"So out of curiosity, if you don't mind answering of course, how did you and Miyuki end up together Kaguya?" Markus asked the girl, once he had return from his secret chat with Chika and her parents and Kaguya raised an eyebrow blinking in surprise at hearing his question. "I'm asking because I am legit curious as to how your relationship came to be, this is coming from a guy that one time acted as a messenger between two lovebirds." Markus added in for his personal curiosity, which it was. But something told him that the romance between the Boomer boy and Crimson Caravan girl was more out of the norm.
Kaguya and Miyuki both smiled happily and looked kind of silly as they started leaning into each other, with no word for how it started. Ai Hayasaka, on the other hand decided to speak up, looking amused. "Oh. you should have seen the way those two acted before they got into a relationship, it was like watching a comedy act go wrong in both good and bad ways." She said with a snicker as Markus raised an eyebrow at that.
"Good and bad ways?" Markus asked in confused curiosity as both Miyuki and Kaguya were now paying attention and looking kind of all panicky for some reason.
"Yep, they treated love as a war and tried to force one another to confess to each other to win." Ai said with a grin as Markus blinked at that and turned to Kaguya and Miyuki in disbelief. "Oh, you should have seen the way they interacted, it was a snark battle and the two of them somehow going through God knows how many rom-com cliches before they finally sealed the deal." Ai said in amusement with secret pleasure as she took upon Miyuki and Kaguya's red faces of embarrassment as Markus stared at them incredulously.
"Seriously you two? Love Confession as a Battlefield Victory for your war?" Markus said in disbelief as Miyuki and Kaguya made weird noises that Ai found hilarious. "Well at the very least, you two have an unconventional idea and start on how to go about your romance, but for the life of me, I can't even begin to see the logic for turning the idea of love into a battlefield." Markus said to them.
As Ai was about to say something, Kaguya quickly interrupted her. "It's because I was pretty prideful back then, and I also wasn't really good at expressing my emotions and because of that pride, I saw confessing your love to be a losing thing, so in this weird war game I was doing with Shirogane, I wanted him to confess first." She revealed before she shyly poked her fingers a bit. "That and I honestly thought later on, it would be more romantic to be confessed to first." She added in.
Markus could only pause at what he heard for a bit before he continued giving a surprised disbelieving look at Kaguya, causing her to turn her face into Miyuki's shoulder to hide the redness. "I…suppose I could see the logic behind that?" Markus offered up, but in reality, he couldn't see the logic behind it at all. Then he turned his focus to Miyuki now. "What about you Miyuki? You had different reasons to play this war game of sorts?" He asked him.
Now it was Miyuki's turn to look embarrassed. "I…kind of had the same pride issues like Kaguya, that and I read in sources that if you confess first in any potential relationships, that makes you the loser." He revealed as Markus blinked in disbelief at that.
Hearing both of their reasons for why each one got into some kind of weird game about love confessions, got Markus thinking one thing. "Despite the two of you being smart, you two actually run on similar brainwaves and are both kind of idiots, aren't you?" Markus said bluntly as Miyuki and Kaguya recoiled from that and Ai turned her head around as her body started shaking as she struggled not to laugh hysterically at that. "I suppose this is where the saying two peas in a pod applies?" Markus added in.
Apparently, that was the last straw as A's face turned red as she smashed her hands over her mouth shaking a bit in amusement as both Kaguya and Miyuki looked bright red at what Markus was saying and how Ai was reacting to Markus's words. Her laughter also caught the attention of Ruby, Aqua, and Frill from watching a movie on the TV that was provided to them for use and to watch movies together. And at the same time Chika and Yu both blinked in confusion at what they were seeing. Miko looked up from her desk and blinked before finishing up some paperwork.
"What are you laughing about?" Chika asked Ai as she started to calm down a bit in time as Markus and Yu both decided to help her up.
"Markus just straight up called Kaguya and Miyuki both idiots on the same brainwave when heard about their reason for making their love confession a war thing." Ai snickered in explanation as both Chika and Yu blinked and looked amused as they remembered the early days of what Kaguya and Miyuki did to try and get the other to confess to each other.
"Well as far as being idiots over, this is by far, one of the least harmful things, they could be idiots over." Markus said reassuringly, even though he started the whole embarrassment for Kaguya and Miyuki. "Like actually though, there are far worse things that you can be idiots at and cause a lot of trouble for." He said as he remembered the incredible moron that was, Dr. Fantastic fucking around at Helios with a potential WMD running around.
Speaking of which, after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam, he had used his influence with the NCR to push Fantastic through a Basic Comprehension Test set up by the OSI, and he failed completely and was disbarred from working as a scientist ever again and was demoted to janitor. Ah sweet, perfect revenge!
"You clearly underestimate how stupid they can be for each other!" Ai cackled in amusement. "There was this one time Kaguya made a massive cake for Miyuki for his birthday and they kept on edging each other for so long in a battle of feeding one another that Chika came out of nowhere and ate both pieces." She giggled out as Markus's calming look completely died and looked at the two in confusion as Kaguya and Miyuki turned red at that memory.
"You're all a bunch of goofballs I see." Markus then said after some time pausing and looking around the room before he shrugged and gained a small smile. "But I suppose that's okay, nothing wrong with being silly from time to time." He commented as Kaguya and Miyuki remained red still.
"Okay, changing the subject now!" Kaguya said quickly as she pulled out a PC from somewhere, Markus wasn't sure where exactly she pulled that out from. "Let's go check out the news and talk about this, never again!" She declared and turned the PC to play a News Livestream that caught Markus's attention as it was the Old Man from B-Komachi.
"Ah so your main Idol is now coming back from her sudden break?" The Reporter asked the Old Man as he nodded.
"Yeah, Ai is really excited to be back and ready to sing and dance on the stage again, we would have tried to have her go earlier, but you know how it is." He said as he shrugged his shoulder. "She's so dedicated to being the best possible idol that she works herself stressfully and got sick as a result." He said as the Reporter nodded.
Markus raised an eyebrow as he had to give it to Ichigo for using a potential sickness to explain Ai's absence…Hoshino Ai that is, not Hayasaka Ai, who is currently with them right now. Huh…maybe he should consider using last names more often if he's going to meet people with similar names in the future.
"Ah so the Idol Ai is finally coming out of her sick leave." Miyuki said in interest as Markus turned to him with a raised eyebrow and Kaguya turned to him with a pouty look, which he saw and quickly explained. "Kei likes listening to B-Komachi a lot and is a big fan of her, so she's looking forward to when Ai comes out onto the stage on tv when she can." Miyuki said to his girlfriend.
"Ah I see." Kaguya nodded. "I suppose I shouldn't be that surprised, B-Komachi is popular from what I heard, though I personally never really paid attention to it." Kaguya admitted.
"You should!" Ruby suddenly spoke up with a wide smile. "B-Komachi's amazing and Ai is one of the best and shiniest Idols there is!" She said enthusiastically.
"Guess we know what a dedicated fan looks like." Miyuki chuckled as Chika went in and cooed over Ruby for how cute she is.
"Eh Idols are Idols." Yu commented from where he was. "They're going to be common and it's not like there's going to be anything unique about them, aside from the different girls behind each Idol Group." He spoke.
"Huh?" Ruby said sounding annoyed now with Yu. "I'll have you know Ai is an extremely amazing and special Idol and there's no one else like her in the world!" She protested as Yu looked unbothered by her words.
"And there will be a dozen more like her in the years to come, each of them being barely more unique than the others." Yu said completely unfazed. "Idol Music by itself is neither revolutionary or what I would call mainstream, which works against Idols in general as a rule of thumb." He said to Ruby like it was nothing.
And that angered Ruby and annoyed Aqua that he got involved. "But Ai is special, when you see her sing and see her smile, you could tell that she's willing to give it all that she's got in each performance!" He protested in response.
"And how many Idols that you know of that managed to remain relevant after they leave the Idol Industry?" Yu questioned Aqua as he opened his mouth but couldn't say much, as Yu nodded. "Like I said, they are common and more often than not, won't amount to anything outside of their industry and when they don't manage to break into other sectors or work, they become washouts and society forgets about them and moves on." Yu said to Aqua.
Ruby pouted at Yu's words as it seems to her that Yu was taking a shot at not just Ai, her mother, but also the Idol Industry that she loves and wants to be when she grows up. His attitude reminded her of someone. "You're just like Markus, you're not able to see the value of what Idols can bring to people!" She huffed.
"Just like Markus you say?" Yu hummed as he took a glance at Markus who raised an eyebrow at being glanced at. "In that case, I will take it as a compliment as Markus seem to be very rational and very sensible." He said with a tiny smirk, turning Ruby's insult into a compliment that backfired on her as she huffed and pouted even more cutely.
"Don't know how to feel about being a role model there Yu." Markus spoke up. "But I am pretty sure you can do better than the likes of me. I'm just a simple handyman making his way in Tokyo City is all." He said to him. "Besides, you're a student of one of the most prestigious schools in Japan, so I think you can try to aim a bit higher than what I am." He added in.
"You speak poorly of yourself Markus." Kaguya reprimanded lightly and sounding a bit more seriously. "You chose to put yourself in danger to save me and Ishigami from anger even though you were not only far away but also chosen to take no reward." She said as her red eyes shined brightly at him. "I think a human with good morals and ethics is a fine role model to have." She said her own praise to him, causing Markus to slowly smile a bit.
"Well, I suppose I will have to accept it then." Markus said thoughtfully at that.
"But just out of curiosity." Miyuki spoke up. "You're also not big on Idols in general?" He asked curiously as Yu, Chika, Kaguya, Miko, Frill, and even Ai looked kind of interested.
"I'm really not into the Idol genre." Markus admitted. "I feel like there's way too much show and not enough substance to their songs. I suppose me being a Westerner also influences my taste in music as well." Markus added in.
"That's right." Yu nodded. "You have people like Michael Jackson, the Queens, Beatles, and countless other Musicians and Bands that have literally left their mark in history and it doesn't matter the age, you can listen to them for as long as you like and not grow tired of them." He commented.
Most of the students had to nod since a number of those names were quite famous and well known. Idols had yet to even reach that kind of fame; it was something not even Ruby could deny sadly. Which meant that Markus has to say something to keep her from being sad about her mom not even reaching their level.
"Well, we will see, who knows for sure what the future might bring? Heck, Ai or B-Komachi might actually surprise us and manage to surpass all expectations." Markus said as Ruby and Aqua beamed at him more happily.
"Doubt it." Yu said casually. "Most Idols don't make it out as anything else but Idols, they could graduate to become Singers or Musicians, but becoming a single singer of sorts is much harder than being part of a group, since the quality of the singing voice is a bit muted by a group. But going solo means that not only is your voice heard more clearly, it also becomes far easier to spot the flaws in them." He said bluntly in response to Markus's words.
Markus was internally sighing as Ruby looked annoyed and Yu just looked casual as always, but at the same time, he couldn't help but appreciate Yu's frankness. "Not helping here." Markus said to Yu, who simply shrugged apologetically.
"I am curious though." Kaguya said as she turned to Aqua and Ruby and smiled a bit as Aqua got placed on her lap by Markus to keep him from pouting at Yu as Markus did his best to calm down Ruby. "How long have these two kids been fan of B-Komachi." She said to Markus before turning to Miyuki and the others. "Is anyone here a fan of B-Komachi or has family that are?" She asked.
"I only have my sister as a fan." Miyuki said to Kaguya as Yu shook his head in disinterest as did Markus, and for some reason, Aqua and Ruby glared at him for that, even though they already knew he didn't care much for Idol music.
Ai Hayasaka only did a maybe gesture with her hands. "Mainly because we have similar names." She said and that was it.
Chika on the other hand. "While B-Komachi is kind of neat, my little sister likes B-Komachi, specifically Ai a lot, since she likes the way, she puts a lot into her performances." Chika said as Ruby and Aqua turned to her in joy at finding someone who likes B-Komachi to an extent.
Frill surprised most when she spoke up. "B-Komachi is kind of okay for an Idol group, but I supposed I have to say I am more interested in Ai, albeit not for being an Idol." She said softly as everyone turned to her.
"In what way are you interested in Ai then for?" Ai Hayasaka spoke up, kind of curiously.
"My sister and my parents mentioned that she had potential to be a talented actress." Frill said as everyone looked curious at that as Aqua and Ruby looked surprised as Frill continued on. "Supposedly she was supposed to be on a cameo appearance of some kind with some bigshot child actress by the name of Kana, but apparently after filming, her role got cut from the movie itself." She explained.
"Oh? So, she was supposed to be on the big screen but didn't make the cut?" Markus hummed curiously at that, so that meant that Ai could have become someone like Vera Keys then? But if she didn't make the cut, then she wasn't good enough? No that didn't make any sense with what he knew about her. "Any reason she didn't make the cut?" He asked.
"Officially from what I heard? The studio didn't have enough time or she wasn't good enough." Frill explained. "But according to my family though? It's mainly because not only was Ai good at acting, she could have done much better than most of the cast, and since she wasn't top billing, the studio executives thought that was a bad thing and cut out her appearance entirely." She revealed.
"Huh." Yu hummed at hearing that. "Guess Ai does have a future outside of being an Idol if she wanted to continue on in the Entertainment Industry." He admitted as Aqua and Ruby smiled at that. "But the Entertainment Industry is pretty cutthroat to those that are not read up on it and it can be difficult for a new actor to try and get some good roles, so chances are she will play a supporting role unless she wins awards for excellent support cast roles until she becomes big again." He added in.
"And you were doing so well, also do you just flip flop a lot like that?" Markus questioned in curiosity as Yu shrugged at his question. "Taking that as a yes then." Markus said.
"But I have to admit, I didn't know Ai had the potential to be a good actress." Kaguya hummed thoughtfully at that.
"Don't underestimate what people can do and you will never be taken off guard." Was all Markus willing to say as advice as Kaguya and a number of other students nodded at that.
"So, Ai." Nino soon spoke up to Ai after they finished another one of their training sessions and had a smirk on her face that left Ai weary of what she about to say. "While I am happy to see that you are back with us, I haven't heard anything about that guy you were hanging out with." She said with an interested look.
"Nino there is nothing going on between Markus and I." Ai said with a flushed look beneath her hat and her shades, as she and Nino, after taking from work decided to go for a walk in a mall. "Markus is just a reliable friend willing to help, there's nothing more going on between us." She said to Nino, who looked highly skeptical at her.
"I see." Nino nodded as she looked around and dragged Ai with her into a café of sorts with a private booth and was far away from everyone to be heard and the place was loud enough to muffle them. "Actual truth Ai, how is your relationship with Markus going?" She asked genuinely curious about it as Ai looked contemplative at that.
"My relationship with Markus." Ai said as she took a moment to pause, before she smiled a bit at Nino. "I like to think that it's going good, Markus was willing to share some personal secrets about himself with me, and I think he's really starting to trust me." Ai said sounding happy, not her fake happiness as an Idol, but being genuinely happy, something that Nino noted to an extent with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh my~!" Nino cooed at that as Ai turned a bit red at that tone. "Did he share anything spicy with you, or did you share something neat with him?" She asked.
"He shared with me, some of his past." Ai said, trying to stay focused. "I learned that before he became a Handyman, he was a Courier of some kind." She said as Nino looked confused at that. "Apparently he wasn't a Government Mailman, rather he was a Private kind of Deliveryman that moved packages and items fast and quick." She explained to her.
"Huh, the more you learn, what made him change his career from being a Courier to a Handyman of all things?" Nino asked, changing careers was common especially if you were younger, but to change into a drastically different field, requiring different expertise and the likes was the kind of thing that had to have some kind of reason or logic to explain the rationale.
Ai winced as she knew the reasoning behind it, something that Nino noticed. "Apparently when Markus was moving this one package, it was apparently, according to Markus at least, some kind of key to a massive fortune that was being stored up. Someone found out and Markus nearly lost his life in the incident." She said as Nino blinked in surprise.
"Oh, good lord, he nearly died?" She said in worry. "What happened next? Are the people behind it still around or what?" She asked.
"…Markus technically survived that." Ai said somehow…squeamishly as she tapped the table a bit rapidly. "But apparently the injuries were so severe that he suffered total memory loss." She then revealed as Nino's eyes widened in shock. "Apparently, they stole everything of value off his person, including his ID, so he didn't even have a name for himself." Ai said sadly, it was something that she had asked Markus about later, apparently when he was dug up, his ID was lost and had no name to go by.
Markus did tell Ai a bit more about his past a bit when Aqua and Ruby weren't around to overhear them since he didn't think some of the stories, he told was appropriate. But some of the noteworthy things that did happen was that Markus had been in violent confrontations before trying to track down the man who got him shot and left him buried. And Ai strongly suspected that Markus had killed before, he didn't say it to her, but she had a very strong feeling that it happened.
She should have been scared of that, but she knew Markus better than when she first met him, Markus would never have killed for pointless cruel reasons or do it because he felt like he enjoyed it. No, Ai had a feeling that Markus only killed because he had no other recourse or choice available to him. That and the fact he was more than willing to kill to protect her, also added to the lack of fear she had for Markus's potential ability to take life
"Then…how did Markus came across his current name?" Nino asked curiously. "I mean did he just picked it for convivence or what?" She asked for clarification.
"According to Markus, he wasn't in the best headspace when he woke up, according to him, he met a Preacher by the name of Joshua Graham that helped him with his issues and baptized him with his current name." Ai explained to her to an extent. "Ever since then, he went by the name of Markus Redgrave, even if it isn't his original name, it's the only name he knows, not like it matters since he doesn't have anyway to find out about his original name." Ai said.
Nino nodded at that. "That sounds kind of rough, I suppose that's why he's staying as a Handyman, must be hard to try and get a better job if you don't even know who you are." Nino noted, and it's not like Markus could just go to about anywhere for an ID, most people don't get DNA tested or what not unless they had criminal charges, and she was hoping Markus had no record otherwise this ongoing romance with Ai would end in tears.
"That and he does genuinely like fixing things." Ai added in as Nino looks interested by what she means. "According to Markus, there's nothing like the feeling of being able to fix something and turn it useful once again, it's why he goes junk diving and tries to salvage what he can and makes what he can find work with it." She spoke.
"So, he's a bit of a scrounger of sorts." Nino noted as Ai nodded. "Did you see any of the stuff he managed to fix up?" She asked curiously. "How good is he?" She also asked.
"I've seen him fix up plenty of stuff, I've seen him restore this old metal rice cooker, he also restored some old heating units, I've seen him restore older model cell phones, I one time even saw him fix up this fancy look TV that got abandoned due to some issues and with some work, he was able to restore it completely." Ai revealed as Nino whistled at that impressed by how good Markus could work.
"Not going to lie that's pretty impressive." Nino started off. "But back to the more important topic at hand." She then said seriously that Ai also most gulped at the intense look she was sending her. "Did you get any closer to getting Markus to fall for you?" She asked quietly in excitement causing Ai to turn tomato red. "Oh my, look at the blush, did you perhaps get closer to him~?" She asked saucily.
Ai wanted to lie right then and there, but she also wanted to be a bit more honest, not just with herself but with people in general. It was something that Markus valued, truth and honesty were, according to him, the key foundation parts for a working relationship of any kind. "I…hugged him." Ai revealed to Nino's delightful interest. "It was…really nice…I felt warm…safe…and happy. I never thought I would do something like that with anyone." Ai explained with a flushed look on her face.
"So, you hugged him, what was it like hugging him? How did he feel? How did he react to you hugging him? Do he hug you back in return?" Nino asked very curiously.
Ai remained red but did her best to answer Nino. "He felt like I was…warm and safe, but I don't think he's used to hugging people in general since his body language told me he was shocked to be hugged by me. That and he awkwardly hug me back as well as he could, but when it came to it, he was kind of awkward about the whole thing." Ai said to Nino, who nodded rapidly at that.
"I see, I see, oh that reminds me!" Nino then remembered something. "Before you had to go into hiding your 20th birthday was recent, did he get you something for your birthday?" Nino asked as Ai smiled at the reminder and gained a bit of happy smile on her face that Nino could see clear as day that it was an important memory for her.
"Yes, yes he did." Ai said with a fond tone to her voice.
(Flashback Began)
"Oh yeah Ai." Markus called out to her one day while she was staying with Markus as she turned her attention to him curiously. "There's something that I forgot to give you a while back ago, considering how hectic things have been for the last several days or so and now that things are finally starting to calm down, I figured it was time for you to get it." Markus said to her as he dug around something in his room.
Ai tilted her head curiously at that, wondering what Markus meant by that. "Was there something that you were supposed to give me a while back ago?" She asked as Markus continued digging around in his room before he made a noise of happiness. "Markus?" She called out as Markus came out of his room with a smile.
"I was intending on dropping this off at Ichigo Productions, but since you're here, you might as well have it." Markus said as he then revealed…a decoratively festive looking present box causing Ai's eyes to go wide as Markus smiled at her. "Happy late Birthday Ai, I hope you enjoy your late gift from me." He said warmly as Ai's hands tremblingly took the gift from Markus.
"M-m-Markus…y-y-y-you didn't have to do this." She said with a rare stutter in her tone as she felt joyful at getting a birthday gift from Markus. He didn't have to do this and yet he did it.
"I think I had to do it, feel pretty weird if I didn't try to get you a birthday present." Markus said to her as he motioned with his hands. "Go on, open it up and see what gift I got you." He said calmly.
Following Markus's words, Ai tenderly undid the ribbon wrapping and opened the present box to see a small packaged thing. Looking curious at what she was seeing. She undid the wrapping and gasped as in her hand was a music box. Taking a closer look, she could see that it was made from many types of materials and it was refurbished as best as it can be.
Markus made this for her with his own two hands. Ai couldn't help but feel her eyes water a bit, no one has ever given her a handcrafted gift like this to her, not even Ichigo did this for her birthdays. "It's beautiful." Was all Ai had to say about the music box.
"Open it up, you might be surprised." Markus said with a smile as he gently patted Ai's should as she tenderly opened the music box and found music playing…not from any lullaby or any of her group's songs. No…she recognized the music, from a time so long ago when she was young back when things didn't seem so hard or that love wasn't such an impossible time for her.
A reminder of her childhood. Music that was being played coming from that old movie she adored so much, "Always With Me." A song that started her adoration and love for music…a forgotten piece of her childhood that was one of the catalysts that got her interested in doing a career in music, to become an Idol.
At this Ai truly couldn't help but sniffle a bit happily, she had always tried to put up a strong front, a persona to hide away the sorrow and the disgusting nature she had because of her past. But with this simple gift, not only did Markus gave her something she never had before, but he gave her back one of her fondest childhood memories.
At this, Ai couldn't help but truly give Markus a loving look, as Markus simply nodded with a smile at her.
(Flashback End)
"That's so cute Ai." Nino cooed cheerfully as Ai recalled the gift giving to her. "He built you a music box? Just for that alone, I think he's definitely a keeper for you." She said to her as Ai nodded with a smile at that.
"I figured you might say that, but I want to keep my relationship with Markus; stable for the time being, I don't think he's exactly ready for me to confess to him." Ai said to her. "I also don't think I'm ready to confess to him either." She said as Nino nodded at that.
"I suppose that's fair; this is going to be a bit hard for you to deal with." She said back to her as Ai had no response before her eyes turned away from Ai and blinked at the sight before she smiled. "Well, well check out that handsome guy heading in here." Nino said to Ai as Ai turned back and her heart froze.
Hikaru was coming in, and he was heading their way. Quickly turning back Ai took out her phone and started sending out a text message as fast as she could, her worry was obvious to Nino who looked worried for her. "Ai is something the matter?" She asked as Ai focused on sending the text and managing to send it out just in time as she smiled uneasily a bit.
"Nothing too much." She said nervously as she carefully slid her phone to Nino allowing her to notice the way that she looked worried that Ai saw Hikaru and started to put things together. As she was about to get up and move herself and Ai, Hikaru made it to their table and he smiled, and once in the past, Ai might have been charmed.
But now that smile terrified her. "Hello Ai, it's been a while has it not?" He said to her as he forced himself in.
"Indeed, it has Hikaru." Ai said as her heart dropped and Nino looked worried but looked calm the moment Hikaru turned to her. "That's Nino, one of my fellows." She said quickly as Hikaru nodded to her and turned back to Ai.
"We have plenty to discuss." Hikaru said to Ai. "So may your friend leave?" He ordered, not questioned, to Nino. As Nino was about to protest, Ai nodded to her, forcing her to reluctantly leave while carrying her phone away with her. And at this moment all Ai could think was one thing.
'Please Markus, please get my SOS.' She thought as Hikaru's eyes sparkled maliciously at her as he put a suitcase he was carrying on the table.