I was only making sure Cobie was safe!"

Alright, Ruby following Cobalt made this a little less disturbing. Ichigo was going to take what he could get.

"By secretly following him going about his day without his knowledge or consent," Junpei added pointedly.

"You know about the app we use to keep track of him! Cobie knows about it, too. That's permission enough!"

Ichigo cut in before Ruby made herself look even worse. The understanding between Junpei and Ichigo to give preferential treatment to the Hoshinos required more tact and respect than this to keep the exchange of favors going without regrets. "I'll take her home and give Cobalt a call. We'll make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

Ruby's fierce defensiveness fell through to give way for the begging, desperate puppy-dog-eyes vying for pity and sympathy. "You don't get it, Ichigo! You know how she-who-will-not-be-named destroyed Cobie!"

For Junpei's benefit, Ichigo clarified, "Cobalt's first girlfriend."

A snarling noise escaped Ruby's mouth. "Cobalt tried to be honest with her and it didn't work out. Now he's trying to compensate by going too far in the other direction." She took out her cell phone. A few swipes later, she was holding the screen up toward Ichigo's face. "Just look at him! He looks like a young Sensei if he was in high school!"

The brightness was too high for his weak eyes, so he took the phone and readjusted his tinted glasses. "What sensei?" he asked as he changed the settings.

"N-Nevermind. Just look!"

… This was just a photo of Ichigo's nephew, Akira Saitou.

His slightly unkempt hair could use a trim. He was wearing the boring black T-shirt Cobalt had gotten him for his birthday. A vague look of disinterest sat on Akira's face, glancing through his eye glasses at something out of the frame.

The divorce with Miyako and Ichigo's sabbatical from work had allowed him to reconnect with family he had formerly been distant with. Once things between him and Miyako had adequately cooled, Ichigo had begun periodically bringing his nephew to Tokyo for short breaks from his constant workaholic studying. Though never as close to any of Ai's children as the kids were to each other, Cobalt had of course easily accepted Akira as another member of the family. Cobalt still sent him postcards he collected during vacations or when he tagged along with Ai or Aqua for a filming session on-location outside of Tokyo.

Ichigo squinted at the headshot of Akira, beginning to notice inconsistencies. Relative to the tree beside him, Akira actually looked shorter than he was supposed to be. The color of his eyes were also off, just a shade different. The muscles in his arms looked somehow smaller yet slightly more defined than the esteemed member of the after school go-home club president Ichigo knew.

The most defining tell that Ichigo wasn't staring at his nephew came to him last. Ichigo wanted to slap himself for not noticing it sooner.

This was Cobalt wearing a wig, colored eye contacts, and a fake pair of glasses to look like Akira Saitou. Aside from his height and body structure, the only other thing he didn't try hiding was his facial scar.

"Overcompensating in the other direction, huh?" Ichigo repeated quietly. Meeting Ruby's gaze, he was met by a determination reminiscent of Miyako when she took on the role of President for Strawberry Productions.

Ruby wasn't going to let this go. Nothing Ichigo would say was going to make her agreeable to keeping her nose out of Cobalt's business when the business was convincingly disguising himself as their cousin.

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't interested in getting to the bottom of this mystery, too.

"You were stalking Cobalt at the mall?" Ichigo prompted as he navigated on Ruby's phone to the tracking app.

"Stop calling it that!"

He ignored Ruby's indignant objection. "Junpei, tag along with us." His presence should make their little investigation entourage a little less suspicious to outside observers compared to Ruby's over-the-top sleuthing.

The officer coughed into his fist. "Uh, I still have a report to write up…"

Ichigo played the extra card Junpei was obviously fishing for. "I'll see about getting you and your wife reservations at the restaurant Ai treated you both to last year."

And so Ichigo, Ruby, and Junpei later found themselves huddled in a row behind a bundle of bushes by the outdoor area of a cafe.

People who noticed them were indeed giving them weird looks, but they weren't questioning any of them. It was on the outskirts of the jurisdiction of Junpei's precinct, and thus at the edge of the primary Tokyo neighborhood where Cobalt had spent most of his life ingratiating himself to the locals. Weird looks at the odd scene was the stock reaction from most of these people before they moved on with their day.

The folks seated in the cafe's dining area were unaware of the three onlookers, however, the trio sufficiently hidden from their view. Cobalt was among the ignorant cafe patrons. Ichigo took in his shockingly accurate facsimile of Akira before appraising what appeared to be his new girlfriend: a teenager with a hair band placed over her black locks, her red eyes following the way the petals of the blue rose held by its thornless stem in her hand wavered in the breeze.

If Cobalt taking on Akira's visage had thrown Ichigo for a loop, recognizing the boy's girlfriend only made things even more bizarre; her name was Mana Kawana, the little sister of Akira's girlfriend.

Ichigo was more familiar with the elder Kawana sister, Subaru. She had an oddly striking resemblance to Ai, and even attracted the eyes of many people for her young beauty. Her personality was less so like Ai, however. Not much of a charming and cute idol, and more a reserved and disciplined lady.

Or rather, that had been the impression Ichigo had gotten from the girl until he accidentally walked in on her and his nephew in a compromising, intimate position… in a public restroom of all places… but so long as they were otherwise safe and respectful with each other, it wasn't any of Ichigio's business.

He's only met Subaru's younger sister a handful of times. Mana Kawana was polite enough, but Ichigo could tell there was a sliver of lingering tension between her and Akira. That single fact made it all the more perplexing how she was apparently having a secret rendezvous with little Cobie dressed up as him.

"I think we should end things between us," Mana said to Cobalt. He gave her one of his more restrained smiles. Bittersweet was the closest Ichigo could describe it.

"Because you're transferring to a boarding school?" His voice sounded like Akira's, too. Not an exact match, but Ichigo could see himself being fooled if they were talking over the phone.

"That's part of it, but mainly because…" Mana took a deep breath. "I think I know how I feel about men now."

Cobalt's true self broke through his disguise. "So you actually don't hate men!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah." Mana laughed to herself, sipping her drink. "Thanks for helping me realize that one simple fact." Cobalt joined in the snickering.

Ichigo could feel Junpei's eyes on him. "Why are we watching this?"

In a harsh whisper, Ruby answered. "We need to make sure Cobie isn't heartbroken again! If he is, then we need to…" Her confidence diluted, realizing that she was talking to an officer of the law.

"Uh, I suppose it's nice you're looking out for Cobie, but–"

"I'm not a stalker!"

Ichigo hushed them both. The laughter had died down and Cobalt was saying something else.

"… Or is it that you know for sure you can't see me as Akira?" he asked, again looking and sounding sorrowful, but more like how Cobalt would act rather than Akira. "So you don't want to spend any more time with me like this."

Mana urgently shook her head at the accusation. "No, never think you should be like Akira in any context beyond the terms for our contract! He wishes he could be as charming and smart as you!"

"But he's my cousin, so I do think about him every now and then. And he has a loving girlfriend who he mutually loves with no strings attached, so he must be doing something right that I'm not."

Ruby hissed, "So Mana's another liar with ulterior motives. Not seeking out true love. Needing a contract for their relationship…"

The Kawana family was supposed to be big business people, with influential hands in high places. It made sense for that language and mentality to trickle down to their youngest. Ichigo held back on explaining this to Ruby right this second, however. He was more interested in hearing this conversation play out.

"I know I talk down about Akira a lot," Mana said, "but I can't deny his determination. No matter how illogical and boring he is, his kindness must have also enamored my sister, and his… well… his skills in… you know…"

Cobalt gave her his best sympathetic smile, his next response certainly shocking enough to have made Ichigo spit out his drink if he was drinking one. "I don't want to have sex with you, Mana."

Ruby wasn't as composed. She had been gritting her teeth and couldn't stop herself from impulsively biting her tongue. She had to lean lower down and take a moment to recover from the sharp pain she had inflicted on herself. Ichigo rubbed her back to show his support.

"I know that!" Mana declared with a flushed face. "Neither do I! Stop bringing it up!

"You keep bringing it up, though."

"Well… who else am I going to talk about this stuff with?"

"Hmm, if you can't talk about it to Akira, then your sister Subaru, who seems to know a lot about it, could–"

"Nevermind!"

Junpei coughed uncomfortably. "I don't think we should be–" Ichigo hushed him again. He was treading the line, but Junpei thankfully remained silent.

Mana sighed as she swirled her straw around her drink. Cobalt pushed his glasses up his nose, most likely to intentionally brighten the glare and cause his eyes to be hidden under the light. Ichigo, when he wore non-shaded glasses, did that sometimes and had caught Cobalt copying him when he was younger with Ichigo's older pairs. The motion now brought out a small smile in Mana, which he returned tenfold.

"Listen," Mana continued once her composure was restored. "I couldn't understand why Subaru loved Akira. I emulated her hatred of men when she never actually hated them in the first place. She was just… repressing her obscene side. I can accept her love for Akira as real, but I didn't want to just keep copying my sister. I needed to see if the way I looked at him, and you, and other boys, was just me still telling lies to myself or what I was genuinely feeling.

"When I think about Akira, I still feel…"

"Resentment," Cobalt guessed, on point.

"Yeah… but Akira is just a boring boy, not a bad person. He's not worth hating. If he can somehow become half the man you are, then I think I can start to respect him more. Thank you for helping me accept this."

Cobalt nodded approvingly. "I'm happy you don't actually hate me or him, or any boy you haven't met yet just because they're a boy."

"… I'm grateful for all your help. I'm sorry I couldn't help you with your issues."

"That's okay. I never thought my acting as Akira would have ever been as good as my acting for my other relatives, and I never expected for either of us to fall in love with each other under false pretenses. Like you said before, we have to adhere to the terms of our agreed upon contract."

Mana took in the scent of the blue rose again. "You're still disappointed anyway."

Cobalt reached forward and held Mana's hand. "I'm still happy for you. You understand yourself, and I understand myself a little better, too."

They gently squeezed before releasing each other.

It looked like Cobalt had matured plenty after the disaster of his first girlfriend. Ichigo had struggled with trying to comfort him on that night the kid broke down in tears for the first time ever. The old tricks and phrases of cheering him up hadn't worked. Cobalt only broke a smile the next morning, after Ai had run out on her job to be with him and Aqua had served up his favorite pancake recipe.

Ichigo never really understood Cobie in the same way the talent manager in him was able to understand the boy's genius siblings. Guiding and teaching the future renowned actor and idol successor were simple matters compared to the innocent, unintentional troublemaker. It was partly Ichigo's fault for not seeking out Cobalt's company more often, but Ai's youngest had always naturally gravitated to the other members of his family. Even when Ichigo's work schedule changed with the divorce and Cobalt began his own career in entertainment as Elemental Orel, the likes of Miyako, Shin, and even Ruby played larger parts in cultivating Cobie's talent. Ichigo still felt too much like a distant babysitter rather than a real father figure to Cobalt.

But from what Ichigo has seen today, Cobalt was still learning the lessons he needed to grow as a compassionate, sensible, bright young man. Between everyone's efforts in the Hoshino/Saitou families, Cobalt wasn't lacking in role models to keep him steady.

Though Ruby could use a sterner hand in her eagerness to watch over Cobalt. Ichigo will have to bring it up with Ai later.

Setting down the flower and stretching out her arms above her head, Mana adopted a sheepish look and said, "Well, it's probably better that we cut things off anyway. At the rate my Subaru and Akira are going at it, they'll be married before they even finish high school. We don't need to overcomplicate matters with the two of us dating."

Cobalt leaned back and stared blankly at the sky. "I've been wondering; if they married, would that make us cousins?"

Mana chuckled. "I'm not sure precisely how the family tree branches out. Akira is your grandpa's nephew, right?"

"Yeah, but grandpa Ichigio isn't my real grandpa."

The man felt a blade inch his way into his heart, but it evaporated as Cobie explained himself.

"In the same way aunt Miyako isn't my real aunt. Oh, real as in blood-related, I mean. I think on paper, since aunt Miyako took on Hoshino as her new last name, she would technically be my grandma as my mom's mom, but she doesn't like me calling her that."

Suddenly, Mana was looking at Cobalt with renewed interest. "So you aren't actually related to Akira?"

Cobalt nodded an affirmative. "I still consider him family regardless."

Mana reached forward over the small table. She removed Cobalt's glasses and pulled off his wig.

Now Ichigo was starting to feel like a creep. While Ruby was practically frothing at the mouth in pure anger, her uninhibited disdain for Mana on full display, Ichigo exchanged looks with Junpei and silently agreed to make their collective exit.

"Is your brother seeing anyone?" Mana asked Cobalt, causing Ichigo to freeze on the spot.

"Oh!" Cobalt's eyes sparkled like diamonds. "You want Aqua to fall in love with you? I can definitely help with that! At least one of us can find true love!"

It took both Junpei and Ichigo to hold Ruby back from jumping over the bush and covering the distance to maul Mana. Though still a young and in a frenzied state, she was conscious enough of her own limbs and the human body to know where to kick and shove her elbows to make it a struggle to hold her back. They were causing a noisy scene now, cafe patrons and nearby passersby all staring at them and shying away. Mana recoiled in surprise when she saw Ichigo. Cobalt titled his head but looked more amused than anything.

He pushed his glances up his face again and smirked. Not smiled. Smirked, the normally rambunctious bleeding heart carrying himself like a cheeky brat. Did he know they were there all along? Or did he just find Ruby's own antics amusing?

Aqua and Shin were rubbing off on him a little too much in the wrong direction.

---

The Mentor

Miyako gave a light smile at her partner's drink. "You sure you don't want coffee?" She carefully shook her cup, letting the comforting steam billow upward across her face, before raising it to her lips and taking a soft sip. "I don't mind sharing."

"Eh, I had to quit the caffeine. Was doing me more harm than good. Milk's more my speed nowadays." He drank from his own bottle, using his other hand holding a dull knife to make some cuts in his scrambled eggs. "I've been getting good feedback."

"You mean your students have actually been paying attention to you for once."

A satisfied, toothy grin spread across his face. "It turned out stroking their egos did loads better in motivating them to get the work done rather than stroking mine or the school's. Who knew?"

"Appealing to teenagers' own self-interest? A masterful deduction." Miyako was joking, and Rev sitting on the other side of the booth laughed with her.

They were in a dimly lit diner, open at an ungodly hour in the morning for a niche but profitable clientele who wanted to enjoy a homely vibe over breakfast after a tiring last night and weren't able to find it at their own place. Miyako could have had a semblance of such an experience at her home with the kids there, but she'd be the one who'd have to brew them breakfast or feel guilty about letting Aqua do it. With the busy work day yesterday having exhausted her, Miyako had decided to instead spend the night and the next morning with Rev instead.

Ryo Kamiya was far from the kind of man the old Miyako Saitou would have considered spending time with beyond purely for business reasons, which would have likely been rare given that he was a high school teacher in a neighborhood far from where the triplets lived.

Miyako Hoshino, meanwhile, had found a kindred spirit to blow off steam with. Only time would tell if she and Rev, as he preferred to be called outside of work, ever became something more.

Rev's phone vibrated. He pulled it out and gave Miyako an apologetic look. "It's my daughter."

She took another sip from her drink. "Don't ignore her on my account." Other women in his life may have been less accommodating. Miyako wasn't as picky. She had to pause their outings sometimes to deal with calls or updates for work and the family, after all. Rev nodded thankfully and slid out of the booth to speak with his daughter privately.

Miyako closed her eyes as she drank a larger gulp of her warm coffee, letting the heat rumble and spread across her entire body. She exhaled a little loudly to express her fulfillment. Work was work, and her family still got into trouble and drama every other week, but Miyako could confidently say she was happy with her life.

A flurry of footsteps filled her ears as she opened her eyes. Miyako caught a glance of another woman passing by. Miyako didn't follow her, but she did hear the booth behind her be filled with one or two people.

"Eager for breakfast, huh?" Miyako heard the woman tease playfully. Whoever she was with hummed back.

The diner was mostly empty this morning. Miyako was too awake from her coffee to absently wait for Rev to finish his call, so she indulged herself and listened to the conversation proceed in the other booth.

After ordering their meals and being served, the woman – Miyako labeled her Gangan – said, "Let's do the roleplay roulette again!"

Miyako raised her eyebrow at the odd request. Within moments, the woman's companion replied back in a distinctively flat voice, "This again? Studying for the exam last night was its own journey. I'm not in the mood to tax myself even more for your own trivial amusement."

A pair of senior highschoolers, or young college students, on a date. The day before, Miyako had her contract negotiations, Rev had his paperwork, and these kids must have an upcoming exam they were slaving away studying for with an inconsistent sleep schedule to be up this early.

"Come on!" Gangan whined. "You know you love doing these little characters with me!"

"My mom already started paying you extra for the music lessons. Soliciting more compensation for me with a silly game is just bad form, and unappealing for someone as beautiful as you."

"Yet you're still playing along. You know you love this game, too."

Something changed in the boy's pitch. "I'll keep playing the game if you seduce my teachers and get me all the answers for the tests." Not quite flat anymore. More like speaking with one hundred percent confidence that his suggestion was completely rational and acceptable. Almost like how Ruby spoke sometimes before breaking character with a petty rant.

Gangan giggled. "That would make all our work last night a waste, wouldn't it?"

"But the exam is going to be hard!" Now the resemblance to Ruby's scathing spite was uncanny. "And there's still more subjects my party-pooper brother is going to want to make me study, too. It's all such a pain."

"Him and your guys' sister were actually very helpful in last night's study session."

"But I haven't been able to work on my channel in forever!"

Ah, a YouTuber. Business-savvy Ichigo might have continued listening to judge if this was untapped talent he could direct into Strawberry Productions. Miyako was content with their current capacity and only eavesdropped further for the fun of it.

Mister YouTuber continued his flurry of complaints. "My brain's just flooded with carry the one here, the war ended then, the powerhouse of the cell is that… What's even the point if I'm going to be a star in entertainment? I work hard enough in entertaining people. I can get street smart on-the-fly and hire other people to handle the boring things that might come up that are related to stupid school topics."

"Do you really want to forgo college and focus on YouTube and acting?" Gangan asked, not in concern for her partner but in intrigued curiosity.

The boy's voice changed again. This must be what Gangan had meant by roleplay roulette. "I know it's a risky career move," said a stern, assertive man. "A single accident, a single scandal, could end it in the blink of an eye. But I've already made a ton of progress in cultivating an audience and monetizing the channel. Collaboration requests from other YouTubers and talent agencies are coming in weekly now. I need to keep working at this when I'm still young, have the energy and stamina, and haven't burnt out yet."

"You know that mindset might be what ends up defeating you," Gangan warned, and God did Miyako know it. "Keep working, never stopping, and then you suddenly are burnt out and can't keep up the momentum anymore."

"I've already seen that happen, getting caught up in the work that other important parts of life get horribly neglected. It's a game in itself finding the right balance, and I know the game better than anyone else."

"You mean your grandpa and your mom know it best."

The next character shift was a different flavor of assertiveness. More low-key, not quite giving a sales pitch but still discreetly inviting onlookers to pay close attention. "And my aunt. Don't count her out yet," the boy said, meeting Gangan's lively energy halfway.

There was a short pause as the pair both chewed on their food. "You know," Gangan said next, "you should take on her role when you study and finally take your exams. You're smart in different ways from your brother, so copying him will just be faking it until you make it. You'll get an A in effort but an F in logically sound, applicably relevant free-form answers, I'm sure."

The boy hummed again. "But you have more faith in my aunt? I'm sure she'd be flattered. She works real hard, you know."

"Of course I do. You always say she's the smartest person you know after your bro… Hey! Who do you think you're texting at this hour?"

Gangan sounded almost frightened. The boy was dismissive of her worries. "Just sending some simple messages to greet a few folks when they wake up later," he said, which reminded Miyako to take out her own phone and double check if Ai had gone grocery shopping yesterday or if they'd have to do it today. "My aunt's not an obsessive workaholic or anything, but she gets results in a timely manner. If only mom could be as consistent as her."

"What do you mean?"

"Sure, mom still talks fast and sweet to get her way without any hard feelings from the people she effectively dupes, but it's still a nightmare on the management side when the other producers see her stringing their people along. It's a bother when they 'ask' compensation for their workers' own lack of resolve against her."

Miyako suppressed an irritated groan fighting to pour out of her by downing another gulp of coffee. Whoever Mister YouTuber was, his reflection on the things in his life reminded Miyako too much of her own struggles and woes she had hoped to temporarily escape by being with Rev, yet she couldn't stop listening.

"Sounds like your aunt can have it rough sometimes," Gangan said, "but I suppose that's what it takes to be the big boss of a major company like hers!"

"It's really a group effort, but her contributions are undeniable. I'm proud to call her family."

From the sounds of metal utensils clacking against plates, they were done with their meal. Rev was really taking a long time with his call, wasn't he? Miyako hoped everything was alright with his daughter.

"So with such a supportive family," Gangan went on, "you don't think you need to keep going to traditional schooling?"

The latest voice lost all of the grace of the previous characters. "I mean, what would even be the point?" He sounded like a teenager who thought he knew better than he actually did. "I've got another… older-brother-figure you don't know. He's a YouTuber, too. Even does the same type of videos I do, and… he's amazing." There was real admiration in that last comment.

"Really?"

"He isn't appreciated as much as he should be, but he's a star here in Japan and even out in the States. He's got the entertainment hustle locked down. School? Grades are passable, above average at best. Yet the things he's being taught in school hardly matter to his YouTube career. He can learn adult things separately online anyway, or from the contacts he's made through his channel, or from the rest of my family. The sky's the limit, so why stay on the mundane ground with the public education system?"

Miyako assumed by her silence that Gangan was taking a minute to consider her partner's words. "I can admire that adventurous ambition. I'm usually a go-with-the-flow kind of gal, doing what needs to be done just to get through the day. Throwing away the stability of school, college, and a regular nine-to-five job does sound viable for your situation, though. I only hope you'll remember me when you make it big and hook me up with some good perks as someone who knows a celebrity."

"... I could never forget you. In a lot of ways, you're just like… just like the idol I still dream about."

The boy certainly had it down bad for this girl. And Gangan knew it. Still carrying a perky disposition, she asked, "Which idol is that? I thought there were only two you kept close to your heart."

There was another gap of silence in the back-and-forth. Miyako took a quick glance around the diner and spotted Rev through a window, on the sidewalk still on his phone. When their eyes met, he sent her a falsely upbeat thumbs-up before turning away. Miyako was tempted to go to him and ask if things were okay, but she found herself drawn to the next role the boy behind her adopted.

"You're a damn good liar, Minagawa. It's a shame that you find it necessary to lie even to yourself."

He sounded much more calculating and harsh. And Gangan had a real name now. There was a smile behind Minagawa's response: "Hey now, getting a little presumptuous, are we? Don't change the subject."

"I've been around the block a couple times. You may be tired this morning, but every little thing you're doing still has intent. Leaning into questions about my studies and career aspirations was only a springboard. The roleplaying routine was always just an excuse to see how I reacted to your behavior today… You're being a tease. A trait characteristic of your true self, but used more as a tool than as a natural response to stimuli."

"Letting the cinematic director take a spin at the wheel, huh? Trying to use that persona to psychoanalyze me. I'm impressed."

The boy maintained his analytical attitude. "You want to be loved but aren't willing to truly open your heart. It really is a crying shame. My acting may be legitimately amusing to you, but you keep holding yourself back, putting up a front. You only say what you need to in order to get a reaction out of my next character. To revel in my attention. If you just let down that wall, things could be running a lot more smoothly between us. Why keep up the buffer at all?"

Minagawa breathed out a haughty laugh. "Do you really think you have what it takes to make me swoon so hard that I proclaim my love for you before you get down on your knees and confess to me?"

"… I don't want to confess to you."

Miyako stopped herself from pressing the rim of her cup against her lips. She held it only halfway off the table toward her mouth, suddenly distracted by the new voice.

It was a deep voice, sounding familiar… yet also markedly different, like hearing your favorite song being played at the wrong octave.

This voice must be the boy's real one, since Minagawa questioned, "What happened to the roleplay?"

"The best role I can play is myself, and I want to help you. As your friend."

Minagawa laughed again. Miyako felt like it was more at the boy's expense rather than laughing with him. "If we're being true to ourselves, then the fact of the matter is that I'm your tutor, and you're my student. It's my job to help you."

"Just because you're older doesn't mean you don't need help. You like taking people's love, especially when someone else is already seeking it out. You hurt people and… get off on it. I can show you how you don't need to keep living like that."

"Throwing yourself into someone else's love life is an easy distraction for people who haven't had the best of luck in their own conquests."

"… That doesn't mean I can't help you."

So they weren't dating. A young man was trying to court his senpai who also tutored him for school. Since the man was a YouTuber, has Miyako met him or just heard his voice before for work? With the different characters he's been playing, he could also easily be a voice actor.

"Try looking me up when you're older," Minagawa was saying, "when we're not teacher and student."

Now they were diving into a romantic drama that Miyako was less interested in following. Still, she listened on to pinpoint where she knew the boy's voice from.

"But that fantasy excites you," the boy said, "doesn't it?"

"You don't want the fantasy. You want something real. I've already given you what I'm willing to give."

Miyako heard the boy stand up. His voice changed again, now higher pitched. "I don't know I can fall in love with you, but I can make you fall in love with me."

She didn't know why, but Miyako almost thought she was hearing Ai the idol speaking. Mister YouTuber must be a fan to emulate her, too.

Minagawa must have been taken off-guard by the idol imitation, as well, taking a second before responding. "You mean I as in the character you're playing right now?"

"She can make anyone fall in love with her! Once upon a time, she was at the top of the world as an idol, and even after she retired, she still shined, as if the sun was burning right next to you. I picked up a few tricks like that along the way."

From the sound of things, the boy walked a few steps around the booth to stand close to Minagawa. The girl sucked in a sharp breath. Miyako imagined the boy serenely brushing his hand against her cheek, parting away her hair to take in the young woman's flushed face.

The scene in her head automatically filled out the features for the boy. Miyako finally connected the dots, and she had to clutch her wrist to keep herself from overreacting too abruptly.

Rev was walking back now, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry about that. Our neighbors' daughter was giving Sachi hell for – Wha, Minagawa?!"

Miyako turned around. Directly behind her was the mysterious Minagawa; young college student age, conventionally attractive to a high degree, able to easily garner interest from any man longing for companionship.

Just as Miyako saw in her head, Cobalt in reality was standing over the seated Minagawa and was lovingly pressing his hand on her face. He held a blue rose by its stem with the same hand. His smile was exactly like Ai's at her height on the stage as Japan's favorite idol.

"Kamiya!" yelped Minagawa. "What – What are you doing here?"

"What am I – having breakfast, what else? But you…" Rev pointed a finger at Cobalt. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

Cobalt only had a simple outfit on, but he turned around with exaggerated movements and a flourish, again like Ai. "Nice to meet you, mister! You know Miss Minagawa? You can call me Orel!"

"Orel…"

Miyako stood up and made her presence known. Minagawa glanced at her with unfamiliarity but also caution, sensing the icy air she was exuding. Cobalt's facade of Ai momentarily twitched, Miyako almost missing the falter.

"How do you know this Miss Minagawa, Rev?" Miyako asked, her eyes never leaving the nervous, blushing stranger.

"She's… one of the tutors from the cram school I refer the kids to…" Rev was realizing some of the same things Miyako had.

"A few of my friends referred Minagawa to me, too!" Cobalt exuberantly announced. He leaned against the booth table, subtly holding Minagawa's hand also resting on the top. Minagawa put on a fake bashful mask, spouting nonsense to redirect her audience's attention as she separated herself from Cobalt, but Miyako saw everything.

For Miyako, it was almost like looking at a distorted window into the past, of an inebriated version of herself pulling back from a flustered hot new talent getting in over his head in the Strawberry office as Cobalt happily strolled into the same room with a box of donuts for everyone.

Except none of the people Miyako had thrown herself at were children.

It was one thing if it was only Cobalt who had a crush on an older woman. It happened with Yura Katayose, who had been nothing but kind and courteous, knowing how to tease a child's crush while respecting reasonable boundaries. It had even worked out in Ai's favor for her personal life, the sisterly bond Katayose had formed with Cobalt bleeding into a genuine friendship between her and Ai. Katayose visited the Hoshino house at least monthly if her work schedule allowed it.

Even only from Miyako's eavesdropping, she could tell Minagawa was not the same as Katayose.

"I'm sorry," Minagawa was saying, leaving cash on the table as she picked up her purse. "I just remembered that I have an appointment I need to get to soon."

Cobalt lightly grabbed her wrist. She could have easily broken out of his hold, but she let herself be trapped by the idol he was putting on. "Why the rush? You know Mister Kamiya, and guess what? This is my aunt Miyako! We could turn this morning meal into a double date brunch!"

… Miyako better understood what Aqua meant when he criticized Cobalt's method for acting by purely copying people's personalities. Staying in-character really did make him sometimes talk about absurd things, like proposing a double date with your aunt as one of the members of the other pair.

But back to the matter at hand… "Cobie," Miyako interjected, physically pulling him to her side, making him release the ashamed Minagawa. "We're going home. Right now."

"But–"

The no-nonsense glare she gave was a rare card she played for any of the kids, but she played it now and dispelled Ai completely from Cobalt. All that was left was a young boy embarrassed that he couldn't wing his way out of this mess.

Minagawa rushed out of the diner, unconsciously having gripped the blue rose and taking it with her. Rev wasn't sure what to say at this point, so Miyako told him that she would call him later. He took to meeting Cobalt well, though Cobalt's energy was too sapped to give him much of a memorable first impression beyond the Ai imitation.

Miyako took Cobalt to her car parked around the corner. She let him sit in the front passenger seat. He was avoiding looking directly at her, and Miyako replayed in her head the conversation she had listened to.

It had been Aqua, Ruby, Ichigo, herself, Shin Hoshigami, Director Taishi Gotanda, himself, and then Ai who Cobie had gone through in that… roleplay roulette. And it hadn't been the first time he had done the routine with that tutor of his.

However, Cobalt's voice when he was playing his own person hadn't been right.

"Cobalt," Miyako began, not yet starting the car, "did you know I was in the next booth over from you?"

He still wasn't looking at her. "… Yeah."

"So when you were acting as yourself, you were intentionally hiding your voice so I wouldn't notice."

Cobie mutely nodded.

"Why?"

He didn't hesitate this time in explaining himself. "Miss Minagawa said she didn't want anyone to know we were going out to get breakfast together so early in the morning. Ichigo was home, but he and Aqua were still dead asleep. Ruby needs her beauty sleep, too, and mom had already left even earlier for her flight. I burnt the stove the last time I tried making breakfast alone, and I've been wanting to come to that diner since my last break-up, so I called Miss Minagawa and asked if she wanted to go."

He had another break-up? Why was Miyako the last to be told these things? "You said that you didn't want to confess to her, but were you, Cobalt Hoshino, hoping she would confess to you?"

"… Yes."

Miyako bit back a sigh. "I know you hate hearing this, but you're too young for her."

Cobalt finally looked at his aunt, with anguish and a childish counter argument on the tip of his tongue. "But –"

"And she's too old for you." Miyako went with precedent and prior lectures to make this lesson easier to follow for him. "It follows a similar principle as the gold digger. The gold digger puts on a show of love and sweet affection to steal from their prey. Older adult women who seemingly reciprocate the romantic love of a teenager a decade younger than them care more about their own satisfaction and desires than truly loving the teenager back."

Cobie wasn't having it. "But that means a part of Miss Minagawa that makes her a nice person is broken inside! It isn't all an act for her! She's not like Ayane, I know it!"

"Who?"

"Another part of Miss Minagawa cares about other people, just not enough. I can help her! I can make her learn how to truly love someone, romantic or otherwise! I can fix her! Just like how I fixed Mana!"

He was self-aware enough to recognize Minagawa's flaws, but still naive enough to think he could do anything about it without getting hurt himself.

Or he thought getting hurt would be worth it if, in the end, he did 'fix' her.

They were going to need to host another long lecture for their baby boy trying to make sense of the world while he was going through puberty.

"You're looking for love in the wrong place, Cobie," Miyako told him. "If Minagawa was right about anything, fixating on her is your misguided way of making up for not being able to find a stable girlfriend." Which had been its own can of worms throughout the year ever since the first falling out with Chiyo.

"… Maybe…"

"I know it, Cobie."

"Okay, fine." Cobalt turned away again. "I didn't want to bother you about this, aunt Miyako. I didn't want to make you think of any bad memories about your own love life."

A part of Miyako wanted to laugh in incredulity. Her love life was the most stable out of everyone's in the Hoshino family. She leaned toward him and trapped Cobalt in a hug. "Cobie, I love you like a son. You can tell me anything, anytime. I'll always be here to support you, and to keep you safe. I believe in you. You'll find true love one day. I guarantee it."

As her words uplifted his spirit, Cobalt returned the hug. "… I'm sorry for hiding from you at the diner and making you worried."

"Apology accepted."

Later, Miyako told Ai and Ichigo what happened, of course. They, along with Ruby and Aqua, reiterated to Cobalt to find a girlfriend his own age.

Through Rev's connections in the education system and the diligent efforts of Strawberry Productions' triumvirate of veteran charismatic schmoozers and negotiators between herself, Ichigo, and Ai, Miyako soon received news of the blacklisting of Minagawa's name across Tokyo should she successfully earn her teaching degree. She'll have to be happy with a more stable position as a teacher in another city.

It wasn't cheap, or as easily done compared to shunning a member of the entertainment industry from more work, but it was enough to keep Minagawa's professional career uninvolved with Cobalt's life in Tokyo and to remove the complications of potential media drama involving a Hoshino child getting inappropriately close with his adult tutor.

Should Minagawa show her face again near Cobalt, or near Aqua and Ruby for that matter, more dire measures may have to be taken.

For now, Miyako only hoped Cobalt could find his special someone in a far safer manner.

---

The Wolf

The performance Ruby's middle school class had planned, prepared, and given blood, sweat, tears into for this year's cultural festival was going to be a masterpiece. She knew it with all her heart and conviction.

Not merely because Ruby was the brains of the operation.

Because Cobalt and his soulmate were the central stars of the show.

Ruby went through the last-minute checks to ensure the concert was ready to rock and roll. She had rounded up Cobalt's closest friends to take up key positions in this endeavor, and she went down the list to ensure they had fulfilled their duties to the letter. Standing at the edge of the stage of the school theater, Ruby began her roll call.

"Lights?"

The lights above shifted the colors shining over her. Able to be spotted by his bright baseball cap, Shoji Suzuki on the other side of the theater gave a mock salute as the brief light show went through its test cycle. Ruby nodded in satisfaction and checked the box on her clipboard.

Shoji had once been a bully of Cobalt's, all the way back in preschool, but the ignorant child had since learned better to be a respectable ally in contributing to the Hoshino family's happiness.

"Sound?"

Kneeling beside one of the new speakers Ruby had convinced the music teacher to push the school into buying, Joe Sakamoto stuck his tongue out at her like the overgrown imp he was.

"Ruby has a giant, fat, stupid ego," he said into a microphone, unbothered by his ears getting blasted from the speaker with his own voice. "And the only reason we're doing a stupid concert instead of the boxing tournament is because our class is full of chumps who like crappy pop music."

Of all the former bullies who became Cobalt's friends, Joe aligned more as a frenemy who was naturally abrasive to anyone, not just toward Cobie. In his quest to befriend everyone at their middle school, Cobalt had developed his own ways of spending time with the American transfer. Ruby had to admit Joe had his uses when in an agreeable mood and utilized as a blunt instrument to bash against other bullies who hadn't yet learned better. It was only a matter of reverse psychology to bring out the best in him, or appealing to his self-interest, even if he never stopped complaining about every little thing he could find an insult for.

Ruby had thought his character would fit as the drummer, but he proved to be too insubordinate to follow the flow of the song. So, drumming duties had fallen onto Cobie's best friend.

"Instruments are working great, Captain Ruby!"

That was Itsuki Ishida. He had been the kid living across from the new house Ruby's family had settled in after the stalker incident years ago. They still lived there to this day, and the friendship between Itsuki and Cobalt had grown even larger ever since.

If only their bond had developed into something deeper instead of Cobie doubling down on his hero worship of Shin Hoshigami…

But Shin didn't matter right now. Itsuki was proving his aptitude with his musical setup by clanging his sticks against the cymbals and the drums around him.

Yet the band was missing its two other key members.

Ruby's eyes scanned the entire theater, looking over her classmates resecuring cable cords and moving effects equipment. A couple of senpai who had already moved into high school were also paying their dues in helping out, or participating because they were planning similar performances for their own future festivals. School staff were also around, officially supervising the handling of all the new and delicate equipment. They were all persuaded to work together by Ruby's idol charm, of course.

The place would be even more packed very soon, filled with kids from other classes, their families, and anyone else who trickled in from the streets for the festival.

They were all in for a good show, but the performers needed to be present for the shindig to even begin, and two of the three were not here.

"Where are Sakaki and Cobie?" Ruby said into one of the microphones placed on a stand on the stage.

Cobalt didn't immediately answer back, through his own microphone or just through the avalanche of sound he could muster from his throat for his voice to carry throughout the theater. Ruby only got shrugs and worried faces from the people around her as her answers.

"I don't know," Itsuki mumbled, speaking far too quietly. He could be a wuss sometimes, needing Cobalt to push him to commit to decisions. "They were here ten minutes ago."

Ten minutes prior, Ruby had departed to get confirmation from Aqua that he and Mama would be arriving at the school in time for the concert. They were working on the same film, and unexpected production hiccups almost made them stay on-set for an entire day today, but Aqua assured her that they would make it.

She only took her eyes off Cobalt for ten minutes, and he was already gone.

And, judging from the guitar case sitting on the stage where Cobalt was supposed to stand on for the performance, he had also left behind his smartphone. Meaning Ruby could neither call him nor use the tracking app to find his location.

She tried calling Sakaki's phone. Someone backstage came around and brought it over, citing how it had been plugged into an outlet and charging. Sakaki herself was nowhere to be seen.

The weighing pressure of the concert on Ruby's shoulders started to be pushed away by the familiar worries and striking paranoia that had plagued her on the night of Chiyo's and Cobie's breakup, when a stranger had used Cobalt's good nature to mislead him and nearly hurt him in ways he wouldn't even understand.

Then Ruby dumped those feelings into a box and tossed it over the side of a cliff.

Sakaki was the same age as them, and the work Ruby had put in for Sakaki was leagues more thorough than what she had done for Chiyo. After months of searching, interviewing candidates, and testing them through subtle and unsubtle trials, Sakaki reigned at the top as the best of the best bar none.

Aqua may be the genius actor who can analyze and manipulate people, and Cobie was able to mimic the personalities of his family members perfectly, but Ruby's ability as a judge of character wasn't far behind their prowess. She had full confidence Sakaki was trustworthy.

"I'll go look for them," Ruby announced.

Joe the annoying wretch snorted. "They're probably sucking face–"

She slammed the top of his head with her clipboard. The humiliation of a girl hitting him like that would sting him more than the actual pain Ruby could have exerted in the move. As Joe let out more petulant complaints, Ruby whistled and waved at the music club president to take over her leadership duties. Then she marched off.

Sakaki was on the lead guitar, and Cobalt handled the bass. They both had their fair share of the vocals while Itsuki took the drums. Cobie had a decent set of pipes, in no small part to Ruby's and Mama's teachings. A tutor a few months back had also helped Cobie study the piano alongside regular studies until she had been given the boot for nearly pulling another Sin Club on him. For the cultural festival, Sakaki had taken up teaching Cobie his way around a guitar. His passable skills combined with his enthusiasm working in conjunction with Itsuki's desire to please and Sakaki's natural talent was sure to make for a great show.

Compared to a traditionally sweet idol like Mama or the type Ruby planned to play, Sakaki had a more rebellious, irreverent punk vibe. Even so, that didn't stop Sakaki from claiming the hearts and interests of everyone who watched her perform. Ruby was sure she too would have fallen for Sakaki's spell if not for the years growing up as Ai's daughter. It had certainly worked for Cobalt, however, who had been giving sidelong glances to Sakaki ever since she had transferred into their class.

Cobie must have recognized the similar dreams Ruby and Sakaki had on becoming pop culture superstars, since Sakaki was the first girl Cobie had confided in Ruby about having a crush on. Before then, he had never asked Ruby advice before confessing to his prior girlfriends. He just went and did it, but Sakaki was special enough for him to get a second opinion from the best girl he knew.

Ruby's research into Sakaki had accelerated soon after Cobie had approached his sister, and in the weeks following his confession, Ruby's opinion of Sakaki had only improved.

In her search today for the loving pair, Ruby had to leave from the theater entirely and go through the rest of the school, passing by the other stands and checking other classrooms delving into the high spirits of the festival. The school was pretty well-off, so most of the classes had high enough budgets and gear to really go all-out with the food, the games and prizes, and the presentation in general. Cobie already had his chance in the first half of the day to soak in as much of the festival as possible before having to commit to the prep for their class' concert. The rebellious nature of Sakaki may have rubbed off on him to inspire a last-minute getaway from their work to enjoy the festival with his girlfriend, who hadn't left the theater or the backstage at all since the festival began.

Asking around, Ruby was informed of sightings near the top floor of the school building. Taking a chance, she tried going to the roof.

Cobie's confession to Sakaki had featured a fireworks show on the roof. Students weren't allowed up there regardless before that, and in a post-fireworks-fiasco world, security had tightened. Even so, if Ruby was able to game the system and convince staff members to follow her tune in the same way Ichigo curried favors with the police and entertainment bigwigs, Sakaki working together with Cobie might be enough to get them access on this busy day.

At the top of the empty staircase, Ruby found the door to the roof unlocked. Without hesitating, she pushed it fully open.

Ruby couldn't keep the stupid grin off her face.

The two were standing near the towering fence placed along roof edges. Sakaki was in her rock star attire, bathed in the same black as the dark threads in her hair. Behind her ear was a blue rose perfectly fitted to not fall over. Cobie wore a contrasting white suit and tie getup, plus a natural red rose slotted in a pocket of his suit jacket over his breast. It was supposed to be part of their gimmick of opposites attracting, and boy were they attracted to each other with the two of them kissing!

Cobie pulled back first. He and Sakaki blinked before smiling at each other. Sakaki was the first to turn away.

Her eyes met Ruby's. Sakaki blinked again, and she let out a wheezing guffaw.

"Looks like we got caught red-handed," Sakaki said, her smile surrounded by a blush as red as the flower Cobie wore.

From the look of Cobalt's face, he was too happy to act surprised and greet his sister with the usual energy. "Hey, Ruby," he said quietly, barely glimpsing her before becoming absolutely absorbed by Sakaki's eyes.

For the rest of the day, Ruby felt like she was walking through a blissful dream. She kept her distance as the three of them made their way back to the theater, Cobie and Sakaki sticking close while whispering sweet nothings to each other. Other kids stared at them like the perfect couple they truly were. At the theater, they got their respective guitars in working order in no time. Ruby could feel the synergy reach new heights, overflowing into the rest of their class as all the pre-concert checks were completed in short order. Joe shut the hell up, Aqua and Ai along with Miyako and Ichigo made it right on time, and the entire venue was fully packed as the countdown reached its end for the concert to finally start.

As the audience cheered to the rhythm of the music, Ruby from her perch backstage foresaw in her mind's eye an animated music video on Elemental Orel going viral with one of Sakaki's original songs. Sakaki would rise as an independent that countless agencies and producers would flock toward. In parallel to her, Ruby in the revived B-Komachi would spearhead her own ascension and inevitably do collaborations with Sakaki. The talent trifecta of Hoshino siblings – Ruby the idol, Cobalt the YouTuber, and Aqua the actor – would welcome their honorary fourth member with open arms. Ruby would call Sakaki her big sister, and the wedding ceremony with Cobie would be glorious, second only to the marriage Ruby would have with Sensei once they were reunited.

It was a perfect work of art, the future she had been working so hard for and was still working towards.

Sakaki didn't know how lucky she was to have Cobalt love her.

Cobie didn't know how lucky he was to have Ruby as his caring sister, supporting him every step of the way.

On the next day of regular classes resuming, Ruby happily skipped into her classroom a little later than usual, still weary from the work on the concert and a tad dazed from her daydreaming. Aqua had an excused absence to get back to his acting gig with Mama, so Ruby walked to school by herself to give Cobalt the chance to stroll alone with Sakaki.

Cobalt had a desk by the window this year. He leaned against the window sill as he stared at the morning skyline. He held another blue flower with rose petals fluttering in the softly blowing breeze outside.

Ruby's good mood dampened the more she watched Cobie. Something off was about Cobie's smile. Just… something was off.

"Another rose already?" Ruby asked Cobalt as she took her seat next to his. "Sakaki's usually here before either of us. Where is she?"

"Hmm?" Cobie hadn't noticed her fast enough. He was distracted. "Oh, Sakaki's not at school today."

"Why? Is she sick?"

"No. She and her family had to move to Kyoto."

Ruby had gotten better at controlling her outward reactions to shocking news, but having contributed most of her energy into the cultural festival and only restoring a partial portion of it this morning, she couldn't stop herself.

"What?!" she exclaimed, instantly making everyone else in the classroom wince and gain some distance to keep out of reach from her flailing limbs or searing screeches. "Since when was she planning this? She didn't tell me!"

"We agreed not to tell anyone. She knew you and her other fans would react like this."

Another heartbreaker making Cobie keep lies from his family…

Wait a second. Cobie wasn't acting heartbroken like last time. "Why aren't you reacting? Didn't she break up with you if she moved?"

"Yeah, we're not boyfriend and girlfriend anymore, but I don't at all regret our time together."

Ruby's scowl grew more controlled as she sat back down. She studied Cobalt intently, seeing nothing but acceptance with the way he was relaxed against his chair and serenely gazing at the flower dancing with the wind.

"I think I know why Ichigo and Miyako are able to not be married anymore and still be happy working together," he said. This wasn't a Cobie haphazardly searching for answers after the grave rejection he had received after his first break-up. This was a Cobie who already found answers. "It's not exactly the same. Sakaki plans on signing up with a different agency headquartered at Kyoto, so direct collaborations between me as Elemental Orel and her as a solo rock star aren't guaranteed, but we're still buddies online. Our friendship isn't over."

"This was supposed to be a romance, not just any friendship."

Cobalt gave her a sympathetic smile. "I know that's what I told you when I first started dating Sakaki, but it started to feel less romantic after our fifth kiss."

"That kiss before the concert wasn't your first?!"

Okay, Ruby bit her tongue before spouting any more of the things that were just immediately popping in her head. She needed more tact than this.

Cobalt paused to think. "Oh, the day of the concert was when we kissed for the first time. You found us when we were on our sixteenth or seventeenth kiss. After the tenth kiss, we were just experimenting with the promise of not continuing the romance after that day."

He kept track of the amount of individual kisses he had shared with Sakaki, but Ruby knew Cobalt well enough that it wasn't necessarily an affirmation of his romantic love for the girl. It was just an objective fact that his brain somehow remembered. There was fondness as he talked about it, sure, but fondness as in nostalgia for a memorable experience far back in the past. It wasn't the same hungry passion he had expressed when had been planning out his confession to Sakaki.

"This must be what an amicable divorce feels like," Cobie pondered, pressing a palm against his chest. "The feeling in my heart… It's a lot more nice than when Mana called things off."

Ruby almost couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You're not sad, Cobie?"

"Of course I'm sad, but I've made my peace with it." He released the rose, letting it be taken by the current deeper into the city. "She's married to her dream of becoming a sensational star. I'm going to be one of her many fans cheering her on. That's all I want of her, and all I want of me for our friendship from now on."

"... Not her number one fan?"

Cobie's smile got a little brighter as he patted Ruby on the shoulder. "I'm already your number one fan."

Taking the compliment earnesty, Ruby sighed and hugged Cobalt. "I'll find you another girlfriend."

"You don't have to, but I appreciate the support!"

Maybe Ruby got a bit too lost in the dream Sakaki represented rather than what she and Cobie actually wanted out of their relationship…

---

The Passionate

Technically, the first time Aqua could name where he was being stalked would be when Gorou had been confronted out of the blue by Ai's stalker years ago, even if Gorou hadn't been the primary target.

To more accurately account for Aqua Hoshino's experience with stalking unrelated to his previous life, the teen actor was fourteen-years-old when he first found himself being actively followed by an unknown party.

Granted, it didn't take him long to identify this stalker. The normal school day had ended, most of the students and staff having already gone home. Aqua was dropping off some paperwork at the faculty office when he noticed in the corner of his eye another third-year half-heartedly hiding around a door frame. Stepping into the hall and going down the nearby staircase, Aqua continued to spot the boy following in his wake.

Shouhei had an almost generic look to him with the basic black hair and forgettable facial features, but having him as a stalker was odd. He wasn't even in the same class as Aqua this year. Or in Ruby's or Cobalt's. He was neither a close friend nor a notable fan of any of their work, only invited to big group outings as a courtesy for a friend of a friend, so why was he following Aqua?

Outside, near the track field and the storage areas for sports equipment, Aqua leaned back against a wall with his arms crossed. Before long, Shouhei realized he was losing his quarry and started rushing down the pathway around the corner. The thumping footsteps came to an abrupt end as Shouhei slid and stopped a few feet away from Aqua. He was looking between the field and the path to the storage rooms, considering where to continue his search.

Aqua flicked a strand of his hair to cause a cascade effect bringing a layer over his face to cover half of it. From his time acting as hostile, intimidating characters, he found it easy to paint himself as such in a moment's notice. The way the shadow of the school building was draped over him also added to the effect of a demon-like figure peering from the dark with a single piercing eye.

When Shouhei turned around and saw Aqua, he screamed exactly how Aqua had pictured. To his credit, Shouhei recomposed himself fairly quickly, putting on a casual air.

"Hey, Cob–" Shouhei's eyelids rapidly blinked the more he stared at Aqua. "I mean, uh, hey there, Aqua! Fancy meeting you here!"

Aqua wasn't in the mood to entertain the farce for too long. Shouhei already let slip his real intentions. "You've been tailing me for the past five minutes, when you were really hoping to follow my little brother?"

Shameful defensiveness was the card Shouhei next played. "Yeah, I was looking for him. B-But I wasn't going to try beating him up or anything! You know I'm not like that!"

Aqua would bet real money on Cobalt winning a brawl between him and Shouhei if he really wanted, though the more likely violent retaliator to an assault on Cobie would first be their sister. "And I'm not Ruby, but that still begs the question why you were trying to stalk him."

"Not stalk! I just wanted to ask him a few things. In private. In-person. I didn't mean to creep you out or anything."

"You could have just sent him a text to meet him after school."

Shouhei only gave further flimsy excuses the more Aqua prodded him. Aqua's patience was running thin, so he took advantage of his recent growth spurt and stepped away from the wall to tower over him. Credit where credit's due, Shouhei stood his ground even as he visibly gulped.

"What did you want to talk to Cobalt about?"

"It's – It's none of your business, Aqua. It's between me and him."

Aqua amped up the menace. It wasn't hard. Shouhei started squirming. "You made it my business when you started following me."

A false bravado made Shouhei puff out his chest. Admittedly, he was likely more fit and stronger on an objective level than Aqua, who didn't work out as nearly as much as his siblings, but Aqua actually knew how to fight from the regular lessons provided to everyone in the Hoshino family. Aqua was also the superior performer whose poise never broke. There was a snowball's chance of him at all being cowed by Shouhei.

With clenched teeth, Shouhei said, "Everyone knows Ruby babies him, but he doesn't need his big-shot brother fighting his battles, too. The Blue Rose can take care of himself. I know he can kick my ass, so you have nothing to be worried about."

That nickname again. "The Blue Rose."

Cobalt going through girlfriend after girlfriend following the falling out with Chiyo hadn't been a turn Aqua had expected for him. It wasn't as if Cobalt was a frivolous womanizer. He simply wore his heart on his sleeve and never hid his affections for the people around him, and he never had more than one girlfriend at a time. Something could be said for Cobie constantly seeking a vague emotional fulfillment he couldn't quite define when he was already showered with familial love and friendships, but Aqua didn't hold it against his brother. Any child of Ai was bound to have their quirks, and Cobalt had them in spades.

Another new aspect of Cobie that revealed itself was an unusual fixation on blue roses, often accompanying both the confession and the end of his various romantic ventures. From Aqua's basic research, roses did not naturally bloom with blue petals. Appropriately, some sources attributed blue flowers as representations of something uniquely unattainable. Combined with the regular red rose's association with love, the creative mind in Cobalt must think blue roses were the most fitting gifts to hand off in his quest for true love. The one girl who can understand him like no other has before will embrace the blue roses forever, exactly how she will accept Cobalt in his entirety, or so went Cobalt's likely train of thought.

As a consequence of the flowers, Cobalt had earned himself another identity beyond Elemental Orel. Spoken of in faint whispers and private chat spaces around the school, the Blue Rose was a romanticized figure whose reputations and feats, some of which being complete conjecture, had spread all across Tokyo.

Everyone at their school basically already knew Cobalt, but there was a mystique to discussing the Blue Rose that couldn't be reproduced when talking about Elemental Orel or Cobie himself. Ruby also hadn't caught on yet to the fact that Cobalt was the Blue Rose, so their classmates could also more freely gossip about Cobie behind her back. Unpleasant implications of the Blue Rose having so many girlfriends did come up in the conversations Aqua eavesdropped on, but since Cobalt's real self and his YouTube personality were well-known by the gossipers, the talk never blossomed into something worse.

It was a different story online, when it was strangers from other schools and neighborhoods who spoke on the Blue Rose without ever making the connection with Elemental Orel. Internet gossip had increased exponentially when Sakaki blew up in her official debut to Japan at large as a musician. She had made some references to a blue rose as one of many inspirations. The more obsessed and inquisitive among the media frenzy soon brought up photos she herself posted online less than a year old of her carrying the signature flower. Any images Sakaki had taken with Cobalt in the frame never surfaced, but the tale eventually took on a life of its own.

A faceless benign figure in Japan who gives his heart out to his loving partner so they may achieve their dreams, before the figure mysteriously disappears to grant his blessings to the next lost, wayward girl in need of a helping hand. The Blue Rose that served as his calling card was also his namesake.

That was the most bare bones spin on the story. Some of Cobalt's closest friends joked about it with him. Cobie found it amusing but was otherwise neutral to the online speculation compared to the more relevant feedback he got on Elemental Orel. It was also only a matter of time until Ruby figured out the niche internet phenomena was related to Cobie and hell was let loose on the school by her hand.

This was the first time anyone has directly referred to Cobalt as the Blue Rose straight to Aqua's face.

It was Shouhei's prerogative to use that title for Cobie, so did Shouhei want to talk about romance with him? To get advice from the Blue Rose?

Aqua was about to voice his question when a loud crash deafened both their ears. He dropped the intimidation act and didn't hesitate instinctively ducking. Shouhei did the same, the two of them crouched as their eyes darted to the source of the noise.

One of the storage rooms was forcibly opened, its sliding door broken out of its frame and lodged into the dirt a few feet away from the doorway.

Who else would it be other than Cobalt standing there? He was proudly admiring his work with a wooden baseball bat sitting on his shoulder. The end of the bat was shaved off into a series of splintered spikes.

"Wow, you were right, Miki!" Cobalt said as he examined his handiwork. "Enough pressure at the right angle really did bust open the door!"

A girl with messy hair and a spring to her step inside the storage room with Cobie gave a few practice swings in the air with her own bat, also lacking its top end. "I told you so! The same trick worked back when the backyard door to Shouhei's old house was jammed by a tree branch." She exited the building and almost immediately picked up from the floor a branch with a crack along its midsection, making the top half tilt and hang as she raised it. "It was this thing keeping the door stuck in place, not the lock itself, so with the little doohickey we slotted in the narrow opening we were able to make, applying enough pressure was a cakewalk!"

"I'm surprised we didn't also break–"

Shouhei regained his bearings and interrupted the conversation. "Miki!" he shouted, scrambling up and grabbing the girl by the arms. "Are you okay? What happened?" He eyed Cobalt with askance.

Ah. The reasoning behind Shouhei's behavior today was much clearer now. Of the sparse details Aqua did know of the boy, he was childhood friends with Miki.

The tomboy in question was calmly explaining how Joe Sakamoto had pulled a prank on her and Cobalt by trapping them in the storage room with the branch. Of course, Cobie took the boy's glower with a toothy grin.

"Miki said you originally thought of the trick to bust open a jammed sliding door, Shouhei," Cobalt happily informed. "I didn't know you were so smart!"

The dynamic that played out was like something out of the romantic comedies Aqua has had the pleasure of guest starring in. Shouhei was struggling to make peace between his jealousy of Cobalt and the common decency to return the polite respect he was given from his ignorant love rival. Miki could sense a sliver of the tension but remained oblivious to the core reasoning, giving equal compliments to both boys while jokingly making fun of Shouhei tied to their childhood familiarity. Cobalt was just happy to be included. Though envy wasn't a foreign concept to him, Cobie rarely expressed it when courting girls who were close with friends who were boys.

Aqua could see the love triangle unfolding already. It would be a troublesome affair, especially if Shouhei still couldn't tell him and Cobalt apart. Even more so once Ruby learned that the latest girl to get close to their brother had an envious childhood friend hoping to insert himself between Miki and Cobie.

"Hey! What are you kids doing?"

One of the teachers must have heard the noise and came to investigate. Aqua patted off dirt from himself as the man jogged toward them.

"Everything's alright, coach!" Miki reassured as she waved at the teacher. "Well, except for the door, but the school has enough money to fix it! It's Sakamoto's fault anyway!"

In a barely concealed whisper, Shouhei muttered, "You wouldn't have gotten trapped in the first place if you hadn't been with Cobalt."

Miki frowned in confusion at her covetous friend. "What do you –"

Cobie finally noticed his older brother nearby. "Aqua!" he greeted. He took a step forward.

Rather, one of his legs moved forward. The other was frozen in place. As the dust finally settled from the forced opening of the door, and as Cobie tried to pull himself out of the darkness of the interior of the storage room, the small company of people before him could see one of the broken top parts of the baseball bats embedded in his lower leg under his knee.

"Oh, so that's why my leg was numb and wasn't moving!" Cobalt happily cheered at solving the mystery only he had been aware of.

Well, it wasn't as bad or grotesque an injury compared to Cobie getting struck by lightning. Aqua still had the occasional nightmare about that event. This flesh wound would be healed and treated with little trouble, just like all the majority of nicks and bruises he's suffered over the years. The only lasting damage ever done to him was the scar, and even that hardly bothered people anymore, let alone Cobalt hims–

Miki and Shouhei shrieked as they fully realized what had happened to Cobalt. The teacher also fell into a panic when he arrived on the scene.

Aqua resigned himself to following the predictable routine. Supporting Cobie to the nurse's office. Aqua personally appraising the injury and carrying out the necessary treatment. The wound really only looked worse than it actually was. The uniform pants were more damaged than the leg itself. Well aware of Aqua's aptitude as a medical technician and Cobalt's incredible tolerance for pain coupled with his fast healing by this point, the nurse gave mere cursory glances and stated the obvious on how to continue recovering.

With Miyako and Ai out of town for work again, Ichigo was the responsible adult Aqua opted to call for an escort back home. It would still take some time since Ichigo was on the other side of Tokyo, so Aqua waited in the nurse's office with Cobie.

Miki and Shouhei also stuck around with them. Aqua held back as he observed the romantic antics play out in real time once more. Miki expressing shame for Cobie getting hurt as a result of her convoluted plan of escaping their predicament. Cobie waving off her concerns. Miki getting cheered up by his infectious smile and good attitude. Shouhei longing to reach the same ease in drawing such pleasant, energetic banter with the girl of his dreams.

Maybe Cobalt can use his charm on Shouhei to avoid the foibles of a love triangle? Cobalt wasn't dating Miki, nor has he hinted at their friendship developing into a romance, so Cobie could instead play love guru to Shouhei. The jealousy can morph into admiration, and Cobalt could find satisfaction in cultivating a romance as an outsider looking in rather than seeking it out as a participant.

Yes, that could work. Ruby might be supportive of this idea, given how Miki had somehow failed one of Ruby's tests to judge the character of Cobie's possible girlfriends. Something about being too clingy, though during physical education, Cobalt was more often the one to inadvertently crash into Miki or catch her in his arms from a bad fall. In any case, a little nudging in the right direction for the characters of this story should ideally minimize the latest deluge of drama tied to the Blue Rose's exploits.

Shouhei eventually received a phone call from his parents, urging him to return home. He began a slow departure reluctantly until Miki offered to walk with him. Farewells were exchanged. Aqua mulled over when and where to approach Shouhei at a later date to make the boy agreeable to a mentorship under Cobalt.

"Oh," Cobie said at some point. "I just remembered that I forgot my backpack in the storage room. Could you go get it for me, Aqua? It has some stuff that I need for my project tonight."

"The only work you're doing is the homework due tomorrow while you rest your leg," Aqua lightly chided as he lifted himself from the chair beside Cobalt's medical bed. "Elemental Orel can tolerate a delay."

Cobalt winked. "It's not a project for Orel. It's a project for the Blue Rose."

He was embracing the Blue Rose moniker?

Aqua didn't ask for clarification. He swiftly made his way back to the scene of the crime, found Cobalt's backpack, and zipped it open.

A silver-colored box had a section of clear plastic on one side revealing a number of blue roses within. The rectangular box itself had been stuffed inside the backpack, nearly bending itself at a slight angle, but the flowers themselves appeared undamaged. The branding on the box indicated it was from the same flower shop as the usual florist Cobalt and Strawberry Productions went to.

Was his project tonight another confession?

"Hey, Cobie! Already on your feet? Guess I shouldn't be surprised."

Aqua was squatting down as he turned his head to see Miki again. She barely looked at him, preoccupied with perusing the shadowy storage room. She zeroed in on another backpack on the floor closer to a couple of baskets full of sports balls. "I forgot mine, too," she said, taking stock of her own belongings. "Since we left our phones in here, too, I also wanted to tell you in-person that I probably won't be able to come visit you tonight like we were talking about. You need your rest anyway, and Shouhei reminded me how much of a pro I am at the arcade, so kicking your butt in the newest KOF probably won't be very restful for you."

Well, there went Aqua's plans of getting ahead of the love triangle.

"... I-Is that a blue rose?"

Miki's tone shift hit like a bullet train. Aqua peered at her again with a sidelong look. Her mouth was agape as her eyes were glued on the box of flowers still in his hand.

"Are… Are you going to confess to me, Cobie?"

The lighting of the room and the angle at which Miki was looking, plus the short distance separating them, must have all culminated in her also mistaking Aqua for Cobalt. The brothers wore the same school uniforms, and she couldn't see the absence of a scar on Aqua's face.

Miki jumped up and bowed, just short of hitting her head against the ground. "I'm sorry, Cobalt! I can't accept it! To be honest, I – I've never really thought about dating, with you or with anyone else. I don't know if I can see you like that."

… This was an opportunity.

Cobalt could perfectly imitate Aqua in intonations and mannerisms. That was never in doubt. Conversely, Aqua's imitations of Cobalt still had flaws which Ai and Ruby were more than willing to point out whenever he tried to specifically copy him. Cobalt's friends were also able to notice the chinks in the facade Aqua periodically put up.

Out of respect for Cobalt, Aqua never tried his mimicry around his girlfriends, but if Miki wasn't inclined to date him to begin with…

Making sure Miki still could only catch an obscured view of him, Aqua let Cobalt's voice say, "I think that's a lie."

Miki stiffened.

With the absolute confidence befitting a child proudly explaining a deduction he had developed all by himself, Aqua continued with, "If your first thought at me holding a rose was that I was going to ask you out, then you must have considered that I would have asked the question at some point."

The girl straightened her back and shuffled her feet, her lips wriggling against a smile. "Okay, that's true. I did think because we've been spending so much time together, you were going to ask eventually. Can you blame me?"

Playing up the innocence for maximum effect with his next choice of words, Aqua asked, "Do I come off as promiscuous or sleazy because I've had so many girlfriends?"

A genuine laugh obliterated any feelings of awkwardness Miki was weighed down by. "You know I don't think like that, Cobie. We don't judge each other. The Blue Rose could be secretly building a harem of girls between YouTubing and hanging out with me, and I still wouldn't hold it against you."

Aqua could tell she was kidding. He echoed an adorable chortle. "So would you be willing to be a part of my hypothetical harem?"

"Only if I can have my own harem on the side!"

Seeing how comfortable she was, Aqua tried steering their conversation to something with more meat to it. "I guess Shouhei would be your first choice."

Miki paused for a moment. "Well, he is my childhood friend, so including him would make sense. I was always partial to the childhood friend winning out at the end of stories!"

Did Cobalt know this and took it as a challenge? "Why haven't you started playing out the happy ending with Shouhei, then?"

"What do you mean?" That was a real question. She truly didn't make the connection herself.

"I like you the same way Shouhei likes you, but if you prefer the childhood friend ending, then why haven't you confessed to him already?"

Miki once more didn't answer immediately. The message was slowly worming its way into her head. "I said I don't think about dating. So I never thought about dating Shouhei. I only think about dating in stories or when we're joking and stuff." It sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than the person she was speaking to.

"No, you said you 'never really thought about dating'," Aqua as Cobie corrected. "And you were twisting the truth when you said that. Shouhei isn't that good at hiding what he's feeling, so you must know he likes you as a girl more than as a friend."

The heat rising in her cheeks was indicative of her finally accepting the truth. "Does… Does he really?"

Aqua barked another amused laugh. "And people call me the stupid one!"

"Yeah, I… I might be the real dumb one. Have I – Have I been leading Shouhei on? Does he think me teasing him is me making fun of his crush on me? I don't – If it's a real romance like the kind you talk about, then I don't want him to feel actual shame about it."

The seed was planted. Cobalt's character had done his job excellently. He can give more words of encouragement if prompted here and there, but in the same way Cobalt wanted to find love in his own way, Miki reaching a resolution with her own love life was ultimately her own cross to bear. So, Aqua stood up and let the spirit of Cobalt fade away.

"Shouhei's smitten," Aqua reaffirmed. "If he really likes you and knows you, then he'll understand how obtuse you were and not hold it against you. It's also his own fault for not telling you how he feels to begin with."

Miki blinked repeatedly as she took in Cobalt's visage standing tall without any sign of his injured leg. "Is… Is that really you, Aqua?"

"You can spend more time with Shouhei, alone with only the two of you, and build up a closer rapport until you're both comfortable enough for either one of you to confess your feelings.

"… Why were you pretending to be Cobalt?

Aqua channeled his inner Ruby and her mischievous spirit, smirking at Miki. "If I was the real Cobie holding the roses you saw, you would have turned him down before he even did the confession, so I decided to roll with things and pull a little prank on you."

She was still blushing but found it within her to grin in good humor. "Wow. Well-played, Aqua. Well-played. No wonder you're always so busy outside of school when you're this good of an actor."

It helped for this performance that Aqua had everything working for him to completely fool Miki. "Seriously, though, you should tell Cobalt straight to his face that you're not interested in dating and instead want to stay friends."

Miki twiddled her fingers. "To be honest, I don't know if I can face Cobie again after going through the wringer with you. It's just so embarrassing."

"Does your friendship with Cobalt mean so little that you want to avoid him after getting teased and tricked by his overprotective brother?"

The blush dwindled as she frowned. "No, it's not."

"There you have it." Aqua placed the box of flowers back inside the backpack and put his arms through the straps. "We can walk together to him, if you want to do this today."

She firmly nodded. After grabbing her backpack, they were en route back to the infirmary.

"You know," Miki began as they ambled along, "I'm not completely blind or deaf. I hear and talk about the Blue Rose, too, like everyone else, but I didn't think I'd be turning down a confession from his brother instead! That's some good lore to add to the books!"

Aqua sighed. "Please don't. That's not even an accurate summation of what occurred between us."

Miki giggled. "Some folks in my homeroom were thinking of spreading stories about the Blue Rose wandering under the watchful eyes of his caring Twin Stars high in the midnight sky who–"

"Stop it."

She thankfully did, and they were soon back at the nurse's office.

Cobalt perked up at the girl. "You're back, Miki? That's great! We can do this here! Aqua, hand me my backpack."

Aqua did so while Miki cleared her throat. "Hey, Cobie. Before you say anything, I–"

"No, I need to ask you this now before I forget again." In a flash, he had the cover of the box removed and was flourishing multiple roses between his fingers, like the open feathers of a peacock. "Which rose do you think Shouhei will like the most?"

Both Aqua and Miki were dumbstruck by the query.

Miki vocalized what Aqua was letting play on repeat in his mind. "What?"

His eternal want and need to be helpful made Cobalt quickly explain. "A week ago, Shoji noticed how Shouhei started following me and you whenever we hung out together. Itsuki saw Shouhei following me specifically, even when you weren't around. Joe said he must have a crush on me."

That damn Sakamoto brat again. Aqua rubbed his temple in irritation. "You know you're not supposed to trust Sakamoto's word on things at face-value, right?" A lesson Aqua had hoped they had stamped out back in their first days of preschool, yet evidently not.

"Yeah, but Shoji and Itsuki thought the same thing, too." It was a fifty-fifty chance whether Shoji was messing with Cobalt or speaking honestly. Itsuki could have been peer pressured to lend his support to Sakamoto's theory, too. "I don't know if I can find romantic love with a boy," Cobie divulged, "but I'm willing to try! So I need to be prepared to either confess to Shouhei, turn Shouhei down, or be turned down by Shouhei. For it all to go as smoothly as possible, I should have a flower that best suits him! That's why I'm asking you for advice on this, Miki. You know him better than anyone!"

There weren't even any noticeable differences between the blue roses Cobalt was holding!

Miki was still trying to get a thorough grasp on the latest revelation of the day. "So you weren't going to confess to me with any of these flowers?"

He sent a perplexed look her way. "You're not interested in dating anyone, so why would I ask you when I already know you don't want to? Lots of people who know Aqua and Ruby aren't looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend ask them for dates anyway, and I would never want to annoy you like how those people get sometimes."

Most confessions of love to Aqua came in fan letters, electronic and otherwise, addressed to the esteemed actor. The in-person confessions at school barely made up a tenth of that number, but Cobalt must be keeping track of it all as a whole for reference material in his own quest for love.

"... You're in for a surprise, Cobie," Miki said in a level tone before dramatically pointing a finger at him and shouting at the top of her lungs, "because I actually am interested in dating! With Shouhei! So get in line, mister!"

Cobalt blinked. Then his smile went into overload. "So this means we're love rivals?"

"You bet we are!"

Cobie let out a whoop. Miki stepped toward him, and they clasped each other's hands, equally pulling at each other to brace their foreheads against each other, the blinding light in Cobalt's pupils challenging the fiery passion opposite him.

It looked like the love triangle was going to run its course regardless of Aqua's efforts, only with a slightly different dynamic than what he had imagined.

---

The Desperate

Shin Hoshigami would deny any and every accusation of him being a voyeur.

And yet, there wasn't anything else he could call what he was doing now: peering through the narrow gap of Cobalt's slightly open bedroom door, keeping silent as he eavesdropped on Cobalt's latest girlfriend butter him up, was basically that.

It was their fault. They had left open the door a crack and had let the moans and groans flood out. Sure, no one else was supposed to be at the Hoshino house at this time, but Shin couldn't help it if his gal at the Sin Club hadn't shown up and the drunken fit he had thrown had made Sano kick him out. Cobalt and his girl should have paid more attention! They can't blame Shin for keeping himself incognito and deciding to redirect his energy into enjoying a free show.

Except the show wasn't running as smoothly as Shin had hoped.

"Wait," Cobalt suddenly said, breathing heavily. "Yukiho, wait."

The girl was another mini-celebrity, like the Sakaki chick. Yukiho in contrast was a gravure model rather than a musical prodigy. Shin was fairly familiar with her material. She and her older sister had been rising stars in that industry, though lately he had only seen Yukiho take up the magazines ads and promotional billboards alone rather than as a duo.

Yukiho finally withdrew her lips from Cobalt's neck. Shin could see neither of their faces, but he's directed enough voice actors in-person and online for his channel to read into the inflections and diction. "What's wrong?" she asked, not as overwhelmed as her partner.

"I don't know. It's just… really hot. Like when I was racing Miki in the sports festival. I remember fainting then."

Yukiho cupped Cobalt's cheeks. "Don't think about that. Look at me."

"... You're really pretty, Yukiho."

The lady killer was rewarded with more kisses. "You're so kind, Cobie."

"You're beautiful."

"No one's as honest as you."

"You're very special. You deserve more praise for your real talents."

"You're smarter than everyone thinks. A genius in your own right."

The affirmations of love and positivity were almost making Shin sick from the pure sweetness.

He should try this onslaught of compliments with the next girl he hooked up with…

"You're so cute, Yukiho."

Yukiho halted her kisses. "I love you, Cobalt."

"... You're very cute."

Shin expected this to be the part where the relationship started going downhill. Cobalt's been having problems saying "I love you" back to his girlfriends who got to the point of telling him those words first. Apparently, Ai once had issues professing her love for her children, and Cobalt had confided in Shin about his worries of inheriting that issue regarding romantic love for his partners. He constantly avoided saying it, even when directly prompted by his girls, because Cobalt didn't understand if the emotion he was feeling was "true" love or just basic affection he had for a friend.

None of the girls Cobalt's been with have gotten this far in the sack with him before. Shin had thought little Cobie could profess his love if he ever did get here, yet there Cobalt went, proving Shin wrong. It wouldn't be the first time Shin was wrong about something. Well, at least the kid got to smooch a cute girl before she would inevitably notice Cobalt neglecting to say the same words back to –

Yukiho went back to kissing. "I love you more than you know, Cobalt."

"... You're the cutest girl in the world."

The sucking of faces continued.

This wasn't right. Yukiho had to know Cobalt was intentionally deflecting. None of the other broads had been that obtuse and unobservant. They knew how precise Cobalt wanted to be with his language.

Or… it really was because he never stopped calling her cute. Yukiho was fine with professing her love and not getting it directly returned. Being cute was good enough in her book, enough to get down and dirty with Cobie.

But Cobalt was letting her take the lead. Just like whenever he got pulled along by Ruby, or Miyako, or Ai, he was letting himself adhere to the whims of a stubborn girl instead of taking charge for himself. He was too goddamn sensitive sometimes. That's why chicks keep leaving him before he ever gets to second base. They get tired of his hesitating ass and find some other guy with the balls to really make them happy.

Yukiho was reaching below the belt now. Cobalt gave a girlish shriek. She stopped.

Cobalt didn't say anything. Neither of them did, but she soon reached again and kept going regardless of the grunts and whimpers. Aside from her ragged breathing and further kisses, she didn't make a sound.

This wasn't right. This wasn't right at all.

Shin patted himself and recounted when Ruby had manhandled him only a few feet down the hall last year.

His resolve strengthened, Shin kicked open Cobalt's door.

Yukiho yelped and pulled the blanket over herself. Cobalt remained on his back, his face red hot as he panted for air. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

Cobie wasn't wrong. Yukiho sure was cute. Especially the real thing that was right in front of him instead of on a computer screen or a page in a booklet.

"Wha…" Cobalt steadied his breathing. "What are you doing here, Clay?"

"... I didn't eat lunch today," Shin slowly said. "Go make us all some sandwiches and clean up the dining table."

Cobalt didn't meet anyone in the eye. He gestured absently to his girl. "But I'm supposed to be doing… doing something with–"

"Cobie!" Yukiho hissed in embarrassment.

Shin bit his lip before shaking his head, forcing himself forward to pull Cobalt up by the arm. The kid stumbled but found his footing. Shin walked with him as he pushed Cobalt toward the door. "Make us the food and pour us some water. I bet you're feeling hot and dehydrated right about now."

The kid wasn't thinking straight, still dazed from what he'd had been stepping his toes into for the first time ever just a minute before, but he still paid attention to his beloved Clayman and nodded. "Okay. Sorry, Yukiho. I'll get you apple juice or something."

The girl was confused by her boyfriend's sudden change in plans. "But–"

Shin was already shoving Cobie into the hall. "Give me your phone," Shin added. Cobie complied and went on to the stairs, letting Shin shut the door and turn his attention back to Yukiho.

Her eyes hardened as she stared back at him. Shin snorted as he went through Cobalt's phone. "I'm not going to lay a hand on you," Shin said, pulling up an incognito tab, "and you're not going to lay a hand on me. Let's keep that clear, okay?"

"What do you want?" she demanded, sounding just like how Ruby did back then. No wonder Yukiho got the idol wannabe's seal of approval.

"We haven't talked much. I didn't know you and Orel were this close yet."

"You… You mean Cob–"

Shin rushed forward and battered his knee against the end of the bed frame. Yukiho yelped, pulling herself back against the headboard. Shin leaned over the railing of the footboard as he pointed at Yukiho. "You don't even call him Orel! The hell is your problem? Why did he take you to his bed if you can't even do that for him?"

He didn't get the reaction he was hoping for. Yukiho's surprise dissipated as she put back on a stone-faced, steadfast countenance. "I wasn't hurting him. We're in love regardless of what we call each other. None of this has anything to do with you."

"If you really loved each other, you would know how horribly wrong you are."

"I don't–"

To shut her up, Shin finally clicked on the right link from his search and played a video he had commissioned from one of the greatest contacts he had met through his online networking for Clayman Animations. Shin faced the screen toward Yukiho for her to take it all in.

She was speechless as the beautiful lady in the video screamed her heart out, whining in pleasure as she buried herself in the same thing Yukiho had been hoping to experience with Cobie.

Shin didn't even know the lady's real name, and he didn't care. She had Yukiho's exact same face, and that was all that mattered, back when Shin had first gotten the video and for his current situation now.

After an eternity of stunned, revolted silence, Yukiho said, "That can't be real."

The hostile ice queen had lost her mettle and wasn't hiding the real, pure fear leak out. Shin grinned tauntingly. "It's real enough for the whole world to sing it like gospel."

"How did you even –"

"The magic of editing, sweetheart." Modern technology really was a wonderful thing, and it was only going to get better in the future. "Yours is a public face. All kinds of freaky, sinful things people can do to each other without the original person ever even knowing about it. Of course, that can change overnight. Your sister, your classmates, your teachers, your dentist, your agents, your co-workers, your boyfriend – They can all see you in a new light with just a press of a button on my end."

The wheels turned in her head. She was an open book now. What should she do? Grab the phone? No, that wouldn't delete the video if it was online. Threaten Shin? But threaten him with what, exactly? She could fight, probably even get in some good hits to even knock him out, but that wouldn't erase the video. Shin wasn't smart enough to create the video himself, so someone else must have gone through the effort to make it. Backups could be placed anywhere.

If her precious Cobie saw this video, he would stop calling her cute. She would…

Shin was starting to interject his own thoughts into his readings on Yukiho. He shook his head and closed the tab with the video.

"Here's what's going to happen next," he said. "You're gonna go downstairs and break up with Orel."

The storyteller in Shin was delighted by the shock and dread Yukiho exuded. He decided to indulge himself a little bit more.

"You'll say… you can say you're beautiful on the outside, but an ugly slut on the inside. Orel's too good for you, and that's why you're breaking things off. Or, you can say whatever you want, or nothing at all. As long as Orel knows that it's over between you two. Your fans will have to rely on your official material to keep themselves up at night, and Orel will find a new girlfriend who will treat him right."

Some tears flowing down her face would have been icing on the cake, but Shin had to make do with the way she was trembling. "He loves me," the stupid girl insisted. "He won't just give me up."

"Orel doesn't love you," Shin said with false sympathy. "If he did, he'd have more of a backbone in getting to third base with you."

"You don't know him like I do."

"Know him?" Shin blurted an honest laugh. "I made him who he is. Elemental Orel exists because he was inspired by me. His family is full of prodigies and experts who make him feel stupid, so he goes to me for advice. If I asked him to jump off a bridge, he'd do it." Shin thought harder on his last point. "Not without questions, but he'd be willing and ready in a snap. I know Orel better than anyone, and he deserves someone better than a whore with a complex about being called cute."

A new idea flicked a light switch in Shin's head.

"How about this: Go tell Orel about the video, and everything else I told you just now." Shin's smile spread widely just thinking about it. "He won't believe you. He'll think you're lying, and won't understand why such a cute girl who loves him and trusts him is lying to him. He'll think you've gone hysterical, so in turn, he'll go back to calling you cute to calm you, soothe you, make you feel loved again. Cobalt has to do a good job now, no hesitation, to make his girlfriend happy and get those nasty thoughts out of her head. He'll take charge this time 'round, and you'll either let him, or you'll run away with your tail between your legs."

His vision was getting blurry now. Shin had bombed himself with freshener and such before getting to the Hoshino house, but the drinks inside his system were still doing their thing. As Shin swayed, he vaguely saw Yukiho's shape get up and walk past him, out of the room.

Shin fell forward, face-first onto the bed. Crawling up, he took in the mixed scent the happy couple had left behind.

He didn't know how long he was out, but Shin was suddenly being shaken awake. He swallowed a gross snore that made him cough. Forcing himself into a sitting position, Shin waited for his vision to clear up.

It was Cobalt, crying like… like a crybaby.

Damn, she scratched him! Like, like a kitty with claws! Not as deep or as big as Cobalt's literal scar, but there was an arc of red ridges pierced along the skin on the side of his face where Yukiho had been peppering her lips earlier. One of Cobie's roses must have been caught in the crossfire, too. Scattered specks of blue petals messily covered his head or stuck to his skin.

She really thought Cobie was worth hurting. She really loved him, and she gave him up.

Maybe Shin should have gone about testing her determination a little differently…

Testing her? Yeah, he'll call it testing her. It sounded a whole lot better than baiting her to screw herself over.

"What's got you so down this time, Orel?" Shin asked.

"Yukiho broke up with me!"

Shin faked a gasp. "Say it ain't so, Orel!"

"I can't! I wish I could, but it's the truth." He lunged in for a hug. Shin almost stuttered before recovering and letting his arms also wrap around the kid. "She hates me! What did I do wrong? She was the first girl I thought I really could…"

Rubbing Cobie's back, Shin murmured. "There, there. Things are going to be a-okay, kiddo. Go wash your face. Dry yourself, put on a bandage or three, and I'll take us out to the Sin Club for some free fresh food. How's that sound?"

Cobalt sniffled. "Alrig–"

The bedroom door was open, and the sound of the house's front door getting slammed traveled all the way to them.

"Cobie! Are you home?" Fuck, that was Ruby! What the hell was she doing here? She was supposed to be getting some extra dance lessons from an old B-Komachi member today. "Answer me if you are!"

Wait. The goddamn smartphone tracking app! The stalker sister masquerading as a guardian angel must have noticed Cobie was at home instead of on the date to the aquarium he had mentioned to them all. Shin really needed to get himself a copy of the app.

Ruby hated him, but Aqua respected him a little. Ai also trusted Shin, right? He should ask her directly.

Shin let Cobie run off to his precious sister. He barely had the energy to stay awake anyway. There will be an opportunity to bring Cobie back to the Sin Club another day. Some day. The kid will get to know what real love feels like eventually.

He let himself fall back and allowed the sweet embrace of sleep take him.

---

The Star

Ai hummed one of her favorite B-Komachi songs as she placed the finishing touches for lunch. She had her tablet propped on a stand in an empty space of the dining table and listened to the stream play with one earbud on. Her other ear listened to the exchange of words two of her babies were having in the living room. They were only half-way whispering, thinking that their Mama had both earbuds on, so they were speaking louder than they should be if they wanted to keep their conversation hidden from her.

"No one knows where he is," Ruby was saying. "None of his friends know. None of his old girlfriends know–"

"He sent you the correct answers and code words, didn't he?" Aqua was calmer than his sister. "The backup code words, too, so we know he isn't under duress and feeding the answers to a kidnapper."

"But he still won't say where exactly he is right this second!"

"I – Wait, Miyako just texted me back, and… she's vouched for his safety."

"Okay. Okay. That's good news. But where is he?"

Ai stifled a snigger at the upset one of the hosts of the stream threw at her co-host. Meanwhile, Aqua took a second to reply back to Ruby. "He's at some YouTube thing. Miyako's in the middle of something and won't clarify."

"Ugh! That's not good enough! Is Cobie with Hoshigami? Another YouTuber? An official rep from YouTube?"

"What matters is that she confirmed Cobalt's safety. That should be good enough."

"Miyako was going to expose Mama's secret when we were babies! She's not above suspicion."

"..."

"... Okay, that was too harsh. It was Miyako as she was years ago, not who she is now. Sorry."

"You really need to tone it down. Ai's in the other–"

"Why are you calling mama Ai again?!"

"Slip of the tongue! And don't deflect!"

Ai clapped her hands and called out, "Lunch is ready!"

Ruby arrived first, outrunning Aqua as she slid along the floor and just caught herself against the table without crashing into it. Her natural beauty was marred by the stressed wrinkles, beads of sweat, and bloodshot eyes. "Mama! Do you know where Cobie is? Either no one knows or they aren't willing to tell us! You have to know if Miyako knows already!"

Removing her earbud, Ai stroked and gently pulled at Ruby's hair to make her look more respectable. It also calmed her down. "You don't trust Miyako to tell you that Cobie is safe?"

"I – I do! I really do! But I can't stop myself from worrying! The tracking app is defective and he never answered my calls with his own voice –"

"Oh, the app," Ai cut Ruby off. The veteran actress knew she had been forgetting something else of importance! "I meant to tell you this earlier. I disabled it on all of our phones."

"What?!"

"Yeah, Ichigo showed me how. Since I have the master version of it, I can remotely fiddle with everyone else's–"

"Why would you get rid of something that could save Cobie's life one day, Mama?"

Ai captured her daughter in a deep hug. "There are other ways for the police to track Cobie's phone if it ever comes to that," she reassured. "We don't need that app anymore to keep him safe. He's smarter now."

"But – But –"

Aqua stepped into the room. Ai smirked at the way he paused mid-step as he looked at the stream on her tablet.

"I think I found Cobalt," he muttered.

Ruby's head whipped back at him before following his gaze to the stream. She gave out an adorable little gasp before covering her mouth.

Gaming videos weren't a significant interest to anyone in this household, but Ai can appreciate the wisecracks and chemistry that come with a group of likable people playing a game cooperatively and competitively together. For this part of the stream, it displayed gameplay footage of a blocky virtual sandbox full of various props and obstacles. The video switched perspectives at regular intervals between the six players tagged in for this game. On the left and right sides of the screen were sectioned off columns displaying facecams for each of the three members of the respective red and blue teams.

On the blue side was none other than Cobalt Hoshino. One could be forgiven for not recognizing him, given how his face was shrouded under the custom mask of the Blue Rose – a piece of art with real depth and layers of expanded flower petals with the eye slits and an opening for ease of breathing carefully weaved into the cloth so that they were hidden from the naked eye. Ai had badgered one of her fans who worked on costumes for Shadow World Industries to make the ornate gift for Cobie, and it was doing its job splendidly in keeping his face obscured.

Ai adjusted the audio to resound directly from the tablet. At that point, Cobie's voice was unmistakable.

"Wow!" Cobie said as his screen got its turn to be featured at the center stage. From his first-person perspective in the world of building blocks, he was admiring colorful in-game structures off in the distance. "I didn't know you could make circles in this game! Everything's always a square pixel!"

One of his teammates was a fellow member of the entertainment industry that Ai has had the pleasure of working with before. She was on the younger side but still was able to use her elegant voice to patiently explain, "That's just a perspective trick, Blue Rose. If you went for a closer look, you'd see that it's still built on square blocks."

The third member of their crew wasn't as composed. She was a high school student who raged as the screen showcase shifted to her point of view for a front-row seat of her character getting pelted by arrows from their opponents. "Stop screwing around and get the tower back to our base!"

Cobalt's character could be seen in the background hopping over cubes of ice suspended in the air. "Sorry, Gemstone! This world's so pretty that I get lost just by looking at it!"

"Get your head in the game! Cold Light, help him!"

The next screen switch was to Koromo Shiranui's Cold Light character being shot in mid-air and falling into an isolating batch of harmful cacti. "Whoops. I'm trapped. It's up to you to support him, Gemstone."

Cobalt hopped over the last hurdle and was running to his team's base. "It's alright! I got–"

A sudden slash of a sword cut him in half. The blocks of the tower in his inventory popped out of his disappearing body and were claimed by his murderer. "Got the tower," the slayer said. "Bringing it back to–"

"Stop him! Kill him!"

Ai laughed at the ardent response. Normally, Papa Shirogane's daughter was a polite, reserved girl, but her competitive spirit combined with her rebellious compulsions to defy her father made for fun interactions like these. Even Papa Shirogane's downcast expression from his facecam was entertainment on its own. Him getting stunned by an arrow from Kei Shirogane and Cobie returning after respawning to land the killing blow to retake the tower pieces was icing on the cake. People were expressing their excitement at the speedy shift of power in the chat as well.

Ruby and Aqua were still wordlessly staring at the stream. Ai set Ruby down in a chair and pulled Aqua into another. She snapped her fingers upon remembering that she hadn't set out the drinks yet, so she made a quick stop at the kitchen to bring the glass cups and the pitcher of fresh lemonade.

"I knew since this morning that Cobie was going to be with Papa Shirogane," Ai said.

Shirogane's YouTube channel, 500 Million Yen in Debt, had been a resource that surfaced only somewhat recently for the single mother, but she still regularly relied on the channel's videos for life advice and parenting tips. He was an independent YouTuber not affiliated with an agency, but Ai had still found a way to shamelessly use Cobie's and Shin's YouTube connections to meet the middle-aged wise man in-person. She discovered how genuine and learned the man carrying such a heavy financial burden was while supporting his own two children, so she made sure to stay in contact with him. Before long, Ai was able to confidently call him a friend.

"This is a charity stream that Papa Shirogane, his daughter, and a few other influencers and celebrities were tagged to host," Ai went on, "but one of them had to cancel their appearance. Papa Shirogane asked if Cobie would be willing to replace her. There was red tape with complicated contract paperwork involved," which Miyako was probably still handling, "so we let Cobie give the Blue Rose a voice and a personality so he could join the show instead of Elemental Orel! It's like when an actor takes a job under a pseudonym to bypass some of the restrictions dictated by their acting union." Or at least, that was the comparison one of Ai's other acting buddies who was also a part-time YouTuber had given when he had been asked to join the charity stream.

Ruby squirmed in her seat. "Why didn't you tell us sooner?"

Ai turned down the idol in her and ramped up the strict, no-nonsense mother. "Because, Ruby, you and even Aqua have become too intrusive on Cobalt's love life."

"What do you–"

A loud chime went off from the stream. The match was over, and victory was decreed for the blue team. Cobie, Kei, and Shiranui all simultaneously cheered while the red team gave a modest congratulatory applause. The camera switched over to the MC for the stream so he could make a few announcements. Lots of donations were made over the course of this game!

An interim was declared before the next big event started. The next camera angle to take over was one positioned slightly over the line of computers and players set up in the studio for both teams. Some of them were engaging in small talk or shuffling out of the frame.

This camera gave an especially good look at Cobie and Kei Shirogane side-by-side at one end of the table. Cobie noticed the camera eyeing him and began waving. Kei was stretching out her arms above and behind her before realizing the camera was on them, making her meekly recede into herself. Despite being decently popular online, she could be quite camera shy and too self-conscious about it. While that was endearing in its own way, it was also stifling her growth. That was probably why she had agreed to join this stream, to help get out of her shell more. Letting loose to grill and bad-mouth Papa Shirogane should also have been cathartic in its own way.

"Hey, Gemstone," Cobie said to her, their audio picking up better than the smaller conversations near them, "I can use our real names now, right?"

"Yes," she answered shortly, "but not your own name. We haven't hit the donation amount for you to reveal your identity yet. People are sure to figure out who you are after that last game, though."

"That's fine. I only care about saying your name."

Kei's eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "Why?"

Cobalt rolled back his chair, kneeled down before Kei, and whipped out a real blue rose from underneath the table. "Kei, do you want to go out on a date with me this weekend?" he asked. "I know the perfect place that serves pretty good coffee at great prices you'll like!"

With Ai sitting across from her babies at the dining table, she watched as Ruby shrieked at the sudden confession. Aqua wasn't as surprised. He wasn't simply hiding his reaction under stoicism. He was genuinely used to Cobie confessing randomly and publicly like this.

Kei was a good sport who didn't react so excessively like Ruby. She gawked wordlessly at Cobalt's inhuman mask, flabbergasted without betraying any sense of excitement or revulsion.

Her answer was expressed in a measured response. "I'm sorry, but no, I don't want to go on a date with you."

Cobalt took it in stride. "Alright! Do you want to go as friends? We can invite others from my school and your school to come with us, too!"

"... Okay."

Satisfied, Cobalt placed his smaller rose by his ear so it hung over his mask like an off-center lure of an anglerfish. He turned to Shiranui. "Hey, Koromo, would you and your sister want to come, too? Oh, and before I forget, would you both being willing to voice act in my–"

The young performer cut him off by pressing a finger against her lips and using her other hand to hold another finger over where his mouth would be if not covered by the mask. "We need to keep your real handle a secret, remember? No more hints."

Shiranui really came off as a more low-key version of Yura Katayose sometimes. Ai was surprised Cobie went for Kei instead of her, but he liked who he liked. It couldn't be helped.

A lesson Ruby and Aqua should really understand now.

While Cobie and Shiranui left the scene, Kei was staring blankly at her computer screen until she pulled out her phone. She frowned at what she saw and put the phone against her ear.

"What do you want?" said the girl, reigniting her rebellious phase. Surprisingly, whatever audio setup the studio had was able to pick up the caller.

"I don't approve–"

"Who asked you?!"

Ah, it was Kei's big brother! Miyuki-chan was supposed to be still studying abroad at Stanford University, so good on him for staying up late at night in his time zone to watch the livestream his family was starring in!

"Let me finish!" insisted the bright young boy Ai wished she had gotten to know a little better, if only to compare how his hard-working genius stood against Aqua's. "I'm sure Hoshino is a nice guy, but you hardly–"

"You just gave away his name! God, you're the worst!"

However entertaining this argument would be, Cobie's departure meant it was no longer necessary to keep watching. Ai turned off her tablet and faced her children once more.

For all of Ruby's love for Ai, it was still a struggle for her to not fidget and wince whenever the strict matriarch made her presence known. It became a necessary role for Ai to adopt the more independent her kids became, with foolhardy mistakes being committed by all of them and not just Cobie.

"What did you mean by us being too intrusive?" Ruby asked. "We're keeping him safe from all the harlots and predators in the world!"

Ai shook her head. "There's always going to be danger in the world. We've overcome dangers like that already. Cobalt has overcome them with us, too. He's learned better, and he deserves to live his own life without his overbearing family constantly butting into it."

Aqua's disbelief past his poker face was palpable to Ai's keen senses. "I'm surprised you're taking this stance at all, mom, let alone so vehemently."

She better make it abundantly clear why she's advocating this stance, then. "I love all of you. Cobalt is learning how to better embark in healthy romantic relationships, but I don't like the way you two have run yourselves ragged with dictating Cobie's taste in women. If you keep at it, he'll recognize what you've been doing for the past year. Cobie wil think he'll always have to adhere to what you think of his girlfriends instead of following his own heart."

The boy eager to be treated as an adult crossed his arms. "Assuming the girlfriend in question wasn't a legitimate predator or an unstable criminal, would you let him date a girl you didn't personally approve of?"

He was lightly challenging his mother's authority. Ai let him feel the thrill of his own small rebellion. "I know Cobalt. He'll never stop loving me, or either of you." Her motherly instincts getting the better of her, Ai moved round the table and initiated a group hug. Her babies were pushovers when the right buttons were pressed, so they automatically hugged back. "I can learn to love my future daughter-in-law, and accept all the would-be daughters-in-law he has to go through to get to her. He might find more heartbreak along the way, but we have to support him in more healthy ways, Ruby."

The hug also let Ruby bury her face in Ai's side, hiding her shame at the reprimanding. It gave little Ruby enough confidence to say, "If it's you saying this about Cobalt, then I can't say no to you. I'll lay off Cobie…"

Ruby was submitting too fast. There was a caveat.

"… but any future sister-in-law of mine will have to work hard to prove herself worthy before I can personally accept them!"

Well, that attitude still wasn't ideal, so Ai played her next card.

"I also remember us agreeing for you to revive B-Komachi under Strawberry's flag when you started high school at minimum," Ai said, making her daughter shiver before freezing in place. She knew where her mother was going with this. "My special successor's got her dancing and singing down, but don't you find it strange how she doesn't have any co-idols that she really likes lined up to join the new group yet? Almost as if the talented friends she could have asked to join her found the thought of working with the girl suspecting all the other girls as potentially unworthy to be around her little brother as too much to handle. All that time used up in hosting auditions for Cobalt's girlfriend instead of for new B-Komachi members…"

Aqua barely hid a snicker. He became the target of a verbal assault from Ruby, who promised that she would work twenty times harder than before to get B-Komachi ready to have a far more explosive debut than any other rookie idol in recent memory. Ruby's energy redirected into something more appropriate, Ai released the hug and returned to her food.

If only Ruby had maintained contact with the Sakaki girl and focused on making her into an idol instead of appraising her as Cobie's girlfriend. A new B-Komachi member was right next to her for weeks, in a great position to be convinced to join an idol group and jumpstart her career that way. Instead, Sakaki was already way ahead of Ruby in stealing Japan's collective hearts.

Well, after today, Ruby will hopefully know that she has to put in the work on making herself happy and successful through her own talents and merits. Supporting Cobie's happiness and career could only go so far if she truly wanted to become an irresistible idol as Ai had been.

Things would be different had Cobie decided to become an idol figure, too, but he didn't. He was a more versatile celebrity right off the bat. In any case, Ai was happy for him and his growth, and she looked forward to all of her children taking their first steps into adulthood and really define themselves in their respective fields.

Later that day, after Ruby had dragged Aqua out of the house to track down some of their old upperclassmen who had entered high school and could theoretically be persuaded to join the new B-Komachi, Ai was waiting on her popcorn in the microwave and indulgently drinking a can of soda when she heard the garage open up. It sounded like Miyako and Cobie were home!

Miyako came through the living room first. She was looking more tired than usual.

Ai knew that exasperated look. Cobalt was up to something goofy again.

"I'm tagging out tonight," Miyako said, tossing Ai the keys to the car and Cobie's cell phone. "You'll get through to him better than me as I am right now. I need to recharge."

Even after Miyako had quit drinking, Ai still did her part to watch her back when the day's unrelenting punches finally subsided and Miyako needed her chance to recuperate. Ai gave her adopted mother a thumbs-up, getting a grateful nod in return, before Miyako sauntered toward the stairs.

Cobalt soon made his appearance from the garage. Instead of the plain clothes and Blue Rose mask, however, he was wearing a stylish outfit including a gray vest, black slacks, and a partially unbuttoned collared shirt with the sleeves folded up to his elbows and a trendy necklace hanging a fancy-looking bead over his chest.

"Hey, mom! Do you know if Aqua still has those fingerless gloves when he played that biker delinquent in that one movie?"

Ai took a quick photo with her phone to capture her handsome boy for posterity's sake, before having to change gears from doting mother to the lecturing type. "Why are you so nicely dressed up, Cobie?"

"I'm making myself presentable to audition as a member of a host club!"

"… Come again?"

Cobie fiddled with his collar, indecisive on whether to keep them folded or to allow them to unfurl. "I spoke with Kei's older brother on the phone off-stream. He gave me some thoughtful advice that really vibed with me."

It must have been some wacky advice to get Cobalt to want to become a gentleman of the night.

Or not. Cobalt could come to crazy conclusions fully on his own.

"He told you to join a random host club?" Ai asked to make doubly sure where this line of thinking began.

"No, he told me all about how love can be a harsh battlefield!"

The microwave in the kitchen dinged. Ai watched her son sniff the air, realize the smell of popcorn, and make a short dash to get the bag and hand it to her. She held up a bowl from the coffee table for him to dump the puffy kernels into. Ai patted the couch cushion beside her. Cobie followed the unspoken request and sat down, nibbling some of the popcorn with Ai. She had originally planned for her and Cobie to have a movie night together while Aqua and Ruby were embarking on their own side adventure, but getting the story on his new host club aspirations would have to do.

"Miyuki-chan also told a few stories of when he was in high school trying to confess to his current girlfriend," Cobie went on. "He had his own struggles with love, even if they were different from mine. The stories made me think real hard on my own adventures with girls. This past year has been… educational, but messy."

Ai always liked it when Cobalt got really into self-reflection like this. The boy who wanted to understand the world was now able to think critically and find meaning without completely relying on others to give him all the answers. Miyku-chan was effectively a soundboard for Cobie to get the engine running, and Ai was getting to see where her boy was taking this crazy train of his.

"I had my first girlfriend because I was confused by love and insecure about my lack of understanding of it. I've learned more since then, but I never realized a very important fact until my talk with Miyuki-chan: I was looking for love to satisfy my own selfish desires."

Selfish desires were the best kind of desires to see fulfilled. After all, they were what had led to the birth of her children, but Ai didn't interrupt Cobie.

"No matter how much making other people happy makes me happy," he said seriously, "I've been too self-centered in my quest! I didn't even consider the ramifications of confessing to another online influencer live on a stream! People are going to be spamming Kei for days! I should have been more thoughtful. 'I can make her feel better and so much happier if she becomes my girlfriend,' was what I was thinking at the time, and that was unfair to her. I… might not have been fair to some of the other girls I used to date or tried to date, too."

Ai suppressed another instinctive chuckle rising from her throat.

If Aqua resembled his father as a man in both looks and intelligence, then Cobalt took after him when he had been a teenager.

Not perfectly, but the similarities were there. The acting ability, even if Cobie's speciality was acting as his family. The commitment to seeing a job through, whether it was a particularly difficult emotion to portray or a complex scene to animate. The charisma to earn the faithful loyalty of fans, friends, and work contacts alike through the personality they put on display toward them, though Cobalt's was certainly more natural than his father's.

Gaining the self-awareness of one's selfish wishes and the dirty, short-sighted things people did in order to achieve them had been a contributing factor to Ai's and their father's break-up. The major difference here was that Cobalt thought he was the one at fault for his apparent selfishness instead of the women in his life.

Ai wanted to laugh at the reversal in mentality she was seeing between father and son, but she held back. This conversation was only half-way about her own amusement. The real priority was hearing Cobalt out.

"I have to take a break from dating," he proclaimed with finality. "I can't keep trying to engineer a confession of true love or let myself be strung along by deceptive promises of it. So, I need to take a step back, and just be me."

Similar words had been traded when Ai and their father had ended their relationship. Not the exact same words, but it was close enough to make Ai see that conversation flash before her eyes.

Ai snuggled closer to her baby boy and messed with his hair. He hadn't combed it to fit with the rest of his fashionable outfit, so she freely spread it around, musing how he should get a haircut if he was really going to grow up as a twisted mixed mirror to his father. "Whatever path you take," Ai said, "I'll be rooting for you."

Unlike Aqua, who had grown more awkward in initiating hugs with his mother and siblings for the sake of a hug, Cobie happily wrapped his arms around Ai. "I know, mom. Our love for each other is one love I know will never die."

The most immutable, undeniable fact of life Ai has ever heard.

"That being said," Ai continued, releasing the hug as she made sure she and Cobie looked into each other's eyes, "you still haven't explained why you want to audition as a host at a host club."

"Oh, right! You see, Miyuki-chan needed to do a lot of part-time jobs because his family was so poor, and it built a lot of character for him. Kei used to do part-time jobs, too, before going on TikTok and whatnot. So I thought taking on a part-time job outside of school and my main job at Elemental Orel would also do me good. According to my friends, good hosts also don't actually become the boyfriends of the girls they serve, so this should be good practice for me in testing my temptations against love. Some of the other YouTubers and office people at the stream were nice enough to give me some clothes and recommend a few clubs at–"

"You're not going to a host club," Ai simply said, her kind smile locked in place if not for speaking her words aloud.

Cobie frowned. "But–"

"You're not going to a host club."

"… Okay."

He didn't slump down, which meant he hadn't quite hit his rebellious phase yet. If Ai had her way, Cobie would never enter that stage of life like Papa Shirogane's usually sweet daughter had. Cobalt could never bring it in himself to actively and knowingly defy the wishes of his mother.

He'll challenge other figures of authority in his life, but never to Ai.

Whatever growth Cobalt experiences, he'll never outgrow her.

Letting her motherly smile do its thing, Ai said, "You can pick out the movie for movie night."

Cobie's positivity returned, and he was back to joyfully munching on popcorn as he flipped through their options presented on the TV screen from their favorite streaming service.

According to Cobie's new resolve, the Blue Rose was going to take a backseat, so he ignored the romance-based movies available on the service. He went for animated features and big special effects blockbusters, released by the studios and produced by the crews Ai knew Cobie studied and followed to improve his work on Elemental Orel.

Orel was a more fitting name for Cobalt Hoshino than the redundant Blue Rose anyway.

---

In hindsight there's enough of a word count here that this could've been its own arc, space things out more and give more depth to the girls in each excerpt, but I wanted this single chapter to be an anthology of sorts and it kinda just kept going.

More adapted Moral Orel characters:

- Sergeant Junpei Asanuma – Officer Roger Papermouth, the recurring cop character

- Ryo "Rev" Kamiya – Reverend Rod Putty, my favorite character from the show

- Shoji Suzuki – Tommy, the kid who was a bully to Orel in the Before Orel special but later a friend

- Itsuki Ishida – Doughy Latchkey, Orel's best friend

- Joe Sakamoto – Joe, a recurring frenemy to Orel

The girls who Cobalt courts and the other named characters are drawn mostly from pieces which OnK's artist Mengo Yokoyari has worked on, plus the cameos at the end from the other popular series by OnK's author Aka Akasaka.

- The Dealer: Mana Kawana, Subaru Kawana, and Akira Saitou from Kimi wa Midara na Boku no Joō, art by Mengo. A post in the OnK subreddit comparing official art of Subaru sitting in Akira's lap and a page in the OnK manga of Ruby sitting in Aqua's lap was what originally inspired this chapter.

- The Mentor: Akane Minagawa from Scum's Wish, by Mengo. No relation to Akane Kurokawa.

- The Wolf: Sakaki from the one-shot Ookami ni Naritai, by Mengo.

- The Passionate: Miki and Shouhei from Mokkai Shiyo?, by Mengo. No relation to the Miki who Ai previously referred Yura Katayose to.

- The Desperate: Yukiho Amamiya from the chapter Kawaii of Isshō Sukitte Yuttajan, by Mengo. No relation to Gorou Amamiya.

- The Star: the Shirogane family and Koromo Shiranui from Kaguya-sama: Love is War, by Aka. Naturally Koromo's sister would be Frill Shiranui.

- The titles for each excerpt is supposed to refer to both the main girl featured and the POV character in some way.

Next time, as the Hoshino triplets make preparations for their transfer into high school, old acquaintances to their family are revisited in the subsequent arc: Memory Lane.