Authors Note: I do not own Oshi No Ko, all rights belong to their original copyright holde

I lied, I also got this written in a single day due to perseverance...And a small part of me not letting me sleep until I got it finished. This likely will be the last one though, especially since I'm a tad tired out now.

Going to be alot of fluff in this one, hope its good.

Also in case anyone is curious, I do reply to every review via PM also. Figure I let you know since this site can be pretty stupid at times with notifications.

Hope you enjoy.


The sounds of cameras flashing could be heard as a single photographer stood in front of Ruby, Mem, and Kana, taking various pictures of them as they posed in their red idol outfits. From using props such as microphones and stuffed animals, to simply standing in different poses, the photoshoot went along mostly fine.

Finally, the photographer waved her hand to indicate they were done with the current session and could take a small break, as all three girls gave a exhausted sigh and walked over to the table that had been assigned to them, as they passed by another Idol group that were making their way up for their next session.

Miyako and Aqua were waiting for them at the table as the three idols fell down, exhaustion drawn all over their faces as Miyako placed her hands together and smiled. "That's two sessions down, only one more to go before you're done."

The girls all just groaned in response, as Mem-Cho raised her head and sighed. "It feels like they're taking hundreds of photos, but really they're only going to use maybe ten of them for that tabloid of theirs. I wonder if this was really a good idea…"

"Hm well, the tabloid is popular among your target demographics, so the goal is to hopefully pick off fans of other idol groups and get them to come over to B-Komechi instead. Ai and her idol mates did the same thing, and while the internet has come a long way since then, it's still effective to some degree."

"Meh, even so…" Mem-Cho gave a small complaint as she looked at the other two girls who had their faces planted onto the table. "How are you two holding up…?"

Neither of them moved for a moment, before Kana finally raised her head up and growled under her breath. "This is absolute torture, I'd rather be up on stage…Atleast you can get it over and done with…"

"Yeah, that's true. What about you, Ruby?" Mem-Cho turned her attention to Ruby, who simply rolled her face over as her eyelids were halfway shut.

"I thought I was going to pass out up there…" Ruby pushed the words out as she closed her eyes, ready for sleep to fully overtake her and-

"Hm, well if you start to fall asleep, just remember that Gouro Amamiya might look at the magazine after! You have to look your best for him, right?" As soon as Ruby heard Mem-Cho's teasing, her eyes shot open as she pushed herself up with a blush overtaking her face.

"M-Mem-Chan! I told you to stoppp!" Mem-Cho gave a devious laugh as Ruby pouted, as she fell back into her seat and just buried her face into her arms, attempting to ignore the woman's comments towards her.

All the while, Aqua sat quietly beside Miyako, stairing over three girls as he watched their photoshoots diligently. They're every movement, facial expression, pose, he took it all in. They weren't the only ones however, Aqua looked over the other idol groups present that were getting their pictures taken.

He could tell what each one did good and bad, what they needed to improve on and what they needed to cut down on. He wasn't a master of talent evaluation, but his work on the Tokyo Blade play was enough for him to get a feel for how different actors used the environment, and what was considered 'imperfections' that needed to be corrected.

As the three girls made small talk amongst each other as they waited for their final session, Aqua raised his hands and placed them on the table folded as he spoke up. "Hey, Mem-Cho."

"Hm? What's up Aqua?"

"When you're up on stage, you have a tendency to fade into the background and let Kana take the spotlight as the center. That works just fine for performances, but for a photoshoot, your primary goal should be to stand out when the camera is focused on you."

"Eh? Stand out?"

Aqua gave a nod, his hands still folded as he continued. "Smile like you mean, let your eyes be filled with life and act like you're the Center of attention."

"Me the center, um…?" Mem-Cho seemed embarrassed by the prospect, but just gave a small nod as if she understood what Aqua was getting at.

"Hey, when did you suddenly become a mr know it all on idols?" Kana broke into their conversation, annoyance in her voice as Aqua turned his attention to her.

"Arima, you have the same problem as Mem-Cho, in that you always try to shine the light on others even when the camera is focused on you. You need to stand out more when the attention is on you, you're cute enough after all."

"C-Cute…?" Kana's face went a deep red as she looked away, just giving a small nod as Mem-Cho gave a small laugh and patted the redhead on the back.

Turning his attention finally to Ruby, she could feel her spine tingle as she stared into his eyes. "Ruby…You need to smile like you mean it."

"Huh? Like I mean it…?"

Aqua gave a nod, as he explained. "You're just going through the motions right now, your smile isn't as beautiful as it normally is and you don't have a ton of life in your eyes. You need to get your mind right and put your all into your smile."

"Put myself into the right mind?" Ruby raised a finger to her lip as she pondered, thinking on how to do so as the three girls' small talk was quieted by Aqua's constructive criticism.

Next Up, B-Komechi, please return to the photoshoot.

Suddenly the announcer came over the intercom, calling for the girls to return for their final session as they all looked at each other, as Mem-Cho gave a smile. "Alright, let's get this over with so we can relax for the day!"

Both Kana and Ruby nodded as they pushed themselves up and began walking towards the photoshoot once again, as Ruby gripped her hands and thought to herself.

"Get into the right mental state…Right…I can do this!"

The three of them got ready in front of the cameras, as Ruby closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she got into position. After a moment of getting the camera ready, the woman in front of them began giving directions on how to pose and what to do. Once they were all in place, the flash of the camera began to ring out.

Mem-Cho was in focus at first as she thought back to Aqua's advice, and though a little uncomfortable at first, she began to put herself out there as the camera zoomed in on her and captured her best parts. Her facial expressions began to come to life, and she really began to stick out compared to the previous pictures she had taken.

Once they hit the quota with Mem-Cho in frame, the focus moved to Kana as she felt herself stiffening up some, yet like with Mem-Cho she attempted to take Aqua's advice to heart. While she wouldn't call herself beautiful, she began to use her own acting to her benefit, swaying slightly this way or moving her hair that a way, all in an effort to make herself look as cute as possible.

Finally the focus turned to Ruby, as she felt her heart rate speed up as she began to position herself, thinking about what Aqua had said and how she could do better.

Ruby…You need to smile like you mean it.

She didn't exactly know what Aqua meant, she smiled like she always did. She attempted to put herself into the right mental state like Aqua had suggested, yet…

"It's no good, I don't get what Aqua means…I'm tired sure, but I don't feel sad or anything…What am I…?"

As Ruby thought about what she wasn't doing right, Aqua continued to watch her with his blank eyes, his arms crossed as his fingers tapped on his arms. While he saw adequate progression for Kana and Mem, Ruby was still struggling with her smile. It wasn't fake, it was genuine…But it had no emotion behind it, other just enjoying what she was doing.

Ai's smile was molded after her love for her kids, and her fake love for her fans.

While Ruby's smile was just molded for her enjoyment of being an idol and nothing more, she didn't have any love in it.

And if she couldn't figure out she didn't have any love in it, then she would never be able to smile like Ai could.

Giving a small sigh to himself, Aqua suddenly pushed himself up from the table as Miyako looked up in confusion as Aqua reached inside of his pocket and pulled out his wallet as he opened it up. Walking around to where he was in front of the table and directly in Ruby's line of sight, he reached inside of his wallet and pulled out a picture as he held it up towards her.

All the while Ruby continued to smile she had been, attempting to change it in whatever way she could yet nothing felt 'right' to her no matter what she did. "Maybe I'm too inexperienced…Sensei is a genius when it comes to acting, so he just sees stuff I could never-"

Ruby's thoughts were stopped as her eyes landed on the picture being held up in the air. For a moment her expression faltered, as her eyes simply looked at the picture.

After a moment, she could feel tears begin to form in her eyes before she quickly closed them to hide the tears, before opening them back up as both of her eyes shined brightly at what she saw, as a wide and loving smile crossed over her face.

The picture Aqua was holding up was a picture of Ruby, or rather, a picture of Sarina. It was a picture of the girl she was in her past life, smiling at the camera, as a heart had been drawn over it.

As soon as Ruby saw that, she did her best to fight back the tears, as her loving smile took center stage as the camera truly began to focus on it.

"Sensei I…I love you so much…"

Her love for Aqua filled her completely as she continued to smile and pose, as the camera continued to take shot after shot of her, as she quickly became the biggest star on stage.

When he saw that, Aqua couldn't help but let a genuine smile slip as he lowered the picture and looked at it himself, before slipping it back into his wallet. In truth, he had had that picture of Sarina for a while as he printed it out from her obituary page, along with Ai's, to have a reminder of his past failures.

But after last night, for a reason that not even he fully knew why, he took a marker and just drew a heart around it.

Was it because he knew it would make Ruby happy? Or was he just doing things that he thought a boyfriend should do?

He wasn't sure himself, but at that moment, he was glad that he did so.

Especially as he looked up on that stage and saw Ruby Hoshino, his girlfriend, shine brighter than every other girl in that room.


"Man, I'm so glad that's finally over!" Ruby stretched her arms wide and sighed happily, glad that the entire photoshoot was over. It ran roughly for about three hours, so about an hour less than they were originally told. Still, the three of them were all exhausted from it, so they weren't exactly complaining.

"Yeah, for real, I thought my poor back was going to go out after a while." Mem-Cho complained as she rubbed her backside with her hand, before gently laying back into the chair. The three of them had returned to the table they were originally staying at, though after a quick break, they planned to leave as soon as they could.

Miyako had excused herself to go and talk to the one over the entire shoot to collect the pay, and make sure everything was all good so they could head on out for the day. So the table just consisted of the three girls sitting next to each other, and Aqua sitting on the other side.

As Mem-Cho and Ruby expressed gratitude that the entire thing was over, Kana was looking down at the table with a red face as she looked towards the side. "Uh Aqua…Did I…Look cute during that?"

The two other girls stopped talking and looked at Kana, as Mem-Cho gave her cat like look towards her, while Ruby had a rather neutral look. Aqua raised his head, and with a hint of darkness in his eye, he nodded. "Yeah, you did."

Kana went wide eyed before giving a small smile and a nod, pleased to hear those words from Aqua. Mem-Cho also grinned as she patted Kana on the back, even if internally she was still fighting with herself weather she should support Kana or Akane in their quest for love.

Ruby however, looked over and met Aqua's gaze, as a hint of sadness crept into her.

"He's lying…Or atleast, he doesn't mean it in the way she thinks."

Ruby could tell Aqua didn't mean what he said, and more so said it out of being friendly than anything else.

But…

But…He wasn't lying when he held that picture up and smiled at me.

Ruby felt a blush creep over her face, taking solace in that fact as Mem-Cho stopped patting Kana on the back as she turned her attention back to the man of the hour. "So, Aqua, what was that picture you held up?"

"Hm? Picture?"

"Yeah when they were focusing on Ruby, you held a picture up and she got really happy. Was it…A picture of Gouro?" Mem-Cho kept her devious look, yet Aqua simply shook his head as he reached into his wallet and pulled the picture of Sarina out once again and laid it on the table. "Eh? Who's this?"

"Her name was Sarina…Sarina Tendouji…" Mem-Cho and Ruby looked over the picture, as Ruby looked away in embarrassment once again. After a moment, Kana raised her head in annoyance as she looked at Aqua.

"Huh? Who's this? And why does she have a heart drawn over her? Are you a playboy who sleeps around? First Akane, now this Sarina girl?"

"You always assume the worst about me." Aqua said in a deadpan tone as he leaned back in his chair, raising a hand to explain. "Sarina was a young girl when I met her, a young girl who had one dream and one dream only…To be as big of an idol as Ai of B-Komechi was."

"A young girl eh? How young we talking?" Kana pressed on as Aqua gave a small sigh through his nose.

"She was Eleven when I met her, though she turned twelve not too long after that. That picture was taken on her twelfth birthday actually."

"Twelve…? So not only are you a playboy, but you're a lolicon as well…" Kana said with a disgusted look, though Aqua only returned it with a glare.

"It was nothing like that." Aqua collected himself as the darkness in his eye glowed, gripping his hand. "She looked up to me I guess, her parents were never really around so she didn't have anybody else. I also admired her for her strength, she was a strong girl."

Mem-Cho tilted her head as she listened to the conversation, raising a finger to her lips. "Was a strong girl? Is she not anymore?"

"..." Aqua's eye only darkened more as he gave a quick glance towards Ruby, who was looking down at the table with a somewhat sad look, before looking back over at Kana and Mem-Cho. "...She died when she was only twelve years old, a result of a terminal illness that she had likely developed when she was only an infant."

As soon as the words left Aqua's mouth, Mem-Cho and Kana's expressions quickly changed to one of shock, before darkening as they looked back down at the picture with sadness. "Oh…Um…Sorry…"

"...Her dream was to become an idol, yet…" Aqua clenched his hand once again as the darkness began to glow in his eye…Before slowly retracting as he looked over at Ruby, as his eye went back to a blank look. "Isn't that right, Ruby?"

"Eh?" Ruby looked up from the picture, before just giving a nod.

"Ruby and Sarina were close, you could say, so in a way, Sarina is living on through Ruby as she attempts to become an idol also." Kana and Mem-Cho looked at each other, before giving sad looks over towards Ruby as Mem-Cho got up from her chair and walked over towards her before she wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck.

"I'm sorry Ruby, I didn't know you and Aqua lost someone that young…It's admirable that you're carrying on Sarina-Chan's dream, I'm sure she would be so proud of you." Ruby listened to Mem-Cho's words, before giving a small nod as she reached up and grabbed her arm.

"Right…Thank you, Mem-Chan." As Mem-Cho 'comforted' Ruby, Kana turned her gaze back towards Aqua and asked in the best comforting voice she could muster.

"How…Old were you and Ruby, when she died?"

"...Ruby…Was twelve."

"O-Oh…So you guys were the same age huh…" Kana raised a hand and brushed it through her hair, before biting down on her lip. "Um, I know it's been a few years, but if you ever want to talk about it…You can tell me, I…Would love to know more about what kind of girl she was."

Though Kana was genuine in her words, Aqua only looked at her blankly before nodding as he pulled his phone down and looked at it. "Thanks…Arima."

As he opened his phone, he saw he had a new missed text.

The Producer wasn't happy you missed today, he said you need to be at the next rehearsal -Akane

Aqua rolled his eyes, before he typed out a response.

Alright -Aqua

What a pain in the ass, he thought.


Alright -Aqua

Akane's eyes scanned over the quick text from her phone before she allowed a sigh to escape her lips as she leaned back against the solid wall behind her as she sat on a chest that had several props inside. Rehearsal for the day was nearing its conclusion, yet that was the farthest thing from the front of her mind.

She was moreso worried that Aqua had missed practice, the first time ever, and for something involving Ruby. While Akane was glad that he was protective over her and didn't want her to get involved in anything shady, she also had a nagging feeling that he wasn't being entirely truthful with her about why he skipped today.

To make matters worse, she had intended to take Aqua out to see a different play today to show him the grander of theater, but it seems that was now off the table. She could text him and ask him, but a part of her told her she would just be wasting her time.

Giving a sigh, Akane placed a hand over her face and shook her head. She wasn't even sure why she was so worried, it's not like her and Aqua were dating for real…

Just admitting that in her head stung her heart.

She knew she had feelings for him, yet it was so obvious to her that Aqua held no interest in her whatsoever, romantic wise atleast. She could tell he wasn't lying when he said he admired her acting, and she was grateful for that, yet when she locked eyes with him, she never felt love from them…In fact, she never felt anything.

In the rare instance she did feel something, it was dark, and cold, and it made her worried about what Aqua was keeping locked away in his heart.

As she loaded her phone back up, her wallpaper brightened in front of her as she narrowed her eyes. It was her and Aqua sitting together at a restaurant together, yet…

Even in the photo, she could see how his eyes had no emotion whatsoever.

The one time she had gotten genuine emotion out of him was when she took on the persona of Ai of B-Komechi, and even that didn't last long. It was almost as if he locked away whatever feelings she had conjured up in that moment, so he wouldn't let them show again.

She always thought why, why did Aqua hide so much from not only her but the world in general? Even in her few and far inbetween talks with Ruby, all she gleaned was that even with his own sister, Aqua didn't let anything show.

Whatever darkness he was hiding, he intended to keep it to himself.

Akane shook her head as she unlocked her phone and opened up her messages again, as she began to type.

Do you want to go somewhere when I'm done? I have tickets to a play tonight. -Akane

She knew she was wasting her time, yet it almost felt like her fingers were just doing whatever they wanted and just ignored her brain. She groaned as she locked her phone back and placed it into her breast pocket as she ran a hand over her face, trying to collect herself.

"Did you hear anything back?" Suddenly a new voice entered the fray, as Akane turned towards the voice and gave a small smile.

"Oh, Producer Kaburagi…Yeah, he said he'll be here." The man standing beside her was the TV producer Masaya Kaburagi, who was over 'Sweet today' and also got Aqua involved in the Tokyo Blade stage play.

"Hm, good, I didn't expect him to miss a rehearsal last minute, but I guess I can't get too mad since he at least gave a notice compared to some others. Still, I don't that becoming a habit of his, especially since he's paying me back with this play."

"Hm? Paying you back?"

"Ah, it's nothing to really concern yourself with…He wanted information on that dead idol Ai, and in exchange he did Sweet Today and now Tokyo Blade. Not really sure why, but if all I have to do for his services is give out gossip about an idol who died over ten years ago, then I'll take that offer every single time."

"Hm? Aqua-kun…Wanted information on Ai?" Akane pondered on this as she looked down at the ground, her previous thoughts about Ai and how Aqua had even locked away his feelings concerning her when Akane imitated her, rushed back into her head space.

"Well, it's not too surprising. Even among newer idol fans, Ai has her followers. They say being dead only makes you more famous, doubly so when you're murdered in cold blood." Kaburagi reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a cigarette and lit it, placing it into his mouth as he gave a puff to it before blowing the smoke out. "In any case, as long as he's back next time, then I don't have any problems with him missing today."

With that, Kaburagi turned and left, leaving Akane with more questions as she placed a hand on her chin and thought. "Ai…Ai…Why Ai…? Why does Aqua-kun want information on her so bad, and…Why did he hide the feelings he initially showed off when I mimicked her?"

As she thought over this, she felt her phone buzz as she reached inside of her pocket and brought it out, looking over the text message she had just received.

Sorry, I'm busy. -Aqua


"Ah, freedom at last!" Mem-Cho stretched her arms out wide as the group walked down the street, finally done with the photoshoot that had taken up a few hours of their time. They had changed back into more casual wear, with hats and fake glasses to avoid anybody in the vicinity recognizing them from a passing glance.

"You're telling me, especially since I didn't get any sleep last night." Ruby walked on one side of Mem-Cho as she complained, rubbing her temple with her fingers.

"Mmm, isn't that because you were up all night thinking about Gouro?" Kana pitched in from the opposite side of Mem-Cho, as Ruby turned towards her with an annoyed expression as she puffed her cheeks out.

"Aww, not you too Loli-senpai!" As the three girls talked amongst each other, Aqua and Miyako walked side by side a few feet in the back, a small smile on Miyako's face and a neutral look on Aqua's.

As they walked side by side each other, Miyako looked at Aqua as she gave him a nudge on the shoulder. "They seem better now, but there was alot of downtrodden faces when I returned with the pay…Did something happen?"

"...No, nothing, just exhaustion is all."

Miyako raised an eyebrow, before she turned her face back towards the group as the small smile vanished. "Not going to tell me? I guess nothing changes with you, Aqua."

Aqua didn't reply to her words, just continuing to walk as Miyako reached inside of her pocket and pulled something out and handed it to Aqua.

"Here, take this." Aqua looked over towards her and noticed she was holding two tickets, as Aqua grabbed them out of her hand and looked at them. "I was going to take one of my friends to the movies tonight, but something came up with her so those plans are in the dump. Figured you could use them, you could take someone like Akane out."

"Our relationship is nothing but a work one, I've told you that before." Miyako just rolled her eyes, as she went back to walking straight ahead.

"Then take either Kana or Mem, or just give them the tickets and I'll pay for another one for Ruby so the three of them can go. Just thought it would be good for you to go and do something and not just hang out at the house or the Directors for the entire day."

"..." Aqua was half tempted to just give the tickets back and tell her he wasn't interested, and that he had made plans to work more with the director.

However, suddenly he felt his phone vibrate as he pulled it out and looked at another message that had come through.

Do you want to go somewhere when I'm done? I have tickets to a play tonight. -Akane

…That's right, couples did go places together didn't they? He had gone out with Akane quite a few times, but every time was for some PR stunt, such as making sure that tabloid photographers were in the area around a restaurant for example.

But beyond the PR stuff, that was something couples did he guessed…

Which meant…

Looking up at Ruby, Aqua allowed a sigh to escape through his nose as he pocketed the tickets and nodded. "Alright, I'll ask someone to go with me later."

Miyako seemed surprised by his words, but allowed a soft smile to take her face as she nodded. "Good, I think you'll have fun, I've heard it's a pretty good movie."

"...Yeah, the Director has mentioned it here and there." Stopping his tracks, Miyako stopped and looked at him as she raised an eyebrow. "I'm going to the directors to get something done, I'll be back tonight."

"Huh? Oh um…Alright." Miyako wished him goodbye as the girls also stopped to inquire where Aqua was going, before Miyako broke the news to them. Though Kana seemed annoyed and Mem-Cho confused, they both accepted it might have been because of the conversation earlier so they didn't make to big of a deal about it.

Ruby however, just tilted her head as a bit of sadness overtook her, though she also understood it would be weird if Aqua just kept hanging around B-Komechi for the entire day. However, that sadness didn't last long as she felt her phone vibrate as she took it out and read the message that had come through.

Meet me at the Directors when you're free, wear something nice. -Aqua

Ruby's eyes went wide when she read the message, before a blush overtook her face as she just sent a quick 'Ok' back and pocketed her phone before any of the others saw it.

Meanwhile, once Aqua got the confirmation from Ruby, he quickly sent out another text to Akane.

Sorry, I'm busy. -Aqua


As time slowly passed, Aqua sat in the directors room working on some editing of a video file in front of him, fully engrossed in the work he had been given. He didn't specify a time for Ruby to arrive, he had just told her to show up when she was free, which could be whenever when dealing with her idol stuff.

Not that he minded, he wasn't looking forward to this 'date', nor was he dreading it, it was simply something he asked her to do because that's what couples do. Besides, it would make her happy, and while he doubted he would ever feel genuine happiness again, he could at least give her that feeling.

As he quietly worked away on his laptop, with the director also working on something, they were both interrupted when the door to the room was flung open. "Taishi! Some pretty girl is here to see Aqua-kun!"

"Gah, Ma! You can just send her in, you don't have to come barging in!" Taishi yelled out at his mother, and after the two of them went back and forth for a bit, she finally left as the guest walked on in.

"H-Hi Director…Um…Hey, S-...Aqua…" The director turned his attention towards Ruby, looking her up and down as he gave a smirk.

"Heh, dressed for the occasion aren't you?" Ruby gave a small smile and a blush towards him as Aqua finished up the frame he was working on and saved the project, as he turned around to look at Ruby.

As he did so, he was momentarily taken aback by how much she had dressed up. Her hair had been braided into a pig tail via a red bow, and she was dressed in a black sleeveless dress that extended down to her knees, with black heels. She had light make up on that let her features stand out, as a natural faint blush covered her cheeks.

His blank eyes shined momentarily as he looked at her, before he collected himself and rubbed a hand over forehead. "You look…Good…Dressed up well."

"A-Ah yeah um…Miyako asked me where I was going and…I didn't want to lie, so I told her I had a date…After that, it was almost a full half an hour of her picking out my outfit and make-up, heh…" Ruby gave an awkward laugh as she looked towards the side, avoiding Aqua's gaze.

"I see…Makes sense…" Aqua rubbed the back of his head, feeling a bit out of place. He had never seen Ruby dress up for anything other than her Idol stuff, so he was just expecting her to wear something really nice, not go all out…It made the T-Shirt and pants he was planning to wear look pale in comparison.

As the two of them awkwardly looked at each other, the Director eyed them both before shaking his head as he turned to Aqua. "So lover boy, your girl is going to dress all up and you're just going to wear some casual shit?"

"W-What? It's all I have-"

"Don't bullshit me kid, here…" Taishi pushed himself up out of his chair and walked over to a closet as he opened it up, pushing past several clothes before pulling out a pair of black pants and a black dress shirt as he threw it over to Aqua. "Might be a tad big, but just tuck the shirt in and wear a belt if needed and you should be fine. You don't want her standing out next to you afterall, don't want another man thinking he has a shot to claim her for himself."

Ruby blushed at Taishi's words as she looked away, while Aqua gave a small sigh as he took the clothes and headed towards the door. "I'm heading to the bathroom…"

The director just nodded as he watched Aqua walk out of the room and close the door behind him, leaving just Taishi and Ruby in the room together.

It was a bit awkward as Ruby just looked around the room without saying anything, before her eyes landed on Aqua's laptop as she walked over and looked at it. "Aqua sure has come a long way, hasn't he? I still remember those home videos you had him edit when he was younger…"

Taishi nodded as he reached over and pulled out a cigarette as he lit it, placing it into his mouth as he pushed himself back into his chair. "The kid works his ass off, I'll give him that. He can be doom and gloom most of the time, but he's setting himself up for a pretty successful career, both on and off camera. Well, not like I can blame him for being doom and gloom, considering what you've both been through."

"Huh? What we've both…?"

"With Ai…She was your mother, wasn't she?"

"H-Huh? Y-You knew…? D-Did Aqua…?"

"Nah, the kid didn't let it slip, don't worry. I just put a bunch of pieces together, and it started to make more and more sense. I finally sprung it on the kid yesterday when he came here after you asked him out, and I got my confirmation then and there."

"O-Oh, I see…" Silence came in between the two of them once again, as Ruby went back to gazing around the room as she as she gently opened her mouth. "A-Are you really alright…With me and Aqua…?"

"Hm? With you two dating?" Ruby gave a small nod, as Taishi just shrugged as he turned back to his PC. "It's like I told the kid, I've stopped trying to understand this industry a long time ago. But also, in an industry where every relationship is some kind of scandal or darkness, it's nice to see a consensual one…I mean, the only thing you two have done wrong is share a mother, right? Not even something that's your fault, so if your love is genuine, I don't see a problem with it."

"I-I see…T-Thank you, Director."

"Don't mention it, besides…I'm sure Ai would say the same thing…Or at the very least, she would be intrigued." Ruby gave a small smile at the Director's comment, as she looked down towards the ground and nodded.

"Yeah…Mama would be…" The silence once again returned between the two of them, though it didn't last long as the door opened as Aqua made his way in once again.. Gone was his casual attire, now fully replaced by the black dress shirt, dress pants with a belt, and his hair combed to the side to fully reveal both of his eyes.

As Ruby turned to face Aqua, her eyes only sparkled at how he looked, her cheeks blushing a deep red as she stared at him. To her, he was truly dashing.

Aqua attempted to avoid Ruby's gaze the best he could, taking out the tickets as he looked down at them. "The movie doesn't start for a couple more hours, so we can go out and get something to eat together if you want…"

"H-Huh? Um…I-I would love to! But uh…At Least a movie theater is dark inside, wouldn't someone recognize us if we're together?"

"Don't worry, there's a place not too far from here where you can rent a private table away from others, a lot of idols and celebrities use it pretty often. We also don't have to worry about walking there, since if anyone does recognize us, we can just tell them we've been invited to a party. Won't be suspicious, especially since we're both in the industry together."

"I-I guess that's true…And we can sit in the back of the theater, and we should be fine once the lights dim and all." Aqua gave a nod towards her, as he turned to the director and bowed.

"Thanks once again, Director."

"Don't mention it kid, now go and have a fun night together. You need it, with how much of a gloomy asshole you've been." Taishi gave a smirk towards Aqua, and though he didn't display any emotion towards it, he still nodded and turned as he opened the door to leave the room, as Ruby gently followed close behind.

Once they had left, Taishi gave a small laugh to himself as he placed his cigarette bud into the ashtray. "They're fine for now, the real challenge…Will be when they inevitably make it big in this shitty industry."


The orange sky hung over Aqua and Ruby as they walked next to each other, neither of them saying much of anything other than the odd comment here and there. It was your typical awkward conversations, from how clear the sky was looking, to comments about how the idol shoot went.

As they walked however, Ruby kept glancing down towards Aqua's hand, her nerves getting the best of her every time she did. She knew they had just started dating, and it would be trouble if anybody saw them, but…She never had a boyfriend before, not in her past life or her current life, yet she had seen and heard so much from her school friends and late night television about how relationships went, that something as simple as holding hands was something she truly wanted to experience.

Still, it would be dangerous and completely ruin the built in excuse that Aqua had if they were seen by somebody either of them knew. It was easy to explain why siblings were going to an entertainment party together, less so why they were holding hands on the way there.

As they walked in silence, Ruby allowed herself to release a breath she was holding, which caused Aqua to look over towards her and raise an eyebrow. "Everything alright?"

"H-Huh? Oh yeah, I-I'm good…" Ruby attempted to deflect his words, yet Aqua just kept his blank stare on her as he studied her face. "W-What?"

"You're lying." Ruby coward some from her words, as she looked away and raised a hand as she brushed her bangs out of her face.

"I…Just want to do couple stuff, but it's kinda hard…"

"Couple stuff?" Ruby nodded her head up and down, as she blushed and looked away.

"Like…Holding hands…I-I know we can't, but…I just want to is all…"

"I see…" Aqua let his words die off as he kept looking at Ruby before he turned his face forward, continuing to walk down the street. Suddenly, he raised one of his hands up as he turned his face back. "High five."

"Eh?"

"Give me a high five." Ruby tilted her head in confusion, yet she raised her hand and brought it forward as she slapped her palm against Aqua's. Once she did so however, Aqua curled his fingers around hers and brought them down.

"E-Eh, Aqua-"

"Do the same." Ruby's face heated up, yet she didn't object as she slowly lowered her fingers, before the tips were laying atop Aqua's knuckles. His hand was firm and rugged, she thought it would be smoother from his lack of physical work, but she seemed to have underestimated how much editing did on his palms.

The two of them kept walking like that, hands raised up in the air and intertwined with one another, as her beet red face only got redder over time. "U-Um…What if…"

Ruby began to spoke as they turned a corner and walked a little bit more, before suddenly Aqua unhooked his fingers and brought his hand back, before he allowed it to fall to his side. "There, we held hands for a little bit, and if anybody saw us, they would just think of it as some weird sibling handshake since our hands were raised in the air like idiots."

"Huh? Are you calling me an idiot?" Ruby pouted as she allowed her hand to fall back to her side, as Aqua shrugged.

"I called us both idiots, so we're even."

Ruby kept her pout at Aqua's words, before she looked away and gave a small smile. "T-Thank you, sensei…That was sweet of you."

"...Yeah…" It wasn't much, in fact Ruby would have preferred if they could just latch hands and let them swing between them as they walked down the street together.

But even if it was unorthodox and kinda weird, she got to walk a bit while holding her Sensei's hand.

To her, that was more than she could ever ask for.


After walking a bit more in awkward silence, the two of them finally arrived at the restaurant as Ruby looked up and tilted her head. "The Fujiwara Diner? Never been here before."

"It was opened by some extended family members of the prime minister, and I read good reviews…Plus, being able to reserve a private table. Let's go." Ruby gave a nod as Aqua opened the door for her and allowed her to walk inside first before he followed her into the building.

Once inside, Ruby was surprised to see a small lobby looking room. Several doors were plastered on the walls, all of them with numbers over them. Some guy was standing behind the counter, as he bowed to the two of them as they walked in. "Good evening Sir and Madam, do you have a reservation?"

Aqua nodded as he walked over towards the desk. "Hoshino, Aqua and Ruby."

"Hoshino…Aqua and Ruby…Ah, here you are. You reserved Room six for a maximum of two hours, no alcohol, and a romantic ensemble…Oh I see you two are only sixteen? You're quite young to be married."

Ruby's face flushed even redder at the mention of marriage as she raised her head to say something, yet Aqua beat her to it. "Yeah, when you know she's the one, you put a ring on her."

Ruby almost collapsed from embarrassment on the spot, quickly covering her face with her hands as the man gave a laugh. "Now that is quite true, my young sir. Well, you and the mistress have room six reserved, please enjoy."

Aqua nodded as he looked over at Ruby and motioned for her to follow him as he started walking towards the door with the number six above it, as she got right next to him and whispered. "W-What's that about us being married? It's embarrassing!"

"We have the same last name, what else did you want me to say?" Ruby went to protest, yet kept her mouth shut as she looked down towards the ground. She knew he was right, but still…

It was embarrassing.

Pushing the door open to the room, Ruby immediately looked up as she was taken in by the atmosphere. The room was small, yet a table sat in the middle with a chair on each side, with a white tablecloth and candle adorning it. The room was darkened as lamps hung on the walls to illuminate it, jazz music played over the speakers, and a monitor with a fake fireplace hung on the wall. As Ruby walked over towards the table, Aqua grabbed her chair and pulled it out for her as she sat down in, as he pushed her in, before walking over to his own chair.

Once he sat down, he picked up the menu laying on the table and began looking through, wondering what exactly he should eat. Ruby however seemed to be just flustered, looking at the cover of the menu for several seconds before reaching down and opening it up as she looked over it.

Neither of them said anything as they looked over the menus, as the light jazz music continued to play over the speakers. Soon, the door to the room opened as a waiter in a black suit walked in with two wine glasses as he sat them down in front of each of them, before he started to pour two different kinds of drinks. "A Berserk energy drink for the gentleman, and cheerwine for the madam."

Ruby seemed a bit taken aback, as she allowed her drink to be poured before she looked at Aqua. "Cheerwine? I'm surprised they would have my favorite drink."

"Well, I had to choose our drink choices when placing the reservation, so I also made sure they had something you would enjoy." Ruby blushed from the compliment as she raised the glass to her lips before placing it back down, before raising an eyebrow at Aqua.

"But really, Berserk Energy?" Ruby said with an almost teasing tone, as even Aqua couldn't help but give a small smile and a shrug.

"What can I say, I'm simple." Ruby gave a soft laugh at Aqua's comment, as the butler smiled at their interaction as he took out a notepad from his breath pocket.

"Shall I take the couples order?" Aqua looked up and nodded, the small smile leaving his face as he closed the menu up.

"Give me the special, shrimp, and no onion."

"Um…Uh…Give me the chicken salad." Ruby also placed her order, though a bit more nervously as the waiter wrote it down and then bowed.

"I shall be back as quickly as I can, please enjoy your stay until then."

With that, the waiter turned and left the small reserved room, as Aqua grabbed his glass of berserk and brought it to his lips before placing it back down. "I'm kinda shocked Aqua, this place seems really nice, it couldn't have been cheap."

"Well no, not at all…But I have more than enough spare change, and it was better than hanging out with the director and his mother for a few hours together." Ruby giggled at his comment, as she leaned back in her chair, glass in hand.

"Yeah really…But seriously…Thanks, this is…Really nice…You'd think the paparazzi or something would be stationed outside though, considering celebrities come here for secret dates and everything.

"From what I read, they did for a while, so celebrities started hiring…Guards if you will, to take care of anybody who was caught trying to snap photos."

"Guards?"

"Yakuza, basically." Ruby was taken aback as she heard that, but gave a small nod and a gulp.

"That's scary but…It makes sense…"

"Yeah so, eventually the paparazzi were scared off. No scoop is worth being beaten up by the yakuza, or worse. Even the few who did risk it and took a beating but still published their articles, were suddenly 'in debt' to the yakuza and had their entire career and bank account completely ruined, so nobody even risks it at this point."

"Wow yeah, that's really scary, I hope we don't ever have to go that far." Aqua raised his glass to his lips as he stopped for a moment, darkness shining his eye.

"Yeah…" Saying that, Aqua finished raising his glass and took a sip of it, thoughts rushing through his brain about how he needed to get big to find his father and-

"Mmm but if we do hire the Yakuza, you think they would give us a discount if I gave them autographs? I am an idol afterall, and even tough guys like them enjoy idols!" Aqua's thoughts of revenge were broken by Ruby, who gave a wide playful smile to him, as the darkness in his eye vanished as his eyes went blank.

"Ah…Yeah, maybe…" Aqua gave a short response as he sat his drink down, letting his thoughts just die off completely.

No reason to be thinking about that stuff, especially around Ruby.

That would just put him in a bad mood, which in turn would piss her off, so bad idea all around.

The two of them continued to make small talk as they enjoyed the drink and music, before the door opened once again as their waiter came in holding a tray of food as he bowed. "Apologies for the wait, Sir and Madam. He is the Shrimp special for the gentlemen, and a chicken salad for the madam, and as an apology for the wait, here is a bowl of strawberries for you to enjoy as well."

Once the waiter had placed the food down, he backed up and bowed again as he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him as Aqua and Ruby were left alone. The two of them then gave the traditional 'thank you for the good' blessing and then began eating.

Only a couple of bites in, Ruby placed her hand on her cheek in aw. "Mmm This is some of the best chicken I've ever had! Aqua, I have to get seconds!"

"I only paid for the room and one meal each, you'll have to pay out of your pocket if you want more."

"What! But Miyako won't pay me until the end of the month…Please? I'll pay you back."

This new banter went back and forth as the two of them continued to eat their meal, with Ruby the first one to finish as she complained there wasn't more to eat.

As Aqua continued to eat, Ruby reached over and grabbed a strawberry as she held it up. "Hey Aqua, a strawberry! Just like Strawberry productions! Maybe we should bring a few home for Miyako!"

"Does she even like strawberries? I've never seen her eat any…"

"Hm, good question, should I text and ask her?"

"What? Are you going to say 'Hey I'm eating with Gouro right now, and we were wondering if you like strawberries' or something like that?"

"A-Ah, yeah that would be embarrassing wouldn't it…Oh, I do have to say Gouro now don't I? Can't really say Aqua, can I?...Does that mean I should call you Gouro when we're out on dates like this?"

"Call me whatever you want, just as long as it's not suspicious to others."

"Hm…Understood, sensei!" Ruby gave a laugh as Aqua just sighed and rolled his eyes, yet…Another small smile did appear on his face. His eyes were still blank, but…This was…Enjoyable.

More banter like this continued between the two of them before Aqua had finally finished his meal as the two of them went to just eat the strawberries together. Occasionally the waiter walked back in to offer free refills to the two of them, along with nudging them to order more food and hike the bill up, but Aqua was able to keep Ruby restrained from ordering more chicken.

Finally, a little over an hour had passed, as Aqua pulled out his phone and looked at the time. "The movie is set to start in about forty minutes, and it's a twenty minute walk from here, so we can head out whenever you're ready."

Ruby looked up at him, placing a finger on her chin as she nodded. "Alright, let me just finish up this glass first."

Aqua just nodded, as he also had a little bit of drink left also as he went to finish it. As he did so however, Ruby suddenly spoke up.

"Sensei…I…Want to come back here with you, if that's alright."

"Hm? Sure, I don't mind-"

"And…I want to have as long as we want, maybe even all day with tons of food! I'll pay fifty percent, so don't worry!"

"Even if you say that, something like that would still drain us both dry…Maybe we could come here with Kana and Mem sometime though, they have private rooms for more than just romantic settings like this, like for group gatherings and parties like birthdays."

"Hm well…I would like it to just be the two of us…But I guess that is a little selfish isn't it? Especially since you paid for all this yourself, and you didn't have to. So…A group thing would be fun! Though I guess we would have to come when different staff are on sight so they don't recognize us, right?"

"Don't worry about that, the restaurant has a policy not to reference past events with people, especially if they're in a group. Afterall, a couple may want to come alone sometime if they're in a private relationship, but then come later with a group of friends who are none the wiser. They're entire reputation is built on being a private place for celebrities, and I highly doubt they want to ruin that."

"Hm, that's true…I never thought about that." Ruby pondered as she raised her drink and finished the rest of it as she sat her glass down and pushed herself up. "Well, I'm ready to go if you are sensei!"

"Yeah, I'm ready." Aqua pushed himself up and pushed his chair in, as he pulled out his wallet and left a ten-thousand and five-thousand yen bill on the table.

"Whoa! That's a big tip!"

"Treat people who have connections right, and you'll get far in it…Remember that if you and the other girls ever have an opportunity to do so."

"Oh, that's really good advice sensei!" Aqua nodded as he walked over towards the door and opened it, allowing Ruby to walk out as the man at the counter bowed towards them with a smile.

"Thank you for dining with us this evening, we hope you two come again." Ruby and Aqua said their thanks and goodbyes to the man at the counter as they walked side by side towards the doors, and left the restaurant they just had their first ever romantic date.


After leaving the restaurant and heading down the road, Ruby and Aqua were greeted by the solid moon above, illuminating their path as they walked. Though dark out, a few people still made their way here and there, as Ruby especially made a few older gentlemen turn a few heads towards her.

Their walk under the stars was relatively peaceful, with a few more small talk and banter between the two. "Hey Sensei…"

"Hm?" Aqua looked over at Ruby, as she raised her hand up.

"High five!" Aqua looked at her, before giving a small chuckle as he raised his hand and slammed his palm against hers, as she lowered her fingers and intertwined them with his, as he followed suit.

"Hehe, to others an awkward handshake, but to us, a taboo showing of our love." Ruby raised a hand to her chin as she said that, as Aqua just rolled his eyes.

"You always had better acting chops than me, but you're really stretching it with that line." Ruby let out another goofy laugh at that, as Aqua's blank eyes stared at her with a small smile still on his face, as a refreshing breeze washed over them.

The two of them walked with their hands raised high for a couple of minutes before Aqua broke it off, allowing his hand to fall back down to his side. Ruby once again gave a pout, but also dropped her hand as the two of them kept walking down the nightly street together.

After passing by a couple more blocks, they finally arrived at the theater, as various people suddenly came into view as they were walking every which way. "Whoah! A Lot of people here this late."

"Not too surprising, the movie we're set to see is the hottest thing on the market right now."

"Oh yeah? I never did ask you what movie…In fact, I didn't even know we were seeing a movie until I got to the director's house."

"It's a romantic comedy called Renai Daikou, it's broken all kinds of records."

"What! I-I love the manga! I didn't know they made a movie about it!"

"Oh really? I think it was announced back in volume six that it got picked up for a movie adaptation, surprised you missed it."

"Eh…I don't really read the afterword by the authors, haha…" Aqua and Ruby continued to converse as they slowly made their way into the theater, hanging out in the long line that was already there.

As they slowly made their way into the theater, a familiar person who was leaving the theater, looked over and noticed Aqua as they suddenly called out. "Oh! Aqua-kun!"

Quickly flipping his attention over towards the voice, Aqua was mildly though not totally surprised to see who had called him out. "Oh, Sumi-chan."

Yuki Sumi ran over, dressed in a cute blue dress, as she smiled at him. "Not surprised to see you here, although…"

Yuki ran her eyes over Ruby, who looked away a bit awkwardly.

"I'm…Surprised you're not with Akane, even if you're just in a work relationship…Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my sister Ruby, she's one of the members of the new B-Komechi that Mem-Cho joined."

"Hm…? Oh! She totally is! It's nice to meet you, Ruby-senpai!" Yuki bowed towards Ruby, who seemed a bit taken aback but smiled.

"A-Ah same to you, Sumi-chan." The two girls exchanged smiles, before Yuki turned her attention towards Aqua.

"I'm surprised you're here with your sister, was Akane busy?"

"Nothing like that, Ruby just really wanted to see the movie but all of her friends were busy. If she went with any other guys it could cause a scandal, so I came with her so she wouldn't have to travel alone at night. How about you, you by yourself?"

"Oh, nope!" Yuki turned and pointed, and over in the corner finishing off a drink was Yuki's boyfriend, Nobuyuki Kumano. "Me and Kumano came together, and our showing just ended so we were heading home. Guess you guys are up next?"

"Yeah, we already have the tickets, so just have to grab some snacks and we'll be good to go." Aqua replied in a mostly monotone voice, as Ruby stayed quiet and just allowed Aqua to lead the conversation with Yuki. Ruby recognized her of course, she was one of the girls from the reality tv show Aqua was in, and…Also the girl Ruby recommended for Aqua to date.

That was a tad awkward looking back on, given the current circumstances.

"Nice nice, well I hope you enjoy the movie! It was also nice meeting you, Ruby-senpai." Ruby smiled and bowed towards Yuki as her and Aqua waved goodbye to her as she walked back over towards Kumano, as the two of them left together.

"She seems nice, I bet she was easy to work with."

"You'd be surprised, she has a knack for both manipulation and knowing where the camera is. Still, I can't say she's a bully or anything, she just tries to beat everybody else at their own game."

"Ohhh, acting sure is a dog eat dog world."

"Same for the idol industry, you're not going to be handed anything, especially if you want to follow in Ai's footsteps."

"Geez, acting like I don't know that already sensei…" The two of them kept chatting before they finally arrived at the counter, as Aqua turned the tickets in, and ordered a large popcorn for them to share and two drinks, as they made their way to their show floor.


The show floor was crowded to say the least, as Aqua and Ruby were lucky to even get a halfway decent seat as they sat in the middle of the movie theater together. People, mostly young couples, adjourned them on all sides and after some quiet chit chat, the movie eventually came on.

Throughout it, Aqua couldn't help himself from noticing every change. Whether it be a plot point, a character's origin, or even some minor couples, he noticed everything that they had changed from the manga. He supposed it was bound to happen, bringing a manga that isn't even finished yet to the big screen, but even still it left him somewhat annoyed.

Ruby on the other hand…

"*Sniff* T-That's so romantic…" Was heavily engrossed into the movie, completely ignoring any changes to the manga that the movie had made. Her eyes were red from crying, as Aqua had to even get up at one point to go and grab a few paper towels for her to wipe her eyes with.

It was annoying, but a small price to pay he supposed.

Still, perhaps the most annoying thing wasn't the crying or the changes to the manga, it was the other couples around him. Ruby wasn't the only girl crying, plenty of others were as well, yet all of them were being comforted by their boyfriend whether it be a arm across the shoulder, a gentle kiss or just simply holding their hand.

Aqua however, did none of this. He sat quietly besides Ruby as she continued to cry, only raising his hand to grab a handful of popcorn and drink out of his cup. While he didn't particularly care, a small part of him was bothered by it, for one reason or another. Maybe it was because he felt out of place, or if it was just the right thing to do as her boyfriend, something nagged at him to comfort her.

Yet, he couldn't risk it. The theater was packed, so the odds of somebody noticing them was low but…It was still a risk. It only took one onlooker who recognized them to pick up their phone, snap a picture, and upload it to social media for the world to see. Something as simple as raising a hand to wipe her tears away was even too risky for him.

He hated it, but Ruby either didn't notice or didn't care, since she didn't say anything to him or look at him at all. She was fully engrossed in the movie all the same.

On that front, he was somewhat grateful.

After almost a full two hours, the final kiss scene at the end came, as Ruby wiped her eyes again, clasping her hands together as she muttered. "T-That was beautiful…"

"...So, you enjoyed it?" Aqua asked her as the two of them stood up from their seats, slowly making their way out from the seats to head towards the exit.

"Are you kidding sensei? I loved it, it was so good!" Ruby gave a smile as she wiped away more tears, before she looked a bit at the ground. "I'm…Glad you took me."

"...Yeah." Their conversation died off as they slowly made their way towards the exit, filing out with the other couples who were all holding hands or leaning on one another.

While the two of them awkwardly just shuffled out, shoulder to shoulder.

Once they had thrown everything away and made their way out of the theater, the two of them slowly began to walk down the street together under the midnight sky, as Ruby looked up and smiled. "I…Had a really fun time tonight, sensei."

"...I'm glad, even if you had to awkwardly sit there and cry. Sorry, I couldn't risk-"

"I know, don't worry." Ruby looked at him and gave a reassuring smile, as she pressed her shoulder against his lightly. "But…Maybe next time we can go some small out of town theater, one where we might not get recognized so…We can do stuff like that."

"Oh yeah? Where do you recommend?"

"Hm…How about our old hometown? There was a theater there!"

"It was run by some old man when I died, and that was sixteen years ago so who knows If it's still even open…But sure, I wouldn't mind going back I guess." Ruby gave a wide smile as she raised her fist and gave a light punch to Aqua's arm.

"Thanks, sensei."

"Yeah, don't mention it."

The two of them continued down the road together, passing by several buildings, making small talk once again, and just generally enjoying being in each other's presence.

Finally, after a long walk, they came upon their home as Aqua stopped in his tracks. "You head on Ruby, I'm going to go stay with the Director."

"Huh? Did you tell Miyako?"

"No, but I'm sure she's already called the Director to check on me and considering I didn't get a text from her, it seems like he covered for us without issue."

"Why not just come home?"

"Be too suspicious, it's already going to be weird timing with you coming back around the time I would if I went to that play with anybody, but if we arrived home together? To big of a red flag to take a chance on."

"I guess…Hm…" Ruby looked up at the sky as she swayed back and forth, before looking at Aqua with a blush. "Sensei…Close your eyes."

"Hm?" Aqua raised an eyebrow, but did as he was told. After several seconds of waiting, he heard Ruby get close to him and then…

He felt her lips against his cheek.

His eyes shot up as he suddenly took a step back from her, as he yelled out. "R-Ruby! What if-"

"It's fine, I looked around before I did that…And besides, it's not weird for siblings to kiss each other on the cheek, right?"

"..." Aqua closed his eyes and sighed, shaking his head in disbelief. This girl…

Ruby took his annoyance in a positive light as she placed her hands behind her back and smiled. "Seriously, thanks sensei, I had a ton of fun and…I have never been on a date before, so this was my first time!"

As Aqua opened his eyes and landed on Ruby, he had to admit that just like Ai all those years ago, Ruby was brighter than any star in the sky that night.

Giving one last small laugh, Ruby turned and ran towards the entrance to the apartment, before turning and giving one last wave as she opened the door and ran in, leaving Aqua by himself on the street.

He just stood there for couple of minutes, not moving as he stared at the door, before finally raising a hand to his cheek and wiping it with his thumb as he brought it down and looked at it.

Doing so revealed a pink lipstick stain on it, as he gave a small chuckle with his blank eyes and turned around as he began to walk towards the Directors night.

I had a ton of fun and…I have never been on a date before, so this was my first time!

Aqua stopped walking as he looked up at the night sky above him, as he gave a simple nod and spoke to himself. "Same…Same Ruby…"

With that, Aqua began walking once again under the star filled sky, heading towards the Director's apartment to rest.